Its your typical 'Princess Akane is getting engaged' story. Only, her maid, Ranma, doesn't seem to like this at all. When Akane runs away with her unhappy maid, things only get more confusing, and Ranma doesn't seem to like that fact that her princess is closer to finding out her secret.
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1. To Protect
A petite redhead girl stood, peering up at an enormous castle. Her brow creased, and a small frown tipped her lips. The large stone walls loomed above her, making her seem even smaller than she truly was. Her foot was tapping as she eyed it, and her eyes twitted around, looking up at the spectacular towers protruding from the castle inside.
The castle of King Soun was indeed impressive. Large and well built, it screamed protective. It was meant not only to keep intruders out, but, the redhead had heard, to also keep the youngest princess in. The girl was a well known snoot, turning down any boy that came to her (which was many) and refusing to appear as a lady at all times. The redhead had heard she even practiced martial arts.
To say she wasn't intrigued was a lie. To think, that a rebel princess lay behind that wall. Was she sulking? Was she beating away at dummies, practice or real? The redhead continued to stare.
She attracted many people's eyes, to say the least. The people of Nerima had hardly ever seen such a girl. She wore a Chinese outfit that seemed a bit large on her, and her stance, even when standing, seemed alert. It was not hard to see that the girl was agile, most likely graceful and powerful.
One pair of eyes seemed particularly drawn to the young redhead. A light brown that bordered on amber, the thirteen year old girl smiled to herself. What a nice looking girl. She pondered going over to talk to her. The redhead couldn't have been much older than herself, and she longed to have a friend.
She had just moved forward when a large man stepped in front of her. His face was dirty, his stomach bulged, and he smelled horribly. The young girl wrinkled her nose and attempted to move around him. The man would allow no such thing.
"'ey, girlie. Wha's a nice girl like ya doin' down in a place like 'his?" He was obviously drunk, his speech slurred and his movements sluggish. The girl frowned in disgust and walked around him, not offering an answer.
"'ey, girl! I asked ya a ques'ion!"
The girl still ignored him, and of course, no drunk man likes being ignored. He stalked up behind her and grabbed her upper arm, wrenching her around, making her cry out. Her eyes hardened in anger as he pulled at her, trying to push her against his filthy body.
"What do you want?" she questioned coldly, prying the hand off of her.
"I think ya can gue' 's to that, girlie," he grinned, throwing in a wink that made a slow chill creep up her spine. She pushed away her fear and stepped back.
"I'm not interested," she said, moving away from the man again.
"Did I ask ya if ya was?" he grabbed her and pulled her into a shadowed alley, near the stone walls of the castle. She felt a scream bubbling in her throat, and opened her mouth. He anticipated her attempt and covered her mouth with a grin. The way he seemed to know she was going to do it made her wonder how many girls he'd accosted. The same cold feeling spread through her body.
Despite being disgusted beyond belief, she bit the man's hand and swept his feet from beneath him as he shouted and pulled away. Hearing him curse and fall, she left him lumbering, trying to get up in his drunken stupor. She had just seen the light outside the small alley when a hand pulled at her long hair. She winced and pulled at his fingers, trying to make him let go of her. She opened her mouth to cry, to yell, to do something to get him off of her, but he pulled her flush against him and his hands began roaming her body in a way that left her speechless with horror.
Time seemed to slow down for that second, and she realized this man was going to rape and kill her. Almost amusingly, she realized she'd never meet that redhead girl.
And then a voice was yelling, the man was stumbling away from her, and she watched a blurred form whip through the air and kick the man's head. A flash of red caught her eyes, and a small smile slipped onto her lips. Feeling faint, she sat down with that same little smile.
Hello… she inwardly called to her savior, as she fell victim to unconsciousness.
-
When she awoke, the first thing she noticed was warmth and red. Her brown eyes opened in a lazy way that made the redhead girl above her smile.
"Hello!" the girl called, sitting Indian style at the foot of the bed she was in. It was a small house, and she recognized it as one of the village women's homes. She'd been here before when she'd scraped her knee, and the woman had never denied her a cookie when asked.
The redhead, seeing the girl's gaze, gave another light smile. "Tai-san said she had to go for an errand, so I stayed to watch over you," she explained, her voice light and easy, making the woozy girl relax.
"Tha-thank you," she murmured, trying to sit up and realizing her head hurt. The redhead winced and gave her an apologetic look.
"My fault. I was too busy kicking that bastards fat gut to catch you went you fell over. You hit your head kinda hard."
She just stared at the girl, surprised at her language, but still at ease. "I'm Akane," she said, feeling as if she owed that at least to her savior. She shakily held up her hand.
The girl looked surprised, staring at the hand dubiously, before slowly taking it, with a slight smile. "Ranma. Nice to meet 'cha."
