Phoenix: Reignited Edition

Ranko grumbled to herself, taking a long draught of her room-temperature tea. She wished she had some rocket fuel to pour into it. Between worrying for Mei's safety, her crushing sense of guilt at not being more forthcoming about her history with Mikado, and preparing for the concert to save the bar starting in just forty hours, she hadn't slept a wink in days. Mei hadn't come into work since her argument with Ranko, so the Phoenix had been short-staffed and more hectic than usual, to boot. 

If this is a joke, Mama, I'm not laughing. This is ridiculous. Ranko's groan echoed in the empty bar room as she leaned forward on her stool, her elbows resting atop the main bar counter. Hana had instructed her to be up and dressed by 8:30 in the morning, though for what reason, she had not said. Still, Ranko was not about to disappoint her boss and benefactor, so she had done as she was told. She wore a businesslike blue blazer and matching pencil skirt over a cream-colored button-down shirt, all of which Izumi had brought for her the night before and insisted she wear for whatever the unknown occasion was. She hated the outfit; it was tight in the wrong places and itchy everywhere on her hypersensitive skin.

She heard a key in the front door lock and looked up as a stream of sunlight poured through the double doors. Ranko lifted her hand to shield her eyes as Hana stepped into the room, doffing her aviator sunglasses. At least, Ranko thought it was Hana. She barely recognized the old barkeep dressed as she was. Hana wore a pair of mid-gray nylon slacks and a matching suit jacket over a jewel-tone blue button-down blouse, the top button of her collar left open. Her short platform heels clacked loudly on the wooden floor of the empty bar, and her just-longer-than-shoulder-length salt-and-pepper hair was held back with a series of barely-visible hairpins. 

"You don't have to stare, you know," Hana said with a smirk down at her youngest ward. 

Ranko shook her head, blinking the drowsiness from her eyes. "Oh! I'm sorry, Mama! I've just… never seen you dressed like that before! It works for you." 

Hana nodded, an amused chuckle escaping her lips. "I can clean up when I have to, I just don't like to. Now, let's have a look at you." She walked in a half-circle around Ranko's bar stool. "I think that'll work, yeah. Not bad, kiddo." 

The redhead rolled her eyes. "I'm happy to please, not that I got much of a choice. Izumi didn't exactly make it sound like there was any room for debate on my wardrobe choices." Today, or basically ever, she thought with a slight flush of her cheeks. "So, when do I get to find out what we're actually doing at stupid-o-clock in the morning?" 

Hana laughed heartily. "Tell you on the way. C'mon, you." She offered a hand to help Ranko off the stool. She had seen enough flight attendants and secretaries dismount the brown vinyl stools in pencil skirts to know that the transition could prove tricky even when one wasn't filled with bourbon at the moment. 

The teen blushed furiously; the idea of being helped with such a basic maneuver owing to her clothing felt so feminine, and dependent, and weird. She'd reached a point where she didn't always hate it, but it was still a foreign experience for her.

Hana led her young charge out the front door, locking it behind them with her key. Following the Phoenix matriarch's lead, Ranko began walking in the direction of the train station. In a bid to amuse herself and take her mind off of her anxiety, she hopped up onto a long concrete seating ledge along the sidewalk, walking alongside Hana at eye level with the taller woman.

"Don't you think you should get down from there? What if you fall?" Hana smiled up at her martial artist daughter with a slightly disbelieving shake of her head.

Ranko smirked confidently in response. "Yeah, you're probably right." She hopped up from the seat of the long bench and continued walking, without breaking stride or slowing, along the top of the thin back rail of the bench instead. 

The old barkeep rolled her eyes. "Okay, showoff, I get the idea. Now get down here before you hurt yourself."

The young lady, as she was being reminded to play the part of, stepped down next to her. "Yes, ma'am." Her father would have had a heart attack and died at the thought of his child following instructions from an elder without a fight – but then again, he had never tried actual respect in his dealings with her. "So… where are we going? What's with the fancy duds and everything?" 

