Ranma ½
Chapter 4
Letters from the Damned
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.
There are new story ideas at the end of this chapter. I might be able to make them work, as I am beginning to hit some writer's blocks. Let me know what you think of it in your review. If you want to try them, e-mail me and I'll help as best as I can, either as a proofreader, or to help with writer's blocks.
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Dear Kasumi,
If you are reading this, than Ryoga stayed put. Thank him for me. I know how hard it is for him to do that.
Before I tell you why I'm not there this morning, I need to tell you some other things first. So please do not skip forward in this letter to find my reason, you need to know these things first, you deserve to know these things.
First, I want to thank you for everything you've done for me these last two years. You have helped me become a better person, and for that I am grateful. Second, I want to thank you for all the food you made me. I know I should have helped you more, and for that I am sorry. I should have tried to make your life easier, but I fear I actually made it worse. For that, I am truly sorry. Third you should go visit Dr. Tofu after all of this; smack him to get him to stop acting silly for a moment, and ask him how he truly feels about you; smack as necessary until you get an answer. Fourth, don't let pops order you around. When he reads his letter, he will probably disappear, which should make the chores a lot easier to handle.
I am sorry I tricked you this morning into helping me out. Don't blame yourself. This is just something I needed to do.
You should know that even if I never married a Tendo, I would always consider you family. From day one, you have shown me nothing but kindness and respect, helping me with whatever problems that came my way, even trying to help smooth things over between me and Akane. I couldn't have asked for a better friend than you, almost like you were an older sister or even a second mom to me.
But that is what I am doing. I am going to meet and talk to my mom. If I come back, I will accept whatever punishment you deem fit for what I've done. I am sorry, but this is something I need to do. I know you will get the others and try to follow me, I won't ask you not to, and you would just ignore it anyway. I know you care so much about me.
Goodbye.
Love always,
Ranma
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The rest of the group, now composing all those that stayed at the Tendo Dojo, Ryoga, Cologne, Ukyo, and Shampoo, raced towards the house of Nodoka Saotome. They were in a race to stop Ranma from meeting his mother, all afraid of what she might do when she saw him not only handicapped for life, but if his curse was shown. The latter three were currently roof hopping, hoping to beat Ranma to Nodoka's house, but he had too large of a head start. Ryoga, Genma, and all of the Tendos were in a pair of cabs, making best speed to their destination. They had even asked the cab driver to call the one Ranma was in and stop, offering a hefty amount of money.
But the cab driver could not be reached; Ranma had paid him too much to stop.
So all they could do was worry and wait, hoping that Ranma was not trying to walk into the arms of death, hoping that his mother's love would out way the seppuku contract, hoping that Ranma was not giving up on life.
So they did the only thing they could do. They read the letters he left them, hoping they offered a hope that he wanted to come back alive.
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Dear Nabiki,
First off, I knew what the money from those pictures you took of me went to, what the money was needed for. Why do you think that my big plan to get you back for toying with my emotions when we were engaged was to loudly confess my love towards you, it was because I knew that deep down, you would do anything to help your family.
I admired that type of dedication. Sadly, my pops has made it such a habit to clean up after his mistakes, which I why I doubt I would do the same.
I have one bet that I know you would lose. I bet you didn't know I allowed you to get those pictures. I was a little sad, but only at the fact that this was the best I could do to help ease the strain me and pops put on your family's budget. I know I could have gotten a job, but really, what place would have hired me, a student with no experience with enemies coming out of the woodwork to kill me and destroy everything nearby. I could have tried the Cat Café of Ucchan's, but they would have only allowed it to get me closer to the respective fiancées, and to be honest, I didn't need that type of stress.
But please don't tell them that or let them find out. I know they each love me, but they would only blame themselves. I don't want them thinking that if I do die today.
Don't blame yourself either. I do care for you Nabiki. You were a good example of someone who would throw away everything they were, everything they loved about themselves, to save those that meant the most to them. You have more honor than I could ever hope to have, and not because my dumb father destroyed most of it selling me like a cheap nick-knack.
You are a great person Nabiki Tendo, never forget or doubt that. If you would only let someone get close to you, they would see this and you would have more suitors than Akane ever had.
Maybe even me.
But I am simply talking too much.
