Always For You
Chapter 1, Age And Time
Max-chan's Author's Notes: Here it is! The next chapter and I get to write it!!!! Yay! Hope ya enjoy this chapter. Nothing much to say, except enjoy!
Negai's Author's Notes: Well here's the next chapter people. ^__^ Thanks for the reviews to those of you who did. We appreciate it lots and hope you keep enjoying them. Anyways on with the story...
Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, not us. However the content of which this story is does.
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Sunlight streamed through the window and rested on a beautiful girl sleeping peacefully in her bed. Akane gave a groan before opening her eyes. Thoughts suddenly raced through her, still hazy, mind. Memories of yesterday's events. Memories of a man,...no demon was more like it...and a fight...with Ranma...hit...blood...Ranma's blood...heart...rip... death...run... She sat up with a start, her eyes wide from the sudden impact of her realization. RANMA WAS DEAD!! Killed...gone...Ranma...her Ranma...gone...
A dull buzz sounded in her head and increased in volume gradually...gradually... until it became a hard pounding. Her vision blurred and her breathing increased heavily. *...gone...dead...Ranma i...gone...killed...i...sorry...killed...dead...gone...Ranma...love...* too many thoughts and images rushed through her head like an unrelenting waterfall. A dark void and ripping pain tore through her body and soul. Her heart was already dead. No hope, no chance, no...none...only Ranma...always Ranma...who was gone. Yet, through it all, she remembered something else. A man...a very old Chinese man...and a shop...Fei Ying...he had said he could help...said she could save Ranma. Her face became set in determination, *I have to find him!*
With that conviction came strength and clarity. Akane sat up and rushed out of her room, down the stairs and straight for the door. Before she reached the door, however, Kasumi's voice chimed from the dining room, "Akane, aren't you going to have any breakfast?"
*Breakfast?* Akane wondered confused. *Breakfast? But what about Ranma? Don't they care?* She decided to go and question her sister and family on their lack of feeling. She halted to a stop when her brain became clearer, *No, Kasumi isn't like that...or daddy...or Nabiki. Mr. Saotome loves his son, too. Maybe Renji did something to them...made them forget...* she shook her head and walked into the dining room.
As she walked in she saw her father and two sisters eating as if nothing was wrong. Yet something was wrong, something was terribly wrong. Kasumi, Nabiki, and Soun all looked younger...a couple years younger.
"Kasumi! Nabiki! Daddy! What happened to you?! What did Renji do?!" Akane shrieked.
Nabiki raised her bored eyes to meet Akane's and said, "Really, Akane, you spend too much time around those kids at school. They're starting to influence your sanity."
"Wahhhhhh! My little baby's gone physcotic!" Soun wailed as Kasumi comforted him.
"Really, Akane, you must stop upsetting daddy so," Kasumi gently scolded.
*What's wrong with them?!* Akane mentally screamed, but outwardly she asked, "Where's Ranma and Mr. Saotome?"
Nabiki and Kasumi looked confused, but Soun stopped crying and started looking nervous.
"Ranma? Who's Ranma?" Nabiki asked.
Akane's jaw dropped. *They forgot him! This can't be happening, it just can't!*
"Ranma, you know, my fiancee!" Akane told them. When she received no response from those two she turned to her father, "Daddy, tell them! Tell them about the agreement you made with Genma Saotome about engaging one of your daughters to his son so that you can join the two Schools of Anything Goes."
"What?!" Both Kasumi and Nabiki screamed, totally breaking from their usual calmness.
Soun looked nervous and started to edge towards the door, but Nabiki stopped him. Akane looked on desperately as Kasumi and Nabiki tried to get an answer from Soun and soon she couldn't take it anymore, the pain, guilt, confusion, horror, everything, was eating her up inside. She ran out of the house and into the streets of Nerima.
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Reaching Fei Ying's gift shop, Akane stopped momentarily before bursting in. Fei Ying stood behind the counter, dusting, and at Akane's entrance looked up. His eyes widened briefly and sparkled with something unknown before a grin broke through his face. He rushed towards Akane and ushered her into a chair to sit down.
"What is it, child?" he asked her.
Akane had to stop and get her breathing to an almost normal level before replying.
"It's Renji, I think he did something to my sisters and daddy. They're younger and they forgot Mr. Saotome and Ranma." Her eyes widened at the mentioning of Ranma's name, "Kami, Ranma's dead, and I don't know what to do and-" Akane rambled helplessly.
"Hush, hush. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror, Akane?" Fei Ying asked. Akane shook her delicate head, wondering what that had to do with anything. Fei Ying smiled and got up to get a mirror. He held the mirror in front of Akane and she gave a gasp. Her hair was longer and her face younger. Her eyes seemed like the only thing that was the same about her. Akane looked down at her body and saw how smaller and shorter it was.
"W-what happened?" she asked.
Fei Ying made her sit down again before answering, "This is only natural, child. You remember what I told you yesterday, correct? Well, you can not save the dead, so in order for you to save your Ranma, you had to travel back through the streams of time and start over. You have gone exactly 4 years back in time and you are now 12 years old."
