Ranma cradled Akane's head in his lap. He was trying his damnedest not to
cry. She wasn't breathing, why wasn't she breathing?
"Akane! Come on, wake up! Please wake up! Oh kami please don't let it be too late! Akane Please! I never told you that I loved you!" Ranma collapsed on Akane's still form, the tears now falling freely.
Akane looked down on the scene unfolding before her. She had a sad smile on her lips, "Ranma, you baka. I knew, I always knew." She moved behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. It went right through him. She shook her head. Why wasn't she more upset? She was dead after all. The only thing she really felt was overwhelming sadness for Ranma.
"I'll be here Ranma, as long as you need me, I'll watch over you.
____________________ Tannius Rip off Productions Presents:
Ranma ½ Ah! My Akane ____________________
Ranma was inconsolable the whole trip home. Other than Ryouga or his father, no one who had accompanied him was really a friend. When anyone came by to try to offer support he'd shrug them off and walk away. He wouldn't even respond to Ryouga's ribbing.
Ranma stood against the railing of the ship taking them home. He watched as the China coastline faded into the distance. They had put Akane's body into a plain wooden box for the trip home. At first Ranma wouldn't let her out of his sight. He kept expecting her to wake up and smile at him. After all she looked like she was sleeping a deep sleep. Remembering an old fairy tale he had even kissed her when no one else was around hoping she would wake up. Finally the others had forced him up on deck.
Akane stood behind him. She wished she could hold him, comfort him, tell him everything would be ok. She couldn't, she was dead and because of that something had died in Ranma. She moved up to lean against the rail with him. It seemed she could interact with the physical world to a degree. She didn't fall through floors or through walls if she leaned against them. She could sit in chairs. But whenever she wanted to pick something up or touch someone, her hands went right through.
It was frustrating but she would deal with it to stay with Ranma. She briefly wondered why she was still here. She'd heard stories of ghosts who couldn't leave because of unfinished business. But they usually haunted specific places, not follow their fiancé all over China. She idly hoped she wouldn't be like this for all eternity. It could get lonely if there was no one to talk to. Could she go to heaven? Or how about reincarnation? She'd kinda hoped there would be some sort of direction or sign of what she was supposed to do.
* * * * * * * * * *
Leela frowned at the amount of paperwork on her desk. Her 'IN' pile always seemed to double when she came back from break. She tapped her keyboard to turn off the screensaver and logged into the Yggdrasil system. Processing incoming souls was tiring at best and it had been centuries since they had last added anyone to the existing workforce.
She pulled the next file off the pile, "Hmm, reincarnation." She tapped a few keys and the system beeped acceptance. She went through the next seven files the same way. "Reincarnation, Heaven, Heaven, Nirvana, Oops application denied (He's been a bad boy) Hell for him, reincarnation, Kami plane."
It was a routine she had become accustomed to regardless of how boring it really was. Leela often wished something interesting would happen, just to break the tedium.
She grabbed another file and brought it up on the system. She processed some information and hit the send button. The terminal beeped. It wasn't the usual beep. She looked up and saw a large error message. She clicked on it and tried again. Same error message. She went back over the whole file to verify everything was correct and tried again. This time a different message came up, 'Error. Unable to process. File has been red flagged Confidential. Please report this error to your immediate supervisor.'
Leela sighed as she picked up the phone. Be careful what you wish for she thought as she dialed her supervisor.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ranma sat in the dojo in a meditative posture. He was doing anything but. It had been chaos when he'd returned from China. The Tendos had gone critical at the news of Akane's death. Soun hadn't stopped crying for days now and was confined to bed on serious tranquilizers. Kasumi had stopped talking to everyone and now cleaned house constantly regardless of whether anything was dirty or not. Nabiki seemed to be the most hard hit however. She had slapped Ranma then deciding that wasn't enough proceeded to beat him senseless. Ranma didn't put up a fight at all.
A tear fell from Ranma's eye as he stared at the family shrine. There was a picture of Akane in front of a small urn. He couldn't save her and it was all his fault. He should never have come into her life. He brought so much chaos with him wherever he went. It was only a matter of time before someone got hurt. He always assumed it would be him that died. Beaten by a stronger foe or outwitted by some demon. For the life of him he never thought anyone around him would suffer for his mistakes.
"I'm such a damned fool. She's gone and I never told her how I felt. The last words she probably heard were me telling her how stupid she was. Now she's dead. Wherever she is, I'm sure she hates me." Ranma shuddered as another sob racked his body.
Nabiki shook her head from where she was leaning against the door of the dojo. After her initial assault on Ranma she'd had a chance to try and think things through. She was grieving and would be for some time. Ranma however would never get over Akane's death if someone didn't help him and soon. He would continue to think of how he could have done things different, and beat himself up over lost chances and missed opportunities until he either killed himself or let someone else do it for him. She was still angry at Ranma. She didn't want to forgive him but whatever he was feeling right now outweighed anything she could do to him.
She walked over and sat next to Ranma. He was crying and not trying to hide it. Nabiki felt her resistance crumble and she put her arm around Ranma and pulled his head over to her shoulder. He put up no resistance and he was so light. Nabiki was almost positive Ranma hadn't eaten anything since he'd returned five days ago. His cheeks and eyes had a sunken look that made Gosunkuji look handsome.
"Ranma," Nabiki started, "I apologize for what I did the other day."
"s'okay I deserved it. I let her down. I let them all down. I should've."
"Stop that!" Nabiki interrupted, "It's not your fault. I heard the story from the others. You did everything you could to save her. Hell, you destroyed a god to save her. Fate was just against you that day."
"But.."
"Shhh." Nabiki hushed. She let Ranma cry on her shoulder as she comforted him.
Akane sat facing them both with a smile on her face, "Thank you sis."
* * * * * * * * * *
Ukyou was setting up the grill for the lunch rush when Nabiki came in. She'd heard from Ryouga what had happened in China. She felt sad and elated at the same time. She had decided to give Ranma some time to grieve then go to him and comfort him in his time of need. She smiled sadly. It was tragic what had happened but it gave her the perfect opportunity to capture Ranma's heart.
"We're not open yet." Ukyou said.
"That's why this is the perfect time to talk to you." Nabiki replied.
"What do you want?"
"I've come to talk to you about Ranma. He's hurting real bad right now and I want to make sure that no one does anything to aggravate him." Nabiki started.
"I'd never to anything to hurt Ran-chan." Ukyou protested.
Nabiki shook her head, "What he needs right now are friends, not fiancés. He's close to suicidal as it is, I don't want anyone pushing him over."
"Ranma's suicidal?" Ukyou said in disbelief.
"He loved her that much. And he blames himself for her death. I'm sure he would very much like to join her wherever she's gone.", Nabiki wiped her eyes trying not to break down and cry again, "I want you to leave him alone unless he comes to you. And if he does just be his friend, ok?"
"And if I don't?" Ukyou pushed.
"Then you deal with me. And I'm sure we don't want that to happen do we? It would be a shame if I called in all your loans, might even have to sell the restaurant." Nabiki threatened.
Ukyou gulped as Nabiki left.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ranma-chan sat at the edge of the pond staring at her reflection. Gone were her flushed cheeks and perky eyes. Even her hair lay lifeless around her head. Her skin had become almost white except under her eyes where dark circles from many sleepless nights showed.
There was a ring of a bicycle bell as Shampoo hopped the wall and screeched to a halt on the other side of the pond from Ranma-chan.
