* Disclaimer *
I didn't create any of the characters herein. Imitation is the
sincerest form of flattery. Please don't sue me!
18 June, 1973
Even in his own time, Sunday was a day off from school. For
Ranma, it meant a whole day that he could spend with Nodoka, and
possibly get to know Akiko as well.
As soon as he could figure out what to do next.
At the moment, he was seated on the bench across from her house,
trying to think of some approach. Waltzing up and knocking on
the front door was likely to cause Akiko to throw a fit, and the
old girl didn't really seem that healthy to begin with. On the
other hand, climbing up and knocking on Nodoka's window, even if
he were certain he had the right one, would be likely to attract
all the wrong sorts of attention.
"We keep meeting this way."
Or, he could wait for her to walk up behind him and scare the
living crap out of him. Again.
"How do you keep doing that?"
"I dunno." She shrugged. "Talent?"
Ranma waited for his pulse to return to normal, then said, "You
got anything planned for today?"
"Not really. I was gonna hit the mall, provided Mom lets me out.
If not..." She sighed. "Another boring day of re-reading all my
books."
Ranma grinned. "Why tell her anything? We could go right now."
She shook her head. "Mom's waiting on these groceries. Wait
here, and I'll be back soon. I hope."
She reappeared very quickly, and was grinning from ear to ear.
"Good news?" asked Ranma.
"Yes, indeed. Mom wasn't gonna let me out at all, because she
saw you out here, but I convinced her otherwise."
"How'd you manage that?"
Nodoka chuckled. "I told her that if I didn't go with you to the
mall, you'd likely disappear forever, and I'd end up an old
maid." She waved a sheaf of yen. "She even gave me a whack of
cash to play with."
* * * * *
They didn't quite make it to the mall. They had to stop at the
ice cream parlor, of course.
"The look on her face was hilarious." Nodoka was waving her
spoon in the air. "You'd think we'd handed her a live cobra. I
don't even know where Reiko found such a thing." She tore back
into her banana split.
Ranma chuckled. "I'd have paid to see that. Maki was extremely
rude to me. I'd like to see her taken down a peg."
"Yeah." Nodoka's smile faded somewhat. "She doesn't really get
along with anyone, as far as I know."
Ranma leaned forward. "Why do you put up with her? I mean, she
isn't really nice to you."
Nodoka shrugged. "I don't have a lot of friends. It'd really
hurt to lose even her."
"But she's the one spreading all these vicious rumours around,
isn't she?"
"Yeah. I know."
Ranma considered. "Well, before I leave, I'll have to do
something about her."
Nodoka's expression became worried. "Leave?"
"Yes, I have to leave tomorrow." He glanced up, to see the
sadness on her face. "I'm sorry...it didn't occur to me to
mention it earlier."
"It's okay." She sighed. "As usual, it's just too good to be
true."
"I'm really sorry about this. If it's any consolation, I'm gonna
miss you like crazy."
"Are you?" She smiled at him. "Where are you going?"
"Back home. Kansai." A white lie, but better than the truth.
"Are you ever gonna come back?"
"Oh, yes. I guaruntee, you'll see me again."
"Good." She tilted her head. "We'll just have to make the best
of today, then." She dropped her spoon back into the dish.
"Done my banana split. Ready to hit the mall?"
* * * * *
The mall was a primitive example of the type, simply three city
blocks walled off from traffic and set aside as a shopping
district, but the day was warm, the sun was shining, and the
company was excellent. Nodoka had insisted on entering every
clothing store on the strip, and trying on several articles of
clothing, and was now lugging along three bags containing her
purchases. She had stubbornly refused to allow Ranma to carry
any of them.
The photo booth was another thing they couldn't pass by. Nodoka
insisted on getting their photo taken together, and Ranma
couldn't really deny her. She fed the machines coins, kicked it
once - "You haveta with this one, trust me!" - and pushed Ranma
inside. Once he was seated, she jumped onto his lap and threw
her arms around him.
"No-chan! What--"
*click*
"--are you doin'?"
"Don't be so stodgy!" She kissed his cheek.
*click*
He grabbed her hand and tried to pull it away, inadvertently
brushing her breast with the other hand. She laughed. "Finally
getting fresh?"
*click*
He grinned, and slid his hand around her shoulders. The other
hand he placed on her leg, and pulled her into a proper embrace.
*click*
"There!" He released her, and she hopped out, her face flaming.
He stepped out of the booth, and grinned.
"What's the matter? Shoe not fit that foot?"
She kicked his shin.
"Ow!"
"Fits just fine." She grabbed the photos, and tore them apart at
the perforations. "Got a pen?"
He handed her one, and she scrawled their names and the date on
the back of each photo. She paused, jotted two kanji on the back
of the third one, tthe one with his hand on hers, and handed it
to him. "This one's yours."
