Instead, he got to find out that his son was not only friends with the girls already, but he was married to one of their friends.
"I just can't believe that it's happening," the Saotome Patriarch grumbled.
Nabiki gave him a flat stare. "Well, start believing it, because you aren't going to get a change."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Excuse me?"
"I mean, there has to be some way to fix this."
"And just how would you think that you could make this work in your favor?"
"I don't know," Genma pronounced. "I mean, I know it must be the Saotome charm that my son inherited, since he managed to get a girl to marry him so quickly...."
"My son is special," Nodoka allowed, her gaze narrowing on her husband.
"Yes, exactly! But the thing is that we need to follow certain rules. It's not like we don't have options. After all, it's not like the girl can't easily find a man, and I'm sure that her parents would have a problem with taking care of her...."
As one, all of those there, save for a suddenly depressed Makoto, glared at the man in the white gi.
"What?"
"I don't have parents," Makoto admitted in small voice.
"Her parents died in a plane accident when she was small, Saotome," Soun told his old friend. "And she now lives alone in her own apartment."
"Oh. But someone does happen to care for her, right?"
"Yeah! We do," Akane snapped, glaring at her father's old training buddy as if challenging the man to step out of line.
"I already understood that...."
"Then why not understand that we aren't about to give up on her? She's like family!"
"Akane," whispered the green eyed girl, blushing slightly.
"I suppose that you'd think that way, but why didn't you take her in.... That's it!" declared Genma. "Tendo, why don't you adopt her into your clan?!"
"EH?!"
"You do seem to care about her, and she is an orphan. So, you could always take her in as another daughter. Then with her being a Tendo, then she would able to marry Ranma and join the schools."
"It isn't that I wouldn't like her as one of my own daughters...." Soun allowed.
"Yes, so...."
"There is a problem?"
Genma's brow furrowed in confusion. "What could stop us from doing it that way?"
"Makoto is already a Saotome," Nodoka reminded her husband. "She would have to stop being one for Soun to adopt her into his family."
"Ah, right...."
"This is just a waste of time," Ranma complained.
"Stupid boy! We're just trying to figure out how to fix the mistake that you made!"
"Marrying Makoto wasn't a mistake!"
"Yeah!" went Akane, joining her sisters in glaring at their father's friend.
"That wasn't what I meant," Genma nearly whimpered, waving his hands to fend off the anger of the teens... and his wife and friend. "It's just that the boy should have told me about this already."
His son snorted. "Ya would have just found a way ta mess things up earlier."
"And what do you think this is? Your little delay has caused problems. Oh, how we were supposed to join the families...."
"So ya need me ta fix it?"
"Well, how were we supposed to do it before. It was the fact that Tendo and I created our two branches that made it so that we had to join the schools in the first place!" the elder Saotome male barked.
"Ya do got somethin'...."
"Exactly. Since you were a boy, and Tendo had daughters, it would have been perfect to marry you to one of them as a way to meld the schools."
"But you apparently made this plan before you knew what the gender of the children would be," the Saotome matriarch murmured.
"Details, details. The important thing is that in this generation, with you unable to marry, there is no way for the schools to be united!"
Giving a sigh, Soun reluctantly nodded. "There is no chance for our plan to work with this generation.... This generation...."
"Tendo?"
"That's it!"
"Huh?" Genma grunted, leaning away from his old training companion. "What's the problem?"
"Not the problem, Saotome. The solution!"
"You've lost me...."
"It's really quite simple. You see, I wouldn't mind having Makoto as a daughter, but the truth is that she could not have her blood included in my line. If I could have her as a part of my family, then it would fit to have her be a blood relation, wouldn't it?"
"Mister Tendo...." Makoto whispered, a small smile on her face.
"That's the thing though. Now that she's married your son, her blood can be in my line!"
"What are you saying, Father?" Kasumi asked, confusion showing in her eyes.
"The grandchildren!" the Tendo patriarch blurted, a manic grin stretching his lips. "Ranma and Makoto's child marries the child of one of you girls!"
"You mean that if we have a son, and Ranma and Mako-chan have a daughter...."
"They would marry!"
"That could work. My grandson would have to carry on the family line, and I'm sure that your granddaughters would be of good stock," Genma put in, looking thoughtful.
"And it keeps our dream alive!"
"It would be perfect!"
"I'd be impressed," Nabiki drawled, leaning her chin onto one hand, "if they weren't so goofy and clueless about it."
"But wouldn't it be nice to have one of our children marry Ranma and Makoto's son or daughter?" asked her elder sister.
"Perhaps... if I do have kids."
"I'll have to wait and see. Having our kids be friends is what I'd like first off," Akane muttered.
"Quite true, Akane," Nodoka agreed.
The married couple glanced at each other, and tried to not feel uneasy about this latest plan, while:
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(Posted Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:00)
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