[FFML] [R1/2]For What You Dream Of: Chapter One

Hi,
I'm sorry for delaying work on this story. I can't even remember when I sent last sent this out. ^_^;

Here's the rewrite of Chapter One, revised. ^_^

Chapter Two will be attacked sometime soon.

Troy Thomas

***

Check out my writings webpage. Find my stuff. ^_^
http://ca.geocities.com/therealsilentnova/fanfiction/entrance.html

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For What You Dream Of
By Troy Thomas
Created by Kyle Emmerson

Ranma 1/2 and its characters are the creations and property
of Rumiko Takahashi. Excepting flames, if you have any
comments or criticisms, feel free to send them my way.

***

I can be found at the following addresses:
URL: ca.geocities.com/therealsilentnova/fanfiction/index.html
E-mail: Silentnova@go.com

***

Chapter One
Co-Written by Troy Thomas and Kyle Emmerson

Placing her bundled katana on the restaurant table, Nodoka
Saotome gently and calmly smiled at her two companions, Genma
Saotome and Soun Tendo. "Before dining, we need to discuss a
matter of vital importance," she said, her voice calm and
controlled, her eyes humour-filled and patient.

Genma, her husband, began to ask, "Dear, are you absolutely
certain..." He glanced down at the sword nervously.

"Yes, Darling," Nodoka interrupted.

Soun eyed his long-time friend suspiciously. "Is there
something I should know?" he asked, his tone worried.

"Soun, I first want to give you my sincerest thanks," Nodoka
said, bowing.

Soun shook his head. "No thanks are needed, Nodoka, but..."

Acting as though she hadn't heard Soun, Nodoka started
speaking, "My husband and son have been a burden on your
family for quite some time. I am no exception since for the
past month, I've freely been living off of your
generosity..." She stopped speaking, to better emphasise her
coming words, "As you know, the repairs on my home are nearly
complete."

Soun intently watched the lady. "What exactly are you saying,
Nodoka?"

"I can stop my family from being a burden."

Soun inhaled quickly, his heart jumping into his chest.

"But I would like to repay your generosity."

Soun slowly exhaled. "What?" he gasped, his heart resettling.

"I have put some thought into this. I assumed our children's
wedding would've succeeded yesterday, and planned believing
this. Still, I am prepared to make this offer."

Soun was curious now. "What do you mean?"

"As you know, my home has four bedrooms. It is the only thing
of true value that the Saotome family holds to its name,
other than my family katana."

Soun met his eyes with Nodoka's. "So, then..."

"With your permission, I would like Akane to move in with us.
She will be supplied with room and board, for no price, as
payment for your generosity to our family over the past
year."

Soun was taken aback. Quickly gaining composure, he happily
smiled, and then bowed. "I would be honoured. However..."

"Yes, the agreement. While I disagree with... methods
previously undertaken, I do not deny that Ranma and Akane
care deeply for each other. I genuinely appreciate and
understand your concern. However, I believe the more you push
them, the farther apart they will grow. There are also
other... interference�s."

Genma closed his eyes.

"The girls of the Kuonji and Kuno families, and the Chinese
girl. While the Kuonji girl has a valid claim and the Chinese
girl is motivated by her own laws, the Kuno girl..." Sternly,
she placed her hand on the table. "I intend for Ranma to find
happiness. I believe the only way for him to achieve this, is
to arrange for the disturbances to leave Akane and him
alone."

Soun nodded. "You have nothing to worry about from us,
Nodoka. After the failed wedding, I distinctly told the two
children they would not marry until the lingering
relationships were settled. Of course, I have no idea of how
to proceed in this regard."

"Yes, it is problematic, isn't it?" Nodoka said, accepting
the weight of Soun's words. "The Kuonji family will be paid
money for the lost dowry. However, the honour of young Ukyo
Kuoniji is another matter." She sighed, resigned to the
future and its challenges. "I will speak with the grandmother
of the Chinese girl, and arrange for a meeting with the
father of the Kuno girl. All of the disturbances will be
taken care of, even if it takes all the holdings of the
Saotome family."

"And what of the wedding?" Soun asked, his voice rising in
excitement. "When the problems have disappeared?"

"It will take place," she said, "but at the discretion of
Ranma and Akane themselves." Intently, she stared at both the
men. "Which means, no interference from either of you."

Genma and Soun promptly looked towards the ground.

"Now," she said, beckoning a waitress over, "let's order."

***

"Akane! Akane Tendo!"

