Subject: [FFML] [FFML][REPOST][Ranma 1/2] Letters to/from Nabiki part 3
From: "Tracy Garnett" <crikit@geocities.com>
Date: 6/28/2000, 1:25 AM
To: "FFML" <ffml@fanfic.com>

c&C welcomed and aprriciated

Crikit ^_^ \/

^_^_^_^__^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^__^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^__^_^_^_^_^

Ranma � is property of Rumiko Takahashi and is used with out permission. Do
you really think I would be writing fanfics if I owned it? Come on people
get real�oh the song 'Good Mother' is property of Jann Arden and used
without permission.

Letters from Nabiki 3
A Ranma � fanfic by Tracy Garnett AKA Crikit

From: n_tendo@new_world.com
Date: February 18,1999
To: listener@new_world.com
Subject: Good Mother

"I've got money in my pocket, I like the color of my hair, I've got a friend
who loves me, got a house, I've got a car. I've got a good mother and her
voice is what keeps me here, feet on ground, heart in hand, facing forward
just be yourself�"

I don't know why I just wrote that. It could be because Akane has been
playing that song almost non-stop for the last couple of days�or maybe it's
because, I don't have most of the stuff that's in that song. I do have money
in my pocket, and I'm glad that I do. But, I don't have the stuff that is
most important�at least, the stuff that most people consider important. I
don't have a friend who loves me, and I don't have a good mother�I don't
have a mother at all. Why am I telling you all this? Why am I telling
someone that I have never met so much about myself? This isn't like me; I'm
not the type of person who just tells what she's thinking and feeling to a
complete stranger. What is so special about you? Why do I feel like I can
tell you my deepest darkest secrets, and know that you won't tell another
soul? I wish I knew, but I don't�I would stop e-mailing you but I can't. I
can't because I feel that if I were to stop my life wouldn't be the same.
Listener you let me vent out all my frustrations and you listen to what I
say, it goes with the name doesn't it? Sorry, it's just I've had a rough
day.

Now you want to know what I meant about my father and us. Well I wasn't
planning on telling you; it just sort of slipped. But, maybe you can help
me�or at least tell me what I can do. You see after my mother died my father
changed. He was always a weak man, but after mom died he was even weaker.
Right after the funereal my father spent days in his room just crying. I
know my mom's death was hard on him, but it was hard on us to�and to see our
daddy acting like that, well we didn't know what to do. Kasumi tried to
comfort us as best she could but she needed comforting to and Akane and I
couldn't help her.  But that's not what my father can't see. What he can't
see is how much we need him. He's a good father, don't get me wrong, but
he's not the father that I remember him to be. Mr. Saotome and Ranma have
helped a little in bringing life back to him, but he's still not the same. I
know what you're wondering, you're still wondering what's happening to my
sisters and I. Well to put it to you bluntly we're growing up, but daddy
doesn't see that, he still sees us as his little girls, but we aren't. I'm
graduating from high school soon, Akane is engaged�he knows about that, but
he doesn't know that she's in love. And Kasumi, well Kasumi acts like his
wife, doesn't he realize that she needs to have a life of her own? She can't
look after us for the rest of her life, it wouldn't be fair to her, it
wouldn't be fair to us�You must think my family is nuts right?

I had to laugh when you asked if Kuno was not normal now�honestly he's not,
but yet he is. Does that make sense? I guess I should tell you what he does,
shouldn't I? Well in order to do that you have to understand some things,
like what happened to him. Like I said in my last e-mail, Kuno and I met the
first day of school, and stayed friends until jr. high, I loved those
times�but they ended there was nothing neither of us could do to stop it
from ending. It happened in our first year of jr. high. I remember it was
the first year, because it was the year that my mother died. Kuno tried to
help get over the loss by becoming an even better friend�and it was working
to, but�it wouldn't last. A few weeks after my mother died his did to. It
turns out they died of the same thing to�cancer. I could tell you a bit
about how they both died of the same thing, but I won't. I don't like to
think about it. Anyway as I was saying, when Kuno lost his mother I was
still grieving over the loss of mine. If he would have just told me, I would
have helped him�like he helped me. But he didn't the fool. He didn't tell me
that his mother died�when I found out and asked him why he said that he
didn't want to trouble me. He didn't want to trouble me�I still can't
believe he said that. I was his best friend, what effected him effected me,
and he didn't want to trouble me. Oh well, I won't dwell on it, he sure as
hell doesn't.

