Yearning
AN: Well, here we go! I honestly didn't expect this to be so popular. All the positive reviews were quite inspiring, and me being inspired means new chapters for you!
Without further ado, enjoy!
The afternoon sun saw Ranma leaping from rooftop to rooftop, scanning the streets below for the trademark yellow and black bandanna of the only person she honestly considered a worthy rival.
"Figures, the one time I'm actually trying ta find the pig, he's nowhere ta be found," Ranma grumbled after hours of fruitless searching. "If I were a directionally challenged battering ram, where would I end up?" Ranma was considering trying to find a likely place to wait for him, when the redhead-
-heared Akane's voice ring out, "Can't you guys keep it down, or at least spar further away? You woke her up again." As she spoke, she rocked a still teary infant in her arms.
"Sorry, guess we got carried away again," Ryoga apologized as he eased out of his combat stance.
"Do you two always have to fight so much?" Akane asked. "You're setting a terrible example for Yoiko, you know?"
"Oh, come on, Akane. We all know she's gonna grow up to be a martial artist," Ranma replied, relaxing as well. Nudging Ryoga with one elbow, she added, "Besides, with this lug for a pop, there's no way she won't be the toughest girl around."
"I don't know," Ryoga said innocently. "Maybe she'll take more after her mother..."
"Are you suggesting her mom's not as tough as you?" Ranma asked, as if daring him to say it out loud.
"Please, Ranma, if we're talking sheer durability, I doubt a freight train is as tough as Ryoga," Akane said, rolling her eyes. Before more could be said, the babe in her arms began reaching out towards the redhead. "Looks like she wants you to hold her for a bit."
Taking the infant into her arms, Ranma grinned down at her, saying, "I see how it is. You get tired of Akane and pick me over your daddy. Looks like she got her mom's brain, 'cause she sure learns faster than you, P-chan."
"Oh, you think you're being cute," Ryoga shot back with a glare.
"Bitch, I'm adorable!" Ranma replied with a smirk. A moment later, the three adults burst into laughter, as if sharing an old joke, before-
-Ranma realized there was no more rooftop under her feet. For once she didn't have time to analyze the vision right away, as she struck the ground, completely unprepared to brace herself...
...
When Ranma came to after her crash, it was to the sensation of something warm and wet running across her face. Blinking her eyes open, she found herself face-to-muzzle with a black and white dog, who was looking at her with as much concern as a canine could muster.
"Okay, okay, I'm awake," Ranma grumbled as she sat up on the... couch she was laying on?
Looking around, Ranma found herself in a vaguely familiar house. In fact, the dog was awfully familiar, too. After a moment, it clicked into place. "Checkers?" Ranma asked, to which the dog gave a happy bark at the recognition. "Did you drag me inside by yourself, girl?" Ranma asked, knowing this dog was smarter than most, if only to make up for her master's absentmindedness.
Ranma's question was answered when the voice of the master in question rang out from a nearby room at the sound of the bark. "Checkers, quiet down. I'll be back in a minute."
'Heh, guess he was around after all,' Ranma thought with a grin, only to wince as her head gave a sudden throb. Rubbing the spot where she had impacted the ground, started to get up to go find him, when she remembered the vision that had distracted her enough to fall. Judging from the appearance of Ryoga and Akane, they looked to be in their early twenties, so it was at least a few years off. However, that only worried the redhead more. After all, that meant longer until she knew if she succeeded in changing it, and that was one vision she definitely could not let happen.
'If they have a kid, that must mean they're married,' Ranma thought with a scowl. 'There ain't no way in Hell I'm letting that happen! And why the Hell was I acting so friendly with them if it did happen? That vision made no sense!'
Ranma was distracted from her confusion by one of the targets of her ire, as Ryoga walked into the room. For a moment he look relieved at actually having gotten to the right place, before his gaze fell on Ranma and twisted into his customary scowl. "You know, Saotome, part of me was hoping you wouldn't wake up. Certainly would have made my life easier," he said as he approached her.
"Then why did ya bring me inside instead of just burying me where I landed?" Ranma asked. After the Koi Rod incident, Ranma knew Ryoga would not actually try to kill her, or at least not in anything short of a fair fight. Still, she did not like dwelling on those events for many obvious reasons.
"I considered it, or at least leaving you there, but I didn't want you getting sick and using that as an excuse not to fight me," Ryoga replied.
"Please, like I'd let a little cold stop me from kicking your ass," Ranma said, her mood improving with their usual taunting banter and her headache starting to fade.
"Whatever, Saotome. How did you end up unconscious in my front yard, anyway?" The Lost Boy asked.
'Wait, I landed in his yard? How did I make it all the way ta his house without realizing it? I hope his sense of direction ain't contagious,' Ranma thought to herself, before saying out loud, "I was looking for ya, actually. The thing is..." Ranma went on to explain about the old seer and the visions, although she did not share the details of what she had seen yet, especially not the latest one.
