'

    Based off of characters by the ever-lovable Rumiko Takahshi, which
are her's, no copyright infringement is meant, and they are used
without permission.
    This story can be spread around, as long as the author is
acknowledged, and it is not sold for profit, either in part or in
whole, and all disclaimers are left intact.

********
Late Night
By Ridgewolfe
********

    Kasumi awoke with a start, sitting up in her bed as the moonbeams
entered through her window to dance silent still patterns across the
wall.  Absently brushing her ponytail back, she listened quietly for
whatever had wakened her.
    There it was again, a thumping noise... could someone be in the
house?  Was it a Burglar??  Well, if it was, they would definatly be
in for a surprise... she thought as she gracefully rose out of her
bed.  Kasumi glanced at the oval faced clock by her bed that revealed
it was close to three thirty in the morning.  Maybe she should check
and see what it was.
    Kasumi reached into her closet and slipped on a cotton bathrobe
over her nightgown.  After all, if there was a intruder in the house,
it wouldn't do to not be presentable...  Kasumi took a taper candle 
out from her top dresser drawer and, setting it in a candleholder, lit 
it and opened her door out to the hall.
    The first thing that Kasumi saw as she stepped into the hall was
P-chan, Akane's little pet piggy.  He was wandering around looking as
if he was lost.
    "Oh my, P-chan!  Are you lost little fellow?"  Kneeling down, she
gently scritched the surprised pet behind the ear.  Kasumi smiled, it
looked like he was blushing!  "Were you the one that was thumping
around?"  P-chan kweed softly and shook his head no.  "Akane's very
lucky to have you for a friend you know..."  P-chan's eyes widened as
Kasumi gently picked him up, "Akane's at a friend's house tonight,
would you like to help me look around?"  P-chan bweed in agreement as
Kasumi started heading downstairs.
    Kasumi's bare feet made no sound as she silently tread down the
stairs, candle and pig in hand.  She checked the kitchen first.  She
knew that there wasn't anything in there that would interest a
burglar, but still, it was HER kitchen.
    Setting her candle and P-chan down on the table, Kasumi checked
around, the candlelight and her familiarity with the room more than
she needed.  No, nothing looked out of place... After a moment, Kasumi
took the kettle from the stove and added some fresh water, setting it
back on the burner on low heat.  Kasumi looked over to P-chan as he
bweed at her questioningly.  "Some herbal tea might be nice to go back
to sleep, don't you think?"  She smiled in response.  With that, she
set P-chan down on the floor and gathered her candle to check the rest
of downstairs.
    Five minutes later Kasumi was back at the foot of the stairs,
P-chan looking up at her.  There had been nobody in the living room,
hallways, or bathroom, not even a jusenkyo-cursed person wanting to
change back.  She had looked out the front porch and had saw no one in
the yard, but it was too cold to actually go out and check.  Besides,
the yard was covered with a thin layer of undisturbed snow...
    That left upstairs.  Kasumi hoped that this wasn't anything
serious, if there was a prowler then she wasn't sure who could take
care of it.  With Akane gone there was only Ranma, and with as long as
he took to wake up half the house could be gone.
    Kasumi glanced down at P-chan.  "Do you think one of Ranma's
little friends might of stopped by to play?"  P-chan shrugged.
    Actually, it *had* been his intent to... play with Ranma when he 
had gotten to the dojo, P-chan thought, but he'd been asked to stop
waking everybody up this late at night by Akane last he was here.  "I
guess I'd better go check..." with that she started walking up the
stairs.
    First Kasumi checked her Father's room, peeking in the door.  Her
father was fast asleep in the double bed he had shared with Kasumi's
mother.  This room always brought back memories to her, her mother's
presense was still strong here, even after all this time.  It was
evident in the setting of the furniture, the decorations on the walls.
    Her Father had never moved any of his wife's possesion's out of
the room, wanting to hold onto that presense as much as he could.  It
was all he had left of her, that and his daughters, and he held on to
both as tight as he could.
    Kasumi's memories of her mother were bittersweet, She could
remember her mother singing softly to her, lulling her to sleep,
playing with her in the yard... Her mother bringing Nabiki, then Akane
home from the hospital... walking with Kasumi her first day of
pre-school... Taking them out on picnics... her mother growing weaker,
depending on Kasumi more and more... her mother teaching her how to
take care of the household with a desperate edge that she only now
could see... her mother growing weaker still, the scent of death
in the house... standing by a gravesite, holding a crying Akane as she
held back her own tears...
    Kasumi shook herself out of it as she felt P-chan's cold nose
against her ankle, a questioning bwee causing her to smile.  "It's
okay, there's nothing here..."  She said, shutting the door softly.
    Kasumi checked Nabiki's room next, opening the door and peeking
in.  The room was dark, except for the soft glow of Nabiki's computer
screen.  Nabiki herself was in front of the screen, fast asleep in her
green yen nightshirt with her head resting on the keyboard.
    "Oh my..." Kasumi sighed.  Entering the room, she set the candle
down on the desk and went to the bed, turning down the covers.
    Kasumi gently took Nabiki by the shoulders, sitting her up.
    "Huh?  Whuzzup?"  Nabiki muttered groggily, her eyes still shut as
she was pulled from the chair.
    "It's okay, Nabiki-chan," Kasumi whispered to her sister as she
led her to her bed, "It's time for you to sleep."  Without a word
Nabiki rolled into bed, falling deeper into sleep as her sister tucked
her in.
    Kasumi watched Nabiki for a moment.  This wasn't the first time
she had put her to bed, finding her asleep in front of the computer
working out the finances.  She wondered if anybody really appreciated
the work Nabiki did to keep the house afloat.  All the little things
