"What? Heal his wounds or something?" James asked.
"Nah. That's done already. She's his wife, and she does have to talk with him. I'll leave it all ta you, Mom."
"Thank you, Ranma dear," Nodoka replied with a smile that stayed as her son and his companion left the room. Once her child had left, she turned to her husband without changing expressions. "He is such a good son, now isn't he?"
Genma, who was currently trying to become one with the wall behind her was having a bit of trouble appreciating that observation at the moment. "He... he... is?"
"Why, of course he is. Didn't he politely take himself out of the way so that we could talk privately?"
"P... p... pr... privately?"
"Certainly. We do have a lot to talk about," her wife said as she started walking up to her.
If the middle aged man turned girl had his way, he'd be climbing the wall at that moment. "We... do?"
"We do."
"Really?"
"Yes," Nodoka murmured as she stepped up right in front of the girl that was her husband and cupped one of the thief's cheeks with a gentle hand. "And I assure you that I will have much to do with you."
The purr in the Saotome Matriarch's voice wasn't clearly defined, but whatever it meant, it was reason to start worrying.
It might have been because the day was clear and bright that it happened as it did. A small breeze stirred up enough movement so that grass moved like waves upon the sea. Flower petals danced upon the air, and the musical notes of chimes floated by in symbols of light and life. Even the way that the robes of the various miko at shrines all over Japan fluttered a bit on their young bodies didn't give even a hint of eroticism to color the almost magical time.
That sort of shift in mood was done when a burst of wind all across the nation of Japan made the temple bells ring with the odd finality that made it feel like some sort of line had been crossed.
And for some reason, it made the maidens bow their heads in sympathy for any poor soul who'd had to go through whatever the bells were ringing for.
He didn't know exactly why, but Ranma could only find himself agreeing with his need to raise his brow in appreciation towards his mother. "Did you two have the sort of talk that you wanted to?"
"We definitely did. It was good of you to give us that sort of chance," Nodoka told him.
"Hey, what else could I do?"
"Another boy might have done a lot of things, but you showed that you are a good son."
All Genma could do from where she was stiffly sitting was twitch a lot.
"The way that I figured it, it was the only way to go," their son replied with a shrug.
The Saotome matriarch gave her child an indulgent smile. "And I'm glad that you thought so."
"Well, if there's anything that I can do...."
"Actually, you can."
"What?"
"Turn your father back into a male," the redhead sighed. "It'd be ever so inconvenient to have to deal with him this way."
That made Genma perk up, as she found those words to be amongst the sweetest music that she'd ever heard.
"After all, this doesn't seem to be working out all that well at the moment...."
"Pop got stronger just by following us...."
"Oh, I'm not talking about that. I mean that there are certain things that have to be taken care of, and they can only be done by a male."
"Hmmm...."
"And think of it this way, this will make it so much easier for your father to handle what is going on."
"I don't think that I wanna make it that easy on him," her son grumbled sourly.
"Who said anything like that? There are responsibilities, and he has to take them as a man."
"'Responsibilities'?"
"Exactly. Your father has to handle what's coming to him from his life as only a man can," the rather attractive matron informed her child.
"I think that I like that idea."
Oddly enough, Genma found herself agreeing with her son, and actually looking to him for some sort of rescue.
"Then you'll do it?" Nodoka asked.
Ranma turned a questioning gaze in his mother's direction. "I don't see why it couldn't happen. It's not that hard...."
"That's good to hear! And you know what makes it all the better?"
"What would that be?"
"You can change him back into a girl at any time, right?"
"Pretty much."
"I'm so happy to hear that," Nodoka cheered, clapping her hands together in a show of delight. "Your father makes for such a cute girl!"
All the mentioned father could do at that moment was whimper out her suffering, while:
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(Posted Wed, 11 Oct 2006 03:20)
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