Author's Notes:

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½. It's owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Comics. This isn't written for any form of profit.

This story assumes the anime timeline BEFORE the "Boy Meets Mom" episode at the end of Season 7. Essentially, this means that Ranma has not talked to Nodoka since leaving on the training trip with Genma. He has essentially no memory of her.

This is my first attempt at fan fiction. I invite comments, constructive criticism, and suggestions. I originally wrote this as a long one shot, but I will keep it open in case I come up with something to continue it.

The Ultimate Rejection

by

Jack Bauer Reborn

It happened again. It happened almost every day for the last two years.

He was tired of it – he was beginning to realize that even he had limits. Sure, he could easily surpass the limits of any ordinary human being. He could take on those who weren't even human and beat them, passing what he thought were his own limits in the process. That didn't mean he was invincible. It meant that he hadn't been pushed far enough. It meant he hadn't discovered his limit.

In this case, he thought he was like a rubber band. Stretch it enough times, and it adapts. Eventually, you get a looser rubber band. Stretch it too far and it snaps.

He thought he was dangerously close reaching that point. He feared what happened when he did get there.

It wasn't so much that he was afraid for himself when he got there. It was others who may be nearby. He was worried about the way a rubber band reacted when it snapped – it was uncontrollable. He spent so much time controlling himself that he didn't know what it was like to be without that control. He had no clue how he would react without that safety valve regulating him.

He thought that if he lost control, he would seriously hurt others, and then he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

So, figuring that his only way out was to somehow ease the pressure on the rubber band that is his conscience, he figured that he should talk to someone. Supposedly venting to other people helped release the pressure. It was a simple solution, really, except that there was another problem.

There was no one he thought that he could trust to talk about his problems, and there were a lot of them. It was a wonder he was still sane. A psychiatrist would probably say that the only reason he had his sanity was his formidable will and drive to succeed when he put his mind to it. He never failed, and many people respected him for that. It was part of who he was, and he was raised that if he ever failed at anything, he would become a failure.

In this case, though, he thought that he may have no other choice but to fail since there were absolutely no options. He could invent new martial arts attacks on the fly and have them succeed, but he couldn't spontaneously create a person that would listen to him and give him unbiased advice. Everybody he knew had an agenda, and those agendas worked against him almost every way possible.

For the hell of it, he thought, he might as well try going through the list of people again. It was possible he forgot something. Anything was possible, and for some reason, people always tended to bet on him.

Looking up at the stars on the roof of his residence for the last two years, he thought he might have found a solution: his mother.

It just might work. His mother had no agenda that he knew of. His mother wasn't asking him to marry someone right away.

She hadn't called any priests or ministers without his knowledge. For that matter, she wasn't trying to marry him either, as funny as that sounds. At least his father was good for something. On the other hand, he was constantly amazed at the lengths his suitors and their friends will go to achieve their goal. Absolutely nothing was off limits. He figured it was called "Anything Goes" for a reason.

She also hadn't attacked him without provocation. Some of his friends had really taken to that – almost making him feel like it was becoming a pastime. He couldn't remember the last time his mother surprised him with a declaration that he should prepare to die. As a result of that, he had few material possessions – once he realized that he wasn't invincible, he figured that sooner or later his winning streak would end.

She didn't think he was perverted. She hadn't accused him of peeping on anyone and wasn't assuming that his mind was permanently fixated on thoughts of a sexual nature. He didn't have time to think about that when he was constantly fighting for his life, or those of others. It didn't make sense that the one person who accused him of this the most was the person he tried so hard to protect so many times.

She hadn't tried to extort money from him. He was penniless for the most part, so being blackmailed, extorted, and generally used on a regular basis left him with barely any money. The interest rates that were held against him were high, and the last time he checked, he probably wouldn't have more than a few thousand yen to his name for the next twenty years. That made the bookkeeping easier – he was bad with numbers since he was out of school since he was six.

She hadn't taken him on any protracted training trips in an attempt to make him into something. As a matter of fact, the protracted training trip he had been on caused him to turn into something nobody would have expected in their wildest dreams. Sometimes, it was an advantage to him. Most of the time, it was a source of psychological confusion that the most respected scholars in many fields would be completely stumped with.

And, of course, she was his mother. Mothers unconditionally loved their children. There was no doubt in his mind about that. Even a great-grandmother he knew would do almost anything for her great-granddaughter. Actually, skip the 'almost'. She would do anything, and would have no qualms about who it might hurt in the process. He wouldn't expect his mother to go the same lengths that others went, but she would help. She had to. She was his mother.

