Children : Chapter 4

Akama woke up, blinking. She felt strange, and as she looked around, she slowly came to realize that her room had been re-arranged. The room around her had pinkish painted walls, a huge vanity mirror with a table, and a very large set of drawers. The bed Akama was laying in had fluffy pink sheets, and a huge pink comforter, along with frilly white pillows. Akama was not happy about this, although she was impressed that someone managed to do all of this without waking her. Little did Akama know, she was not actually awake. Akama got up from this dreamed bed, completely unaware of her situation. She moved to the large closet, and opened it, revealing rack after rack of amazingly beautiful gowns, and other equally beautiful casual dresses. "Ugh. All this girlie stuff, I'm gonna get whoever did this. They should know better than ta' break inta' my room and steal all my clothes." Akama said, continuing to look around the room. Eventually, her eyes fell on the mirror, and for some reason, Akama felt drawn to sit down in front of it. "Creepy... It's like that mirror wants me ta' give it a closer look." Akama said, turning away. As she did, however, she found herself falling into the chair that was pulled out in front of the table. Shaking her head, Akama yelled out loud. "Alright! This ain't funny! Let me outta this crazy room!"

A shadowy figure appeared in the mirror, and to Akama's amazement, it looked exactly like her, only wearing a very nice long white dress. The Mirror-Akama's lips moved, and to the surprise of the one in front of the mirror, her own voice was heard. "Akama... Look at me." The mirror said. "Don't worry."

"Man, I'm goin' crazy." Akama said. "First I sleep right through someone totally rearrangin' my stuff, then this freaky mirror's tellin' me what to do. I guess weirdness is a Saotome trait, heh.."

"Look, Akama. Please." The mirror voice said.

"Alright, alright, quit buggin' me. Man, if that's supposed to be me like it looks like, I'm annoying!" Akama said, looking at the mirror. Akama's gaze met the mirror image's eyes, and a bright flash lit up the room. "Gah!" Akama exclaimed, rubbing her eyes. When the light died down, her mirror image was standing next to her. Akama had heard people go on about how nice she looked in a dress, but until now, she'd never really seen it for herself. "Nice dress." Akama said, sarcastically, fighting the sneaky feeling she had that she'd been wrong when she insisted she didn't look good like she was seeing herself.

"Sarcasm, huh? That's ok. I know you have to be confused." The mirror image said. "I guess I should explain. I'm you... Well, the part you hide. I know that I could never be you, you're not the girl that's supposed to live in this room. This is my room. All those clothes over there are all the times someone's said you were pretty, or gave you a compliment on some other thing about your looks."

"So, I'm... in my head?" Akama asked.

"Something like that, I suppose. You've been thinking a lot lately about how girlie your brother acts, haven't you?" The mirror image said.

"Hmph. It's shameful. He's a guy. What's he doin' runnin' around in them skirts 'n dresses 'n frilly things. I know he's never really been in'ta martial arts and stuff, but he almost seems more like he's a girl sometimes. He even wears girlie pajamas and... ya know.. Underclothes. I'm tryin' so hard not to be one 'a them brainless pretty faces, and there my brother is. He acts like twenty times the girl that I am, and he's actually a guy!" Akama said.



"That upset you, Akama? That your brother's more of a girl than you?" The mirror asked.

"Naah, not really. I know it's gotta be hard for him, I just wish he'd act more like he's s'posed to." Akama said.

"Oh? That's sort of funny, Akama." The mirror image said. "You want your brother to act like he's supposed to?"

"Yeah. What's wrong with that?" Akama said, harshly. She glanced down at herself, and saw that she had her dad's old outfit on, somehow. "Ok, ok, I get it... I'm not exactly actin' how everyone thinks I'm s'posed to either. But I'm just trying to be me." She said.

"Akama, all you have to do is follow your heart. Remember that." The mirror image said, her voice sounding more and more like a buzzer, or an alarm. Suddenly, Akama's eyes opened, and she gasped, looking around at the surroundings she was used to.

