Hi there everyone.  I finally got around to joining the FFML,
and now I'm joing to be posting my fics.  They've been on my
webpage for a while, as well as the RAAC, but I'm still
coming out with new chapters, and several of my readers
suggested the FFML.  Here's the first chapter of A Feather in the Wind.
C&C is always welcome.


Standard Disclaimer:  Ranma 1/2 characters and situations
are copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi, and are not my
property.  I'm just borrowing them to write an enjoyable
fiction.  This work is copyrighted to the author, and in
no way is it to be sold, altered, or just plain old
renamed.  This work is by a fan for fans for free!

               A Feather in the Wind

                     Chapter 1

     As the morning light creeped up the eastern horizon,
the peace was shattered by piercing battle cries.  This
however was normal in this neighborhood, for this is the
Tendo dojo, and the morning training sessions of the
Saotomes' has long since been ignored by the rest of the
neighborhood.
     "Come on Ranma!!  You can do better than that!"
Genma yelled as he smoothly blocked a punch.
     "Grrr..  Try this!"  Ranma ducked low and tried a
leg sweep.
     "Hah!  Try again boy!" Genma taunted again as he
jumped over the attack.  As this battle raged on, a
different battle was being waged... in the kitchen.
     "More flour right?"
     "That's salt Akane.  No, that bag there, that's
right!"  Kasumi gently tries to train her younger sister
in the fine art of cooking.   Kasumi's seemingly
impenetrable calm was visibly strained as Akane
enthusiastically grabbed at random ingredients.
     Akane and Kasumi both looked out the window as they
heard a splash.
     "Looks like Ranma is going to need some hot water
soon."  Kasumi smiled and turned to put the kettle on.
     "That idiot, he should be better than that by now,"
Akane muttered to herself as she continued to try to make
breakfast, "Kasumi, are you sure you don't add soy sauce
to this?"  she muttered absently as she dumped half a
bottle into her concoction.
     "Now you're dead old man!"  Ranma-chan yelled as she
leapt from the pond and continued to attack her father.
     "Remember your focus Ranma!  If changing into a girl
causes you to lose focus, maybe we should start tomorrow's
session with you as a girl"  Genma grinned at the look of
anger his 'son' showed, then slowly faded into a calm
expression as she reformed into a proper stance again.
    "That's better boy!  Now, lets break for breakfast!"  As
he started to walk into the dojo, he felt two small hands
grab his doji and hurl him into the pond.
     "Maybe you should focus some more pops"  Ranma-chan
gloated as her father resurfaced as a giant panda.
     "Growrf"  was about all he could manage as he climbed
out of the pond.
     "Mr. Saotome, Ranma!  Breakfast is ready!"  Kasumi
called from just inside the house.  "I've also got some
hot water for you two!"  She smiled sweetly at them as she
held up a kettle.
     After Ranma and Genma had changed back and dried
off, they gathered around the table for breakfast.  Nabiki
and Mr. Tendo joined them a few seconds later, Nabiki
still looking only half awake, but she quickly woke when
she noticed the food siting in front of her.
     "Hey Kasumi, who made breakfast this morning?"  she
asked with a bit of dread starting to creep in as she
continued looking at the ...food.
     "Well," Kasumi smiled "I did make most of it, but
Akane made some of the dishes" "Oh great, pick and choose
your poison"  Ranma groaned as he looked at the dishes.
     "Watch it Ranma, I tried really hard to make this so
you had better eat it and like it!"  Akane glared from her
seat as Ranma eyeballed the food, trying to pick out
something that he thought Akane didn't make.  "Are you
gonna eat it or not?"  Akane practically screamed at them.
At the sound of her voice, everyone grabbed some food at
random, not daring to pick and choose.   Ranma looked at
the substance at the end of his chopsticks warily and took
a bite.   Almost immediately his eyes watered and his gut
twisted into knots.  He tried to gasp, but couldn't
breath.  Frantically  he grabbed for a glass of water.  He
felt someone push a glass in his hand and he gratefully drank
the contents.
     "Ranma!  Breathe breathe!"  Ranma felt a hand firmly
swat his back a few times, then just as suddenly as the
pain came, it left, and he sat gasping for breath as his vision
slowly returned.
     "Are you okay?  Ranma?"  Ranma squinted and saw that
it was Akane that was kneeling next to him.  ::She's
concerned?  How long was I not breathing?:: he thought,
but all he could manage was a nod.
