Ok I think I have it right this time.



Ok... I had nothing better to do so I revised these... they were too
quick, so now i've changed them slightly.  You don't really have to read
them over... not too much has changed just slight modifications here and
there.  So again... any C&C would be appreciated... here you go.


                        "Ryouga’s Passions"
                                Part III

        Ryouga didn’t feel right.  He lay on the floor of the cave, his
head pounding, his body immobilized.  He felt very strange.  His
emotions were gone.  He felt nothing.  He thought of Ranma, trying to
summon up his familiar rage... but nothing came.  Ryouga strained,
trying to feel something and for a moment he brushed something.  He
tried harder.  His head exploded in agony, as he felt everything.  He
could, feel his emotions once again... but it wasn’t right.  He could
feel his depression, his anger, his joy... but it they weren’t his.  It
was as if he was feeling the emotions of another.  It was like looking
at his family through a window.  It was his... but it wasn’t with him.
He brushed the depression and shrank back immediately.  This depression
was about a hundred times more deep than his own.  Suddenly it all
clicked in Ryouga’s mind... Ryouga realized that something was very,
very wrong... and he feared for Akane.

        Akane sat bandaging Ranma.  She wound the strips of white cloth
around his arm.

"There that should do it..." Akane murmured.
Ranma grunted agreement.
"So what started all of this?" Akane asked him.

"I don’t know! He just ran out of the forest and started attacking me!"
Ranma said exasperated.

"You didn’t say anything to him to make him mad?" Akane asked.

"Nothing" Ranma said.

Just then they heard happy whistling.  They both looked up as Ryouga
walked up to their camp.

"Aw man! Are you here to fight again?" Ranma asked getting up.

"Why would I want to fight on such a wonderful day?" Ryouga asked
happily.

"Are you ok Ryouga?" Ranma asked, walking up to him cautiously.

"I couldn’t be better!" Ryouga declared with a smile.

"All right.  What have you done with the real Ryouga?" Ranma demanded.

Ryouga sighed.

"Ranma why are you always so suspicious? Can’t I just enjoy my
Happiness?  I can feel it filling me!  It is all I am!" Ryouga said
happily.

"Hmmm..." Ranma murmured, eyeing Ryouga up and down.

"You aren’t going to go ballistic or anything?" Ranma asked again.

"No... I simply want to spend time with the both of you..." Ryouga
declared happily.

"Hello Ryouga!" Akane said, finally finding her voice.

"Hello Akane..." Ryouga said, a strange note entering his voice.

"I was just going to make some lunch, would you like to join us?" Akane
asked.

"Certainly... would you like some help?" Ryouga asked, smiling.

"Thank you Ryouga, that is very kind of you" Akane said, returning his
smile.

Ranma stared at the two open-mouthed.  Then he promptly remembered that
Akane was cooking.  His mouth snapped shut with an audible click, and he
started sweating.  Akane looked over at him.

"Ummm.... I have to go... look for Pop! Yeah! That’s it!" Ranma said.

"Ranma if you don’t want to eat my cooking you just have to say so! That
just means that there will be more for Ryouga and me!" Akane told him
coldly.
"Doesn’t it Ryouga?" Akane asked nicely.

"Yes!" Ryouga responded, smiling.

Ranma looked back and forth between the two, who were both still
smiling.

"Well maybe I feel like staying!" Ranma declared obstinately.

"Fine Ranma!" Akane said rolling her eyes.


        The meal progressed as Ranma had predicted in his head...
terrible.  Akane had set the soup on fire, how Ranma didn’t know.
Ryouga had happily shared the hunks of burnt food with Ranma.  After
eating the meal, Ryouga didn’t look so happy and Ranma looked slightly
pale.

-Twice in two days- Ranma groaned to himself, as he slumped over.

"An excellent meal Akane!" Ryouga declared, struggling to maintain his
cheery disposition.
Ranma moaned.

"It isn’t that bad Ranma! Ryouga likes it!" Akane protested.

"Try it!" Ranma implored, his eyes watering.

"Ok...urk!" Akane said, as she fell to the ground.

"All right maybe it could use a little work..." Akane conceded.

"I’ll be right back..." Ryouga said, standing.
He walked off into the bushes.

"Knowing him he’ll be back some time next week..." Ranma muttered.

"Don’t make fun!" Akane said, punching Ranma.


