[Ranma][FanFic] Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 9: A Sad Homecoming
jiml...@earthlink.net
Homecoming
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Childhood of a Modern Dynasty
Chapter 9: A Sad Homecoming
Ranma 1/2 characters/situations created and copyright by Rumiko
Takahashi/Shogakukan/Kitty/Fuji/Viz - Used without permission
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty series created, written, and
copyright 1998 by Jim Lazar
An ongoing series set after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime.
<Speech text in angle brackets is thought by character.>
"Speech text in double quotes is spoken as Japanese unless otherwise
specified as English."
E-mail comments and/or criticisms to: mailto:jiml...@earthlink.net
Make sure to check out my Modern Dynasty website for
all released CMD stories, graphics files, and other information:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime/md
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This chapter is on the dark side. If you read the previous chapter (and
I hope you have), you know why.
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>From the personal diary of Hanaki Ono:
July 18th, 2057
I woke up before James this morning, so I ate an emergency ration
bar and went outside. I still doubted I would use the plan the emergency
manual said could jumpstart the ramjets, but I might as well prepare the
spacejet just in case. Plunging the spacejet over the edge of the mesa
was not exactly safe. The only reason I bothered to prepare the spacejet
was that I didn't like the look of his leg this morning.
I had already moved the jet around to face the side of the mesa
with the sharpest drop off. Then I modified the ramjets to start with
the intake of air and did what I could to straighten the bent landing
gear. Before returning to the spacejet, I scanned the skies for any sign
of a rescue party, but just like yesterday, I couldn't see anything. I
shot off a few Moko Takabisha balls as flares and then went back inside.
"James!" I called out as I entered the spacejet and saw that he was
awake. I rushed over to him and kissed him deeply. Damn, he's cute in
the morning.
"How long was I asleep?" James asked, glancing around as I checked
his leg again. He absently wiped the drool off his lip. How adorable can
this guy get?
"Since yesterday afternoon. I almost woke you, but you needed your
sleep," I said.
"Wow. Guess I missed the end of your story then. Sorry."
"No problem. Your palmcard was on, so you got it all," I replied.
"How does the leg look?"
"Um, I'm not a doctor, but it looks okay," I replied. I hated to
lie, but I didn't think I should worry him yet. As long as the bruise
didn't get darker, he should be okay.
"Any sign of a rescue yet?"
"Nope and it's too hot outside already to do any more work, not
that there's that much more for me to fix. Since the primers are shot,
it'll be almost impossible to start the engines. So, why don't I tell
you some more stories as you eat something?"
"That would be great. Something to pass the time," James replied.
I helped him sit up. "What do you remember from their first battle
with the Buyierfei?"
"Well, they had all been drawn into the Buyierfei's monolith and
after wandering around the shadowy realm they had found themselves in,
they had found each other. Last thing I remember was that they had
exposed the heart of the monolith and the three Ranmas were getting
ready to enter the aura that surrounded the heart."
"Oh... ok. Before Ranma could enter it, Cologne knocked him out and
took his place."
"Noble of her."
"Yes, my aunt always said that she thought Cologne felt guilty for
splitting Ranma. Anyway, they succeeded in destroying the monolith, but
Akane, Ukyo, and Ranma were the only ones to escape."
"That must have been hard on your aunt at the time," James
suggested.
I noticed that he had turned his palmcard on. My fiancee was all
business sometimes, but he is just so darn cute that I put up with it.
"Yes, especially after what happened on their way back to Japan..."
***********************************************************************
February-March 1999 - Australian outback; Brisbane, Australia; Nerima,
Japan
Ranma, Akane, and Ukyo spent two days in Devil's End Canyon after
they escaped from the monolith. They searched everywhere they could for
Ranko, Sanma, and Cologne, but they never found any trace of them. Since
all of their equipment had been destroyed, they slept under the stars
and ate whatever they could forage for or capture. Lizard-on-a-stick was
the most common meal.
Ranma used his Moko Takabisha blasts to carve the three fallen
warrior's names in the walls of the canyon. It was the best way that he
could think of to honor their sacrifice. Ranma decided they'd have to
have a wake back in Japan, but didn't think Akane would be ready for one
until she had time to come to terms with Ranko and Sanma's deaths.
Four days after they had escaped the monolith, they dragged
themselves into the village that they had passed through on their way to
the canyon. Their clothes were dirty and the pain of their experience
inside the monolith was evident on all their faces.
