Ranma ½

Chapter 8

Who am I?

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.

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. I would also like to personally thank dogbertcarroll for pointing out a stupid mistake I made in chapter 2, which has been corrected.

I find that if I let things sit for a while in my head; I can play them out farther. Plus by trying and keeping my chapters between 2500 and 3000 words, it helps keep me from making the story slide out of control, turning a diamond to a pile of shit.

I also plan to start sending these out to have someone else proofread them before I post them. Volunteers are welcome. I have found a website #ranma1) where the moves have been listed. If I spell them incorrectly, then I apologize, as this is my guide.

Also, it may be a while before my next update. I just lost my father yesterday, and need to deal with that first. Thank you for your patience.

Now, on with the show.

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"You know I could have just jumped up here to get her, you didn't need to follow me." Ranma looked down the stairs at Akane. She had insisted in following him to meet Nabiki. What, does she think I'm gonna do something perverted?

Of course she does. She walks in on me, both of us without a towel on, and I'm the pervert. She has anger issues out to the moon and back and Nabiki expects me to train her. If she could jump as high as she jumps to conclusions, she would be orbiting the planet.

"I know you can Ranma, but I am worried about my sister. Her friends say she skipped her last classes of the day after lunch; that just isn't like her." Akane feared her sister had had another episode, and was worried she might be severely injured. Nabiki had made her and Kasumi promise not to tell Ranma about her seizure, saying it was a 'once in a lifetime event'. Now, she had disappeared for half a day, after telling Ranma to meet her on the roof after school so she could tell him everything. "When I see that she's OK, I'll leave you two alone to do whatever perverted things you want."

"We are not going to do anything perverted. Not like I would walk in on someone takin' a bath."

"It's different for boys than girls!" Her face was red now, considering he made it sound like she was a pervert.

"Sure, whatever." He opened the door to the roof and stopped.

"Whatever, are you trying to start something?" "Hello?" She was waving her hand in front of him, ready to punch him into orbit, when she noticed how pale he looked. She followed his eyes, and saw something she had never wanted to see.

"NABIKI!" they both yelled.

Nabiki Tendo was laying on the roof, foam on her lips, her eyes closed, and a small pool of blood under her head.

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Where am I? What's going on?

Calm down, think, what do you remember?

.........

I can't remember anything?

Who are you?

I don't know, who are you?

The voice remained silent. Listen, if you won't answer my questions than leave me alone.

Who are you?

I'm not answering until you do.

Who are you?

Listen asshole, I told you I don't know who I am, let alone where I am. Now if you have that info, I would like to here it.

The voice once again remained silent. Fine then, be that way. Just go and leave me the hell alone.

"Hello, I'm Nabiki, and this is my sister Akane. Would you like to be friends?"

The spirit turned around, and found itself in a dining room. She looked around, trying to get the people's attention, but they just remained still, as if they were manikins. Why aren't they moving?

Soon the scene switched again, but everyone was in different places, and one girl had gone from wearing a gi to wearing a kimono. "Hi, I'm Akane; would you like to be my friend?"

But they just asked that. What's going on?

Two paths are seen, two paths have been taken, and only one path must exist.

Where the hell are you? Leave me alone or tell me straight about what's going on.

You are struggling, trying to discern your path. But you are walking two paths. One must be chosen.

If you make any less sense, I swear to whatever god or gods you believe in that I will rip you apart.

"Is that so?"

The spirit turned around, and saw two women before it. One was a young girl, possibly a teenager, with short cut brown hair. The other one was almost a mirror image of her, except she was a little taller, and her hair was much longer. Who are you?

"We are Nabiki."

Well, that answers my question. Who am I?

"You are Nabiki."

It's gonna be one of those days.

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Ranma sat inside the hospital room, holding Nabiki's hand. The machines she was hooked up to hummed loudly, informing everyone that her heart rate and breathing were normal. At least as normal could be for someone who wouldn't wake up.

Nabiki had been brought in yesterday, unconscious and blood still dripping from her nose. Ranma had carried her in, followed a few minutes later by an out-of-breath Akane. The doctor's had spent hours with her, trying to make certain she was going to survive, while Ranma sat in the waiting room. Akane had called the house, and they came over about an hour later. All were there, waiting for news of Nabiki.

Soun Tendo surprised everyone by not crying his famous river of tears. But it was do more to shock than anything else. This had all reminded him of losing his wife. He had found her unconscious as well, and rushed her here. He sat in this very room, while a family friend brought the girls. He had sat with them for hours, waiting for news on his wife, their mother.

The news, when it came, wasn't good.

And now he was reliving those events with Nabiki.

Ranma had taken his place. He was now waiting with his family, waiting for news on someone he cared about. Soun could only hope that things would turn out better for Ranma than they had for him over a decade ago.

