The Royal Servant
Chapter 8, Decisions Decisions
Author's Notes: I'm surprised I managed to get this out. E-mail me at silverflame_maiden@hotmail.com with comments or criticism.
Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
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The gypsy made her way quickly down the open hallways, her luscious, purple hair swinging. She finally caught sight of Akane's fast moving body after she rounded the fifth corner. Stopping for a moment to catch a breath, she stared at Akane's retreating back with annoyance.
Finally she called out, "Ne-ne wait!" and ran t o catch up with the other girl.
Akane hesitated and then stopped. Shan Pu knew her friend had considered continuing walking and pretending she hadn't heard anything. Shan Pu was glad she had not.
When she got closer to Akane, the purple-haired gypsy placed a hand on the other's arm.
"What's the matter?" she asked, her eyes searching Akane's face. Akane's eyes darted around before finally landing on her friend.
"Nothing, Shan. Why would you say that?" she answered the question with one of her own. Her face seemed slightly panicked. A needle slowly dug it's way to the center of Shan's heart.
"You left so quickly, Ne," Shan answered.
"I...I just wanted to leave you and Ra-the Prince alone, Shan."
Shan Pu dropped her arm and backed up slightly from the closest sister she ever knew. She felt she didn't know her anymore. What was wrong?
"Ne-ne..." she said softly. Her voice was so bewildered, her face so confused that one could have mistaken her for a child who just learned about pain. She didn't understand and what she did understand, she didn't like.
How could Akane lie to her sister?
"I don't know what's happening, Shan," she said truthfully before trying to explain. "Something's happening to me. It has to do with Ranma. I don't understand it, Shan. I'm sorry..."
Shan's eyes shadowed before a dark light fell over them. She finally understood and she was sad.
Finally, she reached out and took Akane's hand.
"It's okay, Ne-ne. Now, you have to listen to me and listen very carefully. What I am about to ask you will decide everything. Do you want Ranma? If you do..." here Shan Pu took a deep breath. "...if you do, I will move aside. I will stop pursuing him. If not, I want you to promise me that you won't ever be with him."
In those few words, Shan Pu offered up the rest of her life to her gypsy sister.
In those few words, Shan Pu handed over her happiness.
It was all right though.
She would have done this for no one else.
No one but Akane.
Now, don't think Akane didn't know this either. She knew how much was at stake for Shan Pu and for herself and so she took great thought in thinking it over.
She knew she had feelings for Ranma. That much was obvious right now and she wasn't going to deny them, but how deep were these feelings? Did she want him? Yes, yes she did. That much was clear also. Now, that those things were clear, the gypsy started to think of the consequences.
Ranma was a Prince. If she married him (not saying he would want to or that his parents would allow it), then she would have to leave her tribe and live with him. She had been training him to be a gypsy but was that enough? He was the heir of a kingdom and even if he did leave it for her...how much would she be disappointed in him? No, she would have to leave her caravan and tribe.
Then there was Shan Pu. She knew Shan loved Ranma very much and not just his wealth of power either. She truly cared for him. Shan was her best friend, her sister, second to no one. Akane turned to look at her friend.
That was when it happened.
Maybe if Ranma had been there and she had actually saw him, she would have remembered why she felt the way she did. Maybe if he had been there, she would have been able to compare the two worlds of gypsy and royalty better. Maybe if he had...
...but he hadn't chased after her. He either didn't know or didn't care.
Shan had though.
That was the deciding vote.
Seeing Shan stand there, her face was so proud, generous and true, Akane knew. She could never be a Princess. She was a gypsy.
"I don't want him Shan. I promise you that I will never have him," she said slowly and with determination. Shan Pu's frown disappeared and a smile took it's place. The smile was warm and comforting. The smile said that even if Akane had chosen the other path, Shan would have still been there for her. The smile told Akane she had made the right choice.
"Now, what did say about grandmother being here?"
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Ranma was walking down the castle corridors while he flicked a stick up and down absentmindedly. The birds chirped and he grinned to himself. Suddenly, he heard some voice and recognizing one as belonging to the tomboy, followed it. He stopped outside the door when he heard his own name said. He was standing in front of the servants quarters.
"...and you, Shan! Did you think you could fool your own grandmother? I your every movement and the reason behind it. Why else would you ask to get assigned to the Terian castle if not to try and bed the Prince Ranma?" Cologne told her grandmother and the three kids in the room fidgeted nervously and laughed. Ranma, of course, could not see them nor could he understand the words that Cologne spoke.
Slightly agitated, he straightened up and opened the door.
