Recognizing that I many of the details my be skewed, I've tried to make this more formally Japanese.   (And that definately includes the couple of words I have used. ) Please help me to make it more realistic.  Other C&C would be fabulous as well.
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These characters belong to Rumiko Takehashi, Viz Video, Shogakukan, Kitty, and Pony Canyon.  Please don't sue me; I could in no way make money off this. E-mail would be nice however.


Bittersweet Victory
By Dagmar-chan

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Okaasan= mother
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The woman bowed her head.

"Okaasan." She said it softly, unsure of what to do.

Even in a hospital bed, Nadoka looked the part of the formal Japanese matron. Calm and serene. What she had always strove to be.  After her marriage anyway.

"Why don't you sit, dear?"  It was a friendly reminder, like always.

She sat, mindful of her kimono, and waited.  Nadoka would have something to say.  Something meaningful. Something kind and gentle, yet urgent.

After a long pause, the other woman spoke.  "How is he doing?"

She understood the reference.  "Ranma is as well as can be expected.  Since you've been...."

"Dying, dear."

She cleared her throat uncomfortably.  Her mother-in-law had always seemed immortal, destined to be there forever, offering advice on all the little things that she never quite learned correctly.  Sometimes she thought back to when her mother died.  But only sometimes.

"He's been busy.  I hardly see him anymore; he disappears into the dojo for hours at a time."  As he had for years, only lately it seemed worse.  He was avoiding her, and they both knew it.

"You must take care of him.  Ranma needs you now more than ever."

"Hai."

"Remember always that he is first."

"Hai."  It had been hard in the beginning, learning to put him first over herself.  But she had done it, because honor demanded.  Left her kin. Left herself behind in favor of the proper Japanese lady.

Abandoning the Art had been the worst.

She stared down at her hands, rough from raising children, rather than the exercise of her youth.  A tear formed itself and slowly slid down one cheek.

"Has it been worth it, child?"  Nadoka asked, a hesitancy in her voice that had never been there before.

Wiping the incriminating wetness away, she smiled sadly.  "Hai," she said, irony coloring the word.  She had won. She had been the one to pay the price.

"I never meant to hurt you."

She shook her head softly as if to say, "No, don't tell me.  I already understand."  But the words remained unsaid.

Nadoka continued,  "You always surprised me.  Of all them, you were the last I thought would make the good wife."

Remembering the first few weeks, as she bumbled into her role as the proper wife, she brushed another tear away.  A thick strand of hair pulled loose from the clip; even after all the years her hair remained stubbornly free-willed.

"Come here, dear. Let me help you."  Nadoka sat up with a clear effort.

Numbly, Ranma's wife crossed to sit at the edge of the hospital bed.  She closed her eyes, content to feel deft fingers pull her hair back as they had done for years.

All too soon it was over.  She stood and turned to face the woman who had been both her tormenter and her redemption for over twenty years.

"Thank-you, Okaasan.

"You've done well.  I am proud of you, daughter," Nadoka paused, "Shampoo."

Shampoo bowed her head in thanks.  Maybe one day she would be worthy of the praise.

"You should go home now.  My son needs you more than I do."

"Hai."  After all the years, the word felt natural.  Sometimes she couldn't even remember what China had been like.  Sometimes she felt Japanese.


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Author's note:  Sorry about the angst.  I just had to write it however; I've always wondered how much Shampoo would sacrifice for her honor.

Oh, and one final question...  Is the ending too heavy handed?

-Dagmar-chan

Member of the Crystal Castle Crew Inc. (http://travel.to/ccastlecrew),
Computer Wizard, Missle Silo Fan Club (http://talk.to/msfc),
Director Industrial Espionage, Bogbo Heavy Industustries
(http://come.to/verloc), and Schmucky Jedi at large.

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