Tell me if this is preferable to the first draft (if you
still have/remember the first draft, that is). The revision
isn't quite the product of a night's work, so.... :)

Ranma 1/2 is the product of the mind of one Rumiko Takahashi,
who has not, in point of fact, given me any rights to use
any of the characters, situations, et cetera from her work.
Still, there is no financial gain on my part, nor is it part
of any plot for world domination or anything of the sort, so
I don't feel too bad.



Now, as a general warning, reading my notes, both before and after
a story, is pretty useless, since they usually are only minimally
related to the story, and often make me sound like an even bigger
git than I really am (which takes some doing, don't you know). This
is especially true if you haven't yet read the original version of
Soul of Ice: Synthesis-- Success, because I refer to events in it
somewhat, even in the pre-fic notes. My suggestion is that you
ignore what I say (I generally do!) and just read the fic-- oh yes,
and feel free to comment if you want, of course. ^_^
    Well, this is a revision, something I've been meaning to do for
a while now, but just hadn't worked up to it. Mostly minor
alterations, really-- a few typos corrected, a few more made, most
likely, and the altering or adding a few lines here and there,
including a couple of lines about the growing philosophy behind
Ranma's new style, as I think it's becoming a bit clearer to me
what it should be. Minimal changes at most, really, and there are
thoughts of an epilogue, of sorts, a la Synthesis-- Broken; an
epilogue would probably be strictly from Ryouga's point of view,
because I'm finding his story at the end the more interesting one--
everything else is almost a set-up, really.
    I kept the prelude, just because (wouldn't be right to tamper
with it now, would it?). I don't expect you to read it-- I advise
against, in fact. The prelude, that is, not the story.
    Hrm... not sure if I actually count this as a success or a
failure, myself. Ah well, 'what the hell, hello cruel world,'
right? ^_^


                    Soul of Ice: Synthesis-- Success


I

    He's looking, wondering who's there, where I am, right now. The
boy. Thinking, weighing options. I can tell, I can smell it on him.
Good. Good. Already starting down the path, doing that --losing his
impulsiveness. Best thing Happi could have done, present his side.
That's right, Ranma, think it through, poke and prod and look at it
logically. Less work for me this way, if you start to do this on
your own. Very good, get you used to it.
    Oho!
    He sees me. Marvellous, truly marvellous! This place has made
him think more, to take notice of more threats, or subtler threats.
I could not ask for a more fertile training ground, not for the
start. Still, much longer here will be intolerable. He must make a
decision soon, and he simply needs a different environment for what
I have to teach him. Anything else will simply not do.
    I hop down from the tree on the other side of the wall and into
the Tendo environs. "Have you made a decision yet, Ranma?" I say.
    He shakes his head. "Not yet, Cologne."
    "Do not take too long," I admonish. He called me by name, this
time. An improvement. "We do not have forever, after all." I
chuckle drily and hop away with my usual speed.
    He will make the right decision soon, it is the only real one
he can make, after all, anything else would be ludicrous, and when
he does, then I will be there to show him a true Soul of Ice.


IX


    It was warm out, and I could feel someone watching me. It had
to be Cologne. No one else quite had that... coldness. Not right,
but that's the best way I can put it. If you can do it, then ya
know what I mean, otherwise it ain't gonna help.
    What was she doing, just waiting there like that? Finally she
hopped down from her perch.
    "Have you made a decision yet, Ranma?" she croaked out.
    "Not yet, Cologne," I replied. It ain't somthing I had to do
right away. I could dog it for a while, right?
    She left. I shivered; I don't know why. Suddenly I felt cold,
on that bright, warm day. I started a kata to warm myself up, and
begin to lose myself in the simple motions until broken out of it
by the call for dinner.


II

    
    Gotta go gotta go! Laughter. Funny funny heehee. The pig's in a
poke now! The boy and his chummy, not that they'd ever want to
admit that they were buddies, chasing me, chasing me, chasing me.
Me and my precious ones. 
    I could go for a drink right now. Wet the ol' whistle, you
know? Keep you young, it will. Where was I?
    Look at this pair I got. Damn! that woman had a big rack on
her! Fit my whole head in one cup! Hahah! Hahah! So much fun. My
liberated panties, my silken darlings, my precious ones, in my sack
on my back (a rhyme! a rhyme! I'm a poet, though you wouldn't know
it! Kee-hee! Kee-hee!) and people chasing. The boy and his chummy,
the pig. Whatta rush! So much fun, and even better when the chummy
one missteps into Ranma, and they start to fight.
    I sit and watch, of course, laughing and laughing and laughing
and laughing. Drink would be perfect right now. Some food, too.
Noodles or something. Some kinda meat, on a stick. Spectator food,
because that's what I am right now. Such fun. Tears from all the
laughter and fun, in fact. My pretties, my precious ones, but not
as precious as Ranma, not as pretty as he could be, when he is a
she. My Shining One, my Bright One, my Pretty. 
    The boy knows. I can see him smiling. He likes it, likes the
chasing, likes the fighting. He enjoys it. Much too much to ever
give it up. I don't gotta worry about him, he's proof against
Cologne. Good. You need to enjoy life, y'see. That's all I want him
to do, enjoy life. I do. 
    It's pure joy! 

