In time, Memorandum
It had taken him twelve hundred years to finally understand. Finally answer a question that had been posed to him way back in his teenage years. It was one of few, his memory and capacity to never forget didn't come in until he was in his late thirty's. He unfortunately couldn't forget the sheer amount of liquor and other things that occurred that day either. He could have waited to gain such eidetic memory. Actually that day had been a good time the day after on the other hand…
"We can't be the good guys any more, too much is demanded of us. We can be heroic if we wish to be and by many who only see the smallest glimpses of us could we wear the title of "hero." An anti-hero perhaps, you're that already but, to be something more they must never know how far we have gone, how far we traveled. There's nothing noble about what we want to do, it's driven purely by a selfish need to survive, or to in honestly allow others to do so. Ask yourself and truly answers this "When you are faced with a task so great, so inhuman, so monstrous, like the one we are faced with, how is it that you continue to live? We bargain in death, trading lives like it was bread, we mold in shape ourselves into the weapons that demand the world to take heed of us, we plan, prepare to kill, chose the very instant in which we disabuse others of their vaulted heights. We do so much to bear the burden of the rather insane task before us all, how could we be heroes?"
He had an answer now. The line that he had said next when he had not respond made sense to him now. Not that it mattered; he had done his part in the grand nature of this play. Waiting was all he had to do. In this crowed city he had nothing more to do, in his life now nothing. And to be fair he had done far too many distasteful things to ever really be a hero. But here in this city… in his city…
It had been forever and his memory of it was almost nonexistent but that didn't matter. He could still find her, he supposed actually she would problem find him to be honest. One of them would or he would simply wander around until he did. The details were scattered, even in his head. He remembered a great deal of arguing, over a piglet or something the like. Or had it been something else that, maybe he had defeated her boyfriend, the one with the wooden sword. That didn't seem quite right either…
"It's been a pleasure working with you Master Saotome, but unfortunately I have one last thing I need of you." It was a honeyed voice or something the like, a voice that had promised him a solution to all his worries and woe. The bitch had managed do it right, except that in his mind, teleporting him twelve hundred years into the past was not really a way to solve all his problems. The fact that it worked annoyed him to no end.
He flashed a devastating smile at the blond pin up beside him. She tossed the long locks of hair back. He didn't look that much different than he use to an inch taller, a bit more filled out. The fact that he sauntered with every step and saw the world as things to climb on hadn't changed in the twelve hundred years in which the first met. His clothes were the same, just more expensive and of higher quality, same pigtail, as it served both genders well.
The blond, known as Io, did not bother to serve both genders. Io was an entity of power and acted like one. Overly exotic dress, elaborately done hair, a body tailored to be greater than any other women who walked the earth. Another nameless deity lost in the crowd of those born with power. Nothing special. Nothing unique. Ranma had met many of such, trying to seem like they were more important than they truly were. Something about a purple haired duck, no it had been a feline hell spawn
"Well?" He tapped his foot with impatient completely conveyed through every fiber of his body. He never managed to curb his over expressive self, though he did refine it.
"Surly remember our agreement" he didn't "but we promised martial arts abilities did us not? This just happens to be the last one." A scroll appeared with a slight sparkle next to him, once more excessively ornamented. He hated to admit but he liked their style given his own over the top flamboyant nature.
He didn't remember the exact terms but he knew enough. His help, save the world, solve his problems get some cool new skills to play with to sweeten the deal. He hadn't wanted to really but he had seen that look in her eyes. That one that told them she was losing it slowly. Or something like that it could have just been bad sushi, or was it the cooking of his fiancée sister? For him though it was a cure to a curse he didn't give a damn about anymore and a way to make him even more awesome. It was too good to pass up, and looking back he was glad he didn't. It almost cost him something more important it was supposed to cost him something more important.
He looked at the scroll. It would have taken him a few hours to learn and a few more to master but that was the point of it wasn't it. His mentor's words came back to him
"Memory like the rest of the world is connected. We use the connection between things to protect and destroy that which lurks in the great darkness. But memory is unique. It could be traced back to the source of all, but don't look there. Never gaze to the source but with practice you can trace the recent memory of any one regardless of how long ago you last met them."
And gazed he had. He followed it around like the wisp of smoke it was and put two and two together. He knew he wasn't the brightest but even he could figure things out if he tried hard enough. Io's appearance here conformed what he already knew. There was no reason for him to know how to follow memory chains, but he had been taught how. There was no reason for his first mentor to speak the wards he had. There was however a reason to tie him ups for a few hours her. His blue haired bride to be would not be there after that. The whole reason he had returned.
