Jusenkyo Productions Proudly Presents
A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction
Journal of the Ages: Ranma Chapter 4
Nerima, Present Day:
"Akane, I need to talk to you."
Akane held the phone to her ear, her heart pounding in her chest, "About what, Ranma?"
Ranma paused, trying to get his thoughts in order, then he stopped altogether. 'What am I going to tell her? That I've been reading how we've both lived and died hundreds of times over?' he asked himself.
"Well?" Akane sounded impatient.
"Uh, I was wondering if you could help me with the assignment that Hinako-sensei gave us. Yeah that's it! I need help with schoolwork."
"Oh."
'Why does she sound so disappointed?' Ranma thought.
"... Ranma, you just need to study more," Akane was telling him. Ranma jerked his thoughts back to her.
"I know, Akane, but, um, could you come over to help me? We could study it together. That is... if you want to," he added.
Akane blinked, she knew that tone of voice, or at least thought that she did. Ranma had that something-important-is-going-on-and-I'm-too-macho-to-tell-you tone going on, and he was trying to hide it. "Sure, Ranma. I'll be right over."
"Great!"
'Why does he sound so relived?' Akane wondered.
"I'll see you soon then," he said.
"OK, I'll... Hold on Ranma." Akane covered the receiver with her hand, "Yes, Nabiki?" she asked her older sister who was standing in front of her and tapping her foot.
"You might want to let Ranma know that there's a major fight going on at the Nekohaten over a book," Nabiki said. Then she retreated back up-stairs.
"Akane, is everything OK?" Ranma asked.
"Yeah, Ranma, Oneechan wanted me to tell you that everyone's fighting over a book at the Nekohaten," Akane said, more than a bit confused.
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"Ranma?" Akane asked, her concern evident in her tone.
"A book? Oh no!" Ranma exclaimed.
Ranma, are you OK? What's wrong?" Akane asked, really worried now. He hadn't sounded this worried since Saffron nearly killed both him and her .
"Akane, I... I gotta go."
"Ranma! Wait, what's going on?" Akane found herself talking to the dial tone. "That jerk!" she raged, "First he asks for my help and then he runs off to go fight without telling me what's going on!"
Akane ran upstairs to get her coat, then ran back down and out the door with a low stream of "Ranma no baka!" being said over and over again.
**************
Ranma slammed the phone back into its cradle. 'Oh no, they didn't!' he thought to himself with alarm. He ran back to his room, startling Genma, who was on his was to take a bath, into dumping a bucket of cold water on himself and ignoring Nadoka's question.
A few seconds later, he returned, running even faster. All his parents saw was a red and black blur that launched itself out of the house at speeds that would put Olympic sprinters to shame.
"What was that about?" Nadoka asked.
'I don't know,' the panda signed. Then he spun his sign so it read, 'You get used to it with Ranma around.'
"Still, dear, I'm worried about him, why don't you go see what's going on?" Nadoka said.
'He'll be ok, dear, after all what could hurt him?' the sign read.
"Yes, but I really think that you should check up on our son," she said with some steel creeping into her voice.
The panda gulped, 'He is a master, Nadoka, he'll be ok.'
"Genma, go help Ranma," Nadoka commanded.
'Yes, dear,' the panda signed quickly and wondered when his wife learned the demon head technique that his friend Soun used. With one last longing look at the warm bath, Genma went into the night after his son.
************
A half hour before:
Cologne spat out a curse that turned Mousse pale. Well, as pale as a duck could get. No matter what she tried, she couldn't get that damn book of Ranma's open. It ignored martial arts. Her staff bounced off of it. Shampoo's sword had shattered when she tried to cut it open. And the ki blast that Cologne had tried might as well have been a tap. The only thing that they had succeeded in doing was getting all the dust and dirt off the book.
(Great-grandmother, why is the book this hard to open?) Shampoo asked in Chinese.
Cologne didn't answer, but sat perched on her staff regarding the book. She _knew_ it was magical. While Cologne herself did not use magic, she knew it when she felt it, and boy was she feeling it now.
Magic this powerful had only been spoken about in legend. Stories about mages who could shake the earth if they so chose. But they were just that, stories. Amusing ways of passing the time and making children wish that they had the power so that they did not have to work as hard during training.
But this book reeked of that kind of magic power. She had never seen anything like it in her 121 years. It was a hard pill to swallow, but she might not have nearly enough power needed to open the book.
(Great-grandmother?) Shampoo tried again.
Cologne finally looked away from the book to regard her, (Yes, child?)
(What are we going to do about the book?)
Cologne returned to looking at the book, (I'm not sure, we will have to...)
She broke off as the most infamous laugh in Nerima echoed in the Nekohaten, "OH HOHOHOHOHOHO! I, Kodachi the Black Rose will never let the two of you keep the book that rightfully belongs to me and my darling Ranma."
Cologne looked up and rolled her eyes, Kodachi was standing on the counter, posing like someone out of an anime.