IX


    To hell with this. I ain't gonna choose. Why should I? Gettin'
the best of both worlds right now, aren't I? 'sides, don't trust
'em. Trust Happousai? Hah! That'll be the day. I trust him to grab
breasts and fondle women's underwear. I trust him to do anything in
he can to do those things. That's what I trust the lech to do.
Don't even get me started about Cologne. I don't even know if
there's a lesser of two evils, here. Story of my life, isn't it?.
Way I figure it, I'm doin' just fine the way things are right now.
Three square meals a day, a roof over my head, a bath-- hell, I
even got a pillow and closet space! T'me, that's luxury. Now, if I
can just get away with it.... 


III


    I don't know what the boy's up to lately, he's becoming
incomprehensible to me. Yes, he's better than me, I knew it
already-- a long time ago in fact. I admitted it before, even. Even
using the Yamasenken and Umisenken, he'd still beat me. He's seen
them, had them used against him, anyway. He can do them, I've seen
him use some of the techinques before, even. I'm proud. Proud of
him, for getting this far, for being this good.
    Proud of myself, too. Proud of raising such a capable son,
proud that my training techniques work. My vindication, you see.
Say what you will, but they worked magnificently-- look at Ranma
and see the results.
    But I'm worried. All that's left to do now is to get him
married to a Tendo, and I can't do that. Won't let me. Happousai
won't let me, actually. Says not to interfere with the training of
his heir. He means it this time, I can tell.
    I was his heir apparent for a while, did you know that? True,
you know. I had other things though, more important things, I
thought. He called them distractions. Wife, child, morals. Yes, I
have morals, thankyouverymuch. Why do you think I sealed up my most
powerful techniques? Why do you think I taught them to one man, to
my eternal regret, when I could just as easily let him and his boy
starve? I have a code, I have a conscience, I have regret. Lots of
regret.
    But you keep it inside of you, you see. Can't let anyone know
they can get you that way, can't show weakness unless it's a feint,
because then they'll take advantage of it. It's a cold hard world,
and you have to look out for yourself. It's a lesson I had to teach
Ranma early on. Make him rely on himself-- if I bailed him out of
all his troubles, then he would come to rely on me too much. That
would make him weak. My son will stand on his own two feet!
    I'm worried though, about Happousai. About Ranma. About
Happousai and Ranma. The Master-- may he rot in hell soon --says
he's training Ranma. I asked my son yesterday, "What's he teaching
you, boy?" but he just shrugged.
    He wouldn't tell me. My boy doesn't trust me. Should I be proud
that he's taken my teachings so well, that you can't and shouldn't
trust anyone, not even your father, because that gives them
leverage on you and they can be used against you? It's about time
he learned that lesson-- he never quite fully got it. That Ryouga
kid, the pig-- perfect example. Ranma trusts him, thinks they're
both friends, and when he comes back to see Ranma years later,
poof! he attacks without warning. 
    Make sure your friends are weaker than you are Ranma, because
when they turn on you... that's a big reason why I'm friends with
Soun, you know. I could defeat him, quite easily. Always could. He
knows it, too, I think. We get along smashingly because of that. 
    But my son doesn't trust me, and even though I taught him that,
it still hurts. How can I help him get away from Happousai if he
won't let me help him? And then, and then (my stomach grows cold
and heavy and quivering at the thought), maybe he doesn't want to.
Maybe he really is learning from the Master --we should have buried
him in a not-quite dormant volcanoe --and maybe he wants to. That
disturbs me the most, I think.


