Ranma � belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, viz video, and a few others

This story is using  two ideas borrowed from a few different fics.
Richard�s; Storm�s End:  How Ranma dies
That and another fic that I don�t remember the name of or the author.
If you are or know the author of the story please email me: how Akane
reacts to Ranma�s death.
The rest of the story is mine, any other similarities are just
coincidence.
C&C is welcomed




Pt. 1
Into The Night



"Ranma, let's go for a walk down the beach."  She was very nervous.
She'd
been planning this for days now, but the actual execution had taken
lots of
nerve.  She used all of her strength to smile at him.  "Let's take
some lunch
and make an expedition out of it."

Ranma had looked at her in alarm.  "Um...you didn't make the lunches,
did
you?"

She grimaced, then stilled her face.  She wasn't going to let his
idiotic
comments deter her.  "No, Kasumi made lunch for everyone.  I just took
enough
for you and me."  She took a step closer to him, hoping he wouldn't
hear how
fast her heart was beating.  "What do you say?"

Ranma gulped.  He licked his lips and looked around, as if trying to
find an
escape.  Akane resisted an urge to send him flying through the window.

Finally, he looked back at her, and his face softened ever so
slightly.  "All
right."  His eyes immediately widened, as if he was surprised at his
own
acquiescence.

Akane pounced before he found an excuse to back out.  "Come on,
then."  She
whirled and ran to the door, grabbing a bag with their lunch in it.
She stood
there, waiting for him to come with her.

"Now?"  He looked around.  Their families were in the other room,
watching a
newscaster on television.  "Shouldn't we tell them where we're going?"

"Why?"  The last thing she wanted was for everyone to make a scene,
Father in
particular, although Ranma's mother wouldn't be far behind.  "We can
take
care of ourselves."

"Okay."  Ranma visibly gathered himself, then joined her as she headed
out the
door to the beach.

 It was a beautiful day,  the warm breeze that blew in off of the
ocean made the day just seem all that much better.

Ranma and Akane walked down along the beach.  Just out of the reach of
the waves.  Both were silent, and enjoying the peace that was being
offered to them.

Ranma reached out his hand, just as nervous as he had been after they
had left
Shinnosuke.  Akane smiled and grabbed it.  His face was comedic in the
frightened expressions that crossed it, but it finally settled into a
more or less content look.  They were far enough away from the others
that they couldn't be seen, which Akane knew was important to Ranma.
He needed to be brought along slowly.  Come to think of it, she
probably wasn't up to any public displays of affection, either.  She
looked up at him, his
muscular body glistening in the sunlight.  She wondered if he would
try to kiss her.  She wondered if she would try to kiss him.  That
made her blush.

They continued on down the beach hand in hand.  After a while Akane
pointed out a cave that was on the side of cliff that looked out over
a small portion of the  beach and ocean.  "That looks like a good
place to have lunch."  They climbed a small ledge that lead up into
the cave, and did a little exploring of the cave.  When they came back
to the opening they noticed it was beginning to rain, and decided to
eat the lunches while they waited for the storm to pass.

The storm wasn�t passing, after an hour the storm suddenly picked up
in intensity.  The wind was now howling, and the rain was like a
curtain that was suddenly drawn over the land.  Ranma decided it was
best they left before the storm could get any worse.

Ranma made his way to the edge of the cave. The rain washed over him
and he changed forms.  The now female was looking down the small
distance to the beach, a grim look on her face.  Akane looked over her
shoulder.

The beach was gone.

It its place, the ocean had risen, the winds blowing the waves
violently
against the rocks of the small cliff.  Protected as they had been from
the
storm, they had also not seen the storm tide rising.

Akane and Ranma looked at each other.  Ranma spoke quietly.  "We're in

a lot of trouble."

They both looked up.  The cliff continued up for another ten meters or
so.
Not so great a distance to climb.  Akane grimaced; not so great when
the sun
was out, the wind calm, and the rocks dry.  Not so great when to fall
didn't
mean you fell between the pounding ocean and the unforgiving rocks.

They looked at each other again.  Ranma sounded very grim.  "We don't
have
much of a choice.  I don't think we can stay here."

Akane nodded; the wind was getting worse, and she could already feel
the spray
of some of the waves as they crashed against the cliff.  It wouldn't
be long
before the water covered this ledge.  She looked regretfully at the
bag.  She
would have to leave it behind.

Akane examined the cliff closely.  There seemed to be easy handholds
all the
way up.  She plotted a course and pointed it out to Ranma.  She
nodded.
"Okay, Akane, you go first.  I'll follow right behind you."

Akane looked at Ranma for a moment, feeling like she should say
something.
Her courage failed her, though, and instead she went to the cliff face
and
grabbed a handhold.  She set her feet and lifted herself up.

Outside the protection of their ledge, the wind beat on her in
earnest.  She
cried out.  It felt like a living thing, something that wanted to pull
her
off the cliff.  She took a couple of deep breaths and lifted herself
up again.

