Star 1/2
By Nicolai Tiger
Disclaimer: Iffn I owned them, I wouldn't need a Disclaimer, eh?
Based on an idea by Jerry Unipeg.
Chapter Two: Fate Lends A Hand
"Wow, this thing looks old, Ranma." Nabiki commented as she looked around the entryway. She watched the holographic message and then moved over to the box that held the spools. "Ranma, you told me there were four visors and you only took one, right?"
Ranma moved over to the box and gasped in shock. "One's missing, along with all the engineering spools! How are we gonna get this thing repaired now? Who could have taken them?" Ranma started to run up and down the ramp, all the while yelling out "What are we gonna do?"
Nabiki, however, knelt down and picked up a single strand of hair that had fallen near the table. 'Hmmm, looks like Shampoo found the ship as well, but how could she have known about it?' She turned her head and snickered as Ranma continued to flail around outside the ship. "Hey, Ranma, get in here!" Nabiki waited until Ranma had returned before holding up the single strand of hair. "Now then, what does this tell you, Ranma?"
Ranma made a big show of looking at the hair, turning her head and trying to look at it from all sides. "Um, that someone with long hair was here?" She said finally. Nabiki lowered her head and started rubbing the bridge of her nose, trying to stop the headache that threatened.
"You really are going to need my help, Ranma. I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet." Nabiki held up the hair in front if Ranma's face. "Who do we know that has long purple hair, Ranma?" Nabiki watched Ranma's face scrunch up in thought, then smiled as Ranma started counting on her fingers. "How many live in this area, Ranma?"
Ranma's eyes lit up suddenly. "Shampoo! Damn it, how did she know what to take?" The confusion and thought on Ranma's face soon turned to anger. "We gotta get them spools back, Nabiki. Any idea on how to do it without destroying them?"
"First, you need to ask yourself a question, Ranma. We are going to need help with this, you know. There is no way the two of us could possibly learn all we need to know to fix this ship. If Shampoo is learning engineering, she could be a valuable asset to us." Nabiki watched the anger flow out of Ranma as she sat on the floor.
"I don't know, Nabiki. I don't know how to feel about her, any more than I know how to feel about myself right now." Ranma gestured at her body. "After all, I am stuck like this forever now." Ranma watched Nabiki start to say something, then cut her off. "I know, Nabiki. Cologne has lied before, but she never gave up on getting me in the tribe. She did that yesterday. She did proclaim me Amazon, but not of her tribe, and told me that I held a position equal to her." Ranma sighed loudly. "That, more than anything else, tells me that she is telling the truth. Cologne would never give up on me unless she knew for sure I was beyond reach."
Nabiki sat down next to Ranma and shook her head. "I did want to ask you something else. You seem awfully calm about being stuck like this. Is there something you want to tell me?"
Ranma shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say. I've been cursed for over a year now. Female, male, I am still Ranma on the inside." Closing her eyes, Ranma lifted her head slightly and spoke in a small whisper. "Besides, just because everyone has given up on chasing me doesn't mean I have given up on them."
Nabiki strained to hear Ranma's statement, then her eyes opened wide. "You don't mean... You do, don't you. You still love them, you always loved them all." Nabiki's eyes then narrowed in thought. "That's why you never decided, isn't it? You love all three of them, don't you?"
Ranma lowered her head and sighed. "Yes, I do. I love them all. Shampoo's fiery spirit and skill snuck into my heart at the village, the first time I saw her fight. She never gave up, no matter what the odds. I couldn't risk Akane's wrath, but I was secretly happy every time she glomped onto me. Her body is a perfect match for her spirit." Ranma lifted her head and looked deep into Nabiki's eyes.
"What about Ukyo?" Asked Nabiki. She saw the determination in Ranma's eyes and quickly squashed the thought of selling this information. For the first time in a very long time, someone was trusting her and she was not about to violate that trust.