But none of the doctors would tell them anything, giving the impression that even they didn't know what was going on with Nabiki. Soun had talked to Dr. Tofu, hoping that the young doctor could get him the information, but even Dr. Tofu was absent. He must be frantically trying to save my daughter.

But today, today was different. The doctors had informed them that Nabiki had had what appeared to be a massive seizure, and slipped into a coma. No one was certain why she had had a seizure, as all brain scans showed no abnormalities. It was a mystery what had happened to her, as well as why she was in a coma, because her neural activity was almost off the charts.

But Ranma neither understood that nor cared about it. So he sat at her bed every minute, holding her hand, watching her. She was so nice to me, treated me so kindly. She didn't care about my curse, she didn't care about problems I had relating to people thanks to pops. She accepted me, even tried to teach me. She said as long as I let gender play a role in my martial arts, I will always be defeated.

Nabiki, please come back. I just found you, and I don't wanna lose you.

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OK, let's try this again. I am Nabiki.

"Yes," said the two girls.

And both of you are Nabiki?

"Yes," said the two girls.

Thank you for clearing that up.

The younger one began to speak again. "I am who you were. I am a part of what you may choose to be. You will have to accept that not all was done because it was wanted, but because it was needed."

The older one then began to speak. "I am who you could have become. I am a part of what you may choose to be. You will have to accept that not all was done because it was needed, but because it was wanted."

So if you two are who I could have become and who I once was, then what am I?

The two spoke together, their voices in perfect sync and harmony. "You are what may be born. You contain the possibilities of the future with the knowledge of the past. You were born of two minds, each with separate goals and dreams. You must know what has happened, what could happen, and decide if you wish to pursue your happiness."

What was your happiness?

The younger one began to speak again. "For me, my happiness was money, at enjoying my life. For me, I could not love because my family needed me to become strong. I needed to have a soul of ice, so that my family would survive."

The older one then began to speak. "For me, happiness was being with someone I loved, who I felt a connection to. I only spent one night with him the way lovers are supposed to, and it has made me stronger. I made my life about being worthy of his happiness, his love. I risked everything that I was to be with him."

Then what is my happiness?

The two spoke together, their voices in perfect sync and harmony. "You are what may be born. Your happiness is for you to decide. If it is to be for love, for family, for anything, that will be your choice. You will have the wisdom to make this choice. But you must decide soon."

Why must I choose soon?

"Time is running out. If you wait too long, then the choice will be made for you. You will not be able to survive. We have both sacrificed ourselves so that you may live. But you must choose to live, to choose to remember. When you make that decision, we will assist you in all we can. But you must make that choice."

Am I dying?

"You must choose to live. Our time will soon end. You have not yet chosen to live. When you do, you will have a body, you will have a life, and you will have an existence."

But what about you?

"We will live within you. But only one may truly live, and we find you the most deserving. Of this you have no choice."

Why do I so deserve to live? I don't know who or what I am. Why should I live and you die?

"We will not die. We are parts of you. We combined so you may be born. You are the beginning of our life, our hopes and dreams for the future. We are two parts of you, and we believe the whole is worth saving."

So I am both of you. I am what I was and what I may have been?

"Yes."

Then what is my purpose? Why am I here?

"Your purpose is to live, to become worthy of his love, to become a guardian of your family."

Who is this he?

"I am."

The spirit turned around, facing a tall man wearing a red silk Chinese shirt and black pants. Who are you? Are you another part of me?

"No, I am a representation of the man both have loved. Both have had feelings for me. The one who could have been used me as a hope to survive, to strive to become better than she had been. The one who once was saw me as an opportunity to love once again, to thaw the ice."

But what are you to me?

"That is for you to decide. When you leave here, you will be free to choose me, or choose another. But the choice will be yours to make."

Will I feel for you what they felt for you?

"Yes and no. You will know how they felt and why they felt it. Their dreams, desires, thoughts, all that made them unique will be in you as well. After you know of what has transpired, you must either choose to continue your pursuit of me, or choose to follow a different path. In the end, you must decide what you are to do."

I'm scared.

"That is expected." The dream Ranma walked over to the spirit, its body now a younger version of Nabiki, from the age of seven. "You are not alone, you have people who care for you in the real world, and they will help you."

The dream Ranma bent over the girl, giving her a hug. "I cannot tell you how my real counterpart will react. I cannot tell you if you will win his heart, or if it will be taken by another. But I can tell you he wants you to get better. He has been holding your hand since he found you."

How do you know?

"Because you know it."

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Ranma had just woken up from his nap, looking to his side to see that Nabiki was still asleep. He went to the restroom, hoping that some more water would keep him awake. He was afraid that if he fell asleep, he would lose her again.

