Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that I claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
Ranma ½: When you are lost in a sea of grief, look for a light to guide you home.
Chapter 2: Adrift.
Xian Pu let Ranma rest until the water cooled, but before it cooled enough to trigger the change before she gently nudged him awake. "Ranma… Ranma…. Wake up. Wake up, Ranma.". When that failed to work, she sighed and braced herself for the worst as she leaned forward and said into his ear. "Girl-type Ranma! You I kill!"
Ranma had jumped halfway across the room before he even realized it, and stared at Xian Pu with a mixture of confusion and fear. Xian Pu sighed as she got out of the tub and grabbed a couple of towels.
"Sorry about that. It was the only thing I could think of to wake you up. You were pretty out of it." She said apologetically as she handed him one to wrap around his waist as she quickly dried off, then helped him dry off as well.
"It's okay…" He said softly, then looked at her. "So… Now what?"
Xian Pu smiled at him. "Now, let's eat. I have a robe you can wear while your clothes are in the wash."
He balled up his fists for a moment, then sighed and let his shoulders drop again. "Fine. Whatever."
Xian Pu shook her head as she looked at him then sighed. "You can say no, you know. I don't want you to, but you can say no."
"What's the point? You're just going to force me to go along with whatever you want, just like everyone else has always done." Ranma said without looking at her.
Xian Pu stepped in front of him, and hesitated for a moment before she took his hands in hers and looked him in the eye. "At one time… I would have. Back when I was still part of the tribe. Still obsessed with doing what I was told was in the best interest of the village. Now… Now that I'm an outcast? That I can't go back there?" She shook her head and looked him in the eye. "I'm free to do what I want, why I want to. So, right here and now? I'm asking you to stay, but you can leave if you want. That said, I'd suggest you at least wait for your clothes to dry, okay?"
Ranma nodded a little as he looked away, then took the robe from her and put it on. He sighed and walked over and sat down where he could stare out the window at the rain. "So, why'd you leave the tribe? I always thought they meant everything to you?"
"They did, and I thought I was more than a symbol to them, that I meant something to them. That I belonged there, in the little pond where I was the strongest, biggest of the young fish." Xian Pu said with a trace of bitterness in her voice.
"So… What changed?" Ranma asked as he stared out the window. It didn't sound like he was truly interested, but at least he was talking to her, thought Xian Pu.
"I objected to them capturing a certain martial artist. I warned them against a horribly foolish and disrespectful course of action. Then, I was proven right when he blew up half the village." Xian Pu said as she watched Ranma's reaction.
Ranma tried to sink further into himself, at least until a strong, callused hand gripped his. He looked at Xian Pu for the first time in several minutes and she gave him a sad smile.
"When you are proven right, it's very easy to be made into the problem, into a target." Xian Pu said as she walked over and sat next to him.
Ranma flinched a little at her words, and muttered a soft "Sorry 'bout that."
Xian Pu rested a hand on his and gave it a little squeeze. "Nothing to be sorry about. What they tried to do, what they did? It was wrong."
"I'm surprised the old ghoul let it happen." Ranma said, then glanced down at their hands, then away again.
"Elder Khu Lon kept them from killing me. All things considered, I guess that's the best she could do if she wanted to remain in a position of power." Xian Pu said with a trace of bitterness in her voice.
Ranma looked away again and shifted away from her a little bit. "I'm sorry… Is… Is that why you are here? It's where they sent ya?"
Xian Pu sighed and moved away a little. "It's where I chose to go. I've spent so much time here… It was the closest thing that I had to home left."
"So… You ended up here and actually learned the language? You still workin'at the Nekohnaten?" Ranma asked as he looked back at her.
"Hardly. I had to get better at Japanese if I wanted to live here. I learned how to speak the language correctly, the customs of this land… And even if the Nekohanten was still here, I wouldn't be able to work there. Exiled, after all. No, I'm working in an office now." Xian Pu said with a bitter smile.
"Did ya find a cure for the curse or somethin'?" Ranma asked with a bare hint of curiosity.