"That was a weird dream... Wonder what I ate last night to make that..." Akama said. 'Follow your heart..' Echoed in the back of her mind. "Follow my heart, what kind of nonsense is that... I am followin' my heart. Like, right now I'm gonna follow it out back and spar with dad like I always do." Akama sighed and hopped out of bed, blushing as she saw her body, the same body that betrayed what she tried so hard to be, the body that was clothed in delicate undergarments, the body that could not possibly be a male's. Shuddering, Akama started talking to herself again. "Look, I can't deal with this, ok? I know I'm a girl. What're you tryin' to prove? I'm just as strong as any of them! I'm just as good. Everyone knows they can't mess with me!" Akama said, adding softly, "....like they mess with Ranma..." For a second, Akama looked at the small, disused mirrored table in her room. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "I don't want to be just a regular girl... I want to be a great martial artist like Pop. I can't give up on that. I gotta be strong." Akama said all this, then cursed her luck. "Why do I feel like I gotta choose between being who I want, and being who I am? I know I'm a girl.. I know it, ok? I can't get away from it..." Akama sighed heavily, changing into her training clothes. She purposely forgot to put on the uncomfortable bandages she usually used to hide her chest, thinking that she'd wasted enough time talking to herself, and that they hurt, anyway.

"Ah, there you are." Ranma Sr. said. "Miss your alarm this morning, Student?"

"No, sir." Akama said. "I was... um.." She blushed, not wanting to finish what she had to say. "Yes, sir. I missed my alarm. It won't happen again."

"Akama, I was only teasing. You don't have to be so formal with me." Ranma Sr. said.

"I don't?" Akama blinked. That dream had thrown her off more than she thought.

"Do I usually lie to you?" Ranma Sr. asked.

"No, dad... You don't." Akama smiled, and went over to hug him. A smile crept across Ranma Sr.'s face, then they took up positions and began their morning exercise. Following their normal pattern, Akama would appear to be winning, then Ranma Sr. would quickly regain the upper hand, and hold it for the remainder of the time they practiced.

As the intense session came to a close, the two sparring partners were breathing heavily, resting their elbows on their knees. Something about the morning's session had bothered Ranma Sr., It seemed to him that Akama's mind was occupied with something other than the match, which was all that was on the young girl's mind usually. Today, however, it seemed to be missing. Ranma Sr. walked over to Akama, carrying one towel in his hand, with another around his neck. Once he reached his daughter, at the opposite end, he handed her a towel, and spoke up. "Akama, dear, is something wrong? You seemed to not have your mind on the match." He asked.

Akama blinked, then cursed at herself. How could she still be worrying about that? At any rate, her father had noticed, and now she'd have to tell him the truth. There was no use in lying, when the person you were trying to lie to had such a grand history dealing with deception. Akama cleared her throat, and explained about the dream, finishing up by saying, "I just don't know what it's supposed ta' mean, Pop. I always thought I was bein' myself."

Ranma Sr. sat down next to his daughter, and sighed. "Akama, you were never the kind of girl that was interested in girlish things, and your mother and I both had no problem with that. After all, your mother was quite a bit like you when she was younger. We neither one found it odd that you'd not have interest in fashion, or shopping, or gossiping, like we'd remembered other young girls doing when we were younger. The important part was that you were always happy with how you were. Your mother and I felt comfortable with your personality, because you were always happy to be who you were, or at least you seemed that way. Akama, do you *want* to be more like other girls?" Ranma Sr. asked.

"I definitely don't wanna' be one a' them bubbly air-heads that haveta' get up two hours early every morning to do their makeup just so they can make goofy faces at the guys, if that's what you're askin'." Akama said.

"No, no, that's not it at all, Akama. Those girls are only interested in one thing, and it's certainly not the art, or their school work. Believe me, I knew those sorts of girls, and I wouldn't want you to become one of them either. I just wanted to know if you felt like you weren't... feminine enough." Ranma Sr. said.

"Hey, who're you to be talkin' about femininity, Pops!" Akama snapped.

"Oh, I know a thing or two, Akama. Don't forget who you're talking to." Ranma Sr. said.

"Heh... Sorry. I jus' meant that you've spent almost your whole life tryin' ta' be the 'man among men'. I don't quite see how ya learned about femininity in there. Ya got your curse and all, but that don't really make you feminine... it's just a body." Akama said.

