Author's Notes: I would like to thank my pre-readers DelShalDar (also his wife), and Drkjester for taking the time to proof read and give me input for this chapter. Also I used DelShalDar paragraph to describe the front of Nodoka's home because it was better than mine. Reviewer's responses are on the bottom.
Only you...
By TsunamiSaotome
The trio had been walking away from the Tendo household for a few minutes, and Nodoka was focused on getting her family to their new home. Ranma and Kasumi were still holding hands, and were blushing heavily because of it. Each of their thoughts centered on how good it felt to hold the others' hand. Kasumi and Ranma were mindlessly following Nodoka, until Ranma was pulled from his Kasumi induced haze by something bouncing off his leg. Looking down he noticed a ball, picked it up, and glanced around, he noticed a young girl running towards him. Kneeling down, he smiled as he handed the ball to her. The girl blushed as she took the ball, mumbled her thanks, then ran back to her friends. Ranma glanced around and noticed that they were in a park that was in the opposite direction of the Saotome estate.
"Mom?" Ranma called out to his mother, who had not noticed that her two companions had stopped.
"Yes?" Nodoka answered, turned around, only to be surprised as to how far she was from her son, and his love interest. Ranma briefly tightened his grip on Kasumi's hand as they walked the distance to his mother.
"Isn't the house in the other direction?" Ranma asked. Then he watched as a torrent of emotions clouded her eyes. Despair. Fear. Worthlessness. Shattered Love.
"We're going to a place that I haven't visited in the last twenty years. Genma doesn't know about it. I can't be near him. I don't want to be near him. I have to get away from him." When Nodoka finished, she was no longer the proud mother Ranma knew. This person was a frightened and lonely women that had lost everything.
Ranma started to move to comfort his mother. He felt Kasumi release his hand, and saw she had the same idea as he did. He watched Kasumi glide over to the older woman, and encircled her in a fierce, but tender embrace.
Kasumi watched the emotions play across Nodoka's face. Her thoughts were that no woman should ever feel the way Ranma's mother was now. Kasumi watched as Nodoka's emotions started to spiral out of control again and figured that the woman's fragile facade was about to fall apart, and she would break down again. Releasing Ranma's hand, she moved to tightly embrace the distraught woman. Kasumi held Ranma's mother, while Nodoka struggled to hold in tears that tried to fall. After a few tense moments Kasumi leaned in towards Nodoka's ear, and whispered.
"Ranma and I will always be with you, and love you...mother."
Nodoka started to relax, and began to pull away. When she was far enough, she grabbed and held one of Kasumi's hands in both of hers. In a warm and comforting voice said, "Thank You."
Ranma watched as one woman he loved comforted another that he loved, and smiled. He frowned as he though over his mother's words. He figured that his mother was not yet ready to confront his fa-... no, Genma. He also knew that the three of them did not want to deal with anyone in Nerima yet. If they wanted to avoid anybody from Nerima, Genma wasn't really much of an issue; it was Nabiki who was the problem. Ranma started to curse himself, since he found himself at a loss as to how to deal with Nabiki.
"-ma, Ranma..."
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he turned to Kasumi, as she had been calling him.
"Huh? Sorry. Wha?"
Kasumi's face was neutral, no trace of her usual smile could be seen. While she was holding Nodoka, she had felt a sense of frustration coming from Ranma. She had called out to him, at first he didn't respond, but when he had finally looked up and responded, she saw his face contorted in seriousness and concentration.
"What's wrong?" Kasumi asked in a calm voice mixed with a bit of concern.
"Noth-..." Ranma had started to automatically respond, but stopped himself. 'Kasumi and mom are much smarter then I am. Maybe be they know something that could help.' with a sigh Ranma swallowed his pride, and voiced his thoughts, "Genma isn't the one we need to worry about. It's Nabiki. She could use her people and connections to find us wherever we go, and quickly too, I think."
"I think I know a way." Nodoka spoke. By now she had released herself from Kasumi, and started to walk away again.
Deciding to trust her, Ranma took Kasumi's hand again, and started to follow his mother. The pair followed her until they had reached the business district, and she stopped at a simple looking two story building. There was nothing distinguishing about the building, it was an off-white building with windows, and a white door. Nodoka motioned for the two to follow, and walked inside. The room as simple as the outside of the building. To both sides of the entrance there was a couch, and above each couch was a painting of a forest. Near the far wall in front of them was a receptionist sitting a wood desk busy on the phone. The three of them stopped in front of the lone desk, and waited for its occupant to get off the phone.
