At your request, a recap of the events in this timeline:
Ranma and Ryoga were fighting as usual, when Ranma hit his head on a rock in the koi pond. Ranma thought Ryoga had caught his hand to prevent the fall, but that was not the case.
When Ranma awakens, she is in female form and asleep in Akane’s bed. When she searches the Tendo house for someone to figure out what’s going on, she discovers a completely different decor and a child.
Kuno arrives and informs Ranma that the child, Sachiko, is hers. Ranma assumes she’s had the baby with Kuno at first. Once Kuno takes Ranma to Ucchan’s, the two of them inform Ranma that she is now in her twenties and that it is 2004. Ranma passes out.
When Ranma reawakens, she is in Akane’s bed again. Akane is there, and she finally convinces Ranma that what Ukyo and Kuno have said is the truth. Akane explains that Ranma went into a deep depression a long time ago; Ryoga was the only thing that brought her back. Ranma is now married to Ryoga; the baby is theirs.
Ranma panicks and runs off to Ukyo, but Ryoga manages to bring her back. Ryoga makes her promise not to bolt, for one week; Ranma makes him promise not to come after her once she does.
Ranma attempts to recall the past, and tries to figure out if she really is attracted to Ryoga. Both attempts fail.
Ranma comes across a letter from her father saying that he will return to
Nabiki arrives with Sachiko, telling Ranma that her amnesia is probably due to a knock on the head, that she first started acting strange after a knock on the head when she was sixteen, and that she kissed Ryoga right after that injury. Ranma also suddenly recalls certain things about Sachiko, including the baby’s age.
Ranma feeds the baby and is preparing dinner when Ryoga arrives – with a guest, who turns out to be Ryoga’s boss. Ranma plays the perfect wife for awhile, but it definitely grates. She’s more willing to be decent to Ryoga, though, even in private.
Ranma watches she and Ryoga’s wedding video, and begins to tease Ryoga about all the times they came close to being in love. And at that point, the door opens, and the Tendo sisters walk in, finding the pair in a... ahem... compromising position.
CHAPTER NINE: 2004
Sleep
“Oh, my!” Kasumi exclaimed. “It looks like we’ve interrupted something!”
Ryoga snapped to attention, rising quickly from his position and tugging Ranma to her feet. Ranma, feeling more than a little dizzy from the sudden juxtaposition, shook her head to clear it.
“Uh, Ranma and I were just fooling around...” Ryoga began hesitantly.
“That’s exactly what we thought we were interrupting,” Nabiki intoned ascerbically.
“Geez, Ranma, in the middle of the floor?” Akane demanded, tsking under her breath. “Really.”
Ranma blushed. “No, uh, we weren’t...” She sighed in resignation as she viewed the Tendo girls, all gazing at her incredulously. “I mean, really. Honestly!” This didn’t seem to have any effect.
“Anyway, it’s girl’s night in, Ryoga... so shoo,” Nabiki ordered, wiggling her fingers at him.
“Uh, right. Gee, I’m tired. Guess I’ll turn in early tonight,” he said woodenly. He leaned in to kiss Ranma on the cheek, but froze before he could make contact. “Uh... ‘night, Ranma.”
“’Night, Ryoga,” she murmured uncomfortably. I’m an idiot. What did I mean by teasing him like that? “Uh... wait! I’ll walk you up.”
Together they ascended the two flights of stairs to Soun’s old room. “I’d rather not sleep in here without you,” he said quietly, both for Sachiko and to avoid the over-eager ears of the Tendo sisters.
“I’m not sleeping with you,” she replied, just as softly. No need to wake the baby, after all.
“I mean that I feel guilty. It’s the master bedroom. I don’t want to kick you out to Akane’s room or the guest room. I didn’t mean...” He sighed, and Ranma realized that her own expression was incredulous. Her lips thinned in determination. Husband. He’s your husband!
Ranma suddenly remembered that he’d gone off to Kasumi’s room the night before. She shook her head. “Don’t feel bad. I don’t care about it. I could sleep on the floor just as easy.”
“It’s the principle of the thing.”
“Look, I’m telling you not to worry about it.”
He sighed. “All right.” He moved into the master bedroom, and his eyes found the copy of the Kama Sutra that she’d tossed onto the bed. “This some kind of hint?”
Ranma reddened, snatching the book and tossing it away.
“Ranma... that was just a joke. You know... a joke. Not to be taken seriously.” One corner of Ryoga’s lips twitched up, but his brows were lowered. “Try to relax, okay?”
Ranma opened her mouth to retort, then paused, frowning. “What if I do remember, and... and start to like you... like that?” Her voice was low, mumbling, like she didn’t even want him to hear.
“Usually, people in love don’t mind it, Ranma. Especially if the feeling’s mutual.” His smile was wry, and his expression a little exasperated.
She crossed her arms over her chest tightly, as if to ward the thought away. “That’s what I’m afraid of. It’s like I’m falling into some kind of weird, elaborate trap. I mean, back when I was sixteen, I was falling into them all the time. What if this isn’t really real? What if you’re not my husband at all? What if I’m dreaming, or caught in some kind of spell? Giving in to you... for Sachiko, and for the girl on that video... might be worth it. But what if I give you everything I have and it turns out that I’ve killed Saotome Ranma over some kinda delusion?”
“Killed him? Ranma... you don’t really think that’s how it was, do you?”
