This is my first post to the ffml. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: Most of these characters are not mine.
The Reason Why
by Paula Gray
***********************
It was a beautiful day, perfect for all sorts of fun activities, but it
was all ignored by the small boy trudging disconsolately along the
suburban sidewalk. Ranma sulked in uncharacteristic gloom as he
carefully placed each footstep. He was supposed to be balancing on the
curb, but these new weights were too awkward and unwieldy for that; he
didn't feel like practicing falls, too. He had too many new bruises from
Daddy's sparring session this morning.
It wasn't fair; he had so wanted to go meet the new boy who'd moved in
down the street. He had a DOG! But no, Daddy said it would be a waste of
time best spent on training, and so here Ranma was out jogging (sorta)
by himself.
Training wasn't any fun anymore. He was a big boy, now, almost five, so
he wasn't scared to be alone. But why wouldn't Daddy let him ask the new
boy to come with him? They could have brought the dog, too!
Ranma knew that other kids had more fun when they were training. He
often passed groups of them on some of his running routes, and heard
them laughing together. He would have stopped and joined them, but Daddy
timed him, and he was usually late. His punishment was often a cold meal
with most of the good stuff gone, or harder training ordeals.
Ranma was always hungry and hurting nowadays. Complaining to Daddy
didn't help; Daddy only made long, dull speeches about honor and duty
and the perils of martial arts while making him do more exercises. He
didn't want to complain to Mama, though, because then she would be sad
and disappointed. Ranma always looked forward to bedtime, not just
because he was tired, but because Mama would tuck him in. She always
looked so happy and proud, saying she knew he would grow up to be a
great man. And he would, for her. He just wished it didn't hurt so much.
Ranma was moving more easily now, but he was tired, and he still had
another mile to go. He was so hungry! Tears of exhaustion welled up in
his eyes, but he manfully choked back his sobs. Or thought he did. At
the sound of a loud sniffle, Ranma was startled.
*I can't be crying,* he thought. Then he heard another sniffle, followed
by a loud wail. "Touji! Oh, Toujiiiii!!!!"
Curiosity prompting him, Ranma followed the sound around the corner to
its source. He found a little girl of about his own age crying under a
large tree.
"You're not s'posed ta cry, ya know. It's not manly," he observed.
Startled, the girl whirled around; then glared at him tearily as she
retorted "I'm a girl! I can cry if I want!"
Ranma took a moment to absorb this piece of information; he didn't know
any girls except Mama, and she didn't cry. But maybe she didn't want to.
"Okay. Whatcha cryin' about, then?" he inquired.
A new flood of tears spilling down her cheeks as she turned back to the
tree, she sobbed, "Touji climbed up the tree again, an' now he's stuck!"
Ranma moved forward and peered up toward where she was pointing. At
first, he only saw leaves, but a passing breeze caught them them just
right, and he found himself staring at a pair of bright eyes.
"Oh! It's a cat!" he exclaimed.
"I want my Touji!" wailed the little girl in response.
"Okay, I'll get him," replied Ranma, wincing at the volume. After
pulling off the uncomfortable weights, he stretched to relieve his
cramped muscles. The girl had fallen silent, watching curiously. Then
she gasped at what happened next.
Ranma ran toward the tree, then ran UP it, springing off the trunk at an
angle, and catching hold of the lowest branch, which was a good eight
feet off the ground. He then flipped himself up to land squatting on
that same branch. Within seconds, he had scampered fifteen feet higher,
and was lightly stepping along a swaying branch toward the trapped cat.
Touji was little more than a half-grown kitten, so when Ranma reached
him, he simply stuffed him down the neck of his shirt, which was tucked
into draw-string pants. Confident that his passenger was secure, but
wincing from the scratches it was giving him, Ranma began his descent.
While the watching girl had been amazed at the boy's ascent, she was
truly terrified seeing him come down. In two quick leaps, Ranma was back
on his original branch. Then he grabbed it with both hands, swung down,
and simply let go. Then he was landing softly in front of her and doing
a little dance of pain while he struggled to retrieve a thoroughly
outraged-and-letting-him-know-it cat from inside his shirt. She only
began to come out of her shocked stupor when a still miffed Touji was
placed in her arms with a cheerful "Here ya go!" The entire rescue
operation had taken less than three minutes.
Occupied by fixing his clothes, Ranma was surprised by her softly amazed
whisper. "How did you do that?"
"Huh? Whaddaya mean?" came the confused reply.
"I mean, I've never seen any boy do anything like that before!" she
stated firmly. " I've seen boys climb trees--I've even climbed trees,
but never any this big, and never so FAST!"
Ranma was seriously confused. Trees were easy to climb. They had
branches. Daddy made him climb lots of harder things like buildings and
stuff, and wear weights while doing it, too. He had been wondering why
the girl hadn't climbed the tree herself and gotten her cat, but if
she'd never climbed any this big before, what kind of training was her
Daddy giving her?
"Um, it's easy to do with martial arts training," Ranma replied
hesitantly. "What kind of martial arts are you and those other boys
training in?"
"Martial arts? You're a Martial Artist? Wow! I've never met a Martial
Artist before!" Having caught only the first part of Ranma's reply, the
little girl was beginning to glow with incipient hero worship. Here was
somebody who could do stuff like the heroes she saw on TV, and he had
just rescued her cat!
"Miki! Miki-chan! Time for lunch!" A woman's voice was heard from a
nearby house.
"Oh! I gotta go now," Miki said sadly. Then she gave Ranma the biggest,
most brilliant and beautiful smile he had ever seen. "Thank you, Mr.
Martial Artist, for rescuing my Touji." Then she bowed, and her own
cheeks turning slightly pink, she darted forward and place a kiss on
Ranma's cheek. Caught flat-footed, Ranma could only stare as she turned
and raced toward the house, shouting, "Mama, Mama, guess what..."
Ranma was slow in recovering, but as he methodically began pulling on
his weights, a few thoughts made themselves known. *That was a really
pretty smile. She KISSED me. She doesn't know any martial arts. She
doesn't know any martial artists. That wasn't like Mama's smiles. That
wasn't like Mama's KISSES!*
Ranma's world view had just undergone a sudden, radical change. The
details of the new one were still fuzzy, but he was sure of a few
things. Number one: girls could cry if they wanted. Number two: not
every kid was trained in martial arts. Miki seemed to think he was
special. And that smile...and kiss... What would happen if he helped
someone else with his skill? Especially a girl. He already knew Miki
wasn't like Mama, but what about other girls? What kind of smiles did
they have?
Pondering deeply, Ranma absently jogged toward home. Beginning to set
itself deeply into his psyche was the equation: martial arts + helping
people = smiles and kisses.
*I can do it,* Ranma thought confidently. *I know I can help lots of
people.* Then his brow furrowed in worry. *But I know there are other
martial artists--like Daddy. Do they help people, too? That's okay, I
guess, but what if we try to help the same person?* Ranma's head came up
proudly, and his eyes flashed determination. *Then I'll help them the
best, and they'll smile at me, first! I will be the best Martial Artist
ever!* Then he rubbed his stomach ruefully and thought, *I hope I don't
get scratched by any cats again, though.*
Vow made, Ranma ran even faster, toward home and lunch.
*********************
Six months later.
*It hurts. Make it stop. Make THEM stop.*
"Daddy! Help me! Let me out, Please!"
*Their claws are so sharp. Get away! STOP!*
The horror overwhelming, the little martial artist's mind was torn
apart. Everything that had anything to do with cats was tucked into a
compartment labeled FEAR. Including a certain insight gained months
before, after rescuing one of THEM.
***********************
Ten years later.
WHAM! "Ranma, you jerk!" Akane stomped away from a Ranma-pancake,
grumbling. What use was it for him to save her from danger if he was
just going to hurt her himself by being so insensitive and insulting.
Anyway, she could take care of herself. But he had been so amazing, and
she had smiled at him afterwards, and he had smiled back. But then he
had gotten a really weird look on his face for just an instant. She'd
seen it before, and almost recognized it, but it was gone so fast. And
then he was saying how clumsy she was to get in trouble again, and she
got so mad... But WHEN had she seen that expression before, and what was
it... It couldn't be fear, could it? Naaaahhh.
Ranma groaned as he picked himself up off the ground. Akane was such a
tomboy. But she had such a cute smile. He loved to see her smile, like
she had done only a few minutes ago. But then he felt THEM watching, and
he had to make her stop. If she smiled at him too long, the cats might
get her....
The end.
This is just a possible explanation for some of the reasons behind
Ranma's actions, reasons Ranma doesn't even consciously know. Why he
can't deal with affection directed toward himself, but still seeks it
and competes for it when it is taken away.
Please send C&C