Hey guys. What's up? This has got to be one of the longest oneshots I've ever written, and I worked really, really hard on it. It's now half past 12 in the morning, so I'm… not exactly meant to be on the computer now. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or anything associated with it. All rights to Ranma ½ and affiliated products belong to Rumiko Takahashi-sama.

Summary: Ranma's made his biggest screw-up to date; and now Akane may never speak to him again. Angry, hurt, and upset, will these two wayward teens ever managed to make peace? Or are they doomed to hate each other forever?

Rating: T

Pairings: RanmaxAkane

Genre: Romance/Angst

Betrayal

It was the usual evening serenity in the Tendo household; the blessed quiet after one of Ranma and Akane's more violent quarrels, whereby each of them had taken off into the night, silently swearing some form of retribution that they both knew would never fully come to pass. It had become so routine that no one in the household questioned it nowadays, after the two years for which it had been going on. Never mind the fact that this particular fight had been worse than any other before, or the matter that it was over.

As Kasumi dried that night's dishes, she silently wondered where the two had gotten to, and if they had calmed down yet. More than once the two teenagers had been escorted home by the police for arguing in the streets, much to the shame of both families; unfortunately, they seemed to share a penchant for the same quiet places to think, leading to unfortunate run-ins on several occasions.

Sighing, Kasumi placed the last dish in the kitchen cupboard, routinely glancing at the clock on the far wall. It was almost eleven; well past curfew on a school night. She began to grow worried about her youngest sister and potential brother-in-law, knowing that they had a knack for getting into sticky situations. Not for the first time, she wished that her sister would just come home, and talk it over with someone. Kasumi was convinced that a sympathetic ear, a large box of chocolates, and a mug of hot tea was really what her sister needed at the moment. Oh, and of course, a box of tissues.

Internally running a catalogue of things she needed to do, she began to make her rounds of the house, collecting stray articles of clothing and other various things that needed washing. Giving another sigh as she spotted her father and Genma playing a game of shogi on the engawa, with Nodoka watching them irately, her thumb occasionally brushing against the sheath of the Saotome family katana as she glared at her husband and his best friend, Kasumi continued along, making no comment.

It was really the fault of that Hibiki boy, this latest argument; Kasumi wondered if there was anything that could possibly bridge the gap between Ranma and Akane after this, and if anything could come out of the relationship between the two young martial artists now. It certainly seemed like Akane was never going to forgive Ranma for his betrayal in this manner, and Kasumi was not sure she blamed her baby sister – though, she wanted to know if the young man in question had anything to say for himself before they completely condemned him.

Not for the last time before they returned, Kasumi glanced at the clock, wondering where they were as she set to separating the colours and whites for the laundry.

Ranma was in a position he would never allow himself to be caught dead sitting in; his knees were pulled up to his chest as he wrapped his arms around them, burying his face into said raised knees. The aura around him, however, was not one of depression, as one would normally associate with this kind of posture; it was a bright beacon of anger that warned all around him to leave him be, lest they find themselves on the receiving end of his frustrations.

He wasn't angry with only Akane, though a fair portion of the frustration he felt did centre itself on her. He knew he didn't really have the right to be, that she was the one who had the right to be angry at him, but that still did not quell the rage that he felt in his gut at the thought of her role in that night's fiasco. However, when he looked at it objectively – something that he could not easily, and did not often, do – he realised that, perhaps, just perhaps, her actions were as a result of a feeling of betrayal, which he could admit he deserved.

Uncurling from his seat on the cold, hard ground of the riverbank, he stared at his right hand in disgust. For the first time ever, he had been forced to hit Akane, to physically harm her. She had acted like a madwoman, almost possessed, in the manner in which she had attacked him. It was not like the previous encounters that they had engaged in, where she simply swung at him in a brief flare of hot anger; no, tonight's near-brawl was more or less a lead up to what might have possibly been his own murder.

