Title: You'll See
Author: Becka
Chapter 01: Life's a Bitch and Then...
o
There was a rush, a tingling sensation that swept throughout his entire body. Suddenly, without warning, Ranma's eyes opened. More specifically, Ranma opened his eyes. He looked around for a moment, confused and disoriented.
He was standing in the middle of a crowded walkway. People, young and old, bustled around him. Ranma noticed something else as well; he could move.
He did so, wandering aimlessly rather than holding up the gestating mass of people who surrounded him on all sides. / Huh, / he thought, / I can move... last time, I wasn't able to at first... last time... / He shuddered, clenching his eyes shut. / Oh God, Akane... /
It all came back to him; the feeling of helplessness when he discovered he couldn't move, the pain from taking repeated beatings from his... from Genma, the fleeting elation when she'd confessed the three words he'd longed to hear, the anguish when he held a dying Akane in his arms.
People around him saw him stop for the second time, and a few of them even went so far as to look into his face. They saw pain and anguish and regret, but most noticeably, they saw sorrow in a depth that none of them had ever encountered. It was painful for _them_ to look at him, but no one stopped to see if they could help him. They just kept on moving, his horror-struck face burned into their mind's eye. Most were relieved when he started walking again, until they saw where he was walking. Then they just stopped themselves and stared.
Ranma was so distracted by the pain his thoughts brought him that he didn't notice the shouts of warning from several people who bordered the sidewalks. Blinking away tears, he looked up into two bright and shining lights, murmuring softly, "I'm sorry Akane... next time, I'll protect you. Next time..."
There was a sickening screech of rubber against flesh as the large moving truck lit into Ranma's body; he was crushed beneath the tires. The cars on the road sped along as though nothing had happened. If he wasn't dead when the first car hit him, the second or third finished him off. He would probably remember it later, having been his first experience of being run over by a truck.
Most looked down at the remains of his body with shock, but one dark-haired little boy tugged on his mother's sleeve, pointing at the body frantically, "Mama! Mama! Look at the funny man, mama! He's all red inside! Why is he all red inside, mama? Why is there red everywhere? Am I red inside mama? Who is he, mama, and why is he red?"
Akane Hibiki looked fondly down at her son, gently explaining, "That man is dead, honey. He was careless and he paid the price. As for who he is..." She looked up curiously, "He's just a dead man, Ranma. No one important."
o
Ranma groaned, sitting up and tossing the covers off his body. It was a nightmare. He'd just died, again. He had the memories of the man who he died as, again. And once again, he was in another body with an entirely new set of memories.
Experimentally, he lifted one arm. It was a slight strain on his mind, but he found he could move with relative ease. Mentally sighing, he carefully checked over to newest edition to his memory, cataloging what he wanted to know.
/ Name: Ranma Soatome. Occupation: Student of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu or "Anything Goes Martial Arts". Location: The Tendo Dojo. Fiancés: Akane Tendo. /
Shaking his head, he stood and dressed quickly. It seemed like almost everything was the same, but there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind, telling him that something was most definitely wrong. On impulse, he jumped out the window, landing lightly on the balls of his feet. Moving cautiously, he made his way to the pond whose interior he knew by heart. Leaning forward, he looked over the edge and...
Holy shit! Ranma's eyes widened in horror as he stared at his face, seeing for the first time what he looked like in this universe. His face, gods... he looked like a monster, the sort of person mother's told their children to stay away from. A thick scar striped the side of his face, from his bow, down over one eye, and ending half way down his neck. That scar was the most prominent, but by no means was it the only. All kinds of scars covered his face, thin, thick, small, and large.
Pulling his shirt up over his head, he looked down at himself. If he thought his face was monstrous, then his body was doubly grotesque. Thick, rigid scars stripped his chest, several continuing down under the waistline of his pants. They knotted and clumped together, reminding him of the gnarled roots of a tree. Claw marks, teeth marks, burn marks... they adorned his body, a martial artist's most precious weapon, in scores.
