Hi out there! Quite some people pointed out the bad spelling of this fic so I decided to work through it once again and maybe get back into writing too. I do not know why I used Konbanwa as the name of the Magical Mirror instead of Nanban (in the first version); don't ask me why I mixed them up, I just did. I do not master the Japanese language but I know enough to actually know that Konbanwa is a way to greet. Anyway, thanks for pointing that out, it was a grave mistake after all, which is corrected by now.
Reading through this story for the second time after some longer period makes me see that this fiction has some serious issues with the story flow, at least to my feeling. And I'm less refering to the pace (since this story was originally planned to be some longer thing) and more to the feeling of language. When I read through this (translating everything in my head automatically) I feel it's...bumpy at times. I'm not really content with it but then again, I hope it's still good enough to be enjoyed as a fanfiction, and I promise to try and do better.
Though I checked this 1st chapter for spelling mistakes, please note that my mother tongue is not English and I'm not trying to win a grammar contest either, I just want to tell a story. And I hope you can enjoy it too. ^_^
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Ranma 1/2
The Second Try
by kitty4
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"You jerk, I just can't believe it!" Akane yelled furiously "All because of that dumb...silly..." she trembled visibly and her fists clenched and unclenched all the time in a desperate try to hold the words that were lying on her lips.
"...that insane, insane..." the blue aura that Ranma worried about for quite a while now became suddenly visible for even the untrained eye. Weren't the two of them standing alone in the middle of nowhere certainly by now any bystander who would care about his personal welfare would have fled.
"INSANE IN-SANE Kunou Ko-da-chi!!" she screamed and she shook her head wildly while it continued to become red. Ranma wondered if it would be wise to comment on it, it didn't look healthy what she was doing.
"BAKAAA! RANMA NO BAKAAAAA!!!!!" she finished her little outburst, shooing away every bird within the trees that surrounded the area. And apart from sending Ranma's pigtail flying to the side thanks to the force of her screaming she wasn't allowed to harm him one bit. She just couldn't punch him this time. And to not pull her mallet demanded greater control over her anger than ever, something that she wasn't really good at to begin with. Thus this time, she had to push her physical release aside and pour all her anger into the volume she saw herself forced to use and scream her heart out in this forlorn forest in China.
Yes, they were in China.
And yes, Akane didn't like it at all.
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It had only little to do with the fact that Akane didn't exactly enjoy the last trip she had had to this country. The incident with Saffron, her near death and afterwards that horrible wedding, all that was just about 4 or 5 months ago. 4 moths, 2 weeks and 3 days, but who's counting.
Once having returned from China Akane thought that she would have never to go there again. And for Ranma to declare that he had fallen in love with her, well, in her opinion it sounded like a fair reward for that terrible experience. So she didn't regret anything the two of them had to go through and rather concentrated all her happiness on her eternal day of happiness. At least it's supposed to be every girl's eternal day of happiness. Her wedding.
Okay, so she didn't get a proposal. So she didn't get the dating, the shy looks, the good night kisses -no kisses at all actually- and not even to start thinking about the other things that not so traditional couples were doing before a wedding. So she didn't get to show her girl friends the ring of her fiance, so she didn't get giddy chitter-chatter with Yuka and Sayuri about her soon-to-be future. So she didn't get anything of what she always thought she wanted her wedding to be like.
But she had Ranma to wed her. And somehow that made up for it.
Now the thing was, it didn't turn out like she somewhere deep down had hoped very much it would turn out. Ranma, despite her desperate believe in not only imagining his words, denied to feel anything for her. Well, they didn't hate each-other no matter what they claimed at times, that much was obvious, even to the so-called tomboy. Akane certainly didn't hate the pigtailed boy and he didn't really act as if he hated her either. But Love was a very big word.
So maybe he could stomach her presence by now, could live with her, felt comfortable with her, perhaps cared a bit. Maybe a bit more that a bit. But Ranma did feel exactly that for his dear friend Uchan, as he had stated so often, and Akane knew that if that was true the okonomiyaki girl shouldn't trap Ranma in a marriage with that kind of feeling.
So how was *she* having any right over him. She didn't know at all about *his* feelings, only about her's, finally and for sure, and that she wished to be his. But in the end it depended all on Ranma himself.
For Akane however it drove her slowly but steadily nuts that now Ranma took his sweet time in dragging all of them along. Four girls were in love with him, and that meant at least three hearts to be broken. She didn't know how she would live through the day when she had to find out that eventually Ranma's friendly or even brotherly feelings for the Kuonji girl had secretly grown into more.
That was certainly what Akane feared the most. Somehow, all of Ranma's fiancees were good friends with him (well, apart from Kodachi maybe) and it could happen any day that suddenly one of those friendships went further and developped into something more. Who knew after all?
With Shampoo it was unlikely however. The thing that could drive Ranma into her arms was probably only lust, and Ranma just wasn't that kind of guy. Or at least Akane hoped so. Akane knew very well that her own body didn't offer any competition for Shampoos luxury dream of a bosom, thin waist and the occasional limb. However, apart from that, Shampoo was just too full of herself - as Amazon she may well be all into martial arts but somehow Akane couldn't really picture _her_ martial artist with a character like that of the chinese amazon; and ever since the failed wedding his and her relation was tense anyway.
Ukyou on the other hand was soon forgiven for her actions on that day. She came to Ranma and appologized as the good friend she was and though Akane hated it she didn't doubt Ukyou's seriousness one second. Ranma and Ukyou had always seemed to get along perfectly. Akane envied that deep-seated friendship dearly but what was she to do about that but wait things out.
