Ranma lay awake in bed just holding Nabiki quietly. The girl's breath came deeply and evenly in his arms, pressing up against him as she inhaled. Releasing a hot, gentle breath that trickled over his face as she exhaled.
He could feel the strong rhythmic beat of her heart through the thin barrier of her t-shirt and bra. There were flashes of heat below, where there legs touched and had entwined the night before. Nabiki was certainly correct when she said that another person was better than an electric blanket.
Nabiki didn't wake up easily or early unless she forced herself to. Nabiki made it a habit to force herself practically all the time. As a result she almost never gave the impression of having rested in the morning, hair going anywhere, eyes blurry and blinking.
In Nerima she had used an alarm clock, now she tended to wake up when Ranma did. Feeling him, or Midori move, tended to bring her conscious enough to go about the day.
Ranma had decided to let her sleep herself out for once. She'd probably be upset with him later, but she deserved a rest for once.
He cautiously, very cautiously, reached a hand up to stroke her hair. He had seen hair that was naturally green, blue, purple, pink, white and, of course, red. Nabiki's brown would probably seem very tame to most people by comparison. He didn't think so, at least not any more. Maybe it was just, after all those many varied and bright colors, that brown and black seemed quite exotic.
He thought about what had happened last night. They'd woken up in each other's arms...and then had gone back to sleep like that, with discussion about talking later. But Nabiki had been the one to suggest going ahead and sleeping together, really together. Which was how he was able to enjoy her presence right now.
Ranma glanced at the clock, it was almost ten o'clock in the morning. Nabiki was going to be really upset when she finally woke up. He should be training himself, but if he moved to much, she woke up.
He sighed and leaned his face forward to kiss her forehead. Then he heard the door creak open. His daughter's violet maned head peeked into the room.
"Daddy?" she asked quietly. "Will you p'actice today?"
"Sshh," Ranma said quickly. "Mommy's asleep."
"No she's not," Nabiki answered. Ranma's face flushed, wondering how long she'd been awake. Nabiki sat up and looked at the clock with a blank expression. "Ranma, practically the whole morning is gone. Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Errr..." Ranma sweatdropped.
"Daddy..." Midori said insistantly, comming over to grab Ranma's hand.
"Never mind," Nabiki said. "Midori wants to watch her daddy train, you go do that, I'll salvage what I can this morning."
"Yeah, Daddy," Midori insisted tugging at him.
"Sorry," Ranma sighed. He had expected this reaction after all.
He watched her face to see any sign of something to indicate whether she was awake when he kissed her or not. Nabiki's face seemed rather sleepy still, though not as much as usual when she woke up, and she seemed to be holding something back. But he couldn't tell whether it was her temper or something else, or why she was holding it back.
"Go play with your daughter," Nabiki said, breaking into a gentle smile. Ranma left the room a little later with his daughter leading the way.
Nabiki caught her breath as he left and her hand reached up to her forehead.
"Wow," Megumi said as she sat down next to Nabiki and watched Ranma in the small backward running a kata. Her morning classes were over and so she had a couple of hours before the next class. "He's something else."
"That he is," Nabiki said, looking up from the want ads of the paper and glancing toward Ranma for a moment. The expression didn't change much from Nabiki's normal amused face, but Megumi recognized the look in her eyes from watching Belldandy and Keiichi. Strangely enough it also had a trace of uncertainty to it.
Megumi noticed Midori off to the side, trying to copy her father's motions. She looked at the little Chinese girl for a moment, uncomfortable with what she was going to ask.
"Uh, before I put my foot in my mouth," Megumi said, whispering. "Should I avoid the topic of Midori's father around you and Ranma?"
Nabiki's expression became the knowing, slightly superior smirk that she had worn while watching Ranma finish that basketball game.
"Too late," she said, amusedly. "Ranma's the father, I'm her stepmother."
"Oh!" Megumi gasped. "Sorry. I...uh...well, sorry. I just assumed."
"But you might not want to ask about the mother," Nabiki continued, turning serious. "She was somebody Ranma encountered in China before we knew each other. She died and responsibility fell out of the blue on Ranma."
It was the same explanation she had come up with for the fiancees and had stuck with whenever Midori's Chinese appearance became an issue.
"Oh," Megumi said, a little sadly. "I see. So...uh...anyway, find any likely jobs yet?"
"There's a few restaurants hiring waitresses," Nabiki said. "That'll be good for a start. Better than hustling jocks."
"Why not give martial arts lessons," Megumi asked, looking again to Ranma and hoping Nabiki didn't get upset at her admiration of his form. "I'll bet Ranma would be great at that."
"Ranma will only teach privately at the moment," she said simply. "Anyway, between us, something will turn up. It always does." She said that with absolute certainty.
"I hope so," Megumi said. "If we break lease, we're in real trouble."