Shampoo smiled at Ranma, "Airen take Shampoo on date yes?"
Ranma-chan looked at Shampoo with undisguised hatred. Shampoos smile left her face and she crumbled in on herself.
"Shampoo come to say sorry for what she do to Akane. Shampoo not in control of herself when she try to kill Akane."
Ranma-chan looked her in the eyes, "Get. Out. Now. Or I will kill you where you stand."
Shampoo hung her head in defeat and rode her bicycle back to the nekokatten.
* * * * * * * * * *
The phone rang for the fourth time. There was a crashing noise and a sound of scrambling as someone could be heard rushing for the phone. Two someone's actually.
Urd and Skuld fought to grab the phone at the same time.
"I've got it!" Skuld snarled.
"I don't think so brat. I'm sure it's for me anyway." Urd countered.
As the two goddesses fought each other, Belldandy approached and lifted the receiver.
"Moshi, moshi. Yes? Oh my. All right, I understand. Yes, here she is." Belldandy handed the receiver to Urd.
Urd stuck her tongue out at her youngest sister, "See, told ya! Hello? Oh, I see. Where? Ok, I'm on it." Urd hung the phone up with a serious expression on her face.
"What is it?" Skuld demanded.
"Apparently someone upstairs screwed up some paperwork and upset one of the Almighty's projects. I've been assigned to go fix it. This shouldn't take too long so don't have dinner without me." Urd walked over to the TV and turned it on. She bent over and crawled into the screen, disappearing as she did so.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was three o'clock in the morning. Ranma stood in Akane's room. It was still untouched. No one, not even Kasumi had come in here since that day. There was a fine layer of dust on the desk. Has it only been two weeks since. Ranma let the thought trail off. He tried to smile at all the stuffed animals on her bed.
"Kawaiikune tomb." Ranma winced as he felt the pain of loss pass over him. He dropped to his knees trying to get control of himself.
It shouldn't hurt this much. Nothing he'd ever faced had ever dealt this kind of pain to him. Fighting back his tears he steeled himself. There's only one way to end this pain.
Ranma pulled the tanto blade he'd brought with him out of its sheath. He shuddered at how the steel reflected the moonlight coming from the window. He brought the blade up and gulped nervously at what he was about to do.
Akane was frightened. She wanted so hard to stop Ranma but she couldn't touch anything. She tried screaming at him, hoping he would hear her. Finally she turned from him not bearing to watch as her fiance commited suicide.
There was a clatter of metal on the floor. Akane turned to see Ranma crying. The tanto lay beside him. The blade was clean.
"I can't do it. That's the coward's way out. Or maybe I'm a coward because I can't do it. No matter how much it hurts I have to bear it. It's what I deserve."
He stood up and walked to the window. Akane gasped. Ranma looked almost skeletal in the pale moonlight. She shook her head defiantly. She felt so helpless. Was she being tortured to watch this?
"It's sad what grief does to some people isn't it?"
Akane would have jumped out of her skin if she still had any. She looked behind her. There was a tall dark skinned woman with silvery blond hair in flowing robes smiling at her. She had a curious diamond shaped tattoo on her forehead. What Akane really noticed is that the woman was looking right at her.
"Y-you can see me?" Akane squeaked.
The woman nodded, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Urd, goddess second class limited license."
"A goddess? So you're here to take me away? Please, can you help Ranma first! He's hurting so bad. I can't bear to see him like this." Akane pleaded.
"Don't worry, everything will be ok. In fact I'm here to help the both of you. Apparently there has been a mix up in heaven and I've been sent to fix it." Urd said.
"I don't understand." Akane was confused.
Urd walked up to Akane and poked towards her chest, "You weren't supposed to die at Jusendou. Somewhere there was a glitch in the computer system and it took us two weeks to catch it. They still have people trying to track down the bug that allowed this to happen."
"So you can fix this?" Akane asked gesturing to herself and Ranma in one sweeping motion.
"To a point. The boss has plans for you two apparently. I can't change history, too much paperwork, but I can allow some other things." Urd handed Akane a small card.
Akane looked at it quizzically. Reading it, a look of disbelief came across her face, "You can't be serious."
"Congratulations. You are now a goddess third class limited license of the anything goes school of martial arts." Urd smiled.
"How can I be a goddess of martial arts?" Akane stammered.
"Oh, come on. This is Japan! They've got a kami for everything! Heck there's even a kami of spoiled cabbage. There was already a kami of martial arts so we made you a kami of your specific martial art." Urd explained.
"But.but." Akane stammered.
"Here's your handbook. It contains everything you need to know about being a goddess and rules and regulations you must abide by. Be sure to read it as soon as possible."
As Akane took the book her clothes swirled around her and became flowing robes like Urd's. Also a diamond shaped tattoo appeared on her forehead.
"So what do I do about Ranma?" Akane hesitantly asked.
"Just wait and see." Urd replied.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ranma opened Akane's window and jumped to the roof. He laid down panting from the exertion on the roof and gazed at the sky.
"If I'm lucky someone will challenge me soon and put me out of my misery." Ranma sighed.
He'd told Nabiki that he was coping better but knew she hadn't been fooled. She had forced him to eat however so he wasn't quite starving to death. Why couldn't he go through with sepuku? Because he wouldn't go to the same place she did, he realized.
A shooting star passed overhead and he almost missed seeing it. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"I wish Akane was alive and with me forever." He asked the stars. It was a futile gesture he thought.
There was suddenly a 'ding' as if a bell had gone off then a mechanical voice out of nowhere said, "Prerequisites satisfied, application submitted, your wish has been approved."
Ranma sat up looking around for the source of the voice before he realized he heard it in his own head.
Suddenly there was a glow to his right and he watched as a figure formed from the light. Ranma squinted as the light dimmed and disappeared. He gasped in surprise. It was Akane, 'HIS' Akane. He tried to get up but realized he was still exhausted from his leap to the roof.
"Akane? Am I dead? Is this a dream? If I am dreaming I never want to wake up again." Ranma said before sagging to the roof and losing consciousness.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ranma woke as the light of dawn hit his eyes. He remembered dreaming of Akane returning to him. She had looked like an angel and for a brief moment he thought she had come for him. He hated himself. Why did his mind torture him with these dreams? As awareness returned he realized he had slept on the roof again. He didn't remember bringing a pillow with him this time though. His head was cradled by something soft and warm. He opened his eyes and squinted in the dawn's light. He was looking at someone's face. As his eyes adjusted the face resolved itself.
'I'm going mad. That's the only explanation.'
"Akane? How?"
She smiled at him. It was a serene loving smile, "Shh, rest now, I will explain later."
Ranma's confused look faded as he drifted off to sleep again from Akane's touch.
Akane smiled again this time with a little worry. How did one explain their return to life? 'Hi, I've just returned from the dead and I'm a goddess now!' Akane shook her head. She would have to think of something soon, the rest of the house would be waking up shortly and Ranma wouldn't sleep much longer.
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki woke to the sounds of Kasumi cooking downstairs. She frowned, the whole family had been drained of life. She didn't even remember it being this bad when mom died. Akane had been the life and soul of the Tendo clan. With her gone it was if someone had blown out a candle. She heard Kasumi crying herself to sleep last night but couldn't bring herself to go to her sister and console her. Her father drifted in and out of a drug induced stupor. Dr. Tofu had prescribed some heavy duty tranquilizers to keep him from falling apart. She was sure that her father wouldn't last long without his angel. Akane had been his heir, his legacy to the art. Nabiki hated to admit it but Akane had been father's favorite. Kasumi was in serious denial and had closed herself off from everyone, insisting that everything was ok when she could be distracted from cleaning long enough to answer. Genma seemed the least affected by the whole thing. Sure he felt guilty for being under mind control during the Saffron incident but he was never one to let something as minor as guilt stop him before.
