Cursed Spring of Drowned Girl Strikes Again!
By: Ranmano1fan
Requested by: tehninjabunneh from DeviantArt
For close to the last 2 years Akane Tendo's life has been turned upside down with the arrival of Ranma Saotome. Her father and his father had agreed their children would wed one another and inherit her father's dojo. While at first both teenagers rejected the idea of marriage and fought against it at every turn, over time their feelings for each other grew and blossomed into love. Neither of them were willing to voice it outloud, but both knew it was there. And just as the girl was ready to accept her life the way it was, it was once again turned upside down during a small vacation both families took together to a certain place where there was some unfinished business that needed to be dealt with first.
"Did we have to come here? Wouldn't've been better to have them send another barrel?" asked Akane with her fiancè a few steps behind her.
The girl had a small frown on her face as her and her family, along with the Saotome's, were making a trek thru the semi-dense, half-way mountainous jungles of China's Qinghai Province on their way towards Mount Quanjing in the Bayankala Range. It had been 2 days since they left Nerima by way of boat, they would've gotten to China sooner if the 2 fathers had picked a better boat to travel.
Ranma agreed with her, "Yeah, it's not like we couldn't make a phone call."
"After what happened, the three of us agreed this way would be better. Not only are we going to cure Ranma's curse, we'll also be able to cure his father's curse as well," replied Soun, referring to him and Ranma's parents.
The boy rolled his eyes, "I don't see why, he was the one that started it."
Akane's father looked back from his spot at the front of the pack and reminded him, "We have to be fair."
"You mean like how it's only fair that since he was cursed that I had to be cursed too?" wondered Ranma.
"Why are you being so snippy, boy?" asked Genma as he walked along with his long time friend.
"Let me think," replied his son, sarcastically, "It must be because it's your fault this all happened in the first place?"
Genma turned and faced his son with a scowl on his face, "When you dedicate your life to learning the Arts, boy, don't go complaining about how perilous the journey is."
"And I told you once before: 'my life, yes, my manhood is another story'," replied Ranma with a spark of anger.
"Either way," spoke Nodoka, who was standing between them, "No matter how we got here, we're here now and we must resolve this problem before we can start planning another wedding for you two."
Akane looked down at the woman's words and said, "And the cure wasn't what I was talking about. I just don't like this place."
Being the only other member of the party that really knew what she was talking about, Ranma forgot all about the conversation he was having with his father for the moment and thought back to the events that happened during their last visit to the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo. The memories of that day flashed in his mind. Seeing his fiancèe dehydrated into the form of a doll, fighting one of his most formidable opponents for the only way to save her life and finally having Akane in his arms just after she was given the Water of Life, but it looked to have been too late to save her. But just as quickly as the memories came, they disappeared with the sound of a picture being taken.
"I don't see why you hate it here, Akane," said Nabiki, taking up the rear with her camera to her face, "It looks so serene."
"I agree," added Kasumi, right beside her sister, "With all the beautiful trees and everything else around you'd never think a place like Jusenkyo existed."
Ranma answered her, "Well unfortunately it does, I just hope we can get what we came for and then get the hell out of here before anything else can go wrong."
By the time they reached the entrance to the Cursed Springs it was starting to get late, with the sun hanging low in the sky. It was already after noon when they had gotten to the shoreline and if it hadn't been for some sightseeing by more than half of the group they would've been quicker to their destination.
Akane's father and sisters and Ranma's mother stood there in awe at the sight of more than 100 springs of every size littered across the landscape with the mountain in the background. Nabiki flashed a picture to capture the moment. Ranma and Akane however couldn't take in the view, not with the memories they brought back
"Ok, let's go," said the boy as he started towards the direction of the guide's house close by.
Akane was right behind him, while everyone else stayed by the entrance. When the first few knocks on the door weren't answered the two teens thought something might be wrong, that is until the door opened and they had to look down at who answered it.
"Aiya! It Mr. and Mrs. Customer," said the little girl.
"Hi Plum," answered Akane happily, "Is your father around?"
"Yes, he is," she replied, before calling out, "Father! We have customers!"
It was only a minute or two before the man appeared, "Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Customer, welcome back to Jusenkyo," he said, then it looked as if he remembered something, "But why you return? Thought Mr. Customer was cured of curse?"
Ranma had put on an uneasy smile as he explained, "We kinda had a mishap with the water you sent us. Her father wouldn't give it up until after we were married and then my father stole the barrel after he found out what it was, then an old prune drank it all cause he thought it was sakè and finally the wedding itself fell into chaos."
