~For What it's Worth ~
Pulling out a yellow pad of paper, Akane Tendo went
about doing the impossible. At least it
was one of the most impossible tasks she'd ever tried to complete, baking. Carefully Akane went over the list of
ingredients and their measurements while at the same time checking that they
corresponded with the ones in the book laid out before her.
Wiping her hands on her frilly pink apron, Akane
said to no one in particular, "Okay, I have all the ingredients out and
measured. Now I just need that mixing
bowl."
Quickly, the young girl bent down, grabbed the bowl
and just as she was about to stand up fully, her head had a painful encounter
with the edge of the table. A louder
clatter followed when Akane dropped the metal bowl, in favor of nursing the
slight bump a top her head. All that of
course was followed by very light cursing and finally ended with, "Damn
it. I've barely started and I'm already losing it."
Quietly Akane brushed back her short black hair and
any doubts that began filling her mind.
"I know I can do this," she repeated to herself. "Mind over matter, that's all. Mind over matter." Taking a deep breath, the girl counted to ten and released it
slowly. Placing the bowl back on the
table, Akane read the procedure in the book a few times over before actually
going through with it.
"Okay first the flour." Looking at her assorted
ingredients, Akane found the bowl labeled 'flour'. "Oh I see. Flour is
white, powdery and kind of starchy."
Giving a nod of approval, she dumped the contents into the mixing
bowl. "Next it says, two eggs." Grinning to herself, Akane reached for a
small bowl with two yellow yokes in it.
"At least I know what eggs look like."
A slight gnawing feeling began to eat away at the pit of her stomach before
she thought, "Well…it's best to make sure."
Lowering her eyes, Akane read the label; it said 'eggs (2)'. "I knew it!" Was the happy reply. Thus
was the process in which Akane Tendo used to bake her first ever-edible
cake. And this time it didn't grow legs
and run away.
~*~*~*~
Stretching one more time in the early
morning light, Akane glanced at her alarm clock that read 5:35am. Grabbing her
backpack, Akane silently left the comforts of her room. Stopping briefly in the kitchen, she carefully
packed up the cake that she had baked the prior day and left.
On the desk in Akane's room lay a
remote letter, held closed by a small smiley face sticker.
~*~*~*~
At 6:15am this familiar and almost ear-shattering
cry could be heard all over the city of Nerima and into some parts of
Tokyo. "MY LITTLE GIRL!!!!!! WWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"
Like the dutiful daughter she was, Kasumi swiftly
arrived by her father's side with many towels.
"Oh my, it's okay father.
Akane's a big girl now. I'm sure
she can take care of herself." Shifting
the towels around her father, Kasumi began cleaning up the small flood he'd
created. On the floor beside the gently
sobbing man, was a small letter that had fallen to the ground.
I've gone off to
do something very important. I'll be
back in a day or two, three at the most.
Promise.
- Love
Akane
P.S. Try not to flood the house
with your tears Daddy, and don't send Ranma after me.
So Soun Tendo the matriarch of the family let the
days slowly pass. And took heed of his
baby girl's words by not crying too much and after much pressure from his other
two daughters did not send Akane's fiancé, Ranma after her.
~*~*~*~
What had
she been thinking, thought Akane.
Leaving home to follow a stupid dream.
People would think she was crazy if she told them that. That was why she hadn't told her family,
instead leaving before anyone was awake.
It was easy enough getting them to leave her alone in the kitchen
yesterday, she thought. Just the slight
talk about of her cooking dinner had sent even her loving sister Kasumi running
not to mention everyone else too. But
this would have been difficult, too difficult to explain. So Akane kept trudging on through this dense
forest that she was in. Where she was
going, she wasn't exactly sure. Just
following a feeling she had.
It was near the end of the day, when
Akane stumbled upon it. An old
forgotten Shinto temple built completely out of stone, or at least that's what
it looked liked. There near the
entrance of the shrine, was a wooden board with some writing on it hanging at
an odd angle. Brushing the dead leaves
and other bits and pieces off of the board, Akane read what it had to say.
If
your heart is true weary traveler,
Than
you have found the place dreams are made of.
If
your heart is not, than traveler
Stay
clear. For within these walls lies
darkness.
