Chapter 8: Saying Goodbye

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~Akane~

What did Ranma just say? There's no way he prosed to me right? I finally unfroze enough to look around, and there he was in front of me, kneeling. Ok…ok…ok… I thought, this is happening he proposed what do I do, what do I do, WHAT DO I DO!?.

Ok first, lets breathe. Second how long has it been since he's asked? It feels like its been like a few minutes but its probably been a couple of hours, the sun is going down and he's still kneeling. He looks determined. I love him. Right? Right I totally do!

"Akane?"

Ah! Right he's still here, but its just too fast! But we WERE about to get married just a couple of weeks ago…

"Ranma, stand up please just…give me sec."

I started to pace around him.

"Okay but what about our family? They'll be super mad if we just up and left," I said.

" That is true…but with them gone we can finally actually be together, don't you think that usually they are the ones always getting in our way? And it's not just them but everybody else too! Shampoo, Ukyo, Champagne, Ryoga…they wont disturb us anymore once we leave."

Ranma was right. If we truly wanted to be together, we had to leave all the others behind.

"Would we come back? Later…I mean. Once we have everything settled…?" I was hesitant. I loved Ranma very much, but I loved my family too.

"Akane…of course we'll come back. We can open up our own dojo while we're away and then when we come back we'll take over this one as well."

I stood there looking at Ranma, this is something tha would forever change our lives, but if Ranma was willing to make this decision with me then so was I.

"Okay… ask me again"

"What?"

"Ugh! Ranma get back down on your knees and do it right!"

Ranma chuckled and went back down on his knee.

"Akane Saotome…will you marry me?"

"Oh Ranma! Yes!"

~Ranma~

Oh thank God! I thought she was never going to give me an answer! I finally got up, again, and put the little makeshift ring on her finger. She was shaking. I kissed her gently on her lips and hugged her tightly against my chest.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A horrible cry pierced through our happiness and a katana slashed in front of us.

"RANMA SAOTOME! YOU INSULENT FOOL! HOW DARE YOU TRY TO TAKE AWAY MY LOVE! You will die for your stupidity, this day you die! I don't care what my sister says, you WILL DIE TODAY!"

Kuno lunged for me again but I quickly sidestepped his attack. He lunged for me again and I tripped him, but he was up again before I could think of a way to properly deal with him. I didn't want to beat him and then have to find a way to get rid of him so he wouldn't spill what he heard.

"Kuno! I don't have time for you today, just leave us alone!" Akane screeched at Kuno. "My darling Akane, I simply cannot just let this BRUTE take you away from me. I will kill this man, and you and I…"

…And…. he's knocked out being held up by someone behind him. I looked at Kuno and then I looked at his assailant who knocked him out from behind. Akane and I switched back and forth between Kuno, each other and his attacker. We couldn't believe what had just happened. But as my mind started to processes what had just occurred Kuno's attacker stepped forward, and I stepped in front of Akane protectively. If I was right, then the fight between this man and me was going to be a long one.

~Akane~

This was unbelievable, just our luck. Just when I thought we got out of one problem we got ourselves into an even bigger one. He stared at what he did, and tossed Kuno to the side.

Ranma took a step forward again, trying to shield me.

"Ryoga?"

Ryoga looked up at me, his eyes wide and red.

"I heard everything. I didn't mean too, but I went and followed Kuno and Kuno was following you two."

"What do you want Ryoga?" Ranma yelled at him.

"Shut up Saotome! I just saved your ass, be a little more grateful!"

"Ha! As if I asked for your help! I could have taken him down myself!"

This went on for another 5 minutes, until finally…

"You know what that's it, Ryoga I don't have time for your shit! So either we're going to fight or we're not!"

"Not!"

What?

"I just…can I speak with you Akane? Alone…"

"What makes you think I'll let that…"

"Ranma calm down its ok."

I turned my attention to Ryoga and walked towards him. I don't know what it was that Ranma was so freaked out about, but Ranma was set on that Ryoga would stop us from leaving.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Ryoga then reached for my hand, looking at it as if it would break, he held it gently. For some reason this made me blush, but I didn't shy away from him. I could hear Ranma grunting his disapproval, but both Ryoga and I decided to ignore him for the time being.

"Are you happy, Akane?"

"Yeah I am Ryoga, I'm very happy"

"Good, I'm glad." Ryoga looked down at our hands and then looked up at me again. He gave a deep sigh and took a step back from me; he gave my hand a tight squeeze and then let go.

"A…Akane I umm… god how can I say this," he gave another deep sigh and began to pace back and forth. Finally when it looked like he was ready to say what he wanted, he stopped and shook himself out.

