[FFML] [Ranma/OMG]A New Life 5 (or 6, can't remember)

Ranma lay awake in bed just holding Nabiki quietly.
The girl's breath came deeply and evenly in his arms,
pressing up against him as she inhaled. Releasing a
hot, gentle breath that trickled over his face as she
exhaled.
He could feel the strong rhythmic beat of her heart
through the thin barrier of her t-shirt and bra. There
were flashes of heat below, where there legs touched
and had entwined the night before. Nabiki was
certainly correct when she said that another person
was better than an electric blanket.
Nabiki didn't wake up easily or early unless she
forced herself to. Nabiki made it a habit to force
herself practically all the time. As a result she
almost never gave the impression of having rested in
the morning, hair going anywhere, eyes blurry and
blinking.
In Nerima she had used an alarm clock, now she tended
to wake up when Ranma did. Feeling him, or Midori
move, tended to bring her conscious enough to go about
the day.
Ranma had decided to let her sleep herself out for
once. She'd probably be upset with him later, but she
deserved a rest for once.
He cautiously, very cautiously, reached a hand up to
stroke her hair. He had seen hair that was naturally
green, blue, purple, pink, white and, of course, red.
Nabiki's brown would probably seem very tame to most
people by comparison. He didn't think so, at least not
any more. Maybe it was just, after all those many
varied and bright colors, that brown and black seemed
quite exotic.
He thought about what had happened last night. They'd
woken up in each other's arms...and then had gone back
to sleep like that, with discussion about talking
later. But Nabiki had been the one to suggest going
ahead and sleeping together, really together. Which
was how he was able to enjoy her presence right now.
Ranma glanced at the clock, it was almost ten o'clock
in the morning. Nabiki was going to be really upset
when she finally woke up. He should be training
himself, but if he moved to much, she woke up.
He sighed and leaned his face forward to kiss her
forehead. Then he heard the door creak open. His
daughter's violet maned head peeked into the room.
"Daddy?" she asked quietly. "Will you p'actice today?"
"Sshh," Ranma said quickly. "Mommy's asleep."
"No she's not," Nabiki answered. Ranma's face flushed,
wondering how long she'd been awake. Nabiki sat up and
looked at the clock with a blank expression. "Ranma,
practically the whole morning is gone. Why didn't you
wake me up?"
"Errr..." Ranma sweatdropped.
"Daddy..." Midori said insistantly, comming over to
grab Ranma's hand.
"Never mind," Nabiki said. "Midori wants to watch her
daddy train, you go do that, I'll salvage what I can
this morning."
"Yeah, Daddy," Midori insisted tugging at him.
"Sorry," Ranma sighed. He had expected this reaction
after all.
He watched her face to see any sign of something to
indicate whether she was awake when he kissed her or
not. Nabiki's face seemed rather sleepy still, though
not as much as usual when she woke up, and she seemed
to be holding something back. But he couldn't tell
whether it was her temper or something else, or why
she was holding it back.
"Go play with your daughter," Nabiki said, breaking
into a gentle smile. Ranma left the room a little
later with his daughter leading the way.
Nabiki caught her breath as he left and her hand
reached up to her forehead.

*****

"Wow," Megumi said as she sat down next to Nabiki and
watched Ranma in the small backward running a kata.
Her morning classes were over and so she had a couple
of hours before the next class. "He's something else."
"That he is," Nabiki said, looking up from the want
ads of the paper and glancing toward Ranma for a
moment. The expression didn't change much from
Nabiki's normal amused face, but Megumi recognized the
look in her eyes from watching Belldandy and Keiichi.
Strangely enough it also had a trace of uncertainty to
it.
Megumi noticed Midori off to the side, trying to copy
her father's motions. She looked at the little Chinese
girl for a moment, uncomfortable with what she was
going to ask.
"Uh, before I put my foot in my mouth," Megumi said,
whispering. "Should I avoid the topic of Midori's
father around you and Ranma?"
Nabiki's expression became the knowing, slightly
superior smirk that she had worn while watching Ranma
finish that basketball game.
"Too late," she said, amusedly. "Ranma's the father,
I'm her stepmother."
"Oh!" Megumi gasped. "Sorry. I...uh...well, sorry. I
just assumed."
"But you might not want to ask about the mother,"
Nabiki continued, turning serious. "She was somebody
Ranma encountered in China before we knew each other.
She died and responsibility fell out of the blue on
Ranma."
It was the same explanation she had come up with for
the fiancees and had stuck with whenever Midori's
Chinese appearance became an issue.
"Oh," Megumi said, a little sadly. "I see.
So...uh...anyway, find any likely jobs yet?"
"There's a few restaurants hiring waitresses," Nabiki
said. "That'll be good for a start. Better than
hustling jocks."
"Why not give martial arts lessons," Megumi asked,
looking again to Ranma and hoping Nabiki didn't get
upset at her admiration of his form. "I'll bet Ranma
would be great at that."
"Ranma will only teach privately at the moment," she
said simply. "Anyway, between us, something will turn
up. It always does." She said that with absolute
certainty.
"I hope so," Megumi said. "If we break lease, we're in
real trouble."
"Don't worry about that," Nabiki said smirking. "We
said we'd help you with this, so we'll help you."
"Glad to hear it," Megumi said. "Oh yeah, I almost
forgot, I saw Belldandy on Campus. She and Keiichi
have a free hour coming up and said they'd like to
talk to you about something."
"Oh," Nabiki said, hiding her enthusiasm for that very
well. "That's good to hear, been a while since we've
had anyone to talk to for very long."
"Yeah, being on the road and all," Megumi agreed,
shivering as she considered the life they must have
led so far.
Nabiki turned back to Ranma, who was glancing their
direction. Most likely he'd heard the entire
conversation, his hearing was good enough. She watched
him for a few moments with a faint smile before
turning back to Megumi to continue polite chit chat
while reading the want ads.

