Chapter Twenty-Two

As expected, Nodoka's presence had everyone feeling uncomfortable and uncertain. Thanks to Akane, they knew she would appear eventually, but this was too soon. Even though Akane couldn't remember off the top of her head exactly what happened before Nodoka showed up in her dream, she had made it clear that it wasn't supposed to happen anytime soon. Nor was she supposed to bring someone with her. Haruna showing up had obviously affected that in the chain of events, but still seeing the Saotome matriarch was unexpected.

Akane was probably the most uncomfortable of the group. Thanks to her vision, even though she knew some things weren't going to be exact and some portions were probably already erased thanks to things gone differently now, she had held a certain measure of security in knowing what was going to come. Nothing bothers a prophet more than being caught by surprise, and this was the biggest surprise she had encountered so far.

"I imagine you all have some questions for me, some more than others." Nodoka started. "Since I'm not sure where exactly to start, how about my dear husband asks me the first question?"

All eyes were on Genma, who cleared his throat. "Umm... how much did Haruna tell you?"

"Wondering if you're in trouble with me? How predictable Genma, even without... well, never mind that." Nodoka said. "Let's just say she told me everything you told her, including Jusenkyo."

Genma got nervous. 'She doesn't seem bothered by the idea of Ranma becoming a girl, but she can be hard to read when she wants to be. Maybe she's waiting to see how he takes it before deciding. After all, what man among men would enjoy being a girl or even part animal?'

"Genma dear, did you actually take that silly pledge seriously?" Nodoka asked.

"You mean it wasn't serious?" Genma asked back. "But it was a matter of honor, you can't make such a thing a mere hollow gesture."

"If you really believed that then things with my family would be a lot more different." Ukyo stated.

"Would you rather I did take it seriously?" Nodoka asked, and it was hard to tell if she was teasing him or threatening him.

It didn't matter, because Genma knew what the only right answer was. "No, of course not."

"Then why husband did you come up with the idea in the first place?" Nodoka added, this time teasing him.

'I knew it.' Akane thought, then cleared her mind.

"Well if it's not legitimate then it doesn't matter anymore." Genma stated.

"Actually it does, especially if you intend to keep making decisions regarding Ranma's life." Akane claimed defiantly.

"Hey, I have every right to make decisions regarding my son." Genma proclaimed.

"Regarding him, maybe. For him, not at all." Akane simply replied, undaunted.

"I agree." Nodoka added.

Genma started to feel a bit defensive. "Now hold on a minute, you might be his mother and she might be his fiancee, but I'm the one who took care of the boy and gave blood sweat and tears for his sake. And you think you two have more influence over his life than me just because you're girls? Over my dead body!"

Nodoka frowned and quickly unsheathed her sword. "Want it to be?"

The Saotome patriarch quickly got nervous and sweat heavily. "No, but still-"

"Right now Genma you have no say over Ranma's future unless I say so. If you have any wisdom left in you then you will heed my words." Nodoka demanded.

Akane's eyes were rather wide. 'Holy crap! This is nothing like the Nodoka I know. This one never actually threatened to kill her husband, nor did she try to dominate him like some kind of tsundere. Will this affect the pledge in some way?'

Genma submitted and Nodoka put her sword back in the sheath, then smiled at her son. "I'd like to have some time alone with my son if you all don't mind."

Given the circumstances no one could really bring themselves to refuse her request. Ranma stood up and went outside with his mother so no one could overhear.

"Hey girls, what say we three have our own chat?" Ukyo suggested.

Without even needing to think about it, Akane and Shampoo nodded and stood up. "Let go in my room." Shampoo offered.

The trio went up into the residential portion of the cafe, and sat in Shampoo's simple room. With a futon instead of a western style bed, it was not unlike Akane's own room, but with a kitsune statue in the corner for decoration and a framed photograph of her and Ranma together.

Ukyo immediately saw that and smiled. "Wish I had one of these. Oh well, I can wait. I've been waiting for ten years, what's another week or two?"

"Alright Ukyo, how much do you know?" Akane asked, sounding more accusing than she intended to. But everything was confusing her and she wanted to get right to the heart of the matter without hassle.

