Prologue

Ranma breathed heavily as he glared hatefully at Saffron. He knew he was on his last legs, and if he didn't finish the fight soon, Akane's eyes would close. He couldn't allow that to happen. He wasn't sure if he loved her in quite the way their parents wanted him to, but he couldn't allow her to die. That would deprive the world of her sunny nature, and friendliness.

They got into many arguments, but there were also the peaceful moments of silence. The times when nobody was around to bother them, and they weren't bothering each other. The times when they could just sit in the garden and stare at the sky. The occasions when she would attempt to help him with the huge amounts of homework he regularly missed as a result of the fights, and the tiredness on his part that resulted. He learned quickly, but even the fastest learner couldn't keep up that kind of lifestyle, and still expect to be up to date on their schoolwork.

He needed something to help him, some last well of energy that would allow him to finish the fight quickly and restore Akane to her usual state. His eyes widened as Saffron focused another blast at him, and managed to get out of the way just as it was about to impact. 'If I could just figure out what kind of energy he's using, and cut it off somehow QUICKLY, I might be able to help Akane.'

Unconsciously, his eyes glistened and shifted hue, until they were a shade of the darkest brown possible, so dark in fact, that they looked like they were pits of never-ending blackness that could be drowned in.

'What to do? What to do?' Ranma just managed to dodge another blast as he realised 'That's it, that's what I have to do' and manifested a ball of energy. Not ki, he was far too tired to be attempting to harvest energy from around him, and he was well short of the amount of energy required for a blast. No, he summoned energy from the shadows, something that could not be done when manifesting positive energy.

Every shadow around him danced and shifted, moving inexorably towards him, forming a ball in his hand, then making it stronger, making it grow. And as the ball grew, so too did Ranma, height increased, shoulders broadened. Not much, but enough.

Saffron relied on the power of the light, but the power of the light was tiring. You could manifest only a certain amount before you burned yourself out. The power of shadows was something that was never tiring, but you could only manifest it if you were a certain type of being. A bat relied upon the night to cloak it from enemies, to shelter it while it sought out its food. The essence of the night is shadows, you can't see them, there's not enough light to support that, but they are there. Always there. A bat demon also relied upon the shadows.

It was difficult for him to gauge how strong the ball of energy in his hand was. He hoped it would be enough to block off Saffron's power. "Eishi!" Ranma screamed, as he let go of the tightly controlled ball. And as he watched, the ball enveloped Saffron, surrounding him in a cloak of darkness, depriving him of the light he required to stay in his adult form, and sustain his bodily functions adequately. Saffron suffocated, and died, and as the shadows around him dissipated, he was reborn, and an egg was left where the mighty deity had once been.

Ranma gently placed the doll that Akane had become, into the waters of Jusendo, and watched as she grew, resuming her own form. Taking her out of the water, he laid her across his lap, ensuring she was still alive, coaxing her until she opened her eyes, and as she did so, he collapsed, unable to tolerate the pain any longer as his senses grew stronger, the long forgotten memories of a past life began to return and assert themselves, and wounds began to heal themselves.

That was how Ryouga found him later, unconscious, with a sleeping Akane strewn across his body.

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AN: This was based upon a dodgy idea that I sent to the FFML, the beginning for which was shot down as condemned as cliched. Therefore, I elected to do as somebody suggested, and start again. So, here it is.

Warning: First fic. Don't kill me. Don't sue me either...no money to speak of I'm afraid.

Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me; I am using them only for nefarious purposes...that are not commercial.

Trishna.

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