Love Never Dies - by Mazena (ranma-kun@sunpoint.net or mazena@sunpoint.net) Prologue Ranma tried to meditate in the dojo, but he only kept feeling depressed and miserable. He opened his eyes. He stood up and started stretching. If anyone who knew him would see him training, one could immediately see that something was wrong. It lacked something. Something that had been burning inside Ranma, was now only a pale shadow. Ranma recalled the events that had led him to this point. He had never suspected anything. Maybe that was the reason it felt so hard. He had always thought that he was the one. The one that Akane loved. It was ironic that today - when it was too late - Ranma could admit himself that he really loved Akane. *** Ranma had walked back home from school alone. He was supposed to go to see a movie with Hiroshi and Daisuke, but Daisuke had a lame excuse and they postproned the movie. Akane had went to the shopping plaza with her friends, Yuka and Sayuri. That ment that he would have to do his homework alone. Akane was always a great help with the homeworks, he never got the math before Akane had explained the thing to him many times and showed how it was done. Ranma reached the Tendo house and stepped trough the gate. The house seemed quiet. Ranma shook his head as he stepped into the house. He grinned at the thought. He looked into the kitchen and saw Kasumi cooking something on the stove. "Tadaima." Kasumi smiled at Ranma. "Oh, okaeri nasai... You back already?" "Yeah... Daisuke had something, so we couldn't go to see the movie" Ranma shrugged. "Too bad..." said Kasumi with her everlasting smile. "Well... I'm going to my room." Kasumi nodded and turned back to the dinner. Ranma walked up the stairs scratching his head. He stopped at Akane's door. He pressed his ear on it. He opened the door. He saw two figure pressing agaings each other. Akane's eyes widened and she quickly broke the kiss with Ryouga. Ryouga turned his head to Ranma looking angry and extremely happy at the same time. "Ranma..." Akane said blushing. "Don't-Don't you ever knock?" Ranma frowned. Ranma looked at Ryouga, "I hope I'm not bothering..." "Well, actually..." Ryouga started, but Akane stopped him, by taking his hand. Ranma looked at them both. Finally he got the courage to aks her, "Akane... What's with you and the pig-boy?" "Ranma... I don't know how to break this to you... I guess, this isn't the best way for you to find out, but I l-love Ryouga." Ranma looked at Akane and then at the smirking Ryouga. Ryouga had won. Ranma sighed. As the realization broke to him, he felt something inside him break, something that would take a long time to rebuild. "I-I see..." Ranma looked at the floor, not wanting to meet Ryouga's mocking face or Akane's pitying eyes. "When?" "Well... It started a couple of months ago. When I found out he was P-chan." Ranma looked at Akane nor believing that she actually accepted that the pervert had sleeped in her bed all along. "First I was really angry about it, but he explained to me why he had done it. Ryouga said he loved me." Ranma turned his gaze back to the floor. "Soon, I realized that I felt the same way about him. As my pet, he had always been there. He was alway nice to me in both forms..." Ranma interrupted Akane. "I see..." He looked at Ryouga and Akane and tried to smile at them, "Congratulations..." Ranma closed the door and wandered to his room and fell on his futon. Ranma was angry. He was angry at Akane. He was angry at Ryouga. Most of all he was angry at himself. He needed to hit something. There wasnt any good targets nearby, so he just punched his abdomen. The pain took his thoughts away from Akane for a while. He punched again. Ranma holded back the urge to cry. Real men didn't cry. Now that he started thinking about it, he should have noticed something sooner. All the small changes in Akane's behaviour, Ryouga being more in the house and the way Akane talked to Ryouga and P-chan. The signs had been there for a long time, he had denied or ignored them. How could have someone resisted his charm. Ranma Saotome, the man that the women loved. But the one that mattered didn't. He lied on the futon for a long time and tried to wake up from the nightmare untill he fell asleep. *** Kasumi woke Ranma up the next morning. "Was it all just a bad dream?" Ranma muttered looking at the ceiling and then to Kasumi. "Ranma... I'm afraid not." Kasumi said not smiling anymore. She put her hand on Ranma's shoulder trying to comfort him. "A- Akane and Ryouga... Akane broke your engagement this morning." Ranma bit his lip, holding the tears back. He tasted the blood in his mouth. "Oh..." Ranma tried to smile at Kasumi. He wanted to see her smile again. "Is the breakfest ready?" Kasumi nodded and patted his back. She stood up and left Ranma to change his clothes. Soon Ranma followed Kasumi downstairs. Ranma felt a cold lump in his stomach as he saw Ryouga and Akane sitting close to each other by the table. Ranma swallowed hard and sat to the other side of the table. Ranma kept