Ranma fan fiction
Started -
Last
revised - 10 May 2004 Reason
- typos
Disclaimer:
Ranma ½ and all associated characters are the property of Rumiko
Takahashi. This fan-fiction isn’t
intended for commercial use but is rather a tribute to the ‘ranma-universe’
idea.
* * * * *
Nabiki’s Honor by Cloud Dreamer
* * * * *
Story starts over a
year before Ranma & Akane graduate from high school, a few months after the
aborted wedding attempt and the end of the Ranma ½ manga.
. . . . . book one of story
arc . . . . . .
Ranma sat down at the table,
looking for a clear place to put his bowl of ramen. There were stacks of college catalogs
everywhere. He started to push them
aside only to hear, “Don’t you dare Saotome.
I’m using the table so go away until I’m done,” hissed Nabiki.
“What cha doin
Nabiki?” asked Ranma, barely hiding his disinterest.
“I’m shopping for a college;
evaluating the course offerings, the living arrangements, the costs and
available scholarships,” calmly replied Nabiki not even taking her eyes off the
material spread out in front of her as she read and made notes.
“Aww,
watcha wanta go to college
for. You’re already an expert at
blackmail and extortion,” Ranma grinned at her.
Nabiki turned icy eyes to
him, “Oh I don’t know, maybe a little more practice would be nice,” as she
speculatively eyed him.
Ranma blanched and started to
rise only to have a pair of hands rest on his shoulders and hold him down.
Akane spoke sharply to Ranma,
“Ranma, that wasn’t a nice thing to say to my sister!”
Ranma scratched the back of
his head. In a puzzled voice he asked,
“But isn’t that what you said about her last night after she charged you . . .”
Wham! Splash.
That was as far as Ranma got
before Akane tossed him into the pond.
“What’d ya do that for?”
mumbled Ranma tiredly.
“Sometimes you don’t know
when to keep your mouth shut. And why
were you heckling Nabiki about college anyway.
You are planning on going to college aren’t you?” asked Akane.
“Nah,” lazily replied
Ranma. “Don’t see how it has any bearing
with me teaching martial arts at the dojo.”
“Oh, I see,” hissed
Akane. “You do realize don’t you, that
if it wasn’t for daddy wanting you to teach at the Tendou dojo, you would have
almost no chance in hell of getting a sensei job? You have no teaching experience or
credentials. You know nothing about
running a business, heck, you can barely even read and write. How do you expect to keep up the business
records of the dojo.
How do you expect to keep up the student records. Or maybe that is something you’re going to
‘hire’ out because you’re too busy. Busy
my ass, lazy and ignorant like your old man more likely. Probably end up just as worthless.”
Akane stormed off with one
last parting shot, “That is NOT who I’m going to marry.”
“Ouch!” winced Nabiki as she
saw the color fade from Ranma’s face.
* * * * *
“Stupid tomboy,” murmured
Ranma as he sat on the roof and watched the sun set.
An hour later Ranma spoke
again, “sigh, she’s not the stupid one.
I guess I am. What do I do
now? I wonder if there is some sort of
exercise that makes you smart?” Ranma sat there watching the stars for
another hour. “Nabiki might know. She’s the smart one of all of us. Hate to go to her though. Kami knows what she’d have me do to pay her
back.”
An hour later Ranma made his
way back to his room and quietly went to sleep.
His rest was troubled with dreams of Akane walking away as he struggled
to read signs that told him how to reach her.
Signs that he couldn’t read, doors and windows that he
couldn’t open.
Ranma woke suddenly
midmorning Sunday as he was splashed with cold water. Ranma sighed and looked up at the stormy face
of his fiancée. “Yes,
Akane? What have I done now to
offend you? Looked too peaceful sleeping? Failed to kiss your ass this morning? Maybe just my mere existence is a bother to
you?”
Akane backed up. This sarcasm was new and she didn’t like it
at all even though several of the comments struck home with her. “Damn you.
How dare you say such things to me!” She advanced on Ranma who merely sighed and
closed her eyes, resignation evident on her face.
Akane stopped. She was about to pound Ranma, but her
lifelessness made Akane hesitate. It was
all his fault, wasn’t it? Sleeping late, being a smartass and hurting
her. Ok, so she shouldn’t have thrown
the cold water, still. Maybe she was out
of line. Akane turned and left the
room. Pounding someone
who didn’t care merely seemed mean.
“Ranma,”
Ranma turned her head and saw
Nabiki standing at the door.
“If you ever say such things
to my sister or anyone else in this family, I promise that I will make your
life a living hell,” hissed Nabiki.
As Nabiki turned to go, Ranma
wearily asked, “Would I notice any difference Nabiki? Given the way you, Akane and our dads not to
mention my other various suitors treat me, tell me truly Nabiki would I really
notice it getting any worse?” Ranma
sighed as Nabiki turned back to her.
“Some days, some days I really regret that my mom found me manly.” With that Ranma rolled over on her wet futon
and turned her back to other girl. But
not before Nabiki saw the tears start.
Nabiki hesitated, a sense of
foreboding making her reconsider their conversation. In the end she simply went downstairs, but
resolved to watch Ranma a bit closer.
This melancholy was not typical and it bothered her.
Ranma waited until she heard
Nabiki start down the stairs before she got up and quickly dressed. She looked at herself in the mirror again and
slowly unbraided her hair and brushed it out.
Hesitantly at first, but then with hands made firmer by sadness that
craved a break, she opened up her closet again and studied the ‘other’ clothes;
clothes that she once used to wear to fool Ryouga or to be Ranko for her
mother. Ranma stripped again and dressed
in feminine undergarments followed by a sleeveless sky blue dress that featured
a knee length full skirt. She finished
it off by tying her hair back into a loose ponytail with a matching blue ribbon
low against her neck.
Ranma carefully made her way
out of her room. First out the window,
to the roof, then to the dojo roof and over the back fence, unseen, so she
thought. Nabiki saw and wondered.
Ranma made her way to the
University library. For part of the past
year she had been teaching Nabiki a little bit about how to use her chi but
several months ago Nabiki had asked some questions that Ranma had no answers
for. That had frustrated Ranma, so he
had started looking for some of the answers.
He had stumbled onto the esoteric section of the university library
during one of his attempts to hide from his pursuing fiancées. Not surprisingly, they had not thought to
look for him there.
Ranma had looked over the
books but had been having problems finding what he wanted. He had tried asking one of the staff for help
but was brusquely brushed off. Ranma had
retreated to the hallway and splashed himself with cold water from a drinking
fountain.
When she had returned to the
shelves, she had several young men, all only a few years older than herself,
vying to help her. Ranma had discovered
several things that day. One, the
library really did have some answers.
Two, the guys who hung out at libraries didn’t tend to be jerks to
girls, maybe they were nerds but they were nice nerds. Three, sometimes, any attention was better
than being ignored, but there were even better ways of getting attention than
having Akane pound him. Hanging with the
library crowd as a girl was a bit dishonest, but it was safe and sort of
fun. And sometimes it was what Ranma
needed. It was time for Masaki Ranko to
go meet with her college friends for a bit of research, a little bit of fun and
hopefully a meal too.
Tofu saw Ranma approaching
the library files and faded back. He
didn’t want the young martial artist to spot him so he carefully erased all
sense of his presence and watched as Ranma greeted her friends. He had seen this several times and it still
puzzled him. But he had struck up
conversations with several of the students and found that Ranma didn’t flirt,
she just seemed lonely and wanted to talk when she wasn’t researching chi or
magic. Tofu had steered several of the
young men to books that would help answer some of Ranma’s questions. They in turn had been rewarded by her bright
smile. Two had passed out as a result.
Tofu had noticed that Ranma
wasn’t cocky when she showed up at the library.
She didn’t appear to want anything more than acceptance. It saddened Tofu to realize that being a girl
was the only way that Ranma could gain any measure of happiness at
present. In his opinion, Ranma’s life
sucked. When lunch rolled around, each
of the young men shared with Ranma part of the lunch that they either purchased
or carried with them. Ranma ate
carefully and quietly, not showing any of his father’s tendencies toward
gluttony. She smiled and gaily talked
with each of the guys but carefully shielded herself so that none of them had a
chance for a grope or kiss. She did this
skillfully in such a way as to not offend them and not seeming to make an
obvious effort at it either. In a way,
she was the nucleating agent for this little clique of students interested in
magic and chi.
* * * * *
Nabiki wondered where Ranma
had gone. Several times a month since returning
from
Nabiki did notice that Ranma
always returned happier and frequently had an answer for one of Nabiki’s
questions. Nabiki sighed to
herself. Right now, Ranma was her
teacher. Nabiki had started studying
magic and later chi shortly after Ranma had appeared.
Ranma’s curse had shattered
Nabiki’s reality based world view. As a
result she was reconsidering some things that she had once summarily
dismissed. Like ‘good’ and ‘bad’ luck
not to mention karma and the possibility that Kami really did exist and that
she would eventually be held responsible for her actions.
For almost a half year she
had studied in secret. Only Gos had any inclination that Nabiki was interested in magic
and he thought it was for another of her clients that she had raided his
library.
But about six months after
Ranma arrived from
Ranma, on one hand was amazed
that she had been able to develop chi at all.
On the other hand, him being her teacher did
shield him somewhat from her. He was no
longer quite as scared of her as he had been before starting to teach her. In some ways they had even become a bit
closer, in a business like sort of way.
* * * * *
When Ranma returned that
evening, she did so with chaos intended.
She quietly entered and seated herself on the couch and began watching
TV. Eventually Akane noticed that Ranma
was there and wearing a pretty dress as well.
Akane notified the others of
Ranma’s return in a too typical manner.
She screamed, “RANMA you pervert,” and attempted to nail her with a
mallet. For the first time anyone could
recall, Ranma caught the mallet head with one hand, jerked it out of Akane’s
grasp and tossed it into the pond. She
did this without taking her eyes from the TV screen. She ignored Akane. Akane was beyond mad, but she was also
stunned. She sputtered, and finally
stomped upstairs after screaming “We are NOT engaged, there is no way I could
ever marry a pervert like you. I hate
you.”
Nabiki was the only one to
hear Ranma’s whispered reply, “I know.”
“Ranma,” asked a shaken
Nabiki, “where were you all day, and why are you in
full girl form?”
“None of your business Tendou,”
calmly replied Ranma. “Not
now, not ever again.”
Nabiki slowly rose, this was
not good. This was very NOT good. She made her way to Akane’s room and entered
after a brief perfunctory knock. Akane
merely glared at her but Nabiki said nothing, she just stared guilelessly at
Akane.
Akane finally sighed, “Ok,
Nabiki, why are you in my room?”
“I’m just wondering why you
are being so hateful to Ranma. You’ve
been mad at him even before he woke up.
Are you on the rag today or something?” asked Nabiki quietly.
Akane flushed, “No, it’s not
that time of the month thank you. He
just makes me so mad and I really hate him.”
“He knows,” whispered
Nabiki. She looked into Akane’s
eyes. “This time he really knows. You’ve lost him with your temper today. I don’t think he cares anymore about how you
feel or anything else. I’ve never seen
him so sad. He has taken your hate into
his heart and accepted it as fact. You
have truly lost Ranma with your stupidity today.” With that she turned and left the room,
quietly shutting the door behind her.
“No, no,” brokenly cried
Akane. Suddenly she bolted down stairs
and saw Ranma still on the couch watching TV.
There was a battered panda struggling to get out of the pond and her father
was passed out, a fist mark evident between his eyes.
Kasumi was standing in shock
looking at her father. When she saw Akane she whispered to her, “Oh, my! Ranma nailed daddy’s demon head. I didn’t think that was possible.”
Akane hesitated; this Ranma
was different than the one she was used to abusing. This one was dangerous. “Ranma, we need to talk.”
“No, not anymore; I’m tired
of hurting you. I’m tired of being hurt
by you.” Ranma sighed and continued
without turning to look at her, “Let’s just leave it as it is. There is nothing between us except your
hate. We are not engaged and tomorrow
I’ll haul the panda out of here and get out of the Tendou’s life.”
“I don’t hate you. I’m sorry that my temper made me say that,”
softly stated Akane.
Ranma looked at her without
expression. “Akane, tell me. Do you think that Ukyou and Shampoo love
me?” Ranma gave her no chance to answer
but continued, “They say that they do.
Perhaps you’ve noticed a difference in how they treat me as opposed to how
you do. I know you don’t love me, and
based on the evidence, I’d say there was little doubt that even if you don’t
hate me, you at least strongly dislike me.”
She looked down at herself,
“Maybe, I really am a pervert. Kami
knows I’ve heard you and the others saying it often enough, so maybe it’s
true.” She giggled, “You know what’s
really funny, I’m not even sure what a pervert is.”
Akane blanched, “Ranma, it’s
not you I’m really mad at. It’s this
forced engagement. It’s not having a
choice. I really hate that. I feel like something to be bartered,
unimportant in myself, a second class citizen.
I took it out on you hoping you’d go away, that way I wouldn’t have to
deal with this engagement.”
“Akane,” sighed
Ranma, “why take it out on me. I didn’t
have any choice either. At least until today.”
Ranma stood and looked Akane in the eyes, “Your wish is my command, I renounce the engagement.”
Ranma’s chi blast nailed both fathers as they started to protest, “And I
will go away like you wanted me to do.”
Ranma turned and walked up
the stairs, returning shortly to enter the bathroom with a change of clothes.
By the time Ranma had bathed
and dressed, dinner was ready and the family ate quietly for the first time in
a long time. Both fathers were still
unconscious.
* * * * *
Ranma noticed a change the
next morning. His father refused to spar
with him saying he’d have nothing to do with an honorless
son. A few moments later, Ranma had
laughed himself into hysterics, trying to envision his father as a man of
honor. His father had angrily attacked
him and Ranma had promptly pounded him.
Ranma had sat down at the
table only to have Akane happily set . .
. something in front of him. Ranma had
quietly studied Akane’s face, looking for signs of malice. Finally he had shaken his head and taken the
plate that Akane had offered. Instead of
eating, he had reached over and grabbed Akane’s empty plate. He then put half of the contents of his plate
onto hers and passed it to her.
“But Ranma, I made that for
you!” she protested with anger incipient in her eyes.
“Akane, I have a question for
you,” catching her eye, he continued, “You’ve made a lot of meals for me, but
not once have I ever seen you taste your own cooking. Why is that?”
“I’m a good cook; I don’t
need to test my cooking. Now eat this
before I get mad,” she hissed.
“Ladies first,” Ranma smiled
as he handed her back her plate.
Akane looked at the stuff on
her plate and slowly started to sweat.
She raised a portion to her lips and began chewing. The pain was excruciating as she passed out.
“Ranma,” chastised Kasumi, “that
was mean.”
Ranma smiled sadly at the
oldest sister and calmly passed his plate to her. “Perhaps you’d care to try what you seem so
eager for me to eat.” As Kasumi’s face
blanched, Ranma remarked, “So that’s how it is.
A façade of caring over a heart callous to those outside the family.”
Kasumi’s face briefly
suffused with anger, the first emotion that Ranma had ever seen on the eldest
sister’s face. “You cause nothing but chaos in this family, ah, oh my. I’m sorry Ranma,” she blandly finished; her
face blank, a pleasant smile gracing her lips.
Ranma slowly stood, “I think
it’s past time that I packed and left this place.” He bowed low, “Thank you for your hospitality.”
Nabiki had taken Akane to the
bathroom and now both emerged; Nabiki angry and Akane shaken. “Ranma,” yelled Nabiki but she got no further
as Akane pulled her back and placed a hand over her mouth.
“Ranma,” Akane wheezed, “was
it always like that?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” he
replied.
“You never told me . . . oh,
I guess you did. I just hit you didn’t
I?” Akane seemed to gather herself. “I’m sorry.
I seemed to have screwed up our whole relationship. I would like to try again. This time really try, I don’t want a failure
like this to haunt me. A sort of ‘what
if’ that no one can really answer.
Ranma, I don’t hate you. I really
do sort of lik . . . like you.” She continued even as her face blushed, “I
know I have a temper, and I’m sorry I took it out on you. Please, let’s try again. Please, I really do sort of like you.”
Ranma stood there
stunned. He was strongly tempted to
reject the appeal but somehow he didn’t have that much anger in him. He saw Nabiki behind Akane, her stunned face
nodding to Ranma, mouthing ‘yes, yes’ over and over.
Ranma sighed, ok, for the
sake of honor, he’d try once more. “Ok,
Akane. But no more temper or
cooking. I’m pretty much fed up with
both,” he quipped.
Ranma made his way to class,
for once not on the fence but walking on the sidewalk between Akane and Nabiki.
The morning confrontation
with Kuno was also atypical for Ranma.
Kuno barely had time to strike a heroic pose and start his morning spiel
when Ranma kicked him over the school building and into the pool. That would not have been that unusual except
that this kick was to the groin. Ranma
said not a single word, he just casually continued on his way to class.
A third of the guys who saw
the fight passed out. Even the girls who
saw the exchange winced in sympathy for Kuno.
Ranma’s schoolmates also
noticed another change in Ranma as well.
He actually tried to pay attention in class. Several times his eyes momentarily crossed
with the effort but for the most part he managed to stay awake. Maybe not aware but awake at least.
That evening after supper,
Ranma hesitantly knocked on Nabiki’s door.
He entered at her answering call and sat on her bed as she turned her
desk chair to face him. “Yeah, Saotome,
what do you need now?”
Ranma paused, he still wasn’t
sure this was a good idea. Then he
remembered, this was his choice, nobody was forcing him and it was something he
needed. “Nabiki, will you teach me how
to learn?” He blushed at her dumbfounded
stare, “I mean it. I don’t have any
trouble learning martial arts, but when it comes to school stuff . . . well it
just doesn’t make any sense and I don’t seem to remember it. I . . . I want to try for college but I need
some help. Will you help me, please?”
Nabiki grinned, “So what do
you have to offer in exchange to make it worth my time?”
Ranma smiled slightly, “You
already owe me Nabiki. A year’s worth of
chi training. A year’s worth of silence
about your new hobby. But I can offer
one more reason. It increases the
chances that you won’t have to support your sisters or dad for the rest of your
life if you help me to become a successful sensei.”
Her grin faded into a wince
as his words hit true. “You got me there
Ranma.” She sighed, “It seems that Akane
is finally taking the engagement seriously, so I’ll take you seriously
too. Ok, every evening after supper from
now until I leave for college this fall, I want you in my room for
training. Got it?”
“Yes, sensei,” lightly
laughed Ranma as he rose.
“Ranma,” replied Nabiki. She waited until she was sure she had his
attention. “I want you to stop by and
see
Ranma stopped,
his mouth half opened to argue with her.
He stood like that a few short moments, “Not a bad idea. In fact there is a possibility that he
actually has done something like that to me.”
Ranma grimaced, “Kami knows he’s done enough similar things, why not
that too.”
“Nabiki,” hesitantly began
Ranma, “Do you think I should trust her that much though?”
Nabiki paused as she
marshaled her thoughts, “Ranma, I know you’ve had troubles with the amazons,
but I can’t think of one mean or dishonorable thing that
“Yeah,” replied Ranma, “I’d
come to that conclusion too. Just wanted to check it out with someone else though.” With that he left the room leaving Nabiki
staring blankly at the spot he’d been standing.
* * * * *
Ranma watched the Cat Café
until he saw Shampoo leaving on a delivery.
He then went to the back door and quietly entered.
“So son-in-law, what do I owe
this visit to?” asked
“Hello old gho . . . ah, elder
“So, you want a favor from
me. Well, it’s going to cost you. Shampoo wants a holiday but I need her here
at the shop. On the other hand, if you
were to work for her this coming Saturday, then
. . .” The elder martial artist looked at Ranma expectantly.
Ranma sighed, “Ok,
“So, what’s the favor you
need son-in-law?” she asked.
Ranma whispered
embarrassedly, “I’m having trouble learning.
I think maybe my old man or perhaps Happosai may have messed up my chi
flows or something. Could you give a
‘spiritual physical’, and no perverted stuff either!”
Ranma nodded, and then paused
to say before leaving, “Thanks Cologne, I appreciate the help.”
That evening Ranma softly
knocked on Nabiki’s door. She opened the
door and they sat down at her desk.
Nabiki had brought down a second chair from the attic earlier in
preparation for this new endeavor.
Before she could ask, Ranma filled her in on what
Ranma was puzzled though,
“Nabiki, I appreciate the help with the homework, but, well, I wasn’t looking
for a tutor.”
“I know Ranma,” she sighed,
“trust me on this. I first need to
establish how you learn. I’m sort of
establishing a baseline on you now. To
do that I want to quantify what you do know, how you process this data, how
much effort it takes and how long it lasts.”
Nabiki watched and helped
Ranma study for almost forty minutes before Ranma closed his books
quietly. “Ranma, we’re no where done
yet,” firmly protested Nabiki. This was
a challenge and she did not back down from challenges any more than he did.
“I know Nabiki,” calmly
replied Ranma. “But it’s my turn to
teach. Cup your hand and show me just a
little of your chi. Don’t exhaust yourself;
just let me see a flash.”
“Let me turn the lights
down,” said Nabiki resignedly. “Leaving
only the small desk lamp on, Nabiki shielded her hands with her body, focused herself and brought a small ball of chi into being for less
than a second.” She was sweating despite
the brevity of the effort.
“I never noticed before, but
your chi is red. That’s usually
associated with love. Oh, well, must be
your love of money,” absently remarked Ranma.
He paused, “Nabiki, I think I might understand why you seem to have so
much trouble generating much power.
Emotion, strong emotion is the basis for chi power. Ryouga is depressed and his dark chi blasts
can be grim. I, on the other hand use my
martial arts confidence to fuel my chi blasts and they can be deadly.” He looked embarrassed as he continued,
“You’re the Ice Queen, you pride yourself on not having emotions and that has
crippled you when it comes to chi power I think.”
“Damn,” muttered Nabiki, “I
came to the same conclusion not very long ago.
I hoped it wasn’t so.”
Ranma paused, “I’d hoped that
your business confidence reflected a strong emotion. But apparently that whole part of you is very
tightly controlled. No emotion, more
like my ‘soul-of-ice’ that I sometimes use.
You could use these techniques to generate cold chi but you first have
to be able to generate chi in order to use it well. And you aren’t there yet.” Ranma looked hopefully at her, “Any strong emotions
that I don’t know about?”
Nabiki blushed, and thought
to herself, ‘just one, but I’ll be damned before I
tell him.’ Aloud she said, “Well, I care
for my family; and of course, money. But
other than that, no, I’m pretty neutral to the rest of the world.”
Ranma grimaced, “This is
going to be tough, love of family may be strong, but it’s
just too disperse to really focus very well. I guess we’ll have to work with both the
money love and the soul-of-ice thing I reckon.”
“Well, I saw the hot chi, let’s
teach you about generating cold chi,” began sensei Ranma. “First empty your emotions, focus on
calmness. When you’ve got that, hold it
and try to generate chi.”
Nabiki struggled for the next
ten minutes. Every time she started to
draw red colored chi, Ranma stopped her with a sharp but gentle word and she
would begin again. Finally as she was
near exhaustion, a small ball of nearly translucent chi began to form.
Ranma grinned, “You got it
Nabiki, you got it!”
He paused, “Nabiki?” The Tendou in
question was passed out. Ranma smiled
and picked her up off her chair. He
lifted her into bed and pulled her blanket over her before exiting to his own
bath and bed.
* * * * *
Ranma knocked on the back
door of the Cat Café.
“Str
. . . strip?” began Ranma anxiously.
“Come on Ranma, do you think
I’d want to cop a cheap feel at my age?”
She paused as she looked him up and down, “Ok, so you’re right, I
would. But this is professional, think
of me as a doctor for now.” She sighed
regretfully, “I promise, Ranma.”
She left the room and made
breakfast for Shampoo and Mousse.
Shortly the two younger amazons were off. Shampoo to a large amusement park she enjoyed;
Mouse flapping angrily behind her.
Shampoo vowed to ride the huge roller coaster standing up at least
once. She had tried twice before and had
fallen both times amid squeals; squeals of fear from the other patrons and
squeals of glee from her.
Ranma shrugged, stripped and
made himself comfortable. It took a
little while, but eventually he dosed off.
She tapped a sleep spot on
Ranma. What she needed to do required
him to remain asleep, despite the pain she was about to cause. Slowly she worked her way around him. At one point she pulled his boxers down. She paused in admiration before hitting the
several points she needed to release.
After an hour she stopped and
rested. The strain of exerting her chi
to map and manipulate Ranma’s flows had taxed even her reserves. She then laboriously turned him over and
began again. After finishing, she paused
and made herself a snack to regain some energy.
Nearly two hours after starting and she was almost half done. All that was left was to do his waking chi. Fortunately the rest ‘should’ go easier. Knowing Ranma that wouldn’t happen just the
way she anticipated.
“Damn,” she muttered to
herself. “How in the world did I forget
about that?” She tiredly carried a glass
of cold water back up to the study. She
splashed the still sleeping Ranma and began again. Fortunately it wasn’t as bad as she feared
but there were definitely some changes between the two forms and that included
additional problems.
She removed Ranma’s boxers altogether and woke her up. She snickered at the young martial artist’s
efforts to hide herself. “Ranma, I’m
almost done, I just have to do the waking chi, now stand still.
Ranma grimaced, “Since you
ask, then I trust you. Do what ya gotta do old ghoul.”
“Thanks Ranma,”
As Ranma collapsed in agony,
“Damn, I didn’t expect it to
hurt that bad,
“Almost
child, but unfortunately, not quite.” She sighed, “As soon as you are able, we need
to finish.”
Ranma nodded and stood
shakily before the desk that
Ranma blushed as she looked
down at her nude figure. A nude girl in
front of
“Ranma, trust me,” tiredly
stated
Perhaps it was the fatigue in
her voice that convinced him, but Ranma steeled herself and poured the hot
water over herself. He stood before the desk, vainly trying to hide himself as
“Better, much better,” she
nodded approvingly. “DAMN!” she cursed
again. “Damn that Happosai.”
“Huh?” started Ranma. “What’d the old freak do now?”
“Ranma,” blanched
Ranma blanched, “I’m going to
kill him, I swear it, I’m going to kill him.” He sighed, “Thanks
Ranma focused his chi and
steeled himself for the pain. He closed
his eyes and nodded to
Tears in her eyes,
She brushed a lock of hair
out of his eyes and patiently waited of him to sense her and the food. She didn’t have to wait long. Ranma woke suddenly, seeing her he gasped in
surprise before obviously recalling why he was there.
“Kami, you were right,
“Sorry Ranma,” sighed
With that she placed Ranma’s
waitress costume on the floor, and then left him to eat and dress in
peace. About ten minutes later Ranma
came down. She formally bowed to
“You can start by smiling,
Ranma,” she grinned though it was somewhat forced.
Ranma smiled,
a smile that was even echoed in her eyes, “Yes elder.”
Ranma was as good as her
word. She laughed and smiled the whole
long evening from
Both Shampoo and Mousse had
returned in the early evening, but Cologne had preempted anything that they
might have wanted to do and forced them to both help with the near record
evening rush; Mousse in the kitchen and Shampoo bouncing with joy to be so
close to her arien.