Akane Tendo stopped walking, began smiling, and then turned
around. "Yuka! Sayuri!"

"You wanna go get some ice cream? We haven't seen you for
weeks! We didn't even get a chance to talk to you yesterday
at your wedding." Yuka said. "There's so much you need to
tell us."

Sayuri nodded. "Yeah, I hear you've been in China!"

"Yes, I was in China, but it wasn't by choice," Akane
replied, gently ignoring Yuka's earlier comment about the
wedding, which hadn't been an actual wedding, which was
because wedding's ending with a union, not a blast.

"Yeah, your sister told us the whole story," Yuka said.

Peering closely at Akane, Yuka quietly asked, "Were you
really carried over there by birds?"

"On their backs," Akane supplied, her voice signalling the
end of any other related questions.

"Hi," Akane's fiance� Ranma Saotome said, walking up from
behind the three, on top of a fence. "How's it going?"

"Hi, Ranma," Yuka greeted. "We're going to get some ice
cream! Wanna come along?"

Ranma smiled and shook his head. "Sorry, but no. I'm a little
busy right now," he said, before running along past the
three, still on top of the fence.

"Wow, wasn't he ever in a hurry?" Sayuri asked.

Akane watched Ranma as he ran off. "Yeah," she said, somewhat
distracted.

Since they had returned from China, Akane found Ranma to
be... a little different, friendlier.

His change began at Jusendo, a place where she had almost
died, cradled in his arms... She was certain Ranma had said
it, three... certain words as she was returning miraculously
to the land of life...

A part of her regretted the failed wedding.

Anyway, Akane knew that Ranma, an arrogant and thoughtless
young man, was making an honest effort to think before
speaking. She could only reply to his kindness in kind. She
could no longer be, in her elder sister Kasumi's words, "A
violent maniac."

"Akane? You alive?" Sayuri asked, waving her hand in front of
Akane's face.

"Hey!" Akane replied, waving Sayuri's hand away. Smiling, she
began to walk. "Let's go."

***

"What about Kuno?" Akane asked. "Nabiki didn't say anything
about him when we got back." She looked from Yuka to Sayuri,
searching for an answer in their expressions.

The three were walking past small shops towards a corner
store a block away.

"He was mad!" Sayuri said. "He went on a total rampage! I
don't think he knew you went to China at all."

"He destroyed the shopping district looking for you and
Ranma." Yuka added. "Other than that, he's been pretty
quiet."

"Oh, no. Akane!" Sayuri suddenly said, looking ahead towards
the corner store. She turned about, grabbing Akane's arm, and
began walking in the opposite direction. "Come on, let's get
out of here!"

Akane stopped, turned around, and then narrowed her eyes,
ahead of them standing near the store was a small gang of
girls. "Why?" Akane asked. "We have just as much right to be
here as they do."

"Sayuri's right, Akane," Yuka said. "Those girls showed up
just after Ranma and the others left for China. They're
tough, and they always get what they want."

"If you keep acting like you're scared of them, of course
they'll get what they want," Akane huffed.

"Akane, we are scared of them!" Yuka continued. "No one's
acting!"

"Yeah, the leader's name is Oryuu," Sayuri said, discreetly
pointing at the gang. "The tough one with the cigarette is
Akiko, the big one is Taini, and then there's Megami, Noruki,
Sanko, Kimi and Hanako."

"So what? I'm not scared of them."

"You weren't here to see what they were capable of!" Yuka
replied, her voice trembling.

"Trust me. What I went through in China is a lot scarier than
anything human."

Akane began strutting confidently towards the shop. Yuka and
Sayuri trailed behind her, looking somewhat unsure.

It wasn't long before the gang noticed the three of them. The
one called Taini was the first to speak.

"Hey," she said, blocking Akane from entering the shop. "You
can't just enter, without a little fee for protection, you
know?"

Akane stared blankly at the girl. "I didn't know that, but
I'm glad really you told me," she replied, her voice rising
with hope. She held out her hand.

"What?" Taini asked.

"Well?" Akane asked. "Aren't you going to pay me?"

"What?"

"You said you needed protection, so I won't hurt you if just
hand over the protection fee you were talking about."

Her remark quickly attracted the attention of the rest of the
gang. However, the responsibility of a response was left to
Taini.

"What did you say to me?" Taini asked.

"I know you heard me."

Taini narrowed her eyes. "Fine," she said, "you've just been
charged full toll price. Give us all your money and we'll
think about letting you leave here, walking."

