From: Jay Parks <jparks@microsoft.com>

It was Kasumi

Okay, on with my contest entry.

The perpetrator is Kasumi. Your most recent story gave the clue, with

Tofu's missing drugs. The wording was ambiguous -- I assume that he *began*

locking the cabinet (i.e., he was robbed) before he first married Kasumi.

Other clues fell into place after that. Where to begin...?

A big question, and I feel a significant question, is: How did the previous

Mrs. Tendo die? Whatever the "accident" looked like, I think it was abuse.

I suspect that her entire marriage was an unending stream of abuse. The

children were too young to understand, except for perhaps the eldest. But

the tragedy is, she *did* die (murdered might be more correct) and a young

girl named Kasumi had to step into her place. We can only speculate on how

things went then. Like all abusers, Soun Tendo both regretted and denied

what happened. He was awash in grief and on his best behavior for quite

some time after that. But slowly, things reverted to pattern. His

legendary temper began to seep out more and more often.

Perhaps this was Kasumi's first push into the medicine. She needed to find

the answers. With a drinking problem, no source of income, and his

traditional target missing, Soun Tendo began to take more and more of his

frustration out on his eldest daughter. I'm sure she tried many solutions

-- reasoning, bargaining, discussion, tears, anger. But it's hard for a

nine year old girl to defend herself from a grown father who is a martial

arts expert. She finally stumbled upon something that *did* work:

medication. Kasumi began to medicate her father through the meals she

cooked. Being no expert, she was left with some serious side effects. The

mellower Soun Tendo was an emotional cripple, crying his eyes out at the

slightest provocation. At least he wasn't subject to the violent rages that

he had once shown. (His youngest daughter, on the other hand... but that's

a different issue, and not one that Kasumi tried to fix, although it did

worry her).

Kasumi maintained this delicate balance for a decade. Her own life became a

life of service and survival, she kept a happy shell around the fear and

desperation she felt. Her one hope of happiness, a doctor she came to have

feelings for, became convinced that Kasumi (!) had a drug abuse problem and

severe psychological trauma. He loved her, but was unsure how to help her

or even approach this delicate subject. The result left him in love but in

a panic, as he (mistakenly) watched his love suffer and mistook what was

happening. And she kept borrowing books on psychology, herbology,

depression, and anger management. Tofu was torn apart by the love and agony

he felt for Kasumi. And she never told him the truth.

There was no way out for Kasumi. She *could* leave, she could have a happy

life with the doctor she'd fallen in love with. But what would happen to

her sisters? With Kasumi no longer cooking and medicating, her father would

slowly return to his old self. Akane and Nabiki would be vulnerable.

Worse, their world would be shattered. The horrible truth would come out.

Kasumi had to remain as mother. And she had to continue the medications.

She wasn't strong enough to stand up to Soun's abuses. She had neither the

skill, nor the strength.

And that's when the idea formed. What if there WAS a new mother? Someone

strong enough that she'd never need to fear Soun? Without medications, Soun

would slowly drift back into his anger, but what if there seemed to be some

other explanation (perhaps a person who tended to bring out everyone's anger

anyway)? It would only need to go on for a couple of years, until Akane's

graduation. Then everyone could go their own way.

It was a horrible idea, but it just wouldn't go away.

Kasumi's herbalist research had even shown her which drugs to use. They

functioned together, like a magnet. The people ingesting them would be

strongly drawn together. That's all. Who knows? Maybe after an initial

push to lodge the idea in people's mind, Ranma might not mind. In any case,

it couldn't hurt to try, just once, could it?

The preparations were simple. Dr. Tofu had the herbs; "borrowing" them

would be no problem. She ruled the kitchen and set everyone's meal in front

of them. No one would ever question sweet little Kasumi. But something

went horribly wrong. Drug interactions, physical conflict, it was far

beyond what she'd intended. When the dust settled, a dazed Ranma stood,

unaware that he and Soun had done the unthinkable. And from there, Nadoka

stepped in and made the bad far worse.

Kasumi achieved her personal dream, but paid a price in guilt those first

years. Fortunately, although her father changed, the abusive monster never

seemed to publicly return. At least her plan along that line had worked as

planned.

Now the full horror is coming out.

When Ranma finds the truth, what will she do?

Being Ranma, she will, of course, forgive. It wasn't Kasumi's fault, and

she couldn't honestly wish for her beloved daughter to spend more time under

that monster's rule. Akane - well, Akane's temper is just a bit too

familiar to ever be comfortable. As a mother she can work on moderating it.

As a spouse, of either sex, well... she would always see too much of the

rapist. It will never be. Not that she could ever say it that way to

Akane. I would imagine something more like, "Akane, I know what you're

hoping for, but it can never be. I am your mother now. We will always be

bound together, and I hope there will always be love between us. But it

will be the love of mother and daughter, not husband and wife. That can

never ever happen between us now. But I would very much like to be your

mother. Please let me."

And Nadoka? If there is justice in the world, she will learn the full

truth. She will learn exactly what price has been paid for her family's

honor. She will suffer in silence, of course, but I hope she suffers

forever.

Is there any happiness for Ranma? Perhaps, in time. Possibly, when her son

is grown, she can take a long journey. Perhaps with time and anonymity, she

will have a chance to find a new balance. Or perhaps she can remain a

mother, and focus instead on achieving spiritual goals, and achieving

serenity. Many Buddhist teachings would be appealing to her. She will not

be interested in love, nor in physical pleasures (to be euphemistic). But

perhaps in time, she might have friends, true friends. Friends who are not

in awe of her, in love, or in lust, friends who don't pity her. Friends who

have rich stories of their own, and have lived, adventured, and suffered in

their own ways. Friends who are not part of her old circle.

This second choice sounds more true to Ranma. She will always be true to

her duty, and she will always try to help others. For now, and probably for

the rest of her life, that means being the best mother she can be. That

means helping, and understanding, and forgiving.

Before her life ends, she has one last challenge. She must learn to forgive

Soun. By this point I think she must have paid her karmic debts in full.

Every last one of them. She has experienced both the joys and pains of

being both male and female. She's learned flashy martial arts and the more

subtle arts of being a good mother. Although her love for family and

friends remains, I think she will finally be ready to leave this prison of

flesh behind forever. Except... one last tie remains.

Her hatred of Soun still binds her to the wheel, and still traps her in the

endless cycle of desire, death, and rebirth.

I think Ranma has the strength to go beyond that. By seeing *Soun* within

Akane, by helping the daughter overcome her anger, by helping Akane find the

happiness that Ranma was denied, by the love that still lives for Akane, and

by helping her son find his way past that same anger, I think Ranma can come

to understand, and finally forgive.

With that, the last tie that binds her to the wheel will be broken. When

Ranma dies, peacefully at home from old age, her spirit will be free of this

world, escaping the prison of flesh forever. She will have achieved that

supreme enlightenment, not from amzaing skill in the martial arts, not even

through ki powers or spiritual studies (which she will be well versed in),

but rather through the common humble works of motherhood.

There are many paths to enlightenment. Utter mastery of martial arts may be

one. Surprisingly, for those who knew Ranma, this turned out not to be her

pathway. Her true test was not to be great, but to be humble, and in the

end, he achieved it. With enlightenment, Ranma will move on from this badly

flawed world, never to return. We can only hope that the next world will be

better for her.

-- Jay Parks