Hey guyz. I'm a bit out of it coz a just lost a ton of money to my friends (-grumbles- stupid Celtics –grumbles-) Game one was an absolute nightmare to watch. I don't know why but that ten point lead they had felt like a thirty point spread. My team's body language was just totally whacked. I'm not gonna make excuses for game one but DAMN, WE GOT OUTPLAYED BIG TIME!! Game two, however, was just a straight up heartbreaker. I'm proud of my guys coz they fought through hell and back and cut a 24 point deficit with less than 8 minutes to 2 with 30 plus seconds to go. But we still lost. I'm not going to say anything about the officiating (although there were a few missed calls –sarcasm- ) but a loss is a loss. But I trust my guys and as long as we have No. 24 on our roster, this thing is far from over. Anyway, sorry for the long rant. Here's Chapter 10.
CHAPTER 10
"Wait for me… I'm almost there."
Racing down the long, glass stairway; his sword stowed safely on his back as the sound of his boots echoed through the beautiful emptiness around them. They were underground now, beneath the City of the Ancients.
There were two other figures that trailed not far behind him. The raven-haired young woman named Tifa and another one of their companions, the blonde-haired pilot who went by the name of Cid Highwind.
As they continued to advance downward, he couldn't help but feel the presence of countless souls watching him and his two comrades. But out of the almost infinite masses of auras that resided within this sacred place, there was one that was unique… one that was special.
'Hey kid! You sure that she's here?' Cid asked him with a tinge of skepticism in his voice.
"She's here… I'm sure of it."
He didn't know why but he could somehow feel her presence. His heart and soul longed for her like an addictive drug. She was a part of him and in some strange way he knew that he was a part of her as well.
His eyes widened as he saw the elegant, crystalline city that floated serenely within this beautiful void of space that surrounded them.
He wills his legs to move faster… he was so close now.
'What the… Goddammit!' the blonde pilot cursed through his teeth as he tried to catch his breath. 'Slow down! For fucks sake, I'm not young anymore you know!'
He did not heed his companion's complaint and instead continued to sprint forward.
"I'm almost there… Aeris… please be safe."
Time was of the essence. He had to see her… to protect her from the deranged madman that was surely approaching.
He promised to be her bodyguard. He vowed to protect her from every danger that was to come. He had already failed her once, and what was worse was the fact that he was the one who broke that promise… he was the one who hurt her…
He couldn't bare the thought of failing her again… He'd be damned before he failed her again…
Soon they entered the crystalline city. He continued to move forward, his mind and soul were being drawn to a specific point within this holy place. It was as if the flower girl's aura was guiding him.
"Aeris… Aeris…"
After what felt like an eternity of searching, he finally spotted his beloved flower girl. Her delicate figure could be seen kneeling inside a small shrine that was at the center of the city. The shrine was surrounded by a pool of pure, blue water and the only means of reaching it was by leaping across the stone columns that towered above the surface of the pool.
"Aeris…"
He immediately jumps onto the first column.
Tifa wanted to follow him but she was quickly held back by Cid.
'What?' she says in an irritated tone, perplexed at why the pilot had stopped her.
'Tifa, I think we should leave the kid alone for awhile. We need to give those two a bit of space right now.'
Tifa wanted to protest but the blonde pilot gave her a stern look as if to say that he would have none of it.
After leaping from column to column, he reaches the shrine at last.
He gazes at the angelic image of the flower girl in front of him. Her delicate figure was bathed in light that shone through the top of the shrine as her hands were clasped in deep prayer. She looked so calm… so peaceful… so beautiful…
He let out a sigh of relief. She was safe… he had reached her just in the nick of time.
He wanted to approach her, but he hesitated. The memory of what had happened at the Temple of the Ancients was still fresh in his mind.
Suddenly, he hears it once again… that voice.
Kill her..! Kill the Cetra!!
His left arm quickly clutches at his head. His breathing had deepened.
"…N-No…" he whispers though gritted teeth as he struggled to maintain control of his senses.
