In preparation of posting Part 4, and slight changes I have made, I'm
reposting this. That and the fact that I haven't much much C&C on it.
Comments and Criticisms are welcome...
Copies of this and my other fanfic can be found at
http://erau.db.erau.edu/~sachss/FanFic/
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"Mother's Son"
Part 1
of ??
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
by Shaule Sachs
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Version 1.3
Author's Notes:
(1) All characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and are
used solely for the entertainment and, hopefully, enjoyment of her
fans.
(2) This is an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. Something will be the same and
other things will be different. I am using VIZ's graphical novels (one
through ten) and what I can found on the Web and in the fanfics I
have read as source material.
(3) Suffixes, such as -chan, -panda, and -neko, will be used to denote
people in their cursed forms.
(4) Conventions that shall be used:
Words that are italic will be between // //,
Words that are bold will be between * *,
Words that are underlined will be between _ _,
Translations will in within << >>,
Thoughts will be italicized.
Authors comments/notes will be within []'s.
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Soun Tendo went to get the mail as he usually did. The mailman
handed Soun the usual stuff, bills, advertisements, and the typical
junk mail. With an embarrassed face, the mailman handed Soun a large
envelope. The large envelope had a message on the face which basically
explained that mistakes happen and that the postman is sorry for the
delay.
Curious as to the contents, Soun opened the enveloped and saw a
ripped postcard that was taped together. It was dated last month and
it was addressed to him. It simply said, 'Visiting on thirtieth.
Bringing Ranma.' It was signed just as simply, 'Saotome.' In a neat
handwriting that had sent a number of postcards from various places to
him.
Soun ran into the house excited. He had been awaiting this day
for the last ten years. He was also slightly nervous since today was
the thirtieth. As soon as he was in the entrance hall Soun called out
for his three daughters, "Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!"
Because of their lack of responses, Soun concluded that they were
not within shouting range of his voice so he went in search of his
daughters. Kasumi, the eldest daughter, was the easiest to find since
she was in the kitchen preparing some melon for the family snack after
dinner as they watched the evening television programs. Nabiki, the
middle daughter, was in her room reading some mangas. When Nabiki
asked what was going on, Soun simply replied that he was going to tell
all three of his daughters at the same time. Therefore, Soun suggested
that Nabiki needed to find Akane, the youngest daughter, for him, if
she wished to know.
Nabiki, knowing her sister, headed straight for the Dojo. There
she found Akane, who had just finished her run, cooling down by
breaking some bricks. Nabiki simply watched her sister as Akane broke
three bricks with her bare hands. It was clear to Nabiki that Akane
enjoyed destroying the bricks. She could not help tease her sister by
saying, "No wonder all the boys think they have to defeat you to date
you."
"The world does not revolve around boys, Nabiki-chan," Akane said
sourly.
Nabiki just shook her head sadly and informed Akane of their
father's desire to talk with them.
Once all three daughters were seated in front of him, Soun began
to explain, "Before your Mother...." Tears began to fall from Soun's
face. Regaining his resolve, he continued, "... died. She made me
promise that the family dojo would continue. To this end an old friend
of mine is helping me keep that pledge by having his son marrying one
of you. If one of you were to marry Ranma Saotome... You two could,
together, carry on the dojo and our families' legacy would be secured."
"What?!?!? Don't we have a say in this?" an outraged Akane asked
while Kasumi had a confused look on her face.
Nabiki pointed out, "We've haven't even met this Ranma before."
"Not true," Soun answered smiling.
"You don't mean Ranma, the little boy that came with Mother's
friend when she baby-sat us..." Kasumi began.
"Correct. Ranma is Saotome-san's son," Soun said nodding. "The
Saotomes are coming to visit us today on their way home after
completing a training trip through China."
"Wow! China!" Nabiki exclaimed as thunder rolled through the
house.
"What's so great about China?" an uninterested Akane asked.
"Is he cute?" Nabiki asked.
"Is he mature?" Kasumi asked. "What is Ranma like now?"
"I don't know," Soun stated simply.
"You don't *know*?" Nabiki asked incredibly.
"It has been years since we last saw Ranma... Who knows how he
grew up," Kasumi said.
There was a knock at the door. Excited, Soun leapt up to get the
door saying, "It must be Ranma..."
The three girls followed their father to the door. The sight that
greeted them was a sixteen year old girl wearing a red Chinese outfit
that clung to her body since it was soaked and a soaked, and a
slightly older woman, who was obviously related to the younger girl,
was wearing a kimono. In the girl's hand was a traditional visitor's
gift[1]. The gift was a fresh fish wrapped in a special rice paper with
seven white and crimson paper chords. In the upper right hand corner
was the noshi, a piece of awabi -- ear shell -- stretched tightly to
symbolize long-life and protection from harm.
As the girl handed the gift to Soun, she said, "I'm Ranma
Saotome." Gesturing to the woman, she continued, "... and this is my
mother, Nodoka." Looking down at herself, she sighed, and said, "If
you would be as kind as to get us some hot warm. I'll explain..."
All four Tendos could not help stare at the Saotomes. Before
their very eyes, the one who introduced herself as Ranma, son of Genma
and Nodoka, clearly female, poured the hot water over herself and
became a boy. Ranma then took one of the cups of water that he had
been cooling off and poured the water over himself, thus turning back
into a girl. Ranma-chan then poured the last cup of water onto herself
reverting back into a boy.
Akane was the first to find her voice and asked, "How?!?!?"
"It's a curse," Nodoka replied. "The Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo.
Whoever falls into one of the cursed springs, emerges with the shape
of whatever drowned in the spring."
Nabiki looked skeptical while the other three Tendos nodded
and accepted the facts in front of them.
"What happened?" Nabiki asked trying to appear uninterested.
"An accident," Ranma answered quickly. Nodoka simply looked sadly
at her son but said nothing.
"The ledge that overlooked the springs gave way while Mother and
I practiced," Ranma continued. "I fell into the nyanniichuan."
"What were you doing at 'the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo?" Nabiki
asked.
"It's a training ground that my husband, Genma, wished to take
Ranma to," Nodoka replied. "It was his hope to take Ranma to all the
famous training grounds in Japan and China, so they could follow the
great martial artists of the past."
"What happen to my good friend, Genma?" Soun asked.
"A demon killed him," Ranma answered too quickly.
"My husband died six years ago, Tendo-san, I'll explain later,"
Nodoka said softly to Soun. She turned to his three daughters
saying, "When your mother and I agreed to our husbands' plans, we
didn't foresee all that had happen since then..."
Nodoka sighed as she noticed the various reaction on the girls
faces and she added, "I would understand if Ranma's curse would interfere
with the marriage between our fam..."
"It's not that, Nodoka-san..." Nabiki interrupted.
"... It's just that it's been ten years since we last seen Ranma.
He's like a stranger to us," Kasumi finished for Nabiki. "We need time
to get to know him and he us."
With a slight smile Nodoka said to Kasumi, "So much like your
mother."
To all three girls, Nodoka said, "True, Kasumi. You raise a good
point. To correct this, I'll enroll Ranma into your high school and
Ranma can come over here upon occasion, to help Tendo-san with the
dojo and to spend sometime with you all..."
[=== End of Part 1 ===]
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Footnote:
[1] Traditional visitor's gift was taken from Eric Van Lustbader's
_Jian_.
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