First of all, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!  OK, second, this is a
re-release of a story.  I've fixed it up some to go along
with my new experience (in writing) and skills.  *Warning*
This is dark, and later parts turn lemon, and also is more
ORIG than RANAM 1/2 really, so be warned here and now.  And
please don't bother with flames.  Trust me, I got them the
first time.  I don't mind *other* comments though, or the
other (unfixed) parts are on my web page at:
http://www.emich.edu/public/llb/fanfic.html





			You're Never Too Old
			   by Lara Bartram


     "Can I talk to you?"
     Ryuuji looked at his mother and saw the look in her eyes.  He
dreaded that look.  He shrank back into his room.
     "You come out here now.  I have something to say to you."  She
never raised her voice, she never needed to.  The fact that she was
his mother was all that mattered.
     Ryuuji stepped out into the hall with his heart hammering away in
his chest.  He took two tentative steps towards his mother, his hands
clammy.  "Please..."
     "None of that.  Come in here where I can talk to you in private."
She had stepped back into her room, commanding him, beckoning him...
He could not refuse.
     He whimpered, not understanding why his mother had to do this,
and clutched tightly to his clothing.  The fear was evident on his
face.  Still, he could not disobey her summons.  He entered her room
and immediately stood with his back against the wall, it providing him
some comfort.
     She closed the door and stood in front of him, her eyes still
holding that look.  If anyone else had known what the look meant they
would have been just as frightened, if not more so, than Ryuuji.  She
put her finger to his chin and smiled when he flinched.  "You know..."
She stepped closer, their bodies only an inch apart.  "You look just
like your father."
     They were words he hated to hear, especially from his mother.
Ryuuji tried to step back further, to pass through the wall.  He was
covered in sweat, his whole body hot, except where his mother was
touching him; that felt like ice.  "Why?" he managed to squeak out.
     "Your father's been gone for so long...  And you're so sweet."
She stepped closer, pressing her body fully against his, her other
hand resting on his chest.  "Just do this for me.  Do this for your
mother..."
     Ryuuji wanted to cry out, to run away.  He wanted to push his
mother away and leave the house forever, but he couldn't.  "No," he
said in a very small voice.  "Please not any more.  Not again."
     Anger showed on her face.  "Don't talk to me that way!  You will
do what you are told!"  She stepped back, which relieved Ryuuji for a
moment.  "Now take off your shirt."
     His blood turned to ice.  He hesitated one moment too long and
she slapped him, marking his cheek.  "I said take off your shirt!"
     Ryuuji slipped off his shirt, holding back the tears of guilt and
shame.  Silently he wished that his father had never died.  For even
at the age of 17, he was too weak resist to Nabiki Tendo.

END