Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Memories ❯ Even In My Dreams ( Chapter 10 )

**** All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This is just one of my ideas! So don't judge me just because of my imagination! ^_^ (\/) Cyancat ****

Forgotten Memories

Chapter Ten - Even In My Dreams

Night had quickly fallen upon the Tendo home and everyone was asleep in their rooms, save for one. Mousse stared out of the window of the room he had been assigned, wishing so much to understand what was happening to him. He had been there for a few days and still did not believe what everyone was telling him, yet felt that they weren't telling him everything.

"Am I really the boy that these people once knew?" Mousse questioned the clear night sky that he gazed upon. "How could I forget a past like this, forget these people that are obviously hurt so much by that fact?"

Not even believing what he was saying, Mousse sighed once and turned his back to the wall, sliding down the surface until he sat on the floor. He had been supplied with a futon to sleep in, though his warriors' instincts told him this place was not a position to be comfortable in, at least for the moment. Leaning against the wall, pointed toward the door, poised and ready for combat, he'd feel better sleeping like this. Almost immediately he felt the pull of sleep overcome him and his head drooped down in a deep slumber.

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I'm so tired of being here

suppressed by all of my childish fears

and if you have to leave

I wish that you would just leave

because your presence still lingers here

and it won't leave me alone

Mousse raised his head, hearing words whispered in his ear, sleepy eyes filtering out what was before him. Everything seemed blurred before him, even though how much he blinked and rubbed his eyes. He realized that darkness surrounded him, yet he couldn't see clearly. He blindly looked around, wanting to find the one that spoke these words to him.

these wounds won't seem to heal

this pain is just too real

there's just too much that time cannot erase

Mousse watched as a figure walked toward him and he stood up rapidly, ready to fight, though a moment later found that he had no weapons on him. He stared down at his blurred hands, not knowing what to do. He looked up at the figure and his vision instantly cleared and he stepped back in a daze. There stood before him the image of the boy that he had seen in the photo. His mouth fell open, agape at what he was seeing right before his eyes. He reached out, trying to see if he was real or not before him. Tentatively stretching out his hand, Mousse tried to grab the boy's shoulder, but it sank right through his body and like a ghost the boy's image instantly vanished. The whispered words faded in again by Mousse's ear and he closed his eyes, lulled by the melodic voice that whispered so close.

when you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears

when you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

and I've held your hand through all of these years

but you still have all of me

you used to captivate me

by your resonating light

but now I'm bound by the life you left behind

your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams

your voice it chased away all the sanity in me

It was then that he heard a muffled sound that could only be known as sobbing. Turning quickly to look, he saw that same boy sitting upon a bed, bent over in what he could only imagine, grief, hands covering his face and tears flowing freely.

"I'M NOT WORTHY TO BE CALLED AN AMAZON!" the boy suddenly screamed out and with this, his image faded away, the words echoing around Mousse. There was a sudden pain to the left temple of his head and he instantly brought a hand to the sore spot. Seconds later there was a clanking sound and he turned to see the boy again, yet now his clothes were tattered and torn while looking worn and bruised himself. He was standing inside a cage and staring dead straight at Mousse, shaking the bars he held onto. Mousse couldn't help but stare back at the boy, the fixation of his blue-grey eyes pulling him in.

Again, the boy cried out, "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! JUST LET ME SEE HER AGAIN! I CAN'T LOSE HER NOW! I PROMISED HER!!"

A blinding pain flowed over the right side of Mousse's head and he cringed at the ache, not noticing the boy and his cage fade away.

these wounds won't seem to heal

this pain is just too real

there's just too much that time cannot erase

when you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears

when you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

and I've held your hand through all of these years

but you still have all of me

Mousse looked around him as the sound of footsteps appeared in the darkness. The throbbing of his head still hurt, yet had begun to melt away slowly. It was then that he saw a faint outline of a figure far ahead of him, walking ever so slowly toward the endless darkness.

