Alternatives -- Chapter 8 Ranma 1/2 and all of its' characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and all of the companies who have licensed it. I don't own any of it. I do not have permission to use her characters or ideas. I am writing solely for pleasure. Don't sue. All comments, flames, MST's or other responses are welcome. Let me know what you think. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ An unreasonable, jealous anger simmered within Ranko as she sat and watched Akane fall sobbing into Ranma's arms, arms that by all rights should have been hers. She looked down through tear blurred eyes at herself. Bitterly, she noticed that she couldn't even hold Akane the way she wanted to because her arms were smaller and shorter than Akane's. Hell, she was shorter and smaller than all of her old fiancees now. When she had been crying and holding onto Akane, it had been *her* head on the other's shoulder. *She* had been the one wrapped in Akane's arms. *Her* arms had been hooked up and over her fiancee's shoulders. Her *friend's* shoulders, she amended. Akane could never again be more than her friend. She certainly would never be her wife. The more she watched Ranma tenderly stroke Akane's head and murmur soothing words to her, the more she felt cheated out of the life that should have been, no, WAS hers. Finding she was not in control of her emotions, she decided to leave before doing something that she might regret. Having difficulty standing up, she was surprised that it wasn't her usual automatic reflex. Knees too wobbly to balance securely on, her arms whipped about in an attempt to keep upright and she wondered if toddlers felt this way when they took their first steps. Ranko took a step, kept her balance and tried another, this time falling unceremoniously at Ranma and Akane's feet. "Ranko! What are you trying to do?" Akane asked with concern as she pulled her head from Ranma's shoulder to see what had happened. "Cologne said that you shouldn't be up until at least nightfall," "I've gotta get outta here. You two need privacy and I need some fresh air," Ranko said in desperation. She began trying to stand up again. "At least, let me help you!" Akane easily stood and moved to support her. "NO!" Ranko shouted in fury and envy. Catching herself, she took a breath and tried to calm down. "I just need to get out of here for a while, OK?" With a look of shock and hurt on her face, Akane shot back, "Fine, fall on your face again. I don't care!" As she spoke, she sat down next to Ranma with her back towards Ranko. Nodoka, hearing the shout, asked as she opened the door to the room, "Is everything okay? I thought I heard someone yelling." Seeing Ranko, she rushed over and tried to get her back on her pallet, "Young lady, what do you think you're doing? You need to rest!" Angrily, Ranko resisted as Nodoka pushed her back. "Mom, I've to get out of this room!" she said. She looked at her mother, trying to get her to understand the pain she was going through. Trying to learn how to mother a daughter, Nodoka viewed the pain and suffering in Ranko's face and tried to understand the plea written there. Blushing a little, Nodoka began, "Oh! Ranko dear, I think I understand. Let's get you to the bathroom. Daughter, has anyone ever talked to you about what a woman goes through?" "Mom, that's not it at all. I ... just ... need ... to ... get ... some ... fresh ... air," Ranko said through clenched teeth. Still, she blushed slightly at what her mother had suggested. Her jealousy and anger, however, continued to push her from the room. "Really, mom, I just need to go outside for a little while." "All right, I'll help you. Akane, please stay here while I help Ranko," Nodoka said. Sensing Ranko was too distraught to reprimand for the tone of voice she used, she decided to say nothing about it. As Nodoka and Ranko came down the stairs, Ukyo moved forward towards them. "Here, Mrs. Saotome, let me help. Where are you going, sugar?" She asked as she took Nodoka's place beside Ranko. "Outside," Ranko said curtly. Ukyo took note of her pale face and red, puffy eyes. As she wrapped her arm around the redhead's shoulders, she could feel the anxiety in her body. Sensing that she needed a friend, she jokingly asked her, "Do you want to go out back and sit or would you like to go out the front and visit with Kuno?" Ranko winced as if she had been slapped, "That's not even funny, Ukyo. I just want to be alone." "Okay, the back door it is!" Ukyo smiled, trying to ease the tension. Once outside, Ukyo slowly walked Ranko to the town square. The center of the village was where most non-specialized training, all tournaments and challenges were held. There were several women and girls training as Ukyo and Ranko sat down beside each other to watch. Neither said anything as they both evaluated the different fighters. Judging that Ranko was in a very frail state emotionally, Ukyo decided to let her begin any conversation. She assumed that the best thing that she could do right now was just to be beside her. If Ranko wanted to talk, she would. When she did, Ukyo would be there to support her. The silence between the two intensified. Whenever two or more people began sparring, Ranko would glance from one fighter to another as she tried to anticipate their moves. After watching for a few minutes, she felt that she understood the styles that each was practicing. As her mind began wandering, she found that her curiosity was beginning to grow about something. