Ranma ½
I Saw a Light Shining and Thought of You.
A R1/2 and GGX/XX crossover. I own none of the characters, so do not try to get any money from me. I am truly sorry for the heavy flashback parts, I feel it is the only way to accomplish what I want from this. On to Chapter 3, and beyond.
Chapter 5: I Stand Only For You.
If he had stayed any longer he knew that he would have been in trouble in more ways than one. She would have been in trouble also but that had already been discussed between the two of them. A loud crunch signified his fist hitting the sturdy tree standing in his way once again. Of course he missed her, he was not angry at himself for leaving her although he felt like he should have been, therefore he felt regret for that. He connected with a knee just inches below where his fist had connected with the tree. Sweat flew from his brow as his bangs swung in front of his face with his movements, he had been practicing for hours now. He missed his family but he was almost ready to go back and face them without fear of losing himself anymore. What Sol had said was true and looking back at the previous week he was glad that he had been away. His berserk form was a scary thing to deal with.
Spinning and connecting with a back fist to the tree and taking some bark away, he paused to wipe the sweat from his brow. That dragon-like human hybrid that had taken him over, it was as if he was in a dream, he controlled his own actions and yet he was being manipulated. It had only happened a few times but it felt as though he had almost lost himself. The man frowned and looked at the damage his practice had caused on the tree, really it was kind of childish of him to be acting like this, pouting and punching inanimate objects in the forest to relieve some of his stress. Anyways, one month was up and he could now make his way back home to accept the one thing that would allow him to control his alter-ego. He picked up his pack and wiped the sweat from his brow once again, at least he had not been letting himself go while he was away.
It would take some time to get back so he might as well take his time and enjoy the sights. He had told her he would be gone one week but he knew that it would take him at least a day to get back from here. She would probably forgive him for the fact that he was a day later than he had told her he would be. Walking through the woods he let his mind wonder back to years ago, they had all been so happy. He idly wondered where Dizzy had been at that time, from what he had heard her tell him she was actually only about three years old, she was smart though and she loved to learn. He smiled as he thought about how his house was starting to look like a library now that she had been able to calm down and actually read all of the books she had wanted. For some reason that he was unsure of, she had an insatiable need to read books of all kinds. Fiction, non-fiction, editorials, anything she could get her hands on. Ranma let an image of Dizzy with thin librarian style glasses on slip into his mind and almost lost it. For some reason she looked even more sexy than usual, then he laughed hard, he had really been away too long. Ranma decided to pack his things and start heading back the way he came, after all it was going to be a long walk.
The martial artist had been walking for a while when he finally came across someone that he did not expect to see. Looking back on it he could see how the man had ended up there but at the time he was really surprised. As usual he looked lost and as usual he blamed the martial artist for his problems when they saw one another. As much as he would have liked to play along though, neither of them really felt like wasting time in a practice fight so it ended with them walking and talking together. Of course it started in silence but eventually neither of them could hold their tongue so the quiet was broken.
"Baiken threw you out, huh?" Ranma said solemnly.
Ryouga sighed, "No, that's not quiet what happened. I think she overreacted."
"Overreacted to what?" Ranma asked with a sideways look as they walked, "Your constant road trips?"
Ryouga frowned with one of his fangs hanging out of his mouth and adjusted his bandana, "You could say that. I don't think I'll be going back."
The other man stopped and stared at him, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"She said she never wanted to see me again," The man turned back to his companion, "Not like it was my choice. We always had a rocky relationship and I can't say I'm surprised for it to end."
"Did she at least give a reason?" Ranma asked loudly.
The other man recoiled and nodded his head, "She said she did not want our child to think that I did not want to be with them. If I was gone then she could just tell him I was dead or something."
Ranma grit his teeth, "That is the stupidest thing ever. Go back and talk to her later at least. Maybe she was just drunk."
"Shut up!" Ryouga yelled suddenly as he hit Ranma with all his strength and sent the man flying into a tree trunk, "Don't you dare say something like that about her. I admit she's a lush but don't assume you can just say that about her!"
Ranma shook his head and stood shakily, "I didn't mean it in a bad way, and I was just saying that she might not have been thinking strait, you know what I mean."
The man with the pigtail walked over to Ryouga slowly and dusted himself off, that had been the hardest hit he had taken in a while and he would probably ache for a while. The idiot had not even allowed him to have a warning but that was not surprising, he did not like it when people talked bad about Dizzy either. Ranma shook his head again as it was still a little woozy and tried to get his bearings strait.
"Let's get going, we can figure out what happened later," The martial artist said, "If you don't want to talk to her, I could try to get Dizzy to talk to her."
