In a message dated 00-01-21 02:51:12 EST, you write:
<< and on to part 2
=Again, Yaay!!
>(cont)
at the new Shampoo and feeling that old stirring in my heart again,
>the kind that you think is only reserved for one person, but with Akane
>freshly gone...I didn't want to betray her memory. So I resisted her for
a
>week, until I had a dream, or maybe it was her ghost visiting me...I don't
>know to this day, but she smiled at me, and told me to be happy in this
life,
>and to not worry about her...kouin'yanogotoshi, time flies like an arrow,
she
>said. Life is short, so spend it with loved ones as much as possible.
Then
>she kissed me goodbye and faded away, whispering 'I love you'....
Again. Sounds like something Akane, even in spirit, would do.
[Akane] (ghost) Even though you're a pervert, an idiot, and a macho jerk at
times (soft smile)...I still love you. Be happy while you're still alive,
and don't worry about me, okay? I'm not going anywhere for a while.
>
>"The next day, me and Shampoo went out on our first of many dates. A year
>later, we were engaged, and then married a few months later. The rest is
>history...."
And what a history it is.
=And to think, it's not even over yet...
>
>Ukyou was backing against the wall, her weirdness meter spiking up at the
>scene. "Um, Ranchan, when did you get so insightful like that?"
After all that happened to him, it would be difficult for him not to be
insightful.
=Agreed. Of course, after half a wine cooler, I get really bad about
insightfulness.
>He smiled. "Not really, but I'm learning from all my past mistakes, took
a
>while, but I am. Me and Shampoo will argue from time to time, sure, but
we
>learn to forgive and compromise and all of that stuff, you know?"
>
>Just then, Shampoo stuck her head down the hall. "Akari's going to be
here
>in twenty minutes."
What! You mean she's still alive?! ^_^
=Yep! gotta have at least one character that's normal around here.
>
>* * * * *
>"Thanks, Kasumi-dono. I really hate to be inconveinincing
inconveniencing
>Shampoo, Ranma, and Ukyou walked into the living room then. No sooner
than
>he caught sight of the latter, he squawked and leapt behind the sofa he
was
>sitting on. Ukyou blinked as she saw Ryouga's body taking to air.
>"R...ryou...ga?"
>
>Peeking over the top of the sofa, the bandana-wearing man looked at the
>stunned woman. "U...ukyou...?"
Kiko: D...ad...dy? ^_^
>him. He saw the look in her eyes and grew afraid. "You...jackass!!"
>Suddenly, he yelped as a small, sharpened spatula imbedded itself a scant
>inch from his crotch.
>
>"Ryouga, please don't make too much noice;
noise
you'll wake your daughter Kiko up."
>
>"Sorry, Kasumi-d--my what?!" His eyes expanded to the size of the plates
>from the fine china set.
>
>Ukyou was starting to deliver another spatula, but it fell from numb
fingers.
> "H....how...how did you know?"
>
>"She has Ryouga's eyes and hair coloring, but her slightly longer canines
are
>a big giveaway."
...as well as the tiger striped bandana she's wearing, and the fact I had
to actually place her in front of the doorway of the bathroom before she
could find it," Kasumi finished.
[Kasumi] Unfortunately, she got lost in between. I'm beginning to think
she's austic.
>
>If the Kansai had been eating, she would have choked to death.
>"M-m-m-married?!"
>
>The lost man looked around the room sheepishly. "Um, yeah, I am.... Akari
>and I have been married for over five years now...coming up on six soon."
Ryouga: And we've actually been together for almost a whole year of it too,
I mean, if you total up the days I was actually with her and not lost.
[Akari] He's so sweet when he gets lost like that, but it does kind of put a
damper on the prospects of starting a family.
>
>"But you slept with me, then you ran out on me! How could you do that
when
>you were married?!" She was trembling with each word.
Ryouga: But that's the best time to run out on a woman.
>
>Kasumi put her wheelchair into motion and disappeared into the kitchen
with
>Kiko, still rubbing the sleeping girl's forehead. "We'll let your parents
>work things out on their own."
That means Kiko will see her parents again in, what? Two years or so?
[Ukyou] Kiko-chan, me and your father have worked out some things.
[Kiko] (fully grown) That's nice, mom, but will you hurry up and get out of
those clothes and put on a dress? My Masters ceremony is going to start in
an hour-oh, and make sure Dad finds his way there.
>
>"Akari and I were having some problems. One night, she said that she
wasn't
>sure if she wanted to go through with the wedding, so she asked for a
little
>time apart. I took it way too hard, like I usually do, and got depressed
>over it.
"Let loose with a perfect Shi Shi Hokoudan that went up like an N2 mine,"
he confessed.
[Ryouga] Next thing I know, I'm looking up at this ugly, purple robot
pointing a gun at me.
So I got lost for a few days, and chanced upon you. Looked like
>you had your own problems, but you took solace in my company, as I did in
>yours. We got drunk, and the next thing I know, we were just waking up in
>bed with quite a hangover. You have no idea how terrible I felt then. It
>was an accident that should never have happened.
Well, Kiko might disagree with that.
>
>She nodded mutely, padding over to Ukyou. Slipping her hands beneath the
>unresisting woman's arms, Shampoo had gotten Ukyou walking down the hall
to
>the wash room. He sighed as they disappeared; he hadn't seen Ukyou like
that
>since he told her that he was marrying Akane a year after the first failed
>wedding attempt.
But at least she wasn't going to try to kill him this time. Things were
looking up in the world.
[Ryouga] Unfortunately, I need to look up so I can look down.
>
>Looking at his despairing friend, who had picked himself from the floor,
and
>was now sitting on the sofa, he shook his head. "What a perfect life, ne,
>old buddy?"
Ah, I wondered when you would work the title in there.
>
>"No problem. After all, somebody's gotta talk coherently when she gets
here."
>
>In reply, Ryouga half-heartedly whacked Ranma with a plush pillow.
>"...thanks for trying to cheer me up..."
>
>"No problem. That's what friends are really for."
Ranma: By the way, since we're in the mood for revelations. There's
something I need to tell you about Akari's first child. You know, the one
you think is yours. Well, you see, five years ago a funny thing happened on
my way to the bank...
[Ryouga] You know, I've always wondered why he always found his way home, and
was so smug about doing it....
Nice work. Very sad in a lot of spots, but things eventually work back to
something resembling a semi-normal life, despite past hardships.
D.B. Sommer >>
Thanks. It is pretty sad in places, but it tries brightening things up here
and there and by the end of the story.