Chapter Twelve: The Parting
After the battle ended in victory, everyone went to Ukyo's restaurant to rest themselves. Ukyo, Ranma, Ryoga, Akane – even Mousse and Shampoo were there – slept through the rest of the night and most of the day. Wilheim locked himself in the storage room and waited for it to be dark again.
As soon as Ukyo woke up, she went to her bathroom and took a bath. When she went down again, everyone else was wide awake.
"Hey, guys..." greeted Ukyo.
Everyone else greeted back.
"How are you feeling, Ucchan?" asked Ranma.
Ukyo smiled.
"Great... my wounds are nearly gone..." she said, happily. And then she added: "...And now Magnus is destroyed."
Ranma and the rest of the guys nodded, as they remembered their victory. Ukyo sighed, and warmly said:
"Come on, guys. I'll treat you all for some okonomiyaki."
It was almost nighttime when the guys had finished eating. Mousse and Shampoo had to leave. Before they went out the door, Ukyo stopped them:
"Hey, wait!" she said.
Mousse and Shampoo turned around, waiting for Ukyo to finish. She said nothing for a few moments, and then, smiling, said:
"Thanks..."
Mousse and Shampoo smiled back. Mousse only nodded. But Shampoo approached Ukyo and said:
"You're welcome... Ukyo..."
Then, both girls shook hands.
"Say 'good – bye' to Wilheim for us." Said Mousse, right before he and Shampoo left.
"I will..." assured Ukyo.
Mousse and Shampoo smiled once more and then they took off. Ukyo sighed and went to sit back with the rest of her friends. Ranma had a big smirk on his face. He sighed and turned his head away from Ukyo. And then, he said in a playful tone of voice:
"That's something you don't see everyday." He meant Ukyo and Shampoo shaking hands.
Ukyo smiled and shook her head.
"I guess she is a nice person..." and after a pause she added: "when she wants to."
Akane smiled and giggled. Ryoga sighed and put his arms behind his head.
"That was quite a fight..." he said in a low voice.
"It sure was..." agreed Ranma.
Ukyo and Akane nodded. Ryoga turned to face Ukyo, and said to her:
"We couldn't have done it without you..."
Ukyo smiled and replied:
"If you wouldn't have distracted Magnus... and injured him... I would have done nothing."
Everyone else nodded. Ranma decided it was time to let things go smoothly now and said in a funny tone of voice:
"He did good, sunny, he did good... But while we are here, he'll always be second best, see?"
Ukyo, Akane, and Ryoga laughed along with him.
At that very moment, the last rays of the sun disappeared underneath the mountains. Ukyo noticed this and turned her head to face the storage's room door, waiting for it to open. She didn't have to wait long, because after a few moments, the door opened and Wilheim came out of the storage room. His eyes looked different now. Not that they had changed their tone. But they no longer reflected sadness and misery. They now reflected hope and a certain happiness.
"Hi, everyone..." he greeted, happily.
"Hi, Wilheim." They all greeted back. And then Ranma added, smiling:
"Well, if it isn't the star of the show... have a seat, I insist."
Wilheim laughed and shook his head. He was about to seat next to Ukyo, when he stopped, and, making a funny face, asked Ranma:
"Don't mind if I do?"
Everyone else laughed and invited him to seat. The laughter soon stopped. But everyone in the room was smiling, however. Akane sighed, and asked Wilheim:
"So... what are you going to do now?"
Wilheim said nothing for a moment.
"I guess I'll go to see... if I can change back to human." He answered.
Akane nodded. Ukyo turned her sight to the table and said nothing.
"You can actually turn back to human?" asked Ryoga, hoping to hear a positive answer.
"Yeah... I think..." said Wilheim, but his words reflected more hope than uncertainty.
Ryoga smiled and nodded. Ranma took a deep breath, and asked:
"So... when are you leaving?"
Wilheim took his time to answer. The room was silent for a few moments. Everyone was eager to hear Wilheim's answer... especially Ukyo.
"Tonight..." he said in a low voice.
Ukyo closed her eyes. She kept herself from crying, and merely let out a sad sigh. Wilheim sighed as well.
"Well... I guess I'm better off..." he said.
He got up from his seat and said with a happy smile on his face:
"Thank you all... I really appreciate what you did for me... You brought me hope. That is something I will never forget."
Ranma, Ryoga, and Akane got up from their seats and smiled at Wilheim.
"...Don't mention it..." said Ranma, happily.
Wilheim nodded. He went over to say good – bye to all of them...
He have both Ranma and Ryoga a friendly hug. When he hugged Ryoga, he whispered in his ear:
"Sorry about that lick, P – Chan..."