     "Good one Akane," Nabiki deadpanned, "It's a good
thing we let Ranma take the first bite."
     "Nabiki, that wasn't very nice" Kasumi scolded her
sister, "Akane tried very hard this morning to make a good breakfast"
     "Son, are you all right?"  Mr. Tendo spoke for the
first time that morning, the only response he got was a
kind of strangled groan.   "Akane, help me get him to his
room."  Without waiting for a response from his daughter
he started lifting one side of the barely conscious Ranma.
Akane blinked a couple of times, and then moved to help her father.
     ::What did I mess up on it this time?:: Akane
thought, ::I thought I did everything right... That idiot,
why does he always have to overreact like this, I mean it
can't be that bad, can it?::  They dragged Ranma into his
room, and laid him down on the futon.  Kasumi came in a
few minuets later with a small basin and a washcloth.  As
she gently placed the cloth over his forehead, Mr. Tendo
quietly left the room.  Akane stood there trying to figure
out what she did wrong with the recipe.
     "Don't worry Akane, Ranma will be  just fine,"
Kasumi completely misread the expression on Akane's face.
     "It's not like that!" Akane snapped, but her face
suddenly softens.  ::What if he doesn't recover from this?
Oh what do I care anyways, that insensitive jerk.::
Despite her own thought, tears welled up in her eyes.
Akane looked over at Ranma again and sighed.
     "Umm Kasumi?"
     "Yes Akane?"
     "I... I'll take care of him.  Really, it's my fault,
(sigh) you better go and make breakfast for everyone
else."  Akane knelt next to  Ranma's still form, not
watching her sister leave, or even noticing that she had
shut the door behind her.  All that was apparent in her
world right now was Ranma's still form, the tears running
down her cheeks, and the guilt racing through her mind.
::I should have tasted it first, I should.....::  A
million things that she could have done differently raced
through her head.  She had cooked for him before, and
somehow something always went wrong.  But all the other
times, Ranma was at least awake, and moving about, now he
just lay there, still and pale, just barely breathing.
     "Ranma," Akane barely whispered, "I wish that just
this once you would pop open one of your eyes and call me
un-cute, or a tomboy, anything just let me know your alive...."
     "Tomboy" Ranma croaked out as he opened one eye and
looked for Akane.  Akane's face suddenly went bright red,
and she looked down at the floor. "You were awake?"
     "Not really," he gasped "the only thing I heard was
that you wanted me to call you a tomboy or something"
Akane smiled a little bit at this, "I just wish you'd
learn how to cook and quick, another meal like this will
be my last..."  WHAP
     "Ranma you jerk!"  Akane screamed as she slapped
him.  Then she looked at Ranma , and she rearranged him on
his futon and put the washcloth back on his forehead.
     "Huh, what happened?  Akane?"  Ranma stuttered into
silence as he slowly realized that this would be a good
time to keep his mouth shut.
     Out in the hallway, Kasumi smiled and ushered two
old men away from the door.  "Let them be Father, just let
them be."  She gently scolded them.  Neither one of them
had the heart to ignore that gentle admonishment.
     Several days later, an advertisement showed up in
the news paper.
     "Look!  A fair!  This is great!"  Mr. Tendo gushed,
"You'll take good care of my daughter at the fair won't
you son?"  Mr. Tendo glared at Ranma.
     "Aww come on... Why do I gotta take her to some dumb
fair?"  Ranma objected, oblivious to the bright blue
battle aura that was starting to form around Akane.
     "You will take her to the fair Ranma!"  Mr. Tendo
yelled, changing into his demon-head mode, startling Ranma
and breaking Akane out of her battle aura,  "She is your
fiancee, this fair is a perfect opportunity for you two to
go out and have some fun, and maybe, just maybe not
fight!"  his face alone was enough to discourage even
Ranma from talking back.  "Now, do you understand, son?"
Ranma's only response was to nod his head.
     "You'll do fine boy!"  Genma said as he moved pieces
to his favor on the board, "After all, it's up to you to
carry on the Saotome school of Anything goes martial arts!"
     "All right all ready!  I'll go I'll go!"  Ranma held
his hands up in surrender to this.  Akane was too stunned
to even react when her sisters suddenly stormed her.
