Two Halves Make a Whole
Part 3

"Oh, daddy, how I've thought about the moment when I finally met you... what I would say, what I would do when this day finally arrived...," the little girl's eyes begin to glisten as she stares at Mr. Saotome.
Genma and everyone else are speechless.
"Daddy, I'm your....," Suiren starts.
"...my son?" Genma finishes her sentence, jumping to conclusions, "Are you saying that you are my son? Oh to have another son and one not cursed! A child that is one-hundred percent male!!" Melodramatic tears of joy stream down his face.
"I am NOT your son!! I'm your daughter!" she yells in frustration, "My name is Suiren Saotome."
"Here," Kasumi says pouring hot water over Suiren's head, "Why don't we all discuss this over some dinner. Suiren, you can tell them the story that you told me."
***
Everyone is now gathered in the dining area and Kasumi is serving the food.
Suiren takes a few sips of her tea and begins. "Well, I guess it all started before I was born. Mommy explained to me that Daddy had taken my older brother, Ranma, on a training expedition when he was six, but what Daddy didn't know is that Mommy was pregnant with me when he left. My whole life Mommy told me stories of my father, the great martial artist, and my older brother and how they went on a journey all the way to China to train. She kept so many photo albums full of pictures from before I was born.... That's how I knew you the moment I saw you. Daddy's still just as bald as he was in the pictures and Brother Ranma just looks.... well... taller," Suiren becomes more serious, "Two years ago, when I was eight, I set out on a journey.... to find the father and brother that I never knew."
"What made you decide to leave your mother like that?" Akane asks.
"I left because two years ago...," Suiren sighs, "Two years ago... Mommy... died......"
The entire house falls silent.
"I-I'm not even sure why.... The doctors wouldn't tell me," Suiren says holding back tears. "All I know is that she got really sick all of a sudden.... and then... she was gone.....
"You see....," she begins again after a short pause, "I had to find you. I was orphaned and all alone... with no other family..... no aunts or uncles or grandparents... nothing.... nobody..... I had no other choice, but to find out where my brother and father were. I stayed near home for a while... Because of the letters you sent, all one way, no return address, I at least knew you were still alive... I waited for your next letter before I set out... It wasn't even a letter. A postcard from China... I knew it was a long shot, but I had to at least try. I went to as many of the best training spots in China I could find....
"That's what led me to the cursed springs at Jusenkyo. I had been hiking through the mountains near there for several days, just walking along, minding my own business, when out of nowhere some guy comes falling down on me! Before I could get out of the way he latched onto my backpack and took me down with him to the springs below. The next thing I knew, I was wet.... and I was a boy...
"That's when I remembered Mommy telling me about an old friend of Daddy's that lived in Nerima so I headed back to Japan. I figured that since I had no where else to go I might as well go there... I thought they might help me find you, but since I couldn't remember their family name and I really didn't know where Nerima was anyway, I was completely lost.... that's when Miss Kasumi found me today. She was the one who told me that you had fallen under the Jusenkyo curse, too, and that Ranma turns into a girl and Daddy turns into a panda."
"Well, look at it this way, Saotome," Soun pats Genma on the back, "you have a girl that's half boy and a boy that's half girl. Two halves do make a whole! That means you have a full daughter and a full son!"
"Yeah, sure Daddy...," Nabiki scoffs.
"Why didn't Nodoka tell me that she was pregnant?" Genma asks Suiren straight out.
"Would it have made any difference?" she answers with a question, "Would you have stayed if you knew that you were going to have a girl?"
Genma is not sure what to say to this.
"Even if you had known about me you wouldn't have cared. You still would've left," Suiren yells through the tears now streaming down her face, "Daddy, why didn't you ever come back? Why didn't you love mommy enough to come back to her before she died?" Suiren is desperate for an answer.
"You're only a little girl so you wouldn't understand. I took your brother to train with me because I didn't want a motherly influence on him. I made a promise to make Ranma a man among men and look at him now," Genma says pouring water over Ranma's head.
"You didn't have to do that, ya know!" Ranma snaps, "She didn't need a demonstration!"
"Until I could find a cure for this curse, I could not return to my wife, Nodoka," Genma says, "You're simply too young to understand."
