Chapter 29

"Ranma-kun?"

Ranma grumbled.

"Ranma-kun? It's me…"

"Is it time to go to school, mom?"

"Ranma-kun, wake up."

Ranma opened one eye, expecting to see the wall in his room. He instead saw the garden at the Tendo home.

"What the…?"

He opened his other eye and lifted his head, scratching his eyes as he did so. He pulled his body off the table, and his back complained at the movement.

"Ohhh…my back!"

"Did you sleep there all night, Ranma-kun?"

Ranma shook his head and blinked away the morning tears. As he found his footing and began to stand up, the memories of last night came crashing down on him. He saw himself working at Tanaka's, then making out with Emi, and then finding out that Akane had possibly seen them.

"Akane!"

Ranma turned around to face Kasumi, who was still standing next to him after her attempt to wake him up. "Ranma-kun, sit down, please."

"No! Wait! Is Akane back?" Ranma said as he ran towards the bottom of the stairs. "Is she up in her room?"

Kasumi shook her head.

"Don't tell me she's missing? I'll help you look! I need to talk to her!"

"She's not missing."

Ranma was taken aback.

"Is she staying somewhere else?"

"You can say that."

"Why? Is she mad at me?"

"Should she be mad at you?" Kasumi retorted.

"Uh…" Ranma looked down, unsure how to respond to Kasumi's seemingly innocent question. Of course Akane had every right to be mad at him! But, how was he supposed to explain to Kasumi that her little sister had seen him kissing another girl? He did not want to lie to Kasumi, but it seemed as if Kasumi had a secret of her own.

"Where have you been, Kasumi-chan? Did you just get here?"

Kasumi nodded. "I take it you haven't gone home?"

"No, I did, but just to shower before coming here."

"Did you read the note?"

"What note?"

Kasumi sighed, her head low. She waved at Ranma to walk back to the living room as she sat on the floor herself. Ranma stood at the entrance, his legs wanting to take him wherever Akane was, but it was Kasumi's face that finally forced him to sit down next to her.

"What is it, Kasumi? Akane is pissed off at me, isn't she?"

Kasumi shook her head. "That's not important right now, Ranma-kun. Something's happened to Akane."

Ranma swallowed hard as his head turned to the door when he heard it rattling and it opened. A very tired-looking Nabiki walked inside, holding up an even more tired-looking Soun in her arms. Nabiki gave him a look he could not quite place before she returned to her task of taking Soun to his room.

"The sedatives are kicking in, Kasumi-chan," Nabiki said. "He'll be out of it for hours. Do you need anything else?"

"No, Nabiki-chan, thank you. Are you going to school today?"

"Yeah, but only to tell them what happened."

"What happened?" Ranma asked, now irritated at the secrecy around him.

Nabiki sighed, readjusting her father in her arms before she made the final push to his room. "I'll be in my room, o-nee-chan."

Nabiki and Soun disappeared from sight, only to be followed by Genma. Ranma immediately stood up when he saw his father walk inside the home, looking no better than Soun. "Dad?"

"Ranma? What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for Akane."

Genma opened his mouth but closed it when Kasumi shook her head at him. Ranma stood between his father and Kasumi, staring back and forth between them, waiting for any of them to say anything about why they were acting so somber and mysterious.

"Is anyone gonna tell me what the hell is going on? What happened to Akane?"

"My boy, we tried looking for you when it happened, but we couldn't find you."

"When what happened?"

"It just happened so fast, Ranma-kun. One moment we're on the phone with the police and next…"

"Police?"

Ranma felt his head spin. Why would they be on the phone with the police? Was Akane arrested? Did she go to the police to report him and Emi? But, the police were not searching for him, were they?

"Can someone please tell me what happened to her?"

"Ranma, it will be best if you sit down…"

"NO! JUST TELL ME! What happened?! Is she…is she…dead?"

"No…"

Ranma sighed in relief.

"Not yet."

Ranma's eyes widened at Kasumi correcting herself. He took a few steps back, only stopping when the wall hit his back. He could already feel the tears forming in his eyes, and his heart pounded loudly in his temples.

"W-wh-at?"

"Son, when was the last time you spoke to Akane?"

"Last…week," he responded, not sure where the conversation was going. He closed his eyes to blink back the tears, and rested his open palms on the wall behind him for added support. He knew his legs were about to give up at any time.

"Ranma-kun, last night, Akane had an accident. She was hit by a delivery truck on her way home. We…we thought you knew…"

Ranma felt his body and his mind disconnect from each other. He could hear Kasumi speaking to him, but her voice sounded distorted and far away. His overactive mind sent him blurry images of Akane on the ground, broken body and bleeding. His dream, he had seen it happen in his dream. His dream made so much sense now. The light had to have been the lights of the truck, or maybe the lights of the police or ambulance that took her. But, why had he not seen it happen? Why had he not been able to prevent it? His nightmares and the voices had stopped; did it not mean that Akane was safe?