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone

and though you're still with me

I've been alone all along.

"Stop you! Tell me, what is going on?" he called out to the figure. He started walking and then running toward the figure, knowing that he had to speak to this person, whomever they were. With every step he took, his vision blurred even more and with it, the image of the walking figure. "Stop I tell you! Please, just tell what happened to me!" he called out once more as he stopped running, realizing that he would never reach them. The figure stopped in the distance and then turned around to face him. The person spoke a word that his ears did not catch, though they did not stop them from talking. Again the figure spoke a little bit louder and this time it rang true to his ear. "Idiot!"

Mousse stepped back one stride, as the blow of the word to his mind was as powerful enough like a punch to the stomach. More words the figure spoke and, Mousse realized, in the same voice that had whispered so closely to his ear. They began to repeat them over and over, becoming louder with every recurrence. "Idiot! Stupid! Blind-Duck! Child! Weak-Cursed-Boy! Half-Wit! Idiot! Stupid! Blind-Duck! Child! Weak-Cursed-Boy! Half-Wit!Idiot! Stupid! Blind-Duck! Child! Weak-Cursed-Boy! Half-Wit!"

There was suddenly a resounding pain that came to the front of Mousse's head like a bullet train had hit him head on. He couldn't take hearing these words anymore, for he realized that they brought on the pain. He cried out, clutching his head with his hands, wanting this terrible pain to go away. Sinking down to the floor on his knees and still holding his head, Mousse screamed out once more before fainting to the floor.

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Mousse awoke gasping for air, forcefully gulping it in. He nearly collapsed to the floor and leaned on his arms for support. His body felt weak and after a moment, he quickly noticed that he was covered in a layer of sweat. His eyes wildly looked around the room and realized that he had been dreaming. The room in the Tendo dojo that he stayed in was just the same as when he had fallen asleep. Regaining his composure, Mousse leaned back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, remembering his nightmare. He didn't dare close his eyes, as he feared that he may fall asleep again and then relive that nightmare. It had seemed almost real, as if it had really happened to him, but dreams weren't real, were they?

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Shampoo threw open the door that lead from the living room to the main hall in a rage at Tonic's house. She fumed and cursed wildly in Mandarin, causing Tonic to wince at times for her choice of words. She stalked towards the front door with Mousse quickly following behind her. Quickly Ranma was in front of her, blocking her way to the door.

"Shampoo, just what in the world are you doing? One moment you were fine and now you're madder than a hornet's nest!"

Shampoo stared at him for a moment, her eyes studying him. "I'm going to see Great-grandmother. She had to of done this!"

She pushed Ranma out of her way and stalked towards the door. But as she grasped the door handle, Ranma stopped her with a hand on her arm. "What makes you think that Cologne did this to Mousse? What reason do you have that would mean she caused Mousse to lose his memory?"

Shampoo turned quickly and glared at Ranma, her eyes burning with anger. She flicked her arm, causing Ranma to let go of her. She walked a few steps away from him, seeing Akane and Tonic step closer to them.

"How do you think that I got all of those things when we were younger? All those potions, powders, and even the shampoo I used on Akane! Where do you think they all came from, huh Ranma? Out of thin air? No, it was all her. She gave me every single one of those things. It was all her doing, everything has been her fault from the start!" She turned back to look at Mousse and then at Ranma and Akane. "She was the one who told me we had to leave Nerima! She wouldn't even let me keep Mousse after she was born! Everything has been all her fault!"

Shampoo put her hands to her face, feeling tears squeeze their way out of her violet eyes. She dropped down to her knees and sat on the floor, letting the tears flow along with her words. "I never wanted to go! I..I actually hoped that he would come back some day, that we would be able to be a normal family."

Akane stepped forward towards the prone figure of Shampoo and knelt down beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder for comfort. Akane realized that Shampoo had gone through a lot of torment because of this and wanted to somehow show that she understood everything. She opened her mouth to speak, but found that whatever she wanted to say couldn't be said in words, there just wasn't any way to say it. Shampoo looked up at the woman that she used to hate so much and smiled weakly at her in gratitude.

