Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?
-/-
"Oh, my head." Ranma moaned, he sat up slowly and gently cradled his aching head in his hand. "What happened, guys? Guys?" Ranma tried to find any form of his friends but the thick smoke that hung in the air made it hard see. "Guys!" Ranma coughed up some of the smoke he inhaled and walked blindly with his hands outstretched, trying to find someone, until he tripped over something. "Damn, what the hell?"
"Squee!"
Ranma searched the ground for the thing that had made the sound; he finally found something furry and small, he gripped and brought it close to his face – it was a little back piglet. "What the?" Ranma noticed the angry look in the pig's eyes and the familiar bandana wrapped around his neck. "Wait a second…" Ranma leaned in closer and took in the pig's features more carefully. "Ryouga? Is that you?" in response the pig bit his hand and which caused Ranma to drop him. "What the hell, Ryouga?"
"Squee, Squee!" Ryouga ran away from Ranma and toward two other forms that became more visible now that the smoke had started to clear.
"What is it Ryouga?" Ranma followed Ryouga and saw that he was trying to nudge awake the two little animals with his small hoof; the two animals looked to be a duck with glasses and a purple… "C-cat!" Ranma shrieked in terror.
Ranma paused for a moment, did he just shriek… in a high-pitched voice… that didn't belong to him? He looked down at his chest and found two large mounds that weren't there before; he cupped them in his now small, delicate hands and weighed them, yes, they were real and yes, they were his own. "What the hell?" Ranma screamed to the sky in the unfamiliar soprano voice.
The scream had woken not only the two unconscious animals but also half of the Fire Clan population.
Ryouga gave him a look with his beady eyes that said, 'Nice going idiot.'
"You there, show yourself!" Akane cried from behind the foliage, her threatening spear glittering in the sun that was just rising over the horizon. Ryouga, Shampoo, and Mousse ran out of there like the devil was on their heels while Ranma was still frozen in shock. "Who are you to go near the legendary Flame?" Akane cried; she came out into the open and saw Ranma seemingly paralyzed with his clothes scorched and his skin slightly burned. "Oh my God, are you alright?" Akane dropped her spear and rushed over to her.
Ranma finally snapped out of it when she felt delicate fingers touch her wounds; Akane may have been careful but it still hurt like hell. "Ow!" she swatted Akane's hands away from her and looked at her hesitantly. "Why are you helping me?"
"Because you're hurt!" Akane cried like it was the most obvious thing in the world and in this case it was.
'Oh right, I'm a girl." Ranma reminded himself, or herself.
"What are you doing here anyway? I could have hurt you." Akane asked suspiciously.
'Got to think up something fast.' Ranma panicked. "I, well, you see… m-my pets ran away and I was looking for them?"
Akane narrowed her eyes while Ranma sweated bullets. 'Please believe it!' Ranma begged in her mind.
"Okay", Akane said, nodding her head slowly, trying to decide whether to believe it or not. "Well, I guess you need help looking for them then."
Ranma jumped up and stopped Akane from getting up as well. "No, no, that's fine, I need to get back home anyway, I think they may already be there, bye!" Ranma ran as fast as she could into the thick forest and out of Akane's view before she could stop her.
"Akane-Sama, this is where you've been, we need to get you ready for the ceremony." Sayuri ran up to her in worry and started to pull her away in a hurry while she went on and on about what needed to be done; Akane's eyes never wondered from the spot the girl disappeared into.
'Such a strange girl… I want to know more about her.'
Water Clan
Genma rubbed his temples, something he did when he was upset or in deep thought, and finally slapped his hand on the arm of his chair in conclusion. "Well, this is interesting." He said simply.
"I-interesting?" Ranma sputtered. "You wouldn't think it was interesting if you turned into a panda or something! At least your not stuck in this cursed body!" Ranma was suddenly drenched from head to toe in boiling hot water; he turned around in anger to see Ryouga standing there with a satisfied smile and holding a now empty kettle. "What the hell was that for?" Ranma asked in outrage; he stopped, his voice was his own, when he looked down at his chest he found it flat.
"Relax Ranma, it's not permanent. If you are splashed with cold water you turn into your curse and when you're splashed with warm water you turn back to normal." Ryouga said calmly, not at all worried that Ranma would beat him up.
Genma slapped his fist into his palm suddenly, surprising the two boys. "I got it, maybe Ranma's curse may come in handy."
"Oh yeah, how?" Ryouga asked curiously.
An evil smirk sneaked its way onto Genma's lips.
