A/N: Alright, I figured I've lost most of the faint-of-stomach crowd with that last chapter. There are some more storms ahead, but it's about time to see some silver linings.

To prevent general confusion: Shampoo's cat form is a lavender cat (although in manga it's not possible to tell). The white kitten Konatsu rescued last chapter is not Shampoo.

Also, I really, really apologize for the awful pun at the end of my last A/N…. I really didn't think of the implications of the term "Cliffhanger" and how it related to poor Ryoga… That said, I'm shameless and think it's hilarious albeit dark humor.

Please refer to the prologue for content rating information (although I think this chapter is a solid T rating)

Disclaimer: The original work below is based on the characters and works of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media. I do not own the rights to any of this content, and am not benefiting financially from its publishing.

Silver Linings Dojo

by Kevin Mohaj

Chapter 8

Silver Lining Lesson One: Support Network Formation

Akane had fallen in shock to the soft earth after the soundless explosion from Ranma after Ryoga threw the incandescent martial artist into the lake. She watched as large pillars erupted out from the lake jutting in wicked edges from the center, and screamed in horror when one of the pillars stretched skywards and impaled Ryoga through his side before he could dodge it.

Akane was rooted to the spot in panic and fear; she felt rough sobs escaping her throat. As her mind raced in panic, she distantly registered Konatsu leaping over an approaching spike while drawing his kusarigama. Then, the kunoichi… shifted.

Akane's panic was replaced by surprise as three identical kunoichi seemed to step out of Konatsu's form, each brandinshing a kusarigama. Within seconds Konatsu had tossed a double high in the air to sever the spike impaling Ryoga even as another copy gently caught the lost boy and rushed away from the lake. Akane watched in awe as the first Konatsu carefully removed the large spike and tossed it away while another Konatsu was quickly wrapping silk bandages around Ryoga.

Akane moved forward when Konatsu began to press rhythmically against Ryoga's chest, but the massive amount of blood covering Ryoga, Konatsu, and even staining the grass made her feel feint. Suddenly, Ryoga coughed and rolled over to vomit onto the grass. Akane reached for Ryoga and tried to keep him from losing consciousness by gently tapping his face and ensuring he was breathing.

She looked up to see four Konatsus using the kusarigami to hack, scythe, and bludgeon the gigantic crystal formation jutting from the lake. Akane felt tears pouring down her face knowing Ranma was suffocating beneath the lake. Akane cried aloud when Konatsus clones suddenly disappeared and the kunoichi fell to his knees, still attempting to crush and cut away at the crystal with his kusarigama.

When Konatsu fell exhausted to the lake's crystalline surface Akane screamed Ranma's name in terror. She didn't even notice Ryoga crawling towards the lake in her terror.

"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"

She heard the words in time to open her eyes; Ryoga was draped across a spike, his finger descending rapidly towards the center of the lake.

A shockwave coursed outwards through the park; the force knocking Akane into the air. The crystal structure had erupted under the pressure of the breaking point exploding thousands of shards into the air. Akane covered her eyes, but felt dozens of stings across her body; shrugging off the pain, Akane corrected her fall and landed poorly on her feet.

Two resounding impacts and subsequent grunts of pain sounded before her as Ryoga and Konatsu were jettisoned into the air by the explosion. Konatsu was obviously exhausted and dazed, and Akane noticed that his body was entirely lacerated with some shards still imbedded into his skin. Looking over, Ryoga was unconscious yet breathing and the deep wound in his side was bleeding through the silk bandages, but the lost boy's iron skin must have deflected the small shards as his other wounds were minor.

Akane stepped forward and gasped in pain as her ankle buckled under her weight. Uncaring, she struggled towards the large crater covered in sharp shards of crystal that was once the Nerima Park lake.

She felt the grounded shards cutting into her skin as she crawled to the crater; peaking over she stifled a moan.

Ranma-chan was lying on her back in the center of the crater, and she wasn't moving; the redhead's face was a dark blue, her arms were splayed outwards from her body. Akane felt herself falling down the crater and desperately grasped onto Ranma.