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, she said, "Ukyo?" "Yes, sugar?" "Why are you here, and not at the cabin?" She asked this in a quiet voice, while looking at her friend sideways through her bangs. "What do you mean, honey?" Ukyo answered, confusion obvious in her voice. "Well, I'm not your fiance. I'm just a girl who used to be ..." Ranko stopped as the bitterness and pain once again threatened to overwhelm her. She turned her face back to the practice area, not sure whether she was more afraid that Ukyo would leave or stay. "You're a woman who used to be a man. Not just any man, you were raised to be a man's man, Ranma Saotome, fighter extraordinaire. Now you're thinking that you're just a little girl, Ranko, a cute little orchid," Ukyo almost spat out the last words in the mocking contempt she imagined Ranko felt. Slowly, hesitantly, she reached and took Ranko's hands in hers. "Ranko, you've lost more than anyone ever expects to today. I'm not going to try and sugar-coat it for you, honey. You're hurting and hurting badly," she continued in a voice full of kindness. "Let me tell you a story. It's a story you've heard before, but I think it might have a different meaning for you today," Ukyo said with a melancholy smile. "When I was a very little girl, I had this friend who always was challenging me for food..." "Daddy, I'll stop that jackass, Ranchan today. No girl is going to get by ME!" she told her father proudly. "Ukyo-chan, Ranchan is a boy. He's not a girl. What gave you the idea he was a girl?" her father asked while chuckling. "Well, she's fun to play with! She's not icky like a boy. She has long hair!" Ukyo-chan said in triumph, "Ranchan gots to be a girl!" "No, my girl, Ranchan is a boy. His father is traveling with him teaching him martial arts. Something like we travel together, while I teach you everything there is to know about okonomiyaki," her father gently corrected her. "Humph!" Ukyo-chan thought quietly for a moment. "Daddy, since Ranchan and I get along so good, and he's a boy and I'm a girl, does that mean we'll get married when we grow up?" "It could, Ukyo-chan, it very well could. Why don't we wait and see, hmm?" her father chuckled. "Okay, Daddy." Ukyo paused, and musingly said, "I think that's when father decided we should be married. A few days later, my father came to me..." "Ukyo-chan, I have some wonderful news for you!" her father smiled as he told her the good news. She was so excited! She ran and told all of her friends in pre-school. The other girls were all jealous that Ukyo had become engaged and would be going all over Japan with her new fiance. They all thought it was really neat and romantic. When they all went home that night, they told their parents that they wanted a fiance so they could travel, just like Ukyo. Their parents told them that having a fiance and getting to travel were two very different things. As the day came for her departure, the pre-school had a going-away party for Ukyo-chan. She had a great time. Two days later, when she was once again back in the pre-school, none of the other girls would play with her anymore. They all said that because her fiance had run away with her dowry she wasn't good enough to be a girl and that she should play with the OTHER boys. At home with her father that night, she told him what had happened at her pre-school. He was angrier than she had ever seen him. He cursed the entire Saotome clan, he cursed the pre-school she attended and lastly he cursed the other children who treated his little girl so badly. Turning to her, he said, "There is only one thing to do, Ukyo. May you forgive me someday. From now on, you are to be a boy. You will wear boy's clothes and act like a boy. I will change all of your records to show you as a boy. In this way, your dishonor shall forever be forgotten." From that day forth, Ukyo-chan the girl was no more. Ukyo was now a boy and he had to hide the fact of his differences from then on. "Ranko, I had to learn how to be a boy. Acting like a boy was easy. All I had to do was be stupid and try to show off by doing even dumber things than the others were doing. The problem was the physical difference. For instance, do you have any idea what it's like to only pee when no one else is around? My bladder must have been ten times the average size!" she smiled to herself. Regaining her seriousness, she continued, "When I hit puberty, I thought I was going to die. When you're enrolled at an all boys boarding school, who do you ask about the changes going on in your body? How do you hide them from the other guys?" Ukyo shivered in remembered shame and embarrassment. Aghast, Ranko stared at her friend. She had known that Ukyo had pretended to be a boy growing up, she had never taken the time to think about what she must have endured. "Ucchan, I'm sorry. I-I never realized." "I know, Ranchan, I never told you. I wanted you to marry me because you loved me, not because you pitied me," she smiled at her friend. They sat quietly for a few minutes, each lost in her own thoughts. Ranko, struck by the parallels in her and Ukyo's lives, sat and wondered what shames and embarrassments Ukyo had faced in her life as a boy. She tried to imagine passing as a girl while still having a boy's body. Looking at Ukyo, she felt a closeness and a sympathy for her friend she never had