"A Second Chance"
By WebDragon
This fic is hard to describe, even to myself. I don't know what to
think after reading it, really.
Comments and crits are welcome!
Ranma 1/2 = (C) of Shogakukan
A Second Chance
Ranma dodged a plate aimed at his head. Even as the plate
shattered on the wall behind him, a barrage of cups shot out of the
kitchen in his general direction. Using just one hand, Ranma caught all
seven cups and stacked them neatly on the table.
"Look, let's be reasonable, alright? Like the adults we're
supposed to be...."
"I don't care!! You have done enough!! Enough, you hear me?!
ENOUGH!!"
Kouma began to cry and Akane ran out of the kitchen towards the
crib where their son, wrapped in swaddling, waved his pudgy arms and
wailed. Akane took up her son in her arms and held him close, cooing
and soothing him back to sleep. It was these few times that Ranma ever
saw the loving side of his wife - these past three weeks anyway. He
could see tears in Akane's eyes as she rocked their son to and fro,
singing a soft lullaby to Kouma.
Akane's face was red from crying and from anger. Ranma took
a step towards the two of them but Akane snapped a glare at him,
causing Ranma to halt in his tracks.
"Don't you *dare* try and take him away from me! Not now!!
He needs me, not you!"
"I wasn't going to, Akane. I just....just thought that...", he
began to stutter as he explain, his desire to hug his wife and son putting a
lump in his throat. He smelt smoke coming from the kitchen and, as one,
Akane and Ranma ran towards the source.
The oven was in the process of turning a chicken into ash, which
was where all the black smoke was coming from, while a plastic
container melted into an puddle of green goo on the stove top. The rice
in the plastic container was turning black on contact with the red hot
stove coil even as the microwave began counting down to doomsday
with its cargo of unshelled eggs.....
Moving with a speed beyond compare, Ranma pulled the plug on
the microwave, can't have *that* happening a second time, then he
popped the door on the microwave and pulled the eggs out, no sense in
having them explode in the microwave, then he turned the oven and the
stove off, then he grabbed a spatula he scraped off as much of the green
plastic goo and black rice off the red hot stove coil, and then he opened
the window to let the smoke out, and then he grabbed a dishcloth and
draped it over the eggs, just in time to hear them explode under the
dishcloth, now there will be less mess to clean up, then he bustled
Akane out of the kitchen and whirled on her.
"Oh my God. Ranma....I'm so sorry! I...I didn't even...I
mean....I forgot that...", began Akane. Kouma began to cry again in
her arms.
"Akane.....WHY did you bring Kouma in there?! Who knows
what could have happened to him!!"
Immediately, Ranma realized his mistake. Instead of using
Akane's guilt at the kitchen disaster to resolve the situation, he had
attacked Akane's sense of protectiveness towards their child....Akane
narrowed her eyes and her tears flowed dry, her face losing a bit of red.
She walked over to the crib and put Kouma in, tucking him in and
soothing him back to sleep.
She turned a fan on and directed it on Kouma, presumably to
blow the smoke away from him, but she realized her mistake and put it
behind him and facing the kitchen. No sense in sucking the smoke laden
air from the kitchen and blowing it on Kouma. Then she marched up
to Ranma and slapped him, hard. As Ranma rocked on his heels, Akane
slapped him again on the other cheek.
"How DARE you! I know I made a mistake, but I only look out
for the best for Kouma!! I'd sacrifice my LIFE for him, you got that,
Ranma!?"
"Akane, I'm sor...oof!" Akane had punched him in the gut, albeit
with less force than usual, but it still cut off the rest of his sentence.
"Stay away from me if you know what's good for you. Now. Get
out. And if you don't come back, that's all the better for me and
Kouma. Go live with Shampoo or Ukyo for all I care."
That last sentence struck Ranma a painful blow to the heart. It
was like someone had reached into his chest and torn his heart in two,
just to hear Akane's careless words. Ranma straightened and left the
room. He couldn't bear to stand next to Akane after that, those words
which had disavowed all their marriage promises. Not to mention the
love he and she felt for each other. Kouma began to cry again and
Ranma heard Akane running to the crib. <I knew we shouldn't have
picked that name for him.....>, he thought as he grabbed his coat and
left the house, to go for a long, long walk.
