Subject: [FFML] [fic][ranma][one-shot]Consequences
From: "Werness, Charlie" <h17@SJNMA.ORG>
Date: 2/25/2000, 4:07 PM
To: "'ffml@fanfic.com'" <ffml@fanfic.com>

Well, hey, again.  I don't like this fic; it's bad, OOC to the MAXX, not
written very well, has confusing dialogue, mistakes up the wazoo, and is
basically the worst of what I've written, which is all pretty bad in the
first place, but I decided to send it out because damn it, I'm not gonna
take the time to write it if no one's gonna read it!  hehe.  Sorry.

Naw.  I like the idea, but still think this fic could have been better. It's
not HORRIBLE, but definitely could have been better.  I definitely like it,
though, so I submit it for your viewing pleasure.

Anyways, read it if you'd like.  I'm not requesting C&C, but if you want to
send some to me, I wouldn't object.


*******************************


								Consequences

	In the twilight, Akane looked so beautiful.  The light of the moon
gently caressed her sleeping face, and Ranma looked on, utterly mesmerized
by the sight before him.
His chair was at the head of her bed, so he could be as close to her face as
possible.
Unfortunately, the time had come.
"Akane," Ranma whispered, careful not to wake her up.  "Akane, oh Akane.
I've dreaded this day for a long time.  I wanted to spend my whole life with
you."
Akane stirred in her sleep, letting strands of blue-black hair fall upon her
delicate face.  Smiling, Ranma leaned over and brushed the hair out of her
face, relishing the feel of her cool, soft skin against his fingers.
"If only I could've done this when you were awake . . ." he withdrew his
hand and leaned elbows on knees, bringing his face closer to hers.
"I loved you so much, Akane.  So very much.  I even risked watching you when
you slept, as I 'm doin' now, because I loved you so much and wanted t' be
near you.  I risked life and limb for you on more'n one occasion."
Letting out a spiteful snort, he lowered his head and closed his eyes.  "But
you didn't.  You hated me, insulted and hurt me.  All because I couldn't
behave like a normal person.  I'd insult you, taunt you, even provoke you
into attacking me on the rare occasions that you were nice to me.  What a
frikkin' idiot."
Ranma looked back at Akane, tears brimming his eyes.  Blinking them back, he
continued.  "You don't deserve an idiot like me as a fiancé.  You deserve
someone . . . " he lowered his head again as tears spilled from his eyes. "
. . . who's not me.  God damnit, Akane, I wish I could've been for you what
you were for me.  But I couldn't."
Wiping his face, he stood up, shouldered his traveling pack.  "I love you,
Akane.  I always will.  I hope you find someone who you can love, and who
loves you as well.  If all turns out for the best," Ranma closed his eyes,
squeezing more tears out, "you'll find someone else and I'll become a more
mature person.  Maybe if I do that, I can let someone love me."
Ranma walked to the window, opened it.  He took a small piece of folded
paper out of his back pocket and put it on her nightstand.  
A tear fell on the note, and Ranma was gone.

"Good morning, Kasumi!"  Akane bounded down the stairs with enthusiasm not
common to her since Ranma had arrived.
Sliding up to the table for breakfast, she looked to Mr. Saotome, who was
playing shogi with Soun again.  "Mr. Saotome, why aren't you practicing with
Ranma?"
Genma didn't even look up from the game before he answered, annoying Soun to
no end.  "He's gone.  Probably to some match with Ryoga or something.  He'll
be home soon enough."
P-chan tugged on Akane's skirt, signaling that he wanted to be picked up.
"P-chan!" Akane squealed.  She picked up her pet pig and hugged him to her
chest, giving the pig a nosebleed.
Kasumi spoke up as she reentered the room with another serving of breakfast.
"Well, whatever he's doing, he's missing breakfast."
That got Akane's attention. <Ranma?  Missing BREAKFAST?  Hmmm.  That's
weird.  Oh, well.  He's probably out with Ukyo or Shampoo, eating breakfast
with one of them.>  Akane fumed.  "Ranma no baka," Akane muttered to herself
as she turned back to her food.
"Did you say something, Akane dear?" Kasumi asked with her usual smile.
"No, nothing Kasumi." She blushed and played with her rice, not really
eating it.
Nabiki looked up.  "Oh, Akane, did you get that notebook I asked you for?"
Akane glanced to her sister. "Oh, sure, Nabiki.  Just let me go get it."
Setting down her chopsticks, Akane stood up with P-chan, ran up the stairs
to get the notebook she had gotten for Nabiki.  She had needed the financial
records for the school - for some reason or another, but most likely
profitable for her  - but she hadn't the time to get it herself, so she
asked Akane to get it for her.
Opening the door to her room, she walked over to her nightstand, opened the
drawer.  She took out a notebook, and noticed something new on the top of
the nightstand.
"What's this?" she asked no one in particular as she picked up Ranma's note.
"Hmmm.  'Akane.'  Strange..." It looked like Ranma's writing to her.
Opening it, she sat down on her bed. "Let's see what this is, shall we,
P-chan?"

