[Ranma][Fanfic] Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 9: A Sad Homecoming ======================================================================= Childhood of a Modern Dynasty Chapter 9: A Sad Homecoming Ranma 1/2 characters/situations created and copyright by Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan/Kitty/Fuji/Viz - Used without permission Childhood of a Modern Dynasty series created, written, and copyright 1998 by Jim Lazar An ongoing series set after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime. "Speech text in double quotes is spoken as Japanese unless otherwise specified as English." E-mail comments and/or criticisms to: jim [at] animeprime.com Make sure to check out my Modern Dynasty website for all released CMD stories, graphics files, and other information: http://www.animeprime/ff/md ======================================================================= This chapter is on the dark side. If you read the previous chapter (and I hope you have), you know why. ======================================================================= >From the personal diary of Hanaki Ono: July 18th, 2057 I woke up before James this morning, so I ate an emergency ration bar and went outside. I still doubted I would use the plan the emergency manual said could jumpstart the ramjets, but I might as well prepare the spacejet just in case. Plunging the spacejet over the edge of the mesa was not exactly safe. The only reason I bothered to prepare the spacejet was that I didn't like the look of his leg this morning. I had already moved the jet around to face the side of the mesa with the sharpest drop off. Then I modified the ramjets to start with the intake of air and did what I could to straighten the bent landing gear. Before returning to the spacejet, I scanned the skies for any sign of a rescue party, but just like yesterday, I couldn't see anything. I shot off a few Moko Takabisha balls as flares and then went back inside. "James!" I called out as I entered the spacejet and saw that he was awake. I rushed over to him and kissed him deeply. Damn, he's cute in the morning. "How long was I asleep?" James asked, glancing around as I checked his leg again. He absently wiped the drool off his lip. How adorable can this guy get? "Since yesterday afternoon. I almost woke you, but you needed your sleep," I said. "Wow. Guess I missed the end of your story then. Sorry." "No problem. Your palmcard was on, so you got it all," I replied. "How does the leg look?" "Um, I'm not a doctor, but it looks okay," I replied. I hated to lie, but I didn't think I should worry him yet. As long as the bruise didn't get darker, he should be okay. "Any sign of a rescue yet?" "Nope and it's too hot outside already to do any more work, not that there's that much more for me to fix. Since the primers are shot, it'll be almost impossible to start the engines. So, why don't I tell you some more stories as you eat something?" "That would be great. Something to pass the time," James replied. I helped him sit up. "What do you remember from their first battle with the Buyierfei?" "Well, they had all been drawn into the Buyierfei's monolith and after wandering around the shadowy realm they had found themselves in, they had found each other. Last thing I remember was that they had exposed the heart of the monolith and the three Ranmas were getting ready to enter the aura that surrounded the heart." "Oh... ok. Before Ranma could enter it, Cologne knocked him out and took his place." "Noble of her." "Yes, my aunt always said that she thought Cologne felt guilty for splitting Ranma. Anyway, they succeeded in destroying the monolith, but Akane, Ukyo, and Ranma were the only ones to escape." "That must have been hard on your aunt at the time," James suggested. I noticed that he had turned his palmcard on. My fiancee was all business sometimes, but he is just so darn cute that I put up with it. "Yes, especially after what happened on their way back to Japan..." *********************************************************************** February-March 1999 - Australian outback; Brisbane, Australia; Nerima, Japan Ranma, Akane, and Ukyo spent two days in Devil's End Canyon after they escaped from the monolith. They searched everywhere they could for Ranko, Sanma, and Cologne, but they never found any trace of them. Since all of their equipment had been destroyed, they slept under the stars and ate whatever they could forage for or capture. Lizard-on-a-stick was the most common meal. Ranma used his Moko Takabisha blasts to carve the three fallen warrior's names in the walls of the canyon. It was the best way that he could think of to honor