Ranma 1/2: A cure for the curse - Chapter 2 A Mid-Space production fanfic Posted at: midspace dot com slash fanfic ______________________________________________________________________ Standard Disclaimer: This is my work, but not my characters... blah blah. You get the point. See the Prologue for more. ______________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 - Ranma x 2 Both the Ranma's could only look at one another with shocked expressions on their faces, and let out a simultaneous scream. The room reverberated with both voices, until they overcame their shock and pulled their mouths closed. But that couldn't keep Ranma from staring at Ranma. [Mirror?] They both thought at once, and then shook their heads in unison. They both noted the gesture, and frowned in contemplation. Neither could understand why the other was copying their gestures exactly. "You're real?" they asked each other in unison, and then answered back in mock anger. "Of course I am!" "Then why are you a guy?" Onna-Ranma asked as the other said, "Then why are you a girl?" Both of them sighed. "It feels like I'm arguing with myself," they said in unison. "Something bad must have happened." Both sets of eyes drifted down, catching sight of the other's unclothed attributes. It wasn't that they hadn't seen them before, but they hadn't quite seen them from that angle. They both broke their focus, when they remembered that they were missing clothes themselves, and needed to cover up. "Some spare clothes..." one started as the other finished the sentence "...in the pack." Almost in unison, they moved towards the pack, bumping one another to open it. [We keep doing the same thing,] they thought, glancing at one another. Using one hand each, they dragged out the spare change of clothes. Onna-Ranma pulled on the familiar red shirt as otoko-Ranma slipped into some boxer shorts and black pants. Their modesty covered now, they both turned to consider the room. Akane still lay on the floor unconscious, whilst an upturned kettle lay in a small pool of water on the floor. [That's was the kettle with the cursed water,] they thought, as the pool of water was slowly creeping towards Akane's limp form. "Akane!" they both yelled at once, as they leapt to her side and pulled her out of the way. "I think I should..." Onna-Ranma spoke up. She hesitated when she realised she was speaking by herself for the first time. It took her a moment to remember what she was saying. "... I should clear the water away since..." "... You're already in the cursed form," otoko-Ranma finished the sentence without thinking. Onna-Ranma grimaced at the comment of being cursed, but nodded in reply. He reprimanded himself. [Baka! What are you thinking?] He looked at Akane's prostate form. [Akane of course. Focus first.] Picking her gently up, he carried Akane carefully over to a chair at the end of the table, and seated her down while onna-Ranma found some old papers to soak up the Jusenkyo water with. She tossed the papers onto the fire where they smouldered for a while before burning up in the heat. There was a fresh supply of rainwater in a barrel, with which otoko-Ranma refilled a kettle with and splashed her lightly on the face to wake her. Otoko-Ranma moved around to join onna-Ranma at the other end of the table as Akane jerked upright. Rather than find herself staring at a ceiling Akane found herself sitting at a table. She looked around, trying to remember what had happened, when her eyes settled on Ranma. And then she blink-blinked. She rubbed her head with a hand. [I must have knocked my head a little harder than I thought; I'm seeing two Ranma's...] She rubbed both her eyes, and looked again, still seeing two Ranma's. Akane looked from the tall, well-muscled boy to the red haired girl whose amply built bust was easily discernible compared to the boy. As they both wore exactly the same clothes, she had to look from one to the other several times, to make sure she was looking at a different person. [Ranma and... onna-Ranma?] Her mouth dropped open as realisation hit her. "Ranma!?" "Yes Akane-chan?" They both answered at once. Akane could hear both voices clearly, the high alto of onna-Ranma along with the deeper voice of otoko-Ranma, but they ran together, perfectly synchronised. "What happened?" She screamed out. "I..." they both started in unison, then looked at one another. "We don't know." "What do you mean you don't know?" She demanded. They spoke in unison. "After I poured the water over myself, the curse..." Both of them faltered, looking at one another as they sought the right words. "It felt as if something was tearing my insides apart. The last thing I remember was something throwing me across the room, and I woke up over there." Both Ranma's pointed in opposite directions. The last memory Akane had before she fainted suddenly came to her mind, and she gasped. [He *was* torn apart!] Her shock turned to nausea as she groaned and held her face to her hand. [And now there are two of them.] "Akane-chan?" They both asked, coming towards her on either side of the table. "Stop!" She yelled, looking up to see that look on both of their faces, the one that feared the Low Orbit Catapult Mechanism that was also known as her fist. "Would you both stop talking at once, it's hurting my head." "Okay," they said together, and then a sheepish smile appeared on both their faces. Akane shook her head, actually feeling the throbbing in her temples. "Just sit down," she mumbled, hoping they'd at least do that. They each took a seat opposite one another, looking at each other's faces. [It's just like a mirror,] they couldn't help but think. Akane had seen all sorts of weird stuff since Ranma had entered her life. People turning into animals, a ghost cat, teachers that suck out battle auras. This really seemed to be the icing on the otherwise totally nutty