“Well what am I supposed to think?” she demanded, her hand lifting up to rest over his. “Here you are, my... you’re my husband! I’m your wife... The fact that we’ve had a baby means... means that...” She flushed, turning abruptly away from him. “Oh, you know what it means!”
“You’re such an innocent, Ranma. And to think I figured you for the Lothario type back then.”
“’Back then’!” Ranma quoted. “To you, it’s ‘back then’, but to me, you’re the one out of synch. First you hit me all the time – now we’re married and you want things to go on as usual. As usual! Like I even know what that is! Like I know anything about being a woman – much less a wife! Far less a mother! I’m worried, Ryoga.” Ranma seemed to shrink several inches. “No – scared. I’m scared. If I get the hang of this, if I get it – no, you. If I get you... what do I lose?”
“I’m not sure,” Ryoga replied softly, leading her to the bed to sit. “There were things I had to let go of to be with you.”
“Your gag reflex?”
Ryoga winced and hung his head.
Ranma followed the motion, her wince a beat behind his. “Sorry. I’m sorry, I’m... I’m not myself. What did you give up?”
“Akane, for one,” he replied with a small smile. “A lot of hate and fear. My folks, to some degree. They act like they don’t know who I am anymore. Especially since I learned to control my curse, too.”
“Why? Wouldn’t they be happy? About the curse, I mean.”
Ryoga shook his head ruefully. “I’m the only one in my family who can do it, because I’m no good at explaining. Also, they weren’t trained to master their chi like I was.”
“So you control it through your chi...” Ranma frowned. “Guess that makes sense.”
Ryoga leaned back, shifting his weight to his forearms. “Are you trying to change the subject?”
“That depends. Is it working?”
“You’re hopeless.”
Still, they shared a small grin, creating butterflies of nervousness in Ranma’s stomach. “So, uh... how does it work?”
“It’s a rip in... uh... I’m not sure how to say it. Reality? That’s how I got lost in the first place. My chi is fueled by depression. Anytime I was feeling particularly depressed, I’d inadvertently create this rip thing and walk right into it. I’d pop out kami-knows where. Sometimes a block away – sometimes a whole continent.”
“And fixing it?”
“Means I just control those rips. Making them and deciding where they lead. I have far better control over my chi now than I did then – but that was through years of practice. The rest of my family isn’t willing to go through first the physical training and then the mental in order to master their chi. They keep thinking there must be some easy way out.” He shrugged. “Maybe there is. But in my experience, nothing as complicated as the directional curse is easy to fix.”
“Yeah. Uh, so when’d you fix it?”
“Ranma...”
“Damn it, Ryoga, I just don’t know how to talk about the... about the other thing! I’m useless when it comes to this stuff! Especially with you... What am I supposed to say? I... I don’t love you. I can’t imagine it! Except that I can... because... because of how you act and because of how happy and loved our daughter is, and because Akane acts like it’s okay, when she should be tearing me to shreds! I... I...”
Ryoga opened his arms and slowly drew her to him. For a moment she was afraid that he would kiss her. Then he had wrapped his arms around her, gently at first, and then tighter. “Man,” he said softly, “I needed this.”
Ranma didn’t dare breathe for a moment, stiffening in surprise and also in the fear that if she moved, she would move closer. If his arms had been nice yesterday, they were even better today. Her body relaxed, and she breathed him in again, allowing herself to enjoy it this time. She felt him relax around her, felt each muscle un-tense. Something within her body seemed to unfold or expand, and she sighed, snuggling deeper into his embrace, unconsciously hiding her eyes. This felt good, but she still didn’t know what that meant. You couldn’t say ‘love’ just because of something like this, could you?
Ryoga spoke into her hair, quietly but intensely. “I wish you didn’t believe that you have to clamp down on who you are just to be with me. You didn’t used to think that. Downstairs just now, I forgot, for just a minute, that you didn’t remember...” He paused, and Ranma felt his body stiffen around hers, as though he was bracing himself under some difficult truth. “You... you acted like yourself, but you also acted like you loved me. That... that’s how you act with me. God, it hurt to see you do it again.” It might have been Ranma’s imagination, but she thought she heard a catch in his voice. “Because I know you don’t mean it, Ranma.”
“I’m so sorry, Ryoga” Ranma managed, wishing she could see his features – but at the same time, she was happy he couldn’t see hers. “I can’t help it. I want to remember, I really do, but it’s just not happening. What if I just stay this way?”
“You could leave me and Sachiko... I know you could. But I don’t think that would make you or anyone else happy. We could be happy again, if I’m careful and you’re patient.”
Ranma didn’t know what to say, so she kept quiet, silently allowing herself to buy some time in the folds of his shirt. Still, she couldn’t seem to work up much anxiety in this position. She didn’t even have to see him as she hurt him, that totally devastated expression that she hated so much.
“At least... we could... give it a try, Ranma...”
Seeing him didn’t seem to matter; she could picture that look. She worried her lower lip between her teeth. “Damn it, you don’t know what you’re asking me.” She noticed that, together, they were warm, and that she felt suddenly a little sleepy. She wondered if she’d gotten enough rest the night before. It was as if all of her tension had left her, and left her feeling a little bewildered.
“I’m asking you to give me some small assurance that you haven’t completely forgotten I’m alive,” Ryoga countered softly.
