[Ranma/AMS] "Under The Hammer" (2/3)
By Henry J. Cobb
$Id: under_the_hammer_out2.txt,v 1.10 1996/12/23 03:25:06 hcobb Exp $

So Far:

Ranma has paid the ultimate penalty for failure to appreciate
Akane's cooking.

Nabiki got Akane to pin the rap on Ryoga, for fear that she couldn't
survive imprisonment.

The Saotomes have followed their son, by their own hands.

Akane is subject to berserk spasms where she attacks people using a Ki
power, but hasn't killed anybody except Ranma, so far.

P-Chan has prevented Akane's suicide, and keeps a constant watch on her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

    "When I dream, I dream of you.
    Maybe someday, you will come true." -Helen Reddy

"Oh P-chan, just look at the mess you've made!"  College sophomore Akane
Tendo flipped through the course catalogue, as she studied the campus
map and her tentative schedule.  "See, you've got got the automotive lab
scheduled right after advanced analysis, and it's clear across town.
Now which one do I move?"

The small black pig tapped on her schedule.

"OK, the other times for Auto lab are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 -
12:30", Akane held up her right hand, "and MWF 2-3", she held up her
left hand.

P-chan nodded to her right.

"Let's see, that bumps statistical analysis, which has one other time,
which conflicts with soccer.  Oh, this is such a mess, let's have lunch,
OK?"

P-chan quickly nodded.

"Okonomiyaki or Ramen?  Pork?"

"Bwee!"

"Just kidding."

As Akane consulted the phone book, P-chan wandered the campus map,
getting throughly lost.  "Bwee?"  As the mascot of Delta Gamma Pi
Omega, he was the only animal or male allowed inside the sorority.

Akane giggled as she dialed for delivery. "P-chan, you're so silly."

"Hello, you have reached the Diety Ombudsman Office Hotline."

"Sorry, I must have dialed the wrong number --- Ranma?!?"

"Oh, hi Akane.  I'll be right over."

"RANMA!?!"  Akane screamed at the dead line.  Using both shaking hands
she managed to hang up the phone.  It's a trick.  It's gotta be a trick,
but why would anybody do this?  Unless, they know I did it?

Akane looked across at P-chan, but he seemed as surprised as she was.

One of Akane's roommate Inne's crystal pendants hanging in a sunbeam
suddenly cast a dazzling lightshow on the floor, Akane blinked and when
she could see again, a man was standing there, wearing a simple white
robe.  He drew the hood back from his head.

It was Ranma, she was sure of that.  He was a few years older, a man
now, but she could never forget that face.

"R-Ranma?"  It had to be some sort of a trick.  How dare they try and
fool her like this?  Akane felt her anger rage.  She reached out and
held the hammer.  The hammer.  It looked brand new, with no trace of
what it had last been used for.

Akane dropped the hammer and backed away to the corner, staring at the
spot on the floor where it should have fallen.  She dropped to her knees
and continued to stare at that spot, hands in her lap.  "G-Go ahead and
do it.  W-Whatever it is you've come to do.  Just do it.  I can't run
away anymore."

Akane heard Ranma's approaching footsteps above the thunder of her own
pulse.

Ranma took her hands and helped her to her feet.  Then he raised her
chin in one hand to make eye contact.  "Akane Tendo, you have been
judged..."

The hammer of her heart skipped a beat.

"...and found worthy of divine intervention.  You may wish for anything
you like, but you only get one wish."

That doesn't make any sense, isn't he here to punish me?  Unless,
unless...  "This is a trick, a test, isn't it?  I'm meant to ask for
something above me, beyond my ability to control.  Something that will
destroy me utterly.  Is that it?"

She searched his eyes for an answer, but found none.  In death he had
somehow found a poker face.

Finally Akane cleared her throat and made her choice.  "I can't help
it.  I'm not worthy, but I can't resist."  She buried her face in his
strong chest as she wrapped her arms around him.  "I wish.  I
wish... Ranma, I wish that you'd stay with me forever."

She felt him lift from the floor, but she continued to hold on.  He
started to spin around in midair as she tightened her grip.  She heard
articles of furniture sweep around the room.  He started to shine bright
as the sun and she shut her eyes tightly.

