Well, here it is, another fanfic about my fave couple of all times: Ryouga and Ukyou. I don't know where did it came from, and actually I don't know where it'll go either. I just hope you'll like it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or any of its characters. Although, Ukyou's grandparents and the name of her father are my creations. I don't gain anything from this, except the fun of writing it. But that's free, of course, so...
Chapter 1: "You did what?!"
Lunch rush had died down, a calm atmosphere setting in. Ukyou was finishing cooking the last orders when a new costumer came in.
"Take a seat please, I'll be with you in a minute," she chirped.
The man sat in front of her, greeting in a solemn voice.
"Hello, Ukyou."
She looked up startled, recognizing the voice.
"Dad?"
He smiled sheepishly at her, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks.
"It's been a while, daughter."
Frowning, she gave the orders to Konatsu and asked him to put the 'closed' sign for the afternoon break. There were only a few costumers left, anyway, but she didn't want anymore coming in.
"Are you hungry?" She asked, a little too harshly. She had manners after all.
"I've already had lunch, honey, but thanks anyway." He said sincerely.
Ukyou looked at him surprised, then annoyed.
"Don't 'honey' me, mister! If I remember your last letter correctly, what happened to 'I wont talk to you anymore until you restore the family honour' and all that crap?" She hissed.
Kuonji Ichiro flinched.
"Uh…well…that's the reason why I'm here, actually."
Ukyou raised an eyebrow.
"Whatcha talking about?"
The older chef twiddled his hands together, resting them on the counter.
"We both know that I… Well, I admit I made a mistake when I engaged you with Ranma. Not because of Ranma himself, but because of his father…"
When the last costumers left the restaurant, Konatsu dismissed himself, leaving father and daughter alone.
Ukyou sat on a stool behind the counter, resting her forearms on the cooled off grill. Ichiro resumed the conversation.
"Anyway, since our honour was thrown to the dogs when that rat Genma ran away with your dowry and without you, I swore to the gods that I'd restore it…"
She listened carefully, reliving those painful memories in her mind.
"As you know, revenge is not made for women. I needed a son for that." Ichiro flinched when he saw the look on his little girl's eyes.
"I am perfectly aware of that, father." She stated coldly. Kuonji flinched again.
"I shouldn't have put such a weight on your shoulders, specially when you were just a little child."
She frowned in concern. What was going on? Her father hadn't talked to her like that since… well, never.
"I was so hell-bent on getting revenge that I didn't stop to consider your feelings; or how my decision would affect your life, for that matter. I didn't think about how making you pretend to be a boy would change your life."
Suddenly, she remembered her father's greeting.
"You called me 'daughter'." She stated, awed.
"What?"
"You called me 'daughter'," she repeated, "you never do that."
Ichiro nodded in sad understanding.
"I shouldn't have forgotten you were my daughter; I shouldn't have forced you to be something you weren't meant to be, either."
To her own horror, she discovered that her eyes were getting moist.
"No, you shouldn't have." She reprimanded.
"But I'm here to amend that." He said confidently.
Ukyou's eyes grew wide.
"How's that?"
"Well, since it has been twelve years and you still haven't married Ranma… or killed Saotome," he added under his breath, "I'm going to take the matter in my own hands."
"What?" The younger Kuonji panicked.
"I'm going to talk to Saotome and claim what is mine." He answered, proud. Then added, "and since you're turning eighteen in a few months, we can make the engagement official and you can get married; and our honour will be restored."
"Really?!" She asked, getting excited. Finally! She had hoped his father would take the matter on his hands, (it was his own fault, after all), seeing that she still couldn't make Ranma chose her. She knew it was because he was living in the Tendo Dojo, she was sure that if her Ranchan were living with her instead, they'd probably had been married a long ago, and her father would had been happy.
"I'm so happy!" She clasped her hands in front of her, causing her father to smile, "finally I'm gonna marry Ranchan!" She got all starry-eyed.
Ichiro choked, coughing. His pretty girl looked sharply at him, worrying.
"Aren't I?"
"Well… About that…" He grinned sheepishly, clearing his throat.
Suddenly, an old man tore the door open and limped hurriedly to the dreading looking man, waggling his cane around. A lady about the old man's age followed him in, an embarrassed look on her face.
