Dinner and a Show
Genma looked up from the shougi board and inhaled deeply with a look of contentment on his face. "Kasumi has truly outdone herself, unless my nose deceives me."
"Indeed," replied Soun, smiling fondly as he thought of his eldest daughter, "I look forward to seeing what she has come up with."
"Seeing and tasting," corrected Genma as he placed a piece on the board.
"Oh, very true, my friend."
As Nabiki snapped a picture of Ranma practicing in Avatar form through the space between the open sliding panels separating the living room from the back yard, she said, "We might get special meals like this on a regular basis, now that Kasumi has someone around that she wants to impress."
"That's wonderful," said Genma with a smile.
Soun nodded as he moved a piece. "Yes, it is good to see Kasumi with a new friend."
"Er, yes. Of course," agreed Genma.
A few minutes passed with only the click of Nabiki's camera shutter, the clack of shougi pieces being placed or taken, and the occasional noise from the kitchen or yard, until Akane walked down the stairs and groaned, "That smells so good. How much longer is it until dinner?"
Walking out of the kitchen with a pitcher of ice water and lemon slices and a number of glasses on a tray, Kasumi replied, "There's still another hour until it's ready. Auntie Nodoka should be getting here at least fifteen minutes before that, though."
Genma stiffened and uneasily asked, "Nodoka's coming?"
"Oh, yes. I thought she'd enjoy joining us for dinner and you know she loves seeing Ranma whenever she can."
Genma turned and looked out into the back yard where his manly son was currently smoothing down her skirt and correcting the position of a dangling gold, heart-shaped earring after a series of leaps and tumbles. Eying her outfit's pink ribbons and bejeweled tiara, he felt a chill run down his spine when he couldn't help but notice how at ease she seemed as she gave a carefree twirl and asked her advisor if she looked all right.
Slowly turning away from the view of the back yard, Genma hesitantly said, "Well, so long as no one brings up the topic of Ranma's new ..."
"Hobby," Kasumi prompted helpfully.
"Yes, hobby..." continued Genma, "everything should be fine."
"How could the topic of the Avatar possibly come up?" asked Nabiki as she snapped a picture of said Avatar and the talking lavender fox beside her.
Following the direction of Nabiki's lens, Genma winced slightly. "You know, with all the surprises and excitement my dear wife has experienced lately, meeting a magical fox might not be good for her. Perhaps it would be best if Velgri doesn't join us for dinner."
"Oh, we couldn't do that," replied Kasumi as she started to pour and distribute glasses of water, "she's the guest of honor."
"Mm. That is true," allowed Genma. "Perhaps it would be best to call Nodoka and cancel, then."
"Rescind her invitation?" asked Kasumi as she gave a glass of ice water to Akane and placed one next to Nabiki, "Oh, that would be inexcusable, especially less than an hour beforehand. Why, Auntie Nodoka may have left her house already," she added as she smiled at her father and handed him a glass of water.
"Of course, of course..." agreed Genma solemnly, "I'm only thinking of what's best for Nodoka."
"I know you are," said Kasumi with a smile as she walked outside to bring water to Ranma and Velgri. It was at that point that Genma realized that he was the only one in the room without a glass of water.
As Kasumi served the Avatar and her advisor, Genma considered his options. He could wait until the fox was alone, sneak up on her with a sack, and make sure she was indisposed until Nodoka left. With a slight shake of his head, he dismissed that idea—he had no desire to discover what unknown magical powers the fox may have, and in any case, her absence would be sure to raise the dinner topic of 'Where's Velgri?' which would invariably be followed by the topic of 'Who's Velgri?'.