Finally,
As
“Oh,” grinned
Shampoo, “Like kitchen destroyer!” She
paused, “But if Ranma going to start to notice girls, that mean Shampoo have to
get Ranma away from pervert girl.”
“Yes,” sighed
Shampoo nodded in
understanding and went back to scrubbing.
* * * * *
Akane was about to toss a
bucket of water on Ranma when she found herself blocked by Nabiki. “I thought you learned your lesson about this
last Sunday. Is your memory that short?”
Akane blushed, recalling
Ranma’s response. “But . . . but he’s
just sleeping. And it’s late. And he didn’t tell me where he was all day
yesterday.” She sighed, “Ok, so I
forgot.” She looked over at the sleeping
girl. “I wonder why Ranma’s in girl
form, humm,
she hasn’t worn that outfit since she last worked at the Cat Café.”
“Yeah, you guessed it,”
smirked Nabiki, “Ranma owed
Akane chuckled, “I wondered
where he was all day. Oh well, I guess
he didn’t have a chance to get into trouble yesterday then did he?”
Nabiki echoed her sister’s
chuckle, “I suspect that yesterday was a blur for Ranma. Come on; let’s let him sleep himself out. That
doesn’t happen very often for him.”
Akane sighed and whispered as
she turned to go downstairs, “Baka.”
* * * * *
Nabiki noticed the difference
almost immediately. “You understand
this?” When Ranma nodded ‘yes’ in an
annoyed manner she continued, “Ranma, last week I explained this to you twice
and you still had problems.”
Ranma shrugged, “What can I
say? Tonight it seems easy to understand
to me.”
Ranma had explained to Nabiki
what
* * * * *
Nabiki sighed, high school
was finally over. She’d ended up with a
nearly perfect GPA and her college entrance scores had enabled her to enter
She saw her sister struggling
with a trunk, “Are you about packed, Akane?
It wasn’t easy getting you into this six weeks long home-economics
summer school camp. It wasn’t cheap
either, but on the plus side, it did come with a double your money guarantee,”
Nabiki smirked.”
“You are NOT going to
collect. I swear I can cook. I just need . . . a little bit better
focus. That’s all,” snarled Akane.
Nabiki grinned and called for
Ranma to help carry the trunk to the waiting cab.
That afternoon Nabiki sat
down next to Ranma on the open veranda, “Saotome, remember how I said you
needed to develop other interests besides martial arts? How are you doing there?”
Ranma blushed with
embarrassment. “Ah gee, Nabiki, I spent
all my free time catching up on my school work.
I got mostly B’s even two A’s.
For me that’s awesome. Now I just
want to relax.”
Nabiki sighed in frustration
as she got up, “I didn’t figure you for a quitter. Guess I was wrong. One little bit of success and it goes to your
head. You were just wasting my time I
guess.”
Ranma watched the clouds a
few more moments before getting up and following Nabiki into the front
room. “Sorry Nabiki, I guess you had me pegged there. I
thought I had succeeded, I forgot what the goal really was. So what is next on the agenda sensei?” he
asked lightly.
“Am I your sensei?” asked
Nabiki.
Ranma nodded and Nabiki
continued, “Then you follow my directions without argument until I release
you. Got that? Otherwise go do it yourself, because I’m not
going to waste my time on some half way measure.”
“Ok, so what’s first,” asked
Ranma.
“Three things,” replied
Nabiki. She tossed two textbooks into
his lap, “Tonight I start teaching you Mandarin and then we give you advanced
lessons in English. But first, you’re
going to take me rollerblading.”
“But I don’t have . . .”
Ranma started to protest before she cut him off.
“You can use Akane’s stuff,”
Nabiki stated. “You’ll have to do it in
your girl form for everything to fit right.
But that’s tough unless you have the loot to buy your own.”
Ranma-chan soon appeared in
the rollerblades. Nabiki stared at her
and irately tapped her foot. “Ranma, the whole getup; that means helmet and pads. I don’t want to be stopped every five minutes
by someone demanding that you dress appropriately. Besides, there will be little kids seeing you
do your acrobatics eventually and you do want to set a safe example. The lesson here is that your macho pride
takes a back seat to social responsibility.
So move it.”
Ranma shortly appeared in
proper attire, almost. Nabiki looked her
student over one more time. She sighed
quietly, “Ranma, you also need a sports bra so that your nipples don’t stick
out and the whole thing doesn’t bounce.”
“Now, WAIT a minute,” yelled
Ranma, before Nabiki cut her off.
“NO, DAMN IT, YOU SAID you’d
follow my directions, so GO and put on a bra!” yelled Nabiki back so loud that
Ranma’s hair stuck out backwards.
“Yes sensei,” Ranma meekly
replied.
Nabiki turned out to be
right. The bra did help with the balance
as Ranma gained confidence on the skates.
In a week she had eclipsed Nabiki’s expert skill level and was incorporating
her airborne martial arts and gymnastics skill in mid air flips as the two of
them cruised the streets and several of the local
practice areas.
Nabiki also took Ranma
dancing as well as horseback riding.
Ranma ended up working the initial dinner rush for
Now the English and Mandarin
Chinese lessons were another story. But
he kept his part of the bargain and soon he and Nabiki spoke nothing else
except English for most of the day.
Ranma practiced his Chinese while he worked at the Cat Café. His rapidly increasing proficiency amazed
both Shampoo and
This idyllic summer came to
an abrupt halt with the arrival of a trunk to the Tendou front gate. It was Akane’s trunk. She had been gone five weeks. She was bound and gagged inside it and there
was a death threat from the camp staff should they ever hear she was near their
kitchens again.
Nabiki couldn’t look at Akane
for the first couple of days without giggling.
However, she did remember to collect on the guarantee, though she
convinced the camp director that her silence was worth a triple payback instead
of double.
Akane was in a very bad
mood. The only thing that saved Ranma
from disaster was that his waitress work and the studies with Nabiki kept him
so occupied that he wasn’t around Akane enough to become the prime focus for
her anger.
Unfortunately, from the
fathers’ perspective, he was around too much or rather his mother was. Nodoka witnessed several weeks of Akane’s
violent responses and decided a week before school started that Ranma and Genma
were moving back to the recently rebuilt Saotome family home in
* * * * *
By the time Akane has returned, shipped home early
bound up in a trunk and a death threat from the camp staff should she ever
return (Nabiki turns the double your
money guarantee into a triple her money), Ranma has the language basics
down. But more importantly, he has
learned how to learn. He has adapted the
lessons from Martial arts and Nabiki together into a method he can apply. He appreciates the need for daily application
(practice) and concentration (focus) as well as a through understanding of
basics before being able to go to higher levels let alone realize there are
higher levels. That analog allows him to
see that perhaps the fact he can see no use for something such as mathematics
could be a result of not mastering the basics instead of being correct in his
assessment. That makes it a challenge to
him.
As a result, he takes his senior year as a challenge
to understand what each class is basic toward.
A light comes on when he realizes that solid state geometry and physics
describe his airborne martial arts and math is the interpretation tool. Then history, languages and social sciences
become tools to interpret his opponents.
Sometimes trivia contains vital information.
At the start of his senior year, his mother, disgusted
with the way his life is going, forces him & his dad to move back to her
house. Things are a lot quieter. He spars some with his father and his mother
insists on teaching her daughter some of the family martial arts. Genma attempts to intervene once, but only once
after a large area of his panda belly is shaved by a katana wielded too fast
for him to see or dodge. The display
also convinces Ranma that his mother may have something to teach him after all.
She also requires Ranma to at least begin to appear
like a proper girl when using his girl form.
A bra is a required part of her practice clothes she discovers. The bouncing causes some loss of balance and
after her mother’s bokken hits the tits a few times Ranma begins to realize
that a little support and padding would be a good idea. Of course, Ranma refuses to wear dresses and
panties regularly despite library visit history.
The new school away from the original madness along
with Nabiki ‘s lessons enable Ranma to focus on school
for the first time in his life. As a
result, Ranma’s grades go way up and his scores on the resulting college exams
are not at all shabby. On the down side,
while Akane misses him somewhat, he is too busy to really notice. Not to mention appreciating the absence of
abuse. They do get together a few times
each month but each time Shampoo or Ukyou are able to intervene and Akane ends
up pounding Ranma. The few times that
Soun suggests that maybe it would be a good idea to have Ranma back at the home
are shot down by both Akane and Kasumi. Akane because she is mad, Kasumi because she doesn’t want any
chaos.
Genma tries to get Nadoka to
let Ranma (& him) return to the Tendo’s but she
has the bit in her teeth in that ‘damn it, it’s her time to train Ranma’ and
she’s not letting Genma take him anywhere.
The second time he starts whining about it, she starts sharpening her
katana and he permanently drops the subject.
As a result, Akane and Ranma grow further apart even
as they start to miss each other. In his
new school, Ranma had joined the gymnastics team and with his skills, leads
them to a national title. As a result,
when he graduated he was given a full scholarship to
Akane didn’t do as well. She partially blames Ranma for this because
he wasn’t there (ignoring the facts that it wasn’t his choice and she also
didn’t want him to come back the few times that the option was mentioned). She goes to a much smaller school about two
hours away by train. Close enough to
visit only on weekends.
She & Ranma visit each other a few times over the
summer graduation break, sometimes spending the night at each other’s
house. These go well for the most part
at Ranma’s house as his mother uses her katana to discourage other guests to
their surprise and dismay. Not because
she doesn’t appreciate her manly sons ‘talents’ but because she will not
tolerate damage to her house again nor discourtesy to her guest (Akane). Shampoo fails to use the door only once at Nodoka’s
house. The flat of a blade across her
ass, the shredding of her clothes, destruction of her bonbori,
loss of a lock of hair and the blade at her throat leave a lasting lesson
concerning doors. Cologne happens to
witness this and calls Nodoka a weapons mistress, someone for Shampoo to
respect.
Then college starts.
Akane finally has some peace. She
has some tender thoughts for Ranma and private (finally) phone conversations
help nurture their feelings for each other.
Akane is also a bit confused because she has an unknown admirer. At first she thinks it’s
Ranma being romantic, but when she discovers that it is a shy classmate who is
NOT a martial artist, she is not sure how to refuse. Especially since he is in one of her theater
classes and has made her laugh a few times. She has told no one about her engagement
because she wanted some freedom.
Ranma has found a study partner, rather she grabbed
him. She was disappointed when she found
he was engaged but stuck with him anyway just because he was cute.
Then disaster.
Confused because of her friend’s newly found interest, Akane decides to
make a midweek visit to Ranma. Seeing
his study partner exiting his apartment, she jumps to the conclusion that Ranma
is cheating on her ‘again’.
She cries into her friend’s arms. He takes advantage of her weakness and
seduces her. The next morning they agree
to marry, soon. Soun protests, but
Akane, in a moment of confusion, protests that she may be pregnant. Soun and Kasumi are furious but make
immediate (two weeks) wedding plans.
Nabiki just smiles.
Ranma hears about the turn of events second hand as Tendous, especially Akane are too embarrassed to tell
him. His father is the one to tell him,
just two days before as he was making plans to visit Akane, something along the
line of ‘you’re so little a man that your fiancée had to go somewhere else to
get laid’. Major panda
pounding. Ranma, sigh Ranma
destroyed. Thinks, Why
did he change, if he hadn’t, maybe Akane would have stayed with him.
Marriage occurs just after finals. Ranma commits suicide in his apartment during
ceremony. His mother and father discover
him next day and carefully do their best to hide what happened from public
knowledge, police are helpful.
Nabiki changes and founds charity and continues to
study natural energy and magic. She
actually develops some good theory and weak talents in both chi and magic. Her goal is to somehow get Ranma back.
Amazons leave, Ukyou suicides too. Kasumi trapped. Akane has two good years of marriage, third
year stormy husband hurt a few times.
Akane becomes pregnant in effort to salvage marriage, when baby is 4
months old, puts child in hospital due to ‘cooking’. A week later husband intervenes as she is
again cooking for family and she puts him in hospital, in a coma that lasts
almost a year. Authorities don’t have
enough evidence to charge her but do have enough to remove child. When husband recovers, he divorces her and
his family mostly prevents her from seeing her child. Akane ends up teaching in family dojo, mostly
women’s self defense classes.
After divorce, Kasumi wonders if Ranma still
available, Nabiki blows up quietly and lets them know for the first time that
Saotomes are dead. Mild
shock only. This further angers
Nabiki and when Soun pressures her to marry, she finally loses it. All through this, Nabiki continues to study
chi and magic.
Somewhere along here, book one ends
Then comes ‘rewrite, which is book two’. Nabiki saves
Ranma and manages to marry him too.
Eventually Ranma becomes a doctor.
But martial arts are also developing.
Seems that Nabiki is one major sensei due to previous
life when it comes to chi and magic even though she can’t do much of it at
first. Ranma ends up having lots
of talent that Nabiki brings out.
Beginning of book two, the main book.
Nabiki yawned as she
struggled awake. She looked about
herself and sighed, ‘yep, same old room I grew up in . . . same old, same
old.’ Walking downstairs, Nabiki smiled
grumpily at her older sister Kasumi.
‘Kasumi, trapped in domestic duties taking care of our father’s house,
never to have a life of her own.’ Nabiki sadly thought to herself.
Akane ran in from her morning
jog few minutes later and smiled at her older sisters. “Morning! How are all of you today? I think it might snow. Wouldn’t that be nice?” She cheerily burbled. “Happy Birthday, Nabiki! Wow!
Fifty-two years, and you still look great! It’s so nice to have you home for the
weekend.”
Nabiki merely smiled at her
and nodded thinking to herself, ‘I wonder how much of that cheer is real and
how much is merely a façade. Divorced after five years of marginally happy marriage after she
put her husband in the hospital. Her only child growing up without her. Even now she is rarely allowed to see either
her son or his daughter, her granddaughter.
Now her whole life revolves around the women’s classes she teaches in
the dojo. Yes, how much of her apparent
happiness is only a substitute for the real thing she lost?’ Nabiki mused absently to herself.
Nabiki looked around herself
at her so familiar surroundings. She
sighed, ‘When the three of us pass on, this family ends. I wonder who will end up with all of
this. It certainly means nothing to me anymore;
I take no pride in being a Tendou and don’t regret never marrying.’
She smiled sadly to herself
recalling the arguments that she had had with her father on that topic. Arguments that had permanently ended when she
had finally lost it and screamed into her father’s face, “How can I ever
marry? The Saotomes are DEAD! As a TENDOU I have NO honor. I have only my work, my lousy work.” She had stormed out of the house and had not
returned again for over eight months. The
topic had never been mentioned again.
Nabiki fondly glanced over to
her elder sister. Only Kasumi had ever
even alluded to it again. A few weeks
after Nabiki had abruptly cut her visit short; Kasumi had shown up at Nabiki’s
house and quietly cried in Nabiki’s arms.
At first Nabiki had been startled but then she had just held her sister
and said nothing; she just smoothed her hair and allowed her to weep for them
both. Neither had said much afterwards,
just made small talk about the day to day trivia that both realized now
comprised their respective days.
Nabiki smiled sadly at the
memory. They had both been barely in
their thirties then. So
long ago. To
have both given up hope so early in their lives. So long ago. Nabiki got up and responded to the memory by
giving Kasumi a warm hug and asked.
“Anything I can help you with sis?”
Kasumi smiled and said, “No,
sit down and let us wait on you. It’s
your special day.” Her sunny smile
echoed happier days.
The following day, in a
modest office at the top of a older building in one of
the more rural outskirts of
As she finished up the cake,
she remarked to herself, “Yesterday was my birthday and I celebrated it with my
family, but somehow this second cake from people who work for me means a whole
lot more than cake from my family does.”
She massaged her temples as she pressed her nose against the window and
her eyes glazed over momentarily as she remembered yesterday’s events. She sighed sadly at the lack of emotional
content in the memory.
Her eye fell on a folding
two-photo-display frame that was always with her no matter where she went. It held two photos that anyone would have a
hard time believing were of the same individual. On the right side was a photo of a dark
haired and well-developed young man caught in a moment of battle. He was airborne, legs extended in a kick
against an unseen opponent. He was so
vibrant and alive, his face shown with the joy of his Art. On the left-hand side, a grinning petite
redheaded girl was toweling herself off.
The scene was at a beach and her red bikini left no doubt as to her
gender or beauty.
She picked the photo frame up
off her desk and held it in her lap. A
tear trailed down her cheek as she whispered, “Ranma, I’m so sorry. I miss you so much.”
Nabiki leaned back in her
executive chair, photo frame clasped to her breast and thought of the changes
this one individual had wrought in her life by his mere absence. ‘Over thirty years ago’, she thought to
herself, ‘nearly thirty-three years since Ranma committed suicide in despair
over my sister Akane’s wedding to a boy
she met while she was going to a different college than what Ranma was
attending’. She remembered how Ranma’s
folks had almost successfully hidden the news of Ranma’s death. They had told a few of Ranma’s college
friends that he was going on a long training journey and provided no details,
leaving their construction to the rumor mills.
Nabiki remembered how she had
found out the truth. About a month after
the wedding, she had wanted to see how Ranma was taking the news. She had discounted the rumors she had heard
especially after she had talked with Ranma’s landlord. He was grateful that the Saotomes had
replaced the bloodstained tatami mats. With a chill in her heart she had then
checked the police records and found the truth.
Such a long time ago but she
remembered the heartbreak. She had cried
for hours. A transfer notice for Ranma’s
body that she had found in the file had led her to a private graveyard in a
small rural town in southern
Her musings were interrupted
by the telephone; it was one of her thousands of executive volunteers; men and
women who gave a few hours of their time each week and kept her organization
successful. She now raised several
billion yen every year for charity and turned an amazing 95% of it directly
over to those who needed it. Her modest
salary and tightly controlled overhead costs were a matter of public record as
she kept all her financial records as open files on the Internet. It was really such a little thing to her, but
it caused the other charities to grind their teeth in frustration and made
becoming a volunteer worker for her a thing of honor. The call was brief - A reminder of a dinner date
for a fundraiser tonight. The nearest
thing to a social life
that she had anymore.
She grinned wryly at the
photos as she set the frame back on her desk.
She remarked under her breath, “Ranma, you changed my life! After I found out about your death, control
over other people became one of the last things I wanted. Instead I wanted to help other people and do
it in your name. It was a way of
carrying on a piece of your life and keeping your memory alive somehow.” Nabiki chuckled, “Now, I make more money
every year than I dreamed was possible and give it almost all away . . .
something else I would have thought was impossible for me to ever do.”
Nabiki heard a slight noise
behind her and turned to see a young woman with nearly unearthly beauty standing
there though she had not heard the door open.
Nabiki glanced at her daily planner and saw that she was scheduled to
meet with a reporter for an interview about her life. Nabiki smiled warmly, “Hi, sorry I didn’t
hear you come in. Can I get you any
refreshments?”
The girl smiled back and
said, “No thanks” She then observed, and “I was watching you as you looked at
the pictures. You seemed so sad and I
was wondering, if you could have any wish, but just
one wish, what would it be?”
Nabiki glanced back at the
photos, “A wish? If I could have just one wish, what would it be? I answered that question for myself decades
ago and have prayed it a thousand times these past thirty years. I’d wish that ‘I’d somehow been able to save
Ranma’s life and have his children’. But
that’s impos . . .”
Nabiki was interrupted by a
flash of brilliant light and as she drifted into unconsciousness in the glare,
she heard the girl exult, “Wish granted.”
* * * * *
Nabiki picked herself up off
the floor and looked around in confusion.
She started checking things off to herself, “Yep, lost it finally; back
in my own room at my childhood home, yep.
Seems like I’m a teenager again, oh shit. And I’m wearing the dress I hated the most in
the entire world, my bridesmaid dress for Akane’s wedding. Yep,
definitely lost it to grief finally.
Odd, the mirror shows that strange girl’s reflection instead of mine,
yep. Bonkers. Oh well, I hope they find somebody to take
over the organization for me and they put me in a nice home.”
The girl leaned out of the
mirror and lightly tweaked Nabiki’s nose, totally derailing her train of
thought. “Nabiki, your wish was granted
so that you have the opportunity to make things happen differently. Right now, you remember them happening in the
past—but now they haven’t happened yet.
But because of the good you’ve done in so many other people’s lives,
Kami-sama gave you this wish. But he
only gave you the ‘opportunity’ to make things different; you have to DO the
rest. A couple of words of advice--run,
don’t walk or knock--as Ranma’s time is short.”
With that her image faded out, leaving a startled Nabiki staring at her
own teenaged visage.
Abruptly, decades of
experience came to her rescue and she snapped out of her confused daze. With a shriek, she kicked off her heels,
grabbed some flats and her purse and fled the house at a flat-out run, ignoring
questions flung at her by her family, who were in the midst of preparing for
Akane’s wedding in a few hours.
“Taxi, taxi!” yelled Nabiki
at the first such vehicle she saw.
Fortunately it was empty, beginning the fastest trip to the university
that Nabiki had ever made.
At the university train stop,
Nabiki paused a few seconds to get her bearings, trying to recall where Ranma
lived and the fastest route there. She
saw Shampoo get off her bike to make a delivery and quickly grabbed the bike
while Shampoo was inside the apartment building. She heard a shriek of dismay behind her but
only pedaled harder, quickly losing Shampoo in the twisting streets.
Nabiki dumped Shampoo’s bike
at the police box on the corner near Ranma’s apartment and quickly ran up the
street a short way before tearing up the stairs into the building. Huffing and gasping for breath, Nabiki made
her way up the two flights of stairs and momentarily stopped outside Ranma’s
door.
Nabiki opened the door,
grateful that it was unlocked. She quickly entered and looked around for Ranma,
hoping she wasn’t too late. Her eyes suddenly widened as she saw Ranma facing
away from her, carefully dressed in white ceremonial clothing, pouring
purifying water over a tanto blade held in his right
hand.
“Ranma, NNOOO!” Nabiki
screamed as she launched herself and grabbed his right hand in both of
hers. Ranma tried to twist his hand out
of her grip but she held on with desperate strength. As they wrestled for the blade, it sliced a
shallow but long and very bloody cut in Nabiki’s scalp just above her forehead
hairline. As the brown locks of cut hair
cascaded between them and blood covered her face, Nabiki only moaned and held
on for dear life, her dear Ranma’s life.
Ranma stared at Nabiki’s
bloody face and quit struggling with her for the blade. In shock, he slowly released the tanto and let it fall to the floor between them. In a flash, Nabiki grabbed it and threw it
across the room, where it imbedded itself into the wall. A small drop of blood made its way down the
blade and slowly traced a path down the wall.
Nabiki threw herself into
Ranma’s arms, embracing him and sobbing, “Ranma, don’t leave me again. Please no.
Please no, don’t do that again. I
couldn’t live without you a second time.
I swear that there will be two bodies on this floor if you don’t listen
to me!” She sobbed and held him in a
grip that rivaled Shampoo’s glomp as she ignored both
her revised hair cut and the bloody cut that was staining both their clothes.
In shock, Ranma could only
put his arms around Nabiki and loosely hold her even as he tried to disengage
her. Finally, he pulled her back from
him as her desperate strength ebbed.
“Nabiki, what are you doing here?
Kami, but I’m sorry about the cut.
I’m really, really sorry. It
doesn’t look too bad but it’s bleeding a lot and you might need stitches.”
As Ranma recovered from his
shock, he seemed to realize what had just happened, sagged back and fumed at
her, “Damn it, it’s your own fault! It’s
my life, my honor! What right do you
have to interfere?” He yelled this last question at her and continued “I’m
going to do this anyway! You can’t stop me;
no TENDOU has the right to stop me, not now.”
This last was said with a catch in his voice as tears brimmed
his eyes and emotion choked his throat.
“I don’t want to be a Tendou,”
Nabiki softly said. “I want to be a
Saotome and I want to marry you,” and clearly drew the battle lines so that
even someone as clueless as him could not mistake her intentions.
Ranma snorted, “Yeah,
right! How much do you have riding on
this? I’ll bet this is just another
scam.”
Nabiki’s face blanched as she
absorbed the insults. “I’ve got a lot
riding on this; just my entire future life, and yours too. Ranma, there’s no scam, there is just
me.” She hung her head as tears welled
up. “Ranma, I’m sorry. I know I’m not much to look at. Not in the things that really matter to you;
the non-physical stuff.”
She had been sitting back on
her heels where Ranma had pushed her.
Now she leaned forward, cocked her head slightly and looked directly
into his eyes. “I know it’s not much, but
all that I am, all that I ever hope to be, I offer to you. No conditions. No demands.
Just me.
For as long as you’ll let me, I’ll stay with you. Please.”
She murmured again as tears retraced their tracks down her cheeks,
“Please Ranma, live. Please Ranma, let
me live too.”
Ranma looked disbelievingly
back at her. He shook his head violently
in denial of her plea. “No, NO! You have
no right to ask that of me. Not after
the way you have treated me. Not after what Akane’s done too!” He paused as a memory surfaced, “I thought
Akane was getting married about now.
Weren’t you supposed to be a bridesmaid?”
Nabiki was grateful for the
distracting question. Maybe she could
convince him if she could keep him talking.
At least he wasn’t attempting to retrieve the tanto. “I hate this dress.” She offered, “I hate it because it’s a
bridesmaid’s dress for the shame that Akane’s wedding represents. It deserves to have Tendou blood shed on it.”
Nabiki continued, “I’m glad
to be here instead of at Akane’s wedding.
You are so much more important to me than her feelings even. Ranma, please, please believe me. You are so much more important to me than any
of my family. You really are my life.”
Ranma shook his head again,
but still he reached out and touched her forehead drawing her closer as she bowed
her head and allowed him to look closer at the wound just above her hair
line. “Nabiki, I’m really sorry about
the cut. I should not have permitted you
to be hurt.” He sighed, “Typical Ranma
stuff again I guess. As usual, it’s my
fault even if I never wanted it to happen. At least it seems to have stopped
bleeding.”
Nabiki reached up and clasped
his hand between both of hers, brought it down to her lips and kissed his
hand. “No Ranma, this isn’t your
fault. I would rather shed my blood instead
of you shedding yours.”
Ranma tried to pull his hand
from hers, but she clasped it tightly to her cheek as she continued to
cry. Flustered, he mumbled, “Please
don’t cry. Don’t do this to me. Please don’t make it hurt more. I don’t need your pity and Akane can keep
your damned dojo. I don’t want it or you
or her!” With this he managed to jerk
his hand free and swiftly made his way to where the tanto
was imbedded in the wall.
“No Ranma” shrieked Nabiki,
“please no,” as she clumsily rose to her feet to follow him.
But Ranma made no effort to
grasp the hilt. He was tracing a finger
down the wall paralleling the path Nabiki’s blood had traced on the wall. “Why Nabiki? This isn’t the Nabiki I met a few days ago
between classes. This isn’t the Nabiki who
sold my services the few weeks she was engaged to me. That Nabiki wouldn’t have done any of
this. Who are you really?” Ranma turned a measuring eye to her as he
assessed her, looking closer now, as if seeking openings in her disguise that
would give him a clue as to her true identity.
As she walked toward him, he
noted the additional poise she seemed to possess. Her eyes met his with undisguised warmth
instead of the chilled aloofness she previously had exhibited to him. “No, you aren’t the Nabiki I knew. Who are you?
Why are you here?”
