This is my first attempt at a fan fic. I know it's kinda raw, and rough
in some spots, but one has to start somewhere, right?
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��ࡱ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������NDThe Final Straw
by JP Buckner
ajaff@poky.srv.net
Stand by for disclaimer
wait for it...
Ranma 1/2 doesn't belong to me. Rumiko Takahashi created it. I had nothing to do with it. I wish I had.
That is the end of the disclaimer. We now join our regularly scheduled fanfic already in progress.
It was morning, and I was beginning to waken. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be awake right now. I was afraid of what I would see when I opened my eyes, afraid it would be the same thing I've been looking at the last few days. I was hoping it was just a dream, just a nightmare, and I would wake up and everything would be normal again. But each day that I awoke to this place, that hope died just a little more.
I knew I couldn't wait forever, eventually I would have to face what lay out before me. So I began to stretch my arms, and slowly I began to open my eyes.
Damn. I was still here. In this prison.
Oh, it certainly wasn't an ordinary prison. It was lush and green and pleasant and peaceful But it was still a prison, of which I was its captor. And for the life of me, I have no idea of how I got here.
I looked around, and saw it was a beautiful morning, the sun was just coming out, I could see the reflection of it on the pond, filled with water. Cold water. Why couldn't there any hot water anywhere in this place?
I heard a noise above me, the sound of a throat clearing. I looked up, and above me, behind some kind of a railing, one too high for me to reach or even jump to (yes, I've tried that, to no avail), he was watching me. Finally, he is here, he has come to help me, to free me from my bondage. I know I can count on him, as I have been able to count on him for much of my life.
Then I notice his eyes. His eyes, watching me, not with the joy of seeing me again. But with sadness, there is almost a tinge of melancholy to his look. I need to ask so many questions of him, but this was no longer an option. All forms of communication were taken away from me, more than likely from whomever put me here.
Finally he spoke.
"Saotome, it saddens my heart to see you here like this. But there is no other way. I am sorry for doing this to you, I hope in time you can forgive me."
What, HE did this to me, he's the one who put me here, he's the one who has done this? This must be some kind of a bad joke, he would never do such a thing to me, never! I shook my head in disbelief, and anger began to fill me. I try harder than I have tried before to jump, to reach up to the railing, to gain my freedom, to reach my jailer, my friend.
But alas, I cannot.
"It is of no use, Saotome, this is your home from now on. It's time you got used to the fact. It's your own fault, you just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? Finally, what we were trying so hard to make happen was actually happening, and you had to let your own foolishness, your own stubbornness get in the way," the tears began to swell in his eyes, a sight I was used to seeing, odd it was to see this fine man, my friend, come apart so easily and so often.
As he tried to hold his tears he continued, "You became a liability, so I had to do something, to keep you from breaking apart what we had built. I know you don't understand, but maybe if I refresh your memory of what happened that day, the last day before I brought you here, maybe, just maybe you will understand."
As he started to recount the events of that day, I began to remember it. And between his words and my memories, it was becoming very clear......
*******************************************
"So, Saotome, counter that move, if you can!"
It was a typical day at the Tendo home. No, actually it was fairly quiet, no odd challengers, no assorted fiancees, no splashes of cold water coming out of who knows where, no yelling between Ranma and Akane. In fact it seemed like a normal day for anywhere except the Tendo home. Which made it anything but typical for this place.
Soun and Genma were hard at 'work' at yet another in a countless series of games of shoji. Soun seemed to have the upper hand at the moment, but with these two playing, that could change at any moment. Kasumi was busy in the kitchen, humming to herself, although the rest of the family found the tune quite relaxing. Nabiki was watching TV, catching up on the latest stock market reports. Akane was doing her homework, trying to get a handle on her English lesson.
"There, their, they're. Arrgh, which one is the contraction again? This is too confusing, I'll never get them straight!"
Nabiki shook her head and responded, "Honestly sis, it's not that difficult. I don't know why so many people have problems with this. Just wait, Akane, until you get to possessives and plurals. Now that's confusing!"
"Grr, why do we have to learn such a weird language anyways. English is just so, so confusing! Why can't it be easy, like Japanese?"
Nabiki had to chuckle to herself on that, "Akane, I'm sure Japanese is just as confusing for English speaking people as English is for us. Why do you think so few of them can speak Japanese, even just a little?"
