charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0)
Importance: Normal
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400
X-archive-position: 16715
X-listar-version: Listar v0.128a
Sender: ffml-bounce@fanfic.com
Errors-To: ffml-bounce@fanfic.com
X-original-sender: dfroeder@flash.net
Precedence: bulk
X-list: ffml
[The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set]
[Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set]
[Some characters may be displayed incorrectly]
Hearts' Healing 2 - The Paths of Honor
A Ranma 1/2 - Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki FanFiction
By
D.F. Roeder
This and other fanfictions can be found at:
http://www.flash.net/~dfroeder/index.html
C&C very welcome. Respond to FFML or privately to:
dfroeder@flash.net
----- Continuity -----
This is a Ranma divergence fic, the divergence occurring at
the beginning of the Ranma storyline, the day before the
fateful trip to Jusenkyo at the end of the 10-year training
trip.
This is also a continuation of the TM! OAV storyline,
although the concentration will be on one character, with
the remaining cast coming in as appropriate.
You will also have to have read "Hearts' Healing" and
"Hearts' Healing Interlude - Wedding" for the events in this
story to make much sense.
----- Acknowledgments -----
Many thanks and deep bows to Vince Seifert, without whose
input the bulk of my work would've been far poorer.
----- Disclaimers -----
Ranma 1/2 and its characters are the property of Takahashi
Rumiko, Shonen Sunday comics, Shogakukan, and Kitty TV
(Japan) and Viz Communications (USA).
Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki is the property of Kajishima Masaki
and AIC/Pioneer LDC.
This work of fiction is for free entertainment purposes
only. No compensation has been or will be received.
====================
Part 1 - Storm Fronts
====================
[April 10, 1993]
Tendou Akane jerked awake as the train pulled into the
station nearest her home. Her first year of college had been
grueling, thus far, and she was only now getting the rhythm
of studying, assignments, and classes into her system. After
her one Saturday class this morning, she'd boarded the train
and promptly dozed off. The frequent stops, however, kept
her from going completely under and sleeping through her own
stop. She wearily rose from her seat and debarked with a
handful of other passengers, starting the twenty-minute walk
to her house.
After about ten minutes, her head began to droop, and she
fell into a light, trance-like state as she continued down
the lane, a trance she was knocked out of as she ran into
someone standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Akane backed
up and blinked at the strange figure turning around in front
of her.
"Hello. Could you help me find the Nerima clinic?"
Akane eyeballed the stranger. He wore leather shoes with
very long laces that crisscrossed his shins over black
pants. A faded and dusty yellow tunic, a black and yellow
bandanna headband, a large pack, and a red umbrella
completed his attire and gear.
<What a weirdo,> Akane thought before she answered. "The
clinic's been closed for almost a year and a half. Gomen."
The stranger lowered his head, squeezed his eyes shut,
clenched his fists, and shook. Akane backed up, and she
eeped when the stranger whirled around and punched a hole
through the stone wall. A sheet of water came down and
drenched the stranger, and Akane looked up to see the
resident blinking down at them.
"Gomen ne!" the resident called before disappearing from
view. Akane turned her attention back to the weird stranger
only to find him gone, except for his clothes and his gear.
Akane blink-blinked, but then noticed the clothes moving
around. She backed up another step as the head of a
black-furred animal poked out of the pile of clothes.
<How did THAT get there?> The animal pulled the rest of its
body out of the clothing and sat down on its haunches. It
raised a paw and licked it, then turned its head
questioningly to Akane.
"Meowr?"
<What a cute cat! And someone's put a cute black and yellow
bandanna around... its... neck?> "Oh, my god! The water!!"
Memories of a similar scene with different results flashed
through her mind. Akane backed up a few steps and then
turned and ran as fast as she could to her home and,
hopefully, safety.
The large black tomcat hung its head as it wandered off,
looking for a source of warmer water.
~~~~~~~
The front door to the Tendou residence was slapped open and
then slammed shut with a report like a gunshot. Everyone in
the house ran into the foyer to see Akane with her back
against the door, one hand on her chest, and huffing and
puffing, a wild look in her eyes.
Kasumi stepped up and began fussing over her little sister.
"Akane-chan?" Soun asked. "Are you all right?"
Akane nodded twice in quick jerks.
"Something happen?" Kasumi asked.
Akane took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then said,
"I... I just saw something really strange, and... and I
guess it scared me." Genma's broad face and hanky'ed head
loomed into her view.
"EEK!!!"
*POW!!!*
Genma twirled in place twice then hit the floor,
unconscious.
"Who the HELL is THAT?!?!" Akane screeched.
Soun gathered Akane up in his arms and patted her on the
back. "It's okay, it's okay. That's just an old friend of
mine who'll be staying with us for a while. His name is
Saotome Genma."
Akane sniffed. "Oh. I'm sorry, Daddy."
Soun chuckled. "Don't worry about him. He's the other master
of Musabetsu Kakotou, and I'm sure he'll be fine. In fact,
he'll probably be impressed that you were able to put him
down."
Akane giggled. "Okay. That'll be nice, for a change." Akane
stepped out of her father's embrace, looking down at their
sturdy guest. "Do you think he'll spar with me?"
"I don't know, Akane-chan," Soun sighed. "He's not himself,
these days. He lost track of his son a couple of years ago
and has been searching ever since."
Akane looked at her father and put a hand up to her mouth.
"Oh, no."
Soun nodded. "His son's name is Ranma, and Genma and I had
arranged a marriage between one of you girls and him.
Remember?"
Akane froze. <RANMA?! The *same* Ranma? Married to that...
that...>
"Akane?" Kasumi asked, looking at the fearful recognition on
her little sister's face. "Do you know this Ranma?"
Akane jerked her head in Kasumi's direction. "EH?! NO!! I
mean, of course not. How silly! HAHA! I think I'll get a cup
of tea. Do you have tea, Kasumi? Oh, of course you do. You
*always* do. HAHA!" She staggered down the hall and into the
kitchen.
In the foyer, Soun and Kasumi looked at each other and then
back down the hall.
"What was that all about?" Soun wondered aloud.
The front door opened.
"Tadaima!" Tendou Nabiki stopped and looked at the strange
man unconscious on the floor. She also took note of her
father and older sister looking at her blankly and the sound
of what must be Akane banging around in the kitchen.
"Oh, I can't *wait* to hear *this*," she remarked dryly.
~~~~~~~
The wooden duck nameplate on the door cast a long horizontal
shadow from the light at the end of the hall. Kasumi paused
and felt glad that her sisters were home for a day or two,
but she then frowned slightly. A matter of family honor was
at stake, and if Akane knew something, which Kasumi
suspected from the way she'd behaved, then she was going to
see that family honor was satisfied. She knocked on the
door.
"Come in!"
Kasumi opened the door, stepped in, and closed it behind
her. Akane was seated at her desk, sipping her tea. She
smiled nervously at her older sister.
"Hi, Oneechan. What can I do for you?"
Kasumi walked over and sat down on the edge of Akane's bed.
"Akane-chan, what do you know of Saotome-san's son?"
Akane started and then quickly took another sip of her tea.
"Heh, nothing, Oneechan. Why do you ask?"
A sigh escaped Kasumi's lips. "Don't lie to me, Akane. I saw
your face downstairs. Feel lucky that Father and Saotome-san
aren't the ones asking you this."
Akane winced and set her tea down. "What you don't know
won't hurt you, Kasumi." She looked at her sister with
pleading eyes. "Can't we leave it at that?"
"It's a matter of family honor, Akane. I can't do that."
Kasumi was being unusually firm, and Akane sighed and stared
at her desktop, remembering. After a couple of moments, she
spoke.
"I know this Ranma. He worked for Toufuu-sensei, remember?"
"So. I wondered if that was him. But I thought he was
related to Toufuu. How do you know it's the same person?"
Akane looked at her with surprise. "You know, that hadn't
occurred to me. Akane no baka." She shook her head. "Just as
well. I would never want that freak in our family."
"Akane?!" Kasumi was shocked at her sister's words. "Why
would you say that? I thought he was a very nice young man.
A little uncultured, perhaps, but..." She trailed off at the
strange look in Akane's eyes.
"When I said 'freak', I meant it. As in 'circus' or
'sideshow'."
"Akane!"
"Oneechan! He turned into a girl right before my eyes! You
have no idea--"
"Oh, no!"
"Eh?"
"It *is* Saotome-san's son! The curse is REAL?!" Kasumi was
wide-eyed.
