Part Five

Still crouched, Ranma inched forward ever so slightly, his heart pounding hard in his throat. His eyes were glued to P-Chan’s still form, to the knife point that was drawing blood from his neck as Azusa tensed in response to Ranma’s advance. P-Chan was so still! Ranma couldn’t even be sure that he was breathing, and the thought that he might be too late sent stabs of pain through Ranma’s chest.

Irreverently, all the young martial artist could think of in that moment was Ryoga’s eyes, how large and quiet and dimensional they were. He couldn’t remember ever actually looking into those eyes, but somehow he knew them regardless. He knew how they shimmered when Ryoga was sad, how they snapped hotly when he was angry, and to face the fact that he might never see those eyes again was something Ranma simply was not prepared to do.

Seeing P-Chan’s pitiful bloody body in Azusa’s lap drove home something that Ranma realized he must have known on some level for years - - Ryoga was special. He was a good friend, and he was important to Ranma.

Love? It might be, though it would take some time and exploring to discover that for sure.

Time was something that Ryoga might not have.

"Azusa," Ranma whispered, crouching even lower in front of her, moving slowly. He wanted nothing more than to spring forward and wrap his hands around her thin delicate neck, but knew instinctively how much of a mistake that would be. She was dangerous, and she could probably plunge that knife much faster than Ranma could move. Instead, he resorted to words, uncomfortable with their use, but knowing that Ryoga’s life depended on his caution now. "Please don’t. Don’t kill Ryoga."

"Charlotte is already asleep forever," she told him in a strangely sensible tone. "You can’t save him now, even if Azusa wanted to give him to you."

Her words cut him like the knife she held. Already asleep? Did that mean he was too far gone to save? No, that couldn’t be! Ranma wouldn’t accept it. He shook his head, closing his eyes for a brief moment. He couldn’t help it, even though he knew it was the wrong thing to do, he felt the rise of his ki and battle aura and his fingers tingled with the desire to unleash energy. Ryoga’s attack, the one that Ranma could never quite perfect as the Lost Boy did. Shishi hokodan. It would be fitting, but Ranma fought against the urge. If P-Chan wasn’t already dead, a blast like the one building in Ranma would kill him, and probably Azusa too. Despite what she had done, Ranma simply couldn’t . . . wouldn’t . . . kill a girl.

"Azu-chan," Mikado interrupted from where he stood behind Ranma, his voice urgent. He could see the rage that was building in the young martial artist, and hoped to temper it. If he could reason with her . . . MIkado looked confused and uncertain, biting his lower lip. "Azusa, how can you do this? How can you let something that you claim to love so much die?"

She blinked slowly, suddenly seeming unsure of herself. Her eyes quivered as she gazed up at her skating partner, and her grip around the handle of the knife tightened. "Miki, Azusa can’t let him take her Charlotte away."

"That’s not a Charlotte!" Mikado snapped suddenly, pain in his words and expression. "That’s not even a pig! It’s a man, Azu-chan! Another human being! You’re committing murder!"

"No, Azusa is not!" she wailed, tears coming suddenly in a furious little storm. "Azusa just wants her Char - - "

Her words were cut short as Ranma took the opportunity, while the crying girl was distracted and had her attention on Mikado, to spring forward and grab for the hand that was holding the knife. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and squeezed tightly, grimacing as he did, pinching the nerve so that she was forced to release the weapon. It fell away, clattering to the floor.

Azusa squealed in pain and anger, retaliating with a punch that connected with the side of Ranma’s head. There was far more power behind it than the young man expected, and it hit with the same strength of one of Akane’s mallets. Even as she nailed him, however, he tried to grab for P-Chan. Azusa hopped backwards away from his reach, and his fingers just barely brushed the wiry fur of the pig’s head. She clutched him to her chest protectively, shrieking, "No! You can’t have him!"

Ranma shook his head to clear it of the ringing and went after her again. He was still angry, but had gotten a hold of himself enough to temper his attack. Though he really wanted to release a blast of ki at her, he settled instead for making sure he was well blocked and simply grabbing for her again. He missed as she twisted out of his hands, replying with a firm kick to his chest that somehow slipped through his block. Stumbling backwards, his hands went to his sternum as pain lanced up the bone. Damn, she was strong! Grinding his teeth, he prepared to go after her once more.