That was what all four of them were doing this last quarter year. Waiting things out. And with Ranma's unwillingness to decide even now, it didn't look like things would eventually lead to anything. It was back to status quo.
However, something happened. And status quo changed.
It happened yesterday one week ago, specifically. It was a normal day actually, well as normal as days get in Nerima. Sun shining, some people out having fun at this warm day, some people malleting some after a good loud voice demonstration and some running after a very old twarf to retrieve their panties. Yes, one of those good old days.
The cause however, for everything to change completely was Ranma's curse to activate and change him into a girl, which in itself is nothing of the outstanding. And you see, it happened to be within the presence -among others- of the two Kunou children, which again, is neither anything especially remarking. But, and here's the great 'but', despite Tatewaki's inablility to figure out Ranma's curse even when witnessing it, Kodachi had never seen it happen directly.
And now she did.
Kodachi was crazy, no doubt about that. But she did realize within a heartbeat that somehow her great love and the detested peasant girl with the fire-red pigtail were one and the same.
At first she tried to say something, to say anything but her mouth worked without success, only her eyes widened.
It was not that her hatred for the so-called pigtailed goddess her brother was so obsessed about was so great that it destroyed her love for the gorgeous Ranma-sama but...
...her great love, he CHANGED SEX??
What kind of perverted f*cked up freak could do that??
All of the sudden Kodachi felt dirtied by Ranma, his presence alone disgusted her all through her body.
Her shock was quickly overridden by pure disgust and hatred and she found her voice again. Many people were watching and listening as Kodachi screamed obscenities at Ranma instead of attacking him, too disgusted to even let her weappons touch this...creature.
Ranma would have prefered to be attacked physically any day. He had never really felt guilty for having gotten himself cursed and deep down he had always prayed to never hear these exact words being screamed at him. And not only had he to listen to those verbal knifes she was throwing at him, no, she actually had to twist them too: not only he himself had to hear it, but so many other people did too. Close friends, distant friends, bypassers. Akane, Uchan, Soun, Miss Hinako, the Principal, everyone. Apart from his mother, *everybody* was here. Because this was how Ranma's life worked. At times, it really sucked.
Akane stood there at his side, seeing how Ranma's eyes seem to clowd over and close up somehow. But before she could turn her gaze away from those eyes that practically screamed at her of his hurt, Kodachi stopped her tirade and left. As always, laughing like the maniac she was.
And leaving Ranma in a shower of black rose peddals. And somehow he never looked as forlorn as he did that moment.
A few days after that Kodachi had herself found a new eternal love and she declared daily her undying love for the poor fellow as if she had never in her whole life done anything different.
For the people in the Nerima district the Kodachi-issue seemed to be solved with that.
Ranma who -thanks to his hurt pride had been sulking for about a week- had also gotten a grip on himself and was back to his old self, so it seemed. Still, whenever his curse activated he clearly hated it more than ever.
When the news about Kodachi's new obstacle reached him, it was the last straw.
His pride and ego didn't demand of him to get Kodachi back to become his fiancee again (officially or not) like it had been back then when Shampoo had worn the ContraryJewel. He could care less about Kodachi, heck, he was even glad that he was finally rid of that girl for good. But something needed definitely to be done. Nobody humiliated Ranma Saotome like that and might not even be wrong with it.
And as his whole life here sucked because of that d@mn curse, that was the exact issue that needed to be changed. Permanently.
Unfortunately the Cursed Springs of Jusekyou were no longer existent, or rather mixed up into one weird looking lake. After the battle with Saffron the water had gone back down a little but the chance to get a hold of the precious water of one specific pool was erased; that much was clear when the Chinese Jusenkyou Guide called and warned them about it. Somebody had fallen into one of the springs (yet again) and, as the water had been connected and mixed with the other springs before, it was not definable anymore what that poor fellow changed into when hit with cold water. Looking at it like that it was probably a good thing that Ranma hadn't had the chance to use the so-called Nanychuan Water the Jusenkyou Guide had sent for the wedding.
So that left only one option: if the Present and Future wouldn't do, then Past it would be. The young Saotome had failed once with the Nanban Mirror so far but it was the time to give it another try.
He briefly considered while being at it, to also prevent himself from the NekoKen or be sure to never get a hold of that document his mother and father got him to sign before he left unknowingly for his 10 year training trip so long ago. However, it seemed uneasy enough to prevent a curse that always seemed to manage to _not_ get lifted, and it was dangerous enough to try and change past things as it was.
So, everything decided, and determined to go _alone_ this time, Ranma went in search for the precious mirror.
It was nearly unholy how easy it was for him to find it. Obviously for everyone who knew about it, the story about that mirror was done with, not even bothering to give it a second thought. It was just Go into Happosai's room, search a bit around, open a box, and take it out. Holding it in hands Ranma briefly wondered why he himself had -as well as all the others- given up so quickly on the idea with the mirror. Usually he wouldn't back down so easily just because of one failure.
Shrugging Ranma left.
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The young martial artist sat alone in his room on the floor, regarding idly the little item he held firmly in his hands, fixing the precious treasure with his eyes.
Finally he could get rid of that cursed curse. Finally.
All he would have to do was travel back in time and prevent younger self from falling into that fateful spring and getting there the curse in the very first place. Ranma had fought monsters and oni and heck, even a god, he should be able to prevent little Ranma (namely a younger and weaker light version of himself) from falling into a d@mn pool. How freaking hard can that be.
