Ranma 1/2:
                          The Letters
                         by Erin Mills
                 based on the creations of Rumiko Takahashi
                 

Prologue:

    She was dying. That much was evident. What wasn't evident was 
*why* she was dying. It happened all of a sudden. One minute she was 
fine and dandy, the next she was bedridden and could barely move.
    She was constantly besieged by little aches and pains that seemed 
to grow in intensity every hour. The mere thought of food made her 
sick and want to rush for the toilet. This was definitely not just 
another illness.
    There was so much to do before she left. So many things to 
resolve. She reached for the notepad and pen next to her futon and, 
with a sigh, began to write...

I.
    Things were quiet at the Nekohanten. At least, as quiet as they 
ever got.
    "HIYA!!" *KRUNK*
    Mousse, a tall Chinese boy with long black hair, white robes and 
inch thick glasses plowed into the wall, the plaster breaking off in 
an outline of his body. Behind him, a Chinese girl with long purple 
hair lowered her fist.
    "Stupid Mousse. Shampoo ought make chestnut duck out of you."
    "M-my darling Shampoo," Mousse replied, half-dazed, as he fell to 
the floor. Shampoo was about to strike him again when the sliding 
door to the cafe opened.
    "Welcome to-" Shampoo began, becoming the perfect hostess. The 
person who had come in was dressed in a delivery uniform.
    "Letter for Shampoo and Mousse,"
    Shampoo trampled over Mousse in her rush to the door.
    "A letter for Shampoo? Maybe it from Ranma!"
    "I need a signature from both of you," the delivery person said. 
Shampoo hauled Mousse up and smacked him until he signed, after which 
she dropped him and took the letter. The delivery person bowed and 
left. The letter was in a plain white envelope. Written on the front 
were the words:

                "SHAMPOO & MOUSSE"

    Shampoo opened the envelope and read the message inside. Mousse 
stood up and read the letter over her shoulder. The two of them 
looked at each other, then back at the letter's surprising text. Then 
they bolted for the door of the Nekohanten.

II.
    Ryoga Hibiki wandered the streets of Nerima, sweat dampening his 
yellow shirt and bandanna. He'd been looking for the Tendo dojo for 
days now, but with no success. Not that this was a surprise. Being 
lost was a way of life with Ryoga.
    As he turned the corner for the fifth time, he saw the delivery 
person. Ryoga was preparing to get out of her way when she stopped in 
front of him.
    "Ryoga Hibiki?" she asked. Ryoga nodded. The delivery person 
pulled a letter and a clipboard from her satchel and held the m out 
in front of him.
    "Sign on line six please," Ryoga did and the delivery person 
began to leave. As she was walking away:
    "Hey!" Ryoga came running up.
    "Would you happen to know where this is?"

III.

    The delivery person knocked on the front door of the Kurendai 
household.
    "Who is it?" asked a voice.
    "Delivery for Tsubasa Kurendai," the delivery person said.
    She jumped when the welcome mat sprouted a pair of arms, took the 
letter, signed for it and vanished into the house. The delivery 
person shook her head and went to her van.

IV.
    "RANMA NO BAKA!!!!"
    The delivery person looked up just in time to see a black haired 
boy with a pigtail come sailing over the front gates of the Tendo 
dojo and land face first on the street in front of her.
    The gates flew open and a girl with short hair wielding a 
gigantic mallet rushed out, preparing to smack the boy with it.
    "Excuse me?" the delivery person said. The girl and boy looked up 
at her.
    "Ranma Saotome?" The boy nodded.
    "Akane Tendo?" The girl nodded.
    "Sign here please," the delivery person held out the clipboard. 
The two teenagers signed and recieved the letter. Ranma opened it as 
the delivery person walked away. Akane noticed the expression of 
shock and perplexment on Ranma's face.
    "What's it say?' she asked. Ranma handed the letter over and 
Akane read:
        "Ran-chan and Akane-chan,
             Please come immediately to Ucchan's. I have several 
             things I need to discuss with you and the others. 
             Specifically, the distribution of my business after I 
             die, which I believe will be sometime in the next few 
             days. Please hurry.
                                              Yours forever,
                                                   --Ukyou."
    "What does she mean `after I die'?" Akane said, looking up. "What 
do you think Ran-"
    But Ranma was already halfway down the street. Akane sighed and 
took off after him.

V.
    As fate would have it, each of the people Ukyou had sent a letter 
to arrived at Ucchan's at about the same time.
    Ranma and Akane were the first to arrive, followed by Mousse and 
Shampoo with Ryoga in tow. All five of them jumped when a Turn Left 
sign on the corner walked over and sprouted the head of what was, 
apparently, a girl of about seventeen.
    "TUSBASA!" all five of them yelled.
    "Sorry," said Tsubasa.
    "What are you guys doing here?" Ranma asked.
    "We recieved a letter from Ukyou asking us to come here 
immediately," Mousse began. "I assume everyone else did as well. I 
know Ryoga did."
    "How come?"
    "We find him wandering outside Nekohanten," said Shampoo.
    "It's a restaurant. At least he's getting locations generally 
right."
    "I don't have to stand here and take this abuse, Ranma," Ryoga 
said, grabbing his umbrella from behind him. Ranma went into a 
fighting stance and for a moment, it looked as though a brawl was 
going to break out if Akane hadn't stepped in.
    "Let's hold off the ego bruising, all right?" she said, 
separating Ranma and Ryoga. "Ukyou asked us here for a reason, and 
I'd like to know what it is," The two boys glared at each other but 
backed off.
    On the front door of Ucchan's was a sign that said, "Closed for 
Private Party. Admission by invitation only." and a smaller one that 
read "Letter holders please come in."
    The six of them enetered the restaurant.

