Kasumi was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming, but couldn't change anything in the dream. Not for lack of trying however. This dream was no dream at all, noir a nightmare, but close enough. It was a memory, an old one. While she didn't exactly relish reliving this particular memory, it was nice to be able to see her mother again.
She was with her mother, who was in a hospital bed. Mom was going away. Little Kasumi understood what that meant, if barely. Nabiki was to young to really understand; she thought mommy was going on a trip. The Kasumi that was watching the memories through her smaller self's eyes knew exactly what was happening in the dream. This was around when her mother first checked into the hospital. It would be a while before she finally passed on. Mom was always a fighter.
The memory was playing before her, but like with all memories, this one was faded. She couldn't make out what anyone was saying, but what she was able to see told her enough. Her mother was in the hospital bed holding Akane, reading a storybook to Nabiki who sat on the edge, while little Kasumi sat in a chair next to her mother. The voices were blurry and the images were indistinct, but Kasumi could care less. She sat for a while in contentment, listening to the smooth tones of her mothers voice as she read from the book.
Something shifted while Kasumi sat there. She could still tell she was sitting there listing to her mother, but her point of view shifted. All of a sudden, she was standing at the doorway, looking in, and seeing herself, her sisters, and her mother in the room. Standing there looking in, she saw her father, younger and more energetic walking up the hallway towards a room talking with a doctor.
"I understand your concern doctor, but it is just a phase she is going through." Suddenly Kasumi could hear her father and the doctor talking like it was happening right next to her in real life, and not just a memory.
"Mr. Tendo, you need to listen. We are sorry that there is not much we can do for your wife, but you can't just ignore the health of your daughters." The doctor said
"My daughters are in perfect health, thank you very much." Soun said.
"Physically, yes. They are in excellent health in that regard. But mentally, they could be less then healthy. Few children have to deal with the knowledge that a parent is dieing right before them."
"My girls are strong. They will be fine." Soun said.
"Strong as they may be, this is not something that someone can easily live with. Most children that lose a parent lose them in an abrupt way, witch results in a variety of different reaction, most of which can be dealt with over time. For your little girls however, it is not the same; they are going to watch your wife slowly waste away. It is a horrible thing to subject a child too." the doctor said.
"And what do you suggest I do? Keep my girls from seeing their mother?" Soun asked, with a growing tone of anger.
"No, of course not. Just keep an eye out for their mental health. For the younger two I don't see too much of a problem, it will be for them much like it is for ones that abruptly lose a parent, but your oldest, Kasumi, is already showing some warning signs. You yourself say she talks with animals." The doctor said.
"It is just a phase she's going through. Much like an imaginary friend." Soun argued.
"Maybe, Maybe not. I believe it might be a result of her trying to deal with her mother dieing. It is a common phenomenon in cases like these. If she doesn't stop soon, I want you to give this man a call." The doctor handed her father a card. "He is a psychiatrist, and is experienced with problems like these, and it is easy to fix; just a couple months of taking some pills."
"Kasumi doesn't have a problem. It's a phase."
"All phases end at some point, Mr. Tendo. If she doesn't learn how to properly deal with her mothers death instead of retreating into the fantasy that she can talk to animals it's going to leave long-lasting problems. At least consider it," the doctor said.
"All right, all right. Fine, I'll consider it. Now if you will excuse me, I'm going in with my family." So saying, Soun opened the door and stepped in to greet his family. The scene faded out and she could tell the memory/dream was over
Kasumi shuddered at the implications of the memory as she woke up. Most of the details started to fade as she reached towards consciousness, but the ideas that they spawned refused to leave her.
The first thing she noticed when she woke up was she was not in her bed. Far from it. She was on some sort of hard gravely surface, gazing at a clear blue sky. She sat there for a moment trying to think how she could have gotten up here.
Abruptly she remembered. She was trying to get away from the little talking three tailed fox. She remembered finding the poor thing starved and half-dead in that alleyway. She took pity on the thing and picked it up to take home. She thought it was odd that the thing had three tails, but thought it might just be some odd breed. She just couldn't leave it out to the elements. He had found a nice basket and blanket to keep it in, and had put it in the kitchen where she could keep an eye on it. She couldn't determine that anything in particular was wrong with the little thing, just that it was exhausted. She had asked her sister to see if she could find the owners. When her sister didn't comment on the odd number of tails, she started to get worried. The little fox had slept for the better part of two days before waking. And after it woke things started to get odd. It seemed to be able to understand her, and would respond to what she said. A lot like most animals had when she was little. Before she started to take those pills. Then it spoke to her.
