The Royal Servant
Chapter 6, Not His Fault
Author's Notes: Here it is! The next chapter to The Royal Servant. You know, when I started this story I didn't think people would like it, actually. But now, it's actually giving SP, BD a run for its money! Okay, let's get back to more important things. Thanx to alllll the people that e-mailed me about this story. It was a great help, like getting candies and flowers while you're in the hospital to help you get better. Writer's Block begone! Begone? Is that still a word? Do people still use it? :) Okay, okay, onto the story that hopefully, ya'll will enjoy...
Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and I belong to me.
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"Ranma, for the last time, this technique is one of the essential things you need to know to become a gypsy. All gypsies are required to know it and they are taught this technique when they were only four. You will not and can not become a gypsy without this technique," Akane said exasperated. Ranma shot her an annoyed look from where he sat next to her.
Akane sighed and continued to bandage and put salve on his crispy, burnt hands.
"Listen, Akane, the directions you gave me weren't exactly that crystal clear, y'know," Ranma grumbled, "Throw some chestnuts into an open-fire and make me fast enough to catch and disintegrate them before they hit the fire floor isn't very specific. I mean, my hands are roasted more then the chestnuts are and can't we work on another technique?"
"No! Now, watch one more time," Akane commanded and proceeded to do the technique perfectly without ruining her hands.
"Ranma! Ne-ne!" a shrill, female voice shouted out.
Akane smiled happily as Ranma gave a loud groan.
"Lunchtime!" Akane shouted as she went to greet the purple-haired gypsy girl with the basket full of delicious food and drinks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane sneaked a look at the Prince of Terian from the top of her sandwich. Ranma had a comically frightened look on his face as Shan tried to feed him an orange while she slinked her body around his. Akane almost burst out laughing at the sight. It was just so funny to see the arrogant Prince so helpless in the arms of a female. Her and Ranma had been training hard now for a full two weeks every morning from the break of dawn until lunchtime when she would get back to her servant duties. Kasumi had told everyone that she was pregnant already and the whole palace seemed to vibrate with joy as they prepared for her journey back to Jyuan.
"Just one bite. Very nice fruit, yes? Sweet, juicy-" Shan said and Akane couldn't help but let a giggle escape her lips. She quickly looked down at her sandwich to avoid the glare Ranma shot her.
Shan gave a giggle and slid off of Ranma as she smiled at Akane and said in gypsy, "He's so cute when he's like this. I know he doesn't like it when I do stuff like this but it's all worth it just to see him squirm. I wonder what he'd do if I crawled into bed with him one night naked."
Ranma watched in confusion as Akane started to choke on her sandwich and he scrambled over to pat her on the back. When she stopped choking she took one look at him then another at Shampoo before breaking out into a hysterical fit of laughter.
"What did you say to her?" he demanded of Shampoo since he felt as if Akane's humor was at his expense.
"Shampoo say nothing. Shampoo go now," the other gypsy said quickly before flashing him a smile and running off with her basket.
When Akane seemed to have calmed down a bit, he watched her lay down on the grassy hill and stare at the clouds.
"What did Shampoo say?" he asked angrily and when she didn't answer he sat down next to her and leaned over her so that her face and his were only inches apart and she couldn't avoid his question.
"What did Shampoo say?" he grounded out again and he saw as a beautiful pink flush found it's way up Akane's face. It was like watching a flower blooming.
Ranma suddenly noticed the exact position they were in and he felt himself heat up...and not all of it was from blushing. *Okay, calm down...breathe-no wait...don't breathe... calm down...can she hear my heart?...of course she could...it's beating so damn hard... concentrate...heart...stop beating so fast...concentrate...she smells so nice...damn!...*
They just laid there for awhile, their breaths intermingled and his breathing uneven. She smelled like happiness and joy and fire and spirit...she smelled like Akane. Just Akane. But it wasn't her smell or her face that drew him in...it was her eyes...those damn dark, sultry brown eyes...
Ranma looked into those eyes and felt as if he was drowning in fire...in flaming hot molten lava...and he never wanted to go back to the real world again...and then Akane licked her lips...and Ranma started to bend his head as she raised hers...
*...I'm not going to kiss him....I'm not going to kiss him...* Akane chanted over and over again...
*...I'm going to kiss her...I'm going to kiss her...* Ranma inwardly thought.
"Ryo," Akane suddenly whispered...and the moment was shattered...although Ranma couldn't help but feel his heart crack a little.
