First Kiss, a ranma fanfic

A/N: This one-shot was going to be my first fic. I started writing it before I'd heard of FFNet or DeviantArt; I had it partially typed out on my own website. Then, by the time I did hear of those sites, I had the idea for 'Akane, What's Wrong?', so I wrote that one quickly, and left this one half-finished. After all that time, I decided to finally put it together.

My inspiration for this was the movie-watching scene from the episode 'Ryoga's Proposal'. Warning: extreme WAFF ahead. Considering how WAFFy my stories typically are, that should tell you something.

Ranma wasn't sure if he should be annoyed or willing. Why on earth did he have to sit with Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi and watch some dumb chick flick on TV? Then again, it wasn't any of them that was making him sit there; it was the panda-jerk. Why did the old man always have to butt in? Of course, Ranma wouldn't have been as quick as usual to escape. He was in trouble. Big trouble. It was no secret that Akane's cooking could have won World War II for Japan if it had been dropped on the enemy, and it wasn't at all unusual for him to say something stupid after trying to choke some of it down, leaving him to deal with an angry Akane for the rest of the night. This time, though, there was no yelling. No punches. No screaming, kicking, or even insults. There was silence. Angry, indignant silence.

It doesn't matter who the woman is; silence is always a bad sign.

For the first time, Ranma was truly worried about his status with Akane. True, on the outside it looked like he wanted nothing to do with her. On the inside... completely different story. She'd make a million bad assumptions about what he was supposedly doing with the other 'fiancées', and not once did she think that he might really like her. Just because he said she was uncute didn't mean he meant it! He just couldn't figure out how to talk to her. If he could, he'd have told her a long time ago that he loved her.. that he didn't feel a thing for those other girls. Why did she always listen to the stuff he didn't mean and ignore the important stuff? Women...

Akane had never felt more hurt. What was wrong with Ranma? Didn't he get that she was really trying hard to learn how to cook? More importantly, didn't it occur to him why she was trying so hard? She really did want to be his wife... or so she'd thought. Now, she wasn't so sure. It's one thing to make the occasional snide comment; it's quite another to hurl insults at the person that's supposed to be your fiancée. He could have just said, "It's still a little rough, but good try," or "I know you're working hard, and that's what's most important." No. He asked how long it took to get the horse apples to medium-well.

That was not funny, Ranma!

She felt like she was wasting her time trying to learn how to be a good wife. A dozen guys flocked around her every morning at school; any one of them would have appreciated her more than Ranma did. But Ranma was the one she wanted.

She didn't know why she tried.

"Without you, the grass wouldn't be as green and the roses wouldn't be as red." As he listened to the horrendous excuse for movie dialogue, Ranma could practically feel the vomit working its way up. Who writes this crap? Still, he needed to come up with something clever. The time for being macho had passed. By insulting Akane earlier, he'd passed a point of no return. The straw had broken the camel's back, and things could never be the same between them. Either he was going to lose her, or they'd be a real couple. He couldn't float in between anymore.

The thought of it made him more nervous than he'd ever been in his entire life.

He had to act, and he had to swallow every bit of pride he had. If he was going to keep Akane, he was going to have to act like the guy in that horrible movie. Damn it. Well, he'd seen this movie before. Unfortunately. He knew that there was some dialog coming up in a few minutes that was pretty appropriate. If he could make the right move, he could fix things right now. Butterflies started flapping in his stomach.

Ranma listened to the movie dialogue. "My darling, I know that I'm not always around." Sounded right. "I know that when I am, I sometimes make it seem like I don't notice you." Yeah, that was it. "Darling, I need you to know something." 'This is it,' Ranma thought, taking a deep breath. 'Play it cool.' Akane was sitting about two feet to his left. He laid his left hand on the floor and slid it as slowly as he could toward her. He glanced at Akane; she was staring at the television and didn't seem to notice. "I may not show it, but I appreciate every single thing you do." He lifted his hand and placed it on Akane's forearm, right under her elbow. "I appreciate what you do. I appreciate what you say. I appreciate you even being here with me." He slid his hand down her arm. "It doesn't show, but I love you. I really do." His hand was on hers. He curled his fingers around it.

Akane's mood at that moment could best be described as shock. Not electric shock, not winning the lottery shock; more like seeing-a-cat-bench-pressing-a-Volkswagen shock. She looked down at Ranma's hand in hers; her eyes followed his arm up to his face, where he was staring at the floor. Her heart leapt to her throat. 'He... really... cares...' she thought. 'He's really sorry... I can't believe it...' By that time, she was sure everyone could hear the sound of her heart beating. 'Oh, Ranma,' she thought, closing her eyes and giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

Tears started to fill her eyes. They were good tears.

Nabiki shoveled popcorn into her mouth. She loved this movie. Any time she saw it, she would hope that some day, she would find a romance just like it. Invariably, she would then remember that such a romance might not come with money, and would make a mental note to find a rich guy, romantic or not. (After all, six figures buys plenty of roses and vacations. Who says money doesn't buy happiness?) A popcorn kernel got away from her. She nonchalantly reached for it, and as she did, she glanced over at Ranma and Akane. They were holding hands, their eyes on the floor.

