Yearning

AN: Well, would you look at that! A new story! Just an idea that popped into my head after re-reading 'Happily Married' by Kirinin.

Without further ado, enjoy!

Ryoga stared down into the eyes of his rival's shorter cursed form. "When we met in middle school you were the first person to ever beat me in a physical contest. Fighting was almost all I knew, yet I could never best you back then. My pride demanded I challenge you, yet at the same time, you were the first person I ever truly respected. Despite the fact that I was always trying to pick a fight with you, you still were willing to help me get home every day. I was always stronger than other people my age, and most of the kids at school seemed afraid of me. Yet, you never cared about that. you really were my closest friend. Heh, you know, if you had been born a girl, I might have asked you for a date, rather than a fight."

Ranma simply stared at him in shock at that revelation, unable to come up with a response.

Ryoga was far from finished, however. "When you left, it wasn't revenge that motivated me at first. That desire only came later, after I got cursed. You were the only person I looked up to, and it felt like you had abandoned me. It was bad enough that I never knew if I would see my parents again whenever they left home; I wasn't about to lose my best friend the same way. So, I tried to catch up to you. I didn't have any overall plan behind my actions, or even any idea what I would say if I did manage to find you. All I knew is that I wanted to fight you again, to talk to you again, just to see you again. You were all I could think about. I knew I was obsessed, but I didn't care."

Ranma had never heard Ryoga go on like this, and couldn't bring herself to interrupt.

Ryoga sighed, before he continued. "Despite my determination, everything seemed to go wrong. I grew bitter, and with every misfortune, I began to think, 'This never would have happened if I never met Ranma!' I grew angry that you left me behind. Getting cursed was the final straw. I convinced myself that I only chased after you for revenge, and focused solely on traveling and training."

'Why is he telling me this?' Ranma thought.

As if reading her mind, Ryoga went on. "Even then, it was all about you, Ranma. Day and night, for the years I tried to find you, you were always on my mind. When I finally found you, I almost wasn't sure what to do. So I fell back on what we both knew; fighting. But then we broke that water fountain, and you transformed. Seeing that you had a Jusenkyo curse also, and yet such a beautiful one... It that moment when I first saw you in this form, I wasn't sure if I wanted to kill you, or kiss you. But you hadn't even remembered me. It was that more than anything that enraged me. After that... Hell, you were there for most of it."

"Ryoga, what are you-" Ranma started, only to be interrupted by-

-almost falling as the vision interrupted his kata and almost made him lose his balance. Staggering to one wall of the dojo, Ranma slumped against it as he tried to sort through what he had just experienced. Meanwhile, a part of his mind wandered back to the events that caused this new curse.

A week ago, an argument between himself and Akane had escalated, as it was wont to do. Ranma did not remember the details, but it had led to him being chased across the ward by Akane, Ukyo, and Shampoo. While trying to escape their pursuit, Ranma had gotten distracted and plunged through the roof of a fortune teller's tent. Normally, Ranma would have hidden there until his pursuers had passed, but the inhabitant of the tent took issue with that.

"My crystal ball!" The old woman had shrieked, staring at the shattered orb Ranma had accidentally knocked off a table. Turning to the martial artist, she intoned, "May you suffer the visions you have stolen from me!" Ranma had not thought much of her words at the time, more concerned with getting away from the shrieking hag.

"It's not like I did it on purpose," Ranma grumbled, as he headed out of the dojo toward the house.

For a couple of days after it happened, Ranma forgot about the incident... and then the first vision had hit him. It came when he was dozing during class, so at first he thought it was just a dream. It had just been about him fighting someone oddly familiar. It was not until his foe used the Breaking Point technique that he realized it was an older version of Ryoga.

Since then, the visions had come and gone erratically. There was no pattern to them as far as Ranma could tell, and he certainly had no control over them. Some seemed to be part of Ranma's distant future, while others seemed like they could happen tomorrow. Most were barely long enough for Ranma to realize what was happening, which got him thinking.