their sacrifice. Ranma decided they'd have to have a wake back in Japan, but didn't think Akane would be ready for one until she had time to come to terms with Ranko and Sanma's deaths. Four days after they had escaped the monolith, they dragged themselves into the village that they had passed through on their way to the canyon. Their clothes were dirty and the pain of their experience inside the monolith was evident on all their faces. "Ukyo!" a male voice called out. The travelers all spun around and saw Kang, the Australian that had guided them to the canyon. "Kang!" Ukyo called back. "I'm amazed. No one has returned from Devil's End Canyon in the past few months," Kang commented and wrapped Ukyo in a big bear hug. "We didn't all come back. Ranko and..." Akane said, then stopped when she realized that Sanma was born and then died in the canyon. Kang never had the chance to meet her or Cologne. Akane began to tear up when she realized that she never had the chance to get to know Sanma either, and now never would. Ranma put his arm around Akane and felt her body shaking, so he pulled her tightly against his body. "There won't be anymore disappearances from the canyon, the devil is gone," Ranma explained. Kang looked sadly at the travelers and resisted the urge to tell them that he had warned them not to go into the canyon. Instead, he said, "I'm sorry. Ranko was a lovely woman." "Err... thank you," Ranma said awkwardly, then asked, "I don't suppose there is a bus or some way to get to Brisbane faster than hiking?" "I'm afraid that we're in no condition to hike any further after our ordeal in the canyon," Ukyo added. "I can give you a lift in my jeep," Kang offered, without reservation. "Thank you, we can pay for your gas," Ukyo offered, hoping they still had enough cash on them to get back to Japan. "Don't worry about that, it's my pleasure," Kang said to them all, but was looking at Ukyo. "We can leave right away. Come on." He led the travelers down to his place. "So what were you doing in the canyon for the past month?" he asked as they walked. They all looked confused. "Huh? It's only been a few days," Ranma mentioned. "It's been over three weeks since I left you at the mouth of the canyon," Kang insisted. "Three..." Akane gasped. "...weeks?" Ukyo finished. "What's the date?" Ranma asked. "February twenty-seventh," Kang informed them. "Could we really have been in that monolith for that long?" Ukyo asked, looking at Ranma and Akane. Ranma shrugged. "We were all unconscious when we entered and left the monolith, so who knows." "Damn, our families are going to be worried sick," Akane mentioned. "We'll call them as soon as we get to Brisbane," Ranma suggested. Ukyo and Akane agreed. They had already counted what little cash they had in their pockets when they entered the monolith. It wasn't much, but it'd get them to Brisbane, especially with Kang's help. -C- -M- -D- Ranma was lying on a bed in a luxurious hotel room while he talked on the telephone. "Yes, Nabiki, that's right. Three tickets on a REAL passenger plane. No farm animals this time." Ranma listened for a bit, then replied, "No... Akane, Ukyo, and me. Ranko won't be returning." Another pause, then he said, "No, we didn't recombine. It's a long story, we'll tell everyone everything when we get back." He listen briefly then frowned. "Of course I know that we have to get emergency passports from the Japanese embassy!! I've already taken care of that, but we need you to take care of our hotel bill, wire some cash, and get the plane tickets." Ranma winced in pain and held the phone away from his ear. He put it back to his ear and said, "Stop being such a god-damned yen pincher, Nabiki!! Akane is very upset right now. We need to get back with as little stress as possible." Another pause and Ranma concluded, "Okay. Tell the family that we're... fine, and we'll explain everything once we get home." After finishing the call with Nabiki, he called the hotel desk to get the telephone number for the Japanese embassy. After talking with the embassy and arranging for the passports, Ranma went into the bathroom to clean up. He washed up without using cold water as he normally did. After losing Ranko and Sanma, the feeling of cold water flowing over his body was too painful. Not physically, but the memories that flashed into his head when he felt cold water flow over him were. Finally, he settled into the large whirlpool tub. He knew Nabiki would have a fit when she found out how much the suite cost, but Akane needed some pampering right now. She was taking Ranko and Sanma's death very badly. So bad, that Ukyo was trying to distract her by taking her to the pool to