It was just after dawn, in the corner of a public park in Kyoto, Japan. A young woman relearned skills of her childhood, guided by her sensei from his wheelchair. A friendly and relaxed atmosphere pervaded, though teacher and student, Ranma and Nabiki were focussed on their Art. Ranma looked at his new student with pride. Nabiki had taken to the lessons like she was born to be a martial artist, which she undoubtedly was. Her graceful movements entranced him as she went through each kata then flowed to the next. He'd never really thought about it, but Nabiki WAS beautiful. But what could she possibly see in him? He wasn't even a whole man, and he certainly couldn't protect her... or any girl. But that was the sum of the definition of a man, as taught by his father, so was he even a man any more? Ranma didn't even notice the tears that fell from his eyes. Not that he would ever admit to them. Just like he would never admit to the slight flush plainly visible on his face. Nabiki noticed, however, and couldn't help flushing a little herself. There was so much more to Ranma than she had ever realized. The problem was convincing him of that. That was her job, and she took it just as seriously as Ranma did teaching her the Art. In Tokyo, a young student in the Art took instruction from his sensei, an older man. As the man shouted instructions and rough encouragement, an observer might note some sadness in the elder participant. The teacher, Genma, used rough bravado to shield his wounded heart from further injury. He hoped with all his heart and soul that this young man would not... He couldn't even finish the thought, a slight slip in his taciturn expression all that indicated it had ever crossed his mind. Those thoughts were not for men to even have, and were thus quickly dismissed. Two scenes of similar activities, each completely different... Only a few months ago, the wheelchair bound youth who guided his friend through her exercises had studied under the older man... his biological father. *** A story from the Bet: Crippled, Body and Souls By Kevin D. Hammel From a story idea by Gregg Sharp. Episode 4: Students Ranma 1/2 is property of Rumiko Takahashi. Publishing rights are held by Viz in the US and Shogakukan in Japan. My purpose is to honor the creator and her works. No infringement intended. *** "So, Ranma... Thought any more about becoming a Tanaka?" Nabiki asked as she followed alongside her friend. She wiped a bit of sweat from her brow, then looked down at her friend. Today's instruction had been particularly invigorating, and her face spoke volumes about how it made her feel. "Well... uh... not really. I'm a Saotome, and it just doesn't seem right to change." Ranma said as he glanced over to gauge Nabiki's reaction. Honest concern became something else on the middle Tendou daughter's face, as her expression darkened. She stopped walking for a moment, closing her eyes and clenching her fists to prepare for the battle she had to win. A small smile drove some of the darkness away as she opened her eyes again to look at her companion. "Ranma... what has the Saotome name brought you? Let's see... A father who tortured you in the name of training and a mother who declared you dead. Sounds like a legacy I'd want to keep a hold of, that's for sure!" A small, sardonic smile underscored her point as she finished. "You don't understand. I'm a Saotome. I'll always be one. No paper's gonna change who I am. Pop's still be my dad and..." His voice trailed off. Even mentioning Nodoka had become difficult since her hospital visit. "Sure, Ranma. I'm not saying to forget your past, but you're going to need... a lot more than I can give in the future. The Tanakas want only the best for you, and they're in a position to provide it." Ranma knew he was losing ground in this battle, but it was being fought on Nabiki's turf, not his. "Yeah, but... but..." "Just think about it, okay? Remember that we... I don't have a lot of money, and you... probably need more than I can really provide. I... care about you, a lot, and I only want you to be happy, Ranma." Nabiki flashed a smile then turned to head home at a furious pace. Soon Ranma caught up with her. Together they sprinted home, each in their own way. *** "Excellent work!" the paper voicelessly said to its creator in the teacher's red pen. Ranma looked at the comment with a bit of pride, something he had never felt about schoolwork before. The score wasn't the highest in the class, but it was a LOT better than what he'd gotten at Furinkan. Nabiki had helped him realize that schoolwork was important, especially because of the... changes in his life. A shadow fell across the paper, "Good job, Ranma. Let's celebrate tonight." Nabiki suggested. "O... okay. Whatcha wanna do, where you wanna go?" "Well, I know a place where you ALWAYS seem to enjoy yourself..." There are many classes and classrooms in life, with only a few being in those buildings designated as schools. Sometimes the classroom is a park or a dojo. Sometimes a swimming pool. Sometimes it is a place seemingly unrelated to learning, thus some would miss the lessons to be learned there. Lessons can be learned in places seemingly far removed from learning. Take an ice cream shoppe, for instance. *** That evening, Ranma smiled across the table at Nabiki. She stopped herself at a small sundae now, there were budgets to consider... and it seemed the crippled girl couldn't score freebies the way she used to. Nabiki looked back at Ranma. Her friend almost radiated happiness and contentment. Of course, the world outside was not the ice-cream shop. "So, Ranma, how do you feel today?" Nabiki asked, looking at her friend with a small smile. "Good, I guess. 