Tides
By Bain
A Ranma 1/2 - Evangelion crossover fanfic
I do not own Ranma 1/2 or Neon Genesis Evangelion.
CHAPTER 1
'Looks like it's gonna get busy soon' Ono Tofu mused. He finally received the report that the latest angel was finally killed and the pilot of Unit 01 was injured somehow. From the report he had received, he knew young Shinji Ikari should be dead.
The examination room was prepped to check Shinji's vital signs as soon as he was brought into the Nerv Medical facility. Finally a gurney was brought in with someone laying down on it. However it wasn't Shinji.
'My God!' the doctor though to himself in shock. 'It can't be!'
"Doctor?" the orderly inquired. "You look like you just seen a ghost. Is everything okay?"
Dr. Tofu gathered his wits finally and responded. "Yes, bring her to examination lab four." The orderly took the still form of the young girl with red hair to the designated room.
'Ranma Saotome, where have you been for the past 17 years. . . and why don't you look any older than when you died?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So what is the status of our latest subject?"
"Well commander, according to the dna tests, she is 100% human. However, she has been showing a unique energy signature very similar to AT fields" responded Professor Fuyuzuki. He paused for a moment. "There is no mention of an event like this in the Dead Sea Scrolls."
"That, professor, is irrelevant. Unit 01 has awakened. That is all that is important. This thing that Unit 01 brought out is a minor detail to be ironed out."
"Be that as it may, such a deviation will not look well. We were barely able to keep the child's existence away from the council."
Gendo Ikari sat in his chair, and looked over his hands as they were bridged in front of his face, with his elbows leaning on the desk. His demeanor suggested indifference. But Fuyuzuki knew, Commander Ikari was worried. He did not like anything that was out of his control or being caught unaware.
"I am aware of that Fuyuzuki. Have Dr. Akagi run compatibility and synchronization tests with the subject. Have the girl designated the 5th Children for now regardless of the outcome of the tests."
"The 5th Children?" The professor was surprised by this move. 'What are you planning Gendo' he thought to himself.
"Yes. It is a good excuse to keep the child under observation."
"That means. . ."
"Yes Fuyuzuki, the 4th has already been found."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ranma knelt down on the ground with Akane's limp form in his arms. She wasn't breathing. Tears fell onto Akane's pale face.
"Please Akane, wake up" Ranma whispered. "I l-love you, don't leave me, I can't live without you. I want to see you smile again. You're so c-cute when you smile. Please Akane, I need you. Please. . . don't be dead."
Akane did not respond. She laid unresponsive in his arms. Akane's beautiful face just continued to sit motionless. Slowly Ranma realized that she would not be waking up.
"AAAKKKAAAANNNNEEEEEEEE!!!" Ranma screamed into the sky, loud enough to wake the dead, shattering the silence with his agony. But Akane did not stir.
Tears streaming down his face, Ranma gently laid Akane's still lifeless form on the ground. He then stumbled away lost in his pain. 'I wasn't strong enough, I couldn't protect her.' Those thought were the only things going through his mind.
'I want to die. I don't want to live without her'
"NO!" A voice broke Ranma out of his thoughts. "Please Ranma, don't do this."
"Akane?" Ranma asked, recognizing the voice.
"Live for me Beloved, please live for me."
"AKANE!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ranma bolted up from the bed screaming.
"Arrgg, my head" she said weakly. Ranma started to take notice that her body felt very weak at the moment and she was in her cursed form and very naked under a thin sheet.
Ranma sat on the edge of the bed pulling the sheet around her body and tried to think about the situation. A bed, now that was another funny thing. She never got used beds. When she was on the road with the old man, they were always living roughly. Which meant that if there was a soft pile of leaves to be found, her father would take it, and Ranma would get the rocks. Then after he got to Akane's place. . .
"Don't even think about Akane." she whispered to herself wiping the tears from her eyes.
She looked around and found himself in an unfamiliar hospital room that looked very stale and clean. Ranma laid back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
'I wonder what I got myself into now?' Ranma though to herself. 'This place looks creepy.'