Ranma shook her head. “You’re just trying to guilt me into this, aren’t you?” she inquired with a small, strained laugh, finally drawing slightly away.
Ryoga’s features closed off like slamming doors, but his voice was wry. “That depends. Is it working?”
“I’m not sure,” she managed, truthfully, her eyes catching his. Why did he pull away? What did I do?
“How did it feel?” he whispered, pulling her slightly closer for emphasis, his eyes going soft again, soft and determined.
“It... uh, it felt good,” she admitted, placing one hand on the flat of his chest. “I got nothing against hugs.” Her voice was hushed and solemn. “You? Did it feel right, like you remember?”
He smiled. “You’re always the same, Ranma.”
When her eyebrows twitched up wryly in surprise, he laughed. “Well, okay, so there are things that have changed over time.” His smile widened as he examined her features closely. “But not much. You’re adaptable, not fickle. On the inside, you’re the same old Ranma.”
Ranma’s surprise must have been written on her features again, because he laughed softly. “Deny it if you can,” he added.
“The same old me? You mean, a guy?” she retorted flatly.
“If you like,” Ryoga returned placidly. “I don’t mind.”
For a minute, Ranma stared disbelievingly at him; then her eyes widened as she found no evidence of the lie in his eyes. “Y-y-you don’t?”
Ryoga was obviously smothering mirth, but he shook his head solemnly for the redhead’s benefit. “At first, yeah, it really bothered me. But, you know, we’ve been married for years, now. I got used to it a long while ago. Did you feel differently about me when I was P-chan?”
“Well... no. But that’s not the same.”
“It isn’t?”
“It isn’t, Ryoga, and you know it.”
“Why not?”
Because, despite what Akane would like to believe, a pig isn’t the same thing as a man, Ranma quipped silently, still staring at him in quiet disbelief. “Because I don’t have sex with P-chan,” Ranma finally stated darkly. She eyed him grimly. “Do I?”
“N-No!” Ryoga stammered, looking totally thrown for the first time in the conversation. “Oh, all right, you have me. It was totally weird at first, Ranma, but you get used to anything if given time and some patience. I’ll tell you about it some other time; the girls must be waiting downstairs.”
Ranma nodded, realizing she was giving Ryoga a temporary reprieve before he had to tell their life story. “All right, but I’ll be waiting.”
Ryoga smiled at her, drew her in, and kissed her softly and on the lips, brief and familiar, as if proving to Ranma all over again that it was far from the first time he’d done so. “Okay,” he replied. “And if you want to come and try being close tonight, get used to it again, I’ll be up in our room, okay? I won’t touch you.”
When he released her, she stumbled back a few steps before finding her way to the door. She didn’t know how she got down the two flights of stairs, but she managed to make her way to the living room.
Ranma rubbed her lips absently. “Damn!” she exclaimed to the living room in general. She paced the floor several times before plopping down unceremoniously onto the couch. He kissed me! Ryoga Hibiki... kissed... me.
“Damn!” she said again.
“Damn is right,” Nabiki intoned, crossing her arms over her chest. “That boy works fast!”
Ranma’s head snapped up to regard the Tendo girls.
“Sure does,” Akane said. She sniffed the air. “Do I smell Rocky Road?”
“Help yourself,” Ranma told her, waving in the general direction of the kitchen.
“Don’t mind if I do.”
While Akane was raiding the freezer, Kasumi touched Ranma’s arm lightly to get her attention. “Does this mean you’ve remembered who you are?” she inquired.
Ranma blushed. “Uh... no.”
Akane stuck her head out of the kitchen, a look of utter surprise painted across her features. “Are you serious? Aw, man, I was right – you are a pervert.”
“It... it was one measley little kiss is all!” Ranma wrung her hands. “I mean, he’s my husband, right? So it’s okay!”
“It looked like a lot more than one measley kiss, Ranma,” Nabiki accused.
“Sure did,” Akane teased, emerging with some bowls of ice cream for herself and the others. “I think that this must say something about you, if I can only put my finger on it.”
“Easy?” Nabiki offered.
“Not quite heterosexual?” Kasumi wondered thoughtfully.
“No, I was thinking more along the lines of... incredibly susceptible. Naive, if you will.” Akane dug into her ice cream with gusto.
“Thanks. Thanks a lot,” Ranma growled. “Glad I have girls like you around, to keep my spirits up in my time of trouble.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m being punished for something I did in a former life, aren’t I?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Akane said grimly.
Ranma eyed her, but the youngest Tendo’s eyes were firmly fixed to what was left of her Rocky Road.
“So how was your first kiss with Ryoga-kun?” Kasumi inquired, covering a suddenly awkward silence.
“Fine, I guess,” Ranma replied noncomittally.
“Fireworks?” Nabiki wanted to know.
“Dunno...”
“Don’t leave us hanging, Ranma,” Akane cut in. “Tell us all the juicy details.”
Ranma couldn’t find any malice in her eyes, so she shrugged her shoulders in a nervous jerk. “We hugged and then he kissed me. A weird... uh... jolt... ran...” Ranma gestured obliquely to her whole body. She hunched her shoulders. “It was a little too good... but it only lasted a second,” she finished in a whisper.
“He just knows what you like, Ranma,” Nabiki cut in. “You have been married for almost five years now.”
“That reminds me,” Kasumi added abruptly, setting her spoon down. “Your five-year anniversary is on the twenty-fifth. He won’t suppose you’ll remember.”