Shuddering at the thought, he wondered where his life had gone so wrong. Was it when the various fiancées and other rivals had shown up, professing their misplaced affections for him? Was it when the other crazies had appeared, presumably to make his very life a living hell? It seemed to stretch on to much before that, but he couldn't possibly hope to pinpoint the very moment that his life had started to go south.

Perhaps it was when he arrived in Nerima, and had discovered that he had an unknown fiancée apparently awaiting his arrival – for that matter, it could have been any one of three young women, as he had discovered upon his arrival at the Tendo household. Perhaps it had begun its downward spiral at the proclamation that he was to wed to the youngest and most headstrong of those daughters, who was just as against the arrangement as he was. Maybe it was when he had accidentally walked in on her as she was finishing her bath, or when she had walked in on him when he was finishing his bath. Perhaps it was before that, when he had received his curse, or during his travels with his father, or even before all of that, when his father had taken him from his mother.

But he knew that he couldn't solely blame Akane for circumstances that were so far beyond her control; after all, he admitted, their relationship was just one large misunderstanding after another, and he had done very little to ensure that the youngest Tendo understood what was going on half the time. To her, he was simply a boy, who was little more than a perverted freak intent on taking advantage of as many young women as possible – at least, that was how Ranma was convinced that she saw him. He wished that, just for once, she'd simply stop and try to actually see what was going on; often, he was so wrapped up in trying to figure out a way to get out of a situation without hurting anyone's feelings that he forgot that Akane was still there, and that was what caused the most problems.

Her jealously and insecurity would be the end of him, he mused, if she didn't murder him for keeping the pig-boy's secret from her. She had struck him, or even one of the other girls, out of anger more times than he cared to remember – in fact, there had been more than one occasion in which he had woken in some strange part of town and had no idea how he'd gotten there, only to discover later that it had been Akane who had pretty much launched him into orbit in some fit of rage or another; he had not told her about these incidents, merely pretending that he knew everything about the situation. Those times were often followed by a second beating, of which he would spend several hours seething over, before he returned home.

But that still did not excuse the fact that he had hit her. His hand still stung from the impact, though he knew that it was all in his mind. The pain of the open-palmed strike had long-since passed, but the flesh still felt raw, as if it had been burnt upon contact with the young woman's face. Burying his face in his hands, resting his elbows on his now-crossed legs, Ranma mentally kicked himself. There were so many other ways in which the situation could have been handled. He could have simply swept her feet from under her, or caught her arm and immobilised her. But no, he let his fear, of all things, get a hold of him, and he reacted in the only way he knew how; he slapped her, hard, across the face, and shoved her into the wall to disorient her. He was sure she would bruise from the strike, and he couldn't bear to lay eyes on her; the shame was too great.

Growling out his frustrations, he picked up a small rock from the side of the river, tossing it as far as he could, and with as much force as possible, out into the vast expanse of water. He could vaguely hear a splash at some point in front of him, though he didn't look up to watch the ripples that matched his emotions so very well at that particular moment.

Akane was still running, had been running since she left her home God only knew how long ago. The cool breeze of the mid-November night whipped at her face, feeling glacial against the tear-tracks on her cheeks, as her sobs slowly died down to rather violent hiccups. She was angry with Ranma, with Hibiki… but she was the angriest at herself.

The day had started out well enough. She and Ranma had not argued much that morning before school, had managed to avoid Shampoo's morning Amazon Mega-Glomp, had not seen Ukyo all day, and it had taken a relatively short time to beat the Kunos into unconsciousness. They had managed to get through their day relatively unscathed, and she had even managed to cajole Ranma into sparring with her after they had worked on their homework. Granted, he still wasn't hitting her during their sparring matches, but the fact that he was even willing to allow her to attempt to hit him was a step in the right direction. She'd even managed to knock him into the koi pond once during that afternoon's session!

