Returning Home
By David Farr
Chapter 11
Ranma 1/2 is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan,Inc and
is used here respectfully for the purposes of fanfiction. This story may
be redistributed only if unchanged and no fee is charged.
Previous Chapters, and my other works, may be found at:
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~djfarr/
*****
"Okay, let's settle down," Nabiki declared, "we have no idea how
long they're going to be gone, so we have to hurry this little meeting."
She looked around the table at the assembled group.
Most of the original members of the SWC were there, Genma, Soun,
Kasumi, holding little Ryoga, and herself, only Chibi-Ukyo was missing,
as she was with her parents. Added to the group was Ranma's mother and
Blades, who strangely knelt between Kasumi and Nodoka, her head bowed
slightly to avoid Nabiki's gaze.
"I'm sorry, Nabiki," Nodoka interjected, "but what meeting?"
Nabiki held up a notebook. "Why, the meeting of the Saotome
Wedding Committee! Those loving family members who are trying to arrange
a glorious celebration of the renewal of Akane and Ranma's vows so that
we who were unable to attend their first wedding don't have to miss out
on experiencing the wonderful event."
Nodoka sat there blinking for a few seconds. "So you a planning a
wedding for my son and his wife."
"Yes," agreed half the table.
"I see, so what have you decided?"
"That we don't really have enough money for most of our plans,"
Kasumi offered. "Unfortunately, the dojo just isn't earning as much as it
did before daddy stopped teaching."
"I see, that is a problem." Nodoka stared thoughtfully at the
table.
"Ah... no it's not," Blades put in. Everyone turned to look at
her. "I've got lots of ways I can solve that little problem."
"Do tell!" Genma exclaimed, popping up beside her.
"Well, I could just do this." She shoved her hand into empty air,
and then pulled out a bar of gold. Both Genma and Nabiki practically
drooled at the sight. "But then you have the problem of explaining where
you got it." The bar vanished back where it came from. "So typically I do
a little research, skip back a few years, earn a small amount of cash and
invest it."
Everyone at the table paused for a few seconds, thinking about
what she had said.
"You're telling me," Nabiki stated, "that you can travel back in
time and change history so that you have plenty of money in the present?"
"Yes, that's it."
"Can you go back in time and make me the greatest martial artist
in the universe?" Genma inquired.
Blades looked Genma over disdainfully. "Not a chance."
"Could you keep Ranma and Genma from falling into Jusenkyo?"
Kasumi inquired. Several people brightened at that prospect.
"No, she couldn't."
"WHAT?" Everyone turned to stare at Nabiki.
"There's a big difference between Blades' little money trick and
changing history to remove the curses," the stern faced Tendo sister
continued. "The money will not effectively exist for her, or us, until
after she has decided to go back in time to create it, since we won't use
it before that. On the other hand, the curses DO exist in our own
histories. If she went back and changed the past, Ranma and Genma
wouldn't have the curses, and she would have no reason to go back to stop
then getting them." Nabiki shrugged. "Even if Blades is somehow immune to
all of that, our current lives may end up being wildly different to what
they are now. We couldn't predict whether the change would be for better,
or for worse."
"Exactly!" Blades gushed. "I knew there was more to you than just
good looks!" She quieted down. "On top of all that, I'm sworn not to
abuse the powers of the swords that way. It goes against everything I
stand for."
The others nodded, not happy, but satisfied.
"Well, money is no longer a problem," Nabiki grinned, starting to
leaf through her notebook. "So lets discuss more important things... like
the guest list."
"Both our families of course," Nodoka put in.
"Already down, although Genma couldn't supply many names from
your side," Nabiki paused, "or his either."
"You know, it's a pity we can't invite some of the friends Ranma
and Akane made while they were travelling," Kasumi mused.
Everyone stared at Kasumi for a few seconds, then Nabiki swung
round to Blades. "Is that possible?"
"Well, yeah, maybe, if I had something they'd carried with them
on all their travels, I could use that to backtrack."
"Would that device they used to travel do?" Kasumi inquired.
"Perfect! Even better would be a souvenir from the worlds in
question, since that has a really strong connection to its home reality."
"Finding the worlds they visited isn't enough, girls," Soun
pointed said, "if you don't know who to ask."
Blades shrugged. "Easy enough, we just ask them."
Nabiki fixed her with a scathing gaze.
"WE'RE HOME!" Akane and Ranma cried from the entrance, and
Nabiki's notebook mysteriously vanished.
The pair and their daughter poked their heads in to see their
families gathered around the table. "Having a family meeting without us?"