- - - - -
It was a cold day in Nerima ward, the onset of winter already at
hand. A swirl of autumn's leaves, brown and wrinkled with age, flew
in front of him and disappeared down the street. In the distance, nearly
at the horizon, Ranma could see the Tendo Dojo raising its distinctive
head above all the neighbouring houses. It was the place he and Akane
had left three years ago when they moved into their new house. Nabiki
had helped them with gifts of money while Kasumi had showed them the
ropes of successful homemaking. Ranma sighed. Sometimes, he wished
that Kasumi hadn't done that. It was the same thing that sparked off all
the pain and angst three weeks ago.
Akane had tried to take Kasumi's words to heart and she had spent
a whole day following Kasumi's instructions to the letter while he was
out with Kouma at a clinic, giving him his daily checkup.
Unfortunately, Akane had taken it upon herself to `spice' up Kasumi's
instructions a little....
Ranma had returned to find the washing machine overflowing with
suds, the iron burning a hole in one of his shirts, and the kettle
screaming bloody murder from the kitchen. He had put Kouma in his
crib and entered the kitchen, where ominous billows of black smoke
issued forth.
The oven had been turning a mayonnaise/sugar/shrimp/egg nog
combination into primordial ooze while Akane attacked a slew of eggs
on her frying pan with her spatula, whacking bits of egg off with each
strike as she tried, in vain, to cook them. This, and more, he had found
out after they had put everything in relative order.
He didn't quite remember the exact details of the argument that
followed after, nor did he want to, but it had ended with Akane running
to their room in tears. She had locked the door and he didn't want to
break it down. And all the while, she cried. And Kouma had begun to
cry, too. Ranma didn't know HOW Akane had managed to get out of
the room and grab Kouma before Ranma could get to his son, but she
did. He had let the matter drop then, but it only got worse the next day.
Sayuri and Sayaka, both Akane's friends, had visited. All had
been well, with all three women cooing over Kouma, until Akane had
decided to whip up a quick snack. Ranma had tried to dissuade her
from doing so but she forged on, despite his efforts to the contrary, and
plopped a plate of *something* on the table and distributed spoons and
bowls around.
Right after the first spoonful, Sayuri and Sayaka found interesting
ways to politely dispose of Akane's dish, with Sayaka going as far as to
dump the contents of her bowl in her own handbag when Akane wasn't
looking at her. Ranma would have applauded their efforts to remain
alive if Akane hadn't tried to feed Kouma a spoonful.
Reacting on instinct, he had knocked the spoon from Akane's
hand. Sayuri and Sayaka wisely chose this time to take their leave,
giving Kouma a parting `coo' before beating a hasty exit out the front
door and down the street, holding their food-filled handbags before
them. What followed after the arguments had ended with Ranma
nursing a bruised head and Akane in a bad mood, seeing red the entire
day.
Ranma sighed and remembered all the little things he and Akane
had done to spite each other every odd day or so since Sayuri and
Sayaka's visit. Then again, he found that he didn't want to remember.
For the first time in his life he felt....tired. It was an emotional and
spiritual exhaustion that reached down to his very extremities and
leeched the life out of him. He couldn't go on like this.
He wondered if he should take time out to visit Hiroshi and his
fiancee. Or perhaps step into the Ucchan and visit Ukyo for a
while.....but neither option seemed to provide him with a solution to his
problems, and he hated unresolved matters.
What he needed was a way to make up to Akane without degrading
himself in the process. And without hurting Kouma as well.
Maybe a gift, or something. It won't solve his problems, but at
least it could help him a little bit. He opened his wallet and checked.
He had thirty-five thousand yen on hand, and a lot more in the bank.
Martial arts teaching and construction work paid quite a bit when
combined, so money wasn't a problem.
Now, if only money could solve all his problems. It wouldn't but
it might help, however little.
Ranma headed off to the mall on his quest.
- - - - -
The first place he went to sold womens' clothing exclusively, and
he felt very out of place amongst the furry and frilly things crowding
him and herding him past knots of chattering customers and saleswomen.
He wondered if the customers, all women, were wondering what a guy
was doing in `their' store...and he shuddered to think of the
implications.