They shook slowly, and neither of the thirteen year olds knew what would be happening in a few months.
-
"ATTACK DAMMIT!" Akane yelled out as the redhead once again dodged her kicks and punches easily. Ranma's only response was a slow and easy smile, as she continued to move around Akane with grace and poise. This happened every time they sparred, but Ranma noticed that Akane had definitely improved, just by watching the redhead and these endless matches.
Ranma flipped up around Akane, who never even saw the girl move, and tapped her on the head, the short hair (Akane had it cut around her 14th birthday) flying up, signaling Akane had lost again. Said girl turned around with a sigh.
"You just can't fight me once, Ranma?" she asked, looked sad. Ranma seemed to struggle with herself a moment, then shook her head.
"You know I have a problem with fighting with girls. I just can't help it." Akane nodded and sighed.
"You want first bath?" For some reason, Ranma never wanted to bathe together. It would have seemed normal to everyone, as Ranma was the sixteen year old princess's maid. For the girl to follow the princess to the baths was not looked down upon, for they were both girls and best friends for three years now, though most didn't know about that. Akane had long since accepted that her best friend was a bit shy, though she had no reason to be. Ranma was one of the prettiest girls she'd ever seen, and she wasn't being biased.
The only person who fended off more suitors than Ranma was Akane. Every morning they found some way into the castle, past the highly trained guards ("The highly bribed guards," snorted Ranma), and accosted her along the way to breakfast. Together, Ranma and Akane beat them within inches of their lives, and then continued. Somehow they always managed to come back the next day, looking a bit worse for wear but very much in 'love' with the princess.
King Soun was desperate to marry off his youngest daughter. She was the only one that didn't seem interested in boys. Kasumi was already married off to a lord in the eastern part of his lands, and they were both in love and happy. Nabiki was not short of her suitors, when they didn't run in fear of her, so he wasn't worried for her. But Akane never seemed to want a husband, and Soun was determined that he should see his daughter married and happy.
Which is why the sixteen year old princess's world crashed down after they came back from the baths.
It was dinner, always a rowdy affair. More often than not, Ranma and Akane got into a friendly fight, Soun began crying at his youngest daughter's misfortune, animals stole food, Nabiki tricked people…
But tonight it was different.
Soun ate his food quietly, Nabiki kept looking at Akane, and Ranma and Akane, in fear, were astonishingly silent. And then Soun stood, clearing his throat.
"I am proud to announce that my youngest daughter, Akane, is to be married to a lord in the northern part of the kingdom. She will be leaving tomorrow." He looked fearfully at his daughter.
Akane seemed to have frozen, and that cold feeling she'd felt before with that rapist crept through her again. She felt Ranma stand up angrily next to her, saw the redhead open her mouth, then close it firmly.
"Come on, Princess," she said, pulling Akane to her feet. The princess numbly followed. Soun was about to thank Ranma for saving him, but then the petite girl shot him a glare that made him almost wet himself. It was a glare of promised pain.
"Princess Akane wishes to see no one this evening, and would like no interruptions at all." Ranma stiffly led the frozen girl to her rooms, slamming the door on everyone and an unfortunate suitor that was new at the game (he obviously didn't know Ranma, the other men guessed.)
In her rooms, Akane continued to stare blankly ahead, before Ranma gently slapped her. Blinking a few times, Akane then stood up.
"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?"
Ranma winced, but it was no more than she expected. "You've been engaged, Akane." She never called Akane princess in private, because Akane hated feeling so…royal.
"Why! How could daddy do this to me?" Akane looked on the verge of tears, storming around the room.
"He just wants to see you happy," offered Ranma, though she knew that this was a far cry from Akane's idea of happiness. "He wants to know you'll be taken care of in case something happens."
"I can take care of myself! I need no man to help me!" Akane furiously exclaimed, causing a grimace that she missed on her maid's face. "And we're leaving tomorrow! I'll be all alone, I won't know anyone! What'll I d-"
Ranma firmly covered her princess's mouth, a small frown forming on her lips. "I'm going with you. I don't care if I have to stow away, dress as the coachman, whatever it takes. I won't let you leave me behind."
Akane's eyes began to well up, and she flung herself at her maid in tears. "Oh, Ranma! Thank you. Thank you so much. At least there's someone I can trust…" she whispered, fisting her hands in her maids clothing. She noted, as she felt sleep (she was physically and emotionally exhausted) pulling at her, that Ranma still wore oversized Chinese clothing.
Ranma felt the familiar pangs of guilt as she heard the words, and held Akane close. When she was sure the princess was asleep, she allowed herself two words.