"Aiya, that is troubled news Customer bring," said the Jusenkyo guide.
"But why you no call for new barrel of water?" wondered Plum.
Akane answered this time, "Our parents said this would be better, so we can cure both Ranma and his father."
Giving a nod, the guide told them, "No trouble, we fix this right away."
It didn't take the man long before he joined up with his visitors, his daughter right behind him with a notepad in her hands. Slowly he began to show them to where the Spring of Drowned Man was, though he was also giving them a tour of the place at the same time. With each spring they passed his daughter would call out the name of it and the guide would tell them a little of each curse that went along with it.
"Here Spring of Drowned Frog, and that Spring of Drowned Cat, Spring of Drowned Panda, Spring of Drowned Fish and Spring of Drowned Pig," explained the guide as they walked.
"'Spring of Drowned Fish'?" repeated Soun.
"Yes, very tragic tale of fish who 'drown' in dried up springbed over 1000 year ago, now whoever fall in spring take body of fish," said the man.
"Now I've heard of everything," replied Ranma with a groan.
His comment made Akane giggle.
"This Spring of Drowned Girl," stated the guide, passing by the pool of water.
The boy stopped for a few seconds and stared into the water, he couldn't get over the memories of falling into the spring and coming out in the form of a red-headed girl.
Akane came up behind him and placed a hand on her fiancè's shoulder, "You okay?"
He said softly, "For so long I've been used to becoming a girl when splashed with cold water, it's almost hard to believe it'll be over soon."
She smiled and agreed with him, "Yeah, it'll definitely be a change, but not something we can't handle."
He looked at her and gave a small chuckle, "You're probably right."
"Hey, boy, pay attention!" shouted his father, who was standing with the group around a very nearby body of water.
The two teens joined the others as the guide was explaining, "This spring you looking for: Spring of Drowned Man. Water from spring will cure both Mr. Customers."
"You're joking, right?" asked Ranma as he pointed behind him, "We're barely ten feet from the Drowned Girl spring, why didn't you tell us it was this close when we were first cursed?"
"Mr. Customer not ask at time," answered the guide, "You more worried about getting dry than cured."
Putting his face in his hand, Ranma said, "Nevermind. It's getting late and I'd like to get back on the boat before it's too dark."
"Okay then, Mr. Customers," started the guide. He placed a bucket into the water and filled it halfway, "Which one first?"
"I'll go first," said Ranma as he took the bucket and stepped away from the spring.
Before he could get the bucket over his head his father grabbed it and said, "Why should you go first? I'm your father, I should be first."
This time Genma tried to get the bucket over his head, but his son grabbed it and tried to take it back, "It's your fault we were cursed, old man. I should go first."
"As your teacher I'm telling you to let it go, boy," ordered his father, pulling back on the bucket.
As they played tug-of-war and each of them took a embraced stance, the water inside the bucket was getting splashed around them and it seemed neither side was going to give in before the other.
Akane got a few feet behind her fiancè and urged, "Ranma let him have it, you can have the next one."
"She's right, boy, let your father go first," said Genma as he gave the bucket a pull.
"It would be just as easy for you to give this one up and take the next one, old man," snapped back the boy with a yank of the bucket.
"He's right, my friend," replied Soun, "There's no harm in waiting."
"Dear, why not let our son be cured first?" asked Nodoka.
"Because as his father I deserve some respect from him," answered the man, giving the bucket a hard tug away from his only child.
"Respect my ass. With everything you've done to me, respect is the last thing you'll get!" yelled the boy.
"Ranma..." said Akane, her voice filled with concern.
"Now... give... it... up!" finished Ranma as he pulled the bucket out of his father's hands.
Unfortunately he pulled it away with a little too much force and wasn't expecting to come away with the bucket. The remaining water came out and splashed down onto the ground. The boy's momentum caused him to take a few steps backwards and he ran into an unexpecting Akane before falling down. All eyes were on the two of them as she couldn't keep her balance and staggered backwards towards a spring.
Ranma looked back in time to see his fiancèe fall, "Akane!"
A loud splash drowned him out while everyone else watched. The boy quickly got up and started for the spring, but was stopped by his father.
Turning around he said, "What's wrong with you? We need to get her out of there!"
"Use your head, boy, you want to add on to your own curse?" answered his father.
Realizing it a second later, he went towards the guide, "Tell us, what spring did she fall into?"
The guide had a look of terror on his face when he replied, "S-spring of Drowned Girl."
Ranma let out a sigh, "Then she's okay, right? She won't get cursed, she'll just drown."