He ran into the lingerie section and his face turned beet red as
he surveyed the skimpy outfits in various colors and shapes. How in hell
was he going to get womens' clothing for Akane if he didn't even know
her size?!
Then it hit him. Ranma left the store and searched for a water
fountain.
Returning a moment later, Ranma-chan tightened her belt and
tucked in her shirt. Thankfully she had her red shirt and black pants on,
and that outfit was sort of unisex. Her female body was slightly shorter
than Akane's but they were about the same build - except around
the...chest area. She tried on a bra, embarrassment turning her face into
a furnace, and picked the size that was one step below the one that fit
her. She paid for it, the saleswoman giving her a strange look as
Ranma-chan pulled out her men's wallet, and left to find more gifts.
She selected a red dress, Akane's favorite color, and put it
on. It was tight-fitting and cut daringly low over her bosom. She
couldn't reach the zipper behind, though. <Time to ask the
saleswoman's help>, she thought as she stepped out of the change room
- right into Daisuke's gaze.
"Umm...Ran..uh..Ranko? What are you doing here?" Daisuke
asked, as embarrassed as Ranma-chan was.
"It..it's not what it seems!! Really!!"
"Yeah..same here. I wouldn't be caught dead in this store if it
weren't for my girlfriend. She's in the booth next to yours...."
Daisuke coughed.
Ranma-chan adjusted her dress around the bust. Then she noticed
Daisuke looking at her and she struck a half-pose.
"Wh-what do you think? I..is it a good dress?"
"Not on you, it isn't, RanMA." Daisuke emphasized the last
syllable of Ranma-chan's name, to get his point across. Ranma-chan
dropped her pose and stared angrily at him.
"NO!! Not me, stupid!! Imagine I'm Akane. Is it good, or
what?!"
"Well....Ranma, my girlfriend is trying on that dress even as we
speak. Do you know how much it costs?"
"No."
"Thirty....thousand....yen."
Ranma-chan stepped back in shock - and bumped right into
Daisuke's girlfriend, who was just coming out of the change room.
"Oh! Sorry about that!" she exclaimed as she steadied Ranma-chan
on her feet. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm...I'm fine. I think."
"Oh, look! Your zipper is undone! Here...let me zip it up for
you." She quickly zipped Ranma-chan's dress up and stepped back.
"You look good in it, you know?"
"Uh...thanks!"
Ranma-chan examined Daisuke's girlfriend, who was showing the
dress off to him. She had long, curly, black hair and she was very
attractive and she seemed full of happiness and joy. <Lucky
Daisuke>, she thought. Then Daisuke seemed to deflate a little and his
girlfriend let out a cry of joy. He pulled his wallet out and opened it,
and he swallowed hard. <Maybe...he isn't so lucky after all....>,
thought Ranma-chan in amusement.
Daisuke shakily waved goodbye to Ranma-chan, with his girlfriend
hanging onto his free arm, and she waved back. Then Ranma-chan was
left alone, at the change rooms. She sighed and pulled the dress off
inside her change room, and she dressed herself in her normal clothes.
She picked up that style of dress, making sure the bust size was slightly
smaller than the one she had just tried on, and she was left with a grand
total of two thousand yen. Another thousand and five hundred yen later,
and the dress and bra were giftwrapped.
Ranma-chan left the store, her wallet and heart lighter than before,
and she spent the rest of her money on food. Tearing into her
hamburger with a vengeance, she wondered if spending all that money
had been justified. She knew that Akane would not be placated by a
dress and a bra, but she hoped that she might calm down enough to hear
her apology.
An apology. She hadn't really, truly apologized to Akane for a
year or so. She was about to, today, until Akane had gut-punched her.
Ranma-chan's grip tightened on her bottle of orange juice, her emotions
getting the better of her. That tomboy! She was about to make up to
her, something she had hardly ever done, but Akane didn't want to
listen. Oh no. Far easier to punch her in the stomach than to stand
there and accept the apology, right Akane?!
The juice bottle cracked slightly and Ranma-chan pointedly set the
bottle down with a thump. What was done was done and she could only
look to the future now, not back at the past. Ranma-chan grabbed her
shopping bags and began to leave the mall.
