Title: Together -- A Tale of Transformation and Tragedy
Author: Rowan Seven
Teaser: A magic fountain makes one of Nodoka's desires come true in a way she neither desired nor expected.
Disclaimer Ranma ½ belongs to Viz Communications and Rumiko Takahashi. Other characters belong to their respective creators and copyright holders. I am not making any profit off this story.
Author's Notes: - - indicates thoughts. # # indicates signs.
Story Notes: Thanks for all the feedback. I really appreciate the kind comments people have left and have enjoyed reading what people think of the story so far. Hopefully these last chapters won't disappoint. Trugeta also has my thanks for pointing out a rather embarrassing mistake on my part that's been corrected in the master copy now. As for the matter of the Musk and double Jusenkyo curses that Howard Russell brought up, heh, good point. I hadn't really thought of that. Maybe the reason why the Musk used a magic artifact to lock curses rather than utilize the same spring twice was to maintain their victims' animal side? The way I'm looking at it, their magic artifact merely locks a Jusenkyo curse rather than make it permanent, i.e. the original body still exists but the victim is prevented from returning to it. Contrastingly, a double Jusenkyo curse completely removes the original body, so if the Musk had doused their victims with Jusenkyo water twice they'd be humans with animal minds rather than cursed animals stuck in human bodies as they achieved by locking the curse. This is merely after the fact rationalization and a guess, though, so who knows? Anyway, please read and enjoy.
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Chapter 11 – Inversion
The cold, hard rain fell in sheets of piercing droplets, drenching all those caught outside despite their best efforts to remain dry. Walking down the wet streets of Tokyo and whistling an uncharacteristically cheerful tune, the Eternally Lost Boy didn't mind in the least. Umbrella closed and firmly affixed to his backpack, Ryouga laughed as the rain continued to soak him to the bone. He'd...missed this and so many other small things while cursed, and he was determined to make up for lost time. His Jusenkyo curse was gone, and for the first time in who knows how long Ryouga felt truly happy.
The Lost Boy chuckled again as Furinkan High came into view and marveled at his unusually good luck. First he had stumbled upon that magic spring, and now he was already back in Nerima with enough water to cure everyone. -Heh, looks like fate has finally decided to make up for the agony my recent life has been,- Ryouga thought sardonically, cynicism momentarily surfacing again but quickly residing in the face of the sheer exultation he felt at no longer having to fear cold water.
"Ryouga?"
Hearing the familiar, concerned voice, Ryouga blushed and turned around, meeting Akane's puzzled gaze and scratching the back of his head nervously. Now that hiding his curse was no longer necessary, he could finally take the time and effort to show her the true depth of his affections...provided Ranma's mother wasn't still around, of course, the Lost Boy belatedly realized. He did not want to pretend to be Ranko's boyfriend again. Those sick, perverse dreams he'd been having – although thankfully with less regularity – were already more than he could tolerate.
"Um...Ryouga, why are you soaking wet when you have an umbrella within easy reach? You might catch a cold!" Akane scolded, worry for her friend overriding her confusion. Besides, while Ryouga was nice, he wasn't exactly the sanest person she knew, and he had his own peculiar quirks rivaling anyone else in Nerima.
The Lost Boy, desperate to supply an answer that wouldn't incriminate him, struggled to rapidly come up with something credible. He succeeded...to an extent. "Haha, eh, well...you see...it's part of my training for...the Tidal Flash Kick Technique! In order to master the attack, I must first embrace the rains and learn how to tell each raindrop apart! Yeah..." Ryouga trailed off, for the first time taking in the blue-haired girl's own appearance. Running clothes slightly damp despite the open blue umbrella held in her left hand, she looked paler than usual, as if she hadn't been sleeping much, and red lines that could've only been caused by extensive crying marked her eyes. "Are you all right, Akane?" He clenched his fists in anger as another thought occurred to him. "What did Ranma do this time?" Truce or no truce, if Ranma had hurt Akane...
"It's not his fault!" Akane protested defensively, eyes lighting up passionately but entire demeanor quickly deflating. "It's...complicated, Ryouga. Do you have a minute?" She gestured at a nearby tree, indicating that she wanted to talk to him there.
"For you, of course, Akane," Ryouga answered quickly, following as the young martial artist beckoned him over and wondering what in the world had happened while he was away. To see Akane so depressed that she couldn't sustain a temper? Much as he loved her, that was practically unheard of, and his worry grew.
The Lost Boy wouldn't have to wait long to have his questions answered.
