Waters Under Earth

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Alan Harnum - harnums@hotmail.com

All Ranma characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, first
published by Shogakukan in Japan and brought over to North
America by Viz Communications.

Commentary welcomed, send it privately please, as I'm not 
subscribed to the list.  

Homepage at:  http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/9758

Chapter 20 : Day Departing (2 of 2)

     "Thank you," Soun said, rising to his feet and offering
Ryoga his hand.  Ryoga took it, and the older man helped him to
his feet, then clasped his other hand over Ryoga's and slowly
shook it, his face grave.  "I hope with all my heart that it
shall not come to that, though."

     "Believe me," Ryoga said.  "I do as well."
     
     They laughed, but it was nervous laughter, and with little
humour.  Soun released Ryoga's hand and looked up at the clouds.

     "Looks like it's going to rain soon," he observed.
     
     "It always does, in the end," Ryoga said, glancing up at the
roiling greyness of the sky, with the sun breaking through in
patches to cast its light across the earth.  "It always does."

**********

     Ukyou stepped beneath the peaked roof of the gate and looked
around at the Tendo yard.  Her eye caught upon the familiar 
figure by the pond and she turned off the stone path leading to
the door and began to walk towards him.

     "Hey Ryoga," she called, raising a hand in greeting as she
approached.  

     Ryoga turned and looked at her.  "Hi," he said flatly.
     
     "Boy, you sound glad to see me," Ukyou said, coming up 
closer to him.  "Absolutely delighted, obviously."

     Ryoga half-frowned and glanced at his feet.  "Sorry, Ukyou.
It is good to see you.  How you doing?"

     "Okay, I guess," Ukyou said, deciding to keep quiet about
her own situation for the time being.  "How about you?"

     "The usual," Ryoga said.  "A little worried, a little
pessimistic.  You know, typical me."     
     
     "Something happen?" Ukyou said, tilting her head 
questioningly to one side.

     "Had a long talk with Mr. Tendo about half an hour ago," he
said.  "Made me think a lot more than I wanted to."

     "Sounds rough," Ukyou clucked, sitting down and taking her
big spatula off her shoulder to lay it across her knees.  She
scooted back and placed her back against a rock.  "What else is
up?"

     Ryoga settled down next to her, resting against another rock
and stretching his legs out.  "We're going to China tonight."

     "I know," Ukyou said.  "Happosai told me."
     
     "He's into everything, isn't he?" Ryoga muttered under his
breath.  

     "Well, no one else even tried to talk to me," Ukyou said
sharply.

     Ryoga glanced over at her, his eyes half-hidden by his dark
bangs.  "You didn't really seem in a very good mood when we came
back, particularly about matters concerning Ranma."

     Ukyou winced inwardly, remembering what had happened at the
field of Furinkan, when she'd made one last, desperate attempt to
find out Ranma's true feelings, and had ended up driving Ryoga 
into a vicious fight with Ranma.

     The kiss had been impulsive, but it had at least finally
made him tell her what she'd begun to suspect, which was that he
didn't love her.  At first there had been rage, and that had
faded in time to a vague, hollow sadness within her.

     But she didn't want to think about this.  She wanted to move
beyond this.  She would survive; she was tough.

     "I'd really rather not talk about Ranma right now," she said     
through the lump that was threatening to grow in her throat.  

     "Sorry," Ryoga said.  "Ukyou... did Happosai ask if you
wanted to come with us?"

     "I have other things to do," Ukyou said.
     
     "More important than helping him?" Ryoga said, sounding
almost angry.  "Even if he did reject you, he's still your
friend, isn't he?"

     Ukyou reached over and grabbed him by the collar, pulling
his face close to hers as she leaned towards him.

     "Listen up, sugar," she said sweetly.  "I said I didn't want
to talk about Ranma, didn't I?  And believe it or not, what I
have to do is more important to me than finding him."

     "Oh?" Ryoga said, pulling back and breaking her grip easily.
"And that would be?"

     Ukyou sighed, and told him about Konatsu.
     
     "Oh," Ryoga said again after she was done.  "I... I'm sorry, 
Ukyou.  I should have let you explain."

     "You don't think I don't want to go with you guys?" Ukyou
said.  "But I can't.  You're all going to look for Ranma.  I'm
the only one who's gonna look for Konatsu."

     "I understand," Ryoga said, having the grace to look
embarrassed.  "Please accept my apology."

     "Accepted," Ukyou said, touching him lightly on the shoulder
and smiling.  "Where's Akane, anyway?"

     "I'm not sure," Ryoga said.  "Inside the house, I guess."
     
