Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ The Silent Warrior ❯ A Little Reminiscing ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7 A Little Reminiscing

After Ranma's little display after school Tuesday, the Hentai Horde seemed to have gotten a clue, thus ending the morning battles. Wednesday the group had made a public apology in front of the whole school in the courtyard. The girls of the school had cheered after they had finished because now that all the guys wouldn't be after Akane, they were free to stake their claims on them. Strangely, Kuno was no where in sight all day and didn't show up to class. Nabiki had said he was probably still sulking over his defeat yesterday, so most people left it at that.

But unbeknownst by them, Kuno was not sulking over his humiliation when he lost to Ranma, but the humiliation of the way he had been acting for the last couple of years. It seemed that Ranma had either knocked some wires back into place inside his head, or just plain knocked some sense into him. Kuno had finally opened his eyes to the true world around him. He sat in his room and thought about all the things he had done at Furinkan High. From the Shakespearian rambling, to walking around in his kendo outfit, it seemed to him he did nothing but make himself look like a fool the whole time. He had created his own little world within his mind where everything he wished for was rightfully his. He saw himself above other people, as if God himself had chosen him.

But now as he sits and remembers what had went on, he recalled things that his mind had either blocked out or twisted in some strange way to meet his wishes. He remembered the whispers that went on behind his back, the names they called him such as 'idiot', or 'insane'. All of the snickers around him as he ran off at the mouth, and being the butt of many jokes among the gossip line. But then, then he recalls probably the worst act he had committed. He had provoked other men to try and harm a woman, in order to date with her. A woman that he now sees despised him. She told him to his face to 'get lost' and to 'leave her alone'. He had dishonored himself deeply. And it took another man to literally beat the hell out of him for him to see it.

So at his mansion that day, Kuno did not weep for his lose in combat, nor did he weep for his humiliation. No…Tatawaki Kuno wept, because his eyes had been opened, and he has been given a chance to repent. A chance he would not waste.

Thursday and Friday flew by before they knew it, and the scene opens up on the school grounds of Furinkan High. The final bell had rung some minutes ago, and students have been steadily making their way out and to their homes. Ranma and Akane are standing with their friends Hiroshi, Daisuki, Yuka, and Sayori talking to each other.

"So, what are you guys gonna do tomorrow after we get out of school?" Yuka asked the others. Tomorrow was Saturday, thus they only had to attend school for half a day. After then they were free for the weekend.

"Nothin planned here, what about you Daisuki?" Hiroshi says as he elbows his friend in the ribs.

"Nadda. How bout you two?" Daisuki nods towards Ranma and Akane. The two look at each other, then back, and shrug their shoulders.

"Well…how bout we all meet at the ice cream shop. Then we can go catch a movie or something?" Yuka says, looking from one person to the other.

Hiroshi smirks and walks over to Sayori. He reaches up and puts his arm around her shoulder and pulls her close to him. "So how bout it Say-chan. What do you say to a date, Hmm?"

Sayori's right eye begins to twitch and her hands ball up to fist. Suddenly she raises her left foot high, and slams it down on top of Hiroshi's foot. Then she sends her left elbow into his stomach just for good measures.

"YOUCH!! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!" The others sweatdrop as they watch Hiroshi hopping around the yard on one foot and holding his gut at the same time.

"Hmph" Sayori turns away from the bouncing boy and sticks her nose in the air.

Yuka turns to Daisuki and raises an eyebrow. "Would you like to try, Hmm?"

Daisuki immediately throws is hands up and waves them back in forth in front of him quickly. "No! no! no! I'm cool! Don't worry bout me!" He tries to laugh to hide his fright as he still backs up.

Sayori and Yuka both roll there eyes and turn the other two people present. "So how bout it guys? Say 5 pm?" Yuka asks.

"I can make it." Ranma nods his head. He had been to the shop they were talking about yesterday. Akane had taken him there when she had felt like having some ice cream.

"Sure, I'll be there." Akane says towards the two girls.

"Great!" Yuka says, "We'll get these two bakas there also." She says holding her thumb over here shoulder towards the still nervous Daisuki and the now pouting Hiroshi.

"Okay, well I'll see you all tomorrow then." Says Akane as she begins walking off towards home. They all exchange 'goodbyes' and head in their respective directions.

~Midnight, Saotome Dojo~

Nodoka quietly walked down the hall towards her son's room. She had done this every night since he had gotten back. She would just stand at the door and watch him sleep, glad that he was finally back with her. She didn't know what, but something was just so calming to a mother when they watch their child sleep. Whether it was to watch an infant to just be sure that their still breathing and safe, or watching their teenager while wondering where all the years went.

So here she was in front of her child's door, reaching for the handle. But as she starts to open he door, she immediately feels that something is wrong. She peers over towards her son's futon, and her brow furrows. 'That's odd; he's slept so peacefully the other nights…' She was right, all the other nights Ranma hand nary moved a muscle all night, with an exception of the rise and fall of his chest. Now, Ranma's covers were thrown off of him, and he was wrapped up in his sheet.

