Ranma opened his eyes, and saw a thin ray of light streaming in
from the window. He was smiling, which was very rare as he liked
sleeping much more than waking... but... today, he woke before his
father. It only happened when he had a certain dream... it didn't come
often, but when it came, he always remembered every detail of it.
He brought his fingers to his lips, touching them wonderingly.
"If only I'd get a kiss like from THAT dream... Hah, like Akane
wouldn't pound me for it... but, jeez..." he sighed, turning on his side
and burrowing deeper beneath his blankets. "Then again, it may not be
Akane at all... if I could only tell... who is that?" It was a cold
winter morning, and usually, he hated that. But the dreams of her always
made his days just a little easier to get through... and he was glad.
He only wished that he could see her face... but in the dream, the
moon was directly behind her, and he could not make out her shadowed
features...
---
The Nikholas F. Toledo Zu
presents
Ranma 1/2: The Setting Moon
by Nikholas "Rain Man" F. Toledo
(Something for you people to read from me while I re-write and super-
revise episodes 1 to 20 of The Three Fold God's Path)
The Princess, the Courtesan, the Sorceress, and the Servant Girl
---
"Once upon a time..."
"Auntie Akane, tell me the one about the wandering prince who
finally came home!"
"That one's a little too long, don't you think?"
"Pleeeease, Auntie? It's been so long since you were last here,
and 'tou-san just doesn't tell it like you do! It's been so boring
without Issei..."
"Hmm... Well, my husband was very firm on taking our son on a
training trip, Kyo-chan. Don't worry, your cousin Issei will be back
with you before you know it."
He blurted out, "Is he gonna have a curse too?"
Akane's expression darkened. Then, she chuckled, softly. "Well,
Kyosuke... if my husband's dumb enough to get our son cursed... we'll
learn to deal with it. Anyway, they promised to stay away from Jusenkyou
while they're in China."
"If Issei gets one, I wanna have a curse, too!" he whined.
"Hmmm... you'd better not tell your papa that, Kyo-chan. He wants
you to have a normal life..."
"Normal is boring!" the boy burst out.
She laughed. "That's true, Kyo-chan. But remember how much
trouble the Prince gets into? That's maybe a little more excitement than
you want to have happening to you..."
"You could tell me about the Prince's troubles to convince me,"
Kyosuke said slyly.
"Well... okay."
She smiled down at the little boy's rounded features. He was
adorable - he had his father's eyes... and she could see that he would be
just as handsome when grown up. Akane hesitated, fingering her hair.
She had let it grow again, and while it wasn't as long as when Ranma had
first come to Nerima, it was already past her shoulders... She wondered
if she would style it that way once again?
Probably not. That was all in the past, now.
She sighed. "Once upon a time, Kyo-chan. Once upon a time, there
was a kingdom... and in this kingdom (it was not a large kingdom, though
it was a prosperous and well-kept one), there was a prince... The prince
was promised by his father, the King, to one day marry a Princess, that
their Kingdoms would be brought together at last... But there were
problems, and..."
---
"I-iTE!"
"Sorry, Ranma, but the disinfectant is supposed to sting. Now,
please hold still," Dr. Tofu said as he continued cleaning a long gash
across Ranma's cheek, and a deeper one that went across his torso, from
navel to shoulder. "Now from what I heard, Ranma, it was just pure luck
that this one - "
"OW! Not so hard!"
Dr. Tofu turned stern eyes on the young man. They flashed behind
his glasses, and Ranma flinched.
"Ranma, you were just lucky that it wasn't just a little bit deeper
or you'd be holding your intestines in your hands right now. Sometimes,
I really wonder if these fights aren't starting to get a little out of
hand." There was a warning tone in his voice. "If you and the others
don't settle your differences soon, one of you, or worse, maybe some
unlucky passer-by, could get seriously hurt! This isn't what martial
arts is about, Ranma!"
"Butitwasn'tmyfault!" Ranma swallowed when he saw the doctor's eyes
hardening. "O-okay, Tofu-sensei... It's not like I TRY to have Ryoga
and Mousse and Kuno all mad at me at the same time, really, it's not..."