"Ukyo, she was my best friend on that horrible training trip. She brought out that childhood joy in me, something that had been crushed by Genma." Ranma shook her head slightly, remembering those times. "Even then, I loved her. I thought it was brotherly love, but now I know it was something more." Ranma shuddered slightly. "Even though it went against everything I was taught, I truly felt unconditional love toward Ukyo. If she had really been a guy, I still would have sought a romantic relationship with her, even if I didn't have the curse."
Nabiki could only gasp in shock. Ranma had just admitted something to her that she would have never guessed. Ranma openly admitted that she had been willing to go against everything she knew because of love. In a quiet voice, Nabiki asked the one question she was afraid to. "What about Akane?"
"She offered me friendship when I first arrived. I was hoping that I could build something from that, but it went sour fast, as you well know. However, the flashes, the moments where the mallet failed to control her, I could see her true self, and I knew that she was someone I could love as well." Ranma chuckled slightly. "She always called me a pervert, and she was almost right, you know. When I saw her in the bath that first time, I was stunned by the beauty of her body." Ranma put a big grin on her face and watched Nabiki. "I knew she was in the bath the second time. I could not resist the chance to see her again. I hated myself afterward, thinking it was just lust, but I soon realized that love was indeed forming."
Nabiki shook her head slightly to organize her thoughts. This was a side of Ranma that she had never seen before. She sorted through some of the incidents she remembered, using the new viewpoint Ranma had provided her. Suddenly, it all made sense. "You have been playing us all, haven't you?"
"Got it in one, Nabiki. I knew there was no way for me to choose one of them, for they were all equal in my heart. Every time I thought I was ready to choose, the others would do something that would cause me to readjust my thinking." Ranma placed her hands in her lap. "Besides, I am a growing boy, well, sorta, and I do have the same urges all boys have. Only thing was, I didn't need the usual sources of 'inspiration', I had three beautiful women that were willing to fill that role." Another grin and Nabiki almost shuddered. "The hardest part of all was keeping myself from going further than just looking. You have no idea how much I wanted, still want, all three of them."
Nabiki stood and picked up the box with the spools and headsets. "Ranma, you have given me a lot to think about today, and before you ask, I will not tell anyone about what you have said here today." A look of relief on Ranma's face made it all worthwhile to Nabiki. "Of course, I am going to have to ask you for a favor, as well, Ranma." The falling look on Ranma's face made Nabiki speak quickly. "I want for you to do the same thing for me, Ranma. I too have some secrets that I am going to have to share, and knowing that I have someone to come to makes a lot of difference."
Ranma's face split into a wide grin. "You got it, Nabiki. After all, we are going to have to trust each other if we are going to survive out there." The pair walked down the ramp, Nabiki carrying the box. When the reached the bottom, Ranma scooped Nabiki into her arms. With a smile, Ranma lept up onto the ship then lept through the hole in the roof of the cavern.
Ukyo stepped out from her hiding spot when Ranma and Nabiki had cleared the cavern. She walked into the ship, tears streaming down her face. She settled to the floor of the craft and dropped her head into her hands. "He does love me." She whispered into the empty craft. "I never thought that it was so hard on him, I only thought of what I wanted, didn't I. I never even thought that he could be in pain, unable to answer the loves in his heart." Ukyo lifted her head, fire filling her eyes. She wiped away the tears and looked around the room. "Well, if I can't have his love, maybe I can find a way to win her love again." Ukyo began to explore the ship, eventually finding something that she felt she could use, something that would allow her to defend herself and give her a place on the ship. Now all she had to do was confront Shampoo and Cologne. She knew she had to make peace with Shampoo and needed help from Cologne to improve her skills.
The trip home was uneventful because Ranma was carrying Nabiki across the rooftops. When they entered the Tendo home, they were surprised by the quiet. It seemed empty, somehow. When they saw Kasumi sitting at the table with her head in her hands, they rushed to her side.
Ranma settled on one side, Nabiki on the other. They heard Kasumi's quiet sobs and each placed an arm around her. As they sat there holding her, Nabiki spotted the folder on the table. She picked it up and read through it quickly, then quickly handed it to Ranma as Nabiki pulled her older sister into a full hug, tears streaming down her cheeks as well.