relax. Ranma dried off and returned to his and Akane's bedroom. He was putting on a hotel robe when a red haired woman walked into the room. His jaw dropped. "What do you think?" Akane asked, running her hand through her hair, which was now red. She twirled around to show off her new dress. "Akane? What did you do?" Ranma asked, looking at his fiancee with a look of utter surprise. Akane still had the same hairstyle she wore for most of the past two years, but now it was the same shade of red that Ranko and Sanma's hair had been. "I walked by a hairstylist downstairs in the lobby on the way to the pool with Ukyo and had an impulse to get my hair dyed. I guess I just wanted something to remind me of Ranko and Sanma," Akane explained, then softly added, "So I don't forget them." Ranma walked over to Akane and hugged her. "I'll miss them too." Akane cuddled up to Ranma's chest. "Even after wanting to get rid of your curse for so long?" "Yes, I never wanted to be rid of it this way." "I love you, Ranma. All three of you." "It'll be okay. The others will always be with us, in spirit," Ranma insisted. "No, you're wrong. Ranko and Sanma are within you," Akane insisted, then kissed her three lovers. -C- -M- -D- Nabiki put down the telephone and turned around to the other residents of the Tendo house. "Ranma, Akane, and Ukyo are all... fine." Everyone visibly relaxed at the news. "Thank goodness," Kasumi exhaled. "Oh, my baby is coming home!" Soun cried, forgetting about the game of shoji he was playing with Genma. "What about Ranko?" Nodoka asked. "Ranma said she wasn't coming back and seemed quite upset when I mentioned her. He didn't seem to want to talk about it, so I didn't press him, " Nabiki explained, frowning. "Oh my." "Did they recombine?" Genma asked. "He said that they didn't and would explain once they got back. Anyway, I have to get some stuff arranged to get them home. They apparently lost their passports and most of their money," Nabiki explained, then headed upstairs to start making arrangements on her computer. "Well, thank goodness they are okay. It's been a month since we heard from them last," Nodoka commented, but was very worried about why Ranko wasn't returning. After a few minutes, Soun looked up from the game board and saw Kasumi was just staring out the doors at the koi pond. "Kasumi, didn't you have a study session tonight with Dr. Tofu for your finals?" he asked. "Yes, but with the call from Ranma and all, I'll probably just skip it tonight," Kasumi calmly informed her father. Nodoka looked up from the laundry she was folding. "Kasumi, they are fine. You should go." "Very well," Kasumi agreed reluctantly. She got up and shuffled slowly off down the hallway. Soun and Nodoka exchanged worried glances. Then Soun looked back at the game board and tried to figure out where half of his pieces went. -C- -M- -D- "Kasumi!" Dr. Tofu gasped, answering his front door. "Good evening, Doctor Ono. I'm here for our study session," Kasumi said, calmly. "Ah, I'm glad you came. I was afraid after our last session..." "No, don't worry about that. It was a mistake... that's all." "I am sorry." Kasumi adverted her eyes, then said, "Shall we get started?" "Yes, of course," Dr. Tofu said, then led Kasumi to his back room to study. -C- -M- -D- Ukyo lay by the pool and soaked in the sun. Her tiny bikini didn't leave much to the imagination, but the men and at least one woman around her were trying their best to imagine what was under it anyway. "How are you all doing, Ukyo?" Ukyo looked up and saw Kang standing over her. "Kang! I thought you went back to your village?" "Well, figured I'd stay overnight before heading back," Kang said, then motioned to the chair next to Ukyo. Ukyo smiled. "Please. You might want to loose the barbecue fork and relax a bit, sugar," she mentioned, indicating the large barbecue fork that he always carried. "I notice you have your spatula with you," Kang replied and motioned to her giant spatula that was lying under her lounge chair. Ukyo blushed. "Oops. Guess I should practice what I preach." "Or don't preach at all," Kang replied. He pulled off his leather vest and shirt and lay back in the chair. "Ahhh, feels good sometimes to just relax. Life in the outback can be rough." Ukyo saw Kang's firm tan chest and blushed. She quickly looked away. "I guess. I spent a few months traveling through China last year. It was pretty rough and all, but fun. I even learned to speak Mandarin pretty well." "Sometimes I wish I could see more than the outback." "If you're ever in Japan, drop by my restaurant in Nerima. Its called Ucchan's." "I'll do that," Kang said, watching Ukyo flip onto her stomach. -C- -M- -D- A