Akane looked down at her book and fumed, "Whatever. Where did that baka run off to right after school? We have the same schoolwork, and even though he doesn't pay much attention in class, it would be nice to have someone to work with on this lesson. At the very least, I'd just feel better knowing I'm not near as stupid as he is."
All of a sudden Genma's voice rang out, "Master, you've returned! I can't say how good it is to see you once again!"
Everyone turned towards the voice, ready to see the aged pervert back to make everyone's life miserable. But Happosai was nowhere to be seen, instead the sisters where treated to a sight of their father frantically looking around for his master, while Mr. Saotome sat at the shoji board, a smile on his face.
Genma spoke up, "Oh, my mistake Tendo, I thought I saw him. Anyways, your move."
Soun returned his focus to the board and turned white as a sheet. Once again his old friend had gotten the better of him, and try as he might, he couldn't get mad at him for it. After all, it was part of the game. Anything Goes applies to more than martial arts as far as the Tendo and Saotome clans are concerned.
At this point the front door opened and he walked in. Yes, he was a 'he' at this time, dry as a bone and wearing his normal red Chinese shirt and black pants. He had an odd look on his face, a bit nervous, with a tinge of anticipation.
"About time you got back, Ranma, where do you think you've been? Please don't tell me you've been nuzzling with that Chinese bimbo again, have you?", Akane was just a little irate, and was waiting for him to respond, probably with some lame excuse like always.
Everyone waited for Ranma's reply, worrying that he'll say something stupid that would either land him in the koi pond or subject him to a malleting. Or both.
"Ah, gee Akane, well, uhh.."
"Come on, Ranma, what do you have to say for yourself this time?"
"Akane, I'd like to, err, I wanna, geesh, man why can't I....Oh, Akane, we need to talk. In private." As Ranma said this, his eyes glanced over towards Nabiki.
"Gee, Ranma, whyever are you looking at me? Don't tell me you want to be engaged to me again?", Nabiki chided, just loving any opportunity to get Ranma's goat.
Ranma's face flushed, "uhh, no, Nabiki, this is just private, ya know, between Akane 'n me. I don't want to share with the rest of the family right now. Especially one who might try to find some profit outta it."
"Moi?", Nabiki respond in mock disdain, "Would *I* do something like that to you, I mean you're practically family and all."
Ranma did not answer, instead he returned his gaze to Akane, "Please, Akane, this is somethin' we need to talk 'bout."
Akane seemed stunned, but eventually answered, "Okaay, Ranma, let's head up to the roof, shall we. We should be safe," Akane paused and gave Nabiki a hard look, "from eavesdroppers up there."
Ranma nodded and together he and Akane went into the yard, where Ranma, grabbing hold of her, made a leap up towards the roof.
Nabiki smiled to herself, "Idiots, as if I don't have THAT covered.:" At which point she went to the TV, ran her fingers underneath it until she found a switch. When she flipped it, the video on the TV was gone, but the audio.....
"Nothing like a few carefully concealed microphones to get the job done." Nabiki seemed real pleased with herself.
"So Ranma, what is it you want to talk about?"
Hearing Akane's voice come out over the television set stunned Soun, he looked at his middle daughter with new appreciation.
"Oh, this is so wonderful, my daughter is so smart and so ingenious, if only your dear mother were here now..."
"Daddy, shush."
"Well, gee, Akane, well, I..."
"Ranma, you dragged me up here to tell me something, are you going to say it or what!"
Nabiki shot back a second from the strength of Akane's voice. "Gee, Akane, do you really think yelling at him is going to help?"
"Akane, well, ahh geesh, I'm no good at sayin' stuff like this, here, how 'bout I show you?"
There was a pause as four sets of ears sat by the television, holding their breaths to hear what would happen next. Nabiki muttered, "I knew I should have put a miniature camera up there." After a moment, the silence was broken.
"Ran....Ran...Ranma, are you serious? This isn't some kind of perverted joke or something, right? You really want to...."
"Yeah, Akane, I really do."
"Me? Not Shampoo, not Ukyo, me?"
"Yeah, Akane, you, it's always been you, I was just too nervous to say anything, to afraid of what you might think, afraid of how they'd push us if I told you how I really felt."
There was another pause where Kasumi broke in, "Finally, they're finally talking, really talking about this to each other. Oh, I'm so happy for them."
"Ranma, I know how you feel, I was afraid too, afraid they'd push us, afraid you'd laugh in my face if I told you how much I cared for you."