IX


    Dad knows somethings up. He suspects, at least I think he does.
Not sure what to do about pops. Maybe I shouldn't do anything--
Happi's keeping 'im off my back, after all. But if he finds out,
he'll tell others and _they_ might not stay away. Most certainly,
now that I think about it.
    But why should I bother? Might be fun. No it won't. Good
practice? people to spar against and test out what I learn? No,
distractions, keeping me from learning. 
    I'm close, very close. On to something big. I can touch it,
sometimes, when I dream-- understand it an' make it mine. Something
like... they're wrong: the ghoul and the perv. It ain't about
control, an' it ain't about losing yourself and living for the
moment. There's more to it than asceticism or hedonism (hey, that
book on philospohy's really helpin' out). There has to be a
balance. It's about freedom, about taking control of your life and
about accepting what happens when you choose. Something like that,
at least. Ya gotta _know_ when to cut loose and _when_ to stay in
control. That's the important thing. Still, gotta know control and
you gotta know how to cut loose before you can pick and choose when
you wanna do which, so they're still useful.
    There's that faint rumbling behind my eyes again. Kind of
uncomfortable. I wonder what's causing it to happen? Like
something's changing back there. Maybe I should go see a doctor?
Probably just some effect of growing up-- you know, body changing
and all that.


IV


    I don't like this, not one bit. He's learned, you see, and
that's bad. Bad for me, that is. How am I supposed to have my fun
if he won't let me? How am I supposed to make a quick buck off him
if he won't comply? It just isn't fair. Well, okay, maybe it is
fair-- I'm not his fiancee (although it was fun renting him out
when I was, I must admit), but it isn't right. That's not the way
things are supposed to go. Ranma's finally learned to keep a
secret. I don't mean like not telling people about the curses--
that's simple, easy to do. Just not talking, that is. I mean
something else.
    You can see it in his eyes, and in his smile-- especially in
the smile. Cocky and arrogant and mysterious-- Ranma always had the
first two in that insufferable smirk of his (how I loved... love,
wiping that off his face!) but this third one is a new development.
    The smile tells me he knows how to keep a secret-- keep it from
anyone-- keep it from me --but the eyes, they tell me he's got a
secret he's keeping, and they tell me it's a big one. They're
eager, you see. Barely restrained with glee. There's a storm hidden
behind those eyes. I can tell.
    I know about secrets-- how to keep them and how to ferret them
out. He's learned my trick, about keeping them at least. I don't
like that, not one bit. Makes Ranma a tougher nut to crack. So
easy, before. Thing is, maybe sweeter meat inside once cracked. I
don't know. Do I want to find out?


IX

    Everyone always saying, "It's not my fault!" but then whose
fault is it? Usually blame me-- ain't my fault either. They blame
me, I blame pops, and he blames me, or tells me to deal with it
anyway. Well, used to be true, at least. Not no more. Not like that
anymore, not me. I don't blame dad. They blame me, I don't blow up
and blame someone else. Stare 'em down, cool-like, like Nabiki
does, actually.
    I'm on to something, I know it. Making them nervous. I think
even Happi's a bit anxious now. I like that. Nabiki definitely is.
I like that a lot. Deserves it, at the very least. She's been
annoying for far too long. They're starting to bore me, the lot of
them.
    Storm's coming. I can smell it. 
    I hate being bored.
    Too predictable, maybe that's it. Too petty, maybe. Always
concerned about mememe. Can't see the big picture. Don't look
ahead. Not like me. Okay, so maybe I was like that once, but not
now. I'm coming up with something new here-- something powerful and
useful. Ain't doin' it out of a misguided attempt for revenge, or
to prove I'm the best (henh, self-evident anyway, that is). Not
doing it because I want something-- my training weren't ever a
means to an end. That's it, that's it exactly. Most of 'em, it's
just a way to get something. You know, recognition, fame, power,
the girl, the guy, whatever. Not me-- I do it because I want to--
for itself.
    Not the only one, though. I think Ryouga might, sometimes, be
like me. Was when I first met 'im, way back when. He got twisted
though, focused on me. Not good. Not healthy. Starting to get back
to the way he was now. I can trust him, sometimes. More than I can
say for most of 'em here. He doesn't always take advantage of me. 
    When I'm finished with Cologne and Happi, I think I'll ask
Ryouga if he wants to learn from me. He could do it, if he really
wanted to, I think. Give him the chance, at least-- see if he wants
to, when I'm done. He's about the only one around who's not an
utter bastard and won't necessarily turn on me. Strange, but true.
The pig's tried to take advantage of me the least, at any rate.
Strange but true. 
    Time to see what Cologne has for me today, I s'pose. Now if
only that faint rumbling behind my eyes would stop, this'd be a
perfect day.  


