So this is something that's been rattling around my mind... actually, I
intended it as the prelude to that "all four fiancees in one body" story
that was proposed a while back. But no matter what I do, the story ends up
being orange-flavored, if not out and out lemon. So I'm abandoning it to my
more twisted areas of the brain... but the prologue seems to fit the
challenge. I hope it's not too late...

****

"Choice"

A Ranma 1/2 fan-fiction by Glazius Falconar

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and all associated situations and characters are the
product of Rumiko Takahashi and are thus copyright her and all licensed
distributors of her work. Of which I am not one.

****

Good day to you. I am the spirit of the wishing well...

What? Of course such things are real. Aren't I proof enough? Ah well,
whether you believe in me or not, I still exist. I was once a wu jen, one of
the first, serving an Emperor who used my talents to take over most of Japan
and China. And I was told I could not reach the next realm without first
atoning for all the wrongs I had done... which meant that I must grant one
wish to a good person for every wish of the Emperor's I fulfilled. Of
course, I have to move the well between wishes...  couldn't have greedy
people following a just man's stories, could I? And to move the well, I need
just a bit of metal to conduct the magicks...

Yes, THAT's why you drop coins in wishing wells. Amazing, isn't it?

But this story isn't about me. It's about what happened one day when I had
moved the well to somewhere in China...

****

One of the things I do is to reach out to the minds of the people who come
near me... to determine their worthiness. And if the young man approaching
was half as badly off as some of the things I read from his mind... he
deserved an entire cavern full of djinni servants in rings and lamps and...

Yes, those are real too. Fine, don't believe me if you want. It matters
little anyway.

But, regardless, this young man needed a wish... so I tweaked his mind a
little bit. Make that a lot... one of the curses he labored under was a
horrendous sense of direction. He eventually found his way to me, and
dropped in a handful of the oddest meld of coins I've ever seen. I counted
three countries, possibly four, in the mix that made its way down to the
magically reinforced bubble that imprisons me. Where'd he get so many? Ah
well, the source was little matter...

I touched his mind again, to discover what he truly wished for... believe
me, what you DO wish for at a well is rather different from what you WANT to
wish for. And I couldn't very well grant the former if I wanted this geas to
be lifted, now could I? Too many ways to twist the wording...

What? That was it? Now this is far too simple... hmm, perhaps a little
something extra, to guide him to the next place I move. I just hope he
checks that backpack of his often enough...

****

Hibiki Ryoga sighed and turned away from the well, which he'd dropped one of
his last few handfuls of change in. A wishing well was little more than a
fairy tale, after all. A pipe dream, a dead-end... rather like the direction
his life was currently taking. Ranma and Akane married... well, almost
married... but Ranma hadn't fought the decision tooth-and-nail as Ryoga had
expected him to. What was the use of even trying anymore... he loved Akane,
but Akari was... he loved her too. But he could never be there for her, and
he always seemed to be able to find his way back to the Tendo Dojo... how to
decide, how to...

What was this? Ryoga felt something sharp jabbing through the thick cloth of
his walking pants into his thigh. Drawing it out, he found that the sharp
edge belonged to a bit of plastic... poking out of the corners of a torn
photo wallet. With trembling hands he turned it over and...

**

"You can't love them both, Ryoga. You have to choose!"

"RANMA! Of all the things you have stolen from me, this is by far the worst!
How can you toy with..."

"Enough talk, pig-boy!" With a swift rip, Ranma tore the wallet in half,
flinging both pictures toward the cliff's edge on slightly different
trajectories. No time to think, no time to attack, no hesitation or you lose
both...

**

...and Akari smiled back at him.

With a sudden jolt of insight he was certain was not entirely his own, Ryoga
realized that his choice had already been made. He had made it, without
thinking, without considering... he had let his heart decide, and no matter
how hard he tried to deny its decision, it would always be there. A torn
wallet. A broken dream where the pieces were greater than the whole. One
part of two that exceeded the both.

The world was a dark and lonely place, that Ryoga had already known. But he
was only now discovering that there were lights in the darkness... and those
who tended them.

****

It had been perhaps a month since the disaster of the Saotome-Tendo wedding.
The repairs to the dojo had finally been completed and were in the process
of being paid for... and Nabiki, with uncharacteristic generosity, was
allowing the wedding gifts to be used to defray the cost of construction.
Ranma was performing a ridiculously complex acrobatic kata on the
refurbished floor... just to put it through its paces, you understand. The
exhilaration he felt at moving through the smooth perfection of the forms
was... a perk. Just a perk. He heard footsteps approaching, so he quickly
flowed the kata into a much simpler one and began stretching out his muscles
so they wouldn't cramp when he sat down for dinner. The dojo door slid open
to reveal...

"Hey P-Chan! Nice to see you finally made it back!"

Much to Ranma's surprise, the only reaction Ryoga gave was a slight dilation
of the pupils and a bit of breathing as he tried to calm himself.

"Ranma... there's something I need to tell Akane... alone."

Much to Ryoga's surprise, Ranma nodded and left the dojo proper, pausing
only for a few seconds to throw a few mock blows, all of which Ryoga
steadfastly ignored. That was a good thing, mused Ryoga. It was hard enough
to say what he had to say in front of Akane... he didn't want Ranma butting
in at the worst possible time. He gently motioned Akane to the dojo floor,
and took his seat opposite her. For a time, there was silence. And then...

****

There had been one small alteration to the dojo plans. Almost insignificant,
really... a window in the upper part to let a bit of sun and air in,
inaccessible except from the inside and a ladder set into the wall... or
from the outside, provided you were possessed of tremendous vertical leaps.
Fortunately, Ranma had that particular trait, and had snuck in the window,
taking a position among the roof beams, in the shadows, where no one could
see him...