Ranma inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Just setting straight the little misunderstanding you two
caused," Nabiki lied cleanly.
"Kasumi, we thought we'd practice in the dojo until dinner, could
you warn us in time to have a quick bath?"
"Oh my, yes, of course," Kasumi replied. "In fact I should be
cooking now." She looked at the baby in her arms for a moment before
Nodoka leapt past Blades to take him.
As they walked out to the dojo, daughter in tow, Ranma looked
down at his wife. "Do they really think we don't know what they are
planning?"
"They really do." Akane confirmed.
Chibi-Ukyo tugged on her father's trouser leg. "Papa, are we
gonna do some more ki training?"
Ranma smiled down at her. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. You
got a really useful little ability their, and we gotta learn to use it,
don't we?"
*****
"Order's up, sugar," Ukyo called, flipping an Okonomiyaki across
the counter and onto her customers plate.
The young man nodded his thanks and lifted it to take a bite.
"Hmmm, you make the best Okonomiyaki in Nerima, Ucchan."
"Thanks, honey," the chef returned, "but I'm still not going out
on a date."
Her suitor looked crestfallen as he picked up his plate and
retired back to one of the booths. Ukyo had spent the entire afternoon
with one eye on that booth, every single one of the boys that had made a
pass at her had come from, or headed for, that same booth. She wondered,
briefly, how they had managed to fit that many people in it.
Another customer took the recently vacated stool, and Ukyo
started to turn, a smile on her face. "Welcome to--" Her smile faded.
"Oh, Mousse, hello." She paused staring at him.
Mousse shifted uneasily under her gaze.
"So, Mousse, you heard what happened at school today with
Shampoo?"
"Not in so many words," Mousse replied. "Was it bad?"
"Yeah, she attacked Akane, I think she was serious about killing
her so that Ranma was "free". Unfortunately for her one of their new
friends was about and defeated Shampoo without much effort."
"Ah, that explains that." Mousse shook his head. "Look, I didn't
come here to discuss her. I came to warn you, and ask you to pass the
warning on."
Ukyo held up a hand as Sayuri came up behind Mousse. "Hang on a
minute Mousse honey, while I get this order." The chef turned to the
girl. "What can I get you?"
"Ten pork okonomiyaki, please."
Ukyo boggled for a second, then nodded. "Okay sugar, ten pure pig
coming up." She whipped out a large bowl and started mixing as she turned
her attention back to Mousse. "So, what was the warning?"
"Shampoo and I encountered this strange swordsman." He paused.
"No, that's not true. Shampoo was attacked by him, and I think the only
reason I rescued her was because he found he didn't want her after all."
"What? Mousse, that doesn't sound like you at all."
The half-blind martial artist shrugged. "Yeah, well, this has
really shaken me up. This swordsman was floating in the air and holding
Shampoo without touching her. And when I attacked him, Shampoo just flew
towards me as if she was thrown." He shook his head. "And then he
disappeared in a flash of darkness."
"Get real, Mousse, floating people, vanishing in a flash of
darkness? There has to some kind of trick behind it. Even about here
that's a little out of the ordinary."
"Ukyo, I don't think this guy is human. His skin was white, and I
don't mean western white, it was as white as pure flour."
"Albino?"
Mousse shook his head. "Shampoo mumbled something about scales.
Look, whether you believe me or not, spread the word around, and if you
see this guy, RUN, because I don't know if any of us can fight this guy
and win."
Ukyo nodded. "I think I'm gonna do that, Mousse honey, 'cause
your not prone to wild exaggeration of other peoples abilities, your own
yes, but not others."
"Good." He stood from the counter. "Could you warn the Tendo and
Satomes for me?"
"That's a good idea, since I don't think amazons are the flavour
of the month at the dojo."
Mousse looked at the ten okonomiyaki sizzling on the grill.
"Although apparently pork is."
Followed his gaze and shrugged. "Yeah, I wonder why."
*****
The door to the dojo rattled slightly as Kasumi slid it open,
revealing the room beyond. The walls were a strange mix of colour, golds,
pinks and yellows splashed and mixing everywhere. In the middle of the
room was the source of the light, the three people she had come to find.
They stood facing each other, all three in different stances, but with
eyes closed and each glowing a different colour.
Ranma stood, wreathed in a vibrant golden glow, his hands
outstretched in a low hold. The rest of his body was in the deceptively
casual he adopted at the beginning of fights.
In front of him and to his right was Akane, standing with a foot
swept slightly and her arms swept up in a defensive posture before her.
