ERA SU R E

by Dixxy

Ranma starts forgetting little things or remembering wrong. What gets him suddenly so absent-minded ? But as the issue grows more frequent and serious, Akane realizes that it's more than just basic distraction... Anxious about his mysterious disorder, family and friends feel helpless as his situation deteriorates over time... But how far can it go...?

17. Afterword

17 . AFTERWORD

HI there, dear readers !

This is not a real chapter, but a conclusion to this story, with a few remarks about chapters 14 to 16, and then general observations about this story, a dedication, and a word on my next project.

If you don't want to read this, fine, I understand. After all, you read the most important, so you're not obliged to also "absorb" this concluding part.

Now, for those of you who are interested… let's get going !

ABOUT CHAPTER 14…

I considered splitting this mammoth chapter into two halves (part I and part II), but in the end, I decided to retain it as a whole, to keep tension and suspense intact. Good idea or not, I don't know… maybe none of these, who knows. But it was evidently the most painful chapter to write, a long agony of the protagonist. There's something of a (Greek) tragedy in it.

The presence of the Moirai / Parcae (also known as the Fates) adds to that tragic side. I've always been fond of mythology, and decided to include that surreal scene in the story. The one who cuts the thread, Atropos, is particularly fascinating… and frightening, since she's the one putting the final dot to everyone's life.

Now an mportant point : in this chapter, Ranma suddenly starts speaking correctly again, without knowing why exactly. This is related to a curious phenomenon you might have heard about : when human OR animals are very close to death, there can be a sudden surge of energy, of vitality that makes them feel better and thus gives them the impression that they'll continue to live… while they in fact die the next day or two days later. Why can the energy level briefly increase shorty before some pass away ? Difficult to know… It's as if our body threw all remaining strength in the final battle, to try to avoid dying, to counter death. But it alas remains insufficient to thwart Fate's plans.

Well, in Ranma's case, instead of the energy level, it's the memory level that increases (which is kinda logical, since memory is at the center of this story) . It's suddenly "revitalizing" little time before demise. As if the body wanted to "remember" more… in order to avoid death. And that's the reason why Ranma's speech is unexpectedly normal again, for a brief period of time.

You might find this far-fetched, and I respect that… but on the other hand, don't forget that this fic' falls into the category "supernatural", and that many strange / unexpected things might occur in such an unfamiliar context.

ABOUT CHAPTER 15…

After the longest chappy of the story comes… the shortest chappy. It's indeed succinct, and there's something poetic about it. The horror / drama is followed by beauty / poesy. I think the English saying goes : "After the rain comes the rainbow", right ? Except that it's a sad rainbow, in this case : several colours (black, red, blue), yes… but grief. And still, there's something positive in it : even if Ranma's body disappeared, his soul is still present and stays next to Akane's soul.

Reincarnation is a fascinating notion, and I wanted to broach that topic in the conclusion of this fic. We might think that everything is over… yet, against all odds, not everything is. As I often say : "Hope, there is !" We must do our best to remain hopeful, be resilient (resilience is a key asset in dealing with life on a day-to-day basis, and I thank God for it, because it really helped me to hold on and not get discouraged by life's greatest, trickiest obstacles) and try to look up, as often as we're able to.

The working title of this chappy was "The Butterfly", but I decided to go for the colours instead, because they relate to Ranma, both in his previous human form and in his current butterfly form. It's less straightforward a title, more symbolic… and I'm fascinated by symbols, in any form they might come.

ABOUT CHAPTER 16…

It's the first time I write an alternate ending, but I did it solely as a mean of consolation for AgentDraakis, who hoped for a happy ending. Dear AD, if you read this, I hope you appreciate the gesture and, even if you expected something different, that you liked that chapter.

Pressure points, manual manipulation… these are notably based on chiropractic, a therapeutic method used to prevent and treat specific muscular and skeletal trouble. I find it very interesting and decided to use it on a larger scale and in a different manner to help re-establish Ranma's body and mind functions.

And I felt like finishing with a "welcome back" party… in which our hero would pull the others' legs… and upset them, concluding the story on the protagonist's name.

CONCLUSION… AT LAST

And here it was.

ERA….SU…..R…E is over.

Like any story, it has strong points and weak points. It's imperfect, similarly to any FanFiction story… which reflects human imperfection. One has to admit that although one did (rather) well, one could still have done better.

English not being my mother tongue, the language and its units – paragraphs, sentences, words – are not always as fluent (or fluid ?), as well-crafted as it would be in a native speaker's text. You'll have to forgive me this, I'm afraid. I spend a lot of time looking up for words and expressions, to make sure I express myself as correctly as possible, it's a great part of my work, form-wise. But I've often been told that I manage pretty good in English, for a French-speaker, so I guess it's encouraging, no ?

