The Way Home
A shrill scream reverberated through the empty halls of the Tendo Dojo and household, bouncing off the wooden panels and walls, carrying out onto the streets outside. A couple of Neriman residents that happened to be passing outside turned towards the source of the piercing sound, then faced each other, smiled knowingly, and carried on their way. Two birds from atop the blue roof took flight.
Up in the attic of said household, a 16-year-old martial artist clapped his fingers over his ears sharply, the objects in his arms crashing piteously to the dusty floor. He glared unsympathetically at the pretty girl next to him, lowering his hands as the screeching sound finally diminished.
"Anyone'd think you were dying or summat like that, the way you shriek.."
"Oh, shut up," the short-haired girl replied a little distractedly, not looking at him. "You're exaggerating."
"Am not." Ranma said defiantly. "Have you heard yourself lately, Akane? If I didn't know it was you screaming, I'da thought it was some chicken bein' slaughtered somewhere. Why DO you scream like that, anyway?"
Akane didn't say anything. Ranma blinked at this, a little surprised that his head was not yet embedded in the floor. He continued, now determined to get a reaction out of her, ignoring the small part of his brain screaming at him that this was a very stupid thing to do.
"I woulda thought you'd learned after you hollered the way you did last time, when you found that old cookbook. All the crockery you shattered.."
He shook his head in mock ruefulness, but turning towards her again, he discovered that she still wasn't listening, or at least not responding. He folded his arms, and eyed his fiancée somewhat peevishly, not liking the fact that he was being ignored.
"Hey, Akane, what's up?"
Akane, who'd been kneeling on the floor, stood up. "Oh, I - sorry, I didn't hear you. I found something," she said softly.
"If it's not a massage chair, I ain't interested. Probably another piece of junk, the room's full of it anyway," Ranma said, turning away with slitted eyes and a smug smile, convinced he'd struck a chord this time.
He had. He saw Akane stare darkly at him out of the corner of his eye, but, probably deciding that she needed the 'jerk' conscious, she didn't pulverize him. He unconsciously let out a small sigh of relief.
"It's not junk," she said, her voice uncharacteristically controlled, but with unconcealed irritation. "Some of these things date way back to our ancestor's times and have been passed on to us."
"Yadda yadda yadda. Junk, that's what it is," he turned away, grumbling as he knocked one of the boxes with his foot. "Junk that's making my back ache."
It was now Akane's turn to smile smugly. "And you call yourself a martial artist. Wimp."
The two teenagers whirled around, glaring at each other for a moment, the electricity between them crackling in the air. Then all of a sudden, they stopped, their indignant postures relaxing. Deciding to let this one slide, JUST this once, they went back to what they had been doing in the attic that morning in the first place.
"Why'd your dad have to dump this job of cleaning your attic on us anyways? I wanted to practice that new kata I learned yesterday," growled the pig-tailed boy. He picked up another heavy cardboard box. Its mysterious contents clanked and bumped into his chest almost rhythmically as he walked over to Akane.
They'd been working for a couple of hours already; Ranma heaving big, masking-taped boxes around, Akane opening them and sorting through the ancient relics. The job was a tiring one, and the stuffiness of the small room and sufficient lack of moving space did not make things easier; it was starting to take its toll on both of them.
"Well, it'll have to wait," Akane sighed huffily, taking out yet another foreign object and examining it closely. "Once we're done, you can go outside and practice."
Setting the box down, Ranma dusted his hands on his blank pants tiredly, an impatient frown on his face, as he stared in irritated wistfulness out the attic window. "If I didn't have to do this stupid chore, I'd be outside right now.."
Akane frowned at him, her hands on her hips. "You know, you can be such a self-centered jerk. You know our dads were looking forward to going to that auction in town. They've been obsessing about it for weeks! Can't you do something for someone other than yourself and not complain about it like you're the only one who's got stuff to do?"
Ranma threw up his hands in front of him in surrender. He knew Akane was right. The slight twinge of guilt in his stomach was proof of that.
He covered this up with an insult, of course.
"Okay, okay, already! Geez, you're such an old nag."