He felt his body being forcefully taken over. He clumsily made his way towards Aeris; his whole body trembled like crazy. As he stood in front of the flower girl's kneeling figure, he was horrified as he felt his hand slowly reach for the great sword that was stowed on his back,
Kill her..! Kill the Cetra!!
He was screaming at himself from the very depths of his mind, the tears threatening to fall. He was begging… pleading for his body to stop, to fight off the evil entity that had possessed him.
His sword glistened as it mirrored the flower girl's delicate neck, ready to behead her in an instant.
He wanted to shout to her, wanted to scream at her to open her eyes and move away from the weapon that he held in his hand.
'Stop!! What the hell are you doing kid!!'
The pilot's words return him to his senses and the dark voice commanding him from within his mind goes silent.
He takes a few steps back and drops his sword to the glass floor. He was speechless, still in disbelief at the horrendous deed that he was so close to doing.
As he continued to stare at Aeris with his face filled with shame, the flower girl finally opens her eyes and gives him one of her scintillating green gazes. She smiles at him, but he couldn't smile back.
Was she not aware of what he was so close to doing just moments ago?
And then… what happened next, he knew, would haunt him forever.
If only he had noticed the dark figure falling from above like an angel of death.
If only he had the presence of mind to shield her with his body and gladly face death knowing that he had stayed true to his promise.
If only he had been strong enough to grab his sword that lay on the floor, step forward, and parry the abomination's Masamune that now pierced through the flower girl's body creating a sickening sound that would echo in his nightmares for as long as he lived.
But it happened so fast, he couldn't have possibly reacted quickly enough… or maybe… he was just too scared, too much of a coward to do something as simple as push her from harms way.
At that very moment, time came to a screeching halt… Each second felt like an eternity.
His body had grown numb; all the color from his face had been flushed away.
The dark figure… the angel of death… the abomination wielding the great Masamune in his hand… Sephiroth… he was smiling. The man's eyes glistened maliciously as he slowly pulled the sword from the flower girl's body.
The sound of grating metal as the great sword was being withdrawn from his beloved made his ears bleed.
She falls forward, her pink hair ribbon slowly coming undone, the small materia that she always kept in her chestnut brown locks bounced down to the glass floor emitting a gentle sound that resonated through the holy shrine that had now gone silent, until it finally falls off the platform and into the clear water below.
And as she fell, he picked up whatever was left of his now shattered self and willed his body to catch her.
He cradled her in his arms, her blood dripping through his hands and staining his blue fatigues.
The flower girl… the last Cetra… Aeris… she was dying.
"…Aeris."
His hold on her body tightens, thinking that if he held on to her long enough, maybe… just maybe… he could prolong the inevitable. He had never cried before because he always believed that to show such emotion was a sign of weakness… But this was just too much for him. It was impossible for him to hold back the tears any longer.
As the small beads of sadness streamed down his cheeks, he felt the soft caress of a feminine hand slowly wiping them away.
He pulls back and his blue eyes lock with hers. She was still smiling. Even after all that had happened… even when she was in the midst of death… she still had that beautiful smile on her lips.
"Y-You're going to be all right… I promise…" he whispers to her in assurance.
He knew it was a lie… the signs were already there. The green flame that once burned strongly from within her emerald orbs was slowly fading. But he just couldn't accept it. To accept the reality of what was happening was the same as letting her go… and how could he ever do that.
She gently shakes her head as if surrendering to the cruel fate that had befallen her. Her eyes close for the last time as her hand that caressed his cheek slowly falls to the glass floor, finally succumbing to eternal sleep.
And just like that… she was gone…
There were no goodbyes… only a smile and an endless river of tears…
"…No."
The tears in his eyes fall onto the flower girl's sleeping face like small drops of rain.
"This can't be real!"
Do not worry… he hears his adversary say, piercing through the mournful shell surrounding him.
Soon the girl will become part of the Planet's energy. All that is left is to go North. The Promised Land waits for me over to the snowy fields. There I will become a new being by uniting with the planet. As will this girl…
"…Shut up!!" he shouts at Sephiroth. His blue eyes staring a hole right through the madman in front of him.
