Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Trust, Hope & Love
by pahlee

This story takes place in an alternative universe.

Story 1: Start of it All

"Come on! Let's get to that branch, we can see the river from up there!" said the pigtailed boy. Ranma Saotome, age 8, crouched down and then sprinted up to grab hold of the branch and swung onto the extended limb. He smiled down at the ground where his short haired companion stood, staring in awe at his feat.

Akane Tendo, age 8, scrunched up her face and tried to determine if she could, by chance, mimic her friends' actions and get up in the tree. She started to squat and tried to leap up, but her fingers had barely brushed the low-hanging branch as she landed back on the ground. Her lips formed a pout as she crossed her arms, "Eeh, Ranma-kun, it's too high."

Ranma gave a cheeky grin as he jumped down, grabbed hold of the branch and held out his hand, "Okay, Akane-chan, just this one time." Akane stared at the offered hand and tentatively put her smaller hand in his. He took a good hold and hoisted her up to the branch where she pulled herself the rest of the way up. Ranma then swung back to the limb with an outstretched one arm while the other one held the tree, "Grab on, and I'll help ya over here."

She hesitated for a moment as she took a quick look downward and saw how high they were and began to break into a cold sweat. "I dunno, Ranma-kun... I-I'm scared," Akane confessed, lowering her head in embarrassment. She had expected her friend to laugh at her, but to her surprise Ranma had just reached out harder, "Come on, I promise you're gonna like this view, I won't let you fall!"

Akane looked up and smiled instantly as she saw her friend's enthusiasm and finally reached out and grabbed his arm. Ranma pulled her over as Akane pushed herself off and climbed over to where Ranma was. They fell on top of each other with a light thump and laughter erupted from the kids. Akane got off of Ranma and sat down, her legs swinging over the side as she stared at the river. Ranma followed suit and swung his legs erratically over the side as he said, "Toldja we could see the river from here, ain't it pretty?" All Akane could do was nod her head as she watched the top of the water glitter as the sun began to set.

"You're right! It is!" Akane said, turning her head to face Ranma with a big grin, "Thank you for showing me!"

Ranma nodded his head cheerfully, "Of course, I wanted to show my best friend!"

The two smiled at each other and then directed their attention back to the river. A tranquil silence formed between them as the time passed slowly.

"Hey, Akane-chan?" Ranma whispered as the orange haze spread across the waters and dusk began.

"Hmm?" Akane inquired, her eyes watching the setting sun.

"You are my best friend, right?"

"Yeah, no doubt, why?"

"Ryoga said that his parents were best friends before they got married."

"Yeah, so?"

"When we get older, you think we'd still be best friends?"

It was silent for a moment before the sun had completely set and the streetlights surrounding the park lit up, illuminating the dark.

"I don't see why not, why?" Akane asked.

"Well, uh," Ranma fidgeted, "You think you'd want to marry me when we get older, 'cuz that's what Ryoga said his parents told him. He told me that best friends marry like that, and then he said that I was lucky 'cuz I had you."

"Ohh, I guess that would be okay. That way it would be like spending the night together all the time right? And we could always play!"

"Yeah!"

Akane turned to Ranma and smiled, "That would be fun, Ranma-kun!"

Ranma smiled and the two giggled at their conversation before they heard their parents calling them from down below, saying it was time to go. Ranma reached over and clasped Akane's hand and said, "Let's go home!"

With a curt nod, Akane followed Ranma down the tree and ran into the open arms of their parents. Being hoisted by their fathers, they waved good night to each other.

"Did you and Akane have fun in the park today?" Nodoka asked, looking over her shoulder to her tired son in his father's embrace.

With a toothy grin, Ranma responded, "Yeah! Akane-chan said she would marry me." Genma chuckled as he patted his son's back, "Now boy, where did you get an idea to ask Akane to marry you?"

Now Ranma was confused as they continued home, "Don't best friends marry each other?"

It was Nodoka's turn to chuckle as she ruffled his hair, "You can look at it that way, sweetie." Ranma blinked as he yawned and shrugged it off and fell into dreamland.

Meanwhile, in the other direction, Soun held his youngest daughter firmly as they walked out of the park. Kasumi walked alongside him, and Nabiki had her hand in her father's free hand.

"Had fun today?" Soun asked his kids.

"I found 50 yen in the sandbox!" Nabiki exclaimed as she looked up to her father, holding the coin up with her other hand.

Soun smiled at his middle child, "Will you be saving it?"

