Ranma belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Contact belongs to Carl Sagan. The
Adventures of Pip and Flinx belong to Alan Dean Foster. The
Deathstalker series belongs to Simon R. Green. Mahou Senshi Riui (Louie
the Rune Soldier) licensed by ADV.
Back on Earth: Chapter Two
By Thermopyle (thermopyle@tds.net)
http://thermopye.anifics.com
#####
As they stepped off the boat and onto the land that was Ranma's
birthplace, he couldn't help feeling like an alien. There were people
everywhere; people he assumed were old friends chattering to each other
loudly enough to draw attention, although nobody else seemed to find
them distracting, people hovering about, inspecting different items for
sale along the shop fronts, people trying to sell their various wares by
verbally attacking random passerby, telling them all about how much they
needed to buy whatever it was the merchant had picked out for them and
what a great deal it was at this particular point in time.
There were people everywhere, and they all looked the same.
In the past few years Ranma had traveled about with Aira and the others
almost constantly, visiting different worlds both during the revolution
and afterwards, as they attempted to keep the peace throughout the
upheaval that followed. That other universe was much more
scientifically advanced and travel was a very common thing for most of
the social classes present, with the very bottom dregs of society being
the only real exception. Even after the revolution many of the working
people who had either been forced or managed to trick themselves into
signing long-term labor contracts were unable to travel outside of their
immediate area, as they simply couldn't afford to go anywhere, finding
themselves locked for eternity into an entirely legal type of slavery.
That was just one of the things that caused Random to be bitter about
his role in Lionstone's downfall; decades of running from the law,
seeing friends and hundreds of thousands of sympathizers and fellow
fighters fall as he, the leader, fled, determined to keep the resistance
alive. And it had amounted to nothing. Even after Lionstone had been
killed and a new system of government set up, the people he had been
fighting for hadn't noticed a difference, because for them, nothing
changed.
Random had good reason to be bitter, to feel betrayed by his ideals.
Despite all that, even with the large numbers of people who were pretty
much stuck on whatever planet they'd been born, there was a large amount
of variety in the types of people that could be found. The original
settlers on each world were usually mixed in appearance, different
colors and facial features seemingly scattered about at random, with no
real notice or recognition of it being made by anybody, and the amount
of travel and intermingling throughout the thousands of worlds present
in the empire kept this from changing. The intermingling of what Ranma
thought of as different races was present throughout all levels of
society, the rich showing this tendency just as much as the poor, and it
was something he'd gotten used to.
Here, in Japan, almost everybody was Japanese. It threw him off, and
even though he knew it wasn't the case, he kept finding himself thinking
that everybody looked the same, which was something that he had thought
ridiculous when he'd heard a foreigner voice the same observation a
number of years before. That he would have the same feeling now, even
when he was born in this country, was somewhat unsettling and caused him
to feel as if he was an outsider. Did he still belong here?
"Is it good to be home?" Aira asked from beside him. She didn't seem to
have any trouble adjusting and simply stood beside him, her arm linked
through his, leaning slightly. She glanced about with mild curiosity
but wasn't affected much by what she saw.
"It's going to take a while to get used to," he said.
She nodded, not seeming surprised, which he was sure was the case. She
could tell how he felt. Asking was just a formality.
Ranma adjusted his pack slightly, then sighed. "Okay, let's go."
"Do you remember how to get to your mother's?"
"No, but you said she lives in Juuban, right? We'll just take a train
there, then try to find a map or something." He glanced over at her,
then added, "Or you could do a little mind-skimming and find out where
it is that way. It doesn't matter."
She frowned, and he felt her reach out briefly. "The train is this
way," she said, and they began to walk. "So what did you think of
Shampoo? She seemed nice enough, even if she was in a bad mood for some
reason." She smirked at that, and he couldn't help smiling in return.
"Mom?" he said sarcastically. "I dunno. She's kinda scary, with the
whole domination thing that she was taking to the hilt with Oyaji, but
she should be able to keep him out of trouble. It was nice of her to
give us money for the boat fare, though, since there wasn't enough in my
pack."
"It did get us out of her hair, as well. She probably doesn't
appreciate getting stuck with a bunch of foreigners as relatives without
any warning and with complete disregard for whether she wants us or
not."
Ranma smirked. Weird laws like the one that made Shampoo end up married
to his father gained no sympathy from him. Nor did the actions that had
lead to said law being invoked. "She can take it out on my father, I
don't care. As he would say, 'The life of a martial artist is fraught
with peril'. It will be good training for him." He winced. "I hope he
doesn't start showing improved endurance, though, I'm not sure if I
could take that."
Aira laughed. "For some reason I doubt Shampoo likes the idea, either.
I wonder if any of the engagements Genma made would apply to her
children, assuming they have any."
"Dunno. I'm more worried about my mom's reaction."
"I got the impression from your father that she's got weird ideas about
that kind of thing, but we'll see. There's the station, by the way."
He dug some money out of his pocket and bought two tickets, then they
sat down and waited for the train to arrive. It wasn't long in coming,
and they were soon again on their way to Juuban.
When they got there Aira took the lead, casting about through the minds
of people nearby as she searched for his house. He followed silently,
looking about as he tried to see if anything seemed familiar. One
building did.
"Weren't we just over here?"
"Some idiot sent me in the wrong direction," she said, and he could feel
her annoyance.
"...oh. Okay."
About a half hour later he began to get a sense of déjà vu, but other
than that nothing really stuck out as being something he'd seen before,
even though they were on the right street. Soon enough Aira came to a
stop.
"That's it?" He looked at the house they were in front of and frowned.
"It doesn't look familiar."
"Well, it's the right address. There's two people inside, so let's go
see," she said.
Ranma glanced over at her in surprise, while wondering whom the second
person could be. "You didn't check?"
"Well...do you want me to? I can."
"No, that's okay." Ranma hesitated, then grabbed Aira's hand and they
walked up to the front entrance. He knocked, then waited a moment, and
knocked again. "She sure is slow."
Aira squeezed his hand briefly, then said, "I don't think you waited
long enough. She's on the way now."
"Right."
