[Episode 202239] [Episode 202239]Ranma stood in front of the Nekohanten, wondering just what he was going to do NOW. He’d impulsively decided to visit Kol Long and ask her about Xian Pu, but now that he was here, he’d realize he didn’t know WHAT to say. Once again, he blamed the ‘Ranma’ part of himself; seriously, he’d never been THIS impulsive when he was Ran.
After a moment of internal debate, he decided to just screw it and, once again, improvise. It’d worked with Nabiki, after all, so why mess with something that’d proven effective?
‘Geez… that argument sounded lame, even to me!’ he groused as he entered the restaurant.
“Ah… Son-in-law! What brings you here? I’m sorry to say, but you just missed Shampoo,” greeted the Elder, hopping up on her ever-present staff.
Ranma bowed in respect; this woman, despite her short stature and his recent (considerable) boost in skills, could probably still beat the stuffing out of him. The pre-recollection Ranma hadn’t treated her with the respect she deserved- even though she had been one of the few he secretly respected- but he wasn’t going to make that mistake. He knew better: show respect, and one will be shown respect in turn.
“Greetings, Elder. I’m actually here to see you, not your granddaughter.”
“Sorry, son-in-law, but I’m several centuries too old for you,” she said, before cackling at her own joke. Ranma chuckled along with her.
“No, that is not what I am here for, Elder… though,” Ranma smiled impishly, “I must admit, you were quite beautiful when you were younger.” And he wasn’t lying, either; he’d seen her during the Nanban Mirror fiasco, and she could have easily given Xian Pu a run for her money.
Kol Long cackled again. “Such a sweet talker, son-in-law! You flatter this old woman.”
Ranma gave a smile and a shrug. “I only speak the truth, Elder Kol Long.”
Kol Long chuckled again, before tilting her head in curiosity. “It’s pronounced ‘Ku Lon’, son-in-law, but I’m still impressed; you almost pronounced my name correctly for once…and now that I think about it…” She studied him for a bit, as if looking deep into his soul… which she very well might have been, for all he knew. “…You seem… different, somehow,” she finished.
“I gained some new skills that gave me a new perspective on life,” he replied, smoothly giving her his now-usual half-truth. Even as he was blushing over his faux pas; he’d been mispronouncing her name in his head this whole time? Damn… he really needed to clean his act up.
“Really, now, son-in-law?”
“Yes, and one of them was aura reading,” he said, then watched as Kol- KU LON stiffened ever so slightly. He narrowed his eyes. “So, you know Xian Pu is schizophrenic,” he accused.
“Borderline Personality Disorder, actually, according to the few books I have been able to get my hands on…” she corrected, almost absentmindedly.
Ranma blinked; huh, so his diagnosis was incorrect. He really should have taken those psychology lessons when he had the chance…
“I see… let us sit down, Elder. This may take a while,” Ranma suggested. Kol Long nodded, and they both took a seat in the back of the restaurant, far away from the kitchen so as to avoid busy ears.
“How long has it been?” Ranma asked when they were comfortably seated.
Ku Lon smirked. “Why, son-in-law, I would almost think you cared about her,” she teased in an obvious attempt to regain her balance.
“I do,” Ranma replied, making Ku Lon almost fall off her chair in shock. “I will admit I previously thought of her as a pest, but now… she was literally not thinking straight. I can’t put the blame on her.”
“I see… so it is pity that has you caring then, son-in-law?” the Elder asked stonily.
Ranma shrugged, not letting the glare he was getting affect him. “Call it what you will, Elder, but I am worried for her. In my experiences, mental disorders only get worse when not treated, and I would rather NOT have her being put down because she finally snapped and went postal in some shopping mall somewhere.”
“Oh… then I apologize for my reaction… she is my granddaughter, after all, and her pride is my pride,” she replied, giving him a small nod. She returned to the topic at hand when he waved away her apology. “Unfortunately, I am unable to help her, and she can’t go to a psychologist.”
Ranma’s eyes widened in shock. “You mean to tell me she doesn’t even know herself?!?” he asked incredulously.
Ku Lon sighed, suddenly looking her age. “Sometimes I think we trained her TOO well; can you imagine what would happen if she were told she were crazy by a completely defenseless doctor?”
Ranma nodded slowly. “If she got mad, it would be a slaughter, with a more then good chance of an ultimate result much like I painted at first…”
“Exactly. And I was unsure, myself. I knew something was wrong, but couldn’t right-out tell her without proof.”
“I see… and how long has it been since you’ve known?”
“It’s been seven years since her emotions started splitting- I assume that was what you saw?”
Ranma nodded. “One side innocence, one side darkness, both still connected, but mostly split in two,” he said.
“Yes, that’s it. Well, it’s been seven years, ever since she entered puberty.”
Ranma picked up on that tidbit; this started at puberty? Could that have something to do with it? He voiced that particular question: “I’ve heard that that particular event could be quite traumatic for a girl. Do you think maybe that may be the cause for Xian Pu’s instability?” He asked.
Ku Lon shook her head. “I considered it, but there shouldn’t have been anything happening at that time that could have caused this; she was well respected as the youngest village champion we had in several years, and she was given the title of heir-apparent when she first entered womanhood. It was a great honor, since no one has been granted that particular title at such a young age for several centuries,” she said, then added a little smugly, “She was quite the genius, you know.”
Ranma thought he was beginning to see a pattern, but he had to make sure. “She was a genius?” he asked.
“Yes,” Ku Lon answered with no small amount of pride.
“And by ‘entering womanhood’, you mean she had her first period, correct?”
