Les Miserables. If I did I would be down the pub spending all of the money earned
from those rights on beer.
Another old and awful fic I thought I?d post to convince people I was not always a slacker.
I?m sorry for this.
On My Own
by Beer-monster
? Bye Ukyo,? her last customer shouted as he walked through the door
.
? See ya sugar.? she replied as she pulled her white ribbon from her brown
locks. The door closed behind the customer, and Ukyo sighed loudly. It had been a
long and busy shift. She crossed her restaurant to flip the sign on the door so that it
now read CLOSED.
Looking back across the room she observed the empty chairs, scattered leaving
of okonomiyaki and small stains of soda and sauce on the tablecloths. All the signs
that the place had once been bustling with happy, laughing people, lingered in the air
like an echo. She was alone. Again.
She had been alone for the longest time. Ten years ago she had left her family
behind, left the only place she had called home. She had no one to turn to for help or
comfort. She was a disgrace to her parents, Ryoga was lost and even Konatsu had left her.
Sometimes she felt that her life was without hope. No family, no friends not even a
happy face to say hello to.
Tears had begun to well up in Ukyo?s eyes. ? I?ve got to get outta here,? she
panted desperately. Turning she yanked open the door and dashed out into to the rain.
The icy winter winds, bit her through her thin chef?s clothes. She hugged
herself in meagre defence from the cold and looked up at the sky, letting the rain wash
over her. The sky was covered in the dark blanket of night, the stars shining like
pinholes of light in the black cloth. Taking a deep breath she tuned and began walking
down the street.
She often did this. She tread the streets alone at night, in the twilight hours
while the people of Nerima were sleep. She simply wandered without a destination,
letting her mind ramble. It allowed all of her pain come to the surface, and evaporate.
There was another reason she did this though. She could be with him.
Ukyo stopped and leant back against a nearby streetlight. She smiled softly to
herself as she let her eyes fall closed. He was here. She could see him. His raven hair
blended seamlessly with the darkness that surrounded him. The way the moonlight
shone on him, lighting one half of his face as the other was shrouded in shadow making
him so beautiful she was left breathless. She could each intricate fold of the red
Chinese silk as it hung from his supple muscles. Each shadow and every band of
light that across the shimmering material making adding to his perfection. His lips
were curved upwards in that sweet, boyish smile she had come to love. Dark, bangs
hung over his piercing blue eyes. Eyes in which she could lose herself in, eyes like pool in
which she could gladly drown.
? Ranma,? she whispered as she took in his form, her heart so full of love she
thought it might burst.
She started to walk again. Her Ranma walked at her side, still smiling, he was so
close the air seemed full of his scent. An aroma that drove her crazy with passion.
Alone, she walked with him down the dark street, Ukyo pleading that they this would
last, stay together until morning.
She could almost hear the words she wished him to whisper to her. Words of
love she had longed to hear for so long. ? You are so beautiful,? he said. ? You are
everything to me,? he sang. ? I love you Ukyo,? he told her. She thought she had died,
tears of joy threatened so flow unhindered from her soulful brown eyes.
The winter wind arose again, and she shivered as she felt it caress her spine.
But then she felt suffused with warmth as she felt him wrap his strong arms around her
and pull her close to him, making her feel safe and loved. It was this feeling of comfort
which allowed her to get through the hectic Nerima days, to remain
here and fight for him. And even though she had wandered aimlessly and had no idea
where she was, all she had to do was close her eyes and he would find her, and love
her.
She walked, still in the arms of her Ranma, the thought of him making her
suddenly aware of the beauty in the world around her. The moonlight played across the
damp pavement, making it shine like polished silver. The bright lights of the city were
misted and wavering on the rippling surface of the river. The glowing bulbs of the
streetlamps were surrounded in amber halos of light which made the raindrops sparkle
as they fell by As she looked up the shining stars shone through the dark boughs of the
tree, making it seem as if they had leaves of silver radiance.
She stared at the sky. The heavens seemed to stretch off for an eternity. That
was what she wanted of Ranma. Eternity. And on this night, her heart so full of love
for Ranma she could almost fell his presence that was what she had. Her and Ranma;
together for forever.
? But you?re not really here are you Ranma,? she whispered.
It was all in her mind, Ukyo knew it. Ranma was at home, in the Tendo dojo.
With Akane.
She was out in the shadowy streets, alone on a cold winter?s night,
talking to herself, hearing her own voice, not that of the man she loved. She looked at
her Ranma, and he began to fade away. The ghost of Ranma still smiled, this time it
was a sad smile, an apologetic smile. Then the image of her love faded away like a
mirage.
Ukyo silently cursed Ranma Saotome, for being a Jackass. How could he be so
oblivious. She knew that he was completely blind to the way she felt for him. To him
she was just Ucchan his best friend. The one he could talk to, and confide in. He came
to her when all his fianc?e troubles got to him. He did not consider her a fianc?e, and
did not think she did. Ranma believed that she only stuck around because of her family
honour and because of her father?s yattai. He did not know, or did not want to know
just how much she loved him. How he was her life, her soul.
She never gave up though. Despite his blindness to her affections. She was
even willing to ignore the competition of Shampoo and Kodachi throwing them selves
at him. She accepted to all as she still clung to a shred of hope. Believing that if she
loved him enough and wished hard enough, fate would find a way for them to be
together.
