Wandering Past the Present Future

Disclaimer: All characters owned by Rumiko Takahashi.

A/N: It's a bit rough, as its been a while since I did any serious writing, but I hope you enjoy it. The story is complete, I'll post a chapter a day till it's done.


When the Dragon and Phoenix taps were created, eons ago, the people of Jusendo were warned to never let the magical waters mix. For should Hot and Cold magic combine, the results would be unpredictable, and it could spell disaster for them all...

Ranma sat on the hard stone, heedless of the waters churning and hissing in the pool around him. All that mattered was the girl in his arms, the girl he'd just torn a Kami apart to save, the girl he was too late to save. He was barely even aware of what he was saying, "All this just 'cause you wanted to save me... It would have been better if it were me. You should have let me die. But you're always butting in..."

Ranma held her closer and struggled to keep control. "Why did you have to get involved? Damn, Akane. You fool. Why didn't you let me go?" He paused for a moment for the rejoinder that wouldn't come, then his fist rose up and punched him in the face, almost of its own volition.

"I'm sorry, that's not what I meant... What I'm trying to say is... thank you."Ranma looked at her face again, seeing nothing else. "I'm so sorry Akane. I'm so awkward with words. There were so many things I always wanted to tell you, but i could never get the words out. Over and over again... I kept trying to tell you how I really felt, but it always came out wrong. I just ended up bothering you and making you angry. But that was never what I meant to do."

Ranma began to plead with her still form, "Wake up, Akane. There's something I need to tell you. I've waited too long to say it, but it can't wait another moment. Akane? Can't you hear me? Please Akane. I need you... to hear me now... I wanted to tell you..." Ranma watched in shock as a tear fell from his cheek to hers, a tear from the boy who'd been taught never to cry.

"I wanted to tell you that I love you!"
"Akaneee!"
Which one Ranma screamed and which merely echoed in the vaults of his mind Ranma never remembered, but it didn't matter, because the girl he loved heard them both. And so did the waters of Jusendo. And as the two teens embraced and rejoiced in the fact that they were both alive and together again, the magic in the waters of Jusendo exploded. Later, some of the surviving members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew swore that for an instant, Ranma and Akane were surrounded by a sphere of stars and darkness.

And then they were gone.


5 years later, 500 years ago...

Miroku and Inuyasha approached the village with both speed and caution, hearing the sounds of battle ahead. Since Neraku had vanished nearly a month earlier there had been a large increase in demonic activity all over the country, providing them with convenient problem of having to remove infestations in many of the villages they stayed in while searching for their enemy. The other members of their group had delayed at the previous village, sending the two men away for crimes of disputed severity. Really, was sly grope and a smart ass remark really worth all this? Shippo at least had had the sense to stay out of it.

As they reached the village common the monk and half-demon expected to see a demon making short work of the village menfolk, who would likely be armed with farming tools and other simple bladed tools. The demon was there certainly, a fifteen foot tall red skinned monstrosity, humanoid for the most part, but bearing 3 horns and a single eye. The men of the village, however, were standing with their wives and children on the sidelines, watching the show. The demon was attempting to pulverise a single unarmed young man, with little success as the fighter managed somehow to dodge virtually every attack.

"He'll get slaughtered," Miroku exclaimed, "Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha nodded and reached for his Tessaiga, only to find a woman's hand holding down the hilt. "Don't interfere, please," she asked, "My husband will be most upset if you interrupt his workout."

"Are you crazy?" Inuyasha yelled, "He's gonna get himself killed! He's not even armed!"

The woman looked at him and grinned, "This is not the first demon we've taken on. We know what we're doing. Watch, he's almost reached the centre of the spiral."

Inuyasha and Miroku quickly looked back at the fight and watched as the demon was launched into the air by a tornado that seemed to come out of nowhere. Barely over the sound of the wind they could hear a voice crying out ".. Shoten Ha! Moko Takabisha!" A red ball of light formed at the base of the tornado and launched itself skyward, impacting with the demon's body and tearing it apart.

"Incredible." Miroku murmured, shocked at what he'd seen. That a single human could do that to a demon, without the aid of magics or a Shikon Jewel Shard was almost unbelievable. Inuyasha looked hard at the winds as they subsided. It hadn't been the Wind Scar or even the Backlash Wave, but it had used wind as an attack somehow. And the user was most definitely human, Inuyasha's nose was certain of that. As was the woman who'd gone to join the man she'd called husband.

Outwardly, they seemed to be a normal couple, both around Miroku's age a perhaps a little more. He was a ordinary looking human, black hair tied back with a simple thong that reached the middle of his back. He wore a silk red shirt and black pants tied at the waist with a simple length of white cloth. His face was open and honest, and filled with happiness as he kissed his wife. The young woman, strangely had much shorter hair, cut well above the neck and so black it was almost blue. She wore a simple white peasant blouse and divided black skirt. Strangely, she moved as if she too knew how to fight, and despite the obvious love for her husband, it was equally obvious she wasn't subservient to him in any way.

Inuyasha and Miroku both looked at each other and nodded. It was important that they get to know these new demon slayers, and soon.

Later, in the Headman's house (after a generous offer to exorcise any further demonic energies by Miroku), they were all seated down to an equally generous meal. Initally the new couple had been a bit wary of Inuyasha, but not because he was a half-demon. It was the type of demon that had the man worried, "Are you sure you're not a cat?" he accused.

"Yes I'm sure!" Inuyasha yelled back.

The woman laid her hand on her husbands shoulder, reducing him to mumbling, "hate cats", and smiled at them. "I'm sorry, but he really has a thing about cats. My name is Akane, and this is my husband, Ranma."