"You can't even defeat that Tendo girl, how do you think that you'll defeat me?" she asked.
Kodachi opened her mouth, no doubt to laugh that horrible laugh again, when the door burst in, showering everyone with splinters. In it, his bokken thrust out before him, stood Kuno.
"Oh great," Cologne sighed, "The other half of the pair shows up."
"What does sword boy want here?" Shampoo demanded, drawing into a ready stance with her bombori.
Kuno, like his sister, drew himself into a pose, "I, the great Kuno Tatewaki, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High." There was a crash of thunder. "Have come to claim the book of that foul sorcerer Saotome. For is it not written that those who know their opponents shall..."
He broke off as one of Shampoo's bombori crashed into his skull.
"Thank you, Granddaughter. I don't know how much longer I could have taken that," Cologne said.
Shampoo smiled, "You welcome."
Both of them turned to see a black ribbon snake around the book and then pull back, snapping it into Kodachi's hands.
"You give book back," Shampoo said, moving into closing distance with the gymnast, who started to twirl her ribbon.
Both girls shouted battle cries, and started to rush together, right when the wall exploded.
"Aiya! It Lost Boy!" Shampoo exclaimed, right in time to get bonked in the head by one of Kodachi's pins.
Shampoo growled and spun, her bombori just barely missing Kodachi's ribs. It DID manage to clip the book. Knocking it out of her hands and sending it spinning to the rubble strewn floor.
Ryoga himself drew his arm back from the touch that had just shattered the wall.
"What are you doing here, boy?" Cologne demanded, getting angry at the interruptions, "This isn't the Tendo Dojo you know."
Ryoga's response was to shift into a ready stance, waiting.
"Oh ho? You think to challenge me boy? Do you really think that you can win?" The old amazon snorted, "You don't even have the fraction of the speed it would take to land a blow on me, boy."
Still Ryoga waited.
'What is he up to?' Cologne wondered. A small sound made her remember the book. Looking at it quickly, she saw Ukyo reaching for it. She almost had it too, but a stray kick from the struggling Shampoo and Kodachi sent it flying across the restaurant.
"Hey! Watch it you two!" Ukyo yelled.
"Shut up and fight!" No one knows who yelled that back, but it was the single for everyone to start fighting.
****************
Ranma heard the commotion long before he caught sight of the place. Looking through the large hole in the wall, he saw Ryoga pounding the heck out of Kuno, Shampoo and Ukyo rolling on the floor, tearing at each other's hair, and Kodachi being tossed around by Cologne.
And right on the other side of them all was the book. He felt the pull of the book as soon as he saw it. He wanted the book, needed the book. Taking a deep breath, he started to run towards the Nekohaten.
His arrival in the ramen shop did not go unnoticed.
"Ranma darling!"
"Son-in-law."
"Ran-chan!"
"Nihao, Arien!"
"Saotome, you wretch."
"Damn you, Ranma, what are you doing here?"
"Quack!"
Ranma faced Cologne, "I want my book back, you old ghoul."
Cologne sent a quick poke at Kodachi that sent her crashing into the wall, "Oh? And how will you get it from me, son-in-law?"
Ranma drew back into a stance as a response as the rest got out of their way. Battles between Ranma and Cologne resulted in more property damage than a really depressed Ryoga.
Cologne swung her staff, fast; Ranma glided out of the way with no effort made.
Cologne bit back an expression of surprise. She hadn't fought him since before he went to China after Akane and he was nowhere as good as this! While Saffron was a fearsome opponent, there was no way that just one battle with him should have improved Ranma this much.
Ranma smirked just a bit, he _remembered_ everything. He couldn't toss off fireballs like the Lord of Merlin, and did not feel the bond with God that Father Ranma had, but the training that Master Yu had given her 1,500 years ago was still there. And Master Yu was far better in the Art than Cologne.
Every move that Cologne made, Ranma could read it, and remembered how to dodge it. Cologne struck at him, and he remembered as if he was still there; Master Yu telling her how to counter. Cologne had boasted of 600 years of Chinese Amazon history and techniques under her belt. Ranma had knowledge of 1,500 under his.
With almost no effort, Ranma moved behind Cologne, and picked up the book.
"You're slowing down," He commented to her when she spun to face him, surprise and shock clearly written on her face.
"What is written in that book?" Cologne asked.
Ranma shook his head and opened his mouth.
"Yes, Ranma, what _is_ in that book?" A voice asked behind him.
Ranma turned to see Akane standing in the blasted out doorway.
"Akane?" he asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing, Ranma." Akane said, her eyes as hard as agates. Just behind her, Ranma could clearly see the large black and white shape of his father running to the Nekohaten.
Seeing that his attention was elsewhere, Cologne lashed out with her staff, knocking the book out of Ranma's hands. It fell to the floor.
And opened.
The pages rustling, the book turned itself until it reached a new chapter and stopped.
"Oh no!" Ranma said, as they all were absorbed into the Journal.