Then the door to the room opened and two women walked in. Both were fairly attractive, one had purplish black hair with a red outfit on, the other was blond and wore a lab coat.
"I see that you're awake" said the blond. "How are you feeling?"
Ranma sat up, letting the sheet fall to her waist. "Okay I guess" Ranma answered cautiously. "Where am I? Who are you two? What am I doing here?"
The women noticed the young girl's lack of feminine modesty. "Full of questions aren't we?" the dark haired woman said in an amused tone. "You're at the NERV medical facility. I'm Major Katsuragi, but you can just call me Misato. This is Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. As to what you are doing here, well, we found you unconscious and brought you here to make sure you were okay."
"So can you tell us your name?" asked Ritsuko.
"Ranma Saotome" she answered cautiously.
"Do you remember how you ended up where we found you Ranma?" asked Misato.
"I don't think you'd believe me if I told ya." Ranma mumbled staring at the floor. "Umm, where's my clothes?"
"You didn't have any clothes on when we found you" Misato said.
"Just great." Ranma said under her breath. "Umm could I borrow some clothes?"
"Sure, we'll get you some clothes in a little while. We just want to run a few more tests to make sure you're okay." The doctor said. Ritsuko then moved next to Ranma and check her vitals. Ranma felt a bit uncomfortable being check over by the woman but didn't say anything. "Everything seems normal."
"Good" Said Misato. "Now Ranma, we'd like to talk to you about how you came to where we found you."
"Where did you find me?" Ranma asked.
"Well, you were found in the middle of Tokyo 3." Misato answered.
'Tokyo 3? Where the heck is that?' Ranma thought but kept to herself. "Umm. . . I don't know if I can explain, I doubt you'd believe me."
"We only want to help Ranma" Misato said in a friendly voice. "No matter how outlandish it may sound, we'll believe it."
"I don't want to talk about it. Please, can you leave me alone for now?" Ranma said softly.
"If you would just tell us where you came from Ranma."
Ranma didn't want to face what brought her here. "Please, just leave me alone." Ranma said softly, her voice full of emotion.
"We only want to know. . ."
"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Ranma screamed, surprising both Misato and Ritsuko. Ranma turned over on the bed and sobbed into her pillow.
Both women were a bit unsure of what was going. "Whatever it is Ranma, it will be okay, we just want to help." Misato finally said.
"I will never be okay ever again." Ranma said to herself. "Just leave me alone. . . please."
Not sure what to do, both women left the poor young girl sobbing in the stale room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'I wasn't good enough. I failed her. I can't even stop crying, I guess I really am a girl now.' Ranma though to herself. It had been a while since the two women left her alone, and Ranma had not stopped crying the entire time. She couldn't stop herself. Slowly, she fell into slumber, tears still streaming down her soft cheeks.
The noise of the doors opening triggered Ranma to awaken. She slowly opened her puffy eyes. In front of here was a tall man with graying hair. He wore glasses and had a cheerful expression. He moved with a martial artist's grace and seemed very familiar to her.
"It's good to see you again Ranma." the man said.
'Who is this guy?' Ranma thought silently, not taking her eyes off of him..
"Imagine my surprise to see you being carted in here unconscious. At first I wasn't sure it was really you."
'He knows me? I don't recognize him, although he seems familiar.' Ranma tried to remain calm. She did not like not knowing someone that knew her.
"You don't recognize me do you?" The man asked as if reading Ranma's thoughts.
"Sorry, but I don't remember ever seein' ya before, although you do seem a bit familiar." Ranma responded. Then she thought of something. "Hey you're not some father of a daughter that my dumb old man arranged I'd have to marry, are ya? 'Cause I'm not marrying nobody!"
The man chuckled. "No Ranma. We met along time ago, Akane introduced us at my clinic, I snuck up behind you with my skeleton Betty-chan."
'Betty-chan? Wait. . . It can't be. . .' "Dr. Tofu?" she asked tentatively.
"Yes Ranma, it's me" he said smiling.