his gaze on the table, letting it only wander a bit to see that Akane and Ryouga were holding hands. Kasumi gave Ranma a bowl of rice, which he accepted gratefully to get something else to think about. He found out that it was hard to swallow the food and his appotite seemed to be gone. The unusual silence at the breakfest didn't help him feel any better, but nobody could figure out anything to say. "Thanks Kasumi." Ranma stood up leaving the bowl half full. He walked back upstairs. He wanted to settle his thoughts and the best way to do it was training. He putted on his gi and went to the dojo. Soon Soun, Genma, Nabiki and Kasumi followed Ranma. "Ranma..." started Soun. "Since your engagement with Akane is broken..." He watched Ranma and when he didn't reatc, he felt safe to continue, "you are to choose from Kasumi and Nabiki." Ranma wasnt too surprised about what Soun said. "No thanks, uncle Soun." "Ranma." said his father. "It is your duty and obligation to marry one of the Tendos and carry on the 'Anything goes' martial arts school!" "Sorry pops..." Ranma whispered. "I... I just can't. Not yet." Genma was about to say something again, but Nabiki stopped him and lead everybody out. "You okay?" she asked at the door. "Do I look like it?" "Not really..." Ranma didn't answer. "What are you going to do?" "I need to think." Nabiki nodded at Ranma's back and left the dojo. *** Ranma stopped stretching and started some simple kata's. He didn't want to marry anybody anymore. He didn't want to be engaged anymore, unless. Unless he got Akane back. Akane had found out about Ryouga's curse and had accepted it. That had hurt Ranma. When Akane had found about Ranma's curse she had called him a freak and a pervert, but he wasnt the one who always abused her pretending to be her pet. Ranma remembered when Ryouga had found him, after the Jusenkyo. Ryouga had blamed Ranma for all the bad things that had happened to him. He had sworn to destroy Ranma's happiness. He had never even thought how happy he had actually been with Akane. An hour later Ranma stopped his training, sweating heavily. He stepped out of the dojo and headed for the bathroom. He was about to slide the door open, when someone opened it from the inside. Akane and Ryouga stepped out of the bathroom and a silence fell on the room. They stared at each other for a while. Akane and Ryouga walked away quietly. Ranma clentched his fists. It was so unfair. He hit again his already sore stomach and fell on his knees. The pain seemed to be the only way out of the nightmare, but even the pain worked only for a while. Slowly he stood up and took his clothes off. Ranma sat on a wooden stool and waited for the furo to fill. He looked at his red stomach. He knew he had to stop hitting himself he could get hurt badly. Once the furo was full, he stepped in the warm water. He tried to relax and enjoy the bath, but the cold lump in his stomach prevented it. He knew he couldn't get over Akane very soon and the fact that they lived in the same house didn't help at all. He had to leave, he knew his mother would be more than happy that he would move to her. *** Ranma packed his backpack. It didn't take long, he didn't own much. He stopped at the last item, it was a small box, where he had put all the small things that reminded him about Akane. There was some of his favourite photos where they both were, the valentine chocolate-heart, the hair that Ryouga had cut with his bandana and some other small things. Ranma wans't ready to leave it behind. He placed it carefully in his backpack. Nobody was really shocked to hear that Ranma was going to move away. They all knew that Ranma had really loved Akane and understood that he didn't want to be there and watch his ex-fiancée live with his ex-friend. Ranma had been right, his mother had been over joyed about his arrival, but wasnt so happy anymore when she heard the real reason. The Tendos', save Akane, were seeing Ranma off at the Gate. Ranma said goodbye to everyone and hugged Nabiki and Kasumi. Soun said that he was always welcome to visit them and the engagement offer was still on, and that he could use the dojo any time he wanted. Ranma waved to everybody and walked away with his father. "Son..." Genma put his hand on Ranma's shoulder. When Ranma didn't answer, he continued, "I know that this must be really hard on you... But you wouldnt tell your mom how you fell in the nyanniichuan?" "No..." "That's my boy!" Genma beamed at Ranma. "Now, about the other fiancée..." He didn't get to finish the sentence before Ranma had 'gently' placed his fist on Genma's cheek. Surprisingly Genma got the hint and stayed quiet the rest of the walk. Nodoka was waiting for Ranma and Genma at the door. "Welcome home." She said as she hugged Ranma, who tried to hug back, not succeeding very well. Nodoka was worried about his sons behaviour. Sulking wasnt manly, but she decided to ignore it this time, he had after all lost his fiancée. Nodoka let go of Ranma and turned to her husband. "Err... Hello again Nodoka." Genma