Nabiki slowly crawled out of bed contemplating ways to bring the family back together. She was getting dressed when she heard something move in Akane's bedroom. It was probably Ranma. He was the only one who went in there anymore. Nabiki's frown deepened. She needed to do something and soon or they would lose Ranma. She'd grown fond of the idiot over the last year regardless of how she acted on the surface. Once she'd gotten past her initial rage she realized how much more he was hurting than the rest of the family.
She pulled up and buttoned her pants and left her room. She paused at Akane's door wondering if maybe she should knock. Shrugging, she grabbed the handle and gave it a turn. Akane's room was still dark even with the sunlight coming in the window. As her eyes adjusted, Nabiki could see Ranma lying prone on the bed. There was someone tending him. She was dressed in long flowing robes. Nabiki gasped in shock.
Akane turned her head looking embarrassed, "Uh, hi sis!"
Nabiki fainted.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ranma finally woke up. He was sure he was awake this time. He was also sure he'd seen Akane. Somehow Akane had come back to him, or he'd gone to her. One or the other. He just knew they were together again.
"Akane? Where are you?" He said almost as a whisper.
"I'm here Ranma. Relax. I'm ok and you will be too once you start eating again." Akane said coming into his field of vision.
"How? I mean, why. You're back!" Ranma sat up on Akane's bed. He then saw that Akane was sitting on the floor holding Nabiki's head in her lap.
Akane smiled, the same smile Ranma had seen whenever he thought she was being cute. "I'll explain everything I can once Nabiki wakes up. I hope the rest of the family doesn't react like this once they see that I'm back."
Ranma crawled out of bed and over to Akane. He grabbed Akane in a bear hug almost knocking Nabiki to the floor.
"I'm so sorry Akane." Ranma cried.
"I know Ranma. It's ok. It wasn't your fault. It never was."
"Damn it Ranma, keep it down. I'm trying to. Oh, my god! Akane?"
Akane was in a double bear hug and it was hard to breathe. But it felt good. Good to feel, to breathe, to be touched and talked to. After two weeks of isolation even the crushing love of her sister and fiancé felt heavenly.
It took a few minutes to remove the two from Akane's waist.
Nabiki was trying desperately to stop crying. Ranma was close to collapsing again but held together for Akane's sake.
"I'm sure you want to know how I've returned. But first let me tell you that I am back and back for good. What happened at Jusendou was a mistake. According to the goddess that brought me back, Ranma's cries of love to me were supposed to bring my soul back to my body. They're still trying to figure out just what went wrong."
"You're saying I lost my sister to a clerical error?" Nabiki exclaimed.
"It's ok Nabs, they've fixed things as much as they could. In fact they've even made up for it. I'm now a goddess third class limited license of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts."
Ranma had a stunned, uncomprehending look.
"I would have held out for a better settlement sis." Nabiki said wryly. Akane grinned at seeing her sister's humor beginning to return.
"We need to let the rest of the family know. You've all been through so much pain and I'd hate to have a repeat of what happened with you and Ranma. I don't think I could stand to have everyone fainting at the sight of me."
"We may have to chance it with Kasumi. She'd withdrawn almost completely into her cleaning. I think she'll need a shock to bring her around. As for father, I think I have an idea that will work."
Akane nodded, trusting her sister's judgment. She turned to Ranma and held out her hand. "Let's go have some breakfast. I don't know about you but I haven't eaten in two weeks."
Ranma took her hand hesitantly as if she would disappear if he touched her now. They got up together and then all three went downstairs to breakfast.
* * * * * * * * * *
A man sat at a desk in a large office. He was dressed in an expensive black business suit and reclined in a black leather chair. He was tapping his fingernails on the deep black marble desktop as he watched the scene unfold on his terminal monitor.
"Damn!" he muttered, "They shouldn't have caught the error for at least another week and definitely not been able to do anything for at least another two." He reached for his intercom button, "Reese, how recent is this transmission?"
"About forty five minutes sir." Replied a nasal whiny voice.
"Damn!" He swore again. Another three or four days and Saotome would have removed himself from posing a problem.
"Get Mara and send her in. I have an assignment for her."
"Yes my Lord. At once." The voice replied.
The man leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of his face. Perhaps it was not too late to prevent Saotome from interfering in his plans.
* * * * * * * * * *
Genma's eyes widened in shock when he saw Akane walk down the stairs. He leapt out the back door and into the pond. As Akane sat down at the table, Genma could be seen outside playing with an old tire surrounded by signs proclaiming, 'I'm just a cute cuddly panda!'
Akane shook her head and laughed. Some things never changed.
There was a crash in the kitchen and Akane turned her head as Kasumi burst out the door towards her. "You are back! I heard your laugh and thought maybe someone was playing a cruel joke on me. Oh Akane! How did it happen? I saw the body. Was it Ranma? Did he bring you back somehow?" For the third time that day Akane felt the crushing embrace of a loved one.
"Ack! Kasumi.Can't.Breathe." Akane gasped.
Kasumi reluctantly lessened her grip but didn't let go, "You'll have to tell me all about it over breakfast." She kissed her younger sister on the forehead and got up to go back to the kitchen.
"Well that was easy." Nabiki said.
Soon everyone was gathered eating breakfast. Even Genma had been coaxed back to the table with food. Ranma was eating with an appetite he hadn't shown in weeks. Akane related her story of her death and subsequent resurrection filling in details she hadn't mentioned earlier. Finally breakfast was finished and there was an uncomfortable silence.
"So, how are we going to handle father." Kasumi finally said.
"We don't tell him." Nabiki answered.
"What?" Akane exclaimed, "But he's."
Nabiki cut her off, "I mean we stop giving him the tranquilizers and let him think the whole thing was a dream from some sort of illness. He's been pretty out of it. We'll have to hide Akane's urn, if that's all right with you sis."
Akane nodded dumbly. She hadn't thought of that. Her original body, or what was left of it, was in a small jar in the dojo. It didn't feel real somehow.
"Well my boy, we are truly blessed." Genma finally said.
"What are you talking about old man?" Ranma grumbled.
"Our school of the art has it's own kami, and you're engaged to her!" Genma said smugly.
Ranma was too tired to argue with him although Akane was giving Genma a look that if she knew how to access her full powers would probably have reduced him to ash. As it was, Genma simply shut up.
"First things first. I'll bring breakfast up to father." Akane said. Then looking at Ranma, "apparently he's not the only one I have to nurse back to health."
Ranma smiled wanly.
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane set the tray of food on the nightstand by Soun's bed. She sat in a nearby chair and stared at her father. He was breathing easily in drug induced slumber. She could see the new wrinkles and gray hair he had acquired over the last two weeks. Sighing she reached into her robes and took out her goddess training manual and thumbed through the contents.
After a few minutes of reading she found what she was looking for. She went over to her father and knelt by him. Placing her hands, one on his head and one on his chest, Akane began to pray like the book instructed. Slowly her hands began to glow and she felt the warmth flow into her father. Finally she stopped and sat staring the man who taught her everything she knew about martial arts.
