"The Pit of Fear."
    -Henry J. Cobb

Akane stormed into the kitchen of the Tendo Dojo, a scowl on her face.
"Sorry I'm late, it's Ranma's fault.  Why does that idiot do these
things?"

"He does it because he's afraid."  Kasumi calmly replied, directing her
sister to a pile of vegetables next to the cutting board.

"I know about the cat phobia."  Akane slashed vigorously at the carrots,
"but that had nothing to do with what he did today."

"There are things Ranma fears far more than cats."  Kasumi checked the
oven.  "His father told me how after his first failure, he tried the pit
of hungry cats again and again, varying the recipe each time and Ranma
didn't so much as whimper until he felt the sharp claws upon him."

"He fears his father more than cats?"  Akane was now working the celery
down to hash.

"He fears disappointing his father, more than he fears cats."  Kasumi
carefully stirred the broth.  "Since he could walk, Ranma's trained in
the martial arts, mostly to please his father, but now he disappoints
his father daily and is unable to help it."

"What does that old panda want?"  Akane now attacked the onions.
"Ranma's the best fighter in the world, and with his Cat-fist, he's
unbeatable."

"That is not how he disappoints."  Kasumi motioned for Akane to add the
unevenly shredded vegetables to the broth.  "And what is so unbeatable
about the Cat-fist?"

"The cat has no fear."  Akane first stirred the mixture vigorously but
switched to more even strokes as her sister directed.

"True, and where does Ranma wind up, every time he turns into a cat?"
Kasumi checked on the rice.

"In my lap, and then later the idiot claims not to have remembered
anything."  Akane reached for the vinegar, but Kasumi dissuaded her.

"Why doesn't he pretend to be under the Cat-fist and curl up in your lap
sometime?"

"He couldn't, he wouldn't dare, he knows what I'd do."

"But the cat has no fear?"

Akane paused for a moment.  "You mean Ranma fears me?  More than his
father or cats?  Why?  I could never lay a finger on him.  I keep
training so that one day I can wipe that smirk off of his face, but
it'll never happen."

"But he lets you kick him all of the time.  I think he finds it a relief
when you try and hurt him."

"He's afraid that I'll be nice to him?"

"More than anything else in the world dear.  I imagine he came down to
apologise for what he did today, but has simply been too frightened to
speak.  Isn't that right Ranma?"

Akane did not notice when Kasumi took the pot from her lifeless
fingers.  Akane slowly turned and she saw Ranma leaning against the
doorway.  His body remained in a confident pose, but his face was blank
from shock.

"W-w-why did you do this sis?" Akane's fingers remained wrapped around
as if she still held the pot.

"I've been disappointed too."  Kasumi turned back to her cooking.  "You
both loudly proclaim your courage and indifference when the truth is
that you're each too frightened to take that first step.  I can handle
the rest of dinner, why don't you two go out back and face your fears?"

Akane put away her apron and approached Ranma, who hadn't even blinked.
She briefly considered towing him by his pigtail while shouting "Come on
you jerk!", but she relented and led him away by the arm.  "This way
Ranma, I think."

	Henry J. Cobb	hcobb@slip.net          http://www.io.com/~hcobb
    $Id: pit_of_fear.txt,v 1.3 1996/08/24 04:14:09 hcobb Exp hcobb $