An hour before dawn, Ranma awoke and attempted to untangle himself from Nabiki. Failing to do so, he quietly spoke, "Nabs, get up."
Nabiki gave the no verbal reply of holding onto Ranma stronger and snuggling closer.
Ranma sighed, even after all they had been through Nabiki was still not a morning-person, so a bit sterned, he called her name, "Nabiki."
Nabiki's eyes opened, looked at Ranma, and asked, "Please.... Five more minutes?"
Ranma looked at her and growled her name, "Nabiki. This is your idea."
Nabiki sighed, got up, and sensually walked to the middle of the room, giving her husband a show of her assets and her willingness to please him.
Once cleared of Nabiki, Ranma got up simply and stood before her, waiting.
Nabiki blinked confused.
"The P2M2, Nabs," he replied to her unspoken question.
She looked sheepishly for a moment, and smiled when Ranma tenderly kissed her with affection. She made as if she was reaching into a side pants' pocket and pulled out a card. She placed the card, on the floor, which magically stood on its edge, length-width up. With the command 'open sesame seed,' the card grew into a two meter tall doorway. Bowing slightly, which allowed her to place a kiss upon her husband's katana, she opened the door for him. After walking in, he turned around, grabbed her, and pulled her into his strong arms, carrying her over the threshold.
Nabiki giggled, and enjoyed every second she was in her husband's strong arms. She had yet to walk across the threshold under her own power since they got the Portable Potion Master Mansion.
Once inside the entrance hallway of the P2M2, they headed up to the second floor, and into one of the potion lab there.
Ranma stood by the door, slightly nervous, as Nabiki went and checked the various potions and experiments that were running in the room.
When she saw how nervous her husband was, she could not help joking, "So the big powerful Armsmaster of Jade, Slayer of Arch-Demons, and Seducer of Goddesses, Sorceresses, and Magic-girls is afraid of a little magic?"
Looking at his wife, he replied, "You know how me and magic goes... Besides, Nabs, this ain't little magic we talking about. Nor do I wanna even think about how much magic is in this place.... And as for Seducer of Magic-girls.... You're my Magic-girl... and I wasn't the one doing the seducing..."
Nabiki smiled at the possessiveness and love in Ranma's trailing words. Even after all the time they had been married and all, it still gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling to know how much she belonged to him, and how deep and mystical was their connection. With his clearing of his throat, she returned to the task at hand. She picked up two mushrooms, and handed one to Ranma.
Ranma looked at the mushroom, looked back towards Nabiki, and rhetorically asked, "Do we have to do this?" With that, he ate the mushroom.
After consuming the mushroom, Ranma's body began to shrink, only few centimeters, and soften from the hardbody of seasoned Warrior to that of a very athletic teenage boy. One could still feel a strong presence from him and his eyes had not changed. To any that just looked at his body, he appeared, now, to be only sixteen or seventeen.
Nabiki waved her hand over him, nodded with a smile towards him, and ate the mushroom in her hand. After her consumption, her body only soften from the firm, toned adult body to a softer form of a teenage girl that had a pair of runner's legs and took good care of her figure.
Ranma smirked at his vain wife, but did not say anything. Nabiki's blush just made him laugh.
"So I modified the mushrooms a bit," Nabiki said defensively. Seeing her husband's worried look, she remarked, "No, neither Cologne nor Happosai should be able to tell that we aren't as now appear to be, which can be easily explained by the training trip we took. If the magic mushrooms could fool Genkai-sensei, Dumbledore-sensei, and all of the White Tower, then Cologne, who has nothing to suspect, and Happosai, who has only an inkling of what truly happened, shouldn't detect any more then we wish them to know."
"Wouldn't a glamour or illusion be easier?" Ranma asked in curiosity. Despite being married to a magic-girl, he still was not comfortable with magic.