"This is it" he encouraged himself, just mouthing the words while he broke an onion in two halfs with his free hand, the other holding the magical mirror that beheld his whole concentration.
He absently brought the vegetable to his eye and made himself shed a tear with it.
The good thing this time however was that Ranma for once had carefully planned things out.
...Well, who are we kidding here, it's still Ranma we're talking about - but he _did_ spend _some_ thought on the mission this time.
The key was approaching the affair like martial arts.
What else is new.
In any case. Ranma was a fighter, a martial artist with all his heart and he didn't make a mistake twice. His first try to change the past had failed because one, he took his father with him and two, he rushed into it, that much was clear for him now. This time he had a plan, and even a backup-plan. Plan B, so to say. Nothing though you could expect from Nabiki but that's okay seeing as Ranma still _is_ Genma's son.
If, and only if, he should not be able to make his dad of the past change his mind about Jusenkyou, and even if he could not talk or beat his younger self out of it, then he still could look for his present self's cure when he was already at Jusenkyou. Though he was not sure if it really would work that way, the prospects looked good.
Yep, carefully planned out. Check.
Nobody would ever call him a sex-changing freak again and for god's sake have every f*cking right to do so.
He would never again have to feel that embarrassing cold ripple go through his body.
He would not ever again have to even start to worry about dealing with female feelings and reactions and _things_, utterly female things.
All that would just _vanish_.
He would never again have to feel *her* pittying gaze on him like that day.
*Feh...Anyhow* he thought and left that train of thought that directly headed to the incident with Kodachi.
"I wish to go back in time 15 minutes before I fell into the cursed spring" he said formally while his tear ran down over the smooth mirror's surface. Subconciously his ego scolded in frustration for how little help from the onion was needed to let that tear drop... should a manly man react so easily to onion?
Right within that very few moments however Ranma noticed a sudden noise coming from the door.
He looked into the direction just to find a pair of deep brown eyes looking right back to him, Akane already standing in the door.
Ranma let the mirror fall onto the floor and hurried to get up and push Akane out of the doorframe, away from his room.
"Out you idiot!!" he hissed "It's the Nanba-!"
Golden light errupted from the surface of the mirror.
"huh?" was Akane's intellectual answer. She knew the legend about that mirror. But seriously, travelling through time and space? Come on.
Ranma had reached Akane with lightening speed and heartly pushed her out of the room before finally the golden light blinded him senseless.
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Akane fell on the floor, landing on her behind rather ungraciously. "Ite" she stammered and send a mental *thank you very much, Ranma* afterwards. Rubbing at her back she opened her eyes to find herself out of the room and...
in.a..forest?
What the...?
Then her mind caught up. The Nanban Mirror?
"But that's not possible." she finally said out loud with a tiny voice, not setting anything into her words. She had the proof here right shoved into her face, saw it right with her own eyes. She had to accept it, no way around it:
That mirror could make you travel through time and space.
"I can't believe..."
" - Believe it, Akane." Ranma said, somehow trying to sound casual. He didn't know himself why he tried to sound like that. "We had other things -stranger things- to deal with." he continued "The Nanban Mirror is just one more thing to add to the list." Ranma said slightly annoyed when adding the latter.
He finally breathed out very emphatically, trying to scold her somehow in advance before he added:
"And actually I didn't want you to get involved with this at all."
Akane seemed not really to listen. Well, when did she listen to Ranma anyways.
Her mind served her with very different thoughts than calmly listening. Everything rather went a bit heated in there...concentrating dangerously around anger and Ranma.
Ranma. Of course! Who else! Who else on this great great world would have anything to do with this!!!
She was in some lost Godd@mn forest, teleported for God's sake!
While AKane being on that particular train of thought, Ranma with practised ease recognized easily the twiching brow, the frown and the the general postions her features took when she got angry: bad signs.
"Akane, listen." He tried, bringing his hands up defensively and taking one step back though Akane was still sitting on the ground.
"Ranma" she growled and got up, her left arm rising and her hand fisting, promising...things.
"look, I didn't plan on a dork like you to come alo-"
"Where ARE we?!" she screamed, ignoring whatever he had wanted to say.
"Ahm" he started, startled for a second until he remembered what actually he was here for.
"Aa, we...we are in the past. In ah.. China" he said, gulping audibly and preparing to take another step back "Jusekyou" he finished.
Her eyebrows shot up. "WHAT?!" she hissed, sharp and high -even for a girl's voice.
NUCLEAR MELTDOWN IN 3...2...1...
Ranma's shoulder sagged down. He let out a loud breathe and finally wanted to share with her. Ranma always wanted to start talk things out, be honest with that little girl in front of him and share with her how things came to this. But unfortunately that turn of mind always happened at the exact moment he absolutely _knew_ there was no way talking anymore now because he was directly on the recieving end of a freshly delivered Akane-blow.
Only... there came no blow.
How's that?
Well, when he once got the chance, why not act on it. Why should he not tell her what he was here for. Had he not promised himself to be more honest with her, to never let her be near any kind of danger again and d@mn well tell her that he loved her? Gods, that promise reminded him on Mount Phoenix and Jusendo. He would have promised her his world and more if only she would live through the ordeal. He had promised himself so much when she lay there in his arms, finally blinking her eyes at him...he had been so relieved there was nothing in the whole world he didn't want to give to her. But he had sat himself no time-limit then and ever since their return to Japan he had constantly chickened out over what he wanted to say to her.
One thing however he knew now for sure: she certainly didn't want to be in China any time soon.