No, the only possibility would be to stop Nodoka from coming to dinner. He could intercept her on the way and push for a romantic dinner out for just the two of them, but she probably wouldn't accept that with a special dinner from Kasumi and a visit to Ranma on the table. That left only deception or abduction. The consequences of discovery would be high, but he was a master martial artist, so he should be able to pull it off without much difficulty. He'd have to hurry, though—Nodoka almost always arrived early to social occasions, especially when cooking was involved. Ah, and there was the doorbell now. As Kasumi walked past to answer the door (without stopping to give him a glass of water, he noted), he consoled himself with the thought that he'd at least be getting an excellent last meal. Turning his attention back to the shougi board, he sighed softly as he noted that every piece aside from his king had defected to the enemy army and was now threatening said king.
"Ranma!" called Akane, "Your mother's here!"
Ranma waved a hand to indicate she'd heard before concentrating for a moment and reverting to her normal female form. When she walked in with Velgri at her side, Akane asked, "Did you know she was coming?"
"Not until Kasumi told me when she came out."
"What are you going to do about being the Avatar?" she asked with concern.
"I have a plan," answered Ranma grimly.
Akane nodded, then smiled as Nodoka entered the room with Kasumi and walked over to hug her female son.
"Hello, son. It's good to see you," murmured Nodoka before releasing Ranma and looking down with mild surprise. "And who is this?"
As Nabiki quickly opened her mouth to answer, Ranma sharply held up a hand in her direction and said, "I've got this! Mom, this is Velgri. She's my advisor. I'm ... I'm a magical girl who fights the forces of darkness now."
"Huh," said Nabiki, "I was just going to say she was Kasumi's friend."
Ignoring both the involuntary twitch that went through her at Nabiki's words and Genma's muttered, "What are you doing, boy?" Ranma plowed on. "Sit down and I'll show you." Once Nodoka sat down, Ranma quietly said her transformation phrase, and after a brief show of sound and music, stood before her mother as the Avatar of Light.
"I see," said Nodoka noncommittally after a moment. "Could you please explain how this occurred?"
"Yeah, well, I had a dream one night and this voice," Ranma said, nodding toward Velgri as she raised a paw at that point, "said because I had a good heart and was the best fighter in the world—"
"I never said you were the best fighter in the world!"
Ranma coughed. "Uh, right, well, you know how hard dreams are to remember... Anyway, the voice said I'd been chosen to be a champion of the light, and I was all for that, but then I realized it was talking about a girl champion, so I said thanks, but no thanks..."
"That doesn't sound very manly," said Nodoka with a slight frown.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I mean, champion of the light sounded great, but they wanted a girl and I'm a g—"
"No!" shouted several people who had no desire to see the effects of the Avatar of Light transforming into her super form in the middle of the living room.
"No," said Nodoka, oblivious to the alarm of the others, "I meant it doesn't seem manly to reject such an important honor because you would have to carry it out as a girl." As Ranma and Genma gaped at her like fish out of water, she continued, "After all, it's not as if you didn't turn into a girl already."
"But..." said Ranma in confusion while gesturing at her ribbons and gold jewelry.
"They are part of your uniform, so it's only appropriate that you wear them," said Nodoka firmly. "I'll admit, if you'd starting wearing such an outfit solely for your own pleasure, I'd be a bit … concerned, but it's perfectly acceptable in these circumstances."
"That's great!" exclaimed Ranma, her relief evident. A bit shyly, she asked, "Would you like to see what I can do as the Avatar of Light?"
"Such a respectable title," Nodoka beamed. "I'd love to, dear, but tell me, if you refused your call, how did you end up the Avatar of Light?"
"Er, well, I kinda accidentally said the transformation phrase... and after that, I had to take the job. But now that I got it, I'm gonna take it seriously, of course!" she quickly added.
"I wouldn't expect anything less," said Nodoka with a warm smile.
"She really is," added Nabiki helpfully. She's even learning how to conduct herself as befits the Avatar of Light."
"Stop. Help..." Ranma trailed off in confusion. "Er, I mean, yeah. Thanks ... Nabiki?"
"I'm very impressed, Ranma, you're becoming quite the young gentleman!" Nodoka said. As Ranma flushed slightly at the praise, she added, "And I do want to see what you can do, but could it wait until after dinner? I really do want to have a look at what Kasumi's doing in the kitchen and see if there's anything I can do to help."
