This isn't done yet... I'm waiting for a few details
about what happens in Volumes 37 and 38 in the Manga.
(I've been viewing the Ranmascan project... Kudos to
the people involved, I am forever in your debt)
The following may not be formatted very nicely, but I
hate copy and paste with my email. I posted the story
on my site so you can see for yourself how organized
it can be without the confines of some stupid email
account.
http://members.xoom.com/leloi/rnmstory/mirror.htm
Some notes: Yes, I know the story is told backwards...
That's the whole idea.
Yes, I also know that the beginning memories are brief
and sketchy and gradually get longer... Age does that
to people. My great-grandma couldn't remember my
name, but she could remember the 1906 San Francisco
earthquake with clarity.
Yes, sometimes they are OOC, but wait until you read
farther into the past to see if their behavior is
explained.
Sorry this seems long winded... But I get flamed about
the weirdest things. I thought that I'd explain my
motives now rather than defend myself later.
No, the story isn't done.
****
The Man in the Mirror, Part 1
by Leloi
An old figure tottered up the stairs. He paused
frequently to rest and think, sizing up his obstacle.
"When I was a young man I could take these steps a few
at a time," he mused to himself. This part of the
house had been inaccessible for almost a decade.
"Grandpa Ranma� What are you trying to do?" a young
voice chided behind him.
The old man sighed. He was in his 90's and was no
longer a baby, so why did his descendants have to
treat him like one? He turned to look down at his
eldest great-granddaughter, Nodoka. "What does it
look like I'm doing? I'm going upstairs."
"But why, Grandpa?" Nodoka demanded.
A strange twinkle filled the old man's eyes. "Has
anyone ever told you that you ask too many questions?"
He smiled and shook his head. "Kids these days�" he
mumbled.
"Why would they say that?" Nodoka asked.
"No reason," the old man said with a sigh. "Are you
going to help me upstairs?"
The girl smiled and ascended the staircase. She took
her grandfather's arm and guided him up the rest of
the way. "You haven't been upstairs for as long as I
can remember."
"That's because your grandmother thought I could fall
down them and hurt myself." The old man said with a
frown. "That daughter of mine�" he broke off his
thought to smile at his great-grandchild. "She's too
protective of me."
"Well�" Nodoka began.
"My dear� I used to fly up and down these steps when I
was a boy."
"Of course you did, Grandpa," Nodoka smiled as she
escorted the old man up the last few steps.
"I'll have you know that I was one of the greatest
martial artists ever born," he said with playful
wounded pride.
"I know," Nodoka said.
He shuffled slowly to the only door that remained
closed. It had been locked the day they moved the old
patriarch downstairs. Nodoka watched with curiosity
as her great-grandfather produced a key from the
pocket of his robe.
"This is my old room� It was your great-grandmother's.
When I married her, it became my room too." The old
man placed the key in its lock. He twisted the handle
and pushed it open a crack. "You may go now, my
dear," he said with a smile. "Leave an old man to his
past."
Nodoka bowed to her grandfather and turned to skip
down the staircase.
The old man watched her leave with unformed tears
stinging in his eyes. "Our family, my love� Our
children�" the old man said to the one in his mind.
He pushed the door open and walked into the past.
The room was the exactly the way he had left it a
decade earlier. In fact, it hadn't changed for almost
70 years. There were some things he didn't want to
change about it� That he couldn't. He still shared
his closet with someone who was no longer there.
Everything was preserved to perfection. He leaned
against the closet door and gently pulled a red silk
Chinese gown out of its time capsule. He held the
embroidered dragon design to his cheek as he tottered
to the mirror. Looking into the mirror, he saw an
old, wrinkled face staring back at him. "The stranger
in the mirror," he mused as he reached one withered
hand up to smooth the white hair. At least he wasn't
bald. He chuckled at the thought as he shuffled to
the western style bed� their bed. His body felt the
fatigue. He had to rest� if only for a moment.
He lay on top of the comforter with his hands wrapped
in the old red gown and his eyes dropped. The past
flooded over him in waves.
* * *
"Grandpa, you're going to be a great-grandfather,"
Akane said with a proud glimmer in her eye.
"A great-grandfather�" he responded wistfully. "Who
would have thought I'd live long enough to see�"
"Oh stop it, Daddy," Sakura said with a pout.
He put his arms around his daughter. "My baby girl is
going to be a grandmother," he said with a kiss.
"Don't remind me," Sakura moaned. "I'm too young.
I'm only 49�"
He laughed and hugged his little girl close. She may
be 49, but she would always be his baby. "You're
going to blossom as a grandparent, just as you
blossomed as a parent� my little Sakura."
"Thank you, Daddy," Sakura said with a smile.
"Tell me, granddaughter� What are you going to name
our next heir?" the old man said, glancing at his
grandchild.
