Yes, this took me a long time (six or more months, I forget.)  No, it's not good 
enough or long enough to excuse that.  Sorry.  

Many thanks to Gary Kleppe and my brother Matthew for pre-reading.  

Previous parts are available on my web page, graciously hosted by Todd Hill at 

http://nabiki.newberry.edu/job/

.

They Shall Be One Flesh

Part 3

By Thomas Schmidt


     Akane shifted uncomfortably in her wedding dress.  A
priest stood before her, decked in the simple robes of his
profession.  He had been called, she supposed, because he
was willing to work on short notice.

     Glinting on her finger, her wedding ring bore an
ostentatious weight.  It was her mother's band, she had been
told.  That it was being put to this purpose was truly
perverted.

     The priest coughed, and continued his reading.  "And
Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out
of Man."  Beside her, a man, a boy, stood.  She looked up at
him, and he smiled.

     "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother,
and shall cleave unto his wife."  She thought, there are no
mothers here.

     "And they shall be one flesh."

     The boy came to attention at the last words.  He turned
to her and wrapped his hands around her waist, and no matter
how she fought she could not tear them off.  He parted his
lips noisily and pressed them to hers.  His breath was hot,
and wet, and near.  She could feel his hands roaming
downwards, groping her, and then she felt herself starting
to kiss him back.




     Akane shot awake like wildfire, throwing her sheets to
the floor.  She sat up and opened her eyes, heaving with 
breaths that grew slowly softer.  The heat was oppressive, 
and her heart pounded with bold tremblings.

     She desperately needed a cold drink, but Akane
hesitated before rolling out of bed.  It would be better to
avoid stepping on Ranma.  She wanted to ask him if he was
awake, and where he was; but there were reasons to forego
speaking.  How do you start talking to someone after you've
told him you hate him, she wondered.  It wasn't as if they
hadn't shared any words the day before.  There had been a
conversation about the sudden appearance of Mrs. Saotome.
The other Mrs. Saotome.

     "So, that's your mother?"

     "Yeah.  I guess."

     "Oh."

     So she was careful to step around her husband as she 
crept to the kitchen.  Akane pulled a glass from the cupboard 
and set it under the noisily rusty faucet.  Lifting the cup 
to her lips, she took one long swallow, and then another.

     Akane jumped as the lights flashed on; she had been
maneuvering by instinct.  She blinked rapidly to clear her
vision, but could not make out who was approaching her.

     "Trouble sleeping?"

     Ah.  Ranma's mother.  "Bad dreams," Akane said.  She
took another sip of water and waited for the older woman to
explain herself.

     "I heard you getting up," Nodoka said.  "I guess I'm
not used to being around all these people."

     "You�ve been living alone?"  Nodoka raised her
eyebrows, and Akane blushed.  "Of course you have.  I�m
sorry.  I should have thought," she finished in a rush.

     "It�s all right," Nodoka said.  "I understand you�ve
been under some stress yourself recently."

     A cynical laugh, a melancholy sigh.  "I guess most
people don't have nightmares about their weddings."

     Nodoka waited, carefully bridging silence with silence.
Water dribbled down Akane�s throat, spluttering and
splashing almost audibly.

     "I�m sorry they forced you," Nodoka said finally.  "I
would have done something if I had been here, but you know I
haven�t seen them in years."

     "And my mother�s dead," Akane said.

     Nodoka gasped and reached out, and the two Saotome
wives stood together, holding on to each other, finally, the 
night enclosing them in the claustrophobic kitchen.

     "I�m sorry," Nodoka said.  "I didn�t want to ask."

     "It�s okay," said Akane.  "It's okay."  She shook her head
and spoke quietly.  "Ten years ago now."

     "Ten years," Nodoka said.  "A long time."

     "Yeah, it is."  Akane buried her face in Nodoka's shoulder, 
muffling her words.  

     Nodoka drew her nearer and closer and then without warning 
they were apart, distant, Akane had shoved her away, violently 
and ultimately.  Nodoka stumbled.

     She caught herself on the hard wood counter. Akane rushed
to her side.  "I�m sorry," the girl said desperately, extending her 
hand.  Nodoka straightened herself, waving off the gesture.  

