Hi Gang!
Well, another installment of TAA is finally here...And I DO apologize for
those wanting the next installment of Mythos, it goes slow...And
the same can be said for With Wings to Carry Them...
Ah well...With schoolwork, I'm doing well to pump out a chapter a month...
So, here's the installment for February...
Ranma and company are owned by Takahashi-sama and various other companies,
I don't makes'm up, I just writes'm...
C&C is always welcome:
garogyle@glasscity.net
gargoyle9@hotmail.com
or
gargoyle4@hotmail.com
Flames, as always, will be filed in the round folder...
So, relax and enjoy my longest running series to date...
***
The All-Americans
By
Joshua Trujillo
Part 18 - Love and War
Dawn broke. It was the lazy kind of dawn that comes in the middle
of the Fall, knowing that there was little time left before the chill of
Winter set in, and it had better get as much rest as it could. Shafts
of light streamed across the landscape, a brush to sweep away the
shadows of night from every hidden corner. Across the South, it
woke to a much happier warmth than it did in the North, but in the
Midwest; the golden shafts of something or other waved gently in
the morn. The sun sparkled especially on each little golden grain,
just because it could.
It sped across the fields until it came upon a house. It had a certain
underexpectation to it, as if the dawn were nothing more than the
signal that they were damned well late. Voices arose and fell in the
morning. Female voices. Four of them. Two of them got out the
front door and sped off in a car. That had been Nabiki and Akane,
and they knew that they were late for class. The sun smiled. It was
Friday as well. That kind of thing happened sometimes.
The third voice was that of their foster mother, Nodoka. She was
worried about the girls, especially Akane. Nabiki had a good
handle on relationships, especially with her son, Ranma. Nodoka
didn't mind that, but sometimes wondered how it would affect the
family. Akane, on the other hand, seemed more interested in
schoolwork and swimming than in relationships. It was fine
because they would get her to college, but the relationships would
help her through life. Nodoka sighed as she watched from the front
door as the car sped away. She'd have to remind Nabiki about
being a better driver...
The sun smiled again. Some things never change...Ah, but some
things do. Such as the fourth female voice. It belonged to the
female that just sat herself down on the roof of the house. She
closed her eyes against the brightness of the sun and relaxed as she
let the warmth seep into her bones. She stretched and the sun
smiled again. The sun WAS a guy, after all. She fiddled with her
pigtail absently, as if something were bothering her about the
whole of life. Her deep ocean blue eyes cast a shadowy
counterpoint to the happiness in the golden sunshine. The sun
frowned and wondered if there was anything that he could do, but
the girl turned back as a voice rose from below.
"Ranma..." Nodoka called.
"Coming," the girl shouted back.
The girl picked up the jacket from beside her seat and vaulted over
the roof of the house, swinging into the window below. The sun
smiled again. Yes, the next few days would certainly be
interesting.
***
Akane set her tray down next to Nabiki, who was putting her
calculator through its paces. She sighed. It seemed that something
was entirely different in the family since Nabiki and Ranma broke
up. Akane hoped that her sister would talk to her about it, but it
was like pulling teeth to get her to say anything anyway. Akane
looked across the room and spotted Shampoo. Akane sneered
unconsciously. She disliked that...That...Parasite. She'd attached
herself to Ranma and that pervert didn't seem to mind. Akane let
out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Akane turned back
to the table in order to keep from getting madder. Yuka was
chittering happily because of something that she and Hiroshi had
done a couple nights ago.
Akane smiled as Ukyou sat down. Akane noticed that Sayuri
smiled as well. It was good to have Sayuri back. She hadn't been in
school for a couple days and Ranma had told Akane what had
happened with Toma. She silently wondered what else went on.
Both he and Ukyou were tight-lipped about the whole thing, which
didn't set well with Akane. Like they were hiding something.
Ranma did say that Sayuri and Shampoo found out about Ukyou.
Akane could understand why she wasn't in class then; it was sad,
but true.
