Here is the third part of The Legacy, once again it is a long section, get 
used to it, I have nbever been able to write succinctly unless my life deepended on 
it, and I have aspirations to be the next Hugo, so..

	Once again comment and criticism asked for and wanted.

	The Legacy

	a Ranma 1/2 fanfic 
	by Joseph Kohle

	All characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and are used 
	without permission

Part III

	For What Ails Thee
 
     Standing up, Ranma went to the kitchen got a glass of water and
returned to his seat next to Akane. Sipping it to wet his throat, Ranma
continued his tale.
     "The tale did not give me the answer I sought. I still needed the
cure, but at least I understood why the nannichuan had not worked.
Hui-cheng's hatred of Kaidu khan and Kaidu khan's rage made it so that
they could never counteract one another. I needed another answer to my
problem."
     "After the old man finished his tale, I sat there silently waiting for
him to say something that could help me. He just sat there waiting for me
to speak. Finally I got tired of waiting and asked him if he knew where I
could find the cure. He did not, saying that he only knew stories, but he
said that if I would trust and believe his stories, he might be able to help
me."
     "I said that I would try anything now. He smiled at me and began to
tell a story of an ancient man who lived in the Himalayan mountains. It was
said that this man knew everything that could be known, but he would only
answer one question from each petitioner. Yet even for him to hear your
question you had to beat him in a fight. He was supposedly the greatest
martial artist on earth. He told me as much as he knew and then sent me on
my way."
     "I thanked him for his help and left the Valley of Jusenkyo for the
Himilayan mountains. My hopes were high as I left the valley. I had another
chance. Though it was based on a tale told by a man I did not know, it was
my only hope, the only chance I would get, so I grasped at it like a man
hanging from a cliff grabs at a tuft of grass because it is the only thing
there, even though he knows it won't hold him."
     "I traveled to the Himalayan mountains and began my search for
this mysterious old man. I searched through villages, and monasteries all
over the place. None of them could give me the information I wanted Finally I came 
to a small village at the foot of a mountain. The people greeted me kindly, 
offering hospitality, rest, and the information I needed."
     "When I told the villagers of my quest, they told me that a very old
man lived on their mountain. Many came to seek his advice, but all went
away empty handed since they could not defeat him. Some even died
trying. They told me what I sought was impossible, and to turn back, but I
could not do that. This was my chance to find the cure. I had to do
this for you Akane. I could not let you marry me if I was less than a whole
man. So I left the village and climbed the mountain."
     "For days I searched the mountain for the old man, traveling through caves, 
crags, up and down cliffs and in and out of valleys.  Finally I
discovered a small plateau where a stone temple had been built. Exhausted
from a long days journey, I built a fire and curled up next to it, falling
asleep instantly. I was rudely awakened by a bent old man, with a cane and
mouse-eaten brown robes covering his skinny frame."
     " So are you another supposed petitioner of the wise man of the
mountain?' he asked, �Well Ranma,' I have not figured out how he knew who I was, � 
to get your questions answered you
must defeat me.' With that he jumped away from me as I leaped out of
bed."
     "He did not look like that strong of a fighter, but then neither had
Cologne. I was confident, though, that my love for you and the nobility of
my quest would allow me to win. To this day I do not know how Kuno
put that in my head as I stood there," Ranma chuckled a bit and started
telling his tale again.
     "Heedless of the consequences, I rushed forward and recklessly attacked him, 
throwing all of might against him. He danced around my attacks, slapping me on the 
cheek every once and a while to insult me. This
continued for an hour. By the end of it, I was nearly exhausted and had red
hand marks all over my body. Finally, the old man leaped into the air and
smashed his cane on my head, knocking me out cold."
     "I awoke with the old codger standing above me, laughing of all
things.  �You have a hard head boy,' he said, �Stubborn and to dumb to
realize when to give in to your betters. Go home and live your life in
peace.'"
     "With that said he turned his back on me and walked towards the
temple. Rage filled my veins, jumping to my feet I shouted, �I will be back
old man. You will answer my question.'"
     "He just chuckled and said,  Good, I don't get enough
entertainment around here anyway.' He then disappeared into the temple