"The cycle of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing!"
He slowly turns his head back to Aeris' sleeping face.
"Aeris is gone…"
The finality of everything was overwhelming him.
"Aeris will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry… or get angry…"
He holds her body closer to his.
"What about us… what are WE supposed to do?"
Whatever positive emotion that he once had was now gone. The only thing that he felt was sadness… grief… emptiness… pain.
"What about my pain?"
He starts to tremble. Anger and rage were filling his insides, drowning him in a sea of hatred.
"My fingers are tingling… My mouth is dry… My eyes are burning!"
The silver haired demon stares at him and starts to laugh.
What are you saying? Are you trying to tell me you have feelings too?
"Of course! Who do you think I am!?"
He felt insulted. He was a human being after all, he had feelings. He wasn't like him… he wasn't an abomination… a monster…
His words only seemed to amuse the silver haired man even more.
Ha, ha, ha… Stop acting as if you were sad. There's no need to act as though you're angry either.
Sephiroth slowly rises to the air and looks down at him.
He gently lays Aeris' body to the glass floor and picks up his sword. He glares at Sephiroth.
Anger… Rage… Contempt… Hate… those were the emotions that fueled him. Nothing had any meaning anymore. Only one thing mattered to him now…
He will make this monster pay… he will not stop until he sees Sephiroth's blood on the tip of his sword.
Because, you are…
"I won't let you get away with this…"
He grips his sword tighter, his blue eyes filled with blood lust.
"I'm going to kill you!!"
Ranma slowly opened his eyes; his sight was met by the darkness of his room. It was probably still a few hours before dawn.
Empty… Why did he feel so empty..?
His body felt so heavy… but not as heavy as his heart. The silence around him was deafening.
He tried to close his eyes but every time he did he would always see it… her last smile, the sound of steel piercing through her flesh.
He could feel the drops of tears at the corner of his deep blue eyes. He slowly wipes the small dewdrops with his hand. And as he stares at the small beads of tears on his fingers he felt something inside of him die.
He had died… and what was left of him was nothing more but a shell of what was once a young and boisterous martial artist.
He was… in every sense of the word… dead.
Akane was standing in front of the sliding door to Ranma's room. She didn't want to be the one to wake him up. She didn't even want to see him, not after what happened yesterday.
He had treated her like dirt. The only thing that was missing was for him to renounce their engagement. How could Ranma do that to her? After all that she had done for him, how could he just dismiss her like that? Had she not been patient with him? Had she not been understanding of his situation? Of course there were times that she had acted childish; times when she had allowed her jealousy get the better of her. In fact, she had beaten him senseless more times than any of his so-called rivals in martial arts. She was human after all, she was bound to have flaws.
But didn't she also comfort him in the midst of his greatest trials. Wasn't she the one who had stood by Ranma's side during that time when Cologne had seemingly locked him in his female form? Had she not been there for him during that incident where-in Happosai had drained him of his strength and made him as weak as a child? She had stood by his side like the good fiancée that she was, and yet he had the audacity to treat her like this.
But here she was, standing in front of Ranma's room. She must be out of her mind. She thought of how pitiful she must have looked right now.
She opened the sliding door.
'Ranma! Will you wake up already! We're going to be late!'
But instead of seeing the young Saotome lying lazily on his bed, she saw an empty futon that had already been made. Akane, perplexed at where Ranma was, made her way inside the room and gently shook the sleeping Panda who laid not far from Ranma's sleeping quarters.
The Panda lazily got up and yawned before holding up a sign that read: What is it? Is breakfast ready yet?
'Mr. Saotome, where's Ranma? We're going to be late if I don't find him soon.'
The Panda's gaze roamed around the room as his eyes squinted because of the light from the morning sun. Akane was right, Ranma wasn't anywhere inside the room.
The Panda took out another sign that read: Don't know. Can I go back to sleep now?
The blue-haired girl sighed. She couldn't believe how irresponsible of a father this person was.
