Chapter 15 A Letter from China
Later that same evening, Ranma went in search of his mother. His mom had been extremely quiet during dinner, and had vanished once the kitchen was spotless. He found her back in the guestroom, watching Shampoo sleep. She looked up as he entered the room, and then sighed. She stood up and walked out, motioning for Ranma to follow. Ranma followed her outside to the dojo, where Nodoka stood with her shoulders slumped for a moment. Ranma went to his mother, and put his arms around her. They stood there for several minutes while Nodoka composed herself. When he felt her straighten up shoulders, he stepped back.
"Mom, you took the news a lot better than I thought you would. Why aren't you furious?" he asked.
"Why should I be mad at that poor girl? She's just following her laws, and trying to reclaim her honor. She obviously doesn't want to be here chasing him. Your father, on the other hand, he ran away, again, instead of facing his problems," Nodoka said, "Do you know where he is?"
"Not really. I suppose he could have gone to your house. He might think he was safe there. His things are still here, so he doesn't have any clothing or supplies, so he can't go too far," Ranma said.
"That's an excellent idea. Why don't we go look for him at our house?" Nodoka said, "I think he needs to greet his wife properly. After all, she's traveled a long way to see him and it wouldn't be manly to hide from her, now would it?"
Ranma and Nodoka came back to the Tendo home, Ranma carrying an extremely battered looking Gemna, tied up in several ropes. "Where do you want him, Mom?" Ranma asked pleasantly, "It's warm enough to leave him in the dojo."
"No, I don't want to run the risk of losing him again. Take him up to the guestroom. Shampoo and I won't have any problems with him there," Nodoka said.
Ranma shrugged, and carried his father up to the guestroom. There he found Shampoo still sleeping. Ranma dropped his father on the other futon, while Nodoka sat down again to watch the two of them. Ranma stared at his mother; still somewhat puzzled, and then left.
The next day, at breakfast, Gemna announced, "Boy, now that it's mid August and you've been out of school for a while, you need a training trip. You're getting soft."
"Right, Pop. That just sounds like an excuse for ya ta run away again. I ain't falling for that one," Ranma said.
"I think it's an excellent idea Gemna, the four of us can go and keep each other company," Nodoka said, "What do you think Shampoo dear?"
"Shampoo want to go, Airen need watching," Shampoo said.
Two weeks later
"Oh my, it's been so peaceful and quiet while the Saotomes have been on their trip. It's been such a relaxing two weeks. I do hope they are having a good time. Isn't tomorrow when they said they would be back?" Kasumi said as the girls relaxed in the furo.
"Yes, Kasumi. Tomorrow is when they said they would be back," Akane answered, "I still don't understand why I couldn't have gone. I needed to train too."
"Now, sister, it was sort of a family reunion for them, too," Kasumi said gently, "Didn't you realize that's part of the reason Nodoka went? Besides, you had to run the classes in the dojo."
"Yes, I guess so. It's just that I miss him, I mean, them," Akane said, hoping no one caught her slip.
Nabiki thought to herself, 'Sounds like Akane is getting serious about Ranma.' "Actually, Kasumi, I've been bored to tears," Nabiki said, "there's been no strange people coming to attack Ranma, no new fiancées, no fights that I can make money on, no information to sell. Plus father has been so miserable since he hasn't had any one to play shogi with, that I can't wait for them to get back." 'Well, Ranma anyway. Though, if it keeps father from crying, then I guess it's worth having the panda back,' she thought.
"True, I do miss them, but it has been nice just the four of us," Kasumi said pleasantly.
"School starts Monday, are you ready to start that again, Akane?" Nabiki asked.
"Yes, I guess. I just hope Kuno leaves me alone. I got used to him being out of my life this past month. It was nice that he went on vacation in Hawaii for a month," she replied.
"Well, maybe you'll be lucky and he'll have forgotten you. They come back tomorrow, though, remember?" Nabiki said.
"Did you have to remind me?" Akane wailed.
Late the next day
"Ranchan, there's a letter for you," Kasumi called as she heard him enter the house. He came running into the kitchen, and accepted the thick envelope from her. He opened the envelope, and pulled out the contents. His face grew puzzled as he unfolded the letter to find that it was a single piece of paper wrapped around another envelope. The letter simply read. "Ranma, please give the enclosed to your mother. Do not let Xian Pu or anyone else know that you have received it. Thank You, Khu Lon"
He remembered his manners and said, "Thank you, Kasumi-chan. How was your day?" He smiled to himself at how she giggled every time he called her Kasumi-chan.
"I received some good news in the mail. I got my acceptance letter from the local college. That means next semester, I will be able to take some of the courses that I have had my eye on. Isn't that great?" she said.
He hugged her. "That's fantastic, Kasumi-chan. I am so excited for you. This is the first small step to you doing what you want to do," he said, "Do you know what you want to take first?"
"I haven't thought that far, yet. I was just so excited about the letter that I haven't stopped to think about that," she said, "I need to run this book that I borrowed over to Dr. Tofu. Would you like to walk over there with me?"
"Sure, Kasumi-chan," Ranma said, then he smiled, "After all, what man wouldn't want to escort a lovely girl like you?"
"Oh, my, Ranchan," she said. 'Is he flirting with me?' she thought.
"I'll go run this letter upstairs and then we can leave," Ranma said. He ran upstairs and shortly came down. Kasumi put her arm through his and they walked over to Dr. Tofu's clinic. As she neared the clinic, she let go of Ranma. 'Aha, she does have a thing for Dr. Tofu,' he thought to himself.