On the way out of the mall, she noticed a wishing well in the
middle of the atrium, ringed by a gauntlet of shops. <Funny...they
didn't have a wishing well the last time I looked. Oh well.>
Ranma-chan walked by the well, fully intending to take her leave, but
she stopped in her tracks. The wave of shoppers parted around her,
with grumbled curses. Then she walked back to the wishing well and
looked at the sign above it. It simply read "Well of Dreams".
She stared down into its fathomless depths, trying to make out the
bottom from the darkness that stared right back at her, darkness so black
that it seemed to shine and shimmer with a light of its own.
Ranma-chan put her packages down in front of her and she pulled the
last of her money from her pocket - a fifty yen coin, new from the mint
it seemed. Ranma-chan leaned back from the well and closed her eyes.
She was an adult now. How could she possibly be doing this at all?
She didn't even believe in wishing wells, for that matter.
The well beckoned and Ranma-chan leaned forwards. She took her
coin, and held it between her hands and rubbed it. Maybe money could
solve her problems after all. Why not, the well seemed to ask. <It's
just a fifty yen coin...no big deal.> She made her wish. Ranma-chan
tossed her coin into the well and watched the little mote of light fall,
sparkling against the backdrop of the dark well. It skipped off the sides
with a faint clink of metal against stone, then it disappeared from view
without another sound. For what it was worth, it was done.
Ranma-chan went home, the darkness of night already closing in
on the day.
- - -
She entered and checked the kitchen. It had been cleaned up very
nicely, but then again Akane had always been good at cleaning up.
Even what had remained of the plastic container on the stove top was
gone. It looked as if nothing had ever happened at all. She left the
kitchen and looked about.
"Akane? Are you home?" No answer.
She heard Kouma's wail coming from the bedroom and she hurried
there. To find the door was locked. She knocked on it.
"Akane, let me in", she said in as calm a voice as possible.
"Go away, Ranma." Akane's voice was raspy and she sounded
tired, but Ranma-chan could still hear a note of anger in it.
<Ah well. Guess I shouldn't have believed in all that crap about
wishing wells>, she thought regretfully. <At least the fifty yen could
have gone towards something else.> Ranma-chan held her shopping
bags up and she almost told Akane that she had bought gifts for
her....but something held her back from doing so. She sighed and she
went over to the couch and fell on it. Ranma-chan dropped her gifts
beside the couch and curled up on one side.
Maybe in the morning Akane would get over her bad mood. It
irked her to be locked out of her own bedroom, and from her son, but
Ranma-chan thought it a small sacrifice for her continued happiness with
Akane. <Maybe...maybe...in the morning...I could take the both of
them to go and buy something. Like a new car. Yeah...that
sounds..great........>.
Ranma-chan dozed off and let the comforting blanket of sleep
drape itself over her and take all her worries from her. For the first
time, in three long weeks, she felt things were starting to look up.
* * *
Akane sobbed and held Kouma tight against herself as she tried to
sleep on the king-sized bed without Ranma beside her. Even Ranma in
his female form would be have been preferable to nobody. The room
felt so empty. Akane wept and stroked the top of Kouma's head. He
was sleeping like an angel, more at peace with the world than she was.
She envied him.
How she wished to make up to Ranma. She almost had her chance
but...but the idiot had to go and question her ability to take care of her
own son!! She would protect Kouma for all time and for all her life -
so long as breath remained in her, Kouma would be safe. She swore it,
tears already forming in her eyes. A strangled sob escaped her throat
and she lay her head down to sleep.
<Ranma.....>, was her last thoughts before she entered the realm
of dreams, casting off all the worries of her life.
* * *
The morning sun brought Ranma-chan back to awareness and she
sat up, shivering. She swung her feet over the edge of the couch and
rested there for a second. Then she got up and went to the bathroom.
After her morning obligations to the toothbrush and toilet deities, the
latter of which she still had to get used to as a woman, Ranma-chan
went and knocked on their bedroom door. No answer. She tried the
handle and it opened. Strange.
Ranma-chan stepped in and gazed upon her wife and their son,
both sleeping peacefully. She lay down on the bed and tentatively
hugged Akane, heedless of her current form. Kouma struggled between
Akane and Ranma-chan's bosoms, his little hands slapping Akane and
Ranma-chan's breasts in turn, so Ranma-chan eased up and moved back
a bit.
