But mere nostalgia for something that he had never gotten wasn't what made him turn when he heard the laughter of children. As he looked over at the sight of a giggling little boy being chased around by an indignant little girl, he saw something that had him smiling. That was something familiar to him, and was a sight that had him remembering certain things that were very important to him.
At one time, that small boy had been him. Back when he was that little, he'd had a small friend who he'd been very close to. The pair of them had been inseparable, and he'd enjoyed their little games every day. During that seemingly everlasting time, he'd been sure that he'd had no better buddy than Ucchan.
To his surprise, he'd wound up discovering that same 'boy' coming over to pound his brains out years later. He'd been unable to understand just why his old friend would want to thrash him, but he'd been certain that it wasn't his fault. As far as he knew, the worst thing that he'd done was 'stealing' some okonomiyaki from the cart, which had always been made specially for him anyway, and leaving his friend behind to continue on his trip. So, there had been no reason for the sudden attack that cloudy day.
It wasn't until the rain started, and they'd discovered that what they'd thought was wrong. He'd stated how he couldn't understand how the boy that he'd known would be so angry with him, and Ukyo had wound up soaked, with the bandages binding her chest slipping off. After his complete and utter shock had disippated enough so that he could complete words, he'd managed to understand that his old friend was a girl, and was a cute one to boot! Then he'd found out that their fathers had promised that the two of them would marry, and he started to see how she could be angry with him.
However, it quickly became clear that she had taken what he'd told her in that old shed to heart, and no longer blamed him for his father's idiocy. In fact, when he blushed and snuck looks at her, she realized that he really did think that she was attractive.
From then on, the two of them had started hanging out together, with them finding it easier than they would have thought to get back into their old friendship. In the beginning, they had a wonderful time together, and seemed to enjoy life like that. But when she would touch his hand to reassure him and they'd both blush, or he'd catch her in his arms when she'd tripped, it was clear that that they had more than mere friendship between them. When they did finally kiss on a rooftop one afternoon, it sealed the transition of them going from 'buddies' to being a 'couple'.
Then again, he probably should have known that would be the case when he'd first seen her fully dressed up totally as a girl and wound up having to force himself to close his mouth. Up until then, he'd known that she was a pretty girl, but when he saw her like that, he recognized just how attractive she really was. With long and silky hair, and a figure that any girl would have been proud of, Ukyo Kuonji was the sort of girl that guys wanted on their arm.
Ranma, right then, had to admit that he had been an idiot. Sure, there were ways of hiding one's gender, but he was certain that he should have recognized this. Though, at that time, he'd always thought that girls either wore dresses, frilly items, or certain colors, and the closest that she'd gotten to that was the way that she had a bow in her bandana when was little. He'd always thought that it was a boy's imitation of his dad, but now he recognized it as her concession to her gender, and her desire to be showing it.
Marrying her hadn't been a question, and even if there hadn't been a promise in place already, he would have done it anyway. They connected so easily and well that he couldn't imagine being without her, despite having done so for so many years. He wished that his father had brought her with them back then, as they wouldn't have had to part.
"Boy!" his father bellowed, breaking into his reminiscing. "Why are you standing around for?!"
The pigtailed boy scowled at the elder Saotome, as his annoyance with his father's treatment of Ukyo had combined with his own natural disrespect of him. "I've got my reasons, old man. I was thinkin'."
"About what?"
"Stuff."
"Then it's not important."
"It is ta me. 'Sides, it ain't like we're gonna be late, or anythin'."
"Today is very important, boy! You shouldn't be staring off into space like that when there are things to be done," Genma snapped.
"I wasn't starin'. If ya haveta know, I was just watchin' some kids play."
"Pheh. Same difference."
"Nah, it's not. I didn't get ta really do it myself, and I figured that it was nice ta see someone else get ta do it."
"Don't worry about such simple things. Don't you realize that the Art was what was important?"
"'Course I do...."
"Then you should forget all that childish stuff. What you missed or lost from when you were little can't be changed, and so you should really dismiss any attachment to it."
"Ya know somethin'?" Ranma leapt up and did an elbow drop on his father's head. "For someone who wants ta sound so smart, ya really say some stupid things."
Genma, lost in a daze from the hit, slid to the ground and lay there for a moment.
Landing after his strike, Ranma blinked as a ball rolled to a stop at his feet. Picking it up, he saw the two children that he'd noticed before looking back at him, and he smiled before tossing it over to him. Their faces lit up, and they nodded their thanks to him as the boy took the girl's hand in his own. They ran off to play some more, and he felt a bit of warmth in his heart as he replaced the sight of them with himself and Ukyo at that age, while:
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(Posted Fri, 10 Mar 2006 23:38)
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