Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ use it merely for entertainment purposes.
At the Tendo Dojo it was relatively quite. Mostly because Genma and Soun and drunk themselves into unconsciousness in order to drown their sorrows over the most recent news about Genma's divorce. It was also quite because a certain short tempered daughter finally found something to distract herself from her own anger because her beloved pet had returned not long after the two Masters of Anything Goes passed out. Currently Akane was in her room ranting to the pig about perverts, dojos and divorces. The part about divorces actually made Ryouga smile for a couple of reasons. One Akane was now officially free from being forced to marry Ranma and two because not even Ranma disserved to have Genma as a Father. Ryouga actually felt somewhat, though minimally, glad for his rival.
In her own room Nabiki was calculating the profits she was going to make off of selling Genma's reaction on tape and the upcoming sale of the family 'pet' Panda to a zoo with a Panda breeding program. "Have to remember to ask Cologne if she'll give him the Full Body Cat's Tongue to keep him from using hot water to change back," Nabiki thought. The thought about cursed people made her think of the recent return of another, "Now that Ryouga's back do I tell Akane about her pet or wait for her to figure it out?"
That was a debate that had Nabiki been worrying over for several weeks and still had yet to come to a decision. She was brought out of her musing when she saw Ryouga back out of her closet, fully dressed, clearly embarrassed muttering, "Don't tell me I walked into another one of those shops again."
"No you are in my room," Nabiki said dryly. Ryouga jumped at the voice and quickly spun around. "Got lost again?"
"Yeah," Ryouga admitted, "I made it the furo and changed and was trying to make it back to Akane's room."
"As a human?" Nabiki asked. "Why would you do that? When it's so much easier to be in there as a pig."
"I've been thinking about that," Ryouga said. "I'm actually thinking about telling her."
"Why would you do that?" Nabiki asked.
"I have my reason's!" Ryouga snapped. His reasons were actually because of the points that Cologne pounded into his head and the discussion he had with Akari the other day when he found himself at her farm. To him it was odd how often he thought of Akane when it was Akari that he could always be honest with. He even told her about his latest changes. At first she was uneasy but after he assured her that he would not harm her sumo pigs she relaxed. After that they had a long talk and Akari got him thinking about solving some of the problems Cologne had pointed out. And one of those was telling the true to Akane. He just hoped that Akane would not hate him too much, he still cared for her after all even though his feelings for Akari had grown a great deal in during that talk.
Nabiki let the subject drop for now she would probably find out eventually in a couple of days. "Well in any case could you please get out of my room I need to balance the books for the week?"
"Oh yeah sorry," Ryouga said hesitantly and tried to find the door.
"Ryouga," Nabiki called his attention. The Lost Lupine turned to the voice and saw her pointing to her right, "It's right there." Ryouga saw the door and slowly made his way to it trying not to get distracted. After a few tries he made it out the door and Nabiki went back to work.
Ranma smiled as he entered the house, it was still rather early in the morning but he could tell that his Mother was up by the soft sound that were coming from inside. If he had not been a Lupine then he would not have been able to hear her. As he entered he slowly made his way to the kitchen in order to surprise Nodoka of his return. Just as he was about to enter the kitchen he glanced at the dinning room table and saw some documents that caught his eye. They only reason they captured his attention was because he recognized them as legal documents. He recognized them from a couple of times he saw Nabiki filling them out for various reasons. Moving closer to the table he picked them up and started to read them and quickly discovered that they were divorce papers and that the papers were signed by both Nodoka and Genma. Knowing full well what the papers meant he could not help but shout, "Alright!"
In the kitchen Nodoka was startled by the sudden shout and went to investigate. When she entered the dinning room she saw Ranma with his back turned to her, "Ranma?"
Ranma hearing his Mother's voice immediately turned around with gave her a huge smile, "Mom!" Faster than a human could blink he pulled Nodoka into a massive huge and spun her around.
"Now Ranma this is not very dignified," Nodoka said starting to feel dizzy.
Ranma put her down and starched at the back of his head, "Sorry Mom," he apologized. "But I just read the divorce papers and I was so happy I would never have to deal with that Fat-Panda ever again!"
"Believe me I understand," Nodoka said with a smile. "That's not the only good news I have for you."
"It's not?" Ranma asked.
"No, now that you're back we can finally put the Saotome name behind us once and for all," Nodoka said.
"What do you mean?" Ranma wondered with confusion clear on his face.
"What I mean is that later today we are going to get you last name's leally changed to Wolf's Eye," Nodoka clarified. "We'll both finally have the name that should have been ours to begin with."
"That's great Mom," Ranma hugged his Mother again and the two stayed that way for a few seconds until Ranma's stomach let loose a growl that rivaled that of a Lycanthrope's growl. "Heh sorry about that."
"Do not worry about that," Nodoka eased. "You go get cleaned up and I'll finished fixing breakfast." Ranma nodded and quickly left to get cleaned up so he could eat.
At the Neko Haten the return of the Lupines to Nerima was not a joyous event. It was in fact an extremely serious meeting. The moment Cologne entered the restaurant to greet Aishia she knew what the Amazon Matriarch had to tell her was not going to be good news. After Aishia read the message that was sent to Cologne she understood her old friend's attitude. "We won't make in time of the full moon," Aishia said plainly. "Even if we leave now we won't make it to the village in three days."