Akane didn't reply, simply turning back to the objects that awaited her disposal.
Ranma stared into the back of his fiancée's dark head, wondering, a little worriedly, if he'd upset her again. He continued his work quietly for a minute, slipping her a glance every few seconds.
A few more minutes ticked by, and he decided he didn't like quiet.
"So," he said carefully, testing waters. "Whad'ja find?"
"What did I.. OH!" Akane gasped and jumped from her position, practically diving into the pile of stuff next to her. Ranma stared at the scene, bemused, his head cocked to the side as he watched her sift through the pile, shaking her head and muttering to herself.
"AHA! Here it is!" she cried excitedly, finally emerging and holding something up with both hands.
Ranma peered at it. It was an old book, as far as he could see; red, with a word in faded gold that he could not make out emblazoned on the front cover.
"What is it?"
He winced for a second, knowing he'd left himself wide open for her to take a jab at him for his stupid question.
She didn't, to his surprise. Clutching the book tightly to her person, Akane simply smiled happily, the expression instantly lighting up her already fair face. Upon seeing the smile Ranma felt his heart rate gain speed, and his cheeks a little more colour, something he hoped fervently she hadn't noticed. To his relief, she appeared not to.
"It's my old photo album. It has pictures of when I was a kid. I've been looking for it forever.. I had no idea it was up in the attic.. and to think I'd have packed it up in those boxes again just because you distracted me!"
Ranma's smart mouth had been kept in check for some time now, but it had been itching to get a word in, and didn't waste a moment more.
"That's it? An album? Huh, ain't that just like a girl.. gettin' all sentimental over stuff like that."
He shuddered at the word 'sentimental' as if it were hazardous to his health.
The pig-tailed boy looked upon his words with some regret when Akane's cheerful visage changed to one of annoyance and scorn. Her slender eyebrows furrowed, and her carefree smile switched to one tinged with spite.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot insensitive idiots like you don't have feelings. My mistake."
"Why, you -" he began, already pulling a sleeve up. A futile effort, however; Akane had already opened the velvet cover of the old album, and was looking at the pictures, beaming. Everything else seemed to have been forgotten.
Ranma scowled, but again, decided to let the insult, and his sleeve, go. He never really could stay angry at Akane long anyway. The irritation drained out of him as quickly as it came, and he proceeded to bend over her shoulder, curiously looking down into the content of her lap.
There were many photos of the Tendo family in the old book, but a good portion was filled with photos of little Akane, each one lovingly placed and labeled; laminated to the book. There was one of Akane holding a flower and smiling cutely at the camera, one of her making a sandcastle at some beach, and another of her with her face smeared with cake as she laughed in front of a ginormous birthday cake, seemingly frozen in time.
Ranma's blue eyes flew over the pictures, and in spite of himself and his previous anger, couldn't help a small smile.
Akane was a pretty cute kid, he consented to thinking.
Then Akane turned to a page that revealed another shot. This one was different; it wasn't labeled, and taped to the page instead of laminated. Her little self was clad in her tiny, old blue overalls, the same ones she'd lent to Ranma when he'd eaten the enchanted mushrooms. She was carrying a small bag, and tears streamed down her face.
Ranma stared at the picture, and something stirred in him. The look on her face was affecting, but it was her eyes that most moved him. There was loneliness and sorrow in them, and as he stared into the dark chocolate pools, for reasons he did not understand, he saw someone else – a boy, whose clothes were ragged and worn, with dark hair tied in a scruffy ponytail – a boy who mirrored those emotions in his own sapphire eyes..
Akane considered her fiancé, whom she'd noticed had suddenly become very silent. There was always something up when Ranma was silent.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Startled, Ranma gaped at her for a moment. Then, discovering how to work his mouth again, he asked, "What's with the, uh, picture? I mean.. why are you cryin'?"
Akane looked down at the photo again, a slight pause delaying her answer. "This photo was taken at a painful time, and I'm not sure who took it or why.. I suppose it's better if I start at the beginning. It's silly really. Anyway.. when I was little, whenever I got angry with my sisters or my dad, I would run away. I'd pack my little bag with clothes and some food, and I'd set off. But I'd never go far, and I'd always come back.
