Hiya Folks!

It seems as if I've been inflicted with a bad case of Wandering Muse this 
week, so instead of any progress on either Miko or Relatively Absent, the 
entire first chapter of A Mother's Love decided to make itself 
known.  Since this was something that's been in the planning stages for 
quite a while, I didn't put up much of a fight trying to stuff it back down 
in the Idea Bin.

Please C&C this as usual. This is a first cut rough draft, so technical 
editing spelling/grammar), style comments, and factual error stomping are 
all appreciated. Per my standard personal ethics, MSTings, 'Look, Ma. I'm a 
comedian!', and 'I'm So Clever' quips and snipes will be cheerfully ignored.

This is a Ranma crossover fanfic, so it's time for the
Standard Fanfic Disclaimer.
------------------------------------------------------------
All previously existing characters taken from anime series
and used in fan fiction stories are owned solely by their
respective copyright and trademark holders. I don't own them
and I don't make any claim to them. Original characters are
owned by myself and I reserve all rights to their use.
------------------------------------------------------------

The HTML version of the story can be found at:
http://www.sfcmd.com/fanfic/mlove/story/mlove01.htm

Gaijin Productions presents yet another start of a new story.

Aaaaaaaaaaargh!

=============================================================
A MOTHER'S LOVE
     A multiple-series crossover fan fiction by Togashi Gaijin
     This story is set after the end of the manga.
=============================================================
Chapter 1

Ranma was hiding again. Well, retreat might be a better word,
since you can't really call it hiding when everyone knows where
you are. And where Ranma was ... retreating ... at this point in
time was on top the Tendo household. He was sitting on the
highest part of the roof, staring at the stars of the cloudless
March night and trying desperately not to think.

It wasn't working.

Ranma didn't know what was worse: seeing how heart-stoppingly
beautiful Akane had been in the western-style wedding dress or
recalling how utterly furious she had been at him - at HIM -
after the entire Wrecking Crew had crashed the ceremony. As if
everything was entirely his fault in the first place.

Feh.

Well, no matter whose fault it really was when something strange
happened around the young martial artist, one thing *was* holding
true to form: everyone was blaming him for the disaster. Pops and
Mr. Tendo had spent several hours yelling and lecturing on how it
was his responsibility to have made sure that Akane's wedding was
perfect, and on how he should have 'taken care of clearing up the
other arrangements beforehand'.

Yeah, right. Pops wouldn't know what responsibility was if it
rose up and bit him on the ass in public. Which it had done so in
the past. Repeatedly.

What really bothered him though was his mother's reaction in the
aftermath. She had been present the entire time the two fathers
had been yelling at him, and had stood aside with a dark glower
on her face. She hadn't interrupted the moronic duo once and had
left without a word immediately after the men had finished their
tirade. The look she had thrown at him as she left had speared
Ranma to the core; it had been one of intense ... disappointment.

That look had hurt worse that anything else in his entire life.

--------------------

Nodoka slumped in her chair and sighed heavily. As much as she
was loath to admit it, her elder sister had been right when she
had warned that letting Genma take Ranma on an extended training
trip would do nothing but harm. Ranma had emerged from his trials
as a premier martial artist, it was true, but he was also
woefully unprepared for dealing with anything that couldn't be
overcome with a punch or an insult.

The upcoming trials were going to be even more difficult for the
young man than they were intended to be, and Nodoka could no
longer shield her son from his troubles. She had counted on the
mental discipline required to achieve the higher levels of the
Art to have strengthened his character along with his body, but
the exact opposite had happened. Ranma was vain, brash,
egotistical, insensitive, unobservant in anything not directly
related to the Art, and horribly insecure. All in all, a total
disaster just waiting to happen.

What was worse is that *she* was directly responsible for his
current crippling immaturity. And she now knew with crystal
certainty exactly why Father had prevented her from contacting
her siblings and cousins during the long years that Ranma had
been absent with Genma. It was a perfect but chilling example of
'tough love' on his part.

She had to face the fact that she had failed, and the
consequences of that failure would be dire indeed. There were too
many issues riding on the outcome, and he would be fortunate to
survive - let alone complete - the last stage of his training.
Nodoka shivered at the thought.

She mentally reviewed all of the instructions that Father had
given her over the years concerning her son and the role that he
would have to play. Her conduct was restricted in so many ways,
that it ...