Suddenly, Ranma speaks in an urgent tone. "NO!" It wasn't too loud, but loud enough to pull at his mother's heart. Ranma's arms begin to twitch and his head began to move from side to side. Moment's later he turns on his side and pulls himself into a fetal position and starts mumbling something over and over.

Nodoka snaps out of her stupor as she hears him mumbling, and she kneels at the side of his head and lowers her ear. "Get away…Get away! Help me father…please get em off, get em off! Father! Father!" Nodoka is in tears now as she continues to listen intently. Then she heard something the wrenched at her heart, and mad her cry even harder. "M…Mother…please help me, let me out. I'll…I'll be good…" He trails off as tears make their way down his cheeks. "Mother…"

Nodoka can't take it anymore and she reaches for her child. She carefully picks him up as best as she can and sets him in her lap. She rocks him back and forth, while stroking his hair. "Its okay Ranma, mother's here. Dry your tears now, nothing is going to happen. Come on, come on." She whispers into his hear. It seems to calm him down a little as his body relaxes. Suddenly, Ranma jerks awake with a gasp. His head shoots up and quickly turns from left to right. His eyes settle on his mother. "Its okay son, it's just me. Just relax." Nodoka reaches up and puts her hand on the back of her son's head. She pulls him down so his head is resting just below her chin. She idly runs her hand through his hair. "Please Ranma, tell me what that was all about." She says in a soothing tone.

Ranma is staring off into the darkness. "It's…its nothing mom, don't worry about it. I'll be alright." He says to her, wiping his hand across his face and sniffing. He feels his mother stop moving and he looks up into her eyes.

"Ranma…something 'had' to happen to cause you such dreams. Now, holding them inside and not talking about them will only make them worse. Please…please son talk to me. That is what I'm here for." She says as she feels tears well up in her eyes. 'I was never there for him, never when he needed me. God I'm surprised he doesn't hate me…' She bows her head in shame at that thought. 'I should have been there for him…' Suddenly she feels arms go around her and she looks up.

Ranma hesitantly hugged his mother. "A…alight mom, I'll tell you a little, but it's a long story." He sees his mother nod and so he begins. "Well, it was when I was five…"

Thirty minutes later, Ranma has finished telling his mother about the Cat-fist training. His mother is holding him to her chest and bawling her eyes out on his shoulder. "Oh my poor, poor son. How could he do such a thing? I should have never let him take you. My mother had told me he would end up getting your killed. I should have listened to her. But no, I was a fool and thought he would be responsible enough. Oh Ranma please forgive me! Please!" she continues to hold him tight.

"Don't worry mom, I never blamed anything he did to me on you. There are many, many other things he did to me, but…but I'm just not ready to talk about them yet, ok?" He strokes his mother's back to try and calm her down.

"Okay, But Ranma…please, when you feel comfortable with it, please come and talk to me. I want to make up for the ten years I missed out on being your mother. Please talk to me." Nodoka pleads with her son. He nods to her and smiles.

A few minutes passed and suddenly Ranma's mother looked up to him. "Ranma…you said that the training made your afraid of cats. Are your still afraid of them?" That could be a problem if he was. Tokyo had many strays that ran wild through the streets. She didn't want her son going crazy at every turn.

"No mother, about a year after I was trained in the Cat-fist, pop and I came to a small, secluded shrine in the middle of a forest. For that first year, I couldn't get within Thirty feet of a cat with out going catatonic, pardon the pun. Anyway, there was an old man there by the name of Chow Yan…

~Flashback~

We see a six year old Ranma following his father down a dirt path. They had been walking all day and the sun would soon set. They needed to find a place to camp for the night before nightfall. Suddenly they cleared the top of a small hill and could see a clearing up ahead. As they got closer, they could see on the far side of the clearing, a small shrine.

"Boy, lets see if we can rest there for awhile. Come on." Genma says over his shoulder.

Ranma just quietly follows.

As they reach the door to the shrine, it opens up before they get a chance to knock. Genma was startled for a second until he saw the elderly man on the other side.

"Hello travelers. You seek shelter for the night, ne?" The old man says.

Genma blinks and smiles. "If you wouldn't mind kind sir. Umm…perhaps we could have a meal also? My boy and I haven't eaten for awhile now."

The old man peers at the child behind the fat man and raises an eyebrow. "Certainly, come in. I'll show you to one of the guest rooms…" He says as he turns to walk towards the building.

Soon Genma and Ranma are settled into the small room and now all of them were at the dinner table. Throughout the meal the old man continued to stare and chiba-Ranma, while Ranma mostly kept his head down as he was feeling very shy under the man's scrutiny.

Now they are sitting around a fireplace. The old man in is not in the room at the moment and Genma is looking around the room, most likely pricing everything and seeing what would be worth enough to steal. Ranma is just sitting and staring at the fire.

They both turn as they sense the old man enter the room. He has one hand behind his back. "So young Ranma, tell me, what do you feel when you see this?" The old man pulls his hand out from behind his back, revealing a small calico cat.

"Meow" it says with wide, curious eyes.

"GUAAAHHHH! GET IT AWAY, GET IT AWAY" Ranma is scrambling up the opposite wall in a vain attempt to get as far away as possible.

