A day.
A day can change our lives forever.
But a moment can end it.
And the end is just that.
For we can not survive death.
And death is what Ranma Saotome found today.
For today, for the first time in his life Ranma found his mind failed him, and his martial arts deserted him.
For he can't fight his own mother.
And ultimately, his mother was his death.
"Ranma, we need to talk" Five words spoken by his mother, and as five words previously told to him by a young teacher, these had a profound effect on his mind, on his own life.
For this words, coupled with the girl looking at him as if he was the lowest piece of thrash on the planet spoke doom to him.
And if Ranma knows something, it is to detect danger.
And right now all of his senses were screaming at him to run, to turn his back to his family and fiancées and run away as fast as his legs could carry him.
And his mind was throwing a fit at his feet for not complying.
But his honor held stead. And honor demanded he stood and listened, and thought, and accepted.
And he always listened to honor.
For honor was the only thing separating him from becoming his father.
So, amid the suppressive silence reigning in the Tendo household, he nodded and took a seat by the table.
And so, in front of all the Tendos, Ranma faced death to the eyes and smiled.
And so in the face of death Ranma found forgiveness.
And in doing so. Ranma found love.
As usual, Kasumi brought tea to the guests.
And Nabiki was thinking on what would be so important for Mrs. Saotome as to make her walk all the way here unannounced.
And Akane was fidgeting under the table, not meeting anyone's eyes.
And Soun was crying enough to form a small lake.
And Genma was in the backyard playing with a tire while holding a sign proclaiming 'I'm just a cute Panda'.
And Ranma. Ranma was seated across his mother looking into her eyes with defiance in his own.
And the silence was broke by a word.
A word often spoke with great feeling.
A word Ranma had never heard his mother say.
A word which dashed all hopes of this being resolved peacefully.
"Sorry"
And with that one word, the life at Nerima took an unexpected turn.
And the legend was born.
******************************
I've seen so much
******************************
---------- Chapter two ----------
---------------------------------------- A blind man's tears -------------- ---------------------
Not a single sound could be heard in all the Dojo after Nodoka's quiet word, Akane was, if possible, even more worried, Soun stopped crying and stared at Nodoka as if she was a snake ready to bite him in a moment's notice, Kasumi brought her hands to cover her mouth not finding the strength to even mutter her widely known 'oh my', Nabiki seemed to lose all composure as well as all her facial coloration, Genma paled and his eyes seemed to be ready to burst out of his head any minute now.
And Ranma simply gazed at the table ignoring her mother's attempts at an explanation and the girl's smug expression.
And the table didn't hold all the answer, it wasn't new not old, it wasn't speaking or shaking.
The table just stood there.
But maybe what's important lies on the table, for Nodoka had unwrapped her katana.
And the handle was facing Ranma.
And three words spoken by the girl broke the silence as if a signal was cast.
"Do it Ranma" said she.
And the dojo, as it's wound to do, exploded into sound and frantic questioning.
But Ranma didn't say a word, merely gazing at the sword.
For he expected any foe to defeat him.
But he didn't expect Ukyo to ask for his life.
Why did she do it? One can only hope to understand, maybe it was desperation at knowing Ranma would never be hers, maybe it was a tiny bit of hate towards the old friend who betrayed her when she was just a little kid.
Or maybe, just maybe, she was tired of hoping.
And while Kasumi sobbed silently and Nabiki was petrified at knowing this wasn't a bad dream, Akane just sat there staring at Ranma, seeing his shoulders tremble slightly and his hands shake ever so often.
But above all else she saw his eyes, the eyes of a blind man who sees the light for the first time after a lifetime full of darkness.
Eyes that spoke of pain, and loneliness beyond everything she has ever known, eyes which had seen the moon as his only friend for countless nights, and had asked the stars for answers, and had begged the sun for a chance at having a normal life.
And in those eyes, in a moment, she saw the truth behind Ranma Saotome, the real face obscured by the mask of a powerful and overconfident martial artist.
For in those eyes, Akane saw a child lose in a world he doesn't understand, and a man trying to live a live he didn't ask for. And in that moment, when Ranma had to take the most important decision in his life Akane saw the truth. And the truth always hurts as confirmed by her tears.
Kasumi, always sweet young Kasumi, just fixed her eyes on Ranma's eyes trying to understand, to get a glimpse of his feelings, wishing to be able to help him as he had helped her younger sister on so many occasions without a doubt.