It was a painstaking process.  She would set her feet, reach up and
grab
something, lift a leg, find a foothold, push herself up, find another
place
to set her other foot, move her other hand.  The cliff offered
plentiful places
to put a foot or hand.  It was the wind that made it difficult,
filling every
space between her and the cliff and exerting remarkable force.

Akane moved slowly upwards, making slow but steady progress.  The wind
was
an incredible thing, becoming stronger than she could have ever
imagined.
Every time she lifted herself up, she had to fight to make sure the
wind didn't
blow her completely off the face of the cliff.  And it was still
getting
stronger.

After an incredibly long period of time, Akane looked up to see grass
right
above her.  This was going to be difficult.  The grass wasn't going to
provide
as solid a handhold as the rockface had.  She reached up and felt
along the
clifftop.  She didn't feel anything besides grass.  She dug her
fingers into
the soil, then moved her foot up.  Finding a good, solid foothold, she
pushed
up.

She nearly lost it.  Lifting part of her torso up over the top of the
cliff
exposed her to the full force of the wind.  It pushed her back, and
her hand
slipped in the grass.  For a sickening moment, she was sure she was
dead.  The
wind suddenly turned into an unexpected ally, changing direction to
push her
towards the clifftop.  She reached her other hand up and dug it into
the grass.
Pawing with her hands and practically jumping with her feet, she
managed to
bring her whole body over the top of the cliff.

She had no time to be grateful.  Still lying on the grass, she turned
herself
so that her head and shoulders were over the top of the cliff.  She
looked
down at Ranma.  Ranma was still about two meters from the cliff top.
As she
tried to lift herself up the cliff, Akane immediately saw her
problem.  She
was smaller than Akane in this form, and lighter as well.  The wind
which
was dangerous to Akane was deadly to Ranma.  Ranma had to move shorter

distances up the cliff to compensate.  Her face was filled with
determination,
but Akane could see the fear as well.

Akane's mind raced for an answer.  None of Ranma's special techniques
would
be particularly effective now.  Ryoga's Breaking Point might have been
helpful
down on the ledge; they might have just burrowed their way up.  If
they hadn't
just brought the cliff down on their heads in the process.

Akane looked quickly around.  There was a house some hundred meters
away.  She
might be able to run there, grab some rope, come back, and lower it to
Ranma.
Akane felt the wind racing along her body, though, and knew that she
didn't
nearly have enough time, even if she could find rope quickly.  The
issue would
be decided long before then.

Akane looked down at Ranma and felt her chest tighten.  Ranma was no
longer
moving; she was just gripping the rocks in an effort to hang on.
Akane reached
her arm down as far as she dared, but she was still a good meter from
Ranma's
nearest hand.  "Ranma!"  She couldn't even hear herself.  Maybe it was
a
coincidence, put Ranma looked up.  Their eyes met, and Akane saw fear
in
Ranma...and even worse, resignation.

"Ranma!  Reach up!  Just climb a little farther, you can do it!"
Akane still
couldn't make out her own words in the wind and rain, but Ranma seemed
to
understand.  She moved her foot, found a foothold.  She lifted herself
up, and
for a moment the wind grabbed her.  It pushed her to the side, so that
she had
to quickly find new handholds.  She lost a couple of decimeters in the
process.

Akane edged herself over so that she was directly above Ranma again.
She
strained herself, but Ranma was still a meter away, perhaps a little
less.
Ranma looked up again, her face no longer showing fear, but rather
sadness.

"Don't give up, Ranma!"  Akane reached down further, letting more of
herself
hang over the edge.  For a moment she lost her balance, and had to
quickly
pull her hands up to keep from falling over.

Ranma saw this, and shouted something at Akane.  Akane couldn't make
it out,
but she could guess that Ranma was telling her to move back from the
edge.
There was simply no way Akane was going to leave this cliff without
Ranma.
Settling herself as best she could, Akane reached out her hand again.

Ranma sighed.  She looked down and seemed to mumble a prayer.  She
looked up
at Akane, and shouted something, very loudly.  Akane still couldn't
hear her.
Akane shook her head and strained her fingers, trying to reach as
close as she
could to Ranma.

Ranma looked up at Akane and smiled.  It was a simple smile, and she
looked
happy.  She said something, not shouting, simply saying it.  Then
Ranma
braced herself against the rockface, bent her knees as much as she
could, and
jumped up.

It might have worked from a ledge, but against the rockface, Ranma had
pushed
out as much as up.  Ranma strained to try and grab Akane's
outstretched hand,
but her own momentum carried her away from the cliff.  Then the wind
grabbed
her, and flung her viciously down out of Akane's sight.

Akane's mouth hung open.  This was not possible.  Ranma couldn't die.
He'd
faced death so many times before, and he'd always won.  He'd always
found a
way to exploit the enemy's weakness, to use the slimmest hope to
achieve
victory.  It was simply a fact, Ranma could not be killed.

Akane shifted herself along the edge of the cliff, trying to get a
view of the
ocean below.  It was possible that the tide had risen enough that
Ranma had
merely fallen into the ocean.  He - she - was an excellent swimmer,
and if
she could escape the rocks, she might be able to swim to a safe beach.