---
Akane just remembered something. "Young man, did you remember to
brush your teeth?"
"Aw, Auntie Akane," he whined. "I wanna finish the story first!"
"Kyo-chan, if your papa and mama find out that you don't brush you
teeth when I tell you stories, they're not going to like our little
storytelling sessions at all, neh? Go brush and wash up first."
"We-ell... can't you keep going while I'm brushing my teeth?"
"Enh, you'll be distracted and you won't do a thorough job. Come
on, Kyo-chan. The quicker you finish, the quicker we can go on with the
story."
"Okay, Auntie-chan."
He was a good kid, she thought. You could see it in his eyes when
he knew that he had to do something, and proceeded to do it even when it
wasn't the most pleasant of things.
---
He was looking at her - as though he saw something he had never
seen before.
And she was looking back at him, and it was a different look she
was giving him, different from how she looked at everyone else. He could
finally tell... and she knew he could, he could see that in her eyes.
Surely he was wrong... he looked back at his food, confused. He couldn't
be seeing THAT emotion in her eyes... He glanced again, and the LOOK was
still there.
He panicked. What else could he do? This was nothing he expected,
this wasn't how things were supposed to be... No one would understand...
and most likely, he would be blamed for it. Things always seemed to turn
out to be his fault...
It was in the middle of dinner, and his cheeks were burning. The
others must have noticed! They had to... it felt as if he were wearing a
big sign on his forehead that said it all... Slowly he looked at each
one of the others in turn... the calculating gleam in Nabiki's eyes, the
soothing warmth of Kasumi's smile, Akane's eyes, so beautiful when she
wasn't angry... their fathers pigging out on the spread before them...
"Ranma? Is something wrong?"
"Huh? Uh... Um..." He shook his head, as if to clear it and looked
intently at his food. "Ah, nuthin', Akane. Nothin's wrong..." His
heart was beating so very fast, surely they could all hear it... but he
was glad that they couldn't...
She tilted her head, peering at him curiously. He wasn't wolfing
down food like he usually did, and he was just looking down, and his
cheeks were faintly reddish - it made the pale line of the scar stand out
along his cheek. She hesitated. "Are you sure?" She reddened slightly
herself. Though she wouldn't admit it, Akane thought that the scar made
him look handsome, more distinguished and mature.
"IsaidI'mfineokayleavemealone!" At that, he began consuming his
food as fast as he possibly could - which was about as quickly as an
industrial vacuum cleaner.
Akane's brows knitted in annoyance as she growled under her breath,
"I was just concerned, baka!" She started to eat faster as well, fuming,
in silence. Too bad, she thought, that the look of maturity was only
skin deep.
Her father and his shared a look. They shrugged, and resumed
eating as well.
Nabiki blinked. That had not been like a normal exchange at all.
Something was different... and she absolutely HATED it that she didn't
know. It wasn't just Ranma's new scar... Heck, with the kind of combat
he usually saw on a day-to-day basis, she was surprised that it had taken
this long before he got injured like that. And he was a martial artist
who knew who to take his lumps... Nabiki could tell that it wasn't the
scar at all, or the fight that had led to it. She quietly resolved to
find out what had happened with all her considerable resources as quickly
as possible. Situations like this were intolerable - something had just
happened, and she felt that if she just knew what it was, she could use
it to make a killing... Information was money after all. At least
Kasumi's cooking was good, as usual.
Within moments, Ranma had finished inhaling his food into his
gullet, and before Akane or anyone could probe him further, he excused
himself and almost ran out of the dining room. "GottagoIhavesomethin'ta-
do!" he mumbled as he left.
Minutes later, Akane finished, snarled once and climbed up the
stairs to her room.
"A fight, Tendo?"
"Looks like it, Saotome."
The two fathers sighed. "They'll be fine in the morning," the two
chorused.
"Some shogi, Saotome?"
"Ah, hits the spot right after dinner, Tendo. Let's go."
When the others left the room, Nabiki turned a pensive look towards
her older sister. "'Nee-chan? Did something just happen that I should
know about?"
