Ranma1/2 is the property and invention of Rumiko Takahashi. The following story is not produced for any monetary or personal gain. Its sole purpose is to entertain using the characters and plots developed by Takahashi. ALL rights reserved
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Shadows of the Land
Volume II : Family Ties
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Chapter 3: A Time to be Sowing
Ryouga Hibiki mindlessly smashed through the thick foliage as he trod with nothing on his mind, except the images of two women. Both were very beautiful and both he loved. He only problem was deciding just which one he loved more.
Akane was the first girl who ever took interest in him. The first girl who ever showed him kindness. At first he had taken a liking to her to spite Ranma, using his cursed form to sleep with Akane. He loved how she would just take him into her arms and hug him against her chest. He knew she loved him when he was a pig, but did she love him as a person?
That was the difference between Akane and Akari. Akari knew about his curse, she knew all about his wandering curse too, and in spite of that, she loved him. She had told him that on many his visits. Hell, his cursed form made him even more endearing to her. Damn, he couldn’t make a decision.
He knew who to blame. The same person who had troubled his all his life. Who had introduced him to Akari in the first place.
"Damn you Ranma!"
After a week of endlessly ploughing through forests, Ryouga finally emerged in a clearing. He surveyed the area. He remembered. This was Akari’s ranch. Steadily he approached the main house. He could hear the oinks and grunts of the pigs in the overly huge sty of the Unryuu’s. Ryouga’s thought’s drifted to the Akari’s pet pig. That was one damn large pig. Why could his curse have transformed him into at least a pig of that size. At least he would be able to exact his vengeance on Ranma. He wouldn’t be as helpless as his present cursed form. He knocked on the front door...
"Hello, anybody home?"
a minute passed...
"Hello!" shouted Ryouga.
"Hold ya horses!" replied a voice from inside.
The old man recognised Ryouga instantly.
"Ahhh...It’s you. My grand daughter said that you’d come by sometime. Though she’s gone now. Tendo Dojo I think she went."
"She went to the Tendo Dojo?" stuttered Ryouga
"Yep, said she’d might have better luck finding ya there..."
"Thanks," replied Ryouga with an ashen face. If Akane told Akari about P-chan, Akari would know it was him. Everything would be ruined. His life would be made a living misery! They would both hate him! He couldn’t live with that. He had to find her. He had to find Akari and stop her!
"Akari I’m coming!" shouted Ryouga as he rushed off in the opposite direction of Nerima.
"Don’t know what she sees in ‘im..." muttered the old man, "missin’ a couple’a screws I think."
************
Akane awoke that morning to find no Ranma by her side, instead she found him, or rather her, bringing back some fruit from one of the wild trees. After they ate, they started some katas again. This time, Ranma made it a bit more complex. Akane realised why Ranma had stressed that she perfect the others she had done yesterday. Each kata was a built around a simple one, so that one needed to perfect the simple one in order to improve on the kata. After some time, they stopped and packed up their stuff and again they took to the woods.
This time, they solely took to the trees and this time, Akane had to wear her back pack. Ranma had loaned her one of his black pants with which she wore a loose blouse.
The extra weight was having the desired effect on Akane. It was slowing her down, but it was strengthening her as well. This time, Ranma did not go in a straight line. He jumped in a disorganised pattern. That also served to help Akane’s balance as she landed on the branches from different angles.
Ranma ran until it was lunchtime again. Akane cooked with Ranma looking over her shoulder. Ranma got a few shouts thrown at him, but again he managed to get Akane to cook something edible. They continued their run through the forest for the rest of the day, until suppertime came. Akane cooked again under the scrutiny of Ranma who gained a small bump on the head for his trouble. After dinner, they again practised some katas and prepared for bed. Before Ranma allowed Akane to go to bed he took out the small flask and poured some of its contents into his hands.
"Ranma, what’s that?" asked Akane
"Oh its something pops gave me during training. It helps to heal cuts and bruises quickly."
Ranma applied the ointment to Akane’s limbs, massaging it well into her skin then rolled into the sleeping bag. Akane followed.
