This is the final, revised version of a fanfiction work written and
published to the FFML in July-August, 1996 by Stephanie A. Gonzales.
Said author is losing net access and I am posting this final version for
her. Any and all comments and criticism will be forwarded her. I hope
you all enjoy reading this as much as I did. Enjoy.
Sincerly,
Odie
And now.....
A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fic
Remind My Heart
By Stephanie A. Gonzales
_______________________________________________________
My heart
That was rapt away
By the wild cherry blossoms-
Will it return to my body
When they scatter?
-Kotomichi
_______________________________________________________
Early evening.
A man stood at the door of his dojo, looking up at the rapidly
darkening night sky. His hair was all grey, but he stood straight and
his chest was as broad as it had been when he was still a young man.
His countenanace held the wisdom of his 80 or so years lightly; there
were very few wrinkles on his face. The years had indeed been kind
to him.
A cool breeze blew by, picking up fallen cherry blossoms and
depositing them in the small pond by the dojo. He shivered just
slightly as the wind gently tugged at his clothes, but he didn't pull
his
eyes from the sight above him. The full moon was beginning to rise
in the east and the evening star was setting in the west. The Milky
Way cut clean across the sky between the two. It was the evening
star that he was looking at, thinking of a time long ago when he had
done the same. There had been someone with him that time though.
Tonight he was alone.
She used to love doing this, he mused. He stood there several
minutes before a look of pain washed over his expression. But as
soon as it appeared it was gone again. He sighed and walked into his
house to escape the chill in the air. Once inside, he made tea then
went to sit in the living room. He found himself thinking about what
he'd been doing outside.
I haven't done that in years, he thought to himself. He had
avoided doing anything that reminded him of her. Tonight, however
was different. Now, he wanted to remember her. He wanted to
remember their short time together, all that she had meant to him.
Because tonight, he had lost her forever.
No, I lost her 60 years ago, when I didn't come back for her in
time. With that thought, all the pain he felt at losing her then came
rushing back. He no longer fought the tears, instead letting them
flow over unfamiliar territory. He had considered himself immune to
the tearing he felt in his chest. How can it still hurt after all this
time?
He remembered the day he came back and found out that she'd
married someone else. After the initial shock had worn off, anger
and denial set in and he left again without speaking to her. How
could she have married _that_ man? Why hadn't she waited? Didn't
she know how much he had loved her? No, she didn't know. I never
told her. I thought I'd have all the time in the world to tell her once
I
got back. But it was too late. He had travelled throughout Japan,
improving his skills, refusing to think about her.
But no one had ever taken her place in his heart.
No one else had her gentle smile or her light laughter. No one
else had her beautiful eyes; those brown eyes that held both strength
and passion. He had never met another woman like her. And so, he
had never married, devoting himself instead to his training, and later,
teaching.
He refilled his teacup and sighed. News of her death had come
this afternoon, when he had finished with his last student. Takuma,
who helped him teach at the dojo and would later inherit it, had
brought the message to him. He thought of the young man he had
raised as his son, after the boy had lost his own parents. Now
Takuma had his own family to look after. He smiled. Has it been
that long?
He rose and brought the teapot and his cup to the kitchen, then
went to his room. He set up his futon and closed his eyes, but his
mind was still full of thoughts of his lost love. Finally, after about
an
hour, he fell into a fitful sleep.
Only to awaken some time later to a faint sound; a whisper, almost
like a caress... He sat up and looked around, then finally spotted
something on the wall facing him.
The wall was beginning to glow.
In that glow, a shape was beginning to resolve itself into a
person.
He saw that the figure was a woman, then gasped as he recognized
her. He stood and walked over to her and was only faintly surprised
when he turned back and saw himself still sleeping on his futon.
She looked as she did when he had first met her, her long, dark
hair falling in waves over her shoulders. His heart pounded in his
chest. "Am I dreaming this?" The words came out as a whisper as
he looked at the vision in front of him. But she wasn't a vision.
She's
right here in front of me, real enough to touch! Tentatively, he
reached out and touched her cheek, then gasped again when she
smiled up at him.
She reached up and covered his hand with her own. "No, you're
not dreaming. It's been a long time, my love." Her voice was the
same as he remembered, sweet, almost musical.
He started at her last comment. "You call me that, even with all
that happened?"
