Promise
Promise
by Jeffrey Synn
gaiaswill@hotmail.com

The sun shone brightly over Nerima. It forecast another warm and lazy Sunday, a welcoming treat to everyone in the Tendo home, which had been particularly stressful over the past week. However, on schedule, the Saotomes had risen bright and early at five as per their daily training regimen. As such, a somewhat groggy Akane was almost flattened by an energetic Ranma as they entered the dining room. Akane scowled at the boy, but let the slight slide. She didn't have the energy to fight just yet. Ranma never seemed to notice his own actions anyway.

A rude shock awaited them. The table was empty. Absolutely clear of anything even remotely resembling food.

"Hey, what gives?" Ranma asked rather loudly.

Akane shook the sleep out of herself and moved to the kitchen. "Sister? Kasumi? Where are you?" Nothing. The kitchen was empty.

Nabiki made her entrance from the steps. "Kasumi's been gone since I woke up an hour ago."

The younger sister digested this information. "Hmm.... Ranma? Do you where she went?" The teenage boy, who was looking rather depressed (and almost insightful) at the moment, returned a only blank look.

She sniffed. "Hmph. You never know anything anyway." Akane then became suddenly cheerful. The other two in the room shuddered, fearing the inevitable. "That's okay, I'll make breakfast for everyone!" she announced as the two fathers entered the room.

Soun and Genma wasted no time in getting on their knees and sobbing. "No! Anything but that!" they pleaded desperately, with a performance worthy of several awards.

"How pathetic," Nabiki coolly commented.

Seeing no remorse on the youngest Tendo's face, the two on the floor screamed out: "Where's Kasumi?!"

"She probably went out for a break today," Akane said. "She works so hard for us all the time. So I'm cooking today." Looking over the pitiful sight of two hopelessly idiotic adults, she finished, "And that's final." And so she went off to the kitchen. But not before making a last scan of the dining room.

"Where's Ranma?!"

The two fathers continued wailing. Nabiki simply mouthed the words, "Smart boy."

It was some time before Ranma managed to find his way to a small, well-kept field. An ornate iron fence lined the property, which was lush with neatly mowed green grass. Neat bouquets of fresh blossoms dotted the landscape. However, it was the markers in front of the flowers that marked the purpose of this area: elaborate metal nameplates and a number of finely crafted memorial stones.

This was Nerima cemetery.

Ranma's trained eyes could make out a figure clothed in an elegant dress on the far end of the burial grounds. He easily cleared the pointed metal wall in a single leap and walked quietly to the kneeling shape. As he neared her, he stopped and kept a respectful distance. After a moment, the girl turned to glance at him and smiled sadly. Ranma eagerly returned the favor, but restrained himself from speaking, mostly because he really didn't know what to say. They remained in silence for a while.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked softly.

Ranma almost jumped at the sound of her voice. "Well, uh, 'sides shopping and y'know, normal everyday stuff, the only time you leave home is to come here. Once you came on your mom's birthday: that I remember 'cause Akane and everyone else went along with you. And, uh, today, I guessed it was because it's Mother's Day." He hesitated before laughing nervously and continuing. "I'm not totally dumb, y'know? I keep track of the days too. Especially this one."

She only nodded deeply in understanding. Not really comfortable with silence, Ranma knelt next to her and went on with his story.

"When I was a kid wandering around with my pop, training in the Art, I would always think about my mom when pop was sleeping at night and not bothering me. I didn't know her all that well so I was just thinking about how nice it would be to see her again; to be able hug her and say 'Mom, I'm home!' I would play that scene over and over again in my head and it would always be perfect. But it always bothered me, the way that pop didn't seem to care.

"Every time we would go back to the city I would always get a little calendar and mark off the days. I didn't know her birthday or anything so Mother's Day was kind of it. I would dedicate everything I did that day to her. I wouldn't do anything I thought was wrong, which included listening to pop.

"I would get away from him after he fell asleep and do a kind of a private ceremony. First I would start a fire with some dry leaves and matches. If it was raining, I would use some stored firewood from our packs. Then I would write a small note to her; you know, tell her how I was doing, how much I missed her, and I would renew my promise to her to be a the best son anyone could have, so I could see her again. Then I would read it over to myself and I would burn it in the fire. I would lay back and watch the smoke go up toward the stars. I always did believe that everything in the messages would make it to her eventually that way. I'm not so sure now, but that always helped me sleep better at night."

Ranma laughed again, a touch of bitterness evident. "Kinda sad, huh? Now with the curse and all, what am I supposed to do?" He felt his eyes beginning to well up. he strictly reminded himself, forcing in the tears.

"You will see your mother again, I'm sure of it," Kasumi offered. "It would simply be... to cruel for the world to not let you do that." She looked at his sullen expression and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure of it." That statement at least seemed to make him feel a little better. She turned her gaze toward the memorial stone and began sharing her thoughts.

"When my mother was still with us, I loved her like no one else did. I still do. She was everything to me. She still is. She gave me the best care that a mother could ever give to her daughter. She was never too busy for me. I wanted to be just like her; I learned everything I know from her.

"Then one day she got sick. I brought her food and stayed by her bed all day. At first, I was excited: it was now my turn to take care of her! I would give her the best care, just like she would always give me. It was a chance to prove myself.

"But she didn't get better. I thought it was my fault, that all I did wasn't good enough to make her get better. Even though she told me it wasn't my fault, I never really did believe it. Not even now. Maybe if I had tried a little harder.... Anyway, after a while she had gotten so sick she had to stay at the hospital. They wouldn't let us stay there with her all the time, but we visited often.

"But one day her room was empty. What happened? A nurse told us that she died. When we got home, father locked himself in his room and started crying pretty hard. Akane and Nabiki were so sad, scared, and confused they were also crying. They were so loud! All I could do was hug them and tell them over and over that everything would be all right. I put them to bed after they cried themselves to sleep. And then went to my room and did the same."

Kasumi turned to look at Ranma, who was absorbed in her words. "I made a promise to my mom too. I would take her place: I would make sure everyone was healthy, I would take care of them if they got sick, and I would go out of my way to make them happy." She sighed and let her sadness fall down her face to the ground. "And that's still what I'm doing, all the way up to today," she whispered.

"That reminds me," Ranma said suddenly, digging into his pants pocket. He removed a few slightly smashed flowers, straightening them up a bit for the sake of appearance. "For your mom. Felt kinda bad coming empty-handed, so...." He shrugged uncertainly and walked over on his knees and placed the blossoms in front of the headstone. When he moved back next to Kasumi, she placed a warm hand over his.

"Thank you," she mouthed. "They're very beautiful. I'm sure mother would've liked them."

"If you do, that's good enough for me," Ranma replied offhand, squeezing her hand lightly. Kasumi blushed awkwardly.

The two sat there for a moment, neither saying another word. "It's getting close to noon," Kasumi said softly. "Perhaps we should return home before the others begin to worry." She stifled a giggle. "Besides, you must be hungry, having not eaten breakfast today."

"I'll live," Ranma stated with certainty. Noting the surprised look on Kasumi's face (probably since it's one of his very few refusals of non-toxic food), he continued, "Today is Mother's Day. The world can get by without us for one day."

"Without us..." she repeated. "Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for being here with me."

"Anytime, Kasumi."