Still, because of him here she was, near a baby Saffron, near who knows what kind of freaked out amazon tribes -and how many of them-, and well, near Jusenkyou.
He would travel back through time with her and then return to the past alone. He firmly stated that to himself.
And if she didn't want that he would have to make her, so she would be safe. But he guessed she deserved at least to know what he was about to do.
So, finally breaking the tense silence that had settled between the two, he said "I'm here to prevent myself from falling into that -" he caught her gaze and chose to not use any swear words now "into the spring. Y,you know." he said, hoping for everything to be clear now.
Akane suddenly stopped in her tracks of trembling in anger and got out of her slightly benched position to stare openly at her fiance.
"But. Ranma?" she said, actually giving his words some thought for a change. "Why now?" she shook her head slightly to herself. After all they had been through she thought that together, more or less, they had overcome the problem of his curse. After all, apart from very recently, he hadn't seemed to bother his curse so much anymore and actually Akane had never known a Ranma without a curse.
"Haven't you noticed by now that all that happened made you who you are now?" she continued, her anger momentary forgotten. "I mean, the curse helped you at times! It made you grow stronger and whatnot-"
"Akane, it helped into some serious shi..problems. And nothing else." Ranma responded dryly. "I would not have Shampoo hunting out for me when I beat her as a girl, I would not have to run from my mom for so long, I would not have that freaking Kuno dreaming of me, I..I.." *I would not have started off with you so badly* he kept thinking but instead searched for other reasons "I..I would not have drunken that idiotic dragon hair soup" he finished getting desperate and tucking on his pigtail for emphasize.
Akane, ever the one up to arguments -even more so when spiced with jealousy, shouted back: "Well, baka, you still would have Shampoo on your heels because then you simply would beat her as a guy, you moron! And I thought you finally had settled the thing with your mom! And Kuno...what do you want with Ku-" she trailed off, suddenly stairing ahead.
Something seemed to have clicked in her mind and she looked back into Ranma's grey blue eyes.
Nodding to herself and not shouting at all anymore she stated "This is about Kodachi, isn't it."
Ranma's mouth worked like a fish, no sound coming out. Finally he shut it and turned his head pointedly to the side.
"It isn't" he said, his lie as clear as the day.
Quickly Akane's temper got the better of her and here we have her certain outburst.
.
.
.
.
But, the short-haired girl is as quickly arisen to anger as she is to calm down. Usually Ranma isn't around when the second part happens, but this time he was. Akane was not at all keen on being alone in China, so for once, (and she intended to keep it at a 'for once') she made herself *not* mallet Ranma out of sight. She had kept herself in control so far quite well.
So instead of pulling her mallet out of wherever she kept it, she regarded him with sending daggers, and felt sorry immediately. She knew that at that time Kodachi's words were hard to take but coming from Kodachi Akane thought that Ranma would be over that pretty quickly.
*Wrong thought* Akane scolded herself, feeling guilty already.
"Your curse," she started after a minute, softly this time, "because of it, you learned the Katchu Tenshin AmaguriKen.
And if you rather not have Shampoo follow you to Nerima, then you'll never learn the HirouShotenHa from Cologne either. Kuno is an idiot, why be bothered by him, ignore him. I know what I'm talking about. And what Kodachi said," she made a short break to take a deep breathe "Ranma it was nonsense. She just wanted to anger you."
"She used no different words than I heard from you too. Maybe not _all_ of what she called me, but fact is, my sex does change, how f*cked up is that, and I _am_ a freak." he finally responded, voice hard by frustration.
And Akane did once more a thing that she often does and she rather should not have done now: she jumped to conclusions.
"Why the heck are you so bothered that Kodachi left you! You got along with your curse fine, and all of the sudden there's one fiancee less on your list and you-"
"You ever thought about it that we would get a hell of a lot better along if it wasn't for that bloody curse! If it all started different with us to begin with?!" Ranma screamed back, outraged.
"What do you think my future is like, to become a woman all the time! HEY, how about it, with you being the tomboy you are we could let our kids call you the 'dad' and me the occasional 'mom' Heck, why not let me be the mother in the first place!!"
Ranma, too, displayed his hobby by doing things that he should by now have learned not to do: say things without thinking about them first.
At the first moments of his speech, Akane seemed to actually reflect on what Ranma was saying but his last few sentences shooed away her pondering and rather made a cute blush grace her cheeks.
_Their_ children??
He also blushed the moment her realized this and looked down, the heated argument forgotten and suddenly his shoes seemed so very interesting.
"I,...I didn't mean it like that. I just...it's just a what-if" he excused lamely. "you know what I meant."
Akane however smiled to herself.
"How about you just cure yourself now, and let past be past?" she asked hopefully.
"Why do you insist so much on me carrying that curse around?" he answered her with a question, making a face at her.
She looked at him, letting some of her emotion be read on her face.
"What if, if you change things here and it turns out badly for the future? You could for example have to marry Shampoo as soon as you win the combat over her. We wouldn't even ever meet." She looked at him, searching for something in his eyes and not quite sure what to do if she actually found it...not that she knew if her chances were high or not.
After a few moments passing Ranma breathed out, not even recalling holding his breathe until after that.
"Okay." he said, nodding slightly. "maybe you're right..."
Akane hadn't really payed attention to that Ranma turned away from her and she neiter noticed that Ranma did that just to avoid looking her in the eye as he answered her - a clear sign for him trying to lie. If she wouldn't ponder so much whether or not to say what she was about to say as next, she would have insisted on him giving her his word or something, or at least make him subline that he was serious.
