Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Memories ❯ Finding Home ( Chapter 1 )

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter One - Finding Home

A young girl sat perched on top of the roof of the orphanage where she had lived for many years. Her long black hair swayed in the breeze and she opened closed eyes to reveal they were violet and shimmering with a yearning. She stared at the sunrise before her and sighed heavily.

"Susie? Where are you? Don't let me find you on the roof again!" said an irritated and old voice from below.

The girl just rolled her eyes and jumped down from her perch, landing neatly in front of the old woman who had just been calling for her, causing the old lady to step back and clutch her chest in shock. She stood up and stared coldly at the woman.

"I told you, my name is NOT Susie! Its Mousse!"

"Don't take that tone with me, young lady! What does a fifteen year old girl like you know about life?" she said, shaking a gnarled finger at Mousse, "Anyone knows that you can't go around with a name like 'Mousse'. To get along in life, you need a real name that people like, maybe even enough to adopt you with!"

"Ha, I don't care what you say! That's the name my mother gave me and I'm gonna keep it forever! I don't care if no one adopts me! I'm better off on my own anyway."

"And what did your mother do to you? She left you behind! She didn't care for you! Why else do you think that you're here?" The old woman said with a snigger of laughter not quite hidden behind her words.

"Shut UP you haggard old crow!" screamed Mousse at the woman. She was hurt by the woman's words and felt ready to fight or run, but she didn't know which one to choose.

"One more word out of you and you'll be put in the hole!" the woman threatened, seething with anger at the child before her.

Mousse pursed her lips and looked away from the woman before her, yet anger still flowed freely through her. She liked nothing more than to irritate Ms. Inaba like any other person, but she hated to stay at anytime in the hole. Cold and dank, it was a cell that sat in the basement of the orphanage, way back in the corner. No one ever cleaned it, so it gradually became dirtier with every use. Rat and roaches lived there strongly and no one wanted to be around those things. Some children there say that it was used as a torture chamber way back in the time of war and it wasn't hard to believe those rumors to be true. Ms. Inaba seemed old enough to have been alive since the Feudal Era.

"Thats what I thought. Now get inside, we have another family visiting. Maybe if you're lucky, they'll choose you and I can be rid of you." Ms. Inaba said with a snarl, turning around and heading into the building behind them. Mousse stared after the old woman as she walked up the steps and slammed the door behind her.

"Thats it," she thought as she stared at the huge brown door that was the entrance to the orphanage, "I'm getting out of here forever. I don't care what anyone says, I'm leaving."

She ran around the orphanage to the back and ran inside the door that was designated for the children. The door lead to a set of stairs that wound in circles until it reached the top floor. This was were the children of the orphanage slept. Mousse quickly maneuvered to her bed and pulled out a bag from beneath it. She began to stuff anything that she could grab into the bag, yet trying to keep quiet and not pull any attention towards her. Her fingers brushed against a can on her shelf, which held every cent that she had earned in the past years. It crashed to the floor, spilling it's contents all over the floor around Mousse. Quickly dropping down to her knees with a stifled curse, Mousse began to hastily pick up the money. But it was too late as the can's crash had awoken the girl in the bed beside Mousse.

"Wha...what's going on?" said the girl, blinking her green eyes, still blurry from sleep. She looked to be about 10 years of age, with short dark blue hair framing her oval face.

"Nothing..just go back to sleep, Kyoko. I didn't mean to wake you from your nap." Mousse said, not daring to look at the girl, and hurried faster to pick up the money.

'Mousse! What are you doing?" Kyoko questioned as she saw the bag, stuffed with numerous items across from her, "You're not leaving are you?"

Mousse didn't bother to look up but shook her head yes.

"So then some one finally adopted you?"

Mousse again, resigned to speak and shook her head no.

"Then how..." Kyoko's eyes widened in shock, "You're not running away, are you?!"

Mousse stood up and stuffed the can holding her money into the bag and began to snatch up other items to stuff in as well.

"YOU ARE, AREN'T YOU? You're gonna run-"

Mousse flipped around and put a hand over top Kyoko's mouth, silencing her before she could finish.