"Hello everyone," he said haughtily. In the room around the square table sat Shampoo, Mousse, Ryoga, Akane and some old wrinkled woman. The old woman jumped from her chair onto a stick and hopped over until she was only a few inches away from his face. Her beady, black eyes scrutinizing him. The Prince stared back at her with a steady, confidant gaze.
The old crone finally smiled and gave a bark of laughter.
"You've got a good one, Shan Pu," she directed to her grandchild. The girl smiled proudly.
"Thank you, grandmother," she said. Akane and Mousse fidgeted slightly but said nothing. It was not their place to speak or object with hiba-chan's statements.
Angry, Ranma protested, "Hey! I'm still in the room."
"Of course you are," the old woman said condescendingly. Then, her eyes slowly traced his form up and down.
"A Martial Artist are you?" she asked him,, not really asking him.
The Prince was starting to get cocky now.
He inched his head up and challenged, "Yeah, what about it?"
"Don't be rude to your elders, boy!" the woman said before the stick she was on hit the boy in the head. Shocked and slightly angry, the boy moved his hand to attack the old woman, but before he even came close, more blows came toward him. Akane stood up.
"You idiot," she exclaimed. "Hiba-chan's over three centuries old. You can't defeat her."
Jumping up, Ranma yelled, "Shut up, you tomboy! I-"
Suddenly, a cackle of laughter filled the room and all eyes turned to the very old gypsy woman. It wasn't a pretty sight.
"Hiba-chan? What matter?" Shan Pu asked innocently.
The old woman just muttered to herself, "I should have known. I should have known. Fate!"
The four people in the room who did understand what Cologne was saying couldn't make any sense of it. They weren't that surprised either. Cologne was always saying crazy things and if they hadn't respected or known her so well, they would have called her senile.
Ranma, however, neither respected nor knew her.
"Senile old crone," he stated.
That just caused another burst of laughter from the woman.
Really annoyed now, Ranma turned around to face t he others.
"Why's she here anyway?" he asked them. They obviously didn't know because they turned to Cologne for an answer.
"I'm here to bring tell these mischievous little gypsies that their term here (actually, it's just Ne-ne's and Shan Pu's term, Ryo and Tsu-tsu should not even be here) is almost over and they can come home whenever hey wish. In fact, we miss them," she told the gypsies. Ryoga and Mu Tsu both gave huge grins.
"You hear that Ne-ne?" Ryoga said as he approached a stricken Akane. "You can go home!"
Akane glanced sligbtly at the confused and hurt look on Ranma's face a second before turning away.
"Yeah," she said, trying to smile. "I won't have to be here anymore."
Seeing Ryo's success, Mu Tsu smiled and started for Shan Pu but was stopped by a cold look from so said girl.
"Don't think about it, Mousse," she grumbled. "Shan stay here. Stay here with Ranma." Here face was resolute and nobody argued with her.
Ranma, who had been staring at Akane with the most wounded of expressions finally perked up.
"Fine, I don't want any of you here anyway," he said, trying to sound indifferent. Nobody missed the anger and hurt behind his words but Akane. She just looked at him with shock before standing straighter.
"Stupid jerk!" she screamed before knocking him over with a mallet and stomping out of the room.
"You deserved it," Ryoga snorted in disgust as he stepped over the Prince's twitching form and followed Akane.
Cologne laughed some more and thought, Fate. It always ends up the way it should.
She hoped her granddaughter wouldn't get hurt too badly.
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The gypsy sat on the little hill as she viciously pulled fields and fields of grass. Her dark blue hair blew slightly along with the wind. She didn't fully understand why she was so filled with dark emotions. She didn't really care. All she knew was to act on her feelings as she had been taught since a child. The poor grass on that hill was the unfortunate victim this time.
Suddenly, she heard delicate footsteps behind her and so stopped her activities.
"Akane?" the soft voice of the Queen inquired. Shielding her eyes from the sun, Akane looked at the beautiful woman before her.
"Kasumi?" she asked innocently, her anger strangely disappeared at the sight of the other girl. It was as though the Queen was so serene and peaceful, it exuded from her and went to others.
Kasumi gestured to the place next to Akane.
She asked, "May I sit down?"
Akane nodded.
Kasumi sat down gracefully and moved the dress around her. The royal garment was made for such conditions. Queens usually didn't sit on grassy hillsides with their servants.
"Are you all right?" the Queen questioned the servant.
"I'm fine, Kasumi," the servant answered.
They sat silently for awhile.
"I don't know what to do, Kasumi," Akane finally said. "Hiba-chan's here and I know I need to go back and I want to, it's not that I don't want to, it's just...you had asked me to come to Jyuan with you. You wanted me to see it and a part of me wants to see it too. I don't want to cause any trouble for anyone but I want to go to Jyuan."
