1 The Nodoka Gambit
By:
1.1 S. Kim
Prologue:
A message to the past
This was a day that she felt her age. All 72 years bore down on her. It didn't matter anymore; her life was going to come to an end soon. For her and the rest of humanity. Nabiki ran her hands through her silver hair and watched the battle unfold outside. The few last remnants of mankind making a final stand against Saffron and his winged warriors. They just needed a few hours to transmit their message. The time was being bought with the blood of the last in hopes the past can answer their prayers.
Nabiki looked over at the three young women that came in her life over a year ago with this crazy idea and an even crazier claim. The three claimed to be goddesses of the past, present and future. Urd, the goddess of the past, and Skuld, the goddess of the future were busy doing the final calibrations to the message machine. While Belldandy sealed the cave until the job was done. Nabiki gave one last look at the outside monitor and saw her second husband run past. With a heavy heart, knowing that was likely the last time she will ever see him again, she sat down it the machines chair as Urd hooked herself into the machine. Urd gave her a nod and became a living battery, while Skuld punched in the final instructions for the machine and left to join the delaying battle.
Belldandy gave her a weary smile as she maintained the shield. The message machine hummed and the monitor glowed as Nabiki started to look into the past. February of her sophomore year, before he entered her life; her first husband Ranma Saotome.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
The Past.
Nabiki just finished her bookwork and turned out the lights. She wasn't particularly tired, but she knew that a good nights rest and an early rise helped her profits out. She lay down in her bed and buried herself into the blankets on that cold night. She went over her plans for the next day.
She noticed a glow coming from the end of her bed. Grumbling she thought she forgot to turn off her computer monitor. She glared at the monitor and noticed that the glow was just off to the left of her desk. Nabiki gathered her wits as she looked cautiously into the light and saw what looked like her departed grandmother. Then the figure talked to her.
"Hello Nabiki. I am talking to you from 56 years into your future. I remember all of this." She reminisced. "It has been so long since I have known peace." The old woman smiled and shook her head. "I figured that you would need some proof of who I am so I will give you some scores for the basketball teams your running bets on tomorrow." She rattled off some scores, all on Nabiki's scorecard for Saturday's games, including one big upset.
"My time is brief, so I will explain what I need you to do and why. First of all my name is Nabiki. I am you from the future. Since I was part of what screwed up our time line I am the one who gets to correct it."
The younger Nabiki gave the older one a startled look. "Ah, yeah…" She stammered before the older one cut her off.
"Trust me kid, just wait until tomorrow's events before doubting me. O.K. A young boy will be coming here later on this year. He is a nexus, or a historical key. His major life decisions will split the original timeline. That in itself is not usually important, but he is destined to save our timeline. Heck in the entire split off timelines he or one of his descendents is destined to stop that timeline from collapsing."
"In this one he married you. He can't do that. He is destined to marry other people." The young girl looked at her sharply.
"Other people?"
"Yes. Trust me it is necessary. I will leave you a disk detailing the people you need to contact and a rough strategy you need to follow. I can't see all that will change because I contacted you, so you will have to think out your potential problems. I hope you can do it." There was the sound of an explosion in the background. The image wavered for a second. "Here's the disk. I don't have much time left. They have started their final assault. Do you have any questions?"
Thousands of questions popped into the younger Nabiki's head, yet only one was asked. "Were we happy with him?"
"Yes we were, but we weren't his soul mate. It is all on the disk. Have a good life and don't let me down." The imaged wavered again as the old woman smiled, then there was another explosion and the image vanished.
Nabiki looked at the spot for several seconds before looking at the disk. She licked her lips and started her computer. She called her friends with the new odds she wanted posted for the next day as she waited for her computer to come up. Tomorrow, she would know if this was true tomorrow.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Two months later
"Nabiki, we really need to study for finals. We don't have the time for this!" Akane Tendo straitened her light orange dress as she looked out the train window.
