"WASURERARENAI" (Unforgettable)
An alternative reality fanfic written by Emily Siazon.
All characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
< > are thoughts
[ ] are panda signs
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Chapter 7
*********

     He was lost. To Ryoga Hibiki, this has become a common occurrence
and he wasn't too bothered with it. However, that didn't mean that he
was giddy with joy. He had spent the whole day frowning and would
often scare off little children by suddenly snarling out of the blue.

     He was mad at himself for not doing anything when Akane had
needed him the most. He should have run up to her, learned how to
skate, anything to help her.
 
     Ryoga punched a nearby wall in frustration, not noticing the
glares from the other pedestrians. His mind was too busy torturing
him with images of Mikado kissing Akane.

     <That...that pervert!> He wanted so badly to hit that arrogant
face of his. Mikado had forced himself on the only person Ryoga could
call his friend.

     Akane had taken care of him after she had found him in pig form
on her front porch. She shared her food with him and even hugged him
occasionally. She told him things he knew she would never share with
anyone else.

     He ignored the little voice in his head that informed him that
she only cared for him as a pig and not as a person. Surely, with
time she'd realize that he was the man for her.

     Ryoga's head jerked up with a start as the thought made its way
to his conscious mind. Where in the world had it come from? She was
only a friend, right? He thought back to the events at the rink and
admitted that his reaction went beyond the concern of one. If he
didn't know any better, he could have sworn that he liked her.

     But that was ridiculous, wasn't it? He had only met her...and yet
as the day she took care of him replayed in his mind, he had to admit
that it was the first time in his life that he felt that someone
cared.

     Ryoga cherished the warm feeling that enveloped him as his mind
became filled with thoughts of happier moments with her. He then
slowed down considerably when it was replaced by a dull ache after he
realized that she wasn't there with him.

     He looked up questioningly at the setting sun as if he expected
it to give him an answer. <Is this what love feels like?>

                         *        *        *

     "Hey, look. There's a talent contest in two weeks," Shinnosuke
said, pointing out a flyer stuck against a lamp post.

     Akane looked up and carefully read the writing on the colorful
piece of paper. "Do you think that..."

     Her voice was cut off by the sound of approaching footsteps and
a sharp intake of air as the person behind them tried to catch her
breath.

     The two teenagers whirled around and was a bit surprised to find
themselves face to face with the oldest Tendo girl.

     "Hi!" Kasumi exclaimed cheerfully as she placed the shopping bags
she was holding on the ground. "I've been calling your names for a
while now."

     "Sorry, Kasumi. I guess we didn't hear you. By the way, have you
met Shinnosuke?"

     "Oh yes. We saw him at the skating match. Ranma insisted that we
watch."

     Akane's happy smile wavered a bit as she remembered the unwanted
incident at the rink a week ago. She still couldn't believe that her
first kiss was with a major jerk.

     If she could have had it her way, it would have been with someone
she loved, like...."

     "Akane?" Kasumi asked, sounding a bit worried.

     She couldn't help but blush a bit when she saw her two companions
looking at her, their faces filled with concern. How long had she been
out of it? "Yes?"

     "I said I love your necklace."

     "Really?" She could still remember the day it had been given to
her. It was one of the precious few memories she had of her family.

                          *        *        *        

     "What's that, mommy?" a six year old Akane asked as she held the
heart shaped locket with her chubby little fingers.

     She was in a dark room with the older woman, watching the star
filled sky as they both tried their best to ignore the feeling of
despair in the once happy home.

     Her mother had been in bed for months, pale as a ghost. Her
father, once a tall, proud man was no longer an imposing figure as
he slept on a nearby cot. He had rings under his eyes and he looked
malnourished from the lack of food. He refused to leave his wife's
side as if he knew that this were his last moments with her.

     "It's a present from your father when we were very young," her
mother answered as she glanced down at the beautiful necklace
sparkling in the moonlight. "He gave it to me to show me that he
cared."

     "Can I have it?"

     "Only if you promise to take very good care of it."

     "I will."

                         *        *        *

     "Yes. I think it's very pretty," Kasumi commented as she picked
up her bags and started to walk home.

     "It was a gift from someone," Akane answered while walking
beside her.

     "Whose picture did you put in it?"

     "Huh?"

     "In the locket. Don't you know that it's for keeping a picture
of yourself and the person you love?"

     "No."