*12...I'm 12!...* "What now?" she asked, terrified at the thought of being twelve again.
Fei Ying stood up and Akane did also. He ushered her out of the store and said before closing the door, "Now you go home and wait."
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Akane walked around for another hour, thinking, thinking of possibilities...of life...of death...of Ranma. When she returned home, another crisis hit.
Soun sat in the living room, crying his eyes out as Kasumi comforted him and Nabiki sat by the coffee table writing something down and working desperately on a calculator. Sheets of paper surrounded her and Nabiki paused to groan and move her hand tiredly through her hair.
"What's wrong?" Akane asked and everyone looked up at her.
"Oh Akane, we're ruined!" Soun cried.
"There, there, father, I'm sure we can work something out," Kasumi soothed.
Nabiki spoke up, desperation and contempt in her voice, "No, we can't Kasumi. Daddy's right, we are ruined!"
"What?" Akane asked.
Nabiki looked up at her sister and explained, "Akane, you would not believe this. Daddy listened to someone and had signed our home, dojo, property, and belongings all away to pay off some debts-"
"We're in debt?!" Akane asked totally incredulous.
"Correction, little sister, we were in debt. Daddy never worked, remember? Well, three years ago, before I was old enough to start making enough money to feed us, daddy owed a lot of people money."
"How?"
"See, if you live a normal life, but you don't pay the rent or bills, you start owing people money. To keep us under a roof, wearing clothes, and eating, daddy here, borrowed a lot of money from a lot of people, not caring about the interests. I'm surprised they let him borrow all those years. Then, one year, a man came to daddy and agreed to pay all his debts off as long as daddy agreed to pay him back every month until all the borrowed money plus interest was paid. If he didn't, the man gets everything daddy owns."
"Well, what's wrong, then?" Akane asked, the memory resurfacing in her mind.
Nabiki smiled grimly, "You see, Akane, daddy missed last month's payment and although it was only one payment, the man has a right to get his end of the bargain, everything we own, and he has decided to use this right. We received the notice in the mail today, the people are coming to take our stuff away tomorrow."
Akane remembered something like this happening when she was 12 before, this very same night. Yet, they resolved the problem...
"Couldn't we just use all our savings to pay him back all we owe? We'll have enough money, now, if we sell some things-"
"That's where the really bad news come in, the bank we invested in became bankrupt. All our money is gone."
*Okay, now that didn't happen before...*
Akane asked the same question she asked earlier that day, but the response was different, "Now what?"
Kasumi stood up and handed her father a handkerchief before saying, "Now, we move to live with mommy's father, Grandpa Hino. In Juuban."
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Chapter 1, Age And Time
Max-chan's Author's Notes: Here it is! The next chapter and I get to write it!!!! Yay! Hope ya enjoy this chapter. Nothing much to say, except enjoy!
Negai's Author's Notes: Well here's the next chapter people. ^__^ Thanks for the reviews to those of you who did. We appreciate it lots and hope you keep enjoying them. Anyways on with the story...
Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, not us. However the content of which this story is does.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunlight streamed through the window and rested on a beautiful girl sleeping peacefully in her bed. Akane gave a groan before opening her eyes. Thoughts suddenly raced through her, still hazy, mind. Memories of yesterday's events. Memories of a man,...no demon was more like it...and a fight...with Ranma...hit...blood...Ranma's blood...heart...rip... death...run... She sat up with a start, her eyes wide from the sudden impact of her realization. RANMA WAS DEAD!! Killed...gone...Ranma...her Ranma...gone...
A dull buzz sounded in her head and increased in volume gradually...gradually... until it became a hard pounding. Her vision blurred and her breathing increased heavily. *...gone...dead...Ranma i...gone...killed...i...sorry...killed...dead...gone...Ranma...love...* too many thoughts and images rushed through her head like an unrelenting waterfall. A dark void and ripping pain tore through her body and soul. Her heart was already dead. No hope, no chance, no...none...only Ranma...always Ranma...who was gone. Yet, through it all, she remembered something else. A man...a very old Chinese man...and a shop...Fei Ying...he had said he could help...said she could save Ranma. Her face became set in determination, *I have to find him!*
With that conviction came strength and clarity. Akane sat up and rushed out of her room, down the stairs and straight for the door. Before she reached the door, however, Kasumi's voice chimed from the dining room, "Akane, aren't you going to have any breakfast?"
*Breakfast?* Akane wondered confused. *Breakfast? But what about Ranma? Don't they care?* She decided to go and question her sister and family on their lack of feeling. She halted to a stop when her brain became clearer, *No, Kasumi isn't like that...or daddy...or Nabiki. Mr. Saotome loves his son, too. Maybe Renji did something to them...made them forget...* she shook her head and walked into the dining room.
As she walked in she saw her father and two sisters eating as if nothing was wrong. Yet something was wrong, something was terribly wrong. Kasumi, Nabiki, and Soun all looked younger...a couple years younger.
"Kasumi! Nabiki! Daddy! What happened to you?! What did Renji do?!" Akane shrieked.
Nabiki raised her bored eyes to meet Akane's and said, "Really, Akane, you spend too much time around those kids at school. They're starting to influence your sanity."