"You know Akane. I’ve been thinking about something."
"What’s that?" asked Akane.
"Well I was talking to Kasumi and she asked me somethin’"
"Yeah?"
"Well when do we plan on getting married?" asked Ranma.
Akane turned around to face him.
"I don’t know.(pause) I would have liked to wait until we finished school, but I don’t know if I can wait that long," stated Akane.
Ranma studied her face and smirked inwardly.
"I know what you mean. Who knows what other fiancées pops hasn’t told us about or who will pop up trying to marry us or if we’ll see that shadow again…"
"Let’s wait until we get back home to make that decision."
"Are you sure?" asked Ranma
"Of course I am," stated Akane with a finality to her voice. She gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. "Now go to sleep, you’ve already tired me out for one day."
"Wait a second."
Ranma left and Ranma-chan returned.
"Wh..."
"This way, I don’t have’ta go searching for water in the morning."
"Oh!"
She allowed Ranma to huddle right next to her. Inwardly she was relieved. Her desire to have him had grown immensely in the last three weeks. Being alone, out here in the wilderness with Ranma, she wondered why she was able to stay so much in control of her hormones.
***********
Akane woke up the next morning to again find Ranma bringing her breakfast, not that she minded. She ate cautiously, keeping her eye on Ranma for any sudden movements. She knew training could begin at any moment and at any time. She had learnt that much from watching Genma and Ranma. She waited for an attack but it never came.
"Ok Akane, its time to really get started on your fighting skills."
"But haven’t we started that?" questioned Akane.
"Oh that! Nah, that was just to give you some extra speed and stamina. Now here's where the real training begins."
Ranma attacked her using the Crane fighting stance. All Akane had to do was to block Ranma’s finger strikes, but that took on a whole new meaning. Ranma attacked Akane with a slightly greater speed than she could cope with. The result was that Akane had succumbed to many of Ranma’s finger strikes, but had not yet caught the redhead. Hell, she hadn’t even touched her yet. After a half-hour of frustrating defence, Ranma stopped her.
"Ok Akane, now its you turn to use the Crane."
Akane now tried to mimic the same stance Ranma had used. Ranma was by her side, showing her how it was properly done and guiding her movements. Akane had learnt the stance well enough, but then, she had to test it out on Ranma. Akane attacked Ranma and was surprised when she hit something. She had actually hit Ranma. Surprised, she let down her guard, and found herself kissing the floor.
"Never let down your guard Akane!" warned Ranma.
She got back up to her feet and again she attacked Ranma. Again she met with resistance.
"Ranma (kick) why are you letting me (kick) hit you (block…punch)?"
"Cause (block) if you never hit me (block) you’ll never get to master the stance (block)"
They continued their exchange. Ranma retaliated more as Akane became more accustomed to the style. Akane now understood what the morning fights with Genma were for. Not only were they fighting, but they were perfecting new techniques. After another hour of this, they packed their packs and took to the trees again. This time however, Ranma took off Akane’s sneakers and handed her a pair of wooden slippers almost identical to the pair she was now wearing.
The next three days, training had fallen into a pattern. Stances in the morning, travelling during the day, and katas by night, with the occasional mallet chase in between. On the afternoon of the third day, they had stopped by a stream. Ranma decided to relax a bit and the water cooled their skin in the blazing sun.
When Akane looked back on her five days of training, she was amazed at what Ranma had taught her. Not only had her strength, balance, speed and stamina increased, but she could now bound a bit like Ranma, although nowhere as well. Her fighting skills had also increased immensely. She had mastered two stances and was studying her third.
She looked at Ranma-chan who was floating effortlessly in the water.
"Ranma, is there any particular stance you prefer?" asked Akane.
Ranma listened to the question and smiled.
"Akane, I don’t really like any particular stance, but some stances are better for fighting some attacks than others. When you know a lot of stances and attacks like me and Ryouga, you quit using stances and fight using your own style."
"So why bother teaching me this?" asked Akane
"Cause the only way you can defeat a stance is by mastering it in order to know all its faults."