couple days later, Akane and Ranma awoke when Ukyo started pounding on their door. Ranma opened his eyes and ran his hand through Akane's red hair. He sighed. Akane tried to keep sleeping, but the pounding continued and she finally opened her eyes. "What is it?" she called out. "I've waited as long as I could for you two lovebirds. We have less than an hour to get to the airport!" Ukyo called through the door. "What?" Ranma gasped, then looked at the clock by the bed. "Oh no... she's right." Ranma jumped to his feet and started to get dressed as Akane went over to the door. "Why didn't you wake us up earlier," Akane asked Ukyo as she opened the door to their room. "I tried several times a couple hours ago. You two are heavy sleepers." Ranma and Akane got dressed, finished packing, and raced out the suite's front door with Ukyo. -C- -M- -D- This time, Nabiki got them tickets on a real passenger plane. In coach class, of course. They had to do some begging and shuffling around to all sit together, but they finally found themselves crammed into three center seats. Ukyo and Akane were busy talking about girl stuff, so Ranma was paging through an English magazine. He couldn't read it, but the pictures were nice. Akane excused herself and went to the lavatory. "Are you okay, Ranma?" Ukyo asked. "Sure. I'm worried about Akane though. You think the red hair is a bad sign?" Ranma asked. "It shocked me when I first saw her like that, but I think it's just her way of keeping their memory alive," Ukyo said. "I hope so," Ranma said. "I'm more worried at how she seems to be acting like their deaths don't really matter." "Yeah, that troubles me too," Ranma agreed. Akane returned and sat down, then Ukyo took her turn. The one thing women couldn't do in airplanes was go to the bathroom in groups, like they tended to do elsewhere. "You know, Ranma, we've been gone for a long time. We'll have a lot of catching up to do at school," Akane mentioned. Ranma thought. "I guess... only three weeks to go." "Yup. Then we can finally get married," Akane mentioned casually. "Um... I was assuming you'd want to wait. With everything that's happened and all." "No. I don't want to chance anything else happening to stop us from getting married. If not for our finals, I'd suggest we get married as soon as we got home." "If that's what you want. I just hope you're not suppressing your feelings about Ranko and Sanma," Ranma hinted. "No. I'll miss them, but I need to marry the man I love before something else happens to keep us apart." "Okay, we'll keep the March twentieth date then," Ranma said. He leaned over and kissed Akane. The kiss was interrupted by a commotion in the front of the plane. "What?" Ranma muttered, craning his neck to see what was going on. It didn't take long for him to realize what was happening. Two armed men in ski masks ran into the coach section and pointed their Uzis at the passengers. "Everyone sit down and shut up! This plane is under the control of the A.L.F.!" one of the masked men shouted in English. Since the plane was headed for Japan, he repeated his statement in Japanese. The passengers were all crying and panicking, but settled down when the gunmen pointed their guns at them. Akane clenched her fists and looked back towards where Ukyo was, then started to rise. Ranma put a restraining hand on her arm. "Wait, let's see how many there are first," he whispered to Akane, who nodded her agreement. After several minutes, two more gunmen poked their heads back into the rear cabin. One of them said, "The cockpit is secure and me and Tach have the front under control." "We're good back here. We'll check the lavatories next," one of the rear gunmen said. The other two gunmen returned to the front. Ranma held up five fingers. Akane looked at him with a questioning look. He flashed two fingers, moved his fingers forward a bit and then flashed two more fingers. Finally, he pointed one finger directly at the front of the plane. He mouthed, "Cockpit," with his lips. Akane nodded, then looked back towards the lavatories. She motioned back toward the lavatories, then mouthed, "Ukyo." Ranma nodded. Ukyo would be the distraction. Ranma pointed to his chest and then forward, then pointed at Akane and motioned to the rear. Akane nodded and waited for Ukyo to cause a distraction. She didn't wait long. One of the gunmen kept watch as the other one checked the lavatories. He reached the one Ukyo was in and started to open the door. Suddenly, he was sandwiched between the door and the rear bulkhead when Ukyo kicked the door hard. At the first sound of the door crashing into the gunman, Ranma and Akane leapt out of their seats. Akane