Britanny nodded her head. "Stripe and I loved, *hiccup* we loved each other more than anything else... *hiccup* He died fulfilling his duty to his people, and I'll... *hiccup* I'll... I'll never see him again!!!" Britanny continued sobbing.
Ranma just held onto Britanny. It was strange to him, comforting a woman he hardly knew. A cat-like woman no less. A part of him wanted to run off, to scream his head off... But another part of him just couldn't leave a woman in distress alone. He had to help her, but he wasn't sure how. Then a thought hit him. "You know, things never go as they're planned. Believe me, I know."
Britanny sniffled and looked up into Ranma' eyes. "You do?"
Ranma nodded his eyes. "Yeah. You know, I was almost married myself..." Ranma began, but left it hanging.
Britanny sniffled a bit, and looked intently at Ranma, her own sadness forgotten with that statement. "Y, you were? What happened? Did your fiancee," Britanny gulped, "Die?"
Shaking his head, Ranma answered, "No. Nothing like that." Taking a deep breath, Ranma continued, "The wedding was just an absolute disaster."
"Disaster?" Britanny asked.
Ranma sighed. "With all the fiancees there, the rivals, my possible father-in-law holding what I needed over my head to coax me into marrying his daughter, and all the explosions... Damn... It was all just a mess..."
Britanny blinked her eyes in shock, her sadness momentarilly forgotten with this revalation. "Fiancees? Rivals? What the heck are you talking about?"
Ranma sighed. "Perhaps, I should start at the beginning... It started when I was just a little kid, and Pops took me on a decade-long training journey..."
(------)
Two hours later, Ranma had finished his tale. It felt odd to him, spilling his guts out to this woman he hardly knew, but... It felt... 'Right' somehow, telling her the truth. And besides, it had at least kept her mind off her current situation. "So, as you can see... I've been through quite a lot myself. So believe me when I say I know what it's like to have life crap all over you. I understand perfectly, and I'm sorry that it chose to do this to you."
Britanny just stared at Ranma. She could barely believe all the stuff he told her. True, her family had gone through stranegr stuff, but her family was anything BUT normal. There's just no way that this nice, normal...
Blinking her eyes, Britanny shook her head. Wait a minute. From what he's told her, he's anything BUT normal. "You... They... I mean..." Britanny stopped talking and took time to gather her thoughts. "Wow... That is... It's incredible. You're probably the only person outside my family that's had insanely strange occurences happen."
Ranma nodded his head. "Hey, it's a big world out there. You just have to go out an explore it."
Britanny chuckled. "Just like Gina..."
Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Gina?"
Britanny nodded her head. "Yeah. My older sister."
Nodding his head, Ranma smiled. "Ah. I see."
"Yep." Britanny said. She looked around her, looking at the park. "Speaking of exploring a big world... Where am I?"
"Japan." Ranma answered.
"I'm in Japan?" Britanny asked in geniune surprise.
"Yes." Ranma asked. "Is something wrong?"
Britanny shook her head. "No, not at all. I'm just surprised dad had a gate scroll to Japan. He doesn't have any contacts out here." Smiling slightly, Britanny said. "Neither do I... Nor any of my family. This is a perfectly place to try and get over... Over..." Britanny started to sniffle again, the thought of her dead fiance.
Ranma could see Britanny was getting upset, so he patted her on the shoulder. "It'll be all right."
Britanny whimpered and held onto Ranma tightly. "It's just not fair... I loved him..."
"No, it's not fair." Ranma agreed. "If I've learned anything from my past experiences, it's that life rarely is." Cupping Britanny chin with a hand, he lifted her face so that he could look her in the eyes. "Britanny, listen. You can do one of two things. You can do what I've let myself do and be a victim, or you can take the bull by the horns and continue with your life."
Britanny sniffled. "But I don't want to forget Stripe."
"And you don't have to." Ranma said. "But you can't just let his death destroy you." Sighing, Ranma said, "Look, I know I haven't known you long, but I can't just let a woman chain herself to a bad experience like you're doing. You can remember your fiance AND continue living life to its fullest."
Sighing, Britanny nodded her head. "You're right. I can't live like this... But I'm not sure what to do. Stripe WAS my world. Now... Now he's gone, and I feel so empty."
Ranma sighed. This girl obviously loved this 'Stripe'. "Look, we can talk about this later, but you look like you could use a meal and some rest."
Britanny nodded her head. "That would be nice. But own't the people at the Tendo Dojo be mad? You said they always jump to conclusions."
"We won't go to the Tendo Dojo." Ranma said. "I think my mom won't mind putting up a guest." Ranbma stood up from the bench. "So, feel like a walk, and then a nice rest-stop?"
Britanny nodded her head. "Yes. I'd like that. I hope you don't mind."
"I don't mind." Ranma said. "I just can't leave you to wallow alone in sadness. I want to help."
Smiling, Britanny sniffed once more and stood. She hugged Ranma. "Thank you... Thank you so much."
Ranma hugged back. A smile came to his face. "Well, let's get gong. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can hopefully eat."
And so, Ranma lead Britanny out of the park, and towards the direction of his mother's home.
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(Posted Mon, 09 Jun 2003 03:21)
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