Epilogue
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"Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond your grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Ryoga staggered away from the make shift battlefield. The weight of his injuries weighted heavily upon his body, but the lightness of his spirit easily washed the pain away. Done, it's done. Finally...they can do things at their own pace, no more interlopers.
Slowly Ryoga raised microphone speaker to his mouth spoke into it. "Nabiki, it's over. Not the way we planned, but still done. Don't tell them my part in this."
"Great, I'll give you directions to the doj..."
"I am not coming back. I'll mail you your device." Ryoga said his voice devoid of feeling, flipping the machine off.
Ryoga walked slowly, letting his sense of direction guide him and his thoughts remain blank. There is a type of beauty in wandering aimless...I am free—free of guilt, free of dread, free to embrace the future without regret.
Ryoga walked to the edge of a bridge, suspended over a canal. He stood there alone, not a soul in sight, basking in the sunlight and watching his reflection. Idly and pensively he remembered seeing his reflection in the koi pond at the Tendo home. I look the same, but there's something different too. I can't place it...
Footsteps shattered his reverie. He turned to his friend, rival, and so much more standing on the opposite end of the bridge.
"Ranma, farewell." Ryoga called to his friend, simply, but with sincerity that implied permanency.
"You don't have to leave."
"I do. Actually, I've got one last favor to ask of you."
"Anything. What is it?"
"Don't make her wait too long."
Without another word, Ryoga turned his back on Ranma and his past in Nerima and slowly walked towards the sun. Suddenly it struck Ryoga, what was different about his reflection.
Am I happy? Are my friends? I've been so focused on atoning that I've almost made a much graver mistake.
Ryoga slowly unbuckled the shoulder pads he wore and tossed them into the canal, casting aside physical and emotional burdens simultaneously. With a wolfish grin he shattered the silence, "Ranma, want to spar next week? Can't have you growing rusty can we?" The smile that greeted him assured Ryoga, he had made the right choice.
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Concluding Thoughts
This final section is perhaps an explanation of why I wrote this story and how the idea for it formed. It contains spoilers, though I doubt anyone that's reading fanfiction isn't intimately informed.
The idea for this story was based upon as you've probably guessed Ryoga. Originally I was greatly impressed with his actions during the Wedding scene at the end of the manga. Now, I've not been lucky enough to actually read it, but my understanding is while Shampoo/Ukyo/Kodachi/Kuno interfered with the wedding so to speak, Ryoga just sat there depressed. Granted not the ideal action, but at the same time that's quite a lot of growth from the early Ryoga.
As I looked back I noted several instances where Ryoga had character growth. Early on Ryoga tries to "win" Akane in the Bakusai-ten-ketsu story, but later on he has changed quite a bit. Ryoga doesn't try to kill Ranma(unlike Mousse/Kuno/Principal Kuno) when he is weak in the Hiryuu shouten-ha story, and even defends him. In that story, Shishi houkou-dan, and in the Mark of the Gods story lines, Ryoga did not try to "win" Akane even though he could have certainly had a chance at beating Ranma in the first two stories and would have won without a doubt in the last one. This is starkly in contrast to the Bakusai-ten-ketsu story, making his personal growth obvious. During the Ryugenzawa story arc, Ryoga has an interesting speech that basically says even though he's always been nothing more than a friend to Akane, he still will help her in that battle against that monster. This is used to goad Ranma, but at the same time I thought it spoke volumes about his character growth. Likewise the "Red Thread of Dread" arc and OVA 6 "The One to Carry On", Ryoga is torn between helping Akane to be happy and having her fail to be happy, but him having a better chance with her. Both times he fails to make the decision in her favor; however, he agonizes over it. The early Ryoga would have simply seized these opportunities.
His actions seem premeditated not a fluke in the ending of the series. Thus, I felt the potential to write a story that has Ryoga come to terms with what he should do. This story was my attempt to reach that end, though Ryoga's dark outlook on life created an atmosphere that weakened the believability of the entire story. It uses characters from the series, but it's not what Ranma ½ should be. Hopefully, it isn't too terrible for a first attempt. If I get motivated anytime soon perhaps I'll develop another idea out into a story.
Lastly I'd like to thank the following people for their insights, Solomon's Nightmare, Silver, Lord Cirenmas, Edhunne, Echo, libhranan, Kawaii Kitsune, Luz, and anyone else that I've missed.