All characters mentioned from Ranma 1/2 are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. This story was written for entertainment purposes only.
The insistent ringing of the phone dragged her kicking and screaming into the world of consciousness. Groaning to herself, she briefly considered not answering but finally dragged herself out of bed and staggered over to the phone. 'If it's that damn French financial consultant again,' she thought to herself, 'I'm going to kill him.' Glancing at the wall clock she made a face at the extremely late hour.
"Hello?"
"Nabiki?" Recognizing the sound of Kasumi's voice, she frowned. Kasumi had to have known what hour it was locally.
Rubbing her face in an effort to wake up more she replied, "Hey Kasumi, what's going on?"
"Nabiki... I-I need your help. I... I d-don't know what to do..."
And that's when she realized that her older sister was crying. Even over the long-distance connection a person couldn't mistake the sniffling and broken breathing.
"Hey Sis. What's wrong?"
Noticing that it was taking her older sister quiet a long moment to get herself together, she knew that something must have gone terribly wrong. 'The question is, what?' she thought.
"I... I need for you to do something. And... and your not going t-to like it..."
"What?"
"I-I need you to find Ranma...."
Trying not to groan out loud, Nabiki sat down in a chair and rubbed her temples in frustration. It was going to be another one of "those" calls.
Ever since Saotome Genma cashed his son in 10 years ago Kasumi has gone through periods of guilt, convinced that the Tendo family should have stopped the whole affair. Of everyone involved, Nabiki was probably the only one not completely surprised at the actions of Ranma's delinquent father.
Which is why she had taken great pleasure, all those years ago, in gathering every ounce of dirt she had ever gotten on the man and dropping it onto the police. She made sure that Genma would never be able to enjoy the fruits of his immoral acts. The aftermath had earned a bitter resentment between her and her father.
Nabiki herself still wasn't sure about her feelings towards Ranma himself, however. She had taken considerable liberties with him during the 2 years that he had stayed with their family, almost all of them without his permission, and many even without his knowledge. However, for as much trouble as she might have caused him, the boy also brought along just as much on his own. And with neither Ranma nor his father bringing in a dime to help with the expenses, she had to keep a roof over the family's head somehow.
Of course, unlike most everyone else she knew that in most cases, back then, Ranma really had been the victim of circumstance the majority of the time. And while she did sympathize with him for these, it had never stopped her from maximizing the possible profits to be gained from the situations...
...and it didn't even come close to forgiving him for the suicidal depression that he had left Akane and Ukyo in after his disappearance. Some of the close calls in the following months afterward even now made Nabiki shutter.
Shaking her head to clear out such old thoughts Nabiki patiently said, "Look, Sis, we've been through this before... I know that you-"
Her whole body jerked when Kasumi suddenly screamed, "I'M NOT ASKING YOU, I'M TELLING YOU TOO!"
When her hearing finally came back, she heard Kasumi sobbing over the line whispering, "I'm sorry, please forgive me. I'm so sorry..." Shutting her eyes and pinching her nose in thought, she finally said, "It's okay, it's okay. Tell me what's going on, Sis. What's happening? Why now?"
After finally calming down a little Kasumi said, "I know you don't like him, Nabiki. I... I know that you blame him, but please, do this for me. Please...."
"I don't blame Ranma, Kasumi. Well, not completely, but why? Why do I need to find him now of all times?"
"Because... it isn't just about him anymore."
A cold chill ran through her body at the possible implications of that statement. Akane? No. Akane was over him. It had taken a long time, and a not-so-pretty marriage, but her younger sister shouldn't be having a crisis over it now. Who else?
Ukyo. She never really did...
"What's going on Sis? Did something happen to Akane, or Ukyo? Is she...?"
"No... no," and then in a small voice, "this is about Sawa."
Shaking her head in frustration, Nabiki said, "Who the heck is Sawa?"
There was a long moment of silence before she got her answer.
"Ranma's daughter."
For a couple of seconds, Nabiki was truly speechless, not knowing what to say. Finally, though, she kicked herself for being surprised. 'Of course,' she thought, 'Cologne has been wanting to breed that boy forever now. All for the good of that damned tribe. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a half dozen kids now.'
Collecting her thoughts she finally said, "Wait a minute... this daughter of his, or at least someone claiming to be his daughter, is there in Nerima? So where is Ranma and Shampoo?"
"We don't know where Ranma is," Kasumi said, "he's been in town for about a month now, hiding, but we didn't know until two days ago. Sawa saw Ranma being attacked by Shampoo and some of her tribe and ran to Ukyo's-"
"What?! Shampoo was fighting with Ranma? Just... wait. Okay, start from the beginning...."
"....and you say that according to Sawa they've been on the move for as long as she can remember. Hmm, that's at least four or five years then, with the Amazon tribes chasing them the whole time." Thinking about the whole thing Nabiki could only shake her head. Ranma had finally gotten the guts to just up and leave a situation he didn't like, honor be damned. "Kasumi, I think Ranma is in it deep this time."
"Actually, I think Ranma's been on the run longer then that."
Not one to second guess the only individual out there that could read people easier then herself, Nabiki only said, "Why is that?"
"Because Ranma isn't Sawa's father, Ranma's her mother. We don't even know who her father is. The only Amazon that Sawa even knows is Shampoo, and only as the 'bad person' who had attacked Ranma."
For the second time in the same hour Nabiki was speechless. Ranma? A mother? The person who'd beat a person black and blue for simply calling him "girly." But that would mean he would have to... and be stuck in his female form for at least...
"Oh my."