"Ranma-kun?"

Ranma lifted his tear-stricken face to Kasumi, who had at some point walked up to him and was now holding his shoulder. "She was a few blocks away from Tanaka's. We thought she had gone there to talk to you."

Ranma shook his head, not wanting to discuss the events of last night.

"She saw us! She saw us and she ran away…and now…"

Ranma felt the weight of guilt on his shoulders. He wanted to scream, break down in front of them, and kick anything in his path…

But, he did not. He knew he had to get it together if he wanted to see her. He knew he had to look as if he had not lost it if anyone was to allow him to see her, talk to her, touch her, apologize to her…

"Akane…where is she?"

"She's at Nerima Hospital. Your mom stayed behind while we came back to change."

"Can I see her?"

"The doctors say we should see her since she might…she might not make it," Kasumi said, finally giving up her strong front and chocking up on her words. Genma walked up to a broken Kasumi, helping her away from the living room. He stopped for a second as he turned back to face his son.

"Ranma, she's in room 423. Don't worry about coming back soon."

Ranma nodded to his dad as he saw him take Kasumi up to her room. He remained where he stood against the wall, taking deep breaths to gather his bearings once again. After a moment, he used his hands to push himself off the wall and walked outside the home through the front door. He stood on the sidewalk for a few seconds, drying his tears with his shirt. Once he felt he had control of himself again, he turned to his left and made his way to Nerima Hospital.

xxxXXXxxx

Ranma sat next to his mom in the waiting room. The doctors had gone inside Akane's and taken her away to do some tests. Ranma had arrived just five minutes after they had taken her, and he had been sitting with his mom for about an hour since then. His mom told him she had left a note by the phone when Kasumi had called her to tell her what had happened. She also told him no one answered the phone at Tanaka's when she called, so she had left a message in their voicemail.

"Great! Now Emi knows what happened, even before I knew."

After Nodoka had explained to her son what had happened last night, the two had remained silent until a couple of nurses had appeared down the hall with Akane in tow. Her gurney was rolled inside the room, and after a couple of minutes, one of the nurses came out and told the two family members that she was ready to be seen. Nodoka stared at her son, noticing how eager he was to go in. She told him to go inside while she called Kasumi and gave them an update on Akane's health.

Ranma thanked his mom before standing up and walking inside the room. The second nurse had stayed behind and was taking notes on Akane's chart. Ranma stood by the door, not wanting to interrupt the nurse or making her upset and forcing him to leave Akane's side. The nurse took a quick break from her note-taking and invited Ranma to come inside.

Ranma walked further into the room, stopping only at her bedside. His eyes scanned her body, and noticed that he could hardly see her under all the wires and tubes attached to her. He noticed she had an artificial breather, making her seem robotic in her respiration.

"You must be Ranma," the nurse said as she continued to take notes on the chart.

"Yes, ma'am."

"I'm guessing you're the fiancée, uh? I have to say you both look too young to be engaged."

Ranma nodded. "It's an arranged marriage."

The nurse raised her eyebrows. "Didn't know those still existed."

"I would've married her, anyway," Ranma said, lifting his hand and brushing her hair out of her eyes. "How is she?"

The nurse sighed, knowing what she had to say was not positive at all. At first, she did not think this Ranma person existed at all, since he had not showed up all night despite the families' efforts to find him. Now, seeing him standing there, wearing his heart on his sleeve, she regretted the cocky attitude she had sworn he would be treated by since he had not shown up last night.

"Not so well, I'm afraid. The driver tried to stop but she was too close to the truck. She has multiple lacerations, broken bones, and lost a lot of blood due to internal injuries but we were able to stabilize her early this morning. She was awake for a few minutes after the accident before we induced her slumber, but she is not showing signs of waking up soon."

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "When will she wake up?"

"We don't know; she might not, anymore."

Ranma closed his eyes. He had heard the same from Kasumi, and now from the nurse. He was not sure how long he could keep his cool around such news.

"We will monitor her progress for the next 36 hours, and if she doesn't wake up or show significant improvement, then, in her case, we have to inform the families of other options."

"Other options?"

"Yes. Relocation to a smaller care facility, such as a hospice, or return home with 24-hour surveillance, or…"

"Or?"

"Disconnecting her…she can't breathe on her own."

Ranma was at the end of his rope. His mind could not understand how things had gone from bad to worse in such a short amount of time. Two weeks ago he had been on the balcony with her, bringing her food, holding her, watching the stars together. Today, he was holding her cold hand, being told she might not live long enough to mallet him as punishment for his mistake with Emi.

The nurse recognized the signs of a man about to lose everything he always held dear, and opted to give him some room. She walked up to Ranma and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Ranma-kun. I really am."