Ranma swam up to Akane from behind and began to massage her back, easing the tension from her body.
"There’s a Dojo up ahead. You ready?"
"For what?"
"To fight, what else!"
"Fight?!"
"Well how do expect to master the art. You need to fight both good and bad opponents. Why do you think I always keep up the fights with Kuno?"
"I thought you were trying to get him off your back."
Ranma smirked. "That too, but if I can’t gauge how powerful a technique is, then I might use it at the wrong time (Ranma-chan pauses and lowers her voice) and bad things can happen...."
Akane understood the full ramifications of what Ranma was saying now.
**********
Umo sparred lazily with his friend in the Dojo. He wasn’t one of the best, mediocre by the Dojo’s standards, but he could give anyone a run for their money if it ever came down to that. The sensei called for them to sit and he willingly obeyed, rubbing a tender spot where his friend had scored a lucky hit. This was one of the best Dojo’s in Japan after all, or so he was told by his father.
His gaze carried him across to the other side of the room to the advanced students, among them were James and Ataru. James was a brattish young brute whose father had come across with the Americans. He thought himself better than everyone else, which put him right in league with Ataru. That tall ogre’s only claim to fame was that his family had served the Fujiwara Clan. They were always picking on the others. Of course, they only did it out of the sight of the sensei. He had always put up a good fight against them, but, he was nowhere in their league. The only good thing to come out of it was James’ sister, Yvonne. She had seen her brothers brutish behaviour and was occasionally there to give Umo a hand after the fights.
He caught her smile across the room and smiled back.
They had been going out for about a month. No one knew. Not even her moronic brother even guessed. She had this sway to her, a certain elegance that just captivated his attention. He had never seen it before in another girl, and he may never seen it again. When he was with her, it was like no one else was around.
"She's cute..."
"Wha.."
"The girl you’re staring at, she’s kinda cute..."
Umo turned around to see the second most beautiful girl hew had ever seen behind him. Second only to Yvonne. Her red hair seemed to glow with an unreal spirit.
"...ow......Acchan!"
He had only a little time to gaze upon her, before she was pasted to the floor, with a ...a wooden mallet? That musta hurt!
"You there!" shouted the sensei across the room.
Umo watched the redhead and the other girl rise from their seated positions. The redhead looked a bit woozy, and who wouldn’t after be hit on the head like that!
"Are you new students?"
The red head seemed to snap out of her daze.
"No. I am Saotome Ranma of the Saotome School of Anything goes Martial Arts and this is my student Tendo Akane. I wish to have her spar with one of your students."
Umo could see that the sensei could barely restrain himself. The other students were not so disciplined. Half the class broke out in laughter, as did he. Whoever heard of an onna-sensei, and if there was ever one, the redhead looked too young to be any good. Besides, she was a girl, girls couldn’t fight!
"Sato!"
The class quieted down as the two opponents squared off.
Sato was a fairly advanced student, Umo knew that he probably would have no problem in defeating the black-haired girl he was up against. She didn’t look too tough. The redhead watched expectantly.
The two circled each other. Sato waited for the girl to make the first move, and boy, did she move. She was quick! In less than a minute, Sato was on the floor. The class was silent, except for James and Ataru. Those two kept snickering in the corner.
Sato squared up against the girl again. This time he made the first move. Umo watched as the girl repeated blocked all Sato’s attacks without giving any ground. Then all he heard was a grunt, as Sato was thrown half-way across the room.
Laughter!
Umo scanned the room. James and Ataru!
"I can’t believe he lost to a girl!" cried Ataru between laughs.
"What a loser!" cried James.
Umo saw the black-haired girl visibly get very pissed.
"Why don’t you face me!" shouted Akane
James put a hand to his face, "Nah not you, the other one. Let’s see what reds can do."
"Think you can beat me?" taunted Ranma.
"Betcha I can!" boasted James, "and if I win, you have ta go out with me.."
"And what if I win?"
"You won’t...but supposing you do, hmm...I’ll give ya (checking his wallet) 100,000 yen."
