~ Thank you to everyone for the reviews!!!! They do help me! Thank you
thank you thank you!!! Ok.. On to the story! (oh, and obviously I don't own
any of the ranma characters!)
"Your majesty, I think she's beginning to awaken," an unfamiliar voice was muffled by nothingness.
Questions began spinning through her mind as she slowly surfaced to consciousness. *Where am I? What happened?
Who did the voice belong to?* She slowly blinked away the sleep as she tried to move. Her body felt weak and her
head pounded with confusion. The events from the night before slowly came pouring back to her mind. *Ranma.* she
thought as she opened her eyes.
"So, you're finally awake," said a deep voice greeted gently. Akane looked at the source of the voice. Toru
stood over her, smiling down as his snow white hair flowed around his shoulders. " I am Prince Toru," he introduced
himself. "And welcome home, my dear." Akane sprang up into a sitting position with a bewildered expression plastered
onto her face.
"Who are you? Where am I? What do you want from me?" she demanded, clenching her fists as she subtly
prepared for combat. Despite her hostile greeting, Toru continued to smile.
"Like I have told you, I am Prince Toru, the ruler of this kingdom, the Kuwonja Kingdom. You, Lady
Akane, are the Chosen One, the prophesized co-ruler of this kingdom and future wife of mine. You will allow our
kingdom to finally be able to revive its ancient powers and reclaim universal sovereignty," he answered proudly. Her
mind began to whirl with denial. *The chosen one? Co-ruler? Prophesy? Future wife? Isn't this supposed to happen to
Ranma? This must be a nightmare. A nightmare. That's all. A nightmare* Her head snapped up as she expressed an
emotion she was most familiar with.
"You've got to be kidding me! A prince? The chosen one? Honestly, if your going to go around kidnapping
people in the middle of the night, you should make up a more plausible excu- " Her argument drifted off when she saw
Toru's hand move towards her head. Before she could slap it away, she felt a warm sensation form as he gently
touched the middle of her forehead. After a moment, he withdrew his hand and reached for a mirror. He held up the
mirror up to where she could see a strange symbol in the middle of her forehead as golden light pulsated from it.
Stunned, Akane could only stare and gently rub the symbol. Pleased with the results of his experiment, Toru took off a
thick, gold chain that had hung around his neck. On the chain hung a large medallion-like pendant that bore the same
symbol as Akane's forehead. He placed the medallion into Akane's hand.
"This pendant shows the Kuwonja Kingdom's crest. As you can see, you have one just like it on your
forehead. That should be all the evidence I need to present to you the truth in my words," Toru finished with a smile.
"Prince Toru! You seemed to have chosen the correct maiden! She is the chosen one!" exclaimed the
forgotten servant, Miiye. Akane continued to stare in disbelief into the mirror, still carefully caressing the crest. Soon
the pulsating symbol vanished, leaving her still in shock.
"Shall we begin your training?" suggested Toru. The words seemed barely audible to Akane as she slowly
registered the newly discovered information. She became dizzy with confusion and disbelief. Soon, she transformed
her emotions back into the one she could easily deal with. Infuriated, Akane turned to Toru and glared.
"Look! I don't care if I am this stupid chosen one or whatever, I am not marryin-. training?" she cut her self
off with the realization of his last request. Toru chuckled.
"Why yes! After all, you do want to tap into your true talent! Let us start now." Curiosity took the best of
Akane as she agreed. "Get dressed and meet me downstairs," Toru commanded. he thought silently as he left Akane alone in her new room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Great-grandmother? Is Airen alright?"
"He'll be fine, my child. He seems to be waking up now." Ranma began to stir at the sound of voices.
Slowly, he opened his eyes only to be confronted with two of the three people he had wished to never see, but
unfortunately, he felt too dizzy to react. Suddenly, the episode of the night before came flooding back. After the painful
realization of his kidnapped fiancée, Ranma immediately jumped at the short elder.
"Akane! Where's Akane? Where is she, you old ghoul?" he demanded from Cologne.
"Sit down or you won't have any strength left!" commanded the old Amazon. Glaring at her, Ranma
reluctantly sat.
"Where. Is. Akane?" Ranma said coolly, punctuating every word as he attempted to control his anger, gritting
the question through his teeth.
"I don't know. Xiam Pu found you unconscious on the ground while running an early-morning errand for
me, but she didn't see anyone else around. What happened, Son-in-law?" Ranma glared at her again.
