The Son He Never Was
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by Florencio B. de la Merced, Jr, (fmerced@pworld.net.ph)

A fanfic inspired by the anime/manga Ranma 1/2 created by Rumiko Takahashi
and Oh My Goddess! created by Kosuke Fujishima

A project for the Fanfic Mailing List
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In was a horrible accident.  It was one of times that Ranma felt he
shouldn't have been where he was.  Not only was he surprised by the suden
attack by Mousse, but his mother was also passing by the Nekonhaten when
it happened.  Both Ranma and Mousse were already in the heat of the battle
when Nodoka approached the crowd gathering around the Chinese restaurant.
Ranma was easily deflecting all of Mousse hidden tricks and weapons.  Not
even a hurl of chains with blades on each ends was successful in slowing
down the young Saotome.  Unfortunately, it was his special martial arts
moves that Nodoka noticed immediately.

"Ranma!  Oh, my god!"  The sudden outburst both stunned the two martial
artist, but Mousse had already hurled a huge sword chainmail at Ranma when
it happened.  Ranma was totally caught off guard and the second he turned
his gaze back at Mousse, the blade was already breathing down his neck.
"No!  My son!"  Ranma braced for the worst.  A second later he found
himself slumped on the muddy ground.

"What?  What happened?"  Ranma raised himself.  He squinted at the crimson
color of the ground, he knew instantly it was blood.  But who?  He checked
himself, but felt nothing, no pain.  Then a horrifying shout came from his
opponent.

"Oh, my god!  Somebody help me!"  Mousse held in his arms a wounded and
helpless Nodoka, "Shampoo!  Cologne!  Call an ambulance!"  Mousse carried
the almost unconscious woman who Ranma was shocked to realize that it was
his mother that had saved him.  "Help me!"

Ranma fell to his knees all shook up and unresponsive to anything else but
the thought of what had just happened.  The ambulance arrived later but
still Ranma was still not himself.  Cologne decided to stay with her
future son-in-law while Shampoo played escort on the ambulance.  Mousse,
on the other hand was already being questioned by the police that had
responded to the scene.  He was later dragged off to the station.  Cologne
called the Tendo dojo and soon all that needed to know where at the
Nekonhaten.

"Ranma!  What happened?"  Akane was at her fiancé's side hoping to stir
Ranma from his shock and depression.  Soun and Genma had immediately
rushed to the hospital as soon as they heard from Cologne the details.
Kasumi was trying her best to calm herself, but sooner or later she would
burst out crying.  Nabiki was also distraught and was already making calls
to Dr. Tofu and the hospital for any news.

"Mom...," Ranma was breathing irregularly, "Mom..."  Those first few words
was comforting to know.  Ranma was slowly coming back to his senses.
"No!"  Ranma cried for the first time in so many years.  He felt a great
deal of saddness right now, that even the warm embrace from his fiancée
wasn't able to calm him.

"Ranma...It was an accident."  Akane tried her best, but the more she said
that word, the more that Ranma cried.  Cologne just watched from the
counter.  She too felt for the Ranma.

"Really?  Oh, that's great news Daddy."  All looked at Nabiki as she
replaced the receiver of the telephone.  "Great news guys.  Mrs. Saotome
is alright."  Kasumi was the first to cheer at the news.  Ranma took some
time to come to his senses.  But as soon as Akane had told him about his
mother he leapt for joy.  He almost brought Akane up in surprised.  Ranma
was so delighted at the news that he didn't realize he was already kissing
Akane.  "Um...Ranma!"  No use, Nabiki thought as both youths were still
kissing.

When the two parted it was as if a new Ranma was born.  "I'm so happy.
Mom's all right!"  Ranma wanted to kiss Akane again, but was instantly
pushed back by Nabiki.

"Well, I'm sure you're happy to do that later, Ranma.  But you've got to
go to the hospital, don't you think."  Ranma nodded and was in another
second running out the Nekonhaten, dragging Akane with him.

---------

"Mrs. Saotome will be released after her other test's results come in, Mr.
Saotome." The doctor cordially gave his answer to both Genma's and Ranma's
question.

"Ah, that's good to know." Genma told his son, who was frantically pacing
up and down the hallway.  "Ranma stop walking around."  Just then, the
door opened and out came Kasumi and Soun Tendo.  "How is she?"

"Really, Saotome.  Even now, you still don't want to see your wife."
Genma just bowed his head embarrassingly.  Kasumi giggled at the sight.

"She's fine, Mr. Saotome.  She's already awake."  Kasumi was happy too.
Ranma made his way towards the door and entered, Genma didn't have the
heart to stop his son.

--------

"Mom."  Nodoka stirred in bed and tried to look up to see who was calling
her 'mom'.

"Ranma?"  Ranma took his mother's hand and squeezed a bit.  It was warm to
the touch and he realized it was the first time he held her since he was a
child.  Akane teared at the wonderful sight and tought that it was so
beautiful.  Nabiki was, on the other hand, muttering something about a
camera and why she forgot to bring it.  "Ranma is that you?"  Ranma
nodded.  Nodoka raised her free hand and reached to touch Ranma's smiling
face.  Then, without provocation, she slapped her son.

"Huh?" Both Akane and Nabiki was caught surprised by the incident.