"What?" he asked as he got off of her. He felt disgusted at hearing the hurt in his voice.
"Ryoga," Akane explained as she stood up, "He's angry. Very, very angry. I can feel it."
"So?" Ranma asked as he stood up too. The stupid idiot Ryoga gets a little bit angry and she has to go running to him?
"No, you don't get it," Akane said running a hand through her hair as she tried to concentrate and pin-point the location where Ryoga was at, "Ryo has this...thing...and when he gets really angry or really depressed he can't control his powers...and well...the last time this happened a whole town was destroyed in 3 seconds. Got it." And she ran off leaving a confused Ranma to chase after her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What Ranma saw when he and Akane arrived on the scene stunned him. They were in the gardens where Ryoga had opted to camp out at instead of using one of the palaces' many rooms. The boy in question stood in the center of the garden glowing a dark blackish gray color that grew with every second. Ukyo stood to the side, her face in horror, a bracelet in her hand.
"What's happening?" Ranma shouted to the duchess.
"I-I don't know!" Ukyo just exclaimed.
Before they knew what happened Akane had already burst forward and threw herself into the black glow that surrounded Ryoga.
"Akane, no!" the Prince shouted but the girl paid no heed to him or his words. Akane wrapped her arms around Ryoga and whispered in his ear, "Shhhh....shhh...it's okay, Ryo...it's okay... it's Ne-ne...shhh...calm down..." Ranma and Ukyo watched in shock as Akane continued this and the glow around Ryoga started to dim and then fade as the boy collapsed onto his knees. Akane's arms were still around him, Ranma noted painfully.
The gypsy girl hit a point on Ryoga's neck and he collapsed in a heap onto the ground. Akane turned wary eyes to Ranma then Ukyo and it was there that her eyes flashed with anger at the bracelet in Ukyo's hands. Standing up, Akane stomped over to where Ukyo stood and she asked as she snatched the bracelet out of Ukyo's hands, "Where did you get this?"
Ranma hurried over and took a closer look at the bracelet. It was very beautiful, made from magnificent...flowers? Anyways, there were some strange symbols on the side of the bracelet.
"I...I...I bought it from a local wanderer," Ukyo said numbly.
"Damn!" Akane cursed.
"Mind telling me what's going on?" Ranma asked and Akane turned stricken eyes to him.
"I can't," she whispered and he felt his chest tighten at her unwillingness to trust him.
"I think you should, Akane or this just might happen again," Ukyo drawled out slowly and Akane sighed as she nodded and motioned for the two Royals to follow her inside.
"What about him?" Ranma asked, pointing at the unconscious Ryoga.
"Don't worry, he's not going anywhere..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Me and Ryo have always been engaged, for as long as I could remember and it wasn't something that was overly stressed. He was a wandering gypsy and we only saw each other a couple months a year at best...but he was still my best friend...besides Shan and Tsu-tsu. For awhile I guess...when I was little he had a crush on me...but he got past that. I was always happy to see him though and I guess a piece of me will always belong to him. He was my first crush, first kiss, first everything. Ryo was always so sweet, so optimistic, so carefree, but it was that year that changed it all...
######Flashback######
The 16-year-old girl sat in the caravan, humming softly as she cleaned and wiped the golden sword. She abruptly stopped her work when a purple-haired teenager entered the caravan, all flushed and excited.
"Ne-ne, Ryo's back!" Shan cried before running out again. Akane stood up quickly and rushed out also, her sword forgotten behind her.
Ryoga looked up from among the midst of hugs and kisses along with congratulations to see a beautiful, blue-haired girl stop a few feet away with tears in her eyes. He slowly started to walk over...then ran and picked her up and swung her around. They both laughed with joy until Ryoga had stopped spinning and put Akane back on her feet.
"Akane, guess what?" he exclaimed happily, his face illuminating with joy.
"What?" whatever could make her best friend this happy must certainly be good.
"I'm getting married!" he shouted and Akane felt the world drop from under her.
######End of Flashback#######
"...I have to admit it was a shock to me as much as anyone but I think it hurt me the most simply because I hadn't gotten over my crush on Ryo at the time. But he was happy and so I was too. It wasn't exactly heartbreak I felt...it was more of a slight ache at the pit of my stomach and the top of my heart. Like I was losing my best friend forever," at that Akane turned so that her eyes were looking out the window.
