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Miss/Fortune

Epilogue

Disclaimer: Takahashi created the paints, I used my own easel. And maybe
diluted some of the colors...


Ranma screwed his eyes shut. Not like this. He hadn't wanted it to come
to this. He released a strangled sob, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry,
Akane-chan."

Ryouga actually had the audacity to laugh, as he mocked Ranma, "Come on,
'Akane-chan.' Let's leave this pathetic loser." Her turned away
contemptuously, ready to leave.

"No."

Ryouga's smile faded. Akane was not supposed to disagree with him. He
whirled to stare at her, confused, and wondering why she was simply
standing still. Finding his voice, he asked, "What?"

Akane stared at the bandana-clad boy in front of her the same way
someone might have looked at a bug that she was about to step on. "I
said, 'no'."

Ryouga's jaw dropped, while Ranma gestured his allies back. Stricken,
the lost boy yelled, "What do you mean, 'no'? Don't you love me?" In the
background, Shampoo gasped, then began urging the others to flee.

With a scowl, Akane responded, "I hate you." Her voice carried absolute
conviction in it, and nothing else.

Ryouga's face fell, in shock. How could this be? He'd had her! He'd had
her! "What... what about our child?"

Akane stared down at herself, considering, then raised her eyes to meet
Ryouga's. Her voice was thick with malice, trembling with a near loss of
control. "I hate it almost as much as I hate you... but it adds to the
hate I feel for you..."

Ryouga collapsed to his knees, stunned. "What... what about... You said
you loved me!" he whimpered. "You always said..."

Hate. It echoed through her, like the depression had earlier, but
stronger -- oh, so much more sweetly powerful. The taint of it flowed
through her, came to her easily, as she gathered her essence, her ki,
into one force, a single burst... and then... to name it. Her voice came
across as a whisper, "Akuma doki dan."

Ryouga's eyes widened as a blast of compressed air slammed into him,
knocking him to the ground. He groaned weakly, feeling pain blossom
throughout his body that even the breaking point training couldn't
compensate for. As he dazedly regained his feet, he saw her hands,
wreathed in a nacreous black and red glow, like some horribly infected
wound. The air about her seemed to ooze hate, and malice.

He could only stare miserably, as Akane grinned down at him, channeling
her rage into a physical force... showing what she truly _did_ feel.

Ryouga was left with only one choice, and he took it. Akane hated him.
After all he'd done, all they'd had... she hated him. He felt the
depression that she had banished in their time together return
full-force. He had nothing to live for; she hated him.

And he didn't want to live, either. He built up his, ki, climbing to his
knees and staying there. There was no reason stand on his feet, there
was no room for pride, only depression. The fact that Ranma would be
left with nothing wasn't any satisfaction to him anymore. He felt it
build, rising, flowing through him like a thick corrugated steel cable,
tearing him apart in it's rush to pool in his ki reserves...

He realized than that his ki reserves weren't even very great, compared
to what he had seen, and threw more dejection into the mix. Failure.
Hated. Loser.

Akane studied him, contempt apparent on her face, and began to build a
charge to counter his own. She hated him. It was an absolute thing. The
koi rod left room for nothing other than love, pure or otherwise,
everything was removed to make room for love, an obsessive love... and
she could feel nothing else.

Except for the box, that Ranma had left her with.

But Ranma was nothing to her, now. There might have been, once... but
there was room for nothing but hate, now. Ryouga was destroying his ki
slowly, burning into a single charge, making himself a vessel of
depression as he stared at her.

She sneered, already being a vessel of hate, and two overlapping columns
of ki began to build. An angry red, and a sickly green, both mottled
through with writhing black strands, seeming indistinct, but slowly
building.

Ryouga's shishi houkodan built, the heavy ki coalescing above, while
Akane's hot, angry ki built from somewhere beneath the ground. Staring
at Akane with already dead eyes, Ryouga said, "I guess we both lost."

The earth begin to crack, and heave near the pair, as a malevolent red
glow rose to meet the diseased green, both massive with pure, unbridled
emotion.

But it wasn't enough for Akane. She focused, pouring herself, her ki...
_everything_ out, and into this one, final blast, throwing everything
into it, until she was empty. The small voice in the back of her head
said that this was for the best, all things considered. And she agreed.