Apparently Hiroshi, Daisuke and Yuka were the only ones that
didn't know. The guys noticed how Sayuri cuddled up to Ukyou
and were not letting him get away without details. Akane noticed
as well and this disturbed her. She hadn't thought that Sayuri was
like that...Maybe she didn't know? Akane looked over to the
couple. Sayuri looked at Akane and quickly shifted her gaze to her
shoes, blushing furiously. Ukyou simply mouthed, 'Later'. Akane
nodded mutely and went back to her meal...Such as it was.
"Akane?" Ukyou asked, thankfully diverting her attention away
from the tuna surprise.
Akane looked up.
"Where's Ranma? He should be in class," Ukyou whispered as well
as she could.
Everyone pretty well ignored them, as Ukyou still wouldn't divulge
any juicy details. As days went, it was rather boring. Akane just
shrugged. Hiroshi finally got to the table and began complaining
about the food. Yuka shushed him as he sat down. Sayuri excused
herself and went up to get an ice cream bar from the snack line.
Ukyou was grateful for the little relief on her arm.
"Oh, it's just that time of the month," Akane said, realizing too late
to whom she was talking.
Nabiki didn't get it late. She sprayed her drink all over Hiroshi,
who had just begun to eat. He stopped eating and began to wipe,
wearing the smug look of those who know that the day CAN'T get
any worse. At least Yuka helped him mop up the Coke. With the
show winding down, Ukyou wondered for a short second what
Nabiki's problem was. She leaned to Akane.
"So, where is Ranma anyway?"
Akane looked at her like she was supposed to realize the oddness
of her own question.
"Um, Ukyou..." she began, "There was a full moon last night."
Ukyou slowly nodded her head. Yes, there was indeed a full moon
out the night before, and the memories that returned of that moon
only held the softness of Sayuri's lips on her own. Ukyou closed
her eyes and shook the memories away, as pleasantly confusing as
they were. But as far as any other special goings-on that
happened...
"Yeah, so?" was all she could bring up.
Akane started, but caught herself. Ukyou could tell she wanted to
say something, but something she knew or didn't know kept her
from saying it.
"You mean..." Akane asked quietly, "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
Akane shot a glance towards Nabiki who shook her head
imperceptibly. If Ukyou hadn't been watching her, she would have
missed it, but whatever was meant by it, Akane took it to heart.
"Ah, Ranma'll be back in a couple days," she finally said,
"He's...Um..."
And now she was reaching and both of them knew it.
"Sh-HE'll be back in a couple days, Ukyou."
Ukyou shook her head slightly. Did Akane almost say she? What
was going on here? It didn't make any sense. It was obvious that
whatever was going on, Akane wouldn't say anything and Nabiki
never gave up information without a fight. Ukyou sighed and then
remembered why she asked in the first place.
"But," she began, "Doesn't he have a game tonight?"
Nabiki looked up from her paperwork, a shocked wrinkle crossing
her forehead. She passed a look to Akane, who just nodded and
shrugged. They both seemed to almost deflate in front of Ukyou's
eyes, to almost be resigned to what had happened-
"He's not hurt, is he?" she ventured.
Akane perked at this and shook her head. Sayuri sat down again
and unwrapped her ice cream sandwich. She tapped Ukyou on the
shoulder and began to lick the ice cream from between the two
cookies. Akane laughed at Ukyou's reaction, partly for the curious
look on her face, partly for the shiver that went up her own spine.
She coughed and shook her head. She never thought like that
before. Well, before Ranma anyway.
Nabiki closed up her books and put them back into her pack as she
finished the remainder of her drink.
"I gotta use the phone," she said to Akane, "See you after school."
Akane nodded as her sister left. Ukyou frowned. Something was
up concerning Ranma, and it wasn't like him to keep anything from
her. Especially with everything that happened concerning Toma.
Maybe she'd have to go and find out for herself; there was only one
little problem that she'd have to take care of before then, though.
And she was currently making more of an ice cream sandwich than
one really should.
"Ukyou..." Sayuri purred next to her, still lapping at the ice cream.