V


    So I think in Mandarin. Great-grandmother says I shouldn't,
says that to speak Japanese properly I should think in Japanese,
but I don't. My little secret. I don't want to learn the language
enough. Don't have the time or the patience.
    He comes here, to the restaurant, Ranma does, but not to see
me. He wants to see great-grandmother, always. "Training," he tells
me, madcap grin or serious and somber face. That's why he sees her.
    I told him once; I told him, "that if Ranma marry me, he get
much more training from great gran'mama."
    He just smiled, flashing his teeth _just so_ and his eyes
alight _just so_ and tapped his nose with a finger. "Ah," he said.
"Ah, but I like how much training I'm getting now just fine," he
said before winking. 
    He is rapidly becoming a very strange boy. Must be all that
time spent with Akane-- the Pervert Girl. Doesn't like boys? I
can't understand that-- well, maybe a little. Once you realise that
you don't need to understand why they do certain things or why they
act a certain way, they're quite easy to get along with. Besides,
they certainly do make the world more interesting-- especially
Ranma. 
    Definitely been around her too much. I think I'll have to pay
my Ranma a little visit very soon-- maybe it'll smarten him up and
he'll come to his senses. Even if it doesn't, I'm due for a little
fun, right? All work and no play, as they say.
    Well, no time like the present, right? Off comes the apron, and
"Great gran'mama?" I call out in Japanese. "I go see husband now,
okay?"


IX


    Shampoo came by-- I was busy with Happousai. He was helping me
develop my own style of Indiscriminate Grappling, or Anything
Goes-- doesn't matter what you call it --to be his heir. Well,
that's what he thinks, anyway. I know better, of course. Damned
hard. Most of it is trying to find out what I enjoy. I like martial
arts-- hasn't let me down yet --but... damn! How the hell do I know
what I like if I haven't done most of that stuff? So that's what me
an' the perv do, we try things to see if I like 'em. Not just any
old things though-- they gotta be... aw hell, what was the word he
used again? "Sensual," he said. "Pleasures of the flesh," he said. 
    The best thing about it so far is that pops an' old man
Tendo've really let up on me. Haven't tried to get me to do jack in
a while now-- not even when Happi ain't around. They used to do
that, you know-- when I first started training seriously with
Cologne and Happi. When the lech was gone on a raid or out of town
for a bit or something, they'd go at me hard and quick, to make up
for lost time. Don't do that no more, 'cause they realise I'm
serious now. Happi let 'em both know he was real serious about me
bein' his disciple, his heir which he would train personal-- and
could bloody well stay out of his way if they knew what was good
for them. I like that, y'know? I like doing what I want, and I like
doing it when I want. I could get used to that. 
    So, when Shampoo came by, I just nodded at Happi. He nodded
back and waved me off. We weren't getting nowhere then, anyway.
Y'know, for someone as strong as Shampoo is, she sure is soft--
delectably so. Very strange, that. How can she be so much stronger
than Akane, for instance, yet so much curvier and softer? Same goes
for me-- well, when I'm a girl at least. I just wonder why that is.
I could ask someone, but they'd take it the wrong way, I bet.
    Speaking of taking it the wrong way, Akane just happened to
catch Shampoo's entrance. She didn't say anything though. Just
looked kinda distracted. Blinked twice. Left the room afterwards--
a little wobbly on her feet. Maybe she tried that trick with the
spin, the flip and the punch I showed her the other day while
sparring. That's probably it; silly girl-- the secret is to start
with the _left_ foot, otherwise you're totally off-balance.
Honestly, if she doesn't pay attention-- sometimes I wonder why she
bothers.
    Shampoo said she had tickets to a musical. Big one, she said.
Very long running, she said. English chappie, she said. Her
favourite, she said. "Very good seats," she said. "Want to go?"
    I shrugged. Never been to one before. Might enjoy it. Maybe
I'll find my focus there. Anything Goes Martial Arts Theater? ya
never know. Oh man, was I wrong.


VI


    I saw him and her, holding each other closely, their bodies
next to each other, and I ran. How could he--? How could she--? How
could I do anything else? And that's why I came here, to my room,
and buried my head in my pillow, letting the tears out. What else
could I do? There they were, going out on a date to see her
favourite play.
    He's been so... odd, lately, not himself. I guess I know why.
Oh Ranma oh Ranma of Ranma-- how could you--? And so my head in the
pillow, no one to hear the tears.
    I was wrong though. Here he is, nestled on my lap, purring
peacefully. He still likes me. It was the play they went to see:
Cats. The fool. Likes it when I scratch just lightly under his ear.
Falling asleep now. Such a peaceful smile. I wonder why he can't be
like that more-- not a cat, you understand, but this way. 
    I could fall for a man like this. He's got nice hair. Drives me
so crazy-- why can't he be nice and quiet sometimes, like he is
now, only not when he thinks he's a cat?
    What's wrong with him lately? Acting all odd and strange. Not
himself at all-- all absent-minded and smiling like the cat that
caught the canary, pardon the expression. Knows someithng but isn't
telling. Is it Happousai? Maybe that's it. All that training with
master Happousai getting to him. But what can I do? Happousai's
just too powerful for me to take on, and I refuse to lure him in by
flashing my chest then bashing him, like Ranma does. Did-- I
haven't seen Ranma do that to Happi in a while-- they've been too
chummy lately to fight, anyway. At any rate I have much to much
respect for myself and feminine modesty to do that.
    Fool. Doesn't he know how worried we are about him? He's
starting to sleep now, I think. The low umbling from the back of
his throat (I swear that can't be humanly possible) is getting
quieter. I slow down stroking his back: softer, softer, gentle and
slow. Fool-- why can't he be nice and agreeable like this more
often? 
    Come back to muh-- us. Come back to us, Ranma-- I--we! can help
you if you only let me. So cute and adorable with your nose
scrunched up and your eyes closed like that, did you know that?
Fool.


