A/N and Disclaimer: I seriously wished I was Rumiko Takahashi at one point in my life. But yeah, I do not own Ranma 1/2.
Her eyes looked up at the clear evening sky. All the stars were out. It was a beautiful night.
And softly, she sighed.
Standing by her open window, Akane Tendo could see what barely remained of their garden. The koi pond was gladly intact, but around it were fragments of wooden panels, torn banners, disheveled bouquets of flowers and a host of other broken, unrecognizable pieces of what must have decorated the training hall earlier.
There was supposed to be a wedding. And tonight would have been more than just a beautiful night. What a waste.
Kind of typical how it turned out, if she were to ask herself. Life had been all sorts of craziness these past two years, so much that this outcome did not shock her one bit. Although it did leave a twinge of disappointment and, well, a bit of sadness in her heart.
She rested her arms on the window pane and propped her face on her right palm.
She wasn't mad. She was the one who agreed to proceed with the wedding anyway, and she had a couple of good reasons for it. One involved the elusive cure to his curse, which she knew he would want to have more than anything else in the world. The other was, well, the only real reason why she actually consented. Something she knew for quite a long while now, but never really admitted to herself until two weeks ago, at a time when she stood only 10 inches tall and fought to the death with him. For him.
"Talk about seeing things from another angle," she said to herself. Her face broke into a small smile in spite of her melancholy.
She was gazing at the moon as she contemplated on those words, secondarily wondering at its waning form, which was curiously looking like the Cheshire Cat's grin. But a quick movement that started from above her window shifted her line of sight, and now she was staring straight into a pair of blue eyes.
Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes Martial Arts School, and her fiancé, was hanging upside down from her roof. "You mean from this angle? Nah... Still uncute."
Her heart skipped a beat... and not purely out of surprise. "Ha-ha. Funny."
In response, he grinned a silly grin, next to the smiling moon above him. She would have smiled in return, had she not remembered that she was supposed to be angry at him.
Honestly, I have no time for this nonsense. She pulled her window shut with as much speed and force she could muster, but a yelp of pain from the other side made her open it back as fast as she tried closing it.
Ranma was holding his left hand as he hissed in agony. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!"
"THAT'S MY LINE, YOU IDIOT! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO STICK YOUR FINGERS IN THE WAY?!"
"LIKE I DID IT ON PURPOSE!"
Akane crossed her arms over her chest in defiance, trying to hide her concern... "Well, it suits you just fine, eavesdropping like that," and failing. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? Come on inside and let me see to your hand."
Akane then moved aside, allowing Ranma a clear space for him to swing through her window into the room. He grumbled and he frowned, but he obeyed nonetheless. He maneuvered himself through her window so effortlessly, supported only by his good hand and landing with a soft thud onto the floor. He then sat down cross-legged right where he stood, by which time Akane already pulled out her first-aid kit. She reached out her hand, signaling him to give his injured hand.
"Either I'm getting better or you're getting too slow." She was trying to break the ice while tending to his bruised fingers. Her tone betrayed guilt. There was a bit of skin grazed off from the side of his hand, likely caused by the metallic edge of her window panel.
"I was sleepy." He tried to act bored, but his heart did otherwise. It was skipping merrily inside his chest, the way it always did whenever she took care of him like this.
She got it half-right, besides. His movement came too slow, because he was, well, distracted. Startling his fiancée would always bring out this unguarded reaction from her - eyebrows shooting up, her brown eyes growing instantly large, and her cheeks turning a slight tinge of pink. It was, to him, the next best thing in the world, topped only by her smile.
Uncute. He said it inside his head the way he would an endearment. Meant only for the girl in front of him. The only one that mattered.
"What are you smiling about?"
"And I'm not allowed to smile, too?"
Somehow he said it out funny. She stifled a giggle, sticking out her tongue instead before tending back to his hand.
That child-like reaction from her made his heart do a double backflip. He mentally cursed, hating himself for acting like a lovesick fool whenever he saw her of late. Get your act together, dammit.
"So what were you doing on my side of the roof anyway?"
"Nothing that particularly concerns you, tomboy."
The truth was that he had been sitting there on her side of the roof for the past hour. He was rehearsing some lines to express how he felt about the ruckus that happened earlier.
He wanted to say sorry... for adding to the chaos instead of avoiding it from happening. For not helping to make it work, when... he actually wanted to.
The truth was that he wanted to marry her. Seeing her in that wedding dress was like looking at the only future he had ever considered in his life. He just did not see it happening yet anytime soon. He did not want to marry her just because their fathers wanted them to.
