Broken Hearts, Mended Souls
By
Nuclear Twinkie
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Disclaimer: In all seriousness, all rights to Ranma1/2 and its characters go to Rumiko Takahashi. In all silliness... Excuse me, Mr. Sanzenin. Could you help me with this? "Of course, my good man. These characters do not belong to the fanfic writer, but to that vision of loveliness, Rumiko Takahashi. Ah, such a beautiful woman. I swear, sometime during this fanfic, I will steal a kiss from Rumiko's tender lips!" I don't think so Mikado, and just for that... Catch! "A little doll? Why would I want..." "That dolly is so cute! Arianna! Give me my sweet Arianna!" --SMASH--
{} = Character Thoughts
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It is well into the evening and everyone has gathered in the Tendo living room. Soun is at the head of the table, his head bowed in tired sadness. Kasumi sits on his left next to Tofu. To Soun's right, Genma looks over the assorted martial artists. Ryoga is next to Genma, and Ukyo is next to him. Continuing around the kotatsu, Mousse is sitting next to Shampoo. He is actually not professing his love for Shampoo. And back around to Ranma and Akane who are sitting next to Tofu. Akane is dressed in her yellow gi, and Ranma is dressed in his usual Chinese garb, with a sleeveless shirt and metal bracers.
Genma clears his throat to get everyone's attention and then says, "After discussing our options, it has become apparent that we need to guard the dojo while we hunt this man down. The local law enforcement would take too long to respond to this, and time is of the essence. Kasumi and Nabiki will go with Dr. Tofu back to his home. They do not know where it is, and that should keep them protected."
Ranma slams his hand down on the table. "Wait a minute, pops! What about Akane? Why isn't she going with Dr. Tofu?" Akane turns her head to look at Ranma. The anger is apparent on her face, yet she says and does nothing.
"There are a couple of reasons, boy. One, she is only one of three people who have seen these men fight. Two, she is a martial artist and we need all of those we can get. Finally, I don't even think you are going to be able to get her to leave the dojo."
Ranma stares at his father. {Man, he's been doing some thinking about all this. I never thought the old guy had it in him. Now, as far Akane leaving all I have to do is... uh oh!} Ranma turns to Akane to see Akane staring him down. She remains very quiet. A challenge is clearly present in her eyes, along with the pain of recent events. {There's no way I want to argue with her now. Pops' better have a good plan set up for this.} Ranma turns to look at his father. "Go ahead. This plan better be good though."
Genma responds, "I believe it's the best plan we have given the current situation. Anyway, That will leave Akane, Shampoo, Ukyo, and Ryoga to guard the dojo while Mousse, Ranma, Soun, and myself go after our enemy."
This causes everyone to immediately start voicing objections. "Hey, I wanna go with Ranma-honey!" "Shampoo go fight with Airen" "Where Shampoo goes, I too shall go!" "I want to go help beat the hell out of this guy, too!" "I'm not leaving Akane!"
That last statement was from Ranma. He is now at the center of everyone's attention, especially Akane's. {Oh crap! I really screwed up! Not only can I not stop thinking about Akane, but then I say something like that. What am I going to do?}
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Everyone freezes as they feel that battle aura from Soun rolling across the room in waves. He stares intently at each person in the room briefly while he says, "You will all behave yourselves. You will all listen. You will all participate in this plan or not at all. You will all act like martial artists, not spoiled children. Am I making myself clear?" Everyone in room silently nods at Soun. He then bows his head and returns to his saddened, lethargic state.
Genma decides to break the silence. "Please allow me to explain. As I stated earlier, this plan is thought out and what I believe the best we have at the moment. Ryoga and Ranma are the two best martial artists here. To put both in one place would weaken the other. It was decided that Ryoga would stay for two reasons. One, leaving Ranma trapped in the house with his three fiancées could cause... complications. Two, and no offense to you Ryoga, but staying here at the dojo will provide you with the least chance of getting lost."
Ranma asks, "That's a decent explanation for Ryoga and me, but what about the rest?"
