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:
Broken Mirrors chapter 18: Ranko's Tale.
October 25th, Sunday 12:15 PM. The Saotome Residence. Halloween.
Ranko gives the two women in front of her a long, sorrowful look, then sighed. She seems to take comfort from the gentle hand of Nabiki that rests on her shoulder before she steps off to the side, letting the three other women talk with Ranko sitting in her chair behind the desk, a troubled look on her face.
"I...Guess the best place to start is the beginning. My name is Ranko Saotome, and I'm not from this world. I used to live in one that was like this one, but...DIfferent, in quite a few ways. The Saotome's of my world were poor, or at least not nearly as well off as they are here. Also, they were...Unhealthily obsessed with martial arts. It was literally all they thought of, or at least all that dad thought of. Mom… She couldn't have any more children after me, and I think that might have pushed her over the edge. When I was five or six, we set out on a training trip to make me the greatest martial artists in the world. Dad had a collection of strange books, scrolls, and maps that he had...Ummm...acquired… from various sources. Some of them were techniques, some were other things. I didn't find out what some of them were until it was pretty much too late."
She takes a deep breath, accepting the cup of tea that is handed to her by Nabiki, then presses on. "I was raised as a boy, I didn't know why, not until years later. I met a lot of people, but we didn't usually stay in one place long enough for me to really make any friends. Dad thought that they would make me weak, and distract me from my goal. I think it was because dad was a thief and we were fleeing before we got caught."
She takes a sip of her tea, looking into the faces of the women across from her. "I actually met your alternate in my world, Ukyo. She was my first real friend, and...She came with us on our trip. I didn't figure it out till much later, but I think my folks kidnapped you. If not in fact, then in intention. I'm sure it was some part of their master plan, somehow. Maybe they thought she was a boy, or maybe it was because of their ultimate plan, I still don't really know. I know they were really upset when they figured out you were a girl, at least til dad went through some of his scrolls and maps." She shook her head and sighed sadly. "They were crazy idiots."
She steadied herself once more, and kept talking, glancing at the two women from time to time. "We traveled for years, all over Japan, and then crossed to China. Dad seemed like he had a plan, somewhere we were going. I honestly wish we had gotten lost forever at times, but if we did, I would never have been here. Fate is an odd thing." She said softly, looking into the confused eyes of Akane and sighed again.
"I am glad I'm here, I really am. I was doomed in that other world, sure to suffer some horrible fate. Trust me on that." She paused at this point, looking to Akane. "Did..You want to ask me anything?"
Akane squeezes Ukyo's hand, looking at Ranko. "Did..You meet a version of me...Over there?"
Ranko shakes her head sadly. "I didn't. Doesn't mean she wasn't there, but...We never met. Ukyo, your alternate was like a sister to me. I was so happy to have met her, to have gotten to know her. Just like I'm glad I met you, and have gotten to know you both. I...Hope that you can come to forgive us for not telling you before…" She trailed off, as she looked into Ukyo's eyes then sighed as she went back to her story.
"Our time in China was… Eventful. Yeah, I think that is the best way to describe it. Eventful. Dad was so driven, and Mom always chided us both if we didn't do as we were told. It was never asked, mind you. We were given orders, and told to carry them out. All while Dad reminded us of how weak we were, how useless we were because we were girls, and how much better we would be if we were boys. It..didn't help our self image, you know. I started to act more and more masculine, more and more over the top confident to make up for it. Honestly, I don't know how you put up with me when you first met me, Akane. I was depressed, felt useless, and had this fragile ego that was ready to go off on everyone. I was a mess."
Akane gives a sad little nod, still clutching Ukyo's hand tight.
"Anyhow...China. Dad was heading towards a place called Jusenkyo, it was supposed to be a secret training ground that had all of these little pools that were supposedly cursed. You fall into one, you are cursed to turn into whatever drowned in that pool. Sounds crazy, right? Well, turned out Dad believed in them, and had dragged us there so that they could finally get the son they had wanted, to carry on the family tradition." She takes a moment to gather herself once more before carrying on with her tale.
"So, Dad decided that I was going to be the one, after much debate. How I needed to carry on the Saotome family name, and once I was cursed, I would have children with Ukyo." She shook her head sadly, gazing at the pale women across from her. "They wanted to use a magic, cursed spring to make me into a boy so I could sleep with the girl I saw as a sister, and make lots of little babies for them. When we found out what they had planned, we were sick. We tried to run. Dad caught me, and dragged me to the pool that he thought was 'The Pool of Drowned Boy'. Then..He held me in it. When I didn't turn into a boy instantly, he just...Kept holding me down while Mom restrained Ukyo."