Akane and Ranma sat, talking.  It was one of the few times that they
actually had a civil conversation.  They both looked up as they heard a
figure walking up the path.  He had a yellow tunic and green leggings
laced at the calves.  He also had a backpack and umbrella strapped to
his back.  His eyes smoldered as he looked at Akane.  He walked up to
her, completely ignoring Ranma.

"Hello Akane" Ryouga said, staring at her.

"Hello Ryouga" Akane answered.  "How are you today?" she asked.

"I’m ok, how about you?" he returned.

"I’m fine" Akane responded.

"Akane? Can you come with me? I have to tell you something..." Ryouga
said. "It’s really important..." Ryouga added.

"Sure Ryouga..." Akane said standing.

 Ranma stood.

"Alone" Ryouga continued.

"All right Ryouga..." Akane said, giving Ranma a gesture to stay at
camp.

Ryouga started off into the forest with Akane in tow.


Ranma looked to make sure that they were gone.  He walked quietly to his
pack and dug out some rations.  He had thoughtfully packed them,
remembering his last camp out with Akane... he shuddered.  He munched on
the jerky, as he reminisced about the last time he had been in these
mountains.  It had been some time ago... he had come to the mountains,
to train.  There he and Ryouga had trained, separately.  Ranma,
increased his speed.  Meanwhile Ryouga had learned the dreaded miner’s
technique: the Bakusai-Tenketsu or Breaking point.  It had been a
difficult fight but Ranma had won.

 Just then Ranma heard a rustling in the bushes.  He quickly stowed his
food, on the off chance that it was his father in the bushes.  He faced
the noise.  Ryouga walked out.  His shirt was a little rumpled, and he
had a smile on his face.

"Hello Ranma!" Ryouga said cheerfully "Where is Akane?" he asked.

"Akane? She’s with you!" Ranma responded.

"Akane? No she’s not, I went to go get a drink from a spring I saw back
there... she’s not with me" Ryouga said.

"Well then who the hell is she with?" Ranma demanded, standing.

"Well it isn’t me!" Ryouga said, smiling.

"I’m going to go look for her!" Ranma declared.

"Ok, just make sure you have fun!" Ryouga said happily.

Ranma gave him a strange look.

"Uh... sure Ryouga" Ranma murmured, as he ran off in the direction that
Akane and Ryouga went.


        Ryouga led Akane through the trees for a while.  It was strange,
Ryouga seemed to know where he was going.  They passed through the shady
forest, protected by the sheltering canopy of leaves above.  They
paused, briefly, to rest then continued on.  They walked for a while
then, finally, Ryouga slowed and pointed out a stone, it was shaped like
a bench.  It overlooked a valley, and gave a beautiful view.  The sun
was out, and birds were chirping and the scenery was very nice.

"There, please sit down Akane..." Ryouga said.

Akane walked over and sat down on the rock.  Ryouga walked up to the
stone.  He sat down on it next to Akane.

"So, what did you want to ask me Ryouga?" Akane asked him.

"A-Akane... d-do you l-like me?" Ryouga asked, staring at his shoes.

"Of course I do Ryouga.  You are a very kind and caring person" Akane
responded.

"That is good... because I like you too" Ryouga said, as he turned to
her and moved closer.

-Why is he moving closer to me?- Akane wondered.

"It sure is nice out today..." Akane said, attempting to change the
subject.

"Akane..." Ryouga whispered, his face was inches away from Akane’s.

"R-Ryouga! What are you doing?" Akane asked him.

"Kissing you!" Ryouga murmured, as he closed the gap between them and
kissed her.

Akane did nothing, shocked.


        Ranma walked up the trail.  It wasn’t hard to follow Ryouga’s
trail, seeing as Ryouga had marked it with signs every two feet.  Ranma
followed the path for another couple of minutes.  He began to get tired
so he decided to stop briefly to get a drink.  He wandered over to a
merry brook and took a drink.  Then he heard hushed voices from up
ahead.  Remembering that he wasn’t supposed to be here, Ranma crept up
behind a bush and looked out through the leaves.  What he saw shocked
him.

Ryouga and Akane were kissing.

Ranma’s mouth dropped.  Millions of thoughts raced through his head.
Just what the hell was going on here?

Ryouga and Akane were kissing.

She wasn’t stopping him either... that meant she must like him!  So
Ryouga had finally won.  Ryouga had won Akane’s love.  Ranma felt an
unknown emotion surge within him.  Despair.

Ryouga and Akane were kissing.

Ranma stood slowly, he backed away from the scene on the rock.  He felt
a weight upon his heart.  It shattered with a large cracking noise.
Actually it was a stick that Ranma had stepped on that made the noise,
but he was oblivious to it.

