From: Emily Siazon 


"WASURERARENAI"(Unforgettable)
An alternative reality fanfic by Emily Siazon.
All characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
< > are thoughts
[ ] setting
* * sound effects
**********************************************************************

Chapter 13
*******

[The next day, Ryugenzawa.]

     Akane took a deep breath as she made her way to the pinnacle of
the hill, oblivious to the brilliant reds and oranges of late autumn.
"It's too quiet," she muttered, watching a three inch lizard crawl up
a nearby tree. "All the animals have shrunk because their supply of
the water was cut."

     She continued walking towards the cabin, her mind filled with
images of Shinnosuke's smiling face. "And if I don't hurry, his life
might end."

                     *        *        *

     Ranma pounded his hand against the vending machine, waiting for
his cup of hot chocolate to come out. He was standing right outside
the Ryugenzawa Youth Group Hostel, hoping they could help him find
Akane. Unfortunately, they didn't know where she lived, any more than
he did.

     Ranma looked down as he felt his shirt soak up some of the
scaldingly hot liquid from the machine. "Shit." He quickly wrung the
hot chocolate off his shirt, trying as best he could to ignore the big
stain. "At least it was hot."

     Satisfied that all the excess liquid was gone, he looked back up
at the machine, then to his still empty cup with a scowl. "Stupid!
After you got me wet like that, I should at least get a drink."

     He walked away in a huff, every step making a crunching sound as
he crushed the dried leaves beneath his feet. He made his way into the
forest despite all the warnings he received about giant animals. Ranma
didn't believe a word of that nonsense, and should it turn out to be
true, well, he was a martial artist so there should be no problem,
right?

                       *        *        *

     "Where in the world am I now?" Ryoga yelled somewhere in the
forest, or at least tried to. It was hard to yell something like that
when he was in his cursed form. The question, therefore, came out as
one loud, frustrated sounding bwee.

                       *        *        *

     Ranma grumbled as he tried to find his way to wherever Akane was.
He had been walking in the forest for hours and he felt no closer to
her than when he started.

     He was about to stop for a little rest when he felt something
bite his ankle. He looked down and saw a koala who had decided that he
would make a perfect lunch.

     "Argh! Get off me!" he cried out, trying to shake the thing off
his leg. He tried doing a couple of kicks, in hopes that it would get
dizzy and slide off.

     The koala was _not_ amused.

     "Ahh!" Ranma yelled out as it bit his leg even harder.

                        *        *        *

     Akane's head quickly snapped up, her eyes mere slits as she gazed
outside through the kitchen window.

     "What's the matter?" Grandpa asked from the dining table, eagerly
awaiting his meal.

     "I thought I heard someone cry out in pain."

     "Don't be ridiculous. No one in their right mind would come out
here in the forest."

     Akane reluctantly nodded as she took the unrecognizable slop that
was to be their lunch off the stove and placed it in between them.

     Grandpa took one look at what was supposed to be seaweed stew and
blinked in surprise. Was it supposed to be glowing like that? He took
another look and quickly ran to the other end of the room, plastic bag 
in hand.

     "I, uh, just realized I wasn't that hungry. I think I'll just eat 
some of those rice crackers you've brought with you from Tokyo."

                      *        *        *

     P-chan sighed in relief as he spotted a puddle of hot chocolate. 
He eagerly dived in, not caring that he was going to be a sticky mess. 
Why should he? It was a small price to pay for regaining his humanity.

     Ryoga was about to praise whoever had spilled the warm liquid
when he heard a scream behind him.

     Standing near the door of the hostel stood a terrified girl
pointing at his bare body.

     He looked down and remembered that his state of dress, or lack
thereof, was inappropriate and quickly ran into the woods where he had
left his stuff.

                       *        *        *

     Ranma was about to give up at twilight, when he spotted a 
familiar head of dark blue hair. Using his remaining energy, he ran 
towards the clearing yelling out her name.

     "Akane! Hey Akane!"

     She didn't even look once at his direction. He was willing to
bet that she hadn't heard him; his voice was barely audible, thanks to
all the yelling he had done earlier.

     Once he was only a couple of feet away, Ranma became confident
that he was close enough to be heard and, therefore, started to speak 
to her again. "I'm so glad I found..." His voice trailed off as he got 
a full view of her.

     Sitting inside a metal tub, Akane blinked in surprise at having
her bath interrupted by a complete and total stranger.

     Ranma's face turned a bright crimson while he tried his best to
make sure that his eyes never strayed from her face. Once he gathered
enough of his wits, he quickly did an about face with the intent of
running out of the clearing as fast as he could.

     Akane, shaken out of her stupor at this point, hurled everything
she could get her hands on at his retreating figure while yelling,
"Pervert!"

     One of the projectiles, unfortunately, connected with Ranma's
head with a hollow thud, knocking him into oblivion.

     "What's with all the noise?!" Grandpa hollered as he rushed
towards the clearing.

     Akane didn't hear him. She was too busy being concerned about the
well-being of the unconscious boy near her.

     What was he doing there? And most importantly, why was he
unconscious?

                       *        *        *

     When Ranma opened his eyes, he found himself staring at a stark
white ceiling.

     Where was he? The last thing he remembered was a feeling of
relief after he finally spotted Akane in the distance. He tried to
clear his head a bit, convinced that more had happened. He wished the
room wouldn't spin so, further aggravating his headache. He cleared
away the mental cobwebs as best he could, and thought more about what
had happened. Oh yes, she had thrown some objects at him for walking 
in on her in the middle of her bath.

