Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong Ranma 1/2: It was all a dream Ranma was awaken from his deep slumber by the gentle sounds of nature surrounding him. The birds were chirping happily, their love songs permeating the cool morning air. A breeze blew through the mountains, causing his hair to flutter gently. He yawned out loud, stretching his arms as he opened his eyes, the brilliance of the sun causing his eyes to wince in pain. His eyes flew open when he was shocked to realize that he hadn't slept under a roof that night. "W-what's goin' on?" he said wearily, thoroughly confused "W-where am I?" "Where we've always been...the great outdoors" he heard a low voice, his father's voice. He turned to face his father. "Nani?" he asked "Why? Why aren't we at the Tendos?" "Tendos?" his father said, scratching the back of his head "What are ya talkin' about?" All the blood drained from Ranma's face, causing him to look colorless, like he had seen a ghost. His heart was beating rapidly as he heard those words, beating so rapidly it threatened to burst within his chest if beat any faster. Ranma quickly got to his feet. He looked about and noticed that he was somewhere in the mountains. Upon realizing that, his heart seemed to skip a beat. No, he told himself. It couldn't be! It can't be! Please, it can't be true! Please! Tears were forming around his eyes as he noticed a river near the base of the plateau they had slept on. He didn't care. He didn't care if his father saw him crying. "R-Ranma, are you okay?" Genma asked, concerned for his son. He had never seen his son like this. What had caused him to shed tears? His son had never cried in his life, not even at his mom's funeral. Ranma had bottled all his emotions, not shedding a single tear, not even during Nodoka's burial. "No!" Ranma cried "No! Please, don't let this be true!!!" He plunged into the icy cold water of the flowing river. He stayed underwater for over a minute before surfacing "No!!!" he cried out in pain as he realized that he was still in his original form. He pulled the bangs of his hair down and noticed that it remained black, that it hadn't changed to red. "No!" Genma heard his son say. It sounded like a gut wrenching cry in pain. He could feel his heart practically stop upon hearing his son's voice. It sounded so filled with pain that he didn't what to comprehend what his son was going through at the moment. Ranma quickly ran up to the nearest tree "KashuuTenshinAmagurikan!" He started punching the tree as fast as he could. He noticed that he could see his own hands as they crashed against the bark. He could see his hands move. He realized he no longer punched at lightning speed. Genma quickly ran over to his son. He was shocked to see Ranma punching the tree with such force that the entire tree shook from the impact. He noticed Ranma's knuckles bled profusely his knuckles were torn wide open from the torment of hitting the rough bark. Ranma stopped after a few mintues, his arms falling limply to his sides, puddles of blood forming around his feet from his profusely bleeding hands. He looked at his bleeding hands and realized they confirmed that he had never learned that technique. He would have tried the other techniques if it weren't for the fact that he had fallen into a deep depression and he was burning with fury. His eyes lit up when he realized there was one more thing he had forgotten. He quickly turned to his father, hope in his eyes "Do you know the Tendos? Do you know Soun Tendo?" "Tendos?" Genma said, not sure what to say. He wanted to say yes, but that would have been an outright lie. He had never heard of them. He swallowed the lump in his throat and contined "No. I've never heard of them" "You're lying!!!" he cried out, right before running off. Genma was left standing there in absolute disbelief at what had just transpired. He had just seen his son jump into the icy cold river and then punch a tree till his knuckles bled profusely. He couldn't explain what had happened. Did his son snap? Had this training trip finally caused his son to snap? Genma just stood there as he saw his son running off toward the distance, not knowing what to do. He wanted to go after him, but was scared of what might happen if he had caught him. Instead, he just stood there, staring after his son as he got smaller and smaller as the distance between them increased. Hope. Hope was all that kept Ranma running day and night. Hope was what made him swim the entire distance between China and Japan. The hope that he could somehow see Akane again was what kept him from going mad. Ranma was beyond exhaustion when he had finally made it to his destination several weeks after leaving his father. He was now in front of a familiar looking house in Nerima. He held his breath as he knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he knocked on it again. When there was no answer again, Ranma, needing to find answers, quickly hopped over the fence that oputlined the outer perimeter of the home. "Hello?" he said as he knocked on the front door, his voice weak "Is anybody home?" When there was no answer, he knocked again, desperation in his voice "Please! Anybody?" There was no answer. Ranma punched the door with all his might, the wounds on his knuckles opening back up upon the extreme impact. The blood started to flow freely. Ranma kicked the door from the shear frustration, causing it to fly open inwardly, falling off its hinges. He didn't care if anyone saw what he was doing. He was beyond caring. He was now on the level desperation. He needed to see Akane. He needed to be with her. He walked into the house, immediately running up the stairs, heading straight toward Akane's room. As he was heading up the steps, he noticed the massive build-up of dust on the banister and railings. Upon reaching the front of Akane's room, Ranma noticed that the sign 'Akane' was no longer hung on the doorknob. He opened the door and walked in. "No!" he said upon realizing that the entire room was empty of everything. The entire house was empty. It was abandoned. He didn't want to believe it when he noticed the build-up of dust, but seeing that there was nothing in the house confirmed his worst nightmare. A small spark of hope popped into his mind. He still had hope. He quickly ran out of the house, heading straight toward Furinkan High. Upon reaching there, he noticed that it was only noon. He immediately ran into the school, heading straight toward Akane's classroom "Please, let her be there! Please!" He opened the door and ran into the classroom, disregarding everyone whom was staring at him after he entered the room. He quickly scanned over the entire clasroom. "What are you doing here?" the teacher said, an elderly man, not some young, brown-haired girl named Ms. Hinako "You're disrupting the class! Get out!" Ranma gave the teacher a furious look that caused him to take a step back in fear. He had never seen someone as furious as the boy standing before him. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge. Ranma looked like he was ready to kill him. "No!" Ranma screamed. He picked up an empty classrom desk, the muscles in his forearms flexing, and threw it through the window, glass shattering everywhere. He had just realized that Akane was not in the classroom. He smashed his fist against the teacher's desk, causing the desk to cave-in at the center. He pulled his bloody hand up out of the rubble, not caring that he had just broken several bones in his hand. He walked out of the classroom, truely depressed, not caring anymore. He had just found out that Akane, the person he most cared for, the one he wanted, no, needed to be with no longer existed. The world he had grown up in no longer existed. A flash from his past entered his mind. It was a flashback of his mother's funeral. He realized he was beginning to remember what had happened to him in this world. "Mom!" he cried, the tears flowing freely. He sobbed as he realized he had lost everything. No. He cried because he realized he had nothing. He leaned up against wall outside the classroom, his vision blurring. His body was beyond exhaustion. It was on the brink of a complete shut-down. He had taxed it more than any mortal was supposed to. His heart could no longer function because of the strenuous work it went through. Not only that, but because of the extreme heartache of finding out Akane was no longer in his life. He fell to ground, not caring anymore. It was all a dream. He closed his eyes, not caring if they never opened again. Well...there's another fanfic. First off, I'd like to say that the characters were created by Rumiko Takahashi and I would never infringe on any of her works. Please e-mail me if you have comments. I'm sorry for any spelling or grammatical mistakes. I wrote this in a single sitting meaning I might have missed in correcting some errors. I don't really know why I wrote this. I just sat down and wrote whatever came into mind, and this was what I came up with. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. P.S.-If you want any of my other fanfics, just ask. Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong