RYOGA'S SECRET ….

( … on the evening of the same day … )

"Akane, what do you think about the new Ryoga ?"

The pen of the black-haired girl stopped above her notebook, between two words, and black eyes turned to the bed to meet blue eyes.

"I can tell you're unsettled by his collected attitude." she answered with a smile. "He certainly appears mature now, speaks calmly, shows no sign of upset, aggressiveness, impatience or anything."

A pause.

"And I was very interested in all his explanations : his learning meditation with that wise old man living alone in the mountains, his improving with sense of direction… oh, and his being cured from his curse, of course ! That's extremely important to him ! He hasn't had such a pleasant life up to now, so I'm happy that he's doing better now !"

A few more seconds of silence.

"Although I'm a little sad that I won't get to see my P-Chan anymore…" she added with a somewhat melancholic expression.

Ranma, who had been lying motionless on Akane's bed and observing her friend as she spoke, suddenly propped herself up on one elbow, now concerned.

"I'm sorry for you, Akane. I know how much you liked him…" A pang of guilt got a hold of her, as she remembered how mean he/she had been – in both her forms - to that black piglet that had been so dear to her good friend. "And I'm sorry I mistreated him, back then…"

But the pigtailed female also remembered that, as a pig, Ryoga had also thrown spanners in her wheels when he had the occasion, and bitten her quite a few times too… yet that didn't change anything to Ranma's remorse : she felt sheepish, all the more since her friend now felt blue about P-Chan's definitive disappearance.

Right, he wasn't always nice to me in his animal form… but that's because I wasn't to him either, in the first place. Who started it all is not so important. The fact is that I was mean to him, and now… now she's sad that he's gone… the old me would have been glad of that, but the new me certainly isn't…

"Perhaps… perhaps you can buy another similar piglet, if you find one ?" she ventured, trying to comfort the sad girl.

Akane gave her a brief yet soft smile.

"Thanks, Ranma. I appreciate."

She then regained a serious composure, but at least it no longer was a sad one.

"The most important point is that Ryoga got rid of that curse and is now fully human. And that he's happy about it."

Then it struck her.

"Oh gosh… I forgot… I shouldn't say these things to you, given that you're still under the influence of your own curse, and not back to your normal self yet. That was awkward from me."

"No no no, don't worry, Akane ! I'm fine, really !" protested the gender-shifter , now sitting up and raising her hand by way of dismissing any problem with her curse.

"But you've been willing to find a remedy to your condition for so long now…"

"True, I've been, in the past, but you probably noticed that I no longer complain about my situation and that I have stopped talking about my will to be 100% boy again. It's no longer an issue to me, and you may have noticed that I now feel comfortable with my female appearance and spend more time like this – she pointed at her body – than I do as a boy."

This got the youngest Tendo thinking, her eyes drifting away as she absent-mindedly stared at her desk, pondering things.

After about a minute, she continued : "Yes, of course, I did notice that. But… Ranma… have you given all hope of returning to your original condition ?"

"Well, as I already told Ryoga, I behaved even worse as a guy than as a chick, so if I want to continue my efforts to become a better person, I'm convinced that I should remain in my female form as often as possible, unless I can't or unless I want to spend some time in my male form, for some reason. And besides, I like training in martial art as a girl, because I move faster and I'm more nimble, which is a great benefit for an intense training and an advantage in order to improve my skills."

Akane nodded as she understood the arguments provided, then gave a nice smile.

"You haven't improved only physically, Ranma : you also have emotionally, psychologically, mentally. You are more mature, rarely ever aggressive or temperamental, like you used to be. I remember how often, how easily you got irritated and yelled at others, a few years ago. Anger regularly got the best of you and made you clash with others. But for several months now - I don't know how many, but nevermind – you've been acting reasonably, calmly most of the time. You admitted your wrongs and even apologized, which is something you didn't often do before." She made an embarrassed face. "Please forgive me for saying all that, but you weren't that easy to get along with, because of your being temperamental and easily upset. But I'm so glad that you changed and became, just like Ryoga, a new person. Someone with whom it is now nice to spend time with."