Ryoga remembered how Wilheim had licked him when he was turned into a pig, and Wilheim was turned into a wolf. Ryoga smiled and shook his head.
"Forget about it." He whispered back, keeping himself from laughing.
He got to Akane, and kissed her on her cheek.
"Take care..." he said.
Akane smiled and blushed.
"You too..." she replied.
Wilheim began to search for Mousse and Shampoo.
"What about the other two?" he asked.
Ukyo, without raising her sight, said:
"They already left... they asked me to say 'good – bye' to you..."
Wilheim turned around and saw Ukyo's state.
"Oh..." he said.
Wilheim sighed and then went into the storage room to get his clothes.
"Well... good – bye." He said, as he opened the front door and waved to everyone.
Akane, Ryoga, and Ranma waved back. Ukyo didn't get up from her seat. Wilheim glanced at Ukyo one last time and let out a long, sad, sigh. And then, he went out of the restaurant and closed the door behind him.
Ranma, Ryoga, and Akane turned to face Ukyo, who still hadn't moved. Nobody said anything for a few moments. Silence filled the room. All that could be heard was Ukyo's breathing, that was beginning to speed up. She fisted her hands and opened her eyes. They were shinning... she was about to cry.
Ranma, on the edge of loosing his temper, was about to yell something to Ukyo. But he didn't have to. Because at that very moment, Ukyo got up from her seat and ran to the front door. She went out the restaurant and left the door open.
"Wilheim, wait!" she yelled, terrified at the thought that Wilheim could have already disappeared, like he did before.
But he hadn't. Wilheim, who was only a few yards away, stopped and turned around. As soon as he saw Ukyo running towards him, he smiled and closed his eyes.
When Ukyo caught up with Wilheim, she was out of breath. She took a moment to recover. Wilheim waited patiently. Then, finally, Ukyo asked:
"Why... why do you have to go?" she asked it in a sad tone of voice.
Wilheim took a deep breath and answered:
"Because I want to become human again."
Ukyo said nothing for a few moments. She closed her eyes and tried as hard as she could not to cry. The night was very beautiful... there was not a single cloud in the sky, and the stars shimmered incessantly. Ukyo remembered Wilheim's memory and let out a long, sad sigh. Then, after a what appeared to be an eternity, Ukyo summoned all her courage to say something she never thought herself capable of saying to a man:
"...I don't want you to go..."
Wilheim closed his eyes, and his smile grew even bigger than before. Now he was the one that was keeping himself from breaking into tears. If he would've cried, they would surely had been tears of happiness.
"Ukyo..." he said, as he raised his hand, and put it on her cheek.
Ukyo felt Wilheim's hand touching her, and immediately grasped his hand with both of hers, as if that would keep Wilheim from leaving. She rested her head in her hand, and her breathing began to speed up. She let out another long sigh. Then, she closed her eyes, and tried to fall asleep, right there, so that Wilheim wouldn't go.
On the other hand, Wilheim opened his eyes and bit his lip. His eyes shimmered in a red color. He was about to burst into tears. But he didn't. Instead, he caressed Ukyo's cheek with her thumb, and enjoyed the moment.
"Ukyo..." he said, after a while.
Ukyo opened her eyes, but didn't look at him.
"I swear to you... that I will come back... as soon as I am mortal again... I will come back." Wilheim said. His voice was starting to break.
Ukyo looked at Wilheim. Her lips now formed a little, sweet smile.
"I'll come back to you..." said Wilheim, trying to keep himself from sobbing.
Ukyo's lips had now formed a complete and beautiful smile... but that sweet smile didn't last for long. Ukyo suddenly twisted her mouth in a strange, but beautiful way and closed her eyes. Wilheim opened his eyes widely and his face turned bright red. He knew what Ukyo wanted to do.
And so, Wilheim smiled, closed his eyes as well and bent his mouth in the same way as Ukyo. Their mouths got closer... and closer to each other. The hugged... and then they kissed.
It had been their first kiss ever. It was the most romantic and lovely moment they had ever lived. Their hearts beats fused. And so did they. They kissed for a long time. Their tongues had a playful duel for quite a while.
When the kiss ended, each one rested his head on the other one's shoulder. Their eyes were shut, and they had a big smile on their faces.
Wilheim opened his eyes a little bit. A bloody tear was about to roll down his cheek. He wiped it off... and when he saw the world clearly, he blushed and kept himself from bursting into laughter.
From the restaurant, he could see that Akane, Ranma, and Ryoga were watching them, and each one had a different reaction towards the current situation...
Akane had both of her hands covering her face, and she was shaking her head. However, Wilheim could see she was smiling.