"Ukyo!" a male voice called out. The travelers all spun around and
saw Kang, the Australian that had guided them to the canyon.
"Kang!" Ukyo called back.
"I'm amazed. No one has returned from Devil's End Canyon in the
past few months," Kang commented and wrapped Ukyo in a big bear hug.
"We didn't all come back. Ranko and..." Akane said, then stopped
when she realized that Sanma was born and then died in the canyon. Kang
never had the chance to meet her or Cologne. Akane began to tear up when
she realized that she never had the chance to get to know Sanma either,
and now never would.
Ranma put his arm around Akane and felt her body shaking, so he
pulled her tightly against his body. "There won't be anymore
disappearances from the canyon, the devil is gone," Ranma explained.
Kang looked sadly at the travelers and resisted the urge to tell
them that he had warned them not to go into the canyon. Instead, he
said, "I'm sorry. Ranko was a lovely woman."
"Err... thank you," Ranma said awkwardly, then asked, "I don't
suppose there is a bus or some way to get to Brisbane faster than
hiking?"
"I'm afraid that we're in no condition to hike any further after
our ordeal in the canyon," Ukyo added.
"I can give you a lift in my jeep," Kang offered, without
reservation.
"Thank you, we can pay for your gas," Ukyo offered, hoping they
still had enough cash on them to get back to Japan.
"Don't worry about that, it's my pleasure," Kang said to them all,
but was looking at Ukyo. "We can leave right away. Come on." He led the
travelers down to his place. "So what were you doing in the canyon for
the past month?" he asked as they walked.
They all looked confused. "Huh? It's only been a few days," Ranma
mentioned.
"It's been over three weeks since I left you at the mouth of the
canyon," Kang insisted.
"Three..." Akane gasped.
"...weeks?" Ukyo finished.
"What's the date?" Ranma asked.
"February twenty-seventh," Kang informed them.
"Could we really have been in that monolith for that long?" Ukyo
asked, looking at Ranma and Akane.
Ranma shrugged. "We were all unconscious when we entered and left
the monolith, so who knows."
"Damn, our families are going to be worried sick," Akane mentioned.
"We'll call them as soon as we get to Brisbane," Ranma suggested.
Ukyo and Akane agreed. They had already counted what little cash they
had in their pockets when they entered the monolith. It wasn't much, but
it'd get them to Brisbane, especially with Kang's help.
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma was lying on a bed in a luxurious hotel room while he talked
on the telephone. "Yes, Nabiki, that's right. Three tickets on a REAL
passenger plane. No farm animals this time."
Ranma listened for a bit, then replied, "No... Akane, Ukyo, and me.
Ranko won't be returning." Another pause, then he said, "No, we didn't
recombine. It's a long story, we'll tell everyone everything when we get
back."
He listen briefly then frowned. "Of course I know that we have to
get emergency passports from the Japanese embassy!! I've already taken
care of that, but we need you to take care of our hotel bill, wire some
cash, and get the plane tickets."
Ranma winced in pain and held the phone away from his ear. He put
it back to his ear and said, "Stop being such a god-damned yen pincher,
Nabiki!! Akane is very upset right now. We need to get back with as
little stress as possible." Another pause and Ranma concluded, "Okay.
Tell the family that we're... fine, and we'll explain everything once we
get home."
After finishing the call with Nabiki, he called the hotel desk to
get the telephone number for the Japanese embassy. After talking with
the embassy and arranging for the passports, Ranma went into the
bathroom to clean up.
He washed up without using cold water as he normally did. After
losing Ranko and Sanma, the feeling of cold water flowing over his body
was too painful. Not physically, but the memories that flashed into his
head when he felt cold water flow over him were.
Finally, he settled into the large whirlpool tub. He knew Nabiki
would have a fit when she found out how much the suite cost, but Akane
needed some pampering right now. She was taking Ranko and Sanma's death
very badly. So bad, that Ukyo was trying to distract her by taking her
to the pool to relax.
Ranma dried off and returned to his and Akane's bedroom. He was
putting on a hotel robe when a red haired woman walked into the room.
His jaw dropped.
"What do you think?" Akane asked, running her hand through her
hair, which was now red. She twirled around to show off her new dress.
"Akane? What did you do?" Ranma asked, looking at his fiancee with
a look of utter surprise. Akane still had the same hairstyle she wore
for most of the past two years, but now it was the same shade of red
that Ranko and Sanma's hair had been.
