The Spring Of Drowned Thief

The Long Road to Recovery

The next morning Ranma awoke in an uncomfortable bed with Akane’s head down against it. There was a light shower out side and the sky was gray. The raindrops ticked against the glass every so often in a soothing rhythm. He blinked a few times and tried to sit up, “YERG! Owowowowowowowowowowowowowowowo~!” and fell back against the bed gritting his teeth in pain.

The sudden motion and outburst woke up Akane with alarm. “Ranma! Are you ok?”

Ranma vibrated a little. “N-not really. My chest hurts like hell, my legs feel broken, and it feels like someone played ping-pong with my kidneys. In general, it feels like I’ve been hit by a truck. That, and some thing keeps poking me in the back…”

Akane laughed a little, “I think it may be Betty. Now answer me properly so I can stop worrying about you. Are you ok?”

Ranma laughed a little himself and found out it hurt to do just that, but he held in the pain. “Yeah, yeah. I feel like a million yen. How did you sleep?”

Akane shook her head a little and wiped a tear out of her eye. “Not good at all, I’m staying home from school today.”

Ranma let a smile escape him. “Yeah, I was planning on that too. What time is it? I need to get the hell out of here. I hate hospitals.”

Akane glanced at the clock radio and said, “It’s 10:30 in the morning. I’ll call dad to pick us up, ok?”
Ranma relaxed a little, and nodded. Akane went to find the phone, and while she was busy Dr. Tofu walked into the room.


“Looks like you’re awake. Are you experiencing any head aches, or strange cramps?”

Ranma raised an eyebrow and did his best to look at the doctor. “Drop a ton of bricks on yourself, and you’ll know what I’m going through right now.”

The doctor let out a chuckle, “Every thing sounds fine then. I’m going to drop off some painkillers with you later on today, so please bare with it right now. I also ask that you stay in bed for the next little while. You’re going to feel stiff and aching for about a week. I want you to keep your activity down to a minimum, ok?”

Ranma nodded. “No complaints here doc…”

After much suffering, Ranma was finally transported home and in bed. Akane went immediately to bed, and Kasumi was reading the doctor’s instructions. Ranma was feeling quite tired himself and decided sleep was a good idea for him right now, he didn’t feel too talkative at the moment. For some reason that infernal poking in his back had seemed to follow him home and into his bed… ‘I have GOT to stop taking Betty…’


Ranma woke up about three hours later with a serious problem. He needed to go to the bathroom, and he needed to go NOW. He fought off the pain as he got up with an array of pops and cracks sounding their way out of Ranma’s body. “AARRGH!” ‘MUST.GET.TO.BATH.ROOM!’

He was caught off guard when he felt a hand on his shoulder and some one helping him up. “H-hey! Ryouga! What are you doing here?”

Ryouga bowed his head a little. “I’m here to help you… C’mon, I’m guessing you need to use the bath room.” Ranma accepted the aid, and they made their way over to the bathroom. Ranma was given privacy for the last little bit and with much pain on his own, and did his business.

When Ryouga heard the toilet flush he went in to help Ranma back to his bed. He was a little bit taken back when he found Ranma undressing and heading over to the tub.

“Hey! Don’t strain yourself! I’ll help with that. The doctor told you to take it easy.” Ranma tried fighting it, but eventually gave up and sat on a stool while Ryouga drew a bath.

When Ranma was finally in he started relaxing and let his body loosen up a bit. “Wooo! That feels better. Umm, Ryouga? Why are you still here…?”

Ryouga got a little angry, but kept it under check. “To make sure you don’t drown…” Ranma almost immediately started laughing, with much pain.

This time Ryouga’s anger overflowed. “WHAT!?”

Ranma shook his head, and smiled a little. “Oh, nothing. It’s just that I knew you were a good guy. Even after what happened you’re still helping me. I thought you’d be long gone by now, but you proved me wrong. I’m kinda glad too.”

Ryouga got a little nervous and smiled a little. “Y-you really think so!? Even after what I did to you?”

Ranma nodded his head. “I heard you yesterday in the clinic. You seemed to feel pretty bad about it, and you’re helping me now, so you can’t be all that bad of a guy.”

