Ranma ½

Chapter 4

Countdown to Zero

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.

Quick note: 1. This is a thought of a character.

2. This is the thought of past Nabiki, known as the mercenary girl.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave.

Plus, at the end of this chapter, I will place an idea I have had for a new edition to my stories. It will mean an extra day delay on the release of my chapters. I try to do a new one every day to release some stress, and alternate between my two stories of Ranma and Love Hina. Let me know what you think of this idea, as well as what you think of the newest chapter. Thank you for all of your help.

Now, on with the show.

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T-minus-1 and counting...

Nabiki lay on the back porch, watching her sister try and grab the chestnuts from the fire, before screaming and rushing her hands to the coi pond. She smiled to herself. It took her three tries to figure out to build the fire near the pond in case you failed. Not that I minded watching her try.

Plus the fact we now have an extra 10000 yen she somehow hid from us, as well as five photos to sell to the boys at school. We would have more, but you had to go and tell her that you would let her slide for being visibly angry at herself.

I had to. I know how mad you can get when it seems so close to being in your grasp, and then to fail again. You should have seen how made we got in China when Cologne was training us. It was only a month, but by the end, even my temper was worse than Akane's.

Why were we in China?

Well, after our husband dearest finally admitted to being gay, I didn't want to stick around and deal with it. So I went to China in hopes that Cologne would let me stay there for a while. I figured an Amazon village was the best place to get away from dealing with men. We had stayed friends after she and Shampoo had returned to China when Ranma married Akane. After I told her my story, she offered to train me, saying best case, it gave me something other than my unfaithful husband to focus on, worst case it gave me a way to beat his worthless ass.

That was nice of her.

Well that was her second offer; the first one was asking if I wanted my husband killed. I told her I'd think about it.

Both the elder and younger Nabiki smiled at that. They looked over to see there sister once again dip her hands into the pond, before screaming some obscenities. It would appear our little sister has quite the mouth on her.

Wait till she gets to school tomorrow. The horde will be whipped into a frenzy by these photos. I figure we can at least get 5000 yen apiece from them, 10000 if Kuno is around.

I don't think we should sell them.

WHAT!?!? You said...

I know I told her we would sell them, but it's not like we need the money anymore. The bet paid off, we own the house, the bills will always be paid, plus the interest alone will be enough for us to live on. Why should we demean her anymore by selling them?

Now you listen here. I have put up with a lot of shit because of you. I have sat by while you made these plans for us, left me with no control over my own body, and basically acted like a nagging parent. If I didn't force you, our books wouldn't even be balanced and the gambling ring at school would have fallen apart. Now I am tired of you doing this shit and saying that 'it's for my own good'.

I've learned enough from you not to make those mistakes. And my future will be different. I'm sorry that your precious Ranma left before you could declare your undying love for him. But I refuse to sit in the shadows. I refuse to watch you live MY life because you screwed up yours. Now you are going to do things my way, or else.

In a move both Nabiki's would regret later, the elder Nabiki answered back, rage in her thoughts as well. Or else what?

THIS!!!

With that word, a wave of dizziness washed over Nabiki. Had she not already been lying down, she would have fallen over. But this was unlike the pain and headaches before. This time it felt different, more like everything was sliding out of control. She closed her eyes, trying to push it aside, but the waves of nausea and pain continued to flow through her body. The elder Nabiki tried to cry out, but her voice was gone. Blackness was beginning to surround her, despite her desperate attempts to push it back, to gain control again. But it didn't work. As she began to lose consciousness, she had only one thought. Ranma help me!

She awoke to see Akane leaning over her. Trying to move, to acknowledge that she was there, Nabiki tried to say something, anything. But she couldn't speak. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, before the heat finally subsided, leaving her feeling as if she had been hit by a truck. Every muscle in her body seemed exhausted, stiff, and sore.

But she had enough energy for one last thing. She rolled over to the edge of the porch, to empty her lunch onto the lawn. Thank god my hair is still short.

She stayed like that, feeling Akane rubbing her back. But she still couldn't hear her little sister. What did you do to me you little bitch?! But no reply came, and for a moment, Nabiki wondered if her younger self was even 'awake'. She must have felt that as much as me.

"Nabiki, hold on, Dr. Tofu is here."

Akane's voice. I can hear it now. She wearily tried to turn around, before finding herself laying once again on the porch, the good doctor taking her pulse and looking into her eyes.He then went on to do all the things doctors do, checked her pulse, her breathing, trying to determine what had happened to her.

But Nabiki knew what had happened to her, what her younger self had caused. She had read enough books to know what had just happened.

She had had a seizure.

And then the words of the mirror finally came back to her. 'If the two of you cannot come to an understanding, and become one being again, it may kill you. That is the price you must pay for this wish. I will not be able to separate you, even if you use the unbroken mirror in that time. Only by understanding and accepting yourself, can you hope to survive.'

Now she understood. She now knew what it had meant. If the two continued to fight like that, the pain would become worse. If she had been paying attention, she would have recognized that it had been steadily increasing the last few times. This means that from now on, another attack might very well kill me, kill both of us.

As Dr. Tofu and Akane helped her to her feet, to guide her back into the house, a tear began to fall down her face. I can't lose Ranma, not again, not before I even get to see him and tell him how I feel.

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Nabiki now set in the warm waters of the tub, the medicine Dr. Tofu gave her finally starting to relax her. She had been in there for half an hour now, thinking to herself, hardly noticing when Kasumi would come in, drain most of the water and fill it back up again to keep it from becoming to chilly. It wasn't until her younger self began to speak that she finally snapped back to reality.

Oh, man. What the hell happened?

Your little attack triggered a seizure. We were lucky we didn't die.

What are you talking about?

