Worth It | By : bigtrw Category: +M to R > Ranma ½ Views: 12225 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Worth It
Ranma panted as she tried to catch her breath. Her body was worn out, and she was soaked to the bone. Ranma heard a coughing noise next to her and turned towards the girl next to her.
“Akane, are you okay?” she asked. Akane Tendo coughed lightly and opened her eyes to see her fiancé kneeling next to her.
“Ranma…you…you saved me,” she said softly. Ranma merely smiled at her.
“Shinnosuke…Shinnosuke, my boy, wake up!” a voice interrupted. Both of the teenagers turned to see an older man rubbing a brush across a younger man’s back. The long scars that were once on the young man’s back disappeared, and he slowly opened his eyes.
“Grandpa, is that you?” Shinnosuke asked. He was immediately smothered by his grandfather in a tight bear hug.
‘Shinnosuke, I’m so glad you’re all right,’ Akane said silently. A warm smile spread across her face until a shadow fell over them.
From the nearby lake, the massive eight-headed Orochi reemerged. Ranma calmly stood up- her face a pillar of concentration.
‘Since this thing only eats girls, we’ll see if it likes me.’ Ranma turned towards Akane, and her heart began to ache with a familiar pain. ‘No, Akane has a right to choose who she wants, and she’s chosen Shinnosuke. The only thing that I can do now is protect both him and her.’
Ranma noticed a small, black pig sitting next to a boiling kettle of water and quickly snatched the metal container- much to the pig’s displeasure. She turned towards Shinnosuke who was now in a sitting position.
“Shinnosuke, make sure you take care of her.” Without another word, Ranma took over towards the lake.
“Ranma!” Akane gasped but fell to her knees when she tried to follow. Her body was just too drained to move.
“Please, you don’t have enough strength to take on the Orochi alone,” grandfather called out to Ranma.
“Shinnosuke, listen to me, take Akane and go!” she ordered. Ranma jumped into the air and landed on one of the long necks of the monster.
The vicious eight-headed snake immediately went after Ranma with a vengeance. The red-haired martial artist manage to avoid its attacks for a few minutes, but Ranma was closing in on her limit. She miss-timed an attack, and the main head wrapped its tongue around her.
Akane watched in horror as Ranma was drawn into the dragon’s mouth. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Ranma couldn’t lose; he never lost!
“Please!” she cried and stared at her two companions. “There has to be something we can do!” Shinnosuke approached her and took her arm.
“Akane, we need to go; Ranma’s doing this so you’ll be safe,” the young man said sadly.
“No, I won’t leave him there!” she cried out. Akane turned back towards the lake just as the dragon’s mouth closed tight. “RANMA!”
Ranma knew that she didn’t have a lot of time. The dragon had just closed its mouth, and it was about to swallow its catch. She quickly poured the hot water over herself, and Ranma promptly tore off the girl’s uniform that he’d had on. He felt some of his energy coming now that he was in his original form once again. He cupped his hands into a ball and drew upon all of his remaining strength.
“MOUKO…”
The dragon knew that it no longer had a female in its mouth and quickly opened its jaw to expel the intruder, but it was too late.
“TAKABISHYA!!!” Ranma let loose the most powerful chi blast that he’d ever thrown.
On the bank, the three on-lookers saw a bright red light emanate from the head’s mouth.
“What is that?” Shinnosuke gasped.
“It’s Ranma!” Akane said happily.
Ranma’s blast flew down into the stomach of the monster and exploded when it encountered the monster’s own energy. Ranma was thrown out of its mouth just as the lake exploded upward into a massive pillar of water. The battered martial artist landed hard on the ground, and Akane ran for him.
“Ranma!” she cried out as she approached him. Ranma couldn’t get up on anything but his knees; his energy was so low that he’d didn’t have the strength to stand. His eyes felt heavy, and his limbs ached with agonizing pain.
“Ranma, are you all right?” Akane asked once she’d reached him. He didn’t answer but just cracked a half-smile at her. Shinnosuke and his grandfather quickly caught up with them.
“My boy, you’re incredible! That was the most powerful chi attack that I’ve ever seen!” the old man gasped. Akane smiled in agreement; Ranma always was the best.
She looked at his broken and battered form. His arms were charred from the explosion, and he had several large bruises on his abdomen and face.
“Ranma, I don’t know how you did that!” Shinnosuke said in utter shock. He now knew that he was dealing with a martial artist far superior to anything that he could hope to achieve. This young man could easily kill him in a fight, and yet, when Akane told him to stop, he stopped without a second thought.
