Together at Last!
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
By wingzeropilot
www.geocities.com/wing_zero_pilot195/ (Harmless Plug of the Day)
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Hey, y'all. It's me, WZP. No, I'm NOT dead, much to the vexation of anti-me people everywhere (although from the amount of time that has passed since I last posted a fic, you'd think I'd died). It's been a long time since I submitted my first fanfic, "Gundam Wing Vengeance", and have developed quite an itchy writing finger in the past few weeks. Since my last fanfic, I've seen many more anime series, including the hit, Ranma 1/2. What can I say that hasn't already been said about it? It's great! Anywho, I've read several Ranma romance fics, some bad and some good (more good than bad, thank God), and have decided to whip one up of my own. Granted, we never DO see Ranma and Akane get together seriously, in either the anime or the manga, but they come so close on so many occasions that it's pretty obvious they're a couple for life (for me, anyway). After reading several fics, and watching the Ranma OAV episodes (especially OAV # 10, "The Tunnel of Lost Love"), I've seen time and again how Ukyo and Ryoga are a good couple (and team, all around), too. Then, of course, there's Shampoo and Mousse (although that couple is a bit harder to see come together. I think I'll have a bit of trouble with those two. If only Shampoo weren't always such a, well, ahem...cough-bitch-cough... yeah.... to Mousse, it'd be a lot easier!). Anywho, those are the main couples I'll be working with in this story. It, like all to many of them out there, is one of those get-together storylines, with chapters centering around each of the couples. I'll wait for a while to do chapters on couples like Nabiki and Kuno (another hard one) or Kasumi and Dr. Tofu (yet another toughie. Thanks a bundle, Tofu....), but hopefully I'll get those done.
Granted, normally I'm a writer of action/adventure saga fanfics, but lately, as I've gotten over the belief that all women suck in general (stupid mental scarring from years of torment by girls from my school...), I've learned that love is one of the greatest things out there. Granted, I've no real experience with love, but I have felt it, and it's awesome. So why not make some warm and fuzzy fanfics to warm your hearts in the coming winter months (well, as this is written, it's the winter months. I've no idea when it'll be released). In other words, snuggle up with your otaku boy- or girlfriend and read my stories of how love was found amongst the many young people of Ranma 1/2. It is also recommended that you kiss each other at least once before the end of each chapter, since it'll remind you of how lucky you are to have found someone perfect for you. Awww... Ain't I the romantic...
Please note that I am using the storylines behind the ANIME series as background, not the manga. I've only read a handful of pages off the books at the local book store, so I can't actually use them as a valid source of background information. Maybe when I have actual money, I'll be able to get them (stupid college.... Takes every dime I've ever had...). Until then, I'll be using the anime series for this whole fanfic, and any others I write, in all likelihood. Also, this fanfic takes place after everything that happens in the OAVs (the final bits of Ranma 1/2 lore in anime form). Everyone's learned every technique from the anime series, and all events in the anime series have already occurred. Otherwise, there'd be a MAJOR plot hole or two (dozen) with the creation of these couples. God knows we all hate plot holes... Also for note, this is about two years after Ranma and Akane first meet. That means that it's about a year or so after the end of the anime (including movies and the OAVs, since there were two seperate Christmas episodes). This makes the two both 18 years old (or about to turn so), with Nabiki being 19 and Kasumi being 21. Soun and Genma are their usual selves (two years isn't nearly long enough to change THOSE two). Happosai is still his old, evil, evil, evil, evil self (dammit.... sometimes I wish I could leave him out, since he's the main threat to Ranma and Akane's getting together in my mind). Dr. Tofu is still the capable doctor he always is, just so long as Kasumi isn't within sight or sound distance of him (yeah, he still loses it every time she's near. It'd be hard for people to believe otherwise).
