The sounds of bells were the first thing she noticed as she slowly opened her eyes. The deep and melodic tones were strangely familiar to her. However, the reason for that managed to elude her as she looked around the vast darkness, trying and failing to find their source. A flash of white and red in the distance then caught her eye. It was Ranko, wearing the white dress she had purchased for her, although something about it seemed slightly off. Standing next to her was that boy, now also wearing white as well.

She ran towards her daughter, as fast as she could. As hard as she could. She ran for minutes, hours, as the two figures in the distance started to ever so slowly get closer. And the bells continued to chime.

As she slowly approached, she noticed another person standing next to the two. An older man, dressed all in black except for a tiny bit of white at the front of his neck, reading from a book. It took a moment for her to realize who that man was. It took another moment for her to notice that the dress her daughter was wearing wasn’t the same one as before. No, it was a wedding dress, the man was a priest, and the chimes were wedding bells.

The realization struck upon her like a lightning bolt, and she started to call out her daughter’s name. But then, a figure suddenly appeared to block her path, causing her to freeze in her tracks, her eyes widening in shock and recognition, her cry frozen in her throat. While the fancy suit he was wearing was very out of place for the man, the white bandana which covered up his balding head was immediately recognizable.

She stayed frozen, unmoving save for her right hand which was trembling slightly as the man she hadn’t seen in over a decade stared back at her with cold eyes of judgment.

“You see, I was right,” the man spoke, his voice low and sharp as razors, cutting straight through the melodic chimes sounding out from all around them.

Her breath caught for just a moment before the anger building inside caused her words to come out. “Shut up.”

The man continued, his dark, accusing glare still unfazed. “I told you that you would make my son weak.”

“I said shut up!” Her katana was now in her grasp, and she dashed forward and swung. As she made contact, the man instantly turned into white mist, the slash dissipating it away.

Not even bothering to look back, she pushed herself to run even faster, her feet burning with each step on the rough ground. Approaching, closer and closer, when the priest closed his book and gave a declaration while Ranko and that boy leaned in together for a kiss.

No! She silently cried out, arm out in front of her, as she finally reached them, only for her hand to pass right through her daughter as all three of them vanished into nothingness. She collapsed on the ground as a sudden silence surrounded her. The bells had finally stopped.

---

---

Nodoka quickly sat up and felt the blanket that was covering her fall off her shoulders and pool into her lap. She rubbed the sleep away from her eyes and then looked over at the table, seeing that it was fully cleared of dishes save for a single cup of still steaming tea. For just a moment, she hoped that everything that happened was a simple horrific nightmare. It took another moment to recognize that the table wasn’t hers.

“Oh, Aunt Nodoka. Are you alright?”

She turned to see Kasumi with a caring and concerned expression on her face. Looking around, she realized that she was currently in the Tendo’s family room. Nabiki was sitting at the other side of the table neutrally watching next to her father who looked like he was ready to burst into tears at any moment. The Ukyo girl was lying under her own blanket still unconscious with her unique kitchen like weapon, currently broken in two halves, laying nearby. Akane was sitting next to and watching over the poor girl, and she looked so worn and tired herself. 

With the weight of the situation once more pressing down on her heart, there was only one question she had on her mind. “Where’s Ranko?”

“Sensei, I…I’m sorry.” Akane had her head down, her voice saturated with remorse. “I tried to stop them, but Ranko, she…the way she looked at me…I hesitated, and now…now they’re gone. I failed you, Sensei.”

Nodoka slowly shook her head. “No, Akane. Do not try to take this foolish woman’s blame. If there’s anyone that failed, it is me.”

“To be fair,” Nabiki casually interjected, “if we’re throwing the blame on someone, it should probably be the idiot that got that magical fishing rod in the first place.”

“Yes, his actions were indeed terrible,” Nodoka admitted. “However, they most likely would have been avoided if I only allowed myself to be honest from the start and just accepted the consequences as my own. Instead, I chose the coward’s option and hid the truth in the name of so called honor. And now, because of that cowardice, my child has been taken from me once again.”

“Oh, Auntie,” Kasumi said, her voice pleasant if slightly strained. “I’m sure everything will work out. Then, when Ranma gets back from his training-”

“Don’t!” Nodoka interrupted, flinching slightly at how loud and harsh the word came out. She then took a deep breath and readied herself. It was time. She’d already been cut by her lies, and trying to hide the wound would only cause it to fester even more. She looked over at Kasumi’s shocked face and continued in a more subdued tone. “Please don’t. No more lies. No more hiding, from any of us. Including me.” She took a moment to look at all the eyes now focused on her. “Yes, I know. I’ve known for some time now that Ranko is…she was my son.”

“Sensei, what do you mean by ‘was’?” Akane asked. “She is…I mean he…Ranma is-”

“Hold on,” Nabiki interrupted, giving a glare towards Nodoka. “You knew this whole time, and you still tried to pull that seppuku shit on your own child?”

“Nabiki, language,” Soun half heartedly chastised, his only contribution to the conversation so far.