"What can I do for you Inoue-san?" the young lady asked after she hung up the phone.
"We need some transportation, but I know that we are going to be followed." Nodoka replied.
"I see. Who do you think will be following you?"
"Nabiki Tendo."
"Hmm... very well. I will tell the others, and we will handle it." The girl calmly replied back, "So where would you like to go to today?"
"My mother's summer estate."
"Alright, if you could wait about fifteen minutes your car will be ready." with that said the young secretary smiled and left the room.
Having a moment to themselves, Nodoka turned to observe the other two that came with her. Kasumi stood there as serene as ever; simply, content to be by Ranma's side. Ranma on the other hand was fidgeting, and looked like he was about to say something.
"What's wrong?" Nodoka gentle prodded.
Ranma who was holding his question since the three entered the building blurted out his question, "What is this place?"
"It's a place for people to travel discreetly, with fewer chances of being followed; all we have to do is pay a fee."
"So this could keep Nabiki from following us?" Ranma questioned.
"Yes, at least for a while."
With Ranma's curiosity satisfied. The three settled into a comforting silence, as they waited for the young receptionist to return.
"Ms. Inoue, your car is ready. Please follow me." the young receptionist said as she entered the room. The three followed the girl as she led them to a non-descript black luxury car. She opened the door and held it for her three customers.
"Thank you." Nodoka replied with a slight bow at the young girl. She, Ranma, and Kasumi then entered the car, each with a slight bow towards the girl as they entered.
"You're welcome, and please have a safe trip." with that said the young girl closed the door to the car and left.
Once the three passengers were settled, the car started up, and was driven through a series of man-made tunnels, and eventually exiting onto a road well outside of Nerima.
The three of them had remained silent up to this point, until Kasumi asked, "Where are we going?"
"We are going to my mother's home." Nodoka softly replied.
"So does that mean I'll get to meet my grandmother?" Ranma spoke with an excited voice.
With a fallen face Ranma's mother replied, "No... Mom... your grandmother died about four years ago."
"I'm so-sorry." Ranma said, managing to somehow sound meek and saddened at the same time.
Kasumi sensed that the comfortable silence they had shared a few moments ago had now become disheartening. She felt it was her fault that everyone had become miserable, so she frantically searched for anything to distract the other two from thinking about Nodoka's mother. In the end she couldn't think of anything, so she voiced the first thought that had entered her mind.
"Why did that girl refer to you as Ms. Inoue earlier?"
Nodoka sat there pondering how to answer Kasumi's question. After a few moments she decided that her son and his almost girlfriend deserved an honest answer.
"It is my maiden name. My name before I married that... thing."
When Nodoka started to speak about her ex-husband, Kasumi started to panic, and was about to change the subject again. That was until Nodoka's soft hands were placed over hers, and Nodoka continued, "Please don't, both of you need, and deserve, to hear this."
After hearing Nodoka speak, Kasumi relented and relaxed, waiting for Nodoka to continue.
"You see, when I first started dating Genma, my family didn't approve of him. They voiced their opinions about him to me, but didn't really do anything to stop me from seeing him. I think they figured it was a phase or something. I used to get into huge arguments with anyone in my family about Genma. Everyone used to tell me about the things Genma had done, and had even shown me proof of some of what he had done. I guess those who said love was blind were talking about people like me..." Nodoka paused with a humorless chuckle, "As I got closer and closer to Genma, my family was becoming colder and more distant towards me. I think watching Genma and I becoming closer finally became too much for my father to watch, because that day he and I got into an explosive argument that ended up with me eloping with Genma. When I had calmed down, I called home to apologize to father, only to find out that I had been banished from the clan. When I heard that, I had nothing else to do except follow Genma. A year and a half after that, you were born, and for our first five or six years of marriage, Genma was the ideal husband. He was always going on training trips, but had always sent or brought home money for us. I, being the obedient house wife that I was, never questioned how he got the money, but eventually we managed to save enough to buy the Saotome estate. For those few precious years we lived together as a family; until, on the saddest day of my life, you left on that ill-fated training trip. I never agreed to that stupid seppuku contract, but it was all that I had left of you; the only reminder that you would come back to me, so I kept it. I spent the next two weeks crying and breaking down at the sight, or thought, of anything that reminded me of you two. It was at the end of the second week that I found myself staring at my sister when I opened the front door. As it had been for the last two weeks, my emotions overwhelmed me, and I grabbed and held onto my sister and cried. My sister kept holding me, until I had calmed down and asked her how she knew I was here. She told me that father had found where I lived, but never had he courage to come see me. Suddenly, she asked me to go with her and started to drag me toward her car. When I asked why, she told me that our parents were dieing. It turns out that both your grandparents had been very ill for the last three years, and they wanted to see me before they passed on. My sister rushed me to the hospital, and I got one of the biggest surprises of my life. In that hospital bed was my father, once a strong and powerful man, was a withered husk. I surprised myself by crying for him. I had shed so many tears over the last few weeks that I thought I didn't have any more that could fall. As I sat there weeping my heart out, I felt his weakened hand cup my face. He told me that his biggest regret was kicking me out of the clan, and that he was never going to meet his grandchild. His last act as the head of the clan was to take me back into it. He then asked me to speak to my mother. When I spoke to her, she told me that she regretted not being a better mother; she also admitted that she had left me a bit of land and a trust fund. After that I spent the next two days talking to them about you; until, they died minutes apart from each other. I never tried to find out how much was in the trust fund, nor have I visited my mother's summer home in the last twenty years." When Nodoka finished, her voice was filled with pride as she remembered her parents and sadness as she remembered the day her parents left her.
