A Changed Story
Section 2, Boy Running
Author's Notes: Darn my crappy computer! :) Sorry, guys, that it took so long. My comp broke down and so I have to use my brother's (which is not good). Let's just hope my computer gets better soon. And yes, folks, no matter how changed his life may be, Genma Saotome will never change.
Disclaimers: Not me. Not me. Not me. Ranma 1/2 and all it's products belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Okay, the 'Isle of View' thing was taken from the magnificent Xanth novel Heaven Sent by Piers Anthony.
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{Ranma's Story}
The little boy looked up at his father expectantly, his large blue-gray eyes nervous and excited.
Genma gave a nervous laugh as he continued to wrap the fish sausage around his son.
"Pop, this is gonna make me real strong, right? It's gonna make me the best martial artist, right?" the 5-year old asked.
"Of course son," Genma said as he pulled the cover off of the hole in the ground. The sounds of spitting cats could be heard. "But remember what you promised?"
"That I wouldn't tell mom or Ranko, or Roki or Nami about this. I know, pop. They're just girls, they don't understand," Ranma said, grinning from ear to ear, not minding the tightly wrapped fish sausage around him. Genma picked his son up and held him over the hole. The boy looked down and his eyes held a hint of fear, though he tried to hide it.
"Um...pop, what are you going to do?" he asked.
"Be brave, boy," the man said before dropping his son into the pit of cats.
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Nodoka pushed the double stroller into the house. Right away she knew something was wrong. It was way too quiet and peaceful. Where was her husband and son? Something was definitely wrong. 7-year old Nami Saotome skipped her way into the house after her mother. The little girl stopped abruptly and looked around with suspicious eyes.
"Mommy, where's pop and Ranma?" Nami asked her mother and Nodoka looked down at her with worried eyes.
"I don't know. I just hope Genma hasn't done any-ahh!" A small black and red form had hailed itself at Nodoka and laid in her lap. The woman who was now on the floor stared at her crouched son who looked like he was...pruning? himself on her lap. Ranma gave a contented meow before snuggling closer to his mother. There was a crash nearby and Nami and Nodoka looked up to see a bruised and battered Genma trying to crawl into the room. The boy turned cat gave a hiss before trying to launch himself at the intruder. Nodoka reached out a hand and clamped it over her son's collar to prevent him from doing anything rash. Her lips thinned as she held onto her tiny son and walked over to her husband.
"What did you do?" she asked, each syllable a weapon in Genma's destruction.
The man just coughed up a very beat up book. With narrowed eyes, Nodoka picked up the book and scanned through it. Her eyes widened and her anger increased to a disturbing height.
"Genma! You idiot! The Cat-Fist? This technique is forbidden with good reason! You didn't actually wrap Ranma in fish sausage and throw him into a pit of starving cats, did you?"
"Yes," came the croaked reply.
Nodoka's eyes narrowed even more. With a thrust of her hand, she threw the booklet down at Genma with a slight contempt. This may be the only time she truly despised her husband.
Her following words were crisp, but clear and straight to the point.
"Genma Saotome, you are to never ever touch my son with your insane ideas about martial arts, you hear me? You are from now on forbidden to teach him anything even related to martial arts."
Genma's eyes widened and he started to sputter desperately to his wife, "But Nodoka, I have to-"
"No, you don't have to do anything, Genma, and so help me if you do, you will never see me or any of your children again," and then seeing her husband's eyes skim hopefully to Nami said, "and don't even think about brining the girls up on martial arts. None of our children will be taught under your rules and if you love them or me at all, you will respect my wishes." Genma looked at his wife and for a second Nodoka's heart cracked at the slightest hesitation she saw in them. A crack that was soon healed when the hesitation cleared and he bowed his head in acceptance.
Little did Nodoka know then, the crack never did leave her heart and only waited to be open again.
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And so, Nami, Ranma, and the twins, Roki and Ranko, grew up untouched by Genma's theology about how and what martial arts should be taught. The only evidence of Genma's stupidity being Ranma's almost insane fear and phobia of cats and felines. Sometimes though, as the Saotome children played tag, they would catch their father looking at them with an almost wistful expression as though he regretted something deeply. Of course the children did not grow up not learning how to defend themselves and they were taught by their mother the basic, honorable ways to protect their bodies. Not that they needed it seeing as how the children never encountered anybody with a true martial arts dedication. As a result of this, the four kids grew up thinking they were invincible. That was probably the only thing that they all had alike. Their sheer, subtle arrogance and self-confidence. They had little else in common.
