Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Third Chances ❯ Where We Are ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9

Where We Are

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

 

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

 

I find that if I let thinks sit for a while in my head; I can play them out farther. Plus by trying and keeping my chapters between 2500 and 3000+ words, it helps keep me from making the story slide out of control, turning a diamond to a pile of shit.

 

Please feel free to review, and make comments. If you find a spelling or wordage mistake, feel free to let me know. Thank you.

 

Also, please check out my other stories. I try to keep a constant level of dedication to all of them.

 

123123123123123123

 

Nabiki sat with Ukyo and Shampoo on the bed of the Saotome matriarch. Both seemed confused and scared, while Nabiki simply remained calm.

 

But to be fair, she knew beforehand what could occur.

 

When they had all arrived at the Saotome home, Nodoka had revealed her new relationship with Kodachi, and even told Ranma that he needed to visit her this week.

 

It was a shock to the uninformed fiancées. To them, while one more possibility and threat had been taken out of the running, the way it was done left only confusion in its wake.

 

Nabiki; however, had not been surprised. She had seen how Nodoka had reacted to when Nabiki had revealed what she knew of the Kuno clan. She saw Nodoka cry about lost friends, lost time, lost opportunities. Perhaps, unlike the others, she had grown enough to accept a changed Kuno.

 

So they sat, current rivals, possible co-wives.

 

Sobering was the reaction both thoughts produced.

 

“So,” started Ukyo, “are you two okay with option four? I mean, it sounds...pushing it.”

 

Shampoo nodded. “Airen's mother make certain Shampoo is safe if no picked. Shampoo just need make certain Airen...Ranma...he know Shampoo love with heart, not because too too stupid law says she must.”

 

Nabiki nodded. “The important thing is that will that make Ranma happy. He doesn't want to be married. I can't frankly blame him. I mean, not for family honor, none of us have really earned many points in his heart. I sold him to keep my family afloat, Shampoo used potions and tricks, you played the cute fiancée card way to often...I'd be amazed if he didn't just kill himself to be rid of us.”

 

Ukyo wanted to protest, but Nabiki held up her hand. “Have any of us truly been his friend first? No, every one of us has used him like we owned him. The fact we are still alive shows how much he cared about our feelings, since he didn't kill us and be rid of the trouble we brought, the demands we made of him.”

 

Ukyo wanted to speak, wanted to say she always supported him...

 

But the failed wedding...

 

The cute fiancée title...

 

Other events played through her mind, showing a side she didn't want to admit. Even Shampoo had told her that she had expected Ranma to run the restaurant with her, always expected that he would make the sacrifices. “Do we even know what he wants?”

 

All three lowered their heads in thought. What did any of them truly know about Ranma Saotome?

 

In truth, only Nabiki knew. Ever since the trip to the college, she had gotten to know him better in less than two months than most people did in over a year. “He hates to hurt people at a level that causes them to cry. He hates seeing a girl cry. He has nightmares still, about the Nekoken training, about failing Akane at Jusendo, at being locked, about beginning to become a full girl. He loves the Art; it is his pride, his joy, his nirvana. He hopes to one day make an impact so others will enjoy it as much as he does. He wants his mother to love him, his father to respect him.”

 

She looked at them. “But most of all...he wants control over his life.”

 

“That one thing no one ever give Ranma. Even Mother take that away. He no get to decide to wait.”

 

Everyone nodded at Shampoo's comment.

 

Ukyo wanted her answer though. “Neither of you answered about if you want that.”

 

Nabiki thought about it. “If that would mean he could be happy, then yes, I would go for it. I do think of you two as friends. So yes, I could stand sharing him like that, as long as we remember that he gets as much say as we do, gets to have a choice, a voice, as we do.”

 

“Shampoo see this before in village. Sometimes, too few good men. If Ranma choose, Shampoo okay. It mean...Shampoo always be with Airen. She share, yes, but she still have one she love.”

 

Ukyo caught their tears, symbols of how much they were willing to sacrifice to be with him.

 

Honor? Promises?

 

She had used these things often to stay with him. Why? She knew what he was going through, but she kept pushing.