"She just wanted to see you again! She missed you both so much. You deserted your family, Daddy.... This....this is all YOUR fault!! It's your fault that I've had to live my life without a father and it's your fault that I fell under such a terrible curse! Part of me wants so much to love you, Daddy..., but the other part.....," Suiren breaks off, her eyes downcast. She clinches her fists, her voice trembling as she talks. "I was so happy to get to see you... I thought that you would be happy and say that you would take care of your little girl from now on... I've run so many scenarios of this day through my head... but the first thing you do is get excited that you have a son...
"How could you...? How could you do this to me...? How could you do this to Mommy...? How could you just leave us like that...? If you had just come back... if you had just been there for her..... she wouldn't have gotten so sick and died... Daddy... If you had just come back...," Suiren takes off upstairs, sobbing loudly. She runs into a room without even thinking about whose room she's entering, and slams the door behind her.
Akane runs upstairs after her to try and possibly talk to her with Kasumi close behind.
"Gee, I guess that blows your nomination for 'Father of the Year'," Nabiki sneers as she rises from her seat and follows her sisters out of the room.
***
"Suiren?" Akane calls through the door, knocking.
"Come on in. After all, it is your room, isn't it?" Suiren replies.
The girls enter the room where Suiren is sitting on the floor. "Sorry I kinda barged into your room," she apologizes without looking up, "Is this your room, Akane?"
"Yeah, but don't worry about it," Akane says.
"Listen, Suiren... Well,... we know what you're going through.... I was about your age when our mother passed away. We all know how you feel and if you ever want to talk to any of us, then you can feel free to come to us anytime.... just consider us your sisters....," Kasumi wraps her arms around Suiren's shoulder, "After all, we are practically family anyway... Your brother Ranma is engaged to my sister Akane."
"Really, Kasumi? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Suiren looks up, some joy has returned to the little girl's face, "Are you really going to be my sisters?"
"Well, if your brother and my sister would fess up and kiss already...," Nabiki scoffs.
"Nabiki!" Akane snaps, her face a little red, "What business is it of yours?"
"Oh, come on, Akane," Nabiki rolls her eyes, "you know you like each other. It's just both of you are too stubborn to admit it."
Akane turns bright red.
"Akane, it's so obvious!" Nabiki scoffs.
Akane becomes even redder.
"Oh, silly Akane," Kasumi giggles.
"...but I thought people who were engaged kiss all the time......," Suiren says confused.
"Not these two....," Nabiki says.
"You see, Suiren, we're not exactly engaged because we want to be. It was something set up by our parents," Akane explains.
"So Daddy and Mr. Tendo decided who you would marry? They didn't even give you a choice?" Suiren asks.
"Yeah...," Akane says, "but this isn't the time to worry about my love life," Akane changes the subject. "Suiren will need some clothes."
"That's right," Kasumi agrees. "Why didn't I think of it sooner? I bet that she'd fit perfectly in some of your old clothes, Akane."
"I think I've got some in here somewhere," Akane says as she begins to rummage through an old box of clothes in her closet, "Here we are!" Akane exclaims when she has found what she wants and lays it down on the bed. "Do you like this, Suiren?"
"Yeah! It's really nice of you! Thank you, Akane!" Suiren smiles.
"This will have to do for now, but maybe we could go shopping for some new clothes tomorrow. Would you like that, Suiren?" Kasumi says.
"You would do that..... for me?" Suiren asks.
"Of course!" Kasumi smiles, "You're part of our family now."
"This is fun! It's like having a little sister!" Akane says.
"Whether or not she's really our little sister is up to you, Akane," Nabiki grins.
"Would you shut up about that already?!" Akane yells, throwing a pillow at Nabiki.
"Well, Suiren, do you think you might want to join us at the dinner table?" Kasumi asks.
"I guess so," Suiren shrugs, "I'm sorry I got so upset."
"Truthfully, you have every right to be," Kasumi says. "We'll let you change in here and as soon as you're done then you can come downstairs and join us." Kasumi leads her sisters out of the room.
Suiren stands there for a minute after they have left, staring at the outfit that has been laid on the bed before her. She thinks about how nice it would be if they were really her sisters and she had a full and big family. "Hmmmm...," Suiren mutters to herself, "if they did get married,... I'd have a family: a daddy, a brother, three sisters... If only mommy were here to see this...," she sighs, "I'll do it then. I'll do it for Mommy.... I'll make them fall in love. I'll make sure nothing comes between my brother and his fiancée.... nothing....."