The death of his mother wasn't all that happened to Kuno though. No, it was
just the start. A few weeks after they buried his mother, his dad ran off to
live in Hawaii�abandoning Kuno and his younger sister Kodachi. I thought it
was hard for Kasumi to look after Akane and I, but it wasn't as hard as what
Kuno had to put up with. You see, his sister was already a little mentally
unstable, and when their father left town she just lost it. They had to lock
her up in the mental ward for a couple of weeks she was that bad. It was
about that time that I noticed that Kuno was becoming more and more
withdrawn, instead of coming over to my house to watch TV or do homework
after school, he would go to the library and check out all the Shakespeare
that he could find. I guess he identified with the characters, he was the
hero whose life was destined to end in tragedy. That continued for a few
weeks until one day�Kuno came to school and he wasn't himself. Instead there
was a poetry-spouting freak in his place. I heard some of the teachers
talking about his sudden change one day, it turns out that shortly after his
sister was taken away he had a nervous break down. They said something about
it being bound to happen considering how crazy his father was. I know this
might sound weird but I feel that the way that Kuno acts is partly my fault.
I wasn't a good friend�I didn't do a single thing to help him, while he
spent hours helping me�it's not fair, it's just not fair.

I did what you suggested, I thought about all of the people that have been
in Kasumi's life�and I remembered something or should I say someone. His
name was Joey Holden; he was a foreign exchange student who went to school
with Kasumi for a while. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier but
it just wouldn't come to me. If I remember correctly, Kasumi and Joey were
sort of an item. I say sort of because they tried to keep it hidden. Why do
people do that? Why do people hide their love? Anyway, they were keeping
their relationship�I guess that's what you could call it�secret because they
didn't want daddy to find out. Akane and I of course knew about it, because
they would often take us out for the day using the excuse that Joey was just
going along to help Kasumi keep us in line. Can you believe that daddy
actually bought that excuse?  It was fun though, and Joey was a great guy to
hang out with�he was the kind of guy that I thought Kasumi would marry�but
it didn't last. Joey was to stay in Japan and go to school until he was
finished high school, but in his first year which was also Kasumi's first
year, he got called home. He was called home because his parents were killed
in a car accident�they were hit by a drunk driver. I'm not sure what
happened to the drunk but I bet he lived�that's usually how it happens.
Anyway Joey had to fly home to go to his parents funeral, but the plane that
he was on crashed. Kasumi was broken up about it, but anyone would be. I
guess she wrote the poem in an attempt to get over the pain that she was
feeling, I wonder if it worked�

Well I better go it's getting a little late and I still have to do my
homework.

Ciao,
Nabiki


Letters to Nabiki 3
A Ranma � Fanfic by Tracy Garnett AKA Crikit

From: listener@new_world.com
Date: February 19, 1999
To: n_tendo@new_world.com
Subject: RE: Good Mother

Nabiki,
Do not say that you do not have a friend who loves you. It is not true�I say
this because, well, because I love you Nabiki. I don't know the type of love
I feel for you, but, I still feel love. It could be romantic, or it could be
the love of a friendship�whatever it is, it is still love. I am glad that
you feel you can trust me. It is because of you that I come home with a
feeling that I have not truly felt for a long time�that feeling is
eagerness. I have felt eager for things but never for coming home, not since
my�I can't remember when. But now when the school bell rings I look forward
to arriving at my home, turning on the computer and hearing "super trouper"
play announcing the arrival of new mail. I guess what I am trying to say is
that I can not imagine my life without you either.

