Child of Innocence
By Lord Overon
Part IX
Ranma disappeared into a room to change Shin, leaving Akane with the rest of her family who were slightly amazed at what had been said. Even Nodoka the younger was still digesting what her mother had said. As the laughter died, an uneasy wave of silence filled the room as all eyes fell on Nodoka-jr. she was beginning to feel slightly agitated about the position she was in until she felt Akane's hand around her shoulder. Knowing her father was right there did give relieve her a little. Sano saw the stares and just shifted slightly closer to Nodoka, close enough that she could feel his presence next her, but not too close. She however, was not feeling up to a shy guy routine and lay her head against his chest. Instinctively his hands reached out to grab her before she slip off him and thus she had exactly what she wanted in the first place.
Kasumi was the first to try to step over to her sister to tell her something but she was beaten in the end by someone who was a lot quicker.
"Congratulations Akane!" shouted Ukyou before she crushed her in a full-blown hug of death.
"Wha...?" was all Akane could get out before she was captured. When Ukyou finished, Kasumi took her turn.
"Congratulations!" she exclaimed and pulled Akane into a crushing hug. Ukyou then moved onto Nodoka-jr. and Sano as she crushed them both.
When Akane was finally let up for air, Ukyou bounced towards her excitedly. "Well, since you have Ranma again," she noted excitedly. "You have my be my first bridesmaid and I'm not taking no for an answer!"
"I ah...okay..."
"Shouldn't that be best man?" asked a voice entering the room.
"Ran-chan!" she shouted and crushed him too. Then she held him off at arm's length and pleaded questioningly into his eyes.
"Why? Why didn't you tell me?" she asked. "I would have supported you. We all would have." She told him. The pain of his absence was heavy in her voice.
Ranma bowed his head.
"I was ashamed of myself. I...I didn't know what you would have thought. Cologne did not tell Shampoo but she started treating me differently. I didn't want that. I thought I had messed up your lives too much always."
"Oh Ran-chan..." exclaimed Ukyou, but before she could continue Ranma asked her a question.
"So who's the lucky guy?" he asked turning his head in the direction of her fiancée.
"Testud Miratomi. I'm pleased to meet you," he replied nervously.
"Same here," replied Ranma. "I look forward to hearing how you met Ucchan."
"Heh...that's a story," added Akane sarcastically.
"Akane-chan!" exclaimed Ukyou while elbowing her in the ribs to keep quiet, blood rushing to Ukyou's face.
"Well it is!" Akane replied.
Soun chose to break into the bunch at the moment and taking his grandson, he began to wail again. All four of the adults stared at him as did the other two couples and Hinako.
"Dad!" shouted an exasperated Akane.
Of course that did nothing to help the situation as Soun carried on with his crying. Shin however did not take a liking to this treatment and started beating his grandfather on the hand. Soun took this as a sign his grandson wanted to play with him and started wailing again. He almost dropped Shin when someone pinched him sharply on the hand. Then he realized that it had been his own grandson and began to wail again.
"He’s got Akane’s strength," Ranma whispered to Ukyou, earning a sharp nudge from Akane.
Ranma-chan doubled slightly from the blow but did not move. The others just watched on at the pair waiting for further violence and were surprised when none came. As Akane and Ranma left their son in Soun’s supposedly capable hands, the others were left blinking except for Nodoka as she followed her parents inside the house. Sano soon followed after.
"They're not fighting," murmured Ukyou to Nabiki.
"It's like...weird," Nabiki replied. Ukyou nodded her assent.
The party for Ranma’s return, Ukyou’s wedding and the union of the schools was well underway when Genma returned with his wife. She had slept for about an hour before he decided to wake her. There had never been a lot of communication between them as was normal for a traditional house. Nodoka had always kept tradition as one of the cornerstone's of her existence and as such she did not feel she had the right to ask Genma's reason for his actions. Her curiosity though was getting the better of her, that, and she loved her son dearly.
That night. That night had been one of the most horrendous in her whole life. She had lived the better part of ten years waiting for her son to return home. She had been so happy when, after all that time she had been united with her son. He had turned out to be a manly man as she had wanted. He had to be with all those women flocking about him. Then he had told her, shattered her entire belief system with that announcement at the dinner table.
