As always, comments and such are welcome; flames and hateful mean comments
will be redirected towards the closest Tomopit. ^_^

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Fushigi Tabi"
(Mysterious Journey)
Fushigi Yuugi|Ranma 1/2

by Kevin Eav

Ranma 1/2 and all respective characters and situations copyright
Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, and Kitty TV.
Fushigi Yuugi and all respective characters and situations copyright
Watase Yuu, Flower Comics, Studio Pierrot, and Movic.

Oh yeah... an' anyone else I forgot. :)  I don't wanna be suuuuued, I'm
too young to spend my life in court! ;.;

Author's Notes: I may take liberty with where this story takes place in
each continuity; I may ignore what is to happen.  It's just the way I
feel.  This story will be and has been conceived and written to "Iitoshii
Hito no Tame Ni", "Just Communication" (something all anime characters
need ;), "Just Love", "Rhythm Emotion", "Cruel Angel's Thesis", and
various Ranma 1/2 opening themes, including "Love Panic", "Friends", and
the entirety of the DoCo albums.  Tons of other musics too, too many to
list here. ^.^  Oh yes... I changed the name.  The other was too long.

Opening Theme: "Iitoshii Hito no Tame Ni", sung by DoCo

Chapter 1 -- "If Wishes Were Fishes"

     He had disappeared.  She couldn't believe it.  Just like that, in a
flash of burning, ruby-red light, torn away from her just like so many
times before.  Except this time.. he hadn't come back.  The cry was like
none other before; piercing, like shattered glass scraping across a
chalkboard, filled with horror, pain, and a sadness so deep falling would
be forever.

     An unlikely girl, or so it seemed, was the source of this cry; Yuuki
Miaka, soon to be a high schooler.  It had happened so fast, so
unexpectedly, that for almost an hour after the incident, she had stood
there, her umbrella dropped in numb shock, simply staring at the place he
had been.  Rain soaked her; gathered in her maple-brown hair, wetted her
shoulders through, and only her brother was able to pull her away before
she was completely damp.  

     Home.  Home, they had taken her, not that she cared; she was
completely numb to the world.  

     Keisuke lay Miaka on her bed, and turned off the lights after
drawing the covers around his sister.

     It wasn't until after he left that she began to cry.

^_^

     Ah, morning.  Birds sing, fog burns away, and bodies go flying
through the windows of nice Japanese homes. In particular, this was the
body of a young Japanese boy, sent through the window by his loving,
balding Japanese father.  

     "ITAI!! What the hell was _THAT_ for???"  came the angry words of
the young man.  

     "RANMA!  Boy, you must learn to be more perceptive!  Just because
you were sleeping is no excuse for you to not be alert!" lectured the
older man, his glasses gleaming with reflected sunlight.  "This, too, is
a tenet of the Saotome School of Unrestricted Grappling."  

     *WHOMP*  "Heh.  Maybe you should take your own advice, jiji,"
grinned Ranma.  With a slight creak, his father bent forwards, away from
the fist which had impacted his skull, and towards the cool, refreshing
water.  

     *SPLUSH*  "Grrowf!"  Ranma's graceful leap carried him back, out of
range of the sign-swipe Genma favored as a form of attack.
Unfortunately, he came within range of an amazingly hard barbell.

     "BAKA!!!!"  *crunch* 

     Ranma sat up, rubbing his head, which currently sported two large
lumps.  "KAWAIKUNEE!!! What'd you do -that- for??"  He glared up at the
short-haired, short-tempered girl.  And at that moment, a bright blue
object sailed up into the air, arcing soundlessly towards Ranma.

     He noticed it anyway, and looked up; the projectile was blocked by
the sun.. but it was quickly evident as to what it was.  *SPLOOSH*  

     "AAAAGH!!! COLD!!!!"  Giggles revealed the entirely too-cute face of
Ranma's young water-balloon assailant, who then ran off to join his group
of friends.