**********
The book had sat in the darkened house of Father Ranma until his replacement had sent it to the Vatican. It was then housed in the library there as a curiosity for over 100 years till chance dropped it into the hands of a knight bound to the Holy Land on a crusade. The knight's name was Sir Ranma of Glastonbury, the mightiest knight in the world at that time. He didn't return from the Holy Land, and the book fell into the hands of one of the Lords of Arabia.
The Duty of a Ruler
The Duty of a Man:
Somewhere in Arabia, 14 century:
Ranma, lord of the sands, one of the most feared and respected men of the Holy Tribes, was scared out of his wits.
'Oh Allah, why me?' he thought to himself devoutly. A man's position was measured by the amount of goods he had, how many camels, horses, warriors, and of course, women. A big harem and lots of sons was a sign that Allah favored that person.
Ranma had lots of camels, one of the biggest herds. He had tons of horses. He had many of the finest, most skilled warriors. And he had women, oh yes, he had women.
He had, before he took over from his father, traveled to the palaces of others. Had seen how subdued their harems were. How the lord had just strolled in and picked one. He _never_ saw what he was undergoing now.
20 girls, all of them lovely flowers, knelt before him. Their eyes dared him to pick any but her and suffer the results. He was of age that he needed to start producing heirs, not to mention pick one as his favorite. It was his duty as the ruler of his people to do so. Now if only he could be sure that the other 19 wouldn't kill him when he did.
"Well, son? Which one attracts your eye the most?" his father, Abu, asked from his elbow. His father had decided for some reason to retire early and left everything to his son. Except this. Oh no, in this he had gone out and arranged for every single one of these girls to be brought here.
Ranma took another look at the girls and gulped. 'Facing down an army of infidels while naked can't be worse than this!' he though.
"I, uh," he started. Everyone leaned in a bit closer.
"My lord!" came a shout from one of the sentries.
'Oh thank you!' "Yes, what is it?" Ranma asked.
The sentry came in and bowed. When he looked up he paled at the animosity that was being glared at him by his master's harem.
"Speak," Ranma commanded.
"My lord, two of your lieutenants have just returned. They wish a word with you," the sentry managed, still being the target of dagger like looks.
"I see, send them in at once," Ranma told the man, more than happy to have an excuse to send them all away.
"This will not be a general meeting," he said.
The servants got the hint and started to leave, the girls didn't.
"We don't want to leave you, Lord Ranma," one of them explained.
Ranma was struggling to come up with away to send them away when the sentry led his two most trusted lieutenants in. Well, kind of trusted. One of them, known only as the Lost One, couldn't find the battlefield within a week if his life depended on it. The other, Abdul, well, he just couldn't _see_ the battlefield.
"My lord," they said, bowing. Lost One sighed and turned Abdul so that he faced Ranma, not a pile of carpets.
"What is it?" Ranma asked.
"We have come to report that Lord Sounja and his entourage are a day from here."
Ranma raised a brow and looked at his father, "Do you know anything about this?" he asked.
His father smiled happily and nodded.
"Well?" Ranma asked exasperated.
"Sounja is an old friend of mine. He's coming here to visit me."
Ranma nodded, "Oh, OK then. I'll make sure that everything is ready for him."
But Abu wasn't finished yet, "And he's bringing the girl your going to marry," he said in an off handed matter.
"WHAT?!" screamed the massed girls. They were all on their feet, and advancing slowly to where Ranma and his father were.
"Did I say something wrong?" Abu asked while the two were just keeping ahead of the vengeful mob.
Sounja was a dignified no-nonsense man. He had arrived early that morning and had quickly introduced everyone off importance that came with him. Ranma showed him around the palace and its grounds. Finally, they arrived back to Sounja's rooms.
"Well?" Sounja asked.
"Well what?" Ranma asked confused.
"Will you marry my daughter Akane?" he explained.
Ranma had seen Akane that morning. He didn't know why, but he felt like he already knew her, but he couldn't remember where from.
Sounja continued to stare at him, awaiting an answer.
"I, well..." Ranma started, looking at the 20 girls who were still following him around.
"Of course he will," Abu said. "That's what we agreed on right?"
"Good," Sounja grunted.
'Over my dead body,' three of the girls who were part of Ranma's harem said to themselves.
These three were the most dedicated, and the most dangerous. One, Saalihah, was the great-granddaughter of a sheik who was extremely powerful. The second, Kareemah, was the sister of a famous warrior. The third, Usaid, had been a cook at a restaurant that Ranma's father had stopped in. He tried to leave without paying and promised that she could marry Ranma if she would let the matter drop.
Ranma looked over at them, 'Were they just glowing?' he wondered.
In the mean time Sounja was calling for his daughter, "Akane!" he bellowed.
"Yes, father?" a soft voice answered.
"Akane, I want you to come here and greet our host," Sounja said in a much gentler tone.
"I'm coming, father," Akane said.
When Ranma had seen Akane that morning, she had been wrapped head to toe in vales as was proper for a woman traveling in public. But now she had removed them and came into the room.
