* Authors Notes:

This is an alternate universe, new timeline fic between the series Ranma
1/2 and Tenchi Muyo. It crosses the boundaries between light and darkness
and then goes back again. Pictures for this fic will be posted on my
sister's web page soon. ^_^ And of course I would like to thank my
pre-readers for all the help they've done. I wouldn't have been able to
finish this without them.

This is just a rough draft.


Falling for an Angel
By Kahlil Noriega

* Standard disclaimer: 
All rights belong to whoever owns them. I don't own any of these characters
and make no claim to do so.


Chapter 1 - Grieving angels descent...



Silence filled heaven as smoke from large iron torches burned high over
heaven's walls. Ash choked the light of the burning sun, turning the sky
opaque, while dark clouds lingered over the almighty city. 

Long red banners fluttered in the hot wind, hung over the cities tall and
gleaming white walls. Winged pike men stood guard, their lances sharp and
poised as they looked over the wall's banisters at the sight before them.  
  

The fields were desolate and devoid of life or would've been if it were not
for the soft pained cries of the dying on the ground...

Fallen swords littered the field with their tips buried in the bloody
soil...

Pikes with torn banners, planted in the soil or in a fallen body, lay
broken and bloodstained as smoke filled a slowly reddening sky. And thunder
rumbled underneath darkened clouds as the fires on field slowly died.
Consuming blacked corpses as dust and ash were carried off by the wind. 

And silence reigned over heaven...

The banners of heaven continued to fly high and proud over city's walls
then became limp and still as the wind died. The angels that guarded the
walls grew agitated as time passed by. And the only sound in heaven was the
hiss and crackle of the torches' fire.

Then trumpets cried a long hollow wail... 

And the angels that stood guard came alive as they all turned their eyes
towards the horizon...

Darkness was coming...

A sea of black, moving from the horizon...

Swallowing everything in its path...

Black tipped lances and waving banners stood apart from the main column of
the Betrayer's army.  Black cloaked riders, mounted on night coloured
chargers, formed up in front of the main body as demons, both great and
small, lined up behind them. All eager to shed blood as they looked at the
tall gleaming white walls of the almighty city before them... 

And then the roar came...

Drowning all other sound as the throats of the opposing angels cried out in
fury as the horde charged, rolling forth like the rushing tide, while their
screams hung over the battlefield...

And the angels of heaven screamed of death in the sight of their God.  And
heaven resounded with their cries, watering the soil with fresh blood

***

Demons, both twisted and clawed, broke free from the main advance as they
charged onto the fields. Determined to reach the tall golden doors of the
almighty city. Scrolling its walls with the blood of angels and demons
alike.

Screams of the dying were constant as the war in heaven raged and heaven
itself cried out in a sea of blood as both the Damned and the Righteous
clashed in the bloody field.

Hosts of angels poured onto the fields of heaven, glistening in their
golden armour.  Their wings flashed brilliantly in the constant light as
they flew over the ravaged fields. Lances, swords and maces met claws and
teeth, as each blow soiled the heavens with fresh blood.

And on this field...

Dancing on the bodies of the dead angels, a single graceful figure tore her
enemies asunder. Clothed in free flowing silk that hugged her body more
like a second skin.   The silk was slit on both sides, so as not to hinder
the lithe movements of its wearer as her sword carved a clear path before
her.  Her long, fiery red hair floated behind her as she danced.

She pierced the chest of one of the damned, its blood ran down the length
of her blade as she pulled it free from the dying carcass. Bathed in
crimson, her shining blue eyes glanced warily at the demon spawn that
encircled her from all sides as she drew her feathered wings close to her
body, looking small in the assembled circle of black-winged demons.

Ranko stood silently in the center of the surrounding demons, and eyed them
carefully. Each one, she saw, licked their lips in anticipation as they
looked forward to drawing blood. The angel before them looked good in their
eyes, but she would look even better dead beneath their feet, they thought.
Vengeance has its rewards. Even though the siege of heaven wasn't going in
their favour, vengeance would suffice for now, starting with this fragile
one before them...
 
Ranko was neither fragile nor weak and despite her appearance, she was
deadly.  A trained war angel, she'd seen more battle than these fools ever
had.  When she and her brethren tried to storm the gates of hell itself. 

A thousand laid dead and more injured before her host of angels were forced
to retreat when reinforcements had arrived.  That was a testament to her
skill. And demon spawn surrounding her wouldn't pose much of a threat or
challenge. She made short work of them when they all charged her en masse.
And all that remained was Ranko, standing victorious amongst the scattered
bodies of demons and once proud angels.

The battle seemed to be going well for them and Ranko was delighted as she
saw the forces of evil retreating back to the bowels of hell from which
they had emerged. Her joy was short-lived as she noticed that the hordes of
demons were nor retreating, but merely regrouping.  Massing themselves for
one final charge...

"Almighty Father!" she cried aloud as she stared at the horde of demons and
saw a dark cloud hovering above them suddenly began to cover the fields. 
Ranko looked on in horror as the horde of demons swept across the field
like a rushing black tide and her brethren forced back as the wave broke
against the angel's line.