Keeping her smile, Ukyo sat down on the floor after removing her giant spatula. Shampoo sat on her futon and Akane sat on the floor too, the three girls forming a triangle. "Well, I can't exactly say everything, but I suppose that you don't want to know everything. You want to know if I know the real issue involving us three, and the answer is yes. To be honest, I knew before the two of you even knew Ranchan."

"How?" Both girls asked.

Ukyo looked to Akane. "Tell me, when the fat man stole my cart, what happened to me? And please don't play dumb, dream girl."

'She knows about my vision, but how?' Akane asked herself. "You were scorned by other girls, they said your fiancee ran away from you. You spent years perfecting your ability to cook okonomiyaki and trained to fight Ranma. And you once posed as a boy and went to an all boys school. That's pretty much it."

"Pretty close, but there's one detail you got wrong." Ukyo said. "I hate okonomiyaki."

"What?" Akane almost shouted, not expecting that. Ukyo saying she hatred okonomiyaki was like Shampoo saying she hated Chinese food.

The chef laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Oh you should have seen your face." She had to let herself stop laughing before she could continue. "Anyway, your little summary was lacking in one key detail. After Ranchan's father took him away, his mother showed up and agreed to take me to him, saying the promise would still be fulfilled."

"That's new to me." Akane said, then thought of something. "Wait, how could she have known ahead of time?"

"You should know that better than anyone Sugar. After all, haven't you known plenty of things ahead of time?"

Akane's eyes widened as the hint sank in. "Wait, are you telling me that Mrs. Saotome has seen the future too?"

"That's putting it mildly. You see, I'm not allowed to tell you two the entire story, but I can tell you this much. Are you aware of a figure important in the Joketsuzoku called the Oracle?"

"I believe Shampoo and Cologne have mentioned them since they showed up here, but never in my vision." The youngest Tendo answered.

"Well long story short, Nodoka-sensei IS the Oracle."

Shampoo gasped. "Oracle-sama is here?"

"Who exactly is this oracle, and how can Auntie Nodoka be them when she's not Chinese?" Akane asked.

"Again, I'm forbidden from telling the complete story. But think about this, Sensei allowed her husband to have sole care of her child without a fight under the premise that her son would be raised properly, and she's never bothered to check up on him directly until now. Don't you think maybe she wouldn't do that unless she had a damn good reason to believe things would work out?"

"To be honest, I thought the reason was she was too trusting of Mr. Saotome." Akane claimed.

"You trust Ranchan don't you?" Ukyo asked, and Akane nodded. "If he made the same promise with your child, would you be that trusting?"

"No, but I believe good intentions aren't enough to make good things happen. Besides, in my vision Auntie Nodoka seemed to believe everything she was told."

"Your vision was faulty, an example of what might have been, not what will be." Ukyo stated.

Akane first raised her eyebrows then narrowed her eyes mildly. "How would you know that? How would you know that Ukyo?"

Ukyo looked the same as always, as if she was used to being pressed for answers. "I suppose I can tell you that as much. What do you think made you have that dream in the first place?"

Akane's eyes widened. "Wait, you mean you gave it to me?"

"Me? Oh I wish I was that good in the arts, but no, that wasn't me. Sensei made you have the vision."

"Auntie Nodoka... made me dream all that?" Akane repeated, finding it hard to believe.

"You didn't really think you actually saw the future in a sheer twist of random fate did you? I mean, even Nostradamus needed something to make him see his visions." Ukyo added calmly. "The Oracle can do many things, allowing someone else to see what she's seen is one of them."

"But... but why?" Akane asked.

"You need to ask her. But to be fair, given what you have seen, can you really blame her?"

Akane closed her eyes. "Not at all. I've been able to fix a lot because of that dream. But still, how can a person give another person a dream?"

"Again, that's something I'm not allowed to tell you."

"What can you tell us?" Shampoo asked, not liking how the okonomiyaki chef kept dodging the questions they gave her.

"I can tell you about myself a little." She offered.

Akane nodded. "Okay, that's a start."

And so Ukyo proceeded to let the others get to know her better, and they in turn let her get to know them.