before. Trying to summon her courage, Ukyo sat and thought about how she wanted to broach the next subject. Sighing and with timid touch, she put her hand on Ranko's leg gaining her attention, "Ranchan? I've got something else to tell you." "Yeah, Ucchan?" "When you were in the spring today, I went to the Guide's hut." "I knew that wasn't a dream!" Realizing that she had interrupted, she blushed and said, "Uh, sorry, Ucchan, go on." "When I saw what you were going through, I couldn't bear the thought that you would be doing that again, just for me," she closed her eyes trying to stop the memory. "Ranm-Ranko-honey, I asked the Guide if there was anything that could be done to save you from the pain of the jumps. He told me that the Spring of Drowned Twins, as the only permanent spring, always caused that agony. He told me that the only way to save you was to use Nannichuan water." "What!" Ranko interjected, "Please, tell me that he didn't give it to you!" "No, I can't, sugar. He gave me the Nannichuan water then," Ukyo said gently. "I-I'm going to use it on myself." Ukyo shuddered involuntarily. Lowering her head so that the tears in her eyes could not be seen, she continued, "I don't think I could live with myself if I let you go through that ordeal again. Let me do this for you. This way, I'll be able to help you adjust and save you some of the pain I've been through." Curling up in shock, Ranko pulled away from Ukyo, even as her eyes got bigger and her jaw dropped open. "Ucchan, you don't know what you're saying. Being cursed is awful! Do you really want to be afraid of water the rest of your life? Never knowing from one minute to the next what sex you'll be?" "Ranchan, I've lived as a guy most of my life. I know how to do it. It'll seem strange to have a thing between my legs and not have breasts, but at least I won't have to bind them anymore. From what I've seen, boxers are more comfortable than bras, too," Ukyo nervously smiled. "Are you willing to give up all of your dreams for me?" Ranko asked, afraid of the answer she was going to hear. "Give up my dreams? I've already given up my dream of revenge upon you and your father. I'm not giving up my dream of being the best okonomiyaki chef in Japan. I'm not even giving up my dream of being married to Ranma Saotome. The dream is changing, that's all." Timidly and very self-consciously, Ukyo knelt in front of Ranko, looking into her eyes she said, "I love you, Ranchan, will you marry me?" Ranko couldn't believe what she was hearing. Ukyo loved her. She loved her as much or more as she was in love with Akane. Racking her brain for answers, she said, "Ucchan, I don't want you to be cursed. It's not something I would wish on anyone, not even ... well, maybe Happosai. Ranma is still going to jump again, even with your sacrifice. Shampoo and Kodachi still need Ranmas. How will your cursing yourself stop that?" "It's not. He won't have to hurt himself for me. I'll still have you and I'll be there for you. That's all I'm doing. Can't you understand?" Ukyo said in frustration. "Yes. Yes, I do understand, Ucchan," Ranko said sadly. "I understand because I don't like to see the ones I love hurt either. That's why we're here. Do you really want to be a man? Could you be happy knowing you were born a woman, living a man's life?" As she asked the question, Ranko reached out and caressed Ukyo's jaw lightly. Holding the other girl's hand against her face, Ukyo quietly implored, "Ranchan, I've already told you that I lived as a boy for the last ten years. Until you called me your cute fiancee, I expected to live as a man for the rest of my life. If you are by my side, I will be happy." "I don't know, Ucchan. There's got to be another way. What if I splash myself? I got used to being a boy cursed to be a girl, I guess I could get used to the opposite." "Ranchan, be honest with me. Would you rather be an uncursed girl or cursed to be both again?" "All I know is that I'm tired of being afraid of water. The curse caused me more problems than anything else in my life, including my father," she answered begrudgingly. "Then I'll use the water on myself. You won't have to be afraid of water ever again. As I've already said, I'll be there for you whenever you need me. Our problems are solved," Ukyo pronounced with a grin, only her quavering voice betraying her fear. Ranko suddenly sat up a little straighter as a thought struck her, she said with excitement, "I know what we need to do! I'll splash myself with Nannichuan and jump into the spring with Ranma tomorrow. Then there will be three male Ranmas and me. There will only need to be one more jump made afterwards for everyone to be satisfied." Ukyo sat for a moment, thinking over Ranko's suggestion. The more she thought about it, the better it sounded. However, she knew the pain and loneliness Ranko would be facing, having lived through the reverse herself. Not wanting her to go through what she had as a child, Ukyo formed a plan of her own. She still didn't want anyone to go through what she had witnessed, but knew it couldn't be stopped. She said with resignation, "Ranchan, that's a good plan. When do you want to get the water?" Grimacing at the thought of intentionally cursing herself again, Ranko said, "Let's do it, before I change my mind." *^*^*^* The little black piglet ran for his life. He stopped, his head whipping around in a frantic search for any kind of hiding place. The