Akane felt a weak pulse as she laid her head against Ranma-chan's chest. The girl was freezing to the touch, and Akane unconsciously wrapped herself around the redheads form. Akane straddled Ranma's hips and leaned forward. She felt herself sobbing as she clumsily tried to force air into Ranma's lungs. She began to beat her hands against Ranma's chest crying, "Baka… Baka… Baka…" with each pulse.

Ranma's eyes suddenly opened and she turned to the side and heaved water out of her chest. With a great heaving breath Ranma-chan looked up into Akane's eyes with evident fear. Akane felt herself leaning forward and embracing Ranma while sobbing into the redhead's neck.

Approaching sirens broke the reverie, and four EMS personnel jumped into the crater. One of the men, a burly middle aged man, rushed to Akane and began taking stock of her injuries. Akane's view of Ranma was blocked by the remaining men who seemed to be wrapping the redhead in blankets and transferring her to a portable stretcher. She felt herself being gently picked up and placed onto another stretcher, and the four men split to climb the two teenagers out of the crater.

Akane looked around, although the pain was making focusing her eyes difficult. Ranma was unconscious again, but alive. She saw Ryoga was already in an ambulance and being tended to by numerous EMS personnel; his ambulance quickly took off towards Nerima Medical. Konatsu was sitting on a park bench and was having his wounds, which were far less severe, cleaned; however, several deeper gashes would require stitches. Akane was being carried towards the emergency site when she noticed Konatsu being led into an ambulance that contained a female form on a stretcher connected to various machines. Akane felt herself getting dizzy and forced herself to lie her head back on the stretcher

Akane and Ranma were put in a fourth ambulance and soon she felt the vehicle gaining speed with the sirens wailing outside. Akane turned her head and looked over at the redhead; Ranma hadn't woken up yet. Ranma was covered in heavy blankets and was shivering slightly in her sleep.