Akane laughed. "Don't threaten me like that!" she said. "I've
faced down scarier things than you. Although, I must admit,
you do take the highest award for ugliest."

"Look who's Little Miss Toughie!" Akiko said, her cigarette
bobbing up and down as her lips moved.

"Is that supposed to be funny?" Taini asked.

"Yeah, is that supposed to be funny?" Akane asked Akiko.

"Akane," Sayuri said, putting her hand on her friend's
shoulder. "I don't think..."

"Sayuri, you and Yuka go back to my place. I'll meet you
there after this is taken care of."

"Hey!" Akiko said, moving to block the two. "Where do you
think you two are going?"

Oryuu, the leader, just leaned against the wall, her
sunglasses reflecting the sun. "Let them go." she ordered. "I
think this one will be a lot more interesting."

Quietly and quickly, Sayuri and Yuri left the confrontation.

"Now what?" Akane asked, lifting up her chin, appraising all
the girls.

"You guys take care of her," Oryuu said. "I'll be waiting
inside." She disappeared into the store.

"All right!" Taini said, cracking her knuckles. "We'll take
care of this. Now!" Suddenly, she attacked, her fist flying
towards Akane's stomach.

Akane blocked the punch without a problem, deflecting Taini's
hand. She countered by hitting Taini's head with the base of
her hand.

'Why not have a little fun with them?' Akane thought.

Akiko was the next to attack, trying to sweep Akane's feet
out from under her, only to discover that Akane's feet were
now closer to Akiko's face than they were her legs. Akiko
reeled back to the wall, putting her hand to her face.
Blood. She was bleeding.

Sanko and Noruki came at her from opposite sides, trying to
trap her. Akane simply jumped out of the way and pushed the
two of them together, knocking their heads together.

Eventually moving away from the store, and into a back alley,
the fight grew.

***

"She's tough." Akiko said, only a few feet away from the
melee. She looked at her hand, which had blood from her
forehead smeared all over.

Taini just snarled and looked at Akane. "It's not over!" she
snarled.

"Should we let those five handle her?"

Taini shook her head. "They're having as much luck as us. We
need something else."

"What? What do you mean?"

Taini reached into her coat pocket and narrowed her eyes. "I
mean something else!"

Akiko suddenly caught on. "What? Are you serious? Don't you
know what Oryuu would do if..."

"Oryuu's not here."

"But, if we do that here..."

"It's either that, or let this chick wipe the floor with us!"
she shouted, pulling an object wrapped in cloth out of her
jacket.

"Tai... I don't think..."

"That's right, you don't!" Taini unwrapped the object. "We've
got to make this quick. I don't feel like having Oryuu all up
in my face about this."

"You're not going to..."

"Of course I will, or else Oryuu will be in all of faces even
worse if we lose!"

***

Jab, thrust, kick, punch, flip, it was his routine. After
school was over, he always first went to the dojo.

It was a perfect time for practise, he decided. Kasumi was
out shopping. Nabiki, Akane's second eldest sister, was out
on business. Soun, Akane's father, and Genma, his own father,
were with Nodoka, his mother, out eating at a diner.

Happosai, the grandmaster of Anything Goes, had thankfully
disappeared.

The peace and tranquillity was just what he needed to train.

Unfortunately, someone outside was shouting his name. "Always
when I'm busy!" Ranma said to himself, exasperated. He
completed a punch, and then grabbed a towel. Drying, he then
went to see what was the matter.

***

Akane smirked at, she wasn't sure who the girl was, perhaps
Hanako, and then she swept under the stranger's feet,
tripping the girl to the ground.

She was having fun. It was a great exercise, and so far she'd
only taken a few hits, which had did little damage. However,
the others were being ground into dust, and Akane was
enjoying herself.

Suddenly hearing a noise, a laughing, Akane's head spun
around as fast as she could... She saw cold dark metal
gleaming in the light.

It was pointed just over her head. It seemed to be a knife.

Fiercely moving towards the girl with the knife, Akane
noticed the girl wasn't paying any attention to the fight,
instead focusing all her energy into the knife.

Akane looked at the knife, and a flash of light dazzled her
eyes, and paralysed her whole body.

The girl, perhaps it was Taini, smirked as she lowered it to
the level of Akane's eyes. "Not so tough now, are you?" she
smirked. She brought the knife down, and then pointed it at
Akane.

She walked right to Akane, looked directly in her eyes,
tracing the knife's tip along Akane's neck, all the while
with a nasty smile on her face.

Inside, Akane screamed. She was going to die... at the hand
of some coward who couldn't fight.

