His hands softly squeezed the sponge, relieving it of it's wet cargo.
Carefully, he once again dipped it into the cool water, and carefully drew
it along her once strong back. She did not make a motion at his touch;
indeed, she had a far-off look in her eyes, as if searching for something
she knew not what. He continued washing her gently, one spongeful at a
time. 

He continued his task until all of her was completely washed and clean.
Upon finishing he gave her a tight smile, to which she attempted to say
something, but physically could not verbalize. He nodded as if he knew what
she was trying to say, and clothed her.


Stepping out of the immaculate room, Dr. Ono Tofu was immediately besieged
on all sides by inquiries, questions, grabbing, and most of all
desperation. Breathing in a deep sigh, he stepped back and waited for the
tumult to die down. One by one they all quieted themselves voluntarily, as
the doctor refused to answer anything any one of them asked. The last to
quiet down was the once-proud woman's son. 

This proud warrior had fought princes, demons, other worldly creatures,
anything you can imagine. He had traveled to hell and back, and he believed
there was nothing he could not conquer. Except this.

This had been a different enemy, one no one, not even one as skilled as he
was in the martial arts, could even see with the naked eye. It was an
unremorseful, unblinking foe. There was no honor, there was only the need
to decimate. He could not understand, with all that he had experienced in
his life, that this enemy had no way of being stopped. Sooner or later, it
would conquer it's chosen victim.


********


At first, he had not believed it. His mother was a strong, a noble, a proud
person who was as honorable as he had ever known in his life. To him, there
was no way a person such as she could be felled by an unseen adversary.
Impossible.

But the sad truth was that she indeed was afflicted. The families had
resorted to traveling the globe to search for a mystical cure for her
illness. They had seen so many unbelievable things in their lives that
surely something existed to save this woman's life. 

But after several years of looking, scouring the world, they found nothing.
Countless legends dispelled, fake remedies failed, others leading to
nothing.

They then resorted to radiation. Normally, this proud group of people had
been disinclined to trust modern medicine, preferring to keep their bodies
free of strange and concocted substances, using instead herbal and natural
cures.

 Her body was assaulted again and again by these invisible energies, in
hopes of slowing down or destroying the illness that was slowly overtaking
her. And for a while, it had worked. But as quickly as the cancer had been
slowed, it continued to spread throughout her body, and no amount of
radiation short of a killing level would save her, and she preferred not to
treat her body in such a severe matter.

The final attempt was the one mankind has always turned to in times of
darkness. They prayed. And prayed. And prayed. They prayed like they had
never prayed in their collective lives, trying to put their faith in a
higher power they could not see. But their supplications fell on untuned
ears. And still, the cancer surged forward. 

The end had almost come two weeks before, when the woman known as Nodoka
Saotome had slipped into a coma during her sleep. Immediately she was moved
into Nerima Ward Hospital and placed into intensive care. Doctors tried
using new and more radical treatments in hopes of stopping the cancer
before it snuffed out her life force, but the sum of their attempts was to
bring her out of her coma. The decision was then made to move her to the
hospice ward. Everyone knew what that would evemtually lead to, though no
one dare to say it, save Nabiki, who was the only member of the group still
clinging to her senses.

For a week, she lay surrounded by family and friends, basking in the love
that filtered from their tortued souls to her. People flew in from all over
Japan to say their last goodbyes to this woman who had meant so much to all
of them.


Sometimes she would stop breathing for thirty seconds of more, convincing
everyone she had passed, only to continue breathing again. Indeed, she
lasted longer than anyone there could believe. And every day, more and more
people came to visit her, so many that finally the hospital took the
unprecedented step by discharging the woman from the hospital. The enormous
amount of visitors she had received had overwhelmed the staff and had begun
disturbing other residents of the hospice wing.

So home she went, accompanied by Dr, Tofu, who took over personal care of
her. Everyone sadly went back home to their lives, knowing the next time
they saw her would probably be at her funeral.

But the woman would not give up, not an inch. The very next day after being
released home, she got up and slowly walked around the home, much to
everyone's pleasure and suprise. She even recognized her husband and son,
though only for a while. Spirits had picked up considerably in the
household; perhaps there was still hope after all. But all that ended 2
days later.