“I think you’d already gotten him something,” Nabiki added. “I can help you look for it later on. I know all the best hiding-places in this house.”
“Thanks, Nabiki,” the redhead replied absently, scarcely hearing the middle Tendo daughter.
“So, what made you decide to jump his bones so soon?” Akane continued, a little snidely. “I know I told you to be nice to him, but I didn’t suppose that Ranma Saotome, Man Amongst Men, would give in to another guy so easily.”
“Akane, really,” Kasumi chided.
“I mean, all this talk around being macho and girls being stupid and weak all those years was just a cover-up, I guess,” the dark-haired Tendo continued blithely. “I guess you really liked being a girl all along, didn’t you?”
Ranma twitched.
“Don’t tell me that you actually liked him all along...?” Akane trailed off suggestively.
This was finally too much for the silent redhead, who twitched again before standing and whirling on the other woman. “NO! No, I didn’t, thank you very much! It disgusts me! HE disgusts me! I... I HATE him! He...”
In a hazy state of equal parts terror and misery, Ranma realized that tears were welling up in her eyes and coursing down her cheeks. Damn it! Damn it!
“Oh, Ranma...” Akane put both hands on Ranma’s shoulders, watching her cry for a second before drawing her into a hug. “I’m sorry! I... I was only teasing. I’m a jerk. I’m a world-class jerk. I really thought you were okay...”
“...but you were just keeping up appearances like you always do...” Nabiki finished with a sigh. “Why do you do that, Ranma?”
Kasumi pressed a full bowl of chocolate ice cream into her hands; Ranma stared at it blankly, like it held all the secrets to the universe within its creamy depths. “It’s not even true,” she protested with a small laugh, wiping under her eyes with the heel of her hand. “And... that might be even worse. He kissed me, and I wanted to hate it, but it was okay. It was good. He’s good. He’s good to me. And I’m a jerk and a selfish idiot... and I hate that, so I wanna hate him...”
“Ryoga is a good man, so I’m certain he’s not expecting very much of you at this point...” Kasumi replied soothingly.
“That’s the worst part! If he... if he shoved me up against the wall and tried... something... I could hit him!” She punched into her hand for emphasis. “But... he won’t do that. He’s waiting. He’s waiting for me.”
“So why don’t you try it?” Nabiki inquired with her usual complete lack of affectation, and Ranma wasn’t certain if she was joking or not. “Honestly, Ranma, he’s your husband. You have to have chosen him for some reason.”
“Yeah. He’s the only one who comes close to me in martial arts; he’s nice... and real cute. And dependable, once you attach a tracking device.”
The girls stared at her blankly.
“He showed me the wedding video,” she replied glumly. “It didn’t help, except that it made me even more confused. I could have already started falling for him way back in high school, not even aware of it. I’m that kind of person. Love creeps up on me, and before I know it, I’m trapped.”
Akane’s smile drooped. “Trapped?”
Ranma’s eyes slid up to her apologetically, then swung back down to her slowly melting ice cream. “Yeah. That’s how it feels. Like... I’ll do what he says no matter what, because he wants me to, and because I really want to make him happy... and that picture scares the hell outta me...”
“That’s love, though, Ranma-chan,” Kasumi replied sweetly. “When it’s reciprocal, he’s doing the same thing for you. You lose a great deal of your power – but you gain most of his. There’s no net loss, as Nabiki might say.”
“Hey!” Nabiki elbowed her. “You don’t get to make the money analogies.”
Ranma smiled in spite of herself. “I guess.” She shrugged. “I guess that if there were some kind of guarantee that I wouldn’t lose myself totally, I’d... I’d k-kiss...” She stammered herself into silence. “I’d do it, okay?”
Akane giggled, but both Nabiki and Kasumi looked sad suddenly.
Kasumi pursed her lips in thought for a moment before finally replying. “Maybe you’re just not ready for love of any kind, Ranma.” Her smile looked pained. “You may be a little young for it. Love never comes with any guarantees... and it’s rather common to feel like you’re losing yourself...”
“You’ve just described all the normal...” Nabiki broke in. “Forgive me, poor choice of words – you’ve just described all the usual issues around falling in love. This has nothing to do with your gender, Ranma. It’s obvious you’re just not ready.” She pressed a finger to her lips in thought. “Maybe you should come right out and tell him so. Say: ‘sorry, but I really do feel sixteen right now – I can’t do this’. Less pain on both ends.”
“It’s normal to be worried about losing yourself?” Ranma demanded skeptically.
“Of course,” Kasumi replied, eyebrows raised in faint surprise that Ranma would even question such a thing. “I would say it’s the number-one worry for both genders. Being in love takes a lot of courage. You place yourself in the other person’s hands. You give them everything you are. They have the ability to smash you to pieces. And... sometimes they do.” She shook herself free of a sudden sadness. “But if you go in knowing that danger, you’re like a soldier or a warrior, going into battle knowing you won’t come out again – not the same, in any case. Love is a very serious thing.”
“Speaking of serious, the temperature in this room has dropped ten degrees since we started this conversation,” Akane interjected. “All this talk about love and battlefields reminds me of a song...”
“No, no! Don’t sing!” Nabiki pleaded.
