This is a short, dark fic, I guess. I got the

idea after reading MY LAST DUCHESS by Robert

Browning. (Who is also one of my favorite Victorian

Writers!)

        Ranma 1/2 is the property and creation of Rumiko

        Takahashi, and whoever else owns it. I'm not making any

        money off of this so don't sue me. Besides, good luck if

        you tried. I'm broke.

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MUSINGS OF A MADMAN

By Angela Jewell

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        The laughter... it never stops. Nor do the whispers.

        I know what they think of me, the things that they say. But I've

fooled them, you see. They don't THINK I know. I can be just as

sneaky and conniving as them. You have to be, to have gone through

what I have.

        Kiimi, their mother. She wasn't a saint, although I'm

sure that's how they remember her. *I'm* the evil one, you see. The

bad parent. And why is that? Because I found my own way to escape? A way

to get away from everything that had happened in this house? Unlike

them *I* didn't let go of my control or sanity. In fact I've never

thought clearer.

        I should just leave again. That's what I should do. They would

be better off without me, anyway.

        They blame me for her death, you see. Probably because I'm

the one that killed her. Although I can't take all the credit.

It wasn't *all* me. All I did was help her... she _asked_ for it.

She knew the rules... and the consequences when she broke them.

        And of course she cried... but I wasn't swayed...

        Her portrait still hangs on the wall. I use it as a reminder.

There have been others, but none that compared with Kiimi or her beauty.

They broke the rules too. So... I killed them. I loved them all very

much, just as I love Tacchi and Dacchi.

        They are smart kids. They pretty much stay out of my way.

They know what would happen if they broke the rules... they don't want

what happened to their mother to happen to them...

        They've even found their own ways of dealing... Kodachi and her

incessant laughter-- although her method of dealing tends to be annoying

at times, she's not breaking any rules-- and Tatewaki's warped

sense of the world around him is very intriguing. He's becoming

more and more like his father every day...

        I only wish they would cut their hair...

        They've gotten stronger since I've been away. It would be

difficult to punish them if they did decide to break any of the rules. I

must practice to be stronger. As man of the house it is my duty to keep

things running smoothly.

        I laugh, clutching the scissors and comb firmly in my hand as I

advance towards the dummy. "Just a little off da top." I whisper.

        Practice is everything, you see.

        And I know what they think of me, the things that they say. But

I've fooled them all. I _will_ get stronger and when I do I'll be able

to punish them... just a little off the top... then a little more...

        Their mother looked even more beautiful with a bowl cut...

        And I can be just as sneaky and conniving as them.

You have to be, to have gone through what I have...

        And the laughter...

        it never stops...

        

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        I just wondered what would've happened if Prinicipal Kuno had

killed his wife. And yes, if he did kill her I'm sure he would have

thought of a way to cover it up... and that would be a good reason for

Kuno and Kodachi's insanity. Not only the fact that their mother was

killed but also that their father was the one that killed her...

        

        Yes, yes. One day I will revise this! Along with my 6 or 7 other

stories I have scattered around!

        In the mean time feel free to send any C&C...

        (I'll ignore all flames though)

Angela Jewell <ajewell@nmu.edu>