The red-haired young woman felt her face heat up at that compliment.

"Thanks a lot, Akane. You've also matured and become a calmer girl too, and it's cool to be with you as well. Sincerely."

It was Akane's turn to feel a surge of happiness as she felt herself slightly blush.

"My turn to thank you, Ranma."

Then came a lull in the conversation, both girls not knowing what to add, and too lost in the pleasant, kind moment to find something else to say. But that didn't stop them from having nice thoughts about each other, and these thoughts were pretty similar.

Ranma has really matured and become friendlier, calmer too. She's no longer temperamental, ready to jump the gun. I'm impressed by her efforts.

Akane's nature has turned milder with time. She's more patient and rarely ever gets mad these days. But then again, that's probably partly because I'm nicer to her and stopped with my disparaging remarks… but partly also because she did mature, like me, and it's now cool to get along with each other.

It finally was the Saotome heir who resumed talking.

"By the way, Akane… I wanted to ask you something. While we were discussing this morning, Ryoga and I, he told me that, given the improvement of my behaviour, my father could be proud of me, and in order to thank him, I replied that, would his parents be here, they would also be proud of the mature, reasonable young man he has become. But then Ryoga began to cry…"

Ranma briefly paused as she saw Akane's wide open eyes and the hand she had put to her mouth, indicating that she was shocked, but since she thought she knew what Akane had in mind, she continued :

"…and I thought it was because of his parents' demise. That I had revived the suffering related to their death and to his missing them. And then he told me that I couldn't know, as he hadn't told me, but that he had confided to you about his parents. Well, that he told you something about them, but he didn't explain any further. I assume he meant that he had told you about their death, and about how much he missed them."

She sighed.

"I feel so bad for him… and so angry at myself for making him sad… he has become a nice guy, as I understood, and hurting a nice guy…"

Akane didn't let her the time to finish : she silently left her chair and came to sit beside her distressed friend, putting her hand on the redhead's arm, by way of comforting her.

"Ranma… You couldn't know indeed, and I could share it with you, but… it's very delicate and personal… and the cause of much suffering… Ryoga told me, but he might not want me to repeat it to anyone else. I know that you two made peace, as he explained us over dinner earlier, and I'm very happy about it, yet that doesn't imply you've become close friends either and that one can hear the others' secrets. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but –"

Then she stopped upon seeing the pigtailed girl shake her head.

"Don't apologize, Akane. I understand and accept it."

"But what I can tell you, on the other hand, is that Ryoga's reaction is not related to his parents' demise. That's all I can say. If you ask him, he might accept to share his secret with you, but given that's it's really very personal and unpleasant for him… I'm not sure. He let me know about it because he said he could trust me, that he knew I would sympathize, and it was obvious to me that he needed to be comforted, at that time. But… yes, ask him and see what he answers you."

Ranma nodded and thanked her… but something had drawn her attention in what Akane had just said, and that made her perplexed.

If it's not about the "disappearance" of his parents, then… what could it be related to ? What happened to his parents ?

(… in the afternoon …)

The braided young woman was walking towards the park, a small kraft bag in her hand, her eyes turned to the left, where the sun was about to set.

She loved it when the sky was pink, like this evening, and she usually would easily get lost in the contemplation of that magnificent sight. Sunset was often a time of sheer beauty, and she particularly cherished that moment, out of all those of the day.

But not today.

Her blue eyes may have been set on the vast pink immensity, in the direction of the setting sun, they still didn't actually watch. They merely saw, and still… in a distracted manner that didn't include any awe, any feeling of delight, as it generally did.

Because her mind was wandering, was lost "elsewhere".

She remembered Akane's words : "Ryoga's reaction is not related to his parents' demise".

What can it be ? What terrible turn did their lives take ?

She sat in the park and opened up her kraft bag.

Inside were a cheeseburger and a Fanta.

