. . . I have no idea from this point on . . .
Introduction Chapter
By Felix Webster
All original Ranma 1/2 Characters and Back story Copyright Rumiko
Takahashi, and are used without permission. Please don't sue... cause I
have no money.
I want to thank the following people for things (like pre reading):
Chris Stassen
Paul Blay
Warning:
As with a lot of stories of multiple parts, some of the story maybe
dark (though I'll try not to do it too often in this story), and some of
it may be Waffy, but mostly I want it the be a fun story.
So now you have been warned.
Time: Several weeks after the failed wedding.
Place: Nerima -the original one (we think)-
" " - speech
* * - thought
( ) - other languages -mostly Chinese -
[ ] - Panda signs
Ranma combed his recently cut hair. *Aww, why'd mom have to insist on
getting my hair cut it was fine the way it was.* He ran his hand down
the back and along the length still going down his back. *At least it
was only to make it less unruly and not for length; I don't think I
could handle short hair.* He cringed at the thought.
"Ranma, are you just about done in there?" a voice said in groggy
agitation from the other side of the door.
"I'll be out in a minute, Nabiki." Ranma combed his hair one last time
then set it in a ponytail. *Geez it's way too much maintenance like
this.*
"You're just as bad as a girl, taking so much time in the bathroom,"
Nabiki said as she slid past Ranma when he was leaving causing him to
cringe slightly.
"At least I have a reason to take so long in there," Ranma replied,
sticking his tongue out at her.
Nabiki smirked at him. "That one will cost you, Saotome." She chuckled
as she started to brush her teeth then stopped when she saw her watch.
"What am I doing up at this unnatural hour!?"
Akane stood patiently by the front door already dressed for school,
though she didn't look happy about being up so early. "Ranma, are you
ready? It was your idea to get up at this time." She asked when she saw
Ranma approach. "Why are we going so early anyway?"
"Yeah, I'm ready." Ranma said coming to a halt in front of Akane. "I
want to check on something before school."
Akane's heart threatened to stop at seeing Ranma. He was dressed for
school, wearing the traditional school uniform and his hair was neatly
pulled back. *He looks sooo good in a uniform. The dark colour and
sharp edges makes him seem stronger.*
Ranma noticed her expression and got concerned about it. "Is
everything all right Akane?"
Akane snapped out of her stunned state. "I... I liked your hair better
when it was wild . . . " she started. "But I like the ponytail more."
She smiled as she grabbed his hand and led him out the main gate.
"It's my mother's idea. She figures that the wild hair and the unusual
clothes are some of the hindrances for me settling down." Ranma said
with a frown. "Of course, having two fiancees, a crazy Chinese girl who
thinks I'm her husband, and a psycho chick who wants to date and do
other horrible things to me, isn't a bit of a hindrance at all." Ranma
looked to the sky. "And that isn't even listing my problems as a girl!"
"At least you've reduced it to only two fiancees, you used to say
three," Akane pointed out plainly, then under her breath she added.
"It's still one too many."
Ranma smiled to himself having heard the mumbled addition from Akane,
then took the lead, "Yeah, well today I'm going to change all that!"
and he started to walk toward the market area of town.
----------
A short time later, the two were standing in front of a very
disturbing little store in an area of the market area not usually
visited. Akane looked around nervously. "Ranma, I don't like the looks
of this place," she said as she squeezed his hand.
Ranma tried to look strong but he was just as nervous. "Don't worry,
Akane, there's nothing dangerous here."
Akane felt reassured even though she didn't believe him. "Um . . .
where did you hear of this place?" she said as Ranma led her inside.
"Gosunkugi came here last week and I sort of followed him, to see what
he was up to," Ranma replied while looking over the stuff around him,
thankful that he didn't know what most of it was.
"Wait, hasn't he been missing for about a week Ranma?" Akane asked
with concern. She may not like the guy, but people disappearing usually
caused problems for her family in some way.
"How could you tell?" Ranma asked, though his thoughts were of
watching Gosunkugi in this store last week.