Nabiki, Nabiki just sat there and gaped all around not making any sense out of this situation, but understanding in a primal level that this battle was lost before it even began, and feeling powerless in front of a foe Ranma is too scared to fight.
Soun, however, understood the gravity of the situation, he understood the way Nodoka gazed at her son, he for the first time since his wife died didn't shed a tear, for this was something Ranma and his mother had to resolve on their own, for honor demanded Ranma complied to the request, and Soun, in a moment of rage hated Genma above all else in this world, and in a moment of clarity lost all fear to the master, and in just a moment of clarity he saw the world without a dream keeping him alive for that dream was about to die, and he spoke, in a grave voice, a serious voice that wasn't heard at that home for over ten years, the voice of a powerful martial arts master and a respected resident of Nerima, he spoke as his daughters so many years hoped for him to speak, signing Ranma's decision in an instant, for he just said "Girls, let Ranma decide on his own."
While Genma, when facing reality used to run away all the time, today he changed, and the change came too late for him, for his heir had to choose, death if he rejects her mother's decision, death if he rejects his heart's choice.
And when you watch the work of a lifetime drop in an instant, when you can not help but be an spectator as your dreams are flushed like a leaf by the river, you must face the truth, and the truth was Genma's mistakes were catching up faster than he could run, and the mistakes were his own doing, but the price was high, maybe too high, and, for the first time since trapping the master in that god forsaken cave, Genma knew real fear, not the fear of dying he so commonly tried to eradicate from Ranma's mind, but the fear of impotence.
The fear of knowing he was death.
And the horror of knowing, death is unbeatable.
For Ranma could not, would not fight his own death.
And so, Genma cried for all his dreams, he cried as he never had cried before, he shed tears for the death of a friendship, for the death of the love he might have felt for his wife at one time.
And Genma shed tears, for Ranma had picked up the sword instead of Ukyo's hand.
And Ukyo stared at Ranma with a heartbroken expression on her face, regretting now her decision of telling Nodoka about Ranma's choice so many years ago, crying as she remembered the little boy she used to know, who played with her without a doubt in this world, who was made her fiancée by their fathers.
And she denied the sight her eyes were giving her, of the boy who stole her heart picking death over a life along her, picking the sword instead of her hand, the sight of Ranma giving up even before the fight begun, and she raged against Genma for making Ranma his escape goat, she hated Nodoka for making Ranma commit seppuku to redeem his name, she despised the Tendos for not giving Ranma a chance to grow, a chance to live, an opportunity to love.
And she despaired as Ranma took the sword out of it's sheath and examined it, as if seeing the truth behind all the questions he ever asked written on it's shiny surface, and she died along Ranma when the sword's tip entered his chest, when his eyes didn't close to get peace but stayed open as his precious blood dripped on the floor, as he stared defiantly to the heavens, as if daring the gods to come down and fight him.
And she cried for her ultimatum, which in the end made Ranma's hope die.
And she regretted her words, spoken in a moment of confusion, words that she'd regret the rest of her life.
"Choose carefully Ran-Chan, it's my hand and life, or the sword and death."
And so, amid a maelstrom of feelings surrounding him, amid the incredulous gazes of what he used to call friends Ranma picked death over life.
A life he didn't ask for, and a life he didn't want.
And Nodoka stared, with no more tears to shed for her only son, for her heart had accepted his indomitable spirit, her soul had loved his unbeatable will, and her mind had given him death.
And while her heart blackened and died as his own son drowned in blood and sorrow she got a revelation, for she wasn't seeing a boy pretending to be a man, but a man who never was a boy.
For his life had ended the day he stepped away from home, the day he signed that seppuku contract.
And for more than ten years Ranma hadn't lived a single day as he'd wanted it.
And for more than ten years Ranma hadn't known peace.
A peace he found in the cold tip of a steel sword imbedded in his heart while his hands gripped the handle tightly.
And Nodoka stopped seeing a man wanting to be a kid, or a martial arts wanting to win over all odds, or an insensitive jerk trying to win the love and acceptance of his dear ones.
For today, when Ranma fell to the floor with a dull look in his lifeless eyes and a smile plastered on his face Nodoka saw the real truth behind that gray blue eyes always full of life.
For today, when facing death and accepting it, Nodoka saw a hero.
The hero most girls at Furinkan High made out of him.
The hero doctor Tofu saw in a hurt boy cursed to become a girl.
The same hero Cologne saw in a boy who bested her great grand daughter in combat.
