Okay, before I let you into the story, I have to state that THIS IS A
VERY DARK STORY!  If you don't like that theme of story, turn back
now.  Also included in this story are scenes of rape and murder, so
you would be well advised to turn away if you hate that kind of stuff
as well.

Okay, now, to avoid confusion, I'll tell you exactly why I'm being so
mean to Ranma right now.  I'm not writing about rape or murder, but
how someone (such as Ranma) would deal with it, and it's aftereffects.

Well, now that I've done that, on with the story.

          Ranma 1/2
          Happi's Legacy
          By Shadow Dancer(AKA Colin Hidson)
          Episode 1, Part 3

     I wake slowly, hoping that the horror I witnessed earlier was
just a dream.  *Or a nightmare*  my subconscious quickly pointed out.
[author's note:  Yes!  A shameless plug, but it fit so well...;] I
ignore my subconscious and open my eyes.  A slight panicking session
later and I decide that no, it wasn't a dream.  Now, to only find out
if this is a nightmare.

     "Oh, good.  You're awake," a kind voice remarks from behind me,
startling me out of my reverie. I jerk my head up, to see the girl
that Father last groped.  The girl has long, brown hair, and a haunted
look in her eyes.  She was massaging her right breast, as if to get
rid of a phantom hand, or something. She notices my attention and
stops rubbing herself.  When her hand falls away, I see that there is
no blood...but a slight bit of her blouse is cut.  "It's all
right...we won't hurt you,"

     I stare, having the girl point out the fact that I am scared
startle me a bit.  *I must have become used to being scared, I don't
even notice it any more* I think as I carefully rearrange my face to
one of surprise.  I ask, "Why did you kill Father?  He was the only
family I had...sort of," I amend, not really wanting to talk about my
mother.

     The girl looks at me like I am crazy or something.  I remember
what Father taught me while I was still a boy, and then think that
maybe I was crazy, at least until Jusenkyou.

     "You mean, he wasn't lying?"  she asks.  I nod, feeling 
helpless once again.  The girl rolls her eyes up and collapses.  I
quickly jump over to her, trying to see if I had killed her.  All of a
sudden, the door opens and the girl that killed father walks in.  I
notice my fear, this time, as I crawl away from her, backing into a
corner.  I can't stop shivering as the girl steps over to her sister
and reaches down.  She lightly holds her hand on her sister's neck for
a couple seconds, and then turns to me.

     "I didn't kill her!"  I almost shriek.  I try to push myself
through the wall, to no avail.

     "It's all right," the girl soothes me quietly, "She's not dead.
Kasumi just fainted."  She looks thoughtful for a second and then
asks, "What did you say to get her to faint, anyway?  Kasumi rarely
faints,"  the girl stares at me for a second before saying something
else, "It doesn't matter, anyway.  My name is Akane, do you want to be
friends?"

     I sit there, shivering, as Akane walks slowly up to me.  She
touches my shoulder, barely brushing it.  The problem is, she brushed
against one of the bruises that Father gave me last night.  I can't
stop the gasp of pain from leaving my mouth, and I curse myself
silently for being such a baby.

     Akane stares at me for a second, before roughly grabbing my shirt
and yanking it off.  She stares at the welts on my back for a second
before yelling, "Father!  You'd better come see this!"  I absently
cover my breasts with my arms, careful not to touch them.  Feelings
seem to flow from me in torrential rivers, leaving me empty, barely
able to respond.

     The man that father had identified as Soun runs into the 
room, saying, "What is it, Akane?  I was in the middle of disposing
of...oh, my god!"  He rushes over and runs his hands down my back,
eliciting more gasps of pain from me.  "Akane, you'd better take her
to Doctor Tofu right away, some of these look like they might be
festering,"  as he pulls away, one of his hands pulls my arm.  Not
very hard, but enough to make my arm connect with my breast.  Another
gasp works its way out of my mouth, but not in pain this time. "What?"
 Soun asks, quickly touching my arm again, "Did that hurt, too?" My
feelings decide to come back early from their road-trip.   I shake my
head, bewildered that these people would be caring so much for me,
even after they killed my father.  Soun looks me over, and then
finally makes the connection, "He used a shiatsu technique on you,
didn't he," he whispers.  It is more of a statement than a question,
but I nod anyway.  "That bastard."  I barely stop the tears from
falling down my cheeks from how vehement his words are towards my
father.  No matter how accurate they are.