She felt a brief surge of blood and bile rise in the back of her throat,
and fell to the ground, still channeling herself into the technique, and
spat.

Akane sneered, and released her cry at the same time as Ryouga. "Perfect
akuma doki dan!" and "Perfect shishi houkodan!"

There was a moment of pure silence, and then the simultaneous noise of
rending flesh and cracking stone. Then another moment of charged
silence, as the color of the ki intensified, and two forces of pure
emotion met.

***

Ukyou's eyes widened in terror, as the two forces clashed with
cataclysmic violence, spraying up dirt and rocks in a blinding wave. Ryu
snapped his cloth out, shielding both her and the amazon, while Ranma
dashed into the center of the storm.

He swirled his cloth about him, his own aura flaring out brightly in an
attempt to stave off the affects of the other two. The actinic blue held
its own against the malevolent red and sickly green, seemingly
impervious... but the sinister blackness began to approach, tainting his
ki as he charged, until he found her.

Her eyes were glassy, as a bloody stain on her chest expanded slowly.
The koi mark.

Ranma wasted no time, gathering her up in his arms and charging free of
the final orgy of destructive forces.

Earth, stone, and tainted ki exploded, sending bright streamers of color
and energy forth, and leaving nothing but a vast crater. Ranma spared no
attention for the sight, instead looking down at Akane's chest. Beneath
the stained cloth of her shirt, the mark had been torn off, leaving a
wide, bloody gouge.

Ranma hung his head, and closed Akane's eyes, as she coughed, and began
breathing quietly. He carefully collected Akane in his arms, and rose to
his feet.

Clutching her to his chest, he surveyed the battlefield. Herb would
think twice about attacking in the face of what had happened here. He
frowned, eyeing the vast crater for a moment, then turned his back and
began marching away.

Shampoo called back to him, "Ranma! What... what about Ryouga?"

Ranma shook his head, not looking at the smoking depths of the crater.
"I don't care. He's not worth Akane-chan. If he's still alive."

Akane shifted slightly, and whimpered, "Ran... ma..." That done, she
collapsed back into Ranma's arms bonelessly.

Ukyou sighed, shaking her head, as Ryu limped around, testing his leg.
The okonomiyaki chef looked after Ranma as he strode towards the city.
"I guess it's over. We won?"

Shampoo considered for a moment, then nodded. "I think Akane won,
really. But... it's over. Herb isn't stupid enough to mess with Ranma
after this. Ryu beat him just as bad as Ranma did."

Ryu grimaced, deciding his leg was well enough for the time being.
"Yeah, I know. I'm just too much of a bad-ass for him to mess with,
right?"

Ukyou sighed, and Shampoo just rolled her eyes, saying, "Let's just go
home."

Ryu paused for a moment, peering into the crated before they caught up
with Ranma, and shook his head sadly. Ryouga wouldn't be bothering
anyone, now.

*****************************

Akane stared at the box in her hands. Not... not the spatula. She had
reached into the wrong pocket after all. She opened the box with
trembling hands, wrestling for control with each movement. There it was.
A clothing pin.

She gasped, recognizing it, and slowly losing what remained of her
control. She began to slide, and fought back desperately.

She needed to wear the pin.

She grabbed it in one trembling hand, and slowly raised it to her chest.
It was already unhinged, only needed to be pushed through the cloth, but
her hand refused to cooperate.

Why?

She needed to wear the pin... because it would turn love to hate... it
would let her...

Why? She loved Ryouga. She didn't love Ranma...

She needed it... to hate... Ranma... yes, that was it.

Why?

Because Ryouga hated Ranma, and she loved Ryouga... she needed to wear
it to prove her love for him.

Of course.

Her hand slowly began to rise, then quickened its pace, and pinned the
jewel to her shirt.

There was a moment of confusion as magically forced emotion meshed
seamlessly with true emotion. She didn't love Ryouga. She hated him. She
loved... she loved... she used to love Ranma. But now... through all the
koi rod's magic, and through the reversal jewel... even then, she still
wanted Ranma to be happy.

There was no logical reason for her to wish Ranma to be happy, but even
beyond her hate for Ryouga, she felt a sad, silent wish that...
somehow... Ranma could be happy.