 

Was she no better than that? Was she no more than a friend desperately clinging to hope that he felt the way she wanted him to?

 

What does it say about my feelings if I can't do what they did? What does it say about my heart for him if I can't be as giving as they are? She looked at her hands, covering her own heart. “Can I say the same thing? Or am I just...just a child, not wanting to let go of the only thing I have left of my happy memories?”

 

She was quickly hugged by the other women in the room, tears flowing from them as easily as they were from her.

 

“You no alone. You always be with Ranma, even if he no pick, just as Shampoo or Nabiki be.”

 

“You will have a family, no matter what. Be happy for that, and open your heart to that.”

 

Ukyo nodded, enjoying the feeling of friendship and caring that the other two were giving freely. “Maybe...maybe it wouldn't be so bad, after all.”

 

Ukyo felt happy. She...she had a family again. She would never be alone anymore.

 

But if Ranma ever had to add a fourth wife...

 

Then heaven help him, because they would kill him.

 

123123123123123

 

Ryoga was lost...yet again. He was in his cursed form, watching to see if he could figure out where he was.

 

“Hello, P-chan.”

 

The emotionless voice should have been his first clue. But he was too happy to hear the familiar voice of Akane. As he leapt to greet her, he soon found himself suspended by his handkerchief.

 

“P-chan, I have to make a call. Stay here.”

 

She was only gone for several minutes, but to Ryoga, they felt like hours. While he had learned enough from Mousse to hide his possessions in subspace while in his cursed form, he dare not move for fear of losing the very thing he couldn't keep: his place.

 

When Akane returned, his “Bwee” was one of complete joy.

 

But Akane remained emotionless as she sat him on her bed, lowering herself to eye level. “I know.”

 

“BWEE!” Ryoga was now scared. She might kill him, or worse...hate him. Damn it, I will get you Ranma! How dare you break a word of honor and tell Akane, you honorless freak!

 

“I know...because my mother told me, Ryoga.”

 

“Bwee?”

 

She sighed. This was tapping into things she feared, things she had hidden ever since Jusendo. “My mother...she...she told me things...things I didn't want to hear. She told me about you, about what I had become, about...about what could be.”

 

She looked at the small piglet, understanding his confusion. “She came to me in my dreams a few nights ago. I was so happy, even to see her in a dream.

 

“But...but then she showed me what I didn't want to see, what I was becoming. My anger...my desires...they...they were beginning to destroy me.”

 

Ryoga could only stare into her eyes as the tears came down. He wanted to blame this all on Ranma, but Akane said it was her mother that had shown her these painful things.

 

“I think the worst was a scene from the future. I...I plunged a sword through Ranma, just because...well...I guess the reason doesn't matter, no matter how flimsy it was. The worst part was...there was a little girl there. She...she saw me kill Ranma, right in front of her.” The tears began flowing, forcing Ryoga to get close to her, trying to calm her with his little hoof. “That...that changes a person, Ryoga. I felt what that Akane felt. She didn't care about the kid, she didn't care that she had just killed someone, she just cared that Ranma was paying for whatever she believed he did.

 

“I yelled at my mother, told her that that wasn't me! But she said it was the most likely outcome from what reality was going to produce. She said that I would likely kill Ranma; in front of the child or alone, it didn't matter. The point was I could be that killer.”

 

“Bwee-bwee-bwee.” Ryoga tried to tell her she wasn't like that, that she was a pure and kind person. But she wouldn't listen, even if she could understand what was being said.

 

She stared into his eyes. “I could be that person, Ryoga. I could be a killer. Look at how I treat Ranma. I know the other girls are the ones flirting with him, even if I'm too stubborn to admit it. But I always blame him. Hell, he tried to warn me about you, and all I did was hit him, poison him because I always had to be a better cook than Kasumi.”

 

She raised herself back into a sitting position. “That is why I gave him to Nabiki without a fight. I...I can't be the person I need to be to keep him...not right now. And since Mrs. Saotome gave that deadline...I don't think I could take it, no matter who he chose, even if it was just me.”

 

She picked Ryoga up, heading towards the furo. “Maybe that's why I haven't flattened you yet, taken you to the vet and had you...fixed...for what you did.”

