The Letters

by The Altered Destinies

Ukyou is dying, but that's just the beginning of bad things to come as an odd occult force turns Ranma's life upside-down.[

Ranma 1/2:
The Letters
by Erin Mills
based on the creations of Rumiko Takahashi

Prologue:

She was dying. That much was evident. What wasn't evident was
*why* she was dying. It happened all of a sudden. One minute she was
fine and dandy, the next she was bedridden and could barely move.
She was constantly besieged by little aches and pains that seemed
to grow in intensity every hour. The mere thought of food made her
sick and want to rush for the toilet. This was definitely not just
another illness.
There was so much to do before she left. So many things to
resolve. She reached for the notepad and pen next to her futon and,
with a sigh, began to write...

I.
Things were quiet at the Nekohanten. At least, as quiet as they
ever got.
"HIYA!" *KRUNK*
Mousse, a tall Chinese boy with long black hair, white robes and
inch thick glasses plowed into the wall, the plaster breaking off in
an outline of his body. Behind him, a Chinese girl with long purple
hair lowered her fist.
"Stupid Mousse. Shampoo ought make chestnut duck out of you."
"M-my darling Shampoo," Mousse replied, half-dazed, as he fell to
the floor. Shampoo was about to strike him again when the sliding
door to the cafe opened.
"Welcome to-" Shampoo began, becoming the perfect hostess. The
person who had come in was dressed in a delivery uniform.
"Letter for Shampoo and Mousse,"
Shampoo trampled over Mousse in her rush to the door.
"A letter for Shampoo? Maybe it from Ranma!"
"I need a signature from both of you," the delivery person said.
Shampoo hauled Mousse up and smacked him until he signed, after which
she dropped him and took the letter. The delivery person bowed and
left. The letter was in a plain white envelope. Written on the front
were the words:

"SHAMPOO & MOUSSE"

Shampoo opened the envelope and read the message inside. Mousse
stood up and read the letter over her shoulder. The two of them
looked at each other, then back at the letter's surprising text. Then
they bolted for the door of the Nekohanten.

II.
Ryoga Hibiki wandered the streets of Nerima, sweat dampening his
yellow shirt and bandanna. He'd been looking for the Tendo dojo for
days now, but with no success. Not that this was a surprise. Being
lost was a way of life with Ryoga.
As he turned the corner for the fifth time, he saw the delivery
person. Ryoga was preparing to get out of her way when she stopped in
front of him.
"Ryoga Hibiki?" she asked. Ryoga nodded. The delivery person
pulled a letter and a clipboard from her satchel and held the m out
in front of him.
"Sign on line six please," Ryoga did and the delivery person
began to leave. As she was walking away:
"Hey!" Ryoga came running up.
"Would you happen to know where this is?"

III.

The delivery person knocked on the front door of the Kurendai
household.
"Who is it?" asked a voice.
"Delivery for Tsubasa Kurendai," the delivery person said.
She jumped when the welcome mat sprouted a pair of arms, took the
letter, signed for it and vanished into the house. The delivery
person shook her head and went to her van.

IV.
"RANMA NO BAKA!"
The delivery person looked up just in time to see a black haired
boy with a pigtail come sailing over the front gates of the Tendo
dojo and land face first on the street in front of her.
The gates flew open and a girl with short hair wielding a
gigantic mallet rushed out, preparing to smack the boy with it.
"Excuse me?" the delivery person said. The girl and boy looked up
at her.
"Ranma Saotome?" The boy nodded.
"Akane Tendo?" The girl nodded.
"Sign here please," the delivery person held out the clipboard.
The two teenagers signed and recieved the letter. Ranma opened it as
the delivery person walked away. Akane noticed the expression of
shock and perplexment on Ranma's face.
"What's it say?' she asked. Ranma handed the letter over and
Akane read:
"Ran-chan and Akane-chan,
Please come immediately to Ucchan's. I have several
things I need to discuss with you and the others.
Specifically, the distribution of my business after I
die, which I believe will be sometime in the next few
days. Please hurry.
Yours forever,
-Ukyou."
"What does she mean `after I die'?" Akane said, looking up. "What
do you think Ran-"
But Ranma was already halfway down the street. Akane sighed and
took off after him.

V.
As fate would have it, each of the people Ukyou had sent a letter
to arrived at Ucchan's at about the same time.
Ranma and Akane were the first to arrive, followed by Mousse and
Shampoo with Ryoga in tow. All five of them jumped when a Turn Left
sign on the corner walked over and sprouted the head of what was,
apparently, a girl of about seventeen.
"TUSBASA!" all five of them yelled.
"Sorry," said Tsubasa.
"What are you guys doing here?" Ranma asked.
"We recieved a letter from Ukyou asking us to come here
immediately," Mousse began. "I assume everyone else did as well. I
know Ryoga did."
"How come?"
"We find him wandering outside Nekohanten," said Shampoo.
"It's a restaurant. At least he's getting locations generally
right."
"I don't have to stand here and take this abuse, Ranma," Ryoga
said, grabbing his umbrella from behind him. Ranma went into a
fighting stance and for a moment, it looked as though a brawl was
going to break out if Akane hadn't stepped in.
"Let's hold off the ego bruising, all right?" she said,
separating Ranma and Ryoga. "Ukyou asked us here for a reason, and
I'd like to know what it is," The two boys glared at each other but
backed off.
On the front door of Ucchan's was a sign that said, "Closed for
Private Party. Admission by invitation only." and a smaller one that
read "Letter holders please come in."
The six of them enetered the restaurant.