Dr. Tofu had awaken before daybreak to give her the customary sponge bath,
when he found her laying in a coma again. Naturally, upon learning of this,
the family began to wail and weep, the eldest son destroying half the Tendo
Dojo in a fit of rage and tears.After several hours of deep depression, the
doctore gathered them in the living room and explained to them in a firmm
yet gentle way that the head of the Saotome clan would not live for much
longer, so they should prepare themselves and say their goodbyes. Deep
inside each of them, they had known the truth from the start; that she was
going to die. Confronted with the fact, they all calmed down as best they
could, eldest son included, and realized that this was no time to be
selfish and worry about their own feelings. They should love and care for
the source of all this anguish, and make her passing as comfortable as
possible. 

The next day was a quiet one, everyone gathered around Nodoka and thinking
of how much they loved her and valued her. She seemed to sense this, and
awakened from time to time, enough to smile or raise a hand at one of them,
especially her son, giving a glimpse of the woman still inside the withered
physical shell that had at one time been so beautiful and strong.

Dr. Tofu had not left her side during the night, knowning that the next day
would probably be her last, and had taken care of her all the time. The
eldest son, Ranma  Saotome, had not left her side either. Standing vigil,
the night passed uneventfully, and morning was soon approaching.


********


Clearing his throat, he spoke in a gentle voice. 

"You should all make peace with her now. She is ready for you."


Slumped shoulders, tears, and soft whimpering dotted the small crowd.
Indicating that they step forward, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Soun Tendo followed
him into the room and spent several minutes next to her, each silently
saying their farewells in their distinct ways, Soun's being most painful of
all. He cried openly and loudly, even questioning the Supreme Being himself
as to why he had to take this woman away from them. Having lost his own
wife, Soun was particularly sensitive to these types of situations, and in
this instance he reacted no differently. After about ten minutes, the three
of them turned and exited the room. 


The doctor then motioned the remaining three, Akane Tendo, Ranma Saotome,
and Genma Saotome to enter the room. He then left the room himself, and
closed it behind him.


Genma stood unmoving, his facial expression unchanging except for the
torrent of tears that freely flowed down his face. Watching his wife ready
to step into the afterlife was devastating to him. Nodoka had always been
strong, stronger than him; maybe not physically but mentally, and that was
one of the reasons he had taken her to be his bride many years ago.To see
her in this state was almost shameful to him, and those feelings of shame
made _him_ feel shameful, that he should feel that way about his wife who
needed him now more than ever. But he stood just out of arm's reach, not
moving toward or away from her. 


Ranma had rushed to her side, Akane on his side, and had fallen to his
knees, his face rubbing against her now frail hand. His dear mother, always
a figure of strength and confidence for him, now reduced to this ghostly
image. His mind could not cope with it, and he softly cried his eyes out,
burying his head deeper into the covers that concealed her now weak body. 

Akane said nothing and wept too, hurting inside because her husband was
hurting too, and sad also because her soon to be born daughter would never
know what a having a grandmother would feel like. She lay an arm against
Ranma's hunched over back, letting him know that she silently that she was
here for him, and would always be. 


After about 20 minutes, Ranma composed himself as best he could, stood up,
and wiped his tears away, squeezing his pregnant wife's arm for support.
She half-smiled at him, and kissed him on his cheek, the salty taste of
tears spilt touching her lips. 

Akane separated from him reluctantly and opened the door to the room,
indicating to Tofu that it was alright to come in. Kasumi and Nabiki
followed close behind, their own faces looking bright red from the
emotional stress.

Quietly they all gathered around the bed, these two now joined families
stood watch over her, waiting for the inevitable.

Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, and she saw them. Her family, the ones she
cared so much for, there with her, loving her for all they were worth. Deep
inside, a fierce flame welled up for a brief instant. Her gaze swept over
the lot of them, and her mouth curled into a gentle, knowing smile. 


For a second, they all felt the presence of a woman not seen presently, but
remembered in their hearts and minds and memories. All their eyes widened
at this sight, marveling at this remarkable event. But as quickly as the
flame had ignited, it was extinguished. The shine in her eyes faded, and
the smile reversed itself into a straight line again. Nodoka Saotome was
nothing but a warm memory now, and the world was worse off.


***********






Dedicated to the memory of my beloved great-grandmother, Inez Sanabria, who
passed away Tuesday evening at 11:30 pm, in the presence of our family.


Abuela, Yo se que usted esta leyendo esto. Nunca te olvidare, y te quiero
con toda mi alma y corazon.

Inez Sanabria
1900(?)-1997

God I miss you.