A/N: You know, the quote I used for this chapter came from the speech Markus gives to the people after Caesar is killed by Brutus in Shakespear's play. I had to memorize all of it for my history class...
Disclaimer: ...You know the drill.
Chapter 3: My Own Tears of Blood
"Oh judgement! Thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason. Bear with me; my heart is in the coffin their with Caesar, and I must pause till it comes back to me." - Shakespear's Julius Caesar
Akane woke to the death white of a stucco ceiling and the rough fabric of a makeshift bed beneath her numbing back. At the slightest movement, she heard a soft crinkling beneath her of tissue paper. It felt like... a hospital. It smelled like a hospital. It looked like a hospital... it was a hospital. Her eyes snapped open once more. What the hell was she doing in a hospital!
Her thoughts raced, she tried to remember... but her head hurt so much. She bolted up, only to scream in pain as her vision washed over with bright light. The door was shoved open, banging slightly against the wall, and in came ...two complete strangers. There was a man. His funny white coat camouflaged his panting form in the heavenly room, only noticeable by his thick-rimmed glasses and hardly controlled mustache. Her thoughts were invaded with the familiar feeling of wiry hairs brushing up against her cheek as she giggled. It tickled.
Next to the man was a friendly looking woman. She was stout and pudgy, her stunning green eyes bent to convey her smiling lips and her graying hair pulled into a no-nonsense bun. The woman rushed toward her as the doctor tsked.
"Really, my girl! You are quite the little trouble maker! Challenging a huge ox like that soldier... now look at you! Practically tripping over yourself to sit up! Far too soon, far too soon! Just lie back down and we'll contact your family. Go on now, lie down!" Akane allowed herself to be pushed back onto the longue chair. She was in an infirmary. Her head felt light and... Akane reached up to finger her long black locks, only to find them gone missing.
Screaming again, Akane shrieked in panic, "My hair! What happened to my hair?!" The nurse looked at her surprised, her facial expression quickly turning from confusion, to understanding, to pity. "I'm afraid we had to cut it back in order to treat your wounds. Don't worry though, dear! It looks just darling like that, really!" The nurse reassured while handing the startled girl a mirror. Akane glanced fearfully at herself, surprised at the fact that, yes, it did indeed look better. Still... "But... I had wanted to grow it out... I wanted to grow it longer than Kasumi's..." Akane's face turned to shock realization.
"Kasumi! Nabiki! I was supposed to meet them here! Where are my sisters?!" Akane pleaded with the nurse. The plump women opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by some one from behind Akane.
"Leave the poor woman alone, Akane." Akane craned her neck as far as she dared in order to see who the speaker was. Nabiki stood smirking in the doorway while Kasumi smiled pleasantly behind her. Akane leapt from the bed and stumbled toward her sisters, pushing the searing pain out of her mind. She latched herself onto Nabiki, who returned it, awkward but relieved none-the-less.
"Kasumi! Nabiki! I'm so happy to see you again! You don't know what it was like! I missed you so much!" She managed between sobs as she breathed in her eldest sister's scent.
"Oh, we missed you too Akane!" Kasumi cried lightly on her shoulder. The three siblings stood in a gentle embrace, not noticing the nurse take her leave.
Ranma paced outside the infirmary. Mumbling profanities and attempting to stomp on his anger. He had to gain control. He had to talk to his soldier. The afore mentioned man cleared his throat and looked fearfully at the officer wearing a groove in the ground before him. Suddenly, Ranma's head shot up and he looked at the soldier square in the eyes, beads of sweat forming on the larger man's forehead.
"You idiot! What the hell were you thinking, starting a scene like that?! You should be dismissed for that! Just tell me what was going through your thick head when you attacked that child?" The soldier looked down at the ground, scuffing his heavy boots on the pavement.
"Well Sir... ya see... The child... she- she tripped me, and I couldn't just let that whelp get away with it..." He replied meekly. "Bull shit! You had no right! That's assault, no matter who it was against, and you know that! Give me one reason I shouldn't send you packing soldier!" That got the other man's attention. "But- but Sir!" He stuttered desperately, "No one got hurt... everything worked out fine..." Ranma spared him a disbelieving glance.
"You sent a girl to the hospital. I carried her there... UNCONSCIOUS. You want to give me that line about, 'no one gettin' hurt'?" Randal stuttered again, "Sir, I..." Ranma growled, frustrated. "What?!" "Give me another chance. I swear by my honor that this will never happen again." Ranma, not one to deny a man his honor, dropped his head in defeat. "Damn right you won't. Get back to your position, and DON'T let it happen again."