"No new nails in the trees at school," Akane answered with a grin and
they both laughed.
"Hello, good sir," said a person coming out of a shadow near the pair
which made both of them jump.
"Geez, DON'T do that!" Ranma said while trying to catch his breath.
"A thousand pardons, good sir, I did not mean to scare." Said the old
man who replaced the shadow, looking very pleasant.
"Yeah, well, you did the same thing last week!" Ranma replied, then
got a look in his eyes that Akane couldn't describe. "Is it charged
yet?"
The old man looked Ranma over then smiled. "Ah, you've come for the
Stone of Fate have you."
"Yeah, yeah, cut the Yoda routine. Is it ready yet?" Ranma started to
lose his patience.
"What is the stone of fate?" Akane asked, getting worried over the way
Ranma sounded.
"The Stone of Fate is a wishing font. Anything you want can be wished
for and gained, as long as you make the right wish, of course."
Explained the old man with a disturbing smile.
Akane looked at Ranma in shock. "What! Are you just going to try and
wish your troubles away?" She decided that she had a right to be
worried now, knowing that this stuff never worked the way you'd want.
Ranma just smiled at Akane. "No, that would probably just send them a
few blocks away and then they would come back real angry. I've learned
my lessons about that one before."
"So what are you planing on wishing for, your curse gone?" Akane was
actually a little disappointed at this possibility, though she knew it
was what Ranma really wanted. She'd never admit it she liked his female
side. It was a part of him and separate at the same time, and made him
whole.
Ranma smiled at Akane in a lopsided way. "Well sorta, you'll just have
to wait and see."
The old shopkeeper smiled at the two, then motioned them toward the
back. "Come along, young ones, the Stone grows eager to grant its
wish." And the three moved into the back room.
----------
The room was impressive, with rugs of very artistic designs hanging on
all the walls, pillows of colourful patterns were everywhere on the
floor, and in the middle of the room was a small wooden table. The
table was highly artistic with carvings all along its legs, and in the
centre of the table was a blue and red stone in a yin yang pattern
under a glass covering.
Ranma was looking at the room as if for the first time. "Hey, this
room didn't look like this last time," Ranma exclaimed then noticed the
stone. "And the stone was sliver . . . "
The old man just kept his smile. "The Stone reflects the person who is
going to make a wish from it," he explained then looked at Akane and
nodded toward her. "As for the room, that is your pretty companion's
fault."
Akane started getting angry, being accused of something which couldn't
be her fault. "What do you mean it's my fault!?!" She of course totally
missed the compliment.
"The room looks arabic cause you, my dear, expect it to." The old man
winked at Akane as he explained, totally unfazed by her anger. "The
other boy was expecting something more in the way of Voodoo style and
the room accommodated him."
"Well, I like it better this way. It's a lot better than last time."
Ranma shivered at the memory then noticed one of the designs on a rug.
"Hey this is my fight with Saffron!" he exclaimed as he moved closer to
it.
"What?" Akane moved over beside Ranma to get a look at the rug.
"You're right, Ranma . . . and look over at this one . . . It's of
you holding me after the fight." Akane pointed to the next rug with a
bit of shock.
The old man peered at the rugs then at the two youngsters in his
store. "Hmm, so you're the one who defeated Saffron are you . . .
interesting. No wonder the Stone is so eager to grant you a wish." The
old man then went over to the table and lifted the glass off of the
stone. "Well, sir, come over here and take the Stone into your right
hand."
Ranma suddenly remembered why he was there and complied with the old
man. When the stone was in Ranma's hand the old man started to explain
how to use it. "Now, sir, before you wish you should know that the
Stone can grant a large number of wishes at once. But, the more wishes
it has to grant, the less likely of you getting exactly what you wished
for." The old man tried his best to sound ominous. "Do you understand,
sir?"
Ranma quickly nodded obviously not listening, but Akane decided she
needed clarification. "So, you mean if he makes only one wish, he'll
get what he expects the wish to grant . . . but the more wishes, the
more random the result?"