“Of course! What else can I mean?” Ranma held in the urge to quote the traditions of several now-long-dead civilizations. Instead, he continued his questioning.
“Did she have any duties as heir-apparent?”
“Yes…” Ku Lon was beginning to sound a bit confused.
“Did she know she had duties?”
“Yes… what are you getting at, son-in-law?” she finally asked, her impatience getting the better of her.
Ranma was beginning to have a slight suspicion as to what had made Xian Pu crack… but how to put what he was about to say into words that wouldn’t sound like he was calling Xian Pu weak-willed? “Elder Ku Lon, I think…” he began, after a long moment of thought. He stopped to gather his thoughts before continuing. “…I think this might have been caused by stress. EXTREME stress.”
“What?” Ku Lon scoffed, “Ridiculous! What did she have to stress over? She was honored and, though I hate to admit, even pampered! There was nothing to stress over! Her place in the village ensured it!”
“Dear Kami…” Ranma muttered, trying to be patient; was she really that oblivious, or was the conclusion he’d come to only obvious to him? “Elder, you’re also forgetting that she also had to live up to the expectations of her people as village champion and worry about her worthiness as heir-apparent… while getting used to bleeding down in a place that had no business bleeding! And the pampering probably didn’t help much; since she was, as you claim, a genius, she was probably completely aware of the high expectations everyone had for her!”
“Ridiculous!” Ku Lon affirmed.
“Think about it, Elder. How much pressure were you under when you were heir-apparent?”
“A bit, but I could handle it!”
“How freaked out were you when you had your first period?”
“I wasn’t!”
Ranma gave her a flat look.
“Okay, so I was a little scared,” she admitted.
“And how much pressure were you under to improve well as village champion?”
The Elder was beginning to look unsure. “I must admit, I was practicing quite a bit.”
“Now, imagine all that happening to you…at once.”
“It did!”
“I don’t mean they overlapped. I mean they literally happened at the same time. And,” he continued when he saw her about to retort, “I know you weren’t heir-apparent at ten. You said so yourself that she was the youngest in several centuries.”
“I…”
“And all that, without the benefit of the rose-tinted glasses of a child’s ignorance. She probably started disassociating aspects of her personality to better handle the strain.”
“I... but…” The Elder trailed off, silent as she examined the argument that had been presented to her. Ranma could literally see as she went from skeptical, to doubtful, to shock, and finally to acceptance. “Oh Goddesses…” she whispered in fear.
“You see it, don’t you?” Ranma asked, glad she finally understood where he was coming from. “She had too much thrown on her at one time.”
“Oh no no no… why didn’t I see this?!? I should have seen this! Goddesses… it was my fault!”
“No it wasn’t, Elder-”
“Yes it was! Don’t you see? I was the one who made her heir-apparent! I was the one who trained her! I was the one who gave her too much before she was ready!”
“Elder-”
“Goddesses, Goddesses… I failed her. I’ve failed my heir!”
“ELDER KU LON!!!”
The woman froze in shock as Ranma shouted at her, slamming his hands hard enough into the table to make it crack. “Elder Ku Lon,” he said in a much calmer tone, “this wasn’t your fault. You are old and wise, with three hundred years of experience, but you are still her guardian, the woman who loved her and raised her. And, like many guardians and caretakers before you, you wanted her to be the best, and, also like many guardians and caretakers before you, you gave her too much, too soon as a result. It happens, and you can’t help it, so don’t beat yourself up over it. What matters now is what you’re going to do to help her.”
Ku Lon blinked in shock as she was reprimanded by a male less then 2/30th of her age (technically, it was closer to 1/10th of her age, but she didn’t know about the who reincarnation thing), before visibly calming down. She gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, son-in-law. I needed to hear that.”
“Just telling the truth, Elder Ku Lon,” Ranma replied with a shrug.
“Be that as it may, still, thank you,” she said, “This gives me much to think about.”
Ranma nodded and looked at the clock on the nearby wall. He balked when he saw the time. “Well, I must be getting back to school, Elder Ku Lon,” he told her as he stood up. He was a little startled when she stood up with him, but decided to roll with it. “I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors,” he finished, giving her a small bow before turning away and heading for the door. He was just about there when he was stopped.
“Son-in-law?”
“Yes, Elder Ku Lon?” Ranma asked without looking back. His hand stilled on the handle.
“Do you have any advice for this old ghoul?” she asked. Ranma spun around, shocked; was Ku Lon actually asking HIM for advice? Some of what he was feeling must have shown on his face, because she smiled and said, “You have helped me figure out what might have caused this illness in my granddaughter and heir, son-in-law. This new-found outlook of yours has given you great wisdom, wisdom that I seem to have lost in my later years. You have been a great help to me, and I only ask for maybe a hint on how to go about curing her.”
Ranma stood there for a moment, wondering how to respond; his memories weren’t helping him any, since both of Ranma and Ran had had almost no experience in dealing with matters of the mind. When he finally spoke, it was with caution. “I am not sure how much this would help, but… tell her, then help her live a normal life, if only for a short time. Have it so that she’s not Xian Pu, heir-apparent and village champion, but rather just a girl named Xian Pu. Enroll her at school, tone down the training a bit, cut back on her workload here so that she has more time to relax and enjoy life. Maybe if she doesn’t have to worry about meeting everyone’s expectations so much, that crack in her would finally start healing.”
Ranma left as soon as he finished, so he didn’t see the old woman, currently feeling all her 300 years of existence after all that had happened, give his back a hopeful smile. Or hear her whisper, “Thank you… Ranma.”
Ranma quickly took to the roof tops, heading...
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