"Ucchan?" Ranma called. He was leading the group through the
living quarters behind the restaurant.
"Back here," came a weak female voice.
Ranma and the others entered Ukyou's bedroom. It was a
comfortable room. Posters lined the walls. A few pictures here and
there: A few group shots of all of them, some of Ranma and Ukyou,
Ukyou and Akane in some drop dead gorgeous dresses from a night out
on the town, Ukyou posing like a cover girl on the beach.
A stereo was set up in one corner of the room, while a safe stood
in another. A rack with varying sizes of spatulas took up most of the
south wall. In a third corner, Ukyou's trademark four foot combat
spatula was leaning against the wall. The fourth corner held her
futon.
As Ranma and the others got closer, it became apparent that Ukyou
was in bad shape. Her skin was unhealthily pale. Her large brown eyes
had sunk into her head. Her hair, normally shiny and full of bounce,
hung limply from her head like old ramen noodles. She was thin,
almost gaunt. Akane swore, from the way her skin was pulled over her
face, that she could make out Ukyou's skull underneath.
Ukyou was propped up on a pile of pillows. She smiled faintly as
the group appraoached.
"Sit down, please," she said as her friends stood there silently.
Each person sat on the cushions that were on the floor. Ryoga quickly
stood up again when his cushion let out a yelp. He tossed Tsubasa
aside and sat back down.
"As you can tell," Ukyou began when they were all seated. "i'm
not in the best condition right now. I've called you all here so I
can say goodbye,"
"Goodbye?!" Ranma and Akane spouted.
"Yes, I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that this is
something I'm going to get over. I'm going to die and I wanted to get
everything squared away with each of you before I go."
"There must be something we can do," Akane said. "Can't we call a
hospital or Dr. Tofu or something?" Ukyou shook her head.
"Dr. Tofu's already seen me, and, as far as he can tell, there's
nothing physically wrong with me. Whatever it is, it isn't like any
illness he's seen,"
"So, you're resigned to die," Ryoga said. It wasn't a question
and everyone could hear the hard tone in his voice.
"I don't see any other option, Ryoga," said Ukyou.
"How did it happen?" Mousse asked.
"I'm not quite sure. I only started feeling like this three days
ago,"
"Three *days*?" Akane asked, incredulously.
Ukyou nodded. "At first, it started like the flu. Upset stomach,
aches, pains. Then it got progressively worse. I stopped eating,
every movement was sheer agony. I felt this gnawing emptiness inside
me. It wasn't hunger. More like a feeling of being...eaten..."
"Eaten?!" Ranma repeated, standing up.
"Don't ask me any more. Just leave it at the fact that I'mn dying
of some unknown disease. Please, Ran-chan, every time I try to figure
it out, it gets worse." Ranma sat down, annoyed, but not wanting to
see his friend in anymore pain.
Ukyou took a deep breath. "I have so much to say to you but I
don't think I've got the time to say it all, so I'll be brief. Ranma,
I-" Ranma held up a hand.
"Don't, Ucchan,"
"But I've got so much to say,"
"No! I refuse to let you give up. The Ucchan I grew up with kept
trying even if she failed. I find it hard to believe that I'm looking
at the same person! In fact, I don't think thatr person exists
anymore, so I have no reason to be here!" Ranma stood up and stormed
out of the restaurant. Akane looked back at Ukyou.
"He didn't really mean that,"
"Yes, he did. And he's right," Ukyou replied. "But what he
doesn't know is that I *am* fighting against this. I'm fighting even
now to stay conscious ans talk to you. I don't blame him for acting
like that. I don't want to die, and I'm probably fighting a losing
battle, but I am *not* going to give up. However, in case I don't
make it, I want to be sure everything will be taken care of, so I'm
leaving equal partnership in Ucchan's to all six of you."
"Are you serious?" Mousse asked.
"I'm sure you'll do fine. Now if you'll excuse me..."
Ukyou closed her eyes and soon fell into unconsciousness.