Ryoga was leaning against the wall, covering his face. He was convulsing by laughter.
And Ranma... Wilheim had a lot of trouble not to laugh at what Ranma was doing. He just smiled at him, and assumed different postures. First, he gave a big, 'cool' smile at Wilheim and raised his eyebrows. Then, he winked his eyes and sent him little kisses. And then, he gave him the thumb up, and so on.
Wilheim covered his face and broke the hug. He did it slowly and gently, so that Ukyo wouldn't feel rejected.
Then they crossed sights again. They smiled at each other and sighed.
"...Will... will you write to me?" asked Ukyo, full of hope.
Wilheim nodded.
"Every day..." he said, gently.
Ukyo caressed Wilheim's hands with hers. Then, she looked at the ground, and asked:
"How can I know that you'll be back?" she asked. She was just teasing, she knew perfectly that Wilheim would go back to her. And Wilheim knew it.
He put his hands behind his head, and untied his bandanna. Then, he grasped Ukyo's hand and gave her the bandanna.
"...I'll be back for this." He said, gently.
Ukyo smiled and gave Wilheim another hug. They gently pressed their bodies against each other, and then let the hug broke. Before Wilheim went away, he gave Ukyo another kiss. A quick kiss in her mouth. Ukyo kissed back. And then, Wilheim took off. When he reached the corner of the street, he turned around, and waved at Ukyo. She smiled and waved back. And then, he was gone.
Ukyo sighed and went back to her restaurant. She entered and sat down on her seat. She just looked at the wall, not thinking about anything else but Wilheim. She had a huge smile on her face, and her eyes shinned with happiness. It was definitely the look of someone that's deeply in love.
When she put her feet back on Earth, she turned around to see Akane, Ryoga, and Ranma looking at her. They all had a big grin on their faces. Ukyo rolled her eyes and shook her head, without stopping smiling.
Ranma approached Ukyo at a slow pace, and sat down next to her. Ryoga and Akane followed.
"Ucchan..." began Ranma, without letting his grin fade. "If you tell me you're not in love with this guy, believe me... I'm gonna kill myself." He said it in a funny way. But he was serious.
Ukyo giggled and punched Ranma playfully in his arm.
"All, right, all right, jackass, you win." She said happily between laughs, and then, added with a happy sigh: "I love him."
THE END
After the battle ended in victory, everyone went to Ukyo's restaurant to rest themselves. Ukyo, Ranma, Ryoga, Akane – even Mousse and Shampoo were there – slept through the rest of the night and most of the day. Wilheim locked himself in the storage room and waited for it to be dark again.
As soon as Ukyo woke up, she went to her bathroom and took a bath. When she went down again, everyone else was wide awake.
"Hey, guys..." greeted Ukyo.
Everyone else greeted back.
"How are you feeling, Ucchan?" asked Ranma.
Ukyo smiled.
"Great... my wounds are nearly gone..." she said, happily. And then she added: "...And now Magnus is destroyed."
Ranma and the rest of the guys nodded, as they remembered their victory. Ukyo sighed, and warmly said:
"Come on, guys. I'll treat you all for some okonomiyaki."
It was almost nighttime when the guys had finished eating. Mousse and Shampoo had to leave. Before they went out the door, Ukyo stopped them:
"Hey, wait!" she said.
Mousse and Shampoo turned around, waiting for Ukyo to finish. She said nothing for a few moments, and then, smiling, said:
"Thanks..."
Mousse and Shampoo smiled back. Mousse only nodded. But Shampoo approached Ukyo and said:
"You're welcome... Ukyo..."
Then, both girls shook hands.
"Say 'good – bye' to Wilheim for us." Said Mousse, right before he and Shampoo left.
"I will..." assured Ukyo.
Mousse and Shampoo smiled once more and then they took off. Ukyo sighed and went to sit back with the rest of her friends. Ranma had a big smirk on his face. He sighed and turned his head away from Ukyo. And then, he said in a playful tone of voice:
"That's something you don't see everyday." He meant Ukyo and Shampoo shaking hands.
Ukyo smiled and shook her head.
"I guess she is a nice person..." and after a pause she added: "when she wants to."
Akane smiled and giggled. Ryoga sighed and put his arms behind his head.
"That was quite a fight..." he said in a low voice.
"It sure was..." agreed Ranma.
Ukyo and Akane nodded. Ryoga turned to face Ukyo, and said to her:
"We couldn't have done it without you..."
Ukyo smiled and replied:
"If you wouldn't have distracted Magnus... and injured him... I would have done nothing."