hunters were almost upon him and he needed to find cover, any kind of cover. There was a small hole under a tree root and he tried to crawl into it. Unfortunately, his bandanna snared upon the root and caught fast, trapping him. As he heard the hunter come up behind him, he closed his eyes, said a quick prayer for Akari and waited for the killing blow. When the blow came, he gave one last snort and collapsed into a heap. "This pig has spunk! Myrrh will be pleased that we caught this one!" one of the hunters said to the other. "Who cares about Myrrh? I just want to have fun and this one has much spirit," another said eagerly. Together, they tied the piglet up and wandered back to their camp. Arriving at camp, they found that the others had been successful in finding bridal candidates. Some had captured a deer, four rabbits, a frog, and two squirrels. Not caring about laws not their own, a few had liberated two hens and a sheep from a local farm. At the worst, they were going to eat well the next few days. Optimally they would be going home with twelve mistresses to strengthen the Musk people. They all were going to enjoy the next few days. His first thought upon waking was surprise that he was still alive. Ryouga tried moving but couldn't because his legs had been bound securely with wire. Still hurting from the blow to his head and unable to concentrate, he fuzzily surmised that he had a concussion. Not being able to do anything else, he looked around trying to figure a way to escape, given the chance. He was in a camp set up in a military style. The tents had been set up in three rows of nine each, with four other, larger ones slightly separated from the rest. These were the shelters for the leaders of the band. Lastly, a sunshade large enough for ten men was pitched close to the woods from which smoke and the smells of cooking drifted. Placed in the space between the jungle and a valley filled with springs, the camp was not very defensible. He looked at the valley, knowing that he'd seen it before, but where? Then he remembered, Jusenkyo, valley of the cursed springs! He hadn't gotten too lost, at least. Why didn't they kill him? He looked at his immediate surroundings and found that many animals were bound or tied down next to him. He could only wonder what they had planned for him. His answer came quickly. A soldier came by and took the sheep with him on a leash. He led it towards a pool where most of the other men had gathered. Since they spoke Chinese and he didn't, he couldn't understand anything being said. However, he could tell that some sort of division was being done. For when the sheep was within the group of men, three stepped forward pointing to themselves and arguing loudly. The argument became louder and more heated until one of the men drew his sword and advanced upon the other two. At that point, a monster of a man stepped forward and yelled something at them. The three then looked at each other and stood at attention. The leader moved forward and randomly selected the three men. The first man picked, smiled in victory and began removing his clothing. When he was naked, he grabbed the leash on the sheep, picked the animal up and threw it into the pool. Pulling on the leash, he pulled a woman from the pool. Stunned at what he was seeing, he remembered tales of the Musk and their practice of marrying animals, but had believed that custom had gone the way of foot-binding. He knew differently now. As the terrified screams of the newly created woman began ripping through the night, Ryouga stared in shocked horror and revulsion as an organized gang rape began. By the time the third man took her, even her sobs had stopped and she lay unmoving underneath her rapist. As he finished, he stood up and spat on her and said something to the other men. One of them handed him a pot of water, which he threw on the woman. She transformed back into a sheep, which he quickly killed and began butchering. It was at this point that Ryouga's head injury allowed him to escape the sheer barbarity of the tableau in front of him by forcing him unconscious. Ryouga woke the next morning when it was his turn. As the man holding him began walking towards the spring, he tried with all of his might to break away. He was unsuccessful for two reasons: he was still bound with wire and the man carrying him was expecting the pig to struggle. As he neared the bastards who called themselves men, he vowed to himself that he would die before they did anything to him. He felt someone attach something to his bandanna as the wires were removed from his legs. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air into the spring. As she stood up, Ryouga was surprised to find that she was a normal looking woman and not a half-pig woman. She felt a tug on her bandanna and looked toward the beast pulling her towards himself. Her eyelids slotted in anger. A small smile formed on her lips as she began concentrating, beginning a build-up of chi in preparation for performing a Shishi Houkodan. With a gasp of pain, she fell forward into the water as her concentration failed because of her head injury. "I'll die before you can touch me!" she yelled as she felt herself pulled forward. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ja ne, Mike Allen http://home1.gte.net/allenmk PS. Please email me with your thoughts, feelings and suggestions. I love to know that people are reading what I write.