     "What'll you wear?"  "I should trim your hair a bit
to make it look nicer.."  "What an opportunity!  You'll
have so much fun"   "Maybe the black kimono with the
flower?"  "No the....."   You get the Idea.
     When it came time to go to the fair, Ranma and Akane
hurried away from their parents.
     "Geez you'd think they'd mind their own business"
Ranma grumbled as he walked next to Akane.  He was wearing
a dark blue yukata, with a very detailed red dragon on the
back, and deep red scroll work embroidered around the
edges.  Akane was wearing the black kimono that she wore
at the Doll inn.  Ranma may have been grumbling at their
parents, but inside he was smiling.  ::Wow, I'm glad she
chose that one, it sure makes her look so cute!  If only
she could be like this all the time....::  Akane, for her
part was pleased that they got a chance to be alone.
::Now if only he'll keep his big mouth shut, we might
actually have a good time.::
     Once they reached the fair, Ranma and Akane wandered
around for while, and then they started to play the games.
Ranma won several large fluffy dolls for Akane at the ball
throw, and was actually a little embarrassed at the way
she hugged them all and squealed with girlish delight.
::Man she sure can be cute when she's not angry...::
Ranma thought.  The more they wandered the fair, the more
they began to enjoy each others company.
     "Akane, we're running a tad low on cash," Ranma
spoke as he poked around in his coin purse for any more
change, "We might have to leave soon."
     "No way!" Akane grinned, "I've still got all my
money remember?  You don't have to pay for everything you know."
     "I just thought, well uh..." Ranma was at a loss for
words, he never expected that they could get through a
trip to the fair without getting splashed, or having
multiple fiancees or rivals showing up.  A chill ran down
his spine, and he looked nervously around, expecting to
see Ryouga charging him or something.
     "What's the matter Ranma?  Cat got your tongue?"
Akane grinned viscously at Ranma as he shivered.
     "Geez Akane, don't kid around like that, (mutter mutter)"
     "What was that Ranma?  I couldn't hear you?"
     "Stupid Tomboy" was Ranma's unthinking response.  To
his surprise, Akane didn't hit him, in fact she wasn't
paying any attention to him at all.  Grateful for small
miracles, he relaxed, and then tried to see what she was
looking at.  "Hey Akane, whatcha looking at?"
     "Look over there, What's that?"  Akane pointed to a
crowd gathered around a tent in a dark corner of the fair.
The tent seemed out of place at the fair, but the crowd
around it suggested something special.
     "Dunno, want to find out Akane?" Ranma said as he
tried to read the sign from where he was, relieved at the
same time that she hadn't heard him.
     "Sure, who knows, it could be something fun!" Akane
smiled and started walking towards the booth.  They both
were shocked when they could finally read the sign.
     "The world's only earthbound angel?!?"  Akane read in
surprise.
     "Aw come on Akane, it's probably just some doll that
you hafta look through a little hole to see."  Ranma
shrugged, "There's no such thing as angels anyways...."
     "Right, and there's no way to change from a boy to a
girl with just water either."  Akane shot back.  Ranma
looked hurt for a second and then just turned back towards
the counter.  There was a considerable line, and as they
waited they over heard snippets of conversation, mostly
centered around whether or not the 'angel' was real or not.
     "Come one come all, see a real live angel!"  A
positively evil looking man yelled to the crowd, "It's
only 300 yen fer a couple, she's shy so only two at a
time!"  The man waved a cane at the crowd as he took money
from the next couple.  The man had a scar running down one
cheek, a black eye patch and what looks like some sort
rash along his neck and up the other side of his face.
Whenever he smiled, he showed gapped yellow teeth.  All in
all, he appeared to be the sum total of the worst in human
life.  He gleefully took money from each couple and
stuffed it into a locked box, and practically pushed them
into the tent with a brusque wave of his cane.
     "Come, come see the angel!  Feel her mighty
presence!"  he droned on and on, his voice sounding an
awful lot like gravel being poured across a washboard.
Ranma and Akane tried to ignore his rambling speech, and
his horrid appearance and tried to think of more pleasant
things.  They were trying so hard to ignore him, that when
it came time for them to pay to get in, they almost didn't
give him any money.   A quick poke from the man's cane
made Ranma react instantly, he knocked the man's cane out
of his hands, caught it, and held the end against the man's throat.