"Ranma's...curse is locked?" Ryouga asked uncomprehendingly, trying to wrap his mind around the horrifying idea and feeling shivers run down his spine. Being trapped in a body that's not your own for the rest of one's life? Even in his angriest moments, he would never have wished such a fate upon his rival.
Akane nodded her head glumly. "Yes, Ranma's...stuck as a girl. Cologne's trying to find something to help him, but she hasn't had any luck so far. Apparently not even Jusenkyo water can undo a double curse."
"But...I have a cure!" Ryouga spoke up, voice filled with desperate, nearly manic hope as the rain continued to fall around them. "For Jusenkyo! I found a magic spring on my latest trip that cures...let's see, what are the details again?" He fished out a damp pamphlet from one of his backpack's compartments and read hurriedly. "Welcome traveler to the Spring of Moonlight Magic! Long, long ago a beautiful, kind queen came from the moon and bathed in these calm waters, blessing them for all time with her love and mercy. Because of the queen's gift, this spring heals wounds and cures curses. Enter and find yourself restored."
The Lost Boy, remembering that there was more text on the back, flipped the pamphlet over and squinted as he tried to make out the tiny words. "Disclaimer: The Lunar Sisterhood is in no way, shape, or form responsible for any undesired effects caused by bathing in or drinking these waters. The Spring of Moonlight Magic's waters require moonlight to work. The Spring of Moonlight Magic does not remove generational curses, lycanthropy, or acne. Neither can its power be used to change fate or undo the effects of a curse that is no longer active. To restore a body, there must be a trace of the original form left. For more information, visit our website, URL to be announced once the computer we ordered arrives and we learn how to do web design."
Ryouga stared at the pamphlet for a long moment, as if through sheer force of will he could force the words to change and offer hope for Ranma. They didn't, and in a fit of rage and anger aimed at himself he crumpled the slip of paper in his fist and bashed his head against the tree trunk. The tree took more damage than he did, and he was left wondering why the heck he hadn't read the disclaimer before now. Can't restore a body without a trace of the original form left? That didn't do any good now that Ranma's curse was locked, and all he'd accomplished was to kindle and then crush the hopes of the woman he loved.
Akane, whose spirits had briefly risen as she listened to Ryouga talk only to plummet once the full extent of the disclaimer became known, tried to smile reassuringly. "Don't blame yourself, Ryouga. There's nothing you could've done to change what's happened."
"If I'd gotten here earlier..." Ryouga mumbled, cursing himself for having taken so long enjoying the pleasures of swimming and being able to touch cold water again when he should've hurried to Nerima as quickly as possible.
"It's not your fault! You had no way of knowing!" Akane insisted, although she too felt disappointed that Ryouga hadn't appeared with the cure earlier. It would've made everything so much easier...No, she mustn't think like that. There was no reason Ryouga should feel any guilt for what had happened. He wasn't the one who'd avoided Ranma the entire week and ran away whenever the martial artist might've needed him. He wasn't the one who'd done nothing to stop Mousse despite the awareness that the Chinese Master of Hidden Arts had become far more dangerous. He wasn't the one-
"Akane?" Ryouga asked nervously, concern for the blue-haired woman overriding his own self-recrimination. Seeing how distraught she looked...it was tearing his heart apart. She couldn't...Idiot, she obviously was blaming herself. You know her well enough to realize that. What to do? What to do? "Akane, I...please, this isn't your fault either. Even if you'd been there, there's nothing you could've done to stop Ranma and Mousse from fighting. You know how stubborn and determined those two are. Please, you mustn't blame yourself. And don't give up hope. Ranma's never given up, and he's always come through in the end. I'm sure...things will work out somehow."
Not knowing what else to do, Ryouga hugged Akane, offering her his silent support and strength. Much to his relief, she didn't pull away and even seemed to return the hug, her trembling chest making it obvious that she was choking back sobs. Being so close to the woman he loved yet knowing that this embrace was only for solace and her heart was still so far away...it hurt, but not nearly as much as he believed Akane was hurting right now. How long had she been blaming herself? What kind of mental shape must Ranma be in to so thoroughly drown out Akane's temper and break down her normal façade of self-reliance and strength? Perhaps more importantly and despite his words to the contrary, could their lives really ever return to normal?
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Trapped. The single word repeated itself over endlessly in Ranma-chan's mind, painfully reminding the young woman – formerly young man – of what she'd lost. Trapped, her life as Ranma over. Trapped, forced to live in a body that she had only just escaped from. Trapped as Ranko.