Ranma Sr. sighed, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, before speaking up again. "Akama, I know you look up to me. I know that, even though I've tried to keep you from it, your grandpa might have tried to steer you onto the same path he got me on. This doesn't have anything to do with anything he's said, does it? He's definitely got some crazy ideas about women."

"Naah, I never listen to that old panda anyway." Akama said. Even though she wouldn't admit it, and was most likely not aware of it, Genma's words had made some impact on Akama's way of thinking. 'Girls are weak', 'An embarrassment to the art', 'Your brother disgraces the family'. Things like these, and other similar statements had left a deep resentment in her, and also a strong longing to not be a weak embarrassment like her grandfather often said other women were.

"Your grandfather could teach you many things, Akama, you should listen to him occasionally. The exception is when he's talking about women. He is very old-fashioned and set in his ways. I would never want you to fall into the trap of believing that your femininity somehow made you worse than a man. Your grandfather said things to me when I was growing up, and I had no way of knowing how wrong they'd prove to be, so for most of my life, I believed exactly what he told me, that girls and women only served as weak distractions, and that they could never be as good as a man could be. You can probably imagine what sixteen or so years of that sort of thinking did to me when I fell in at jusenkyo." Ranma Sr. said.

"Must a' been pretty hard..." Akama said. "You ain't like that now though, how'd you get over it?" Akama asked.

"Well, it was a slow trip, for one." Ranma Sr. said, chuckling. "I seemed to meet strong, skillful women, the kind that went against what your grandfather said, everywhere I went. Then, I finally met your grandmother again. Her, along with your mother, and all the other women in my life, slowly taught me that not only were women capable of things that men weren't, but sometimes women could do more than men, if they put their mind to it. Eventually, I understood that there are certain things that men do well, and certain things that women do well, and also, that anyone who wants something bad enough, can achieve it. Male or female."

"I understand what you're sayin' Pop. I just don't' *want* to be some cheesy girl though. I can't stand wearin' a stupid skirt, and don't even get me started on jewelry, or makeup, or fancy dresses, or those crazy high heeled shoes Ranma wears. I just wanna be me, ya know? I wanna be a great martial artist like you. I don't have time for all that extra stuff." Akama said.

"I understand that. It's good that you have goals. You need to not let them run out the other aspects of your life, however... Akama, when you and your sister were born, and I was laying in the hospital holding the two of you girls... It was completely unlike any other feeling I've had before, or since. Do you want to be a mother, Akama? Do you want to be married?" Ranma Sr. asked.

"Well..." Akama started to say something, but didn't finish, taking a moment to compose her thoughts. "I guess maybe some day I'd like to, pops. Right now though, like I said, I ain't got time to be a girl like all them. I ain't got time to mess around."

"Akama, You're never going to be this age again. You should use this time wisely to figure out who you are, and who you want to be. Don't block off your options, and blindly throw yourself into the art. I would like a successor, but I would rather have a content daughter." Ranma Sr. said.

"I'm happy enough, pops...." Akama said, in a completely unconvincing manner.

Ranma Sr. sighed, putting his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Akama, it doesn't sound like you believe that. If the problem is that you want to act more feminine, perhaps you and your sister could go out and do something... girlie. Perhaps the three of us should go out for a nice dinner sometime, just a mother and her daughters. Or maybe, you just need to do something different for a few days. Your mother wore dresses and things around the house quite a bit of the time, and no one would ever dare to say that she was a brainless air head." Ranma Sr. said.

"Ya know, Pops... Maybe you're right..." Akama said, pausing before she finished her thought. "I mean, a true martial artist explores every possibility in order to improve, right?"

"Right." Ranma Sr. said.

"I suppose one girlie day with my sister wouldn't be so bad... Might even make Ranma happy too. She's been buggin' me to spend more time with her... So that settles it, I'll... go shoppin' or something with her. I'll even..." Akama nervously smiled, as she finished. "Put on a dress. If this don't make me feel any better about stuff, then I'm not gonna' keep doin' it."

"Right." Ranma Sr. repeated.

Akama turned, looking at her father. "That all you can say, Pops?" She said.