Ryouga started shaking his head quickly. “No! What I did was inexcusable! How can you say that to a monster like me…?”

Ranma directed his eyes to Ryouga. “Easy. I know that you’re sorry, and that you regret it. I was angry too when I got my curse you know, but I had an outlet at the time. I could yell at my dad and fight him. Some thing tells me you didn’t.”

Ryouga shook his head again. “….That’s no excuse for what I did…”

Ranma reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, it is actually. I’ve been able to remember you ever since I heard your name. I remember the lunch time fights at school, all those times I was and ass hole to you… It’s actually me who should be apologizing to you, but I’ve never been good at that sort of thing… so lets just start over, ok?”

Ranma reached of a hand shake, “Hi, I’m Ranma Soatome! What’s your name?”

Ryouga was taken back a little and didn’t know what to do, but he reasoned it through his head and started moving his hand slowly towards Ranma’s. “Err.. I’m Ryouga Hibiki. Nice to meet you.”

It felt a little corny at first but they both started smiling. “So, Ryouga. Do you think we can be friends?”

Ryouga’s smile grew a little wider and said, “Yeah… I think we can…”

Ranma smiled again. “See? Not as hard as it seems, eh?”

Ryouga shook his head a little. “No… Not hard at all… Thanks Ranma. I think I needed that.”

Ranma sunk into the bath to relax some more. “No problem man. I like friends over enemies any ways. Just curious though, what do you change into? It must be some thing pretty bad. You hit like a bag of sledge hammers.”

Ryouga, bowed his head a little in shame. “I, uhh, turn into a small black pig…”

He thought for sure Ranma was going to laugh at him, but to his surprise Ranma just nodded his head, in thought. “Ya know? I think I’d be just as pissed are you were. Tell me about your travels. I’m curious now, and we’ve got time to kill.” Ryouga was feeling a weight being lifted from his chest, and found himself opening up to Ranma, and soon his life became an open book for any eyes whom wished to read it.

Ranma listened while; Ryouga spilled his story of woe. First it was in junior high, with the lunch time brawls, then it was the duel they were suppose to have, then it was the endless travels through the wilderness, and being lost in the dark constantly. The story finally got around to the point of Josenkyo, and being knock into a pool by a red head girl and a panda, and then following Ranma to Nemira. There was a moment of silence, while Ranma played with his bubbles and gave himself a bubble beard. “Sounds like you’ve had it rough, but there must be more. You wanted me dead, remember? C’mon, there must have been some thing else.”

Ryouga looked away, trying to ignore the question, as well as the bubble beard. “Err, well I was going to just give you a beating, but there was some thing else, but its kind of embarrassing…”

Ranma raised an eyebrow, from under his bubble helmet, and his bubble beard bounces as he asked. “Well? We’re the only ones here so do tell.”

Ryouga sort of started to slide away. “I’m actually, very uncomfortable about it. Especially with you…”

Ranma twitched in annoyance. “You beat the crap out of me! I demand an explanation!”

Ryouga went bright red, and started twiddling his fingers. “D-do I have too..? You may not like it yourself...”

Ranma looked at him with his angry bubble eyebrows. “Spit it out!”

Ryouga started scratching his head and became a little redder around the edges. “Well, umm. Err. After I found you in that forest, I knew you as the redhead that knocked me into that pool. You see, I uhh, stopped looking for “YOU” and went after her, for revenge. But after looking at her, I kind of… Well, you know…”

Ranma raised a bubble eyebrow again. “No. No I don’t know. What are you getting at?”

Ryouga could feel the nervousness taking over and he started shaking. “I-I-ifellinlovewithher.soistartedlookingforher,whilelookingforyou!”

Ranma stopped making his bubble tower and gave Ryouga a hard look and spoke as if Ryouga’s life depended on how he answered. “Pardon me?”

Ryouga sat paralyzed. “I…. Uhh… Turned her over… and after looking at her, I fell in love…”

Ranma sunk into the bath a little. “Stay the hell away from me… I’m not like that…”

Ryouga could only see his angry eyes, but spoke up at Ranma’s comment. “H-hey! I-I’m not like that either! I said, her! HER! H-E-R. HER!”

