The Road to Freedom
By The Senshi of Valis
Chapter 26
I don't own W.I.T.C.H. or Ranma 1/2
Cedric wondered the streets after his long talk with Ranma. Ranma had completely stumped Cedric in so many ways. How could a warrior as strong and proud as Ranma even have a soft heart like the way the boy did. Shouldn't a warrior have a heart of ice and iron, a will unwilling to give so they wouldn't be distracted in battle? Yet this Ranma had such a large weakness as being that soft and yet Ranma had defeated not only Cedric himself on occasion but also numerous soldiers and Frost. How could one warrior who was so soft be so strong? Was it possible for Cedric to be the same way?
"Hi, are you lost?" a feminine speech asked, a shy quality could be heard through the familiar voice. Turning around to face the owner of the voice Cedric had to catch himself from giving himself away. There stood the girl who haunted Cedric's thoughts to the point of driving him insane, there stood Taranee Cook.
"Depends on how you mean lost." Cedric said with an amused smile.
"Is there something I could help you with?" Taranee asked. She looked so nervous yet she seemed to want to help. Taranee always wanted to help those in trouble Cedric realized. She also had a soft heart but that was one of the things that attracted Cedric to her in the first place as well as her strong resolve though she kept it buried deep within herself.
"Depends…would you like to have a bite with me?" Cedric asked, smiling.
"Wha…I don't even know you?" Taranee said stepping back a step causing Cedric to curse at his impulsivness.
"Well my name is Dreck and well, if we have a bite to eat and talk we can get to know each other a bit then and then we would know each other." Cedric said, deciding to roll with it since he already started though he was sure it was going to end up a huge mistake. "And besides, who better to learn about this city than from such a smart and beautiful young woman such as yourself."
"Forward much?" Taranee asked, frowning momentarily while she crossed her arms as it looked like she was thinking something over. At first nervousness seemed to flash on her face then sadness to an anger until she finally smiled. "Okay, but this isn't a real date, okay? And it has to be somewhere public."
"Of course dear lady." Cedric said with a smile, "May I inquire as to this goddess's name who will be accompanying me to dinner?"
"Taranee Cook." Taranee said, blushing a little. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier."
"It's quite alright my dear." Cedric smiled, "Why don't you pick where to go since I'm new in town."
"I guess." Taranee said, a smile coming across her face. "How about the Silver Dragon?"
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Ryoga walked through the park with his hands in his pockets deep in thought. He was finally free of one of the things that had hanunted him since he was a child, he was finally free of his directional curse. It had caused him so much during his life including relationships with girls he liked such as Akari. He could now go back now and maybe try again but he just really couldn't bring himself to find a reason to try. She was rather harsh when she dumped him over that curse and while he couldn't really blame her in some ways, they way she dumped him had hurt. She had been vicious pointing out how unreliable he was, stating that he was next to useless and she was sick of it.
Of course now that left him free to see other girls but who would understand about the last curse he had and who would even accept it for that matter? He turned into a pig with the simple application of cold water and though he turned back with warm water that didn't erase the total weirdness of the whole situation. What girl would really want to be involved with something like that? He was sure that his only hope would be that Will would get strong enough soon to remove the Jusenkyo curse like she did his directional curse.
"Martin, leave me alone." Irma snapped from near Ryoga. Ryoga looked up to see Irma jump at a boy with a camera who turned around and took off from the angry looking girl. Irma sighed sadly, saying "What is wrong with me?"
"What do you mean?" Ryoga asked causing Irma to jump a little.
"What?" Irma asked as she tried to avoid Ryoga's eyes.
"You asked what was wrong with you?" Ryoga said, confused as to what she meant.
"I didn't mean anything." Irma said while crossing her arms and glaring at Ryoga.
"I didn't mean to offend you or anything, I only wanted to help." Ryoga said sighing in defeat. It seemed like he was gaining Ranma's old knack of making girls angry at him without even trying.
"I'm sorry." Irma said dropping her arms to her side, "I was only wondering why I can only attract a guy like Martin who constantly stalks me. What am I, ugly or something?"
"Far from that." Ryoga said quietly then started shaking his head and making warding gestures. "I…I mean…well…"
"You think I'm cute?" Irma asked, smiling mischiviously.
"N-No." Ryoga stammered then noticed Irma's hurt look then cursed himself. He decided might as well tell her the truth. "I…I think you are beautiful, Irma."
"Really?" Irma asked, blushing and sounding a little surprised. "So what else do you think about me?"
"W-Well…your really funny and nice…and really smart." Ryoga said nervously.
"You don't find my jokes annoying?" Irma asked surprised.
"I love your jokes." Ryoga said, "And I love your eyes, the way they dance with laughter when your planning something. The way the corner of you smirk just before pulling off a prank…S-sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" Irma asked, blushing a little but smiling brightly.
"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Ryoga said, shuffling nervously.
"You didn't Ryoga but did you really mean that?" Irma asked, "If you did it was really sweet."
"I did." Ryoga said while smiling shyly.
"Then prove it." Irma said, smiling playfully. "Take me somewhere for dinner."
"A d-date?" Ryoga asked, his face burning as what was happening filtered into his brain. Did he want to go out with Irma? The answer was a deffinate yes but why would she even want to go out with him? "But why…you know about my curse, right?"
"So you turn into a pig, I turn into a fairy who fights evil from another world. No big diff, and besides, what girl would turn up a chance to go out on a date with a big, bad master martial artist hottie like you anyways?"
"Wha-what?" Ryoga asked, feeling like he was going to burst into flames at any moment.
"You heard me, so are we going or not?" Irma asked.
"S-Sure." Ryoga smiled, taking Irma's offered hand.
"Good, now that we have that settled, where to?" Irma asked.
"How about the Silver Dragon?" Ryoga asked.
"Sure." Irma laughed, "That way I can show off my hot new boyfriend."
"B-B-Boyfriend." Ryoga squeaked, almost fainting as Irma dragged him behind her.
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AN: Hi everyone, looks like there may be a double date of sorts happening at the Silver Dragon. Plus Ranma and Will should be catching up to Cologne which will be coming up shortly.
To a witchfan girl: Thanks, Dragon Man 180 (Thanks so much) deserves a lot of credit for that chapter for giving me the idea for Ranma and Cedric talking. Thanks, I'm really glad that you have been enjoying this story and Chapter one of the first Will/Phobos story is posted. Its called The Power of Love (Anyone have a better name please tell me) it's a story I'm working on with a friend of mine. The six months on Metamoor should be coming soon as well though I'm not sure if I'm going to write that in chapters or just write one very long part for that story which that case will probably be a week or two for it after I finish this story.
Thanks everyone for your reviews, comments, help and support. Hope everyone enjoys this.
Until Next Time,
Ja Ne