"Keeping all three fiancées here further removes complications, and seems equally fair to all of them. Soun and I know this man best, since we have fought him before, so we are going. This leaves Mousse, who will go with us. The versatility of his Hidden Weapons Style may help to compensate for any unforeseen circumstances. Any other questions?" Genma looks around the room. {I feel like I'm leading children into battle, but they are martial artists first. If they want to play games with dolls and other toys like children, they can do that later.} No one has said anything. Genma stands up. "If no one has nothing else to say, let's get going. Tofu, get Kasumi and Nabiki to your home as quickly as possible. Ryoga, get these girls to a defensible position in the house and stay there. You may want to think about choosing the dojo. There are no windows and only one door. Ranma, Mousse, Soun... let's go."
Ranma jumps to a standing position. "What a minute! It's late, and everybody's tired! We can't just start wandering into the night and expect to run into him. Do you even have any idea where to look? Most importantly, why should we follow you? You haven't exactly been the pillar of responsible fatherhood, you know."
Genma stares at his son for a moment contemplating an answer. "Ranma, listen to me for a second. In fact all of you please listen. I will admit I haven't been the perfect father, but I always did what I thought was best for Ranma. I made him a 'man among men' as proclaimed by his mother and one of the best martial artists in the world. Now that we have lived here with the Tendo's for a while, they are included in my thoughts. I know no one in this room thinks very highly of me, and some of you even hate me. You are probably thinking 'Why is that fat, selfish, old man acting so different?' Right now, I don't care what any of you think. My life-long friend Soun Tendo needs my help, and I am going to do what I think is best. If you want to help, then do so. Otherwise leave." Genma turns around walks out onto the porch and across the yard to stare into the koi pond.
Soun slowly gets up and wordlessly walk out to Genma. Soun momentarily puts a hand on Genma's shoulder and then walks to the main entry gate for the home. The others are still standing in the living room, totally stunned. They all turn to look at Ranma, who responds, "Don't look at me. I don't know why he's acting like this. I just didn't know he had it in him to act like this."
As Kasumi and Tofu are walking out of the room, Kasumi says, "I remember on Togenkyo when everyone came into the throne room to fight the guards, Genma was there too. He fought to save us just like everybody else did. He may not always be a decent man, but at heart I think he's a good one." Tofu and Kasumi leave the room to get Nabiki and leave.
Akane looks at her sister leaving the room, then turns to Ranma and says, "I don't think your dad's all that bad, Ranma. Sure he's lazy, and thoughtless, and eats too much. However, I remember when you first went into the Neko-ken at school, and he dressed like that old lady just to help you. Cross-dressing in public to help you has to count for something, right?"
"Ranma-honey, I remember when he hiked with you all the way to Yomogi valley to help you try to remove the strength sapping moxibustion. He even helped with your training after that for the Hiryü Shöten Ha."
Ranma looks slowly at everyone and says, "Yeah, I suppose he is an alright guy. I wouldn't be nearly as good a martial artist I am now without Pops. Mousse, let's get going then." Ranma turns to walk away when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns around only to be quickly enveloped in a hug.
Ukyo breaks the hug and backs up. "Ranma-honey, these guys have guns. Promise you'll come back, okay?"
"Don't worry about that. I'll be fine."
Ranma now feels the softest Amazon glomp he has ever had. It's almost like a normal hug. "Ranma make this man pay and then come back to Shampoo."
Ranma pulls back from Shampoo and says, "Man, would you guys relax? I'm not going to die or anything. I've faced stronger martial artists than this guy."
Akane stomps up to Ranma and angrily states, "Ranma, we're just worried about you! Can't you understand that! This guy is a murderer. We can't help worrying... about you." Akane starts to look a little embarrassed about showing such emotions, but finishes in a quiet voice with "Just come back safely, okay?" Akane reaches up and quickly kisses Ranma's cheek before backing away. Akane looks at the other two fiancées and smiles slightly realizing she got the upper hand in this exchange.
{What the...? She just... In front of... She kissed me? Ukyo and Shampoo before have kissed me, even more seriously than that, but it never made me feel this? What the heck is...} Ranma's stunned thoughts are interrupted by a much more masculine sounding voice. "Hey Ranma, snap out it! Should I hug you goodbye too?" Ranma turns to see Ryoga standing in front of him with a smile on his face.
Ranma gets a slight smile on his face. "Who would want to hug a pig like you anyway, Ryoga?"
Ryoga gets noticeably angry but almost immediately suppresses it. "This coming from the cross-dressing pervert. Just hit him once for me, would ya?"