"Then one day.. the day my mother died, and when this photo was taken - I ran away again. I was so mad.. mad at my sisters for not telling me she was sick, mad at my father for letting her go.. mad at my mother for leaving me. So I'd packed all my stuff, and set off to town, this time deciding that I'd never go back, ever. I was hurting, and I wasn't thinking straight. Of course a little later I cooled down, found myself a corner and had myself a good cry.. so I figured it was time to go home. I knew the streets pretty well, so I didn't think it would be a problem.. but by then the streets were dark, and it was raining, and I didn't know where I was.. I was so scared. I don't know what I would have done if Mr Hikobashi, our neighbour, hadn't walked by at that moment and taken me home."
Akane's sudden chuckle was hollow. "You must think me so stupid, just running away like that."
She sighed, then glanced behind her.
Ranma had listened quietly throughout. This was surprising, for she had expected a sharp retort, or at least a little fun-poking of the annoying kind as was his custom. She had her mallet already half-formed in her right hand in prepared retaliation.
She waited a few seconds, and he still remained quiet. Her eyes scanned his face with faint curiosity; he was looking at her and yet not seeing her. Taking in the scrunched up eyebrows and the intensity in his deep blues, she wondered what he could be thinking. His expression was distant and solemn, so different from the vibrant, full-of-life, energy-radiating boy that filled a room like only he could.
Normal it was not.
Sighing again, Akane turned back to the picture. She stared into the eyes of her six-year-old self, as she felt herself getting lost to the memories of that day..
Don't leave me behind..
He spoke from behind her, but he sounded as if he were speaking from a distance.
"Akane?"
Need you..
"Mm?"
His hesitance hung in the air for a moment. "I'm, uh.. goin' out for a bit. That okay with you?"
Akane shrugged, her fingers idly stroking the picture.
Mommy..!
"I guess so."
"'kay, I'll be back soon."
It took a while for his words to register. Akane's reverie broke instantly as her eyes widened and she whirled around..
"Wait-"
.. finding no one behind her. The room was empty.
--
Grumbling and grunting with the effort of pulling another box off its perch on another crate, Akane fumed silently; inwardly kicking herself for letting her fiancé leave. The combined elements of exhaustion and frustration wore down her patience, and soon her reason gave way to anger.
That MORON - grabbing the first opportunity he could get to go off and practice that stupid kata.. She placed a foot on the crate to give herself resistance, and pushed with all her might, though not truly concentrating on the task she was performing. Either that or he's probably stuffing his face at one of his "cute fiancee's" restaurants.. oohh, just you wait, Ranma, just you WAIT..
The box slid off suddenly and Akane let out a little scream as it came tumbling down on her. Thick dust rose around her in big suffocating clouds as she lay in an untidy heap on the ground, absolutely covered now in grime and a few boxes-worth of stuff.
Oh, JUST what I needed.
Wincing, she got up injuredly to her feet, and started picking up the scattered objects that had rained around her. She dumped them all hurriedly in the box, and swiped at her forehead tiredly with the back of her hand.
She did not like admitting that she couldn't do something. Not to anyone. Not to herself.
BUT THOSE INFERNAL CRATES WEIGHED TONNES!
Holding back a groan, she flopped unto the box nearest to her, not caring if her shorts got dirty in the process - it didn't really make a difference; she was already caked in dust anyway. She cushioned her chin with her hands propped up on her knees, and blew a stray hair out of her eyes.
It was clear that no real work was going to be done until the stupid jerk got back from wherever the heck he was.
Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught the tiny rays of sunlight that peered out through the small window; barely seen due to several boxes dumped in front of it, making strange shapes appear on the wooden floor of the dim attic and revealing the tiny dust specks that floated around. Slowly, her face broke into a small grin.
Well, if he can do it..
She pushed herself off the box, and taking the album with her, climbed through the little attic door opening onto the roof. She stepped out and after making sure she had a firm footing, made her way to the tree-shaded spot close to the middle. As she tread, she wondered, with a twinge of envy, how Ranma and the others could jump across roofs all day without slipping at all. It wasn't uncomplicated.