     Akane scrambled for something to say, but she knew there
was nothing.  Finally she resigned herself to feigned ignorance.
"Listen, I had better get back to bed," she said.  "It�s late 
and all."

     "I will in a minute," Nodoka said.  "I think I�ll have
something to drink first."  Akane nodded and headed for the
doorway.  "You know," Nodoka called after her, "you could
call me Mom, if you want."

     Akane turned and cast her gaze across the void between
them, staring at Nodoka�s shoulders, afraid to look the
other woman in the eye.  "Since when has what I wanted been
an issue?"



     Nodoka had woken in the middle of the night and said
"Thank you," and she hadn�t been able to stop.  "Thank you,
thank you, oh gods, thank you, for bringing my son back to
me."  She had lapsed into silence and further into sleep,
but when she woke she saw him and all she could do was
whisper "Thank you," again and again but soft, like a record
skipping on the sweetest note.

     When he saw her, Ranma said, "Hi."

     Nodoka said, "Good morning."  She slipped into the seat
next to him.  Composing herself, she smiled broadly and, she
hoped, reassuringly.  Smiles were her favorite tools.  "My,
you�re up early."

     "Pop got me up real early," Ranma said, yawning to
accentuate the point.  "I�m surprised you didn�t hear Akane
shoutin�."

     "I must have still been asleep.  Where is your father,
anyway?"

     Ranma grinned.  "Probably still trying to get back from
where I threw him when he woke me up."

     Nodoka smiled back, after a moment.  She sensed
movement out of the corner of her eye.  "Need any help in
the kitchen, Kasumi?"

     Kasumi slid to the doorway, wiping her hands on her
apron.  "Certainly not, Auntie.  You stay right where you
are."

     "Thank you," Nodoka said, and giggled suddenly.  She
edged her hand forward to cover Ranma�s.  "Akane and I had a
nice chat yesterday."

     "Oh?"

     "Sort of, yes.  So," she said,  "what are you doing
today?"

     Warm smells slithered in from the kitchen, followed closely 
by a breakfast tray with Kasumi on the end.  "I dunno," Ranma said, 
grabbing at the food.

     "Ranma has school in an hour," Kasumi told his mother,
slipping behind the back of her chair.  "I�ll just go
upstairs and get the others," she said, heading towards the
staircase.

     "Well, I�m sure you won�t have to go today," Nodoka
said, stretching to take a few morsels.

     Ranma shook his head to get the hair out of his face.
"Really?  I mean, why?"

     "Well, I thought we would -- oh, that reminds me.  Is
there a phone I can use?"

     Ranma shrugged.  "Probably, but I don�t know where.  I
just got here right before you, you know."

     Nodoka nodded.  "Well, I thought we could go out and do
something together.  Go into town or something."

     "Like, without anybody else?"

     "I�d like that.  We�ve lost a lot of time," she
explained.  Her hand tightened on his arm.  "But that�s all
over now.  I love you, Ranma."

     "Uh, thanks."

     Nodoka smiled through her disappointment and stood, 
smoothing her borrowed nightgown.  "I�m going to go get 
dressed, honey.  If your father gets back, tell him what 
we�re doing."

     "Okay."

     Upstairs she dressed quickly -- living the life of a
salaryman had taught her the utility of speed -- and rushed to
find a phone.  "Hello," she said into the receiver.  "Yes,
please.  Thank you.  Nodoka Saotome.  I�ll be taking an
extended leave.  Yes.  Tell Mr. Sugiyama -- tell him I found
Ranma."


     
     Soun had been dreaming about flowers when Kasumi softly
called him out of sleep.   Ranma knew because Soun had told
him so.  They had been very beautiful, and though Soun hadn�t 
been quite sure what the dream meant, since they had been 
blooming -- like it was spring, he had said, like it was spring 
-- he thought maybe they had something to do with his daughters.
"Do you like flowers, son-in-law?"

     "I guess," Ranma said guardedly.

     "You should," Soun said.  "All women love flowers," he
continued, winking suggestively.

     Ranma wasn�t sure exactly what that meant, but either
way he didn�t like it.  "Look, I don't want you getting any
ideas about nothing.  I'm not giving nobody no flowers, and
I don't want any neither."

