Ranma's New Fiance

Mousse’s face was a mask as he cradled his unconscious mother in his lap as Kong Dom drove them at the same breakneck pace that his mother normally did, yet he longed to scream to hurry up. He himself didn’t drive as his eyesight hadn’t permitted it until recently and that was his fault. His mother had longed to fix his eyes for him but he’d refused, remembering all too well the pain as doctors tried to improve his vision by little more then experimentation. She’d told him that the new laser treatment was supposed to be relatively pain free and could probably give him perfect vision. He refused his mother, but not the council or Ranma when they insisted on the same thing. His mother was right, she’d been right about a lot of things.

Ranma was awkwardly twisted in the front seat, in a way that looked rather painful, just so she could hold his hand. He could feel her small fingers in his own but didn’t react to it; all he could see was the visage of beauty that remained in his mother’s face. She’s always been so strong and larger than life to him and now he could see that she’d been fooling him and he’d allowed himself to be fooled, she was dying. He glanced at Ranma and could tell that she knew and had kept it from him. His mother wasn’t going to live to be a grandmother, all she’d lived to see was her son enter into a loveless marriage with a false woman who would never be his. He could feel the grief threatening to shatter him, but refused to give into it. He had to be strong and never shame her again as he already had.

Ranma was worried about Mousse as she sat beside him in the hospital waiting room, she tried to get him to talk, but it was like talking to a statute. “You knew” he said finally in a calm voice.

“I figured it out the minute I saw her” Ranma admitted. “She made me swear not to tell you until she was ready. I couldn’t betray her” Ranma said.

“Why did she keep this information from me?” he asked.

“She wanted to give you time to adjust to marriage. Mousse all she wants is for you to be happy” Ranma said.

“How long?” he asked.

“The doctor gave her a year, the cancer has spread all over her body” Ranma said her eyes filling with tears.

“She’s asking to see her son” the nurse said as she joined them.

Mousse stood up and turned his back on his wife, he couldn’t help but feeling betrayed by her and all he could long for was for Shampoo to be here at this moment. She would know how to comfort him and would whisper words of love and encouragement. It was times like this that Mousse could see that Ranma was nothing more then a travesty of a woman. So he walked away from her, towards a woman he really loved.

Amanda sat propped against two pillows and was hooked up to an IV, her face too pale and her once vibrant eyes dull, there was no more denying that she wasn’t long for this world. “Mousse” she said and hugged him, he half draped himself across her covers to be held by her. Her once powerful arms were now thin, but he could still feel the strength she still possessed.

“Mom, why didn’t you tell me?” he asked as tears pricked his eyes.

“You needed time to get to know your wife without focusing on your old maw” she said with a ghost of a smile so much like his own.

“You’re more important to me” he said.

“Mousse I’m dying, nothing’s going to change that, but you need to live. I want you to be happy” she said stroking his face. “I was with your father for only four years but we managed to cram a lifetime into those years. I want it to be the same for you” she said.

“But I’m not married to the right person” he finally said to her. He never talked about Shampoo to Ranma or mentioned her name anymore; it was too sacred to mention his goddess’s name before his false wife. Nor did she know that he wrote to Shampoo and poured his heart out to her everyday. Yet nothing was ever returned, not a single letter to even thank him for the gifts of jewelry that he could now afford to send her.

“As far as I’m concerned you are, don’t discount Ranma just because of what gender she was born or what she was to you in the past. Love isn’t about gender. She’s kind, fiercely loyal to you and cares for you. Open your heart to her and realize how she really feels about you. Promise me you will; Shampoo isn’t what she seems” Amanda pleaded. “I know I haven’t got long”

“The doctor said you had a year” Mousse pleaded as if he could change things just by wishing.

“The doctor’s aren’t always right” she said.

“I’ve been a horrible son to you, I brought shame upon our house and abandoned you to follow Shampoo to Japan” he said.

“You never brought shame upon us, you’re been the best son I could have hoped for” she said.

“But at the time I was raped you looked so ashamed of me” Mousse said.

