Hello all!  This is a sequel to my first fanfic “The Second”.  The first 
response to that fanfic was “That was deeeepressing!”  Soooooo, I came up 
with this fanfic.  Enjoy!  C & C are welcome!


				“Well, Well - Part 1”


Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction
“Well, Well - Part 1”
by Suds-kun (suds1964@tir.com)

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Ranma 1/2 characters are created by and copyright Rumiko Takahashi.  
Published by Shogakukan Inc. and VIZ Comm. and are used without 
permission.  Intended for the sole non-profit use of R.T. fans.
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Ryoga walked along the street.  “How long has it been since I left 
Utcchan’s?” he wondered as he passed a number of very tall buildings.  
“This has got to be New York, I remember those two tall buildings over 
there and the Statue of Liberty.  It’s going to take me forever to find 
that well!”  Ryoga stopped and looked at his map.  It was a little worn 
and he could still make out the big X at the bottom.  “One of Ukyo’s 
okonomiyakis would sure taste good, now.”

Trudging along, his thoughts drifted back to when he found Ranma.  Blood. 
 Lots of blood.  And it seemed like a piece of Ranma was over here, and a 
piece over there and ....  Then there was the mad dash to the Tendo dojo. 
 “I was the first to find Ranma, but it took me three hours to get to the 
dojo.”  Tofu-sensei was there.  He said he gave a sedative to Tendo-san 
and Nadoka-san.  Kasumi was hugging her sister, Nabiki.  Genma-san was at 
the police station.  Ryoga remembered his knees give way and slumping 
against the wall.  Tofu-sensei said some comforting words and patted me 
on the back.  “I remember waking up the next morning and seeing 
Tofu-sensei helping Kasumi with the morning chores.”  He mumbled to 
himself.  “But I could tell that the Tendos and Saotomes were 
devastated.”

The funeral was dark.  Everyone showed up, except for the Kunos.  
Everyone started crying.  First Ukyo, then Shampoo and then everyone 
else.  I never would have been able to make it through the funeral 
without Akari.  She was there when I woke up at the Tendos.  Kasumi had 
called her and she was there for me.  She made sure I was at the funeral 
and then the Tendos and everywhere else.  “It sure was hard leaving her 
behind,”  he breathed.  I know now that Akari will always be there for 
me.  She’s the one who loves me and even doesn’t mind that I don’t turn 
into a pig.  She loves pigs and when she found out I was cured.  She 
still said she loves me.  “When I return, I swear I will never leave you 
again, Akari!”  Ryoga shouted.

The sand Ryoga was trudging through was hot.  The sun was hot.  But, he 
had experienced this before.  The extra clothing in the back-pack was 
there for the different places he ended up in.  He saw a caravan of 
camels in the distance.

Shampoo, Cologne and Mouse had returned to China a month after the death. 
 They quietly closed up shop, sold the Nekohatten and left without a 
word.  No one was surprised.  Mouse finally kept his mouth shut around 
Shampoo.  He didn’t proclaim his love once.  Just helped Shampoo with 
everything she did.  “I hope they find happiness.”  Ryoga wished.  
Shampoo had taken it pretty hard, but held up far better than some.

As he slid across the ice towards a mound of earth.  Ryoga looked at the 
penguins that waddled about.  This made him think of Kuno Tatewaki.  The 
police had interrogated him all night.  In the morning they let him go.  
“It would have been a waste of time and money to press charges against 
him,” the police alleged.  This didn’t sit well with Kodachi.  “Kuno is 
now permanently paralyzed on his right side and Kodachi is in an insane 
asylum for the rest of her life,” Ryoga said, his breath hanging in the 
cold air.  Two of three more casualties.

Ryoga looked at the map.  “Happosai gave this to me,” he said as he 
remembered the last time he saw Happosai.  Happosai had gone on a rampage 
after hearing of Ranma’s death.  No matter how many bras and panties he 
“collected,” he would start crying into the delicates and then scream in 
rage.  He would continue the stealing, crying and raging cycle until he 
would fall asleep from exhaustion.

Ryoga thought of how Akari had brought him to the Tendo’s.  Happosai had 
asked specifically for him.  Ryoga walked into the room.  Happosai 
motioned for him to come in and close the door.   There was only the two 
of them in the room.  “Ryoga, my boy,” Happosai wheezed from his bed, “I 
have a quest for you.  My heart is broken and soon my physical heart will 
also break.  Tofu-sensei says that my running around the last month has 
overtaxed my body.  I don’t have much longer.  I have found a way to lift 
the darkness from our lives, but I am unworthy to fulfill the quest.”  
Happosai handed Ryoga a piece of paper.  It was a map.  “These 
instructions will guide you to a special well.  I’m unable to remember 
its name.  If you throw a five yen coin into the well, any wish that you 
have will be granted.  This can be done unlimited times.  But, your wish 
has to be noble.”  Happosai started to cough and couldn’t stop.

Ryoga slapped Happosai on the back a couple times and the coughing 
subsided.  “I reached the area near the well, but I couldn’t enter the 
clearing where the well was located.  It was as if there was a barrier 
that prevented me from reaching the well.  I returned home and that is 
what caused my first heart attack.”  Ryoga let out a small gasp.  “Yes, 
Ryoga.  I did try to bring back either Ranma or Akane, but a hentai can’t 
get near that well.  I want you to try.  If your thoughts are noble, you 
could have your heart’s desire.  For me, I want you to try to reach the 
well.  Now, go.  I’m tired and need to sleep.”  Ryoga stood and left, not 
looking back at the old man.

“I was going to try and complete Happosai’s quest, but I had to tell Ukyo 
first.  If I succeeded, would Ukyo be able to handle the consequences?” 
Ryoga thought.  Ukyo had closed down the restaurant for a week when she 
learned of the seppuku.  After prodding by Konatsu, Kasumi, Nabiki and 
Akari, she reopened.  Akari had talked to Konatsu about something.  
Probably about how to treat Ukyo.  Ukyo had taken Ranma’s death the 
hardest.  But she was also recovering better than everyone else.  She was 
treating Konatsu more fairly, and the two of them would toss Tsubasa out 
as if they were a tag team.

“Sweet Akari had guided me to Utcchan’s,” he remembered.  I shared 
Happosai’s story and then my plan.  Ukyo paled at the thought of what I 
was going to do.  Konatsu noticed this, walked over to Ukyo and then 
stood beside her.  Not saying a word or touching her, just trying to be 
there for Ukyo.  “We should plan this out a little better, sugar.”  Ukyo 
said as the color came back to her face.

I kissed Akari good-bye as I left Utcchans.  There were no smiles, just 
grim expressions.  “I will return to you, Akari.”  Ryoga said out loud.  
He looked around.  There was a clearing just ahead.  He looked at the 
well worn map and realized that the well was just ahead.  With joy he ran 
towards the clearing, hit something hard and landed on his back.  “Nani?” 
he shouted.  He stood up and held his hand out.  He could feel something, 
like a steel wall, but could not see the wall.  It was like the wall was 
invisible.  Then a bird flew by Ryoga.  “The bird will hit the wall,” 
Ryoga thought.  But the bird flew on, as if there was nothing there.  
Ryoga could feel that the wall was still there, even where the bird had 
flown through.  “This must be what Happosai said about being ‘unworthy’, 
“ Ryoga choked.  He fell to his knees and felt the old despair engulf 
him.

End Part One

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In Part Two ...

Ryoga stood, turned and opened his eyes.  Standing before him were Ranma 
and Akane!

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Thanks to Don Wang and skywise for their comments and help!