     "Guess I'll go have a chat with her, then," she said, 
standing up.  "See ya, Ryoga."

     "See ya," Ryoga responded, still sitting.  He tilted his
head back and looked at the sky, as Ukyou walked back towards the
door of the house.

     On the doorstep, she paused for a moment, uncertainty rising
in her.  She did not know quite what she was going to say to
Akane.

     Then, pushing back her doubt and taking a deep breath, she
opened the door and stepped inside.     

**********

     "Come in," Akane called at the knock on her door, while she
struggled in an attempt to pack another pair of pants into her
suitcase.  

     Kasumi opened the door and poked her head in.  "Akane,
Ukyou's here.  She'd like to talk to you."

     "Sure," Akane said, surprised.  "Send her in."
     
     Kasumi's head retreated, and, a moment later, Ukyou stepped
in and closed the door behind her, carefully making sure her
spatula didn't get caught as she did.  

     "Hi, Akane," she said, smiling with a slightly weary look on
her face.

     "Hi, Ukyou," Akane said.  "Haven't seen you for a while."
     
     "No," Ukyou said, "I guess you haven't."

     "You want to put that down somewhere?" Akane asked, 
indicating the spatula slung across Ukyou's back.  

     "Sure," Ukyou said.  "It is kinda heavy to carry."
     
     She propped it up in the corner, as Akane moved away from
her packing and sat down at her desk chair.  "Are you doing okay,
Akane?"

     Akane nodded.  "Well as could be expected, I suppose."
     
     "I heard you were going away tonight," Ukyou said, taking a
seat on the bed next to Akane's suitcase.  "Thought I'd drop in
and say goodbye."
     
     "That's nice of you," Akane said, looking intently at her
desktop.

     There was a moment of slightly uncomfortable silence.
     
     "Akane..." Ukyou said finally, nervously tangling her 
fingers in front of her.  "I guess I really wanted to talk to you
about Ranma."

     "Oh," Akane said, a sinking feeling growing in her.  "What
about him?"

     "What's the point in dancing around it, Akane?" Ukyou said.
"We both know what I want to know.  I have to know."

     "What?" Akane said sharply.  "Ukyou, I'm busy, so..."
     
     "Do you love him?" 
     
     And the world seemed to slow down at the question.
     
     Akane raised a hand and brushed a hand through her short
hair, taking a deep breath.  She weighed the question slowly in
her mind, the scales dipping from side to side with each second 
of her thoughts.

     "Yes," she said finally, closing her eyes against the rising
tide of emotions the admission brought.  "I do.  I love him."

     Then she put her hands into her face and wept.
     
     "Hey, hey," she heard Ukyou say, heard the creak of the 
bedsprings as she rose.  "Hey, it's okay, Akane."

     An arm went around her shoulders, and she looked up,
sniffling, to see Ukyou's concerned face.  

     "Here," she said, handing Akane a tissue from the box on the
edge of her desk.  "It's okay.  Cry if you want to.  It helps."

     Akane nodded in silence and wiped at her eyes.  
     
     "I'm glad," Ukyou said softly.
     
     "Glad?" Akane asked.
     
     "I'm glad you love him," Ukyou said.  "I don't think I could
stand it if you didn't."

     "What?" Akane said, crumpling the tissue and tossing it 
away.  "What does that mean?"

     "I couldn't stand it if he loved you and you didn't love him
back," Ukyou said.

     "Who says he loves me?" Akane said.  "If he loved me, why
didn't he ever-"

     "Why didn't you ever tell him?" Ukyou asked, interrupting.
     
     Again, Akane weighed the question.  
     
     "Because I wasn't sure if he loved me back," she said
softly.  "And if I told him, and he didn't love me, what would I
do then?"

     Ukyou closed her eyes and sighed softly.  "You'd just have
to go on."

     "You really think he loves me?" Akane said.  She wanted,
wanted so badly, to believe that he did, but despite all that had
happened between them in the short time after the failed wedding
and before his disappearance, she still had some doubts.  
     
     "Yeah," Ukyou said, handing Akane another tissue and giving
her a squeeze with the arm around her shoulders.  "I think he
does."

     "Oh," Akane said in small voice.  "That..."
     
     She drew a shuddering breath.  "Thank you."
     
     "No problem," Ukyou said.
     
     "I only hope..."
     
     Akane trailed off, wiping at her eyes, unable to speak, her
words choked off by the wealth of emotions warring inside her.

     "You only hope what?" Ukyou asked.
     
     "I only hope I'll be able to tell him," Akane said, dabbing
at her tears with the tissue.     
     
