Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, viz video, and a few others

This story is using two ideas borrowed from a few different fics.
Richard’s Storm’s End: How Ranma dies
And another fic, I don’t remember the name of or the author. If you are, or know the author of the story please email me: how Akane reacts to Ranma’s death.
The rest of the story is mine; any other similarities are just coincidence.  

Pt. 1
Into The Night

"Ranma, let's go for a walk down the beach."  She was very nervous.  She'd been planning this for days now, but the actual execution had taken lots of nerve.  She used all of her strength to smile at him.  

"Let's take some lunch and make an expedition out of it."

Ranma had looked at her in alarm.  "Um...you didn't make the lunches, did you?"

She grimaced, then stilled her face.  She wasn't going to let his idiotic comments deter her.  "No, Kasumi made lunch for everyone.  I just took enough for you and me."  She took a step closer to him, hoping he wouldn't hear how fast her heart was beating.  "What do you say?"

Ranma gulped.  He licked his lips and looked around, as if trying to find an escape.  Akane resisted an urge to send him flying through the window. Finally, he looked back at her, and his face softened ever so slightly.  "All right."  His eyes immediately widened, as if he was surprised at his own acquiescence.

Akane pounced before he found an excuse to back out.  "Come on, then."  She whirled and ran to the door, grabbing a bag with their lunch in it.  She stood there, waiting for him to come with her.

"Okay."  Ranma visibly gathered himself, then joined her as she headed out the door to the beach.

 It was a beautiful day, the warm breeze that blew in off of the ocean made the day just seem all that much better.

Ranma and Akane walked down along the beach.  Just out of the reach of the waves.  Both were silent, and enjoying the peace that was being offered to them.

Ranma reached out his hand, just as nervous as he had been after they had left Shinnosuke.  Akane smiled and grabbed it.  His face was comedic in the frightened expressions that crossed it, but it finally settled into a more or less content look.  They were far enough away from the others that they couldn't be seen, which Akane knew was important to Ranma.  He needed to be brought along slowly.  Come to think of it, she probably wasn't up to any public displays of affection, either.  She looked up at him, his muscular body glistening in the sunlight.  She wondered if he would try to kiss her.  She wondered if she would try to kiss him.  That made her blush.

They continued down the beach hand in hand.  After a while Akane pointed out a cave that was on the side of cliff that looked out over a small portion of the beach and ocean.  “That looks like a good place to have lunch.”  They climbed a small ledge that lead up into the cave, and did a little exploring of the cave.  When they came back to the opening, they noticed it was beginning to rain, and decided to eat the lunches while they waited for the storm to pass.

The storm wasn’t passing, after an hour the storm suddenly picked up in intensity.  The wind was now howling, and the rain was like a curtain that was suddenly drawn over the land.  Ranma decided it was best they left before the storm could get any worse.

Ranma made his way to the edge of the cave. The rain washed over him and he changed forms.  The now female was looking down the small distance to the beach, a grim look on her face.  Akane looked over her shoulder.

The beach was gone.

It its place, the ocean had risen, the winds blowing the waves violently against the rocks of the small cliff.  Protected as they had been from the storm, they had also not seen the storm tide rising.

Akane and Ranma looked at each other.  Ranma spoke quietly.  "We're in a lot of trouble."

They both looked up.  The cliff continued up for another ten meters or so. Not so great a distance to climb.  Akane grimaced; not so great when the sun was out, the wind calm and the rocks dry.  Not so great when to fall didn't mean you fell between the pounding ocean and the unforgiving rocks.

They looked at each other again.  Ranma sounded very grim.  "We don't have much of a choice.  I don't think we can stay here."

Akane nodded; the wind was getting worse, and she could already feel the spray of some of the waves as they crashed against the cliff.  It wouldn't be long before the water covered this ledge.  She looked regretfully at the bag.  She would have to leave it behind.

Akane examined the cliff closely.  There seemed to be easy handholds all the way up.  She plotted a course and pointed it out to Ranma.  She nodded. "Okay, Akane, you go first.  I'll follow right behind you."

Akane looked at Ranma for a moment, feeling like she should say something. Her courage failed her, though, and instead she went to the cliff face and grabbed a handhold.  She set her feet and lifted herself up.