leapt towards the rear gunmen, while Ranma shot towards the front of the plane. Ukyo poked her head out the door and saw the standing gunman take aim at her with his gun. She raised her hands in surrender. She heard the gunman behind the lavatory door stir, then tensed as she saw Akane leaping towards the standing gunman. Akane kicked the Uzi away from its intended target and then landed an elbow to the gunman's face as she passed. She rebounded against a seat, scaring the hell out of the woman in it. On her rebound, she kicked the gunman full in his stomach. The gunman collapsed and Akane hit him on the back of his head, just hard enough to render him unconscious. Using Akane's distraction, Ukyo kicked backwards and rammed the lavatory door back into the man who was behind it. The man fell to the floor and Ukyo kicked the back of his neck. "Akane, I'll take care of these two, help Ranma!" Ukyo called out. As Akane raced forward, Ukyo enlisted the help of several passengers in tying up the two unconscious gunmen. When Ranma first ran into the front cabin, he immediately landed a kick and a series of fast rabbit punches to the nearest gunman. The gunman collapsed quickly. The other gunman swung around at the noise and raised his gun. Ranma leaped over the terrified heads of the passengers and kicked the gun out of the gunman's hands. The gunman snapped his arms out and two knives appeared from under his sleeves. Soon Ranma and the man were a blur of motion as Ranma deflected the knives and tried to land some punches. Ranma thought, trying to find an opening in the man's defenses. He'd already noticed that his opponent had some kind of armor on his arms and legs that were helping him deflect Ranma's blows, but nothing on his head. Ranma ducked a knife swing then managed to land a heavy blow to his opponent's chin. Akane raced in just in time to see Ranma land the blow and was moving to help him when a man behind her jumped out of his seat. He put a knife to Akane's throat and grabbed her around the waist. "Stop now or this girl dies!" the man shouted in English. Ranma was about to deliver the final blow to the knifeman, when he heard the man speak. He didn't fully understand the man, but the threat of the statement was evident in his tone. He looked up and saw Akane's position. He halted his blow. "Hurt her and you die. Guaranteed!" Ranma snarled in Japanese "You have no idea who you're screwing with, boy!" the man said, switching to Japanese. He moved the knife closer to Akane's neck. Akane looked at Ranma and mouthed something. Ranma nodded. Then Akane mouthed, "One." "Neither do you TWO," Ranma replied to the man, slipping the second count into his statement. He saw a small chi ball form in Akane's right hand, which was aimed downward. Then they both mouthed, "Three." The knifeman who had been fighting Ranma suddenlynoticed the chi ball, but Akane let the Moko Takabisha ball slip from her fingers before he could warn his comrade. The chi ball fell to the ground and hit the man right on his foot. The man yelled in pain and dropped the knife. Akane went into action and with several quick blows had rendered the man unconscious. Ranma had gone into action at the same time the chi ball was released. He spun around to the recovering knifeman, landed several kicks to his stomach, and then punched him repeatedly in the face. Ranma jumped back again as the knifeman thrust both his knives at Ranma's stomach. -C- -M- -D- The gunman in the cockpit held his uzi on the pilot and copilot. Another man wearing a very expensive suit, the hijacker's leader, sat casually in the navigator's seat. He was finishing a statement into a microphone. "... and if our demands are not met we will start shooting passengers beginning in one hour, starting with the children." The two pilots burned with hatred, but they were unable to do anything. A knock was heard on the cockpit door and the gunman answered it. One of his masked comrades was there when he opened the door. The leader turned and saw him. "What is it, Tach?" he asked in English. The masked man at the door shoved a disheveled Akane in to the cockpit in response. She ended up stumbling between the two hijackers. Her dress was torn and her lip was bleeding. "Bastards! Killing my fiancee was a big mistake!" Akane snarled in Japanese, not wanting to let him know she understood English. "Well then, why would that be?" the leader calmly asked in perfect Japanese. "Because he has powerful friends," Akane insisted. "Hmmmm, YOU, check the back out," the leader said, indicating the gunman who had been with him in the cockpit. The masked man at the door let him by and kept his position in the