Kasumi blinked, faintly surprised. She smiled her usual, warm
smile. "W-why... what do you mean, Nabiki-chan? Are you finished
eating? I'll clean up now then."
Nabiki frowned. And yawned. 'That's right,' she thought. 'I had
to wake up extra-early today for the field trip... I'll just work on
this situation tomorrow... It can wait for a night.'
---
Ranma perched himself atop the tree branch. He closed his eyes,
balanced himself in a cross-legged position, and breathed deeply. In,
out. In, out.
The moon shone high above, and the park was beautiful as the light
reflected off of the soft snow blanketing the area. The air was crisp,
and it was great for meditating. He was at peace with the oneness of all
things, his chi was in tune, his concentration was at its greatest...
Well, that's what he was trying to tell himself, anyway...
Ranma sneezed and fell, face planting itself more or less firmly
into the ground. He stayed stationary for a few seconds, still in a
lotus position, determined to get some kind of answer out of his at-times
rock-like head. Eventually, snow exploded about him as he sneezed once
more in a spectacularly violent fashion. Snow cascaded from the branches
above him, burying him in it and soaking his shirt enough to trigger the
transformation.
"WAAAIIIIIIII!!! I STILL DON'T GET IT!" She bolted to her feet,
waving her arms frantically, brows twitching. "Aaaagh!" Ranma slammed
her head against the tree trunk in annoyance, causing more snow to fall
onto her.
"Ah, ah, AAH-CHOOOOOO! Ugh. Shoulda gotten heavier clothes before
I ran..." She wiped her face on her sleeve, shivering. She sat, leaning
against the tree trunk, hugging herself for warmth. "Ah, heck, I guess
this meditation junk's just not fer me..." Ranma mumbled. "I musta been
seeing things... I must have..." She sighed. "I'd better get back before
I get sick."
Ranma started walking back, hands in pockets, eyes to the ground.
Things were never supposed to change, not around here, and yet... There
was a part of him (her at the moment, but he never stopped thinking of
himself as a he) that could not deny that something had. And with each
step she took, feet dragging in the snow, she felt as if she were tracing
a map, a path that would lead to a future... A future beside someone
who, for the first time since Ranma had come to Nerima, she could finally
see.
For the first time, that shadowy figure, the one in his dreams of a
girl in a field who waited for her... had a face...
Only finally knowing, it was almost more terrifying than just
wondering... And taking any step forward on that path - it would hurt
people... Why had things finally changed?
She came upon a little puddle on the sidewalk that had somehow
managed to freeze to a mirror-perfect surface, and stopped. Delicately,
she traced the thin line that wound its way from her jaw, up her left
cheek and stopping just to the left of her eyebrow. She wondered if it
made her girl form ugly... before brushing that thought off as being
unmanly. Still, she couldn't help wondering. Ranma had always taken
pride in his appearance, both as a female and as a male, since he had
come to Furinkan and had people falling for both of his sides... She
smiled, hesitantly, looking at her reflection.
Yes, she thought. I still look okay... maybe it makes me look a
little older, but it ain't like I've been disfigured or nothin'.
---
The little boy screwed up his features, thinking hard. This part
of the story always confused him. "Auntie Akane, but why did the King DO
that? Why did the prince get engaged to so many princesses and queens
an' stuff in the first place?"
"Because the King... because, while he was basically a good man,
the King, well, he had his faults... And, for the prince's troubles, no
end lay in sight. The bickering between the Kingdoms grew worse and
worse, because the Prince was afraid to choose..."
"But, Auntie... I thought the Prince was brave... Why was he
scared of choosing?"
The look on his face was so appealing, thought Akane. He was so
worried over the characters... even though he already knew the ending.
She patted his head. "Courage is doing the right thing even when you're
scared, Kyo-chan. The Prince thought that war would break out if chose
between the Princesses... So as soon as he could, he tried to arrange a
peace, a temporary truce between the Four Kingdoms of the land."
"But it didn't work, right, Auntie?"
"No," she intoned solemnly. "The tensions along the borders of the
Four Kingdoms grew with every passing day... It looked as though war was
going to break out anyway, and the Prince was much saddened. Because the
Prince didn't like seeing anyone get hurt."