Amanda pushed herself painfully forward and stared into the eyes so like her husband’s had been, so clear and expressive. “I was never ashamed of you; you didn’t bring that on yourself. You were just a little boy. I was ashamed of how the council treated you, I saw for once and for all that your father was right. You sat on my lap, a sick scared little boy and they did blame you. That’s when I left and all but resigned my position on the council” she told him firmly. “Now I want you to let Ranma stay near you” she ordered him.

“Her popularity has been advantageous to our family” Mousse agreed, remembering the grudging respect the other males had been showing him.

“That isn’t want I meant, let her stay near you for your own sake and hers as well” Amanda said wondering how Mousse could be so blind. Ranma was in love with him and everyone could see it but him.

“I promise” he said.

“Good send Ranma in” she said and gave him a final hug. When Ranma came in she noticed how sad the girl looked. “How long?” she bluntly asked her.

“A month at the most, promise me you’ll look after Mousse. I know that he’s proud and stubborn but he has no friends here and has problems making them. He’s going to need someone who cares for him” she said.

“Of course I will” she promised her. “I shall also keep the secret of his wealth, there are far too many who would try and take advantage of his vulnerability. He’s my husband, I’m sworn to protect him” Ranma said sullenly.

“That’s the only reason?” she asked her knowingly.

Ranma blushed and looked away “you should tell him before its too late” she observed.

“I can’t until I know that he wishes to be mine” Ranma replied.

“He does, he just hasn’t realized it yet” Amanda said.

“Amanda I promise you that I shall see to it that his father’s dreams for him come true, that he shall get a proper education and that he shall travel the world” Ranma swore.

“You’re only obligated to remain with him for the duration of the five years. What you’re pledging could take a lot longer then that” Amanda said.

“I will see it through, quite frankly I can’t imagine being without him, if only as a demanding friend” Ranma said.

“I leave him in your hands then” Amanda said lying back satisfied, Ranma was all that she thought that she would be and more.

When they got home it was late and Ranma went to put her arms around Mousse, only to have him ease away from her. “I’m sorry Ranma, but I need to be alone right now. I can’t be a little kid playing with knives anymore or playing house. My mother needs me and I need to learn how to manage my inheritance” he said in a distant voice.

“Let me help you” she urged.

“None of this is your responsibility, you can continue to run your classes and go politicking. If I need your help, I will ask for it” he replied. “Now, I’m going to bed, you have your appointment with Cologne first thing and I have back to back video conferences with my lawyer and portfolio manager. Good night Ranma” he said and left without giving her even a peck on the cheek. When he was in bed, he allowed himself the luxury of grief and he cried silent tears. He resolved that he wasn’t going treat Ranma as his lover anymore, he was getting emotional attached to her and it needed to stop. They would be nothing more then roommates from now on and he would settle a handsome fee on her after the renunciation so that she could choose her own destiny. He wondered if she would choose a male or female as her life partner. Clearly she enjoyed having sex with a man. Mousse wondered briefly if she would choose Ryoga, they were pretty similar and Ryoga a good guy. Sure Ryoga would find it weird at first, but if Mousse could buy into the illusion, so could he. Mousse drifted off picturing his remarriage to Shampoo, this was the only thing that brought him joy in these dark times.

Ranma lay in bed confused by Mousse’s rejection of her; she’d been just trying to offer him comfort. Ranma couldn’t help feel that he was shutting her out.

The Meeting with Cologne

Ranma managed to look calm and cool even though her heart was racing when she joined the Chinese elder. “What can I do for you Ranma?” she asked her pleasantly.

“I want you to help me overturn the banishment law of The Weak” Ranma said in challenge.

Cologne regarded the younger girl “the same laws have been in effect for thousands of years and cannot be changed just because one girl desires it to be” she said.

“Then how it is done? Ranma asked leaning forward.

“It must be brought before the full council of elders and evidence must be given in order to overturn the decision” Cologne explained.