Soun's eyes fluttered as he began to wake up. He felt someone sitting next to him. He turned and opened his eyes.
"A-Akane?" he half whispered.
"Shh, father. I'm here. Your fever's finally broken. You need rest. I brought your breakfast."
"Fever? But I. You were. I think I had a very bad nightmare." Soun said.
"You've been in and out of delirium for almost two weeks. Don't worry, you're going to be just fine now. Now eat your breakfast." Akane smiled at her father.
"Yes, yes. I must get my strength back after all. It's good to see you girl." Soun hugged his daughter.
Akane got up and left. When did Akane get a tattoo Soun wondered.
* * * * * * * * * *
"He bought it. I removed the chemicals from his system and gave him the story you told me. As far as dad knows, he's been sick for a little over a week, and has been delirious for most of it." Akane said coming down the stairs.
Nabiki nodded, "That was probably the easiest of all of them. How are we going to explain Akane's resurrection to the rest of Nerima? The only one's who haven't heard of Akane's death are the Kunos."
Akane stared at her sister, "Why the Kunos? And how did you keep them from knowing?"
Nabiki gestured to Ranma, "What do you think Kuno would have done to your poor fiancé if he heard Ranma hadn't been able to save you. And in his condition do you think Ranma could have defended himself or even tried to? It wasn't cheap, but I thought you would have wanted me to keep the poor bugger alive."
Akane hugged her sister, "Thanks Nabs. I owe you."
"Don't worry, I'll collect. So do goddesses grant wishes?" Nabiki grinned.
"I don't know yet. I still have to read this manual before tomorrow." Akane held up her book.
Nabiki looked at it. The title said, 'Congratulations, you're a goddess! by L.Ron Hubbard.'
"So this is your training manual?"
"I think so. I have a meeting with Urd and her sisters tomorrow to answer any questions I have." Akane answered.
"Can I see it?" Nabiki held out her hand.
Akane shrugged and gave her the book. Nabiki opened it and began leafing through it.
"I can't read any of this! What language is this written in?" Nabiki complained.
"I thought it was Japanese." Akane took the book back, "Yeah, it's in Japanese."
"Pops once had a scroll like that. Only the pure of heart could read it or something like that. I could only read one word in ten which irritated Pop to no end cause it was all gibberish to him." Ranma smirked. Akane smiled, it was good to see Ranma returning to his old self already. She frowned when she thought of how close things had come last night and put her arm around Ranma and held him close.
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane spent the rest of the day reading her manual. Most of it was on rules and protocol. Things like no swearing or using her god powers to do mundane chores around the house. She found she was allowed to grant wishes but only if they were pre-approved and validated by a wish caseworker. Otherwise she was prohibited from making any agreements or promises with any mortal as the word of a goddess was considered binding. Akane was astounded by the amount of bureaucracy there seemed to be in heaven. She read a brief overview of the Yggdrasil system that ran all of creation including debugging duties. It was almost supper time when she reached the end of the book.
Ranma had sat nearby all day, eating whenever food was brought out as if he was making up for the past two weeks. His color was improving and his face no longer seemed so gaunt. Akane briefly wondered if she could do something to help Ranma recover faster but decided Ranma would feel better if he did it himself.
"Ranma, I think it's time for you to start going back to school. Don't worry, we'll both go. Just because I'm a goddess doesn't mean I automatically know everything. I still have to learn just like anyone else." Akane finally said.
"If you feel up to it then so do I." Ranma replied. He was holding Akane just as tight as she was as if they were both afraid of being separated again.
"First off though, I'd like you to come with me tomorrow to see the other goddesses. I could use the moral support." Akane asked.
"Of course. I don't know if I could let you out of my sight for that long." Ranma admitted.
"Baka, why does it always take something drastic to get us to admit our feelings to each other?"
"Just lucky I guess." Ranma smirked.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was a twenty minute walk from the train station to the temple. Akane and Ranma walked up the steps from the street hand in hand. Akane gulped nervously as she went to knock on the door. Before she had a chance to however, the door slid open revealing a young girl no older than twelve or thirteen years from the looks of her.
"Hi! You must be Akane. Urd's expecting you. By the way, I'm Skuld, her younger, smarter sister." The girl bowed then escorted them inside. They were led to a table outside behind the main temple. Apparently it was approaching lunchtime as the table had been set and there were two people seated already. One of them, Urd, waved Akane and Ranma over.
"So did you find the place without any problems?" She asked.
"No, it was surprisingly easy to find the place after you gave me directions." Akane replied.
"It's a god thing. We don't get lost easy. Well, except for the god of wayward travelers, but he only has one disciple that I know of so he's pretty unimportant."
Ranma chuckled to himself. Akane wondered what he thought was so funny then it struck her, Ryouga. She did her best to keep a straight face.
Belldandy came out with a pot of rice to complete the meal and sat down. Urd introduced everyone, "You've already met Skuld. This is my other sister Belldandy and her 'mortal' boyfriend Keiichi. This is Akane Tendo, goddess third class limited license of the Anything Goes School of martial arts and her mortal fiance of the same school."
Keiichi was shaking his head sadly, muttering something about 'more gods'. Ranma leaned over and whispered, "So you're an ordinary guy like me huh?"
Keiichi nodded, "Yeah, I was given a wish and I asked for Belldandy to with me forever. And here we are."
"And that's one of the things that made Akane's return possible Ranma. That night you 'wished Akane was alive and with you forever.' Your wish had been granted and now there is nothing that can ever keep you apart." Urd explained.
Skuld nodded and continued, "That's right. The Ultimate Force is now in effect. Anything that tries to separate you two will be neutralized."
"So my other fiancés and Akane's suitors?" Ranma asked.
"Will just be out of luck. Bad things happen to those who interfere with the Ultimate Force." Urd said.
Ranma was unsure how to take that. Forever with Akane, just a few weeks ago he would have run screaming to the hills at just the thought. Now he couldn't imagine ever being apart from her.
"So does this mean the Kuno's will finally get a clue?" Ranma asked.
"That's unlikely. The Ultimate force doesn't change people but alters probability. The closer someone comes to breaking you apart the worse their luck will get. It would be little things at first, like tripping on a rock or turning a corner just a second to late to see you. The more persistent the person though the worse the fate. I've seen people struck by lightning, mauled by dogs, once I even saw someone sucked up into a tornado. It varies from person to person and the Ultimate force wouldn't kill anyone but it does have a keen sense of humor." Skuld explained.
Akane nodded, it had all been explained in her training manual. She imagined her rivals tripping all over themselves to steal Ranma away. She smiled, holding back the urge to laugh. It wouldn't do to gloat that she had finally won the Fiancé Wars. She snapped back to attention as she realized Urd was talking to her.
"The fact that you are a new goddess means you have a probationary status. After a training period of three months your license will be formally approved and you'll be on your own except for periodical updates and assignments. Probation is merely a formality. If we didn't think you could do the job you wouldn't have been offered it." Urd shook her head slowly before continuing, "Skuld has been assigned to be your instructor. She will enroll at Furinkan High and move into the Tendo household for the duration of your training."
Skuld frowned for a moment and opened her mouth to say something but stayed silent when a thought occurred to her. She had her own assignment! Her plans to convince Belldandy that Keichi was no good for her could be put aside. This was a real assignment which meant someone was finally acknowledging her ability to do something besides smash bugs.