"Doc! What happened? How'd you get so old? Was it the Old Ghoul? I be she did something right?" Ranma started to get furious thinking of the old matriarch's past schemings. 'That Old Ghoul always causing trouble!'
Dr. Tofu watched as Ranma's emotions displayed on his face as it changed. 'He's never been this open in displaying his emotions so clearly. He seems so vulnerable now.' he thought to himself. "No Ranma, the way I look is normal." Dr. Tofu handed Ranma a hospital gown. "Here put this on."
Ranma complied. "You sure you're okay Doc? 'Cause if there's anything I can do, ya just gotta ask."
"Thank you for the offer. How do you feel Ranma?" Dr. Tofu watched as the emotions flittered across Ranma's face. 'Oh the pain he's in, poor child.'
"Did my old man and Mr. Tendo get back and tell you what happened?" Ranma said in soft voice as she stared at the floor, trying to hold back her tears.
"Yes" replied Dr. Tofu.
"I failed Doc. I let her down. I wasn't good 'nough." As hard as she tried, Ranma could not stop from crying. "She died and it's all my fault! I should be dead not her!" Ranma's body shook as she sobbed into her hands.
Ono Tofu wrapped his arms around the young woman as she cried. "You're father and Mr. Tendo told me what happened. You did everything you could Ranma. By all accounts, you shouldn't have been able to beat Saffron, but you did."
"But it wasn't enough!" Ranma cried into Tofu's chest. Eventually her sobs quieted down. "I never even got to tell her." She said softly.
"Tell her what Ranma?" He knew what Ranma was speaking about, but knew if she said it out loud finally, she might be able to start healing.
"I never got to tell her how much I love her" Ranma said in a hoarse voice filled with emotion.
"I'm sure she knows" Tofu said, trying to reassure the distressed girl. "And I know she loved you too."
"Do you really think so Doc? I could never tell. She was always so angry with me. I could never tell, and I was too scared to tell her how I felt."
Once again Dr. Tofu was surprised at the change in Ranma. 'He's in so much pain, to even admit he was scared of something. . .'
"What am I gonna do now Doc?" Ranma pulled away from Dr. Tofu, a bit embarrassed that she let herself be comforted by another man, even if she was in her girl form.
"First I want you to tell me how you got here. It's very important Ranma."
"Okay. Umm I guess I was sent here."
"Sent here? By who?" the doctor asked.
"If it was anyone else but you Doc, I don't think they'd believe me. But you know how crazy my life is. I think it was some Goddess. I was told there was fighting going on and that people needed my help."
"Ranma I want to think back, how long after Jusendo was this?"
"A few days I think" Ranma said after pondering.
'No wonder his pain is still so fresh. It only has been a couple of days.' Tofu though. "Ranma, I need to tell you something, but I want you to remain calm."
"Okay Doc. After losing Akane. . . I don't think there's much you can say that would affect me though."
"Well Ranma, after you defeated Saffron, the Amazons kidnapped you. From what I can gather, Cologne was going to keep you as part of her Amazon tribe, with you already in China, she was able to get you away from your father while he was consoling Soun Tendo. But when your father with the help of your old friend Ryoga, they fought their way to the Amazon village to get you. But when they got there, they found that Cologne was quite insane. From what they gathered, you were taken by some demon and killed. Ranma. that was 17 years ago."
Silence permeated the room.
"You're saying that I've been gone for 17 years?" Ranma finally asked.
"To put it simply, yes."
"And the Old Ghoul went nuts?"
"Yes, apparently your disappearance had something to do with it. Shampoo became Cologne's caretaker."
'Well, I've been to the past, I guess the future was bound to happen' Ranma thought to herself. 'At least I don't have to worry about the Old Ghoul anymore. "So who do I gotta fight now?"
"Angels" said Tofu with a straight face.
"Umm, aren't Angels suppose to be the good guys?" Ranma asked a bit perplexed.