"Right." Ranma Sr. replied, smirking. "You might want to work on your speech too, Akama. It's a bit harsh for a lady."

"Oh brother, Now the old man's tellin' me I'm too harsh! What's next, he's gonna tell me that his Pops wasn't a lazy bum?" Akama said, smirking right back. "Well, I'm gonna go take a shower. Thanks for talkin' to me... Dad."

"Any time you want to, Akama." Ranma Sr. said. He then began straightening up the area where he had been practicing with his daughter, only to be interrupted by his son.

"Hey, dad?" Ranma said, in a shyer sounding voice than was usually heard from him.

"Yes, Ranma?" Ranma Sr. said.

"Can I talk to you about... Um... about.. Girls?" Ranma stuttered and stumbled his way through the short sentence. His face was completely flushed in a bright pink, possibly due to the fact that she was a girl herself at times, and he was trying to have a father-son talk with his dad. His feelings for Taiiku could have played some small part as well, of course.

"Sure... I suppose, what about them, Ranma?" Ranma Sr. smiled somewhat, although it was slightly nervously, anticipating what his sometimes daughter, sometimes son, was about to say.

"Well, what do you do when you... um... Well, when a guy like me... uh... Ok. Here goes. Dad, what do you do when you start... Noticing that a certain girl is... well.. Really pretty, and smart, and talented, and she makes you laugh when you're together, and even when she sees some of the bad stuff about you, she doesn't run away?" Ranma said all of this, descending with some speed after getting over his initial discomfort.

"It's that swimmer girl, isn't it... I suspected you had a little crush on her, Ranma." Ranma Sr. said.

"Y-yeah, dad, it is. I noticed the other day that... I kinda felt weird when I was eating lunch with her, then when she went back to class, I got... well... a little sad, I suppose, and something else." Ranma was fiddling with the drawstring on his shorts by now, shyly spilling his secrets.

"Yup, definitely a crush..." Ranma Sr. said, smiling. "It's ok, son. You're just growing up, and guys naturally notice girls when they're growing up. You probably need to find out how she feels about you, then maybe you could go on a few dates."

"Yeah... What if she says she just likes me as a friend? Or what if she just thinks I'm another girl to hang out with?" Ranma asked.



"Those are both possibilities, of course. If you don't take the risk though, son.... You'll never find out." Ranma Sr. said. "Ranma, I've got to go get cleaned up now. I think your sister was wanting to go shopping with you, you might look for her."

"That doesn't sound too much like *my* sister. That definitely sounds like a girl. Akama's too much of a tomboy to want to go shopping, unless there's something really specific she wants... I guess I'll go see what's up though." Ranma said.

"Ranma..." Ranma Sr. said, "Don't pick on your sister. You may not notice it, but teasing bothers everyone, sometimes the people that don't show it, the most."

"Alright, dad..." Ranma said. He headed inside, to his room. Before he got there, however, Akama walked out of the bathroom. This was not unusual, except for the fact that she was wearing a very nice casual dress, the sort that you would expect a girl her age to wear if the mood struck her to be wearing a dress around the house. Ranma opened his mouth to say something about 'what alien kidnapped my sister and left this girl here?", then he remembered what their father had just said, and what came out when Ranma spoke was a rather nice compliment. "Hey, Akama, you look really nice. That dress looks good on you.' A sincere smile confirmed the non-teasing nature of the words, and a gentle blush swept over Akama's face.

"Heh.. Thanks, Ranma..." Akama said, turning away as she continued. "Um... Would you want to... Maybe... Go shopping? After that, we could go get some ice cream or something."

Ranma blinked several times, then responded slowly, and softly, "Yeah, sure, sis. Want me to go like this, or is this supposed to be some special sister thing?"

"It's...um... The sister thing." Akama said. She was messing with her hair a bit, she couldn't look terrible going out, after all. 'If you're gonna do something, do it right', right? Of course, this minor bit of preparation didn't include any perfume, or cosmetics beyond a very light application of lipstick. The dress itself was very plain, as were the cute, simple shoes and white socks she wore.

"Well, let me go get changed real quick... And by real quick I mean 'real quick' for me.. heh.." Ranma said, retreating to his room to get changed.

