From: DorianVal@aol.com (DorianVal)
Stolen Innocence
Part 2
A Ranma ½ Fan Fiction
By
Jeremy Harper
Disclaimer – All characters in this work are the creation of Rumiko
Takahashi and are used without permission.
Part 2
"Here Shampoo, drink this. It will help you with the pain and clear your
mind."
"Thank you, Great-Grandmother." Shampoo winced a little as she sat up
to accept the cup. Cologne's shiatsu had relieved much of her discomfort,
but little knots of pain still lined her spine, quiescent, but not gone.
(I never realized how strong Airen really is,) she thought as she sipped the
bitter medicinal tea. She shivered a little, partly from her pain, partly from
the taste of the tea, but mostly because of the wash of fear playing across
her body; fear tinctured with lust.
Cologne watched her great-granddaughter drink, and then turned to look
out the bedroom window. The sky bruised and darkened as twilight
approached. From the kitchen below issued forth a constant cacophony of
outraged quacks, which both grandmother and granddaughter ignored with
practiced stoicism.
"Mousse is quite upset," Cologne murmured at last. "I'm surprised at the
difficulty he gave me before I finally subdued him."
Shampoo nodded slightly, not looking at Cologne. The matriarch turned
her attention to her great-granddaughter. "What happened, Shampoo?
Who did this to you?"
Shampoo blanched, and looked down into the dregs of her teacup.
"Ranma," she whispered at last.
"Son-in-law?" Cologne said incredulously. "Why on Earth would son-in-
law attack you like that?"
"Airen… still very upset about wedding. Ranma… Ranma come by, say
Shampoo need to be taught lesson, know her place." Shampoo continued
to stare into the cup, unable to look at her great-grandmother. Her face
was flushed, and her shoulders trembled slightly.
"Ranma… hurt Shampoo."
Cologne considered Shampoo silently for a minute, looking at her through
slitted eyes as she drained her cup, and put it aside. Finally
Cologne sighed and shook her head.
"There is an old saying, Shampoo: past conduct is a guide to future
behavior. Son-in-law has many qualities, both good and bad, and one of
his less fortunate traits is that he is a chauvinist; he will not strike a
woman unless provoked beyond all reason." Cologne leaned close to
Shampoo, eyes burning, face set into a stern mask. "It is unbecoming to
lie, great-granddaughter. It is unworthy of you and your lineage, and I find
it insulting. I thought I raised you better than that." Shampoo flinched at
Cologne's chastisement, and started to cry silently. Cologne settled back
on her stool, holding her staff close. "Now this time, tell me the truth.
Why did Ranma attack you?"
Shampoo took a shaky breath to help compose her and wiped at her eyes
futilely with the back of her hand. "Shampoo invite Ranma over to
Nekohanten for lunch today. Ranma accept, first time since the wedding."
Shampoo shook her head sadly. "Shampoo make Ranma special bowl of
ramen. Airen… did not like."
"What was so special about this bowl of ramen, Shampoo?" Cologne
asked, already knowing the answer to her question, but praying in her
mind that she was wrong.
"Shampoo lace ramen with spice from great-grandmother's special
cabinet," whispered Shampoo. "Passion spice."
Cologne closed her eyes and bowed her head. Shampoo turned her head so
she faced the near wall, still unable to look directly at her great-
grandmother. After a long, silent minute, Cologne opened her eyes, a
resigned sigh escaping her lips.
"You should not have meddled with my cabinet Shampoo. There are
things in there that can be quite dangerous to one not yet initiated fully
into the secrets of our tribe's herb lore. Nor should you have resorted to
such a… drastic… action. Have I not told you time and again that such
heavy-handed methods would only work against you? Son-in-law is much
like his namesake; he is wild and fey, and must be wooed gently. Yet you
insisted on using shortcuts that only succeeded in estranging him from
you."
"But great-grandmother, Shampoo had no choice! Shampoo was losing
airen. Losing airen to Violent, Perverted Kitchen Wrecker!" Sobs now
accompanied Shampoo's tears, wracking her body as they tore free from
her painfully and reluctantly. "Why, Great-grandmother? Why airen want
Akane over Shampoo? Shampoo prettier than Akane. Shampoo smarter
than Akane. Shampoo stronger, better warrior, treats Ranma better! Why
he not love me?"
Cologne embraced Shampoo, stroking her hair and rocking her gently
until her weeping subsided.