"Easier, yes," she replied. They have had this conversation before, but she humored him and continued, "and also easier to spot. Plus, do you recall exactly how you looked before we left?" At his shaking his head in the negative, she added, "nor I. Nor with the magic mushroom does it matter. As near as I can figure out, the mushroom transfigure the body back to the state it was in corresponding to the size of the mushroom, approximately one year per milligram in weight. My modification was simply to allow muscle tone and such to remain constant through the shift. So the change, for us, this time, won't take so long to adapt to."
Ranma smiled at his wife, took her hand and walked over to the master bedroom suite. There he dressed in his traditional clothes, and looked for something for Nabiki, only to realize that she could only wear her school uniform, which was back in her room in the Tendo-ke. Smirking, he picked up his still naked wife, caresses her as he did so, and concentrated slightly. The next moment, they were before Nabiki's old closet, where Ranma handled to her her school uniform, which did not quite fit her, but hand-gesture later did.
Both noted that dawn was still a little time away, and headed out to their morning tasks.
Kasumi was in a very happy mood as she walked down the stairs towards the kitchen. Nabiki, whom she thought was 'too modern' would never marry, was, and she now had possession of her mother's diary and some of her private possessions. She also knew that her mother was in Heaven and watching over her and her sisters from Above. As she had for the past month or so, she greeted Nodoka in the hallway, and the two added to the kitchen to start breakfast.
While stranger things have occurred within the Tendo Kitchen, the sight that greeted them, left Kasumi and Nodoka with wide-eyes and a touch of fear.
The kitchen was altered, from the way it was the night before. Somehow, it seem larger, yet, there seemed to be more appliances present. That in itself was so bad, it was the knifes cutting vegetables, the miso soup being stirred, the dishes being washed, the dishes being put away, the pans frying, the cups of various items being measured, and the ingredients being added to dishes, all without anyone present that truly unnerved them. It was one thing for others to be in their kitchen, but seeing all the cooking without anyone present...
Then they looked up, there floating next to the ceiling was Nabiki. Dressed with in her school uniform, an apron over it, sitting in a lotus position, reading several books, and muttering to herself. Upon their entrance, Nabiki snapped her fingers, and the books snapped shut. She then floated gently in front of them. With a smile, she greeted them with, "Good morning. Oneechan. Okachan."
"Nabiki," Kasumi said shocked. Although, at the fact that, one, Nabiki was up at this time, two, that she was cooking, albeit, not in a convention manner, or three, addressing 'Auntie' as 'Mom'.
Confused, Nabiki inquired with, "What, Oneechan?"
Before either Tendo girl could continue, Nodoka asked, "Daughter, did you do this?" This being the altered kitchen and the phantom.
Nabiki grinned at Nodoka and replied, "What? You think after all the time I have spent with your son, I wouldn't learn to cook? Besides, I need to exercise my magic a bit... Get it better acclaimed to being back home."
Curious, Kasumi opened one of the books, found it to be a cookbook, whose theme was simple, quick dishes, yet tasteful, filling and pleasing to the eye. There were several dishes she would be interested in trying.
Nodoka saw the cover of the book that Kasumi was reading, and more importantly, it was written by her son. She had to ask in disbelief, "Ranma wrote that?"
Surprised, Kasumi dropped the book, but it only fell a few centimeters before it began to float. Nabiki shot Kasumi an annoyed look, and answered her Mother-in-Law, "Yes."
"But," Kasumi began, but was interuptted by Nabiki who continued, "Even before we left, Ranma knew how to cook, and he, even, enjoyed it... But most gave him the impression it was... unmanly." She gave Nodoka a dark look, who had the understanding to look sad and hurt. In a neutral voice, she stated, "As an Iron Chef, Ranma wrote some where between twelve to nineteen cookbooks/cooking guides. Unfortunately, back then, we hadn't developed ways to carry some of our stuff from place to place yet, so none of them came with us. Of course, all the knowledge and such that went into those books is still within Ranma's head. So when we needed some money on some worlds, Ranma was able to re-write those cookbooks and sell them. It's from those later books, that this one came from."
