If you are reading this story, please tell me.  I know I have
problems in my stories, and I desperately need the C&C.

Things happen how they happen.  This story is a product of my imagination,
and the pain I feel.

<disclaimer>
Okay, before I let you into the story, I have to state that THIS IS A VERY
DARK STORY! If you don't like that theme of story, turn back now.  Also
included in this story are scenes of rape and murder, so you would be well
advised to turn away if you hate that kind of stuff as well. </disclaimer>


Happi's Legacy,
A Ranma 1/2 Alternate world
By Liath Corrine Shadow
Episode 3

All is well with the world.

That is what everyone wishes to believe, at least.  But dreams are haunted
by things we don't know about, and sometimes those dreams show something.

Sometimes they hint at what is to be.

And sometimes, what is to be isn't that far off.

***

Voices.

Voices, that have no voice.

Faces.

Faces that have no face.

The touch of a hand.  Here...there...

Feelings.

Feelings with no source.

The hand moves down...down my body...

Touching...there...

***

I wake up with a gasp.  I haven't dreamt that since...

Wait a minute.

Those hands.  They are real!

I jump out of my bed, and turn on the lights, "Who is there?  Who are you?"
And then I turn around.

There is a girl kneeling on my bed.  Not very old, either.  Her hands are
positioned over the blankets, and her head is down.  Her red hair covers
her eyes, but it doesn't keep me from seeing the tears falling.

Red...hair?

She whispers, just barely loud enough for me to hear, "I have a debt to
you."  she sobs quietly, "I...I have a debt.  And this...is all I have...to
pay you with..."  her hands cover her face, and she turns away from where I
am standing.

"A...debt?"  I don't understand.  This is Ranma?  "What debt?"

The girl turns back to me,  and I can see that yes, this is Ranma.  Her
face is tear streaked as she whispers, "You took me into your family."

It finally dawns on me.  She thinks she owes me because...

"Ranma, listen,"  She looks at me, her eyes slightly unfocussed, "you don't
owe me anything.  Actually, I owe you," her eyes focus a little, and she
looks at me quizically, "I took your father from you.  To repay what I owed
to you, I took you into my family.  You owe me nothing."

She looks at me uncomprehendingly, "Nothing?  But...but how?"

I sigh.  She's too far gone.  Instead of trying to explain it again, I take
her by the arm, and gently guide her back to her room.

She whispers, as we talk, "Father always told mt ehat I have to settle my
debts.  He never gave me any money, so I had to pay people back in other
ways.  I...I don't want to owe anyone anything..."

I sigh, and carefully lay Ranma down on her futon.  I lean over to kiss her
on her forehad, and she pushes herself upward, kissing me on the mouth.
Her eyes are filled with desperation, and I close mine.  I gently pushed
her back down again.

"D-don't leave me," she whimpers, her voice filled with fear, "please don't
leave me alone..."

"I will be here, always,"  I say, more to calm her down than to promise.
Ranma smiles faintly, and closes her eyes.  I gently brush my hand against
her cheek, and then quietly slip out of the room.

That was an interesting night, I muse as I walk silently back to my room
and slip into bed.

*****

Sight without sound.

Sound without smell.

Smell without touch.

Touch without sight.

Everything, nothing, combined together, and yet still apart.  Something is
missing, something important.  Something important...to me.  What is it?
what have I lost?

No, not lost.

It was stolen.

What is missing, that I search for?

Searching, walking, running, flying.  It is around here somewhere.

What is it?  What is around here?

Nothing answers me.  It is a ruby, it is a diamond, it is a saphire it is
an emerald.

It is none of these.

It is a spark of brightness, that I am blind to see, it is a whisper on the
winds, that I am deaf to hear, it is a single rose, that I can not smell,
it is a trace of dust, that I am not sensitive enough to feel.

Something is missing, and still I search.

I search, until the dawn arises, and I can search no more.

And still have I not found it.

***

Bright sunlight filters through the window, striking my eyes with its
merciless light.  I roll over, hoping to get away from the dazzling
brightness.  I hit something as I roll.  Hmm...thin, stiff, a slightly soft
base.  Leather, if I'm feeling it right.

"Ohayo Ranma-chan!"  Akane calls from above me.  I peek open an eye, and
look at Akane's foot.

I close my eye again, and think back to last night.  I offered him, and he
refused.  He said something about him owing me?

"Akane?" I whisper, still thinking hard, "What did your father mean when he
said he owed me?"

I barely hear her reply through my thoughts, "We took your only family away
from you, Ranma...Father wanted to give you a place in our family, to
attempt to cancel our debt to you,"  Her voice is quiet, almost as if she
were afraid.