Opening his eyes wide, he repeated his own words, "She'll drown, Akane can't swim!"
"Spring not deep, she no drown," explained the guide, "But there big problem."
With a confused look, the boy asked, "What's the problem?"
Before the guide could answer, another loud splash stole all the attention away and the entire group of people saw a hand break the surface of the pool. They all stared as Akane began to drag herself out of the spring, coughing and gasping for air.
"Akane!" shouted the boy and he ran over to her.
The girl kept her head down as she continued to cough, unable to take a deep enough breath to fill her lungs with a proper amount of oxygen that would allow her to speak, a heavy tightness in her chest being at fault.
Ranma couldn't tell if it was the red setting sun glistening off his fiancèe's wet hair or if his eyes were playing a trick on him, but something seemed different to him as he saw Akane on her hands and knees mere feet away from the Drowned Girl spring.
He walked closer to her and asked with an uncertain tone, "Akane? Are you okay?"
The girl looked up at him with her brown eyes and said, "I-I think so," then she gave a few more coughs as she tried to take a couple of deeper breaths again.
Ranma couldn't find the right words to say on the situation and could only stare at Akane with his mouth slightly agape. She quickly noticed her fiancè's face wasn't the only one that had a dumbfounded look, she saw it on nearly everyone else.
She sat on her knees and wondered, "What's wrong? Why is everyone looking at me like that?"
Ranma at least knew why he was looking at her that way, he was closer than anyone else so he could tell there were changes. He noticed how her damp sweatshirt laid upon her chest and how it looked tighter than normal. He could also see the top part of her white panties as her light sweatpants weren't as tight as they should've been and fell slightly onto her hips as she sat there.
"You don't notice anything different about you, sis?" asked Nabiki, before she started searching for something in her bag.
"Not really, why?" replied the girl, sounding and looking confused.
Her fiancè told her, "You fell in a spring."
Akane gasped and turned around, she saw the wet trail behind her that lead to one of the springs. She started to cry as she asked, "Which one?"
"The Drowned Girl spring," answered the boy.
She looked at him and rubbed her eyes, "Then... I'm okay, right?"
Ranma shook his head, "Not exactly."
With another confused look, Akane started out with, "What do you mean..." before looking down at herself for the first time. Her scream managed to frighten off a few birds hanging out in the trees nearby.
"Akane..." began Ranma before she cut him off.
"What happened to me?" yelled the girl, she put her hands on her chest and added, "Where in the world did these come from?"
"Akane, calm down," repeated the boy.
She continued, sounding a bit more distraught, "Is there anything else different with me?"
Nabiki walked up to her sister and handed her a compact mirror from her bag, "Just take a look."
When the youngest girl saw her reflected image she let out another horrified scream that scared a few more nearby birds, "My hair! What happened to my hair!"
"Akane, just calm down," repeated her fiancè.
She continued some more, not paying him any mind, she looked past her chest and immediately saw her panties were showing. She tried to cover them up and screamed once again, sounding as though she was about to lose her mind, "Why are my sweatpants so loose? Just what in the hell happened to me!"
"Please calm down, Akane," said the boy one more time.
"No, I will not calm down," shouted the girl as she quickly tried to stand up, "Not until... whoa!"
Not used to the new weight on her chest, Akane's unsteady equilibrium caused her to fall forward, luckily Ranma was right there to catch her. She looked up into his blue eyes and started to blush, for she could feel his arm pressed against her new assets. He had felt her new cup size rub against his arm as he caught her and he blushed just as badly as she did as he looked into his fiancèe's eyes.
"Not...un-until...um..." Akane seemed unable to gather the right words to finish her sentence.
Ranma nodded, still blushing, "Right, we need to fix you first."
"That not possible," commented the guide.
Both teens looked at him confused at what he had said.
Ranma took off his shirt and draped it over Akane's shoulders to cover her up, keeping his hands there to hold her steady and he asked, "What do you mean it's not possible?"
The guide told the teenagers, "You come inside, others stay out here," and showed them back to his house with Plum right behind him.
The engaged couple looked at each other and then followed the man, leaving the rest of their troope by the springs. Akane had her hands on Ranma's arm to help her keep her balance as they walked, she still wasn't used to her new center of gravity, but was slowly getting the hang of it.
Once inside, the guide started a fire underneath a cauldron of water in which he motioned for his guests to sit by, "I sorry, but it not possible to help her."
After Ranma helped Akane to sit he sat down beside her and asked again, "What do you mean?"
