Ranma sped down the sidewalk, eyes glaring nervously at the heavy clouds above. They were due to open any second now. He could feel the tension building up in the sky, signaling thunder and lightening were approaching as well.
Quickening his pace, he made a running leap over some loose trashcans, sending himself further along the sidewalk.
A violent breeze blew, too warm to be part of a normal thunderstorm. This was something bigger.

As the Tendo Dojo came into view, a smile appeared on the boy's lips. For once, he was going to beat the rain.

Jumping over the row of hedges in the front yard, he reached out a hand and grabbed the handle on the front door. Turning it, he said a silent prayer of thanks that he had made it without getting wet.

Because when this boy was wet, he was..well, not a boy. When he became wet with cold water, he was no longer Ranma Saotome, but a female form of himself.

The curse is, as are many things in this story, for another time. Right now, this boy was as happy as can be.

That is, until he tried turning the doorknob.

It was locked.

Panic flashing across his face, the young martial artist rushed to the back door, gripping the handle with all his might. It too, was locked.

With a quick glance at the now pitch black sky, the boy made one last attempt. Racing around the house, he made it to the door of the dojo.

Relief flushed to his face as the door looked unlocked. Upon coming nearer, he noticed a sign.

It was a small sign, hardly noticeable and made of a cheap-looking paper. It hung by one lonely tack, and read:

TENDO DOJO; UNDER RENOVATION. ABSOLUTELY NO ENTRY PERMITTED.

Rolling his eyes at the flimsy little thing, Ranma turned the knob and stepped inside.

His memory of the day before came flooding back to him. He and Ryoga had duked it out, completely destroying the dojo.

It wouldn't have been such a big deal, except for the fact that the roof had been blown to smithereens.

With a sigh and a dejected look to the ominous sky, Ranma turned and exited the dojo. Now where to go?

A thought popped into his head. Maybe he could go to the cat cafe! Surely Shampoo would want him there! A smile on his face, he closed the door behind him and stood in the yard.

Hoisting his backpack up higher on his shoulders, the pig-tailed boy looked up once more.

Not the best thing to do.

Thunder rolled and lightening cracked, sending millions of water droplets down from the sky. They were warm, but not warm enough for Ranma.

In seconds, the black-haired boy was gone and in his place stood a shorter, red-headed, female.

"Just my luck."

A towel around her neck, the once-again male Ranma sat at the table, eyes glaring daggers at the girl who sat next to him. She glared right back, daring him to make a move. The angry silence was broken only by the sound of the rain hitting the roof.

"Ranma, it's your own fault." Scolded Akane, crossing her arms over her chest. She refused to look at him, tuning her back towards the boy, who seemed just as annoyed.

"My fault!? And why is it my fault?" he retorted, almost knocking over the bowl of soup that sat on the table.

"If you hadn't destroyed the dojo, then none of this would've happened!" she replied, whirling around to face him.

"And if you had been home like you said you would be, then I wouldn't be wet right now!"

He sneezed, covering his face with the towel as he did.

Akane waited patiently while he did so, and then continued.

"And if you weren't such an idiot, I might not have minded being home." She retorted with a chilling calmness in her voice.

Ranma snorted. "Really? Well maybe I wouldn't act like such an 'idiot' if you weren't so uncute!"

Until that point, Akane had been holding in her anger. She was trying to be calm. Even when she had come home and found him yelling about her not being there, she had kept her cool. Even when he had turned down the soup she had made for him, she did not yell. She even held her tongue when he decided to glare at her in silence. But this, this was enough.

Rising to her feet, she looked down at the boy, tears welling up in her eyes. "You..you.." she started, trying not to cry in front of him. She could never let him know that his insults hurt. She had to stay strong.

"What am I this time?" he prompted, crossing his arms in a bored manner. "Another idiot? Or maybe rude?" he scoffed, remembering past insults.

"You..are such.." The tears strengthened. She couldn't hold them any longer. Warm streaks streamed down her face, staining the collar of her blouse. Her brain too busy thinking of crying, she blurted the first word that came to her head.

"YOU ARE SUCH A COW!" she cried, turning and running down the hall. Making a turn, she ran into her bedroom and slammed the door violently behind her.

Leaning against it, she wiped her arms across her face, attempting to dry the tears. "It's not fair! He just..Argh!" she cried to nobody, sliding to the floor.

She had her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them while she cried. It was a long while before a violent wind blew in the window, making the shade flap and a bunch of papers fly off the desk.

Akane stood slowly and made her way to where the papers had fallen on the floor. Bending at the waist, she scooped up the documents and sat down on the bed. Slowly, she began to sort through them, recognizing some and throwing others aside.

The first was a picture. It was of just one figure. She was sitting on a blanket in the middle of what looked like a field. A smile was on her face and her hair was blowing in the wind.

Akane smiled at the picture, running her hand over its smooth surface. She was happy to see a picture of this woman, her mom, but at the same time she was sad. As quickly as they had stopped, the tears started again. They weren't as violent this time. They were softer and quieter.

Ranma scratched his head. "A cow? Was that really the best she could think of?" he laughed at the pathetic insult, but stopped suddenly, remembering her face. There was something about it. Something he hadn't seen her do before.