Those born with power would never understand why any of them did what they did. They were not smart enough to know. The most secret organization ever created how to defy them in any way. Those who were not born with power formed an organization so secret, that even its own members who were supposed to carry out its purpose did not know why. Their leader, his first teacher, didn't even know why their organization existed because those born with power thought it unnecessary to tell him. They weren't smart enough to deviate from the plans they had laid down at the time of inception.
Because they were not heroes, nobly doing what was right and right alone. No they were petty and selfish and could only do what was necessary, not right.
He handed her back the scroll, he didn't need to see it more than once. She expected it, the boast that followed on how easily he would master it, before he went to practice, she expected to. She expected to recover the scroll as she held up her hand to take it from him. She did not expect him to grab her wrist with his other hand pivot her over his hip and throw her. How could she, he wasn't smart enough to figure out that they set the only other thing important to him to die. It didn't take much a slight to push to convince a few teenagers of an unsavory nature that Akane would be defenseless on this particular walk home today. Her fiancé was gone after all, doing whatever it was he did. A bit of poison to cause her muscles to relax to point of useless and she wouldn't be able to say no. All that would be left is to tie a few cinder blocks and dump her in the cannel that night. She disappeared all the time; no one would look for her before it was too late. Far too late to trace it back to them. The very last thing that would tie Ranma Saotome to anything else in the world but what those born with power wanted him to do.
"A hero never lets that which maters to him be harmed."
His mentor said that and never spoke of it again never asked the question again. The damage was done. His mentor chose in that instant to risk everything. He needed him but it didn't matter. He endangered everything, it was selfish reckless but in that instant it was heroic. If his master was here he would stand after he threw the blond threw dozens of buildings dozens of blocks to land in front of Akane, trapped and unable to move a single finger to save herself.
"Heroes trust that everyone else will do what's right anyways. Right now I don't care that this could end the whole world. If I'm going to make a sacrifice for the world, than the world should damn well be grateful and take what it gets." He spoke the words aloud anyways to the small crowd that had gathered in wake of his feat of brute force before hurling himself into the air. A sharp push off the skies living energy rapidly forced him across the cityscape and the last push hyper accelerated directly into the ground. Io didn't stay still and thus avoided the assault.
Akane for her part gawked at the crater. She managed to keep herself fairly upright on her side. Hand braced against the ground, knees tucked in, she was barely able to maintain the posture since her legs gave out. She had been worried when the boys wandered out of the ally, but the worry had melted to confusion when the blond floozy had skidded along the pavement to a stop in front of her. She sprung to her feet the instant before the impact shook the ground leaving her sprawled as her body refused to respond to her orders. The crater though…
Only one person in the whole world would make an entrance that flashy. Standing there in the crater that looked remarkably like the one she made with the battle dogi some time ago stood Ranma Saotome.
The water pipes beneath the street had shattered, blossoming fountains of water everywhere.
"Ranma?" He turned to look at her with those dark blue eyes of his that melted women with far more resolve than she had, blushing furiously under the intense gaze, she did what always worked in the past to cover her feelings of love and desire that welled up in her like the water in the street.
"Look you big jerk, I'm a martial artist to ya know, I don't need your help I have evreyth…" She started strong but trailed of as he hit her with that smile. The cocky grin that oozed more confidences than the sea had water. Even as Io willed energy into a ball behind him, she still spared a moment for that smile, the one she saved just for her. It didn't matter that the cold water beneath her reeked to all hell. It didn't matter that his pigtail scarlet or that he looked as much a goddess as the one born with power behind her, that smile never changed.
As he turned from the brilliantly blushing blue haired girl, Io unleashed the ball of concentrated death she had willed into existence. It crossed the space between them like a flash of lightning and in a single fluid motion Ranma batted it aside.
"Akane is my fiancée," her high alto rang out clearly, "Lay a hand on her and I'll kill you." She was glad that she turned, she didn't want her to see what that smiled had morphed into. Something Ranma hoped Akane never saw. As her own battle aura coalesced into the brilliant blue inferno that she could have never formed all that time ago he brought his hands in front of him. It didn't matter that he hardly remember anything about his long time ago teenage love. An argument here, was it a failed attempt to tell her how much he really did care? Could it have been that one time he snuck into her room to stare at her, or was that when he was trying to get rid of her pet? No that time he was trying to get her lunch from her, that had to be it.
Today she was her hero.
Authors notation
If it's not clear, this story is not part of a larger work. Its acctuly suppose to be a large story, told with very little. I will leave the degree of success or relevance or any other question of its value or point to who ever reads it. Also it wasn't said but i would say that in this case its definitely going to end up as Ranma and Akane.