Michael Won <skeezy5@geocities.com>
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Birthdays - Ukyou
        by skeezy5

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Ranma 1 / 2 etc. all belong to Rumiko Takahashi...

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*Warning* - As people love to point out to me, my Ranma is too mature,
too smooth, and too perceptive.  Please note the time lag between the
Ranma universe we all know and love and the piece that I'm writing.
I am far from finishing all of my "Birthdays" stories, at the end of
which, hopefully, everything will make a bit more sense.

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        I stare at the mirror, my bow tie crooked for the sixth time.
Shaking my head, I sigh, undo it, and start over.  Maybe I should
just ask Pop to do it.  As I pick up both ends to try again, there's a
light knock at the door followed by three stronger knocks.  I loop
the left hand side, while calling,  "You can come in, the door's open."
        I loop the right hand side of the tie as the door slowly swings
inward. She comes in, opening the door just enough so that her slender
body can slip through it, just as she always does.  I almost don't
recognize her, her once long, brown hair now chopped at the shoulder.
Her white dress is the one I had bought her on her 19th birthday...
        She hadn't owned dresses, having masqueraded as a boy for so
long, but I had thought it would be appropriate for her to own one.  At
the time, I had jokingly said that she could at least have something to
wear to funerals.  She had laughed when I told her that, saying that she
wouldn't need it since we would live forever and ever...  together.
        "Hi.  I didn't think you'd be coming here today."  As she silently

