'Over the Clouds'
A lone raindrop splashed into an ever-growing puddle, adding to the hundreds that have fallen before it, and the thousands yet that shall follow. The pooling liquid was disturbed even further by a sodden slipper, depleting it, and sending the contents about the drenched ground.
The red-headed girl turned around to look where she had stepped, and spun back to the direction she had been heading with a giggle. She easily leapt into the air, and landed balanced on a fence, before leaping over her female companion, and splashing into another puddle for an even larger splash than prior.
"You no splash in puddle, Ranma," The other young lady commanded, while continuing to follow the directions she had been given earlier.
The redhead gave a sheepish grin to the other girl, before replying, "Sorry. Shampoo."
Shampoo sighed, "Is okay, but no more." The girl stopped, growled in irritation, "Where is Ranma father?"
The other girl also began to look around, until she spotted what they were searching for, "THERE HE IS! GET HIM!!"
With a burst of speed that Shampoo barely notice start, Ranma was off, charging down her target. A panda, seemingly oblivious to events, turned around, just in time to find himself almost run down by a redheaded streak.
With deft agility unbecoming of the large animal, its arms flashed out just in time, to catch the girl in a firm grasp.
"Where we going?" The redhead asked with an innocent and gleeful anticipation. The Panda put the girl down, and pointed to the doors next to a sign reading 'Tendou Dojo'.
"Oh!" Ranma didn't bother with the doors, instead choosing to leap onto the surrounding stone wall, and somersault off, disappearing behind it.
Shampoo came up behind the large panda, still staring off to where the other girl went, "Where husband go?"
The panda turned to Shampoo, and held up a sigh, "[Come on, we have an old friend of mine to meet.]" It gestured through the gates of the Tendou Dojo with the sign, urging Shampoo to enter.
_________________
"No idea?" the shortest haired girl of the three daughters repeated, incredulously.
"Never met him," her father replied, staring her in the eye as if the reply was a casual observation.
"gee, daddy, you're just selling us down the river, aren't you?" she quipped, turning away in a huff.
"Now Nabiki, I'm pretty sure he is a nice young man! He is the son of my best friend and training partner, after all," the father replied, attempting to quell his daughters before they fully rebelled.
"Dad, no offense, but this is just stupid!" the youngest interjected, "You're getting us married to a boy NONE of us ever met! How do we know he isn't going to be some pervert, even if he is 'the sone of your best friend and training partner'?"
"Well, I-" it was then they all heard the knocking at the front door. "That must be them, now" the father replied, relieved for the distraction.
"Well, may as well see if he's at least a looker," Nabiki stated in resignation.
"Oh, I do hope he's older," the eldest daughter thought to herself. She wasn't particularly interested in an engagement with a stranger, but she would enjoy someone her age to converse with.
"How depressing, boys," the youngest thought darkly to herself, as she walked down the hall.
"Hi!"
Both Kasumi and Akane perked at the voice, it sounded rather young and high pitched for a young man of about their age. they both picked up the pace, and rounded the corner to find their sister and father looking at a youthful redhead that seemed to be expulging vitality and exuberance.
Their visitor smiled brightly, before becoming slightly self concience at the stares from Nabiki and her father. Crooking a finger and holding the last knuckle against soft lips, the redhead looked back with a timid expression.
"And... you are?" The older man asked, looking down at their guest.
The redhead began to smile again, and straightened up, "Ranma Saotome!"
"Wow!" Nabiki breathed, "He *definately* is cute!" The effimate appearance, topped with an unruly mop of red hair that shined like a well polished apple, complimented by the most perfect blue eyes that shown with a healthy glow that was so enticing that it made one just want to stare into them, and be lost. The mecurial change from bashful to outgoing was a definite turn on, too. The only downsides Nabiki could see was that Ranma was a bit short... and there was something else about his appearance and whole very demeanor.
"AT LAST, YOU'VE COME!" the father cried out, lunging forward to grasp onto his soon-to-be son-in-law. He didn't even notice Ranma flip away from his grasp, until he found himself clutching nothing but empty space, and heard the giggling from up ahead of him.