She rarely ever nibbled between meals, but she had trained with even more intensity that day, until mid-afternoon, and one of the reasons for that particular intensity was unconscious : she still felt guilty for hurting the feelings of someone who had been nicer to her than he had ever been, and had offered a most precious gift… peace ! And peace, especially of mind, was extremely prized a feeling.

So the pigtailed girl just remained sitting on the bench and ate slowly, sipping in between bites… (1)

… but didn't take the usual pleasure at this.

Were they killed ? Or did someone torture them ? Or maybe they disappeared ?

Several questions… not a single answer.

A long sigh.

Her eyes turned back to the sunset, in its gorgeous pink setting, while her jaws still ground the food, slowly… but none of this really mattered to her. It was purely functional, basic… the very contrary of her deep thinking.

She sipped some more drink and chewed on, not paying attention to her food, wondering what could cause the now mature Ryoga so much pain.

Then it hit her.

Or what if…

Her eyes were now wide.

What if… his parents rejected him ? Abandoned him ? Perhaps even as a baby ?

She gulped and shivered...

Oh please no, not that ! Not. That. Gosh, it can't be that !

But it could.

Alas yes, it could very well.

Because existence – or call it fate, if you want – could be very cruel.

And many people had to experience various forms of suffering, throughout their lives… and sometimes from the very start… when they were still defenceless, innocent, tiny beings.

Ranma closed her eyes and suddenly felt the world spinning around her.

In fact, she felt a very unpleasant feeling closing in.

Nausea.

The red-haired female opened her eyes and tried to get up, but her now weak legs gave in under her, making her drop in a flash !

She closed her eyes again and breathed deeper, taking all her time to inhale and exhale, to calm the hell down.

I'm gonna pass out…

The young woman clenched her teeth and frowned, eyes still closed and mouth as well, breathing only though her nose, praying she wouldn't faint.

She thought about her now altered body and hoped it wouldn't give up on her. She mentally begged it to remain awake :

Please don't fail me… don't black out…

"Ranma ?"

She quickly reopened her eyes and slowly turned her head in the direction of the voice… slowly because she dreaded that she would get all dizzy again if she jerked her head to the sound.

Dr. Tofu was standing there, stopped in his tracks, watching her, visibly concerned. And he quickly walked over to her.

"What happened ? Are you feeling weak ? Nauseous ?" he questioned.

"H…Hello, Doctor Tofu ! No, it's… it's just… I had been thinking about a friend of mine who has been doing bad lately and I… I was worried for him… I am worried for him."

He kneeled in front of her.

"But you fell, no ? And you were breathing heavily through your nose when I arrived ! What happened to you ?"

Then he spotted the cheeseburger in her hand, that she had been squeezing hard as she was fighting to remain conscious.

"Your food ? Is what made you sick ? Did it taste bizarre when you ate it ?" he asked her.

"No no, not at all. It's only my current worry about that dear friend of mine. I was so anxious for him that I… I kind of overreacted. And that's when I started feeling nauseous. But I just have to remain still for a while, and that should do. I'm sure it will be okay then."

He stared at her, as if he was not sure which decision he had to take about all this.

"Listen, Ranma. I will stay with you for a while, alright ? We'll see how you feel in a moment. But if you still feel nauseous… then we should go back to my practice and have you checked up seriously."

She smiled… a weak, almost sheepish smile.

"I'm certain I'll feel better if I just sit here for a while."

He nodded and helped her back up, making her sit on the bench.

They remained there for long minutes, with her breathing slowly, deeply, her eyes lost in the pink sky, on the spot where the sun had just sunken, fighting back nausea with all that she'd got, and him observing her carefully, professionally, ready to catch her should she fall again.

Yet she did not, and after a while – she was so confused about what had just happened that she had lost track of time and couldn't say how long they had remained there – she felt that her strength had returned to her.

Not as much as before, but still… that regain of energy was welcome anyway.

"I feel better now. Much better."

