Akane por siempre [FanFic]

[Oscar Octavio Mascare~as Garza]

Akane por siempre

He could not sleep, he felt as if he was in a dream world, like noth-
ing was real at all. He was sitting on his futon, his arms around his legs
and his chin over his knees. Akane was dead and he couldn't accept it. He
felt a big void in his chest, a void that devoured all of his energies and
sapped his will. It was well past midnight and he couldn't sleep at all. He
rose from the futon and went into Akane's room. Everything was just the
way it was in the morning.
Akane was in her bed, her face pale. Kasumi and a doctor were by
her side and Dr. Tofu was speaking with everyone downstairs.
"I don't get it, she has always been so healthy, she has never been
in bed because of a disease"
"I don't understand either Soun, she is getting weaker every day but
neither I nor other doctors seem to find what kind of disease she has"
"But there must be something we can do, Dr. Tofu"
Ranma's face was full of anguish as he spoke to Dr. Tofu, but there was
nothing that could be done that hadn't been done already. Then Kasumi
came running down the stairs. Her eyes were full of tears, she searched
for Dr. Tofu arms to comfort her.
"Kasumi what has happened...?"
Kasumi looked into Dr. Tofu's eyes; there was only reason for such sor-
row.
"Akane"
Ranma yelled as he went upstairs into Akane's room. The doctor was ap-
plying an injection right into Akane's heart, then he proceeded to massage
her heart. Ranma stood in the door, unable to do anything for Akane, un-
able to leave her. After a few minutes that felt like an eternity, the doctor
stopped massaging her heart. Ranma rushed into the room, told the doc-
tor to continue, the doctor looked into Ranma's eyes and told him that
there was nothing he could do. Ranma hugged Akane's body, whispering
into her ear.
"Don't leave me baka..., please"
Genma placed his hand on Ranma's shoulder
"It's over son"
Ranma couldn't stand it. Akane was dead, and he never told her how
much he loved her, how important she was for him. He ran out of the
room, feeling like there was a weight in his heart, he jumped into the
Tendo's pond, then on a nearby roof and cried until she had no more tears
in her.
Everything in Akane's room was exactly like he remembered it. He
heard a sound and for a moment expected Akane to enter the room and
yell at him for intruding. The mere thought warmed up his heart a little, but
Akane didn't open the door. Then he heard it again, this time he focused
into the noise direction, he turned to face the window, and there she was,
exactly the way he remembered, dressed in her yellow pajamas like she
was before she, before she... This must be a dream, Ranma thought to
himself, but he felt happy to see Akane, dream or no dream.
"Let me in"
Ranma opened the window to let her in, she jumped in and hugged
Ranma. She was cold like the night. Ranma closed the window.

Ranma was so warm, she could feel his warm body in her arms.
She could hear his strong heart. She loved him, she loved him with every
fiber of her very being and she needed him so bad it hurted.

"Akane, I'm so happy, but..."
Akane placed her lips against Ranma's lips. After a long kiss she started
to kiss his neck, slowly caressing his young skin. Then she bit him. In that
moment Ranma understand it all, why Akane became chronically anemic
in just one week, why the doctors couldn't find a cure, but he didn't care.
As long as Akane was with him, he would give her even the last drop of
his blood.

His blood was so warm and sweet, she felt a rush after tasting the
first drop, she wanted to taste it all. But then having his warm body by his
side awakened a feeling deep inside her, a feeling she had tried to deny
for so long. She then stopped her feeding and hugged Ranma as if she
was afraid he would run if she allowed him.
"I'm afraid Ranma" she whispered softly into his ear, "I'm afraid of
myself, afraid that I may hurt you"

On a near rooftop Happosai was arguing with a man in black robes.
"So it was your doing "
"Yes old man, but I did it for your own sake" he said with a wicked
smile in his face
"What do you mean?" Happosai eyes were burning with anger
"Living with your students has made you soft at heart, you aren't
the Happosai I remember"
"That's why you killed Akane" his voice was filled with anger about
to explode
"I didn't old man. I gave her a gift"
"A gift?" Happosai questioned, choosing to control his anger for a
moment
"Yes, a gift that will destroy the life of your students"
Happosai couldn't stand it anymore. He attacked the black robed man with
all his might, but was skillfully deflected.
"As I said, you are not half the Happosai I knew. Enjoy the misery
that I have prepared for you and your kin, rest assured that I will"
After ending his statement he disappeared into the thin air.