"It turned out, when Ryo had been traveling in his cursed form, a girl had saw the cute little piggy and adopted it. Her name was Akari and she had been a pig-farmer. Ryoga said that he took one look at her through his beady pig eyes and he was in love. She was perfect in his eyes...untarnished...beautiful...and I guess in a way, Akari was perfect. No matter how much I tried, I just couldn't not like her. But the problem was, Akari only knew P-chan, Ryo's pig form...she didn't know Ryoga. So, he went onto her farm in disguise as a worker for the pigs. I think it was during that time the Akari fell in love with Ryo and he asked her to marry him. That he was willing to give up wandering to be with her," at this Akane gave a ghost of a smile that soon turned bitter.
"It was perfect...wonderful...the love of the century. You should have seen the way he was around her, I never saw my arrogant, confidant Ryo turn into a shy, blushing guy before, but that's how he was around Akari. Around Akari, Ryo would trip over chairs, blush, laugh for no reason and no one could deny that he was lovesick over the girl and that she practically worshiped the ground he walked on. But as always, perfection doesn't exist and there is always something to ruin it. There was a noble...I can't even remember the bastard's name now...he had wanted Akari for himself for a long time and was very angry that she decided to marry Ryo. So, you know what he did? Do you?" Akane asked furiously and for one brief second it wasn't Ranma and Ukyo in front of her...it was the Prince and Duchess.
"The bastard kidnapped Akari and raped her! Nobody would fight against the power that noble held and so the gypsies decided to help Ryo get in and help Akari escape... but it was too late...Akari...she...she had committed suicide...slit her wrists with the glass of the window...and on the wall written in blood was...'I love you Ryoga'..." Akane said. The gypsy girl broke down crying but she continued to tell her story.
"It was terrible...horrible...Ryo...he...he really hurt that bastard...made sure he couldn't have kids too...but it wasn't enough...because Akari wasn't coming back...and that was how we learned of his power. Ryo had this special thing where he channeled his energy based solely on his emotions and it was in a wreck at the moment. He blew up a whole town...and we were lucky it was abandoned and those in it were only minor injured. Everyone was afraid to go near him since he hurt everyone that did...except me...for some reason...he didn't hurt me...never did. And I was the only one that could possibly know how much he loved her...how many hours he spent sobbing...
"...I would comfort him and he would tell me stories of him and Akari and I think it was in that moment that I realized I didn't love Ryo...not in the way I thought I did...I loved him like a brother...and nothing more...it was a sort of unspoken agreement that our engagement was back on and we were to be married since Ryo promised himself he wouldn't love anyone else and I would rather marry Ryo then marry some fiancee that I never met before. I've seen a lot of people proclaim they loved each other...I've read a lot of romance novels...but none of them...none of them came close to what Ryo and Akari had...that was love...and it was doomed from the start..." Both Ranma and Ukyo looked at Akane in shock.
The girl suddenly pointed at Ukyo's bracelet, "After Akari's incident, Ryo hated any and all nobles, especially royalty. That bracelet you have...Ryo made that for Akari... those symbols on the side says her name entwined with Ryo's...it's what the groom gives the bride for the gypsies...it's like a wedding certificate. He must have been very angry to see you with it. Now, if you'll excuse me I have work to do."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A figure entered the garden...her long skirts swishing around her. She took out a bracelet and put it on the hand of the unconscious boy on the ground. The figure gave the sleeping boy a kiss on the forehead before disappearing into the night again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...now, you will need a change of clothing so we'll have to pack your clothes also," Akane said and the Queen just grabbed her hand to have the servant girl kneeling at her feet.
"Oh Akane," Kasumi laughed, "I don't need that much clothing and things. I think I can manage."
At that the blue-haired girl just pouted and hugged the Queen, "I'm going to miss you so much Kasumi."
"No, you're not," Kasumi said and Akane started, "What?"
"You're coming with me," Kasumi said sweetly.
Akane stared at the Queen in confusion, "But why? I mean, you have enough servants."
"I want you to see Jyuan, Akane," the other said softly.
"Why?" Akane whispered.
Kasumi took Akane's face in her hands and whispered as she stared in the younger girl's eyes, "Because I have reason to believe that you are the lost Princess Akane Kimiko Washuki Tendo...lost heir to the Jyuan throne."
In the doorway of the room, Ranko dropped her glass of water.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Notes: Minor cliffhanger.
