Hey I realized that the thing I was using to separate parts in the story wasn't working so I went back and put something that does work in every chapter. So that's fixed :].
The first thing Ranma noticed when she awoke was that it was nighttime. The second thing was that she was lying sprawled out in the middle of an alley and there was a cold, dead weight on top of her. Then it all came rushing back and she stopped noticing everything else.
"Ryoga!" As gently and quickly as she could, Ranma lifted Ryoga up off her and set him back onto the ground. She felt the blood drain from her face and the cold grip of dread in her chest as she took in how pale and lifeless he looked. The world seemed to slow down as she reached for his wrist and felt for a pulse.
The little flutter Ranma felt against her finger was all she needed, she could still save him. The red-head readjusted her grip on his wrist and used it to pull him up onto her back, making sure that he wouldn't fall off and eliciting a groan of pain from his unconscious form, before running out into the street and stopping dead.
Ranma looked around as a cold sense of panic settled in, but tried to push it down, she couldn't recognize any of the buildings surrounding her and Ryoga still needed help, fast. But it wouldn't do him any good if she melted down, besides, no one could ever say that Ranma wasn't strong.
'Go right.' Just as suddenly as the first time, the voice she'd heard the first time she'd ever spared and just before the first-ever memory headache gave her direction. Ranma followed it.
They met no one throughout the whole run and Ranma was glad of it. She was sprinting faster than she could ever remember going before and if anyone had gotten in the way… she wouldn't stop.
The voice's directions led her deeper into the city's heart, until she began to recognize places from her disjointed memory, an old run-down school building, a ramen shop, a place called Ucchan's… but she still didn't stop until the last direction rang through her head.
'Stop.' The red-head didn't pause to wonder why this place was different or to read the sign hanging next to the wooden doors, but pushed straight through them to the main building.
"Oi! Help! Anybody in there!" Ranma shouted and cursed as she realized her running had reopened Ryoga's wounds. She glared at the screen door with panicky impatience and contemplated tearing it down, listening as the muttering of the owner grew closer, then started when it opened and revealed the one face from her memories she still didn't have a name for.
XXXXXXXXX
Ranma Soatome couldn't help grumbling when someone started shouting their heads off outside his house at six o'clock in the morning, rousing him from a good dream, even though it'd been pretty much regular throughout his whole life.
The thirty-four year-old martial artist rose out of bed without a sound, detangling himself from the grasp of his wife and trying not to wake her at the same time, stretching and yawning as he did so. He flipped his pigtail back over his bare shoulder and scratched his head with one hand, before spotting a discarded tank-top of his on the floor and scooping it up with the other.
He stepped out of the master bedroom and crept passed the other rooms in the hall, pulling the shirt on as he went, and took the stairs in one leap. As the black-haired man entered his kitchen he prepared himself for another challenger come to battle with the 'Undefeated Master Soatome'. He really should find the person making up all these names for him and tell them ta make it less cheesy.
Ranma continued grumbling about such random annoyances as he reached for the door and pulled it open with a snap, then stopped dead.
Ranma knew he'd gotten rid of his curse about eighteen years, even remembered it with perfect clarity since it was the day before he finally asked the women upstairs to go with him on their first official date. So, there was no way that he could be seeing his girl-form's sixteen year old face staring up at him with a look of shock that he was sure mirrored his own.
She was the one to recover first and he watched as her face hardened into the look of determination he always got before a martial arts match.
"Look, I dunno who you are or why I know your face, but Ryoga needs help and you're givin' it whether ya wanna or not." She growled loudly and proceeded to push past him into his own house. Ranma followed silently, turning on the lights absentmindedly as he went, still not quite believing this, because he was now seeing another face that he hadn't laid eyes on in eighteen years.
Ryoga had been his rival. He'd gotten lost a lot, but they'd always met to fight at least once a month. Until the same day Ranma had gotten rid of his curse forever.
He'd heard the story from Akane when he'd woken up, that Ryoga had disappeared into the smoke, but he'd always expected the lost boy to find his way back again. A hope that dwindled as the years went by and he got married and moved on.
But, here his old enemy was, being carried on the back of a sprout of a girl and looking half-dead, the new blood mixing with old on his tattered shirt.
The female Ranma strode purposefully into the living area and paused to take in the complete renovation compared to her memory of the Tendo home. (A/N Female Ranma is Ranma-chan from now on)
The T.V. set had been changed to a wider screen than before, but it still sat in the same corner in front of the table. A couch had been added to one wall and several pictures had been hung around the room. The screens across the room from her were open slightly to let the cool summer air into the house.
It was the table that Ranma-chan headed toward to set down Ryoga, ignoring the actions of the other-her behind them, bending down onto her knees and slowly easing him down onto the flat surface, then putting his arms up so that they lay beside him.
The red-head couldn't help but wince as she viewed the open wound bleeding out onto the clean table. She fought to push down the tears trying to well up and once again hardened her heart. There'd be time enough for that once Ryoga was okay.
Ranma-chan looked up again when the sounds of the male Ranma entered the room once again and she stepped back when he held up a first-aid kit by way of explanation.