fruitcake that happened to be her existence. "It's so strange," she started to say. "Have you ever..." she trailed off, unsure about the entire situation. "This isn't helping," both Ranma's said. "Well, what do you want to do about it?" She asked them both. "This isn't a tournament. There's no one here to defeat and win back your body... your single body, is there?" Both of them shook their heads. "And that Kaneda Shotaro, shouldn't he have know about this?" Both Ranma's stared across at one another over the table, only partially listening to Akane as they thought deeply about their problem. Akane crossed her arms with a frown on her face. [They're like two kids.] "Are you two even listening?" "It's..." they both began together, and then hesitated. "Real..." one said. "Bad." The other finished. "Damnit" Akane yelled. Akane thumped the table with her fists, causing one of the thick planks to crack in the centre, right where the kettle filled with water rested. As her hand went down, the centre came up, causing the kettle to spray water all over both Ranma's. Both of them sat there blinking water out of their eyes, unchanged. "Oh Ranma!" Akane exclaimed. "You're cured!" The two Ranma's looked to one another first before turning back to Akane. "Akane-chan," onna-Ranma spoke up by herself. "That was cold water. *I*... might still be cursed," she said, putting a lot of emphasis on "I". [She could be right.] Otoko-Ranma stared at his other half for a moment, concern written on his face, until she suddenly turned to look back at him with a frown. There was a large number of water carrying items littered around the cabin designed for heating, perhaps because the Chinese guide was used to dealing with travellers who inevitably fell into one of the cursed springs. A couple were hanging over the fire, already hot from their long duration hanging there. "One way to find out!" Akane yelled, interrupting the odd stares between the two Ranma's as she jumped out of her seat, grabbing one of the kettles from the fire, and all but threw it at both the Ranma's. Otoko-Ranma leaned out of the way as it sailed past his head, where onna-Ranma caught the kettle expertly by the handle. "Warm water, not boiling!" She yelled back at Akane. She waited for the water to cool a bit, as the other two watched on in anticipation. ==={ @~>~~~ }=== It might be said that Nabiki Tendo was up in her room relaxing. The fact that she was wearing her cut off shorts and tank top, leaning over her desk in a relaxed position. Any normal person would have thought she was unwinding after a busy day at school. But if any person said that, then they didn't know Nabiki Tendo very well. She sat at her desk, both elbows planted against the hard surface, with a pencil in her mouth, which she idly turned about, pointing in different directions as pouring over her account books, examining the running costs of the Dojo and the household for the month. [Hmmm, a little short,] she was considering, even though Genma Saotome and her father had been gone for two weeks, whilst Ranma and Akane had been gone only one. There were the usual factors due to weekly damage done to the Dojo, and the food, but the excess incurred came from the travelling money her father had taken with him, and the bribes she had had to pay to get a berth on a ship for Ranma and her little sister. [The Chinese Government Officials must charge a fortune,] she thought at the amount she was forced to pay to, even after haggling her best to get the cost dropped. She took a breath through her nose as she considered the planned expenditures for the month. [If we want a Christmas party this year, I may have break open the emergency funds.] Though Nabiki knew the costs well enough, she also knew she couldn't cancel the family Christmas party. It just wasn't right, and it tended to make more money than it cost, though it took a considerable amount of effort and Yen to get the party set up. [I guess I'll just have to milk Ranma a little harder to recoup the money when he comes back.] She closed the books and leaned back on her chair, the pencil making circles in the air. Nabiki thought about picking through the guest room that Happosai used when he was around. [Not even selling Happosai's collection of underwear will be enough to offset this debt,] she thought with a sigh. [I've waited a week Ranma; I hope that's enough for you.] She considered her last option. Just before Ranma and Akane had left for docks, Ranma had pulled her aside and told her... "Look Nabiki, I know you're going to sell this information to Shampoo or Ryoga. There's nothing wrong with that." She'd seen Ranma trying to repress a smile. "I'm asking you to try not to tell them too soon. We need enough time to get to the springs. Just a week, that's all I'm asking." She thought he'd finished, but he said one more thing. "If you mention China to them, they'll know I've gone there for a cure. Just make sure that whatever you charge them, you at least get 20,000 for the information on China. Any information relating to the Jusenkyo cure itself is worth at least five times that. It's nothing you should give away freely." Nabiki couldn't help but grin at the memory. Whatever Ranma was, he wasn't stupid. She had no intention of giving away that small piece of information, not without the parting of a lot of Yen. [The only thing I need now, is someone to sell it too...] Outside, the front gate could be heard opening and closing, then a familiar voice was heard crying out. "Ranma, prepare to die!" Nabiki put the slightly chewed pencil away and got up from her chair at the sound of the challenge that most of Nerima must have heard. [Sometimes that boy has the most amazing timing.] ==={ @~>~~~ }=== Ryoga Hibiki stood in the Tendo yard with his pack and umbrella on his back, staring at the house waiting for an answer to his