smiled nervously at his wife, waiting for a hug of his own. Nodoka looked at his husband who had a stupid looking grin on his face. She looked back at the depressed Ranma. Finally Nodoka hugged her stiff husband. She led them inside and showed Ranma his room. "I know this room isn't as big as yours was at the Tendo's, but at least you don't have to share it with Genma." Nodoka's joke seemed to go unnoticed. "Yeah... Thanks." Ranma laid his backpack on the floor. Nodoka was determined to stop Ranma's sulking. "Ranma... I know you liked Akane." Ranma winced a bit at the name. "But the way you're acting isn't very manly." "Sorry mom." Nodoka sighed. "Want me to unpack your bakcpack?" Ranma shook his head. "No. It's okay." Ranma started to unpack the few clothes he had with him. "You must be tired..." Ranma nodded. "I'll make your bed in no time." Nodoka started setting a futon on the floor. Ranma put his clothes and a box in the closet. Nodoka wondered about the box but didn't want to be suspicious about her son. "There..." Nodoka stood up. "Thanks..." Ranma looked at his mother and tried to cheer up a bit. "Good night." It broke Nodoka's heart to see Ranma's efforts to look more happy. He was smiling but the smile never reached the empty eyes. "Good night, Ranma." Nodoka stepped in the corridor and closed the door. She stood there for a while to listen. All she could hear was Ranma changing his clothes and lying on the futon. She walked to the living-room and found Genma sitting by the table. "Genma, dear. Ranma is very upset, so don't try to say anything stupid to him, ok?" Nodoka looked at her husband. Genma blushed a bit at the Nodoka's comment. After all he had tried to talk about the other fiancées. "Of course not..." Something in her husbands behaviour made Nodoka frown at him. She shrugged the feeling off. She had to be there for her son. -End of prologue [A/N] The idea to this fic came when I read the manga the other afternoon... Akane always yelled at Ranma not pick on poor Ryouga or her P-chan. I started thinking that Akane was really dense and blind as a bat. What if she had actually found out about Ryouga a little after the Saffron-fight. Here you see the results. [A/N] Chapter 1 - Ranma slowly woke up as he felt somebody shaking him. "Ranma?" It was his mother. A flashback of Ryouga and Akane flashed in his head causing a headache. "Mom, I'm awake, I'm awake..." Nodoka let go of Ranma. "Good," she smiled at him. "Now, get changed and come for breakfest, before your father hogs everything." She went to the living-room to set the table. She sa Genma walking towards Ranma's room. "Where are you going dear?" "Uh... The boy needs his morning spar." Genma started sneaking away. Nodoka stood up and grabbed Genma's gi. "He doesn't need your help to make things any worse!" Genma tried to mutter something back. Nodoka pushed him next to the table. "Sit _down_!" "Hey, what's with the fuss?" Ranma walked into the living-room. "Oh, nothing." Nodoka beamed at Ranma and laid three bowls on the table. "Eat quickly, you don't want to be late from school do you?" Ranma sat next to his father and took the bowl. Instead of inhaling his food as usual, he actually eated slowly in civilised manners. That made Nodoka worry even more. Genma tried to steal some food from Ranma, but quicly withdrew his chopsticks as he saw the angry glare Nodoka gave him. He sighed and inhaled the rest of his breakfest. "Thanks, mom." Ranma stood up, leaving the bowl empty. thought Nodoka and watched as Ranma headed towards the door and put his shoes on. "Itte mairimasu!" Ranma shouted as he disappeared from the house. "Itte rasshai..." said Nodoka watching the door. Ranma ran along the road and turned right, away from his normal route to school. The last thing he wanted to see at the moment was Akane and Ryouga. He crossed a bridge and jumped on a fence. The fence that he usually used was oppiste of the river. He looked at the road that he used to run along with Akane. Ranma wanted to start all over again, but Akane never left his mind. Ranma sighed and kept on running. Ranma grinned at himself. He picked up the pace and ran to school yard. When Ranma entered the class - alone - everybody started whispering and trying to guess what they had been fighting about this time. Ranma sat on his place. He could hear everything the others were talking about. "Wonder what he did this time..." "I bet he insulted her cookings" "If I only were in his place..." "Maybe Akane is sick." "Why is Akane always angry at him..." "Akane is so lucky." "If I were Ranma..." "No wonder she always gets angry at him..." "kawaikunee..." "What a hunk..." Ranma sighed. Hiroshi and Daisuke came to talk to him. "Yo Ranma, where's Akane?" asked Daisuke. "Yeah, what did ya do this time?" added Hiroshi. Ranma never got the chance to reply, when Akane and Ryouga walked in. The whole class fell silent. Ranma found the ceiling very interesting as Akane and Ryouga walked by. Soon the whispering began again. Ranma wished that he could be anywhere