Ranma turned to the sensei who only bowed. Only after seeing the fighting style did Anything Goes ring a bell. Were those boys in for a surprise.
"Ok, but to even the odds, your friend can help," replied Ranma cockily while pointing to Ataru.
"Get him Ranma!" encouraged the black-haired girl.
James fell into an offensive stance while the redhead clasped her hands behind her back and waited.
"I’ll make this quick!" taunted James
"Just shut up an fight," replied Ranma.
Umo watched fearfully as James launched his attack, and missed, and missed again, and again and again... Umo couldn’t believe his eyes. There was no way anyone could dodge so fast. Five more minutes passed, ten, fifteen. James had failed to land a single punch and was sweating heavily. Ranma was just smiling, not a trace of exertion on her.
"I’ll make this quick. Ha. Even Kuno’s more of a workout. Come on Akane... you can finish this."
Akane stepped in Ranma stepped out. James stepped out to catch his breath, Ataru stepped in.
"I’m gonna make you kiss the ground!"
"Whatever.."
Umo waited for Ataru to strike when James suddenly jumped over him flying in with jumpkick. Umo feared the worst for Akane, but apparently his fears were unwarranted. He watched, fascinated, as James sailed and impacted against the wall of the Dojo, the victim of a precisely placed roundhouse kick. Ataru wasted no time in watching his fallen comrade, he immediately attacked the girl and she immediately sent him following James into the same wall, her back hand connecting solidly. The girl picked up James’ discarded wallet from the floor and pocketed it.
She turned around, she never saw the bo as it flew straight towards her. Umo watched amazed as Ranma literally blurred before his eyes and snatched the bo out of thin air. He could see that Ranma was angry. She approached the two boys who were against the wall, both ready to attack. All Umo saw was a blur of hands and heard something about chestnuts. After a few seconds, the two boys stood stiffly in front of the girl.
"Saotome-san, I apologise for the behaviour of my students," spoke the sensei to Ranma, "they will be duly punished."
"Nah don’t worry. They won’t be getting up until tomorrow. Let’s go!"
Ranma and Akane bounded out of the Dojo
"Sensei, what...what did she do to them?" Umo asked. He passed his hand in front of James and got no response.
"I don’t know, she said he would wake up later tomorrow."
"Who were they?"
"Members of the Anything Goes School."
"Where are they from?"
"The sensei remembered the school from rumours of past martial arts competitions.
"Nerima.."
"I’ll have to go there some day..."
*************
Akane counted the money as they moved through the forest and pocketed it. Ranma had asked her to keep it.
"How did I do?" asked a confident Akane.
"You almost lost your temper," scolded Ranma
"But you lose your temper in fights," protested Akane
"Hey! _I_ get angry, _you_ lose your temper! And when you lose your temper, you get careless..."
"But!"
Ranma placed a hand on her mouth.
"No Acchan, no buts. You have to stop lettin' stuff get to ya like that, otherwise, you’ll never be able to win in a fight."
"What do you mean?"
"Suppose that was Shampoo there, when you started to get mad, you shifted your stance so much that you left yourself wide open."
"Oh..."
"Anyway, we can’t worry about that now. Koranau’s ahead"
"What’s there?"
"The Kuonji Clan."
Ranma paused and held her hands in hers.
"Do you want to know what I am going to do?"
Akane nodded.
"I intend to adopt Ucchan, and I want you there with me."
Akane stopped and searched for a response
"Of course Ranma. I know how much this means to you but don’t you think that’s a bit drastic?"
"So you want me to marry Ucchan!"
(wham)
Akane plucked Ranma from the tree.
"Sorry."
She gave him a small peck on the cheek.
"You really thought this through didn’t you?"
Ranma nodded.
"Then I’m with you all the way you baka!"
"Thanks tomboy!" replied Ranma-chan as she tagged Akane.
"I’ll get you!" threatened Akane as she picked herself off from the forest floor.