“Well...” Akane considered. “Only if I get to change the subject. I’ll say one more thing, though.” She turned to Ranma. “Don’t skirt around Ryoga like you did with me and Ukyo and Shampoo back then. I understand you were trying to spare us, but it doesn’t work out that way. Gather your bravery together and tell him one way or the other. Or there will be serious repercussions. Got me?”
Ranma opened her mouth to say that there was no way Akane could ever beat her before realizing that Akane had probably gotten a lot better in six years whereas she... had not. Hmm, maybe I’ll try sparring her later. But for now... “Sure, Akane. Whatever you say.”
“So, how’s the baby, Ranma?” Akane inquired, following through on her promise to change the subject.
“Oh, she’s great. Although... you know, Akane, I think that Sachiko is going to be a real tomboy when she grows up,” Ranma replied.
“Well, that’s a good thing, Ranma,” Akane replied neutrally. “You wouldn’t want her to be the kind of girl that sits on the sidelines, would you?”
“Of course not. It’s just funny how she’s turning out a lot more like you than like me.”
“How’s that?” Akane inquired, smiling and looking interested.
“She said her first word today.”
The girls’ reactions were far more enthusiastic than Ranma would have anticipated. “Wow, Ranma, that’s incredible!” Nabiki cried. “So early! What a smart little girl she’s turning out to be.”
“How lovely!” Kasumi exclaimed. “And I suppose it was ‘mama’?”
“No... ‘baka’.” Ranma slipped her first spoonful of watery ice cream into her mouth. It was delicious, even though her stomach was a mess.
Akane frowned. “Don’t call my sister a baka, hentai.”
“No... I mean that’s her first word: ‘baka’.”
Nabiki blinked. “You’re kidding, Hibiki.”
“Nope. ‘Baka’.” Ranma looked at Akane pointedly and raised an eyebrow.
Akane suddenly caught the implication and blushed beet-red. “Well... I... I mean... It’s not my fault!”
The picture of the stammering Akane was so amusing that Kasumi and Nabiki joined Ranma in laughter. Finally Akane joined in too.
The door creaked open and Ukyo slipped inside. “Hey. Sorry I’m late.”
“Doesn’t anyone knock in this house?” Ranma wondered. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, Ucchan.”
Ukyo grinned, shutting the door quietly behind her. “Well, you sure look a lot better. Less like you’re walking to the gallows,” she commented. “And none of us knock, at your request. You said that there’s always a chance that the baby’s sleeping. I figure, at nine fifteen, that chance is very good.” She sniffed the air. “Rocky Road!”
“Help yourself,” Ranma repeated gamely. “Anybody else coming over? Kodachi? Shampoo?”
There was a sudden and uncomfortable silence. “Did I say something wrong?”
“Kodachi’s long gone,” Nabiki replied. “She tried to hurt you when you were pregnant. Needless to say, Ryoga tried to hurt her in return, and had far better success. She didn’t die, but she came awfully close. After that, Kuno had her moved to another country. He was mortified. I think that was his way of saying he’d had her committed, though I haven’t looked into it.” Nabiki thoughtfully licked her ice cream spoon.
“And Shampoo?” Ranma wanted to know. “She didn’t try to hurt us, right?”
“No,” Kasumi answered. “Shampoo-chan was always a nice, if somewhat misguided young lady. I’m afraid that she moved back to China.”
“It was too bad,” Akane commented thoughtfully. “She always was a lot of fun.”
Ukyo nodded. “Yeah. One messed up chick, but a lot of fun.”
Ranma stared at them. “Right. Way I remember it, you three were at each other’s throats more times than not.”
Ukyo grinned at Akane. “Ah, those were the days.”
Ranma couldn’t help but grin bemusedly in return.
Nabiki rifled through a large plastic bag she’d brought. “Tonight’s theme is kickass redheads,” she said with a grin, overturning the bag and allowing several VHS tapes and DVDs to spill out.
“Is there more ice cream?” Akane wanted to know.
“Screw the ice cream,” Nabiki declared. “Is there any liquor in this house?”
“Hear, hear!” Ukyo cried, gesturing with her spoonful of Rocky Road.
“Let me see.” Kasumi rose and moved into the kitchen.
Ranma gazed around the company. “We’re not gonna get drunk, are we?”
Akane shrugged. “Depends,” she replied, “on how good the night’s going.”
“Or how bad,” Ukyo agreed. “I’ll go for Long Kiss Goodnight if Ranchan will.”
“Me too,” Akane chimed in.
“Yes, girls, we know,” Nabiki said, with her usual wry grin, “but which movie do you want?”
Akane hit her older sister with a throw pillow until she relented.
“All right, all right. I guess Geena Davis pretending she’s a hardass is on my faves list anyday.”
“Kasumi, what do you say?” Akane called into the kitchen.
“Oh, my... well, it does have a lot of violence...”
“Neechan,” Akane whined.
“But the overall theme is quite pleasant. Long Kiss Goodnight it is.”
Akane clapped and popped the tape quickly into the VCR, while Nabiki made a grab for the remote and hit the fast-forward button.
“Nabiki!” the youngest Tendo exclaimed. “You know I like the previews!”
“This movie is years old. You’ve seen all of these movies already, you realize.”
“She’s right, sugar.”
“Yes, but it’s nostalgic,” Akane moaned.
Kasumi returned from the kitchen holding several small cups and the sake which Ranma had served earlier. “Only the hard stuff, wouldn’t you know it?”