A minute later, the door opened, and a middle aged woman appeared. She
was a bit shorter than he was, fairly thin, and had black hair done up
in a bun. "Yes?" she asked, looking at the two of them.
Ranma opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out.
Soon the woman began to look annoyed. "Yes, what is it? If you don't
mind, I'm in the middle of something and-"
"Mrs. Saotome?" Aira said respectfully.
She frowned. "No, she lives three houses that way," she told them,
pointing further down the street. "Who are you people?"
He found his voice again, although his face felt very hot suddenly.
"Er, I'm her son, sorry. I haven't been home for a while and I kinda
remembered the wrong address," he lied. I'm gonna kill him. That panda
is so dead.
"Oh, you're RANMA!" said the woman, much more pleasantly now. "I'm not
surprised that you got the wrong house, with as long as you've been
gone. Where's Genma? Did he go and die of the pox somewhere? And who
is this?" she asked, taking a closer look at Aira now, who looked a bit
nervous under the scrutiny, and at the rings they both wore. "Oh, are
you married already, and to this pretty thing? Don't worry, you'll be
fine."
She paused for a moment, apparently out of breath, then started again.
"Well, I don't want to hold you up, so you go home now. Like I said,
it's three houses up the street on this side, you can't miss it, the
name is on the mailbox. Tell your mom I said hi, and to let me know if
she'll miss the bridge game tomorrow." With that, and a big, happy
smile, she shut the door in their faces.
Ranma stared at the door for a bit longer, wondering if he should knock
again and ask the woman's name, but decided not to. "Okay," he said,
"three houses that way. Alright."
He turned and dragged Aira away and towards what should be his home,
doing a good job, he thought, of ignoring his wife's amusement, which he
didn't think was fair. How would she like it if her father forgot where
HE lived? Not much, he was sure.
Sure enough, three houses later was a mailbox saying 'Saotome'. The
house looked familiar, too, and he could see that there were lights on
inside, so they went straight up to the door and rang the bell.
Another thin woman opened the door, but this one was a bit younger,
being in her mid-thirties with brown hair, again done up in a bun. She
was holding some kind of long yet narrow object to her chest, which
struck him as odd, but he couldn't tell what it was. Her eyes widened
when she saw Ranma and she opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to
it.
"Mom?"
"Ranma!" she replied, and he suddenly found himself wrapped in a
surprisingly strong hug from the woman, which he returned. After a
moment she stepped back, a big smile on her face now. "It's...good to
see that you're finally home," she said.
"Um, yeah. It's nice to be here." He wasn't really sure what else to
say, so he stopped there and just looked at his mother a bit nervously,
trying to replace the fuzzy mental images of his memories with the woman
standing in front of him. As he was still trying to come to grips with
the difference in perceptions, she looked him up and down, apparently
doing the same with him. He wondered what she was thinking, and felt
Aira's tentative question in response, to which he gave a negative. Her
mental touch reminded him that he'd forgotten about something, though.
"Mother," he said, and she looked at him curiously, "I'd like you to
meet Aira. She's my wife," he added, stepping backwards to stand beside
Aira and reaching out to take one of her hands.
Aira bowed slightly. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Saotome."
Ranma frowned as he saw his mother's eyes water and tears begin to run
down her face. "Um, Mom? What's wrong?"
Instead, she focused on Aira, an intent look on her face as she studied
his wife. "Is...is he manly?" she asked, a hopeful note to her voice.
Seeing a hint of a smile on Aira's face, he squeezed her hand slightly.
*No joking around,* he thought to her. *She's serious.*
*Spoilsport,* she replied, then said aloud, with an absolutely straight
face, "Ranma is the manliest man I know."
At that, Nodoka closed her eyes and sighed happily, her lips twisting
into a smile. When she opened them again, a few tears ran down her
cheeks and, for the first time, she relaxed her grip on whatever it was
she'd been holding to her chest. Ranma tensed when she began to unravel
the bindings around it and he saw that it was a sheathed katana, but
Nodoka took no notice of his stiffened posture and instead turned
towards Aira, extending the sword towards the redheaded woman with two
upraised hands.
"Then this is yours," his mother said.
He felt Aira's confusion, so he pushed a bit of confidence to her
through their link, then released her hand. Her reluctance to accept
the blade without knowing what it symbolized was apparent, but she still
reached out and took it from the other woman, whose face was now calm
and composed. Once Nodoka had released the sword, however, her smile
returned in full.
"There," she said. "Now that that unpleasant business is out of the
way, come inside! I want to hear about what I've missed while you were
gone."
Still unsure of what had just happened, Ranma nodded obediently, and he
and his wife entered the home he'd left so many years ago.
A few minutes later they were seated in the living room, tea and
crackers set out before them as snacks for while they talked. Ranma
quickly gulped down a cup of tea, causing the two women to frown at him
disapprovingly, but he ignored it. He was a man, and that meant he was
supposed to be a little rude on occasion. Besides, it tasted really
good.
"This is good tea, Mrs. Saotome," Aira said politely.
*Behave, or be disciplined,* she thought to him, pushing along a brief
image of him bound in leather and gagged with some kind of weird muzzle,
her standing in front of him with red hair unbound and strewn about her
naked shoulders, a black mask covering her face. A tube of black
leather extended from just above her nipples to just barely low enough
on her legs to conceal anything between, and high-heeled boots extended
up to the middle of her thighs. Some kind of black stick with thick
streamers coming off of the end of it was held in her hand, which
flicked towards a certain area of his hobbled, unprotected body...
Ranma started coughing, having somehow managed to inhale almost the
entire third cup of tea. Tears formed in his eyes as he felt his chest
spasm, and spittle covered the fist he held balled up in front of his
mouth as he tried not to get it all over the tea. After a minute when
he began to wonder if this would ever end, Aira gave him a few good
whacks on the back, causing his breathing to steady back out almost
immediately.
"Ranma, are you okay now?" his mother asked.
He inhaled deeply, a few lingering drops of liquid having to be coughed
out as he did so, then said, "Yeah, Mom, I'm fine. Some of it just went
down the wrong tube, I guess." He turned to Aira. "Thanks for the
help. I thought I was gonna die there," he added with complete
insincerity, glaring at her as she smiled sweetly back at him, and his
mother nodded approvingly at his seeming politeness.
