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Images
by Kengeta
VegetaX7@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/ascensionfics/
http://daisukerev.cjb.net

Insert standard disclaimer here

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"Tomboy!" Ranma shouted.

"Pervert!" Akane snarled back.

"Uncute!" Ranma shot back.

"Lecher!" Akane growled.

_____________________
You held my breath
Your soul
In my vision
I was watching
There
For forever
_____________________

"Oh, Airen!" Shampoo glomped onto Ranma, squeezing the breath from him. Ranma screamed in surprise, while Akane angrily stalked off.

"Jerk!" She yelled.

_____________________
With heart in tatters
I Gazed at the
Retreating figure
Of yourself
My soul
Split
_____________________

"Well?! Are you gonna eat it or not?!?!" Akane's battle aura started to grow blue around her.

Ranma, Soun, Genma and Happousai slowly nodded. Taking a spoonful of the meal sitting before them, they cautiously raised it to their mouths.. and choked.

_____________________
Did you never see
My widened eyes?
Showing to you
What lay inside?
_____________________

"Ran... Ranma?" Akane stared at Ranma, who had just poked her head from the leaves. "You... you did it for me, didn't you? You destroyed the spring of drowned man... it was all for me, wasn't it?"

"ah.. ahem" Ranma cleared her throat and pointed to the sun.

_____________________
On my knees
I screamed
And screamed
Can't you see?
I wanted it
My eyes afire
With what you
Never saw
_____________________

Akane's hand flew at lighting fast speeds, a loud *SLAP* heard as it connected with Ranma's cheek. "If... If I'm such a bother to you, then... then..." Akane's eyes shimmered with tears. "Then why don't you just forget about me?"

_____________________
I thought I saw!
But when I tried
Your eyes shut tight
Your feelings closed
Dead?
Tell me
For one moment
You were
Alive
_____________________

Ranma eyed Akane warily. "You sure about this?"

Akane looked surprise for a moment, but a worked a crafty grin onto her face. "Oh, I'm not good enough for you, is that it?"

Ranma's face turned dark. "AKANE THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!" Looking around for a moment, his expression turned to one of confusion. "I... well, okay..."

Ranma turned to face Akane. "Cl.. close your eyes."

Akane nodded.

Bringing his face closer, he noticed the way the sun played on her cheeks, the way it caught the shade of her perfect, round lips. The ones he was about to ki...kiss.

Shaking himself, he brought his head forward, and...

_____________________
Just let me cry.
_____________________

Ranma sat down on the grass, watching the flow of the canal before him.

Not like it really mattered.

Lowering and shaking his head, he laughed a little, closing his eyes.

It didn't matter.

Bringing his head back, he stared at the canal, unshed tears in his eyes.

Stupid girl.

_____________________
Just let me cry.
_____________________

He wiped his hands across his eyes, smiling a little. Real men don't cry, and you're a real man, aren't you?

But then again, real men don't hurt others.

_____________________
I just want to cry
_____________________

Throwing his head into his lap, he softly chuckled, crystal tears flowing from his cheeks. Why did it hurt, when he did that? When he hurt her like that? When she yelled back, anger and pain in her voice?

Letting his fist fall to the ground, he slowly punched it, repeatedly.

Dammit.

Dammit.

Hah hah... dammit.

_____________________
You gazed me at me
So many times
Just let me cry
_____________________

Ranma shook his head again, tears continuing to flow. 2 years of this. Day in, day out. He would say something stupid, she would get angry. Every day. So many times.

_____________________
I didn't show you
Did I?
Had I let myself
For just a moment
You would have seen
....me
_____________________

Ranma laughed a little again. Yeah, real men don't cry all right. So what. Real men, like his father was supposed to be, just flat out didn't care anymore. He was tired of pretending, tired of throwing his manliness around, for the sake of his life. It wasn't worth it if it hurt Akane, if it made it hard to live.

_____________________
And I
With crystal tears flowing
Found you
You saw
Behind my shut eyes
And lying tongue
You saw
....me
_____________________

Ranma heard a soft sound approaching him, but he didn't care, anymore. So what if it was the old man, coming to lecture him on manliness. So what if it was one of those many fiancees, coming to "help him" in his time of need.

So what.

So what.

_____________________
Was it like that
Why did I never see
With broken hearts
And shattered minds
Why had I not seen?
_____________________

Akane gently knelt on the grass next to Ranma, her arm on his shoulder.

He looked so weak, so hurt, like this. Not at all like the Ranma he normally was.

Ranma looked up at her, his eyes reddened, his cheeks dirty from the tears he had been shedding. A slow smile crept across his face. "I... I guess this ain't exactly manly, is it?"

Akane smiled and sat.

_____________________
You sat next to me
Your soul flowing
In time with mine
You let me hold you
Comfort you
You let me love you
_____________________

Ranma nervously stretched his arm out behind Akane, shaking the whole time. Finally, he latched onto Akane's shoulder.

And she just smiled.

_____________________
You wanted it too
Didn't you?
I need you
_____________________

Akane moved her head to gently rest on Ranma's shoulder. Smiling, she reached her arms around his broad chest and squeezed.

"Pervert." she smiled.

"Uncute." he breathed.

"Lecher." she giggled.

"Tomboy." he whispered.

They smiled at each other for a moment, till they turned away, silently, to stare at the warm, night sky.

_____________________
I smiled
You breathed
I think
Maybe
I'm done crying
_____________________

Authors Notes: Well, this is... just... whatever it is, I suppose. Always wanted to do a fic in that format, so that's I did. For those of you wondering, I just made the random lines of prose up on the spot, really. I guess if I titled it anything, it would be the same name as the fic.

For any of you wondering (who knows, maybe there are one or two of you out there) as to my other works, well, they're kinda on hold for a bit. Fall of Grace's muse has currently flitted off to watching an ungodly amount of Anime. "Gomen ^_^"

Go check out Ascension Fanfics for any other work done by ShPhoenix or me. The URL's up top... we REALLY need to update. "Gomen ^_^"

Ooooh yeah, and by the way... for anyone who notices that some of the scenes in here don't quite match the scenes from the Anime... .. kill me. I know they're not perfect, and I'm waiting for a bit to watch the series again. The last scene is one made up by me "^_^"