Ryoga listened with a frown. He had been exposed to about as much magic as Ranma had, so he was not about to dismiss something like this out of hand. "So, what? You can see the future now? Are you sure these visions are even true? And what have they got to do with me, anyway?" Ryoga asked, once Ranma was finished.
"I dunno if they're real," Ranma said, "but the way I figure it, I can at least try ta make sure the bad ones don't happen. As for you, do ya remember the Amazon Love Pills?"
"Yeah, but aren't all three of them gone?" Ryoga asked in confusion.
"Only two of them," Ranma said. "I swallowed the Instant Pill, and the Lifetime Pill got swallowed by an octopus. Cologne might still have the Day Pill, and who's to say there aren't more of them out there?"
Ryoga thought about it, and remembered the time he bought the Koi rod; there had been a whole bin of similar rods available for sale. Shuddering at the thought of what such magic could do in the wrong hands, he said, "Okay, I can see how that could be a problem. I take it ya need my help keeping an eye out for them?"
"Nah, it's worse than that," Ranma explained. "In the vision I had, you had swallowed one. And what's worse, my cursed form was the first 'girl' ya saw."
Ryoga's face paled, as his expression morphed into one of horror. It was pretty much the reaction Ranma expected, but she still had to quash a slight feeling of irritation that he found her cursed form that unappealing. Ranma knew full well how good she looked as a girl, however, her pride in that was not enough to make her second guess her male viewpoint on the matter at hand.
"So, until we find that pill you're supposed ta swallow, I ain't letting you out of my sight," Ranma went on.
"Wait, you need to get away from me, Saotome," Ryoga said, as he got over his shock. "If you're around, that'll only make it even more likely that you're the first girl I see when I swallow it!"
"Idiot, the whole point is ta make sure you don't swallow it," Ranma shot back. "Besides, what happens if you swallow it and then see some regular girl? If ya tried ta hug some normal girl, you'd snap her spine like a twig."
"You don't know that!" Ryoga snapped, burying his growing depression under anger. Desperate to change the topic, he demanded, "Besides, if you saw a vision of me swallowing this pill, shouldn't you already know when and where it will show up?"
"Er, well, I didn't exactly see ya swallow it, just the aftermath," Ranma admitted.
"If that's the case, how do you even know it will happen any time soon?" Ryoga asked.
Fortunately for Ranma, she did have an answer for that one. "'Cause, I've seen us when we're older, and ya looked different. In the vision where I learned about the Love Pills, ya looked like ya are now, so it can't be too far in the future."
"In that case, shouldn't we talk to Cologne first?" Ryoga suggested. "You did say she still had one, so we should talk to her first thing in the morning."
"Yeah, that's- wait, morning?" Ranma pulled up short and glanced out the window, only to see the sun had almost finished setting. "Dammit, how long was I out?"
"Well, it's been at least a few hours," Ryoga answered. "I was just cleaning up from dinner when I heard Checkers barking."
"Great, Kasumi has probably put dinner away by now, too," Ranma grumbled. "Say, Ryoga ol' buddy, I don't suppose you have any leftovers, eh?"
Ryoga glared at the redhead for a moment, before heaving a sigh, "I suppose you may as well have some, since it will probably go bad before I get back. But I don't want to hear any complaints about it not being as good as Kasumi's cooking, got it?" With that, he began to stomp off towards the kitchen.
...Only for Ranma to grab him before he could leave the house, and lead him on the actual way to the kitchen. "So, what'd ya make?"
"It's just some sandwiches made with canned tuna," Ryoga said, as he pulled a plate with a few sandwiches from the refrigerator. "My family doesn't keep much fresh food in the house, since it goes bad so quickly. Mostly it's just canned and dried stuff. Still, I had bought some bread recently, so I made a few of these."
Ranma immediately grabbed a sandwich in each hand, and began eating like she had not had anything in days. "Mmmf, not bad," Ranma said, after finishing the first one off.
"Hm, may as well have another myself, since they're out," Ryoga said. However, as soon as he bit into the sandwich, he winced before swallowing reflexively and doubling over into a fit of coughs.
Reaching over to the sink, Ranma quickly filled a glass of water and handed it over to her rival. "Geez, and people say I eat too fast."
Ryoga downed the water to clear his throat, before saying, "I bit down on something hard in the tuna, like a rock, only... smoother..." The lost boy trailed off as his eyes locked with Ranma's, just staring at her for a moment.
Waving her hand in front of his face, Ranma called out, "Earth ta P-chan! Ya sure you're okay?"
Blinking rapidly, Ryoga shook his head and said, "Actually, my head feels kind of funny. I think I'm going to go to sleep early."
"Well, I better get ya ta you're room. Wouldn't want ya getting lost before we can talk ta Cologne tomorrow," Ranma said, and began to lead him through his own house. Ranma would never admit it, but she was feeling a bit guilty and hoped he was not going to be sick.
After all, Ryoga would not have eaten another sandwich tonight if Ranma had not come looking for him.
AN: There we go! I'm sure most of you can guess what just happened. For the rest, look forward to next chapter!
