AKANE'S JOURNEY                                               A MIRRORS MULTIPLIED SIDE STORY                                                     by                                                             the DragonBard  ______________________________________________________________________I can be reached at dragonbard@hotmail.com or at dragonbard@my-deja.com **********************************************************************Hi there.  I ve been talking with Skysaber for quite some time, and I noticed thatit was taking him a while to get some of the stories that he was planning on written.  When I mentioned  that to him, he said he was going to have to write it as a side story.  I mentioned that I had some ideas about it, and he said that I could write it.  Hope it measures up to his standards.

Well, I've got a problem, and I need your help.  I sent this fic to Skysaber for approval months ago, and he says that it's missing something, but he doesn't know what it is.  Can you offer some ideas? **********************************************************************      "This, is not good."  Kami-sama muttered to Himself.  Now, if most people heard the Almighty saying that, they would be preparing for the Armageddon.  Fortunately, the reason that the Creator was saying that, was 'not' reason for a universal panic.  He was looking at the situation between Akane Tendo, and Ranma Saotome.  Or rather, the Akane Tendo and Ranma Saotome  of a specific dimension.  Kami-sama had long had His eye on the various goings on involving the infinite amount of Ranmas, and his friends.  He had also taken a special interest in a specific Ranma.  Well, several actually, but for the purposes of this story we're only going to be talking about one.  It amused Him almost as much as the romantic comedy surrounding some of His daughters  aspects, or that alien prince in the dimensions overseen by a trio of goddesses.
   Ever since Ranma had taken a trip through the various possibilities of existence, thanks to a wishing bracelet, Ranma had become cold to his one-time true love, Akane Tendo.  The emotional (i.e. hot tempered) Akane, would always take something wrong, get angry, and BOOM!  Ranma would find himself injured, or dead, and then in another world.  This had, understandably, soured Ranma to Akane stemper.  Even though he had once loved her, it had slowly faded, and now, what little chance of true love that remained, might easily be extinguished, which Akane could easily do by accident, and end up cursing herself for the rest of her life.  Akane hid her feelings, trying to push away anyone who she liked with her temper.  Trying to protect herself from the loss she had felt when her mother had died.  Add to this the fact that she had been continuously attacked by her male classmates, each one trying to fulfill the condition set by Kuno, 'if you would date her, you must first defeat her.'  She had become increasingly scared of men, afraid that anyone whocould defeat her and then date her, could take anything he wanted from her.  In fact, when Ranma and Akane had first sparred, she had said that she was glad that Ranma wasn't a boy.  When she had discovered that he 'was' in fact a boy, she became distrustful of him.  Combined with the fact that their fathers (and He used the term loosely in the case of Genma Saotome) were pushing and pushing for them to get together, and the many women who were more skilled than Akane in so many things that she prized, namely martial arts and cooking, just increased her problems with Ranma.
   One thing that many people did not know about the supreme deity, is that Kami-sama (God to Europeans) is a hopeless romantic.  He just couldn't stand to see what was going to happen between two people who had been so much in love, even if one of them 'was' a tad violent, and neither could admit that they cared for the other. However, before the two of them could 'possibly' get together, Akane had to admit that she was in love with Ranma, for one thing.  Also, she had to learn to control her temper, and soon.  Otherwise, nothing short of the Ultimate Force, or direct intervention from Himself, would get the two of them together.  There was only one solution, send in a goddess to try and talk some sense into the girl.  Though, He got the feeling that it would take more than a simple talking to, to get this matter straightened out.  That meant, giving the goddess effective carte blanch.
   "Now, the question is, which of My daughters to send?"  Kami-sama mused to Himself.
   Urd walked into her fathers office.  <I wonder what Father wants?  I haven't done anything to get myself in trouble for a couple of weeks.>  She nodded to the Valkyrie who was presently acting as Kami-sama s secretary.  The two of them had been good friends back when the Norns had been worshipped in certain areas of Northern Europe, along with the Valkyries.  Urd had even covered for her a few times in the field when she had a hot date (though Urd usually seduced the men she was supposed to be taking to Valhalla.)  The doors opened under their own power as soon as Urd was in front of them, and Urd strolled into her Father's office.  He was sitting behind His desk, surrounded by view screens, each one showing one of the people in Midgard (Earth) that Kami-sama was paying extra attention to.