"That's... That's why I gave Mousse her name. It's why I named her after her father, so I would have to only leave one person, one name behind. I thought that I would never see either of them again, so I didn't want to have to burden myself with a past that I could never recognize again."

Shampoo then felt the tears start to break through again and hid her face with her hands. She couldn't stand for them to see her this way. A thin pair of arms slowly wrapped around her neck and she realized that it was Mousse who was hugging her. "You don't have to cry anymore, Momma." she whispered. "You have me now... and we can still be a family, I'm not grown up yet. We can still be together. Alright, Momma?"

Shampoo opened her teary eyes and saw her daughter before her, also on the verge of crying again with tears in her eyes. She wiped her face with a hand and smiled at Mousse. "Okay, Mousse, okay. I think I haven't been able to get over it until now." she paused for a moment, taking in the moment as she stared down at Mousse, "You want a real family, right?" Mousse shook her head in agreement. "Good, then we're going to leave as soon as possible and meet your father."

Mousse's jaw dropped open in shock at her mother's words. She numbly let her mother stand her up and hold her close. She couldn't believe it, she was going to have her family! Shampoo put an arm around Mousse and looked at the rest of the group in the room with a smile. "Thank you all for helping out with this. I never knew how good of friends you guys really were. Do you think it's possible for us to leave tomorrow morning."

"Sure," Ranma replied. "But we could even leave tonight. Why not go now?"

"I have to talk to Great-grandmother. If she is really at fault for all of this...if she is the reason that Mousse never came back...then I could never forgive her. I have to know the truth, plus if she did do it, then she'll know how to undo it."

"You sure you don't want some company?" Akane questioned.

Shampoo shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. It's better if its just me anyway. She's my grandmother and therefore, I must deal with her."

With one last hug to Mousse, Shampoo quickly ran out the front door into the night air. The group stared after her for a moment, still bewildered at what had happened. Akane coughed to break the silence and then clapped her hands together, gathering everyone's attention. "Well, boys and Mousse, lets get going! Get upstairs and get packing! We're not going to be staying here anymore than we need. Home is waiting!"

Akane and Ranma watched as Genma ambled slowly up the staircase after a rushed Tonic and Mousse, who laughed between themselves. As soon as they had vanished from sight, Ranma turned and quickly grabbed Akane by the waist, pulling her close to him. Caught off guard by this, Akane shrieked for a moment before being silenced by Ranma's lips as he kissed her deeply. She could only stand there in the sheer amazement of the moment before quickly melting into his arms. After what seemed to be an eternity of his lips upon hers, Ranma released her and Akane had to forcibly open her eyes. Still drunk off the power of the kiss that Ranma had given her, Akane looked up at him as he smirked in his usual way.

"What was that for?" She questioned, half wishing that he hadn't stopped.

"Well, I just realized once again how much I love you and I couldn't help myself from kissing you. Shampoo said some things that reminded me of a lot of the reasons why I fell in love with you in the first place. I just had to act on my emotions. You...aren't mad that I did it, are you?"

Akane sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "No, no, not at all." Akane said as she pulled herself closer to him, whispering in his ear. "In fact, I'd enjoy it if you kissed me like that more often."

Ranma smiled smugly back down at Akane. "Well, that won't be a problem." he said and leaned down for another powerful kiss with his adoring wife.

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It wasn't until late that night, when Mousse realized that her mother had come back after she had fallen asleep. She had tried to stay awake until she arrived back, but the fatigue from the past few days was too much and as soon as her head hit the pillow, dreams filled her head. Mousse had awoken as soon she felt another presence in the room and quickly noticed that it was her mother asleep on the bed beside her. She smiled at her mother's form and snuggled up closer, reveling in the warmth that her mother gave off. She knew that they had a lot ahead of them before they could really be a family, but now, she thought to herself, maybe they could start trying.

