Have I done the right thing?

	She is in kitchen now, cooking. Is her smile
a genuine one, or is it a painting? Can she truly
not think about what she might have had, but doesn't?

	I remember envying Genma. He still had his
wife when I lost mine, and even a luxury of taking his
son on to a training trip to make him the great
martial artist my friend couldn't be. He was starting
on his path to achieve his dream, while my world had
shattered.

	My life was almost blown out as I fought both
my grief and to take care of the girls. It was due to
my sister-in-law that I was able to recover eventually.
She had no child of her own and could never hope to
have one due to ovary cancer.

	I hated Genma just a little, as he reported of
the carefree days he spent in the wild, bragging about
his son's improvement. Irrational as it was, I resented
him for having everything I didn't. So much so that I
actually fancied leaving Kasumi and Nabiki under their
aunt's care and take Akane on a training trip.

	But I didn't.

	I knew that Akane loved martial arts, yet it
did not feel right to deprive her of home and sisters,
moreso the fact I would be practically abandoning
Kasumi and Nabiki. Instead I trained her at dojo,
being certain that however good Genma's son was, he
could not have been better than my wonderful little
girl.

	For ten years, I was happy because my daughters
were happy, dreaming of the joyful day of Tendo-Saotome
union.

	The illusion was shattered when Ranma arrived.
My little girl wasn't as strong as I thought after all.

	It would have been acceptable if he was the
only one stronger than her. After all, Genma is better
than me (of course, I would never say it out loud) and
his son devoted his entire life to martial arts. Since
he is the heir of Anything Goes School, it was a good
thing, or so I tried to console myself.

	Then that Ryoga boy appeared. Then that Kodachi.
Then Shampoo. Mousse. Ukyo. And more and more.

	Now my once-champion is considered a joke.
Ranma seems to be able to defeat any opponent, though
he does lose occasionally. Ryoga is his rival. Kodachi
never fought my daughter, but her dirty trickery and
agility makes her competent. Shampoo beat her without
any trouble. Mousse came close to defeating Ranma. Ukyo
can fight equally against Shampoo.

	These days Akane rarely fights as a competent
martial artist. Most of the time she is in the sideline,
cheering for Ranma, or being a hostage. What have become
of my proud, strong warrior?

	She trys to hide it under a smile or snarl,
but I can see it. She wants to be the champion again.
She wants to hold pride in her skill, not be ashamed
of it.

	Could she have stayed the strongest if I did
undertake that journey? Could she have been her
fiancee's equal? Was the comfort of home and family
worth the price of her potential? Would Kasumi and
Nabiki have been just as happy living with their aunt?

	Have I done the right thing?





Author's notes: Someone (I forgot the name, sorry ^_^;)
asked me to do a sort-of-sequel for my recent spamfic
"Pride", this time detailing Soun's thoughts on Akane.
I don't think it's as good as its prequel, but this is
just a spamfic anyway. Oh, and Mrs. Tendo doesn't have
a sister to the best of my knowledge. Thank you for
reading.
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