Chapter 6, Not His Fault
Author's Notes: Here it is! The next chapter to The Royal Servant. You know, when I started this story I didn't think people would like it, actually. But now, it's actually giving SP, BD a run for its money! Okay, let's get back to more important things. Thanx to alllll the people that e-mailed me about this story. It was a great help, like getting candies and flowers while you're in the hospital to help you get better. Writer's Block begone! Begone? Is that still a word? Do people still use it? :) Okay, okay, onto the story that hopefully, ya'll will enjoy...
Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and I belong to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ranma, for the last time, this technique is one of the essential things you need to know to become a gypsy. All gypsies are required to know it and they are taught this technique when they were only four. You will not and can not become a gypsy without this technique," Akane said exasperated. Ranma shot her an annoyed look from where he sat next to her.
Akane sighed and continued to bandage and put salve on his crispy, burnt hands.
"Listen, Akane, the directions you gave me weren't exactly that crystal clear, y'know," Ranma grumbled, "Throw some chestnuts into an open-fire and make me fast enough to catch and disintegrate them before they hit the fire floor isn't very specific. I mean, my hands are roasted more then the chestnuts are and can't we work on another technique?"
"No! Now, watch one more time," Akane commanded and proceeded to do the technique perfectly without ruining her hands.
"Ranma! Ne-ne!" a shrill, female voice shouted out.
Akane smiled happily as Ranma gave a loud groan.
"Lunchtime!" Akane shouted as she went to greet the purple-haired gypsy girl with the basket full of delicious food and drinks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane sneaked a look at the Prince of Terian from the top of her sandwich. Ranma had a comically frightened look on his face as Shan tried to feed him an orange while she slinked her body around his. Akane almost burst out laughing at the sight. It was just so funny to see the arrogant Prince so helpless in the arms of a female. Her and Ranma had been training hard now for a full two weeks every morning from the break of dawn until lunchtime when she would get back to her servant duties. Kasumi had told everyone that she was pregnant already and the whole palace seemed to vibrate with joy as they prepared for her journey back to Jyuan.
"Just one bite. Very nice fruit, yes? Sweet, juicy-" Shan said and Akane couldn't help but let a giggle escape her lips. She quickly looked down at her sandwich to avoid the glare Ranma shot her.
Shan gave a giggle and slid off of Ranma as she smiled at Akane and said in gypsy, "He's so cute when he's like this. I know he doesn't like it when I do stuff like this but it's all worth it just to see him squirm. I wonder what he'd do if I crawled into bed with him one night naked."
Ranma watched in confusion as Akane started to choke on her sandwich and he scrambled over to pat her on the back. When she stopped choking she took one look at him then another at Shampoo before breaking out into a hysterical fit of laughter.
"What did you say to her?" he demanded of Shampoo since he felt as if Akane's humor was at his expense.
"Shampoo say nothing. Shampoo go now," the other gypsy said quickly before flashing him a smile and running off with her basket.
When Akane seemed to have calmed down a bit, he watched her lay down on the grassy hill and stare at the clouds.
"What did Shampoo say?" he asked angrily and when she didn't answer he sat down next to her and leaned over her so that her face and his were only inches apart and she couldn't avoid his question.
"What did Shampoo say?" he grounded out again and he saw as a beautiful pink flush found it's way up Akane's face. It was like watching a flower blooming.
Ranma suddenly noticed the exact position they were in and he felt himself heat up...and not all of it was from blushing. *Okay, calm down...breathe-no wait...don't breathe... calm down...can she hear my heart?...of course she could...it's beating so damn hard... concentrate...heart...stop beating so fast...concentrate...she smells so nice...damn!...*
They just laid there for awhile, their breaths intermingled and his breathing uneven. She smelled like happiness and joy and fire and spirit...she smelled like Akane. Just Akane. But it wasn't her smell or her face that drew him in...it was her eyes...those damn dark, sultry brown eyes...
Ranma looked into those eyes and felt as if he was drowning in fire...in flaming hot molten lava...and he never wanted to go back to the real world again...and then Akane licked her lips...and Ranma started to bend his head as she raised hers...
*...I'm not going to kiss him....I'm not going to kiss him...* Akane chanted over and over again...
*...I'm going to kiss her...I'm going to kiss her...* Ranma inwardly thought.
"Ryo," Akane suddenly whispered...and the moment was shattered...although Ranma couldn't help but feel his heart crack a little.