The very same hero's soul Happosai and Ryoga and Mousse and so many other tried to crush time and again.
The hero who was nothing but a boy when he stepped away from home, who faced tribulations beyond anything a young child had to suffer.
The hero who faced cats inside a dark pit with tears in his eyes and cries for help in his mouth, but without fear in his soul.
The hero who wrote new legends, and destroyed old ones.
And today, she accepted her son truly, for this hero was indeed a man among men.
But today, among the people he cared so much for, the hero fell.
And when heroes fall the world weeps.
For when a hero can't fight anymore, legends are born and are finished.
As the legend of a brave young man who faced down dragons and gods had come to an end, so must a new legend be born.
A legend of trials, trials by blood and tears, trials by pain and despair.
But above all. trials of life.
And this, this is nothing but the first trial he had to ace.
To die and to be reborn, for heroes don't die.
They rest.
And as his rest began the shrine in the dojo broke down, and the shoji board split in two.
And Cologne wept in her restaurant without knowing why.
And Ryoga felt a shiver run up his spine.
And Happosai lost a pair of panties when he felt the winds of change blow stronger than ever.
And Genma gave his son the respect due to a hero.
And Soun brought the body to the dojo and burned it down, for a dojo without a master is nothing but a building occupying space and Ranma always was the rightful master of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu.
And Akane wept as she held Kasumi fiercely, wept for the loss of her love, a love both of them never gave the chance to grow.
And Shampoo suddenly felt alone.
And Mousse saw his glasses crack before his eyes.
And Tofu ran back to Nerima as fast as his legs would carry him.
And while the dojo burnt with flames rising to the skies in defiance, as if honoring the hero that rested inside this raging inferno.
And as every body stared at the flames with sadness in their hearts.
Nobody saw the flash of light behind the dojo.
A.N. Well I'm sorry it took so long to write this, it isn't easy, I have to give a feeling of his death, although I admit it seems kind of rushed at this point. But to tell the truth I'm not so good at writing death scenes.
In other topics, I'd like to thank everybody that has reviewed this little fragment of my imagination (it's just my imagination.. I don't know the name of that song, but I like it ( )
Again I offer an apology if my English isn't well written, but it isn't my first language.
Bans. off!
A day can change our lives forever.
But a moment can end it.
And the end is just that.
For we can not survive death.
And death is what Ranma Saotome found today.
For today, for the first time in his life Ranma found his mind failed him, and his martial arts deserted him.
For he can't fight his own mother.
And ultimately, his mother was his death.
"Ranma, we need to talk" Five words spoken by his mother, and as five words previously told to him by a young teacher, these had a profound effect on his mind, on his own life.
For this words, coupled with the girl looking at him as if he was the lowest piece of thrash on the planet spoke doom to him.
And if Ranma knows something, it is to detect danger.
And right now all of his senses were screaming at him to run, to turn his back to his family and fiancées and run away as fast as his legs could carry him.
And his mind was throwing a fit at his feet for not complying.
But his honor held stead. And honor demanded he stood and listened, and thought, and accepted.
And he always listened to honor.
For honor was the only thing separating him from becoming his father.
So, amid the suppressive silence reigning in the Tendo household, he nodded and took a seat by the table.
And so, in front of all the Tendos, Ranma faced death to the eyes and smiled.
And so in the face of death Ranma found forgiveness.
And in doing so. Ranma found love.
As usual, Kasumi brought tea to the guests.
And Nabiki was thinking on what would be so important for Mrs. Saotome as to make her walk all the way here unannounced.
And Akane was fidgeting under the table, not meeting anyone's eyes.
And Soun was crying enough to form a small lake.
And Genma was in the backyard playing with a tire while holding a sign proclaiming 'I'm just a cute Panda'.
And Ranma. Ranma was seated across his mother looking into her eyes with defiance in his own.
And the silence was broke by a word.
A word often spoke with great feeling.
A word Ranma had never heard his mother say.
A word which dashed all hopes of this being resolved peacefully.
"Sorry"
And with that one word, the life at Nerima took an unexpected turn.
And the legend was born.
******************************
I've seen so much
******************************
---------- Chapter two ----------
---------------------------------------- A blind man's tears -------------- ---------------------
Not a single sound could be heard in all the Dojo after Nodoka's quiet word, Akane was, if possible, even more worried, Soun stopped crying and stared at Nodoka as if she was a snake ready to bite him in a moment's notice, Kasumi brought her hands to cover her mouth not finding the strength to even mutter her widely known 'oh my', Nabiki seemed to lose all composure as well as all her facial coloration, Genma paled and his eyes seemed to be ready to burst out of his head any minute now.