"I walked by a hairstylist downstairs in the lobby on the way to
the pool with Ukyo and had an impulse to get my hair dyed. I guess I
just wanted something to remind me of Ranko and Sanma," Akane explained,
then softly added, "So I don't forget them."
Ranma walked over to Akane and hugged her. "I'll miss them too."
Akane cuddled up to Ranma's chest. "Even after wanting to get rid
of your curse for so long?"
"Yes, I never wanted to be rid of it this way."
"I love you, Ranma. All three of you."
"It'll be okay. The others will always be with us, in spirit,"
Ranma insisted.
"No, you're wrong. Ranko and Sanma are within you," Akane insisted,
then kissed her three lovers.
-C- -M- -D-
Nabiki put down the telephone and turned around to the other
residents of the Tendo house. "Ranma, Akane, and Ukyo are all... fine."
Everyone visibly relaxed at the news.
"Thank goodness," Kasumi exhaled.
"Oh, my baby is coming home!" Soun cried, forgetting about the game
of shoji he was playing with Genma.
"What about Ranko?" Nodoka asked.
"Ranma said she wasn't coming back and seemed quite upset when I
mentioned her. He didn't seem to want to talk about it, so I didn't
press him, " Nabiki explained, frowning.
"Oh my."
"Did they recombine?" Genma asked.
"He said that they didn't and would explain once they got back.
Anyway, I have to get some stuff arranged to get them home. They
apparently lost their passports and most of their money," Nabiki
explained, then headed upstairs to start making arrangements on her
computer.
"Well, thank goodness they are okay. It's been a month since we
heard from them last," Nodoka commented, but was very worried about why
Ranko wasn't returning.
After a few minutes, Soun looked up from the game board and saw
Kasumi was just staring out the doors at the koi pond. "Kasumi, didn't
you have a study session tonight with Dr. Tofu for your finals?" he
asked.
"Yes, but with the call from Ranma and all, I'll probably just skip
it tonight," Kasumi calmly informed her father.
Nodoka looked up from the laundry she was folding. "Kasumi, they
are fine. You should go."
"Very well," Kasumi agreed reluctantly. She got up and shuffled
slowly off down the hallway.
Soun and Nodoka exchanged worried glances. Then Soun looked back at
the game board and tried to figure out where half of his pieces went.
-C- -M- -D-
"Kasumi!" Dr. Tofu gasped, answering his front door.
"Good evening, Doctor Ono. I'm here for our study session," Kasumi
said, calmly.
"Ah, I'm glad you came. I was afraid after our last session..."
"No, don't worry about that. It was a mistake... that's all."
"I am sorry."
Kasumi adverted her eyes, then said, "Shall we get started?"
"Yes, of course," Dr. Tofu said, then led Kasumi to his back room
to study.
-C- -M- -D-
Ukyo lay by the pool and soaked in the sun. Her tiny bikini didn't
leave much to the imagination, but the men and at least one woman around
her were trying their best to imagine what was under it anyway.
"How are you all doing, Ukyo?"
Ukyo looked up and saw Kang standing over her. "Kang! I thought you
went back to your village?"
"Well, figured I'd stay overnight before heading back," Kang said,
then motioned to the chair next to Ukyo.
Ukyo smiled. "Please. You might want to loose the barbecue fork and
relax a bit, sugar," she mentioned, indicating the large barbecue fork
that he always carried.
"I notice you have your spatula with you," Kang replied and
motioned to her giant spatula that was lying under her lounge chair.
Ukyo blushed. "Oops. Guess I should practice what I preach."
"Or don't preach at all," Kang replied. He pulled off his leather
vest and shirt and lay back in the chair. "Ahhh, feels good sometimes to
just relax. Life in the outback can be rough."
Ukyo saw Kang's firm tan chest and blushed. She quickly looked
away. "I guess. I spent a few months traveling through China last year.
It was pretty rough and all, but fun. I even learned to speak Mandarin
pretty well."
"Sometimes I wish I could see more than the outback."
"If you're ever in Japan, drop by my restaurant in Nerima. Its
called Ucchan's."
"I'll do that," Kang said, watching Ukyo flip onto her stomach.
-C- -M- -D-
A couple days later, Akane and Ranma awoke when Ukyo started
pounding on their door. Ranma opened his eyes and ran his hand through
Akane's red hair. He sighed.
Akane tried to keep sleeping, but the pounding continued and she
finally opened her eyes. "What is it?" she called out.