"It's about P-Chan, Akane."

At that,  Ranma nearly fell from his perch. Ryoga was ADMITTING it? Ranma
envisioned a Shi Shi Hokodan big enough to destroy Nerima and most of the
rest of Tokyo. Shuddering a bit, he continued listening.

"I haven't seen him lately..." Akane's voice took on a tone of anger. "Has
Ranma been bothering him again?"

Ranma flinched. This would be another easy opportunity for Ryoga to get
Akane mad at him. Like anyone would believe that a little black pig was
capable of fierce biting attacks unprovoked.

"No, no, it's not that... I just don't think you'll be seeing him again..."

Ranma blinked in suprise, remembering at the last moment to keep himself
flattened against the roof beams.

"After... well, after IT... I went back to Akari's farm... and P-Chan came
with me. I didn't take him or anything... he must have just stowed away in
my backpack..."

Ranma felt like laughing... Ryoga was telling the truth... sort of.

"And he really seemed to like Akari and Akari loved him and..." Ryoga
trailed off, sounding a little sad. "...you won't be seeing him again,
Akane."

"But Akari's... she raises pigs, doesn't she? What if..." Akane was
beginning to sound extremely worried.

"I think Akari knows the difference between P-Chan and Katsunishiki,
Akane... I think MOUSSE could tell the difference, and Akari, she's,
well..."

"Your girlfriend?" Akane said it like it was the most natural thing in the
world.

Ryoga gulped. "Y... yeah. I guess you could say... yeah. She's my
girlfriend."

Ranma was amazed... but he had been expecting this to happen. Eventually.
Just not this way. Shrugging, he crept out the window and leaped from roof
to tree to wall to ground, walking back to the dojo when he finally touched
earth. He figured Ryoga and Akane were almost finished, and it couldn't hurt
to catch the tail end...

****

"And, well, I was thinking... since it was kinda my fault..." Ryoga pulled a
package from his backpack, not noticing the scrap of paper that fluttered to
the floor as he did so. "I decided to get you this. I hope you like it,
Akane..."

Akane ripped the plain brown paper to shreds, revealing...

"It looks just like P-Chan! Thank you, Ryoga!"

Akane hugged the plushie tightly for a few minutes, and then, on impulse,
lunged forward and threw her arms around Ryoga's neck...

...and for one, brief instant, Ryoga wondered whether he was doing the right
thing. Akane was stuck with Ranma. RANMA, of all people, who constantly
insulted her and made her cry and they could never be happy together...

...and he saw himself, walking down the aisle with Akane, looking on at an
irate Ranma, sticking out his tongue, and as he reached into his pocket for
the ring...

...a sharp jab brought him back to reality. The torn wallet. Akari. The girl
he was promised to, after a fashion. And his wonderful fantasy... she
appeared, watching, wide-eyed, at the back of the church. His eyes and hers
met for an instant, before she fled out into the beautiful sunny day, crying
uncontrollably...

..."I can't do that to her."

"What was that, Ryoga?" Akane had long since unlocked her arms from around
Ryoga's neck and was seated, still holding the plushie, and wondering if
Ryoga was alright. He had been staring into space for quite a while now...

"I said... I said I'd better be going, Akane. I want to get back to
Akari..."

Akane nodded, and Ryoga rose to his feet and headed for the door...

"Ryoga, that's the closet."

And headed for the door...

"And those are the equipment lockers."

And headed...

"The door's over here, pig-boy."

Ryoga felt his temper flare for a moment and was at Ranma's side, shoving
him out into the yard and flashing Akane an insincere smile before shutting
the door behind them.

****

"You were eavesdropping, weren't you?"

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you weren't gonna try and marry her or
somethin'."

The chapel filled Ryoga's head, Akari's sobs taking the place of the organ
music...

Ryoga shook his head, and the vision dimmed and faded. "But you know I'm
not."

Ranma smiled. "Good. An' if you ever get bored with fightin' pigs, come back
and I can show you how a MAN fights."

At this, it began to rain. Ryoga's umbrella was over his head in an instant,
but Ranma lacked similar protection and scowled at sudden irony of her
statement. Ryoga looked a bit somber at Ranma's sudden transformation...

"An' if you ever show up here again... ilhlpygtbkhm."

"What was that, Ranma?"

"I said... I said I'll help you get back home. You 'n Akari were practically
MADE for each other... buddy." Ranma gave Ryoga a friendly punch to the
shoulder.

"Yeah, I suppose... buddy." Ryoga's blow made Ranma struggle to catch her
balance, and the two exchanged glares for one brief moment... and then Ryoga
turned away, walking from the dojo's gate off to who-knows-where, umbrella
held high against the rain.

****

It was some time later when Ryoga crested the top of a hill and looked back
at the road he had taken. "Because of you, Ranma, I have seen HELL," he
muttered...

...and then the rain slowed to a drizzle, and the clouds parted, and the sun
shone down its golden radiance on the world below...

..."and thereby known heaven when it was shown to me," finished the lost
boy, as he wandered down the road to a very familiar farm with a pigsty out
front...

****

Epilogue:

Nabiki was inspecting the repairs done on the dojo and, by and large, was
satisfied. She'd had to cut a few corners here and there, but nothing too
important had been left out... what was this?

Nabiki picked the folded square of paper from the floor and unfolded it...
to reveal a large-scale map of Honshu, with one part of the small remaining
forest dotted in red...

It took her some time to translate the archaic kanji beside the dot, but her
eyes grew wide when she finally managed to do so. If this was truly a map to
a wishing well... oh, the money that could be made...