"Um, um, I know what happens next! Before the War can start, the
Prince, he falls in love!"
She nodded. "And that is when he finally realized, in his heart,
that things could not continue the way they always had. The Prince was a
fighter, he wasn't really good at thinking things through... but at last,
he had something he knew he wanted to fight for."
"That was when he got the scar, right?"
"Right, Kyo-chan."
---
She could feel it, when he came back. This was her home, and while
for most, home is a home and nothing more, her home was so much of her
life that she knew it... intimately... its moods, the creaks some of the
spots in the floor made, the places in the corridors that were drafty,
the way the smells of many years of cooking had seeped into the
kitchen... everything. She could tell where anyone was in her home at
any time, just by listening, and feeling the vibrations from the floor
through her feet.
He had come back sooner than she had expected, but then, he always
had surprised her. She had been prepared anyway. She took a pot of
water, hot but not boiling, a pot of tea and two cups on a tray, and a
towel and some blankets slung over one arm to the front porch.
There were SOME things easy to predict about him, and that was why
Kasumi was prepared for the likelihood that he was a she at the moment.
They shared a look, and wordlessly, Ranma poured the hot water over
herself, and then wiped himself down a little with the towel as he looked
at the stars.
"You're cold... You might get sick, Ranma..."
He glanced at her once, before looking up at the sky again. "Uh-
huh. Still... nice night, ain't it?"
Kasumi took hold of the corners of the blanket, and hesitantly,
barely breathing, she enfolded Ranma within the warmth of the blanket,
and her arms. This was it - this was when the choice would be made...
she would not normally be so forward, but this was something she had to
do... she had to know if she had only imagined the look that had passed
between them.
He stiffened, and her heart sank.
She started to pull her arms back, blushing, embarrassed at what he
would think or say... but his hands closed over hers, and he sighed.
"You don't have to let go, Kasumi... chan." He started shaking then, and
rapidly, his hand darted to one of the cups, and he gulped the tea down.
Kasumi's arms slid down and tightened around his waist as she rested her
chin on his shoulder. His shaking grew worse... "K-Kasumi... I finally
chose, y'know? 'M... 'M so scared... N-never... been this frightened
before..."
She whispered into his ear, and feeling her breath so close made
him flush, "Shhh... It's okay, Ranma... it will be fine." Something
bright and fierce began to burn inside Kasumi, and she held him, keeping
him from falling despite the sudden weakness in his knees. "It will be
fine."
Ranma turned in her arms to face him, and embraced her back
tightly. For just a moment, all his strength seemed to be gone... and
Kasumi brushed her cheek against the scar, softly nuzzling him... and he
stopped shaking. He drew back for a moment to look at her...
---
"And then the Prince kissed her, just like in his dreams..."
"She was the only one who never asked for anything, the Prince
realized. That was why it had happened. Of all the Princesses and
Duchesses and Sorceresses and the great Merchant Baronesses and Knights
who wanted him, she, the humblest of all of them, had never demanded
anything of him... she had only given freely. And if she could be so
direct, if she had the courage to give of herself to him like that,
risking so much without asking for anything in return... he decided that
he could too."
Akane blinked, shaking her head. She smiled. "Good night, Kyo-
chan. Your parents will be back from their dinner soon..." Slowly,
Akane pulled the blanket up to better cover the sleeping child.
She brushed a tear from her eye, and whispered, "we're going to
have to end this one another day, Kyo-chan..." And ever so gently, she
eased his red pigtail out from beneath his head, and loosened the knot so
that it wouldn't be snarled in his sleep...
--- THE END
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Nikholas F. Toledo Zu @ WWW: The Entertainment Capital of UP Village
Vector, Switch, Yebah, Rain Man, goo, Pervert, Scruples, Hollie, NomaD,
Blitz, Gee, Datzo, Jewel, elf, Radler, Pinball, Mayhem, Chaos, Father,
Attar and Llewe @ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/mezza9.html
Fanfiction Page @ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/fanfics.html
Perv's SI Archive @ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3145/insert.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------