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DISPLAY:A Chance for Life, A Chance for RedemptionBy: John Tannius
Chapter 2Ranma fidgeted as he headed down the street at a normal pace for a change. He was halfway between the dojo and his mother's house to meet Nodoka Saotome as himself for the first time at a small café. He considered it neutral ground and with just him and his mother, Ranma hoped he could talk to her without interruption.
He absently considered how the last night had gone after he hung up the phone from talking to his mother. Shampoo had come by just as Cologne promised but she used the door for once rather than just burst through the nearest wall. She had sat down the order of ramen and kneeled in front of her fiancé.
"Is true?" was all she asked while looking into Ranma's blue eyes.
Ranma nodded. "I'm sorry," was all he said. Shampoo fell against him and began bawling her eyes out, her face hidden against his shirt.
To say Ranma was shocked was an understatement. Even Akane couldn't raise her usual anger against someone glomping her fiancée. After about ten minutes, Shampoo sat up and wiped the tears from her face.
"Shampoo is sorry. Have much to think about. Shampoo will talk to Ranma later?"
Ranma nodded dumbly as Shampoo collected her dignity and left out the front door.
Ranma shook himself out of his recollections as the café came into view around the corner. He could see an auburn haired woman in formal kimono, sitting at a table outside, wringing her hands with nervous tension about seeing her son again. Ranma sighed in relief upon seeing the Saotome honor blade was not present, one of the stipulations about the meeting.
He approached from behind until he was almost beside her before speaking. "Hello Mother."
Her reaction was swift and caught Ranma totally off guard. He wondered briefly if his mother was an Amazon considering the ferocity of her hug. Nodoka brought her hands to his shoulders and pushed him back to arms length to get a good look at her son.
"Oh Ranma! You have no idea how long I've waited to do that. Let's look at you!" she gave him a thorough inspection before smiling widely. "You've grown up to be such a handsome young man! Not at all like your father, actually you remind me of my father Sochiro."
Ranma slowly gathered his wits. He had expected some of this just based off Nodoka's behavior the few times she had come by when he was pretending to be Ranko. Still the intensity of the emotions would overwhelm anyone with his level of chi sensitivity.
Nodoka motioned for Ranma to sit and she poured him a cup of tea from the waiting pot.
"So what has my manly son been up to all these years? I swear that husband of mine is going to get the beating of his life for being gone so long."
Ranma wanted nothing more than to reveal his life to the woman who gave him birth. He hoped he would at least be able to make her happy before... well, he wanted to make her happy.
"Mom, before we really do anything, there are a couple of things I need to tell you," he gulped nervously as his mother nodded for him to continue, "First of all, uh, heck how do I say this. Pops made me hide and even though I didn't want to, I kinda lied to you about some stuff..." Ranma hated this but how do you tell your mother you change genders with the application of hot or cold water?
"You mean about Ranko?" Nodoka supplied with a concerned frown.
Ranma's eyes went wide. "You knew?"
"I'm not blind son. I suspected the day of my first visit. Ranko looks almost identical to how I looked at sixteen, well maybe a little bigger across the chest," Ranma looked down and blushed, "I could see the sadness in your eyes every time I talked about you."
"I assume that since your were always wet when I came over that water has something to do with how you change?" Ranma nodded, "And I assume the Panda is Genma?" another nod.
Ranma took a deep breath. "If you knew then why... I mean the seppuku contract..." Ranma stammered.
"In a way it was kind of a test. I knew you were worried about something, then I remembered that ratty old contract Genma forced on me. I'm ashamed to say I played up on it to see how everyone reacted," Nodoka sighed happily, "the fact you're here talking with me proves that you are indeed a man who values honor."
Ranma let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. With a smile, he thanked his mother and took a drink of the tea to moisten his suddenly parched throat. He was reunited with his mother, now all he had to do was tell her that she had just over a month before she lost him again. The smile quickly faded.
"Something wrong son? I never intended to follow through on the contract. I mean the wording alone was so vague, a 'man among men' indeed. There are so many ways that could be interpreted."
"No mom, uh mother, it's just, there's something else I need to tell you but I don't know how."
"Just speak plainly son. It's all right."
Ranma sighed and gathered his courage.
"I have cancer mom. I'm dying."
There was a moment of silence. Sounds of daily life echoed around them in the brief eternity it took for Nodoka to comprehend exactly what Ranma had told her. Ranma stood up, went to his stunned mother, and brought her into a hug.
Nodoka came out of her shock only to begin openly weeping as her son comforted her.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was late by the time Ranma returned home. After Nodoka managed to collect her wits, the two had talked about Ranma's illness, then about his training trip. They had spent the whole day together and while Ranma agreed to come by her house the next day, he knew it just hadn't been enough time. Not enough time, it was a curse even more so than ever before. He had to train Akane, write down his school, spend time with his mother, and enjoy his last days on earth. He couldn't do all that in a lifetime let alone just over a month.
As he made his way into the living room, he saw that Nabiki was still up, nursing one of her sodas.
"Hey Nabiki, what are you still doing up?"
Nabiki smiled at the martial artist and pushed a file over towards him. Ranma picked it up and began to look though it at her urging.
"I managed to find your father's scrolls and had copies made. I just wanted to get your input on how complete they are so we can decide what needs to be filled in. Also, I had an idea to set up some video cameras and record you going through all your moves and katas, as well as showing how you train for your special attacks. I figure if we get enough of it on tape, it will really help Akane when she reaches the higher levels. We'll just have to make sure nobody finds them and steals your school."