Ranma's breath caught in his throat, Akane was beautiful, that was the only word that could describe her. She was graceful, moving like she was fluid. Her skin was a dusky color and her hair, dark. But it was Akane's large brown eyes that Ranma found himself drowning in.
"Akane," Sounja was saying, "This is Ranma, you met him this morning."
Akane bowed politely, "I am honored," she said.
"And he is also the one you will be marrying," Sounja said.
"What?" It came out flat, really flat. Ranma jerked back a bit, startled out of his contemplation and daydream about Akane because of her tone.
Sounja coughed a bit nervously, "You are to marry Ranma," he repeated.
Akane turned to look at her father, ignoring her intended. 'Over my dead body,' she thought to herself, not realizing that her thoughts were being paralleled by 20 other girls at that moment.
"Why should I?" she asked her father.
Sounja attempted to rally himself under her glare. "Because I said so," he tried. That didn't go over too well. After she stormed away, leaving her deafening response to echo around the room, Abu turned to his son.
"She is very spirited isn't she?"
Ranma nodded absently, still looking at the door that Akane had gone out of.
"She'll make you a good first wife," Abu said grinning.
Ranma looked sharply at him, then fearfully at the other 20 who's gazes were promising pain, death and possible castration. "Let me get back to you on that," Ranma said.
****************
Akane moved through the decorated halls of Ranma's palace, enraged almost beyond coherent though. "How could he?! How could he do this to me?!" she fumed. "I told him I would not be married off to some idiot just because he wants an alliance with some camel owning dog!"
Because she was so busy calling into question Ranma's ancestry, cleanliness, moral standing, and preferred sexual partners, that she did not see the tall warrior until she bumped into him. The effect was rather like running full tilt into a wall. Akane bounced off with a small yip.
"Are, you ok?" the warrior asked her as he helped Akane to her feet.
"I'm fine, thank you," Akane said. Then she looked around, "Excuse me kind sir, but could you tell me where I am? I got lost on my way back to the guest quarters."
The warrior rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "I'm sorry my lady, I don't know either. Actually I was headed off to the barracks."
Akane remembered passing a window that overlooked those a few feet back, "They are off that way," she said pointing.
The warrior nodded, "Thank you, I am most grateful," he said, then wandered off in another direction.
Akane stood there looking as he went off, and up, left, right, down, till finally he stopped again. "Which way did you say they were?" he asked again.
**********************
That night, Ranma held a feast in his guests' honor. There was food, drink, music and dancing.
Ranma looked on as some of his harem, particularly Saalihah, Kareemah, and Usaid, danced with even more abandon then normal. His clothes felt tight to him and it was definitely too warm in the hall tonight.
'Well, maybe one wouldn't hurt. I could just ask her to meet me later and then,' Ranma cut that thought off quickly when he noticed Akane's stare on him. He still wasn't sure what it was about this girl. There was just something, something naggingly familiar about her but he couldn't put his finger on it.
He returned Akane's look, admittedly she was very good looking, and he felt attracted to her more than the others. 'But the others are still here' he remembered when Saalihah decided to crawl into his lap.
Akane's features hardened and she looked away.
'Just great,' Ranma thought as he tried to pry Saalihah out of his lap and prevent the other 19 women from joining her.
Towards the end of the party, Ranma had managed to get the other girls to stay off of him. He didn't know why, but they all seemed hell bent on being with him tonight, and fighting the others off. Figuring that the night air would clear his thoughts, Ranma left the hall for one of the many gardens inside the palace walls.
He walked around the moonlit garden, admiring the night blooming plants and the way the water from the fountain was refracting as it gently spilled from the top.
He had always loved this garden, his father told him that it was here that his mother had worked most of the time. Bringing forth the beauty that he saw around him now. Usually the garden would help calm him down, give him a focus when the events of the world caught up with him. But now...
Now was not a good time. His father's arrangements couldn't have come at a worse time. His southern border was next to that of Khateeb, Saalihah's great-grandfather. His western one abutted Kareemah's brother's, Kaleem. Both of those people were asking him just how much longer he planned to wait until he took their relative as a wife.
His little slice of Arabia was strong, but just that, little. And his neighbors were very big. He sat down on a low stone bench to consider his options.
Besides Kaleem and Khateeb, there was one more other worry, Sounja. His lands sat to the north and east. He was bigger than the other two put together, and his warriors were those of the deep desert. Men you did not want to mess with.
Ranma sighed, no matter whom he chose; the others would crush him before his new allies could help him. His father might be an idiot, but he HAD taught Ranma that a ruler's duty lay in not getting his people killed because of his mistakes. His duty as a ruler said that the best way was to take and bed all of them. It was not only accepted, but expected. His duty as a man, and his heart, said that he had chosen only one, and she was...
"Am I interrupting you?" a soft voice asked.
Ranma looked up to see Akane standing in front of him. Again he forced himself to stop staring at her. 'What is it about this girl?' he asked himself.
"Not at all," He said, "Did you need to talk with me?"