Nabiki stopped next to him
and dropped her hands to her sides as he avoided her tentative attempt to touch
him. “The Nabiki you knew died when I
saw the Tanto in your hands. She was a hollow shell who would sacrifice
anything for a semblance of control.”
“Nah, I don’t buy that. The old Nabiki would have sold tickets maybe,
but . . . nah, I don’t buy that story.
It doesn’t explain why you are even here, why you would skip out on
Akane’s wedding. It just doesn’t make
sense for you to hurt your sister that way no matter how much you might
disagree with her.” Ranma grimaced self
depreciatingly, “Not that you ever considered me much of a catch for anybody,
let alone your family.”
“Ranma, I . . .”
“No Nabiki, I’ve learned not
to trust anything you say. Maybe you do
always strictly tell the truth. But you
are the most skilled liar with half truths and misrepresented truths that I’ve
ever encountered.” Ranma sighed as he
took another step back from her. “I don’t
know who you really are.” He hesitated, then continued, “I wish I knew, I wish I could trust you but
. . . I just don’t understand. Look,
whoever you really are, this isn’t going to work so just go away.”
As Ranma turned to walk
toward the kitchen, Nabiki quickly blocked his way with her outspread
arms. “Ranma, damn it Ranma, how am I to
convince you?”
“The truth, the WHOLE truth
usually does wonders,” Ranma smirked.
“But how could I ever believe that of you?”
“Oo
. . k, I guess I could try
that. You of all people should have no
problem believing in magic." She
sighed, “The story is kind of long, how about we sit
down while I tell it?”
“The
truth?”
“I promise, the truth, the
whole damned bitter truth.” Ranma
flinched back from the bitterness evident in Nabiki’s voice as she said this.
“Ok,” Ranma replied. “Let me get a wash cloth and some water and
I’ll clean your face as we talk. That blood all over your face don’t exactly look all that
cute.”
“Baka, thank you, I’d
appreciate that, “Nabiki answered as she moved toward the couch in the sparsely
furnished front room of the apartment.
Nabiki settled herself on the
couch. As she heard Ranma rummaging
about in the kitchen, she slowly began to massage her temples. She thought to herself, ‘I was doing this
earlier wasn’t I? Earlier? Do I mean about four hours ago or do I mean
thirty-three years from now? What do I
say? The truth, no matter how
unbelievable, can’t be worse than trying to weave a story he’s sure to see
through.’ She sighed to herself, “Yes,
the truth. It’s time for the truth.”
“I’m glad to hear that!”
Ranma startled her as he appeared suddenly beside her.
Ranma seated himself beside
her and gently began to clean her face.
“So what is this truth?” He
asked.
Nabiki paused and touched his
face tenderly with her fingertips before answering. “The truth, the truth is that it’s not been a
few days since ‘I’ last saw you. It’s
been over thirty years since THIS Nabiki last saw you. No, I’m not lying and no, I’m not from the
future, not at least in the conventional sense of time travel.”
Ranma paused, his faced
tightened as if to dispute her but she continued. “I promised Ranma, the truth, the whole
damned bitter truth, and it was bitter indeed,” she emphasized.
Nabiki dropped her hands to
her lap but kept her eyes on his face, drinking in the sight that she had so
missed for so many years. “Ranma, this
morning, I mean in MY morning; I was sitting at my desk eating some birthday
cake. It was the day after my
fifty-second birthday. For me, that was
about four hours ago.”
She tilted her head and again
reached out to caress his face. He
captured her hand and she was content to just let him hold her hand. “I was given the chance to change my past. In my past, you were successful in committing
suicide. You reclaimed your lost honor
but both families ended up being destroyed.”
Anticipating the objection
before he could voice it, she placed the fingers of her other hand on his
lips. “No Ranma, the
fault was not yours. The entire
fault lay with my family. All of us,
even Kasumi, shared in the blame and all of us paid dearly.” With tears starting again she emphasized,
“You were the only one blameless in this whole affair. Clueless, insensitive and sometimes a jerk,
yes, but blameless nonetheless.”
She caressed his face as she
continued. “Your folks managed to cover
your death pretty well. It took me over
a month to find your grave. Your
family’s grave, as both your parents joined you in death just days after your
funeral.”
“Akane’s wedding was very
beautiful and they seemed to be off to a wonderful start. I resolved to not tell anyone about your
deaths as I didn’t want to destroy my sister’s happiness.” Nabiki smiled sadly, “I do love my family,
but I came to hate what they had done to you.
No, not just they, me too.” She took a deep breath and blinked back the
tears again. “Eventually Akane’s temper
destroyed her marriage. Unfortunately,
he wasn’t as tough as you and she put him in intensive care, in a coma that lasted
for almost a year. The authorities
couldn’t pin it on her definitely, but his family took steps to gain custody of
Akane’s son and her husband divorced her soon after he recovered.”
Nabiki grimaced. “I think I’ve actually seen more of my nephew
and his daughter than Akane has. Akane’s
life now centers on the classes she teaches at the dojo. She claims to be happy, but Kasumi says that
Akane cries herself to sleep most nights even though almost thirty years have
passed now. I mean then or will have. . . whatever.”
“That’s sad,” Ranma
whispered. “I wouldn’t have wanted that
for her, no matter how much she hurt me.”
“I know, Ranma. We all knew that. Not that it made much difference.” Nabiki sighed and continued with her story. “Remember, I said that I kept the news of
your death a secret until I felt it was time to reveal it? Five years!
Five DAMNED years before anyone even asked! I couldn’t believe it. It was just after Akane’s divorce that Kasumi
casually commented about whether or not you were still unmarried.”
“I was ssoooo
pissed!” she spat. “Kasumi turned to me
and asked if I knew where you were, so I gave her my most pleasant smile and
said, ‘Why yes, Kasumi, I visited Ranma last week. Would you like a photo?’ When she said yes, I tossed a photo of the
grave markers on the table and went upstairs to take a nap.” Nabiki sighed, “I locked the door and refused
to speak to them the rest of the day.”
“Kasumi . . . Kasumi was OK,
wasn’t she?” asked Ranma with an edge of worry in his voice. “She was always so nice. I wouldn’t have wanted anything sad to happen
to her.”
“The only thing that happened
to Kasumi was that nothing happened to her.”
Nabiki lowered her eyes to her hands that were now both in her lap. “Daddy sort of fell apart after Akane got
married. There was no way to join the
families together, not after Akane had dishonored you so, and the death of his
dream was really hard on him. Taking care
of him became Kasumi’s life. . . and her trap. She had no life of her own. She had no life, no spark, just a daily
existence; day after day.”
Nabiki looked up again at
Ranma and scooted closer to him. This
proved unfortunate as she spilled the basin of water and triggered Ranma’s
curse. “Me,” she paused and grabbed the
redheaded girl in a hug, “Of all of us, I was the one who was changed the most
by your death.”
Nabiki paused again as Ranma
disengaged herself but allowed Nabiki to hold both her hands in hers. “I cried for hours when I found about your
death. I cried more in the following
days too. I cried away the old
Nabiki. I learned that there was nothing
I could do; no measure of control that I could exert that would change what had
happened. All that was left was the
memories of what we had collectively done to you to make your life
miserable. But even more important,
there were the memories of what you had accomplished in your short life.”
Nabiki grinned at the other
girl. “Even thirty years after your
passing, you were still vividly remembered.
There were young warriors trying to emulate your exploits.”
“You’re putting me on,” grinned Ranma back at her.
“Nope, promise,” Nabiki
swore. “Ranma, I can’t fully explain
what happened to me. It wasn’t
instantaneous, but it happened over the months, maybe years after I learned of
your death. You cared about other people, it was part of your martial arts
code, it was part of who you were. I wanted to become like you, to keep your
memory alive. I began to care about
people too. Such a simple thing, but it
changed me completely.” She sighed, “Odd
how it turned out. My dream was to
become a billionaire by the time I was thirty.
My reality was to found one of the top charity organizations in
“Nabiki,” Ranma paused and
continued hesitantly, “This is a sorta interesting
story, but it doesn’t explain how you got here.
I mean, I know you promised to tell the truth, but still . . . I mean .
. .”
“I know,
it’s hard to believe.” Nabiki added, “I
experienced it and I’m not sure I really believe it. Though I hope it’s true with all of my
being. If this is a dream, then I don’t
ever want to wake again.”
Ranma smirked and reached
over to pinch both their rumps at the same time. “Well, we both jumped so I don’t think it’s a
dream for either of us.” Suddenly
realizing where she had touched the other girl, she quickly began apologizing. “Look Nabiki, I didn’t really mean to touch
you like that, I mean I did, but I really didn’t. Oh, man!”
Gaily laughing, Nabiki
reassured the other girl. “Oh Ranma,
I’ve missed you so much. Little things
like that, how I’ve missed them.”
Ranma sighed in relief that
Nabiki wasn’t mad at her as Nabiki added, “How I got here is simple in the
telling and almost impossible to believe.
I was my office like I said before, when this girl was suddenly there
with me. I thought she was a reporter
there to interview me. She asked me
about your picture that I keep on my desk and wondered what I would say if I
could have a wish, any wish but only one.
I had to laugh at that. Long ago
I had wished to save your life and marry you.
I had prayed that particular wish a thousand times over the lonely
years, so it was on my lips before I even thought about it.” She added shyly,
“At least part of my wish is coming true.
I prevented your suicide. Now all
I have to do is marry you.”
Nabiki shook her head in
exasperation. “I really, really should have asked who she was. I think she was a Kami as the next thing I
know she says, ‘Wish granted,’ and everything fades out in a blaze of brilliant
white light. Then, I’m back in my old
bedroom about thirty-three years in the past.
That was about five hours ago now.
The Kami was still with me, well kind of, I mean she was in the mirror
and told me I had to hurry to save your life.
So here I am. I hurried and still
almost didn’t make it.”
Ranma quietly looked at
her. “But why? Why are you here?”
Nabiki returned her level
gaze. “Because I love
you. That was one of the things I
learned over the years. That was why
your death had such a profound impact on my life. I think that was also one of the reasons that
I didn’t object very strongly when Akane broke off your engagement. I must have wanted you for myself. I just didn’t know it at the time.”
“No” Ranma repeated, “No, I
don’t belong to you or any Tendou. If I
chose to live, then I will choose who to share my life with too.” He paused and added softly, “If I were to
choose to live . . .” Tears welled up in Ranma’s eyes. “Nabiki, if that is who
you really are, it hurts. Kami, but it
still really hurts.” Ranma placed her
hand on Nabiki’s shoulder, “Nabiki, I’ve GOT to do this, it’s the right thing
to do and it just hurts too much not too.
Please don’t stop me. If I have
to, I’ll just tie you up and put you in the bedroom so you can’t
interfere. Please don’t, OK?”
Nabiki looked into his eyes
and slowly, almost woodenly, nodded.
Ranma rose and went into the
kitchen as Nabiki silently followed. Ranma
chose another blade from those available; somehow Ranma couldn’t stand the
thought of touching the tanto again, not with
Nabiki’s blood on it. Ranma laid the
knife on the table and turned the hot tap on.
When the water ran hot enough, she poured a glass of the hot water over
her head to regain his natural form again.
Ranma seated himself again,
knife in hand. He was surprised when
Nabiki seated herself opposite him, tanto in
hand. “Nabiki, what are you doing? What are you doing with that tanto?”
“Ranma” she quietly answered,
“Kami-sama himself gave me a chance to save your life. I wasn’t worthy. I failed.
My life is forfeit also.” With
tears in her eyes, she asked. “Ranma,
I’m scared. What if I don’t do this
right, I don’t want to suffer. I’ve
already suffered for thirty-three years.
I don’t think I can stand the thought of slowly bleeding to death or
maybe even worse, NOT bleeding to death.
I would have no choice but to try again.
Ranma, can I go first? Will you
please be my second? Make sure I don’t
suffer, please?”
Ranma’s face slowly drained
of all color as an expression of disbelief came over his features. Nabiki wasn’t bluffing. Not when she asked to go first. That was not a bluff.
She looked up at him. “I
can’t prevent you from doing this, Ranma.
You also can stop me right now. Yeah, you can stop me now but not after
you’re gone. But Ranma, I WILL NOT
survive you again. This I swear!”
Ranma laid down the knife he
had been holding. Wearily he passed a
hand over his face. “Nabiki, no, I won’t
be your second. I don’t want you to do
this. It’s my honor, not yours. Please knock this crap off. I don’t believe you.”
They sat there for long
moments merely looking at each other before Nabiki spoke. “Ranma, now what do we do? I promised to tell you the truth. I have.
And I will do as I have said.”
“Nabiki? I can’t
convince you otherwise?”
“Can I convince you?”
“No, Nabiki.” Ranma hesitated and renewed the
argument. “Nabiki, it’s dumb for you to
do this based on my decision. I mean,
it’s MY decision. Not yours and so you
shouldn’t hold yourself responsible for what I decide.” Ranma smiled as he said this, he figured he
had a telling argument.
“I don’t understand, Ranma”
Nabiki asked with a quizzical expression.
“Isn’t that exactly what you are doing concerning Akane’s decision?”
Ranma’s hand slapped his
forehead in both frustration and exasperation.
“NO, it’s not the same, it’s different because . . . because, well, just
because!”
Ranma looked over at Nabiki
and noted how tired she looked. Not to
mention that her clothes would probably never be wearable again. He let out a deep breath. “I see that we aren’t going to get anywhere
tonight. You look like you could use a
soak. I don’t have any girl clothes that
will fit you, but you can use my robe if you want. That OK?”
As she hesitated, Ranma
reassured her. “I promise not to kill
myself while you’re in the bath.”
With a smile Nabiki replied,
“If I thought I could do it, I’d live the rest of my life from the bathtub.” She grinned at his credulous face. “After
all, Ranma Saotome always keeps his word.”
“Baw
Hawwwaw” Ranma nearly fell over laughing at this
exchange. He just waved her over to the
bath as he went to his room to get his robe.
In the outer bath, Nabiki
slowly undressed. Naked, she laid the
bloody dress over the clothes hamper and then fumbled in the medicine cabinet
for some aspirin.
As she leaned over the sink,
Ranma opened the door, fully expecting her to be in the bath by now. He got a very full view. His eyes bugged out and he stuttered, “Sorry,
sorry, I didn’t mean to walk in, I didn’t see anything, sorry.” He tossed the robe on the floor and started
to back out when Nabiki turned to face him.
He stopped when he saw the obvious pain she was feeling. His apprehension vanished in the face of his
worry over her. “Nabs, you OK?”
“No Ranma,” she replied. “I’m afraid, I hurt and I hope I don’t
faint.”
“Nabiki, anything I can do?”
“Ranma, would . . . would
you, would you bathe me? You don’t have
to take a bath with me, but could you help me? Please? I promise to be good.” She reluctantly sighed this last phrase.
“Nabs? You sure?” He added,
“I mean, that would mean ‘touching’ you.”
Nabiki looked down at
herself, ‘she had no modesty at all with him’, she
mused. She chuckled to herself, ‘thirty
years of erotic dreams about him did have some impact, I guess’.
She looked up at him, “Ranma,
I don’t have anything you haven’t seen a hundred times. Nothing new that you
haven’t already touched on yourself.
Ranma, I really do love you. I
don’t mind you seeing me naked or touching me any way you want. But, for now, I hurt and need some help. Will you do that for me? Whatever you decide, it’s OK, Ranma. But I could use the help
and maybe we could talk some more too.”
Without waiting for his
answer, she turned to the door of the bath; turned and stumbled. He caught her before she fell and raised a
single eyebrow as he looked into her face.
She blushed
bright red, partially from his arms on her bare skin, but mostly from
embarrassment that he might have misunderstood.
“Ranma, I’m so sorry. I really
did slip. It wasn’t a ploy to get you to
do this. I’m so embarrassed; I’m trying
so hard not to manipulate you like I used to do.” Tears began to leak out of her wide-open
eyes. “You don’t have to do this, I’m
sorry.”
Ranma grinned at her, his
first truly humorous grin that evening.
“Now that I’ve got my hands on you, I’m not so sure I want to let go of
you. What do you say to that?” as he
grinned lecherously at her.
“Damn!” exclaimed
Nabiki. “I already promised to be
good. Ranma, will you release me from
that promise? I’ll show you why I’m
asking that.” She grinned. “With a
little luck, I might even get pregnant tonight,” she leered back at him.
Ranma almost dropped her to
the floor. As it was, he settled to the
floor with her still in his arms, her legs casually spread, as she sat
cross-legged in his lap looking him levelly in the eyes. “Nabiki! That isn’t funny!”
Nabiki reached up and grabbed
both his ears and pulled him into a deep kiss.
He faltered then hesitantly put his arms around her and kissed her
back. Nabiki eventually tore herself
from the kiss and smiled warmly at him.
“No, it’s not funny. But I was
serious though. I would be honored to
have your child, with or without marriage, I would be honored. However,” she sighed wistfully, “I did
promise to be good and I really do need a bath.
Carry me?” She asked whimsically.
Ranma sat there stunned for a
few minutes, his eyes absently roving over her.
She merely sighed in pleasure
as if his eyes were actually caressing her.
Ranma suddenly shook his head
as if clearing a fog. “Ok, Nabs, you
win. I’ll help you bathe, but I’m not
getting undressed!”
‘Nabs’ nodded and put her
arms around his neck so he could pick her up.
Ranma sat Nabiki on the
washing stool and hesitantly stood there.
Nabiki closed her eyes and sagged in on herself, seemingly ignoring him
and the bath as well. Ranma filled a wash
pail with warm water and gently began to scrub her. She obediently lifted her arms, stood and
turned for his ministrations as if she were a small child. Not once did she open her eyes. She had hopes of being a Saotome, she kept
her promises too.
Ranma found it easy to focus
on Nabiki’s need for help in bathing as Nabiki made an effort to make it
impersonal by keeping her eyes closed.
At the same time, he could not help noticing just how beautiful she
really was. And it felt so, so . . .
awesome to touch her like this. Somehow,
she became more defined as a person in her own right. Before, she was just Nabiki, Akane’s
conniving sister, one of many obstacles to be avoided or ‘negotiated’ in his
troubled life. Now he was aware that she
was wholly a woman, a woman who had offered everything she had to offer. She had offered it to him; to him,
unconditionally. Somehow that was
different from what both Ukyou and Shampoo wanted and offered. With them, he felt as if he were a trophy or
prize, no particular value in who he was as a person.
As he scooped her up in his
arms and settled her into the water with her head in his lap, he thought about
it some more. He sat in the tub, fully
dressed and gently washed her hair, being careful to not reopen the scabbed
over wound. He ministered to her as he
mused to himself. Both Ukyou and Shampoo
praised his skills and took advantage of his naiveté and lack of social
skills. For that matter, so did Nabiki
and with a vengeance too! Well, the old
Nabiki did. Not this one. This one seemed to respect the person he was
inside. She wanted to know that
person. She made no bones about wanting
that person with all her being either.
THAT really, really scared him, but at the same time . . . he could also
deal with it. It didn’t threaten
him. She didn’t threaten him. Ranma suddenly realized that he knew, KNEW
without any doubt that she loved him, loved him as he
was unconditionally. Unconditionally, it
was a term he hadn’t understood before.
It felt humbling somehow to know that the woman asleep in his arms would
do anything for him, well anything except let him die alone.
Asleep! Ranma just about
panicked. Now what was he supposed to
do? He had counted on her to get herself
to bed so that he could change out of his wet clothing. How was he supposed to carry her there in his
sopping wet clothes? Suddenly
suspicious, he glanced at her face and whispered, “You better really be
asleep.” Her even breathing did not even
pause and her face remained relaxed, without any sign of a blush at being
caught. Sigh. ‘She must really be
asleep,’ he thought to himself.
Balancing her head on his
legs, Ranma carefully disrobed in the tub.
He picked her up and carried her into his bedroom, catching up a couple
of towels as he went. Ranma loosely draped
her arms about his neck as he sat in a chair with her balanced in his lap and carefully toweled her dry. At a loss for pajamas, Ranma finally pulled
out one of his soft old red silk shirts and slipped it over her as she laid on the bed. Then
he gently tucked her in and went to finish his own bath and sleep on the couch
though it was barely past sundown.
As he closed the door, Nabiki
slightly opened one eye and thought to herself.
‘How the hell could Akane have given that
up. Kami, he’s gentle, honorable and a
real hunk. Damn, I wish I wasn’t alone
in bed just now. Sigh, damn that promise.
Wait-a-minute, that was just for the bath! I’ll just get up . . . I’ll.’ A soft snore filled the room as emotional
exhaustion claimed her finally.
As Ranma cleaned up the bath
and front room, he thought to himself.
‘Was she really asleep? Sigh, I
almost wanted to crawl into bed with her.
Maybe I really am a pervert like Akane always said.’ He picked up the knife and tanto where they had dropped them on the floor. He looked up at the opposite wall where blood
marked the hole the tanto
had made when Nabiki had thrown it. With
a weary shake of his head, he resigned himself being alive another day and
cleaned the tanto.
Ranma sat on the couch in his
nightclothes as he watched TV. It was
still too early in the evening for him to go to sleep and anyway the excitement
of the day just wouldn’t let him get to sleep.
A couple of hours passed as he watched shows he really had no interest
in.
Ranma was just starting to
doze off when he felt a soft hand on his cheek.
“Can I watch TV too?” Nabiki softly asked.
Ranma gazed up in awe at her
standing there above him. He noted that
the shirt was not really long enough and she really needed to wear panties with
it. With a deepening blush as he
realized his thought train, Ranma sat up and motioned for her to sit next to
him.
Nabiki slid onto the couch
and gently took his blanket and wrapped it about the both of them as she
casually leaned against him. “What’s showing? Say, that’s our university gymnastics team
isn’t it? Who are they competing against?
Ranma sighed, “Yeah, they’re
competing against
With tears in his eyes he
faced Nabiki, “Please, Nabiki, please let me go honorably. I hurt too much to stay, but I can’t accept
your death as part of the cost. Please
give me a way out so that I don’t hurt so much.”
Nabiki watched the
competition as the athletes began to warm up.
Well, she tried to watch, but tears made everything so blurry. Something nagged her memory about what she
was seeing. She focused on the program,
ignoring Ranma as there was nothing she could say or do for him just now other
than snuggle a little closer and whisper, “I’m sorry Ranma.”
As one of the Chinese
athletes made his appearance in a rather distinctive costume, the memory of
this event, so long in her past, returned in full force. She had lost a BUNDLE on this match; she’d
never forget the results. She chuckled
to herself. ‘Should she?’
Her thoughts were interrupted
by Ranma. “Nabiki, look, maybe there is
some way to resolve this impasse, a competition or something; something that
would allow honor to be met on both sides?”
Ranma’s meaning was clear. ‘Nabs,
set it up so that one of us has to give – preferably you lose so I can die in
peace.’
“Ok Ranma,
but only if you are as truly willing to accept defeat as you expect me to be.” She looked him
levelly in the eyes. “On
your honor, no second thoughts or chances. No hesitation.”
A suddenly nervous Ranma
abruptly recalled that this was Nabiki, the mercenary, the bookie who had
supported her family for nearly ten years.
“Ahh, it depends on what you’re
proposing. I won’t accept being
tricked, not in something this important to us both.” As she raised an eyebrow at him, he quickly
added, “if the competition is fair, and I lose, you
have my word that I’ll pay up.”
Nabiki nodded. She seemed lost in thought. “How about this Ranma, we negotiate the terms
beforehand. One of us chooses a sporting
event and if the other agrees to it then the second person has the privilege of
selecting the side she or he wants. That
work for you?”
Ranma carefully thought it
over. Yeah, his chances were as good as
hers, especially if he got to pick the team.
That meant she got to pick the event though. He grinned. ‘But only if he agreed. Gottcha!’ He thought happily to himself. “Ok, I think maybe that is about as fair an
offer as I’ve ever heard you give. So
what are the terms you were thinking of?”
Nabiki cutely pursed her lips
together as she thought. ‘I’m going to
win. How far can I push him on this? Hummmm, might as well go for broke.’ She looked up at him, “We both aren’t going
to like the terms, you know that, don’t you?”
At Ranma’s nod, she
continued, “Ok, what do you want if I lose?”
Ranma didn’t answer
immediately. His college study efforts
were showing through. “First, you will
be my second. Then you will do
everything you can do to keep my parents alive, even if you must offer to be
their daughter, their OBEDIENT daughter.
Then you will also do what you can to make your sister’s lives happy
instead of the misery you described earlier.
By the way, I still don’t believe you.
Oh, one last item, you will also marry before your thirtieth
birthday.” Ranma figured that with all
his demands, some he considered outrageous, he had some negotiating room to
counter Nabiki’s demands whatever they were.
Nabiki’s grin nearly split
her face. Yessss, go for broke indeed! She said though, “humm, those are rather significant obligations. Well, let me think a moment.” She paused, getting ready to go for the
kill. “First, you live, you live until
fate demands your hide and even then you fight tooth and nail before being
defeated. Second, we get married in a
small civil ceremony tomorrow. Oh yes, you make every effort to get me pregnant
tonight. I want lots of babies by you,
so that will be an ongoing obligation for the rest of our lives.” She grinned up at him, “well, you got the
‘balls’ to call my bet?”
Ranma sat there frozen in
shock. ‘Shit, she was very
serious!’ He thought about it. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t give on the
first item any more than he would. So,
if he lost, that meant, “Ah, Nabiki, about the marriage . . . “
He got no further as she
said, “Ranma, I want you to live. And I
mean LIVE, not just exist as a shell, enduring life. This is a package deal. And I’m the package.”
Ranma sat back again. His feeling of foreboding was back, he had
the thought that he was forgetting something critical. Then again, it occurred to him that losing
this particular bet wouldn’t be all that bad either. However, all he said was, “Ok, Nabs, you’ve
got a bet. Now what do we bet on?”
For an answer, Nabiki just
pointed to the TV. “That’s the
competition I choose, Ranma. Our
university against
Ranma looked in disbelief at
Nabiki. He thought to himself, ‘She
can’t be serious. We both know
“Ranma, I’m giving you what
you wanted; an honorable resolution to the dilemma between us. Do you accept it? If so, do you agree to this match, and on
which side do you place your heart?” Nabiki asked.
Ranma sadly replied, “I agree
to this match, Nabiki. I believe
Tears welled up in a constant
flow from Nabiki’s eyes. She had been
right. His choice had hurt. She had offered everything she had and he had
chosen death instead. She softly sighed.
When
Stung by the sharpness of her
answer, Ranma sat back and replied tartly.
“I gave my word.” They sat back
to watch the match, but just before it actually started, when Ranma got up to
get some refreshments for them; Nabiki rushed to the phone and placed several
bets of her own on the match using her little black book to recall the
numbers. Each time she bet considerably
more than she had to cover it. But her
reputation was good with the other bookies; so much so that the odds actually
shifted a bit solely based on her bets.
The match ended just after
Before he could say words
they would both regret, Nabiki placed her hand over his mouth. “I told you I came from the future. I told you I had already experienced all
these events. I told you, I told
you. It’s not my fault that you chose to
not believe me. I didn’t hold back
anything. Well, anything other than the
final score of this event and I let you choose your side. But I told you I knew what would happen. That should have given you a clue that the
obvious choice was probably not the right one.”
She looked him questioningly in the eye.
“So, what now?
Is your word and honor real Saotome, or is it just another panda mask?”
