Never Forever
-------------

by Florencio B. de la Merced, Jr. (fmerced@pworld.net.ph)

A Fanfic inspired by the anime Ranma 1/2 created and copyrighted by Rumiko
Takahashi
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| Three Years Ago |
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| Nabiki's room |
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Nabiki was leafing through her favorite magazine when a knock came rapping
through her bedroom door. She rolled off her bed and walked up to the door
to see what her sister needed. "Yes, Kasumi?"

"This came for you today. Must be pretty important." Kasumi handed over a
rather large package done up in pink and yellow wrappings. There was no
card, only a confirmation receipt from the parcel service that hand
delivered the package.

"Who would send me this?" Just then Akane ran past the two and was in a mad
rush to get to her own room. "What's eating her?"

Kasumi smiled. "I think those boys from school won't leave her alone."
Nabiki grinned a bit before turning her attention back to the mysterious
package. Kasumi didn't stay long enough to see Nabiki open the package.

"What's this?" Nabiki, one by one, pulled out an assorted array of what she
thought were children playthings. "Wow, I haven't seen one of these in
years." Nabiki was holding a small ceramic doll that looked familiar to her.
"Hey, I have one of these. I think it's..." She looked towards the far wall
where a wooden cabinet was hanging. She stood up, bringing the opened box
with her. Nabiki slid open the glass doors and gently scrimmaged through the
various valuables she had placed on the display cabinet. "There you are."
She drew an old but similar ceramic doll and she couldn't help notice how
the two are perfectly matched.

A few minutes later she had retrieved the last gift from within the foam
filled box. Nabiki sat down to rest and think, but she was rather surprised
at the final result of her work. "Now I have twice of everything in my
collection." Nabiki paused to think of the special person that would have
done such a nice thing for her. "Who could know everything in there? Could
it be Kasumi? Akane, perhaps?"

Just then, someone was again knocking at her bedroom door. Nabiki didn't
bother to stand, as she was still tired from her work. "Come in." Akane's
head popped out and peeked through the doorway.

"Nabiki, Daddy wants to speak to us. Something about the guests coming
today." Nabiki stood up and closed her collection cabinet before leaving
with her younger sister, Akane.

---------------
| Present day |
---------------
-----------------
| Training hall |
-----------------

"Naaw, Pop. We believe you." Ranma sneer a grin back at his fiancée who was
also laughing with him. Genma only felt his head in disbelief as he scouted
around the room for Misaki, who had somehow managed to slip from his sight.

"Anyway. Mr. Saotome, we heard about this Misaki fellow from Kasumi and was
wondering where we could find him." Akane trailed Genma around the room,
hoping to get Ranma's father's attention. "Um, Mr. Saotome?"

"He's suppose to be here. I wonder where he could be?" Genma strutted around
the room again. Ranma and Akane only followed him with a confused and
inquisitive look.

---------------
| Soun's room |
---------------

Soun was crying again. He's sitting on his bed and was holding a framed
picture of his dearly departed wife. "My wife, I've missed you so much."
Soun embraced the frame. "How I wish you could see your three daughters now.
Kasumi has been the guiding light of the family. Nabiki's finally found
someone, and Akane...well, you know that I've been praying for her to
finally accept Ranma." He wiped off the tears overflowing from his eyes.

"Oh, look at me. I should be happy. Now that two of our daughters are set in
life. I just wish," Soun held up the picture in front of him, "you had said
something to me about this Misaki fellow." Soun walked over towards the
small table on one corner and resettled the picture back from where he had
taken it.

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| Kitchen |
-----------

Kasumi was singing while she was busily cutting up some vegetables on the
counter top. She stepped towards the stove and turned it on in order to
preheat it. She was enjoying the lovely tune that was in her head and was
even slightly waving her arms in imaginary compass. She picked up the knife
again to start cutting up some carrots, but she finally noticed the second
voice accompanying her own singing. "Oh." Standing near the doorway was
Misaki, and was visibly smiling back at her. "Misaki...Ouch!"

Misaki ran towards Kasumi in swift reaction to her distress. "Did you...cut
yourself?" Kasumi was applying pressure to her bleeding forefinger. Misaki
quickly led Kasumi's hand towards the kitchen sink and allowed running water
to clean the wound.

"The first aid kit is just over there." Kasumi smiled as he saw Misaki's
prompt retrieval of some ointment and Band-Aids to stop the bleeding and
preventing any infection. Misaki applied first aid swift and with
experienced precision. "I'm glad you know first aid."

"Huh? Oh, it's pretty simple." Misaki inspected Kasumi's hand and was
finally convinced of his handiwork. Kasumi only turned her head as she was
turning red embarrassment. "I'm sorry if I frightened you so."

Kasumi's head jerked back a bit, not really expecting Misaki's asking for
forgiveness, since it was her fault the incident happened. "No, It was an
accident." Kasumi's beaming smile was greeted back with a similar
enthusiastic grin. Kasumi tried to get back to her work but somehow her hand
couldn't bolt away from Misaki's grasp.

"I was surprise you still remember that song." Misaki noticed Kasumi's
uneasiness, so he held her hand for a few seconds more before letting go.
Kasumi further turn into a deeper shade of pink before turning her head
again, away from the inquisitive and loathsome stare of Misaki.

"Actually, I forgot the lyrics, but I can still remember the tune in my
head." Kasumi breathed deeply before gazing back at Misaki. Surprisingly,
Misaki sported a confused and somewhat lost expression on his face.

