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The path to true love can often be
Long, winding and somewhat rocky.
The journey can be easy at times,
But difficult at others.
The journey can be short for some,
But long for others.
The journey will never be the same for each other,
Because every one of us is different.
None of us will ever know what this path is like
Until we have to travel it ourselves.
- Sharon L Norris
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A battle was taking place.
Well, maybe 'battle' wasn't the right word. 'Massacre' was more like it.
"Ranma! Get in this school! Now!"
He stared, incredulous, up at the girl shouting at him from the school balcony, and pointed a finger uncertainly to the scene before him.
"But -"
"Don't worry about Akane!"
Ranma remained perched on the school wall, a feeling akin to concern keeping him there. He observed the raven-haired girl. She did look like she was handling herself pretty well, averaging about fifteen guys a minute. She was probably going to be even madder than before after this, though. Even with her pace, there was no way she was going to make class on time.
Not that he cared. He was new here. And she hated his guts, anyway. Didn't she say she hated boys?
He suddenly found himself swaying slightly. A guy had slammed face first into the brick wall under him, and was now sliding slowly into a crumpled heap on the ground.
The pig-tailed boy regarded the unconscious idiot. For all his righteous male indignation, he was starting to understand a little how she might hate guys the way she did. It wasn't like she had very much to go with in the first place.
He'd never seen anything like this before, and he'd been practically everywhere. He doubted it was a Neriman tradition to gang up on and beat girls before the school bell. Also, the fact that no one came to her aid, or even seemed worried about it for that matter, bothered him. Why?
He focused again on the object of his contemplations.
Her form was unrefined and her movements lacked flow; he'd already picked up on those when they'd sparred in the dojo. She was also nowhere close to his level of speed.
She did, however, move with a kind of surety, a quiet confidence, as she wove through the army of high school boys around her, and that was fascinating to watch.
She also possessed a strength that astounded him in a girl so small in stature. She was fighting football players, kendoists, wrestlers – most of them easily twice her size – and taking them out in seconds flat. They were absolutely no match for her.
He was impressed. And Ranma Saotome wasn't impressed easily.
She suddenly let out a shout of frustration, and he strained to catch a glimpse of her. He only caught a flash of blue and yellow. The crowd was tight and closing in around her, giving her very little fighting space and blocking the girl almost completely from view.
He tensed, calculated; fully intending to take the lot of them out if things went too far. Hate him or not, he wasn't about to let a group of men, if that was what they really thought themselves, beat up a girl, un-defenseless as she was. He never hit girls, as a strict rule, and to see this happening was starting to really tick him off.
Then, to his surprise, she delivered a staggering roundhouse kick that sent the crowd around her flying back from her in several directions. She landed on the gravel lightly, still poised in a fighting stance, then noticed there was no longer anyone around her still standing.
He watched her relax. Then she turned around until her face was in his line of sight. She flipped her blue-black ponytail over her shoulder.
At that moment, he was struck by something within him that he couldn't comprehend. It wasn't because she was pretty (although she was pretty, he guessed, in a tomboy sort of way) or anything like that . But, for the first time, it held him in a vise he couldn't break.
It was her eyes. There was a look in them that told him things about her - that she was proud, that she was strong, that she was passionate. That she was stubborn, and persistent. Unwilling to admit defeat. That she had spirit. And a fire burned within her that he found familiar in only one other person..
This girl was different.
And she intrigued him more than anyone he'd ever met.
Slowly, he broke into a smile.
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And so a journey begins.
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After a long absence, I return! (:
I thought it was about time I wrote something. Well, completed something anyway. I had loads of these little ideas, and I kept beginning new stories, but I never got around to finishing most of them, which was quite sad. So I sat myself down today, and made myself finish this thing. For all the people who think me worthy enough to have on author alert.
Anyway, about the story. Not completely satisfied with this one, and will prolly keep updating it. The 'intrigued' line is also borrowed from my other story 'One Night', if you haven't already guessed. ^^ I've always found this particular scene good, anime-wise, because you get to see Akane being all kickass, and that hardly happens for the rest of the series -_- she doesn't get much love for her skill, and she does have it!
This will be the first in a series I've decided to name Journey. The idea's not original, and it's been done better by other people* but I have a reason. Since I had, and started writing, many of the afore-mentioned little oneshot ideas, I decided to throw the lot together and make it one chaptered story (: of course, I hope I get to finish this, or at least produce a reasonable amount of chapters that ensure that people don't send me "UPDATE PLZ!!!11" messages.
I will try and be as consistent as I can to the arrangement of the general storyline, but I can't guarantee much. My inspirations are untimely mistresses. The story lengths will also vary, because I don't plan them.
In the meantime, I hope you guys bear with me and enjoy the stuff I have coming! I'd appreciate some constructive criticism too, if you have any. Ego-boosting too, of course, is always welcome (:
Thanks for reading! x
* read Sousouchan's 'Step by Step'! it's amazing stuff.
I noticed there were a few similarities between her story and mine, purely unintentional!! please forgive.