shuts the door, I pull the knot tight - only to see that the bow tie is
crooked again.  Idly, she looks about the room, noting the picture on
the dresser.  Gliding across the floor, she picks up the photo - the one
we all took at Togenkyou Island...
        "You always were a handsome devil, Ranma."
        "Always a devil, never quite handsome."  I undo the knot and let
the ends fall.  "You look like you're going to a funeral."
        She carefully replaces the photo on the table and turns her gaze
on my back.  I stare at the reflection in the mirror.  Her face is pale
and worn from burying her emotions beneath a mask of cheerfulness for
so long.  Red eyes, still sore from crying, burn into my back with a
fierce intensity.  The pain etches every curve and feature more sharply,
beautifully accentuating the sculpted lines of her face.  "I'll be going
to one soon."
        "Who's is it?"
        "Nobody important.  An insignificant person."
        "Anybody I know?"
        "You once might have known her."
        "I didn't think that anybody I knew was going to die, Ucchan."  I
keep my tone as calm as possible, but the strain is obvious.
        "Don't call me that, damn it!  Don't call me that!"  She spins
away, not wanting me to see the tears that will soon form in her eyes.
The first tear will collect, growing larger and larger.  A slight
sparkle and then it will suddenly fall.  I can almost hear it drop as I
imagine it hitting the floor.  I remember once,  watching her as she
cried in her sleep, tormented by something in her dreams.  She was never
one to cry when someone was watching, not even me.  Poor Ukyou, holding
the sorrow to herself and swallowing its bitter poison...
        "I'm only Ukyou to you now.  Ukyou, the poor girl who got ditched
by her fiance and his family.  Ukyou, who swore revenge and trained for
ten years, forsaking her womanhood.  Ukyou, who attacked you that day at
Furinkan, finally ready to return the pain you'd caused me.  Ukyou, the
girl whose heart you stole... the girl who became Ucchan to you again.
Ukyou, who gave away everything once again to become Ucchan, just to be
abandoned again!"
        Her body is shaking, from tears or rage, I can't tell.  I reach
out and touch her reflection in the mirror, wishing I could turn and
comfort her somehow.  Opening my mouth, I try to think of something to
say, of a way to comfort her, but I can't.  I fiddle with the bow tie,
trying to tie the knot, but my hands keep slipping.
        "You never did say we were more than anything but friends, but I
didn't care.  Four years ago, when Akane became ill, I came with you to
look for the cure.  I thought that if I followed you and helped you, you
would finally see how much I cared for you.  I stuck with you through
it, night and day, calm and storm, fire and ice, always!  For four damn
years, I went through hell, all for you.  I had hoped that maybe, just
maybe, I could finally prove how much better I was for you...  I thought
you'd stay with me forever, watch over me, and be with me - just like I
had for you...  Those four years...  Us... Together...  Do you know how
happy I was?  Even as I lay there in China, dying, I was so glad that
you were there with me...  But  no, stupid little me, things like that
are too good to last!  The fairy tale's over, and Prince Charming's
woken me up and left me in the forest!  It's not his fault though, only
mine!"
        "Ucchan, I..."  As I call her by that name once more, she spins
around, tears openly streaming down her face.  My hands drop to my
sides, too unsteady to work on the tie.
        "When you call me Ucchan, you're still thinking of the six year
old friend whom you thought was a boy!  Why couldn't you understand,
Ranma?  That's not the Ranchan and Ucchan that I wanted to be.  I wanted
to be YOUR Ucchan and for you to be MY Ranchan.  I tried.  I tried so
very hard..."  She has dropped barely to a whisper now, the resignation
in her voice ripping apart my soul more than her rage ever could.  "I
buried Ukyou that day.  I buried ten years of hatred, suffering, and
revenge.  All because I thought you wanted me to be your Ucchan..."
        I can only stand there, not knowing what to say...  not even
deserving to say anything.  She was wrong.  I had known what she wanted
from me, what she wanted me... wanted us to be...
        She takes a step forward, closer to me, probably wishing that I
would turn around and embrace her, and that things would be the same
again.  I had wanted her to stay, wanted her to be with me so I could
try to help heal her wounds.  So I could try and make up for even a
fraction of the decade of suffering I had caused her.  I reach my hands
up to start tying the bow tie again.  "Ukyou, I apologize that it has to
be this way..."
        "You apologize, huh?  Not sorry, never one to be sorry.  You and
your silly code! But does your little code have anything to say about
stealing a woman's heart and then ditching her?! Or does it not cover
trivial things like that?"
        I let my hands fall again, unable to tie the knot.  Its hot
wearing the tux.  Ukyou is now standing directly behind me.  I take a
deep breath, inhaling her perfume.  Chanel No. Five.  I was surprised
when she asked me what it was when I bought it for her.  A boy's life
doesn't have many feminine aspects, but you'd have thought that she
would have known what it was.  I like the fragrance a lot.  Akane still
wears it...
        "Well, mister Ranma Saotome, I'm sorry I can't stay for much
longer, but I've got to bury somebody."  Her voice is shaking, trying to
summon the last of her strength, trying to put an edge in her tone.
She raises her chin slightly, defiantly.  I can't bare to watch her
reflection anymore.
        "Ukyou...  you're not..."  I turn around, my eyes fixing on her
right hand.  She is wearing a ring with an obsidian stone.  She told me
that her Grandmother had given it to her as a reminder never to trust
men because they always abandon their women, just as Ukyou's Grandfather
had done to her Grandmother.  She had never worn that ring before, not
even when she first came to Furinkan...
        "No, Ranma.  Try not to think so highly of yourself, though I am
so greatly touched by your concern for my well being.  Today, Ucchan
dies.  It is time for a new Ukyou to be born."
        I look up into her eyes, those beautiful eyes.  Nothing but pain
and fury burn in them now.  She stares back at me unflinching, her eyes
proud.  It only makes her look even more pitiful.  I can almost hear her
thoughts.  'Tell me that you love me and I'll take you back.  We can be
together forever.  I would forgive you for all this; for leaving me for
Akane.  Please.  Just say you love me and everything would be back to
where it was.  Please.'
        "Farewell, my dear Ranchan.  Farewell, my Love.  Aishiteru."  She
turns around and walks toward the door.  She never says farewell.  She
always complains that it has a ring of finality to it.  My hands rise.
She opens the door.  I loop the left.  She slides out the opening.  I
loop the right.  She shuts the door.  I tie the knot.  She had never
used that phrase before.  Aishiteru.  Even in all those moments where
she confessed her feelings to me, it had been sukiyo.  Aishiteru.  I
stumble to the door.  The door knob turns.  I reach out and yank the
door open.  Ryouga comes in, almost falling.
        "Hey there, tiger!  No need to be so anxious.  I just came to get
you.  They're ready for you downstairs."
        "Oh.  Okay."
        "Right, now let's get going."  Grabbing my arm, he begins to drag
me along, but then stops and spins around.  "Wait!"
        "Huh?  What?"  At my look of confusion, he points at my neck.
        "The knot's crooked."
        "..."  I reach for my throat and find that once more, I have tied
it incorrectly.
        "Here, let me fix it for you."  He quickly reaches for the bow tie

and expertly reties the knot.  "There we go.  Come on, Akane's waiting."
        He starts again when I grab his arm.  He turns around and gives
me a questioning look.
        "Thanks, Ryouga."
        "No problem, Ranma.  That's what a best man's for, no?  Come on,
you can't be late for your own wedding."

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[Language Note]

Suki - To like.   When a guy says it to a girl, or vice-a-versa, it
        takes on a stronger meaning, as in "like in the special way".
        (Yes, I've been reading KOR again...)
Aishiteru - "Love", subject and object implied (I think).  Basically
        it says "I love you", in the strongest way possible.

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[Author's Notes]
        There you go, the third piece to Birthdays.  It started out as
the second one but dragged out, and I finished "Ranma" first.  I had
a lot of problems writing this, and I still have a lot of problems with
it, but I really can't fix up what I find problematic without rewriting
vast portions of it.  Though I would do that, enough people liked this
piece, so I'm posting this as a finalized form.
        As for the "pieces of the broken fourth wall", two points. First
is that in a chracter sketch, I think I'm allowed to do this.  My second
point is that I am not done writing my "Birthdays" arc...  So quit
complaining Paul!  ^_^