Story: Ghost Tendo

Here's a little thing I threw together today and yesterday. Hope you enjoy it.


“Dearest, the mail has arrived!”

Soun Tendo’s head perked up a little at that. He hadn’t heard the postman’s first knock, but by the time he was on his feet he had heard the second. He strolled through the house expecting bills, bills and more bills.

“Here you are, Mister Tendo!” the postman cheerfully said. “Just a postcard today. See you tomorrow!”

A postcard? Whoever could have sent him such a thing? There was a panda for a picture, and as for the other side -

“Hi. Bringing Ranma from China ~ Saotome”

A short and simple message, which was so very like him. As was the sloppy handwriting. So. Ranma was finally coming, was he? At long last… At long, long last their old promise could be fulfilled. At long last his dreams could be brought to life. He could feel the tears drenching his moustache already. Tears of joy that he could not wipe away, for he was gripping the postcard so very tightly in his hands lest it disappear into the ether.

“Is something wrong?” a kindly voice said. Soun lifted his head away from the postcard and stared at a woman, translucent, blue, beautiful, kind and floating in the air. She was of course concerned for what news he might have received, so he shook his head.

“No, nothing is wrong,” he explained. “Ranma is coming. At long last, Ranma Saotome is coming here! We must tell the girls at once!”

His wife gasped and rushed forward to embrace him, only to pass right through his body. Neither of them had ever gotten used to that even after all this time. She hovered around towards his front and smiled warmly at him. “This is wonderful news,” she said. “I think Kasumi is in the kitchen. I shall inform Nabiki immediately, and - Oh dear. Akane won’t be back from her morning run quite yet. I’ll wait in the training hall to tell her, it simply won’t do if she meets her future betrothed or brother-in-law fresh from training!”

“Actually, if Ranma is anything like his father he won’t mind that so much, and might even prefer -” Too late. She had already floated off towards Nabiki’s room. Never mind that for the time being, this was news he could barely afford to keep from his daughters any longer than he had to. He rushed into the kitchen and, indeed, he found Kasumi cutting up a watermelon. The sight of her standing there filled his heart with pride. He remembered the morning after the funeral so well….

<hr>

“Daddy?” a small voice said by the door of his room. “Daddy, there’s a noise in the kitchen.”

He rolled over and felt a lump form in his throat at the lack of warmth and weight on the other side of his body. It felt unreal. Unnatural. It felt - No time to dwell on that for now. His eldest daughter was standing in the doorway warning of a possible intruder.

Soun Tendo took a deep breath and crept down towards the kitchen with his little girl trailing behind. Three times he tried to send her back to her room, but she kept right on sneaking back. The other two were not awake yet, which was all for the better. It was difficult to imagine either Nabiki or Akane staying away from seeing him capture an intruder in their home. Soun peered around the doorway… and fell flat on his face, completely caught off guard by the sight that dwelled within. That eerie glow! That ethereal aura! That dress, that figure! A translucent hand reached for a drawer handle and passed right through it as though it was not there at all.

“Oh, goodness me. How troublesome!” the - no point beating around the bush here - ghost said with an eerily echoing voice. “However am I going to prepare breakfast now?”

“Momma!” Kasumi half yelped and half gasped, and before Soun could even react she was already dashing into the room at full speed with tears in her eyes. The poor little girl dashed right through the ghost of her mother and nearly knocked herself out on the kitchen counter.

“Kasumi!” the ghost cooed. “Oh my! Are you alright?”

“Momma!” Kasumi began to bawl, quite loudly. The ghost attempted to wipe the tears from her little eyes, but to no avail. How torturous it was to watch this sight! To see a mother and her crying daughter, neither able to touch the other! It made the tears begin to well in Soun’s own eyes, but instead he strode into the room and scooped up Kasumi in her arms and dried those tears.

“Soun, what has happened to me?” she asked. The ghost reached out and passed her hand clear through his head even as she attempted to brush his cheek in a sign of affection she had made so many times before. “Why can’t I touch anything?”

“I’m so sorry, my love,” he said. “I’m afraid that you died a few days ago. Your funeral was -”

“Please, don’t say any more!” his wife’s spirit begged. “Oh! This is terrible! I can’t - I can’t even see my little girls grow up. Oh, Kasumi. My eldest. This must be so difficult for you and your sisters. Seeing me again like this, it must break your heart. Here we all are, and I can’t even make you breakfast.”

Kasumi sniffed and wriggled out of Soun’s arms, staring up at the apparition with big wide eyes that Soun would remember until his dying day. A poor choice of words perhaps, but he felt it was true. Particularly for what his little girl said next. “Um… Maybe I can make it if you tell me how.”

<hr>

It looked like there would be a little rain later on, so far as Akane Tendo could tell. It was the sort of day you didn’t really need to look at the sky to tell, as you could feel it coming in the air. It was a good thing that she was almost home then; getting soaked like that wasn’t exactly her idea of a good jogging experience.

“I’m home!” she called, and very nearly ran straight through her mother in the process. If not for her quick reaction time, why, that would’ve been simply rude of her. Not to mention deeply unsettling for both of them. Then again, that smile on mother’s face was just a little bit unsettling.

“No time for training today, I’m afraid!” her mother said with a slight giggle. “Some friends of your father’s are due for a visit, and we absolutely have to have you looking your best.”