"So, since you haven't been to the place for so long, we don't have to clean the place do we?" Ranma's foot-in-the-mouth disease questioned
Kasumi so wanted to swat Ranma on the back of the head. Her hands were slowly being raised, and her right eye had a bit of a tick in it. Nodoka saw this and held back a chuckle. She decided not to say anything in order to see where this would lead. Kasumi was in a bit of a dilemma, she wanted to swat Ranma on the back of the head for his remark, but, at the same time, didn't really want to hit him because he received enough of that kind of attention back in Nerima. So coming to a decision about her predicament, she ended up glaring at Ranma, although coming from Kasumi it looked like an almost frown and slightly narrowed eyes, and flicked him on his nose. Ranma was extremely surprised by Kasumi's actions and looked at her only to start cringing due to the look he was receiving. Ranma averted his eyes downward to avoid Kasumi's gaze, but that only caused him to start looking at the tip of his nose because of the slight tingling sensation left by her touch. The sight of her son staring crossed eyed it the tip of his nose was too much for her and caused to start to laugh. It was the first time in nearly a decade and a half that she had actually laughed. It was the first time in that decade and a half that she felt she was even able to laugh; the first time she felt whole, and the first time she felt that she, her son, and her probable daughter-in-law were a family. Distracted by Nodoka's laughter Kasumi looked away from Ranma, who she was still a bit cross with thanks to his insensitive question, to Nodoka. She briefly wondered if the woman had finally lost it, if all the recent events and stress had finally caused Nodoka's mind to break. That was until her head turned to what Nodoka was looking at. Kasumi watched a cross-eyed Ranma twitch his nose in an incredibly cute way, and nearly broke out laughing herself. She managed to hold her laughter in, as she dug through her things, only letting out a small adorable snort, which only served to fuel Nodoka's laughter. When she found what she was looking for, she stopped digging, pulled out a small camera, steadied herself, and took a picture. With her task done, she no longer needed to hold herself back, and collapsed further back into her seat and copied Nodoka's actions. Ranma, finally drawn away from his self inspection, noticed that his two traveling companions were laughing. His face twisted in confusion as he tried to figure out what was wrong with them. That was, at least, until Kasumi lifted up the camera and snapped off another shot. That just caused Ranma to pout. This brought about another flash from Kasumi's camera. Ranma, fed up with the way the other two women were acting, turned to the window, crossed his arms, and started to sulk. After a few more minutes of laughing and giggling, both Nodoka and Kasumi calmed down enough to try to stop Ranma from brooding.
"We're sorry Ranma." Kasumi said with a smile, still trying to hold back a few giggles that had yet to escape.
Ranma looked at her, his eyes narrowed defiantly, arms still crossed, and a frown across his lips.
"Please don't be mad, but you looked so cute and we couldn't help it." Kasumi spoke with the near-infectious smile still plastered on her face.
Kasumi saw Ranma's frown falter and decided to go for broke. Ranma nearly screamed in terror as Ranma saw Kasumi use the one technique that he could never find a counter to, the one that he had always lost to, the dreaded, the should-be-forbidden, the sad puppy-dog eyes. That technique alone, on any other girl, would be able to crumble his resolve, but that look, along with Kasumi's goddess like beauty, caused his resolve to be crushed, then disintegrated, then sealed in a titanium-alloy container and buried hundreds of kilometers under mount Fuji.
