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RPM wrote:
"Nabiki's suicide. I still can't believe she'd do something like that,"
"Yeah, me neither. I had no idea Akane's death would hit her so hard."
$So, 'Akane' is still dead. Indicating that Shamps didn't follow through.
Actually I thought the automatic assumption at this point would be that
Kasumi got rid of her.
"I'm sorry Father is determined for us to marry so quickly. It's not fair
to
you. But if we don't-"
$Being forced to marry Kasumi. Not exactly a great relationship there.
Ranma: Aside from the hot sex, I'd agree with you there.
"No, Ranma. You're right. I'm afraid for his sanity as well. He's nearly
mad
with grief. We have to pull together for his sake. He's the last of my
family. I won't abandon him for anything in the world. Marrying you isn't
really the sacrifice I thought it would be when you first came to us.
$Ranma: Gee, thanks.
Heh. It did come off sounding bad.
"I'm not really that strong," Kasumi insisted. "I've always thought if one
stays mired in the past, they'll never go forward. In an odd way, marrying
you is just that, taking a tremendous step forward. I'll never forget my
sisters any more than I would forget mother, but I am alive, and will
remain
that way for as long as I can.
$There's a good philosopy. Live forever!
True. People always seem to botch it at the end when they die, though.
Ranma heard the edge in Kasumi's voice and quickly nodded in approval. He
would be there to personally make sure she did not give in to her grief
anymore than he would give in to his own. Grief was a foe like any other,
and no matter how overwhelming an opponent it was, he would triumph over
it
no matter how long it took. He was Ranma Saotome. He gave up to no one and
nothing, not even pain. Akane had helped him see that.
$Hah! Yeah, she certainly doled out the pain.
Akane; Hey. I'm an amatuer compared to the others.
of denial? Was the fact they hadn't recovered her body making him think
she
was somehow still alive out there? No. It wasn't possible. Ukyou's
confession had made that clear, along with her suicide. Akane was dead.
The
trio of girls had killed her before Ukyou had turned on them, killing her
partners and then herself in an orgy of slaughter.
$Ooh, orgy. Heh.
It can be used in a non-sexual sense, you know. :P
"Akane, I hope wherever you are right now, you're happy."
Kasumi grasped his hand. "So do I, Ranma. So do I. She deserved some
measure
of happiness more than of any of us."
"Yeah. She deserves it."
$Actually, Shampoo does. Not that Akane doesn't, but Shampoo was nice
enough to not kill her.
And thus they shall live happily temporarily after until Kasumi stumbles
upon them years later and decided to whack them rather than let their
continued existance possibly disrupt her marriage to Ranma.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"I can't believe you were such a jerk!"
"Akane really need to develop a sense of humor."
$Yeah, lighten up already.
Heh.
"Do you honestly believe that claiming the Nyanniichuan was Akaneiichuan
and
pretending you loaded the gun was a joke?"
"Shampoo have a good laugh about it."
$Heheheh.
And isn't that all that matters in the end?
"Up until I kicked you in the gut. I'm almost sorry it was in those ribs
of
yours Nabiki busted, by the way."
$Almost.
Yep. It's still 'almost' and will always be 'almost' :)
"I thought you could speak better Japanese than this."
"Sorry, old habits die hard. But with where we are now, maybe you should
learn Chinese."
$Then Akane could pick at Shampoo with bad accent.
Heh. True.
"Yeah, I guess with us living in the Chinese section of Osaka, I should.
You
have to admit though, between moving, the change in hair style, dye jobs,
and tinted contacts, no one should ever be able to find us."
$Contacts are a bit much. They tend to be abandoned after a while.
Not once you get used to them.
"You didn't need to get the boob job."
$Already saw the comments on this, so I'll leave it alone.
I admit it was OOC, okay? :)
"I think allowing everyone to continue believing we're dead was for the
best. They were just starting to get over us. A quick clean cut is better
than the continuing pain and disgrace of having us alive and in a
relationship with one another. Now, there's something I've been meaning to
ask you."
$Akane: Do you really think you can make me bark like a dog given twenty
minutes and an eggbeater?
Shampoo: Is ancient Amazon technique covering that.
I have to learn to accept the way things are and try to be happy as best
as
I can. I swear to you I do love you. Someday Shampoo love you more than
Ranma. It happening slowly. Just give it time. We have the rest of our
lives."
$Yeah, life is nice.
Well, for some people;
"Now that sounds like a good plan."
$Good plan, good plan.
Had to get in that 'symmetry with the title' thing going there.
Writer's notes:
At last you may bear witness to the result of watching too many Alfred
Hitchcock mysteries and feeling compelled to try something in that genre.
$Yeah, you really should have labled this mystery and not dark. I nearly
didn't read it. I'm not kidding about being seriously affected by dark
material.
Well, I'm glad you did anyway. Really appreciate the comments as this is a
longer piece.
was Nabiki from early on, and with the distinct lack of actual corpse
laying
around for Shampoo and Akane might have lead some of some to conclude that
they had indeed survived, but I hope enough didn't pick up on it to spoil
everything, or even if they did figure out who was doing what to whom,
$Oh, that's easy. Akane was doing it to Shampoo.
Heh. True. You got me there.
shortening the Nabiki-Shampoo-Akane go around, which was longer than any
other scene, but it was the final one were everything was explained and
the
final secrets revealed, so hopefully that's justified.
$Go with it, man. If it feels right, it feels right.
Okay.
Still, I'm not sure
if it dragged or not, but I couldn't see trimming it either.
$Nah, it flowed fine.
Good again.
It was just a general idea of the possibility of
future things, and was not meant to imply a lack of care about the
'deceased'.
Hmm. I'd say that's more than enough out of me. Ciao.
$Well, I'll certainly admit I enjoyed it. And still I C&C on! Poodles.
Ditto to you to. Thanks for C+Cing this monster.
D.B. Sommer