I blame this on Anand Rao. If he hadn't mentioned to me
the possibility of doing an epilogue for SoI: Synthesis--
Broken, I would never have even thought about it. But he
did, and I did, and a scene came to me, and that's usually
enough for me to start writing, or start thinking about
it. So it's his fault for infecting me with this....
Nyah! ^_^


Ranma 1/2 is yadda yadda yadda. No rights for me, not my
creation, is Rumiko Takahashi's... you know the drill.


                Soul of Ice


Synthesis-- Broken: Epilogue



    There is a cemetary, somewhere in Nerima. If you were to go
to this particular cemetary on a particular day, you would note the
shining sun. The grass was green as were the leaves on the trees.
Quite a nice day, really, with a deep blue sky and a few wispy
clouds to break up the sea of blue.
    If you wandered around this cemetary, taking note of some of
the gravestones and statues and markers (the one with the broken
sword etched into it is particularly interesting, is it not? Seems
almost real), you might come across a small group of men and women,
more women than men, mostly in their mid-to-late twenties and a few
middle aged ones, clustered around a particular grave.
    Nothing fancy about the marker for this grave, just a small
plaque embedded into the ground. If you read it, you would see the
name: Ranma Saotome. The grass around it was kept meticulously
cleaned, making sure it would not get overgrown. A small bowl of
rice was placed on top of the marker, as was a nice arrangement of
flowers. If you listened closely you would not be able to hear any
tears, though some of the mourners were crying. Tears are silent,
though often the people who make them are not.
    One of the mourners, a middle-aged woman in a kimono, knelt
down and kissed the plaque before rising once more and walking off,
led by her husband, a bald man wearing glasses. There were no tears
on their faces though there is sadness-- they have passed the
burden of tears long ago and were stronger for it.
    Another man, the same age as the previous man and wife, nodded
towards the grave marker before following his friends. There were
tears in his eyes and on his face-- he left a trail of them as he
caught up to the man and the wife.
    The next oldest woman, late twenties to early thirties, dark
brown hair done in a single braid, hugged a younger one beside her. 

    "I have to go back to the practice, Akane. Will you be okay?"

    The younger woman, obviously the older's sister, despite the
short black hair, merely nodded. Tears, silent, of course, tracked
down her cheeks and fell to the ground. She made no accompanying
sound for the tears.

    "You'll come by afterwards, won't you? We would love to have
you over for dinner. The children would love to see their favourite
aunt again."

    "Of course I'll come, Kasumi," Akane replied, smiling through
her tears.

    "Hey! Why aren't I their favourite aunt?"  a third woman
wearing a fashionable and mildly expensive business outfit and of
about the same age as Akane and obviously also her sister,
objected.

    "Oh Nabiki," Kasumi laughed lightly. "They love you dearly, you
spoil them mercilessly with gifts each time they see you, but you
don't come over very much," Kasumi said, frowning or pouting
slightly.

    "Well then," Nakibi said too seriously. "I shall have to
rectify that tonight, won't I?"

    Kasumi and Nabiki laughed, while Akane smiled, nothing forced
this time. "You'll be okay, Akane?" Kasumi asked.

    "I'll be okay," Akane agreed.

    Kasumi nodded and leaned forward to kiss her sister on the
forehead before leaving. Nabiki looked at Akane and smiled and
hugged her before leaving.

    "I'll see you tonight then, at Kasumi's, okay?" Nabiki called
back.

    Akane waved. "I wouldn't miss it for anything," she called
back.

    Another woman, the same age as Akane with long, brown hair, a
bow on the front of it to keep it out of her face, knelt down by
the marker and kissed it. "Goodbye, Ranchan," she said, smiling. "I
have to go now. Konatsu's minding the store for me. He still can't
get the okonomiyaki quite right, but he's close," she said fondly.
"Maybe I'll talk to you later."
    The woman stood up and turned to Akane, smiling as she did so.
"You come by the Ucchan's soon, sugar, okay?"

    "What other restaurant would I go to?" Akane asked.

    Ukyo waved goodbye and left.

    A man, solidly built and with short hair except for long bangs,
which were held away from his face by a bandanna puts his hand on
Akane's shoulder and squeezes lightly, before going down on one
knee to the grave. "You were... not as bad as I thought you were,
back then," the man whispers. "Wherever you are, I hope you've
found as much happiness as I have."

    The man stood up and looked to a woman with long highlights in
her hair and a bracelet on her left wrist with a definite swine
motif. She is quite obviously pregnant and several months along, it
showing up on her slim frame. She held out her hand with a shy
smile towards the man. "Will you come visit us on the farm
sometime, Akane?" she asked.

    Akane nodded. "Of course, Akari. We can catch up on old times.
When are you due, anyway?"

    Akari just rolled her eyes. "Another two months, but I feel
like he's ready to come out now."

    "So you're having a boy that? You know for sure?"

    "We finally broke down and took a look at the ultrasounds.
Ryouga didn't stop grinning for two days, not even in his sleep."

    Akane looked at Ryouga who was grinning sheepishly. "What can I
say? I was really happy," he said.