Fire Clan
Ranma, or Ranko as Ryouga liked to call his girl form, squeezed her way to through the crowd that had gathered together to see their new Fire Lord. The ritual itself was a private manner that was only to be viewed by family and the previous Fire Lord, but what they do get to see was the new Fire Lord lighting the torches in the night festival in a way of saying that with their new position he or she will protect their people. That's why the people are waiting, just like Akane, many preparations must be done before everything begins, and the process takes up the whole day. They all waited anxiously for the sun to set and for their torches to be lit.
Ranma didn't want to be here, the last words that Akane had spoken to him was still echoing in his mind, but because of his father's stupid idea he had to be here. Genma wanted Ranma to become Akane's hand maiden and go under cover to get all the inside information, Genma was convinced that some storm may be brewing and he wants to be prepared for when it hits. But could Ranma do it? He always was a bad liar and what if Akane found out? There are many similarities between his cursed form and his original form.
Ranma was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when a deafening roar came from the crowd around her and everything that was pitch black all started glowing. Akane had stepped out on the balcony that overlooked the whole clan; she looked beautiful in her fiery kimono and her hair pooling behind her in a silky veil, even one of her simplest smiles shined miles on no end. She lifted her arms to the sky in a simple manner and all the torches and firecrackers burst to life; the crowd went wild and started chanting Akane's name. To show their respects for their new Fire Lord one person bowed, then another, and another and it turned into a chain reaction, Ranma even found herself bowing respectfully – she felt like she was under a spell and couldn't control her own body.
Soun stepped out onto the balcony with Akane and placed his crown on her brow. "Long live the new Fire Lord, may she protect you and guide us through the dark times with her bright flame." Soun cried out to the large crowd. "Now, let the celebration continue." He said merrily, clapping a simple folk beat.
Ranma sweat dropped, he hadn't realized how carefree the people of the Fire Clan could be, was it all celebrations to them?
"It's our way of forgetting our troubles." Ranma was startled by the voice; she twisted to the side and saw a tall young woman, in peasant clothes and a straw hat hiding her face, standing next to her.
"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.
"We always celebrate because we have to forget about all the cruel names we are called and all the threats of war, it's so depressing sometimes, but we can always find cheer when we get together with our neighbors and friends and just be carefree." The woman said with a hint of melancholy in her voice. Ranma flinched; this woman couldn't possibly have read her thoughts… could she? The woman gave Ranma a gentle smile and stared at her with warm brown eyes. "There is still much to come." Then she simply walked away without another word or meaning to what she had said.
"That was strange." Ranma said to herself. 'But, maybe I can be like the people of the Fire Clan tonight and just forget about it all.'
Next Day
Akane hid behind a rice paper screen and raised her hand to cover her mouth as she yawned loudly, she had been interviewing woman all day for the job of being her hand maiden and it didn't help that she barely got any sleep last night due to the celebration.
"Akane-Sama, there is another girl." One of the maids said from the hall.
Akane rubbed her eyes quickly and regained her polite posture. "Send her in." Akane heard the shoji door slide open and then click shut. "Hello miss, may I know your name?" The first question Akane must ask every girl.
"Ranko." Was the simple reply.
"Ranko, what a nice name. Tell me Ranko, why do you wish to serve me?"
Ranma started to worry her bottom lip between her teeth. "I want to find myself and to do something that will help another, I want to be useful. I wish to know about you Akane-Sama, the true Akane-Sama. I want to be your protector, your comforter, your shoulder to cry on, I want to be your friend." Ranma kept her head bowed, waiting for her response.
Akane pushed the paper screen out of the way and looked at the girl softly. "Out of all the girls I have met today none of them said that to me. It's a clear decision that I wish for you to be my hand maiden." Akane rose to her feet and helped Ranko up. Akane didn't let go of her hand until they had reached her room. Akane let herself go when it was just the two of them together and she wasn't under the watchful eyes of everyone.
'This plan may actually work.' Ranko thought happily. 'I may never get back the trust she had with Ranma but maybe she can truly trust me as Ranko.'
4 years later
"Ranko, get back here!" Akane cried, chasing the red head girl.
"No way, you're not getting me." Ranko laughed, she hopped up in a high tree and stuck her tongue out at her like a little kid.
"Ranko," Akane growled. "When I get my hands on you I'm gonna – ah!" Akane fell face first on the ground.
"Man, you sure are a klutz." Ranko hopped down from the tree and crouched down to be at Akane's eye level. "What did you trip over this time?"
"My hair." Akane said pathetically.