Ranma backed up slightly, allowing the two sisters to comfort each other, then began reading the documents she held in her hands. What she read scared her, badly. She never thought anything like this would ever happen, but there it was. How something like this could have happened so quickly was beyond Ranma, but the proof was there in her hands.
Ranma Saotome was no more. Genma had Ranma declared dead that morning. Ranma could only shudder as she read further. Everything she had ever been was taken from her with the stroke of a pen. What shocked her even more were the documents releasing the trust fund she did not know about into the care of Genma. Ranma was furious when he saw the divorce papers. Genma had cut every tie to his old life it seemed.
"Kasumi, where are your father and Akane?" Ranma asked in a quiet voice. She was dreading the answer but had to know for her own sake.
Kasumi lifted her head and took a deep, shuddering breath. "They... they... left, right after dropping that on the table." Kasumi shuddered for a moment then continued. "They said that she was the only heir left and they had to get her trained as fast as they could." Kasumi started crying freely again, speaking through her sobs. "She went willingly, Ranma. Akane and Father left us behind, as if we didn't matter anymore."
Ranma stood and went to the kitchen. She started to prepare some tea for the girls, then stopped suddenly when she heard a quiet whimper from the far corner of the kitchen. Moving slowly, Ranma saw Nodoka, her mother, curled up and crying in the corner. "Mom?" Ranma said softly.
When Nodoka's sobs came faster, Ranma quickly moved over and pulled her mother into her arms. Nodoka threw her arms around Ranma and started crying into her shoulder. "My son, why did they take my son?" Ranma felt horrible at the secrets she had kept from her mother and gently lifted her. "Mother, there is something we need to tell you."
Ranma carried Nodoka into the living room and sat her gently next to the Tendo sisters. The three of them grasped onto each other, the only anchors in a suddenly turbulent life. Ranma let them hold each other for a minute, then spoke up. "Mother, it is time for you to know the truth."
Nodoka looked fearfully at Ranma. "Please, just tell me, was he indeed a man among men?" Ranma squirmed in her seat for a moment, then looked to Nabiki.
"Auntie, Ranma is the most honorable man I have ever known. His sense of honor is something rarely seen in this day and age." Nabiki bowed her head slightly to Nodoka. "I am ashamed that I was a part of keeping your son from your arms, and I can see that your son wishes you to know the truth."
Kasumi faced Nodoka and tried to smile. "I too am guilty of keeping Ranma from you and I beg your forgiveness. He is indeed one of the finest men I have ever known." Nodoka looked from Kasumi to Nabiki, shock on her face. "You speak of my son as if he were still alive, but Genma claims that he is not!"
"That is not true, Mother." Ranma spoke in a whisper. "Your son is closer than you might think, and he is very sorry that he ever hid from you like this." Ranma looked her mother in the eyes and told her the tale of Jusenkyo. Nodoka's tears were coming faster and faster as the tale continued, finally latching on to Ranma in desperation at the end. "You are truly my son?" She asked in a hopeful voice.
"Yes I am, Mother. I am Ranma Saotome." Ranma gripped her mother in a tight hug. "I never wanted to hide from you, and now I am afraid you will reject me for what I have become." Ranma pushed herself back a bit and looked into Nodoka's eyes. "I am locked like this, Mother. I can never go back." Ranma bowed her head then, waiting for the outcry that would take her mother away forever.
Ranma was shocked when Nodoka pulled Ranma into a tight hug, tears soaking her shirt. "Oh, my darling child, I could NEVER reject you. From the moment you were born you were my life, you were my sole reason for living." Nodoka sobbed again when her eyes caught sight of the folder. "What am I going to do now? Everything I was is gone now. I don't even know if my family will speak to me. They distanced themselves from me when I married Genma."
