Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma Gets A Clue ❯ Archaic awakenings ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Ranma 1/2 Fanfic "Ranma Gets a clue"
Written by Asayogure
First Draft (9/25/1999)
Last modified (6/17/2000)

Chapter 6, "Archaic awakenings"
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Begin.
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Sitting atop his pillar, Ryouga had a prime view of
the surrounding area. Therefore he could see the
approaching dust cloud careening towards him. Debating
with himself for a little while, Ryouga decided now would
not be the best time to see Akane. As she was likely dead
set on seeing Nabiki as soon as possible. Ryouga hopped
off the pillar, landing lightly on the balls of his feet
with his hands in his pockets, and went inside to tell Dr.
Tofu of the imminent arrival.
Akane ran driven by a fear that had her breath
catching in her throat. Nabiki was hurt, hurt because she
had been attacked by someone. Akane HAD to see she was
all right for herself. Biting down on her lower lip, she
willed herself not to cry. Akane was completely unaware
of the slight copper taste in her mouth that her biting
was causing. She was far too busy to acknowledge pain.
Glancing back, she saw that even Ranma was struggling to
keep up with her, as he was staying about a pace behind
her, and wasn't goofing off like he usually did when
he ran; he was seriously running to keep up with her.
Ranma charged behind her with his elbows swinging back and
forth like the guide rods of a trains wheels.
Ranma thought as he ran that he could not bring
himself to admit that Nabiki being out of commission would
not be nice. She was an active participant in making his
life difficult. But if she was really injured. . . and if
it was because someone had assaulted her. . . then the
perpetrators would have to answer to the fiancee of their
victim's sister, after all she was family, right?
Shaking off that useless train of thought, Ranma
forced his mind to take notice of his surroundings. A
comfortable drill for someone to do who really doesn't
want to think about anything. His mental exercises were a
development of the consequences of a lifetime of having
deranged martial artists and numerous monsters and demons
trying to kill you from all directions, at any time.
After awhile you tend to develop the habit of
constantly scanning your environment for threats. It is
amazing what your mind will focus on in times of crisis,
for instance, as he ran Ranma thought about the stupid
little flower basins the government placed alongside the
fence of the water canal. The flowers were a vain effort
to beautify something that just couldn't be covered up.
The effort was there but the results were the same. The
flowers were set there to cover up an eye sore and became
one themselves. That was pure poetry.
At least the flowers gave off a pleasant scent in the
late afternoon air. The sky was starting to clear, and
was now only partly cloudy. A small breeze coming from
the east picked up the delicate essence from the flowers
and wafted it into the air. That mixed with the smell of
the dust and the musk of the canal water made a refreshing
combination that Ranma remembered from his travels in the
outdoors.
Akane was frantic. She knew Dr. Tofu had a different
way about him. He usually tried to make something seem
better than it was by putting on a cheerful show. But he
had sounded pretty serious on the phone. That was not a
good sign. Akane ran faster.
Reaching the doctors building, Akane hardly paused as
she grabbed the door and flung it open. The hinges
creaked audibly as they strained against the tremendous,
sudden force being applied to them and the door chime rang
crazily.
"Nabiki! Where are you?!" Akane wailed. Running up
the steps in the entryway, Akane forgot to take the time
to don inside footwear. "Where is she?!" She murmured a
lot softer this time. Akane started to race for the
examination room door, when she slammed into something,
hard. Bouncing off of Dr. Tofu, she stumbled and would
have fallen backwards if her arms were not encased in a
gentle but vise like grip. Struggling to stand up, Akane
lowered her voice a little.
Looking up into the calm, smiling face of Dr. Tofu,
Akane was reassured a little. "Help me up Dr. Tofu,
please. . . I have to see her, make sure everything's all
right. . .I promised. . ." Akane whispered the last part
as her struggles slowed then stopped. Her legs giving out
from under her even more she started to slump to the
floor, as an icy fist of helplessness seized her heart and
squeezed. Her breath coming in short gasps she started to
cry. Crumpling to the floor the doctor cradled her, then
picked her up and started to carry her over to the couch.
Ranma entered the door just then, assessed the
situation with the expert eye of a trained observer, made
eye contact with the good doctor, and nodded. He quickly
went over to where Tofu was standing and picked up Akane's
now weeping body, holding her as easily as he would an
infant. He calmly stood there and spoke with the doctor.
"So how is she, Dr. Tofu? Is she gonna be all right?"
He whispered as he started to rock Akane gently back and
forth. Her hysterics slowed with the intimate contact and
loving care she was receiving. Grinning, Tofu answered,
"Well if you mean Akane, she'll be fine. If you mean
Nabiki, she has a slight concussion and a few abrasions on
her head. She should be well enough to go home tomorrow.
Akane on the other hand, seems to be having an awfully
tough time with this for some hidden reason. I would like
to have a chat with her before she
goes home."
Nodding his assent, Ranma sat down on the couch with
Akane still held gently in his arms and sank into the
corner as she cuddled into him. She was making slight
sniffling and whimpering noises every now and then. The
fact that she was doing this was normal. 'Lots of people
lose control of their emotions when a loved one is hurt.'
Ranma thought. But doing it to him, in public. . . 'She
must be losing it.' He decided. As he held her he endured
something few others could survive; she was hugging his
neck with a death grip. At the moment the brute strength
that she was so famous for had somewhat left her, so
Ranma could thankfully breath.
Akane's world was falling apart. Someone had hurt one
of her sisters! The sea of her life was approaching
hurricane capabilities and Akane was heading for the edge
and desperately needed an anchor right now. Ranma was
that anchor right now. The warmth of supporting human
contact and the fact that it was Ranma slowly brought
Akane back from the edge. Time marched onward heedless of
her problems. Finally the room seemed to stop spinning
and her heart was returning to a normal beat. Her tears
slowing, she shyly raised her eyes to his, her long
eyelashes clumped together with her recent tears.
"Well, hello there, feeling better?" Ranma asked.
Shock painting her face Akane leapt out of Ranma's arms
and tumbled onto the couch next to him. Breathing heavily
Akane froze and just looked at Ranma.
"If you breath one word of this to anyone. . ." Akane
growled.
"I don't know what you're talkin 'bout Akane." Ranma
smiled a small smile. Satisfied Akane leaned back into
the cool material of the couch and began taking deep long
breathes to calm herself. The material under her slowly
warming due to her body heat.