It had all gone south after dinner, when P-chan had shown up. She'd been so excited to see her little piggie that she'd tripped, flinging the kettle of hot water that she'd gotten for Ranma into the air, the contents spraying everyone in the room. While she took no notice of Ranma's transformation into his true form, one of the three in the room, she certainly noticed her little pet transforming into her friend; or, at least, someone she thought was her friend.

It hadn't taken long to figure out who knew and who didn't. The fact that her father, and Ranma's father, had known was like a blow to the gut, but that certainly didn't prepare her for Ranma's reaction to the whole mess. He had merely jumped out of the way of Ryouga, who had screamed 'Ranma, prepare to die!' and swung at him with a broken leg from the table, and greeted him with a slightly surprised 'Hey, P-chan.'.

Something inside Akane had snapped at that moment. She had taken up the table leg that Ryouga had disposed of, and had taken it to the pervert's head… repeatedly. Ranma had grabbed her from behind with the intent of distracting her from murdering the prone young man with her bare hands, only to succeed in her grabbing the implement that she had since discarded, and taking it to his head, screaming obscenities. She was sure the neighbours had called the police, but the call was likely to go unanswered; the police knew enough about Ranma and Akane that they had likely just thrown their hands up in the air about them by now.

Most of the whole thing was actually a blur now; she was in such a rage that she wasn't thinking clearly, and, as such, could only remember a flurry of movement as she repeatedly attacked Ranma, who had a little more success at defending himself than Hibiki had. She hadn't even noticed when she'd dropped her weapon and began pounding him with her bare hands, forcing him into the wall, practically defenceless, as he normally refused to hit her.

Then, in a bright flash, she felt a sharp stinging on her left cheek, coupled with a whooshing sensation as she felt herself flying. Then pain erupted at the back of her head as she saw stars; it did not take long for her to realise that she'd apparently been pushed rather forcefully across the room, her body impacting with the opposite wall with a sharp thwack.

That had been all it'd taken for her to come back to her senses. The sight of Ranma fleeing the house had filled her with shame, knowing that she had caused it. Even replaying the memories now, with as much clarity as she had lived them in, the sense of shame and dread that filled her threatened to overflow and tear her apart from the inside out.

Slowing down to a jog now, Akane considered going home, and apologising to Ranma once – she refused to think the word 'if' – he came back. Surely Ranma must know, by now, that she hadn't stayed in the house much longer after he had, and just needed time to cool down; after all, Hibiki was sill there until the ambulance arrived. Pondering on the idea a moment, she quickly discarded it. She didn't want to go home. She just wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear.

Eventually, she sat down on the bridge overlooking the river that ran through Nerima, dangling her feet over the ledge. Sighing as her rested her head against one of the posts that supported the safety rail above her head. As her forehead slowly cooled from the temperature of the metal, Akane's hiccups slowly stopped. Wiping away the last few tears on her cheeks, she exhaled deeply.

Now that she was back in a rational frame of mind, she forced herself to think about what to do. There was no way that she was ever going to forgive that Hibiki pervert for what he had done, she didn't even care why he'd done it, but she had to make a decision regarding Ranma – that is, if he was ever going to speak to her again. She wanted to know why he'd kept that from her on purpose. After all, what on earth could justify him letting that bastard… use her like that?!

Taking a deep breath to calm her rising temper once again, she exhaled in a sigh, allowing a few more tears to fall. She had honestly thought that Ryouga was her friend. Sure, he could be a little annoying, what with how he and Ranma fought and all, but still… a friend. Ranma, however… she chuckled bitterly. After Jusendo, she was actually starting to believe that he actually cared about her.

"Heh," she muttered under her breath, berating herself for her apparent foolishness, "I guess not."

Nabiki was barking into her cell, feeling incredibly snippy. "Why the hell didn't that pervert's curse get picked up?!" She demanded. "I have people keeping tabs on every singe person my sisters interact with, and somehow he happens to drop off the radar?!" She growled. "I don't give a shit about your pathetic excuses!" She snapped. "You find out every single person who knows about his curse who knows Akane or me, and you give me their names. Tonight!"