else. He smelled a familiar scent. "Hello everybody!" Ms Hinako stepped in the class. She eyed everybody and was unpleased to see that everyone ignored her. "Pay attention!" She yelled and took a coin from her pocket. Everybody fell silent in an instant. "That's much better... Now, before we start the lesson, I have an announcement to make. We have a new student in our class, would you please get up and introduce yourself?" "H-Hai..." Ryouga stood up. Ranma saw that he had taken a seat next to Akane. "Um, I'm Hibiki Ryouga. Hi everybody." Nobody greeted Ryouga, they were too busy wondering what was his relationship with Akane. Ukyo looked at Ranma, who was staring at the ceiling with a dark impression on his face. She looked at Ryouga and Akane. Something just didn't feel right. "Now..." Hinako started talking again. "Open your math books. Lets see your homeworks." Ranma opened his books. He hadn't done his homeworks, he had had other things in his mind yesterday. He waited for Hinako to check his homeworks. "Saotome, haven't you done your homeworks?" Ranma shook his head as a reply. "Why you... Delinquent! Go stand in the hall." Ukyo seized the chance to talk to Ranma and told that she hadn't done hers either. Soon both of them were standing outside the classroom holding buckets of water. Ukyo looked at Ranma. "Ran-chan, what's going on?" Ranma didn't answer her. "Come on Ran-chan, you can tell me." Ranma muttered something so quiet, that Ukyo had troubles hearing it. "Wha? Ryouga and Akane?" Ranma nodded. Ukyo knew she should have been happy that now there was one fiancée less to Ranma, but Ranma's behaviour made her worry about him. "Ran-chan... You okay." "I... No." Ranma looked at the floor. Ukyo couldn't find the words. She put the other bucket on the floor and laid her hand on Ranma's shoulder. He didn't try to push it away. They were still untill Hinako let them back inside. When the lunchbreak began, Ranma went outside, sitting under a tree. The news had spread and now everybody knew that he wasnt engaged to Akane anymore. Ranma looked around only to see that everybody were talking and pointing or looking at his or Akane's and Ryouga's direction. He leaned against the tree and closed his eyes. "Nihao Ranma!" Shampoo landed next to him with her bike. "Shampoo bring ramen to airen." Shampoo jumped off the bike and kneeled next to Ranma. "Here." "No thanks, Shampoo." Ranma said, eyes still closed. "Airen not hungry?" Shampoo looked at the ramen and shrugged. She glomped Ranma, who didn't do anything to move. He didn't react at all. Shampoo looked at Ranma. "What wrong with airen?" Ranma explained everything to Shampoo. Shampoo hugged him again. "Ranma happy now that the violent girl outta the way?" Suddenly Ranma pushed Shampoo away. Shampoo saw anger in his eyes, she had never seen Ranma this mad at her before. "Don't talk about her like that!" The whole school had stoped talking and were now staring at them. Shampoo stood up slowly, her legs trembling. She cycled away muttering something that she would be back when airen feel better. Ranma looked after Shampoo, untill she had turned around the corner. He closed his eyes again. *** Akane was eating with Ryouga when she heard a shout 'Don't talk about her like that!'. She looked at the direction of the voice. It was Ranma. He had pushed Shampoo away. She saw Shampoo cycling away and Ranma calming down a little. "Um... Ryouga?" "I'll go talk to him." Ryouga stood up. "No... Let me do it." Akane put her lunchbox on the ground and walked towards Ranma. She could feel everybodys eyes on her back. She sat close to him on the grass. "Ranma?" Ranma opened his eyes and looked at Akane. His face lightened up, "Akane." "Ranma, I'm sorry..." Ranma's face darkened, he stood up ready to leave. "There's nothing to be sorry about." "Ranma... I never wanted to hurt you." Ranma looked at Akane and she saw the hurt in his eyes. "I... You can't decide who you fall in love with." Ranma clenthed his fists and looked at the grass. "I'm sorry... I love Ryouga." "I know..." Ranma walked towards the school. "Ranma! Will you forgive me?" "There is nothing to forgive." Ranma entered the school, leaving Akane sitting on the grass. Ryouga walked to Akane. "He's taking it pretty hard, huh?" Akane nodded and took Ryouga's hand. He pulled Akane up. "I'm not just used too se him sad..." Akane hugged Ryouga. Ryouga thought. Ryouga was happy, he had finally beaten Ranma. Akane loved _him_. Life was good. *** When Ranma entered the classroom, Hiroshi and Daisuke tried to cheer him up, without any luck. They gave up and instead asked about Ryouga and Akane. Ranma telled them the same he had told to Shampoo. "Oh..." Daisuke muttered. "That... sucks." Hiroshi nodded in agreement. "We would have never guessed, ouch..." Daiske had stepped on his toes. "Uh, well, would you like to go to see the movie today?" "No thanks, guys, but thanks anyway." Ranma lifted his feet on the desk. Hiroshi and Daisuke sighed. This wasnt the Ranma they knew. The Ranma who was always