Ranma seemed to know exactly what to do. He carefully peeled the shirt off of the unconscious boy and set the cleaning the wound and the skin around it with alcohol and extra bandages.
"Second door on the right upstairs, wake my wife, she's in there. Tell her to call Tofu; she'll know what you mean. Sorry, we'll talk more about this later." Ranma-chan looked up at his business-like tone and took in the directions without question. She could remember the name he gave her, Tofu was a doctor.
When he was done talking and had turned his full attention back to Ryoga, Ranma-chan left the room to do as he said.
The hall was dark and silent and she couldn't help adjusting her steps so that they didn't make a sound. Who know who may be behind the other doors? When she reached the room he'd described she paused for a second with her hand on the knob. Ranma had forgot to mention exactly who he'd married and she remembered some crazy fiancée's from back in his/her past.
But, she didn't pause long. A dark, lightly furnished room containing a king-sized bed, made so that it was low to the ground like a futon, but still raised off of the floor and several other bits over furniture met her gaze. She could see one figure asleep under the navy covers of the bed and made her way over to stand on the side opposite.
How was the best way to wake another person's wife? Ranma-chan settled for shaking the woman's shoulder lightly with one hand while calling.
"Hay, c'mon wake up-urgh!" Seemingly, still in her sleep the dark-haired women casually slapped Ranma-chan with one hand, knocking her straight off the bed, before sitting up and using the same hand to cover her mouth while she yawned. Then she seemed to notice what she'd done and scooted to look over the side where Ranma-chan lay, apologizing as she went.
"Ah! I'm sorry, but you should really know by now not to wake me in the middle of the n- R-Ranma?" Both girls took each other in for the first time, Ranma-chan from her place upside-down on the wooden floor and Akane from her half-crouching position next to the bed.
"Yes and no. Your husband's down stairs patching up Ryoga and I don't really know who I am. You need to call Tofu." As Ranma-chan explained this she rolled over and got into a sitting position, rubbing her cheek where a bright red hand-print was just started to show.
Akane's mouth just opened and closed, making a good impression of a fish, as Ranma-chan got more and more impatient.
"If you don't hurry, he might die. I don't know for sure but he's getting a pretty good start on it downstairs." Ranma-chan didn't raise her voice, but the flash of panic in her eyes did a good job of getting through to the older version of the girl she remembered sitting on the bed. Akane shook her head once and adopted a brisk attitude as she rose and quickly began getting dressed.
Ranma-chan took the chance to see how the dark-haired girl had changed over the years. Her hair was still in the short style it'd been in before, but it looked more natural, lived-in. Or that may have been because it was still tufted up from sleep.
But, instead of dressing in one of her usual dresses, Akane pulled on a pair of worn jeans under her night-dress and then pulled out a light yellow long-sleeve shirt. Ranma-chan went red and turned before she could change into that in front of her, but Akane didn't even pause.
'Wow, she's changed a lot from what I remember.' Some part of Ranma-chan's mind commented. She got another surprise when Akane touched her shoulder and smiled gently,
"Well do all we can for Ryoga, don't worry too much." before heading out the door with a backward beckoning. Ranma-chan followed quickly.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Akane headed into the kitchen to call the doctor and Ranma-chan split with her to see how Ryoga was doing.
Ranma was just tying the bandage into place as she walked in, but already little dots of red were beginning to appear over the top of it. Ranma-chan fell to the floor next to him and gripped his hand to her.
"There ain't much more I can do. It needs ta be stitched up an' we ain't got the stuff ta do it. But Ryoga's tough, he's proved that before." Even so, there was a serious, worried look in his eyes that made Ranma-chan tighten her grip on Ryoga.
"I got them, Doctor Tofu and Kasumi will be here soon." Akane entered and paused to watch Ranma-chan nod once without taking her eyes off of the unconscious lost boy. Ranma crossed the room to stand in the doorway with her and the two conversed in low whispers that Ranma-chan couldn't make out, before coming to sit side-by-side across the table from her.
"We won't ask you now, but when we're sure that Ryoga will be alright, we need you to tell us what happened eighteen years ago and why your even here." Akane explained and Ranma-chan nodded once again. All was silent, until Ranma-chan spoke up. She'd never been comfortable with silence.
"I'm glad ya married her." She looked from Ranma to Akane and gave them a small, weak smile. "I always liked her best."
"So, ya remember all that happened before, then?"
Akane sighed, her husband had already forgotten their decision not to question her until later, but thankfully the doctor arrived before he could totally begin firing out questions.
"Akane-chan, what's happened?" A masculine voice accompanied with the sounds of two sets of footsteps entering the house reached them, just before two figures entered the living room.
Tofu looked about the same as Ranma-chan remembered him, same black doctor's wear, only older. As did Kasumi, the only difference was that they were both in the same room and the former was still sane enough to lightly push Ranma-chan out of the way and begin cutting away the rough bandages, now completely soaked through with blood, firing orders as he went.
"Kasumi, did we bring the things needed for stitching? And morphine?" Her only answer was to hand said items to him and Tofu got straight to work.