***
Ukyou crept along the outer wall of the gym towards the back
door. A few more steps and she'd be out, hopefully with no one
noticing her gone. She thought that it'd be a drag to have gym last
period, but Ranma was in it, and it left the door open to skip it
when necessary.
Ukyou trotted out to her Mustang and threw her bag into the back
seat. Sayuri had wanted a ride home, but she was also concerned
about why Ranma wasn't there on a game day. So she let Ukyou
go. The car purred to life under her and she quickly pulled out of
the lot, skipping down a near side street to get out of the way of
any truant officers that might be lurking nearby.
The car spun lazily onto the side streets and onto the highway,
headed south, out of town. A sense of deja vu crawled up through
her skin. Ukyou knew what it came from but refused to think that
the results would be the same. She just wanted to know what was
wrong with Ranma, if anything was wrong? No, something MUST
be wrong just from the way Nabiki and Akane were almost
accepting of what happened...
Happened. Which meant that it occurred in the time since the last
time she'd seem him, which had been at school the day before
yesterday. Now that she thought of it, he seemed to be rather
depressed that day. Perhaps he suffers from Seasonal Affective
Disorder? Ukyou didn't know. She wasn't a shrink. She was his
friend, and dammit, she'd help him.
***
The last time she was here was the day after the football game with
Arlington. Something had been wrong with Ranma then too. The
idiot had fought the whole Arlington football team by himself.
Well...Metaphorically, of course.
The doorbell chimed out across the quiet landscape around her.
Ukyou wondered who worked the fields around the Saotome
house, but was brought back around when the door opened. Ukyou
frowned at the woman who stared back at her. She was fairly short,
red haired and extremely well built. The door, having only been
open a couple seconds, slammed shut. Ukyou could hear the
woman bolt into the background and the door opened again.
"...honestly, Ranma, why-" the older woman quickly came around
as she saw Ukyou, "Oh. Come in Ukyou, aren't you out of school a
little early?"
Ukyou came in under the request and heard small footsteps
ascending the stairs to Ranma's attic room. A horrid thought began
to spill across Ukyou's heart. If she...And Ranma...But
they...Ukyou shook her head and nodded to Nodoka.
"I got out a little early because I wanted to find out what was
wrong with Ranma," Ukyou said, looking over her shoulder to the
stairs.
Nodoka's smile never wavered.
"He's not in dear," she said, "Every few weeks, he has to go to
Elyria to help his ailing gran-"
"Mom?"
The red head was standing at the base of the stairs. Ukyou took a
better look now. She was wearing a pair of cut-off black
sweatpants with a red t-shirt. Both fit her sinfully well and Ukyou
suddenly found herself fighting back her new found "other" side.
She'd have to figure out how to control that better, as it was
becoming annoying. Now that Ukyou had a chance to see, this girl
could be Ranma's younger sister, for the features in her face and
the way she held herself were almost identical. It was almost eerie.
"Mom," the girl said, "Ukyou has been a friend and has seen me
through my worst times. I can't lie to her."
Nodoka just nodded.
"Ukyou, it's me. Ranma."
"W...Wha-?" was all Ukyou could mutter.
"Can you come up to my room?" the girl asked, "I want to prove to
you that I really AM Ranma Saotome."
Ukyou nodded mutely and numbly followed the girl up to Ranma's
room. She opened the door and crossed the space to an old steamer
trunk at the foot of the bed. From it, she pulled a large photo
album. She closed the trunk and plopped sullenly down on the bed.
The girl waited patiently until Ukyou snapped out of her stupor
and pulled the chair up to the bedside. If this girl wasn't delusional,
then at least she knew where Ranma...
But his mother had called this girl Ranma, hadn't she? And she
seemed to accept the fact of it as well. Ukyou was so confused, so
she just pushed the whole thing into the back of her mind until the
whole thing was spelled out. At least then, maybe the truth could
sort it out.
***
"So," Ranma sighed as she closed the album, "That's everything.
Every little sordid detail that happened after Pop took me away."