Wait a minute. As long as she ...

*GAH!*

Nodoka could have kicked herself for not thinking of this sooner.
Taking a moment to slap an ofuda on the door of her room, she
pulled an ornate wooden chest out from under her bed and placed
it in the middle of the floor. Kneeling down next to it, Nodoka
performed an intricate series of hand movements before placing
both hands on the top of the lid in a very specific pattern.
Pressing all ten latch buttons simultaneously, the chest unlocked
without consequence. Nodoka smiled as she opened the lid.

--------------------

The day after the attempted wedding was unnaturally quiet. It was
as if the entire ward was holding its collective breath, waiting
for the next disaster to occur. Ranma failed to notice this of
course; he was entirely too busy helping Kasumi cleaning up the
mess in the dojo. What he did notice was that no one else
bothered to help the two of them in any way.

The following school day totally sucked. The morning began with
Mr. Tendo lecturing him yet *again* about 'clearing up his
outstanding responsibilities' and had done so in front of Akane,
who evidently believed everything was entirely his fault as well.
Just one more round in the 'let's blame it all on Ranma' game.
When he had gone looking for Pops to help relieve his mounting
frustration, he'd found out that his mother had taken Genma by
the ear and carted him off somewhere for a private discussion of
some sort.

Things quickly went from bad to worse. Akane had left for school
without him and he'd gotten splashed by that damned ladle lady
while trying to catch up to her. She hadn't had a chance to find
hot water by the time she got to school where she met up with
Kuno-baka just inside the gates, who was wielding the same steel
katana he had used to interrupt their wedding instead of his
usual wooden bokken.

That particular encounter was especially short. Ranma was not in
the mood to listen to Kuno's drivel, and she *certainly* didn't
appreciate the attempted glomp. A chestnut fist followed
immediately by a ki blast left the wanna-be samurai firmly
planted in the school wall; the seemingly nonchalant  toss that
embedded Kuno's sword up to the hilt in the wall a few short
centimeters shy of the kendoist's 'family jewels' was done to
prove a point. Maybe this time the idiot would get the message.

None of this prevented Ranma from having to stand out in the
hallway with the water buckets for being late to class. Akane
refused to speak to her between periods, and it wasn't until the
start of the last period before lunch that Ranma was able to hunt
down a splash of hot water to turn back into a guy.

Lunchtime forced Ranma to deal with Ukyou and Shampoo, both of
whom having somehow come to the outrageous conclusion that Ranma
should be *happy* they'd bombed his wedding to 'save' him. This
put the sorely tried martial artist in the almost untenable
position of having to refuse free food, and neither girl even
bothered to listen to his protests or recriminations about their
part in the recent chaos. Instead, both girls spent so much
effort arguing over who's lunch was 'more proper' for Ranma to
partake in that it took several minutes for either of them to
notice that the object of their affections had slipped away
unseen.

By the time the last period rolled around Ranma was ready to
explode. P.E. was normally the one period at school where he
could work off a little steam, but the jock-head trio of Ichiro,
Jiro, and Sanzo had decided to conveniently forget previous
'lessons' and rigged the shower heads to produce only cold water.
Although Mr. Fuwasaki had forbidden him from doing any serious or
permanent damage no matter the provocation, Ranma at least had
the small satisfaction of watching the primary hentai group
puking their lunches out after several careful shiatsu strikes.
She'd had to endure several 'accidental' gropes and 'inadvertent'
embraces while she elbowed and kicked her way to the sinks and
hot water before he could exact even that small revenge, and the
whole episode left him in an extremely foul mood.

His mood was evidently shared equally by Akane. She spent the
entire period either giving him her patented Outraged Glare of
Death or pointed ignoring him. Ranma was almost afraid that Akane
would accidentally set off a Hiryu Shouten Ha all by herself,
just from the sheer intensity of hot and cold the girl was
generating. Her aura eventually got so out of control that Mr.
Kogara left class ten minutes early with instructions that the
class should 'self-study' until the end of the period.

And to cap the whole miserable school day, Ranma found to his
disgust that he'd been stuck with cleanup for the entire week
with several of Akane's 'Ranma Is A Pervert' fanclub members. His
personal code of not hitting girls was sorely tried before he
could finally take his leave of the miserable institution, only
to get a bit of a surprise when he walked out the school gates.

"Mom?"