"Yes, exactly, young lady!" The old man was happy someone here figured
it out, then he turned to Ranma. "You've got a smart girl there . . .
I can't figure what you would need a wish for with someone like that in
you life, but to each his own. Be careful of your words."
Ranma looked at Akane and smiled weakly. "Well, here goes . . . I
wish myself and Akane could start our relationship all over again
without my Nyanniichuan curse, or the problems caused by all my
fiancees and the other misunderstandings we've had." His voice seemed
to echo in the small room as he spoke his wish.
Ranma felt proud of himself at his cleverness getting that all in.
"There, that should do it."
The old man just looked down shaking his head slowly, then looked back
up at the boy. "Sorry, sir, but that was four wishes not one."
"Um . . . Let me try again, ok?" Ranma asked as he started to feel
weird.
"Unfortunately the wishes have already been granted," the old man said
in apology as Ranma started to fade out of existence.
Akane was frantic, seeing Ranma fading away. "What's happening to
Ranma!?!" She grabbed the old man's shirt as Ranma disappeared
completely.
The old man calmly pulled Akane's hands off himself. "He's gone to the
world which matches his wish," he replied as he smoothed out his shirt.
Akane looked stunned for a moment, then both started to cry and got
angry at the same time. "Bring him back!" She screamed as she started
pounding on the old man's chest in a fit.
The old man caught her hands and calmly spoke to her. "Come back in
one months time and the Stone will have recharged by then. You can wish
him back at that time . . . if you truly want to."
"A month!?! Why a month!?!" Akane said in panic. "It took only a week
to recharge after Gosunkugi used it!"
The old man took the girl's hysterics in stride and simply said, "The
other boy only made one wish, and he is living the life he wanted." He
looked to the flat grey stone which now laid of the floor. "Your friend
made four wishes so it will take four times as long to recharge."
Akane fell to her knees crying full out. "A month . . . what am I
going do?" she said in a small voice then suddenly her face showed a
lot of fear. "What am I going to tell the others!"
Introduction Chapter
By Felix Webster
All original Ranma 1/2 Characters and Back story Copyright Rumiko
Takahashi, and are used without permission. Please don't sue... cause I
have no money.
I want to thank the following people for things (like pre reading):
Chris Stassen
Paul Blay
Warning:
As with a lot of stories of multiple parts, some of the story maybe
dark (though I'll try not to do it too often in this story), and some of
it may be Waffy, but mostly I want it the be a fun story.
So now you have been warned.
Time: Several weeks after the failed wedding.
Place: Nerima -the original one (we think)-
" " - speech
* * - thought
( ) - other languages -mostly Chinese -
[ ] - Panda signs
Ranma combed his recently cut hair. *Aww, why'd mom have to insist on
getting my hair cut it was fine the way it was.* He ran his hand down
the back and along the length still going down his back. *At least it
was only to make it less unruly and not for length; I don't think I
could handle short hair.* He cringed at the thought.
"Ranma, are you just about done in there?" a voice said in groggy
agitation from the other side of the door.
"I'll be out in a minute, Nabiki." Ranma combed his hair one last time
then set it in a ponytail. *Geez it's way too much maintenance like
this.*
"You're just as bad as a girl, taking so much time in the bathroom,"
Nabiki said as she slid past Ranma when he was leaving causing him to
cringe slightly.
"At least I have a reason to take so long in there," Ranma replied,
sticking his tongue out at her.
Nabiki smirked at him. "That one will cost you, Saotome." She chuckled
as she started to brush her teeth then stopped when she saw her watch.
"What am I doing up at this unnatural hour!?"
Akane stood patiently by the front door already dressed for school,
though she didn't look happy about being up so early. "Ranma, are you
ready? It was your idea to get up at this time." She asked when she saw
Ranma approach. "Why are we going so early anyway?"
"Yeah, I'm ready." Ranma said coming to a halt in front of Akane. "I
want to check on something before school."