He watched the giant slob shuffle away, disgusted at his own weakness. He could have protected that girl. He SHOULD have. It was his fault she was hurt. Maybe... maybe he should visit her. You know, make sure she was alright. Soothe his conscience and all. All right! It's settled then. Off to her room he went.
Akane was happy. Well, as happy as she could get in her situation. Her sisters were back with her, that little girl was alright, and she was alive. Hell, she even managed to accept her haircut. Now, if only she could remember what happened... Blue. That's all she could remember. Gorgeous blue eyes. Akane urged her blurred memory farther, trying desperately to remember who's the eyes belonged to.
Sighing at her own weakness, Akane stumbled and tripped over herself as she wandered down the hall, clad in nothing but a thin hospital gown and bath robe. Her clothes had been stained in blood from her injured head, and the hospital people had been kind enough to wash the stains out for her. Now she just wanted to see that little girl again. She was being treated hear for a minor bruise, or so Akane was told. A sudden wave of dizziness purged her current thoughts from her mind as she sank to the floor and groaned.
There was a shy tug at her sleeve a moment later, and Akane glanced over to see the little girl whom she had protected earlier, looking on her worriedly. "S'cuse me Miss. Are you alright?" She asked fearfully. Akane nodded, sending fresh stabs of pain through her skull. "Just a bit dizzy is all. Nothing to worry about, see?" Akane smiled while standing up, despite her dizzy spell, and the light blinking before her eyes.
"Is- is it because of... me?" The youth asked, on the verge of tears. Akane waved her arms.
"No! No! Of coarse not! I just... I'm so happy you're alright! I was dizzy with joy!" Akane smiled brightly at the girl, and she smiled back genuinely. "My name's Akane. Come on, let's head to the showers and get cleaned up before our... trip. Shall we?" The girl looked up at Akane and took her hand. "Okay."
"Uh... excuse me..." A deep voice half-whispered from behind the pair. The two stopped to look behind them. Blue eyes. It was him. It was the man from before... and he was gorgeous. He was a few inches taller than Akane herself, and had a lean but well-built body. He was obviously a martial artist, and judging by his stance, a good one. His gleaming black hair was tied in a braided ponytail, and he wore a formal military uniform. Akane opened her mouth to speak, but there was an odd lump forming there that hadn't been present earlier.
Clearing her throat, she tried again, but shut her mouth as the young girl beside her chirped. "Hi! My name's Ella, what's yours?" She smiled happily at him. Ranma tore his eyes away from the confused gaze the older girl was giving him. What beautiful brown eyes she had. Ranma thought back a moment. What had that little girl said?
"Hey there Ella. I'm Ranma, it's very nice to meet you." Ranma returned her smile gently, and crouched on his feet, extending a hand for her to shake. Ella skipped toward him, stopping abruptly before him and taking his noticeably larger hand in hers. She shook it vigorously. He fell back on his behind from the movement as Ella giggled sweetly.
"You're that nice man that saved Akane, aren't you? She got hurt cuz' of me..." Ella's little face took on a sad expression. The older girl, Akane was her name, set a hand on Ella's tiny shoulder.
"If it was anyone's fault, it was mine, Ella. Don't blame yourself, I shouldn't have fallen in the first place." Akane said, her voice taking on an angry edge. Anger at herself, Ranma supposed. She was angry she had slipped on the pavement. Ranma's thoughts were interrupted when a small hand entered his field of vision. Looking up, his eyes met Akane's friendly gaze as she offered him a hand up.
"I'm Akane. Thanks for... helping me earlier. I really appreciate it. Want to be friends?" Ranma accepted the hand hesitantly while keeping his eyes on her face. She really was beautiful. She was slightly shorter than himself, well-built and not lacking in figure. Her skin was delicate and her face slightly rounded. Her beautiful brown eyes melted with warmth and her short black locks framed her angelic appearances. She wore a blue colored hospital gown covered by a bath robe, and her legs were bare, showing an ugly bruise just above her knee. It was bluish black, but he could tell it was not a recent injury.
"Uh, don't mention it. I should be apologizing for my soldier's rash actions. He was stepping over the line." He bowed slightly, acknowledging both their heritages. He caught a glimpse of her delicate fists clenching at her sides, but a moment later, she returned the action.
"It's fine, really. I shouldn't have slipped. It was my own fault I left myself open like I did." He saw that same self-loathing in her eyes, and hastily comforted, "Hey, it wasn't your fault. Anyone could have fallen with all the frost on the ground. You really shouldn't worry about it." Her eyes softened a bit and she smiled genuinely at him.