"There, there, Great-granddaughter, calm yourself. I do not want you to
make yourself sick." She released Shampoo, and settled back onto her
stool. "As for your question, I can not answer it. I am over three hundred
years old, my child, and in my long life I have learned much and seen
much. But even with all my age and experience, I can not even begin to
divine how the heart works, nor would I ever claim to know." She hopped
off the stool and made her way to the door. "Sleep, Shampoo. It will aid
your healing and clear your mind. I shall go look for Son-in-law, and see if
I can salvage something from this fiasco." Shampoo nodded, and settled
down into her bed.
Once in the kitchen Cologne opened her spice cabinet and gathered
together the ingredients for a mild sleeping draught. She ignored the
myopic duck quacking and cursing in his cage. Once finished she poured
the draught into a cup and set it on a small tray. She then hopped over to
the cage, looking at the still-raging duck with little kindness.
"Compose yourself, Mousse!" she said at last. "Keep a civil tongue in
your beak, or else you will be the special for tomorrow night's dinner
rush." The threat achieved its desired goal, and Cologne opened the cage
and pointed at a pile of white clothes in the center of the kitchen. The
subdued duck waddled over to the clothes, and Cologne poured hot water
over him.
"How is Shampoo doing?" Mousse asked as he hastily dressed.
"As well as can be expected."
Mousse straightened his robe and donned his glasses. He blinked owlishly
as his eyes strained under the powerful lenses, trying to focus on the
matriarch.
"Who did this to Shampoo? I'll make him pay for hurting her like this!"
"If you must know, it was, of all people, Son-in-law."
"Saotome? That cur! I'll hunt him down and kill him for this! I'll…"
"You'll do nothing of the sort!" snapped Cologne.
"But that bastard hurt my- urk!" Mousse cut his tirade short as the point of
Cologne's staff lashed out and halted a millimeter away from his throat.
Mousse swallowed, hard, as a cold trickle of sweat crawled down his
back.
"You will do nothing to Son-in-law," stated Cologne. She tilted her head
slightly and gave Mousse an almost sly look. "If anything, you may want
to thank him; Shampoo drugged him, and if he had not reacted the way he
did they would now be wife and husband in the eyes of the tribe." She
drew back her staff and watched with some amusement as the young man
grappled with this paradoxical concept: Thank Ranma, for hurting
Shampoo? The thought rendered him speechless and almost insensate.
Cologne rapped him on the head to bring him back to reality.
"Now that this is settled, I want you to take this sleeping draught to
Shampoo. Once she drinks it you are to leave her alone. She needs to rest.
Now I must go find Son-in-law, and prevent him from doing something he
will regret." She pogoed to the door then turned and looked back at
Mousse. "Remember, you leave Shampoo alone. If she tells me that you
pressed your attentions I will be… unhappy… with you." Mousse gulped
and nodded vigorously in acknowledgement. Cologne gave him a brief,
chill smile, then left.
(Son-in-law,) she thought as she bounded through the streets, reaching out
with her senses, searching for Ranma's unique, formidable presence.
(Every time I think I've seen the limit of your ability, you surprise me yet
again. You are the first one to resist the effects of the passion spice in
almost a thousand years. By all rights, you should belong to Shampoo
now, yet you remain free.) Her eyes narrowed in pain as she thought of her
Great-granddaughter's plight. (Ahh Shampoo, my poor grandchild! What
a dilemma you've put yourself into this time. If only you could have seen
the truth of this matter. He was never to be yours. The Tendo girl owned
his heart completely. I knew that the day he defeated me with the Cat-fist,
when she managed to calm him down. Oh, I won't lie; I had hoped that
her jealousy and childish temper would have chased him away, so you
could have had a chance. His power is immense, and he would have made
an excellent addition to the tribe. But it is not to be. Your foolish actions
over the past year assured that. You only managed to make him resent
you, nothing more. And what you did today was the proverbial final
straw.) Cologne's shoulders sagged, her worries for her kin and her
protégé weighing down upon her. (Much of the blame falls on me. I
should have done more to discourage Shampoo, to disway her from
chasing Ranma. I doubt she would have listened - the young believe what
they want to - but at least I should have tried.) Cologne forcibly shook
herself out of her gloom. (Enough. I must find Ranma, before he commits
some act that we will all rue. Let us see what fate has cast our way.
Perhaps, for once, it will be kind.) Finally catching a trace of Ranma's
trail, Cologne increased her gait.
