[Episode 73013] [Episode 73013]After a convenient fight in the streets of Tokyo, Genma stood at the gates of the Tendo compound with a female Ranma over his shoulder. With a sigh, he prepared to knock on the door, finally a chapter of his life was coming to an end. "Soon," he thought, "the families will be joined, and our school of the art will be complete."
No more than a heartbeat after knocking on the door, he heard a voice from the other side, "That must be them!"
"Da... Da.... Daddy?" The eldest Tendo sister asked, while her father lie wheezing in his sterilized hospital bed.
"Kasumi," he said barely over a whisper, "I need to speak to all of you."
The accident had been a freak, a one in a million shot. Nothing a martial artist prepared for could have been enough to get save one from a freak air-accident. In his home, Soun was asleep when the Self-Defence Force aircraft had a malfunction in it's weapons system, resulting in an explosion high above the Tendo home. A large piece of that aircraft crashed into the Tendo home, and impaled Soun Tendo. He should have died immediately, but he was Soun Tendo. He fought the dying cause, to secure the future of his family. The intensive care unit allowed his daughters to visit, while the nurses awaited the inevitable. With his dying breaths approaching, he was determined to prepare his little girls.
As the three daughters looked onto their father, with sweet words of encouragement, Soun regretted that he had to give them final instructions in such a way. He wouldn't see the union from his earthly eyes, but they needed to know. The school must survive, the Tendo clan must survive, his daughters must be prepared to carry through.
"Kasumi. Nabiki. Akane. " he began while coughing, "One of you is to marry Ranma Saotome. His father will bring him to our home. He, and his father, are family." Pausing to catch his short breath, Soun spittled a little from the corner of his mouth. Then, he continued weakly, "Kasumi, take care of your sisters, they look up to you and need you." His eyes slowly moved to his middle daughter, "Nabiki, look over the mortgage papers. The arranged marriage was also part of the agreement with the bank to secure our home. Insurance will pay most of it off, but you must do all you can to keep the agreement with the bank." Moving his eyes once more, he said to Akane, "My baby girl, Akane, you must continue the art. When Ranma comes, you must be ready to help him teach at the dojo."
The girls tried to make their father comfortable, and each tried to will their father to live. That, however, was not to be. With tears rolling freely, the girls could barely make out the whisper, "Saotome Genma and Ranma are on a training trip. Nodoka will help until they return. Find Nodoka Saotome." With that, one Soun Tendo slipped off into a slumber. Later that evening, he would pass away without ever waking up again.
"Oh my dear children," Nodoka began, "I will do everything I can for the Tendo's. You are like family." Listening to all the girls at once, she began to settle the sisters down, "Yes, I know of the arrangement, but, right now, it is time to heal. The first step is to be one with your grief. Don't bottle it up, because it will only come back to haunt you. You are sad, so be sad. Your heart will know when the time for sadness has passed."
The door opened. Genma-Panda gwah'ed, and placed a redheaded girl in front of him. It did not take him long to determine something was amiss...
(Posted Sat, 11 Oct 2003 10:37)
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