However, she instead felt an impact from behind. One of the
other girls had hit her in the back with a length of wood.

Akane hit the ground, and then all the girls piled upon her
at once, kicking and beating her.

Finally, before long, the girls tossed her off to the side,
into some garbage, and walked away, laughing.

***

"Ranma!" Sayuri called, running through the front gates.
"Ranma! Quick!"

It was the urgency of her voice, something with the world was
wrong. Ranma ran out of the Dojo. "Sayuri?" he asked. "What's
the matter?"

Sayuri ran right up to him, and paused for a second to catch
her breath. She collapsed onto him, holding his wet shirt.
"Akane... over at the store on the corner..." she said,
straightening up, releasing his shirt.

"What? What're you talking about?"

"Ranma!" Yuka called, running through the gates. "Akane's in
trouble!"

Moving, as a blur the girls later recalled, Ranma took to the
rooftops.

It was seconds later, and he could see the store. Nearing it,
his heart filled with dread... He raced towards his feelings.

Finally, it had seemed forever, he jumped into an alleyway.
However, there was nobody around.

He'd seen some girls walking on the nearby street, but they
were talking and laughing with each other as though nothing
was wrong.

Ranma cautiously looked about the alley and saw lying in a
pile of trash... a prone girl wearing a Furinkan uniform.
"Akane," he said, his voice a whisper.

The body moved.

Ranma calmed, and moved himself forward. She was all right.
He rushed to her, helping her up, using an arm to cradle her.

Unfortunately and yet fortunately, Akane only looked at him
in surprise and relief, and then slumped over into
unconsciousness.

He saw no blood, and sighed in relief. Picking the girl up,
Ranma felt his heart calming. She hadn't been killed, but she
was still badly beaten.

***

"I don't like it, Tai," Akiko said, lighting up a new
cigarette.

"Listen, girls. All Oryuu has to know is that we beat her.
The knife had nothing to do with it."

All the girls nodded in agreement. The knife wasn't what won
the fight. They did.

"Where'd you get that thing, anyway?" Sanko asked. "What the
hell is it?"

Taini shrugged. "It's from Oryuu's collection. If you want to
know, ask her."

"From her collection? You know what'll happen if we're caught
with it, Tai," Akiko said, her voice growing with worry.

"So what? Oryuu doesn't scare me."

Akiko shook her head. "Whatever you say, Tai."

***

At the Dojo, Ranma didn't find anybody, it seemed Yuka and
Sayuri had left.

He silently cursed. He was the only one around to look after
Akane, who he was carrying in his arms. It was a potential
embarrassing situation, since he was alone with a girl in his
arms who needed immediate medical attention.

He wished Kasumi would return. It wouldn't be proper if he
were the one to administer first aid, since he was a guy and
Akane was a... girl.

However, he couldn't rely on wishes. Walking inside the
house, he brought Akane to the bathroom laying her on the
floor, covered her with a blanket, and then hastily
backtracked to the entrance where the phone was.

Picking it up, Ranma quickly dialled the clinic's number. A
moment's conversation, and he hung up, dreading the knowledge
he was the first person on the scene. Ranma would have to
treat some of Akane's injuries himself.

Returning to the bathroom, he leaned down beside Akane and
began examining her injuries.

Several cuts and bruises were on her face. Nothing seemed
broken, but it was best not to chance it... split lip,
bleeding nose, which Ranma touched lightly, finding it tender
but undamaged. Black eye...a cut on her cheek... a scrape on
her forehead, which wouldn't cause massive blood loss or
scarring, but still, it should be treated.

Her uniform was ripped in many places. Ranma breathed and
wished deeply before making the next move, dreading Akane's
reaction if she awoke while he placed a shaky hand on the
buttons to her blouse.

Suddenly, he pulled his hand away, blushing lightly.

He took another breath and then continued. He needed to see
if there was anything wrong.

Akane's privacy could be put aside. Her life could be in
danger.

He began to unbutton her blouse, and then he was finished,
astonishing Ranma at how quick it was undone. Slowly opening
it up, baring her chest... Ranma sighed in relief, she was
wearing a bra.

He removed his hand from the front of his face, which was
poised to cover his eyes, in case there was nothing.

He'd seen Akane naked before. But only by accident, when
she'd already been naked or when her very life had been in
danger... or when he'd thought her dead. On reflection, he
remembered covering her up with his shirt.

However, in the bathroom, at the moment, he was undressing
her. It was no accident her clothes were off.

