[Episode 229970] [Episode 229970]Ranma made her way into the Saotome home, a place that should have been more comfortable to him than it did at the moment. It was a testament to how his life had gone that this place felt alien, foreign, unwelcoming. Still, he had to at least do this.
"Mom!" he called out. "Mom, you there?!"
His mom's voice echoed from the training area. "I'm here! Ranma!? Is that you!?"
"Yeah, it's me!" Making his way to the back of the house and into the training ground, Ranma found Nodoka in a simple blue kimono, katana in hand as she performed a smooth kata. "You look great, mom," he began, trying to make small talk before getting started.
Even after all these years, Nodoka could tell it was her son. That boy she had left to her no-good husband so long ago had grown to be a fine example of a man. Yet, for all his strength, he couldn't hide the distressed look in his eyes. "What's wrong, Ranma?" she asked calmly, still moving to the unheard rhythm of her sword dance.
Ranma took a deep breath. Looks like there would be no softening this blow, but he was here for a reason. There would be no running away. "Mom, we need to talk. About why I haven't seen you since we came back from China."
That made Nodoka stop, carefully sliding the sword into the sheath at her side. "Yes, that." Her eyes gazed intently at him, one of her brows lifted inquisitively. "I was beginning to think you didn't care for me anymore."
"That's not it!" Ranma protested, then blushed and looked down. "Sorry, mom, but... You have seen me. Remember that redhead who's always at the dojo?"
"You mean Ranko?" Nodoka sat down Indian-style on the floor, her gaze never leaving him. "What about her?" Those deep, piercing eyes bored their way into him, pinning him to his feet. He couldn't run away now even if he wanted to.
"That's.... That was me, mom," Ranma said ruefully. There was no response but silence from his mother, other than a brief bulging of the eyes in surprise and confusion. He knew he'd have to explain what had happened since then, so he went through it from the top: the cat fist, the boy's school, the crazy trip through China, Jusenkyo, the arranged marriage, everything. There was a strange catharsis to letting it all out in the open, letting his mother know everything. After all, what was the worst that could happen; another in the long line of people who don't actually love him?
It took some time for Nodoka to digest all that. She'd heard rumors of a boy who turned into a girl by means of some ancient curse, but she'd never believed it real, and she certainly never thought it would be her son. It was surreal, but she still only had one question. "Why?"
"Why?" Ranma asked back. He didn't expect that. He didn't know what to expect, really, but he didn't expect the look of anguish and confusion that his mother's face bore.
"Why did you never tell me!?" she wailed, finally breaking her stare as she wiped her tears. "I thought you hated me, or that something horrible had happened that had killed you and no one wanted to tell me... I didn't think you'd try to hide from your own mother! Why!?" She bit her lower lip, trying to hold back her sobs, but it wouldn't work. Years of loneliness and sadness forced themselves out of her as she cried openly, tears glistening in the dim light as they fell from her cheek. "You know what it is to be alone for so long because of this silly training trip of your father's!? And then, when he comes back, he won't even come home to talk to me, and my son's hiding... It's been so much..."
Ranma flinched as he saw his mother, the strong woman he'd hoped to one day get to know, crying her eyes out on the floor, occasionally glancing at him, her makeup marred by her tears. Going down on one knee, he looked at his mother, his eyes starting to tremble like a deer in the headlights. "But... What about the contract?" he asked, his voice a soft whisper. "I could never be the man you wanted me to be, not like this..."
Nodoka wiped her eyes again, taking a deep breath as she tried to compose herself. She gazed at him ruefully, speaking through her sobs. "Ranma... You really believed that? If you'd just come to me right away and said it, I'd have just hugged you and welcomed you home. I was never serious about killing you! We thought it would be a good motivational tool, since you were very young. If I knew he'd make you think I would hold you to it as you grew up, I'd have never agreed to his stupid idea!"
Ranma paled at those words. The contract, the hiding away, the fear of his mother's reaction... That was all his design!? "I.... I can't believe this... I'm... I'm sorry, I..." There was nothing he could say to excuse himself for all these years. Just another loss he endured for Genma's benefit.
"What will you do now?" she sighed, her voice stabilizing as she blinked a few times, her eyes irritated from the emotional outburst. "There's something else on your mind, I can tell..."
"I'm... I'm leaving," Ranma managed to say as he fought his own tears. "I can't stay here, not after all this, not after learning that all the girls Dad pushed on me were just using me to hide their own affair. There's nothing here for me."
Nodoka looked at her son for a moment. She'd longed to see him again for so long, but not like this; not with him hurt and skittering off like a wounded animal. Before Ranma could even blink, she lunged for him and wrapped him up in a tight, desperate hug. "You have me," she said softly into his ear. "Don't ever say you have nothing, Ranma, because I'm here for you. I'm your mother, and just because I made the mistake of trusting your father to you, don't ever think that I don't love you. Do you understand me?"
Now it was Ranma's turn to be surprised. "D-do... Do you mean that?" he stammered, swallowing hard. "Even knowing what I am, the curse, the hiding... You still...?"
"Of course!" Nodoka exclaimed, sadness turning to unbelievable joy as she held on tightly to her son. This was her one chance to correct the mistake she had made so long ago, to be a mother to her wayward boy, and she was going to seize it! "If you need any help, any at all, I'll help you, just... Just don't leave. Don't let your father and those three bitches run you out of town. I love you too much. Losing you again would be..." She stopped talking, simply holding on to her son, afraid he'd leave if she let him go.
Ranma silently let his tears fall as he sat there, hugging his mother in the middle of the room. Suddenly, nothing else seemed to matter anymore. Akane, Genma, Ukyou, Shampoo... All that pressure just lifted from his back at that moment. None of it mattered anymore. His mother loved him for who he was, not because she could get something out of him. He felt good. He felt happy. "Mom... thanks."
They stayed there for a while, silently holding one another, as if trying to make up for their time apart in one moment of affection and relief. It wasn't until one of the lights flickered some time later that Nodoka finally broke the embrace and looked at her son, her face warm, radiating with relief and joy. "I think the two of us need to shower. But... What next? What are you going to do?"
See other episodes by The Master Chief
(Posted Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:44)
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