Dressed smartly in a light blue blouse and black slacks, Nabiki smiled at her little sister. "I told you to bring some books to study on the train, besides we will only be gone for half the day. Rumors say this boy is one the best young martial artist in the world." Nabiki tugged at Akane's long hair. "Despite your protests, I know you want to see if he is as good as he is rumored to be."
"Yea, yea, yea." Akane waved Nabiki's hand away. She secretly wondered if this boy was better than her. She yawned. "Why did we have to leave so early?"
"Because he has been working out at the old docks early every Sunday morning." She looked out the window again. "I hear that it is something to see."
Akane made an indelicate sound at that.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
"Well where is he?" Akane paced up and down the dock.
Nabiki watched a group of men unload a cargo ship on the other side of a partially collapsed dock. She watched a young man talk to an older man dressed in a gi. The boy removed his shirt and jump towards the exposed poles of the collapsed dock. "I think he is here." She pointed towards the boy and handed the binoculars to Akane.
Akane took them and started to watch the shirtless boy start a familiar kata. She was amazed how he kept up the moves of the routine up by jumping from pole to pole. He went from one difficult kata to another, without hesitation or mistake. Appreciating the display before her, Akane started to notice the boy himself.
She watched the way his body moved through the motions, how his muscles flexed, the perfection of each move. She noticed that someone was waving a napkin in front of her. Her sister was handing it to her. "You're drooling sis."
Akane snatched the napkin and went back to watching the boy again. With a smirk, Nabiki went back to watching the show to. The boy stopped his hour- long expedition and stretched. Then he bowed towards the two, gave them a smirk, and a wave before he leaped back to the other dock, dressed and left.
They stood there for a few minutes in awe of the young man's abilities. Akane licked her dry lips and wiped her chin off. She shook her head and smiled at her sister. "Thanks for this Nabiki. I still can't believe how good he is. Training, I need more training." They left for Nerima.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Nodoka still couldn't believe it. An anonymous letter told her that her husband was in a nearby town. An easy trip by train she was on. Dressed in an old worn kimono, she carried a small suitcase and a long slender bundle with her. She wanted to see them again and she wasn't willing to leave them again.
When she got to the industrial docks, Nodoka passed two young women; one winked at her when she walked passed them. Thinking that it was strange, she stopped to talk to her. The younger one went on ahead as the two talked.
"Hello. Do I know you?" Nodoka was disturbed by the little smirk on her face.
Nabiki couldn't believe her luck. She expected her to show up here, but not quick enough to meet her. "I'm Nabiki Tendo. My father trained with your husband when they were younger."
Nodoka's whole face lit up as she recognized the name. "So how are old Soun and Kimiko? I haven't seen them since Genma took Ranma on the training trip." She noticed the sad look on the young girls face.
"Mom died of cancer 8 years ago. Dad hasn't been the same since." She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Nodoka's concerned face.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Nodoka bowed her head. "I didn't know."
"Look it's okay. I can't stay long my train will be leaving soon for home. We just came up here to watch some hot shot martial artist workout by the docks." Nodoka's head came up with that and she clutched the neatly wrapped bundle to her chest. "Are you looking for them? They are at the near the old collapsed dock."
Nodoka thanked her and started to leave. "Good luck Mrs. Saotome." She turned to find her sister. "Good luck." She whispered.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Nodoka walked towards the docks and asked the foreman for her husband. The man looked her over and told her to wait in the break room. A few minutes later Genma came walking through the door. He stopped and they just took each other in. Nodoka took an involuntary step towards her husband as he reached out towards her. They stood there in each other's embrace for a while.
"I couldn't wait. I know you wanted to go to China first, but I couldn't wait to be reunited with you." Her nose wrinkled as she noticed his odor. "You need a bath."
Genma laughed. "Yeah. It was a hard day of work. I was going to send you the money, but since you are here I'll give it to you before we leave." He noticed his wife lowering her head slightly and the small suitcase setting behind her. "You want to go to China too. I wasn't planning a nice easy trip now. I mean we are swimming to China."