"Curse? What curse?" Akane blinked several times.
Kasumi slumped a little and was silent for a few seconds.
"Saotome-san said that Ranma ran off after he fell into a
pool at some kind of cursed training ground. I forget the
name. It seems that when he's doused with cold water, his
curse turns him into a girl. Hot water changes him back."
She picked at her dress for a moment, and Akane went over in
her mind what she'd seen; it fit. "I thought Saotome-san was
just delirious or something." Kasumi looked back up at
Akane. "You're sure?"
Akane nodded solemnly. "He was cleaning the steps to the
clinic, and someone kicked his bucket all over him, and
he... she..."
"You couldn't have been mistaken?"
"No! Even his hair changed color! It was bright red! And
his... her boobs were bigger than mine, maybe even
Nabiki's!"
A hand went to a mouth. "Oh, dear!"
Akane gave her sister a grim look. "Now do you see why I
didn't say anything?"
Kasumi dithered for a moment. "Still, Akane. There is
Father's pledge to--"
"Look, Kasumi." Akane turned in her chair and leaned
forward, putting her elbows on her knees and clasping her
hands. "I will have absolutely nothing to do with an
arranged marriage to... 'him'. Nabiki won't care a lick
about family honor when it comes to this. What does that
leave us with? You!" Kasumi started.
"Are you willing to marry a man who turns into a girl, maybe
prettier than you... probably at the most awkward of times?
Is family honor worth that?" Akane sat up and leaned back
into her chair. She sighed; Kasumi was obviously upset, but
it couldn't be helped. "Think this through carefully,
Oneechan, before you go talking to Daddy."
"I don't like lying to Father." Kasumi's head was down.
"Argh! Then don't! Like I said before, what he doesn't know
isn't going to hurt him."
Kasumi gave Akane a hurt look. "Well... I don't know..."
"Tell him and you're marrying Ranma." Akane considered and
decided on shock therapy. "Unless your taste runs to boys
*and* girls."
"Akane!! It does not!"
"They'd better... if you decide to tell Daddy. Ranma
probably wouldn't be happy if you didn't want to touch him
'that way' when he's a girl, and *she'll* be the man in the
relationship."
Kasumi started shaking when that realization sank in.
Akane's expression softened. "Don't worry, Oneechan. In this
case, family honor will be better served by keeping this
secret." She tipped her chair back and pounded on the wall
she shared with her other sister. "NE, ONEECHAN?!" The front
of her chair hit the floor, and she smirked at Kasumi.
Kasumi giggled. "You're *awful*, Imouto-chan."
"I just know my sister." Pause. "So?"
"Very well." Kasumi looked relieved and guilty at the same
time. "You've more than made your case." She looked
pointedly at Akane as she stood. "Father stays in the dark."
She stepped over to the wall and rapped on it. "Ne,
Nabiki-chan?"
Akane burst into laughter, and Kasumi smiled as she left the
room.
~~~~~~~
Nabiki had jumped when Akane beat on their shared wall, and
she was chagrined when Kasumi knocked on it. She took her
headphones off and laid them in her lap. <Wow! That was a
bombshell and a half!> She tapped her finger against her
chin and frowned. Something about this whole situation
reeked of money, but for the life of her, she couldn't think
of any way to profit from it without putting herself in the
hot seat, and she had no desire to marry such a person.
Akane would tear the house down before doing it. That left
Kasumi, and regardless of how she felt about most people,
Nabiki would be damned before putting Kasumi in *that*
situation. In Nabiki's rather draconian sense of fairness,
she *owed* Kasumi in ways that couldn't easily be repaid.
She chuckled as she realized that for once, her naive little
sister had the full measure of something.
____________________
[July 31, 2003]
The room with four desks was largely deserted this early on
a Thursday morning, and only the woman with the
copper-colored hair salted with gray was present, sitting in
a visitor's chair while she waited. She wore a light
lavender kimono with an oblong bundle strapped to her back
and stared sadly at the worn wood on her side of the
desktop. An old oscillating fan ticked in the background as
it panned back and forth, doing little to alleviate the
sapping heat of the room.
A man walked in from an adjacent office, the immense folds
of his body pushing at his white shirt.
"Gomen, Saotome-san," he said thickly. "The Saotome registry
had been misplaced, but I scouted around and found it."
"Arigatou, Futotta-san."
The obese Futotta grunted as he sat heavily in the squeaky
office chair. He opened the folder carefully and scanned the
contents. "Very well. How long have your husband and son
been missing without word?"
Saotome Nodoka bowed her head slightly. "Well... I haven't
seen them for twenty-two years, and I stopped receiving
postcards twelve years ago," she said softly.
Futotta looked at her with compassion. "My condolences,
Saotome-san. It cannot have been an easy time."
She smiled at him with little warmth but some gratitude.
He shook himself. "Right. You've gone through the necessary
procedures? Hired a detective first?"
"Hai. They were last known to have been in China."
The clerk nodded knowingly. "I see. China is often
uncooperative in these matters. A pity." He looked down at
the last few entries in the register. "Your husband's name?"
"Genma."
"Yes." He looked up. "What I'm entering is that he is
missing and presumed dead. Does this meet with your
approval?"
Nodoka sketched a nod.
"Your son's name?"
"Ranma." Nodoka steeled herself; she would not cry in front
of a relative stranger.
Futotta looked at the list and said nothing for several
moments, and then he flicked a glance at the woman across
from him. "Ah... Saotome-san?"
"What?" she said disinterestedly, still staring at the
surface of the desk.
"It, ah, seems that a Saotome Ranma was removed from the
Saotome registry and transferred to another." He licked his
lips; this could be unpleasant.
The Saotome matriarch blinked at the clerk in confusion. "I
beg your pardon?"
"Heh, ah, on October 11, 1992, a Saotome Ranma was
transferred off of the Saotome register onto the, ah... the,
ah... hmmm. It's not there. Damn sloppy, but it's just not
there."
Futotta hadn't been aware as Nodoka slowly rose to her feet
and leaned over the desk at him. He looked up and found
himself about 30 centimeters from a wet face with big doe
eyes. It scared him more than any yelling or screaming.
"I... I... Su-surely yo-yo-you're mi-mistaken?" she
querulously stammered.
"Errr, no, I don't think so."
Nodoka's features hardened. "That shouldn't have been
allowed without my or my husband's consent," she said
quietly.
The clerk gulped and looked at the date of transfer and
Ranma's date of birth. "Ah, he would've been eighteen at the
time. He, ah, wouldn't have, ah, needed it?" He smiled
weakly.
Nodoka leaned a little closer. "I suggest you find out to
which register he was transferred." She then smiled at him
sunnily. "Ne?"
Futotta nodded dumbly and quickly shuffled through the
papers. Not finding what he was looking for, he began to
sweat. He went back through the papers and stopped at a
largely blank piece of paper with a date and a name that
he'd passed over before: the date was the same as that of
the transfer. He silently thanked Kami-sama before speaking.
"I, I really must apologize, Saotome-sama, but there's no
listing of which family register he was transferred to, BUT,
er, but, I did find a dated name that matches the date of
the transfer. Would you like a copy?" <Of course she would,
idiot!> He smiled in utter obsequiousness. This sort of
thing cost clerks their jobs.
Still holding her smile, Nodoka merely widened her eyes
fractionally.
"Ah. Yes." Futotta stood and scurried into the other room,
and the sound of a copy machine briefly came from the
doorway. The clerk scurried back in and handed Nodoka the
copy. "I, I sincerely hope you find him, Saotome-sama."
Nodoka bowed and left the sweating clerk. After she'd gone,
he took in a deep breath. "Damn, she was scary and weird."
He opened the right bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out
a fresh dress shirt. "This job just doesn't pay, some
days..."
~~~~~~~
Keeping her face immobile, Nodoka managed to get to the
ground-floor ladies' room, enter an unused stall, and sit
down. Tears began rushing down her face, and her expression
was a mixture of anger, relief, and joy. <He's ALIVE!!
Ranma's ALIVE! Oh, dear Kami-sama, thank you!> She tore off
some toilet tissue and dabbed at her face. <Somehow, Genma,
you're at the center of this. I *will* have satisfaction,
husband!> After a few minutes, she looked at the piece of
paper the clerk gave her, still in her hand. <Ono Reiko...>
A half-hour later, composed but hardly calm, she left the
building.