Already a week had gone by. Everyone had a different attitude to-
wards Akane. Kasumi was shocked at first but when she saw Akane was
hurt by her reaction she accepted her without giving it further thought.
Nabiki accepted her but showed no emotions toward her. Soun was glad
to have her daughter back. Genma was very uneasy near Akane, and had
an argument with Ranma for letting her feed on him. The sun had disap-
peared from the sky about half an hour ago and Ranma was going into
Akane's bedroom. He was weak but didn't want it to show in front of
Akane, so he hid any feeling of weakness. He entered Akane's room,
which hadn't changed that much, only the window crystal was changed for
an opaque crystal. But she wasn't there; there was only a note and an
open window.

Akane was in a rooftop. Even tough Ranma had tried to hide it; it
was obvious that he was growing weaker every day. It didn't matter how
strong he was or how much she tried to control her hunger, she could not
continue to feed from him forever. She might kill him. The bare thought
sent a chill down her spine. She wasn't even sure if he would also return
from the dead if she drained him completely. So far the part about the sun-
light had proven painfully accurate and also the rapid healing, but she had
never had bite marks in her neck, she could see herself perfectly in a mir-
ror and she could feel her heart beat in her chest so she had no idea how
or if she really had become a vampire in the first place. Anyway she must
feed on someone else's blood for Ranma's sake.

Meanwhile Genma and Soun were sitting by the Tendo yard.
"Don't you think Happosai has been acting kind of strange lately?"
"Yes Soun, he hasn't gone out in his nightly raids since Akane's ...
change"
"Do you think he is somehow connected?"
"I think so Tendo"
"Yes my students, I'm somehow connected to the events that have
taken place in the dojo. But not in the way you may think"

Shampoo was in a roof near the Nekohanten. She was thinking
about Ranma and Akane. But now Ranma would surely be Shampoo's
husband. Even tough she wondered why Ranma was smiling every time
she saw him. Even Shampoo was sad because of Akane's death; why
was Ranma happy? Then Shampoo felt as if she was being observed.
She looked around but saw no one.
"Who spying Shampoo?"
But no one answered. Then, out of nowhere, a figure jumped on the roof-
top. It was Akane, but that couldn't be, Akane was dead. Akane slowly
moved towards Shampoo without saying a word but with her gaze fixed on
Shampoo. Shampoo felt a chill all over her body.
"Stay away"
But Akane continued to get near Shampoo. Shampoo thought, if she is an
apparition trying to harm Shampoo, Shampoo will defend herself. Sham-
poo charged towards Akane.

Something was wrong. Shampoo's attacks were slow and weak,
this was not the Shampoo she remembered. She then realized it. Sham-
poo hadn't changed, she had. No time to think about it right now, she felt
the hunger grow inside her, she had barely tasted any of Ranma's blood
the past two days, she had to feed. She swiftly placed her arms around
Shampoo immobilizing her. Shampoo looked into Akane's eyes trying to
see if it was really Akane or a monster that had taken Akane's appear-
ance. They only thing she saw was the eyes of an animal about to feed on
her prey. Akane bit deep into Shampoo's neck sucking with delight every
drop of blood. Shampoo tried to break free from the bear hug but her
strength was no match.

Shampoo was ashamed. She felt ashamed because she was de-
feated, helpless and feeling fear. She was genuinely afraid for her life.
"Akane, please, stop"
But Akane or whatever this being was didn't stop. Shampoo started to get
dizzy. Her sight started to blur.

