Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 does NOT belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for a little fun. The story and Sakira Saotome in there does belong to me so don't take them. This story is dedicated to Sakira Saotome who is my best friend at school. Read her stories! They are good! Cherry Blossom Light Part 4: Lies By: Silver Star "Where is the girl, Allen." The Mistress demanded. "Where is she!?" "I know where she is, my Mistress." Allen answered in his usual calm and collected voice. He looked at the red headed woman sitting on the throne and smiled a cruel smile. "And I will get her for you. But you must have patience. Patience is everything." He added softly. "But I don't want PATIENCE!! I want the girl!!" The Mistress practically screamed down at Allen. He didn't flinch. "And you shall have her. My plan is already in motion. Nothing should go wrong. And when the time is right..." "And when the time is right?" Allen smiled. "She shall be yours." ~~~~~~~~~~~ "Morning, Ranma!!" Sakira said cheerfully as she came down the stairs for breakfast. "Sakira?" Ranma asked cautiously. "What are you doing down here?" "Gee, it's good to see you, too, Ranma." Sakira said dryly, sitting down at her place at the table. As she did that, everybody looked at her strangely. "What?" She asked, returning their stares. "Nothing." They all mumbled and then went back to eating. Sakira looked at them with a funny expression and then went to her own eating. "So, Sakira, you're going to school today?" Nabiki asked casually. Everybody stopped eating and waited for her answer. "Okay, people, tell me what's going on." Sakira finally said with a noticeable trace of annoyance. "Nothing." Everybody mumbled again. Ranma sighed. Somehow, he knows it's going to be a long day. ~~~~~~~~~~~ "Are you sure you're okay?" Ranma asked for the hundredth time since they departed the Tendo Training Hall. Sakira looked REALLY annoyed. "No, I'm not okay, Ranma." She said sarcastically. Ranma winced slightly but kept on going. "Listen, I don't know if you want to talk about last night so I'll just start. Who is that monster?" Ranma finally asked after a few seconds of silence. "Last night? Monster? What in the world are you talking about?" Sakira asked with a confused and unbelieving expression on her face. "You know, the Akane clone. And that transformation of yours." "Transformation? What transformation? As far as I know, I was sleeping soundly in my room!" Sakira said. "And speaking of Akane, where is she? Is she sick? I didn't saw her at the table this morning, either. If she doesn't get going, she's going to be REALLY late." Ranma jumped down, not noticing the big puddle below him. *splash* Sakira gasped. Onna-Ranma looked as if she's going to kill somebody. Sakira stared. Onna-Ranma still looked as if she's going to kill somebody. Sakira blinked. "Ranma?" Onna-Ranma turned to Sakira. A thought suddenly appeared. As Onna-Ranma lead Sakira toward the clinic, one thing made itself clear: Sakira doesn't remember. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Ranma sighed as he stared up at the stars scattered over the midnight sky. "Where are you, Akane?" He whispered forlornly. Ever since the time when Akane had disappeared and was replaced by that clone, Ranma's energy and health rate dropped tremendously. He couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, and he always space out, no matter where he is. Once, he didn't even noticed that he turned to his girl form after an accident splash of cold water! He thought. He missed her smile, her laugh, and most of all, he missed their fights. He would even welcome her mallet if it meant to bring her back to his life once again. He sighed with misery. He shut his eyes tightly, pushing those thoughts away from him violently. "Oh, Akane...where are you?" ~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ranma? Dad? Mr. Saotome? Kasumi? Where are you guys?" Akane asked. There was darkness all around her. There was nothing solid around here. There doesn't seemed to be any ground under her, like as if she floating in mid air. She herself is glowing, like a light had fell on her but everything else is still engulfed in darkness. She extended out her hands, hoping to touch something familiar. Her bed, her desk, her closet, anything. But there's nothing. "Where am I?" She whispered, her voice quivered slightly. "Don't be afraid, child." A woman's voice hissed. She shrank from the voice. She looked around and saw a form moving toward her. "Who- who are you?" Akane asked. She tried to back away from the form but found she couldn't. "Don't be