Long Live Akane Tendo

Written by Sailor Alpha
Based on events in James Bateman's Bitter End
Partially inspired by Sean Gaffney's Death Is Not The End songfic
Based on Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi
Note: I strongly recommend that you read the fanfic, 'Bitter End', because
this fanfic contains spoilers for that story, big time- this serves as the
Epilogue to that fanfic.


Akane. 

A raven-haired girl cuddled the stuffed animal to herself, staring around her
room. Except for daily essentials, it was devoid of everything, and painted in
white. She did not know where she was, or who her doctors were. Nor did she
know who she was.

Akane. Akane Tendo.

That name had seemed familiar to her. Felt familiar to her, almost as if it
was natural name for her. But she remembered no such thing.

Who was Akane?

She was Akane Tendo, they told her. Her name was Akane Tendo; the doctors and
visitors told her. Still she did not recognize that name.

Who was Akane? Or more importantly, who was the Akane she used to be?

It had been months since she woke up that day, to discover that she couldn't
remember a thing about her past. No matter how hard she tried, she simply had
no memory to recall. The doctors had explained to her that she had gone
through a very traumatic experience, and that she had somehow blocked
everything about herself out. They never told her what had happened to her, no
matter how often she had asked them.

Every night, she had nightmares, but she never was able to recall what they
were about. She felt and knew that these dreams were trying to tell her about
something. Something about her past, but when she woke up drenched with sweat
and scared, she remembered nothing. They ran chills down her spine, but she
still remembered nothing.

She wished that she could remember who she was, and what happened to her.

She liked having visitors, because they were always so nice to her. They
always made her feel better. They came in only occasionally, but she always
was excited. Mainly because she wouldn't have to be alone in her room. One of
them gave her a cute stuffed animal, a cute black piglet wearing a black and
yellow bandanna, and another of them even offered a name for it, P-chan.

They claimed to be her family and her friends, and despite the feeling that
she felt like she should have known them, she did not recognize them. But they
helped her, always bringing her some encouragement, though they were always
sad. They told her tales about what she and they had done in the past in hopes
of reviving her memories. It didn't work, and they finally gave up.

Her 'friends' told her tales of what she and they had done, and her 'family'
recounted her upbringing with the Tendo family; all in hope that she would
remember. It did not work, and nothing seemed to succeed until one of her
'family' members mentioned Ranma by accident. She had perked up instantly at
that name.

Ranma. Who was he?

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Tendos had been enthusiastic and had hoped
that she had remembered something. But it had been only an instinct, a
conditioned reflex, just like she had with her name. Evidently while she
recalled nothing, her body still remembered something. She glanced up every
time Ranma's name was mentioned, but she still remembered nothing.

What was so special about him? Everyone explained to her about the greatest
martial artist ever, about how he was very honorable and had come to her aid
during countless occasions. She simply shook her head; she didn't know him.
Every time she tried to ask her 'family' if this Ranma would come by and visit
her, they closed their mouths immediately. Gradually, she became used to
Ranma's name; she still glanced up at mere mention of Ranma's name, but she
didn't pay it any further attention than that.

But she did wish that she remembered who he was, and who she really was. She
wished that she remembered EVERYTHING. But the chances of memory recall were
astronomically slim, and she knew it. 

In the end, she had learned to accept it. Who knows, maybe someday she would
recall a bit more about her past. Until then, she was the new Akane.

Akane Tendo. Long live Akane Tendo, whoever she was.

Smiling, she tickled her stuffed P-chan playfully and giggled.


THE END

-----------------------------

NO.

I am NOT happy. I was not when I read "Bitter End," by James Bateman. In fact,
at the end I felt that Akane should have died along with Ranma, because at
least she wouldn't have to suffer like she did in that fanfic.

But the scene with Akane like this just kept buzzing around in my mind, and I
just couldn't leave it like that, so I hastily wrote it down only hours after
reading the fanfic. At least I can release my frustration this way. As
desperately as I had wanted to, too bad there was no way I could have ended on
more cheerful notes. The events in "Bitter End" made it impossible. I also
have to admit that the notion of Akane having nightmares during Gaffney's
songfic, "Death Is Not the End," certainly did play a part in getting this
shortfic done. ^_^

Two weeks after reading that fanfic, the pain is still there, eating away at
me. With a possible exceptions of Nicholas Lefier's Iris trilogy (which as of
this writing, is on the third and final installment) and Krista Perry's Hearts
of Ice, I don't think I've read a fanfic as moving and heart-breaking as
'Bitter End.'

No, I'm not blaming (or mad at) Zen (James), even though he put my two
favorite characters through a quite wringer. Quite contrary, I applaud his
accomplishment in writing the fanfic. In fact, he described my fanfic just as
he had envisioned in his mind, and blessed my fanfic. Thank you, Zen.


Sailor Alpha <AlphSailor@aol.com> DarkAlpha
Fanfics at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/7233/
November 1997