Aqua Maidens
By Artemis
Chapter3: Saving Ranma
Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns the Ranma ½ characters. Not me.
~~~~~~~~~~
After a hard day of training in the Fight Tent, Akane swam to the kitchen. She had been an Aqua Maiden for two weeks now. She had to get used to using a tail instead of legs. It was harder to train than above water, but she never missed a day in the Fight Tent.
"I'm going to go see Sannanna, today." Kim said. She had been a mermaid for five years now.
"Who's Sannanna?" Akane asked.
"She's an merelder. She's the oldest and wisest of all Maidens."
"And she's psychic." Jax added. She was a pure Maiden (meaning she was born a mermaid). Her bright blue hair was in pigtails. She knew a lot about the Tribe.
"She can tell you exactly how you died and everything." Kim said.
"Hi." Sakana said. She brought her tray over and sat next to Akane. It had been awhile since she had last eaten lunch with them. She had been away, discussing business with another tribe. Akane asked her about Sannanna. "Yes, it's all true. You can visit her whenever you want."
Akane decided that after lunch she would visit the elder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Come in, child." The merelder said. "Sit down." The woman looked into her crystal ball, a fuzzy image appeared. "I see a man at a ring shop. He has dark hair in a braid. He is picking up something. There you and him are in a rowboat; he looks nervous. He wants to tell you something. Do you know what it is, child?"
"I have no clue." She said.
Sannanna stared deeply into the crystal. "He wants you to know that he loves you." Akane was stunned. It wasn't like Ranma.
~~~~~~~~~~~
For the next month, Akane thought really hard about what the psychic. 'He loved me?' She fell back onto her bed. The journal she was given was practically full of the thoughts about Ranma. Then there was a knock on the door.
"Miss," a very young girl said, "there is a meeting in the Hall. You should hurry."
"Thanks." Akane said, and the girl swam off, knocking on the next door. "I wonder what the meeting is about."
When she got there, the room was very crowded, and there was still people coming in. Akane swam to the closest chair to the front. After everyone had settled, Sakana made an announcement.
"Good evening fellow maidens! I have just been informed that the special Land Visit ceremony will be next week. For those who don't know what the Land Visit is, one person will be chosen from the gods, to go back to land for two days and visit their loved ones. If you stay longer than two days, you will shrivel up and die. Once you touch the ocean during your stay, you turn straight back to a mermaid. Even if your days aren't up yet. You may not tell the humans about us. If you do, you will be banished from the tribe. Please come to the courtyard next week. If you have any questions, please ask me."
~~~~~~~~
Akane thought about it for the next week. When the day finally arrived, she felt a little worried. If she were picked, how would she explain it to Ranma? He thinks she was dead. She walked out to the courtyard. Everybody was there. They made a huge circle. They chanted a few words then were silent. Akane felt warm, she looked at her body and found she was glowing.
"Step forward, Akane." Sakana said. Akane stepped into the middle of the circle, and she glowed brighter. The light shone so bright it was hard to look at her. She transformed back into a human. She swam as fast as she could to the top of the water. Her clothes were what they were like befor she turned into a mermaid.
~~~~~~~~
Finally, she reached the top. She took a big breath of air. A sailor called out. He had noticed her. The man directed the boat over to Akane. Two men pulled her in. They handed her a towel. Akane swore that she could see a green haired woman in the water. The men assured her that there was no one.
~~~~~~~
In the morning, the boat reached the dock. When the men weren't watching her, Akane slipped off. She ran until she could see the dojo. She almost opened the door and yelled "I'm home!!" But she caught herself. And decided to just look in through the window. It was the normal morning at the Tendo's. Akane hid in the bushes when Ranma and Nabiki left for school.
Akane silently followed them.
"Akane?" a familiar voice said.
"Oh Mousse! Put your glasses on!" Akane turned around to find Shampoo hitting Mousse on the head with the newspaper. Mousse was bent over a small statue. That's when Akane decided to run.
~~~~~~~~~
Akane watched Ranma in gym class. They were having a baseball game outside. After Ranma hit a home run, he looked in the direction of Akane. He shook the image out of his head, and looked again. She was gone.
Akane ran down the street. She saw some money on the road. Akane picked it up it was 1500 yen. It was right outside a cookie shop. Akane picked up a dozen and got them wrapped up.
"What do you want on the card?" The man asked.
"To Ranma. I'll always love you. Akane." Akane answered.
"Say, you look a lot like the Tendo girl who drowned at sea, two months ago."