"Not me…"
-
Morning dawned gray and stormy. Ha, thought Akane, Maybe there will be a flood, and my 'fiancé' will die a horrible watery death. Though she knew these thoughts were wrong, she could not help but feel as if she were riding to hell itself. She sat herself primly on the carriage seats, next to a comfortably dressed Ranma. She felt jealous that Ranma was aloud to wear breeches. To her it was completely unfair, but then, Ranma was not as important as the wonderful Princess Akane.
It turned out that there was no encouraging needed to allow Ranma to go with her princess. Not only did Soun think it a good idea his daughter knew someone there, Ranma had given him death glares during the entire conference. He had agreed wholeheartedly.
Now Ranma was angrily watching the scenery pass, and Akane watched curiously. She herself was upset, and thought she'd pleaded with her father, he could not take back his word. He had said, "I have given my word as a king, and to take it back will make me appear unjust. My whole kingdom will doubt me, and besides, my dear, I'm doing it in your best interests! Please try to understand…"
Yes, she was horribly mad, but Ranma seemed even worse! She had been moody and unkind to almost everyone, Akane being the only exception. And even then she seemed cross, with short answers and cold words.
How strange, thought Akane, as she once again fell into a restless sleep.
When she awoke, she was once again, like three years ago, greeted with warmth and red. Ranma had moved the princess to her shoulder, so her neck wouldn't cramp. She thanked her friend with a smile, and Ranma blushed lightly but nodded. In front, behind drawn curtains, the driver called.
"Ho! Princess, we've arrived!"
The ride had been short and painless. Now came the hard pa-
"Princess Akane! How I have longed for you, my fiancé!"
Akane was speechless. Ranma fumed. Lord Kuno simply held open his arms in a hug.
-
Though Lord Kuno insisted they work on the marriage now, Ranma said her princess needed a bath and some rest. The journey had taken a toll on the princess, the maid reasoned, and she needed time to rejuvenate. Lord Kuno had agreed with an extravagant "Of course! Anything for my dearest!" Ranma gagged silently, while Akane had tried not to cry in frustration.
Akane took her bath first, as usual. She stayed in there a long time, simply soaking up the heat and warmth of the water into her tired bones. The trip might not have 'taken a toll' on her, but its destination was certainly exhausting. Lord Kuno appeared very much like every other suitor she'd had before. He simply wanted her because she was an unreachable princess. She slid down the tub until only her eyes were visible. Is this my new life, she wondered?
Not long after, she left the baths, still no closer to being relaxed. She insisted Ranma take a bath as well, and that she was fine. Ranma reluctantly left, making the princess promise not to stray far.
Akane smiled as the red pigtail flipped around the door. Ranma was exactly what she'd needed at the tender age of thirteen. Someone to talk to about her life, someone to listen to, someone to train with. She was everything Akane knew she'd ever need.
Deciding against seeking out her 'fiancé', the princess chose to wander her new home, just to get a feel of life here. She closed the door behind her softly and walked in a brisk pace down the hallway. Okay, here was the dining room, complete with tacky pictures and expensive china. A few more walkways and here was the small ballroom, used for parties and formal gatherings. Akane made a mental note to avoid that place. She could see some stairs leading down from a dark corner of the ballroom, and assumed this was the servants way to the kitchen. Indeed, she could hear the sounds of cooking and clattering of pots. Stepping forward in interest, she missed the form behind her.
"My beloved!"
Akane let out a muffled 'eep' and turned around, facing her husband-to-be. He wasn't ugly, she had to admit, but he didn't look smart at all. He was advancing towards her with a grin, and she was backing up towards her room, giving him a calming smile.
"Yes, uh, dear?" she mentally promised to wash her mouth with soap.
"Are you rested, my butterfly? May we now begin preparations for the wedding? I am most eager to have my wife!"
Akane was about to answer, but he continued.
"I was thinking a large wedding, fit for someone of our stature. And then, a honeymoon in the west wing, away from everyone. And then, we can have three kids. Lets name one Kuno and perhaps another Kane? That's sounds nice, doesn't it, beloved?"
Akane watched in horror as he advanced, that same smile on his face. This man seemed a bit maniacal, grinning like that, and speaking in that formal tone. She preferred Ranma's easy speech to this cultured voice. She began shaking her head in a 'no', and he instantly pouted.
"I have to, um, see…how my unpacking is going! Yeah, uh, bye…dear!" She rushed down the halls, dead set on finding Ranma and getting out of here. She couldn't marry this idiot! She just couldn't!
She ran into her rooms and bolted the door before rushing to the baths connected to it, flinging open the door.
"Ranma? We need to-" she abruptly stopped as a pigtailed head turned around. But the hair wasn't red, oh no. And it, Akane thought blushingly, was not a woman.
"A-Akane!" he stammered, sinking into the water in terror.
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There, first chapter. And unlike my other stories; ITS DONE! I just have to tweak some things here and there, and I'll keep updating whenever possible.