Wazzup guys! Damn!! The Lakers WERE #1 in the west but because they lost to the suns they drop the numero uno spot. It was fun while it lasted but I guess nothing in this world last forever. Bynum get well soon, we need you man. Oh and about the while lily thing, I totally forgot about Asuka Saginomiya (my bad) but just let that slide for now. Here's Chapter 4.

CHAPTER 4

He slowly opened his eyes; his gaze was quickly welcomed by the dark walls of a prison cell. They had been captured by their enemies. Barret and the canine-like creature named Red XIII were in the cell to his right, he and the girl named Tifa shared the cell in the center, while Aeris was in the cell to his left.

Tifa tried to cheer him up yet all the while the only thing that he could think of was Aeris. He wondered how she was doing. He quickly stood up and faced the wall to his left.

"Aeris…" he spoke through the wall in front of him. "You safe?"

'Yeah, I'm alright.'

He felt himself let out a small sigh of relief. She was okay… that had to do for now.

'I knew that you'd come for me.'

He blushed as he heard these words.

"Hey, I'm your bodyguard, right?" he boasted with pride.

'The deal was for one date, right?'

'…oh, I get it.' there was a reproachful look on Tifa's face.

'Tifa! Tifa, you're there too!' the flower girl said in a surprised voice.

'EXCUSE me.' the Raven-haired girl replied in annoyance.

A few minutes of silence reigned through the 3 cells.

'Hey Aeris…' Tifa suddenly spoke.

'What?'

'The president kept talking about a place called the "Promised Land". Do you know what it is?'

Promised Land..? What was Tifa talking about?

'All I know is… That we the Cetra, were born from the planet, and unlock the planet. And… then… we will return to the Promised Land. A land that promises supreme happiness.'

The Promised Land… a land of supreme happiness. Did a place like that actually exist?

He wanted to ask her more… About the Promised Land, about the Cetra, about her being a Cetra. Yet his mouth would not open.

'…What does that mean?' Tifa continued to ask.

'More than words… I don't know.'

"…Speak with the planet?" he hears himself whisper.

Tifa slowly sat at the small cot in their cell.

'Just what does the planet say?'

'It's full of people and noisy. That's why I can't make out what they're saying.'

His lips began to move once again.

"You hear it now?"

'I, I only heard it at the Church in the slums. Mother said that Midgar was no longer safe. That

is… my real mother.' her voice echoed with sadness. 'Someday I'll get out of Midgar… speak with the planet and find my Promised land… That's what mom said. I thought I would stop hearing her voice as I grew up, but…'

He felt his heart suddenly become heavy. It was the first time that he had heard her like this. That sadness… she didn't deserve it. He tried as hard as he could to stop himself from speaking about anything that was related to that topic. God knows that he did not want to bring her any more grief.

"Let's just get some sleep." he finally hears himself say.

'Good night…'

"Good night… Aeris."

Ranma slowly opened his eyes, and he immediately saw the image of a small ninja whose ear was leaning over his head.

"What the heck?!" He immediately punched the un-welcomed visitor straight in the jaw and sent him flying through the wall.

"And don't you dare bother me in my sleep again, you idiot!"

Later, inside the Kuno residence…

'Aeris…' Kodachi snarled at the small ninja. 'So that's the name of the harlot who's trying to steal my darling Ranma from me!'

'Mistress Kodachi…' Sasuke interrupted. 'Should I tell the other girls about this?'

'No…' Kodachi replied. 'I still don't trust those vile girls. Sasuke, tell every available employee to search for every bit of information that they can find about this "Aeris" person. I'll make sure that she regrets ever trying to steal my darling Ranma away from me!'

'But what about Ranma, Mistress?'

'Follow him… he's bound to see that slut again.'

Back in Furinkan High school…

'P-Please… be reasonable here!!' Sasuke pleaded to the 3 girls that were threatening to beat him up. They had captured him while he was monitoring Ranma on top of a tree. 'I-I don't know anything yet, I-I swear!!'

'Listen here, you little midget!' Ukyo immediately pulled out her giant spatula and showed it to Sasuke… her eyes resembled that of a wild dog. 'It's either you tell me what you know…' she quickly slammed the giant spatula near the ninja's head and crushed a nearby rock into bits. 'Or I might end up adding another pancake to my restaurant's menu..! Sasuke pancake topped with crushed ribs and brains. Sounds delicious don't you think so… Sasuke?'

