Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma use it merely for entertainment purposes.
Suzuki Nodoka was extremely nervous and had been for the past twenty-four hours. The conversation from her formerly missing Son was extremely brief. Neither had any idea what to say to the other and the fifteen minute conversation was about fourteen minutes of dead silence. One thing that was very easy to accomplish was the agreement to meet, an agreement that afterwards both excited and frightened the poor woman more than anything in the world. The reasons for the mixed emotions were very easy to see. She was excited to be in her Son's life again yet frightened that she had no place in it now. Ranma had lived for ten years without her and on top of that another woman was responsible for raising him, the very one that she would most likely be meeting in a short time. If the woman had taken the role of his Mother for Ranma, Nodoka could, if saddened, actually live with that. What she truly frightened Nodoka about the upcoming meeting was Ranma rejecting her outright because he thought she was just like Genma.
Nodoka had come to truly despise Genma over the years, not that anyone could blame her. The man she thought Genma was was nothing more than a façade. At the time Nodoka thought Genma was a caring, strong and honorable man, now she knows that he is selfish, weak, dishonest and dishonorable cretin and a thief. This came abundantly clear when she met up with Ukyou and Meia. Genma stole from both of them, and not just items he stole their future and family heritage from the girls. In Ukyou's case it worked out better in the end as her father proved to be just like Genma. After all what kind of a man sends a child to get revenge for a mistake he made, men like Genma and Ukyou's Father apparently. It was ironic in that their mutual hatred Genma brought the three together into a love as close as any family.
The three were in fact a family, in not by blood then by emotion. They cared for each other, got angry at one another but would also forgive one another, and worried for the others. That worry was prevalent in the girls as they too waited for Ranma's arrival. Meia had never met the boy but from the stories that the three of them had come across she could feel a great deal of sympathy for him. Ukyou had met Ranma and was his first friend, when she thought back on meeting him Ukyou could remember Ranma having sadness in his eyes that only seemed to leave when he was around her. It was now she realized that the sadness was caused by a great loneliness from Ranma missing someone that truly cared about him. Both wanted to see Ranma for two reasons, one to see what kind of person he turned out to be away from Genma and two because they hoped that the regret and sadness that always hung around Nodoka would finally dissipate.
Currently the girls were walking home from school discussing the upcoming family reunion that would happen tonight. "Did you notice how Aunty was this morning?" Meia asked. "I don't think she got any kind of real sleep."
"Yeah," Ukyou agreed. "She looked real tired, didn't even finish her breakfast this morning. Not that I can blame her really, she's got a lot on her mind."
"That's an understatement if I ever heard one," Meia said dryly. "What about you? What will you do when you meet him again?"
"I don't know yet," Ukyou answered. "I doubt he even knows about the former engagement between Kuonji and Saotome." Ukyou refused to call her former father by anything other than his family name just as sign that she does not need it and him anymore. "I some how get the impression that Saotome kept a lot of things from Ranchan."
"Can't argue with that," Meia replied. Wanting to change the subject slightly Meia asked, "Do you think Ranma knows where Saotome might be?"
Ukyou's mood soured at the question. "I couldn't tell you," Ukyou said. "In some ways I hope not, Ranchan shouldn't have anything to do with that fat piece of crap. Yet on the other hand…"
"You want to know where Saotome is for pay back for all he's done," Meia finished. "I feel the same way. But remember when we do finally find him I get first dibs on him. He's the only one that knows where my Family Scrolls are."
"I won't forget," Ukyou responded. "Just don't forget I get my kilogram of flesh as well I don't care who gets to him first."
When the girls finally arrived at their home they found Nodoka asleep on the couch. From the look of her clothes and the cleaning supplies laid about the room it was easy to conclude what happened. Nodoka was trying to clean the house up for the arrival of guests and took a break then fell asleep do to her lack of rest the night before. "We should wake her up," Meia suggested. "They'll be here in a couple of hours."
"You're right," Ukyou agreed and went up to the couch. "Aunty," she said shaking the woman by the shoulder. "You need to get up."
Nodoka blinked awake at Ukyou's shaking and voice. As she sat up she noticed the girls, "Oh no! I must have been asleep for most of the day!" She looked at the time and, "They'll be here in only a couple of hours! There's no way I can finish cleaning!"
"Aunty I don't think Ranma or his company will care if the house is a little messy," Meia said. "All they'll be thinking about is the meeting itself."
"Meia's right Aunty," Ukyou joined in. "You shouldn't worry about that. But you should probably get cleaned up yourself, don't you think."
Nodoka looked at herself and noticed she did look a little worse for ware, "I guess you're right." She stood up from the couch and looked around at the cleaning supplies, "Could you two put these away while I get cleaned up."
"Sure Aunty," both girls said in unison as Nodoka went up stairs to the furo.