"Please don't be mad; I'll make you dinner, and you can have anything you want for desert." Kasumi continued with her cuteness assault on Ranma.
Ranma slumped and dejectedly said, "Fine, but you better make lots of food! And for dessert I want a mountain of ice cream with your cherry on top!" Absently, another part of Ranma's mind wondered why he had asked Kasumi for ice cream. That was until his memories of the end of his last ice cream binge surfaced in his mind. His memories of taking that wonderful cherry into her mouth. (Ranma a girl at the time.) Suckling it. Rolling it on her tongue. Sucking on it, and milking it for every drop of its heavenly juices. Then devouring it, and savoring it like it was a piece of ambrosia from the gods themselves. God, Kasumi's things taste so good if she made it for me it would be so so… At this point that little part of Ranma's mind went blank because it couldn't find a word to Kasumi's cherry.
"Ok!" Kasumi's mouth responded before her brain had a chance to decipher and inform her of Ranma's request. Eventually her mind figured out what Ranma said he wanted, and her internal voice let out a 'O-OO-OH M-MM-MMMY'. After she realized what Ranma had asked, her entire body started to do a reasonable impression of Ranma-chan's fiery red hair.
Nodoka sat there, happily watching the other two interact. That was, at least, until Ranma's bold request. After his request she sat there in open-mouthed shock, but an old sub-routine jump-started her mind again.
'GRANDCHILDREN!'
Nodoka barely resisted the urge to break out her "I'm going to be a grandmother" fans and do her happy dance. Instead she chose to watch Ranma, who was currently inching closer and closer to Kasumi, asking her if she was ok. It was then that Nodoka realized Ranma had simply miss-worded his request. A part of her was disappointed, but the rest of her decided to laugh, which is also what she did on the outside. Ranma sat, confused again, but this time decided to ask what he'd done.
"Errr... mom, what's so funny this time?" Ranma asked with a thoroughly confused look on his face.
After succeeding in controlling her laughter, Nodoka decided to answer her son. "Well, you see Ranma, what you asked of Kasumi was mmmmpppphhhmpph..." Nodoka couldn't quite finish due to the strategic placement of Kasumi's hand which was now covering her mouth. Ranma, meanwhile, became more confused at Kasumi's actions. Ranma's mother, figuring that Kasumi didn't want Ranma to know, shut her mouth and nodded to the young woman. Sighing in relief, Kasumi released Nodoka and sat back down. Somehow knowing that he wouldn't receive any answers from his mother, Ranma decided to voice his question to Kasumi. This only served to embarrass the young woman even more and rekindle Nodoka's mirth. Suffice to say, the rest of the car ride was nearly hellish for Kasumi because Ranma, for some odd or stubborn reason, kept trying to find out what kept causing his mother to break out in fits of laughter. This caused Nodoka to start laughing again, which only refreshed Kasumi's embarrassment.
When they arrived at the house Kasumi refused to leave the car. Much to the amusement of Ranma and Nodoka, Kasumi had duplicated Ranma's earlier pose, and was moping in the car. Now it was Ranma who was pleading with Kasumi.
"I'm sorry." Ranma pleaded, "Please come out of the car. Pleeeeease!" Kasumi just turned away from him.
Nodoka, meanwhile, just stood outside of the car and was highly entertained as she watched the two interact. 'I hope they forget that I was the one who started all of this.'
Ranma, on the other hand, had succeeded in gaining Kasumi's attention again. "I'll be good, so please don't be mad at me." Ranma then proceeded to imitate Kasumi and do his own version of sad puppy dog eyes, but since he was in his guy form at the time, it wasn't as effective so all he ended up doing was look goofy. Kasumi couldn't help smiling as she looked at Ranma. Seeing his little plan succeed, Ranma could help but release a bit of a smirk.
After seeing his smirk, Kasumi rolled her eyes and spoke sarcastically, "Ranma your hopeless!"
"Hey, I have lots of hopes!" said Ranma, feeling insulted, "Like err...umm...like...I hope we don't have to clean the place up!" Oddly, Ranma felt proud of his answer, and stood with his arms crossed, nodding in a sage-like manner.