challenge. "Ranma!" He yelled again. Ryoga looked around the yard, expecting Ranma to pop out from somewhere, but the only sound heard, was that of a splash as a fish jumped into the air and landed back in the pond. Ryoga eyed the pond, but saw no threat from that direction. The sound of the front door opening caught his attention. [Akane?] Nabiki stepped out of the doorway, and looked upon Ryoga standing there with a slightly glazed expression. He shook his head violently as if clearing it of something. "He's not here Ryoga-kun," Nabiki said a little seductively as she leaned back in the doorframe, accenting her physical features. Ryoga eyed her as much as he would a snake or any other dangerous creature, unimpressed and unmoved by the lack of physical threat. Nabiki sighed inwardly. [He's only got eyes for imouto. Maybe I need a different tack with him.] "Ranma's not here," she said, peeling herself from the doorway. "He's run away again, and before I can challenge him," Ryoga said, eyeing the yard speculatively as if expecting his rival to be hiding somewhere, ready to jump out at him. "Akane and Ranma have gone on a training trip together," Nabiki said, approaching the boy. "A... Akane?" He stumbled. Nabiki hid her smirk, as the eternally lost boy, now became just as lost in his thoughts. She held a closed hand to her mouth as she coughed lightly, bringing the boy back again. "You'd like to know where they've gone, don't you?" She asked. Ryoga nodded over-enthusiastically and waited for a reply. It was eerily quiet, until he looked down at to find an open hand. "40,000 Yen," she said without any further explanation. He coughed at the high price, wondering for the first time if it was worth it to chase after Ranma. [But for Akane, I'll do anything,] he thought, as his resolve suddenly solidified. Nabiki had to step back as he pulled the pack of his shoulders and planted it on the ground with a heavy thud. After rummaging around inside it for a moment, he pulled out a hand full of money. Most of it was Japanese Yen, but there was flash of colour of another currency from other countries. [Chinese Yuan Renminbi, Taiwanese New Dollars, even some Vietnamese Dong in there,] Nabiki thought to herself as Ryoga flicked through the money, separating out the larger denominations of Yen. [Where has this boy been, and how did he get so much money?] Nabiki kept her face the normal cold mask she always wore, as she considered this. She only stopped, when she felt the bulky weight of 40,000 Yen placed into her hand, which she suddenly felt required a second hand to hold all the money, lest a small breeze try to take it from her. With precision, she flicked through the money, adding in her head, coming out to the full 40,000 Yen. [And Ranma wanted 20,000. I suppose he thought he might be able to get out of his debt for the berth on the ship. But then...] She eyed the remaining money that Ryoga stuffed back into his pack with a pang of regret. [There's always Shampoo or Ukyo I suppose.] She let out a small breath before speaking. "Ranma and Akane went to China a week ago, on a ship. They're returning to Jusenkyo with the instructions for a cure." "A cure?" Ryoga's mouth dropped open. Before she could offer the information to Ryoga for another sum, which surly would have bankrupted the boy, he picked up his pack and ran for the nearest wall, causing it to explode in dust and debris. When it finally cleared, Ryoga was gone, and only a hole remained. "That'll have to go on next weeks repair bill," she said to no one in particular. [I'm beginning to think that maybe we should buy our own building and repair firm. We could save on the costs for repairing the Dojo every time, and remove the Tax burden.] She eventually looked down at the stack of money in her hands, a small grin coming onto her otherwise placid face. [Now, for Shampoo before Ranma comes back, and makes the information worthless.] ==={ @~>~~~ }=== Across the other side of Nerima, in the Nekohanten came the crash of crockery and the clatter of chopsticks across the floor. Cologne came hopping out from the back of the restaurant on her gnarled wooden stick, to see what had happened. "What happened out here Shampoo?" She asked, looking at the girl bending over in her short dress to clean up the mess on the floor. [If Son-in-law was here now...] she thought. Shampoo stood up, with an armful of broken bowls. "Shampoo suddenly sneeze and drop everything she holding great-grandmother," the purple haired girl replied. "What were you thinking about at the time Shampoo?" Cologne asked. Shampoo paused for a moment in her cleaning to think about it. "Shampoo wondering where Airen is. Have not seen him for a week." [The girl senses something that I haven't. Someone talking about Shampoo and Son-in-law perhaps.] Cologne glided back into the kitchen on her stick, and prepared to open the restaurant, ready for the dinner crowd. ==={ @~>~~~ }=== Ryoga looked around, trying to find a familiar landmark. [How am I going to find China at this rate? I'm still on Honshu, but where?] He knew that he still on the main island, because he hadn't found the ocean yet. [This has got to be the way to the ocean,] he thought as he turned down a street, feeling a vague sense of familiarity, but what Ryoga didn't know, was that a lot of the narrow streets in Tokyo all had a similar appearance. After turning another corner, he stopped and punched a hole in a nearby wall in frustration, sending plumes of dust over the road. [I can't get to China unless I find the ocean! Maybe I can ask someone...] He looked around furtively, spotting two cute schoolgirls who were standing a little further up the street. They wore no uniform that he could recognise, made up of a tan vest over a white shirt with a short tan skirt. They seemed to be having some sort of argument as he approached. "Mica, you know the Commander said not to hurt any Protozoan life forms." "What do you mean?" "They way you keep teasing Akai. One day you're going to end up hurting him, and I won't be held responsible." "I don't tease him," the red head responded flatly. "I've seen the way you act around him. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a crush on him." "A crush?" Ryoga stopped in his tracks as the red haired girl jammed her foot down on that of the green haired girl, eliciting a crushing sound, except it wasn't the girl's foot. A small crater formed in the roadway under both their feet. "You mean this sort of crush Mica?" "Ouch," Mica said with a flat expression. "That hurt you know." Mew looked down to see her foot was now squashed under her friend's. "That wasn't called for." "I... I... I..." Ryoga's mouth jammed up and stopped walking as he watched the to girls turn the roadway into fine dust under their combined feet. [Who the hell are those girls? Where the hell am I?] Ryoga turned about looking for an escape, when one of the girls drove her foot down a little harder, cracking a water main running under the street. Water burst up, spraying out in all directions. The transformation was so rapid that Ryoga didn't know until it was too late, leaving some empty clothes, a pack with an untouched umbrella and a small black piglet standing drenched on the roadway. P-Chan looked around to see the resultant fountain of water covering the scene where the two girls still stood, a little wet with the water spraying out from underneath their feet, except they were staring towards him now. "Mica, did you just see the guy..." "Turn into small pig? Yeah." "Bwwwweeeeee!" P-Chan squealed as the two apparent monsters disguised as cute schoolgirls advanced upon him. ==={ @~>~~~ }=== "No, no!" Onna-Ranma screamed. She ran to the fire, and ripped another kettle from the flames and dumped its still boiling contents over her head, screaming all the while. She'd ripped her shirt open after the first kettle, laying her chest exposed, but there was no change. Otoko-Ranma could only sit there, feeling a chill crawl down his spine as he watched his other half. He heard thoughts in his head, thought's not quite his own. {I can't be a girl, I can't be... this has to be a dream, yeah a dream. That's right. I'm dreaming...} Akane and otoko-Ranma winced as she screamed again pouring more hot water over herself. Akane's earlier anger disappeared as onna-Ranma slumped to the floor on her knees, the kettle slipping from her fingers, forgotten. "This isn't a dream, it's a nightmare. I can't be... I can't be stuck as a girl," onna-Ranma started talking to herself. "I'm a guy, I'm a guy... this is just one big nightmare. Yeah... yeah, this is one big nightmare, and I'm going to wake up real soon. It's just a nightmare..." Akane came over and knelt beside her. She hesitated a moment, remembering all the times she'd gotten close to Ranma. [But this is different,] she told herself forcefully. Carefully, she wrapped an arm around Ranma. Otoko-Ranma felt the presence and looked up. Her eyes met Akane for a moment, but drifted to the figure still seated behind her. Otoko-Ranma could only stare back with a disturbed look on his face. [That face... that face... it's me!] "No!!! This can't be real!" She jumped out of Akane's grasp and levelled an accusing finger at otoko-Ranma. [What'd I do now?] He suddenly thought, almost expecting the short red head to rip the nearby table from the floor and pound him with it. "It's all your fault!" She said. He could only stare back in confusion. "You took my body, and I want it back!" She said, clenching a fist and waving it at him in a threatening manner. His anger took the better of him. "What do ya mean your body?" He shot back, jumping to his feet also. "Yeah my body. You took it you hiretsukan thief." Her words got under his skin. "Ranma!" Akane called out, watching him crack his knuckles in preparation to pummel his opponent. Otoko-Ranma had heard her, but already his mind was working. [I can't hit her. She's... she's... she's me!] He slumped his shoulders. "What's wrong? Giving up? You finally realised I'm right?" Onna -Ranma's face twisted into a grin, right before she lunged at him. Otoko-Ranma hadn't expected it, but he saw the twitch of her muscles right before she leapt, bringing up a defence in time to soften the initial blow. Akane could only watch as the two equally matched martial artists took to one another. Onna-Ranma came at him, aiming a punch for his face. [He can't wear that face. No one can wear that face but me!] She thought grimly as she tried to rip his face off. Otoko-Ranma was already on the defensive, blocking her fist as he tried to twist her off side. She slipped his hold, dropping to the floor to sweep him off his feet. Bouncing back up off his hands, he landed ready but found his opponent missing. The nearby table was the first casualty as otoko-Ranma was hit in the back, knocking him through it and reducing the table to kindling. He had little time to resume his defence as she came at him screaming. In his heart, otoko-Ranma knew he was losing this fight. He hadn't wanted to fight himself, which was why he had being on the defence from the start, but it wasn't getting anywhere. He needed to re-take control of this battle, and her anger was a weakness to exploit. He jumped through the air, barely missing the ceiling as he brought his feet down towards onna-Ranma. She saw the move of course. [Too easy] She stepped back to counter strike, punching up at his unprotected stomach as he descended. [She fell for it.] Subtle use of his ki as he swung his arms to one side, he cart wheeled in mid air, catching onna-Ranma by surprise and latching both legs around her chest. Using the momentum of her thrust, they flipped around and dropped to the floor with him on top. The