As a bit of an author's note, it's very hard for me to come up with words accurately describing the actions of certain people (i.e. Akane and her mallet-ing of anyone in her way, the Kunos being themselves, Kasumi's body language [can anyone describe it without using the name "Kasumi" in it? I have yet to hear it!]), so if I refer to things in that manner, fans of the anime and manga series will know what I'm talking about. People who know little or nothing about the Ranmaverse (I pity you, you poor, poor people...) will hopefully get the gist of what I'm saying.
Anywho, this is getting longer than the first chapter, so as I always say, on with the story!
Oh, yeah, I don't own Ranma 1/2. Like I said, I'm a college student with no money. If I owned Ranma 1/2, I'd have more than $6 in my savings account!
On with the damned story!
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Part I: Chestnut-Fists and Mallets
~ Summer Vacation at the Tendo Dojo ~
"Ranma, get back here!" Akane screamed, chasing after him through the living room, her trademark mallet in hand. Once again, he had managed to incur her wrath through another series of simple misunderstandings and overall bad luck.
"Hey, I'm tellin' ya, it ain't my fault!" girl-type Ranma yelled back, running as fast as her legs could carry her. She didn't have many places to go. She certainly couldn't go outside the Tendo household. All she had on were boxers and a strategically-placed towel. Ducking to avoid a thrown rock from the koi pond, she again shouted, "It's not my fault!!!"
"You pervert! You'll do anything to get a look at me in the bathtub!"
"Why would I ever want to look at a flat-chested, wide-butt, uncute tomboy like---AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The last part was cut off by Ranma's free flight via Mallet Airways.
"Baka," Akane mumbled as she walked back to the house. Then, suddenly, from out of the shadows of underneath the dinner table, a small shadow leapt out and firmly affixed itself onto Akane's chest.
"C'mon, Akane! Would you give me a backrub? Or maybe let me rub something of yours...?" the lecherous old Happosai asked, rubbing his head in her cleavage and giving a healthy squeeze.
"BACK OFF, YOU OLD CREEP!" Another passenger on Mallet Airways....
Meanwhile, on the porch, Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo were deep in the middle of yet another game of Shogi.
"Come, now, Saotome, can't you move some other piece?" Soun asked in his somewhat-usual calm voice. Genma once again had his friend at his mercy.
"Now, now, Tendo. This seems to me the most logical move on the board. It wouldn't do for a martial artist to do something to his own disadvantage, would it?"
"That may be true in most cases, Saotome, but I think that this is an exception."
"Oh, and how is that, Tendo?" As if summoned by Genma's words, Ranma crashed through the roof of the porch and landed head-to-head with her father.
"Ow..."
Taking advantage of his opponent's momentary lack of concentration, Soun quickly devoured the Shogi piece that represented the most risk to him.
Elsewhere, Happosai had already landed and was quick to recover, having fallen through the roof of a local public bathhouse (the women's side, of course). He was quick at work, oogling the women and stealing the various undergarments left behind in the dressing rooms.
Just another usual day for the Ranma 1/2 gang....
"Stupid, mean, uncute tomboy... Doesn't always have to hit so hard..." Ranma grumbled as she walked back home (with much assistance from a walking stick), a lump the size of a musk mellon on the side of her head. "Probably doesn't even care about what's coming up..."
If Ranma only knew that Akane had plans in store for him on his 18th birthday...
Kasumi, as always, was in the kitchen, preparing lunch, as Akane walked in.
"Why, hello, Akane! Can I help you with something?" Kasumi asked in her usual Kasumi-like way (head tilted to the side, eyes happily shut, with a pleasant smile on her face).
"Well, Kasumi, I was hoping that maybe, um..." If she looked anything, it was awkward. "Could you help me make something? For Ranma?"
"Oh, I'd be delighted to help!" the eldest Tendo daughter replied, turning around towards Akane and clasping her hands together over her chest in her Kasumi-like fashion.