All this time, Kasumi satyed respectfully quiet but at it's end, she said, "You're a gypsy, Akane. No matter what you find out about yourself or your past, you can never not be a gypsy. What I'm saying is...you shouldn't try for anything else at this moment. Don't take anything into account. Don't think about Ranma," here she had to stop for a second because Akane was about to protest, "No, let me finish. Don't think about Ranma and don't think about Shampoo and don't think about me. Think about yourself. After all, this trip is for you. It would have no purpose if you did not act for yourself."
The blue-haired girl could only have her mouth hanging slightly open. She stared at the Queen for awhile before turning back to the hillside. For herself. Wasn't that what gypsies did after all? Act on instinct and feeling?
"I'll tell hiba-chan," she said as she stood up. She started to leave before remembering and turning around.
"Thank you, Kasumi," she said and raced off.
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Akane sat waiting for hiba-chan in the servants' room. She had sent Shan to get the old woman and now she waited. The door burst open and the two gypsies entered and closed it behind them.
"Here hiba-chan, Ne," Shan Pu said and started to leave.
"No, you stay too, Shan," Akane said. "You might want to hear this."
Shrugging, the purple-haired gypsy sat down.
Akane looked at the two before heaving a big breath. She told them.
"I decided to go with the Queen Kasumi to Jyuan. This isn't about," here she turned to Shan as this part was meant for her especially, "this isn't about Ranma. It's about me. It's calling to me and I have to go. You two understand."
Cologne just smiled and nodded. Of course she understood. She had been expecting it even. Shan grinned widely too.
"Hiya! Now Ne-ne don't leave Shan!" she cried.
Ryoga wasn't as understanding.
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"What!"
Akane winced. This was not going well. Ryoga was not taking this as well as hiba-chan and Shan did yesterday.
"Ryo, you know we do things because we feel it's right. Well, I feel this is right, despite what logic or anyone else may be telling me. I thought you of all people would understand me," she begged. She was actually a little hurt. Why didn't he understand?
"But Ranma will-"
"This has nothing to do with Ranma! Sheesh!" Akane threw her arms up into the air and started to pace. In those few words, Ryoga had put the match next to the gas tank.
It was too late.
The girl was on a rant now and unstoppable.
"Why does everything has to do with Ranma?" she screeched. "Everybody thinks my whole world revolves around him or you or Shan or somebody! Maybe...just maybe...I matter to myself too. Maybe, just maybe, I'm doing this for myself and nobody else. Do you think that's possible? Do you? Ryo..."
Ryoga looked as though she had thrown him against a wall and beat the living daylights out of him.
"I-I-I didn't mean that, Ne-ne," he stammered. Why did she just blow up like that.
Akane's face scrunched up and suddenly shame overwhelmed her. She did overreact. It wasn't Ryo's fault. He just cared for her. Should he get this awful treatment just because she cared? Why had she been so horrible lately? Tears instantly sprung to her eyes. Ryoga saw her look and his features instantly softened in understanding. He went over and put his arms around her.
"It's okay, Ne," he whispered into her dark hair. "It's okay."
Akane started to cry.
Wow...Ranma never seems to be at the right place at the right time.
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Later that day, Akane waited on the hill where she was supposed to be training with Ranma. The Prince had not shown up yet and she was starting to think he wouldn't show, when a pig-tailed head started to go over the edge of the hill.
With a plain expression, Akane said, "I was beginning to think you decided not to train anymore."
"Hey, I'm not a quitter, alright?" he stated.
"That's obvious. Come on, let's just do some practice fighting to warm up," the girl said and got into a stance. Ranma did also and they launched themselves at each other.
"So, you're going back, huh?" Ranma asked casually as a foot flew past him.
"Depends if I ever been there before," was Akane's answer.
"What are you talking about?"
"Jyuan. I can't possibly go back if I've never been there."
"What?" Ranma stopped and blocked Akane's kick. The practice fight was over. "You're going to Jyuan?"
"Yeah, with Kasumi. Didn't you know?" she was staring at Ranma odd now but he barely heard her. She wasn't going back to the gypsies. She was going to Jyuan...Jyuan...and if she really was the Princess...
A goofy grin spread across Ranma's face
. "Idiot!" Akane yelled as she smacked him on the head. "Are you going to train or what?"
Of course he was, but the thought of becoming a gypsy wasn't so important anymore. Akane was going to Jyuan and...suddenly he was *sure*, *positive*, she was the Princess. His fiancee...the Princess...
He never once thought about whether Akane actually wanted to be one or not.
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Author's Notes: The last chapter to SP, BD is done but I still need to work on the one before it. It's been a long time...has it! *sigh* Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter (even if it was a little short).