"Besides," she started her comment instead, all happy again and a slight blush returning to her cheeks "I like you pigtail." she said, refering to his earlier remark about the dragon beard affair.
She smiled to herself and he smiled slightly in responds.
Reading through this story for the second time after some longer period makes me see that this fiction has some serious issues with the story flow, at least to my feeling. And I'm less refering to the pace (since this story was originally planned to be some longer thing) and more to the feeling of language. When I read through this (translating everything in my head automatically) I feel it's...bumpy at times. I'm not really content with it but then again, I hope it's still good enough to be enjoyed as a fanfiction, and I promise to try and do better.
Though I checked this 1st chapter for spelling mistakes, please note that my mother tongue is not English and I'm not trying to win a grammar contest either, I just want to tell a story. And I hope you can enjoy it too. ^_^
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Ranma 1/2
The Second Try
by kitty4
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"You jerk, I just can't believe it!" Akane yelled furiously "All because of that dumb...silly..." she trembled visibly and her fists clenched and unclenched all the time in a desperate try to hold the words that were lying on her lips.
"...that insane, insane..." the blue aura that Ranma worried about for quite a while now became suddenly visible for even the untrained eye. Weren't the two of them standing alone in the middle of nowhere certainly by now any bystander who would care about his personal welfare would have fled.
"INSANE IN-SANE Kunou Ko-da-chi!!" she screamed and she shook her head wildly while it continued to become red. Ranma wondered if it would be wise to comment on it, it didn't look healthy what she was doing.
"BAKAAA! RANMA NO BAKAAAAA!!!!!" she finished her little outburst, shooing away every bird within the trees that surrounded the area. And apart from sending Ranma's pigtail flying to the side thanks to the force of her screaming she wasn't allowed to harm him one bit. She just couldn't punch him this time. And to not pull her mallet demanded greater control over her anger than ever, something that she wasn't really good at to begin with. Thus this time, she had to push her physical release aside and pour all her anger into the volume she saw herself forced to use and scream her heart out in this forlorn forest in China.
Yes, they were in China.
And yes, Akane didn't like it at all.
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It had only little to do with the fact that Akane didn't exactly enjoy the last trip she had had to this country. The incident with Saffron, her near death and afterwards that horrible wedding, all that was just about 4 or 5 months ago. 4 moths, 2 weeks and 3 days, but who's counting.
Once having returned from China Akane thought that she would have never to go there again. And for Ranma to declare that he had fallen in love with her, well, in her opinion it sounded like a fair reward for that terrible experience. So she didn't regret anything the two of them had to go through and rather concentrated all her happiness on her eternal day of happiness. At least it's supposed to be every girl's eternal day of happiness. Her wedding.
Okay, so she didn't get a proposal. So she didn't get the dating, the shy looks, the good night kisses -no kisses at all actually- and not even to start thinking about the other things that not so traditional couples were doing before a wedding. So she didn't get to show her girl friends the ring of her fiance, so she didn't get giddy chitter-chatter with Yuka and Sayuri about her soon-to-be future. So she didn't get anything of what she always thought she wanted her wedding to be like.
But she had Ranma to wed her. And somehow that made up for it.
Now the thing was, it didn't turn out like she somewhere deep down had hoped very much it would turn out. Ranma, despite her desperate believe in not only imagining his words, denied to feel anything for her. Well, they didn't hate each-other no matter what they claimed at times, that much was obvious, even to the so-called tomboy. Akane certainly didn't hate the pigtailed boy and he didn't really act as if he hated her either. But Love was a very big word.
So maybe he could stomach her presence by now, could live with her, felt comfortable with her, perhaps cared a bit. Maybe a bit more that a bit. But Ranma did feel exactly that for his dear friend Uchan, as he had stated so often, and Akane knew that if that was true the okonomiyaki girl shouldn't trap Ranma in a marriage with that kind of feeling.
So how was *she* having any right over him. She didn't know at all about *his* feelings, only about her's, finally and for sure, and that she wished to be his. But in the end it depended all on Ranma himself.
For Akane however it drove her slowly but steadily nuts that now Ranma took his sweet time in dragging all of them along. Four girls were in love with him, and that meant at least three hearts to be broken. She didn't know how she would live through the day when she had to find out that eventually Ranma's friendly or even brotherly feelings for the Kuonji girl had secretly grown into more.
That was certainly what Akane feared the most. Somehow, all of Ranma's fiancees were good friends with him (well, apart from Kodachi maybe) and it could happen any day that suddenly one of those friendships went further and developped into something more. Who knew after all?
With Shampoo it was unlikely however. The thing that could drive Ranma into her arms was probably only lust, and Ranma just wasn't that kind of guy. Or at least Akane hoped so. Akane knew very well that her own body didn't offer any competition for Shampoos luxury dream of a bosom, thin waist and the occasional limb. However, apart from that, Shampoo was just too full of herself - as Amazon she may well be all into martial arts but somehow Akane couldn't really picture _her_ martial artist with a character like that of the chinese amazon; and ever since the failed wedding his and her relation was tense anyway.
Ukyou on the other hand was soon forgiven for her actions on that day. She came to Ranma and appologized as the good friend she was and though Akane hated it she didn't doubt Ukyou's seriousness one second. Ranma and Ukyou had always seemed to get along perfectly. Akane envied that deep-seated friendship dearly but what was she to do about that but wait things out.
That was what all four of them were doing this last quarter year. Waiting things out. And with Ranma's unwillingness to decide even now, it didn't look like things would eventually lead to anything. It was back to status quo.