"Thanks, Kasumi. Every time I do this kind of thing on my own, Ranma always heads for the hills." Akane's voice was mixed with anger and disappointment, yet tinged with a little bit of humorous understanding. Every time she made food these days, she made sure to try some on her own. This quickly made her realize that her cooking wasn't the greatest in the world. Since then, she had tried and tried and tried to get better at it. It worked.... sometimes. The other 80 percent of the time, Ranma replied with some offhand comment about "poison", "attempted murder", or how she would have been more humane to use the mallet. Then, of course, there were her attempts at clothes... Let's just say that there were plenty of things for Ranma to wear around the house, but he still stuck to his usual wardrobe whenever any member of outside society was within a mile.
"Don't you worry, Akane! We'll make sure he can't help but love this gift!"
"Right!" Akane replied, completely fired up and self-assured that, this year, Ranma WILL like his gift. Of course, I'll never forget that first Christmas he spent with us. I've still got those gifts that he got for me. For all the abuse she put him through, Akane always did have a certain fondness for Ranma from the beginning.
Granted, they did get off to one of the roughest starts of all time, but over time, even after so many misunderstandings, broken hearts, angry words, attempts at revenge (both by each other and by most everyone they knew), and the many and varied fiancees, Akane always saw Ranma as one of her best friends, and one of her favorite guy friends, and she wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.
If only HE would feel the same... That started the anger pumping a little again, which led her back to remembering the incident earlier.
Just then, as though bidden from fate itself, a red-headed, pigtailed form collapsed in the Tendo's living room. An unhealthy-sounding, "Unnngghhh...." came from the fallen Ranma. Kasumi gasped, while Akane merely stated, "Baka."
"Akane, would you please help Ranma? I've got to finish dinner..." Kasumi pleasantly asked.
"Why do I always have to be the one to bandage that idiot up?"
"Well, sis, it's probably because you're the one who makes him need them all the time."
"Nabiki! Don't you start, too!" Akane yelled at her older sister, who had just walked by on the patio. Turning to get the first-aid kit from a drawer, she went back to grumbling. "It better not end up like the last time I fixed his stupid cuts up..." The memory of the "love-potion band-aid" was still in her mind, even though the end result was more of a positive thing in her mind these days. That's when he called me cute, but without the band-aid on his nose, he meant it. Every word...
"All right, Ranma," Akane ordered, sitting down next to the half-conscious aquatranssexual. "Hold still while I put some of this hydro-whatsit peroxi-whachamacalit stuff on you, though I don't see how much good it'll do you. It looks just like water..."
Many screams of pain resulted in the ten minutes that followed.
"Hey, Ranma," Nabiki called as the 17-year-old male martial artist practiced in the dojo.
Pausing in the middle of a kata, Ranma craned his head back to the entrance. "What is it, Nabiki? I'm a little busy trying to get some of this anger out of my system. You do know your sister is trying to kill me, right?"
"Well, I just thought you'd like to know what Akane's got up her sleeve right now, that's all."
"Hmmm?" an indignant Ranma grunted sarcastically. "I'm sorry, Nabiki, did you say something about that uncute tomboy? No? Okay, then, I'll just finish up my workout, then..." he replied as he finished his kata.
"No, seriously, Ranma. She's plotting something right now, as we speak." Ranma, reaching the end of his workout, grabbed a towel off the ground and started walking to go take a bath. Nabiki continued her sales pitch. "I hear it's something really, really sinister."
"How many times do I have to tell you, Nabiki? I don't want to know what's going through the twisted mind of that cruel, mean, punishing, short, wide-hipped, overbearing, uncute tomboy death-cook!" Unfortunately for him, he had said his entire reverie about Akane while passing right by the living room, which just-so-happened to have Akane watching TV within it. A bright red glow was pouring off of her body.
"RANMA NO BAKA!!!"
He never saw the mallet coming.
~ The day before Ranma's birthday ~
"Hey, Kasumi, could you help me with the decorations?" Akane asked as her sister hung up the laundry and drying futons on the clothesline. She made sure to speak in hushed tones, since Ranma and Genma were sparring once again above (and, more often than not, within) the koi pond. So far, Ranma had no idea what was going to happen tomorrow, and Akane wasn't about to let that change. "I don't think that I can do them all by myself."
