Well, here goes the next phase of the series!  This is based
heavily on events and situations from the previous stories,
which are available on my Web Site.

As always, C&C is anticipated, accepted, and appreciated.
"Miyabi" and "Masao" appear courtesy of Kunoichi, whose "Ranma
nibun no ichi" series inspired this "Paralell Universe".

All original Ranma1/2 Characters and Backstory Copyright
Rumiko Takahashi, and are used without permission.


Coutuva.


Mysteries of the Mind - Part 1
An Accidental Parting                            <WARNING - LIME>
------------------------------------------------------------------


	"And your name, sir?"  the young man at the wicket asked pleasantly.
	"Ranma Saotome, from Japan." 
	"Ah.  I see you... right here.  Here's your room pass, the Programme,
and your Welcome Kit.  We hope you enjoy the Conference, Mr. Saotome."
        "Thanks.  I'll try."  Ranma replied with a thin smile, and stepped
through the foyer doors.
        Ranma certainly hoped he'd enjoy the Conference, as it had taken a
supreme effort of will to leave his wife and children back in Nerima.  He
didn't like doing that as a rule, but he reassured himself that it was for
the best.  His flight was already booked for Japan at 5:00pm Friday, since
the International Martial Arts Trainers Conference was only a week-long
affair.  The family wouldn't have been able to do much anyway, especially
with Masao having a cold.
        Sighing, Ranma absently took in the sights as he meandered his way
toward his seat, knowing he still had a good ten minutes before the
Conference convened.  As he wandered about, he wondered why Canada had been
chosen as the host country this time... he was not familiar with any major
Canadian involvement in the development of the Arts, yet based on what he
had seen thus far, one would think they invented it.
        Anxious to get things over with so he could get back to his family,
Ranma found his seat and got comfortable, expecting a long, tedious day of
speeches.  He was scheduled to speak the following day about the "Anything
Goes" style, but that was still a whole day away.
	Stretching his tired muscles, which were still stiff from the long
flight, he kicked his pack under his chair and stretched his legs out,
hoping to relax a bit before things got started.  According to the agenda
for the day, there was going to be a breakfast served at 10:00am, and a
break for lunch at noon.  He had thought about going to get something to
tide him over, but opted to wait it out, not wanting to have to climb over
people to get back to his seat.
	Finally, the Conference started, and pretty much as Ranma expected,
it was all dull speeches.  By the time Noon rolled around, he was ready to
call it a day.  The only thing that stopped him from going to his hotel was
that the Conference Committee had chartered buses for the out-of-town
visitors, and they wouldn't be arriving till four pm.
	After lunch, there was at least a series of demonstrations that
kept things moderately amusing, but Ranma still couldn't wait to get to
his room, so he could call his family and tell them how much he missed
them.
	Finally, he boarded his bus with a few other delegates who were
staying at his hotel, and made idle chatter with a few of them during the
ride.  Once he had booked in, he stumbled tiredly into his room, kicked off
his sandals and flopped face-first on the king-sized bed.  After laying
there for a few moments, he lifted his head and glanced at the empty space
beside him.  He visualized Akane stretched out in all her glory, coyly
covering her sexy little body with the comforter and giving him that
"take me" look that she had perfected over the years.
        His heart pained as he realized that it was only a wishful thought,
and he immediately rolled over and grabbed the phone.  Anxiously, he dialed
the number and waited none too patiently for it to ring through.
	After what felt like an eternity, Ranma's heart skipped a beat as
the voice of an angel greeted his hungering ears.
        "Moshi-Moshi?" Akane answered, hoping it was her husband at long
last.
        "Konnichiwa, Akane-chan!"  Ranma blurted happily.
        "Ranma!  Kami, I'm glad it's you!  I've missed you so much... I
can hardly think straight!"  Akane responded excitedly.
        "I know... I hate being here without you, Akane-chan.  I feel like
a part of me is missing."
        "Hai.  I've been in a cloud all day... Miyabi keeps having to
remind me what I'm doing.  I wish you were home already... it's so hard
without you."  Akane explained, the sadness in her voice going straight
to Ranma's heart.
        "I wish I was.  This place is boring enough even without my missing
you and the kids.  There's nothing new here at all."
        "Well, just imagine I'm there with you... that should keep you from
getting bored."  Akane suggested, the tone in her voice abruptly changing.
        "Oh, I've been doing that already... I saw you laying beside me
here on this big, comfy king-size bed, wearing nothing but a smile.  I
imagined that I pulled you into my arms, throwing off the comforter you
were hiding under, and planting a big, wet, hungry kiss on your pouty lips,
while I ..."
        "Stop it, Ranma!  You're going to make me have to go change!"  Akane
interrupted, her voice a hoarse whisper.  "And besides, Miyabi is right
here." she continued, trying to regain her composure.
        Ranma couldn't help but laugh, picturing Akane's face all flushed
while she tried to maintain her cool in front of Miyabi.
        "Your daughter would like to speak to you, Ranma..." Akane responded
icily, her tone indicating what she thought of his little joke.