That's when Nabiki noticed it, along with the eldest daughter.
"Daddy," Nabiki began, tentatively, "Exactly *how* old is Ranma?"
"He sixteen," a new, accented voice replied.
"Hi Shampoo!" Ranma greeted, as the lavender haired girl came, and wrapped her left arm over Ranma's shoulder in a gentle, and affectionate manner.
"Who are you?" Nabiki enquired for her father, who was still confused as to how Ranma disappeared from his grasp.
"I Xian Pu of Neiichizu," the young woman replied, "Soun Tendo live here, is true?"
Hearing his name, Soun finally brought himself into the conversation, "Yes, that is I."
The young woman nodded, "Is friend of Genma Saotome?"
"Yes!" Soun began to perk up at the mention of his old friend, "Where is he? It's been too long!"
"Need hot water, then he come," Shampoo stated.
The Tendou patriarch found the request unusual, but nodded to his eldest daughter. She complied, and left for the kitchen.
"How is it you are associated with my old friend, Genma?" Soun asked, beginning a conversation.
Behind them, the youngest daughter leaned over to Nabiki, "Nabiki, does something seem a bit... weird about Ranma?"
Nabiki's brows furrowed in irritation before replying, "Yeah, like he's only ten years old, or something?"
"Huh?" the other girl replied, before shaking off what her sister said, "I mean, he seems a too much like a girl to be a boy."
Nabiki mused over what her younger sister said, "You're right, Akane."
"He come through Neichizu village with Ranma, where Shampoo met Genma." The lavender haired companion of Ranma's replied.
"Neichiizu... village of the Amazons," Soun recalled, "So, Genma and Ranma were traveling through, looking for martial arts techniques?"
"Is no true," Shampoo replied, airen and..."
"Ranma, you're a girl, aren't you?" Nabiki called out, interrupting Shampoo. The lavender haired girl blinked, before looking to Ranma, and finding her nodding happily.
Soun stopped short, "Come again?"
"I'm a girl!" Ranma replied, in a giddy tone, causing Shampoo to close her eyes and sigh. Akane pumped her arm, mouthing victory cries, while Nabiki snorted, and considered charging her father for wasting her time.
"Here you go," Kasumi called out, bringing a kettle of hot water that she had been preparing for tea out.
"Thank you," Shampoo took the kettle, and handed it to Ranma, "You father is on side of porch, you give him, yes?" Ranma nodded, and ran out the door.
"did I hear correctly that Ranma was a girl?" Kasumi enquired, feeling a slight wave of relief pass over her. She patted the cross she wore around her neck in an unconcious manner, as was her habit when she calmed down.
"Is no true," Shampoo stated in exasperation, "Is best Shampoo explain when airen here."
"Airen?" Akane blinked, finally calming down, "Who's that?"
"Where have I heard that word before..." Soun mused to himself, just as a stout man in a gi wearing a bandanna around his scalp walked in.
"Tendou."
"Saotome..."
They both launched at each other, grasping each other's hands, as their eyes welled up with tears."
"IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN, SAOTOME/TENDOU!" They both cried out to one another, before collapsing into a comaradery hug.
Ranma walked back in, shaking the kettle upside down, while frowning, "Pop used the water all up, I wanted them to see my trick!"
"We show them later, Okay Ranma?" Shampoo replied, rubbing Ranma's back between her shoulderblades.
"Okay Shampoo!" Kasumi, Akane, and Nabiki looked at each other, puzzled by the interaction between the two girls; they weren't accustomed to such open affection between two girls.
"What Shampoo say Ranma call Shampoo?" the lavender haired girl chided in a light, but slightly commanding tone.
Kasumi had began to wander back into the kitchen. She couldn't help but feel both relieved and slightly disappointed at the ordeal. Ranma turned out to be a spirited young girl, instead of a potentially intellectual young man of her age or slightly older. She sighed to herself, as she thought to consider what to serve to guests on such short notice. It would not be proper for a hostess to be so inhospitable to her guests.
Ranma smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, Mom."