"Ichiro!!" The old man yelled, bopping him on the head with his cane, "why did you leave us there when it wasn't my granddaughter's restaurant?!"
"Calm down sugar…" The lady warned.
"Grandpa?" Ukyou asked, stunned. "Grandma?"
They both looked at her with big soulful eyes.
"Ucchancita?" Her grandfather asked, grinning widely.
"Grandpa!" The girl shouted happily, jumping across the counter to land in his grandfather's arms.
"You've grown so much!" The oldest Kuonji affirmed.
She detached herself from him and enveloped her grandmother in a bear's hug.
"Ukyou dear, it's been so long since we saw each other," the lady sniffled, brushing modestly a tear from her eye.
"I've missed you so much, both of you!" She cried happily, she hadn't seen them in a very, very long time.
Coaxing her family into her apartment above the Ucchan's, the youngest chef started to make tea. They sat comfortably in the small living room, enjoying the warmth of the little cozy home. She placed the tray on the little table, still a bit shaken about the whole situation. She definitely hadn't expected her father, and then her grandparents to burst into her shop and act as if nothing had ever happened. But she didn't complain, though. She was happy to have her whole little family there, whatever the reason was.
"I assume, Ichiro, that you have already talked to Ucchancita about the whole engagement predicament." His father said, taking a cup from her granddaughter's hands.
"Uh, well, I was getting to that when you burst through the door, dad."
"If I heard correctly," mother Kuonji started, "Ukyou dear was saying just how happy she is about finally getting married when we entered the restaurant. Isn't that right, dear?"
"Yes, grandma, I am!!"
"So, you accept the marriage, Ucchancita?" Grandfather Akeru asked, a little surprised.
"Yes grandpa, why wouldn't I? Isn't that what we all want?"
"Oh, I am so glad, dear!" Grandmother Hana exclaimed.
"Now, now;" Ichiro tried to sooth down the commotion, "let's not take this seriously, I haven't talked to Ukyou that much about-"
"What's there to talk about? She accepted, she said yes, she's getting married. End of the matter." Akeru interrupted, raising his hands. "She's going to bring happiness and honour to the family again, at last!"
Ukyou's chest puffed up with pride, "of course grandpa!"
"Now, all we have to do is resolve the 'Saotome' matter and you can meet your new fiancée! I believe they live not too far from here…" Eldest Kuonji stated, getting up from his seat. "If you'll excuse me a second, I have a matter to resolve myself." He said and left to the kitchen.
"Why is he going to the kitchen?" Ukyou froze, her proud smile becoming a shocked grimace. "New…fiancée?" She asked, her voice small.
"That was what I was trying to tell you, daughter."
"New… fiancée??" She repeated, looking helplessly at her grandmother, who flinched.
"You didn't tell her about that, didn't you, son?" Hana peered at her son sitting next to her.
"'NEW FIANCÉE'?!!" The pretty chef finally snapped at her father, standing up.
"Yeah, well, you see, when I said you'd get married, I wasn't exactly talking about Ranma."
She glared at him. "Then why didn't you say so?"
"I was trying to, but your grandfather interrupted me and then you got it all wrong!"
"Father! You were talking about restoring the family honour and getting from Genma what is ours! I'm supposed to marry Ranma to do that!"
"I did say that, but mom here came up with a good idea, you know? We're going to make Genma pay for what he did to us… with money." Ichiro flinched when he saw how his daughter's face fell.
"Then… I'm not…" Tears began to form in her eyes.
"Son, go see if your father finished with his magic. I need to talk to Ukyou dear alone."
Ichiro nodded and left to the kitchen.
"M-magic?"
"I guess I have to explain some things to you, dear. You see, when we were young, your grandfather and I befriended with a couple of martial artist. They had a pretty unique style, and we thought it would be a very good idea to join their school with ours."
Ukyou sighed, didn't she heard this before?
"The four of us decided that we would marry our children, that way our schools would be one and only; although they were a little unconvinced about engaging their child. However, we made a promise."
Yep, she definitely heard it before.
"Then your father was born. Unfortunately, they also had a son." Hana flinched. "You know how short-tempered your grandfather is, since their child was born after ours, he…" She searched for the right word, "implied that they did it on purpose. Akeru gave them a second chance," she said the last rolling her eyes, "but apparently the gods weren't on their side because they gave them a second boy."