However, something happened. And status quo changed.
It happened yesterday one week ago, specifically. It was a normal day actually, well as normal as days get in Nerima. Sun shining, some people out having fun at this warm day, some people malleting some after a good loud voice demonstration and some running after a very old twarf to retrieve their panties. Yes, one of those good old days.
The cause however, for everything to change completely was Ranma's curse to activate and change him into a girl, which in itself is nothing of the outstanding. And you see, it happened to be within the presence -among others- of the two Kunou children, which again, is neither anything especially remarking. But, and here's the great 'but', despite Tatewaki's inablility to figure out Ranma's curse even when witnessing it, Kodachi had never seen it happen directly.
And now she did.
Kodachi was crazy, no doubt about that. But she did realize within a heartbeat that somehow her great love and the detested peasant girl with the fire-red pigtail were one and the same.
At first she tried to say something, to say anything but her mouth worked without success, only her eyes widened.
It was not that her hatred for the so-called pigtailed goddess her brother was so obsessed about was so great that it destroyed her love for the gorgeous Ranma-sama but...
...her great love, he CHANGED SEX??
What kind of perverted f*cked up freak could do that??
All of the sudden Kodachi felt dirtied by Ranma, his presence alone disgusted her all through her body.
Her shock was quickly overridden by pure disgust and hatred and she found her voice again. Many people were watching and listening as Kodachi screamed obscenities at Ranma instead of attacking him, too disgusted to even let her weappons touch this...creature.
Ranma would have prefered to be attacked physically any day. He had never really felt guilty for having gotten himself cursed and deep down he had always prayed to never hear these exact words being screamed at him. And not only had he to listen to those verbal knifes she was throwing at him, no, she actually had to twist them too: not only he himself had to hear it, but so many other people did too. Close friends, distant friends, bypassers. Akane, Uchan, Soun, Miss Hinako, the Principal, everyone. Apart from his mother, *everybody* was here. Because this was how Ranma's life worked. At times, it really sucked.
Akane stood there at his side, seeing how Ranma's eyes seem to clowd over and close up somehow. But before she could turn her gaze away from those eyes that practically screamed at her of his hurt, Kodachi stopped her tirade and left. As always, laughing like the maniac she was.
And leaving Ranma in a shower of black rose peddals. And somehow he never looked as forlorn as he did that moment.
A few days after that Kodachi had herself found a new eternal love and she declared daily her undying love for the poor fellow as if she had never in her whole life done anything different.
For the people in the Nerima district the Kodachi-issue seemed to be solved with that.
Ranma who -thanks to his hurt pride had been sulking for about a week- had also gotten a grip on himself and was back to his old self, so it seemed. Still, whenever his curse activated he clearly hated it more than ever.
When the news about Kodachi's new obstacle reached him, it was the last straw.
His pride and ego didn't demand of him to get Kodachi back to become his fiancee again (officially or not) like it had been back then when Shampoo had worn the ContraryJewel. He could care less about Kodachi, heck, he was even glad that he was finally rid of that girl for good. But something needed definitely to be done. Nobody humiliated Ranma Saotome like that and might not even be wrong with it.
And as his whole life here sucked because of that d@mn curse, that was the exact issue that needed to be changed. Permanently.
Unfortunately the Cursed Springs of Jusekyou were no longer existent, or rather mixed up into one weird looking lake. After the battle with Saffron the water had gone back down a little but the chance to get a hold of the precious water of one specific pool was erased; that much was clear when the Chinese Jusenkyou Guide called and warned them about it. Somebody had fallen into one of the springs (yet again) and, as the water had been connected and mixed with the other springs before, it was not definable anymore what that poor fellow changed into when hit with cold water. Looking at it like that it was probably a good thing that Ranma hadn't had the chance to use the so-called Nanychuan Water the Jusenkyou Guide had sent for the wedding.
So that left only one option: if the Present and Future wouldn't do, then Past it would be. The young Saotome had failed once with the Nanban Mirror so far but it was the time to give it another try.
He briefly considered while being at it, to also prevent himself from the NekoKen or be sure to never get a hold of that document his mother and father got him to sign before he left unknowingly for his 10 year training trip so long ago. However, it seemed uneasy enough to prevent a curse that always seemed to manage to _not_ get lifted, and it was dangerous enough to try and change past things as it was.
So, everything decided, and determined to go _alone_ this time, Ranma went in search for the precious mirror.
It was nearly unholy how easy it was for him to find it. Obviously for everyone who knew about it, the story about that mirror was done with, not even bothering to give it a second thought. It was just Go into Happosai's room, search a bit around, open a box, and take it out. Holding it in hands Ranma briefly wondered why he himself had -as well as all the others- given up so quickly on the idea with the mirror. Usually he wouldn't back down so easily just because of one failure.
Shrugging Ranma left.
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The young martial artist sat alone in his room on the floor, regarding idly the little item he held firmly in his hands, fixing the precious treasure with his eyes.
Finally he could get rid of that cursed curse. Finally.
All he would have to do was travel back in time and prevent younger self from falling into that fateful spring and getting there the curse in the very first place. Ranma had fought monsters and oni and heck, even a god, he should be able to prevent little Ranma (namely a younger and weaker light version of himself) from falling into a d@mn pool. How freaking hard can that be.
"This is it" he encouraged himself, just mouthing the words while he broke an onion in two halfs with his free hand, the other holding the magical mirror that beheld his whole concentration.
He absently brought the vegetable to his eye and made himself shed a tear with it.