When she got there, she dropped down comfortably, drawing her legs under her in an Indian-style position not unlike Ranma's own. Akane looked upwards, and she found she was content.
It was a typical glorious day. The weather was perfect; it was just the right amount of sunny, the breeze was cool, blowing her hair about so that they tickled her rosy cheeks teasingly, and the sky was such a marvelous blue that she was almost breathless just looking at it. The swallows were out, and they danced and cooed above her, sharing among themselves some delightfully happy secret.
The peace was strange to her. Ever since Ranma and his father arrived, she'd never really gone up on the roof during sunny days like she used to. With all the crazy things that seemed to happen.. she just didn't have time for the boring, quiet moments anymore. She really missed it, the lazy days out on the roof like this.
She leaned back on her elbows so that she stared into the clear cloud-speckled sky. It was as brilliant as she remembered it, but today was different. The vibrant blue sparked a queer recognition in her, and dwelling on it, she thought it reminded her of a pair of mesmerizing eyes..
Ranma's eyes.
Ranma..
His name brought a strange warm feeling with it. She allowed herself a smile.
Almost immediately after, the insults he'd hurled at her this morning echoed through her mind. The smile dropped and she shut her eyes.
Ranma was.. difficult. And infuriating. Thinking about him ended up, most of the time, putting her in a depressing mood. And it was easy. Every thought she had about a nice thing he did, there seemed to be a hundred bad things that followed. For every good memory.. there were numerous, everyday bad ones - sad ones. The ones that would play again and again in her mind as she cried herself to sleep at night..
She shook herself out of her train of miserable thought.
That clinches it, she thought. I'm not going to think about him. Nope. It just isn't worth getting depressed over. He just isn't worth getting depressed over.
Decisively she turned back to the old book in front of her, lovingly tracing with her fingers the golden letters on the cover - FAMILY. Sweeping her fingers over the title, familiar sensations of warmth and comfort embraced her like an old friend. She smiled, and after turning the cover over slowly, went through the pages carefully until she arrived at where she'd stopped off.
Many slightly yellowing pictures contained in the pages of the book were of the girls and their mother, since Soun was usually the one with the camera. They were a beautiful foursome. Her daddy had always said that it was clear where the children had gotten their good looks from.. Akane remembered, somewhat, how other people used to stare at them when they went to the market or shopping at the mall. She even recalled strangers walking up to her mother, telling them that she was lucky to have such a beautiful family..
She turned to another page that held a large picture of her mother sitting on the floor with her girls around her; Kasumi, behind, with her small hands on her mother's shoulders, Nabiki on the other side with one eye shut and her tongue sticking out cheekily, Akane, seated comfortably on Kinoko's lap, curled up against her, and her mom.. she shone. It was if there was no other place she'd rather be at that moment than with her girls.
She stared into soft, brown, soulful eyes, the eyes she had inherited.. and Akane's heart ached a dull ache that had been there for many years, but hadn't faded, and still arose with the memories every time they surfaced.
"Oh Mom," she whispered, touching her mother's pretty, photographed face with her fingers. "If you're listening.. I miss you. I hope, wherever you are, you are happy. And.. if you happen to worry about us from time to time, please don't, we are all doing fine here.
"Daddy still pines for you, sure, but he's happier now and getting better with his nerves every day. Kasumi's taken after you with the housekeeping and all, and there are times where she turns around and I see you standing there. Nabiki's doing fine by herself. She's the proud businesswoman you claimed Daddy never was, and she's making profits out of everyone." Akane winced slightly, thinking of her empty wallet.
"And me? I'm quite happy. Well.. more or less, anyway. I mean, school's great and everything; I'm still getting good grades, just like you used to. My cooking could use a bit of work though, but I did learn to boil water well, and that's a start! Oh.. and you probably know that Daddy engaged me to his best friend's son. His name is Ranma."
She paused for a moment, his name still fresh on her lips, and looked up at the sky, seeing Ranma there again. She sighed, feeling the surge of a mixture of feelings in her.