Why did he look like this? What had happened that had caused him to change from an average looking, kind of handsome man, to someone who would be better suited as the brute squad of a particularly mangy mobster.
As always, as soon as the question was asked, his newest memories supplied the answers.
He, Ranma Soatome, had done it to _himself_. He had sacrificed everything for the sake of his Art. If, in his original life, Ranma thought he was good, the Ranma from this universe made him look like about as powerful as poodle.
The Ranma from this universe had started even younger than himself, mastering the Neko-ken at age four. From there, he had gone onto even more deadly attacks and defenses. Memories from this life flashed through his mind...
Age five, walking through a room coated in hornets in an exercise to learn stealth, repeatedly...
Age seven, smeared in fresh blood and tied to the tail of a deep diving shark, his father had told him it would cancel any premature panic, and as an added bonus, he could control his breathing, minimizing oxygen use for hours at a time...
Age eight, a combined attack to raise the Neko-ken to the next level. Wrapped in fish sausage, with fifty cats tied to him, his father had cheerfully tossed him into a pit full of starving dogs, repeatedly...
Age ten, arms and legs tied to wild horses, his father strove to teach him some of the finer points of agility and flexibility...
Age thirteen, his father had collected hundreds of ninja and samurai, telling them that there was a young pigtailed boy who was possessed and the only cure was death...
Age fifteen, his training in the elements began. The booklet his father obtained had very simple and very explicate instructions: Burn by fire to teach the "Blaze of Hell" technique, drown in water to teach "Poseidon's Double-Trident Strike" technique, bury in earth to teach the "Dead-man's Waking" technique, and smother with wind to teach the "Hurricane Blockade" technique. Of course, putting those instructions to use was bit more painful...
Age sixteen, his father's "best" idea yet. This newest attack would enable him to harness the power of electricity and blend it with his chi. Sound technique in theory, though it would probably kill anyone who had no clue what he or she was doing. Of course Genma, his teacher, had no clue what he was doing...
Ranma closed his eyes, realizing how he was probably going to die in this life. There was one small comfort that he could offer this other Ranma Soatome. His suffering and knowledge would not die with him. That much a considerably more humbled Ranma could swear.
Quietly, using one of his many newly acquired "stealth" techniques, Ranma made his way back to his sleeping role, having concluded several things. First, it seemed he was in some kind of punishment loop. He died, then was transported to another body in another universe. Next, he concluded, it would do him no good to avoid the death, because some way or another, he would die. Essentially, he was in the middle of a road; he could step out of the way of an oncoming car only to find he was now in the path of a truck. He decided he could live with dying a thousand deaths, as long as each time he was transported into "Ranma's" body, he could preserve their memory in his own. Last, he was beginning to come to grips with the fact that he loved Akane, and he would never let it end like it had the first time. He would protect her no matter the cost.
After all, death held no fear for him anymore.
Smiling softly, he closed his eyes and slept.
o
The next morning, Ranma woke up, the smile still on his face. He stood slowly, stretching out slightly stiff muscles. If he was going to die soon, he had a lot to take care of in this lifetime. First thing... he stepped out of his room, moving to the unadorned door down the hallway. His light knocking was answered by Nabiki, who blinked owlishly at him. Her features were the same as his Nabiki, but her hair was much longer, falling down past her waist. Her words were tired and a little terse. "Well?"
"May I come in, Nabiki? I have a small favor I'd like to ask you..." he paused, unsure how she would react to this. His voice was quiet as he spoke a word his former pride would have inhibited him from say: "Please."
She examined his face, searching for some sign of mockery, then stepped away from the door, allowing him entry. Plopping down on the bed, she gestured for him to take the chair opposite her. She seemed a little more interested as she spoke again, "You do realize it's five in the morning? What is so important that you'd be willing to ask a favor from _me_?"
Ranma took the offered seat, staring down at his twisted and muscular hands. Subdued, he responded, "I need you to get Life Insurance for me, the largest amount possible. Put it under the Tendo name."
Nabiki blinked, surprised. "Life Insurance?" she questioned. "What brought this on?"