She should be appalled right now, her worst nightmare having come true. The life she had lived and the person she once was...all were gone now, perhaps never to return. There was no way she could continue as Ranma. He was male, and she...was not. Marrying Akane, Ukyo, or Shampoo and fathering their children was impossible now. Heck, she couldn't even properly defend herself anymore, as her recent battle against Adon clearly demonstrated. She was merely a weak girl who was only good at housework.
And yet...mixed in with her shame and horror was a disturbing feeling of relief. After all, wasn't she free now? Soun, Ukyo, and Cologne couldn't possibly expect her to fulfill her engagements as a girl, and the Kunos had given up. Mousse, filled with guilt and regret over what he'd inadvertently done, had completely forsaken his ambitions to defeat her and win Shampoo. If what she'd heard was true, he was even planning on leaving soon, possibly for good, to do some soul-searching. Similarly, her responsibilities to defend the Tendo Dojo against challengers and display her skill were obviously absolved. Men, not women, were the ones who needed to fight and protect, and, despite what she knew Akane would say, to do and expect otherwise was ridiculous, particularly considering her weakness. She was free from all the entanglements that had bound her while she'd been Ranma.
These thoughts horrified her, and whenever they crept into her conscious mind Ranma-chan would squash them. However, after a night's sleep they'd always return, even stronger and more persistent than before. She couldn't ignore them, so instead she ignored everyone else. After all, what would her friends and family think if they saw her so weak and confused? It's not like she could confide in them about her conflicted emotions. They wouldn't understand and would only treat her as if she was crazy. Even she didn't understand her own feelings and thoughts right now.
If only...if only there was someone she could trust...
"Ranma?"
"Ryouga?" Ranma-chan muttered in surprise, identifying the voice as belonging to her rival and shuddering as she heard the door slide open. Of all the people to see her like this...Keeping her back to him, she bunched up in an even tighter ball and tried to make herself as small as possible. "Go away!" she snapped, trying to sound mad but finding her voice strangely weak. Go away, go away, go away, go away, go-
"Ranma..." Ryouga trailed off uncertainly, the fragile and vulnerable appearance of his archrival filling him with unease. Even with Akane's words of warning, he hadn't expected to see Ranma look so...defeated and hopeless. Her unwillingness to give up, even though it often confounded him, was one of the things that made Ranma Ranma. Without it, she looked like a frightening shell of her former self.
"Go away, Ryouga. I don't want to see anyone right now," Ranma-chan repeated sullenly, refusing to turn around and look at him. She didn't want his pity.
Ryouga sighed and crouched behind Ranma, wondering what he should say and deciding to cut straight to the chase and hope for the best. Sitting around stammering uncertainly wasn't going to help. He just hoped the unusual eloquence he'd managed to muster earlier with Akane hadn't abandoned him yet. "I'm not going away, Ranma...at least not if I can help it," he quickly qualified, remembering his penchant for becoming lost. "You obviously need someone to talk to right now, and I'm perfectly willing to stay here and knock some sense into your stubborn head if it comes to that."
Ranma-chan snorted. "What good will talking do? It won't change anything, and I'll still be stuck as a girl. Heck, out of everyone here, you should be happy about this, Ryouga! Think about it! I'm no longer an obstacle to you, not in martial arts or your desire to win Akane's affections. You're probably actually overjoyed at my misfortune and have only come to make yourself look good in Akane's eyes!" She instantly regretted those words when they left her mouth but hoped the insult would convince him to leave. She would find herself disappointed.
Ryouga winced and ignored the flash of anger that ran through him. Ranma was hurting right now, and it was only natural that she'd try to hurt those around her too. He had to remain calm. "You know that's not true, Ranma. I've spent too much time as P-chan to be happy about anyone becoming trapped in a Jusenkyo curse. What I'm here for is to try to remind you not to give up. You've been in bad situations before and always managed to pull through. Don't stop doing that now."
"This is different!" Ranma-chan shouted, turning around angrily to face him for the first time. "Every time in the past, there has always been a solution nearby! All I needed to do was grab it! This time, though, there's not a single trace of hope anyway! Even Cologne is stumped, because if she had a cure or even a potential cure she'd obviously be using it right now to persuade me to marry Shampoo! There's nothing I can do to change what has happened. Absolutely nothing!"
"Absolutely...nothing," she repeated despairingly, voice cracking from pent-up emotions as she fell forward onto the floor. Tears started falling from Ranma-chan's eyes, and she tried to quickly wipe them away but they wouldn't stop flowing. To think, she, Saotome Ranma, had become so weak that she couldn't even stop crying. Pathetic. She was utterly pathetic and wretched right now, and she just wanted to disappear and be forgotten...