*That wasn't funny, Aira.*
*Mistress,* she corrected, sending another image.
This time he was ready, though, and was able to ignore it for the most
part, although there were some rather uncomfortable aftereffects. If he
ever saw Ruby again, he was going to have some strong words with her
about some of the ideas she'd been giving his wife. Aira had been
spending far too much time with the bounty hunter lately, that was for
sure.
*You're gonna get it later,* he thought to her, wiping his mouth and
hand with a napkin before pouring himself another cup, which he just
took a sip from.
*I'll be waiting.*
"So," Nodoka said, putting down her cup of tea, "where is your father?
Why hasn't he come home?" Her face betrayed a bit of nervousness as she
asked, and Ranma frowned at the thought of being separated from Aira for
ten years. It wasn't pleasant. Finding out that she'd gone and gotten
married to another man certainly wouldn't make him happy, either.
"He's still in China," he answered. "He had a bit of a local problem,
so we came ahead. I'm sure Oyaji'll be here before too long."
His mother looked relieved at the news, although she seemed to be trying
to hide it. Her eyes were just a bit shinier than they had been before,
and her lips, which had been trembling slightly, were steady now. Ten
years was a long time to wonder.
He looked over at Aira. *I really wish you hadn't just let it happen.
You could have told me ahead of time.*
She stared back at him, and he could feel her disagreement. *There
wasn't any choice. One of you had to fight her and I wasn't going to
give you up. Or allow you to give yourself up.*
*Still, you--*
"So, when can I expect grandchildren?" Nodoka interrupted unknowingly,
apparently recovered.
They both looked over at her, then back at each other, and blushed
slightly. Sure, they'd been teased by the others before, at the wedding
and both previous to and after the event, but coming from his mom made
it embarrassing somehow. Even though they'd become quite comfortable
with each other over the past few years.
"Umm... It could happen at any time, Mrs. Saotome," Aira managed to
stammer out.
Nodoka mouthed the words "any time" in an echo of the redhead's
statement. Suddenly a great big smile was plastered across her face and
she stood and walked around the table, surprising Ranma. She bent down
and gave him a hug, and he had to move his arms to each side quickly to
keep her from trapping the cup and plate he held between them.
"Ranma! You're so manly!" she cried.
Aira laughed, her cheeks still competing with the color of her hair.
Ranma couldn't say anything, he just endured it as his mother tried
enthusiastically to rock him back and forth. He felt the hot tea splash
slightly onto his fingers and winced.
"It's good to be manly, Mom," he managed to get out. Aira laughed even
harder.
After a minute the two women calmed down and his mother returned to his
seat. The color in Aira's face had fled and she just had a slight smile
on her face now. Ranma still felt a bit warm from the neck up, so he
knew he was still blushing.
*I like her,* Aira's voice whispered into his mind. Along with it came
a feeling of joy, and an image of many children running and screaming
and banging on things all throughout the house as Nodoka basked in the
simple pleasure of a full house rather than one pressing down upon her
with the silence of empty years. He also felt Aira's quiet approval of
the vision.
*Isn't that a bit much?* he asked.
*Is it?* was her reply. A barely perceptible sense of reproach was
present over their link.
*Err...*
Ranma emptied his teacup quickly, and leaned forward to refill it again.
His mother held the teapot up and then poured it for him when he was
ready. When the cup was full she set it back down and he took a few
more sips of the now-cooling substance. He hadn't realized they'd been
there for that long already.
"Mrs. Saotome--" Aira began.
"Mother. The woman who is going to bear my baby's children should call
me Mother," Nodoka said firmly.
Ranma saw that Aira didn't blush this time, but felt his own cheeks heat
up again.
"Mother," she said, and linked her arm through Ranma's, leaning up
against him slightly. Nodoka sighed happily. Aira continued. "Is it
okay if I ask you a question?"
"Why did I let Genma take Ranma away?" Nodoka guessed.
"Yes."
Nodoka smiled, and turned her head towards Ranma. "Tell me what you
see, when you look at my son," she told Aira.
Ranma frowned slightly and looked at his wife, who was still pressed up
against his side. She smirked at him, her shorter height forcing her to
raise her head towards his. "I see Ranma," she said.
*That's awfully vague,* he sent to her.
"And what is it that you see in Ranma?" Nodoka pressed.
"A man."
"A manly man?"
Aira nodded, her gaze still locked on his. "A manly man."
"Well," said Nodoka, "that's why I let Genma take my son away from me
for ten years. Because I wanted him to be a manly man, like Genma."
She hesitated slightly. "Well, not exactly like Genma, but I knew my
husband could do the job. He's very manly too, you know." Nodoka
nodded her head affirmatively.
Aira looked away from him, towards his mother. "Yes. Genma is very
manly."
Nodoka preened slightly.
*Your mother has odd taste,* she thought.
*Be nice,* he sent back. *You've said enough things about your father
to make me think he's weird, too.*
She didn't respond, and he frowned slightly. The top of her head was
right next to his face, now, so he couldn't see her expression at all.
"So what have you been doing all these years?" Nodoka asked him,
leaning forward. "Where have you been? Where did you meet my new
daughter-in-law?"
Ranma turned back towards her. "Oh... well, I met Aira in China, on the
last training trip we went on. Before that Oyaji dragged me all over
Japan. I've probably been to fifteen different schools over the years
as we went from one dojo or training ground to the next. We kept pretty
busy, always on the move."
His mother looked disappointed. "That's it? Isn't there anything else
you can tell me?"
"No, not really. The trip wasn't exciting or anything. Just learned
new techniques, beat up a bunch of people, and tried to keep Oyaji from
getting me into too much trouble."
Her eyes went wide now, with alarm, and when he glanced over at Aira he
could see his wife mirroring his mother's expression. Probably not
good, but Aira said nothing.
"You beat people up?" Nodoka asked, distressed.
Ranma wondered how she could expect anything else from the son of the
man she married. Didn't she know Genma Saotome at all? That Ghandi guy
would have picked a fight with his father.
"Yes," he said, "but they were all bad people." *Don't you say a word*
he warned Aira, who was smiling now.