Ranma-chan smiled as she was chased through the forest by a relentless Akane. She wondered where they could stop so she could get some food and hot water
**********
Rei was walking down the village main road when she spied the two strangers. The Koranau Village was located well out of the path of any of the known towns simply because the villagers did not want to be hassled by strangers. Rei stopped and watched the pair.
The boy had a red Chinese shirt and flowing black pants. His hair was braided into a pig-tail and even from that distance, Rei could see that he was very handsome. He walked with a quiet grace indicative of a martial artist.
The girl also had on an identical pair of black pants, but she wore a blouse instead of a shirt. Her short black hair served only to enhance her beauty. She looked a bit tired and did not hold herself up in the same silent proud bravado that the boy radiated.
Rei was so captivated by the boy that she had failed to notice how close the pair had come to her.
"Hello, could you direct me to the Kuonji Dojo?" asked the boy.
"Uh…sure…I’ll show you where it is, just follow me," instructed Rei
The Dojo was bristling with activity as classes were still underway. "Who are you?" asked Rei
"My name’s Ranma and this is Akane. I have some news about one of your members, a Ukyou Kuonji."
A thoughtful expression came across Rei. That name was so familiar, why? Grandfather would surely know!
Rei left them and wandered off to find grandfather.
Sometime later...
"Yes, who is it?"
"Grandfather, it’s me Rei."
"Yes child come in, come in. Well what’s on your mind?"
"Well grampa, there’s a boy who says he has news about a Kuonji Ukyou," announced Rei. Rei saw her grandfather’s anguished face as he heard the name.
"Grampa, why the long face? Who is this Ukyou?"
"You were quite young when this happened. I don’t think you were even there. Ukyou’s father arranged for Ukyou to be married to the son of a martial artist. He had offered his yattai as the dowry. The father of the boy ran off with the yattai leaving Ukyou behind. That was the families only source of income. After, Ukyou’s father raised her as a boy and when of age, he sent her after her fiancée to avenge their honour."
Rei gasped.
"Grampa, who would do such a thing to a small girl!"
"I will not tell you dear. I no longer regard him with any honour. Imagine doing that to one of my daughters...."
At the Kuonji Dojo...
The teachers in the Dojo regarded the newcomers...
"Are you here to learn?"
"Nah, I’m not," replies Ranma then pushing Akane forward, "but she is!"
Akane gives Ranma a nasty glare.
"Come on Acchan, let’s see what ya got," Ranma whispered to her.
Akane took up one of the oversized cooking utensils and tried to follow the kata the students were currently practicing. She could feel Ranma’s eyes on her but she was mistaken. Ranma’s eyes were looking for one person; the person who had caused Ucchan so much grief. He didn’t think he would recognise the man after all these years. But if he did...
Akane stumbled through the kata. She was unaccustomed to this form of fighting, that is, using a large overweighed spatula. Ranma lost interest in looking for Ukyou’s father and scooped up a spatula. He landed next to Akane and bean his own rendition of the same kata. He had seen Ucchan use the spatula over and over again and he had practically memorised all her moves.
Members of the class stopped in mid-kata to watch the pig-tailed martial artist as he effortlessly handled the weapon while executing a wide variety of kicks and punches. Soon the whole class was watching Ranma, including Akane. She never got tired of just watching him. Ranma of course was lost in the Art. He was lost to his surroundings. All that mattered was the Art. Finally he came to the end of the kata.
Applause...
Ranma bowed to the others. One of the sensei walked up to him.
"Who are you? How do you know of our style?"
"I am Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Martial Arts, and I learned your style from my friend Ucchan."
The word continued to spread until a loud shout was heard from the rear of the Dojo.
"Saotome Ranma, how dare you show your face here!"
Ranma knew that voice.
"You! You’re the one who left my son!" shouted Mr. Kounji.
"That was my pops!" retorted Ranma. "Besides, you’re the one who ordered your _daughter_ to become a man!" challenged Ranma as he spat out the last few words.
"He has to redeem his honour. He will avenge his family."
"Ha! Look who’s talking! A man who has to curse his daughter ‘cause he ain’t got the guts to do it himself!"