"Dontcha ever call me that again," he hissed threateningly. Cologne's Amazon pride compelled her to open
her mouth in argument, but thought better of it, knowing it'll only anger the boy.
"Fine, Ranma. What happened?" the old woman repeated her question, annoyed. The young martial artist
looked away from the Amazon, staring off into space.
"I.I had this bad feeling for a couple of days. It was like a gut feeling, like a warning that somethin' bad
was gonna happen. I tried to protect her. I tried to make sure nothin' touch Akane. but." Ranma stopped, trying to
keeping in the tears that were threatening to pour out. *Men don't cry. Stop! Don't cry!* he ordered himself. He had
tried to protect her, but he couldn't. He didn't. Not when it mattered. *Baka!* he mentally kicked himself for letting his
guard down, for thinking she was safe.
"Ranma," insisted Cologne. Ranma regained composure and continued.
"Last night I heard Akane scream soon after I went to bed. I ran as fast as I could, but they had already gotten
her."
"Who got her?" inquired the old woman. Ranma waited a little before continuing, allowing himself enough
time to find his center, where he could ignore his raging emotions.
"Four men dressed in black. I ran after them, but the one holdin' Akane ran off while the other three stayed
behind to distract me. Before I could beat tha crap out ov'em, they threw some kind of powder at me. And that's all I
can remember," Ranma finished. As he did, the look on Akane's face, her scream, her desperate cry of his name
wrenched the pig-tailed boy out of his emotionless center. He began to tremble with anger, frustration, self-loathing,
and desperation. He failed to protect her, to save her. He came too late to help her. He failed her when she needed him
the most. *And now she's gone.* his thoughts torturously reminded him. His ghastly nightmare was becoming real,
tormenting him, haunting him in his conscious reality.
Cologne watched the young man struggle under his crushing, agonizing suffering with sympathy. She had
always known that Ranma had cared for the Tendo girl even before Xiam Pu arrived on the scene, though she never
wanted to admit it. For her, her great-granddaughter's success in marrying the man that had defeated her seemed much
more important. Saffron had smack reality back in her mind, though, when she saw Ranma go through the same sort of
pain he was now experiencing when he had thought his fiancée had died. The elder Amazon then knew his love for the
girl was much too strong to break. Understanding the anguish of heartbreaks, Cologne resolved to help the boy help
find her great-granddaughter's ex-rival. Xiam Pu would insist on aiding the boy, anyway, out of guilt and concern.
"Ranma, hold still a moment," the elder instructed as she dusted off his clothes, allowing some powdery
substance to fall onto a piece of paper she held next to Ranma's body. Taking the piece of paper, she sat herself down
to observe the substance. After a moment of carefully examining it, taking only a tiny bit into her hands as to not
render herself unconscious, she turned back to Ranma, who was glaring with intense anger into space. "Ranma," the
Amazon called, causing him to snap his head towards her. "This powder may help us locate Akane. Its not from China,
nor Japan, at least not modern Japan. I have my suspicions, but I must do some tests to be sure." As she explained this,
she took out a small vile which contained some sort of liquid. She then signaled for Ranma, then Shampoo, who had
been standing in a corner, out of sight of Ranma, to approach as she collected to powder into one small pile. Cologne
uncapped the vile and allowed one drop of the liquid to fall onto the powder. Stirring the mixture, she added two more
drops of the solution to the powder. Slowly, tiny slices of light pierced through the concoction. Suddenly, the tiny
slices burst into a bright, gold light as it illuminated the room, engulfing everyone. The light vanished as quickly as it
had appeared, leaving a dull, pulsating glow from the powder. The light shaped into a sun-like outline with the word
"Savior" written in the center in Japanese.
"It is as I had suspected. This is the symbol for the Kuwonja Dynasty, an ancient kingdom that I thought had
disappeared centuries ago, but apparently they have returned," Cologne stated grimly.
"What did they take Akane? Who are they? Where is she? What do they want with her?" Ranma impatiently
demanded, noting the grim tone in her voice.
"Son-in.. Ranma, go get some rest. I have some research to do. Stay here until I can find some answers.
Shampoo will take you to a spare room. And don't worry about calling the Tendos. They already know you're here,"
commanded the old woman. Ranma hesitated out of distrust in the Amazons. After concluding there was no other way
to rescue Akane, he surrendered.
"Fine. But you better be quick, old ghoul. I'm in no mood to be patient with you, " the young martial artist
hissed.