     "Don't ever poke at me again, got it?"  Ranma
growled at him as he passed him the money.  The startled
man just looked at him and sweated.   Ranma grunted at him
and walked into the small, brightly colored tent, still
grumbling about it when Akane's gasp made him pay
attention to what was in the tent.  A beautiful young girl
was sitting on something, they couldn't tell what because
of the huge white wedding style dress completely
surrounded it.  The lacy white material practically glowed
in the dim light of the tent, and embroidered patterns of
flowers could be seen.   She had big, emerald green eyes,
and extremely long red hair that cascaded down her bare
back with an indeterminable amount on the ground.  Ranma
and Akane didn't notice any of this, all they could see
were the huge, deep purple wings that merged with her back
seamlessly.  She wasn't paying any attention to them, and
sighed as she shifted her wings to what may have been a
more comfortable position.
     "Wow... Are those real?  Are you really an angel?"
Akane gasped as she walked towards her, the 'angel'
started and looked at Akane and gave a wan smile.
     "Yes they're real," The girl flapped her wings a few
times, causing Akane's hair to swirl, and the dust on the
floor whirled a bit until she stopped.  Akane gaped a
little, but Ranma was skeptical.  Ranma looked closely at
her face, and noticed some faded bruises that were mostly
covered by makeup.  He felt his fists clench involuntarily.
     "If your an angel, why don't you just fly off or
something, instead of being miserable here?  I mean that
guy don't look like he's the type that earned heavenly
favor."  ::Not to mention he's beating the crap out of
you!::  his angry thoughts seared through whatever
enjoyment he had of that evening.   Now he had a powerful
urge to hurt someone.
     "Hey you in there, move along quickly!"  The man
shouted from behind his counter.  Ranma turned and walked
towards the man, cracking his knuckles, who paled a bit
and quieted down.  ::Heh, one wrong move dirtbag and
you'll be wishing I'd just up and kill you....::
     Feather noticed this and smiled a genuine smile.
She leaned forward to whisper to Akane, "I'm not supposed
to tell you this, but I'm not really an angel, just a poor
girl who can't leave.."  she started to look hopeful as
she pleaded with Akane using her expressively large eyes.
     "That's sad, why can't you leave?  Too poor?  The
guy's you father, what?"  Akane asked, realizing that the
girl was miserable here.  Giving another empty smile, she
lifted the dress and revealed that her leg was chained to
a large iron ball.  "Ranma!" Akane hissed, "Get over
here!" she beckoned to him, and started to get angry when
he didn't move quickly.  "Hurry up stupid!!  This is important!!"
     "I was just glaring at that guy again, seems he
wanted to get us out of here when you started talkin' with
her."  Ranma grinned,  "I think he's still a little scared
of me, now watcha want?"
     "Can you break this?"  Akane asked pointing to the
leg iron.  Ranma looked over the cuff, and then tested the chain.
     "Piece of cake Akane, I'm surprised you didn't try
first, after all your such a mac...."  He was silence by a
firm application of Akane's fist.
     "Shut up you jerk, fine then...."  Akane knelt down
and with a brief shout, she chopped at the chain.  A
couple of the links on the chain shattered from the blow.
The girl quickly stood up and hugged Akane.
     "You don't know how many times I've tried that, but
I've been so weak for so long, I just couldn't......oof!"
Her breath exploded out of her.
     "Worry about that later, we gotta get out of here!"
Ranma yelled as he grabbed both girls around the waist and
started to run..... fast.   Akane struggled for a second
until she head the loudest noise she had ever heard, which
was followed by a meaty THWOCK.
     "What was that?" Akane screamed as she shook her
head, trying to clear the bells out of her ears.
     "That was a gun, I ain't crazy enough to tangle with
that guy with you two around, a stray shot could ruin my
life without ever hitting me...." Ranma ground out as he
ran, ignoring the pain in his leg, and he failed to notice
Akane's blush..  ::Man, Akane's gonna have a fit when she
notices how close that bullet came to hitting her...::
More shots rang out, but from a fading distance, and a few
whizzed past their ears.  "Akane can you see him?"
     "No,  wait there he is, he's searching the bushes,
he doesn't see us right now." Akane said after a short pause
to look around.
     "Good, we're ducking in here"  Ranma suddenly turned
right, and then turned left, right into an empty looking
house.  "I hate to break in, but we need a place to hide,
what the?!?"  Ranma was startled to discover that the door
was unlocked.  "Lucky break, it's open" was all he said
before he pushed the girls inside and, after glancing
around outside again, shut and locked the door.