"Only one?"
"After the way you acted, you should be glad I'm giving you any!"
But her eyes were laughing.
* * * * *
Ranma had spotted a manga store, and was sifting through stacks
of manga. He held one up triumphantly. "Science Ninja Team
Gatchaman, number one! I've been looking for this one for
years!"
Nodoka was looking at him oddly. "Ranma...Gatchaman only came
out last year."
"...Well, it seems like years. And I'm real glad I got it! Once
I'm home, I'm really gonna have to scrounge to find more issues."
Nodoka grinned. "Okay, then. As long as you're pleased."
He handed her the manga. "I'm gonna check out the back rows.
Hang onto this, please?"
She glanced down at the comic. "Ranma...Can we leave soon?"
He paused. "I'll just be a moment, okay?"
"It's--" She bit her lip, and glanced around. "I'm not real big
on manga, is all."
He frowned slightly. "Did I complain when you insisted on
stopping at every clothing shop between here and Nerima?"
"Well..."
"I'll be back in just a second, okay?" He tapped the comic book.
"Guard this with your life." He turned and walked back to the
rear of the shop.
"Nodoka-san."
She braced herself, and turned around.
"Why, hello, Maki! What brings you here?"
"You will refer to me as Sempai." The girl tossed her head with
disdain. "As to what brings me here...well, let's just say I'm
concerned for your well-being."
"That would be a first."
Ranma was digging through a crate of back issues, all very rare
manga, when a hand fell on his shoulder. He straightened, and
turned to see a boy, close to his own age.
"You're Ranma, right?"
"Yep." He sighed; loonies seemed to gravitate towards him.
"I take it you're new around here?"
"Yeah. So?"
"I'd advise you to avoid that girl, Nodoka." The boy smirked.
"She's probably got every sort of social disease that exists."
Ranma stared at him, mouth hanging open, then grabbed the boy's
shirt, pushing him up against the wall. "You better take that
back!"
The boy's smirk widened. "What are you going to do? Beat me up,
here in a public place?"
Ranma was sorely tempted; he would be gone tomorrow, regardless
of what happened. But he knew that he wouldn't always be able to
solve problems with his fists, and he didn't want to lose his
wish because of some clod. He considered, then set the boy down.
"No, I'm not going to beat you up. What's your name?"
"Shinji."
"Well, Shinji, you and I are gonna have a chat with No-chan." He
spun the boy around, and shoved him towards Nodoka.
* * * * *
"Do you need ice for that hand?"
Nodoka looked up at Ranma. "No, it's okay." She rubbed her
hand. "I shouldn't have hit him so hard, I guess."
They were near the school; he leaned up against the stone
boundary wall. "Ya gotta make sure your hand is lined up right,
and braced for the impact. I could show you--"
"Ranma."
He paused, and looked down at her. "Eh?"
"You didn't have to stand up for me." She smiled at him. "I'm
rather used to it, after all."
"I did have to, No-chan. Anyone that insults you, insults me
too. And it just ain't right, to be spreadin' those kinds of
rumours about a girl." He looked back down the road. "Is that
guy the reason you wanted to leave?"
"No...it was Maki." She sighed. "I saw her in the shop, just
before you went to the back. All I wanted was to get away from
her."
"You don't need to take her crap either, y'know?"
"I know. But..." She shrugged. "Like I said earlier."
"You know she's following us?"
"Huh?"
"No, don't look. She's pretty good at tailing people, but I'm
used to that sort."
"That damn little..." Nodoka fumed. "I am really getting sick
of her."
"Pity I can't talk to Nabiki...she'd have a few choice ideas for
dealing with this chick."
It was then that he heard it: The voice, the one he'd dreaded
more than any other.
"What a haul!"
"Oh, man..." He turned to Nodoka. "We've gotta get off the
street. Now!"
"Wha--?"
The front of Nodoka's skirt flipped up. She squawked, and pushed
it back down. Ranma spun into an axe kick, slamming his heel
into the top of her assailant's head.
"You old letch! What the heck are you doin' here?"
Happousai peeled himself off the pavement. "Well, that was a
remarkably good kick, youngster." His eyes narrowed. "If I
didn't know better, I'd say you were a student of Anything Goes."
"I am."
"That's impossible. I never taught you it." The old man pulled
out his pipe. "Well, let's see how good you really are, eh?"
"I got a better idea." Ranma jerked a thumb towards a nearby
bush. "There's a really pretty girl, wearing a really short
skirt, hiding in that bush."
"Hotcha!" The pint-sized pervert turned and leaped into the
bushes. There was a high-pitched shriek, and Maki took off at
top speed. Ranma turned and picked up Nodoka. "Yama-sen-ken
fade!" He leaped backwards, over the stone wall, and landed in
the schoolyard.