Viciously snapping her cell shut, she debated internally for a moment, before flipping it open again. "Wanatabe?" She barked. "No, I don't care about how late it is!" She paused for a second, her glare getting all the more potent. "Now you listen, mister! If you don't want that photo circulating through Nerima within the hour, you'd better do as I say!" A pause. "Good. Now, I want you to put out a BOLO on my sister and the Saotome boy." A vein ticked in her forehead. "Just do it!"

Almost crushing her cell in her hand as she snapped it shut once more, she stomped down the stairs to find her father and Saotome Genma enjoying a game of shogi, Nodoka's glare having increased since the time Kasumi had seen them. Stomping past them, throwing open the front door, and storming into the dojo, she placed her cell on a table by the door, and went rummaging around the back of the large, open room, finally pulling out one of the old practice dummies that her father had set aside for her when she was a child. She'd never felt the need to use to before now, but, with all the rage coursing through her veins – both at Ryouga's betrayal and at the fact that she didn't know about it – she felt as if she could throw a few punches.

Setting the dummy up, she let loose an almighty scream, snapping off a kick better than she could ever remember performing. Though she did not practice as strenuously as Akane, Nabiki had found it worthwhile to take up martial arts lessons across town, in case she found herself in a position where she would have to defend herself – this had been continuing all the more earnestly since Ranma and his father had moved in. Who knew what sorts of freaks might attempt to accost her?

Unintelligible yells spilled from her lips as she continued to attack the dummy, rather viciously. Had her father been paying enough attention to come out and see what all the noise was about, he would have been proud. Nabiki knew she was nowhere near as good as Akane or Ranma, or even Genma or her father, but she was certainly, at least, able to defend herself well enough until such a time presented itself as she could run away.

"Nabiki?" Kasumi's voice floated in from the door. "I heard noise, and I thought Akane was home." The disappointment in her voice was evident.

Nabiki frowned, "Sorry, Kasumi." She sighed, mopping her forehead with a towel. "I just needed to relieve some stress."

Kasumi nodded understandingly. "Well, I'll leave you to it." She paused a moment, hesitating. "Did you call your people?" She asked warily, knowing that Nabiki knew what Kasumi thought of her various acquaintances.

"Yeah, people are keeping an eye out." Nabiki nodded. "I'm also finding out who knew about the pig." Her voice turned ice-cold, her expression murderous. "So help me, God… if I find out anyone we know knew about this, I'm going to make their life hell."

Sweat rolled down Ranma's neck as he tried to figure out what to do. Unable to burn off his anger by mulling the situation over inside his head, he'd resorted on taking his frustrations out in the form of a rather strenuous kata. It was quite therapeutic for him to physically work off his stress; it burned off a lot of the energy that his anger created, forcing his mind to focus on the task at hand.

Now; what to do?

Go home, he guessed, and try to explain everything to Akane. He owed her that much, at least. She might not really care, she might think that he and Ryouga had had a good laugh over it, swapping stories of the various times they had seen her in the nude, she might not ever want to see his face again, but he had to try. His conscience demanded that he at least attempt to apologise her, see if there was anything that he could do to make it up to her; he also decided that he should take his beating like a man – if she set upon him again, he wouldn't stop her. He'd let her slap him around the dojo for a month, if it meant that he could help her, in some little way.

He was not looking forward to this. He'd never thought that such an inconsequential promise, made almost three years ago, would come back to haunt him now. After Jusendo six months ago, thinking that Akane had died, he'd vowed to himself that he would always be there for her – and now, look what he'd done. Now, he would likely never be on speaking terms with her again. Why did that hurt so much? Because he loved her?