"Your first lesson will be debugging." Urd said. Skuld facefaulted to the floor.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Akane! Come on, wake up! Please wake up! Oh kami please don't let it be too late! Akane Please! I never told you that I loved you!" Ranma collapsed on Akane's still form, the tears now falling freely.
Akane looked down on the scene unfolding before her. She had a sad smile on her lips, "Ranma, you baka. I knew, I always knew." She moved behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. It went right through him. She shook her head. Why wasn't she more upset? She was dead after all. The only thing she really felt was overwhelming sadness for Ranma.
"I'll be here Ranma, as long as you need me, I'll watch over you.
____________________ Tannius Rip off Productions Presents:
Ranma ½ Ah! My Akane ____________________
Ranma was inconsolable the whole trip home. Other than Ryouga or his father, no one who had accompanied him was really a friend. When anyone came by to try to offer support he'd shrug them off and walk away. He wouldn't even respond to Ryouga's ribbing.
Ranma stood against the railing of the ship taking them home. He watched as the China coastline faded into the distance. They had put Akane's body into a plain wooden box for the trip home. At first Ranma wouldn't let her out of his sight. He kept expecting her to wake up and smile at him. After all she looked like she was sleeping a deep sleep. Remembering an old fairy tale he had even kissed her when no one else was around hoping she would wake up. Finally the others had forced him up on deck.
Akane stood behind him. She wished she could hold him, comfort him, tell him everything would be ok. She couldn't, she was dead and because of that something had died in Ranma. She moved up to lean against the rail with him. It seemed she could interact with the physical world to a degree. She didn't fall through floors or through walls if she leaned against them. She could sit in chairs. But whenever she wanted to pick something up or touch someone, her hands went right through.
It was frustrating but she would deal with it to stay with Ranma. She briefly wondered why she was still here. She'd heard stories of ghosts who couldn't leave because of unfinished business. But they usually haunted specific places, not follow their fiancé all over China. She idly hoped she wouldn't be like this for all eternity. It could get lonely if there was no one to talk to. Could she go to heaven? Or how about reincarnation? She'd kinda hoped there would be some sort of direction or sign of what she was supposed to do.
* * * * * * * * * *
Leela frowned at the amount of paperwork on her desk. Her 'IN' pile always seemed to double when she came back from break. She tapped her keyboard to turn off the screensaver and logged into the Yggdrasil system. Processing incoming souls was tiring at best and it had been centuries since they had last added anyone to the existing workforce.
She pulled the next file off the pile, "Hmm, reincarnation." She tapped a few keys and the system beeped acceptance. She went through the next seven files the same way. "Reincarnation, Heaven, Heaven, Nirvana, Oops application denied (He's been a bad boy) Hell for him, reincarnation, Kami plane."
It was a routine she had become accustomed to regardless of how boring it really was. Leela often wished something interesting would happen, just to break the tedium.
She grabbed another file and brought it up on the system. She processed some information and hit the send button. The terminal beeped. It wasn't the usual beep. She looked up and saw a large error message. She clicked on it and tried again. Same error message. She went back over the whole file to verify everything was correct and tried again. This time a different message came up, 'Error. Unable to process. File has been red flagged Confidential. Please report this error to your immediate supervisor.'
Leela sighed as she picked up the phone. Be careful what you wish for she thought as she dialed her supervisor.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ranma sat in the dojo in a meditative posture. He was doing anything but. It had been chaos when he'd returned from China. The Tendos had gone critical at the news of Akane's death. Soun hadn't stopped crying for days now and was confined to bed on serious tranquilizers. Kasumi had stopped talking to everyone and now cleaned house constantly regardless of whether anything was dirty or not. Nabiki seemed to be the most hard hit however. She had slapped Ranma then deciding that wasn't enough proceeded to beat him senseless. Ranma didn't put up a fight at all.
A tear fell from Ranma's eye as he stared at the family shrine. There was a picture of Akane in front of a small urn. He couldn't save her and it was all his fault. He should never have come into her life. He brought so much chaos with him wherever he went. It was only a matter of time before someone got hurt. He always assumed it would be him that died. Beaten by a stronger foe or outwitted by some demon. For the life of him he never thought anyone around him would suffer for his mistakes.
"I'm such a damned fool. She's gone and I never told her how I felt. The last words she probably heard were me telling her how stupid she was. Now she's dead. Wherever she is, I'm sure she hates me." Ranma shuddered as another sob racked his body.
Nabiki shook her head from where she was leaning against the door of the dojo. After her initial assault on Ranma she'd had a chance to try and think things through. She was grieving and would be for some time. Ranma however would never get over Akane's death if someone didn't help him and soon. He would continue to think of how he could have done things different, and beat himself up over lost chances and missed opportunities until he either killed himself or let someone else do it for him. She was still angry at Ranma. She didn't want to forgive him but whatever he was feeling right now outweighed anything she could do to him.
She walked over and sat next to Ranma. He was crying and not trying to hide it. Nabiki felt her resistance crumble and she put her arm around Ranma and pulled his head over to her shoulder. He put up no resistance and he was so light. Nabiki was almost positive Ranma hadn't eaten anything since he'd returned five days ago. His cheeks and eyes had a sunken look that made Gosunkuji look handsome.
"Ranma," Nabiki started, "I apologize for what I did the other day."
"s'okay I deserved it. I let her down. I let them all down. I should've."
"Stop that!" Nabiki interrupted, "It's not your fault. I heard the story from the others. You did everything you could to save her. Hell, you destroyed a god to save her. Fate was just against you that day."
"But.."
"Shhh." Nabiki hushed. She let Ranma cry on her shoulder as she comforted him.
Akane sat facing them both with a smile on her face, "Thank you sis."
* * * * * * * * * *
Ukyou was setting up the grill for the lunch rush when Nabiki came in. She'd heard from Ryouga what had happened in China. She felt sad and elated at the same time. She had decided to give Ranma some time to grieve then go to him and comfort him in his time of need. She smiled sadly. It was tragic what had happened but it gave her the perfect opportunity to capture Ranma's heart.
"We're not open yet." Ukyou said.
"That's why this is the perfect time to talk to you." Nabiki replied.
"What do you want?"
"I've come to talk to you about Ranma. He's hurting real bad right now and I want to make sure that no one does anything to aggravate him." Nabiki started.
"I'd never to anything to hurt Ran-chan." Ukyou protested.
Nabiki shook her head, "What he needs right now are friends, not fiancés. He's close to suicidal as it is, I don't want anyone pushing him over."
"Ranma's suicidal?" Ukyou said in disbelief.
"He loved her that much. And he blames himself for her death. I'm sure he would very much like to join her wherever she's gone.", Nabiki wiped her eyes trying not to break down and cry again, "I want you to leave him alone unless he comes to you. And if he does just be his friend, ok?"
"And if I don't?" Ukyou pushed.
"Then you deal with me. And I'm sure we don't want that to happen do we? It would be a shame if I called in all your loans, might even have to sell the restaurant." Nabiki threatened.
Ukyou gulped as Nabiki left.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ranma-chan sat at the edge of the pond staring at her reflection. Gone were her flushed cheeks and perky eyes. Even her hair lay lifeless around her head. Her skin had become almost white except under her eyes where dark circles from many sleepless nights showed.
There was a ring of a bicycle bell as Shampoo hopped the wall and screeched to a halt on the other side of the pond from Ranma-chan.
Shampoo smiled at Ranma, "Airen take Shampoo on date yes?"
