Argh! I saw how crappy it came out, so I reformatted it and I *hope* it
looks better. Tell me iit is still nasty.
Thanks
Gie
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 awhile.
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.”