happy and always paniced about any questions about Akane. This Ranma was a stranger. "So, you're living with your mother?" asked Hiroshi. "Yeah... It's kinda weird to live somewhere else again." Ranma sighed, "The Tendo house felt like home." For the rest of the lunchbreak Hiroshi and Daisuke tried to cheer Ranma and start conversations. They wished they would see a glimpse of the old Ranma. *** "Hi Ran-chan!" Ukyo caught up with Ranma when the school ended. "Oh, hi Ucchan." Ranma stopped and greeted his friend. "Um, are you hungry? I could make you some okonomiyaki." "Sure..." Ranma wasnt really in the mood to eat, but he needed to talk with somebody and who would be a better person to talk than your best friend. Ukyo led Ranma to her restaurant. "One special okonomiyaki coming up!" She shouted as Ranma sat, facing her. Soon the okonomiyaki was ready. "Here you go, Ran-chan." Ukyo threw the okonomiyaki on Ranma's plate. "Thanks..." Ranma started eating slowly. Ukyo looked at Ranma. Something was terribly wrong, he always eated her okonomiyaki in a few seconds. "Ran-chan... Want to talk about it?" Ranma swallowed a bite of okonomiyaki and nodded. "Yeah..." Ranma told Ukyo the same thing he had told the others. "And now I'm living at my moms house..." Ukyo had never even thought that Akane would love somebody else than Ranma. She was sad to admit it, but she knew that Ranma loved Akane, anyone could have seen it from the way he was hurting. "Ran-chan... Whatever happens. I'm here for you." Ranma swallowed. It was hard to say it, but he knew he had to tell her the truth. "Ukyo..." Ukyo winced a little. Ranma had never called her Ukyo before. Something was wrong. "You have always been my best friend..." Ukyo looked at the okonomiyaki grill. She knew what was coming. All the time she had knew it, but never wanted to admit that it was true. "And you still are." Ranma took Ukyo's hand. "But I'm sorry, you... I can never think you in any other way than a friend." A tear fell down on Ukyo's cheek. Ranma had said it. Her hopes and dreams were crushed. She didn't want to lose Ranma, but she wanted to be more than a friend to him. "Ucchan..." Ranma wiped a tear from her cheek. "Please, I don't want to lose you too." Ukyo managed to smile a weak smile and she wiped her eyes. "I... I said I'll be here for you. If I can only be close to you as a friend... Friends?" Ranma jumped over the counter and hugged Ukyo. "Thank you... Thankyouthankyouthankyou." Slowly Ukyo returned the hug. "You don't know how much this means to me..." He let go off Ukyo slowly. "Want another okonomiyaki?" Ukyo tried to smile again, this time she succeeded. Ranma chuckled a little. "Sure." He sat on his place again. Soon he was eating another okonomiyaki, with a little more speed than before. "Want to talk more about it?" Ukyo asked and took Ranma's hand. "Okay..." "What about Shampoo?" Ranma looked at the wall. "I don't know..." "Did... Did she ever had even a chance?" Ranma shook his head. "No... She's... I dunno. I wish she could be my friend too, but I guess that's too much to hope for. And I really... I don't want any fiancées at the moment. "You really loved Akane, didn't you?" Ukyo caught Ranma's eyes. Slowly Ranma nodded. "Yeah... I still do." At that moment Ukyo cursed Ryouga in her head. Now there was nothing else left in her life but okonomiyaki. she thought. She would not let Ranma shut himself from everyone. "Why..." Ranma closed his eyes, fighting back the tears. "Akane..." Ukyo hugged Ranma and made soothing noises. "It's okay..." Ranma clenthed his fists. Men didn't cry. *** Three days later: Ranma ran on the fence. He had overslept a bit and now he had to run full-speed. Finally he could see her. Ukyo was waiting for him in front of her restaurant. "Hiya Ucchan!" He jumped off the fence and ran side by side with Ukyo. "Hi Ran-chan..." Ukyo smiled at him. "Overslept again?" Ranma nodded as they ran trough the school gate. Akane and Ryouga were still the main topic of the gossips, but slowly the fuss started to settle down. Now that Ranma was no longer engaged with anyone (he had made it sure to Shampoo and Cologne that he could never marry Shampoo), there were many girls who wanted to get their part of him. If you looked at Ranma quickly, he would look happy, but if you look closely you'll see the eyes. The eyes are filled with pain and hurt. He had tried to look happy - he never liked anyone pitying him - but every time he saw Akane or Ryouga he went quiet and distant. It always took a few hours for him to gather himself up. Ranma and Ukyo had changed to another class, because Ranma was just too depressed when he was in the same room and he had to watch Ryouga and Akane. Ranma was relieved when Kuno had given up fighting for him, but he didn'r fight Ryouga though. Kuno still got hots for Ranma's girl-form, but that wasnt a big problem for Ranma - he would just kick Kuno out of the school grounds. Ranma and Ukyo got into the classroom with plenty of time to spare before their teacher, Mr. Araki would