     "Hey who's there?" a familiar voice shouted.  Akane
looked up in surprise and shock.
     "Ryouga!  Leave the lights off, It's me and Ranma!"
Akane yelled.
     ::Why would Akane want me to leave the lights off?
Oh well, it's amazing enough that I made it home, but now
Akane shows up minuets after I do?!?  It must be fate!::
Ryouga continued in those happy thoughts until he realized
something,  Akane had sounded scared.  The gears turned in
his mind, ::Akane needs me!:: was the only conclusion he
reached, and amazingly, the lost boy made it to his front
door in a matter of minuets.
     "Akane What's wrong?" he practically shouted, then
he noticed the blood that soaked her kimono, "Akane are
you hurt?"  Ryouga was next to her in an instant, looking
for injuries, or obvious tears in her kimono.
     "I'm not hurt Ryouga..." Akane started to talk,
but she choked on her words.
     "Excuse me, but I don't think he's doing that good
right now.." the winged girl interrupted, as she pointed
to the unconscious Ranma.
     "RANMA!!!!"  Akane scream practically shook the
house  "I must call Dr. Tofu, Ryouga! Stop the bleeding,
please you got to help!  He's your friend!" she dashed out
of the room, trying desperately to remember where she saw
a phone from last time she was there.  Ryouga looked mad
for a second, then turned to Ranma.  ::If he dies, then
Akane will be mine, but where is the honor in that?  He
got hurt helping Akane, and I should be the one to send
him to the gates of hell, without the help of some base
coward who hides behind a gun!::
    Ryouga pulled the cloth of the yukata away from the
wound and methodically ripped the material into strips.
::My bandanna's aren't long enough to make a tourniquet
for his leg, but this'll do the trick...:: Ryouga quickly twisted
the strips tight and noted when the bleeding stopped.  Absently
he noted that there was an exit wound.
     "Akane I've stopped the bleeding, but he's lost a
lot of blood, and there's two holes in his leg."  Ryouga
shouted over his shoulder, "Tell the doc to hurry"
::After all, I still need to kill him in a duel of honor..
WHAT THE?:: Ryouga had finally noticed the girl standing
nearby, looking altogether frightened.  That wasn't what
startled him though,  what had were the wings that were
coming out of her back.  "Who the hell are you!" Ryouga
shouted, jumping up and backwards, slamming into the wall.
     "My names Feather, please I'll tell you more later,
he needs help!" she was practically in tears as she said
this, as Akane entered the foyer.
     "We saved her from this guy who forgot that slavery
is illegal.  He was using her as an attraction in a freak
show."  Akane ground her teeth in anger as she returned
from calling Dr. Tofu, "This same guy is also the one that
shot Ran.."  Akane bit off her words as someone knocked at
the door.  She looked at it apprehensively...:: What if he
followed a trail of Ranma's blood here?  What'll we do?::
Then she noticed that Ryouga was already opening the door.
"No!" she screamed!
     "Aha! There ya are!" The evil looking man grinned as
he pointed his handgun directly at Akane, "Now Feather, be
a good girl and come back with me, or your friends are all
gonna die!"  He fired a shot that trimmed a bit of hair
from Akane's head.  Akane screamed in terror as Ryouga
charged the man.  The man pointed the gun at Ryouga, and
was about to shoot, when suddenly Ranma grabbed his ankle
and pulled him off balance.  The gun went off, but it
missed Ryouga cleanly, whose aura suddenly started glowing a
 bright yellow.
     "You dare to shoot at Ryouga Hibiki, and Akane?!?
SHI-SHI-HOKKOUDAN!!!!"  Ryouga yelled as he released his
chi at the man.  The chi-blast hit the man squarely in the
chest and threw him backwards and dropped him onto the
lawn, out cold.  "Akane you ok?" Ryouga turned to her, all
she did was nod.
     "Good going man!"  Ranma spoke weakly from the floor
where he was slowly pushing himself into a sitting
position, "But you better go tie him up, he might wake up
soon and he'll be waving that gun around again"  Ryouga
almost objected, then he went outside and tied the man up
with quite a few bandannas.
     "Heh, I tied them all really tight, so he's going to
be real uncomfortable when he wakes up." Ryouga grinned maliciously
when he returned.