VI.
Later, the newly made restaurant owners were drinking tea at the
Nekohanten. Ranma still hadn't returned from wherever he'd run off to.
"She can't be serious," Ryoga was saying.
"She seemed that way to me," said Akane. "I mean, if Dr. Tofu
doesn't know what's wrong with her, we may have to accept the possibility
that Ukyou won't be around much longer,"
The door to the restaurant slid open and Ranma walked in.
"Ranma?" Akane asked. He sat down.
"I can't believe she's just going to lie there and let whatever it
is eat away at her from the inside out," he said.
"She isn't," stated Akane. "She was fighting just to talk to us,
that's how sick she is,"
"What kind of disease incapacitates you three days after the
symptoms set in?"
"One that cannot be cured by any medical doctor, future
son-in-law," a new voice replied. The six of them turned to see Cologne
standing there, staff in hand.
"What would you know about it, old ghoul?" Ranma asked
"Some years ago, a friend of mine contracted the very same disease.
It is not so much an ailment of the body as it is of the soul. The only
known cure is the mystic spring water of Hanakatasha,"
"Where is this Hanakatasha spring?" Ryoga queried.
"Somewhere in the mountains of Japan. I had to journey there to
help my friend."
Ranma snorted. The way the old ghoul treated everybody, it was a
wonder she *had* any friends.
"Don't you know where exactly, Great-grandmother?" Shampoo asked.
"It is not that simple, child. The Hanakatasha spring changes it's
location constantly. This scroll is the only known set of directions to
it," The old woman handed over a scroll of great age. Mousse took it, only
to have it snatched away by Ranma, who unrolled it and began reading.
"What the-?!" Ranma stared at the scroll. "Hey, old ghoul! These
are all in Chinese!"
"Of course. And they are all riddles. At each location the riddles
answers give there is a Guardian that must be defeated," Cologne replied.
"And you'd best hurry,"
"Why?"
Cologne's face became serious. "The final stage of the disease
takes six days to run it's course. According to the symptoms you've
described, Ukyou entered that stage three days ago which means-"
"We have two days and change to find the spring," Tsubasa finished,
speaking from a potted plant in the corner.
"Damn," Ranma cursed, "If we had three days, we might be able to
find it if all six of us looked, but only two-"
"There are treatments I can administer," said Cologne, "but,
they'll only extend Ukyou's life by two days at *most.*"
"Then what are we waiting for?" Tsubasa the table lamp said. "Every
minute we waste, another minute of Ukyou-sama's life is lost!"
"Right! In 30 minutes, we meet at Ucchan's and go!" Ranma
proclaimed, rushing out of the restaurant with Akane in tow. Ryoga and
Tsubasa followed, after Ryoga shook the cross-dresser out of his umbrella.
"Let's go, Shampoo," said Mousse, hauling a potted plant out of the
room. Shampoo rolled her eyes and followed. Behind them, Cologne smiled
thinly.
"Getting the cure is easy, son-in-law," she thought. "It is getting
it to Ukyou that will be difficult."

VII.
A half hour later, Ranma, Akane, Shampoo, Ryoga, Mousse, and
Colognewere waiting outside Ucchan's, Cologne was speaking to the group.
"I've examined Ukyou," she said, "And the treatments are not going
to be 100% effective. In short you have," The old woman looked at the clock
on the bank across the street. "Three days and thirty minutes before it's
too late. You must hurry. Even thirty seconds delay will be fatal."
"Then, why are we standing here?" Ryoga demanded.
"Where's Tsubasa?" Mousse asked, "I'd have thought he'd want in on
this,"
"I'm over here," said a shrub. Tsubasa crawled out and walked over
to the group.
"I brought a van," he gestured to a gray Nissan parked at the curb.
"A VAN?!" cried the other five.
"I'm sorry if that offends your delicate martial artist
sensibilities, but time is of the essence! Now, do we want to save
Ukyou-sama or not?!"
"He has a point," Akane said.
Ranma grumbled. "All right, everybody into the van. Tsubasa, you
drive and *please* keep the disguises under wraps!"
Cologne handed Shampoo the scroll.
"Guard it well, child."
"No worry, Great-grandmother. Shampoo take good care of it,"
Cologne nodded and turned to the group.
"You have until 6:00PM Friday night. If you do not get the
Hanakatasha water by then, Ukyou will die. Go with speed,"
The old woman turned and hopped away on her staff. Tsubasa started
the van and the rescue party made its way out of Nerima.
The time was 5:45PM on Tuesday.

"All right, let's get that first riddle solved," said Ranma. "Shampoo?"
"It say:
`I am home of heat
Dominate the sky
I look safe outside
What am I?'"
"What kind of a riddle is that?"
"A surprisingly easy one, Saotome," Mousse answered.
"Okay, four-eyes, what is it then?"
"A volcano."
Ranma rolled his eyes. "Sure, there only about 5,000 volcanoes in
Japan alone,"
"But only one that is currently dormant and known world wide,"
"Not-"
Mousse nodded. "Mount Fuji,"