"Oh, Mom.. I'm so confused. Ever since.. ever since you went, I'd come to dislike boys - hate them even. Maybe it was because they were always after me.. I swore I'd never be like my friends who'd go gooey over them, and I'd definitely never fall in love. But - then Ranma came along," she said, "And.. he was different, somehow. For some reason I can't figure out.. I care. I care about how he can make me so angry, so sad.. and sometimes, so happy it feels like I'm on top of the world. It's so.. frustrating, how one stupid boy can make me feel like this after all I'd done to stay away. It scares me."
She paused again, as the fear she constantly felt rose in her just thinking about it, twisting a knot of despair and hopelessness in the pit of her stomach. As if on cue, the bad memories began to wash over her; the incessant petty bickering, the real, full-blown fights, the insults thrown carelessly and venomously that cut through the heart like razor blades..
She scrunched her eyes closed, wishing that she couldn't remember.
"There are so many problems.. we fight - almost every day. He has three other girls after him, and his life is so .. insane, that usually everyone around him is pulled into it. I have idiots constantly trying to date me, kidnap me, marry me or pull me away from him - almost like every force out there is against us. Sometimes - I feel like we could actually have a chance, that we could just.. be," Akane gulped, thinking about the failed wedding. She'd seen how he looked at her in her room , how he'd stuttered, almost as if mesmerized.. and thought that maybe.. maybe he really did love her? Maybe even want to.. marry her?
It was then that Akane stopped. What was she doing? Her mother couldn't hear anything she said. She knew she had to face the facts that stared at her blatantly in the face; her mother was gone, into another world, another dimension, a place Akane couldn't reach. But even with this knowledge.. there was still a small, defiant part of her that wished and hoped and prayed that somehow, her mother was watching, listening.. and guiding gently, the way she always did.
She sighed again and stared at her mother's smiling face again, trying to remember, in that moment, everything Kinoko ever was. As much as Kasumi was always around to lend a hand and some advice - she still wished her mother was around to tell her what to do..
"Akane! Yo, Akane, are ya in here?"
Hearing Ranma's muffled voice through the tiles above the attic was enough to pull her out of her thoughts. Akane cupped a hand to her mouth and yelled back.
"I'm on the roof!"
She heard his pounding steps in the attic below, and the creaking of the old ladder as he climbed towards the opening. Finally, the hatch opened to reveal Ranma's handsome face, a little red probably caused by running so hard. He vaulted himself up and sauntered to Akane.
He stood at her side, a hand curiously behind his back. Then he grinned down almost devilishly, and struck what he obviously thought was a manly pose.
"Missed me?"
Akane stifled a roar of laughter.
"You wish, fool."
She looked her fiancé over, wondering why he looked so disheveled, and patted the piece of roof beside her.
"Why are you still standing? Sit. You are allowed to, you know, I don't bite."
"Y'sure? 'Cause I seem to recall a few instances.." he replied, to which Akane smacked him on the arm, giggling a little. He parked himself next to her, his right hand still out of view.
They sat like that a while, not talking, and just stared into the sky again. The closeness of their proximity didn't go unnoticed, but after all the time they'd lived under the same roof, it was becoming something that they were more comfortable with.
"The weather's great." Ranma told her after a moment.
"I know," Akane replied. "That's why I came out here."
Ranma blinked, looking over at her. "So you've been out here all this time? Doing what?"
Akane didn't answer immediately. She contemplated telling him about the 'little talk' with her mother, but finally decided against it, thinking he'd laugh, and she'd pound him into the ground, and then another nice moment would have been successfully ruined.
"Nothing much," she said finally. "Just thinking. I came up here after you abandoned me to finish cleaning up the attic all by myself - "
"Hey, I asked you if I could go an' you said yes." Ranma pointed out.
"Oh all right, fine. You didn't abandon me. But I still couldn't carry some of the stuff around, so I decided, why waste today? I came outside and saw the rest of my pictures," she said, waving the album in her hand.
"Oh," he said dumbly.
Some birds chirped in the distance, and with the silence started to creep in the usual awkwardness that somehow followed whenever they were alone together. They looked in opposite directions, blushing slightly. Ranma started whistling, somewhat infuriatingly to Akane, who found this an indirect insult as to the quality of her company.
