Ranma ½

Chapter 2

Broken Spirit

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

Any of you familiar with my first Ranma story know this one from the possibility file. A few of you thought that this was an idea to be incorporated into Ranma: Take 2. This was meant as a separate story idea.

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"Doc, what are you getting at?"

"Mr. Saotome, can you feel your legs?"

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Now, two days later, he was sitting in a wheel chair, outside of the Tendo Dojo, watching the rain come down.

The doctors had performed every test they could think of, on both his cursed and uncursed forms; a minor shock to them to say the least. In the end, it was determined that he had complete paralysis below the waist. There was no hope of recovery.

Dr. Tofu had spent twenty-four hours straight, going through all of his books, trying to see if there was a way to help Ranma walk, maybe even trick his body into repairing the injury itself. Despite his best efforts, even he told Ranma there was nothing he could do. Tofu, being so depressed about his inability to help, never even turned into his crazy self when Kasumi entered the room.

Cologne, a person often the bane of his existence, often trying to force a marriage between him and Shampoo, had even offered to help. She had spent the last two days since the incident, talking with the elders from all over the Amazon Province. She had hoped that somewhere along the 3000 years of Amazon history, a possible cure might be found. But there was nothing to be found; except a reference about how injured warriors often fought to their death.

They had even managed to get the magic mirror from Happosai without his knowledge, with all three of his fiancées hoping to use it to transport themselves back, and stop Ranma from being injured by the tree; by their own selfish attacks. But no matter how many tears fell upon it, no matter how much they asked it to send them back to a time before the accident, it didn't work. The cracked mirror had lost all of its power.

The tree. He had had them take him to it after he was released from the hospital; one of the benefits of his quick healing ability, though it pissed him off to no end that his ability was useless against his back injury. He had felt around the tree where his back had impacted, and felt a bulge in the tree there. It wasn't large enough to notice, but large enough to do what it did. Before they left, Ranma was able to use a ki attack and destroy the tree. It was a pointless effort, but it did make him feel a little better in the short term.

And so she had no hope left anymore, nothing left to search for. She had often hoped that her fiancées would stop fighting, that she might get a moments peace; that they could even stand to be in the same room with each other and not start a brawl. And all it took was for me and my damn luck to get broken.

All she did now was stare outside, looking into nothingness. If she could fire a Shishi Houkou Dan now, it would easily dwarf anything Ryoga had ever thrown. It was worse than when Happosai had used the moxybustion burn on him and robbed him of his strength. At least then she could still move, still fight with her chi, her speed. Now she had nothing.

All I have ever been was a martial artist. All I ever wanted was to be the best in the world. I never backed down from a challenge. It was the challenge that made it fun, made me excited to learn a new move, made me aspire to be better than I was before.

And now every time I turn around, those idiots are telling me that it will get better, that I will adapt, that I will become better because of this.

I heard the same things they did, but I don't pretend to believe I will ever walk again. I don't pretend that my life will get better anymore. I don't pretend that one day; I will be hopping along the roof tops, running along the fences.

My life as I knew it is over forever. I know this now, despite what they might try to make me believe.

So, what does that leave me with now?

I never even considered anything else than martial arts, of inheriting the school. That was all Pops would ever allow me to do.

Congratulations Pops, you raised a son who after a severe injury, no longer has a place in the world.

What am I supposed to do now?

Anytime one of the girls sees me, they sit on my lap, lean into my shoulder, and cry; constantly saying 'I'm so sorry' over and over again. They blame themselves for the accident, I blame myself for the accident, and neither of us blames the other for it.

At least they are being civil to each other. They worked together to get the mirror from Happosai.

But none of these thoughts did anything to improve her mood. She continued to stare out into space, the rain mimicking her feelings.

Genma then came outside, seeing his boy still in his cursed form, still staring at the rain. He was out of ideas. He had done everything he could think of to get Ranma back to the world of the living, but to no avail. Even Happosai, who was responsible for why Ranma was now in his girl form, didn't get a response. The old letch had glomped onto Ranma's chest, saying the usual things he did, but left, when Ranma didn't even acknowledge him, saying "You're no fun!" He suspected that if he dropped a cat in the boy's lap right now, Ranma would still stare out into space, not even noticing that he should be terrified. He would have done it too, had it not been for the fact that he new a wounded animal was the most dangerous. Ranma in his Neko-form, with his legs useless, would be the most dangerous animal ever on this earth.