"Xian Pu, take Ranma to the unused room, then return here. We must find out why they have returned and
what they want with Akane," Cologne instructed as she began to open some old books, "before its too late." she
added under her breath. Shampoo reluctantly agreed to her great- grandmother's demands. She hesitantly looked up at
Ranma, then quickly tore her gaze away, unable to look him in the eyes.
"Come Air. Ranma," Shampoo said barely audibly. Ranma got up and followed with some disgust. The
young Amazon led the boy to a small, vacant room with only a bed occupying the space next to a window. "Here
Ranma stay. Xian Pu help Great-grandmother get violent. get Akane back," Shampoo quietly muttered before tuning
to leave. Ranma sat facing the window , staring out into nothingness. A twinge of guilt rose as he saw a glimpse of
Shampoo's sullen expression in the reflection of the glass pane.
*After all* his kinder side reminded him, *she does seem to be helping to find Akane.* Ranma sternly called
her name just as she was closing the bedroom door. The young Amazon halted tensely, too afraid to face the pig-tailed
male.
"Are ya sorry, I mean truly sorry, about," Ranma paused as the painfully memories of the failed wedding
flashed in his mind. "About the wedding? Didja really mean it when ya apologized? Really, truly mean it with no tricks
or nothin' like that?" He finished as he continued to stare of the small window, mindlessly watching random people
passing by on the street. Shampoo looked at him curiously then guiltily stared down at her hands.
"Yes. Shampoo think a lot about aire. the wedding and realize what Shampoo did is dishonorable thing.
Shampoo is very sorry to Ranma and Akane," the girl quietly replied.
Ranma, worn from his misadventures, only nodded. The young Chinese Amazon graciously understood and
left, closing the door behind her.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Dressed in a black silk gi given to her for training, Akane stood in the middle of the spacious gym, preparing
herself for battle. Miiye, her opponent, bowed before taking position.
"Ready, Lady Akane?" he asked. Akane signaled with a nod.
'Ready as I'll ever be' she thought.
A/N~ ok! A little warning.... I may take a little while updating again.... Only b/c of editing and also school! Sooooo.. Hopefully I'll be able to update soon, but if not, please be understanding! And, btw~ the reviews really do help keeping me motivated, so it might help in getting updates quicker! Ok! Thank you everyone! Much lub! ~chibimelie
"Your majesty, I think she's beginning to awaken," an unfamiliar voice was muffled by nothingness.
Questions began spinning through her mind as she slowly surfaced to consciousness. *Where am I? What happened?
Who did the voice belong to?* She slowly blinked away the sleep as she tried to move. Her body felt weak and her
head pounded with confusion. The events from the night before slowly came pouring back to her mind. *Ranma.* she
thought as she opened her eyes.
"So, you're finally awake," said a deep voice greeted gently. Akane looked at the source of the voice. Toru
stood over her, smiling down as his snow white hair flowed around his shoulders. " I am Prince Toru," he introduced
himself. "And welcome home, my dear." Akane sprang up into a sitting position with a bewildered expression plastered
onto her face.
"Who are you? Where am I? What do you want from me?" she demanded, clenching her fists as she subtly
prepared for combat. Despite her hostile greeting, Toru continued to smile.
"Like I have told you, I am Prince Toru, the ruler of this kingdom, the Kuwonja Kingdom. You, Lady
Akane, are the Chosen One, the prophesized co-ruler of this kingdom and future wife of mine. You will allow our
kingdom to finally be able to revive its ancient powers and reclaim universal sovereignty," he answered proudly. Her
mind began to whirl with denial. *The chosen one? Co-ruler? Prophesy? Future wife? Isn't this supposed to happen to
Ranma? This must be a nightmare. A nightmare. That's all. A nightmare* Her head snapped up as she expressed an
emotion she was most familiar with.
"You've got to be kidding me! A prince? The chosen one? Honestly, if your going to go around kidnapping
people in the middle of the night, you should make up a more plausible excu- " Her argument drifted off when she saw
Toru's hand move towards her head. Before she could slap it away, she felt a warm sensation form as he gently
touched the middle of her forehead. After a moment, he withdrew his hand and reached for a mirror. He held up the
mirror up to where she could see a strange symbol in the middle of her forehead as golden light pulsated from it.
Stunned, Akane could only stare and gently rub the symbol. Pleased with the results of his experiment, Toru took off a
thick, gold chain that had hung around his neck. On the chain hung a large medallion-like pendant that bore the same
symbol as Akane's forehead. He placed the medallion into Akane's hand.