He ran that over in his head a few more times, each time more hopeful that he would be more convinced that he would have a solution.

He did. His problem had been solved. He succeeded again, and he was elated, since this problem had been eating at him for eighteen months. He hoped that an end to the madness was in sight.

After a few more tries, it dawned on him that he had another problem. He actually didn't know his mother. Hell, he didn't even know her name.

He assumed his mother loved him. That was quite the assumption given the love-hate relationships he had.

He assumed his mother would help him. That was also quite the assumption considering that everybody he knew had an agenda and was willing to use him for its purposes.

Hell, he had even assumed that she would accept him. That was a big assumption, given his new ability from the aforementioned training trip.

At this point, though, he thought he had nothing to lose. He might as well find his mother and ask for help. If she asked for his life, as so many others had either rejected or outright attempted to terminate, then he might as well say yes. It would be the ultimate rejection.

Satisfied, he climbed off the roof and into his room, where his father, who had the same ability as him, was sleeping in his alternate form. Lying down, he closed his eyes to have one of the most comforting nights of sleep he had had in almost two years, which didn't say much about the quality of sleep since he had to always be aware.

His mind and body went into standby as he slept.

In the morning, Ranma Saotome was woken by his father. His father believed that one had to be up with the sun in order to have a productive day practicing and living The Art, except that his father didn't practice it except to insult Ranma. He had to figure out a way of finding out about his mother from someone, and while his father was the best source of information, he thought it was likely that asking his father would start another set of insults about 'crying home to mommy' and 'not being a real man'.

The next best solution would be to ask his father's best friend. It would definitely work, but since Soun Tendo's wife died, it was apparent that he had not recovered from that loss and would not. Kasumi, his eldest daughter, and the person who had taken over as the motherly figure in the Tendo family, always frowned when Soun cried. Then she would casually reach for a mop to clean up the mess. Ranma preferred not having to deal with that. At least he could insult his father when his father insulted him.

That afternoon, he was preparing himself for the frustration of asking his father, when Kasumi unknowingly presented part of a solution to him.

"Oh, look Mr. Saotome, you got a postcard!"

Looking up from his game of Anything Goes Shogi – a variation of shogi where any and all forms of cheating were tolerated – Genma Saotome figured this was worth his while.

"Oh?"

Kasumi passed the postcard to Genma, who read it carefully.

I hope this postcard finds you well. I'm looking forward to meeting our son.

-Nodoka

Genma panicked. When he did this, he usually jumped into the koi pond and tried the cute-and-cuddly act. Ranma tended to sneer at this since it continually proved that his father was a hypocrite. This time, he ran to his room, grabbed his and Ranma's pack, and ran for the door, picking up Ranma with his other hand. This was new.

"Now, Saotome, what seems to be the matter?" Soun asked.

"Sorry Tendo, but I really have to go. She's going to kill me," Genma responded hysterically.

Ranma pulled himself out of his father's grip. "Gee, pops, someone who wants to kill you. Why am I not surprised at all?"

"She'll kill you too, boy."

"Why?"

"Trust me. She's not one to forget little things."

At this point, the rest of the Tendo family had come together, and was just as curious as Ranma.

"What did you do to her, pops?"

Genma shuddered.

"I know! You stiffed her on a bill!" Nabiki, the middle Tendo daughter whose mind thought of money first and everything else second, suggested.

"Or she's a lost love looking to rekindle it!" Kasumi swooned.

Akane, the youngest Tendo, didn't know what to make of this. Knowing Genma's history of dishonesty, she said "Or maybe she's looking for revenge for something you did to her."

Genma didn't respond. He just needed a way out.

Frustrated, Ranma confronted Genma again. "What did you do to her, pop?"

"Trust me, boy, you wouldn't understand."

"Listen Saotome, if you tell us your problem, maybe we can help you through it," Soun suggested. He hoped that he might be able to reason with his best friend and training partner to get through this problem. It appeared to work, as Genma seemed to calm down. Ranma, however, did not.

"Who is she?" Ranma asked, insisting on an answer. He was running out of patience, and he knew that when his father was hiding something, it was bad. His father acted like this when he brought Ranma into Nerima for the first time and announced his engagement to one of the Tendo sisters. He also worried that Nabiki would find some way to blackmail Ranma with whatever his dad was hiding.

"Please, Saotome, explain it to us."

"Well, you see, Tendo…" Genma started, "she's…"

Everybody leaned forward, even though they were well within earshot of Genma.

"She and I were … close many years ago."

