Hiho Vince!
Well, I'm not dead, just... quietly busy (or is that busily quiet? ^_^). An
Awakening of Demons isn't in the grave either, rather a rune of sin - sloth -
somehow inscribed itself all over the story. My Muse has led me on to other
things in the meantime, so much work on that series has been delayed.
At any rate, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and some C&C. :)
Vincent Seifert wrote:
A warning to those who are accustomed to my usual lighthearted stuff:
this is different. I'm not sure it's dark, exactly, but it's definitely
darker than Taming or Centaur.
It's also not the way I see Centaur going, even though it uses the same
characters and situations; think of it as an alternate leg of the Trousers
of Time. It came to me a couple of nights ago, probably out of the place
between Perry's "Hearts of Ice" and Morgan's "Olvido" (and perhaps others;
my subconscious was being even more opaque than usual. I hope no one
minds; if so, I apologize), and wouldn't let me rest until I'd written it.
I wasn't sure I wanted to post it, but here it is.
Thanks to Dave Roeder for the sanity check.
~~~~~
Transitions
a Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Vince Seifert (seifertv@csus.edu)
Ranma 1/2 characters and situations are copyright 1987, 1999
by Takahashi Rumiko. Publishing rights (Japan) by Shogakukan
Inc. Publishing rights (North America) by Viz Inc. This work
is not intended to infringe those rights.
~~~~~
On a sunny afternoon in early spring, a visitor came to the
Tendo compound. She stopped at the gate and read the old sign
proclaiming the existence of the Tendo Dojo; it seemed to
reassure her, for she let out a small sigh and relaxed
perceptibly. She approached the door to the house and pushed the
button.
Hmm, a new doorbell - the Dojo must be doing well then.
"More like twenty," Michi said, stepping in and removing her
shoes as Akane closed the door behind her. "Twenty years, six
hairstyles, and about ten kilos...."
"Well, they look good on you, though," Akane said, looking
her old friend up and down. "So does the hair."
"Yup, those ten kilos really look good on you," Akane repeated. "I have to
admit I never made a move on you back then 'cause you were a bit thin for my
tastes." :)
"You haven't changed a bit," Michi observed with only a
little exaggeration. Akane smiled, displaying one of the
changes: a thin scar across her cheek. Her hair was longer, but
done up in a neat bun and held with an antique steel skewer where
another woman might use a wooden ornament, or even a chopstick.
Her slacks and sweater were modern, though, and gave her the same
neat, wholesome stylishness she'd had as a teenager. "You've
certainly kept your figure. You must still be doing Musabetsu
Kakuto."
"Well, of course," Akane said. "Come on, let's go out on
the veranda and sit down." She led Michi through the old house
to the place overlooking the koi pond, saw her settled
comfortably there, and knelt beside her. A fat koi jumped,
seeming to hang for a moment at the peak of its leap, then fell
back with a splash.
Heaven, the koi thought. How long has it been since the great monsters had
smashed into their watery world? If not for the efforts of SURF and the brave
Gameralion pilots, the entire universe might have been destroyed.
Akane sighed and looked away. "I'm afraid I wasn't able to
recover his body. We had a memorial service here, but no
funeral."
"Um... how did he die?"
Akane glanced back at Michi with a grim smile. "Well. Very
well indeed. And his enemies didn't outlive him by long."
Unconsciously, she fingered the scar on her cheek.
I'm guessing we'll never find out more details of Ranma's valiant death?
"Ah." Taken aback, Michi decided not to pursue that. "I
hope your children are fine...."
"Oh, yes. They're grown and gone, though. The twins
Ranma and Ranko, of course. :)
are in
China with the Joketsuzoku-- at least, they were when I heard
from them last-- and Tama-chan is in the JSDF." Akane shook her
head. "How that's going to get him into the Conshelf project, I
have no idea, but that's his plan."
"It does seem awfully quiet around here, compared to the old
days."
Akane glanced past Michi with a raised eyebrow;
instinctively, Michi turned to look, but there was no one there.
She turned back when Akane spoke. "Well, Kasumi-oneechan is with
her family, of course. Nabiki... we don't hear much from Nabiki.
"Well, she's now the High Priestess of the Cult of Profit, so that keeps her
pretty busy."
"Well, as long as you're happy."
"It keeps me occupied," Michi said contentedly. She gave
Akane a sly glance. "I could fix you up pretty easy...."
"Thank you, but no," Akane said firmly.
"I'm still not interested in guys." :)
"That's part of it. He was faithful to me... well, except
for that one time, but that was a special circumstance.
Again, it would have been nice to hear further details on these tantalizing
little snippets you keep dropping, Vince.
But
really, I can't see myself marrying a lesser man than Ranma.
Even if he says it's okay." Blushing, Akane made an odd gesture
with her fist, as though hitting something next to her.
Nice bit of foreshadowing here.
Akane frowned, then glanced sideways again and looked like
she was trying not to giggle. She gave Michi a stubborn look.