'B-B-But Mistress Kodachi… she'll kill me!'

Shampoo struck her weapon's sharp point right through the ground, just a few centimeters from Sasuke's head.

'You choose…' Shampoo glared at the ninja. 'Die now or die later.'

'A-Alright, alright I'll talk!' he spoke out in defeat.

A few minutes later, after Sasuke had relayed all the information that he knew to them…

'Aeris!?' the 3 girls shouted in unison, a mixture of rage and confusion on their face.

'Yes… I heard him mumble something about a girl named Aeris during his sleep.'

'So I was right..!' Akane spoke in frustration. 'He's been seeing another girl behind my back!'

'How dare that jerk do this to me!' Ukyo started to grip his spatula tightly. 'After all that I've done for him!'

'Airen..!' Shampoo clenched her fist in anger. 'You pay!'

Ukyo quickly grabbed the small ninja by the neck and shook him like crazy.

'Tell me! Who is this Aeris person?! Where does she live?! How old is she?! Is she prettier than me?! Is she a better cook than me?! Tell me! Tell me!! Tell me!!'

'I-I-I can't breathe…' the ninja croaked out as his face slowly turned violet due the lack of oxygen.

Ukyo immediately let go of Sasuke as he started to catch his breath and talk.

'Y-You see… that's the thing. All the servants in the Kuno household have done all that they can to find out who this girl is but they haven't found anything. No picture, no address, no birth certificate, Nothing! It's like she doesn't even exist.'

'A-Are you serious?!' Akane was dumbfounded.

'Yep… Miss Kodachi told me to watch over Ranma just in case he tries to see her again.'

But before the 3 of them could interrogate him any further, the bell had rung which signaled the start of classes.

'The bell… We better get going.' Akane tells Ukyo.

'Ok…' Ukyo immediately looks at Sasuke. 'If you find out anything about this girl than make sure you tell us… if you know what's good for you!'

The ninja holds on to his neck as the 3 girls walked away.

'Those 3 are really scary… Boy, I wouldn't wanna be in Ranma's shoes right now.'

'Good morning class!' said a very weak looking man at the front. 'My name is Mr. Mitsu and I'll be your teacher in the wonderful subject of fine arts.'

Mr. Mitsu's eyes wandered through the classroom. 'Alright then, you might be wondering why this subject has been suddenly added into your curriculum. Well, according to your principal it's about time that Furinkan High experiences a dash of class and artistry so he decided to implement this subject in order for you students to release the inner artist within all of you. All top artworks will be showcased in an exclusive museum and their artist given exemplary marks. Those with the most undesirable works will also be posted in the museum while their artist will receive a corresponding haircut given by the principal himself.'

"I knew that old Hawaiian freak was behind all this!" Ranma angrily whispered to himself.

'All the materials that you need are at your side. You may paint anything that you want. Alright, let's begin.'

Everyone had already started… except Ranma.

Gosunkugi was stealing glances at Akane since he had already decided to paint a portrait of her as the lovely princess and him as her masculine knight.

Ukyo decided to paint something that was related with pancakes while Akane was painting some sort of animal-like creature.

Ranma was a bit annoyed now. He was not a good artist to begin with and thought that all of this was just a stupid waste of time.

'What's wrong Mr. Saotome…' Mr. Mitsu had appeared from behind him. 'Why haven't you started painting yet?'

"Sorry teach…" Ranma said in a bored tone. "But art isn't really my thing."

'My, my, Mr. Saotome… I think you misunderstand the real beauty of art.' he smiled at Ranma. 'Art is the expression of what you feel deep inside you. To put it simply, the artist transfers a specific emotion within him thorough his hands and straight to the canvas. If you're having a hard time deciding on what to paint then why don't you just paint your "Portrait of the Heart".'

"Portrait of the what..?"

'Portrait of the heart… it's probably the easiest portrait to paint since the image is basically a reflection of the artist's emotions or something that's very close to him or her.' Mr. Mitsu smiled. 'Why don't you give it a try Mr. Saotome…? Just close your eyes and let the first image that you see flow through your hands and on to the canvas.'

"Yeah right." Ranma sarcastically whispered as the weak looking man slowly left.

Fifteen minutes had passed but Ranma had still not started. All the others were already finished with the basic outlines of their works.

"Fine… I guess I might as well try it."

Ranma closed his eyes. He concentrated, trying to think of something good to paint but there was nothing.

"What a total waste of time this turned out to be." he thought to himself.