Akane gasps, looking stricken. "Thats...Thats why you are terrified of water… Oh...Oh Ranko…."
Ranko nods, chewing on her lip before continuing. "That...is when Natsume found me. I was drowning, I knew I was going to die. I had given up struggling, just staring at my reflection in the water, then it was not myself I was looking at. It was a girl with long, black hair and blue eyes. She reached out, then then I was..Somewhere else. She said it was a place between the mirrors, between life and death, and that she had a proposition for me. She said she could save my life, in a way. She would tie me and one of my alternates together, and use that tie to save both but that there would be a cost. Only one of us could ever be in the world I would be going to at a time, and we had to share our time going forward. The longer one is there, the longer the other must be as well. She said it would slowly even out to a week for each of us, in time. I wanted to know why she was doing this, so...She showed me. I saw Ranma lying there, bleeding to death of his wounds, and some part of me knew that that was...Me, but not quite. I..I asked her what was going to happen to Ukyo. She just smiled and promised me that she would take her where she was supposed to be, so...I agreed. I mean, what did I have to lose? Half a life was better than none, after all." She smiled sadly, looking down at her legs.
"The injuries we shared, as we shared our life force and time. What happens to one of us, happens to the other. So, when they worked on Ranma, they also worked on me. My smaller body couldn't absorb the damage as well as his, so I lost the ability to walk, but we both lived."
"What..happens when you are not here." Ukyo spoke up for the first time.
"The other sleeps, I guess? I don't remember anything unless it's something that invokes the magic of the spell. So, I was somewhat aware when we were being operated on, but other than that? Nothing." She shrugged, looking sad.
"Why tell us this now? Why wait until now?" Akane says, still holding tight to Ukyo.
"Because we wanted to make sure that things were going to work before we told you the whole truth. Because we were scared of losing you both. Because it's a secret we can't share more than we have to." Ranko answered meekly.
"Was it all a lie? How do we know that you are...you? That you are not Ranma, and this is not just some sort of sick joke?" Ukyo says, her hand clenched.
"All I can say, Ukyo, is you have to trust your heart. Only you can answer that question. Ranma wanted to tell you before this, but I...I hesitated. I wanted to make sure that things were working, and I know that it makes it harder. It makes the impossible even harder to accept, but it's all I could think of doing." Ranko answered sadly.
"How does this all work? Magic, you swapping places, all of this. How did this Natsume do...this." Akane asked.
"She is a mirror mage. She works magic through them. She said that she took two mirrors from my world and broke them, using the pieces along with water from the actual cursed springs to create this magic. It's still hard for me to wrap my head around, I'll be honest. She did warn us, though, that doing this could wake up magic in our world. She said it might take years, or it might never happen at all. I probably should have asked her more… but I didn't. She said when we need her again, she will be here for us, but we haven't seen her since that first month."
"As for how it works…. Every Sunday we approach the mirror, reach through it, and then the next thing we know we have swapped back into the world, unless something activated the magic before that.". Ranks explained, eyeing the mostly silent Ukyo worriedly.
"This...is a lot to deal with, sugar. I don't know what to do, what to think. I don't know if I can trust you, both of you. I just… need time." Ukyo said as she wrapped her arms around herself.
Ranko nods sadly, looking down. "I understand, I really do. If you want to go home, Shiro is waiting you."
As the two women rise, Nabiki , pressing a card into each of their hands. "I can understand if you need someone to talk to, who isn't involved in all of… this. That is Kurumi and Natsume' numbers, along with mine and Akiko's. Take your time, talk about it, and I hope that you decide to a chance."
Ranko holds it together until the two women have left, then she starts to cry, clinging to Nabiki like she is lost and adrift.
"It's ok, Ranko-chan. I'm sure they will be back, just give them time. I went ahead and postponed your appointments for the next few weeks, we can go from there if it needs to be longer, okay? Lets go get you cleaned up and let you rest for a bit." Nabiki says gently, pushing the morose young lady's chair.
The car ride is silent, the two women lost in their thoughts until they stop at Ukyo's. As she got out, Akane started to say something, only to be stopped by Ukyo. "No, Akane, not now. I don't want to talk about it right now. I just...Want to go lay down and rest. I.. I will talk to you later."
Akane watches the other woman walk away sadly, meeting Shiro's eyes briefly before looking away as he drives her home.
The excitement of the weekend was gone, replaced with uncertainty and dread.