He wanted to marry her for the right reasons, and he's got plenty.
There were so many things he wanted to tell her, but he didn't know where to start and how much of it he should reveal. For all of his pride of being a man among men, he still did not have the courage to face how she would react if she knew everything about how he felt for her.
And so, when he heard her open her window and saw her pretty little head look up at the sky, all the words he rehearsed disappeared from existence.
And even at that moment when he was gazing straight into those brown orbs that he had come to like so much, he still could not gather the words right. He was racking his brain in search of them.
"Really?" She just finished cleaning his wound. She gathered her first-aid kit and set it temporarily under her bed, before turning back to her fiancé. She could see he was fidgeting. He must still be affected by the events of the past week — where she almost found herself on death's door were her fiance not have been so capable of saving her.
Almost teasingly, she asked him. "Were you on the roof to guard and protect me, Ranma?"
"You almost split my hand in half and you need protecting!?"
"Hey! I said sorry, okay?" There was a slight irritation in her voice, but she refused to give in to the spitfire reaction he could so easily evoke from her. She shifted her position, shuffling her legs from under her and stretching it sideways while she rested her back on the side of her bed.
Then her eyes strayed upon him. This boy, whom she was promised to marry. Both of them vehemently rejected the idea since the day their fathers announced the engagement. They fought and they bickered around it all the way to the present. Yet, somehow, even she could not deny the friendship that waded its way through.
At times Ranma confided his troubles in her, and she would always be there to listen. There were times when he consoled her, too.
At times he would seek her help, or praise her right on the spot for the aid she freely gave him.
And always, always, he had protected her. While she had always found absolute safety in his arms.
They were each in their best element when they were together.
Yin and Yang.
But what did that really prove about them?
She masked her thoughts with nonchalance. "Shame. I could be kidnapped again, you know? I wonder who it will be this ti—"
"That's a foul joke, Akane." He cut her off abruptly. This girl had no idea how he'd been having nightmares ever since that fateful day when she laid motionless in his arms. She did not know how he came by her window right before she woke up each morning, just to check if she was still there safe.
She could see anger in his eyes. No, she saw... anguish. She knew he recalled their recent battle, and her near encounter with death. It still terrified him.
"So why were you on my roof then?" Her voice came out soft, almost hypnotic.
Persistent little tomboy. "I could not sleep."
"But you just said you were already feeling sleepy. You could have just stayed on your bed..."
"Jeez, Akane..."
He stood up, grabbed Akane's hand, and stepped toward the window. He gestured for her to follow him as he climbed out, and up, to the roof.
She did not have any idea what was going on. But the night breeze caught a whiff of his scent - he smelled like the wind, and sandalwood, and refuge - and it gave her a heady feeling. She always loved how he smelled, and right now it was enough for her to follow him wherever he intended on going.
He led her to his usual spot above the Tendo house, as he began racking his brain for the things he had been wanting to tell her. He could feel his palms beginning to sweat despite the cool hushed wind that welcomed them.
She sat down on the roof tiles right next to him, stretched her legs, planted her palms behind her and looked up at the sky — and was spellbounded. It was 1am, and the whole town was already asleep. All the lights were turned off, and so the only lights that could be seen were right above them, by the thousands. "Woooow..." She was looking at all of them in awe. Her smiling face, illuminated by the clear and brilliant night sky, radiated instant, infinite wonder. It went on for quite a few seconds before she remembered where she was, and immediately noticing the boy sitting by her side. She glanced at him, but he was looking at a pebble that he just picked up. Funny, but her martial arts reflexes felt like his eyes were upon her. Wishful thinking, huh...
Why did you STARE at her like that, you bumbling idiot! He cursed at himself for almost getting caught. Yet he knew better than to ask himself that question. Akane had no idea about the effect her smile had on people, much more so on him who was witnessing it at such close range. For an infinity of a moment, he simply stared until he felt his cheeks growing warm. It was then that he turned his face away and tried looking for something to cover his stupidity, like the pebble beside his right foot that conveniently presented itself for him to focus on. Speaking of focus… where the heck are those words I was planning to say!?
Moments like this with him continued to puzzle her. This silent boy beside her, looking almost shy, was undoubtedly the same loud, insufferable, overconfident brute that could irritate her to the tips of her hair half the time. The same one who threw insults at her so well it came to a point when she actually believed them. The very same one who seemed so vain at keeping as many fiancées as the gods would allow fawning all over him.