Ranma stood up wearing bubble underwear. “I’M A GUY DAMNIT!” And sunk back in.

Ryouga started shouting too. “I DIDN’T KNOW THAT AT THE TIME! IF I KNEW YOU TWO WERE THE SAME PERSON I NEVER WOULD HAVE… HAVE… AWW HELL, YOU KNOW!?”

Ranma was horrified. “Y-You pervert! How can you try and take advantage of a poor innocent girl, lying unconscious in the middle of the woods like that!”

Ryouga was shocked. “I WAS A PERFECT GENTALMAN! WHAT ARE YOU ACCUSING ME OF ANY WAYS!?”

Ranma thought for a second and tried to collect himself. “EERR! Ok! Maybe I jumped the gun a little! But you still haven’t told me why you wanted me dead!”

Ryouga tried to calm down too, but found a mixture of anger and embarrassment flooding into him. “Can’t you even remember!? YOU KISSED ME! I thought for sure we would be together forever after I found you again, but then I found out that you, were you, and it was you I hate, yet you were that girl, and you just kissed me, and you were that girl, and so you forced me to hate that girl I loved, which was also you!”

Ranma shook his fist a little. “You just said “You” like 9 times in the same sentence! You’re acting like it’s all my fault!”

Ryouga stood up and shouted. “IT IS YOUR FAULT! YARRRRGH!”

Ryouga leapt towards Ranma to pummel him once again, Ranma on the other hand had thought quickly and grabbed the showerhead, and turned on the cold water with his feet. “Ranma! Prepare to-Bwee!!!”

Ranma caught the boy turned pig mid flight, and held him up as Ryouga tried to beat Ranma with his small piggy legs. “Damnit Ryouga! Calm down!”

Ryouga’s response was pretty simple. “Bwee! Bwee! Bwee! Bwee! Bwee! Bwee! Bwee! Bwee!”

All the shouting had waken Akane up and she decided to go hurt some thing to make it shut up. She walked into the bathroom to find Ranma holding up an annoyed piglet, with an equally annoyed expression on his face.

She couldn’t help but notice Ranma’s bubble constructions about him, and raised an eyebrow. “What’s all the racket in here! I’m glad you’re feeling better, but some of us didn’t get any sleep last night!”

Ranma shook his head a little. “Sorry Akane. Me and Ryouga are having a bit of an argument right now.”

Akane looked at the piglet and let the pieces fall into place and started scolding Ryouga. “ERGH! You’re nothing but trouble! You’re coming with me!”

With that she grabbed the piglet and went off to find the pet carrier to put Ryouga in while he calmed down. Once Ryouga was in, Akane put him on the floor beside her bed. “Now behave, and I might let you out later!” The tears in Ryouga’s eyes started flooding as he took his punishment.

Ranma sat in the bath, thinking and thinking hard. ‘Ugghhh. Gross. I can’t believe Ryouga has a crush on me! The nerve of the guy! First he wants to kill me, then he wants to be with me, and now he wants to kill me again! Is it really that hard to make a decision!? Hmmm… Then again, he doesn’t seem like the sharpest tool in the shed either…’

Ranma raised his arm out of the water holding a rather heavy umbrella. ‘No wonder he’s so strong though. I bet he’s been carrying this thing around for ages! Hmm, I’d say about 90 kilos… I can barely hold this thing up, and he was waving it around earlier like nothing… Then again, Akane does have that mallet… STAY ON TRACK!’

Ranma smacked himself a little and slumped into the bath a little more. The water was starting to lose its warmth. ‘Awe, I guess, he just doesn’t know what to make of it. I’d be pretty embarrassed telling another guy that I was in love with him at one point… Eww. Just the thought… Mind you Ryouga does have kind of a nice butt…. ARGH! WHAT AM I THINKING! GUY! YOU ARE A GUY! STAY ON GUY! DAMNIT!’

