Chapter 11 Graduation
It was a pleasant afternoon at Akane Tendo's apartment. She had spent all morning ensuring that it was spotless. The furnishings were a curious blend of both Japanese and American styles that somehow worked out. The rooms were full of growing, blooming plants; the pictures on the walls were scenes from Japan. The stereo was playing soft music in the background. The sun was shining in through the windows, making everything look bright. You could hear children laughing and playing in the pool that was outside her windows. She was busying herself making tea for the visitors. They had called from the hotel saying they were on the way, so she was expecting them any minute. But it was obvious she was excited. Around her neck was a small gold chain, with a pendant in the shape of the Yin-Yang symbol, with a small diamond in each of the two "eyes". It was her favorite piece of jewelry, since Ranma had given it to her before she came to America.
The doorbell rang. She ran to the door and opened it. There standing in the doorway, was her family. Her father looked a bit older, a little grayer, wearing a nice suit, but he also looked fitter and happier. Her oldest sister was dressed as plainly as ever, but she looked more content. Akane had never seen her so beautiful. Nabiki was dressed simply, but with quality. She still was the Ice Queen, however, some things never change apparently. They all looked wonderful. She was so excited to see them after so long. She wondered if they noticed any of changed in her as well. "Dad, Kasumi, Nabiki," she shrieked, "It's so good to see you, I've missed you so much," giving each of them a big hug. Suddenly, remembering her manners, she bowed, and showed them in. After taking their shoes off, they walked over and sat in the couches in the living room.
Soun wailed, "My daughter is all grown up now."
"Come on Dad, she's twenty-two for pity sake," Nabiki growled, "What did you think she would look like?" He ignored her, tears streaming down his face.
"Nabiki, Kasumi, you two look wonderful. It appears that married life agrees with both of you.
Kasumi smiled at her sister, wondering what seemed to be different about her. She didn't seem to be the same awkward girl that had left home three years ago. She carried herself with grace. Apparently, living away from home had increased her self-confidence. Nabiki also gazed at Akane. Her instincts were screaming at her, but she couldn't understand the words. Then it struck her, her sister's eyes were softer; she looked happier, less defensive, friendlier. She also looked gentler, somehow, as if she had managed to finally let go the core of anger that had driven her so long, as if she had found her center. The sharp edges were gone; they had been smoothed out somehow. They gazed around the living and dining rooms and saw how well decorated it was. The rooms radiated a sense of peace, of happiness, of contentment and joy. It shouted out that this was a home, not just a place to stay.
"Your letters didn't do justice to this place," Kasumi said, "It's gorgeous, how on earth did you find it?"
"One of my friends knew of it," Akane responded. "Would you like some tea, I have just finished making some?" she asked. Major face faults all around, Akane just laughed at their expressions.
"Sure, "Kasumi answered, "Do you need any help."
"Thanks, the kitchen is over here," Akane said with a smile, "Besides, I knew you would want to check it out, anyway. Gee guys, I had to learn how to cook here at college. I couldn't afford to go out to eat for every meal, and instant Ramen noodles gets boring after a while. Anyway, both of you know that Auntie Nodoka finally managed to teach me a few things."
Kasumi carried the tea set in and poured. "That's a well organized kitchen, Akane, it looks like you can make more than just a few dishes. I looked at some of the recipes that you had out, some of them are pretty ambitious. Do you really make them?" she asked. Akane nodded.
"My daughter can cook," Soun said, smiling through his tears.
"Dad, will you please stop that, you'll ruin the finish on the table," Nabiki said.
"Sis, tell us how you have been. The letters and emails just can't say everything. After all it has been three years since we have been together, and I want to know about it all," Kasumi asked gently.
"Well, you've read everything I have sent you, that tells pretty much everything that's happened," Akane began, "Aside from going to class, studying, and working, there's really not much to tell. Fortunately I was able to place out of thirty hours, which made it a bit easier to finish as fast as I did, but still I had to take a pretty heavy class load each semester. That didn't leave me much time for a social life, after all. You know I've tried to keep a pretty high grade point average. I've made several friends here, and we do go out some."
"You didn't tell us everything, you never wrote about any boyfriends," Kasumi said with a smile.