Ono Tofu chuckled. "Let me explain what happened 15 years ago. . ."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shinji Ikari slowly arose to consciousness and opened his eyes. 'Same dumb ceiling' he thought to himself. Then he realized he was not alone. To the left of him sat Rei Ayanami, very impassively. A bit puzzled about Rei's presence, Shinji sat up.
"You can just rest today. We'll take care of everything" Rei said in a soft voice.
"But I'm fine now" said Shinji. 'What's all this about?' he thought to himself.
"Well, that's good for you" Rei responded.
Shinji was surprised by Rei's candor. 'She's never acted like this before' he thought. He saw that Rei was struggling to say something. "What is it Ayanami-San?"
"I. . . I just wanted. . . to ask about. . . never mind." Rei got up and headed for the door. "Get well soon Ikari-kun."
Shinji watched as Rei left. He noted that Asuka was standing outside his door, trying not to be noticed and giggled. After Rei left, he laid back down and pondered what happened. 'What was that about? And who was that girl Unit 01 was carrying? Where did she come from?' Shinji continued to think about the mysterious young girl that returned with him from the angel's dark prison.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So let me get this straight. Some jerk wanted to capture an angel and killed half the people on earth by accident. Everyone in Nermia including my parents and the Tendos were killed by what happened and it's called the second impact. Now these Angels are coming after 15 years and are trying to kill everyone and only way to stop them is these giant robots. I'm suppose to help fight these angel things? This sound like some plot from a bad manga like Nabiki always read." Ranma rubbed her temples as she absorbed all the information Dr. Tofu gave her.
"That pretty much sums it up Ranma" replied Dr Tofu. 'This might be too much for him. I wish there was something I could do.'
''Doc can you get me some hot water? I'd like to change back."
"Sure Ranma, one moment." Dr. Tofu left the room for a short while and came back with a cup of water and handed it to Ranma.
Ramna poured the contents of the water over her head. Ranma waited for the familiar sensation of changing gender. The sensations never came. She looked down at her body and still noticed she was still a she. "AAAAAAHHH!!!"
"Ranma! You didn't change back. Ranma?" Dr. Tofu noticed that Ramna was non responsive.
'This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. . .' Ranma continuously stated in her head.
'He must be going through a break down, this is just too much for him.' Dr. Tofu got more hot water and tried to activate Ranma's curse again. Still he was not responsive, but was shaking like a leaf.
Ranma saw that Dr. Tofu pulled out a syringe. "Ranma I'm going to give you a sedative, to help you calm down" he said.
Ranma reacted instantly to the needle. She flipped off the bed into a defensive stance. "No way Doc, no one is ever drugging me again" she said in a stern voice full of determination. "I'm sick of people trying to drug me and make me do things I don't wanna do!"
The doctor was very surprised by Ranma's reaction, but understood. 'If I had been drugged as often as Ranma had been, I would be scared of any kind of medication regardless of what it is' he thought to himself. "Okay, no drugs." He put the needle way back into his coat pocket. "I was just worried about you Ranma, I don't want you to do anything drastic."
"Drastic? DRASTIC?!? WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO!!! THE LOVE OF MY LIFE DIED 17 YEARS AGO, MY FAMILY IS DEAD, EVERYONE I KNEW IS DEAD AND NOW I'M STUCK AS A GIRL PERMANENTLY!!!" Ranma screamed at the top of her lungs. "This isn't fair" she said softly and collapsed on the floor crying. "This isn't fair."
"No Ranma this isn't fair, your life has never been fair to you. I'm truly sorry. But I know Ranma Saotome never gives up, and always wins." Dr. Tofu knelt down and held the sobbing girl, trying to comfort her as best as he could. "Please Ranma, it will be okay."
Ranma continued to weep. 'I always win in the end. . . but I don't want to win anymore. . . I just want the pain to go away. . .'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note:
Well, I don't know where I'm going with this... Actually I have some idea, just don't know how to pull it off. I am a very sporadic writer at best, don't know when I will continue this story. Don't ask about the title, I have no idea why it's called that either. Please read, review, make suggestions, critize, whatever strikes your fancy.