IX


    I think I got it-- I will, at least. I'm onto something,
something realy big. Very close-- I can tell. Something bigger an'
better than what Cologne wants, or what Happi wants. I'm going to
be bigger and better'n them, just as long as I can keep a lid on
it. 
    I can feel it sometimes, inside me. It wells up at times,
bubbling forth, but I hang on. I'm good at that-- hanging on,
surviving. Too bloody-minded to do anything else, I guess. 
    Feel strange-- disjointed to use a word I heard Nabiki use
once-- that's it. It's like, it's like-- what's that word again?
One of them scientific ones. Teacher talked about it. You know, the
caterpillar turning into a butterfly? Makes the cocoon an'
everything, right? That's what I feel like, like I'm in the middle
of becoming. I'll be that butterfly makin' storms in faraway
places, that's what I'll be.  
    Sometimes, when I'm by myself and I look in the mirror, I can
see myself actually changing. Insides rearranging themselves.
Bulges and stuff rippling under my skin before settling again. I
wonder if I'll look any different? It's going to be glorious,
whatever it is. 
    I can feel it too, you know that? Like sometimes my guts and
muscles an' stuff are movin' around. Keep expectin' them to make a
sound when they do, but it never happens. Doesn't feel bad though--
ain't any pain. Just kinda weird, and actually a little good, to
boot. Feels pretty good, in a weird way.
    Does my reflection know? Mirror mirror on the wall, Will you
tell me what will befall?
    Chrysalis-- that's the word I was looking for.


VII


    I don't know, I really don't know anymore. He's a bastard, you
know-- always has been, ever since I met him in Junior High. Sure,
once in a while he does something nice, but he just rubs me the
wrong way. Knows what buttons to push, I guess.
    I don't know where he's at, anymore-- in the head, I mean. One
second he's all nice and fun and everything, and then he's all
giddy and stuff, then he's calm and controlled. Depends on the
situation, really: calm when he needs to be. 
    Very strange.
    I don't know what he's up to. I caught him looking at a cat the
other day-- such a strange expression in his eyes! I heard about
the Neko-ken stuff from Akane once, or maybe it was Kasumi--
someone anyway, when I was in my cursed form, so I knew what cats
did to him.  
    Yeah, I could have popped a cat in or something during a fight,
but that just wouldn't be right-- 'side, what if it made him go all
cat? Where'd I be then? Right.
    But his eyes, when he looked at me, they were... strange, for
Ranma. Questioning, clinical. Nothing like the usual him.
    "I'm supposed to be afraid of cats, right?" he asked me, like
he wasn't sure about the answer or not.
    I nodded.
    He looked at me thoughtfully, and nodded his head. "Oh," he
said, from far away. "Well, I don't wanna be, anymore, so I don't
think I will."
    Then he picked up that cat, started petting it, and walked
away.

    To be honest? I don't know if this is Ranma anymore. I splashed
him with cold water once, and sure enough there was the change, so
there's that. He also remembers stuff that only Ranma would know,
but Ranma's got a memory like a sieve-- hell, he'd forgot about me
when I first came to Furinkan, right?
    Some very strange stuff going on with him right now. He isn't
as much of a bastard anymore, but he's still plenty strange. Almost
like he wants to be my friend or something. I'm not falling for it
again-- he won't get me with that trick this time. Not like back
then, not that day, the day I arrived in that empty lot-- the lot
that wasn't supposed to be empty because you were supposed to be
there, Ranma, and you weren't.
    Aka-ne/ri! Where are you? Where are you in my dreams? Who are
you, the one that comes to me then, the one I can pour my heart and
soul out to? I don't understand him, I really don't. Been acting
strange-- must be a trick. Got to be, right? Why would he want to
be my friend? Why would I want to be his? 
    I'm almost sure it's a trick-- getting this odd feel off of
him. Nah, it's got to be a trick, the bastard-- why would he care
about me after all, right? We're enemies, rivals, he even told me
so once, and why would he lie about something like that? Other
things, yes, but not that, not something this serious and personal.