Ranma snarled at the obvious
reference to his father’s notorious questionable honor. As he looked at her tear streaked face, he
thought, ‘my first assessment was correct.
She was serious; she was going to fight me with everything she had. She gambled everything she held dear to
win. She gambled that I would forget
that she already knew parts of the future.’
He studied her face. ‘She’s scared!
Scared of the bedroom? No, she’s scared
that I’ll reject her even now!’
Ranma gently wiped the tears
from her face. He continued to caress
her cheeks softly. The thought occurred
to Ranma that he was actually kind of glad that he had lost, she was kind of
cute and she was being awfully nice.
Finally, Ranma leaned into her embrace and whispered, “You win, I fully
surrender . . . ‘dear’.”
If there was any chance he
could have misunderstood the seriousness of her intentions; that vanished when
she nuzzled his neck and whispered, “Carry me to bed, I fully intend to collect
on my earnings tonight, all night.”
* * * * *
Nabiki woke up again, this time
she decided to be considerate and let Ranma continue sleeping instead of waking
him again for what . . . the fifth time tonight. She didn’t really recall. But she knew she felt great. Poor guy, he looked so exhausted. She snickered slightly to herself as she
carefully got out of bed.
‘Owie,’
she whispered as she started moving around.
She hadn’t gotten off easy herself.
She grinned, remembering that her flexibility and enthusiasm had
surprised Ranma.
She dressed in Ranma’s
robe. She looked for some panties, but .
. . oh well; it wasn’t really surprising that he didn’t own any even if he was
a she sometimes.
She made her way to the
kitchen and was surprised to realize that it was nearly
She noticed a once familiar
couple making their way up the street and thoughtfully wondered what she needed
to do to preserve both Ranma’s happiness and their sanity in the face of this
pair of most obstinate of obstacles.
She sighed as she hurried to
prepare the stage for the next scene of this particular play.
* * * * *
Nodoka knocked on her son’s
door even as she tried the knob. Not
waiting for an answer, she quietly ushered herself and Genma into the small
apartment. Once
inside, she stopped, stunned.
“Nabiki!” she gasped in
surprise. “You’re here! Everybody was worried when you missed Akane’s
wedding. If it was on purpose, then that
was probably one of the rudest things that I could possibly envision.”
Nabiki smiled at them and
then knelt and momentarily bowed.
“Mother Nodoka, father Genma; I was here. I was here all yesterday and all night too. I had a choice of either preventing Ranma’s
suicide or being a bridesmaid at an event that stained the honor of both
families. Tell me truly, which path
would you have had me choose?”
Nodoka sank to her knees,
“Ranma, suicide?!? Please, he didn’t did he?”
Nabiki motioned Genma to sit
also. She waited patiently until he
reluctantly complied. “Ranma’s
fine. I’m the only one who shed any
blood yesterday” as she gestured to her head and the bloody bridesmaid
dress that was pinned to the floor with the tanto.
Both parents quickly arose to
inspect the dress and then knelt beside the girl to inspect the scabbed over
cut on her head. Anticipating their
question she added, “I got cut when I wrestled the tanto
blade out of Ranma’s hand.” She
continued, “I think it was the shock of seeing my blood that actually caused
him to come out of the trance he had put himself into. I’m not sure anything else would have
worked. I don’t regret the cut or the
blood.”
Nodoka wondered how to
delicately put this. “Hah, Nabiki, you
said you spent the night here. Aah, how did you convince my son to not commit suicide?”
Nabiki gave both parents an
earthly grin. “I seduced the baka, what
else would possibly have worked so effectively.” She patted her tummy. “With a little luck, we’ll even get a kid out
of it to keep him interested in life on a more permanent basis.”
Both parents promptly
fainted. The respite was short
however. On coming to, Genma made a
beeline for the phone and was talking to Soun for twenty minutes before he
noticed that the phone had been dead the entire time.
Nodoka just sat there with a
silly grin on her face the entire time.
About the time that Genma
noticed the phone was sabotaged, Nodoka started showing signs of sentience
again. Nabiki then arose, grabbed
Genma’s ear and dragged him to sit next to his wife. “Mother Nodoka, father Genma,” she started
and paused to get their attention.
“Mother Nodoka, father Genma, I only told you the conclusion to the
story. You really need to hear the whole
story. It is NOT pleasant, but you owe
it to both me and your son to hear me out.
Will you? Will you promise no
interruptions? I’m going to tell you the
whole bitter truth. I’m going to do this
because we all share a love for the same person, Ranma.”
They both nodded, but Nabiki
wasn’t satisfied. “Do you both give your
word of honor to listen and NOT act on what I am about to tell you until I give
you permission? Please believe me; I do
not make this request lightly. Do you?”
Nodoka turned her head and
narrowed her eyes at her husband. He
immediately noticed this sudden attention and his shoulders slumped as he
murmured, “yes, dear.”
Nodoka nodded to Nabiki and
said, “Yes Nabiki-chan, we both promise.”
Nabiki flushed at the by-play
and pet name. She slowly began to retell
her story and the events of last night.
These people had died of grief for Ranma. She felt that they deserved to know the
truth. It might make it easier for her
plans to happen if she had their active participation instead of unwilling
compliance.
Nabiki forgave them for their
interruptions as there was so much to tell and some details meant more to them
than to her. At the end of almost three
hours, she was nearly hoarse and both Saotomes were fuming.
“It took Soun five years to
even ask about ME. Why that ungrateful .
. . “ Nabiki was glad that Genma’s voice had trailed off as she was sure that
she would be obligated to take offense at the insults even if she agreed with
them.
Nodoka’s response was even
more frightening. She was slowly and carefully
sharpening her katana as she murmured, “How could they do that to Kasumi; Kasumi
of all people. How could Kasumi be so
oblivious almost to the point of insult?
I thought better of her than that, but still she didn’t deserve what
happened to her.”
Nabiki coughed lightly to
draw their attention back to herself. “Ranma and I are going to get married today
in a small civil ceremony as soon as he gets up. Now before you argue with me about this,
consider. If we have a formal ceremony,
we have to invite my family and I certainly don’t want to do that. Do you?”
Both parents sighed in defeat
as they acknowledged their agreement with her logic.
Nabiki continued after a few
moments. “That leaves only one more
unresolved issue; your gift to the bride.”
She smiled at the suddenly nervous expression that both adults exhibited
as they recalled who they were dealing with.
“The gift I want is both simple and painful. I want you to both promise me to have no
dealings with my family. As far as
Akane, Kasumi and daddy are concerned, they are ‘dead’ to you.” Seeing the shocked expressions on their faces
she hurriedly explained. “I want to help
them, not punish them. But I need space
to do this. Yeah, I also want some peace
and quiet and a little bit of revenge too.
But mostly, they are my problem and it’s going to be hard enough to try
and restore their own sense of honor and self worth without the two of you
intervening. Well meaning as you both
are, let’s admit you were both stellar class failures as parents. And being a parent to my family is just what
I have to try to do.” Unbidden tears
came to her eyes, “please, this is really important to me, please promise.”
Genma surprised both women
when he knelt to Nabiki and bowed to the floor.
“We owe our son’s life, our very family to you. What you ask for, is yours, daughter-Nabiki,
this I swear on my very life.” He smiled
at her, a very rare expression.
Apparently his joy for Ranma was making him giddy. “Nabiki, you saved Ranma’s life, right now
I’d do anything for you.” With a wry
grin he added, “in fact, I swear it on my hope for my next meal as well.”
Both women burst out
laughing, knowing that Genma could make no stronger vow.
* * * * * .
The smell of lunch woke Ranma
and he stumbled bleary eyed into the dining area. He froze in shock as he saw his parents
talking with Nabiki. His thoughts were a
jumbled confusion, ‘Nabiki! What in the
. . . it wasn’t a dream? Nabiki . . . Nabiki?’
Ranma couldn’t move as his eyes were fixed on Nabiki and his face
drained of color as tears brimmed his eyes.
Seeing the tears, Nabiki
intuitively understood and quickly rose to fold Ranma into an embrace and
whisper. “Yes, it was all real. It’s ok.
I really do love you. It’s ok
Ranma. Please, Ranma, don’t retreat
again. Stay, live. Please Ranma, for those who love you, live.”
“You love me?” Ranma hesitantly asked. “But why? And last night, why? We both know I don’t love you. I mean . . . I.” Ranma stuttered to a stop in embarrassment.
Nabiki reached up and
smoothed his hair as she continued to hold him close. “I know Ranma. You loved my sister Akane. Your love is not easily given and doesn’t
simply vanish overnight. I know you
don’t love me yet. Yet. That’s the basis for my hope, Ranma-chan. ‘Yet.’ That maybe tomorrow or next week or next
month or next year, you will love me.
I’ll wait and hope and love you anyway with everything that I am until
then.” She leaned back to look him in
the eyes and gave him a warm grin that seemed to make her eyes sparkle with
life. “Until then,” she repeated. “You
are mine as my gambling earnings and this is one bet that I mean to fully
collect on.”
Ranma’s face flushed a deep
crimson as both his parents started chuckling at this point. Nodoka and Genma embraced the pair from
opposite sides.
“Boy! How could you even consider . . .” he
sputtered to a stop as Nabiki elbowed him in the gut.
Nodoka was slower but
relentless. “Ranma, oh
Ranma. You make me so proud yet
at the same time I’m so very glad that Nabiki stopped you. Oh Ranma, I would’ve missed you so much that
I couldn’t . . .” She was unable to continue as her sobs began to overwhelm
her. Nabiki disengaged and subtlety
encouraged Ranma to comfort his mother.
Lunch cooled as Ranma held his mother while she cried and he reassured
her that everything would be OK from now on.
* * * * *
Genma had started acting
nervous. Ever since they had returned
from recording Ranma and Nabiki’s marriage earlier that afternoon, he had
become secretive and nervous. It wasn’t
a good sign, and it bothered Nabiki as she struggled to recall what its
significance was.
Fortunately Nodoka had
noticed the signs as well. Several times
Genma had attempted to sneak off and she had interrupted whatever it was that
he was trying to hide. She eyed her
errant mate and wondered. As he walked
to the bathroom, her eyes tracked him.
When he passed the phone, something clicked and as he entered the
bathroom she hurriedly checked her purse.
“Genma!” She yelled as
she ran to the bathroom and slammed the door open to find him dialing on her
cellular phone just as she had suspected.
She grabbed the phone and glared at the number he had nearly completed
dialing. “You
miserable panda! You promised!”
And with that she proceeded to play pound the baka; one of Akane’s favorite
games.
Before the marriage, they had
stopped at Nabiki’s apartment so that she could change out of Ranma’s borrowed
clothing and pack a suitcase for herself.
As Nabiki settled her clothing into the room she now shared with Ranma,
Nodoka began to prepare a lavish wedding celebration supper.
When it was ready, she called
her family. ‘Family’, what a wonderful word, she thought as she called them to
supper.
Ranma and Nabiki came down
the stairs, both flushed and grinning, again.
Genma hurriedly seated himself but suddenly found Nodoka’s katana
imbedded in the floor between his crossed legs.
With wide eyes he watched the
blade as it slowly oscillated before his nose.
Nodoka leaned over so that her face was next to the hilt. “To quote one Genma Saotome: ‘I swear it on
my hope for my next meal as well’.” She
grinned maliciously, “Your self discipline could use some help. We will start on your training, NOW.”
With that she pulled the
katana out of the floor and motioned Genma toward the bathroom using the bared
blade as a pointer.
Genma protested, “But I
didn’t actually call. Besides, I was
just too excited about the wedding. Soun
and I have been planning on joining our schools for over twenty years now. He has a right to know about our dream coming
true!”
Nodoka glared at him. “Yes, you are right. BUT,” she added at his smug look. “Nabiki has
the right to tell him; when she is ready; not you, and
you promised!” With that she drove him at sword point into the bathroom. Nodoka emerged a few moments later with a
panda in tow; a muzzled panda; a muzzle made of chain with a heavy padlock.
The panda whimpered as he
watched all the food, all that lovely food, slowly disappear. Everyone, even Ranma, ate leisurely,
obviously enjoying the meal. Nabiki
glanced at the pleading panda and whispered to Nodoka, “Isn’t that begging
getting to you?”
“Yes,” replied Nodoka.
“Genma’s behavior is starting to annoy me.”
She glared at him as he listened hopefully. “I am seriously considering having him miss
breakfast as well, AND maybe putting him on a diet too.” The panda fainted.
* * * * *
Two weeks later, Nabiki
called a family conference with her new family,
fortunately Ranma’s folks were visiting again.
All of them nervously eyed her.
She sighed. She had forgotten
just how bad her mercenary reputation had been at this point in her life. “First, the good news; I’m pregnant.”
Ranma and Genma both
fainted. Nodoka began giggling
uncontrollably as visions of grandchildren began dancing in her head. Nabiki got up to prepare lunch.
The smell of food on the
table roused the men and their stirring brought Nodoka back to this world. As they ate, each of them slyly glanced at
Nabiki, wondering if it had all been a dream.
As they sat around the table,
finishing dessert, Nabiki continued the family conference she called an hour
ago. “As I said, I’m pregnant and that
is going to cause all sorts of problems for us.
But I think I see a way out if you all agree.” She checked to see if she still had their
attention. The guys were obviously
trying to figure out what the problems could possibly be.
Nodoka offered, “It’s going
to interfere with your classes, both during the pregnancy and after the baby comes. Do you have insurance?” She grinned again, “I would be more than
happy to baby-sit.”
“Yeah, we have insurance
through the university, so that’s not a problem for Ranma and I. Finances might be
though.” She continued, “I was able to
sublease my old apartment, which helped.
But I was thinking that it was time we looked into buying a house; a
house large enough for us to live together as an extended family.”
Nodoka looked puzzled.
“That’s nice dear, but how are you going to afford that and what will we do
with our home?” She paused. “I suppose
we could rent it out.” She added, “I
have a small stock portfolio that I could use to loan you some money, I guess.”
It’s how I managed to support myself all those years
when I was alone.”
Nabiki shook her head. “No that won’t do it. What I had in mind was for you to do was to
sell the house and pass the funds and the stock portfolio to me to manage for
us from now on.”
Ranma eyes squinted as he
studied her and thought, ‘This sounds like the old Nabiki. Take the Saotomes for everything they were
worth and vanish?’ He smiled to himself
at the thought. ‘No, that was the last
thing she’d ever do.’ Besides, he’d seen
the pregnancy test kit in the bathroom garbage.
She was definitely pregnant.
Nodoka’s face tightened and
she was obviously about to summarily refuse when Ranma placed his hand on hers
and asked, “Mom, for me, please do this.”
Nodoka turned and studied her
son’s face. “But that’s everything I have.
That’s my security!”
“No mom,” he calmly
replied. “A family is what you truly
have. Nabiki is this family’s financial
wizard and she is the security for you, pop, our baby and me. She’s not just asking for your money. She’s really asking for your trust. I think she deserves the chance. She’s earned it. Mom, please, for me, trust
her.”
Nodoka turned and studied
Nabiki again. Finally she nodded and
said, “I think Ranma’s right. Ok,
Nabiki, I’ll make arrangements to turn the titles over to you. We’ll make it a wedding settlement and hopefully
avoid some taxes that way.”
With tears running down their
faces, the two ladies embraced for a few silent moments. Nabiki wiped her face and added, “That will
help, but it won’t quite be enough.” She
turned to Genma. “You are going to have
to bring in some income.”
‘Where in the world did he
get the water,’ she wondered as she stared at the panda.
Genma raised a sign, ‘I’m a
cute panda and pandas DON’T work.’
Nabiki grinned, Genma
shuddered.
“Actually, I’m glad you
decided to change,” Nabiki smirked. She
handed a list of appointments to Nodoka.
“Here is a list of children’s parties that I’ve scheduled a trained
panda to show up for. You are listed as
his trainer. The two of you will have to
work out some sort of act, but I’m sure you can handle that.” She grinned again at Genma. “You’re lousy
with kids. Think of this as training for
when your first grandchild shows up.”
Nodoka’s grin got wider and
wider as she thought over what Nabiki had proposed. She blocked Genma’s efforts to get hot water
and used a broom handle to start the ‘training’. She was going to enjoy this.
Nabiki and Ranma used some of
their ‘pillow-talk’ time together to figure out what to do about the remaining
fiancées. Neither of them considered
Kodachi in this category. “Nabs,”
remarked Ranma as he slowly massaged Nabiki’s shoulders. “I’m worried about what either or both
Shampoo and Ukyou might do to you when they find out we’re married.” Worriedly he added, “I don’t think I could
stand to have either you or the baby hurt.”
He hurriedly clarified, “I mean it’s because you aren’t a martial
artist, not as if I love you or anything like that yet. I mean . . .”
Nabiki had shut him up by the
simple expedient of turning in his arms and kissing him passionately. After a long while, she broke the kiss and
held him quietly to herself. “Don’t tell
me what you don’t feel. Tell me what you
do feel, lover-boy. OK?” Ranma nodded as he closed his eyes and
enjoyed her attention.
As Nabiki absently caressed
him, she struggled with a thought that was on the edge of her awareness; a
vague memory that she had once found a solution to the Amazon problem. With a sigh, she got out of bed and brought
her laptop to bed.
As she opened it up and
plugged in the phone cord, Ranma moaned.
“Ah Nabs, I thought we were going to go to bed.” Nabiki replied by
kissing the tip of his nose as she logged onto the Internet. In a few minutes she had located a dozen hits
with all the keywords ‘amazon + laws + china +
marriage’. As she opened them up
one-by-one, she had the feeling that she had seen several of the pages
before. Ranma was reading over her
shoulder. His head propped on her
shoulder. She looked closer at him. He seemed to be spending about equal time
looking at the screen and her breasts.
She blushed with pleasure even as she gently whapped him on the
head. “Baka, the screen; watch the
screen.”
He kissed her ear and
murmured, “Yes dear,” even as his hands moved to cover up the
distractions. As she giggled, Ranma
pointed to a particular paragraph currently displayed. “Say Nabs, does that say what I think it
says?”
Nabiki leaned forward to read
the page carefully. “Yes,” she squealed,
“yes! I thought that I had remembered
something like this from a long time ago.”
Her eyes narrowed at him, “I didn’t think you were actually paying
attention to the screen. Getting tired
of me already I see.” Ranma sighed; he had already learned that some arguments
were lost before he even had a chance to start.
He immediately surrendered by tickling her before she could continue in
this vein.
* * * * *
“DIE RANMA SAOTOME” screamed
Ryouga as he launched his assault. With
incredible quickness, Ranma scooped Nabiki up and placed her well out of harm’s
way before he turned to face his attacker.
“What’s your problem Ryouga?”
he said in an icy voice.
The lack of emotion, with
neither bantering nor angry words coupled with the absence of an appended
insult sounded an urgent warning bell in Ryouga’s mind. ‘This Ranma was not the normal one he usually
encountered’. However, with his usual
stubbornness, he managed to ignore it and continued on. “Damn you for two-timing Akane with her
mercenary sister. You will pay Ranma.”
“I case you’ve forgotten, she
dumped me and got married to someone else about a month ago,” calmly replied
Ranma.
“And that’s your fault too,
you honorless cur!” snarled the lost boy.
Before he could launch an
attack, Nabiki, who had wandered over during the exchange, stepped up to Ryouga
and backhanded him across the face with all her strength.
“Don’t YOU dare say the word
‘honor’ to my husband!” she hissed.
“YOU!, you, the one who slept in my sister’s bed, the one who was three,
not one or two but THREE flaming days late for a duel you set up and then had
the audacity to blame Ranma for your stupidity and inadequacy. You have so little honor that you should
already BE in a grave. And don’t you
dare ever mention my sister’s name again, especially not in my presence. While she has damned little honor left, she doesn’t deserve the shame of having you
speak her name.”
Seeing Nabiki so close to
tears, stirred something in Ranma’s chest.
Not the usual panic of seeing a girl cry, but something more primeval
and deadly. As Ryouga opened his mouth
for an angry retort Ranma walked over and placed himself in front of Nabiki.
“Ryouga, she cries, you die,” calmly asserted Ranma in a voice made more deadly
serious for its lack of emotion.
The warning bells in Ryouga’s
mind had been replaced by hundred decibel sirens that went into overtime as
Ranma’s battle aura became visible.
Instead of gradually growing as usually happened, this time it flashed
into incandescence with a strength that Ryouga had
never seen before. Not even when Ranma
had fought Saffron, and he had more or less killed Saffron then. The color gave Ryouga pause as well. This was a dark purple as the red fury that
Ranma was obviously controlling merged with the usual blue of Ranma’s cocky
confidence. For the first time in his
life, Ryouga felt fear. Ranma was serious,
he would kill him. Kill him just for
making Nabiki cry. It didn’t help that
Ryouga knew that Ranma also had the necessary skill to do exactly as he said as
well.
“Ahh,
sorry Nabiki? I didn’t know . . . ahh . . . you’re married?” stuttered Ryouga. “You’re married? When did this happen?” asked Ryouga as
Nabiki’s comments began filtering into his consciousness as angry thoughts of
Ranma vanished in a gesture of self-preservation.
“The day after Akane soiled
the Tendou and Saotome honor. That’s the
day I married him,” answered Nabiki.
“But why, I mean I thought
you really didn’t like him. I mean he’s
a jerk and a poor jerk at that?” asked Ryouga in honest puzzlement.
“Well,” began Nabiki, “I have
at least five reasons that I can think of right off the top of my head.”
“Huh,” replied Ryouga
obviously trying to think of even one.
Nabiki leaned into Ranma’s
embrace while looking to the side to face Ryouga. “First, I love him, second, I owed it to him,
third, I love him, fourth, I need him, fifth, I love him . . .” she paused and
Ranma took the subtle hint and kissed her.
Nabiki almost fainted for joy.
Sure, it was a quick kiss, but it was in public and on the lips. But most of all, Ranma had initiated it. And in front of Ryouga too.
Ryouga fainted.
Ranma and Nabiki continued on
their way to class together hand in hand.
The new semester had begun just a few weeks after their marriage and
Nabiki had hurriedly rearranged both of their classes slightly to enable them
to spend more time together. They even
had one class together now and Nabiki was a regular member of Shana and Ranma’s
study group. The fact that she was a
year ahead didn’t hurt. If she hadn’t
already taken the class, she was very adept at finding study notes for them
all.
Shana was a girl that Nabiki
had remembered from nearly thirty-three years ago. She was one of the few who had also found out
the truth about Ranma’s suicide in that former time-line. She had not taken it well, but had made a
good recovery from her grief. She had
eventually married in medical school and the pair had become a respected couple
in the community. Nabiki had known them
socially for decades.
Shana had gracefully accepted
Ranma’s marriage, especially after Nabiki had asked her to please not dump
Ranma as a study partner. Nabiki had
quietly cornered the girl after class one day the first week of school and
confided to her that she was someone that both she and Ranma trusted and liked
a lot.
Six weeks after Akane’s
wedding, Nabiki walked into the ‘Cat-Café’.
Nabiki chose a table near the
kitchen where
“What mercenary girl want?” piped Shampoo suspiciously.
“A bowl of ramen and for you
to leave my husband alone,” casually responded Nabiki.
“I do hope for your sake that
you are joking about Ranma being your husband,”
“Nope. Happened a month and a half ago. Good ramen,” Nabiki added pleasantly.
Shampoo’s sword was suddenly
in her hand. “Amazon warrior kill woman
what steal Shampoo’s husband!”
Nabiki raised an eyebrow and
continued eating the ramen. “Not if you
ever want to return home,” she calmly replied.
Shampoo hesitated, obviously
not expecting this response.
“Yep,” interrupted
Nabiki. “Knocked-up, with child,
pregnant! By your own laws, laws that
you have repeatedly stated apply to Ranma and anybody associated with him, I am
his lawful wife. We were married in a
public civil ceremony with a clan elder in attendance, Ranma’s mother in this
case. There was no challenge for a full
lunar cycle AND I am pregnant. Both of
you will become not outcasts, but outlaws to be hunted down if either of you
causes me or my child any harm.”
“But, bu,”
sputtered Shampoo.
“I erred,” sighed
She turned to Shampoo, “it’s
over, we can both go home now.”
Nabiki gazed at her with
hooded eyes. She had debated whether or
not to tell the two the truth or not and hadn’t yet made up her mind. Shampoo’s quiet tears helped her decide. ‘Truth, some of it anyway.’ “The day of the wedding, I received a
foretelling of Ranma’s death. That was
why I missed Akane’s wedding; I was busy saving Ranma’s life.” She leaned forward and pointed to the faint
scar above her hairline. “I got that wrestling
the tanto blade from him.” She grinned. “Once I got the blade from him,
it was all verbal after that and he never stood a chance.”
Nabiki left payment on the
table and calmly walked out of the café.
Neither Amazon hindered her departure and the
café closed a week later. Nabiki
received a short note from Shampoo that said,
‘Shampoo sad to lose Ranma. Glad Ranma not dead
though. Thanks for saving Ranma.’
* * * * *
Ranma was showing Nabiki some
of the simpler kata of their family art style. She on the other hand was protesting weakly
against his insistence that she begin retraining. “Ranma, I’m pregnant, I’m a girl and I have
no interest in learning this”
“Nabiki,” he smirked, “this
is for your own good. You’ve used that
excuse on me. This time I get to use it
on you.”
“But I’m in shape! I don’t need to learn martial arts,” she
snapped at him.
Somberly he replied, “If you
are to be my wife you do. Nabs, about a
month ago when Ryouga attacked me . . . you could have gotten hurt. Craziness seems to be part of my
lifestyle.” He hesitated a few moments
before adding, “I want to protect you but I know that I can’t always be there
no matter how hard I try. I know there
is no way to make you an expert, but maybe, just maybe what you do learn will
slow them down long enough for me to get there or help you to protect yourself
long enough to get away. Nabs, it’s a
long shot but, well, I’d like to take out all the insurance I can with you.”
“Besides,” he grinned as he
slid his hands down her sides. “It gives
me more time to spend with you. Though I
have to admit, you really should come with a doctor’s prescription?”
“Oh?” she replied archly,
“You mean because I’m unreadable and expensive?”
“No,” he sighed as he gently
kissed her neck. “You’re habit forming.”
Not surprisingly, Nabiki soon
called a halt to the martial arts practice and hauled Ranma off to bed for some
marital arts practice. On the other
hand, she didn’t protest Ranma’s retraining program for her thereafter.
* * * * *
Nabiki smirked to
herself. With the knowledge she had
already amassed while at the university plus what she remembered from her
previous life, she had managed to purchase options on several key properties. She had managed to turn the money she had
gotten from Nodoka and her own gambling assets into a sizeable nest egg using
these short-term bonanzas.
Now to find and buy a house;
it was really crowded in Ranma’s apartment for now with the four of them
there. Thank goodness Genma was on a
diet, it cut down on the daily shopping a lot.
Genma had gotten so good at begging food from the children at the
parties, that Nodoka began to worry she might have to start rolling him home
afterwards. On the other hand, the old
panda was beginning to get along with the kids pretty well. At least as long as food was involved. But it was a start.
Nabiki rubbed her back a
little. According to Nodoka, backaches
would eventually become more common for her as she moved into the later stages
of pregnancy. She was secretly thankful
that Nodoka had insisted on Nabiki and Ranma taking the bedroom and bed while
the parents used futons in the front room.