Nami, who was born two years before Ranma and four years before the twins, was as different from the others as could be. She was her mother's little darling and was an exact replication of Nodoka. They were so alike. Maybe that was why she was her mother's favorite (not to say that Nodoka didn't care for her other children) and maybe that was why the two could barely stand each other. Growing up she had had her mother's looks and her mother's sense, with very little showing of Genma inside her. She was born with many talents and Nodoka took great care to nourish it. By the time she was sixteen, she was the shinning light of the Saotome family name. Everyone who was anyone knew the name of Nami Saotome just like they knew the names of all of the other Saotome children.
Next came Ranma who was everything that his sisters were and everything that they weren't. To lightly quote Betty Smith, who was born with his mother's invisible steel and his father's carelessness, recklessness and indifference. As he grew up, he seemed to have only two strong passions and fascinations, food and martial arts. For as much as Nodoka adored her oldest girl, Genma adored his oldest boy. Ranma studied every martial arts that he could get his hands on...books, karate, judo, but his parents traveling all the time made it difficult for him to truly learn and master any art. As much as the girls envied and hated Nami Saotome, they had loved and worshipped her brother. Newspapers and magazines all over the world spoke of him all the time...the boy that was going to be the heir to the Saotome millions. Nobody dared mention the fact of how unfair it was for Genma to leave all companies and his millions to Ranma rather then Nami.
Ranko would probably have to be called the third oldest, despite gaining that title for being born only a few seconds before her sibling. Ranko was the opposite of Nami, as anyone could see. She had more of Genma in her then Nodoka and maybe that was why her mother felt she pitied the child more then love her as a mother should. Ranko, being unfortunate, was born with all of her father's weaknesses and very little of her mother's strength. To make things even more worse for her, she had Ranma's same insatiable desire for martial arts without the luck of being born a boy. Genma could not be bothered with a girl, any girls, when it was so clear that his son was destined for great things. All was not lost for Ranko Saotome, however, she still had her brother. Growing up, she had followed Ranma everywhere and tried to learn everything he did with a wide-eyed innocence. When she grew older, she did outrageous things to her father and mother's horror. The black sheep of the family so to speak.
The most unfortunate and neglected of the Saotome children would probably have to be Roki. No one knew quite what to make of her. She was nothing like her mother and nothing like her father. If not for the fact that her twin, Ranko was so similar to Genma, people would have so much as said that Nodoka wasn't entirely faithful. The same height as Ranko, but without Ranko's coloring or Ranko's fire, she was passed over quite easily. While Ranko's hair was a flashing red, hers was a muddy brown. While Ranko's eyes were crystal clear blue, hers was a dark gray hidden behind large round glasses. She read too much to be noticed and the public noticed her about as much as they did green jello. Her parents even less so. But Roki didn't mind. She had three people who loved her greatly and would risk everything they had rather then lose her. She was Ranma, Nami's and Ranko's baby sister, but she was also much more then that. For years, she had been their entire life.
So there they are. The four Saotome children. Three girls and one boy. Soon to be three and one half girls and one half boy.
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Ranma stood uncomfortably in his tuxedo in the huge ballroom. He watched as couples whirled by him with laughter and smiles on their faces. Was it just him or was the chandelier making the room too hot? It must be the suit his mother picked out. He had told her that it was too tight and he was not going to be able to breathe in it, but she had already moved on to argue with Nami about her outfit. Speaking of Nami, she was dancing with a guy right now. Her dress as always was immaculate and Ranma knew for a fact that the smile on her face was more or boredom then of amusement. Serves her right, he thought ruefully, for trying to be so perfect all the time. Ranma heard a snort to his right and looked down at where Ranko and Roki sat at an empty table a few inches away from him. Ranko, in defiance had worn some ragged jeans and a big, black t-shirt she had swiped from a thrift store. Nodoka had protested slightly and then given up. Genma simply didn't noticed that the outfit was not exactly 'ballroom fashion'. Now, her hair in a pony-tail, she sat slouched glaring at the dance floor. Ranma moved his eyes from Ranko to Roki who sat in a prim, shiny brown dress with a book propped onto the table.
As though hearing his unspoken and unknown question, Rannko looked up from her book at Ranma.
"Why don't you go talk to some nice girl Ranma?" she asked indicating the crowd of girls moving swiftly through the ballroom to try to find Ranma.
Ranko gave a derisive laugh.
"Yeah, you always had a way with women, Ranma," the girl grinned for the first time that night.
"Now, Ranko, be nice," Roki scolded gently and Ranko stopped. Ranma, however, during this time, had been spotted by one of the females hot on his tail.
"You know what, I think I'm going to move around," he said as he picked up his step and moved through the crowd of people.
"Hey!" Ranko shouted out. "Aren't you gonna enjoy your party."