Ukyou just shook her head. It was almost too much to fathom, but
there it was, every detail of Ranma's life in intimate detail. This
girl, this Ranma, knew it all. She seemed sad and angry and a few
dozen other emotions all at once whenever she talked about
Ranma's father, which would be consistent with Ranma's feelings
toward the old freak. Ukyou seethed. Genma would pay, she'd
make sure of that. One thing that she had prided herself on was the
contacts that she had kept with her old ties. Oh yes, Genma would
pay.
"Ukyou, I have to ask a favor," Ranma closed her eyes against the
tears, "The Tendo sisters already know of it and so does mom. But
no one else knows and I-"
"Of course, I won't tell anyone else," Ukyou took Ranma's hand, "I
mean, you kept MY secret and I can only return the favor."
Ranma ripped her hand away.
"Do you think this is some kind of JOKE?!" Ranma jumped to her
feet, "Because of father, I'm a freak!"
"Oh?" Ukyou raised an eyebrow at her, "Being a girl is freakish?"
Ranma huffed out.
"For me it is," she said, quietly.
"Look Ranma," she started again, "It's only a few times a month.
No more than three or four, right? Then don't worry about it and
we'll keep looking for a cure."
***
Ukyou looked back up the stairs toward the room that Ranma still
occupied. She'd fallen into a fairly deep depression at the end of
the conversation and nothing that Ukyou said to her would rouse
her out of it, which worried Ukyou. Ranma even began to cry,
which she'd only seen him-her...Whichever...Ukyou had only seen
Ranma cry maybe twice in the entire time she'd known him. It hurt
Ukyou to see him cry because there was not a whole lot she could
do about comforting him. How could you?
"Is he all right, dear?" a gentle voice said from behind Ukyou, "He
gets so touchy about being a girl."
"Then..." Ukyou stuttered, "It really IS Ranma?"
Nodoka nodded slowly and put her arm around Ukyou's shoulders,
guiding her back towards the livingroom.
"Yes dear, that really IS Ranma," Nodoka sighed, "Much as I think
it was impossible, it really is. I think it best if you just leave it
alone for now, all right?"
"But-" Ukyou began, "Should we leave him like...?"
"I know it's hard," she replied, "But Ranma is one of those people
that have to work things out for themselves, else they become
depressed about it. He'll come to you and talk about it when he's
ready."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes dear," Nodoka smiled knowingly, "Of that, I'm sure."
***
Ranma said nothing about it when he did come back to school the
following Monday. His coach said nothing to him that day in gym
class, Ryouga hadn't said anything or tried to beat him up for
missing the game. Something about the whole situation brought up
the hackles on the back of Ukyou's neck.
"So, are you coming out to my place for dinner tonight?" Sayuri
asked, as she leaned on the locker next to Ukyou.
"Yuri," which was her pet name, "I don't think your parents would
very much approve of me. Not to mention your brother..."
Ukyou looked back into her locker and gathered up the books for
the final couple classes. Sayuri slid a hand across Ukyou's back
and she began to play with her ponytail. It was a cute little habit
that Sayuri had when Ukyou began to talk about how Sayuri would
be better off with a real guy and other self-deprecating things.
"Ukyou, aside from my brother, who they don't listen to," Sayuri
said, softly, "They think you're a guy. Who am I to disillusion
them of that?"
Ukyou turned and gave Sayuri a tired look. She returned with a sly
smile and she added a raised eyebrow.
"Well, yeah..." Ukyou sighed, "I would, but I wanna go out to
Ranma's place and talk to him about a couple things."
Sayuri's face darkened.
"No, I'm not going to seduce him or anything," Ukyou shook her
head, "It's just that, when I last went out there, he told me a couple
things that happened after he left with his father and quite honestly,
they were pretty bad. And I want to make sure that he wasn't
permanently hurt by them."
"That bad, huh?" Sayuri frowned, "He never reveals any of it in
school."
"Yeah," Ukyou agreed, "Which is why I want to talk to him about
it. I've known him the longest and I want to help, if I can. If he'll
let me help."
"Okay, well...How about coming out tomorrow night?"
Ukyou grinned as she closed her locker.
"You're not going to be happy until I meet your parents?" she
asked.