An aura of pink surrounded her, not a flaring fire of anger, just a soft,
yet strong, glow.
Finally little Ukyo stood to complete the triangle. It was she
that was adding the bright yellow to the mix of colours, as she simply
stood straight, her spear held in one hand.
For a moment Kasumi thought something had happened to the trio,
but then she noticed the slight movements of their chests as they drew in
long slow breaths. Next she flicked her gaze to their faces and saw that
each wore a look of complete concentration. Knowing they were safe,
Kasumi let out the breath she hadn't realised she had been holding.
Ranma's aura guttered out. "Okay, that's enough for tonight.
We've all done well."
The other two aura's vanished, plunging the dojo into darkness.
Kasumi quickly fumbled for the switch, and moments later a normal source
of light lit the dojo. The three turned calmly to look at her.
"What's up Kasumi?" Akane asked.
"It's dinner time," Kasumi replied.
"YAY!" Chibi-Ukyo cried, dashing past Kasumi fast enough to catch
her hair and dress in the tail wind.
Ranma looked at Akane. "Remind me, Ukyo needs no extra power,
especially not from THAT emotion."
*****
"Shampoo, I'm back," Mousse called as he closed the door.
"About time!" Shampoo exclaimed from the bedroom. "Where stupid
Mousse been?"
Mousse threw his bag onto the table, and turned to look at the
kitchen. A dirty bowl, pot and a few utensils in the sink told him that
at some time Shampoo had sought dinner. It also said that she still
viewed him as nothing more than errand boy.
"What Mousse think?" Shampoo said from the doorway. Mousse turned
to see what she meant, and his jaw hit the ground.
The Shampoo standing in the doorway had discarded the cute
innocence of childhood for the slinky sexuality of a dangerous predator.
Instead of her usual, suggestive but covering outfits, she wore a dark
silk one piece that hung off her body, leaving her arms bare. It even had
a split from the hips down to show off her legs. Her long bangs too were
missing, swept back over her ears to join the rest of her hair following
down her back. Perhaps it was just the light, but it even looked like the
hair was darker than before. Finally Shampoo's face seemed tighter, her
lips pursed together and cold, sharp eyes glaring at him.
"So what you think, Mousse?" Shampoo demanded again.
"Ah... it's different," he offered, not knowing what else to say.
Shampoo snorted in contempt. "Of course it different. That the
idea." She sashayed across the room and snatched the bag from the table.
"You manage to get list?" She started looking through the contents of the
bag.
"No, not everything. The Jusenkyo salesman isn't in town at the
moment, so I can't buy any of the exotic stuff, but I found his number
and called in an order." He turned and walked towards the sink. "And I
didn't have enough time this evening to hunt down everything else."
Shampoo looked thoughtfully at one of the bottles she had pulled
from the bag. Its contents caught the light and sent it glittering across
the amazon's face. "Tell me, Mousse, how you pay for all this?"
Mousse didn't look up from the sink as it slowly filled with
water. "Actually Shampoo, I was going to ask you the same thing. That
little lot used up the last of the money I saved from working at the
Nekohanten."
Shampoo's head snapped around and she glared at Mousse. "You got
paid?"
"Ah... Shampoo, in this country it's illegal to employ someone
and not pay them. You and grandmother were stretching the laws enough
without your father having to worry about some busy body running you out
of business with a court case over paying me." Mousse squirted some dish
soap into the sink and started cleaning the dishes.
"Well, at least it not much." She pouted. "Grandmother look after
all of Shampoo's money, so that no help. Where we get more money?"
"We could knock over a bank."
"Not funny," Shampoo returned darkly.
"It's a pity you're not good friends with that Kodachi girl. Not
only is she rich, but from what I hear, she probably has better access to
the things you want."
Shampoo fell silent, leaving only the soft clinking of the dishes
as the only sound in the apartment. "Sometimes, Mousse, you not so
stupid," she said finally.
'Oh, shit,' Mousse thought.
-----
Author's Note:
<sigh> Another short part. But I couldn't help but end on that
note.
Next Time:
Chibi-Ukyo's first day at school. Kodachi returns at last (she kind
of needs to, doesn't she). And Ukyo's Okonomiyaki ain't the only pork
being fried.
-----------
David Farr
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~djfarr/
djfarr@ihug.co.nz katsuhito@planetjurai.com
"Die-cast construction, it's a lost art."
- Optimus Primal, Beast Wars.
"It's sudden, but I'm going to sing."
- Ruri, Mobile Battleship Nadesico.