"Mr. Customer will see for self when water is hot, but I explain," started the man.
He walked over to a bookshelf and pulled down what looked like an old book, it had no title and the cover was worn and cracked in spots. Plum sat down close to the fire as if her father was about to tell a story. The only thing the two teenagers could do while they waited was to listen to what the guide had to say.
He opened the book, turned a few pages and slowly explained, "My family has guarded springs for very long time. These are tales from past about them that are mysterious in many ways. This most unusual tale they offer."
The guide walked over to the teens and showed them what was in the book. Though they couldn't read the words, the crude illustrations were another story. The first was of what looked like a man and the second was of a woman.
The guide continued, explaining the drawings as he pointed to them, "When one comes in contact with water from spring they take form of what drowned in spring with cold water and change back with hot."
"We know that already," interrupted Ranma, seeing the guide was taking about the Nyannichuan spring specifically, "But what about Akane?"
The man showed them the next set of pages. On them was an image of a second woman and the next one was of the first woman. He then showed them a third drawing, of yet another woman, but this one had most of the second's features overlapped by those of the first.
He finished, "But when what fall in spring same form as what drowned, instead of curse like Mr. Customer's, new cursed form made and two sides become one."
"'Two sides become one'?" repeated the girl, it sounded as though she was letting the statement sink in.
"Yes," nodded the man, "As Mrs. Customer see, body change to that of girl who drown in spring 1500 year ago. Only face remain the same."
The guide closed the book and put it back in it's place, then walked to the cauldron, took a ladel and came out with some water. He placed a finger in to check the temperature. When he nodded it told the teens it was hot enough. Ranma had expected the man to give the ladel to him, but without warning he instead flung the water at the girl.
"Ah!" she screamed as she was splashed, unable to get her hands up in time.
Akane immediately grabbed the compact mirror Nabiki had handed her earlier and checked her reflection again, but there was no difference.
"Why didn't it work?" she wondered as she looked from the mirror to the guide with droplets of water falling from her new red hair.
"That unfortunate side effect," answered the man sadly, "No amount of hot water will change Mrs. Customer back. This form permanent."
The girl dropped her gaze to the ground, hardly believing what she just heard. 'It's permanent?' she thought, 'What do I do now?'
Ranma noticed the concerned look on his fiancèe's face and could only guess at what she was thinking. He knew what it was like to be cursed, but her situation was something completely different than his. Being burdened with a curse was the one thing he had hoped Akane would never have to go through, let alone having her deal with being stuck in cursed form with no way of changing back.
"So there's nothing we can do?" the boy kept his eyes on her when he asked, he wanted to be absolutely sure they both heard the guide correctly.
The guide shook his head, "Nothing. I sorry for Mrs. Customer, only wish I able to do more."
"You've done enough for us, thank you," said Ranma.
"Father, it getting late maybe customers stay for night?" asked Plum.
"They want to stay, they can," replied the man with a nod.
Akane bowed her head a little, "Thank you, sir."
"I'll go tell the others," the boy stood up, he put a hand on his fiancèe's shoulder, "Will you be okay?"
She spoke quietly and nodded, though she didn't look up at him, "Yeah."
Ranma went to the door, turned the knob and opened it slightly. He took one last look at Akane, she still had her head down and her eyes had a sort of distant look in them, closed his eyes and gave a sigh, for he knew that this too was something the both of them would have a difficult time getting through.
The boy pulled the door open and called to the rest of the group, "Hey, it looks li-Ah!"
Akane gasped when she heard him yell and was quickly at the doorway, "What's going on?"
There her fiancè stood, with a bucket over his head and he was dripping wet, standing close by him was his father, who was also wet, and he was laughing at his son.
"What was that for, Pop?" asked Ranma in an angry tone, as he lifted the bucket off his head.
"Looks like the Drowned Man water worked," answered the man with a smug smile, "You can thank me at any time, ya know?"
The boy gritted his teeth and flung the pail at his father, it managed to hit him square in the face and caused him to fall on his backside.
"I thought you wanted to get rid of your curse, boy?" wondered the old Martial Artist.
"I did, but it doesn't mean all that much to me anymore," replied Ranma, "Why should I be allowed to be cured when Akane doesn't have that chance?"
'Oh Ranma...' said the girl to herself, blushing a little.
"What did you say about Akane?" asked Nabiki with a raised eyebrow.
The boy answered solemnly, "She can't change out of her cursed form, it's permanent."
The entire group; minus her fiancè; looked at Akane as she stood there in the guide's doorway. The girl looked down and with Ranma's shirt still around her shoulders she pulled it tighter to cover herself up.