From that day on when she told her son to leave the house, her whole world had shattered around her. Her house of brick had turned into straw. The only good that ever came of that decision was her daughter, Ukyou. Everything else was shattered. She had tried to uphold her traditions even up to the point where when she saw her son she would have again cast him out. If it wasn't for Genma, she would have. That was what afflicted her mind now, why had Genma stopped her. That was the reason why after she woke up, she had stayed lying in bed. Staring at the ceiling, thinking...
She sighed heavily and forced herself to get up. Lying down would not get her any answers. She needed to talk to someone she needed to talk to Genma. Genma was the only one who could answer her questions. As she slid the partition open, she immediately began her search for him. He was easy to find as he sat in the little shrine that made him erect at the back of the house.
"Genma..." she called to him.
He patted at the seat in front of him and motioned for her to sit down. She sat there in front of him facing him. He kept his head hung as he stared into the earth at his feet.
"It all started," he began, "when I was training Ranma when he was three. An old man came by. He saw Ranma practicing and told me that with his skill, Ranma could become one of the best martial artists in the world. That was the same thing I saw in Ranma too. Then he told me that the only way Ranma would be strong enough to become the best was if I took him away from you. He said that women made a man weak and that weakness would prevent him from reaching his true potential. I thought he was joking so I challenged the old man then and there and I was soundly beaten. He used techniques I had never seen before!" Genma exclaimed.
"I pestered him about the style he used until he gave me a beaten up old book. This book," Genma remarked as he pulled out a weathered and torn book and showed it to Nodoka. "He warned me beforehand that the training was extreme but I had too much pride then. After sealing away the master, Soun and I thought we were almost gods. I wanted my son to be the best so badly that I trained him too much. I should have stopped after the cat-fist but I continued and it was only until after Jusenkyou that I realized how stupid I'd been."
He stared into her eyes, which had not changed from their emotionless gaze. He couldn't bear to look at her any more so his eyes fell once again to the earth in front of him.
"When Ranma turned into a girl a lot changed between us. For some reason I stopped speaking to the boy and all we did was quarrel. I think I pushed too much on him too soon after that with the engagement all the other things that popped up in his life."
"When Ranma was leaving, I just couldn't see him off on his own like that. I've never given him much to inherit except the school. So I told him about a small place I used to go to when I was younger. Many people remember me from there since I was better behaved in those days. Ranma stayed there during the pregnancy. That's what they told me."
"Who told you that..." asked Nodoka hoarsely.
"An old priest who owns a shrine in town. He met Ranma and did some digging up on her while he was in training. The people in the village say that when she was there she did everything for herself. She grew her own vegetables, caught her own food. They say she even fixed my old hut to look like a house. One day they stopped seeing her tending her garden as they passed on the road, then after a week, they saw her again. This time she had a bundle wrapped around her abdomen as she walked. She had Nodoka all by herself without the aid of anyone, without any family. And that's how she raised Nodoka too."
"So why is Nodoka so old then?" Nodoka forced out.
"I don't know, you will have to ask her that yourself," Genma replied and remained silent after that.
Nodoka sat there for a few minutes with him until she decided to get up and walk to the bathroom. She opened the door and stepped in. Only when she stared at herself in the mirror did the tears that refused to leave her when she was with Genma, decide to roll down her cheek. She turned away from the mirror, feeling very ashamed of herself. She felt filthy, impure. She knew she had wronged her Ranma but could never admit it to herself. The proof was there though, the proof that her ancestors and the gods had been with Ranma. That was the only was she could have survived in the wilderness all be herself.
If the ancestors had been with her then that meant that they had to approve of her actions. How could she live with that shame he wondered. The shame of leaving her daughter without any support in the wilderness. She began to sob and when two hands wrapped around her pulling her in, she did not resist the need to lean on him and cry into his chest.
As soon as Genma and Nodoka reentered the house, they were besieged by Soun. As Soun found his favourite drinking partner and best friend, Soun pulled him away to find the best bottle of sake to open. Genma gave his wife one last glance before he left. The next part was up to her and her alone and he could in no way help her. She would have to face the last task alone.
Hinako met them near the door and sighed despairingly at the two men. Soun and Genma being Soun and Genma were going to celebrate the union of the schools leaving the two women who were with them high and dry literally, since they had no intention of drinking as much sake as the two men were guzzling.
Lamenting and knowing that nothing could be done about the drinking habits of the two men, the two returned to the house and found the men cheering as they had taken over Soun’s go board. Hinako had found had found Nodoka quieter than her usual self and had commented as such but Nodoka just played it down as due to tiredness.
