Simulacrum

Simulacrum is written by Alan Harnum and was published online on March 22nd, 1998.Post at FFML & Post at FFML - Retrieved 19-03-2023
==Description==
==Plot==
For the twenty years she and Ranma Saotome have been married, Akane Tendo has had the same two dreams every night. First a dream of flying, followed by a nightmare where her loved ones - at first Ranma alone, gradually changing to include their son Ryoichi and their daughter Katzuko - look upon her in horror as she reaches out to them with clawed fingers. Various doctors and therapists have tried to help her, Dr. Tofu among them, but while the dreams themselves aren't outwardly so strange, their complete consistency remains unexplained.
Good news arrives; Shampoo and Mousse (themselves happily married for many years at this point), have at long last discovered a cure for the Jusenkyo curses, and are bringing it with them to Japan. On the night before their arrival, Akane reminisces about the events that lead them all here, including devastating final conflicts with Ryu Kumon (the staggering death toll from which drove Genma Saotome to disappear into obscurity out of regret) and Happosai (revealed to be a sort of warlock, whose patron-possessed husk managed to devastate the cityscape and scar most of the cast before Cologne finally gave her life to put him down), and a "Fragmentation War" in China (heavily involving the Joketsuzoku and the Phoenix People, cost Saffron his life in a heroic final battle, and ultimately lead to a complete restructuring of China's government). 
Despite all these hardships, the future seems bright. Most of the cast have paired off happily, (Ryoga Hibiki and Akari Unryuu, Tatewaki Kuno and Ukyo Kuonji, in addition to the aforementioned couples), and many have children on the way. Mention is also made of various technological advancements and civil projects, with various characters taking roles in shaping the future of the world for the better.
The Amazons arrive at the dojo and are greeted as dear old friends by the Saotomes (especially Katzuko, who has a crush on Shampoo and Mousse's son, Hai Long). They reveal their cure, a specific ritual using the Chisuiton and water boiled in the Kaisufu, revealed to them by a much-mellowed Herb, which locks away Jusenkyo curses for good. Having already tested it successfully on themselves, they happily prepare to offer the same to Ranma.
Alas, tragedy strikes, as Mousse trips while delivering the brew, splashing Akane instead. In an instant, Akane is transformed. Wings burst from her back, as her hands and feet transform into talons - and the tragic truth of her dreams is revealed: the original Akane drowned to create the Akanenīchuan, and the Akane who now exists is a sort of reincarnation, birthed by a Phoenix Tribe ritual which revives the spirit of a Jusenkyo pool into the body of the first person to be cursed by it - in this case Kima. Akane's dreams were foretelling this precise moment, along with snippets of Kima's memories, which now have been fully unlocked by the "cure."
Akane struggles with her identity. Despite wishing to remain Akane, she fears that she is actually either Kima or some secret third thing, and generally is having a rather awful time until Ranma approaches her and takes her into his arms. Ranma promises, in echo of her own words to him the night before, that he loves her no matter what body she inhabits. Akane, still grappling with new-old memories and fearing how Ranma will respond when he learns the truth of her newly uncertain identity, takes solace in his words, holding out hope that their family, and their love, will endure as they always have.
==Relationships==
*Romantic, Central
:*Ranma and Akane
*Romantic, Ancillary
:*Shampoo and Mousse
==Notes==
==FFML Posting History==
*A 22/03/98
*B 22/03/98
==RAAC Posting History==
*Story 27/03/98
==See Also==
*Balance of the Valley
*In My Dreams
==External Links==
*Simulacrum at the Internet Archive record of Alan Harnum's Anime Fanfiction - Retrieved 19-03-2023
==References==
Category:One Chapter Story
Category:1998