     Dr. Tofu showed up shortly after that, along with
the police.  While he was examining Ranma, the police
asked everyone questions about what had happened.  Akane
told them about how they found out about Feather being
enslaved and used as a freak show exhibit, and what they
did about freeing her.  She also told them about the
frightening chase through the streets with a wounded Ranma
carrying both of them to hopeful safety.  Feather
recounted her tale of slavery and abuse at his hands, how
he wouldn't even feed her half the time, and insisted on
only giving her the leftovers from his meals.  About how
he beat her if they had a slow day, and many other things.
Ryouga told them what little he knew about what happened,
and couldn't keep a look of rage off his face when he
heard everything that had happened to her.
     "Akane, Ryouga?" Dr. Tofu said after the police
carted off their unwanted guest, "It looks like Ranma will
be just fine, it was only a flesh wound, but he lost a lot
of blood, so he still needs to go to a hospital for a transfusion."
     Akane couldn't take any more, and just broke down
crying in Dr. Tofu's arms.  Ryouga went in search of the
phone so he could call the Tendo's and tell them what
happened, and he promptly went into the closet.  An
ambulance came and took Ranma to the hospital.  Akane
stayed behind, she couldn't bear to even look at Ranma as
he was right then.  She seemed frozen in place, tears
running silently down her cheeks.  ::His face looked just
like it did after breakfast the other day...My cooking is
as bad as getting shot!::  was the only thought in her
mind at the moment, and she couldn't get rid of the image
of Ranma laying on the floor, his life slowly ebbing out
of his body, pooling in a dark red circle around his body.
Ryouga chose this moment to find his way out of the
closet.  He decided to forget about the phone, and just
try to get Akane and her new friend back to the dojo.  An
idea struck him like a bolt of lightning.
     "Dr. Tofu!  I need to get her and Feather over to
the Tendo Dojo right away!" Ryouga looked a little
sheepish, "But I need you to lead me there....I don't
think I could find the way there before next month..."  he
looked down and fidgeted a little bit.  Dr. Tofu laughed a
bit, and nodded.  Ryouga Absently but his pack on his back
and picked up Akane,  "Feather, we're going to Akane's
house, you'd better come along,"  Ryouga did a double
take, because now he couldn't see any wings on the red-head.
     "How in the?!?"
     "Oh, my wings?"  She said as she pointed to her
back, "I can make them come and go as I please.  It makes
sleeping on my back a heck of a lot easier don't you
think?" she tried to smile, but couldn't.
     Dr. Tofu led them straight to the dojo, and excused
himself at the gate.
     "I'd love to come in, but it's late and I shouldn't
impose.  Besides, I need to go check on Ranma at the
hospital,"  He waved as he left.  Ryouga looked over at
Feather, and saw that she was practically dead on her feet.
     "Come on, a few more steps and we'll be there"  He
tried to encourage her with a smile, but with Akane being
unresponsive in his arms, and the general look of gloom of
the small group, he sighed and led them into the dojo.
Amazingly enough, he didn't even stray off course in the slightest.
     "Oh my!  Ryouga please come in!  Where's Ranma at?"
Kasumi greeted them at the door, "And who's our guest?"
she added as Feather stepped from behind Ryouga.
     "Please ma'am, my name is Feather, and I'm sorry to
be the cause of all this...trouble."  Feather barely spoke
loud enough to be heard.
     "What happened to Akane?" Kasumi gasped as she
noticed that Akane was still crying in Ryouga's arms.
     "Let's just get her to bed, and then I'll explain
everything."  Kasumi couldn't keep her patented smile for
long once she saw that everyone was splattered with blood.
     "No, take her to the bathroom and I'll clean her up,
you'd better tell father about this." Ryouga nodded and
followed Kasumi into the bathroom.  He put Akane down as
gently as he could, and then tried to find the living room
again.  After wandering the house for a few minuets, he
found the living room just as Feather was finishing her
tale for rest of the Tendo's and Genma.
     ".....and that's what happened, I'm so sorry for
being a trouble."  Feather was kneeling in front of Mr.
Tendo, who was wailing at the injury to his son in law,
and how Akane was lost in her own world.
     "Cheer up Tendo," Genma whispered into his ear, "An
experience like that is sure to make them closer, after
all, Ranma tried to take that bullet for Akane...."
