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                         Ranma 1/2 : Shattered Dreams
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     a fanfic by Kevin Eav (geist@holly.ColoState.EDU (Kevin Eav))

     characters borrowed from Rumiko Takahashi

     inspiration from: Erin Mills ver 2.5, who's fanfics have always been
     good reads, The Shadows in particular.  
     Nightelf:IMHO, master of the sadfic.
     Mako-chan (Tho' that's not your real name), because I love you.
     RpM, Mihoshi, Ratiko...I dunno. But I just wanted to thank you, anyway.
     End scene shamelessly (sort of) adopted from "Magic's Price" by Mercedes
Lackey (Give credit where credit is due.)
                              -----------------

     Ranma tossed and turned, moaning out not-quite-words of worry and 
discomfort.  He tensed, and twitched, as if seeing and doing things he 
didn't want to.  In his mind's eye, he saw it all very clearly: himself, 
Ryouga, Mousse, Ukyou, Shampoo, even the Kunos, all facing down a very 
large and very evil demon.  Ranma swore an oath, for this demon had tried 
to strike Akane down once, and he had beaten it off; but it was stronger 
now, much stronger. It had injured Akane, and now she lay behind the 
group, Dr. Tofu and Kasumi tending her wounds whilst the band of friends 
and rivals struggled against a common foe.

      Ryouga and Ukyou were the first to charge the demon, all of it's 15 
foot tall, horrible, stinking, clawed mass.  Ukyou tossed a full bandolier 
of spatulas; they sank into the thing, but didn't affect it.  Ryouga 
tossed hundreds of bandannas, his umbrella, even a near-full-power Shishi
Hokoudan to no avail.   They reached the demon and were swatted aside, 
unhurt, yet also powerless against the demon.  They seemed to accept this 
and fade away, their voices echoing each other:"We're sorry Ranma...we can't
help you this time..."  The Kunos went next, to the same affect; nothing.
They too, faded away, and it was Mousse, Shampoo, and Ranma who faced the 
demon.  It laughed, though it had no mouth, and the teenagers charged as 
one, their skills and strengths covering each others weaknesses.  Yet 
still the demon pressed on, first Mousse and then Shampoo fading away 
into the mist.

     Ranma stood alone, even Dr. Tofu and Kasumi having faded away, in 
front of the demon.  Without even considering Ranma, it swatted him away, 
knocking him away.  He jumped up just in time to see the demon plunge a 
claw into Akane's body; he screamed a silent scream, and a blaze of ki 
eliminated both him and the demon, forevermore. His second-to-last thought
was that he didn't realize just how powerful the Shishi Houkoudan was....or
that he even knew it.  His last thought was, as always, of Akane.>

     Ranma screamed, and jerked awake.  He gasped for breath, and looked 
around frantically, until he spotted Akane's still form next to him.  He 
reached over, and took her hand in his, thankful that he hadn't awakened 
her.  <Good god..it was only a dream.>  He looked down at Akane, the 
bittersweet emotions running freely through him now.  <Gods--Akane, you 
look so at peace...>  He fumbled back to his bed and lay down, thinking 
of better times, and better dreams.

     He relaxed, thinking about the short, brief, tender moments that lay 
buried under the violence and anger that he and Akane so often displayed; 
the times, however rare, that they both let down their shields.  He thought
about his dream, that is, what he could remember of it, wondering what it
all meant.  <Maybe...maybe I'm just seeing the future...but no...ever since..
since...well, ever since, it's been so calm around here that the insurance
companies thought we'd moved out.  Hell...Ryouga and I are actually 
friends now.  Not the best of friends...but it's there.  Ukyou, Shampoo, 
Mousse, Kunou...even Kodachi.  Amazing, really...>  Ranma, almost as an
afterthought, squeezed Akane's hand before going back to sleep...this 
time, a deep dreamless sleep.