"I've waited as long as I could for you two lovebirds. We have less
than an hour to get to the airport!" Ukyo called through the door.
"What?" Ranma gasped, then looked at the clock by the bed. "Oh
no... she's right." Ranma jumped to his feet and started to get dressed
as Akane went over to the door.
"Why didn't you wake us up earlier," Akane asked Ukyo as she opened
the door to their room.
"I tried several times a couple hours ago. You two are heavy
sleepers."
Ranma and Akane got dressed, finished packing, and raced out the
suite's front door with Ukyo.
-C- -M- -D-
This time, Nabiki got them tickets on a real passenger plane. In
coach class, of course. They had to do some begging and shuffling around
to all sit together, but they finally found themselves crammed into
three center seats. Ukyo and Akane were busy talking about girl stuff,
so Ranma was paging through an English magazine. He couldn't read it,
but the pictures were nice.
Akane excused herself and went to the lavatory.
"Are you okay, Ranma?" Ukyo asked.
"Sure. I'm worried about Akane though. You think the red hair is a
bad sign?" Ranma asked.
"It shocked me when I first saw her like that, but I think it's
just her way of keeping their memory alive," Ukyo said.
"I hope so," Ranma said.
"I'm more worried at how she seems to be acting like their deaths
don't really matter."
"Yeah, that troubles me too," Ranma agreed.
Akane returned and sat down, then Ukyo took her turn. The one thing
women couldn't do in airplanes was go to the bathroom in groups, like
they tended to do elsewhere.
"You know, Ranma, we've been gone for a long time. We'll have a lot
of catching up to do at school," Akane mentioned.
<School? She's trying to keep from thinking of Ranko and Sanma,>
Ranma thought. "I guess... only three weeks to go."
"Yup. Then we can finally get married," Akane mentioned casually.
"Um... I was assuming you'd want to wait. With everything that's
happened and all."
"No. I don't want to chance anything else happening to stop us from
getting married. If not for our finals, I'd suggest we get married as
soon as we got home."
"If that's what you want. I just hope you're not suppressing your
feelings about Ranko and Sanma," Ranma hinted.
"No. I'll miss them, but I need to marry the man I love before
something else happens to keep us apart."
"Okay, we'll keep the March twentieth date then," Ranma said. He
leaned over and kissed Akane.
The kiss was interrupted by a commotion in the front of the plane.
"What?" Ranma muttered, craning his neck to see what was going on.
It didn't take long for him to realize what was happening. Two
armed men in ski masks ran into the coach section and pointed their Uzis
at the passengers. "Everyone sit down and shut up! This plane is under
the control of the A.L.F.!" one of the masked men shouted in English.
Since the plane was headed for Japan, he repeated his statement in
Japanese.
The passengers were all crying and panicking, but settled down when
the gunmen pointed their guns at them.
Akane clenched her fists and looked back towards where Ukyo was,
then started to rise. Ranma put a restraining hand on her arm. "Wait,
let's see how many there are first," he whispered to Akane, who nodded
her agreement.
After several minutes, two more gunmen poked their heads back into
the rear cabin. One of them said, "The cockpit is secure and me and Tach
have the front under control."
"We're good back here. We'll check the lavatories next," one of the
rear gunmen said. The other two gunmen returned to the front.
Ranma held up five fingers. Akane looked at him with a questioning
look. He flashed two fingers, moved his fingers forward a bit and then
flashed two more fingers. Finally, he pointed one finger directly at the
front of the plane. He mouthed, "Cockpit," with his lips.
Akane nodded, then looked back towards the lavatories. She motioned
back toward the lavatories, then mouthed, "Ukyo."
Ranma nodded. Ukyo would be the distraction. Ranma pointed to his
chest and then forward, then pointed at Akane and motioned to the rear.
Akane nodded and waited for Ukyo to cause a distraction. She didn't
wait long.
One of the gunmen kept watch as the other one checked the
lavatories. He reached the one Ukyo was in and started to open the door.
Suddenly, he was sandwiched between the door and the rear bulkhead when
Ukyo kicked the door hard.
At the first sound of the door crashing into the gunman, Ranma and
Akane leapt out of their seats. Akane leapt towards the rear gunmen,
while Ranma shot towards the front of the plane.
Ukyo poked her head out the door and saw the standing gunman take
aim at her with his gun. She raised her hands in surrender. She heard
the gunman behind the lavatory door stir, then tensed as she saw Akane
leaping towards the standing gunman.