A lone raindrop splashed into an ever-growing puddle, adding to the hundreds that have fallen before it, and the thousands yet that shall follow. The pooling liquid was disturbed even further by a sodden slipper, depleting it, and sending the contents about the drenched ground.
The red-headed girl turned around to look where she had stepped, and spun back to the direction she had been heading with a giggle. She easily leapt into the air, and landed balanced on a fence, before leaping over her female companion, and splashing into another puddle for an even larger splash than prior.
"You no splash in puddle, Ranma," The other young lady commanded, while continuing to follow the directions she had been given earlier.
The redhead gave a sheepish grin to the other girl, before replying, "Sorry. Shampoo."
Shampoo sighed, "Is okay, but no more." The girl stopped, growled in irritation, "Where is Ranma father?"
The other girl also began to look around, until she spotted what they were searching for, "THERE HE IS! GET HIM!!"
With a burst of speed that Shampoo barely notice start, Ranma was off, charging down her target. A panda, seemingly oblivious to events, turned around, just in time to find himself almost run down by a redheaded streak.
With deft agility unbecoming of the large animal, its arms flashed out just in time, to catch the girl in a firm grasp.
"Where we going?" The redhead asked with an innocent and gleeful anticipation. The Panda put the girl down, and pointed to the doors next to a sign reading 'Tendou Dojo'.
"Oh!" Ranma didn't bother with the doors, instead choosing to leap onto the surrounding stone wall, and somersault off, disappearing behind it.
Shampoo came up behind the large panda, still staring off to where the other girl went, "Where husband go?"
The panda turned to Shampoo, and held up a sigh, "[Come on, we have an old friend of mine to meet.]" It gestured through the gates of the Tendou Dojo with the sign, urging Shampoo to enter.
_________________
"No idea?" the shortest haired girl of the three daughters repeated, incredulously.
"Never met him," her father replied, staring her in the eye as if the reply was a casual observation.
"gee, daddy, you're just selling us down the river, aren't you?" she quipped, turning away in a huff.
"Now Nabiki, I'm pretty sure he is a nice young man! He is the son of my best friend and training partner, after all," the father replied, attempting to quell his daughters before they fully rebelled.
"Dad, no offense, but this is just stupid!" the youngest interjected, "You're getting us married to a boy NONE of us ever met! How do we know he isn't going to be some pervert, even if he is 'the sone of your best friend and training partner'?"
"Well, I-" it was then they all heard the knocking at the front door. "That must be them, now" the father replied, relieved for the distraction.
"Well, may as well see if he's at least a looker," Nabiki stated in resignation.
"Oh, I do hope he's older," the eldest daughter thought to herself. She wasn't particularly interested in an engagement with a stranger, but she would enjoy someone her age to converse with.
"How depressing, boys," the youngest thought darkly to herself, as she walked down the hall.
"Hi!"
Both Kasumi and Akane perked at the voice, it sounded rather young and high pitched for a young man of about their age. they both picked up the pace, and rounded the corner to find their sister and father looking at a youthful redhead that seemed to be expulging vitality and exuberance.
Their visitor smiled brightly, before becoming slightly self concience at the stares from Nabiki and her father. Crooking a finger and holding the last knuckle against soft lips, the redhead looked back with a timid expression.
"And... you are?" The older man asked, looking down at their guest.
The redhead began to smile again, and straightened up, "Ranma Saotome!"
"Wow!" Nabiki breathed, "He *definately* is cute!" The effimate appearance, topped with an unruly mop of red hair that shined like a well polished apple, complimented by the most perfect blue eyes that shown with a healthy glow that was so enticing that it made one just want to stare into them, and be lost. The mecurial change from bashful to outgoing was a definite turn on, too. The only downsides Nabiki could see was that Ranma was a bit short... and there was something else about his appearance and whole very demeanor.
"AT LAST, YOU'VE COME!" the father cried out, lunging forward to grasp onto his soon-to-be son-in-law. He didn't even notice Ranma flip away from his grasp, until he found himself clutching nothing but empty space, and heard the giggling from up ahead of him.