Baffled at
the words, Akane set the board down and was about to walk away when a small
sentence appeared at the bottom of the board.
Please
stop by our Gift Shop for a souvenir before parting.
This time, Akane set the
board down for good and wandered into the temple. It appeared that she had been right; the entire structure was
created out of stone. Shivering a little,
Akane stopped and pulled out a sweater that she hastily put on. She noticed many rugs hanging on the walls
and floors. 'Probably to keep in some
amount of heat', thought Akane. As
Akane was about to stop and study one of the rugs, a feeling like somebody was
tugging at her came up. Looking towards
the area of the tugging Akane saw a set of closed doors leisurely open
revealing an abundance of warm sunlight.
Once she had entered the room, the
warm light wrapped around her warming her to the skin. Rubble lay scattered on the floor, proof
that at one time or another a roof had existed here. Across from her sat a beautiful girl around Akane's own age deep
in meditation. Crossing the room, Akane
softly sat down legs crossed in front of the girl.
"Why have you come here?" The girl asked her voice soft and sweet.
Replying in an equally soft voice Akane said, "I had
a dream. It brought me here."
"Do you know what this place is?"
"No."
"I will tell you than. This is the temple where dreams and wishes are granted. But for a price of course."
The information the girl had just told her was
absorbed. And after a moment Akane
said, "of course."
"As you've probably guessed, I am the
spirit of this place. I am Mitsu." The
girl's bright green eyes looked into Akane's deep brown ones. "What is it that you desire? Don't answer right away now. Think about it."
"No, I know what I want."
Mitsu looked at Akane with
curiosity. Did the girl really know
what she wanted? Or would she be like
the others and make a stupid selfish wish.
"Are you sure?" A solemn nod
from the girl was all Mitsu needed.
"Very well. Say it, and if you
have the proper price for it, than it will be granted."
"I wish for my fiancé's curse to be
removed," Akane said quickly in one breath.
"Really?
From what I hear, he doesn't treat you very well."
Looking at her hands, Akane thought about it. "It's true, Ranma can be a very arrogant,
self-centered jerk who calls me all sorts of names. B-but there have been times, when he's been nice to me too." Akane finished, with a minor blush across
her face. Why was she telling this,
this SPIRIT how she felt about Ranma.
Sighing a bit, Mitsu thought 'Humans, go
figure.' "So you're telling me that you
wish for his curse to be removed just because he's nice to you sometimes?"
"Er…well I know it's stupid. But, I know it'd make him really happy
so…" 'Jeez," thought Akane. 'Are spirits suppose to make you feel dumb
and embarrassed?'
Dropping the subject of the girl's fiancé, Mitsu
went to the next part of the bargain.
"And the payment?"
"It's not much, but I did make a cake. It's edible too."
Giggles floated on the breeze from Mitsu. "Yes, even in the spirit world I've heard of
your cooking. Don't be offended
though. Not many humans are mentioned
in my world. Try and take it as a
complement…of sorts."
Akane's cheeks burned bright red.
Smiling Mitsu lifted Akane's chin and said, "You're
wish will be granted. But under one
condition."
"B-but…" Akane trailed off. 'There was no way, she was going to stay
with a spirit for the rest of her life.'
"Now now, no need for thoughts like that." Mitsu told Akane while waving her finger as
if Akane had just done something bad.
"All you need to do is stay here and eat the cake with me. It can get awfully lonely here
sometimes. Besides it's pretty dark at
the moment. You don't want to be
traveling by yourself right now."
~*~*~*~
The following day, Akane awoke inside
her tent. Opening the flaps, she found
herself no longer in the temple. In
fact she was outside of the forest that surrounded it. She started to wonder if all the events of
the past day had just been a dream.
That was until Akane saw the empty plate that the cake had been on. Tucked underneath the plate was a small
piece of paper.
Thank you for the cake. It was edible, and very tasty. As promised, your wish will be granted. You can now go home.
- Mitsu
P.S. Here's a lovely trinket from
the Gift Shop.
As soon as
the paper was read, it evaporated into the air leaving a small gold charm
bracelet. It even had a little P-Chan
as one of the charms as well as a panda, cat, duck, girl, kettle and a
bucket. And so Akane followed the
spirits words and went back to her family and home.