Just as things were starting to calm down in the small
waiting room, the door to the small kitchen area slid open
and Ryouga backed into the waiting room carrying a tea
tray.
"Here's the tea you asked for doctor. Are they here
yet. . . " Turning around, Ryouga froze as his gaze took
in the sight of Ranma sitting on the couch right next to
Akane. His eyes narrowed suspiciously as he noticed that
her hand lay next to his.
Ryouga was just about to jump on Ranma and demand he
leave Akane alone then apparently thought better of it.
Instead Ryouga carefully walked to the table and set the
tray down. Then slumped down on the couch and glared at
Ranma. Akane looked up at Ryouga without expression, then
looked back at Ranma. Ryouga deflated a lot with her
obvious dismissal of him. Ryouga started to grow
depressed. The doctor surreptitiously took notice of
Ryouga's plight and decided he could put off talking to
him until later. He had enough people flipping out
tonight as it was, first Midori who was laying down in one
of the back rooms right now under a mild sedative to help
calm her nerves, now Akane, and if his internal clock
wasn't way off, Soun Tendou should be dashing through that
door right about. . .
"NABIKIIIIIIII! Don't worry baby! Daddies here!
Where's my baby?! Where's my Nabikiiiiii?!" Soun jammed
through the already open door like a bat out of hell, arms
pumping and legs spinning like the wheels of a run away
freight train, and leapt over the entryway steps. Running
straight for Tofu, he seized the doctor's lab coat lapels
and sank to his knees as he wailed under a waterfall of
tears,
"You have to help me, doctor. You have to save my
baby! My babyyyyyy! Oh Nabikiiii! Please doctor, please
save my Nabikiiiii! Can you help her doctor?!!" Grinning
on the inside, the doctor noted that Soun was in rare form
tonight. Smiling, Tofu reached out to grasp the other
man's shoulders in a gesture of support and understanding.
If you knew the doctor even casually, you would be loath
to let his hands anywhere near your neck or shoulders, but
Soun wasn't exactly in his right mind at the moment.
"There now Mr. Tendou. It will be all right. . ." The
doctor trailed off as he went to work. Ranma watched
expertly across the room as Tofu's magic fingers touched
nineteen shiatsu points on the distraught father's neck
and shoulders. Soun instantly slumped unconscious and
seemed to be breathing easier. Cataloging the technique
for later, Ranma watched as the doctor picked the
unconscious father up in a fireman's carry and started
towards the couch.
"Hello? Is everything all right in there? Hello?"
The lilting musical chime of a young woman's voice sounded
in the doorway. Kasumi Tendou. The ultimate picture of
calm and beauty and control under any circumstances,
stepped into the modest entryway of the young doctors
business. She demurely slipped out of her street shoes,
and into the very well kept light pink satin slippers
sitting in the little box which was reserved for her by
the nice doctor. The larger bin of complimentary indoor
slippers provided for patients and visitors contained
ordinary blue slippers. Her box was marked, "Tendou
Kasumi " in beautiful scrawling kanji. You could tell a
lot about how someone feels about something just by seeing
how they draw the characters for it. Her name was
scrawled in loving sweeps and soft angles. Kasumi smiled
her small private smile acknowledging the doctors'
tender ministrations.
Tofu was frozen where he was, rooted to the floor as
if he had always stood like that. His gaze locked onto
the wall above the couch he had been headed for as his
glasses instantly fogged up. Ranma, for the millionth
time, wondered how his glasses managed to do that. Soun
promptly fell from the doctor's grip and landing headfirst
on the floor, remained unconscious as he flipped over onto
his back.
"Oh father! You should be more careful. You are
going to hurt yourself!" Kasumi scolded as she walked to
his side and checked his head for serious injuries.
'Great just great.' Ranma lamented. 'First Nabiki
gets hurt, then Akane flips out, then Soun loses it.
Ryouga is wiggin out, again. Now the doctor has lost it.
. . the only sane people in this room are me and Kasumi. .
. all we need is for Kuno and Kodachi to show and we can
have ourselves a nifty little party, play some music, and
watch 'em all get funky like a witches' monkey.' Ranma
smirked and had to choke back a laugh at that last thought
- causing Kasumi to glance his way for a second and
raise an eyebrow.
Akane chose this moment in time to be unpredictable
and jump off the couch and run for the examination room.
Sighing, Ranma got up to follow her. Slowly. He was not
in the mood to be caught in one of her mood swings. Since
when had he taken to following her like a love sick puppy
dog anyway? He thought absently as he followed. Glancing
back over his shoulder, Ranma watched Ryouga from the
corner of his eye start to get up and follow him, then
settle for glaring after him instead.
'Weirdo. One of these days he is gonna push me too
far. . .' Ranma made a mental note to stay clear of him
for the next couple months if he could help it. Ryouga
was nothing else if not persistent. The only bonus for
that was it would be a cold day in hell before Ryouga
could track him anywhere.
Akane paused at the door, placing her hand on it
lightly and leaning against the door frame, she breathed a
slow audible breath then slid the door open. Walking
slowly into the darkened room.
Ranma sighed again, and refocused his attention on
Akane. Ranma followed with his hands clenched into fists
at his sides as he crept in behind her, making as little
noise as possible. After all he was walking into a
possible disaster area. Sliding the door open a little
further to accommodate his wider shoulders, he
stepped into the room and with his back against the side
wall silently slid the door shut. His eyes adjusting to
the dim inner recesses of the doctor's examining room.
Akane was sitting in a chair pulled up next to the
table Nabiki was laying on. She had Nabiki's left hand
grasped tightly in both of hers, and she was whispering to
Nabiki. Ranma, thinking Nabiki was awake, decided not to
intrude on their conversation and started to leave. But
Akane's words stopped him.
"Oh, Nabiki. Oh, Nabiki, I'm so sorry. So sorry I
wasn't there. . .please wake up. . . please be all right.
. . I promised. . . promised mom I would always watch out
for you. . .I'm so sorry. . .so sorry. . ." Her voice
cracking, Akane slumped over in her chair, laid her cheek
against Nabiki's, and started to cry. Not the tears of
hysterics, but the slow deliberate tears of guilt and
fear.