Everyone else nodded. Ranma decided it was time to let things go smoothly now and said in a funny tone of voice:
"He did good, sunny, he did good... But while we are here, he'll always be second best, see?"
Ukyo, Akane, and Ryoga laughed along with him.
At that very moment, the last rays of the sun disappeared underneath the mountains. Ukyo noticed this and turned her head to face the storage's room door, waiting for it to open. She didn't have to wait long, because after a few moments, the door opened and Wilheim came out of the storage room. His eyes looked different now. Not that they had changed their tone. But they no longer reflected sadness and misery. They now reflected hope and a certain happiness.
"Hi, everyone..." he greeted, happily.
"Hi, Wilheim." They all greeted back. And then Ranma added, smiling:
"Well, if it isn't the star of the show... have a seat, I insist."
Wilheim laughed and shook his head. He was about to seat next to Ukyo, when he stopped, and, making a funny face, asked Ranma:
"Don't mind if I do?"
Everyone else laughed and invited him to seat. The laughter soon stopped. But everyone in the room was smiling, however. Akane sighed, and asked Wilheim:
"So... what are you going to do now?"
Wilheim said nothing for a moment.
"I guess I'll go to see... if I can change back to human." He answered.
Akane nodded. Ukyo turned her sight to the table and said nothing.
"You can actually turn back to human?" asked Ryoga, hoping to hear a positive answer.
"Yeah... I think..." said Wilheim, but his words reflected more hope than uncertainty.
Ryoga smiled and nodded. Ranma took a deep breath, and asked:
"So... when are you leaving?"
Wilheim took his time to answer. The room was silent for a few moments. Everyone was eager to hear Wilheim's answer... especially Ukyo.
"Tonight..." he said in a low voice.
Ukyo closed her eyes. She kept herself from crying, and merely let out a sad sigh. Wilheim sighed as well.
"Well... I guess I'm better off..." he said.
He got up from his seat and said with a happy smile on his face:
"Thank you all... I really appreciate what you did for me... You brought me hope. That is something I will never forget."
Ranma, Ryoga, and Akane got up from their seats and smiled at Wilheim.
"...Don't mention it..." said Ranma, happily.
Wilheim nodded. He went over to say good – bye to all of them...
He have both Ranma and Ryoga a friendly hug. When he hugged Ryoga, he whispered in his ear:
"Sorry about that lick, P – Chan..."
Ryoga remembered how Wilheim had licked him when he was turned into a pig, and Wilheim was turned into a wolf. Ryoga smiled and shook his head.
"Forget about it." He whispered back, keeping himself from laughing.
He got to Akane, and kissed her on her cheek.
"Take care..." he said.
Akane smiled and blushed.
"You too..." she replied.
Wilheim began to search for Mousse and Shampoo.
"What about the other two?" he asked.
Ukyo, without raising her sight, said:
"They already left... they asked me to say 'good – bye' to you..."
Wilheim turned around and saw Ukyo's state.
"Oh..." he said.
Wilheim sighed and then went into the storage room to get his clothes.
"Well... good – bye." He said, as he opened the front door and waved to everyone.
Akane, Ryoga, and Ranma waved back. Ukyo didn't get up from her seat. Wilheim glanced at Ukyo one last time and let out a long, sad, sigh. And then, he went out of the restaurant and closed the door behind him.
Ranma, Ryoga, and Akane turned to face Ukyo, who still hadn't moved. Nobody said anything for a few moments. Silence filled the room. All that could be heard was Ukyo's breathing, that was beginning to speed up. She fisted her hands and opened her eyes. They were shinning... she was about to cry.
Ranma, on the edge of loosing his temper, was about to yell something to Ukyo. But he didn't have to. Because at that very moment, Ukyo got up from her seat and ran to the front door. She went out the restaurant and left the door open.
"Wilheim, wait!" she yelled, terrified at the thought that Wilheim could have already disappeared, like he did before.
But he hadn't. Wilheim, who was only a few yards away, stopped and turned around. As soon as he saw Ukyo running towards him, he smiled and closed his eyes.
When Ukyo caught up with Wilheim, she was out of breath. She took a moment to recover. Wilheim waited patiently. Then, finally, Ukyo asked:
"Why... why do you have to go?" she asked it in a sad tone of voice.
Wilheim took a deep breath and answered:
"Because I want to become human again."
Ukyo said nothing for a few moments. She closed her eyes and tried as hard as she could not to cry. The night was very beautiful... there was not a single cloud in the sky, and the stars shimmered incessantly. Ukyo remembered Wilheim's memory and let out a long, sad sigh. Then, after a what appeared to be an eternity, Ukyo summoned all her courage to say something she never thought herself capable of saying to a man:
"...I don't want you to go..."