Ranma start to walk into the backyard as he turns his head back to say, "Don't worry, I'll even hit him twice for ya." He walks up behind his father. "Hey Pops, we're ready to go. Pops, are you listening?" {He better not be doing what I think he's doing.} Ranma walks around to face his father. "Hey old man! This is no time for sleeping!"
Genma blinks and looks at Ranma. "Took you long enough, boy. Let's go, and Ranma... thanks."
Ranma blinks in surprise and then follows Genma over to the front gate. "No problem old man, just don't go trying to hug me or nothing. The last time you did that, it almost killed me." Ranma quickly shivers as he remembers. {Hell's Cradle. Ugh.}
Ranma, Genma, and Mousse reach the gate where Soun, Tofu, Kasumi, and Nabiki are standing. Soun is in near tears, as he is talking to Tofu. "Tofu, please protect my little girls. They are everything to me."
"Don't worry, sir. I will protect them with my life. Kasumi, Nabiki, let's go." Tofu pouts one arm around each girl and walks out of the Tendo compound.
Soun turns to the three men at the gate. "We are going to the hideout he had the last time we found him. The man is smart enough to realize we will go there first and has probably filled the place with traps and ambushes."
Mousse gets the same confused look on his face as Ranma. "Excuse me, Mr. Tendo, but would that be wise? If this man is that smart, then wouldn't he be somewhere else."
"You see Mousse, the man is smart but also arrogant. He'll probably feel that traps and ambushes alone will finish us off, or at least weaken us enough to make us an easy kill. Don't worry, he'll be there." Soun turns and walks out of his home followed by the others. They can feel the same battle aura that has been coming of Soun, only in much smaller amounts and much more control. {I hope I get to come back here, but if it costs me my life, I will end his. He will never again threaten or hurt my family. Never.}
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Author's Notes: [UPDATED 08/23/02] Final draft. This is the rest of the stuff I wanted in Chapter 4. It's pretty depressing, but it's almost non-stop action after this for the next 3 or 4 chapters. Hold on to something, boys and girls, because anything could happen. (Not that I don't have the entire story arc planned out, I just thought this sounded dramatic). Anyway, please e-mail me with opinions, criticisms, and suggestions. Please be constructive with all C&C. I don't mind being told what someone doesn't like, as long as they provide some direction to make it better. (ntwinkie@effectnet.com)
By
Nuclear Twinkie
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: In all seriousness, all rights to Ranma1/2 and its characters go to Rumiko Takahashi. In all silliness... Excuse me, Mr. Sanzenin. Could you help me with this? "Of course, my good man. These characters do not belong to the fanfic writer, but to that vision of loveliness, Rumiko Takahashi. Ah, such a beautiful woman. I swear, sometime during this fanfic, I will steal a kiss from Rumiko's tender lips!" I don't think so Mikado, and just for that... Catch! "A little doll? Why would I want..." "That dolly is so cute! Arianna! Give me my sweet Arianna!" --SMASH--
{} = Character Thoughts
------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is well into the evening and everyone has gathered in the Tendo living room. Soun is at the head of the table, his head bowed in tired sadness. Kasumi sits on his left next to Tofu. To Soun's right, Genma looks over the assorted martial artists. Ryoga is next to Genma, and Ukyo is next to him. Continuing around the kotatsu, Mousse is sitting next to Shampoo. He is actually not professing his love for Shampoo. And back around to Ranma and Akane who are sitting next to Tofu. Akane is dressed in her yellow gi, and Ranma is dressed in his usual Chinese garb, with a sleeveless shirt and metal bracers.
Genma clears his throat to get everyone's attention and then says, "After discussing our options, it has become apparent that we need to guard the dojo while we hunt this man down. The local law enforcement would take too long to respond to this, and time is of the essence. Kasumi and Nabiki will go with Dr. Tofu back to his home. They do not know where it is, and that should keep them protected."
Ranma slams his hand down on the table. "Wait a minute, pops! What about Akane? Why isn't she going with Dr. Tofu?" Akane turns her head to look at Ranma. The anger is apparent on her face, yet she says and does nothing.
"There are a couple of reasons, boy. One, she is only one of three people who have seen these men fight. Two, she is a martial artist and we need all of those we can get. Finally, I don't even think you are going to be able to get her to leave the dojo."