Ranma-chan got backed into a corner with all the commotion as everyone was ordered to help in some way besides her. She didn't know what to do, until movement at the doorway caught her eye.
Curiosity taking over, Ranma-chan crept toward the movement and turned a corner… only to have to step back as another figure nearly smacked into her. Said figure also jumped back and the two looked each other up and down, in fighting positions.
Ranma-chan looked at the teenage girl in front of her with an odd feeling. This was obviously a child of Ranma and Akane.
She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen and her hair was the same color as her mother's, tied back into a braid that stretched down past mid-back length over her pajamas. Her eyes were a darker blue than Ranma-chan's own, but they still stared back with a strong sense of curiosity that could have matched her father's.
"Who're you?" The girl relaxed her position when Ranma-chan did and stared at her openly.
"Ranma. Who're you?" The girl's eye's narrowed fractionally at her answer.
"Ranko. Ranma's my father's name." She sounded suspicious and Ranma-chan would have grinned under any other circumstance at the choice of name for this girl.
"Yeah, I know it is." Ranma-chan leaned against the wall and sighed shakily. Everything that had happened was starting to catch up to her and it landed heavy on her shoulders.
That's when she remembered another thing.
Ranko watched in surprise and worry as the older girl reached up and pulled a shard or something out of her neck, piercing it in the process, before doing the same with each arm and leg, hissing in pain every time.
"Why'd you do that?" Ranko lurched forward and landed next to Ranma-chan as the red-head slid down the wall to a sitting position. Ranma-chan gripped one of her hands with the other, trying to lessen the sting the small cut on her wrist caused and closed her eyes. Only to open them again as her grip was loosened and one of her hands was taken into a cool, gentle grasp.
Ranma-chan watched as Ranko examined the cut she'd made, her forehead creased in concentration.
"I had to get these out." The younger girl looked up to view the five bloody shards in Ranma-chan's hand, and then shook her head. Keeping the older girl's hand gripped in her own, she rose to her feet, pulling the red-head up with her.
"C'mon, we'll get you fixed up. And you can explain a bit." She titled her head in the direction of the living room and then pulled Ranma-chan up the stairs after her, stopping at the first door they came to.
The older girl let her do what she wanted and ended up getting sat down on the edge of bathtub, while the younger went through a cabinet set against the wall for bandages.
"So, wha'dya wanna know?" Ranma-chan tried to suppress the yawn that threatened to split her face in two and watched Ranko apply medicine and bandages to the cuts. It seemed that the explaining she had to do would never end.
"Who's gotten hurt? I heard Uncle Tofu's voice." Ranma-chan nodded internally as her suspicions were confirmed, Tofu had finally gotten over himself and proposed to Kasumi at some point.
"My friend." Ranma-chan bit her lip and didn't explain further. Ranko didn't press, either.
"When did you get here? And from where?"
"Came from th' past, about a' half hour ago." Ranma-chan yawned again and let her eyes lower another fraction while Ranko pondered what she'd said. The dark haired girl only looked up again when all of the cuts were bandaged.
"There now, we should go down stairs." Ranko stood and put away the supplies into the cabinet from before, and looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Thanks."
Ranko nodded and smiled back at Ranma-chan's half-grin, then watched as the older girl walked past, before following.
The red-head took the stairs at a sedate pace and slowed even further as they neared the living room door. She paused and fisted her hands at the corner, taking a deep breath and listening. All of the activity from before seemed to have calmed. It was like those inside were holding their breath for something.
Ranma-chan turned the corner just as his voice first rang out.
"A-Akane-san?"
The red-head paused in the door-way and bit her lip while Ranko peered past into the room beyond.
Ranma-chan squeezed her eyes shut and chocked down a sob. She should have figured that Ryoga would always want Akane more. He'd openly admitted to loving her over and over.
He'd said she mattered, but Akane was still everything… The red-head knew she loved him and if helping him get back to his own time to be with Akane was what it took to stay with him… She'd still do it.
"Where's Ranma? Is she hurt?"
Ranma-chan gasped and turned to see Ryoga try to sit up, only to grip his chest in pain, and lurched forward in response. She watched his expression soften in relief as he caught site of her, then as it changed into surprise with her lips met his own.
Everyone in the room gasped in surprise as Ryoga's eyes slid shut and he returned the kiss whole-heartedly. Ranma turned slightly green and fainted at the sight of his girl-form making out with his rival. Akane grabbed him by the pigtail and dragged him along with a knowing smile as she herded the others out.
When they pulled apart, Ranma-chan finally let all her feelings loose and let the tears poor down her face.
"Heh, your sure crying a lot lately." Ryoga smirked as she frowned at him and pulled away.
"I was worried about you, you jerk." The lost boy only chuckled and pulled her back to him.
"Like I've said before, there was never anything to worry about." Ranma-chan huffed but let him hold her. Her tears were gone now and everything would be alright…
"Ranma and Ryoga sittin' in a room, K-I-S-S-"
"Ranko!"
There it is. There may be an epilogue to this… (and maybe a sequel, I know it needs one.) REVIEW AND TELL ME IF THIS SHOULD GO FURTHER!
p.s. About Ranko… I couldn't think of another name ;3