*Of course not,* was her reply. *They WERE all bad people.*
His mother jumped on it, happy to have something to hear about. "What
kind of bad people did you beat up?" She hesitated, looking over at
Aira. "Did you meet her like that, fighting bad guys? Slavers, or
something? Your father used to beat up pirates and stuff, you know."
Ranma choked, and Aira started laughing again, shaking with mirth. She
sat up and leaned away from him slightly after banging the top of her
head on the underside of his jaw.
"No," his wife answered. "We didn't meet like that. I've heard much of
Genma's adventures, though. He's almost as manly as Ranma is, I must
say."
Nodoka preened again. "Well, yes... I'm sure Ranma is quite manly,
though. Genma is just too hard to surpass by much, in something like
that."
"I agree completely."
*You're overdoing it,* he told her.
*But it's true!*
Ranma glared at her, and she grinned back.
"What is it?" Nodoka asked, confused and looking back and forth between
the two of them.
"Nothing," he said hastily, turning to his mother. "Never mind.
Anyway, no, we didn't meet fighting slavers or anything like that. Me
and Pops were training and I kinda bumped into her. After that we
traveled together for a while and then got married a couple of months
ago."
"One month, two weeks, and six days," Aira corrected, frowning at him.
"Right. That long ago."
Again, his mother looked disappointed. Ranma wondered what they were
supposed to talk about, what mothers and sons were supposed to discuss.
She probably wouldn't believe him if he told her how he really met Aira,
and what he had done since then.
So what was he supposed to say? Something about food? They'd eaten on
the boat and he didn't want her to start cooking up a storm because he
kept hitting the subject with nothing else to discuss.
"So who is that woman who lives three houses down the street?" Ranma
asked. "She said she played bridge with you, and that you should call
her if you're not going to make it tomorrow."
Nodoka brightened. "Takahashi-san? Yes, we play bridge together, as
well as do other things. Just us and some friends, a few old women who
like to get together once in a while. So how did you meet her?" his
mother asked.
"Oh... well, I had a bit of trouble remembering which house was ours,"
Ranma confessed. "She got us straightened right out, though."
"Ah. I see."
Ranma felt a touch of annoyance with himself for bringing it up. That
hadn't helped at all. Aira's comfortable presence pervaded his mind and
he relaxed slightly.
"What's bridge, Mother?" Aira asked.
Ranma smiled at his mother's pleased look, feeling Aira's shared
happiness.
"You don't know what bridge is?" Nodoka asked, outraged. "You must
play!" She looked at him. "Tomorrow I'm going to have to take my
daughter-in-law along and introduce her to my friends. We'll show her
what bridge is about. As long as you don't mind, of course," she added
hastily.
"It's fine with me. We don't have anything we're in a rush to get
done."
Aira nodded. "I'd like to learn, and to meet your friends. Takahashi-
san seemed friendly," *and hyper as a bunny on speed,* "and I'm sure the
others will be nice, too."
Nodoka still looked a bit worried, so he assured her, "Don't worry, I'll
find something to do. Go to the park and get some practice in, maybe."
"Go find a job, Daddy," Aira suggested. Nodoka was a kite on a windy
day.
"Maybe." He didn't want a job. She was right, though. He was going to
have to get one eventually. But who would hire an apparent 16 year old?
The pay would be low, certainly, for a highschool dropout. "College
might be a better idea."
His mother agreed. Enthusiastically. But, "Could you get into one?"
she asked. "You're only sixteen." She looked doubtful suddenly. "When
was the last time you went to school? Shouldn't you still be going?"
Curses. Not aging did have its drawbacks. "It's been a couple of
months. Oyaji pulled me out for the trip to China."
"Then you should still be going. I'll look into arranging it, but it
will probably be hard when the school year has already started," Nodoka
said decisively. Then she smiled. "After tomorrow, of course."
"Of course," Aira echoed. *Ranma the schoolboy? This should be
interesting.*
*Sweet dreams, wife, but you'll have to go, too.*
"What grade were you in, Daughter?" Nodoka asked.
*I hate you.* "Umm... I was in Ranma's grade."
"Well, that's good. I'll make sure to get you into the same classes,"
his mother said generously.
*Hah.*
*They don't teach magic here, do they?*
*No.*
*I hate you.* Bubbles of bright colors burst over their link, showing
the terrible malice Aira held for him.
He sent back a few images of his own and smiled when her face turned
scarlet. *Betcha think it's funny now, don't ya?*
*You better be ready to deliver later on,* was her reply. Aira's
expression indicated that it wasn't going to be something he had a say
in.
Nodoka coughed, and they both turned to her in surprise. "Thinking
naughty thoughts, were you?" They revealed themselves to be red-skinned
aliens in disguise, the masks coming off. She sailed higher.
"I'll call Takahashi-san and let her know you'll be coming tomorrow,"
Ranma's mother said. She stood up and walked to the doorway, but before
she stepped through, she warned them. "I'll be back in a minute."
"We really gotta stop doing that," Ranma said after a minute.
Aira scooted closer and leaned against him once more. This time she
held his arm to her chest and he could feel that she really had meant
what she said. "Why? Is there something wrong with this?" she asked.
Her face was a portrait of little-girl innocence, spoiled princesses
having never existed.
"Well, no..."
"Good."
Nodoka came back into the room, holding a portable phone to one ear.
"Channel 12, you said?" she asked whoever she was speaking to, picking
up the remote in her free hand and turning on the television. A few
button presses later and a soap commercial turned into a live feed of
events in Nerima.
On the screen a ten-foot tall monster was tearing into the crowd,
grabbing everybody it could get its hands on and ripping them apart by
the limbs. Some people were fed into its massive, grinning maw of fangs
piece by torn piece. Others were shoved in whole, their screams lasting
until and sometimes past the first few bites.
A rabid reporter's exultant voice loudly declared how the monster had
suddenly appeared out of nowhere before attacking all those innocent
victims. The reporter and cameraman followed it at a slight but
apparently safe distance as it ran after the fleeing people.
Ranma and Aira ran out the door and house, ignoring Nodoka's yelling
after them, and headed for the nearest train to Nerima.