Ranma shook his head. He couldn't afford to be distracted. He
examined her ribs, locating several bruises.

The next act took a bit more courage. He had to feel about
her ribs for internal injuries... Slowly, he started from the
bottom, and moving his way up towards her breasts. He paused
just under her breasts.

"Damn!" he quietly swore, his hand over a swelling. He wasn't
sure if it was broken, but he was sure it needed bandaging.

"Damn, damn, damn."

There was only one choice... Leaning her body against his, he
pulled her blouse right off, and then tried to pull her bra
off.

"Damn," he cursed, "how the hell do you get this thing off?"

He fumbled around with the latch for a few minutes before
finally unhooking it and pulling it off.

As he leaned her back against the bathroom cabinet, he opened
the first aid kit and took out the gauze.

Quickly as he could, he wrapped the gauze around her,
covering the lower half of her breasts. Ranma blushed a deep
red, praying to all that was holy that nobody would choose
that moment to walk in and find him, with her.

Finally, he finished wrapping her chest and placed her blouse
back over her.

He did a quick sweep of her legs, making notes of each
scratch, and then reached into the first aid kit. He pulled
out the disinfectant and individual bandages.

As he sprayed the disinfectant onto Akane's cuts and scrapes,
she began to stir.

As she stirred, he hoped to all the Kami she wouldn't blow up
at him, since he was only trying to help her.

However, he also hoped she would tell him what had happened.

As he placed the bandages on her wounds, her eyes fluttered
open.

"Ran... ma?" she asked, groggily.

"Hey," he said, as tenderly as he could muster, "you're
alright!"

Akane looked at him blankly for a moment. "I... My chest
hurts."

Ranma nodded. "I know. I think you've got a cracked rib. I
uh... bandaged that up first."

Akane quickly looked down at herself. She noticed her blouse
was covering her, which was fine, except it wasn't how she
had dressed herself. Meaning Ranma had...

'Oh gods!' she thought. Her bra was lying near her. Meaning
he had taken her blouse and bra off himself!

She quickly looked into his eyes, and saw only concern.

He was taking care of her. He really cared.

"You all right?" he asked. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I thought I was going to die." Akane replied, slowly and
unsurely. "The... gang, they..."

"Gang? What?"

"I... challenged them to a fight. I was winning until one of
them pulled out a knife. It paralysed me with some weird
power. I couldn't move, and then they all jumped on me at
once, but only after they threatened to kill me."

Ranma's eyes went wide. He suddenly put it together.

"Those girls," he said, swearing inwardly. He began to get
up, his body trembling.

"Ranma..."

"I can't believe it! Who do they think they are?" Clenching
his fists, he began leaving the bathroom. "Even if they're
girls..."

"Ranma! Calm down! There isn't anything you can do! You can't
protect me! I won't let you protect me this time!"

"What? Akane, I..." Ranma's body lost its tremble, and
gradually he turned around to look at her. "But..."

"No, Ranma. Promise me. Promise me you'll leave them alone!"

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "They hurt you, Akane."

"I know." Akane laughed. "Trust me, I know they hurt me."

"And you'd still ask me..."

"Ranma, just promise me. Please..." she begged him.

He couldn't promise... He needed to say... but there was
something in the way she looked at him. Bit by bit, he sat
back down.

"Fine," he said.

"You promise?"

"Yeah, I promise," he said, resigned. "But I don't like it!"

Akane breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Ranma."

"Now," he said as he rummaged around in the first aid box,
"maybe you can tell me what the hell you were doing
challenging a whole gang."

"What did you expect me to do, Ranma? They were trying to
scare me into giving them money! Should've I just let them
have their way with people who can't fight back?"

"Akane, I'm not expecting you to let them do that," he said,
wiping some of the blood from her face with a cotton swab.
"But at least do it more wisely. You're a good fighter, but
you weren't totally prepared if you got beat."

Akane frowned. "I'm not weak, Ranma. If... they hadn't
cheated, I would have been able to..."

"How long were you fighting them?"

Akane paused in thought for a moment. "About five minutes."

"And in that five minutes, you rarely got hit, right? And
there was what... seven of them?"

Akane nodded.

"Seven against one. And you were fighting them for five
minutes..." Ranma paused in thought. "It shouldn't have taken
you even a minute," he said, finishing his thought.

"But... they cheated! I would've won!" Tears forming in her
eyes.

"Akane, the world's full of fighters who cheat. Just be
thankful they never cut you, or even worse, killed you."

"What would you have done, then?"