Finally.

She tapped Kasumi on the knee, and motioned toward them. Kasmui looked, and a broad smile crossed her face. 'Finally, Ranma,' Nabiki thought. 'I was starting to think you didn't know what you were doing.'

Ranma was elated. He didn't show it, but he was. Akane had squeezed his hand. She hadn't hit him; she hadn't yelled at him. Most importantly, she hadn't pulled away. Keeping his head low, he glanced over at her. She was also looking at the floor, but there was a broad smile on her face. There was no doubt anymore. She loved him. Like he loved her. He'd wanted her to know that for such a long time... but he never knew how to say it. Truth was, he'd started falling for her the first couple of weeks he'd been in Nerima. When he saw her fighting in the school yard, he'd admired her. The night Doctor Tofu knocked his legs out, he started to think. The day Kasumi showed up at Tofu's office, he saw through her angry façade, and the sadness he felt at seeing her in pain cut him like a knife. And when Tofu told her that her short hair looked cute, he felt a pang as he thought he had just lost her to the doctor.

He knew at that moment that he loved her. When he looked in her eyes a moment later, as he realized how cute she was, he could already see the wedding kimono framing her face. That was why he chased off Mikado Sanzenine, and especially why he saved her from hitting the ice rink wall. Risking his life to save her at that moment was the easiest decision he'd ever made.

And he wasn't hiding it anymore.

Ranma realized he was staring, but thankfully, Akane hadn't looked up. Now, though, he had to keep things going. If he didn't do anything else, if he left things at holding her hand, he knew some kind of argument would flare up about it, and he wasn't letting the step he'd taken go to waste. Taking another breath, his heart pounding, he put his weight on his free hand and slowly slid towards Akane, closing half of the distance between them. He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. He'd fought demons, Amazons, and everything else you can think of... and this was making him the most nervous. He chuckled inwardly at that.

He opened his eyes and glanced Akane's way again. Forget uncute... she was absolutely beautiful.

Akane crumpled the hem of her dress with her free hand as she watched Ranma move out of the corner of her eye. All she'd wanted for such a long time was a sign that he felt something. Anything. The night after he'd said she was cute when she smiled, she hadn't slept a wink. Then, he saved her in the skating match. And when Shampoo showed up... every minute Ranma and that girl were out of her sight, she cried until she could barely breathe. Then Ranma went and turned himself into a girl right in front of the Amazon, risking getting killed, just to keep Shampoo from hurting her. It killed her to see those other girls glomping on him... she was the one who was supposed to have her arms around him. She just never had the courage.

Taking a slow breath, she glanced at Ranma. His head was down, but he was looking directly at her. Their eyes met; he reddened and looked away. The memories of all the times he'd saved her flooded back, all at once, and she felt tears coming once again. He may have said and done some stupid things, but he'd also done the most wonderful things any guy had ever done for her.

And now, he was holding her hand.

Nervously, she made a slow move to slide next to him. Now only inches apart, she looked at him. He didn't look up, but she could see the redness in his face and the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He was nervous... so was she. At the same time, she was in heaven. Her whole experience with Ranma was a roller coaster— he'd do a nice thing, and she'd fall asleep that night imagining she was laying in his arms. He'd say something insulting, and she'd cry herself to sleep, trying and failing to stop loving the guy that only hurt her. No more. He could say a lot of things, but the couldn't deny his feelings for her anymore— now, finally, she knew better. Closing her eyes, she nestled her head against his shoulder.

Ranma had thought his heart couldn't beat any faster. The moment Akane's head touched his shoulder, he learned otherwise. He might have put up a façade of not caring about her, but the truth was, he'd imagined this moment a million times over. He knew there was a movie playing, but at this point, their surroundings were as good as invisible. As The Flamingos said, 'I only have eyes for you', and nothing besides Akane mattered. He worried that one (or all) of his crazy 'fiancées' might pick that moment to show up. 'Eh, let 'em,' he thought. They'd find out once and for all that he didn't want them. Not like they wanted him. That had always been the case; he'd just never come out and said it before. How could he? It would have been admitting that he liked Akane, and he could never bring himself to say it aloud. Now, he had nothing to fear. He loved her, and she loved him. The next time he saw one of those girls, Akane would be on his arm, and he could finally tell them that they were wasting their time.

He'd set out to show Akane that he loved her. He knew that, for a long time, he'd been making it seem like she meant nothing to him, but things had reached a point where he couldn't live with himself anymore. Yes, he had a knack for saying exactly the wrong thing. Every time he did, Akane's eyes would well up with tears, and he'd kick himself for the rest of the day for making her cry. If only people knew how terrible he felt when he hurt her... no one would ever think that he was doing it on purpose. Now, he was sure that she knew how he felt. More importantly, he knew that she felt the same way. Having her leaning on him, it felt so... right. It felt like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle had dropped in place, or the last bolt had been put in the world's tallest building. Something wasn't finished before. Now it was.

