Akane kicked off her shoes and trotted into her living room where she heaved her unusually heavy book bag down onto the floor. Strong as an ox my butt! She thought, rubbing her shoulder and twisting, trying to pop her spine back into alignment. There! She felt a light, pleasant zipping sensation as her vertebrae settled into place.

Kasumi looked up from her seat on the floor "Hello, Akane, how was school today?"

"Fine, Kasumi" to be honest, Akane hadn't really been able to focus much at school. She was a good enough student that she could get by without effort occasionally. That proved convenient on days like this. Oh well, only one more day before the weekend. And she'd lugged every single book in Ranma's locker home, so he'd have them all no matter what got assigned.

Akane sat beside her sister and looked over her battered fiance. "Has he woken up at all?"

"Yes, he was awake for an hour or two this afternoon. Dr. Tofu was here, then. He'll be fine. As usual."

"How long?"

"Three weeks bed rest. Six more to fully regain his strength."

That was on the longer side of middling for serious Ranma level damage. It worried her that this might be what life with Ranma was like forever. Could she ever get used to this?

Kasumi lifted the bin in her hands "I was just about to change his bandages. Then I'll go get started on dinner. It's getting late. I suppose a half hour won't starve anyone to death, though."

"I'll do this, Kasumi." Akane said.

"Oh my, thank you Akane. Are you sure you don't need to catch up on your school work? You missed two whole days this week."

"Yeah, I got a lot done in study hall today."

"Alright, then. I'll just go start supper, then." Kasumi smiled a thank you to her sister and disappeared into the kitchen.

Akane ran to the bathroom and washed her hands. When she returned, she glanced through the medical supplies, and then gently folded blankets down off of the unconscious Ranma. She started to peel back the dressing on the worst of the wounds, a deep slash across his lower torso that had cut well into the muscle.

Akane rubbed her stomach thoughtfully. That slash had been meant for her. Ranma had dropped down off the cave ceiling in front of it, kicking out at her attacker. He'd taken a good bit of the power out of his opponents cut. And it was still a near thing that it wasn't a messy, likely lethal gut wound. It certainly would have been if it had connected uninterrupted with its real target.

The tape on the old bandage caught on his skin, and Ranma muttered unintelligibly as she eased it off. "Shh. It's okay."

She held the tube of antibiotic cream between her thighs for a few moments before squeezing some out onto her clean finger tips. As gently as she could, she spread it across Dr. Tofu's neat stitches cursing herself as her fingers ran across the v-cut of Ranma's abs.

Deep in the catacombs, certain that this time she would die, that he couldn't find her in time to save her, she had let her mind wander. Dreamed just a little too intensely about touching this particular part of him. For just a moment. And yet here she was. Was it a wish? Was this her fault, somehow? 'I'm sorry, Ranma' she thought.

Ranma watched through lowered lids as Akane took care of him. A big part of him hated being this helpless, but an equally big, and more desperate, starved part of him rejoiced. The misery of being injured to the point of immobility was almost worth it. Her touch was efficient and professional, probably nothing very special to most people. Still, it was so rare that anyone touched him with anything but violent or possessive intent.

Akane's gentle hands continued to move over his cuts and scrapes, uncovering each one, applying ointment, and rebandaging deftly. She was intent on her work, and appeared to realize he was awake only when she lifted her head and met his eyes. He saw anxiety there. He should goad her, get her to smack him good and forget whatever was bothering her. "I almost lost you back there" that wasn't an insult. His stupid mouth. Why couldn't he ever talk right. "Not that I should mind losing an uncute, no-chest tomboy - ow!"
He was jerked mercilessly upright as Akane whisked the compression bandages off of his cracked ribs to clean a few more cuts before replacing them. Her movements were no longer gentle, each prod was positioned to cause maximum discomfort without actually making his injuries worse. Flickers of hot battle ki flaring up from her skin. Better.

Akane stood up to huff off, and then stopped. "I'll just leave your school books next to you with a list of the homework from this week." She smiled too sweetly. "Miss Hanaka would like me to bring your completed work back tomorrow." She grabbed text books from her back, as well as a sheet of paper with a distressingly long list of exercises on it.

Ranma tried to sit up to read. It didn't work, and it hurt a lot. Dammit, this was the first time he'd had cuts nearly clean through his abdominal muscles, in at least three places, too. God, he was helpless as an infant.

"Kasumi!" he called.

"Just a minute, Ranma" she called back. Then he heard "Akane, I have three things on the stove and I can't walk away right now. Please go help Ranma."

Akane marched in and stopped in front of Ranma, hands on her hips "What?"

Ranma squirmed. The last person he wanted to feel weak around was Akane. "Nevermind" he grumbled, grimacing has he used his arms to hoist his torso up.

Immediately, Akane softened. "Idiot!" She chided easily lifting him and laying pillows behind his back to prop them up.