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The 16-year old boy moved through the crowd until he reached the large doors. He opened them and entered the silent, cool hallway with the stylish rug. Of course, everything in his houses were stylish. They had to be...Nodoka and Nami simply wouldn't allow otherwise. Feeling he needed a break, Ranma thought he'd make his way to his bedroom. Already he could hear his mother's voice, "Ranma! You shouldn't leave during a middle of an engagement in your honor." But it's not in my honor, is it, mom? the boy allowed himself to think for a brief moment, even if it is my birthday. Immediately, he regretted his thoughts and buried them. After all, his mother only wanted him to be happy. Silently, with his pig-tail hanging listlessly ("it's such a childish hairstyle, Ranma, I don't know why you insist on still having it") and his hands in his pockets, Ranma made his way down the hallway towards the back stairs.
Bam! Something collided against his side and knocked the breath out of him as they both, him and his attacker, went sprawling to the floor. Ranma, getting his breath back faster then the person opposite him, looked up first. What he saw made his breath catch slightly. A girl...no, it wasn't a girl...for some reason, she looked like a woman. It was a woman with shiny, short, brown hair (perfect like Nami's) and flawless skin.
"Excuse me, are you okay?" he asked and the woman finally looked at him. Just as he expected, her face was beautiful. There was a slight scowl on her small mouth and her dark eyes were annoyed. She was all control and cool ice. For some odd reason, Ranma's first thought had been, mom would approve of her.
Shaking his head of his thoughts, Ranma got up quickly and awkwardly offered a hand to help her up. Pushing his hand away, the woman got up on her own. When she managed to smooth over her calm hair and dark dress enough to satisfy her, she finally looked at him. Ranma felt slightly uncomfortable under her cold, hard scrutiny. Her eyes settled long on his pig-tail and for once Ranma wished he had listened to his mother and cut it off.
Finally, she said in an offhand manner, "Watch where you're going next time, kid." With that she turned away to walk back down the hallway.
Embarrassment and self-righteous anger washed though Ranma in waves. At the time he had thought his feelings had been hurt, rather then his ego. He didn't rationale the fact that she had been the first girl to brush him off that way. He just knew that she had brushed him off too soon and that just wasn't supposed to happen to him.
Ranma walked over and pulled at the woman's elbow, making her turn around and face him.
"Being a few centimeters taller in your heels doesn't give you the right to call me 'kid'. I'm sixteen. You can barely be older then that!" he exclaimed and noticed in her face what he hadn't seen before. She really wasn't a woman, after all...it just the way she held herself that made her seem that way.
"Now, why do I have to tell you?" she asked in that bland, dry way of hers.
Ranma couldn't stop his next words.
"Because I'm Ranma Saotome, that's why!" he yelled.
Suddenly, a slow change came over her face. Her eyes widened as the name clicked into her brain and they melted into flirtation and a slight awe. Her small mouth softened and lost the bland disdainful look. She actually smiled. Ranma gave a half-grin. That's better, he thought.
"Oh well, that really makes quite a difference, doesn't it?" she laughed and her perfect row of white teeth sparkled in the light.
"What's your name?" Ranma asked with a large grin. She wasn't so intimidating, after all.
The girl turned to look at him with a large smile and soft eyes. She held out her hand for him to shake.
"Nabiki Tendo."
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That was how he had met Nabiki. They had talked and laughed as they made their way back to the ballroom. The minute they had walked through the ballroom doors, they were and official couple and Ranma believed himself to be in love and infatuated. As expected, Nodoka had took to Nabiki right away and Genma only nodded to himself and said that naturally his boy would pick someone beautiful and so charming to be his girlfriend. What was surprising though was that neither Nami, Ranko or Roki liked Nabiki. Ranko, Ranma expected to not like Nabiki...Ranko didn't like anybody...but not Nami and Roki. Nami and Roki both acted polite and smiled at Nabiki and it was probably lucky that Ranma was too dense to see their true feelings toward Nabiki. Ranko was the only one that was openly hostile to the girl, but Ranko Ranma just ignored.
Ranma and Nabiki dated for little over a year and soon he got used to her blandness and cold exterior. He told her everything about his family (not that he needed to, all she needed to do was read a newspaper every so often), but she told him little about hers. She visited his house all the time (much to the dislike of Ranko) and they went out, but he never got to see her home. All he knew was that she was the middle child with an older and younger sister. He never even learned their names. Sometimes, she would let things slip and he would learn things about her family that she would never normally let him know. Little things like how she missed her little sister made him know that her younger sibling was gone. Little things.
They were happy, or at least Ranma was happy. The relationship continued on and a few months after their meeting, Ranma asked her to marry him and she accepted. Never once did she say she loved him and never once did he say he loved her. It was just the way things were between them. The engagement continued on for almost a year until it was Nabiki's eighteenth birthday.
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Ranma and Nabiki stood holding onto the railing of Ranma's yacht as it floated through the water. The sun was setting and the deck was empty except for the two of them. Ranma's hands were on top of his fiancees' and the silence and beauty was wonderful. Nabiki looked at her watch.