"It had lyrics?"

Kasumi blinked. "Come to think of it." They both burst out in laughter.
Unknowing to them, someone was observing the two through the doorway.

"Kasumi?" The name of her sister rang in Nabiki's head as she withdrew her
hand from holding up the drapes that hanged over the kitchen doorway. She
quickly ran up the stairs and retreated to her room.

-------------------
| Three years ago |
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--------------
| Tendo dojo |
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"So who's this person anyway, Daddy?" Nabiki was more disappointed than
inquisitive that some stranger was coming to the dojo, and as was revealed
by her father, would be staying for a while.

"An old friend of your mother, Nabiki. But, she's not the one staying over.
I think?" Soun reread the letter that he received that morning. "Ah, It's
actually his son, that's coming over. Now, I get it."

"His son?" Kasumi exclaimed with a nervous and surprised notion added into
it. Nabiki and Akane only stared suspiciously back at Kasumi.

"Do you know the guy, Kasumi?" Akane hastily grabbed the letter from her
father and read it for herself. "Misaki? Hmm...Never heard of him." The
letter changed hands again, this time Nabiki was the culprit. "Hey!"

"Oh, oh!" Nabiki folded the letter and carefully pocketed it. "Let me take
care of this one, Daddy."

"Eh, take care? What for?"

Kasumi was dreaming again, as she almost knocked over a flower vase as she
was waltzing her way back into the kitchen after hearing the announcement
from her father. Nabiki and the rest could only gape in astonishment as
Kasumi skillfully saved the vase from falling off the table.

"Oh my! I'm sorry Mr. Vase." Kasumi only hummed a wistful tune as she turned
her way towards her duties. She left the rest of the family wondering.

---------------
| Present day |
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| Training hall |
-----------------

"Come on Akane, there no helping pops now." Ranma motioned from the door for
his fiancée to leave Genma alone.

"But your father is sure that Misaki was here a moment ago." Akane gave a
stare of pity at the lost elder Saotome.

"I've got it!" The burst from Genma shocked the two teens. "He must be the
boy that I met in China!"

Akane was about to ask again but the sound of crackling knuckles stopped
her.  She looked behind and saw the face of Ranma in tints of anger and
rage.

"Are you sure Pops? This Misaki is actually the one..." Ranma stopped
mumbling when he noticed the concerned look on his fiancée. "Um, Akane. Can
we be alone."

"What's all this about? Ranma, you're not telling me something!" Akane
crossed her arms in full protest.

"She's right. It's not that much of an embarrassment boy."

"Look who's talking! Wait till Mom finds out what happened to her..." Genma
rushed to Ranma effectively silencing his son by placing a hand over his
slanderous mouth.

"Eh, he. You proved your point Ranma." Genma was knocked to one side as
Ranma struggled to break free.

"Well, are you going to tell me or what?!" Ranma and Genma only stared at
each other before declining Akane's treat. The two only saw stars after
that, as Akane's instantaneous rage pragmatically knocked the two
delinquents out of the training hall and into the garden outside. They
crawled out of the cold waters of the pond drenched and with battered egos.

"Sometimes I wonder if Akane is really a girl."

"What do we do now?" The wooden sign raised by Ranma's father only made him
wince.

"We have to find Misaki. Before..." Ranma stood up and paused a second
before turning around to face the confused panda. "Yikes, what if Ucchan
find out he's here?" The Panda felt its head a bit before he slapped it with
its own paws. "Losing my ponytail is one thing, I hate to see what Ucchan
will do to him once she finds out."

-----------------------------
| Ucchan's okonomiyaki shop |
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"Tsubasa!!!" A flurry of spatulas flew towards an innocent looking vending
machine standing in one corner of the okonomiyaki restaurant. The vending
machine crumpled at the onslaught. It however didn't moan in agony as Ukyou
expected.

"Nice shot, Ukyou. But Tsubasa's the plant beside the vending machine."
Konatsu idly remarked as Ukyou prepared to throw a few more spatulas.

"I give up!" The plant's branches waved high up in the air as it swiftly
jumped up and down and jerkily hopping towards the exit.

"And stay out, Tsubasa!" Ukyou smirked before letting go one final spatula
that sped through the Ucchan's main door. Wailing was instantaneously heard
outside the shop. "And that's for leaving that vending machine disguise!"
Ukyou slapped her hands together before returning to her cooking. "Where's
the spatula?"

"Um?" Konatsu glanced at the far wall that received the grunt of Ukyou's
recent spatula attack. "I'll get them." Konatsu hated retrieving the
spatulas time and again but he always says to himself that things could be
worse. "You should control your temper, Ukyou."

"With Tsubasa around, how can I? He's vile, despicable, and totally mad!"

"Madly in love, I guess." Konatsu was not thanked for reclaiming the
spatulas, but was greeted with an ominous angry stare. "Oops." The scene was
again repeated, with Konatsu this time at the receiving end of the ire of
Ukyou. This time, it's worse.

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| End |
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C & C appreciated
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Special thanks to...

David Johnston
David Tatum
Soren Smith
Philip Masters - See you next month
James Palmer - Superhentai
Scott Jamison - SKJAM
Metthyew@aol.com
Ronny Hedin
Emily Siazon
Robert Morrison
The RAMS
the lovely and wonderful people of the FFML
and
Rumiko Takahashi, of course