        "Great!  Put that little tsunami on... I want to talk to her, too."
        Akane handed the phone to the delighted little girl, breathing a
sigh of relief.
        "Papa!  Where are you?  I want you to come home right now.  Mommy
misses you real bad... and she keeps messing things up, too."  Miyabi began,
a slight tone of indignance in her voice.
        "I do *not* mess things up!"  Akane commented, wagging a finger at
her outspoken daughter.  "You better watch it, missy, or I might have to
give you some chores." she warned, regarding the child levelly.
        "Papa, Mommy's trying to act tough again..."  Miyabi indicated,
rolling her eyes.
        "What?  Come here, you little..."   After the phone thumped to
the floor, all Ranma could hear was Miyabi squealing and laughing, and
Akane repeating  "So you don't think I'm tough, huh?  I'll show you who'se
tough!" in the background.
        That was it for Ranma, who by now was laughing his head off at
the other end of the line.  When he finally regained his own composure,
he listened for someone to pick up the phone again.
        Eventually, Akane came back on.  "Sorry about that... I had to put
*your* daughter in her place."  she explained, breathlessly but happily.
        "Don't worry about it.  It sounded just like home.  Suki da yo,
Akane-chan.  I can't wait till I see you again."
        "Suki da yo, Ranma.  You hurry home when this is over... You've
started something I expect you to finish."  Akane responded, her voice
low and suggestive.
        "Hai!  As soon as this is over, I'm outta here."  Ranma emphasized,
wishing he was already on his way. "You just keep it warm for me."  he
added, his own voice suggestive.
        "Ranma, no Baka.  Hurry home.. we all miss you."  Akane reiterated,
softly.
        In the background, Ranma could hear Miyabi yelling "I miss you too,
Papa!  Bring me back something!" and had to smile at her temerity.
        "Akane... How's Masao doing, by the way?  Is he any better?"
        "A bit.. his fever's down and he's a little more active today.  I
think he'll be fine by tomorrow.  Hurry home, and you can see for yourself."
        "As if I need any more incentive.  Well, this is gonna cost me a
good chunk, so I better get off the phone.  I miss you guys... I'll see
you all on the weekend.  Sayonara, Akane-chan... give my love to the kids."
        "Sayonara, Ranma.  We miss you... a lot.  See you then."  Akane
replied sadly, and hung up the phone.
        Hanging up his end, Ranma rolled over on his back and sighed
heavily, wishing he'd have stayed home.  Being away from his family was
proving to be tougher than any battle he'd ever fought.
        After a few long, deafeningly silent moments, he leapt off the bed
and began his favorite stretching exercises, figuring he might as well put
all the extra time he now had to good use.  However, no matter how hard he
tried, he couldn't shake the lonely, empty feeling in his heart.
        Finishing the sets with a bow to the mirror, Ranma peeled off his
shirt and headed for the bathroom, figuring a good bath and some room
service might distract him for a while.  Once in the bathroom, he noted
with dismay that all it had was a shower stall.  He had been looking forward
to a good soak, and was very upset until he remembered the large Jacuzzi
in the main room.
        Peeling off the rest of his clothing, he stepped into the small
shower and ran the cold water over himself for a few minutes, then stepped
shivering out of the stall.  She noted that it wasn't like a real Japanese
bath, but it worked on short notice.
        Wrapping a towel around herself, onna-Ranma wandered out of the
bathroom and went to all the windows and promptly closed the curtains.  She
then dropped her towel and walked over to the Jacuzzi to start the water
running.
        She hummed happily to herself as she watched the large tub fill,
sitting patiently on the edge as she waited.
        Abruptly, a pounding knock on the room door startled her, and she
glanced around quickly for her towel.
        "Hey, Saotome-san!  C'mon down to the bar with us!  Sake's on me!"
a loud voice boomed, and onna-Ranma recognized it as one of the people she
chatted with on the way back from the Conference.
        "Ranma's not here right now!"  onna-Ranma answered sweetly, to an
odd silence from the hallway.
        After a second, the booming voice spoke again.  "Ano.. Okay, if you
say so, babe." it stated, an obviously envious tone to it.  "Tell him I'll
see him later!" it added, as she listened to many sets of feet start off
down the hall.  While she listened, she had to grin as she heard the loud
one mumble that by the sound of things, Saotome would probably be too busy
to come even if he was in.
        Still snickering over her little trick, onna-Ranma sauntered back
to the big tub and prepared to step in.  Catching a glance at herself in the
mirror tiles above the tub, she sighed wistfully, wishing it was Akane's
nudity she saw, not her own.
        As that thought lingered in her mind, her hand took it upon itself
to cup the nearest breast and begin thumbing the nipple, sending a shiver
down her back.  Abruptly realizing what she was doing, onna-Ranma
gasped and jumped into the Jacuzzi, all the while chiding herself for
starting something she didn't want to finish... at least not alone at any
rate.
        Settling into the enveloping warmth of the water, Ranma reached up
and turned on the jets, moaning happily as the hot blasts hit just the right
places on his stiff back.  As he closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling, the
thought struck him that it was too bad warm water made him male.