'There you are Akane!'
Akane turned and saw her sister, Nabiki, standing on the doorway with a towel flung around her shoulder. She looked annoyed for some reason.
'Could you please tell Ranma to stop HOGGING THE BATHROOM! He's been there ever since I woke up! Did he die in there or something!?'
'Okay, I'll go check up on him.' Akane replied.
'Ranma!' Akane shouted through the closed door of the bathroom. She tried knocking on the door but there was no reply. 'Ranma! We're going to be late!'
She tried knocking on the door again but still there was no response.
'Ranma!'
She was pounding on the door now, a small tinge of worry etched in her face.
'That's it! If you don't get out of there then I'm going to come in!'
She waited but there was no reply.
Akane quickly slid the door open.
'Ranm-…'
Her words were cut short, clearly disturbed by what she was seeing.
Ranma's naked body was soaked in cold water, morphing the youth's form into that of a gorgeous female red-head. The young Saotome sat on the bathroom floor like a lifeless doll. Her hands embracing her knees as her long, fiery, red hair slightly covered her supple breast.
The tip of her fingers and soles of her feet were wrinkled most probably due to their long exposure to water.
Akane, without as much as a thought, dashed to Ranma's side. She looked at his eyes; those orbs no longer had the same flame of arrogance and confidence that once burned within them like wildfire. They were cold… barren… it was as if those blue orbs belonged to someone who was in their deathbed.
'R-Ranma..?' Akane spoke, her voice slightly cracking. She couldn't believe that the person she was staring at was her Ranma.
"I… I just…"
The sound of dishes breaking was suddenly heard near the door of the bathroom. Akane slightly turned her gaze and saw her other sister, Kasumi, standing in the doorway with her hands cupped over her mouth. She had dropped the dishes that she had been carrying because of shock.
'W-What happened here?!' the eldest of the Tendo sisters questioned.
'Ranma… There's something wrong with Ranma!'
"I just… let her die…"
Those words caught Akane's attention. What was Ranma saying? Who could he be referring t-…? No… it couldn't be…
"I'm… weak." Ranma whispered.
Akane embraced her fiancé. Her Yellow pajamas were slowly soaked by the cold waters that drenched Ranma's body. Her heart was breaking; it pained her to see him like this.
'Ranma…' she tightens her embrace on the youth. 'Everything's… everything's going to be all right.'
"I can't save anyone… family… friends… no one…"
Ranma was now idly sitting on the living room. After pouring hot water on the young martial artist, thus returning him to his male form, Soun and his father Genma had given him the day off from school.
His body was covered by a thick blanket; he had caught a slight fever due to the fact that he had been exposed to the cold waters for far too long. His father thought that it was quite strange for him to get sick so easily since they had gone through a lot worse (Akane's cooking topping the list) and didn't even blink. He would have found it hilarious as well but he wasn't really in the mood to laugh at such trivial things.
Akane entered the room carrying a steaming cup of tea. She was already dressed in her green school uniform.
'Here, have some tea. This should warm you up a bit.'
"…"
'Don't worry; it was Kasumi who made this. I'm not really good in making tea anyway.'
"…"
'I… I guess I should get going then.' Akane placed the small cup in front of him. 'Get some rest, okay…' she then left the room.
As his fiancée left, Ranma slowly picked up the cup. He stared at the clear surface of the liquid concoction; the tea had a deep crimson hue, clearly another one of Kasumi's culinary creations. As he stared at its surface… there was only one thing that he could see. For him, he wasn't looking at a cup of tea… no… instead, he was looking at a cup filled with crimson blood. And on its surface he could see the image of a girl with chestnut brown hair. He eyes were closed as she lay on the blood-stained floor… lifeless.
Akane was walking through the concrete streets of Nerima, slowly heading towards Furinkan High. As she continued on her way, she suddenly heard a familiar voice from out of nowhere.
'Aiya!' shouted a young Amazon that had light blue hair and was riding a bicycle as she carried a small delivery box on her left hand.
'Shampoo!' Akane said in recognition of the girl.