Ranma was shocked at how much Nabiki had accomplished already. He noticed that the copies of the scrolls were mostly complete for some of the basic Anything Goes Style. He also noticed some rather high level moves that he'd never seen before. Reading them over he realized why. He set them aside and pushed them towards Nabiki.
"Hide these away somewhere safe. I'll leave it in your hands to decide when Akane's ready to learn them."
"Why, what are they?" Nabiki asked, both shocked and honored that Ranma would trust her judgement.
"The Yama-senken and the Umi-senken. Saotome forbidden techniques. These are lethal in the wrong hands and should never be used unless a matter of life or death."
Nabiki's eyes widened in awe and slid the papers into another folder. She'd put them in her safety deposit box at the bank the next day.
Ranma continued looking at the papers. "I can see a few changes I'd like to make and some holes I want to fill in but I believe I can work with these. I'm glad Pop's kept all this, it will make things easier."
He closed the folder and handed it back to Nabiki. Looking at the clock, he realized it was nearly midnight. He needed some sleep if he was going to train Akane in the morning before going to his mother's house. School could wait in his opinion.
As he got up to leave, Nabiki called out to him. "Ranma?"
"Hmm? What's up?" he responded.
Nabiki opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She closed her mouth and blushed. "Nothing. Goodnight Ranma."
"Night Nabs," Ranma said and left.
"Coward," Nabiki muttered to herself under her breath.
* * * * * * * * * *
The week passed quickly for Ranma, too quickly. Akane left for school every morning, slightly bruised, with a happy smile on her face and a sad tear in her eye. Ranma would then hightail it over to his mother's house and spend most of the day with her. School had taken a back seat to everything. Why study and prepare for the future when you didn't have one? They would just hang out and talk, go shopping, or eat out for lunch. Ranma didn't care as long as he spent as much time as he could with his mother. He felt he owed her at least this for all the years he'd been gone.
Ranma had also taken to spending more and more time in his cursed form. When he was male, he found he tired more quickly and his body was beginning to ache all over. Ranma was actually becoming thankful for his curse, for it gave him more time he could actively participate in life. Most cancer victims languished towards the end to the point where all they could do was lie in bed doped up on pain medication as their body failed. Cologne still had no idea what would happen when his male form finally succumbed to the wasting disease and Ranma tried not to ponder it too deeply.
Nabiki however had surprised Ranma the most out of everyone. In the afternoons and evenings, she would help Ranma document his martial arts, from videotaping him performing katas to helping Ranma come up with effective training techniques that didn't require the sheer level of insanity to train that the pigtailed boy had been subjected to. Ranma didn't think Akane would appreciate running through swamps carrying a boulder while being chased by packs of wolves.
Nabiki had even taken Ranma out to dinner a couple of times and once invited his mother along. They had since in just seven days become very comfortable around each other even to the point of joking with each other. Ranma wasn't sure why Nabiki was suddenly behaving so differently but he welcomed the distraction.
It was two weeks after the day of Ranma learning about his cancer that things changed. Akane had become somewhat distant with the exception of training. Ranma figured that it was because of how her mother died. Nabiki on the other hand, had become very friendly, even going so far as to take the pigtailed girl to Disneyland Tokyo once. She always seemed like there was something she wanted to say but then said it was nothing.
Ranma and Nabiki were returning from watching a new martial arts action film when Ranma noticed Nabiki seemed to have a resolved look on her face.
"Hey Nabiki, What's been bugging you the last few days?" He said breaking the silence.
Nabiki nodded to herself before speaking. "I've been thinking about your offer two weeks ago."
Ranma's look of confusion quickly changed to one of surprise. "Oh!" he said.
Nabiki looked up at him, determination in her eyes. "Can we talk about it somewhere private?"
Ranma twirled his pigtail nervously. "Yeah, sure."
"Good. Let's go to the roof at Furinkan. Can you still carry me?"
Ranma nodded and picked up his impromptu date. Soon they were bouncing over rooftops towards the High School. Nabiki noticed that Ranma was being more careful than usual and he wasn't leaping as high or as fast as he used to.
They finally arrived on the rooftop after a triple jump from a tree to the school building then rebounded off the inside corner to land on the roof. Nabiki realized that Ranma was panting slightly and his skin was flushed. She cringed inside to see Ranma so weakened from his normal death-defying breaking of the laws of physics.
"So what is this all about Nabiki?" Ranma asked once he caught his breath.
Nabiki looked around as if making sure they were truly alone before she went over to a box set near the roof access door. Opening the box she took out a blanket and spread it out on the roof. She sat down and patted next to her for Ranma to sit down.
Once Ranma had taken a seat, Nabiki leaned back on her hands and seemed to be trying to gather her courage.
"I'll admit I was shocked when you made your request for an heir. It was just another shock to add to the pile you already laid on us," she held up a hand to stave off any protests or apologies from Ranma, "But once I had time to reflect on it and after the last two weeks we've had I decided to take you up on your offer."
Ranma gulped nervously before replying, "I'm honored really but you've got plenty of time to think it over..."
Nabiki leaned forward and put her forefinger on his lips. "I don't. You see, I have a request. If I'm going to have your baby someday," she took a breath before continuing, "I would like to at least once do the thing that would allow me to get pregnant with the father."
Ranma's eye grew wide as the implications of Nabiki's request became clear.