Ranko found herself pushed back as more demons poured out from hell.  She
realised that for each one that fell to her blade, two more emerged to
replace it; she was hard pressed to defend, as there was no time to do
anything more than dodge.  There were just too many of them.

"Father!" she cried as she fought with renewed strength and zeal. This had
to end quickly, she thought as another of her brethren fell to the tide of
darkness, which seemed even closer to the gates of Heaven.

Momentarily clearing a space around her...

She quickly assessed her situation. Looking at the betrayer seated on his
dark cloud, Ranko gritted her teeth on what she knew she had to do as she
quickly took to the air and charged the man that betrayed them all...

***


The betrayer smiled down at her as he saw her charge up after him.
Amusement clearly painted on his face as he hurled a bolt of lightning at
her. She dodged it nimbly as she sped towards him, blocking a more with her
blade as she rose to greet him on his dark cloud. 

And she felt afraid...

A ball of black light rushed to meet her. "Too fast..." she thought as she
quickly placed her sword in front of her to block it. The impact numbed her
arms as she felt the full force of the black energy ball. Black light
streamed around her as she held her ground. She thought she could hold on,
yet the beam of black light pulsed with added strength and all she could
feel then was pain...

Black light surrounded her as she was hurled down onto the battlefield
below. Her clothes was charred and ripped in several places as ash stained
her wings.

She lay there prone and weak, her teeth clenched in a grimace as she tried
to get up, as her hand groped for her sword beside her.

Slowly, she stood up. The tip of her blade imbedded in the soil as she
faced the black clouds above her. The betrayer's army was already at the
gates of heaven. 

"Must, fight..." she whispered in between gasps of pain as she tried to
move her wings to fly. 

And failed...

She crashed down to the ground, to weak to fly as she cried in pain.

"Father..." she pleaded as she turned her eyes to the besieged city and
wept...

Fire consumed parts of the wall and demons surged through the holes they
created and were met by her brothers in battle.

And she cried in pain...

Slowly, tried again to rise, and succeeded, using her sword more as cane
than weapon.

Moving her wings, she slowly lifted up from the ground and turned
tear-streaked eyes up to the sky as she flew once again to the darkened
cloud. 


***


"Gabriel, what a pleasant surprise. It's been a long time my old friend..."
The betrayer smiled, as he looked at his long time friend point his sword
at him.

"It's over Lucifer, submit to the Father!" Gabriel demanded.

"Oh? I beg to differ, my old friend, as you can see heaven's broken..."

Gabriel disregarded his old friends reply as he continued to stare at him.

"Come with me Gabriel. Join me, together we can rule heaven and be Gods
ourselves."

"No Lucifer. No."

"So be it. I didn't want to end it this way, but..." Lucifer stopped at
what he was going to say as he heard a heated cry coming towards him. He
leaped away as a fiery blade cleaved through the space he occupied a while
ago. He brought his sword up as he blocked her attack and several hard
slashes. Leaping back to avoid them.

"Ranko!" Gabriel cried, but Ranko only ignored him as she charged.   

Face to face, the betrayer stood stoically before her, dismissing her
instantly at a glance as Ranko charged him with righteous anger. He deftly
blocked her attack and countered with one of his own, cleaving empty air
were Ranko's head used to occupy. 

Ranko dodged to the side, throwing herself to the ground as rolled avoiding
several follow-up slashes then was hard pressed upon getting up. Dodging
his attacks proved to be difficult as he was, fast, very fast, and good
with a blade.  As she leapt away to safety, ducking a blow that would have
decapitated her, she assessed him from a distance.  Standing a few meters
away, Ranko watched him warily for his next move as she stood with her
sword posed.

"Lucifer! NO!" Gabriel shouted as he realised what Lucifer was about to do.
Ranko turned her eyes to Gabriel hearing his warning, noticing him only
now...

"A pity..." Lucifer replied as he unleashed a powerful beam at her. Caught
off guard as the beam collided with her sword, she was pressed back by the
force of the beam.  Ranko could feel her arms weakening slowly as the force
of the blow pressed on into her blade.

"...I kinda liked you..." And he poured more power into the blast.

Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes as the force of the beam engulfed
her in a sea of bright black light, before she finally succumbed to
unconsciousness as she fell...

"NOOOO!!!" Gabriel cried as he charged.


***

Emptiness...

"Where, am I?" Ranko whispered in the dark.

"Hush child, sleep, rest..." A voice assured her from the darkness.

"Father..." Ranko whispered as she felt warmth stream through her veins as
she slowly fell asleep, which dulled the pain, as bright light wrapped
around her.

And she smiled...


***

 
Some where... 

On Earth...

In another time and place...


***


Peace... 

The wind cried softly as it ruffled the branches of the trees surrounding
the Masaki shrine. The night sky was clear and calm, and stars glittered
and shone across that velvet sea of darkness.

Tenchi Masaki silently descended the shrines stone steps, headed for the
fields below. 

"It sure was great of grandpa to let me stay here for the summer. Anything
beats, staying back home with dad."