'Hi Akane! Where Airen?' the young Amazon asked.
'He's not going to school today. He's a little sick.'
'Aiya! Airen need Shampoo bad. Me go to him right now!'
'Shampoo, wait!' Akane called but the young Amazon had already bolted straight to the Tendo residence.
Akane sighed.
'I really hope that Ranma's going to be okay.'
'Airen!?' Shampoo shouted as she knocked on the front door of the Tendo residence. 'Shampoo bring you some food!'
The door was slowly opened.
'Oh, Shampoo. What a pleasant surprise.' Kasumi, who was the one who had answered the Amazon's call, greeted.
'Where Airen?'
'He's in the living room. He has a slight fever but its nothing serious.'
'Good! Shampoo come and see him now.'
Shampoo quickly ran through the house and entered the living room.
'Airen! Me brought you some food!'
But, there was no Ranma insight.
'Oh dear.' Kasumi, who entered as well, spoke. 'He was just here a few minutes ago.'
As Kasumi walked to the spot where Ranma had sat, she saw the small cup of tea that she had prepared for him shattered into pieces. Some of the shards of the cup and spilled tea were on the living room floor.
'Now where could he have possibly gone to?'
"I'm sorry."
Ranma stood in front of the beautiful portrait that he had made. Gazing at the flower girl's image with his blue eyes filled with remorse and regret, he again uttered those two words that echoed through both his heart and soul.
"…I'm sorry."
For him, he could have said those two words a million times over and it still wouldn't have been enough.
He had failed her… failed her miserably. Failure had always been unacceptable for him. His competitive fire and drive wouldn't let him fail because failure was intolerable. And yet… when the person whom he valued above all else needed him… he just stood there and did nothing…
He just stood there… and watched her die…
His gaze focused on the portrait's smile. It was ironic, really. Not too long ago he would've given anything to see that smile of hers, but now her smile seemed to taunt him. That smile served as a reminder of his greatest failure.
He tried to close his eyes, trying to exile his sight to darkness… But still, her smile continued to haunt him like a ghost.
A part of his mind tried to fight back with logic.
--
She isn't real…
She's only a dream…
A figment of the imagination…
How could you love someone… who doesn't exist.
Who isn't real…
--
He wanted to run away. A fitting solution for a coward such as him… How he wished that it was that easy.
But he couldn't.
He loved her… and because he loved her he had accepted her reality as his. He was a part of that world now… a part of her world. To tell himself otherwise would be a futile effort on his part.
He clenched his fist. The image kept playing in the back of his mind over and over again.
Her smile…
Her calm eyes…
…And then.
The sword piercing her body…
The silver-haired demon's smirk…
The sound of metal as the sword was being pulled from her delicate frame…
Her body… falling slowly…
Blood on the floor… on her pink dress… on his hands…
And a smile that never left her lips… A smile that had endured it all and was her way of saying goodbye to the world… to him.
He fell to his knees, his body trembling. He didn't want this… this pain.
He started punching the ground. He was screaming, shouting as his fist met the cement floor that started to break. As he landed blow after blow, the debris from the now broken cement floor scattered everywhere.
"The pain… make it stop!"
Finally, the sound of fist meeting against concrete ceased. And as the dust settled, Ranma remained kneeling on the floor… motionless… his empty blue eyes staring at the smiling portrait.
The door to the museum suddenly burst open.
'What in God's name is happening here?!' shouted a brown-haired young man wearing a Kendogi (Kendo uniform) whose upper part was blue while the bottom portion was black. He was followed by an entourage of other Kendo students.
As the brown haired young man saw Ranma and the damage that the black-haired martial artist had caused, with an air of arrogance, he started to threaten Ranma.
'You wretch! How dare you desecrate school property. I, Tatewaki Kuno, shall put an end to your evil ways and bring you to justice!'
Quickly unsheathing his Bokken, he launches a swift charge against Ranma.
But Ranma quickly reacted. With his left hand he easily yanked the wooden sword away from Kuno's grasp, and with his right hand he slammed and pinned him against the nearest wall.
