Hi everybody.  I was discussing this fic with a friend on FFIRC (you
know who you are) and it was driving me crazy this morning so I just
sat down and wrote it.

Comments would be nice, even if "I like" or "I don't like"

Please, no flames.


Fleeting Memories

by
D.Fire
phongb9@idt.net

	Akane confronted the dark-suited boy in the alley her friends
had just vacated.  What was Ranma doing with her friends, anyway?  And
what was that flash of light?

	Before Ranma could leave the dark passageway, Akane hopped
down from the roof she had been sitting on and blocked his way.

	"A-Akane!" the pig-tailed boy stammered out.   A look of
confusion passed over his face, but soon resolve replaced it.  "I
guess it's good ya found me.  I needed to talk to you, too."

	"Talk?!" Akane almost yelled at him.  "What's going on, Ranma?
This whole day's been totally weird!  I come home from our class trip
which *you* happened to miss, and nothing makes sense!"

	Ranma waved his arms, saying, "I can explain, Akane.  If you
just --"

	"Explain?  You had been tell me what's going on.  First, I
couldn't find you!  I thought you were with that hussy, Shampoo!  But
I went over to her restaurant.  The place looked deserted!"

	"Well, you see, Ak --"

	"My next thought was to search for you at Ucchan's.  Her being
the *cute* fiancee.  But she's gone too!  A couple of customers told
me she left three days ago!"

	Again, Ranma tried to interject an explanation, "Will you let
me --"  He was unsuccessful.

	"Then I go home and ask everyone where you are!  What do they
say?  'Ranma?  Who's Ranma?'  Your father broke into tears when I
mentioned your name!  What's going on!?"

	"Will ya let me get a word in edgewise, you uncute tomboy?!"

	Ranma's words caused an immediate reaction in Akane.  Actions
on autopilot, Akane reached out her hand and snagged an available
empty trashcan.  Without even thinking, she threw it at his head.
What happened next surprised her.

	The martial artist, who had so many times before been on the
receiving end of her righteous anger, casually swatted the object
heading for his face out of the air and into the wall.  Stunned would
be too mild a description for Akane's current state.  "Y-you ..."

	Ranma swiveled back to Akane, a mask of stone upon his face.
"*Will* *you* *please* *let* *me* *explain*?"  Each word came out from
behind ground teeth.

	A little frightened at the unexpected turn of events, Akane
mutely nodded a 'yes'.

	Calming his irritation, Ranma took a deep breath and began to
speak.  "Something happened while you were gone, Akane.  And ...
someone gave me a choice.  I - I decided to accept."

	He continued, "All the other fiancees are gone, Akane.  I ...
made them leave.  Shampoo and her grandmother have moved back to
China.  And Ukyou ... well, she's happy in Osaka, I think.  Kodachi
has also been ... persuaded."

	"All who's left is you, Akane.  The others, even your family
or my family.  None of them remember me.  They weren't lying when they
answered you."

	Seconds ticked by as Akane absorbed this information.  It all
seemed so preposterous that she couldn't believe it.  There wasn't
enough of Shampoo's mystic formula to erase everybody's memories.
Akane balled her hands in anger.  'How dare he?!  How dare he try his
crazy lies on her?!' came her furious thought.

	Her next words impacted on Ranma like a hammer blow to the
gut.  "You bald face liar!  I can't believe you!  It's bad enough that
you've probably spent the past week with your two other fiancees, but
how dare you try to cover it up with this lie?"

	Akane looked around.  "You're all trying to play some cruel
joke on me.  Come out Shampoo!  Come out Ukyou!  Ha, Ha!  Real funny!"
She rounded on Ranma.  "And you!"  Akane pointed a finger at him.
"You must think me stupid in telling me a story like that.  I thought
it was bad enough that you were a sex-changing pervert, but now you're
big fat lia --"

	*SLAP*

	Akane staggered back as Ranma's tempered blow struck her
across the face.  She collapsed to her knees and tears formed in her
eyes.  She couldn't believe it!  In all the time that she had known
Ranma, he had never retaliated to her words or her actions, at least
not physically.  Unwilling to lose her pride, she screamed out, "I
*hate* you.  I HATE you.  I *HATE* you."

	Ranma looked stunned himself.  "I-I'm sorry, Akane.  I didn't
mean t-to --"

	She didn't let him finish his apology.  "Get out of here!
You're no longer my fiancee.  I wish I had never met you!  Even more,
I WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN!!"

	At her final words, a dead silence lay between them.  Although
Ranma had looked apologetic before, a painfully neutral expression sat
on his face.  Flat, dead eyes gazed at her from a gargoyle-like face,
and the iciness of pig-tailed boy's next words drove shivers down her
spine.

	"So be it, Akane."  The words were spoken softly, but their
impact would have staggered her had she not been on her knees already.

	Coldly, quietly, he continued, "I have three things to tell
you."  As he spoke, Ranma pulled out a small pen and began fiddling
with it.  The whole time he manipulated buttons too small to see, his
gaze never left Akane.

	She had stepped over the line, Akane realized too late.  She
didn't know which line it was, but without a doubt, she had trampled
over it and was now firmly ensconced on the other side.  Fear started
gnawing at her heart as she faced his words like a deer trapped in the
headlights of an oncoming truck.

	"One, I'm joining an organization that controls unlawful alien
incursions in Japan."

	'That doesn't make any sense,' thought Akane silently.
'Immigration doesn't need someone like Ranma.  What use would an
over-powered martial artist be to the government?'  Thinking that he
was once again making a fool of her, Akane started once more to feel
anger.

	"Two, P-chan really is Ryouga.  I accidentally knocked him
into a Jusenkyo pool over two years ago."

	At first, Akane was taken aback.  Pieces fell into place as
she realized the truth of his words.  'Why didn't I see it before?!
That stupid bandanna!  And Ryouga's fear of water!'  Anger boiled in
her heart, making her almost miss his next words.

	"And three."  This last was spoken with some emotion.  "I-I
loved you, Akane.  I t-thought that you might have l-loved me, too.
But I see I was wrong."

	Akane's first thought was, 'I can't believe it.  He said it!
I've been waiting for him to say that for the past year!'  But then
the meaning of the latter part of his statement sunk in.  A second
frantic thought intruded, 'Ohno!  Ohno!  He thinks I ... hate him.
But I've got to tell him!'

	Akane opened her mouth to speak, "Ran ---"

	*FLASH*

	***

	Akane walked to school along her normal route.  Beside her,
Nabiki was chatting away, talking about obscure bets and things she
had no interest in.

	For some reason, today she felt sad.  It had come on her early
this morning when she had gone for her morning jog.  Something had
felt out of place.

	Even now, she puzzled why, every so often, she would look over
to the fence and expect ... something to be there.  But there never
was.  'A pig-t...'  She couldn't complete the thought.  'That's silly,
P-chan's safe at home,' she thought with a smile.

	But still.  She couldn't help feel that a piece of her heart
had been irretrievably lost somewhere.