Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½.
How it Began
….
Sleep eluded him. Despite the stars casting a serene light and the warmth and comfort of his living pillow Ranma still couldn't sleep. Listening to Akane's soft breathing he let his mind wander vaguely to events earlier that evening. He was still a bit puzzled about the behavior of the evil spirit. It seemed to be ready for a fight one moment and was running away the next. He wondered if that was a normal reaction for a spirit or if he should be worried. Yet he was glad that Akane's sisters had found them, regardless of the unwanted visitor. Akane and his lives had changed so drastically they needed something familiar to remind them it all wasn't just some strange dream. The Tendo sisters provided that stability and Ranma wasn't surprised that they had ended up talking well into the night. It was only when a server's apprentice appeared to blow out the lanterns and offer the Tendo sisters a bed for the night that they realized how late it was.
Akane shifted in her sleep, stretching out more causing Ranma to adjust his head on her shoulder. He took a big breath, letting Akane's scent wash over him as he tried once again to drift into slumber. Instead his mind drifted back to events almost a year ago.
….
Back then Ranma didn't give much thought to the first few signs. He might have paused a moment longer than normal to flee from Akane's latest attempt at cooking. When one of his suitors grabbed on to him he stood a bit straighter and, only stuttering once or twice, asked them to stop, instead of disintegrating immediately into a flustered idiot. He found himself pausing outside the village shrine to The Great One a bit more than he used to. Back then Ranma couldn't imagine how much his life would change in the following month, let alone how his life would spiral downwards in the next year.
The first noticeable sign came when he was training with his old man. Ranma had followed his father to a seaside cliff not far from the village, and he stood waiting for Genma to explain what training they would do that day.
The elder Saotome dramatically paused his arms crossed, watching as his son mimicked him before bellowing, "Lions push their cubs off cliffs to make them strong, Ranma! I see no reason why the Saotome clan should not also be just as strong!" He craftily sprung behind his son, positioned perfectly to side kick him off the cliff.
Ranma, exasperated at the antics of his old man, suddenly felt his body move on its own, as if someone else had suddenly taken control of his muscles. He found himself stepping away from the cliff side and addressing his old man. "This is unnecessary. I am strong enough," before adding as an afterthought, "Father." As Ranma found himself striding away he was flabbergasted by his own actions. What had come over him? He never called Genma 'Father'; it was always old man or pop. And while he knew his old man had some crazy ideas about training he had never refused to try in case it actually worked.
Falling fifteen meters into the ocean only to climb back up didn't sound any more dangerous than knocking every single bee from a hive or burning himself over and over trying to grab chestnuts from flames. In fact with all the potions, poisons and traps his rivals and suitors were always throwing around his average day was rather dangerous. Ryoga had even strengthened himself while learning the Breaking Point by slamming into boulder after boulder, why would Ranma balk at a little cliff? Yet Ranma was walking back to help work in the village fields instead of mastering cliff diving even as his pop yelled at him to come back.
That evening meal was more than a little tense. His pop refused to send the slightest glance Ranma's way and didn't even bother to try and steal his food. The Tendos, after hearing about the afternoon events warily kept an eye on the Saotomes. Ranma, for his part, still had no idea why he acted the way he did, and so settled for ignoring his father and all the curious and worried glances from the Tendos.
After the meal as Ranma made his way to the bedroom he shared with his father Akane stopped him. "Ranma, what's wrong? Are you alright?"
At the concerned look in her eyes he almost considered telling her about the weird feeling that came over him. Instead he shrugged her off, "I'm fine." When he saw hurt and anger wash over her features he continued, "Really Akane, nothing's wrong, I'm just tired," and made his way into the room. As he lay down that night he felt guilty for dismissing Akane, but he didn't want her to make a big deal out of anything. So his body had seemed to move on its own, it was probably just that he was fed up with the craziness of his life. He doubted that strange feeling of strings attached to his limbs would ever happen again. Despite his reasoning Ranma still spent the night with a sour taste in his gut as uncertainty gnawed at him.
A few days later a messenger returned with news for the Saotomes. Much earlier, when Ranma and Genma had first settled down with the Tendos, Genma had asked a travelling merchant to discreetly inquire about the whereabouts of Nodoka Saotome. (The elder Saotome had figured that if he knew where she was he could better hide from her for breaking a little promise). After greetings were exchanged and tea was offered the messenger looked solemnly at the gathered individuals. He told them briskly that the home Nodoka had been living in was burned to the ground. No signs were left indicating whether the Saotome matriarch had successfully escaped or not.
Upon hearing the news Ranma again felt that odd feeling of something else controlling him. His body merely shrugged at the news and commented rather tonelessly, "All mortal lives come to an end." Eyes from his pop, the messenger, and every single Tendo bore into him and he couldn't blame them. Inside he had received the news with a shocked sort of grief, what had caused him to act so indifferent outwardly? He may only have had a vague memory of his mother from before his travels, but he didn't want any harm to come to her either.
Ranma came out of his thoughts a few moments later when he realized Akane was calling his name. Shaking out of the stiff posture he was in he murmured an apology and excused himself.