"What a climb," Ryoga remarked.
This was true. The cliff the six characters were standing on was
about 1000 feet from the ground. Ranma looked around, annoyed.
"So where's this Guradian at, then?"
"Closer than you'd think,"
The six of them turned to find a diminuitive little man dressed in
a monk's robe sitting on a rock, watching the moon.
"I take it you're looking for the Hanakatasha spring," he said.
"Yeah," Ranma snapped, "now, where is it?"
The monk shook his head. "Now, now, it isn't that easy. You still
have to defeat me,"
"The six of us against you?" Ryoga asked. The monk smiled.
"I think I can hold my own,"
"Fine," said Ranma, "Let's do it."
"LAVAFLOW!" yelled the old monk. Streams of molten rock burst forth
from the mountain, engulfing the monk. The lava twisted and turned until it
formed and 8-foot giant of molten rock.
Needless to say, our heroes were surprised.
Mousse went at the giant first, a volly of bladed weapons shooting
out the sleeves of his robes. They all passed through the beast with no
effect. It retaliated by picking up a boulder, melting it, and hurling the
residue back at them.
"SHISHI-HOUKOUDEN!" Ryoga cried, sending out a ki-blast that
deflected the deadly stream.
"LAVABALL!" The giant yelled.
Several red-hot projectiles flew from the body of the beast. One
struck Mousse in the forehead, putting him out of action. Ranma saw this
and ran forward.
"TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" Ranma's fists flew out in a barrage of
punches too fast for the eye to follow. All 328 of them opened holes in the
body of the giant.
All of which, unfortunately, immediately closed.
"Is that the best you can do?" the lava beast laughed, picking up
another boulder.
"Boo," said the boulder, jumping out of it's hands. The huge rock
came down on top of the monster, sending lava flying everywhere. Shampoo
saw the old monk in the middle of the mess, ran forward, bonbori at the
ready, and clonked the guy into dreamland.
"Nice going, you guys!" said Ranma, "How's Mousse?"
"He's a little stunned, but he'll be okay," Akane answered.
"No, the answer is six oranges and a *kumquat*..." Mousse mumbled.
"Okay, he sounds normal," Ranma turned to where the monk should
have been lying. The monk was no longer there.
"Damn," Ranma cursed. "Now what?"
"What about the second riddle?" Akane asked.
"First things first," said Ryoga. "Tsubasa, how much time do we have?"
A nearby bush consulted it's wristwatch.
"2 days, 2 hours, 14 minutes," it said.
"Which takes us down to 1 day 18 hours and 14 minutes if we get
some sleep now," figured Ryoga. "And I for one say we should,"
"Why?" Ranma asked, indignant.
"If that thing was only the first Guardian, odds are the next two
are going to be even worse. We need to be at our best if we're going to
make it. You should know that better than anyone, Ranma,"
Ranma grumbled. He knew what Ryoga was saying made sense, but Ukyou
was dying miles away. Didn't she deserve to have the Hanakatasha water as
soon as possible?
"She's not going to get it at all if you end up dead," Ranma thought.
"Fine, we make camp here. Tomorrow morning, we solve the next riddle,"

VIII.

The next morning, the rescue party began working on the second riddle.
"Scroll say:
`Children of Night
Sleep in me by day
You should know by now
Nothing more to say.'" read Shampoo