A sudden crash froze them both. They looked up to see Mikado, a lost and hurt expression on his handsome face, standing stiffly with a spattering of glass at his feet. At first, Ranma didn’t really understand the significance of the broken pieces, but Azusa obviously did.

"Francois!" she screamed, her eyes going wide with horror. "No! Miki! What are you doing?!"

"Stop it, Azusa. Let Ranma have Ryoga," Mikado requested, his voice low and gentle.

She clutched the limp body roughly. "Never!"

"Then, I’m sorry." Mikado turned and retrieved a china doll from one of the many shelves lining the room. He held it for a long moment, gazing at Azusa, then dashed it to the floor. It broke loudly, the head shattering into dozens of flying pieces.

"Geraldine!" Azusa howled, tears flowing freely. "Mikado! Please stop!"

Mikado ignored her, picking up an expensive-looking mantle clock and a small unicorn figurine. He threw both to the floor, and the sound of their breaking was echoed by Azusa’s scream of sympathetic agony. A framed picture of a mushroom and three brightly colored pokemon toys followed. He turned sharply and swept his arm over the roll-top desk, sending all of the blown-glass treasures to their shattering end on the floor.

The girl began to cry out a frantic jumble of names, her slight body trembling violently. Pushing past Ranma, she rushed over and threw herself at Mikado’s feet, begging that he stop, her words collapsing into uncontrollable sobs quickly. She clutched at his legs, fingers digging into the material of his pants. "Mikado!!" she sobbed wildly. "Please! Please stop!!"

Face twisting with grief, the young skater crouched down and took her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Ryoga begged you to stop, Azusa," he told her tightly, tears standing in his own eyes. "Did you? Did you even hear him? Did you even see the pain you were causing him?"

She lowered her head, tears splashing against the body of the pig she still held in her arms. "Azusa . . . " she choked on her sobs, "Azusa just wanted . . . " With a strange little noise of defeat and sudden understanding, the girl slowly fluttered into a small shuttering heap against Mikado’s legs. Her arms loosened limply, and she let Charlotte fall from her embrace.

Ranma caught the pig before he could hit the floor, using every bit of his speed to do so. Without sparing a glance at Azusa, the young martial artist scrambled to his feet, dashing away immediately in the direction of the bath.

Mikado barely registered the fact that he was gone. Tears making their way slowly down his face, he simply gathered his partner into the strong safe fold of his arms, and held her as she herself shattered into hundreds of unretrievable pieces, as easily as one of her pretty little treasures.

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Hang on, Ryoga! Hang on, please!

Ranma repeated the words over and over in his head as he carefully held P-Chan’s frighteningly slack and battered body in one arm and turned the hot water in the bath on with his free hand. He blinked against the steam that began to rise, filling the still air rapidly as the temperature of the water increased. Grabbing a small bucket, Ranma filled it, and then carefully poured the contents over P-Chan, oblivious to the hot water soaking his own clothes. He had to shift his hold to accommodate Ryoga’s true form, as the young man transformed in his arms.

Tears sprang to Ranma’s dark blue eyes as he felt the immediate rise of fever from Ryoga’s body and saw the wounds around the young man’s wrists and neck and the deathly white color of his skin. Fighting to keep himself under control, Ranma trembled as he carefully peeled the tape from his friend’s mouth, wincing at the skin which the adhesive pulled away with it, and the fresh blood that welled up. He saw Ryoga’s eyelids flutter in response.

"Ryoga? C’mon, man! Wake up!" Ranma urged softly, shifting so that Ryoga’s head was cradled in the fold of his arm. He brushed back the blood stiffened bangs which fell across the Lost Boy’s face, searching eagerly for any sign of consciousness. He knew that he should be calling for an ambulance, that Ryoga desperately needed medical attention, but he just couldn’t bear to release Ryoga from his arms until he was sure that the boy knew he was there. That he was safe. That it was all over. "Ryoga! Ryoga, please!"