   "Hello Urd."  He said.
   "Hello Father."  Urd answered.  Kami-sama chuckled.
   "Don't worry, My Daughter, for once, you're not here because you're in trouble.  Actually, I've summoned you here to give you a very special job.  I m certain that you are familiar with the file of Ranma Saotome."  Kami-sama said, gesturing to a folder on His desk.  Urd picked it up, nodding, and opened it.  She was much more than familiar with it, especially since her sister, Belldandy, was engaged to this particular young man.  He was such a hunk that Urd had a thought of joining the group.
   "I want you to indulge in your favorite pastime, matchmaking."  Urd looked at her Father in bewilderment.
   "You are to go to the Tendo Dojo in Ranma s original dimension, and visit Akane Tendo.  Then, I want you to give her a little lesson in consequences.  Use your imagination."
   Urd looked at her father, with her eyes growing larger.
   "I just want to make sure I hear you right.  You want me to go to Earth, meet Akane, and teach her not to hit Ranma?"
   "Or try to kill him with her cooking.   Kami-sama said, nodding.  Urd sat down, hard, in a chair that just appeared beneath her.  Kami-sama just smiled.
   "Since I know that effecting that kind of change will require some heavy duty persuasion, therefore, I want you to take her to the Skein of Time, and give her an idea of what Ranma goes through.  Also, I want you to give her water from The Well."  Urd stared at her father, unable to say a word.
   The Well, sometimes called the Well of Ymir, where Odin/Kami-sama drank to gain wisdom, at the cost of an eye.  Among the gods, only the Norns, and Kami-sama had ever drank from it, and Sailor Pluto was the only mortal.  To look into its waters, was to see a glimpse of the Beginning, and the End.  To drink from it, was to see all that is, and to carry that understanding, a piece of it anyway, for the rest of your life.
   "Are you sure?"  Urd asked.  Her father just smiled.
   "Oh, by the way, Urd, if Mara asks, tell her you re doing this under 'My authority, and if she wants to argue about it, she can come to Me.  I would really like to hear her singing some of those hymns."       Urd stared at her Father, and burst out laughing.

       *                   *                   *

   Akane Tendo lay in her bed, staring at her ceiling.  She could still hear her father crying about the fact that Ranma had married his daughter, and the schools were finally joined.  What did it matter that Ranma hadn't married the Tendo daughter he had been engaged to for months?  What did it matter that Ranma now looked at his new sister-in-law, as if she were a piece of filth?  Akane absentmindedly wiped at the tears that were streaming down her face.  <Bakabakabakabakabakabakabakabakabakabaka!>  She thought to herself.  Though, if she was thinking of herself, or of Ranma, not even she knew.
   "Still trying to deny it, huh?"  Someone asked.  There, standing in her room, was the gorgeous platinum blond that had shown up when the goddess Belldandy had called Heaven!
   "What business is it of yours?"  Urd scowled at her.  Akane then realized that she had spoken disrespectfully to a goddess, in her presence!  <Oh oh!>  She thought.
   Urd cleared her throat, and began to recite.  "Akane Tendo.  Age sixteen.  Practitioner of the Tendo branch of Anything Goes Martial Arts, whose founder, Happosai, has cursed it, and its practitioners, since he soled his soul to gain the skills and techniques he did.  Each of you have a curse which causes you to be inclined to one or the other of the Seven Deadly Sins.  The Founder's is Lust, your father s is Despair, yours is Rage, Genma Saotome is cursed for Gluttony, Ranma's is Pride, Nabiki s is Greed, even though she only practiced it for a time, and Kasumi's is Sloth, though she has overcome her curse quite well.  You've been in love with Ranma for the past few months, but never have been able to admit it, so you try and force him away, while at the same time, get jealous when he shows any joy in another woman s presence.  You are not an evil girl, but you never contemplate the consequences of your actions, which is partially because of your curse, but you've given into to it."
   "And that," Urd said with a smile.  "is where I come in!"  Then with a wave of her hand, the two of them were gone from the mortal world.
   Akane looked around, stretching more endlessly then the night sky, was a black void, only broken by the shimmering lights that lined the ground.  A ground as black as the void of the sky.