Ryouga nodded, "I think that would be the best, if I tried to talk to her right now she would probably just get angry again."
Ranma nodded and clapped the man on the shoulder, "Alright, let's go, you can stay at my place for a while until you're on good terms again, okay?"
The other man nodded and the two of them began on their way once again, they talked about other things for a while but nothing of consequence. The trees started to gradually get thinner and thinner and eventually they came to the edge of the city. It was dark by this time and the street lamps made for a slightly spooky scene as the two men walked along the street. As they walked, Ryouga looked around at his surroundings, he had always been amazed by how much everything changed during the night. It could play tricks with a man's head if he thought about it too much, so Ryouga turned back to his companion and ran a hand through his hair.
"So what were you doing out there anyways?"
Ranma turned in surprise and shrugged, "I was practicing."
"Is that what you call turning into an uncontrollable dragon Gear?"
He stopped then and turned with a dangerous look in his eyes, "Yes. I was out there to stay away from people so that when that happened I would not hurt anyone."
"Anyone being Dizzy right," Ryouga said with a slight smirk.
The pigtailed martial artist said nothing but turned and started walking once again, towards his house. Ryouga blinked and shrugged, if the man did not want to talk about it then who was he to press the issue. It was a few miles later when Ranma turned to him once again and grabbed him by the front of his shirt with one hand, the other holding the strap of his backpack so it stayed high on his back.
"Make no mistake, Ryouga, I don't relish hurting other people, I had to spend a week out there while my limiters were created. Once I put them on I will be able to control that form without fear of hurting those I care for."
Ryouga nodded and slowly took Ranma's hand from his shirt, "I get it. So where are the limiters?"
"Sol was making them for me," Ranma said quietly, "He told me something in secret once, what he said was that he was the prototype for all Gears. That big headband he wears, that covers the mark of the Gears on his head and limits his power so he does not go into a berserk rage and kill innocents."
"I see," Ryouga looked down at Ranma's arms, "I take it you're getting bracers for each of your arms them?"
Ranma nodded, "Yes."
"Let's go get those bracers then," The other man said with a smile, "Everyone's waiting for us."
The two of them walked a couple more miles before they stopped and searched around themselves carefully. Someone was waiting in the shadows and watching the two of them as they walked. Ryouga slowly reached up for his umbrella and grabbed the hilt of it tightly while Ranma slid smoothly into a defensive fighting stance. In a blur of motion something jumped at them from the right, coming from the rooftop of a building, and landed in front of them. The two of them stared and hesitantly came out of their guarded positions as they saw the man in front of them dressed in his usual red vest and black pants, smoking a cigarette as he normally did. In one hand he held two red metal plates, each one had a hinge separating them in the middle and black leather straps with a buckle. He tossed them casually to Ranma who caught them deftly from the air and studied them intently. They looked normal, nothing like the thick metal that covered Sol's forehead. Ranma put one of the bracers on and tied it, then he secured the other one to his wrist, they were a little big.
"Thanks but the size it a little off," Ranma said.
Sol raised an eyebrow and grinned, "It'll be fine, these aren't exactly normal."
Ranma blinked and was about to asked what that meant when the bracers suddenly clamped down tight on his arms. The martial artist felt like his mind was on fire as his other self was suddenly locked out and he fell to the ground. It was more painful than anything he had ever felt before, well maybe not anything, he could think of a few things more painful, but this lasted longer than any of them. There was a sudden spike in the pain as he screamed out and grabbed his head in a futile attempt to quell the pain. It seemed like it had been hours until it ended and the fire suddenly went out in his head. His eyes hurt and he was gasping for breath, he was not even aware that Ryouga was next to him calling his name at first.
"…okay?"
Ranma took a deep breath and exhaled, then he closed his eyes and turned to his companion, "What?"
"I asked if you were okay," Ryouga said.
"Yeah, somehow," Ranma stood up again and almost collapsed before he looked back at where Sol was standing with a wry look in his eyes and a grin on his face, "What the hell was that?"
The man chuckled deeply as he took a long draw from the cigarette before he answered, "That was the limiter fighting down your Gear side, your other self. It must have been pretty strong to hurt that bad. Don't worry kid, I know how you feel, believe me. Why don't you get home and rest for a while. I'll visit in while to make sure it's working properly."
Ranma nodded, "Yeah."
Ryouga shook his head, "Let's go Ranma, your house is down a few blocks right?"
"Yeah, I'll lead you there," Ranma said, "Thanks Sol. I think."
The man shook his head and turned with a wave of his hand, "No problem, get going, she's probably worried about you."