Ranko tried to hold back her laughter. "Again?" she asked in disbelief. "Why don't you just save yourself the trouble and chop it all off?" Ranko asked, offering a hand to help Akane to her feet.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I won't?" Akane denied the offer and got up by her herself then crossing her arms.
'Stubborn girl.' Ranko thought. "Well you shouldn't go running around with it down anyway. Come on, let's go to your room to brush it out." Ranko grabbed Akane's hand and tried to lead her to her room but she wouldn't budge.
"Ranko, you're not going to change to subject that easily, you still need to take a bath." Akane told her in a calm but deadly manner.
Ranko's left eye twitched. "I'm going to take a bath after we do something about your hair, okay?"
Akane 'hmped' and walked with Ranko to her room.
When they were in her room, Ranko searched desperately for Akane's brush that seemed to have disappeared. "Yo Akane, where's your hair brush?" she finally asked.
"Oh yeah, Hinako borrowed it." Akane informed her.
"Borrowed?" Ranko asked with her eyebrows raised.
Akane waved her hand in a dismissing manner. "Borrow, stole, it's all the same to her. I think there might be a hair comb in my desk drawer."
Ranko pulled out Akane's desk drawer and fished through its contents until she felt her fingertips brush across something cool, she grasped her hand around it and pulled the item out. Ranko stared at it in awe, she held it up to the light to watch the colors reflect off it. "Akane, where did you get this?" The beautiful crystallized comb was decorated with rubies that formed into the shape of a phoenix rising out of flames.
"It was passed down from my family for generations." Akane simple replied as she fingered her tangled mess of her hair.
Ranko smiled at the childish manner and how cute it was, she couldn't help but let a few giggles escape from her lips. Akane didn't seem to hear it and if she did she was good at hiding it.
Ranko went over to sit behind Akane and started to brush through her hair that ran past her ankles. The clear comb slid through her tangles with ease and soon it was like fine imported silk – she couldn't help but run her fingers through her hair even when she was done.
"Ranma," Akane whispered. Ranma's body tensed and his heart skipped a beat; it could have stopped all together. He took his fingers out of her hair and looked at Akane's face to find that she had fallen asleep sitting. Ranma sighed in relief that she had only whispered his name in her sleep … then blushed at the thought of her whispering his name in his sleep.
Ranko got up to go take her bath and Akane curled up on her side, dozing. She mumbled incoherent words in her sleep. Before Ranko left she heard her say something else.
"Ranma … "
He held his breath and his heart race increased.
"I'll … "
He couldn't help the large blush that grew on his face.
Akane rolled onto her back. "Kill you."
She stared at her in disbelief and sighed dejectedly. She walked out of the room and towards the bathing area. When the shoji door clicked shut Akane's eyes popped open, she glared at the disappearing silhouette in rage and whispered, "I'll kill you, Ranma."
-/-
Ranma sunk into the steaming bath water, triggering the transformation. Akane had scared the hell out of him when she whispered his name. Could it be possible that she knew about his curse? Impossible. He was way to careful to let that happen.
The rickety shoji door nudged it's way open and Ranma watched as a small black piglet squeezed it's way through the opening it made for itself. It hopped up the steps to the tub and leaped to the rim before dropping in. Ranma watched the bubbles arise on the surface of the water in annoyance, thinking if it was possible for him to even get lost in a bath. In response, a boy broke through the surface of the water in replace of the pig and tugged at Ranma's pigtail.
"Come on Ranma, we have to go!" he dragged Ranma out of the bathtub and tossed him the emergence clothes they had hidden here.
"Go where?" Ranma asked, buttoning his shirt.
Ryouga knocked Ranma across the back of his head causing him to receive a smack in response. "Are you really that stupid Ranma? We're going home!" Ryouga adjusted his bandana and shoved Ranma out the door and into the forest, neither bothering to check if the coast was clear.
Akane trembled with her back pressed against hard against the trunk of a tree to the point of drawing blood. She clutched the glass dagger to her chest, the hilt filled to the brim with water. She bit her bottom lip and slid limply down the base of the tree. She looked up at the mellowing colors that signaled the end of the day was near. "So it has come to this."
Water Clan
Ranma stormed down the long corridors to his father's thrown room. He slammed the door open startling everyone who was in the room, except Genma. "What's the big idea pop? I'm not due back for another month." Ranma questioned warily.
Genma stared at Ranma, but not truly at him but through him, something beyond him. "Where's the other one?" he asked.
Ranma looked at Ryouga questionably and he shrugged in return. "Who?"
"The Fire Lord, I need the Fire Lord. The fourth, the Phoenix." When he saw no one go into action he became angry. "Now!" he boomed.