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Shampoo felt the bed shift a bit minutes after she had laid down. Looking through half-closed eyes, she watched Mousse scoot closer to her and settle her back comfortably against her mother's stomach. She sighed quietly and wrapped an arm around Mousse. No way would she have gone back to her own bed, not with her daughter right here. She had to make sure that every moment counted, she had to make up for lost time. Her thoughts quickly trailed back to where she had been for the past five hours. At first she had run rampaging to her Great-grandmother's house, bursting through the door and finding her sitting at her dinner table, drinking tea.

Her emotions taking over, she ranted and raved at the woman for an hour before she finally grew tired. Later, after her grandmother had been able to get a clear picture of what had happened, Shampoo was shocked. Her great-grandmother had no idea of what had happened to Mousse those many years ago, nor had any idea why he had no memory of them or Nerima. Something inside her wanted to scream out at her great-grandmother, to make her say that she had done it. There had to be a scapegoat for this, because... she couldn't bear to imagine that it was her fault.

Before she had weakly left the house, her grandmother gave her a bag of silver powder that she had never seen before. When she quizzically looked at her grandmother, Cologne told her that it was Delina pollen and it was to be used only as a precaution if nothing else worked. Shampoo shook her head in agreement and left the house into the dark night.

Usually called Delirium Powder by the elders, delina pollen was a drug that intoxicated the senses that came from a rare flower that bloomed in the darkest of night. Sending the user into a torment of delirium and hysteria, it had been used by the elders of years ago when they wanted to contact the spirits. The Delina pollen, however, had been banned as many people who used it, never came back fully and were sedate the rest of their lives or went crazy with the visions that flew past their eyes all day.

Shampoo had clutched the bag to her as she walked down the road to Tonics house. She knew what could happen if the powder was used. Mousse could be lost to her forever even if he remembered her or not. But if his soul was strong enough, he could return back to the man that she used to know and love.

The trip back to Japan from China had been, well at the most it hadn't been too problematic,....for the most part. On the other hand, when the old man refuses to fly in a plane, and converts to his panda form to get out of it, how else are they supposed to act while inside an airport than to start beating on him? When security shows up and with customs right on their tail, what else can you do but run off with him into the bathroom and drench him in the toilet. Then to be the lucky person to sit beside that stinking piece of old man during the whole plane trip,.... well thank goodness they didn't have to deal with that, but they felt extremely sorry for the man who did.

Arriving at the Tokyo International Airport, Shampoo was amazed at how everything still looked the same. Ranma mentioned that they could probably walk back to the dojo from there as it wasn't too far of a walk and it would help to have sometime between arriving in Nerima to meeting that person at home.

The walk to the Tendo home was a very quiet one at that. Ranma and Akane couldn't figure out anything to say between them to help reassure Shampoo and Mousse and Genma was not saying anything after he had been splashed once more with cold water. Mousse walked in hand with Shampoo and would occasionally smile up at her mother to receive a bright smile back and a squeeze of her hand.

Tonic brought up the rear, looking as jealous as any boy in love would look. He knew that the whole reason he even met Mousse, nonetheless that he fell in love with her, was because of her trek to find her parents. This whole thing was about Mousse and her parents and yet he wanted her to pay more attention to him. He just wished that he could be there, holding her hand and receiving those smiles. Looking down to the ground, he studied the sidewalk as they trekked along the city streets. He had to stop making it harder on himself than it really was and so he had to stop watching her. Suddenly he felt a warm hand clasp his empty one and looked up, his eyes wide in shock staring

at its owner.

Mousse smiled warmly at Tonic as his head jerked up from her sudden grabbing of his hand. She had noticed he wasn't looking the same since they had arrived in Tokyo and was beginning to worry about him.

"Tonic, you okay?"

"Yeah,...I-I'm fine." He stammered, still bewildered at the beautiful girl that walked beside him.