     Ranma woke the next morning and rushed through his bath and slipped
on his clothes, then went back to the bedroom to sit and wait for Akane to
wake up.  He didn't have to wait too long, and as Akane woke up, he smiled
and started helping her with nearly every little detail of her morning.
Ranma was dense enough not to notice that Akane was starting to get visibly
upset with him and his coddling.  Finally, at breakfast she could take no
more and shouted in inimitable Akane style, "Ranma! I'm not a baby! I can
take care of myself!"  Ranma flinched as if struck, but instead of firing
back with a neat little retort, he looked down at his feet and mumbled some
incomprehensible apology.  Akane sighed and apologized, and then it was time
for school, with Ukyou et al. accompanying as had become usual.

     At lunchtime, Ranma and Akane sat underneath their favorite tree and 
ate quietly.  Akane finished first, and leaned up against the strong oak's
trunk.  Staring out at nowhere, she absently replied, "You know...things sure
have changed around here."  Ranma blinked, and nodded questioningly, as his 
mouth was still full.  Akane continued with, "I mean...there's hardly any 
fighting...and you 'n Ryouga are friends now."  Ranma blinked at the echoing
of his thoughts of last night, but shrugged it off as Ryouga and Ukyou walked
over.  "Hiya guys." Ranma picked up Akane's trash and his own and got up to
throw it away as Ryouga and Ukyou got settled in across from Akane, leaving a
spot next to her for Ranma.  Ranma watched Akane wistfully, then froze in his
tracks and stared, frozen by fear, as Akane had another coughing fit.  His
fear soon vanished, however, as she recovered, and he rejoined the little 
group of friends, hiding his fear successfully, or so he thought. In truth,
they all noticed it, but didn't want to say anything about it.

     Lunch ended, and the rest of the day passed uneventfully.  Ranma
and Akane headed home, again flanked by Ryouga, Ukyou, Kunou, and the rest.
The rest of the night was uneventful, and soon, Akane fell asleep leaning 
against Ranma, and he carried her up and tucked her in, then stifled a yawn
and went to bed himself.

     Ranma lay on his cot next to Akane's bed, sleeping lightly and fitfully,
living a surreal dream-nightmare out in his mind, as he did every night; 
he hadn't told anyone about the nightmares, and wouldn't, because he knew
that his problems were nothing compared to Akane's.  It didn't stop the night-
mares from tearing at him every night, though; that, he still had to endure. 
Deep in his subconscious, he recognized the current sequence, which didn't
make dealing with it any easier.

     Ranma looked around, amazed that everything was so peaceful and calm.
He and all his friends (and even his sometime rivals and assorted people
in his life) were having a nice, simple picnic, a sort of party to celebrate
the agreement by him and Akane to go through with their engagement, though
not until they had graduated high school.  Hiroshi and Daisuke were there,
secretly ogling and scoping on all the various females there; they were only
covert about it because they knew that openly ogling and scoping would get
them, at best, a super-slap and/or uppercut, and they just weren't built
to take that kind of abuse, not like Ranma was.  Ryouga and Mousse were off
conversing about some aspect of martial arts; Ryouga wanted to learn more
about Mousse's style, and Mousse was happy to teach him in return for 
instruction on just *how* Ryouga always pulled off more bandannas than was
humanly possible.  Ukyou, Shampoo, and Kasumi were busy setting up the
food, surprisingly working very well together; Ranma suspected a plot, but
he figured that free food was worth it.  

     Cologne was keeping Happosai in line, Genma and Soun were crying happily, 
Nodoka sat and beamed at everyone, and Akane was sitting next to him, holding
his hand quietly.  He looked down, noticed his hand, and flinched, expecting
a slap, then remembered the engagement, and smiled.  As he looked over the
crowd, he noticed that everyone was there, all the Joketsuzoku warriors, the
Jyusenkyou guide and his daughter, Plum, the Seven Lucky Gods Martial Artists
and Lychee, the Togenkyo warriors, the Musk Dynasty warriors..all of them.
He sat, silently, watching the proceedings with a growing sense of unease.
<This...is too perfect.  *Something* is going to go wrong.>  His premonitions
were confirmed as suddenly, a large, horned, and extremely ugly,
demonic-looking creature crashed out of the woods and headed straight for the
party.  Ranma stared, wondering who his pop had angered *this* time, briefly
noticing his father trying, unsuccessfully, to sneak away, held back by Soun.

