Nodoka Saotome did not take note of any of it, and continued to walk through the station with the same dignity that she'd managed to show through her entire trip. Her heart might be running and jumping in her chest, but she was not going to treat this situation with anything other than the appropriate level of decorum that it was supposed to get. This was a serious matter, and she was not about to let that cause herself get out of hand when what she'd waited so long for was so close to being realized.
Her son was at the house that she was heading to, and when she'd get there, she'd be reunited with him. Of course, it hadn't been as long as she'd originally waited, but she couldn't pretend that this wasn't an important moment for her. After all, this journey was the last one that her husband was expected to take with her only child, and soon she would be able to be as a mother should be to her baby boy.
Not that she left the family honor blade home, as her husband did need... reinforcement of his manners with some regularity.
Genma felt the chill run down his back and took only a moment to wonder what it was. Then he simply brushed it off and focused on the situation that was right in front of him. As things stood, he wasn't exactly going to get what he'd waited so many years for, and that was not acceptable to him. "Now, girls, I do think that we should buckle down and at least work on getting this to go forward."
"Saotome?" Soun asked with a blink.
"Even if we weren't going to go all the way immediately, we can at least do something, Tendo."
"Hmmm.... You're right about that."
"I did think so. Now, we have to push ahead, and find a way past all the junk that might be keeping us from fulfilling our promise."
"There's only one problem with that," Akane scoffed, giving the portly man a flat look.
"And what could you come up with that would be keeping us from doing what we want?"
"Your promise is to have me or my sisters marry Ranma, and since you can't move on that, you can't do anything, can you?"
"You're wrong on that."
"How could I be?"
"Well... That is... We can choose...." the fat man stammered.
"No, you can't, remember. My sisters pointed out that such things had rules about how they are supposed to be done."
"Ummm.... There are plenty of things that we can do to move ahead on the wedding...."
The Tendo patriarch's eyes widened. "That's it!"
"What is?"
"We can plan out the wedding! We already know who the groom will be, and so we can set things up."
"And once we pick which one will be my son's wife, we can just slide her in to the ceremony! It's brilliant!"
"No, it's Soun...."
"And Genma's...."
"Operation 'Get Them Hitched'!" the two men chorused.
"Adoption. We all must have been adopted," Nabiki muttered under her breath.
Hearing her words, Ranma nodded. "Tell me about it."
"You children don't understand the intricacy of such matters," Soun told them. "Luckily, you have us."
"And we can make the important decisions for you," Genma put in.
"Like whether the wedding should be traditional, or western."
"Western is probably faster. But we can also have a nice reception afterwards."
"Let my baby go without one. I think not," the tall man stated firmly.
"That is something that I can agree wholeheartedly with. And remember, we have to get plenty to drink."
"Wouldn't want to go dry during a moment like this. Of course, we must make certain that they have some time to be alone afterwards."
"Absolutely. They do have to have the chance to start on some heirs. I don't think that we would need much more than that though."
"Isn't it a bit simple?"
"'Simple'is good. If things are kept simple, then we don't have to worry about any sort of delays."
"Are we forgetting anything?"
A knock on the door seemed to answer that, and a young female voice accompanied it. "Hello? Anyone home?"
"A guest," Kasumi chirped.
"No, that would fit in with the wedding part. Two sisters should be enough witnesses for the third, and you could always invite your friends...."
"No, Dad," Nabiki corrected dryly as she rose to her feet and started walking back to the front door. "A guest now. My friend is here."
"Oh. I didn't realize that."
"I seriously doubt that you were even paying attention to reality," Akane grumbled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"Hmmm."
"I should make sure that our visitor is comfortable as well," Kasumi murmured.
"But who is she?"
"Why don't you see for yourself," a returning Nabiki answered, with another girl behind her.
Idly, Genma turned a single glance towards the new arrival and... looked like he'd just swallowed something bitter.
That was something that Soun noticed, and he looked as his daughter moved out of the way so that he could see her friend. The first impression that he got was of impossibly long legs, but as he looked up, he saw that she was a young blonde who was rather stylishly dressed. "Hello there, and welcome to our home. And you are...."
"Haruka!" Ranma blurted happily and leapt to his feet to hug the girl, who apparently returned the feeling, as she hugged him back.
"Son, do you know this girl?"
"Sure do. Her name's Haruka, and I met her when I was in high school before Pop took me on that last trainin' trip," the pigtailed boy replied, and stepped to stand beside the blonde. "You remember Haruka, don't ya, Pop?"
"She does look familiar...." his father allowed, though it was clear by his expression that he certainly knew her.
"Well, I do remember you," Haruka replied, giving the elder Saotome a small smirk as she held her sunglasses in one hand.
"How... nice...."
"Isn't it though? We'll have to catch up on old times, since I'm sure that we'll be seeing each other often."
"Are you that close to him?" Soun asked.
The blonde let herself chuckle a bit. "Not really, but Ranma and I have been very close for some time."
"I see.... And now you're getting to see him again."
"Which is something that I am very pleased with. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that he was here. I couldn't believe it."
"And now?"
"I'm happy that we are back together again."
Soun wasn't sure that he liked the sound of that, but he was certain that there was nothing but friendship between this girl and Saotome's son. It was just a rather surprising coincidence, and was likely to be the biggest surprise during this time. He was certain that everything would eventually work out as he and his old training partner had planned, while:
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