Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Balance of Power ❯ Journey-Gathering Thy Friends ( Chapter 11 )

Journey

Chapter 5

Gathering Thy Friends

Seiji smiled as he watched the others gasp and immediately give the area a once over.

"This was Chairman Mao's creation, as was the Chang`an Jie, the street we used to get here. Tiananmen Square would also prove to be the place where his life's work would be put to test."

Seiji started leading them through the area.

"In 1989, students held a pro-democracy protest here. Deng Xiaoping, the premier at the time, called in the People's Liberation Army, or PLA, to remove the protestors. Xiaoping had originally intended to just scare the students away, but the students would not be intimidated by the PLA. When the protest began to take international interest, Xiaoping decided more drastic measures needed to be taken. Within an hour the PLA advanced on the protestors and began to brutally oppress them. The soldiers were showing little regard for human life, opening fire and bringing in tanks to help keep all exits blocked. The Chinese government had wanted to keep this situation from foreign eyes so they denied any television station to record the event. But some international reporters were there and were able to capture the event and show it to the outside world."

"This area we are in now is where the tanks were led up the street towards the protestors. But they did not reach their intended target. One man stood in the center of the road, blocking the tanks entry. When they tried to go around him he just moved over to again block their paths."

"One man stopped the tanks from moving. One man who was brave enough to go against a force that was infinitely more powerful than him. His name was never released to the public, but it was later found out that the man had been dragged off by PLA soldiers and shot behind some buildings."

Seiji took a moment to let his words sink in.

"I did not bring you here just so I could play tour guide. I brought you here so you could see just what one man can do. That no matter what odds you're up against, one man can still make all the world of a difference. If someone has the courage to stand up against a foe that is stronger than him, than he is a true hero, no matter what the outcome. History admires the wise, but elevates the brave."

"You two," he said pointing at Ranma and Ryoga. "You guys are that kind of person. You will stand up against any type of enemy, no matter how strong they are. With no regard for your own safety you helped me go up against a foe that in all likely hood would make the strongest of today's world hesitate. I want both of you to know that you're both very special people."

Ranma and Ryoga were stunned, and a little embarrassed. Akane was seething.

"Oh and I guess Akari and I are just about as useful as a wet towel then."

Seiji burst out laughing and nearly fell to his knees.

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Kasumi sighed as she dragged the giddy doctor home. Tofu was incoherently babbling as he was pulled across the pavement, oblivious to everything around him.

"And he was doing so well to," Kasumi said to herself. She looked down at Dr. Tofu and smiled. "Oh well, at least we were able to have some fun before he got all funny again."

When she reached the house she was surprised to see that Cologne and Shampoo were there. What Kasumi was not surprised to find was the drunken forms of Soun and Genma passed out.

"What brings you two here?" Kasumi asked Cologne and Shampoo as she set Dr. Tofu down.

"We actually came over for Ryoga's coming home party but it seems we missed a going away party."

Kasumi sighed. "Yes it is quite odd that they would not at least tell us where they were going before they left; I could have made them some breakfast."

Nodoka came in and handed Kasumi a cup of tea, Kasumi thanked her as she accepted the tea.

"It has also come to my attention that this house and everyone associated with Ranma and Ryoga are in danger. I have taken it upon myself to try and help everyone and organize a kind of security force. I've instructed Mousse to head over to Ucchan's and retrieve Ukyo and that kunoichi boy. I left it up to Nabiki to try and explain this to the Kuno's," Cologne said.

"Does this mean were going to be in danger inside of our own house?" Kasumi asked, fear creeping into her voice.

"Yes but I'm going to cover all this once everyone gets here and those two buffoons wake up," Cologne stated, pointing to the two passed out fathers.

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Nabiki took a deep breath before entering her homeroom class. It had been a very stressful morning so far. It seemed that nearly everyone in the school was interested in where Ranma and Akane were, and not everyone seemed to care that Nabiki had put up a notice saying that they were simply on another adventure, and that she would have all details as soon as they returned.

She entered the class and took her seat next to Kuno. As soon as he recognized her presence, Kuno spoke up.

"Nabiki Tendo, I wish to enquire upon the whereabouts of the beauteous Akane and the cretin Saotome."

"Well gee Kuno; information such as that doesn't exactly get handed out for free now does it?" Nabiki asked with an innocent smile.

Kuno sighed dramatically and handed Nabiki 2000 yen.

Nabiki realized she needed to choose her words carefully. If she were to blatantly say that Ranma and Akane had left in the middle of the night and gone to China because they had contracted the wrath of the Yakuza, Kuno would flip out and go on the rampage.

"Why Kuno-baby, I would have never expected you to hand money over with such reluctance," Nabiki said sarcastically.

"I am always reluctant when it comes to handing over money to you Nabiki Tendo," Kuno replied.