By the way, in case you haven't noticed, I am not as stupid as I pretend to be, but it keeps pops off my case about books distracting from the art.
Don't think this depression or what I am doing now is your fault, and don't let anyone else think it is theirs. This is my burden, my cross, and I take it with my own reasons. I chose this course, and I will deal with what happens.
In a way, it is my own fault. I knew from the moment that when the second fiancée showed up, that my pops had destroyed the family honor, so none of the engagements were actually good, after all, who would want to marry into a dishonored family. I always had an easy out, and even though I was quite surprised no one challenged this simple fact, perhaps out of the same delusion that made my mom think it was manly I had four fiancées and that one short moment she tried to get Ranko to be my mistress (I won't even mention the dreams that created, suffice to say that I never looked at my female side the same way again), I always tried to live with honor while dishonoring no one, even if they deserved it.
I like that last part said at my funeral if you could, minus the part about the dreams about my female side, I would really hate for Akane to mallet me in my casket.
Nabiki, I am going to meet my mother because I truly hope she understands that I can have a chance and maybe her support to become something more. But don't look for us. I know how to avoid your lieutenants, I know how to stay hidden, and I plan to spend the day with my mother, maybe even convince her that both I and pops deserve to live. But I won't live on hopes, I won't live on false promises, I live for myself.
Funny, I finally learned that lesson when I lost everything. Isn't that the way it always is?
Goodbye Nabiki, I hope you do well in college and I hope you find a love you deserve. Because, you deserve the best man out there (I know the rumors at Furinkan aren't true). You do deserve happiness Nabiki. Live for yourself more often, not for others all the time, like I did.
Love always,
Ranma
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Dear pops,
Run! I won't blame you, but I need to do this. I'll try and keep mom from coming after you, but I can't keep a promise if I am dead, so be prepared. She will know you change into a panda.
Live with honor from now on pops, you and Mr. Tendo can beat the old freak if you return to the way you once were, the man that made me want to join the Arts.
But drop what you think about women and what is manly. It simple isn't right. You are smarter than that, act like it.
Love always,
Ranma
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Dear Mr. Tendo,
I need you to grow up now! Your daughters have suffered too long because of your selfish needs. Do you really think your wife would be proud at how you have turned out? Kasumi deserves to be in college now, Akane deserves to be a better person than she is now, relying on false beliefs that it is OK to mallet me, to attack in anger. Nabiki deserves to have had a childhood, not be forced to sell her soul because you refused to live for them. You should be ashamed at what you made them become, and grateful that they turned out so well without their parents.
You essentially sold them to save yourself the trouble of growing up again after you lost your wife. I know it destroyed you, but you had three very good reasons to grow up again, to remember your wife and honor her the best way possible. Do not give up that chance, you still have them, treasure them and make them proud of you again.
Truth be told, I would have always been honored to marry any one of them. You raised three great women.
But you took away their choice, a reason I am certain Akane never really accepted me until…
But that is beside the point.
You still have them, they still love you. You need to strive to deserve such love. They still need their father. Be that man they always remembered during their childhood, be the father they were so proud of, the man your wife was so proud to marry.
I know you can do it, never let the old letch tell you otherwise.
And don't force them to marry anyone, stop Kuno from his shit, Akane and Nabiki deserve better than that dumb asshole. He's so clueless, he can't figure out my curse when demonstrated in front of him, just like his sister. He challenges your family, yet has no honor himself. What would you do if he tried to force himself on them, claiming they were under a spell and he was merely trying to free them?
I know you can do it. They need you. I have faith you can.
Love always,
Ranma
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(This is written in Mandarin)
Dear Kuh Lon,
First, I want to thank you for all the training you gave me. I know the elders back home would be very pissed at you, judging from what I read in the rule book Xian Pu left behind, but I appreciate it just the same.
You have one hell of a great-granddaughter there. If things had been different, maybe I would have happily joined her, but the way your tribe treats its men, I don't think that life would have been for me, and I don't want to ask Xian Pu to make such a choice between me or the tribe. It would be unfair to her, like it was for you to curse her for coming to ask you what to do about me.
You should have taught her better, but I understand that she needed to learn to control her ego, her need to be perfect. When I heard what happened to her mother, I could understand that.