Placing the box back in her pocket, she grabbed onto the spatula, and
considered. What could she do to Ryouga? And would it make Ranma happy?

*****************************

Akane woke again, feeling disoriented. There was a faint burning pain
from above one breast, near her heart. She began to sit up slowly,
finding her progress aided by a pair of hands. She groaned, looking
around her in confusion.

She recognized that she was in a hospital, and turned to search for
Ranma, eyes filled with terror. The woman next to her, the redhead...
She sagged in relief, and asked, "Is it over?"

Ranma nodded, smiling at her weakly. "Yes... Ryouga... isn't going to be
bothering us anymore."

The redhead shifted her feet uncomfortably, then sighed, looking towards
a window pensively. Akane swallowed nervously, and tremulously asked,
"What... what's wrong?"

Ranma slumped, and said, "Well... there's good news, and bad news. What
do you want first?"

Akane examined herself briefly, finding nothing out of place except the
odd burning pain in her chest, and a vague sense of loss. "What's the
bad news?"

Ranma swallowed, none of the grim stoic demeanor remaining as she
hesitantly explained, "You... miscarried... while you were out... and...
the damage from your ki attack made it so that... you can't have
children anymore, either. Something like the eggs are still there, but
the rest of the, uh... womb was destroyed. I think. I can get a doctor
to explain it, if you'd like..."

Akane slumped, mulling things over. The loss of... Ryouga's child... was
a loss, but at the same time... "I... I don't think I regret... that...
but... I had hoped..." She _had_ wanted to raise children at some
point...

Ranma smiled, looking vaguely ill. "Well. I'm not worried about having
kids at the moment, but, uh... The good news is that you're fine. And my
mother is taking things well. Sort of. Um. This isn't the greatest time,
and I know things are a little messed up right now, but... since we got
you back, I want to ask you... Will you... Will you... damn it all. Hang
on, I need some hot water." The fidgeting girl turned around, and began
peering around the room.

Akane blinked, a slow smile building. After everything, Ranma still
wanted to be with her? She had slept with another man, carried his
child, lost it, and was unable to bear children of her own... and Ranma
was still willing to accept her? "Yes."

Ranma turned from her search for water, stunned. "Huh?"

Wiping a tear away, Akane repeated herself, "Yes. I think I know what
you were going to ask, and I said yes. And I don't mind that you're a
girl half the time... you should know that." She managed a naughty wink,
forcing the other girl to blush slightly.

Ranma tried to force back a grin, and approached Akane nervously. "You
know... after all that we've done, I feel silly and embarrassed asking.
But... I love you, Akane-chan."

Akane reached out her arms, and Ranma leaned down to give her a tender
hug. Akane sniffled, finally feeling the burden on her heart release.
Finally... finally... finally... There was just one small problem.
"What... what about children? I mean... What are we going to do..."

Ranma blanched, and shook her head. "Uh... Cologne said that... since
I'm an ally of her tribe... there's a way... And... there's another way,
where they can... your and... my... and... ah, screw it. Let's just
worry about that part later, okay, Akane-chan?" Ranma looked nervously
uncomfortable, and shifted her feet anxiously.

Akane flushed, as realization slowly set in. "Oh." She managed, in a
small voice. Embracing Ranma tightly, she felt suddenly very tired
again. Before sleep overtook her again, she murmured, "Love you,
Ranma... Love you lots."

The other girl returned her embrace, whispering, "I love you too,
Akane-chan. I'll love you forever. Now rest, you need your strength."
Realizing that she was already asleep, Ranma collapsed into the chair, a
goofy grin on her face. "Finally... finally... finally..."

---------------
Author's notes:

I don't really know where this came from... but I think I'm happy with
it. Because... sometimes, true love wins out over everything else. So
there.

An explanation of things:

Akuma doki dan: angry demon's attack

And... I don't know. I think that's really it. I know that this part,
and the ending came across a little... rough. Maybe rushed. I'm just not
sure what I should do, though. Mm... Well, as always, C&C is
appreciated, because I have a nagging suspicion that this story isn't
quite as good as it could be... send it to:

brian@azurite.org


--
Haiku of my lament:

Forgive my spelling,
my U.S. education,
is the source of blame.

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