Outside the protection of their ledge, the wind beat on her in earnest.  She cried out.  It felt like a living thing, something that wanted to pull her off the cliff.  She took a couple of deep breaths and lifted herself up again.

It was a painstaking process.  She would set her feet, reach up and grab something, lift a leg, find a foothold, push herself up, find another place to set her other foot, move her other hand.  The cliff offered plentiful places to put a foot or hand.  The wind made it difficult, filling every space between her and the cliff and exerting remarkable force.

Akane moved slowly upwards, making slow but steady progress.  The wind was an incredible thing, becoming stronger than she could have ever imagined. Every time she lifted herself up, she had to fight to make sure the wind didn't blow her completely off the face of the cliff.  And it was still getting stronger.

After an incredibly long period of time, Akane looked up to see grass right above her.  This was going to be difficult.  The grass wasn't going to provide as solid a handhold as the rock face had.  She reached up and felt along the cliff top.  She didn't feel anything besides grass.  She dug her fingers into the soil, then moved her foot up.  Finding a good, solid foothold, she pushed up.

She nearly lost it.  Lifting part of her torso up over the top of the cliff exposed her to the full force of the wind.  It pushed her back, and her hand slipped in the grass.  For a sickening moment, she was sure she was dead.  The wind suddenly turned into an unexpected ally, changing direction to push her towards the cliff top.  She reached her other hand up and dug it into the grass. Pawing with her hands and practically jumping with her feet, she managed to bring her whole body over the top of the cliff.

She had no time to be grateful.  Still lying on the grass, she turned herself so that her head and shoulders were over the top of the cliff.  She looked down at Ranma.  Ranma was still about two meters from the cliff top.  As she tried to lift herself up the cliff, Akane immediately saw her problem.  She was smaller than Akane in this form, and lighter as well.  The wind, which was dangerous to Akane, was deadly to Ranma.  Ranma had to move shorter distances up the cliff to compensate.  Her face was filled with determination, but Akane could see the fear as well.

Akane's mind raced for an answer.  None of Ranma's special techniques would be particularly effective now.  Ryoga's Breaking Point might have been helpful down on the ledge; they might have just burrowed their way up.  If they hadn't just brought the cliff down on their heads in the process.

Akane looked quickly around.  There was a house some hundred meters away.  She might be able to run there, grab some rope, come back, and lower it to Ranma. Akane felt the wind racing along her body, though, and knew that she didn't nearly have enough time, even if she could find rope quickly.  The issue would be decided long before then.

Akane looked down at Ranma and felt her chest tighten.  Ranma was no longer moving; she was just gripping the rocks in an effort to hang on.  Akane reached her arm down as far as she dared, but she was still a good meter from Ranma's nearest hand.  "Ranma!"  She couldn't even hear herself.  Maybe it was a coincidence, put Ranma looked up.  Their eyes met, and Akane saw fear in Ranma...and even worse, resignation.

"Ranma!  Reach up!  Just climb a little farther, you can do it!"  Akane still couldn't make out her own words in the wind and rain, but Ranma seemed to understand.  She moved her foot, found a foothold.  She lifted herself up, and for a moment, the wind grabbed her.  It pushed her to the side, so that she had to quickly find new handholds.  She lost a couple of decimeters in the process.

Akane edged herself over so that she was directly above Ranma again.  She strained herself, but Ranma was still a meter away, perhaps a little less. Ranma looked up again, her face no longer showing fear, but rather sadness.

"Don't give up, Ranma!"  Akane reached down further, letting more of herself hang over the edge.  For a moment she lost her balance, and had to quickly pull her hands up to keep from falling over.

Ranma saw this, and shouted something at Akane.  Akane couldn't make it out, but she could guess that Ranma was telling her to move back from the edge. There was simply no way Akane was going to leave this cliff without Ranma. Settling herself as best she could, Akane reached out her hand again.

Ranma sighed.  She looked down and seemed to mumble a prayer.  She looked up at Akane, and shouted something, very loudly.  Akane still couldn't hear her. Akane shook her head and strained her fingers, trying to reach as close as she could to Ranma.

Ranma looked up at Akane and smiled.  It was a simple smile, and she looked happy.  She said something, not shouting, simply saying it.  Then Ranma braced herself against the rock face, bent her knees as much as she could, and jumped up.