     Nodoka descended gracefully, catching only the tail end 
of Ranma's remark.  "Good morning, Soun.  Did you sleep well?"

     "Not badly," Soun said.  "Not badly."  

     Nodoka smiled and returned to her seat, next to her son.  
"Did Ranma tell you about our plan for the day?"

     "No, I don't think so.  Did you have something special
planned?"

     "I thought we might go into the city.  Go shopping, maybe
see a ball game or something."

     "Well, good," Soun said.  "Maybe Genma and I could come 
along on the shopping trip."  He slapped Ranma's shoulder, 
grinning slightly.  "Ranma here never got a proper wedding 
present."

     "I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Nodoka said.  
"I was more thinking we could have some time to ourselves."

     "Where are you going?"  Ranma jumped.  It was Akane, 
and he hadn't even noticed her coming in.  Then he realized
she wasn't in, that she was coming around the corner with her
dulcet inquiry.  She looked ready for school in her pastel 
uniform, carrying her rough brown bag.  Ranma thought she looked 
happier than she had the last few days.  She hadn't cried last 
night, anyway.  

     "Ranma and I are going into town today," Nodoka said, 
passing brusquely.

     Akane swung her bag, staring at Ranma.  "You're not going
to school?"

     "No, not today," he said.

     "Oh," she said.  Ranma wasn't sure quite how to take that.  

     "Well, if you want to be alone," Soun said.  "Maybe we'll 
go out by ourselves, then."

     Nodoka nodded briskly, glanced at Ranma, and remembered
to smile.


     


     Nabiki didn't say anything all the way to school,
pressing ahead with self-conscious temerity.  Akane tried
to ignore her.  It was harder than usual.  Nabiki didn't 
often pay her a lot of attention, but this was different; it
was a purposeful negligence, a presence of nothing rather than 
a lack of words.  Ever since the wedding, the only thing to 
come out of Nabiki's mouth had been a tangible silence.  The 
one exception, their conversation the day before, had ended
in anger.  Whether produced by insensitivity, relief, or 
apprehension, Nabiki's reticence had come across as something 
hurtful. 

     Yuka and Sayuri attended Akane at the gate, falling into 
step behind the youngest Saotome girl and pushing Nabiki
out of her thoughts.

     "So, Akane, where�s the stud?"

     "Hey, fuck you, Yuka."

     Sayuri blanched at the expletive and waxed gossipy.  It
took her a moment.  "I heard Kuno woke up last night, and he 
said he had been to heaven and saw Kami-sama."

     "Did he."

     "And Kami-sama sent him back, cause he had to be here
on earth so he could rescue his love."

     Yuka dismissed her friend with a wave.  "Ah, you know 
that�s not true."

     "I don�t know, I just heard it."

     "It�s not like Kuno�s going to be waking up anytime
soon, anyway."

     "Hey!" Akane protested.  "He wasn�t hurt that bad."

     "Sure looked like it."

     "No way."

     "She�s the one with all the ninja skills," Sayuri 
interjected.   "Maybe she should know."

     "They�re not ninja skills," Yuka corrected.  "Martial arts."

     "Whatever. The point is if Kuno was gonna get hurt bad
she wouldn�t have done it."

     "Maybe she just had enough.  Besides, most of it was
the guy.  Ranma."

     "Will you two stop talking like I�m not even here,
please?"

     The girls exchanged glances.  "Sorry, Akane," Yuka said
quickly.

     Sayuri changed the subject.  "So anyway, Kuno is only still 
in the hospital because he wants to meditate on this meeting, 
see, because Kami-sama healed all his injuries."

     Akane scoffed.  "You believed that?

     Sayuri seemed non-plussed.  "Well, not really."

     "Well, I heard Akane�s you know what isn�t here today
because, like, he went to finish Kuno off."

     "Like, in his hospital bed?"

     "Yeah.  A stealth thing."

     "Somebody told me he was out with his mother who he
hasn�t seen for ten years because he was in China learning
secret fighting techniques."  Akane frowned.  Nabiki had
been talking to somebody, it seemed.

     "Oh, give me a break."  

     "Well, he�s probably just skipping.  Though it�s pretty
dumb on his second day."

     "Well, we know Akane�ll never tell us."

     "No, she has too many big mighty secrets to share with
little old us."