Akane kicked the Uzi away from its intended target and then landed
an elbow to the gunman's face as she passed. She rebounded against a
seat, scaring the hell out of the woman in it. On her rebound, she
kicked the gunman full in his stomach. The gunman collapsed and Akane
hit him on the back of his head, just hard enough to render him
unconscious.
Using Akane's distraction, Ukyo kicked backwards and rammed the
lavatory door back into the man who was behind it. The man fell to the
floor and Ukyo kicked the back of his neck. "Akane, I'll take care of
these two, help Ranma!" Ukyo called out. As Akane raced forward, Ukyo
enlisted the help of several passengers in tying up the two unconscious
gunmen.
When Ranma first ran into the front cabin, he immediately landed a
kick and a series of fast rabbit punches to the nearest gunman. The
gunman collapsed quickly. The other gunman swung around at the noise and
raised his gun. Ranma leaped over the terrified heads of the passengers
and kicked the gun out of the gunman's hands. The gunman snapped his
arms out and two knives appeared from under his sleeves. Soon Ranma and
the man were a blur of motion as Ranma deflected the knives and tried to
land some punches.
<Damn, this guys good,> Ranma thought, trying to find an opening in
the man's defenses. He'd already noticed that his opponent had some kind
of armor on his arms and legs that were helping him deflect Ranma's
blows, but nothing on his head. Ranma ducked a knife swing then managed
to land a heavy blow to his opponent's chin.
Akane raced in just in time to see Ranma land the blow and was
moving to help him when a man behind her jumped out of his seat. He put
a knife to Akane's throat and grabbed her around the waist.
"Stop now or this girl dies!" the man shouted in English.
Ranma was about to deliver the final blow to the knifeman, when he
heard the man speak. He didn't fully understand the man, but the threat
of the statement was evident in his tone. He looked up and saw Akane's
position. He halted his blow. "Hurt her and you die. Guaranteed!" Ranma
snarled in Japanese
"You have no idea who you're screwing with, boy!" the man said,
switching to Japanese. He moved the knife closer to Akane's neck.
Akane looked at Ranma and mouthed something. Ranma nodded. Then
Akane mouthed, "One."
"Neither do you TWO," Ranma replied to the man, slipping the second
count into his statement. He saw a small chi ball form in Akane's right
hand, which was aimed downward.
Then they both mouthed, "Three."
The knifeman who had been fighting Ranma suddenlynoticed the chi
ball, but Akane let the Moko Takabisha ball slip from her fingers before
he could warn his comrade. The chi ball fell to the ground and hit the
man right on his foot. The man yelled in pain and dropped the knife.
Akane went into action and with several quick blows had rendered the man
unconscious.
Ranma had gone into action at the same time the chi ball was
released. He spun around to the recovering knifeman, landed several
kicks to his stomach, and then punched him repeatedly in the face. Ranma
jumped back again as the knifeman thrust both his knives at Ranma's
stomach.
-C- -M- -D-
The gunman in the cockpit held his uzi on the pilot and copilot.
Another man wearing a very expensive suit, the hijacker's leader, sat
casually in the navigator's seat. He was finishing a statement into a
microphone. "... and if our demands are not met we will start shooting
passengers beginning in one hour, starting with the children."
The two pilots burned with hatred, but they were unable to do
anything. A knock was heard on the cockpit door and the gunman answered
it. One of his masked comrades was there when he opened the door.
The leader turned and saw him. "What is it, Tach?" he asked in
English.
The masked man at the door shoved a disheveled Akane in to the
cockpit in response. She ended up stumbling between the two hijackers.
Her dress was torn and her lip was bleeding. "Bastards! Killing my
fiancee was a big mistake!" Akane snarled in Japanese, not wanting to
let him know she understood English.
"Well then, why would that be?" the leader calmly asked in perfect
Japanese.
"Because he has powerful friends," Akane insisted.
"Hmmmm, YOU, check the back out," the leader said, indicating the
gunman who had been with him in the cockpit. The masked man at the door
let him by and kept his position in the doorway.
"Is there anything else, Tach?" the leader asked.
Suddenly a dozen assorted knives flashed out from the masked man's
hands and hit the leader in all his vital spots. The leader cried out in
pain.
Akane went quickly into action and landed multiple punches to the
leader's body. The man withstood the vicious onslaught without trouble.