leaving me alone on the plateau."
     "As you can probably guess, I was rather enraged at this turn of
events. I sta there swearing and cursing, smashing my fists into boulders every so 
often. I swore that I would defeat the old man and gain the knowledge I required. 
My ego was still too large for my head much less my skill in martial arts."
     "I left the plateau, and searched the mountain for a training
ground. Eventually I found one, a small protected valley with hot springs
that would serve perfectly. I set up camp and began to train intensively,
working on my attacks and speed of my movements."
     "I trained for a week solid, improving my skills, before I went back
and challenged the old man. Again he beat me with very little effort, after
tiring me out. I figured that maybe I could defeat him by working on my
endurance. That next week I worked on my endurance, as well as my
attacks. Then I went back and challenged him, and lost again, but after two
hours of fighting this time."
     "This pattern continued for a long time. I would train for a week
and then challenge him. I learned from him each time, and used that to
better myself. Eventually he was forced to attack me more than the final
blow. I slowly learned his techniques and patterns, merging them into my
own style."
     "I traveled out into the surrounding areas seeking martial arts
masters to train under. Here I learned the importance of dodging. That kata
you saw me doing with Ranko was learned under a benevolent Buddhist
monk who could not bring himself to hit another human, so he had learned
to dodge so well that his attackers tired and left him and his temple alone. I
trained with him for months, leaving every week to challenge the old man."
     "The weeks passed, and turned into months, the months into years.
I had almost been gone for a total of three years when I almost beat the old
man. Our fight had lasted all afternoon. The sun was setting behind the
mountains. I could see he was finally getting tired. I was in at least decent
shape. I had blocked most of his attacks, and I had even hit him several
times. He let his guard down for a second as he backed away from one of
my new attack combinations I had learned from a Mongolian fighter. I
exalted, I was about to beat him, but then he turned my attack on me. He
had let me through his defenses on purpose. Grabbing my attacking arm, he
flipped me to the ground and whacked my head with his staff, knocking me
out for a few seconds."
     "When I came around he was sitting near me, breathing hard.  �You
are persistent, boy,' he said, �I have not had a challenger like you in
centuries. You are learning. Maybe you will beat me. If nothing else you
deserve to now, if you can only learn to control you emotions. You jump
to conclusions before studying them. Learn from this, boy. I will see you
next week.' He got up and moved into the temple."
     "I stared after him thinking on what he had said. I needed to learn
patience. I knew that is what he meant. I left that day intending to beat him the 
next time."
     "It is actually hard to learn patience. I practiced meditating for
hours, or sneaking up on deer, and even fishing. At the end of the week, I
started back towards his plateau, when I realized I had not really
accomplished anything. It would end the same as the last week. I decided I
would not go there until I had learned patience."
     "For a whole month I forced myself not to go and fight the old
man. Finally the fifth week ended. I woke that day, realized it was the end
of the week and it was time for another fight, I ignored it and started my
daily routine. After a bit I stopped. I no longer felt compelled to fight the
old man. I knew he would be there when I went back. I had waited four
weeks. I could wait four more. I nearly yelped for joy. I had learned the
final lesson, patience. I decided that next week would be the last time."
     "Exactly three years ago today I returned to the old man's plateau
and challenged him again. He came out of his temple and looked at me.  �I
thought you had given up, boy,' he said casually."
     "�I have just been busy,' I said, �But today will be the last, for
better of for worse.'"
     "�Well then, why don't you start?'"
     "�No thanks,' I said,  I have started every other fight, I think I
should allow you the honor of the last one.' The old man chuckled and
leaped at me. I dodged and the fight began."
     "Throughout the afternoon we fought, each one of us taking the
advantage at some point. A few times we each hit the other, but mostly it
was an even match of dodging and blocking. Finally it was coming down to
the line. The sun was setting again like it had five weeks ago. We were
both tired and sore from the fight. The old man was falling back under
one of my rhythmic onslaughts. Again he dropped his guard a bit. I almost
went for it, but at the last minute I remembered the last time and hesitated, 