While the girls were chatting, Nodoka was outside with her nervous son. The first thing she did when she was outside was hug him.

"Ranma, I've missed you a lot."

"I... missed you too Mom." He sais, not wanting to admit he hadn't even thought of her until Akane had brought her up not long after he arrived in Nerima.

"I'm sure this is all very confusing to you, so what do you think we should do? Get the questioning over with or ignore that and just enjoy being together?" She asked, releasing him from her hug.

"Umm... I'm not much of a talker so I would prefer not going into any long discussions if it can be avoided." He admitted, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably.

Nodoka smiled. "That works for me. Besides, I get asked questions all the freaking time. It would be nice to spend some time not being pressed for answers."

"Why would you get-?" Ranma started to ask, but then stopped himself.

Nodoka chuckled. "That's okay, if you are wondering something don't be afraid to ask. Why am I always asked questions? Simple, I'm the one who has the answers the other person wants. What more reason would anyone need to ask a question?"

"What answers can you give them?" He asked. "What do you do for a living? Why did you let me go like that?"

Nodoka sighed. "Guess we really do need to get this over with more than we both thought we had to." She then sat down on a small bench outside the cafe and motioned for her son to sit next to her, which he did. "Ranma, do you believe it's possible to see the future?"

"Um.. well, Akane has said she has."

"That's not what I mean. I didn't ask if you knew someone who said they've seen it, I meant do you believe it can be done? Do you believe she actually saw it? Or do you believe it's just a dream she's taken too seriously?"

Ranma showed no reaction. "I never thought about it before. But Akane's known too much for it all to just be coincidence. Somehow, she has seen the future. I don't know how, but just because I can't explain it doesn't make it any less true."

"Has she told you anything about me?" Nodoka asked.

"Some things. Mostly about how you let Pops take me on a trip to get me stronger, but was that really your only reason?"

"Son, I can tell you that if I had refused, things would have turned out worse. I chose to let you go for it was the lesser of two evils." Nodoka told him.

"Worse? How could it have been worse? Did the idea of raising me really disgust you that much?" Ranma asked.

Nodoka looked at him with Ranma. "You think I didn't want you around?"

"What else am I supposed to think? According to Akane, Pop took me away giving you nothing but a promise and you didn't even try to stop him. Heck you even made me sign some stupid pledge to kill myself if I didn't fulfill some standard of manliness. A standard Akane points out you never once bothered being specific about. If that's true then I can only conclude you're either crazy or didn't want me around anymore. What else could possibly explain what you did?"

Nodoka tried to take his hand, but he pulled away, as if to say 'How do you like it?' in a childish way. "My son, there is more to the story than just what Akane saw. Even a prophet can't know everything."

"Then why did you let me go?" He quietly asked, as if afraid of the answer.

"To guarantee I could see you again." She answered, only to get a more confused expression on her son. "Your father was so determined to take you on this trip you've been on that nothing was going to stop him from taking you. He would have done it even if I hadn't given him permission to go."

Ranma looked surprised. "Wouldn't that be technically kidnapping?"

"Possible, I'm not exactly sure how the law would have seen it. But I did know that if he took you away from me like that, he would have done whatever it took to keep me from getting you back. So only by letting him think I agree to the plan did I ensure you would be brought back to me someday."

Ranma didn't look convinced. "You really think he would have just up and left with me even if you told him no?"

Nodoka nodded. "He actually tried to rip you out of my arms and run off."

"Then, what made you stop fighting? What made you decide letting him take me was better than fighting for me? Was I not worth fighting for?"

Nodoka looked hurt. 'He really is convinced that I don't care about him. He sees my letting him go as a sign that I don't love him, that I see him as insignificant. Genma what have you done to my son to make him act confident but believe no one can love him? If this is how he thinks, then maybe that's why he procrastinated in the vision. It wasn't that he couldn't make up his mind, he felt there was no point to it even if he did.'

"Ranma, my son, you will understand why I did what I did someday, but first, you need to understand that not everyone is your opponent. Your father clearly over-prioritized martial arts to the point you can only think in terms of combat. Even family and friends are potential threats to you."

"That's because they are." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Even Akane?" Nodoka asked.