Nodoka was suffering from one of her extremely intense blushes.
"Ranma...could you please put me down?"
"Hm?" He suddenly realized that the hand he had supporting her
was touching skin...and most definitely should not be. Even if
it had accidentally gone under her skirt...
"SorrySorrySorry!" He dropped her and leaped backwards. Nodoka
fell with an undignified bump, her legs in the air. Ranma
whirled around, only to come face-to-face with the last two
people in the world he wanted to see.
Tendo Soun and Ikari Genma.
He turned again, grabbing Nodoka - this time being more careful
where he put his hands - and leaped back into the shadows. He
invoked the Umi-sen-ken this time, quickly adjusting his ki to
cloak both his and Nodoka's.
Tendo blinked. "What the..."
"Thin air." Genma nodded sagely. "A very powerful martial
artist, indeed, if he can defeat the Master and then fade from
view like that." He pulled a tissue from his pocket and held it
to his nose. "And the girl was very lovely, too."
"Hm." Soun nodded. "Very."
* * * * *
She looked at him with an odd grin. "I'm not sure whether or not
to believe you."
"I really didn't mean to--"
"Cop a feel? As if." She tilted her head. "Though you passed
up a chance for a free show. Who the heck was that old freak,
anyway?"
"A rather infamous martial arts master called Happousai." Ranma
sighed. "He's the biggest pervert on the planet. He's devised a
martial art completely around stealing women's underwear."
"So I noticed. Or rather, didn't notice. I didn't even realize
he'd stolen mine until you put your hand on my--"
"Never mind that!"
"So old fashioned." She frowned. "Didn't you say to him that
you practise the same martial art as him?"
"Well...he trained my father. My father removed most of the
really perverted stuff from the form, and trained me." He
scratched the back of his head. "You wonder why I'm so 'old-
fashioned', as you put it? I don't wanna end up like him."
"Aren't you taking it a little too far?" She looked up at him.
"It's perfectly normal for you to have a healthy interest in a
girl's body. Even if you are engaged. Even if it is mine."
He waved a hand dismissively. "Aah, there's nothin' wrong with
your body. Trust me, I've seen a lot of girls, and you're a lot
cuter than most."
"Thanks." She blushed again.
"Y'see, it's not that I don't want to look at girls. But there's
a fine line between admiring an' bein' a pervert. And I ain't
always sure where that line is."
"Well, I would say that looking doesn't matter. If the girl is
dumb enough to get caught with her pants down, she deserves to
get gawked at."
"If all women believed that, I'd have taken a lot less lumps,"
grumbled Ranma.
She tilted her head. "So you've been caught peeping before, eh?"
He shook his head. "Not exactly. I've had girls try to climb in
the bath with me, I've had them walk in on me - and then hit me
and call me a pervert!"
She sighed. "I'm sorry, Ranma. I won't tease you any more."
"Eh?" He grinned. "And here I was just getting used to it."
She smiled sadly at him. "But it's not really fair to you.
You're fighting to avoid being a pervert, and I'm not really
helping, am I?"
* * * * *
"Well, overall, it's been fun, Ranma." She smiled at him. "I'm
really gonna miss you."
"Me, too, No-chan," said Ranma.
"You promised me I'd see you again."
"I did, and you will. Don't worry about that."
She stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him, nearly
crushing his ribs. She held him for long seconds, then stepped
back.
"I hope you and your fiancee are happy together, Ranma" She
sniffed. "And I hope I meet someone half as nice as you." She
turned and ran into the house.
Ranma watched her go, then turned to start down the road.
"Hold on, Sato."
He stopped, and turned to face his grandmother. "Saotome-san."
He bowed.
She returned the bow with a slight nod. "Did I hear my daughter
say you have a fiancee?"
"Yes."
She stamped forward angrily. "Why did you not tell me this
before?"
"You wouldn't let me."
"Ah." She sighed. "Pity I got my hopes up like that. Nodoka is
quite thoroughly in love with you."
"I know," said Ranma. "And I love her, too. More than even she
would guess." He looked away. "But there is no way I could
marry her."
"Family honour comes before personal preference, eh?"
"Not just that..."
"I see. You love your fiancee more." She nodded. "It's a pity
it won't work. You're a good man, Sato-san." She smiled. "Even
if you did bring my daughter back with less clothing than she had
on when she left."
Ranma raised his hands. "It's not my fault! It was Happousai!"
"Happousai, you say?" The old woman shook her head. "Never
mind, then. You're blameless." She chuckled. "Unless you're
using him as a convenient excuse." She stepped forward, and
dropped a hand on his shoulder. "You will be welcome back here,
Sato-san, when you return. Even if you bring your wife." She
turned and stumped back towards the house.