Akane suddenly realized that Shampoo had stopped her feeble at-
tempts to free herself. She had drained her until she lost consciousness.
She reached for her throat to check if she still had any pulse. She was
alive but her pulse was weak. There was no time to lose. She grabbed her
and jumped to the nearest cop station. She told the cops that some thugs
attacked them, stole all their money, that her friend had a weak heart and
couldn't stand it. The ambulance arrived some time later. Akane jumped
into the ambulance. But as soon as she reached the hospital, she left and
started her way back. She had to reach her home, it will be a few hours
before sunrise.

"So that's it" said Soun.
"An ancient technique that mixes acupuncture and herbalism
knowledge" said Genma
"Yes, to be more precise it requires the injection of rare herbs into
the blood stream and the precise amount of pressure in some points of the
chest and head. Even tough the procedure can be completed rather
quickly"
"But who is this man and why he did this to Akane?" Said Soun
"I met him a longtime ago. He had perfected even further this an-
cient technique. The subject no longer suffered from negative side effects
and didn't needed to feed upon human blood; he could feed directly upon
the life energy of his victims"
"Like miss Hinako does" Said Genma
"Exactly. As a matter of fact I stole from him a scroll in which he
had placed the knowledge of this improved technique. But the scroll I stole
was an unfinished version. He does not require hollow coins or the like to
channel his power; his body doesn't burn quickly the energy he absorbs,
instead he stores it and his powers cannot be cancelled. So he is indeed a
formidable foe, hundreds of year old, yet with the vitality of a teenager and
a strength that has slowly increased with the centuries."
"So he used Akane to get his revenge on you old letch" Said
Ranma with anger in his voice
"Ah, Ranma, down so soon"
"Tell me, can Akane become normal again?" Ranma's fury was
held in check only by the hope he felt
"There is a chance my boy, he has a rather large amount of manu-
scripts. Therefore you must go to a very remote section of the Hokkaido
island where he lives and bring me all of his manuscripts. Otherwise great
misfortune will come to the Tendo household"
"Then we must go" said Akane. Everyone was scared half to death
when Akane appeared apparently out of nowhere.
"No Akane, it is too dangerous and you may die if sunlight touches
you" said Ranma
"I will go and there is no power on earth that will prevent me from
following you if you leave me behind" said Akane rather conclusively.
"Ranma, you are a mess, you are the one who should stay" Said
Soun
"You are so weak even Nabiki could beat you at arm-wrestling"
added Genma
"Am not!"
"Dare to try it" said Nabiki, apparently enjoying every word.
After three painfully decisive defeats Akane interrupted them.
"We should give him a week to rest, he will be as good as new"
"But Akane, are you sure you can ... manage?" Said Kasumi
"Don't worry sister" Said Akane.
Nabiki picked one of the glasses of cold tea that Kasumi had placed on
the table and threw it at Genma
"Hey Akane, pandas have lots of blood you know"
The panda showed a sign
"Thin as water, I swear"
"Nabiki, how can you even suggest it?" said Akane
"Then how exactly do you plan to survive this week?"
"I .. I .. I" Akane stared at the floor for a few seconds and then ran
into the yard and jumped out of sight.
"Nabiki, you were too rude" said Kasumi with an angry voice
"Someone had to ask her directly" She answered without remorse