____________________
[August 4, 2003]
Hakubi Ryouko lay on a sofa, desultorily flicking through
channels via the remote control. It was her day off, and she
fully intended to laze it away. She stopped for a moment on
a subtitled foreign soap opera, the drama revolving around
the doctors, nurses, and sundry other persons present in a
hospital. Ryouko grinned as she watched a buxom young nurse
corner a handsome young doctor in an unused patient room.
Her cat-like eyes flashed as clothes began hitting the floor
and the screen faded to black. She thumbed the off switch
and lay back on the sofa.
<THAT will never happen! I've seen to that.> Ryouko
stretched out on the cushions, remembering Ranma's reaction
when she'd dropped her bomb a couple of years back...
"Ranma... Dear... I want to be a nurse."
Ranma's chopsticks spun out of his hand, and he gagged on a
piece of food halfway down his throat. Ryouko, Ranma, and
Toufuu were sitting at dinner, a dinner *she* had cooked,
and everyone was enjoying it. Ranma coughed a couple of
times, freeing the obstruction. Toufuu, having foreknowledge
of this talk through Ryouko's questions, continued eating
and watched with no little amusement.
"Eh?!" *cough, cough*
"You heard me. I said I want to be a nurse. Well, *your*
nurse."
Ranma scratched his head and looked at his wife blankly.
"Um..."
"You decided to be a family doctor a while back, ne?"
Ranma nodded, not sure where this was going.
"Well, you were also talking to Otousan about hiring a nurse
when you start your practice. Well... *I* want to be your
nurse!" Ryouko adamantly crossed her arms.
Ranma looked to Toufuu, but he just calmly ate, occasionally
looking up at the couple. Ranma rubbed his face as he turned
back to his wife.
"Ooo-kaaay. What brought this on? A nursing degree will take
at least two years of school, and that's only if you work
hard. You've never shown much, ah, enthusiasm for school.
Remember how you went on and on when I asked if you wanted
to take that Chinese language course with me?"
Ryouko's eyes were smoldering. "I've seen those little
cutesy student nurses ogling you when you're walking around
the campus or the hospital. AND I've seen what they ogle
when you're walking away from them. They're lucky I don't
raze the entire campus to the ground, and I could, too!
THERE-fore, if you think for one minute I'm going to let you
hire some little floozy in a white smock, you've got--"
"GAH! Ryouko-chan! I can't believe you're gettin' jealous
over a bunch of little, very young, uh, man-crazy, er, um...
...!"
"SEE?! You *men* are all the same." Ryouko sniffed and
turned her head.
Ranma was now building a good head of steam. "I am NOT like
that!"
"Hmph!" Ryouko kept her head turned.
"CHIKUSHO, WOMAN!! I'm half-girl, you know! If you...
don't... believe..." Ranma blink-blinked and then put his
face in his hands. "I can't believe I just said that," he
mumbled.
Toufuu spat out his food and started roaring in laughter.
The corners of Ryouko's mouth quivered, and she quickly
joined her father-in-law. Ranma peeked between his fingers
and sighed. "My family's laughing at me. Oh, woe is me!"
That brought on a fresh set of howls from the other two.
Ranma put his hands down to reveal a crooked grin, and he
joined in the merriment.
Ryouko adjusted the cushion behind her head and snickered.
Ranma had thought that it was just a phase she was going
through. Was he ever surprised when she came home fully
registered for school. Washuu had done a little creative
record forgery, and Voila! Instant nursing student.
Ranma had sat her down, then, and told her he was proud of
her. Ryouko hugged herself as she lay in the den, smiling at
the ceiling. Then he told her what she would be doing, and
Ryouko's glow diminished.
The cadavers were the worst; she'd never had to just stand
and *look* at a dead person like that before. She shivered
in memory, and then dryly chuckled at the irony of it. Here
she was, a being that had killed hundreds of thousands,
perhaps millions, while under her master's control, and now
the steady sight of a dead body sent her reeling. <A kind of
justice, after all. Ne, Kagato, you bastard?> She wrenched
her thoughts away from the beast.
After some nervous difficulty, and the cadavers
notwithstanding, she'd found that she enjoyed chatting with
patients while taking their temperature, giving them their
pills, or whatever the chart said to do. Aeka couldn't
believe she'd gotten high interpersonal communication marks.
Aeka then laughed when she found out that her old rival had
squeezed a few wrists to black bruises when first learning
to take a pulse rate. <Oh, well. Can't be perfect all the
time,> she smirked to herself.
Ryouko sighed in contemplation. <And now my graduation and
the end of Ranma's residency are only two weeks off-->
The front door opened and slammed shut, and a string of
mumbles preceded the entrance of a petite redhead in a baggy
shirt but relatively dry pants and shoes. She stopped,
blinked at Ryouko, and then threw her hands into the air.
"WHAT is it with little old ladies and LADLES?! ARGH!! They
MUST be part of a school of martial arts water attacks or
something!"
Ranma stomped over and plopped down on the couch next to her
wife. Ryouko was snickering, and Ranma crossed her arms
under her breasts and mock-glared. "Oh, hush, you!"
Before Ranma could react, Ryouko had picked her up off the
couch and sat her on her lap. "Ack!" Ranma struggled weakly
and in vain. "Okay! You win, you win!"
Ryouko turned her head to fully look at her, and she leveled
a steamy gaze at the smaller woman. "Who said anything about
a contest?" she purred.
Ranma's eyes grew large and her mouth made a small 'o', an
'o' Ryouko moved quickly to capitalize on with her lips.
They kissed fervently for a couple of minutes, and then
Ryouko started snaking her hand up Ranma's pant leg.
~~~~~~~
>From his ground-floor study in the back of the house, Ono
Toufuu entered the kitchen of the home he shared with his
small family. As he filled a kettle from the tap, he looked
out the window at the car he'd recently purchased. He
smirked as he recalled another time a rather dented vehicle
had sat in the driveway and the amazing chain of events that
had been put into motion on that night, years ago.
Toufuu put the kettle on the stove and turned on the heat.
Wondering if his adopted son had made it home yet, he strode
towards the entry to the den. He set one foot inside the
den, took a mental snapshot, <"Urk!">, spun on that foot,
and returned to the kitchen.
Sitting at the table and waiting for the kettle to boil,
Toufuu couldn't stop mentally replaying what he'd just seen.
His currently-female son and daughter-in-law were, ah,
getting rather intimate. He tried and failed to immediately
dismiss the image of Ranma-chan moving her lower torso
against Ryouko's invading... <Argh! Nevermind!>
A familiar fluttering sound echoed softly from the den, and
Toufuu rose and looked into the room. They were gone, and he
smiled when he heard the floorboards creak upstairs.
<It's been a little while since Ranma was female during
their 'fun'.> He smiled in gladness. Early in their
relationship, Ryouko had somehow managed to convince Ranma
that she wanted to be with him and, perhaps as importantly,
desired him, regardless of his gender. And when he was with
her, Ranma let go of all the masculine nonsense he still
tended to demonstrate from time to time. With Ryouko, he let
all that fall away and just was what he or she was at that
precise moment.
<A rare thing, although I don't think Ryouko has quite
talked him into letting her use her gender ring,> Toufuu
concluded. <Now, if I can just get a moment, I have some
news...>
~~~~~~~
An hour later, Toufuu knocked on the door belonging to the
room of his son and his son's wife. He could faintly hear
the rustling of bed sheets.
"Come in!" onna-Ranma called.
Wiping the smirk off of his face, Toufuu opened the door and
stuck his head in. Ranma and Ryouko were laying side by
side, the covers pulled up to their chins, and Toufuu's
smirk returned as he took note of the afterglow on their
faces.
"Hey, you two. When you're able," Ranma and Ryouko blushed,
"come downstairs. We need to talk about some things."
"Nothing serious, is it?" Ryouko asked, her concern
mirroring Ranma's.
"No, no." He waved his hand up and down at them. "Just come
downstairs. I'll put on a fresh bottom-- ERRR, *pot* of
tea."
Toufuu could be heard chortling as he walked back down the
stairs, and the two women went from pink to red.
~~~~~~~
Clothed but still disheveled, Ranma and Ryouko padded down
the staircase and into the den, and Toufuu put his tea down
and poured two more cups. Ryouko picked hers up first, blew
on the top, and took a noisy sip.
"Aaah! Just the thing after-- ITE!"
Ranma pulled her hand back from pinching her wife on the arm
and gave her a look. "Be polite."
Ryouko rolled her eyes. "Sometimes, you are such a
*princess*, Ranma-chan."