air rushed out of her chest as she fought to remain conscious. [That was... I should have seen that coming.] She winced in pain as he climbed off her, wiping sweat from his forehead. "You want to keep going?" He asked her. "Ranma!" Akane yelled, finally seeing an opportunity to stop the fighting. Onna-Ranma ignored her as she climbed to her feet straighten her pigtail. Her eyes narrowed as she contemplated her opponent. "That'll be the last time you do that," she said, her battle aura starting to glow as she took an offensive stance. [She's got control of her anger again,] he mused. [Does she really believe she can take me?] There was no time to consider anything else as the glowing girl came at him. Akane could only watch as they went back and forth across the room, fists and feet flying, until one wall exploded out. She covered her face as wood chips and dust billowed through the room. Waving her hands about, she was able to clear some of the air, finding a man sized hole in one wall, with the fight still going strong outside, except that otoko-Ranma seemed to be slowly giving ground to the determined red head. [What's he doing?] Akane thought, as otoko-Ranma continued to stay on the defensive. "Stay still!" Onna-Ranma called briefly before yelling "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken" and launching into a furious assault. Akane continued following the action. [She's fast. Maybe a little too fast.] She watched otoko-Ranma leap into the air to avoid the barrage of fists, but onna-Ranma was right behind him. Before he knew it, she'd leapt high above him, leading with a foot she came down at him from the bright sky. "Ranma, watch out!" Akane yelled. He felt the danger before he heard the warning, twisting out of the way of the strike that could have crippled, finding instead that he had to defend himself once again from the fusillade of punches. "Give me back my body!" Onna-Ranma continued to berate him as they moved again over the ground, kicking up dirty snow as she attempted a leg sweep. "You have no right!" [She's been driven by her anger,] otoko-Ranma told himself. [If this were Ryoga, it'd be over by now. But she's me. I don't want to fight her. I shouldn't have to fight her.] He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost missed her call for the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken again. [It's too close... I'll have to match her.] "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" He yelled, his hands blurring in time to hers, not to hit her, but rather to block each of her moves, their impacting hands sounding like a jack hammers. "Stop *blocking* me!" Onna-Ranma screaming in frustration, finding each of her strikes thwarted effectively. Eventually she stepped back halting her attack, finding her opponent mirroring her exactly. Her breath came ragged as she contemplated her situation. [400, no 500, argh! I've lost count!] She looked at her hands, finding them red and sore from the evenly matched assault. [I can't continue like this, it's wearing me down. I need to gain an advantage.] Off to the side, her eyes caught sight of the Jusenkyo springs, and a grin came to her face. Otoko-Ranma saw the glance towards the training ground. [Please no,] he thought, but it was too late as onna-Ranma took off, leaping into the air, springing from pole to pole as if she were born to it. "Ranma!" Akane yelled, as she watched first one, and then the other Ranma take to the poles. [Ranma no baka,] she thought to herself, though it wasn't directed either Ranma in particular. She had a worried expression, as she ran towards the springs. [What am I going to do if you fall in again?] They danced across the poles above the springs, like moths around a flame, tempting a fate possibly worse than death in a flame. Jumping at each other, they would meet mid air for a few seconds, a blur of hands and feet, before returning to another set of poles, landing awkwardly until they regained their balance and launched themselves at each other again. Each time, the equally matched forces of the two Ranma's met, their identical battle auras would collide with devastating force. From her unique position on the ground as she hurried between the springs to follow the action, Akane was the first to notice the destructive effects of the two fighters as they collided again. She was surprised to see several of the bamboo poles suddenly explode underneath the two fighters. [This isn't good,] she thought as a wave of energy shook the air around her. She looked up as the two fighters split off, finding new platforms to land on. Neither of the two Ranma's noticed Akane below them, and neither did they consciously notice the depletion of the bamboo poles. Their eyes were only on one another, their opponent, someone worthy of their skill and power of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. They leapt once more at the air, seeking to dislodge the other from the skies, their battle auras glowing brightly and the ki focused as they clashed. Akane screamed loudly when the shockwave hit her, picking her up physically and throwing her violently through the air. It was the scream that broke their concentration, striking deep where their blows hadn't. They involuntarily pushed away from one another, falling towards the solid ground between the springs as they looked towards the tumbling form. "Akane!" They both yelled. By luck, otoko-Ranma was closer to the ground and landed first, but was off again before onna-Ranma could move. He was a blur, pushing with every ounce of his ki as he flew forward, leaving deep impressions in the ground where his feet had touched down. He could see her trajectory clearly, as where she would fall, lay a spring that held unknown tragedies. [No, you can't fall in! I won't let you fall in Akane...] But it already looked to be too