The good thing this time however was that Ranma for once had carefully planned things out.
...Well, who are we kidding here, it's still Ranma we're talking about - but he _did_ spend _some_ thought on the mission this time.
The key was approaching the affair like martial arts.
What else is new.
In any case. Ranma was a fighter, a martial artist with all his heart and he didn't make a mistake twice. His first try to change the past had failed because one, he took his father with him and two, he rushed into it, that much was clear for him now. This time he had a plan, and even a backup-plan. Plan B, so to say. Nothing though you could expect from Nabiki but that's okay seeing as Ranma still _is_ Genma's son.
If, and only if, he should not be able to make his dad of the past change his mind about Jusenkyou, and even if he could not talk or beat his younger self out of it, then he still could look for his present self's cure when he was already at Jusenkyou. Though he was not sure if it really would work that way, the prospects looked good.
Yep, carefully planned out. Check.
Nobody would ever call him a sex-changing freak again and for god's sake have every f*cking right to do so.
He would never again have to feel that embarrassing cold ripple go through his body.
He would not ever again have to even start to worry about dealing with female feelings and reactions and _things_, utterly female things.
All that would just _vanish_.
He would never again have to feel *her* pittying gaze on him like that day.
*Feh...Anyhow* he thought and left that train of thought that directly headed to the incident with Kodachi.
"I wish to go back in time 15 minutes before I fell into the cursed spring" he said formally while his tear ran down over the smooth mirror's surface. Subconciously his ego scolded in frustration for how little help from the onion was needed to let that tear drop... should a manly man react so easily to onion?
Right within that very few moments however Ranma noticed a sudden noise coming from the door.
He looked into the direction just to find a pair of deep brown eyes looking right back to him, Akane already standing in the door.
Ranma let the mirror fall onto the floor and hurried to get up and push Akane out of the doorframe, away from his room.
"Out you idiot!!" he hissed "It's the Nanba-!"
Golden light errupted from the surface of the mirror.
"huh?" was Akane's intellectual answer. She knew the legend about that mirror. But seriously, travelling through time and space? Come on.
Ranma had reached Akane with lightening speed and heartly pushed her out of the room before finally the golden light blinded him senseless.
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Akane fell on the floor, landing on her behind rather ungraciously. "Ite" she stammered and send a mental *thank you very much, Ranma* afterwards. Rubbing at her back she opened her eyes to find herself out of the room and...
in.a..forest?
What the...?
Then her mind caught up. The Nanban Mirror?
"But that's not possible." she finally said out loud with a tiny voice, not setting anything into her words. She had the proof here right shoved into her face, saw it right with her own eyes. She had to accept it, no way around it:
That mirror could make you travel through time and space.
"I can't believe..."
" - Believe it, Akane." Ranma said, somehow trying to sound casual. He didn't know himself why he tried to sound like that. "We had other things -stranger things- to deal with." he continued "The Nanban Mirror is just one more thing to add to the list." Ranma said slightly annoyed when adding the latter.
He finally breathed out very emphatically, trying to scold her somehow in advance before he added:
"And actually I didn't want you to get involved with this at all."
Akane seemed not really to listen. Well, when did she listen to Ranma anyways.
Her mind served her with very different thoughts than calmly listening. Everything rather went a bit heated in there...concentrating dangerously around anger and Ranma.
Ranma. Of course! Who else! Who else on this great great world would have anything to do with this!!!
She was in some lost Godd@mn forest, teleported for God's sake!
While AKane being on that particular train of thought, Ranma with practised ease recognized easily the twiching brow, the frown and the the general postions her features took when she got angry: bad signs.
"Akane, listen." He tried, bringing his hands up defensively and taking one step back though Akane was still sitting on the ground.
"Ranma" she growled and got up, her left arm rising and her hand fisting, promising...things.
"look, I didn't plan on a dork like you to come alo-"
"Where ARE we?!" she screamed, ignoring whatever he had wanted to say.
"Ahm" he started, startled for a second until he remembered what actually he was here for.
"Aa, we...we are in the past. In ah.. China" he said, gulping audibly and preparing to take another step back "Jusekyou" he finished.
Her eyebrows shot up. "WHAT?!" she hissed, sharp and high -even for a girl's voice.
NUCLEAR MELTDOWN IN 3...2...1...
Ranma's shoulder sagged down. He let out a loud breathe and finally wanted to share with her. Ranma always wanted to start talk things out, be honest with that little girl in front of him and share with her how things came to this. But unfortunately that turn of mind always happened at the exact moment he absolutely _knew_ there was no way talking anymore now because he was directly on the recieving end of a freshly delivered Akane-blow.
Only... there came no blow.
How's that?
Well, when he once got the chance, why not act on it. Why should he not tell her what he was here for. Had he not promised himself to be more honest with her, to never let her be near any kind of danger again and d@mn well tell her that he loved her? Gods, that promise reminded him on Mount Phoenix and Jusendo. He would have promised her his world and more if only she would live through the ordeal. He had promised himself so much when she lay there in his arms, finally blinking her eyes at him...he had been so relieved there was nothing in the whole world he didn't want to give to her. But he had sat himself no time-limit then and ever since their return to Japan he had constantly chickened out over what he wanted to say to her.
One thing however he knew now for sure: she certainly didn't want to be in China any time soon.
Still, because of him here she was, near a baby Saffron, near who knows what kind of freaked out amazon tribes -and how many of them-, and well, near Jusenkyou.
He would travel back through time with her and then return to the past alone. He firmly stated that to himself.