"Michi, I don't want that kind of help. Ranma's here. If some
damn-fool shrink managed to convince me that he wasn't, I'd-- I'd
be really upset."
"And don't forget - I did learn the Shishi Hokodan from Ryoga back then."
Michi gave up. "Well, maybe if that happened to me, I'd be
glad to go nuts too." She looked sad. "I guess I even wish it
were true."
"Hold that thought," Akane said, smiling. Her expression
changed to alarm. "Ranma, wait--!"
"EEEEEEE!" Michi jumped to her feet, rubbing her cheek and
looking around wild-eyed. "What the HELL was THAT?!"
"I'd like to know that myself," Akane said tightly. She
listened for a moment and her expression softened. "Oh, that's
sweet, Ranma." She looked at Michi. "Remember way back when you
first found out about Ranma's curse? You kissed her on the
cheek? He just gave it back."
Aww, it's Ranma the Friendly Ghost. :)
"Heh. Me too. Hey, I could go haunt HER--"
"Ranma!" Akane swatted at him; her hand passed through his
shoulder, but he reacted as though struck, still grinning.
"Just kidding."
"Don't make me use the Ghost Mallet technique on you!"
Akane came back in with another tray and started dishing out
dinner. She mounded rice into a bowl, stuck two chopsticks in it
vertically, and set it before Ranma. Soun eyed the bowl
uncomfortably. "I just can't get used to that."
"We've been through this, Father," Akane said in a matter-of-
fact tone, continuing to serve. "It's an offering to the dead,
so that's the proper way."
"Yes, but at table... oh, never mind." He watched Ranma
pick up the bowl of rice, wincing a little when it seemed to
duplicate, one bowl staying on the table and the other rising in
Ranma's hands.
Hmm, you know, this reminds me of Taoist beliefs, which have a lot of ancestor
worship and the offering of food and spiritual items to the dead. A very nice
portrayal of how spirits might actually consume the offerings.
Akane was unusually silent all through dinner; she finished
her portions, but turned down Soun's usual offer of help with the
cleaning up and disappeared into the kitchen. An hour later she
was done, and everything was back in its proper place, just the
way Kasumi had left it.
Hmm. If she's been keeping everything the way it was for ten years now, then
she does have problems. She needs to move on.
In her room, Akane opened a chest and pulled out a writing
kit, paper, and a cloth-wrapped bundle. She laid the other
things aside, then unwrapped the bundle to reveal a long tanto
knife. Slowly, she slipped the scabbard off the bright blade,
then sat looking at it.
Oh look! A seppuku kit from Ritual-Suicides-R-Us. :)
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Poor choice of words," Akane said quietly. "Just
thinking."
"And I know what you're thinking about, too."
"Yes." Akane looked up. "Don't you want me to join you,
Ranma?"
Ranma dropped to sit crosslegged beside her, propped his
chin on his hand, and gave her a flat-eyed look. "Don't go
laying this on ME. I think things aren't so bad the way they
are."
"That's because ghosts don't have hormones!" Akane snapped.
"You know how hard it is on the ones left alive, though,"
Ranma said quietly. "I think our sons and our daughter still
need you. And there's your father, and your sisters, and
Momma...."
Whatever happened to Genma? Not that most other readers would care.... :)
A tear crept down Akane's cheek. "I know. Maybe it's
selfish of me, but I need, too. I need to be with you."
"I miss the twenty-four hour sessions of you-know that we used to have." :)
"Akane... if you need to die, then I'll be right there to
catch you. If you want to live, then I'll keep right on haunting
you. I...."
"I love you too, Ranma."
"...still have trouble saying it. Gaah."
And so IC, too. :)
Akane laughed, then sobered. "Also... it wouldn't seem fair
to all the people who don't have this much to live for, and all
the people who don't know what happens after," she mused. She
picked up the scabbard and slid the blade back into it with a
decisive click. "All right. I suppose when it's time, I won't
wonder; I'll know."
"That's my Akane."
"Ready to suicide when the time is right."
"Baka."
The ghost moved around behind her, and a
moment later Akane closed her eyes as she felt the strong, warm
embrace of her husband again. The feeling lasted only a little
while, but when it faded Akane's melancholy was gone.
"Let's go watch the cherry blossoms, Ranma. While they
last."
But of course, in manga and anime, sakura blossoms always seem to be in bloom
throughout the year. :)
As always, an excellently written story and by no means dark. It kind of
reminded me of the old movie Ghost, actually: serious yet WAFFy. The only real
problem I had was the lack of details about suggested past events in the
story. I can see how the story flow doesn't leave much room for large amounts
of detail, but it left me feeling that something was missing. Hope this helps,
Vince.
May Y2K be merciful on the World Wide Web.
Phil.
~~~~~ end Transitions ~~~~~
Vince Seifert Fanfic Analyst FFIRC Frog
Prime: seifertv@csus.edu
Backup: seifertv@myrealbox.com
Techie: http://webpages.csus.edu/~seifertv/
Fanfic: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seifertv/toth/
Ideas are worth their weight in gold.
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