Nodoka put her finger to his lips. "I know all of this. You told me in your letters. I have saved enough money for an open ended round trip to China. All you have to do is meet me in China." Genma could here the steel in her voice. She was not going to be separated from them again. "I will follow you now husband, my presence will not soften my son after all of these years."
He had to admit it to himself that he didn't want to leave her behind again. He told her everything good and bad that has happened on the trip in those letters and kept the letters that reached him. "We are leaving as soon as Ranma finishes with a challenge he accepted. He went there this morning."
Nodoka nodded her head. She'll be reunited with her son soon, that's all that mattered to her now. It surprised her when she started to cry and welcomed the smelly embrace of her husband and sobbed into her shoulder.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Three days later
Genma and Nodoka walked towards a vacant lot, carrying their luggage, looking for their son. They talked quietly with each other as they planned the trip to China. They looked at the seemingly empty lot, not seeing Ranma right away. Genma noticed the boy sleeping in on one side of the lot; still wearing the clothes he visited him in. Genma shook his head at his son's stubbornness. He privately hoped that his wife could polish the rough edges off him that he couldn't quite handle or grasp.
He heard his wife give a small cry as she rush to her son's side looking injuries. Ranma woke when his mom jostled him. He looked up bleary eyed at his mom not recognizing her. Genma looked at his son's confused look and took a little mercy with him.
"Not only did you lose your fight, you don't properly greet your own mother!" Ranma gave him an irritated look and then his brain grasped what he just had said. "Mom?"
Nodoka grasped him tightly. "Yes. I am here and I will stay with you for now on. We need to get to know each other." She looked him over closely. "Your in pretty good shape for a person who was beaten senseless."
Ranma glared at his old man. "I don't lose. Ryoga never showed up and with his sense of direction I decided to give him extra time to show up."
"Well son," Genma said, "we have to leave now. Our lease is up on the apartment today and we have no place to stay. We will be meeting your mom in China in a week. We'll then visit a friend and then go home."
Ranma nodded and the three of them walked towards the train station. Nodoka would see them off on the west coast, wait 3 days and then fly to China and meet them in a small coastal town in northern China.
She decided to wait on Ranma's declaration of manhood until they reached China and she got to know him better.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
The Future
Nabiki looked at the smoking machine. The Goddess Urd lying dead in its center. She used up all of her energy reserves to make this thing work. Belldandy was crying weakly as another explosion on her shield shook the cavern. Nabiki drew her old colt 45 she got from one of her men who died in her service and walked over to Belldandy.
"It's done. You can go now. You and Skuld shouldn't have to suffer our fate." The cavern shook again, and Belldandy shook her head. "Both of them are dead. I will see it to the end with you."
This made Nabiki smile. "We were successful, I threw out our last desperate gambit. I hope that Nodoka's influence and my manipulation will be enough to change the past."
"I can't hold this much longer."
"It's O.K. Just let it go. I have one last surprise for Saffron before I die."
The glow around the cavern died and the side of the wall collapsed and several winged men flew into the cave. Several shots rang out and a few energy balls flew out and found targets. The winged men fell back, when a large glowing man hovered in, his wings not moving at all, his robes fluttered in the nonexistent breeze. He looked down at the last surviving member of humanity and one of the last surviving gods. He sneered and brushed away an energy blast thrown by Belldandy.
As he gathered his energy for the finishing move, Nabiki turned towards Belldandy and whispered to her. "I'm even prepared for this. I prepared this site a decade ago. They're enough nuclear warheads around this area to destroy over 2000 square miles. Are you sure you don't want to leave? It may even kill Saffron." She saw the slight shake of the Goddess's head and smiled. "O.K." She showed her a simple small plastic box with two buttons on it. Giving Belldandy a quick hug, she hit both buttons and closed her eyes and prayed that her gambit would work.