Ranma couldn't believe that his father would pull out another lie in a situation like this. Even with his life on the line, Genma couldn't bring himself to the truth.

"Sure, pop. You expect me to believe that?"

"How close?" Nabiki asked. She could taste the juicy bits of intelligence on Genma, because if it dealt with Genma, it dealt with Ranma in some way. If it dealt with Ranma, Nabiki could exploit it.

"Please, Nabiki. Give him a chance. This is hard for him," Kasumi said, trying to encourage Genma to come to terms with this.

Ignoring Nabiki, Genma responded to Ranma. "Yes, boy, I do. I've done things you've only dreamed of."

"Whatever, pop. Who is she?"

Genma paused. There was no use in delaying any further, and Soun was right. If she was coming to the Tendo home, he would need Soun's help to hide from her or make an escape.

"She's your mother, boy."

The Tendo daughters face faulted. Ranma was somewhat relieved. It appeared that he didn't have to go through the humiliation of asking his father who his mother was. He just wasn't sure he believed Genma.

"Prove it."

Genma reached into his walled and pulled out a piece of paper which had been folded twice. Unfolding it, he handed it to Ranma, who had the Tendos looking over his shoulder. The paper was a picture of a much younger and slimmer Genma, what looked like a four-year old Ranma, and a stately woman who had Ranma in his lap.

"You expect me to think this woman's my mom? Please. There's no way a good looking woman like her would go for the likes of you."

"Believe it, boy," Genma growled. "That was taken before the trip."

"OK, Saotome, that explains who she is, but why are you afraid of her? She seems nice."

Akane picked up the postcard. "But this was sent from the other side of Nerima. Didn't you know she was here?"

"You mean I've been in this town for two years and and I haven't met my mother yet? Why the hell did you do that?"

"I'm hiding from her, you stupid boy, and you should be too."

"For kami's sake, pop, why?"

"When we left for trip, your mom refused. She –"

"If she refused, why the hell did we go?"

"Let me finish. She refused, saying it wouldn't do you any good to be without your mother for so long."

"No kidding, pop. I don't even remember my mom anymore."

Genma sneered. "So I made a deal with her. She wanted you to be a great man, so I told her that if I trained you well enough in martial arts, you would become a man among men."

Genma stopped uncomfortably. Soun asked, "Well, Ranma is clearly one of the best in the world in the Art. You succeeded at that."

"Yes, Tendo, I did", Genma said, beaming. "But Ranma isn't always a man."

"That's your fault, not mine, pop. She can't hold it against me."

"What happens if he's not a 'man amongst men', Mr. Saotome?" Kasumi asked, innocently.

"Well, to let us go, I said that we'd commit ritual seppuku if I failed. I signed a contract to hold us to it. She has it."

The Tendos stopped cold, wide eyed and staring at Genma. Ranma punched his father. "You idiot! What the hell did you do that for?"

"It was for your own good, boy. Look at the martial artist you are!"

"Except that its going to get us killed!" With that, Ranma stormed out of the room. He couldn't take anymore. The thought that his mother would ask for his death killed any hope of reconciliation with his mother that he thought he had.

Ranma wasn't a man, or at least, he wasn't one when cold water was around. Then he remembered what he thought the day before – he had nothing to lose and was going to die sooner or later anyway. He might as well have the one who gave him life take it away.

He was going to find his mother.

The next day at the Tendo household was the same as any other day, except that any sound that came from the vicinity of the door made Genma hide. Kasumi thought it was cute. Soun got annoyed that the shogi game kept getting interrupted when he was winning.

At Furinkan High, Ranma completely ignored all his classes. Akane would look at him and sneer, thinking that Ranma had to be coming up with some diabolical, yet perverted plan. One of his other suitors, Ukyo, was much closer in trying to guess what Ranma was thinking about – she thought that he might be coming to a decision on who to marry.

After school, Ranma bolted and didn't look back. He had his father's postcard in his hand. In his bookbag was a small tanto blade. Having been sent all over Nerima courtesy of Akane's constant use of her wooden mallet, Ranma didn't need a map.

After nearly an hour of traveling clear across Nerima, Ranma reached a townhouse complex with the address written on the postcard. Ranma started to worry.

What if she rejected him? He told himself that he'd kill himself, but that was small comfort.

Standing at the entrance to the complex, Ranma realized that he hadn't exactly figured out how he was going to introduce himself or ask for help.

Ranma walked into the complex found the door to the unit where his mother lived, and knocked.

"Coming!"

The door opened to reveal the woman in the picture his father had the day before. It started to rain.