"Wahhhhhh! My little baby's gone physcotic!" Soun wailed as Kasumi comforted him.
"Really, Akane, you must stop upsetting daddy so," Kasumi gently scolded.
*What's wrong with them?!* Akane mentally screamed, but outwardly she asked, "Where's Ranma and Mr. Saotome?"
Nabiki and Kasumi looked confused, but Soun stopped crying and started looking nervous.
"Ranma? Who's Ranma?" Nabiki asked.
Akane's jaw dropped. *They forgot him! This can't be happening, it just can't!*
"Ranma, you know, my fiancee!" Akane told them. When she received no response from those two she turned to her father, "Daddy, tell them! Tell them about the agreement you made with Genma Saotome about engaging one of your daughters to his son so that you can join the two Schools of Anything Goes."
"What?!" Both Kasumi and Nabiki screamed, totally breaking from their usual calmness.
Soun looked nervous and started to edge towards the door, but Nabiki stopped him. Akane looked on desperately as Kasumi and Nabiki tried to get an answer from Soun and soon she couldn't take it anymore, the pain, guilt, confusion, horror, everything, was eating her up inside. She ran out of the house and into the streets of Nerima.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reaching Fei Ying's gift shop, Akane stopped momentarily before bursting in. Fei Ying stood behind the counter, dusting, and at Akane's entrance looked up. His eyes widened briefly and sparkled with something unknown before a grin broke through his face. He rushed towards Akane and ushered her into a chair to sit down.
"What is it, child?" he asked her.
Akane had to stop and get her breathing to an almost normal level before replying.
"It's Renji, I think he did something to my sisters and daddy. They're younger and they forgot Mr. Saotome and Ranma." Her eyes widened at the mentioning of Ranma's name, "Kami, Ranma's dead, and I don't know what to do and-" Akane rambled helplessly.
"Hush, hush. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror, Akane?" Fei Ying asked. Akane shook her delicate head, wondering what that had to do with anything. Fei Ying smiled and got up to get a mirror. He held the mirror in front of Akane and she gave a gasp. Her hair was longer and her face younger. Her eyes seemed like the only thing that was the same about her. Akane looked down at her body and saw how smaller and shorter it was.
"W-what happened?" she asked.
Fei Ying made her sit down again before answering, "This is only natural, child. You remember what I told you yesterday, correct? Well, you can not save the dead, so in order for you to save your Ranma, you had to travel back through the streams of time and start over. You have gone exactly 4 years back in time and you are now 12 years old."
*12...I'm 12!...* "What now?" she asked, terrified at the thought of being twelve again.
Fei Ying stood up and Akane did also. He ushered her out of the store and said before closing the door, "Now you go home and wait."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane walked around for another hour, thinking, thinking of possibilities...of life...of death...of Ranma. When she returned home, another crisis hit.
Soun sat in the living room, crying his eyes out as Kasumi comforted him and Nabiki sat by the coffee table writing something down and working desperately on a calculator. Sheets of paper surrounded her and Nabiki paused to groan and move her hand tiredly through her hair.
"What's wrong?" Akane asked and everyone looked up at her.
"Oh Akane, we're ruined!" Soun cried.
"There, there, father, I'm sure we can work something out," Kasumi soothed.
Nabiki spoke up, desperation and contempt in her voice, "No, we can't Kasumi. Daddy's right, we are ruined!"
"What?" Akane asked.
Nabiki looked up at her sister and explained, "Akane, you would not believe this. Daddy listened to someone and had signed our home, dojo, property, and belongings all away to pay off some debts-"
"We're in debt?!" Akane asked totally incredulous.
"Correction, little sister, we were in debt. Daddy never worked, remember? Well, three years ago, before I was old enough to start making enough money to feed us, daddy owed a lot of people money."
"How?"
"See, if you live a normal life, but you don't pay the rent or bills, you start owing people money. To keep us under a roof, wearing clothes, and eating, daddy here, borrowed a lot of money from a lot of people, not caring about the interests. I'm surprised they let him borrow all those years. Then, one year, a man came to daddy and agreed to pay all his debts off as long as daddy agreed to pay him back every month until all the borrowed money plus interest was paid. If he didn't, the man gets everything daddy owns."
"Well, what's wrong, then?" Akane asked, the memory resurfacing in her mind.
Nabiki smiled grimly, "You see, Akane, daddy missed last month's payment and although it was only one payment, the man has a right to get his end of the bargain, everything we own, and he has decided to use this right. We received the notice in the mail today, the people are coming to take our stuff away tomorrow."
Akane remembered something like this happening when she was 12 before, this very same night. Yet, they resolved the problem...
"Couldn't we just use all our savings to pay him back all we owe? We'll have enough money, now, if we sell some things-"
"That's where the really bad news come in, the bank we invested in became bankrupt. All our money is gone."
*Okay, now that didn't happen before...*
Akane asked the same question she asked earlier that day, but the response was different, "Now what?"
Kasumi stood up and handed her father a handkerchief before saying, "Now, we move to live with mommy's father, Grandpa Hino. In Juuban."
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