"Oh, no, that would be great," said Ranma, standing there with a smile that lasted even after her mother went into the kitchen.
"That went really well," exclaimed Akane. "But weren't you worried she'd have problems with you being a magical girl?"
"Yeah," sighed Ranma, "but I figured it'd come out eventually, and after trying to hide the curse from her for so long, I just couldn't go through that again."
"You got lucky, boy!" growled Genma. "There was no need to tell her now and risk ... anything."
"Right, and her finding out I've been dressing up like this and keeping it a secret would have gone over so well!"
"Only if she found out," retorted Genma. "And, besides, you're a magical girl—keeping your identity secret is expected."
"He has a point..." admitted Akane, "but I think you did the right thing, Ranma."
"Yeah, well, I'm not planning on telling anyone else," said Ranma as she shook her head, then paused and inhaled deeply. "Man, that smells so good. I hope it's ready soon."
"I know," moaned Akane, "I can't wait to see what she's come up with."
"So long as it's not snails."
"Will you drop the stupid snail thing already! We get it—you don't want to eat them. Just give it a rest."
"Fine," groused Ranma as she began to impatiently wander around the room, glancing toward the kitchen, pausing to study the shougi board, gazing at the sunset outside, glancing toward the kitchen again...
"You know, if you're bored, you can always pose for some Avatar pictures," offered Nabiki. "I could get some really nice shots with the setting sun behind you."
Ranma stopped and scowled. "Just what are you doing with all those pictures, anyway? I don't want you selling them, you know!"
"Oh, don't worry. Maybe I'll use them in a book or something years from now when this is all over, but I'm not going to sell them piecemeal." Nabiki rolled a shoulder in a shrug. "But honestly, this whole thing is just too big to let it go by without documenting it. And you never know when a picture can come in handy."
Ranma frowned. "Well, there was that time with the old lech," she admitted.
"There you go. And if the media ever gets on your tail, a good picture could distract them."
"Or drive them into a frenzy," countered Akane.
"That's true," agreed Nabiki, "but fortunately, you have access to someone with lots of experience dealing with people desperate for information."
"Truly, we are blessed," Ranma said dryly.
Conversation stopped and hopeful faces turned to the kitchen as someone walked out, but it was only Nodoka coming to set the table, with flatware rather than chopsticks for the French meal. "Just a few more minutes," she assured everyone, directing a smile at Ranma as she quickly came over to help. Once the table was set and Nodoka returned to the kitchen, everyone else took their places at the table and waited.
For several minutes, everyone sat in silence, sending occasional glances toward the kitchen, until Nodoka and Kasumi emerged bearing trays. With smiles on their faces, the two women walked around the table, placing a bowl in front of each place (with a much smaller one for Velgri), before putting the trays aside and sitting down. Ranma looked down at the bowl in front of her. Inside was a creamy, pale yellow soup garnished with some small green leaves and a few drops of oil. She inhaled deeply and sighed as the rich scent of roasted garlic filled her nose.
"Well," said Kasumi. "Shall we?"
No further prompting was necessary, as everyone immediately dug into their food.
"Genma!" Nodoka sharply scolded, "French soup is eaten with a spoon!"
"Of course, dear," Genma said weakly, as he put down his bowl and picked up his spoon.
"This is great, Kasumi," said Akane, quickly getting nods and murmured agreement from everyone else.
"Indeed, it is very good, especially for a first attempt," said Velgri.
"Thank you," Kasumi quietly replied, cheeks slightly red.
For the next few minutes, the only sounds at the table were the clacking of spoons and the occasional slurp. Once everyone was done, Kasumi and Nodoka gathered the bowls and took them to the kitchen, soon returning with trays laden with a wide array of dishes. Everyone watched attentively as the dishes were placed in the center of the table, eagerly awaiting the moment when the last one was set down and they could dig in. Finally, the moment came, and all that remained was for Kasumi to give the ok.