'Cept for... uh... the usual stuff." The smile dimmed a bit as the girl considered her condition for a moment. Nabiki rested a hand atop the smaller girl's as she spoke, "That's okay, really. I'm just glad you're happy right now." Ranma tentatively placed her own small hand atop Nabiki's, allowing her to hold the bigger girl's hand. She couldn't keep an embarrassed flush off her face as she spoke. "Thanks. I... I... You've done so much for me, I can never repay you." "Ranma..." Nabiki looked down then put her other hand atop Ranma's. "It's my family that owes you. I started doing this to make up for my family's part in what happened. But now, it's because I want to. I can't tell you how good it is to see you happy, Ranma. I know things'll never be the same, but..." Ranma offered a pained smile, "Yeah they never will be the same, but..." Her eyes looked through her friend, focussed on some distant object from the past or future, it was hard to tell which. "I'll get by... with your help." By the end of her declaration, a lot of the pain had been melted away by the warmth of a new level of friendship. "And the Tanaka's?" Nabiki asked, her gaze friendly but laden with gravity. "Yeah, with their help too," The girl replied as she studied the ice cream. The confection somehow seemed a bit more interesting than Nabiki right at that moment. Rivers of white and tan moved slowly down the sides of the dish, as the treat was currently well on the road from ice to cream. A big smile blossomed as a bit more of the pain she had felt was carried away, then she began to shovel ice cream into her face again. Finally she looked up at Nabiki, drinking in a warm smile. "Good, Ranma. We're all going to have to stick together on this." She glanced at her watch for a moment before continuing. "Well, we'd better get going, we DO need to get our studies done." "Uh sure... Mom." Ranma replied as a brown sparkle too long absent in her eyes laughed. "Oh, you!" Nabiki replied as she playfully batted at her friend. After paying for both their portions, Nabiki helped her friend navigate the serpentine path between the tables out of the ice-cream shoppe. There was more happiness than usual back at their apartment that night, Nabiki hoped the welcome change would last. *** Tendou Akane looked across another table at a shop similar to the one Ranma and Nabiki had just visited. The mood was just a bit more somber, and silence cast a pall over some of the enjoyment she and Ryouga might have felt. Akane thought back to the times Ranma and herself had visited this very place together. Ranma was always so happy here, and that joy was infectious. But then it was almost like two girlfriends sharing a treat they both loved. Now, it was a boy who was totally uninterested in ice cream doing it solely because of his love for her. Akane looked at Ryouga for a moment. Like he often did, he stared at a light spot in the wall, not even sparing his fiancee a glance. Akane's eyes sought the target of her fiancee's. She found herself looking at the still rough patchwork over the hole Shampoo had made when she came to pronounce her death sentence over Ranma. A sentence the Chinese girl had, in time, carried out. Akane looked troubled as she threw the spoon into the dish with a loud ringing sound, attracting stares from more than just Ryouga. With a slight flush of embarrassment, Akane bowed. "Excuse me, please." Returning her attention to the ice cream, she began to pick at the frozen mass, forcing herself to eat it. Forcing herself to offer her boyfriend an illusionary smile. Which was not returned. Which was never returned. If she did not know in her heart how much he loved her, she might have faltered. She might have doubted his love for a moment. Why had she chosen THIS place to visit? Ranma... he... she was dead. The happiness Akane had felt before had been murdered by the Chinese Amazon as certainly as her... friend and... fiancee had been. Why had she chosen THIS place to visit? Because... she had last been happy here. *** After a few weeks both students, Nabiki and Ryouga, had made great strides in their Art. Saturday became ice-cream day for Nabiki and Ranma, a time that made the week's last school day a lot more tolerable. Of course, Ranma's steadily improving grades helped, too. Ranma's smile became a frequent visitor to her, and his, face. As Nabiki relearned to smile instead of smirk, and to laugh instead of sneer. To express happiness and be happy. To finally come to terms with her loss of a decade before... and face life, not hide from it behind the mask she had crafted for her own protection. Ryouga and Akane remained together, but apart. Bound by duty and obligation, but by no other ties. Ryouga was unfailingly polite to Akane, and as unfailingly cold. Akane finally began to doubt what her heart told her, but she had been listening to what it said... or denying it? The student who ignores lessons will not learn. *** Akane offered Ryouga the smile that had always brought a reaction from Ranma, happy, nervous, or insulting. But always full of life and emotion. At last she spoke what her heart told her to, seeking at last reassurance on a subject that had been, scant weeks ago, unquestioned, "Ryouga-san"? "Wh... what?" The Saotome School's heir responded, emotions hidden. "Uh... do you?" Akane tried