doorway. "Is there anything else, Tach?" the leader asked. Suddenly a dozen assorted knives flashed out from the masked man's hands and hit the leader in all his vital spots. The leader cried out in pain. Akane went quickly into action and landed multiple punches to the leader's body. The man withstood the vicious onslaught without trouble. He reached up and grabbed Akane around her neck. Akane fought for breath while she punched the man savagely in the chest. In the process, she punched one knife in deeper. The man sputtered, blood started to come out of his mouth, and he collapsed to the floor of the cockpit. Meanwhile back in the first class cabin, the gunman that had come out of the cockpit was examining the man on the floor. He turned the body over, only to recognize that it as his fellow hijacker, Tach, but was dressed in Chinese clothes. He dropped the body and spun quickly around just in time to be punched savagely in his face. This punch was followed rapidly by blows to his chest and stomach. He crumpled to the ground and Ranma delivered the final blow to his neck. Ranma made sure he was unconscious and then raced to the cockpit, leaving the passengers to tie the two hijackers up. Ranma entered the cockpit and saw that Akane and Ukyo, who now had her borrowed mask and jacket off, were okay. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Captain, I think we got them all. Seven in all," Ranma explained, adding the one in the cabin to the ones in the rear of the plane. "Thank you all. Where on Earth did you three come from?" the Japanese Captain asked. "We're passengers. Unfortunately for the hijackers, we're also the world's greatest martial artists," Ranma explained, without modesty. He put his hand on Akane's shoulder and asked her, "You okay, Akane?" "I guess. He's dead. More blood on my hands," Akane said, softly. She couldn't take her eyes off of the body. "It was him or us. Sometimes a martial artist has to take life to preserve it," Ranma said, then pulled Akane up and guided her back to the rear of the plane. He paused at the door and asked, "Ukyo, can you help the Captain with anything else up here?" "Sure, Ranma. Take care of her," Ukyo replied. The Captain and Ukyo moved the body to the front lavatory, since they had nowhere better to put it. The copilot was on the radio informing the control tower of the situation. -C- -M- -D- "Akane, you had to do it. Don't worry," Ranma said, cradling the crying woman in his arms. They had been given a couple of seats in first class to rest in. One of the perks of saving a plane full of passengers. "First Shampoo, then Ranko and Sanma, now that man," Akane recited, trying to wipe the blood off her fingers with a towel. Her hands were clean now, but she kept rubbing anyway. "That man deserved it, the others aren't your fault. Akane, I..." Ranma trailed off, as he couldn't think of anything else to say to comfort his fiancee, so he just held her close. -C- -M- -D- Nabiki was laid out in front of the television watching a business show. Kasumi was out in the yard lying on a blanket and looking up at the spring sky, daydreaming. Nodoka was hanging out the laundry while Soun and Genma were cheating at Shoji on the porch. The silence was shattered minutes later by a cry from Nabiki. "EVERYONE! Come and look at this!" The others all rushed in at her cry and looked at the television screen. On it was a news bulletin. A caption read, 'JAL Flight 203 Hijacking'. A Japanese news reporter was on screen and said, "We have just received a report that the hijacked JAL Flight 203 has just landed after the flight crew regained control of the aircraft from the hijackers." "Oh my. Isn't that the flight Ranma and Akane are on?" Kasumi asked. "Yes," Nabiki replied, reaching to turn up the volume so the others could hear it clearly. "According to reports, three passengers apparently subdued the seven hijackers. One fatality was reported, apparently one of the hijackers, but none of the passengers have been reported injured," the reporter said. "Thank goodness," Nodoka commented. "Three passengers?" Genma raised an eyebrow. "Any bets on which three passengers?" Nabiki asked, smirking. "I think it's pretty obvious," Soun declared, smiling proudly. -C- -M- -D- Ranma and Ukyo held their arms around Akane protectively as they waded through the crowd of reporters that had ambushed them after they go done talking with the authorities. They were cornered by a TV reporter and were reluctantly answering questions. "What are your names?" "I'm Ranma Saotome. This is my fiancee, Akane Tendo and my oth... err... This is a good friend of ours, Ukyo Kuonji," Ranma said, almost calling Ukyo his 