Ranma, Ryouga, and Ukyou exchanged wary looks and then disappeared with a burst of speed without a trace.
In the Dark Place
The shadowing man smirked, his white teeth glowing in the blackness. He picked up his wooden Akane puppet and chanted a spell, his fingers pressed against her smooth eyes. When her brown eyes changed to a glowing sliver he stopped chanting. He held onto the strings that were attached to her limbs and set her on the stage.
"Let's play."
Fire Clan
Akane stood in the center of the training grounds, her battle kimono fluttering in the wind. Her long wooden bow with silver markings running along its length held firmly in her hand. She waited and the wind suddenly died, dropping her braided hair.
The bushes rustled and Akane locked her gaze onto them. She waited for something, or someone, to emerge from the greenery. Ranko came out, picking leaves out of her hair. She seemed shocked to see Akane standing there in that tense battle stance. "Akane, what are you doing?" she asked, walking to her cautiously.
Akane swatted her hand away with the bow when Ranko reached out her hand. "Waiting for you … " Ranko sighed in relief. "So I can finally kill you, Ranma." she finished.
Ranko's eyes widened and like moving in slow motion Akane got down on her knees and used the but of the staff to smack Ranko in the chin with it and send her flying through the air to land in a heap a few feet away.
The strange silver markings on the bow glowed and she dashed towards Ranko in a burst of speed. Ranko got back up only to be knocked down again. Akane was running circles around Ranko; she had turned into a blur. Powerful blows from the bow were coming from all around all at once, she couldn't see where they were coming from and couldn't predict where they would be next.
The onslaught stopped and like a bat Akane used the bow to smack Ranko across the back of the head.
Ranko lay on her hands and knees barely able to support her weight, her breath came out in short gasps. Black dots blurred her vision. She stared up at Akane through half lidded eyes. She looked like the Angel of Punishment.
Akane raised her bow high above her head. "Goodbye Ranma."
As the bow came down Ranko desperately reached out for her ankle. Ice crawled its way up her leg, halting the bow in mid air. An ice cast covered Akane's leg all the way up to her mid thigh.
The Dark Place
His eyes widened in fury and shock as the silver glow slowly diminished back to the deep soil brown. "What? How is that possible?"
The strings that he was holding slowly turned into ash and crumbled under his touch, dropping the puppet onto the stage in a heap. "No!"
Fire Clan
Akane fell unconscious after her struggles to free herself from her ice prison. Ranma got up on shaky legs; he hated how his girl form was weaker in his male form.
Ranma contemplated whether to carry her back to the Water Clan in his beat up girl form or get hot water now. He shrugged and hefted Akane up in her arms bridal style. He almost dropped her from the weight. He set her back down, melted the ice by placing his hand against the center, and then lifted her up. She ran as fast as she could with her injuries and still made it home in a decent time.
Water Clan
Akane sat up groggily with a massive headache. "Where am I?" she asked the empty room. Then stopped, this wasn't her room. 'How did I get here? Wherever here is.' Akane remembered Ranko brushing her hair and then she got tired and after that was a total blank.
She heard the door slide open and her head whipped around to see who it was, maybe that would answer a few questions, but the movement just made the headache worse. She cradled her head in pain.
"If you think your head hurts how do you think I feel?" Akane's eyes widened, she knew that voice. She turned around more slowly to find Ranma leaning against the doorframe with a peevish look. White bandages wrapped around his head.
"Am I a prisoner?" she asked, amusement lacing her words.
Ranma shrugged. "Maybe," was his simple response.
Akane studied to finely furnished room and silk clothes she was wearing. "If this is how you treat prisoners I would love to see how you treat guests." Ranma could tell she was having fun with this.
"My father wants you." Ranma skipped the argument he knew would break out if he responded to that little joke.
"Doesn't everyone?" Akane asked with fake conceitedness. Too much fun.
"Come on." He was about to drag her there by her hair.
"Why should I? What's in it for me?"
"Reliable information."
They stared at each other for a long moment; Akane searched his eyes to see if it was the truth. Akane shrugged and got up, walking ahead of Ranma. "Alright, lets go." She called over her shoulder.
The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife and the five-minute walk felt like ten years.
They stopped in front of a set of large wooden doors. Akane brought her hand up to push the door open when, like it had a mind of its own, the door creaked open.
Inside was a long table with delicacies covering every square inch of the table. Ranma and Akane were left speechless at the amount of food, it seemed to be more than enough for only six people.
"Please take a seat you two." Genma said warmly.