        Finally, skin looking like a pink prune, Ranma crawled out of the
large tub and toweled off, figuring he had best eat something before he
ended up falling asleep.  Picking up the phone, he quickly ordered a meal to
be brought up.  The waitress on the other end chided him for calling so late,
as the kitchen was closing, but said they'd have it ready in fifteen minutes.
        Turning on the television, Ranma surfed the channels looking for
something interesting, but was disappointed with the choices.  Glancing at
the top of the television set, he saw a two-fold card advertising movie and
VCR rentals, and rolled off the bed to check it out.
        Just as he opened the card, he heard a knock at the door, followed
by a cheerful "Room Service!"
        "Chotto Matte!"  Ranma answered, then cursed his slip.  Opening the
door, he saw a pleasant young woman standing behind a small, cloth-draped
push cart.
        "Hi."  he sputtered, suddenly remembering that all he had on was
his pants.
        "Hi... R... Room Service, sir."  the woman stammered, noticing and
then staring at Ranma's sculptured chest unashamedly.
        Ranma, recognizing the look in the young woman's eyes from those
of his many past fiancees, quickly slid the cart past him into the room,
handed the now dazed girl a twoonie, and gently closed his door.
        Sighing with relief, he wheeled the cart over to the small table in
the corner of the room, and ended up gazing out over the city as he ate.
Again, his thoughts drifted back home, and he even found himself missing
Akane's cooking, which struck him as somewhat ironic, especially after all
the years he had accused her of trying to poison him.
        Back on his bed again, he tried one more time to find something on
the TV, but met with the same results as he did on the previous attempt.
Yawning, he shut off the TV and tossed the remote on the nightstand, then
rolled over to the other stand and checked the time.
        "Feh... after eleven... I might as well just go to bed.  Beats
sitting here doing nothing." he thought, and called down to the front desk
for a 6:30am wakeup call.
        Peeling off his pants, he tossed them on a nearby chair and rolled
in under the covers, trying to find a comfy spot.  Closing his eyes, he
groaned as his body relaxed, and then a thin smile crept across his face.
        "Good night, Akane... I love you."  he whispered, and drifted off
to sleep.