Ranma glanced up and smiled. "Well, if the ninja in the corner there doesn't stop shaking, she is going to fall roughly." Shock played across the faces of those present as they turned to look where Ranma was staring. In the shadows of the ceiling was a black clothed figure, blending in with the patterns of shadow. Silently, the ninja dropped down and moved over to the four women.
With a flourish, the ninja removed the covering from her face and smiled at Nodoka. "My darling child, we never left you. We were angry that you went against our wishes, but we could tell that you did indeed love him at one time." Tears glittered in the corners of the ninja's eyes as she spoke. "We have always watched over you and would be more than happy to have our child returned to us." Nodoka's mother swept her child up into a tight embrace and began to comfort her daughter.
After several minutes of hugging and crying, Nodoka leaned back and smiled at her mother. "I would be more than happy to rejoin my family, but I think that I could be of more use here. These poor girls have been left here alone and I cannot leave them as well." Nodoka turned slightly to look at Kasumi and Nabiki. "Would you be willing to allow me to stay here and help you?"
The two Tendo sisters glanced at each other, then lept into Nodoka's embrace. "Yes, oh yes, we would be honored to have you here!" While they were busy, the ninja turned and faced Ranma. "Greetings, grandson. It has been a long time since we have seen you." Ranma let herself be pulled into a hug, then slowly sat back. "Can you help them, Grandmother? They are going to need all the support they can get, and I have no way to provide everything they will need."
The sudden silence caused Ranma to look up. Nodoka, Kasumi and Nabiki were staring at Ranma, their eyes wide. Nodoka was the first to speak, her voice firm and proud. "My son, you have given me all I need just now. Even with everything that has happened to you, your first concern was for others." Nodoka put an arm around each of the Tendo sisters. "I think we can manage, but what about you?"
Ranma placed her hand behind her head and shrugged. "I've been dealing with heartache and pain all my life mom, I can deal with this as well." Ranma sighed loudly and stood up. "Now, I think I am going to go get that tea." Ranma went to the kitchen while the others stared at each other, then at the door Ranma had gone through, shaking their heads in wonder.
By Nicolai Tiger
Disclaimer: Iffn I owned them, I wouldn't need a Disclaimer, eh?
Based on an idea by Jerry Unipeg.
Chapter Two: Fate Lends A Hand
"Wow, this thing looks old, Ranma." Nabiki commented as she looked around the entryway. She watched the holographic message and then moved over to the box that held the spools. "Ranma, you told me there were four visors and you only took one, right?"
Ranma moved over to the box and gasped in shock. "One's missing, along with all the engineering spools! How are we gonna get this thing repaired now? Who could have taken them?" Ranma started to run up and down the ramp, all the while yelling out "What are we gonna do?"
Nabiki, however, knelt down and picked up a single strand of hair that had fallen near the table. 'Hmmm, looks like Shampoo found the ship as well, but how could she have known about it?' She turned her head and snickered as Ranma continued to flail around outside the ship. "Hey, Ranma, get in here!" Nabiki waited until Ranma had returned before holding up the single strand of hair. "Now then, what does this tell you, Ranma?"
Ranma made a big show of looking at the hair, turning her head and trying to look at it from all sides. "Um, that someone with long hair was here?" She said finally. Nabiki lowered her head and started rubbing the bridge of her nose, trying to stop the headache that threatened.
"You really are going to need my help, Ranma. I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet." Nabiki held up the hair in front if Ranma's face. "Who do we know that has long purple hair, Ranma?" Nabiki watched Ranma's face scrunch up in thought, then smiled as Ranma started counting on her fingers. "How many live in this area, Ranma?"
Ranma's eyes lit up suddenly. "Shampoo! Damn it, how did she know what to take?" The confusion and thought on Ranma's face soon turned to anger. "We gotta get them spools back, Nabiki. Any idea on how to do it without destroying them?"
"First, you need to ask yourself a question, Ranma. We are going to need help with this, you know. There is no way the two of us could possibly learn all we need to know to fix this ship. If Shampoo is learning engineering, she could be a valuable asset to us." Nabiki watched the anger flow out of Ranma as she sat on the floor.