The 'princess' thought about that for a couple of seconds
and then smiled merrily at Ryouko. "Thanks!" She held out
her hand, slightly bent at the wrist. "You may kiss my
ring."
Ryouko mock-growled, but before their play could, once
again, get out of hand, Toufuu chuckled and said, "Right. On
to business..."
Ryouko gave Ranma a quick red-eye and then paid attention to
her father-in-law. Ranma smirked and then gave Toufuu her
attention, as well.
Toufuu crossed his arms across his chest and regarded the
two sitting opposite him. "Have you decided where you're
going to set up a practice, Ranma?"
Leaning back against Ryouko, Ranma thought for a moment.
Ryouko put her arm around her, and Ranma snuggled in a
little closer.
"Well," Ranma began, "I had always supposed I would check
the list of vacancies or the want-ads and see who needed an
assistant, but I hadn't planned on doing that until Ryouko
and I got back from a little vacation after school is
finally over and done with. Has someone approached you about
me?"
"Not exactly," Toufuu dithered.
Ranma quirked an eyebrow.
Toufuu nodded. "Tokyo is always growing, as are the
districts that make it up... including Nerima."
Ranma tensed, but Toufuu continued on.
"As you know, the building that housed my clinic is owned by
the Ono clan and has been rented out now and again, for
various purposes, although it stands empty at the moment.
Mother has *suddenly*," he pointedly emphasized, "expressed
some interest in seeing it reopen." He paused. "It would
mean you could have your own practice from the start."
"Wow! That's great, Ranma! Your own... place..." Ryouko
trailed off when she noticed that Ranma had shrunk against
her. "Ranma?"
No one said anything for several moments as Ranma simply
stared into space. Eventually, she shook herself out of her
state and looked up at her wife's puzzled face.
"Ryouko-chan, there's a lot that we've never gotten to know
about one another. Oh, the big stuff has all been covered,
but some of the details that go along with it... There just
hasn't been quite enough time over the last five years, what
with school and all."
She sighed and looked at Toufuu while continuing to talk to
Ryouko. "My biological father... Oyaji, the one I left
behind in China. An old friend of his, another master of
Musabetsu Kakutou, if I remember correctly, lives very near
to Otousan's old clinic. It could be a problem if Oyaji
checks in and finds me there. I just don't know--"
"Ranma," Toufuu interrupted, "you know that your obligations
to him ended when you took yourself off the Saotome family
register. He can bluster all he likes, but it won't change
anything."
Ranma eyed Toufuu. "And bluster he will." Ranma worried her
fingernail between her teeth for a moment.
Sighing and frowning, Toufuu nodded and observed the steam
rising from his tea, wondering if the whole idea was worth
pursuing.
"I haven't said no, just yet," Ranma smirked at her father.
Toufuu looked up in surprise. "There is the possibility of
some stuff happening there, I guess, but it's also a special
place, too. We found each other there, ne?"
Toufuu and Ranma shared a warm smile.
"Also," she continued, "the idea of my own practice is
*very* enticing." She looked back to Ryouko. "I want to talk
it over with tall, cute, and spiky first, though."
Ryouko arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, and I think there's more
storytelling to be done, especially about your time in
Nerima."
"Hai." Ranma stood and pulled her wife to her feet, flashing
a quick grin to Toufuu, who responded in kind. "Let's all
hit the kitchen. I'm starved!"
Toufuu laughed, and Ryouko rolled her eyes, amazed at the
bottomless pit she'd married.
____________________
[August 19, 2003]
The house was not large, but neither was it small. It was
built in the traditional manner, and an artfully landscaped
Japanese garden screened the home from the view of casual
passers-by. Nodoka admired the care that showed in the
precision trimming and immaculate attention to detail. The
gardener obviously loved her work. She gathered herself and
continued down the winding walk to the front door of the
dwelling. Firmly knocking twice, she waited.
The door slid open, and Nodoka blinked and looked down at a
diminutive elderly woman.
"Hai?" <Kami! She looks just like her,> the woman thought.
"Ano... Ono Reiko-san?"
"Hai."
"I am--"
"Ranma's mother, no doubt. Please, come in." The Ono
matriarch stepped aside and allowed a nervous Nodoka into
her home. After shutting the door, she led Nodoka to the
tearoom and bade her sit. Nodoka seated herself, laying her
long bundle against the table, as Reiko fetched tea.
Nodoka looked about the room while her host was in the
kitchen, but pictures of several men and a handful of women
on a low bureau against one wall caught her eye. She spent a
moment studying the photo of a girl, and she marveled at the
fiery red hair. Something nagged at her about the person in
the picture, but she dismissed it. There was another photo
of a youngish man standing next to a teenager, maybe just
into adulthood. They wore matching charcoal-colored gis, and
the younger held his hand out in a victory sign.
"A good-looking family, if I do say so myself."
Nodoka turned to see Ono Reiko watching her. "Yes, very,
Ono-san."
"Please... Reiko." She set the tea tray down and knelt
across the low table from her guest.
Nodoka inclined her head. "Nodoka."
After Reiko had served Nodoka and herself, Nodoka said, "How
did you know I was Ranma's mother?"
Reiko's eyes glinted as she smiled. "The Ono clan is not
overlarge. When a private detective comes around asking
certain kinds of questions, it was fairly easy to put two
and two together." She looked over at her photographs.
"Besides, my son anticipated this, although I expect he said
nothing to Ranma about it."
Nodoka concentrated on keeping herself calm. "I see. Your
son?"
"Toufuu." Reiko turned back to Nodoka to gauge her reaction.
"Ranma's adoptive father."
Nodoka noticeably stiffened, but she slowly relaxed.
<She's a cool one,> Reiko thought.
"Ono Ranma," Nodoka whispered.
"At that time, yes."
"Nani?"
Reiko sighed and wondered how much she should say. This was
information that should come from Nodoka's son, but still...
She had no idea how she would've comported herself if Toufuu
had gone missing for so many years.
"How old was Ranma when you last saw him?"
Nodoka lowered her eyes. "Six."
"Oh, my poor dear. And now this. What has your husband to
say for himself?"
Nodoka's eyes hardened to steel. "I have... yet to see my
husband. I had thought him and my son dead twelve years, but
now..." She looked at Reiko. "There is much to answer for."
She gripped her oblong bundle, and the Ono matriarch
hazarded a mental guess as to what it was. She didn't envy
Ranma's father one ounce. Reiko shook her head.
"There is much to Ranma's tale that I do not know, and it's
clear he carries a deep and hidden pain in him." She
momentarily considered her next words. "He is fortunate to
have such a loving wife."
Nodoka started. "A... a... He's married?" she hollowly said.
"For five years, now. Which is why he is no longer 'Ono'
Ranma. He took his wife's name."
Nodoka deflated and stared at the table. <Two names removed.
Oh, Ranma...> She began to quiver lightly. <Oh, no! The
arrangement with the Tendous!> Reiko sadly looked on.
After a brief period, Nodoka regained something of her
center. "What... what's his name, now?"
Reiko's face grew a little grim. "As much as I wish to see
you reconciled with Ranma, there were... *are* some concerns
that your son has and that my son has passed on to me. I
don't pretend to understand their full nature, but I do
understand that already I have probably said more than was
desired of me."
"Ono-san!" A deep welling of despair finally shattered
Nodoka's iron hold on her composure, and wet tracks began to
form and widen on her desperate face. "He's my... my...
*choke* SON!! Onegai!"
Reiko closed her eyes and held one hand up, palm out.
Surprised, Nodoka managed to contain her outburst. Reiko put
her arm down and opened her eyes, the look one of extreme
sympathy and compassion.
"I did not say I would obstruct you, but I am not the one to
be discussing this with you. I will send you to my son. He
has the better measure of things and can speak to you of
matters which I cannot."
Nodoka dabbed at her eyes with a kerchief she'd pulled from
the sleeve of her kimono. She bowed to Reiko. "Gomen nasai,
Ono-san. My outburst was rude, and I--"
"Nonsense! That you've held up as well as you have speaks
very well of you. I am just sorry I am not at liberty to
help you more."
Nodoka smiled at her host. "Arigatou, Ono-san." She looked
over at the photographs. "Is one of these gentlemen your
son, perhaps?"
<Clever woman!> Reiko smirked to herself before she rose and
fetched the photo of the two men standing next to each
other. She sat next to Nodoka and pointed to the older man
in the picture. "That's Toufuu."