If there is a cure, I hope you give it to her very soon. I can accept my curse, and I have. But she needs to be rid of hers; I shudder to think what it is like for her during her period, knowing that that must transfer to her cat self as well. She doesn't deserve to suffer because of me.
She deserves to marry for love; I hope you can convince Mu Tsu that what he is doing is wrong. I just hope she finds someone who she loves, who truly deserves her. I am glad she stuck with me after…
But this is beside the point. I want you to try and train Akane and Ukyo as well, and any other Tendo that wants to learn. Adopt them into the tribe, help them survive this.
Hell, if my mother doesn't let my body sit for too long, I have heard you can even have them artificially inseminated to bear my kids; they may want that option if my mother does take my life. I'm sure you would take some comfort that in some small way; I am joining your tribe. But please, no matter what gender the children are, don't treat them differently. Boys or girls, I want my children to grow up to be the best, none of pops "women are weak" ideas or the Amazon's "men are weak" ideas. I ask that you make them true warriors, no matter what, minus the need to be blooded.
Just make certain no one takes hers. I won't blame her, and neither should anyone else.
Thank you elder. I know I ask much. But I know you can do much as well.
Goodbye and good life.
Love always,
Ranma
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Hey Ryoga,
I want you to ask Cologne to cure your curses, show her this letter if you have to.
I am sorry I ended up getting you cursed, but I am not sorry when Akane may attack you. I am telling her in her letter, so you should get ready to apologize. Don't blame me; you dishonored yourself by being P-chan and not telling her at the first opportunity.
Be careful of your fights. You do know innocent people can get hurt. Your anger and depression will cause you to either kill yourself or take the life of an innocent. You were lucky Akane only lost her hair in that fight of ours.
But you do deserve happiness Ryoga. It will be your job now to be the best, to protect everyone; I hope you can do it.
I know you can. I have that much faith in you my friend.
Ask Cologne to train you in everything she knows as well. Tell her you wish to protect the world from people like Saffron and Herb, because you need to now. I can't.
Honor my memory if I die Ryoga, become a better person than you are and I am, prove you are the better man by living with full honor, not like you have been, but like you should be.
We all must accept our own faults Ryoga, which is the first step.
Good luck my friend. May the fates be kinder to you than they ever were towards me.
Ranma
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(Written in Mandarin)
Dear Xian Pu,
Yes, I know your language, do you really think that in two years, I wouldn't try and find out what you and Kuh Lon were saying right in front of me?
By the way, yes, it is that big and I did find you attractive; no, I did not get a sexual thrill every time Akane hit me.
You are a wonderful woman Xian Pu, and woman who deserve to marry for love, not for a law that doesn't make sense. If I beat you, how could they expect you to get me back?
But to be honest, after reading the rule book you left behind I can understand why you were so forwards. But I will talk to my mom, she will adopt you. You will not suffer if I die or if I chosen someone else. I care too much for you to allow that to happen.
I guess in a way, I do love you. It was just hard to accept that you went from screaming for my head to wanting me in bed. That was a little weird for me to accept.
But you are very sexy, very attractive, and any man without, Kami knows, how many fiancées would jump at the chance to be with you.
But until I could find a way to save your honor and keep myself alive, I had no choice.
Another sad truth is I never would have wanted to go back to your village. I like Japan, I like the freedom, and I love you too much to ask you to stay here.
Promise me Xian Pu, promise me you will not allow them to punish you anymore because of my failures. You deserve happiness Airen, you deserve it more than me, so don't let them take it from you anymore.
Fight for your own life, your freedom, anything less would not be the actions of a true Amazon warrior I have known for two years.
Don't attack my mother if she kills me. Honor demands no less.
Love always,
Ranma
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Dear Ucchan,
You know, you are probably the most dedicated of my fiancées, you tracked me down for ten years, wanted me dead, but still loved me. I guess love knows no age or gender.
I do love you. I know I love you as a friend, as a sister, and maybe even as a possible lover. I won't lie to you. You were perhaps the most understanding girl out there, always worried about me, I almost feel ashamed that you wasted so much batter on me, feeding my ass.
But you deserve someone better than me, who never has to think about returning the love you show them. I know you always dreamed of me working with you in your restaurant, and I would be lying if part of me didn't want to accept, but the Arts have been my life, and would have always been. To be honest, could you have been happy running the restaurant with me running a dojo? I know you want to believe you can, I want to believe you could, but I want you to think about it.