     "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you again," Soun says, 
reaching towards me, but not quite touching.  I nod, glad that he is
apologising about that little bit.  "My name is Soun Tendo, current
master of the Anything Goes style of martial arts.  Unless your father
taught you..."

     I shake my head, saying, "Father only taught me martial arts to
get me out of the house and away from Mother.  Mother probably won't
recognise me anymore..." I trail off as I finally realise that because
Mother won't recognise me, I'm effectively an orphan.  I close my
eyes, trying to block away the pain.  Tears well up in my eyes as I
continue, "After we left, Father tried to teach me to be as much of a
letch as he was, but because Mother asked me to be honourable, I only
practised his techniques when he told me to.  The techniques he taught
me are useless, now."  I sigh, finally finding something good in what
happened.

     "What techniques?" Soun asks.

     I open my eyes, staring him straight in the eye while saying,
"Father taught me how to be a pervert, pure and simple.  The only
reason I'm not one right now is because I'm a girl now, and all I have
left is my life and my honour.  Mother made me promise to be
honourable before we left."

     Soun starts, "But weren't you always a girl?"  I shake my head,
sighing at how utterly confusing and painful, my life has become.

     Akane walks up to me, making me back away, however involuntary.
"You were a boy?" she asks.  I nod, hoping that she wouldn't get mad
at me.  "Well, then.  Everyone here knows I don't like boys...but you
are a girl now, right?" I wince at the simple truth of the matter, "Do
you still want to be friends?"  Akane looks at me, smiling.

     Confusion runs through me while I try to grasp what she just said
to me.  After a minute of anxious waiting, Akane says, "You don't have
to answer right away, I'll understand."  She turns away for a second
before continuing, "I know your father taught you to be a pervert, but
do you think you could forget what he taught you, and try to be
normal?  I...I prefer girls more than boys.  I hope you understand..."
 with that, Akane runs from the room, Soun silently watching her.

     Suddenly Soun brings up something that I would really rather
forget, "Ranma, I know that I promised to marry you to one of my
daughters...would you like to marry Akane?"  I stare at Soun,
horrified at what he is suggesting.  I sit there, not really noticing
when he sighs and leaves.

     After about ten minutes, I hear Kasumi waking from her fainting
spell.  A gasp from her tells me when Kasumi notices the welts 
criss-crossing my back.  A hand grasps my arm, turns me around, and 
shoves my discarded shirt into my hands.  I stare blankly at the 
shirt, mumbling, "...marry?  Me?  Akane?  Would she want to 
marry?..." Sighing heavily, Kasumi takes the shirt from me again, and 
carefully works it over me.  After that, she helps me stand up, and 
then gently leads me downstairs, murmuring kind words in my ear.

     I abruptly stop when I see Mr. Tendo, and what he's doing with
what used to be my father.  He has a small funeral pyre built, and
Father is laying at the top.  I quickly walk over to Mr. Tendo and
ask, "What are you doing?"  I feel my fear distancing itself from me
for this one occasion.

     Soun looks startled, "What do you mean?  He's your father, and
we're going to give him one of the old ceremonial funerals."

     I shake my head, saying, "He didn't have enough honour to 
deserve that.  I...I know that in his own way, he loved me, but he
still doesn't deserve something this...this neat."  My fear quickly
reasserts itself when I remember who I am talking about, and talking
to. "I say we should...we should just tie him to a...a big stone and
drop him...drop him in the ocean."  I try to push my fear back, but
fail miserably.

     Soun nods, saying, "You're right.  We just didn't want to 
dishonour you by getting rid of the body that way." I nod as he
continues, "Kasumi, please take Ranma to Doctor Tofu.  She should get
those bruises checked out."  Kasumi nods, and then gently starts
leading me away.

*****

     For those who were anxiously waiting, here's the third part to 
Happi's Legacy...Formerly known as Happi's Delight.

     I await the flames!

Shadow Dancer
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/6418
danceshadows@geocities.com
*****
Imagination is a Pegasus,
Wild and free,
Never to be tethered,
Tamed by you or me.
    (C)1997, Shadow Dancer.