"What?" he asked as he got off of her. He felt disgusted at hearing the hurt in his voice.
"Ryoga," Akane explained as she stood up, "He's angry. Very, very angry. I can feel it."
"So?" Ranma asked as he stood up too. The stupid idiot Ryoga gets a little bit angry and she has to go running to him?
"No, you don't get it," Akane said running a hand through her hair as she tried to concentrate and pin-point the location where Ryoga was at, "Ryo has this...thing...and when he gets really angry or really depressed he can't control his powers...and well...the last time this happened a whole town was destroyed in 3 seconds. Got it." And she ran off leaving a confused Ranma to chase after her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What Ranma saw when he and Akane arrived on the scene stunned him. They were in the gardens where Ryoga had opted to camp out at instead of using one of the palaces' many rooms. The boy in question stood in the center of the garden glowing a dark blackish gray color that grew with every second. Ukyo stood to the side, her face in horror, a bracelet in her hand.
"What's happening?" Ranma shouted to the duchess.
"I-I don't know!" Ukyo just exclaimed.
Before they knew what happened Akane had already burst forward and threw herself into the black glow that surrounded Ryoga.
"Akane, no!" the Prince shouted but the girl paid no heed to him or his words. Akane wrapped her arms around Ryoga and whispered in his ear, "Shhhh....shhh...it's okay, Ryo...it's okay... it's Ne-ne...shhh...calm down..." Ranma and Ukyo watched in shock as Akane continued this and the glow around Ryoga started to dim and then fade as the boy collapsed onto his knees. Akane's arms were still around him, Ranma noted painfully.
The gypsy girl hit a point on Ryoga's neck and he collapsed in a heap onto the ground. Akane turned wary eyes to Ranma then Ukyo and it was there that her eyes flashed with anger at the bracelet in Ukyo's hands. Standing up, Akane stomped over to where Ukyo stood and she asked as she snatched the bracelet out of Ukyo's hands, "Where did you get this?"
Ranma hurried over and took a closer look at the bracelet. It was very beautiful, made from magnificent...flowers? Anyways, there were some strange symbols on the side of the bracelet.
"I...I...I bought it from a local wanderer," Ukyo said numbly.
"Damn!" Akane cursed.
"Mind telling me what's going on?" Ranma asked and Akane turned stricken eyes to him.
"I can't," she whispered and he felt his chest tighten at her unwillingness to trust him.
"I think you should, Akane or this just might happen again," Ukyo drawled out slowly and Akane sighed as she nodded and motioned for the two Royals to follow her inside.
"What about him?" Ranma asked, pointing at the unconscious Ryoga.
"Don't worry, he's not going anywhere..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Me and Ryo have always been engaged, for as long as I could remember and it wasn't something that was overly stressed. He was a wandering gypsy and we only saw each other a couple months a year at best...but he was still my best friend...besides Shan and Tsu-tsu. For awhile I guess...when I was little he had a crush on me...but he got past that. I was always happy to see him though and I guess a piece of me will always belong to him. He was my first crush, first kiss, first everything. Ryo was always so sweet, so optimistic, so carefree, but it was that year that changed it all...
######Flashback######
The 16-year-old girl sat in the caravan, humming softly as she cleaned and wiped the golden sword. She abruptly stopped her work when a purple-haired teenager entered the caravan, all flushed and excited.
"Ne-ne, Ryo's back!" Shan cried before running out again. Akane stood up quickly and rushed out also, her sword forgotten behind her.
Ryoga looked up from among the midst of hugs and kisses along with congratulations to see a beautiful, blue-haired girl stop a few feet away with tears in her eyes. He slowly started to walk over...then ran and picked her up and swung her around. They both laughed with joy until Ryoga had stopped spinning and put Akane back on her feet.
"Akane, guess what?" he exclaimed happily, his face illuminating with joy.
"What?" whatever could make her best friend this happy must certainly be good.
"I'm getting married!" he shouted and Akane felt the world drop from under her.
######End of Flashback#######
"...I have to admit it was a shock to me as much as anyone but I think it hurt me the most simply because I hadn't gotten over my crush on Ryo at the time. But he was happy and so I was too. It wasn't exactly heartbreak I felt...it was more of a slight ache at the pit of my stomach and the top of my heart. Like I was losing my best friend forever," at that Akane turned so that her eyes were looking out the window.