"Care for me? Akane, you really care for me?"
"Yes, Ranma, I do. And I knew deep inside you cared too, but I was so afraid, so insecure..."
"Insecure, Akane, you? You've always seemed so sure of yourself to me, and anyways what would you feel so insecure about?"
"Oh, be serious Ranma, I know I'm not as pretty as those other girls, I'm not as good of a martial artist as they are, I can't even cook. I'm just a skinny little uncute tomboy. I don't understand why you've always been there for me, why you choose me over them."
"'Kane, I know I've said some mean things to you, but I never really meant them. You're not uncute. You're not in the least bit uncute. In fact, when you smile, and when you laugh, there ain't any cuter girls out there that I know of. Present company excluded, of course."
A smile came to Nabiki's lips at this, and it seemed she wasn't the only one who found it amusing, for Akane began to chuckle, and then she replied, "Baka", but she didn't say it in her normal angry tone, but the word had a touch of humor to it.
"Akane, so you can't cook, big deal. I mean, it's not like I'm expectin' ya to be an normal, typical Japanese housewife. Let's face it, Akane, all the girls that seem to get attracted to me are anything but normal, typical girls. And maybe, in time, if ya work at, with patience and with Kasumi's help, or even Moms, you might not be such a bad cook anymore. And even if that doesn't happen, there's nothin' saying I can't do much of the cookin'. Ya know, after working with Mom on cooking, it's kinda fun, I kinda enjoy it. It may not be 'manly' to admit, but ya, I kinda like it."
"And as far as your martial arts are concerned, come on Akane, before I came 'round, you was beatin' 20-30 guys a day, not to mention Kuno. You're pretty good, Akane, you've just been comparin' yourself against some pretty tough competition of late."
"But none of that really matters, Akane, none of it. You are cute, when you smile, when you're nice to me, I feel so great inside, nothing Shampoo or Ukyo have ever done can come close to matching that feeling. You're smart, and you're kind, that is when you're not malleting me to the moon. And you don't take guff from no one, not me, not your dad, no one. You're strong, Akane, and I don't mean just physically. You have a strong spirit, and I think that's what I like most about you."
"But Ranma, I thought you always said that girls are stupid and weak? How can I be strong?"
"Err, sorry 'bout sayin' that as much as I did. It's just that, well, ya know how Pop is, and all the stuff he's been tellin' me and teachin' me over the years. I mean, yeah, for a long time I believed that crap, 'til I came here, and I saw just how strong and smart girls can be. The curse probably helped with that too. I've always known Pop was kinda stupid, I just didn't realize how much so till I came here."
Three pairs of eyes turned towards Saotome Genma at this instant. It wasn't a pretty sight, his face was turning beat red, his eyes growing larger and if the idea of steam being blown out on one's ears wasn't a well-worn clich�....
"How dare that boy! After all I've done for him over the years, he treats me like this?"
"Don't you mean after all you've done TO him, Mr. Saotome?", Nabiki responded.
Genma seemed ready to burst a blood vessel, and all he could say in response was a short huff. The four quickly returned their attention to the scene being played out above them.
"I mean, look at you, and your sisters, and Shampoo, and the old ghoul, and Ukyo, and Mom and even Kodachi. I mean, Ukyo, despite everything that has been done to her, she is still able to attend school while running her own business, heck I'd like to see half the guys I know try that! And Nabiki, well, she's too smart for my own good."
Nabiki tried, unsuccessfully, to keep a chuckle inside.
"Kasumi, well, she was strong enough to keep your family together after, well you know. I mean, she was only 9 when it happened, but somehow she managed to keep your family together. Now if that ain't strength, I don't know what is."
Kasumi whispered, "Ranma, that is so sweet."
"And Shampoo, well you know as well as I do how strong she is. And Cologne? She may be older than dirt, but she's as sharp as a tack. Kodachi? She may be crazy, no she is most definitely crazy, but she probably plans better than all the rest of 'em. And Mom? How she managed to stay in one piece after Pop and me left her, I don't know. Heck I don't know anyone that Pop is afraid of more than her."
Kasumi couldn't help but start giggling after that remark. Not even a cold stare from Genma could stop her.
"You're not weak, Akane, and you're not stupid either. And you are definitely not uncute. I know I've said some mean things to you, and I hope you can forgive me for them, maybe we can start again. Umm, hello, I'm Ranma, want to be friends?"