IX


    I don't get the headaches or nothin' anymore. None of that
rippling feeling underneath my skin anymore-- not unless I want to,
anyway. 
    I think I've got it now. I think I figured it out, how to put
'em both together. Do I share it with people though? Why should I?
Why not. Gives me an edge, a definite one, if I don't. They won't
know, and they won't learn, if I don't share it. Of course, if I
share, then maybe they can help improve it and me more. Plus, I
ain't doin' it for an edge-- for the Art and no other reason. An
end unto itslef. Because I can, that's why.
    Okay, so maybe that's good. But who then? Who? Who? Not too
many people who would learn it-- who could. Happi? Cologne? Never.
Too set in their ways. Okay, and then you've got a bunch that
aren't ready for it, or who probably wouldn't be interested in
learning. But worse'n that's trust. Who I want to share it with?
Need someone who's got a bit of honour in 'em, right? Someone who
won't stab me in the back with it or anything like that.
    I said Ryouga before, right? He's done right by me, once in a
while, at least. More'n I can say for most of 'em, at least. Tried
not to take advantage of me when Happi used that weakness attack on
me. 'bout the only one who did, really. So maybe I can trust him--
as far as I can throw him, anyway.
    Would he want to, though? Could he do it? Maybe. About the only
one I'm willing to share it with that could and would, anyway.
Akane never would, tell you that, tell you that.
    But I think I got it all figured out: the basis for my new
style. Got the philosophy, you see. That's the important part.
Moves come out of that, y'know. Still haven't finished with those,
but I figured out the other stuff-- the important stuff-- the
inside stuff. That's the main thing-- how ya look at things. That's
all it is-- that's all the Bakusai Tenketsu really is. I bet I
could develop one that works on other things, too, if I wanted to.
I see things the right way now, finally. I get that now. It ain't
what the moves are, but why-- never understood that before. 
    I should tell them, eh? Announce to everyone that I'm finished
training under them. Tell 'em all, tell 'em all.
    It's all about knowing when to cut loose, really. Keep that
tiger inside caged, until you need it. Lettin' go is just as
important as not lettin' go. Be wild, but you gotta know _when_.
That's the tricky part, and the part I think I got all figured out. 
    Well, at the start that's what it was. For the fighting, still
is, anyway. For now-- that's why I need someone else to help
develop it. I know where it has to go though. It's all related, all
connected, all balanced, everything. There is no one or the other,
just, just, everything-- anything. Happousai? Cologne? They're the
same, in their extremes, in their inability to see the world beyond
their limited view. They don't bend, and so they'll break.
    You have to be able to bend. Adapt or die-- it's always been
true for me, I realise that now. I understand so many things now.
    I'll tell 'em. 


VIII (I-VII)


    He called us together, all of us and Ukyo and Mousse and his
mother and the rest of the Tendos and everyone else. Said he wanted
to tell us something. In the Tendo dojo, he said to come, so we
did. Not raining, not right now, but it will. You can smell it,
taste it, feel it and see it. Dark clouds. Heavy air. Big storm
coming, very big. 
    So we're all there, in the dojo, talking. Somewhat
apprehensive-- lot's of tension here, but nobody's attacking anyone
else, so that's okay. Too intent on what Ranma's got to say.
    Ryouga comes in with Nodoka-- she found him wandering or
something. That's the last one Ranma asked for. Should be coming in
soon then, but who knows these days. Been acting strange, everyone
of us agrees on that-- even Kasumi says so, and you know what
_that_ means. 
    There he is now, coming through the main doorway. Unusually
calm expression on his face-- not quite Chesire Cat, although the
smile is. Peaceful, content, almost. Fire in his eyes though,
strange glint at odds with everything else. Powerful. Cologne
doesn't know what to make of it. She's approving and disapproving
at the same time. Happousai's nodding and frowning too. They see
each other doing that and stop. The rest of us don't like that one
bit, but we don't know what to make of it.
    Ranma's smile widens, into a big grin which reminds us a bit of
the way things used to be.


IX


    I wanted them all together-- might as well only say it once,
right?

    "Prolly wondering why you're all here, right?"


VIII


    We all nod, of course.
    "Probably wonder what the hell's been going on with me lately,
right?" he says. 
    Again, we all nod. Obvious we're worried about the jerk, right?
He's walking differently, as well. Just noticed that now. Can't
exactly say how, some nameless or miniscule change, but it's there,
and whatever the change, it's obvious it's different, but don't
know how, just... different.
    "I'm leaving for a bit," he announces without preamble. All of
us are shocked, although reactions are different.