Hana smiled, disarmingly. "We're going to the library." 

Ranko nearly face planted. "You… You got me dressed up like a secretary, and out here before the sun has had its friggin' coffee, to go stare at some dusty-ass books?!" 

The older woman laughed, shaking her head. "Of course not, honey. We have a meeting."

Ranko blinked in confusion. "About what?" 

"About you," came Hana's reply as she pulled open the glass door of the train station. 

"Yeah? What does the freakin' library want with me, anyway?" Ranko looked legitimately confused. I've never known books to issue challenges before, but stranger things have happened in my life, I guess.

Hana dropped a pair of coins into the turnstile, leading Ranko through it and onto the train platform. "It's about your education." 

The teen's mouth fell open incredulously. "Wait, what?! I'm not even in school anymore." 

"I know. But we need to do something about that, young lady." Hana smiled reassuringly down at the teen, offering her a hand as Ranko stepped up onto the train. 

Ranko shuddered with the memory of the night she left the Tendo home, staring up at Nabiki's old teal school pinafore. She couldn't… She wouldn't try to send me back to high school after everything, as a girl, would she?! There's gonna be questions, and stares, and probably some groupies, and girls who would expect me to know how to behave, and guys who… well, who don't know how to behave around girls. "But… I can't go back to school. I told you, I was so far back, it was ridiculous." 

Hana patted her young charge's knee as they took their seats on the metro train. "I know, honey. Which is why we're going to do it another way. We're going to come up with a plan to get you caught up, and when you're ready, we will either get you enrolled in classes, or you'll take your equivalency exams and get your diploma. I promised you we would. The person we're meeting with today is an advisor who will help us get you on the right trajectory." 

"But, I don't need school, or some test. I'm happy right where I am! Besides, you need me there to help with work stuff!" Ranko pouted, looking out the window as the Minato cityscape began to pick up speed zooming past. 

Hana cocked her head. "Oh?! So you want to wait tables and have drunk guys grabbing at your ass for the rest of your life? What's your career plan beyond that?" 

Ranko blushed in embarrassment. She really had no plan, and Hana knew it. There is one aspect of my job that I wouldn't hate making a career out of. I'd feel like an idiot even saying it out loud, though. That ain't ever gonna happen. With a defeated frown, she turned back to Hana. "I… I guess not." 

"That's better. I don't want you to be scared about this, baby." Hana squeezed the redhead's hand tightly, giving it a reassuring little bounce in her lap. "You are behind through no fault of your own. None of this was your mistake, or your choice, and there isn't any shame in it. But we do need to fix it for you, little star. There's no time limit on this, either. We will help you every step of the way, and if we have to hire tutors to help you, we will find a way to do that, too." 

Ranko blushed yet again. "I guess. I just don't know why it's such a big deal. I've been doin' okay so far." 

Hana groaned in mock frustration. "Because you're a smart girl, Ranko, and you deserve better than slinging beer until you're forty. I want you to be able to do something you're proud of."

The redhead blinked, taking a moment to process what she'd heard. She didn't think anyone had ever called her smart before, and especially not a smart girl. She was learning to feel a little more comfortable every day in her new life, but hearing someone actually call her a girl out loud sometimes still made her feel as awkward and false as she did the first day she stepped out of that damned puddle in China. "Like… like what?"

Hana smiled, squeezing the teen's hand again. "Like literally anything you put your mind to, honey. I have every confidence that you can. We just need to help get you some of the tools you're missing so you can get there." She looked down into the young waitress' eyes with a sincere and serious expression. "I mean it, Ranko. I know your whole life was planned out for you before, and you didn't get an awful lot of say in the matter. I want you to know that you are allowed to dream for yourself now. Pick a dream, any dream, as long as it's yours and yours alone, and you can chase it. That's your right as a woman. And whatever you decide, we'll all be behind you and beside you the whole way." 

