It Wasn't A Dream Part 4? --------------------- Nodoka was very nervous nearing her destination. This was where her husband and son were to truly end their training trip. She had thought they would've stopped home first, but all she recieved since the trip to China were letters from Genma saying that they had extended the trip a little longer. Nodoka would have remained home, but she had recently found out the return address on those letters belonged to the home of Genma's old friend, Soun. The same old friend whose family her husband had promised her son would join with. Nodoka looked at the address she had and continued down the street. When she came to the end of the block she dropped the paper in her hand. Her mouth was agape when she read the signs on the wall, [Saotome-Tendo] [Dojo - Home.] Nodoka thought and rushed past the front gate and knocked at the door. When no one immediately answered she was tempted to enter the house anyway. The door opened and the Saotome matriarch saw a girl with long, frazzeled hair and looked at her with eyes that seemed to not have seen any sleep in weeks. "Can I help you?" the girl asked in a lethargic tone. "Yes. Is Saotome Ranma here? Or his father, Genma?" Nodoka asked. The girl's brows flattened a little. "What do you want with...." The girl was interrupted by the piercing scream of a baby. She sagged and sighed. "Kasumi, can you handle the door?" Before any reply was made the girl dashed up the stairs. Nodoka wondered what was going on with that girl. It was short lived when she realized what the girl was going to say indicated her family was here. A moment later a young woman entered the foyer while drying her hands on an apron. "Hello, is there something I can do for you?" "Hello. I was wondering if Saotome Ranma or Genma are here?" Nodoka was leaning towards Kasumi while looking at her with wide, pleading eyes. "They aren't here at the moment. Either of them should be back momentarily," Kasumi answered her. "Would you like to come in and have some tea while waiting for them?" "They're here... They are really here," Nodoka said gleefully to herself. She shook her head and tried to regain control. "Um, yes thank you. It's been such a long time since I've seen them, I'm finding it hard to believe that I'll be able to see them." "When was the last time you saw them?" Kasumi asked, guiding her guest towards the main room. "Twelve years ago," Nodoka said sadly. "I've been waiting for them to finish the training trip, but Genma kept on delaying their return." Kasumi looked at her funny, and then her eyes flashed sightly and she blushed. "Oh, my. We forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm Tendo Kasumi." She poured two cups of tea and gave one to her guest. "Oh, yes. Sorry, I got a bit excited." Nodoka flushed in embarassment as well. "I'm Saotome Nodoka, Ranma's mother." She accepted the cup of tea, and drank a little. Kasumi stared at Nodoka, her mouth slightly agape. "His... mother? I was under the impression you were dead." "Why is that?" Nodoka asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, it's just that when we asked Ranma about, um, you, he didn't remember much and that he thought you were dead." Kasumi eyed the end of Nodoka's kimono just to make sure the woman she was talking to was alive and not a ghost. Not that it probably mattered, but the lady had feet so she wasn't a spirit. Nodoka's brows flatten. "And Genma didn't correct that?" Kasumi shook her head. "I see." Nodoka mentally added that to the list of things to talk to her husband about. She wasn't too anguious to talk about her husband considering he left her alone for over a decade. "Kasumi-san, what can you tell me about Ranma?" Kasumi hestitated for a moment. "It's not really my place to tell you much about him. Right now he's trying to get a work permit so he can start teaching kenpo here." "So he's a good martial artist?" "He's a master." Nodoka smiled with pride. She was about to ask another question when the girl that answered the door entered the room holding a newborn infant. "Finally got her to sleep, and then she soils her diaper. She couldn't do that _before_ then, could she," the girl mumbled to herself. She sat down at the table. "Um, Akane, I'd like you to meet Nodoka, Ranma's mother," Kasumi said. Akane blinked at the copper-haired woman. She suddenly realized the obvious family relations considering the lady's appearance looked a lot like Ranma's cursed form. Akane didn't know how to deal with meeting the Saotome matriarch. "Ung... ahh, hello." Kasumi shut her eyes for a moment. "Nodoka, I'd like you to meet Saotome Akane... your daughter-in-law." Nodoka's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She stared at Akane in wonder, her eyes taking in every detail and stopping at the baby in her arms. "That wouldn't be...." Akane raised the baby a little. "Saotome Kimiko, your granddaughter." Nodoka colapsed onto the floor. "My, she took that better than I thought." Akane looked at Kasumi strangely. ---------------- Nodoka opened her eyes and saw Kasumi applying a wet cloth to her forehead with practiced ease. "Oh, you're awake," Kasumi said, backing away. Nodoka didn't know what to make of what she remembered. It seemed like a dream. She had found where her son was living and discovered he was married and a father. That couldn't happen yet, Ranma was only sixteen and her husband would've told her. The Saotome matriarch sat up and saw Akane sitting off to the side of the room. Her daughter-in-law was breast feeding her grandchild. She almost passed out again. Nodoka approached the pair nervously. "How old is she?" Nodoka asked. Akane looked up at her. "Just over three weeks." "Three weeks... My thirty-third birthday was two weeks ago... I was a grandmother at thirty-two and my husband didn't tell me," Nodoka whispered in disbelief. "You had Ranma at sixteen?" Akane asked. Nodoka nodded. "Yes." "Did you marry Genma before or after conception?" Nodoka didn't say anything for a moment. "After." Kasumi stood up. "I think I should get back to preparing dinner." Nodoka couldn't take her eyes of her granddaughter. "So, tell me, how did you meet Ranma?" "Oyaji... ah, I mean your husband, brought Ranma here as part of the engagement he arranged with my father." Nodoka nodded. "When was that?" "Right after their trip through China." Nodoka blinked. The trip to China was about ten or eleven months ago, something didn't seem right. "Akane, how long did you know Ranma before sleeping with him?" Akane looked down at her daughter and repositioned her onto the other breast. "I'd rather not say." "Dear, you're my daughter now and I want to know what happened when you met my son." Akane gulped. "It was a strange day. Things happened so fast. When I first saw him I thought everything was a dream. I accidentily walked in on him in the bath and we didn't leave until several minutes later. For a long time I regreted what happened. I'm still trying to understand what possessed me to do what I did." "Have you ever had sex with anyone besides my son?" Nodoka asked in an accusing voice. Akane looked at her mother-in-law with a flat glare. "I've only had sex with Ranma. What happened that day was because I thought I was dreaming at the time. That was the ONLY time I had ever been that stupid."