   "Congratulations, you're one of the only mortals to ever be here.  Well, how do you like it?"  She asked.  "It's not much, but it's home, or a reasonable facsimile."
   "Why am I here?"  Akane asked.
   "You're here to learn.  Unfortunately, you need some pretty major learning before you can really be ready for what's ahead, so, my Father has asked me teach you.  But first,"  Urd said, pulling a canteen out from  somewhere  and threw it to Akane.  She looked at it suspiciously.  <How did she do that?  That suit is even skimpier than the stuff Shampoo usually wears!>
   "What is it?   Akane asked.
   "Water.  I thought you might get thirsty while we're here."  Akane accepted this,dubiously.  <After all, if you can t trust the word of a benevolent kami, who can you trust?>  For some strange reason, Ranma's face popped up in her head.
   "OK,"  Urd said as she raised her slender arms to point at Akane.  "You may feel some disorientation . . . "  Before Akane could even think of backing out, or even asking more questions, she felt a tingle surge through her body as her sight blurred.  As her vision cleared, she found herself . . .
    Akane stared in resentment and suspicion at the young man, Ranma Saotome, the  boy  her father had engaged her to, the one who she thought could be a girl friend,sitting across from her.  <That pervert saw me naked! He s just like all the otherboys!>  She grew angrier and angrier as her father and sisters forced her into being engaged to the pervert.  The final straw was, just when she started to feel the tiniest bit sympathetic to him, just as he was about to leave, he said that his female body was better looking than she was.  <That does it!>  she thought, as her control snapped. Akane grabbed the nearest thing at hand, and hit the jerk with it.  She let out a long breath, and looked at what she had done.  Her improvised weapon was the family dining table, with Ranma lying underneath, unconscious.  <Serves him right!>  She thought to herself.
   Genma lifted the table off of his son, then stopped.  Something was wrong.  Ranma was unnaturally still, his neck was bent at a strange angle.  He put his hand on Ranma's unmoving chest, and then quickly placed his ear beside his hand.  His eyes grew larger and larger and larger, as his skin grew pale.  By this time, Akane had calmed down enough to notice, and was getting worried.
   "What's wrong?"   Kasumi asked.  Genma looked at the Tendos with horror and fear in his eyes.
   "He's dead."
   Akane shook her head.  "No!  I didn t mean to do that!  No!   Her eyes grewlarger as she stared at the man she had just killed.   No . . . no"
   "No . . .!"  She screamed.  Akane blinked.  Her living room was gone, leaving only the black void that she had been in earlier.  She wiped tears from her eyes.  Urd was standing in front of her.
   "That didn t happen!"  Akane said.  "Ranma survived when I hit him with that table!"   Urd nodded.
   "In  your  world, he did.  But when you first met, Ranma wasn't as tough as he is now.  All it would have taken is for Ranma's neck to be bent just a little in the wrong direction, and what you saw,  would  have happened!"
   "I would never kill him!   Akane protested.  Urd just smiled.
   "Ready for your next treatment?"  Urd asked.  Before Akane could protest, Urd had begun the process again.
   "Akane was standing in front of Ranma, holding a serving platter of food.  Ranma just stared at it in loathing.
   "You are going to eat this even if I have to stuff this down your throat!   Akane said.  She scowled at Ranma, to emphasis the point.  He slowly, as if terrified of something, picked up a piece of food, and put it in his mouth.  He winced at the taste, and quickly swallowed.
   Akane growled at his reaction.  "Are you making fun of me?"
   Ranma started changing colors, his eyes bulging, and collapsed.
   Akane was puzzled.  <Ranma never reacted like that before.>  Kasumi walked in.
   "Is Ranma all right?"  She asked.  Akane just shrugged.  She leaned down to shake him.
   "Ranma, get up.  It's not that bad."  Ranma didn't react, his skin was clammy. Kasumi looked at the two of them strangely.
   "Akane,"  She said calmly.  "I think you should go call Dr. Tofu."   Akane just stared at her older sister.  "Now!"  Kasumi yelled.  Akane moved quickly, in shock from Kasumi raising her voice.