She nodded, and Ranma scooted aside so that Akane could sit with him.
She sat down next to him, looking straight ahead at the fountain that continued to splash water in the moonlight. "I want you to know that I really don't want to marry you."
Ranma nodded, not really trusting himself to speak. Then, surprisingly, he did, "Why?" he asked her.
Akane gave him a look that was too quick for Ranma to interpret. The she sighed, "It's not you, Ranma, I just don't want to be married to someone I don't even know. And not against my will."
"But," Ranma started, very confused; "It is the way things are done. Marriages are arranged."
"Well at least you get a say in who you're going to marry!" Akane snapped back at him.
Ranma shrugged, "Not really, All those women in there were picked by my father. I have to choose one and either keep the rest as concubines or send them home. And I have to do it in a way that won't set off a war from insult."
"Oh yes, I noticed your little harem in there," Akane said, irritation in her voice. They seem all rather attached to you, especially that one girl; Saalihah isn't it? So how many have you bedded?"
"None! Didn't you listened to what I just said?" Ranma said angrily, "They were all my father's choice and most of them are here because they like the idea of being a prince's wife! And I can't sleep with any one of them because that would send the others out to kill me!
"Really?" Akane's voice dripped sarcasm. "So you say, I bet you've already snuck off with them all."
"Well what if I did?" Ranma yelled at her, coming to his feet, "Why should you care, you don't want to marry me, remember?!"
"That's right!" Akane screamed back, coming to her feet as well, "Who'd want to marry an oversexed pervert like you anyway?"
"Well there are 20 girls in there who want to! And I'm glad you don't want to marry me because I don't want you. Why would any sane man want a tomboy who won't do as she's told?!" Ranma shouted.
"What did you just say?" Akane demanded angrily.
"You heard me."
Akane drew back as if she was just struck, "Ranma, you IDIOT!"
A few seconds later, she stalked off, still muttering what she thought of him.
'Where did she get that mallet from?' the puddle of goo that was once Ranma thought to himself.
Ranma was feeling rather sorry for himself as he limped back to his rooms, but once he got there, he found that his troubles were just beginning.
First he found one of his girls in his bed, naked. After getting her out, he found another one had sneaked in. This one had been kneeling in front of his bedroom door, and when she saw him kick the other out, started to plead with him to marry her. Ranma sighed and tried to get her to leave. Just when he thought he succeeded, he found yet another one. This went on 17 times all together. Ranma silently screamed in frustration at the long night.
Ranma collapsed into his bed with a sigh, it seemed that he had finally gotten all of them to go and leave him in peace. Lying on his back, he looked up at the cover to see Kareemah pressed up flat against it.
"What the..." was all that he got out before she dropped on top of him, pinning him to his bed.
"Oh my darling Ranma, how can you even think of taking that wicked girl," she started. Then she started to describe to him just what she planned to do to him that night. Ranma grew redder and redder as she went on.
She finally noticed her blushing captive and broke off in the middle of a description of an act that was probably physically impossible. "Oh why describe it when we can do it?" she said.
"Eeeeeeeee!" Ranma responded as Kareemah moved to remove both her clothing and his.
"What do you think you're doing to him?" a voice from the door shouted.
'I'm saved!' Ranma thought, then caught sight of who it was who just shouted. It was Saalihah and Usaid; 'I'm doomed!' Ranma thought.
"Just what do you two think you're doing here?" Kareemah demanded, moving off of Ranma, who dived for the other side of the room.
"Saving him from you," Usaid replied, "Ranma honey is mine, got that?"
"What do you mean?" Saalihah asked, "Ranma is going to marry me!"
"There is no way that I'm going to let Ranma darling marry either one of you," Kareemah said, advancing towards the other two.
"No way!" all three shouted at once and started brawling.
Ranma peeked over his bed as screams, curses, and the occasional piece of furniture was tossed in his direction. He was actually thinking of calling his guards when the doors behind him banged opened. He turned to see Akane standing in them with the Lost One at her side.
"That's funny," he was saying, "I thought that your rooms were this way."
Akane wasn't paying attention to him; her focus was on Ranma and the three struggling girls that were on the other side of his bed.
"I should have known that I'd find you having an orgy!" she shouted at Ranma, a vein standing out on her forehead. She turned and went back through the doors, dragging the confused Lost One with her. "Come on," she said, "WE don't want to interrupt them!"
"Akane!" Ranma called, struggling to his feet in the tangle of cloth, "Wait! This isn't what it looks like."
Akane turned to glare at him, "Oh? And how do you explain her then?" she asked.
"Who?" Ranma asked then looked down to see Saalihah wrap her arms around his waist and nuzzle him.
Ranma pushed her off of him, "I didn't ask for this!"
"Well you sure looked like you were enjoying it."
"Arggg, why do I even bother?!" Ranma complained.
"I don't know, why do you?" Akane shot back.
Both of them paused for a second.
"Never mind," Akane mumbled, "I'm going to bed."
She turned and walked off with the Lost One in tow.