#####
End Chapter Two.
Adventures of Pip and Flinx belong to Alan Dean Foster. The
Deathstalker series belongs to Simon R. Green. Mahou Senshi Riui (Louie
the Rune Soldier) licensed by ADV.
Back on Earth: Chapter Two
By Thermopyle (thermopyle@tds.net)
http://thermopye.anifics.com
#####
As they stepped off the boat and onto the land that was Ranma's
birthplace, he couldn't help feeling like an alien. There were people
everywhere; people he assumed were old friends chattering to each other
loudly enough to draw attention, although nobody else seemed to find
them distracting, people hovering about, inspecting different items for
sale along the shop fronts, people trying to sell their various wares by
verbally attacking random passerby, telling them all about how much they
needed to buy whatever it was the merchant had picked out for them and
what a great deal it was at this particular point in time.
There were people everywhere, and they all looked the same.
In the past few years Ranma had traveled about with Aira and the others
almost constantly, visiting different worlds both during the revolution
and afterwards, as they attempted to keep the peace throughout the
upheaval that followed. That other universe was much more
scientifically advanced and travel was a very common thing for most of
the social classes present, with the very bottom dregs of society being
the only real exception. Even after the revolution many of the working
people who had either been forced or managed to trick themselves into
signing long-term labor contracts were unable to travel outside of their
immediate area, as they simply couldn't afford to go anywhere, finding
themselves locked for eternity into an entirely legal type of slavery.
That was just one of the things that caused Random to be bitter about
his role in Lionstone's downfall; decades of running from the law,
seeing friends and hundreds of thousands of sympathizers and fellow
fighters fall as he, the leader, fled, determined to keep the resistance
alive. And it had amounted to nothing. Even after Lionstone had been
killed and a new system of government set up, the people he had been
fighting for hadn't noticed a difference, because for them, nothing
changed.
Random had good reason to be bitter, to feel betrayed by his ideals.
Despite all that, even with the large numbers of people who were pretty
much stuck on whatever planet they'd been born, there was a large amount
of variety in the types of people that could be found. The original
settlers on each world were usually mixed in appearance, different
colors and facial features seemingly scattered about at random, with no
real notice or recognition of it being made by anybody, and the amount
of travel and intermingling throughout the thousands of worlds present
in the empire kept this from changing. The intermingling of what Ranma
thought of as different races was present throughout all levels of
society, the rich showing this tendency just as much as the poor, and it
was something he'd gotten used to.
Here, in Japan, almost everybody was Japanese. It threw him off, and
even though he knew it wasn't the case, he kept finding himself thinking
that everybody looked the same, which was something that he had thought
ridiculous when he'd heard a foreigner voice the same observation a
number of years before. That he would have the same feeling now, even
when he was born in this country, was somewhat unsettling and caused him
to feel as if he was an outsider. Did he still belong here?
"Is it good to be home?" Aira asked from beside him. She didn't seem to
have any trouble adjusting and simply stood beside him, her arm linked
through his, leaning slightly. She glanced about with mild curiosity
but wasn't affected much by what she saw.
"It's going to take a while to get used to," he said.
She nodded, not seeming surprised, which he was sure was the case. She
could tell how he felt. Asking was just a formality.
Ranma adjusted his pack slightly, then sighed. "Okay, let's go."
"Do you remember how to get to your mother's?"
"No, but you said she lives in Juuban, right? We'll just take a train
there, then try to find a map or something." He glanced over at her,
then added, "Or you could do a little mind-skimming and find out where
it is that way. It doesn't matter."
She frowned, and he felt her reach out briefly. "The train is this
way," she said, and they began to walk. "So what did you think of
Shampoo? She seemed nice enough, even if she was in a bad mood for some
reason." She smirked at that, and he couldn't help smiling in return.
"Mom?" he said sarcastically. "I dunno. She's kinda scary, with the
whole domination thing that she was taking to the hilt with Oyaji, but
she should be able to keep him out of trouble. It was nice of her to
give us money for the boat fare, though, since there wasn't enough in my
pack."
"It did get us out of her hair, as well. She probably doesn't
appreciate getting stuck with a bunch of foreigners as relatives without
any warning and with complete disregard for whether she wants us or
not."
Ranma smirked. Weird laws like the one that made Shampoo end up married
to his father gained no sympathy from him. Nor did the actions that had
lead to said law being invoked. "She can take it out on my father, I
don't care. As he would say, 'The life of a martial artist is fraught
with peril'. It will be good training for him." He winced. "I hope he
doesn't start showing improved endurance, though, I'm not sure if I
could take that."
Aira laughed. "For some reason I doubt Shampoo likes the idea, either.
I wonder if any of the engagements Genma made would apply to her
children, assuming they have any."
"Dunno. I'm more worried about my mom's reaction."
"I got the impression from your father that she's got weird ideas about
that kind of thing, but we'll see. There's the station, by the way."
He dug some money out of his pocket and bought two tickets, then they
sat down and waited for the train to arrive. It wasn't long in coming,
and they were soon again on their way to Juuban.
When they got there Aira took the lead, casting about through the minds
of people nearby as she searched for his house. He followed silently,
looking about as he tried to see if anything seemed familiar. One
building did.
"Weren't we just over here?"
"Some idiot sent me in the wrong direction," she said, and he could feel
her annoyance.
"...oh. Okay."
About a half hour later he began to get a sense of déjà vu, but other
than that nothing really stuck out as being something he'd seen before,
even though they were on the right street. Soon enough Aira came to a
stop.
"That's it?" He looked at the house they were in front of and frowned.
"It doesn't look familiar."
"Well, it's the right address. There's two people inside, so let's go
see," she said.
Ranma glanced over at her in surprise, while wondering whom the second
person could be. "You didn't check?"
"Well...do you want me to? I can."
"No, that's okay." Ranma hesitated, then grabbed Aira's hand and they
walked up to the front entrance. He knocked, then waited a moment, and
knocked again. "She sure is slow."
Aira squeezed his hand briefly, then said, "I don't think you waited
long enough. She's on the way now."
"Right."
A minute later, the door opened, and a middle aged woman appeared. She
was a bit shorter than he was, fairly thin, and had black hair done up
in a bun. "Yes?" she asked, looking at the two of them.