Kasumi had fought, and valiantly won, against face-faulting at Ranma statement, simply got out of the car, flicked Ranma on the nose, began ignoring him and walked towards Nodoka. Ranma looked at his nose, where Kasumi had flicked him, and then at Kasumi's back as she was walking away from him. He shivered a bit at the coldness suddenly being displayed to him by Kasumi, of all people. He couldn't help but shudder as he asked, "What'd I do?"
Nodoka sensed that the little confrontation was over and, being the loving mother she wanted to become, added one last barb. "Now, if you two are done flirting with each other, I would like to go inside."
The two blushed. Ranma started sputtering, trying to deny that he and Kasumi were flirting. But he failed miserably thanks to the growing blush dancing across his cheeks. Although, more than likely, the main reason that he couldn't deny flirting with Kasumi was because his mind couldn't complete a coherent thought at the moment. Kasumi had frozen in mid step, her mouth was agape, her eyes were as big as Ranma's ego, and the rest of her face was covered in a heavy blush.
For a brief moment Nodoka wondered if Kasumi would fall over and stay in the same pose, if she were to go over and give her a gentle nudge. She waited a few more moments, and only Nodoka would know whether she was waiting for one of them to answer, or she just wanted to embarrass them for a bit longer.
"And to answer your question Ranma, we don't need to clean the place up because my brother and sister stay here from time to time and keep the place clean. Oh, and please don't forget to bring in the backpacks when you come inside." With that said, Ranma's mother entered their new home, leaving a still stammering Ranma and frozen Kasumi outside.
There wasn't anything special about the front of the house, though the house itself looked fairly modern. A stone wall, about a meter and a half tall, surrounded the property. A doorway, built into the wall to allow entry into the estate, was about a meter wide and could be sealed with its corresponding metal gate. A stone pathway leading to the entrance of the house could be seen through the open doorway. The entrance to the house was blocked by an off-white wooden door, and on either side of the door was a sliding glass window. Another window had been placed above the doorway, and stretched the entire length of both the doorway and the windows to either side. In front of the smaller windows there were many different colored rose bushes planted. The main pathway seemed to have spawned two dirt paths, running perpendicular to the stone pathway and parallel to the rose bushes, toward the back of the house. All in all, it was a simple and comfortable looking house.
By the time Nodoka had entered the house, Ranma and Kasumi had recovered somewhat, though they still had healthy blushes caressing their cheeks. Having done as his mother asked, Ranma had gathered his and Kasumi's backpacks and followed Kasumi into the house. When they entered the house they found themselves in a small living room. To the right was a fire place, ahead of them was a set of stairs running parallel to the door, and a hallway could be seen on the far left corner of the room. Spotting Nodoka as she entered the hallway, Ranma and Kasumi took off their shoes and followed. In the hallway the first door to their left was a restroom, directly across from that door, to their right, was the dining room, in front of them was a larger living room. The living room was connected to the kitchen, which also connected to the dining room.
"Alright, let me start dinner, and you two go get settled in one of the bedrooms up stairs. One of the room should be mine, so pick one of the other five rooms." Nodoka nodded to herself and walked towards the kitchen.
Both Ranma and Kasumi were a bit confused. They thought that Nodoka had not come to this place in twenty years, but it looked like she knew exactly where everything was in the kitchen, and already had a room in their new home. Ranma, never one to be able to hold his tongue, asked the question that was on both of their minds, "Uhh... mom? If you haven't been here in so long, why do you know where everything is in the kitchen? And why do you already have your own room?"
Nodoka didn't even pause in preparing dinner as she began to answer, "That would be your uncle's fault. He remodeled the house about three years ago. He told me that, since the house was to be mine, he'd had one of the bedrooms rebuilt just for me. And the kitchen was designed to look exactly like the one at..." Nodoka briefly paused to reconsider her wording, "Genma's home."
When Ranma heard the name of the man who had fathered him, he automatically moved to comfort his mother. To his surprise, other then a slight wavering of the happiness in his mother's eyes, his mother remained unruffled and cheerful. Nodoka saw her son moving to comfort her and smiled at him, which stopped him from moving. "Please go pick a room and get settled. I'll call you down for dinner as soon as it's ready."
Ranma nodded to his mother. He unconsciously grasped Kasumi's hand and dragged her up the stairs.
The second floor of the house was one long hallway, with three rooms on either side of it, and a furo at the end of the hall. The first door to the right had a name plate on it, with little deformed chibi kendo girls surrounding the name, which read: "Doka-chan's Room".
"Uh... I think that's mom's room." Ranma responded to the overly cute name plate.