"Well," Sayuri sighed, "They want to meet you."
Ukyou chewed it over for a minute and nodded her head. Sayuri
squeaked with delight and threw her arms around Ukyou's neck.
She planted a huge kiss on Ukyou before bounding away, happy as
a clam. Ukyou wondered about that. Just how did anyone know
that clams were happy?
Well, that, and why she enjoyed kissing Sayuri so much...
***
"Ukyou?" Nabiki answered the door at the Saotome-Tendo home.
"Hey Nabiki," Ukyou waved, "Is Ranma in?"
"Yeah, come on in."
Ukyou stepped through the door and looked around. Normally, you
could hear Ranma before you saw him. Whether it was playing
along with Alex at Jeopardy, or on the practice field at school, he
had a big mouth.
"Where's Akane?"
"She's down at the Y," Nabiki began, making her way back to the
abandoned bowl of popcorn on the counter, "Their pool is the one
place that you can rest assured of being occupied in the winters by
Akane."
"Um, it's not winter yet?"
Nabiki shrugged.
"To Akane it is," she smiled back at Ukyou, "It's always winter if
it's too cold to swim outside. Ranma's up in his room."
Ukyou nodded and walked up the stairs as Nabiki went back to
whatever she'd been watching in the family room. The stairs went
up from the first floor to a landing on the second floor, then there
was a slight jog to the right and another flight up to a smaller
landing. At the top of that landing, one door was at the end of the
hall while another was on the left. She didn't know where the one
at the end of the hall went, but the one on the left was Ranma's.
Ukyou knocked.
No answer, so she knocked again. She was about to knock a third
time, but figured if he hadn't heard it before, why should he hear it
this time. So she tried the door handle, which turned without
resistance. The door was open. Sounds of grunting and other
undefinable sounds drifted down the short flight up to his room.
Almost like...
But, Ukyou hadn't seen Shampoo's car out front? And Ranma
didn't have a car. Well, to speak of anyway. Ukyou was almost
afraid to go up the stairs. What if they were...? She sighed to
herself. If they were, then she'd just talk to him some other time. A
laugh broke through her thoughts. It was Ranma's laugh. A bright,
short tone that sounded so far off, and then, more talking. Ukyou
shook her head and went up the final few steps to Ranma's attic
room.
A couple of floor lamps illuminated the vast space that seemed
only to compensate for its vastness by Ranma's sense of
decorating, which was spartan to begin with. Ukyou looked around
and spotted Ranma off to one side, hanging from one of the rafters
by his left hand. He had the telephone in his right and was talking
to someone, while pulling himself up repeatedly to chin the rafter.
Ukyou watched in slight awe at the physical shape that Ranma was
in, not only to do this exercise, but to do it so effortlessly. Ranma
turned as Ukyou cleared her throat.
"Ukyou," Ranma smiled, "Hang on a sec."
Ukyou nodded and Ranma dropped to the floor.
"Okay. Tomorrow night then," Ranma said into the phone, "Yeah,
I'll be careful. Bye."
He hung up the phone and dropped it gently to its cradle. He
looked back to Ukyou and smiled again, sheepishly.
"That was Shampoo," he said, "Apparently, before we go out
anymore, I have to meet her Grandmother. She's supposed to be
really torturous on Shampoo's past boyfriends, and Shampoo
wanted to warn me ahead of time."
Ukyou nodded and sat down on the bed.
"Yeah, I have to go out and see Sayuri's parents tomorrow."
"They know about-?" Ranma waved a finger at her.
Ukyou shook her head.
"Hmph," he huffed, "Well, just be careful, okay?"
"Okay DAD..." Ukyou sighed, "Listen, I didn't come up here to
argue. I just wanted to talk about your curse."
A cloud descended on Ranma's face and he went to the chair
opposite his bed, where he retrieved a large white towel. He sat
down in the chair and shook his head.
"No," he said, "That's something I don't want to talk about."
He saw the look that he was getting from her and shrugged his
shoulders.
"There's nothing to talk about, really," Ranma explained, "It just is.