In Nerima Ranma and Akira were also walking home. For Ranma the day had been excoriating in duration and annoyances. It was bad enough that he was severely distracted by the upcoming meeting with his long lost Mother but with Kuno bellowing his typical nonsense made it impossible for him to concentrate on school. Because of this Ranma was sent out into the hall multiple times that just added to his stress. Factor in that Ranma got splashed in the head triggering his curse and Kuno coming around at just the wrong time and trying to hug her made Ranma ready to snap at anyone at this point.
Akira noticed this and decided to be the sacrificial lamb. It was better Ranma got it out of his system before tonight then let it continue to build and he blow up at the wrong time. "How are you doing?" Akira asked.
Just as Akira knew it would happen Ranma snapped, "How the hell do you think I'm doing? First I hear from my Mother for the first time in years, then I get to school late, then I have to deal with Kuno trying to fight me or grope me, not too mention all the idiots the other idiots I had to deal with! So what do you think I'm just Peachy?"
After Ranma finished his rant Akira said, "That's good because I would hate for you to meet your Birth Mother in a bad mood."
Ranma glared at his friend for several minutes before sighing and slumping his shoulders. He knew Akira long enough to know what his friend was trying to do and if he was honest with himself Ranma agreed with it. "This day's has just gone from bad to worse. If it keeps going the way it has the meeting between me and Mom will be a complete disaster."
"It will be if you don't calm down first," Akira said. Akira tapped his temple, "I know you've got about million different thoughts going through you're head right now, but if you don't enter this with a clear head it could as bad as you fear it will."
"Easy for you to say," Ranma said. "You're not the one that has anything at risk."
"I know," Akira replied. 'I just hope that he doesn't push Sensei away, unintentional or not if he did she would be devastated.'
At Dr. Tofu's Clinic said person was just about to leave. Kyoko had informed the good Doctor that she would need to leave early today. When she explained why Dr. Tofu understood and gave her the evening off. "Well Dr. Tofu I'll be leaving now," Kyoko said. It did not take a Telepath or Empath to detect her worry.
"Very well Kyoko," Dr. Tofu replied. "I do hope everything goes well."
"So do I Doctor," Kyoko said. "I cannot help but wonder what kind of woman this Suzuki Nodoka is."
"I understand," Dr. Tofu said. "You are worried that she is just like Ranma's Biological Father and that she will only use him for his own ends and treat him poorly."
"Doctor if I did not know better I would say you were a Psionic with Telepathy," Kyoko said with a slight smile.
Dr. Tofu adjusted his glasses and smiled himself. "I have experience with people facing rather stressful and emotional situations."
"Well in any case you're correct," Kyoko asked. "I'm very worried about meeting this woman. I raised Ranma, I cared for him, I fed him and clothed him, I was there when he was sick and had nightmares. He is my Son in all except for Biology."
"You're also worried she'll try and take him away from you," Dr. Tofu stated.
"Yes," Kyoko admitted. "I don't know what I'd do if he just left me."
"I highly doubt that will happen," Dr. Tofu said. "Ranma is a smart boy and loves you very deeply, anyone can see that. And I also know that he will not stop loving you."
Kyoko smiled at the Doctor's reassurance, "Thank you Doctor. I needed that, now if you will excuse me I need get home and help my Son with a very important meeting tonight."
"Of course," Dr. Tofu answered. Kyoko left the office feeling much better than before.
Hours later at Nodoka's house Kyoko, Ranma and Akira approached the door. Akira had to keep his Telepathy closed other wise he would be overwhelmed by the thoughts of his companions. While Ranma and Kyoko were calmer then they were earlier in the day, their thoughts were still a jumble with 'what if' scenarios. When they finally reached the front door Akira saw both his Sensei and his friend hesitate to announce they were there. Taking the inchoative he reached up and rang the bell.
On the other side of the door there was just as much anxiety as outside the house. Nodoka had cleaned up from the previously and was dressed in her finest kimono, one she usually reserved for Tea Ceremonies, in order to look her best at meeting her Son. Still the signs of worry were clear to Ukyou and Meia. Nodoka's would shake every time she would pick up the tea that was meant to calm her down, which was not doing a very good job. Nodoka's stress also added to the girls' stress. Ukyou was anxious to meet Ranma again, though not as much as Nodoka. Her nervous habit was playing with her necklace, the first gift Nodoka had bought her after adopting Ukyou as her child. Meia was feeling the anxiety at the reaction Nodoka and Ukyou would have at meeting Ranma. Her rubbing her hands together over and over again showed nervousness.
When the doorbell rang both Nodoka and Ukyou jumped, Meia just flinched as she was the calmest of the three. "That must be them," Nodoka said, her worry clear in her voice. She stood up with a little unease and made her way to the door with the girls following close behind. When she arrived she took a deep breath and straitened out the none-existent wrinkles in her kimono then opened the door.