My right… as a woman? To hear Pop talk about it, I didn't even get any rights as a dude. Ranko sighed at the mention of dreams. Hers hadn't been especially pleasant of late. "All of you? Even Mei?"

Hana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, even her. She's just being protective of her boyfriend. I don't know why you are so worried about him, but I'm sure you two will work it out. She loves you just like your other sisters do." 

Ranko opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Why can't I just tell them? He hurt me. I stopped him from hurting me again, and hurting Akane. I won. So, why am I so damned ashamed? I could end this right now, and I'm too much of a fucking coward.

The overhead speaker chimed to indicate their stop, and Hana stood, Ranko behind her. "Come on, young lady. Let's go find you a dream." 

Hana's young ward blushed and followed where she led. The pair exited the train station, crossing the street and entering the library building. Hana walked up to the circular oak receptionist desk, Ranko in tow. "Hello, good morning? My daughter and I have an appointment with Ryuki Kagawa, please?" 

The young male receptionist began to search the appointment book, and Ranko just stood there, her head spinning as if she'd been hit in the face with a board. 

D… daughter?! I've been calling Hana Mama on and off for a few weeks, just to show respect. Just like when Akane called the old freak 'Grandfather' Happosai. Being comfortable with the idea of being referred to as a girl, or a woman, is taking some getting used to, but I'm getting there. But… being someone's daughter?! Like, having someone who sees me as a girl, isn't disgusted by it, and actually wants to claim me? Up until the day I left the Tendos' place, six months after what happened on the mountain, Pop still called me my boy without fail. That Amazon witch left me a wound that will never heal, and Pop couldn't help but rub salt in it every chance he got.

After years of her father expressing disdain anytime she made any effort to make peace with her feminine half, and the constant warnings that her mother would disown her - or worse - if she ever suspected that her child displayed any feminine tendencies whatsoever, Ranko had always just taken as fact that there was a part of her that would never find acceptance. But there, in that moment, there was Hana, dressed up all professional and serious-like, telling someone that she was her daughter with a straight face. She wasn't embarrassed. There was no disgust or derisiveness. She actually sounded… proud? 

Sure, it's not like there was a legal adoption, or even that she's even using what the government would consider my real name. But it doesn't even matter. I'm stuck as a girl, sure, but for the first time in my life, someone sees me like I am and… wants me anyway?!

The singular word - daughter - brought the gift of validation to the impossible hope with which she'd left the Tendo home: that despite how freakish the circumstances that had befallen her were, if she were only willing to leave the cursed and broken boy behind, that she just might get to live as just a normal, regular, totally non-weird person. Sure, that normal person spends most of her time in skirts now, but she doesn't have to spend it hiding from crazy Amazons, poisoned roses and razor gymnastics ribbons, exploding rocks, prose-slinging swordsmen and panty-thieving ghouls. She doesn't wake up daily to the reminders of what a disappointment she is to her family, she thought, her mind racing with possibilities. To Ranko, those few syllables meant acceptance, trust, pride, love, and so many other good feelings that she had been chasing hopelessly for years. At that moment, she doubted anything in the world could have made her happier than being a daughter. 

"Miss Tendo? Ranko?" 

Ranko shook her head to jog herself back into the moment, looking up into the eyes of a concerned-looking older woman in a frumpy floral dress. 

"Are you all right, dear?" The kindly-looking old woman peered over the rims of her glasses at the young redhead.

Ranko blushed furiously. "Yes, ma'am, I'm so sorry. I… just didn't sleep much last night." She bowed respectfully. Twenty minutes ago, I was laughing this off, but now, even if the whole thing blows up in my face, no matter what I do, I can't embarrass Han… Mama… after she claimed me as her own. She rose from the bow, giving her most demure, sincere smile up at the administrator. This is about my family's honor now.

"Ah, to be young." The elderly woman smiled, motioning to Ranko and Hana to follow her to a small cubicle in the back corner of the administrative area of the library. "So, Ranko, your mother told me what she could about your educational history, but there are some pretty big gaps. In fact, we couldn't even find your birth records or family registry anywhere, let alone any school transcripts." 

