A/N: I came across this 50 Sentences challenge thing and thought it was really interesting, so I wanted to give it a try myself. I've been re-watching Ranma 1/2 for the last month or so and have been itching to write Ranma/Akane for weeks, so I thought this would be a fun way to explore the pairing for the first time. This set is done officially, since I claimed the pairing via the 1sentence livejournal community and posted it there as well.
Comments and critique are very much appreciated, and I hope those of you who read enjoy :)
We Are Who We Are
By S. Muffin
Theme set: Epsilon
#01 – Motion
Akane watched Ranma with a fond smile as he trained; the kata he was performing was virtually flawless, each movement just as swift and as fluid as the one before it.
#02 – Cool
"You're just jealous!" he declared impetuously, a statement that she responded to by promptly dumping a bucket of cold water over his head, ordering his now female self to "cool off" before they would resume their training session.
#03 – Young
Tears of joy ran down both Saotome Genma and Tendo Soun's faces, memories of their youth flooding through their minds, as they watched their children leave for school hand in hand.
#04 – Last
Akane knew that she and Ranma were each other's firsts, but it actually mattered very little to her; she just wanted to be his last.
#05 – Wrong
Several years ago, she was convinced that sooner or later he would be out of her life for good; she had never been so happy to be wrong.
#06 – Gentle
It never failed to amaze Ranma how his fiancée—his strong, violent, and crazy fiancée—could actually be so loving and tender towards him when she wanted to be.
#07 – One
"One day," he began, a small smile coming onto his face as he looked over at her, "the two of us will be running this dojo together."
#08 – Thousand
Akane could easily think of a thousand reasons why she and Ranma were completely incompatible, but, when she thought about it more, every single reason she came up with was also what made them perfect for each other in the first place.
#09 – King
Ranma, being the proud person that he was, was looking forward to the day when he could call himself the King of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and once he and Akane officially became a couple he was excited to call her his future Queen.
#10 – Learn
One of the best lessons Ranma gained from his relationship with Akane simply reinforced what he already knew before; "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
#11 – Blur
The last few years had flown by so fast that they started to blur together, but neither Ranma nor Akane could remember a time when they had been happier.
#12 – Wait
Ranma and Akane knew that everyone was waiting for them to come downstairs so they could all eat breakfast, but neither of them had the energy or the desire to get out of bed that morning.
#13 – Change
It was amazing to see just how far she and Ranma had come as a couple, Akane realized, when she would look back to where they began and then look at where they were now.
#14 – Command
It was an unwritten rule in their household that, no matter what, Akane was the one who was in charge; it was also an unwritten rule in their household that, no matter what, Ranma could do nothing to change that.
#15 – Hold
Sometimes, all she wanted was for him to wrap his strong arms around her and never let her go.
#16 – Need
Akane often wondered why she and Ranma didn't just hurry up and get married already, but then whenever he would hold her hand, or kiss her softly on the lips, or give her a genuine smile that was meant only for her eyes, she decided that, for now, there simply was no need to rush.
#17 – Vision
Ranma now had a very clear vision of what his future would one day entail; he would become a Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts, get married, inherit the Tendo dojo, have a family, and make sure that Akane was by his side every step of the way.
#18 – Attention
Akane sighed softly, a smile forming on her face and her eyes fluttering shut as Ranma gently massaged her sore back; it was remarkable just how attentive he could be.
#19 – Soul
Ranma knew, without a doubt in his mind, that Akane was the only person in the entire world that he was meant to be with; she was his soul mate and he was hers.
#20 – Picture
Her favorite photograph of the two of them was unorthodox at best—they had been in the midst of a heated argument when one of their fathers secretly snapped the shot and they both looked like steam was blowing out of their noses and ears—but it was just so utterly them that it brought a smile to her face every time she looked at it.
#21 – Fool
"BAKA!" Akane seethed, almost on the verge of growling as she reached for the nearest heavy object and threw it in the direction of Ranma's head. "BAKA! BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!"
#22 – Mad
No matter how many times the two of them fought on a daily basis, they were never able to stay angry at each other for too long.
#23 – Child
There were times when his childishness outshone all of his other traits, but, at the end of the day, he was still her fiancé and she would put up with whatever she had to as long as he was still hers.
#24 – Now
Back then, he had been way too embarrassed to even think about kissing her; now, he simply couldn't get enough.