That wasn't quite true, as she did feel better, but not that much.

She noticed that she was still holding the partly-eaten cheeseburger, which had been somewhat crushed as she had tightened her fingers around it since her collapse, and lifted it in front of Dr. Tofu's face.

"Hungry, Doctor ?" she weakly asked, with a faint smile.

"No thanks" he replied, smiling back, before turning back to his professional self. "Ranma… are you absolutely certain that you will be able to walk and get back home ? Probe your body and tell me if you feel strong enough to do that."

The gender-shifter nodded three times, a somewhat more confident smile on her lips, before sipping some of her drink, as she needed both liquid and sugar, to boost up her energy.

I'll be okay…

But when she finally rose from her spot, almost a minute later, she wasn't so sure anymore. The feeling she now had was apprehensiveness… because she dreaded to slump down onto the ground.

Yet, again, she did not.

He watched her cautiously.

"Are you sure you'll be okay, Ranma ?" he asked her in an almost stern voice that was unlike him… but which, in this situation, showed his concern for her.

"Yes, trust me. I'll make it without problem..."

…I hope.

The remains of her food ended in a nearby trash can.

The doctor smiled.

"Right. If you're certain that you feel good enough to walk back home alone…"

"I'm certain. And I'll give your regards to…"

But she realized something and stopped just in time.

If I mention Kasumi, he'll act all weird once again !

"…to the whole Tendo family."

"Yes, please pass them my kind regards. Oh, and I hope that your friend's problems will soon be solved. The sooner the better."

She smiled wider but quickly regained a serious and actually concerned face.

So do I, Doctor, so do I. And I definitely will have to talk with Ryoga once back home. I have to know, or else anguish will get the best of me…

( …that evening… )

He was sitting criss cross applesauce at the end of the roof's edge, arms stretched down and hands over his knees, head slightly turned upwards, eyes closed.

Her head poked from the other side of the roof and, after spotting him, she slowly walked over to him and, after stopping behind his back, she leaned forward to take a look at his face.

Seeing his eyes closed, she knew he was meditating and smiled, then took a few steps back and sat down on the edge of the roof.

At first, her stare was for the starry sky that sprawled endlessly above her their heads. It was majestic and, just as the pink evening sky she loved to watch at sunsets – but that she only distractedly saw (and not watched) earlier that same day… - it was a graceful proof of nature's art, of the sheer beauty of the world, that often contrasted with the ugliness or vileness of the human mind and heart.

But after several minutes of contemplation, her eyes directed their blue stare to the sitting young man a few feet away from her.

How he has changed… When he speaks to anyone, he's always calm and friendly… but also with me, his long-time rival, and given all that I've done to him, all my mockery, all my taking him down in front of others, all my fighting him and giving him bruises and bumps, he still wants to be nice to me ! If he continues to behave that nicely and that wisely, he'll truly get a heart of gold…

"Ranma ?"

She had been lost in thought and her vision had lost its focus, becoming blurry as she vaguely stared ahead while pondering, but upon hearing her name, she suddenly goggled and watched him intently.

His back was still turned to her though, so how…

… did he know it was me who came, and that I was still around, since I was all silent ?

"Yes, I'm here, Ryoga. But… how did you guess it was me ?"

He slowly got up and joined her, and as she was about to stand up, he put a hand on her shoulder, smiling.

"You don't have to get up. I'll sit down with you."

She smiled back and let him take his spot by her side.

"Before you say anything, Ranma, I want to tell you something very important. I offered you to make peace yesterday morning, but as good as it appeared… it still wasn't sufficient. Peace is crucial, that's true, and more than welcome in a relationship. But there can be peace between people who otherwise don't feel any love or friendship for one another, who just respect and don't bother each other, but without any deep, harmonious feeling. That's why I feel it necessary to propose you more : peace… AND friendship !"

And he made the "twin gesture" to the one had already made twice the previous morning : for the third time in two days, he extended his arm, presented her his open hand and waited for her to shake it.

