geist@holly.ColoState.EDU (Kevin Eav) R1/2 -- Kevin Eav ======================================= Ranma 1/2: A Look In The Mirror ======================================= a Fan-Fiction piece based on and inspired by characters owned by Rumiko Takahashi. written by Kevin Eav "Just Another Day...." Ranma sighed. <*Why* couldn't he do it? He'd wanted to...for all this time. But everytime he tried, something went wrong.> It went on like this, every day, always the same, making Ranma want to just run away for a while, leave everything behind, at least until he could sort things out for himself. [Flashback: We see a much younger Ranma sitting crosslegged in front of his father, listening intently to his lecture.] <"Never back down, son," his father said. "If you believe that you can do anything, it's more than likely that you can. And if you give up, just because you can't do it within a few tries, then you'll never learn anything beyond the most basic things." "Hai!" "That's my son...."> Ranma sighed again. "He used to be so good. Focused, strong. What happened?" he muttered as he climbed off the roof of the Tendo Dojo, taking care with the bruised ribs and cheek that Akane had given him after his last screwed-up attempt to tell Akane the truth. Akane fumed. She mused about his latest perversion. She looked down at P-Chan, sitting on her desk. "Aw, poor little P-Chan, lemme kiss it and make it better." She giggled. Ranma, walking by her room on the way to his room, sighed as he heard her speak. He sighed, and walked to his room, laying down on his mattress, looking up at the ceiling, his thoughts in turmoil. "Dinner time, everybody!" Kasumi called from the kitchen, eliciting happy sounds of people rushing to the table. "Ranma! Where'd you get that bruise?" asked Kasumi, slightly concerned and horrified overtones coming through in her voice. Akane started slightly, and had an apprehensive look in her eyes. Ranma started to open his mouth, glanced at Akane, and closed it without a word. He thought for a bit, then said "I slipped and fell...hit my cheek on a rock," and went on eating. Akane stared at him for a bit. "Ranma, can I speak to you for a bit?" "Uhhh...sure, Akane." They go into the backyard. "Ranma, why didn't you yell at me for hitting you?" "Huh? Oh...I...just...didn't feel like it." "Hmm....what are you hiding?" "I...I'm not hiding nothing!" "Uh-huh, sure." "Hey! I just...." "You just what?" quietly inquired Akane. "I..I'm just...I'm just tired of fighting. That's all I ever do, it seems, nowadays. Fighting with Kuno, with Ryoga, with Ukyo, with Shampoo, with Mousse, with you. And I'm tired. Every day, I wake up knowing that the same stuff is going to happen, no matter what I do." "Ranma..." whispers Akane. "Look. I've been meaning to say something to you for a long time." "Ranma?" "Shh...please....just let me say this, and then I need to leave for a bit." "Ok..what did you want to say to me?" "Akane...I...I...I l..lo... Akane, I...lo--.." Ranma looked frustrated for a second, then quietly said "I'm sorry, but this just isn't the right time." "Ranma?" replied a *very* confused Akane. "I..I'll find some way to tell you what I need to. I--I've got to go and think for a while." As Ranma turned to go, a blast struck him from above, knocking him into unconsciousness. The last thing he heard was Akane screaming his name. Genma and Kasumi rushed out at her scream, and came upon the two of them. "He was hit by something...I think he needs Dr. Tofu..." Kasumi nodded, as did Genma. Kasumi said "Should I come with you, Akane?" Genma and Akane looked at each other and said, in unison, "Perhaps it would be better if you stayed and let the others know what has happened." "Very well, go to Dr. Tofu now, Akane!" "Ok...we'll be back shortly." With that, they took off for Tofu's clinic. Ranma woke up sore, confused, and aware that he was lying on the cold ground. He got up and started wandering around, but quickly realized that there wasn't anywhere to go, not that he could see in the fog. He sat down and waited, until he got bored. Finally, he shouted "Where the hell am I???", not really expecting a response. He was quite...surprised, to say the least, to hear his own voice, though somewhat deeper, heavier, answer "You are deep within the recesses of your mind, and it is here that you must face certain truths." Ranma, of course, shouted "Who are you?" The voice responded "Look in the mirror, and you will see." Ranma looked around, saw a mirror appear, and went to stand in front of it. To his amazement, the mirror's image stepped out, changing to look slightly older, sadder. Ranma took a couple of steps back. "Whoa-" Ranma-m (mirror,) walked up to Ranma and said, quite calmly, "So. *smack*. When *smack* are you *smack* going to tell *smack* Akane *smack* about how..*Smack* You...