come. Ranma and Ukyo took their seats. A small group of boys gathered around blushing Ukyo and a quite large group of girls surrounded Ranma. "Hi Ranma..." said Arisa. She had been on Ranma since the day after the broken engagement, like all the other girls. She had long black hairs and bright, green eyes. She moved closer to Ranma. "Uh, hi..." Ranma answered. Soon the girls strated bombing him with questions and trying to get him to go on a date. "Wanna go see a movie with me sometime?" "Like my dress?" "Here, I made you lunch." "What's up?" "Want to go 'n grab a bite after school?" "I heard about this new play..." "Would you like to teach some martial arts to me sometimes?" "Have you seen my new..." The boys were jealous for Ranma, since he had all the girls attention and seemed to be totally oblivious about it. They often teased him asking who did she like the most from all the girls, but Ranma always went quiet. The others always thought that he was just shy or something. *** At the lunchbreak Ranma was sitting under the tree, he always spent the break there. He was waiting for Hiroshi and Daisuke when Ryouga turned up. "Ranma?" Ryouga stood next to him. "Yeah?" Ranma answered coldly. "Akane and I were wondering if..." Ryouga sat next to him. "If you could be my bestman?" Ranma's eyes widened. "Bestman?" Ryouga nodded. "We are getting married in two weeks... You're the only one I could think of." Ranma looked away. "I..." "Please..." Ryouga said quietly. "It means a lot to Akane." Ranma closed his eyes. "I'll... I'll think about it." "Thanks..." Ryouga stood up and left. Ranma clentched his fists. He could feel his eyes getting hotter. He punched the ground several times. "Akane..." He remembered Ryouga's words. 'It means a lot to Akane.' Ranma couldn't believe that they were actually going to get married this soon. He didn't know if he could watch it happen. The woman he loved marrying another man. Ranma needed to talk to Ukyo. She always helped Ranma sort out his feelings. He stood up and left looking for her. -End of chapter 1 [A/N] o_0 Bwahaha... You people must be a bit surprised at that... Read on. -Mazena (ranma-kun@sunpoint.net or mazena@sunpoint.net) [A/N] Chapter 2 - The Wedding Ranma thought as he watched Ryouga dressing. Ranma was wearing the white tuxedo he was going to wear when he and Akane almost got married. Ryouga had a black tuxedo and a red rose on his chest. Ranma couldnt help thinking that he could have been the one. He sighed deeply. "Well, how do I look?" asked Ryouga and turned to Ranma. Ranma muttered something about the tux being okay. He stood up and left the room where he and his father had stayed before moving out of the Tendo house. He looked at the door which had a wooden suck hanging on it. He fought the urge to run into her room and just hold her, instead he walked downstairs. Kasumi was in the kitchen preparing food for the guests. Nabiki was calculating the costs and made sure everyone brought a gift for the couple. Soun was too busy crying, to do something else. Happosai was already drunk. Ranma watched as people drifted into the dojo. He felt a hand land on his shoulder. He saw Kasumi smiling at him. "Welcome back Ranma..." "Thanks, Kasumi." Ranma looked back at the dojo. "Ranma... Thanks for doing this. It-It must be really hard for you. Thank you." "It's nothing." Ranma sighed. Ranma was surprised when Kasumi hugged him. "I'm sorry you have to go trough this..." Ranma was unsure what to say, he had never seen Kasumi like this. She was always happy, never sad or angry. "I- Um... I'm okay." Kasumi slowly let go of Ranma and looked into his eyes, "This really means a lot to Akane." Ranma looked down. "I know." "I guess I should be getting ready..." He took a little box from his pocket and opened it. There was the wedding ring. It was golden and on top of it there were two golden dolphins. Thier eyes were made of diamonds. Ranma had to admit that the ring was beautiful. He closed the box and slipped it back to his pocket. He stepped out. *** Ranma was standing at the altal next to nervous Ryouga. Ranma was surprised that he wasnt nervous, he had hope. Maybe Akane would say no, but the reason in his head told him otherwise. He checked his pocket, the box was still there. He looked around the dojo. They had invited a lot of people. The Tendo family and Ranma's mother and father were sitting on the right, first row. Ranma saw that Soun was crying and Kasumi was patting him on the shoulder and trying to calm him down. Nabiki was sitting next to Kasumi, looking happy, nervous and bored at the same time. Ranma couldn't read anything from his mothers face. His father was looking rather confused. Ranma looked at the row on the left. He was quite surprised that Akane and Ryouga had invited the amazons to the wedding. Shampoo was trying to reach Ranma's eyes. Mousse was doing his best to please Shampoo, which made her annoyed to him. Ranma realized that Cologne was trying to read his emotions and he did his best not to show any. Next to the