Ranma stares at his father. {Man, he's been doing some thinking about all this. I never thought the old guy had it in him. Now, as far Akane leaving all I have to do is... uh oh!} Ranma turns to Akane to see Akane staring him down. She remains very quiet. A challenge is clearly present in her eyes, along with the pain of recent events. {There's no way I want to argue with her now. Pops' better have a good plan set up for this.} Ranma turns to look at his father. "Go ahead. This plan better be good though."
Genma responds, "I believe it's the best plan we have given the current situation. Anyway, That will leave Akane, Shampoo, Ukyo, and Ryoga to guard the dojo while Mousse, Ranma, Soun, and myself go after our enemy."
This causes everyone to immediately start voicing objections. "Hey, I wanna go with Ranma-honey!" "Shampoo go fight with Airen" "Where Shampoo goes, I too shall go!" "I want to go help beat the hell out of this guy, too!" "I'm not leaving Akane!"
That last statement was from Ranma. He is now at the center of everyone's attention, especially Akane's. {Oh crap! I really screwed up! Not only can I not stop thinking about Akane, but then I say something like that. What am I going to do?}
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Everyone freezes as they feel that battle aura from Soun rolling across the room in waves. He stares intently at each person in the room briefly while he says, "You will all behave yourselves. You will all listen. You will all participate in this plan or not at all. You will all act like martial artists, not spoiled children. Am I making myself clear?" Everyone in room silently nods at Soun. He then bows his head and returns to his saddened, lethargic state.
Genma decides to break the silence. "Please allow me to explain. As I stated earlier, this plan is thought out and what I believe the best we have at the moment. Ryoga and Ranma are the two best martial artists here. To put both in one place would weaken the other. It was decided that Ryoga would stay for two reasons. One, leaving Ranma trapped in the house with his three fiancées could cause... complications. Two, and no offense to you Ryoga, but staying here at the dojo will provide you with the least chance of getting lost."
Ranma asks, "That's a decent explanation for Ryoga and me, but what about the rest?"
"Keeping all three fiancées here further removes complications, and seems equally fair to all of them. Soun and I know this man best, since we have fought him before, so we are going. This leaves Mousse, who will go with us. The versatility of his Hidden Weapons Style may help to compensate for any unforeseen circumstances. Any other questions?" Genma looks around the room. {I feel like I'm leading children into battle, but they are martial artists first. If they want to play games with dolls and other toys like children, they can do that later.} No one has said anything. Genma stands up. "If no one has nothing else to say, let's get going. Tofu, get Kasumi and Nabiki to your home as quickly as possible. Ryoga, get these girls to a defensible position in the house and stay there. You may want to think about choosing the dojo. There are no windows and only one door. Ranma, Mousse, Soun... let's go."
Ranma jumps to a standing position. "What a minute! It's late, and everybody's tired! We can't just start wandering into the night and expect to run into him. Do you even have any idea where to look? Most importantly, why should we follow you? You haven't exactly been the pillar of responsible fatherhood, you know."
Genma stares at his son for a moment contemplating an answer. "Ranma, listen to me for a second. In fact all of you please listen. I will admit I haven't been the perfect father, but I always did what I thought was best for Ranma. I made him a 'man among men' as proclaimed by his mother and one of the best martial artists in the world. Now that we have lived here with the Tendo's for a while, they are included in my thoughts. I know no one in this room thinks very highly of me, and some of you even hate me. You are probably thinking 'Why is that fat, selfish, old man acting so different?' Right now, I don't care what any of you think. My life-long friend Soun Tendo needs my help, and I am going to do what I think is best. If you want to help, then do so. Otherwise leave." Genma turns around walks out onto the porch and across the yard to stare into the koi pond.
Soun slowly gets up and wordlessly walk out to Genma. Soun momentarily puts a hand on Genma's shoulder and then walks to the main entry gate for the home. The others are still standing in the living room, totally stunned. They all turn to look at Ranma, who responds, "Don't look at me. I don't know why he's acting like this. I just didn't know he had it in him to act like this."
As Kasumi and Tofu are walking out of the room, Kasumi says, "I remember on Togenkyo when everyone came into the throne room to fight the guards, Genma was there too. He fought to save us just like everybody else did. He may not always be a decent man, but at heart I think he's a good one." Tofu and Kasumi leave the room to get Nabiki and leave.
Akane looks at her sister leaving the room, then turns to Ranma and says, "I don't think your dad's all that bad, Ranma. Sure he's lazy, and thoughtless, and eats too much. However, I remember when you first went into the Neko-ken at school, and he dressed like that old lady just to help you. Cross-dressing in public to help you has to count for something, right?"