Ranma glared at Kuno with his piercing blue eyes, his gaze filled with hate, anger… rage!
Kuno started to tremble in fear. Those blue orbs had an undeniable blood lust within them. It was like staring into the eyes of the devil himself. Fear had enveloped his whole being to the point that he even wet himself. Lucky for him he wore black lower garments.
"If you ever come anywhere near me or this place again… I swear, I'm going to shove that Kendo stick down your throat!"
He then threw Kuno away like a rag doll. The brown-haired man scurried back to his comrades side.
'Y-Y-You'll pay for this!' he stuttered. He looked at his companions. 'W-What are you idiots doing! Cease that delinquent!'
His comrades just stood there, all of them frozen in fear as Ranma glared at them with cold eyes.
"…Leave."
'I-I will not! Y-You have n-no right to order me around!!' Kuno protested.
"I said… leave." His voice sent chills down their spines and they quickly left the museum.
The bell rang, signaling the end of morning classes and the start of lunch period. As the numerous throngs of students buzzed through the corridors and classrooms, two young men could be seen gossiping near the doorway of one of the classrooms.
'Are you serious?!' the young man named Daisuke said with a mixture of disbelief and amusement, trying his best not to burst out in laughter.
'Ha, ha, ha! Yeah! Can you believe it! Kuno actually wet himself. Damn, Ranma must've really roughed him up.' Hiroshi replied.
'Who roughed Kuno up?' Ukyo, who had appeared with Akane close by, asked.
'Haven't you two heard about the news yet?' Hiroshi said, seemingly appalled by the fact that the two girls were not aware of the latest gossip that had been spreading around the school.
'What news?' Akane asked.
'Well, a member of the Kendo club told me that Ranma went berserk on Kuno. In fact, the "Blue Thunder of Furinkan High" was so scared that he ended up peeing in his pants! Talk about embarrassing!'
The two boys proceeded to laughing their heads off, not noticing the serious look on the girls' faces.
'Where's Ranma now?!' the two girls asked almost simultaneously.
'I heard that he left the school grounds earlier. Why?'
Akane and Ukyo quickly rushed past the two boys without even bothering to answer back.
'Akane, didn't you tell me that Ran-chan was sick!?' Ukyo chided.
'He is! At least he was when I last saw him.'
As the both of them left the school grounds and began their search for Ranma, they spotted a dark-blue haired female rushing through the streets. She was following a small ninja who was also running at high speed.
'Kodachi!' Akane shouted as she recognized the girl.
'Hmpf, I don't have time for the likes of you. My darling needs me right now.'
'We're almost there, mistress.' the ninja named Sasuke, who was currently leading the pack, spoke. 'Ranma's just on the playground on the other side. I'm sure of it.'
'For your sake Sasuke, he better be.' Kodachi threatened.
The small group was then joined by two others…
'Shampoo? Cologne?' Akane spoke.
'Shampoo heard everything. Me need to go to Airen now!'
'And what's your business here, Cologne?' Ukyo asked the old woman accompanying the young Amazon.
'I'm here to offer my help to son-in-law. I sense that there is something very wrong here.'
As the group finally reached the playground, they immediately hid themselves in the corner of a giant bush.
Sasuke cleared some of the bushes leaves to get a better view and pointed to the swing set in the middle of the playground.
'There he is.' the ninja spoke in a low voice.
Ranma was sitting on one of the swings. His head was downcast as the light breeze blew through the strands of his hair. His skin was pale. There was an eerie silence around him. He barely moved at all… he just sat there with his hands holding on to the cold chains at his side.
'Umm… Why are we just standing here?' Ukyo spoke. 'I don't know about you guys but I'm going to go talk to him.'
'Wait!' Cologne said as she raised her staff in order to block Ukyo's path.
'What?!'
Cologne looked at the four girls. 'Has any of you noticed anything strange about son-in-law.'
'Well, aside from him being absolutely crazy about that Aeris girl, he seems to be okay.' Ukyo answered.