     Ranma started, getting to his feet as Ryouga, Mousse, Ukyou, Shampoo,
Hinako, Herb, Mint, Lime, all the Seven Lucky Gods Martial Artists, Jasmine 
(Lychee's pet attack elephant) and all the other fighters of this group 
lined up to face the demon, all squabbles and rivalries gone.  Akane got up,
and joined the group. Ranma told her to get back, that he and the others would
take care of this...strangely enough, she agreed, and backed away.  Ranma turned
back in time to see the first wave of fighters charge the demon.  They were 
ignored and blasted away like so much dust.  As each rank fell, Ranma worried
more and more, until finally it was down to him and the demon.  Akane hadn't
moved, the shock of seeing everyone she knew neatly brushed out of the way
rooting her to the ground.  The demon backhanded Ranma out of the way and
stalked towards Akane.

     Ranma got up, and snarled, focusing his energy in preparation for his
special Mouko Takabisha.  As the blue glow surrounded him, brighter and
stronger than ever before, the demon turned and glared at him.  That was the
last straw, and he blasted at the demon, the strongest, most destructive blast
he'd ever loosed.  His confidence quickly gave way to shock and horror when
the beam of confidence-energy went through the beast...and continued on,
straight at Akane.  He opened his mouth in a wordless, soundless scream, and
*willed* the beam of ki to disappear.  Disappear it did, becoming a gentle
breeze that ruffled Akane's hair gently.  Desparate now, he leaped at the
demon, hands blurring almost unbelieveably fast as he threw nearly a thousand
punches in the space of two seconds, rushing straight at the demon.  He
stumbled and lost his focus when he charged *through*, as he suddenly became
intangible.  The demon turned it's blood-chilling gaze on him and spoke in a
deep, booming voice, the horrible words reverberating through his mind...
"You cannot defeat me.  You cannot even touch me.  Nothing stands between
Akane and I..but herself.  Only she can defeat me."  
     
     Ranma cried, knowing that there was no way Akane could defeat a thing
like that.  He watched, frozen, as the demon picked the unresisting Akane up
by her throat with his left hand, and drew the right one back; a slick, wet,
tearing >shlikt< sounded, and two bone blades slid out of the demon's forearm.
It didn't even flinch.  It drew back, aiming the ugly serrated, barbed claws
at Akane's stomach.  The arm whistled and flew forward, and Ranma threw
himself at Akane, screaming....

     Which is how he awoke, drenched in sweat, screaming, with a very
concerned Akane hovering over him, a slight twist in the usual routine.  He
stared up and realized he could see sky through the ceiling.  He asked, in a
croaking voice, what had happened.  Akane told him that she had woken because
of the strangled shouts and cries that he had been uttering, and she looked
over just in time to see him raise his hands and fire a destructive, tightly
controlled ki-blast, then fall asleep shaking.  Ranma felt a warm hand caress
his cheek lightly.

     "What was that all about, anyway?" Akane asked, with a light tone
betraying none of the confusion or pain she was feeling.  Ranma flushed and
turned away, muttering that it was nothing and almost calling her a kawaiikune
tomboy before catching himself.  He smiled an obviously fake smile at her
and got up to get ready for the day.  He didn't notice the tears brimming in
Akane's eyes nor the mournful, knowing stare she gave him as he exited the 
room.  She whispered "I'm sorry, Ranma..." in a soft, broken voice, then 
visibly shook herself out and prepared for the day ahead.