Akane blushed, "Kasumi, stop that! There is one guy that I kinda like. We practice the art together, in fact he's my sensei, the one I mentioned in my letters. He helps me study as well. He's really attractive, nice, with a good sense of humor. We go out occasionally. He's a pretty good dancer, so that's what we normally do. He's also given me a few lessons in cooking too."
Nabiki's eyes narrowed for a second. 'I think my sister might be in love, from the way she was talking. He must be pretty special to have captured her heart,' Nabiki thought. "When are we going to meet this paragon?" she said, "I would really like to meet the guy who made you forget about Ranma."
A strange smile flickered across Akane's face. It happened so fast, that Nabiki wasn't sure she had really seen it. "Oh, you'll meet him soon enough. He definitely wanted to meet all of you, "Akane said, "I think you'll like him as much as I do."
Kasumi said, "I'm sure we will. Are you planning on making him part of your future?"
Akane giggled. "I suppose so, you might say we have a bit of an understanding," she said.
Nabiki frowned. 'There's something going on here and I'm missing it', she thought. Then she asked, "Seriously, what are your plans after you graduate?"
Akane hesitated, and then she smiled.
A voice answered from behind them, "I imagine my wife and I will return to Nerima and take over the family dojo after I graduate. After all, children need to be spoiled by their grandparents." Everyone spun around, and stared in shock. Standing in the door to a bedroom, looking at them was an attractive red headed woman, nursing an infant.
She said, with a smirk, "Remember me, I'm Ranma Saotome." Glancing down, she blushed, and said "Oops, sorry about this."
"Ranma!!"
"Oh My!"
Soun faints.
"Akane, honey, sorry it took so long, but Nodoka here just wouldn't stop. I think Kimiko is starting to wake up too, so she'll need a change and will be hungry as well. Greedy guts here didn't leave anything," Ranma said, smiling. Akane got up and went through the door Ranma was standing in. "Kasumi, would you like to hold your niece while I get changed?"
"Sure," Kasumi whispered, still in shock, while Nabiki said "Oh My". 'Wait a minute, I'm supposed to say that,' Kasumi thought to herself. Ranma handed her the baby, and went back into the bedroom. A few minutes later, a much taller man in different clothing walked out, followed by Akane who was carrying a second girl.
"Don't look so surprised, you two," Ranma smirked, "You should have remembered that I never give up. Once I finally admitted to myself that I loved your sister, you should have known this would have happened."
Akane sat down next to Kasumi, and began nursing Kimiko. Nabiki grinned and said, "Looks like your husband's modesty is rubbing off on you." Akane looked puzzled for a second, then shrugged.
"Well, I imagine you guys have a lot of questions, but I think we ought to wait on most of them until after your father wakes up," Ranma said, "Until then, would anyone like some more tea," as he walks into the kitchen. A few minutes later he walked out with another teacup and poured himself a cup. After filling everyone else's up, he sat down.
"How have you two been doing, is married life treating you right? Akane has read me all of your letters but that didn't cover everything I am sure. We have missed you all," asked Ranma, with an evil grin.
"Oh no you don't," said Nabiki, "You're going to tell us what is going on. You owe us some explanations, the last we knew; you two had broken your engagement. How long have you been married, and whose girls are these?"
"They are Ranma's and mine, of course," said Akane with a smile, "They were born six weeks ago. I'm still not back in shape from the pregnancy, couldn't you tell. I don't normally have this much stomach, for example. As for how long we've been married, it's been eighteen months."
"That's longer than Kuno and I," said Nabiki, "But, that's not what I meant, I mean, Ranma was nursing Nodoka, how did that happen?"
"I'm not really sure myself. The OB/GYN we went to went into shock when we showed her as well. As best as we can figure though, during our training together at home, we got real close, almost to the point we knew what the other was thinking. Probably, reading each other's body language or something. Anyway, after we moved in together, and then especially after we got married, we got even closer. For several reasons, I have to spend most of my time as a woman, so we got comfortable working together and just basically got in sync with each other. You'll see what I mean when we cook dinner. Anyway, when Akane got pregnant, I guess I convinced myself that I was too, I mean, my body started acting like I was pregnant as well. I went through all of the same physical changes as well, including some pretty intense sympathetic labor pains. I hope she was kidding when she said I get to carry the next baby," Ranma replied, "I don't think I could do it for real, I'm just not strong enough."