Next day Ranma awakened at about 8 AM. Thanks goodness it is
Saturday he thought. He covered his eyes. The sun light was too bright
this morning. He asked Nabiki to lend him her shades, Nabiki gladly ac-
cepted, for a moderate fee of course. Then he decided to give Shampoo a
visit at the Nekohanten. When Ranma arrived he found it closed. "How
strange", he said to himself. Then he saw Cologne walking around the
corner towards the Nekohanten.
"Good morning, son-in-law"
"Why is the Nekohanten closed, has something happened?"
"Let's get inside, there I will tell you everything"
After hearing Cologne's story Ranma was uneasy. What should he
do?. Should he tell Cologne about Akane?. No that wasn't the ticket,
maybe he should make her think there was a monster that could
shapechange and... Then he felt Cologne's eyes examining his face.
"You don't look very good son-in-law"
"who me, no, err, is just that I have not felt all right lately I have.."
"felt weak son-in-law"
"Mhh, yes, must have been something I ate"
"In case you are interested I have some herbs that can help you
regain you stamina"
"Herbs?"
"As a matter of fact I gave the same herbs to Shampoo, she will be
out of the hospital in no time"
"Are you trying to trick to me to eat some passion spice or some-
thing like that?"
"If you don't want it just say so son-in-law"
Damn, he thought. He was playing right into Cologne's hands. But if those
herbs worked as she said then they could go to Hokkaido sooner.
Ranma arrived late that afternoon at the dojo feeling much better
after eating at Ucchan and wandering thru Nerima recollecting his
thoughts . He also felt very hungry so he went directly to the kitchen to eat
something, but Kasumi said that dinner would be ready any minute so he
went to the dining room. Kuno and Ukyou were in the dinner table speak-
ing to Soun.
"Hey, what are you two doing here" Said Ranma
"Tell us Ranma, is it true?" Said Kuno
"What are you talking about"
"Is Akane alive?"
"Are you nuts?"
"Don't lie to me, Cologne told me something about Akane badly in-
juring Shampoo, what is happening here Saotome Ranma?"
"And what about going to Hokkaido to fight some guy to get some-
thing for Akane?" Said Ukyou in a concerned tone.
How did Cologne knew all this, this fast and why did she tell them?. Then
he saw Happosai entering the yard with a bag full of panties. The old
letch, who else could be so gullible. The cat was out of the box and they
would find out sooner or later, but how would he tell them that Akane..
"Akane" Shouted Kuno when he saw Akane enter the room. He ran
to hug Akane.
"Hello Kuno, please don't get too near, .. I don't feel very well"
"Would you please explain everybody what has happened?" Kuno
asked
"Your father here has been denying everything and then you come
like nothing has happened"
"But something has happened Kuno, all I will say is that I am still
sick and that we need to go in this trip to get a cure for my disease"
"Then I shall go" said Kuno
"I'm going too, I don't want Ranma honey to be injured" said Ukyou
"OK why not, you may come" said Ranma
"When do we start the travel?" said Kuno
"Tomorrow at nightfall"
"At nightfall?, why not in the morning"
"Akane has become ..."
"Very sensitive to sunlight, she gets sunburns in just a few minutes"
added Nabiki
"Do you feel better Ranma" said Akane
"No sweat, I will be fine by tomorrow night"
"But if Akane is sick she should stay" said Kuno
"I am going and that is final" said Akane
"But your sickness will only hinder our progress" said Kuno
"Don't insist Kuno" said Akane fixing her angry gaze on Kuno
"...Why should I insist, Akane is free to go wherever she wants, isn't
she" said Kuno with his sight lost in Akane's hazel eyes for a moment.
"Well then see you two tomorrow" said Akane
"Dinner is ready everyone, would you like to join us?"
"You are too kind Kasumi" said Kuno
"Yes, thank you Kasumi" said Ukyou
"Where are you going Akane" said Kuno
"I .. am not hungry, I will be in my room"

Nabiki was right, she would have never been able to resist a week.
Thank goodness they were travelling to Hokkaido tomorrow. Even now
she felt the hunger deep inside her. She could still remember the taste of
Shampoos blood. "No", she said to herself, I must not think about it, I must
distract myself with something else. She changed her clothes and decided
to go out.