"That's easy!" cried Akane. "The answer is a cave,"
Ranma groaned. "How can you be so stupid?" he asked. "There's
probably more caves in Japan than volcanoes!"
"How about caves *in* volcanoes?" asked Ryoga. The rest of the
party turned to see a large cave leading into the interior of the mountain.
"Where did that come from?" an astonished Tsubasa asked.
"Maybe these riddles are more powerful than we thought," said
Mousse, adjusting his glasses. Ranma stood up.
"Let's go then,"
"Wait a minute, Ranma," said Akane. "Anybody got a flashlight or
something?"
"Just a second," Ryoga began rummaging around in his backpack,
finally unearthing a couple of flashlights.
"I thought these would come in handy," he said, handing one to
Mousse and keeping the other for himself.
"Fine," said Ranma. "Let's go,"
The six teenagers made their way into the interior of the cave. The
rough stone floor bit into their shoes and low hanging stalactites tried to
hit them in the face as they passed.
After a while, Ranma called for a rest.
"Tsubasa, time." he said. Tsubasa checked his watch and looked up,
eyes wide.
"When we went in, we had 1 day 17 hours and 44 minutes," he
reported. "Now, if my watch is correct, we have 1 day *8* hours and 15
minutes!" Everyone looked at him. Ranma walked over and hoisted Tsubasa up
by the throat.
"Are you saying we've spent nearly ten hours in this cave and
didn't realize it?!"
"Yes," said Tsubasa, choking on Ranma's fist.
"That's impossible!" Mousse exclaimed.
"For once, Shampoo agree with Mousse," said Shampoo.
"How could we have lost nine hours that fast?" Akane asked.
*Because I choose it to!*
The six of them looked around for the speaker, Ranma dropping
Tsubasa in the process.
"Who is that?" Ranma asked.
*I am the second Guardian. And in these caves _I_ hold dominion!*
"Show yourself!" Ryoga yelled. The voice began to laugh.
*You humans are so amusing. _You_ have to find _me_. Those are the
Rules.*
"Well, where are you then?" Ranma growled.
*Closer than you'd think,*
Suddenly, the caves were bathed in a soft white light. The
explorers saw two tunnels in front of them.
*I am at the end of one of these tunnels. One ends in a three
hundred foot drop. The choice is yours.* The voice faded into the shadows,
as did the light. Ranma turned to the group.
"The oracle has spoken. I say we go to the right,"
"Left," Ryoga dissented, and started down the right tunnel.
"What do you think?" Mousse asked Shampoo.
"Shampoo go with Ranma," the purple-haired girl said.
"Then I too say we go right," Mousse said firmly. "Akane?"
"Right, I have an uneasy feeling about the left,"
"Right it is then," said a nearby rock. Tsubasa began hopping down
the right tunnel after Ryoga. The others followed.
After walking several hundred yards, the group began to notice an
odd smell. It seemed to be a mixture of pickles, methane, and gasoline. It
stung their nostrils and made their eyes water so badly that they didn't
notice that Ryoga's flashlights had gone out until it was almost too late.
"WHHHHHOOOOAAAA!" Ryoga yelped. The others stopped dead in their
tracks.
"Ryoga?" Akane called.
"Ryoga!" Ranma joined in. "C'mon, where are you?"
"Down here," came Ryoga's voice.
"Mousse, get that flashlight working!" Ranma barked. "Ryoga! Are
you all right?"
"I will be once you get off my hand!" Ryoga yelled in reply. Ranma
jumped back and put out a hand, feeling along the ground for Ryoga's.
Mousse finally got the flashlight working and, with Akane's help, Ranma
yanked Ryoga to safety.
"Okay," said Ranma. "Maybe it should have been the left,"
*No, it shouldn't.*
The white illumination returned, showing the group a small tunnel
entrance set into the wall just before the cliff Ryoga had almost fallen
over.
*Come in,* said the Guardian. Ranma led the way in, Akane and Ryoga
close on his heels.
The cavern beyond the tunnel was *huge.* It must have been over one
hundred feet high. The white light seemed to emanate from the dark corners
of the cavern, then move to the walls. The entire place was made out of
either stone or crystal, Ranma couldn't tell which. The light seemed to
change one to the other and back again. The carvings along the walls showed
images of people fighting monsters. Then, when the light changed, the
images showed the monsters triumphing over the people.
The center of the cavern was dominated by a large pedestal carved
in the same way as the walls. A throne on top of the pedestal was occupied
by an ancient old man in an ice blue robe.
*Greetings,* The voice didn't seem to come from the old man, as it
did from the cavern itself.
*As you know, you cannot proceed until you defeat me,*
"Right, right," said Ranma. "So let's get on with it,"
*Not so fast, my young friend. As you can see, I'm in no condition
to do battle with you,*
"So...we can go then?" Ranma asked, confused.
*No. The Rules demand that there be a duel. Therefore, you shall
fight Krystalis, my champion,*
The six teens felt a rumbling in the ground. They each held on to
someone else to keep from falling.
KRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAASSSSHHHHHHHHHH!
They looked up as a section of the far wall collapsed, admitting a
man made, apparently, out of crystal. The humans stepped back.
*Well?* the Guardian asked.
Ranma ran forward, preparing to make some cheap jewelry.
"TENSHIN AMAG-" was as far as he got before Krystalis backhanded
him aacross the face, sending him flying across the chamber and into the
opposite wall. Hard.
"Ranma!" Akane and Shampoo yelled, rushing to him.
Ryoga took a quick look at the situation. Ranma was out cold, Akane
and Shampoo were tending to him, Tsubasa was nowhere in sight. That left
only Mousse and himself. Ryoga noticed the Chinese boy trying to get his
attention and quickly moved over to him.
"Have you found the breaking point on him yet?" Mousse asked.
Ryoga looked. "Yes, not that it'll do much good. It doesn't have
any effect on organic beings,"
"That thing isn't organic!" Mousse yelped. "Wait for my signal,
then let him have it!" Ryoga nodded. Mousse leaped into the air.
"TAKA ZUMI GADIN!" Eagles' talons appeared on Mousse's feet. The
claws smashed into the crystal man with no discernable effect. Mousse
jumped away from the direction Ryoga was in, then stood and faced the
being.
Krystalis stood there for a moment, perplexed, then began moving in
Mousse's direction. That was all the bespecticled one needed. Several
chains erupted from his sleeves. Each of the forged links wrapped around
the crystal monster, immobilizing it.
"NOW!" Mousse yelled. Ryoga dashed across the cavern floor, his
mind focusing on the monster's breaking point. Ryoga's fist pulled back,
index finger extended.
"BAKUSAITENKETSU!" he bellowed. The finger made contact and drilled
a hole between the monster's shoulder blades. Upon impact, the monster
stopped writing in Mousse's chains.
It then exploded into a million pieces.
The crystal shards rained down on the rescue party to the point
that they had to cover their faces to avoid being cut by the deadly shower.
*Very good,* said the Guardian, *But don't celebrate yet. You still
have to find your way out, solve the third riddle and get to the spring.
And your time is running out...*
The voice faded away, leaving the martial artists in the dark.

IX.
"RANMA!" Ukyou cried, sitting bolt upright in bed. Her eyes were
squeezed shut. She was obviously in great pain. Cologne used her staff to
gently push her back down. She forced Ukyou's mouth open and poured a
viscous blue liquid down her throat.
"Normally, I wouldn't be doing this," the three hundred year old
woman thought, "But it simply wouldn't do for my future son-in-law to
return before his time was up and find you dead. You should be grateful to
me for allowing you to live _this_ long."
On the futon, Ukyou writhed in pain.