Observing her wounds from where he was, Ranma noted
that they appeared minor. Whoever had attacked her had
only struck her once on the head, with some kind of blunt
instrument, and her arms were slightly bruised from what
looked like an arm lock from behind. That wouldn't bruise
someone who worked out even a little bit in the upper body
area, but obviously Nabiki didn't do so. Akane was
seriously over reacting. 'But in comparison to Soun, I
guess this is moderate.' Ranma chuckled grimly to himself
then started to walk hesitantly over to her.
This was a very volatile situation. There was no
telling how Akane would react to his presence. She could
explode at his intrusion, or latch on to him as she had
done in the anteroom. He really didn't know all that much
about her now that he thought about it. He had spent the
better part of the beginning of their relationship
together avoiding her, or showing off. He couldn't
remember the last time they had just. . .talked. However
she reacted, Ranma decided he would rather be elsewhere
right now.
Cautiously he approached her from behind. Taking care
to make a small amount of noise announcing his presence.
The last thing he wanted to do was startle her. Reaching
her, he lay his hands gently on her shoulders and waited
for her to react. He got nothing. Pulling back, Ranma
looked closer at the two sisters. Akane was draped over
Nabiki on Nabiki's left side. She was lying over her like
a policeman would do to protect an innocent from a
psychopath's random gunfire, crying softly. Her left arm
tucked under Nabiki's waist in a fierce grip, her right
under her neck. Their heads cheek to cheek. Akane's eyes
were squeezed tight and she was muttering something over
and over again. It sounded like. . . "please?"
Astonished, Ranma saw Akane start to glow a dim yellow
right before his eyes. As he watched the yellow got
brighter and brighter. Soon the aura around her was as
yellow as any dragonfly's coat; the fringe of the glow was
shining a silky white. The room was now awash with the
surging and pulsating light of Akane's aura.
Ranma had only seen Akane give off an aura a few times
in his life. Usually right before he thought she was
going to end his life. But those had usually been red or
blue, the colors of battle. And they had never been this
bright or complicated before. Usually just a faint glow
of a single shade of color. This was a strong glow and it
was multicolored.
Now Ranma considered himself a rather accomplished
authority on the subject of auras. But he was almost
positive he had never seen anything like this. As Ranma
watched, he backed away from the two sisters, until his
back met the table on the far wall halting him.
Astonished Ranma's eye's locked on the sight before him.
Akane was now rocking back and forth, Nabiki still
held under her like her own child. A low howling sound
like a grieving mother's wail for a dead child started up
somewhere outside in the closely approaching dusk. As the
glow from Akane grew in intensity, so did the sound. As
the crescendo mounted, Ranma had to squint his eyes
against the fantastic surge of light pouring from Akane.
Determined to watch, he shielded his eyes with one hand,
as if he was shielding the sun.
Suddenly Akane raised her head and arched her back and
neck with her arms extended upward in a 'V' shape. She
started to scream a defiant scream to the gods. Light was
pouring out of her open mouth and her eyes glowed white as
the sun. The howling outside crested with her, and the
windows on the other side of the room burst open and a
wind that was alive rushed into the room.
The wind seemed more liquid than ethereal and carried with
it the scent of lilac and pear blossoms, rushing spring
water and fresh cut grass. As he watched awestruck the
wind swirled around the two sisters and focused on Akane.
It seemed to actually be permeating her! Slowly the glow
that had been radiating from her seemed to sink into her.
Her skin started to glow with the brilliant glow of the
sun. Ranma's eyes were now burning with the effort of
blinking back the tears streaming down his cheeks. He
was too awestruck to even notice. Akane had never done
THIS before.
Akane now silent arched her neck back with her mouth
still open, like she was trying to catch rain drops on her
tongue. She let her arms fall and held them at shoulder
level like wings, as she seemed to be drifting within the
wind. Accepting the winds caress she danced with it,
spinning around in small circles as Nabiki lay still on
the bed. The wind lifted her and held her dancing with
her as she swayed in place. Her mouth slightly open
now and her eyes closed, she allowed the wind to suffuse
her with it's life force.
Finally the wind abated somewhat and, leaving Akane,
started to swirl around the outside rim of the room. The
wind swirled around the edge of the room creating a wall
of wind. Akane, holding Nabiki in her arms, now started
to focus the energy in her body. That was the only way
that Ranma could think to describe it. As Ranma watched
the glow flowed up from her legs and down from her head,
all of the glow centering on her torso, then traveling
down her arms. Focusing on her sister on the table, Akane
placed both her hands lightly on Nabiki's temples. The
glow then seemed to seep into Nabiki and began to spread
throughout her as it had just been doing with Akane.
Akane started to make a low rumbling sound.
As the last of the glow left her, Akane started to
scream. Not a defiant scream of terror now, but of
pleading. It started low and quiet and grew from there.
As she did so the glow started to pulse within Nabiki and
swirl crazily, gaining in intensity with the rate of
Akane's scream. Nabiki's back arched off the table and
her body shook violently. Slowly, Akane's scream died
out and with it the glow. As Nabiki's body settled on the
table, Akane stood above her, swaying back and forth.
'Uh oh' Ranma thought as he dived forward to catch
her. Falling, Akane rocketed to the floor like a
marionette with its strings cut. Ranma slid under her
across the slick linoleum, arms and head first, and caught
her, barely.
'OUCH!' Ranma thought as his skin came in contact with
hers, which was alive with the feel of electricity. Her
hair was disheveled, and her clothing was rumpled, but she
was breathing. Oddly Ranma could still smell the same
smells the wind had brought, coming from Akane. As he
picked her up, he suddenly felt weaker. His energy seemed
to be draining, like something was sucking the life force
out of him.
Shrugging off the thought, Ranma looked down at Nabiki
and did a double take. He had seen her when he first
entered. Her head had been bandaged with a little blood
showing through, and the bruises on her arms and neck had
been visible. Now her skin seemed unbroken and the
bandage had fallen to the floor, showing her head to be as
untouched as the rest of her. And was it his imagination
or was she still glowing?
Just then, the door slid open and Tofu practically
fell into the room. "What in the world happened in here?"
