In Heat

Ranma waited while Mousse examined the place; there wasn’t much to see. His eyes were drawn to the crib at the side of the living room with a curtain to divide the room in half. He felt like his feet took his there of their own accord as they followed the happy gurgles of a contented baby. Mousse took a deep breath and looked in to what was obviously a second hand crib brought at a thrift shop and looked into it. He caught is breath when he looked at her, she was adorable with chubby cheeks and a lot of silky black hair for her age. Her eyes were almond shaped, like his own, with a slight slant to them and they were large and emerald green in colour. She was at the age where a baby’s face was made out of clay that remolded itself daily, but he could see himself in her features and complexion. His mouth went dry to see the actual proof of his fatherhood staring back at him, he broke into a smile to answer her own toothless one while she waved her chubby arms and legs around as if greeting him. “Her name is Midori Saotome-Mu” Ranma said, Mousse had almost forgot that she was there.

“Mu?” he questioned.

“I hope you don’t mind; I felt that a child should have her father’s last name” she said softly.

“How did you know my last name?” he asked, seeing how he deliberately allowed his real name to run together and deliberately mispronounced it when in Japan.

“I remembered that you called your duck form Mu mu-chan when you were in the circus, so I asked Shampoo why and she told me that it was your last name” she replied. “How you pronounce your name in Mandarin?” she asked.

“Mu Tzu” Mousse replied feeling this was a bizarre conversation.

“Her eyes are perfect” Ranma said.

“My eyesight isn’t genetic; it’s a rare form of retinal degenerative disorder” he explained.

“She has a rare blood type, AB negative” Ranma said.

“I have the same type, I got it from my father” Mousse said, he was mesmerized by the baby in front of him. He was actually a father, just like he’d always dreamed of! He pictured himself taking Midori to his village to raise, he would be the envy of all Amazon males to have fathered a daughter who held the promise of beauty at such a young age.

He finally tore his eyes away and noticed the tender way that Ranma looked at her daughter and looked closer at his surroundings. When he’d first looked at the apartment, all he’d seen was how shabby it was with its second hand furniture, now he realized that everything was spotless. The futons were stacked neatly in the corner, along with the bedding and the crib may have been old, but he was sure that it would pass any safety test thrown at it. The mattress was new and the mattress pad fit properly. Midori herself seems to be in good health and dressed in a clean yellow onsie. Finally he looked at Ranma herself and realized how exhausted she looked. He’d expected to find her living in a tent with Midori sleeping in a handmade bassinet, now he could see that she had not only become a real woman, but a mother who would do anything for her daughter. “Ranma this place isn’t good for a baby, you should let me take her to Joketsuzoku” Mousse said.

Suddenly Ranma pulled a knife out of nowhere, “you aren’t taking my daughter anywhere, I don’t care if you’re her father, she’s staying with me!” she cried and burnished the knife towards him. Mousse gaped when he recognized the move as a basic level technique of Hidden Weapons School of Martial Arts.

“Ranma, my martial arts, how did you.........?” he asked.

She sat down and put down the knife, looking world weary. “I learned it from Master Ching, I sought out a Master of your arts form to become his student for Midori. I never thought I would see you again and wanted to be able to instruct her in her father’s martial arts school” she said. “I know what I did to you is wrong, but please don’t take my daughter” she pleaded.

“I didn’t mean that, I meant you both should come with me. Ranma you look exhausted, you don’t have to take care of her yourself, I would help and her grandmother and aunts” he said.

Ranma burst into tears, she hadn’t cried when she found out that she was having a baby and this signaled the end of her dreams of being the heir of her school and inheriting the dojo. She hadn’t cried when her father took away her home and identity and people she thought cared, turned their backs on her. She hadn’t cried when Akane taunted her on a daily basis for being a twisted, perverted bitch. She hadn’t cried when she was forced to leave the only stable home she’d known in years. She hadn’t cried when she suffered the loneliness and desperation of being a exhausted single mother and longed for one of her friends to seek her out. Someone had come, an old enemy that she had wronged and now he was being nice to her and she couldn’t handle it.