Akane felt Ranma's grip loosen. She was momentarily depressed— was he leaving? Was the best moment she'd experienced about to end? Ranma pulled his hand away, but Akane immediately felt it slide along her back, as he slowly put his arm around her. It was the first time a boy had ever held her, and it was the exact person she'd dreamt would be the first. She looked down at his hand resting on her side. By now, the whole evening really seemed like a dream. She rubbed her hand on his, interlocking her fingers into his. She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Her fiancée was holding her. It sounded so routine... but it was something she thought she'd never see.

As time passed in this position, her nervousness turned more-and-more into happiness. She'd tried to show some affection to him before; it was always futile, but still, she'd tried. It had reached a point where she was afraid to do anything nice for him, because she knew it would only be ruined. Well, she didn't have to worry about that this time. She looked up at her fiancée. He was visibly nervous, sweating slightly, which she thought was the cutest thing she'd ever seen. Turning toward him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled against his neck. She took a deep breath; she could smell him. She didn't know what he smelled like, but it smelled good. She was sure she'd never forget it.

Ranma held her tighter. It was the first time he'd had a girl that close... that he wanted to be that close. He could smell her shampoo, or what he assumed to be her shampoo. He really didn't care. All he knew was, it smelled wonderful. He felt her breath hit his neck, sending goosebumps all over his body. This was the girl he was afraid to admit his love for... and her lips were only a couple of inches from his own. His nervousness started to come back as that fact sunk in. Was this the right time to... could he really... kiss her? He wanted to. In fact, he'd imagined what their first kiss would be like more times than he could count. But... he was scared. He didn't know why; he just was.

Another whiff of Akane's shampoo wafted to his nose. On the other hand, it sure would be nice to finally taste her lips...

He turned his head a bit to look at his fiancée, who still had her head inches from his. She stirred at his movement, raising her head and looking straight into his eyes. He took in the sight of her shy smile and red cheeks. The sound of his heartbeat was deafening.

Ba-dump.

The next second of their lives went in slow motion and would forever be burned in their memories. Their lips came together as Akane pulled herself closer and held on tight. As they sat, eyes closed and lips together, they each felt like a million years of tension was finally being released. They pulled apart, for a moment, before both lost the last of the control they had, their lips crashing together as they started furiously kissing eachother with a passion no one would have guessed they possessed.

Still engrossed in the movie, Nabiki became aware of a noise off to the side. A kind of... clicking noise. Where had she heard that sound before? She glanced to right... and almost faceplanted in utter disbelief. There, in the darkened room, was Ranma and Akane caught in a tight embrace, kissing eachother like a married couple that hadn't seen eachother in two years. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, certain that she was seeing things, but she was met with the sight of Akane sliding onto Ranma's lap as they continued their makeout session.

Forget the movie... this was way more interesting.

Not wanting to look away, Nabiki reached blindly as she tried to find Kasumi, accidentally backhanding her in the face. The gasp that followed, however, was confirmation that Kasumi was seeing exactly what she was seeing. She felt a hand on her shoulder as Kasumi leaned next to her. "Are they..." Kasumi whispered. Nabiki grinned broadly. "Yep," she replied.

Pulling back from their most recent kiss, Akane buried her face in his shoulder. "Oh, Ranma..." she murmured. "Ranma..." She let the tears flow as she squeezed him tight. Anything bad that had ever happened to her in her entire life was rendered moot. Ranma gave her back an affectionate rub, moving a hand up to run his fingers through her hair. She pulled back, wiping her eyes as she smiled at her fiancée... who she could now admit was her fiancée. She gave him a soft kiss. "Ranma..." she whispered.

She glanced to the side and jumped a bit when she saw her sisters staring at them. Why did people always form a crowd to try and catch their first kiss? Nabiki smirked and flashed her a thumbs-up. Akane paid no attention— she was too happy to be embarrassed. She leaned close to Ranma. "Can we talk outside?" she whispered. Ranma nodded, and she stood, taking his hand. He followed and they padded quietly out of the room and out of the house.

Walking between the house and the dojo, Ranma looked shyly at Akane's hand in his. He felt like he was floating on a cloud. It was completely surreal. She stopped him, wrapping her arms around him and giving him another kiss. He gazed at this girl... his fiancée. It was almost unbelievable how beautiful she was. He closed his eyes as he tried to think of what to say.

"Akane, I..." He let out a breath. "I ain't real good at this stuff, Akane."

"Do you love me?"

His eyes flew open, where he was greeted with Akane's smiling face. The next word came easier. "Yeah."

"Ranma, I want to marry you someday. Just like our dads planned. I know I never act like it, but... I've wanted to for a long time."

Ranma hugged her tight. "Me too." He took a breath. "I... I'm sorry for all the mean things I've said. About your cooking and everything. I don't mean to..." His voice broke. "...hurt you."

"I know," came the whispered reply.

They stood in eachother's embrace as a soft breeze blew. It didn't matter what was going on anywhere else. All was right in the world.

A/N: Firefox's spellchecker flagged all of the names. It turns out that the closest match to "Nabiki" is "Nabisco". Oh yeah, and using this thing: ç will totally mangle FFNet's uploader; it tricks it into thinking it's an 'italic on' character. Nice.

Those of you that are watching my in-progress fic "Chill Pill", don't fret! The next chapter is almost done and should make it online soon.