IX


    Some of them start to move to attack me. Dad, Soun. Shampoo and
Ukyo wonder what it means, at least to them (is it good? is it
bad?) and Akane is somewhere in between. Not happy about it anyway.
    Cologne ain't happy either, neither's Happi, actually.
Surprised her with that-- she don't like surprises. So surprised,
in fact, that she shouts.
    "What!" Her shout rings through the air and breaks glass with
its power, including Mousse's glasses.
    "I got enough off you and the lech, and now I gotta leave for a
bit to hone it into my own style-- to finish it, you know what I
mean. Can't do it here though, so I need to leave... temporarily,
at least." 
    They still don't like it, Happi and Cologne. In fact, they like
it even less now. The others... well, they can deal with it,
anyway. Cologne from the right, and Happi from the left. I sidestep
them, and then let the Beast out, just for a bit. As good a thing
to call it as any. Not the Neko-ken, although there are components
of that in it, I think. The ultimate expression of letting it go,
of no control, even though there are strictures of how long to let
it out and when it has to go back in and what it can and cannot do,
who it can and cannot attack, and the world starts to go white as--


III-VII


    So they attack him, the two martial art masters, from either
side of him. Wordless cries of rage from Happousai and cold anger
in Cologne's eyes. 
    Ranma rolls his eyes lazily, and with a similar movement, he
moves out of their way, letting them crash into each other. Sparks
fly where Happi and Cologne touch-- literally. They snarl at each
other and then look back to Ranma. We all do.
    Only it isn't Ranma, you see. Well, it is, but then again it
isn't. Same body-- well, maybe, but that sure as hell isn't Ranma
in there. The thin sheen of manic sweat covering him, the snarl of
a smile baring too many teeth and the way his hands curl and
uncurl, flexing unconsciously, say that this isn't Ranma. Such
savagery in his eyes, elegant, in a way-- efficient, most
definitely-- ruthless, of course. 
    Don't know what happened, not exactly. None of us do, really.
Ranma's standing there, feral and wild, then Happousai and Cologne
attack him again, and then everything happens too fast. Can't see
what's going on, can't make out shapes, can barely make out blurs.
None of us, not even Ryouga, can make out what's happening.
    After a moment, they disengage-- Ranma flying into a wall, but
at the last moment he flips and catches himself. He's got some cuts
on him, some areas already starting to swell and bruise, but he
looks so alive!
    Cologne and Happousai cannot say the same. Superficially, they
look better than Ranma, without bruises or cuts or anything, but
they're paler, and breathing heavily. Not nearly as lively as
Ranma, who looks more like a force of nature now than anything
else. 
    Some unknown signal sends them off again, launching themselves
at each other with unparalleled speed. It takes longer for them to
disengage, and when they do, it is Ranma who is standing, limbs
bent and loose and panting and grinning madly, while the other two
lay there on the ground.
    There's blood along Ranma's arms, but it isn't his. He sweeps
his gaze across the room and we all flinch under it, except for
those too dumb to know better (Kuno), or too blind to see it
(Mousse).
    The two fallen martial artists twich and begin to move slowly,
painfully, and all I can think, all any of us can think under that
awful, wonderful, fearsome and exhilerating gaze is that--

  
I


This isn't Ranma.


II


Not my student Ranma at all.


III


I don't know--


IV


--who he is--


V


--but-- 


VII


--that--


VI


--isn't my--


VII


--Ranma.


VIII


Not at all.


IX


    Oh, it's me all right.

    Takes me a moment to get it under control again, but I do it.
There will come a time one day when I won't have to let the Beast
out-- that there will be no Beast. A stopgap measure, until then. A
step in the training. The cocoon of the caterpillar, the shell of
the egg.
    "They attacked me. You saw that-- they attacked me." No more of
this blame-Ranma-for-everything bullshit. Let's get it straight
right now, since I don't know when I'll be seeing them again. Maybe
start them towards enlightnment. See who sees the truth there--
might be able to help me finish developing. 
    I look at them, having regained control. One, two. That's all
that are salvagable. I'm astonished-- not by that, I only thought
it'd be those two, but by something else: they're afraid, all of
them. Afraid of me, l'il old harmless me. Very funny. All of them
smart enough or sane enough to know fear, at least. Not one of them
wants to look me in the eyes.
    Actually, that ain't true. There is one, after a moment, that
is. Ryouga does, and there isn't fear there. Determination--
determined not to be afraid, maybe-- and a bit of pride. I look
straight at him. 
    "I'm not done yet," I say. He doesn't flinch. "I have the
basics, the foundation, but it isn't complete, yet. Mostly just
potential, and ability. I know where to go with it, but I'd like to
share it with someone else though." He's starting to understand, I
think. "I need someone to practise with and help develop it. I
can't do it here though, and most of you are unsuited for that,
anyway." 
    I pause, taking in a deep breath. I don't think I've ever felt
this exposed and unprotected-- admitting I need help is an
horrible, horrible experience I don't usually have to do. "Do you
want to learn, Ryouga? Learn and help teach?"