*SMack* FEEL???? *SMACK*" "Ow! Hey, quit it! I'll tell Akane when I'm good and ready for it." "Ohhhh, sure, and when'll that be? The next ice age?" "Ahhh...leave off, I just don't know how to tell her, or if I even should." "Well....looks like you'll take some convincing. Ok. Here it is. If you don't tell Akane that you love her, and soon, then terrible things will happen." Ranma stared at Ranma-m, uncomprehendingly. "Umm...whaddya mean?" "Are you sure that you are prepared for this? You may not like what you see." replied Ranma-m. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's just get this over with so I can go back to living my own life." "Very well. Look into the mirror, and see." Ranma stared into the mirror, and the fog lifted. He saw himself, as normal, and Akane, fighting, yet again. The image went to another one, of Shampoo chasing him, and then one of Akane smacking him--the images went on much the same for quite some time (imagine a collage of the first season.) All of a sudden, the deluge of images stopped, and Ranma watched on, bored, until he started hearing Akane's voice. "Ranma, you jerk...I guess you never really loved me." Ranma sat straight up at that. He saw Akane running, crying, away from the Ranma in the mirror, and horror struck when he saw Akane get hit by a car, and died, and the subsequent funeral and miserable life Ranma had afterwards. "What the HELL was that, some kind of sick joke??" "No joke, Ranma," replied Ranma-m, "That is just *one* possibility, in fact, at that point, she could (and would) run off to Ryoga or Shinnosuke, and they would be the one she married." Ranma didn't even have to *think* about his response to that one. "NO WAY!!! Akane is MY fiancee!" "Hey, you don't have to tell me, just her, and you have to realize it yourself." "....but I don't know if we could stay together, we fight all the time." "Oh? Would you rather marry Ukyo or Shampoo? Wanna see what that's like?" Ranma stared into the mirror, and he saw himself when he first defeated Shampoo as a man, and deciding to marry her. He saw that he would be happy, at least for a while, but that eventually, his thoughts would turn to Akane, and he would leave Shampoo, putting him in mucht he same situation of Shampoo stalking him night and day. Ranma turned to the Ranma-m and said there's no way I'd *ever* marry Shampoo." "Keep watching *smack* there's more." As Ranma watched, he saw scenes of Ukyo and Shampoo chasing after him, Akane finnaly getting fed up with him and leaving, and him marrying Ukyo. All of a sudden, he was the Ranma in the mirror, and as he sat at the table, Ukyo serving him some of her special okonomiyaki, he realized that though Ukyo was a good friend, that's all she was, and there would never be more, not after Akane. Ranma blinked. He was outside, looking in at the images of him and Ukyo. He said "Ok, I see your point." "So, what do you plan to do about it??" "Well...." "Well nothing. *smack* You have to tell her, otherwise you'll always regret it, and you'll never know true happiness." Ranma opened his mouth, and then closed it, and then finally said "You're right. I'll tell her as soon as I can." Once Akane and Genma arrived at Dr. Tofu's and had brought him in, they sat outside, waiting anxiously for Dr. Tofu. The doctor came out from his examination room and said "Well--he's had some kind of shock, but otherwise his body is in perfect physical condition. However, he will be out for a while." Akane turned to Genma and said "Mr. Saotome, could you bring him home? I need to ask Dr. Tofu something." "Certainly, I will leave right now." After Genma had left, cradling the limp body in his hands, Akane turned to Tofu and said, quietly, "The truth, doctor--how bad is it?" Tofu sighed. "Akane, the first part of what I said was true; his body is in perfect physical condition. What I didnt' say was that his--soul--I guess you could say his soul has--gone into hiding. The essence of what and who Ranma is has withdrawn and locked itself up...and I couldn't tell you what to do, where to begin." "Very well, Doctor, thank you...we will do what we can." "I know you will do what is best for him. Say, Akane..." "Yes, Doctor Tofu?" "Where were you two when this happened?" "Well, we were in the backyard." "And?" "And..he...he...he was g-going to tell me something, he said." Akane looked at her hands for a second, steadying herself. "He almost said some- thing, but he stopped, at the last second. Then, this "blast" shot down, out of nowhere, and we decided to take him here, Mr. Saotome and I." "What do you think he was going to say?" asked Dr. Tofu gently. "I--I think h-he was g-going to s-say that...that he...l-l-loved me." Akane was very quiet, composing herself. "Yes...I think that was what he was going to say." "And how do you feel? The truth, not the stuff you keep telling every- one who asks." Akane's anger flared at this, but her worry over Ranma killed that almost instantly. "I--I guess that, that I love him too. It's just that he makes it so hard, he's always insulting me, teasing me...he *never* says or does anything nice to or about me." "Now, Akane, do you *really* think that's