In any case it was more convenient as Nodoka was usually the one who
made breakfast each morning anyway.
Genma had tried to ambush
Ranma for a morning sparing match in his bedroom just once after they had moved
in, but after seeing Ranma’s fury at Nabiki’s scared face, he had vowed to
never do that again when he finally regained consciousness.
The young couple managed to spend
a lot of time together even though they only shared one class. They often studied together even though it
was for different classes. Nabiki was
frequently surprised at the depth of Ranma’s general knowledge in some of the
oddest of topics as well as the speed and ease with which he absorbed
knowledge.
On weekends, Ranma and Nabiki
were usually out walking, cruising the neighborhoods,
and trying to get a feel for the atmosphere or health of each area as they
looked over various properties that were for sale near the university. Something about the sight of the young
couple, laughing with each other and casually strolling about hand in hand
encouraged the housewives to respond pleasantly to Nabiki’s casual questions. It was not uncommon for Ranma and Nabiki to
be offered refreshments while spending a casual hour discussing who had what for sale or what was really wrong with a
particular neighbor’s house and how little they might accept for it.
Ranma was in a foul
mood. It was raining, the hot water
heater was temporarily out in the apartment building and his mother was making
supper and couldn’t spare a pot to heat water so Ranma could change to the
proper gender.
As Ranma sulked, Nabiki came
up behind her and hugged her close.
“Nabs, I’m a girl! We’re the same
sex. We shouldn’t do that,” fumed Ranma
at her spouse.
“Oh, like you have a lot of
experience being a girl?” retorted Nabiki.
“Besides, I really don’t mind this aspect of you. You’re really cute.”
“It’s just . . . well; I’m
just getting comfortable feeling good hugging you as a guy. This bothers me,” she sighed. “Not to mention that Shana’s
coming over to study pretty soon. I know
she knows about my curse. But I don’t
think she’s really all that comfortable with me when I’m like this. I like her.
I don’t want to offend her if I don’t need to.”
Nabiki idly stoked her
husband’s hair as she thought about what Ranma had said. “Ranma, you’re still not all that comfortable
as a girl yet are you?
I mean you’ve been cursed for almost four years and locked in your
cursed form at least three times. But
you’re still not comfortable are you?”
Ranma looked up at Nabiki and
sighed, this switching heights was one of the many
things about the curse that kept disorienting her. “Nabs, if you mean ‘do I hate my curse’, the
answer is no. I don’t hate it and
sometimes I don’t even notice that I’ve changed when transition is smooth and
has no affect on what I’m doing. But
sometimes, sometimes the transition isn’t so smooth. I’ll be reaching for something and all of a
sudden, it’s out of my reach again as my legs and arms shorten. It’s just inconvenient now mostly.”
“Ranma,” began Nabiki
hesitantly as if knowing this idea was not going to go over easily. “Ranma, I hate to see you like this. I have an idea that I hope you’ll at least
consider. Will you listen? Please, for me?”
Ranma turned and looked into
Nabiki’s pensive eyes. She reached out
and absently hugged the other girl and tiredly said, “Sorry to worry you. Go ahead, tell me your idea.”
“Well, part of the problem is
that you still fight the curse even if you do mostly accept the fact that
you’re stuck with it,” began Nabiki.
“What if you were to start deliberately scheduling time to spend as a
girl doing girl things. And conning ice cream doesn’t count,” she
added.
“Nabs? What do you mean?”
asked Ranma. This time SHE was the
pensive one.
“Ok, try this idea on,”
Nabiki suggested. “One day a week from
evening meal to the next evening meal.
You ARE a girl. You dress as a
girl and you do girl things.”
“WHAT! Are you crazy?” yelled Ranma. She would have said more but the hurt
expression on Nabiki’s face quieted her immediately. Somehow, Nabiki’s feelings mattered a lot to
her anymore. “Sorry, didn’t mean to
yell,” she whispered contritely. “But I
just don’t see why you would want me to do this.”
“Are you ever going to be
cured?” asked Nabiki quietly.
Puzzled at this odd change of
direction, Ranma merely shrugged her shoulders as she answered, “No, probably
not; though I would if I could.”
“Then this curse is likely to be a permanent
part of your life.” Nabiki sighed as she
took Ranma’s hand and began stroking the girl’s soft skin. “Ranma, being a girl is a lot more than what
changes in the underwear. Minor things
change too, such as the texture and sensitivity of the skin. Your hormones change too, though, sigh, at
least you’re spared the ‘monthlies’ the rest of us girls have.”
Noticing Ranma’s bright red
flush, Nabiki was momentarily shocked before she began chuckling. The chuckles grew into laughter as Nabiki
began to envision this man among men having periods.
“Ranma, No! How do you cope?”
Ranma sighed, being married
to her as ‘he’ was; she really didn’t think she’d be able to keep it a secret
forever. At least Kasumi had never
mentioned it to anybody after she had helped Ranma that first time when
Nabiki opened her purse to
reveal a couple of tampons in the bottom.
“Many girls do something similar, even the pregnant ones, just in
case.” Still chuckling a little, Nabiki
continued. “Ranma, if you are cursed to
become a girl, why not make use of it as an opportunity. You know, it could become an alternate
identity like you used to do with your mother.
But, well, you could really use some practice in some of the finer
points. Not to mention that there are
some really fun things you could do that are somewhat unique to girls. Why not have some fun being a girl other than
just eating ice cream?”
“Huh,” mumbled Ranma puzzledly.
“Well,” Nabiki thought for a
few moments, “Take sleepovers or slumber parties. Guys don’t do that, well, I take that back,
they do but they call them camping trips or something else. I’ve done both and unless the camping trip is
a lot different with just guys, there is no real comparison between the two.” Nabiki got a bit excited as an idea occurred
to her. “Why don’t we have a slumber
party? We could invite, ah, well I guess
Shana is about the only one we know well enough who also knows your curse. Hey, that would work out neatly as she is due
to come over tonight anyway.”
“Ranma,” pleaded Nabiki,
“please, can the three of us have a slumber party. You’d have to stay a girl all night. But that’s likely to happen anyway. Please?”
Ranma smiled to herself. She wouldn’t have admitted it, but seeing
Nabiki happy and excited gave her a good feeling. She was becoming more and more aware of
Nabiki’s mischievous nature. Something
she had more or less kept concealed from others before. But now she was letting the real Nabiki show
through almost all the time for Ranma and trusting Nabiki had almost become
second nature to her. Sigh, “Ok
Nabs. But only if you can convince
Shana.”
Nabiki immediately hurried to
the phone and called Shana, hoping to catch her before Shana started her trip
to Ranma’s apartment. Shana was a little
reluctant but since it was Saturday night, she was finally convinced that she
could spare the time for a little girl fun.
Nabiki asked Nodoka to swap ‘bedrooms’ for the evening too. Nabiki had a feeling that Shana wouldn’t be
very comfortable sleeping in Ranma’s bedroom even if Ranma was in girl form. The front room was more traditional for a
sleepover anyway.
Nabiki badgered Ranma into
wearing proper girl’s pajamas for the evening including undergarments. Nabiki noticed Ranma shifting uneasily as
they waited for Shana to arrive. “Ranma,
the underwear is uncomfortable?”
“Nah,” sheepishly answered
Ranma. “Not uncomfortable, just
different. It actually FEELS a lot more
comfortable than what I usually wear as a girl.
I don’t get it?”
Nabiki smiled, “It’s part of what I was trying to tell you earlier. There is more to being a girl than you’ve
discovered yet. Girls clothes feel more
comfortable to your girl form because they are designed to accommodate both the
different contours and the more sensitive skin.”
[Add sleepover
scenes] …..
Four months after Akane’s
wedding, Ranma Saotome carried his wife Nabiki over the threshold of their new
home. It was on the ‘backside’ of
Nabiki hugged Ranma tightly
as he carried her into their first house.
She was so proud of herself. She
had gotten a great price and a marvelous bank loan. By taking out a loan instead of paying for
the property outright, she had acquired enough money to start investing. She recalled several stocks that had
impressed her with their performance in her previous life and had wasted no
time in investing those funds in them.
She also had changed the Tendou dojo stock portfolio while she was at
it. The resulting mix of stocks ensured
that neither Kasumi nor her father would ever want for anything monetarily
again.
It was just after moving into
their new home that Nabiki finally convinced Ranma to spend one day a week as a
‘real’ girl. This meant trying to understand
girls from their perspective in addition to dressing and acting as one. Oddly enough, Genma had provided the final
convincing argument. He had overheard
Nabiki and Ranma discussing the topic and had adamantly forbidden Ranma to
agree to Nabiki’s request. After
pounding Genma, Ranma had reluctantly agreed that perhaps the idea had some
merit to it after all.
Thereafter, Ranma would
change into feminine clothing late Saturday afternoon, help Nodoka prepare
dinner and spend the remainder of the weekend until Sunday evening as a
girl. Since it was intentional and not
forced by either circumstances or foes, Ranma actually began to allow herself to enjoy the experience. Ranma was initially rather adamant though
about refusing to wear dresses. Blouse,
slacks even short shorts, but NO dresses or skirts. On the other hand, Nabiki was equally
determined that Ranma would wear appropriate undergarments. Both won their particular battle, but the war
continued. Ranma surrendered his
position when Nabiki revealed that she knew of ‘Ranko Mosaic’s library club
activities in high school.
After a series of talks with
both Ranma and Nodoka, Nabiki finally felt ready to deal with Ukyou. Ranma had wanted to be the one to do so but
both his mother and wife had finally managed to persuade him that this was a
really bad idea. Ukyou was not likely to
be very rational with him around while receiving the news of his marriage to
Nabiki. Nabiki at least had a history of
negotiating with Ukyou and this might come in handy.
* * * * *
It was early morning in
Nerima. Ukyou looked up and smiled as
she saw Nabiki sit down at the counter just in front of the grill. “Hiya sugar, long
time no see, what’ll you have?”
“World peace would be
nice. But for now I’ll settle for peace
between you, me and my husband Ranma.”
Nabiki blandly stated.
“YOU, YOU married MY
Ranma. I ought to pound you. In fact, I think I will and there isn’t a
thing you can do to stop it,” steamed Ukyou as she unlimbered her battle
spatula.
“True,” admitted Nabiki with
a touch of fear in her voice. “But Ranma
has already done something that should stop you.” She stood up and pulled her loose blouse
tightly across her tummy. “I know you
could hurt me. But can you risk harming
Ranma’s baby?” At four months, Nabiki’s
pregnancy was already showing.
Ukyou froze in shock. “No, no . . . No.” As she started sobbing, Nabiki came around
the corner of the grill and embraced her.
She held her as Ukyou cried for several long minutes.
“Get out. Get out!” screamed Ukyou as she dried her
tears.
Nabiki stood there, knees
quaking and simply shook her head no.
She couldn’t endure a repeat of what had happened to Ukyou last time.
Ukyou tried to push her out
but Nabiki wouldn’t budge and Ukyou was afraid to harm Nabiki by being too
forceful.
Frustrated and worn down by
Nabiki’s obstinacy, Ukyou finally asked, “Ok, what do you want of me? And don’t give me that ‘peace’ crap again.”
Nabiki fixed her with a
measuring eye, trying to determine whether Ukyou was ready to hear her
proposal. “You.”
“Huh,” Ukyou numbly
responded, “You ain’t making any sense, honey. Ranma has already tossed me aside for the
second time. And I’m not really
interested in becoming his mistress.”
She paused. “I don’t think so anyway.
Is that what you’re offering?” she asked with a puzzled tone.
This time Nabiki hesitated as
she thought. This was not something she
had even considered. She held up a hand
to forestall further comments from Ukyou as she considered it in more detail. She didn’t want to do this. Not only was there an honor debt, but there
was no doubt that Ukyou loved Ranma with a passion rivaling Nabiki’s own. Nabiki knew that Ranma loved Ukyou as a
friend, but it could become more. She
certainly hoped it would become more in her own case. She didn’t want to do this but she could live
with it if that was the only way to resolve this mess that Ukyou’s father and
Genma had created of Ukyou’s life.
Nabiki looked Ukyou levelly
in the eyes. “That wasn’t my intention. But
I could live with the idea if that’s what it takes. That’s how much you mean to both me and
Ranma, Ukyou. What I came to offer was
family. I talked to Ranma’s parents and
they are willing to adopt you. I would
be willing even to have you live with us.
But I would hope that you would not ‘pine-away’ for Ranma. That would hurt him and he’s already been
hurt too much in my opinion. It would
make Ranma incredibly happy Ukyou, to see you happily wed with a family.”
Now it was Ukyou’s turn to
pause. Finally she spoke, all heat gone
from her words. “Let me think about it,
Ok?” She leaned over and hugged Nabiki
briefly. “Thanks for caring. That’s a bit uncommon around here anymore.”
[add scenes of ranma as girl flirting with nabiki] …….
When Nabiki was not in class
at the university, her mother-in-law was giving her classes in childcare and
both of them were slowly remodeling the house.
Preparing a nursery was the first order of business. Nabiki’s pregnancy was actually pretty
uneventful. Only a slight bit of morning
sickness and that failed to dim any of Nabiki’s obvious excitement over the
coming baby.
[add scenes of ranma and nabiki studying] ….
It was the start of the
summer break. Nabiki had ‘aced’ her
classes. The additional thirty years of
experience had given her insights far beyond her apparent training and
years.
Surprisingly, Ranma had
actually done even better than she had.
Most of the credit was Ranma’s.
He had developed incredible study habits once he had decided to approach
the education problem with the same intensity he usually gave to martial
arts. Of course, some credit would be
due to his study partner Shana as well.
* * * * *
“Nabs? What are you doing! It’s 3 in the morning and you’re six months
pregnant, I mean . . . we shouldn’t do this anymore should we? Oh?
The doctor said it was still ok!” Sigh. “Ok. Humm, Nabs? I’ve got something to tell you. It’s ‘yet’.
You’ve forgotten haven’t you?
I’ll give you a clue. I love
you. ‘Yet’ has
arrived. Yipe! Nabs, be careful! That’s permanently attached to me. Ok, so I said it belongs to you, but I’m only
letting you use it.”
. . . . . .
Nabiki descended the stairs
in a dazed and warm glow. She saw that
Nodoka had set out breakfast. As Ranma
came in from his morning workout with his father, she grabbed him and hugged
him close. She whispered, “Ranma, did
you really mean it?”
Ranma scooped her up and sat
down with her in his lap at the breakfast table. “Yeah, I meant it. I love you.
I really, really do love you Nabs.
It’s different from what I felt for Akane and a whole lot sweeter too.”
Nodoka looked on approvingly,
her eyes slightly misty. She had come to
love Nabiki much more than she ever thought she could ever love anyone else
besides Ranma.
“Thanks Ranma,” Nabiki
cooed. “I love you too.” She sighed, “More than life.”
Nabiki ate breakfast sitting
in Ranma’s lap that morning. Afterwards
they sat there and held each other for awhile.
Finally Ranma asked her, “What’cha got planned
for today? I mean you’re sure thinking a
lot this morning.”
She lazily smiled up at him.
“Got a couple of ideas banging around in my head today. For instance I wonder what your plans
are. I mean why are you going to
school? I know what I plan on doing. Besides being your wife and a mother as often
as I can, I also plan on getting a law degree.
I think I would like to continue helping people; but how about you? What are your long-term plans?”
Ranma was surprised at this
sudden outpouring of thoughts and questions from his lovely, somewhat plump
presently, but lovely nonetheless, wife.
“I don’t know. My original
thought was to get a degree in physical education as part of becoming a sensei
and taking over the Tendou dojo. To tell
the truth, I’m not too hot about studying PE anymore. I wouldn’t mind teaching the Art but the
university has opened my mind and I want more now I guess. What, I don’t know though.”
Nabiki snuggled closer and
pulled one of his hands around so that his palm was on her tummy. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been doing some
extra studying about babies. Do you have
any interest in medicine perhaps?”
Ranma gently hugged her
closer, “I’m only curious. And the only
baby I’m interested in is this one right here,” as he patted her belly.
Nabiki idly nuzzled his neck
as she thought about his words. “You
know Ranma; a part of your martial arts creed is helping the weak and
helpless. People don’t get much more
helpless than a baby or a pregnant woman.
I wonder what kind of doctor a martial artist of your caliber would
make. Tofu was pretty impressive.”
Distracted, Ranma commented,
“Yeah, he was pretty neat. Did I tell
you that I saw him a couple of days ago?”
When Nabiki shook her head with interest evident in her eyes, he continued. “Turns out that when he
disappeared, it was to take a teaching position here at the adjacent medical
school. I did a little quick
research and found that he lives about a klik from us
and is still not married.”
“Really,” purred Nabiki. “Ranma, I’d like to do something about
Kasumi. It will involve giving some of
our money away. Is that OK?”
Ranma absently leaned over
and kissed the top of her head. “No
problem Nabs. Do what ya gotta do. It’s
turned out pretty good so far. You’ve
really impressed me and the folks with how you’ve managed stuff.”
* * * * *
Kasumi idly swept the front
steps and pondered her life. Next week
she would turn twenty-three. Her last
date was at least five years ago. Sigh,
she guessed that her next date was so far in the future that she had doubts of
it even existing.
She smiled brightly at the
mailman and cheerily returned his greetings.
She looked through the mail. ‘Oh
my, there was a rather thick one for her from the Jusenkyo Foundation. How odd, she so rarely received any mail at
all. What could this be?’ she wondered.
She placed the rest of the
mail on the table for her father to see.
She sighed. She’d have to be careful and make sure that he didn’t just
discard it. Ever since Akane’s wedding,
his mind had sort of faded into constant melancholy.’ She smiled sadly, ‘Nabiki wasn’t speaking to
the rest of the family except for one short call seven months ago to let them
know she was Ok. Nothing
since. And Akane was not speaking
to Nabiki, not that anyone could find Nabiki to let her know.’
Kasumi took her letter to her
room. She looked it over in
disbelief. She’d won a medical
scholarship. It included all fees and
pre-med-college. She couldn’t give it
away or cash it in. It expired in three
months unless she was enrolled in
Kasumi crying! Now that was an unusual sound. Soun stood hesitantly outside her door,
wondering what to do. Finally he peeked
in the door and saw her on her bed.
Clutching a letter to her breast sobbing, “It’s not fair, it’s not
fair. When do I get to live?”
He rushed to embrace her
going immediately to full ‘cry’ mode in just under a second.
Startled, Kasumi hurriedly
pulled some carefully positioned plastic covers over her bed and other items
that were subject to water damage from the Tendou Patriarch Waterworks (TPW).
While she was distracted,
Soun quickly grabbed her letter and scanned it.
“Daddy,” Kasumi remonstrated,
“That’s my mail!”
“Kasumi,” Soun asked in
confusion, “I thought a secret lover had jilted you.” He held out the letter to her. “I don’t see why this should make you
cry. I mean it’s obviously somebody’s
prank, and anyway you can just turn it down.
What’s the problem?”
“It’s not fair daddy. It’s almost everything I ever wanted. It’s not nice for someone to tease me like
that. Especially since you wouldn’t let
me go.” She wiped a tear as she absently
remarked, “it’s not as if you’d let me go anyway. I’m going to be trapped here forever.” She collapsed into her father’s arms and
began sobbing again. “I want to go so
bad but I can’t, I can’t. It’s not
fair.”
It was a new experience for
Soun. Someone had stolen his gig. He held Kasumi until she finally cried
herself to sleep. As he gently laid her
on her bed, he picked up the letter and carried it with him. He had some thinking to do. Sigh, it was going to be a long night as
Kasumi hadn’t fixed dinner yet either.
Back to her normal oblivious
self, Kasumi cheerfully came down the stairs the next morning to find her
father asleep at the table, his face lying on her award letter. Scattered family photo albums revealed that
he had spent his evening reminiscing.
Quiet as she tried to be, he woke almost immediately. “Kasumi, I’d like you to try and do this,” was
all he said in the way of a greeting.
“But daddy,
who’ll take care of you?” Kasumi weakly argued. “Who’ll do the laundry and the shopping and
fix the meals and . . .”
“Somebody else,” Soun gently
replied. “Kasumi, I survived before I
met your mother, I’ll survive after you leave.”
He rubbed a hand across his face.
“It’d be nice if at least one of us was happy,” he remarked sadly.
“No, daddy, I couldn’t do
that!” Kasumi protested hopefully.
Soun smiled weakly at the
hopeful tone in her voice. He hugged
her. “For me and your mother, Kasumi, do this for us, please.”
He shrugged his
shoulders. She had stolen his gig once
again. ‘Oh well, I needed a bath and
clean clothes anyway.’ He thought to
himself.
* * * * *
Akane hugged her sister
Kasumi, “oh, Kasumi, I’m so proud of you!
It was great that your old entrance exam scores were still valid and
they let you enroll in
Kasumi nodded. She was so excited. She was going to be doing something
different. She might even meet a cute
older guy. ‘Whoops, better not say that’
she thought to herself giddily.
“Yes! Nabiki still has a lease on
her old apartment and she’s willing to transfer it to me. It’s very reasonable. And she didn’t even charge me!”
“She better not!” Akane spat.
“She still owes me and the family for almost ruining my wedding like she
did.” Akane’s brow wrinkled in thought
for a moment. “Did she ever say what her
reason was for missing my wedding? Did
she have a rendezvous with some yen or was it just spite because nobody paid
her to be a bridesmaid?”
“Well, no,” Kasumi paused in
thought momentarily. “Other than that
one call about eight months ago, nobody has talked with her. I found out about the apartment only because
Nabiki dropped me a postcard congratulating me on the scholarship and telling
me to contact her old landlord if I was interested in the apartment; nothing
more.” Kasumi continued in a quieter
tone so their father would not overhear.
“I guess she was a lot more upset about your wedding than we thought.”
Akane’s face blanched with
immediate anger. “It was my right to
make that decision. Who the hell would
want to marry that two-timing pervert?”
“Two-timing, you mean Shampoo
and Ukyou?” asked Kasumi.
“No,” Akane replied. “I was
used to them. I meant his latest
hussy. Some girl named Shana that I saw
coming out of his apartment one evening about a month after we both started
colleges. That was the last straw. That was when I decided I wanted nothing to
do with him, ever!”
“Shana,” mumbled Kasumi. “That name sounds familiar. I know!
She was Ranma’s study partner.
Nabiki told me about her at midterms just before your wedding. She was one of the reasons that Ranma was
doing so well. Apparently Nabiki knew
about her and confided to me that Ranma and Shana were becoming good friends as
well.”
“Good friends! Yeah and who’d believe that about that baka
and his harem.” Groused Akane
halfheartedly, a seed of doubt planted in the midst of her self-righteousness.
Kasumi enrolled in the
University but was dismayed to find that both Ranma and Nabiki had unlisted
addresses and phones. She dismissed the
problem of her sister as one of Nabiki’s quirks. She tried to ask Ranma’s parents where he
lived but discovered that their house had been sold and no forwarding address
was available anymore. ‘Oh well, if the
Saotomes and Nabiki wanted to be that way, ok.
It’s too bad that I don’t know who any of their friends are,’ she
thought to herself.
* * * * * .
Nabiki was in labor. For the first time in a very long time she
was having second thoughts about this particular dream of hers. She clenched her jaws and ignored Ranma as he
tried to remind her to breathe like they had been taught in the Lamaze classes.
Ranma was getting
desperate. Not only was Nabiki crushing
his hand, she was ignoring everything they had studied together about
childbirth. He debated, ‘Kiss her, nah, she’d likely bite me literally at this point.’ He had an idea. He snuck a hand down the covers and pinched
her rump.
She jumped and swung a fist
at his face as she let his hand go. He
caught both her hands in his and quickly kissed her. She stilled and looked questioningly at him.
“It’s my baby too.” He said with a smile. “Now do it right,
Nabs. You’re a perfectionist so go with
the techniques. It’s why we studied
them.”
She grimaced at him but
obediently began to pant. The delivery
room was a relief though the pain seemed unreal at the time. Nabiki looked at the wrinkled newborn son
nursing at her breast. She couldn’t tear
her eyes away. She had wanted this for
so long. She had dreamed about it for so
many years when she thought it was impossible.
Tears dripped in a slow but steady flow as she simply watched.
“You Ok, Nabs” Ranma asked as
a soft hand touched her cheek while a softer voice let her know she wasn’t
alone.
She smiled up at Ranma.
“Everything is just about perfect right now, Ranma. Nah, it IS perfect now that you are here with
us.” She looked down at the nearly
asleep child. “Isn’t he just perfect!”
she cooed.
“No,” said Ranma as he kissed
her cheek. “I use you to measure
perfection. He’s close though. Problem is, he seems
to resemble me.” Ranma smiled at her.
“Baka, sweet baka,” Nabiki
smiled tiredly. “Maybe you don’t
appreciate the effort that goes into making one of these.” She grinned mischievously, “humm, maybe if you were the one to give birth? I wonder if I could arrange that.”
Ranma’s face blanched and his
eyes widened in panic. This was Nabiki,
nothing was impossible with her. “Ahhh, Nabiki, no, gaaa.” Ranma quieted down as Nabiki shushed him,
reminding him of the sleeping baby. His
panic subsided further as he heard Nabiki’s chuckles.
Ukyou stood in the hall
outside the nursery. She was watching
all the babies but one held most of her attention. A steady line of tears silently traced a path
down her cheeks.
“Ucchan,
you Ok?” Ranma quietly asked at her
elbow.
“He should have been mine,
Ranma. He should have been mine.” With that she turned and buried her face in
his chest. She sobbed for a long time
while he held her and gently rocked her in his arms.
Ukyou knocked on their door
about a week after Nabiki came home with Kenji.
She briefly hugged both Nabiki and Ranma and said. “I need to talk with you.” She glanced meaningfully at Ranma’s
parents. “All of you.”
Nodoka came over and hugged
Ukyou. “Why don’t you help me with supper and we can talk afterwards?” she
asked.
Ukyou nodded. “As long as
nobody asks me to cook Okonomiyaki,” she wryly responded.
The table had been cleared
and Genma was caught twice trying to sneak out.
Ranma and Nabiki didn’t hurry Ukyou.
They gave her all the time she needed to start the discussion. Finally, Ukyou looked over at Nabiki. “I’ve been thinking about what you told me
almost six months ago.” She looked
sadder still. “I talked with my dad
about restoring my honor since it was his stupid promise with Genma that
started this mess. He disowned me, threw
me out of the house.” She looked at
Genma, “that hurt, it hurt a lot. I
could really, really hate you.” She
sighed, “But I’ve gone that route before.
Don’t see that it got me anything.
Certainly didn’t get me Ranma,” she said bitterly.
“So what do we do now?” asked
Nabiki softly.
“Don’t really know.” She looked at the girl who had everything she
wanted. “I still want to marry Ranma but
. . .”
“No,”
yelled Genma. “He’s married to a Tendou just as Soun and I
promised each other.”
Nodoka stared in shock at the
flattened visage of her husband under Ukyou’s battle spatula. “Do you think you can teach me how to do
that?” she asked.
Ukyou grinned. “Takes lots of practice; think he’ll
survive?”
Puzzled, Nodoka scratched her
head. “Is that something we should be
concerned about?”
“You I like,” commented
Ukyou.