Ranma nodded to her. He heard the nurse walk close to the door but stopped her before she took another step. "How…how did you know my name?"

The nurse gave him a lopsided smile. "She called your name last night before she passed out," the nurse said before she walked out the door, locking it from the inside so only Ranma could open it. She figured Ranma would like some alone time with the dying girl.

The nurse's words stung him as a lemon drop stings a recent paper cut on one's skin. Would it not be his luck that Akane's final thoughts before she passed out had been of him in his worst behavior? He and Emi? He kissing Emi? He not kissing Akane, but this other stranger girl he hardly knew? A girl he did not give a rat's ass about?

The beep of Akane's heart monitor was overcome by the sobs of the pigtailed boy as he cried over the blue-haired girl that he had once called his.

xxxXXXxxx

"Demo, Shukumei, are you certain you wish to meet with the gods? It is quite obvious they have made their decision regarding the fate of Akane and Ranma. We no longer have any say."

"This is my fault, Unmei. I jumped to conclusions again, and now the girl is dying for a wish she never really meant to request."

"But it is not your fault the gods decided to take her from him to punish them both! You know what they will do to you if you walk in there and defy them, do you not?"

"I do, but I must try to undo this. Taking her life is not equal to her offense!"

"But it is greater."

"Yes. But she did not deserve to die!"

"She would not have had she been paying attention to the road and not allow herself to be distracted by Ranma's actions."

"And Ranma's actions would have not occurred if the gods had not meddled with his mind."

"So, what are you planning to do? Walk in there and tell the gods they are wrong? They will take your immortality and send you to Earth with the mortals!"

"Then, perhaps down there I might be of some assistance."

Unmei slapped Shukumei on the back of his neck. "Will you listen to yourself? Why are you being so determined to fix things between these two?"

"Because I caused this! I already separated a girl and her family across time. What good are these powers if all I have caused with them is grief to the mortals?"

Unmei shook his head and crossed his arms. "You cannot fool me, old friend. You are doing this for personal reasons. You are being reminded of your younger self."

Shukumei did not retort to his fellow demigod. He did not think Unmei would remember that far back, when Shukumei himself had been placed in a similar situation, if not the same. Unbeknownst to new demigods, Shukumei had not always been a demigod himself. At some point, many years ago, he had been just another mortal walking the Earth, hand in hand with his only love. Then Unmei had appeared, and Shukumei had asked for a selfish wish. Unmei had told him about the risks, but Shukumei had not cared. All he wanted was the means to provide for the love of his life.

After Shukumei lost what he had gained through the wish, Unmei had done the same thing Shukumei was trying to do for Ranma and Akane: appeal to the gods' better nature in his name. The gods had been unyielding, just as today, and had denied almost every petition for Shukumei to be forgiven. In the end, Shukumei's love was returned to Earth and lived a happy, long life, never to remember who Shukumei had been or that he had ever existed in her life. Shukumei had traded his eternal servitude to the gods as a demigod in exchange for his love's life.

It was this reason, Unmei thought, that Shukumei jumped to try and help anyone and everyone who crossed his path. He still remembered what it was to be human, and succumbing to the shortcuts a God-given wish provided. He had been able to fix his own mishaps on his own every time since then, but this mishap seemed to have gone past his jurisdiction and control.

"I just want you to think about what you are about to do. If they are merciful to you, they will send you back to Earth as a mortal, with no identity, and to live off the rest of your days as a big nobody to everyone."

"I know."

"Is that what you want? I was not aware you were in such a hurry to leave this life?"

"Life? You call this a life? This is all you know, Unmei. You do not know what it is to be down there. You remember Ukyo's okonomiyaki, yes?"

Unmei's eyes sparkled at the memory, nodding dreamily. They had taken a piece of an unattended okonomiyaki at her restaurant, and they had been in a daze for days. Never had they tasted mortals' food, and their first encounter with Ukyo's cooking had been pure bliss.

"Well, there is more to that, but it is all they –the mortals, have. Ranma and Akane had only each other, and now…Now Akane is being disconnected in two days. I have two days to convince the gods to forgive her; two days before I cannot undo what I have done."

Unmei nodded, understanding his friend's reasons for trying to help the couple they had enjoyed watching for the past months. He knew, however, that this conversation with him was probably their last, and he could not shake the feeling of despair that the thought brought to him.

"I…I will miss you, friend."

Shukumei patted his friend's back before he straightened himself up. With a deep breath, he walked through the giant golden doors, and headed inside the gods' chambers for their appointment with him.

xxxXXXxxx

"What do you mean 'it's for the best'?!"

"Ranma, calm down! Are you not hearing what we're hearing? Do you think Akane would like to live like this?" Genma said.

"No! You're not giving her enough time to recover! I can't believe you're not giving her a chance!" Ranma retorted.