     "Honestly, Akane.  You could at least tell us about
some of this stuff.  It�s not like we�re going to tell
anybody."

     "Fuck you too, Sayuri."

     "Hey!  What is with your attitude, anyway?"

     "You tell me," Akane said, tearing herself away from the 
pair.  She stormed away from them, angry, filled with rage, 
and she wondered, why am I doing this?  Why the hell am I 
doing this?  

     She thought about it for a little while and while she 
wasn't sure she knew what it was she was doing, she thought 
she knew the reason.  Family honor was a joke and a crutch,
in this day and age.  At the same time it was real, and that 
was her problem.  The duality; that what she considered a joke
could be heartbreakingly real.  

     All of a sudden, out of the blue, life had happened to 
her, and there was nothing she could do about it.  And her 
friends didn't understand that what had happened to her was 
real life, hitting her right in the face.  





     "So, tell me about yourself."  The subway thundered
along, rumbling and creaking and forcing Nodoka to shout.

     "What do you want to know?"

     "Everything," said Nodoka, leaning forward under the
shuddering light.

     "I don�t know," Ranma said, recalling his similar
conversation with Kasumi days before.  The Tendo girl had
been placid and disarming; Nodoka bubbled with a frothy
sweetness he found twice as compelling.  She constantly
touched him, her elven fingers brushing and stroking his
arm, his hair, his shoulder, his face.  Her eyes held
something comforting, her smile something enticing, her chin
something familiar.  She said she loved him.  "Well, I�m 
real good at martial arts."

     "With your father, that�s hardly a surprise."

     Ranma flushed.  "Yeah, Pop�s been teachin� me pretty
good."

     "Do you enjoy it?"

     The train shook to a stop, interrupting Ranma's half-
formed response.  Studying the lacquered tiling, Nodoka 
determined that they had arrived.  "Come on," she said, 
grabbing her purse and standing.  "We're here."

     Ranma nodded and followed her out of the station.  
She steered him into a maze of skyscrapers, passing by 
thatches of smaller buildings.  A spring had invaded her 
step, and she grinned widely as she turned to speak.  "Do 
you remember coming here before?"

     "No.  Should I?"

     Nodoka's soft dappled shoes worked briskly against the 
pavement, along the sturdy streets. "Well, I guess not.
You were a tiny little boy."  She pointed to an office 
building, directing Ranma's attention with a well-placed 
finger.  "Look," she said.  "That's where your pediatrician 
used to be."
	
     Ranma let his gaze linger for a long second before 
shaking his head.  "Did we use to live around here?"

     "Well, no," said Nodoka.  "We had a small apartment up 
on the north side.  But everyone said he was the best, so 
I figured it was worth it."
	
     Ranma grinned.  "That was nice of you."

     "Well, I tried as hard as I could."  She seemed to think
about that for a while, continuing to walk.  "I mean, we
couldn't always afford everything, but I tried."

     "We didn't have a lot of money?"
 
     Nodoka barked a short laugh.  "I make more now than your 
father and I did together back then."  Ranma said nothing,
because he had nothing to say.  "What does your father
do now, Ranma?"

     "Pop?"  Ranma bit his lip.  "He does a lot of stuff.  
Mostly he tries to make sure we always have enough to eat,
things like that.  Training like we do you can't do much else."

     "He did okay, though?  You always had enough to eat and
everything?"

      "Yeah," Ranma said, after he thought for a moment.  "Yeah.  
I think he tries really hard.  He does good."

     "Ranma," Nodoka said, pronouncing both syllables with care,
"He married you to a girl you didn't even know!"
   
     "Yeah," Ranma said.  

     "How do you feel about Akane, anyway?" Nodoka said, pursuing
the point.  

     Why does she care, Ranma thought, and then he remembered 
that she was his mother.  How did he feel about Akane?  Akane 
was a helpless girl whose life he had destroyed, Akane was an 
ungrateful bitch, Akane was his wife, Akane hated him.  He 
hated it when she cried.  

     "Look, where are we going?" Ranma asked.




     "Soun, what do you think of Ranma?"

     "What, Ranma?"

     "Yeah."

     "He's a good young man, Saotome.  And an excellent martial
artist.  You've done a fine job of raising him."