true?" "Of course it is!" "Come now, I've heard the stories, of how he defended you from that Sanzenin fellow, from Kirin, Toma, how he fought, and fights, Kuno because of you. You do realize, of course, that if he had never met you, then Kuno wouldn't be after him, that Gosunkugi, Ryoga, Kuno, and every- one else wouldn't be after him. You, in all reality, have made his life much harder than it was." Akane stared, hurt, at Dr. Tofu. The Doctor continued with "And I don't think he'd have it any other way." "Oh...do you really think so?" "Well now, what do you think? He could have gotten together with Ukyo or Shampoo for quite some time now. You beat him up a lot (gives me a lot of business), Ryoga's always after him, Ranma could have fled all of this a long time ago, but he remains by your side, pretecting you and trying his best to win your heart." "But he always is chasing after other women." replied Akane angrily. "Is he? Think about it." Akane thought about it, remembering when Shampoo came, and Ranma stopped Shampoo from attacking her, and "defeating" Shampoo in the process. She also remembered that Ranma had told Shampoo that he was already engaged, that he couldn't marry her, even after repeated attempts with drugs, and her great-grandmother's devious schemes, like the Full-Body Cat's Tongue incident. She remembered him putting off woman after woman, and she realized that she had been blaming him for things he hadn't done, and had overreacted and been untrusting of him in situations where he always came out right in the end, like when Ms. Hinako came to town for the first time. Akane sighed. "I guess you're right. I *have* been blaming him for stuff he hasn't done. But if he doesn't love them, why won't he tell them off?" "Well....I'm guessing that Ranma doesn't want to hurt any of them...he's too noble, whether he realizes it or not, to hurt a woman, instead taking all the pain in the form of physical beatings, tongue-lashings, and your running off for and with other men." "I....I never thought...I mean, I always thought he just wanted the attention..." As Akane spoke, Tofu came to a sudden realization. "Akane, I have a theory. I don't think that Ranma was struck down by anyone. I think that the force you saw was a physical manifestation of the conflicting feelings he's having, of the war between pride, love, and fear of rejection. I also think that the only way he'll wake up is if you can admit to him your true feelings, and if you can get him to admit his true feelings. Otherwise, he'll might never wake up, and even if he did, he wouldn't be the same." Akane nodded. "Thanks, Doctor Tofu, you're the best...next to Ranma, that is. I better get home, I think Mr. Saotome's gotten there by now." "Alright then, let me know how things work out." "Hai! I will. Bye, Dr. Tofu!" "Bye Akane...say hello to Kasumi for me, would you?" (fading) "Ok!" When Akane returned, she shouted "Tadaima! (I'm home!)" Genma came up. "Oh, good, you've returned Akane, Ranma hasn't gotten any better." "Well....let me see what I can do. However, I'll have to be alone." Genma nodded and she went up to Ranma's room. "Oh Ranma..." she whispered. "I don't know if I can do this..." She remembered Dr. Tofu saying "The only way he'll get any better is if you can admit to him your feelings." "All right...here goes." "Ranma, I'm not sure if you can hear or understand me, but there's some- thing I need to say. I know we fight a lot, and that we don't seem to get along, but...Ranma...I...I..I love you, Ranma, please don't leave!!!" Akane was sobbing on Ranma's chest when she felt his arms move to encircle her. "Ranma...?" "Akane...did you really mean that? Do you love me?" Akane flinched, then nodded. "I do....I have for a really long time." "A-akane...I..I love you, too. I want to marry you. Akane, please say you'll be my wife." "Oh, Ranma, of course I will." "This doesn't change the fact that you're a kawaiikune tomboy...it just means that I love you." "Yeah, and you're still a baka jerk, but so what?" Ranma and Akane held each other for a long time that night, letting their hearts tell each other what the other had wanted to hear for so long. Later that night, Ranma was dozing off when he heard, faintly, like on the breeze, "Thank you Ranma....you'll never know what you've done." He was surprised to hear his own voice, if a few years older, but *not* the same voice as the mirror-Ranma--this voice was the same age...but...infinitely...happier. THE END My thanks to: The person who wrote the ST:TNG book Imzadi, for which I drew some (most) of the storyline from. Ross McKenzie, for giving me tips on how to write conversations between characters, a skill long forgotten by myself. Rumiko Takahashi, whom without which none of you would have been subject to this torture. -- "Warriors, warriors we call ourselves. We fight for splendid virtue, for high endeavor, for sublime wisdom, therefore we call ourselves warriors." --Aunguttara Nikaya email: geist@holly.colostate.edu