Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that i claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
Broken Mirrors, chapter 21:
Saturday, November 14th. The Kuonji residence, 5:00 PM.
Ukyo stared at herself in the mirror. What was she doing? Why was she doing this to herself? She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. She was wearing the kimono that Ranma had given her, and it looked amazing on her. Of course it did, Ranma had money to spare.
She looked in the mirror and closed her eyes. She took a long, deep breath and tried to center herself. Find her center, the calm in the storm. Breathe and relax. She could do this. Just Akane and the sisters. She could do this.
She almost canceled, but she still found herself in a taxi on the way to the Teahouse. She got out of the taxi and made her way inside, being greeted by the madam of the House, Konatsu. Their usual room had been held for them. Everything was the same except for who wasn't there. No sarcastic Nabiki, no sweet and gentle Kasumi. No shy and adorably awkward Ranko.
Ukyo tried to get engaged in the conversation, wondering how Akane seemed to be doing so good. How she could be so carefree with all that was going on, all that had happened.
All that they might have already lost.
She watched Akane and the hyperactive Kurumi leave the room, going off to view something or other. Honestly, she hadn't paid any attention so was unsure what was going on. Maybe she should just leave, it was clear that she wasn't in the right head space for this right now. Maybe she would never be again.
"So, are you going to talk about what is wrong, or did I send the two happy people away for nothing?" Natsume said in that cool, calm and collected tone of hers.
Ukyo blinked at that, turning to look slowly at Natsume, who was once more sipping serenely from her cup of tea. Come to think of it, didn't Natsume usually get the sake, saying it was the best she had ever had? "Excuse me, what do you mean?" Ukyo asked.
Natsume sighed and put down her cup, as she adjusted herself to face Ukyo directly. "It's obvious something is wrong. It's a girls night, and we are missing Nabiki, Ranko and Kasumi. Kasumi is not a surprise, she has problems getting away from her brood. Honestly, she probably needs more time away, but I digress. Now, Nabiki has been rather closed-lipped about what is going on lately. While that is not completely unusual, since I know she keeps a fair number of secrets, she has been more...Reserved..than usual. That leads me to speculate that something is going on. Add in your expression and lack of interest, and the missing members of our usual troop, and it leads me to conclude that something happened between you, possibly Akane, and Nabiki and Ranko."
Ukyo looked away, flushed just a bit at how well she had been read. "Yes, Nabiki keeps a lot of secrets. Everyone keeps a lot of secrets, and lies about them. I honestly wonder if everything is just a lie right now."
Natsume looked at her, her head cocked to the side a bit. "And, if they are? What then? It's obvious you are distraught, so I have to assume that you both have suffered some sort of setback with Ranma and Ranko, and as you just said, it might have to do with trust issues. So tell me this, is how you obviously feel about Ranma a lie?"
Ukyo knotted her hands in the fabric of her kimono. "You wouldn't understand. And if you did understand, that would mean you were in on it too. Are you. Are you part of the massive secret and web of lies that seems to spread from the siblings and Nabiki?" Ukyo said bitterly.
"Would you believe me if I said I was not privy to all the secrets that Nabiki keeps? That I have had no experience with either of the siblings besides meeting Ranko? And no, I have no interest in being told whatever secret lies between Nabiki and the siblings, it is not my place. I consider myself a friend of Ranko and Nabiki, even though I know that there are secrets I am not privy to. I would assume that they have decided to make you, and possibly Akane, privy to whatever grand secret that schemer Nabiki has been hiding?" Natsume said in that same cold tone of voice she usually spoke in, no hint of dishonesty in her gaze or eyes.
Ukyo nodded, and sighed deeply. "I believe you, Natsume. I just… I don't know what to do anymore."
"Well, what do you want to do? Sometimes talking about it helps, or so I am often told." Natsume laughed softly. "I've never been good at keeping any secrets, and I tend to not let things bother me unless there is something I can actually do about it. I leave the pointless fretting and worrying to my sister. She is far better at it than I could ever hope to be." She said with the slightest hint of a smile on her face.
With a resigned sigh, Ukyo shook her head. "I wish that things could go back to how they were before I knew all of...This. I want to just forget it all, and go back to my simple, boring, lonely life." Ukyo said in a bitter tone of voice.
"Is that really what you want, Ukyo? Or is that just the easier path? Tell me this, the secret they were keeping, did they have to tell you with how things were? Was it a secret kept maliciously, or was there another reason for it? And why now, of all times?" Natsume gently presses, sipping from her tea.