"Ranma!  I'm dissapointed in you," Ranma just felt his cheek, "I allowed
your father to take you away from me so that he can teach you how to stand
up on your own and become a man among men."  Akane looked at Nabiki but
her sister too was confused. "But, what did I see.  You were fighting!"
Nodoka sat up on the bed, "and that boy..." She coughed, "He said that you
had to die!  You seemed to have made a lot of enemies, Ranma."  Ranma
wanted to butt in but his conscious held him.  "Martial arts is not about
gaining fame and making enemies."  Nodoka coughed again and checked her
breathing.  "It's about knowing the right thing to do.  And not doing just
whatever you want!  I'm sure your father told you this."  Ranma thought
for a minute and said to himself that something like that was told to him,
but he couldn't remember exactly when.

"Mrs. Saotome.  Please relax.  Ranma is really an idiot, but you can't
blame it all on him."  Akane sat besides Nodoka.  Ranma just shot a glare
at her.  "Now, Auntie.  Please calm down."  Nodoka did as she was asked.
Akane just stuck her tongue out at her fiancée.

The door then opened and the doctor, Soun and Kasumi walked in.  Genma
trailed them inside and was looking deeply saddened by something.

"Oh.  You're awake, Mrs. Saotome.  I've got your last test results."
Ranma looked at his father but he only got a mute reply.  "Everything
looks fine, Mrs. Saotome...I've already told your husband this."  The
doctor pointed to a shy and cowering Genma standing at a far corner.

"Genma? Is that you?"  Nodoka squinted, "why have you gotten so fat?"
Soun and Kasumi laughed and so did the rest.

"Um...there is one little problem."  Ranma held his breath.  "When you
arrived in the emergency room earlier, what we only did was stop the
internal bleeding and close your wound.  Now, we've got confirmed test
results that your kidney had been ruptured, which we didn't see earlier.
So you may need another operation."

"Oh no."  Nodoka was gravely disheartened by the news.

"That doesn't seem to be too bad, Mrs. Saotome,"  Kasumi confidently
stated, "man can still live with one kidney."  Nodoka, though, wasn't
elated.

"True," the doctor confirmed, "but, Mrs. Saotome already has only one
kidney left."  Everyone was shocked by the news.  "Mrs. Saotome had been a
gratious member of this hospital's organ donor program. "  Ranma almost
fell backwards at what he heard.

"In that case, Ranma only has to donate one of his kidneys."  Kasumi
looked at the flushed expression on Ranma's face.  The doctor confirmed
Kasumi's conclusion again.

"Oh, come on Ranma.  It's not that bad."  Ranma looked at Akane, then at
his mother.  He nodded in agreement, and everyone cheered.  Ranma checked
his stomach and tried to visualize what was going to happen next.

-------

In another place in Japan, inside a temple.  Belldandy was clearing some
of the things left scattered in one of the rooms when she heard the faint
call from above.  Keiichi saw the bit of concentration on Belldandy's face
and knew she was downloading something, a message perhaps.

"What is it?  Is something wrong, Belldandy?"  Keiichi sat down across the
sofa to where Belldandy had been meditating for quite a while now.

"Strange?  We've been aske to go somewhere, Keiichi."

"Huh?  Where?"

"Nerima."  Belldandy exhausted herself and tried to sleep.

"What?  Why?"  She was already alseep and Keiichi just muttered to
himself.

-------

"Strange?  You're blood test don't match."  Ranma stood at his mother's
side and didn't really realize what the doctor had meant by that.  "And it
seems your kidney won't match too."  The doctor scrolled through a couple
more papers but only had the same conclusion.  "We can't take your kidney,
Ranma."  Ranma was elated but everyone else in the room fully comprehended
the situation.

"What do you mean he's not a match?"  Dr. Tofu was sane already, now that
Kasumi had returned to the dojo.  "Ranma's is her son.  They should be a
match, at least."

"I'm sorry, but the test all came out negative."  Dr. Tofu asked to look
at them.

"This is strange."  He scoured through the pages once more.  Ranma was
intrigued by everything being conversed between the two doctors.  "This
can't be right.  Mrs. Saotome is type O, and Ranma is AB.  But, that's
impossible."  The two doctors just stared at Ranma.

"Hey!  What are you two talking about?  What's with this O and AB stuff?
Is something wrong with my mother?"  Akane heard everything too and
couldn't believe it either.

"Ranma, this test shows that," Tofu cleared his throat, "you are not Mrs.
Saotome's son."

"What?  What kind of trick is this?"  Ranma turned to Akane.

"It's true.  If your mother is blood type O, then you shouldn't have the
blood type AB, Ranma."  Ranma was confused even further.
"To have the blood type AB, Ranma.  Your mother needs to at least have
either A or B.  But she doesn't."  Ranma was shocked.

"You...you mean."  Akane painfully nodded to Ranma.  "No...this can't be."

-------

"I've been doing some researching, " Dr. Tofu entered the lounge were a
visibly distraught Ranma, Genma and Akane were lying on the sofa, "and it
seems there had been a case of mistaken identity."

"What do you mean, mistaken identity?" Ranma leapt up to the kind doctor
and was breathing down his neck.  "A few minutes ago I was my mother's
son.  Now, you're telling me I'm not."

"Calm down, Ranma.  I think I can find a donor for your mother."  That
calmed Ranma.

"It seems a certain Morisato, Keiichi was also born at the same time and
in the same hospital you were born in."  Everyone was stunned by the
revelation.

"I'm not sure if he is a good candidate, but if my suspicions are
right..."  Ranma grabbed Dr. Tofu by the lapels.

"Listen, I'm Ranma Saotome.  I'm the son of Nodoka Saotome, got it!"  Tofu
nodded and he was let go.

"Where are you going, Ranma?"  Akane ran after her fiancé.

"To find this Keiichi, dude."

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End of Prologue

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C & C appreciated...MST? Heh.