Strangely enough Ranma was not there among the men at the board. As they continued, they heard laugher from the kitchen and followed the sounds inside where they found Ukyou and uncharacteristically Nabiki rolling on the ground with laughter. Kasumi was trying to suppress the urge while Nodoka-jr was frowning at their laughter. Ranma-chan and Akane were holding an album open and pointing to a picture. Nodoka was still trying to keep the mask over her face when Ranma-chan caught sight of her.
Ranma saw her mother and with a slight shake of her head, motioned her mother to follow her into he adjoining room. Akane too understood the silent exchange and gave Ranma’s hand a small squeeze of assurance for the coming battle. Ranma’s look alone told her how grateful she was for the support and then she disappeared into the adjoining room.
For the next few minutes, Akane kept the guests entertained while inwardly worrying about Ranma. She sighed in relief when she finally saw Ranma walking slowly from the room. The fatigue from a long mental fight was evident on her face but the slight smile that graced her face told Akane that Ranma had won the war.
"How was it?" she whispered as Ranma passed. "I’ll tell you later," Ranma replied. Nodoka returned a few minutes later from the room. It was evident from the fading lines on her face that she had taken the time to compose herself. She too bore the marks of a long mental battle but her smile was even more pronounced than Ranma’s. She came up, gave Ranma a hug and joined the other group of women who had missed the entire exchange.
When Nodoka-jr saw what was on the next side of the album as her mother flipped the page, she tried to grab the album. Ranma evaded and so Nodoka-jr and Ranma-chan danced a little on the floor with Ranma making sure that her daughter’s slips, spills and near misses kept the guests well entertained.
They stayed in the kitchen with Ranma and Akane as they whipped up some dishes for lunch and then everyone gathered around the living room for lunch. The older generation ate first followed by the kids under the watchful eyes of their parents. Sano and Nodoka-jr joined them to keep an eye on the boys who had a habit of acting like their new uncle when at the table much to Kasumi’s disappointment. She didn’t show it though, since Auntie told her that it was manly for young boys to behave like that when at the table.
After the children ate, then the adults took over. There was much conversation: a good deal about Ranma and Akane, and a lot also about Nabiki and her husband. All in all, the day that promised a great deal of tension was coming to a relaxing end.
As the time passed, Kasumi had to take her leave with her family as did as Nabiki and her husband, leaving only the teens, Ranma, Akane, Hinako and Nodoka. As was expected, Genma and Soun were passed out somewhere.
Nodoka and Hinako were talking about Genma’s health and if he had gotten slow. That earned the remark from Ranma.
"Maybe, it seems that Akane here is getting a bit slow."
"Are you saying I’m getting slow?" asked Akane while batting her eyelashes.
"Yes," Ranma-chan replied then turned towards her mother to explain but all that came out was a startled "ouch!" Ranma turned her head at the cause. Akane just smiled a bit evilly but kept her hand near Ranma’s butt patting the area where she had pinched.
"So who’s slow now?" taunted Akane.
"I’ll have you know," Ranma began before she let out a small squeal as Akane had somehow managed to get right under her defenses and throw her over her shoulder. Wait a minute, she had seen that move before…and so had No-chan. Were her wife and daughter planning something? Ranma did not struggle, her mind curious.
"If you ladies will excuse me, I’m about to go teach my husband a lesson."
From the tone of voice, Ranma suddenly realized that this might not be something she would enjoy. She started to struggle and when that did not yield any results she turned to her children.
"Did you hear anything Sano?" asked No-chan
"Hmm…nothing. Did you?"
"Nope!"
"Traitors!" accused Ranma but by then Akane had reached the stairwell.
Much later that night, Akane crept downstairs and was surprised to find Nodoka sitting sipping tea.
"Auntie?"
"Oh hi Akane," replied Nodoka as she waved for Akane to come and sit with her. Akane obliged and poured herself a cup of tea after getting something to eat.
"I wanted to tell you about that little talk Ranma and I had but he asked me not to tell you. He said that demons of the past should be kept in the past. He is wise for his age… too wise. Would you do me a favor Akane?"
"Okay?" Akane replied a bit hesitantly.
"Tell me about my son."
Akane smiled and began her tale.
The End
Anyone think I should make some additions to this story? I will entertain any ideas if anyone is willing to suggest them.
-LO