Once the Meiohs put on some pajamas and changed the sheets on their bed (so that neither of them would have to worry about sleeping in the “moist” spot), Setsuna got down to business. “Alright, Ranma. Why do you think that your mother’s situation is making you uneasy?”
“I dunno… I don’t think it’s the same-sex marriage thing, ’cause she seems just as nervous about it as me, maybe even a little more… but I can’t think of anythin’ else it might be,” replied Ranma as he started pacing in front of his wife, who was currently seated on the edge of the bed.
“Well, how do you know that it’s even upsetting you at all?”
Ranma looked at his wife as if she’d suddenly sprouted several vines of kudzu. “Whaddya mean, how do I know I’m upset? I can’t sleep!” Setsuna was smarter than this—he knew that.
“That’s not what I meant, Ranma.”
“Huh?”
“If you’ll recall what I told you a few moments ago, I think that you’re focusing on the relationship your mother may or may not have with Tissue mostly as a distraction from what’s really bothering you.”
“But what could that be?”
“Just think for a few moments, Ranma. What else did you learn tonight?”
“Um, my mom doesn’t want me to kill myself.”
“Good. What else?”
Ranma wracked his brain for a few seconds before giving up. “I dunno… other than that, Mom didn’t really tell me a lot of stuff that’s gonna affect my life—Tissue took up a lot more of the conversation. Why? Did I miss somethin’ that Mom said?”
“You seem to be assuming that your current problem is rooted in something you learned from your mother. Care to explain why?”
“Well, if it wasn’t somethin’ I found out from Mom, what could it be?”
“Didn’t you just say that Tissue took up a lot of the conversation?”
“What? What’re ya talkin’ about? All she talked about was that Amazon ritual, an’ I already knew about that.”
“Knew about it, yes. But I daresay that Tissue knows much more about it than you.”
“What—”
Setsuna cut off her husband before he could finish his sentence. “What did you learn about the this tradition tonight that you didn’t know before?”
“Um, I learned some specific ways ta do it.”
“What else?”
“Well, since I already know ya know about Amazon culture, I assume that’s how ya knew about the soap, an’ if it’s as expensive as Tissue says it is, then the way ya just said that it wouldn’t be a problem means yer a lot more loaded than ya let on.”
“I don’t see any reason to flaunt my financial status. But you’re avoiding the subject—I know for a fact that you don’t care about how much money I have. Now, what else did you learn?”
“Um…”
“It’s not a trick question, Ranma. It’s just a very broad answer.”
“Well, I learned that there were a bunch of different ways I could do it here…”
“Stop.”
“Huh?”
“You answered your questions.”
“There’s a bunch of different ways I could do it?”
“No, you learned that you can do this here. In Japan, where your loving wife and network of friends (most of whom have experience in this particular area) can support you—now, my question is whether this is a solution for your problem, or a cause.”
Ranma considered what his wife was suggesting. “Well, it’s just that I’m gonna be a girl for a whole month…”
“And you’re uncomfortable with this.”
“No… well, I mean, yeah, I guess the whole period thing does make me kinda uneasy. I may know all about how it actually happens from the crash course in sex ed that ya gave me when we first met, but I still don’t really know what it’s like, ya know?”
Setsuna gave her husband a warm smile. “Don’t worry. That kind of nervousness is normal—especially for someone who would have spent his entire life biologically incapable of menstruation were it not for an encounter with magic. You just need to remember that I’ll be here to support you the entire time, as will the rest of our friends.”
“Yeah, I know that. It’s just…”
“What is it, Ranma?”
A slight blush began to form on Ranma’s face as he tried to figure out the best way to phrase what he wanted to say. “Well, it’s gonna be a whole month without… ya know… uh… sex.” By the end of the sentence Ranma was beet red.
Setsuna was a little surprised—she’d been sure that Ranma had been mostly concerned about “her” period; the fact that he might be worried about their sex life hadn’t really crossed her mind, even though it made perfect sense. After all, there was a hormonal teenaged boy underneath Ranma’s semi-naïve innocence. Still, she was a little confused as to why her husband was concerned about this. “Why couldn’t we have sex?”
“Because… we’d both be girls—and no, I’m not so dense as ta think that it’d be impossible. I do live with a pair of lesbians, after all. But I wouldn’t want ya ta hafta do somethin’ ya didn’t want ta do just ’cause I’m feelin’ kinda horny. I don’t think I could enjoy sex if I knew you weren’t enjoyin’ it.”
Setsuna took a deep breath—she hadn’t planned on doing this yet, but her husband clearly needed to know about her sexual orientation (or rather, her lack of a specific orientation). She decided not to approach the subject too directly. “Ranma, remember what I’ve told you about assumptions?”
“Ya mean how people tend ta assume that a lot of things are true, even though they don’t have any reason to if ya think about it?”
“Yes, and you’ve made what I think is an unwarranted assumption about how I feel about your female form.”
Ranma was confused, but after turning this over in his head a few times, something eventually clicked. “Wait a minute… are you sayin’ that yer… like Haruka an’ Michiru?”