"This," said Kasumi as she pointed to a bowl containing a gracefully sculpted mound of a whipped, orange substance, "is pureed squash." As she pointed to another dish, her eyes fell on Genma, who was staring at the food with sad longing, then Ranma, who almost looked like she was in physical pain as she watched the food with quiet intensity, and finally Akane, who was looking at her, rather than the food, albeit with pleading puppydog eyes. With a soft sigh and a resigned smile, Kasumi said, "Well, I suppose if you want to know what anything is, you can ask."
Taking that as permission, everyone else immediately rushed to serve themselves and eat, while Kasumi served herself and Velgri at a more sedate pace. As Kasumi began to eat, she quietly watched the lavender fox, trying to gauge what she thought of her efforts; unfortunately, it was proving a bit hard to read vulpine body language. After a few minutes, though, Velgri looked up at her with warm eyes and gave her an approving nod. Feeling her cheeks start to burn as a smile graced her lips, Kasumi finally looked around to study the other people at the table.
Her family members seemed very happy with the meal; Auntie Nodoka looked pleased and impressed while her husband, who was eating in a civilized manner due to his wife's presence, had a look of contentment on his face; and Ranma, her face aglow, was bringing a forkful of a dish with a yellow sauce to her mouth.
"Oh! Ranma, that's—"
"Forest eel..." breathed Ranma reverently, her eyes wide and shining as she blissfully savored the food in her mouth.
"Forest eel?" Akane mouthed at Nabiki, who gave her a bewildered shrug in return before going to the source for more information.
"Ok, I'll bite," said Nabiki, "what's 'forest eel'?"
"When the old man and I were on the road," said Ranma as she laid down her fork, "sometimes money was kinda tight, you know..."
"Oh boy, it's going to be one of those stories," sighed Akane.
"Fiancée, curse, or blood feud?" asked Nabiki as she pulled out a small notebook and pen.
"Hey! Do you want to hear this or not?" demanded Ranma. As the notebook was put away and placating gestures were made, she continued. "Anyway, like I was saying, sometimes we didn't have much money and there weren't always odd jobs to do, so a lot of times, we had to live off the land, right? Usually, we could scrounge some fruit or vegetables, maybe score some eggs, or catch something like a fish, rabbit, or squirrel. But sometimes, even that was hard to find, and that's when the old man got serious and went hunting for forest eel.
"Now, I'm no slouch in hunting, but these things were way out of my league; whenever the old man tried taking me along, we didn't see a single sign of them! Even without me there, it still took him most of the day and he came back half covered with mud and leaves." Ranma sighed fondly. "But they were the best things I've ever tasted. If they weren't so hard to catch, I would of made a fuss about going after them more often."
Ranma shook her head. "I've tried to find them in markets and stores, but no one ever knew what I was talking about..." As she lowered her head with a sigh, her gaze fell on the serving dish with the yellow sauce and her head snapped back up. "Kasumi! You were able to find them! Where did you get them? Is it some secret marketplace or something?!"
"Ah, well..." replied Kasumi awkwardly as she briefly glanced over at Genma, who was hurrying to finish the food on his plate, "we call it something else, usually."
"What?" asked Ranma eagerly.
Velgri looked across the table at her charge, amusement clear on her face, and uttered a single word. "Escargot."
Ranma gave Velgri a baleful look for a moment before turning to glare at her father and demanding, "Well?"
Genma shrugged. "No harm, no foul."
Ranma glowered at her plate for a long moment as she considered that, then shrugged and picked up her fork again as a tiny smile returned to her lips. Just as her fork was about to reach her plate, however, she stopped, and with a frown asked, "Wait, so what was cave lobster, then?" When there was no answer, she looked over to her father's place to find it empty, with no sign of the man.
oOo
"I'm a guy."