Ukyo hung her head as she walked, now that her imaginary lover had gone, the
world seemed plane and colourless. Without life or emotion. The river was just a river,
no longer did the hazy reflections of Tokyo?s light make the water?s surface beautiful.
The leaves of starlight had vanished into the night, the boughs of the trees were bare,
making them seem barren, dead. She was once again walking dark, empty streets, and
she felt her loneliness swallow her whole, and she was drowning in dark and cold
emotions.
Suddenly the familiarity of her surroundings struck her. To her left was a
simple wooden fence, rickety and untidy where several holes and explosions had been
cheaply and quickly patched up. On the right was three feet of twisted steel; that jutted
out at a wicket angle from the pavement. Several wires protruded from the metal tube,
occasionally giving of bright, white sparks. This was the remnant of a lamppost, after
a crazed blow from a bandanna-clad martial artist. Ukyo knew where she was, and she
knew what drew her here. Without a thought or a sweat, she leaped over the wonky
fence, into the Tendo dojo.
She stood in the garden, shrouding herself with the shadows by the Koi pond.
Wrapping herself in the darkness as she watched the house. From her hiding place she
could she through the open door of the dojo.
He was there.
Her heart was full, and her soul was singing as she watched him perform his
kata. Her breath was stolen away as she observed his every movement, each flowing
movement of his hand, every step a deliberate expression of grace. His silk shirt hung
open, and she watched the light play across the sheen of sweat across his supple, sexy
muscles. Despite such a welcoming view her eyes were immediately drawn to his face.
All the cockiness and arrogance that was usually plastered across his face, was gone
replace with joy and tranquillity. He felt truly alive when he practised the Art, much as
she did when making her okonomiyaki. His eyes though carried a gleam of sadness in
the depth of those misty, blue orbs. The same gleam she saw when she came to her
restaurant at night, hoping to exorcise his many problems by talking to his Ucchan. So
many times she had listened to his problems, smiling and cooking Okonomiyaki when
all she wanted was to hold him. To kiss him and tell him the words she had kept
bottled up for so long.
Ranma stopped, his fluid movements ceasing abruptly as he turned with his
heart in his hands. Akane had entered the dojo, talking quietly for once and not
shouting. Ukyo felt her blood turn to ice water. She did not hate Akane, as illogical as
that seemed. But she could not help grow cold with envy as she watched her one true
love, give Akane Tendo the same lingering glances she knew that she had for him.
Gazes where the eyes shine with eternal devotion. She also saw Akane return those
gazes in kind, even if they never admitted it their love was there for all to see.
It was clear to Ukyo now. And everyday the lesson was that little bit easier to
learn.
It was all a fantasy.
She had wandered or ten years, pretending she wanted revenge was to see that innocent
smiling child grow into a man. Now in Nerima, she still denied the truth. She clung feverishly
to the hope that she could be one with Ranma, but it was a lie. She knew he loved Akane and
that she had no chance. Akane was his world. Ukyo knew that she could never see him
again, she could run back to Kyoto, she could even die. And Ranma?s world would go
on turning. She could see that they would be happy together, and she would remain
alone, never knowing such happiness.
Suddenly she heard a light step, and looked up to the moonlight shine across the profile
of the eldest Tendo sister.
? I see you?re here again Ukyo.? Kasumi said warmly.
Ukyo did not answer, she simply continued to gaze at Ranma. The world
shrinking around her until only he remained. It was true, at night she would set out on
her walks, wandering aimlessly with no fixed route or place to go. Yet she always
ended up here, at the dojo watching Ranma. She never consciously came here, but she
was here anyway. Pulled by her heartstrings and drawn to this place by the bonds of
love that she had attached to Ranma, a bond she would surely die without.
Kasumi?s smile faded as she watched the girl stare across the garden at the man
she loved. Her gaze never wavered. Kasumi?s heart went out to Ukyo, she knew that
Ranma loved Akane but she never stopped. She continued to watch Ranma with her
heart in her hands.
? You truly love him, don?t you?? Kasumi asked.
Ukyo drew in a shuddering breath and the tears came now. Flowing down her
cheeks uninhibited, each one a shining, crystaline shard of her broken heart.
? I love him,? she said. ? But only on my own.?
Kasumi laid a comforting hand upon Ukyo?s shoulder, the girl never noticed.
There was in her world but Ranma.
The End!
On My Own
Les Mis?rables
Eponine:
And now I'm all alone again
Nowhere to turn, no one to go to
Without a home, without a friend
Without a face to say hello to
And now the night is near, and I can make
Believe he's here.
Sometimes I walk alone at night when everybody else is sleeping.
I think of him and then I'm happy with the company I'm keeping
The city goes to bed
And I can live inside my head.
On my own
Pretending he's beside me.
All alone I walk with him till morning
Without him
I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me.
In the rain the pavement shines like silver
All the lights are misty in the river
In the darkness the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me for ever and forever.
And I know it's only in my mind
That I'm talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say there's a way for us.
I love him
But when the night is over
He is gone, the river's just a river
Without him the world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere the streets are full of stangers.
I love him
But everyday I'm learning
All my life I've only been pretending
Without me his world will go on turning
A world that's full of happiness that I have
Never known.
I love him, I love him.
I love him, but only on my own.
You have the gift.