   The rest of that horrible day was just a blur for Akane, much like the memories of that day when her mother had passed away.  The waiting room of Dr. Tofu, which had always before been a place of comfort to her, was now a source of pain.  Then, that fateful moment, when Dr. Tofu came to them with  the Look  in his eyes.  Alook which even the presence of Kasumi failed to effect.  A look that Akane had seen before, when . . .
   "No!  Not again!"  Akane yelled, and rushed into the room where Dr. Tofu had taken Ranma.  There, covered in a white blanket was a body.  Akane stood beside the examination table.  She wouldn't, couldn t believe it until she had seen it with her own eyes!  Hesitantly, Akane pulled the sheet off, revealing Ranma Saotome s pale,lifeless body.
   "No!  No!  NO!"  Akane whispered.  <I did this!  I killed him.  I killed the man I love!>  The thoughts continued to roll around in her head, repeating over and over again.
   "Akane!"   Akane looked up from where she sat huddled on the ground.  There in front of her was Urd.
   "What . . . ?"
   "What was all that?  Here in the Skein of Time, you can see what  has happened, what  is  happening, and what might have happened.  All I'm doing is giving you a bit of a look into what Ranma has been going through."  Urd said.  Akane stared at her in confusion.  "Oh yes."  Urd said.  "Every time you and he have been together in the various universes he's visited, you've killed him.  What I'm showing you are just a few of the times, believe me, there are a lot of them!   Urd looked thoughtful.  Actually, I'm surprised that you haven't killed your Ranma already.  The chances of Ranma surviving to this point were extremely slim.  My sister, Skuld didn't think that it was very likely at all.  <Of course I won't mention all the worlds where the two of you have gotten together successfully.>  Urd thought to herself.
   "Why me?"  Akane asked.
   "My Father has a bit of a soft spot for you two, and since He has some plans for Lover Boy, He wants to try and include you in them.  However, believe me when I say that you aren't important to it.  If this doesn't work, and you don't get your act together, it won't effect anything.  This is His attempt to be nice."  Akane dazedly pulled out the canteen Urd had given her earlier, and drank a little water from it.  Her eyes grew wider than saucers as the water of the Well began to take effect.
   "Now, since we've gotten that out of the way."  Urd lifted her hands, and the scene changed around her.

             *                  *                       *

   Akane passed through life, after life, after life, after life.  Each life following the same pattern, with her killing Ranma through some means, ether a lucky blow, or through the toxicity of her cooking.  Each time, unlike the first ones, she was forced to continue living, to see, feel, and experience what happened after.  One time, she was arrested and charged with manslaughter.  Another, she was left alone, her family unable to deal with the fact that she had killed someone.  Sometimes, she killed herself, other times, she went insane, unable to grasp the fact that Ranma, the man she loved, was dead.  In a small handful of them, Ranma left her, driven away by her actions, and she could not stand to be alone.  Also, her situation changed in each of the lives.  Sometimes, she had no more memories of what was really happening than the Akane she inhabited, other times, she could think and feel for herself.  Of the two, Akane was most affected by the times she could see things objectively, and they were quickly becoming the norm.  She could see and understand things that the other Akane was too blinded by anger or jealousy to notice.  How Ranma would try to push Shampoo or Kodachi off of himself, but he couldn t do anything because  she wouldn t give him a chance before hitting him.  She would also notice the occasionallook he would give her when he thought she wasn t looking.  When she compared thelove in those hidden gazes, with the last glimpse she had had of Ranma s face when itlooked at her, she knew she had lost something special.  Something that was likely gone forever, and she wept inside.
   This was one of those times where she was separate from her otherself, and right now, both were watching as Ranma was fighting with P-chan.  <Why does he do it?>  Akane wondered to herself, as the Akane native to this dimension punted Ranma into the air.  <He knows that it just gets me mad.>  If Akane could control the body, she would have shaken her head.  Even now, after several lifetimes under her belt, she still didn t get it. During the first few times she had been like this, an observer instead of a participant in her own life, she had gotten angry, just as the other Akane had, but after some time, she realized that the anger was what had destroyed her chances for happiness in the first place.  Thus, Akane had decided that she was going to make the most of this opportunity, and finally get a hold on the temper that had ruled her life for so long.  Sometimes it was just meditation, a part of her martial arts training that she had neglected, but which she now realized she sorely needed.  Other times, it was simply screaming in anger, channeling the rage into the scream and not a blow.