You really were the cute fiancée, you never asked me for anything other than a date, a chance. Kami knows I wanted to give that to you, to see for myself if I could see you as more than a sister. But I knew that if I did that, the others would get jealous and make your life hell, and I would never do that to you. The pain of loss was better than the pain of winning a small victory.
Ucchan, I know you love me with all your heart, and even if it never worked, I was planning on asking my mom today to adopt you, give you the honor both of our idiot fathers tried to take from us. It isn't much, it isn't what you deserve, but it is what I feel would give you some semblance of a life back. After all, your idiot of a father couldn't be upset with you being a Saotome, and I would make my mother promise that you would never be forced into a marriage again. You deserve happiness on your own terms, something I could never give you thanks to the dishonor my father has given me.
That is another reason I never chose Ukyo, if I did choose one, they would not only have to face the wrath of the rest, but also inherit the dishonor my family has forced on me.
You don't deserve that.
No one did.
But I bear it, because it is my responsibility, my choice.
Don't blame my mother if she asks for my death. In a way, I guess I am seeking it. In a way, I desire it, but in a way, it is the easiest way to regain your honor for what my father did to you.
No Ranma, no contract, no father forcing you to clean up his mess.
Be glad you never came with us Ucchan, if you did, you would have been forced to learn the Nekoken, forced to be cursed at Jusenkyo, maybe even sold by my father like I was.
You were lucky, you had a chance at a normal life. Too bad both our fathers stole that from us.
Ucchan, I do love you, never forget that, and try and remember me not as someone to hate, not as someone to pity, but as someone to praise, someone to enjoy having known, someone you were proud in the least to call friend.
Love always,
Ranma
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Dear Akane,
I really don't know what to say. I'm pretty certain that one of the first thoughts you had at finding out what I was planning on doing was calling me a stupid idiot. I guess that between the stresses our fathers placed on us, the stress of the other engagements arriving, and the stress of basically being in Nerima got to the both of us.
Now for the hard part.
You know something, if you would just take the time and patience, you would be an excellent cook. But your main problem is you throw so much effort into it, you fail to concentrate on what you are putting in. Add the fact that you never taste what you cook; you really are only hurting yourself. A roast isn't supposed to be ready in fifteen minutes.
But if you learn from your mistakes, you'll be making food that even Kasumi will drool over.
This goes for your martial arts. Akane, I wouldn't dare ask either of our fathers to teach you anymore about the art. Yours gave up and mine would just belittle and torture you.
In the attic above the dojo there is a box of scrolls I made, with every technique I have ever heard of or came up with. Use these to become better, and follow the rules to the letter; don't rush them, because if you do, you'll be worse off than I am right now. Some of them can kill you if you do them wrong, others might make you look like Happosai for the rest of your days. That fact alone should help you maintain your cool.
Just be careful Akane. I don't want to see any of you get hurt. You may want to share the techniques with Shampoo and Ukyo when you go over them. I'm sure they can help you exceed even me in time.
Akane, I always knew how each of you felt for me. Just because I acted like a dumb jock, doesn't mean I am. Believe it or not, I am pretty smart, despite what I have led others to believe. How else do you think a guy who spent ten years on the road could even test into the tenth grade?
But I digress, I wanted you to know that I don't blame you for anything, and neither should you. In a way, this has opened my eyes, made me see what is really important. I guess some good did come out of it.
But I do need to see my mother, talk to her, get to know her, and not as Ranko Tendo, but as her son, Ranma Saotome. I hope you understand, and maybe even forgive her for killing me, if she finds me unfit to be a man among men.
I know you might hate her for it, but perhaps it is for the best. At least I got to know her. Please stop the others from trying to find us. I learned enough from Nabiki to stay hidden from her snoops for twenty four hours. I do hope my mother not only find me man enough to live, but enough to tell them of ways I can live, as a martial artist is beyond me at the moment.
Be well my fiancée, be well and be the best person you can be, do not allow your emotions to control you, control them. Always remember my love.
Love always,
Ranma
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AN: In case you were wondering, Ranma never told Akane about Ryoga's curse. It was just a ploy to get him to confess, fearing Akane would hate him for finding out.