Ranma closed her eyes as a strong yet gentle swell of power swirled around her, lifting her from the ground of the back yard and gracefully spinning her around as a lavender aura surrounded her. Within the obscuring aura, her clothing dissolved into streamers of pink and white that briefly swirled around her body before reforming into the clothing of the Avatar of Light. Once she was clothed, the aura split into three parts, each flying to a different part of her body. The first flew toward her hands, splitting into ten small orbs that alit on each fingertip and glowed brightly for an instant as they flowed onto each nail and became glossy lavender nail polish. The other two chased each other up around her body in a playful spiral, one bursting into hundreds of tiny strands of light that sank into her hair, transforming it into long and silky lavender locks that fell down her back in a French braid, while the other danced around her head, caressing her transformed hair, dividing itself with each touch into beads of light that then turned gold as they shifted into a coil anchoring the braid, dangling earrings shaped like hearts, and the tiara resting on her brow. As the final remnant of the aura sank into the tiara to become the lavender stone set in its center, Ranma's feet gently touched the ground and the music faded, the transformation complete.
"How elegant!" exclaimed Nodoka.
Ranma gave her mother a shy smile before exploding into motion, leaping, twisting, and throwing kicks, punches, and light lances at imaginary opponents. Although the only technique her normal form lacked was the light lance, the increase in speed, strength, and durability allowed her to perform moves she never would have been able to pull off untransformed. If only she had a highly skilled and durable partner to use as a punchin—ah, and as if in response to her thought, there was the old man sneaking around the corner of the house with a pilfered baguette.
Ranma veered close to the house and dashed toward her father, leaping into the air and throwing a light lance into the ground in front of him. The old man dodged, of course, hopping to the left away from the house and Ranma's trajectory, but the girl simply bounced off the side of the house to stay on target, launching herself at Genma with a flying kick. Turning to face the attack, Genma slapped Ranma's foot away to the side, but she added her own motion to the deflection, spinning around completely and slamming her other foot into Genma's stomach, causing him to grunt softly and stumble back a step. Landing lightly, Ranma threw a flurry of punches at her father. He was able to deflect the first two, but then her enhanced speed overwhelmed his defenses (especially as they were hampered by the baguette in his left hand), allowing the next two blows to land. Giving up defense as a losing prospect, Genma threw a punch at Ranma's head, only to to have her duck under it while grasping the front of his gi, twist, and send him hurtling upside down across the yard.
Gathering herself for a moment, Ranma launched herself into the air after her father with greater speed and a slightly higher trajectory. For his part, Genma tucked himself into a ball to right himself in his flight and managed to succeed right as he passed over the pond—just in time for the baguette to be snatched from his hand an instant before Ranma's boots slammed down on his shoulders as she passed above him, sending him into the pond with a mighty splash. Gracefully sailing on, Ranma somersaulted once before lightly landing before her mother, offering her a polite bow before presenting the baguette to Kasumi.
Gingerly accepting the somewhat worse for the wear bread with a polite smile, Kasumi said, "Thank you, Ranma. I'll just save this for your father's breakfast tomorrow."
"That was very impressive, Ranma," enthused Nodoka.
"Not bad, Saotome," agreed Nabiki, "but don't you have any special moves besides your light lance?"
"Not yet," replied Ranma, "but they'll come."
"I've been wondering about that," said Akane, "will you gradually develop your own techniques, like in martial arts, or will new powers come to you in moments of need, like with magical girls—er, I mean in shows about magical girls," she added, with a nervous glance at Velgri.
"Both, actually," said Ranma. "Velgri says techniques may come to me if I really need them, but they won't be nearly as efficient or effective as ones I come up with through a deep understanding of my powers."
"Are you close to coming up with something?" asked Akane.
Ranma shook her head. "Not really. It's kind of hard to get a good feel for all of this until you've been in a real fight."