And if she didn't want that he would have to make her, so she would be safe. But he guessed she deserved at least to know what he was about to do.
So, finally breaking the tense silence that had settled between the two, he said "I'm here to prevent myself from falling into that -" he caught her gaze and chose to not use any swear words now "into the spring. Y,you know." he said, hoping for everything to be clear now.
Akane suddenly stopped in her tracks of trembling in anger and got out of her slightly benched position to stare openly at her fiance.
"But. Ranma?" she said, actually giving his words some thought for a change. "Why now?" she shook her head slightly to herself. After all they had been through she thought that together, more or less, they had overcome the problem of his curse. After all, apart from very recently, he hadn't seemed to bother his curse so much anymore and actually Akane had never known a Ranma without a curse.
"Haven't you noticed by now that all that happened made you who you are now?" she continued, her anger momentary forgotten. "I mean, the curse helped you at times! It made you grow stronger and whatnot-"
"Akane, it helped into some serious shi..problems. And nothing else." Ranma responded dryly. "I would not have Shampoo hunting out for me when I beat her as a girl, I would not have to run from my mom for so long, I would not have that freaking Kuno dreaming of me, I..I.." *I would not have started off with you so badly* he kept thinking but instead searched for other reasons "I..I would not have drunken that idiotic dragon hair soup" he finished getting desperate and tucking on his pigtail for emphasize.
Akane, ever the one up to arguments -even more so when spiced with jealousy, shouted back: "Well, baka, you still would have Shampoo on your heels because then you simply would beat her as a guy, you moron! And I thought you finally had settled the thing with your mom! And Kuno...what do you want with Ku-" she trailed off, suddenly stairing ahead.
Something seemed to have clicked in her mind and she looked back into Ranma's grey blue eyes.
Nodding to herself and not shouting at all anymore she stated "This is about Kodachi, isn't it."
Ranma's mouth worked like a fish, no sound coming out. Finally he shut it and turned his head pointedly to the side.
"It isn't" he said, his lie as clear as the day.
Quickly Akane's temper got the better of her and here we have her certain outburst.
.
.
.
.
But, the short-haired girl is as quickly arisen to anger as she is to calm down. Usually Ranma isn't around when the second part happens, but this time he was. Akane was not at all keen on being alone in China, so for once, (and she intended to keep it at a 'for once') she made herself *not* mallet Ranma out of sight. She had kept herself in control so far quite well.
So instead of pulling her mallet out of wherever she kept it, she regarded him with sending daggers, and felt sorry immediately. She knew that at that time Kodachi's words were hard to take but coming from Kodachi Akane thought that Ranma would be over that pretty quickly.
*Wrong thought* Akane scolded herself, feeling guilty already.
"Your curse," she started after a minute, softly this time, "because of it, you learned the Katchu Tenshin AmaguriKen.
And if you rather not have Shampoo follow you to Nerima, then you'll never learn the HirouShotenHa from Cologne either. Kuno is an idiot, why be bothered by him, ignore him. I know what I'm talking about. And what Kodachi said," she made a short break to take a deep breathe "Ranma it was nonsense. She just wanted to anger you."
"She used no different words than I heard from you too. Maybe not _all_ of what she called me, but fact is, my sex does change, how f*cked up is that, and I _am_ a freak." he finally responded, voice hard by frustration.
And Akane did once more a thing that she often does and she rather should not have done now: she jumped to conclusions.
"Why the heck are you so bothered that Kodachi left you! You got along with your curse fine, and all of the sudden there's one fiancee less on your list and you-"
"You ever thought about it that we would get a hell of a lot better along if it wasn't for that bloody curse! If it all started different with us to begin with?!" Ranma screamed back, outraged.
"What do you think my future is like, to become a woman all the time! HEY, how about it, with you being the tomboy you are we could let our kids call you the 'dad' and me the occasional 'mom' Heck, why not let me be the mother in the first place!!"
Ranma, too, displayed his hobby by doing things that he should by now have learned not to do: say things without thinking about them first.
At the first moments of his speech, Akane seemed to actually reflect on what Ranma was saying but his last few sentences shooed away her pondering and rather made a cute blush grace her cheeks.
_Their_ children??
He also blushed the moment her realized this and looked down, the heated argument forgotten and suddenly his shoes seemed so very interesting.
"I,...I didn't mean it like that. I just...it's just a what-if" he excused lamely. "you know what I meant."
Akane however smiled to herself.
"How about you just cure yourself now, and let past be past?" she asked hopefully.
"Why do you insist so much on me carrying that curse around?" he answered her with a question, making a face at her.
She looked at him, letting some of her emotion be read on her face.
"What if, if you change things here and it turns out badly for the future? You could for example have to marry Shampoo as soon as you win the combat over her. We wouldn't even ever meet." She looked at him, searching for something in his eyes and not quite sure what to do if she actually found it...not that she knew if her chances were high or not.
After a few moments passing Ranma breathed out, not even recalling holding his breathe until after that.
"Okay." he said, nodding slightly. "maybe you're right..."
Akane hadn't really payed attention to that Ranma turned away from her and she neiter noticed that Ranma did that just to avoid looking her in the eye as he answered her - a clear sign for him trying to lie. If she wouldn't ponder so much whether or not to say what she was about to say as next, she would have insisted on him giving her his word or something, or at least make him subline that he was serious.
"Besides," she started her comment instead, all happy again and a slight blush returning to her cheeks "I like you pigtail." she said, refering to his earlier remark about the dragon beard affair.
She smiled to herself and he smiled slightly in responds.