* * * * *
June 19, 1995
Ranma sat up, stretched, and yawned. He glanced over at the
window, to see the sun shining in at a steep angle.
"I musta overslept."
"That you did."
He jumped in shock, and turned to find Skuld sitting at the end
of his bed.
"If you want, I can build you an alarm clock. I can guaruntee
you'll never sleep in again."
"No, that's all right." He stood up, realizing that he'd fallen
asleep fully clothed. "Thank you, Skuld-sama, for granting my
wish." He bowed deeply to her.
"You're welcome." She grinned. "It was a lot of fun. A real
challenge."
"You only answered two questions."
Ranma turned, to see Belldandy stepping out of the mirror. "Hi,
Bell!"
"Hello, Ranma. Did you enjoy your trip?"
"Yes, I did! But you were saying...?"
"Technically, Skuld owes you one answer. You fell asleep almost
as soon as you came in last night."
"Oh." He turned to the smaller Goddess. "Okay, here's my last
question. Did it all really happen? Or was it just a crazy
dream?"
Skuld smiled. "It did really happen. And despite you
rearranging the Tapestry in many unusual ways, you didn't
actually change history. There were a couple of times that I was
sure I'd have to rip it up...but in the end, all went well." She
closed one eye and raised a finger. "Not bad for a first time
out, eh?"
"Not bad at all." Ranma glanced around the room. "Hey...one
more question. Where's my manga?"
Belldandy smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ranma, but you can't bring
things back from the past."
"Ack! I spent a lot of money on those!"
"Don't worry, Ranma! I had my sister Urd grab them and move them
to our Temple." Skuld opened her backpack and pulled out a
bundle. "They've been carefully stored all these years. You'll
find them somewhat faded, but in good shape nonetheless."
Ranma grabbed the bundle, pulled out the Gatchaman magazine, and
started leafing through it. "Good. It's still here!"
"Of course it is!" Skuld looked nettled. "My sister may be
evil, but she's not incompetent."
"Not the manga!" Ranma pulled out a small, faded photograph.
"This!"
* * * * *
20 June, 1995.
Ranma looked around the ice cream parlor. The store had
obviously changed hands at least once since 1973; the decor was
completely different, and the booths had been replaced. But they
were in the same place. Ranma led the way to the one he'd shared
with his mother three days ago, twenty-two years ago.
Nodoka looked around the store. "This place seems familiar
somehow...I may have come here when I was growing up." She
glanced over at her son. "Why are we here, Ranma?"
Ranma turned to the man at the counter. "One parfait, please.
Lots of sauce, sprinkles and nuts."
Nodoka shook her head. "Not exactly a manly selection, my son."
"Hey, if you're gonna cheat, do it all out, right?"
Her eyes widened. "What--"
"And a banana split, please."
Her knees buckled, and she sat down quickly. "No...It's not
possible."
He sat down opposite her, and slid the photo across to her. She
picked it up, her hand trembling.
The picture had been grainy to begin with, and it had faded over
the years, but she could clearly see herself, at fifteen years
old, sitting with her son, his hand on hers. She flipped it
over, and read the back.
"Ranma and Nodoka. June eighteenth, nineteen seventy three.
Friends forever." She choked back a sob. "It was you...but..."
She looked up at him.
"I told you you'd see me again, No-chan."
She kicked his shin, under the table.
"Ow!"
"Beast! Twice you've run off and left me pining for you! And
you lied to me about your name! Is that any way to treat your
mother?"
But her eyes were laughing.
* * * * *
31 December, 2029
Tendo Risa dropped the box near the attic's trap door, and
sneezed.
"Mom!" Naoko fanned the air with a file folder. "We're tryin'
to clean up, not make things worse!"
"Sorry, Naoko." Risa sat down, and opened the box. "I think
most of these things came from Grandmother's house, after it was
destroyed in '94." She pulled out a few articles of clothing,
and chuckled. "Some of these clothes look like they came from
the seventies." Her eyes fell on a small jewellry box. She
picked it up, and held it up to the light.
"What's that, Mom?"
"I'm not sure. Let me open it." She fumbled with the catch, and
it sprung open. A long disused music box - the old kind, with
the metal tines and drum - began to play an ancient lullaby.
Inside were a few items of jewellry - mostly paste, the sort of
thing a high school student might wear - and a badly faded two-
dee photograph. She picked up the photo, very gently, surprised
to see it was in black and white.
Naoko leaned over and looked at the photo. "Mom? Is that you
and Grandpa?"
"I don't think so." She turned the photo over.
"Ranma and Nodoka. Nineteen seventy three?"
THE END