Akane joined Ranma at the center of the Dojo.
"Guts!" shouted Mr. Kuonji, "I’ll show you guts! I challenge you Ranma Saotome!"
"Fine by me!" replied Ranma arrogantly.
"Stop!" shouted another voice.
All heads turned to see the grandfather and Rei.
"What’s going on here!" the old man demanded.
"I’ve come for Ukyou! I want to adopt her."
"Never!" shouted Mr. Kuonji, "You will never get him until he had fulfilled the family honour!" He took an offensive stance.
"I accept your challenge!" replied Ranma.
"Grandfather?" pleaded Rei.
"There is nothing I can do daughter, it’s a formal challenge."
Rei was afraid for Ranma. He was facing one of the strongest men in the village and one of the best warriors. He was a mighty man, he was built like a tree and wielded a large spatula.
Both squared off. Kuonji in an offensive stance and Ranma in a loose open stance.
Rei hardly saw the spatula as Mr. Kuonji swung it in a closed arc. The spatula impacted with the floor sending up pieces of board and dirt. A cloud surrounded the pair. Rei looked hard into the dust for the Ranma, but she could no longer see him.
"You know, Ucchan does the same thing. Now I know where she gets it from," remarked Ranma who was now by her side. Wait, how in god’s name did he reach next to her! No one could move that fast!
Kuonji attacked again. This time, Ranma somersaulted over the spatula and landed behind Kuonji. Enraged, Kuonji swung his weapon in a wide arc. Rei was surprised to say the least when the boy stopped the spatula with his hand, his other hand seemed to blur and after a second, Mr. Kuonji was on the floor, sleeping!
Ranma snickered over the sleeping man. "I win!" Then he softly whispered to Akane, "Ucchan is my sister." Akane smiled and nodded her head.
Ranma turned to Rei’s grandfather "Now about the adoption," started Ranma
"Say no more," replied Rei’s grandfather, "It is already done. I hope you treat my former daughter with more respect than her former father." He gave a passing glance to the lump on the floor. "But I’ll need the signature of your Clan Head," said the old man as he produced a piece of parchment from his robes.
"Ok, just show me where to sign," replied Ranma to the shock of everyone in the Dojo, including Akane. Ranma signed his name on the form and spoke at great length with the old man. After, they left the Koranau Village for more friendlier grounds. Many of the villagers resented the fact that Ranma had easily defeated one of the best warriors in their clan.
Since it was almost night. Ranma decided to make camp just outside of the village close to the river. When they got settled in, Ranma took his position behind Akane as he instructed her cooking.
"So Ranma, how’s it that you’re the head of the Saotome Clan?" asked Akane.
"Well I kinda knew Ucchan wouldn’t agree to join the Saotome clan if pops was its head, so I asked mom if he was. I read a story somewhere that in the case of absenteeism pops could lose the title...anyway, she told me that she was the head until I came back. Then she passed it on to me."
"So Ukyou’s now you sister right?" asked Akane, just as assurance.
"Yep, scratch one fiancée. Now all I have to do is tell her."
At that, Ranma fell silent. He had no idea how to do that. He would have to figure things out before they went home. Suddenly he was alerted as he felt the presence of someone watching them.
Rei stood just out of the sight of the pair who were cooking. They had not seen her yet, or so she thought. The boy went to the river, while the girl continued cooking. Rei watched the girl cook. But she wasn’t exactly cooking, she was just watching the food cook if you wanted to put it like that. Clearly, the boy was the one who had done all the work.
"Why did you follow us?" asked a voice behind her.
Rei jumped. Standing behind her was a girl. Rei had not even heard the girl approach. She had fiery red hair, which was in a pig-tail like the boy’s, she also wore the same clothes as the boy. She had to be his sister or something, their features and faces were much too similar.
"Uh…I…just wanted to…um…talk to you," replied Rei
"Ok come on then," shouted the red-head as she ran back to the other girl.
Rei followed the girl back to the camp.
"Yo Akane, it seems you may be cooking for three," shouted the red-head.