He suddenly remembered Mr. Mitsu's words.

…Portrait of the Heart… something that's close to him…

An angelic image suddenly flashed in his head. He smiled; he knew what he wanted to paint now. He slowly opened his eyes and started on his work.

An hour and a half later…

'Alright, everyone put down your brushes.' Mr. Mitsu began to check everyone's works starting with Gosunkugi's painting.

'So Sir… a real work of art, don't you think?' the creepy looking boy said proudly.

Mr. Mitsu smiled at him half-heartedly as he looked at a stick figure of a boy in a tin suit and a girl whose body was covered by smudges of paint.

'Ah… ah… yes… umm… moving on.'

He then checked Ukyo's work which was a portrait of a beautiful and delicious pancake.

'Very good Ms. Kuonji. I'm guessing that you really love pancakes then.'

Ukyo smiled with delight.

After checking a few more students' works he then arrived at Akane's work station.

'Ah, well done Ms. Tendo! It seems that you have a great understanding of abstract artworks.'

'Abstract..?' Akane said in confusion.

'And I see that you've chosen to portray the legendary Minotaur of Greek myth in your work. I'm very impressed.'

'Minotaur..?' she whispered. 'I think you have the wrong idea sir.'

'Hmm… and why is that?' Mr. Mitsu questioned.

'You see… I was trying to paint my dad.'

Mr. Mitsu felt his lower body collapse underneath him as he looked at her painting tensely.

Their teacher had checked the majority of the students' pieces. Most of the artworks were Ok but nothing to actually rave about, some where just atrocious while only a few were noteworthy.

He arrived at Ranma's workstation.

'Ok Mr. Saotome, let's see yo-' as he stared at Ranma's painting, he stopped at mid-sentence. He was silent as his lower jaw dropped and began to shake.

Akane and Ukyo looked at Mr. Mitsu and then turned to Ranma. They knew that the black-haired boy was not a good artist, but was his work so bad that it rendered their own teacher speechless?

'What's the matter Mr. Mitsu?' the other students asked. As they slowly turned their sights towards Ranma's painting, they too were rendered speechless as they gazed upon a portrait of no less than that… of an angel.

The portrait contained the image of a girl with chestnut brown hair. Her angelic face stole the hearts of all the boys and drew the admiration of all the girls in the room. Her emerald gaze held everyone's breathe while her mysterious smile would have melted the coldest of hearts.

'So Mr. Saotome…' Mr. Mitsu spoke with a huge smile on his face. '…This is "your" portrait of the heart.'

"…I guess." Ranma had a small smirk on his face. As he stared at the portrait in front of him, one word escaped his lips.

"…Aeris."

'Is that the title of your piece?'

"What..?"

'I was asking you if "Aeris" is the title of your piece.'

"…Yeah." he replied. "I guess it is."

Ranma gazed at the beautiful image of the flower girl that he had created. His painting was the first to be displayed inside the small museum near the gym. He was shocked that he was able to paint something like this.

"Beautiful…" he whispered to himself as his fingers caressed the portrait's cheek.

She really was… beautiful.

'So… she's Aeris, huh.' a girl's voice was heard from the background.

Ranma glanced behind him. "Akane..?"

Akane made her way in front of the portrait. A mixture of envy and dejection could be seen on her face as she stared at the image of the girl in the portrait, she felt so inferior to HER. Aeris was everything that she could only wish to be.

A cold smile crossed the blue haired girl's face.

'When were you going to tell me about her?'

Ranma was silent.

'When did you two meet? Is she another fiancée of yours that I should know about?'

"It's too complicated for me to explain…"

'Complicated…' a lifeless chuckle escaped her lips. 'Don't make me laugh! Frankly, I really don't care whether you tell me or not. As far as I'm concerned, you can do whatever you want with your life!'

"I'm sorry… Akane." He slowly turned his back on her and walked away.

A small tear rolled down Akane's cheek.

'Ranma… you idiot.'

I would have posted this earlier and another chapter too if the Lakers had won against Phoenix (I blame Kwame). Now, not only did I lose some money, I also have to use that STUUUPIDD and RETAARDED avatar of Amare (GAY!!) for 30 days. I'd rather die than post on ISH with a pro Suns avatar on. NCPrezmike if you're reading this than sorry man but I've officially upped my RABID LAKER mode from low to medium. Hey Sky, can you keep me posted about ACC. I saw the trailer and it was awesome!! Anyway RnR please.