When Nodoka opened the door, three individuals were there to greet her. One was a woman around her age, a little taller with long black hair a round face and deep black eyes dressed in a blue woman's business suit. The other two were teenage boys around Ukyou and Meia's age. One boy had short black hair and brown eyes dressed in white button up dress shirt and black dress pants. The other boy had long black hair and was dressed in a long sleeved red Chinese Shirt and long Chinese Pants. What truly drew her attention however were the second boy's blue eyes. Eyes she recognized from ten years ago, "R…Ranma?" she asked hesitantly.
Ranma stared at the elegant woman in front of him and could not help but notice the similarities between her and his Cursed Form. When she addressed him by name he did not respond for a brief moment just to be sure he was not dreaming, "M…Mom?"
Tears started to fall from Nodoka's eyes as she stepped forward and pulled Ranma into a fierce hug. All the guilt that came from letting Genma take Ranma away was released and she started to apologize. "I'm so sorry, Ranma! So, so very sorry! I let that…that horrible thing take you away! I'm sorry I wasn't there! I'm just so sorry!" Nodoka sobbed over and over again.
Rubbing his Mother's back to try and calm her down, though he had tears in his eyes as well, Ranma said nothing and just let her cry her eyes out. From different sides of the Mother and Son four people watched the display with joy. All happy that for at least the moment the reunion was going the right way.
Fifteen minutes later after Nodoka and Ranma had calmed down the six people were sitting in the dinning room about to make introductions. Nodoka sat next to Ranma near the head of low table not wanting to be away from her son, not that anyone could blame her. To the Mother and Son's right, sat Akira and Kyoko and across from them were Meia and Ukyou. Taking the initiative Nodoka began the introductions, "Ranma, allow me to introduce to you Ikari Meia and reintroduce your childhood friend Suzuki, formerly Kuonji, Ukyou."
"U…Ucchan?" Ranma asked as he looked at the girl now seeing some resemblance with his old playmate. Seeing the girl nod he could only say, "I…I thought you were a boy."
"A boy?" Ukyou asked. "Why would you think I was a boy?"
"Probably something else that can be blamed on Saotome," Meia said.
"We should probably continue this subject at another time," Nodoka suggested. The two girls agreed and let the introduction continue.
Ranma took the queue and gestured to his party. "Mom this is Amaki Kyoko, my Sensei and Adopted Mother and my best friend and training partner Yamato Akira."
Nodoka gazed at the woman that adopted her Son for a moment contemplating what she would do. She wanted to thank Kyoko for taking care of Ranma but any words and actions she came up with seemed so inadequate to her. "I…I don't know how I can ever thank you for raising and saving Ranma from my Ex-Husband, Miss Amaki. Th…there is nothing I could do to ever repay that…"
"You don't have to thank me, Ms. Suzuki," Kyoko replied. "Raising Ranma has been the greatest joy in my life." Kyoko took a brief glance at Ranma and saw the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face she had ever seen. Smiling herself Kyoko brought her attention back to Nodoka, "There is one thing you can do however, please call me Kyoko, I have a feeling we'll be spending a great deal of time with each other in the near future."
"I believe you are right, Miss…I mean Kyoko," Nodoka said. "And please call me Nodoka. I would appreciate…" Nodoka was interrupted by a load growl to her right.
Everyone turned to Ranma who was scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, "Sorry, I didn't eat much today."
"Well at least not everything has changed completely Ranchan," Ukyou said with a giggle. That broke the damn for everyone else and soon all six people were laughing together for a long time.
Once everyone finished laughing Nodoka stood up saying, "Well since you are so hungry why don't I start some dinner for us and we call all get to know each other." After receiving various nods Nodoka headed for the kitchen with a visible spring in her step. For the rest of the night the six people exchanged stories and experiences and truly got to know each other. And for some old demons from their past were finally put behind them. However in another part of the world old and at the same time new troubles were slowly making their way to Japan.
Somewhere in the frozen tundra of the Australian Outback a pair of teenage boys, one Japanese the other Chinese, once again wondering how they got there. Well at least one of them was, for the Japanese boy this was a common occurrence for him. For the Chinese boy he still could not believe what was happening to him. 'How does this guy get so lost?' Mousse thought.
"Come on!" Ryouga yelled over the wind. "Tokyo is this way!" Ryouga just pointed in a random direction grabbed Mousses sleeve and dragged him off in the opposite direction he pointed in. "Once we get out of the Outback we should end up in a Rain Forest. Then it's just a desert and an ice-cream shop away to Tokyo!"
Mousse for his part just let himself be dragged along. Until he could hear the tell tail signs of a city, cars honking, people shouting, that sort of thing, he was at the mercy of Ryouga's bad sense of direction and ability to go from one continent to another by just a few steps. 'Once we hit another city I'm taking over the lead,' Mousse swore. 'I may not see where we're going all that well but at least we won't run into a polar bear.' Mousse felt the freezing wind suddenly stop and felt the blazing heat of the desert, 'How the hell does he do this? Well no matter, eventually we'll catch up to Amaki and when we do he will pay for trying to steal my Xian Pu.'