'other fiancee' by habit. Ukyo grinned at the narrow escape. Despite her sadness over what had happened, Akane smiled too. "How did you manage to defeat the hijackers?" "Well, we're all trained martial artists..." Back at home, the Tendo and Saotome families watched the live interview on the TV. They were shocked at seeing Akane with red hair. "Do you think Ranko and Akane combined somehow?" Nabiki asked. "That might explain the red hair, but I don't see how that could have happened," Nodoka mentioned. Genma and Soun started chanting, "Mention the dojo... Mention the dojo..." Nodoka sighed. "...me and my fiancee are students of the Tendo/Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts." Akane looked up at this statement. "My fiancee is being modest. He's the school's best teacher." Ranma blushed. Soun and Genma hugged each other in excitement. "Oh, happy days! The students will come pouring in now!" Soun exclaimed, then started to cry. Then Soun and Genma started arguing about the name of the school. Ukyo, being the businesswoman that she was, added, "And I run a restaurant called Uuchan's in Nerima." The reporter asked, "What does that have to do with martial arts?" "It's the best place for okonomiyaki in Tokyo!" Ranma exclaimed, rubbing his stomach. Ukyo smiled. The reporter looked confused. "Oooo...kay. So what happened when you realized the plane was being hijacked?" "Well, Ukyo was in the lavatory..." "Hey! No need to tell the whole world that!" Ukyo yelled. -C- -M- -D- The next day, Akane was sitting on the porch looking at the koi in the pond. Ranma walked up behind her, sat down next to her, and put his arm around her shoulder. "How are you?" he asked. "I'm getting a little sick of that question," Akane remarked, then reconsidered her words. "No... I take that back. I'm EXTREMELY sick of that question." "Sorry. We're all concerned. Don't hold it in." "I'll get over it. It's just been too much all at once." "I know, but remember that you helped save all those passengers." "Does that make up for four deaths?" "No, it doesn't, but life has its ups and downs. I'd like you to be up for our wedding," Ranma said. "Nothing would make me happier to be Mrs. Ranma Saotome," Akane said, cracking a smile. Inside she was still holding back a scream, but she wanted to put on a happy face for her last remaining lover. Ranma smiled back. "I'm glad," he said, then kissed her. "How dare you claim Akane Tendo for your own, you foul evil sorcerer!" a voice called out. Ranma and Akane broke their kiss and looked up to see Kuno standing over them with a metal sword held high. "Kuno?" Akane gasped in surprise. Ranma jumped up and landed a kick to Kuno's stomach, and sent the poet-spewing jerk to the ground. "You agreed to leave us alone!" Ranma shouted. "T'was before I knew of your vile intentions towards my sweet Akane!" Kuno declared, getting to his feet. "And to tell the whole world that my noble self has been forsaken is the ultimate insult!" "You moron! She's been my fiancee for two years! Why else would we want you off our cases, if not to get married?" Ranma shouted, easily dodging the sword thrusts from Kuno. "Hell, we even told you that was our intention when you signed the agreement!" Nabiki, who had heard the commotion, was leaning from an upstairs window and using her video camera to document the violation of the agreement the Kunos had signed promising to leave the Tendo and Saotome families alone. Yen signs appeared in her eyes as she thought about the large cash settlement that was coming her way. "Akane Tendo, how dare you two think that you could have my darling Ranma for yourself!" a horribly grating voice called out. Ranma looked around in time to see Akane dodge the ribbon that Kodachi had snapped at her neck. Trusting her abilities, he returned his attention to Kuno. He dodged several sword swings and the landed a savage kick to Kuno's stomach. Kuno went flying against the back wall. Akane dodged the repeated ribbon strikes from Kodachi and then managed to grab the ribbon. She yanked hard and pulled Kodachi towards her. As the gymnast neared Akane, she was repelled forcefully by a savage kick from Akane. Kodachi ended up crashing into Kuno, who had just gotten back to his feet. Akane shouted, "You two picked the wrong day to mess with us! If I ever see you again, you will never see another sunrise!" Ranma looked at Akane and saw her angry battle aura burning a deep crimson. He recoiled at the rage he saw on her face. Suddenly, he had to jump out of the way as a huge beam of chi energy shot from between Akane's outstretched arms. The chi blast hit Kodachi and Kuno full on and blasted them into orbit, taking