"You sure? You didn't look so good just a moment ago. There's something thats bothering you, I know it. So just tell me." Mousse said as she squeezed his hand.

Tonic shook his head. "Its... I was just getting a little jealous I guess. Everyone was paying attention to you, Mousse and you've been with your mom the whole time since we left... I-I just felt left out." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, surprised that he had actually said what was on his mind, but it was probably the hand that clasped his that did it.

"You shouldn't have to worry about that Tonic. I'm sorry if I made you feel like that, I just got caught up in everything. But, I won't do that anymore. Mom is gonna have a lot to do with Dad and I know I'll be in the way until he remembers, so...you willing to spend a lot more time with me?" Mousse meekly questioned and looked up at Tonic's face.

A wide smile spread across his lips and it seemed as if his face brightened three shades. "S-Sure, I'd love to Mousse!"

"Great!" Mousse exclaimed. She then pondered for only a moment as she stared up at him before acting on her intuition and quickly reached out with both hands. Grabbing his head with her hands, she pulled him towards her and met his lips with hers. She held him close for a few seconds more before releasing him, leaving both of them gasping for breath.

"I-I..." Tonic stumbled for words as he was still in a daze from the astounding kiss.

Mousse giggled to herself as she saw how Tonic reacted. It was funny to see how he responded to her affections, especially after what had happened back in China. Grabbing his hand, she towed the stuttering boy along beside her as they caught up with the rest of the group.

"So what do you think that we should do now?" Ryoga asked Ukyo as they watched the children practice in the dojo.

"I don't know. Ranma hasn't called us back since we called him five days ago. Who knows whats happened. All we can do is wait." Ukyo replied and then stepped in to help Taka reposition his stance as he practiced with Shouji.

Ryoga nodded at the boys as they looked to him for reassurance before starting again. Ukyo stepped back beside him and involuntarily put a hand over her growing stomach, the bulge clearly visible through the front of her shirt. Ryoga saw her involuntary move and put an arm around her shoulders. "Well, at least he hasn't given us any trouble. He's really not himself."

"Of course he's not himself, Ryoga!" Ukyo playfully slapped him with a smile. "That's basically another person sitting in the living room. I don't know were the old Mousse went, but its not in there."

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Shampoo stared up at the arch of the doorway that led to the Tendo home. It had been so long and she was finally returning. Looking ahead of her, the rest of the group stood at the front door waiting for her to join them. She smiled lightly and gingerly took a step inside the gate. Another step and another and another, Shampoo slowly made it to the front door.

The door opened with a slam and the group of six entered the house, removing shoes and dropping bags. Ranma looked around for signs of life.

"Hello? Anyone home? We're back!" He called out to the seemingly empty house. Getting no answer, he sighed and walked down the hall. He heard the television on in the living room and rolled his eyes. Grabbing the door, he quickly yanked it open. He stood there motionless, mouth open, ready to shout, but no sound came out. What he saw before him was the Mousse that he used to know, only now grown up some. He wore a full black robe and even though he wore no glasses, he had been staring intently at the television. Mousse turned to look at him and Ranma didn't see one bit of recognition in his eyes. He really had forgotten.

"Hello, I must not have heard you come in. Sorry about that," Mousse said as he stood up from his seat. "If you're looking for Ukyo and Ryoga, they're in the dojo with the children."

"So that's where they are. I'd be like them to not be here at the most opportune moment." Ranma sighed and scratched his head. "Well, it's better to have someone greet us even if its not them."

"Ranma? Are they here or did we find ourselves an empty home?" came Akane's voice as she followed him down the hall. Ranma looked over his shoulder and shook his head.

"NO, there's some one here alright.'

Akane moved around him, a smile on her lips as she walked until she stood beside Ranma in the doorway. "Well, then who is...here..?" Akane's jaw nearly dropped as she saw Mousse stand before her, clad in his black robes. "Oh my.." she managed to say before going silent again.