She nearly lost it then and there and screamed, but managed to reign the urge in. She had always been told that speaking to animals and pretending that they responded was just some way for her mind to deal with the loss of her mother. She didn't really want to believe what they told her then, but they made such logical arguments, and when she started to take those pills, the animals stopped talking back. as she grew older she began to see it from the others point of view, and started to understand that it was just a way for hear to deal with her mothers death. She was able to go off the pills and continued to live normally. Well, as normally as she could. Then the fox had spoke. She was old enough to know that animals couldn't speak. It just wasn't possible. But here was this little fox thing, It's jaw moving, and words coming out. No one else apparently saw the any more tails then one on it and she didn't want an express trip to an asylum by asking her father or sisters if they had heard the fox talking, so she did the only thing she could. Try and find the pills. She must have been regressing or something. The fox continued to ask her questions, and against her better judgment, she replied.
Half her mind, the whimsical part, mostly ignored since her mothers death, had spoken-up at that point. What if she really could speak with animals? Wouldn't that be wonderful? But then the logical part of her mind came back with a vengeance. It was impossible to talk with animals. There was just something wrong with her mind. It was the simplest explanation. And the simplest explanation was always right.
She didn't know how she got out onto the sidewalk, but the fox had followed her, and for the life of her sounded like he was trying to fix something it had broken. Then it made the claim of being a Kitsune. That opened up a whole new can of worms for Kasumi. A real life Kitsune… that would mean magic was real. But magic couldn't be real; it wasn't logical. Kasumi needed a few minutes alone to get her thoughts in order, so she stepped into the street to cross.
In hindsight it was a stupid thing to do, steping into a street without looking like that. She heard the fox-thing shout a warning, but she covered her ears and ignored it, humming loudly to herself. At the last instant, she turned as saw a truck barreling down on her, breaks squealing, trying to stop. She saw that it wouldn't be able to stop in time, not even close. She hadn't seen or heard the truck, but the little fox had. It even tried to warn her. She would have had to of seen the truck coming to be able to project the warning onto the little fox. She was sure that she hadn't see the truck coming herself.
Then a pair of strong arms scooped her up and she was suddenly flying up through the air, away from the truck. She closed her eyes and clung to her rescuer tighter and she felt… fur? Feeling her rescuer set her down she opened her eyes and took a good look. What stood before her was something right out of a fairy tail.
Standing there, Covered in reddish auburn fur with white fur markings along her belly and paws, a fox like face; right down to the pointed ears on her head, snout, whiskers, and fur-markings, and kneading one tail while two others hung behind her, was a three-tailed blue eyed Kitsune.
Kasumi remember herself on autopilot reaching out and touching the myth, and felt it. The Kitsune was real, she was sure to her core. She supposed that was the point where she passed out, because she couldn't remember anything more.
"If you stay laying on the hard ground your going to put a crick in your back." An amused voice interrupted her musings.
The sound startled Kasumi into sitting upright. She found herself on a worn hillside trail surrounded by trees. The sun was high in a blue sky, while a few puffy white clouds floated around. Down the hill she could see rice patties growing and some workers tending to them. The traveled parallel to the slope, seeming to circle around the hill as it disappeared into the underbrush.
Looking for the source of the voice, she saw a older gentleman with a long white beard sitting on the trail next to her, wearing a worn, but comfortable looking set of travelers clothing. He was holding a bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks, and had a sack filled with something set down next to him. Seeing her rapidly look at her surroundings and then at him, he started chuckling lightly.
"Here, you look like you could use something to eat. Have some of my rice, I have plenty." The old man said, passing her his bowl and chopsticks.
"Um, Thank you." Kasumi said. Even though she didn't actually feel hungry, took a polite bite of the rice. It was surprisingly good. She was about to ask the kind old man where she was and what his name was, but he started talking.
"Normally send my little friend to deliver messages, " he said with a sigh "but I felt the need to take a more hands on approach since it involved that new ward of mine. Please listen closely." He said, looking at Kasumi expectantly. Kasumi, at a loss for what to do, nodded to indicate she was listening. There would be time for her questions after the gentleman finished.
"You have recently had a little, shall we say 'experience' with a three-tailed talking fox named Ranma, who, reluctantly, claimed to be a Kitsune. Fist thing I want to say dear, is that you are not crazy, and that those events actually did happen. Furthermore, you have never been crazy. You can talk to animals. You haven't heard them in a while because you've been blocking the ability, but never doubt that you can talk to them if you want. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Secondly, the three-tailed fox that claimed to be named Ranma as well as claimed to be a Kitsune, is in fact, a three-tailed Kitsune named Ranma. Among other things. " Kasumi could feel that the old man wasn't lying, and for some reason knew the words he spoke were the truth. "Now, back to the little mischief maker you've recently found. His name is Ranma, and he was sent to you"
Kasumi had to speak up at that point, as she could feel herself getting more and more confused. " Um, Excuse me, but I can only assume you mean the fox I found in the alley, but that was a female fox, and you are refereeing to it as if it were a male…"
"Ah, yes. That" He said. "Well, that's a complicated situation. The thing is that the poor thing is really both. He can be a she if she want and, she can be a he if he wants. I have no doubt that it will cause no end of headaches for the child in the future. For now he sees himself as male. But enough about that, I could talk for ages on the subject, and Ranma is the better one to talk to it about. So… err, where was I?" the kindly old man asked, looking slightly confused.