In the midst of the quiet glade Akane shifted, settling into a more
comfortable position as she lay in Ranma's arms. For a moment she
worried a little about the consequences of someone finding them, but
pushed the thought aside. For now, she wanted to enjoy the silence and
solitude. The outside world could wait. She rolled onto her side and threw
an arm around Ranma's shoulders, gazing at his face, peaceful and
unguarded as he slept, and his chest, observing its gentle rise and fall as he
breathed. She snuggled up closer to him, and felt his arms tighten around
her instinctively, and found herself tightening her own embrace in
response.
(I like this,) she thought, and felt a twinge of guilt. She believed it to be
more than a little perverted to think such a thing, but she couldn't help it.
She had liked what they had done, despite the forced necessity of it, and
she liked being with him now: just Ranma and herself, with no one else
around to bother or harass them, or to goad them deliberately or
unwittingly into arguing and fighting with each other.
She thrust those thoughts aside, just as she had thrust aside her worries of
their being discovered. They didn't matter, and ultimately, she did not
care. All that mattered was that they were alone, and that they cared for
each other. As she had said to herself before: that was enough. She
nuzzled at the base of his throat, while her hands started to caress his back
and play with his pigtail.
Ranma began to stir, shaking his head as his eyes shuttered, murmuring
something unintelligible. Akane pulled away a bit and laid a hand on
Ranma's cheek. His eyes opened, and he awoke to the sight of Akane's
gently smiling face.
"Hello there," she whispered. "Welcome back."
Ranma flinched as if struck. He dropped his eyes away from Akane, and
shied out of her embrace.
"Ranma?" Akane felt a stab of pain in her heart as fear and doubt assailed
her. Even though she knew on an intellectual level why Ranma was
reacting this way, it still hurt.
"Akane… Oh kami, Akane, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! You should not of
had to do that. I… I…"
"Shhh." As before, Akane gently cut him off by placing a finger to his
lips. "Shhh Ranma. It's all right. You didn't force me. No one forced me.
It was my decision, my own choice."
"But it's my fault. I should never have trusted Shampoo! If I hadn't
accepted her invitation and ate that lunch she made me you wouldn't had
to… I'm sorry! Stupid, stupid fool! I…"
"Ranma!" Akane snapped, and he flinched again. He looked as if he was
about to leap to his feet and flee. Akane took a deep breath, attempting to
calm her frayed nerves, and touched him on the shoulder. Fear, not anger,
had harshened her voice, for never before had she seen Ranma act this
way: frightened, contrite, full of self-loathing and self-contempt. Frankly,
it scared her; scared her into thinking that Ranma, overwhelmed by his
feelings of guilt, would run away, forever believing that he did a terrible
wrong to her, and that she hated him.
"This isn't your fault," Akane whispered to him softly. "The only person
who is to blame for this is Shampoo. She's the one who drugged you, who
tried to force you into doing something you didn't want to do. She's the
one at fault, not you."
Ranma blinked, his pained, anguished expression becoming one of awe
and wonderment. Akane felt herself becoming uncomfortable, and started
to fidget underneath his stare. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"All the time I've known you, almost every time something happens,
you've said it was my fault." Ranma whispered in wonder. "Usually
you're one of the first to blame me if something bad happens, even if I had
nothing to do with it. But now, after what I did to you, you aren't blaming
me? "
Akane felt herself flush, pangs of guilt coursing through her. "Well, this
isn't your fault. I… I can't really blame you for this. Shampoo's the one
who drugged you, and I'm the one who…" She trailed off, unable to
finish. She could feel the heat of embarrassment radiate from her body, her
face changing from faint pink to a deep, rich red as her flush spread down
across her neck to the top of her chest. "You've done so much for me,
Ranma. You've fought for me; tried to help me whenever you thought I
needed it. You tease me a lot, almost to the point of insanity, but I know
you care for me. That's why I did it Ranma. Not because you or anyone
else forced me, but because you care for me, and I… care for you too."
Ranma stayed silent as Akane bowed her head, unable to continue to look
at him. He seemed somewhat mazed, and a little sad, but much of the guilt
and shame had disappeared.
"I care for you too, Akane. But I'm still sorry."
"Don't be," answered Akane, looking up.
"I can't help it."
Akane simply sighed, and hugged Ranma, resting her head against his
chest. He stiffened, as he always did when she showed such affection,
then, for the first time ever, relaxed, sighing as he returned the embrace.
Akane absently played with his pigtail while listening to the strong rhythm
of his heart, while Ranma gently caressed her back, resting his chin on her
soft, silken hair.
They lay like this for a few minutes, giving each other what healing and
comfort they could, enjoying the feel of their bodies touching. Then
Akane broke their reverie.