He reached up and grabbed Akane around her neck. Akane fought for breath
while she punched the man savagely in the chest. In the process, she
punched one knife in deeper. The man sputtered, blood started to come
out of his mouth, and he collapsed to the floor of the cockpit.
Meanwhile back in the first class cabin, the gunman that had come
out of the cockpit was examining the man on the floor. He turned the
body over, only to recognize that it as his fellow hijacker, Tach, but
was dressed in Chinese clothes. He dropped the body and spun quickly
around just in time to be punched savagely in his face. This punch was
followed rapidly by blows to his chest and stomach. He crumpled to the
ground and Ranma delivered the final blow to his neck.
Ranma made sure he was unconscious and then raced to the cockpit,
leaving the passengers to tie the two hijackers up.
Ranma entered the cockpit and saw that Akane and Ukyo, who now had
her borrowed mask and jacket off, were okay. He breathed a sigh of
relief. "Captain, I think we got them all. Seven in all," Ranma
explained, adding the one in the cabin to the ones in the rear of the
plane.
"Thank you all. Where on Earth did you three come from?" the
Japanese Captain asked.
"We're passengers. Unfortunately for the hijackers, we're also the
world's greatest martial artists," Ranma explained, without modesty. He
put his hand on Akane's shoulder and asked her, "You okay, Akane?"
"I guess. He's dead. More blood on my hands," Akane said, softly.
She couldn't take her eyes off of the body.
"It was him or us. Sometimes a martial artist has to take life to
preserve it," Ranma said, then pulled Akane up and guided her back to
the rear of the plane. He paused at the door and asked, "Ukyo, can you
help the Captain with anything else up here?"
"Sure, Ranma. Take care of her," Ukyo replied.
The Captain and Ukyo moved the body to the front lavatory, since
they had nowhere better to put it. The copilot was on the radio
informing the control tower of the situation.
-C- -M- -D-
"Akane, you had to do it. Don't worry," Ranma said, cradling the
crying woman in his arms. They had been given a couple of seats in first
class to rest in. One of the perks of saving a plane full of passengers.
"First Shampoo, then Ranko and Sanma, now that man," Akane recited,
trying to wipe the blood off her fingers with a towel. Her hands were
clean now, but she kept rubbing anyway.
"That man deserved it, the others aren't your fault. Akane, I..."
Ranma trailed off, as he couldn't think of anything else to say to
comfort his fiancee, so he just held her close.
-C- -M- -D-
Nabiki was laid out in front of the television watching a business
show. Kasumi was out in the yard lying on a blanket and looking up at
the spring sky, daydreaming. Nodoka was hanging out the laundry while
Soun and Genma were cheating at Shoji on the porch.
The silence was shattered minutes later by a cry from Nabiki.
"EVERYONE! Come and look at this!"
The others all rushed in at her cry and looked at the television
screen. On it was a news bulletin. A caption read, 'JAL Flight 203
Hijacking'. A Japanese news reporter was on screen and said, "We have
just received a report that the hijacked JAL Flight 203 has just landed
after the flight crew regained control of the aircraft from the
hijackers."
"Oh my. Isn't that the flight Ranma and Akane are on?" Kasumi
asked.
"Yes," Nabiki replied, reaching to turn up the volume so the others
could hear it clearly.
"According to reports, three passengers apparently subdued the
seven hijackers. One fatality was reported, apparently one of the
hijackers, but none of the passengers have been reported injured," the
reporter said.
"Thank goodness," Nodoka commented.
"Three passengers?" Genma raised an eyebrow.
"Any bets on which three passengers?" Nabiki asked, smirking.
"I think it's pretty obvious," Soun declared, smiling proudly.
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma and Ukyo held their arms around Akane protectively as they
waded through the crowd of reporters that had ambushed them after they
go done talking with the authorities. They were cornered by a TV
reporter and were reluctantly answering questions.
"What are your names?"
"I'm Ranma Saotome. This is my fiancee, Akane Tendo and my oth...
err... This is a good friend of ours, Ukyo Kuonji," Ranma said, almost
calling Ukyo his 'other fiancee' by habit. Ukyo grinned at the narrow
escape. Despite her sadness over what had happened, Akane smiled too.
"How did you manage to defeat the hijackers?"
"Well, we're all trained martial artists..."
Back at home, the Tendo and Saotome families watched the live
interview on the TV. They were shocked at seeing Akane with red hair.
"Do you think Ranko and Akane combined somehow?" Nabiki asked.
"That might explain the red hair, but I don't see how that could
have happened," Nodoka mentioned.