*****

"Good afternoon, Nabiki, Ranma," Belldandy said as
they approached her, Skuld and Keiichi. She angled her
gaze down to look at Midori. "And hello, Midori-chan."
"Hello," Nabiki answered, sitting down at the small
picnic table.
"Yeah, hello," Ranma said. "Maybe you can answer a few
questions for us." Nabiki sighed and shook her head,
glancing at the unsubtle Ranma. "What?"
"Hello, Belle-san," Midori sang back waving
vigorously.
Ranma and Nabiki noted that with some relief, Midori
had good instincts about people. If she thought
Belldandy was okay then it confirmed their own
opinions of her.
"Hello," Keiichi said from next to Belldandy.
He watched them cautiously, half-afraid this could be
another recall order type thing. The time he'd spent
with Ranma and Nabiki the other day suggested
otherwise but the worry remained.
"What it be okay if Skuld watches your daughter at the
playscape while we talk?" Belldandy asked. Nabiki and
Ranma glanced in that direction and exchanged a look,
apparently coming to a decision they turned back to
Belldandy.
"That should be fine," Nabiki said, while Ranma
adjusted his seat so that he could keep an eye on the
playground as well.
"Why do I get stuck babysitting?" Skuld asked.
"Can I go on the swings, Daddy?" Midori asked
excitedly.
"No," Ranma said. "Maybe when you're older."
"I'm older now," Midori protested turning to Nabiki.
"You think I'll go easier than your father?" Nabiki
asked, arching an eyebrow.
"No fair," Midori said.
"You're too little for the swings anyway," Skuld said.
"Come on, let's get this over with."
"No fair," Midori repeated as she walked off.
"Now, as Ranma said," Nabiki reminded them. "There are
questions we could ask of you."
"First, do you mind if I tell you what I know of your
life?" Belldandy asked.
"Sure," Nabiki said. If she wanted to play her hand
out early, far be it from Nabiki to stop her.
"You are Nabiki, Goddess of Provision; Ranma, God of
Change; and Midori, Goddess of Rebirth," Belldandy
said. "On your second day of divinity you, Nabiki,
with help from your step-daughter, healed a tormented
soul while Ranma placed a divine curse upon a girl
that both punished her and encouraged her to redeem
herself."
Nabiki and Ranma sat there stunned speechless.
"How did you know about that?" Nabiki asked faintly.
Belldandy smiled sunnily.
"Heaven knows all," Belldandy said. "Though Kami-sama
tends to limit our access to that knowledge. At any
rate, since then, without any training on how to do
things, the three of you have collectively turned
around the lives of more than sixty people for the
better, including preventing six suicides, two murders
and other assorted forms of violence."
"Wow," Keiichi said. "That's impressive."
"Yes," Belldandy said. "Though perhaps they could have
done it without hustling the athletes at colleges,
gyms, and the like. Or the plethora of assorted
confidence games. Or, in one case, outright
blackmail." Keiichi facefaulted.
"Life is hard when you refuse to claim a family,"
Nabiki said. "And he deserved it." Belldandy nodded.
"You have also left behind a string of promises,"
Belldandy noted.
"We're keepin' em," Ranma insisted. Nabiki nodded.
"If there's one thing I learned," Nabiki said. "Always
keep your promises."
They were both still fairly shocked by the amount of
information Belldandy had on them.
"It's just as well that that's Heaven's attitude as
well," Belldandy said smiling. Ranma and Nabiki
winced.
"Okay," Nabiki said. "Assume this god deal is correct,
can you explain why we've been having such a hard time
living the past year if we're supposed to be deities?"
"Have you really?" Belldandy asked. "Have you not,
every time, known what was needed, adapted to acquire
it, and never truly last faith?" She looked from
Nabiki to Ranma to Midori pointedly.
"I've always been good at handling things," Nabiki
said. "And adaptivity is the corner stone of Ranma's
martial arts style. As for Midori, why WOULDN'T anyone
do everything they can for their child." Belldandy
smiled again. Nabiki wished she wouldn't do that, it
sort of reminded her of Kasumi a little.
"If we're gods, what's he?" Ranma asked looking at
Keiichi. "He's got a strong aura, but it's human, and
he don't move like a martial artist."
"Oh, Keiichi is my boyfriend," Belldandy said.
"It's a long story," Keiichi said wearily. "Look, is
there anything we could do to prove to you that you're
gods?"
"I don't know," Nabiki said. "A full eclipse followed
by red lightning bolts tumbling down out of a
cloudless sky and sky-writing the number 42 across the
sky written out in fifteen seperate alphabets and
forty lanugages?"
"Would you settle for a brief trip to Heaven?"
Belldandy asked.
"That almost sounds like a threat," Ranma said.
"Usually people say they're gonna send me to hell
though."
"You probably don't want to go there," Keiichi said.
"Demons aren't exactly the best people to hang
around."
"I don't suppose they would be," Nabiki said. "Now
what's this about a trip to Heaven?"
"You have some paperwork to fill," Belldandy
explained. "And Kami-sama would like to speak to you.
After that you shall be back here again. As I said,
you have a number of promises to keep."
"And how would we get to heaven?" Ranma asked.
"If you would call your daughter over," Belldandy
asked. "I'll show you." Ranma and Nabiki frowned for a
moment. All their instincts said to trust the woman,
and their instincts were rarely wrong, but they
hesitated. "Or rather, Skuld will show you."
"I'll go first," Ranma said. "Midori, come over here."
Midori blinked, surprised and looked to the sand
castle she had been building. Small seedlings were
beginning to appear to break the surface of the sand
around her in the public sandbox.
"But I'm not finished," she said. She sighed, and
stood up, following an irritable looking Skuld back to
the table the adults were sitting at. "Daddy, please?"
"Not just yet," Ranma said.
"Okay," Nabiki said, waiting for them to call a taxi
or something otherwise mundane that would prove how
crazy they were, or disprove this thing that was
upturning what she believed about life. "How do we get
to Heaven?"
"Ranma's transport medium is water," Belldandy said.
"That means that he can travel between places through
pools of water. I can do the same with mirrors. Your
medium is telephones, and Midori's is music."
Belldandy poured water into a small bowl.
"Skuld, if you would please?" Belldandy said.
"Okay, okay," Skuld muttered. "Now pay attention!
Because I'm only showing you once!" She grabbed
Ranma's hand and jumped towards the table.
"Hey!" Ranma said. "What are doing? You're gonna knock
over..." Then a hole or gate appeared in the bowl of
Ranma as a light irised out of it and Ranma and Skuld
vanished.
"RANMA!" Nabiki's eyes widened dramatically. Midori
clapped and laughed at the sight, not quite aware of
anything necessarily bad about her daddy disappearing
into a flash of light. As long as he came back anyway.
Nabiki glanced up to Belldandy nervously now that her
husband and defender was apparently gone.
"Do not fear," Belldandy said. "He should be back
soon." Somehow, Nabiki believed her and did feel
relieved.