It might have worked from a ledge, but against the rock face, Ranma had pushed out as much as up.  Ranma strained to try and grab Akane's out stretched hand, but her own momentum carried her away from the cliff.  Then the wind grabbed her, and flung her viciously down out of Akane's sight. 

Akane's mouth hung open.  This was not possible.  Ranma couldn't die.  He'd faced death so many times before, and he'd always won.  He would always found a way to exploit the enemy's weakness, to use the slimmest hope to achieve victory.  It was simply a fact; Ranma could not be killed.

Akane shifted herself along the edge of the cliff, trying to get a view of the ocean below.  It was possible that the tide had risen enough that Ranma had merely fallen into the ocean.  He - she - was an excellent swimmer, and if she could escape the rocks, she might be able to swim to a safe beach.

Akane tried so see through the gloom of the storm and the sheets of rain. She thought she saw something moving in the waves.  She watched that area of the water and saw it.  It was Ranma. She watched as Ranma's body submerged once more into the ocean not to rise from it again.

He couldn't be gone.  He just couldn’t be gone.

Akane stared down into the water lost in the fact that Ranma had just plunged into the ocean and didn’t come back up.  She slowly stood up never taking her eyes off the water below. She stood there for some time not moving from that spot. A bright flash of light finally shakes her out of her dazed state and begins to move.  She takes a few steps back from the edge.  With nothing left for her, she begins to run away from all that she has known. The world blurs by.  She no longer cares what happens too her.

In a dark place a pear of eyes watch as the body falls into the ocean, bobs a couple of times and finally slips below the surface not to be seen again. In a dark room a figure stood laughing at the chaos that it was just beginning to release

*********

They hadn’t predicted rain that day let alone the storm that crashed down on the people.  The storm came out of no where.  No, warnings to be had for anyone in the area.  It was the fiercest storm they had ever had. Doing more damage than ever thought could be done.  Accomplishing the impossible, Ranma Saotome was dead, with his fiancée Akane Tendo.  The storm that took both of them away from their loved ones didn’t last long.  Their family and friends left grieving trying to understand how this tragedy had come about them.

The Tendo residence was filled with the usual people for the weekend.  Mourners and well wisher’s, the families that had Ranma promised as a fiancée for their daughters.  The people thinking this was to get Ranma/Akane away from them.  Others went on about the tragedy of it all, and a few others cursing at them for dying. The Saotome’s and Tendo’s were withdrawn.  Even Kasumi wasn’t talking to many people.  Mr. Tendo and Mr. Saotome spent almost all day together drinking or crying over the loss. Yet a month after the deaths no one wanted to admit that they weren’t coming back, hoping that one day they would walk in the door. As they had learned to expect the impossible from Ranma, but then again wasn’t it impossible that they had died in the storm?

*********

In a small room in an abandoned building, a girl slept on the floor lying in a fetal ball.  She could have been considered pretty, if not for all the dirt Covering her.  She had lost most of the life in her, and looked as if she had not eaten a decent meal in a few weeks. Her clothes ripped and starting to fall apart do to constant ware.

The room was in a little worse shape than she was, if you didn’t consider her emotional state.  Newspapers for covers, and all kinds of trash strewn about the room.  The only food in the building was an open can of beans that looked like it had been sitting there for a few days.  

The girl seemed to be having a bad dream, or remembering something, she didn’t want to remember.

“No....don’t...please.....Thank you god, oh thank you god”

Slowly her eyes open to the world.  The smile that had started onto her face suddenly turned into a look of anguish, and she curled into herself even more. Weeping again at all she had lost, of the past and of the future that she would never have now.
There were no tears however; she had not cried a single tear in weeks.  Life had nothing to offer her any more, and she was close to joining the one she loved.  She could finally admit it; not that anyone else would ever know it now.  Her joining with her love was not that much further in the future.

*********

‘Is everything ready’

‘Yes’

‘Then lets do it!’

*********

After that last dream, she had made up her mind. This was her last day, and it had been a month in the making.  She was determined to be with her love and not even death was going to stop her from being with him.

*******

‘We gotta do it now!’

‘OK!’

‘Do it!’

*********

She was about to leave the building for the last time when someone knocked on the door.
‘That’s strange no one knows I’m here. Why would anyone knock on the door.’  She just stands there looking at the door wondering if she should run.