"And the other?"
Reiko fought to keep from smiling too much. "Mmmm, that's
Ranma-chan."
Nodoka smiled her gratitude and studied the picture. She ran
a finger over his form. "He's quite handsome, isn't he?"
A loud cackle echoed through the house. "You don't know the
half of it, Nodoka-san! Hee-heeeee! Poor Ranma-chan was
chased from one class to another during his first couple of
years at university, then when he married Ryouko-chan, a
wail went up from the young ladies to wake the dead.
HAHAHAheeheeeee! Yes, your son was quite sought-after, and I
don't know, but I don't think he ever went out on more than
a handful of dates with other women before getting married."
Nodoka smiled happily, thankful for even this small window
into her son's life. "This Ryouko must be quite the charmer.
Do you have a picture?"
The Ono matriarch wiped the tears from her eyes, still
chuckling. "Charmer? Tell me, Nodoka-san, do you consider
yourself a traditional woman?"
A little confused at the question, Nodoka nodded.
"Heh! Well, prepare yourself. Ryouko is not." Reiko burst
out into a fresh spate of laughter, but Nodoka frowned ever
so slightly. This wasn't lost on her host.
"Don't get the wrong idea! Ryouko-chan is a lovely child,
but she is, ah, hmmm, quite, er, independently-minded. Heh,
I think that's what attracted Ranma-chan to her in the first
place. He really had no use for most of the girls he met at
school. Then he comes up with this 'wild as a March hare'
girl for a wife. Whew! Heh, heh. Oh, well. She has good
hips, for her build. That counts for something."
Nodoka shook her head. "Do you have a picture of her?"
"HA! Yes, I do, but it'll probably give you the wrong
impression." Reiko opened one of the doors to the bureau and
pulled out a pile of photographs. She shuffled through them
until: "Ah ha! One of my late husband's sister's children,
quite the prankster, caught them a little red-handed when
they were courting. Nothing dirty. Here. Darn kids still
haven't sent me a set of wedding photos. It was lovely."
Nodoka gasped, feeling a little warm. "My... isn't she...
limber?" <Can someone really bend like that? Interesting
hair and... ears. Oh, my.>
____________________
[December 24, 1999]
Kasumi walked into the hall leading to the foyer of the
house, moving to greet the arrival.
"Tadaima!" Nabiki shucked her snow boots and then embraced
her sister.
"It's good to see you, Nabiki," Kasumi said as she hugged
back.
"It's good to be home, too."
The two women separated, and Kasumi gave her sister a steady
look. "You should come home more often, you know."
Nabiki winced as she hung her coat on a nearby hook, and she
and Kasumi walked back down the hall to the kitchen.
"I try, but the firm keeps me really busy, Oneechan." She
squeezed Kasumi's hand and smiled. "I'll try harder in
future."
"Thank you," Kasumi said and smiled as they entered the
kitchen. "Father misses you and Akane terribly."
Nabiki shook her head as she spied a cup of still-hot tea
apparently waiting for her. She picked it up and sipped. "Is
Akane here, yet?"
"Yes. She's up in her room, putting her things away."
Nabiki nodded while sipping, her eyes becoming distant. "The
three of us need to meet... privately."
Kasumi turned her gaze from the bubbling pot on the stove
and arched an eyebrow. "Oh? What about?"
"An old matter of family honor," Nabiki said quietly.
~~~~~~~
"What's going on, Oneechan?" Akane asked, sitting
cross-legged on the floor of Kasumi's room.
Nabiki smirked inwardly. <Ever the tomboy, Akane?> After
their father and Genma had drunk themselves into a Christmas
Eve stupor, the three Tendou women had gathered in Kasumi's
bedroom to hear what Nabiki had to say. Nabiki set her cup
and saucer on Kasumi's vanity and regarded her siblings.
"I found Saotome-san's son."
The room was very quiet as the other two pondered the
implications of Nabiki's revelation.
"I don't intend for us to act on this information, but since
it *does* concern us, I thought that the two of you would
like to know."
Akane was as still as a statue, memories flashing through
her mind. She had come, over the intervening years, to the
conclusion that her earlier opinion of Ranma was poorly
considered. She couldn't imagine what having such a curse
would do to someone. Pity had taken the place of revulsion
as she'd occasionally considered the young man she'd met
when her life had been less stable and she'd been quicker to
judge.
Kasumi had, on the other hand, taken a deep breath and let
it out slowly. "Okay. Tell us."
Nabiki nodded curtly and retrieved her tea for a brief sip.
"After Akane-chan's little revelation some years back--"
"Ah ha! You *were* eavesdropping!"
Nabiki grimaced. "That was another life ago, Sis."
Akane just sat there, looking smug. Nabiki rolled her eyes
and continued.
"Anyway, after that, I started setting some people into
motion in order to do a little discreet poking around.
Nothing serious. More a pastime than anything else.
"I got a hit about two weeks ago. Frankly, I'd completely
forgotten about the whole thing, but one of my old factors
called me up and gave me the info, more for old-times' sake,
I guess, than for any money." She stopped for another sip.
"Why did you quit? Or did it get to be more than you could
handle?" Akane smirked.
Nabiki looked at her humorlessly. "Information is like a
drug, Akane. I was losing myself." She then waved
nonchalantly. "Besides, I don't have time for that kind of
thing, anymore, nor do I need it to make money."
"Gomen ne, Oneechan." Akane hung her head.
"That's okay. I guess I do kinda deserve it... We're getting
off the subject--"
"Yes, we are," Kasumi said with a little impatience. The
other two looked at her in surprise.
"Uh, yeah. Where was I? Oh, I hadn't really started. Ahem,
my old factor called me up. He didn't have much, but it was
child's play once I had a point of departure. It seems that
about a year before Father's friend showed up, a certain
Saotome Ranma was removed from the Saotome family register.
I'll bet the old fart doesn't even know *that*."
Kasumi gasped, and Akane looked concerned and said,
"Probably not. Otherwise..."
"Exactly. Guess which family register he was moved to?"
Akane blinked, but Kasumi nodded. "Ono."
"Right. It seems Toufuu-sensei adopted him as his son."
"Sooner or later someone will have to list him as missing,
if they don't know what has happened to him. It will all
come out, then."
Some teeth showed in Nabiki's smile. "I have... handled
that. It shouldn't be a problem." <*If* anyone goes looking,
they'll find the transfer notice, but not to which family he
was transferred... I hope.>
"Er, how did you do that?" Akane asked.
"Don't ask."
"Oh."
"So where is he now?" Kasumi asked.
"Ah! That's where it gets interesting," Nabiki said. "It
seems Ranma-san is following in his adopted father's
footsteps. After a couple of years of hard tutoring, he
entered Okayama City University for two years of general
study, and then medical school--"
"A doctor! Sugoi!" Kasumi tittered. She had often dreamed of
being a doctor, and knowing that the nice boy who'd worked
in Toufuu's office was doing so well for himself pleased her
immensely.
Akane was simply stunned. "Gosh!" <Maybe I *was* too hard on
him.>
"Oh, and that's not the best part."
"Eh?!" Kasumi and Akane said together.
"This should put your minds at rest. He was married last
year."
Nabiki expected the disappointment on Kasumi's face. In
spite of her decision to keep their father in the dark,
Kasumi was lonely, and Nabiki didn't think the relative age
of a potential mate (or a curse) made that much of a
difference to her anymore.
The surprise was the wistful look on Akane's face, although
Nabiki knew Akane had problems. Those fights instigated by
Kunou-chan back in high school had damaged Akane's
confidence, somehow. She became far too used to beating up
men instead of dating them, and she'd become extremely
reluctant to let anyone of the opposite sex close. Nabiki
had trouble letting people in, as well, although it was for
different reasons. She sighed. The three of them were quite
a set in the romance department.
"Who is she?" Kasumi finally asked.
Nabiki tapped her chin. "Hmmm, this is where it gets weird.
I found the marriage certificate easy enough, but other than
that, the woman doesn't seem to exist. It's damn peculiar.
It's almost like someone had erased her past... or more like
she never had one." She shrugged. "I don't know. It's beyond
my resources, at the moment, and I suppose it would no
longer serve any purpose to look."
"So that's that," Akane said.
"Yes," Kasumi agreed. "If the matter does come to light,
though, the Tendou family honor will be stained."
Nabiki blew air out of her nose, slightly irritated at her
sister's traditional views. "Well, I wouldn't worry. It'd be
a hell of a coincidence if we ran into him while anyone who
would care is still alive."