By:
1.1 S. Kim
Prologue:
A message to the past
This was a day that she felt her age. All 72 years bore down on her. It didn't matter anymore; her life was going to come to an end soon. For her and the rest of humanity. Nabiki ran her hands through her silver hair and watched the battle unfold outside. The few last remnants of mankind making a final stand against Saffron and his winged warriors. They just needed a few hours to transmit their message. The time was being bought with the blood of the last in hopes the past can answer their prayers.
Nabiki looked over at the three young women that came in her life over a year ago with this crazy idea and an even crazier claim. The three claimed to be goddesses of the past, present and future. Urd, the goddess of the past, and Skuld, the goddess of the future were busy doing the final calibrations to the message machine. While Belldandy sealed the cave until the job was done. Nabiki gave one last look at the outside monitor and saw her second husband run past. With a heavy heart, knowing that was likely the last time she will ever see him again, she sat down it the machines chair as Urd hooked herself into the machine. Urd gave her a nod and became a living battery, while Skuld punched in the final instructions for the machine and left to join the delaying battle.
Belldandy gave her a weary smile as she maintained the shield. The message machine hummed and the monitor glowed as Nabiki started to look into the past. February of her sophomore year, before he entered her life; her first husband Ranma Saotome.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
The Past.
Nabiki just finished her bookwork and turned out the lights. She wasn't particularly tired, but she knew that a good nights rest and an early rise helped her profits out. She lay down in her bed and buried herself into the blankets on that cold night. She went over her plans for the next day.
She noticed a glow coming from the end of her bed. Grumbling she thought she forgot to turn off her computer monitor. She glared at the monitor and noticed that the glow was just off to the left of her desk. Nabiki gathered her wits as she looked cautiously into the light and saw what looked like her departed grandmother. Then the figure talked to her.
"Hello Nabiki. I am talking to you from 56 years into your future. I remember all of this." She reminisced. "It has been so long since I have known peace." The old woman smiled and shook her head. "I figured that you would need some proof of who I am so I will give you some scores for the basketball teams your running bets on tomorrow." She rattled off some scores, all on Nabiki's scorecard for Saturday's games, including one big upset.
"My time is brief, so I will explain what I need you to do and why. First of all my name is Nabiki. I am you from the future. Since I was part of what screwed up our time line I am the one who gets to correct it."
The younger Nabiki gave the older one a startled look. "Ah, yeah…" She stammered before the older one cut her off.
"Trust me kid, just wait until tomorrow's events before doubting me. O.K. A young boy will be coming here later on this year. He is a nexus, or a historical key. His major life decisions will split the original timeline. That in itself is not usually important, but he is destined to save our timeline. Heck in the entire split off timelines he or one of his descendents is destined to stop that timeline from collapsing."
"In this one he married you. He can't do that. He is destined to marry other people." The young girl looked at her sharply.
"Other people?"
"Yes. Trust me it is necessary. I will leave you a disk detailing the people you need to contact and a rough strategy you need to follow. I can't see all that will change because I contacted you, so you will have to think out your potential problems. I hope you can do it." There was the sound of an explosion in the background. The image wavered for a second. "Here's the disk. I don't have much time left. They have started their final assault. Do you have any questions?"
Thousands of questions popped into the younger Nabiki's head, yet only one was asked. "Were we happy with him?"
"Yes we were, but we weren't his soul mate. It is all on the disk. Have a good life and don't let me down." The imaged wavered again as the old woman smiled, then there was another explosion and the image vanished.
Nabiki looked at the spot for several seconds before looking at the disk. She licked her lips and started her computer. She called her friends with the new odds she wanted posted for the next day as she waited for her computer to come up. Tomorrow, she would know if this was true tomorrow.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Two months later
"Nabiki, we really need to study for finals. We don't have the time for this!" Akane Tendo straitened her light orange dress as she looked out the train window.