Ranma felt himself relax as Akane settled down next to him on the floor and pulled out his school work. "I missed everything except today, too. Want to work on it together?"

Akane closed her school books and ran to help Kasumi set the table. She, with scant help from Ranma, had finished about a third of their backlogged school work. Not bad. She took made up a plate for herself and a heaping one for Ranma and moved over to where he was sitting. His appetite was healthy as ever, at least. She watched him doze after a second helping.

It was nice to see him relaxed. He hadn't been sleeping much since Jusendo. Akane knew. Neither had she. More than once she had heard his light footfalls as he paced above her window after the house had gone to bed.

Come to think of it, she was a bit tired herself. "Good night, everyone" Akane said and headed up the stairs towards her room.

"Akane!" Ranma's voice reached her, laced with tension. "I'm coming with you."

"That's the spirit boy!"

"Are you sure you're up to that tonight Ranma?"

"Shut up, that's not what I meant." Ranma muttered. "Akane, wait up." She turned and felt her mouth fall open as Ranma walked across the room towards her, a grimace of obvious pain on his face.

"What exactly do you think you're doing, pervert?" She asked. Was he seriously trying to use his pathetic, injured state to weasel his way into her bedroom for the night?

"Akane," he said, "You got kidnapped right out your window in the middle of the night and I wasn't there. It is not happening again."

She hustled up the stairs, and he followed, "I can take care of myself, Ranma."

"Oh yeah, big strong tomboy who managed to get captured and locked in a cave like a freaking damsel in distress." Wow. He really just insulted her for being a tomboy and for being girly in the same sentence. Unbelievable.

"I'm in a hell of a lot better shape than you at the moment."

"Oh, Akane, let him sleep in your room, it's not like he's in a state to try anything." Nabiki drawled from downstairs.

"Yes, really, Akane," her father said "Ranma is just trying to do his duty as your fiance."

"Fine, whatever." Akane opened her door for Ranma and grabbed his bedding from downstairs. She arranged it without speaking to him and helped him to lie down. After they had both laid in the silence pretending to sleep for a while, she whispered "Ranma, you don't have to take care of me. I'm a martial artist, too."

"Well, after Jusendo and now this, you're going to have become a hell of a lot better one if you want to convince me you don't need a bodyguard." He was looking straight up at the ceiling, not at her.

"I'm not that bad, Ranma"

"Compared to the trouble that tends to find us, you aren't that good, either."

Part of her wanted to fight, but Ranma wasn't taunting her at the moment. It was his honest assessment as a master martial artist of their school, and she knew he was right.

"Maybe you should pull out the Do Gi" he said after a while. "As annoying as that thing is."

"Umm . . . " Akane felt her cheeks heat "I can't wear that anymore."

"What, someone steal your heart or somethin'?" He laughed. Akane remembered darkness and Ranma's voice from very far away. 'I love you' he had said.

"Drop it, Ranma." She chucked her pillow at his head. His hand shot up, and he tossed it back to her.

"Who?" Was the boy really that dense?

"You know, Ranma, the Do Gi was supposed to unlock my potential, anyway. That means I can be just as good without it."

"Oh yeah, in some universe where you actually train." Ranma said.

"I train!"

"Yeah, right. When's the last time you spent even 48 hours doing nothing but working on getting better in the Art."

Akane thought back. She hadn't worked that hard in years. Her silence hung in the air.

"Exactly. Listen, you aren't a serious fighter because you don't train like one."

She sighed "Who would I get to teach me, Ranma. I've learned everything my Dad is willing to teach me.I'm not going to try it with your crazy father or with the old letch."

"Akane, do you actually want to do this anyway? It's okay if your life isn't all about the Art. Just don't tell meI don't need ta guard ya."

Akane remembered when her life was all about the Art. She missed the absolute confidence of being able to kick the ass of any trouble that came her way. "It used to be. I'm not really good at anything else."

"Like I said, you're not that good a martial artist either." Ranma easily deflected a book that whizzed towards his head. "What? I didn't say you can't be, I said you aren't. You put all you stubbornness and will into trying to do stupid girly crap like cooking when you'll never be good at that anyway. If you put half as much energy into getting faster and learning some techniques, you could kick Shampoo's ass in no time."

"And where am I supposed to go to learn these things Ranma?" It was almost a stupid question. Nerima had a very high concentration of martial arts masters. Too bad none of them would every give her the time of day when it came to training.

After a long pause, Ranma quietly said, "I'll teach you, if you want."

Ranma's words hung in the air. He waited. Part of him wanted her to say no. Then he wouldn't have to put her through the hell it would take to make her really good. On the other hand, there were a few slashes across his torso that would have damned near torn her in half if he hadn't manage to track her down just in time.

"Okay." Her voice was quiet, but steady. "After you're better." She added. After some time, he heard her light snores, and then he, too drifted off to sleep.