A small gasping sound came from Ryoga’s throat and his mouth opened slightly. Ranma was relieved when the Lost Boy weakly raised his right hand, fingers fumbling for the pink collar that was still digging into his neck. Ranma took his hand and squeezed it. "You’re gonna be okay, buddy," he said to assure himself as much as Ryoga. "I’ll get it off of you, you’re all right now."

Those soft brown eyes opened just a bit. "Rrrmmm . . . " Ryoga moaned lowly.

"I’m here. Don’t try to talk, okay? You don’t have to worry, I’m here and I’m gonna take care of you," Ranma told him softly, squeezing his hand again. He leaned close and pressed his lips carefully to Ryoga’s forehead, feeling the fever beneath the other young man’s skin. "I’m gonna take care of you," he repeated, delivering his words with the tone of a promise.

Ryoga let his eyes close, but his torn lips curled ever so slightly into a faint smile and he weakly returned the squeeze to Ranma’s hand, even as unconsciousness claimed him once more.

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Its so hard to believe that its only been a year. Just a year. Sometimes it feels like the whole fiasco only just happened, then I look back and see how far things have come and I have to wonder that ten years haven’t passed. So much changed for me in the course of only a single day and long night, it still seems so unreal at times.

Hibiki . . . Ryoga, I’m comfortable enough with him now to use his given name on a regular basis . . . Ryoga had suffered a heart attack, brought on by the poisons I shot him with. He was in the hospital for a long time, and at first there was some question as to whether or not he’d pull through. I had to marvel at Ranma’s loyalty, he stayed with Ryoga almost constantly, leaving only when one of us, Akane or I, would force him to. It was funny, because when I asked him about it at that time, he told me that he didn’t love Ryoga, but it sure seemed that way to me. And I’m positive that Ryoga wouldn’t have recovered as quickly as he did without Ranma at his side.

He’s going to be all right, for the most part. The poisons destroyed some of his nerves and ruined his fine motor control. Tofu-sama said something about mild brain damages as well, but we’ve really seen no positive evidence of that, aside from some memory problems. Things like phone numbers and people’s names don’t stick in his head anymore. He has difficulty picking up small objects and drops things a lot. We can tell this frustrates him a great deal, and he does lose his temper easily, but Ranma has been working him hard, sparring with him, forcing him to use his skills and get his strength back up. The martial arts helps him, and he’s recovered a lot of what he lost. I join them sometimes, though I’ve always felt far more comfortable practicing the art on the ice. But Ranma says its good for Ryoga to have different sparring partners, so that he can practice his skills in variable situations. Akane helps, as does that Ukyo girl. And I promised that I would teach him (and Ranma) to ice skate once he’s regained a little more of his hand-eye coordination.

I look forward to it actually. It seemed at first that the ice was a very lonely place without Azusa, until Akane decided to practice with me. She has been a great friend during all of this, which really surprised me at first, because I didn’t think any of them would ever want to have anything to do with me again. Ryoga especially. Once he had recovered enough, the police naturally encouraged him to press charges against me for aiding in the kidnaping, but he didn’t. I remember him just looking at me for a long moment, as he sat there in his hospital bed with the IV stuck in his arm and the oxygen cannula in his nose. Then he shook his head slowly and told the officers to forget it. They really tried to change his mind, but Ryoga is pretty stubborn when he wants to be. Someday I would like to ask him why he didn’t press charges, after all, I certainly deserved it. But right now, I get the feeling he wants to think about the whole incident as little as possible, so I’m not going to bring the subject up. Akane says that Ryoga will only talk to Ranma about it if he really presses, and Ranma is keeping everything strictly confidential. I guess that’s as it should be.

Anyway, they’ve all been far better to me than I deserve. I think its probably because of Azusa. She was my friend, one of my only friends before this all happened, and to watch them take her out of my arms, knowing what was likely to happen to her, was devastating. Kami, it was like someone had torn me in two and was taking half of me away. All I really remember about the entire long night that followed was facing Azusa’s parents at the police station when the authorities tracked them down at some night club or another. They had never really been around much for Azusa, because they were young and rich and trendy. It was more important for them to be out where they could be seen. I’m sure their inattention has more than just a little to do with Azusa’s problems.