     The day went as usual, quietly.  It had gotten so quiet, ever since..
well, anyway, Furinkan High was no longer the hot spot of bedlam and 
violence that it once was.  Miss Hinako proved to be an excellent English
teacher, now that she didn't have to discipline Ranma, Ryouga, or any of
the other usual suspects.  The day ended, and Ranma popped a surprise
on Akane by taking her out to dinner; he had been able to weasel the money
out of Nabiki, who was now overly preoccupied with her own health.
Afterwards, Akane had mentioned a slight dizziness, and Ranma had 
immediately insisted that they go home.  Akane wasn't too happy about it,
because she didn't get to spend much time with Ranma, and just Ranma, but
his concern over her warmed her heart.  After they got home, they hugged
briefly before going to bed.

     This time...it was the festival, exactly like the one Ranma-chan and
Akane had been at when Ranma had learned the "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken"
in a flash of inspiration.  Ranma noticed something almost immediately;
all the booths they visited were manned by their various friends. They 
were all there, as usual; Kunou, Kodachi, Ukyou, Shampoo, Mousse (running
a shooting gallery, go figure), Ryouga (giving out free maps), Happosai
(and he wasn't being hentai for once), Herb, Kumon Ryuu...all of them.
But it was Akane who looked around and noticed that there were no other
festival-goers besides the sometimes-happy couple.

     The demon walked out, this time looking quite human, actually very 
lovely, and, slowly and calmly, each of the other Nerimans walked out 
and faced the beast.  It rumbled, in a low, clear voice, "You understand,
finally. Don't you."  As one, they nodded, and as Ranma watched aghast,
they disappeared.  Ranma prepared to fight the demon, shouting "You'll
*never* take Akane! Never!" The demon stopped, and looked at Ranma,
understanding in her  pale eyes.  "I understand that you don't want to lose
Akane, but it is better for her if you accept that you cannot protect her
from everything.  Ranma shook her head in denial. "No! I...I have to protect
her! I...I...it's my duty!"  She growled, low in her throat, and prepared
to leap at the demon, but was stopped by Akane.  Akane spoke, gentle love
and understanding in her voice. "It's ok, Ranma. I understand....believe me.
But you can't protect me from everything, nor can you protect me forever.
And besides...  I don't think I'm afraid any more."  She took Ranma by the
head, and kissed her once, hard, then released her and followed the demon.
Ranma shouted in agony, unable to move, wanting to follow as the night
swallowed the two figures up.

     Ranma woke this time sweating, and he looked over at Akane, sighing 
softly.  He thought back, and, as he sifted through the fragments of the
rapidly fading dream, he thought back to the last words Akane had spoken
to him in his dream. "You can't protect me forever..." They echoed in his
head, sounding over and over, and tight knot of anger loosed itself, as
he slowly came to realize that it was, indeed, true.  He smiled tenderly
down at Akane, and resolved to banish the dark cloud from his thoughts and
make every remaining day bright, like the shining moments of memory; the
Christmas Party, the look in her eyes when he finished her cookies, the 
first time he realized that she was cute...and the first time he admitted
to himself that he loved her.  

     They ran out the door, smiling, as the sun shone down on them. They
happily greeted their friends on the way to school, and chatted about 
making plans for a picnic. 

..........

     It is said that Akane Tendo died of cancer being the youngest person to
ever die in Nerima, at age 18.  The doctors have no explanation for it.  At
her funeral, people thought it strange that Ranma did not cry; instead, she
smiled, lost in her own world.  After the funeral, Ranma simply disappeared;
it is not known whether she is alive or dead.  The last traces of her were
a note saying "I have gone to join Akane. I will see you all soon. Don't
worry. Ranma-chan." and her pigtail, cut off and placed gently upon the
low table where they all sat.  It is said that sometimes, when the wind
is right in Nerima down at the bridge, you can hear Akane and Ranma's
laughter on the breeze.

The End.

Author's Notes:

     Wow.  I guess this is just one of those stories that I had to spill out 
before I lost it.  This was a catharsis of sorts for me, I had to get things
out of my system before they did me in.  Additional thanks go to RpM and
Mihoshi for giving me the courage to see this one through, as well as to
Letha Pennington for some unknown inspiration. ^_^

-- 
"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