The mirror said if we didn't come to an understanding, we would die. Your little attack gave us a seizure, frightened our family, and may have brought us one step closer to death.

He younger self was silent for a few minutes, trying to understand what she had done, what her future self was telling her. I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't know. Are you okay? Are we okay?

Our body feels like hell, but we'll survive. I don't blame you; it's my fault we're in this mess. But please, don't try and do that again. There's no way to know if the next one will finish us off or not.

They both sat in silence, each one trying to figure out where to go from here, trying to phrase it in a way so as not to anger the other.

May I ask you something, you don't have to answer if you don't want to?

I told you I wouldn't hold anything back. Hell, I let you relive that night with Ranma, why would I hold anything back now.

The light attempt at humor had served to lessen the mood, but did nothing to end it. If you had the mirror, why did you wait so long? Why not use it after Ranma left?

Part of me wanted to believe that it wouldn't work, that the past couldn't be changed. I mean when it was not broken, Happosai and Cologne tried to rekindle their old romance, and failed miserably. So I decided that it might not work, and so ventured forth to make my current life better, to become a better person, someone I thought would be deserving of his love.

But I won't deny that I was also scared of it. I was scared that if I decided to use the mirror, and it didn't work, then it would be the same as admitting that the mirror was my last hope, my last chance to make things better. I didn't want to face the possibility that if it failed, that I would have lost all hope, and had nothing left. It was better to think of the mirror as a final resort, rather than as a useful tool.

Not to say I wasn't surprised when I realized I had shed a tear on it, let alone when it spoke. Maybe it was because I had cradled the damn thing every night since I had gotten it, wondering what I would change. How do you think I remembered about the game? For that first year, all I did after Ranma left was to plan how I would change the past, how I would make everyone's life better. I had it all planned out. From figuring out a way to get Shampoo to leave him alone, to Ukyo's arrival; I even planned on how to train with him, so he could defeat Saffron easily.

But when it came time to try my luck, to use the mirror, when I figured I had planned for everything, I realized how scared I was. I was afraid that the mirror wouldn't work. That I had done all of that thinking, that dreaming, for nothing. In the end, all I could do was cradle the mirror, and decide to try and make this world better before I would go into the past.

The sad thing is, I always knew what would happen if the mirror failed. No matter what, I knew eventually I would end up taking my own life. The mirror gave me the strength to go on. If it failed...

I'm sorry, I didn't know.

Nabiki now realized that she was crying. It's OK, I don't blame you. How about we try this? Since we are stuck together, how about I relive my entire life with you? Not just the good and some bad, everything. Maybe afterwards, we won't fight as much.

It's worth a shot. Are you sure?

Yeah, you deserve to know everything; maybe it'll help you understand why I am fighting so hard for him.

Afterwards, we can go sell those pictures, assuming we can walk.

Then it's a deal.

With that, Nabiki closed her eyes, and leaned back against the edge of the tub. It was going to be a long soak.

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T-minus-0...

Nabiki and Akane were walking back from school. Even after the battle with the horde, Akane had been spending every free moment she had with her sister, watching her to make certain that she wouldn't pass out, or have another seizure. Dr. Tofu had even suggested she stay home from school that day, but she had continued to ignore his warnings and go forward.

Nabiki could tell her younger self was upset. She had to deliver her news and instructions to her assistants through letters, as well as receive their reports. After all, you couldn't tell the person you were making bets on that they were in the bets. But she did manage to send out those pictures. Her final report of the day had been confirming Kuno had purchased all five pictures for 25000 yen, which Nabiki shared with her friends, a token by her older self, which her younger self had no problem with.

"Sis, are you OK?" the worried Akane kept asking her, almost to the point even Nabiki wanted to hit her.

"I'm fine I tell you. It was a once in a lifetime event. I probably had some food poisoning from the cafeteria food yesterday." She leaned in and gave her younger sister a big hug.

But I am far from all right. Ranma arrives today and I can't be seen as sick in front of him. Plus when I get home, I know how nervous I'll be, getting ready for his arrival. I have to make certain I don't push him too far; I can't be clingy like Shampoo or Ukyo. I have to allow him to fall for me. I can't force him; he has to decide to be with me willingly.

Would you calm down and just let go of her, she is starting to turn blue.

Nabiki released her sister, who immediately began breathing again. "Sorry sis, I guess I don't know my own strength."

"It's... breath ...OK," replied her sister, trying to stop herself from hyperventilating. "I guess we are all a little on edge. We'd better head home, looks like it's going to rain.

And so the two ran home, getting inside before the storm started, neither of them noticing their father constantly flipping a panda post card back and forth, rivers of tears falling down his face.

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As the storm continues, we see people still walking the streets. With the renewed interest in their wares, many shops are opening back up, enjoying the slight feel to the air as the storm washes off what had usually been an average day, until everyone spots a red-headed girl fighting a panda.

"I still say it stinks, picking my fiancée without even asking!" She punctuated that last part by flipping the panda against a street sign.

Finally catching her breath, she again speaks to the panda, while grabbing her backpack. "I'm going back to China, so suck on that old man."

She never notices that the panda had gotten back up, or that he had the sign she had thrown him against still in his hand, until he cracked her over the head with it. Once the girl was back over his shoulder, the panda turned around, heading for the Tendo Dojo.

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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.

The new idea: After throwing himself in-between Akane, Ukyo, and Shampoo; who were having a hectic battle over him, Ranma wakes up in the hospital. He is told by the doctors that he may never walk again. How will the girls deal with what they have done to him? How will Ranma deal with the fact that his life as a martial artist is over?

This is already playing out in my head. But I want to know and make certain I am not repeating someone-else's story, or if the idea is too far to try and take the characters. Let me know.