"I think you're right." Kasumi said as she moved to the room farthest down the hall on the right side of the hall. "Is it alright if I take this room, Ranma?"
"Sure, if you want." Ranma spoke as he was moving to claim the room between his mother and his love interest.
When Ranma entered the room, he looked around in slight awe. There was a bed to the side, on the other side of the bed was a computer, and in the wall across from the computer was a closet. The room wasn't anything special, but it was more then Ranma ever had in his entire chaotic life. Ranma unpacked his backpack and tried to decorate his room, but found he just didn't have enough stuff. When he stepped back to examine the room, it seemed less plain and more like it was truly his room. He decided to leave it for now and check on his housemates. As soon as he opened the door, he felt someone rapping on his forehead.
"Gah!" was Ranma's response along with a blush.
Kasumi snapped out of the slight daze at the sound of Ranma's voice, and promptly blushed as she realized what she had done. "Sorry!" she quickly apologized.
"I-It's alright Kasumi..." Ranma said a bit flustered, "So, uh, what can I do for you?"
After calming down a bit, she answered, "I was hoping you were done so we could go help yo- I mean uh.. mother with dinner."
"Sure." with that, the two headed down stairs to the kitchen.
As it turned out, their help was not really needed as Nodoka was nearly finished. So the two merely set the table and watched Nodoka as she worked. Soon enough dinner was being enjoyed by the three of them. The three spoke of little inane things, along with the two women admonishing, and trying to correct, Ranma's eating habits. Oh, and, in case any of you were wondering, Ranma didn't get his ice cream. When dinner ended Ranma asked for the other two to wait.
"Well... Uh... I was hoping that we could do something together later..." Ranma hesitantly asked.
"Like what Ranma?" Kasumi questioned.
"I was thinking, you know, that we could like... have a uh.. like, sleepover kind of thing." without waiting for an answer, Ranma then began to give his reasons, "Because I don't know very much about you two. I mean, I know some stuff... like, Kasumi cleans really good, and is nice. Then mom uh..." Ranma paused and looked at Kasumi with his face reddening, "wants-lots-of-grandchildren, and wears lots of kimonos... But... I kind of want to learn more. Also, if we do become a family, I think we should know more about each other..."
Kasumi sat motionless, still stuck on the implications of Ranma's words. Nodoka, on the other hand, thought that it was a marvelous idea and had moved off into one of the other rooms, busily rummaging for things that could be used for their little slumber party. When she returned, she dumped a pile of pillows and two sleeping bags at the feet of the still motionless Kasumi. Ranma noticed that one of the sleeping bags was larger then the other, but didn't think anything of it.
"Let me go grab some blankets from my room since there are only two sleeping bags."
Ranma was about to leave when his mother spoke, "Oh no, you don't need to. I got the large bag for the two of you. I figure that you two could work on giving me some grandchildren later."
'Oh My!' was the only thought going through the minds of the two youths. Well... there were some mental images, but it would be quite inappropriate to describe them.
"MOOOOOOOOM!" Ranma and Kasumi screamed simultaneously.
"What?" Nodoka said, sounding like there was absolutely nothing wrong with her suggestion.
"How could you suggest that!" Kasumi started to rant.
"We can't have children yet..." Ranma picked up.
"...We're too young!" Kasumi ended the thought.
"You're the adult here..." Ranma started a new sentence.
"...aren't you supposed to..." Kasumi said, understanding where Ranma was going.
"...be the one telling..." Ranma spoke, glad Kasumi was backing him.
"...Telling us not to..." Kasumi kept going, happy that she and Ranma were thinking the same thoughts.
"...Rush things?" Ranma finished.
"It is obvious to me that you two care for each other, and the sooner you two start, the better chance I have of spoiling more grandchildren." Nodoka replied, a bit disoriented from moving her head from side to side while listing to her son and most likely future-daughter-in-law's rant.
"Mom, I've already told you that I lo-care..." Ranma glanced over at Kasumi at his near slip-up, but couldn't really tell if she reacted, mainly because they were both still crimson, "for her. For the first time in my entire life I have a chance to be part of something special. I want to take my time and work toward something that only seems possible in fairytales, and make it become real."
Kasumi entire being was radiating joy. For the first time since her mother's death she felt not like a servant or slave, but a woman. For the first time she could remember a man saw her, not as a cook, housekeeper, or the perfect wife, but as a possible soul mate and/or lover. Kasumi stood up, and with slow, deliberate steps, she walked over to Ranma and enveloped him in a soulful embrace. When Ranma had held Kasumi in his arms the past, all their problems, and the future all faded away leaving only the two of them. Kasumi put her mouth as close to Ranma's ear as she could and whispered, "Thank you."