waiting for him to realize I had not fallen into the trap. He quickly realized his 
mistake and tried to recover. I switched my attack and broke through his defenses 
as a hole opened up as he recovered. He flew back into the temple wall and rolled 
to the ground, unconscious."
     "I stood in place, breathing hard. I had defeated him. I had defeated
him. A pure shout of joy left my lips.  I would finally have my answer. I
would finally be cured of my curse. I rushed towards the fallen form of the
old man and shook him back into consciousness."
     "He opened his eyes and looked at me. �You have done well my son,'
he said, �Now what do you want to know.'"
     "I explained my curse and the story behind it and then asked him
how I could be cured. He started laughing.  �All that effort to fine the cure
to something as silly as that. Couldn't you have just lived with it?' he collapsed 
on the ground rolling in hilarity."
     "I looked at him and said, �No, all that effort so I could stand next
to the one I love and have her know that her husband was a true man.'"
     "The old man stopped laughing then and looked at me seriously.  �Yes my son, 
that is a worthy cause. I will give you your answer. You possess the soul of 
Hui-cheng in you. She is part of your soul, you are part of hers. In the female 
form she is present with you, in the male form you are the only one. So you are the 
overall dominate soul because it is your body. So to be cured you need to find a 
new life for her to enter that embodies both of your essence, since she is a part 
of you both.'"
     "�What does that mean?' I asked. I had absolutely no clue what he ah just said 
to me. He told me he could only answer one question and that it was my duty to 
understand that answer. He got up to leave and then clapped me gently on the 
shoulder.  �Do not worry, my son. You will understand, and if you do not, remember 
that you have the heart of a true man.' With that he and the temple disappeared and 
left me alone on the now empty mountain plateau."
     Ranma could not bring himself to tell Akane that the old man had
given him a warning before leaving. "Remember, my son, sometimes the
cure can be as much a curse." The words still sounded hollowly in Ranma's
head every time he thought of the old man. He was terrified something
would happen to his beloved Ranko, but he could not give this burden to
Akane. She had suffered too much already because of his quest for a cure.
He continued with his tale, trying to ignore the fear in his heart. 
     "I sat on the plateau for the whole night, thinking on what he had
said. I did not understand what he had meant by a life that embodies both
of out essences. The sun was rising when I finally stood up and walked down the 
mountain and into the village I had left almost three years before. They were very 
surprised to see me, having thought I had been killed by the old man, or having 
simply given up and left. They were even more surprised when I told them I had 
beaten the old man of the mountain. That night they threw a small celebration for 
me, but in the morning I left and started my search to understand the answer I had 
been given."
     "You really said that?" Akane asked as he stopped for a second. She had held 
the question in, but her emotions demanded an answer. She was trying to resolve 
everything that was bothering her about this situation.
     Ranma looked at her confused and asked, "Said what?"
     "All that effort so that you could stand next to the one you love?"
she asked quietly, her voice full of emotion. 
     "Hai, Akane-chan," Ranma replied reaching out to grasp her hand,
"Every day that I trained I thought of you. Whenever I thought it was
hopeless I remembered you and continued to fight. It was my love for you
that took me through that ordeal. I could not give you up without a fight."
     "Oh, Ranma," Akane said, "I love you. Don't leave me again." She
reached out and brushed his face. His tale so far had touched her heart and
gave her an understanding of what he had gone through for her, and he still
was not even finished with it. There were still three more years
unaccounted for. <What did he do during them?>
     Ranma smiled at Akane, the feel of her fingers touching his scars
sending electric shocks through his body. <I have missed you, my Akane.>
     "It's getting late, Akane," he said remembering he still had a lot
more to tell her, "Do you want me to continue or finish it tomorrow?"
     "Please continue Ranma, I want to know, " she answered leaning
into the crook of his arms, snuggling against him. It felt right for both of
them. She felt safe and secure being held by Ranma. It had been so long for both of 
them. Ranma just watched his loneliness fade away holding her.
     

	This is the best place to break section 1

	Please read section 2

	Thanks again, and sorry about the inconvenience

	Joseph "Ashira" Kohle