"I don't know, Nabiki. I don't know how to feel about her, any more than I know how to feel about myself right now." Ranma gestured at her body. "After all, I am stuck like this forever now." Ranma watched Nabiki start to say something, then cut her off. "I know, Nabiki. Cologne has lied before, but she never gave up on getting me in the tribe. She did that yesterday. She did proclaim me Amazon, but not of her tribe, and told me that I held a position equal to her." Ranma sighed loudly. "That, more than anything else, tells me that she is telling the truth. Cologne would never give up on me unless she knew for sure I was beyond reach."
Nabiki sat down next to Ranma and shook her head. "I did want to ask you something else. You seem awfully calm about being stuck like this. Is there something you want to tell me?"
Ranma shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say. I've been cursed for over a year now. Female, male, I am still Ranma on the inside." Closing her eyes, Ranma lifted her head slightly and spoke in a small whisper. "Besides, just because everyone has given up on chasing me doesn't mean I have given up on them."
Nabiki strained to hear Ranma's statement, then her eyes opened wide. "You don't mean... You do, don't you. You still love them, you always loved them all." Nabiki's eyes then narrowed in thought. "That's why you never decided, isn't it? You love all three of them, don't you?"
Ranma lowered her head and sighed. "Yes, I do. I love them all. Shampoo's fiery spirit and skill snuck into my heart at the village, the first time I saw her fight. She never gave up, no matter what the odds. I couldn't risk Akane's wrath, but I was secretly happy every time she glomped onto me. Her body is a perfect match for her spirit." Ranma lifted her head and looked deep into Nabiki's eyes.
"What about Ukyo?" Asked Nabiki. She saw the determination in Ranma's eyes and quickly squashed the thought of selling this information. For the first time in a very long time, someone was trusting her and she was not about to violate that trust.
"Ukyo, she was my best friend on that horrible training trip. She brought out that childhood joy in me, something that had been crushed by Genma." Ranma shook her head slightly, remembering those times. "Even then, I loved her. I thought it was brotherly love, but now I know it was something more." Ranma shuddered slightly. "Even though it went against everything I was taught, I truly felt unconditional love toward Ukyo. If she had really been a guy, I still would have sought a romantic relationship with her, even if I didn't have the curse."
Nabiki could only gasp in shock. Ranma had just admitted something to her that she would have never guessed. Ranma openly admitted that she had been willing to go against everything she knew because of love. In a quiet voice, Nabiki asked the one question she was afraid to. "What about Akane?"
"She offered me friendship when I first arrived. I was hoping that I could build something from that, but it went sour fast, as you well know. However, the flashes, the moments where the mallet failed to control her, I could see her true self, and I knew that she was someone I could love as well." Ranma chuckled slightly. "She always called me a pervert, and she was almost right, you know. When I saw her in the bath that first time, I was stunned by the beauty of her body." Ranma put a big grin on her face and watched Nabiki. "I knew she was in the bath the second time. I could not resist the chance to see her again. I hated myself afterward, thinking it was just lust, but I soon realized that love was indeed forming."
Nabiki shook her head slightly to organize her thoughts. This was a side of Ranma that she had never seen before. She sorted through some of the incidents she remembered, using the new viewpoint Ranma had provided her. Suddenly, it all made sense. "You have been playing us all, haven't you?"
"Got it in one, Nabiki. I knew there was no way for me to choose one of them, for they were all equal in my heart. Every time I thought I was ready to choose, the others would do something that would cause me to readjust my thinking." Ranma placed her hands in her lap. "Besides, I am a growing boy, well, sorta, and I do have the same urges all boys have. Only thing was, I didn't need the usual sources of 'inspiration', I had three beautiful women that were willing to fill that role." Another grin and Nabiki almost shuddered. "The hardest part of all was keeping myself from going further than just looking. You have no idea how much I wanted, still want, all three of them."
