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It was on one of those days when she needed to get away from the mess that was her life that Ranma went for a walk, being extra careful to avoid being followed. After making her way to another ward, she finally sat at a park bench to relax and watch people living their lives. No martial arts. No panda. No engagements. No hot water.
She wasn’t able to do this often unfortunately, but it would be a bad idea if it became a pattern and she was followed. This was her only time to relax and be herself, and if it got ruined? Well, she would, in all likelihood, finally snap.
As she put on her glasses, which she desperately wished to be able to wear more, she found herself starting to the various families around her, noting how they smiled at each other. Unfortunately, she sighed, such a thing would never happen to her, not with how her old man rattled on about manliness and how she had to be a man-amongst-
“So,” she heard from next to her, breaking her thought off, “you seem to be thinking about something quite heavily, any chance a second opinion could help, young lady?”
“Maybe,” she replied with a small smile and blush, happy to honestly be called a lady for once. “I’m… just having difficulty finding myself. Life is just so… loud for me right now that I can’t seem to ever get time to be myself.”
The woman seemed to take a moment to think before smiling, “Well, it seems to be quite quiet right now, so will you tell me who you are?”
“I guess it is quiet,” she replied. She hesitated for a moment, but reasoned that she would likely never meet this kimono clad woman again. She took a breath and thought about who she is, who she hoped to be. “I’m Fujiko, a young woman… I currently live in Nermia, and one of my favorite things to do is cook, but my pa doesn’t let me. I do my family’s martial arts, but I prefer painting buildings in watercolor when I have the time. I like school but I’m usually too tired to pay attention and distractions happen way too often, so my grades are bad…” As Fujiko slowed her speech and processed what she said, she realized it was all true. She was Fujiko, the girl that did martial arts but preferred making and learning.
“Well,” the woman smiled, “ from that smile I can tell that helped, if only a little. So Fujiko, I’m Nodoka. It seems that you really do have a difficult time being yourself. But why does your father not let you cook? And why do you have such little time for yourself? It’s a woman’s duty to be able to care for their spouse, so why hasn’t your mother taught you?”
The confused face that the woman, Nodoka, had made Fujiko chuckle a little. “Well, I don’t got a ma. Pops said she passed when I was younger, so it's just been us for most of my life. And I’m not always like this… my pa wanted a strong son but he got me. When I’m in Nermia it feels like I can never be myself because he’ll always know if I act like myself, a person I know he won't acknowledge… And my time is always spent training because he demands me to be the best in something I’m not even all that interested in, and avoiding the people that think they’re engaged to me, either because pops sold me or they’re just crazy, take up so much time…” She paused for a moment and saw Nodoka’s wide eyes, “Sorry, started to rant a little there at the end. Anyways, yeah. Life just likes to kick me, I guess.”
She saw Nodoka take a deep breath before the woman started, “How could you father force you to be a son? I don’t mean to be crass, but with you body I don’t think anybody could think you were a boy.”
“Oh,” she started silently, trying to think of how to explain that, but decided to be truthful. After all, chances were that Nodoka wouldn’t believe her, but she had no stakes in this so it wouldn’t matter in the long run. “ Well, I have a curse. With hot water I turn into a boy and with cold I go back to being a girl. But…” She paused for a moment, wondering if she’d finally say it out loud for the first time. “I… I wasn’t born like this. Even if I’m a girl, others only see the boy that was.”
Fujiko closed her eyes as she waited for a reply from next to her. Instead of words, however, she felt arms wrapping around her. As she held back a flinch, she opened her now wet eyes to Nodoka giving her a small hug. “It’s okay Fujiko, I believe you. And… it’s sad that others won’t see it, but you’re not the first self-made woman I’ve met, though you do seem to have an odder method of transitioning than most.” Nodoka ended with a smile, embracing Fujiko as she cried into her chest with a repeated ‘thank you’.
As Nodoka petted her head, she calmed a bit and managed to pull herself together and stop crying, hesitating for a moment before pulling out of the hug and looking at the woman's kimono with a small, embarrassed laugh. “Sorry that I got your clothes dirty, miss.”
She was just looked at with a smile from the older woman, “It is no issue, Fujiko. How would you like to join me for a small walk before it starts to get dark? Or do you need to start getting home?”
Fujiko debated for only a second before saying that she would love to go for a walk with Nodoka, after all, she thought to herself, she still couldn’t go home while her emotions were such a mess still.
With that acceptance, Nodoka just smiled back at her, “Thank you for being such a good girl and walking with an old lady like me.”
“What? You’re not an old lady?” She started before blushing at what she was called, “Wha- what, why did you call me that?”
“Well,” Nodoka started, grabbing Fujiko hand to hold it as they walked along, “I called you that because that is what you are. A good girl. After all, you’re walking with me right now, which is such a nice thing to do.” She ended with a smile that seemed to hold something that Fujiko didn’t understand. With her still blushing, Nodoka asked, “Now that I think of it, how long have you looked like that? You seem used to it, but say others wouldn’t accept it.”
“Uh,” she stammered before starting, “I’ve had this body for just shy of a year, but most of it was spent in boy form because of pops.”
“So,” Fejiko stoped walking, as did the woman, when she felt Nodoka’s hand leave hers, and Fujiko felt it climb up to her cheek, “while you have had it for a while, you’re not used to it completely, right? Haven’t broken it in fully yet?” As she started to stammer a reply, she noticed Nodoka was looking directly into her eyes with a smirk on her face.
“W-we-well I gues-guess not, but what,” she started before realizing what they had stopped in front of. “Oh… do you…” As she saw Nodoka’s nod, she felt compelled to ask, “Do you not have a husband or a partner or something you seem…”
Nodoka chuckled a little and smiled at what Fujiko said, “I do, but he’s been gone for a while. Though before he left, he said I could find comfort in other women if I ever got lonely. And you are a woman aren’t you, good girl?”
As she followed the woman inside, Fujiko could only sputter and nod as her face turned as red as her hair.
Later, Fujiko woke up to an empty hotel room, Nodoka seeming to have left before she woke up. As she got up on weak legs, she looked at the side table to see a lone note telling her to be herself and a good girl. Looking at the time, she quickly cleaned herself up, taking a shower to relax her sore body, and rushed back to Nermia while making sure to get back as a boy with non-smelly clothes. While she may not be able to be herself around others yet, Fujiko felt like something was going to change that soon.
That change came to Fujiko two weeks later when she met Nodoka again. In female form. At the Tendo dojo. As her father sputtered to Nodoka, his wife, that her name was Ranko Tendo, they looked at each other in horror, not even listening to Genma’s words.
Fujiko, following in Mr.Tendo’s footsteps, fainted.