afraid." The form hissed again, sending a shiver down Akane's spine. "I know everything about you, Akane Tendo." It hissed. "I know all about your fiancée's disloyalty, about you loving him but not been loved back, about constant fights between you and everyone around you." Akane shuddered as she felt a tendril of something dark touched her mind. Suddenly, images of her past appeared, surfaced by the dark tendrils. She saw herself, crying at her mother's grave. She remembered the betrayal she had felt when her mother left them. She remembered how her dad went into the mental death, leaving the three girls on their own. She could almost taste the bitterness of betrayal. A different image appeared. She was walking toward Furinken High School. She was walking alone because no one wants to be her friend. She saw all those boys, standing on the side, shaking their heads at her and saying that no sane man would ever want to marry her. She remembered all the girls, huddled together in the courtyard, keeping her out. She could hear their voices, echoing in her mind. "Did you see her fight? How can her father let her fight?" "Yeah, she's always acting like a tomboy. No wonder no boys would get near her!" "No, no." Akane whispered. "I do have friends. Yuka. She's my friend. And Saori. She's my friend, too." "Oh?" The voice hissed. "Are you so sure about that? If I were you, I wouldn't be so sure." "Yes." Akane said with a slightly stronger voice. "They are my friends." "Well, then, see for yourself if they are really your friends." The voice hissed and Akane felt the dark tendril probing her mind, sending her an image. She saw Yuka and Saori sneaking to the back of the school. They looked around to make sure no one was around. Although they were whispering, she could hear every hurtful words they uttered. "I hate Akane." Yuka said resentfully. "I hate her." "I do too, Yuka." Saori said. "But we have to look as if we are her friends. That's the only we the boys might notice us." She clenched her fist. "She's millions of boys chasing her and she didn't even think of us. Why doesn't she just loose to Kuno? That way, the rest of the boys would all come back to us once she's taken." "She's selfish." Yuka said scornfully. "She want all the attention on her." "No..." Akane whispered, staring helplessly at the two girls. "I'm not trying to take all the boys away. They just started to chasing after me, ever since Kuno announced about the date thing." But they didn't heard her. "You see." The voice hissed gleefully. "They are not your true friends. No one loves you." "No, that's not true." Akane whispered. "My family. Dad, Kasumi, Nabiki, they loves me." "Oh, really?" The voice hissed. "Maybe you are mistaken about your family." Another image took the place of the last one. She saw her dad and Genma talking quietly in their room. "That Akane, always causing trouble." Soun said and sighed. "I agree, Tendo." Genma said. "No wonder Ranma's always complaining about her." Akane was about to deny what they said when the image changed. She saw herself screaming Ranma's name as she sprint up the stairs. She saw Kasumi coming out of the kitchen, sighing. "Sometimes I just wish Akane wouldn't be so tomboyish." "Kasumi, no..." Akane whispered softly trying desperately to deny the truth of the image. The image changed again, to be replaced by another image of her knocking Ranma out to the pond. A gigantic hole was made on the wall of the Dojo. She saw Nabiki looking into the Dojo. "I have to use half of the money I got from selling her photos to repair all the damage she had done to the house." Nabiki said. "Oh, well, at least now I could sell pictures of Ranma." "Ranma..." Akane whispered. "He loves me...doesn't he?" She felt the tendril inside her mind, wrapping itself around it. She saw Ranma sitting alongside Shampoo. And she heard what he said. "She can't even fight." Ranma said, sneering at Akane whom was within eyeshot. "She's no better than Pop. In fact, even Pop can fight better than her. I'll bet she's not even as good as Mr. Tendo." "No...Ranma..." Akane whispered, a single tear trailed down her cheek. "As for you," he said, turning to smile at Shampoo. "You are a real fighter. You're better than anyone, except me, of course." Then, Akane saw the worst thing possible. Ranma kissed Shampoo. "NOOOOO!!!!!" She passed out. The next time she woke, she is no longer Akane Tendo. No, she is... The Lady of Death. ~~~~~~~~~~~ To be continued... ~~~~~~~~~~~ So? What do ya think? Please email me at bailuli@hotmail.com Tell me what you think of this, okay? ^_^ http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Palace/4709/