Ranma opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out.
Soon the woman began to look annoyed. "Yes, what is it? If you don't
mind, I'm in the middle of something and-"
"Mrs. Saotome?" Aira said respectfully.
She frowned. "No, she lives three houses that way," she told them,
pointing further down the street. "Who are you people?"
He found his voice again, although his face felt very hot suddenly.
"Er, I'm her son, sorry. I haven't been home for a while and I kinda
remembered the wrong address," he lied. I'm gonna kill him. That panda
is so dead.
"Oh, you're RANMA!" said the woman, much more pleasantly now. "I'm not
surprised that you got the wrong house, with as long as you've been
gone. Where's Genma? Did he go and die of the pox somewhere? And who
is this?" she asked, taking a closer look at Aira now, who looked a bit
nervous under the scrutiny, and at the rings they both wore. "Oh, are
you married already, and to this pretty thing? Don't worry, you'll be
fine."
She paused for a moment, apparently out of breath, then started again.
"Well, I don't want to hold you up, so you go home now. Like I said,
it's three houses up the street on this side, you can't miss it, the
name is on the mailbox. Tell your mom I said hi, and to let me know if
she'll miss the bridge game tomorrow." With that, and a big, happy
smile, she shut the door in their faces.
Ranma stared at the door for a bit longer, wondering if he should knock
again and ask the woman's name, but decided not to. "Okay," he said,
"three houses that way. Alright."
He turned and dragged Aira away and towards what should be his home,
doing a good job, he thought, of ignoring his wife's amusement, which he
didn't think was fair. How would she like it if her father forgot where
HE lived? Not much, he was sure.
Sure enough, three houses later was a mailbox saying 'Saotome'. The
house looked familiar, too, and he could see that there were lights on
inside, so they went straight up to the door and rang the bell.
Another thin woman opened the door, but this one was a bit younger,
being in her mid-thirties with brown hair, again done up in a bun. She
was holding some kind of long yet narrow object to her chest, which
struck him as odd, but he couldn't tell what it was. Her eyes widened
when she saw Ranma and she opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to
it.
"Mom?"
"Ranma!" she replied, and he suddenly found himself wrapped in a
surprisingly strong hug from the woman, which he returned. After a
moment she stepped back, a big smile on her face now. "It's...good to
see that you're finally home," she said.
"Um, yeah. It's nice to be here." He wasn't really sure what else to
say, so he stopped there and just looked at his mother a bit nervously,
trying to replace the fuzzy mental images of his memories with the woman
standing in front of him. As he was still trying to come to grips with
the difference in perceptions, she looked him up and down, apparently
doing the same with him. He wondered what she was thinking, and felt
Aira's tentative question in response, to which he gave a negative. Her
mental touch reminded him that he'd forgotten about something, though.
"Mother," he said, and she looked at him curiously, "I'd like you to
meet Aira. She's my wife," he added, stepping backwards to stand beside
Aira and reaching out to take one of her hands.
Aira bowed slightly. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Saotome."
Ranma frowned as he saw his mother's eyes water and tears begin to run
down her face. "Um, Mom? What's wrong?"
Instead, she focused on Aira, an intent look on her face as she studied
his wife. "Is...is he manly?" she asked, a hopeful note to her voice.
Seeing a hint of a smile on Aira's face, he squeezed her hand slightly.
*No joking around,* he thought to her. *She's serious.*
*Spoilsport,* she replied, then said aloud, with an absolutely straight
face, "Ranma is the manliest man I know."
At that, Nodoka closed her eyes and sighed happily, her lips twisting
into a smile. When she opened them again, a few tears ran down her
cheeks and, for the first time, she relaxed her grip on whatever it was
she'd been holding to her chest. Ranma tensed when she began to unravel
the bindings around it and he saw that it was a sheathed katana, but
Nodoka took no notice of his stiffened posture and instead turned
towards Aira, extending the sword towards the redheaded woman with two
upraised hands.
"Then this is yours," his mother said.
He felt Aira's confusion, so he pushed a bit of confidence to her
through their link, then released her hand. Her reluctance to accept
the blade without knowing what it symbolized was apparent, but she still
reached out and took it from the other woman, whose face was now calm
and composed. Once Nodoka had released the sword, however, her smile
returned in full.
"There," she said. "Now that that unpleasant business is out of the
way, come inside! I want to hear about what I've missed while you were
gone."
Still unsure of what had just happened, Ranma nodded obediently, and he
and his wife entered the home he'd left so many years ago.
A few minutes later they were seated in the living room, tea and
crackers set out before them as snacks for while they talked. Ranma
quickly gulped down a cup of tea, causing the two women to frown at him
disapprovingly, but he ignored it. He was a man, and that meant he was
supposed to be a little rude on occasion. Besides, it tasted really
good.
"This is good tea, Mrs. Saotome," Aira said politely.
*Behave, or be disciplined,* she thought to him, pushing along a brief
image of him bound in leather and gagged with some kind of weird muzzle,
her standing in front of him with red hair unbound and strewn about her
naked shoulders, a black mask covering her face. A tube of black
leather extended from just above her nipples to just barely low enough
on her legs to conceal anything between, and high-heeled boots extended
up to the middle of her thighs. Some kind of black stick with thick
streamers coming off of the end of it was held in her hand, which
flicked towards a certain area of his hobbled, unprotected body...
Ranma started coughing, having somehow managed to inhale almost the
entire third cup of tea. Tears formed in his eyes as he felt his chest
spasm, and spittle covered the fist he held balled up in front of his
mouth as he tried not to get it all over the tea. After a minute when
he began to wonder if this would ever end, Aira gave him a few good
whacks on the back, causing his breathing to steady back out almost
immediately.
"Ranma, are you okay now?" his mother asked.
He inhaled deeply, a few lingering drops of liquid having to be coughed
out as he did so, then said, "Yeah, Mom, I'm fine. Some of it just went
down the wrong tube, I guess." He turned to Aira. "Thanks for the
help. I thought I was gonna die there," he added with complete
insincerity, glaring at her as she smiled sweetly back at him, and his
mother nodded approvingly at his seeming politeness.