"Ranma, honey, who said I was kidding!" Akane said with an evil smile. Everyone broke out laughing at the expression on Ranma's face.
Ranma continued, saying "Well, er, anyway, like I said, for what ever reason, my body thought it was pregnant as weird as that sounds. About a month ago, I was in the bedroom changing my clothes. I had just taken my shirt off, when I noticed Nodoka was starting to fuss. I picked her up, changed her diaper, and then walked into the kitchen to give her to Akane, when I got drenched. Akane was on the ladder watering the plants on the plant ledge, and accidentally watered me instead. Anyway, it was enough to trigger the change, and sure enough, Nodoka did what came naturally and latched on and began to suckle. Obviously nothing happened, and she began whimpering, when suddenly my milk dropped. Speaking of weird sensations. Especially when I'm a guy. So ever since then, I help Akane nurse the girls, which certainly helps some. Old greedy guts Nodoka doesn't like to share apparently, just like Pop, I guess."
Soun finally woke up from his faint. "Father, come meet your granddaughters," said Akane with pride, "This is Kimiko, and Kasumi is holding Nodoka. We wanted to name them after our mothers to honor our family."
Soun kissed his daughter, "Akane, you have grown, you said you would surprise me and you did, " he said. 'The family will continue now,' he thought happily.
"Akane, if you are done, we need to see about fixing dinner," Ranma said.
Akane handed Kimiko to Nabiki, who didn't look like she was real sure about that. Kimiko began cooing, and suddenly Nabiki's heart seemed to melt. She lost that Ice Queen image, and smiled down at the little girl in her arms. She suddenly realized that she was missing something in her life. "Don't worry, Biki-chan, you have plenty of time for both family and career," Ranma said softly to her alone. Nabiki looked surprised, then smiled. 'He has changed as well, before he wouldn't have said that,' she thought.
Ranma and Akane went into the kitchen to cook dinner. Everyone watched in amazement as the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts Cooking Team swung into action. There was almost no sound as Ranma got ingredients to Akane, almost as if he knew exactly what she needed, while she prepared things with confidence. In a relatively short order, the meal was prepared, placed on the stove or in the oven, and the kitchen left spotless. As they walked back in, Akane looked at them staring in shock, laughed, and said, "Dinner will be ready around 6, what would you like to do until then?"
"Well, I'd certainly like to know what is going on here for starters," Soun said, "Why didn't you tell us you were married, with children, even."
"That's mostly my fault, I suppose, " Ranma began, "I wanted us to have some time for ourselves before the Nerima horde found out about us. I just mailed a letter to my family to tell them about us."
Kasumi asked, "You still didn't really answer the question, though. How come you didn't tell us about all of this? In fact, why did you disappear so completely from Tokyo?"
Akane answered, "We though long and hard about what to do when Ranma joined me here. We wanted to tell both our families, but we were afraid the pressure to wed would start over again. We've known for some time that we cared about each other, but we really wanted to make up our own minds about how we felt. Plus if we decided to get married, we wanted it to be when we were ready. Then after what happened the last month he was school in Tokyo. just made the decision easier."
"Yeah, that last month or so, kind of changed my mind. I originally was going to come here openly, but when Kodachi started chasing me, then Shampoo, plus I was afraid that the old panda might have some more fiancées coming out of the woodwork, we decided it wouldn't work. I kept my promise to them about e-mails, and arranged for birthday presents for them, but I haven't been back since. That's the one thing I regret about the whole situation. I figured that if our families didn't know where I was, maybe the pests wouldn't either. Speaking of pests, Mom hasn't heard from Pop in a long time, have any of you? Nabiki, why are you smiling like that? Anyway, Nabiki here took care of Kuno for me, since he got interested in her, and stopped worrying about Akane, and didn't bug me anymore," Ranma said, "Fortunately, my student visa and acceptance here had come through, so I could start making plans to vanish. Disappearing actually wasn't too hard, but it did cause some major complications later. The biggest one was because I got the visa as a female; I also had to attend school as one. When they hired me as a martial arts instructor, I had to stay that way to keep from messing up the records. I guess that I've spent at least about half of my time here as a woman, so I finally got a bit older in my girl form."