He knew that was how he felt – admitting it, though, was another matter. He couldn't bear to tell her; the wedding was enough of an indication of her feelings. She'd 'pushed herself to go through with it'. She hadn't wanted to marry him. Her father had blackmailed her into it. That really bugged him. Still he was thankful for the gesture, even if it had not gotten him the cursed water, like he had wanted. That was the only reason she'd agreed to it. It hurt al the more when he had realised that he'd actually wanted to marry her.

Even the fact that he was starting to make progress regarding the fiancées – well, Ukyo, at least – could not cheer him up. He'd already spoken to her, telling her that, on no uncertain terms, he would never speak to her again if she pulled another stunt like she had at the ruined wedding. The girl in question had not spoken to, or bothered, either Akane or himself since. Ranma wondered if Akane had even noticed.

Probably not.

Finally gathering his courage, he made the final decision as to when to face her. If he left it too long, her anger would fester. It is confronted her too early, her rage would explode. He needed time, but he certainly did not have it. He would need to face her after about another hour, he decided. He would go home and try to talk to her, if the Tendos would even let him inside – though, Soun had known, and the sisters wouldn't likely throw him out of his own house. His thoughts continued in this vain for some time.

Doing a few winding down exercises, he took a moment to further calm his still-frazzled nerves. He knew that this encounter could go either one of two ways; she would brutally beat him, and order him out of her life, or she would give him another chance, as she had in the past – though, to be fair, he'd never screwed up as monumentally as this before. With that rather sobering thought, he wondered if she would miss him when he was gone.

"Who am I kidding?" He scoffed to himself. "She'll be glad to see the back of me."

Akane was now standing, leaning out over the railing, watching the water below her. Everything Ranma had ever said, to or about, either P-chan or Ryouga made perfect sense. She'd denied that Ranma was capable of such subtleties for almost as long as she'd known him – to have that thrown back in her face was an eye-opener. And she'd treated Ranma so horribly for 'picking on her pet piggie'! She felt as if she could just about die!

What was she going to do about this?

First off, let Ranma explain himself. That was simple enough. She knew him well enough, by now, that she was sure he didn't keep this from her lightly. There had to be some reason for this. And, after she discovered what it was, she would order him out of her sight until further notice, while she decided what to do about it. After that… who knew? Certainly, Ranma was going to be punished for his role in this… fiasco, but she didn't want to lose him.

Wiping at her eyes again as they welled up, she took off running once again, startling the person who was crossing the bridge behind her. The movement was so sudden that Akane felt a little dizzy, but she didn't slow down. She had to find him, to apologise, and to demand an explanation from him. It was all she could think of to do.

She fought her tears all the way across the bridge. Stopping for a moment, she thought of where to look for him. He wouldn't be at Ucchan's; that was for sure. He still hadn't forgiven her for the wedding. There was no chance he'd be at the Nekohanten, as he avoided that place like the plague, even when he wasn't angry at Shampoo – unless, of course, they were giving him free food.

That left very few places to look. Dr Tofu would likely be in bed, asleep. The school was closed, and Ranma hated that place at the best of times. He may have gone to beat up Kuno, but that would have meant dealing with Kodachi, and Akane didn't think that Ranma would really be in the mood to put up with the crazy gymnast. He hadn't been to the ice rink in ages, so it was doubtful that he was there. Maybe he'd just gone home?

Hoping that that was the case, she started running off home. Her tears made it hard to see, but she knew the general direction of her house from the river – she just hoped that none of the usual crazies from the district turned up in her path. God help anyone she came across now, she thought grimly, as she wiped at the tears in her eyes with her sleeve. She felt the wind whip at her face and legs, wishing she'd worn trousers instead of a dress. Just as she'd had that thought, she crashed into something solid.

"What the-?" A male voice barked as the person turned around. "Watch where you're—Akane?"

Akane's eyes darted up, unable to believe it. He was standing there, in complete and utter shock. She saw the first flickers of what might have fear in his eyes, before she latched onto him with a wail, fisting his shirt and burying her face into his chest. "Ranma!"