"Of course I will, Akane. Just let me finish the laundry, first," Kasumi replied in her usual pleasant way.
"Thanks, Kasumi," Akane replied as she headed back towards the training hall, where the events were going to take place the next day. So far, so good. No one except Genma, Ranma, Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane, and Soun had prior knowledge that Ranma's 18th birthday was the following day. That way, no one else could possibly cause anything to go wrong with what Akane was planning.
That wasn't to say that no one was invited. Far from it. Rather, nearly everyone Ranma had ever met was going to be showing up to this party. It would be hard to keep them all quiet long enough for his surprise party to actually surprise him, but Akane thought the rest of her family could manage that well enough. Most of them owed Nabiki favors or money or something, and they didn't want any additional interest added to their already-high debts. The rest would be kept in check by Genma and Soun and, if she went along with it, Cologne.
Akane walked past the curtains that said "Under renovation" that led to the dojo. That was about the only way Ranma was kept out of there. Akane and company had been planning this birthday party for some time, and since the location was going to naturally be in the dojo (it was the only room in the house big enough for so many people), all measures had been taken to keep Ranma out of it, like Soun deciding that the dojo "needed new flooring and some wall work". Since the dojo was "under construction" (which it really wasn't), Ranma had plenty of reason to steer clear. Soun even had a few of his friends in the neighborhood (who just-so-happened to work in construction) to mull about the place after school, completing the illusion that the dojo was, in fact, under renovation. When Ranma had asked why the dojo was being renovated, Soun did his "scary" face, accusing Ranma of being responsible for most of the damage.
That shut the teenage martial artist up pretty fast.
Akane walked through the dojo, past the refreshment table, which was stocked with plenty of food from a caterer, much to Akane's frustration. She wanted to cook the food for the party, but the rest of the household (sans Ranma, who wasn't there) had quickly made a long list of reasons why she shouldn't, none of them saying how bad of a cook she was. Even Akane had to admit that many of them were very creative. As she approached the makeshift stage (set up by those friends of Soun's, so there was some actual construction going on), she smiled as she remembered the last time there was a big party in the dojo.
Last Christmas, with the meteor shower. The memories were still fresh in her mind, and she always like to remember them with fondness. She had been very fond of Ranma for some time now, but it wasn't until the time she had Ranma eat that Sakura Mochi that she was convinced that she wanted him to be more than a friend. Then, since her fight against Mariko, when Ranma shouted out, "I love you!" to her, she had made her decision. Granted, Ranma told her time and time again that he didn't mean what he said, that he would have said it to whoever was in Akane's position, but Akane had decided to ignore those excuses. After all, when was the last time she listened to his excuses and took them seriously?
Akane walked up onto the stage, making sure that all the decorations put up so far were absolutely perfect. There had been too many times when her plans to do something nice for Ranma were ruined, whether by him, her, or one of his "other" fiancees. Too many times were her attempts at getting closer to him destroyed.
Well, there's no way I'm going to let this get messed up. No way in hell. Akane's ki glowed about her as she got all fired up, laughing in the insane-Akane fashion that Ranma had learned to fear quite a bit.
~ The Big Day ~
Everyone was there, except, of course, for Ranma and Akane. They were out "getting groceries." The same could not be said for the rest of Nerima.
Like Akane had planned, everyone Ranma had met in his life (with maybe one exception based of the possibility of seppuku) was there. Shampoo, Kodachi, and Ukyo were all sitting in a circle, their ki pouring off of them in waves as they each tried to control themselves and not wreck the entire party. Gosunkugi, Daisuke, Hiroshi, Yuka, and Sayuri were at one side of the room, discussing the classes they were going to take after summer vacation was over. Toma was busy talking with Kirin, while their lackeys all sat in a group, talking as well. Kirin had brought Lychee along, but she was outside caring for Jasmine (who had suffered a bit of airsickness on the trip over, and nobody likes to be around a sick elephant).