Mousse shushed her with a finger to her lips, taking away her hand from Kyoko's mouth. "Usually when a person runs away, no one's supposed to know about it. And I'd like to keep it that way, if you don't mind!"

Kyoko looked around her before speaking again in a hushed voice towards the packing Mousse, "But you can't run away! What'll Ms. Inaba say?"

Mousse didn't even stop her motions as she answered back, "I don't care about what she thinks! I hate that old crow!"

"Okay then,...what about Master Sousuke? He'll be disappointed to loose his best student. You know that he'll be unhappy to see that you ran away from here."

Mousse paused, a shirt in hand, ready to pack it as well.

"Tell him...I'm sorry that I can't train any more...but I have to leave. I have to find my mother. To find out why she left me behind."

"All kids think that Mousse. How do you think that you're gonna find her? She could be anywhere!"

"I have the papers that she signed to give me away. It has an address where she used to live at. I can start there. She might still be there."

"What if she isn't Mousse? Then what?"

"Then I'll go and try to find her, where ever she may be. I won't stop looking for her. One things for sure, I am NOT coming back here!" Mousse resumed her stuffing and then stopped when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to see Kyoko beside her, holding up a small tin to her.

"Here Mousse, you need this more than me."

Mousse gingerly took the tin from Kyoko and slowly opened it. Inside was the collection of all Kyoko's money. Her eyes widened with shock and she quickly shut the tin and shoved it back into Kyoko's hand.

"I...I...I can't take your money Kyoko! You've spent too much time earning this!"

Kyoko pushed it back to Mousse's hand and stepped back.

"But it's mine to use and I want you to use it. I can always earn more later on. They're be more jobs to do, now that you're leaving." Kyoko smirked, trying hard not to start crying in front of her friend.

Mousse stared down at her for a moment, tears shining in her eyes. Smiling, she quickly hugged Kyoko, saying "I'll miss you so much." Turning away, Mousse grabbed her bag and then ran out of the room and down the stairs without a backwards glance. Kyoko watched her disappear down the stairs and then turned towards Mousse's bed. She quietly straightened the sheets and set things as neat as they could be. She knew another child would come along to take this bed sometime, and she wanted it to be perfect.

Mousse stared at her surroundings. She had quickly left the orphanage and headed towards the train station. The address on the paper was located in Nerima and she was in Nakano. Now, after getting off the train in Nerima, she was stuck a little. She didn't know much about streets or how to locate them. She asked the train station manager where to find a street and he pointed in a direction. After walking around for about ten minutes, Mousse then realized that she stood where the address stated. She looked up to find a small eatery called "Ming's Take Out." She took a deep breath and then entered the café.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Mousse called out into the empty store. She saw no one around and wondered if she had come at a bad time. She was just about to turn and leave when she heard a voice call out from the back.

"Some one there? Wait one moment!"

Seconds later an old man emerged from the back, a smile plastered across his face.

"So..you new take-out girl? You come quick!"

"No..I'm not the new take-out girl. I'm here looking for someone."

"Oh, I see. Who you look for?"

"My mo...a woman. She used to live here. I have an address of hers that leads to here from fifteen years ago."

"Fifteen years, you say? Hmmm... Sorry but I don't know. I've been here for just seven years now. Before that, I bought the store from a young man, who couldn't keep the store going. I don't know who he bought it from."

"Oh, I see." Mousse said dejectedly and then slowly turned around and walked out the door.

The old man followed her to the door and called out to her, "Come back if you want take-out girl job!"

Mousse just waved her hand at the man and walked off down the street. She didn't care what he said, this had been her only hope to find her mother. Now what did she have to go by? Mousse walked on down the streets, turning at a corner whenever she felt like it and just walked. It could have been raining for all she cared. She was so lost in her thoughts and sadness, that as she walked past a fence, she failed to hear the sounds of two people fighting.

"Kisa, I'm gonna get you for that!"

"Nyaa..Yeah, right Shouji! You couldn't hit the side of grand-pa, when he's a panda!"

"Urgh, you...you..I'll get you for that!....Wha...Aaaaaahhhhhh"

At that moment a young boy flew above the head of Mousse and she had only time to look up and see the falling boy, before he made contact with her, crushing her to the cement below and knocking out the both of them. The girl from before came running around the fence, laughing with a big grin on her face that is until she noticed the person underneath Shouji. "Oh, no. Now we're gonna get it! Dad is gonna be pissed!"