Akane's heart threatened to stop at seeing Ranma. He was dressed for
school, wearing the traditional school uniform and his hair was neatly
pulled back. *He looks sooo good in a uniform. The dark colour and
sharp edges makes him seem stronger.*
Ranma noticed her expression and got concerned about it. "Is
everything all right Akane?"
Akane snapped out of her stunned state. "I... I liked your hair better
when it was wild . . . " she started. "But I like the ponytail more."
She smiled as she grabbed his hand and led him out the main gate.
"It's my mother's idea. She figures that the wild hair and the unusual
clothes are some of the hindrances for me settling down." Ranma said
with a frown. "Of course, having two fiancees, a crazy Chinese girl who
thinks I'm her husband, and a psycho chick who wants to date and do
other horrible things to me, isn't a bit of a hindrance at all." Ranma
looked to the sky. "And that isn't even listing my problems as a girl!"
"At least you've reduced it to only two fiancees, you used to say
three," Akane pointed out plainly, then under her breath she added.
"It's still one too many."
Ranma smiled to himself having heard the mumbled addition from Akane,
then took the lead, "Yeah, well today I'm going to change all that!"
and he started to walk toward the market area of town.
----------
A short time later, the two were standing in front of a very
disturbing little store in an area of the market area not usually
visited. Akane looked around nervously. "Ranma, I don't like the looks
of this place," she said as she squeezed his hand.
Ranma tried to look strong but he was just as nervous. "Don't worry,
Akane, there's nothing dangerous here."
Akane felt reassured even though she didn't believe him. "Um . . .
where did you hear of this place?" she said as Ranma led her inside.
"Gosunkugi came here last week and I sort of followed him, to see what
he was up to," Ranma replied while looking over the stuff around him,
thankful that he didn't know what most of it was.
"Wait, hasn't he been missing for about a week Ranma?" Akane asked
with concern. She may not like the guy, but people disappearing usually
caused problems for her family in some way.
"How could you tell?" Ranma asked, though his thoughts were of
watching Gosunkugi in this store last week.
"No new nails in the trees at school," Akane answered with a grin and
they both laughed.
"Hello, good sir," said a person coming out of a shadow near the pair
which made both of them jump.
"Geez, DON'T do that!" Ranma said while trying to catch his breath.
"A thousand pardons, good sir, I did not mean to scare." Said the old
man who replaced the shadow, looking very pleasant.
"Yeah, well, you did the same thing last week!" Ranma replied, then
got a look in his eyes that Akane couldn't describe. "Is it charged
yet?"
The old man looked Ranma over then smiled. "Ah, you've come for the
Stone of Fate have you."
"Yeah, yeah, cut the Yoda routine. Is it ready yet?" Ranma started to
lose his patience.
"What is the stone of fate?" Akane asked, getting worried over the way
Ranma sounded.
"The Stone of Fate is a wishing font. Anything you want can be wished
for and gained, as long as you make the right wish, of course."
Explained the old man with a disturbing smile.
Akane looked at Ranma in shock. "What! Are you just going to try and
wish your troubles away?" She decided that she had a right to be
worried now, knowing that this stuff never worked the way you'd want.
Ranma just smiled at Akane. "No, that would probably just send them a
few blocks away and then they would come back real angry. I've learned
my lessons about that one before."
"So what are you planing on wishing for, your curse gone?" Akane was
actually a little disappointed at this possibility, though she knew it
was what Ranma really wanted. She'd never admit it she liked his female
side. It was a part of him and separate at the same time, and made him
whole.
Ranma smiled at Akane in a lopsided way. "Well sorta, you'll just have
to wait and see."
The old shopkeeper smiled at the two, then motioned them toward the
back. "Come along, young ones, the Stone grows eager to grant its
wish." And the three moved into the back room.
----------
The room was impressive, with rugs of very artistic designs hanging on
all the walls, pillows of colourful patterns were everywhere on the
floor, and in the middle of the room was a small wooden table. The
table was highly artistic with carvings all along its legs, and in the
centre of the table was a blue and red stone in a yin yang pattern
under a glass covering.