To that, the others had nothing to say.
____________________
[September 1, 2003]
Toufuu paced in the den of his house. He checked his watch.
<Five minutes to go. Kamisama, I don't think I was this
nervous around Kasumi.>
He walked into the kitchen and took the singing kettle off
the stove, placing it on a divot in the middle of a tea
tray. Picking up the tray, he moved back into the den,
setting the tray on the low table. As he stood, several soft
knocks sounded on the door.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Toufuu opened the
front door and took a good look at the woman standing there.
<Yes, Mother was right. She looks just like Ranma's girl
form in the face.>
"Saotome-san?"
"Hai. Ono-sensei?"
Toufuu smiled and nodded, stepping back and allowing Nodoka
to enter.
"I thank you for seeing me," Nodoka said.
"Of course."
They took seats, and Toufuu served tea. After a moment,
Nodoka spoke.
"Is... is my son here?"
Toufuu sighed. <The timing of this stinks.> "No,
Saotome-san, he isn't. In fact, he no longer lives here."
Nodoka wilted. "Oh."
"You see," Toufuu smiled warmly, "he's opening his own
practice."
She looked at Toufuu in confusion. "Anou, practice?"
This time, Toufuu was confused. "Didn't Mother tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
Toufuu grimaced. <Thanks, Mom!> "Ranma just finished his
residency. He's a fully-licensed physician; a GP, in fact."
Nodoka was stunned into silence.
"Saotome-san?"
She shook her head. "A... a doctor?" she squeaked.
Toufuu nodded. "I'd assumed Mother had said so."
A nervous gulp of tea later, Nodoka said, "It never came up.
We became... distracted over her photographs."
"Oh, yes," he chuckled. "Mother *loves* her photos."
"But... but what about his Art?"
"Martial arts, you mean? He still practices, and it's still
very important to him, although it's not the center of his
life as it once was. He's quite a formidable martial artist,
though."
Nodoka was frowning heavily at her tea.
"Is something wrong, Saotome-san?"
She looked up. "Ranma is the only heir to the Saotome Ryuu
of Musabetsu Kakutou. This is a serious problem."
For the first time, Toufuu truly noticed the odd bundle
she'd been carrying and was now clutching. He sighed as he
wearily leaned back into the couch. "I see that we have much
to discuss about *why* he is where he is in his life and
*why* he made certain decisions."
Nodoka assumed a neutral expression. "I thank you,
Ono-sensei. I would very much like to know why he was
diverted from the Art."
He looked at her warily and chose his next words carefully.
"I believe most of the, ah, responsibility lies with...
well, with his father."
Nodoka's neutral expression faltered. "Genma?"
He nodded. "From what I can gather and from reading between
the lines, Ranma suffered greatly under his father, in one
way or another."
"I... see." A sadness settled over Nodoka's features.
"Most of the things he went through, I'll let him explain,
if he will. And there are things only he should speak of. I
can, however, give you a small taste of what it must've been
like. Let me tell you about the Nekoken..."
____________________
[September 14, 2003]
"You've done well in your training, but one of the primary
ways of avoiding being hit first is being able to sense when
someone is sneaking up on you or is hidden from view,
waiting, for example, in ambush."
Ranma, in full martial arts-sensei mode, stopped pacing and
faced his yawning wife. He smirked. "Are we sweepy,
Wyouko-chan?"
Ryouko looked at him with bleary eyes. "What's so special
about seven in the morning, especially on a Sunday?" she
muttered.
"Aaahhh! Let me tell what it was like on the road in my
youth! Oh," he sang, "I'd get kicked awake every morning at
sunrise, and my old man would try to pound me into the
ground. Oh, the joy of battle at the break of day!"
Ryouko gave her husband the "Yeah, right" look, and Ranma
laughed. "Well... maybe it wasn't *that* much fun, but we do
have lots to do today, so we're gonna do this now and spend
the rest of the day whipping the place into shape."
Ryouko grunted.
"Now close your eyes, count to fifty, and try to reach out
with your senses. I won't try to erase my presence, but I
will move silently to some part of the yard. Try to locate
me."
Closing her eyes, Ryouko began to count aloud. Ranma rolled
his eyes. <This isn't "Hide and Seek",> he thought as he
smiled.
Ryouko reached fifty and grew very still. She tried to fall
into the necessary mindset, but this spiritual stuff was
always difficult for her. She was far more physically
inclined. She sighed aloud and tried again.
<Wait! Was that...?> Ryouko fluttered in teleport and
appeared in one corner of the yard, making a grab... at
nothing.
"Eh?" She turned around and saw Ranma standing where she'd
last seen him. "Oh, you sneak! You circled around on me!"
Ranma sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Ah,
well... Actually, I never moved."
"ARGH!!" Ryouko flew at him, and Ranma hightailed around the
enclosed yard.
"Hey! OWW! HEY!!"
Ryouko was firing little pinpoints of orange energy at
Ranma's derriere, and while they did no damage, they stung
like hell. After a couple of circuits, she chased her
husband into the clinic and tackled him in the waiting room.
Or, more likely, he allowed himself to be safely tackled.
They ended up in a heap on the dusty floor, Ryouko on top.
Ranma smirked up at his wife. "Awake, yet?"
His arms were pinned above his head, but that put Ryouko in
an awkward position, her breasts dangling in Ranma's face.
He playfully bit at them.
"Oi! You're insatiable, you know that?" Ryouko playfully
chastised.
"And you're not?"
"Well... Shall we take this upstairs?"
"Hmmm, everything's still covered in dust."
"Rats!"
~~~~~~~
Later that morning, Ryouko was putting away their clothes
and other personal effects after having vacuumed the place.
It was remarkably clean, once the dust was gone. Ryouko
hadn't been looking forward to scrubbing the room down, and
she was glad that it wasn't necessary. She stopped while
going through a box of her husband's clothes.
"Ara?"
Ryouko fingered the rough weave of an old piece of clothing,
torn and abraded and looking very much the worse for wear.
She held it up.
<Looks like it's ready for the trashcan.> She wadded it up
and was about to throw it in a large plastic bag, but
reconsidered. <It had been folded up carefully. Does he want
to keep it? Ewww. Why?>
She walked out of the bedroom and went down the stairs. She
finally found Ranma in the examination room, looking over
the examining table with a critical eye.
"How's it going?"
"Fine. This old table's seen better days, but it'll have to
do until we can afford a new one."
Ryouko looked at the aged fixture of steel and vinyl. "Mom,
er, Washuu might be able to come up something you'd like.
You *know* she thinks you hung the moon." She rolled her
eyes in exasperation.
Ranma straightened up from his examination and laughed, but
Ryouko's bundle caught his eye. "What've ya got, there?"
"Huh? Oh." She held the worn tunic up. "I've never seen this
before. Did you want to keep it?"
Ranma sucked air. "Yes, I do." He gently took the article of
clothing from his wife, also fingering the texture of the
rough weave. "Liu," he said softly.
"As in the old Chinese woman from just after you fell in the
pool?"
"Yeah."
She watched the play of emotions across Ranma's face. First,
there was the distant look of remembrance. Then a sad look
took over, and his eyes became moist. Last was a hard look
of abrupt determination.
"Kamisama! All this time I can't believe I haven't thought
to visit her or to at least let her know I was all right!"
Ranma met Ryouko's eyes.
"We have the time. Call Ryou-ou-ki. We're going on a little
trip tonight."
Ryouko nodded, reaching out to embrace her beloved.
~~~~~~~
Carrying her husband, Ryouko materialized about two
kilometers straight up in the night sky over Nerima. She
made three more two-kilometer jumps until she made visual
contact with Ryou-ou-ki in starship mode.
After phasing in on the command deck, she released Ranma,
who was busy taking in a large lungful of air.
"You okay?"
"The air was starting to get a little thin."
She patted him on the back and then addressed the ship.
"Geosynchronous orbit, Ryou-ou-ki!"
"MIYA!"
There was no sensation as the crystalline ship smoothly rose
out of Earth's atmosphere. Ryouko had been watching Ranma
and was pleased to note no reaction from him at Ryou-ou-ki's
cry.
"You're getting better."
"Eh?"
"Ryou-ou-ki."
"Oh. I guess I'm getting to where I can tell her voice from
that of a ca-ca-- feline's."
Ryouko snorted in amusement and turned back to her ship.
"Ryou-ou-ki, display a map of Asia, simulated daylight."