Ranko gulped. This is going to take some fancy dancing, she fretted as she took one of the two leather chairs across the desk from Ms. Kagawa. "Firstly, please understand that this is no fault of… Miss Hana's," Ranko began. "My father and I traveled constantly, from the time I was five or so, including a lot of time we spent out of the country. So, I missed a lot of time in school, my school records are hard to come by, and I honestly couldn't even tell you what city I was born in. But, my pop…" 

She thought about how to handle the next part for a moment, finally grunting in resolution. At least in this version of the story, he'll get the blame he deserves. "My father abandoned me about nine months ago, and I was living on the street until Miss Hana took me in." She smiled reverently up into Hana's beaming eyes.

The old woman frowned. "My gods, you poor thing! And, what about your situation now? Are you alright? Is everything working out where you are now?" 

Ranko smiled gratefully up and to her right again, where Hana listened to the story with riveted attention. I guess parts of this are news to her, too, Ranko realized. "Oh, yes, Miss Kagawa." She reached to her right, squeezing Hana's hand and trying to say with her eyes all that she could only summarize in words. "She has been the absolute best mother a girl could ask for. I am so incredibly lucky that she found me." 

Hana smiled back, looking away after a long moment and lifting her fingertips to her left eye. 

The administrator smiled. "That's wonderful to hear, sweetheart, and bless you, ma'am, for having the kindness to look after her like that. I would love to help you get back on track with all of this, but we're going to have to start from the beginning and try to get you some sort of identification. I can't even file the paperwork to get you started without it. You'll need to go to the Department of Family Services for that, and they're closed for holidays until the new year. If you have any family that you can still get in touch with and see if they have any of your records, that will make the process a whole lot easier. Otherwise, we will have to almost rebuild your identity from scratch!" 

Ranko's face broke out in a broad grin. That's exactly what I want, and all I have to do to get it is… nothing. 

Ms. Kagawa continued. "If we're unable to find your school records, that's an easier problem to solve. We can give you a placement test in a few weeks. Don't worry about studying for it; the intent is not to grade you, but only to see what areas you still need academic work on. Our agency can then put you in touch with tutors and provide textbooks and other curriculum support to help you catch up any skill sets or refresh things you may have forgotten after not using them for a while. When you think you're ready, we can either enroll you in school, or you can take another exam to demonstrate basic academic competencies. If you choose that route, once you pass that exam, you'll receive a certificate that is functionally equivalent to a high school diploma. You can use it for most colleges, job applications, or anything else you need."

The kindly woman flipped the page on her desk blotter calendar, peering ahead to the following month. "How about we do the placement exam on January twelfth? That'll give you a few weeks to get the identification paperwork sorted out, too." 

Ranko looked up at Hana for confirmation, and receiving a nod, she smiled at the registrar. "Sounds great! Thank you so much!" 

The gray-haired woman stood slowly and arthritically, giving Hana and Ranko a grandmotherly smile. "You are so welcome, sweetheart. It was truly an honor to meet you both. Have a wonderful holiday." 

Ranko bowed politely. "You too!"

The pair exited the building, Ranko breathing a sigh of relief. That could have gone a lot more painfully than it did, she thought. I was so worried they'd accuse me or Hana of fraud or something, without having any documentation to back up anything we said. Especially because what documentation I did have didn't match a damn thing I said… which is why I burned all that shit weeks ago. 

Hana looked down to the young redhead, hugging her about the shoulders with one arm. "Do you have any idea how proud of you I am?!" 

Ranko stopped walking, turning to face her sincerely. "I… think so, even though I don't always understand why. But, I meant what I said back there. I promise, I'm never going to stop trying to be worthy of everything you have done for me. I'm never going to stop trying to earn your pride. When you called me your… daughter… Mama, I thought I was gonna cry." 

Hana leaned down, kissing Ranko on the top of her head through her braided red hair. "Me too, honey. Me too."