amazons were Ukyo, Tsubasa, Konatsu and Akari and her sumo-pig. Ukyo had a sad look on her face and she was looking at Ranma. Tsubasa and Konatsu were on each others throats, fighting for Ukyo. Akari was crying on her sumo-pigs chest and the pig was looking angrily at Ryouga. Ranma felt sorry for Akari, they were both watching as their loves were marrying each other. Ranma also saw his old teahcer Hinako, his old classmates and lots of other people he had get to know in the two years he had spent living at the Tendo's. He saw Hiroshi and Daisuke drooling towards Shampoo and Ukyo (Ukyo was wearing a dress for a change). That brought a small smile on his face. When had he smiled last time? He couldn't remember. It was propably sometime before he had heard about the wedding. The people were settling down. The bride would come in any moment. Ranma gasped a little when he saw Akane in her wedding dress. The fact that it wasnt him that she was marrying soon made him feel worse. Each step Akane took closer to the altar, looking at Ryouga ripped a part of Ranma's heart away. He clenthed his fists, but managed to keep his face calm as Ryouga took Akane's hands. Ranma didn't hear what the priest was talking. He just stared at Akane. Ranma worked on autopilot-mode. He didn't even notice when he had given the ring to Ryouga. He distantly heard two voices saying 'I do' and saw them putting the rings on. When Ryouga and Akane kissed, the final hope was crushed and he could feel something inside him leave. Ranma joined the aplauses with everyone else. Ryouga and Akane walked out of the dojo holding hands and laughing. Ranma didn't. He watched as the people started to move back in to the house to celebrate the couple. It started raining. Ranma stepped in the rain. Her suit was now too big for her. He looked at the house, listened the voices and considered joining them. Ranma-chan went back in the dojo. She started doing slow katas, not noticing it. Her wet suit was pressing on her skin. She tripped on her suits leg. She didn't do any effort to stop the falling. Ranma-chan hit her chin on the dojo's floor. She got up sitting and buried her face in her hands. Men didn't cry. She was a girl now. Ranma-chan felt the supressed sorrow finally finding its way out. The sobs shivered her body. *** Nabiki cursed under her umbrella. Everyone had been wondering where Ranma had gone and she had been picked to find him. She would have prefered being in the house celebrating just like everybody else. Nabiki hadn't found Ranma from the house. She was walking towards the dojo. She looked in anyway. Nabiki saw a small figure curled up in a ball sobbing on the floor. But the used to be white tuxedo proved otherwise. "Ranma? Is that you?" The small figure didn't answer. Nabiki swithced the lights on and gasped. It _was_ Ranma. There wasnt anybody else in Nerima who had red hair tied in a pigtail. "Ra-Ranma?" Ranma-chan turned her head and looked at the intruder. Nabiki saw that her eyes were red and her lower lip was trembling a bit. "Oh... Hi Nabiki." Nabiki kneeled next to Ranma-chan. "What's wrong?" "Nothing, I guess..." "Come on... You can tell me." Nabiki said in comforting tone. "Why? So that all of you can make fun of me?" "No..." Nabiki put her right arm around Ranma-chan's shoulders. "I understand..." "Why did you ask then?" "I... Uh... Ranma, everybody are worried about you." Nabiki gave Ranma a tissue. "Th-Thanks..." Ranma-chan wiped her eyes. "Come on..." Nabiki tried to say in a cheerful voice. "Lets get you changed." Ranma-chan waited fror a while and nodded. "Ok..." She stood up and let Nabiki lead her back in to the house. Nabiki left Ranma-chan in her old room. "Wait here, I'll bring you some hot water." Ranma-chan looked around. The room looked almost the same it had when she had been living there. The only difference was Ryouga's souvenirs and backpack scattered in the room. She sighed and felt another tear escaping. She wiped it away quickly, when she heard Nabiki coming back with a kettle. Nabiki laid the kettle on the floor. "There you go. Your clothes should be in the closet." She pointed to Ranma-chans right side. "Well, hurry downstairs..." Nabiki closed the door. Ranma wasnt behaving like he usually did. Nabiki sighed. She had never seen Ranma so depressed and she had never felt so helpless. She didn't know what to say or do. She joined the party. Ranma-chan poured the hot water on herself. He threw the wet and dirty tux away and took his normal oufit. Ranma took a few deep breaths and opened the door. He passed at the bathroom to check his face. He went downstairs. The first person who came by was drunk Happosai. "Oh..." Happosai staggered at Ranma's direction. "Hi my boy... I'm sorry that you didn't become the heir... But yer still my best pupil if that..." Ranma threw Happosai upstairs. Ranma looked in the living-room, where everybody were. He leaned on the doorframe. He saw Akane and Ryouga eating the weddingcake. Soun and Genma were too busy drinking sake to notice what was going around