*****

"So," Skuld said, questioningly. "Did you catch that?
Or do I have to show you again?"
Ranma jerked his hand out from her's as soon as they
appeared in a courtyard around a fountain. A large
number of people like him, Nabiki and Midori were
walking around, not evening batting an eye at their
strange, to Ranma, appearance. He had, however, noted
how the little girl in front of him twisted her aura
to create the gate through the water.
"Yeah," Ranma said. "I got it, how do I make it go
where I want?"
"All you have to do," Skuld said slowly, word by word.
"Is think about where you want to go."
"Fine," Ranma said, glancing around nervously at the
huge courtyard around him.
It defied description. The sky extended clear blue
forever, but it seemed to be day and night all at
once. There was no moon or sun that he could see, and
it seemed that the blue would shift to a dark midnight
and back to blue with little more than a twist of
thought.
The ground looked like some science fiction author had
designed an utopia out of glass, metal, and stone.
There was occasionally a mediveal theme but it seemed
to be mostly modern. The hills rolled along and great
trees grew up around and through the futuristic
buildings, as if they were built around them. Wild
animals strolled through the streets with people
(gods?) as if there was nothing unusual. It was the
perfect idyllic wilderness and techno city all rolled
into one.
A storm rolled on endlessly, but seemed to only fade
occasionally into hearing or vision. Still Ranma was
certain it was rolling on even if he couldn't hear or
see it. A hot breeze blew by sending a comfortable
shiver of coolness over his back.
It was seemingly perfect no matter what the taste, not
minding that it was a paradox to be perfectly hot,
perfectly cool, perfectly light, perfectly dark,
perfectly wild and perfectly modern all at once.
"I'll be right back I guess," Ranma said under his
breath.

*****

"Ranma!" Nabiki gasped as soon as Ranma appeared. "Oh
thank god! I wasn't sure what had happened! Where'd
you go?"
"I think it was Heaven," Ranma said. Nabiki pulled in
her breath for a moment, and then nodded resignedly.
~So we ARE gods then,~ Nabiki thought. ~What's this
mean now?~
"I'll show you the Nabiki-san," Belldandy said. "I
believe Ranma can carry Midori for this."
"Hai," Ranma said.

=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
"God has to have a sense of humor, it's the only explanation for sex." - my father
"I have to write a how-to paper for class, so I'm writing a paper on how to be psuedo-evil." - my brother

http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html

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