*That wasn't funny, Aira.*
*Mistress,* she corrected, sending another image.
This time he was ready, though, and was able to ignore it for the most
part, although there were some rather uncomfortable aftereffects. If he
ever saw Ruby again, he was going to have some strong words with her
about some of the ideas she'd been giving his wife. Aira had been
spending far too much time with the bounty hunter lately, that was for
sure.
*You're gonna get it later,* he thought to her, wiping his mouth and
hand with a napkin before pouring himself another cup, which he just
took a sip from.
*I'll be waiting.*
"So," Nodoka said, putting down her cup of tea, "where is your father?
Why hasn't he come home?" Her face betrayed a bit of nervousness as she
asked, and Ranma frowned at the thought of being separated from Aira for
ten years. It wasn't pleasant. Finding out that she'd gone and gotten
married to another man certainly wouldn't make him happy, either.
"He's still in China," he answered. "He had a bit of a local problem,
so we came ahead. I'm sure Oyaji'll be here before too long."
His mother looked relieved at the news, although she seemed to be trying
to hide it. Her eyes were just a bit shinier than they had been before,
and her lips, which had been trembling slightly, were steady now. Ten
years was a long time to wonder.
He looked over at Aira. *I really wish you hadn't just let it happen.
You could have told me ahead of time.*
She stared back at him, and he could feel her disagreement. *There
wasn't any choice. One of you had to fight her and I wasn't going to
give you up. Or allow you to give yourself up.*
*Still, you--*
"So, when can I expect grandchildren?" Nodoka interrupted unknowingly,
apparently recovered.
They both looked over at her, then back at each other, and blushed
slightly. Sure, they'd been teased by the others before, at the wedding
and both previous to and after the event, but coming from his mom made
it embarrassing somehow. Even though they'd become quite comfortable
with each other over the past few years.
"Umm... It could happen at any time, Mrs. Saotome," Aira managed to
stammer out.
Nodoka mouthed the words "any time" in an echo of the redhead's
statement. Suddenly a great big smile was plastered across her face and
she stood and walked around the table, surprising Ranma. She bent down
and gave him a hug, and he had to move his arms to each side quickly to
keep her from trapping the cup and plate he held between them.
"Ranma! You're so manly!" she cried.
Aira laughed, her cheeks still competing with the color of her hair.
Ranma couldn't say anything, he just endured it as his mother tried
enthusiastically to rock him back and forth. He felt the hot tea splash
slightly onto his fingers and winced.
"It's good to be manly, Mom," he managed to get out. Aira laughed even
harder.
After a minute the two women calmed down and his mother returned to his
seat. The color in Aira's face had fled and she just had a slight smile
on her face now. Ranma still felt a bit warm from the neck up, so he
knew he was still blushing.
*I like her,* Aira's voice whispered into his mind. Along with it came
a feeling of joy, and an image of many children running and screaming
and banging on things all throughout the house as Nodoka basked in the
simple pleasure of a full house rather than one pressing down upon her
with the silence of empty years. He also felt Aira's quiet approval of
the vision.
*Isn't that a bit much?* he asked.
*Is it?* was her reply. A barely perceptible sense of reproach was
present over their link.
*Err...*
Ranma emptied his teacup quickly, and leaned forward to refill it again.
His mother held the teapot up and then poured it for him when he was
ready. When the cup was full she set it back down and he took a few
more sips of the now-cooling substance. He hadn't realized they'd been
there for that long already.
"Mrs. Saotome--" Aira began.
"Mother. The woman who is going to bear my baby's children should call
me Mother," Nodoka said firmly.
Ranma saw that Aira didn't blush this time, but felt his own cheeks heat
up again.
"Mother," she said, and linked her arm through Ranma's, leaning up
against him slightly. Nodoka sighed happily. Aira continued. "Is it
okay if I ask you a question?"
"Why did I let Genma take Ranma away?" Nodoka guessed.
"Yes."
Nodoka smiled, and turned her head towards Ranma. "Tell me what you
see, when you look at my son," she told Aira.
Ranma frowned slightly and looked at his wife, who was still pressed up
against his side. She smirked at him, her shorter height forcing her to
raise her head towards his. "I see Ranma," she said.
*That's awfully vague,* he sent to her.
"And what is it that you see in Ranma?" Nodoka pressed.
"A man."
"A manly man?"
Aira nodded, her gaze still locked on his. "A manly man."
"Well," said Nodoka, "that's why I let Genma take my son away from me
for ten years. Because I wanted him to be a manly man, like Genma."
She hesitated slightly. "Well, not exactly like Genma, but I knew my
husband could do the job. He's very manly too, you know." Nodoka
nodded her head affirmatively.
Aira looked away from him, towards his mother. "Yes. Genma is very
manly."
Nodoka preened slightly.
*Your mother has odd taste,* she thought.
*Be nice,* he sent back. *You've said enough things about your father
to make me think he's weird, too.*
She didn't respond, and he frowned slightly. The top of her head was
right next to his face, now, so he couldn't see her expression at all.
"So what have you been doing all these years?" Nodoka asked him,
leaning forward. "Where have you been? Where did you meet my new
daughter-in-law?"
Ranma turned back towards her. "Oh... well, I met Aira in China, on the
last training trip we went on. Before that Oyaji dragged me all over
Japan. I've probably been to fifteen different schools over the years
as we went from one dojo or training ground to the next. We kept pretty
busy, always on the move."
His mother looked disappointed. "That's it? Isn't there anything else
you can tell me?"
"No, not really. The trip wasn't exciting or anything. Just learned
new techniques, beat up a bunch of people, and tried to keep Oyaji from
getting me into too much trouble."
Her eyes went wide now, with alarm, and when he glanced over at Aira he
could see his wife mirroring his mother's expression. Probably not
good, but Aira said nothing.
"You beat people up?" Nodoka asked, distressed.
Ranma wondered how she could expect anything else from the son of the
man she married. Didn't she know Genma Saotome at all? That Ghandi guy
would have picked a fight with his father.
"Yes," he said, "but they were all bad people." *Don't you say a word*
he warned Aira, who was smiling now.