Ranma stood there, looking at her and the hall for awhile after he lost sight of her. For a second there, just for a second, 'Is she?' he wondered.
That night Ranma dreamed about Akane, Akane about Ranma. The Lost One, once he found his bed sat thinking about the wife of his master in a way he knew he shouldn't be.
19 girls were also dreaming about Ranma, the one who wasn't, Saalihah wasn't only because she was still awake. When she had arrived, she found that one of Ranma's men; Abdul had been in love with her since childhood. That made him perfect to manipulate into doing little things for her. Like taking a message to her Great-grandfather, telling him of developments and asking for help in getting her husband.
*********************
As the weeks passed, people started to notice that Ranma and Akane were seldom far apart. True, they spent most of their time screaming at each other, but they were together.
Ranma just couldn't figure her out. She was not the nice, quiet, obedient, girl that he was used to. And she wasn't even the crazed huntress' that made up the pack of girls that were currently hunting him.
And yet he felt that he knew her, that he had been waiting for her his entire life. They screamed at each other, but her eyes were telling him other things besides the insults. He just couldn't figure it out. Why, out of 21 girls, one whom he just met would make him feel this way.
Akane couldn't figure him out. Ranma was a jerk, always hanging off of one of the other girls, but why would that make her mad? She didn't want him, or at least that's what she told herself. Why did every time she saw him her heart would beat a little bit faster, and would ache almost unbearably when they had to part?
The two might have gone on like this for years if it wasn't for outside events.
**************************
"Lord!" one of the sentries ran screaming through the palace.
Ranma looked up from the map he had been studying. He had been considering moving some of his people into an area to see if it would better for crops. "What is it?" he asked that the sentry paused to catch his breath.
"Lord, Khateeb and Kaleem have united and are moving out against you! They are two days from here," the sentry panted.
"What?!" Ranma bellowed, coming to his feet, "How and why?" he demanded.
"I'm sorry, Lord, but I don't know. They did send you this message." The sentry put a message tube on the table in front of Ranma.
"Go get Lost One and Abdul, bring them here at once!" Ranma commanded.
"Yes, my Lord," the sentry bowed and moved to leave.
"Wait, bring Abu and Lord Sounja as well."
"Yes, Lord."
Ranma pulled the tube open and removed the tightly rolled paper from it. He unrolled it and started to read.
'Although it behooves us to move against thee in such a matter, yea kinsmen should not be among those who fight, we must put pressure against thee to bring that to bear what must be.'
Kaleem
Ranma blinked and read the second message that was more or less a translation of the first.
'What Kaleem means is that while it's a bad idea to fight your son-in-law, in this case we'll make an exception unless you do become my son-in-law.'
Khateeb
Ranma blinked again, "They're going to destroy me unless I marry their relatives?" he asked the air incredulously.
"Who's going to destroy you?" Sounja asked as he led Abu, Lost One, and Abdul into the room.
Wordlessly, Ranma passed the message over to the other three.
"They're not serious!" Lost One said.
"They are, I'm told that both their armies are two days from here," Ranma said with a heavy heart. What he had feared was coming true.
Sounja stroked his beard, "I have a group of men that are stationed not far from here, they could be here in a day."
Ranma shook his head, "No good, it would take a day to get the message to them and then a day for them to get here. The battle could be over, at least most of this place would be destroyed."
"We could just give them what they want," Lost One said.
"NO!" Ranma, Abdul, Abu, and Sounja said at once.
"I wonder if we could evacuate," Abu said. "Leave this place and run towards Sounja's land. Then we could return with an army big enough to force them out."
Sounja frowned, "It's got some possibilities, if we take just a guard we can move quickly. The problem is that they could track us, and as soon as they realize where we're heading..."
"Not necessarily," Ranma said grinning, "We have here the best man for our guide. It might take us a lot longer to get there, but I can guarantee that they'll have problems figuring out where we're going. And even tracking us."
"Who could be that good?" Sounja asked, "I have heard about Khateeb, it is said that he is over a hundred and tougher than the desert itself."
"True," Ranma agreed, "But no one, not even Khateeb, has ever been able to find the Lost One when he is lost. We'll just let him chose which way we'll go."
Sounja laughed, "Brilliant, you are indeed the best husband I could find for Akane. I'll go tell her and we'll leave at once!"
"What?!" Ranma exclaimed, "Do we _have_ to drag her along?"
Sounja looked at him, "Surely you're not going to leave your wife here alone, and surely you want _my_ help."
Ranma sighed, "The duties of a ruler override the duties of a man," he said to himself. But inside, his heart leaped for joy.
They left that night, it had taken that long to arrange for a trusted group to go as a guard, get Akane who was (On the outside) not happy to be going along, and to sneak away from the other girls.
They traveled far that night, letting the Lost One lead the way. Soon they were out of sight of anything remotely recognizable to any of them.
"Where on Earth are we now?!" the Lost One shouted to the night. The others looked at him. "Uh," he said rubbing the back of his head, "Its sort of traditional for me to shout when I'm lost," he explained.