"I think we've decided on Makoto if it's a boy and
Nodoka if it's a girl."
"That's my mother's name� and my son's. You honor me,
granddaughter." The old man smiled at his eldest
granddaughter.
* * *
Family and friends gathered in the dojo to pay their
final respects. The Dojo Master sat in the back of
the room attended to by his remaining child. "This
looks all too familiar," he whispered to the woman at
his side.
"What looks familiar, Daddy?" Sakura inquired.
"This� Your mother and now� your brother�" the man
broke off and began to cry.
Sakura threw her arms around her father and hugged him
tight. "He went the way of a martial artist� In the
line of duty."
"I know, dearest� I know. But Makoto was so young.
He will never see his son grow to be a man," the man
cried harder. "My son� my son."
"Daddy� You must be strong for Nani. She needs her
father-in-law. Remember what you told me about
Grandpa after Mom died?" Sakura asked her father,
concern in her brown eyes.
The man shied away from his daughter's eyes. They
were too much like her mother's. "I said that if he'd
only shown me a little more understanding that things
would have been better. I lost a wife, but he lost a
daughter."
"Go tell Nani that she will always be a part of our
family," Sakura begged.
Her father stared, unblinking at the casket that held
his son.
"Please, Daddy, Makoto would have wanted it this way."
The man nodded and slowly got to his feet. He
stumbled to the front of the room and sat beside his
daughter-in-law.
* * *
"Daddy� I have something important to tell you,"
Sakura blushed.
"What is it, my darling?" her father asked, looking up
from the paperwork he was showing her brother. Why
did a dojo have to have so much paperwork?
"Um� I'm pregnant."
Her father stared at her in amazement. Makoto was the
first to speak. "Way to go, Sis!" He pulled his
sister into a fierce hug. "Here I thought Nani and I
would be the first."
The father caught both of his children in a hug.
"This is wonderful, Sakura� I'm so happy."
"Daddy! Calm down� You remember what the doctor said
about slowing down," Sakura chastised.
Her father waved his hand at her. "I'm not an old man
yet. I may be a grandfather, but I still feel as if
I'm in my twenties." To prove his point he lifted his
daughter off her feet and promptly put her down. "Oh�
my back," he groaned and doubled over.
"Daddy!" Sakura reached for her father.
Her father smiled and straightened up. "Got ya!" he
laughed.
"So what are you going to name the baby, Sis?" Makoto
asked.
Sakura smiled at her brother. She turned to her
father and snuggled up to him. "Daddy�?"
Her father sighed. He knew whenever she did that she
wanted something. "Yes, my little cherry blossom?"
"I was wondering if it would be all right� if it's a
girl� can I name her after Mother?"
The father gave his daughter a pained smile. He
wrapped his arms around his younger child. "I would
be honored� Your mother would have liked that."
Sakura hugged her father and then looked down to her
belly. "You hear that, baby� Akane?"
* * *
Father of the bride� He was the father of the bride.
The honor held many privileges. One of which was to
be able to see the bride before her walk down the
aisle. He knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" someone asked on the other side of the
door.
"The father of the bride," he replied.
The door opened to reveal a puffy young girl with
brown hair and a pink dress.
"Hello, niece� May I have a moment alone with my
daughter?" father of the bride asked.
The girl shrugged and slinked out the door, closing it
behind her.
The father stood gazing at the figure in white before
him. Could this beautiful creature be his daughter?
She turned slowly and his heart skipped a beat. Her
hair and eyes� Gods� She could have been her mother.
"Akane�" he whispered.
The woman smiled. "Daddy� You're here."
He smiled and crossed the room. "Sakura� You are as
beautiful as your mother on her wedding day."
"Really, Daddy?"
"Really�" He kissed the young woman on the cheek and
pulled the veil down over her face. "The ceremony is
going to start soon."
"How is that Hibiki boy?" Sakura asked with a giggle.
"Cousin Naomi says that he has an uncontrollable
nosebleed."
"He'll be all right. Ryouga-kun is trying to help him
relax. Don't worry� Your groom will be waiting for
you if he has to be propped up with an umbrella and a
sumo pig."
Father and daughter both laughed at the thought.
* * *
"Dad� Try not to be so nervous."
"I'm not nervous," came the reply.
"Sure you are� You're pacing more than I am," Makoto
replied.
"Son� I want you to take good care of Nani, do you
understand?"
"Yes, Dad."
"Son�"
"Yes, Dad?"
"You've been such a help after your mother� died. I'm
proud of you� And I love you."
Makoto beamed at his father's words. "Thanks Dad� I
love you too."
"Don't be a stranger after your honeymoon. I know
Sakura would love to see you. And remember this is
your dojo too."
"I know, Dad."
"You and your wife will always have a place here."
Makoto hugged his father.
* * *
(contnued in Part 2)
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