Ukyou turned to Ranma and
Nabiki. “I came up with several
different options. Can I explain what
they were and why I don’t like them?” At
their nods, she continued. “At first I
considered just stealing your son. The
Saotomes ruined my life, so I’d ruin yours.
Only problem was, I couldn’t hurt the innocent people in this like
that.” She sighed, “Besides, what do I
know about raising a kid.”
She glared at Genma, who was
finally starting to stir. “Then I
thought about demanding Genma’s head, demanding the privilege of being his
second and taking the Saotome honor sword home as a trophy.” She looked at Nodoka, “I think you would
agree that I have that right wouldn’t you?”
Nodoka sadly nodded and laid
the katana on the table before Ukyou.
Ukyou picked it up,
unsheathed half the blade and admired the craftsmanship. “But Ranma’s friendship meant too much to
me,” she said as she laid the re-sheathed blade before Nodoka. “If I took his father away, as useless as he
is, our friendship would be over. I
couldn’t take that. I know for Ranma,
he’s considered us to be friends since we were six years old. That’s a long time. I couldn’t give that up.”
The panda fainted in relief.
‘Where did he get the water,’ wondered Nodoka.
“Sister.” Ukyou glared
at Ranma. “SISTER!
Did you think I could do that? To see
you every day and know you were forever part of my family but permanently out
of reach?”
Ranma smiled sadly. “I hoped you’d say yes. It’s how I think of you. It’s how I love you too. We all hoped to keep you a part of our lives
and this seemed to be the only way to make you family. Is it really such a bad idea?”
“No,” Ukyou replied. “It’s a great idea. It’s just one that I can’t accept. Not without eventually going crazy.” She sighed, “I love you too much to accept
it. I’m sorry Ranma. Thanks, but no thanks.”
Nabiki placed a hand on
Ukyou’s knee. “Does this mean you want
to be Ranma’s mistress?” she asked.
Ukyou picked up Nabiki’s hand
and held it in both of hers. “Thank you
for making the offer. I couldn’t have
done it if I were in your shoes you know.”
Ukyou shook her head in denial. “Maybe I could have accepted your offer
when we first talked. But not after the
way things went between my dad and me.
That’s not a choice anymore. If I
had a kid, I wouldn’t even have a name to give him. Besides, somehow I don’t think I could settle
for second best. I want to marry
Ranma. That’s the only thing I can
accept.”
“Damn it Ukyou,” fumed Ranma,
“I’m not going to divorce Nabiki and it’s illegal for a guy to marry two women
in
Nabiki placed her hand on
Ranma’s shoulder as she turned to look at her spouse. “Ranma, I didn’t hear Ukyou ask for either of
those options. She obviously knows you
well enough to know how you would feel.
Let’s let her finish, OK?”
As Ranma nodded in acquiesce,
Nabiki turned her attention back to Ukyou, worry evident in her face. She thought to herself, ‘no, oh no. I remember what happened to her last time so
many years ago. I don’t think either
Ranma or I could take that again.’
Nabiki cocked an eyebrow at Ukyou, inviting her to continue.
“Thanks, Nabiki,” nodded
Ukyou. “I do have another idea. It’s sort of a hybrid idea from a couple that
have already been proposed.” She shyly glanced at Ranma. “You know my dad modified my records to show
that legally I’m a guy?” She asked. When everybody nodded, she continued. “Nodoka, would you be willing to formally
adopt Ranma’s girl side as Ranko? I mean
we could get Nabiki to create a false identity for her . . . I think,
anyway?” She glanced hopefully over at
Nabiki.
Nabiki was grinning as she
had immediately deduced the whole of Ukyou’s plan from the few clues already
given. “Yeah, I think I could do
that. Wouldn’t stand up to any sort of
security investigation but it would be pretty solid otherwise.”
“Well, I suppose I could,”
mumbled Nodoka thoughtfully. “I’m not
sure what purpose it would serve except to give Ranma’s girl form
some legal identity.”
“That’s what I want,”
whispered Ukyou. “Give Ranma’s girl side
a legal existence separate from his boy side.
Since I’m legally registered as a boy, Ranma’s girl side and I can get
married – LEGALLY.” She exulted quietly,
“I’ll finish second, but not second best.”
She turned pleading eyes to Ranma.
“Please Ranma, please do this for me.
I don’t think I can stand to live otherwise.”
Before Ranma could reply he
felt Nabiki place a hand on his arm, arresting his attention. “Sounds familiar, doesn’t it. She can’t stand to live without you either
and you don’t love her right now as a wife either.” She smiled at her spouse. “Could turn out the same
too.”
Ranma looked at her
thoughtfully. “You wouldn’t mind,
Nabs? Really, I mean you would really be
Ok with it?”
Nabiki smiled and nodded
yes. “BUT I do have a couple of
conditions,” she said as she fixed a grinning Ukyou with a mischievous
grin.
Ukyou gulped nervously but
still grinned vacuously at Ranma. She
really couldn’t believe that they’d really said yes.
“First condition,” stated
Nabiki. “You will take the Saotome family name.
I don’t want your kids and my kids.
I want our kids. Second,” her
grin got wider, “Ranma spends his entire wedding night in girl form and you
consummate the marriage that way.”
“What!?!” screeched both
Ranma and Ukyou in near perfect harmony.
“That’s the deal, Ukyou,” grinned Nabiki. “I
get a bit of revenge for having to share my husband. But you get Ranma. Take it or leave it.”
“Don’t I get any say in
this? Ain’t no way I’m going to sleep with her as a girl!” grumbled Ranma.
Nabiki narrowed her eyes at
him and said, “I WON you. I can share my
earnings if I choose to. No, you don’t
get any say.” Her face smoothed
out. “Humm,
you don’t seem to be getting into the seriousness of this fun situation; nor
the humor as well. OK, there is now a
third condition. Ranma wears the wedding
dress and we will have a formal ceremony at the house as well.”
Ukyou leaned over to Ranma,
“Ranma honey, If I were you, I’d quit while I was merely losing. I know I am.”
Ranma’s mother silently urged him to take Ukyou’s advice. Well, as silently as she could through her
giggles. The panda still hadn’t figured
out what everybody was talking about.
Ranma looked over at his mate
and studied her. ‘Yep, in full
mischievous mode; better go with the flow,’ he thought. He grinned at a whimsical thought of his own
and turned to Ukyou. “Well, whenever you
have an engagement ring for me, let me know and I’ll think about accepting your
proposal. I do expect dinner, the bent
knee, the whole nine yards.” He grinned
as all three women fell over laughing.
Ranma stuck his tongue out at
Nabiki and remarked, “Since you aren’t a ‘maiden’ anymore, I guess I’ll have to
ask someone else to be my ‘maid-of-honor’.”
Nabiki picked up a pillow and
swung it at his head. “Well, if the groom can be a girl then I can be ‘best
man’!”
Ukyou quietly remarked, “You
know, the bride’s family pays for the wedding.”
“Shit!” cursed Nabiki. She fixed Ukyou with a glittering eye. “The best man has the job of arranging for
the groom’s bachelor party. Yours is
going to be interesting. Trust me.” She snickered.
Nabiki turned to Ranma. “So, any ideas for a maid of honor yet”.
Ranma’s face turned serious
for a moment; at least it seemed that way at first. “I wonder if Kodachi is around,” he said
aloud.
Three pillows pounded him
simultaneously as all three women let him know their opinion of that idea.
* * * * *
Both Nabiki and Nodoka were moving
along in formalizing the legal existence of Ranma’s girl side as Nodoka’s
adopted daughter. Nabiki had hacked into
the government files using a server at the university. She had nearly been caught but . . .
“Nabs?” Ranma reflexively held her as she glomped onto him. He
could feel her shivering in his arms.
“What happened, Nabs? Some muggers
bother you or something!”
“I almost got caught, Ranma.”
She whispered. “I was so
frightened. I picked the lock on the
door to the main server complex.” She
looked up at him, eyes wide with emotion.
“It was late and a holiday weekend.
I didn’t expect anybody there. I
found a terminal that was still logged in and I was nearly done creating a
‘history’ for Ranko when I heard a key in the door.” She shivered.
“I couldn’t leave yet and I couldn’t stay either. I hid partially under the table and peeked
out while I finished the file.” She started
crying. “What if they figure out that I was there? My baby might grow up while I’m in
jail.” Ranma held her quietly as she
cried. He trusted Nabs, she was
careful. She wouldn’t get caught. “Shuu, that won’t
happen sweetheart. I’ll say it was me
before I let them take you. It’s
ok. It’s ok.” Ranma picked her up and carried her to their
bedroom. He put her to bed and comforted
her until she fell into an uneasy slumber.
Nabiki’s worry didn’t ease
until she tapped into the semi-public university activity logs and found that
her presence in the restricted area hadn’t been discovered. Nabiki was a bit more restrained in her more
clandestine activities after that.
Nodoka believed that the
adoption paper work would be done in a matter of days; clearing the way for a
formal wedding to happen between Christmas and New Year’s Day. That left about six weeks for Ukyou to pull
up stakes in Nerima and set up a new restaurant near her new family.
Ukyou sighed to herself. Both Ranma and Nabiki were serious about the
proposal, wedding and wedding night conditions.
She wasn’t sure if they were laughing at just her or themselves too, but
she was sure that they were laughing.
They were just enjoying this whole ridiculous situation just entirely
too much. So what if she was a female
groom.
Ukyou looked around at her
restaurant. She smiled at the memories
she had made during the four years it had been open. She had debated whether to sell the business
outright or hire a manager to operate it for her as a start of a franchise
attempt. In the end, she had decided to
sell as she hoped to start a family soon and didn’t anticipate having time to
supervise the operation, let alone find and train a new chef before her
upcoming marriage.
Today, she decided. Today
she’d go shopping for an engagement ring.
Now if only this latest in a long line of buyers would only make something
other than a ‘yard-sale’ offer for the place.
It seemed that these jerks took one look at her bust and decided that
the ‘sweet-young-thing’ was an idiot when it came to real estate.
Ukyou finally sold her
restaurant for a hefty profit; more than enough to enable her to open a new
place with a much smaller mortgage. But where? She
hesitantly approached Nabiki for some advice, as she really wanted to relocate
near her new home. Might as well as take
advantage of the fact that Nabiki had already scoped out this area.
“Nabiki,” carefully began
Ukyou. “I was wondering if you would be
willing to help me find a new location for Ucchan’s.”
“So what kind of finder’s fee
did you have in mind?” casually responded Nabiki.
Ukyou studied her for a few
moments. “I was remembering something
you said about kids. You didn’t want a
‘yours’ or ‘mine’, just an ‘ours’.”
Ukyou dropped her checkbook on the table before Nabiki. “Just an ours, Nabiki. Ours. It’s the best I
can do.”
Nabiki picked up the
checkbook. Ukyou’s gesture was only
symbolic of course, but still. Sigh,
Ukyou had a point. “Our new house is
corporate property. Property of ‘Saotome
Associates’, Ranma and I own equal shares of the company with
right-of-survivorship between us both. I
presume you are interested in purchasing some shares; possibly a third of the
company on a similar basis?” As Ukyou
nodded, Nabiki continued, “I think that maybe the company will shortly have an
opening for an Okonomiyaki chef for a new restaurant that they will be
opening.” Nabiki smiled. “Interested?”
Ukyou grinned. It felt like the happiness originated at her
toes and rose in a surging fountain through her whole being. She was part of a family. “Thanks Nabs.”
“No problem Ucchan.” Nabiki
gestured for Ukyou to follow her. From
the window Nabiki pointed to a ‘mom & pop’ restaurant that occupied a large
corner lot at the other end of the block from the house. “The couple that
operate that place don’t have any kids and they are getting on in years. I think they might listen to an offer; especially
if the offer included a clause allowing them to continue to live in their home
on the second floor.” Nabiki grinned. “Care to open negotiations with them as a
new vice-president of ‘Saotome Associates’?”
“Vice-president?” asked
Ukyou.
“Yeah, only the two
vice-presidents have signature authority in this company.” Nabiki grinned, “I keep the company stud on
the books only as a figurehead CEO.”
Ukyou grinned. “Sounds like a good deal to me, since you and
I seem to be the only ones with any business sense. Speaking of Ranma, how about coming with me
to shop for an engagement ring? I looked
around in Nerima but haven’t found anything yet. Want to help me look?”
‘Huh oh, Nabiki’s grin has
that mischievous tinge to it again,’ thought Ukyou.
“I think that might be kind
of fun.” Nabiki hesitated, watching
Ukyou as she braced herself for the zinger she was sure was coming. ‘Can’t disappoint her,’ thought Nabiki to herself. “But only if you dress ‘butch.’ After all, we are shopping for a ring for you
to give to my ‘sister-in-law’,” she snickered.
Ukyou didn’t even try to
argue. She had moved into the Saotome
home the day after she had sold her restaurant.
Her belongings were now in one of the guestrooms while a second master
bedroom was being renovated near Nabiki’s.
She made her way to her room, bound her breasts and dressed in casual
masculine attire.
Shortly she made her way
downstairs and found that Nabiki had just finished nursing the baby to
sleep. Ukyou pirouetted for Nabiki.
“Butch enough for you?” she asked.
“Almost,” grinned Nabiki as
she replaced Ukyou’s white hair ribbon with a string. She grabbed Ukyou’s elbow and announced; “Now
we’re ready.”
Nabiki stopped to talk with
Nodoka on her way out. “Mom, I just put
Kenji down, so he should be asleep until we get back. Ok?”
Nodoka hugged her. “Not a
problem dear. I promise to not let Genma
wake him for ‘training’ this time.” She
chuckled with an undercurrent of mayhem.
The first and so far only time that Genma had done that had resulted in
Nodoka practicing Ukyou’s battle spatula techniques for an extended time. She hadn’t acquired a proper spatula yet so
Nodoka had used a snow shovel. It seemed
to work pretty well, though it was hard to get the proper follow-thru. Oddly enough, Kenji had seemed to really
enjoy the spectacle.
Ukyou had promised to get her
a custom spatula for Christmas. Genma
had vanished for the rest of the day when he’d overheard that remark.
Ukyou and Nabiki idly strolled
down the ginza, window
shopping for the most part. They entered
a few of the jewelry stores for closer looks at some of the rings but the
results were disappointing for the most part until the end.
Ukyou stretched, “Nabiki, you
about ready to call it a night?”
Nabiki considered for a
moment looking around at the stores she could see. “Let’s go to one more and then give it up if
we don’t see what you are looking for.
You know, I think maybe you are being too picky, we’ve seen some really
nice rings.”
“Yeah,” agreed Ukyou, “only
trouble is they seem to fall into two categories; either not good enough for
Ranko or gaudy as hell.”
Nabiki paused as they turned
a corner and she caught sight of another jewelry store. The name was vaguely familiar; the memory
positive was all she remembered. “Ukyou,
let’s try this one, I think I’ve heard of them before.”
Jill sat at the counter of
her parent’s store. She really wanted to
be out there doing some shopping but she had promised her folks to help. They on the other hand had promised her a
commission on any large sales she made.
She was hoping for some bonus money to use on her Christmas shopping.
Nabiki and Ukyou entered the
store and slowly walked along the counter looking at the jewelry displayed
there. Jill hopefully eyed the young
couple as they paused and studied the engagement rings. “May I help you?” she asked politely.
Ukyou smiled, but it was
Nabiki who answered. “This baka is
picking out a ring to give to my sister-in-law.” She snickered as she said, “Show us your most
expensive rings please.”
“You’re the baka Nabs, now
knock it off. Try to be serious, this is
important to me. Ok?” whispered Ukyou to her tormenter.
Overhearing the whispered
conversation, the salesgirl giggled.
‘It’s looking good for a sale.
He’s serious instead of just looking,’ she thought. She quickly smiled
and gauged a quick estimate of price range from his apparel. As she offered a tray for their inspection,
the young lady’s smile confirmed her guess.
“I still want something with
blue to match Ranko’s eyes” murmured Ukyou to Nabiki.
Nabiki nodded and pointed out
several turquoise rings.
“No,” whispered Ukyou, “I’ve
never liked that stone. No life to it.”
“Ahh,”
responded Jill as she wordlessly brought out another tray of rings. This tray featured a number of sapphires and
opals.
“Nice!” muttered Ukyou
appreciatively. “I really like the
opals. Somehow there is a fire that just
seems to echo what I see in my fianceés eyes.”
Nabiki pointed out one
particular ring. The opal wasn’t the
largest displayed but the stone was a dark fire opal of exceptional
quality. The opal was clasped by two
opposing dragons whose entwined tails formed the ring itself. “I like that one Ucchan,”
she whispered. “So will Ranko.”
Ukyou studied the ring and
then asked to see it. As she watched the
play of light off the stone she could see why Nabiki had pointed it out. In some paradoxical way, it was always
changing without really changing; kind of like Ranma. “I’ll take it,” Ukyou decided.
“Wait,” interrupted
Nabiki. “Aren’t you even going to try to
barter first?”
“Nope, I’ve been shopping for
a ring for over a month now. This is a
very good price for this quality and the only way to knock the price down is to
cut into her commission,” said Ukyou as she gestured toward the salesgirl. “She was very helpful and she has to make a
living too.” She concluded, “I’m
satisfied.”
“Ah, Nabs,” grinned Ukyou;
“How about if I put it on the company credit card?”
“How would you like the wedding
night conditions to be extended for a month or so?” retorted Nabiki.
Laughing, Ukyou wrote out a
check. ‘Now to deliver it’ both girls
thought to themselves, Nabiki with mischievous anticipation and Ukyou with
understandable trepidation.
Ranma eased himself out of
the bath. Kami, but that had felt
good! He and Shana had studied long into
the evening yesterday. But it had been
worth it. Both believed that they had
done well on the three final exams they’d had today. A spray of icy water drenched Ranma as he
reached for his clean clothes.
Screeching shrilly with shock, ‘Ranko’ nearly jumped halfway across the
room. “Did you HAVE to put ice cubes in
it?” she complained.
Smiling, Nabiki wordlessly
picked up Ranma’s clothes and laid down a velvet green dress with all
accessories in their place. As she
turned to leave, Ranko desperately cried out.
“NO, ain’t no way I’m gonna
wear that dress. I’ll go naked first,”
she threatened.
Nabiki looked thoughtful for
a moment then shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, tonight you ARE going out on a date with your ‘boyfriend’
Ukyou. If that is what you chose to
wear, well, it’s up to you.”
As she reached for the dress,
Nabiki was not surprised to find that Ranko had already hurriedly retrieved it.
“Ahhhh, Nabs. Do I gotta?” whined Ranko.
Nabiki grinned and
nodded. “Ranko, you were the one who set
this condition. And if it is worth
doing, it’s worth doing well; especially something like this.” She turned half-serious for a moment. “Ranko, I know we’re treating this like some
huge practical joke we’re all mutually playing on each other, but, it’s serious
too. This is likely to be a very
important moment in Ukyou’s life. Please
do what you can to make it a good memory.
OK?”
Ranko thought for a moment. “Yeah, I can see what you mean. It kinda scares me
too. Scares me and gives this incredible
warm feeling all over at the same time.
There’s something sorta intoxicating about the
thought of what’s gonna happen tonight.”
Ranko looked at the clothes in
her hand and sighed. “Nabs, ah, I’m not
sure how to put on all this stuff. Could
ya . . . like, maybe give me a hand perhaps?”
Giggling, Nabiki towed the
naked Ranko to their room and introduced her to the feminine tradition of girls
helping each other to dress for dates.
It seemed that Nabiki had a dinner date with her sister Kasumi that
evening.
Ukyou fidgeted as ‘he’ waited
for ‘his’ date. She was dressed in a
semi-formal suit of light colored silk and looked masculine with slightly
feminine features. Damn, did ALL girls
make their dates wait for them? She
certainly had no idea as she’d never actually been on a date before.
When Nabiki had pronounced
Ranko finished, Ranko had just sat there starting at herself in the
mirror. “Ranko? What’s wrong?
We’re done; it’s time to go down stairs.
Why are you just sitting there staring at yourself?” Nabiki had asked.
“Nabiki,” said Ranko
softly. “I was just remembering when
Akane knocked me for a loop and I ended up thinking I really was a girl. Seeing me like this,” as she pointed to her
reflection in the mirror, “somehow I have similar feelings again. It’s not bad anymore, just different that’s
all.”
Nabiki had hugged her and
surprised her by saying. “This is the
first ‘Ranma’ that I always remember so vividly. I love both your forms. I think of you as not half a man and half a
woman but as both a man AND a woman.”
Nabiki kissed her lightly on the forehead, “Tonight, be a woman. Let it be a sincere evening for both Ukyou
and you. Tonight she’s your old buddy, a
guy just as you believed for so long.
For her, you’re willing to be a girl so that the two of you can legally
be married. There is sacrifice on both
parts. Hopefully happiness will result.”
Nabiki swept down the stairs
and halted Ukyou’s pacing with her arrival.
Forestalling any questions with an upraised palm, Nabiki wordlessly
pointed back up the stairs where Ranko was gracefully descending. “Awesome” breathed out Ukyou. And she was.
Nabiki had carefully curled Ranko’s hair into ringlets that hung to her
shoulders. Shoulders that
were bare in a full velvet green dress that stopped just at her
knees. Nabiki had used all her
considerable experience in applying Ranko’s makeup. There seemed to be no makeup though the
effect was startling in that while Ranko was normally very pretty, now she was
gorgeous.
Ukyou wordlessly offered a
corsage box, and amazingly blushed as if she was a teenaged fella
on prom night.
Ranko smiled gently and
opened the box. The mix of small red roses
and green leaves was stunning. Ranko
lifted it to her nose and slowly inhaled, enjoying the simple pleasure of
sensation. Or was it the sensation of
pleasure? Either way she was grateful
for Nabiki teaching her to enjoy the moment.
Ranko held the corsage out to Ukyou.
Confused, Ukyou looked to
Nabiki for help. “Baka, you’re supposed
to pin it on her. It’s a chance for the
guy to feel up the girl. Schees, haven’t you ever been on a date?”
Ranko laid a soft hand over
her mate’s mouth. “Be gentle Nabs, truth
to tell, I don’t think that Ukyou has been on a formal date before. Don’t spoil it, OK?”
Surprised, Nabiki looked at
the rising tide of crimson engulfing Ukyou and put a hand to her forehead. “Virgins! They don’t know anything.” Giggling she watched both Ranko and Ukyou
blush even more.
“Damn it Nabiki, YOU
personally know I’m not a virgin. Oopps,” stuttered Ranko in embarrassment.
“Ranko, in case you’ve
forgotten, you’re female. Are you sure
you’re not a virgin in this form?” teased Nabiki. She clapped them both on the shoulder and
apologized. “Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.”
Ukyou leaned in and loudly
whispered to Ranko as she pinned the corsage in place. “Listen babe, let’s ditch the old bag and
elope. What’ya
say?”
Ranko stood on tiptoes and
quickly kissed Ukyou on the cheek, “Believe me, I’m considering it right
now. After all she IS an older woman.”
Nabiki just chuckled. She was too secure in her own happiness for
their return jibes to have much effect.
“Come on, let’s go. I planned
this so that I would meet Kasumi at the Bon-Pot about 15 minutes before you two
were to stage your entrance.
“So go,” countered
Ranko. “I want mom to take some pictures
of me and my date and I don’t need no older woman
hanging around.”
Still chuckling, Nabiki
hurried out and soon encountered her sister waiting for her just inside the
entrance to the restaurant. “Hi, Kasumi,
how are you doing?” neutrally asked Nabiki.
Kasumi embraced Nabiki
hungrily. “Nabiki, it’s been almost a
year! How can you be so cold? How have you been? Why have you been hiding from all of us? Are you coming home for the holidays? Isn’t school great! I’ve never had so much fun in my entire
life!”
Nabiki pushed herself out of
Kasumi’s embrace and looked her over.
“School seems to agree with you.
I’m glad that Ranma decided to finance your schooling. Come on let’s go eat.” With that Nabiki pulled her sister up to the matre’d and asked for her reserved table, effectively
forestalling any questions for a short while.
By the time they had been
seated and given menus, some of Kasumi’s exuberance had vanished as she thought
over what Nabiki has said about Ranma.
“Ranma paid for my fees? But I thought the Jusenkyo Foundation funded
my studies?” asked Kasumi.
“Ranma IS the Jusenkyo
Foundation,” calmly replied Nabiki.
“That can’t be true! He doesn’t have the money,” retorted Kasumi.
“He sold his parent’s house
to fund the Jusenkyo Foundation. I
know. I helped him with the
paperwork. Didn’t even charge him for
the help because he did it for you,” said Nabiki.
Tears running down her face,
Kasumi quietly asked. “But why, I mean,
I didn’t even try to protect him from Akane.
I didn’t care much what happened to him as long as our family and house
were safe. Why would he do something
like that? I’ll have to turn down the
rest of the money. Somehow I’ll pay him
back.” She started to cry. “Daddy was right, it was all a trick; a mean
trick. It’s not fair.”
As she struggled to get to
her feet to leave, Nabiki jerked the waistband of her dress and pulled her off
balance so that she fell back into her seat.
“I reserved the table so that the two of us could have supper together
and visit for awhile. Are you so tired
of my company already?”
Startled by the coolness of
Nabiki’s reaction; Kasumi sat glaring at her for a moment before acquiescing to
her sister’s manner. She signed; yes
this was Nabiki, the Ice Queen. She’d
better check that Nabiki was treating; she didn’t think she had that much money
with her.
Noticing Kasumi covertly
checking her purse, Nabiki smiled.
“Kasumi, tonight’s my treat.
You’re my guest. I’m not that mad
at everyone still.”
Nabiki refused to talk about
Ranma instead recalling shared memories from their childhood. As Kasumi calmed down, she began looking over
the other patrons. She was frankly
‘rubber necking’ as this was the first time she’d ever been out like this. She was the first to catch sight the lovely
red haired girl and her date.
Kasumi pointed and whispered,
“Nabiki! Isn’t that Ranma-chan? And she’s with a guy! He sort of looks familiar but I don’t
recognize him. Do you know what’s going
on?”
Nabiki made a pretense of
studying the couple. “Yeah, I think I
recognize him. He was in Akane’s class
as I recall. Oh, Ranma has legally
changed his name. SHE is now legally a
GIRL named Ranko Saotome. Nice dress
too,” added Nabiki as she turned back to her sister obviously implying that
Ranko in a dress was a somewhat common occurrence.
As the sisters ate their
meal, Nabiki noticed that Kasumi seemed very distracted. Several times Nabiki had to repeat a question
that Kasumi hadn’t heard because her attention was on the other couple. ‘Phase one, puncture
oblivious, check.’ Nabiki smirked to herself.
At the other table, Ukyou had
noticed the Tendou sisters. “Ranko, why did Nabiki want Kasumi to witness my proposal to you
tonight?”
Ranko looked over her
shoulder and momentarily caught Kasumi’s eye on her before the older girl
looked away with a deep blush. “Don’t
know. She wouldn’t tell me other than to
say that it was really important to them both.
I’ve learned to trust Nabiki when it comes to family. Right now that includes you and me and maybe
Kasumi as well.” Ranko snapped her
fingers, “Damn, almost forgot; last minute instruction for you from
Nabiki. Don’t tell Kasumi your real
name. She wanted you to use the nickname
‘Spats’ if you’re asked.”