*Of course not,* was her reply. *They WERE all bad people.*
His mother jumped on it, happy to have something to hear about. "What
kind of bad people did you beat up?" She hesitated, looking over at
Aira. "Did you meet her like that, fighting bad guys? Slavers, or
something? Your father used to beat up pirates and stuff, you know."
Ranma choked, and Aira started laughing again, shaking with mirth. She
sat up and leaned away from him slightly after banging the top of her
head on the underside of his jaw.
"No," his wife answered. "We didn't meet like that. I've heard much of
Genma's adventures, though. He's almost as manly as Ranma is, I must
say."
Nodoka preened again. "Well, yes... I'm sure Ranma is quite manly,
though. Genma is just too hard to surpass by much, in something like
that."
"I agree completely."
*You're overdoing it,* he told her.
*But it's true!*
Ranma glared at her, and she grinned back.
"What is it?" Nodoka asked, confused and looking back and forth between
the two of them.
"Nothing," he said hastily, turning to his mother. "Never mind.
Anyway, no, we didn't meet fighting slavers or anything like that. Me
and Pops were training and I kinda bumped into her. After that we
traveled together for a while and then got married a couple of months
ago."
"One month, two weeks, and six days," Aira corrected, frowning at him.
"Right. That long ago."
Again, his mother looked disappointed. Ranma wondered what they were
supposed to talk about, what mothers and sons were supposed to discuss.
She probably wouldn't believe him if he told her how he really met Aira,
and what he had done since then.
So what was he supposed to say? Something about food? They'd eaten on
the boat and he didn't want her to start cooking up a storm because he
kept hitting the subject with nothing else to discuss.
"So who is that woman who lives three houses down the street?" Ranma
asked. "She said she played bridge with you, and that you should call
her if you're not going to make it tomorrow."
Nodoka brightened. "Takahashi-san? Yes, we play bridge together, as
well as do other things. Just us and some friends, a few old women who
like to get together once in a while. So how did you meet her?" his
mother asked.
"Oh... well, I had a bit of trouble remembering which house was ours,"
Ranma confessed. "She got us straightened right out, though."
"Ah. I see."
Ranma felt a touch of annoyance with himself for bringing it up. That
hadn't helped at all. Aira's comfortable presence pervaded his mind and
he relaxed slightly.
"What's bridge, Mother?" Aira asked.
Ranma smiled at his mother's pleased look, feeling Aira's shared
happiness.
"You don't know what bridge is?" Nodoka asked, outraged. "You must
play!" She looked at him. "Tomorrow I'm going to have to take my
daughter-in-law along and introduce her to my friends. We'll show her
what bridge is about. As long as you don't mind, of course," she added
hastily.
"It's fine with me. We don't have anything we're in a rush to get
done."
Aira nodded. "I'd like to learn, and to meet your friends. Takahashi-
san seemed friendly," *and hyper as a bunny on speed,* "and I'm sure the
others will be nice, too."
Nodoka still looked a bit worried, so he assured her, "Don't worry, I'll
find something to do. Go to the park and get some practice in, maybe."
"Go find a job, Daddy," Aira suggested. Nodoka was a kite on a windy
day.
"Maybe." He didn't want a job. She was right, though. He was going to
have to get one eventually. But who would hire an apparent 16 year old?
The pay would be low, certainly, for a highschool dropout. "College
might be a better idea."
His mother agreed. Enthusiastically. But, "Could you get into one?"
she asked. "You're only sixteen." She looked doubtful suddenly. "When
was the last time you went to school? Shouldn't you still be going?"
Curses. Not aging did have its drawbacks. "It's been a couple of
months. Oyaji pulled me out for the trip to China."
"Then you should still be going. I'll look into arranging it, but it
will probably be hard when the school year has already started," Nodoka
said decisively. Then she smiled. "After tomorrow, of course."
"Of course," Aira echoed. *Ranma the schoolboy? This should be
interesting.*
*Sweet dreams, wife, but you'll have to go, too.*
"What grade were you in, Daughter?" Nodoka asked.
*I hate you.* "Umm... I was in Ranma's grade."
"Well, that's good. I'll make sure to get you into the same classes,"
his mother said generously.
*Hah.*
*They don't teach magic here, do they?*
*No.*
*I hate you.* Bubbles of bright colors burst over their link, showing
the terrible malice Aira held for him.
He sent back a few images of his own and smiled when her face turned
scarlet. *Betcha think it's funny now, don't ya?*
*You better be ready to deliver later on,* was her reply. Aira's
expression indicated that it wasn't going to be something he had a say
in.
Nodoka coughed, and they both turned to her in surprise. "Thinking
naughty thoughts, were you?" They revealed themselves to be red-skinned
aliens in disguise, the masks coming off. She sailed higher.
"I'll call Takahashi-san and let her know you'll be coming tomorrow,"
Ranma's mother said. She stood up and walked to the doorway, but before
she stepped through, she warned them. "I'll be back in a minute."
"We really gotta stop doing that," Ranma said after a minute.
Aira scooted closer and leaned against him once more. This time she
held his arm to her chest and he could feel that she really had meant
what she said. "Why? Is there something wrong with this?" she asked.
Her face was a portrait of little-girl innocence, spoiled princesses
having never existed.
"Well, no..."
"Good."
Nodoka came back into the room, holding a portable phone to one ear.
"Channel 12, you said?" she asked whoever she was speaking to, picking
up the remote in her free hand and turning on the television. A few
button presses later and a soap commercial turned into a live feed of
events in Nerima.
On the screen a ten-foot tall monster was tearing into the crowd,
grabbing everybody it could get its hands on and ripping them apart by
the limbs. Some people were fed into its massive, grinning maw of fangs
piece by torn piece. Others were shoved in whole, their screams lasting
until and sometimes past the first few bites.
A rabid reporter's exultant voice loudly declared how the monster had
suddenly appeared out of nowhere before attacking all those innocent
victims. The reporter and cameraman followed it at a slight but
apparently safe distance as it ran after the fleeing people.
Ranma and Aira ran out the door and house, ignoring Nodoka's yelling
after them, and headed for the nearest train to Nerima.
#####
End Chapter Two.