Nodoka smiled warmly at her son. "There you are, dear."

"Something wrong?" Ranma asked, looking worriedly about. His
mother had *never* waited for him at the end of school before.

"Of course not, son," she replied. "I was running a few errands
and realized I was missing a few ingredients for this evening's
dinner. It was fortunate that I was in the area, as I could use a
hand with the rest of my shopping."

Ranma groaned to himself; so much for playing Pound the Panda
this afternoon. Plastering a smile on his face he tried not to
let his pent-up frustrations show. "Sure thing, Mom."

"Thank you, dear. Now, come along; I have a very special meal
planned for tonight and I want to have plenty of time to prepare
it properly."

"OK." Ranma trudged dutifully along, fully expecting to spend the
next several boring hours as a pack horse for his mother. He
wasn't mistaken.

--------------------

Akane growled at the pile of rubble surrounding her. Her normal
workout routine hadn't helped relieve any of her anger and
frustration, and her normal outlet was conspicuous in his
absence. Breaking bricks was no where near as satisfying as
pounding perverts. A nice long soak in the furo sounded just
about right. A quick dash up to her room and back to grab a fresh
change of clothes and she was all set.

Akane finally noticed the almost unnatural quiet surrounding the
household.

"Kasumi?"

Her older sister walked out from the kitchen. "Yes, Akane?"

"Where is everyone?"

"Ranma is over at his mother's. Auntie Saotome called earlier to
let us know that she was picking him up from school and to not
expect him back this evening. Father and Mr. Saotome went out
earlier this morning, just after Auntie Saotome left for the day.
They didn't say when they'd be back, but Mr. Saotome looked
extremely distressed at the time. Nabiki is staying over at
Ryoko's to do some last minute studying for their entrance
exams."

"So it's just the two of us this evening?"

"Yes, unless Father and Mr. Saotome get back in time for dinner."

"Wow. No wonder it's so quiet."

"Yes, a little change in the routine will be quite welcome."

Akane blinked, not sure that she had heard her older sister
correctly. Kasumi, sarcastic?

"Umm ..."

"Do enjoy your bath, Akane. The water is fresh; I just refilled
the furo this afternoon. Dinner will be ready in about an hour
and a half." Kasumi disappeared back into the kitchen with a
smile.

Akane stood staring at the space just vacated by her older sister
for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders and headed towards
the bathroom in the rear of the house.

Sis was right, the water *was* fresh.

--------------------

Feint left palm strike. Block response with high spin kick.
Continue spin change pivot to drop sweep. Backflip avoiding
falling elbow response. Bounce twist somersault return with
axehandle to back followed by squat pike double heel kick to
chin. Left cartwheel evade to crane stance. Hold.

Ranma reviewed the sequence looking for the inevitable flaws. It
all hinged on the response to the first palm strike. The expected
counter of a right out block / dragon punch combo would allow the
remaining moves to fall into place, but if the opponent ...

Hmm.

If he did *that*, then the first spin block could lead an attack
instead. That would allow a high split spin kick immediately
afterwards, which would lead directly to Red Crane in Mist
instead of Green Dragon Crouching on Grass.

Ranma nodded in satisfaction. Red Crane in Mist was a good
initial attack sequence that allowed several of his more powerful
special techniques to be brought into play, depending on the
opponent's responses to each of the seven branch points. Green
Dragon Crouching on Grass's branches all led to defensive
sequences, and it was often difficult to regain the initiative
when it was surrendered voluntarily.

Ranma assumed a horse stance and spent several minutes
visualizing the new sequence. Starting in extreme slow motion, he
felt for the balance point in the first spin that would determine
the precise moment of the decision branch. Over and over and OVER
again through the first two moves until the body *knew*. Half
speed allowing the split spin kick to be added. Repeat, repeat,
repeat until thought was no longer needed, just feeling.
Alternately though each sequence, faster and faster until both
branch splits were done at full speed. Again until it was
*right*. Back to the very beginning, slow motion once more
looking for flaws.

"Ranma?"

Ranma stopped in the middle of the drop sweep as his
concentration was broken. He looked over to the dojo entrance to
his mother, who was standing patiently at the doorway.

"Yes, Mom?"

"Go get washed up, dear. Dinner is ready."

Ranma's face lit up with a brilliant smile. "Sure thing, Mom!"