"How long?" Ranma asked. Akane and Shampoo had managed to wake him
up and found he was a little dazed.
"You've been out for a few hours," Akane answered.
"No, I mean, how long have we got?"
"23 hours, 45 minutes," said Tsubasa, his head poking out of a hole
in a nearby tree. Ranma found they were at the camp just outside the cave.
No, wait a minute. This camp was surrounded by trees. Shampoo saw his
confusion.
"Is new camp on other side of mountain. Guardian provide tunnel to
get out,"
"Taking payment in the form of time," Ryoga grumbled, sitting down
next to them.
"What about the third riddle?" Ranma asked.
"Already solved," said Akane, "That's why we found this forest.
With a little luck, we can get some sleep, find the water and get it back
to Ukyou with time to spare,"
"Yeah, sure," said Ranma, getting up and walking out of camp. He
perched himself on a boulder and looked out over the trees that were fading
into the sunset. Akane looked at him, concern crossing her face, then
walked over to the boulder.
"This must be getting to him," Ryoga remarked to Shampoo. "He
hasn't picked a fight with Akane all this time,"
"Good," Shampoo replied. "Give Ranma more time to realize he love
Shampoo more than tomboy Akane," That comment sparked a thought in Ryoga's
mind.
"Why are you here, Shampoo?" he asked. Shampoo turned to him, confused.
"I mean, you and Ukyou have never been friends," Ryoga continued.
"Usually, you two ended up going at each others throats whenever Ranma was
in the immediate vicinity. I would think that you'd be *glad* if Ukyou
wasn't around anymore,"
"Ryoga right," said Shampoo quietly, Shampoo not mind if Ukyou die.
Shampoo only come along to be with Ranma. But, as quest go on, Shampoo
realize she *like* Ukyou, despite being rival for Ranma's affection.
Shampoo also feel that good opponent deserve to live, continue combat with
Shampoo. If Ukyou die, Shampoo will miss her and feel loss. Ukyou just
different type of friend," She turned back to Ryoga. "Why you here?"
Ryoga swallowed. He'd been expecting that question to crop up. "I-I
don't know why I'm here. I've been thinking about that ever since we left
Nerima. Ukyou's one of my closest friends, but I don't know why. Maybe
because she tries to be helpful to most of the people she knows, despite
their relationship to Ranma. I mean, she knows I want to destroy Ranma's
happiness eventually, but she's always welcomed me at Ucchan's and lets me
freeload off of her, like most of her other friends. I don't know. I have
so few friends anyway, getting lost the way I do, I guess I don't want to
lose any of the ones I have,"
The Chinese girl and the vagabond stared out into the sunset, thinking.

Akane sat beside Ranma. "You're really worried about her, aren't
you?" she asked.
"Do you know what it's like, seeing a friend you've known since you
were six grow up and begin to die?"
"No, but I do know that I don't want Ukyou to die. I like her,
though I fail to see what she sees in a baka like you," Akane half-teased,
trying to get a rise out of Ranma. It didn't work.
"What I mean is, I don't think we'll get back in time. I'm just
waiting for the trick the old ghoul has up her sleeve this time." Ranma
said.
"Ranma," Akane began, a disturbing thought crossing her mind. "Do
you-love Ukyou?"
Ranma didn't respond.
"Well, do you?"
"Is this a question that'll get me clobbered?" Ranma asked bitterly.
"No," said Akane, "I really want to know,"
"I don't know. At least not in the sense you mean. I love her like
a close friend or a sister, but I'm not sure if I love her in the `I want
to spend the rest of my life with her' sense,"
Akane could tell there was something else.
"Go on," she urged.
"And the thought of her lying ther, being eaten away by some
unidentifiable illness just makes me feel helpless!"
"But you're *not* helpless," said Akane. "You're here, searching
for the cure that will save her life. Not sitting by her bedside not doing
anyone any good, especially her,"
"Like I'm doing any good here," Ranma snorted. "Tsubasa took care
of that lava thing. Since I vaguely remember you and Shampoo over me, I'll
assume Mousse and Ryoga took care of the crystal guy. Shampoo's our
official translator and riddle reader and you've just become the resident
shrink. I feel useless,"
"You've just had bad luck, that's all," Akane replied. "You'll get
your moment of glory."
That was the wrong thing to say. Ranma glared at her with such
anger in his face that Akane was half tempted to hide behind the boulder.
"You think I'm in this for *glory* ?"
"I just-I mean..."
"You just didn't *think*, that's what you just! I'm pouring my guts
out here and you think this is some sort of ego trip!"
Ranma was so mad at this point that he failed to notice a distinct
blue aura forming around Akane.
"I can't believe you, Akane! But then, I suppose this is what I get
for confiding in a tomboy like you!"
That did it. Here she was, trying to be nice and listen to what was
troubling Ranma and he went and acted like she was an enemy. Well, if
that's the way the baka wanted it...
"RANMA NO BA-" She stopped short when she realized Ranma was no
longer there.
"He has a point,"
Akane turned to see Mousse standing behind her.
"What point?" she sulked. "He's just being the baka he usually is,"
"Maybe. But these aren't usual circumstances," Mousse said, sitting
next to Akane, "Think about it. Has any of us ever been in a situation
where we could lose our lives?"
"Sure, lots of times,"
"From a disease?"
Akane thought it over. "Well, no."
"Exactly, we've had to do most of our fighting against human and
animal opponents. Now that we're up against something that can't be killed
using martial arts, we're all trying to find some way of coping with the
idea of Ukyou dying.
"Ranma didn't mean any of the things he said, he's just looking for
some justification for Ukyou's illness,"
"What about you, Mousse?" Akane asked, "Do you see any
justification? You're being so calm about all this," Mousse gave her a half
smile.
"There is no justification. I've learned that, in this universe,
bad things will happen to good people and vice versa. But that doesn't stop
me from trying. Why do you think I let Shampoo get away with clobbering me
all the time?"
Akane smirked. "I thought you were a masochist,"
The two of them laughed.