Genma and Soun started chanting, "Mention the dojo... Mention the
dojo..."
Nodoka sighed.
"...me and my fiancee are students of the Tendo/Saotome School of
Anything Goes Martial Arts."
Akane looked up at this statement. "My fiancee is being modest.
He's the school's best teacher."
Ranma blushed.
Soun and Genma hugged each other in excitement. "Oh, happy days!
The students will come pouring in now!" Soun exclaimed, then started to
cry. Then Soun and Genma started arguing about the name of the school.
Ukyo, being the businesswoman that she was, added, "And I run a
restaurant called Uuchan's in Nerima."
The reporter asked, "What does that have to do with martial arts?"
"It's the best place for okonomiyaki in Tokyo!" Ranma exclaimed,
rubbing his stomach.
Ukyo smiled.
The reporter looked confused. "Oooo...kay. So what happened when
you realized the plane was being hijacked?"
"Well, Ukyo was in the lavatory..."
"Hey! No need to tell the whole world that!" Ukyo yelled.
-C- -M- -D-
The next day, Akane was sitting on the porch looking at the koi in
the pond. Ranma walked up behind her, sat down next to her, and put his
arm around her shoulder. "How are you?" he asked.
"I'm getting a little sick of that question," Akane remarked, then
reconsidered her words. "No... I take that back. I'm EXTREMELY sick of
that question."
"Sorry. We're all concerned. Don't hold it in."
"I'll get over it. It's just been too much all at once."
"I know, but remember that you helped save all those passengers."
"Does that make up for four deaths?"
"No, it doesn't, but life has its ups and downs. I'd like you to be
up for our wedding," Ranma said.
"Nothing would make me happier to be Mrs. Ranma Saotome," Akane
said, cracking a smile. Inside she was still holding back a scream, but
she wanted to put on a happy face for her last remaining lover.
Ranma smiled back. "I'm glad," he said, then kissed her.
"How dare you claim Akane Tendo for your own, you foul evil
sorcerer!" a voice called out.
Ranma and Akane broke their kiss and looked up to see Kuno standing
over them with a metal sword held high. "Kuno?" Akane gasped in
surprise.
Ranma jumped up and landed a kick to Kuno's stomach, and sent the
poet-spewing jerk to the ground. "You agreed to leave us alone!" Ranma
shouted. <I should have known after the incident at Nabiki's restaurant
that he'd continue bugging us.>
"T'was before I knew of your vile intentions towards my sweet
Akane!" Kuno declared, getting to his feet. "And to tell the whole world
that my noble self has been forsaken is the ultimate insult!"
"You moron! She's been my fiancee for two years! Why else would we
want you off our cases, if not to get married?" Ranma shouted, easily
dodging the sword thrusts from Kuno. "Hell, we even told you that was
our intention when you signed the agreement!"
Nabiki, who had heard the commotion, was leaning from an upstairs
window and using her video camera to document the violation of the
agreement the Kunos had signed promising to leave the Tendo and Saotome
families alone. Yen signs appeared in her eyes as she thought about the
large cash settlement that was coming her way.
"Akane Tendo, how dare you two think that you could have my darling
Ranma for yourself!" a horribly grating voice called out.
<Damn, they both must have run out of happy pills.> Ranma looked
around in time to see Akane dodge the ribbon that Kodachi had snapped at
her neck. Trusting her abilities, he returned his attention to Kuno. He
dodged several sword swings and the landed a savage kick to Kuno's
stomach. Kuno went flying against the back wall.
Akane dodged the repeated ribbon strikes from Kodachi and then
managed to grab the ribbon. She yanked hard and pulled Kodachi towards
her. As the gymnast neared Akane, she was repelled forcefully by a
savage kick from Akane. Kodachi ended up crashing into Kuno, who had
just gotten back to his feet.
Akane shouted, "You two picked the wrong day to mess with us! If I
ever see you again, you will never see another sunrise!"
Ranma looked at Akane and saw her angry battle aura burning a deep
crimson. He recoiled at the rage he saw on her face. Suddenly, he had to
jump out of the way as a huge beam of chi energy shot from between
Akane's outstretched arms.
The chi blast hit Kodachi and Kuno full on and blasted them into
orbit, taking most of the back wall and several nearby rooftops with
them.
"Akane?" Ranma gasped, as the blast subsided.
"Damn bastards."
Ranma hurried over to Akane and held her tightly in his arms.