Finally they settled back to the ground, his arms around her also.

Blinking away the afterimages she looked into his face and saw a faint
grin, but she couldn't tell if it was from relief or amusement.

"Your wish has been granted."

Akane didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything.  She just
stood there, lost in the feel of him, and then heard the doorknob turn.

Oh no, the sorority girls, she thought, and no time to hide him.  Akane
felt a familiar, unexpected change under her arms.

"What's going on in here?" Asa, the sorority president, asked.

Akane didn't reply, but stared at the woman in her arms.

"And who are you?"  Ume added.

"I'm, ... Akane's cousin, Ranko Tendo."  Ranma, in her girl form,
improvised.  "We haven't seen each other in a few years.  I'm afraid the
reunion got a little out of hand."

Akane, realising how tightly she was still holding Ranma, in front of
her sorority sisters, quickly let go and stepped back.  "Yes, sorry
about that."

As Ranma began to straighten up the room, Akane moved to assist her.
"Here, let me help you with that."

"OK, but try and keep it down to a low roar."  Asa, looked peeved, but
left the matter at that.

After the other students left, Akane asked Ranma. "How did you do that?"

"Normally I can't read minds very well, but you were frantic about being
caught with a man in your sorority."

"No, how did you switch without water?"

"Form is not an absolute.  As I perceive myself, so I am."

"That sounds very powerful."

"It's dangerous.  I don't have the solidity of a real physical form.  I
could go poof at any forgetful moment.  So I stick to what I'm
comfortable with."

"And now you're comfortable with being the girl?"

"One of the first things the boss showed me was all the times I'd
voluntarily used the girl form for some minor advantage or just because
I felt like it."  As Ranma finished moving the last piece of furniture
back into place she noticed something.  "Just look at the dust we've
gotten on P-chan.  Can I give him a bath, to make amends?  If that's OK
with you P-chan?"

The pig looked at Ranma suspiciously, then nodded.

"OK, just remember that he hates hot water."  Akane went back to her
schedule.  She hadn't made much progress on her own, when several
minutes later, she heard.

"Eeeeeek!"

Rushing out of her room, Akane spotted Mari in a panic.  "There's a man
in the bathroom!"

Onna-Ranma stepped out of the bathroom, toweling off P-chan.  "Where?"

"There was a man in there, just a moment ago."  Mari looked back inside.
"He must have slipped out the window."

"Ranko is your responsibility Akane."  Asa admonished her.  "You know
the rules."

Ranma's come back, and now they're going to throw him out of my life,
just for one moment's slip.  How can they do this to me?  The blue haze
fell like a curtain across Akane's sight.

"Akane!  Akane!  Akane!"  Somebody was shouting her name.  It was Ranma,
she was holding Akane back.  Asa was on the floor, holding her throat,
Mari was beside her.  They looked at Akane, like they didn't know her.

"I'm, I'm sorry."  As Akane relaxed, Ranma released her.

"Just go."  Asa rasped.

Outside, they packed a few of Akane's things into her motorcycle.

"We'll send the rest, when you've got a new address.  Don't come back."

"I'm sorry about that Akane, I should have locked the door."

"Don't worry about it Ranma.  But, couldn't you have gone as a girl?
Just put down the seat."

"It was something like that."  Ranma took P-chan back from Akane, as
Akane put on her helmet and gloves.

"You seem to be getting along well with P-Chan."

"We have a deal, he helps me, and I help him try to get what he wants."

"And what does he want?"

"That's a secret, right P-chan?"

The pig nodded sagely.

Akane giggled.  "To think that the only other person to understand him
would be you Ranma."

Later, the three of them were seated in a booth at a coffee shop, the
housing section of the paper spread out between them.

"No P-chan, that's a great place, but it's too far away.  Excuse me
Akane."

Akane looked into Onna-Ranma's eyes and blinked, then Ranma was gone.
"Ranma?"

A couple entered the coffee shop.  "Ukyou, Tatewaki!  What brings you
here today?"

"Hi Akane, I'm dragging him around today for shopping."

"For something important?"