"Thanks." Ranma melted before that smile. He could have sworn his heart stopped beating at that moment.
"S-sure."
Akane bit her lip in thought. Why not? She probably wouldn't see him again.
Akane leaned forward and gave him a shy peck on the cheek. "Thanks again for saving me." She whispered as she turned away, her cheeks burning. That hit to the head must have been more serious than she thought, otherwise she never would have done what she just did. Turning away, Akane dragged the smiling Ella away. The child giggled again.
"Bye Ranma!" Ranma waved somewhat shocked. His cheeks were, likewise, taking on a hue of pink, and he whispered confused to himself. "Damn she's cute."
The trip to the Fresno Assembly Center was anything but comfortable. They rode in the back of a creaky truck, dark and musty, with hardly room to breathe. There were so many of them. So many innocent lives, just like hers, that were to be locked up in some type of cage for who knows how long. All because they had the hard luck of wanting to live a good life in a supposedly free country that prides itself in being free of judgement.
'Look where that got us.' Akane thought gloomily. Kasumi and Nabiki sat beside her, looking off into space with occupied gazes. Before her sat a child, not more than ten years old, watching Akane like she were the devil himself. When she thought about it, the girl looked so much like herself when she was a child. When her father and mother brought her to America, promising her and her sisters a beautiful life. Now they were gone.
She had been alone for so long... so long that she could feel something amiss in her heart. Something that had once taken a huge part of her, giving her warmth and security, was now nothing but a void of cold nothingness. And how could she fill that void? Her sisters were with her once more, but... She felt it would take something much more severe to recover her security. On that day, that morning when she had been at home with her family.
Akane inhaled, taking in the fragrance of her mother's exquisite cooking. Jumping out of bed, Akane pulled on her sweat pants and cotton shirt, rushing out to greet her smiling family. Her father sat on one side, contentedly reading the news paper, a frown creasing is features. Kasumi walked by with a fresh load of laundry, and took to the ironing board as Nabiki did her morning stretches on the carpet. Akane hopped into the kitchen, pulling on a sock while heading toward her mother's back.
She gave her a gentle hug from behind, kissing her soft cheek lightly and greeting "G' morning mother! Is breakfast ready?" Mrs. Tendo chuckled affectionately. "My dear, you just missed it by an hour. I didn't want to wake you... you did get yourself hurt yesterday..." Akane groaned.
"Mother! Why hadn't you told me I was missing breakfast? Is there anything left?" Her mother handed over a buttered piece of toast and an apple. "Are you training today, dear? So soon after the last fight?" Akane groaned once more. This worrying concept was beyond her. Her mother could certainly be a pain sometimes. Why did she have to worry so much?
"Yes mother. I have to get better. They shouldn't have been able to hit me in the first place..." Her mother turned to face the frustrated teen. She began, "Akane, I know you want to become a good martial artist, but times are changing. No one wants to learn the art, and it's hardly acceptable for a young woman of your intelligence and appearance to go around sweating and getting into trouble! I know I have been hard on you in the past about acting like an acceptable young lady, but Akane, I love you the way you are. Your determination is what makes you the daughter I know and love, and I wouldn't do a thing to change that. You are a smart girl, Akane. I know you can make something great of yourself." At the time, Akane had just brushed off the lecture, classifying it as one of her "act more like a young woman" speeches. How she wished she could go back in time and tell her mother how much she loved her. How she would do anything to make her happy.
Akane had been practicing in their run down Dojo, straining herself to her limits. She new what she had to do, and how to do it, but her body was just too damn slow! If it weren't for that horrid body of hers, Akane would have excelled in martial arts. She could have made a name for herself, and maybe, just maybe, she could gain enough fame to earn some students. Then maybe she could save the Dojo, and her Father's art.
"Dammit! Why can't I be faster?! I hate this! It's my fault we can't afford to live in our own home! If only we could have a few students to teach... Nabiki's earnings can't keep us alive forever!" Akane screamed at herself, anger driving her to punching a hole in the already patched up wall.
There was a loud racket coming form inside the house, and Akane's head shot up , her ears straining to hear more. What was that noise? Should she go check it out? Akane stood slowly from her spot on the floor, tip-toeing toward her back door. What was going on? She asked herself for the millionth time as the back door creaked open. She stepped inside carefully, finding the kitchen empty, she decided to try the living room when she heard another clash of sound coming from down the hall. Akane rushed toward her parents bedroom, sliding to a stop in front of the shut door. Carefully, Akane turned the handle and let the door hit the wall with a soft bang.
