The trip home from the hospital was smooth and uneventful, but Ranma managed to pry himself awake regardless. The new perspective of being rather tiny and helpless was new and odd experience. He expected it to be more upsetting, but there was a lady holding him and it was kinda nice, really. He listened to the quiet voices nearby in a slight haze, absently thinking about how he was going to regain his martial arts training. I bet I can even get a head start. I don't need the ol' ghoul t' show me the Amaguriken, this time around, and I bet I can learn it when I turn twelve, if I condition myself right. he smiled to himself at that, daydreaming of standing over the battered bodies of Mousse, Ryoga, Taro and others, with English letters flashing overhead that read 'FLAWLESS VICTOLY!'
The resultant expression of a vacant, goofy grin on the newborn's face and manaical giggles would definitely have freaked his new parents, if Ranma's admittedly limited english skills hadn't chosen that exact moment to translate a sentence fragment. Some of the words didn't quite make sense, but what he did understand was this: "...quiet. *** think she'll be hungry, ****?"
Ranma Saotome, formerly a seemingly dim jock, and currently the most intelligent newborn baby in history, was, contrary to the assertions of one Nabiki Tendo, quite bright. Considering he was (To his knowledge) the only 'baby' present, and that question had been directed to his 'mother'-that meant that he was not, in fact, a 'he' at all.
***
The earsplitting screech of their newborn was so sudden, and so startling, that Alastair Hawke swerved instinctively, and nearly drove the family car he and his wife had purchased just last week, into the oncoming traffic in the other lane.
"That...that's a healthy set of lungs she's got," he commented wryly as he tried to calm down the triphammer beat of his heart. He glanced over his wife, who was anxiously trying to calm their new daughter with the mixture of anxiety and patience common to all new mothers. She smiled nervously back at her husband.
"Yes. I hope she's all right," she managed, in between humming and gently patting the baby's back.
"We just came from the hospital, and they gave Luna a clean bill of health." Alastair soothed. "She's probably just tempermental," I hope. he added in his mind, glancing at the seeming inconsolable baby being tended to by his wife, a surge of protectiveness building in his chest. Be calm. You've got a family to look out for. he told himself, concentrating on the drive home, to begin that new phase of their life together.
***
Later, having finally allowed herself to be calmed down by her worried mother, the baby in the crib didn’t make a sound. Ranma simply stared at her hand, intently watching the seemingly random movements of her arms and hands, trying to gain some mastery over the weak, unused muscles of a newborn. She struggled with it until her overtaxed mind could stand it no longer, and her tiny eyes slammed closed. The sun came up, and she woke with a single thought on her mind.This is gonna SUCK.
- - -
As it tends to do, time began to pass, and Ranma, now known to one and all as a rather hyperactive and slightly precocious toddler by the name of Lunamaria, or 'Luna' as her father tended to call her, and things had settled down, relatively speaking. Her father and mother were baffled by Luna's obsession with martial arts, but generally supportive, to Ranma's suprise. Another change that made her remarkably happy was that her body seemed remarkably responsive, and adaptable. Even simple strengthening exercises seemed to do wonders, and she couldn't be certain, but she -felt- smarter, somehow. Her delight at a seeming better-than-average body, and not being constrained to a typically 'feminine' upbringing did much to soothe the irritation she felt at the prank Death had played on her by restarting her to live as a girl.
But not entirely. Though Ranma, being naturally cheerful by nature, was not brooding on her predicament, sixteen years of ingrained prejudice from her former father was difficult to cast off entirely. She tended to be quite sensitive to the suggestion that she deserved special treatment because of her gender. For the first time, Ranma had a faint inkling of what prompted Akane to incessantly insist that she was 'a martial artist, too'. While not quite ordinary, because Lunamaria was barely old enough to walk, her parents smiled and indulged her, for the most part. But Ranma had been watching her mother for some time now, and hints of changes were on the horizon.
The localized weight gain had been the first clue. Then, the gentle (One of the main aggravations of being a child again was that everyone tended to treat you like one) discussions over a baby sister on the way had enlightened her as to the cause, and flabbergast her all at the same time.
Which led to the present day. Ranma had woken up to finding her parents missing, and a friend of the family in the kitchen, making breakfast. Ranma had asked what was going on, but received a rather cryptic response, and a smile from her babysitter. Not thinking much of it, she'd gone off to practice, or 'play' as everyone else called it, when she'd heard a commotion at the front door. Cautiously making her way there, she found her parents dismissing the babysitter, and a soft looking bundle in her mother's arms.
Her father looked over and smiled at her as he saw her in the doorway, and beckoned her closer.
Curious, Ranma came forward, and was unceremonously scooped up into her father's arms, eliciting a squawk of protest. Alastair didn't even address it as he pointed his daughter's gaze in the direction of the soft bundle in her mother's arms, and the tiny, sleeping face barely visible in it. "Luna, meet your new little sister," he beamed. "Meyrin."
Ranma has seen a lot of amazing things in her former life, but rarely had she had the opportunity to look at a baby-at least, from the outside. Thus, she was utterly spellbound by the tiny human her mother was holding. Her mother caught the look and giggled softly, moving closer to give her a better view.
"You'll look out for your little sister, right Luna?" Her father prodded gently, a knowing smile on his face. Ranma tore her gaze from Meyrin, and looked to her father, nodding seriously. "Hai," she went back to looking at the baby, while Alastair and his wife traded a startled glance at the Japanese word...
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(Posted Thu, 28 Jul 2005 13:01)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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