"This pendant shows the Kuwonja Kingdom's crest. As you can see, you have one just like it on your
forehead. That should be all the evidence I need to present to you the truth in my words," Toru finished with a smile.
"Prince Toru! You seemed to have chosen the correct maiden! She is the chosen one!" exclaimed the
forgotten servant, Miiye. Akane continued to stare in disbelief into the mirror, still carefully caressing the crest. Soon
the pulsating symbol vanished, leaving her still in shock.
"Shall we begin your training?" suggested Toru. The words seemed barely audible to Akane as she slowly
registered the newly discovered information. She became dizzy with confusion and disbelief. Soon, she transformed
her emotions back into the one she could easily deal with. Infuriated, Akane turned to Toru and glared.
"Look! I don't care if I am this stupid chosen one or whatever, I am not marryin-. training?" she cut her self
off with the realization of his last request. Toru chuckled.
"Why yes! After all, you do want to tap into your true talent! Let us start now." Curiosity took the best of
Akane as she agreed. "Get dressed and meet me downstairs," Toru commanded. he thought silently as he left Akane alone in her new room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Great-grandmother? Is Airen alright?"
"He'll be fine, my child. He seems to be waking up now." Ranma began to stir at the sound of voices.
Slowly, he opened his eyes only to be confronted with two of the three people he had wished to never see, but
unfortunately, he felt too dizzy to react. Suddenly, the episode of the night before came flooding back. After the painful
realization of his kidnapped fiancée, Ranma immediately jumped at the short elder.
"Akane! Where's Akane? Where is she, you old ghoul?" he demanded from Cologne.
"Sit down or you won't have any strength left!" commanded the old Amazon. Glaring at her, Ranma
reluctantly sat.
"Where. Is. Akane?" Ranma said coolly, punctuating every word as he attempted to control his anger, gritting
the question through his teeth.
"I don't know. Xiam Pu found you unconscious on the ground while running an early-morning errand for
me, but she didn't see anyone else around. What happened, Son-in-law?" Ranma glared at her again.
"Dontcha ever call me that again," he hissed threateningly. Cologne's Amazon pride compelled her to open
her mouth in argument, but thought better of it, knowing it'll only anger the boy.
"Fine, Ranma. What happened?" the old woman repeated her question, annoyed. The young martial artist
looked away from the Amazon, staring off into space.
"I.I had this bad feeling for a couple of days. It was like a gut feeling, like a warning that somethin' bad
was gonna happen. I tried to protect her. I tried to make sure nothin' touch Akane. but." Ranma stopped, trying to
keeping in the tears that were threatening to pour out. *Men don't cry. Stop! Don't cry!* he ordered himself. He had
tried to protect her, but he couldn't. He didn't. Not when it mattered. *Baka!* he mentally kicked himself for letting his
guard down, for thinking she was safe.
"Ranma," insisted Cologne. Ranma regained composure and continued.
"Last night I heard Akane scream soon after I went to bed. I ran as fast as I could, but they had already gotten
her."
"Who got her?" inquired the old woman. Ranma waited a little before continuing, allowing himself enough
time to find his center, where he could ignore his raging emotions.
"Four men dressed in black. I ran after them, but the one holdin' Akane ran off while the other three stayed
behind to distract me. Before I could beat tha crap out ov'em, they threw some kind of powder at me. And that's all I
can remember," Ranma finished. As he did, the look on Akane's face, her scream, her desperate cry of his name
wrenched the pig-tailed boy out of his emotionless center. He began to tremble with anger, frustration, self-loathing,
and desperation. He failed to protect her, to save her. He came too late to help her. He failed her when she needed him
the most. *And now she's gone.* his thoughts torturously reminded him. His ghastly nightmare was becoming real,
tormenting him, haunting him in his conscious reality.
Cologne watched the young man struggle under his crushing, agonizing suffering with sympathy. She had
always known that Ranma had cared for the Tendo girl even before Xiam Pu arrived on the scene, though she never
wanted to admit it. For her, her great-granddaughter's success in marrying the man that had defeated her seemed much
more important. Saffron had smack reality back in her mind, though, when she saw Ranma go through the same sort of
pain he was now experiencing when he had thought his fiancée had died. The elder Amazon then knew his love for the
girl was much too strong to break. Understanding the anguish of heartbreaks, Cologne resolved to help the boy help
find her great-granddaughter's ex-rival. Xiam Pu would insist on aiding the boy, anyway, out of guilt and concern.
