Hi all! I have rewritten the prologue!
<claps are heard from all around>
Thank you to everyone who sent C&C the first time. It was much appreciated
and very useful.
Please let me know what you think of this part. After I get done revising
this part, I'll be sending it out to the RAAC and to the
fanfic.gargoyles-fans.org archive.
Thanks again!
Circle Sky
By: Gie (phowah@cs.com)
A Ranma 1/2 and Gargoyles Crossover
Saotome Ranma, Tendo Akane and their familiars are not mine. They are
Takahashi Rumiko-sama’s. They’ve just come over to my place for a bit...for a
sleep-over, yeah, that’s the ticket.
Goliath and his familiars are the Big Mouse’s (not Mousse) grotesques.
Although, they have decided to perch on my roof for a while.
Aiden Ferguson is Christine Morgan’s little gargess, and has asked for
permission
to attend the sleepover. She said yes, but to make sure she actually got some
sleep.
Any unfamiliar characters, such as Shiun, are mine. Sit down and get to know
them, you just might find a new friend.
Timeline: Well, I guess you could say it is after the manga is over with
(i.e..
Saffron and the wedding) in Ranma, but time has passed and they just graduated
from school. It’s several years after Hunter’s Moon in the Gargoyles line.
(Although there were no Chronicles) I will end up diverging from the timeline
some, but since this is my story, I have the right to, ne? Alright, on with
the show.
Circle Sky
The day started out like any other in the Nerima ward: the sun was shining,
the
birds were singing, and peace radiated from every fluffy cloud in the sky.
This
scene greeted Saotome Ranma as he stood in the backyard, performing a kata to
limber up his muscles. A koi flipped through the air and Ranma addressed the
other person occupying the yard.
“Hey, Akane? Do you want to go for a walk and get some ice cream?” He
gave her a wink. “I'll even buy.”
Tendo Akane looked up from the book she was reading on one of the
boulders that lined the rim of the koi pond. She glanced at Ranma, raised an
eyebrow and inquired with a small smile on her face, “What's the occasion?
Are
they giving away free ice cream to people who bring in uncute tomboys?”
Ranma blushed and closed his eyes and shook his head. “Nope. I'm just
glad that school is finally over with. It's a beautiful day outside and Pops
an' Mr.
Tendo have been layin' off our backs about getting married. That's reason
enough
to celebrate.”
Akane closed her book and nodded in agreement. “I am really glad about
that last part. After that last attempt, it’s nice to have a break from
their nagging.”
She frowned a bit. “Although, they have been too quiet lately. Maybe they
are up
to something?”
Ranma shrugged. “I hope not. I like the peace and quiet.” He blushed a
bit and rubbed his toe into the grass. “So you want to go?”
Akane jumped off the rock and moved to go inside the house. “Sure,
Ranma. That’s a good idea. I’ll be right back.” She smiled at him and went
into
the house.
Ranma watched her go, a silly little smile on his face. He shook his head
and started back into his kata. ‘Man, she sure is cute. I really like this
Akane
much better than the angry one. I’m sure glad we have been getting along
better
lately. She has been getting calmer and gentler since we got back from
China.
She even listens to me more than she used to. Although, she could always
listen
more, but hey, I’m not taking the good luck for granted. Even so, I sort of
wish
that the wedding attempt was successful. I wouldn’t mind being married to
this
Akane.’ He shook his head again and went around to the front of the house to
wait for Akane.
As she went to her room to put her book away and grab a sweater, Akane
thought back through the past year. ‘I really like this Ranma. We are
getting
along so well now. I hope it stays this way. Since that botched wedding
attempt,
the name-calling and quarrels have gone down to a bare minimum. Now, when
we call each other names, it sounds like gentle teasing. I wonder if Ranma
noticed, too. Oh well, I don’t want to ruin our string of good luck. Even
the other
fiancees have been staying away. That really calls for a celebration.’ By
this
time, Akane had reached the front gate, where Ranma was waiting patiently.
She
smiled at him and indicated she was ready to go.
Ranma smiled back at her. They started off down the sidewalk toward the
ice cream parlor, side by side, content in each other’s presence. As they
walked
along, Ranma kept sneaking glances at his partner out of the corner of his
eye.