I mean, there's nothing that can be done about it. I suppose that I'll
have to go back out to the tribal areas to find someone that can
undo it, but I don't know if I really want to now. It's kind of a part
of me."
Ranma stood and walked to the small, circular window at the far
end. He looked out across the fields to the west, where an autumn
storm was brewing in the distance. It would only take a few hours
before it blew into Earnest and even less time before it hit the
house. A pretty nasty one too, from the look of the lightening
coming off it. It was the coming storm of argument that he could
feel would soon overtake them both about this damned curse. Why
couldn't people just leave well enough alone about it? It was bad
enough that it happened, bad enough that Ranma had to live
through it every month, but why did they have to drag it back up
by talking about it. Talking about it never changed anything.
"Ranma?"
He turned back to her.
"I remember something else that you told me about a long time
ago," she said quietly, "Something horrible that you told me. That I
was the only person that you could talk to. I was the only person
that would listen. Do you remember that?"
Ranma nodded and crossed back to his nightstand, where a bottle
of water was waiting for him.
"Well, Ranma, if you can trust me and talk to me about that," she
said hopefully, "Then you can certainly talk about something that
you've come to terms with?"
He sat on the other side of the bed, facing her, and took a long
drink from the bottle before he spoke.
"You aren't going to leave until you hear me talk about it?"
"Certainly I can leave, if you're going to be a dick about it," Ukyou
sighed, "When you told me all the stuff that happened, you began
to break down and your mom told me that you had to work it out
for yourself. But you know what I think, I think you're just too
damned hard headed to ask for help. So you'd rather stew in your
own depression and suffering than ask me for help."
Ranma didn't meet her gaze. He couldn't let her know that, at least
for some things, she was right.
"So I'm not leaving until I know that, at least, you'll talk to me
about it..." Ukyou bit her lip, "And, don't I deserve that much?"
Ranma smiled and nodded, his eyes closed.
"Yeah," he finally said, "I do owe you that much. Ukyou, listen. It
IS hard for me to talk about my curse because there's so much that
goes along with it. I told you about how I lived out in the
desert...The stripping and the photos..."
Ukyou could only nod. She knew about them and wondered to
herself if they'd ever come back to haunt him. Probably not, since
he was far enough away from that and his female side only came
out a few times a month. He could afford to keep it secret.
"Well, because of that, I know I have a real hard time with-"
Ranma stumbled on the words, "Ya know. Bein' with a girl..."
"Intimacy?"
"Yeah," Ranma smiled, "Shampoo is kinda pressing to get me in
the sack and I honestly don't want to with her. I mean, yeah, she's
got a great body and everything, but she's not...I just..."
He was stumbling again.
"You don't love her?"
"Yeah. I mean, it'd be different if I loved her or some junk," he
looked at Ukyou as she giggled, "But I mean, what Happosai
did..."
He shuddered and drew his arms up around himself. Outside, the
storm rumbled lightening to the quickening pace of his heart. He
didn't want to think about what happened. Ranma didn't want to
think about how his father left him at home. How the little, ugly
man he later knew as Happosai came into the house like he owned
it. Ranma shook his head fiercely as tears came to the surface. He
jumped as he felt a hand on his arm. He opened his eyes. It was
Ukyou.
Ranma smiled a weak smile and wiped away at the tears. He stood
and made his way back to the small window and looked out into
the storm, trying to calm his nerves.
"I mean, I can't expect you to understand about it," Ranma said
quietly, "I hardly understand about it. Happosai hurt me in ways
that you can't even begin-"
A shocked gasp escaped Ukyou and made him turn back to her.
She was sitting on the bed, her face a twisted mass of confusion.
"I can't UNDERSTAND?" she shouted, "Why? Why can't I
understand how you feel? Am I not allowed or something?
Something else that you're hiding from me? Is that it?"
Ukyou jumped off the bed and was, in two strides, right up in
Ranma's face. For his part, Ranma backed off, wondering what
he'd said to anger his friend like this.