Nodoka stepped quickly to one side just as a red and black blur
whizzed past her. Chuckling gently to herself, she closed the
door of the dojo before following her energetic progeny back to
the house.

--------------------

Ranma sighed as the last of the sukiyaki disappeared from his
bowl. His mother had fixed practically every favorite dish of
his, and without the panda around he'd actually had a chance to
*enjoy* each dish as he ate. It was a rare luxury indeed and one
he thoroughly appreciated. He was helping with the cleanup when
the phone rang.

"I'll get that, son, I'm expecting a call. Just put the dishes in
the sink for now; I'll get to them later."

Ranma frowned when he saw the number of dishes and pots already
stacked up and then smirked with a sudden thought. Quickly
setting the dishes in his hand on the sideboard, he looked around
for the spare apron he'd used in the past when he'd cooked with
his mother as 'Ranko'. He already knew one person who practiced
Martial Arts Housekeeping, so mom couldn't even complain about it
being unmanly to wash the dishes. Too bad he couldn't teach
Kasumi the Amaguriken.

--------------------

"Hello, Saotome residence."

"Good evening, daughter."

"Father!" Nodoka was suddenly very nervous. What she had proposed
was technically within the rules, but it required a considerable
bit of 'creative interpretation' on her part.

"I approve, daughter. You have until Ranma graduates from high
school to prepare him for the next stage of his training."

"Thank you, Father," Nodoka replied in relief.

"Your brother Mukanjou will visit you tomorrow with the item you
requested. You have my permission to give your son the Amulet of
Rexmarion, which should remove his primary objection to your
plan. Mukanjou will also have all of your legal documents with
him as well as your original family registry. The changes have
already been filed with the local government offices."

Nodoka's smile lit up the hallway. "I see you haven't lost your
touch in dealing with the various bureaucracies."

"Well, I *do* have a certain amount of influence, you know."

Nodoka laughed. If they only knew.

"Daughter, I am pleased that you have finally realized the full
extent of your recent folly. I am quite relieved to see my trust
in you was not misplaced. However, take care to insure that the
two of you succeed in this endeavor; there is no longer any
margin for error. If you are unable to correct the damage in
Ranma's upbringing, he will be forced to undergo the next stage
whether he is prepared or not. Do not fail me."

"I won't, Father."

"See to it, daughter. Now, I believe that the last remaining
entanglement involves the three errant Joketsuzoku. Your sister
sends her greetings and her love, and her permission to deal with
the trio in any manner you see fit. She has been none too pleased
as of late over the Amazon's overall behavior and is quite
willing to let her displeasure be known."

"That is much more than I expected, Father. Please give my sister
my thanks and all my love."

"Of course. Go with love and grace, my daughter."

"Love and grace, Father."

Nodoka hung up the receiver with a huge sigh of relief. She still
had time.

--------------------

The Saotome matriarch stopped and stared in amazement when she
entered the kitchen. Her son was performing an intricate juggling
act around the sink with a variety of plates, cups, and pots and
pans in constant aerial motion. His hands were a blur as he
simultaneously washed, rinsed and dried the evening's dishes.

"Oh hi, Mom. Give me a minute to finish up; I'm almost done."

"That's very thoughtful of you, dear, but you didn't have to do
that. I'm quite used to doing the dishes."

"Yeah, well, you went to a lot of effort cooking tonight, so I
thought it was only fair."

"Thank you, son, it is very sweet of you to think that."

Ranma pinked slightly as he finished drying the last of the pans.
He quickly examined the stack of plates in the drying rack before
glancing around the room at the cupboards. "You're going to have
to show me where everything goes before I can put the dishes
away. I'm too used to how Kasumi arranges everything."

"Never mind that, son. I have some very important things to
discuss with you this evening, so please wait for me at the table
while I make us both some tea."

"Err, OK Mom," he replied, quickly removing the apron he was
wearing. A quick toss hung the apron back on its peg as he exited
the room.

Nodoka looked about the kitchen, from the large stack of clean
dishes to the freshly mopped floor. Smiling happily, she walked
over to the stove to start heating the kettle.

"My son is *so* manly."

--------------------

*Ring* *Ring*

"Good evening, Tendo residence."

"Oh hello, Mr. Tomori. How are you and your wife this evening?"

"Thank you. We are fine as well."

"I see. I hope that Father and Mr. Saotome haven't caused too
much trouble for you today."