Ranma almost could have sworn that Kasumi didn’t sound very upset about this at all. The eldest Tendo had a smile on her face that seemed like it should belong to Nabiki: wry, with some secret amusement only she held.
“What’s the weirdest part of all of this, Ranma?” she inquired, pouring Ranma some sake.
“Weirdest? Aw, man, that’s a toss-up,” Ranma admitted. “I would have to think about it for awhile.”
“Mmm, well, we do have all night,” Ukyo filled in, leaning forward to pause the tape, then casually draping an arm around Akane’s shoulders.
For some reason, this seemed to irritate the other girl, who stood abruptly. “I’ll get snacks.”
Ukyo looked pained for a moment, then rolled her eyes, as though Akane’s behavior was no more than she expected. “What?” she demanded when she realized all eyes were on her.
“Oh, nothing,” Nabiki murmured. “It just seems like my little sister’s being as stubborn in this romance as in her first.”
Ukyo flushed in embarrassment, her eyes swinging to the redhead. “Welll...” she extemporized. “She’s, er, reluctant to uh... commit... because of...”
“Let me get this straight,” Ranma suddenly cut in. “You. And her!”
“Welcome to the party, Ranma,” Nabiki intoned. “The rest of us have been here for awhile, now.”
“But... but...”
Kasumi smiled cheerfully and refilled Ranma’s glass. The redhead gazed at it for a moment, then downed it in one gulp.
“Whassa matter with us?” Ranma demanded, after choking briefly. This stuff is awful! “I mean, you, an’ me, an’ Akane an’ Ryoga... aren’t we all switched around the wrong way?”
“‘Wrong’?” Ukyo quoted dangerously.
“S-sorry.” Ranma wasn’t a genius when it came to social situations, but she had an excellent instinct for sensing when she’d landed in dangerous territory. It arose from living with three teenaged girls for a year; but she had mostly Akane to thank.
“I think it’s because of you, Ranma,” Kasumi stated blithely, refilling Ranma’s cup. “I mean, seeing you switch... just like that...” She snapped her fingers. “Well, it makes it hard to take gender so... er, seriously.”
“Let’s not put it all on Ranchan,” Ukyo advised. “I mean, there’s me, too. Dressed like a guy for so long, talked like a guy, walked like a guy; I even got the mannerisms right. Heh. ‘Man’nerisms.”
Akane, returning from the kitchen with a laden plate, snorted.
“Anyway, then there’s Tsubasa and Konatsu, too. We grew up around freaks, Ranchan. Heck, we were the principal freaks at Furinkan ourselves.”
“So that’s your answer.” Ranma raised her eyebrow as she crossed her arms under her breasts. “That’s your grand explanation.”
“Why is everyone stealing my schtick tonight?” Nabiki demanded of the room in general.
“It’s my grand explanation, yes,” Kasumi replied.
Ranma flushed as she realized whose idea that had been originally. Nobody intentionally argued with Kasumi.
“Besides, I think that seeing you and Ryoga work it out was something of an inspiration to me,” Ukyo added sincerely, downing her sake.
Ranma choked on hers. “Eh!”
Akane was turning quietly, brilliantly red. She leaned forward, allowing her long, unbound hair to obscure her eyes. “Can we not talk about this, please?”
Ukyo frowned. “Now, Akane–”
“Don’t ‘now, Akane’ me!” Akane quoted angrily, her head jerking up to reveal pink cheeks and suspiciously shiny eyes. “I said I didn’t wanna talk about it, okay?”
Ranma blinked in surprise. “Hey, if I can deal with Ryoga, you can deal with her.” She jerked a thumb in Ukyo’s direction. “Hey, you got a girl, anyway. You got the better end of the deal.”
Ukyo flushed, although it was hard to tell whether she was angry or embarrassed. “Don’t help me, Ranchan,” she warned darkly.
“Oh, I see,” Akane was continuing. “So Ryoga’s someone you have to ‘deal with’, is that it? He’s a burden on you, then? So glad to hear that it was worth it!”
“So glad to hear that what was worth it, Akane-chan?” Nabiki’s voice was soft and slightly wondering, and Ranma knew that she, at least, had already figured out what Akane meant.
“This whole thing! Everything I did!” Akane sprang to her feet. “All that time I spent with your mother, convincing her that honor meant more than just some imaginary picture she had in her mind! All those letters I sent Dad, begging him to come home! All the time I spent reassuring myself that you were at least in good hands, that you loved him, that he’d take care of you like I wanted you to be taken care of! All the time I spent getting over you! All the time with Ukyo...”
Ranma gaped at her, spectacular in her anger, and realized that she’d actually missed the sight of a furious Akane. Who would have thought...? Her eyes caught Ukyo’s, to find that the chef was staring back at her with more anger and hatred than Ryoga ever had. Ranma was Ranma, and so she remained indecisive as to who to console first. As usual, the decision was lifted from her hands after she’d waited long enough.
“Akane-chan,” Ukyo snapped.
That seemed to lift the dark-haired girl out of some spell. Akane blinked in surprise, and the flush of anger shifted alarmingly to the pallor of someone in shock. “R-Ranma... I didn’t mean...” She gazed at her sisters for help, but Kasumi was staring at her blankly, and Nabiki was in the midst of downing her entire sake.
