16 again

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, but what the hey, io'm back to writing again people, so this is a treat for you…


Shrooms…


Nodoka Saotome was what you'd call, a proper lady. She was normal, at least to herself, as she did her daily chores without as much as a second thought, her thoughts lingering upon her son and husband for some time, as she did usually to keep her mind off other things.

As she did her laundry, she could feel a chill go through her, looking at the red shirt which belonged to her son, Ranma, who had just been 'jilted' at the wedding, the decision to get it all bombed to hell by his other fiancé's having cemented her worldview that her little boy need not be engaged to such violent people, him being 16 and all that. She sighed slightly at the thought of her son not being manly, the contract with the seppuku clause being the least thing on her mind. Of course, she wasn't all that good with a katana either, almost skewering poor Ranma-chan with it during their first meeting, of course it not being a success due to her thinking that the girl was a girl and not her son in disguise.

She put the last of the laundry in the basket, folded and all, deciding that she'd visit the Tendo's after lunch, having felt the need to see her son for at least a few minutes. She slowly ate her lunch, thinking about Ranma's reaction to her presence, and wondering whether Kasumi would invite her to dinner again, or if she'd need to help Akane a little with cooking…

She walked to the phone a few seconds after she had wiped her mouth with a napkin, dialing the number of the Tendo residence, one she had learned to dial even while asleep, knowing that her son was staying there. "Moshi moshi, Tendo Residence."

"Kasumi-chan, could I perhaps come over for dinner? I would like to see my son again." She absently wiped off some dust from her kimono, looking it over for a brief instant, as the young woman on the other end of the line said that it was no problem for her to stay over for dinner. "I'll be coming in a moment then, Kasumi dear."

She put the phone back on the receiver, looking at the phone with a small bit of emptiness within her gaze, before she righted herself slightly, grabbed the family katana and then made sure to lock the door as she exited her house, the key being slipped into the folds of her kimono as she walked towards the district of Nerima, a subconscious shiver going through her body without her noticing it, the feeling of unease spreading through her body.

As she seated herself next to Soun, chatting with him about some trivial things, like Akane's progress in cooking, the man's face scrunching up in distaste for only a few moments, enough to reveal what she had thought to be correct, that Akane still was a horror in the kitchen.

"So, has my husband decided to show himself again, or is he still sleeping?" the question, aimed at Soun, made the other man shake his head slightly. "Saotome said he was going to do something with the master, something which the Master did not tell me. They will be back before dinner." Nodoka nodded, the feeling of that something bad was going to happen creeping up on her, disappearing from her mind as her son entered the room, sparing Soun a glance, before it settled on her, and he greeted her, albeit a bit uncouth. "Hi mom. How are you today?"

"Fine, my manly son. How was school?" Ranma made a dismissing sound, like it really wasn't worth mentioning, while she remembered the report card that she had seen, the bad marks on them being more than a testimony that he was getting almost no sleep, spotting dark circles around his eyes, mentally calculating the time it would take for him to fall asleep.

The diminutive master of anything goes decided to make an appearance at that moment, a bucket of water flying through the air and drenching Ranma, turning him into a her, the breasts swelling against the shirt, which had been tight before, becoming even tighter than before.

"YOU OLD LEACH!" and off Ranma was, trying to pummel the master before dinner would begin, the feeling of it being normal in this house-hold making Nodoka take a small mental stride to make this a better place, without fighting, the katana within her hands unsheathing, the old martial artist and the young one freezing at the sound of metal being unsheathed.

He looked at his mother, seeing the naked blade there, within her hand, and he seated himself, watching as the blade was put back into the sheath, the old martial artist seating himself calmly, shivering slightly. "Mom, you don't wanna know, there was some crazy martial artist cook trying to challenge Ucchan, so I challenged him, to help out Ucchan." It had been a melee of dough, chocolate chip cookies and other Gaijin foods, so Ranma had been covered in all kinds of stuff, but he had won eventually by a knockout.

"Well then, help prepare dinner for us all with me, Son." There was no command within her voice, as he rose, still in female form, to go help prepare dinner. There would be no refusal from his father, since it was his mother who requested the act of jointly making dinner.

Soon enough, he was in the kitchen, Kasumi's domain, as he looked at the strange implements of kitchen creationism, looking at them with some small awe as he recognized the different items, from the earlier battle, giving his mother a sidelong glance, as she put the katana against the wall, looking at him, before pointing at his hands. "Wash them first, Ranma." The act of washing his hands was carefully done by him, as he did not want to upset his mother, who was watching the proceedings with some amusement within her eyes.