Ukyo gave a resigned sigh, as she worked through what she could tell her without spilling the whole crazy story. "I...Really do wish that I could see them both the same way as before. And yes, I know it's the easier path, but something about this should be easy at some point. And..No, if they had kept it a secret this long, I imagine they could have kept it a secret for a while longer." Ukyo sipped at her drink, as she thought about the rest. "And it wasn't kept maliciously, it was one that….Has a lot of impact on quite a few people, honestly." She thought a bit more about the last question and sighed. "And now...Was because I think they wanted to get closer to us, let us into their crazy little world. And I ran."
"It must have been quite a revelation, to make you flee from someone that you are so obviously attached to, Ukyo." Natsume noted calmly, arching an eyebrow.
Ukyo laughed bitterly, as she took another drink. "It was. It...really changed how I see a lot of things, to be honest. It's making me rethink a lot of what I thought I knew, and I'm not sure I like the answers I am finding."
"Well, I have always found it was best to know the truth, instead of assuming things that are not correct. Believe me, we know that all too well. We never actually knew our father, Kurumi and I. We lived with our mother, until she passed suddenly. We were on our own in the world, and didn't have much to go on to look for our father. But, we did what we could. That led us to Nabiki, oddly enough. Because we thought that Soun Tendo, her father, might be ours." Natsume said while taking a sip of her tea, watching Ukyo's reaction.
"What? Nabiki's dad...Is your dad? How is that possible?" Ukyo said in a flabbergasted tone of voice.
Natsume shook her head "We figured out he wasn't, but if we had confronted the family as a whole, instead of talking to Nabiki? Who knows what kind of damage we could have done?"
"And now you are friends with her." Ukyo stated as she shook her head.
"Yes, in a lot of ways Nabiki has treated both of us like family. She helped us find a place, and helped me get a job at her firm. But, enough about us. Do you think that they told you the secret because they were worried you would find out on your own?" Natsume said, as she noticed that her revelation seemed to have distracted Ukyo from the anxiety she had been feeling, at least a little bit.
Ukyo sighed and shook her head. "Probably not, not unless we spent a lot more time around them, in their very private lives. They had kept it from us for years, even before we started dating. And, I can understand why they didn't tell us before. I really do."
"Okay, then what hurt more then. The secret itself, or the fact that until now they had kept it from you both?" Natsume asked in her quiet, calm voice.
"Honestly...The fact that they had lied to us both." Ukyo said, her brow furrowed.
"And now that you know, how do you feel about him?" Natsume asked.
"Confused. I...I miss him, just like I'm sure Akane misses Ranko. Do I...Should I just forgive him, forgive them?" Ukyo said, tears running down her face.
"I can't tell you the answer, Ukyo. All I can do is listen, and offer what advice I can. You, both of you, need to talk about this and figure it out amongst yourselves. Find the answer that you both can be happy with, whether it's to go back to them, or walk away forever. I think it's a decision you both need to work on, together. And anytime you need someone to talk to, I will be here for both of you." Natsume said, then sighed as she looked up as the sound of rapid footfalls precedes the return of the two others.
Natsume puts down her tea just before her sister latches onto her like an excited leech. "Natsume! You have to come see the koi ponds they have here! They are amazing! And they even have a small grove of sakura trees! We have to come here during flower viewing season!" Kurumi, her excitable little sister gushes to Natsume, then she blinked and nodded to Ukyo "You two are welcome to come too! I'd say invite more, but I heard that you two are not talking to the others right now, and I don't know why but I was told not to pry because it really isn't my place and I don't really need need to know, I just want to know." She gushes before her sister gently but firmly pries her off of her.
"Kurumi! You need to calm down. Please." Natsume scolds her excitable little sister.
"Yeah yeah, jeeze, you're just soooo boring Natsume!" Kurumi said as she glared at her sister.
Their little interaction is broken up as the other two giggle at their antics, before Ukyo sighed and looked down. "Akane...I…."
Akane shook her head. "We will talk about this later, if..that is okay with you? I want to get some stuff off my chest, and I think you do too. We can talk, and we can work it out, okay?"
Ukyo took a deep breath, then let it out and nodded. "Okay. We will talk about this later, and decide what we want to do about it."
Ukyo smiled as she became engaged in the conversation for the first time that night. Keeping up with Kurumi when she got a head of steam on her was a challenge, but it wasn't the biggest challenge she had faced. She looked at Akane as she laughed away at the latest antics of Kurumi, and smiled herself.
Tonight was about friendships kept and developed, and unexpected support for what was coming ahead.
She would talk to Akane, and they would work this out.
Together.