Then right behind her walked Genma making a bee-line for the bathroom. Mousse followed, her hand still clasped on Tonic's and pulled him into the living room before stopping in her tracks, staring at the man in the room.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mousse stood there, feeling very uncomfortable, as these strange people were staring at him intently with some reason that he had no idea for. He opened his mouth to speak up, but then heheard a melodic voice float down towards him. "Hey, is there something wrong? Where's Ryoga and Ukyo? I thought they were meeting us here." It seemed so familiar to him, this voice that sounded so sweet. All four people in the doorway had turned their heads to see this person walk down the hall and dutifully gave way to her as she approached the door. She had looked at the group of people questionably first before turning her attention to him and Mousse couldn't help but gasp in awe at her.

She stopped in mid footfall and her mouth fell open in a hushed gasp, but nonetheless, she was beautiful! By the gods! By everything living! This woman had to be an angel or a tenyo! Her shoulder length hair was a brilliant shimmering shade of purple and her shining violet eyes added to her total beauty. What more could be said about her, but to say that she was perfect in every way. Quickly, as his mind regained control over him once more, he tried to think of something to say to her.

"Welcome, my lady. My name is Mousse." he stepped forward and took her left hand. "Would you please indulge me with your name?"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Shampoo couldn't believe it. She had only walked down the hall to see why every one had stopped to stare into the living room and when she had to have a look, it was a flash back in itself. It was Mousse that stood before her, even though dressed entirely in black and he wore no glasses, she knew that it was him exactly. She tried to stifle a gasp escaping from between her lips and she stopped walking instantly. He had hardly even changed, his hair was still the same and his eyes still rang a true blue-gray, but she saw no spark in them. There was no spark that had lived inside him for years as they had grown together. That spark had been the love he had for her and now it was gone. As all of these thoughts came rushing to her head, she blocked them all out as she watched him walk towards her and take her left hand.

"Welcome, my lady. My name is Mousse." he said to her and smiled widely. "Would you please indulge me with your name?"

Shampoo stared at him for another moment, not believing what had just happened. Feeling his warm hand wrap around hers, she looked down at his hand and then back up at his face. So many parts of her told her to do different things, but for some reason, only one thing came to mind.

Her right hand curled into a ball and before she knew it, she had smacked him squarely across the room and out into the backyard. He lay there on his back on the grass, clearly knocked out cold as little swirlies formed in his eyes. Shampoo stood there staring after him, huffing in anger before turning around and stalking into the house. Mousse and Tonic just stared in disbelief at what had just happened before them, mouths agape in astonishment. Mousse watched her mother walk off before grabbing Tonic's hand and pulling him with her into the house after Shampoo.

Ranma slowly turned to Akane . "Well, that seemed like a good first reaction. Don't you think?"

She smiled up at him and then looked back outside. "Yeah, I'd say that was about normal for her and for what happened. Can't blame her for feeling that she needed to do it. Even I'd hit you if you did that to me."

"What are talking about! You hit me all the time and I haven't done anything as worse as he did!" Ranma exclaimed in his defense.

"Exactly, and just keep that in mind if you ever get the notion to do something without thinking first."

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Hey, all!!

Thanks for sticking with me through the long process of writing this story!! The lyrics that you read here were from Evanescence's song "My Immortal." I just loved the lyrics to that song and when I heard it, I instantly thought of my story!!

As of for the ending of this chapter, you'd hit anyone who'd done you a wrong like this, right? I know I would and I figure that the Ranma crew still have these little temperments.

Next chapter:

Shampoo and Mousse meet under better terms and start to talk more of the past. More of Mousse's past is revealed and how he lost his memory is revealed (at least to us anyway). This next one may be the next to last chapter, so stay tuned, the end is getting closer!

Thanks for reading!! Please Review!! I love to see the count go up and up!! If I have to, I might not update until I get some more reviews, at least 25-30 total count, so come on people! Review, Review, Review!!!

^_^ (\/) cyancat