So he now did what he had always done; fight first, if you lose, accept it. "Boy, it is time to eat lunch." He didn't wait for a response; he knew it would never come. Ranma almost missed dinner last night because they were waiting for him to wheel himself inside. They found him where they had left him. He hadn't even bothered to move the chair once.

As Genma rolled his soon into the dining room, realizing that that tree had done more than break his son's body. It had done something nothing else in this world had done; it had broken his spirit.

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Akane, Nabiki, and Ukyo were walking back to the Dojo. They had continued to go to school, Ranma having told them that they should, and they were not about to ignore what was said by the man they all cared for, who they had both hurt in one form or another.

They had dealt with a lot of shit over the last two days. The student who had heard about Ranma's accident and condition, stared at them, some of fear, some of small wonderment at wondering why something like this hadn't happened sooner, some because they were just disappointed that the fiancées had done so much damage to Ranma, both physical and mental. Kuno upon hearing the news, had actually celebrated, believing that 'vile sorcerer Ranma Saotome had been defeated, and thus Akane Tendo and the lovely pig-tailed girl would now freely admit there love to him'.

That had ended when Akane had shoved him up against the wall, her arm against his throat. "I was never under a spell you vile diluted filth! You in your infinite stupidity never could see the fact that neither I nor Ranko ever loved you! We hated you from the very first moment we saw you! You are so honorless; it is taking all my self control not to kill you right now! But I will kill you if your or that psychotic bitch you call a sister or that fucking lunatic you call a father harm a hair on Ranma's head. If you don't believe me, try it. See how fast I put your worthless ass into the ground!" She released him, turning to her sister and began crying as they entered the school, Kuno still against the wall, stunned by what he heard.

All three of his legitimate fiancées had been on a lookout for Kodachi. They knew it was a matter of time before she either attacked one of them for crippling Ranma, or went to try and kidnap Ranma for herself. And all three knew that if she attacked, one of them might actually end up killing her.

Even Ryoga had been warned to leave Ranma alone. But Ukyo and Shampoo both knew how the lost boy felt about Akane. If he even looked at her, he would see how depressed she was and then it would be 'RANMA SAOTOME, PREPARE TO DIE!' In the current state of depression Ranma was in, he might just stay still long enough for Ryoga to send him to the next life.

But with all the craziness that surrounds their lives here, they knew it was only a matter of time before something happened that might cause them to lose Ranma forever.

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Genma wheeled Ranma from the bathroom, having just finished giving his son a bath. Even though the fiancées had each volunteered to do it, Genma still ignored them and did it himself. He had not been the best of fathers to Ranma, much worse than even he was willing to admit openly, but it gave him some comfort, that he was still able to help his son in some small way; even if it went against everything he had taught the boy about independence.

He knew that was probably why the boy had been so depressed, why nothing ever seemed to bring him out of this depression. It was because his father had forced him to be strong, to be willing to sacrifice anything for the art.

He never taught him how to handle sacrificing the art itself.

So he wheeled Ranma to the front room, and turned on the TV. He picked some random channel, landing on a history channel of sorts. Leaving Ranma in front of the TV; knowing that the boy would still just stare off into space, no matter what was on, he figured it didn't really matter. Soon the girls would all show up, and Ranma would have to deal with their company. But he knew that Ranma would show as little emotion with them as he did with his father.

I'm sorry boy. I truly am. I'm sorry that in the end, you are still paying for my sins.

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Ranma waited till his father left before he looked around, noticing he had about half an hour before the girls would arrive. He would be alone for that time, even Kasumi wouldn't bother him, saying she would be available to him if he ever needed to talk, but knew Ranma would rather be alone with his thoughts right now.

He had accepted it, after all, he had had the last two days to think about things, think about what he was about to do.

He wheeled himself over to the phone, and dialed a number he never thought he would ever call. But now, the fear of death was not something he worried about anymore. I doubt being placed in a barn full of cats would even faze me now.

After a little while, he heard the person on the other line pick up, giving a standard greeting and asking who was calling.

Oh, just the biggest surprise in your life.

"Hello mom."