"Um yeah. I get that a lot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane squeezed through the window in her room that night. She saw Ranma sleeping in her bed. The room was totally changed. All her stuff was gone, and Ranma's things were in their place. Akane put the cookies on the night table. "Akane?" Ranma just barely woke up.
"Yes, it's me." She gently kissed his lips. "And I'll always love you forever." Ranma fell back asleep. Akane crawled through the window again and left. She ran back to the ocean and jumped in. Even though her two days weren't up yet, she had to go back. It broke her heart to see Ranma again.
~~~~~~~~~
One year later
~~~~~~~~~
"Ranma! Wake up!" Nabiki said as she poured cold water on Ranma.
"Brr! That's freezing!" the red haired girl said.
"Well, you better get up if you want to go scuba diving." After Nabiki left the room, Ranma got up and put on a bathing suit, then his clothes. She grabbed a piece of toast, and her gear, then ran out the door. Nabiki greeted her in the bus that was taking them to the ocean.
"Hi sleepy head." Ranma just stared out the window, ignoring her fiancée. She pulled out a cloth bag from her pocket, and opened it up. She pulled out a cookie. "You still have those? You know it was just some kid playing a trick on you." Ranma just shrugged her shoulders and ate the cookie. Soon she got tired and fell asleep.
She woke up when they arrived at the ocean. She got out her gear, and got it on. Nabiki and her hopped on the boat that would take them to the sea. Once on, the instructor told them the rules, and gave them each a camera that they could use. One by one, each team member jumped into the water. It was early, and the water was cold.
After swimming for a few minutes, the water felt warmer. Ranma took a couple of pictures of fish, then moved on. When she was taking some pictures of a coral wreath, she had a feeling something was following her. She turned around and saw a shark heading straight for her. Ranma swam as fast as she could, but the shark was faster. Ranma turned to face the shark, she noticed that it was only about a meter away from her face. She screamed, and accidentally backed up into some coral. It cut a tube connecting her oxygen tank. The air poured out and Ranma started to panic even more.
Ranma thought the shark was going to bite her face off, but instead it stopped, dropped limply to the bottom of the ocean. Behind it was a mermaid caring a bloody harpoon. Ranma swore that it was Akane. The mermaid grabbed Ranma and pulled her through the water.
They entered a palace. The mermaid ripped off Ranma's oxygen tank. They were in a room half filled with water. The mermaid got Ranma on a table. Another mermaid found wounds on Ranma's back. She cleaned them up with a liquid.
"OWWWW!!!!!!!! THAT STINGS!" The red hair girl yelled.
"We should tell Sakana." One mermaid said.
"Why?" the Akane-like mermaid asked.
"To perform the ceremony."
"We can't."
"Why not?"
"One," the Akane-like mermaid grabbed a kettle, "She's not dead. And two," the Akane-like mermaid poured the water on Ranma.
"Oh my god!" the mermaid gasped at the man on the table. "Akane! I didn't know that you could do magic!"
"It's not magic." And she explained about the curse.
"Akane?"
"Yes, Ranma?"
"Aren't you dead? I mean the last time I saw you, you were human."
"Oh Ranma!" Akane hugged him tightly. Then let him go and wiped a tear away from her eye. "I missed you so much!" She told him about the past year.
"Akane are you in there?" Sakana stepped into the room. She saw Ranma. "Oh, who's this?"
"I'm Ranma Saotome."
"He is, er, was, my fiancé."
"Where did you find him? Because you know the rules."
"He's not dead. He was alive when I found him."
"Hold on for one minute." Sakana said as she left the room. She came back with a silver shell. Inside was a fine white powder with gold and silver specks in it. "Stand still Akane." Sakana sprinkled the powder over Akane's head.
"Crushed pearls,"
"Gold and silver."
"If the heart is true,"
"Make this shell quiver."
The shell slightly shook.
"The heart is pure,"
"Please make sure,"
"This spell can't be reversed."
"Let the girl be with her true love."
"And when they die together,"
"Turn them into doves."
"Turn her human,"
"So she can be with her man."
"So mote it be!"
And with a flash, Akane turned back into a young woman. With a long, flowing white dress. Sakana put her index and middle fingers together, and kissed them. Then laid them on Ranma's then Akane's for heads. They left the castle. Instead of holding their breath, they could breathe under water. They swam as fast as they could; fearing the spell of breath underwater would wear off.
When they got to shore, Ranma knelt down on one knee and pulled off the ring on his finger.
"Akane, will you marry me?" he said as he placed the ring on her finger.
"Yes! And a thousand times, yes!" She hugged her fiancée.
"Look at the inscription."
" 'Forever Love'! Oh Ranma!"