Wilheim closed his eyes, and his smile grew even bigger than before. Now he was the one that was keeping himself from breaking into tears. If he would've cried, they would surely had been tears of happiness.
"Ukyo..." he said, as he raised his hand, and put it on her cheek.
Ukyo felt Wilheim's hand touching her, and immediately grasped his hand with both of hers, as if that would keep Wilheim from leaving. She rested her head in her hand, and her breathing began to speed up. She let out another long sigh. Then, she closed her eyes, and tried to fall asleep, right there, so that Wilheim wouldn't go.
On the other hand, Wilheim opened his eyes and bit his lip. His eyes shimmered in a red color. He was about to burst into tears. But he didn't. Instead, he caressed Ukyo's cheek with her thumb, and enjoyed the moment.
"Ukyo..." he said, after a while.
Ukyo opened her eyes, but didn't look at him.
"I swear to you... that I will come back... as soon as I am mortal again... I will come back." Wilheim said. His voice was starting to break.
Ukyo looked at Wilheim. Her lips now formed a little, sweet smile.
"I'll come back to you..." said Wilheim, trying to keep himself from sobbing.
Ukyo's lips had now formed a complete and beautiful smile... but that sweet smile didn't last for long. Ukyo suddenly twisted her mouth in a strange, but beautiful way and closed her eyes. Wilheim opened his eyes widely and his face turned bright red. He knew what Ukyo wanted to do.
And so, Wilheim smiled, closed his eyes as well and bent his mouth in the same way as Ukyo. Their mouths got closer... and closer to each other. The hugged... and then they kissed.
It had been their first kiss ever. It was the most romantic and lovely moment they had ever lived. Their hearts beats fused. And so did they. They kissed for a long time. Their tongues had a playful duel for quite a while.
When the kiss ended, each one rested his head on the other one's shoulder. Their eyes were shut, and they had a big smile on their faces.
Wilheim opened his eyes a little bit. A bloody tear was about to roll down his cheek. He wiped it off... and when he saw the world clearly, he blushed and kept himself from bursting into laughter.
From the restaurant, he could see that Akane, Ranma, and Ryoga were watching them, and each one had a different reaction towards the current situation...
Akane had both of her hands covering her face, and she was shaking her head. However, Wilheim could see she was smiling.
Ryoga was leaning against the wall, covering his face. He was convulsing by laughter.
And Ranma... Wilheim had a lot of trouble not to laugh at what Ranma was doing. He just smiled at him, and assumed different postures. First, he gave a big, 'cool' smile at Wilheim and raised his eyebrows. Then, he winked his eyes and sent him little kisses. And then, he gave him the thumb up, and so on.
Wilheim covered his face and broke the hug. He did it slowly and gently, so that Ukyo wouldn't feel rejected.
Then they crossed sights again. They smiled at each other and sighed.
"...Will... will you write to me?" asked Ukyo, full of hope.
Wilheim nodded.
"Every day..." he said, gently.
Ukyo caressed Wilheim's hands with hers. Then, she looked at the ground, and asked:
"How can I know that you'll be back?" she asked. She was just teasing, she knew perfectly that Wilheim would go back to her. And Wilheim knew it.
He put his hands behind his head, and untied his bandanna. Then, he grasped Ukyo's hand and gave her the bandanna.
"...I'll be back for this." He said, gently.
Ukyo smiled and gave Wilheim another hug. They gently pressed their bodies against each other, and then let the hug broke. Before Wilheim went away, he gave Ukyo another kiss. A quick kiss in her mouth. Ukyo kissed back. And then, Wilheim took off. When he reached the corner of the street, he turned around, and waved at Ukyo. She smiled and waved back. And then, he was gone.
Ukyo sighed and went back to her restaurant. She entered and sat down on her seat. She just looked at the wall, not thinking about anything else but Wilheim. She had a huge smile on her face, and her eyes shinned with happiness. It was definitely the look of someone that's deeply in love.
When she put her feet back on Earth, she turned around to see Akane, Ryoga, and Ranma looking at her. They all had a big grin on their faces. Ukyo rolled her eyes and shook her head, without stopping smiling.
Ranma approached Ukyo at a slow pace, and sat down next to her. Ryoga and Akane followed.
"Ucchan..." began Ranma, without letting his grin fade. "If you tell me you're not in love with this guy, believe me... I'm gonna kill myself." He said it in a funny way. But he was serious.
Ukyo giggled and punched Ranma playfully in his arm.
"All, right, all right, jackass, you win." She said happily between laughs, and then, added with a happy sigh: "I love him."
THE END