     "You will," Ukyou said.  "You'll find Ranma, Akane.  I know
you will."

     "Thank you," Akane said again.  "It's good to hear that."
     
     "You okay now?" Ukyou said.
     
     Akane nodded and gave another sniffle.  Ukyou took her arm
away and straightened up.  "Good."     
     
     "I'm glad you came, Ukyou," Akane said.  "Ryoga's been
wonderful, but..."

     "I know," Ukyou said.  "Some things, you need another girl
for."

     Akane laughed and crumpled the tissue, then threw it across
the room into her wastebasket.  "I guess you do."

     "I oughta go, then," Ukyou said.  "Let you get back to
packing."

     She started towards the corner where she'd leaned her
spatula; Akane got up out of the chair and walked towards her.
"Wait, Ukyou."

     "Hmm?" Ukyou said, turning back.
     
     "You're a good friend," Akane said, reaching out and
spontaneously embracing the other girl.  "Thank you so much."

     Ukyou stiffened for a moment, then almost hesitantly 
returned the hug.  

     "You too, Akane," she said, her head nestled against 
Akane's shoulder. 

     They let each other go, and Ukyou grabbed up her spatula and
went quickly to the door.  As she pulled it open, she glanced
back at Akane.  "Good luck, Akane.  I'm sure I'll see you again
soon."

     "I'm sure too," Akane said, feeling happier than she had in
a long time.  "Bye, Ukyou."

     Ukyou stepped out the door, and was gone.  Akane wiped once
more at her eyes with her hand, then went back to struggling with
her luggage.

**********

     Ryoga was reaching for the door into the Tendo house when 
Ukyou opened it.  He pulled his hand back in time to stop from
grabbing her instead of the handle, and stepped back to let her
go by him.  

     "Did you talk to Akane?" he asked as she came down off the
step.

     She nodded.  "Yeah.  We had a heart to heart."
     
     "Good," Ryoga said.  "Do you... do you think she's okay?"
     
     Ukyou smiled.  "I think she will be.  Akane's tough."
     
     Relief showed on Ryoga's face.  "Good.  I've been kind of
worried about how she was really feeling."

     Ukyou put a hand on his shoulder.  "She talked about you,
you know."

     "She did?" Ryoga said.
     
     "Yeah," she replied.  "She said you'd been wonderful.  Good
job, kid.  You did something right for once."

     "Thank you so much," Ryoga muttered grudgingly.  
     
     "You take care of Akane, now," Ukyou said, patting him 
almost condescendingly on the cheek.       

     "Believe me, I will," Ryoga said, resisting the urge to roll
his eyes.       

     "Good man," Ukyou said, taking her hand from his face and
abruptly leaning up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.  "I 
may not see you for a while, Ryoga, so you be careful, okay?  
Don't get so caught up in protecting Akane that you forget to
look out for yourself."

     She started to walk away, then glanced back.  "Because if
you do, I'll have to pound some sense into your thick head next 
time I see you, you understand?"

     Ryoga laughed and shook his head as he turned away.  "Don't
worry about me, Ukyou.  I'm tough too.  Take care."

     "Bye," Ukyou said, standing at the edge of the shadow cast
by the gate's roof.  She stepped out, form obscured for a moment 
by the shade of the tiled roof, and then she was out into the
streets and gone.

     Ryoga looked up one final time at sky, and stepped inside 
the house, wondering when at last the rain would come.     

**********     

     Shampoo hefted a suitcase in each hand and glanced around
the dining room of the Nekohanten.  Outside, a cab idled, trunk
and back seat filled with boxes of clothing and Joketsuzoku
treasures.  Let the new owners deal with the furniture and 
whatever else she had left behind; she did not care.

     Her great-grandmother was gone.  Ranma was gone.  Mousse was 
gone.  The brief, stupid relationship she had nearly begun was 
over.       

     She was alone, and it was probably best that way.  She had
always been taught that one chose a man not out of love, but 
because he could produce strong children, to keep the bloodline
powerful.  

     She was a warrior of the Joketsuzoku, and she did not need
anyone anymore.  It was time she grew up anyway; she had been a
child for so long, concerned only with her wants.  The events of
recent times, however, had finally forced her to stop being a
child.

     Outside, evening was drawing fast, and she to meet those who
would be accompanying her on the journey to China at the airport
in a little over an hour.  They thought they could find Ranma
there somehow; perhaps they could.  Shampoo could not really find
it in herself to feel one way or another.  If they found Ranma,
then they found Ranma.  If they didn't, then they didn't.