"I don't know, Ranma, after everything that's happened, I don't think I want to be friends."
There was a long pause by the tv set as everyone held their breath.
"I want to be your fiancee, if that's what you really want."
The sound of four held breaths being expelled at once reverberated through the room.
"Well, gosh, Akane, I didn't give ya that JUST to be friends, ya know."
"Oh, Ranma...."
At this point Nabiki went back to the tv, and reflipped the switch, bringing the financial news back on.
"That's enough. I think we can give them some privacy, does anyone here disagree with that?"
Kasumi smiled and nodded. The looks on the other two faces told Nabiki that they wanted to hear more, but neither was willing to cross the middle Tendo daughter on this one.
The four waited there for a few minutes, eager to confront the two once they returned from the roof. After what seemed like an eternity, they saw Ranma and Akane return to the front yard, each transfixed into the other one's eyes, each carrying a look of pure joy on their faces.
Kasumi looked at what was on Akane's finger, "Oh my, Akane, that's just beautiful."
Ranma and Akane stopped, and looked into the house, and noticed the looks on their families faces. All of a sudden a blush crossed their faces.
"That's a pretty nice ring, Ranma, so tell me, just how did you afford that?", Nabiki smirked at her future brother-in-law.
"Well, Nabiki, I've been, well you know, savin' up here and there from some of the money you've givin me for, well, those sessions I did for ya from time to time." The flush on Ranma's face turned even redder, if such a thing was possible. Nabiki wanted to laugh at the sight, but decided this once she'd keep it to herself.
Not everyone was keeping things to themselves, though.
"Boy, how dare you say such things about me! If I wasn't your father....."
"If you weren't my father, maybe my life wouldn't be in such a mess! Man, I knew we wouldn't even be safe from you up on the roof. Just how much did you hear anyways, old man?"
"Enough, boy! It's obvious to me you've become even more of a girl than I first thought. You've gone soft, boy, and I know just the thing to toughen you up again."
"And what's that pop, ya gonna throw me in a pit of starving rabbits? Maybe you'll sell for a cheeseburger? I got it, you'll take me back to China, and throw me in the spring of drowned moron, so I can be just like you!"
"That's enough out of you! Being around these girls have warped you, Ranma, I'm going to take you on a long training trip, and maybe this time I'll find some girl who's not so headstrong to engage you to. A man among men needs a proper Japanese wife, not one of these modern girls, who seem to act more like a boy than my own son!"
Akane jumped in between Genma and Ranma, "You are NOT taking him anywhere! After all this time, we've finally managed to talk, I mean really talk to each other, and Kami help anyone, and I mean ANYONE who would try to get between us now!"
"You heard her, Pop, I ain't goin'. I'm stayin' here with Akane, and if you don't like it, maybe you can go find Ryoga and train him to be your 'man among men'. I hope you don't find him though, I wouldn't want to even put him through that."
Genma was about to add more to the 'discussion' when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over and saw Soun looking at him. "Perhaps you should calm down for a little bit, Saotome, then we can all discuss this calmly."
Genma nodded, "Wise idea, Tendo, I'm going up to my room now, but don't worry, this conversation is far from over.....boy!" And with that, Genma turned his back to his son, and headed up the stairs.
Soun walked over to Ranma, "Don't worry, son, everything will work out just fine, I guarantee it. I just want to say how proud I am to have such a fine young man join our family."
"Thank you Mr. Tendo..."
"Please, son, call me Father."
Thank you," Ranma paused for a second, "Father. You should know, Akane 'n me, we want to wait 'til we finish school before we, you know, get married and all."
"I understand, son. If this is what the both of you want, you have my support. Now, what are you going to do about those other girls?"
Ranma looked over to Akane, and when their eyes met, they both smiled. He turned back to Soun and replied, "We have some ideas on that, we're gonna talk some more about it before doin' anything that could make things worse. If everybody could keep quiet 'bout this while we work this out, that would be great."
At this point, every head in the room turned towards Nabiki, "Okay, okay, I get the point. Nobody will hear about this from me, you have my word."
Soun nodded, "Good, now that that is taken care of, I have some business elsewhere. I should be back soon, Kasumi dear, make sure the two of them behave themselves. They're not married yet, you know."
That received a slight chuckle from Nabiki, more red faces from Ranma and Akane, while Kasumi just smiled and said, :"Yes, father, I'll make sure they behave themselves. Ranma, since you said you enjoy cooking so much, why don't you come and help me in the kitchen?"