He demanded in a rather UN-Tofu like demeanor. He seemed
genuinely shook up. "I've been trying to open that door
for the past couple of minutes and it wouldn't budge. And
the whole time I hear sounds in here like all hell is
breaking loose. Now all of a sudden it jumps open
like it's alive. . ." His rant trailing off, Tofu walked
over to Nabiki's prone body. Running his fingers up her
arm and trailing them over her cheek and finally her hair,
he turned and looked very seriously at Ranma. "How did
you do this?" He whispered.
Ranma returned the doctor's gaze for a moment then
shrugged as best he could with a teenage girl in his arms.
"I dunno doc. You'll have to ask her, I just watched.
But that has to have been one of the strangest things I
have ever seen."
Visibly reeling, the doctor leaned back and supported
his weight on the counter top. Ranma pressed the palms of
both of his hands to his eyes as if to contain his sanity.
"It can't be, it just can't be." He muttered. "I mean I
always suspected it could happen, and she showed some of
the ancient signs. . . but what can this mean. . ."
Ranma was beside himself watching the doctor losing
it. The doctor had never lost it - well, not counting
Kasumi anyway. The doctor was who you went to when you
lost it. If the doctor was broken then there was gonna
be trouble. Who was supposed to fix the doctor? Sure
the doctor lost it when Kasumi was around, but that was
different. Glancing down at his fiancee, Ranma muttered,
"Akane what have you done?"
"Ranma come here." Looking up, Ranma saw only a plain
counter and had to spin around to see Tofu standing across
the room in front of his overflowing bookcase. 'How in
the hell does he DO that?!' Ranma thought as he lay akane
down on a spare bed and went to go see the doctor. He was
rummaging through the books, going deeper and deeper into
the collection.
"Yeah doc what's the deal? Do you know what
happened?" Ranma asked hopefully. Tofu seemed to know
everything when it came to these sorts of things.
"I have an idea. . . but I wish I didn't. . ." He
trailed off as he dug into his books. Finally he leaned
back, pulling a dusty old tome with him. Brushing off the
cover with a quick swipe of the hand, Tofu presented it to
him. The cover had characters written on it, they looked
like Chinese. Although Ranma couldn't read Chinese, he
could recognize their characters. But this script he
didn't recognize, it must be ancient. "What does
it say?" He asked while handing the book back to the
doctor.
"It says, 'The record of what shall come to pass.'
This is a book of prophecy that I picked up while
traveling in China a long time ago, when I was studying
the medicinal arts.
"You speak Chinese doctor?" Ranma asked.
"Yes. I speak many languages." Tofu stated absently
while flipping through the book.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Ranma inquired.
Arching an eyebrow over the book he was reading, "You
never asked." He replied before he went back to searching
the book.
"Yeah, but doctor Tofu, I recognize Chinese characters
and these don't look familiar to me. . . how old is this
book?"
"This book dates back to roughly to about 1750 b.c.e
of the Shang Era. It has been continuously and
painstakingly re-copied over the centuries in order to
preserve its contents through the ages. Or so I was
told." He said without looking up from his reading.
"Here we are. This is what I was speaking of. This
prophecy here." Glancing at the book, Ranma saw a passage
bracketed in red ink, with many notations in Japanese
scrawled in the margins.
"What does it say doctor?"
~And so it came to pass that the creator wrought
mankind with a small vestige of his powers. He made the
sky for and of their eyes and gave them the earth to
sustain them. And as the earth and air shall hold
and nurture them so shall they turn their backs to him and
forget Him whom hast delivered their bounty unto them. So
shall He take back his gifts from his chosen and in the
ages to come shall forget them. Thus their loss of faith
and the corruption of their souls when they serve and
pursue selfish ends. Shall herald the end of an era as
mankind rends their own world asunder. And It shall come
to pass that the creator shall take back his gifts and
turn his back to those who would take their eyes from him.
And Man shall henceforth lose all knowledge of the ancient
arts save for a small remnant of the faithful which shall
preserve this knowledge until such a day that mankind
proves itself once again worthy of his benevolence. But
lo all shall not be lost in this time. "When the hour is
nigh for mankind's destruction, a warrior-savior shall be
born in their midst as mankind's final chance." He shall
be pure of heart, but unrefined in word and deed. Thus he
shall have to prove himself in the eyes of those he loves,
and hates, as one beyond reproach in his quest for
righteousness and truth. In the time before the darkness
to come he shall walk the earth seeking to better himself
and awaken the old powers within himself and his charges.
Let it be known that he who walks with the powers of
harmony shall soon awaken the knowledge of old and so
shall he be mankind's final hope and redemption. So it is
written and so shall it come to pass.~
"And that means exactly. . .what?" Ranma asked
dumbfounded.
"Well granted it's a little rough. That was the best
I could make it out to mean anyway. Like all prophecy it
speaks in past and present tense and in parable.
Basically I think this is saying that in ancient times men
could command. . . well magic.
Well probably not all men, but a lot of them. I think
with the references to the earth and air that it was a
form of elemental magic. Combining these and other
unmentioned elements in certain ways could probably
accomplish almost anything. They could use magic for all
purposes and for some reason it was lost to them since
there was a great war going on, or it was used for war or
something like that.
Strange that the records from and before the Shang
Dynasty do not speak of any cataclysmic event like a war
of this scale. So it would have either had to have been
unrecorded, or the records were destroyed. . . or magic
was used in some manner to make people forget. Anyway
that is second to the final part of this passage. It says
that man will be destroyed unless our saviour can prove
himself and help to reawaken the old powers. That would
mean magic." Ranma looked at the doctor like he would a
two year old.
"So in other words this is a religious book, and it is
talking about that Jesus Christ guy that all those
missionaries keep talking about? So what?"
"No Ranma, look at how he is spoken of in the passage.
He will be a normal man, and he will be a warrior, I have
never heard of Christian missionaries speaking of Jesus as
a warrior. No Ranma if this is true then he would be our
only chance of redemption. I have studied this for close
to all of my adult life. I studied this even before I
started to study medicine. And I have been seeing the
signs in history and in current events that make me
think he may be walking among us. Things like the
crusades and the mass population relocation to North
America and even the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima
are spoken of in this book. . .and. . .it speaks of the
first re-awakenings of magic being shown in the form of
water. I happen to know some people who have encountered
magic in the form of water." He looked at Ranma
pointedly. Ranma had nothing to say, Tofu had succeeded
in freaking him out.
"Of course. . .I could be wrong." Tofu laughed as he
set the book down. Ranma sweat dropped.
