Jonathan Rosebaugh wrote:

hmm, it seems, judging from the replies I got to "Newbie Alert", that
it should be ok to post this. (this is a repost of something posted to
raac.) If I've misunderstood, I'm sorry. At least it's only 300 lines
or so.

    Nobody should be afraid to share their work. ;)

Ranma and Akane are created by Rumiko Takahashi.
These characters were further altered by Jack Staik.
Many thanks for providing a world to work in.

    And hey, you avoided the biggest potential error right there, giving credit where it was due. ;)

"You must know you cannot beat me. What possible purpose could you
have for issuing a challenge?"

    Ranma: Like anyone in Nerima ever needed a reason before!

"I challenge you, not to a battle of strength, but to a battle of
will. I challenge you to listen to my argument and not be moved. I
challenge you, as is my right as a practitioner of the Art."

    I like this. Very apt, that. One has to wonder what trials she would have to endure to reach that point, where she could admit that to herself...

"There is no better way. Look around yourself. The world has been at
peace for ten years. It will be so for a millennium or more. Who before
me has done such a thing? If a better way was possible, don't you
think I would have found it?"

    How... Yin. In it's perfection, unable to see the flaw. Intentional?

A tendril of light grew from the Peacemaker's forehead. It quickly
surrounded the rock, pulling it from the stream. She set the rock back
in its place, near the pile of stones.

    Ranma: Showoff.

    Akane: Bite me.

    Actually, I did like the bit about Akane floating off the ground. Intentional or not, it brought to my mind images that she daren't sully herself with such an act.

"Yes, but also that there is more than one way to change the flow of
humanity. We are dark, Akane-chan, and all our lives we spend
struggling against this darkness. Sometimes, someone loses, and then
the darkness threatens to take us all.

    'We are dark'? I'm not _quite_ sure I followed that, though I feel the meaning still carries through.

"You were called just as Ashitaka was. You were to make peace on
earth, not through your strength, but by 'seeing with eyes unclouded
by hate.' Instead, you've made half the world hate you, and you didn't
stop there.

"You even hate yourself."

    Hmm. 'Familiarity breeds contempt.' Knowing oneself can be painfull. :\

Akane looked down. Though she did not cry, her aura shrank
considerably. "I'm a monster."

    Indeed...

Ranma stood, and moved to sit beside Akane. "Simply do what you should
have been doing all along. Thus far, you have been no peacemaker. You
have been an overlord, keeping mankind safe from the darkness in us
all. You must instead live with us, standing in between us and the
darkness. You must be a peacemaker, not just between man and man, but
between man and our own nature. It will be infinitely harder. It will
require all the strength you have -- and more."

    Wish I could have been that elloquent with IaB... ;)

Author's Note:

I read "What Cost Love?" and found myself liking it against my will. I
never did like "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,
or the one." It didn't work on Star Trek, and it doesn't work in
Ranma. This is my attempt to set things right. I apologize if my
philosophy is simplistic; there's a whole lot more that I wanted to
put in, but didn't have room for. I wrote this mostly in one sitting,
making only a few changes the next day. In fact, it pretty much wrote
itself.  Anyhow, I hope you like my first Ranma fanfic. Any sort of
C&C is welcome.

    Very enjoyable, and well written. I, for one, hope to see more from you. ;)