"Ranma-honey, I remember when he hiked with you all the way to Yomogi valley to help you try to remove the strength sapping moxibustion. He even helped with your training after that for the Hiryü Shöten Ha."
Ranma looks slowly at everyone and says, "Yeah, I suppose he is an alright guy. I wouldn't be nearly as good a martial artist I am now without Pops. Mousse, let's get going then." Ranma turns to walk away when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns around only to be quickly enveloped in a hug.
Ukyo breaks the hug and backs up. "Ranma-honey, these guys have guns. Promise you'll come back, okay?"
"Don't worry about that. I'll be fine."
Ranma now feels the softest Amazon glomp he has ever had. It's almost like a normal hug. "Ranma make this man pay and then come back to Shampoo."
Ranma pulls back from Shampoo and says, "Man, would you guys relax? I'm not going to die or anything. I've faced stronger martial artists than this guy."
Akane stomps up to Ranma and angrily states, "Ranma, we're just worried about you! Can't you understand that! This guy is a murderer. We can't help worrying... about you." Akane starts to look a little embarrassed about showing such emotions, but finishes in a quiet voice with "Just come back safely, okay?" Akane reaches up and quickly kisses Ranma's cheek before backing away. Akane looks at the other two fiancées and smiles slightly realizing she got the upper hand in this exchange.
{What the...? She just... In front of... She kissed me? Ukyo and Shampoo before have kissed me, even more seriously than that, but it never made me feel this? What the heck is...} Ranma's stunned thoughts are interrupted by a much more masculine sounding voice. "Hey Ranma, snap out it! Should I hug you goodbye too?" Ranma turns to see Ryoga standing in front of him with a smile on his face.
Ranma gets a slight smile on his face. "Who would want to hug a pig like you anyway, Ryoga?"
Ryoga gets noticeably angry but almost immediately suppresses it. "This coming from the cross-dressing pervert. Just hit him once for me, would ya?"
Ranma start to walk into the backyard as he turns his head back to say, "Don't worry, I'll even hit him twice for ya." He walks up behind his father. "Hey Pops, we're ready to go. Pops, are you listening?" {He better not be doing what I think he's doing.} Ranma walks around to face his father. "Hey old man! This is no time for sleeping!"
Genma blinks and looks at Ranma. "Took you long enough, boy. Let's go, and Ranma... thanks."
Ranma blinks in surprise and then follows Genma over to the front gate. "No problem old man, just don't go trying to hug me or nothing. The last time you did that, it almost killed me." Ranma quickly shivers as he remembers. {Hell's Cradle. Ugh.}
Ranma, Genma, and Mousse reach the gate where Soun, Tofu, Kasumi, and Nabiki are standing. Soun is in near tears, as he is talking to Tofu. "Tofu, please protect my little girls. They are everything to me."
"Don't worry, sir. I will protect them with my life. Kasumi, Nabiki, let's go." Tofu pouts one arm around each girl and walks out of the Tendo compound.
Soun turns to the three men at the gate. "We are going to the hideout he had the last time we found him. The man is smart enough to realize we will go there first and has probably filled the place with traps and ambushes."
Mousse gets the same confused look on his face as Ranma. "Excuse me, Mr. Tendo, but would that be wise? If this man is that smart, then wouldn't he be somewhere else."
"You see Mousse, the man is smart but also arrogant. He'll probably feel that traps and ambushes alone will finish us off, or at least weaken us enough to make us an easy kill. Don't worry, he'll be there." Soun turns and walks out of his home followed by the others. They can feel the same battle aura that has been coming of Soun, only in much smaller amounts and much more control. {I hope I get to come back here, but if it costs me my life, I will end his. He will never again threaten or hurt my family. Never.}
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Author's Notes: [UPDATED 08/23/02] Final draft. This is the rest of the stuff I wanted in Chapter 4. It's pretty depressing, but it's almost non-stop action after this for the next 3 or 4 chapters. Hold on to something, boys and girls, because anything could happen. (Not that I don't have the entire story arc planned out, I just thought this sounded dramatic). Anyway, please e-mail me with opinions, criticisms, and suggestions. Please be constructive with all C&C. I don't mind being told what someone doesn't like, as long as they provide some direction to make it better. (ntwinkie@effectnet.com)