Nabiki nodded as she put it back in her pocket. "I finished my chapter book today!" Kasumi chirped in, "I enjoyed it, and it seems that there is another book in the series, can I get it, father?" She looked up at him with the dearest eyes and he gave in, "Of course, sweetheart."

"What about you, Akane?" Soun asked over his shoulder.

"Had a blast, and oh! Ranma-kun asked me to marry him when we get older and I said it was okay!" Akane cheerfully told him. Her father smiled down at her, "Happy about that, princess?" Bobbing her head up and down, Akane replied, "Yeah! That way we can play every day!" The innocence of a child's mind intrigued Soun as he hoisted his daughter a bit higher on his side and continued the walk on home.

They concept of marriage came easy to children, but they had no idea of the true reason behind it until they got older. Regardless, it did not stop Soun from smiling at his daughters' antics.

#

Ranma and Akane have known each other since they were in diapers, so it was not surprising that they did everything together in and out of school. Their friendship was easily envied by the other kids and even some of the adults.

After school, they were normally seen playing in the park or at each other's houses. But, over the course of the years, their play dates diminished as they formed new friendships. But, they still held onto one another.

Then when they were 10 years old, the most devastating news that altered their friendship forever came into play.

"What? You're kidding, right?" Akane said, flabbergasted as she put down her chopsticks to stare incredulously at Ranma. He was shoving food down his mouth as he replied, "Wish I was, but pop's job is makin' him transfer," he popped the last shrimp into his mouth, "We're leavin' next week."

Next week?

"Ah, but Ranma-kun," Akane said, "..."

"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Will we still be friends?" she whispered, her eyes downcast.

Ranma looked over at his friend, his heart starting to beat erratically. He noticed that that only ever happened around Akane, he figured it came with being friends for so long.

"No way, Akane-chan," he started, smirking at her sad face, "Trust me, we will always be best friends, dummy." At that, she perked up and playfully punched his arm, "Okay, then...I'll be fine with you moving as long as you promise to call me!" He grinned wildly, "You know it!"

#

The Saotome's have been living in China for six months now.

"No way! Congrats on making the team!" Ranma said into the phone. He could just picture Akane's bright face as she told him the news of making it on the basketball team.

"Yeah! And I got a part in the school play!" Akane giggled as she twirled the phone cord in her fingers, "Ryoga did too!"

"That punk did! Haha, no way!" Ranma laughed.

"It's true, oh, I have to go now Ranma-kun, I'll talk to you later!" Akane said as she remembered her homework.

"Okay, bye!" Ranma hesitated as he put down the receiver. He stared at the stationary object for a moment more before bed.

Every day they managed to talk for an hour on the phone. They shared their daily activities and accomplishments. But mostly, to hear each other's voices.

But, over time their calls diminished. The everyday calls turned to once a week, which in turn changed to once a month. Then, after three years of being apart, the calls stopped altogether and Ranma forgot about his life back in Japan.

But the reason they stopped was not because Akane forgot about him, or Ranma forgetting to call Akane, but because lives went on. In Ranma's case, he made new friends and learned a new language. Practiced martial arts and became quite the man.

However, for Akane, everything turned for the worse. She had began developing into a young lady whom the boys favored. She had joined many sports and even continued her practice in martial arts. She had a fiery attitude and sunny outlook on life. She had even grown out her hair!

She once had.

That all changed when she was 13 years old. It was a normal day as she was walking home from school from a play practice when it happened.

Her world turned black as she was taken from the back and dragged into a nightmare she would never forget. In her eyes, her trust in men was skewed as one broke her that night.

Her father was a wreck when he received the call from police about his daughter. The two elder sisters were stricken with grief as they looked on at their baby sister who sat emotionless on her bed.

Her sunny smile never came back, she barely spoke and never trusted another male, aside from her father. At school, she dropped from her activities and focused on her studies. After the incident, she had cut her hair back to the short crop and wore clothes that hid her body. A new shell formed around Akane as she strived to go forward and forget her past.

Even so, the memories of Ranma were now long forgotten.

Author's Note
Okay, here is the premise of one of my alternative universe fanfictions. This one came to me a few hours ago and I wanted to write on it. This will probably consist of six-seven chapters. This one was not intended to be too long. I will be writing this on my mobile phone. Next chapter will be happier, by the way. :)

4/08/2012: Alright buddies, here is the revised version. I went back fixed the spelling and grammar and fixed where necessary. Nothing was lost in it, and if you came back and re-read it should be the same, except for more fluidly content (and visually pleasing!)