Akane gave a disapproving look.
"So who’s your friend?" asked Akane suspiciously.
"It’s the same girl we met in the town," replied Ranma-chan.
Akane turned to the girl.
"Hello my name is Akane and this is Ranma’s sister Ranko, what’s your name?"
"My name is Rei, Kuonji Rei. I was wondering if you could show me how Ranma defeated my Uncle so easily."
Ranko grinned.
"Well, he uses the same fighting styles as the person Ranma adopted. That made it a bit predictable what he was going to do!" replied Ranko
"But you weren’t even there! How’d you know that?" exclaimed Rei
Ranma was at a loss for words when she had a rare stroke of brilliance.
"Well, my brother tell me everything," stated Ranko.
"You know how twins are," offered Akane, trying to back up Ranma.
Rei accepted that answer to the relief of Ranma and Akane. The soup was ready. Akane offered her a bowl, which she gladly accepted. Rei lifted the spoon to her mouth.
Rei was surprised at how good that tasted for soup.
"This is good!’ exclaimed Rei.
"Well you’ll have to thank Ranma for that," announced Akane
"But Akane helped a lot," added in Ranko. Akane smiled at the compliment.
"So where’s Ranma?" asked Rei "I want him to show me how he was able to put uncle to sleep."
"Ranma went out of a small hike, he’ll be back later. As for how he took down your uncle, he just used some pressure points."
Ranma took Rei’s hand.
"If I press here on your arm, can you use it now?"
Rei tried the arm, it would not move!
Ranma pressed another spot on her arm.
"Now try it."
Rei tried to use her arm again. It moved.
"That’s, that’s amazing!" shouted Rei, "could you teach me?"
"Uh I don’t think so," replied Ranko, "it takes a lot of time to train someone, and right now, I’m training Akane."
Rei bowed her head disappointed.
Ranma-chan looked at Akane miserably. She hated having to do that to the girl.
"Maybe I can teach you one trick."
Ranma held her hand and moved her finger to the back of Rei’s thumb. Ranma showed her exactly where to press.
"Now try it on me!"
Rei pressed the spot where Ranko showed her. Ranko’s hand began to twitch uncontrollably. Rei giggled with Akane.
"Now press this spot!"
Rei pressed the spot Ranko showed her and the twitching stopped.
"Hey Rei, won’t your parents be worried about you being out this late?" asked Akane.
"Yeah, I guess I’d better be going."
"Bye Rei."
"Bye Ranko, Akane, tell Ranma hi for me."
The girl was gone and Ranko changed to Ranma.
"She was cute wasn’t she?" commented Akane dryly.
"Yep, she was," Ranma saw the red again on Akane’s face, "but not as beautiful as you," he hastily finished. He breathed a sigh of relief as Akane let it drop.
Ranma carried Akane through some of his more complex katas again and then they went to bed. Part one in Ranma’s plan was fulfilled. Now he could fully focus on training Akane.
Ranma knew that Akane would have to fight Shampoo at some time or the other. Ranma knew Shampoo’s style of combat. What was even better was that Shampoo had stopped her training while she was in Nerima thereby increasing Akane’s chances. What Ranma had done up until now, was to try and build on the base that Soun had taught Akane. Granted that he had not taught her a lot, Ranma had tried to increase her strength, agility and speed through rigorous exercise. The ploy had worked. Akane was in the best shape of her life. All Ranma had to do now was to teach her how to defeat Shampoo. That should take him about two more weeks. His only problem was that if they took that long a time, people would get suspicious of them. He had only one contingency plan for that.
Akane lay dreamily next to Ranma on the sleeping bag. Ranma was already asleep. She was starting to feel a little home sick. They had only been gone about a week but she missed being with her friends and with her sisters. Only now did she feel what Ranma had gone through for ten years. She couldn’t possibly have imagined just running around training for ten years, but that’s exactly what Ranma had done for his whole childhood. He had never had and real social abilities and she recognised why. She had seen it’s evidence today.