"Man, doctor. . .don't do that to me! I thought you
were serious!"
"Oh I'm serious all right, I just don't know how
accurate I am. It has been a long time since I studied
this tome. . .I have been. . .distracted." He blushed.
"Ow! What the heck happened to me?" Pivoting on his
heels, Ranma saw Akane sitting up straight on the table
rubbing her eyes.
"I feel like I just ran a twenty mile sprint . . .
Ranma . . . Doctor. . . why are you looking at me like
that? What?" Akane, starting to get angry, hopped off
the table and started to walk towards the two; she was not
in the mood for games. "Why are you two staring at
me?!" She stopped when Ranma pointed behind her, to
Nabiki. Turning around, she glanced at Nabiki then
glanced back. Then she whipped her head back around and
ran to Nabiki's side.
"Oh doctor you did it! She's all better now, you
really are a miracle worker!" Akane stroked the back of
her hand down Nabiki's hair. Smiling gratefully.
"Akane. . . I. . . I didn't do anything." Turning,
Akane eyed the doctor like a mother would a child she
suspected of having a fever.
"Doctor. . .of course you did, who else could do this.
. ." She trailed off taking notice of the serious look in
his eyes. The room seemed to grow a little colder as he
spoke.
"You could Akane. . . you." Tofu said quietly. The
wind in the now early night howled outside.
"You must be. . .joking. I could never do this, I
don't have your gift doctor. . . " Turning her gaze to
Ranma for support she saw something she hadn't even seen
in his eyes before, doubt. Terror seized her heart.
"What do you mean I did it?! I can't even put a Band-
Aid on some one without messing it up, how could I heal
her?"
"Akane. . . how do you feel right now?" The doctor
asked as he made his way across the room to close the door
and then over to the little corner where the tea was kept,
and poured himself a cup. The warmth of the tea through
the cup helped to keep him under control. He then placed
the cup on the counter and lifted himself up with his
hands to sit on the smooth cold counter top,
and started to sip from the cup as Akane collected her
thoughts.
"I feel. . . I feel tired, but refreshed and sort of
tingly all over, and for some reason I think I smell lilac
and grass clippings. But I feel fine, what does this have
to do with anything doctor? Are you playing games with
me? Now is not the time doctor."
"Ranma." The doctor directed his attention to him.
"Tell her what you saw." He gulped and nodded. Staring
at the ground, Ranma started.
"You, well you. . . geez. . . I dunno how to describe
it. . .you called the wind I guess, and started to glow
yellow. Then you danced around the room screaming as the
wind whipped around the room, then you took all of the
glow from your body and put your hands on Nabiki's head,
and the glow went into her. Then you screamed again,
and the wind left and you fainted. When I stood up after
I caught you, I noticed that Nabiki was all better.
Doctor Tofu had nothing to do with it." Akane looked
around the room. It was in perfect order, as the doctor
always kept it.
"If there was wind howling around in this room, why
isn't this place a mess, you are not making sense." She
demanded.
"Magic." The doctor said without looking up from his
tea. "You called magic to aid you in what in your mind
was a serious need. You called it and it came and obeyed
you. . .you used it on instinct." Akane looked beyond
incredulous.
"But. . . but Doctor. . . there's no such thing as
magic." She stated simply. Like she was telling a child
the world was round.
"Isn't there?" The doctor asked as he nodded his head
to Ranma. Ranma looked pale.
Akane was not in the mood to be played with. "Ranma.
. . Doctor Tofu, stop playing games with me. I know that
Ranma has some kind of magical curse. But that's
different, he got that in China in a magically cursed
place. I don't have magic. It's not possible." With
that she turned her back to them and went to tend to her
sister.
Ranma and Tofu exchanged a knowing glance. Then Ranma
walked silently towards the door. When it shut, Tofu
spoke from where he was sitting.
"Akane, tell me about your mother, tell me about your
childhood. Tell me about your sisters. Why are you the
only one who studies the art?" He sat and sipped his
tea and waited.
Akane stood stiffly for a minute then slumped her
shoulders a little and walked over to the bench by the
window and leaned against the window sill as she gazed on
the peaceful night sky. Even from where she was she could
feel the cold emanating from the window. She shivered.
Then in a shaky voice she started to tell him what he
wanted to know.
Ranma slid the door shut and stood with his hand
behind his back still on the handle observing the room.
It was a mess but it could be worse he guessed. Ryouga
was sitting on the couch with his elbows resting on his
knees and his head pressed into his hands. Probably
crying. Kasumi was arranging things in the doorway,
sweeping up some stuff, and doing her usual thing. Soun
was sprawled on the other end of the couch with One leg up
over the back of the couch, one hanging off the arm of the
couch and his head lolling almost to the floor. He was
out cold.
Ranma was about to head over to Kasumi and see if she
wanted a hand. She never did, but she smiled so pretty
when he asked. But before he could move, a young girl
stepped into the room from one of the other back rooms.
She had a cloth pressed to her forehead and she looked
kind of woozy. She also looked kind of. . .familiar?
Ranma decided to go introduce himself.
Midori wished she drank. Because if she drank then
she would be able to compare this headache to that of a
hangover, and say this was worse.
Her bleary eyes focused on the coffee table and the
tea there, and she stumbled over to it. 'Man. Whatever
the doctor gave me to help relax me sure left a zinger of
a headache. But I hafta admit I do feel better.' She
knew she had finally reached the low coffee table when her
shins told her so. She winced slightly as she bent over
to pour herself a cup. Idly she thought bitterly,
'A real gentleman would pour a cup for a lady' as she
spied Ryouga slumped over on the couch. . .' Before she
could complete her thought though, she saw held in front
of her outstretched hands a steaming cup of tea.
Looking up, her heart stopped. There in front of her
eyes, with a nice smile on and holding out a cup of tea
for her was, Ranma! Maybe the gods did hear prayers.
"Hello miss. . . what did you say your name was? I
have the feeling we have met someplace before. . .?"
Ranma trailed off embarrassed. He wished she would at
least take the cup of tea, it was hot.
Midori took the tea reverently. She wondered if she
should drink it, or save it? After all He had given it to
her. Ranma smiled and waited for her to answer his
question. Snapping out of it enough to speak, she
answered shyly. "M-Midori, my names Midori. I-I sit
behind you in first period."