On the main view screen, a photographic representation of
the Asian continent appeared, color and brightness adjusted
to the daytime norm.
"What now?" Ryouko asked.
"Uh... I can't tell where anything is. Where are the country
lines and stuff?"
Ryouko huffed. "Do you have political boundary information,
Ryou-ou-ki?"
"MIYA!" Bright lines outlining the various Asian countries
appeared over the image.
"Oh, that's better. Um... gimme the mountain area just, um,
east of Tibet," Ranma said. The image zoomed in, and Ranma
walked up to the screen and pointed. "This mountain range."
Ryou-ou-ki complied.
"Hmmm..." His eyes locked on a collection of small
bluish-gray dots, and Ranma touched the screen there. "Gimme
this area in detail." The image zoomed in on a collection of
small pools, a little over a hundred or so. Ranma stood
there for some time, looking at the image.
"Ryou-ou-ki," Ryouko said, "give us a better angle and
include any structures."
The image tilted and zoomed in a little closer, showing the
bodies of water from the side with varying numbers of bamboo
poles sticking up and a small building in the foreground.
"What is this place, Ranma?"
Ranma let out the breath he'd been holding. "Jusenkyou."
Ryouko stared. "So that's where..."
"Yeah."
Man and wife were silent for a time, until Ryouko said, "We
could go back there, if you want."
"I want to, but Liu is more important. Let's see her first.
Ryou-ou-ki, back the image up and include, say, three or
four roads out in all directions."
Ryou-ou-ki complied, and Ranma studied the picture
carefully. "There's the entrance. I *think* I jumped the
road there, where it bends, and set off over the ground.
Hmmm..." He made a choice and pointed at a road. "Follow
this road north."
The screen centered on the unpaved dirt track and slowly
moved in the indicated direction. After a minute, a village
appeared at the top of the screen, and Ranma looked for any
familiar landmarks.
"Hold here and zoom in on the village."
Ranma searched his memory for details to match the layout of
the village. Eventually, he sighed and turned to his wife.
"I can't make anything out of this. How much better can
Ryou-ou-ki see?"
Ryouko smirked. "As good as you want. Ryou-ou-ki, tour the
main road and look from side to side at the fronts of the
buildings."
The screen rushed in, and Ranma felt his stomach lurch. The
picture bounced to a stop at normal eye level above the
road. The image panned back and forth as it moved at a
normal walking speed through the town.
"How can she do this?!" Ranma asked, without looking away.
"Um... I think it's got something to do with reflections
from a theoretical plane in subspace... or something."
Ranma spared her a brief, amused glance.
"Hey, ask Washuu," Ryouko said in disgust. "I just use the
stuff, not build it."
"Riiight," Ranma said as he watched the nickel tour of
downtown.
"Wait! Stop there!" Ranma gazed hard at one building, but
the angle was bad. He put his finger on the structure in
question. "Front on this one." The screen snapped down the
road and a worn, wooden facade came into view.
"Yatta! That's Long's Ramen Shop! The best, and only,
restaurant in town, heh!"
Excited now, Ranma gave more instructions. "Back the picture
up and move north down the road for about four or five
kilometers. Look for a two-wheel track going off the main
road to the right. There should be a large, off-white stone
on one corner of the intersection."
Ryou-ou-ki's screen moved up the road, stopping occasionally
to examine a side road. She eventually stopped and zoomed in
a particular spot.
"Miya?"
"Side view, please, Ryou-ou-ki," Ryouko asked.
As the image tilted, a beige-colored marker stone stretched
from a circle on the screen into a pillar. Ranma breathed in
relief.
"That's it. Follow the track, and the house is on the left."
As the image backed up a little and moved off the main road,
Ranma frowned at the fallow fields.
"Why haven't the fall crops been planted?"
The house quickly came into view and Ranma gasped. The
building had deteriorated considerably, and Ranma was quite
afraid he was too late in coming to check on her. He turned
and looked meaningfully at his wife. She walked over, a
concerned look on her face, and took his hand.
"Take us down, Ryou-ou-ki," she said softly, staring into
Ranma's worried eyes.
"Miya."
~~~~~~~
Ranma and Ryouko shimmered into view about four meters in
front of the dilapidated farmhouse. Ryou-ou-ki began to fold
back into herself, and Ranma watched, having only seen the
procedure once before, on his and Ryouko's honeymoon.
Shortly, Ryou-ou-ki plopped to the ground in cabbit form and
leaped up to Ryouko's shoulder, draping herself over it.
Chuckling, Ranma reached over and scratched her under the
chin.
"I'm gonna buy you a giant bag of carrots for your help
today."
"MIYA!!" Ryou-ou-ki was, needless to say, ecstatic.
Ranma turned back to the house and shuddered at the lack of
care, but hope sprang up in his heart as he got the subtle
impression that someone still lived there. He clasped
Ryouko's hand tightly and walked up to the door. He
hesitated for just a second before knocking loudly.
After several moments, the sounds of someone moving around
inside could be heard through the rickety door. Steps
approached, and the couple could hear a bolt being drawn.
The door creaked open and a tired old woman looked out,
blinking and speaking in Chinese.
"Yes?"
Ranma's mouth worked as he took in how much she had
apparently aged since he last saw her. There were still
hints of the elderly, but vital, woman he'd known, but times
had obviously been hard. The guilt Ranma had hoped could be
washed away with this visit rose to smother him.
"L-L-Liu-san!"
The old woman started and peered closely at the gentleman at
her doorstep. "Ranma...?" The two simply looked at one
another for a few heartbeats, but tears started running down
the old woman's face, and Ranma's soon followed. Liu hobbled
the two steps to her once son, and she buried her face in
his chest, sobbing and choking. Ryouko looked on quietly,
and the trio held the tableau for as long as they wanted...
or needed.
~~~~~~~
Liu led her guests back into the main room, and she hobbled
towards her chair, favoring her left leg. Ranma noticed.
"What wrong, Liu-san? Hurt leg?"
The old woman eased herself down and looked up at Ranma.
"About a year after you left, child. Old Long put me up in
his restaurant while I recovered, and I tried to work the
farm after that, but it was just too hard. I just couldn't
get around as well as I once could. Long sends his
grandchildren over to look in on me from time to time, but
ever since that business with the Nyuuchiezuu, the villagers
have been a little shy about associating with me. Long, of
course, doesn't give a damn, and I owe him and his wife more
than I can ever repay-- OOF! Ahhh..." Liu stretched her game
leg out over a threadbare ottoman.
"Let Ranma see," he said.
Liu looked at him strangely. "Why?"
Ranma grinned smugly and pulled a business card out of his
wallet, giving it to Liu. She studied it for a moment, and
then looked up. "Very nice. What does it say?"
He smacked his face with his hand while Ryouko looked on in
confusion. "It say Ranma is doctor. Give place and what can
do."
Liu's eyes bugged out. "You're a doctor?!"
"Hai!"
Liu started crying again, and Ranma waved his arms in panic.
"Nani-o, er, what wrong now? Oh, no cry! No cry!"
Grabbing a nearby cane, Liu beaned him on the head. Ranma
just blinked, and Ryouko giggled.
"Silly boy! I'm crying because I'm happy!"
"Oh... Oh! Is good!" Ranma beamed, then looked at her in
amusement. "Now, lift skirt for strange man? No?"
Liu cackled and let Ranma examine her leg, stuffing his
business card away in a pocket. In the meantime, she rested
her eyes on her other guest.
"I'm such a terrible host. My apologies, pretty one."
"Uh... she no speak Han." He turned to Ryouko and said, "Liu
apologizes for being a poor host."
"Oh!" Ryouko smiled at Liu and waved her hands in a
dismissive gesture. Liu smiled and nodded back. Ranma ran
his hands over Liu's left leg, assessing the old damage and
what deterioration had occurred since the initial injury.
"So, Ranma, this your girlfriend?" Liu asked.
Ranma smirked and held up his left hand, showing off the
gold band. "Is wife. Five year. Her name Ryouko."
Liu's eyes lit up. "So you *have* been busy! Any babies,
yet?"
Ranma blinked and said, "Uh... no. Not try, yet."
"Well, you've got some time, but don't wait too long."
Ranma nodded and began massaging the large muscles of Liu's
leg.
"Ask her to come over here so I can give her a hug."
"Liu wants to give you a hug," Ranma said without looking up
from his work.
