O.K. Hopefully all the little nasties are fixed. If you see any, please
let me know.
Thanks.
Windlily
(dragoncritter@theCelestialTemple.com)
**********************************************************
A Ranma 1/2 Video Clip
The lyrics and music are from 'Miss You' by Everything But The Girl.
*will instert standard disclaimer here*
I step off the train,
(We see Ukyou in her mid-twenties, hair short and in a man's cut,
dressed in an expensive and well tailored men's suit. She stands for a
moment before the stairs that lead up to the street, frowning, as the
swirl of people part and flow around her. She turns to go back to the
train, takes a few steps then sighs and turns once more. She slowly
climbs the stairway and walks out into the bright afternoon.)
I'm walking down your street again,
(We see her walking through Nerima. Many of the buildings are in ruins
but an equal number have been rebuilt. She stops in front of her old
shop which is now a bookstore and stares at her refection in the window.
She sees an image of her much younger self standing and smiling and
cooking at the now non-existent grill. A little boy comes to the inner
side of the window and looks up at her, then presses his face against
it, squashing it all out of shape. She smiles, reaches out and thunks
the widow over the little boys forehead with a flick of her finger and
makes him jump back. He sticks out his tongue at her and runs back into
the depths of the store as she shakes her head and turns to walk up the
street once more.)
And past your door,
(She pauses in front of the big, old-fashioned gates of the Tendo dojo.
One survives untouched but the other is kept just barely upright by a
bottom hinge and hangs slightly ajar, one heavy corner resting on the
cement. She turns and wiggles through the narrow space.)
But you don't live there anymore.
(The grounds are neglected and overgrown. She brushes abstentmindedly at
the dirty streak on the front of her suit as she looks at the burned out
ruin of the house. The dojo beyond it is cracked in half like an egg and
sagging towards the ground in the middle. She can see the bold
calligraphy of the dojo motto hanging askew through the jagged gap in
the wall.)
It's years since you've been there.
(She has a memory of standing next to Ranma, both of them covered with
soot, dirt and blood and watching the house burn.)
And now you've disappeared somewhere,
(The memory changes. She is standing beside Ranma, an open grave
separating them from the surviving members of the Tendo family. Kasumi
steps forwards and drops a single white chrysanthemum onto the lowered
casket. Tendo-san starts a tearless sob and she feels Ranma tense beside
her. She looks over at him and reaches out to take his hand but he
whirls and runs. She bows to the grieving family and hurries after him,
but he's gone.)
Like outer space,
(We see Ukyou back at her shop, frowning at the repair men as she talks
on the phone. There is a list of restaurants on the counter in front of
her and she has been checking off each one. We hear her say, "Well, if
you see him, would you give me a call?")
You've found some better place.
(The restaurant is repaired and Ukyou is sitting at one of the tables
late in the evening reading a letter. Tears are flowing down her cheeks
as she turns the envelope but there is no return address. The postmark
says San Francisco, CA, Oct. 21, 2000.)
And I miss you...
Like the deserts miss the rain.
(She walks to the reflecting pool, looks down and sees Ranma looking
back up at her.)
And I miss you!
yah,
Like the deserts miss the rain.
(She kneels and reaches out to touch the reflection but before her
fingers met the still surface, a stray breeze blows some cherry petals
off the tree above her and they float down to mar the mirror of the
water. The image blurs and disappears in the concentric rings.)
Could you be dead?
(We see Ukyou looking at the postmark of a well read letter. It says New
York, NY, Dec. 31, 2001. She looks up at her calendar in the kitchen of
a very stylish apartment It's turned to May 16, 2006.)
You always were two steps ahead.
Of everyone. We'd walk behind while you would run.
((She sits back on her heels and remembers all the times Ranma sent his
rivals (including herself) packing with a fond smile))
I look up at your house,
(She shakes her head, rises and brushes the earth off the knees of her
slacks, then turns and looks at the house one last time.)
And I can almost hear you shout
Down to me
Where I always used to be.
(She sees the back of the house as it used to be. Soun and Genma are
playing Go, Kasumi hanging out clothes, Akane standing next to her with
her hands on her hips glaring up at Ranma who is crouched on the roof
and yelling back down at them with a devil may care grin. She sighs as
that memory fades back into the ruin of reality. She turns and heads
back for the front gates.)
And I miss you,
Like the deserts miss the rain.
(We see her walking back the way she came, hands in pockets and focused
on the ground.)
And I miss you!
Like the deserts miss the rain.
Back on the train,
I ask why did I come again?
(She is looking out the window as the city passes. She looks angry, even
though a tear leaks out of the corner of her eye.)
Can I confess,
I've been hanging round your old address?
(We see a well dressed woman waiting on a train platform, chewing at her
lower lip and scowling. The scowl vanishes as she sees Ukyou. She waves
and calls her name.)
And the years have proved
To offer nothing since you moved.
(Ukyou heads for the woman wearing a forced smile.)
You're long gone,
But I can't move on.
(The woman puts her hands on Ukyou's arm as she falls into step beside
her. She's chattering about nothing in particular and Ukyou tunes her
out. She narrows her eyes as she sees a familiar male shape walking
ahead of them with a long black braid. She speeds up, the woman hurrying
to stay with her, until she draws even with the man. She looks over,
then stops dead in her tracks. It isn't him. The woman with her looks
after the man, then narrows her eyes and frowns. She lets go of Ukyou's
arm and huffs away. Ukyou turns as if to follow the woman, then shrugs
and turns back for the exit.)
And I miss you,
oh,
Like the deserts miss the rain
Yes I miss you, yah,
Like the deserts miss the rain
And I miss you...