"Ranma, hold still a moment," the elder instructed as she dusted off his clothes, allowing some powdery
substance to fall onto a piece of paper she held next to Ranma's body. Taking the piece of paper, she sat herself down
to observe the substance. After a moment of carefully examining it, taking only a tiny bit into her hands as to not
render herself unconscious, she turned back to Ranma, who was glaring with intense anger into space. "Ranma," the
Amazon called, causing him to snap his head towards her. "This powder may help us locate Akane. Its not from China,
nor Japan, at least not modern Japan. I have my suspicions, but I must do some tests to be sure." As she explained this,
she took out a small vile which contained some sort of liquid. She then signaled for Ranma, then Shampoo, who had
been standing in a corner, out of sight of Ranma, to approach as she collected to powder into one small pile. Cologne
uncapped the vile and allowed one drop of the liquid to fall onto the powder. Stirring the mixture, she added two more
drops of the solution to the powder. Slowly, tiny slices of light pierced through the concoction. Suddenly, the tiny
slices burst into a bright, gold light as it illuminated the room, engulfing everyone. The light vanished as quickly as it
had appeared, leaving a dull, pulsating glow from the powder. The light shaped into a sun-like outline with the word
"Savior" written in the center in Japanese.
"It is as I had suspected. This is the symbol for the Kuwonja Dynasty, an ancient kingdom that I thought had
disappeared centuries ago, but apparently they have returned," Cologne stated grimly.
"What did they take Akane? Who are they? Where is she? What do they want with her?" Ranma impatiently
demanded, noting the grim tone in her voice.
"Son-in.. Ranma, go get some rest. I have some research to do. Stay here until I can find some answers.
Shampoo will take you to a spare room. And don't worry about calling the Tendos. They already know you're here,"
commanded the old woman. Ranma hesitated out of distrust in the Amazons. After concluding there was no other way
to rescue Akane, he surrendered.
"Fine. But you better be quick, old ghoul. I'm in no mood to be patient with you, " the young martial artist
hissed.
"Xian Pu, take Ranma to the unused room, then return here. We must find out why they have returned and
what they want with Akane," Cologne instructed as she began to open some old books, "before its too late." she
added under her breath. Shampoo reluctantly agreed to her great- grandmother's demands. She hesitantly looked up at
Ranma, then quickly tore her gaze away, unable to look him in the eyes.
"Come Air. Ranma," Shampoo said barely audibly. Ranma got up and followed with some disgust. The
young Amazon led the boy to a small, vacant room with only a bed occupying the space next to a window. "Here
Ranma stay. Xian Pu help Great-grandmother get violent. get Akane back," Shampoo quietly muttered before tuning
to leave. Ranma sat facing the window , staring out into nothingness. A twinge of guilt rose as he saw a glimpse of
Shampoo's sullen expression in the reflection of the glass pane.
*After all* his kinder side reminded him, *she does seem to be helping to find Akane.* Ranma sternly called
her name just as she was closing the bedroom door. The young Amazon halted tensely, too afraid to face the pig-tailed
male.
"Are ya sorry, I mean truly sorry, about," Ranma paused as the painfully memories of the failed wedding
flashed in his mind. "About the wedding? Didja really mean it when ya apologized? Really, truly mean it with no tricks
or nothin' like that?" He finished as he continued to stare of the small window, mindlessly watching random people
passing by on the street. Shampoo looked at him curiously then guiltily stared down at her hands.
"Yes. Shampoo think a lot about aire. the wedding and realize what Shampoo did is dishonorable thing.
Shampoo is very sorry to Ranma and Akane," the girl quietly replied.
Ranma, worn from his misadventures, only nodded. The young Chinese Amazon graciously understood and
left, closing the door behind her.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Dressed in a black silk gi given to her for training, Akane stood in the middle of the spacious gym, preparing
herself for battle. Miiye, her opponent, bowed before taking position.
"Ready, Lady Akane?" he asked. Akane signaled with a nod.
'Ready as I'll ever be' she thought.
A/N~ ok! A little warning.... I may take a little while updating again.... Only b/c of editing and also school! Sooooo.. Hopefully I'll be able to update soon, but if not, please be understanding! And, btw~ the reviews really do help keeping me motivated, so it might help in getting updates quicker! Ok! Thank you everyone! Much lub! ~chibimelie