"That's okay, Akane. Just let your anger go," he whispered into her ear.
He felt the tears drop from her eyes onto his back.
Ranma grew very worried. <That wasn't the Moko Takabisha. That was
more like Ryoga's Shishi Houkou Dan, but... different somehow. Fueled by
anger instead of confidence or depression?> Ranma thought.
Akane clutched at Ranma's shirt and muttered, "Don't ever leave me,
Ranma."
"I won't. I promise," Ranma said. Then he realized the source of
the huge blast. Anger mixed with depression. Ranma was never more
worried in his entire life. The woman he loved was falling into an abyss
of her own making and he had no idea what he could do to help. He
started to wonder if it was a good idea to teach Akane how to focus her
chi after all.
-C- -M- -D-
That night, Kasumi lay on Akane's bed and held her youngest sister
in her arms. Tears dripped from Akane's eyes and flowed down her already
tear-stained cheeks. "Go to sleep, Akane. Mother is here," Kasumi said
quietly, slowly stroking Akane's red hair.
Ranma watched from the doorway. <Please don't give up on life,
Akane. I'll always be here for you. Promise,> Ranma thought, hoping that
he could keep that promise. Until Shampoo's death he had always been
confident in his ability to win battles without anyone getting hurt, but
now he had seen the deaths of four... <Friends? Family? No, both.> A
tear flowed down his cheek.
Kasumi started to hum a little song that her Mother had taught her
long ago and fell asleep just after Akane. Ranma spent the night in the
doorway, but he didn't get any sleep.
***********************************************************************
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:
July 18th, 2057
Hanaki and I were eating dinner by the time she finished explaining
about the hijacking and the events that followed. It was hard for me to
imagine what it must have been like for Akane to deal with these events.
The Akane I know is very strong and determined to protect her family at
all costs, but then I guess the events that Hanaki has been describing
to me are what helped make Akane stronger. This must have helped her
cope with the other events that have occurred in her long life.
Hanaki finished her dinner, then examined my leg. "How does it
look?"
"Not good," she replied. She thought for a moment, then declared,
"James, I'm going to climb down the mesa tomorrow and find you some
help. We can't wait for a rescue party any longer."
"Hanaki, no. It's too far to walk in the desert heat."
"Don't worry, I've taken several survival courses at the dojo. I'll
make it, but you can't wait much longer for medical attention."
Sometime the Tendo family seemed like more of an army than a
family, but considering their history I can't blame them training their
children to be prepared. Or is that the boy scouts? Damn, my mind is
wandering. "Just make sure you come out of this alive."
"We both will. I'll leave tomorrow morning. I'd rather start at
night to avoid the desert heat, but I'm not climbing down the mesa in
the dark," Hanaki said.
"No, that wouldn't be wise. Take my palmcard with you, you'll need
the GPS map in it to find your way."
"Yes I will, thank you. I'll have to talk to my aunt about putting
some better survival gear on these spacejets. They aren't meant for the
Task Force's combat missions, but they should at least have some decent
emergency gear."
Suddenly I had to say, "I love you, I hope you know that."
"I do. I love you too. Told you we should have gotten married in
San Francisco," Hanaki quipped, then lay down beside me and kissed me.
"Soon, I promise."
"I'll hold you to that, James."
"I hope you do."
We lay on the floor and just waited for sleep to take us. It
didn't. After an hour of restless fidgeting on both of our parts, I felt
Hanaki's hands rubbing my chest followed by her sweet kisses. I gasped.
"Huh... Hanaki???"
"It's our wedding night, right?"
I could never refuse her anything, so I said, "Right, my wife."
"My husband."
[End - Chapter 9]
Coming soon: Chapter 10: Burning of the Past: The Wedding Before the
Storm
=======================================================================
>The real author's (Jim Lazar) notes/ramblings:
Things will get better for Ranma and Akane. Promise.
Yes, the A.L.F. was inspired by the old ALF TV show. I have no idea what
my acronym means, it just popped into my mind when I needed a name for
the terrorist organization.
I'd like to thank my pre-readers: Jonathan Ng, James Mackey, and Anthony
Pardilla. Of course in the end, any mistakes and botched characters are
my fault.
Revision 0.0 - Rough draft (July 2, 1998)
Revision 0.2 - Pre-reader draft (November 21, 1998)
Revision 0.3 - FFML draft (December 3, 1998)
Revision 1.0 - First RAAC posting (December 16, 1998)