As they reached the clinic, the door opened and a patient came out. He paled when he saw Kasumi and ran off. They entered the clinic and found Dr. Tofu standing in the waiting room. "Yo, Dr. Tofu, how're ya doing?" Ranma asked.
Dr. Tofu smiled, and said, "I'm fi ." He then noticed Kasumi standing behind Ranma. His glasses fogged up, and he said, "Why Kasumi, funny to run into you here, tee hee." He grabbed Betty the skeleton and began to dance around the waiting room, babbling incoherently.
"Oh, Doctor, you're so silly," Kasumi said, "I brought that book back, thank you for letting me borrow it." She started to hand the book to the doctor, but Ranma intercepted it and took it into Tofu's office. He walked back out, finding Kasumi watching the doctor's antics, with a disappointed look on her face. 'Why does he always act like this around me?' she wondered. As soon as she realized that Ranma was there, her face relaxed into her normal, pleasant, slightly vacuous expression. "Ranma, I guess I'm ready to go home now," she said. A frown flickered across her face so fast that Ranma thought he had imagined it.
"Bye, Dr. Tofu, see ya later," Ranma said as he escorted Kasumi out the door. She put her arm through his again as soon as they were out of sight from the door, and held the same arm with her other hand, almost desperately. They walked a little way from the clinic, until Ranma noticed that she was silently weeping. "Kasumi-chan, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Why does he always act that way around me? Am I hideous, a horrible person, what's wrong with me to cause him to act this way?" she cried. Ranma noticed that she was getting a bit of attention, so he picked her up and jumped up onto one of the roofs and went around to the other side of a chimney for some privacy for her.
"No, you're not horrible. You're one of the prettiest girls I know, and also one of the nicest. Any guy would love to have you as part of his life. I don't know why Dr. Tofu acts the way he does around you. All it takes is for someone to mention your name, or for him to see your face, and he goes crazy. He's perfectly normal around Akane and myself," Ranma said. She threw herself in his arms and held him tight. He could feel her body shaking in her distress. He held her tenderly as she wept. Gradually, she became aware that he was holding her. She calmed down, dried her tears and put her mask back on.
"Thank you, Ranma, I seem to be making a habit of this with you," Kasumi said, smiling weakly, "I'm sorry I'm such a burden for you."
"Kasumi-chan, you could never be burden to anyone," Ranma replied, "I can't imagine anyone thinking that of you."
"I imagine everyone is wondering where I am. I guess I need to get back and cook dinner," she said.
"The heck with that, Kasumi. If you want to go home and eat, I'll fix dinner tonight. Then you and I are going out for a movie. You need some time to relax," Ranma said forcefully.
"Did you just ask me out?" Kasumi said incredulously.
"Sure, what are friends for, anyway," Ranma said, with a smirk.
Ranma and Kasumi went home. By that time Nodoka had gotten in, so Ranma first ran upstairs and got the letter and gave it to her, cautioning her not to let Shampoo know of it. Nodoka went up to Ranma's room, and opened the letter. As Ranma had said, it was from Khu Lon. It read,
Nodoka,
I'm sorry we inflicted Shampoo upon you. If I had realized that you existed, I would have prevented Xian Pu from challenging your husband. Amazon Law recognizes that your claim comes first, and Xian Pu is not required to marry Gemna. Xian Pu has always been a proud warrior, sure of her strength, but she lacks much in the way of relating to people. In her arrogance, she did not recognize that. I had hoped to use your husband to teach her otherwise. Please allow her to stay with you until I arrive. Do not let her know that I am coming. Teach her if you would about your culture. She has not seen as many years as I have, and therefore does not realize that my culture needs to understand the world around us.
Tell Ranma that I am proud of him as well, and hope that I may continue his training. He is one of the best martial artists that I have met in my three hundred years.
I look forward to meeting you.
Khu Lon, Matriarch
When Nodoka came downstairs, she heard the clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen. To her surprise, Ranma was in there making dinner, while talking to Kasumi. He was preparing a relatively simple meal, but from the way he was working, it was obvious that he knew what he was doing. Soon, everything was prepared and on the stove cooking. "Ranma, why are you cooking?" Nodoka asked.
"I thought Kasumi needed a break, and I wanted to make sure I hadn't lost my touch. After all, I did most of the cooking while we were on the road," he replied, "Pop could burn water. He's actually worse than Akane in the kitchen."
"Yes, I remember. I wondered how you two survived," Nodoka said.
"Mom, Kasumi and I are going out to catch a movie tonight. Would you mind terribly getting the dishes taken care of? We kinda want to leave right after we're done eating?" Ranma asked.
"Sure, you two have fun," Nodoka replied.
Dinner was a bit odd. Well, considering this is Nerima, actually it was pretty normal. Gemna looked extremely worried, sitting between Shampoo and Nodoka, especially with Shampoo feeding him and Nodoka absently stroking the hilt of her naked katana blade. Kasumi was extremely quiet, Ranma kept half an eye on her as she served the meal. Nabiki and Akane looked confused. Soun was oblivious.
After dinner, Kasumi and Ranma got up from the table and went out the door. Akane and Nabiki looked a bit surprised. "Where are they going?" Akane asked.
"Out to catch a movie, why do you ask?" Nodoka asked.
"No real reason, I was just surprised. I didn't think she was feeling well. Dinner wasn't quite up to her normal standards," Akane said.
"Oh, that's because Ranma cooked tonight," Nodoka said. Massive face faults all around. She continued, "Also, I'm going to need some help cleaning up tonight, then Gemna, Shampoo and I will be going over to my house for the evening."