Bain
By Bain
A Ranma 1/2 - Evangelion crossover fanfic
I do not own Ranma 1/2 or Neon Genesis Evangelion.
CHAPTER 1
'Looks like it's gonna get busy soon' Ono Tofu mused. He finally received the report that the latest angel was finally killed and the pilot of Unit 01 was injured somehow. From the report he had received, he knew young Shinji Ikari should be dead.
The examination room was prepped to check Shinji's vital signs as soon as he was brought into the Nerv Medical facility. Finally a gurney was brought in with someone laying down on it. However it wasn't Shinji.
'My God!' the doctor though to himself in shock. 'It can't be!'
"Doctor?" the orderly inquired. "You look like you just seen a ghost. Is everything okay?"
Dr. Tofu gathered his wits finally and responded. "Yes, bring her to examination lab four." The orderly took the still form of the young girl with red hair to the designated room.
'Ranma Saotome, where have you been for the past 17 years. . . and why don't you look any older than when you died?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So what is the status of our latest subject?"
"Well commander, according to the dna tests, she is 100% human. However, she has been showing a unique energy signature very similar to AT fields" responded Professor Fuyuzuki. He paused for a moment. "There is no mention of an event like this in the Dead Sea Scrolls."
"That, professor, is irrelevant. Unit 01 has awakened. That is all that is important. This thing that Unit 01 brought out is a minor detail to be ironed out."
"Be that as it may, such a deviation will not look well. We were barely able to keep the child's existence away from the council."
Gendo Ikari sat in his chair, and looked over his hands as they were bridged in front of his face, with his elbows leaning on the desk. His demeanor suggested indifference. But Fuyuzuki knew, Commander Ikari was worried. He did not like anything that was out of his control or being caught unaware.
"I am aware of that Fuyuzuki. Have Dr. Akagi run compatibility and synchronization tests with the subject. Have the girl designated the 5th Children for now regardless of the outcome of the tests."
"The 5th Children?" The professor was surprised by this move. 'What are you planning Gendo' he thought to himself.
"Yes. It is a good excuse to keep the child under observation."
"That means. . ."
"Yes Fuyuzuki, the 4th has already been found."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ranma knelt down on the ground with Akane's limp form in his arms. She wasn't breathing. Tears fell onto Akane's pale face.
"Please Akane, wake up" Ranma whispered. "I l-love you, don't leave me, I can't live without you. I want to see you smile again. You're so c-cute when you smile. Please Akane, I need you. Please. . . don't be dead."
Akane did not respond. She laid unresponsive in his arms. Akane's beautiful face just continued to sit motionless. Slowly Ranma realized that she would not be waking up.
"AAAKKKAAAANNNNEEEEEEEE!!!" Ranma screamed into the sky, loud enough to wake the dead, shattering the silence with his agony. But Akane did not stir.
Tears streaming down his face, Ranma gently laid Akane's still lifeless form on the ground. He then stumbled away lost in his pain. 'I wasn't strong enough, I couldn't protect her.' Those thought were the only things going through his mind.
'I want to die. I don't want to live without her'
"NO!" A voice broke Ranma out of his thoughts. "Please Ranma, don't do this."
"Akane?" Ranma asked, recognizing the voice.
"Live for me Beloved, please live for me."
"AKANE!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ranma bolted up from the bed screaming.
"Arrgg, my head" she said weakly. Ranma started to take notice that her body felt very weak at the moment and she was in her cursed form and very naked under a thin sheet.
Ranma sat on the edge of the bed pulling the sheet around her body and tried to think about the situation. A bed, now that was another funny thing. She never got used beds. When she was on the road with the old man, they were always living roughly. Which meant that if there was a soft pile of leaves to be found, her father would take it, and Ranma would get the rocks. Then after he got to Akane's place. . .
"Don't even think about Akane." she whispered to herself wiping the tears from her eyes.
She looked around and found himself in an unfamiliar hospital room that looked very stale and clean. Ranma laid back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
'I wonder what I got myself into now?' Ranma though to herself. 'This place looks creepy.'
