Ranma ½ doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, if I did own do you think I'd be here right now?

-/-

"So Ranma, what do you like the most about Christmas?" Akane asked absentmindedly as she watched her father and Mr. Saotome carry in a beautiful tree. Kasumi talked excitedly to Nabiki as the other girl tried to pretend she didn't care. It had been a tradition in the Tendo family for years for them to plant a tree and then cut it down and decorate it on Christmas Eve.

Ranma was caught off guard by this question. He spent most of his childhood on the rode with his father and since they were always moving they didn't really have time to celebrate that kind of thing. But Ranma did remember a time every year when they would quit training for a day, buy the most high quality ramen they could find and just light a fire. Was that Christmas?

Ranma scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, I guess my favorite part about Christmas would have to be no training."

At this said, Kasumi and Nabiki quit decorating the tree, Soun and Genma put down the sake, and Akane looked at the pigtailed boy before her strangely. "What?" Nabiki asked after the long silence.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Akane asked.

"Every Christmas, me and the boy would eat ramen and take a day off of training," Genma explained.

"That's horrible, Mr. Saotome!" Kasumi cried, chiding him gently. "You mean that Ranma never got to experience a Christmas before? He's never waited up for Santa or left cookies for him?"

Genma shook his head.

"Who's Santa?" Ranma asked, blinking at the Tendo sisters.

"You don't know who Santa Claus is? I thought every kid knew about him," Nabiki said in disbelief. "I remember, my favorite Christmas memory is when Santa gave me a toy cash register for Christmas."

Kasumi clasped her hands together and held them to her chest. "I remember that! You would carry that toy around with you everywhere you went. You were so cute, you pretended to work at a bank and charge us for the cutest reasons."

Ranma sweat dropped. "I wouldn't use the word 'cute', I would use 'vicious.'" Ranma turned towards Akane who was sipping hot chocolate. " So this Santa Claus person must be a bad guy for getting Nabiki a cash register for Christmas. What on earth was that guy thinking?"

Akane sighed and put the mug down. "Ranma, Santa is a person who delivers toys you want every Christmas Eve. Only the nice kids get what they want though, the naughty kids get a lump of coal in their stockings."

Ranma opened his mouth to ask something when his father came up behind him and put him a chokehold. Tears streamed down the large man's face. "Ranma, I didn't want to tell you about Santa was because I was afraid if you found out you would become a sissy."

"But Mr. Saotome!" Akane started in outrage, rising up from her kneeling position. "Every child deserves a special Christmas memory!"

"Try and reason with me Akane. If I had told him about Santa and he had become a sissy, and his mother found out, we would have to commit seppuku! I couldn't take the risk."

Akane was about to rebut that statement when Ranma elbowed his father in the gut and Genma fell on his back. He rose up to stand with Akane. "Don't worry about it 'Kane, I don't mind that he didn't tell me at all," he said almost solemnly.

Ranma walked past Akane and out of the room, but before he could leave Akane stopped him. "But Ranma!" she started.

Ranma looked over his shoulder and smirked. "I said you don't have to worry about it, besides, it would have interfered with my training." With that said, Ranma was gone.

Akane stood, watching where Ranma had stood, replaying the moment in her mind.

Meanwhile, Genma recovered from the attack and smirked, looking much like his son. "That's my boy," he said proudly.

Akane clenched her fist tightly and slowly craned her neck to glare at Genma. She turned on him and rose her foot to kick Genma. "It's all your fault that Ranma has such a dysfunctional life!" And then Genma was souring through the air and with a great splash, he emerged from the freezing koi pond as Mr. Panda.

Akane stormed out of the room, fuming with range. The next thing that was heard was the loud slam of her door being shut.

Kasumi put her hand to her mouth. She looked from the place Akane once was and then at Genma. "Oh my."

Later that night, Akane awoke with a strange feeling. She was still upset about what had happened earlier that day, but something else was out of sorts. She quietly rose out of bed and tiptoed to her door. She pressed her ear to the door and heard the sounds of someone trying to be too quiet. Akane rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and checked her clock; it was 2 o' clock in the morning.

That was way too early for Kasumi to be up, so who could it be? Akane grabbed her wooden bokken and quietly worked her way downstairs. She saw a soft light coming from the tearoom and a shadow of a person bouncing off the wall. Akane's hands tightened around the bokken.

She padded over to the shoji door and slid it open, her bokken out in front of her to defend herself. Akane saw a shadow of a person blur and then she felt a muscular arm wrap around her neck and her bokken being knocked out of her hand. She was being pushed against a broad chest and her toes no longer touched the ground.

She was suddenly dropped and landed in a heap. She fought to catch her breath and looked up to face her attacker. Ranma was staring down at her with shock that must have mirrored her own. "Ranma?" she whispered. "What are you doing? You scared me half to death."

Ranma crouched down beside her. "I thought you were a burglar for a second," he said sheepishly, tapping at the bokken with his index finger. "Sorry for the chokehold thing."

Akane gulped; there were rare moments in the time she had known Ranma that she had seen only a fraction of his true strength and what he could do to someone. These were one of those moments.

"So what are you doing down here?" the two asked simultaneously.

Ranma gestured with his hand to let Akane answer first. "I thought that you were a burglar too. Now your turn."

Ranma blushed a deep shade of red and looked down at his interlocked hands. His eyes darted over to the presents under the Christmas tree a few times. This made Akane curious. She crawled over to the presents and smiled knowingly. "Ah, I see."

Ranma managed to blush deeper. "Y-you do?"

Akane nodded her head and winked at Ranma. "You couldn't wait until Christmas morning to open your gifts." Ranma's mouth was left hanging open. "Don't worry Ranma, everyone has done it."

Ranma waved his hands in a warding off gesture. "No Akane, that isn't it."

Akane blinked. "Then what is it?"

Ranma crawled over next to Akane and picked out a small velvet box out of the gifts. He handed it to Akane and a lighter blush painted his cheeks. "I wanted to give this to you, but I was afraid if you would accept it or not."

Akane looked down at the box addressed to her. Her face went as red as her name when she realized what it was. "R-Ranma, is this what I think it is?"

Ranma kneeled beside Akane and gently took her hands that were clutching the box tightly in his. "Akane, we've been engaged for two years now and I think it's time that we get more serious about our relationship."

"Ranma," Akane breathed out.

"Akane, I've loved you for a long time now, and it isn't just because our fathers set it up; I think I started loving you before we were even engaged. So…" Ranma trailed off. He took the box from his limp fingers and, agonizing slowly, he opened it.

Akane leaned in closer in anticipation. The box popped open and in it was mistletoe. Ranma picked the plant up and held it above their heads. He leaned in to peck Akane on the cheek. "Will you be my first Christmas memory?" he finished.

-/-

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