“Man, she sure is cute today. That sweater looks really good on her. I
wonder
if...’ Ranma hesitated in his thought, reached his hand out a bit and gently
took
hold of Akane’s empty hand. He closed his eyes, expecting a malleting for his
forwardness.
Akane was daydreaming as she walking along. Ranma’s gesture startled
her out of her thoughts. She looked up at Ranma, with his eyes closed. She
smiled softly at him, gave a reassuring squeeze, and intertwined her fingers
with
his. He shot open his eyes and looked down at the smiling Akane. He released
the breath he wasn’t aware he was holding and gave her a shy smile back. He
squeezed her hand back and sighed contentedly. Akane moved a little closer to
him and sighed back. Both had the same thought run through their heads. ‘I
can
feel this is going to be a good day today.’ They arrived at the ice cream
parlor and
ordered. They sat down, ate their ice cream, and made small talk, happy to
be in
each other’s company.
An hour later they left the shop, stomach’s full and laughing over some
joke Ranma had made. As they headed for home, Ranma took up Akane’s hand
again as if it was perfectly natural. She leaned a bit on Ranma’s shoulder
and
after a bit, asked him, “Ranma, are you happy?”
He looked at her with a goofy grin on his face. “Yeah, I guess I am. Why
do you ask? Are you happy?”
“I guess I was just wondering. Yes, I am happy. Um...Ranma? I know we
have been getting along a lot better lately,” Ranma nodded in reply, “and I
was
just wondering something. I’d like you to answer it as truthfully as
possible, if
you can. Which...which fiancee do you like the most?”
Ranma looked startled at the question. He closed his eyes and thought
how he was going to answer Akane’s inquiry. He knew this was going to come
up sometime, and he decided to answer it truthfully; Akane deserved that.
“Well,
to tell you the truth, Akane, I have been thinking about this for awhile.
Kodachi is
a loon. She has no claim over me, whatsoever. She only likes me because I
said
something nice to her, once.”
“Shampoo thinks she has a claim over me, through her Amazon laws. I
could give a rat’s ass about her laws; I’m not an Amazon, and we’re not in
China.
She’s a nice person, and I’d really like to see her be my friend.”
“Ukyou has a real claim over me. Even though I didn’t know she was a
girl at the time, she was engaged to me properly.” Akane started to get a
frown on
her face. She knew it would come down to it being between Ukyou and her.
“She’s my oldest friend. I can tell her anything. She listens to what I say
and
she’s a damn fine cook.”
He stopped and turned to Akane; she was looking down at her feet,
dejected at what he was saying. He put a hand under her chin and lifted her
face
so he could look into her eyes. He noticed that tears were starting to build
up in
the corners. One leaked out and Ranma brushed it away with his thumb. “But
that’s all she is to me, Akane. She’s my friend. She may have a claim on
paper,
but that’s not where it counts. You are the one that is the most important
to me.
I like you, Akane. Only you.” He smiled at her in reassurance. “Does that
answer your question?”
Akane sniffled a bit and smiled back at him. “Yes, Ranma. Thank you. I
like you, too.” She reached up and tentatively gave him a hug. He brought
his
arms around her to return it. “I like you allot.” They released each other
and
stepped back. She offered her hand to him. “I suppose we had better get
back.
Everyone is probably wondering where we are.”
Ranma accepted the offered hand with a smile. “Yeah, I guess so. Let’s
go.” And so they walked back to the house, hand in hand, happy they got
something settled in their relationship.
As they walked back, they were unaware of the third person that listened
to their conversation. Ukyou watched them walk away, tears spilling down her
cheeks in rivers. She had seen them come out of the ice cream parlor and had
followed behind them a good pace. She had heard their entire conversation,
and
Ranma’s description of their relationship got up her hope but they were sent
crashing down to the bottom of the well of despair when he professed his
choice.
‘Ranchan didn’t really say he chose Akane, did he? He just said that he
liked her,
and I was his...friend. Maybe I still have a chance.’ She ran after the
pair, drying
her eyes, grasping and clinging onto the last strands of hope her heart and
mind
had created.
*****
Ranma and Akane reached the front gate and looked at each other. “We
don’t
want our families to know we have talked, Ranma. Let’s keep it cool for
awhile,
okay?” Ranma nodded in agreement. He gave her hand one final squeeze and
dropped it. He opened the gate for her and they went inside to the awaiting
families.