His smile was bitter. "Just call it a hunch. Something's going to happen to me, fairly soon I think. I just want to make sure that your family is... compensated."
Ever practical, she grabbed up a note pad and a pen, furiously writing in concise strokes. She examined him quizzically. "You want it today, I assume? Under the Tendo name? Don't you want your father 'compensated' if, for some reason, something does happen?"
"No."
"No?"
Ranma stood swiftly, heading towards the door. He paused, his voice back to its usual arrogant cockiness. He repeated, "No. It's a word, Nabiki. You should know. It's one of your favorites. I don't want my... father... receiving anything from me if I die." He added softly under his breath, "After all, he's the one who's going to get me killed."
Flashing a bright grin that made him look almost handsome, in spite of the scars, he walked out the door, tossing his words over his shoulder.
"Thanks, Nabiki. Take care of it as soon as you can. Knowing you, I'm sure you'll find a way to charge _them_ interest..."
And for the first time in her adolescent life, Nabiki couldn't think of a thing to say.
o
About an hour or so later, Genma and Ranma began their morning ritual of sparring by the pool. They exchanged violent blows almost too fast for the eye to see. Genma enjoyed this particular spar because his son seemed to have regained the will to win, while Ranma was able to explore a body that was stronger, faster, and more agile than his own original body.
Akane and Nabiki sat at the dining room table, watching their houseguests with interest. Kasumi was in the kitchen preparing breakfast and their mutual father was still asleep. Akane observed Ranma's movements as he skillfully blocked several punches that would have left a lesser man crippled for life.
Nabiki followed her sister's stare, her voice interrupting her sisters wandering mind. "You like him, don't you, sis?"
Akane blinked, startled. She responded quickly, "Huh? Yeah right! Like I could lo... like a scarred, perverted idiot like him..."
The older sister lifted one brow in a mildly reproving look. "You're telling me that you judge him solely on appearance?"
"Well, I... no..." Akane mumbled, looking down at her hands.
Nabiki grinned a little, returning to her question. "Good. So, give me an answer, silly. Do you like him or don't you?"
Akane lifted her head once again, her eyes hungrily seeking out the boy whom she was beginning to fall in love with. A little half-smile crossed her mouth as she spoke, "Yeah... I think I kinda' do..."
Nabiki turned her head towards the window just in time to see the older Saotome slam the younger into the floor. She remembered her earlier conversation. Quickly, she stood and excused herself. "I have a couple calls to make before school. I'll be back soon."
Ignoring Akane's questioning stare, she walked back up to her room, pulling out the business card of a particularly wealthy Life Insurance Company, managed by a man who had a crush on her. She smiled as she picked up the phone. "I knew that little twerp would come in handy..." she muttered as she dialed the number.
o
A delicious breakfast passed by uneventful, and soon Ranma and Akane were on their way to school. Ranma hopped up onto the fence by the river, walking at a comfortable pace as Akane looked up at him.
She stared up at him, unaware that she had stopped walking. The sun which was just beginning to rise, served as a beautiful backdrop of gold and orange, silhouetting his body. From her perspective, his scarred face was shadowed, which accented a distinctively attractive and well-muscled body. He _was_ handsome, really, and she lost herself in the image.
Ranma stopped and looked around after he noticed that Akane wasn't following him. He was surprised to see her staring up at him, examining him as though she was seeing him for the first time. She was so cute when she wore that pensive expression...
Blinking, he shook himself; there was no was he was following that particular line of thought. On impulse, he bent down, offering a hand to her. Puzzled, she accepted, letting out a surprised "Ah!" as he pulled her up on top of the fence. He grinned at her, the jovial expression on his face infuriating, and said, "If you want, I can show you the secret to keeping your balance when you're walking on a fence. We've got some time to kill before school..."
She blinked at him in amazement and wondered what had caused the change in Ranma's attitude towards her. Curiously, she asked, "What brought this on?"
He laughed and shrugged. "I dunno'. I guess I just wanted to share it with you..."