He'd better be good at cooking rice, or else I'm going to grill Genma… was a thought that went through her head, as she shushed Kasumi out, to make sure that the girl would have some time to herself, since the poor dear was always so concerned with things that pertained to this house. She looked at her son boiling some rice, carefully looking at the small clock on the wall, checking it every few minutes till the time was right, before he put the gas off, and took the pot off the stove, draining the water from it in the sink and then presented it to her, to which she gave a careful observation, looking at it with the look of a housewife, finding the rice to be a bit on the sticky and clumpy side, though she supposed that one did not teach him too much in the way of cuisine on the trip., "Very good, you're good for a beginner. Now, allow me to finish the soup and we're done."

As they presented dinner to the Tendo family, Kasumi already was at her seat, Soun merely staring at the way that the Saotome heir carried the food out from the kitchen, his mother following with the rice. There was a brief silence, as Akane sat down, her eyes going towards the food, but not giving any comment.

"So, Saotome, you can cook… I didn't think one such as you would be capable of doing that." A moment of silence fell, as Nabiki had given her opinion, Nodoka merely shaking her head at the audacity of the girl, before seating herself, giving a small bow to the Tendo patriarch, before she watched the others, including Happosai, dig in, the old man having given a small nod towards Soun just a few seconds ago, a small object within his palm being there, unnoticed by the others…

Ranma, who was sitting next to his mother, did notice something. The feeling that something was going to happen was so familiar to him, that he kept a good eye on the old pervert, his eyes never really straying from the man, one of his pickles being stolen by Genma a few seconds later, drawing his attention away, leaving Happosai with a chance to right himself a little, and throw the object he had been keeping within his hands towards Ranma's rice bowl, a small push by one of Genma's limbs making the old man's aim off, the thing, which was revealed to be a 16 centimeter mushroom, landing in Nodoka's bowl of rice, the chopsticks picking up the mushroom, Nodoka being distracted by the actions of her husband and son, and eating the mushroom, Happosai looking on in a morbid fascinated state, watching as the Saotome Matriarch's body seemed to grow younger and younger, the features of age melting away within mere moments, her eyes being a lot shinier, without the careful wither of years, the skin smooth and flawless, and most of all, the body getting curvier then it had been before, not that it hadn't been too curvy before, it just was because Nodoka had already given birth to Ranma that it was a bit less then it had been, the change not being readily apparent to the others, as their attention was focused on Genma and Ranma, Ranma actually being the first to look at his mother, paling instantly as he saw a younger version of his mother sitting there, looking very much like his female form.

"Mom?" she raised her head slightly, looking at him, then at herself, to assure that she had not dropped anything on herself, noticing immediately that the kimono was somehow a bit looser than before, taking a mental note that she might have lost weight or something, the look of surprise on Genma's face, the jaw slackening of the man, along with the rest of the table issuing exclamations of surprise, making it rather suspect in her eyes.

"No-chan? Is that you?" she blinked a few times, which Ranma found odd, looking at her with eyes, looking at her younger body, realizing that there was something hooky about this. "Genma, what are you implying?" That's mom alright but how did she turn like this? Think Ranma think, you know that this has happened before THOSE MUSHROOMS! "Old Leach, what did you do to mom!?"

Happosai had already left, the ground getting a bit too hot under his feet, and that saying that discretion was better then valor ringing true in his mind.

"I'm feeling weird." She uttered, looking at herself and seeing almost nothing odd about herself, but a head-ache had formed in the back of her mind, her body being changed somehow, her entire centre of balance being off, a small mirror handed to her by Nabiki, who was staring at her with a calculating look in her eyes, kasumi's words of Oh My having been heard by the woman as she looked into the mirror…

Only to find a 16-year old version of herself staring back at her… "Oh dear, it seems I'm a teenager again…" her next reaction was to faint, her eyes rolling upwards, as she slumped to the side unconsciously, leaving the rest to look at her, then get into a flurry of how this would be best solved.


Alright, it has been a long time since I've written fanfiction, so tell me how it is, and if it's enjoyable still…

Also, this is kind of a change from what I normally write, but I'll try to get back into the groove…

Reviews would be very much liked…

Next chapter deals with Nodoka having to come to terms with the fact that she's 16 again, along with the news that she'd have to go to school.