Ryouga, acting more on instinct than anything else, placed his left hand on her shoulder, and Ranma-chan immediately looked up, breathless and feeling dizzy. Why...why was she suddenly so warm? "You idiot, Ranma! There is always something that can be done!" Those words...they sounded so confident and certain. "Look at me!" She couldn't look away. "I've endured a curse that strips away my very humanity, but even though a cure was nowhere in sight I never gave up hope that I'd find one someday! I have continued living my life despite the hardships I faced along the away." Ryouga...Ryouga was so strong, so much stronger than she was. "If you think the only thing you can do is curl up into a ball and hide from the world, hurting all those who care about you, then you truly are pathetic. For crying out loud, go outside and do something, Ranma!" If there was only someway he could share his strength with her...
Feeling Ryouga's intense gaze bore into her, Ranma-chan blushed and lowered her head, wondering why she was so flushed and even more confused than she had been earlier. Nothing made sense right now. The only thing her besieged trains of thought could figure out was that she was weak and Ryouga was strong and that maybe if she listened to him and kept him near, then maybe she wouldn't be so weak. "A-all right," she stuttered out, voice quavering. "I'll g-go out. Just...just promise me that you'll go with me, okay? I...I do-don't know what I'd do right now if I met Happosai or...or someone else like him." It was a weak excuse, she knew, but she didn't want Ryouga to leave her. Why?
Ryouga smiled slightly and let go of her, mistaking her sigh of disappointment at being released for something else. "Sure thing, Ranma. I'll protect you. That's a promise."
Hearing those words, it took all of Ranma-chan's will to keep herself from swooning as intoxicating ebullience swept through her body. What...what was going on? And did she really want it to stop?
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-My life is departing. I've only one breath left.-
-Use it to meditate. Free yourself from this world as you have been taught. Let your soul rise to eternity with your last breath. Do not waste it…for me.-
-I've already wasted my whole life. I want to tell you with my last breath...I have always loved you. I would rather be a ghost, drifting by your side...as a condemned soul...than enter heaven without you. Because of your love...I will never be a lonely spirit.-
Ryouga and Ranma-chan left the movie theater just as they'd entered it, hand in hand, the former believing that Ranma-chan refused to let go to prevent him from becoming lost and the latter holding on for the simple reason that she didn't want to let go. Ranma-chan didn't know how to explain it, but the Lost Boy's touch...it made her feel good. Better than she could ever remember feeling, actually, even as she was overcome by increasing turmoil. This...this couldn't be right. This feeling she was feeling...it couldn't be what she thought it was, could it? Ryouga was only a friend, if even that. She wouldn't...she couldn't...
Her mind screamed one thing, but her body proclaimed another. Every part of her was filled with warmth, and she tingled whenever she brushed against Ryouga's strong form. More than anything else, she wanted to embrace and melt into him, forgetting all of her sorrows and the past and be one with the Lost Boy forever and ever and never let go. These thoughts should disgust her. She knew they should. But, instead, they thrilled and excited her, sending her heart racing and pounding so hard that her increasingly desperate protests were drowned out. It was as if her body had a will of its own or that instead of one she had two minds. And the words voiced in the movie she'd just seen continued to reverberate in her head...
Ryouga, oblivious to Ranma-chan's internal conflict, was similarly mentally torn as the two silently walked Nerima's streets under the now clear night sky, the lights of the city obstructing all but the brightest of stars but providing their own beautiful illumination. He should confess his feelings to Akane. With his curse gone, there was nothing to hold him back, and who knew what might happen if he waited and stalled like he always did? Time was precious and should not be wasted, as the movie he'd watched poignantly reminded its audience. On the other hand, though, there was Ranma to think about. He...she...whatever, also loved Akane despite her adamant denials, and right now she needed his friendship more than ever before. Proclaiming his love to Akane could damage that friendship beyond salvation. Plus, wouldn't Akane think it was rather crass of him to try to gain her love when her fiancé was in such a troubling position? Confessing his feelings might irreparably alienate her.
Ryouga's mind swam with such thoughts even as a growing sense of dread overcame him. He may not have been the brightest bulb in the shed but he also had a strong dose of paranoia that the world was out to get him, and recent events were playing havoc with his normal reasoning. Nerima simply didn't feel like the Nerima he had known for over a year where no matter what chaotic turn of events occurred everything stayed the same and nobody changed regardless of how much they wanted things to change. Now, though, things were changing but against everybody's will and in ways nobody wanted, and the centerpiece that had kept everything going and everyone together no matter what happened, Ranma, wasn't acting like himself at all. Ryouga had never known his rival to be a quitter, but that appeared to be what Ranma had done before he'd forced her outside. He expected her to hatch harebrained schemes to travel the globe in search of a cure or even track down Happosai for advice, not pathetically sulk in her room immersed in self-pity.