Dressed smartly in a light blue blouse and black slacks, Nabiki smiled at her little sister. "I told you to bring some books to study on the train, besides we will only be gone for half the day. Rumors say this boy is one the best young martial artist in the world." Nabiki tugged at Akane's long hair. "Despite your protests, I know you want to see if he is as good as he is rumored to be."
"Yea, yea, yea." Akane waved Nabiki's hand away. She secretly wondered if this boy was better than her. She yawned. "Why did we have to leave so early?"
"Because he has been working out at the old docks early every Sunday morning." She looked out the window again. "I hear that it is something to see."
Akane made an indelicate sound at that.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
"Well where is he?" Akane paced up and down the dock.
Nabiki watched a group of men unload a cargo ship on the other side of a partially collapsed dock. She watched a young man talk to an older man dressed in a gi. The boy removed his shirt and jump towards the exposed poles of the collapsed dock. "I think he is here." She pointed towards the boy and handed the binoculars to Akane.
Akane took them and started to watch the shirtless boy start a familiar kata. She was amazed how he kept up the moves of the routine up by jumping from pole to pole. He went from one difficult kata to another, without hesitation or mistake. Appreciating the display before her, Akane started to notice the boy himself.
She watched the way his body moved through the motions, how his muscles flexed, the perfection of each move. She noticed that someone was waving a napkin in front of her. Her sister was handing it to her. "You're drooling sis."
Akane snatched the napkin and went back to watching the boy again. With a smirk, Nabiki went back to watching the show to. The boy stopped his hour- long expedition and stretched. Then he bowed towards the two, gave them a smirk, and a wave before he leaped back to the other dock, dressed and left.
They stood there for a few minutes in awe of the young man's abilities. Akane licked her dry lips and wiped her chin off. She shook her head and smiled at her sister. "Thanks for this Nabiki. I still can't believe how good he is. Training, I need more training." They left for Nerima.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Nodoka still couldn't believe it. An anonymous letter told her that her husband was in a nearby town. An easy trip by train she was on. Dressed in an old worn kimono, she carried a small suitcase and a long slender bundle with her. She wanted to see them again and she wasn't willing to leave them again.
When she got to the industrial docks, Nodoka passed two young women; one winked at her when she walked passed them. Thinking that it was strange, she stopped to talk to her. The younger one went on ahead as the two talked.
"Hello. Do I know you?" Nodoka was disturbed by the little smirk on her face.
Nabiki couldn't believe her luck. She expected her to show up here, but not quick enough to meet her. "I'm Nabiki Tendo. My father trained with your husband when they were younger."
Nodoka's whole face lit up as she recognized the name. "So how are old Soun and Kimiko? I haven't seen them since Genma took Ranma on the training trip." She noticed the sad look on the young girls face.
"Mom died of cancer 8 years ago. Dad hasn't been the same since." She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Nodoka's concerned face.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Nodoka bowed her head. "I didn't know."
"Look it's okay. I can't stay long my train will be leaving soon for home. We just came up here to watch some hot shot martial artist workout by the docks." Nodoka's head came up with that and she clutched the neatly wrapped bundle to her chest. "Are you looking for them? They are at the near the old collapsed dock."
Nodoka thanked her and started to leave. "Good luck Mrs. Saotome." She turned to find her sister. "Good luck." She whispered.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Nodoka walked towards the docks and asked the foreman for her husband. The man looked her over and told her to wait in the break room. A few minutes later Genma came walking through the door. He stopped and they just took each other in. Nodoka took an involuntary step towards her husband as he reached out towards her. They stood there in each other's embrace for a while.
"I couldn't wait. I know you wanted to go to China first, but I couldn't wait to be reunited with you." Her nose wrinkled as she noticed his odor. "You need a bath."
Genma laughed. "Yeah. It was a hard day of work. I was going to send you the money, but since you are here I'll give it to you before we leave." He noticed his wife lowering her head slightly and the small suitcase setting behind her. "You want to go to China too. I wasn't planning a nice easy trip now. I mean we are swimming to China."