“Spats,
huh.” She turned to the red head. “Do you think that is short for spatula or
maybe ‘trivial argument’? Kami knows
that is about the best I can do with her from my side. You sure she considers me family?”
Ranko chuckled. “Feeling a little insecure are we? Look at me.
I’m her husband, the father of her child and she’s got me here in a
public restaurant in a dress. Yet I know
that she’d give her life in a flash if mine or the baby’s were threatened.”
Ranma and Ukyou gradually
became the center of attention in the restaurant without realizing it as her
beauty and gay laughter and their obvious concern for each other attracted the
attention of the other patrons.
Ranma understood the anxiety
that Ukyou had felt when Ukyou had thought Ranma beyond her reach. The anger, the hopelessness was something
Ranma remembered so very clearly from almost a year ago. In the last few months, Ukyou had slowly lost
those dark emotions as Ranma and Nabiki prepared to accept her into their
family. The time had been one of
expectation rather than of a contest as in past years and the two childhood
friends had slowly and willingly opened up to each other.
Now there was true
friendship, perhaps even more than that on both sides. Ukyou saw a friend willing to abandon his
gender temporarily but completely to be with her rather than allow her to be
hurt. Knowing now that she could hurt
Ranma tempered Ukyou’s demands and insecurity as well.
Ranma knew that his best
friend had been hurting, maybe as much as he had when Akane had gotten
married. Knowing that
he really did matter to her that much curbed his insensitive tongue somewhat
and made him a bit more aware of her moods and needs. Ranma had promised to make this an evening
Ukyou would not forget and Ranma Saotome kept his promises, no matter what her
present gender.
Laughing about the humor that
Nabiki was forcing into their lives, the two friends didn’t realize that it
left little room for the darker emotions as they enjoyed their leisurely
meal. Soon it was time for the main
event.
Kasumi wanted to leave but
Nabiki was adamant about staying for a leisurely dessert. Just as Kasumi was about to demand that they
leave immediately, her little island of self-control received another
blow.
Across the room, Ukyou slowly
stood up and carefully walked to Ranko’s side.
Taking Ranko’s left hand in hers, Ukyou held it while sinking to one
knee and pulling a ring box out of a pocket with her other hand.
Noticing what was happening,
a hush swept across the restaurant and the young couple’s words could be
clearly heard by all as Ukyou took the ring out of the box and slipped it on
Ranko’s finger while asking. “Ranko,
I’ve loved you for so long. I think you
are just about perfect and I don’t think I could live without you. Will you marry me?”
“Humm,
only ‘just about perfect’, huh, well . . .” Ranko’s brilliant smile illuminated
the entire room just before she pulled Ukyou into a deeply, deeply passionate
kiss that had many of the other patrons blushing and fanning themselves with
the memories that the sight kindled.
Long moments later, just as Ukyou was beginning to turn blue, Ranko
broke the kiss and simply said “Yes.”
Cheers and clapping echoed
loudly as the newly engaged couple stood to leave. When Ukyou signaled for the check, the Matre’d simply held it up and tore it in half to the cheers
of the other patrons as the young couple blushed crimson. As they slowly made their way to the door,
they were obliged to stop at nearly every table as well wishers hugged Ranko
and shook Ukyou’s hand. At the door the Matre’d handed them a bottle of champagne. “With our best wishes, good
night and a good life as well.”
Kasumi sat at the table
crying. She just couldn’t stop
crying. Nabiki rubbed a hand across her
sister’s back but offered no comforting words.
Finally she sniffed a few times and mumbled. “I wish there was something I could do for
him . . . I mean her.”
Nabiki smiled sadly. “There is . . .”
Kasumi looked at her sister
somewhat more calmly. For long moments
she just studied her leaving the conversation hanging. “Nabiki, you knew this was going to happen,
didn’t you?”
Nabiki nodded. Like she thought, Kasumi wasn’t a slouch in
the brains department when one could get her to let them show. “Yeah, I knew in advance. I helped Spats pick out the ring.”
Kasumi sighed, “What is the
favor that Ranko wants?”
Nabiki took both of Kasumi’s
hands in her own. “She wants you to be
well, to be happy. She wants you to be
her maid of honor so that you will know that you are forgiven and that she is
happy too.”
This time Nabiki held her
sister in her arms and rocked her as they both cried. After awhile, they felt up to talking some
more and Kasumi agreed to not tell either her father or Akane about Ranko. She was pretty adamant about returning
Ranko’s money until Nabiki took a rather firm stance with her and convinced her
it wasn’t a topic Ranko wanted to discuss.
Nabiki did suggest that Kasumi seek additional scholarships to cut the
load down though. It was a compromise
that Kasumi eagerly embraced.
Later that night as Nabiki
cuddled with Ranma, she said, “Thanks Ranma, between you and Ukyou, I think
Kasumi got a good start on getting her life together tonight. Oh yes, I asked Kasumi to be your maid of
honor. Is that OK?”
“Thanks sweet heart that
sounds ‘just about perfect’ to me” whispered Ranma as he hungrily muzzled his
wife.
“Baka, sweet baka, come
here,” she murmured as she turned the light off.
Nabiki called a family
conference early the next morning. As
she sat nursing Kenji, she gathered Ranma, Ukyou and the Saotomes’ attention
with her eyes. “OK, the wedding is set
for a week from tomorrow and Kasumi has agreed to be Ranko’s maid of
honor. There is a small problem with
logistics that we need to get straightened out before Kasumi arrives here about
She shifted the baby to the
other side and continued. “I don’t think
it would be wise to burden Kasumi with the knowledge that Ranma and I are
married and have a child, at least, just not yet. Last night I led her to believe that Ranma
was unmarried and had abandoned his male gender. She also doesn’t know that Ukyou and I live
here.”
“Nabiki! I’m shocked,
how could you lie to your sister like that?” chastised
Nodoka.
“Actually,” replied Nabiki,
“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell her
everything, lots of half truths and allowed her to jump to the wrong conclusions
all by herself.”
“But . . . bu . . .” stuttered Nodoka.
“Mom,” sighed
Nabiki, “You promised that I could deal with the Tendou’s as I felt I needed.”
Nodoka sighed her acquiesce
but Ukyou asked, “Why?”
Nabiki cooed as she burped
the nearly sleeping baby and then continued.
“I want to heighten her guilt before I break the truth to her. That way she’ll be more likely to help me
with the rest of my family."
“Ok, ssooo,
what is it you need from the rest of us?” asked Ranma.
“Whenever Kasumi is here,
Genma and Kenji will be hiding in the nursery.
It’s at the end of hall well away from the other bedrooms so we should
be OK. Other that that, don’t mention
the baby or our marriage,” Nabiki continued, “Oh yeah, Ranma, you’ll have to
stay in girl form all the time too and it would be a good idea if Ukyou made
herself scarce as well.”
“Ahh,
why do I have to hide?” asked Genma.
“Two reasons,” answered
Nabiki. “First, you couldn’t keep a
secret if your life depended on it.
Second, Kenji will need a baby-sitter when I’m downstairs with
Kasumi. If she asks, we’ll say that you
are on a training journey.”
Kasumi hesitantly knocked on
the door.
Nodoka smiled at her as she
opened the door and ushered her inside where Ranko and Nabiki sat talking.
“Hi sis,” waved Nabiki as she
patted a pillow next to herself.
“Hey,
Kasumi. Long time no see,” smiled Ranko at the tall
willowy girl.
Kasumi knelt and hugged
Ranko, “Thanks Ranko,” she whispered in a voice heavy with emotion.
“No problem Kasumi,” grinned Ranko as she patted the other girls back. “I always did like you a lot; sort of a cross
between a mom and a big sister. But if
you could find some scholarships, well, let’s just say my feelings wouldn’t be
hurt.”
“Ok,” whispered Kasumi.
Ranko turned to her mother
and her best friend Nabiki. “Well, the
four of us are going to have a busy week.
Fortunately mom has already got the wedding invitations all ready to
mail. That leaves decorating our house
for the wedding and sewing dresses for both me and Kasumi.” Ranko turned to Kasumi, “You weren’t planning
on going home for the holidays, I hope?”
Kasumi sighed, “Well,
yes. But I guess not anymore.”
* * * * *
“Damnit,
Ukyou!” moaned Nabiki. “I CAN’T bind my
breasts as tight as you. There’s milk in
there. Look, I’ll nurse the baby
now. That way I’ll be Ok for maybe four
hours before the binding becomes painful.
That’ll work won’t it? It should
give us plenty of time for the ceremony.”
Embarrassed, Ukyou nodded her
head and went to fetch Kenji. As she
watched Nabiki nursing him she sighed, “I wish I could nurse someday too.”
Nabiki looked up at her with
a mischievous grin. Deliberately
misunderstanding, she shrugged her shoulders and said. “Well Kenji doesn’t seem too hungry right now;
I suppose you could have the other side if you really wanted to nurse.”
Blushing deep crimson, Ukyou
hissed, “Nabiki, you know that wasn’t what I meant!”
Nabiki just grinned at her
and finished up but just couldn’t resist a parting remark. “Oh, I don’t know. Ranma doesn’t seem to mind; says that it’s
pretty sweet though.”
“Uhhh,
Nabiki have you seen Ranma today?” asked Ukyou.
“I mean she got pretty toasted last night at that bachelorette
party you insisted Shana, Nodoka and Ranko attend with you and I at that little hole in the wall club.” She paused and asked quizzically, “And just
where the hell did you find a male belly dancer? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ranma ever so
embarrassed in his, ah, her life. And
who would have thought his mother would react like that. She seemed so . . . hungry. She actually scared the poor guy when she
asked for his number. Of course, she was
three sheets to the wind by then, but still.”
Nabiki laughed and assured
Ukyou that her bride would appear on time.
Several dozen of the Saotome
friends and family were in attendance as the wedding started in the main room
of the Saotome home. Several stared
quizzically at the best man. ‘He’ didn’t
quite look the part somehow. But the
bride and maid of honor were gorgeous and the groom very handsome in a delicate
sort of way.
“Do you Ranko Saotome take
Ukyou Kuonji to be your lawfully wedded husband . . .” intoned the
minister. He finally drew the ceremony
to a close after Ranko had eventually broken the wedding kiss for lack of
oxygen. “I present to you, Ukyou and
Ranko Saotome”
Nabiki had grown tired of
dodging Kasumi and left the reception early.
As she slowly eased the bindings off her aching breasts, the nursery
door slid open and a furious Kasumi eased into the room, stopping suddenly as
she spied the sleeping infant.
“Nabiki!” she hissed. “Whose baby is that? What’s going on here? I finally recognized the groom! He’s a girl, one of Ranma’s old
fiancées! And what were you doing up
there dressed as best man? What the HELL
is going on?”
Nabiki smiled tiredly and
picked up the newly awaked baby and began to sooth him. “Sit down sis. You’re in for a shock, a series of
shocks.” She sighed as she nestled the
sleepy baby in her arms. “Let me see if
I can take the questions in order. This
is Kenji. He’s mine and my husband
Ranma’s baby. We were married the day
after Akane got married after I stopped him from committing suicide. With her dowry stolen and disowned by her
parents, Ukyou’s situation was becoming desperate so the three of us hammered
out a solution whereby I created a legal identity for Ranko and Nodoka then
adopted her. Since Ukyou’s dad had
screwed up Ukyou’s life by registering her legally as a boy,
that gave her the opportunity to legally marry Ranko. That was why I was best man, to give them
both the assurance that this solution was acceptable to me.”
“But, but why fool me? I feel so stupid,” whispered Kasumi.
“Actually,” commented Nabiki,
“almost every invited guest, whether family or friend is much further in the
dark than you were and nearly every one of them will remain so. We did deliberately fool you in order to get
your attention. Hopefully the shock
value will keep you from withdrawing into your oblivious shell again.”
“But why, I was happy. Now . . . now I don’t know,” sighed Kasumi as she sank onto a chair.
“Because you are the only one
who can help Akane and daddy,” said Nabiki as tears brimmed
her eyes. “Both need to get into
counseling and neither would ever listen to me.
Not now and not in the past either, not about this. But you can do it. Kasumi, they won’t resist you! You can save them, please. Please, when you go home, and any time you
see them or talk with them, nag them into counseling. Ranma and I will pay for it even. Just please get them to go before it’s too
late.”
As Kasumi took her sleeping
nephew into her arms and studied her sister’s tear streaked face, she came to a
reluctant decision. “Ok, Nabiki. I promise.”
Ranko and Ukyou never said
anything to the others about their wedding night. Their grins the next morning were never
explained though Nabiki tried very hard to get the information from both of
them. Their silence turned out to be a
most effective revenge against her. The
second morning they didn’t come out of Ukyou’s room at all till late afternoon.
By prior agreement, Ukyou had
Ranma all to herself that first week.
The honeymoon ended when Ranma and Nabiki started attending classes
again. Thereafter, the two girls would meet
with Ranma and gamble for him each evening.
They deliberately set the rules to help curb his ego.
“Ok, ready Nabiki?” asked
Ukyou. At Nabiki’s nod, they started, in
unison, “a one, and a two, and . . . damn! my scissors cuts your paper.”
“Ahhh,
wait Nabs, Ukyou won! Quit pulling
me! Nabiki! Ukyou beat you!” stammered a
confused Ranma as a grinning Nabiki towed him into the bedroom. It had been a long week from her perspective.
One round of paper, rock and
scissors, loser ‘had’ to sleep with Ranma.
They still played the game even after the first month when it became
apparent that all it determined was whose bed the three of them ended up in.
Kasumi was a frequent
visitor. She suggested that perhaps she
could save costs by moving into one of guestrooms and was obviously shocked
when Nabiki vetoed the idea. “Kasumi,
NO! The idea for you to go to school was
to get you away from domestic duties.
Much as I’d love to have you here living with us, I can’t take the
chance of you falling into that trap again here. Kami knows there is enough to do here with
the baby, both Nodoka and Ukyou trying to get Ucchan’s
going again and Ranma and I both going to school full time too.”
Kasumi sighed resignedly, she knew she couldn’t promise that Nabiki’s
fears wouldn’t happen. So she changed
the subject. “I know you are doing well
in school, how’s Ranma doing?”
Nabiki grinned. Ranma was one of her favorite topics. “You know how I’m ranked in the genius
category and you are about 5 points ahead of me. Care to guess where Ranma and his study
partner Shana rank in raw intelligence?” asked Nabiki.
“Well,” Ranma didn’t do all that well in high
school at first as I recall and I’ve heard the prof’s speak highly of Shana,”
mused Kasumi. “So I’d guess that Ranma
was well below you and Shana maybe just above me. Am I close?”
“Not even,” smiled
Nabiki. “Ranma is about 12 points above
you and Shana one point below me.” She
chuckled, “my man was even better at hiding his brains than you were. His ole man told him that being a smartass
was manly but being merely smart wasn’t.
So he hid his genius.”
* * * * *
“But Nabiki, it’s so large!”
protested Ukyou as she looked over the remodeling plans Nabiki and she were
discussing for the new Ucchan’s. The new floor area was easily five times
larger than her old restaurant and she had barely kept up with that at peak
times.
“Ukyou, think small and small
you’ll stay. Look,” Nabiki urged, “This
is the right time to do this since we own the building now. Expanding later will cost two or three times
what it will cost than if we do this now.
If the space is too large at first, we’ll use movable partitions to
reduce it temporarily.”
Ucchan’s was an instant hit with the nearby university. So much so that Nodoka
started helping out during the rush periods. Not surprisingly for such a good cook, Nodoka
seemed to have a natural talent for cooking Okonomiyaki as well. Under her urging, Ukyou also started offering
other selections as well and she ended up having to hire a dozen college
students as part time help to keep up with the business. She paid her mortgage off in the first year.”
* * * * *
Ukyou glumly came out of the
bathroom. Nabiki hesitantly stopped her
by putting a hand on her arm. “Down in
the dumps? What’s wrong?” she asked the
other girl.
Ukyou sighed, “It’s that time
of the month again. Once again, I’m NOT
pregnant. Oh, Nabiki, you got pregnant
your first try and here I’ve been trying for nearly a year. What’s wrong with me?” she asked forlornly.
* * * * *
[ukyou
and nabiki pregnancy, nabiki
one month later than ukyou] [saotomes
build dojo]
* * * * *
“Ranma,
Ranma!” excitedly called Nabiki. “Look, look at these bills,” she said as she
thrust them in Ranma’s face.
Ranma looked them over, scheese,
shrinks sure charged a lot he thought to himself. “Ahh, is there a
problem? I mean, I think we have enough
money don’t we?”
“Ranma,” she said wiping
tears from her eyes, “you don’t understand.
These are counseling bills for my dad and Akane. Finally, they are starting to get help.” With that she broke down and started crying
from happiness for her family.
* * * * *
Soun starts to teach again, not much but some as part
of his therapy.
* * * * *
Ukyou was tired, so very
tired. But it didn’t matter as she
looked at the small girl muzzling her breasts.
She had a daughter. The tears
just wouldn’t stop. This time, Ranma
didn’t ask how the new mother felt. He
just softy stroked his mate’s hair and whispered. “She’s beautiful. She looks like her mother. By the way have I told you yet today that I
love you?”
Ukyou smiled, “Twice, but
who’s counting.”
Two days later, Tofu came out
of the operating room, sadness masking his features. Wordlessly he enfolded Ranma in a hug. “Ranma, I’m sorry. The strain of labor the day before yesterday
was just too great I guess. Ukyou
suffered an aneurysm. She bleed to death internally in a few minutes.” As he held the sobbing young father, he
sighed mostly to himself. “Maybe if I had been a surgeon or if the emergency physician had
been a martial artist like us . . . maybe, just maybe she might have had a
chance. As is
was, she had none.”
Ranma looked up puzzled,
“What?”
Tofu added, “If the doctor
had only had our chi skills, he might have been able to detect the break sooner
and with our enhanced speed, perhaps he could have repaired it as well.” He shook his head, “In a way, Ukyou had
everything going for her if this had to happen to someone. She was in a hospital and the doctor was
right there checking her condition when it happened to her. But it wasn’t enough.”
Later, Ranma and Nabiki
awkwardly held each other close as they cried together. “I killed her Nabs, I killed her. If I hadn’t gotten her pregnant she wouldn’t
have died!” he sobbed into her shoulders.
“Hush Ranma, hush, don’t
diminish her life like that.” She sadly
added, “She herself would tell you that given a choice between living and a
child, she’d take the child every time.
Besides, it’s so much better than what happened the first time.”
Ranma quietly pushed back
from Nabiki enough for them to see each other’s tear streaked faces. “What happened ‘before’,” asked Ranma. “Please tell
me, I think I need to know.”
Nabiki embraced him again,
though it was a bit uncomfortable since she was near full term. She couldn’t stand to watch his face as she
told this story, it would hurt them both too much as it was. “About two months after you committed
suicide, Ukyou stormed into my apartment at the university. Her face was dirty, hair disheveled and her
eyes wild. ‘Where is HE!’ she
demanded? Ranma, she scared me. But I was hurting too and some how it didn’t
matter all that much. I told her that I
would personally take her to you and all it would cost was two round trip
tickets.”
Nabiki paused for awhile,
“she actually calmed down a bit, especially when I offered to let her crash
with me. We talked a little bit before
going to bed. I was worried about her
and tried to feel out how she felt. The
next morning we caught an express train to a city that was near the town where
your grave was. We caught a local train
there and then walked the rest of the way.
I could sense her panic rising as we neared the graveyard. When I pointed out your grave, she collapsed
into tears. I held her for a long
while. She wouldn’t leave. When I left to find some help, she was gone
when we came back. Nobody ever saw her
again. The city eventually sold her
restaurant for past due taxes. But
nobody ever found a body, she just completely
disappeared as if she never existed. And
only me, the mercenary Ice Queen, I was the only one who even missed her. It hurt, it hurt a lot. I’m sorry Ranma. Brief as it was, the life she had this time
was so much fuller than what she had before.
This time she married you. She
held her daughter in her arms and nursed her.”
Nabiki started sobbing harder, “This time she had a life and left
friends and family behind to miss her. I
miss her Ranma, I’ll miss her forever but I don’t regret a single moment of our
life with her.”
The funeral was somber, even
Genma cried a bit though he tried to hide it.
Ranma quietly held his daughter Ukyou as they said goodbye to Ukyou,
husband and mother.
With tears in his eyes as he
caressed Ukyou’s grave marker, Ranma asked.
“Nabs, I don’t want anyone else to hurt like we do because of something
like this if I can prevent it. Nabiki,
can we . . . will our budget allow me to go to medical school?”
“Yeah Ranma, that can
happen. Change the courses you take next
year a little and with your grades, getting into medical school should be
easy,” whispered Nabiki.
A week after Ukyou’s death,
Nabiki went into labor. Tofu found it
necessary to sedate Ranma, but Ranma’s worry was needless. Nabiki gave birth to a lovely blue eyed
daughter that she named Kimiko after her own
mother. She nursed both Ukyou and Kimiko who they raised together as if they were twins.
Kasumi frequently helped with
the baby-sitting and was entranced by her nephew and two nieces. So much so that she didn’t even think of trying
to do housework while watching them.
Nodoka took over running Ucchan’s full time and often requisitioned Genma’s help
keeping the place clean. The place was
well on it’s way to once again becoming another mom
& pop restaurant as it had once been as its popularity continued
undiminished under her care. Trust Genma
to throw a monkey wrench into the works.
Bam! Smack! “But No-chan,
what’d I do?” plaintively asked Genma.
Nodoka stopped baka pounding
and began to sob onto his shoulder instead.
After a few moments she whispered, “I’m pregnant.”
Fortunately she landed on top
of Genma as she lost her balance when he unexpectedly fainted in her arms. Unfortunately, they were in the hallway of
the house.
Ranma came out of his
bedroom, looked at his parents on the floor in the missionary position and
sighed tiredly, “Schees, mom, dad, you guys DO have a
bedroom for that kinda stuff.” With that he stepped around them and made his
way downstairs never to realize how close he came to death at that moment.
* * * * *
[ranma
genma confrontation over teaching at dojo, ranma agrees that he has obligation to become sensei at
dojo but also demands right to become physician as Ranko since both have
separate legal identities.]
* * * * *
Nodoka gives birth to daughter, Kikuko.
* * * * *
[kasumi has been in school for
almost three years in this interval and she has met Tofu several times. But it is not until he starts to freak out
around the small Saotome children that she finally puts a stop to it. Slaps him silly and points
out that his behavior was totally unacceptable as it endangered the kids. The shock cures Tofu, starts to court kasumi
* * * * *
Akane read the headlines in
the sports section again, ‘Ranma Saotome leads gymnastics team to another
victory, clinches all
As she carefully bottle-fed
her five-month-old son she murmured to herself sadly, “Even Ryouga is still mad
at me and I haven’t seen P-chan in years.
I’ve seen Ryouga, what, maybe eight times since the wedding and he’s
deliberately run from me each time he sees me.
I thought he was my friend.”
A month later, Kasumi watched
as Akane and Akane’s husband, Bubba, walked across the stage and received their
college diplomas. Afterwards, Kasumi
hugged Akane while Soun shook Bubba’s hand proudly. “I’m so glad that you were able to stick it
out and graduate Akane. I mean the baby
is just six months old now. This last
year must have been tough for the two of you.”
The couple nodded agreement
to that.
“So, I hear from dad that you
and Bubba are moving into the dojo,” prompted Kasumi of Akane.
Bubba grinned happily, “Yeah,
Akane and Soun are going to start team teaching martial arts classes and I’ve
got permission to set up a small real estate office in the house.”
Kasumi looked around and saw
Bubba’s parents approaching holding their grandson. As Akane took her son and snuggled
momentarily with him, Kasumi asked. “So,
what are your plans for the rest of the day?”
Akane grimaced, “My husband
and his father are going on a deep sea fishing trip to celebrate. As far as their wives go, well, we agree that
we hate it and are staying home. We
don’t really have anything planned though.
Why?”
Kasumi paused, wondering if
she should do this. She hadn’t cleared
it with Nabiki but she did feel that it was time plus this was a perfect
opportunity. ‘Oh, well,’ she thought to
herself, ‘sometimes it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission.’ She smiled at Akane and suggested to her
father and Akane, “I wondered if you two wanted to attend Nabiki’s college
graduation with me about two hours from now.”
She smiled at Bubba’s mother,
“you’re welcome to come too if you’d like.”
Kasumi hated to admit it but she was relieved when older woman declined
saying she needed to rest.
“Why should I?” stormed
Akane. “She didn’t attend my graduation
or even send me an invitation to hers.
“I haven’t seen her in over three and a half years, why should I make an
effort to see her now when she totally ignores my existence?”
Kasumi sighed; it was hard to
believe that Akane had been in therapy for over two years now and still had so
much trouble with her anger. “Because
you wronged her and she will not do anything to reach out to you without an
effort on your part first.”
“I wronged her! Just what the hell do you mean?” fumed
Akane. “She’s the one who tried to ruin
my wedding by vanishing at the last minute!”
Meanwhile with a grateful sigh, Bubba allowed his parents to pull him
away with themselves. The fellas had a boat to catch and none of them liked this
particular side of Akane.
Soun sighed wistfully, “I
wouldn’t mind seeing my daughter again.”
Distracted for only a moment,
Akane returned to the fray. “She owes ME
an apology. Not the other way around.”
“Sorry,” calmly stated
Kasumi, “I know all the facts and I agree with Nabiki. But only she has the right to explain it.”
“But,”
started Akane again.
“Just decide Akane,” snapped
Kasumi, “is your pride worth not seeing your sister for another three or four
years, or do you perhaps have some affection for her hidden inside all that
anger.”
Kasumi’s irritation derailed
Akane’s anger long enough for her to reflect a bit more calmly inside. Finally she sighed as if making a huge
sacrifice and said, “Ok, I’ll make the effort.
But I promise you. When I talk to
her, I’m going to give her a piece of my mind!”
Soun was startled to overhear
Kasumi mutter under her breath, “Yeah, yeah, just as if you had any to spare in
the first place.” Kasumi had definitely
changed in the last three years.
Soun, Kasumi, Akane and her
baby were fortunate to get seats that gave a good view of the podium. As the graduation ceremonies started for
As soon as the ceremony
started, Akane noticed Ranma sitting on the stage next to a girl that looked
somewhat familiar. She hissed, “Kasumi,
look, on the stage, there’s that two-timing Ranma with the hussy I saw at his
apartment when I dumped him!”
“Oh there! Oh, thank you
Akane. I was wondering where Ranma and
Shana were,” calmly replied Kasumi.
“But . . .” sputtered Akane.
“Just shut up and watch the
ceremony, Akane. Believe me, things are
a lot different than you assume them to be,” exasperatedly responded Kasumi.
After a short welcoming
speech by the University president he introduced the class salutatorian. Akane and Soun gasped as Ranma confidently
strode up to the podium amid waves of applause from the gathered students. Ranma made a very short welcoming speech and
introduced the class valedictorian.
“Hey, now it’s time for one of the main speakers. Here’s Shana Deji,
one of my best friends and my main study partner, now and next year in medical
school too.”
Swapping
places; Shana and Ranma hi-fived as they passed each
other amid thunderous applause. Soun and Akane were momentarily stunned as
they previously had no idea at how well Ranma had been doing in college. “Ranma’s going to be a doctor?” mumbled Akane
in surprise.