Ranma smacked himself again and collected his thoughts. While he was busy his ears perked. ‘Man, she sounds like a chainsaw when she sleeps. Maybe I should go to Dr. Tofu and see what’s wrong with me… Hey! He said he was coming here later today, I guess I can grab him then.’ Ranma started rinsing off and began to get up, ‘I guess, I should apologize to the poor guy. He probably didn’t need to be yelled at by me… Great, now I feel like an ass hole again. Hmm. I think I’ll just put the umbrella with his clothes, he probably wouldn’t take it so well, if he knew I took it from him a few mins ago.’

When he was up with all the proper pops and cracks he started moving towards the door, until it slid open for him. “Damnit, Nabiki! Why doesn’t any one in this family knock!? I’d would like a little bit of priv- What’s wrong?”

Nabiki started crying a little, as she stood in front of a naked Ranma whom was desperately looking for a towel, which were behind a blocking Nabiki. “D-do you know what you even did to me yesterday!? The whole school thinks I’m some sort of pervert!”

Ranma raised an eyebrow and started moving past her. “Serves ya right. You were trying to exploit your sister’s biggest fear about herself. I’ve got no remorse for you.” Just as he was passing by, his arm was grabbed. “H-hey!”

He was shocked at what happened next. “Come here!” Nabiki said forcefully as she pulled Ranma towards her and planted a kiss on his lips.

“Mmff. Arg-mmfff. What the- mff-mmmmfff. I’m an injured man! Stop touching m- mmfff, oh, my! I mean- mmfff, STOP THAT!”

He pulled Nabiki away and said in a loud whisper. “W-what the hell are you doing!? That’s no way to act!”

Nabiki looked deep into his eyes and said, “No one’s ever been able to one up me. No one. After what you did yesterday, I didn’t know how to feel. I wanted to hit you. I wanted to kill you, and break you. And then… I wanted to kiss you. I don’t know why. Lets get married.”

Ranma jumped back, “H-hey! Don’t get carried away here! Akane’s my fiancé remember? You made that baby, now deal with it. Besides, you don’t love me. You love my abilities.”

Nabiki didn’t even blink and said, “Yeah, I know. Can we still get married?”

Ranma finally found a towel and wrapped his violated body. “N-no. But I can give you what you really want, if you do a few things for me.”

Nabiki came in close and wrapped her arms around him. “Like what…?” She asked innocently.

Ranma grabbed her shoulders and threw her back hard and backed against a wall himself and slowly slid down, and wrapped his arms around his knees. “S-stop touching me! I hate being touched, you god damn pervert!”

Nabiki raised an eyebrow Ranma was soon being dowsed with cold water. “Maybe you have other fantasies then…” She started walking over to Ranma, slowly taking off her shirt. She stopped as soon as she heard a Ranma start crying, with her face buried in her knees. “W-what? I thought this was what you wanted…”

Ranma looked up quickly with a look of pure hate in her eyes. “You’re no better then them! Just another goddamn pervert trying to get what they want through seduction! Get the hell away from me! I hate people like you! Just another goddamn pervert trying to violate me! I hate you! Go away!”

Nabiki pulled her shirt down, and was at a loss for words. “I’m like what people!? I was just trying to give you what you wanted!”

Ranma shook her head furiously and started to hiccup while she cried. Her face was as bright as fire and her eyes couldn’t be seen. “What I wanted!? I just wanted you to stop trying to exploit people. Especially your sister! Why would I want any thing else!? I’m not greedy like you! YOUR NO BETTER THEN THOSE PERVERTS AT THE WHORE HOUSE! YOU JUST WANT TO USE ME AND THROW ME AWAY! I HATE YOU! GO AWAY!”

Nabiki not know what else to say started running out, with tears in her eyes, at Ranma’s harsh words. She had to dodge Akane as she ran into her room. Akane being woken up a second time, was becoming very annoyed, and had Ryouga in hand while she walked into the bathroom the yell at Ranma again. “What’s the matter this ti-“ She was cut off by seeing a half naked girl curled up in a ball crying. “R-Ranma! What’s wrong! What did Nabiki do to you!?” No answer just continued sobs.