Ranma returned to the camp the next morning. He had spent the night
on another boulder on a higher cliff. He had dreamed about Ukyou, healthy
again, flipping okonomiyaki. It wasn't much of a dream, but he felt much
better when he awoke. He also remembered what he had said to Akane the
night before. He had to rectify the situation.
Ranma walked up to Akane and swallowed.
"Akane, I-" Akane held up a hand.
"Don't worry," she said. "I know,"
"All right then! Let's get going! Tsubasa, how long?"
"14 hours even," said the campfire.
"And it took us how long to get to Mt. Fuji?"
"Four hours,"
"Which gives us ten hours to find the third Guardian, beat him, get
the water and get back to the van. Let's move out!"
The rescue party began climbing down the side of the mountain.

Four hours later, they were still wandering through the forest. The
sun had begun to rise and was glistening off the dew on the trees and
plants in the forest. Akane couldn't help but think how beautiful it all
looked.
Ranma, on the other hand, wasn't so thrilled.
"Are you sure you read the right riddle?" he asked, irritably.
"Shampoo sure," she said, unrolling the scroll. "Shampoo read all
three-" she trailed off. Where ther had once been three riddles, a fourth
had appeared on the scroll:\
"Your goal is almost near
Waiting in the dark
What you seek is clear
But is hidden by a park,"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Akane exclaimed.
"I am forced to agree," Mousse remarked.
"Where we go from here?" asked Shampoo.
"WAAAAAHHHH! Ukyou-sama!" Tsubasa wailed. Ranma quietly clunked
him on the head, shutting him up.
"I've already solved it," The others lookedat him expectantly.
Ranma pointed to a grove of tightly packed trees.
"The spring is in the clearing of that grove," Ranma began walking
toward it, when Ryoga stopped him.
"Just a minute, Ranma," he began. "How do you know that's where the
spring is?"
"That grove appeared out of nowhere as soon as Shampoo finished
reading the riddle," Ranma replied. "Now, are you coming or aren't you?"

Squeezing through the grove, the six teenagers were in for a
surprise. Beyond the densely packed ring of trees was a vast clearing that
the sun beat down upon, making the grass inside seem greener than the grass
outside the trees. Little yellow flowers, light and delicate, popped up her
and there through the clearing. But the most fantastic part was the spring.
The spring took up nearly all the space of the clearing. It was a
perfect cirlce 20 yards across, leaving a five yard border of land between
it and the trees.
They approached the spring with trepidation, each of them ready for
the Guardian to make it's appearance. Ranma heard something odd. He looked
out to the center of the spring, where he saw the water bubbling. He didn't
think it was because of heat or air under the water.
"Heads up!" he yelled, grabbing Akane and springing backwards. The
others followed suit, getting out of the way as a huge wave of water burst
forth from the spring and landed on the ground. It didn't seep into the
ground, however. Instead it began to shift it's shape, taking on the
general appearance of a man.
"Oh, great," Ranma thought, "Not only are we fighting a water
Guardian, it's also a reject from `the Abyss.'"
Ranma was so caught up in figuring out how to hurt the thing, that
he almost didn't notice the Guardian had fired a wave of water at him and
Akane. Akane gave him a good smack upside the head to gain his attention.
"Eyes front, idiot!" she yelled, rolling out of the way. Ranma hit
the dirt. Tsubasa, who was right behind them, wasn't so lucky. The bolt of
water hit him full force and planted him in a tree.
Ryoga began to charge the water spirit, keeping his umbrella open
to protect himself against the onslaught of cold water. The Guardian
retaliated by firing two bolts of water, one to divest Ryoga of his shield,
the other to blast him. Ranma saw Ryoga get drenched and ran for Akane.
"You owe me one, Ryoga," he thought as he tackled Akane to the
ground. He kept her face there until the wave of water had stopped.
Sitting on the ground where Ryoga had been was a small black pig
wearing Ryoga's bandanna around it's neck. Ryoga's Jusenkyo curse had been
activated.
Akane looked up, realized that Ranma was on top of her, and socked
him one that sent him flying into the spring.
"PERVERT!" she yelled.
Ranma reemerged from the spring, about half a foot shorter with
fire engine red hair and female. Ranma's own curse had been activated.