     Ranma was grumbling and muttering about fate and why she hated him..
er.. her... so.  She stomped off, too just generally angry to even think
about hot water yet.  <Maybe a walk'll do me good.  Get me away from
here, at least...>  So saying, she headed out the front gate and randomly
turned to the left, heading for the business district of Nerima.

^_^

     Atop a building in the center of Nerima, a lone, withered figure
mused. "So... the pieces are placed; the players are set... very well..."
Gathering itself, it leaped into the crowd.

     "SWEETO!!!"  Gleefully, Happousai ran through the crowd, whisking
panties from underneath skirts, and cackling with that insane,
panty-raiding fervor that only he could reach.

     Screams ensued.  Not of fear, but of rage, as women discovered that
their sudden loss was this old man's gain.  A single thought ran through
their minds; that there was no evil as absolute as this old man's evil.

     Perched atop a nearby building, another withered figure gazed into a
pendant set with a rich red jewel, one too dark.. colored too much like
blood... to be a ruby.  Shaking its head, the person hopped into the roof
access, and down, ready to begin a day of business.  For some reason...
there was a feeling that this day would be unlike any other day that had
ever been before in Nerima.  And that was saying a lot.

^_^

     Through the previous day, and even into the night, Miaka had lain in
bed, numbed, so much so that she would not even -eat-... and Keisuke knew
that that was a bad sign, indeed.  In fact, only one thing was occupying
Miaka's attention: she was thinking about Tamahome.  Praying for him to
come back.  Trying, though she knew it was futile, to call upon the power
of Suzaku--to invoke the holy crimson flames to bring her love back...
all her thought, all her soul, poured into that.

     <The book's burnt.  The police are mystified as to how the library
burnt down; it must have been the ShiJinTenChiSho... but how?  The
prophecy has been fulfilled, hasn't it..?>  Keisuke was worried,
preparing to call up his loyal, best-buddy type of guy, and also the only
one he could trust in this matter, Tetsuya.  His hand lay on the phone,
cradled in its receiver/charger base, as he mulled the situation over,
looking out over the city.  He would have to call Miaka and himself in
sick to school and work today, no getting around that.

     Keisuke had not checked on his sister in a little while; assuming,
of course, that she was crying, and, hopefully, sleeping, he had
conferenced with Tetsuya, and, later, Yui, at Tetsuya's insistence.  They
were all puzzled.  Worse yet.. the book had been burnt.  They did not
understand yet what that meant.  Yui, in particular, feared the
worst--that the world within the book had been destroyed, and with it...
everything.  It was Yui who brought the soup, crackers, and juice to
Miaka's door, and so, it was Yui who opened the door... and found Miaka
burning with the red chi of Suzaku.  What it could mean... she did not
know.  But she knew it wasn't going to be anything easy.

^_^

     That night, people had red-tinted dreams... incoherent, distant
dreams, the kind that leave a shadow on the soul.  Seven people woke up,
knowing somehow.. someway.. their lives would not be the same any more.  

     Breakfast in the Tendo household was surprisingly subdued.  Most of
the usual sniping and outright violence that pervaded this chaotic
household was absent, as people lost themselves in the fading memories of
crimson and blue... dreams of a time thatwas wiped away from the world.

     They had no idea what was to come.  How could they?  These memories,
delivered to them in dreams, were of a time they could not possibly
imagine on their own.  But from now on... well, more so, anyways... their
lives would be turned upside down.

     They were on a rollercoaster, and that rollercoaster's name was
life.  And on this ride... there was no getting off.  Akane and Ranma
left for Furinkan High School; Nabiki having already gone ahead as usual.
Both were strangely silent; both caught each other glancing at the other,
a odd, wistful look in both pairs of eyes.

     Akane was the first to look away, although, had she waited just a
minute longer, Ranma would have looked away first.  Her voice was, as
usual, cross, but there was a strange...  something underneath.  Not that
Ranma caught that.

     "Nani yo?"  Akane hmphed, carrying her bookbag as she always did,
moving a bit faster; they were almost to the gates of the school.  