Ranma-chan looked at Shampoo with undisguised hatred. Shampoos smile left her face and she crumbled in on herself.
"Shampoo come to say sorry for what she do to Akane. Shampoo not in control of herself when she try to kill Akane."
Ranma-chan looked her in the eyes, "Get. Out. Now. Or I will kill you where you stand."
Shampoo hung her head in defeat and rode her bicycle back to the nekokatten.
* * * * * * * * * *
The phone rang for the fourth time. There was a crashing noise and a sound of scrambling as someone could be heard rushing for the phone. Two someone's actually.
Urd and Skuld fought to grab the phone at the same time.
"I've got it!" Skuld snarled.
"I don't think so brat. I'm sure it's for me anyway." Urd countered.
As the two goddesses fought each other, Belldandy approached and lifted the receiver.
"Moshi, moshi. Yes? Oh my. All right, I understand. Yes, here she is." Belldandy handed the receiver to Urd.
Urd stuck her tongue out at her youngest sister, "See, told ya! Hello? Oh, I see. Where? Ok, I'm on it." Urd hung the phone up with a serious expression on her face.
"What is it?" Skuld demanded.
"Apparently someone upstairs screwed up some paperwork and upset one of the Almighty's projects. I've been assigned to go fix it. This shouldn't take too long so don't have dinner without me." Urd walked over to the TV and turned it on. She bent over and crawled into the screen, disappearing as she did so.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was three o'clock in the morning. Ranma stood in Akane's room. It was still untouched. No one, not even Kasumi had come in here since that day. There was a fine layer of dust on the desk. Has it only been two weeks since. Ranma let the thought trail off. He tried to smile at all the stuffed animals on her bed.
"Kawaiikune tomb." Ranma winced as he felt the pain of loss pass over him. He dropped to his knees trying to get control of himself.
It shouldn't hurt this much. Nothing he'd ever faced had ever dealt this kind of pain to him. Fighting back his tears he steeled himself. There's only one way to end this pain.
Ranma pulled the tanto blade he'd brought with him out of its sheath. He shuddered at how the steel reflected the moonlight coming from the window. He brought the blade up and gulped nervously at what he was about to do.
Akane was frightened. She wanted so hard to stop Ranma but she couldn't touch anything. She tried screaming at him, hoping he would hear her. Finally she turned from him not bearing to watch as her fiance commited suicide.
There was a clatter of metal on the floor. Akane turned to see Ranma crying. The tanto lay beside him. The blade was clean.
"I can't do it. That's the coward's way out. Or maybe I'm a coward because I can't do it. No matter how much it hurts I have to bear it. It's what I deserve."
He stood up and walked to the window. Akane gasped. Ranma looked almost skeletal in the pale moonlight. She shook her head defiantly. She felt so helpless. Was she being tortured to watch this?
"It's sad what grief does to some people isn't it?"
Akane would have jumped out of her skin if she still had any. She looked behind her. There was a tall dark skinned woman with silvery blond hair in flowing robes smiling at her. She had a curious diamond shaped tattoo on her forehead. What Akane really noticed is that the woman was looking right at her.
"Y-you can see me?" Akane squeaked.
The woman nodded, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Urd, goddess second class limited license."
"A goddess? So you're here to take me away? Please, can you help Ranma first! He's hurting so bad. I can't bear to see him like this." Akane pleaded.
"Don't worry, everything will be ok. In fact I'm here to help the both of you. Apparently there has been a mix up in heaven and I've been sent to fix it." Urd said.
"I don't understand." Akane was confused.
Urd walked up to Akane and poked towards her chest, "You weren't supposed to die at Jusendou. Somewhere there was a glitch in the computer system and it took us two weeks to catch it. They still have people trying to track down the bug that allowed this to happen."
"So you can fix this?" Akane asked gesturing to herself and Ranma in one sweeping motion.
"To a point. The boss has plans for you two apparently. I can't change history, too much paperwork, but I can allow some other things." Urd handed Akane a small card.
Akane looked at it quizzically. Reading it, a look of disbelief came across her face, "You can't be serious."
"Congratulations. You are now a goddess third class limited license of the anything goes school of martial arts." Urd smiled.
"How can I be a goddess of martial arts?" Akane stammered.
"Oh, come on. This is Japan! They've got a kami for everything! Heck there's even a kami of spoiled cabbage. There was already a kami of martial arts so we made you a kami of your specific martial art." Urd explained.
"But.but." Akane stammered.
"Here's your handbook. It contains everything you need to know about being a goddess and rules and regulations you must abide by. Be sure to read it as soon as possible."
As Akane took the book her clothes swirled around her and became flowing robes like Urd's. Also a diamond shaped tattoo appeared on her forehead.
"So what do I do about Ranma?" Akane hesitantly asked.
"Just wait and see." Urd replied.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ranma opened Akane's window and jumped to the roof. He laid down panting from the exertion on the roof and gazed at the sky.
"If I'm lucky someone will challenge me soon and put me out of my misery." Ranma sighed.
He'd told Nabiki that he was coping better but knew she hadn't been fooled. She had forced him to eat however so he wasn't quite starving to death. Why couldn't he go through with sepuku? Because he wouldn't go to the same place she did, he realized.
A shooting star passed overhead and he almost missed seeing it. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"I wish Akane was alive and with me forever." He asked the stars. It was a futile gesture he thought.
There was suddenly a 'ding' as if a bell had gone off then a mechanical voice out of nowhere said, "Prerequisites satisfied, application submitted, your wish has been approved."
Ranma sat up looking around for the source of the voice before he realized he heard it in his own head.
Suddenly there was a glow to his right and he watched as a figure formed from the light. Ranma squinted as the light dimmed and disappeared. He gasped in surprise. It was Akane, 'HIS' Akane. He tried to get up but realized he was still exhausted from his leap to the roof.
"Akane? Am I dead? Is this a dream? If I am dreaming I never want to wake up again." Ranma said before sagging to the roof and losing consciousness.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ranma woke as the light of dawn hit his eyes. He remembered dreaming of Akane returning to him. She had looked like an angel and for a brief moment he thought she had come for him. He hated himself. Why did his mind torture him with these dreams? As awareness returned he realized he had slept on the roof again. He didn't remember bringing a pillow with him this time though. His head was cradled by something soft and warm. He opened his eyes and squinted in the dawn's light. He was looking at someone's face. As his eyes adjusted the face resolved itself.
'I'm going mad. That's the only explanation.'
"Akane? How?"
She smiled at him. It was a serene loving smile, "Shh, rest now, I will explain later."
Ranma's confused look faded as he drifted off to sleep again from Akane's touch.
Akane smiled again this time with a little worry. How did one explain their return to life? 'Hi, I've just returned from the dead and I'm a goddess now!' Akane shook her head. She would have to think of something soon, the rest of the house would be waking up shortly and Ranma wouldn't sleep much longer.
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki woke to the sounds of Kasumi cooking downstairs. She frowned, the whole family had been drained of life. She didn't even remember it being this bad when mom died. Akane had been the life and soul of the Tendo clan. With her gone it was if someone had blown out a candle. She heard Kasumi crying herself to sleep last night but couldn't bring herself to go to her sister and console her. Her father drifted in and out of a drug induced stupor. Dr. Tofu had prescribed some heavy duty tranquilizers to keep him from falling apart. She was sure that her father wouldn't last long without his angel. Akane had been his heir, his legacy to the art. Nabiki hated to admit it but Akane had been father's favorite. Kasumi was in serious denial and had closed herself off from everyone, insisting that everything was ok when she could be distracted from cleaning long enough to answer. Genma seemed the least affected by the whole thing. Sure he felt guilty for being under mind control during the Saffron incident but he was never one to let something as minor as guilt stop him before.