Nodoka stroked the edge of her blade, her face a mask of shock and anger. How they could sit there and play who-cheats-better-at-shogi, unabated, as their son and daughter currently wandered the streets in the middle of the night eluded her. Never mind that they were both two very skilled martial artists; to her, they were still simply children. And children should not be out wandering the streets of Tokyo in the middle of the night.

She entertained herself with imagining the varying degrees with which she could torture both the Tendo and Saotome patriarchs before murdering them for their knowledge of Hibiki's curse. She was seriously considering enforcing the seppuku contract, which her right hand was itching to retrieve from the folds of her left sleeve. Only, in addition to her son and husband's innards being spilled, there would be an additional victim.

It was not very manly of her son to keep up with this deception, she admitted to herself. Perhaps she had been overlooking her son's lack of manliness for too long; he had done little in regard to the mess that his father had planted him in, in regard to his multiple fiancées, as well as the other young men who swore vengence against him for one discrepancy or another. Yes, perhaps it was time to end it all.

Soun and Genma both stared at her, bug-eyed, as she unsheathed the family katana. Glaring down at them coldly, Nodoka's voice rang out coldly, catching the attention of Kasumi and Nabiki, who were just coming in from the dojo. "Husband, you shall prepare yourself for the fulfilment of our twelve-year-old contract. You and your son shall commit seppuku as soon as he is returned." She turned a dark glare on Soun. "I expect that, to preserve your honour, you shall join my husband and his son in the act, Mister Tendo."

"Oh my!" Kasumi's startled exclamation rang out through the room, catching the attention of the other three adults, and distracting Soun from his fear long enough to avoid wetting himself. "Missus Saotome, you cannot be serious! You have no right to order our father to kill himself, and Ranma is your son!" She did not bother to defend Genma.

"I am most certainly serious, dear." Nodoka's blade flashed in the light as she shifted it, causing the two men to whimper. "It is a matter of family honour. My son is not as manly as I have come to expect of him. Your father has behaved in a most dishonourable manner. I fear that this may be the only way to regain Akane's tarnished honour."

Nabiki's jaw, which had dropped to the floor, was snapped shut. Her eyes flashed as she stepped forward, the drying sweat of her workout glistening in the artificial light of the overhead lighting as she came into the room. The temperature dropped to below zero as she regarded Nodoka with and icy glare. "I don't give a damn about your family honour, but if you force the one person in this world that my baby sister loves above all else to kill himself, I'll make sure to take that blade to your neck, Nodoka." She fixed Genma and her father with a look of deep hatred. "I don't want to think of the cover-up costs that I'd be obliged to pay." She paused thoughtfully. "I'll admit that Ranma deserves punishment for keeping this from Akane, but I think she should be the one to decide that. Same goes for Daddy and Uncle Saotome."

Nodoka did not manage to get a word in edgewise as Kasumi, who was normally very sweet and understanding, decided to enforce her younger sister's words. "I'm afraid that I agree with my sister, Auntie Saotome." She would not call Nodoka by her first name. "In addition, I must ask you to leave this house tonight. I understand that repairs will be completed on your own home in little more than a week. Whether or not Ranma and Uncle Saotome join you in the future will depend on Akane." She fixed her father with a disapproving glare, striding over and taking him by the ear. "Nabiki, will you please oversee her while she packs? I will have words with Daddy upstairs."

Nabiki nodded as she grinned with a feral gleam at the Saotome matriarch. Kasumi led their whimpering father up the stairs by the ear.

Ranma couldn't believe it. He'd just worked up the nerve to go home and face Akane, when he found her attached to his torso in a grip that could, quite easily, put Shampoo's best glomp to shame. The way that his name grated against her throat, the pain he could hear behind it, scared him. For those first few, terrifying moments, while Akane cried her heart out into his clothing, Ranma stiffened, expecting to feel the blows raining down on him at any moment.

