Sorry for any delays. :) All C&C will get personally responded to; I'm
just in the middle of a test cycle and a nasty cough, and Suasn's
practically cut off from the net. We're slow, but we do write back,
honest. ;)

Anyhow, general answers to comments:

* Ukyou didn't deserve to get killed like that, I was disappointed - Ukyou
certainly didn't deserve what she got. In fact, she got shafted pretty
bad; a nasty death for trying to help out a friend and get some closure on
her love/hate relationship with Ranma. People don't always get what they
deserve, and dramatic necessity is a bitch.

* The Hibikis deserved worse than they got, especially considering what
happened to Shan and Ukyou - Maybe. Again, people don't always get what
they deserve, and who appointed you God? Part of life is that rewards
don't always fit deeds, and this can be a good thing. Don't decide what
other people should have got unless you want someone to look pretty
critically at what YOU deserve. Considering the amount of the world living
in poverty, and our own high-tech, adequately-fed state... are you SURE
you deserve all this? 

* Ranma gets off awfully easy - Ranma spends the better part of the next
few years being ripped to pieces by imaginary cats. I suppose you could
call that easy.

* Was Ranma evil? - Yes and no. Calling anyone 'evil' is hard, just as
hard as calling anyone 'good'. People themselves are not good or evil;
they're people. The actions they do, the thoughts they think, the things
they cause; all those can be good or evil.

Ranma is insane, this is the first thing to realize. He's spent 8 years
with an imaginary horde of undead cats who want to rip him to pieces.
About the only thing that keeps them away is strict, absolute control of
both himself and his surroundings.

Over the years, he's gotten used to thinking of himself as a sort of
monster. It's easier not to care about anyone than to be a scared,
frightened, tormented 16-year-old boy.

He commits acts which are undenyably evil, and the fact that he is insane
does not offer total absolvement. There is a dark, cruel, sadistic streak
in him that enjoys causing people pain. He pushes Nabiki, he tortures Shan
to death.

At the same time, he hates himself for what he does, he feels pity for
Nabiki even as he hates her, and he loves Akane very much, which is
horrifying to him. The most important thing in his life is that wall of
control, and love is something one has very little control over.

At the end, he has a choice between killing Akane or dropping his control,
letting the madness take him completely. It's what he fears most. He can't
just surrender, any more than you could take a needle and slowly stick it
into your eye. After 8 years, he's too far gone to do it.

He loves Akane more than he fears the madness and the treatment. He
releases his controls, and Akane is able to easily pummel him into
submission.

Love is not an absolution. It is, however, a first step. Given a long,
long time of both treatment and support from Akane, he'll probably
eventually be able to live something close to a normal life, and he might
somehow atone.

It isn't going to be an easy thing. At the very least, it will be five to
ten years before the hospital feels he's stable enough to re-enter
society. It could be 20, or 30, or he might never recover enough to leave
the institution. Akane might have to accept that the person she loves -
and who she'll probably marry, eventually - will be in an insane asylum
for the rest of his life. It won't be easy for her, either.

Even if he does get out, eventually, there's the rest of the Tendos.
Should Nabiki recover, I think it's safe to say that the two of them will
never meet again. Even if they have to take elaborate precautions to avoid
it. The same goes with the Hibikis.

Ranma has a lot of evil to answer for, and the road to atoning for it is
going to be rough. But he did take the first step, finally finding
something in him that was stronger than fear and hate and need for
control, and every beginning is a beginning.

* I liked how we didn't know whether Ranma was good ove evil, and that got
spoiled in Chapter 13 - We've said all along that we'd answer all
questions by the final epilogue. It would be rather unfair, after keeping
people in suspence over questions for 13 chapters, to just leave them
unanswered. Uncertainty and suspence is fine for the body of a story, but
endings require closure and answers.