"Sadly, no. I have someone back home send me some waterproof soap from time to time when they can sneak it into the mail at one of the other villages." Xian Pu said with a little laugh.
"Oh…." Ranma said as he looked down again.
"I'd offer you some, but I'm waiting for some more to come, and.. It rains a lot here." Xian Pu said sheepishly.
"Yeah, I don't want you to turn into one of those… Those…" Ranma started to say, then shivered.
"Fur covered monsters?" Xian Pu supplied helpfully.
Ranma chuckled a little and nodded as he wrapped the robe around himself a little tighter. "Yeah… One of those."
"I will do my best not to end up in my cursed form around you anymore." Xian Pu said helpfully.
Ranma looked at her, then away again. "You are talking like we are going to see each other again."
Xian Pu bit her lip, then decided to just plow ahead. She still had that same stubborn, determined streak that she had before, and sometimes it was the right thing to do. "Because I would like that. Look, why don't you just stay here… For a couple of days, at least? A warm, dry place to sleep and food to eat. I even got a bonus, so I might be able to handle that bottomless pit you call a stomach." Xian pu said jokingly, and smiled a little as she saw the corner of his lip lift for a moment, then he sighed and looked away again.
"And what do you get out of it?" Ranma said defensively.
"I get to have someone to talk to that understands where I am coming from. I get to cook for someone besides myself. Heck, I might even get to have someone to spar with." Xian Pu said honestly.
"And what if I decide to just leave in the middle of the night like my old man did?" Ranma said as he glanced at her, then away again.
"Then I guess I will have to see if you come back. If not, if I get lonely? I will just harass you under your bridge." Xian Pu said as she rose to his challenge.
"You are so exhausting." Ranma griped.
"I learned from the best." Xian Pu responded without missing a beat.
"Well, you should have punched whoever taught you a few times for teachin' you such bad manners." Ranma responded with a bare trace of his old fire.
"I did. Or, at least I kept trying to." Xian Pu responded as she got up and walked over to pour tea for them both.
"Oh? And why weren't ya able to? I thought you were the best of your tribe?" Ranma said as he started to get into it.
"Please. Like I said. Biggest fish in a very little pond." Xian Pu responded, then walked over and handed him a cup with a pointed look. "And it's not my fault that he was better. That said, I learned more from fighting against him then I could in years worth of lessons from the Elders."
"He sounds like he was pretty amazing." Ranma said as he took a drink, a pensive look creeping back onto his face.
Xian Pu noticed how he cringed a little when she moved too quickly, and thought she understood why. "I won't get mad at you, you know. For teasing me, or joking along with me. It's okay to be yourself. No matter how annoying that might happen to be."
He bit his lip and looked down, then glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Are you sure about that? No one else ever stays around. They all left me 'cause I'm no good."
Xian Pu set down her cup, and slowly reached out to take his hand between both of hers. "Ranma? Listen to me, okay? It's not always your fault. You are not to blame for everything. People leave, it happens. Some grow distant, others find a new path in life… And some… Some we lose forever through no fault of our own. You can't keep blaming yourself. None of the people that actually care about you would want that."
"Like who? I ain't got no one anymore! They all left me, Shampoo. All of them. The Tendo's couldn't stand seein' me! The old man skipped out! Mom! Mom said I couldn't be her son, and went to look for him! Ukyo couldn't handle how broken I am, and she left! And Akane… She died because of me!" Ranma said loudly, as he balled his fists tight and shook. He quickly stood and walked with purposeful strides over to the sink, turned on the cold water and shoved his head under it. After the change had rolled over him, she sunk down with her head between her knees and started to sob once more.
Xian Pu took a deep breath as she watched one of the strongest, most capable people she had known break down. After a moment, she walked over and gently rubbed her back. "You can't blame yourself for everything, Ranma. And Ranma? I came back. Not everyone is always gone for good… And some of them weren't good for you, Ranma. The people who abandoned you when you needed them the most aren't the kinds of people you need in your life."