That's when Nabiki noticed it, along with the eldest daughter.
"Daddy," Nabiki began, tentatively, "Exactly *how* old is Ranma?"
"He sixteen," a new, accented voice replied.
"Hi Shampoo!" Ranma greeted, as the lavender haired girl came, and wrapped her left arm over Ranma's shoulder in a gentle, and affectionate manner.
"Who are you?" Nabiki enquired for her father, who was still confused as to how Ranma disappeared from his grasp.
"I Xian Pu of Neiichizu," the young woman replied, "Soun Tendo live here, is true?"
Hearing his name, Soun finally brought himself into the conversation, "Yes, that is I."
The young woman nodded, "Is friend of Genma Saotome?"
"Yes!" Soun began to perk up at the mention of his old friend, "Where is he? It's been too long!"
"Need hot water, then he come," Shampoo stated.
The Tendou patriarch found the request unusual, but nodded to his eldest daughter. She complied, and left for the kitchen.
"How is it you are associated with my old friend, Genma?" Soun asked, beginning a conversation.
Behind them, the youngest daughter leaned over to Nabiki, "Nabiki, does something seem a bit... weird about Ranma?"
Nabiki's brows furrowed in irritation before replying, "Yeah, like he's only ten years old, or something?"
"Huh?" the other girl replied, before shaking off what her sister said, "I mean, he seems a too much like a girl to be a boy."
Nabiki mused over what her younger sister said, "You're right, Akane."
"He come through Neichizu village with Ranma, where Shampoo met Genma." The lavender haired companion of Ranma's replied.
"Neichiizu... village of the Amazons," Soun recalled, "So, Genma and Ranma were traveling through, looking for martial arts techniques?"
"Is no true," Shampoo replied, airen and..."
"Ranma, you're a girl, aren't you?" Nabiki called out, interrupting Shampoo. The lavender haired girl blinked, before looking to Ranma, and finding her nodding happily.
Soun stopped short, "Come again?"
"I'm a girl!" Ranma replied, in a giddy tone, causing Shampoo to close her eyes and sigh. Akane pumped her arm, mouthing victory cries, while Nabiki snorted, and considered charging her father for wasting her time.
"Here you go," Kasumi called out, bringing a kettle of hot water that she had been preparing for tea out.
"Thank you," Shampoo took the kettle, and handed it to Ranma, "You father is on side of porch, you give him, yes?" Ranma nodded, and ran out the door.
"did I hear correctly that Ranma was a girl?" Kasumi enquired, feeling a slight wave of relief pass over her. She patted the cross she wore around her neck in an unconcious manner, as was her habit when she calmed down.
"Is no true," Shampoo stated in exasperation, "Is best Shampoo explain when airen here."
"Airen?" Akane blinked, finally calming down, "Who's that?"
"Where have I heard that word before..." Soun mused to himself, just as a stout man in a gi wearing a bandanna around his scalp walked in.
"Tendou."
"Saotome..."
They both launched at each other, grasping each other's hands, as their eyes welled up with tears."
"IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN, SAOTOME/TENDOU!" They both cried out to one another, before collapsing into a comaradery hug.
Ranma walked back in, shaking the kettle upside down, while frowning, "Pop used the water all up, I wanted them to see my trick!"
"We show them later, Okay Ranma?" Shampoo replied, rubbing Ranma's back between her shoulderblades.
"Okay Shampoo!" Kasumi, Akane, and Nabiki looked at each other, puzzled by the interaction between the two girls; they weren't accustomed to such open affection between two girls.
"What Shampoo say Ranma call Shampoo?" the lavender haired girl chided in a light, but slightly commanding tone.
Kasumi had began to wander back into the kitchen. She couldn't help but feel both relieved and slightly disappointed at the ordeal. Ranma turned out to be a spirited young girl, instead of a potentially intellectual young man of her age or slightly older. She sighed to herself, as she thought to consider what to serve to guests on such short notice. It would not be proper for a hostess to be so inhospitable to her guests.
Ranma smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, Mom."