Nodoka put her finger to his lips. "I know all of this. You told me in your letters. I have saved enough money for an open ended round trip to China. All you have to do is meet me in China." Genma could here the steel in her voice. She was not going to be separated from them again. "I will follow you now husband, my presence will not soften my son after all of these years."
He had to admit it to himself that he didn't want to leave her behind again. He told her everything good and bad that has happened on the trip in those letters and kept the letters that reached him. "We are leaving as soon as Ranma finishes with a challenge he accepted. He went there this morning."
Nodoka nodded her head. She'll be reunited with her son soon, that's all that mattered to her now. It surprised her when she started to cry and welcomed the smelly embrace of her husband and sobbed into her shoulder.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Three days later
Genma and Nodoka walked towards a vacant lot, carrying their luggage, looking for their son. They talked quietly with each other as they planned the trip to China. They looked at the seemingly empty lot, not seeing Ranma right away. Genma noticed the boy sleeping in on one side of the lot; still wearing the clothes he visited him in. Genma shook his head at his son's stubbornness. He privately hoped that his wife could polish the rough edges off him that he couldn't quite handle or grasp.
He heard his wife give a small cry as she rush to her son's side looking injuries. Ranma woke when his mom jostled him. He looked up bleary eyed at his mom not recognizing her. Genma looked at his son's confused look and took a little mercy with him.
"Not only did you lose your fight, you don't properly greet your own mother!" Ranma gave him an irritated look and then his brain grasped what he just had said. "Mom?"
Nodoka grasped him tightly. "Yes. I am here and I will stay with you for now on. We need to get to know each other." She looked him over closely. "Your in pretty good shape for a person who was beaten senseless."
Ranma glared at his old man. "I don't lose. Ryoga never showed up and with his sense of direction I decided to give him extra time to show up."
"Well son," Genma said, "we have to leave now. Our lease is up on the apartment today and we have no place to stay. We will be meeting your mom in China in a week. We'll then visit a friend and then go home."
Ranma nodded and the three of them walked towards the train station. Nodoka would see them off on the west coast, wait 3 days and then fly to China and meet them in a small coastal town in northern China.
She decided to wait on Ranma's declaration of manhood until they reached China and she got to know him better.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
The Future
Nabiki looked at the smoking machine. The Goddess Urd lying dead in its center. She used up all of her energy reserves to make this thing work. Belldandy was crying weakly as another explosion on her shield shook the cavern. Nabiki drew her old colt 45 she got from one of her men who died in her service and walked over to Belldandy.
"It's done. You can go now. You and Skuld shouldn't have to suffer our fate." The cavern shook again, and Belldandy shook her head. "Both of them are dead. I will see it to the end with you."
This made Nabiki smile. "We were successful, I threw out our last desperate gambit. I hope that Nodoka's influence and my manipulation will be enough to change the past."
"I can't hold this much longer."
"It's O.K. Just let it go. I have one last surprise for Saffron before I die."
The glow around the cavern died and the side of the wall collapsed and several winged men flew into the cave. Several shots rang out and a few energy balls flew out and found targets. The winged men fell back, when a large glowing man hovered in, his wings not moving at all, his robes fluttered in the nonexistent breeze. He looked down at the last surviving member of humanity and one of the last surviving gods. He sneered and brushed away an energy blast thrown by Belldandy.
As he gathered his energy for the finishing move, Nabiki turned towards Belldandy and whispered to her. "I'm even prepared for this. I prepared this site a decade ago. They're enough nuclear warheads around this area to destroy over 2000 square miles. Are you sure you don't want to leave? It may even kill Saffron." She saw the slight shake of the Goddess's head and smiled. "O.K." She showed her a simple small plastic box with two buttons on it. Giving Belldandy a quick hug, she hit both buttons and closed her eyes and prayed that her gambit would work.