late. He suddenly made up his mind as he put everything he had into one last jump. [...Even if it means getting cursed again,] he finished the thought. The last jump was enough to get him to her before she hit the spring, allowing him to push her out of the way towards solid ground, but it didn't leave him with enough momentum to save himself from falling in. He had one final view of the glittering surface of the water when something hard hit him in the back. The water disappeared from view to be replaced by the ground, which he found his face suddenly buried in. Akane stood up and looked around. Otoko-Ranma was digging his face out of the ground to her right, but onna-Ranma was gone. All that was left was a ripple on the surface of a nearby spring. ==={ @~>~~~ }=== QUICK NOTE: You have no idea how much I wanted to just leave a cliff-hanger ending here! Hehehe. ==={ @~>~~~ }=== A thought ran through her head not quite her own. {...Even if it means getting cursed again.} [You fool.] She hadn't really thought it through when she jumped after otoko-Ranma, but for some reason she knew instinctively that he wouldn't make it. Right after her foot had left the ground, there had been the fleeting thought that maybe she was just being selfish in trying to keep the only real form of her body safe so she could reclaim it later. But her decision has already been made, as she struck the descending boy just above the unknown spring, leaving him with just enough lift to clear the edge of the water, but forcing herself down into its depths. A sense of Deja-vu came over her as the waters of the spring washed over her body, leaving a sense of dread run through mind. [What if I drown in here? Will I just become another tragic legend for the guide to talk about? No I don't want to lose!] Finding it suddenly constraining she was only able to thrash weakly about in the water as she felt herself struggling to remain conscious. A memory washed through her mind, of herself falling into the spring, struggling to escape the confining waters. [This must be what it's like to die, to have your life flash before your eyes. I'm remembering what happened the last time I fell in a spring.] The memory seemed to repeat itself a second time, but it was different somehow. She could see the brightness of the surface overhead, slowly getting darker as she dropped into the unknown depths of the spring. First she saw her old hands in front of her, and then another memory of some hands that looked just like her own now, flailing about in the watery depths, futility grasping for anything to save her. {It's not the depths,} she thought she told herself. {I was dying.} She heard the voice in her head. [Is this a memory too?] She was slowly suffocating as the life left her body and the darkness swallowed her. {And then I died,} came the thought. [I died?] Ranma's mind turned. [No! I don't what to die yet. I... want just one more chance.] {One more chance to fix things,} a voice said. She turned about, suddenly finding the surface the water ahead of her, it brightness beckoning her onward, so she pushed. ==={ @~>~~~ }=== "Ranma!" Akane called, as she ran the edge of the spring. She looked down but couldn't see anything in the dark depths. "Akane?" Otoko-Ranma brushed the dirt from his face, to find what she was looking at. [She didn't, did she?] Several bubble escaped the surface. "By Kami-sama, she did do it," he exclaimed. "Ranma, we've got to rescue her." Akane reached forward towards the water, but a hand stopped her. "You can't touch the water Akane, unless you want to be cursed also," he said. Her eyes held concern. "What if she drowns?" He shook his head. "We can't do anything." [How long has she been under already? She might well be drowning. If she drowns though, then this'll be all over.] Ranma tried to block out the guilty thought. [But I can't do anything, can I?] He looked around, for something, anything to help, but the training grounds were bare of anything save the bamboo poles lodged into the springs, and he knew he couldn't pull one of those out without dragging himself through a spring. Something looked familiar, as Ranma turned left then right, looking around the spring. He had a vivid flashback, of that day he'd first arrived at Jusenkyo, of the Nyanneechuan he'd climbed out of, and then returned to again a short while ago to collect its water. [This is... it's the...] "Akane, this is the Nyanneechuan!" "What?" There was a splashing sound. They both turned to see a head of red hair broach the surface, gasping for air. They could only stand back and watch as the almost drowned girl climbed from the spring. She bent over and spat up water and coughing to clear her lungs. "Heh, ha, haaaa." Finally she let out a clear breath that didn't burble or bring up water. "I made it." "Ranma?" Akane called. Slowly she looked up from the ground, to find two faces staring at her with something akin to surprise. Realisation dawned upon her slowly. [I fell into a spring... but I saved Ran... I saved the true form. And now... now I'm cursed again.] "What..." She started, unsure if her mouth was working. "What did I turn into?" The two staring back at her didn't reply. "Am I so horrible?" "No..." Akane said. Otoko-Ranma broke into a smile. All of a sudden he just couldn't keep it in, and burst out laughing. Akane looked from the girl to him, and could see the funny side also as she joined in laughing. "What!" The girl asked, then growled. "What's so funny?" Otoko-Ranma's laughter subsided first. "You..." He snorted briefly. "You haven't changed!" He burst out laughing again. "I what?" She yelled, as she hadn't quite heard it over Akane's laughter. "You haven't changed!" Otoko-Ranma yelled back. "You fell into the Nyanneechuan you fool!" Dripping water still, onna-Ranma looked around, seeing the recognisable spring, its edges. [No wonder