Then the door to the room opened and two women walked in. Both were fairly attractive, one had purplish black hair with a red outfit on, the other was blond and wore a lab coat.
"I see that you're awake" said the blond. "How are you feeling?"
Ranma sat up, letting the sheet fall to her waist. "Okay I guess" Ranma answered cautiously. "Where am I? Who are you two? What am I doing here?"
The women noticed the young girl's lack of feminine modesty. "Full of questions aren't we?" the dark haired woman said in an amused tone. "You're at the NERV medical facility. I'm Major Katsuragi, but you can just call me Misato. This is Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. As to what you are doing here, well, we found you unconscious and brought you here to make sure you were okay."
"So can you tell us your name?" asked Ritsuko.
"Ranma Saotome" she answered cautiously.
"Do you remember how you ended up where we found you Ranma?" asked Misato.
"I don't think you'd believe me if I told ya." Ranma mumbled staring at the floor. "Umm, where's my clothes?"
"You didn't have any clothes on when we found you" Misato said.
"Just great." Ranma said under her breath. "Umm could I borrow some clothes?"
"Sure, we'll get you some clothes in a little while. We just want to run a few more tests to make sure you're okay." The doctor said. Ritsuko then moved next to Ranma and check her vitals. Ranma felt a bit uncomfortable being check over by the woman but didn't say anything. "Everything seems normal."
"Good" Said Misato. "Now Ranma, we'd like to talk to you about how you came to where we found you."
"Where did you find me?" Ranma asked.
"Well, you were found in the middle of Tokyo 3." Misato answered.
'Tokyo 3? Where the heck is that?' Ranma thought but kept to herself. "Umm. . . I don't know if I can explain, I doubt you'd believe me."
"We only want to help Ranma" Misato said in a friendly voice. "No matter how outlandish it may sound, we'll believe it."
"I don't want to talk about it. Please, can you leave me alone for now?" Ranma said softly.
"If you would just tell us where you came from Ranma."
Ranma didn't want to face what brought her here. "Please, just leave me alone." Ranma said softly, her voice full of emotion.
"We only want to know. . ."
"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Ranma screamed, surprising both Misato and Ritsuko. Ranma turned over on the bed and sobbed into her pillow.
Both women were a bit unsure of what was going. "Whatever it is Ranma, it will be okay, we just want to help." Misato finally said.
"I will never be okay ever again." Ranma said to herself. "Just leave me alone. . . please."
Not sure what to do, both women left the poor young girl sobbing in the stale room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'I wasn't good enough. I failed her. I can't even stop crying, I guess I really am a girl now.' Ranma though to herself. It had been a while since the two women left her alone, and Ranma had not stopped crying the entire time. She couldn't stop herself. Slowly, she fell into slumber, tears still streaming down her soft cheeks.
The noise of the doors opening triggered Ranma to awaken. She slowly opened her puffy eyes. In front of here was a tall man with graying hair. He wore glasses and had a cheerful expression. He moved with a martial artist's grace and seemed very familiar to her.
"It's good to see you again Ranma." the man said.
'Who is this guy?' Ranma thought silently, not taking her eyes off of him..
"Imagine my surprise to see you being carted in here unconscious. At first I wasn't sure it was really you."
'He knows me? I don't recognize him, although he seems familiar.' Ranma tried to remain calm. She did not like not knowing someone that knew her.
"You don't recognize me do you?" The man asked as if reading Ranma's thoughts.
"Sorry, but I don't remember ever seein' ya before, although you do seem a bit familiar." Ranma responded. Then she thought of something. "Hey you're not some father of a daughter that my dumb old man arranged I'd have to marry, are ya? 'Cause I'm not marrying nobody!"
The man chuckled. "No Ranma. We met along time ago, Akane introduced us at my clinic, I snuck up behind you with my skeleton Betty-chan."
'Betty-chan? Wait. . . It can't be. . .' "Dr. Tofu?" she asked tentatively.
"Yes Ranma, it's me" he said smiling.