Why am I so afraid? I hardly know anything about her.

And yet, she seems to care so much for me. Why?

He returned to the bed, to see Kasumi standing there, holding a tray of food. "Kasumi, when did you get in?"

"Oh, Ranma, I just arrived a minute ago. I thought you might be hungry, so I brought you some food." She opened the tray, showing him food that would make any person begin to salivate.

Ranma just took it, set it off to one side, and slowly ate it. The exhaustion of the past day had been getting to him. Kasumi knew he had hardly slept since Nabiki had been brought in, and food, for once, was the farthest thing from his mind. Oh my, I guess Nabiki made a better first impression then I thought. "Ranma, you can catch some sleep if you want, I'll watch her. It won't do you any good to stay up all the time and pass out before she wakes up."

Ranma was about to argue with her, but knew it would be pointless for some reason. So he finished his meal, and sat once again in the chair. He placed his hand back in Nabiki's, and fell asleep.

Kasumi sat in the chair across from the bed, looking at her sister. He cares for you little sister. It's not because of maintaining the honor of our families for the marriage. There is something else there that I'm almost certain even he isn't aware of. Maybe you two can solve that together.

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Oh no, not again!

Ranma was in the dream again, a dream that had been haunting him for the past week. It was the same dream, the same flaws, with the same ending. Each time he had had it, he would wake up, covered in sweat, surprised he didn't change to a girl because of the amounts. Before he arrived at the Tendo's, the dreams were beginning to make him fearful of going to sleep.

But his first night at the Tendo's, he didn't have the dream. For him, it was a night of pure joy. He had even woken up early the next morning, before even pops was up to begin his morning training. He felt so alive that morning.

And then Nabiki fell ill.

While they were waiting for the other family members to arrive, Akane had filled him in on what had happened to Nabiki before he had arrived; her mysterious seizure at the top of the list. Akane had even told him that when she was returning from her morning run, she had seen Nabiki throw a bag out her window. The smell was enough to tell Akane that her sister had been sick in the morning.

But now the dream was back.

It was always the same. It looked like an older version of him on a cruising boat, looking at a picture and drinking a bottle of liquor. He would always finish at least one, throw it on the floor, and grab another. The picture looked like a group shot, but all the faces and figures were blurry except for the one of him and pops. Then he would fall to the floor, the half drunken bottle rolling away from him, while he constantly muttered "I'm so sorry" over and over again before passing out.

Then the once blue skies would turn deep gray and black, finally showing the power of a large storm. The waves would toss the boat around, before they began to overwhelm the boat, causing it to sink.

Ranma would always be screaming at the older version to get up, to fight to live, to save himself. But the older version was always to drunk to awaken, until the boat was already sunk, taking the now female Ranma to the bottom of the ocean.

The last thought that the older Ranma had would always be the same. I'm sorry. I really do love you...

The dream always played out the same. He never knew who he was sorry to, who he loved, or why he was in such pain. But he always awoke feeling a little different. At first it was just his language skills. Sometimes he would still talk crudely, making it sound like he had no social graces at all. But other times, he would speak as if he had been instructed in such social graces. But then the senses of déjà vu began to occur. It had been strongest before he reached the Tendo Dojo, but as soon as he got there, the sense almost seemed to disappear as if thinks weren't going the way they were supposed to.

Why is this happening to me? Why is this dream so strong? I'm beginning to fear it more than I do c-c-c-cats.

But he never got his answers. He never even got to the part in his dream where the older version of him passed out. He was woken up by an extreme pressure on his hand. He awoke to see Nabiki having another severe seizure, her hand now crushing his.

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"Time is now up, you must decide." The two older Nabiki's had returned, while the seven year old one stood beside the dream Ranma.

But I don't know if I am ready?

"Time is up, ready or not, you must choose, to live and become something new, or stay as you are, and pass beyond this world, leaving those you care about behind."

The youngest Nabiki turned towards dream Ranma. What should I do?

"I can't help in this. He is waiting for you. You must decide now, before you are lost."

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Ranma and Kasumi were in the hallway now; they had been shoved out there by the doctors who were now trying to save Nabiki's life. Kasumi held onto Ranma, tears falling down her face. Ranma, no longer worried about it being something real men don't do, was crying as well. Both were staring through the window into Nabiki's room.

Kasumi screamed. "OH MY GOD, NO!" Nabiki's heart monitor just showed she had gone to flat-line.

They heard the doctor scream. "Charge to 200, clear!"

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I want to live, but I'm scared of losing myself?

The two Nabiki's were hugging the youngest one now, the same as dream Ranma. All three began to speak. "We will not leave you, but you must choose. Do not fear, for no matter what, we will be by your side."

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"One more time, charge to 360, and clear!"

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I choose...

I choose...

I choose to...

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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.