"So why didn't you just marry them?" Akane asked Ranma as they rode together. In an effort to save time, they were doubling up on camels.
"Because I don't want to. I like them, but only as friends." Ranma shook his head, "I don't know why, but I really don't want more than one wife."
Akane sat in front of him, lost in thought for a few moments, "What would you have done if you couldn't escape like this?" she asked in a small voice.
"I suppose I would have given into their demands," Ranma said after a moment.
"I thought you said that you didn't want to marry them," Akane said almost accusingly.
"I don't."
"Then..." she started off angrily. Ranma stopped her with a touch on her shoulder.
"If I didn't marry them, if I couldn't escape and I didn't marry them. They would have attacked my people and killed them. I can't allow that. The duty of a ruler is to keep his people alive and happy."
Akane turned to stare at Ranma incredulously; "You would die for them, wouldn't you?"
Ranma thought about it for a second, "Maybe, but even more than that, I would live for them."
"I don't understand," Akane admitted.
"Dying for something is easy, people do it every day. But living for something, that's much harder. You have to give everything, everyday for that something. You have no other thought but what is the best thing for that someone," Ranma said, somewhat lost in thought.
"Someone?" Akane asked.
"Huh? Oh, I meant something," Ranma corrected quickly.
"I see," Akane said sadly.
"What's wrong?" Ranma asked.
"Nothing," Akane said.
"Come on, what's wrong?"
"I SAID it was nothing, OK?"
"OK, OK, jesh," Ranma said, trying to calm her down.
After a few minutes, Akane raised her voice again, "Ranma?"
"Yes, Akane?"
"Why did you bring me and no one else from your harem?"
"I didn't want to, but your father insisted."
"What?!" Akane screamed.
"Hey!" Ranma protested, "I didn't want you getting hurt, if we get caught, we're going to die. So I wanted you safe at the palace rather then running around with us."
"Oh, I see," Akane said. She sighed and leaned back against him, "I'm going to sleep now," she told him, "Can you make sure that I don't fall off?"
Ranma nodded, and put his arms around Akane to steady her. Like that, the two spent the night, on a camel lost is the desert with the night sky spread out above them.
Two days later, they made camp at an oasis.
"I can't find this place anywhere on the map," Sounja grumbled.
Ranma chuckled, his arms still around Akane, "Maps don't work around the Lost One," he said. "I remember when his entire troop got lost for three weeks within a small canyon."
"How did the battle turn out?" Sounja asked, curios.
The Lost One himself answered, "Quite well, the infidels were hiding out in that canyon, and as I kept on appearing and then disappearing, they assumed that there were thousands of us, not the 200 or so."
"The whole army walked out and surrendered to us," Abdul said with a grin, to a pile of rocks.
"So how long do you think it will take to get where we're going?" Sounja asked.
Ranma considered it; "Assuming that Lost One follows his pattern, two or three more days."
Later that night, Akane was again resting up against Ranma with his arms around her.
"Ranma?"
"Yes, Akane?"
"You remember what I said that night in the garden?" she asked.
Ranma chuckled, "You said a lot of things that night, Akane, most of them weren't nice."
Akane blushed a bit, "I don't like to be pushed into things, I really don't."
"I noticed," Ranma said.
"I thought you might have," Akane replied, snuggling against him a bit. "The reason I asked, is that, I changed my mind."
Ranma almost fell off the camel, "What?"
Akane looked up at him, "I told you, I don't like being pushed into things, but when I want something..." she trailed off. Then she gave him an arched look, "I always get what I want, you have a problem with that?"
Ranma smiled at her, "Not at all, far be it for me to oppose one such as you. I'm sure I would be defeated."
"You would be, you would be," Akane said.
As the camel passed on into the desert, Ranma held Akane close, like had was born to do so, and he was.
************************
It was actually four before they caught sight of anything familiar. Then they had Sounja take the lead, and tied the Lost One's camel to the string so that he couldn't get lost.
"How much father, old friend?" Abu asked Sounja.
"Not long," Sounja said, "An hour or so, why?"
"Oh good," Abu said, "Because Khateeb and Kaleem are about 55 minutes behind us."
"WHAT?!"
The race was on, they pushed the already dropping camels hard, trying to make it to safety. But the tired beasts slowed more and more. Before the hour was up, the sound of thunder could be heard as hundreds of horses poured over the crest of a hill to pound towards them. In the forefront were the warrior Kaleem, waving his sword like normal, and the ancient Khateeb.
The small army halted a few paces behind them.
"Lord Ranma," Khateeb said pleasantly, "I was sorry to have missed you."
Ranma set his face but didn't say anything. Khateeb was old, so old that his wrinkles had wrinkles. There was also a debate on if he was human or not, some said yes, but others said that no human could live that long, nor be about 3 feet tall.
"I find it most irritating that thou hast not fulfilled the contract that thy and thy father had entered into with mine family on regards to mine sister's betrothal to thee." Kaleem had somehow gotten the speech patterns of some of the infidels. His sword was feared, but not as much as one of his speeches.