The Crepe King talked with Picolet Chardin about various kinds of foods, while the Niku men watched them in horror as the discussion veered towards pork buns. Miss Hinako, Principal Kuno, Toramasa Kobayashi, and other various school staff all discussed memories of Ranma and his antics in school. Lin-Lin and Lun-Lun took tips from Mariko about various showy-type attacks that were effective in battle, while Azusa Shiratori chased after Tsubasa Kurenai (disguised as a potted plant), calling him "Charline" (A/N the meaning of this French name is actually "manly". Just thought it fit really well). Mikado tried to get the attention of Ranma's three other fiancees, only to receive a three-way beating with a giant spatula, two big bonbories, and a well-aimed ribbon.
Kasumi was putting the finishing touches on the refreshment table, while Dr. Tofu (who was near Kasumi at the time) poured peanuts and mints into a cup and tried to drink it. Kin Ono, Dr. Tofu's mother, was nearby, no doubt studying Kasumi's hips from afar or something like that. Ryoga was kept busy between talking to Mousse and keeping track of Checkers and her litter. Yotaro and his mother were being entertained by the panda-drawing and its badly-drawn Ranma-chan counterpart. The antique salesman (the one who sold Kuno the phoenix egg), the local priest who "helped out" when the evil oni escaped its box, and the Ghost Cat all discussed various tales of lore in a corner of the dojo.
Natsume and Kurumi were busy talking with Satori, no doubt trying to get any ideas from him as to where Akane could use some work on her self-defense. The old lady from down the street (the one who, without fail every morning, manages to douse Ranma with a splash of cold water) was busy talking with Genji Heita, while Yutaro tried to put the moves on Midori, the kindergarten teacher. Sotatsu, Yasukichi, Copycat Ken and Chengensai all discussed various styles of martial arts.
Nabiki occupied herself by making sure that Kuno didn't break anything, while Shinnosuke and Sentaro Daimonji sparked up a conversation about Akane (or whatever Shinnosuke could remember about her, that is). Sasuke and Gendo were busy bickering near the front of the crowd. Cologne and the Jusenkyo guide struck up a conversation about some part of China they had both been to.
Nabiki, for her part, was nothing short of amazing. She went around, quietly but still making her presence known, as she told people to quiet down and hide underneath various decorations. When people got a bit huffy with her (always the ones who owed her something), she was able to remember to the single yen how much they owed her, and made lightning-quick calculations to them about how much they could owe her within a few months. That little trick even managed to get Kuno to agree to surprising Ranma.
Everything was ready. All that was needed was for Ranma to walk through the door of the dojo, and Akane's months of hard work would be paid off, with interest.
"C'mon, Ranma! Don't you want to see how well the dojo is coming along? Dad told me they're doing all sorts of stuff to make it better," Akane said as she and Ranma walked through the gates of the Tendo residence.
"I dunno, Akane. Your dad made it pretty clear that I should steer clear of the dojo..." Ranma responded, scratching the back of his head.
Oh, sure, NOW you decide to listen to people. Dammit, Ranma! Bakabakabakabakabaka.... Swallowing her small burst of anger, she grabbed Ranma's wrist with both of her hands, dragging him towards the dojo. "Come on, Ranma! Dad's not here right now, see? What's one little peek going to hurt?"
Whoa, Ranma thought, what's making her so pushy all of a sudden. Wait a minute, this is Akane I'm talking about here. She's about as pushy as they come...
"All right, if it'll get you to stop wrenching my arm out of its socket..." Akane visibly became happier, but didn't let go of her grip on Ranma's arm until they were at the door of the dojo.
"Well, go on, Ranma. Take a peek. I'll watch for Dad," Akane said, turning her back (but not her head) to Ranma. As Ranma opened the door to the dojo and stuck his head through, Akane gave him a less-than-light nudge the rest of the way through.