"That is good to hear."

"Asleep?  Oh my, they drank *how* much?"

"Oh dear."

"I'm afraid that Ranma is not available this evening. He is over
at his mother's house at the moment."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know her new phone number. It was changed
recently due to some unforeseen events."

"Yes, I'm sure Mrs. Saotome would agree with you."

"That would be acceptable. If you would be kind enough to ask the
driver to send us the bill, it would be much appreciated."

"Not at all. Your concern does us honor."

"Be assured that this will be addressed properly."

"A good night to you as well."

Kasumi glowered briefly after hanging up the phone. She would
definitely ... discuss ... this behavior with Father tomorrow.

--------------------

Nodoka gathered her thoughts as she tried to figure out the best
method to approach this discussion. Ranma was visibly nervous and
the *last* thing she needed was one of his typical knee-jerk
outbursts. She took another sip to calm her nerves.

"Ranma dear, in less than a month you will begin your final year
of High School. Have you given any thought on what you plan to do
once you graduate?"

"I guess I'll start teaching at the dojo."

"That is your father speaking, dear. I am more interested in what
*you* want to do."

"I ain't got much choice, do I? Pops is really set on me teaching
over at the Tendos."

"Your father doesn't live your life, son, you do."

"Try telling *him* that sometime," Ranma snorted. "He doesn't
listen to a word I say."

"Your father was more than willing to listen when I talked with
him earlier today. Please believe me when I tell you that he will
not oppose any choice that you make from this point on."

Ranma's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped wide open.

Nodoka barely suppressed a giggle at the sight her son presented.
"Please close your mouth, son, something might fly in
accidentally."

Ranma shut his mouth with an audible snap. "H..How ..."

"I do have my ways of dealing with your father, dear. I cannot
tell you any of the details at the present time, but suffice it
to say that as of tomorrow morning your father will have no
further say of any sort involving your future."

Ranma looked puzzled for a brief moment before becoming *very*
alarmed. "Momma," he practically squeaked.

"No, son, I will not ask your father to commit seppuku."

Ranma was visibly relieved before resuming his look of total
bewilderment.

"Don't worry about it, dear. I will tell you all about it
tomorrow after school, after I finish tying up some loose ends."

"If you say so, Mom."

Nodoka smiled as she poured another round of tea. The first was
relatively easy, but the next one was going to get ... messy.

"Son, I want you to think very hard on what you want to do with
the rest of your life. Ignore everything anyone has told you on
what you *have* to do, and concentrate solely on what you *want*
to do. Imagine you have no commitments whatsoever and decide for
yourself."

"No commitments, yeah, *right*," Ranma growled as he slumped in
his cushion. "Pops has made so many stupid promises I'll NEVER
get them all straight."

"I know it looks that way to you, son, but things are not as bad
as they appear at the moment."

"Mom, I don't see how you can say that. The girls are just as bad
as Pops in not listening to me, and I ain't yet figured out a way
out of this mess without hurting someone real bad."

Nodoka suppressed a sigh of relief as her son broached the
difficult topic himself. Now she could do a bit of steering.

"There are even solutions to that, dear. Speaking of the girls,
have you made up your mind as to which one you really like, if
any?"

Ranma stared at his mother in amazement.

"I don't get it, Mom. Couple of days ago you were helping Pops
stuff me in a tux and stand me in front of a priest with Akane.
Now you're asking me which one of the girls I *like*? It just
don't make any sense."

"I know, son, and I'm extremely ashamed of my part in the wedding
preparations," Nodoka replied, staring down at her teacup. "I was
so certain you loved Akane that I never actually asked either of
you what you felt."

She raised her head and looked directly into her son's eyes. "The
wedding brought to light several things that I hadn't bothered to
think all the way through. The first, and most important, is that
you should be the one to decide who you spend the rest of your
life with. What I think doesn't matter, and what your father
thinks or says *certainly* is of no importance."

"OK, who are you and what have you done with my Mom?"

"Oh Ranma, you are such a treasure," Nodoka replied with a laugh.
A few seconds later her eyes turned ice cold as she picked up her
katana. "Are you saying that you aren't manly enough to tell who
your own mother is?" she inquired frostily.

"Eeep!"

Nodoka banished her baleful expression as quickly as she had
summoned it. "Convinced, dear?" she asked with a sunny smile,
setting the katana back down at her side.