"Don't worry about that," Nabiki said smirking. "We said we'd help you with this, so we'll help you."
"Glad to hear it," Megumi said. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I saw Belldandy on Campus. She and Keiichi have a free hour coming up and said they'd like to talk to you about something."
"Oh," Nabiki said, hiding her enthusiasm for that very well. "That's good to hear, been a while since we've had anyone to talk to for very long."
"Yeah, being on the road and all," Megumi agreed, shivering as she considered the life they must have led so far.
Nabiki turned back to Ranma, who was glancing their direction. Most likely he'd heard the entire conversation, his hearing was good enough. She watched him for a few moments with a faint smile before turning back to Megumi to continue polite chit chat while reading the want ads.
"Good afternoon, Nabiki, Ranma," Belldandy said as they approached her, Skuld and Keiichi. She angled her gaze down to look at Midori. "And hello, Midori-chan."
"Hello," Nabiki answered, sitting down at the small picnic table.
"Yeah, hello," Ranma said. "Maybe you can answer a few questions for us." Nabiki sighed and shook her head, glancing at the unsubtle Ranma. "What?"
"Hello, Belle-san," Midori sang back waving vigorously.
Ranma and Nabiki noted that with some relief, Midori had good instincts about people. If she thought Belldandy was okay then it confirmed their own opinions of her.
"Hello," Keiichi said from next to Belldandy.
He watched them cautiously, half-afraid this could be another recall order type thing. The time he'd spent with Ranma and Nabiki the other day suggested otherwise but the worry remained.
"What it be okay if Skuld watches your daughter at the playscape while we talk?" Belldandy asked. Nabiki and Ranma glanced in that direction and exchanged a look, apparently coming to a decision they turned back to Belldandy.
"That should be fine," Nabiki said, while Ranma adjusted his seat so that he could keep an eye on the playground as well.
"Why do I get stuck babysitting?" Skuld asked.
"Can I go on the swings, Daddy?" Midori asked excitedly.
"No," Ranma said. "Maybe when you're older."
"I'm older now," Midori protested turning to Nabiki.
"You think I'll go easier than your father?" Nabiki asked, arching an eyebrow.
"No fair," Midori said.
"You're too little for the swings anyway," Skuld said. "Come on, let's get this over with."
"No fair," Midori repeated as she walked off.
"Now, as Ranma said," Nabiki reminded them. "There are questions we could ask of you."
"First, do you mind if I tell you what I know of your life?" Belldandy asked.
"Sure," Nabiki said. If she wanted to play her hand out early, far be it from Nabiki to stop her.
"You are Nabiki, Goddess of Provision; Ranma, God of Change; and Midori, Goddess of Rebirth," Belldandy said. "On your second day of divinity you, Nabiki, with help from your step-daughter, healed a tormented soul while Ranma placed a divine curse upon a girl that both punished her and encouraged her to redeem herself."
Nabiki and Ranma sat there stunned speechless.
"How did you know about that?" Nabiki asked faintly. Belldandy smiled sunnily.
"Heaven knows all," Belldandy said. "Though Kami-sama tends to limit our access to that knowledge. At any rate, since then, without any training on how to do things, the three of you have collectively turned around the lives of more than sixty people for the better, including preventing six suicides, two murders and other assorted forms of violence."
"Wow," Keiichi said. "That's impressive."
"Yes," Belldandy said. "Though perhaps they could have done it without hustling the athletes at colleges, gyms, and the like. Or the plethora of assorted confidence games. Or, in one case, outright blackmail." Keiichi facefaulted.
"Life is hard when you refuse to claim a family," Nabiki said. "And he deserved it." Belldandy nodded.
"You have also left behind a string of promises," Belldandy noted.
"We're keepin' em," Ranma insisted. Nabiki nodded.
"If there's one thing I learned," Nabiki said. "Always keep your promises."
They were both still fairly shocked by the amount of information Belldandy had on them.
"It's just as well that that's Heaven's attitude as well," Belldandy said smiling. Ranma and Nabiki winced.
"Okay," Nabiki said. "Assume this god deal is correct, can you explain why we've been having such a hard time living the past year if we're supposed to be deities?"
"Have you really?" Belldandy asked. "Have you not, every time, known what was needed, adapted to acquire it, and never truly last faith?" She looked from Nabiki to Ranma to Midori pointedly.
"I've always been good at handling things," Nabiki said. "And adaptivity is the corner stone of Ranma's martial arts style. As for Midori, why WOULDN'T anyone do everything they can for their child." Belldandy smiled again. Nabiki wished she wouldn't do that, it sort of reminded her of Kasumi a little.
"If we're gods, what's he?" Ranma asked looking at Keiichi. "He's got a strong aura, but it's human, and he don't move like a martial artist."