     Looking away, Ranma carried his bookbag behind his head, whistling
and strolling along as if he hadn't heard Akane.  This gained another
'hmph' from the erstwhile Akane, and the sound of footsteps moving faster
than they were before.

     "Saotome Ranma!"  The familiar, bass voice of one of Ranma's many
long-time adversaries punctuated the air.  It was a voice, Ranma thought,
he knew too well.  

     Akane knew that voice well, too.  "Kunou-sempai," she sighed, and
reached out; half a moment later, Ranma's bookbag dropped into her hand.
"Ranma, I'll put this in your seat.  Don't take too long, okay?"

     "Tendo Akane.. your lack of faith brings tears to my eyes."  And, so
it was.  Kunou was crying.  "Ohhhh.. that such beauty should be devoted
to such an impudent fool..."  Before Akane could get TOO disgusted, he
stopped.  "Nay, stay thy hand, Saotome Ranma.  I confront you this day,
not to destroy you... but out of strange compulsions which I cannot
describe."

     Ranma, for his part, didn't quite listen fully.  "Compul--what?
Hey!  I told you to stop havin' those perverted dreams about me, hentai!"  
*THWACK*  
     
     Kunou leaned to one side. ".. That hurt, you know."

     "Well, good! It was s'posed ta!!"  Ranma glared at the erstwhile
Kendo Club leader.  Kunou's worsd were firm, but almost beseeching.
     
     "Saotome-kun, it is not to defeat you and win the hand of my true
love, the osage no onna, that I seek you out this day."  Ranma tuned out
the rest of the flowery, flaky speech, much as he usually did.

     A hand on Ranma's shoulder brought him instantly back to the world
of the living.  A hand.  On his shoulder.  He looked.  It wasn't a female
hand.  A slight impact; it was another hand. Male.  Follow the wrist...
blue hakama... it's Kunou, isn't it?  He had to know for sure.. he closed
his eyes, and opened them again, and Kunou's head filled his vision.  He
couldn't hear what he was saying.

     *ping*

     Cologne sighed. "Muko-dono, that was a very foolish thing to do,"
she murmured, as Ranma jerked away like he were just burnt.  "Now the
explanations will have to wait."

     "Explanations?" echoed Ranma and Akane.

     Cologne nodded. "Explanations."  A twinkling light in the sky showed
Kunou's trajectory.  "Ah, good... you've sent him towards your dojo.
Let's go."  Without further ado, she began pogoing away on her gnarled
walking stick.

     Ranma and Akane looked at each other, shrugged, and were just about
to follow when Ukyou came strolling up from behind.

     "Hey, Ran-chan, Akane-chan, what's goin' on?"  As usual, Ukyou had
her okonomiyaki-seller's outfit on, complete with ultra-spatula.  She had
come up behind the two would-be fiancees.
     
     "Ucchan, hey!  We don't know what's goin' on, the old ghoul wants to
follow her.  Wanna come along?"  Ranma spoke freely, unmindful of the
semi-glare radiating from Akane at his suggestion that Ukyou come with.  

     Smiling cheerfully, Ucchan nodded assent, and linked arms with
Ranma.  This lasted all of a second before Ranma was sequentially mashed
into the ground, and Akane walked off growling and grumbling.  After
Ranma had recovered himself, he and Ukyou decided it would be best to let
Akane go ahead of them.

^_^

     Miaka finally awoke; she had emerged from her room, silent and
looking ragged, she took very precise steps, from her room, out to the
big glass doors leading out to the balcony of Keisuke's apartment, where
she kneeled and stared out at the twinkling, starry sky.

     Yui, Keisuke, and Tetsuya watched her silently; Yui and Keisuke went
to Miaka, one to each side, to support her.  But they stopped short; the
look on her face was one they had not expected--a look of determination.
They knew what it meant, even as Miaka whispered, a vow to herself, to
the stars, and most importantly, to Tamahome.. "... I'll find you..."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

To be Continued.  Promise.