The Journey is the Destination Chapter 6 By poetheather Ranma now has to face something that scared her. How was she going to explain this all to her mother? And was it going to involve seppuku?

Ranma cowered behind Akane when they reached her mother’s house. While it was true that Akane said that her mother knew all about the curse but that didn’t make her any less nervous about the possible consequences of this part of their afternoon. The fact that he was now a she for an indeterminate period of time might just tip the scales back to seppuku and Ranma really didn’t want that. Akane just rolled her eyes at her idiot fiancé and rang the doorbell. “Grow up Ranma, she’s not going to kill you.”

Ranma remained safely behind her fiancé. There were some things that she would rather not endure over seppuku, but they all involved Happosai in one way or another. The redhead was sure that this might result in her death so was naturally scared of her mother. Maybe that stupid panda had a point?

The door opened shortly and there stood Nodoka in her usual kimono. She seemed surprised to see the two of them standing there. Of course that may have had something to do with the fact that her son was in girls clothes with his hair down. “Oh my. Hello Rank… Ranma and Akane. What brings you two here?”

Ranma was busy looking at Akane’s back, afraid of what she might see if she looked into her mother’s eyes, so Akane said, “We need to talk to you Mrs. Saotome.”

“Please, come in.” This was said with a slight bow which the girls returned.

Ranma and Akane entered the house and removed their shoes, putting on some of the guest slippers that were there. Nodoka led the girls to a very traditional style living room and said, ‘I’ll be right back with some tea.”

Akane took that moment to talk to Ranma, who was simply dancing along her last nerve. “Look Baka, stop hiding behind me.”

“I’m not an idiot. Look ‘kane, that seppuku pledge still has me freaked out, okay.” There was no way that Ranma was going to lose this argument, as it was too important.

“Do you even listen to me when I tell you things? That was taken care of before Jusendo, remember? Look, stop being a coward and just deal with this like a man, okay.” Akane was getting much more worked up over this and was having a harder time controlling her own temper. Right now her mallet hand was itching and she just wanted to smack some sense into the redhead.

Ranma just blinked a few times, as if trying to make sure what it was that Akane had said and then looked down at herself and then back up. The tomboy caught the movement, followed the train of thought and then started chuckling, which grew to laughing when Ranma cocked an eyebrow at her questioningly. Ranma started joining in, when what had happened completely registered and she realized why that had been funny.

When Nodoka came in with the tea on a tray, the two girls were just beginning to quiet down. She smiled at her son and asked, “Ranma, did you want some hot water to change back?”

Ranma seemed shocked by how casual her mother was about all of the crazy gender changing that was her curse. Was she really okay with this? She cut her eyes over to Akane and the girl just looked smug. This sort of shook Ranma some, as she came to some sort of realization. Maybe she should just listen to Akane sometimes instead of just believing what she wanted to believe, because otherwise she was no better than Kuno. “Uhm… actually that is kind of why we are here, to talk to you about that.”

“Son, I know about your curse but let me assure you that doesn’t not make you any less manly in my eyes. Yu have always proven your manhood to me and I am satisfied.” Nodoka was calm when she said this and had a sip of her tea. Ranma had grown up to be a wonderful man, a bit odd but still a man you could count on.

Ranma swallowed heavily. She was still afraid it was not going to work out well, but trusted in Akane. “Mom, you might change your mind when you hear this.”

“Ranma, I have seen the truth of who you are and I know about your fight with Saffron. That is very manly in my eyes and little will change that. I am very proud to have you as my son.” Nodoka shook her head slightly. Sometimes her child confused her.

Ranma grumbled quietly, “I hope this don’t change that.”

Akane jumped in, as she could tell that Ranma was beginning to have some troubles. “Actually, part of the reason we came here today is to get your help.”

“My help?” Mrs. Saotome was clearly surprised by that. Her child and his fiancé needed her help?

“Yes. We have a plan going and in order for it to really work the way we hope it to we really need your help to make people believe it.” explained the short haired girl. It was beginning to look like Ranma’s mother was getting intrigued, which would certainly help.

Ranma found her voice again and joined back into the conversation, “Mom, I just want my life to be normal and for me to be able to marry Akane without all the insanity that happened at the last time we tried to get hitched. This plan is the only thing I have been able to come up with to fix the problem.”

Nodoka looked thoughtful. The fact that these two were unable to get married had bothered her. However, she had to admit it was nice seeing them work together for a change. “Alright, what is this plan of yours?”

“…and that’s basically what the plan is.” Ranma blushed some at her mother.

Her mother sat there, obviously digesting what she had just heard from the two girls. This time, between Ranma and Akane, they had filled her in on everything that had happened to her child ever since Genma had spirited the two of them away, to give her an idea of the true scope of the problem. Akane hadn’t quite told her all the details apparently when Ranma had saved her from falling off the cliff and into the ocean. In so many ways, what he had gone through only made him more manly in her eyes. He had endured and survived so much.

Her son, or rather daughter, was looking down, clearly nervous about what was going to be said. She knew now that if she ever said it was time for him to commit seppuku that he would do it. Ranma was truly a man among men, a person with a strong sense of honor and duty. It made her so proud that her child had turned out so honorable despite her husband being an idiot all the time. If only she had been there, would Ranma’s life been less hard?

“Ranma, I am sorry.” Nodoka bowed to her child.

That had been the last thing Ranma had expected to hear. She snapped her head up and her blue eyes bored into her mother. Her mother was sorry?