"I know," Cologne replied.
"I would suggest we wait until after the full moon to go," Aishia told her friend. "Ranma will be in much better condition mentally to face them after that. And also it will give me time to gather some other Lupines."
"I agree," Cologne nodded though there was clear reluctance in her voice. "I am well aware of how a new Lycanthrope acts during the full moon." She took a deep sigh and asked, "How long until you can get some Lupines here or to the village."
"Last I heard they were actually four Lupines in China," Aishia said. "Their wanders that don't really conform to normal Lupine society."
"Will they Honor the Treaty?" Colonge asked.
"I don't know," Aishia answered honestly. "One of them does owe me a favor. But this might be to big a favor to ask of her."
"How will you contact these Lupines?" Cologne asked. "If they are wanders as you said it would be most difficult to stay in contact with them.
At this Aishia smiled at her old friend and reached into her bad and pulled out what looked like a cellular phone. "The one that owes me a favor carries a satellite phone with her at all times. She gave me the number in case I needed to contact her and a satellite phone can be reached anywhere in the world."
Cologne blinked for a minute and then smiled, "I think I will suggest the village acquiring one when we return. It would make contacting Amazons outside the village much more convenient."
"If you decide to do so let me know," Aishia says. "Unless you know what you're doing when you buy one you can get charged a fortune in your rates.
In Kyoto Ukyou was waking up at the hotel room she rented for her trip to visit her parents' grave. Yesterday she met an old friend of her Mother's and he wanted to talk to her. She was reluctant to speak with him and requested some time to think about what he had to say. The man, Ominai, agreed and said he would meet her at a small shop not far from her hotel. How he knew where she was staying slightly disturbed her only making her even more reluctant to meet with him. Still the desire to know more about her Mother overrode and trepidation she felt in meeting with Ominai. With her decision made Ukyou made her way out of her hotel room and towards the café she was to meet Ominai at in less than thirty minutes.
A half an hour later Ukyou sat down at a table that Ominai was already sitting at. As soon as she sat down she asked, "What do you have to tell me?"
Ominai gazed at her for a brief second before saying anything. "First I must tell you that your Mother had many secrets some she told your Father some she did not." Ukyou nodded in understanding. She had been around a lot of people that had been keeping secrets from others for the past several months; she herself could be counted as one of them on a couple of occasions. So she knew first hand what it was like to not want to tell even a loved one everything. "Some of those secrets were why she died and why your Father never told you much about her."
"How did my Mother die?" Ukyou asked.
"She died because some people did not approve of her marriage to your Father," Ominai explained. "They thought your Father was below them and your Mother. They were content with banishing her under the idea that she would come back after some time. Then word of your birth reached them and they saw that as an act of the highest betrayal and attacked. Your Mother fought off the attackers saving your and your Father's life. From what I understand she wanted you to have a normal life and to have that you could not know much about her or her secrets."
"Maybe I don't just get my Martial Arts from my Father after all," Ukyou thought in an odd mix of pride and sour. From what Ominai says she was pretty good." "Was my Mother rich or something?" Ukyou asked out loud.
"Though we are rather well off, money had nothing to do with the attack," Ominai said.
"Then why did they think my Father was below my Mother?" Ukyou asked her voice was remaining calm more out of shock than control.
Ominai went silent for a minute and Ukyou assumed that he was trying to find the best way to say what he was trying to. After a moment of silence Ominai spoke up, "For the past several months you have been exposed events that most people would find impossible or fictional, events mystical in nature."
"Wait how did you know that?" Ukyou asked.
"I have been observing you for quite some time," Ominai answered. Ukyou gave him a look of disbelief. "After your Mother died I wanted to make sure nothing happened to you so I watched over you. After your Father died I debated adopting you, but with both your Mother's and Father's last wishes I could not do so, so I continued to watch and follow helping when you really needed."
Flashes of her memories started to flash in Ukyou's mind about events that often did not make much sense to her. Like the time when she got sick a few months after her Father died and she fell asleep only to wake up in a hospital the next day. Or several times she lost Ranma and Genma's trail only to find a strong lead to them, in fact it was one of those leads that actually sent her to Nerima in the first place. It all mad sense now that she thought about it. In reality there really was not a way for a child to survive on her own. But that also raised another question, "You said my Mother wanted me to have a normal life, how can a life on the road be considered normal?"
"It was far more normal than the one you would have had if I adopted you," Ominai said.
"Then why are you telling me now?" Ukyou demanded starting to become upset. "What changed?"
"You did actually," Ominai answered.
"What do you mean?" Ukyou asked.
"Like I was saying before you've been exposed to things that most would find rather weird," Ominai stated and Ukyou nodded in agreement. "Your most recent encounter was your fiancé's latest transformation."
"Does this have to do with Ranchan's Lycanthropy?" Ukyou asked.
"Not exactly," Ominai said. "It does not have anything to do with his Lycanthropy but it does have to do with yours."
"M…mine?" Ukyou was completely shocked. "Are you saying I'm a Werewolf or something?"
"Your are not a Werewolf," Ominai said. "They are not native to Japan, you are in fact a Werefox, or Kitsune as we have been called in the past."