I wish there was something I can tell you to encourage your father but, I
can't. I do not know your father, so, therefore I can not give you advise on
reviving him to his former self�however I will attempt to give you a
suggestion or two. Perhaps your father is lonesome, you yourself said that
he misses your mother greatly and that when the Saotomes arrived his spirits
brightened. Do you suppose your father might be interested in finding a new
love? Not one that will replace your mother or the feelings that he had and
still has for her, but will�I'm honestly not sure how to put this. I know
that you will not like this idea so I will stop suggesting it, but only ask
you to consider it. As for your father seeing what's happening with the rest
of you perhaps you can talk to him, or have someone talk to him on your
behalf. For I hate to say this Nabiki, if you don't point it out to him
soon�one day he'll wake up only to discover that his daughters are not his
daughters anymore.

Reading what you wrote about Kuno helps put my thinking towards him in a
whole new light. Having to help a friend deal with the death of a loved one
is never easy, but to have to deal with a death in your own family adds that
extra amount of stress to a person. And under enough stress even the sanest
person will snap. Perhaps Kuno didn't tell you about his mother because he
didn't want to trouble you�you were going through family troubles of your
own at the moment and perhaps he felt telling you his problems would only
make things worse for you. So, he bottled them up letting his emotions and
thoughts stew and ferment until they became intolerable. The fact that his
sister lost it and his father abandoned the two probably did not help
things. But Nabiki, that is all in the past, there is nothing that you or
anyone else can do to help Kuno or his family. They have passed the point of
no return so to speak. You may blame yourself for what has happened to his
mental state but it is not your fault. If Kuno wanted help he should have
asked he could have asked but he didn't. Even if he did ask there was
nothing that you or anyone else could do to help him or his family�so please
don't dwell on it.

I know you said that you don't like to talk about it, but could you please
tell me what happened to Kuno's mother and your own? I ne�I would like to
know, please. You don't have to if you don't want to, but please consider
it.

Why do people keep their love a secret? That is a good question Nabiki, one
that I can not answer�I honestly don't think there is a single person in the
world that can answer that. If there was he would make a killing explaining
it to the rest of us. Perhaps people hide their love because they are
unsure�or they are afraid of rejection or maybe they do not want to hurt
others. For example your sister Akane, and her fianc�e Ranma. You say that
they love each other, and that everyone knows it including them. That could
be true, they could very well know what the other feels but they will not
say. Not for fear of the other rejecting them, but for fear of hurting their
friends, the people who fight so desperately for their affection. Can you
imagine what would happen if they admitted how they feel for one another and
told Shampoo, she would destroy all of Nerima, and Ryoga and Ukyo would be
heart broken. You never know. What about you Nabiki? You hide the emotions
that you feel for Kuno, why do you do that? You see him almost everyday of
the week don't you? But yet you still don't confront him and tell him how
you feel. I say this to you, you are able to complain and chastise others
for not sharing their feelings. Which is something you should not be doing,
not until you can freely admit to Kuno that you love him. Only then will you
be able to comment on others. I may sound harsh in saying that but it's the
truth, and you know it is.

I've thought about what you told me about Kasumi and Joey, and I think your
right. She must have written the poem in an attempt to rid herself of the
pain and sorrow that she was feeling. However you and I will never know, for
that is most likely information that she will not willingly disclose to her
younger sister and the person she e-mails. Especially considering that you
took the poem without her permission. I fear that you might have to confront
your sister, something that I know you do not wish to do at the moment. But,
if you do not find some clue that will help you help her it will have to
happen. Have Ranma and Akane found anything out yet?

It is time for me to go. I have a previous engagement that I must attend to.

Yours faithfully�
Listener.






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