This boy beside her... was the same one who held her hand tight, as though terrified of losing her again, on their way home from Ryugenzawa. The same boy among the crowd in that volleyball match, who simply flicked a pebble with his thumb to deflect the spinning baton that could have hit her unconscious. The same boy who cried out her name while she laid almost dead in his arms. She could swear she heard him say he loved her then... It couldn't be a dream, could it?
"Ranma?"
He grunted in response, trying to give the impression of disinterest.
I will not be fooled. We will settle this tonight, if this is the last thing I'd do. She decided to make a gamble. She folded and hugged her legs, so that her chin could rest on her knees, quietly contemplating on her move. There was a certain boldness she felt right then — an inner, determined strength to end this mind game of theirs and get answers once and for all.
"Did you know that Dad never really wanted me to become a martial artist?"
"Really?" Still trying to play the ruse, although failing every second she spoke. With the stars illuminating her face, paired with that gentle voice, his defenses were all coming undone, crumbling to pieces...
"I was nine when I told him I wanted to learn martial arts. I knew he could clearly see my potential in the few times I showed him some katas, which I learned on my own, by the way, but he would always drive me away from the dojo.
"Then, one day, we had an intense debate about it. At that time I stomped my foot down and told him that either he would teach me martial arts himself, or I would look for another teacher, even if it would mean having to move out of the house. I already knew an uncle or two who could give me that option.
"I wasn't screaming at him or anything, but Dad admitted later on that he saw that solid determination in me then, so much he finally conceded. We began practicing the next day."
Uncute tomboy, he thought to himself with humor and admiration. A smile slowly formed on his lips as he turned to her. "So what's the moral of the story?"
She chose her next words carefully. "I have always hated being dictated over... I do not wish to do the same to you."
There was a palpable shift in the air between them. He was taken aback. "Do the same to me… what do you mean by that?"
Her voice was calm but determined. "You are free to choose the life you want, Ranma. I will not stop you. Tell me how you want this to end, and I swear we will say it together in front of our families."
A tear fell on her cheek, immediately tearing down her determination. She was glad that she was able to say all of it before her heart reminded her of her reality. For an infinity of a moment, she remembered everything she was daring to let go. She stood abruptly, her mastery of balance clearly at work as she did so.
He was so dumbfounded by what she just said that he did not notice her moving away until she was standing by the edge of the roof, about to go down. "Wait."
He stood up. Looking down at nothing in particular, contemplating on what he needed to say next. He closed his eyes in concentration. Anybody who would see him now would think he's preparing for a boss battle. "You give out a speech like that and then you just leave without expecting me to respond in return… You forget this is also my life we're talking about as well as yours."
Her shoulders slumped, an obvious sign of resignation. "I'm getting tired of all this, Ranma. Why don't you just say what you want?"
She was standing three steps away from him. They faced each other, engaged in a mental battle, each awaiting the other's next move. A gentle breeze moved around and between them, as though trapping them in a spell and isolating them from the rest of the world.
"Come here..."
There was an urgency in his voice that she could not ignore. Mindlessly, she obeyed and her feet made their way to stand right in front of him. She willed her eyes to stay glued on his shirt.
He needed to see her eyes... Those expressive brown eyes that could easily convey what was going on inside of her. He needed to see them, in order to find himself. He raised the hand that she tended to just minutes ago, and held her chin, coaxing her to look up at him.
She raised her eyes and met his, and he drowned himself in them. This girl, among his several alleged betrothed, was the only one who refused to impose anything upon him. The only one who gave him the freedom to choose what he wanted. All this time, he never admitted it, but it frustrated him to no end how she did not fight for her legitimate claim. Because she was the only one he ever wanted.
But, deny as he would, he was just like any other guy when it comes to the girl they love. He's every bit as insecure. He already knew he loved her but... Does she love me back?
"What do you want, Akane?"
"I'm the one asking the question!"
"Just answer the question."
Struggling between lashing out on the boy in front of her and irritation with herself for the effect his closeness was giving her, she ended up giving in to both. "I wanted US, okay! Now let me go, you thick-headed, arrogant foo-"
His heart exploded from his chest and it flew. It was all that he needed to spur ahead to what was denied far too long. He claimed her lips with his own and, at last, came to know the sweetest thing.
They kissed... and kissed... and kissed... Until they remembered the needed to breathe.
She was the one who managed to speak first. "That was... what was that?"
"Us..." He embraced her, and kissed the top of her head.
She was smiling dreamily, her face almost hidden next to his chest, smelling his wonderful scent, listening to the uneven beating of his heart. Her arms encircled his waist, her body melting into his, her curves complementing his edges perfectly. This is how it was meant to be.