Nabiki slowly crawled out of bed contemplating ways to bring the family back together. She was getting dressed when she heard something move in Akane's bedroom. It was probably Ranma. He was the only one who went in there anymore. Nabiki's frown deepened. She needed to do something and soon or they would lose Ranma. She'd grown fond of the idiot over the last year regardless of how she acted on the surface. Once she'd gotten past her initial rage she realized how much more he was hurting than the rest of the family.
She pulled up and buttoned her pants and left her room. She paused at Akane's door wondering if maybe she should knock. Shrugging, she grabbed the handle and gave it a turn. Akane's room was still dark even with the sunlight coming in the window. As her eyes adjusted, Nabiki could see Ranma lying prone on the bed. There was someone tending him. She was dressed in long flowing robes. Nabiki gasped in shock.
Akane turned her head looking embarrassed, "Uh, hi sis!"
Nabiki fainted.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ranma finally woke up. He was sure he was awake this time. He was also sure he'd seen Akane. Somehow Akane had come back to him, or he'd gone to her. One or the other. He just knew they were together again.
"Akane? Where are you?" He said almost as a whisper.
"I'm here Ranma. Relax. I'm ok and you will be too once you start eating again." Akane said coming into his field of vision.
"How? I mean, why. You're back!" Ranma sat up on Akane's bed. He then saw that Akane was sitting on the floor holding Nabiki's head in her lap.
Akane smiled, the same smile Ranma had seen whenever he thought she was being cute. "I'll explain everything I can once Nabiki wakes up. I hope the rest of the family doesn't react like this once they see that I'm back."
Ranma crawled out of bed and over to Akane. He grabbed Akane in a bear hug almost knocking Nabiki to the floor.
"I'm so sorry Akane." Ranma cried.
"I know Ranma. It's ok. It wasn't your fault. It never was."
"Damn it Ranma, keep it down. I'm trying to. Oh, my god! Akane?"
Akane was in a double bear hug and it was hard to breathe. But it felt good. Good to feel, to breathe, to be touched and talked to. After two weeks of isolation even the crushing love of her sister and fiancé felt heavenly.
It took a few minutes to remove the two from Akane's waist.
Nabiki was trying desperately to stop crying. Ranma was close to collapsing again but held together for Akane's sake.
"I'm sure you want to know how I've returned. But first let me tell you that I am back and back for good. What happened at Jusendou was a mistake. According to the goddess that brought me back, Ranma's cries of love to me were supposed to bring my soul back to my body. They're still trying to figure out just what went wrong."
"You're saying I lost my sister to a clerical error?" Nabiki exclaimed.
"It's ok Nabs, they've fixed things as much as they could. In fact they've even made up for it. I'm now a goddess third class limited license of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts."
Ranma had a stunned, uncomprehending look.
"I would have held out for a better settlement sis." Nabiki said wryly. Akane grinned at seeing her sister's humor beginning to return.
"We need to let the rest of the family know. You've all been through so much pain and I'd hate to have a repeat of what happened with you and Ranma. I don't think I could stand to have everyone fainting at the sight of me."
"We may have to chance it with Kasumi. She'd withdrawn almost completely into her cleaning. I think she'll need a shock to bring her around. As for father, I think I have an idea that will work."
Akane nodded, trusting her sister's judgment. She turned to Ranma and held out her hand. "Let's go have some breakfast. I don't know about you but I haven't eaten in two weeks."
Ranma took her hand hesitantly as if she would disappear if he touched her now. They got up together and then all three went downstairs to breakfast.
* * * * * * * * * *
A man sat at a desk in a large office. He was dressed in an expensive black business suit and reclined in a black leather chair. He was tapping his fingernails on the deep black marble desktop as he watched the scene unfold on his terminal monitor.
"Damn!" he muttered, "They shouldn't have caught the error for at least another week and definitely not been able to do anything for at least another two." He reached for his intercom button, "Reese, how recent is this transmission?"
"About forty five minutes sir." Replied a nasal whiny voice.
"Damn!" He swore again. Another three or four days and Saotome would have removed himself from posing a problem.
"Get Mara and send her in. I have an assignment for her."
"Yes my Lord. At once." The voice replied.
The man leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of his face. Perhaps it was not too late to prevent Saotome from interfering in his plans.
* * * * * * * * * *
Genma's eyes widened in shock when he saw Akane walk down the stairs. He leapt out the back door and into the pond. As Akane sat down at the table, Genma could be seen outside playing with an old tire surrounded by signs proclaiming, 'I'm just a cute cuddly panda!'
Akane shook her head and laughed. Some things never changed.
There was a crash in the kitchen and Akane turned her head as Kasumi burst out the door towards her. "You are back! I heard your laugh and thought maybe someone was playing a cruel joke on me. Oh Akane! How did it happen? I saw the body. Was it Ranma? Did he bring you back somehow?" For the third time that day Akane felt the crushing embrace of a loved one.
"Ack! Kasumi.Can't.Breathe." Akane gasped.
Kasumi reluctantly lessened her grip but didn't let go, "You'll have to tell me all about it over breakfast." She kissed her younger sister on the forehead and got up to go back to the kitchen.
"Well that was easy." Nabiki said.
Soon everyone was gathered eating breakfast. Even Genma had been coaxed back to the table with food. Ranma was eating with an appetite he hadn't shown in weeks. Akane related her story of her death and subsequent resurrection filling in details she hadn't mentioned earlier. Finally breakfast was finished and there was an uncomfortable silence.
"So, how are we going to handle father." Kasumi finally said.
"We don't tell him." Nabiki answered.
"What?" Akane exclaimed, "But he's."
Nabiki cut her off, "I mean we stop giving him the tranquilizers and let him think the whole thing was a dream from some sort of illness. He's been pretty out of it. We'll have to hide Akane's urn, if that's all right with you sis."
Akane nodded dumbly. She hadn't thought of that. Her original body, or what was left of it, was in a small jar in the dojo. It didn't feel real somehow.
"Well my boy, we are truly blessed." Genma finally said.
"What are you talking about old man?" Ranma grumbled.
"Our school of the art has it's own kami, and you're engaged to her!" Genma said smugly.
Ranma was too tired to argue with him although Akane was giving Genma a look that if she knew how to access her full powers would probably have reduced him to ash. As it was, Genma simply shut up.
"First things first. I'll bring breakfast up to father." Akane said. Then looking at Ranma, "apparently he's not the only one I have to nurse back to health."
Ranma smiled wanly.
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane set the tray of food on the nightstand by Soun's bed. She sat in a nearby chair and stared at her father. He was breathing easily in drug induced slumber. She could see the new wrinkles and gray hair he had acquired over the last two weeks. Sighing she reached into her robes and took out her goddess training manual and thumbed through the contents.
After a few minutes of reading she found what she was looking for. She went over to her father and knelt by him. Placing her hands, one on his head and one on his chest, Akane began to pray like the book instructed. Slowly her hands began to glow and she felt the warmth flow into her father. Finally she stopped and sat staring the man who taught her everything she knew about martial arts.