Akane sat at the end, across and as far away from Genma as she could manage, and Ranma sat to his father's left.
"Please enjoy the food." He said in the friendliest manner possible while drinks were placed in front of everyone.
Akane looked at the green tea suspiciously and walked over to a potted plant in the corner, she dumped the cups contents into the soil and the plant wilted instantaneously. She smirked at Genma while the others gawked at the dying plant.
Genma smiled at her, a look of remembrance in his eyes. "You have her wit."
The smirk was swept off Akane's face in an instant. She snapped her fingers and Genma's chopsticks burst into flames; Ukyou squealed.
"I didn't come here to eat Genma." Akane said, walking around the room and fingering certain objects.
Genma never lost his smile. He graciously received another pair of chopsticks from his wife and started to munch on a piece of tempura. "But the food is delicious."
Akane glared at him and a piece of sushi he was about to pick up was disintegrated into ashes in mere seconds. "Don't play with me Genma. Your son told me that you have valuable information and I want to know about it."
Genma dusted the ashes off of his plate. "Please don't destroy the food Akane, it's very expensive." He received a warning glare from everyone sitting at the table. Genma yielded slightly when seeing his wife finger her katana. "Alright," he cleared his throat. "Your sister, Kasumi-Sama, has been kidnapped," he said casually. Akane tensed. "By the Shadow Lord." He finished.
Akane felt the world around her spinning and she wasn't sure if she could support her weight anymore, instead of sitting on one of the cushions she fell onto the floor right where she was standing. Ranma immediately got up to help her but was rejected by a small shake of the head. Nothing witty or cruel, just a shake.
"You know what that means, don't you?" he asked, not only Akane, but also the entire room.
"Mass destruction," Ukyou said, always the clever one. "Not only for our world but the human world as well. Wars will break out and all hell will break loose."
They turned their heads when they heard Akane laughing. "Hell? What is hell Ukyou?"
This shocked Ukyou. "Fire?"
"Correct, fire. He needs fire to cause mass destruction, he needs fire if he wants all hell to break loose." Akane's gaze wondered over to Ranma. "Everyone wants me." She fingered her long hair as her eyes glazed over, thinking of the things he could do.
"We need to find the Light Lord … fast." Ryouga said, the last word more like an afterthought.
"Obviously," Ranma muttered.
Akane got up without a word and headed for the wide set of doors.
"Akane, where are you going?" Genma asked.
"To go get my sister." She said without turning to face them.
"You're not going alone," this made Akane turn around. "You're bring these three." He said gesturing towards Ryouga, Ukyou and Ranma.
Everyone's eyes widened. "No!" Akane shouted. "I can't bring them with me, they'll just slow me down." She stared at the three like they were vermin. "Besides, they're not even Lords yet."
"It's not their fault, it's the constant fear of war that has been preventing the ceremony." Genma reasoned.
Akane softened to the idea. It was true; changing Lords suddenly during war was not one of the smartest moves in the world. She sighed and turned back to the door. "We leave tonight, don't be late." Before she could leave Genma's voice stopped her.
"Wait Akane, I believe you have something for me."
Without turning around she said. "What makes you think I have it?"
"You always have it."
"Before I leave I'll give it to you." She walked out of the room without another word.
Later that night ~
Genma sat in the center of his room, his hands resting on either one of his knees. One candle flickered but it cast monstrous shadows across the room.
The room was shrouded by darkness.
Genma looked up and through the faint glow of the moon he could see the outline of a girl.
Akane opened her right fist and the flame was back in its place. Without speaking Akane tossed him the glass dagger and turned to leave. "I have to go or I'll be late."
"Wait a minute Akane." She froze. Genma held up the dagger to the dim light. "Thank you very much."
Akane scowled and recoiled her right fist, leaving the room the color of Genma's heart.
He smiled.
-/-
The small traveling group walked off and disappeared into the dense foliage. Akane led the way; the faint glow she gave off was being used as a lantern and scaring off any nocturnal animal.
While, still inside his room, Genma admired the sheen of the glass dagger in the faint moonlight. "What a beautiful sin." He whispered to himself.
Dark Place
He fingered the chess piece of Akane in one hand and Ranma in the other. He set them each down on the board, facing away from each other. "There was a slight delay in plans due to that pesky Ranma character. But don't worry my love, soon you will be all mine."
He took the black hourglass and turned it on its other side to let the red sand run down. An image of the glowing Akane formed and he reached out to touch her only to come in contact with glass. "Soon my Phoenix."
-/-
A/N: Sorry for the lame chapter, I've been busy. Please review, it will make my day!