"Doc! What happened? How'd you get so old? Was it the Old Ghoul? I be she did something right?" Ranma started to get furious thinking of the old matriarch's past schemings. 'That Old Ghoul always causing trouble!'
Dr. Tofu watched as Ranma's emotions displayed on his face as it changed. 'He's never been this open in displaying his emotions so clearly. He seems so vulnerable now.' he thought to himself. "No Ranma, the way I look is normal." Dr. Tofu handed Ranma a hospital gown. "Here put this on."
Ranma complied. "You sure you're okay Doc? 'Cause if there's anything I can do, ya just gotta ask."
"Thank you for the offer. How do you feel Ranma?" Dr. Tofu watched as the emotions flittered across Ranma's face. 'Oh the pain he's in, poor child.'
"Did my old man and Mr. Tendo get back and tell you what happened?" Ranma said in soft voice as she stared at the floor, trying to hold back her tears.
"Yes" replied Dr. Tofu.
"I failed Doc. I let her down. I wasn't good 'nough." As hard as she tried, Ranma could not stop from crying. "She died and it's all my fault! I should be dead not her!" Ranma's body shook as she sobbed into her hands.
Ono Tofu wrapped his arms around the young woman as she cried. "You're father and Mr. Tendo told me what happened. You did everything you could Ranma. By all accounts, you shouldn't have been able to beat Saffron, but you did."
"But it wasn't enough!" Ranma cried into Tofu's chest. Eventually her sobs quieted down. "I never even got to tell her." She said softly.
"Tell her what Ranma?" He knew what Ranma was speaking about, but knew if she said it out loud finally, she might be able to start healing.
"I never got to tell her how much I love her" Ranma said in a hoarse voice filled with emotion.
"I'm sure she knows" Tofu said, trying to reassure the distressed girl. "And I know she loved you too."
"Do you really think so Doc? I could never tell. She was always so angry with me. I could never tell, and I was too scared to tell her how I felt."
Once again Dr. Tofu was surprised at the change in Ranma. 'He's in so much pain, to even admit he was scared of something. . .'
"What am I gonna do now Doc?" Ranma pulled away from Dr. Tofu, a bit embarrassed that she let herself be comforted by another man, even if she was in her girl form.
"First I want you to tell me how you got here. It's very important Ranma."
"Okay. Umm I guess I was sent here."
"Sent here? By who?" the doctor asked.
"If it was anyone else but you Doc, I don't think they'd believe me. But you know how crazy my life is. I think it was some Goddess. I was told there was fighting going on and that people needed my help."
"Ranma I want to think back, how long after Jusendo was this?"
"A few days I think" Ranma said after pondering.
'No wonder his pain is still so fresh. It only has been a couple of days.' Tofu though. "Ranma, I need to tell you something, but I want you to remain calm."
"Okay Doc. After losing Akane. . . I don't think there's much you can say that would affect me though."
"Well Ranma, after you defeated Saffron, the Amazons kidnapped you. From what I can gather, Cologne was going to keep you as part of her Amazon tribe, with you already in China, she was able to get you away from your father while he was consoling Soun Tendo. But when your father with the help of your old friend Ryoga, they fought their way to the Amazon village to get you. But when they got there, they found that Cologne was quite insane. From what they gathered, you were taken by some demon and killed. Ranma. that was 17 years ago."
Silence permeated the room.
"You're saying that I've been gone for 17 years?" Ranma finally asked.
"To put it simply, yes."
"And the Old Ghoul went nuts?"
"Yes, apparently your disappearance had something to do with it. Shampoo became Cologne's caretaker."
'Well, I've been to the past, I guess the future was bound to happen' Ranma thought to herself. 'At least I don't have to worry about the Old Ghoul anymore. "So who do I gotta fight now?"
"Angels" said Tofu with a straight face.
"Umm, aren't Angels suppose to be the good guys?" Ranma asked a bit perplexed.