Akane stretched her arm out and gently grasped Ranma's hand.

~~~k~m~~~

Ranma felt her eyes flutter open and turned slightly feeling amazing warmth covering her. She opened her eyes to fuzzy vision; the room she was in was white and there were people moving about her. She tried to speak, but her throat ached and she wrenched in pain.

"Easy, your lungs were filled with water and then sharp crystals. You need to just relax until the medicine kicks in," the calming voice of Doctor Tofu filled the room.

Ranma nodded and felt the hospital bed she was on slowly shift until she was while still leaning back in a more comfortable position. Her eyes were focusing better and she made out the other figures in the room, and another bed next to hers.

She looked over and saw Ryoga connected to several monitoring machines with an iv attached to his arm. Steady beats of pulse filled the room. Ranma noticed that Akari was sitting at Ryoga's bedside with a haunted look on her face. It was obvious that she had been crying for hours.

Ranma took a painful gasp of air and a sad sigh filled Ranma-chan's head and she turned over to see Akane next to her bed.

The blue haired martial artist had a pressure cast on her right foot, and had bandages wrapped around her body; she whispered, "Would you like some water, Ranma?"

Ranma nodded and sipped from the straw Akane offered her. Ranma began to move her body experimentally, wincing at the pain, but satisfied that she still had feeling in her limbs. The water seemed to ease the pain in her throat and she took a deep breath. Akane was smiling down at her and Ranma felt her face blush furiously when she realized that Akane was holding her left hand. Ranma made no effort to remove her hand.

Ranma looked forwards and saw Konatsu leaning tiredly against a waiting chair. He smiled and gave Ranma at thumbs-up. The male kunoichi's shirt (well, my shirt… one of my favorites too) was missing and he sported a series of deep cuts that had been stitched. Ranma felt herself grimace; most of the deep gashes would leave permanent scars.

Ranma slowly began to remember what happened at the park. She felt depression setting in as she looked over everybody's injuries.

A weak voice uttered, "Cool it, Ranma." It was Ryoga.

Ranma gasped and quickly released the depression ki from her body. She moaned softly and winced in pain.

I can't control my ki anymore. I'm a walking time bomb.

Ranma felt Akane squeeze her hand softly, and despite herself Ranma smiled.

"Ranma-kun, I know you feel responsible for what has happened," Tofu-sensei's voice caught Ranma's attention, "but, with time you will control this… technique of yours. You have to understand… to believe, that your life will not always be filled with trauma."

Ranma nodded, and as if suddenly remembering, croaked in a weak voice, "Is U-chan…"

Tofu nodded and Ranma heaved another sigh of relief. Tofu continued, "Everybody seems to have survived the ordeal. Akane and Konatsu were not severely injured; however, Ryoga and yourself… have sustained serious injuries. You'll be here for a few days," the doctor raised a hand sharply at Ranma and Ryoga's weak protests, "You will both be here until your bodies recover." Tofu smiled, "You are both very lucky, your own ki will speed up the healing process."

Ranma nodded and looked over to Akane still standing over her. Ranma managed to whisper in a weak voice, "Kane… what happened?"

Akane's smile faltered and her eyes glistened as she spoke, "When you hit the water… somehow the lake exploded outwards. Ryoga was impaled on the tallest spike, and Konatsu…" Akane's voice faltered, "He saved us… he split into four copies and managed to free Ryoga."

Konatsu spoke up at this point, "I wasn't strong enough to break through whatever that substance was… Ryoga-sama saved all of us," the kunoichi spoke with reverence.

Ranma could feel Ryoga's blush as Akari began to gush over him. Ranma started to chuckle, but stopped when sharp pains hit her sides at the effort.

Ranma sobered quickly, "Doc… what is happening to me?"

Tofu seemed to appraise Ranma for some time before, surprisingly, addressing Ryoga, "I arranged for you two to be in the same room, one because Ryoga saved your life, but also because I want to know his impression of the incident."

Ryoga nodded weakly before speaking, "I've never heard or seen anything like it. I couldn't even understand the emotional basis for the aura, but it's not Ranma's Soul of Ice."

Tofu nodded as if he agreed, but still asked, "I agree, but why do you think so?"

Surprsingly, Konatsu spoke up, "The… substance that manifested, although cold to the touch, was not slippery. It was also far more durable than ice, hacking away at it was like chopping metal."

Tofu nodded again and seemed to think aloud, "A new technique entirely. It's difficult to even move under the effects of the Soul of Ice, and even mastery of the technique shouldn't lead to ki emanations. Not like these."

At that the doctor pulled over a rolling stand that had a metal tray atop it. He picked up a large shard of crystal and showed it to Ryoga and Ranma. "These shards are, in fact, crystal. Ice forms in crystals, but the atomic bonding is quite weak as you know. My best guess is that Ranma's new aura is similar to the Soul of Ice, but uniquely powerful."

"And dangerous…" Ranma-chan's voice was forlorn and she closed her eyes.