Ranma snapped his fingers. 'Oh yeah that's right!
She's the girl that gave me my backpack back I think.'
Ranma smiled and said, "Well nice meeting you. I hope you
have a nice night." And started to turn away.
'Wait, wait, wait!' Her mind screamed. Now that she
had his attention she wasn't about to let him away that
easily. Feigning weakness she moaned and stumbled a
little. It had the desired effect, he appeared on her
side and grasped her arm in support.
"Here let me help you to the couch, are you okay?"
Ranma sounded genuinely concerned. He seated her and made
to remove his hands from her arm, but she deftly grasped
his hand and pulled him down beside her.
"Tell me what you're doing here, do you come here
often? Do you know Dr. Tofu? Where's Akane at?" Midori
had all kinds of questions. Ranma was starting to feel
trapped. He patiently answered her questions while he
scanned the room for an excuse to get up. He didn't see
anyone except Kasumi. Desperately he tried to make eye
contact with her. He didn't even know if Kasumi
would be able to understand what he wanted, but he could
try.
As if on cue Kasumi's eyes came up and locked on his.
Pleadingly, Ranma looked at Midori who was chattering away
then back at her and mouthed, ~help~. Smiling, Kasumi
nodded ever so slightly and returned to what she was
doing. Ranma was crest-fallen. He was stuck here.
Kasumi hadn't gotten it. Maybe he didn't know her as well
as he thought he did.
"Midori isn't it? I've seen you at the market before
right?" Astonished, Ranma looked up and saw Kasumi
standing there, wiping her hands on her ever present
apron. Her attention was focused on Midori. Midori had
to break stride to answer Kasumi. When she did so, Ranma
made his break.
"I, uh, think Dr. Tofu just called me. . .I, uh better
go look."
"You owe me one," Kasumi whispered as he passed her.
Incredulous, Ranma glanced back at Kasumi but she was deep
in conversation with Midori. Talking about the best place
to buy material and buttons and that kind of stuff.
'There's more to Kasumi than most people realize.'
Ranma smiled as he made his way back to Akane and safety.
He knocked once on the door and waited.
A muffled, "come in" came from behind the door and he
cautiously opened it. Akane and Tofu were much as he had
left them. She was sitting by the window with a blanket
wrapped around her shoulders, cradling an untouched cup of
tea in her hands, it was still steaming slightly but by
the look of it was almost cold. She was leaning back in
her chair and talking almost in a monotone. Tofu was
sitting on the counter top sipping tea as well, his looked
fresh and just poured. There were tears streaming down
Akane's face.
"So when I sent to see mom that day. . . I, uh she
called me over to her bed. . . then she asked me to do her
a favor. . . to make her a promise. She told me that all
of her little girls had special gifts, and that mine was
strength. She said. . . she said that she wanted me to
always watch over my sisters and daddy, since she wouldn't
be able to anymore. . . " Akane took a deep breath and
sniffed. Gulping back an obvious lump in her throat she
went on.
"Then she held me in her arms and sang me a lullaby,
then she set me down and told me to go get daddy. Then. .
. then daddy and you went in to see her, and I never saw
mom again. . . " Hanging her head down so her chin rested
on her chest, Akane wailed in her own private anguish.
Ranma started to walk towards her, to do what he could to
ease her pain. He understood. His mother wasn't dead,
but she might as well be for all the good it did him. Dr.
Tofu however held out a hand to stop him.
"Akane. . . ?" the doctor asked. "Akane, if you
could have healed your mother on that day, would you
have?"
"Heal mom? Heal mom!? Y-yes of course I would have!
But I was just a little girl. I would have done anything
I could to have helped her." Akane clenched her right
hand into a shaking fist. "Anything." As Ranma and the
doctor watched, the irises in Akane's eyes started to glow
a faint white. As soon as it had started, it stopped and
she turned a tear stained face to the doctor and said,
"but what's done is done. All I can do now is keep my
promise."
"Indeed you can Akane." Signaling Ranma with a slight
nod of his chin, the doctor bade him to her. Ranma went
and stood in front of her and offered her a hand. Smiling
up into his eyes, she tentatively took it and allowed
herself to be helped to her feet. Ranma offered her his
strength and she took it. Again he felt that odd
sensation of being drained as he held her and walked her
out into the anteroom.
Kasumi and Midori were still deep in conversation, and
Soun was still sprawled on the couch. . . Ryouga was
nowhere to be seen though.
'Uh oh.' Ranma thought as he laid Akane on the couch.
'Better go find bacon boy before he does something
stupid.' Before he could do anything, Tofu caught Ranma's
eye from across the room and sighing went back to see the
doctor. This was turning out to be one hell of a night.
"You saw it too, right Ranma?" The doctor asked as he
sipped his tea.
"What, you mean her eyes glowing? Yeah I saw it."
Ranma looked awfully uncomfortable talking about Akane's
eyes glowing. "So why did her eyes glow? And how did she
do that to Nabiki?" Ranma asked.
"What you have seen tonight Ranma must not leave this
place. There are forces in this world that would not be
happy at all to have one with magic back in their realm.
What you have seen tonight was a sorceress' promise being
fulfilled. Akane has the inborn ability to sense the
source of magic that infuses the world. But more
importantly she has learned, without teaching of any kind,
how to focus that energy to do what she wants. She did
this by instinct invoking one of the oldest legends from
ancient times. The promises of the good forces of magic
were always kept. . . even from beyond the grave."
"She did what now? Doctor it's late, talk to me like
I'm two." Ranma grated. He was getting kind of sick of
this.
"She made a promise to her mother on her deathbed to
watch over her family. Tonight she felt so anguished not
because Nabiki was injured, she could see with her own
eyes that Nabiki was fine. She was in torment because she
had not been able to keep her promise. In order to set it
right she has done something that I do not think has been
done on this earth for centuries. She has called magic to
serve her needs, to help her keep her promise."
"Okaaaay. So what you're saying is Akane can use
magic to heal people right?"
"No Ranma, right now Akane has no idea how to use the
power inside her. She still doesn't even believe that she
did it. The only reason she was able to do so was because
she made a sincere promise with the spirit of a sorceress
and her magic demanded she keep it. But I think . . ."
Tofu said in a hushed voice. "Maybe. . . it might be
possible for her with time and effort, for her to come to
command her magic. . . " Tofu trailed off in awe.