Except they never came. "Akane… what…?"

"I'm sorry!" She wailed, gripping him even tighter.

Ranma stood in shock, unable to believe that he was still breathing, wondering what body-snatcher had switched placed with his Akane. Even as she settled, her crying slightly abated, Ranma could not process that she was not bashing him senseless. After all, he had compromised her honour, let a boy take advantage of her, and had completely betrayed her friendship and tentative trust by allowing it to happen. So, what…?

He gripped her arms, holding her at arms length as he started at her incredulously. She sniffled, calming down, but did not fight him. "What are you sorry about?!" He demanded, wincing at the rude edge to his voice. "I'm the one who should be apologising!"

"I know." Akane was shaking like a leaf as she finally met his eyes. He could see the betrayal, so raw, threatening to spill over as her chin shook uncontrollably. "But I need to apologise too."

"What for?"

Akane squirmed out of his grip, finally breaking off all contact with him. Though her shoulders still heaved with tears, she took a deep breath, getting herself under control. "I've been thinking…" Ranma wisely kept the habitual retort to himself, "…about the last few years, and… and I can see… I can see that you tried to tell me…" She frowned. "But I don't get why you didn't just out with it and tell me straight!"

"Akane…" Ranma sighed, taking a deep breath, preparing himself.

Akane interrupted him, a whisper of her anger returning. "I need to know." She declared, though her voice wobbled a little. "Why didn't you tell me? What reason could you possibly have, to allow that… that pig to tarnish my honour?! Tell me!"

Ranma looked away. "Does it matter?" He finally bit out hopelessly. "It happened, and now I'm going to take my beating like a man, this time 'round, and then I'll let you throw me out. You'll never have to see me again after tonight."

Akane's eyes flashed dangerously, though Ranma couldn't see it. He certainly felt it, however, when her palm made a stinging contact with the side of his face. He didn't even budge, save for the snap of his head from one side to the other as she slapped him. "Don't be so ridiculous!" Akane screeched at him. Ranma fought the urge to cover his ears as he stared at his feet, finding them incredibly interesting. Akane raged on, stomping her foot. "You will stay in Nerima, and you will face your punishment, but I wont let you leave me!" Her voice softened, almost cracking. "Please, just tell my why…?"

"I…" Ranma gulped, "…I promised."

"You what?" Akane's breathing was hard.

Ranma forced himself to look up at her. "I promised I'd keep his secret. It was my fault in the first place!" Akane scoffed, disbelieving. "It was!" He insisted, grabbing her shoulders, forgetting the possible consequences. "Akane, he was following me when I was at Jusenkyo. Apparently, I don't really remember it, but apparently I knocked him into one of the pools when I was chasing Pop… you know… after I got cursed, and I thought I was stuck as a girl…" His voice was listless, resigned. Akane would never believe him.

"But why didn't you tell me?" She demanded, gripping his wrists. However, she didn't remove his hands from her shoulders. "How could you let him use me?" She sniffled. "How could you let another man sleep in my bed?! I thought you cared about me! At least, after Jusendo—!"

"I do care about you!" He cut her off, in a hurry to prevent another huge misunderstanding over what may or may not have been said on that damned mountain. "Damnit, Akane, I wouldn't kill for just anyone!"

"But you wont break a promise for me." Akane's voice was small. Defeated. "You'd kill for me, but you're happy to compromise my honour to protect your own!" Her voice was now shrill. Accusatory.

Ranma dropped his grip on her shoulders, running a hand through his hair. "I did try to stop him." Akane glared at him, not believing him. "So many times, I snuck into your room at night—" he studiously ignored Akane's fresh glare, "—just to get him out. Most of the time I managed okay." He grinned ruefully, finally meeting her eyes as he shrugged. "The times you woke up to find me in there… well… that's when I didn't manage so okay." He shrugged. Akane frowned, but at least it looked like she was considering it.