Nodoka sighed and brought her knees up to her chest, looking away from everyone. “I wish I was able to recognize my child the moment I saw her in that canal, but no. I let myself be blinded by my own expectations and by a foolish promise I should never have agreed to. It wasn’t until a week later when she rescued me from that sudden water explosion that the scales finally fell from my eyes. I guess you could say they were washed away. It was only then that I truly looked upon my daughter and accepted her for who she is and always has been.”

She took a moment to look back and see the incredulous stares directed towards her, and she couldn’t help but give a small bittersweet smile at the reaction. “Yes, I know it sounds strange, a proper and traditional woman like me, but it’s true. I am proud of my newhalf daughter.”

“W-wait, newhalf?” Akane sputtered out.

“Right, I suppose the correct term nowadays would be「transexual.」” Nodoka made sure to give the proper respect and take her time to pronounce the English word as well as she could. “At least, that’s what the women in Nichome explained to me. They were very nice and helpful to me. Some of them even made sure to give me their phone numbers to provide additional help, and also…” She quickly turned her head away again to hide her slight blush. Perhaps I should try to call some of them back. Maybe that lovely woman who runs her own teahouse. She was so… Nodoka shook her head to refocus. “At any rate, I think I prefer the older word better. For some reason, it seems very fitting for my daughter.”

“Yeah, that fits her very well,” Nabiki mused. “Okay, so we have all that nonsense cleared up at least.”

“Not quite,” Nodoka responded, slowly shaking her head. “There’s still that damnable contract I agreed to.”

“But Auntie,” Kasumi protested, “when you did that, there was no way for you to know that…” She trailed off as Nodoka shook her head again.

“Akane, did you notice the white dress that Ranko was wearing tonight?” Nodoka asked while looking over at the youngest Tendo. At the slight nod given, she let out a wistful sigh. “There’s a reason I bought it for her, a gift that was more than a decade overdue. I can still remember that day when a beautiful little four year old child was excitedly pointing at a dress just like it in the display window and asking me when he would be big enough to wear it. I remember how he would follow me around in the kitchen and wrap one of my aprons around himself like it was a dress. How he would always carry around that cat-like stuffed animal he loved so much and say he was its mommy.”

“Oh my. So she was having those feelings that early,” Kasumi noted as she casually reached a hand across the table palm up.

“Yeah, I thought she wouldn't have tried to explore that until middle school at the earliest,” Nabiki commented while taking a few bills out of her pocket and handing them to her older sister. She then gave another glare towards Nodoka. “Especially since you still let her go on that training trip. I’m starting to get a suspicion that it wasn’t just about martial arts, was it.”

Nodoka curled in on herself once more, at first not saying anything for a few moments. “I was so naive back then. So trusting. I wanted to believe that my…that Genma had become a better person. When he said that our child needed to be strong, I made myself believe it was true. How could I not. The conviction of his words was the most impressive thing I had ever experienced at that point in my life. Oh, if I ever see that man again, I wouldn’t make him commit seppuku.”

“Really?” Nabiki asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked to be distracted by something.

“That’s right,” Nodoka nodded, then a slight scowl appeared on her lips. “Because I would tear his guts open myself.”

A loud crash from behind caused her to turn around, where she saw Ranko’s pet panda. The damp animal was acting cute and holding up a sign which said #I’m just a cute panda#. Nodoka could almost swear the panda actually had a look of fear in its eyes.

“Oh, Mr. Panda,” Nodoka said with a sympathetic smile. “You’re worried about Ranko too, aren’t you? I bet you also want to eviscerate her poor excuse of a father.”

“Here, why don’t I take him out to that park he enjoys so much,” Soun quickly said while getting up and walking over. “All this excitement might give him a heart attack,” he continued as he led the poor panda out the door.

There was a brief silence in the room after the two left, then Kasumi put a hand on Nodoka’s shoulder. “I’m sure we’ll get Ranko back.”

“How?!” Akane yelled out, her voice saturated with frustration. “We have no idea where they could have gone. They probably already…” She tensed up and brought her gaze to the ground in front of her. “...already got married. Ranko even told me that she was wearing the perfect wedding dress.”

“Yes, she said that to me too,” Nodoka admitted in a melancholic tone. Her eyes then narrowed in confusion as she recalled the rest of her daughter’s words. “She also said something about crazed gymnasts not interfering?”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Nabiki said a little too matter of factly. “St. Hebereke’s is a Catholic school so it would have a chapel. It’s probably the closest chapel Ranko knows about.”

“Really? Oh, that’s wonderful news!” Kasumi said with definitely far too much cheer.

“What?” Akane asked, fully exasperated at this point. “How can you call that wonderful?”

“Because, dear Sister,” Nabiki responded with a knowing smirk. “If it’s a Catholic wedding, then we still have plenty of time left to stop it.”

“Oh, that’s right. I remember Kimiko’s wedding. It was a lovely ceremony, but there were several points where I thought it was never going to finish.” Nodoka allowed a tiny smile to form on her lips as the memories began to flood in. “You girls remind me of her so much.”

The three sisters looked at her in surprise. “You knew Mother?” Kasumi asked.