"Too bad grand pa had to go somewhere with him..." Tenchi sighed as he
looked at the stone steps before him as he went down. 

"Guess I'll be alone this summer..." Tenchi thought sadly. 

"Well at lease he didn't say I had to practice while he was gone. Guess I
could use some peace and quiet right now... " He thought, trying to cheer
himself up. It didn't work though, and he sighed as turned his eyes to look
at the stone steps, careful that he won't slip.  

Tenchi Masaki was dressed in a plain green shirt and pants. A perfectly
normal student, as far as anyone was concerned, perfectly ordinary.

A cold wind suddenly rose up and greeted him, blowing in from the mountains
and forests that surround the Masaki shrine, cooling him off as he walked
down the steep and narrow steps. Pausing, he took a deep breath as he
stared at the beautiful view of the mountains on the horizon. Clothed in
all sorts of trees and bushes, they overlooked a clear, quiet lake nestled
in the center of the valley.  He really felt at peace here.  It made him
feel that he could forget all his troubles, he smiled at the idea of doing
so.

"Huh?"

>From out of the corner of his eye, he caught a brief glimpse of bright
light as it appeared from the heavens. The light looked like a shooting
star as it streaked across the night sky.  He gazed up at it longingly,
smiling. Then he frowned, as he looked closer at the object descending from
the sky.

"That isn't a falling star. Is it a comet, meteor?" He thought, puzzled, as
he took a step back onto a higher step so that he could get a better look
at the falling object.

"No! No, no, it can't ...wai...wai...wait! It's coming this way!" He
screamed as he realised with fear that it was falling towards the valley in
front of him.

And it was too late... 

***

The impact of the meteor sent a shock wave that spread out in a dome of
pure white light, which covered the entire valley below him.

Tenchi covered his eyes with his arm as the shock wave rushed pass him. The
force of it pushed him off his feet as he fell back on top of the stone
steps that lead to the temple, above.  And as the wave of light washed over
him, he thought he was going to die...

And then...it was over.

Cautiously, Tenchi lowered his arm and blinked a few times, as he tried to
adjust his sight. He saw that everything was the same as before, except
that the lake below him had a faint light emanating from it.

Curious, Tenchi got up and ran down the stone steps to investigate the
cause of the eerie light...

***

Brushing aside a branch that was in his way, Tenchi stepped out of the
forest and stared in wonder at the sight before him. The glowing lake lay
quiet and peaceful, almost as if nothing had happened at all. Only a few
gentle waves rocked the surface as it reached the shore.

He took a tentative step forward as Tenchi swallowed a lump that formed in
his throat.  He felt his anxiety grab hold of him as he looked at the
glowing waters of the lake before his eyes homed in on the source.

Stepping up to the lake's edge, he could feel the cold water lapping over
his sandaled feet as he stared at the source of the glimmering light.

There, floating a few meters from him, was the source of the light... 

Human, he thought.   Though how a person could glow like that escaped him
as he slowly stepped into the frigid waters of the lake. He could feel his
legs going slightly numb, from the water or from fear, he couldn't tell as
he slowly inched his way towards her.

This was what he concluded as he took note of her shapely form and legs. He
dismissed her wings when he saw her back floating above the surface of the
water.  Quickly, he rushed to her side. The waters stood below his chest as
he gently cradled her head in his shaking hand as the other wrapped itself
around her slim waist to slowly turn her over. 

And he gasped in wonder at the sight before him...

Never had he seen such beauty. Soft pink lips, slightly parted to make her
look even more enchanting, adorned a slightly, heart-shaped face that was
framed by fiery red hair. Skin so soft and smooth as to make the sheerest
silk seem rough in comparison, as a faint glow surrounded her, making her
look even more beautiful, if that were possible.

Tenchi stood there, frozen in place as he stared down at her. 

Neither the glowing light of the moon nor the still, quiet night helped in
lessening the beating of his heart as he held her gently in his arms.  The
cold waters of the lake gently lapped around their bodies, but all Tenchi
could feel was her warmth as he held her.

Snapping himself out of his daze, he gently cradled her body in his arms as
he carried her out of the water and stepped onto the moist soil of the
bank.

He took a quick glance at her, feeling spellbound by her beauty.  Too many
questions floated in his mind.

"Who is she? Where could she have come from?" were but some of the
questions that raced through his mind that needed answers.

But those were for later he thought as he took note of her drenched and
barely concealing clothes. He hastily tore his eyes away from the sight as
he carried her in his arms and turned around. Headed for the shrine above
as clouds thundered over the horizon...

~ To be continued...


* End note:

Well I hope you like the story so far. And if there's anything you got to
say about this fic, please tell me. Even a short reply would be nice. In
fact, I implore you to do so. Please send all C&C, MST or even flames to
the address below or to the FFML if you feel bold enough to do so.

Becknkal@addax.bc.ca

And if you're curious as to what other stories I've done. Please don't
hesitate to visit my sister's web page at:

The anything goes Ranma 1/2 fanfic page
http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/temple/9371

Anyway, that's that for my rant. ^_^

Sincerely
~ Kahlil Noriega ~