Ryouko's eyes bulged for a second. "Um, okay." She
hesitantly walked over and bent down to the old woman. Liu
gave her a light embrace and patted her on the back.
"Tell Ryouko that I expect lots of babies."
Ranma snorted and said, "Liu says she wants us to have lots
of babies."
Ryouko blushed furiously, and Liu noticed and smirked.
"Ye-yeah. Su-sure," Ryouko stuttered. Ranma looked at Liu.
"Turn so right, um, side up." Liu obliged, and Ranma started
lightly poking a few pressure points as he continued to
massage.
Liu took a moment to eye the strange creature that had
hopped off of Ryouko's shoulder earlier.
"Is that a foreign pet or something?"
Ranma sweatdropped. "Something..." He quickly changed the
subject.
"Hmmm... Not bad as could be, but still problem. Liu-san
need... no know word." Ranma thought for a second. "Liu-san
need work leg, um, kind of way... 'Chikushou! What is the
word for *therapy*?'"
"I think I know what you mean, child, but I don't get much
of that around here."
Ranma looked at the old woman thoughtfully. "Ranma maybe
have idea. We talk tomorrow." He smirked. "Old womans must
sleep."
Liu laughed and made as if to bean him again.
----------
Hsieh Tien listlessly walked down the road toward her
village, occasionally kicking up small clouds of dust that
dully shimmered in the early morning sun. Her eyes narrowed
as the marker stone for old woman Wong's place, who'd caused
her so much trouble eight years ago, came into view. Life
for a Nyuuchiezuu sympathizer was hard enough, but the
uproar from the failed capture of the foreign male had put
her in a bad light with her benefactors and had made her
almost an outcast in her own village. She wished she'd been
enough of a warrior to join the Nyuuchiezuu. She spat on the
road in self-disgust.
Her grumbling abruptly stopped as she noticed a strange man
walking around the part of the property near the road. As
she approached, the man looked up and waved.
"Hello," he said in accented Chinese.
Tien was proud of herself for not gasping aloud. "He-Hello.
Are you a friend of Wong Liu's?" <It's the male!>
He nodded.
"Here for long?"
"Two day, maybe."
"I see. Nice meeting you."
"Yes. Good day."
Tien walked off, a new spring in her step and a sly smile
playing with her mouth. Once out of view of the male, she
began to trot. A Nyuuchiezuu runner was due in the village
shortly, and if she hurried...
----------
It was a fine and sparkling morning in Nerima, and Kasumi
had taken the opportunity to enjoy the fine weather with an
early visit to the open markets. Strolling back towards
home, she hummed to herself and happily greeted her
neighbors and acquaintances. All in all, a pleasant scene to
warm the cockles of anyone's heart... or so it appeared.
If one were capable of observing Kasumi's emotions as a
tangible object, one would observe a grayness eating at the
periphery of the woman's joy. It wasn't debilitating, and it
rarely showed, but it was there, nonetheless. If one could
discern the differing levels or shades of the grayness and
if one could put a name to such, one might discover small
measures of loneliness, resignation, sadness, and, maybe, a
touch of depression.
Of course, none of this was apparent, even to her family,
save her middle sister, perhaps, who had made a life's study
of reading people and their states of mind. No, only if one
had studied this particular woman in depth would they be
capable of taking note of the slight limpness in certain of
her movements when alone, the fractional delay of her smile,
or the immeasurable dimming of the flicker of the joy of
life in her eyes.
So it was that Kasumi continued down the road to her home,
smiling and greeting people as she happened upon them,
carrying her groceries, and mentally going through a tired
and well-worn routine of deciding on meals for her... no,
her father's home. And it was into this state that something
different intruded and, as it would play out, something that
would, in the long run, improve her life by an order of
magnitude. But at this time, as she read the banner across
the front of the long-abandoned Nerima Clinic, she would
only be aware of the future trouble her family could expect.
"Oh, my! It's reopening! I wonder..." She looked both ways
and crossed the street, her heart suddenly racing as she
hoped a certain doctor she'd entertained notions about had
returned.
She stepped up the short stairway leading up to the clinic
door and gasped, the day suddenly turning cooler and a
trifle less bright.
----------
*Back on Wednesday. Clinic will open on Monday, September
22nd,* the small sign taped to the door read. Nodoka sighed,
bowing her head and laying her hand against the locked
entrance. <More waiting...> Her jaw firmed. <No matter. It's
only two more days.>
She looked up at the plaque declaring that the physician for
the clinic was Hakubi Ranma. <Oh, my son. I'm so proud,
but... what will become of our family? Its honor?> She
frowned slightly. <And what is it that's so terrible that
even your adopted father was afraid to speak of it? Danced
around it, saying much and telling nothing?>
She dropped her hand and moved down the short stairway. As
she walked back up the lane, the rippling in the hot air
seemed to swallow her whole.
----------
"Please, Liu-san. Think about?"
"I'm not leaving my home, Ranma. I... I wouldn't know what
to do with myself."
Ranma sighed and looked out the window he'd repaired earlier
that morning, gazing at the glorious colors of the sunset.
He'd spent a lot of his day repairing things around the
property. It seemed no one else cared enough to do it.
Ryouko squeezed his hand, and Ranma sighed again.
----------
Some distance away from the Wong farm, a fourteen-hour
distance at a steady lope, other, far more ancient eyes
regarded the setting sun, but with a different emotion. At
long last, a minor stain on her family's honor was about to
be removed.
Cologne, Elder and Matriarch of the Nyuuchiezuu, turned from
the display of Nature's artistry and entered the hut she
shared with her great granddaughter.
Shampoo, said great granddaughter, was busy going over last
minute checks to her weapons. Hearing her relative pogoing
in on her staff, she looked up and smiled.
"Eager for the hunt, I see, great granddaughter. Good,
good."
Shampoo simply let her teeth show in response before
returning to her weapons. Cologne regarded her for a few
moments before speaking again.
"I think I will come along."
Shampoo's head whipped around in surprise. "Please, great
grandmother! This is my mission, my honor! I must be the
one!!"
Cologne smiled and raised a placating hand. "Calm yourself,
child. I will go only as an observer. You are still in
charge."
"Thank you," Shampoo said in obvious relief. "I want to be
the one to bring this male in." She clenched her fist in
anger. "I can't believe he eluded me for a month, especially
at Jusenkyou, so near to our home."
"Perhaps he will be good enough for you to marry. You are
not getting any younger, dear, and, as the foreigners would
say, 'Your clock is ticking,'" Cologne mused.
A strange expression and a bit of anticipation flashed
across her face, but she swiftly quelled it. "First things
first, great grandmother. Then we shall see."
"Quite."
Cologne walked out of the hut and called, "DOWEL!"
A brutish, mannish woman jogged up, a platform and chair
strapped to her back. With practiced ease, Cologne hopped
into the air and landed lightly in the seat, setting her
staff across her knees.
Shampoo exited the hut in all her battle finery, looking
every inch a leader of her tribe. When Cologne had called
for Dowel, the remaining members of their expeditionary
force heeded the call and had already assembled in front of
the hut. The Amazons looked back and forth between Shampoo
and Cologne, and Shampoo frowned as she looked up at the
ancient and shrunken woman. Cologne merely raised an eyebrow
at her great granddaughter. Nodding, Shampoo turned and
addressed the group, clearly demonstrating who was in
charge.
"We go."
----------
In a cozy but not too small office building of a major Tokyo
financial concern, the buzzing of the telephone interrupted
the thoughts of one of the firm's employees on the fast
track to the glass ceiling. Nabiki scowled, still not quite
alert from a bout with her periodic insomnia, and picked up
the receiver.
"Hai. Tendou desu."
"Nabiki-chan, it's Kasumi."
Nabiki blinked. Kasumi almost never called her at work,
unless...
"Hey, Oneechan. What's wrong?"
"Well... I thought you'd like to know that the clinic is
reopening."
<What the?> "Okay, that's nice. What's so..." Nabiki paused
as several pieces fell into place. "It's not Toufuu-sensei,
is it?" she asked quietly.
"No."
"Damn!" Nabiki rubbed her forehead with her free hand. <This
is going to be ugly.>
----------
Old Long happened to have been looking out the window of his
ramen shop early that morning when a party of Nyuuchiezuu
warriors blew through the center of town, heading north.
He'd heard that Liu's charge had returned for a visit, and
he could easily guess the Amazons' destination.
"Take care, old friend."
____________________
END HEARTS' HEALING 2 - THE PATHS OF HONOR, PART 1