Nabiki stood and picked up the box with the spools and headsets. "Ranma, you have given me a lot to think about today, and before you ask, I will not tell anyone about what you have said here today." A look of relief on Ranma's face made it all worthwhile to Nabiki. "Of course, I am going to have to ask you for a favor, as well, Ranma." The falling look on Ranma's face made Nabiki speak quickly. "I want for you to do the same thing for me, Ranma. I too have some secrets that I am going to have to share, and knowing that I have someone to come to makes a lot of difference."
Ranma's face split into a wide grin. "You got it, Nabiki. After all, we are going to have to trust each other if we are going to survive out there." The pair walked down the ramp, Nabiki carrying the box. When the reached the bottom, Ranma scooped Nabiki into her arms. With a smile, Ranma lept up onto the ship then lept through the hole in the roof of the cavern.
Ukyo stepped out from her hiding spot when Ranma and Nabiki had cleared the cavern. She walked into the ship, tears streaming down her face. She settled to the floor of the craft and dropped her head into her hands. "He does love me." She whispered into the empty craft. "I never thought that it was so hard on him, I only thought of what I wanted, didn't I. I never even thought that he could be in pain, unable to answer the loves in his heart." Ukyo lifted her head, fire filling her eyes. She wiped away the tears and looked around the room. "Well, if I can't have his love, maybe I can find a way to win her love again." Ukyo began to explore the ship, eventually finding something that she felt she could use, something that would allow her to defend herself and give her a place on the ship. Now all she had to do was confront Shampoo and Cologne. She knew she had to make peace with Shampoo and needed help from Cologne to improve her skills.
The trip home was uneventful because Ranma was carrying Nabiki across the rooftops. When they entered the Tendo home, they were surprised by the quiet. It seemed empty, somehow. When they saw Kasumi sitting at the table with her head in her hands, they rushed to her side.
Ranma settled on one side, Nabiki on the other. They heard Kasumi's quiet sobs and each placed an arm around her. As they sat there holding her, Nabiki spotted the folder on the table. She picked it up and read through it quickly, then quickly handed it to Ranma as Nabiki pulled her older sister into a full hug, tears streaming down her cheeks as well.
Ranma backed up slightly, allowing the two sisters to comfort each other, then began reading the documents she held in her hands. What she read scared her, badly. She never thought anything like this would ever happen, but there it was. How something like this could have happened so quickly was beyond Ranma, but the proof was there in her hands.
Ranma Saotome was no more. Genma had Ranma declared dead that morning. Ranma could only shudder as she read further. Everything she had ever been was taken from her with the stroke of a pen. What shocked her even more were the documents releasing the trust fund she did not know about into the care of Genma. Ranma was furious when he saw the divorce papers. Genma had cut every tie to his old life it seemed.
"Kasumi, where are your father and Akane?" Ranma asked in a quiet voice. She was dreading the answer but had to know for her own sake.
Kasumi lifted her head and took a deep, shuddering breath. "They... they... left, right after dropping that on the table." Kasumi shuddered for a moment then continued. "They said that she was the only heir left and they had to get her trained as fast as they could." Kasumi started crying freely again, speaking through her sobs. "She went willingly, Ranma. Akane and Father left us behind, as if we didn't matter anymore."
Ranma stood and went to the kitchen. She started to prepare some tea for the girls, then stopped suddenly when she heard a quiet whimper from the far corner of the kitchen. Moving slowly, Ranma saw Nodoka, her mother, curled up and crying in the corner. "Mom?" Ranma said softly.
When Nodoka's sobs came faster, Ranma quickly moved over and pulled her mother into her arms. Nodoka threw her arms around Ranma and started crying into her shoulder. "My son, why did they take my son?" Ranma felt horrible at the secrets she had kept from her mother and gently lifted her. "Mother, there is something we need to tell you."
Ranma carried Nodoka into the living room and sat her gently next to the Tendo sisters. The three of them grasped onto each other, the only anchors in a suddenly turbulent life. Ranma let them hold each other for a minute, then spoke up. "Mother, it is time for you to know the truth."