By that evening the entire village had heard of Ranma's bizarre behavior. Wild rumors and theories flew from household to household about possible causes and solutions. To avoid many humiliating encounters Ranma had taken to barricading himself inside his room. That didn't stop his many suitors from dropping by to 'help' him. Ukyo tried to convince him that living with the Tendos was stressing him out, Kodachi claimed the menial tasks of the lower classes was doing him in, and Shampoo just insisted her presence would make him better. The three of them soon began their usual battle royal with each other, complete with the poisoned bouquet, sharpened spatulas, an ornate sword, and several other miscellaneous weapons.
All of them together were giving Ranma a headache. All he wanted was some peace and quiet to try and figure out what was going on. Instead he spent his time dodging stray attacks and trying to minimize damage without being dragged into the fight. Eventually Akane lost her temper at the racket and chased them all out of the house. By that time the eldest Tendo and Saotome were snoring loudly with black petals surrounding them, the walls were peppered with dents and holes, and the door was no longer able to fully close.
Instead of finally having some peace and quiet as Akane helped him commence repairs another unwanted visitor appeared. Kuno showed up spouting how Akane and the pigtailed girl's hands were his now that Ranma received his karmic punishment in the form of a terminal illness. Nabiki finally chased the elder Kuno sibling away by convincing him that Ranma's 'illness' was contagious and the only way to cure and prevent its spread was to consume some rare mountain flower. After Kuno ran off spouting how he would save his loves Nabiki received quite a few questioning looks. She merely shrugged and said that when Kuno returned he would pay to hear everything that had happened while he was gone.
Ranma and Akane worked together to patch up the room and repair the new holes created from Kuno's visit. As they worked Ranma let his mind wander. He had felt that strange feeling of something else moving him several times, and each time had only lasted a few moments. Every experience he had become a spectator to his own actions where he was just watching as someone else lived his life. His skin crawled at the thought of experiencing the sensation again, but ultimately Ranma couldn't make any sense of it.
Eventually Kasumi stepped in the room. After hesitating she softly informed Ranma that she had asked the merchant to deliver another inquiry to the Temple of The Great One. Perhaps a priest from the city a few hours away could come and determine if anything was wrong with Ranma.
For his part Ranma felt insulted that everyone was convinced something was wrong with him. Just when he was going to dissuade the idea he felt that other presence within him again. His voice spoke in a monotone, "That would be well." Startled as the presence left just as quickly as it had come he shooed the sisters out claiming he was very sleepy.
The priest arrived the next afternoon. After good natured introductions and greetings he asked Ranma to come with him to stand before the village shrine to The Great One. As they walked almost the entire village stopped what they were doing to gather around and watch the show. Ranma's father, the Tendos, Ukyo, Shampoo, even Mousse and Cologne managed to muscle their way in front of the crowd. The only ones who didn't seem to be there were the Kunos (Both Kuno siblings had already left for the mountains to find the rare flower to cure their respective loves).
The priest calmly asked Ranma to stand facing the shrine and he would read his spiritual aura. As Ranma nervously stepped into place the crowd grew silent as the priest closed his eyes and raised his arms toward Ranma. For a moment nothing happened. Suddenly a flicker of white light surrounded Ranma for an instant and just as quickly disappeared.
Gasping, the priest jumped as if shocked and stared in awe at Ranma. His heart pounding loudly Ranma watched the priest catch his breath and listened to the crowd murmur around him. Finally the man looked up and pronounced, "The Great One has chosen you to be His host."
Back at the Tendo home the priest explained a bit more in a flustered voice, "Some Servers from the Temple-Palace will have to come to assist the Chosen and make sure the possession goes smoothly… it is about a week and a half before the next full moon… I must be going, there isn't much time!" He swiftly made himself ready for the road before turning one last time to Ranma, "Son, it has been an honor to meet you," he bowed deeply and then left.
Ukyo and Shampoo, who were standing outside the door, began jumping and squealing in delight, even hugging each other in their excitement. The Saotome patriarch was shouting along the lines of 'that's my boy!' while the Tendo patriarch was weeping about having a god in the family, his two eldest daughters patting him on the back and humoring him. Akane, however, had moved to sit troubled in the corner. Ranma, still paralyzed from shock, felt that he ought to join her. He watched everyone jumping around in joy and wondered what being a host to a god really meant. An ominous feeling filled his gut, was this really something to celebrate?
Ranma stared at the ceiling that night, still trying to take in all the news. Eventually he gave up and got up. He wandered around in the dark for a bit before he felt drawn to the room where the Tendo sisters slept. Moonlight streamed in through the window as he tiptoed past two of the sisters to the youngest's side. There he sat watching her sleep. At the sight he slowly felt all worries and thoughts melt away until all that was left was Akane's soft inhale and exhale. Eventually an overwhelming sense of peace flowed over him and before he knew it he was asleep, slumped on the floor facing Akane.
….
The silvery quarter moon rose to show that Ranma's nose was still buried in Akane's mane, but now his breathing had deepened and slowed to match hers.
….
Updates will be sporadic.