Ryouga and Akane were kissing.

Akane broke free of Ryouga’s embrace.  She pulled back and looked into
his eyes.  She saw deep love and commitment there.  It scared her, she
withdrew slightly.  She heard a cracking noise, she looked around
quickly thinking someone was watching.  Someone was.  Ranma.  She looked
at him.  She saw naked pain in his eyes.  He slowly backed away, never
breaking eye contact.  Her mouth formed the words, but the shock was
simply too much.  She couldn’t say them.  Moisture gathered in the
corner of Ranma’s eye.  A single tear slid down his cheek.  Ranma turned
stiffly and began to walk away.

-Very well then... I will honor her choice- Ranma thought as he fled.

Akane watched as Ranma ran off through the trees.

"Ranma..." Akane mouthed.

        Ranma ran.  He ran to escape the pain, the reality.  He failed.
 His world was slowly being destroyed by his emotions.  He had always
seen his life as a simple thing, but now he was too confused to
understand it.  He kept on running.  He tripped over a branch, and a
sharp point scored a long bloody line down one arm.  He ignored it, the
physical pain was nothing compared to his emotional pain.  He
practically threw himself to his feet.  He deserved the pain, it was his
punishment for not being worthy of Akane.  He continued to run.
Finally, he collapsed.  His body would not run anymore.  Ranma curled up
beneath a tree, it’s branches spread protectively above him.  He stared
into blank space as tears formed and slid down his face.

End Part III

                        "Ryouga’s Passions"
                                Part IV

        Ryouga struggled again.  He had puzzled out what had happened to
him.  Apparently the demon thing had entered him, and caused his
emotions to separate from his body.  He could feel them, even now,
moving through the forest.  The one problem, however, was that the
emotions that his other selves felt were much, much more powerful than
the emotions he had felt.  Ryouga tried once again to seize control of
his body.  It didn’t work.  He couldn’t do anything.  All he could do
was lay there, breathe and think.  Ryouga decided to try something rash,
and began to gather his ki.

        Akane sat on the stone bench, staring after Ranma.  She blinked
and saw that Ryouga’s lips were moving.  Sound slowly filtered back into
Akane’s life.  At first she heard birds chirping, then a melange of
sounds slowly came to life.  Ryouga was saying:

"..staring off into space like that?" Ryouga asked.

"Hmm?" Akane asked him.

"I said: Why are you staring off into space like that? Aren’t you
enjoying my company?" Ryouga asked her.

Akane once remembered who had began all of this.  She started to get
angry.

"This is all your fault! And no! I am not enjoying your company!" Akane
yelled at him.
She felt a sudden urge to lash out violently at something.  Seeing as
Ryouga was at hand she lashed out.  With a one-hundred pound mallet to
be exact.  She felt the satisfying crunch of bone as she sent Ryouga
into a long graceful arc into the trees.  Akane sighed.

-I have to find Ranma- She thought quickly, as she set out after him.

Meanwhile, Ryouga got up and dusted himself off.

"Akane, you said it yourself... you like me! Nothing will come between
us!" Ryouga said with a frightening intensity.


Ranma got to his feet.  He had been thinking for quite a while now.  He
had considered his relationship with Akane, and wondered if she ever had
liked him...  he had delved deep into his emotions and was scared at
what he found.  He found genuine feeling for Akane.  He found love.
That was why it hurt so much.  That was also why he felt so bad.  He had
lost the chance for something precious, something that comes only once
in a lifetime.  He had lost his chance for love.  For she didn’t love
him, she loved another.

-It doesn’t matter- Ranma thought.

-I love her, and that is all that matters.  I will follow her, I will
thank the man she loves because he makes her happy.  All the while I
will be cursing him because it isn’t me.  I will be there for her, if
ever she needs me...- Ranma decided.

Ranma got to his feet and set off purposefully, in the direction he had
come.  He looked back over his shoulder at the tree that he had rested
under.

-A weeping willow... it figures- Ranma thought ironically, as he
continued on through the forest.


        Akane wandered.  She couldn’t find Ranma.  She had called his
name dozens of times and he had not answered.  It was getting dark out,
so Akane decided to return to the camp.  The only problem was that she
couldn’t remember in which direction the camp was.  Actually upon
reflection, Akane decide she was lost.  She sat down for a moment,
trying to decide what to do.  She thought sadly of Ranma.  Where was he
now?  What was he thinking? And would he be back?