'Are you sure that's all.' Cologne asked again, clearly not convinced by the okonomiyaki chef's answer.
'I've had enough of this charade! Ranma darli-…' but before Kodachi could speak any further, Cologne had already hit the young girl's lower jaw with her staff.
'Why you little witch!' Kodachi's eyes fumed.
'Be patient and listen.' Cologne calmly spoke. 'Now, are all of you sure? Has he said anything strange in the past couple of days?'
'…I just let her die.'
'What did you say, Akane?' Ukyo said as she heard Akane's words.
'That's what he said when I found him… He said that he wasn't fit to protect anyone…' Akane then told them about what had happened earlier today.
'I see, so it is as I feared.'
'…Airen.'
'Oh Ran-chan… W-What's happening to you.' Ukyo said to herself, embracing her shoulders.
'We have to talk to him. We have to snap him out of this.'
Cologne sighed. 'I fear that there is nothing that any of you can do about it.'
'Great granny?'
'I've lived in this earth longer than most people have and I have seen and experienced a lot of things.'
'Will you get to the point already!' Kodachi screamed, her patience growing thin with every passing second.
'When I was young, I had a friend named Momo. She was a very beautiful girl and was one of the most spirited Amazons that I had ever known. She was in love with a young man named Irou. She loved him so much that when he challenged her to a dual, Momo intentionally lost the fight. And according to Amazon law when a female Amazon losses to a man, she must marry him.'
'She threw the fight away?' Akane whispered.
'She loved Irou so much… He meant the world to her. It was truly tragic… what happened to the two of them.'
'What happen next Great-granny?'
'Back then, wars between the amazons and other tribes were common place. Even though Irou was by no means a blood kin of ours, he chose to fight for our side. However, like wars, death in the battlefield was commonplace back then as well. Irou was one of those who had not been fortunate enough to return.'
Cologne's face carried such a sad expression as she continued on with her tale.
'Momo was heartbroken when she learned of Irou's fate. We tried our best to cheer her up… all of us. But she had already closed herself out to the world. She neither ate nor slept. She didn't even talk anymore. She was still young at that time but everyday she'd look as if a hundred years had passed her by. Her youth dwindled away until she left this earth and joined Irou in the afterlife.'
'So… you think that the reason why Ran-chan is acting like this is because… Aeris is dead.'
Cologne nodded.
'I have seen people die countless times. But those who suffer from it are not actually those who die, but rather those who they leave behind. Some are strong enough to overcome the emotional turmoil that they experience when a loved one dies, while others fade away and choose to stop living a life that they now view as futile and meaningless. There is very little that we can do for him if anything at all. I think that it will be for the best if we let him be for a while.'
'But we can't just stand here and do nothing!' Ukyo protested.
'You don't understand… This is something that he must first overcome by himself and until then any help that we give him will be meaningless.'
'I… I understand.' Akane suddenly spoke.
'What!' Kodachi looked outraged. 'Don't tell me you're actually going to listen to this charlatan! She's clearly making this up!'
'I believe Cologne. Ranma… he needs a bit of space for himself.' Akane stared at the other three girls. 'And if all of you care about him, then you should be able to understand that as well.'
'Pfft!' Ukyo sighed. 'Fine.'
'Let us all leave him be… for now at least.' Cologne said as she led all four girls and Sasuke away,
As Ranma idly sat at the swing, a soft breeze gently brushed through his black hair.
After a few more minutes of silence, he started to speak.
"They're gone… I'm the only one here now!"
He slowly stood up.
"I know you're there! You've been following me since I left the school! Whoever you are… show yourself!!"
And from out of the shadows, footsteps could be heard… Slowly, with each passing step… they began to inch their way to the young Saotome…
Who could it be… hmm… The next chapter has already been written and all I have to do is to clean it up a bit. But I am going to tell you guys one thing: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED. RnR please. P.S. Damn, I gotta stop doing this long chapters.
Author's Note: I decided to borrow a few elements from FF7: Advent Children and FF7: DoC. But the main story line will not be connected to any of the two.