There were three men searching her parents bedroom, throwing open drawers and turning their attention away as precious glass figures shattered on the floor. One man shouted, and the two other's hovered above him, ignoring her presence for the time being.
Akane wanted to say something. She wanted to shout at them to leave her home, stop messing with her parent's things. But she couldn't. This was her home. The only place she ever felt safe, and yet, here are these men, rummaging through her only savior's compartments. Her attention was drawn as the man that had shouted lifted her father's katana from deep inside a drawer. It was sheathed and wrapped in her great-grandfather's flag, a great daimyo's crest embroidered on it.
"Here's our proof." One man replied gruffly. The other's stood from there searching positions and headed toward the doorway, only now noticing Akane. One man growled "Out of our way." As he shoved her aside, her back slamming against the wall. She stared in shock as a picture of her family fell to the ground, shattering from the impact. Akane turned her attention to the men, swiftly heading toward the living room with a fierce look of determination on their foul faces.
Akane raced after them, once again sliding to a stop in front of the living room. Her father sat on the old sofa, protecting her mother in a safe embrace as hot tears leaked from her watery eyes to the ground and dripped silently. She clung onto her husband desperately, knowing that if she let go, that would be the end. She would lose him. One of the men strode toward the cowering pair, speaking gruffly to them, "Either come with us willingly, and leave with honor before your wife and daughter, or we'll force you to come. Either way, you have no choice, but it's a hell of a lot easier if you come along quietly." Akane's heart wrenched when she heard her mother cry out, "You can't take him! He's very sick, He'll die if we're not there to take care of him! Please, you can't..." Soun Tendo held up an arm, his hand calling silence to his wife.
"Leave it be, there's nothing we could do about it. I'm nearly dead already." Her father was thrown into a coughing fit as he made his way toward the officers, giving Akane a reassuring smile, blood apparent on his lips.
Finding her voice Akane shouted out to the men, "No! Leave him alone! Why?! Why are you doing this?" She rushed at them, ready to do anything to free her father from his mysterious fate. Her mother watched horrified, as Akane struck the first man. Akane watched in horror as the man nearest her pulled out a small gun.
She watched his shaky hands cock the gun, and shut her eyes tightly as she prepared for the pain. He cocked it, and a blast was heard. She cringed, the loud commotion still ringing in her ears. But... no pain. She felt nothing. Akane's eyes snapped open in time to see her mother slide to the ground, blood soaking her white apron and sending red droplets down Akane's legs.
"Akane... Akane, I told you to watch who you... picked fights with." Her mother choked out, sending thick red saliva spraying onto the floor. The dying woman clutched her daughter's arms in a weak hug, and she smiled gently. Soun looked on in horror. Akane's eyes shined with tears. "Mo- mom.What did you d-do? No, please god! Why did you do that... Mom? Mom?!" Akane shook with sobs as she held onto her mother, clutching her and praying she was still alive. She was in her home. She was with her family. Nothing was supposed to happen to them! How could this happen? How?
Too lost in depression was she, that she didn't notice as they escorted a solemn Soun out the door, shedding his own silent tears. Nor did she notice when her sisters arrived at home, in shock and lost just as Akane herself was. She didn't notice the authorities arrive, or take her sisters away. And she hardly made a sound as they forced her clutch around her mother to lessen, and took Akane into special care. Akane was, for the moment, lost in the darkness of that void in herself. Unsure of where she was, or how to escape her own blackening heart.
Akane was shook out of her reminiscence when the rusty old truck jerked to a stop. She hardly noticed how the hours had passed. Now, she guessed, they had finally arrived at the damned prisons they had been sent to. The youth blinked several times to clear her thoughts and focus her eyes, then turned sullen eyes toward the back of the truck. Two men had come around toward them, and were watching the passengers as they slowly crept out from the darkness.
"Hey, you! Watch it, we don't need any trouble." One man said, indicating a rowdy young man who had refused to leave the safety of the vehicle. Some more decrepit looking people cringed as they were thrown aside onto the dirt. One man growled, "Hurry up. There's no room for slackers. Get out of here." Akane came out behind the old couple and gave the soldier a menacing glare which he promptly ignored. Jumping aside, she laid a hand on an elderly woman's shoulder and helped her up. She played with the idea of kicking the soldier man in the groin, but decided against it, seeing as how her brain wasn't quite functioning, and she needed a fight like a hole in the head.
"You will have assigned quarters. There should be a listing of members per household by each door. Families won't necessarily be placed together . Find your name and make yourselves comfortable." A young man declared from the center of the housings. Akane grasped Kasumi's hand gently and the three sisters headed off in search of their names.
Review if you'd like. I know I'd like it.