Ranma nodded and walked the block to his house where he entered the door without hesitation and made his way towards the kitchen. He was hungry after the long trip and he had a feeling that Ryouga would also be hungry. The martial artist started to make both of them a little snack, Ryouga was in the living room unpacking his things so he did not see Ranma doing this, he only smelled the food being made and his stomach growled loudly. He walked into the kitchen and found Ranma standing over a pot cooking some food, enough for the two of them by the looks of it.
"Looks like you're just as hungry as me," Ryouga said, "that almost done?"
The other man looked back and nodded, "Yeah, almost."
Ryouga smiled, "Good, I'm starving."
"Then eat up," the pigtailed martial artist said as he took the cooking pot off the stove and emptied the food onto two plates.
Ryouga took a bite and smiled at the taste of it going down his throat, "That's good. Thanks."
"You're welcome," Ranma said as he sat down and started eating also.
Truth to tell, he wanted to just go upstairs and lay down next to the woman he had been missing for months now. However, from experience he had learned that going to bed on an empty stomach was a bad thing for someone to do. So he ate the food he had cooked and when the two of them were done he excused himself and started upstairs. He paused just long enough to look back and see that Ryouga was heading off to bed himself before he started up the stairs once again. One week he had been away, one week only and it felt like he was away for a year, why was he feeling so hesitant to proceed?
As he walked down the hallway that stood at the top of the stairs he stopped by a room where his daughter would sleep. Cracking the door open he saw the little girl in bed where her tiny chest rose against the blanket that covered her. The man smiled and walked inside the room where he leaned over the girl's bed and gave her a kiss on the forehead. The martial artist stood at the girl's side for a few seconds and studied her, wondering if she was doing okay. Children were cruel sometimes and he had witnessed his daughter come home crying because of what they said to her. Really, it made him mad to think that young kids could judge others just because their hair was two different colors and matched their eyes. Granted, red and blue was not a normal color to begin with but he had not trouble with it, and he would fight for her if anyone thought otherwise. He had to admit that her appearance was a little strange, however she was still his daughter and he loved her as much as he loved his wife. On that note he said goodnight to the little one in her room, though she was already asleep, and proceeded down the hallway further to a room at the end. It was here that he would finally end his week long journey and hopefully things would start to get a little better from here.
Opening the door he saw that she was sitting at the edge of the bed so her back was facing him. She was naked in the moonlight except for where the white sheet covered her front. He stood in the doorway, studying the curves of her body, how the silver light played off of her pale skin and accentuated the curves of her seemingly delicate body. Ranma had know that she was beautiful from the first time the two of them met, he had never imagined a scene like this in his entire life though. Taking a step forward he paused and took a deep breath, and for a second he wondered why she was awake in the first place. Then he took another step forward not taking his eyes off of the woman the whole time he walked towards her. As he stepped closer he saw that her body was shaking and her head was bent forward, supported by her hands that were covering her face. It was at this time that Ranma realized what must have happened, she probably though he had broke his promise, taking a quick glance at the clock he realized that he had indeed done just that, by five minutes. It was now midnight, and technically he had not seen her at the end of the week. She probably thought he had gotten himself into trouble once and again and gotten himself hurt.
"Sorry for being late," Ranma said quietly, causing the woman to snap her head around exposing the tears on her face to him.
"Ranma?" She hugged the white sheet against herself and ran to him, hugging him tightly as if he were a cute stuffed animal, "You said you would come back at the end of the week, I didn't know what to think when you were late."
The man looked a little sheepish at this, "Well I mean it was only five minutes, I'm alive aren't I?"
Dizzy nodded, "I know, it may be silly of me to take you so literally, but you have always kept your promises before, even when they involved time."
Ranma dropped his backpack to the floor, which he had been holding in his right hand until now, and made to embrace the woman, "Sorry about that, I would really like to make it up to you."
The woman shook her head, "No, you're back, that's all that matters."
"You are too kind," Ranma said as he raised a hand to her cheek and leaned back to look at her, "Thank you."
"For what?" Dizzy asked.
"Everything," Ranma replied with a soft smile, "For bringing back from the edge of death, for teaching me that it was okay to open myself to people again. Most of all for being here when I need you."
Dizzy smiled, "You do not need to thank me for that, because I want to be with you and those things keep you near me. You allowed me to see that not all humans want to hurt others based only on their looks, because you were the first person I could talk to without feeling you were trying to influence me either way."
The two of them embraced in the moonlight with a deep kiss, and it seemed so much sweeter after weeks of being apart. As much as he wanted it to last though, Ranma was very tired and he let his wife know that he only wanted to go to bed right now. He knew she was very understanding in these matters but he also felt she was disappointed so before he drifted off into dream land he promised to spend the whole day with her tomorrow, and Ranma Saotome always kept his promise.