Kasumi rested her head on Ranma's shoulder and molded herself to him. For a moment, or maybe an eternity, the two relish in the shared warmth that was produced when they embraced each other. This further reinforced the idea that what they shared could truly become special.
Their moment was broken when Nodoka could no longer hold herself back, and let out a snuffle. The young couple, realizing they weren't alone, quickly separated with their eyes set to the floor, their faces set aflame yet again. Nodoka took this moment to regain her composure again, and released a dramatically long, over-drawn-out sigh.
"Oh, alright, but I'm keeping the big bag out here. At the rate you two are going, you'll most likely need it." Nodoka dramatically stated. She then walked to the doorway, reached behind the wall, and pulled out a third sleeping bag.
After seeing his mother grab the bag so quickly, Ranma to groaned and said, "Why do I get the feeling Kasumi and I are being manipulated towards your grand scheme of getting grandchildren."
"I know nothing of this great conspiracy you speak of, son." Nodoka said in an exaggeratedly innocent voice. When Ranma looked over at his mother, she had a big doe-eyed expression plastered on her face. Ranma also could have sworn that he saw a golden halo hovering above his mother's head, along with a set of pearl white wings growing out of her back. Ranma now knew for certain that he had been tricked, but for some odd reason he wouldn't have it any other way.
Kasumi had, long ago, figured that Nodoka was up to something and easily found she didn't mind. She also found that she felt, as Ranma did, that she wouldn't have it any other way. She just sat there quietly and watched mother and son interact, hoping she wouldn't become the target of Nodoka's sense of humor.
In a matter of minutes everything had settled down and the three started to talk about their past experiences and feelings. Of course, there were things that each person was not yet ready to share, but that still left many, many things that were spoken about. The three of them talked and listened to each other's stories long into the night, only stopping when exhaustion overtook them.
Nodoka looked at Ranma and Kasumi as she adjusted their sleeping bags. They looked so peaceful. Nodoka kissed each of them on the forehead and bid them a silent good night. After getting into her own sleeping bag, she considered her son and daughter. Yes, she now thought of Kasumi as her own daughter, even if Kasumi decided not to marry Ranma for some reason, she would still consider Kasumi her daughter. As Nodoka fell asleep she vowed to herself that she would do anything and everything in her power to protect her family.
Nodoka's Dream-
Nodoka was sitting on a park bench as she watched her two grandchildren play. Both children were about four or five years old. The young boy had chestnut-brown hair and light blue eyes. He was wearing an outfit which was an exact match to his father's, a red Chinese shirt, black kung-fu pants and black kung-fu slippers. The young girl had black hair and misty blue-gray eyes. She was wearing a Mandarin Blouse with an Embroidered Phoenix on it and Fang Yin Satin Pants. The two of them were on the swing set, competing to see who could swing the highest. Then, suddenly, Nodoka was blinded by a flash of light.
BOOM!-
"GRANDMA!" the two young children screamed.
Nodoka shook the spots from her vision and looked on in horror at the scene in front of her.
'NO...'
There was a man chasing after her two grandchildren; while at the same time, they were running towards her.
'NO...'
The man was wearing a white gi on his overweight body, a bandana over his bald head and a pair of glasses over his beady eyes.
'NO...'
The man was...
'NO...'
The man was...
'NO...'
...her husband Genma.
'NO!'
"MOVE WOMAN!" Genma spoke in a thunderous voice.
"NO! I WILL NOT!" retorted Nodoka, emphatically.
"THOSE TWO WILL BECOME WHAT THAT WEAK SON OF YOURS FAILED TO BE! THEY WILL BECOME THE PERFECT MARTIAL ARTISTS!" Genma bellowed.
"Run! Please, go to your parents!" Nodoka whispered to the two children behind her.
"But..." the young boy tried to interrupt.
"Please! Your parents and I would be very sad if something were to happen to you two." Nodoka looked at the two children with pleading eyes.
The two young children looked ready to defy her, but relented due to the look they were receiving. But, finally, the children nodded. They took hold of each other's hands and started to run.
Nodoka unsheathed her katana and turned to regard Genma.
"HA HAHAHAHAHAHA!" came the maniacal laughter of Genma, "SO THE WEAK PIECE OF TRASH THINKS SHE CAN STOP ME!"