Ranma was looking at the room as if for the first time. "Hey, this
room didn't look like this last time," Ranma exclaimed then noticed the
stone. "And the stone was sliver . . . "
The old man just kept his smile. "The Stone reflects the person who is
going to make a wish from it," he explained then looked at Akane and
nodded toward her. "As for the room, that is your pretty companion's
fault."
Akane started getting angry, being accused of something which couldn't
be her fault. "What do you mean it's my fault!?!" She of course totally
missed the compliment.
"The room looks arabic cause you, my dear, expect it to." The old man
winked at Akane as he explained, totally unfazed by her anger. "The
other boy was expecting something more in the way of Voodoo style and
the room accommodated him."
"Well, I like it better this way. It's a lot better than last time."
Ranma shivered at the memory then noticed one of the designs on a rug.
"Hey this is my fight with Saffron!" he exclaimed as he moved closer to
it.
"What?" Akane moved over beside Ranma to get a look at the rug.
"You're right, Ranma . . . and look over at this one . . . It's of
you holding me after the fight." Akane pointed to the next rug with a
bit of shock.
The old man peered at the rugs then at the two youngsters in his
store. "Hmm, so you're the one who defeated Saffron are you . . .
interesting. No wonder the Stone is so eager to grant you a wish." The
old man then went over to the table and lifted the glass off of the
stone. "Well, sir, come over here and take the Stone into your right
hand."
Ranma suddenly remembered why he was there and complied with the old
man. When the stone was in Ranma's hand the old man started to explain
how to use it. "Now, sir, before you wish you should know that the
Stone can grant a large number of wishes at once. But, the more wishes
it has to grant, the less likely of you getting exactly what you wished
for." The old man tried his best to sound ominous. "Do you understand,
sir?"
Ranma quickly nodded obviously not listening, but Akane decided she
needed clarification. "So, you mean if he makes only one wish, he'll
get what he expects the wish to grant . . . but the more wishes, the
more random the result?"
"Yes, exactly, young lady!" The old man was happy someone here figured
it out, then he turned to Ranma. "You've got a smart girl there . . .
I can't figure what you would need a wish for with someone like that in
you life, but to each his own. Be careful of your words."
Ranma looked at Akane and smiled weakly. "Well, here goes . . . I
wish myself and Akane could start our relationship all over again
without my Nyanniichuan curse, or the problems caused by all my
fiancees and the other misunderstandings we've had." His voice seemed
to echo in the small room as he spoke his wish.
Ranma felt proud of himself at his cleverness getting that all in.
"There, that should do it."
The old man just looked down shaking his head slowly, then looked back
up at the boy. "Sorry, sir, but that was four wishes not one."
"Um . . . Let me try again, ok?" Ranma asked as he started to feel
weird.
"Unfortunately the wishes have already been granted," the old man said
in apology as Ranma started to fade out of existence.
Akane was frantic, seeing Ranma fading away. "What's happening to
Ranma!?!" She grabbed the old man's shirt as Ranma disappeared
completely.
The old man calmly pulled Akane's hands off himself. "He's gone to the
world which matches his wish," he replied as he smoothed out his shirt.
Akane looked stunned for a moment, then both started to cry and got
angry at the same time. "Bring him back!" She screamed as she started
pounding on the old man's chest in a fit.
The old man caught her hands and calmly spoke to her. "Come back in
one months time and the Stone will have recharged by then. You can wish
him back at that time . . . if you truly want to."
"A month!?! Why a month!?!" Akane said in panic. "It took only a week
to recharge after Gosunkugi used it!"
The old man took the girl's hysterics in stride and simply said, "The
other boy only made one wish, and he is living the life he wanted." He
looked to the flat grey stone which now laid of the floor. "Your friend
made four wishes so it will take four times as long to recharge."
Akane fell to her knees crying full out. "A month . . . what am I
going do?" she said in a small voice then suddenly her face showed a
lot of fear. "What am I going to tell the others!"