them. Mousse was trying to get Cologne dancing with him. "Shampoo! Would you like to dance with me?" Mousse pleaded Cologne without glasses. Cologne sighed and put his glasses back. Mousse leaned closer to Cologne. "Huh? Dried up mummy?" "Who are you calling a mummy?" Cologne hit Mousse on the head, though not as hard as she usually did, it was wedding after all. Ranma stayed put for an hour and watched as people danced in the room. Ukyo walked to him and smiled. "Would you like to dance?" Ranma shrugged. "Sure." Ukyo grabbed his arm. "But I'm leading." Ukyo giggled a bit as they moved across the floor. She still hoped that Ranma would realize that she was the one for him. Ukyo rested her head on Ranma's shoulder. For a while she thought that Ranma was going to push it away, but he didn't. Ukyo was mad at Akane. Ukyo had seen how hurt he had looked during the ceremony. When the dance stopped Ranma went back to his place and leaned on the doorframe again. He was surprised to see that Shampoo was dancing with Mousse. Ranma smiled a little. He looked to the right and saw Akane walking towards him. He swallowed as Akane stopped in front of him and smiled. "It's good to see you smile..." Akane looked in his eyes and felt a cold shiver. "Um, want to dance?" Ranma's smile faded. "I..." He looked on the floor. "A-Akane... I can't. I'm sorry." "But Ranma..." Akane stepped a bit closer. "I-I... I love you." Ranma said and ran away. Akane stood at the door and watched as Ranma-chan disappeared in the rain. She had no idea Ranma would take it so hard. She turned around and saw Ukyo glaring at her. She sighed and returned to her husband. *** Ranma-chan was in her room. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, but her clothes had already dried. She heard her mother and father returning from the wedding, someone coming up the stairs and opening the door. Nodoka walked towards her son. Something looked different. He was smaller, his hair was red and he had breasts. It wasn't Ranma. "Ranko-chan?" Ranm-chan looked up. "Hi auntie Nodoka." "Ranko..." "Auntie... There is something I need to tell you." Ranma-chan wasn't scared anymore. She felt that there was no reason for her to keep on living. "Could you get me some hot water?" "Uh... Sure, wait here Ranko-chan." Nodoka stood up and left. After a few minutes, she returned with a kettle and a glass. "I don't need the glass." Ranma-chan smiled and took the kettle for her mother. "Before I tell you, promise that you wont do anything to Genma." "What? What did he do to you? I'm gonna..." "He didn't do nothing to me... Not on purpose anyway. Please, promise me." "Okay, I promise, Ranko." Nodoka muttered. Ranma-chan nodded. "Okay mom... Look carefully." Nodoka looked as 'Ranko' poured hot water on herself and turned into Ranma. She took a step back. "Ra- Ranma?" Ranma looked at his mother sadly. "Hi mom..." Nodoka took another step back. "You're... You're Ranko?" "Yup... We're the one 'n' the same." "But... How?" Ranma sighed and started to tell her the story about Jusenkyo. "...and when I came back to the surface... I was a girl." Nodoka swallowed. She remembered the promise her husband had did. Ranma wasnt a man among men, he was half-girl. She knew she couldn't kill Ranma, not after she had just found him. She would get her husband for doing this to her son. Ranma saw the look on his mothers face. "Mom... You promised." Nodoka sighed, "Ok, Ranma..." "What about..." Ranma hesitated for a moment. "the seppuku?" Nodoka hugged her son. "Ranma... I- I couldn't force you to do it. Not after I just found you again!" Ranma was a little sad that he didn't have an excuse to kill himself, but was happy that his mother accepted him the way he was. "Mom..." Ranma let go of Nodoka. "I would like to get some sleep..." Nodoka stood up and wiped some tears away. "Ok... Good night." She closed the door and went to talk to her husband. Ranma opened his drawer and took a small box. He opened it and took a bunch of hairs tied with a pink ribbon. Ranma felt like he could do a perfect shishi-hoko-dan. Ranma shook his head. he didn't want to be like Ryouga. He wanted Akane to love him. The way he was. Ranma remembered the day he had arrived at the Tendo house. Everybody had been shocked that he had been a girl. Except Akane. Then she had found out that he actually was a boy. He heard Akane's shouts in his head. 'Freak!' 'Pervert!' 'Idiot!' 'Cross-dresser!' 'Insensitive jerk!' Ranma lied on his futon, thinking about Akane. He fell asleep, still holding Akane's hair. It had been a rough day for him. He had lost his true love and his heart had been broken in shards. During that night, Ranma smiled in his sleep. He dreamed about the good old days when he still lived with the Tendo's. How Akane would mallet him in to the koi pond and would be mad at him, but they would always make up. He didn't want to wake up into the reality never again. -End of chapter 2 [A/N] Sad... Let's see how the things develope. =P -Mazena (ranma-kun@sunpoint.net or mazena@sunpoint.net)