After a few minutes of this, Akane decided that she had just about all she could take of the silence, and decided to break it with the first thing that came to mind.
"Were you with your other fiancées?"
Ranma's whistling broke off and he looked at her sharply, his expression just a little bit peeved. "You really think I'd leave you all by yourself to go be with em'?"
Akane, as usual, immediately jumped the gun and her temper got the better of her. "Why? You think I can't do it? Poor little weak Akane who can't carry a couple of boxes.."
"Didn't you just say.. Awh, that ain't what I meant, tomboy! Geez, why do you always have to go and twist everythin' I say? How the heck didja come up with that anyway?"
He shook his head angrily, and when he spoke, Akane could detect the slightest bit of hurt in his voice. "No, I wasn't with em', and I didn't leave you to go practice, if that's what you were thinkin'."
The flame of Akane's anger extinguished at once, and she found herself ashamed for thinking he had been doing those things in the first place.
"R-really?"
"Yeah. I.. I wouldn'ta left you w-without.. uh.. good reason."
Akane pondered this statement in silence for a few moments. Something about his voice told her he was telling the truth; he wasn't the very best liar out there to begin with anyway, and Akane would have known. The heavy feeling of guilt hit her straight in the stomach like a ton of bricks. She struggled for the right thing to say but for a while, nothing seemed to come out, and it hurt her to see his face like that. Finally, she managed to open her mouth.
"Ranma?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm.. sorry I overreacted. It's just uh.. well, you know.. force of habit." She smiled at him hopefully.
Ranma looked at her, and found himself, once again, totally enraptured by her smile. No, he decided, he really couldn't stay angry at her for long.
"S'alright," he said, slowly breaking into his signature half-grin as if the argument had never even taken place.
The trees rustled and sang, and with it, the peace that was briefly interrupted by their little spat returned again.
Akane put the album down on the piece of roof below her feet and wrapped her arms around her knees. As she did this, she ran over the next question she was about to ask him in her head, hoping that the outcome for this wouldn't duplicate the last. Then she asked it, trying to sound nonchalant as she did so.
"So what was the good reason?"
At this question, Ranma sort of froze for a moment, and was quiet still. His face was a mix of emotions; it seemed to Akane that he was fighting some sort of inner battle, and didn't quite know how to end it. He was turning a most startling colour..a sort of deep crimson, almost matching the Chinese shirt he had on. He stared at the brown roof beneath his shuffling feet.
"Ranma?" she probed him, dropping her head in an attempt to meet his eyes.
Still avoiding her vision, he brought his right hand out finally into full view.
There was a small beribboned box in it.
He held it out to her. Akane took it from his hands, handling it as gently as if it were a dream that was about to dissipate.
She looked up and tried again to meet the eyes beneath the flyaway bangs, but they were on a tree somewhere in the distance. His expression made it seem like he was oblivious to what was happening, but his cheeks were a dead giveaway that he was nervous; they were so red, he was practically glowing.
Akane spoke softly. "You.. bought me something?"
Ranma flinched ever so slightly at this. "Look, it's.. it's no biggie, okay? I didn't even buy the thing. No need to get all girly an' excited about it. It's just somethin' I wanted.. you should have. So," he said, finally glancing at her shyly sideways, "just go on and open it already."
Akane shifted her eyes from his azure ones to the little box in her hands. Carefully she removed the silk ribbon, slowly as if to preserve the moment, even though she ached to rip it open to see what it contained. She opened the lid.
There, on some tissue paper, stuffed into the box to protect its content, lay a tiny bronze compass.
Akane pulled the compass out, dangling it from her fingers by the chain that was attached to it and holding it up to eye level. She looked it over. The bronze was tainted and in need of a good polishing, which probably hadn't been done in a very long time. It looked as though it had been used to its very limit. The grooves on the cover, almost flat on the surface with age, could just be made out; a galloping horse.
Akane clutched it in her palm. It was light and cold to the touch. She clicked the top open, looking down into the face as the arrow spun wildly.