"Let me guess," Ukyou said knowingly, "grandpa got a little carried away, didn't he?"
The Kuonji matriarch nodded, a bored expression on her face. "Anyway, dear. To 'restore the family honour'," she said exasperated, (apparently, the Kuonji males loved that phrase.), "we accorded to marry our grandchildren. Thank goodness they had a grandson first. Then you came," she smiled at Ukyou, "a few months later."
"So, he's about my age." She asked reluctantly.
"Yes, he's turned eighteen last week. That's why we're here, sugar. He's old enough to marry you."
"I see. There's no escaping then, right?"
Hana sighed.
"I thought you knew, dear. I shouldn't have stated that you wanted to marry, I didn't know you were talking about Ranma. You've always been so mad at him."
"That was two years ago, grandma; when I found him here, in Nerima… Everything changed."
"I see. But, I am aware of young Saotome's situation. I believe it is similar to yours?"
"You mean the Tendo's?"
"Ranma and the Tendo's daughter were promised even before they were born. That would make your engagement to him null, if it wasn't already."
"What?"
"Even if Ranma wanted to, he cannot marry you, dear. Ichiro had no right to engage you, since you were already engaged. Even before HE was born. It was really stupid of your father."
Ukyou looked down, sorrowful tears leaving her eyes.
"I see… What did you mean with even if Ranma wanted to marry me?"
"Well, honey; let's say that you have been here for the last couple of years and he didn't even asked you out, hasn't he?"
"I… Well… He comes around and…"
"I believe he used to think you were a boy?"
"Yeah."
"Does he still treat you like he used to back then?"
"Ah… well…" It was like a brick in her face. "I see your point, granny."
"I am glad."
She brushed the tears away. It was finally over. Not that she wanted to, but if it was that way, if Ranma only saw her like his childhood best friend, how could he marry her? It was so obvious it made her feel so stupid.
"Then," she changed the painful subject, "what did grandpa do to your friends?"
Hana nodded to the kitchen. "He cast a spell on them, he just finished to lift it up right now."
"Oh?"
"The spell would remain until the families were joined. And it affected all the descendants of their family, too. Now that you said yes…"
"Gods, what did I get myself into?"
"My dear, even if you said no, I don't think you would have had any other choice, knowing Akeru."
They shared a look, "I know what you mean, granny." She sighed, resignation settling in. "So, when am I gonna meet my… fiancée?"
"I believe tomorrow morning."
Ukyou flinched.
"Oh, don't be so sad about it. He comes from a very nice, honoured family. You will like him, you will see. You two will learn to love each other. And, may I add this only between us, if he is anything like his grandfather, then you should stop complaining." The lady winked at Ukyou, making her blush.
"Grandma!"
"What? I am not blind, you know? I love Akeru, but it was kind of impossible not to look at such a fine specimen of manhood. If my friend was not lying to me about her husband," she snickered, "you will be very pleased, dear."
The girl only turned redder.
"I can't believe I just heard that."
Hana chuckled.
"So, granny; what kinda spell did grandpa cast upon them?" She asked, nodding towards the kitchen.
"Your grandfather was pretty mad when he did it, so he was not thinking correctly. It was a horrible thing to do… That jackass." She reprimanded under her breath.
Ukyou couldn't help but smile, her demure grandmother had shown a little Kuonji spark. She was always calm and polite, but when she got mad…
"That bad huh?"
"If you want to know, he made the poor ones loose their sense of direction…" Ukyou gulped, eyes like baseballs.
"Wha?"
No way…No way…It's not what I'm thinking!
"Though I must admit," she added, embarrassed, "that it was a little funny when they could not find their way out of the closet!"
THUMP!
"Oh goodness," Hana whispered, clasping her hands, "how sweet! She just fainted from happiness!"
A/N: Heheheheheh... I'm evil, I know...
'Ucchancita' kinda means 'little Ucchan'. The word 'cita' is a feminine diminutive in Spanish language. You pronounce it Ucchan-cee-tah. It's the way Akeru refers to his grandchild afectionally. It just occurred to me and I couldn't get it out of my head.
Please review!!