"Yes, we need to outfit a baby room.  There's another Kuno on the way."
Ukyou blushed.

"Oh.  Congratulations!  I'm so happy for you two.  How's life?"

As Ukyou talked about the details of their married bliss, Akane studied
Tatewaki.  He's still stiff, but now he's found his composure.  He even
makes his eyepatch look elegant.  He's never blamed me for that.  I've
never regretted ``loosing'' him and now that I've got Ranma back, I'll
be able to write my own happy story.  But, will Ranma marry me now,
after I've killed him?

Akane felt a sudden surge of disappointment, that faded as quickly as it
appeared.

"Is there something wrong?"  Ukyou reached out to Akane.

"No, I'm fine."

"Well, we'd best get going.  There's so much to prepare."

After the Kunos left, Ranma reappeared as quickly as he had left.

"Where did you go?"  Akane asked.  "And weren't you a girl?"

"Oh, sorry."  Ranma shifted back to her female form.  "I hid inside your
mind.  There wasn't anyplace else to go in time."

"What!  you went where?"

"Sorry about that.  I just couldn't think of anyplace else to go."

"Well, it's OK for you Ranma.  You're the only person I'd want inside my
head."  What did he see there?  I guess I can't ask her to shift back to
the guy form.  It's OK hanging out with Onna-Ranma.  But when we ride,
I'd prefer to be held by the guy.  It's just too petty to ask.

"It's hopeless, we'll never find a place."  Akane pointed to the ads
they'd crossed out. "At least not anyplace I can afford."

"There is a place you can stay, rent free."

"Ranma!  Why didn't you say so hours ago?"

"It's a very special place.  Before we go there, you have to promise me
that you won't wreak it."

Ranma has that determined look on her face, she really means it.
"What's so important about this place?"

"It's something of a shrine to a dear friend of mine.  She was the best
teacher I ever had."

"OK Ranma, I promise that I won't go punching holes in this place, no
matter how much you insult me."

"Good, now let's head west."

Thirty minutes later they pulled up to the temple.

"Kind of rundown, isn't it?"  Akane took off her helmet.

"It hasn't been used for two years, but I've needed an excuse to fix it
up."  Ranma carried in most of the things Akane had packed.  "This is
your room Akane.  Do not enter the room across the hall, either one of
you.  I'll go check on the bedding while you unpack."

"This place is weatherbeaten, but untouched."  Akane started shoving
things into drawers.  "You'd think it'd be a least a little vandalized
by now?"

"One kid did.  Urd got to him.  Now the place is considered haunted by
very unfriendly ghosts."

"Urd?"

"She's a goddess.  I'll introduce you two someday.  Don't worry, we have
permission to stay here."

"When did that happen?"

"During the drive over, in the sunlight."

"Can you do anything after dark?"

"Not much more than I could while alive.  These solar powers are a gift
from Apollo, until I develop my own."

Ranma brought in a futon and some blankets.

"That looks a little snug."

"It's humble, but it's big enough for you and P-chan.  My room is down
the hall, next to the bathroom."

Later, Akane held up her hammer.  It was covered in red.  She couldn't
look down.  "Noooo!"

She heard steps approaching at a run.  She felt herself being held.  She
opened the eyes she'd been holding so desperately shut and looked at
Onna-Ranma.  "Please forgive me."  She begged her.

"Of course, but there's nothing to forgive.  You didn't know what it was
or how to control it.  It's my fault.  I should have seen the signs of
Ki power gone bad and worked with you to control it.  Akane, can you
forgive my blindness?"

"Your blindness?"

"Yes, I'm the one who'd studied this stuff all my life.  I should've
known.  Now it's time for you to forgive me and yourself and move on."

"But you'd said you'd always be here for me!"

"As long as you need me Akane, but you'll get better."

"How is not needing you supposed to be any better?  Can't we try again?"

"No.  The living and the dead do not mix."  Onna-Ranma left Akane with
more questions than answers as she returned to her room.

Monday morning, Akane came to Ranma's room with two garments.  "Well,
which one should I wear today, the red or the blue?"

"I'm sure they're both lovely on you Akane."