        Ranma was much closer than Akane thought.  He was actually, only
ten feet from her.  Ten feet up.  Ranma sat silently perched among the
branches above Akane.  He had had to forcibly restrain himself from
answering her call.  Just looking at her sent an ache through his chest.
 Akane got up and started to leave, so Ranma also stood and jumped to
the next tree without a sound.  This progressed for some time, until
night began to fall.  Ranma quickly moved a head of Akane and began to
gather wood.  He left it in a convenient pile, then sprang back up into
the trees.

Akane wandered up the trail and was pleasantly surprised to see a pile
of wood sitting there.  She smiled at her good fortune and decided to
set up camp.  Soon she had a merry blaze going.  She pulled a chocolate
bar out of her pocket, and ate it.  She sat before the fire, staring
into it.  She sat, pondering the days events.  It had not been a good
day.  There was suddenly a rustling in the bushes.  Two figures stepped
out, obviously drunk.  They saw Akane and started weaving a path towards
her.  She stood up.

"Hey... Baabyy!" One of them said, his voice slurred.

"Wanna have a goood time?" The other asked.

"No thank you..." Akane replied, disgusted.

"Y’know, I get the imprezion, that she don’ like us!" the first one said
to the second.

"Maybe if we gave her a taste of the goods first!" the second said.

Akane looked back and forth between the two, beginning to get alarmed.

"Yeah... she wants it, I can tell..." the first said.

"Leave me alone!" Akane said, taking her karate stance.

"Now." The first one said, nodding to something behind Akane.

A man stepped out of the shadows, he grabbed her arms and pinned them
behind her.

"Let me GO!" Akane screamed.

The other men, dropped their facade of drunkenness.  They stepped
forward to Akane, an evil grin on their faces.

"Well now... what’s a sweet thing like you doing all alone in these
woods?" The first one asked, moving forward to fondle her.

"Leave her alone" A voice said.

A dark figure seemed to materialize out of the darkness.  He ran forward
in a blur of motion and started attacking the men.  He immediately
dispatched one of them with a hard kick to the head.  One of the
remaining two drew a knife, he slashed at the figure with it.  The dark
figure blocked the strike, then grabbed the attackers arm.  The dark
figure jumped and struck with both feet, pulling simultaneously on the
arm.  The effect was quite nice, breaking his opponent.  The remaining
man had taken hold of Akane and had a knife at her throat.

"Don’t come any closer! If you do I’ll kill her! I swear!" The man said,
sweating.

"If you so much as bruise her... I will kill you" The figure whispered
harshly.

The dark figure reached down casually and picked up a discarded knife.
He looked at the man, then at the knife.

"Last chance... you can run, or you can die..." The dark figure menaced.

The man looked at the dark figure and at the knife.  He pushed Akane
away and took off into the bushes.  Akane stumbled and fell.  She looked
up at the figure.  The face was covered with a mask, and he was robed in
dark clothes that hung from his body.  It obscured him completely.

"Ranma?" Akane asked.

"No" the figure said shaking its head.  He then backed away into the
trees and disappeared.

Akane sighed.
"Today hasn’t been a good day" she murmured.

As if to accent this, there was a large explosion off to the north.
Akane looked at the downed men, then decided to go check out the
explosion.  She paused briefly, however, to kick each of the men
soundly.  Twice.  Then she left.

        Ryouga sighed.  His ki blast had no effect.  All he had been
able to do was give himself a bump from a falling rock, he had
dislodged.  He mentally shrugged his shoulders, giving up.  He had
exhausted all the possibilities.  He had lost.  He would never see Akane
again.  She would never say:

"Ryouga? Is that you?" Akane asked.

Ryouga mentally sighed.

"Ryouga?" Akane asked again.

It was Akane! Ryouga tried to lift himself up, but could not.  He heard
her footsteps approaching.  He tried to open his eyes, but it was like
trying to lift a mountain.  Akane knelt beside Ryouga.  He tried in vain
to get up, to give her some signal that he still lived... but to no
avail.

"Hmmm... Ryouga?" She asked again, shaking him.

"Ryouga?!" Akane asked, more loudly.

She put her head beside his mouth briefly to check his breathing.  He
wasn’t.  Actually Ryouga was simply holding his breath, he did so
whenever Akane came near him.  He could smell her, she smelled slightly
of flowers, and something else.  Whatever it was, it sent a secret
thrill through him.

"Oh my! He’s not breathing!" Akane murmured.