        After stepping out of the bathroom the next morning, Ranma walked
to the larger of the windows and opened the curtains, only to frown angrily
at what he saw.
        It had started raining during the night, and was showing no signs of
letting up in the near future.
        "Kuso!  Why today?  I could have stayed home yesterday... but no,
the day I have to speak;  it rains."  he growled to himself, stomping toward
his pack to see if he had a jacket that he could throw over his head long
enough to get to the conference.
        Much to his surprise, within the pack he discovered a collapsible
black umbrella with a red hair ribbon tied about it.  On the tail of the
ribbon, very familiar kanji spelled out "Love, Akane."
        Ranma smiled broadly and shook his head in a blurred combination of
relief and disbelief.
        "Arigato, Akane-chan.  You saved my butt... as usual."  he remarked
aloud, grinning.


        Half an hour later, and ten minutes late for the start of the
Conference, the bus finally arrived and everyone scrambled to get aboard it.
Ranma felt like he was walking a gauntlet as he headed for his seat, dodging
other passengers shaking off their umbrellas.
        Just to play it safe, he went all the way to the back of the bus,
hoping to avoid any contact with water.  Once settled, he took off his pack
and shoved it under his seat, then laid his own umbrella beside it.
        The bus driver, knowing he was already in deep for sleeping in, was
pushing the limits a bit as he tried to get to the Conference facility
without losing any more time.
        Pulling out onto the 401, the driver wasted no time in heading for
the fast lane, and giving the old bus everything it could handle.
        A few car lengths ahead of the bus, another vehicle moved into the
fast lane abruptly, only it was doing about half the speed that the bus and
all the other traffic in the lane was.  Before the bus driver had time to
think about it, he was already and literally on top of the small car.
        The sudden deceleration of the bus caused a dump truck that had
been right behind it to lock up all it's wheels, but the water on the
highway acted like pure grease.  The careening truck smashed full into the
rear of the bus, knocking it upward and sideways.  Two cars that were next
in line then hit the truck.
        By the time it was over, the bus lay on it's side across three
lanes, it's entire rear section literally torn open and crushed.  The truck
and two cars ended up skewed all over the lanes, and the small car came to
rest sideways in the middle of the roadway, it's rear end almost completely
destroyed.