Akane dropped to kneel in front of Ranma. “Oh, no. You mustn’t think I... oh, blast! I didn’t mean it at all. I mean, about loving you, of course... I just... that was very selfish of me.”
“Selfish?” Ranma could think of many adjectives to describe Akane’s outburst, but selfish was not among them.
“Because I’m thinking of how much this puts me out... when you and Ryoga have to be in hell. And because when I did those things I did them freely, not to use it against you later. I’m... I must be... I’m tired, or something...”
Ranma suddenly understood. She’d thought it was strange when Akane had told her to be kind to Ryoga, and how much the other girls had been pushing her to stay with him. Now she realized that they had worked as hard as she and Ryoga had to make their relationship work. Her marriage with Ryoga and the birth of her child must have been a real group effort, with each woman before her campaigning on her behalf.
Akane had been selfish, but in a strangely unselfish way: she wanted Ranma and Ryoga to stay together because of how hard she herself had worked to allow them their happiness.
“Ranma... Ranma, say something...”
Ranma smiled at her. “Thanks, I guess.”
“Eh?”
“Thanks, everyone.” Ranma bowed slightly in the direction of the seated girls. She grinned at Akane even more widely. “I wondered about Mom. She looked okay, happy even, in that video. So, you convinced her?”
Akane blinked. “Er... well, yes. We had a long talk, all night almost, about the nature of honor. I’d rehearsed with Nabiki beforehand.” She shot Nabiki a wry, grateful look; Ranma could just imagine Nabiki bitingly berating her younger sister whenever she made a mistake. “We went through her definitions of honor, what it meant to be honorable, on a purely hypothetical framework, of course, but your mom kept interested. I mean, honor is her life.” Kasumi tsked under her breath, as though she didn’t quite approve of such a thing. “Anyway, I asked her if I could still be honorable if I slept with a woman.”
Ranma stared. “You mean, you and Ukyo were together back then?”
“No, baka. I was talking about you, but I didn’t want her to catch on. The result was that, after hemming and hawing, she said that there was no infringement on my honor in such a case – by her definitions of honor – unless I was married or engaged.”
“Which you were.”
“No, by that time, you and I hadn’t been engaged for awhile,” Akane clarified.
Ranma shook her head in amazement. “So you basically tricked her into it.”
“Basically,” Akane conceded, with a dip of her head.
“Tricking my mother is a dangerous thing,” Ranma replied, recalling her mother’s harsh stare, her swinging katana, her traditional ways.
Akane kept quiet and motionless, except for little darting apologies towards Ukyo, who sighed dramatically before smiling at the other girl in what Ranma took to be an encouraging fashion.
“Let’s have some artificial drama now, shall we?” Nabiki wanted to know. She was waving the remote in the air.
“Yes, let’s,” Kasumi agreed.
As Ranma watched the redhead onscreen balance having a kid and being in love with being a tough, no-nonsense, chain-smoking bitch, he realized why Nabiki had chosen this one.
Everyone sacrificed so much to make this happen... even me – even him... and now it’s all up in smoke, isn’t it?
As Akane curled up to her on her left side and whispered, “I am so sorry, Ranma,” the redhead thought back to the conversation she’d had with Ryoga. What did you have to give up?
Your gag reflex, she’d said, and regretted it. But it was probably true. She thought that, knowing Ryoga as she did, he’d probably wandered off somewhere to mentally beat himself up after their first kiss. How could I do that, he’d be thinking, it’s Ranma, that’s Ranma, not some ordinary girl. And maybe, a long time afterwards, he might ask himself if he’d really enjoyed it, if it had been okay – and only that after a lot of inward reflection, after a great deal of pain and self-recrimination would he ever admit that he wanted to try it again.
And they’d both had to give up the girl on Ranma’s arm, she of the beautiful smile, the volatile temper, the tomboyish ways. And she’d helped them leave her.
“You forgive me, don’t you?”
Ranma nodded, placing one hand atop Akane’s head. “’Course, Akane.”
“Mmm.” She snuggled more deeply into the redhead’s shoulder as the television in front of them flashed with the light of a screen-wide explosion.
As the girls staggered out the door one by one, Ranma sent what she hoped were significant looks towards both Ukyo and Akane. Amidst giggles and promises to visit the next day, the quartet departed, Akane murmuring something apologetic as she leaned on Ukyo’s shoulder.
Ranma shook her head, a half-smile on her face. Those two... if Ucchan could ever manage to tame Akane, they’d be good together.
She shook her head again, more roughly this time. Good together? Ucchan... and Akane?
Yeah, she decided with a hint of defiance. Sure. Her gaze traveled almost unwillingly to the steps. Sudden determination sparked in her eyes as she stomped upward, then twirled around to seat herself mid-flight. It was just too crazy, wasn’t it? Too weird.
Only, what was ‘weird’ in her life? Weird meant nothing. Weird was changing gender depending on the weather forecast. Weird was panty-stealing geezers and murderous Amazons. Weird was a high school principal who had a pinapple in his hair and a ukelale in his hand.
Weird was not sharing a bed with someone when all you planned on doing was falling asleep.
So berated, Ranma rose, continued up the stairs to the level where Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi used to sleep. She paused at the second flight, feeling a churning in her stomach and a weakness in her knees that was from more than drink.
“Come on, idiot!” she ordered herself, ignoring the gibbering voice in the back of her mind demanding that she snap to her senses, that she was wrong, that she was sick...