"Akane doesn't look sick to me Ranma honey"
"It doesn't show, but believe me, she really needs that cure"
"And who is this guy we are going to see in Hokkaido Saotome
Ranma?" Asked Kuno
"he is an old 'friend' of Happosai"
"Then he must be dangerous"

Downtown Tokyo. Hardly the place Akane visited in her weekend
nights, but at least she could lose herself among the people, the lights and
the noise. She went to see a couple of movies and to a karoke bar. Then
she went to the train station to return home. When she was back at the
Nerima district she felt like she was being followed. She looked around
and saw him. It was Ryouga, running towards her.
"Akane, it is really you" he said as he hugged Akane
"Ryouga please, let go" Akane said, but didn't push Ryouga away
nor Ryouga heard Akane's request, too lost in the joy of finding someone
he deemed lost forever. "Why", she said to herself. She had almost spent
the whole night without thinking about it. But now having Ryouga's body
so close she could clearly hear his heart. She couldn't bring herself to
push him away, but she couldn't allow herself to lose control the same
way she did with Shampoo. She cared too much for Ryouga. Using all her
will she brought herself to push Ryouga. But her action was too fast, too
violent, tossing an unsuspecting Ryouga into a nearby wall.
"Ryouga!, forgive me" she said as she kneeled besides an uncon-
scious Ryouga.
A thin river of blood poured from his head. She couldn't resist. She care-
fully proceeded to lick the blood on Ryouga's face. She could not bear to
leave him unconscious in the middle of the street at night but if she
grabbed him in her arms to bring him to her house she risked losing con-
trol again. So she waited until Ryouga recovered. As soon as she saw Ry-
ouga come out of it, she started to run towards her house.

Early in the morning Ranma wished that Akane wasn't such a stub-
born girl. If Akane hadn't insisted in coming they would be on their way
right now. But no, the tomboy had to come too and now they had to wait
until sunset. The wait was driving him nuts. It was a couple of hours before
sunset when Ranma noticed someone jumping into the roof. He went to
check and saw Ryouga walking on the roof.
"Hey Ryouga, where do you think you are going?"
"Ranma!, then I have finally arrived. Please, allow me to see
Akane's room"
"What! Why!"
"You would never understand"
"Listen Ryouga, I'm not going to allow you to take one more step.."
"Then you leave me no choice"
Ryouga started to throw bandanas at Ranma. While Ranma was busy
dodging the bandanas Ryouga jumped of the roof and opened Akane' win-
dow.

"Now you understand why we must help Ranma find a cure for
Akane, great granddaughter" said Cologne.
"Because Ranma will surely die if Akane isn't cured" said Shampoo
looking at the ground.
"That's it child"
"I will go too" said Mousse
"You may come Mousse"
"Really?!"
"We will need all the help we can get when fighting such a formi-
dable foe"
Meanwhile Shampoo had gone to her room. She opened a drawer and
started to search for something. She finally found it. It was a silver crucifix
pendant. A foreign tourist had given it to Shampoo when she was a little
girl. She hated to admit she was afraid of Akane, of what Akane had be-
come, but this would help her feel safer.

Akane had awakened some time ago. She could not sleep all day
long even if she had to stay in her room. She heard the footsteps on the
roof and could even hear what Ranma and Ryouga were saying. The in-
stant she saw Ryouga open her window she felt great pain as the sun
touched her bare skin but ignored the pain and as fast she could grabbed
Ryouga, threw him inside and closed the window .She could feel her
burned skin starting to heal.
"Akane, it is really you! Then it was not a dream, I am so happy"
said Ryouga as he started to approach Akane.
"Stop Ryouga" said Akane, already fully recovered from the slight
burns in her skin.
"I don't understand, what is happening?"
Akane explained Ryouga everything. How about a week ago she had
gone to jog very early, before the sun had risen. How she had seen a man
walking towards her. She remembered looking at this man's eyes and the
next thing she knew about herself was that she was back at the dojo eat-
ing breakfast. She told him about her anemia. How she awakened one
day moments before a man came for her body to cremate her. Tears
formed in her eyes when she told Ryouga about the urge she felt deep in-
side her. Ryouga tried to hug her to comfort her, but she told him not to.
After shedding some tears Akane felt better, she thanked Ryouga for be-
ing there when she needed someone.