     "So, what your saying is that for the last ten years
that guy has had you chained to a chair, and charged
admission for each one that wanted to see you?"  Nabiki
asked.  When Feather nodded, Nabiki smiled dangerously.
    "Why don't you sue him for all the money he made off of
you?  Ten years worth would be a fortune, and it would get
you on your feet.  I can arrange for a good, but
affordable lawyer... for a fee of course."  Nabiki's eyes
changed to yen signs when she thought of exactly how much
she could make from this.  Nabiki was mildly surprised
when Feather prostrated her self before her, and spoke.
     "I would appreciate it, your generosity is overwhelming,"
     "Don't mention it, we'll negotiate the percentage later."
     "Umm, shouldn't we go and see how Ranma's doing?"
Ryouga surprised everybody, including himself, by saying.
    "I mean, he does need to know if Akane made it home safe,
and Kasumi's taking good care of her.."  Ryouga stopped
talking, embarrassed, and wondering why he felt the need
to visit Ranma.
     "I'll stay here to help with Akane," Nabiki said,
"After all, Kasumi can't carry Akane by herself."  The
others only nodded, while Mr. Tendo just continued to
wail.  Genma and Ryouga ushered Mr. Tendo out the door,
while Feather followed nervously.  Nabiki looked
thoughtful, ::Hmmm, looks like things are going to get
even more interesting around here. I wonder if Feather is
going to fall for Ranma just like every other girl that
comes to this town....::  At this point, Kasumi called for
someone, breaking her chain of thought.  ::Better go see
what she needs.::  Nabiki thought as she stood up.
     Somewhere on the way to the hospital, Mr. Tendo
stopped crying.  When they reached the hospital, they had
to wade through a host of reporters, all of which wanted
interviews with the family of the young man who single-
handedly took down a slaver.  Ryouga tried to fend them
off with a fierce look, then he settled for just pushing
them out of the way.  ::Don't these people have anything
better to do than to harass people trying to visit someone
in the hospital?:: Ryouga thought as he pushed another
photographer over.  Suddenly, most of them broke through.
     "Hey, where's Feather?" Ryouga said looking around at the group.
     "There she is!  She's being swamped by those
reporters!" Genma said, pointing to a knot of reporters.
A red ponytail could barely be seen over the horde.
Ryouga jumped into their midst, surprising them into backing
up a step.
     "Come on Feather, we're getting out of this mess,"
Ryouga scooped her up in his arms and jumped over towards
the door.  He set her down again, and they proceeded to
follow Genma and Mr. Tendo into the hospital.  Inside,
they ran into sporadic groups of reporters in the hallways
that slowed their progress.  Eventually they reached
Ranma's room, and gratefully closed the door against yet
another group.
     "Well boy, you don't look dead yet."  Genma grinned
at Ranma, who was sitting up in bed.
     "Yeah well, Akane's cooking is great compared to all
this."  Ranma looked sourly at his father, "Speaking of which,
where is she?"
     "Kasumi and Nabiki are taking care of her.  She's a
bit shaken up by what happened," Mr. Tendo was inwardly
pleased that Ranma was looking for Akane.  "How are you
doing son?  I understand you got shot,  are you all right?"
     "Yeah, the doc says that it was a really minor
wound, barely took any stitches.  Lost a lot of blood
though 'cause I was running as fast as I could carrying
Akane and that winged girl.... oh hi there," Ranma looked
just a tad nervous when he noticed Feather was in the
room.  "Didn't see you there.  Name's Ranma Saotome,
what's yours?"  ::geez, I hope she doesn't decide to go
for me, I have enough fiancees as is!:: he thought inwardly.
     "My names Feather, and I'm terribly sorry that you
got shot trying to get me out of there...." Ranma's curt
wave cut her off.
     "Don't mention it, I can't stand it when people pick
on those weaker than themselves.  If he didn't have that
gun, or you and Akane weren't there, I would have beaten
that sorry fool to a pulp!"
     Right after Ranma finished saying this, a doctor
entered the room.  "Mr. Saotome?"  He asked Genma.  When
he nodded, the doctor continued, "Your son received a
minor flesh wound in his thigh.  It's not bad, and he has
full use of his leg right now.  He shouldn't strain
himself by running, jumping, or fighting with anyone right
now, as the amount of blood he lost was considerable.  He
will have a healthy appetite for a few days, as his body
will need more materials to produce replacement blood.