When Nabiki finished, Nodoka and Kasumi noticed a dark pitcher and glass floated over next to her, the dark pitcher poured a light-orangish liquid into the glass, which then float into Nabiki's hand. She drank the glass, slowly, savoring the drink.
Curious, Nodoka asked, "What is that?"
"You want some?" Nabiki replied.
"Sure," Nodoka answer. Not wanting to be left out, Kasumi nodded her head slightly.
Two more glasses appeared out of thin air, into which, Nabiki poured a little bit of the liquid into, as she mentioned, "It's a British drink... Actually, British Wizards and Witches drink."
Kasumi stopped the glass mid-way to her lips and asked, "It won't hurt us, will it?"
"Of course not," Nabiki dismissed her concerns, "It's just pumpkin juice. Fresh. Very healthy."
With that she walked over to a corner, with a very large appliance that either Nodoka nor Kasumi recognized. The front of the appliance was a door, which Nabiki opened. A breeze of cool air came out of the appliance. Within the appliance, was shelves filled with various foods, enough to feed the Tendos and Saotomes for over a month, if not longer, even if Genma went off his diet, again.
Worried at the cost of such refrigerator, not to mention the food within it, Kasumi nervously inquired, "Imotochan, where did you get that?"
Nabiki blinked confused. Point to the refrigerator, she asked, "That?"
"Yes, Nabiki-chan," Nodoka asked, also curious, "I don't recall seeing anything quite like that."
Nabiki blinked again and then realize what she had been taking for grant for such a long time. "Oh, you mean the Ever-Fresh, Ever-Fill Refrigerator."
Nodoka and Kasumi nodded.
She remarked, "Goku, Piccolo, Bulma, and Ranma made it. They gave us that, plus a few other very useless items as parting gifts. Over the years, Ranma and I have expanded upon the original design."
Nodoka and Kasumi could only nodded their heads. Nabiki showed the Ever-Fresh, Ever-Fill Refrigerator to them. She showed how nothing within the refrigerator ever spoiled, was always fresh, and there was always plenty of what was within it. She explained that while Bulma was a genius at science, Goku and Piccolo were 'experts' of their fields, the three weren't that creative when it came to food. Ranma brought a bit of a flare to the group as well as welding the three's talent together to create the refrigerator. She also mentioned that how she and Ranma expanded what the refrigerator inventory was and reorganized it to allow greater easy of us.
While showing off the various compartments of the refrigerator, the three saw a flashing light behind them. Turning, they saw the current time flash in the middle of the kitchen. Nabiki remarked, "Oops... Need to go set the table and get the food out, or we'll be late for school."
Before Kasumi could voluntary, place settings, dishes, and cups floated out towards the dining area. She followed them to the table and saw them set themselves into their proper places. She sighed, wishing she could do that. She saw how little effort Nabiki needed to do what would have exhausted herself and took several days to do. Seeing she had nothing to do, she sat down at the table.
Just as she sat down, Akane, Soun and Genma showed up, and joined her at the table, although, none of them truly noted her presence. After a few moments, Nodoka and Nabiki joined them, with food floating with them. The dishes set themselves on the table, within easy reach of everyone.
Just as Akane began to wonder where Ranma was, he walked into the room and sat at the table, between his mother and Nabiki.
After several bites, Soun commented towards Kasumi and Nodoka, "Kasumi, as wonderful as ever!" Genma nodded his head in agreement as he tried to stuff his face with as much food as he could without Nodoka noticing.
"But, Father, I didn't cook anything," Kasumi replied. "Nabiki made it all."
Genma, Soun, and Akane just looked at her, while Nodoka, Ranma and Nabiki ate on. Although, ever so often, Nodoka would smile towards Nabiki, and then smile at the normal pace Ranma was eating at.
"Nani?" Akane asked in a strain voice. A vein in her forehead could be seen pulsing.
Seeing that, Ranma grabbed Nabiki and said, "We need to head to school!"
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