Meanwhile, Shampoo and Mousse had thier hands full trying to fight
the water demon. Mousse's weapons just kept passing through it, even the
six piece dinette set he used for emergencies. Shampoo's kicks and punches
weren't doing any good either. The Guardian made a noise that sounded
vaguely like laughter and fired a huge stream of water at the two of them.

"What'd you do that for?" the now female Ranma asked.
"You should know, you letch!" Akane yelled back.
"Never mind," Ranma said, standing up. She turned to see the
Guardian throughly saoking Shampoo and Mousse. They, being under Jusenkyo
curses, changed. Mousse became a duck and Shampoo, a cat.
"Shit!" Ranma exclaimed. She turned to Akane. "looks like it's down
to you and me."
Akane nodded. "What do you want me to-when did P-chan get here?"
Ranma groaned. "He showed up a few minutes ago,"
"And where's Ryoga?"
"That thing blasted him into the trees. He's probably stumbling
around looking for us. Any more questions before we die?!"
"Sorry!" yelled Akane. "What do you want me to do?"
"I want you, Shampoo, Mousse and that pig of yours to distract that
thing. Think you can handle that?"
"Yes," replied Akane, turning to fight the Guardian, "accidently"
hitting Ranma in the stomach as she left. Ranma doubled over in pain.
"I hate it when she does that" she thought.

Akane began throwing punches at the water demon. It helped by
imagining that every place she hit was Ranma's face. Shampoo-neko and
P-chan ran around the water demon's legs, while Mousse flew around and
occasionally, through the monster's head. The Guardian was so busy trying
to hit all of them that it didn't notice Ranma sneaking up behind it until
it was too late.
"Hey, mop bait," Ranma called to the Guardian. It turned.
"HIRYU SHOTZEN HA!" Ranma's special technique created it's
trademarked stationary tornado, lifting the water demon off it's "feet"
and sent it hurling into the sky, wrenching it into it's component droplets
as it did so.
Soon the wind died down, and Akane joined Ranma.
"You did it!"
"Yeah," said Ranma, "I did it,"
While Akane was talking to Ranma, Mousse happened to look upwards
and saw
something odd. The water droplets were reconverging on their way back down
to earth, becoming one large mass as they did so. He began quacking
urgently to warn Akane and Ranma.
The two girls looked up to see a large ball of water coming towards
them...

X.

Ranma and Akane awoke sometime later in the back of Tsubasa's van.
Ranma noticed he was male again and Ryoga, Mousse and Shampoo were all back
to human form. They must have found some hot water somewhere.
"Oh, my achin' head"," said Ranma. Next to him, Akane was
expressing similar thoughts. Then he realized where they were.
"How much time do we have?" he asked urgently.
"We're cutting it close now! We've just entered Nerima, but we've
got about five minutes before it's too late!" Tsubasa called from the
drivers seat. Ryoga endeavored to explain.
"We had to wait for Tsubasa to wake up, after which we heated up
some hot water and fixed you guys. I got lost in the trees, sorry." Ryoga
made a gesture which meant "thanks." Ranma made one in return that meant
"That's two you owe me, pal."
"Anyway," Ryoga continued, "It took us longer than we thought to
get back to the van, and you guys slept the whole way here,"
"What about the water," Akane asked. Mousse appeared with a small vial.
"Right here," he said.
"Then put the pedal down, Tsubasa!" Ranma commanded, "And damn any
cops we meet on the way!"

Miraculously enough, the rescue party didn't meet any members of
the law enforcement community and got to Ucchan's with a minute thirty
left. Ranma tooke the vial from Mousse and they all burst into the
restaurant.

Cologne heard them coming and looked down at the disturbingly still
Ukyou.
"Oh no," she thought. Then, she got an idea. The old woman posted
herself next to Ukyou's bedroom doorway and thrust her staff across it at
ankle level.
"The less rivals Shampoo has in the battle for my future
son-in-law's affections, the better."

Ranma dashed around the corner. "Ucchan! We got it! We got the-"
Ranma's feet connected with Cologne's staff.
He tripped and the vial of Hanakatasha water went flying. Time
seemed to slow down. Ranma saw the vial go flying across the room and
shatter on Ukyou's spatula rack. He saw the water flow down the wall,
useless. He saw the old ghoul, a smug expression on her face. Then he heard
himself scream "NOOOO!"

Tsubasa's voice, teary and choked, came in clear as doom.
"Th-thirty seconds,"
Ranma crawled across the room and cradled Ukyou in his arms. Her
eyes opened part way. Ranma felt his own begin to tear over.
"Ucchan, I-I'm so sorry," Ukyou smiled faintly.
"Don't be. At least you tried," She looked behind him at Akane, who
was also beginning to cry. "Take care of him Akane-chan," Ukyou looked back
at Ranma.
"Ran-chan, I want you to know something. I want you to know that,
no matter if we never meet again, I've always loved you and I always will,"
Ranma swallowed.
"I-love you too, Ucchan," he said. She smiled. Ranma, in a sudden
burst of inspiration, bent down and kissed her.
With that last act, the eyes closed, the muscles relaxed, the skin
went cold, and Ukyou Kuonji quietly passed from this world.

=====