     Ranma was about to pat himself on the back for solving the mind
numbing puzzle when he realized that he still didn't have a clue where
he was. He let out a groan and was about to stand up to explore when
he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Ranma quickly closed his
eyes and pretended to be asleep.

     "So, you're saying, that the reason that the springs have dried
up is because the yamato-no-orochi has awakened?" Akane asked Grandpa
skeptically as she quietly closed the door behind them.

     "Yes, its head is blocking the source of the springs."

     "Oh c'mon, Grandpa. That's only a monster of legends. You're old
enough to know that those stories aren't true."

     "But they are. The legend of Susa-no-oh fighting the
yamato-no-orochi is an accurate tale of long ago. A tale which we need
to know to be able to beat the sleeping monster once more."

     Grandpa looked out the window dramatically for a couple of
minutes before he started to tell Akane the wondrous legend. "After
Susa-no-oh..."

     *Crash*

     Akane looked annoyed as she picked up the bowls that she was
carrying towards the dinner table. "Geez, Grandpa, don't scare me like
that."

     "Why are you setting the table when you should be listening to me
tell you how to beat the orochi?"

     "I thought you were asleep."

     "It was a dramatic pause!" he yelled.

     "How was I supposed to know that?"

     Grandpa sighed and started the story all over again.

                        *        *        *

     After Susa-no-oh had been banished from heaven, he descended to
Tori-kami, beside the river Hi, in the province of Izumo...

                        *        *        *

     "If this happened in Izumo, what is the Orochi doing sleeping
over here?" Akane interrupted.

     "It doesn't matter. Can you please just let me tell the rest of
the story?"

     "Sorry."

                        *        *        *

     Anyway, he met an old man and woman who were weeping bitterly;
between them walked a lovely maiden.

     They told him that they had eight daughters, and each year the
yamato-no-orochi devoured them one after the other. They were crying
because it was time to feed it again with their daughter, the
Kushinada-hime.

     Susa-no-oh told them that he was the brother of the sun-goddess,
and promised to help them in exchange for their daughter.

     He changed the girl into a comb which he placed in his hair. He
told the couple to build eight vats for the sake they were going to
brew.

     When the yamato-no-orochi came, it drank all the sake and passed
out. Susa-no-oh drew his katana and cut the serpent in pieces, turning
the Hi river red with its blood.

                        *        *        *

     "Er..."

     "What now?" Grandpa asked, slightly annoyed.

     "If he killed it, what is it doing sleeping in this forest?"

     "It's just a stupid story. What happened to him there isn't
important."

     "But you said..."

     "Look, you're missing the point. By telling you that story, you
now possess the knowledge to beat the orochi."

     "I do?"

     "It's simple," he answered before standing up and running out the
door excitedly. "We have to brew sake so we can get it drunk!"

     "Grandpa!" Akane yelled out at his quickly receding form.
Unfortunately, he was too far to hear her by then, and he continued on
his way without a backward glance.

     Akane grumbled as she grabbed her coat and ran after him. There
was no telling what could happen at this hour.

     After Ranma was sure that Akane was no longer within hearing
range, he too ran out of the house so he could watch over them.

                         *        *        *

     Akane stifled a yawn as she watched Grandpa from behind a thick
maple tree. She was convinced that the old man had lost it for sure,
brewing sake for a nonexistent dragon.

     She would have stopped him a long time ago if not for a small
part of her mind that believed him, giving her hope...

                         *        *        *

     Ranma sighed as he watched her from a spot not too far away. He
was contemplating whether he should walk up to her and keep her 
company. She looked lonely, and it wasn't like she could remember what
had happened earlier.

     Ranma was unsure whether he should be happy or not that she 
couldn't remember that little incident earlier.

     Sure, he didn't have to worry about her being angry with him, but
that was only because she couldn't remember who he was.

     When his eyes refocused to the task at hand, he was surprised to
find Akane leaning against the tree trunk, fast asleep.

     Ranma walked to her as quietly as possible and picked her up in
his arms, just like he did at school when their friendship had just
started. Was that really just a couple of weeks ago? It felt like a
whole other lifetime to him.

     He slowly walked towards the cabin, careful not to wake her from
her deep slumber. Her warm body was comfortingly close as they were
assaulted by a chilly wind from the north. The mist that hung low,
putting a slight sheen of moisture to their skin, wasn't exactly
helping matters either.

     Ranma was almost disappointed as he placed Akane on the futon.
Having her in his arms like that, even for a couple of minutes felt 
so right.

     He brushed away a stray lock of hair, the heady smell of
wildflowers from her shampoo overwhelming him even now. He continued
to caress her hair, marveling at its silky texture as he quietly
whispered to her everything he had wanted to tell her, but was afraid
to until now. "I... I love you, Akane. I just wish I could have told
you when it still made a difference."

**********************************************************************
AUTHORS NOTES: I just had to make up for all the seriousness in 
chapter 12 ^_^  I get the feeling that the next chapter isn't going to
be filled with jokes either since it's the last.
I'd like to thank Scott Schimmel, my prereader, who's convinced I was
smoking something when I wrote this(I wasn't). I mean, I just make one
comment about psychotic koalas... ^_^
Please send me c&c or I'll be scarred for life and turn into a woman 
pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman :)

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