However, she was like other girls in one regard, and that was because she was a fangirl.
Of course, she had a hankering for samurai epics, and if there was a Toshiro Mifune film festival on, she made sure to be there. That was the sort of movie that she loved to watch, and wished that others wouldn't mind going to see it with her. It just got her blood pumping, and couldn't help getting into the feel of it. Those films colored her thinking in some ways, and she was quite the fan of a lot of the ideals in those movies.
So, what she was currently thinking was not much of a surprise.
Her eyes were wide and watching the old man who had just destroyed a wall easier than she would have split a melon. Just that act alone proved the skill that he had was immense, and he had to have a lot of power and experience behind him. No one she had ever seen had quite matched that, and she was rather shocked... and ecstatic to see it.
There was only one reaction that she could think of in this sort of situation. Not even a thought crossed her mind against what she was about to do. After all, this was her chance to do something that she'd fantasied about everytime she considered the old senseis in the movies.
She got onto her knees and and bowed as properly as she could, blurting out, "Please teach me!"
The old man merely raised a brow in surprise.
Loneliness was the hardest thing for Nodoka to bear with. Over the past ten years, she had no one living with her, which meant that she'd had only herself for company. That didn't mean that she didn't go out, but it still left the house empty. A lot of time was spent wondering how her son was, and whether he was as manly as she'd hoped.
Now that she knew that he was even more than she could have hoped, she was very pleased with the results. Giddiness fulled her chest at the knowledge, and she had found a bounce to her actions that had been gone for a long time. Even the upkeep of her basically emmaculate home was much better as she smiled and hummed the entire time that she was doing it.
But the doorbell's chime interrupted her chores, and she jumped in surprise. For a moment, she thought that her husband might have come to see her, but that idea was quickly squashed as she'd been certain that he'd at least send her a letter. It was more likely that there was either some salesman come to visit, some neighbor come to visit, or somebody who had detected her relationship to the Prince.
"Hello? How may I help... Oh dear..," she trailed off as she looked at three people who apparently filled the last option.
Standing at her front door were three people who'd obviously never called Tokyo home. One was a man who was at least half a meter taller than her, and seemed to be built of muscle. The second was a fierce looking woman whose hand rested on the handle of the sword sheathed at her hip. And they were led by a rather dignified young man who gave her a respectful look.
"Nodoka Saotome?" the leader of the group asked.
"Yes?" Nodoka asked, "May I help you?"
"We need you to come with us."
"Oh? There is no trouble... is there?"
"Certainly not Ma'am. But you are the Prince's mother, are you not?"
"I am Ranma's mother... Were you sent for me?"
"We were," he told her, "Our task is to see that you are delivered safely to the castle, so that you might take your proper place."
"How wonderful! I have so missed my baby boy! He has grown into such a manly man, but... it's been so long."
"Y...yes... We understand. It is part of why we are here. It has been determined that you should be brought immediately."
The Saotome Matriarch nodded sagely. "It would be proper for his mother to be with him at this time, wouldn't it? I have missed so much..."
"That must have been hard."
"It was, but... If he was to be what he has become, I had to let him go. I didn't want to but... it wasn't my choice. But now I can enjoy this time with him."
"You are being asked to do more than that."
"Well... I suppose that I can give him advice..," Nodoka murmured.
"We're not asking you to do that."
"Then what are you asking of me?"
"As you are the Prince's mother, it has been decided by several... groups among the people that you should have a say in this situation. The idea was considered, and was ultimately labeled neccessary. So... Will you be able to help judge the contest to pick your son's bride?"
"Really?!"
"I am absolutely serious," he informed her... and blinked as she left him standing there. "What's going on?"
"Just a moment... I'll need to shut everything up to go."
"And your baggage?"
"I'll only need this," Nodoka said, and brought out the Saotome family's honor blade, while:
(Posted Tue, 16 Nov 2004 01:37)
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