The old man quickly 'Shoos' the cat away and turns back to the boy. He waits for him to calm down, then he speaks. "Ranma, let me tell you someone about myself. I am a psychic. That was how I was able to know what was troubling you so much. I have developed techniques that involve 'purifying' the mind, and I believe I might be able to help you. Please, sit." The old man gestures to a chair. They all sit.

"You mean you can cure the boy of his fear of cats?" Genma says, getting excited.

"Possibly. I'll need to hear how he acquired the fear first though." Says the old man.

After the story, the man is staring at Genma. "I should fry your brain and make you into a vegetable. What the hell ever possessed you to do that to a child?"

"Hmmph. The boy should be prepared to sacrifice his life for the Art." Genma says matter of factly.

Five hours later he woke up outside the gate with his backpack and a note telling to come back in a month for Ranma, and he would be cured. It said if he tried to sneak in, then next time the old man would make sure he wouldn't wake up. Genma crumpled the not and started cursing as he picked up his pack and began walking off. "Damn, what a headache…" He mumbled.

Back inside, Ranma is sitting cross legged across from the man, now known to him as Yan-sensei. "Well Ranma, this will go much faster since you already know how to find your center. I must say I'm quite impressed that one so young can do that.

Ranma smiles to his new teacher and nods.

"Well, lets us begin. Start by finding your center. Block out everything but my voice. Now I'm going to place my palms on your forehead, so just relax. Good. Now breath deep." Yan-sensei says. A minute or two later he continues. "Now, I'm going to find the tainted part of your mind Ranma. When I do, you will have to face it. To overcome one's fear, one must face it head on."

Ranma nods. Five minutes later, he's shivering and crying from the internal battle he is facing. Half an hour later he finally gives in and falls to the ground, whimpering and shivering. Yan-sensei does is best to calm the boy down.

When Ranma is under control again, he looks up to his teacher and bows. "I'm sorry sensei, I'll try again."

"Nonsense son, you did amazing for your first try. For now let's get some rest. We will continue tomorrow. Do not worry. It will come to you…" his voice trails off as they walk down the hall.

One week later Ranma had successfully beaten his fear. He now could hold and pet a the small calico cat Yan-sensei owned like any other person could. Now that he was over his fear, he found that the Cat-fist abilities were now consciously available to him. He spent the other three weeks perfecting the use of his Chi claws, and worked on his newfound balance, speed, agility, and senses. He learned to use his hearing to enhance his abilities at sensing people around him. Increased smell was used for hunting and other minor jobs. By the time Genma had gotten back on the thirtieth day, Ranma had mastered the Cat-fist.

~End Flashback~

"And so, according to most the people I've talked to that knows anything at all about he history of the Cat-fist, I'm not only one of the few that actually survived the training, I'm supposedly the only one in 300 years to master it." Ranma says, finishing up his story. It was now around 2 am and he was getting quite tired. By the looks of it, so was his mother.

Nodoka gets up and walks over to where her son had been sitting as he told his tale. She kneeled in front of him and tightly embraced him. "Ranma…I'm so very proud of you. To go through all that you did, not to mention the other incidents you said happened, and still come out such a magnificent man shows me what a beautiful soul you have. Please forgive me for being a fool ten years ago." She tightens her embrace as she feels him return it.

"I forgive your mom, don't worry about it. I'll…tell you the rest when I can come to terms with it." Ranma says. "Anyway, Its getting late and I have to go to school tomorrow so, G'night mom." He gives her a kiss on the cheek and smiles at her.

"Good night, my son." She says as she kissed him on the forehead. She rises and leaves the room. Ranma settles back into bed, feeling like a great weight had been lifted off his chest. 'Now if I could just get around to telling her about the other stuff.' He thought. 'Stupid pop…' he thinks, as he drifts off to a dreamless sleep.

Outside, Nodoka heads back to her room. She enters and just stands there glaring at her husband. Minutes pass as finally she comes to a decision. She walks over to her dresser and kneels before it. She quietly opens the bottom drawer and moves all the clothes onto the floor. She reaches inside and retrieves the item that was hidden there. 'I was a fool ten years ago,' she thinks as she places the clothes back and closes the drawer. She stands up holding the item. 'But now I see how precious my son is to me.' She carefully unwraps the silk bundle and lets the fabric lie limply across her arm. 'And nothing shall make him suffer again…' Light catches briefly on the item. And in her hand, finely polished and cared for…is the Saotome honor blade…

Author notes:

<DUM, DUM, DUM>… oh boy, little cliffhanger there. What's gonna come up next? Is Nodoka gonna sit Genma down for a little talk…or is she gonna go medieval on his ass. ( O_o )

Well folks, there ya go, a little look into Mr. Soatome's past. Later on I'll be jumping back to give ya glimpses of other events too, so don't worry.

Oh and…KUNO GOT A CLUE!! My gosh Lucifer is gonna be ice skatin tonight! They might have to turn up the heater down there. Yup, I think I'll make Kuno into a pretty descent guy, or maybe not, I donno, keep reading to see! ^_^

Anyway another chapter will be on its way soon, so keep checkin in.

Thx

Eternal Flame