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Ranma opened one eye.
Nothing bad happened.
Ranma opened his other eye.
And saw the most perfect image he could ask for.
Lying beside him, entwined in his arms, Akane slept softly. The soft pre-dawn light gave her body a luminescent hue.
An angel in pajamas.
"Kawaikune," Ranma whispered.
Looking at her now, Ranma had to wonder how he could have ever thought Akane "uncute." Eight years of marriage hadn't phased Akane's beauty in the slightest.
Her face still had the same soft curves tightened by a strong will. In sleep, the anger that would often threaten to erupt was nonexistent. Even the near invisible scar on her cheek added a certain highlight that was quite becoming.
The memory of how Akane received that scar darkened Ranma's spirits for a moment. They had both suffered so much to achieve what they had today. And Ranma swore that Akane would never be made to suffer again because of him.
Ranma looked back at his wife's sleeping form and sighed in contentment. He would never tire of seeing Akane, young or old, cute or uncute.
True, for a short period after their marriage, Ranma had to get used to not seeing a giant panda next to him every time he woke up in the morning.
Especially after one of Akane's bouts of tossing and turning, Ranma would almost attack Akane, thinking it was his Father's idea of a training exercise.
Though the memory of his Father's panda days were nostalgic, Ranma never missed them. Ranma would choose Akane over a panda any day.
Ranma gingerly slid his arm out from under Akane's head and gently kissed her brow.
Slowly, he got off the tatami mat and strode over to the crib beside it.
The little baby girl slept soundly with thumb firmly planted in mouth, pacifier neglected beside her.
Little, forceful Mikanma. Father gazed upon daughter with pride. Already, Mikanma had shown signs of radiating chi. Her crying fits at night often included firework displays of the blue bodily energy.
Looking at her now, it was hard to imagine that she had thrown a fit just three hours earlier. Ranma still had the burp stain from the subsequent hasty feeding so that Mikanma wouldn't wake up the whole of Nerima.
"She's going to be a strong martial artist, someday," Ranma thought. "I just know it."
As Ranma gazed adoringly at his little daughter, he felt a slight warmth coming from the window.
Ranma shifted his gaze to the window and beheld the first glint of the morning's sun.
And a reminder of a promise.
Ranma softly padded his way down the hallway so as not to wake anyone.
Upon passing Nouma's room, Ranma smiled ruefully. The incident with Kodachi a few nights ago was still fresh in Ranma's mind.
Kodachi had finally been released from the mental ward after eight years of treatment. Nouma was the first person outside of her immediate family she had made contact with. And it turned out, Nouma was the only one who had welcomed her back with open arms.
Ranma could say that Nouma was young and didn't know any better, but it was Nouma who had pulled Kodachi completely away from the brink of insanity. Ranma had felt it. The curse had been sending him danger signals regarding Kodachi all the way up to her encounter with Nouma. After that, the danger had simply disappeared.
And now Kodachi had offered to be Nouma's teacher in strategy.
Ranma humphed.
As long as Kodachi kept on the straight and narrow, Ranma was not going to object, though it remained to be seen how useful the training will be.
Ranma made his way past the kitchen, through the dining room, and out onto the back porch.
The pond glistened in the first rays of sunshine, half-hidden by the last wisps of fog. It had become an old acquaintance since Ranma's move into the Tendo household. The pond and he always found each other at least once a day, a reminder of the consequences of the curse. Almost as familiar as that old lady...
But Ranma's purpose wasn't to visit the pond (if he could help it). His attention was drawn to an insignificant-looking boulder situated at the pond's rim.
Ranma gulped and walked toward the pond.
Ranma still couldn't get used to talking to a rock. He had even asked Kasumi after her wedding with Tofu-sensei whether she would like to take the rock ... er ... Mrs. Tendo with her.
Kasumi declined, saying that her mother always enjoyed the view of the pond and would be sad if not within sight of it.
"Besides, Ranma-kun," Kasumi quirked in her rare moments of humor, "I believe she's seen quite enough of you over the past couple of years to be quite comfortable around you."
"Well," Ranma confessed, "I'm still getting around to being comfortable around her."
A sense of guilt pervaded Ranma as he reached the pond's edge. He hadn't talked to Mrs. Tendo for at least a few months, busy as he was with the duties of the curse. Somehow, though nobody would blame him, Ranma felt he was at fault for going on so many adventures for so long. This was most unfair to Akane and the children. They deserved a husband and a father to always be by there side. But the curse was demanding, and Ranma also knew that the curse did not command him against his will. Reluctantly, Ranma admitted to himself that he liked the adventures. Ever since his fiance problems were over, things around Nerima had quieted down. The adventures gave him the chance to continue honing his martial arts skills and the exhiliration of practicing the Art satisfied a need within him nothing else could sate.