Ranma was the kind of person people were either attracted to or rejected by. Every time Ranma made a friend, he had to leave them behind as he was leaving Rei. Now she knew why he hung on to everyone so much and didn’t want to tell any of them about their engagement. Ranma had so little friends, that he wanted to hold on to those he had even if they wanted to either kill him or marry him.
Akane had many friends, and most of her past summers had been spent with them on the beach and in the malls. Ranma had had none for most of his life if you exclude Ryouga of course.
Akane hugged her fiancée closer to her body almost squeezing the breath out of the buxom redhead.
**********
Akane and Ranma continued their training trip. Ranma was bounding from limb to limb through the forest when he felt something reaching out to him in the back of his mind. He stopped, and Akane stopped.
"Hey Akane, do you feel something pulling you in that direction?" asked Ranma.
Akane felt the same tingling sensation.
"Yes! I feel it too," replied Akane.
She was about to go in that particular direction when Ranma held her back.
"Let’s go quietly," whispered Ranma, "who knows what we’ll meet."
Ranma and Akane traveled cautiously through the bushes until Akane disturbed some nesting birds. The angry birds showered them with foul smelling droppings. Luckily for Ranma and Akane, the droppings all fell on their shirts. Ranma unfastened his, as did Akane, the stench was really foul. They reached into their packs and both pulled out the respective shirts Ukyou had given them for their birthday. Ranma donned his shirt with the dragon embroidered on it while Akane donned hers with the phoenix. Satisfied, they stuffed the soiled shirts in a bag and continued their journey. The forest thinned and they came to a clearing. Their minds were opened and they remembered.
*************
Chibi-Akane was happily running down a brightly coloured butterfly in the afternoon sun. Her father had carried the whole family on a picnic out of town. Akane continued to follow the butterfly, until it disappeared out of her sight. Akane looked around. Her parents and sisters were nowhere in sight.
Lonely and afraid, Chibi-Akane roamed the woods calling out futilely for her father. Soon the woods thinned out to a large temple. In front of the temple stood an old woman dressed in a yellow robe and sitting in a lotus position. A curious Akane walked up to the woman. The woman looked up to her and smiled.
"Ah child. You have finally come."
The woman took her hand and placed it on Akane’s forehead. Akane stared into the woman’s eyes and felt a warm glow surge through her body. Then Akane felt her legs buckle under her.
"Yes child, now you must sleep until the time has come for the spirit to awaken."
"Akane…Akane," whispered someone close to Chibi-Akane’s ears. Akane recognised her mother.
"Hello there little one, you fell asleep, its time to go," whispered the comforting voice.
************
Chibi-Ranma stared at the fire his father had built. His father had gone to the town to get food, leaving Ranma by at the campsite. Ranma was restless. He was not used to being alone like this. Ever since they had left home a month ago, Ranma started feeling lonely without the comfort of his mother.
His restlessness getting the better of him, Ranma chased a small rabbit that had happened to be there. The rabbit hopped, skipped and jumped, with a laughing and determined Ranma behind it. Suddenly the rabbit jumped into a small hole. Ranma peered in, but he could not see his prey any more. Disappointed, Ranma looked around and found that nothing around him seemed familiar. He began to cry when Ranma saw a light in the distance. It had to be the campfire.
Ranma ran to the source of the light, and came to a clearing with a huge temple. In front of the temple sat a old man with flowing white hair holding the rabbit he had been chasing. Ranma ran to the man, who tenderly gave Ranma the rabbit. Ranma ran his hands through the rabbit’s soft hair, and giggled as it tried to eat his shirt. The old man lifted his hands from his shirt and put his hand on Ranma’s forehead. Ranma looked at the man’s face and felt a powerful force flow from the man to him. Dazed, Ranma slumped to the ground.
"Yes child. Sleep…sleep until you are ready."
Chibi-Ranma woke up to find himself at the campsite again. He saw his father walking back to the campsite with food in his hand
**************
Ranma and Akane walked slowly into the gardens surrounding the dazzling temple in front of them cherishing and absorbing everything around them