"You said something about Shampoo making you a promise. What did she
promise you, Ranma, and when?"
A soft angry hiss passed through Ranma's teeth. He pulled Akane into an
even tighter hug, and moved his hand from her back to her head, running
his fingers through her hair as he whispered into her ear.
"It was after the wedding. I was PISSED about that, Akane; a lot more
pissed at Shampoo and Ukyo and Kodachi then I let anyone ever know. I
have a confession to make, something I'm a bit ashamed of. I sorta liked
all the chaos and mayhem in our lives. It made things interesting, and it
helped keep the old men off our backs. But as time went on, it became less
fun. I mean, bad enough our families forcibly engaged us, but what gave
everyone else the right to try to make us do things we don't want to? With
no consideration for how we felt or what we wanted?
"What happened at the wedding was the final straw. You nearly died twice
at Junsendo because of that bastard Saffron, damn him to hell. So when
Ukyo and Shampoo threw those bombs at you, when Kuno-sanpin came at
me with a steel katana, well… I finally decided enough was enough. No
more of letting people treat us like we were toys or possessions.
"You know how Shampoo and Ukyo spent the next few weeks avoiding
us? They had good reason to. But they figured that at least – I – would
calm down after a while." Ranma chuckled grimly. "They were wrong."
"Shampoo was the one who approached me first. It was maybe two weeks
ago, if I remember right. You had to stay after school for some project, so
I was walking home alone. She came barreling right at me on her bike,
piping out 'Nihao Ranma' as she always does, as if what she did at the
wedding never happened." Ranma's lips curled into a nasty sneer. "She
was VERY surprised when she didn't land on me, like she usually does. I
sidestepped for once, and she bounced hard. Flipped right over the damn
handlebars and landed on her tight little ass. She got up, dusted herself off,
and looked at me as if I'd grown another head or something. Asked me
why I did that, totally innocent-like, as if she never done a damn thing to
deserve it. I snapped then, and laid right into her. I was… less than gentle.
I told her exactly what I thought of her and what she did. I called Shampoo
every vile name I could think of, and that there was no way in hell that I'd
ever marry her. Told her where she could stick that damn three thousand
years of Amazon tradition that the old ghoul is always harping about, and
that if she ever tried to hurt my family or friends I'd consider her a blood-
enemy, and treat her the way I treated Saffron…" Ranma sighed, closing
his eyes as the unpleasant memory.
"She was bawling her eyes out by the time I was done. I don't think I ever
seen someone cry like that before, and I felt guilty and low and sick to my
stomach for making her that way, but I knew it had to be done. If I hadn't
told her off she'd keep right on acting like she had for the past year, and
the anger I'd been feeling would start festering in me, like a cut if you
don't clean it, and that one day it burst out of me and I'd do something to
someone who didn't deserve it." Ranma sighed again. "I turned to head
home when Shampoo grabbed me around the knees and started pleading
with me. She begged for another chance, saying that she was sorry, she'd
never do it again and would try to make it up to me. And, stupid me, I
gave it to her.
"I don't like hating people, Akane. And I… used to sorta like Shampoo,
just as a friend. She could be nice to be around when she wasn't glomping
me or trying to get me to take her on a date or trying to get into my pants."
"But you don't feel that way anymore?" asked Akane.
"No, I don't." Ranma answered, voice winter-cold. He sighed, and
continued on wearily. "Anyway, I was feeling so damn guilty now that I
couldn't bear leaving her in that state, so I said that I'd give her another
chance, but on my terms. I told her that she had to stop manipulating me,
and to accept my decision about whom I was going to marry when I
finally got around to it. If she ever pulled any of the same crap again, it
would be over, but if she behaved herself, I was willing to start from
scratch and be her friend. Shampoo agreed. She wiped her eyes, said 'see
you later, friend', and rode off.
"I stood there on the sidewalk for a few minutes, thinking about what had
just happened, what I just said. Then I figured while I was at it, I might as
well go tell Ukyo what the deal was, while I still had the courage. So I did.
Things went just about the same, save I went a lot easier on her, and she
didn't cry as hard. But she got the same message: either cut the garbage or
else. And she agreed, too. We were to be friends again, nothing more.
Then I went home. Didn't bother to go see Kodachi. She wouldn't have
listened, and I don't want her as a friend anyway."
"You didn't bother to see me, either."
"You didn't throw bombs at the wedding. Besides…" Ranma trailed off.
"Besides what, Ranma?"