"Oh, Keiichi is my boyfriend," Belldandy said.
"It's a long story," Keiichi said wearily. "Look, is there anything we could do to prove to you that you're gods?"
"I don't know," Nabiki said. "A full eclipse followed by red lightning bolts tumbling down out of a cloudless sky and sky-writing the number 42 across the sky written out in fifteen seperate alphabets and forty lanugages?"
"Would you settle for a brief trip to Heaven?" Belldandy asked.
"That almost sounds like a threat," Ranma said. "Usually people say they're gonna send me to hell though."
"You probably don't want to go there," Keiichi said. "Demons aren't exactly the best people to hang around."
"I don't suppose they would be," Nabiki said. "Now what's this about a trip to Heaven?"
"You have some paperwork to fill," Belldandy explained. "And Kami-sama would like to speak to you. After that you shall be back here again. As I said, you have a number of promises to keep."
"And how would we get to heaven?" Ranma asked.
"If you would call your daughter over," Belldandy asked. "I'll show you." Ranma and Nabiki frowned for a moment. All their instincts said to trust the woman, and their instincts were rarely wrong, but they hesitated. "Or rather, Skuld will show you."
"I'll go first," Ranma said. "Midori, come over here." Midori blinked, surprised and looked to the sand castle she had been building. Small seedlings were beginning to appear to break the surface of the sand around her in the public sandbox.
"But I'm not finished," she said. She sighed, and stood up, following an irritable looking Skuld back to the table the adults were sitting at. "Daddy, please?"
"Not just yet," Ranma said.
"Okay," Nabiki said, waiting for them to call a taxi or something otherwise mundane that would prove how crazy they were, or disprove this thing that was upturning what she believed about life. "How do we get to Heaven?"
"Ranma's transport medium is water," Belldandy said. "That means that he can travel between places through pools of water. I can do the same with mirrors. Your medium is telephones, and Midori's is music."
Belldandy poured water into a small bowl.
"Skuld, if you would please?" Belldandy said.
"Okay, okay," Skuld muttered. "Now pay attention! Because I'm only showing you once!" She grabbed Ranma's hand and jumped towards the table.
"Hey!" Ranma said. "What are doing? You're gonna knock over..." Then a hole or gate appeared in the bowl of Ranma as a light irised out of it and Ranma and Skuld vanished.
"RANMA!" Nabiki's eyes widened dramatically. Midori clapped and laughed at the sight, not quite aware of anything necessarily bad about her daddy disappearing into a flash of light. As long as he came back anyway.
Nabiki glanced up to Belldandy nervously now that her husband and defender was apparently gone.
"Do not fear," Belldandy said. "He should be back soon." Somehow, Nabiki believed her and did feel relieved.
"So," Skuld said, questioningly. "Did you catch that? Or do I have to show you again?"
Ranma jerked his hand out from her's as soon as they appeared in a courtyard around a fountain. A large number of people like him, Nabiki and Midori were walking around, not evening batting an eye at their strange, to Ranma, appearance. He had, however, noted how the little girl in front of him twisted her aura to create the gate through the water.
"Yeah," Ranma said. "I got it, how do I make it go where I want?"
"All you have to do," Skuld said slowly, word by word. "Is think about where you want to go."
"Fine," Ranma said, glancing around nervously at the huge courtyard around him.
It defied description. The sky extended clear blue forever, but it seemed to be day and night all at once. There was no moon or sun that he could see, and it seemed that the blue would shift to a dark midnight and back to blue with little more than a twist of thought.
The ground looked like some science fiction author had designed an utopia out of glass, metal, and stone. There was occasionally a mediveal theme but it seemed to be mostly modern. The hills rolled along and great trees grew up around and through the futuristic buildings, as if they were built around them. Wild animals strolled through the streets with people (gods?) as if there was nothing unusual. It was the perfect idyllic wilderness and techno city all rolled into one.
A storm rolled on endlessly, but seemed to only fade occasionally into hearing or vision. Still Ranma was certain it was rolling on even if he couldn't hear or see it. A hot breeze blew by sending a comfortable shiver of coolness over his back.
It was seemingly perfect no matter what the taste, not minding that it was a paradox to be perfectly hot, perfectly cool, perfectly light, perfectly dark, perfectly wild and perfectly modern all at once.
"I'll be right back I guess," Ranma said under his breath.
"Ranma!" Nabiki gasped as soon as Ranma appeared. "Oh thank god! I wasn't sure what had happened! Where'd you go?"
"I think it was Heaven," Ranma said. Nabiki pulled in her breath for a moment, and then nodded resignedly.
So we ARE gods then, Nabiki thought. What's this mean now?
"I'll show you the Nabiki-san," Belldandy said. "I believe Ranma can carry Midori for this."
"Hai," Ranma said.
Part 7 | Anime@Fan.Fic