A bright blush infused her cheeks, deepening to crimson as he places his hands lightly around her waist. It was quite a picture they made; he walked backwards, seeming to have no problem balancing, with his hands steadying her as she learned to find her center. Each time she fumbled, he would help her catch her balance as though she weighed no more than a baby. After a few moment of silence, Akane hesitantly spoke up, "Ranma?"
He tilted his head a little, keeping them both moving at the same steady pace. "Hmm?"
She looked down at his hands, then questioned, "I never asked before... but how did it happen? Mr. Soatome said it was a training accident, but he didn't say anything else..."
Seeming unperturbed by her question, he continued walking. His voice was quiet, very much unlike the arrogant, egotistical boy she thought she knew. "The scars, you mean?"
She nodded mutely, embarrassed at asking such a childish and personal question.
His scornful laugh was not directed at her as he replied, "'Training accident,' huh? So that's how the old man explains them..."
She nodded again.
Ranma lowered his eyes to his hands self-consciously. "The scars aren't a result of an accident, Akane. The scars come from the training itself."
Akane stumbled, but Ranma gently steadied her. "What do you mean?" Her voice trembled a little, as though she really didn't want him to answer.
"Ever heard of the Neko-ken?"
She blinked. "The Neko-ken? Cat-fist? Father told me about it once. He said that it's a forbidden attack that was banned because of the way it is supposedly taught. I think he mentioned something about a pit full of starving cats, but... you don't mean to tell me that you..."
"I was trained in the Neko-ken when I was four, Akane."
His eyes were downcast when he said that, and wisely, Akane didn't press the matter. Her mind was reeling. / If he was trained in a forbidden attack that young... how good is he really...? / Hot on the heels of that thought came another, this one infinitely more disturbing. / Oh my goddess, what kind of father could do that to his son...? /
They continued the rest of the way in silence.
Finally reaching the end of the fence, Ranma hopped down. He caught Akane as she jumped, setting her lightly on the ground. He grinned, "Come on, Akane. We're a little late, so I'll help you out. But don't get any ideas that I like you or nothing..."
He ran off towards the school grounds and set about beating up the usual group who would, "date with her."
Akane blinked, her eyes following his controlled precise movements as he tied up her suitors with a length of rope he'd found on the lawn, immobilizing them without injuring them at all.
She whispered softly, "Ranma..."
o
Akane was in for several surprises that day. As the day passed, Ranma proved himself thoughtful and considerate time and time again. It started with taking care of usual group of daters in the morning, and though she was miffed for a moment, she couldn't stay mad at him for helping her out. Then, of course, Kuno showed up.
The captain of the kendo club had jumped out in front of Ranma, waking his wooden practice blade in the air. Ranma had just sighed, calmly removing the blade from Kuno's hand. Kuno hadn't noticed, and so continued to swing his now empty hand above his head. There had been, needless to say, a perpetual state of sweatdrop among the bystanders who'd stopped to watch the event.
When he finally noticed that he no longer had his bokken, Kuno used the only other weapon he had available to him: his voice.
"Filthy fiend who holds the beautiful Akane Tendo prisoner, release her from thy hideously scared reach, beast, or the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High shall punish you!"
Ranma sighed, "Look, Kuno. Akane's my fiancé. Get that through your head. I ain't holding her hostage with evil sorcery, or whatever you wanna' call it, so you can stop spouting off that punishment crap like you're Sailor Moon. She's _my_ fiancée. Do you understand what that means?"
Kuno blinked, having expected a fist to the face rather then calm reasoning. Suspecting that the question had a trick answer, he inquired cautiously, "What does it mean...?"
Rolling his eyes, Ranma shook his head and sighed, "It means I'm gonna' marry her, lame brain. You can't date a married woman."
By this time, most of the boys who Ranma had previously defeated managed to untangle themselves from the rope, and staggered to their feet, eyes wide. A low murmur rippled through them.
"Hey, he's right!"
"Dating someone who's married is like committing adultery, almost..."
"Yeah! So why do we get the shit beat out of us every morning...?"