Akane's initial anger was fading fast as she listened to Ranma's little rationale. "I'm never going to forgive you for this." She told him pointedly, her breathing now back under control.

"I know."

"You will find a way to make it up to me."

Ranma's head snapped up again, from where it had drifted to stare downward. "What?"

"I told you." Akane was now holding his gaze. Her cheeks were still tear-streaked, her eyes still red and puffy, her voice still a little cracked. "You're going to stay here. And you're going to find a way to help me trust you again."

Ranma's heart soared. "Anything. I'll do anything! Id' even marry you, if that's what you want!"

Akane started bobbing up and down on the balls of her heels, not quite knowing how to say the idea that had just occurred to her. "Do something about the other girls."

"What?"

Akane huffed. "Ranma, do you want to marry me?" She demanded, a little cautiously. She made an effort not to show her jubilation as he nodded slowly, his eyes closed, his face a mask of pain. "Well… I want to marry you, too." She hesitantly smiled as his eyes lit up. "But, I… I can't." She shook her head. "Not with things the way they are. Not when I don't trust you. Not like this."

"Akane…" Ranma moved closer, ready to spring backward at a moment's notice. "Akane… I…" He swallowed. "You know how… how important my honour is to me. If… if I make a promise, I keep it." He grimaced. "It's what got us into this mess."

He was surprised to hear Akane's chuckle. "I know, dummy." Ranma almost smiled as she stepped forward as well, replacing her arms around his waist and leaning her head on his chest. "I know." Cautiously, Ranma wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He could still fell her shivering from the cold of the night, though he was infinitely glad that she'd stopped crying. He was not good with tears.

After a time, she finally pulled back, a sort of strained smile on her lips. "We should head home." She finally admitted. "It's really late. Kasumi must be worried."

"Yeah…" Ranma looked up toward the quarter moon overhead. "It's about… midnight, maybe closer to one." He informed her, glancing back down. The way her face shimmered in the moonlight was mesmerising; her eyes sparkled, her cheeks were rosy, as a result of both the cool night air and her previous crying. Neither noticed when their eyes closed. They felt the breath of the other dancing across their faces, and they didn't care. They felt themselves slowly creeping forward, powerless to stop themselves.

And then all was right with the world. Akane's fears and concerns melted away at the gentle pressure of his lips on hers. She felt him tense, as if he expected her usual habits to surface, and yet, she felt no urge to pummel him. She wondered at this as she tangled her hands in his hair, feeling him pull her even closer as they shared this one small magical moment together, in amidst all the chaos, all the turmoil, all the unpleasantness. And Ryouga didn't matter. And none of the other girls mattered. And, all of a sudden, it didn't matter that Ranma had betrayed her; as long as he didn't do it again.

As the kiss deepened, all Ranma could think of was that he would never do that to her again. He would never risk losing her over something as stupid as his honour. Ever. Again. He told her as much when they came up for air. Akane giggled, with a small "I know.". Ranma grinned, until he was floored by her next four words.

"I love you, Ranma."

She stared up at him, hope glistening in her eyes. Ranma, reasoning that he'd hurt her enough over the last few hours, managed to stutter out a small "I… I… yeah, that…" He made a face, before managing to say, "I love you, too."

Stepping out of his embrace, Akane cupped his face lightly, rubbing her thumb over the red handprint from earlier. Dropping her hand, she gently took his, marvelling at how it automatically folded around hers as he gripped it. "We should go home." She whispered, again. Ranma nodded.

"Come on." He started down the path, pulling her along with him.

Akane followed him with a small smile. Somehow, she knew they'd be ok. She just knew it.

THE END

I hope you guys enjoyed it. I wasn't originally planning to end it that way, but it sort of… ran away with me. I decided not to ruin it by having them deal with their families.

Anyway, let me know what you think!

Sparkly Faerie

EDIT: Wow, I was so out of it when I posted this. Fixed up the formatting errors and a few spelling mistakes.