The door opens, and there stands the person she never expected to see again.

“Hi Akane”

“R-R-Ra-Ranma” escapes Akane’s lips before she runs over to him and embraces him in a crushing hug.

“C-c-can’t b-b-b-breath”

Akane looks up into Ranma’s face, and loosens her hold on him a little.

“R-r-Ranma, is it really you”

Ranma just shakes his head as he tries to regain his breath.

“B-b-but how, I mean you were....” Akane makes a gesture as she trails off.

“It’s a long story, and I don't understand most of it myself.”

 “I don’t care, so long as you never leave me again.” Akane leans her head against his shoulder and begins to cry slowly sinking into a peaceful slumber.

Ranma watched Akane as she slept, thinking about what he had been through, and now they would be leaving before having a chance to visit their families.  Then again, they would be doing that soon enough.

Akane woke up to some one holding her in their arms.  As the day’s events came back to her, she again wrapped her arms tightly around Ranma.

“Finally awake?”

“Yea, how long was I asleep?”

“About a couple of hours.”

Akane’s stomach decided now would be a perfect time to make its presence known and growled loudly.

Ranma made a face and asked “Hungry?”

“What gave you that idea baka”

“Well let’s go take care of that then.”

Ranma stood up and then helped Akane to her feet. Leading Akane out of the building and down a few different allies before coming to a dead end.  Akane looked over at Ranma then asked
“Ranma why did you lead us here, and what are you doing?”

Ranma had taken out something and was concentrating on it, totally missing Akane’s question. After a few moments, he looked up. “Just a few moments, and we’ll be on our way.” Ranma held out his hand for Akane to take.  When she took his hand he pulled her in close and told her to hold on.  As she was putting her arm around him, a bright golden light engulfed them.  Just as quickly, it was gone.

When Akane could see again she was looking into an open field.

“Ranma, where are we?” Akane asked quietly, while staring at a boy with a horn on his head.

"This is Cephiro" Ranma began.

"I am master Clef" continued the boy with the horn on his head

"Cephio?" Asked Akane.

"Yes, originally we came from earth, but long ago there was a war between the mages.  When the fighting finally died down the people without magic were so afraid of us that it was decided that new worlds would be created for the mage groups to go their separate ways.  Thus keeping them out of each other's way.  At first people traveled, all the planets and those born with magic on earth apprenticed themselves to one of the mage groups. After a while however, the amount of people coming to the worlds for magic training began to diminish until none came at all.  We have long since been forgotten by all except the gate guardians, and only a few of them remain. Not many of those few that remain actually know of the mage worlds."

"Ok, but why are we here?" Asked Akane

"Both of you have natural magic. That and you are needed. One of the mage worlds has already taken over two of the other planets, and is now heading for this one. If they are not stopped their next target very well could be earth.  The Magic Knights are the only ones who stand a chance at defeating them."

"Who are the magic nights?" asked Akane

"The Magic Knights are a legendary group of people that are said to come to the aid of Cephiro in times of great need.  The first three Knights have been found. The legend speaks of two more knights born from death on the golden gateway.”

 “You will need to travel to Eternia to get Escudo.  Eternia is on the far side of the Forest of Silence.  No magic can be worked in there.  Within the forest is a person named Peresia. Go to her and she will provide you with weapons to use.  Ranma, I don’t want t be told again that you don’t need weapons. So don’t start. Akane please come over here and I will show you how too use your magic.”

Akane steps up t Clef and kneels down.  Clef raises his hand, while concentrating on his and Akane’s magic.

“There can you feel it?”

“Yes, There are words…”

“That is your magic, all you need to do is call on it when you need it.  Remember that your will is your power here. So the more you put into your magic the more you will get out of it.” 

Clef steps back from Akane and starts to walk towards a small house behind them that sets on the edge of a forest.

“Come on, we can get something to eat, and you can rest for the night here.  Tomorrow I’ll give you your armor so you can start on your journey.”

After they ate, they turned in for the night.  Akane insisted that she sleep with Ranma.  That night she slept better than she had in a long time.  Unfortunately, Ranma didn’t have such a peaceful night. Before Akane fell asleep she thought a little bit about what she had been though what seemed like a lifetime ago had actually been a little over a month ago, but then again she felt like she was starting her life over again.  This time with Ranma beside her.