   Akane looked around.  She had found that it was easy to get bored at times while she didn t have control over her body, so she had developed mental exercises to keepher mind active.   Sometimes she just meditated, other times, she performed visualization, something she had heard of, but until now, had never put much stock in.  She would imagine her anger as a fierce animal, that she now had in a strong cage, or try to use it too improve her martial arts skills and cooking.  It seemed to help, at least with the anger, though testing her skills would have to wait until she had a body of her own again.  This was one of those times, at the moment, however, she couldn t achieve the mental state necessary for any of it.
   <Maybe I should just go to sleep.>  Akane thought to herself.  But that wouldn't work, she would be too distracted by other Akane's movements and thoughts.  So Akane simply resigned herself to a long period of boredom.  Idylly, she noticed that P-chan s bandanna collar was identical to the bandannas that Ryouga wasalways wearing.  <You know, I never did find out where P-chan got that thing.>  Akane mused to herself.  Other Akane was too busy cuddling with P-chan to think of anything else.
   "Did that mean Ranma hurt you?"  Other Akane asked.  He nodded.  It had always impressed Akane, no matter what life she was in, just how smart that pig of hers was.
   <You would almost think it was human.>  And then, Something clicked in Akane s mind.  Ever since she had been stuck in this strangenightmare, she would be given brief, sudden epiphanies, moments of total clarity and understanding.
   Akane looked at her pet pig, P-chan, and saw him finally, as what he was.  P-chan's intelligence, the headbands, the insults, the fact that Ranma acted so jealous of P-chan at times, Ryouga  was P-chan!      <But how?  I've seen Ryouga get hit with cold water and not change.>  It 'was' possible, Akane mused, that Ryouga had found some way to protect himself from the change, and 'that' was part of the reason the two didn t get along. The more she thought about it, the more likely it became.  For a brief second, Akane felt like she was burning up with rage, then she let it go.
   <I'm going to have to really apologize to Ranma, if I ever see him again.  And,I m going to have a few choice words with a certain pig when I get home.>

         *               *                *

   Akane waited for the mist to clear.  <What life will this be?>  She thought to herself.  <Will I already be married to him, or will it be before we meet?  I wish to Kami-sama that this would end!>  It had taken years, lifetimes, but Akane Tendo had finally, utterly, and completely, learned her lesson.  Where once, rage had burned through Akane Tendo, now only pain and sadness dwelt.  She had even forgiven Ryouga for being P-chan, somewhat anyway.
   The mist cleared from around Akane, signaling the beginning of a new life, but instead of the normal surroundings, she found herself once again in the black realm where it had all started.  Akane looked around, the faint stirrings of something she had not felt for years warmed her heart, hope.
   A short distance away, she saw Urd talking on a phone.
   "So, you say, but still Pluto, he's under Father's direct protection, not to mention the fact that he 'is' necessary."   Urd looked over in Akane's direction.  "I've got to go, Pluto.  Talk to you later."  She put the phone down, and it summarily vanished.  Urd then turned to Akane with a smile.
   "So, how was your little trip?"  She asked.  Akane gave her a sour look.
   "Oh just great,"  Akane said, in a sardonic tone more appropriate to her older sister Nabiki, "I find out that I've destroyed any real chance for love that I had with the man that I'm in love with, one of my closest friends has betrayed me by pretending to be my pet, and that I'm an abusive bitch.  Now my life is complete."
   Urd looked at Akane, and mentally swore.  <This was supposed to be a lesson in consequences, not an effort to kill Akane's spirit!  I must have left her in there too long!  Father s going to be POed at me!>  Urd than did what she usually does in circumstances like this.  She reached into her personal subspace storage, pulled out a bottle of saki, and proceded to get roaring drunk.
   Akane looked at the bottle of rice wine in disgust.  One of her incarnations had become an alcoholic in an attempt to dull the pain after killing Ranma, so Akane had learned to hate alcohol completely.  She knew the consequences of drinking to excess.
   Akane watched as the goddess began to get more and more drunk.  She pulled out the canteen of water, it was so good  to be able to move under her own power and will again, and took a drink.
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