"Yes, Momma," Ranma replied in a small voice.

"Son, I'm teasing. Things *are* going to be better from here on
out, you'll see. Now, about the girls ... what do you think of the
Kuno girl? Kodachi, wasn't it? She's very pretty."

Ranma shuddered. "Mom, she's a total loon. I never wanted
anything to do with her in the first place, and I'd rather kill
myself than marry a Kuno."

"Oh dear, is it really that bad?"

"You bet," Ranma nodded vigorously in agreement. "Their entire
family is nuts. Kodachi poisons and drugs folks right off the bat
to get what she wants and she doesn't listen when I say I'm not
interested. It don't help that her and her brother haven't yet
figured out that my girl side and my boy side are both *me*, so
the two of them are always trying to kill me or marry me
depending on which form I'm in at the time. Heck, I've changed
right in front of Kuno-baka's eyes more than once and the moron
still can't figure it out. And the less we say about Mr.
Pineapple-head, the better."

"I see. How about that lovely Chinese girl?"

Ranma sighed heavily. "Shampoo ... gods I wish I could be friends
with her. She's strong, a decent fighter, and really *really*
pretty, but I don't want to marry her, that's for sure. No way am
I going to be a meek little male in her village. She's always
grabbing me and groping me worse than Kuno-baka does, and she and
the Old Ghoul are almost as bad as Kodachi for usin' drugs and
things. Even though she's helped out at times, I still ain't
forgotten about the Cat's Tongue the Old Ghoul used on me a while
back."

"Have you told them how you feel about that, son?"

"All the time, Mom, all the time, but they sure don't listen
none. The Old Ghoul just rattles on about Amazon Law, the Kiss of
Death, the Kiss of Marriage, and how their laws are more
important than ours."

"That doesn't sound right, dear. I'll have my sister look into
this; she's fairly knowledgeable about the Joketsuzoku."

"Really? That's *great*, Mom," Ranma said with big grin. His
looked turned puzzled after a moment. "I have an aunt?"

"Yes, dear. You have aunts and uncles and cousins and a
grandfather who loves you very much."

"I do? How come I never met any of them by now?"

"None of them live in Japan at the moment, son, and most of the
travel quite extensively. Don't worry, you'll find out about all
your other relations in due time. Now, what about the chef?"

"Ucchan? No, *Ukyou*. I'd like to know what the hell's the matter
with her. I thought she was my friend. She's been the closest
thing I got to having a sister or brother, and she goes and acts
just like the rest of the loons. You coulda been *hurt*."

Nodoka looked at her son with pride. In spite of all his
protests, it was quite apparent that he *had* made a decision.
Now all she had to do was make him realize that.

"Well, that just leaves the Tendo girls, dear."

Ranma rested his chin on his hands and slumped further into his
cushion. "Yeah. Kasumi is like a big sister to me, she's always
so nice to everyone. Nabiki? Blech, I'd rather kiss a viper than
have anything to do with her; she's worse than the Old Ghoul. And
Akane ..."

The young man stared wistfully off into space. "I just don't
know, Mom. When she smiles, it's ... I dunno ... it's kinda like the
whole world just lights up. I wish she'd smile more, makes me
feel all funny inside when I see that, y'know? It's just that,
her and me ... we ... I ... it ain't *never* gonna work out. She's
always hittin' me, yellin' at me, calling me a pervert, and she
ain't got no reason to."

He looked at his mother with barely suppressed tears sparkling in
his eyes. "It don't seem to matter what I say anymore, Momma. She
ain't never trusted me once since I met her and she always takes
everything the wrong way when it ain't my fault. She's always so
damn jealous, and she got no right to be. I ... I ... I *killed* for
her, Momma. What more do I gotta do?" he said with a wail of
agony. In a flash Ranma got up and ran upstairs to his room.

Nodoka blinked at the sudden disappearing act, and then glowered
balefully. Death wasn't good enough for Genma for what he did to
her son. Maybe her elder sister could come up with a few creative
ideas. It took several moments for Nodoka to regain her composure
before she could follow her son up the stairs. She had a child
who needed comforting.

--------------------
END CHAPTER


============================================================
Mark Shurtleff
   email: gaijin@sfcmd.com
   irc alias: Gaijin -or- togashi_gaijin
   fanfiction homepage: http://www.sfcmd.com/fanfic
============================================================


             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'