#25 – Shadow
All that Ranma could see in the darkness of their bedroom were the soft shadows the moonlight cast across Akane's face as she slept.
#26 – Goodbye
"I'll be back before you know it," he promised, giving her a confident and reassuring smirk before pulling her close and giving her a quick kiss goodbye.
#27 – Hide
"Don't hide," he whispered, looking up and down her bare body a final time as his hand found her cheek, and the blush that was already coloring her face only deepened, "not from me."
#28 – Fortune
Ranma knew that he wasn't always the most openly romantic guy in the world, but if there was anything he ever wanted Akane to know it was that he was extremely lucky to have her in his life.
#29 – Safe
Akane prided herself for the fact that she was physically very strong and more than capable of taking care of herself, but she also took comfort in knowing that Ranma would do absolutely anything in order to protect her.
#30 – Ghost
Ranma couldn't deny the fact that he liked to use Akane's fear of the supernatural to his advantage; not only did it give him something to tease her about, but whenever she would hear a scary noise in the middle of the night she would cling onto him like a second skin.
#31 – Book
Whenever they would begin a new chapter in their life together it would prove to be just as wonderful as the ones before it.
#32 – Eye
It wasn't until they had been officially dating for almost a year when Akane realized that she still couldn't look Ranma directly in the eyes without blushing uncontrollably.
#33 – Never
"N-Never," he stammered between labored breaths, his eyes still as wide and frantic as they had been five minutes ago, "ever, ever, ever...bring home another stray cat ever again."
#34 – Sing
Sometimes, he would catch her singing quietly to herself while she was doing or homework or taking a shower or simply walking down the hall to the dojo; every time, he couldn't fight back a smile.
#35 – Sudden
Everything between them had started off so suddenly—their engagement had been thrown into their lives without any warning whatsoever—but now that they had made it this far they knew that they wouldn't have had it any other way.
#36 – Stop
"Don't stop," she told him gently, leaning up to kiss him on the lips once more, "don't ever stop."
#37 – Time
Together they were able to overcome frequent violence, constant arguments, and several crazy fiancées; now all Ranma and Akane had to do was make sure their relationship could stand the test of time, which, in comparison, didn't seem nearly as difficult.
#38 – Wash
The first time that Ranma ever did laundry, he unknowingly used bleach instead of regular laundry soap; when Akane later discovered that her favorite green sweater was now a hideous shade of pale yellow, it was decided that Ranma would be sleeping outside that night.
#39 – Torn
Akane sighed irritably as she stared at the broken wall of the dojo; would she go find Ranma and kill him now, or wait until later when he wouldn't be expecting it?
#40 – History
The story of how they came to be a couple was, without a doubt in either of their minds, one that would be told for many years to come even long after they were gone.
#41 – Power
Ranma was easily the strongest man Akane knew, which consequently only made her attraction to him that much stronger as well.
#42 – Bother
Akane had always been a bit of a nag, but as long as he was the only guy she was bothering on a daily basis Ranma concluded that it was a detail he could learn to overlook.
#43 – God
The day that Ranma discovered that God was an extremely merciful being was the day that Akane punched him square in the face and, according to Tofu-sensei, miraculously avoided breaking his nose by a single centimeter.
#44 – Wall
Talking to Ranma was sometimes like talking to a wall, but the majority of the time Akane, though she was too stubborn to admit aloud, realized that it was more like talking to a mirror.
#45 – Naked
Throughout their tumultuous relationship, Akane had unwillingly seen Ranma naked more times than she could count on both her hands, but now every time he would so much as take his shirt off in the midst of a training session she couldn't help but blatantly stare.
#46 – Drive
Akane didn't care how long she would be stuck in the kitchen that night; she was determined, at all costs, to master the recipe for Ranma's favorite dinner.
#47 – Harm
"Akane is my fiancée," Ranma ground out through clenched teeth, his hand tightening into a fist at his side, "and if you even think about hurting her, I'll kill you."
#48 – Precious
Ranma treasured every moment he got to share with Akane, no matter how big or how small; she was the most important person in his life and there was nothing anyone could ever do or say to take that away from him.
#49 – Hunger (sequel to #46)
If lying to Akane about her cooking meant that Ranma would have stomach aches everyday for the rest of his life, then so be it.
#50 – Believe
Akane was a firm believer now more than ever that sometimes things really did happen for a reason; the fact that Ranma was now a permanent part of her life simply couldn't have been a coincidence.