OK, here it is, the final version.
**********
Denial
A Ranma 1/2 fanfic
All rights to Ranma 1/2 belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Sue someone with
money, leave me alone.
***
Ranma was dead. It wasn't a great death, the kind you hear about in tales
and legends. It wasn't a death for the sake of others. No, it was a
small, meaningless death, the kind of death that makes you shake as you
realize how fragile human beings really are.
Even martial artists.
***
It was a normal morning at the Tendo household. Ranma was sparring with
his father while the Tendos ate at the table. Akane paused from her eating
to watch the spar, and snickered as Ranma fell into the pool.
His father landed at the side of the pond and laughed at his son. After a
moment, he jumped into the pool, going panda, and pulled onna-Ranma out of
the pool, and put her down at the side of the pool.
Onna-Ranma's neck was bent at an unnatural angle, and her chest was still.
Genma-panda merely stared at his son for a moment, then knelt beside the
body and wept.
***
At the funeral, the only one not grieving was Akane, and she was confused
by it. She felt only...relief that Ranma had died. She tried to feel
guilty about it, but every time she even started to remember the things
about Ranma she liked, they were drowned in anger at the things about him
she hated.
So Akane didn't think of Ranma at the funeral. She thought of the others.
Shampoo, who was crying as she had for days before. Mousse stood
protectively beside her, his face grim. He constantly looked sideways at
her, like he wanted to touch her, but resisted. Akane could almost read
his mind. He hated hated Ranma, but Shampoo loved him. Mousse could see
that now. As much as he wanted to be the one she loved, he won't be the
kind of man who takes advantage of a grieving woman.
Ukyo stood several feet away, her face streaked with the tears she had
finally stopped crying. She stood alone, and that sight touched Akane a
great deal, almost bringing tears to her eyes.
Kodachi was stiff, and proper, as was her brother beside her. Neither had
said anything, before or after, recognizing that no matter what their
feelings for Ranma or the others here, this was not the time.
Her sisters stood beside her, Kasumi crying softly and Nabiki dry-eyed, but
both grim as they tried to hold up their father, who was weak-kneed with
grief.
Ranma's father merely stared at the tomb, unblinking, constantly mouthing
the words "My son. I killed my son."
Ryouga stood off to the side, and Akane noted with shock that he too had
been crying. Ryouga, who tried to kill Ranma for years. Ryouga, who was
Ranma's worst enemy. Ryouga was crying for Ranma.
***
Akane sat in the park after the funeral, trying to sort out her feelings.
*I should be grieving. My fiancee died!* She paused, and thought about
that. Was Ranma ever really her fiancee? Akane shook her head in
negation. No, fiancees don't act the way he did. Ranma may have been
engaged to her, but she never loved him.
"Akane?" She turned, and saw Ryouga standing behind her. "Are you OK?"
"I think so, Ryouga-kun," she said, and chuckled softly, turning away.
"It's weird. I should feel unhappy. Sad. Something. But I only feel
relief. Ranma's gone, and I'm kind of glad. My life is easier now."
Her words were greeted with a long period of silence. Worried, Akane
turned, and was shocked to see Ryouga glowing with battle-aura, his face in
a feral snarl she had never seen before.
Ryouga, for his part, was overcome with an anger and depression he had
never felt before. He was finally seeing the real Akane for the first
time, and what he saw sickened him. "You BITCH," he growled, his voice
hoarse with anger. "Your fiancee, my best damn friend is dead, and you're
GLAD?" He started to shake, and with effort controlled himself. "What
kind of monster are you? Didn't you care for him at all?"
Akane felt herself growing angry. "I never loved that perverted baka! He
was always mean to me, he never respected me at all, he was always chasing
after other women, he..."
"HE LOVED YOU!" Ryouga roared, overriding Akane's words. "Why do you think
he fought for you all those times? He ruined all those dates because he
was jealous. He watched over you as you slept. He followed you every time
you went jogging. Ranma's entire world revolved around you! I saw him
looking at you when he thought no one was looking, how he wanted more than
anything to scream out his love for you. How could you be glad?"
"Why do you care?" Akane retorted. "You were trying to kill him for the
past year!"
Ryouga just stared at her in amazement. "You never understood, did you?
You still don't." He turned, so she couldn't see the tears falling from
his face. "Ranma was my best damn friend. That's why I chased him.
That's why I fought against, and with him. Hell, I even agreed to help
your parents get the two of you together, because I thought you two cared
about each other." He paused. "I see that it was one way." He turned and
glared at Akane, the hatred smouldering in his eyes. "I'm glad Ranma's
dead now, because even death is better than a life with a monster like you,
Akane."
With that, he turned, and walked away. Akane stared after him, her anger
receeding as the words he said hit her. "Ranma...loved me?"
Finally, the tears began to come.
--
Christopher "God-boy" Angel
cja124@mail.usask.ca http://www.engr.usask.ca/~cja124
-the only guy on the FFML who HASN'T seen all of DBZ