After she spoke, Shana and
Ranma made their way down the stage to sit with the other graduating students
while the main speaker spoke. Afterwards
the students came forward to receive their diplomas as their names were called
alphabetically.
Akane was surprised to note
that Nabiki was sitting with Ranma.
“There must not be very many ‘S’s’ since Tendou Nabiki is next to
Saotome Ranma” she whispered to Kasumi and added, “I wish we had been able to
get a graduation program.”
Kasumi just grinned to
herself. She had a couple of programs
but kept them hidden.
As Nabiki stepped onto the
stage to receive her diploma, the University president motioned for a pause in
the smoothly functioning lines handing out diplomas. Placing a hand on Nabiki’s shoulder, he spoke
to the audience, “Every once in a while, there comes a
student who distinguishes herself in non-traditional ways and deserves special
recognition. One such is Saotome
Nabiki. She balanced a college
education, a husband and two children while establishing a charity, the
Jusenkyo Foundation that has helped dozens of her fellow students pursue their dreams.”
Once again the auditorium
rang to thunderous applause. Meanwhile,
Ranma came up behind the crimson Nabiki and hugged her to the added cheers of
the assembled students.
Just as Nabiki had received
her diploma and was about to step down, another student called out loudly, “Hey
Nabiki, when’s the next one due?”
With hardly a pause, Nabiki
patted her tummy and yelled back, “In about 7 months.” Then she lifted her fist into the air in a
feminist salute and yelled “Hoo Raa”
Almost immediately several hundred other girls echoed her “HOO RAA, HOO
RAA!” Nabiki grinned and waved as she
made her way back to her seat.
Meanwhile, about 5 meters behind her, Ranma was blushing as he slowly
shook his head and followed Nabiki back to his seat.
Akane was blushing, “I can’t
believe her. Nabiki is shameless. Did you see how she embarrassed poor Ranma in
front of all these people?”
Kasumi mildly asked, “Is
there something shameful about a young married woman being pregnant? And as for Ranma, he already knew about
it. He really doesn’t mind when Nabiki
does something like that. In fact, it’s
part of what he loves about her.”
“I have two more
grandchildren?” mumbled Soun, “and Nabiki’s pregnant again and married to
Ranma!” With that he fainted.
Kasumi studied Akane’s face
as they waited for the crowds to clear a bit before going to greet Nabiki and
Ranma. She could see the anger bubbling,
with a sigh, she motioned Akane to sit next to her between her and their
Father. “Akane, you still don’t
understand do you?” Seeing Akane’s
puzzled look, Kasumi continued, “When we go down to congratulate Nabiki and
Ranma, I want you to take a close look at Nabiki’s hair. On the right side, just above the forehead,
you’ll notice a thin streak of white hair.
There’s a tanto scar there, one that she got
when she wrestled a tanto blade away from Ranma while
your wedding ceremony was happening. She
stopped Ranma from committing suicide.
Nabiki feels very strongly that you wronged Ranma and herself with your
cavalier treatment of the honor engagement between the Tendous
and Saotomes.”
“But he . .
.” sputtered Akane.
“NO!” spoke Kasumi
sharply. “Not once, not even in his mind
did Ranma ever betray you. In the end,
he changed who he was to fit your demands and then you . . . you just threw him
away.” With tears in her eyes, Kasumi
continued. “Nabiki is the only reason the Tendous still have
their honor Akane. And thanks to her, we
may even end up being healthy and happy too.
Tell me truly, without counseling, would you still be married?”
“Well, sigh . . . probably
not,” she whispered. “But what does that
have to do with Nabiki?”
“Remember the Jusenkyo
Foundation?” queried Kasumi, “the one that Nabiki and Ranma founded with their
own money initially. They are the ones
who are funding my way through school and paying for yours and daddy’s counseling,
just in case the significance of the name has slipped your mind,” she added
sarcastically.
Akane sat there a long
time. After a while, tears began to
slowly drip from her eyes. Finally she
rose and wiped her eyes, “I have some apologies to make.” She hugged her son to herself for comfort as
she made her way to where Ranma and Nabiki could be seen in the midst of
numerous well wishers.
Ranma was the first to notice
Akane’s approach. His face stilled and
he pulled Nabiki in front of him but facing Akane as if to shield himself from
Akane’s approach. Hesitantly, Akane
paused and then looked behind herself seeking Kasumi’s reassurance. Seeing Kasumi’s warm smile, Akane took heart,
and after a moment’s thought, handed her son into Kasumi’s care.
A meter from Ranma and
Nabiki, Akane stopped, knelt and bowed to the floor before her sister and
Ranma. Painfully, she spoke, her face
still to the floor, “Almost four years ago I shamed my family honor and your
honor as well, I humbly ask forgiveness.”
Ranma felt the tension in
Nabiki, softly he spoke to her. “I would
like to see an end to this Nabs, please.
She is family after all.”
Nabiki turned within Ranma’s
encircling grasp, briefly hugged him and kissed him quickly. “Thanks Ranma, in the end, that’s what’s
truly important isn’t it?”
“Yes,” whispered Ranma, “It
was only when we two became a family ourselves that we saved each other.”
Another quick hug and then
Nabiki knelt beside Akane, “We both forgive you, Akane.” Kasumi smiled gently and ignored her own
tears as she watched her two younger sisters hug each other tightly. Her family was whole again.
* * * * *
Akane sat at one end of the
room marveling at what she saw before her.
Ok her father and Genma playing shogi, that
wasn’t new, it just hadn’t happened in some years. But on the floor there was her three year old
nephew Kenji, the year old twin nieces Ukyou and Kimiko,
her own six months old son
She sighed as her son began
protesting, it was time for a nap. Just
as she was about to ask Nabiki where she could lay
With a put-upon sigh, Genma
moved a few pieces and won the game.
Even as Soun was protesting, Genma upended the glass and moved to the
center of the floor where the panda laid down on his back as if to take a nap.
Almost immediately the three
older children were all over him.
Crawling up his sides by grabbing handfuls of hair to pull themselves upward with.
There they bounced and giggled and rolled around, though Genma was
careful to catch them before they hit the floor if they rolled too far. The two younger children watched
spellbound. In less than ten minutes,
the three older children were curled up in a ball on the panda’s broad warm
soft tummy, fast asleep. Just as Genma
was dozing off himself, he felt two other children laid
in his arms, a sleeping infant on each shoulder. ‘What a come down for a master martial
artist, a bed for babies,’ he thought.
Somehow the smile on his face and the contentment he felt didn’t make
that seem like a bad thing.
Akane watched
awestricken. “Wow, and here I thought he
was useless.”
She continued to watch for
several minutes until Nabiki spoke to her as if understanding her unspoken
concerns. “Not to worry, Akane, even in
his sleep, Genma is aware of the children.
Without even knowing it, he’ll keep the kids safe. On the down side, if it is a down side, they
will all sleep at least four hours, probably longer.”
Nodoka smiled warmly at
Akane, “Want to help in the kitchen?”
Akane hung her head but the
others could see her face blanch, “No, I don’t try to cook anymore. Not after the first time my son had to go to
the hospital because I couldn’t even mix the baby formula correctly. Please, don’t ask me again.”
* * * * * . .
Kasumi marries tofu and moves into his house. Tells him in no uncertain
terms, that she fully intends to continue her education even if, or rather when
she becomes pregnant. Lovingly
tells Ranko to stuff the rest of the ‘scholarship’ her husband can pay her way
now. Not that the foundation was paying
all that much anymore anyway with all the scholarships she had earned.
* * * * * .
RANKO as a medical student with Shana Deji, one of her best friends and her main study
partner. Shana meets another medical
student and marries him just as Nabiki predicts [remembers]. All three become obstetricians and agree to
go into private practice together.
This time Ranko is first and Shana second when
graduating. Tofu teaches ranko some magic medicine as well.
* * * * *
Nabiki was . . . well she
wasn’t sure. She was nervous, anxious,
excited and definitely hoped that Ranma wouldn’t say no to her plans. Ranma on the other hand was vaguely aware
that Nabiki was not her usually confident mischievous self. But he put it down to the fact that both of
them were just finishing up their professional degrees. In three days, he would be fully certified as
an obstetric physician and she as an attorney.
Both were ready to go into practice.
When the elderly couple above
Ucchan’s had passed away several years ago, Nabiki
had preempted their floor wide apartment as office space for their charity and
now she had set up a legal assistance office as part of the Jusenkyo Foundation
office she had been running from there.
At the opposite end of the
Saotome compound from where the new dojo sat, Ranma and Nabiki had had built a
multistory medical clinic that included a suite of offices for Ranma and his
two partners, Shana and her husband. The
three newly licensed physicians were in the midst of setting up the offices and
hiring staff, though they were having an easier time of it than others in a
similar situation as Ranma and Nabiki were covering all the startup costs.
It was Sunday morning, a week
and a half later. As Ranma attempted to
rise from bed, Nabiki pulled him back.
“Ranma, can we talk a bit, please?”
Ranma smiled, “So you’re
finally going to tell me what’s been bugging ya, huh?”
“Am I that obvious?” she
asked shyly.
“Too me ya are,” he replied
with a kiss to her nose, “but only because I’ve made a hobby of Nabiki
watching.”
“That’s sweet, flattery will
get you everything,” she cooed.
“Got everything I want
already,” Ranma remarked as he loosely hugged her to himself.
‘Perfect opening!’ she
thought to herself. “But there is
something that I’ve wanted for almost eight years that you haven’t given me
yet.”
Obviously puzzled, Ranma
thought for several long minutes before scratching his head and giving up. “Ok Nabs, I give up. What ever it is, it’s yours if possible.” With a smile he added, “heck I’ll even try a
couple of the impossible ones for you too if that’s what you want.”
“A honeymoon,” Nabiki said
quickly. “A honeymoon where there are no
other obligations, no kids, no bills, no friends or parents; just us. A honeymoon where what we want to do, we can
do. Someplace where we
can be as kinky as we want.
Whether it’s dance naked on the roof or make
love in a meadow.”
“But the
office . . .” started Ranma. He hesitated as he noticed the fire starting
to leave her eyes, “can wait a few weeks I guess,” he
finished. Sigh, “What about the kids?”
he asked.
“I’ve already talked to
mama-Nodoka and she’s all excited about it whether it’s for a couple of days or
months,” grinned Nabiki happily. “She’s already got a couple of people in
managerial and chef training at Ucchan’s. She said she’d just put them on their own a
little earlier is all.”
“So,” whispered Ranma in her
ear. “Any ideas on
where we are going and for how long?”
“Yeah,” snickered
Nabiki, “I have the reservations already made, for TWO months.”
“Two months?” Ranma was
surprised. “You’ve been planning this
for that long?”
“No, baka,” Nabiki answered
quickly, “I’ve been planning this for a year.
Two months is how long I want to stay.”
“Oh,” replied Ranma quietly. “Two months . . . you
sure?”
“Not long enough?” wondered
Nabiki. “I think I can extend it if
that’s what you want.”
“Nnooo,
no, that’s fine, just fine.” Ranma
wondered what he was going to do for two whole months. “Did you say there was a training dojo or a
big library nearby?”
Nabiki grinned, “Actually, I
haven’t said anything at all. The place
is a small island off the southern most coast of
They caught a flight to
“Huh,” responded Ranma, “I
thought we were going to stay here all summer?
Or is the tub broken somehow?”
In answer, Nabiki pulled out
a package Ranma had last seen over eight years ago. It was a package of instant Nanniichuan. It could temporarily cure Ranma’s curse or
give a temporary one-time curse of drowned boy spring to someone or something
else.
With a feeling of panic,
Ranma studied the package and Nabiki’s broad mischievous smile. Ranma bolted from the room hissing, “NO, not
that, never that!”
Ranma hurriedly dressed,
fully intending to go outside and sulk.
He paused in the hall as he heard Nabiki softly crying in the
bathroom. The sound caused his heart to
tighten and he slowly slid open the bathroom door. At his feet laid the package where it had
fallen after Nabiki had thrown it against the wall as he left.
With tear reddened eyes,
Nabiki looked up at him and sobbed. “I’m
sorry; it’s just that I love all of you.
Even ‘her’, I just wanted a chance to love her too. I’m sorry Ranma. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just wanted something to make this time
together really special. I’m sorry.”
Ranma’s heart filled with
warmth for this vibrant woman who had made his life so exciting and worthwhile.
He picked up the package and then
scooped her up out of the tub, heedless of his dry clothes. “Well, I guess we better turn off the hot
water, heh, Nabs?” he whispered in her ear as he
hugged her tight.
That night, the initial pain,
though slight startled Ranma, ah, rather Ranko.
Nabiki hesitated, “Sorry Ranko, I forgot about that,” he said.
“You and me
both honey,” Ranko chuckled. She
grinned, “It’s ok now Nabs. In a sort of kinky way, it’s fun.”
Ranko was surprised at how unbored she actually was those two months.
Events the first couple of
days set the tone for the remainder of their stay in a way. A tropical storm moved in and isolated the
island. Ranko and Nabiki were sorely
tempted to just stay indoors and explore their new relationship. They probably would have done just that if
they hadn’t realized that there was no food in the house.
Making their way slowly down
the street to one of the few markets that were open, Ranko complained, “I
thought you said this was a ‘paradise’ type spot.” Ranko unhappily struggled to hold the umbrella
against the gusting wind that persisted in periodically dampening her by
blowing rain underneath it.
Ranko was uneasy as she and
Nabiki moved along the isles and made their food selections. There was something barely heard that was
putting all her senses on alert. Just as
they were in the process of paying for their groceries, a middle-aged woman
came out a back door and stood with her back against it crying into her hands.
Ranko was instantly at her
side but before either said anything, a muffled scream could be heard behind
them. “What’s wrong,” demanded Ranko in
quiet but very firm voice.
The shopkeeper sternly
replied, “Nothing that is any of your business unless you happen to be a
doctor.”
Ranko looked at the two
troubled faces of the strangers before her and simply said, “Yes.” She turned to Nabiki, but he was already
disappearing out the door at as fast as he could.
The shopkeeper asked, “Ahh, where is your husband going?”
But his wife clutched Ranko
desperately, “You’re a doctor?”
Ranko reassured them, “My wi . . ahh,
husband has gone to fetch my medical bag.
Now where is my patient?”
Stunned, the shopkeeper
sagged back, but his wife, still clutching Ranko with one hand hurried through
the door and up the stairs behind them.
In a back bedroom on the second floor, Ranko found a
half dozen women assembled around a young woman obviously in labor. And not doing well either.
“Move away, give me room,”
snapped Ranko impatiently. A quick exam
and Ranko asked, “Why isn’t her doctor here and why
isn’t she in a hospital?”
“I’m Juna,
the girl’s grandmother. Her doctor is
elderly and had to be hospitalized on the mainland a couple of days ago. The storm has cut us off so that we can’t get
help, can you help?”
Ranko nodded as she looked
the assembled women over carefully, paying especial attention to what their chi
looked like during this family crisis. “Juna, I may need to operate, please set up a hard table,
about waist high, and gather all the clean sheets that you have. If you can, sterilize them by zapping them in
the microwave after damping them slightly.”
Ranko then pointed to two other women who had also radiated
calmness. “I’ll need the two of you to
assist me, the rest of you either leave or help Juna.” Without waiting for replies, Ranko turned her
back on the rest of them and focused her attention on her first patient, a
young mother to be named Yuka.
Cries of outrage alerted
Ranko to Nabiki’s arrival. “Let my
husband enter, I will need his help,” snapped Ranko.
“Help?” queried Nabiki
nervously as he was allowed to enter.
As she quickly opened up her
bag, Ranko nodded, “Remember when you were in the lab and watching as Shana and
I practiced putting each other under momentarily?” she asked. “Well, I need for you to do that for Yuka,”
as she pointed to the young woman in labor.
“Don’t worry Nabs, I’ll guide you.”
“Ok,” shakily replied Nabiki.
After carefully scrubbing up
using tepid water, Ranko was ready to operate.
Apparently not only was the child in breech position, but the cord was
tangled as well, a potentially lethal condition for both mother and child. The mother was already bleeding heavily and
the baby’s heartbeat was showing signs of distress.
It turned out that the two
women Ranko had selected to help were also experienced midwives,
perhaps that explained their calmness.
With their help, Ranko and Nabiki quickly performed the emergency
Caesarian and delivered a great-grandson into Juna’s
care. Ranko spent extra time and care
doing repair work on the torn womb of the young mother, though at amigirkin speeds, it did not really take long. Ranko used her chi to reinforce Yuka’s life
force and repair the damage as well.
Less than an hour after the
baby was delivered, Ranko was done.
Three minutes later, she was asleep on the floor exhausted. Nabiki quickly gathered his spouse into his
arms and retreated with her into a bedroom that Yuka’s mother Shori led them to.
In tones of hushed awe, the
midwives confided to the other village women what they had been privileged to
witness. “Her hands were moving so fast
that I couldn’t see them at times. And
she was glowing. Glowing a deep blue and
sometimes so was Yuka too. Maybe it was
magic or something, but I’ve never seen a doctor that good
before!”
Five hours later, a groggy Ranko sleepily protested as Nabiki carried her to the
supper table. “Aww,
I wanted to sleep some more.” That was
until she saw the food and her stomach loudly grumbled.
With shy grins, Juna and Shori, set full plates
before their two honored guests.
Dumbstruck, they watched Ranko’s plate of food seemingly vanish, but
grinned knowingly when Nabiki calmly swapped plates with Ranko as she hungrily
glanced around the table. Apparently
this appetite was nothing new to the young doctor’s spouse. As the second plate was emptied in a somewhat
more decorous manner, Nabiki held out his plate to be refilled. As soon as Ranko finished the second plate,
Nabiki again calmly swapped plates.
Refilling the plate again, this time Nabiki ate as well while Ranko,
embarrassed, cleaned up her third helping.
The shopkeeper, who
introduced himself as Yuka’s father Togi, chuckled,
“The only other people I’ve ever seen with appetites like that are martial
artist.”
As Ranko grinned, Nabiki
remarked with pride. “My wife is a grandmistress of her family’s martial arts style.”
Juna gasped, “So that’s how you were able to move so
fast.” She bowed, “I have consulted with
my family and we would like to give you the honor of naming my great grandson.”
A meditative but sad look
came over Ranko’s face. After a few
moments, she spoke, “If you are serious in this request, then I ask you to name
him after my first husband, Ukyou.” She
sighed before continuing quietly, “He gave his life for our only child together
and it was his death that made me decide to go into medicine. In a strange way, his death saved the life of
Yuka and her son.”
“His name is Ukyou then,”
quietly replied Toski, Yuka’s husband. “Thank you for saving my family.”
Nabiki scooted over closer to
Ranko and wiped away the solitary tear he saw just before it fell. “Still hurts, doesn’t it?”
Ranko hugged him, “Yeah, but
somehow, somehow maybe Ukyou’s death wasn’t completely a waste,” she sighed
sadly.
“Wherever Ukyou is right now,
I’ll bet he’s grinning ear to ear even as he’s calling you a jackass,” smirked Nabiki. Ranko
just grinned up at him.
The
following morning dawned clear and bright; a harbinger for the weather for the
rest of their stay. As they made their way down to the dock to
check on their scuba lessons, they noticed a line of people waiting outside the
local clinic. Ranko remarked to Nabiki,
“The local doc must have made it back.”
However as they came abreast
the waiting crowd, several of the village officials motioned for them to
stop. One of them, Togi
the storekeeper whose daughter and grandson they had saved the previous day,
spoke hesitantly. “Dr Saotome, I know
you are here on your second honeymoon, but well, our clinic has been closed for
a couple of weeks now. I was wondering
if you would be willing to see some of our people.” He explained embarrassedly, “it’s a long way
to the mainland, and with the waiting, the ferry schedules and all, sometimes
it’s a two day trip to see the doctor. A
lot of us can’t afford that.”
Ranko smiled gently and asked
who had the key to the clinic as she nudged Nabiki onward toward the dock and
the market.
That became the pattern for
next two months. Even after the old
doctor returned from the mainland hospital, Ranko still helped him an hour or
two each morning. Though his medical
training was a half century in his past, the older doctor still had some wisdom
to pass on to the young woman. Ranko and
Nabiki were accepted into the community completely, and though they did decline
the offer of establishing a medical practice there, they did accept the idea of
spending future vacations there. Next
year, they promised, next year they would bring the rest of the family.
Ranko and Nabiki were packing
up to leave, debating whether to finally change genders again here or surprise
Ranma’s folks. Nabiki was frankly eager
to change again though he was little concerned about how the townspeople would
react if they were discovered in their true genders. On the other hand, cool baths just didn’t
compare to what a Jacuzzi offered he thought.
Ranko on the other hand,
wasn’t too concerned either way. After a
dozen years living with the curse and nearly an equal time living on the road,
she didn’t mind either the bath temperature or being female all that much to
tell the truth;especially
now after these two glorious months living as Nabiki’s wife. Plus she had had a great time scuba diving
and horseback riding.
Ranko paused as she picked up
a small opaque plastic bag. She didn’t
need to look inside to recall that it contained her emergency sanitary
supplies. That wasn’t what caused her to
pause. Ranko paused because she abruptly
realized that she hadn’t once used it these last two months.
“No, no . . . no,” whispered
Ranko.
Nabiki decided that he
couldn’t stand being like this anymore and approached Ranko. “Hey you, I’ve decided I want to be a girl
again, wanta go soak in the Jacuzzi with me?”
Too panic stricken to speak,
Ranko wordlessly handed the small bag to Nabiki. Nabiki opened it, looked inside and looked
back at Ranko with a puzzled expression.
“Ahh . . .” suddenly it dawned on Nabiki and
he sat down. “We’re a couple of
idiots. You’re a doctor and I’m a
mother. We should have both known to take
precautions. We’re idiots. What do we do now, Ranko?”
Wordlessly, Ranko curled up
in Nabiki’s lap and began to sob, truly scared by what she faced for once in
her life. Nabiki could only enfold her
and whisper, “It’ll be Ok, I’m sorry.
It’s all my fault,” over and over to his
sobbing spouse; a pregnant wo-‘man among men’.
Eventually Ranko calmed down,
the two finished their packing and quickly left for home. There were plans to be made.
Nodoka was surprised when
Ranko walked in the door with a strange man.
She was even more surprised to discover that it was Nabiki! She was scandalized, what had the two of them
been up to these past two months. She
had little chance to ask them though as Ranko had immediately hugged her and
started crying, again by the look of her reddened eyes. “Ranko . . . Nabiki what’s wrong?” she asked.
“Sorry mom,” sighed Nabiki, “we can’t say for sure until she sees a
doctor. Ranko,” she paused to get her
attention, “Come on Ranko, let’s go see Shana. Maybe she can help.”
Pausing only long enough to
put on some fresh clothes, Nabiki and Ranko made their way over to the clinic
where Ranko practiced medicine with her partners.
“Ranko! You’re back!”
exclaimed Shana as the young couple made their way back to her office where she
was using a tape recorder to make notes that would later be typed out and
entered into the patient’s records by her staff.
The nurse had tried to stop
them, asking fool questions about appointments and such until she belatedly
recognized Dr Saotome. But Nabiki had
ignored her and simply walked back.
Shana waved the nurse away and closed the door as the couple sat in her
office.
“What’s up, Ranko and who’s
your friend?’ she asked.
“Shana, it’s me, Nabiki,” softly
answered the husky man with the curly chestnut hair. “This form is only temporary, unlike Ranma’s
curse. One shot of hot water and it’s
gone forever. But . .
. well, I think Ranma; I mean Ranko may need an obstetrician,” she finished as
both his and Ranko’s faces flushed deep crimson.”
Shana looked at her two
friends. She had known them for almost
eight years and had known of Ranma’s curse almost that entire time. But this . . . this, she started grinning, then
chuckling. Eventually she fell off her
chair laughing so hard.
Nabiki and Ranko just sat
there waiting; knowing that they really didn’t have much choice.
Finally, Shana calmed down
and turned to Ranko. “First things first;
let’s see if you really are going to be a mother. Ahh, you do plan on
keeping the child instead of aborting, I assume? Well, presuming you are pregnant, if you plan
on practicing during your pregnancy, you’ll have to let the staff know about
your curse.” She sighed, “if only there
was a way to prove it to them.”
Nabiki chuckled, “well, I
guess it’s a good thing that I haven’t changed yet again; if it comes to that
point. Of course, we could also use pops
as an example.”
Shana opened the door and
waved to a nurse, “These are my very good friends, Nabs and of course you’ve
met Dr Ranko Saotome. There is a chance
that Dr Saotome is going to be a first time mother, so let’s start a file on
her and get the preliminary work done as soon as possible. I’ll examine her when that is done.” With that she turned Ranko over to the nurse
with a grin, “so you get to be one of my first patients.”
The results were in shortly,
yep, very definitely pregnant.
Shana giggled, “I’ll get the
staff together.” Shana and her husband
were shortly assembled with the entire staff.
I believe all of you met both Dr Ranko Saotome,
her brother Ranma and his wife Nabiki who is our business partner, when you
were being interviewed for this position as we were first setting up the office
several months ago?” At their concerted
nods, she continued, “What I’m about to tell you is not to go outside this
office. It is a personal secret
concerning Ranma Saotome. When he was a
teenager, he traveled widely as part of his martial arts training. One place that he stopped at was in
Shana pointed to Ranko. “This is Dr Ranko Saotome and it is also
Ranma Saotome, grandmaster martial artist, unfortunately, his curse cannot be
demonstrated without killing the baby and perhaps her as well. BUT, his wife, Nabiki Saotome stumbled onto a
temporary version of the curse that works only once. Apparently she used it to liven up their
second honeymoon and somehow ‘she’ got her husband pregnant.” She chuckled at the Saotomes bright red
faces. “As Nabiki’s version of the curse
can only be demonstrated once, I going to ask Nabiki to remove ‘his’ shirt so
that you can be sure that this is not a mirror trick.”
She turned expectantly to
Nabiki. Blushing red, Nabiki removed his
shirt so that all could see his bare chest.
Ranko smirked at Nabiki’s nervous attempts to cover the breasts that
weren’t there. “Ready?” asked Shana,
just before her husband poured the hot water over Nabiki’s head. Nabiki gasped and froze as the change came
over her. She froze long enough that the
staff was fully convinced she was mammalian.
“Beginning next week,”
continued Shana as Nabiki hurriedly dressed, “Dr Saotome will begin seeing
patients. SHE will need all your
assistance to protect her life against hot water. That means no tea pots or other hot beverages
in the office.”
Ranma spoke up at this
point. “I know that some of you are
curious about the split between Ranma and Ranko. Both of my genders have a separate but legal
identity, thus as a woman, I’m always Ranko Saotome, physician; and as a man,
Ranma Saotome, sensei of the Saotome dojo.”
With a deep sigh, she continued, “But I guess HE is going to be gone on
a long training trip.”
* * * * *
a bit after this, book two ends
book three is just basically an adventure,
not fleshed out very well and it would require that support elements be written
into the first two books to prestage it.
* * * * *
Author’s note: Additional
Ranma fan-fiction can be found on my Web Pages.
C & C to [email protected]
Web-page http://www.geocities.com/cloud_dreamer2000
And http://mysite.verizon.net/cloud-dreamer/index.html
* * * * *
* * * * *