Ryouga escaped Akane’s arms and leapt into the still warm tub, and was out and dressing in record time. “W-what’s wrong? Did you break some thing?”

Akane knelt down and started to cradle Ranma in her arms. “What’s wrong…?” Ranma still didn’t answer, and her eyes stayed closed, but her breathing was getting faster.

Ryouga was coming in closer to see what was wrong. “What’s wrong with him? If he’s hurt we shouldn’t move him.”

Akane shook her head. “No. Ranma’s not hurt. Nabiki did some thing, probably as pay back for yesterday…” She started stroking Ranma’s hair a little shushing her. “Shhhh. It’s ok, Ranma. I’m here…”

Ranma’s breathing slowed down a little, and she started sinking into Akane’s arms. She opened her eyes a little, but didn’t focus on any thing. She was busy in her own head, going through images and painful memories. She started closing them after a little time passed and soon she was asleep in Akane’s arms, still letting out a sob every now and then.

Ryouga stood there confused. “What’s going on here? What was that all about?”

Akane didn’t have any answers, just theories. “I’m not sure, but I think Nabiki brought some thing up that didn’t sit right with Ranma. I’ve seen her go off like this before, but it wasn’t as bad last time.”

Ryouga looked concerned and questioned. “What do you think set him off?”

Akane gave a small pause, and looked down at Ranma in her arms. “I don’t think it’s my place to tell you. Ranma has a bit of a bumpy past that she doesn’t like to talk about. I’m more then sure Nabiki found out and tried using it again her.”

Ryouga looked thoughtful. “Ok, I’ll try and keep my nose out of it… I think we should move him to his bed, he needs to rest.”

Akane nodded, and tried to stand up, but Ranma was latched onto her with a death grip. “Umm. I can’t move… She won’t let go. Can you help us over to my bed? I think she’ll get upset if I leave her.”

Ryouga blushed a little, but complied. He picked them both up as if a couple of feathers and took them on a tour of the house until Akane smacked him and started leading him the right way. Ryouga set them down and made his way down stairs to help Kasumi with any thing she needed. It took him 9 tries.

In Akane’s bed, Ranma made herself as cozy as possible. She held on close to Akane and found sanctuary between Akane’s breasts. Akane was having trouble thinking again. A huge surge of forbidden emotions started swelling up in her. ‘What am I thing!? I’m not like that… Maybe it’s because Ranma’s actually a guy? Yeah, that’s it, isn’t it? Its not wrong if Ranma’s actually a guy right…? Oh, he’d probably think I’m some kind of pervert. No. I can’t be… I like Ranma as a guy… Or do I?” Akane curled up tight with Ranma feeling awkward, and uncertain. She stroked Ranma’s head softly again, and pulled the covers over them.

Her hair was soft and skin smooth. Akane’s heart skipped a beat as she looked into a cute face sleeping peacefully. Her breathing became short and quick for a few seconds, as she started feeling the nervousness of the situation taking her over. Akane felt Ranma move slightly and she tried her best to calm down, but ended up shaking when she tried. There was a tension in the air that just couldn’t escape Akane. It made her mouth dry, and her legs feel cold. She became frigid after a little while and couldn’t get herself to relax or go to sleep.

To her horror, Ranma started stirring, woke up a little looked lazily into Akane’s eyes. Akane could feel her temperature rise, ‘Oh, god! She’s going to think I’m some sort of pervert! I’m so embarrassed!’ but she cooled down when she felt Ranma let go of her and start to roll over and curl up.

Akane started whispering into her ear. “I-I’m sorry Ranma. I-I didn’t mean too, well, umm…”

Ranma cut her off and talked as if she was still sleeping. “I don’t mind… As long as it’s you…”

She let out a few sobs, and she felt Akane start moving away from her. “You don’t have to say that Ranma… You must think I’m some kind of pervert… I-I didn’t mean to make you cry…”

Ranma kept her head turned away from Akane and started talking again. “It’s not you Akane. It’s me… I’m messed up.”

Akane tried to look at her face, but couldn’t. “What do you mean…?”

