Disclaimer: These characters were created by Takahashi Rumiko, but all the
angst is mine. No profit involved.
----
"This is the last time you'll dream of me."
Akane smiled into the stars. She felt the cold tile of the roof
under her bare feet, the slight breeze ruffling her pajamas. Denying
that it was a dream would be easy, but she knew he wasn't lying. The
stars blurred into watery rainbows. They were beautiful. But she could
tell that tonight was different.
"Why does it have to end?" She knew the answer, but felt compelled to ask.
The blue of night flooded his eyes, the creases in his clothes, and she
felt the darkness in her heart.
"He's coming for real tomorrow, you know that." He tugged ruefully
at his pigtail. "He probably won't have one of these. Or dress this
way."
Her eyes wandered over his chinese silks. She knew them almost as
well as her own clothing. She smiled. Torn, dirty, starched, soaked,
frozen, and mended, she'd seen them in all states. She knew every
muscle underneath. She knew his every expression, his every mood.
How could this be a dream? Once again she looked out into the yard,
then over the rooftops that fanned out from her vantage point. But
what was real then? Akane couldn't think of what her waking life was
at all. She just knew she was dreaming. A hand came down on her
shoulder.
"Ranma." His smile filled her. Made her complete. "If you aren't him,
what are you then?"
"I'm part of you." He had an easy grace, even on top of a roof.
"No, I don't think you are." She searched her mind again for her real
life, but it was elusive, blurry, and incomplete...like a fleeting dream.
"I don't think I could have invented you."
"Can I convince you otherwise?" His smile was still bright, and the
wind ruffled his hair.
"I don't think so." She touched his cheek, and it was warm. This night
was different. They knew each other's minds. It was easy. But something
was ending.
"You're right." He caught her hand in his own.
"But what are you then?" This Ranma was so different than the one she'd
known in past...past dreams. That Ranma had displayed the same warmth,
but oh, so rarely.
"I don't know what I am. I think I was created for you. I remember your
birth. I remember your mother. But I was only allowed to meet you
recently. And only here."
Akane took a deep breath. "My mother." She felt his hand tighten around
hers. "But why all of the chaos then? Shampoo...Ryoga...are they really
all imaginary?"
"They're as real as you want them to be, Akane. I'm not sure about the
adventures we had, but I think they were tests."
"Tests for what?" She had a brief thought of her sitting in a room, in a
blue pinafore..or was it a navy blazer?
"I'm not sure. But I do know that this is an end."
The wind had picked up, making the furin tinkle lightly. Over Ranma's
shoulder she thought she could see a light in the Nekohanten. It winked
out. She sighed.
"He's coming tomorrow, so what? And what is tomorrow anyway?"
"Then I can't be Ranma anymore. He'll be Ranma." Her eyes met his again.
"Will he be like you?" She searched his face, then looked away
again. "No. He won't be." A sudden flash of memory exploded behind her
eyes, like an old sulfur flashbulb. "He'll come up to the crowded
apartment I share with my sisters and father, he'll be boring, but
perfectly respectable. We'll go on a couple of dates where nothing will
happen, then we'll get married when we turn eighteen. We'll have an
apartment similar to my father's, he'll have a steady job, and we'll
eventually have a couple of children. Boring, but perfectly
respectable." Pain gripped her heart.
Ranma was silent. She wanted him to interject, make fun of her, push her
off the roof, anything. But not silence. Her mouth was moving before she
could control it.
"Save me." It was barely a whisper, but they both stood rapt in the
syllables.
He let go of her hand and drew her chin up so their eyes would meet. The
stars faded away and she couldn't feel her the roof under her feet
anymore. She saw the anguish in his soul.
"Are you sure?" She nodded. Then she was alone again, on the rooftop, but
the winds were howling around her, threatening to tear her clothing from
her flesh. She walked to the edge and saw the ground, but it was far, far
beneath her. A light went on behind her and she heard a gasp.
"Akane!" Her sister was framed in the door she had opened. It wasn't
Kasumi or Nabiki, but someone else...but she knew it was her sister. Akane
realized too that she wasn't on the top of a stately house with a dojo
next to it, but leaning out the small window of an squalid apartment
building, traffic rushing below. For a moment she was uncertain, the wind
howled and whipped her face and the smoggy lights of the city confused
her. Then her sister who was not her sister called out to her again. Her
voice sounded a little like Ms. Hinako's. She smiled. It would be good
to see Ms. Hinako again. Akane jumped.
The lights were rushing around her, but the world was amazingly
silent. She could feel the wind around her, and her heart jumping in her
breast, but all seemed calm. The ground was rising to meet her, like an
old friend.
For an instant, all was dark. Then she opened her eyes, not remembering
closing them. Ranma smiled down at her. She looked around and saw the koi
pond, the dojo.
Ranma had caught her. Akane threw back her head and laughed with delight.
----
Brief note: This was written in an hour or so, and inspired by Mazzy
Star's Blue Light. Commentary is welcome.
Happy New Year. Do something with your life.
Colleen
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ODP: http://dmoz.org/profiles/minty.html