"Come on Ranma, I'm going to be late for class!  Just pick one or the
other."

"I can't make your choices.  You have to trust your own judgment."

"OK, be that way!  P-chan, which one do I wear today?"

The pig nodded towards the red dress.

"Thanks, I know I can always count on you P-chan."

As she returned to the temple that afternoon, she found Ranma working on
one of the doors.

"Akane!  How was school today?"

"It was OK."  Akane heard a splash in the distance.  "Where did you get
the construction materials, and why don't you just wave your hands and
fix it all up?"

"My office has helped many people throughout history.  Many of them are
quite happy to help when we ask.  Consider it a conspiracy of good.  As
for waving my hands at the problem.  Well, I'm just not very good at
construction magic.  I'm still very new at this."

"Why don't you get some of these friends to help you out?"

"I need to place everything by hand.  I don't want to disrupt the
binding magic that is here.  But, I do have help."

P-chan arrived, with a piece of wood held in his mouth.

"Thanks P-chan."  Ranma placed the piece into place.

"He's soaked!"

"Fell into that bucket again?  Sorry about that, we'll have to move
that."

The next Sunday Akane was working in the kitchen, under P-chan's
direction, when she heard a motorcycle pull up to the temple.

"Hey Keiichi!"  Ranma called from the roof, where he had been replacing
tiles.  "Akane, P-chan, come out here, there's somebody I'd like you to
meet."

Akane took off her apron and picked up P-chan.

"Keiichi Morisato, I'd like you to meet Akane Tendo and P-chan."

"Pleased to meet you miss.  Say, aren't you Ranma's old girlfriend from
Highschool?"

"Yes, but she's just a client now."

"Why are you two here at the temple?"

"Ranma got me thrown out from my old sorority."

"They had a no-guys rule?"  Keiichi asked.

"Yes, I hope you don't mind our presence here."  Ranma said.

"No, it's too perfect."  Keiichi shook Akane's hand.  "She'd have wanted
the temple used for the clients."

"What brings you here today Keiichi?"  Ranma asked.

"Two years ago, on this day..."  Keiichi looked at the flowers he
carried.

"Damn me for forgetting."  Ranma bowed to Keiichi.  "Can you forgive my
oversight?"

"No problem.  Can we proceed?"

"Sure."

They walked to the room Akane had been forbidden.  Inside there were
dozen of photos of a foreign woman.  Some of the photos had Ranma or
other persons in them, but most were of her and Keiichi.

"Please forgive this intrusion Belldandy."  Ranma bowed again to
Keiichi.  "We'll leave you to your mediations."

Keiichi nodded, as he replaced the faded flowers at the shrine.

Ranma sat in the living room, silent and moody.

Akane went back to her cooking.

Hours later Keiichi reemerged, his eyes red from tears.

"Will you stay for tea?"  Ranma offered.

"Sure.  You've been working on the temple?"

"Yes, I have to work carefully around her spells."

"You've doing a very good job.  I remember when you first came to the
temple.  You couldn't control the changes.  Everytime we'd turn around
you'd shift forms."

"Ranma was living here in the city?"  Akane wondered why he had been so
close and yet he hadn't even called.

"Besides from being dead, yes.  Those two years with Belldandy were the
best in my, er existence.  She taught me so much.  There's so much I
want to share.  I've dedicated my career in the office to her."

"It's been nice talking with you again Ranma, and nice meeting you
Akane, but I've got to go run an auto-club meeting."

"Akane's in automotive engineering too.  Think you could use another
undergraduate?"

"Plenty of room, feel free to come by our clubhouse anytime."

As the sound of Keiichi's motorcycle faded into the distance,
Ranma's smile faded and he sat down on the steps.

"What's wrong?"  Akane asked.  "What happened to her?"

"She loved him too much.  There was something she so desperately wanted
to give him, but she couldn't.  She couldn't face the fact of her own
death.  In a way, she's got her chance now.  She's alive out there
somewhere.  Perhaps they'll meet again."

"Couldn't your office reintroduce them?"

"Remind me to tell you about Karma sometime Akane."

	Henry J. Cobb	hcobb@slip.net          http://www.io.com/~hcobb