"Okay who hit me with a bus?" Nabiki's voice
demanded. Swiveling their heads in her direction, the two
men saw Nabiki sitting up straight and looking around the
room. Tofu silently signaled Ranma with a small shake of
his head not to tell her. Ranma nodded.
"How did I. . . what happened to me doctor? How did I
get better so fast?" Nabiki asked incredulously.
"Magic." The doctor smiled. Ranma shot him a
disbelieving look. What was he doing?!
"Well okay doctor, whatever voodoo you do, keep on
doing it. If you wanna call it magic that's fine. Am I
okay now? Can I leave?" Nabiki asked in her no-nonsense
business voice. She was back to her old self again. The
doctor nodded.
With a grin, Nabiki hopped off the table and quickly
made her way out the door. As she left, Ranma looked at
Tofu askance, raising his eyebrows in question.
"She is not ready to hear it yet." Was all the doctor
said. Hopping down from the counter top, he returned his
cup to the tea corner and started arranging odds and ends
around the room. "I have some things to wrap up now
Ranma, so why don't you start getting everyone ready to go
home and I will join you in a minute. We can talk more
about this later." Tofu shooed him out of the room, and
Ranma found himself once again in the anteroom.
Ryouga was still nowhere to be seen. Kasumi was still
talking to Midori, Soun was still out cold and Akane was
sitting up and joining in the conversation like nothing
out of the ordinary had happened. As Ranma's gaze swept
the room, he caught the brief flash of cloth exiting the
front door. It was the same color as the jacket Nabiki
had on. Casually, he followed her to the door.
Ryouga was sitting atop one of the concrete pillars of
the wall around Dr. Tofu's clinic. He was looking off
into space and had his hands folded peacefully in his lap.
Nabiki was making her way over to him. 'Ryouga may be a
screw ball, but he would never hurt a girl.' Ranma
thought so he ducked back inside.
Nabiki didn't know what to say. She had always been
very self sufficient, ever since mom had died. She had
never needed to be bailed out of any situation. It had
been her own damn fault for being stupid enough to go to a
meeting in that neighborhood and alone for that matter.
She had quite a number of security personnel in her
employment. But she had foolishly assumed that
just this once it would be all right.
According to the doctor, Ryouga had saved her. As a
business woman she owed him a debt of gratitude. As a
person she owed him her life. Finally her hesitant
footsteps placed her behind him. He spoke before she
could.
"Hello there. All better I see. Good. I'm happy for
you." He sounded about as empty and forlorn as anyone she
had even collected a debt with high interest from. But
she didn't let that faze her, she had obligations to meet.
"I owe you one. Big time. You ever need a favor and
you come to me all right." She waited for a response.
"A favor? A favor huh? Okay make me into a person
that Akane will notice. Make me better than Ranma."
Ryouga answered after a long pause. He still had not
turned to look at her. Nabiki was getting irritated.
"Well within reason. I have no control over Akane.
But I am sure I could fix you up with a date with her. . .
" She trailed off as he looked over his shoulder. . .
tears were streaming down his cheeks.
"A mercy date? No thanks. I would rather die. She
doesn't love me, she never will." He seemed to forget
that Nabiki was standing there. Turning back to face
whatever he had been looking at he started to mutter. . .
"the world. . . is a dark and lonely place. . . lonely. .
. lonely. . . beyond care. . . " as he spoke he started to
shimmer a faint blue, the edges of which were turning
black. Nabiki recognized a battle aura when she saw it.
Stooping down she picked up a mid-sized rock and chucked
it at Ryouga's back.
"Hey! Don't you go blowing up anything when I'm
standing here, I just got a better!" Nabiki huffed as
Ryouga looked back at her incredulously.
"What was I. . . did you. . . huh..?" He looked at
her again and seemed to snap out of something. "Oh, heh,
sorry 'bout that." Before he could say anything else
though, Dr. Tofu's voice shattered the relative peace of
the moment.
"Ryouga can you come in here for a minute?" He
shrugged and nodded to Nabiki then hopped off the wall and
walked into the clinic.
'What an odd person.' Nabiki thought as she followed
him inside. Midori was standing by the door with her
backpack on and was studying her shoes sheepishly. Tofu
was in the process of asking Ryouga to escort her home
seeing as it was after dark and she didn't feel safe
walking home alone in the dark. Ryouga nodded
dispassionately. He didn't care about anything anymore
tonight.
As they set off down the street with Midori in the
lead, Ryouga brought out an inky black traveling cloak and
donned it. The cloak gave him the appearance of a phantom
shadow heeling it's master. Although seemingly without
hope, he still had the presence of mind to keep an eye on
his surrounding as he escorted his charge home. Where he
went after that. . . he didn't care. Nabiki watched him
go until he was out of sight. Before she went back inside
she noticed storm clouds were starting to roll in. They
would soon blot out the moon. The musky night air had the
tangy scent that one can smell right before it rains.
'We'd better move it.' She thought as she hurried inside
to grab her two sisters and her goofy daddy.
Ranma was standing off in a corner talking in low
tones with the doctor. The doctor was pointedly NOT
looking in Kasumi's direction. Nodding his head slightly
the doctor submitted to Ranma tying a blind fold over his
eyes. Ranma looked rather self satisfied. Akane and
Kasumi were getting their shoes on and were also talking
quietly. It was as if an intangible signal had forbade
raucous activity and everyone was unconsciously obeying
it.
As Nabiki went to get the rest of her stuff, she
watched Ranma shut off all the lights then stoop down and
pick up her daddy. She noticed Tofu's blindfold and
chuckled.
'Clever, very clever young Ranma, you're learning.'
A blindfold was probably the only way to keep Tofu from
losing control. Now if they could keep Kasumi from
talking to him they should be all right.
Akane and Kasumi headed out the door and beckoned her
follow; Nabiki hurried to catch up. Kasumi glanced back
and commented to Akane how silly the doctor was. Akane
rolled her eyes. Ranma took to the high ground as soon as
he cleared the door. He didn't even seem to be slowed by
his burden. But Nabiki noticed that Akane and Ranma kept
shooting each other reassuring glances as they walked.