     "I did my best," Genma said, smiling slightly.

     The television flared behind them, a sudden cacophony, a
splurge of voices and music and the revving engines of cars
they could never own.  The channel changed twice, again, and
settled into a dull murmur of depressed voices.  

     Genma glanced back to see Kasumi settled on the couch; she
smiled and gave a tiny wave when she noticed him looking.

     "Tendo?" he said.

     "Yes?"

     "Do you think Ranma's manly?"






     Nodoka watched him evade her question, she watched him
turn and shadowbox with the sky, and she thought that even when
he was irritating her he was remarkably handsome.  He was lithe,
long and lithe and lean.  He had the kind of muscles she didn't 
think boys had had when she had been his age, and exuberant 
shocks of dark black hair.

     She was glad he had kept the pigtail; it made it easier to 
recognize him, and she thought it looked good on him, too.  She 
wondered if Akane thought he was attractive.

     "Do you just want to go home, Ranma?" she said.  "Because we
can."

     "No, let's do something," Ranma said.  "I wanna do something."

     "Right."  
     
     They walked, and walked, and walked.  It took an eternity,
walking.  They circled the city without reaching any conclusions.  
     
     Small gardens speared out all over Tokyo, and Ranma had 
guessed Nodoka might eventually lead him into one.  When she 
finally did, he thought it was rather plain.  A stone path pushed 
through trees to a thin expanse of grass, later snaking around a bend 
to a narrow stream and turning to lead behind a solidly masoned stone 
wall.  The trees were squat and stubby and square, far from the arcing, 
shimmery leaves and branches of the foliage he preferred.  

    But there she was, dark hair tightly coiled under the hard sun, 
arcing and curving in her own way.  She looked inviting, and vulnerable
because of it.  Invitingly vulnerable.  

     "Do you like it?" Nodoka suggested.
	
     "It's, uh, very nice," Ranma said, sweeping his gaze back and 
forth appreciatively.  "It looks kind of familiar.  Did we use to 
come here?"

     "Actually, no," Nodoka said.  "I've never been here 
before, myself."

     "Well, maybe Pop took me here," Ranma said.

     "Oh, you don't need to save face," Nodoka said.  "I mean, it was 
a good thought."

     "I wasn't." Ranma said.  "Really."

     "Well, it is kind of nice," Nodoka said, stepping forward.  "And
it's such a nice day."  

     "When I first got to China," Ranma said, falling in step behind 
her, "it was like this almost every day.  With the sun and all."

     "That must have been nice," Nodoka said, hopping over the stream
with surprising athleticism.

     "Well, it made the hikes easier," Ranma said.  As he followed 
suit, a rock slammed into the stream, spraying water in all directions.

     Nodoka had turned to watch him; she saw in stark clarity, he was
sure, as his legs melted and his chest exploded.  No subtle morph
this; a sudden change, so he couldn't even feel it.   He had turned
into a girl in front of his mother.

     "Oh, shit!" Ranma shouted.  Then she looked up at her mother.  
"I didn't -- I didn't -- I'm sorry.  It's not my fault," she said 
desperately.  "But I couldn't just, I mean, I didn't want to do 
that.  I'm sorry."  Embarrassment rolled over her, waves of it, 
nausea lapping at her feet.

     "Ranma?" Nodoka said.  "Are you Ranma?

     "I couldn't just tell you," she babbled.  "I'm sorry."

     "I am going to go see your father, and you are going to come 
with me."

     "It's not my fault," Ranma said.  "But I didn't want anyone to see,
I didn't want you to see."
 
     "Now, Ranma!" Nodoka shouted.

     "I don't want to -- "

     "I don't care what you want!" Nodoka's voice was quivering, 
with tension and fright and anger and something else.

     "What?!" Ranma shouted, because it was easier to get angry.  
"So I guess this was all some stupid act or some shit like that."

     "Come on," Nodoka said, ignoring him and beginning to walk
steadily away.  "We are going."

     "I don't give a shit what you think," Ranma said, standing 
stock-still.  "Like I even care about you."

     "We're going to see your father," Nodoka said firmly.  "We are."

     After a while the girl followed her.

End Part 3


Thomas Schmidt
Tschmidt@tcon.net
http://nabiki.newberry.edu/Job/