it seemed so familiar,] she considered. [That's the second time...] It didn't seem quite right. There was something on the edge of her consciousness, a memory that seemed to say that this wasn't her second time here. That it wasn't the second time she'd fallen into one of these springs. She shook the feeling off as she stared at the laughing pair. [I can see why it's so funny, falling into the same spring...] She left off the thought as the contagiousness of the laughter finally caught her, and she was forced to laugh too. ==={ @~>~~~ }=== A calm night settled over the Jusenkyo training grounds, the sky clearing of clouds, as the stars slowly came one by one, turning the sky into a blanket of sparkling dots. Otoko-Ranma was outside the cabin in his coat, finding the beauty distracting and the cold unbearable as he worked on making repairs to the wall they'd broken during the fight. Akane had thrown a hammer at him. "You busted it, so you're going to fix it!" Akane had yelled at him, before stomping back inside. "Un-cute tomboy," he mumbled as he dislodged the hammer from his face. "I heard that," Akane's voice screamed back. "Just for that, you can't come in for food until you're finished!" He'd thought she was finished, but following her last words were several planks of wood she just happen to find lying about. He ducked and dodged the airborne missiles, then set about collecting the wood before setting to work on the repairs. Seeing onna-Ranma still seated in front of the fire from her soaking in the spring, wearing just her boxer shorts and a towel draped over her shoulders to hide her modesty as her clothes dried on a length of thin rope strung across the cabin, Akane decided to set to work on dinner herself. [I think I'll do some curry tonight.] Putting on a smile at the thought of doing it all herself without any assistance, she spread out vegetables on the large bench, and set to work slicing them all. Onna-Ranma was lost in her thoughts at that time. The banging of the hammer outside, the rattling of cooking in the cabin, it was all a distant buzz. She was so deep in thoughts as she contemplated her existence, that had someone called out to her that Akane was cooking food, she wouldn't have heard it. She stared at the fire, not really watching the flames roll up the sides of a log, turning into embers that drifted upwards out of her vision. [Why did I survive?] She asked herself, but there was no answer, and she didn't expect it. [I should have died in that spring. It would have solved everyone's problem. I'm... I don't really belong here. There's already a male Ranma. I'm just... I'm just...] She sighed. [Worthless baka.] Outside, otoko-Ranma thought he heard someone and missed the nail he was aiming for, and slammed the hammer on a thumb. He swore, more at his own carelessness than at the small amount of pain. [I swear someone called me a baka.] He turned about in the near darkness, but didn't hear anything else. [Must be my imagination.] Taking the distraction as a break, he stuck his head through the remaining hole in the wall, to peek inside. The first thing he saw was Akane attacking a large cutting board with a knife, slicing vegetables that she had found somewhere. [Oh no, she's cooking!] He couldn't stop the look of pain that came across his face at that moment. Akane stopped slicing, realising she'd already finished chopping the vegetables, and they were now beginning to look finely shredded mush. [Maybe a little too much,] she thought. The room was quiet, and she turned about, wondering why the hammering had stopped, and found Ranma staring at her with the most dreadful look of pain on his face. "Are you okay Ranma? You look like something a... like something P-Chan had dragged in." She gave him that stare that just dared him to say something about her cooking, or about P-Chan. Ranma glanced from her to the knife that she still held in her hand, pointing lazily in his direction. He swallowed nervously. [Say something fool.] "Ah... Your..." [No, don't mention it, you'll just say something bad.] "I, Ah... just hit my thumb is all," he said, retreating back through the hole. Akane only glared back at him, before starting on finding some oil for the wok. [Oil, there's got to be some oil for cooking around here somewhere.] Onna-Ranma turned her eyes down to the floor, finding the fire too distracting in the sudden quiet. [Who ever heard of a real Jusenkyo cure anyhow? It... there's probably no such thing. This... this is like a curse.] She snorted. [Another Jusenkyo curse. From bad to worse, that's my life. I wonder if it can get any worse. I shouldn't think things like that, cause it might happen. What's a little fuel on the fire...?] Reaching over, she grabbed a few chunks of wood and threw them onto the fire, sending plumes of embers spiralling upwards. [I should search for a cure. I could try the Amazon village, what was it called. Jocks... Joksu... Well, they might know something, unless the old mummy is their only source of information, then I might as well go back the Japan. But... I think somehow the only person who knows anything is Kaneda Shotaro. He started this whole mess. Just because he happens to turn up at the Dojo one day, and tell me about a cure. I suppose that's luck, but I don't believe in luck.] She was silent for a long while, as hammering resumed outside, and the sounds of cooking started inside. [If I didn't do something bad in a previous life, then Fate must be a cruel woman. It just ain't fair!] She pulled her legs to her chest, pressing them close to prop her chin up with her knees, holding them tight as a single tear worked its way free and trickled down her cheek. Her breath came in and out in short surges, as she shook slightly. [Why?] She lamented. [Why did pop have to take me on this damn journey?] No longer able to cope with what was