Tofu tapped his pencil against the rolling stand before replying, "Like I said earlier, Ranma. You can blame yourself for this incident, but my medical opinion is that only severe trauma would cause this incident to recur. I think we all know why this happened," the collective intake of breath was evident, "and we can now move forward to prevent it from happening again. I think, like any technique, that you will soon learn where the power comes from and possibly even control it," Tofu mused.

Ranma looked around the room, and shrugged, "I don't know if I want to… It was strange, like I wasn't in control of myself. I was aware of things, but the last thing I remember is the sound of screaming filling my head."

Ranma saw Akane, Konatsu, and Akari share looks of concern, but Ryoga's chuckle caught his attention, "What are ya laughing at, pork-butt."

Ryoga didn't seem to take the bait, he looked at Tofu and smiled, "Well, if it's a new technique we should name it. How about Kuruoshī Bakuhatsu?" he laughed.

(A/N: Literally "Demented Eruption")

Ranma growled at the resounding laughter from the room, but felt herself give way to a chuckle glad that the mood had lightened up, she sighed, "Good one, buddy."

Ryoga looked curiously at Ranma before nodding with a small smile.

Tofu was shaking his head, "It's Ranma's technique. However, I would think Suishō Bakuhatsu is a more encouraging name, but I have to agree with Ranma. We have to work on controlling the energy; Ranma will need to find an outlet to calm his mind."

Ranma felt the doctor's gaze heavily on him, and sighed, "What d'ya suggest doc."

Tofu appraised Ranma for a moment, "You need to ground yourself; to allow yourself time to overcome the traumas; however, I feel it would be best if you practiced with those that can protect you and themselves if necessary."

Ranma nodded as if he expected no less.

Simple, I'll just get Ryoga and Konatsu to train with me and work on figuring this thing out.

'What about Akane?'

Ranma stifled a moan; apparently a minor coma wasn't enough to get rid of her voice.

'It'll take a lot more than that, buster! Now, why don't you train Akane too?'

She's a girl!

'You're a girl! Anyway, do you really want her defenseless the next time she gets kidnapped? Do you really want to deal with that again?'

Ranma felt Tofu pressing against his neck in concern. Ranma waved the doctor off with a small smile, "Sorry, Doc. I'm fine," her voice was still raspy, and Akane offered her more water which Ranma sipped gratefully.

Ranma looked over at Akane. My tomboy. Hell, he should have trained her from the beginning. At least, after Taro kidnapped her. What if she wasn't strong enough the next time somebody decided to hurt Ranma by taking her?

Ranma's voice found strength, "Ryoga, Konatsu… and Akane, if you guys want… the doc is right, I could use some help with the 'Suishō Bakuhatsu'."

Akane gasped in surprise and smiled brightly at Ranma, causing her to blush again. It was Konatsu who first spoke, "I for one would be honored, Ranma. I was exhausted too soon… if it hadn't been for Ryoga-sama…"

Ryoga laughed weakly, "Well, I had to make sure my strongest rival was around for our next match." The fanged boy grinned. Akari gently swatted him on the shoulder and said, "What Ryoga-chan is trying to say is he would be glad to help." Ryoga frowned up at her, but then grinned again.

Tofu smiled at the group, "Perfect, well now that we have a plan; I'll leave you to get your rest. I'll be checking in on you two. After you are both released you can visit Ukyo if you want," he turned to Konatsu, "however, she is sedated and lost a lot of blood so she can't have visitors today."

Konatsu nodded as Tofu-sensei walked out of the room. It was Ryoga that broke the silence.

"Ranma, why don't you open the dojo up for classes? Might help you 'feel grounded' to be teaching the art."

Ranma slowly smiled to herself, "Actually, I think that's a great idea. I'll need some help though…"

Ranma noticed Ryoga and Konatsu's shared nod and Akane's grin.

Ranma sighed in defeat, "Akane and Konatsu can handle the beginner classes, and once we get them trained up the intermediate classes as well; until then, we can split the intermediate classes," Ranma snorted, "I don't think we'll have to worry about advanced classes for students, but I'd like for Konatsu and Akane to reach their full potential."

Ryoga chuckled, "You're acting real paranoid, Ranma."

Ranma shuddered, "Walk in my shoes for a few years and you'll appreciate a little paranoia."

~~~k~m~~~

A/N: Short chapter but I needed it to end here. Emotional rollercoaster for the past few chapters and I wanted to settle things down nice and fluffy (you know, in my own style… after an attempted suicide and the near massacre of the entire cast)

In the manga Ryoga and Akari's relationship was much more rewarding than anything Ryoga ever experienced with Akane (except for Akari's knack for complementing him like a pig…). At the end of the manga I feel it was clear that Ryoga came to accept Ranma and Akane's relationship (he appeared at the wedding by accident after all).

That said Ryoga isn't just going to slide into the story all easy like. After all, Akane still doesn't know about P-Chan.

Rushed this one out. I may have to take a small break to recollect and overview notes. Yeah, I've been posting something frantic lately. Probably won't be able to stop from posting again soon.