The sun set and Akane and Ryouga came out of the room. There
were familiar voices downstairs. In the house entrance Akane could see
Ranma, Soun, Genma, Kuno, Ukyou, Happosai, Shampoo, Mousse, Co-
logne, Nabiki and Kasumi.
"No and that is final, you are not coming with us" said Ranma
"You forget son-in-law that thanks to the medicinal herbs I gave
you, you recovered your stamina, you owe me this much"
"Is that true Ranma?" Asked Genma
"Yes"
"Then she is right, we owe her that much"
"But pop, we can't trust her! She must be up to something"
"No buts son, she is coming with us"
"Let them come Ranma" said Akane
"OK, but at least Shampoo should get rid of the silly crucifix"
"Shampoo won't do that"
Akane approached Shampoo, Shampoo lifted the crucifix and placed it
between her and Akane.
"It is beautiful, where did you get it?" said Akane getting even
closer. She would never admit it, but she had enjoyed teasing Shampoo
like that.
"Aiyaa" said Shampoo walking a few steps back
"It is settled then, lets get going" said Soun
"Here father, I made some food for the tripl"
"Thank you Kasumi"
"Don't forget to bring me a souvenir daddy" said Nabiki as every-
body left the Tendo residence.

Everybody was silent most of the trip to Hokkaido. It would take
them about 4 hours of travel to get to their destination. Akane was sitting
by the airplane window and Ranma was beside her.
"Ranma"
"Yes Akane"
"I was thinking, when I tasted your, you know, I felt like if somehow
I was tasting your very soul"
"Now that you mention it, I did get this feeling that you were feeding
of the deepest part of my heart"
"Want to know something Ranma?, it is pure and noble" said Akane
with a joyful smile. Ranma didn't knew exactly what to answer Akane. He
then realized than she was looking thru the window, so he decided (for a
change) not to say a thing.

They arrived to their destination near midnight. The place looked
like a fortress, with high walls and an iron gate. As soon as they arrived
the gate opened, but no one seemed to open it nor someone was behind
to greet them.
"He is so confident he is allowing us to enter" said Ryouga
"Or it is a trap" said Ukyou
"We are going in, but watch out" Said Ranma
They walked through a very big garden until they arrived to the house en-
trance. There, a black robed figure was awaiting them. He was an Oc-
cidental, with black hair and blue eyes. He appeared to be in his twenties.
"So you have decided to pay me a visit. How considerate" The
black robed man said with a wicked smile
"You can give us what we are searching right now or else" said
Ranma, fury boiling inside him.
"or else?"
"We are going to pound you to a pulp"
"I dare you"
"You asked for..."
Before Ranma finished his phrase Kuno, Genma and Soun were all over
him. But the black robed man dodged or deflected all of their attacks with
inhuman speed but didn't retaliate with kicks or punches of his own.
"SATSU ZI"
The man said and then a red flash of light engulfed Kuno, Genma and
Soun. After the flash they were on the ground, their life force almost com-
pletely drained. He walked towards Ranma, but before he had given a
couple of steps Akane jumped at him and bit his neck. Ukyou was
shocked when she saw this.

She had suppressed all of her hunger for this moment. It was this
man the one she had seen that morning when she was jogging. It was this
man who had turned her into this attempting to destroy her life and the life
of the people she cared about. She would not allow it. His blood was dif-
ferent from Ranma's and the others, she could feel that this man was very
powerful and very evil. She began to feel intoxicated by it, her thoughts
started to get confusing.

The man grabbed her with one arm and tossed her about five
meters away to the ground. Ranma ran to see if Akane was injured. Mean-
while Ukyou threw her spatulas, Ryouga his bandanas and Mousse his
explosive eggs at the robed man attempting to put some distance between
them and his fearful attack. When Ranma arrived beside Akane, he
shaked her a little. When she opened her eyes, her eyes were different.
They looked, evil? Akane then attempted to bite Ranma. What has hap-
pened to her? said Ranma to himself. Akane was attempting to bite him
and releasing a flurry of punches and kicks Ranma could not block half of
the time. He jumped away to catch his breath. What should he do? He
could not bring himself to injure Akane and besides he wasn't even sure
that he could beat Akane now. Why had she changed so suddenly, was
she all this time under this evil man control? Was part all of a plan to lure
them to their deaths? Suddenly he realized it, there was only one way, but
he would have to risk his life. Ukyou and Shampoo realized that Akane
had turned against Ranma and were about to attack her when Ranma
commanded them to stay away, no matter what. He dropped his battle
posture and just stood there. Akane immobilized him with her arms and
bit into his neck.