"Don't worry," assured Nabiki, "it's only a matter of time."
oOo
Ranma sighed as he leaned back and relaxed in the hot water of the furo. He'd loved seeing his mother last night, but the evening had been a bit stressful, with revealing he turned into a magical girl and then concentrating on using his best manners while dining with her. But things had gone well—better than he'd dare hope, even—and now the last of the tension that lingered in his muscles was being soothed away by the hot water and the gentle tinkling of bells in the distance.
"Ranma!" shouted Akane as she burst into the room, causing him to flail about in alarm and slip completely underwater for a moment.
"Hey!" he sputtered, coughing up a bit of water, "I'm not dressed!"
"That's not important! Don't you hear it? It's the bell, Ranma—the bell!"
"I've heard bells before," growled Ranma as he hunched over to conceal himself better. "Now, will you get out of here?!"
"No, you don't understand!" cried Akane as she grabbed for Ranma's bare arm, trying to pull him out of the tub. "It's the bell I installed at the back entrance—you have a challenger!"
"Stop that!" yelled Ranma, slapping her hand away. "Look, go out and tell them I'll be there in a few minutes! Ok?"
Akane stopped and stared at Ranma with wide eyes. "Y-you want me to go meet with them as your representative?"
"Yes! Yes! Just get out of here, will ya!"
Standing up straight and fixing Ranma with a determined gaze, Akane said, "Don't worry, Ranma, you can count on me. I'll take this responsibility seriously and act as befits the representative of the Avatar of Light. I promise you won't regret this!"
As Akane turned on her heel and strode from the room with purpose in her step, Ranma stared at her retreating back before looking down at his arm and shaking his head in disbelief that Akane, of all people, had just burst in and tried to grab his naked body. Sighing deeply, he closed his eyes and sank down into the hot water, trying to regain at least some of his earlier tranquility before leaving the furo.
A few minutes later, his eyes flashed open. "Wait—representative?" he asked the empty room before jumping out of the furo and grabbing for a towel.
Author's note (12/19/2013): When you write a story, you often end up researching something you plan to include in it. At times, the subject can be an area where part of the story is taking place, applicable laws, the meanings of names, cuisine, fashion, or details about a sport or hobby. Sometimes it's tedious. Most of the time, you end up looking up from the numerous pages you've been reading and exclaim, "I've spent how long looking up the history and styles of obi for a detail that's only briefly mentioned in one scene?!" And in some cases, you acquire a new hobby or interest.
While working on The Avatar of Light, I experienced a rather strange manifestation of the last one: when I was researching French cuisine, I got a strong urge to try escargot. That's right—writing fanfiction made me want to eat snails. Ok, I've always enjoyed eating things people might consider strange: squid, octopus, eel, dinuguan, black pudding... but snails had been a little bit off-putting for some reason. Probably because they're snails. But, when I was looking up info on them, I found a page that made them look and sound very interesting. The page is 'Behind the French Menu: Escargots' and a Google search on those words should return it as the first result.
So, months passed since I first researched French cuisine, and then, my opportunity came—I was taken out to a restaurant that, while not specifically French, had a good deal of French inspiration, and on the menu was an appetizer 'Escargot Bourgogne, with toasted pine nuts, garlic, and fresh herbs, served in a puff pastry bouchon'. Well, how could I resist? Ok, I'm sure a lot of you would be more than willing to tell me just how, but this was something I'd been looking forward to for a while and I wasn't about to pass up the chance. So, I ordered it and was presented with a rich brown sauce containing lots of wild mushrooms, garlic, and dark lumps around a puff pastry. And focusing on the thought 'This is something you've really been wanting to try!' while pushing away thought 'These are snails—snails!' I tried it. And it was really good. The best way I can think of to describe the snails themselves is to have Starfire, from the Teen Titans cartoon do it: "They are like delicious marshmallows of meat!" Thank you, Starfire.
So, there it is, my entertaining little story about the consequences of doing research for a story. It's also a warning: if you write fanfiction, you might end up eating snails as a result. Good luck, everyone.