    "Ucchan?" Ranma called. He was leading the group through the 
living quarters behind the restaurant.
    "Back here," came a weak female voice.
    Ranma and the others entered Ukyou's bedroom. It was a 
comfortable room. Posters lined the walls. A few pictures here and 
there: A few group shots of all of them, some of Ranma and Ukyou, 
Ukyou and Akane in some drop dead gorgeous dresses from a night out 
on the town, Ukyou posing like a cover girl on the beach.
    A stereo was set up in one corner of the room, while a safe stood 
in another. A rack with varying sizes of spatulas took up most of the 
south wall. In a third corner, Ukyou's trademark four foot combat 
spatula was leaning against the wall. The fourth corner held her 
futon.
    As Ranma and the others got closer, it became apparent that Ukyou 
was in bad shape. Her skin was unhealthily pale. Her large brown eyes 
had sunk into her head. Her hair, normally shiny and full of bounce, 
hung limply from her head like old ramen noodles. She was thin, 
almost gaunt. Akane swore, from the way her skin was pulled over her 
face, that she could make out Ukyou's skull underneath.
    Ukyou was propped up on a pile of pillows. She smiled faintly as 
the group appraoached.
    "Sit down, please," she said as her friends stood there silently. 
Each person sat on the cushions that were on the floor. Ryoga quickly 
stood up again when his cushion let out a yelp. He tossed Tsubasa 
aside and sat back down.
    "As you can tell," Ukyou began when they were all seated. "i'm 
not in the best condition right now. I've called you all here so I 
can say goodbye,"
    "Goodbye?!" Ranma and Akane spouted.
    "Yes, I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that this is 
something I'm going to get over. I'm going to die and I wanted to get 
everything squared away with each of you before I go."
    "There must be something we can do," Akane said. "Can't we call a 
hospital or Dr. Tofu or something?" Ukyou shook her head.
    "Dr. Tofu's already seen me, and, as far as he can tell, there's 
nothing physically wrong with me. Whatever it is, it isn't like any 
illness he's seen,"
    "So, you're resigned to die," Ryoga said. It wasn't a question 
and everyone could hear the hard tone in his voice.
    "I don't see any other option, Ryoga," said Ukyou.
    "How did it happen?" Mousse asked.
    "I'm not quite sure. I only started feeling like this three days 
ago,"
    "Three *days*?" Akane asked, incredulously.
    Ukyou nodded. "At first, it started like the flu. Upset stomach, 
aches, pains. Then it got progressively worse. I stopped eating, 
every movement was sheer agony. I felt this gnawing emptiness inside 
me. It wasn't hunger. More like a feeling of being...eaten..."
    "Eaten?!" Ranma repeated, standing up.
    "Don't ask me any more. Just leave it at the fact that I'mn dying 
of some unknown disease. Please, Ran-chan, every time I try to figure 
it out, it gets worse." Ranma sat down, annoyed, but not wanting to 
see his friend in anymore pain.
    Ukyou took a deep breath. "I have so much to say to you but I 
don't think I've got the time to say it all, so I'll be brief. Ranma, 
I--" Ranma held up a hand.
    "Don't, Ucchan,"
    "But I've got so much to say,"
    "No! I refuse to let you give up. The Ucchan I grew up with kept 
trying even if she failed. I find it hard to believe that I'm looking 
at the same person! In fact, I don't think thatr person exists 
anymore, so I have no reason to be here!" Ranma stood up and stormed 
out of the restaurant. Akane looked back at Ukyou.
    "He didn't really mean that,"
    "Yes, he did. And he's right," Ukyou replied. "But what he 
doesn't know is that I *am* fighting against this. I'm fighting even 
now to stay conscious ans talk to you. I don't blame him for acting 
like that. I don't want to die, and I'm probably fighting a losing 
battle, but I am *not* going to give up. However, in case I don't 
make it, I want to be sure everything will be taken care of, so I'm 
leaving equal partnership in Ucchan's to all six of you."
    "Are you serious?" Mousse asked.
    "I'm sure you'll do fine. Now if you'll excuse me..."
    Ukyou closed her eyes and soon fell into unconsciousness.
*******

    There ya go, the first part of "The Letters."  In part 2 things 
pick up a little: There's more to Ukyou's illness than meets the eye, 
and Ranma and Co. go on a road trip to find the only known cure: the 
mystic spring water of Hanakatasha, but something else is going on 
and Cologne has something up her sleeve.

    C&C REQUESTED on this one. I really want to know what you guys 
think. I got an "A" on this in my creative writing course last 
quarter but I want to put it up to the harshest critics of all:
    You, the fanfic readers. I hope you like it.
    
                                    ---Erin 2.5