Author's notes:  I first posted this little fic back in '99.  Seemed 
like a good time to repost it, what with all the conjecture about 
Akane and swimming.  ^_-  Any comments, good, bad or neutral are 
appreciated.


Woa See Huan Suay
by Warr

I love water.  I always have and I hope I always will.  Whether it's 
sitting on the shore of some lake, sunbathing at the ocean beach or 
even just walking the rain; water has a comforting presence that I 
enjoy being around.

I remember back when I was about three years old - my parents took me 
to this large lake for a small picnic and a day of fun.  There were 
other families there with their kids and everyone was having a good 
time.  Mothers were handing out food while keeping an eye out for the 
youngest kids, fathers were drinking Kirin or watching their wives and 
the kids were swimming in the lake or splashing about the shore.  I 
saw how easy and fun swimming looked and asked my father if I could 
go swimming with the other kids.  He asked if I knew how and relented 
to my resounding, "Yes!"

So I ran to the end of the dock jumped in and immediately started to 
sink.  It wasn't nearly as easy as it looked and I'd never been 
swimming before in my life; needless to say, my panicked father had to 
jump in and save me.  I took it in stride, no way would one little 
mishap keep me from this element they call water.  It had a grip on 
my soul.

We are lunch after Dad and I dried off then while Mom packed up I 
wandered off to walk around the lake.  About and hour and three-fourths 
of the lake later, my frantic parents found me and yelled at me for 
getting lost.  I hadn't been lost; I'd been walking around, enjoying 
the lake that they had brought me to, the view and the sheer wonder of 
it all.  Try explaining that to parents who walk away from their 
picnic to find their child missing.  I still visit that lake and hope 
to take any children I will eventually have there, though, hopefully 
without any incidents such as the ones I caused.

Many people also complain about the rain, but I love that as well.  
While everyone else walk around under their umbrellas, I will sometimes 
find myself tossing the umbrella aside and reveling in the rain.  The 
sound of the drops splashing on the ground, rooftops, empty cars and 
windowpanes leads to a symphony of nature's creation.

My favorite thing, though, has to be a long hot bath.  I slide into 
the warm liquid which engulfs me in its soothing embrace.  The 
pressure of the water works loose muscles I didn't even know were 
taut and as I step out onto the cold tiles bringing with me the 
swirls of the mist, I know, if only for one second, that all is 
right in the world.

Lately, however, I find water a pain, especially� cold water.  No 
longer do I run freely through a summer rain storm.  The rain drops 
bring sadness where once they found only joy.   I think these thoughts, 
ironically enough, while walking down the road hiding under an umbrella 
from the rain with my fiancee.  It is just now, however, that I find 
resolve to do the thing that earlier had annoyed me.  I turn to my 
fiancee and before letting doubt creep in, I ask, "Ranma?  Will you 
teach me how to swim?  There's a heated, indoor pool just down the road.  
It would get us out of this cold rain at any rate..."


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Okane-ga zen zen-o mote imasen.

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