"Okay, it's past my birthday exactly. Now, can you tell me where you're taking me?" she asked.
"Hold on," the boy said as he fished inside his pocket for the picture of the tropical island he was planning to take her.
He handed her the large colored photo of the island and whispered, "Isle of View."
Immediately, Nabiki froze. Her hands stopped and she slowly moved her stricken face up to look at Ranma. The photo fell from her still hands. She was so pale that Ranma tightened his grasp on her hand.
"Nabiki, are you okay?" he asked worriedly. Tears suddenly sprung to the girl's eyes, washing them. It was the first time Ranma saw her with tears in her eyes.
"Oh Ranma!" she cried out in anguish as she snatched her hand away from his. "Why couldn't you have left it alone? Now, you've ruined everything! I don't love you!" With that, she turned around and fled to her cabin. Ranma didn't run after her. He just looked down at the wooden floor under his feet and wondered if he could find pieces of his heart there.
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Ranma had brought the ship back to the shore and Nabiki finally got out of her cabin. They didn't speak until they both walked onto the planks of the dock. They had had no words to say to each other. No words that seemed appropriate at the time. Ranma finally looked at Nabiki's eyes for one last time... searching...searching...searching for the love he himself thought he felt...but it wasn't there. All that was in her eyes was regret, pain and pity. He had been deceiving himself. He threw her hands away from him as though they were some hideous weapon that just created murder.
"Ranma...I'm sorry...I tried so hard to love you...and I did love you in a way...only it's not right to marry someone for that kind of love...I loved you like I love Akane...like I love Kasumi...but not like-"
"No," he said, not wanting to hear the words.
She stopped. They stood before each other in silent for awhile.
Finally, she said, "Good-bye Ranma," and turned to leave. He didn't ask her to come back. He had too much pride for that.
Ranma watched the waters long after Nabiki left and knew he couldn't go home. He couldn't go home to where everything was so boring and his life was being wasted away. Suddenly, he didn't care that he should live the way his mother wanted him to. He was going to live the way he wanted to. He was going around the world (his parents had enough money) and he was going to do what he always loved as a kid. Learn martial arts and eat the best food.
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{Their Story}
The 18-year old martial artist made his way around the sacred grounds of Jusynkuo. During his travels, he had heard much about this place and it's springs. The guide had given him a tour of the grounds and had told him to be careful not to fall in, about how fatal it would be, but the words went in one ear and right out the other. Like his father, Ranma only knew that he needed to study martial arts and this would be a great place to help him further in the arts. The bamboo sticks would help perfect his balancing, the danger of the waters would help hone his senses and help him learn to calm his pulse in the face of peril. Yes, Jusynkuo was perfect.
Placing his backpack down onto the floor, Ranma jumped onto one bamboo stick. Now, that was simple. He flipped and jumped onto another. This was easy. He didn't know why the guide was so worried. He jumped onto a third stick and this time twisted to increase the danger. Yes, still another perfect landing. Ranma heard the distant sounds of shouting and running feet with his ears under the splashing sounds of the water. Probably just a tourist group or something. Now, to try this with his eyes closed. Ranma jumped up and landed on a stick. Whoa, slippery...nearly fell there. Maybe he should just-
"Catch me, catch me mommy!"
"Lynx, you come back here or I'll-"
Suddenly, Ranma felt a large force collide with him. The mother of the child, horror and fear covering her senses, did the first thing she thought of to do. She ran, jumped up and pushed Ranma off the bamboo, into a spring, to catch her son. Ranma jumped up sputtering and in anger, he moved his hand under her knees and knocked her over. Caught by surprise, the mother let her son go and fell into a spring herself. Two simultaneous splashes were heard. After a few seconds, both the mother and the kid jumped up sputtering.
She first turned to her son and asked with fright, "Lynx, are you alright?"
"Argh...grrrr," the kid answered.
"Good," the girl answered as she accepted this as a reply.
The mother turned to Ranma with damp, wet hair over her face which was covered by mud and dirt from the waters. There was something about her though that didn't seem right. She seemed so...young.
"You jerk! What did you do that for?" she screeched in indignation.
"Hey, listen, I was minding my own business until you and your kid knocked me into the spring," Ranma protested. Tensions ran high and two auras sprung up. One red, one blue. Both like fire.
Suddenly, the guide made his way over and his panicky words caught both of their attentions.
"Oh very bad, very bad. Girl fall in spring of drowned child, boy fall in spring of drowned bear and pig-tail boy fall in spring of drowned girl. Very very bad indeed."
Screams and roars came from three different springs...but nobody turned a head at the sound. After all, these sounds were natural coming from Jusynkuo.
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