“So this law has been in effect for thousands of years you say?” Ranma said and placed a pile of books before her. “According to Mousse’s research this village is only five hundred years old and so are the other two. It was started as a commune by Ku Bal’t, your ancestor who had once been concubine to the king and grew to loath being used by men. She brought with her the other rejected concubines, who have been ejected from their harem for getting too old for his tastes, and their families. She wanted to change the roles of men and women and made her own sons and the sons of others serve the women. She brought with her secret martial arts techniques that they had secretly developed in the harems and they are still practiced today. They established themselves in a remote section of China so that they wouldn’t be disturbed and shut the doors to outsiders. Two more tribes were established in their model as people sought to grow their society to prevent too much interbreeding. However, they failed to listen when the rather primitive locals warned them that the water was cursed. Jusenkyo flowed into the water they drank and changed their appearances, they became taller and paler with hair and eyes rarely found in nature. This just added to the myth that you were Amazons and not to merely Chinese people looking for a better way of life. But with these change brought problems, births started to decrease and boys became rarer, until it was three girls to every boy. Then it was realized that your godlike bodies rejected fertilization of two Amazon’s together. With each generation it became worse, even for Shampoo’s and Mousse’s generation a woman having a single child was normal. Then you had to throw open your doors to outsiders and discovered that an Amazon with an outsider could have as many children as they wanted and you had to seek outsiders, both male and female, to repopulate your dying population. That’s why you wanted to know if I could carry children so badly and didn’t care which Amazon I married, as long as I married one. You could have never agreed to let Shampoo marry Mousse even if nothing had happened to him; you knew that it was unlikely that they could ever have children together. The same could be said of others of their generation. You’ve been keeping this secret from everyone. This place is founded on lies, there’s nothing special about any of you, other then you’re almost as sterile as donkeys” Ranma stated.

“How could you know all this?!” Cologne demanded.

“You’ve been discounting your men for so long that you didn’t realize that they could keep records too, Mousse’s maternal great-great-great-grandfather started recording the history your tribe and a male member of his family was appointed in each generation to keep it up. The one of top is Mousse’s, I like where he wrote that Shampoo used to torture animals; that’s the sign of being a psychopath” Ranma said, “now are you going to help me change this law or shall I tell the men why they really are expected to do the domestic work and take care of babies? Not to mention tell everyone what sort a person their future leader is? Ranma threatened.

“I’ll help you” Cologne said in resigned tone of voice.

“Great and I want Amanda’s money returned” Ranma declared.

Cologne looked surprised “what money?” she asked.

“Amanda wrote to you to tell you that she was sending an allowance for Mousse and got a letter back from you. She sent a cheque every month, which was cashed and Mousse never saw a cent of the money” Ranma explained.

“Was this sent to the Neko Hanten?” she asked sharply.

“Yes, then Amanda was instructed to send her cheques to a post office box” Ranma replied.

“I never had a post office box, all the mail came to the Neko Hanten. If someone was stealing Mousse’s money it wasn’t me, I think that Shampoo has a lot to answer for” Cologne said.

Shampoo

Shampoo stepped out of the wedding chapel and hugged her new husband. “Hiya, thanks to our parent’s permission, we’re already married” she said.

Ryoga regarded his new wife fondly, she wore a tiny white gown and had a small veil pinned to her hair. The gown plunged in front so that you could see her tattoo and ended just a couple inches below her womanhood. Her long legs were resplendent in white fishnet pantyhose and trimmed with a white garter. His parents looked on sourly, not impressed by the sexy ways of their new daughter-in-law, she was far too suggestive for their tastes. They felt her a bad choice for their gullible son. “What do you want to do first Mrs. Hibiki?” he asked her.

“Now we tour Japan for a bit and then go to China for our wedding” she declared and lightly bit his lower lip.

“But we’re already married?” he said confused.

“Yes, according to the laws of Japan, not of the Amazon” I only wanted to do this so that we can start making babies right away” Shampoo explained.

“I promise to knock you up tonight Mrs. Hibiki” Ryoga promised and was drawn against her lush body for a kiss and body wiggle that made the Hibikis’ scowl.