"Hey, why do we?"
"Even if we won, we still couldn't date her."
"So whose stupid idea was it anyway?"
The mass of confused boys looked around for a moment. They saw three people at the center of the little drama: Ranma Soatome, Akane Tendo, and Tatewake Kuno.
They looked at each other, then at Kuno, as if seeing him for the first time. Kuno blinked.
Ranma reached out and took a stupefied Akane by the hand, leading her into the school. A few moments later, cries of "How dare you lead us on like that!" and "What are ya' trying to do to us? Getting us to date someone who's practically married!" were heard. The entire school shook with the more frequent loud bangs and yells of "DIE!"
Ranma pulled her into their class just before the bell rung. For the first time in the history of Furinkan High, Akane Tendo was not marked late.
Akane was out of it for most of the class. She was too busy trying to figure out how Ranma had taken care of a problem that had plagued her entire life, and how he had done it in under ten minutes. The real shock was that he had solved it using a _non-violent_ solution. No fighting, no beating, no... no nothing! He'd just reasoned with them as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and they'd understood him!
Once she got over that initial surprise, she also realized how protective Ranma was of her. He'd called her _his_ fiancée; he'd said they were going to marry. Akane was amazed at how warm and fuzzy she felt when he talked about her being his wife.
The day went on. Akane caught Ranma just gazing at her out of the corner of her eyes. There was a loving, slightly sad expression on his face, and she felt her own face grow red in response. That was when she noticed the girls around her giggling and talking to one another.
"He's so CUTE!"
"Even if he isn't gorgeous, he's got this charm around him..."
"I _so_ envy her."
"Did you hear about this morning?"
"Yeah! He said they were engaged!"
"He even called her his wife!"
"Just look at that body! All muscle and power."
"I know. If Akane weren't my friend, I'd go after him in a second."
"Same here."
"But they are a couple."
"I know. He's so cool!"
"He is! Have you seen how he looks at her?"
"That boy is in love."
Akane went even redder. She looked over at Ranma, embarrassed beyond belief at the girls' words. He just smiled at her, then went back to listening to the teacher's lecture.
Still blushing, Akane made an effort to pay more attention to the teacher instead of Ranma.
It didn't work.
Later that day, during lunch, Ranma sat across from her, eating at a normal pace instead of scarfing it like he usually did. He looked up at her periodically, and the two of them talked. There was no yelling or disagreement, only a wonderful conversation that they both enjoyed. Akane asked about his past and his life, and Ranma did the same for her. For the first time, they truly began to understand each other.
After lunch, during their break, they sat outside on the grass, still talking. The student whispered and watched, remarking on what a cute couple they made. While the guys still stared longingly at Akane, and the girls drooled over Ranma, in spite of his scarred appearance, they too began to understand how deep the bond ran between them.
A few of them noticed Akane's hand joined with Ranma's as they smiled at each other, pointing to the clouds in the sky and laughing.
At the end of the school day, Ranma and Akane walked out together. Before they reached the gates, they were stopped by a mummy waving a bokken.
Two eyes blinked at them through strips of white gauze and Kuno's voice was muffled as he lamented, "Ah, sweet sorrow. That the fair Akane should choose the beast over the prince! He who is not even a real man, but a twisted and scarred impersonation of one! Sooth! He was born with a face that makes woman weep and children flee! And a face that reflects his true self! A beast!"
There was silence.
Akane's eyes widened. How could Ranma take that from Kuno? He wouldn't! Never ever! Kuno, because of his stupid crush on her, had just grievously insulted a wonderful, caring boy named Ranma Soatome with no though to the consequences. Everything that had happened today, all the progress made in their relationship, had just been wiped away by an idiot who had no idea what he was doing.
At least, that's what she thought.
Ranma looked at Kuno sadly, his eyes shadowed. "Do you have any idea what you just said?"
The Blue Thunder blinked, a bandage falling to cover his left eye.
"Do you know how I got these scars, Kuno?" the pigtailed boy continued.