Bring him back in about two weeks to get the stitches out,
or you could take him to Dr. Tofu to take care of that."
The doctor turned some forms towards Genma, "These are the
discharge papers, we need your signature as his legal
guardian to release him.  As for the bill, the police
department decided to pay that as a favor to you and the
brave young man."  Genma signed the papers, greatly
relieved that someone else was footing the bill for this one.
     "Well Ranma, looks like your getting out of here
quickly,"  Ryouga said while he leaned against a wall.
     "Hey Ryouga, thanks for your help back there," Ranma
said as he started to get out of the bed.
     "I....It was nothin'... really..." Ryouga stammered
while he rubbed the back of his head self consciously.
Ranma was handed a cane by the doctor, and instructed on
how to clean the stitches, along with other advice on what
he shouldn't be doing while his leg healed.  It wasn't
long before they were wading through the reporters again.
This time they pressed in so tight, Ryouga and Feather got
separated from the others.
     "Get out of my way!!" Ryouga roared at them.  A few
paled and backed up, but more pressed in, all asking
questions.  "Let's get out of here!"  Ryouga grabbed her
hand and worked his way through the crowd.  They found
themselves back at the entrance to the hospital.  "How'd
we get back to the door?"
     "I don't know, I was following you,"  Feather said,
trying to fight the weariness that was starting to
overcome her.  Ryouga spotted a clear spot in the crowd
and made his way into the streets, still holding onto
Feather's hand.  Once they were away from the crowd,
Ryouga proceeded to try and find the way.  Feather, on the
other hand, was slowly blacking out.
     "Ryouga!" she panted as they made another turn, "I
can't keep up anymore,"  black spots were swirling in
front of her eyes.  Blackness overcame her suddenly, the
last thing she saw was the concerned expression on Ryouga's face.
     Ryouga was silently cursing himself.  He was lost
again, and now he had an unconscious girl on his hand....
one with splatters of blood all over her dress.  If he ran
into any kind of authority, they may ask awkward
questions.  Ryouga rummaged around in his pack until he
found his traveling cloak.  He wrapped Feather in the
cloak, to keep her warm, and to cover the blood stains on
her dress.  He picked her up and carried her away into the
darkness, not realizing that he was no longer in Tokyo.....
     Meanwhile at the Tendo dojo, Akane had finally
fallen into a fitful sleep.  Kasumi sat by her bedside in
concern, while Nabiki had sought her own bed some time
ago.  Kasumi was worried about Akane, it just wasn't like
her to get so upset whenever Ranma got hurt.  She rose
silently and headed for the kitchen to make some tea.
::The others should be back soon, they might want some tea
when they get back::  She tried to keep herself uninvolved
with Ranma and Akane's love life, other than a gentle
nudge now and then.  But it was obvious to her for the
longest time that they loved each other, just too stubborn
to admit it to each other.  What Akane was going through
just cemented that belief into Kasumi's mind.  Even so, it
was interference from others that seemed to make them
distance themselves.  Each hid behind a wall of pride, but
when push came to shove, they were there for each other.
     A loud noise distracted Kasumi from her reverie.
Poking her head out of the kitchen she saw that the others
had made it back, with Ranma.
     "Welcome home everybody!  I'm happy to see that your
out of the hospital Ranma!"  Kasumi smiled again, then
looked about, "What happened to Ryouga, and Feather?" she
asked.
     Genma grunted as he sat down, "It looks like he got
lost again in that crowd of reporters, Feather was with
him last time I saw them.  By the time we got free of
them, I couldn't spot either of them anymore,"  Ranma
winced at his fathers words, "I hope that she can take
care of herself, if she's following Ryouga, it may be
months before we see her again."
    "Oh my," was all Kasumi could come up with.
    "If she's still with Ryouga, she'll be perfectly
safe,"  Ranma said as he started to limp towards his room,
"He may be a jerk most of the time, but he knows what's
right and wrong. He'll make sure she's all right, even if
it kills him.  Especially since he will know that it's
because of his sense of direction that she is lost as
well."  Ranma said goodnight to everyone, then made his
way towards his room.  His leg was aching by the time he
finished climbing the stairs, however, he was set on not
asking for help from anyone at this point.  Ranma peeked
into Akane's room briefly, just to make sure she was
asleep, and then he continued on to his bed.  Gratefully
he collapsed on his futon, and quickly fell asleep.

                        End Chapter 1


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