 

The cursed pig nearly fainted at that.

 

“But...but my mom saved your butt. She explained why you originally did it. You...you just wanted a home...to be cared for...even if you had to be a pig to get it. Even if you had to be...P-chan.” She paused, looking at Ryoga in the eyes. “Don't think because I am letting you live, you are off the hook. You owe me; you and everyone who knew and didn't have a reason like Ranma to hold the truth back. Understand?”

 

Ryoga nodded as fast as his head could move.

 

“You didn't peek at me, but you used my openness with your cursed form to attack Ranma. It...it will be a while before we can be friends, Ryoga. I...I need to get myself fixed up.”

 

She entered the furo. “I assume you have your clothes somewhere like Mousse, so I will toss you in. Get out, get dressed, and call me when you're ready.”

 

123123123123123123123123

 

As Ryoga sat in the chair across from Akane, he noticed she had several bags packed as well. “Um, Akane...what are the bags for?”

 

She exhaled, finding the wait difficult. “I am going to get some professional help. I can't get that here. Either the people around me will tell me I'm fine, or fail to be what I need. I don't want to be the violent tomboy anymore, Ryoga.” She turned to stare at him. “Would you believe I am going the same place that Kodachi is staying at?”

 

“Kodachi!” he exclaimed.

 

She nodded. “Yeah, threw me for a loop as well when she had Sasuke inform me. She said they were really helping her see what was really going on, what she really had become. She even offered to pay for my help, so that I could get better.”

 

Ryoga was still in shock. Kodachi Kuno: the Black Rose...in a mental health rehabilitation center. And she had invited Akane to seek the same help. “How did you get to trust her?”

 

“Mom said to. Apparently, the former Mrs. Kuno was a childhood friend of Auntie.”

 

Even for Ryoga, it did kind of make a weird sort of sense.

 

As a horn sounded, Akane led Ryoga out of the house, locking the doors. Outside were two cabs. One was empty, to take Akane to the center.

 

The other... “Ryoga-kun!”

 

Ryoga stared as Akari ran to him, wrapping her arms around him. “A-A-Akari?”

 

“I called her,” Akane said as the cab driver loaded her luggage. “Ryoga, learn from what I have said. If you keep letting your obsession, your need and desire to outdo Ranma control you, you will only destroy yourself and any happiness you have. Focus more on finding a cure for your directional problem so you can stay near Akari, and let everything else work itself out.”

 

He nodded as Akari led him to her cab. He stopped for a moment, turning to Akane. “Um, Akane, in the dream. Who was the little girl? You never said who she was.”

 

“That's right, I didn't. Goodbye, Ryoga. See you when I get better. Feel free to come and visit me.”

 

With that, she was off, leaving behind two confused people.

 

123123123123123123123123123

 

Akane pulled out a single photo frame. It showed Ranma in his guy form on one side, and his female form on the other.

 

“Mother, who was the little girl? She called Ranma...Daddy?”

 

“Child, that was Sakura, the child Nabiki currently carries. While they were at the college, Ranma saved your sister from some punks, and they ended up having a drunken one night stand that Ranma doesn't even remember. Nabiki erased the evidence before he woke up.”

 

“She's...pregnant! I killed her father...in front of her!”

 

“You could, child. You must let go. You must grow beyond the shallow hole you have dug for yourself, and return to how you once were.”

 

“Do...do they love each other? Did he ever love me?”

 

“They both love you, Akane, even if he can't openly admit it. The very fact he is capable of such shows that Genma didn't turn him into what he hoped. As for Ranma and Nabiki...she is growing to love him, opening her frozen heart, while he is barely beginning to grow in his heart. The others might each win a spot with him, or he may end up with only one. Either way...could you support him now...if he doesn't choose Nabiki?”

 

Akane wiped the tears away again. Every fiber of her ego demanded that she go and beat Ranma for cheating on her, for not immediately doing the right thing and marrying her sister.

 

But...but he needed to make this decision on his own.

 

And she needed to make her own. She had lost him...and she needed to be well enough so she never made such a mistake again, should such a boy come to her.

 

Sometimes, only by losing, do we truly win. Sometimes, there is no happy ending for us...for the moment, at least.