The following was inspired by the 80's song,
"Desert Moon", but in no way related to the plot
of said song.

   Disclaimer: None of these characters belong
to me, and I hope the Divine Takahashi-sempai
does not deign to try and sue me.



               Desert Moon

   The air was warm, wafting along the delicate
scent of cherry blossoms and fresh dew. Spring 
flowers were creeping up through the cracks in
the sidewalks, as Nature once again shows Man 
that she will not be denied. I breathed deeply,
rejoicing in the renewal, even though I did not
know where I was.
   This is not unusual for me. I have spent many
decades wandering this Earth, many times not even
realizing I have gone as far as I have. When I was
young, I cursed my sense of direction; now, I
know that I cannot lead my own steps. Only the
Fates can, and they lead me to where I am most 
needed. For the past forty years and more, that
has been to the side of my wife, and we are
happy.
   I caught a glimpse of a sign to my right, and 
I turned to see a memory. Furinkan High School.
Just the name conjured up a thousand images, and
thoughts of all the adventures we had. I began
to lose myself in those memories, when a voice
interrupted my reverie.
   "Excuse me, sir, do you know what time it is ?"
   At first, I thought I was actually hearing
the past. What I heard, though weighted down by 
decades of life, was the musical voice of the
most beloved inhabitant of Nerima. Even Happosai
never glomped on to her. So, I turned to face
her.
   She bore her age well. "Sorry, Kasumi, I don't
have my watch on."
   Her eyes widened at the sight of me. She didn't
really look her age, but she wasn't young, anymore,
either. She still had that look of almost angelic
peace, however, and her smile lit up the area.
   "Ryoga, it's been ages !" she declared, 
stepping over to give me a hug. A hug from Kasumi
was like a warm quilt on a cold winter's night.
   "Yeah, well, I  had a bit of a vacation 
coming up, so I decided to come over and visit."
   "You know," she said, tilting her head to one
side, " Ranma and Akane have their fiftieth class
reunion in three days. Come on back to the dojo
with me, and we can have a small reunion of our 
own."
   I laughed."Lead the way, and I shall follow."

              *****************

   The dojo was just as I remembered. That is,
if I ignored the memories of Akane knocking
Ranma through various walls. The whole scene
was almost surreal, and it bugged me. Then, I
realized why I was so uneasy. It was quiet,
peaceful, in fact.
   Kasumi led me to the front door, and stepped
in, calling out, "I'm home!"
   A tall man stepped in, wearing the black 
glasses worn only by the bind who refuse 
cybernetics. His hair was totally white, and hung
long about his shoulders. I amost didn't
recognize our good Doctor Tofu, and wouldn't,
if I had not known about his marriage to Kasumi
back in '98. "Hi, Kasu-chan." He tilted his 
head slightly. "Who's with you ?"
   "It's Ryoga, Doctor Tofu."
   "Oh, welcome back to Nerima, young man!" He
reached out his hand, and I took it, shaking it
gently. Despite my own age, I am still very
strong.
   About this time, a familiar battle-cry was
heard. "Ranma no baka!" Shortly after, a laughing
man in his sixties, like myself, came sliding
down the bannister. He was still in excellent
shape, and only the iron-grey hair and wrinkles
belied his age.
   "He still hasn't really grown up, has he,
Kasumi ?" I asked.
   "No, and we love him just the way he is."
   Less than half a second later, down came Akane.
There was no mistaking her, even after all this 
time. However, unlike those times so many years
ago, she was smiling behind her growls. Before
he reached the dojo, she caught up with him,
wrestled him to the ground (he must have wanted
to lose the fall), and started tickling him. It
was about then when he noticed me.
   ">haha< A...akane...>chortle< Ry...Ry...RY...
Gaahaaaa!!! Ry...Ryoga!>hahaha<" he stuttered
out, pointing in my direction.
   "You aren't getting out of it that easy,
Ranma!" she declared, redoubling her tickling
efforts. "It's been forty something years since
we last saw him!"
   I coughed, a discreet clearing of the throat.
She glanced up, and blanched. "Ry...Ryoga?"
   "In the flesh."
   They both stumbled to their feet, Ranma still
laughing, and walked over. "It has been way too
long, old friend," he said, holding out his hand.
   "I know. I've been spending my time elsewhere,"
I evaded. They'd know soon enough. I took his hand
with considerably more force than I had the
Doctor's, because he always was almost as strong
as me. 
   Meanwhile, I had the wind crushed out of me by
a hug from Akane. "How are you doing, P-chan ?" 
After she had finally forgiven me when she found 
out about my old curse, she had started calling
me that as a nickname.
   I returned the hug so she would let me breathe.
"Actually, I'm P-chan no more," I smiled.
   Ranma's eyes widened. "You too ?"
   I smiled. "Yup. When I finally figured out
what I was supposed to learn from being a pig, it
started taking colder and colder water to effect
the change. Now, not even icewater will do it."
   "Wow. I know what I was supposed to learn, 
how to accept both sides of my personality, but 
what were you supposed to learn ?"
   I smiled. "It wasn't so much being a pig, but
being small and weak. I was supposed to learn that
strength and fighting cannot solve everything."
   "Wow. I wonder what Mousse and Shampoo were
supposed to learn," wondered Ranma.
   "I don't know. How about your dad?"
   Ranma grew silent, and looked at the ground.
Akane spoke up. "Genma died last year. Before he
did, he fell victim to Alzheimers. He spent his
last six months entirely as a panda, even in his
mind."
   I looked at Ranma. The old man had been the
source of almost all of the pain in Ranma's life,
and I couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for him.
But when I looked at Ranma, I saw a tear starting
to form. I kept my opinion of Genma silent.
   "So, Akane, Ranma, when is your reunion going 
to be ?" I felt so awkward, that I had to change 
the subject.
   "Thursday night. We're meeting Ucchan and her
husband at the first Ucchan's this evening, though,
and I'm sure she'd be glad to see you." Akane had
never referred to Ukyo as Ucchan when I had last
been here. Maybe her own marriage had paved the
way to a return to their friendship, one that
was damaged by her attack on their first wedding
attempt.
   "I'll be there. In the meantime, so I don't get
lost, do you mind if I hang out here for a while?
We have a lot to talk about, Ranma-kun." I mock
glared at him.
   "What, besides old times ?"
   "Your grandson dating my granddaughter, that's
what." I looked at him sideways, and winked. "Ah, 
Saotome, our two schools may be united at last !"
   He looked strangely at me for a moment, and then
caught on. He responded with the worst impression 
of Soun Tendo I have ever seen. "Ah, Hibiki, I
could just cry! Waaahhh!!!"
   "Hrmph? Hey, what's going on ?" A dignified man
who could only be Soun, with a long white moustache
and in a brown gi walked out. Everybody laughed,
and everything seemed to be the heaven an old man
remembers his youth to be. 


   - Bil


===

Seduce my mind and you can have my body,
find my soul and I'm yours forever.





_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com