"Never mind," he muttered. "So today, Shampoo came by to see me. You
were talking to your friends, and I was goofing off somewhere, doing
some balance training or something. She didn't land on me with her
bicycle or glomp me, or anything like that. She just came up to me and
asked me how I was doing. We started talking for the next few minutes,
just about what was going on around the neighborhood and such, and it
was pretty nice. Then she asked me if I would like to have a bite at the
Nekohanten, her treat. I hesitated a bit, then figured, 'what the hell, she's
my friend, nothing more'. And anyway, I was hungry." Ranma laughed
bitterly. "I'm no better than my old man, Akane. Always thinking with my
damn stomach." He sighed one last time, looking sadly into Akane's eyes.
"The rest you know."
"Yes, I do." Akane murmured in agreement as she rested her forehead
against Ranma's chest. She stayed like that for a minute, mulling over
what he had told her while enjoying the play of his fingers through her
hair. Finally she drew back, giving him a rueful smile, and took a glance
up to the sky.
"It's getting late, Ranma. We better get going before our families start to
wonder about us."
Ranma nodded in agreement. "Yeah." He let go of her and reluctantly
slipped out of her embrace, kipping up to his feet. Akane stretched,
relieving her tired back, then accepted Ranma's offered hand and used it
to pull her self up. They were partially clothed, but what they wore was
quite disheveled. Ranma scooped up his pants, boxers, and tai-chi shoes,
while Akane gathered up the panties and sneakers she had kicked off, and
they started to dress and straighten up. Ranma strained to concentrate on
his making sure everything was put on the right way, keeping his eyes
down, while Akane couldn't help but glance in Ranma's direction every
once in a while; partly because of the thrill she felt when she looked at
him, a side of her that she hadn't been aware of until now reveling in the
fact that she had been his first lover, and that no one could take that away.
Yet she also feared that his guilt would rise up again, and he would
disappear if she did not keep an eye on him.
Ranma finished, giving his shirt a little tug to straighten it, then turned to
look at Akane as she smoothed her skirt and slipped into her sneakers.
"Akane?"
"Yes Ranma?"
"I… just wanna tell you something, before we go." His gaze faltered, and
he looked down at the sward. "You're… beautiful. Don't ever let anyone
tell you otherwise, especially if its a fool like me."
"Ranma…" Akane gasped, startled by the compliment. Ranma glanced
upwards, trying not to show his eyes, but she managed to catch a glimpse
of them, and saw how they glistened.
"You're right Akane, it is getting late. Let's get going." Ranma thrust his
hands into his pockets, turned on his heel and walked away. Akane
watched him for a moment, her throat tight with emotion as boundless
affection, along with another feeling, one which, in spite of everything that
had happened, she was not yet ready to openly acknowledge, sang in her
heart and her mind. She shook her head and hurried after him. Walking
side-by-side, they made their way out of the copse and onto the paved
path, and started towards home. Ranma still couldn't look at Akane,
keeping his eyes firmly focused on the pavement. Akane gave him
sidelong glances; worry clouding her brow as she bit her lip. Hesitantly,
she reached out and took hold of his wrist. Ranma started, and finally
looked up at her. Her smile was shy and gentle as she pulled his hand out
of its pocket and twined her fingers through his. Ranma returned her
smile, his eyes losing the guilty cast they had re-acquired, becoming warm
and thankful. He pulled Akane gently towards himself, and she willingly
leaned against him.
From her hiding place amongst the tree boughs Cologne watched Akane
and Ranma leave the park. Once gone from her line of sight, she hopped
down, continuing to stare after them. She tapped the butt of her staff
against the ground and thought frantically and furiously, the frown
creasing her face making her seem even older. Finally she closed her eyes,
her sigh a dry, tired whisper.
"It is over. My poor great-granddaughter." She turned and slowly walked
away in the opposite direction, the burden of the news that would break
her pride and joy's heart almost too much to bear.
Notes and Acknowledgements
Sanpin, roughly translated, means samurai trash. In Ranma's eyes, it's
probably a fitting description of Kuno.
I would like to thank Lord Archive once again for his valuable pre-
reading, and my friend Joe McGlone, otaku supreme, for his interest and
support, and for lending me the initial tapes that introduced me to Ranma
½.
If you have any comments and questions, please write to me at
DorianVal@aol.com. Flames will be ignored; if you have nothing polite or
constructive to say don't bother writing me.
Thank you for your time and tolerance.
Jeremy Harper
(
geocities.com/timessquare/realm) (
geocities.com/timessquare)