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Ranma was back in front of the TV when all the girls arrived: Akane, Shampoo, Nabiki, and Ukyo. Nabiki went directly to her room, not even saying high to Ranma, after all, the Ice Queen had no idea how to deal with him anymore. "Shampoo, Akane, Ukyo, could you wheel me out to the Dojo, I wanna talk to you about something."

Each girl agreed, each one helping him get to the dojo. Inside their heads, they had hoped that Ranma was finally coming out of his depression; that he was going to apologize for being so cold the last few days. None of them thought they were going to hear talk of him deciding on a bride. The truth was none of them were concerned with that anymore. Any thoughts of that disappeared when they had heard the extent of Ranma's injuries, all because they were the ones trying to make the decision.

When they arrived, he had them place the back of the chair against a wall, and then proceeded to sit in front of him. "I want you all to know something. I am going to be speaking the whole truth today. I know some of what I am about to say is gonna hurt. But understand; you need to know this."

"Each of you were engaged to me, whether by choice, or by honor. Each of you is important to me, each of your honor is also important to me. Now you each deserve to know why I never chose."

Ranma took a deep breath before continuing; even his fears screaming at him to stop wouldn't end this. "It wasn't the fighting between you, it wasn't the fact that you did some things I hated. What kept me from making a decision were my own fears, my own honor."

"If I chose one of you, I knew the others would hate me, but more than likely blame the one I chose and start trying to fight her. I knew whoever I chose would be the constant target of assaults, making the fighting you currently were having seem like a mild skirmish. I would have hated myself should you injure one another over me."

"Then there comes honor. Ukyo, I know my father promised me to you, and then my father ditched you at the first opportunity. In a weird way, you should be grateful, because you would have ended up either learning the Nekoken like me or cursed at Jusenkyo. Akane, your sisters forced me onto you, rather than have to deal with a cursed freak. Shampoo, I know you can't return to your village, unless I come with you. No matter whom I chose two others would lose their honor, their lives destroyed and their families hatred thrust upon them. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you were made to suffer because of my dumb ass. So I kept quiet, hoping a way for everyone to save your honor would appear, that I wouldn't be forced to hurt any of you."

"But it never came, and the fights continued. I began to get afraid that I eventually would have to make a choice. To be honest, I was more afraid of the choice than I was of cats. So I did what I do best when comfronted with something that scares the hell out of me; I ignore it and run away. And so each of you continued to suffer; because I was afraid."

"And then this happened."

"I awoke to see the fear, the guilt over what had happened on each of your faces. I knew even before the doctors told me I would never walk again that I had failed each of you. I had failed to keep you from being hurt by this feud. For that, I am eternally sorry."

"Are there any questions?"

The girls each looked at the floor, shocked at what they heard. Despite what they had thought about Ranma, he had just told him something extremely deep and personal, something none of them had ever thought they would hear. He had told them how he felt, why he never seemed to chose, why he always put up with their attacks on him, yet still why he remained their friend. When someone tells you this, how do you respond, how do you react.

Each one recalled how they had attacked Ranma in one way or another, but recalled more the times they spent fighting over him, thinking Ranma was just being a coward, hiding his true feelings for them.

Now, he had just told him how he felt. None of them were going to ask him what their major drawbacks were, which one had the best chance of winning him. To ask him now would be meaningless. It would simply start a fight that none were willing to participate in. So they did the only thing they could do in that situation.

They shook their heads no.

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"Kasumi, can you wake me up at six tomorrow morning, and help me to the front, I would like a change of scenery tomorrow, if you don't mind?"

"I'd be happy to Ranma!" The eldest Tendo daughter smiled. Maybe he's starting to feel a little better. I'll have to make his favorite for breakfast tomorrow.

Ranma knew she would help him, and hated that he was about to end up using her for his plan. But it had to be done, he had to stop running.

And if it led to his death, so be it.

He couldn't take the fear anymore.

Tomorrow, he would come face to face with his mother, consequences be damned.

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If I messed anything up, then let me know including typos.

Any suggestions on how I should continue the story or improve it would also be accepted.

Also, if you have any suggestions for how this should go, let me know. My own imagination, while vast, always enjoys a new thought. Also, catch me if you don't think I am making the characters true to form, or a way to make them better.