She lay there and waited for Akane to wake up. Doubtlessly she
would still be angry but this little gesture of love might placate her.
Ranma-chan hoped fervently that it might be so. Akane pulled herself
closer to Ranma-chan and began to wake up. Ranma-chan pulled
Kouma out of the way and put him at the head of the bed. Then she
looked into Akane's face until she fully woke up.
"Morning, Akane", Ranma-chan whispered with a smile on her
face. That smile quickly vanished the moment Akane bolted upright
with a shocked expression on her face.
"Wh..who are you!? What are you doing in my bed?!?", she
shrieked as she backed away from Ranma-chan. Ranma-chan slowly sat
up and adjusted her shirt.
"C'mon, Akane. I mean...you're mad at me and all that but this
is uncalled for." Ranma-chan smoothed the hair from her face and
looked at Akane, cocking her head slightly.
"NO!! I'm serious!! Who - the - hell - are - you?! Get out!! Get
out of here or I'll call the police!!" Akane's gaze shifted to Kouma and
she pointed at him. "Is that your kid?! Take him and get out of here
if he is!!"
Ranma-chan's eyes lost their sleepy look and instantly became
sharp. This had gone far enough! To insult her is one thing, but to pull
Kouma into this.....!
"Akane!! Enough is enough! Kouma is our son and you have no
right to drag him into your little game!!" Ranma-chan started to get
angry.
"Our..our son? But...but you're...you're a...." Akane trailed off
as she stared pointedly at Ranma-chan's breasts and womanly figure.
"Oh no. Don't tell me. You're one of those...those people, and you
adopted that Kouma kid as your own and...."
Ranma-chan's mouth fell open. Then she regained control of
herself.
"Akane! No, you got it all wrong!! What's the matter with you?!
I know...come with me!"
"Why should I? I'm gonna call the police right now!!" Akane
lunged for the phone but Ranma-chan was faster. She grabbed Akane
and put her in a headlock. Then, dragging her kicking and screaming
wife, Ranma-chan pulled her into the washroom. She turned the hot
water tap on with one foot and she dipped her head under the hot water
for a second. It was enough. Ranma released Akane and quickly stood
between her and the bathroom door, folding his arms across his chest as
he did so.
"Wh..what the....? You're a man now!"
"Duh, Akane. Like you didn't know that already. Come on. Fun
and games are over. I'm Ranma and you know it!!"
"R-Ranma? I don't know any Ranma!!" Akane's face was all in
earnest seriousness and that gave Ranma something to think about. This
was just like the time Shampoo did that number on Akane, making her
forget all about him. Well....he knew a way to fix that.
"You're uncute! Tomboy!! Built like a brick, can't even kick,
dumb as a hick, hair's a cowlick!!! TOMBOY-O!!!!" He waited for
Akane to snap out of it. What he got was totally unexpected.
Akane leaned against the bathroom wall and wept.
"Ranma...or whoever you are. Let me go home!! I'm...I'm just
too young to die!! First you change...into a guy, then you say that
Kouma was our kid and now you play mind games with me...."
"C'mon...this isn't some sicko psycho movie, you know. You're
really my wife. I can prove it too. Come with me!" He pulled Akane
along with him to the bedroom and he took out a folder from the drawer
in the desk. He handed it to Akane and waited.
Akane slowly opened it and stared at the pictures and legal
documents in there, detailing their marriage and the marriage contract.
It even had their photographs side by side, and Ranma had tacked on a
photo of his girl side. Akane sat down on the bed and her hands
trembled violently. Then she dropped the legal documents and curled
up, and she began to cry again.
"This can't be happening to me...this..this is not real....!"
"Akane, this is happening and this is real! You're my wife and we
have a son, whom we both named Kouma, as in `Lucky Horse'....!"
Ranma sat down beside Akane and held her, feeling her flinch and
shrink away as he did so. <She must have amnesia, or something like
that. I'd better ask her more questions....>
"Akane. Look at me. Can you remember your father or....or
your mother?"
"N...No. Now that you mention it..uh...Ranma...I can't. It's all
blank...like nothing had ever been there, like a clean slate...." Akane
stared at her hands and clenched them tight.
"Do you remember Kasumi? Nabiki? Ryoga? P-chan?"
"No....I don't know who they are...or who YOU are for that
matter."