     "Really?" Shinnosuke asked eagerly. He was the only one who
found the topic interesting. "Why would a person do that?"

     "I think it's suppose to show devotion or something," Kasumi
answered with a shrug before changing the subject. "Hey, you're
coming to our house for lunch, right?"

     "Yeah."

     "We'd better hurry then. It's getting late and I haven't started
making any of the food yet."

                          *        *        *

     Akane looked up from the vegetables she was busy cutting when
Ranma-chan ran into the house yelling for hot water.

     She was about to follow her when the wall beside her exploded to
let in a very pretty girl with long purple hair.

     "Ranma, I kill!" she yelled angrily as she followed the wet trail
of water Ranma-chan had left behind.

     Akane blinked in surprise when the obviously foreign girl
disappeared from her sight as well.

     "What...?" Akane started to say before she almost got run over by
a now male Ranma.

     "Please don't tell her I'm here."

     "Who?"

     "Where Ranma?" the girl demanded as she stomped into the room.
Judging from her attire, Akane guessed she was Chinese.

     Akane looked over at Ranma who was busy making guestures at her
not to tell. She frowned, curious of why he was so scared of the girl.
After a moment of hesitation, she decided to comply to his request.
"I think I saw her run outside."

     "Bad!" the Chinese girl exclaimed while crushing various
appliances in the room with her bonbori. She created another hole in
the wall and rushed after her prey.

     "Oh dear, what's with all the noise?" Kasumi inquired, carrying a
sack of flour out of the pantry. She took one look at her kitchen and
quickly started to clean up. "You two really shouldn't practice in
here."

     The two teenagers blinked in surprise and opened their mouths to
explain. Then they realized how ridiculous their story sounded, so all
they said was, "We'll keep that in mind."

                          *        *       *

     The whole Tendo household was busy eating lunch and
complementing Kasumi on another fabulous meal. That is, of course,
with the exception of Ranma and Akane.

     Ranma had managed so far not to explain what was going on and
Akane was dying of curiosity.

     She watched him from the corner of her eye', noticing that he
was avoiding her gaze. She wanted to ask who the girl was, and most
importantly, why she was after him.

     The frown on Shinnosuke's face deepened as he watched them from
the opposite side of the table. Something was up between the two, and
he didn't like it one bit.

                        *        *        *

     Akane smiled at Kasumi while she helped the older girl bring the
desserts to the table. Everyone was drooling as the two put their
respective bowls of purple yam ice cream before them.

     "Why are you guys serving ice cream when it's freezing outside?"
Ranma complained, although he was watching the bowls just as hungrily
as the rest.

     "Just think about it this way, you don't have to worry about it
melting on you," Akane answered.

     [I'll have it you don't want it,] Genma wrote on his wooden sign
as he finished his bowl in a matter of seconds and was now busy trying
to take his son's.

     "Don't even think about it, old..."

     Whatever he was saying after that was drowned by a very loud
sound. The bowls rattled slightly as the sound was repeated again and
again until the wall behind Ranma and Akane exploded violently.

     Ranma eyed the purple haired girl warily as she made her way in.
She was watching their faces closely, apparently looking for someone.
He guessed that it was most likely his female form so she could use
that sword she had chased her with earlier.

     Her disappointed frown turn to an annoyed scowl when she spotted
Akane. "You hide Ranma. Shampoo kill!" she yelled, unsheathing her
long, sharp knife.

     Akane just looked at her, unable to move out of fear. Shinnosuke
saw this and started to get up to stop her. No one would hurt Akane
while he was around, especially for such an obvious lie. After all,
Akane had no reason to hide someone they've never met, right?

     Ranma also noticed Akane's lack of movement and was quicker than
Shinnosuke at stopping the inevitable fight. He got in between the two
girls and plucked the sword out of the Chinese girl's hands. He then
threw it back at her, with the intent of pinning her against the wall.

     The girl's martial arts instincts enabled her to avoid it by
jumping away from it. Unfortunately, she wasn't watching where she was
going and landed on the edge of the table, making it flip up and
accidentally hitting her over the head, knocking her unconscious. As
an addition to the indignity, one of the bowls landed on her head, the
ice cream matching her hair perfectly as it turned it to a sticky 
mess.
 
     "Ah, so that's how she got it that color," Nabiki murmured from
a corner of the room, calmly eating the contents of her bowl.

