Remembering

By: Missfortune

See part 1: Drunkard's Revenge for disclaimers and notes.

"Ranma tell me about what happened after you left." Ryouga requested.

Ranma got a faraway look in his eyes. "I didn't even know we were leaving. I just woke up one morning and Kasumi and Tofu were bringing me to a new life. They had been having this cottage for a long time and head always planned on coming out here. I was easily added to their plans and I was the one who eventually spurred them into leaving. They thought it was best to get me out of Nerima before anything else happened. And so we came here.

Kasumi and Tofu began to teach me the ways of their craft and I've become quite an accomplished magic worker. I still trained some during the pregnancy but only enough for exercises' sake. The arts kind of lost their purpose out here. There is no one to fight no danger of being killed by some crazy fiancée or rival. So my fighting has probably slipped. Tofu tries to keep me on my toes, but I have other things to worry about now.

The day the twins were born, I was sitting in the garden reading an old scroll that Kasumi had lent me, when I began to have these incredible pains. I cried out really loud and Kasumi was at my side in an instant and Tofu wasn't too far behind. They told me I was going into labor and I was really scared. They'd taught me all the things I would need to know for the birth but it was still frightening. They turned me into a girl and sat me through five hours of intense labor.

I was cursing you the whole time. Cursing the day I met you. Cursing the day I fell in love with you. Cursing you for getting me pregnant. Everything," Ranma said as tears began to roll down his cheeks at the memories.

Ryouga pulled Ranma from the chair down onto the floor into his lap. He hugged Ranma tightly as he relived all the pain. Both mental and physical.

"God Ryouga it was the single most painful experience of my life! I felt like I was being torn apart. But it was worth it. Because when it was all over, I had the two most beautiful babies in the world." Ranma said.

"They looked so much like you that sometimes it hurt. Those little fangs. And Ryushi learned how to use your eyes to his advantage. And Riona is the sweetest little girl I could ever ask for. A little girl Ryouga, with my eyes. And sometimes I'd look at them and see you staring back at me and it hurt so much. But I loved them so much. And as they grew up, I could see you in them. The little lost look they sometimes got. They're not as bad as you are, but sometimes they just can't find their way and they get so frustrated."

Ryouga smiled as Ranma went on to describe the children. He could tell that Ranma loved them. The look in his eyes when he talked about them, gave it all away. But it also made Ryouga sad. Sad that he hadn't been there, that he'd missed all those things, like their first steps, first words, their birth and all their birthdays. He regretted it so much.

TBC...

Go to Part 9