        A few minutes from the crash scene, another vehicle raced against
the clock, the driver knowing she was already running late for the start of
the Conference.  She wasn't participating, but still had driven almost 200
miles on the chance that someone she knew might be there.
        She had been in her home town visiting her parents, when a news
article about the Conference came on TV, giving her the idea to check the
site for her friend.  She knew it was a long shot, but she felt she had
nothing to lose by trying.
        Not having a watch, she anxiously reached over and turned on the
radio, wanting to check the time and traffic conditions as she knew she was
getting close to Metro.
        As she listened to the Update, her heart sank as the reporter
mentioned a bad accident on the 401, and noted with even more disgust that
it was only a few exits from her current location.
        Almost on cue, the traffic ahead of her began to slow down, and as
she rounded a curve, she could see the lights of the Emergency vehicles
flashing in the distance, and a couple of columns of smoke rising through
the rainy air.
        "That must have been a beaut..." she thought to herself as she
eventually slowed to a stop.  From what she could see, it looked as if there
was a bus involved, which told her that there would be a lot of hurt people
to look after, which in turn translated into a long wait.
        Sighing, she put the car in park and shut off the engine, expecting
she'd end up paying a parking fee sooner or later.
        She amused herself for a few minutes by watching the flurry of
activity taking place at the crash site, but found that even that got boring
after a while.  She just wasn't close enough to see anything well, and the
steady rain didn't help matters any.
        Just as she was about to crawl over the seat to check her luggage
for a magazine, a chance glance down the road revealed something that made
her look twice.
        In the distance, she could just see a lone figure walking up the
side of the highway against traffic.  What made her take notice was the head
of flame-red hair the individual sported, and as the party got closer, she
could see the red shirt and black pants plainly.
        "Oh my god... It's Ranma!!"  she shouted, and scrambled for her
umbrella.
        Opening the umbrella outside the car, she carefully stepped out
under it and ran toward the solitary figure trudging up the road.  As she
neared the small Chinese woman, her heart skipped a beat... until she saw
the dark red smear running off the woman's shoulder.  Seeing that almost
made her heart stop.
        As she caught up to the little woman, she noticed the glaze in her
eyes and the cuts and scrapes on her arms and legs.  She also noticed the
gash in her forehead, which led to only one conclusion... Ranma had been
in the crash, and was hurt pretty badly, despite having walked away.
        Stopping Ranma in her tracks, the girl waved frantically in front
of her face, but got absolutely no response.
        "Ranma!  Ranma!  Snap out of it!  Ranma!  Can you hear me?"  the
girl shouted, trying desperately to get any kind of reaction.
        Ranma turned her head toward the girl and looked at her with still
glassy eyes.  "Ranma..." she said, slowly, her eyes not changing at all.
        "C'mon, Ranma!  Wake up!  Remember me?  It's Elysse!  Elysse Rialto,
remember?" she yelled again, suddenly feeling very helpless.
        Ranma continued to stare mindlessly at Elysse, until abruptly her
eyes cleared for a fraction of a second.  "Elysse... help me..." she
croaked, her eyes rolling back in her head as she crumpled to the ground.


        Onna-Ranma lay unconscious on the futon in Elysse's apartment, just
as she had ever since Elysse had carried her there.  Several hours had
transpired, and Elysse paced the floor nervously, hoping she had done the
right thing by bringing Ranma to her home instead of to a hospital.  She
wanted to avoid using the public facilities if at all possible, knowing
that they would ask far too many questions for her liking.  Plus, he
could be traced through them, and she didn't want to take the chance.
        A friend of hers from a few doors over, an EMT who thankfully had
still been home, didn't think that Ranma's injuries were consistent with a
skull fracture, since the big gash looked like exactly that... a
slicing-type injury as opposed to blunt force.
        Still, Elysse was becoming concerned at the lack of any positive
signs.  She had already cleaned and dressed both Ranama's wounds and her
body, outfitting her in a sundress that she had dug out of her own closet.
        Sighing, Elysse went to the kitchen for a fresh cloth and bowl of
water, intending to wash down Ranma's face once more.  Inwardly, she was
hoping the contact would also help to wake her.  If it didn't, she knew
she'd have to get Ranma to a hospital anyway, despite her desire not to.
        As she walked back toward the prostrate Ranma, she gasped as she
thought she saw the Chinese girl move.  Kneeling beside the futon, she
quickly wet the cloth and wiped Ranma's forehead gently.  Much to her
delight, onna-Ranma moaned quietly.
        "Oohhhhh... where am I?"  she groaned in Japanese, upon opening her
eyes tentatively.  "And why does my head hurt so much?"  she continued,
raising a hand to her wound.
        "Ohaio, Ranma-chan!  You're at my apartment."  Elysse
answered, bowing slightly.  "You were in a bad traffic accident, and your
head took a good hit."  she explained, reaching over to carefully brush
some errant locks away from Ranma's face.
        Onna-Ranma turned her head and looked up at Elysse quizzically,
then asked a question that totally floored her.
        "Who are you?"



=======================================================================
END - Mysteries of the Mind - Part 1      A Ranma1/2 FanFic by V. Coutu


Comments Welcomed, Flames Extinguished!
coutuva@vecdev.com