                     *        *        *

     "What is going on?" Soun Tendo demanded as he watched his elder
daughter wipe a damp cloth over the head of the unconscious young
woman.

     The rest of the household swiveled their heads to stare at the
very nervous looking Ranma.

     "Um...well..." he tried to explain lamely. "She's a girl we met
when we went to China..."

     [A tragic story,] his father cut in. [After we...]

     He stopped a moment as an impatient Soun poured a kettle of hot
water over his head. "After we left Jusenkyo, we visited this small
Amazon village..."

                       *        *        *

     A giant panda and two humans slowly made their way into the small
village. All three looked exhausted from walking around all day under
the fierce afternoon sun.

     While they were looking for refreshments, the guide explained
to the exhausted panda that the village was having its Annual
competition for warriors as they watched a fight come to an end when
a purple haired girl threw the old woman she was fighting off the log
with a small flick of the wrist.

     "She's very powerful," Ranma-chan commented in between bites.

     The guide's eyes opened widely when he saw what she was eating.
"Why young sir eat first prize?!"

     "Huh?"

     By this time, the warrior had noticed what had happened and was
busy yelling at him in Chinese.

     The guide nodded his head after a couple of minutes and
translated. "'You eat prize, outsider. I, Shampoo, challenge you to
fight,' she said. 'I let go if win.'"

     [Don't hurt him. Fight me instead,] the panda suggested bravely
while trying to move the dangerous girl away from his new daughter.

     Ranma-chan smirked, knowing that she could end the fight quickly.
"Sure."

     The two bowed before jumping onto the log, their stances
defensive as they eyed each other.

     [Violence will get us nowhere,] the panda declared hoping
to prematurely end the fight to no avail.

     When he realized that no one was listening, he decided that his
only choice was to sacrifice the stalk of bamboo he was going to eat
for lunch to save his 'daughter'.

                   *        *        *

     "Saotome, you're so noble," Soun cried out while Kasumi patted
him on the back reassuringly.

     Meanwhile, the enraged Ranma was growling as he repeatedly hit
his father on the head with the now empty kettle. "Stop lying old
man. That's not how I remember it."

     He explained that it was his father who had eaten the prize then
made him fight in his place which resulted in the warrior giving his
female form the 'kiss of death'. Obviously, this whole mess was _all_
Genma's fault.

     If his listeners didn't quite believe his entire story, they were
smart enough not to say anything.

                      *       *        *

     The entire household watched Shampoo warily as she slowly stirred
awake. Some(Ranma) went even as far as hiding behind Akane.

     "What are you doing," she asked, puzzled. "You're not in your
girl form, so as far as she's concerned, I'm the only one here worth
killing."

     "Don't you remember how she became unconscious in the first
place?"

     "Of course I do. You threw that sword at her and... oh."

     "You got it. Now she's going to be after my guy form too."

     No sooner had he said this that the Amazon girl smiled after
she spotted him.

     "Husband!"

     "What?!" Ranma gasped in shock while backing away from the
purple haired beauty. Then, when he neared the gate, he jumped over
it and broke into a full sprint, Shampoo close behind.

     Everyone inside the Tendo home quickly followed, not wanting to
miss what promised to be an interesting event.

                           *       *       *

     "I don't see them anywhere," Nabiki complained after she walked
around the block for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Her
whole body was numb from the cold and all she wanted to do now was go
back home.

     "We might as..." Akane started to say until she noticed a purple
blur heading towards them. "Hey, isn't that Shampoo?"

     "Yeah, but where's Ranma?"

     Akane, hearing the sound of water splashing on a nearby block
answered, "I have a pretty good idea where he is."

     Apparently, so did Shampoo. She ran towards the canal, a huge
smile on her face as she got ready to glomp onto her husband. The
expression quickly changed when she noticed that the person in the
water wasn't her strong husband but a very wet and annoyed redhead.

     "Kill!"

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AUTHORS NOTES: Yet another chapter done. As for the next part, who
knows. I've been so busy lately that I won't have time to write as
often. I will try though since I pretty much know exactly what happens
next.
I'd like to thank Scott(the author of the wonderful fanfic series,
Orange Marmalade) and Gary Kleppe(writer of Hearts and Minds) for 
pointing out mistakes in my first draft. So what lesson did you learn 
in reading this chapter besides that you get shameless plugs for your 
fic if you help me? ^_^  I don't know either.
Don't forget to send C&C! See you next time ^_^