The crowd collectively held its breath. They expected Ranma to pound Kuno into a bloody pulp, not to reveal something they all wanted to know. They leaned forward in anticipation.
Kuno blinked again, trying to push the bandage over his eye up with one thickly bandaged hand.
Pulling Kuno forward by the throat, Ranma spoke quietly into the kendo captain's ear. The bandages fell away from the startled boy's face to reveal surprise at being so easily handled. After the first minute of soft words, Kuno looked a little green. After the second minute, he'd paled considerably. By the third, he was nearly white and looking quite seriously ill. When Ranma released him, Kuno stumbled back, falling comically on his rear. He stared up at the pig-tailed boy in horror, mouth opening and closing, though no sound came out.
Ranma took Akane's hand in his own, and led her down the street, leaving the proud Blue Thunder gapping after them like a stranded fish.
o
"Ranma?"
"Yeah, Akane?"
"How did you...? I mean, what did...? Why didn't you hit...? Or...?"
"Akane?"
"Yeah, Ranma?"
"'Cause I didn't have to."
o
Akane settled down against a tree in the forest. The tree was on the outskirts of the clearing where Ranma, Genma, and a several large imposing glass vats of boiling water were located. The vats were hooked to each other, and off to the side was some kind of generator. Mr. Saotome was currently fiddling with the switches.
Ranma had told her that his father was going to give him some special training today, and she'd asked if she could watch. It had confused her, because he didn't really seem like he wanted her along. He'd explained, "It's... it's not that I don't want you around. It's just that the training, it's really dangerous, Akane. I don't want you getting hurt."
She'd just glared at him and told him, quite plainly, that she could take care of herself. Ranma had looked at her and sighed. He'd offered her his hand, and she'd taken it. "Alright," he'd said, "you can come along, 'cause I know you'll probably just follow us anyway, and it's safer for you if I know where ya are."
She'd been surprised, to say the least, and now she sat in the forest, watching Genma prepare the equipment for his son's training.
Genma called out, "Come on, boy! Let's see if this training manual holds the secret to chi-transformation!"
Ranma hoped down from the tree Akane was sitting by. He looked a little hesitant, but resolved. Moving over to where Akane rested, he knelt down beside her and spoke in a low whisper.
"Hey, Akane, I'm gonna' to be going in a minute. Try to stay as far away from whatever happens as possible, alright? If it gets messy, run."
Akane blinked curiously. "Ranma, what are you talking about...?"
The boy shook his head, "Nothing, Akane. Just be careful, okay?" At her nod, he continued. Pulling out a small white envelope with her name written on it , he pressed the paper into the palm of her hand. Then he leaned over to kiss her softly on her cheek. "You'll know when to open it," he murmured. Hoping up, he left a surprised and blushing Akane staring after him.
Genma eyed his son thoughtfully and muttered to himself, "Too bad the manual didn't give better instructions like the Neko-ken guide did. Oh well, what good is a martial artist who can't improvise?"
The same son in question paused a few feet away from his father. "Well, pops, what am I supposed to do?"
Genma indicated the boiling vats next to him proudly, "This is where you begin, boy! With this you will become the only living human to have ever mastered the Electro-ken!"
Ranma eyed his father warily. "Yeah... and this is supposed to happen how?"
The older Soatome leaned forward and smacked Ranma across the back of his head. "Insolent boy! You'll see! Those," he said, pointing to the containers, "hold water boiling at a level that broke the thermometer, and right now, there is almost a thousand watts pumping through the last container."
Ranma blinked, "And what exactly do you want me to do?"
Genma charged his son, grabbing the unsuspecting boy by scruff of his neck and tossing him into one of the vats. The heat from water shocked Ranma momentarily. With a startled noise, he spluttered to the surface. He treaded there for a moment, feet pedaling to keep his head above the surface, before calling out, "All right, pops. What now?"
The older Soatome began to fiddle with the switches again. "Boy, if you haven't figured it out by now, you don't deserve to be called a martial artist. I can change what tank the electricity is pumping through. All you have to do is sense which of those tanks it's safe to be in. Jump from one to the next, boy!"