"I may have married someone else, but my heart was always yours
until the day I died." There was a hint of sorrow in her voice.
"But your husband..." He had never thought that she had felt the
same way. He never stopped loving her, but she...
"I grew to love him in time. He seemed to know that my heart lay
elsewhere, but he was a good man and always took care of me."
He was silent as he thought about this. He took her hands into
his and said quietly, "I'm sorry if I caused you any pain. I...I had
always meant to tell you how I felt-"
She put her finger to his lips to stop him. "I knew. I always
knew. But I was given no choice in my marriage. Father thought
you had left for good and in his eyes, he had to redeem the family
honor by marrying me to the son of a wealthy man. I was very
unhappy and angry at first...but I resigned myself to the fate that I'd
been given." She paused and a look of pain crossed her features,
quiet pools forming in her eyes. "Why didn't you come back for
me?" With that, the tears fell silently down her cheeks.
"I did, but by that time, you had married. There was nothing I
could do, so I left." He stopped and wiped her tears with his thumb.
He then saw his reflection in her eyes. He appeared as he had all
those years ago, her last image of him. "I travelled all over Japan,
concentrating on my training and trying to forget you. But you were
always there in my heart." He smiled and brushed a strand of hair
back from her face before continuing. "After a while I started
teaching, opening my own dojo and training new students. I was
content, but there was always a piece missing in my life. At least
until I found Takuma."
"Who is that?" she asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.
He laughed briefly. "He's an orphan that I raised as my own son.
He will inherit the dojo when I'm gone. Takuma helped to ease the
pain and loneliness I had carried with me for years. He's become
quite a remarkable young man."
"If he has, it's because his father has raised him that way. I
wish I
could meet him."
"Me too," he said quietly. He had so many questions, but he
asked the one that was uppermost in his mind. "Why? Why are you
here now?"
She smiled again. "Let's just say I was allowed to return to you,
even for this short time." She paused and glanced out his window.
"The night is still young - let's enjoy it together."
The moon was now high overhead and casting its soft glow over
the yard. They sat outside by the pond talking quietly, not thinking
of their sixty years spent apart, just happy with this one night
together. He didn't even know how they had ended up outside and
he didn't care. Time had ceased to have any meaning to him now
that she was beside him again.
They talked all night under the stars, watching the cherry
blossoms float softly to the ground and occasionally onto the pond.
Once, a shooting star streaked overhead and they both made a wish,
smiling because they each knew they had made the same one. Too
soon, though, the moon dipped lower into the western horizon,
signaling the coming dawn.
She gave his hand a squeeze. "It's time for me to go."
They were inside again, near the wall where she had appeared.
He had known she was going to leave, but didn't want to think about
it. In one night, they had managed to relive a lifetime. Now, again,
his heart was tearing in his chest at the thought of being apart from
her once more.
She looked up at him sadly, wet streaks already on her lovely
face. "It seems I'm the one who must leave this time."
He gazed down at her and felt the longing and regret that were
apparent in her expression. For the first and last time, he reached out
and enfolded her in his arms, never wanting to let go. "You and I
were meant to be together. Does it really end like this?"
She spoke into his chest. "Someday we'll be together again. I
truly believe that. You must also, if it is to come true."
One tear escaped from his eye before a fierce look of resolve
appeared on his face. When he spoke, though, his words were quiet.
"If we meet again, I'll never let anyone come between us. No one
will take you away from me. And I'll never let anything happen to
you." He paused and held her tighter. "I swear it."
His vow echoed in her mind as she closed her eyes and clung to
him with all the strength in her arms before finally stepping back. He
let go reluctantly and looked at her one last time. She moved back
into the soft glow that she had come from before turning back to him
again. She gave him the smile that had always stopped his heart.
"Remember me," she said, then she was gone.
He found himself back on his futon and sat up. A dream, he
thought as he looked around. Then he noticed the wall. It was still
glowing. What? In the glow, he saw strange passing images of
people he'd never met and places he'd never seen: a land with many
pools and bamboo poles; a girl, no, a boy with a pigtail, performing
a kata. There was something familiar about him. He saw a girl with
short hair watching the boy fight someone. He then saw the boy and
girl arguing. He chuckled. Did she just hit him with a wooden
sword? The last image he saw was of the two of them standing by a
river looking down as the water reflected the light of a billion stars.