"That might've been the longest one yet," Ranma muttered to himself as he entered the back door of the Tendo house.

"Got hit by the new 'curse' again, Saotome?" Nabiki asked from where she sat, waiting to eat her breakfast.

"Yeah, it interrupted my morning practice," Ranma replied. "It ain't as bad a a Jusenkyo curse, but it can still be annoying."

"It could also be useful, if you pay attention," Nabiki countered. "So, what was this one about?"

"Why should I tell ya?" Ranma asked, suspicious of the mercenary-minded girl.

"I'll take ¥1,000 off your debt to me," Nabiki replied. She was convinced that it was only a matter of time before Ranma saw something in one of these new visions that she could make a fortune off of.

"Make it ¥5,000," Ranma said. He was not that worried about Nabiki finding out about something that might not even happen, but he was not about to pass up an opportunity to get further out from under her thumb.

"¥2,500 or no deal," Nabiki shot back, drawing the line.

"Fine," Ranma acquiesced. "It was just Ryoga talking ta me about chasing me ta China and back."

"How is that anything new?" Nabiki asked. "Isn't he always going on about how you 'made his life Hell' because of that?"

"Yeah, but this was in way more detail," Ranma explained. "He even admitted he was obsessed. Ryoga's usually too busy blaming me for stuff ta admit something like that."

"Interesting..." Nabiki said, her mind already considering if there was any way to profit from this information.

As Kasumi brought out the food, Ranma asked, "Where's Akane? Ain't she gonna be late for school if she doesn't get down here soon?"

"Ranma, did you forget?" Kasumi asked in her usual gentle tone. "It's Sunday, so there's no need to make her get up so early."

"Oh. I guess this stuff with my head made me lose track of the day," Ranma replied. "Ah well, just means I've got more time ta practice today." With that said, Ranma ate his breakfast with his usual gusto, before heading back out toward the dojo.

As he walked, Ranma thought about Nabiki's earlier comment concerning his new 'curse'. "Useful, huh?" He muttered to himself. "I suppose if Ryoga can say that much ta me with yelling 'Prepare to die!' then maybe there's a chance we could be actual friends some day..."

However, as if summoned by Ranma's thoughts about the previous vision, he felt-

-Ryoga grabbing her by the shoulders, staring into her eyes and declaring, "What I'm trying to say is this. I love you, Ranma, and it's something that's been growing for years, not just the past day. Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me that the magic is altering my memory, that you hate me for saying it and never want to see me again, tell me something to refuse me, because if you don't say something soon..."

Ranma gave a sharp intake of breath as Ryoga's hands slipped from her shoulders to her back, pressing her athletic body against his more muscular form.

"...I won't give you another chance." Ryoga finished, as he brought his face down to hers, clearly moving in for a kiss.

Ranma brought her hands up to his chest, intending to push him away, thinking, 'He's still under the effects of the Love Pill. I don't want him to kiss me because of that!' Then it hit her. She did not want him to kiss her because of magic... did that mean she wanted it to actually be him? The hesitation gave Ryoga the opportunity to close the distance, however.

And then his lips were on hers as-

-the water of the koi pond closed around him, trigger his original curse and turning Ranma into the form he really did not want to be in right now. Sitting up with a gasp, Ranma realized the vision had come as he was passing the pond, causing him to fall in.

Scowling as she stood up and hopped out, the redhead stomped toward the dojo to satisfy her sudden urge to punch something. However, she couldn't escape what she had just seen. "Guess this is what makes it a curse," Ranma grumbled. "There's no way I'd ever really feel like that! I had ta have been under some kind of magic or..."

Suddenly, Ranma brightened up as she recalled a detail she had almost overlooked in her anger. "Of course! The future me thought something about those Amazon Love Pills! If I can just make sure Ryoga doesn't get anywhere near them, then that vision can never happen! 'Course, that means I've actually got ta find him first."

With that, Ranma took to the rooftops, determined to stop a future that had been forced upon her.

AN: There we go! Like it? Hate it? Let me know if you want more!