"What are you afraid of, Akane?"  I open my eyes and look up at her.  At
this angle, it is as if her hair is surrounded in a faint blue aura.  Then,
to my amazement, the aura changes slightly, going from a faint sky-blue to
a darker blue with faint pink tinges.

"I'm afraid," she says quietly, her eyes closed, "that you will hate us,
that you will leave us and never come back," her voice becomes a whisper,
almost too hard to hear, "that you will hate me..."

Why would I hate her?  A girl so...helpful.  And cute.  And protective.

Speaking of which, "Umm...Akane?" She opens her eyes again and looks at me,
"Who was that boy who, umm, groped me the other day?"  A blush comes to my
cheeks, and I shudder slightly.

Akane's face turns dark, "The guy's name is Ataru.  He's been coming here
since about the same time as Kinuko.  He said he had a contest going with
some guy named Kaneda,"  I blanch, oh my god, _he's_ here?, thankfully,
Akane doesn't notice, "He said the contest was a perv-off or something like
that,"  Oh god it is him I hope he doesn't recognise me, "and that Kaneda
would be here some time this year.  What's wrong?  You look like you've
seen a ghost..."

A ghost.  What a way to put it, "A ghost from my past, maybe," I whisper.

Ataru, that guy has it all, in the perverted department, anyways.  I pity
any girl that he comes into contact with.

"You know him,"  Akane states, "You know him.  Ranma, are you, or were you,
Kaneda?"

I nod slightly, saying, "I wish I didn't, though.  He has caused me so many
problems before.  My father trained him for a while.  He was father's best
pupil.  He wanted to challenge me for the school and style,"  I lower my
head, "I never wanted either.  He can have them both."

I never did want them.  They were, and still are, things from my father.
Things that I don't want any more.

"I'll tell him later," I whisper to myself.

Akane must have really great ears, "I'll be with you when you tell him,"
she replies, also in a whisper.

*****

I stare at the window, looking into the life of the one I care about.

A thought comes into my mind.

*why do you care about him?*

I don't know.  He's stupid, and rude, and thoughtless, and a pervert.
But...sometimes...when he smiles.  It's as if the world has disappeared
around me.  As if...as if he was the whole world.

*what do you call this?*

I.  I think.  I think it's called...

Love.

*What is this love?  What does it mean?*

*What does it mean...to you.*

"What is love?"  I repeat the question out loud.  Shampoo looks at me
strangely, but I ignore her.

"Love is," I whisper, "It is like..."

"It when you care for someone,"  Shampoo continues, looking at me.

I blush a little, and say, "so much, that you would do anything..."

Shampoo smiles a little, "Anything to make sure that person..."

"Is happy,"  We both finish.

"Shampoo hear whispers too,"  she says quietly.  Her eyes moist with tears
still unshed.

A sudden feeling assaults me.  Shampoo stiffens, as well.  We both turn,
and look to the side.

There, sitting in a corner, is a small lizard-like thing.  It stares at us,
and then opens its mouth.

"What would you give up, to see to her happiness?" It whispers.  Its eyes
flare emerald green for the barest fraction of a second.

"Everything," two whispers echo through the room.

"What would you do, to see to her happiness?"  Again it whispers, its eyes
shifting from a glowing green to a glowing blue...

"Anything,"  Again two whispers echo around the room.  The walls don't seem
so dark any more...nor does anything else.  Slowly, a door takes shape...

"Would you be her guardians?  Would you give up your own lives to protect
hers?"  The lizard doesn't seem so small any more.  It has grown immensely,
now the same size as Ranma in her female form.  With the same red hair, too.

It isn't human though.

"Hai,"  the whispers, turn to echos, turn to a resounding roar, then die off.

"The contract has been sealed.  Come along, it is time for you to learn."
The lizard man walks through the door, leaving it open for me and Shampoo
to follow.

We didn't stay in the room long.

I don't think either of us wants to leave Ranma without protectors.

*****

I try so hard to find that which I need to continue writing this blasted story.

I had to take something from waaaay back when I could barely remember anything.

I hope that it was worth it :)

I await the flames!!

(can't make the 1K a day like I thought I could...but at least I'm still
writing something. :)

I won't be posting zillions of revisions to the list like before...(Tybalt
was possibly going to kill me if I had kept doing it <blushes> ) but I will
be trying to post every 15-30K (which is the one episode point I decided)

Liath Corrine Shadow
Shadow Dancer
Shadow-Chan

<aching aching aching back.  10 mile walks are good for you, but they hurt
like heck. :P :) >