And Ranma simply gazed at the table ignoring her mother's attempts at an explanation and the girl's smug expression.
And the table didn't hold all the answer, it wasn't new not old, it wasn't speaking or shaking.
The table just stood there.
But maybe what's important lies on the table, for Nodoka had unwrapped her katana.
And the handle was facing Ranma.
And three words spoken by the girl broke the silence as if a signal was cast.
"Do it Ranma" said she.
And the dojo, as it's wound to do, exploded into sound and frantic questioning.
But Ranma didn't say a word, merely gazing at the sword.
For he expected any foe to defeat him.
But he didn't expect Ukyo to ask for his life.
Why did she do it? One can only hope to understand, maybe it was desperation at knowing Ranma would never be hers, maybe it was a tiny bit of hate towards the old friend who betrayed her when she was just a little kid.
Or maybe, just maybe, she was tired of hoping.
And while Kasumi sobbed silently and Nabiki was petrified at knowing this wasn't a bad dream, Akane just sat there staring at Ranma, seeing his shoulders tremble slightly and his hands shake ever so often.
But above all else she saw his eyes, the eyes of a blind man who sees the light for the first time after a lifetime full of darkness.
Eyes that spoke of pain, and loneliness beyond everything she has ever known, eyes which had seen the moon as his only friend for countless nights, and had asked the stars for answers, and had begged the sun for a chance at having a normal life.
And in those eyes, in a moment, she saw the truth behind Ranma Saotome, the real face obscured by the mask of a powerful and overconfident martial artist.
For in those eyes, Akane saw a child lose in a world he doesn't understand, and a man trying to live a live he didn't ask for. And in that moment, when Ranma had to take the most important decision in his life Akane saw the truth. And the truth always hurts as confirmed by her tears.
Kasumi, always sweet young Kasumi, just fixed her eyes on Ranma's eyes trying to understand, to get a glimpse of his feelings, wishing to be able to help him as he had helped her younger sister on so many occasions without a doubt.
Nabiki, Nabiki just sat there and gaped all around not making any sense out of this situation, but understanding in a primal level that this battle was lost before it even began, and feeling powerless in front of a foe Ranma is too scared to fight.
Soun, however, understood the gravity of the situation, he understood the way Nodoka gazed at her son, he for the first time since his wife died didn't shed a tear, for this was something Ranma and his mother had to resolve on their own, for honor demanded Ranma complied to the request, and Soun, in a moment of rage hated Genma above all else in this world, and in a moment of clarity lost all fear to the master, and in just a moment of clarity he saw the world without a dream keeping him alive for that dream was about to die, and he spoke, in a grave voice, a serious voice that wasn't heard at that home for over ten years, the voice of a powerful martial arts master and a respected resident of Nerima, he spoke as his daughters so many years hoped for him to speak, signing Ranma's decision in an instant, for he just said "Girls, let Ranma decide on his own."
While Genma, when facing reality used to run away all the time, today he changed, and the change came too late for him, for his heir had to choose, death if he rejects her mother's decision, death if he rejects his heart's choice.
And when you watch the work of a lifetime drop in an instant, when you can not help but be an spectator as your dreams are flushed like a leaf by the river, you must face the truth, and the truth was Genma's mistakes were catching up faster than he could run, and the mistakes were his own doing, but the price was high, maybe too high, and, for the first time since trapping the master in that god forsaken cave, Genma knew real fear, not the fear of dying he so commonly tried to eradicate from Ranma's mind, but the fear of impotence.
The fear of knowing he was death.
And the horror of knowing, death is unbeatable.
For Ranma could not, would not fight his own death.
And so, Genma cried for all his dreams, he cried as he never had cried before, he shed tears for the death of a friendship, for the death of the love he might have felt for his wife at one time.
And Genma shed tears, for Ranma had picked up the sword instead of Ukyo's hand.
And Ukyo stared at Ranma with a heartbroken expression on her face, regretting now her decision of telling Nodoka about Ranma's choice so many years ago, crying as she remembered the little boy she used to know, who played with her without a doubt in this world, who was made her fiancée by their fathers.