to ask. She cast her eyes down, closing them tightly to keep from crying in front of Ryouga. "Never... mind," she whispered. "Akane... chan. What's wrong?" Ryouga asked, with a little concern on his face. His caring expression was unnoticed by his fiancee, who was too involved in her inner struggles to learn how he felt. "Nothing... Everything... Nothing, Ryouga." The girl turned and slowly raised her head, opening her eyes not to her fiancee but the Tendou living room. Everything was in its place, thanks to Kasumi's careful housekeeping. Akane's mind and heart were in chaos, as she learned one lesson, missed another, and pondered what she had learned. The youngest Tendou walked slowly out of the room, listening at last to her heart, not her hopes. Kasumi watched her little sister with sadness. What she planned was difficult, but she was needed by Little Sister and... Brother. Her family. *** Kasumi watched as the courier bore away the last of the bundles on his small truck. Since Father and the Saotomes were gone on an errand, and Little Sister was still at school; she had decided to ship the last of her possessions today. It was up to her now. She had no more physical ties to this place, it was now merely a house, her home would be in a prefecture far away. Kyoto. A place where she could still love and be loved by her family. A place where she could be happy. The tall young woman could not stop tears from falling as the truck rounded a corner, vanishing from sight. They were not tears over what she would lose when she left here however. They were tears over what she had already lost. As she realized she was crying, all she could bring herself to do was whisper a halting, "Oh, my." Fighting to compose herself, she returned to the house. Kasumi still needed to cook dinner, and would wait here until she got the okay to move to Kyoto. She would try to be like she always had been, false though it be, until she was with her new family. *** An antiseptic cell, a maximum-security prison, and a caged predator sharpening her claws to strike. A dangerous conjunction. Just as a missile was held on the launch pad to build up thrust before launch... Just as a spring stored more energy with each turn of a crank... So it was that each day of incarceration increased the caged warrior's fury. A sound outside her door called Shampoo from her musings. The prisoner turned to face the door. The portal opened to reveal a young woman, perhaps a decade Shan Pu's senior. Her uniform showed that she was a guard for this section, Ikuko Sasaki according to her badge. Unruly pale-green hair was partially corralled by the cap that completed her uniform. The aroma of the slop that passed for food in this land indicated that she had also brought dinner. "Shampoo, I have wonderful news... I found out where Ranma's living, and that she's doing quite well." The young woman's emerald eyes sparkled as she saw her friend's happy reaction. Shan Pu fought to keep the expression the pleasant smile that had gulled this dupe as she responded. "Really? You know where girl-Ranma live?" "Yes, here's her address, perhaps you could write and try to patch things up." The fool took her eyes off Shampoo for more than enough time for the warrior to act. It would have been better if one of the guards more worthy of death had come, but as both an outsider and obstacle, the young woman's life was forfeit. The address was her signal to escape the pretense of her imprisonment, and the outsider had to be slain to put it to use. Shan Pu was certain the woman's tribe would look after her young. The Amazon attacked as the guard pulled the paper from her pocket. A sound scarcely resembling human speech was the last Ikuko ever made in this lifetime, aside from the dull thud her body made as it hit the floor. The clatter of the dishes containing the meal masked even this death knell. The guard's killer paid scant attention to the lifeless corpse other than to throw it into her cell. She would have ninety-seven heartbeats to hoist herself into the ventilation shaft, though it would be better if she was on the ground outside by then. She hurried from the compound; at last her time had come. Shan Pu was ready to have her revenge on girl-Ranma. She glanced down at the paper as she ran, finding out where the elusive girl had hidden herself. Girl-Ranma was in Kyoto, a city far from the prison. But the tiny island of Honshu would grant the afflicted girl scant protection. Shampoo would find her and end her suffering, forever. Putting the paper away, she accelerated. Running with almost inhuman speed, Shan Pu began her countdown to redemption... and marriage to Ranma at last. *** In the dim morning boundary between day and night, two young women began their daily routine. Both hurried down the street, heedless of the fine mist that fell from above. It would take more than that to dissuade Ranma and Nabiki from their morning 'jog'. So what if two girls went where a guy and a girl normally did? In the shadows, crouched a predator. It was almost too easy. Here girl-Ranma came, happily delivering herself to her doom. It would be easy to defeat the outsider girl now. It seemed that money-girl had befriended her. Well, the crippled girl could not fight, and her companion could not buy her life from Shan Pu. A grim smile decorated her face as her eyes narrowed, to focus in on the end of her quest. Her only defeat by a woman would soon be avenged, and she would kill another outsider in the bargain. Sometimes, life was good.