to make money, all the financial opportunities that she created, just
to make sure the family had a roof over their heads and food on the
table.  Most people thought Nabiki only as a mercenary, but Kasumi
knew she did it out of love.
    Not that Nabiki would admit it, of course.  But Kasumi had seen
through the icy facade of a buisness woman that Nabiki presented to
everybody else.  Nabiki had a sense for buisness that was as sharp as
a whip, but what drove her on was the knowledge that this was what she
could do for her family, the one thing that Nabiki could do that no
one else could.  That was what put the spring in Nabiki's step, and
made her proud, that she was a help to her family.
    Kasumi looked over the computer, then settled for just turning off
the monitor, she had no idea how to work "The Monster", and she didn't
want to erase whatever Nabiki had been working on.  Picking her candle
back up, she shushed P-chan out of the room, who had stayed by the
door the entire time.
    The next room room Kasumi checked was the guest room, where Ranma
and Uncle Saotome slept.  When she peeked in, the sight she saw made
both her and P-chan's eyes widen in surprise.  She glanced down, it
almost sounded like P-chan was snickering.  In the corner of the room
was an overturned Panda with a bucket sitting on top of him, his wet
fur dripping into a puddle around him, his body rising and falling
oddly as he snored.  On his futon slept Onna-Ranma, her damp clothes
clinging to her as she lay there, curled up into a ball and shivering
with cold.
    Kasumi knelt down and set her candle on the floor, placing a hand
on the giggling P-chan.
    "Well, now we know what was causing the thumping, don't we?"
Kasumi asked, smiling.  "Stay here, I'll just be a moment."
    Kasumi quickly worked the damp clothes off, patting Ranma dry with
a towel from the dresser, then dressing Ranma's slight girl form back
into some dry night clothes.  Not once did the cursed martial artist
show any signs of waking up, so careful were Kasumi's actions.  Then
as the small girl trembled with cold, Kasumi gathered Ranma's blanket
from the floor, picking up Genma's blanket as well to cover her with.
That fur coat would be enough for Uncle Saotome, he wouldn't need it.
Soon Ranma stopped shivering in the warmth of the blankets and her
face relaxed into a more restful expression.
    Kasumi wondered briefly what the two had been fighting about, but
then again, this was Ranma and Genma, they never seemed to need a
reason.  It seemed like no matter what he did, Ranma was always being
attacked by someone... If it wasn't Genma, it was Mousse or Ryouga for
something they thought he did, and if not them, it was one of his
fiancees.  It was almost as if Ranma got in trouble just by being
Ranma...
    Why couldn't any of them see him the way Kasumi did?  A kind,
insecure young man who was unsure of his feelings?  True, Ranma could
be a bit insensitive, but it was because he had no real social skills.
With the way he was raised, that was to be expected.  Although Kasumi
respected her elders, Uncle Saotome had yet do do anything to make her
respect his skills as a parent.
    With a sigh, Kasumi brushed Ranma's bangs back from her eyes, then
stood, silently walking back to the door.  Again collecting her
companions, she carried them back down the hall, stopping at Akane's
door.
    "Here you go, P-chan, you can wait for Akane in here."  Setting
him down on the floor, Kasumi watched as the little pig hopped onto
Akane's bed and settled in on top the pillow, waiting for his owner to
come back home.  Kasumi marveled at how easily Akane was able to win
people over, even pets, something Kasumi had always had to work at.
Even though Akane was very much the "Tomboy," as Ranma would put it,
there was a unmistakable air of femininity... of, well Cuteness about
her... that Akane projected, that made others want to be with her.
Akane was a duality of charm and fury that Kasumi had never seen
before, as well as her own constant.  In a way, Kasumi envied how well
her little sister could get along with everyone, make friends with
them...
    Kasumi once again made her way down the stairs to the kitchen,
lost in her thoughts.  More and more often as of late, she found that
she was making these short little rounds of the house, checking up on
everyone as they slept, then coming down here to the kitchen to think.
It gave her a feeling of security to see them all peacefully in their
beds, knowing that they were safe...
    Kasumi prepared herself a cup of tea from the now hot kettle, some
chamomille that Ryouga had brought her once on one of his little
trips... and as she sat down, a feeling of loneliness washed over her
as she thought about the people under her care.  She dearly loved her
family, including the Saotomes, each one of them were special in their
own way, but they were all grown up now, soon Nabiki would be off to
college, and Akane and Ranma would be married and starting a family of
their own.  What was she supposed to do then?
    It was only now, during the quiet hours of the morning when she
was by herself, that Kasumi allowed the fears she had to surface.
What would she do when they were all gone?  In a way, she was jealous
of the others, all of then had interest that they could pursue, make a
life out of... but what about her?  She wasn't like Ranma or Akane,
anything she had learned about martial arts or running the dojo had
been forgotten years ago, she wouldn't be able to help them, she
didn't have Nabiki's sense for buisness... she had no idea what she
would do with the rest of her life.  True, she had had some interest
in medicine when she was in high school, but did she have it in her to
go through all those years of college?  All she really knew how to do
was run a household, what use could that be with a family that was
gone?
    Kasumi's eyes felt like they were burning, and she could feel the
moisture as she wiped them with her palm.  Kasumi could see the others
with their whole life before them, but what about her?  Was she
destined to become a lonely old woman, with nothing to do, nobody to
care for except her father?  What would... would she... she do??
    Silently, Kasumi cupped her face with her hands as she wept quiet
tears of loneliness, her tea untouched...