Kasumi, despite the surreal situation, giggled. "You had said that his name was 'Ranma,' And that he was sent to me?" she prompted the older man. Even if the older man was making stuff up, it would be rude not to listen to him till he finished. Who knows, there may be a grain of truth to be found in his words as well.
"Ah yes, the new one. Ranma was sent to you for a variety of reasons, but most of them are unimportant at the moment. The only real reason is that around you is the safest place to be. For the time being anyway."
"Safe? Me? I-I.." Kasumi tried to come up with something to say.
"Yes dear. You are one of the safest persons he could be around at the moment. You have a kind and caring spirit and are the best suited on your planet to help him, and it doesn't hurt that you have a few gifts, either. Unfortunately you have had little experience with these gifts, but maybe that will change now, eh?"
"But… but I don't know if I cant protect Her … him, from anything. I'm not a fighter and Akane can't always be around."
"Ranma is a physically strong being, able to do amazing things with his or her body, depending, and perform wonders feats of skill and strength. Fighting he is perfectly accustomed to and can handle himself, or herself, as the case may be, just fine. No, Ranma's problem's are of a more mental nature. He needs a quite and calm place to work through the changes that have happened to him recently. He can tell you about the particular changes himself when she is ready. They have happened suddenly and abruptly for him, and her mind is being stretched thin, close to the breaking point." The old man seemed to lean back and think for few seconds.
"For now with you is the best place for the child to be. Help Ranma recover and discover about him and herself. It would probably be best if you kept this a secrete from the rest of your family as well. At least for a little while. They wouldn't react well to knowledge of the supernatural at this moment in time and it could become dangerous for the little kit." Kasumi silently agreed, while her father intended good, he would end up telling half of Tokyo while bar hoping. Nabiki would probably sell the information to some scientist. While she knew Nabiki did things like that to help keep the family afloat financially, she didn't exactly agree with the methods her sister chose. Akane… who knew how her little sister would react? It could be any one of a hundred reactions, ranging from latching onto the Kitsune like a pet, and smashing it flat for some perceived insult. Akane had a higher probability of latching onto the young Kitsune as a pet while thinking it was a normal fox then smashing it. Sadly, she had to agree, the old gentleman was correct, it was best to keep the secret from her family for now.
There was a distant rumble of thunder, even though there were no more clouds in the sky then before. Looking into the sky, the old man seemed to listen to something only he could hear. " Looks like our time is up. I'm sorry for dumping all this on you without giving you some time to think and talk about it, but it's out of my hands. Its time for you to get going now."
"Wait, I never got to ask your name. Where am I going?"
The old man cracked a smile and replied; "My name? Well, it's not too hard to figure out if you think about it. And you are waking up. Fair journey to you Kasumi." The old man said. Before she could respond, he made a small gesture with his hands, and everything went dark.
The Real WorldKasumi woke to a blue cloudless sky and the sound of traffic. She was laying on a hard surface, and had unreasonable clear memories of the dreams she had just had. Were they dreams?
Sitting up, she looked around. She was on a roof. So did that all really happen? Something inside of her gave an irrevocable 'Yes', but she feared the implications. Looking around Kasumi found a ladder near one edge of the roof, leading to and alley, and then to the street below. On the other side, curled up in a corner, sat a figure posed in dejection. Sitting, with her head resting on her knees and her arms wrapped over her hears was the Kitsune, Ranma. The fox-girl obviously hadn't seen Kasumi move yet.
Kasumi was presented with a choice. She could probably make it to and down the ladder without being noticed. After that she could go by her doctors, get some pills and forget all this as just a temporary relapse. All the symptoms were there of a relapse, she had read about them in a medical book she had borrowed. But that would mean turning her back on something fantastical, even if it was only in her head. As much as she wanted to believe in the magical, she didn't know if she could. It was too strange, too weird to be believable. The feelings and thoughts that she had during her dream had faded, and cold hard logic was reasserting itself.
Putting her hand down to brace herself standing up, she felt something odd. Two somethings. Picking them up, she brought them around to look at them. It was a pair of chopsticks. Where in heaven had those come from? The she heard something through the noise of the traffic. Someone was sniffling, like they were trying to keep from crying. Realizing it was coming from the fox-girl, Kasumi stood, firming her resolve in her decision.
A.N. Yes, yes, I know. It's a lousy place to stop, and you people hate cliff-hangers. (I kinda do too, but hey…) Just for reference, I am going to go back at some point and fix all the pronouns when refereeing to Ranma's current form, and hopefully make it a bit easier to read. Hopefully I'll be able to write a bit more action in, because all this mental and characterization stuff does get boring. Still I've got to get them from point A to point B without making it seem to fake. Maybe I will find a way to cut it down in the future. And yes, yes, I know I've taken some liberties with Kasumi, but that's just the way it came out when I started to write (I hope it didn't come out to contrived). And as for Ranma being near the breaking point… wouldn't you be?
Anyways, thanks to everyone who left comments, (I do read them) they helped a lot with motivation.