VII


    I can't believe he asked me that. Okay, maybe I could-- he was
leading up to it, but still. Maybe that's why he's been acting
friendly to me lately. To be able to move like that! But why do I
need to? 
    He asked for me though-- me and no one else. Me, his rival. No
one else could do. We could be the best. I feel strange, something
I haven't felt in a very long time and I don't know what it is.
    I'm always wandering anyway, it might be nice to have someone
to talk to, even Ranma.
    What about Akane? I look at her, and I don't know anymore. She
doesn't seem as... necessary, anymore, now that I have Akari.
Doesn't have that same hold over my heart. Is Ranma responsible for
that, too?
    He said he knows where to go-- I wonder what that's like? Maybe
he could teach that, too. Be nice for one of us to know, at least.
Does this mean I'm accepting, after all?

    I can always leave, later, if I want to.

    He's waiting for an answer. I close my eyes. To be able to move
that fast, and to have that freedom and that control! It used to
not matter if I was the best or not-- just as long as I was better
than Ranma. That's not important anymore though. He admitted he
needs me, that he wants me to help him. He needs me-- said so
himself. Those words, from anyone, so much to me they mean. From
him, from Ranma, from my rival, my enemy, my friend, the main
reason I had to keep going for years, just so I could win against
him, well, that's much better than just being able to beat him.
Time I got another focus. This could be just what I need-- a
training journey at least. 
    "Yes."
    He nods furiously, grinning madly, and we're off.


                            An End



Prelude (after the fact):

    You know what's somewhat strange? Thesis, and Antithesis, which
were both successes, made Ranma inhuman. In Synthesis-- Broken, he
did not become so, and maybe perhaps became more human (read the
epilogue for it in Errata, folks!). Occurred to me not too long
ago, that. Funny, that it seems it is the failure, if you want to
call it that, which had Ranma remaining or becoming more human,
while it is the successes which make him other. Not sure where this
one fits in, either-- perhaps if there had been another, later look
at things.... I suppose some of you are going to say that reflects
on me, but I wish to assure you, I am most definitely not an alien
being from the Greater Magellenic Cloud come to observe you puny
lifeforms. Hehehehe... that'll hold 'em. They'll never suspect that
I'm an alien being from the Andromeda galaxy come to observe them
puny lifeforms.... (oh darn, did I type that?) ^_^;;
    
    What the hell, I suppose I should do this one, shouldn't I? A
moral obligation or something (and of course I'm just an extremely
moral person... hehe hehehe hehehehe Wahahahahahahahaha!)? So let's
see, how can I make myself seem even more haughty and snotty and
elitist and pretentious this time? I mean, it's becoming rather
hard to outdo myself, you know.... ^_^
    The problem of oneoneone is not necessarily that it is too
limiting, but it can be. Extremism is an example of oneness, but
all twisted and wrong. Still, I am fascinated by it, utterly
captivated an incomprehending on some basic level on how someone
can believe they are right so totally that they are not willing to
even concede there might be another side, nevermind the other side
being right. 
    The ability to rationalise any action, to know with absolute
conviction that whatever you do is good, or correct, to actually
_believe_ this, both bewilders me and amuses the hell out of me.
    What's the other side of oneness then? Inclusiveness. Extremism
shuns things, creates an outside in the process of creating an
inside. If all things are together, are in some way connected, then
there is no real outside or inside-- there are no groups because
there is merely _one_ group of everything and everyone. 
    And what does this have to do with the fic? Not a lot, although
at one point it was at least tangentially related to it.... Then
again, when did these preludes really have anything to do with the
story? ^_^ 
    So (hehehehenh), to steal from another anime series, "do you
want to become one with me?" :-P

Matthew Lewis is:
	Matt on IRC
	Sojiro_Seta on Kawaiimuck
	maybeso@ican.net
	a proud member of Lumpy Pot Productions
( http://members.xoom.com/Morisato.home.html )
	in need of updating his webpage at:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/9345/index.html
____________________________________________________

If you can't laugh at other people, who can you
laugh at?
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