"I would think that by now you would have gotten used to it Kuno-baby," Nabiki replied coyly.

"Yes," Kuno agreed. "It is only too often that I must relinquish my wealth over to you."

Maybe I can lead him in a completely other direction, Nabiki thought.

"Well, with Ranma not being here won't you be free to try and find your pig-tailed goddess?" Nabiki asked, smiling to herself over her own brilliance.

A fire flashed in Kuno's eyes and he leapt to his feet, knocking his desk and the person in front of him over.

"Ah, my pig-tailed goddess, my love for you is as boundless as the sea! I shall find you my love!" Kuno shouted as he ran out of the room.

Nabiki smirked at Kuno's retreating form. The smirk disappeared when she realized that she was supposed to bring Kuno back to the house.

"Oh damn," Nabiki muttered as she ran out of the room after Kuno. She spotted him down the hall, running at full speed. She knew she wouldn't be able to chase him much longer, but luckily she spotted Ukyo down at the end of the hall.

"Ukyo!" Nabiki called. "Stop that damn fool!"

Ukyo looked up in time to see Kuno run past her. Without thinking she unhitched her battle spatula and swung. Kuno was hit on the side and sent flying into a row of lockers. He tried to get up but a second swing that planted his face into the ground silenced all future efforts.

Nabiki caught up to Ukyo, out of breath. "Thanks…Ucchan…Kuno-baby is a little too fast for me."

"What was he running for in the first place?" Ukyo asked.

"I made the mistake of mentioning that since Ranma and Akane are gone, he can concentrate all his efforts on his pig-tailed girl."

"Ranma and Akane are gone?" Ukyo asked, her normally bright face turning rapidly pale.

Nabiki eeped and quickly grabbed Ukyo to keep her from falling.

"Whoa, Ukyo calm down, if you'll help me get Kuno back to my house then I'll be able to explain everything to you, okay?" Nabiki asked, slowly removing her hands from Ukyo's shoulders.

"Sorry about that Nabiki," Ukyo said, shaking her head as if to clear it. She reached down and picked up the unconscious kendoist and slung him over her shoulder.

"Lead the way."

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"Why aren't we taking the car Seiji?" Ryoga asked as they made their way down the streets of Beijing. They were headed to some kind of station that had stairs that lead underground.

"The city is beginning to awaken and the streets will be too crowded for us to drive," Seiji told them. "So were going to take the Underground Dragon to Tiantan Park."

Everyone looked at Seiji.

"Oh, I keep forgetting that you guys have never been here before. The Underground Dragon is the name for Beijing's subway system."

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"They say this thing goes 70km an hour," Seiji said.

"It's still not as fast as the Shinkansen," Ryoga said.

They had entered the station and waited for their train. While they were talking, people in the station were doing their best to stare right at them. Ranma and Ryoga stared back at them, which made Seiji burst out laughing. Akane and Akari were a little confused at this and asked Seiji. He told them that even though cultures may be as closely tied as Japan and China is, people will still treat tourists like they are from another planet. Ranma and Ryoga, who had traveled for most of their lives, were quite familiar with this treatment and found that staring back at these people would make them turn away.

The ride to the park was uneventful, which surprised Akane. Ranma and Ryoga had chosen to sit next to each other, which made everyone think that they might start fighting soon. But Ranma and Ryoga were civil to each other, actually rather friendly, even sharing a joke at one point.

Seiji told them when they had left the station that they were going to be right outside Tiantan Park. He had said that it was very beautiful. Once they saw the park, they realized just how much of an understatement that was. Tiantan Park was of such enduring wonder that it short-handed the entire city. All of the buildings in the park, including the Round Alter, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, were an awesome display of god in the architecture.

"This place is breath-taking Seiji," Akane said as they walked through the east gate.

"I thought you guys might like it," Seiji said.

"Hey!" Ranma shouted. "Those people are doing T`ai Chi. Lets go Ryoga."

Ryoga didn't get a chance to respond as Ranma grasped his arm and dashed over to the people. He frantically tried to pull away but was unable to so he succumbed to being dragged all the way there.

Seiji, Akane, and Akari had a good laugh at the sight of Ryoga trying to get his arm free as he was being dragged by an oblivious Ranma. Seiji wiped a few tears from his face as he finished chuckling, and turned to the girls.

"I suppose you ladies would not be averse to taking a stroll through this wonderful park with me while our two adventurers amaze the locals."

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Author's Notes: This chapter marks the emergence of my wife, "Mrs. Clark". With great reluctance, my wife finally agreed to continue my writing while I was sent to India. Though she told me beforehand that she would not like it, she wound up having lots of fun, especially reading all the reviews everyone wrote for her. She's going to help me write with the sequel to this story, so for those that enjoyed her writing, there will be more of it.

I hope everyone has been enjoying the story so far, and I hope everyone has been writing reviews.