Tears

"Oh man.." he muttered, slamming his hand to his forehead. "I made her cry."

He sat silent for a few minutes, trying to think of what to do. He couldn't just leave her, he'd feel horrible about it later, plus get a punch or two from Akane. "Argh.." he muttered, looking up. "I think better outside."

Standing up, he let out another sneeze. This time it was followed by a cough. "Great. Now I'm sick too."

Walking to the front door, he wrenched it open. He immediately slammed it shut as a wall of sleet the size of golf balls came charging towards him. "So much for going outside to think.." he mumbled.

There was only one choice left. Swallowing hard, he turned and slowly made his way down the hall towards Akane's room.

Akane had moved swiftly through the pile of papers, looking at each one in turn, and tossing the useless ones aside.

By this point, she had come to another picture. This one had two people in it. One was herself. She was leaning against a cherry blossom tree, a smile on her face. Next to her stood Ranma. He was smiling as well and had one hand behind her head in bunny ears.

"Ranma.."

She sighed, ashamed at her outburst at him.

Another breeze came by, making the shade flap high enough to reach the ceiling.

With an annoyed sort of squeak, she stood and pulled down the window, sealing it closed. "There." She muttered, sitting herself back down on the bed.

The bed creaked as she sat down, the covers folding over, making the papers slid onto the rug. Bending over once again, she grabbed them and heaved them back onto her lap.

A clean, white envelope caught her eye. It was sealed tightly, a pair of names scrawled on the front.

Ranma and Akane

As fast as she could, Akane ripped open the envelope, pulling out a letter written in a handwriting she knew very well; Nabiki's.

Dear Akane/Ranma,

Daddy and Mr.Saotome have taken Kasumi and I on a trip. We'll be far, far away, so don't try to reach us. We will be returning to the dojo on Sunday afternoon. If you ask me, it's another of their ploys to get you two together. Don't let them know I wrote that.

Oh and Daddy says you shouldn't go outside either. There's some freak storm brewing outside. You could be killed.

I have to go, Mr.Saotome says he sees Ranma coming. You two play nice.

Nabiki.

Tossing the letter on the ground, she threw her fists into the pillow, smashing it further and further into the mattress.

"Why do they constantly have to force us together!?" she screamed, sinking into the comforter.

Ranma stopped at the door to Akane's room, hesitant. Raising a hand in a fist, he gently knocked on the door.

No answer.

"A-Akane?" he stuttered, knocking again.

No answer.

"I'm uh coming in." he called, opening the door a crack.

No reply.

Opening the door all the way, he peered into the room. Akane was on her bed, face down.

"A…kane?"

He silently tiptoed over, leaning over the girl. She rolled on her side, revealing that she was asleep. Ranma blushed, feeling like a fool. How could he have been so mean to her? She really could be..c-c-c-c-…cute..

There. He admitted it to himself.

There was no sense in waking her up to apologize. She might get mad and hit him. His apologies usually went wrong in one way or another, and he always ended up beaten in some way.

With a sigh, he turned to leave. As he did, a white piece of paper caught his eye. Curiosity overcoming him, he picked it up and quickly scanned through it, aware that it was Akane's and he would be punished severly by the girl if found.

He finished reading and dropped the letter back on the ground. He wrapped one hand into a fist and violently punched his other hand, trying not to wake Akane up.

"Those..idiots!" he hissed under his breath.

It was dark by that time. The wind continued to blow hail against the house. Rain pelted down on the roof, creating an eerie melody.

Ranma sat at the table yet again, stomach growling. Akane was still asleep.

Drumming his fingers on the table, he contemplated over what to eat. There was almost no food in the house, Kasumi wasn't home, there was no way to get out in that storm, and he'd rather die than eat Akane's cooking. There was the possibility of him cooking his own dinner, and he brightened. But it was immediately shot down by the fact that the stove was busted.

He mulled over it for a good hour, trying desperately to find some way to eat.

The martial artist was jerked out of his thoughts by a sound outside. It was a loud crash that echoed through the house.

Suspicious, Ranma stood and looked around the house. He checked every room, including Akane's, for an intruder. He found nothing.

Figuring a barrel blew over or a tree fell, he shrugged it off and sat back down at the table.

After thinking for a while, he decided to check the kitchen for crackers or bread of any kind. That would at least hold him until the next day.

Standing yet again, the by turned to go into the kitchen. There was a boom of thunder that crackled on for what seemed forever.

The lights flickered, and were gone in an instant.

"Greaaaat." Muttered Ranma.

Continuing his voyage to the kitchen in total darkness, Ranma groped for something to hold on to.

There was a scratching noise.

Ranma looked around, searching for the noise.

Another crash.

"That was no tree." He muttered to himself, suddenly worried for Akane.

Turning around, he happened to glance out the window as a flash of lightening struck.

The silhouette of a man was outside the window, peeking in. Its hands were curled into fists, ready to punch the window out.

Panicked, Ranma charged out of the kitchen, speeding towards Akane's room. He hurried inside and shut the door, just as the sound of shattering glass could be heard from the kitchen.

"Akane!" he cried in a loud whisper, shaking the girl. "Akane get up! Someone's in the house!"