most of the back wall and several nearby rooftops with them. "Akane?" Ranma gasped, as the blast subsided. "Damn bastards." Ranma hurried over to Akane and held her tightly in his arms. "That's okay, Akane. Just let your anger go," he whispered into her ear. He felt the tears drop from her eyes onto his back. Ranma grew very worried. Ranma thought. Akane clutched at Ranma's shirt and muttered, "Don't ever leave me, Ranma." "I won't. I promise," Ranma said. Then he realized the source of the huge blast. Anger mixed with depression. Ranma was never more worried in his entire life. The woman he loved was falling into an abyss of her own making and he had no idea what he could do to help. He started to wonder if it was a good idea to teach Akane how to focus her chi after all. -C- -M- -D- That night, Kasumi lay on Akane's bed and held her youngest sister in her arms. Tears dripped from Akane's eyes and flowed down her already tear-stained cheeks. "Go to sleep, Akane. Mother is here," Kasumi said quietly, slowly stroking Akane's red hair. Ranma watched from the doorway. Ranma thought, hoping that he could keep that promise. Until Shampoo's death he had always been confident in his ability to win battles without anyone getting hurt, but now he had seen the deaths of four... A tear flowed down his cheek. Kasumi started to hum a little song that her Mother had taught her long ago and fell asleep just after Akane. Ranma spent the night in the doorway, but he didn't get any sleep. *********************************************************************** >From the personal journal of James Davidson: July 18th, 2057 Hanaki and I were eating dinner by the time she finished explaining about the hijacking and the events that followed. It was hard for me to imagine what it must have been like for Akane to deal with these events. The Akane I know is very strong and determined to protect her family at all costs, but then I guess the events that Hanaki has been describing to me are what helped make Akane stronger. This must have helped her cope with the other events that have occurred in her long life. Hanaki finished her dinner, then examined my leg. "How does it look?" "Not good," she replied. She thought for a moment, then declared, "James, I'm going to climb down the mesa tomorrow and find you some help. We can't wait for a rescue party any longer." "Hanaki, no. It's too far to walk in the desert heat." "Don't worry, I've taken several survival courses at the dojo. I'll make it, but you can't wait much longer for medical attention." Sometime the Tendo family seemed like more of an army than a family, but considering their history I can't blame them training their children to be prepared. Or is that the boy scouts? Damn, my mind is wandering. "Just make sure you come out of this alive." "We both will. I'll leave tomorrow morning. I'd rather start at night to avoid the desert heat, but I'm not climbing down the mesa in the dark," Hanaki said. "No, that wouldn't be wise. Take my palmcard with you, you'll need the GPS map in it to find your way." "Yes I will, thank you. I'll have to talk to my aunt about putting some better survival gear on these spacejets. They aren't meant for the Task Force's combat missions, but they should at least have some decent emergency gear." Suddenly I had to say, "I love you, I hope you know that." "I do. I love you too. Told you we should have gotten married in San Francisco," Hanaki quipped, then lay down beside me and kissed me. "Soon, I promise." "I'll hold you to that, James." "I hope you do." We lay on the floor and just waited for sleep to take us. It didn't. After an hour of restless fidgeting on both of our parts, I felt Hanaki's hands rubbing my chest followed by her sweet kisses. I gasped. "Huh... Hanaki???" "It's our wedding night, right?" I could never refuse her anything, so I said, "Right, my wife." "My husband." [End - Chapter 9] Coming soon: Chapter 10: Burning of the Past: The Wedding Before the Storm ======================================================================= >The real author's (Jim Lazar) notes/ramblings: Things will get better for Ranma and Akane. Promise. Yes, the A.L.F. was inspired by the old ALF TV show. I have no idea what my acronym means, it just popped into my mind when I needed a name for the terrorist organization. I'd like to thank my pre-readers: Jonathan Ng, James Mackey, and Anthony Pardilla. Of course in the end, any mistakes and botched characters are my fault. Revision 0.0 - Rough draft (July 2, 1998) Revision 0.2 - Pre-reader draft (November 21, 1998) Revision 0.3 - FFML draft (December 3, 1998) Revision 1.0 - First RAAC posting (December 16, 1998)