Ranma sat in a cab with tinted windows.  He looked out one of sed windows to
see the Tendo dojo.
"Driver, Tokyo national airport.  Step on it; I have a plane to catch."


Ten Years Later . . . 


<I'm finally back.  Nerima . . . I haven't been here since . . . > Ranma
Saotome, age 27, walked down a once familiar street towards Furinkan High
School.  <I remember this place.  I went to school here.  With . . . Akane.
If I remember correctly, we went this way.>  Turning in the direction he
hoped the Tendo dojo lay, he started towards the house of the woman he
loved.
Ranma had changed his look.  He wore his hair in a much shorter, manageable
style now that he'd cured his cursed hair (he'd found the cure for THAT
curse somewhere on his travels).  His red sleeveless silk shirt and black
pants were gone, replaced by camo pants he'd picked up in America and a
plain white T-shirt.   He took one last glance at Furinkan, and put on the
hat that had accompanied the pants he wore.  <You never know.  Principal
Kuno might still be out for people's hair...>
Familiar sights and sounds stirred up nostalgia for this place, his home.
<I remember my reasons for leaving.  I was such an immature bastard.  I even
spoke incorrectly; bad grammar was one of my best suits, unfortunately.
Well, I'm better for it.  I've become so much better of a person.  I can
only hope that Akane found happiness.  Maybe ONE of us got married . . . >
He didn't want to think about that.  It was too painful, the years of
loneliness and thoughts of Akane being married to another man.  <Well, I may
have been lonely over the last ten years, but I'm better for it.  It's
strengthened my maturity, my sense of responsibility, and even my cooking. >
Ranma chuckled as he thought of the first meal he'd cooked for himself after
he left the Tendos'.
Turning onto another once-familiar street, he passed by Dr. Tofu's clinic.
Or rather, what used to be Dr. Tofu's clinic.  It was now just a McDonalds. 
"What?!?  They got rid of Dr. Tofu for a fast food joint?!?" Ranma continued
on his way, a scowl on his face.
A while later, he spied something he never thought he'd see again.  The
entrance to the street which held the Tendo dojo.  What lay around that bend
was something he never thought he'd see.
The tendo dojo lay in ruins.  Blackened lumps of material inhabited the
place he once called home.
Ranma dropped his pack and ran towards the horror that lay before him.
Reaching the front gate (or, rather, the charred remains of the front gate
that miraculously were still standing), he noticed that there was a plaque
on the last remaining wall of the house.  As he approached the wall, he
noticed that it had been reinforced and treated to stay standing, as a sort
of reminder of something.
He reached the plaque, read it.  
'This is the Tendo house and dojo. This remains here to remind us of the
people who lived here, and to remind us of the horror that took their lives.