Everyone was gathered around in the living room; Kasumi was doing
some darning, humming a happy tune; Nabiki was crunching numbers and
pouring over her books; Soun and Genma were arguing over the shoji board; and
Nodoka was reading a book. Kasumi looked up when she heard Ranma and
Akane announce their arrival home. She got up and went over to the pair. She
handed Ranma a letter. “Ranma, you got a letter in the mail, today. The
return
address is from Jusenkyo, China.”
“Jusenkyo? Who would be writing me from there?”
Nodoka looked up from her book with a smile on her face. “You won’t
know unless you read it, son.”
Ranma looked to Akane and she shrugged. He tore open the letter and
started to read it. “It’s from Plum, the Jusenkyo Guide’s daughter.” His
eyes got
bigger and bigger as he read down the page. Ranma threw the letter up in the
air
and shouted, “Yes! All right! Woo hoo!”
As Ranma was doing his happy dance, Akane grabbed the letter out of the
air. “What does it say?” She started to read it out loud to everyone else in
the
room. “‘Dear Ranma: I hope this letter finds you in good spirits. Some
time ago
I received a letter from a Saotome Nodoka requesting us to let you know when
the
Springs of Drowned Boy and Girl turn up.’” Akane glanced up at Nodoka with a
questioning look. She nodded back at Akane and motioned for her to continue
reading. “‘This letter is to inform you that my father, the Guide, and I have
discovered that the Springs of Nannichuan and Nyannichuan has been relocated
and refilled. Please feel free to come back to our area and pick up the cure
for
yourself and the others in your area. I do not know how long they will
remain, so
you might want to hurry. Hope to see you soon. Sincerely, Plum.’ Ranma,
that’s great news! Now you can get cured.”
Ranma stopped dancing and looked at Akane, a huge grin on his face.
“Yep! That’s great news, all right. I can finally get rid of the red
red-haired girl!
Woo hoo!” Everyone in the room gave their congratulations.
Nabiki spoke up. “Now, all you have to do is get to China. How are you
going to do that?”
Ranma looked at Nabiki and frowned. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that part.
I don’t have enough money for a train ticket, let alone a plane ticket.
Where am I
going to get the cash?”
Nodoka spoke up. “Well, Ranma, I think I can help you out on this one. I
do some money stashed away for a rainy day, plus, your father and I have not
given you a graduation present yet. How does two tickets to China sound?”
Ranma went over to his mother and gave her a hug. “Do you mean it,
Mom? Really? Thank you very much! I can’t wait to go!”
“That’s very generous of you, Auntie Saotome,” Kasumi smiled. “You
said two tickets. Who’s the other ticket for?”
She shrugged. “Whomever Ranma wants to take with him.”
Genma appeared next to Ranma and placed his arm around his shoulders.
“There’s no question that you’ll be taking me, right, son? You won’t forget
about
your father in his time of need, will you?”
Soun added his two cents, “He should take his Akane, his fiancee, along.
They should be together to witness this momentous event.”
Genma opened his mouth to protest, but not before the front door burst
open and in came Ryouga and Ukyou. Ukyou gushed, clinging to Ranma’s arm.
“Ranchan! I just heard the great news! Surely, you want to take your cute
fiancee
along, right?”
Ryouga barged in from the backyard and grabbed Ranma’s shirtfront,
thereby knocking Ukyou off Ranma’s arm. “Ranma! How dare you think of
looking for a cure without thinking of me first!” Ryouga yelled out. Ranma
looked around at all of the expectant faces. He knew who he *wanted* to bring
along, but it was a warring factor on who thought they *should* go along.
“My son will be taking me.”
“He’ll be taking his fiancee.”
“Right, and he’ll choose an uncute one over a cute one? Yeah, right.
He’ll choose me.”
“Ranma...you better choose me or else!”
The arguments continued until Akane spoke up with a concerned gaze
directed at Ryouga. “Ryouga, why are you interested in the Nannichuan?”
Ryouga looked up at Akane's confused face, blushed and stuttered, “Um,
hi there, Akane...Um well, you see, how are you doing today? I..uh...want to
be
sure Ranma doesn't screw this up for the other cursed people out there, for
Mousse and Mr. Saotome, yeah, that's the ticket!”
Kasumi smiled at Ryouga and said to him, “That's so thoughtful of you,
Ryouga. What a considerate friend!”