"You mean to tell us she's stuck like that?" wondered her father.
"Oh no, poor Akane," said Kasumi in a sad tone.
Ranma nodded, "Mm-hmm," and added, "And the guide doesn't know how to cure her."
Soun and his 2 oldest daughters didn't look like they really knew what to say, this was about the most unusual thing any of them thought could've happened. They were used to Ranma's and Genma's old curses because they already had them when they had arrived at the Tendo's home. Yet they had never seen it happen firsthand and to have it happen to someone so close to them made it even more unbelievable. And to learn that Akane would never be the same again it made it all the more shocking.
Nodoka on the other hand smiled softly and walked up to her future daughter-in-law.
Akane glanced up at the woman, "Mrs. Saotome?"
Not having been around the Jusenkyo curses as long as everyone else, she also had been in a more unique position as Ranma's mother. When she had finally seen her son after years of seperation she also witnessed him change genders right before her eyes. She could've held Genma to the seppuku vow he had made, but she had decided to accept her son, curse and all, and she saw this as no difference.
She gave the girl a hug and told her, "I'm just glad to see you're okay, dear. And even though you look different on the outside, you're still the same person on the inside."
Akane cried into the woman's shoulder, "Thank you, Mrs. Saotome."
"You're welcome," chuckled Nodoka, "I'm sure everyone else can see it too."
It didn't take the woman saying it, but Akane's sisters came over and hugged her too. Of course her father wasn't about to be left out either, he hugged his daughter as well. It was going to take some getting used to, but it was the first step needed to get everything back to the way it was.
Night already had fallen by the time dinner was finished as soon enough everyone was getting settled down. The guide allowed his guests to sleep in the front room while he and his daughter slept in their rooms. It almost had a sleepover atmosphere to it, with all the sleeping bags laid out on the floor. It didn't take long for most of the group from Nerima to fall asleep, however there were a few that couldn't quite doze off.
Ranma had his eyes closed, he hoped that when he awoke in the morning that this might have been all a bad dream and he'd find himself back in his room at the Tendo home. The boy opened his eyes just a little bit and by the moonlight could see the other sleepng bags around him. He gave a soft sigh and was about to close his eyes again when he saw the front door open and a shadowy figure step outsdie. The teen sat up and noticed one of the sleeping bags was empty, Akane's bag. Slowly he made his way over and opened the door slightly to look out. There he saw the girl sit down and curl up into an upright ball.
Akane had her arms wrapped tight around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. It had been one of the most eventful days since the failed wedding and she still couldn't believe how much was going to change now. She had anticipatied living as normal a life as she could with a fiancè that didn't switch genders with a splash of water and she certainly wasn't expecting to come away from this vacation with her own curse. It was all so much for her to take in, she felt she could use some help and thought some time alone would do the trick.
A single tear escaped the girl's eye as she thought about what would happen when they got back, 'What am I gonna do?' She didn't hear her visitor approach.
"Hey," said the boy quietly.
Akane looked up at him, "Hey."
"You okay?" he wondered.
"I think so," she said, repeating the same answer she gave him after the incident. She added, "It's easier to walk around now than it was before. I think I'm getting used to this body."
"That's good," Ranma sat down next to her, "My mom's right, ya know?"
She gave him a confused look, "How so?"
"You may look different on the outside," started the boy, "But on the inside you're still the same person you've always been. A curse doesn't change your personality, you should know that just from having watched me and my old curse."
"But what's going to happen once all our friends see me?" she asked.
"I can't tell you, Akane," he told her, "That's something we'll have to play by ear when it happens."
The girl looked down at her knees, she had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy.
Ranma saw his fiancèe's downtrodden face and added, "But whatever happens I know we can get through it just like we have been."
"That's true, as long as we're together, we can handle it," agreed Akane.
The boy put an arm around her and softly said, "And no matter what you look like, it'll never change how I feel about you, Akane."
The girl smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, "Thank you, Ranma, that means alot to me."
Ranma placed his head against hers and replied, "You're welcome, Akane."
If you think I should write more of this, and how you liked/disliked this story, please let me know in comments. Thank you.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or it's characters, they are the rightful property of Rumiko Takahashi. I also do not own the basis of this story as the idea came from tehninjabunneh's drawing http(colon)/tehninjabunneh(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Akane-after-Jusenkyo-48681085 (copy, replace and paste to see the drawing). I offered to write this story for him and he agreed. I felt it was long overdue lol.