     Drawing a long, shuddering breath and forcing the traces of
the hurting of her heart deep down inside herself, she nudged 
open the door with her leg.

     The streets were still filled with people, as the sky grew
dark above their heads, as the clouds gathered thick and heavy, 
so dark a grey that they were almost invisible against the
encroaching black of the sky.

     She was going home, finally.  Home to face the consequences
of her failure, the consequences Cologne's actions would have
upon herself and her family.  She did not look forward to dealing
with the Council.

     But she looked forward greatly to going home.
     
     "Home," she said softly, and she stepped out the door of the
Nekohanten for the last time ever.     

**********

     Akane made her way down the corridor of the plane, with the
others walking behind her.  She counted off the seat numbers 
silently as she went, looking for the row on her ticket.  

     A sudden impact from the side sent her stumbling, and she
would have fallen had not someone caught her arms in a powerful
grip.

     "My deepest apologies," the tall, massively-built westerner
with short blond hair said as he moved aside.  

     "It's okay," Akane said, as he took his hands off her.  "No
harm done."

     His pale blue eyes caught hers for a moment, and then he
slid into his seat without another word as Akane walked past, 
brushing her slightly-wrinkled skirt into place with her hands. 

     Reaching her row, she stepped past the aisle and middle
seat, and took her place by the window.  Moments later, Ryoga
took the middle seat beside her.

     "What happened back there?" he asked quietly.
     
     "Just a little collision," Akane said.
     
     He frowned.  "Someone that big ought to be a little more
careful.  He could have hurt you."

     "I'm not made of glass, Ryoga," Akane chided, glancing out
the window, back towards the buildings of the airport, the tall
windows and long shapes.  Behind those windows, she knew that 
her father and sisters were watching the plane.  

     "Whatever you made of, it certainly not glass," Shampoo 
said, as she took the aisle seat in the row.  It was the most
words the girl had spoken at once since they'd met her at the
airport, so Akane let them go by without a retort.

     "Best try to sleep if you can," Happosai said from the row
behind them.  "It's going to be a long flight.  Genma, gripping
the seat arms like is only going to hurt your fingers."

     "Yes, master," Genma said in a tight voice from the seat
behind Ryoga.  "But it makes me feel much better about this whole
idea of flying in something that weighs many tons and is kept in 
the air by a process which I do not fully understand."

     Akane leaned her elbow on the arm of the seat near the
window and peered off across the tarmac of the airport, at the
other planes, at the control tower, at the building.  She gave a
sigh, and pressed her fingers to the cool glass of the window.

     "Bye," she whispered softly.  "Bye daddy.  Bye Kasumi.  Bye
Nabiki.  Bye, home."     
     
     "You okay, Akane?" Ryoga said.  
     
     She turned her head back and nodded.
     
     There was a crackle, and a voice came on from the speaker in
the ceiling.  

     *The plane will be taking off soon.  Please fasten seatbelts
and make sure your trays are upright and in the locked position.*

     The sound of metal snapping into metal began throughout the
plane, as people strapped themselves in.  As the soft hum of the
engines began a few minutes later, there came an answering roll
of thunder, and rain began to spot the tarmac, gently at first,
but with quickly increasing strength, as the plane began to roll
along the runway, as the landing lights that marked the path
began to blur into singular lines of illumination, blazing arrows
in the night.

     Thunder rolled again, and Akane watched as the perspective 
of the ground tilted, and her stomach jumped slightly as the 
plane began to rise into the air.  The rain streaked the 
windowpane, and she could dimly hear the sound of it thudding
against the metal shell of the plane.  

     "It finally came," Ryoga said softly from beside her.  "It
always does."

     Akane watched out the window for a long time, as the lights
of the airport retreated, and other lights swelled to fill the
ground below, all the lights of Tokyo, separate at first, but
gradually, as they rose higher, the lights began to merge, to
come together, into one entirety.

     For a third time, there was the thunder, and the singularity
of the light on the ground below grew even greater, as the plane
climbed into the sky.

     Then, when it seemed the light below might finally become
too bright to look at anymore, they pierced the clouds, and there
was only the darkness again.

     Akane settled her head back against the seat, closed her
eyes, and listened to the soft hum of the engines, letting them
slowly lull her to sleep, the gentle mechanical sound like the
voices of many people speaking quietly together.

**********

     Kasumi waved to the plane that Akane and the others were on
as she watched it take off into the sky through the 
rain-spattered windows of the airport lounge.

     "Bye-bye, Akane," she said brightly.  "Bye-bye Mr. Saotome, 
bye-bye master Happosai, bye-bye Ryoga, bye-bye Shampoo."