Watching his cursed rival and being in Nerima now, he felt that there was something different, something unusual that wasn't quite right, and this feeling had slowly and steadily grown the more time he spent with Ranma to the point where it was now a constant source of unease. Much like when there was something important he knew he'd forgotten but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't remember what it was, Ryouga sensed that there was something off but he couldn't quite identify what.
The pair entered a park, and a shrill gust of wind greeted them, sending shivers down Ryouga's body as he raised his eyes which widened slightly in puzzlement. Had he just...heard a voice? The word...what had it been? Confess? Nah, must've just been a trick of the breeze...
"Ryouga..."
Ryouga halted immediately, the tone of Ranma-chan's voice filling him with fear. He'd never heard Ranma sound like this before. And why...why was she looking at him like that? Her eyes...the emotion in them...it couldn't be...
Breathing heavily, Ranma-chan gazed up at Ryouga and gathered her courage. Forget everything and screw the consequences. There was no way to deny what she was feeling, and even if she could she wouldn't want to. Telling the truth was the only method by which she might obtain her heart's irresistible desire, and if she could be with Ryouga and feel like this forever honestly...it was worth any risk.
"Ryouga, I love you."
Faced with such an irrefutable declaration, Ryouga's horrified mind became blank. Without thought, he raised his umbrella, looked down at the flushed, expectant face of Ranma-chan who'd just borne her heart to him, and knocked her unconscious with one clean, overhead strike.
He then calmly pinched himself, hoping to wake up from this nightmare, and when that didn't work he proceeded to scream.
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"Son!"
"Son-in-law!"
"Nihao!"
"Ranma, sugar!"
"Ranma, darling!"
"Ranma no baka!"
"Saotome!"
"Vile fiend!"
Ranma was surrounded, confined in a small, dark room with no exits and no hope of escape. Assaulting him were all the engagements and entanglements that had ever haunted him, each with a barbed, spiked chain that once fastened would be impossible to escape from. He tried to fight them off, but there were too many of them and his struggles were doomed to end in vain. They were piling on top of him, suffocating him, breaking him, and no matter how hard he fought he could not extricate himself from their cold, merciless grasp.
A spark of light in this dark world suddenly caught his attention, and with manic, nearly desperate, hope he forced his head to turn to find the source. Any movement was difficult as he wrestled with the figures that sought to imprison him, but out of the corner of his eye Ranma was able to identify a mirror. In its blue, crystalline depths was an image of Ranko, calm, serene, and with her left hand extended in invitation, apparently offering him a way out.
Ranma hesitated for a moment, suspicious at this sudden development and wondering if it was a trap. Still, even if he was only trading one prison for another, ANYTHING was better than this. As if sensing his decision, the mirror suddenly flashed, and the room was flooded in illumination. The past that had tried to keep him momentarily weakened its grip, and Ranma seized this opportunity, dashing towards the mirror and diving into it without a second glance at what he was leaving behind.
Water that was so cold it burned embraced him, and as Ranma transformed into Ranma-chan she opened her eyes and realized that she was underwater. Panicking, she involuntarily opened her mouth, and the water filled her, invading her body and sending her into excruciating pain as it pulled her inside-out. She screaming in silent agony and more water poured into her mouth and joined the onslaught that was making her existence a living aquatic inferno. Something seemed to give finally, though, and another slow, painful transformation overcame Saotome Ranma as her female form sank into him and, outwardly, he was male again. The core had become the shell and the shell the core.
Nearly out of breath, Ranma could only shudder as the water around him began to spin and he found himself trapped in a whirlpool. Even as it spun him around it lashed out at him, tearing him apart piece by excruciating piece. He tried to escape, but he was too weak and the current too strong, and there was less of him that could fight with each passing second. He was dragged deeper and deeper into the depths until there was only darkness, and then he went beyond that into oblivion as he lost the battle and drowned.
Ranma died, but this was not the end. Where he had been, a naked, female body steadily congealed into being, and it ascended upward, slowly at first but with growing speed until it finally broke through the surface and emerged in the light.
Ranko took her first breath, opened her eyes, and smiled. She was alive.
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Addendum: The movie dialogue is taken from the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."