His blood was so sweet and pure. Just like she remembered. She
was draining deep into his soul, deeper than the first time. She could feel
his soul fill hers and suddenly her thoughts cleared. She realized horrified
what she had done and what Ranma was attempting to do. There was no
time to lose, Ranma was only unconscious but required to be transferred
to a hospital fast; Shampoo and Moose were already down and Ryouga
and Ukyou would not last much longer. She had to act quick. She jumped
towards the black robed man.
"KASHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN" shouted Akane releasing a
barrage of punches a least five times faster than Ranma's.
"MOUKO TAKABISHA" shouted Akane, she could feel Ranma
deep inside her soul, he had risked his life for her, she would not let him
down. The ki-blast threw the man about ten meters back. After Akane's
attack Ryouga jumped in
"SHISHI HOUKOU DAN" shouted Ryouga, letting go of all the mis-
ery he felt when he thought Akane was dead. Ryouga's ki-blast attack
threw the robed man another ten meters back. For the first time the man
seemed to be off balance. Akane started to shine with a blue light.

He never thought they could hurt him. Those punches Akane had
thrown at him would have finished off a normal human, but even tough he
was still standing, his energies were very low, he had to feed on
someone's life force soon. He started to glow with a red light
"SATSU ZI"

"HIRYUU KOURIN DAN" Akane shouted tearing thru her
opponent's attack and hitting him with the full blast of the hurricane winds;
throwing him towards a wall and leaving him unconscious.

It was about 8 PM when Akane went into the hospital room where
Ranma was.
"How are you feeling Ranma?" Akane said while sitting beside him
"Like I had eaten some of your cooking"
"Baka..."
"How are you feeling Akane?" said Ranma showing sincere inter-
est in his tone of voice, throwing Akane's train of thought off balance
"...I feel fine, after Happosai and Dr. Tofu deciphered the manu-
scripts I was back to normal in no time"
"Do you miss being faster, stronger and all that?"
"Not at all, I'm happier this way"
"What about the black robed man?"
"After we defeated him he looked very old, like he was fifty. Anyway
we tied him to a tree and went to look for the manuscripts. When we re-
turned he wasn't where we had left him, there was only his clothes and
some dust"
"Serves him right"
"And the others?"
"They have already recovered. Ranma, I want to apologize for at-
tacking you"
"No need, if you hadn't that guy would probably have beaten us to a
pulp and you would still be..."
Akane's grabbed Ranma's hand.
"Akane!?"
"You should sleep now baka, you have to regain your strength"
"H-hai"
Ranma slowly closed his eyes. He needed to rest. He didn't dream, but he
felt very warm inside him. As if someone was taking care of his very soul.

Thanks to:
Rumiko Takahashi sama for creating Ranma 1/2
memo and pepe for inflating my ego enough to finish this story
pepe for correcting my grammar horrors (err,I mean, errors)

Now the usual. This is my very first ever posted fanfiction (I never finished
the one about what if? Ranma was never cursed and Ranma 1/2 plus 20
still requires some inspiration). I hope you liked this one. Send comments,
suggestions, donations (^_^), etc. to rgarza@baby_o.mty.itesm.mx. And
for those wondering what does the title means, get a English-Spanish dic-
tionary.

If this story gets to be part of a fan-fic guide I would like it to have the
following synopsis:
"A dark story about a tragic event in the Tendo dojo. Can Ranma and the
others go on with this harsh test fate has brought upon them. A story
about courage with a few plot twists"