Ranma 1/2
A Bit of a Shocker
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Ryoga seemed quieter than usual.

"Hey, P-chan." Ranma teased, hoping to get the boy mad enough to forget whatever was bothering him.

Ryoga sighed in exasperation. "We have to talk."

Ranma nodded. "What about?"

"About Jusenkyo. There's something I have to tell you. Its a secret I've kept since my arrival here."

"I already know about P-chan, Ryoga." Ranma pointed out.

"You don't know the truth about P-Chan, Ranma." Ryoga replied.

"The truth?" Ranma asked.

Ryoga took a deep breath and let it out, trying to prepare himself for what he was about to say.

"Do you recall how you said you didn't notice me on the cliff above the spring of drowned little black piglet?"

Ranma nodded. "I figured I'd been just so mad at dad that..."

"I wasn't there."

Ranma fell silent. "What do you?! But you knew everything that happened."

"I learned it all from P-Chan." Ryoga shrugged.

"I don't get it." Ranma was very confused.

"Not all the Springs work the same way, Ranma." Ryoga explained. "It all depends upon what the temperature of a spring is when it claims its victims. You landed in a cold spring, right?"

Ranma shivered from the memory.

"So cold water activates it."

"The Spring I fell wasn't a cold water spring."

"But you change when you're hit with cold water." Ranma protested.

"Yes, I do." Ryoga shrugged. "But ... Ranma. I can't say it." he turned away, then scribbled an address on a slip of paper and handed it to Ranma.

****

Ranma blinked as he stood at the address in question. "Why on Earth did Ryoga send me to a cemetary?" He wondered out loud.

Just then P-chan ran past, bwee'ing for Ranma to follow.

Ranma followed. After a number of false starts, they finally reached what P-Chan wanted Ranma to see.

It was a grave, slightly weather-beaten but otherwise in good condition.

P-Chan bwee'ed at it.

It took Ranma a moment to realize what he was seeing. Then it struck him like a thunderbolt.

He was looking at Ryoga's grave.

"But... if Ryoga's dead... then who did I knock into the Spring of Drowned Piglet?" He poured a bit of hot water onto P-Chan.

"Nobody." Ryoga replied.

"But..." Ranma blinked in confusion.

"You're really thick sometimes, Ranma." Ryoga sighed. "Ranma, P-Chan wasn't the one who drowned in that Spring."

"But you turn into P-chan."

"I told you before, the nature of the change depends on the temperature of the Spring when the victim falls in."

"Ryoga, what are you trying to say?" Ranma asked. "I don't understand.

Ryoga threw up his hands in annoyance and walked off.

"What did I do?!" Ranma followed him. "I'm trying to understand, really, but..."

"YOU KNOCKED P-CHAN INTO THE SPRING, RANMA!" Ryoga shouted, as if he wanted to make a neon sign out of it and whack Ranma with it.

"I *WHAT*?!" Ranma stared.

"It was P-Chan you knocked into the Spring, Ranma." Ryoga explained.

"But you..."

"I died, Ranma." Ryoga looked over at the grave. "After you left me, I realized I didn't want to live any more."

"Ryoga..."

"You were my only friend. The only person I'd ever opened up to. The fights we had were great. I loved them. We were equals in strength and stamina, even if our styles were different."

"I enjoyed them, too." Ranma agreed. "It was good to have a sparring partner who didn't crumple after a couple minutes."

"Same here." Ryoga nodded. "Then you left and I had no one. No friends... A family who's never home... I would've gone with you, Ranma. I followed, but I lost track of you. Then I had heard about Jusenkyo and figured that since it was a training ground, you must've gone there."

"We had."

"But I got there first." Ryoga explained. "I waited for four days, but you didn't show. So I figured I'd missed you. And I realized that by waiting, I'd put too much distance between us and I'd never see you again. It was just too much, and that spring was just too inviting. So..."

"You drowned yourself." Ranma's voice was a stunned whispered.

Ryoga nodded. "Then, sometime later, you showed up and knocked poor little P-chan into the Spring where I'd ended my life."

"So, you're a piglet who turns into a boy instead of a boy who turns into piglet?"

Ryoga nodded. "Yes. And now I must tell you the truth. I came here, not to seek revenge, but because Ryoga loved you and I wanted him to be happy. You belong together, Ranma. You and Ryoga. Remember that, Ranma. Remember it always."

Ranma nodded, then drew closer to the bandanna-clad bishonen. He pressed his lips to Ryoga's and was rewarded when Ryoga returned the kiss and melted against him until they seemed almost molded together like a wax statue in the sun.

-OWARI-