Ranma looked at it then back up at him.

"Ryoga… I'm honestly flattered and happy that you propose me your friendship, after offering me to bury the hatchet and be at peace… but… seriously… after all I've done to you, how mean I've –"

She was cut short by his raised hand.

"You and I have matured and got more reasonable, more respectful, my dear Ranma. We've understood that we acted wrong in our past, and that's the reason why we both feel ashamed of ourselves today, why you remind me of your past mischief and why I insist that we become friends. Because we can be friends… if we both want to. I do. What about you ?"

The raised hand was lowered and opened again for the desired handshake.

"I'd love to be friends with you. Honestly. It's just that I… I don't know if I really deserve it after… what I did to you."

"Oh yes, you do. You most definitely do, trust me on this."

A somewhat awkward silence followed.

Ranma saw how encouragingly he smiled at her, then she smiled back… and finally shook hands with him.

"Thanks a lot for trusting me and… forgiving me, could we say ?"

"Yes, forgiving you. And hopefully you forgive me as well…?"

"I couldn't refuse to forgive someone who has become that sympathetic and sweet. You're too kind to me, Ryoga."

"But you deserve it, Ranma ! No matter what happened between us before : you now deserve it !"

They both chuckled at each other. It had been awkward a moment before, but now, it was more relaxed.

Yet the nice and cool feeling alas didn't last, as he asked her : "So, uh… tell me… you wanted to talk to me about something, I suppose, given that you came up here ?"

She gulped and nodded, fully serious again.

Serious… and embarrassed, too.

"Listen, Ryoga… I wanted to apologize for… for making you uncomfortable yesterday morning. For making you sad. When I mentioned your parents. I'm sorry about this, really."

And despite the delicate topic here, he was smiling again, a small yet soft smile.

"As I said, you couldn't know, so nothing to forgive there. I told you I had mentioned that personal issue only to Akane, not to you." His lips stretched a bit more, because as incredible as it seemed, given the sensitive subject, he appeared somewhat amused. "And I presume you did ask Akane what it was about, didn't you…?"

The pigtailed girl gulped again, but admitted that she had.

"And ? What was her answer ?"

She inhaled deeply… and went for it : "That it was very delicate and personal matter, that you might not like it if she shared it with me – because it's like a secret between you two – and that, if I really wanted to find out what it was about… I should ask you directly."

"So you came up on the roof to ask me…"

She nodded but didn't know what else to add.

"No problem, I can tell you. I know I can trust you… now."

And as he ended his sentence, he winked at her.

She liked it, but still felt too embarrassed to really enjoy fully that funny little sign.

"You don't have to share it if you don't want to."

"But I do, Ranma. Because we're now friends, and soon good friends, I'm sure. And there's no doubt for me that I can confide to my good friends. And so, here is my story, not sugarcoated or anything, blunt truth…"

She gulped and waited, sensing her heart start to beat louder in her chest.

"I was raised by an old woman who explained me that when I was one year old or so, my parents had to travel to a far away town for some official documents about my birth, that they hadn't been given when I was born. The weather was pretty cold at the time in the surroundings of that town, and since they dreaded that I might catch a cold on the way, and that the old woman – she was their neighbour – had always been friendly to her, they asked her if she could keep and feed me for a few days, time for them to travel to that inhospitable area, retrieve the documents and come back."

Ranma pricked up her ears and felt anxiety sneaking surreptitiously into her heart and her mind.

Something terrible is about to happen. They died on their way.

Sometimes, intuition – or sixth sense - is that strong…

"There was a landslide at some point of their journey, and… you guess what happened. That's how I became orphan, after living with my parents only for about one year. I didn't really get to know them. I loved that old woman who raised me, but it's not the same as having loving par-"

What he now witnessed left him voiceless for a few seconds.

The red-haired young woman had hung her head and tiny drops had started to slowly crash on the roof, while the stifled sound of sobbing filled the silent night air.

When was the last time she had shed tears ? She couldn't say.

She rarely ever wept, probably due to her male influence, which made her pretty tough and kinda tomboy at times.

But this time… she knew she was likely to cry… and now she did.

"Ranma… my dear Ranma… please don't…" he whispered, his hands over her shoulders, gently squeezing them.

"I… I didn't… know… wouldn't… wouldn't have… guessed… Oh God… Ryoga… I feel… so bad for… for you…so sorry… terribly terribly sorry…" she managed to utter between tears, choking on words as if they were obstacles she had to deal with.

"Please don't cry… I know it's sad, and that you blame yourself for mentioning my parents, but you couldn't know… it's ok, really… please no more tears, Ranma."

She wiped her tears and sniffled, then looked back at him.

"I'm sorry you had to go through this, Ryoga…"

"Thanks, my dear. But let's not talk about this anymore. I don't want you to be sad." He smiled. "Besides… you're more cute when you smile. Much more."

And he winked again.

Taken by surprise, Ranma opened her mouth… then chuckled.

"My turn to thank you. That's very kind of you. Thanks a lot for comforting me. I appreciate. You've become so nice and caring… that's impressive !"

He rubbed the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.

"Ah ah, I guess it's never too late to change, right ? You're not too bad yourself, you know."

They both looked at each other without a word…

…then burst out laughing !

And stopped at the very same time.

"That was nice !" he exclaimed, grinning.

"Very !" she confirmed, and grinned back.

A moment of silence.

"Thanks for confiding to me, Ryoga. I appreciate your trust. And sorry again…"

"It's ok. Thank YOU actually for asking me and for showing me sympathy about it."

More silence.

Just the two of us smiling at each other, in the gentle evening breeze.

"I guess we should go to bed now, don't you think ?" he proposed

"Yes, I think it's time. I no longer go to bed very late. Another bad habit I left behind…" she replied.

"Same for me."

They headed into the house and followed the same path until the pigtailed girl stopped at her bedroom door.

"Good night, Ryoga. And I'm so grateful to you for your friendship."

"Good night, Ranma. And I'm way grateful to you for yours in return."

They smiled at each other for the last time of the day and she entered her bedroom.

And a few moments later, as she was lying under her blanket, she thought about how sad his life had been from the start. And also how nice their little talk on the roof had turned out.

I promise to make your life better, Ryoga, and be very caring to you. I don't want you to suffer anymore. Never. We'll be close friends and help each other.

And on that positive thought, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to claim her body, her lips bent upwards in the nicest manner…

Author's Notes :

Ranma eating a burger and drinking a soda on a bench in a park : doesn't this look familiar, dear fans, mmmmmh ? Yup, you've got it : it's a wink of mine to episode 6, in which Ranma and Akane were eating several burgers and drinking sodas on a bench, in a park. I just loved that episode… well, until the moment they started bickering and Akane left alone. That disappointed and upset me. For once that they could have had a nice moment together, one of complicity and bonding… they managed to ruin it. Bleeeeh ! Oh, and just as in this episode, Dr. Tofu showed up… but more seriously, this time. I did have the intention to make Ranma mention Kasumi – when she said she would pass on his regards to… - and then make Dr. Tofu act all weird and distracted (so funny when he does ! XD) but then I thought that this crazy moment would be "out of tune" with the general serious mood of the story, soooooo…

And there it was ! This one is much much longer than the introductory chappy (maybe too much, I dunno…) but I hope that you liked it and that you enjoy how the plot is going. And, as you can see, Ranma and Ryoga are starting to really appreciate each other. And that will only develop in next chapter, as you'll see !

I hope it's not too chatty for you and that you like the new way the characters are evolving. They may seem OoC to you, compared to the original manga/anime, but as I said, making people act differently and more mature/wise is an interesting challenge to me.

Thanxxxx beforehand for any reviews, comments, remarks, suggestions, much appreciated in advance !

See you round next corner, Friends ! Take care & be happy ! :D

* LEO *