Friends of Father? The wheels in the youngest Tendo’s head began to turn and spin, until she let out a weary sigh. “And that friend wouldn’t happen to have a son, would he?”

“Why, Akane! How long have you been precognitive?”

“Mom!” Akane rolled her eyes. “Please stop trying to set me up! It’s getting quite silly!”

“Oh, but Akane!” mother said soothingly. “I know those boys at school aren’t exactly dating material. Come on now, dear. At least give Ranma a try. I understand he’s a martial artist as well…”

A martial artist, eh? She had been needing a new sparring partner. The students at the dojo were nowhere near her level and these days even Kuno was hard pressed to make her break a sweat. Besides which arguing was a futile point. Mother knew her weak points and knew exactly where to press to get her to jump. Her resolve would harden up for anyone else, but under those ghostly eyes Akane’s wilted and waned.

“Alright,” she relented, and her mother did an enthusiastic sort of skip in the air. “I take it you have a dress already picked out?”

“Now that you mention it, there is one outfit I think you’d look positively darling in,” Mother said. “Why, you should even be able to spar with him in it without needing to change your clothes at all.”

Already thought that far ahead, huh? That was her mother, alright. Was it any wonder where Nabiki got it from?

<hr>

So here they were. One happy family, with herself in a kimono, Akane in a dress that was functional yet fashionable (probably picked out by Mom) and Kasumi in her normal clothes because that’s just how she is. Whatever their parents were planning on springing on them it was a big deal. Huge deal, probably. Look at how anxious they were. Look at Daddy holding that postcard like it was a life preserver. The only thing Nabiki knew for certain right now was a name: Ranma. That’s it. No other information was forthcoming. At all.

“Now, I’m sure you girls are wondering what all the fuss is about,” Mother said. “The truth is, we are expecting some guests later on.”

“Indeed we are!” Daddy rather enthusiastically said. Waving that postcard around like an idiot as well. “Back in my training days, I was rather close friends with a fellow martial artist called Genma Saotome. The two of us suffered many hardships together at the hands of our cruel master… But that isn’t important right now. What does matter is that we made a promise to engage our children. Therefore, one of you will marry his son Ranma and together the two of you will help ensure the future of this dojo!”

“A fiance?!” Oh, of course it would be Akane who spoke up first. “We’ve never even met this Ranma person! How can one of us be expected to marry some boy we’ve never even met?”

“Now, dear, we’re not going to rush any of you into this,” Mother reassured as only she could. “That is why you will be meeting with him later today to help determine which of you is most suitable, and then the two of you will have as much time as you need to get to know one another.” The ghostly figure sighed dreamily. “It’s almost inevitable. Love will bloom, for it always triumphs in the end! Such a romantic tale, don’t you think?”

Yes. Because when Nabiki thought of romance, she thought of arranged marriages. Sometimes she was a bit too much of a romantic soul, pardon the inappropriate word choice. Though come to think, that did raise another issue altogether.

“If the Saotomes are staying here, what about you?” she asked. “After all, neither Ranma or his father will be able to see or hear you. It might be a little strange seeing us converse with thin air, won’t it?”

“I had not considered that,” Mother admitted. “But it will be alright. Honestly, girls, there will be plenty of opportunity to converse when they’re not around. Don’t worry about me!”

Nabiki shared a look with her sisters. Of course, out in public they never talked with Mother for exactly this reason. That went without saying! The rumours about the insane Tendo family would be simply horrendous for their reputation. With strangers in the house, would they ever find the time to talk with her? It would surely get terribly lonely for her, especially if Daddy decided to spend a lot of time with his old friend.

Perhaps changing the subject would be the wisest course of action for the moment. This line of thinking was rather more depressing than Nabiki had initially thought it would be.

“Is he cute?” she asked, hoping for at least a little bit of a lighter tone.

“How old is he?” Kasumi inquired, perhaps catching Nabiki’s intention and following suit. “You know how I don’t like younger men.”

“What kind of guy is this Ranma?” they both asked in unison, slightly freaking everyone in the room out with the exact same words and intonation. Themselves included, and apparently Father excluded given the way he was smiling and laughing as he answered the question:

“I haven’t the faintest idea. Never met the boy.”

Three pairs of eyes stared at him across the table, all three thinking the same thing. Four simple words that somehow made them all feel rising frustration. “You’ve never met him.” He’d engaged one of them to a boy that none of them had ever even met.

“Apparently he and his father have just returned from a training journey in China,” Daddy continued. As if that told them anything worth knowing. So he was a martial artist, big deal. Was he an idiot like Kuno, a hothead like Akane, was he good looking and athletic or had his face been rearranged so often he looked like a mutt? Nope. No answers forthcoming. Not even if he was a particularly good martial artist, really. Nothing at all. Absolutely nothing to tell them anything.

“Let go, you old fool!”

All ears perked up at the tremendous clamour at the gate. It sounded like their company - and for one of them, a future husband - had just arrived.

1.     Events proceed rather close to canon…
2.     … Until Akane’s about to have a bath, and her mother warns her about the curse.
3.     … Or until the spar in the dojo, where Akane is a much better martial artist.
4.     Mrs Tendo sees through the curse right away, and tells her family there’s something strange about this girl and the panda.
5.     Ranma can see Mrs Tendo for reasons not yet clear.
6.     Something else