"It turned out, when Ryo had been traveling in his cursed form, a girl had saw the cute little piggy and adopted it. Her name was Akari and she had been a pig-farmer. Ryoga said that he took one look at her through his beady pig eyes and he was in love. She was perfect in his eyes...untarnished...beautiful...and I guess in a way, Akari was perfect. No matter how much I tried, I just couldn't not like her. But the problem was, Akari only knew P-chan, Ryo's pig form...she didn't know Ryoga. So, he went onto her farm in disguise as a worker for the pigs. I think it was during that time the Akari fell in love with Ryo and he asked her to marry him. That he was willing to give up wandering to be with her," at this Akane gave a ghost of a smile that soon turned bitter.
"It was perfect...wonderful...the love of the century. You should have seen the way he was around her, I never saw my arrogant, confidant Ryo turn into a shy, blushing guy before, but that's how he was around Akari. Around Akari, Ryo would trip over chairs, blush, laugh for no reason and no one could deny that he was lovesick over the girl and that she practically worshiped the ground he walked on. But as always, perfection doesn't exist and there is always something to ruin it. There was a noble...I can't even remember the bastard's name now...he had wanted Akari for himself for a long time and was very angry that she decided to marry Ryo. So, you know what he did? Do you?" Akane asked furiously and for one brief second it wasn't Ranma and Ukyo in front of her...it was the Prince and Duchess.
"The bastard kidnapped Akari and raped her! Nobody would fight against the power that noble held and so the gypsies decided to help Ryo get in and help Akari escape... but it was too late...Akari...she...she had committed suicide...slit her wrists with the glass of the window...and on the wall written in blood was...'I love you Ryoga'..." Akane said. The gypsy girl broke down crying but she continued to tell her story.
"It was terrible...horrible...Ryo...he...he really hurt that bastard...made sure he couldn't have kids too...but it wasn't enough...because Akari wasn't coming back...and that was how we learned of his power. Ryo had this special thing where he channeled his energy based solely on his emotions and it was in a wreck at the moment. He blew up a whole town...and we were lucky it was abandoned and those in it were only minor injured. Everyone was afraid to go near him since he hurt everyone that did...except me...for some reason...he didn't hurt me...never did. And I was the only one that could possibly know how much he loved her...how many hours he spent sobbing...
"...I would comfort him and he would tell me stories of him and Akari and I think it was in that moment that I realized I didn't love Ryo...not in the way I thought I did...I loved him like a brother...and nothing more...it was a sort of unspoken agreement that our engagement was back on and we were to be married since Ryo promised himself he wouldn't love anyone else and I would rather marry Ryo then marry some fiancee that I never met before. I've seen a lot of people proclaim they loved each other...I've read a lot of romance novels...but none of them...none of them came close to what Ryo and Akari had...that was love...and it was doomed from the start..." Both Ranma and Ukyo looked at Akane in shock.
The girl suddenly pointed at Ukyo's bracelet, "After Akari's incident, Ryo hated any and all nobles, especially royalty. That bracelet you have...Ryo made that for Akari... those symbols on the side says her name entwined with Ryo's...it's what the groom gives the bride for the gypsies...it's like a wedding certificate. He must have been very angry to see you with it. Now, if you'll excuse me I have work to do."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A figure entered the garden...her long skirts swishing around her. She took out a bracelet and put it on the hand of the unconscious boy on the ground. The figure gave the sleeping boy a kiss on the forehead before disappearing into the night again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...now, you will need a change of clothing so we'll have to pack your clothes also," Akane said and the Queen just grabbed her hand to have the servant girl kneeling at her feet.
"Oh Akane," Kasumi laughed, "I don't need that much clothing and things. I think I can manage."
At that the blue-haired girl just pouted and hugged the Queen, "I'm going to miss you so much Kasumi."
"No, you're not," Kasumi said and Akane started, "What?"
"You're coming with me," Kasumi said sweetly.
Akane stared at the Queen in confusion, "But why? I mean, you have enough servants."
"I want you to see Jyuan, Akane," the other said softly.
"Why?" Akane whispered.
Kasumi took Akane's face in her hands and whispered as she stared in the younger girl's eyes, "Because I have reason to believe that you are the lost Princess Akane Kimiko Washuki Tendo...lost heir to the Jyuan throne."
In the doorway of the room, Ranko dropped her glass of water.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Notes: Minor cliffhanger.