"Ranma, son, I know you're upset…" Nodoka began, trying to calm down her son for the twentieth time. It had been 24-hours since Akane had been admitted, and the doctors had just informed the family of the latest developments of Akane's health. The prospects were grim, and the family had decided to meet to discuss their options.

"You don't know the first of it, mom! I can't believe you're backing up this crazy idea! Does anyone here not care about Akane, except me?"

Kasumi shook her head as she reached over to Ranma and held his arm with both of hers. Kasumi knew that he would not hurt her, and she needed to help him understand why they had decided to disconnect Akane, 24-hours from now.

"Ranma-kun, I know you love Akane, we all do, but think about this. The doctors said that even if she wakes up, she won't be able to walk. She's paralyzed from the neck down. She lost a kidney, and a lung. She's blind in one eye, and the accident left her barren, Ranma. How can we let Akane cope with that? How can we just keep her when there isn't much of her left?"

"But, Kasumi…We can't…I can't…"

"We have to let her go, Ranma-kun. She wouldn't want to wake up to this."

Ranma looked around the room and eyed every single one of the members of the Tendo and Saotome families. He could see it on their faces that their decision had been made, and whether or not he accepted the final determination, they were still going to go through with it. His eyes then landed on Akane, looking worse than yesterday, if it was at all possible. If it had been anything else, he would have unplugged all the machines from her and taken her on his back, away from them; away from those who told him there was nothing else to do but let her die. He could not accept it; he could not let her die when he himself had been the cause of why she had gotten into the accident in the first place.

If they knew why he felt this way, they would understand why he could not just let go. Then again, if they knew he involuntarily caused her accident, they would hate him forever. Not that he cared at the moment; he had kept quiet so they would let him be with her in her final moments. After she was gone, buried away in some cemetery, he would tell them. He would let them hate him, hit him, yell at him, do whatever they wanted with him. But not now; right now he needed to be with her, even if deep inside he knew he was just prolonging the inevitable and saying goodbye.

"I'm gonna go home for a while. I need to think."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here, Ranma? Just in case…"

"You're not letting her go until tomorrow, right?"

Nodoka nodded.

"Then, I'll be back in an hour," he said as he exited the room and left the hospital to head back to his home. He walked inside through the front door, unaware of the two men keeping guard outside his home. They waited for him to do his business inside, and half an hour later he walked out of his home, only to be stopped by the two men that had been making camp outside his house since last night.

Ranma locked the entryway behind him, noticing the two approaching men. When he turned around he saw them look at him up and down, as if expecting for him to take out a gun or run away.

"Are you Ranma Saotome?" one of the men asked.

"Yeah, that's me."

"We're gonna need you to come with us, sir."

Ranma's eyebrows furrowed. "What? Why? Can this wait? I have my girlfriend very ill in the hospital."

"How come? Did you beat her up, too?"

"What?"

The other man, who had yet to say a word, walked up to Ranma with a pair of handcuffs. Ranma's was too slow to react and the handcuffs were placed on him as he was being dragged to the officer's car.

"Ranma Saotome, you're being charged for robbery and destruction of property of Tanaka's Sushi bar, and attempted rape of Emi Tanaka. You have the right to remain silent…"

Ranma's ears tuned out the rest of the officer's words. All he could think off was that he was being taken to jail for bogus crimes, and by the time this all cleared up, Akane would be long dead. His mind was lost in another dimension as he was driven away from his home and his last chance to be with his love.

xxxXXXxxx

A small camp was set at the edge of the Nerima district. The camp was composed of a small fire and a single sleeping bag. The camper did not care much for the dangers of the forest, so he had not brought a tent to sleep in. After all the misfortunes and adventures he had experienced, he knew camping in the outskirts of a bustling city would not compare to camping in the wild.

For this reason, he was not prepared when a bush rustled as if on its own accord. The boy took a step back and grabbed his ever reliable bamboo umbrella, holding it close and ready to attack. After much rustling, the bush parted to reveal a small, old, man. He looked pale and tired, but his desolated eyes immediately shone when he saw the boy standing in front of him.

"By Kami! I thought I would never find anyone in time!"

"Uh?" was the boy's intelligent response.

"Where are we? Oh, who am I kidding, asking the lost boy for directions? Anyway, we must hurry! We must get to Ranma before it's too late."

"Ranma? Saotome?"

The short man nodded and got closer to the boy as he saw him drop his umbrella on the ground.

"What do you want with Ranma?"

"It's about Akane. Can you take me to them, Ryouga?"

"Uh…do I know you?"

The short man shook his head as he extended his tiny palm to him. Ryouga shook it, and noticed the man was ice cold.

"No, but I know you, Ryouga. My name is Shukumei, and we need to help your friends before it is too late."


A/N: …Yeah…Would you guys forgive me about this chapter if I posted the Prologue to "Fix You?"