    Akane smiled. "I'll be over before he's due then, you can count
on it."

    Ryouga and Akari left, hand in hand, arm in arm. Akari looked
back to the grave and mouthed the words, "thank you," just before
she did so. Just Akane, by herself, kneeling over the stone. A man
walked by, large trenchcoat with the collar turned up and a fedora
of the same colour. He stopped at the gravesite and looked down at
Akane.

    "I'm sorry, miss...?" the man trailed off as Akane finally
noticed him. "I didn't know anyone was visiting. I'll leave you by
yourself."

    "No! Wait. Do I know you?" Akane asked, frowning slightly in
concentration as she tried to place the man in front of him.

    "I knew Ranma a long time ago," the man replied. "We were young
together." The man paused suddenly. "He saved my life once."

    Akane looked up at the man, something in the back of her head
niggling at her, but she did not know what, so she put it aside and
smiled warmly. "He would save mine too," she said fondly. "Would
you like to have a cup of coffee or something? We can talk
about...," Akane shrugged.

    "Tea, and only for a little while. I don't want to take much of
your time," the man assented.

    He extended an arm to help Akane stand, which she accepted. A
brief period of time later found the two in a small cafe, sipping
tea. 

    "I just realised I don't know your name," Akane mentioned,
setting her cup down on the table.

    The man, who did not take his hat nor his coat off, set his tea
down as well. "Shin Taro," he nodded a bow, being seated.

    "Akane Tendo."

    "I know. It isn't hard to find that out." Another sip of tea,
and again Shin's cup was set down. "You miss him?" he asked
quizzically.

    "I miss him," Akane nodded.

    "You still cry for him, even after ten years."

    "I still cry for him, even now, but only after I visit his
grave."

    "So they recovered the body then? I heard that he fell off a
cliff."

    "Jumped, I think, but no, the tides came in and washed it away.
We never found it again. How did you know?"

    "I heard the story, or a version of it at least, when I found
out he was dead." Shin finished his tea and clasped Akane's hands
in his own. "Ranma would not want that. I think he loved you, from
what I know there can be no other explanation, and he would not
want to see you waste your life away mourning him." 

    Shin smiled, quirking the one corner of his mouth and stood up.
"It was quite nice meeting you, Akane Tendo. I hope that you let
Ranma's memory rest and start your life. It is what he would want,
I know it is." Shin turned around to leave, moving his head and
accidentally letting some of his hair out from under its cover.

    Was that a pigtail? Could he be--?

    Akane laughed silently at herself. Ranma died ten years ago on
this day. She was there when it happened. Perhaps Shin Taro was
right: it was time to let go. She stood and left, wanting to catch
Shin and thank him before he left, but he was already gone.

    Back at the gravestone, Ranma took off his fedora and
trenchcoat after making sure that no one was around. He smiled to
himself, looking at the simple stone that marked his death. They
were okay, it was okay, they were all right. It all turned out
better. Reaching back, Ranma unbound his tail from the Dragon's
Whisker which he still used to tie it. A shake of the hair and it
cascaded around his shoulders-- definitely past time to get it cut.
He dropped it on the plaque and put the hat back on. Ranma walked
away, out of Nerima for the last time, whistling happily as he
carried the coat over his shoulder.




Spamfic #1

In one world, Nerima:


    "Where will you go?" Happousai shouted just as Ranma was about
to disappear from sight. 

    Ranma turned around. For a brief moment, he was clear and
defined again. "To have some fun, of course!" was the shouted
reply. A shudder, a shimmer and Ranma was gone-- into the wilds,
into the world. 


In another world, Antarctica:


                        *

                                    *


        *                                       *





                                *



                * *



                                                        *

    A shimmer, a shudder and Ranma appeared.

    Ranma looked at the new arrival, also Ranma, and showed no
surprise on his cold, impassive face. The new arrival's face was
too busy twitching and grinning to show any surprise, should he
have actually been capable of being startled.

    "You are me," the native Ranma said, stating a fact in his
cold, cold, dead voice.

    "SoIyaM!" the newly arrived Ranma said, giggling and laughing.
"Shake?" he said, extending a hand.

    The native Ranma looked at the new one for a second and
accepted. They shook hands. The world was never the same, for the
date, you see, was September 13, 2000.

    And now you know the truth about the Second Impact.


                           ^_^



Author's Notes: Maybe I'll come up with a couple more spamfic takes
on it and collect them all for posting, but that's really all I
could think of for now.... I did warn you to expect it to be
silly, didn't I? =)



Matthew Lewis is:
	Matt on IRC
	Sojiro_Seta on Kawaiimuck
	maybeso@ican.net
	prone to exaggeration, 150% of the time
____________________________________________________________

	"Khattam-Shud," he said slowly, "is the Arch-Enemy
of all Stories, even of Language itself. He is the Prince of
Silence and the Foe of Speech. And because everything ends,
because dreams end, stories end, life ends, at the finish
of everything we use his name. 'It's finished,' we tell one
another, 'it's over. Khattam-Shud: The End.'"

	-excerpted from Haroun and the Sea of Stories,
		by Salman Rushdie
____________________________________________________________