Akane tried so see through the gloom of the storm and the sheets of
rain.
She thought she saw something moving in the waves.  She watched that
area of
the water and saw it.  It was Ranma. She watched as Ranma's body
submerged once more into the ocean not to rise from it again.

He couldn't be gone.  He just couldn�t be gone.

Akane stared  down into the water lost in the fact that Ranma had just
plunged into the ocean and didn�t come back up.  She slowly stood up
never taking her eyes off of the water below. She stood their for some
time not moving from that spot. Finally after quite some time has past
she begins to move.  She takes a few steps back from the edge.  With
nothing left for her she begins to run away from all that she has
known. The world blurs by.  She no longer cares what happens too her.

In a dark place a pear of eyes watch as the body falls into the ocean,
bobs a couple of times and finally slips below the surface not to be
seen again. In a dark room a figure stood laughing at the chaos that
it was just beginning to release



*********

They hadn�t predicted rain that day let alone the storm that crashed
down on the people.
The storm came out of no where.  No, warnings to be had for anyone in
the area.  It was the most fierce storm they had ever had. Doing more
damage than ever thought could be done.  Accomplishing the
impossible,  Ranma Saotome was dead, with his fiancee Akane Tendo.
The storm that took both of them away from their loved ones didn�t
last long.  Their family and friends left grieving trying to
understand how this tragedy had come about them.

A month after the deaths no one wanted to admit that they weren�t
coming back.  Still hoping that one day they would both walk through
the door arguing.  Why? No bodies where found, and as one comes to
know Ranma they come to expect the impossible.  However none could
even begin to imagine what was in store for them.

*********

In a small room in a abandoned building, a girl slept on the floor
lying in a fetal ball.  She could have been considered pretty, if not
for all the dirt Covering her.  She had lost most of the life in her,
and looked as if she had not eaten a decent meal in a few weeks. Her
clothes ripped and starting to fall apart do to constant ware.
The room was in worse shape than she was, if you didn�t consider her
emotional state.  Newspapers for covers, and all kinds of trash strewn
about the room.  The only food in the building was a open can of beans
that had been sitting there for a few days.

The girl seemed to be having a bad dream, or remembering something she
didn�t want to remember.

"No....don�t........please.....Thank you god, oh thank you god"

Slowly her eyes open to the world.  The smile that had started onto
her face suddenly turned into a look of anguish, and she curled into
herself even more. Weeping once again at all she had lost, of the past
and of the future that she would never have now.
There was no tears however, she had not cried a single tear in weeks.
Life had nothing to offer her any more, and she was close to joining
the one she loved.  She could finally admit it, not that anyone else
would ever get to know of it now.  Her joining with her love was not
that much further in the future.


*********

�Is everything ready�

�yes�

�Than let us begin we don�t have much time�

*********

After that last dream she didn�t want to stay.  She was determined to
be with her love and not even death was going to stop her from being
with him.

*******

�We must do it now�

�ready�

�Begin�

*********

She was about to leave the building for the last time when someone
knocked on the door.
�That�s strange no one knows I�m here. Why would anyone knock on the
door.�  She just stands there looking at the door wondering if she
should run.

The door opens, and there stands the person she never expected to see
again.

"Hi Akane"

"R-R-Ra-Ranma" escapes Akane�s lips before she runs over to him and
embraces him in a crushing hug.

"c-c-can�t b-b-b-breath"

Akane looks up into Ranma�s face, and loosens her hold on him a
little.

"R-r-Ranma, is it really you"

Ranma just shakes his head as he tries to regain his breath.

"b-b-but how, I mean you were...." Akane makes a gesture as she trails
off.

"It�s a long story, and I don't understand most of it myself."

 "I don�t care, so long as you never leave me again." Akane leans her
head against his shoulder and begins to cry.

end for now.


Well what do you think.  I know there are some places that need work,
but hey like most my stuff it dosn't get to see any prereaders before
it hits the list.  Oh well.
My other stories are still being worked on if at a slow pace.  I have
been trying to get a search engine up and running however I am having
trouble with the perl script.  If anyone could give me some help on
this I would appreciate it very much.
Also I have been working on a vrml version of the Tendo dojo.  This
has been harder than what I thought it would be.  I would like to make
it into a multiuser chat home/room what ever you would like to call
it. I am also looking for some help in this area.

This is going to be a crossover, I really wish I could get away from
them.  I wanted this story to be soly Ranma but as it happens it has
brought in another series.  I know too little on the other series,
Magic Knight Rayearth.  I could use a site that has synopses of the
fist and second series.  This will take place after both, so I need
info on both of them.

My web address has recently changed to
http://rampage.ml.org/sector2/~ranmas/index.html
(to those in the ring just for the ring homepage just replace the
index with ring. for the links in the fragment)  My geocities page
will be up for a while, at least untill I get my own anime search
engine up and running. So untill the next chapter comes out later.

ps. it should be chapter 2 of Terran's Arrival, and fairly soon