"It's broken." Ranma spoke. He'd been looking at her examine it the whole time. "It's been broken a while, actually. Ever since we came to Nerima."
Akane looked up. "The compass is yours?"
"Yeah. I've had it since forever."
He smiled a soft smile, so different from the confident smirks he was inclined to giving.
"Apparently Mom gave it to Pops just before we packed up and left to train, to pass to me when I was old enough. I didn't know this though.. only reason I found it was rummaging through Pop's pack for somethin', don't really remember what that was.. and I found this. It had this label with my name on it so.. I guess Pop never really got around to pawnin' it off. It's pretty valuable, or so the old man tells me. Okay, so I knocked it outta him." He grinned a little at Akane's knowing look. "Anyway, it's been in a safe place way downtown, in case Pop gets ideas."
Ranma paused and stared at his hands, avoiding her eyes. Then he spoke, his tone soft.
"Akane - when your mom died and you ran away and got lost - i realized i felt like that a lot myself growin' up. Training.. it was really hell sometimes. There were a few times.." he gave small shudder, "I almost didn't make it out alive. It was scary and.. and lonely. We moved a lot, so.. I never really had anyone reliable to turn to, anyone stable. And Pops?" he scoffed. "Huh. He'd just tell me I was a wimp to feel. Real men don't feel, see."
He turned away, and Akane felt her heart crack as he continued.
"So I used to run away. I wouldn't go very far. Just not where he could see me. He'd never notice, of course, he'd just be glad that he'd get away with my share of dinner or somethin'."
Ranma sighed, leaning back on the roof, the memories taking him back. "Sometimes I'd be away for hours, cause it was the only time I could just be by myself to work all the kinks out.. to feel what I wanted to feel and not be told I was less of a man because of it. And then that compass would help me find my way back."
He stopped for a while, twiddling his fingers, still not quite ready to meet her eyes. He wasn't all that good with words, and he was afraid that if he looked at her, all the words he meant to say would leak out of his noggin and he'd end up the stuttering mess he usually was around her, at least when trying to say something of meaning. So instead he studied his hands and, hoping for the best, heaved a great breath and continued.
"I want you to know that, well.. it's okay to run away sometimes. I didn't think you were stupid. You were just a kid. Heck, I don't think I'da made it through if I didn't have those times where I could just be alone and get myself together. But.. it's important that no matter how difficult it gets, you always come back. That's why - I think maybe you should keep my compass. So if you ever feel lost, you have somethin' to show you the way home, back, y-you know, to the people who love you. And..," he mumbled something inaudible and dropped his head away from her, turning redder than beetroot.
Shooting a quick darting glance at his fiancée, he noticed Akane was now looking at him with such hope in her eyes that he found himself truly mesmerized and lost for words.
"And?" she whispered.
He gulped, his face even redder now. He took a deep breath.
"And.. back to me."
He stared at her for a slight second before awkwardly turning away, worried about what he might see in Akane's eyes if he were to be looking at them. To Ranma, this was just about as good as admitting he liked her, and he did. He more than just liked her too.. Then it struck him that if Akane did know what he was saying to her.. what would happen to them now?
He then realized that what he'd just said could change.. everything. They might never again be just Ranma and Akane, the two fiancées engaged to each other by their parents against their will. But then.. what would that make them?
That moment seemed the longest to him of all his sixteen years.
Akane had been silent the entire time this inner turmoil was raging in him, and his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach as he thought the worst. He spoke, broken.
"S-sorry.. If you don't want it, I'd completely - "
He stopped when he felt two warm hands on his face.
Akane pulled his face around to meet hers. She gazed up into his hazy deep blues for a minute, willing him to see everything she was feeling in that moment.
Then she cupped his face with her hands, drew him to her, and kissed him.
Ranma, in shock for a minute, thought that it might have been a dream, a very nice one at that. But after it finally sunk in that this was real and happening, he relaxed and started enjoying himself. He slid an arm around Akane's waist, pulling her to his side, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Akane smelled.. sunny, and intoxicating, and beautiful, and having her so close was a feeling he couldn't describe, except it made him feel light and feathery and quite ready to float away.