“Not exactly. Ranma, I’m bisexual. I find both men and women to be physically attractive.” Ranma knew what the term “bisexual” meant, of course, but repeating the definition would almost certainly help him process this information.
It was still a little slow in coming, though. “But that means… my girlform…”
“I’m not repulsed by it at all—in fact, I think that you have the sexiest female body I’ve ever seen.” Setsuna had intended to compliment her husband, which just went to show that even she could suffer from the occasional lapse of judgment, as Ranma interpreted the remark about his female body in a rather different way.
“So all that talk about me acceptin’ my girlform was just so ya could shag a redhead with a large chest?! I’m nothin’ more than a ‘sexy female body’?” Ranma was physically recoiling, though whether it was from the notion of having sex as a woman or from the possibility of being treated as a sex object by someone he trusted was not entirely clear.
Setsuna realized her error and hastily clarified her statement. “No! I would never try and use you that way.”
“Then why didn’t ya tell me about this?”
“Because you weren’t ready to hear it.”
“Whaddya mean ‘I wasn’t ready’?”
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to think that I was trying to pressure you into having sex as a woman. Considering how much value you place on your masculinity, I was concerned that you’d find the notion insulting. I only brought this up now because it seemed like you deserved to know about my sexuality before you spent a month in your female form.”
“Well, ya may not be pressurin’ me now, but how do I know that ya won’t later? If ya really wanna do it, waitin’ll probably make it worse.”
“Ranma, I’m not going to put our relationship at risk just so I can have sex with an attractive redhead; I care about you too much to treat you that way. If you want to do this, then it will be your decision, and if you decide never to try sex as a woman, I will not try to change your mind.”
“Ya mean it?”
“I do. I may enjoy sex, but I also know that there are several things in life that are more important than that—like love. I married you because I loved you, and I knew that you loved me. Besides, I’m much more patient than the average person to begin with.”
“So yer really gonna let this up ta me?” Ranma asked incredulously.
“Ranma, it’s your body. I’m not going to tell you how to use it.”
Setsuna’s husband was still skeptical. “Ya really mean that?”
“Ranma, I can think of several reasons why you might seriously consider having sex with me in your female form, but doing so simply because I happen to be attracted to that form is, in my opinion, the least legitimate. If you were to do that, then we would be having sex for the sake of having sex; to put it in slightly more vulgar terms, we’d just be fucking.”
“Um, I’m pretty sure that word’s a bit beyond ‘slightly more vulgar.’”
“Well, it’s true. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with torrid, lust-crazed sex—as long as everyone involved are capable of enjoying themselves. Someone who’s not ready for that kind of sexual activity will usually end up feeling used and alienated, and as you can probably guess, that’s generally not good for a relationship.”
“Uh…”
“If I pushed you to do this when you weren’t ready, it would hurt you… and in the long run, it would hurt me, as well. Believe me, Ranma, I know that there’s a lot more to love than physical intimacy, and I want the two of us to be able to experience every part of it.”
“Oh.” Ranma wasn’t quite sure what else to say. “Um, thanks… I think….”
“I’m sorry… did I get too analytical?”
“No… no, I think I understood what ya were sayin’. It’s like, yer lookin’ at things long-term, right? An’ ya want our relationship ta last a long time, so yer willin’ ta let me make my own decision.”
“That’s it exactly, Ranma. It wouldn’t be right for me to pressure you into doing something that was totally at odds with your self-image.”
Ranma paused, trying to figure out how to respond. After several seconds without any new ideas, he just decided to keep things simple. “Thanks, Setsuna.”
“You’re welcome.”
There was another pause as Ranma decided what to say next. “I’m curious, though. What answer are ya hopin’ I’ll choose?”
“I’ve told you, Ranma, I want what’s best for you—”
“Now who’s avoidin’ the subject?” Ranma asked with a raised eyebrow.
Setsuna sighed and decided that her best recourse in this instance was straightforward honesty. “All right. You want my honest opinion? I hope you do eventually decide to share your female body with me. Not just because of the sex—though I’m certain that will be a lot of fun—but also because I believe that it really will enrich both our lives.” Setsuna paused and then continued, “That last part came out a bit cornier than I intended.”
Ranma paused for a second before responding. “Well, corny or not, I think I understand. An’ don’t worry about pressurin’ me inta doin’ it before I’m ready. If I know that yer tryin’ ta not do that, I can accept an occasional slip-up, ya know?”
Setsuna kissed her husband briefly before climbing back into their bed. “Thank you, Ranma.”
“Hey, I’m the one who oughta be thankin’ you,” he replied as he followed his spouse’s lead and slipped between the sheets. “Yer the one who helps me deal with all my baggage.” He paused to let loose a yawn—he really was pretty tired. In fact, when he put his head on his pillow, he had just enough time to say one last thing before drifting off to dreamland: “At least ya can’t have any secrets bigger than this, right?” He didn’t notice his wife’s stiffening posture.
Unlike her husband, Setsuna did not sleep very well that night.
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(Posted Fri, 19 May 2006 06:34)
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