"I'm... another matter, Akane. I've been training my whole
life, for the purpose of fighting. You, on the other hand,
have been in school your whole life. You've had friends,
family... a place to live. Food on your table every night.
And because of this, you never needed to win so badly that it
hurt, before recently at least."

"Ranma, I... I just want to be good. I wanted to prove to
myself that I was still good." She looked down at the floor,
holding back her pain from showing. "I used to be the best,
Ranma. I used to be so good that nobody could beat me. Even
hundreds of boys. But since you and the others came by..."

Ranma smiled and cupped her chin in his hand, bringing her
face to face. "You're out of practice, Akane," he teased.

Akane looked into his eyes. "I want to be strong, Ranma. I
want to be able to look Ukyo or Shampoo in the face, and know
that if it came to it, I could actually fight them, and beat
them, badly."

Ranma, in thought, slowly replied, "I'll tell you what,
Akane... I'll... train you. I'll help you get better. But I
want you to promise me one thing."

Akane looked up at him, wide-eyed. "What?"

"Since you made me promise not to get those girls back, I
want you to do it. When I've trained you enough, I want you
to get them back."

Akane, despite her pain, managed a smile. "Do... do you mean
it?"

Ranma nodded. "But only if I can referee! I wouldn't want
them pulling anymore dirty tricks on you again."

Akane managed another smile, and let her emotions get the
best of her.

She, for the first time in her life, jumped on Ranma, hugging
him.

End Chapter One

***

Kyle's Notes:
Well! Ask and ye shall receive.

Thanks to Gary Kleppe for giving me a great C&C on this, and
thanks to everyone else for supporting the idea of the fic!

I've noticed people have a few nitpicks with the fic. The
first is Nodoka, and the second is the gun. I was quite aware
of the gun laws of Japan, and I guess I must have just
forgotten about them while writing this. Still, I gave the
best explanation I could think of, and I hope people accept
it.

As for Nodoka, people seem to object to her 'fixing things
up' plan. This is her plan, and trust me when I say it's not
going to work the way she has planned.

Anyway, thanks for sticking around thus far, and I hope
you've enjoyed this part, and all future parts. ^_^

I've already got the next part outlined, and it seems that it
will be a tad longer than this part.

Kyle Emmerson

Troy's Notes:
First, I want to thank every one who contributed c&c for my
rewrite. You know who you are. ^_^

I also want to apologise for seemingly abandoning the story.
I was having incredible difficulty with a scene I just
couldn't wrap my Ranma 1/2 perspective around. ^_^;

Kyle is a fine storyteller, and when I heard he wanted other
people to write continuing chapters of his unfinished works,
I jumped at the opportunity to try my hand at this, For What
You Dream Of. I couldn't imagine it falling into the wrong
hands, and having it degrade... Of course, I personally have
clumsy hands and fingers, and must be careful how I handle
the story.

Changes in the text include restructuring the chapter's
layout, identifying the characters, retouching dialogue and
various lines, and exchanging the gun for a knife.

The first major change was shifting the scene between Nodoka,
Genma, and Soun from the story's middle to the chapter's
introduction. It allowed for me to identify immediately the
story's premise, which I withhold from the reader who hasn't
yet read the chapter.

I added extra to the character descriptions. This was a
selfish decision, since it was done with the personal opinion
some people haven't yet been introduced to Ranma 1/2, and I
want the story to stand to be able to stand on its own. I
also believe I need to introduce the characters to myself. If
I don't know the characters, then I can only confuse the
reader.

On retouching dialogue and lines, I did it because it's all
to do with interpretation. Some lines I felt not strong
enough while others I felt too personal. Most I felt
excellent, and left alone. Of course, I'm only one man, and
do admit my additions and subtraction might be weaker and
confusing.

Finally, I exchanged the gun for a knife, because I received
criticism regarding Akane's reaction the gun, which was to
freeze on sight of it. Examples from the manga, which I had
forgotten when retouching the story, proved to me Akane would
not freeze in terror. The gun was removed, but I was in a
conundrum. I didn't know what to replace it with. This state
continued for months. Eventually, I decided on a mystical
knife, which temporarily paralyses anyone who looks at it,
which is good, but in the process, I created an element for a
character I haven't even really introduced to the reader, nor
to myself.

In the end though, I'm content with what I've done. It's a
risk, this business of telling another's story, but I'll
gladly take it.

Thanks for taking a boo at my version of For What You Dream
Of, and I hoped you enjoyed it.

Troy Thomas