Slightly confused, Ranma felt a tiny tingling in his body, the first and only warning he would get to move out of that tank and fast. Placing his hand on the rim of the tank, he hurtled over to the adjacent vat, barely avoiding a very painful bolt of electricity that could kill even his monstrous body. Within a split second, that same tingling came to him once more, forcing him to move quickly to the next tank. A few minutes of his jumping successfully from tank to tank passed when his father added a second electrified tank to the first. Not only would he have to continue moving quickly from one vat to the next, but he would also have to make sure that he didn't jump into a container that already had the deadly currents of electricity flowing through it. It took everything he had, but somehow, he still managed to stay alive. His entire focus was on his jump, and he didn't have time for anything else... not even Akane.
Akane watched from the sidelines, her eyes round. No one should have to go through that kind of training. No one should be _able_ to go through that kind of training. By Ranma's expression, he was concentrating hard to stay alive. His worlds floated back to her, / If it gets messy, run. / The implications of that statement were clear – he might die.
As Ranma jumped to another tank, narrowly avoiding the grim fate of electrocution, Akane conceded that if he were anyone else, he would _already_ be dead.
The thought of Ranma dying made her launch herself towards Genma with every intent of turning off the machine. What she hadn't remembered was that Genma, despite his bulky appearance, was a martial artist too. He sensed her approach with ease, turning just in time to keep her from the controls. One of his meaty hands grabbed both of hers as the other one continued to control the machine. She struggled, crying, "Let me go! What do you think you're doing to him? We have to help him!"
Genma stared at her dumbly. "Help him? Why would you want to do that? He's learning the secrets of the Electro-ken as we speak."
Her eyes were terrified. "He could die!"
The older Soatome shrugged, "Yes, but he won't. I trained him well, and nothing so weak as electricity is going to kill him. Hurt him, maybe, but no pain, no gain, I always say."
"What kind of monster are you? That kind of electricity would kill even you!" She yelled at him, sparing a moment to glance over at Ranma, watching as he vaulted from vat to vat in a way that made it look almost easy.
"Girls know nothing of martial arts. Stay out of this," Genma paused and added, as an afterthought, "and why should you care anyway? His life belongs to the Arts."
Akane shook her head, finally wrenching free of Genma's grip; she reached for the controls again. With a growl, Genma made a second grab at her, and the two of them struggled over the panel. Suddenly, Genma's hand slipped and crashed down onto the controls, causing them to go haywire. A heartbeat later, Ranma began to scream.
The vats and the controls were alive with electricity, tiny shocks of it dancing across them. Bolts ran through the tanks, and in turn, ran through Ranma. The generator burst into flames from the strain, and throughout all of it Ranma's haggard screams could be heard in the background.
It all happened so quickly that neither Akane or Genma had the time to react. The youngest Tendo paled, her body slinking to the ground as Mr. Saotome released her. Neither of them spoke. The screaming stopped. In the unnatural silence, for the first time, it began to dawn on Genma Soatome, that maybe, just maybe, his son wasn't invincible to the training he'd been given his entire life.
Akane knew he was dead. There was no way anything human could have survived that.
Unfortunately for Ranma, she was right.
Numbly, she looked down at the crumpled envelope, picking it up from where she had dropped it earlier. Slowly, almost fearfully, she opened it, extracting a small square of paper, even as the bloated thing which _was_ Ranma floated to the surface of the water, glassy eyes open wide.
As she read it, her throat tightened and salty droplets trickled down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around herself, sobbing. When the Tendo's found her there later that night, Genma had already fled, and she was asleep.
Nabiki looked at the huddled body of her sister, then at the odd glass vats which looked more like a mid-evil torture device than anything else and the body that floated in one of them. Leaning over, she gently tugged at crumpled piece of paper clutched in Akane's hand.
Akane,
I don't suppose we've really known each other long
enough in this life for me to write this, but I think I
love you. Even if my father's training doesn't kill me,
I want you to know that.
- Ranma Soatome
o