Ono Tofu chuckled. "Let me explain what happened 15 years ago. . ."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shinji Ikari slowly arose to consciousness and opened his eyes. 'Same dumb ceiling' he thought to himself. Then he realized he was not alone. To the left of him sat Rei Ayanami, very impassively. A bit puzzled about Rei's presence, Shinji sat up.
"You can just rest today. We'll take care of everything" Rei said in a soft voice.
"But I'm fine now" said Shinji. 'What's all this about?' he thought to himself.
"Well, that's good for you" Rei responded.
Shinji was surprised by Rei's candor. 'She's never acted like this before' he thought. He saw that Rei was struggling to say something. "What is it Ayanami-San?"
"I. . . I just wanted. . . to ask about. . . never mind." Rei got up and headed for the door. "Get well soon Ikari-kun."
Shinji watched as Rei left. He noted that Asuka was standing outside his door, trying not to be noticed and giggled. After Rei left, he laid back down and pondered what happened. 'What was that about? And who was that girl Unit 01 was carrying? Where did she come from?' Shinji continued to think about the mysterious young girl that returned with him from the angel's dark prison.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So let me get this straight. Some jerk wanted to capture an angel and killed half the people on earth by accident. Everyone in Nermia including my parents and the Tendos were killed by what happened and it's called the second impact. Now these Angels are coming after 15 years and are trying to kill everyone and only way to stop them is these giant robots. I'm suppose to help fight these angel things? This sound like some plot from a bad manga like Nabiki always read." Ranma rubbed her temples as she absorbed all the information Dr. Tofu gave her.
"That pretty much sums it up Ranma" replied Dr Tofu. 'This might be too much for him. I wish there was something I could do.'
''Doc can you get me some hot water? I'd like to change back."
"Sure Ranma, one moment." Dr. Tofu left the room for a short while and came back with a cup of water and handed it to Ranma.
Ramna poured the contents of the water over her head. Ranma waited for the familiar sensation of changing gender. The sensations never came. She looked down at her body and still noticed she was still a she. "AAAAAAHHH!!!"
"Ranma! You didn't change back. Ranma?" Dr. Tofu noticed that Ramna was non responsive.
'This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. . .' Ranma continuously stated in her head.
'He must be going through a break down, this is just too much for him.' Dr. Tofu got more hot water and tried to activate Ranma's curse again. Still he was not responsive, but was shaking like a leaf.
Ranma saw that Dr. Tofu pulled out a syringe. "Ranma I'm going to give you a sedative, to help you calm down" he said.
Ranma reacted instantly to the needle. She flipped off the bed into a defensive stance. "No way Doc, no one is ever drugging me again" she said in a stern voice full of determination. "I'm sick of people trying to drug me and make me do things I don't wanna do!"
The doctor was very surprised by Ranma's reaction, but understood. 'If I had been drugged as often as Ranma had been, I would be scared of any kind of medication regardless of what it is' he thought to himself. "Okay, no drugs." He put the needle way back into his coat pocket. "I was just worried about you Ranma, I don't want you to do anything drastic."
"Drastic? DRASTIC?!? WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO!!! THE LOVE OF MY LIFE DIED 17 YEARS AGO, MY FAMILY IS DEAD, EVERYONE I KNEW IS DEAD AND NOW I'M STUCK AS A GIRL PERMANENTLY!!!" Ranma screamed at the top of her lungs. "This isn't fair" she said softly and collapsed on the floor crying. "This isn't fair."
"No Ranma this isn't fair, your life has never been fair to you. I'm truly sorry. But I know Ranma Saotome never gives up, and always wins." Dr. Tofu knelt down and held the sobbing girl, trying to comfort her as best as he could. "Please Ranma, it will be okay."
Ranma continued to weep. 'I always win in the end. . . but I don't want to win anymore. . . I just want the pain to go away. . .'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note:
Well, I don't know where I'm going with this... Actually I have some idea, just don't know how to pull it off. I am a very sporadic writer at best, don't know when I will continue this story. Don't ask about the title, I have no idea why it's called that either. Please read, review, make suggestions, critize, whatever strikes your fancy.
Bain