On the 27th of March, 1998, this house and dojo was destroyed by a bomb.
Four people died in this catastrophe, and we will never get over the loss.
We can only hope that the Tendo family rests in peace.'
	Ranma was paralyzed.  Four people?  Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane and Soun.
Four people.  The people he thought of as his family.  The woman he loved.
	Ranma's knees gave out and he kneeled in front of the wall, fighting
to keep control.  
	He sat that way for what felt like hours before he heard a soft
sobbing.  It was coming from around the corner, behind the wall he now sat
in front of.
	<Two people shouldn't be sad.  I'll go and see what's wrong.>
Though it pained him to do so, Ranma stood up and walked to where the sobs
of a woman were heard.
	As he rounded the wall, he collapsed.  <I can't take this.  I just
can't handle it.  Dead.  I can't believe they're dead.  I never thought
that'd happen!  I wish they were alive.  Even if they hated me, they'd still
be alive!  But this . . . this . . . > Ranma started to sob.
	"What's wrong?" a raspy, scratchy voice that sounded like it
belonged to a long-time smoker asked.
	Ranma looked up to see a sight people hadn't routinely seen since
WWII.  A woman stood before him, completely bald, scars on her face and neck
that served to make the woman look 70 years old.  Her eyes were red,
indicating that she had been the one Ranma heard crying earlier.  Ranma
stammered to reply. "I...I...I..." he broke back down into sobs.
	The woman sat next to him and put her hand on his shoulder.  "I'm
sorry.  Whatever you're crying about, I'm sorry, and I hope it is resolved,"
the raspy voice stated.  "It might help to talk about it.  I found that that
works quite well after . . . this happened."
	Ranma looked up. "What?"
	"Nothing.  Nevermind.  What's wrong with you?"
	"No, you said 'after this happened.'  I want to know what 'this'
is."
	The strange woman looked away, and Ranma thought he saw another tear
threaten to run down her face before she did so.  " . . . I was referring to
this bombing.  I . . . I lived here.  This was my family's house and dojo.
When the bomb exploded . . . it killed my father, two sisters and friend.  I
didn't even know that Ryoga was in the house, but he . . . he . . ." the
woman turned back to Ranma and smiled, though the smile didn't reach her
eyes, which cried out to the world with grief. "Well, nevermind about that.
I've had ample time to grieve, and my therapist says I'm making rapid
progress.  Now, why are you crying?"
	Ranma stared, tears streaming down his face.  Ryoga had died.  Soun
had died.  Her two sisters had . . . wait.  Which two sisters?  
	He suddenly knew.  He realized.  That touch, soft and gentle like
Akane's.  Those eyes, those little mannerisms, the overwhelming aura of calm
she carried around with herself, everything about her.  Tentatively, Ranma
reached out to touch Akane's face.
	"Wha . . . what are you doing?"  Akane pulled back a little, but
still allowed Ranma to touch her face.
	Ranma felt her skin.  He knew beyond a doubt then.  This scarred,
tortured person was Akane.  His tears were streaming even harder, now.
Tears of happiness, relief.
	Then something she had said hit him.  "Ryoga...?  Were you . . . in
love with...?"  The way he asked the question gave away his question even
more than the words themselves did.
	Akane just smiled and shook her head no.  "No, he and I were just
friends.  I could never fall in love with another person, let alone a
friend."
	"Why?"
	Akane looked down.  "I...I was in love with someone once, but he
left me.  I've been waiting for him to come back, but he never has.  Even
though he abandoned me, I still love Ranma with all of my heart.  I love him
too much to fall in love with anyone else."  Akane barked a short, spiteful
laugh. "Besides, look at my face.  Do you think anyone would ever love me?
This freak?  I've got scars from the bomb, I've gone bald because of the
cancer treatments I'm going through, I don't even think Ranma would love me
IF he ever came back . . ." This sent her over the edge.  She collapsed in
the same manner Ranma had just minutes before.
	Ranma had forgotten about the fact that he was crying.  Even if he
hadn't, he wouldn't have cared.  He was at the same time ecstatic and
devastated.  Akane was alive, but she was crying.  He didn't know what to
do.  His mouth moved without consulting his brain first.  "You stupid jerk!
Do you actually think that I'd not love you just because you don't look like
you did ten years ago?  You tomboy!  I can't believe you!"
	Akane looked up at Ranma, confusion and apprehension on her face.
She stared for a full minute before her eyes lit up with understanding.
"...Ran...ma...?"

Epilogue

	Ranma shouldered his travelling pack once again.  He adorned the
black pants he'd worn as a youth and a silk shirt of the same style as in
his youth also, but black.  Putting on his camo hat, he exited the house one
final time.
	Ranma walked for hours, not paying attention to where he was going.
He was lost in his thoughts.  
	He felt himself bump into something, looked down.
	
'Akane Saotome
	 Wife to Ranma Saotome
	 'You stupid tomboy.
	 Why did you have to die?'
	 	-Ranma Saotome, husband'

	Ranma looked at the gravestone.  "It figures.  I didn't want to come
back to this place.  I didn't want to have to see the grave of Akane again."
Ranma began to cry.
	"Akane.  I'm sorry I only got to spend two years with you before you
died.  I'm sorry I left when I was seventeen.  I'm sorry I always insulted
you.  I'm sorry for what I put on your headstone.  I'm just so sorry . . . "
	Ranma collapsed by the headstone, hugging it, crying.  
	"AKANE!!!!!"

It is said that if two people want to be together enough, nothing can keep
them apart.  Not even death.  However, this remains unproven, and is most
likely something a children's story author created to portray true love in
one of their stories.
	However, in this universe, at this point in time, it is a truth, and
two minds may converge no matter what distances them from each other.
	Ranma stood before Akane in a beautiful sunny field of green.  All
around was beauty: birds singing in the distant forest, flowers all over the
prarie, and Akane.  Ranma looked at the 16-year-old Akane, as beautiful as
ever, without scars and with hair.  
	Akane looked at the 16-year-old Ranma, without the camo pants and
with the pigtail.
	"Akane . . . "
	"Ranma . . . "

Fin.


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