Tofu brought up the rear. Trailing them with his
sense of hearing. They reached the Tendou residence in
what seemed like no time at all. Nabiki dropped all her
stuff at the doorway and tromped upstairs. She felt
unusually tired for this time of night. Somewhere
in the city a dog barked then howled, soon others took up
the cacophony.
Akane headed to her room, she was so tired and
confused she didn't want to think anymore. Ranma took Mr.
Tendou upstairs and put him in his room. Tofu followed
him. Kasumi watched him from the landing. She was very
impressed that Ranma could carry such a heavy burden all
this way and not even appear tired. When Tofu was inside
her fathers room, she followed up the stairs and went to
her room.
Ranma made the rounds of the house as he did every
night. He always made sure that everything was locked up
at night before he went to bed. He had already invited
Tofu to stay over for the night, so they could talk in the
morning, and also because he had a nagging sensation of
danger in the back of his mind, and having the doctor
around seemed like a prudent idea.
With the house dark and the sounds of people settling
into their beds winding down, Ranma made his way to the
upstairs hallway. Silent as death itself, he opened
everyone's door to check on them. Tofu looked up when
Ranma looked in and smiled. Soun was still out cold. . .
whatever the doctor had done to him, he had done well.
Nabiki was also out cold. When he poked his head into
Kasumi's room he stared at her in her bed for a minute,
thinking her asleep. As he closed the door, he heard her
whisper,
"Goodnight Ranma, guard us well. . . " Ranma again
reminded himself that there was definitely more to Kasumi
than she let on. Blushing at her praise, he silently
closed the door.
Last on his list to check on was Akane. Tip toeing to
her Door, he stepped into the room and watched her in the
moonlight. Her soft hair framed her face perfectly, and
her lips gleamed with the sweet nectar of her breath. She
was. . . perfect. Creeping closer to her bed, he knelt
down beside her and just listened to her breathing as he
stared out the window. A lot had happened today. But he
found that his feelings for her remained unchanged.
Sighing in resignation, Ranma started to stand and head
off to his room, and his stinky old snoring pop. A hand
on his shoulder stopped him.
"Ranma. . . I'm scared. . . " Akane whispered. She
watched him with those beautiful eyes of hers. Eyes full
of hope and trust, and at the moment a tinge of fear.
"So am I." Ranma whispered back." It'll be all right
though Akane, you'll see." He made to finish standing, but
her hand stayed firm. "Do me a favor?" She asked in a
voice barely audible. Ranma nodded. "Sleep with me
tonight?" She asked while biting her lower lip.
Ranma's world froze. Sleep with Akane? Sleep with
her? Was she nuts?! All it would take would be one
person to discover them and he would be her legal husband
within the hour. But. . . was that such a bad thing? He
liked her didn't he? But. . . were they ready for this?
To go from innocent kissing to. . . this? Ranma searched
deep into her eyes in question.
"Akane are you sure? Once we do this, we can't take
it back you know." Akane blushed beet red.
"Not that! you goober. I meant actually just sleeping
with me. It's cold and I'm scared and lonely. And P-
Chan's missing again."
Ranma sighed with relief, and regret. But he now felt
a little better. Nodding his assent, he started for the
floor. "Not down there silly, in here. . . with me." She
whispered sleepily holding open a corner of her heavy down
comforter. Ranma gulped and nodded. He started towards
the bed but froze when she spoke again.
"Wait, lock the door first. . . " Nodding again, he
quickly went to the door and shut and locked it. Then he
tiptoed back to the foot of the bed, and crawled next to
Akane.
"You sure 'bout this Akane? You want me to change
into a girl or sumthin?" Akane rolled over and looked at
him with a raised eyebrow.
"Why Ranma? Can't I trust you?" She teased him.
Ranma blushed and nodded his head.
"Sure you can." Nodding her approval, she turned her
back to him again. 'I'm just not so sure I can trust
myself' Ranma thought. Ranma lay on his back, side by
side with Akane, with as much distance as he could create
between them. Lying on top of the covers he stared at the
ceiling and realized his heart was racing. He doubted he
would sleep tonight. Akane smelled like. . . well a
girl. Perfume and soap and all kinds of other smells he
associated with women were coming from her and her room.
Her bed was also much softer than he was accustomed too.
He was used to a simple futon on the floor. 'This is
gonna be a looooong night' Ranma lamented. He shook
slightly from the cold, and thought about getting up and
getting a blanket from the closest in the hall.
"Hey, silly. . . get under the covers before you
freeze to death." Akane's voice scolded him without
looking at him. Gulping again, Ranma gently rolled onto
his side and lifted up a corner of the sheets and
comforter. The warmth emanating from the interior was
very appealing.
Scooting a little bit closer to her so he could cover
them both with the covers, Ranma lay very still on his
side. The inside was deliciously warm. Ranma had never
shared a bed with anyone. Especially a beautiful girl.
Ranma gasped as Akane finally got tired of waiting for
him to make a move and scooted back into his body. With
deft pulls of her hands she scooped his right arm under
her neck and his left over her waist and made them clasp
her in a hug. She wiggled her bottom closer to him and in
doing so caused her pajama top to rise a little. The
smoothness and warmth of bare mid-drift skin almost
made Ranma faint from sheer sensory overload. Sighing
contentedly Akane lay her head back down and seemed to go
to sleep.
'At least she has pajamas on.' Ranma thought. 'If
she didn't my nose would be bleeding all over the place
right now.' With a resigned sigh Ranma nestled his chin
in the crook of Akane's neck. They now lay together like
two spoons in a drawer. The pleasant scent and feel of
this beautiful person as her rhythmed breathing filled the
still night air, finally lulled Ranma to sleep. His
last thought was, 'Gee this isn't so bad after all. . . '
On a rooftop about two miles away a shadowed figure
garbed in the blackest of black watched the Tendou
residence through a pair of high powered binoculars.
Glancing at his wrist watch, he noted the time then keyed
a short sequence into a data pad on his opposite wrist. A
short thin wire extended from a headset he was wearing, it
beeped a go-ahead signal. He spoke into it softly. It
was powerful enough to pick up the tiniest of whispers.
"I have the targets in sight. Proceed?"
"No. Wait for re-enforcements. They should be there
a little before dawn."
"Acknowledged. Over." The transmitter hissed off
with a snap. The man smiled an evil grin. Soon he would
be able to take revenge for his fallen comrades.

_______________________________________________________< br> End.

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