     "You do realize they can't hear you, don't you?" Nabiki said
from beside her.

     "I know that," Kasumi said, continuing to wave.  "But it's a
nice thing to do anyway."

     Nabiki snorted and turned away.  "Can we go home now?"
     
     "Just a moment longer," Soun said.  "I can still see the
plane."

     Nabiki rolled her eyes and blew a breath of air upwards that
fluttered her bangs slightly.  "Fine."

     "Nabiki," Kasumi chided gently.  "Don't you want to say
goodbye to Akane and everyone else?"

     "I already said goodbye," Nabiki pointed out.  "While they
were here.  Let's go home, daddy."

     "No need to fight, girls," Soun said softly, turning from
the window.  "We can go now if you want."

     Nabiki glanced at Kasumi.  "Is that okay, sis?"
     
     "Why, certainly," Kasumi said.  "Whatever you want, Nabiki."
     
     "I want to go home," Nabiki said, turning and starting to 
walk.
     
     All the way home, she sat in the back seat of the cab and
watched the rain falling on the streets, answering any
conversation attempts from her father and sister with 
monosyllables or silence.  

     When the cab pulled to a stop outside the house, Nabiki
waited as her father and sister got out and stood in the heavy
fall of rain.

     "I don't suppose either of you brought an umbrella?" she
said to them through the open door as she got out her wallet and
paid the cabbie.  

     "It's not that far to the door, Nabiki," Kasumi said.
     
     Nabiki sighed and stepped out into the rain, closing the
door behind her.  The cab pulled away into the deserted streets,
as the rain ran through the gutters and carried leaves and debris
with it.  

     Walking quickly and outdistancing her father and sister,
Nabiki reached the gate well before them, and was about to step
through when, from around the other side, someone else walked
out.

     She gave a small, startled shriek and jumped back.  "You
scared me there, Doc."

     Tofu laughed softly, his glasses fogged slightly from the
rain and half-pushed down his nose.  "Sorry, Nabiki."

     "What are you doing standing in the rain?" Nabiki asked,
realizing that was what he had been doing.  His clothing was 
soaked to his slender, muscular body.  

     "Just waiting," he said softly.  "I heard that Akane was
leaving today, and just thought I'd stop by and see if you were
all doing alright."

     "We'll be fine," Nabiki said, looking at him appraisingly.
She wondered why he hadn't stood out of the rain, under the 
roofed gate.  

     "Oh, hello Tofu," her father said from behind her.  "What
are you doing here."

     Tofu turned his head slightly, but none of his attention was
on Soun.  "H... hello there, Kasumi.  What a strange coincidence 
to meet you here.  Hello..."

     He giggled slightly and pushed his glasses up, hiding his
eyes behind the fogged lenses.  A goofy smile slid across his 
face.

     Nabiki realized she was standing in the rain, and moved 
under the shelter of the gate, watching Kasumi carefully.

     "Hello, Doctor Tofu," her older sister said in a quiet
voice, clutching her hands in front of her stomach.  "How nice to
see you.  I mustn't stand in the rain like this, I'll catch a
cold."

     As she stepped by him, Tofu gave another giggle and reached
out to touch her arm; Kasumi paused, face blank and unreadable.

     "I'll see you around, Kasumi," Tofu said.  "Now that you
don't have so much to look after with Ranma and his father and
Akane gone, perhaps we can spend some more time together.  Like
we used to, Kasumi.  Wouldn't that be fun?"

     Odd, Nabiki thought.  He obviously had a little more control
around her right now; must be really making an effort not to let
his feelings get away with him.
     
     "Oh, yes," Kasumi said, voice all sugar and sweetness as she
walked past him, the rain making her dress cling to the slim
definitions of her body.  "But there's still lots to do, Tofu,
lots of housework to do, lots of cooking, you know..."

     Her voice trailed away as she reached the door to the house,
opened it, and stepped quickly inside.  

     "Well," Soun said.  "I'm sure we'll see you around, Doctor."
     
     "Please, feel free to call me if there's anything you need,"
Tofu said, and he walked past the two of them into the rain and
the night, heading slowly down the street.  Nabiki heard him
begin to whistle, a jaunty tune.

     "Nabiki?" Soun said.  "Let's go inside."
     
     Nabiki watched Tofu's retreating figure for a moment.

     "Curiouser and curiouser," she muttered under her breath,
and began to walk towards the house.  No big deal; whatever was
going on between Tofu and her older sister was a minor thing next
to all her other interests at this point in time.

     She had to make some phone calls right now.  There was lots
she had to talk about.

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