Her courage firmed when she realized that the voice didn’t sound at all like her. It sounded like her father.
“Come on!” she repeated, and ascended the final staircase.
Her hand shook as her hand pressed against the closed door. You can still turn around now, her father said somewhere in her mind. You can go back down the stairs and he’ll never even know you were here. Your honor would be intact.
Mom says that my honor is intact, Ranma realized.
The voice was refreshingly silent.
Hah! Ranma’s smug smile evaporated as she realized she’d made it through the threshold.
Ryoga was sprawled out in the middle of the bed, snoring gently. He had his top off, she could see that much; she was praying that the parts covered by blankets were not similarly unadorned. Suddenly, this was seeming like a not-so-good idea. Besides, he was taking up three-quarters of the bed.
As if hearing her thought, Ryoga murmured something unintelligible and turned on his side, conveniently freeing up a great deal of space.
Gulping, she moved to the dresser to search for pyjamas. No way she was sleeping the way she normally did, in a sleeveless tee and boxers.
She stumbled over five or six obstacles on her way, cursing softly under her breath, but Ryoga’s even breathing didn’t even hitch. Shrugging out of her clothing while hiding behind the bedframe didn’t do much for her confidence, but at least she felt like her privacy had been maintained. She realized that the pyjamas were Ryoga’s when she stood and the sleeves fell over her hands, but she didn’t care, so long as she was covered.
Ranma didn’t think she’d been more terrified of cats than this. For a long while, she simply stood at the side of the bed, watching him breathe, pride and fear warring, keeping her immobile.
Finally, pride won over. Ranma scrambled down beside him, threw the blankets over her head and waited.
Wasn’t he going to do anything?
He’s asleep, dummy. What is it that you think he’s going to do?
Ranma turned over to view him. Ryoga did indeed have pants on, drawstring cotton ones. He had half of his face in the pillow, and looked like he had to be suffocating. The absurd urge to giggle nearly overcame her; she supposed it had to be the drink. That, or Ryoga really was somehow hilarious, asleep. Maybe the situation itself was what was so funny.
Ranma relaxed as she slowly realized that he wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon. It felt a lot less threatening this way.
Threatening? Ranma’s brow furrowed as she recalled Ryoga saying that she was afraid of him. She hadn’t understood at the time, but now she did, and had to agree: she was terrified. It wasn’t that he could beat her in a fight. It was that he had the ability to make her see things she didn’t want to see, and do things she’d never done before. He could change her mind with a smile and a kind word. And that was more than a little scary.
Ryoga murmured something again, before snorting and resuming his quiet snoring again. He was warm under the covers, she realized, snuggling down deeper. In sleep, his features were calm and relaxed, making him look strangely young, younger than she ever recalled him looking. Maybe he’d looked older to her because she used to see him angry all the time. That expression certainly didn’t lend itself to youthfulness.
His hair was wild and mussed, like he’d spent a lot of time tossing and turning. Some of it was falling into his eyes, and his nose twitched as it tickled him.
Ranma sighed. Did she dare try it? Would he wake up?
Her fingers twitched as they reached out to shift the lock of hair.
Oh. It was soft.
Tucking it behind his ear, she lay one hand on the top on his head gently, the way she had with Akane. It felt nice under her hands, and he was warm. He was warm and alive beside her, and... and that seemed okay just now. On impulse, she swiped his hair out of the way, leaned forward, and kissed his forehead.
As though she’d woken from some hazy dream, she blinked in startlement, whirled frantically around and placed her hand over her now-pounding heart.
Oh, God, Ranma, you idiot, her father said sharply. What have you done?
Author’s Notes
Mou! This one took a lot of doing. Having Ranma come to like Ryoga gradually was the real challenge of this story; and, since this chapter was the turning point for Ranma, it was especially long and hard. (Whoops! No pun intended.)
It only came to me at the last second, that Ranma’s concerns about falling in love with Ryoga were actually concerns that everybody has. I think the conversation with the girls is probably what most of what allows Ranma to take this next step, along with the fact that she realizes how easily she is reassured by him and his presence, while feeling anxious and unsettled at the same time.
This chapter went through a startlingly large number of permutations. Some of what was once here will indubitably be turned into extras, particularly large chunks of the girls’ conversation. I initially had them playing a variation on ‘truth-or-dare’ that I remember from undergrad, but it didn’t quite work. Still, it’s fun, and it provides a great deal of insight into the lives of latter-day Akane, Ukyo, Nabiki, and Kasumi, so it’s probably worth including as an extra, for anyone who’s interested.
I have to say one more thing. Remember when I said that I only later recalled that this story had two different versions, that I later decided to merge them? (Someone remarked: ‘somehow that doesn’t sound like the truth’, lol – but actually, I am that absent-minded.) This story managed to completely startle me again. It’s hard to explain much without revealing plot, but an issue with the 1998-story was resolved by the 2004-story completely and utterly by accident on my part. Maybe I should have just said that it’s all my own brilliance (heh!) but honestly something just slid into place and altered the entire story, most likely for the better. I am utterly dumbstruck. Sometimes, things just come together...
On a sidenote, Juketsuzoku-Fu is moving again... thank goodness. It felt really mired there for awhile. I’m on Chapter Four now, or Five, depending on how I break it up. The downside is that it’s definitely looking like a trilogy at this point.
Keep reading, keep writing, everyone!
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