Being True To Your Heart: Teaser for Chapter Five
"Bottom line
is, even if you see 'em comin',
you're not ready
for the big moments.
No one asks for
their life to change, not really.
But it does.
So what are we,
helpless? Puppets? No.
The big moments are
gonna come, you can't help that.
It's what you do
afterwards that counts.
That's when you
find out who you are.
You'll see what I
mean."
-Whistler "Buffy The Vampire Slayer"
"Wow, Sis, sleep at all last night?" Nabiki's eyebrows raised slightly as she took in her younger sister's appearance that morning. Akane slowly trudged down the stairs, her feet creating a barely perceptible swishing sound. There were dark, purplish smudges under her brown eyes. The eyes themselves were rimmed with red, puffy from crying. She looked toward Nabiki and shrugged, a slight lifting of her shoulders and knelt at her usual spot, failing to acknowledge the silent boy next to her. She picked up her chopsticks and picked up a small clump of rice from her pink bowl.
Ranma lifted his chin slightly, enough to gather the site of her within his peripheral vision. The slight moment, the glance that had not quite been a glance, went unnoticed by her. He gulped softly and looked back down at his nearly empty plate. He just didn't have the energy to fight for his food that morning.
"Speaking of sleep, Ranma, where were you last night?" Genma glanced at his son, who was pushing the food that his father hadn't stolen, around his plate halfheartedly. Genma nudged his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and studied his son. The normally vibrant pigtail hung limp against his back that bore incredibly hunched and tense shoulders. I knew it, the boy's out of practice, been slacking off. Well, I'll make sure he hasn't gotten too soft after breakfast.
"Out," came the muttered reply.
"Coming home at four thirty in the morning is a pretty long out, don't you think, Boy? A martial artist without sleep is no martial artist at all."
"Four thirty? Was the fight that bad?" Nabiki quickly slid her head to face Ranma. Finding no gaze to meet there, her eyes swiveled back to Akane. "So, Akane, tell. What happened?" Akane set down her chopsticks with a small sigh.
"Well, last night, Ranma and I ended the engagement. . for good this time."
"Oh sure, Akane. . no really, what happened?"
"I mean it Nabiki, it's over." Akane turned towards her father, whose chin had begun to tremble. "I'm sorry, Dad, I'm sorry. . but I just can't do this anymore. I'm tired, tired of the fights, the misunderstandings. . I just can't marry someone who doesn't love me, Dad, not even for the sake of the family honor. It's not. . not. . I'm-" She stood and walked over to the door. "I'm sorry," she whispered and stepped outside, shutting the door firmly behind her. The room held no sound for a very brief moment. The only noise that could be heard were the faint storm clouds in the distance, their rumblings foretelling the mournful day ahead. But that fortune was only heard for a moment as said before because then, the shouting began.
"Raaaaannnnmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!"
"Ranma! What have you done this time? Apologize to your fiance right now!"
"What did you do to my little girl?!?"
"Does honor mean nothing at all to you, Boy?!?"
"My poor little girl, how could you?!?"
"And all this time I thought I had raised you right!" Genma gripped Ranma by his blue shirt collar and glared at him menacingly before thrusting him harshly back to his spot. "I'm so ashamed."
"Dad, quit the waterworks." Nabiki complained and sent a pained look towards Kasumi, who lifted empty hands to the side and shook her head. "Ranma, would you please say something?"
"I don't want to talk about it." That cut Soun's sobs short.
"Ranma. "
"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Ranma's fists crashed against the table, vibrating the dishes. "I'm outta here." He rose and walked towards the door leading to the dojo.
"Oh, come on, Ranma, don't tell me your going to make a dramatic exit as well. The people have a right to know why this happened." Nabiki's eyes widened considerably as she was suddenly presented with a face full of furious Ranma.
"You want to know why it happened?" The blue-gray eyes narrowed as the sentences came from tightly strained lips. "It happened because she can't stand the site of me, it happened because I screwed up. . again, it happened because she wanted it to!" He straightened abruptly and turned toward the door once more. "And I care about her too damn much to hurt her again by bein' her fiance when she obviously doesn't want one."
More coming soon
-Kachie ^_^