"SURPRISE, RANMA!!!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!" the entire crowd shouted at once, the lights flaring on to show Ranma the party that had been planned for him. He was taken aback by how many people were there. Half of Nerima must be here, with a good chunk of China, too!
"Happy birthday, my boy," Genma shouted, running over and slapping his son heartily on the back.
Soun wasn't far behind. "So, what are your plans now that you're eighteen years old, Ranma? Anyone in particular you're planning on spending more time with?" he asked as he pushed Ranma towards Akane, who was just coming into the dojo. Akane was just turning around as Ranma's head found itself landing square on her chest.
"Ranma....!!!!" Even if it WAS his birthday, Akane still had no qualms against giving him a good thrashing with her industrial-sized mallet.
"Heh heh heh, they're practically newlyweds!" Soun chuckled.
"You said it, Tendo!" Genma heartily replied.
That night, entertainment came in many forms. Like the Christmas party the year before, each person at the party who was willing got up on the stage and demonstrated some talent of theirs. Kuno demonstrated his watermelon-splitting abilities, Lin-Lin and Lun-Lun DJ'ed a small dance floor where people couldn't stop from dancing, and Toma did a really impressive magic show with his temporary partner, Mousse. Ryoga had Checkers and her pups do all sorts of tricks he had taught them over the earlier months, Mariko led people in a long-winded round of "Happy Birthday" for Ranma, and Satori used his mind-reading abilities much as any mind-reading entertainer would. There was a pie-eating contest, which Picolet won practically before it started. Copycat Ken did impressions of famous people, while Yasukichi did his impressive egg-catching abilities with glass globes the size of normal eggs. The frog man had his trained frogs do their little show, and even Genma joined in (in panda form) to do various circus tricks.
As the party wound down, Nabiki announced that it was time for everyone to give Ranma his gifts, if they brought one with them. The gifts Ranma got were unique, to say the least (especially the "free food for a year" tickets from Shampoo and Ukyo to each of their restaraunts, or the autographed football from Higuma Torajiro, or even the powder-covered bracelet from Kodachi, which he made sure to keep in its wrapping).
Then it came time for Akane to give Ranma his present from her. It was a small vase with ribbon wrapped around the neck and through the handle of the lid.
"Ranma, this is for you. I called the Jusenkyo guide, and asked him to get something for me from China..." Ranma stood there, dumbfounded and not sure whether to hope or not. "It's some water, from the Spring of Drowned Man..." Ranma grew teary-eyed, not sure at all what to say.
This is it! No more girl! I'm--I'm going to be CURED! "Akane, I--I don't know what to say..." The world seemed to both slow down and disappear around the two as they slowly made their way towards each other.
They had made it within three feet of each other when a battle cry tore the beautiful scene to pieces. It all happened so fast that Ranma would only be able to process what happened after the fact.
Somehow, Kodachi, Ukyo, and Shampoo had gotten into another one of their fights, but this time, they were fighting for real. A three-way battle royale was taking place five feet behind Akane. Four feet....two feet....
Kodachi was the one who flew half-conscious into Akane's back. The impact wasn't hard enough to hurt her, but it was hard enough to knock the vase out of her hands...
Everything and everyone in the room seemed to freeze in time, except for the vase, which seemed to slowly and gracefully make its way to the floor. It reached its destination, shattering into a thousand pieces, spilling the contents on the floor (but, luckily or not, not onto anyone in the dojo). Ranma could only stand in absolute horror as his hope for a cure to his curse drained through the floorboards of the dojo.
Akane, having gotten back up off the floor, looked at where the vase had hit the floor, horror in her eyes, too. All gone.... All of it.... Gone.... All of my work.... For nothing....
It took a few seconds for Akane to get over her initial shock, only to have it replaced by a bitter sadness. Again.... It's happening.... Again.... Ranma.... I'm so sorry.... It's my fault....
Getting up off her knees, trying to breathe through choked sobs, trying to see through teary eyes, Akane ran straight out of the dojo.
"Akane!" Ranma shouted, taking off right after her. Everyone else there simply stood, still taking in what just happened.
