Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ashes of the Phoenix ❯ Realization of Loss ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]
Chapter 2: Realization of Loss

Ranma shoved the spring water into Ryoga's hands,
knowing that the Lost Boy would take care of Akane.
Ranma wondered as he sped across
the clearing to confront his opponent.

A desperate battle ensued as Ranma dodged
increasingly powerful attacks while trying to keep
Saffron's attention away from Akane and Ryoga.

Ranma thought.

Suddenly, Saffron's barrage ebbed. The Phoenix
King stood perfectly still in the middle of the scorched
wasteland that had once been a beautiful clearing in a
pristine mountain forest.

Ranma realized his mistake too late. It was far
too late for him to dodge the immense blast Saffron was
readying.

The last thing Ranma Saotome felt as he flew
toward the Lord of Phoenix Mountain was the kiss of fire
spreading over his skin.

------------

Ryoga
could sense the pure power emanating from Ranma's
opponent, who was doing an effective job of keeping
Ranma completely on the defensive; something no one, not
even Ryoga, had ever done before. Ryoga's thought trailed off as
something finally penetrated his thick head, causing him
to gasp. "He's guiding him away from US!" This
realization, of course, was in direct conflict with
Ryoga's basic life principle (ie - everything Ranma did
was a direct attack on him or Akane). Memories long
surpressed during his campaign to defeat Ranma flooded
Ryoga's mind.

Ranma leading Ryoga to school every day when they
were young, even as Ryoga cursed the very name of Ranma
Saotome.

Ranma promising not to tell Akane about P-chan.

Ranma dragging him from a stream after their
first fight since being trained in the Bakusai Tenketsu,
saving the life of the unconscious piglet.

Ranma helping to rid him of the silly-looking
"Mark of the Gods."

Reality finally collapsed Ryoga's fantasy world.
Ryoga thought, in shock. Ryoga started, sensing
something terribly wrong in the fight before him as
Ranma sailed through the air toward the unmoving demi-
god. Before Ryoga could react, Ranma's fist connected
with Saffron's jaw and all hell broke loose.

Ryoga looked on in horror as a raging inferno
replaced the area surrounding the combatants. Even 150
meters away, the temperature was becoming increasingly
uncomfortable.

"Ranma..." Akane said weakly, tears forming in
her dark eyes.

When the blaze subsided seconds later, Akane
just buried her face against Ryoga's chest, sobbing
uncontrollably.

Ryoga helped Akane to her feet and the pair
walked over to the newly made crater, hoping that, by
some freak chance, Ranma had survived. What they found
was an egg. A little bigger than the average infant, a
perfect egg lay in the center of the charred, black hole
as if in a nest. An all-too-familiar voice stopped
Akane's hand as she reached out to touch it.

"Touch that, human, and you will die.
Painfully."

"Kiima!?" Akane shrieked, than promptly passed
out from stress.

"What do you want?" Ryoga asked, readying
himself for battle.
he thought to himself,

"If you must know, human," Kiima said
disdainfully, "I am retrieving my King." Without another
word, she carefully hoisted the egg and took to the air,
heading home, and leaving Ryoga to tend to Akane.

------------

Four long, tense hours later, Ryoga breathed a
sigh of relief as Akane finally stirred, sitting up
groggily, still holding her head in one hand. Akane
looked up at Ryoga with questioning eyes. "Ryoga?
Where's Ranma?"

Ryoga dropped his eyes, suddenly unable to look
Akane in the face. "Akane, I-," he began, "I don't know
how to tell you this... Ranma's... not here anymore."

Akane's features immediately contorted in anger.
"Just like that jerk! He finally tells me he loves me,
then runs away. That JERK!"

Ryoga's face twisted in pain at those words.
"Akane, Ranma didn't run away. He's dead." Silent tears
welled in Ryoga's eyes as memories of Ranma raced through
hishead. A single bead of moisture ran down his chin as he
found a new meaning for his life.

"NO!" Akane screamed, finally coming out of the
shock caused by Ryoga's last statement. "You're lying!
Ranma can't be dead! He finally told me he loves me, and
I love him. I have to find him!"

Surprisingly, hearing this didn't hurt as much as
Ryoga had expected. As he followed Akane, who had run
off into the woods, calling Ranma's name, Ryoga thought
to himself, Ryoga sighed as Akane
continued screaming Ranma's name, being answered only by
the birds and insects just now settling down again after
the apocalyptic battle. he thought.
Then, as he pulled out his umbrella to protect himself
from the rain that was just starting, another thought hit
him. Ryoga
began trying to figure out just how to tell Akane about
his secret as he followed her (very closely, for obvious
reasons) as she continued her ill-fated search.

------------

Hours later, Ryoga and Akane sat by the fire
Ryoga had made. Akane was huddled in a blanket, staring
blankly into the fire, tears still silently running down
both cheeks. Ryoga was absently poking at the fire with
a stick, still trying to figure out how to tell Akane
about P-chan without risking severe bodily harm. He was
thouroughly worried about Akane as she hadn't spoken
since just before nightfall, she'd fallen to her knees
on the ground where she now sat.

"Ryoga?" Akane said softly, causing Ryoga to
jump. "Ryoga, is it true?" Akane asked, still staring at
the fire. "Is he really dead?"

"He died protecting us from that fiery-winged-
thing. His last words were for me to protect you,"
Ryoga answered, feeling pain deep in his heart. he thought to
himself.

his new-found reasonable side
countered, .

"Oh, Ranma!" Akane cried, jumping up and running
off into the night, easily losing Ryoga, even though she was
running blindly in a straight line.

------------

Minutes later, Ryoga stared blankly at the
campsite he could have sworn he just left behind and
cursed his sense of direction. Again.

========================================================

Author's note:
Sorry this took so long.... blah, blah.....
finals..... blah, blah...... writer's block........
blah, blah.......characters not mine.......... blah,
blah........

Author's note revised:
Ok, I did some editing and tried to alleviate
any confusion... did I spell alleviate right?... Oh,
well, thank you for reading! I can't tell you how
much I love writing this, but I'm not getting any
reader feedback and that makes me sad...