He gasped as he got a closer look at the girl. Her eyes... She has
beautiful brown eyes, just like... Could it be? Someday...
* * *
"...Someday I won't come here to wake you up and you can go
hungry because your dad will eat your breakfast!" Akane looked
down at Ranma again and saw that he was at last waking up. Yep,
that did the job, she thought. She had considered dumping cold
water on him, but decided that she didn't want to hear him yelling at
her on such a beautiful day.
Besides, last night had been so...well...special to her. Ranma had
gone through so much trouble to retrieve her tanzaku, even getting
knocked out by fireworks. But he had said the strangest thing when
he had regained consciousness.... Something about those reunited
lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi. Sometimes the strange things he said
were cute. She smiled and started to rise when she noticed that
Ranma was looking at her.
Wow! was all he could think when he opened his eyes. Akane
was smiling at him.
"What's wrong, Ranma? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Although she had to admit that she didn't mind, it was beginning to
make her feel uncomfortable. He wasn't saying anything, he was just
staring at her. "Hey, are you awake?" She bopped him lightly on the
head.
Ranma sat up. "Huh?! What did you do that for, Akane?"
"You were acting weird, Ranma." She blushed slightly. "You
were staring at me like something was on your mind..."
"I was?! Geez, sorry." He scratched the back of his head. "I had
the strangest dream. Do you believe in reincarnation?" The question
sounded odd to his own ears. Did I just say that?
Did he just ask what I think he asked? "I don't know. I never
thought about it." She thought for a moment. "Are you sure those
fireworks didn't do something to your brain?" she joked. Ranma
gave her a warning glance, so she decided to change the subject.
"Well, breakfast is almost ready, so you'd better get up now." She
rose and went to the door.
"Okay," he said, watching her as she silently left. He recalled
the events of the last night, and that look on Akane's face when she
thought she had lost her tanzaku. He couldn't stand for her to be
unhappy, so he went after it, only to end up in the path of an
exploding fireworks rocket. The things I do for that uncute girl. But
the explosion-induced dream I had was kind of cool...
Then his heart quickened as he remembered details from this most
recent dream. Soft moonlight. The small pond and the cherry
blossoms floating on it. How he held Akane in his arms and the
anguish he felt when she had left him for the final time. Wait a
minute! That girl wasn't Akane.... He wasn't the guy in his
dream...or was he? And that definately wasn't the Tendo Dojo. But
why did it seem so familiar? "Get a grip, dummy, it was just a
dream," he said to himself.
Or a reminder...
He and Akane destined to be together?
That's not too bad a thought.
Ranma shrugged and headed downstairs to breakfast. I must
have gotten a hold of some bad takoyaki last night, he thought as he
reached the staircase. It gave me the strangest dreams...
Fin.
May '96
Final revision Sept. '97
"Remind My Heart" story concept (c) 1996 Stephanie A. Gonzales
Author's Notes:
This Fan Fic was inspired by two very different sources.
-Volume 35, part 11 of the Manga. If you aren't familiar with this
particular story, check out
http://www.wot-club.org.uk/RanmaFAQ/vols/v35.txt for a translation.
Scroll down to Part 11. (They call it the Festival of the Weaver, but I
prefer the Star Festival [Tanabata].)
-An X-Files Fan Fic called "Grey Fox" by Sarah Stegall.
-Some people have asked me what takoyaki is. It's basically octopus
mixed into a batter, formed into balls and fried up. Supposedly yummy,
but I've never tried them. ^_^;
-Tanzaku are strips of paper used for writing prayers/wishes on at
shrines and such. In this case, a couple would write their names on the
tanzaku and attach it to a bamboo branch on the night of the Star
Festival. This would ensure that they'd stay together.
Many thanks to J. Palmer and Michelle Mista whose comments and
suggestions helped to straighten out the kinks in this story and whose
own Fan Fics inspired me in the first place to write a love story of my
own.
Ranma and Akane are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan,
Viz, etc. and are used here without permission. No offence intended.
^_^ Takuma is mine.
Comments can be sent to jrhaye@earthlink.net with my name under the
Subject line.
[Reply/ReplyAll/Forward] [Delete] [Prev/Next Message]
[Close]
[-]
[Move To]
[© 1996-1997 Hotmail. All Rights Reserved.]
(
geocities.com/timessquare/realm) (
geocities.com/timessquare)