It took a while for her to stop, but they made it as far as the vacant lot down the road before Akane sagged down onto her knees, unable to face Ranma.
"I'm sorry, Ranma," she said between sobs. "I know how much it meant to you... I just wanted you to have a really great birthday..."
Ranma slowly walked up to her, not going around to talk to her face-to-face. She's gotta find the strength to turn around and face me. If I go around and make it so she doesn't turn around, she'll think that I think she's weak or something, Ranma thought. Previous experience had taught him how Akane thought in times like these. "What are you talking about, Akane? It's been a great birthday. Really," he said, so soft only she would be able to hear him.
"But... the water.... It's all my fault, Ranma!" Akane nearly shouted the last part, in anger, despair, and pent-up frustration.
Ranma tried to process that for a little while, but was unable to make out what she was talking about. "What? What do you mean by that, Akane? How could you have possibly known--"
"You should know. You know how clumsy I am. You're always telling me how much of a klutz I am..." Akane's voice wasn't angry towards Ranma, but more bitter towards herself.
She thinks it's HER fault the vase got dropped! Ranma realized.
"I don't know.... how many times you told me... how clumsy I am..." Akane managed out between ragged breaths. Ranma saw from behind the tears falling off her face and onto her skirt. "But you were right, Ranma... I'm sorry I ruined your birthday present.... I'm sorry I got your hopes up so high...."
Ranma, not knowing what exactly to say, knelt down behind Akane, putting his hand on her shoulder. This brought her head up, and slowly, she turned her head around to face him.
"Ranma...." Her eyes glistened with light from the moon and the lampposts a block away as she looked into Ranma's eyes. God, she's beautiful...
Ranma smiled lightly, his face softening for her. "Akane, it's the thought that counts, right? If you ask me, it's the best present I've ever had."
For a moment, Akane softened. Then, as though a sudden memory of that moment earlier had just flashed through her mind, her face grew sad and bitter again. "You're just saying that, Ranma," she spat out, quickly turning her head away from him again as she got up off the ground, her fists clenched. Ranma got up as she did.
Ranma started to feel his anger rising, with thoughts of calling her all the usual names, but another look at her sobbing face banished all those thoughts.
That's about the last thing she needs right now, and about the last thing I need to do to her. Smiling to himself, he knew exactly what to do.
"Go ahead, Ranma, call me clumsy. Call me an uncute tomboy--" She was cut off when Ranma turned her around and quickly, yet gently, pressed his lips to hers. There, in the empty lot, they stayed like that for as long as it took Akane to unconvince herself that Ranma now hated her. When the kiss stopped, they simply held each other in a close hug, Akane resting her head on Ranma's body, Ranma resting his head on Akane's head. There they stayed, silent, content, happy.
Walking back to the party, the two discussed how exactly they were going to tell everyone. Reaching an impasse (and not finding any ways possible to talk to everyone and tell them about what had happened without very violent responses from certain members of the partygoers), Ranma came up with the idea of simply holding hands back to the party.
To be Continued...
Not bad, eh? Granted, it's a bit unlikely to happen in the Ranmaverse, but I can dream, can't I? Go ahead, call me a hopeless romantic, but I think this would make a great follow-up special or something like that for the Ranma 1/2 anime series (since they never actually finished it; sorry folks, I refuse to believe that "The Two Akanes; 'Ranma, Look at Me!'" can be judged as THE ending to the Ranma anime).
Stay tuned for the following chapters to come! They'll feature stories of how the other characters deal with the "new" (for lack of a better word) couple, and how they end up pairing up together.
Oh, yeah. READ AND REVIEW, PEOPLE. I don't know what to think or do without good reviews (just don't tell me exactly how the next chapter is going to go or something like that; just a little advice on my style of writing, how to keep in-character better, etc.). Every time I read a fic, I make sure to let the person know my thoughts (and I never, ever flame; I offer advice). At least return the favor!
See you all next chapter!