Still regarding form, French influences me regarding the use of commas (sometimes used differently or more often than an English speaker would), of slash signs (spaces before and after the slash) of question or exclamation marks (space between them and the previous word), the spelling of certain words (UK spelling instead of US spelling, such as colour VS color). You'll have to bear with this, I'm afraid (bis), because I don't think I can change these. And quite frankly, I don't see why I absolutely should. These are minor changes anyway, some that don't alter the text so much and don't prevent readers to enjoy the story (plot, events, twists and turns…).

Some events might have sounded weird or awkward or out of place, I'm sorry for that… sorry if you didn't like them. Also, some titles were probably somewhat "clumsy"… but honestly, I sometimes struggled to find a fitting title… and when I didn't find, that's when I wasn't quite pleased with what I had finally chosen, and that may appear so-so. Sorry as well for that.

Another important point : it's the first of my stories that doesn't end well. Up to now, I always concluded on a positive note… while this time, the hero dies. In fact, I don't even think I did make any of my protagonists pass away, in previous fic's. That's a new for me. And it wasn't easy to do. I've been very cruel with the main character here, and he/she ends up perishing. It was difficult to develop this, chapter after chapter, I did feel sorry for poor Ranma… and when she gave her last breath, I did feel pretty bad. But somehow, I felt it had to be that way, that it was meant to be a tragedy. I apologize for not saving Ranma, and making you sad… but real life is regularly sad, and most especially when one of our Dear Ones leaves us.

Oh, and for the inspiration of this story… well, I do suffer from absent-mindedness, distraction, moments in which I forget stuff and find myself unable to recall even simple words that I always knew, BUT my own situation is NOT what inspired this story. I got the idea of writing this when watching an anime – I sadly can't remember which one, no joke ! – in which a character was affected by memory loss. I then thought : Hey, it would be interesting to write about a character who starts forgetting things, always more, and it would get very serious over time… The idea of "making the body forget" how to properly function came later in the course of writing. And the ERASURE of the title s about someone being always more erased, gradually, mercilessly, mind and body, until the unavoidable outcome… (in fact, Ranma could even have been completely erased, physically I mean : he could have vanished into thin air and thus being erased… for good ! It's a supernatural story, after all, eh ? ;P)

I want to express my deepest gratitude, once again, to all the people who cared to read this fic, favorited it, followed it, and left positive / encouraging reviews, the fuel that helps a writer to carry on. For once, I even thank a certain someone – you know who you are – , critic specialist (yeah, that's ironic… but actually not mean or evil) who this time did leave a positive comment at the end of his/her review. Miracles happen, didn't you know, Folxxxx ? ;)

This story, as you might have guessed, is dedicated to AgentDraakis, whose first review did touch me, and who made me write an alternate ending for the first time (it's good to try new things, and that one is all thanks to you, dear AD, so… thanxxxx a bunch !), but is also dedicated to all RANMA ½ fans across the globe, from the origins of the manga up to now.

As each time when I finish a story, I feel kind of sad that it's over, that it won't continue. But as George Harrison sang : "All things must pass." One gotta move on… but it was rewarding to craft this, even if it was also trying and painful, given the darkness of the plot.

And what now, eh ? Coz it's the question that necessarily comes after each story end. Well, I want to try my hand at a pure adventure story, such as SHADOWLAND, which I composed for the MBC archive. There will also be humor in it, so these are typical ingredients of RANMA ½ that most readers like, as they're in familiar ground then. Oh, and I also had the idea of writing drabbles, with alternation of genres, one for each chapter : comedy, action, horror, adventure, drama, mystery, surrealism… That would be fun and interesting, I think. I might well take that challenge.

That's about it, I guess. Thanxxxx for your time and support, sincerely. I'm indebted to RANMA ½ for reconnecting me to FanFiction and making me want to craft stories again, after several years of scarce activity on that website. 2 stories written in 6 months, that's not too bad (and the stories are not too bad themselves, I guess)… but the second one took 4 months, which is longer than expected : blame it on my job, which is always more hectic at winter time and leaves me far less time to write than usual.

Time to take my leave. Long live Rumiko Takahashi, long live RANMA ½ ! Enjoy life to its fullest, make the most of every day, all happy moments are invaluable, priceless… so cherish them in your heart and memory… coz you never know when the Grim Reaper will pay you a visit.

TaKare and good luck with your own stories !

Peace, Love, Estasy !

* * * * DIXXY / LÉO * * * *