happening, the past and present troubles just seemed to flow together inside onna-Ranma head. [Damn baka. It'd serve him right if mom decides to split his stomach from his mouth.] She wiped the back of a hand across her face, than wiped it on the towel, resuming her foetal position on the floor. [All he ever wanted was a 'man amongst men'. Maybe I should...] She shook with uncontrolled sobbing for a moment. [Maybe I should commit seppuku. I doubt whether anyone would miss me.] Onna-Ranma turned her head, to look back over her shoulder at Akane. So engrossed in her cooking, Akane wasn't aware of the two red rimmed glassy eyes staring at her from the hearth of the fire. She was stirring and mixing food in the wok, busy preparing her best meal yet, all for her fiancé. "Akane..." onna-Ranma whispered. "I can't... be your fiancé any more. I'm not... I'm not worthy." The door clattered open as otoko-Ranma came in, finished with repairing the cabin wall. The first thing he noticed was the smell of food. It was so enticing, that he was drawn forward to have a look. [It smells good, but it never was a sure thing with Akane's cooking.] Looking into the wok however, he didn't find any burnt or unrecognisable foodstuffs. "Hmmmm." [Maybe she's improved.] "It'll be ready in a moment," Akane said with smile. "I'm just gonna get the other Ranma." She put the ladle down, and wandered over to the figure by the fire. "Ranma-chan, you want some food?" Onna-Ranma turned her head away quickly, not wanting to be seen crying as it wasn't very manly. "No," she said, not feeling hungry at all. [No?] Akane thought. [That isn't like Ranma. Even when I'm cooking.] "Come on, you've got to be hungry." Akane leaned down, and put a hand on one towelled shoulder. "I don't want anything," onna-Ranma said, but she couldn't keep the trembling out of her voice. Akane heard it. She leaned down, and looked at onna-Ranma's face. "You've been crying!" It wasn't a question. Onna-Ranma looked up into those deep brown eyes, and suddenly found she couldn't return the stare. "Don't look at me!" She screamed, knocking Akane out of the way as she jumped up from the floor, and ran for the door. Otoko-Ranma stared wide-eyed as she ran out the door, slamming it shut behind her. "What was that?" Akane started, climbing off the floor. "Ranma?" Ranma didn't answer, his eyes still glued to the door in concentration. [Maybe I wasn't hearing voices. She is *me* after all. It's... as if I could hear some of her thoughts.] Some of those thoughts ran through his head suddenly. "Kuso!" "What?" Akane asked. "We've got to find her quick. I think she's going to kill herself." She only had time to put a questioning look on her face, before he disappeared out into the darkness through the door still with his coat on, letting cold air blow its way inside. [Ranma no baka,] she thought. Instead of charging outside, she grabbed her coat also, and picked up one of the oil lamps before going out. She remembered to close the door, so the cabin would remain warm until they got back. But she forgot the wok of food still bubbling away on the stovetop fire. End Chapter 2 ______________________________________________________________________ Author's Notes: This wasn't exactly where I wanted to end it, as I had more to write, but it'll be in the next chapter. I hope you like this chapter, as I poured a lot of heart and soul into it, especially the last part, though it kind of pooled on the floor a little. Something I realised as writing this. No matter how much fan fiction I read about Ranma and Akane, a lot of it seems, so... well... plagiarised. I could be blamed for this also [Okay, someone has already]. It's hard, to write something, then go out and read someone else's, and find it to be exactly the same. Give me twelve monkeys and a typewriter... Now bubbles leave the computer alone! [Now where did I leave Akane's mallet?] Okay... The very point in splitting a person is you get two exact copies of the personality and memories. They should act exactly like one another, because they think the same. As time goes on however, their two different viewpoints and experiences will start to separate them. It's inevitable. But while those two consciousnesses are perfectly aligned, you have a phenomenon that is usually only talked about by twins, that they can share one another thoughts. Hopefully I'm the first take this to the split Ranma scenario, bwahah. (Please do tell me if I'm not!) Another cameo appearance... Can you guess who they are? I'm setting myself a kind of pattern to have a new guest (or two) from a different Manga or Anime in each and every chapter. It gives a little meaning to the world being a smaller place than you thought. Tokyo is of course a haven for problems of most Manga. [Gee, why am I saying this, you should know about it if you're reading this sort of stuff.] Constructive Interference: A physics term; where two waveforms of the same type actually reinforce one another. It's the basis for the resultant fight between the two Ranma's. It's actually their auras and ki energy that meet, and reinforce one another. The result was twice as much punishment and the explosive forces they released in almost DBZ style. Next Chapter (read with the half serious voice of a male narrator): Will Ranma and Akane stop onna-Ranma before she does something she regrets? Will she ever learn to put some clothes on? Is Akane actually learning to cook finally? Or will be cabin be burnt down by the time they return? Will P-Chan escape the clutches of the cute schoolgirls? Coming up next in "A Cure for the curse: The Duo of Death". Please send me C&C!! And direct them to spunkyredhead@TendoDojo.co.j... (Damn, I wish), send it to the address at the top. All flames will be fed to the cat. C...c...c...c...cat? ______________________________________________________________________