Ranma heard their compliments, but he knew that the Orochi wasn’t finished. That pillar of water was only holding it up in the air, and soon, it was going to come crashing to the ground- directly on top of them!
Not long after, a shadow fell over the group once again.
“What now?” Akane asked.
“The Orochi! It’s falling,” grandfather shouted.
“Everyone run!” Ranma choked out.
“But Ranma, you’re hurt!” Akane protested. Ranma staggered to his feet and glared at her.
“Shut-up, Akane! I’m too slow to get clear in time. Now for once listen to me and go! That thing’s going to crush us!” he hissed. Akane refused to move.
“No, Ranma, I won’t leave you to commit suicide,” she said stubbornly.
“Damn you, you stupid tomboy.” Ranma toned down his temper, and his eyes became softer. “Akane, if I mean anything to you, then please go.” The youngest Tendo could see an almost desperate look in her fiancé’s eyes.
“Akane…” Shinnosuke stated took her arm. He looked Ranma in the eye, and the young Saotome nodded at him. “Come on.”
Akane couldn’t think…couldn’t move…so Shinnosuke had to carry her over his shoulder as they ran for cover.
Ranma looked up at the monster approaching him. He may not have Akane, but he wasn’t going to die with giving it everything he had! He slowly lifted his right arm into the air and aimed at the falling serpent.
‘Power of the spirit…power of the soul…give me the strength that I need!’
Ranma closed his right fist and drew upon the very essence of his being.
“Ranma!” Akane screamed from wooded area that they’d taken shelter in. She wanted to run to him, but Shinnosuke was holding her too tightly. “Let me go! He needs me!”
“Akane, Ranma is honoring you by doing this; let’s at least respect his decision,” the young man said sadly. The girl shook her head defiantly.
“No, I can’t and won’t accept it! I won’t lose him…I can’t lose him!” Akane shouted as she tugged at his grip on her wrists.
“Wait a minute, what’s he doing?” grandfather stated and pointed towards Ranma. Akane could see a blue aura surrounding her fiancé’s body; he was going to fight!
“Ranma’s going to fight!” she said happily.
“How? He’s drained all of his energy fighting the Orochi earlier,” grandfather stated.
“I don’t know how, but Ranma’s never lost a fight!” Akane said confidently. ‘Please, Ranma, don’t lose this time. Don’t make me regret not telling you how I feel.’
The monstrous snake fell towards Ranma, and its remaining seven heads extended to blast him as it fell. If it was going to die, it was going to take its killer with it!
Ranma was breathing hard, but he clenched his fist and concentrated. This was it- one moment to decide his fate. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath.
“HIRYU…SHOTEN…HAAAAAAAA!!!” Ranma shouted. He released everything that he had within him- his fear, his strength, his guilt, his happiness, his shame, his honor, his pride, his confidence, and his love. The dragon spiral wave made contact with the Orochi and drove it back.
“He’s doing it!” Akane said happily. The light coming from the battle was so bright that she could barely see.
“Akane, Ranma doesn’t have the power left within him to destroy the Orochi,” grandfather stated.
“What are you saying?” she demanded.
“Look,” he responded. Ranma’s beam wasn’t trying to destroy the Orochi; it was directing it. “You see, Ranma is moving it so that it will fall back into the lake.”
Ranma was trembling as he tried to keep going. He hoped that he’d moved the Orochi enough so that it would fall back into the water. He felt one last thing holding him back; the one thing that would always be his undoing. Ranma knew that Akane had made a choice, and he would respect that choice, but he needed to say one phrase that was hidden at the bottom of his heart.
“I LOVE YOU, AKANE!!!” he shouted and poured all he had left inis bis beam.
Akane almost that she’d heard her name called but quickly shook it off as she saw the smoke clear, and the Orochi fall back into the lake.
“He did it!” she said happily.
“Yes, now that the main body is destroyed, the Orochi won’t have enough strength to make it out of the lake ever again!” grandfather added.
Akane ran towards the embankment, praying that Ranma was still alive.
A few minutes later, she found him…face down and not moving. Akane rolled him over, but he was completely unresponsive.
“Ranma…Ranma can you hear me?” she said and shook him. Shinnosuke and his grandfather arrived, and the old man knelt down by Ranma’s side.
“Akane, he has a pulse, but it’s very weak,” he stated as he touched Ranma’s neck.
“Ranma…it’s Akane, can you hear me?” she repeated but received silence once again.
“He needs rest, Akane, let’s take him back to the house,” the old man advised. With Shinnosuke’s help, he and Akane managed to carry Ranma back to their forest home.
Author’s Notes: Next chapter to follow soon. Please review and let me know how you think that it turned out.
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