Mousse was shocked for a second while Ranma sobbed into her hands and then acting on instinct, he reacted as he always had to sobbing women, he sat down and gently pulled her onto his lap. He stroked her back and whispered words of encouragement for her to let it out her grief. He held her against his chest until her sobs stopped and continued to until she finally pulled away from his embrace. “Why are you being nice to me?” she asked him in a shaky voice, clearly embarrassed. Ranma now realized what she had robbed Mousse of when she forced his first time on him, the physical intimacy of making love. The Mousse she’d known, with his bragging ways and the bitterness that he’d displayed toward Ranma, wasn’t the real one. This was the real Mousse, who was sweet gentle and kind. This Mousse would have guarded his virginity ferociously, to be surrendered only to his heart’s twin on their wedding night.

“You need this” he said simply.

“I thought you hated me” she said.

“I did for a long time and then I stopped. I can’t hate the mother of my child” he said.

“I raped you and I’m sorry” Ranma said. “I had two virginities and the female one didn’t mean a thing to me. I hated this body until I carried a child in it, Mousse if I could take it back I would. I’m such an idiot.” she pleaded.

“I know. I forgave you for that a long time ago, I got counseling and I’m fine now” he said wiping away a fresh tear, she still sat on his lap and he was fine with it. He’d never realized how tiny she was, yet she was strong. She’d left her home to start anew in a foreign uncaring city; that took guts. He could identify how it felt to leave everyone you loved behind. He shared a glance with Etta, who’d been watching them with awe. He smiled at how cute she was and she smiled back at him. Then he became aware of the firm female bottom seated on his lap and blushed, he was rarely this intimate with a girl.

“Really?” she asked.

“I promise” he replied and placed her carefully beside him, not trusting himself not to get an erection and embarrassing the both of them.

“Etta, we’ve been neglecting you. This is Mousse” she introduced him.

Etta smiled at him and said “Mousse, like the cake? I love cake”

Ranma froze for a second, not sure whether to reprimand her or not, when Mousse cracked up and then she joined in. Etta joined in too, not sure why they were laughing but it was infectious. “I promise to bring you some chocolate mousse cake the next time I come for a visit” he replied finally.

“I prefer strawberry” she said.

“You get your moxie from your mother, strawberry it is” Mousse said.

“What’s moxie?” she asked.

“You have spirit” Mousse said.

“Spirit, I’m afraid of ghosts” she cried opening her wide eyes even wider.

“It’s not that sort of spirit, now its time that little girls were in bed” Ranma said and made up a futon, got her ready for bed and drew the curtain to divide the room. Mousse went into the kitchen and fixed a pot of tea. When he rejoined Ranma she was breastfeeding Midori, he blushed slightly how soft her full breast looked. He’d never been in such an intimate setting with a young mother and he felt kind of awkward.

“It’s okay to look; the squirt here has to eat every three hours. I’m about as sexy as a cow” she said softly.

“I’m just not used to it” Mousse said, thinking she sure looked a lot better then a cow and then blushed and wondered if he was turning in Kuno.

“Are you living here now?” she asked.

“No I have to go home in a few weeks. I returned to school and don’t want to take anymore time off then I have to” Mousse replied.

“You could stay here” she ventured cautiously.

“I don’t know, this place is pretty crowded as it is” he said dubiously.

“Come on, we can spend time together just like in the old days” she said.

“We didn’t really tend to spend much time together back then. It’s not like we were friends” Mousse said with a smile, that caused her to think that he was more gorgeous then a person had a right to be.

“Why weren’t we? If we had met under different circumstances, I bet we would have been” Ranma stated.

“You had the woman I thought I loved and I wanted her back, only it turned out that she was never mine in the first place. Most likely if you had asked me to go for a drink back then, I would have thought you were either mocking me or coming onto me. I might have accepted, but would have slipped something into your drink and challenged you to a fight” Mousse explained.

“Which I would have won anyway” Ranma said

“Probably, so tell me more about Master Ching, I haven’t seen the old goat in years” Mousse said, he was flattered that she was trying to learn his art.