Nodoka just narrowed her eyes and shifted into a defensive stance.
"YOU COULDN'T STOP ME BEFORE..." Genma took a step with each word he spoke, "YOU DID NOTHING TO STOP ME FROM TORTURING YOUR SON, SO WHY SHOULD IT BE ANY DIFFERENT WITH THOSE TWO!"
By then, Genma had reached Nodoka, and he looked at her with contempt, then back-handed her in the face. The blow was strong enough to loosen a couple of her teeth and knock her back about two meters. Nodoka got to her feet as quickly as she could, but still wobbled from the blow.
"I-I'LL PROTECT MY FAMILY!" blood flew from her mouth as Nodoka screamed at him.
"YOU ARE STUPID, WEAK, AND USELESS. YOU HAD NEVER PROTECTED YOUR SON, SO WHY DO YOU THINK YOU CAN YOU START NOW!" Genma sneered at the woman while taking another step toward his wife with each word.
Nodoka now was faltering and retreating with each step the man took.
"DID YOU KNOW THAT THE SON YOU LOVE SO MUCH SPENT MONTHS CALLING OUT FOR YOU, CRYING FOR YOU, BEGGING FOR YOU TO COME HELP HIM AND YET YOU DID NOTHING! YOUR SON KNOWS NOTHING MORE THEN BITTERNESS AND HATE. THE SON YOU LOVE SO MUCH... HATES YOU!" Genma spat out.
Nodoka reeled at Genma's words and nearly stumbled. Self-pity and doubt overwhelmed her as she stood there, unable to refute Genma's words.
"I am here now."
"I will never leave you."
"I love you."
"No matter what, I will always be your son."
Ranma's voice echoed through her mind as she remembered the words he'd said to comfort her.
"Ranma and I will always be with you, and love you...mother."
Kasumi's voice echoed alongside Ranma's, as both voices sought to comfort and give strength to Nodoka.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Genma cackled again, "OH, SO THE LITTLE WHORE STILL HAS A BIT OF SPRIT LEFT IN HER!"
Nodoka rose back up to her full height and took an offensive stance with her sword.
"WASTE LIKE YOU DOESN'T DESERVE TO LIVE!" roared Genma as he reared his arm back, ready to cave in Nodoka's skull.
As Genma's arm came forward, there was no sound or epic struggle. Instead, there was a simple flick of Nodoka's wrist, and then it was over.
THUMP-
That was the only sound that was heard. That was the sound of Genma's headless body crashing to the ground. Nodoka looked at Genma's head as it rolled to a stop at her feet and made one last declaration before following her two grandchildren.
"I WILL do anything and everything to protect my family!"
Author's Notes: I blame DelShalDar for the scene with Ranma's mind and the cherry. He wanted to know what was going through Ranma's mind, and you read what I think was going through his mind. (smiley face (stupid formatting they took away my smiley face.))
Reviewers Responses:
Chapter one may seem to have been rushed, but I kind of was going a spur of the moment type thing with the consequences of that decision to be dealt with later, but I guess I failed to achieve that.
I'm very happy that a lot of people liked it. I hope I could update sooner. I wish I had more time to write, but I don't, so I write when I can.
Nonengel: I made Nodoka emotionally unstable, so she had an emotional breakdown instead of trying to lop of Genma's head.
Imortis: I'll deal with each member of the cast eventually.
Ayanami Rei II: Yes, I believe that you right about my take on Akane, but I kind of wanted to come up with something a bit better then the 'I blame Kuno and the hentai squad' or the 'Akane has rage disorder' or the 'Akane has given into rage because of her mother's death' angles. So I gave up for the moment and will come back to it later when I figure something out.
SSJ Guyver: I admit that I started reading Ranma fanfiction before I watched the entire anime or read all of the manga, so my views of Nodoka were altered by fanfiction most likely the stuff written by DanI Yanega. On a side note, I was hoping you update 'Ranma : Demonic Lifestyle' because there are not many pairings that follow my pin name. I'm writing one, but this story has priority at the moment.
Migele: I would put it up at CoRK but it seems that the site hasn't been updated in a while.
ET3 James Axelrad: Thank you, and keep reading to find the answers to your questions.
I would like to thank everyone and anyone who read and/or reviewed my story. Anyways, as always, you can leave a review or e-mail me a comment at:
tsunami(underscore)saotome(at)yahoo(dot)com
Oh and flames will be tossed into Akane's cooking. Then when they're alive be force fed her cooking to die a slow, painful death.