Ranma sighed a little a scrunched up a little more. “….I…. I really hate myself Akane. Some times I can’t stand who I am, or what I am. It tares me apart some times…”

Akane kept her distance and asked, “What do you mean? How can you hate yourself?”

Ranma started shaking a little. “I’m not who I used to be… I was so proud once. Nothing could topple my confidence back then, but things always took a turn for the worst around me. Once I became cursed, I became a different person…”

Akane felt that she needed to start asking the right questions. “You told me that no matter how often you’re alone, you’re always the same person. How can you say that? How did the curse effect your personality?”

Ranma shook her head. “It didn’t… I started lying to myself to cope with the changes. I pretended I was some one else, so I could rub off the guilt of my actions. I joke around a lot to pretend that nothing bothers me, but in truth… Every thing does. Most of the time I just wish I was dead… That’s one of the reasons I let Ryouga do that to me… I just want to curl up and die some times. I was really hoping he would have killed me…”

Akane gasped at this and rolled Ranma over against her will. “How can you say such a thing!? How could you want to die!?”

Ranma’s eyes steered away from Akane’s. “E-ever since I was raped, I’ve felt cold, and alone. I can’t trust people any more… I can’t feel any thing for other people any more…I feel completely unsexed.”

Ranma’s eyes started watering as Akane looked at her. “What about me? Can’t you trust me? Can’t we trust each other?”

Ranma looked up at her with pleading eyes. “I want to, but its hard. How can I trust some one who lies to them self…?”

Akane was shocked and staring at Ranma. “W-what do you mean? How do I lie to myself…?”

Ranma shook her head, and tears started coming out again. “Akane… I need some one that I can trust to hold me. I hate to admit it, but I want to be held by some one. I want some one to help me get through these feelings. I want that person to be you, but you need to kill your own demons before you can help me fight mine…”

Akane looked long and hard at Ranma. She was scared, and didn’t know what to expect. Her heart started beating as Ranma started snuggling closer to Akane. “Look at me…” Akane did so, and she felt her chest start to tingle as she looked into Ranma’s big blue eyes. “Hold me…” Akane slowly wrapped her arms around the red head while looking into those steel blue eyes. Ranma gave a long pause, and finally gave the last instruction. “Kiss me…” Akane became frightened, and wasn’t quite sure what to do. She started looking unsure and felt herself shaking again. “Akane… I need you to open up to me. I need to meet the real you… Please…” Akane let Ranma’s words sink in as she felt some thing in the pit of her stomach. Ranma tightened up her eyes a little and looked at Akane with pain filled eyes. No words where needed Akane knew what she needed to do. She knew what she wanted to do. Akane swallowed, and held Ranma just a little tighter then before. She started moving slowly towards to smaller girls lips with need and anticipation. She stopped just short of the other girl’s lips and gave some last minute thought. With a little hesitation, she finally let go and connected. The kiss was warm, deep, and long. Akane could feel her mouth becoming moist again. The thumping of her heart slowed down, and the boiling feeling in Akane over flowed.

Akane pulled back reluctantly and opened her eyes to look at Ranma. “I-I…” Ranma put a finger to her lips, and looked deep into her soul. “You’ve taken the first step to knowing who you really are… but can you accept it…?”

Akane swallowed, and slowly nodded. “Y…Yes… I think I can… As long as its with you…”

Ranma held her as close as possible, and gave her another kiss. “Thanks Akane… You’re the first person I’ve been able to call a friend in a long time… Thank you…” Ranma let out a few more tears and cried against Akane’s chest.

She started to stroke her head again, “No… Thank you… I think…”

Ranma started letting out her smile once again and wiped her eyes. “No one should go through life, not knowing who they are…”

Akane looked down once again, at the red head. “What about you? Who are you?”

Ranma closed her eyes with a content smile on her face, “I’m hoping you’ll help me find out… You’re really warm, ya know?” and with that Ranma dozed off again into her dreamland. Akane smiled, kissed her forehead, and let her hands explore Ranma’s smooth back with out fear.

She started closing her eyes slowly and whispered. “I’ll help in every way I can… Any thing for you…” She closed her eyes and let the sleep take over her, as she held the person she could love for the rest of her life.