“Yes, we went to school together,” Nodoka said. “We became quite close back then, though we started to drift apart once we had families of our own.” The pain of regret started to fill up in her chest, but she quickly shook it off. “Right, I can tell stories later. For now…” She looked over to Akane. “Do you still have the sword I gave you?” At the nod of confirmation, she held her hand out. Akane blinked once, then handed the sword over to Nodoka, who then got to her feet. “Alright,” Nodoka boldly and properly declared. “You girls stay here. I am going to go rescue my daughter.”

“Wait!” Akane called out. “I’m coming too!” She quickly stood up, and then immediately fell back down on her bottom as her legs gave way. She tried again, much more slowly this time, and succeeded, although her legs were clearly wobbling as she did so.

“It’s okay, dear,” Nodoka said. “You’ve already done enough for tonight. You don’t-”

“Yes I do!” Akane interrupted, taking a moment to shift her stance to stand up straight. She then gave a challenging stare at Nodoka with pure determination in her eyes. “Sensei. Earlier tonight, you asked me how far I would go for Ranko. I didn’t say anything then because there were some things I was unsure about. Honestly, there still are and I’m trying to figure them out. But there is one thing I am more than certain about. I have and always will do anything for your child.”

“Thank you, Akane,” Nodoka said with a nod and an internal smile wider than her face would allow.

“Oh, you will probably want to take this along,” Kasumi said, appearing at Akane’s side and handing her a naginata. “It just seems appropriate for you to have our family weapon with you.”

“And don’t forget those two are still under that love spell,” Nabiki added while reaching under the table. “So you really don’t want to forget to bring this too.” She then pulled out that cursed artifact.

“Nabiki! What on earth are you thinking?” Akane asked in disbelief.

“Now now, Akane,” Kasumi calmly stated,” you said that you would do anything for Ranko.”

“But I won’t do that ,” Akane countered. “I’m not going to use magic to make her fall in love with me!”

“Well of course not,” Nabiki responded with that matter of fact tone. “Odds are it wouldn’t do anything anyway. No, I’m talking about using this to cure her.”

“Cure her?” Nodoka asked with a slightly raised eyebrow. “How?”

Nabiki looked around at everyone in the room before rolling her eyes and pulling out the instruction manual, opening it to the back portion. “Right here: ‘Catch and Release. Let’s say you accidentally reeled in the wrong person. Or perhaps, for some reason, you have suddenly developed a conscience and decided that mind controlling the person you want to be with is actually a bad thing. Luckily for you, reversing the spell is a very simple process. All you have to do is attach the suction cup to the carp mark on the affected person and give a hard tug. If performed correctly, the mark will detach from the person and dissipate, along with any constructed feelings the person may have developed. Note: The makers of The Fishing Pole of Love TM can not be held liable for any damage you receive upon performing this action, including but not limited to physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, meta-physical, meta-emotional…’ and it goes on like that for a while.” She then looked up with a bemused expression. “Am I seriously the only one that reads instructions all the way through?”

Nodoka couldn’t help but give a slight chuckle. “Yes, you are definitely your mother’s daughter.” She took the item that had suddenly become her own daughter’s salvation and then turned to Akane. “Let’s go.”

“Good luck,” Nabiki offered. “We’ll let Ukyo know what’s going on when she wakes up.”

Kasumi gave a cheerful smile. “Have fun storming the chapel.”

As the two walked outside, Nodoka couldn’t help but notice that Akane’s expression illuminated by the street lamps seemed to be far too glum considering their sudden turnabout in fortune.

“Don’t worry. We will succeed this time,” Nodoka said to help motivate the girl.

“Huh?” Akane looked over and after a moment forced a smile on her face. “Oh, of course we will. I just…” Her smile dropped a bit as she trailed off.

Nodoka smiled in understanding. “You’re also thinking about your future with my daughter, right?”

“Future?” Akane looked confused for a moment, then her eyes widened. “No, I don’t…I can’t…I mean, we’re both girls, so…”

Giving a light sigh, Nodoka placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Akane Tendo, listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you. At Akane’s silent nod, she turned her gaze away slightly. “When I said Kimiko and I drifted apart, it wasn’t a mutual decision. Even after she got married, whenever Soun went on one of his training trips, she and I would…well…help keep each other’s beds warm. It couldn’t last though. Don’t misunderstand. I loved your mother more than anything in the world, but there were expectations. The world expected me to get a husband of my own and to make my own family, because that was the proper thing to do. So by the time she was pregnant with Kasumi, I decided to make a clean break. I can still remember clearly the last time I saw her. I can still see the tears in her eyes.”

Nodoka turned back to look directly at Akane. “I want you to promise me that you won’t let the world interfere with your love, no matter what. Even if you each grow up and have families of your own, promise me that you will still be there for my daughter.”

Akane stared back, her mouth open in shock. “Sensei, I…”

“Promise me, Akane,” Nodoka repeated, “that you will not make the same mistakes as this foolish old woman.”

“I…” Akane looked away for a few moments before turning back and giving a nod. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” Nodoka said with a smile. “Now, there is one more sin I need to answer for. But first, we have a wedding to crash.”