"Now then," Khateeb continued pleasantly ignoring the fact that Kaleem had even spoken. "I don't want to spill the blood of a relative, nor do I want the wrath of Lord Sounja, so let's just be nice about this."
"Nice? What do you mean nice?" Abu said.
"Nice as in you do what I say and I won't kill you," Khateeb said, all pleasant tones gone from his dusty voice.
"Which is?" Ranma asked.
"I'm not unreasonable," Khateeb said, "I will allow you to marry Sounja's daughter, but my Saalihah will be your first wife."
Kaleem nodded, "And mine sister Kareemah shall be thy second or thoust wilt surely feel mine blade."
"No," Ranma said simply.
"No?" Khateeb asked, his voice promising all sorts of unpleasantness, "What do you mean no?"
"I am marrying only one girl, and she..." he broke off as Akane covered his mouth with her hand.
"The duty of a ruler comes before the duty of a man," she whispered to him.
"Yes, but," he started.
"And the duty and honor of my husband is important to me," Akane said to him.
"I love you," Ranma whispered to her.
To the others he said, "Alright, I agree with your terms."
Khateeb nodded, satisfied, "Oh, and I would like to know how you managed to avoid us for six days. We didn't find a trace of you until today."
"We let the Lost One lead us," Ranma said, "No one can find him, and he gets lost at the drop of a hat."
"Ah yes, I had heard of your lieutenant, I would like to meet him."
"He's over there..." Ranma pointed, but he wasn't. He and the string of camels he was attached to had disappeared.
"Great!" Ranma said, "Just great!"
"Spread out and find that fool," Khateeb ordered.
"It won't do you any good, when he gets lost the best thing to do is wait for him to show up," Ranma said.
"I want him found!" Khateeb said. "I will not let him go get you help."
As to answer his statement, more thunder came as thousands of mounted warriors came over the lip of the rim, moving down towards them. In the forefront, leading them on was the Lost One.
Ranma smirked, "I think you best do what I ask, noble Khateeb, and keep things nice."
*************************
The pact that was drawn up had Akane becoming the first wife of Ranma, Usaid the second. Saalihah was given to Abdul and Kareemah spent the rest of her life trying to find her husband when he got lost.
Shortly after they were married, Ranma found out why Akane had always seemed so familiar. He was in his library, looking for a copy of a map, when he ran across a black book he didn't remember ever reading or even owning.
He vaguely remembered it being the spoils of some long ago battle, but that's all. Shrugging, he blew the dust off of it and opened it.
'Greetings, Ranma Lord of the Sands...'
***********************************************************************
Nerima, Present Day:
They all came back to themselves slowly, wondering what had just happened, trying to adjust to the amount of information that had been passed.
The book lay on the floor still, now one glowing line formed, 'I told you not to think about it, this book belongs only to Ranma and Akane,' it read then snapped shut.
"Son-in-law," Cologne said shakily, "What happened to us?"
Ranma looked around at the group, at their faces as the remembered some of the things that he had said in the book. He reached down there and grabbed the book, and ran off.
"Ranma!" they shouted as most left to follow him.
Akane didn't. She instead reached down to pick up a note that fluttered out when Ranma passed her. It had her name on it in flawless kanji. Taking a deep breath, she broke the seal.
'Akane,
He does, he does love you more than you could know. I ask you this, Tendo Akane, who is it that you live for?
Lady Akane, Beloved of Ranma, Lord of Merlin'
Akane fell to her knees, reading and re-reading the note.
"Oh Ranma," she whispered to herself softly.
End.
Author�s notes:
Ok, I know this has been really late in coming. I�ve actually had it back from my pre-readers for more than a month. Before you ask, yes there will be another chapter, and no, I have no idea when. School and work have taken so much time up that I no longer have the time to write really. In other words, it will get out when it gets out.
I need to really thank my pre-readers who did a most excellent job on this. Thanks gang, you know who you are. Special thanks goes to Victar who really tore this thing apart. And to Warr who�s off hand remark gave me an idea on how Ranma could be kicking Cologne�s rear.
I�ll take anything you can give me by way of C&C, and no I don�t OWN Ranma, I just sortta borrow him, without asking.
This one�s for you, Ashke,
JG
---
Here sir we come to famous training ground of accursed springs
--------------------------------------------------------------
|Guide of the training grounds|Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo, BGC, |
|of accursed springs, 8th |AMG, Tank Police, Gall Force, |
|Disciple of Eriond, President|YUA, GitS, ADP, Evangelion |
|of the AMS, and proud member |Project A-ko, UY, VPM, BGC! |
|of the #SkAS# |Darkside Blues, Dragon Century|
|------- http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/6549 ----------------|
|Akane, Lina, Washu, Nene, |Nene showed Mackie just how |
|Skuld, Belldandy, Kiyone |much she knew. Winter Blossoms|
---------------------------Jusenkyo---------------------------
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