On his way out of the house, Soun watched as Ranma joined Kasumi in the kitchen, while Nabiki just sat back and watched Akane admire her ring.
***************************************************************
I looked back up at the man behind the railing, the man who was my oldest, dearest friend. He paused for a moment, then picked up the story.
"After I left the house, I headed to the Nekohanten. There I had a long discussion with Mousse, the one person I knew that wanted Ranma and Akane together as much as I did."
"He found the proper spices that I wanted, and together we headed back towards my home. It was easy to slip you a sleeping potion, your gluttony, Saotome, has often been your undoing. Then we dragged you away, and brought you here, stopping for a quick toss into some cold water along the way. You don't realize how heavy you are in your panda form, Saotome, I'm just glad we waited until we were almost here."
Soun looked down at me and a look of sadness once again crossed his face. "Old friend, you are just too headstrong, too traditional sometimes for your own good. After all that time we spent to get our children together, you were ready to let your foolish notions get in the way.
"My daughters mean everything to me, Saotome, everything. After their mother died, I vowed that I would let nothing or nobody hurt them. They mean more to me than my dojo, more than my pride, more than my friend.
"And you, you were ready to hurt my baby, hurt my Akane. You were about to take the man, and he is a man, Saotome, maybe the finest young man I've ever met. You were going to take the man she loves away from her. I could not allow that. I had to make sure you would never come between Ranma and Akane, ever.
"This zoo, Saotome, is far from Nerima. Chances of anyone you know finding you by chance are slim. And would they even recognize you if they did come here? No, you won't get any help from that front. Only Mousse and I know of your presence here, and neither one of us will tell another.
"After I returned home, I forged a note from you, saying you were leaving for good by yourself because you were so disappointed in your son. In time, you will be just a distant memory in their lives. When we presented you to this zoo, we made sure that you would have no access to hot water. We told them you had an allergic reaction to hot water, and with pandas being an endangered species and all, they won't be talking any chances.
"I'm sorry about this, old friend, but I saw no other way. You are just too headstrong to risk the chance of you saying something or doing something to ruin my daughters life.
"It's time I left now, the zoo will be opening to the public shortly, and I want to sneak out the way I came in before anyone catches me here. I will try to come and visit you when I can, Saotome, dispite all this, I still consider you my friend. I hope in time you will understand what I have done. Good bye, and I hope you have a good life here."
I saw the sadness on his face, the tears as they rolled own his cheeks, past his mustache and finally fall to the ground. Then he turned away and he left.
I wasn't sure how to feel. Part of me was furious, mad that he could do this to me, his oldest friend. Furious for taking me away from my son, who've I devoted the last decade plus of my life to. Enraged that I would never see my son again, never see my grandchildren, never even be a human being again.
But yet, do I have myself to blame? Was it my own foolishness that got me in this mess? Ranma has been blaming me for so much for so long, could I really be at fault?
Nah.
I look out over my prison, this zoo. The grass in my exhibit, the panda exhibit is green and lush. I can feel the mist coming off the pond, as a small waterfall splashes into it. For a prison, this is rather nice. I get fed on a regular basis, I can just lounge around and do nothing most of the day, and the people who come to watch me are happy. No money woes, no stress, perhaps, perhaps this won't be such a bad life after all.
Hey, it could be worse.
***********************************************************
Two of the zookeepers, ready to open the zoo for the public, began to talk about their newest arrival.
"You know, that new panda has seemed to settle in very well. I'm amazed, I was a little concerned when he was donated to us from someone off the street. A pet, the man said, I mean, come on who heard of such a thing."
His companion nodded and added, :"I know, I was worried too. Animals don't always adapt to zoo life as quickly as he has. You know, maybe we should introduce him to Ming Ming now, I know it's ahead of schedule, but he really has adapted awful fast."
This received a smile, "Yeah, it's worth a shot, right? Wouldn't be great if they managed to get along well? Is it too much to hope that we could add some more pandas to our exhibit?"
"Well, it's worth a shot. And don't forget about the stuff the man how brought the panda gave us? Didn't he say it should help in any breeding attempts? What did he call it again?"
"Passion spice, I think. Never heard of the stuff myself, but considering how few pandas there are in the world, and how they often seem reluctant to breed, I'm willing to give it a shot."
END
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