Mildly disappointed to be reminded of the beautiful woman's marital status, Miroku introduced himself and Inuyasha, then said, "I have to say, that was an incredible display this morning. My companions and I deal with demons on a regular basis, but never unarmed like that. How did you do it?"

Ranma replied, between bowls, "Heh, 'tweren't nothing. That was one of my easier fights." He grunted as Akane elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ranma has devoted almost his entire life to the martial arts, and is now one of the best ("The best" Ranma interrupted.) in Japan. We've spent the last few years travelling the continent looking for... something, and only returned to Japan two months ago. When these demon attacks started up, we had to help. As my father liked to say, 'It's a martial artists duty to defend the weak and to destroy monsters.'"

"A wise man." Miroku admitted.

Ranma snorted in derision at this and earned himself a glare and another shot to the ribs. "What about yourselves?" Akane asked, "You've said you slain a lot of demons, do you know why they've recently become so active?"

Between them, Inuyasha and Miroku told the tale of Neraku's defeat and the subsequent increase in demons. Mostly Miroku though, as it seemed that Ranma and Inuyasha were competing to see who could eat the most food. Snatching a pickle from Inuyasha's plate, Ranma smirked and said, "So its your fault then. If you'd done the job properly, they demons woulda stayed in hiding."

"Only cause the coward ran away!" Inuyasha yelled, grabbing the last bowl of rice from Ranma's hand. "And it's really all Kagome's fault anyway, if she hadn't shattered the Shikon Jewel in the first place, this never woulda gotten so bad!"

Akane slumped in despair, "The jewel is gone? It was our last hope."

"Last hope?" Miroku asked.

"We've spent the last few years trying to find a way home. This isn't our world you see, we were transported here by magic five years ago. When we reached Japan we heard of a magical jewel that could grant the user a single wish, and we've been trying to reach the village where it was kept ever since. But now..."

The conversation would have continued, but at that moment footsteps could be heard pounding the floor outside. The door to the room slid open with a bang, revealing a young girl standing there behind Inuyasha, a dark scowl on her face. "What was my fault?" she asked dangerously.

Inuyasha leaned his head back and looked up at her, "Oh, hey Kagome. Something wrong?"

Kagome raised her fist, and growled, "You just never learn do you? Sit!"

The Beads of Domination around Inuyasha's neck activated, slamming him over backwards to the ground painfully. He moaned his protests but Kagome ignored him, instead noticing the stunned expressions on the two people in the room she didn't know. Miroku introduced them and Kagome said, "Pleased to meet you both. Don't worry about him, I just have to keep him in line sometimes."

For a moment there was no response, then Ranma turned to his wife and asked, "Do you see what I see? Please tell me you do"

Akane didn't take her eyes off Kagome, but replied, "If you're seeing a seifuku, and I hope you are, then yes, I'm seeing the same thing."

Kagome suddenly found her hands being held by the couple as they crowded in front of her, (Ranma incidentally standing on Inuyasha's head) crying out in unison "Please tell us you're from the 20th century!"

With a worried look, Kagome replied, "Ye.. yeah, 1997 to be exact."

Pleading, and on the verge of tears, Akane asked, "And can you get back?" Kagome nodded, and found herself in a double glomp as the the couple cried in relief, "We can go home. We can go home"

When Ranma and Akane had finally let her go, (and gotten off Inuyasha) Kagome was about to ask for their story when Sango, Shippo and Kirara finally entered. Immediately Ranma stiffened and hid behind his wife. "There's a c-c-c-at!"

As Akane tried to reassure her husband that the nasty feline wouldn't go anywhere near him, Inuyasha smirked. "Wow, you really do hate cats."

Akane glared at him. "After what his father did to him, you'd be terrified too." More gently, she turned to the newcomers and asked, "I'm sorry but could you possibly take your cat outside. She's a very lovely animal, but I'm afraid my husband simply can't stand being around them." Of her own accord, Kirara turned and left the room. "And a very smart girl too." Akane complimented, "Thank you."

Sango and Shippo entered the room and, satisfied that Kirara wasn't leaving the hallway, shut the door. Miroku made introductions all round, and the conversation returned to the subject at hand. "What did you mean go home?" Kagome asked.

Ranma took a deep breath, wondering exactly how much to tell them. "We used to live in Nerima, Tokyo, at around the same time you do, Kagome. We were really just teenagers like you, martial artists getting into and outta trouble more times than I care to think about. Five years ago we ended up in the middle of China, fighting a Phoenix Kami called Saffron. It was probably the hardest fight I've ever been in." He reached over and took Akane's hand in his, "And one of the most costly. Akane almost died. During the fight a whole lot of magics were released that never shoulda mixed. I still dunno what exactly happened, but when we came to, it was five hundred years earlier. We spent a few months recovering in a village I knew nearby. We learnt a few things from them about the Art, heh, taught them a few things too."

Ranma shared a smug grin with his wife and continued, "We spent four years scouring the continent for a way back home, but nothing worked. It was all either legend, or frauds... whatever. Eventually we decided to come back to Japan. It's not our Japan, but at least it's the right country. We figured we'd settle down somewhere and try to make a life for ourselves. A couple of weeks after we got here, we heard tales of the Shikon Jewel - the magic stone that could grant its user any single wish. We decided to make one last try."

Akane looked at the demon slayers, tears of happiness in her eyes, "When Inuyasha told us that the Jewel had been destroyed, I thought we'd be stuck here forever, but if you truly know of a way to go back and forth, then we can go home at last."

Kagome bit her lower lip and looked downwards. "Maybe," she said, "I've never actually taken anyone else through with me. Inuyasha can, because he's half-demon, but I don't know if other humans can go." Kagome looked up, determined. "But we'll try! If nothing else I'll take messages to your families and let them know you're alive!"

Once again Kagome found herself being glomped by Akane, sobbing with gratitude.