"I'm Ranma! Your husband!!"
"I don't know any Ranma and I didn't know I even HAD a
husband!!!" Akane nervously pushed his arm off her shoulders, as if he
might hit her for doing so. Ranma had never hit her in his life and he
wondered at her attitude. She was acting scared of him. Truly scared,
almost fearful for her life. Ranma let his arm fall to his side and he
stood up. He laid a hand on Akane's shoulder, she jumped at this and
watched his hand like one watched a viper.
"I'm taking you to a doctor, Akane Dr. Tofu."
- - - - -
Ranma carried Kouma and held Akane's hand tight as he walked
into Dr. Tofu's clinic. Dr. Tofu stood up and smiled as he made his
way towards the two of them. His hair had grown longer since Ranma
saw him - it was now past his shoulders. He still kept it in a ponytail,
though.
"Well....you two! How's married life treating you so far?"
"But....but....", stuttered Akane as Ranma pulled her into the
clinic room. Dr. Tofu followed after, scratching his head in confusion.
Ranma explained the situation to Dr. Tofu and he checked Akane's head
for bumps or concussions. Akane looked up in consternation after Dr.
Tofu was finished with the blood test.
"I don't know what's going on at all!! Can someone tell me
what's going on? I'm so confused!! I mean, who's this Ranma guy I'm
married to, and who are you? You act like you know me very well but
I don't even know you!"
Dr. Tofu sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Ranma...Akane is showing signs of amnesia but as far as I can
tell, she is not hurt or drugged in any way. I'm sorry, I can't figure it
out."
"That's alright, Dr. Tofu. Thank you very much."
"Have you considered what you will say to her family and your
parents, Ranma?"
"No, Dr. Tofu. I...I think she will be cured before that. I don't
feel it necessary to tell *them*. Much help they'll be. Dad and Mr.
Tendo would only cry because their old Akane is gone. Nabiki would
find a way to make money off of this. Kasumi would take it all in stride
and my mom...well...I dunno what my mom would do, but I'm pretty
sure it won't really help the situation. In any case, I will get this all
sorted out before it comes to that."
"Did Shampoo or her great-great-grandmother do this to her?"
"No, my insults didn't work on her. And they had no reason to
do it, I think. It is quite strange, Doctor."
"Indeed."
- - - - -
Ranma opened the door and ushered Akane inside. He shut the
door with one hand, the other holding onto Kouma, and he locked it.
He watched Akane as she looked at the house as if she were a stranger
in it. Akane gave quick glances, nervous at best, directed at furniture,
appliances, him, and Kouma. Ranma tried to smile reassuringly but
failed halfway, his smile coming out almost like a grimace.
"Come, let's go sit down. Ok? I know...this must be hard on
you, Akane, but I'm sure I can help you to remember. Or at least,
rebuild your life."
Akane nodded and let Ranma lead her to a couch, the one he had
been sleeping on the night before. Ranma cradled Kouma and sat beside
her, but Akane placed more than a foot of space between her and Ranma
on the couch. Apparently she wasn't quite ready to sit close to him just
yet.
The two of them sat in silence, not knowing what to say or where
to begin. Until Kouma cried, that was. Ranma began to try and hush
him up, to soothe him, but nothing he tried worked. Akane leaned
forward.
"Is...is he alright?"
"Yeah, he is. He just likes to cry, that's all. Just to get our
attention now and then, you know? He's one smart kid, Kouma."
"Can....can I hold him? Please?" Akane held out her arms
uncertainly, as if half expecting Ranma to refuse her request. Ranma
gently placed Kouma in Akane's arms and he watched her draw Kouma
close to herself. Kouma looked up into his mother's face and he
reached up with a small hand, to touch the first face he saw when he
had opened his eyes on the day of his birth. Akane smiled and brought
him close to her face and let Kouma tug on her ear playfully.
"He..he's our son? Kouma?"
"Yes, Akane. He's our son. Handsome, isn't he?"
"Yes. And innocent." Akane slowly rocked Kouma back and
forth in her arms. Ranma chuckled and Akane looked at Ranma in
consternation.
"What's so funny? Isn't this what mothers are supposed to do?"
"No..it's not funny at all. I'm just reminded of how you always
used to do that with him, that's all."