“He’s doing fine. He only agreed to teach his art to me when I mentioned you. Why didn’t you tell me I knew a rock star? You became a master at fourteen, the youngest one ever! I’m sorry I mocked you, it’s a lot harder then it looks. Creating a portable ki closet that you carry around with you is harder to form then I thought” she said. Mousse blushed at the compliment and decided he liked the new Ranma. She finished feeding Midori and Mousse averted his eyes while she adjusted herself and burped her. “Would you like to hold her?” she asked as if reading his thought. Mousse nodded shyly, he expertly cradled the tiny girl, relishing her tiny weight and sweet baby smell. He loved children and couldn’t get over that this one carried his genes; he certainly didn’t need a DNA test to tell that. “You sure know how to handle a baby” Ranma commented entranced watching him hold his daughter for the first time. ‘They looked so natural together’ she thought.

“I’m an Amazon male; we’re the domestic partners in a marriage. It’s mandatory that we learn how to look after children of all ages” he explained. “Speaking of which, it looks like someone needs to have her diaper changed, I’ll do it” he offered.

Ranma yawned “thanks so much, I hope you don’t mind, but I would like to take a shower before I go to bed, I have to work tomorrow” Ranma said sleepily.

“Go ahead” Mousse said.

Ranma practically skipped to the bathroom, glad to have another friend to help her and glad that Mousse had forgiven her. Mousse changed Midori with a skill born of experience and redressed her. He frowned when he heard the water start. He thought about how easy it would be to take Midori the way that Cologne wanted him to, it would be easy for him to pack some of her clothes and steal her into the night. She’d arranged passage on a boat to take him to China in the morning. All he would have to do is take Midori back to his hotel where he had enough diapers and formula to get him back to China. Cologne had arranged for an outsider woman to act as a wet nurse for Midori until she was weaned. She would be all his, his flesh and blood and he could raise her to be a proud warrior. It seemed so easy when she’d suggested the idea........until he saw Ranma again. She would be devastated if he removed the only bright spot in her dull existence. She was obviously loved her daughter and probably would hunt him down for taking her. Why did Cologne think that a wad of cash could make up for the love of a child? He was already in love with Midori and he had barely known her an hour. No, he would have to figure out some way to get Ranma to accompany him home. He sighed and put Midori in her crib and arranged the blankets over the sleeping Etta.

“She okay?” Ranma whispered when she rejoined him wearing a bathrobe with her hair damp.

“She’s asleep; I’ve decided to take you up on your offer, I’ll come stay with you” he whispered back.

“That’s wonderful” she said.

“You have two futons, I’ll take one and you and Etta take the other” Mousse said.

Ranma blushed “of course” she said.

“I’ll go pick up my stuff and come back” he offered.

“Here take my spare key, I’ll have the futon ready when you return” Ranma said and yawned.

“You get some sleep” he said.

“Okay, I glad that you’re here” she said and impulsively gave him a sleepy hug.

By the time Mousse got back to his hotel room he was hopping mad, he called Cologne, intending to tear her a new one. “Well do you have Midori?” she asked him as soon as she picked up the phone.

“I couldn’t do it, Ranma loves her and they deserve to be together” Mousse snarled.

“Good then you passed the first test”

“What test?” he snapped.

“Of whether you’re worthy of being the father of a future warrior, a true father never puts him needs first” she said with approval. “However you must now convince Ranma to return with you, seduce her if you must” Cologne ordered.

Mousse paused, Cologne was ordering for him to play with a girl’s heart. “I can’t do that, I don’t like her that way” he said.

“Ranma isn’t not only special in terms of skill level; we need her to bring fresh blood into the tribe. We would all have webbed feet and be born retarded if we didn’t marry outsiders. You are her husband, if you don’t come back with your wife and child, you can forget about your scholarship” she threatened.

“You wouldn’t” he said with a gasp, seeing his entire future flying away from him.

“Yes I would, romance her, seduce her, do whatever you have to but bring her here” Cologne ordered. “Besides, she obviously found you cute enough once”

“I don’t like her that way” Mousse said.

“Now you do” Cologne said and hung up. Mousse could only frown and consider what to do.

Ranma smiled when the door opened and the light from the hallway framed a tall figure, he tiptoed in and carefully made his way to the washroom to get changed and ready for bed. With the stealth of a ninja, he made his way to the empty futon and got beneath the covers. Ranma cuddled Etta and whispered “good night Mousse, I’m glad you’re here” and went back to sleep.

“Goodnight Ranma” he whispered back and silently apologized to her for what he had to do. Lie. Seduce. Deceive.