Later on, Mousse woke up to find herself inside some one's house and with a huge headache. She sat up from where she had been laying on a futon and looked around. It looked like a nice house. The girl who owned this room must be happy to have it. It was then that the door slid open and woman walked in carrying a tray with tea. She looked close to middle-age yet still had the look of youth around her. Her short dark blue hair reminded Mousse of Kyoko.

"Oh, you're awake! Thought you'd be out longer than that. Taking a knock like that from Shouji's head is something not many people can live up to."

"Yeah, well, I've been training in fighting since I was five, so I'm used to the hard knocks." Mousse said, her head throbbing at the word 'knock'.

"Here, drink this." the woman said holding out a cup to her.

"What is it?"

"Tea to help with the headache. It's a special concoction made by my husband. He's the king of hard knocks I guess you could say."

"Thanks," Mousse said and then gingerly took the cup and sipped it. She nearly gagged at the taste, it was so bitter, but she forced it all down, not wanting to be mean to the lady beside her. Handing her back the cup, Mousse coughed once more from the taste.

"I bet you're hungry. Would you like some food?"

Mousse then realized that she was and her stomach answered for her with a large rumble. The woman just smiled and took her hand, pulling Mousse up from her seat and down the hallway and a flight of stairs to the dining room. At a table sat three children and five adults, four men and a woman. She noticed that one of the kids was the one that had crashed down on top of her. He had brown eyes and when he noticed Mousse was in the room, looked away blushing in embarrassment. He also carried a mop of black hair which was tied back in a pony-tail like the man beside him. A girl sat beside him that Mousse figured as his sister as she needled him with an elbow every so often. She had brown hair down to her waist and blue eyes that danced with a hidden laughter.

The woman motioned for her to sit down at the corner of the table and then sat down herself beside Mousse and next to one of the men. Mousse smiled uneasily as she was surrounded by people she had no idea who they were. Everyone at the table started to eat away at their food and Mousse just picked at the plate before her. It was then that the woman noticed Mousse's uneasiness.

"Is there something wrong with the food?"

"No, its not that. Its just..." Mousse trailed off as she eyed the rest of the people at the table. The woman instantly realized Mousse's situation.

"Oh we haven't introduced ourselves, have we? I'm sorry, It's not usual for us to have company that doesn't already know someone here. Well, I'm Akane Saotome..." she trailed off and looked to the man next to her expectantly. He looked as if he hadn't even noticed her and kept on eating. Her eyes flashed with anger and she elbowed him deeply into the gut. Recoiling from her hit, he was about to complain when he saw the look in her face and straightened himself.

"Ramna Saotome, her husband." He spoke out and then went back to eating from his bowl. Then the whole line of people began to address themselves, lest face the wrath of Akane.

"Shouji Saotome."

"Kisa Saotome."

"Soun Tendo, Akane's father."

"Genma Saotome, Ranma's father."

"Ryoga Hibiki, just a close friend."

"Taka Hibiki."

"Ukyo Hibiki, Ryoga's wife and Taka's mother."

"So now that we've said who we are," Akane said happily, "What's your name?"

Mousse looked around at the faces waiting for an answer and sighed.

"My name's Mousse."

The miso soup that Ranma had been sipping was suddenly turned into a shower over Soun, as Mousse's words had somehow surprised him.

Mousse blinked confused at Ranma, What was wrong with that guy? All she had said was her name.

Akane again gutted Ranma with an elbow and then turned to Mousse. "So your name is Mousse. How nice! Thats not a usual name around here. How did you come to have that name?"

"My mother gave it to me before she gave me up." Mousse said nonchalantly and sipped her miso soup.

Ukyo turned to Mousse, "Gave you up? What do you mean?"

"Just what it sounds like. She gave me up for adoption fifteen years ago and now I'm here to find her."

"How do you know she came from here?" Soun questioned as he picked a mushroom out of his hair.