It ended all too soon for them. They smiled hesitantly at each other before turning back in front.
"That was.. incredible." Akane turned to him and smiled, her cheeks flushed.
"Guh." Ranma replied intelligently. It was all he could utter, his mind still in a whirling daze. He touched his chest, and felt his heart still pounding wildly away through the fabric of his shirt. He exhaled, in awe of the emotions this uncute tomboy was making him feel, and the strange, wonderful things it was doing to his insides.
Akane spoke. "Ranma... look at me."
He looked over, and as he did, he noticed her beautiful eyes were glimmering with unshed tears.
"Thank you."
She placed a hand on his chest and smiled the Akane-smile at him – the radiant one that was so rare that when it did come, he was left speechless and with an unexplainable desire to see it on her more often.
"That was the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me. You have no idea what it means to me that you would give me something so special to you. Thank you, so much."
Ranma stared at Akane, her blue-black hair billowing about her face. She looked so appreciative and touched and happy, and the late morning sun was giving her head a sort of halo - and he found he was struck dumb. Then, when his mind returned, he smiled back and held out a quivering hand to her, which she wrapped her own around. His other reached up to her cheek and gently brushed away the tears that fell.
"Daw," he told her in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone of voice. "It was nothin'."
They looked down simultaneously at their intertwined hands. The contact was warm, comforting. Akane beamed, and slowly put her head on his shoulder. They didn't say anything for a while, simply savouring the moment. The last time they'd been like this was the Christmas Party, when they'd watched the shooting stars on the balcony just below them. The feelings were the same - a queer mixture of fear, excitement, euphoria and an overwhelming sense of peace that told them that for once in their crazy, unbelievable existences, things were just right.
"Just so you know," Akane said a few minutes later, "for an insensitive idiot with a knack for jamming his foot in his mouth, I think you did perfectly."
Ranma, unsure of whether to be irritated or pleased with this comment, settled for "Thanks. I think."
He was sure that Akane didn't hear his last statement, for as he said this, he heard her sharp intake of breath and turned to look at her. Her head was now bent down, looking at the open face of the compass on her lap.
"What's it?" he asked her.
Akane didn't avert her eyes from the little bronze piece, and she picked it up, holding it out flat on her palm to her fiancé's eyes, regarding him urgently. "The compass, look at the compass!"
Ranma obeyed. His eyes fwooped open as he stared at the sight before him.
The arrow.
The arrow wasn't moving.
It remained stubbornly pointed in a single direction. Akane's eyes followed its path..
..and her eyes met Ranma's blue ones.
They stared like that for a moment.
Akane shook it, then twisted it around. But no matter what she did to it or where she pointed it, it always ended up in the same direction. Ranma's direction.
Ranma watched this with an expression of wonder and scratched his head, saying incredulously, "But.. it was broken. How..?"
And for some strange reason, something confirmed itself in the depths of Akane's heart. That somehow, no matter what they'd have to go through, no matter who tried to come between them, no matter what the circumstances and the world threw their way - everything would turn out okay.
Just barely hearing her fiancé mumble something about 'crazy, mind-of-its-own compasses', Akane turned her eyes skyward, smiled and mouthed, Thank you.
Then she turned to Ranma and grinned.
"Hold me, Ranma, will you?"
Ranma immediately stopped mumbling. He looked at the girl, his Akane, and blushed deeply as she crawled into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, and holding her, he thought, was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
And like that they stayed, till the maniacs who were their families crashed through the front door and brought with them the madness that made their lives so interesting.
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END
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A/N:
Re-edited and finished (finally) by the Grace of God.
Basically nothing but the story itself belongs to me. o.o SHUCKS!
Oh, The story's inspired by a 'Student Bodies' episode, so partial rights reserved to them, I guess.
I wrote this purely for fun, and I don't intend on profiting anything from this bit of fluff. As if it would give me any profit anyway.
So maybe it is sappy, but I'd like to think it could still happen. After all, it's Ranma, and anything goes! RIGHT? (O.O) But please tell me what you think by leaving a review :)
I hope you liked it.
Thanks for reading!
Lana Atkins