Shaking himself out of his reverie, Ranma bowed once in genuflection.
"Good morning, Mrs. Tendo."
Ranma sat and breathed in the cool, refreshing morning air. It was Sunday, the one day in the week when Nerima would actually seem quiet for a few hours more. No morning bustle of schoolchildren. No martial arts classes to prepare for. Just an aura of serenity for the few precious moments of the morn.
Ranma suddenly understood why Kasumi liked Sundays.
"Okaa-san. You'll be happy to know that you have a new granddaughter."
The dawning rays brightened a bit and then dimmed back down.
"We named her Mikanma, Fighting Beauty. She already has the same strong spirit as Akane and her chi emissions are incredible! She's going to be a great martial artist someday, just like her father..."
Ranma flicked his braid and found it was not there.
"...or better."
Ranma felt again for the missing braid and sighed. He knew he had cut it but it was still hard to get used to not having it. But it had to be done. The braid was originally kept as a means to stop his hair from growing out of control after his rice porridge incident in China. Later, it just became a symbol of his life, just as the curse had become a part of his life. And then...
Ranma shook his head. It had to be done. That was that.
Mrs. Tendo waited patiently.
"Nouma's got a new friend. I sort of wonder about his choice, but Nouma has never led himself wrong before. But... It's Kodachi. You know, the girl who was literally crazy over me and showed love by sleeping powder. She's better now, but I still wonder about her stability in the long run."
"She had tried to kidnap Nouma, but something -- I dare to guess sanity -- had made her falter. If it weren't for the curse saying that the threat from her was gone, I wouldn't have let Kodachi set foot in this house again. But if she ever harms Nouma in any way . . ."
Ranma unclenched his fist and relaxed.
"I shouldn't worry about Nouma. I have a feeling he stole Kodachi's heart rather than Kodachi stealing his. It's strange how Nouma has such an effect on people."
Ranma suddenly felt restless.
There was also a certain stasis that nagged at him, He hadn't felt physically any different. He was still vivacious as a girl and handsome as a b-.
A boy.
He's a man now!
And yet, he still felt as if he were sixteen. A mature sixteen, but still sixteen.
Ranma had no idea how he knew. He just knew.
Maybe there was such a thing as a biological clock after all. And his had stopped cold.
Ranma thought back to when he thought he had sex with Ukyo. His foolish reaction and subsequent actions had then almost cost hime Akane.
He had vowed never to threaten their marriage again.
But this is not something he had control over. This...
"What am I to do, Mrs. Tendo?"
He was going to have to give up the curse. If what he suspected were true, married 'til old age would be a single-sided affair for him and Akane.
But can he just throw the curse away? Aside from the absurdity of thinking the curse a physical thing that could be given, would Ranma be willing to part with it?
For Akane? Yes.
"But who to give it to?" he mumbled.
"Daddy? Why are you talking to a rock?"
Startled, Ranma turned to see Nouma standing on the porch, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He was wearing green pajamas with the pastry pattern that Ranma had worn, resized by Kasumi (of course) to fit Nouma.
Ranma walked over to where Nouma stood and smiled. "I'm not talking to the rock, Son," he explained. "I'm talking to the person inside."
Nouma raised his head and gave Ranma a quizzical look. "Person? Who?"
Ranma lifted Nouma off the porch and walked back to the pond. "Grandmother Tendo, No-chan."
Nouma furrowed his brow cutely in confusion. "Isn't Grandma Tendo dead?"
Ranma sat down, placing Nouma in his lap. "She didn't exactly die, Nouma-chan. She fell sick and decided to leave her body to live on in this rock so that she could always watch over us."
Ranma gazed at Mrs. Tendo.
"She loves us very much."
Nouma tilted his head in contemplation and finally brightened in realization. "Oh! It's just like Aunt Kodachi! Grandmother Tendo was sick but now she's all better."
Ranma stared at Nouma for a moment and laughed. "That's right, Nouma! That's absolutely right."
Still laughing, worries forgotten, Ranma drew his son close and, together, they watched the sun finally peek out of the horizon, giving light to a brand new day.
Together.
Father. Son.
And grandmother.
© 1997-98 Wayne Sung
Ranma universe and characters owned by Rumiko Takahashi