"Ok…ok umm… Akane I uh…. Ahh geez…why is this so frustrating!"

I reached for him, but he stepped away again, he shook his head and held his hand out indicating me to wait a little. All of the sudden he stared at me, his face full of determination and bowed his head. Practically shouting, he said, "Akane I love you will you go out with me?" I stood there stunned, Ryoga still hadn't raised his head and I could feel Ranma's gaze on us.

"I'm sorry Ryoga, but I love Ranma…I…am so sorry" I bowed my head in apology, closing my eyes, I was ready for him to hate me. Honestly I think I always knew he had feelings for me, but it was the same for Ranma. I knew I loved him but I was never going to admit it, I would never admit something in order for me not to seem weak. Just when I thought that Ryoga would finally lash out on me, I heard a hysterical, gasping laugh. I looked up to see who it was, and it was Ryoga holding his sides and wiping the tears off his face. I turned around to look at Ranma, but he was quiet, silently observing Ryoga, when he caught my eye, he shook his head and shrugged. Oh my god! I broke Ryoga!

"I'm sorry Akane…oooo that felt good! Ah! I feel so relieved", he had finally calmed down and turned his attention towards me "It's ok Akane, I knew you would turn me down. I'm just glad that I finally told you and that you finally didn't misunderstand. I don't know how many times already I've tried to confess my feelings to you and you just didn't get it! It's actually pretty funny now."

I felt myself pale, "I'm so sorry Ryoga I never realized that you've tried to confess to me before, and I'm so stupid!"

"Whoa calm down! I told you its okay I don't want you rejecting me a second time all within a few minutes."

By this time Ranma had slowly begun to join us, "So you've confessed your feelings for her. Is there anything else? Are you going to try to stop us from leaving?" Ranma asked.

"No", Ryoga said, "I'm going to help you two leave. You two deserve to be happy away from the craziness; I'll keep Kuno away. I'll keep him at my house for now." Ryoga walked over to the unconscious Kuno and threw him over his shoulder. Ranma spoke up, "Yeah that sounds good and all, but what if you get lost Pig Boy?" Ryoga looked up and gave Ranma a menacing look, "that's the plan dumbass!" He then turned to leave with Kuno on his shoulder, with out turning he said, "You better not hurt her girly man, because when you do I'll be right there to whisk her away"

"Like I would ever let that happen!"

Ryoga turned his head towards us and gave us this huge grin. Then he walked away. We wouldn't see him again for a long time.

~Ranma~

Wow. I thought for sure the Pig Boy was going to stop us. I never expected him to help us out. I guess people are just full of surprises. I looked at Akane as she watched Ryoga leave, her eyes were red, and she was ready to burst into tears. Honestly, this was hard for me too. Ryoga, although I would never admit to him, was my friend and my rival in love and in martial arts. He was always the real challenger, although I am amazing.

"Akane. Come on lets go; we have to prepare for our leave. We didn't even get to decide when we should go…" I pulled her arm to uproot from where she stood. She began to walk away, and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"We'll pack up our things and leave tonight. We wont let Ryoga's sentiment to go to waste. I'll pack up some clothes and the money for both of us, and you pack as many wedding gifts as you can. We'll leave after everyone is in a deep sleep. The only problem is where to go."

"Don't worry about that. We'll figure it out as we travel." I kissed Akane on her cheek, trying to reassure her, but it wasn't necessary. The look in her eyes told me she was ready for this. Determined. Nothing was going to deter her from making this decision, and I would be right by her side the whole time in whatever situation we would be in.

"Akane I-"

"Ranma stop, I know what your going to say, and I can take care of myself, but I know that wont matter because you'll protect me as well and I'll protect you. We'll have each other and that's all that will matter."

God, how I loved this woman, I didn't even have to say anything and she already knew how I felt. I grabbed her hand again and we began to run back to the dojo, leaping and skipping all the way home. We were laughing so much we were out of breath by the time we got home, but stopped short at the entrance.

"We'll act as if everything is alright and we worked out of our issues. But we wont do anything that will give us away. Do you understand Ranma?" Akane asked. I nodded and let go of her hand, as we walked into the property.

Later on that night, we silently said goodbye to the dojo and our family. We wouldn't see them again for a long time.

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Hello again! I hope you all liked my newest chapter. This one is longer than the others since I felt like I needed a sense of closer between some of the characters. But a lot of dialogue did come out of it. Don't know if that's a good thing or not, but I think it came out pretty good. But let me know what y'all think. If you have any suggestions or comments let me know! I appreciate the criticism really!