Nodoka looked fearfully at Ranma. "Please, just tell me, was he indeed a man among men?" Ranma squirmed in her seat for a moment, then looked to Nabiki.
"Auntie, Ranma is the most honorable man I have ever known. His sense of honor is something rarely seen in this day and age." Nabiki bowed her head slightly to Nodoka. "I am ashamed that I was a part of keeping your son from your arms, and I can see that your son wishes you to know the truth."
Kasumi faced Nodoka and tried to smile. "I too am guilty of keeping Ranma from you and I beg your forgiveness. He is indeed one of the finest men I have ever known." Nodoka looked from Kasumi to Nabiki, shock on her face. "You speak of my son as if he were still alive, but Genma claims that he is not!"
"That is not true, Mother." Ranma spoke in a whisper. "Your son is closer than you might think, and he is very sorry that he ever hid from you like this." Ranma looked her mother in the eyes and told her the tale of Jusenkyo. Nodoka's tears were coming faster and faster as the tale continued, finally latching on to Ranma in desperation at the end. "You are truly my son?" She asked in a hopeful voice.
"Yes I am, Mother. I am Ranma Saotome." Ranma gripped her mother in a tight hug. "I never wanted to hide from you, and now I am afraid you will reject me for what I have become." Ranma pushed herself back a bit and looked into Nodoka's eyes. "I am locked like this, Mother. I can never go back." Ranma bowed her head then, waiting for the outcry that would take her mother away forever.
Ranma was shocked when Nodoka pulled Ranma into a tight hug, tears soaking her shirt. "Oh, my darling child, I could NEVER reject you. From the moment you were born you were my life, you were my sole reason for living." Nodoka sobbed again when her eyes caught sight of the folder. "What am I going to do now? Everything I was is gone now. I don't even know if my family will speak to me. They distanced themselves from me when I married Genma."
Ranma glanced up and smiled. "Well, if the ninja in the corner there doesn't stop shaking, she is going to fall roughly." Shock played across the faces of those present as they turned to look where Ranma was staring. In the shadows of the ceiling was a black clothed figure, blending in with the patterns of shadow. Silently, the ninja dropped down and moved over to the four women.
With a flourish, the ninja removed the covering from her face and smiled at Nodoka. "My darling child, we never left you. We were angry that you went against our wishes, but we could tell that you did indeed love him at one time." Tears glittered in the corners of the ninja's eyes as she spoke. "We have always watched over you and would be more than happy to have our child returned to us." Nodoka's mother swept her child up into a tight embrace and began to comfort her daughter.
After several minutes of hugging and crying, Nodoka leaned back and smiled at her mother. "I would be more than happy to rejoin my family, but I think that I could be of more use here. These poor girls have been left here alone and I cannot leave them as well." Nodoka turned slightly to look at Kasumi and Nabiki. "Would you be willing to allow me to stay here and help you?"
The two Tendo sisters glanced at each other, then lept into Nodoka's embrace. "Yes, oh yes, we would be honored to have you here!" While they were busy, the ninja turned and faced Ranma. "Greetings, grandson. It has been a long time since we have seen you." Ranma let herself be pulled into a hug, then slowly sat back. "Can you help them, Grandmother? They are going to need all the support they can get, and I have no way to provide everything they will need."
The sudden silence caused Ranma to look up. Nodoka, Kasumi and Nabiki were staring at Ranma, their eyes wide. Nodoka was the first to speak, her voice firm and proud. "My son, you have given me all I need just now. Even with everything that has happened to you, your first concern was for others." Nodoka put an arm around each of the Tendo sisters. "I think we can manage, but what about you?"
Ranma placed her hand behind her head and shrugged. "I've been dealing with heartache and pain all my life mom, I can deal with this as well." Ranma sighed loudly and stood up. "Now, I think I am going to go get that tea." Ranma went to the kitchen while the others stared at each other, then at the door Ranma had gone through, shaking their heads in wonder.