She put her mouth to his, and breathed in.  She continued on with this
for four more breaths then paused. Ryouga started to breathe again,
forced to breathe out.

Akane sat up in relief.  She looked around the cave curiously.  It was
filled with candles, of many different shapes and sizes.  She wandered
around the back of the shrine, it was old and dirty.  She looked down
and saw a small box.  She picked it up and opened it, inside was a book.
 The title was:

The perils of the Mon-shar monster.

She turned the page.

The Mon-shar monster is a deadly opponent.  It’s most deadly attack
possesses the victim and exploits all the dominant emotions.  The
emotions are separated from the host and left to wander the earth.  The
emotions have all the original abilities of the host, however they are
only capable of feeling the emotion that they represent... and they feel
this emotion to an incredible degree.  The creature leaves the host in a
near coma state, unable to do anything until his emotions are returned
to him.

The book went on to speculate about the birth of the creature and where
it came from.  Akane put it back in the box.  She thought about Ryouga.
 He was lying here in a "near coma state" and she had met some very
strange Ryouga’s recently, all of whom seemed to be expressing different
emotions.

It all clicked together.

Akane looked up confused.

"I think that we have a fairly significant problem..." She murmured.

Just then a scream of incalculable despair reached her ears.  She
quickly ran to the entrance of the cave.  There was Ranma on his knees,
head thrown back, baring his soul, screaming.


        Ranma had followed Akane to the cave.  Not wanting to alert her
of his presence he had climbed over it and found a crack which he could
see through.  So he had missed the first part of Akane’s discovery.  He
had arrived just in time to see Akane’s lips touch Ryouga’s again.  He
quickly backed away from the hole.  He felt the pain of the emotional
dagger stuck in his heart.  The wielder was Akane and she was twisting
it for all she was worth.

Ranma ran down the hell and settled on his knees.  He let the pain wash
over him.  The despair.  He reveled in it.

-Yes! I deserve this!- he thought savagely.

He bared his soul to the pain, the agony.  He threw his head back and
released it.  It was a wail of sorrow, of despair and pain.  It was
horrible to listen to.  Ranma continued to scream, releasing his pain.
He finally ran out of breath and looked up wearily.  He saw Akane
staring at him from the mouth of the cave.  He looked at her.  She had a
strange look in her eyes.  She stood there.  So did he.  Neither would
move first.  Then, they both heard a sound.  It was the sound of
shuffling feet.  They both looked over to see Ryouga walking up the
trail.  He looked very sad.  He stopped mid-way between Ranma and Akane.
 He looked over at Akane slowly.

"Hello... Akane..." He said slowly.

"Hello" Akane responded.

"How are... things?" Ryouga asked.

"Ummm... I don’t really know how to tell you this... but you aren’t
really Ryouga... you are a manifestation of his emotion... which one I
don’t know, but it’s probably the one that you are feeling right now..."
Akane said hesitantly.

"So, I’m not real then..." Ryouga murmured.

"Yeah... sorry" Akane said sympathetically.

"If I’m not real, then there is no point in continuing this facade they
call life..." Ryouga said, louder.

Ryouga fell to his knees.  He raised his arms to the heavens.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion.  As Ryouga fell to his knees
Ranma moved forward.  He had some idea of what was to come next.  Akane
didn’t know what to think so she simply stood there, a bewildered
expression on her face.

SHI

Ranma ran forward, he was halfway to Akane.

SHI

Ranma ran, his only thought was of Akane.

HO

Ranma jumped through the air.

KOU

Ranma grabbed Akane and ran into the cave, shielding her body with his.

DAN

The blast was enormous.  A crater was immediately created at the
epicenter.  Ranma felt pain scorch his back as he was thrown down the
tunnel.  He felt his flesh burning.  He had shielded Akane from most of
the blast though.  Every living thing within two hundred feet of Ryouga
disintegrated.  Massive amounts of energy went shooting in every
direction, destroying whatever it touched.  In the middle of all this
raw, naked power kneeled Ryouga.  Arms thrown wide, letting his ki feed
off his near-infinite depression.  The blast continued for minutes upon
minutes.  The pure power rocking the very earth itself.  The blast
dissipated.  The only thing left was Ryouga, curled up in a fetal ball
in the middle of a massive crater.  The ground had turned hard.  It was
blackened and charred.  The power of the blast had mutated the soil,
nothing would ever grow here.  Life could never exist near such pain.
And all was silent.

End Part IV