"I was just saying that this kinda thing's never happened-"
"What do YOU know, you arrogant prick?!" Ukyou shouted,
"There, in fact, HAS been something like that that's happened to
me!"
Ranma paled as he saw the first tears come from her eyes. Ukyou
turned as they came, steadier now. She hadn't thought that she had
any more to shed over the whole incident, but apparently she was
wrong. She put a hand on the dresser to steady herself as her vision
clouded with the sting of salty remembrances.
Oh God, Ukyou thought, Why does it have to be this way? Why
can't I just forget?
Her tears shook her, but Ukyou brought herself back under control
as Ranma touched her shoulder.
"It was Toma, wasn't it?" he asked softly, "I never knew, you
didn't-"
Ukyou spun and cut him off with a sharp slap to his face.
"You arrogant bastard! You NEVER think! You think you're the
only one with problems! You think that no one else could ever
have problems like YOU!" she was shouting now, "The GREAT
Ranma-SAOTOME! Got molested when he was a kid, and I help
him! Now I get molested and WHERE WERE YOU?!"
Ukyou's sobs choked out the rest of her tirade as she just began to
beat on his chest. Her fists ineffective, she just stood crying and
trembling before him, naked in her raw emotions. Ukyou felt his
arms wrap around her, but she didn't pull away, she just stood in
his strong embrace, hearing the beating of his heart against her ear.
It sounded so far away and yet so comforting. Ukyou could feel
her sobs quiet and realized that he was rocking them both gently
back and forth. Ukyou looked up from her spot at the nape of his
neck and saw that he was crying as well, sobbing quietly, his eyes
closed against the world. She put her head back against the nape of
his neck when he heard him. It was quiet at first, almost less than a
whisper, but it grew in intensity.
"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry..."
An endless stream of quiet apologies that tore into Ukyou's very
heart. She couldn't stand it. They had both endured so much and
the last thing she wanted was to be the cause of more suffering.
She pulled out of his embrace, but he wouldn't stop, the tears
streaming down his face. She tried to quiet him, but it was to no
avail.
"Ranma, please, we've both been through so much..."
But he continued, too scared to stop his own mantra of self-
flagellation. She was right. By God, she was right. He knew about
Toma's power and he knew what Ryouga and Nabiki had told him
about it, but he'd been so sure that it never touched him that he
never thought about the others around him. Ukyou, Sayuri,
Akane...God, even Shampoo. Guilt piled upon guilt as it swept
through him. He would have dropped to his knees except Ukyou
did something that surprised even him.
She kissed him.
She broke the kiss and chuckled softly as she wiped at her own
tears.
"You know, I've always wanted to do that," she said as she wiped
at his tears, "At least I got you to stop crying. That's a start.
Ranma, I'm just as hardheaded as you, really. I didn't tell you what
happened to me because I thought I could work it out by myself. I
did, at least a little bit, but the hurt is still there. I just want you to
know that you're not alone."
Ranma still had a dumbfounded look on his face as she hugged
him. He returned the hug softly. Ukyou broke the hug and looked
up into his eyes, those that asked for so much but wanted so little.
Eyes that a girl could get lost in. Ranma let out a little urf as her
lips met his once again. He didn't push her away though. Her lips
felt good, comforting, like the way a comforting blanket will fold
itself around you in the chill of the desert night. Blocking out the
cold, but still allowing you to feel the presence of the night. Ukyou
felt that way. Tasting of the salt of the tears, her tongue slid slowly
and unsurely into his mouth. He gave her his tongue and allowed
himself to be guided back towards the bed, gently yet firmly into a
downrushing spiral as something rose in him that he hadn't felt in a
long time.
Ukyou's body was cool as he removed her clothes. Ranma didn't
know if it was from the far window which was open, or if his own
heat outshined her own. Ranma felt her lips play along his stomach
and down to his shorts, which she quickly removed from him. The
bed squeaked in answer as they twisted back and forth, hungrily
devouring the other. Her on his, the delightful electric sensations
shooting up his spine. His around hers, the same sensations driving
the coolness from every corner of her body, making her breath
come shorter as they gathered below her waist.