And she denied the sight her eyes were giving her, of the boy who stole her heart picking death over a life along her, picking the sword instead of her hand, the sight of Ranma giving up even before the fight begun, and she raged against Genma for making Ranma his escape goat, she hated Nodoka for making Ranma commit seppuku to redeem his name, she despised the Tendos for not giving Ranma a chance to grow, a chance to live, an opportunity to love.
And she despaired as Ranma took the sword out of it's sheath and examined it, as if seeing the truth behind all the questions he ever asked written on it's shiny surface, and she died along Ranma when the sword's tip entered his chest, when his eyes didn't close to get peace but stayed open as his precious blood dripped on the floor, as he stared defiantly to the heavens, as if daring the gods to come down and fight him.
And she cried for her ultimatum, which in the end made Ranma's hope die.
And she regretted her words, spoken in a moment of confusion, words that she'd regret the rest of her life.
"Choose carefully Ran-Chan, it's my hand and life, or the sword and death."
And so, amid a maelstrom of feelings surrounding him, amid the incredulous gazes of what he used to call friends Ranma picked death over life.
A life he didn't ask for, and a life he didn't want.
And Nodoka stared, with no more tears to shed for her only son, for her heart had accepted his indomitable spirit, her soul had loved his unbeatable will, and her mind had given him death.
And while her heart blackened and died as his own son drowned in blood and sorrow she got a revelation, for she wasn't seeing a boy pretending to be a man, but a man who never was a boy.
For his life had ended the day he stepped away from home, the day he signed that seppuku contract.
And for more than ten years Ranma hadn't lived a single day as he'd wanted it.
And for more than ten years Ranma hadn't known peace.
A peace he found in the cold tip of a steel sword imbedded in his heart while his hands gripped the handle tightly.
And Nodoka stopped seeing a man wanting to be a kid, or a martial arts wanting to win over all odds, or an insensitive jerk trying to win the love and acceptance of his dear ones.
For today, when Ranma fell to the floor with a dull look in his lifeless eyes and a smile plastered on his face Nodoka saw the real truth behind that gray blue eyes always full of life.
For today, when facing death and accepting it, Nodoka saw a hero.
The hero most girls at Furinkan High made out of him.
The hero doctor Tofu saw in a hurt boy cursed to become a girl.
The same hero Cologne saw in a boy who bested her great grand daughter in combat.
The very same hero's soul Happosai and Ryoga and Mousse and so many other tried to crush time and again.
The hero who was nothing but a boy when he stepped away from home, who faced tribulations beyond anything a young child had to suffer.
The hero who faced cats inside a dark pit with tears in his eyes and cries for help in his mouth, but without fear in his soul.
The hero who wrote new legends, and destroyed old ones.
And today, she accepted her son truly, for this hero was indeed a man among men.
But today, among the people he cared so much for, the hero fell.
And when heroes fall the world weeps.
For when a hero can't fight anymore, legends are born and are finished.
As the legend of a brave young man who faced down dragons and gods had come to an end, so must a new legend be born.
A legend of trials, trials by blood and tears, trials by pain and despair.
But above all. trials of life.
And this, this is nothing but the first trial he had to ace.
To die and to be reborn, for heroes don't die.
They rest.
And as his rest began the shrine in the dojo broke down, and the shoji board split in two.
And Cologne wept in her restaurant without knowing why.
And Ryoga felt a shiver run up his spine.
And Happosai lost a pair of panties when he felt the winds of change blow stronger than ever.
And Genma gave his son the respect due to a hero.
And Soun brought the body to the dojo and burned it down, for a dojo without a master is nothing but a building occupying space and Ranma always was the rightful master of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu.
And Akane wept as she held Kasumi fiercely, wept for the loss of her love, a love both of them never gave the chance to grow.
And Shampoo suddenly felt alone.
And Mousse saw his glasses crack before his eyes.
And Tofu ran back to Nerima as fast as his legs would carry him.
And while the dojo burnt with flames rising to the skies in defiance, as if honoring the hero that rested inside this raging inferno.
And as every body stared at the flames with sadness in their hearts.
Nobody saw the flash of light behind the dojo.
A.N. Well I'm sorry it took so long to write this, it isn't easy, I have to give a feeling of his death, although I admit it seems kind of rushed at this point. But to tell the truth I'm not so good at writing death scenes.
In other topics, I'd like to thank everybody that has reviewed this little fragment of my imagination (it's just my imagination.. I don't know the name of that song, but I like it ( )
Again I offer an apology if my English isn't well written, but it isn't my first language.
Bans. off!