Soun's eyes fluttered as he began to wake up. He felt someone sitting next to him. He turned and opened his eyes.
"A-Akane?" he half whispered.
"Shh, father. I'm here. Your fever's finally broken. You need rest. I brought your breakfast."
"Fever? But I. You were. I think I had a very bad nightmare." Soun said.
"You've been in and out of delirium for almost two weeks. Don't worry, you're going to be just fine now. Now eat your breakfast." Akane smiled at her father.
"Yes, yes. I must get my strength back after all. It's good to see you girl." Soun hugged his daughter.
Akane got up and left. When did Akane get a tattoo Soun wondered.
* * * * * * * * * *
"He bought it. I removed the chemicals from his system and gave him the story you told me. As far as dad knows, he's been sick for a little over a week, and has been delirious for most of it." Akane said coming down the stairs.
Nabiki nodded, "That was probably the easiest of all of them. How are we going to explain Akane's resurrection to the rest of Nerima? The only one's who haven't heard of Akane's death are the Kunos."
Akane stared at her sister, "Why the Kunos? And how did you keep them from knowing?"
Nabiki gestured to Ranma, "What do you think Kuno would have done to your poor fiancé if he heard Ranma hadn't been able to save you. And in his condition do you think Ranma could have defended himself or even tried to? It wasn't cheap, but I thought you would have wanted me to keep the poor bugger alive."
Akane hugged her sister, "Thanks Nabs. I owe you."
"Don't worry, I'll collect. So do goddesses grant wishes?" Nabiki grinned.
"I don't know yet. I still have to read this manual before tomorrow." Akane held up her book.
Nabiki looked at it. The title said, 'Congratulations, you're a goddess! by L.Ron Hubbard.'
"So this is your training manual?"
"I think so. I have a meeting with Urd and her sisters tomorrow to answer any questions I have." Akane answered.
"Can I see it?" Nabiki held out her hand.
Akane shrugged and gave her the book. Nabiki opened it and began leafing through it.
"I can't read any of this! What language is this written in?" Nabiki complained.
"I thought it was Japanese." Akane took the book back, "Yeah, it's in Japanese."
"Pops once had a scroll like that. Only the pure of heart could read it or something like that. I could only read one word in ten which irritated Pop to no end cause it was all gibberish to him." Ranma smirked. Akane smiled, it was good to see Ranma returning to his old self already. She frowned when she thought of how close things had come last night and put her arm around Ranma and held him close.
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane spent the rest of the day reading her manual. Most of it was on rules and protocol. Things like no swearing or using her god powers to do mundane chores around the house. She found she was allowed to grant wishes but only if they were pre-approved and validated by a wish caseworker. Otherwise she was prohibited from making any agreements or promises with any mortal as the word of a goddess was considered binding. Akane was astounded by the amount of bureaucracy there seemed to be in heaven. She read a brief overview of the Yggdrasil system that ran all of creation including debugging duties. It was almost supper time when she reached the end of the book.
Ranma had sat nearby all day, eating whenever food was brought out as if he was making up for the past two weeks. His color was improving and his face no longer seemed so gaunt. Akane briefly wondered if she could do something to help Ranma recover faster but decided Ranma would feel better if he did it himself.
"Ranma, I think it's time for you to start going back to school. Don't worry, we'll both go. Just because I'm a goddess doesn't mean I automatically know everything. I still have to learn just like anyone else." Akane finally said.
"If you feel up to it then so do I." Ranma replied. He was holding Akane just as tight as she was as if they were both afraid of being separated again.
"First off though, I'd like you to come with me tomorrow to see the other goddesses. I could use the moral support." Akane asked.
"Of course. I don't know if I could let you out of my sight for that long." Ranma admitted.
"Baka, why does it always take something drastic to get us to admit our feelings to each other?"
"Just lucky I guess." Ranma smirked.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was a twenty minute walk from the train station to the temple. Akane and Ranma walked up the steps from the street hand in hand. Akane gulped nervously as she went to knock on the door. Before she had a chance to however, the door slid open revealing a young girl no older than twelve or thirteen years from the looks of her.
"Hi! You must be Akane. Urd's expecting you. By the way, I'm Skuld, her younger, smarter sister." The girl bowed then escorted them inside. They were led to a table outside behind the main temple. Apparently it was approaching lunchtime as the table had been set and there were two people seated already. One of them, Urd, waved Akane and Ranma over.
"So did you find the place without any problems?" She asked.
"No, it was surprisingly easy to find the place after you gave me directions." Akane replied.
"It's a god thing. We don't get lost easy. Well, except for the god of wayward travelers, but he only has one disciple that I know of so he's pretty unimportant."
Ranma chuckled to himself. Akane wondered what he thought was so funny then it struck her, Ryouga. She did her best to keep a straight face.
Belldandy came out with a pot of rice to complete the meal and sat down. Urd introduced everyone, "You've already met Skuld. This is my other sister Belldandy and her 'mortal' boyfriend Keiichi. This is Akane Tendo, goddess third class limited license of the Anything Goes School of martial arts and her mortal fiance of the same school."
Keiichi was shaking his head sadly, muttering something about 'more gods'. Ranma leaned over and whispered, "So you're an ordinary guy like me huh?"
Keiichi nodded, "Yeah, I was given a wish and I asked for Belldandy to with me forever. And here we are."
"And that's one of the things that made Akane's return possible Ranma. That night you 'wished Akane was alive and with you forever.' Your wish had been granted and now there is nothing that can ever keep you apart." Urd explained.
Skuld nodded and continued, "That's right. The Ultimate Force is now in effect. Anything that tries to separate you two will be neutralized."
"So my other fiancés and Akane's suitors?" Ranma asked.
"Will just be out of luck. Bad things happen to those who interfere with the Ultimate Force." Urd said.
Ranma was unsure how to take that. Forever with Akane, just a few weeks ago he would have run screaming to the hills at just the thought. Now he couldn't imagine ever being apart from her.
"So does this mean the Kuno's will finally get a clue?" Ranma asked.
"That's unlikely. The Ultimate force doesn't change people but alters probability. The closer someone comes to breaking you apart the worse their luck will get. It would be little things at first, like tripping on a rock or turning a corner just a second to late to see you. The more persistent the person though the worse the fate. I've seen people struck by lightning, mauled by dogs, once I even saw someone sucked up into a tornado. It varies from person to person and the Ultimate force wouldn't kill anyone but it does have a keen sense of humor." Skuld explained.
Akane nodded, it had all been explained in her training manual. She imagined her rivals tripping all over themselves to steal Ranma away. She smiled, holding back the urge to laugh. It wouldn't do to gloat that she had finally won the Fiancé Wars. She snapped back to attention as she realized Urd was talking to her.
"The fact that you are a new goddess means you have a probationary status. After a training period of three months your license will be formally approved and you'll be on your own except for periodical updates and assignments. Probation is merely a formality. If we didn't think you could do the job you wouldn't have been offered it." Urd shook her head slowly before continuing, "Skuld has been assigned to be your instructor. She will enroll at Furinkan High and move into the Tendo household for the duration of your training."
Skuld frowned for a moment and opened her mouth to say something but stayed silent when a thought occurred to her. She had her own assignment! Her plans to convince Belldandy that Keichi was no good for her could be put aside. This was a real assignment which meant someone was finally acknowledging her ability to do something besides smash bugs.
"Your first lesson will be debugging." Urd said. Skuld facefaulted to the floor.
* * * * * * * * * *