But they tried to blame me for it all! They said that I had corrupted their innocent daughter, that I had been badly influencing her for years with my womanizing and all my other little quirky habits. And when I didn’t pan out as a decent scape-goat, they blamed Ryoga. Even though Azusa has told the entire story accurately, they twisted her words around a great deal to suit their own comfort. Somehow they’ve gotten it into their heads that Ryoga was the aggressor and that Azusa was simply defending herself. The morons have actually filed counter-charges against him. Though any sane judge would toss that case right out the window, the Shiratoris are very wealthy and have a lot of influence and friends in the justice system. They haven’t actually set a hearing date yet, but I’m sure its only a matter of time. This is another subject that Ryoga doesn’t like to discuss, and I can’t say that I blame him. Its only going to get worse before it gets better.

When I visit Azusa, as I do at least once a week, if not more often, she tells me that she’s very against what her parents are trying to do to Ryoga. She knows that it was all her fault, and I guess has tried to tell them this repeatedly, but they’re not interested in listening. I think she’s given up trying to argue with them about it . . . actually, I can tell that she’s given up on a lot of things since she went to the hospital. It hurts me to see her acting so different from how she used to, even though I know its for the better. Though her room is filled with lots of cute (and safe) stuffed toys and dolls, she doesn’t talk to them as she once would have. When I asked what their names were, she just sort of stared at me like I was the one who had gone crazy. She still smiles and giggles at things that amuse her (like when I told her about Ranma’s Jusenkyo curse, that seemed to really delight her), but that spark is no longer there. Her doctor says that she had submerged herself for years in the fantasy of being a little girl, and that now she’s finally growing up.

She also doesn’t refer to herself in the third person anymore.

Not too long after Ryoga was released from the hospital, Azusa asked me if I could get him to come see her. I wasn’t too keen on the idea, and neither was anyone else, especially not all the legal-types involved. But surprisingly enough, Ryoga agreed to go. Akane tells me that its because Ryoga has a very good heart at the core, and I guess that must be true. Ranma tried to talk him out of it, but as I said, Ryoga can be stubborn. Maybe he was thinking that smoothing things over with Azusa would help the bad situation with her parents, and maybe she was thinking the same thing. It didn’t help, unfortunately, at least not with the Shiratoris. But I think it did a great deal for both Ryoga and Azusa.

Under the watchful eyes of a myriad of doctors and security personnel, Azusa was allowed to meet with Ryoga in a private room at the hospital. I was there, as was Ranma, both of us ready to deal with any explosions or fall-out that might occur. But we were surprised at what happened. Azusa stared at Ryoga for a long time, then began to cry. She said that she was sorry, and to everyone’s amazement . . . Ryoga hugged her. He held her while she let it all out and in the end he whispered that he forgave her.

The doctors told me that was exactly what Azusa needed to hear.

Ranma told me, in confidence, that he spent that evening comforting Ryoga.

I still find it strange how adversity brings people together. Akane and I are going to be skating in our first non-school competition in just two weeks. When she first volunteered to practice with me, I remember that I didn’t like the idea. I guess I felt like I was betraying Azusa, or something. But I mentioned it to my former partner, and she urged me to take Akane up on her offer. After all, she said, it wasn’t likely that she would be skating again anytime soon, and she didn’t want to see me stagnating because of her. So, I followed her advice and its turned out to be a very good thing.

Akane doesn’t have Azusa’s sparkling personality on the ice, but she’s a good solid skater and knows the moves well. We seemed to click, and Ranma says that we look pretty good together. Aside from seeing her at practice, though, I seem to be spending more and more time at the Tendo Training Hall. Now that all of the unpleasantness surrounding Ranma’s coming-out has smoothed over, Soun Tendo seems pleased to see me whenever I show up. Apparently he’s been making comments about my qualifications as an heir to the School, at least that’s what Ranma’s told me. That makes me a bit uncomfortable, but when I’m skating with Akane . . . well, I’ll just say that Tendo-san’s hopes don’t seem too far-fetched.

Our competition isn’t going to be televised, but Nabiki Tendo is going to come along with Ranma and Ryoga, and bring one of her video cameras to tape it. Azusa says that she wants to see it.