"Well, I have a piece of paper with an old address of hers on it. It said that it was in Nerima so I came here. It then led me to a small little café called 'Ming's Take-Out' or whatever but that was a dead end. The guy there didn't know anything. Now I'm up the creek."

Mousse took another sip of miso soup, not noticing the reaction. Everyone in the room, except the kids who went on eating, stopped what they were doing and stared in shock at the girl in front of them.

"What?" Mousse said minutes later as she realized it had suddenly gone quiet in the room. What was with these people? Did they freak out over every detail or what!

Ryoga then quickly stood up and coughed once before speaking, "Well, I feel like a bit more training before bed. How about you guys?"

The rest of the men agreed simultaneously and then they were all gone in a heart-beat leaving Akane and Ukyo to deal with Mousse. The three children didn't even seem to realize or care that the men had run out, it was like they were used to it. Akane stared at the door they had vanished through menacingly, cursing under her breath at the men of her family.

"Did I say something wrong?" Mousse questioned, feeling a bit out of place.

Akane quickly turned to her, changing her expression to a smile from anger.

"Oh don't worry about them. Dealing with new people is not their best quality. Eat and run, that's all they know."

"Yeah sugar. Men, well especially our men, have no people skills and would rather fight than talk." Ukyo tried to explain as she relaxed on the floor. "They'll calm down in a while and speak to you sometime."

"If thats what you say." Mousse said as she tried to stifle a yawn. Akane noticed this and mentally hit herself.

"Don't worry about it. You must be tired if you've been traveling since this morning. How about I set up a room for you?" Akane smiled at the girl beside her.

"You'd do that for me? But you hardly even know me!"

"What has that got to do with anything? Besides you're in training for martial arts too, aren't you? As a training dojo for martial arts, we house whomever needs a place to stay."

"If you say so. Thanks." Mousse said and then for the first time, sincerely smiled since she had entered the house.

"Ukyo, could you get the kids ready for bed for me? I know that Taka is going to want to stay the night. Why don't you two stay as well, instead of walking all the way back to the house? Never know if you'll get 'lost' out there at night." Akane questioned Ukyo as she stood up and moved towards the door way, motioning Mousse to follow.

"Sure, I'll get the kids ready for ya, but me and Ryoga are heading back home. Taka can stay here if he wants to so badly. We need a rest from that boy, especially now that we'll be having another soon enough. I just hope that the next one doesn't like to wander like it's father."

"Thanks Ukyo. I really owe you. Now Mousse, follow me upstairs please."

Akane started up the stairs and Mousse followed behind her, hesitantly at first. Akane stopped at a door in the hall and she pulled it open to show a plain and empty room.

"Here we are. I know it's not much, but decorations aren't really our thing. You can stay here as long as you want. Kisa's room is across from you. Shouji's room is next to Kisa's on the left and our room is the last one down the hall. Don't worry about our fathers if they say anything strange to you, they do that time to time. I think they're going senile. Anyway, there's a futon in here..," Akane said as she opened a closet door and rifled through the objects, " And there's some sheets, blankets, and a pillow. If you need anything else, just ask me for it. Oh and the bathroom is down and to the left of the stairs. You know.." Akane paused as she pulled a futon out of the closet, "Its weird, but this was the room Ranma stayed in when he first arrived."

"When he 'first' arrived?"

"Long story...but again don't think you're too much trouble. Everything will be all right. This looks fine to me, so good night."

Akane placed the objects in the center of the floor, smiled at Mousse and then left the room, closing the door behind her.

"This family gets stranger and stranger every minute I'm here." Mousse said as she stared at the door, "Well, I can't say that every things gone bad. I have a place to stay for a while at least. Beats the hell out of living at the orphanage."

Well, there went another of my ideas for another Mousse and Shampoo fic. Seems that I'm on a role. I guess I'm just into the pairing right now, who knows, I could be totally into the Miroku/Sango pairing from InuYasha in a week or two and have three stories about them up here.

Please don't flame just because of the pairing. I don't flame people when they write fics between characters that would have NOTHING to do with each other and I ask you not to do that for me. If you don't have some thing nice or at least helpful to say, then don't say anything at all.

Thanks for reading though and hopefully I will finish both my fics soon.

^_^ (\/) cyancat