Ukyou was shocked in her own passion when Ranma entered her.
It quickly subsided though as sensations warred with emotions that
battled with her own passions. She wanted him like she'd never
wanted anything else, like she never believed was possible. She
wanted him to remain inside her, she quietly begged him to stay,
but through the passion, his own mind played out and he didn't
stay. Ukyou sighed. There would be another time.
***
The tears dropped quickly. She shivered in anger. How could they?
How could they do something so wrong? She sniffed to herself a
couple times and closed the little notebook to keep her tears from
further staining the...Evidence.
And then, abruptly, the tears and the shaking stopped. And Nabiki
knew that the time for tears was over. She got up from her perch at
the top of the third landing and made her way to her own bedroom.
***
Ranma felt her fingers in his hair. It was a good feeling,
comforting. Like the rest of what they'd been doing for the past
couple hours. It felt good. Ranma has his arms wrapped about her
waist and up to her shoulder blades, holding his head to her
stomach, just above her belly button. He sighed.
"Ranma?"
He looked up.
"Did we just do what I think we did?"
He nodded and put his head back down.
"Ranma?"
He looked up again.
"Do you understand why we just did that?"
He shook his head and put his head back down again. He breathed
out and began to kiss her stomach lightly, working his way up.
"Ranma?"
He didn't look up this time. He had kissed his way up to just under
her breasts.
"Hmm?"
"Are you as confused by this whole thing as I am?"
He stopped and looked up at her. He nodded slightly and smiled.
"Yeah," he said softly, "I don't know what my emotions are
supposed to be about this. Are we still gonna be friends?"
Ukyou laughed lightly and pulled his head back down to her chest.
"Yeah, I think I can safely say that this hasn't really affected our
friendship," Ukyou said, "Maybe made it a little more complicated,
but it hasn't affected it."
Ukyou sighed and closed her eyes as his held knelt to her chest
again. She shivered as he kissed her breasts, the ripples against her
spine making her moan slightly.
"Ranma?"
"Hmmmmm..." he drew out the hum against her nipples, which
sent more shivers.
"What..." Ukyou had to catch her own breath, "What about
Shampoo?"
Ranma stopped and looked up into her eyes. Ukyou's heart began
to beat faster as she thought that this might have been the wrong
question. Ranma then smiled quickly and gave her a kiss before
returning to her breasts.
"What about Sayuri?" was his reply.
They both laughed as Ukyou began to tickle him. He pulled her on
top of him and she could feel him stirring underneath her once
more...
***
The lightening flashed heavily outside. It was a cold rain that
splashed in through the far window, but Ukyou didn't feel cold.
Ranma was lying at her stomach again, but this time he was asleep.
She ran her fingers through his hair again and sighed. So many
things changed so fast. In the middle of the argument, she was
about ready to kill him. Now, if he asked for her hand in marriage,
he'd have it. She knew that it wasn't logical to feel that
way...Perhaps that was the true nature of love. To be unlogical. To
confound those that most need an answer.
He shifted and she pulled the comforter up to his shoulders. Did
she love him? Ukyou didn't know. Maybe. Maybe not. There was
still the question of her feelings for Sayuri, which, when she was
with the brunette, were JUST as strong as they were holding
Ranma to her. She was so damned confused.
Ukyou sighed as it finally came to her. That damned saying that'd
plaguing her for the last week.
"Time counts and keeps counting..." It was from the last Mad Max
movie. She couldn't remember it exactly, but it went something
like...
Time counts and keeps counting. We light the city so that him and
all those like him can find the way...
...Home.
***
Joshua "Gargoyle" Trujillo
"Stone Cold Protector of the Righteous"
"Owner of The Anime Bar and Grille - When life hands US a lemon, we SUCK IT!"
AB HOC POSSUM VIDERE DOMUM TUUM!
"...and his paper squeaker had echoed out forlornly amongst the snowy
rooftops all night."
"It's not fair...It's not fair. I have so little hop and you have so
much..." - Tim Duncan to Vince Carter at the 2000 NBA All Star Game.
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