Ranma looked up at Xian Pu, then looked down again and bit her lip. "Ya really think so?"
"Ranma? I know so. The last two years have been very educational for me. I thought I had lost everything and everyone. I was in a land I still found strange with little money, no job, and no place to live. So, I picked myself up and started over. Do you know why?" Xian Pu asked as she continued to rub Ranma's back.
When Ranma shook her head, Xian Pu moved to look her in the face. "I learned from you. I followed in your footsteps. I decided I could not lose. Xian Pu never loses." She said with a grin
Ranma gave her a wan smile in return and Xian Pu stood up and stretched. "Okay, I'm going to start cooking. You relax, okay?"
Ranma fidgeted for a minute, then stood up and walked towards her cabinets. "I'm going to set the table. Not 'cause I feel like I gotta, or anything."
Xian Pu grinned and didn't say anything while she started to cook. Ranma set the table, then sat and watched her work. When Xian Pu finished, the two of them sat and ate in relative silence with only a bit of small talk breaking the comfortable silence.
Xian Pu watched Ranma and smiled as she wondered if things would have been different if she hadn't been so gung-ho, so overly determined without listening even once. If she hadn't been so arrogant. So overwhelmingly certain that she had been superior, so much better than anyone else.
How could things have ended differently if she had just not tried so hard.
After they ate Xian Pu was pleasantly surprised when Ranma helped her clean the table, without any prompting. Afterwards, Xian Pu gathered her courage and looked at Ranma.
"You're going to stay the night, right? It's going to be cold tonight, and it's likely going to rain. Look, I will go get your bag and stuff. You stashed it under the bridge where you used to keep a change of clothes, right?" Xian Pu asked, then smiled when she got a hesitant nod from Ranma. "I'll be back in a little bit. Make yourself comfortable, and you can help yourself to anything in the cupboards if you get hungry or thirsty." Xian Pu said before she slipped into her shoes and walked out of the apartment. For the first time in a while, she wished she still had her old bike. A nice jog was a good way to work off the meal anyhow.
Xian Pu was a little concerned with leaving Ranma alone, but how much trouble could one cursed martial artist get into in her apartment?
Unfortunately for Xian Pu, when she got back she had the chance to find out the answer to that question. She walked into her apartment, and could smell the booze. She walked into the kitchen, and found the bottle she kept for making potions and medicine with a good amount missing from it. She knew that she had said that Ranma could drink what he found… But she didn't even consider him getting into that. When she heard someone come up behind her, she felt a sudden sinking suspicion that she was about to be either really mad, or really upset. She knew that the odds were she was about to feel both as she slowly turned around to see quite the sight before her.
Ranma was in his female form, whether he had even bothered to change back in the first place was up for debate. What was not up for debate was his current state of dress, or undress perhaps was the better way to put it. Ranma had obviously not only raided her liquor cabinet, he had also raided her old lingerie stash. What made her sure of that was the fact that Ranma didn't have any other clothes with him when she found him in the cemetery, and she recognized the particular set of garters, garter belt, very lacy panties and lace teddy that he had deemed a good idea to wear to greet her back home.
"So? Whatcha think? Sexy 'nough for you, Shampoo? Wanna eat my taco? Or should I go get some hot water and you can have sausage instead?" The drunk Ranma-chan slurred out as Xian Pu took a deep, cleansing breath as she attempted to keep her temper under control.
It was going to be a very, very long night.
*A/N*
A new, unconnected story. It's going to be a bit darker at points than my others, and probably be toeing the line a bit closer on the M rating than I usually go. The seed for this story was a request from a friend, the story is mine. Enjoy, and I look forward to hearing from you all.
And yes, I know that Xian Pu is a rather horrible person all in all. She tried to kill Ranma, Akane, Ukyo, and probably more than a few other people I am forgetting about right now. That said, people change when exposed to severe or extreme enough situations. Almost anyone can be redeemed, or can at least try to atone for what they have done.
And like I said… This is definitely going to be closer to the 'line' on M than I usually go.