“I never knew everything you endured since your father took you from me. I had no idea what you were going through or how much of that I inadvertently put you through a well. I will, of course, help you with this plan. It would be dishonorable for me to do anything less.” She bowed again to Ranma, who was still clearly surprised to her words.

The redhead shook her head to clear it, boggled by what he mother was saying. When her thoughts cleared, she smiled in relief and then bowed to her mother. “Thank you mother, you have no idea how much that means to me.”

“Now that you have explained this plan I have a few questions, are you serious about getting married to Akane?”

Both of the teens blushed and looked everywhere but each other or Mrs. Saotome. Ranma swallowed heavily and, almost afraid of this particular response, said faintly, “Yes.”

“Good.”

Now the two teens both snapped their heads up and stared at Ranma’s mother. Their own nervousness about this issue had ill prepared them for that response. They both blurted out, “Good?”

“Well now Ranma, she is still your fiancé, is she not?” Her mother quirked an eyebrow at her daughter.

“She is.” admitted Ranma, still nervous.

“And are you serious about marrying her?” This question was also important to Nodoka.

Ranma blushed again, the tips of her ears glowing. Akane was blushing as well but did notice the quick nod that Ranma gave. Her heart swelled happily and all was right with the world. She couldn’t hold back the smile if she had even tried.

“And this plan isn’t forever?”

Ranma nodded. “Once life has calmed down for a while I want to marry Akane and turn back then. Less chance of a relapse.”

“Then we will just have to make sure this plan works. I do want to see my son marry his beautiful fiancé. And to do that I will help my son be my daughter.”

The three of them turned the discussion to how best to make this plan work, given the huge mountain of problems that faced them. They covered a few of the different ways this could play out and how to ensure things moved smoothly in the direction that was desired. A good bit of time was devoted to the Amazon issue, as they were well aware that was the source f most danger. Nodoka then realized something as they talked. “Ranma, how are you able to avoid the curse changing you back?”

Ranma smiled, just happy that her mother was okay with this. “Well, there are several different ways you could do this. Yesterday I used some of the waterproof soap that I had gotten before from the old ghoul, but it doesn’t last as long as other things. I remembered something else I had gotten and that is what I am using. Let me tell you about…”

* * * * *

“Tadaima!” called out the girls as they arrived home. As they were taking off their shoes, Kasumi called out from the kitchen, “Okaeri. Did you girl’s remember to pick up the vegetables I asked you for this morning?”

Nabiki looked out of the living room and spotted Ranma and Akane. They both looked embarrassed at having forgotten the vegtables. “Sorry nee-chan. We can go now if you want us to.”

Kasumi gave them her third best smile and they put their shoes back on. She came up and handed them a longer shopping list and some cash. “Could you pick up a few more things for me?”

Ranma smiled this time and said, “Sure, nee-chan. No problem.”

Nabiki almost fell over when she heard that. Why the hell was Ranma calling her sister nee-chan? They weren’t related. This whole thing was strange and confusing and it was beginning to make Nabiki crazy. She had to follow them to figure out what was really going on because she was almost certain that it wasn’t vegtables. “Kasumi, I just remembered I have to check on something. I’ll be right back.”

“Please don’t be late for dinner.” called Kasumi from the kitchen.

“I won’t.”

As Nabiki tore out of the house in pursuit of the two girls, Kasumi smiled to herself. Sometimes making her middle sister do things was pretty easy. The girl had such a narrow focus in her way of thinking that Kasumi had long been able to make her sister do what she wanted.

Knowing that her reputation as an information broker was probably on the line, Nabiki did her best to get them back in sight. She caught sight of them as they were entering the market area and she redoubled her speed. Sometimes getting good information required some effort. When they turned into the grocery store, Nabiki hustled to follow.

Watching them was pretty boring overall. They were picking up some vegetables, some more garlic and ginger, more Poccari Sweat for themselves and a small cake for desert. It was when they turned down the feminine hygiene aisle that things began to get surreal again. Nabiki was an aisle over, doing her best to listen in.

“Ranma, could you hand me those tampons?”

“Sure Akane. Here you go.”

“Oh, did you need anymore pads?”

At that question, Nabiki began to go green. Ranma needing feminine products?

“I suppose. Say, do you really like those tampons?”

“They are pretty nice. I definitely like them better than pads.”

“Can I borrow some to try them out? Usually the Panda just stole me some pads and I hadn’t thought about that until now. He wasn’t good at teaching me anything about being a girl.”

Wait, Mr. Saotome had stolen pads for Ranma? When? Where? Why? There was no reason for that since Ranma was a guy. What the hell was going on? This whole thing was making her head hurt and se began rubbing her forehead. Were they under some sort of Amazon memory thingy or had blows to their head or something?

“Sure. I have some that you can borrow.”

Nabiki just stood there and stopped following the girls, this wasn’t getting her anywhere. There had to be some sort of plan. There had to be. Wait, hadn’t one of her minions told her that Akane had almost put Sayuri through a wall? Maybe what Nabiki needed to do was talk to her to find out what had happened? If Akane’s best friend had gotten into a fight with her, surely she would be willing to talk. With a grin, Nabiki dashed out of the store, unaware that she had been noticed.

Ranma shivered. She felt dirty. “I can’t believe that you asked me that? Ick.”

Akane rolled her eyes. “Ranma, you know, if you stay in your girl form long enough it could happen. You might just need those products for real.”

Ranma turned green at that and Akane thought that looked pretty funny in contrast with the girl’s red hair. The redhead squeaked out, “For real?”

Akane took the girl’s hand and tugged her along, trying to get Ranma off a subject that was amusing. They did have other things to do. “Come on Ranma. Let’s get home.”