Ranma was hesitant to answer for a bit. "I don't exactly like what she wants."

"What do you mean?"

"She says she loves me, but it's not me she loves, just what she dreamed me as. I think she's trying to change me into something specific to match her dreams. I don't like that. I shouldn't have to change one bit."

"Ranma, you're young. You cannot possibly stay the same forever. I mean, you aren't the same person you were ten years ago, even five years ago. You think you're going to be just like this in five years?" Nodoka brought up.

"I want to get rid of something I don't like, but other than that I like who I am. Why would I want to change that?"

"It's part of growing up. Even if a caterpillar likes being a caterpillar, it will someday become a butterfly. You can't stop it, and if you try, then you're basically saying you're afraid of the future."

'Great, it's like talking to the doc all over again.' Ranma bemoaned. "Doesn't matter. I like who I am, and except for one part I don't want to change. Anyone who doesn't accept that, I don't need them."

"Ranma, my son, maybe you're not ready to see what I'm trying to tell you." Nodoka stated. "So I'm going to offer you a choice, you can come with me for a couple of days, and bring your other fiancees with you, to see for yourself. Or I will give you some time to see for yourself that you do have friends instead of simply one enemy after another, then I will come back and offer you the chance to come with me again. What do you want?"

Ranm thought it over, honestly he did want to spend some time with his mother. And if she really was going to keep coming back to him, wouldn't it be better to just get what she wanted to do over it? But at the same time, he knew nothing about her or what she thought was good for him. After all, leaving him to Genma was a good idea to her.

"Mom, I think I need time to think it over." He finally said.

Nodoka nodded. "Alright, I'll let you think it over, then come back to check up on you from time to time. Just promise we you won't wait until I return to actually think about it. I'll ask Ukyo to say so you have another friend to help you."

"Why is she with you in the first place?"

"Your father was supposed to take her with you, but he completely abandoned her. So I took her in as an apprentice, doing the job your father wouldn't."

Ranma tensed, then frowned. "So... you'll raise her, but not me?"

Nodoka was surprised, something she was not used to feeling. "Ranma-"

He cut her off. "You give me up without a fight all because Pop wouldn't take no for an answer, yet you'll raise some stranger's daughter in my place?!" Ranma's ki was starting to flare up, and it looked like he was about to create an anger-based attack. "You know what? Screw your offer. I see how much I mean to you. Just get out of my life."

"Ranma-"

"No dammit! It's clear I mean nothing to you. What, did you want a daughter so badly a son had no place in your life? Are you only now interested in me because of my curse? Is THAT why you made Pops take me, so he could turn me into a girl and you want to finish the job now? No way! Leave me alone and-"

He was forced to stop by Nodoka putting her palm swiftly to his forehead. He felt like his entire body was frozen, petrified. Yet he could still perceive the world around him and breath, but that was it. Nodoka looked right in his arms, with steel in her gaze and tears pouring out.

"My son, you are speaking purely out of anger and I can overlook that. You are hurt and desperate to lash out at something to make yourself feel better and validate your own worth. I can overlook this, but I will not end this night on this note. Never believe I do not now or never did love you. You are my son, I have always loved you. The situation here is bigger than you and me, and while you are a key factor in it, you are not the only part that needs to be taken into consideration. Until you can accept that you have friends and the world does not revolve around you, you will never be able to help anyone."

'Who ever said I wanted to help anyone?' Ranma thought. 'I just want to be the strongest. That's it.'

Nodoka frowned. "Such a selfish thought, being strong just for the sake of being strong. You have no great plans for your skills, no desires except to simply have them."

'Did she read my thoughts?' Ranma asked.

"Here I can Ranma." She answered. "Rest assured I can't see everything on your mind. That's too much even for me to handle. And I cannot control what you think. Ranma, you have much to learn, and this time it isn't about martial arts. Unless you make an effort to learn to connect to people, and unless you have a real reason for becoming stronger, then I really will leave you alone. I will not like it, not by a long shot, but you cannot change for the better unless you want to change for the better."

'And who are you to say what is better for me?' Ranma thought angrily.

"If you won't trust me, then at least trust your fiancees. If you cannot, then I fear someday you will find yourself alone."