    Slowly, Soun crept down the stairs to check the rest of the house.
    Long ago, starting the day he and his wife had brought home a
newborn Kasumi, he had never felt completely comfortable at night
unless he was able to see his children secure in their beds.  So he
had gotten into the habit of checking all the rooms to be sure they
were all right.  Sometimes he stayed in the room for a minute or two,
watching the faces of his precious children as they slept, loving them
and feeling protective as he did.  It gave him a sense of security
knowing they were safe...
    Not that he told anyone about his nightly rounds, He didn't think
his friend Genma would understand, especially since Soun considered
Ranma a part of his brood and checked in on him as well, and his
daughters were all old enough now to where they would admonish him for
it, but it was something he felt he should do.  His wife had once
called it "Checking on the chickens", but to Soun it was simply being
a good parent.
    Soun quietly made his way into the kitchen, and sure enough, there
was Kasumi, asleep at the kitchen table, her head resting on her arms,
a half burnt candle and a cold cup of tea nearby.  Soun had gotten
worried when he hadn't found her in her room, but somehow, he knew he
would find her here.
    Soun quietly studied his oldest in the candlelight, her face was
so peaceful, he thought... Of all his daughters, Kasumi was the one
that reminded him the most of his long lost Kimiko... Her quiet
strength, her gently support of others... her ability to handle any
situation... He didn't know how any of them would have survived
without the constant love Kasumi provided them all in the chaos that
had become their lives... If it wasn't for her, Soun could easily
imagine all of them becoming very different and very bitter people in
the years since Kasumi's mother had died.
    "Your mother would be so proud of you..." He whispered softly to
himself.  Every day he thanked the kami for blessing him with his
three angels...
    However, even angels could get a crick in their necks from
sleeping like that.  Soun blew out the candle and, with practiced
ease, gently scooped his oldest up in his arms to carry her upstairs,
up to her room and her bed, so that all of his brood could sleep...


Finis

Authors Notes: Why did I write this?  Well, for one, I guess because I
wanted to see a story in which not only Kasumi, but Soun have a bit of
character development... Also, it seems to me that the two characters
that are truly parents in the series are these two, and one of the
earliest memories I have of MY parents are of them checking on us kids
late at night, so to me, that is the sign of a parent...

For those of you interested, you can send your caustic comments,
racious remarks, noxious notes, and original observations to:

    Ridgewolfe@hotmail.com

    Any and all fanmail and C&C will be read and appreciated, and I 
do ask that you send it, C&C is one of the best tools for improving
one's writing skills.  Or, if you want to see more of my work or that
of my friends, check out the website at:

    http://idt.net/~jallen9/hole.html
    (I swear we're gonna update it soon!) *Wolfish grin*


Sayonara!
Ridgewolfe