Ryouga blushed and scratched his head. “Um, yeah, that's it, yeah
friend.”
Ukyou giggled off on the side and turned to Ranma. “Who are you going
to take Ranchan? Have you decided?”
Before Ranma could answer, Nodoka solved everyone’s questions. She
stepped in front of Genma and pointed her sheathed katana to his chest. “I
think
Ranma will make the correct decision by taking Akane. Don’t you think that’s
right, husband?”
Genma bigsweated and stepped back from the katana. Even sheathed, it
scared the hell out of him. “You’re right, Nodoka. Of course, he’ll take
Akane. I
don’t know what I didn’t see that choice right away. He can bring back water
enough for the rest of us.” He looked at Ranma. “Right, boy? Enough for
*everyone*” He nodded his head in Ryouga’s direction.
Ranma sighed and nodded. “Right, Pops. Of course I’ll bring back
enough for everybody. Even some Nyannichuan for Shampoo.” He turned to
Akane. “I guess you need to go pack ‘cause you’re coming with me. I wouldn’t
want to upset Mom and her katana.” Akane smiled and nodded.
Ryouga thought to himself, ‘I got to get that Nannichuan water. I can’t
handle being a little piglet when I get wet anymore. But, I really don’t want
Akane to figure out about P-chan. If I go along, maybe I’ll be able to sneak
into
the water without Akane seeing me.’ “I better come along, too, Ranma. You’ll
probably screw up and not get the right water.”
Akane turned around and smiled at Ryouga; Ranma grimaced behind her
back. “We would love to have you along, Ryouga. As long as you promise not
to
fight with Ranma.” He glared at Ranma and nodded to Akane, sighing in relief.
Ukyou looked around in a panic. ‘How am I going to separate those two,
now? Maybe I can use Ryouga there and drive them apart. I have a bad feeling
that this is my last chance to get Ranchan away from Akane. “Hey, Ranchan, do
you mind if I come along? I’ve been thinking of having taking a vacation from
my shop for awhile, and this sounds like a perfect opportunity. Besides,
I’d like
to be there when you get cured. Sort of a ‘Do you know where you are when
this
happened?’ type thing.
Ranma looked at Akane for a reply. She shrugged and looked indifferent.
He smiled at Ukyou and replied, “Sure, Ucchan, I don’t see why not. You can
help us bring the water back, too.” Ukyou clapped her hands in excitement and
ran out the door to go home and pack. He looked at everyone in the room and
smiled. “I guess we need to make reservations and let Plum know the four of
us
are coming. Jusenkyo, here we come!”
*****
After a few phone calls and credit card numbers exchanged, eight people
stood in the airport lobby waiting for Flight 453, Tokyo to Jusenkyo to be
boarded. <Flight 453 is ready to be boarded. All passengers be ready at Gate
13.>
Ranma turned to the non-passengers, “All right, this is it. We're ready
to
go. We'll see you guys when we get back from China.”
“Oh, my baby is standing so proudly with her fiancee! Waaah, I'm so
proud!”
“Here, Akane, I packed a snack for all four of you for on the plane. I
hope
you all have a nice trip.”
“Daddy, shut up! Thank you, Kasumi. We appreciate it.”
“Okay, boy, don't forget to bring enough water back for the rest of us
cursed. Don't screw this one up!”
“I think he’ll do just fine, husband”
“Mr. Saotome, that's what Ukyou and I are here for. We will make sure
Ranma remembers everything.”
“Bring me back a souvenir!”
After goodbye hugs and waves were handed out, the Jusenkyo-bound crew
made it into the plane and were on their way to China.
In First Class, was another set of passengers, headed to the same spot as
the Nerima group.
“Owen, what time will be arriving in China?”
“Not for several hours, sir.”
“Did you remember to pack all of the necessary equipment for when we
arrive at Jusenkyo?”
“Of course, sir. Did you want to make a phone call to Ishimura and let
the
gargoyles know when and where they can reach you in case of an emergency?”
“Why don't you do that, Owen, and I'll call home and let Goliath, Fox and
the others know of our detour. We will only be delayed for an extra day. I
think
Brooklyn and the others in Ishimura can handle another day visiting, don't you
think so, Owen?”
“I think they can, Mr. Xanatos. I'll get on that right away.”