"Guess it'll be a few minutes then... Time to get used to this... Hi, I'm Akama. It's very nice to meet you Mr. So-and-so... How in the world does she do this? I guess it isn't very ladylike to talk like I'm usedta' talkin' though. Maybe just for today, I'll try ta' be a little more proper." Akama was rehearsing talking, to herself in the mirror. Eventually, Ranma emerged from her room, having put on a dress that was similar in style to Akama's, only longer. Her hair had been brushed out a bit, leaving a nice cascade of crimson locks flowing to her shoulders. As expected, Ranma had put on a bit of lipstick as well, and she had two silver earrings clipped to her ears.

"I'm ready, Sis. Do I look ok?" Ranma asked, fiddling with a few loose strands of hair.

"Of course you look ok, Sis. You're a cute girl. Hey, you're my sister besides, you have to look good, it's in your blood." Akama said, smiling.

"Thanks, Akama..." Ranma said, blushing a bit. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking... When did this all hit you, Sis?"

"I just... I want to see what this whole girlie thing is like, and I don't know anyone better to figure it out with than my sister." Akama said.

"Well, I'm glad to help you, Akama, did you just want to.. um... Go out and shop some? Maybe you'll even meet a cute guy, huh?" Ranma said, thinking shortly after that teasing was perhaps not the best course of action.

"Don't go overboard, Ranma. I'm just seein' if I like this or not. I never did really give bein' a 'girl' a fair chance. I'm just doin what I think I need to, alright?" Akama said.

"Ok." Ranma said. Apparently their dad knew more than he told Ranma, because when Ranma popped out of the confines of the hall by their bedrooms, Ranma Sr. took Akane off into another part of the house. "Hey... Dad just distracted Mom for us, so I think we can go now." Ranma said.

Akama smiled, and took her sister's hand, walking out the front door without another sound. Ranma Sr., would tell Akane later, where they went, but that didn't change the fact that they got out of the house without any motherly enthusiasm at seeing her tomboy daughter in a dress. 'Well, are you happy now?' She thought to herself.

"Well, Akama." Ranma said, letting her hand drop from her sister's. "What do you want to do? Just go wander around the mall for a little while?"

"Sounds good, yeah..." Akama said. She was still trying to get past the uncomfortable aspect of wearing a dress, she felt so much less secure than when she had a nice pair of pants and a shirt on. Every little breeze fluttered the material of the dress, and the cut of the dress seemed to be such that it held onto her more prominent curved areas tighter than other places. Still, she was resolved to act feminine at least while they were out doing this 'sister thing', and when Akama Saotome said she was going to do something, she did it.

"Hey, Akama." Ranma said, looking over at her sister.

"Yeah?" Akama answered.

"I'm sorry for always teasing you about how you don't act like other girls all the time... Truth is, I like you just the way you are. You're the only sister I've got." Ranma said.

"Thanks... Ranma." Akama said. She sighed a bit, then looked down and started talking again. "About that whole 'being a woman', and pregnancy and stuff... What do you think about it?"

"If you're asking me whether you're gonna be a bride's sister, or a groom's sister... I can't really tell you. I mean.. I've sort of been noticing the girls, and I think I'm gonna ask Taiiku out, but... Well, I am sort of staring at the guys a bit too long lately, when I'm a girl. It's probably nothing, just people-watching... Still, I don't know what to think really, Sis. I think that we just do the best we can, and life usually will turn out good. I try to be happy as a girl, and a guy. Doing sister stuff like this is probably better for the girl part though." Ranma finished up this rather long answer with a giggle, moving over to hug her sister lightly.

"You do want to have... you know, a family and get married and all that, right?" Akama asked.

"Well, sure, Sis. You don't have to be a girl to want a family and a future..." Ranma said.

Akama laughed nervously, "Yeah, I suppose you're right, Sis." Akama paused for a moment, then she continued "Hey, don't worry about that staring at guys thing... I caught myself doing it a few days ago." She smirked, and they continued off down the road. Akama found herself actually looking forward to whatever was going to happen on this little sisterly outing, and that smirk found itself slowly turning into a smile, as the two girls walked side-by-side.