Summary: A girl wakes up in a forest clearing, with no idea who she is. She walks to the nearest town, and no one recognizes her. But she stays there and starts to build a life there as she searches for herself.

Disclaimer: I do not own Akane, Ranma, or any of the other Rumiko Takahashi characters from Ranma 1/2, nor do I own the storyline. Sadly, I'm just not that good.

to all my readers: thank you for reading this far. The moment you've been waiting for is at hand! Ranma has found Akane! Thank you all for reading this far and, no, the story's not over yet. Far from it. :) I was so happy with all the reviews I got, telling me to update as soon as possible. I'm so glad you all enjoyed the cliffhanger! Thank you again, and keep reading! I promise to try to make it as worthwhile as possible! :) I'll even make Ranma and Akane kiss! (not really) Hopefully, this really long chapter makes up for it (I hadn't planned on it being so long, but after I planned what to put in it and the perfect cliffhanger to go with it, I didn't want to shorten it and needed all the stuff in between to get up to that point.)

the story thus far: Akane/Rain was heading to a martial arts academy with Mrs. Smithy, and Ranma was off looking for a food store when they bump into each other. Their eyes met. Will Akane recognize Ranma? Will Ranma realize Akane doesn't have her memory? Find out now!

-8-

Chapter Eight - Adjusting to Change

Last excerpt:

-Ranma-

He was looking at a store that seemed to be a food store, and was about to turn towards the entrance when he heard a small surprised gasp and turned, just as a girl his age began to fall. He instinctively reached out his arms to catch her... and felt his whole body freeze with shock as he stared down into the eyes of Akane.

-Akane/Rain-

She was keeping her eyes open for the martial arts academy when suddenly, she stumbled on the uneven ground and started to fall. Strong arms surrounded her, steadying her and holding her to a hard male chest. She looked up... and stared up into eyes that seemed all too familiar.

And now... on with the story!

-Ranma-

Ranma stared down into the girl's eyes. Chocolate brown, filled with surprise. Relief and shock coursed through him at the same time, a strange surge of emotions that he should be use to considering the life he led, but still wasn't.

She looked like she didn't expect to see him here. A 'why are you here?' look was on her face. Like she didn't know that he'd come looking for her. Surprise. Shock. Well, he'd give her a piece of his mind on that matter. And then ask her why she had disappeared in the first place.

At least she seemed to be unharmed.

Akane tried to pull away from him, and Ranma let her go, abet a bit reluctantly. He had just found her, he didn't want to lose her again. He was only reassured by the fact that he could catch her if she made a break for it. But she probably wouldn't, because she knew he'd then tell her family about it, and they'd worry about her. Well, they were worrying about her now too. And it wasn't like Akane to make others worry about her. Which brought him back to his first thought.

"Akane, what're you doin' here? You're suppose to be in the hot springs with yer friends!" he said, trying to keep the worry and demand out of his voice. He managed on the first, at least, if only just.

-Akane/Rain-

She stared at the stranger, who for some reason seemed to be familiar to her, although she couldn't remember ever meeting him before. She couldn't place his face, or his voice. But... she couldn't shake the slight shiver that had suddenly brought goose bumps on her flesh. His arm had held her so strongly, but so gently. She had been able to feel his strength from just those few seconds in his arms. And that more than anything else, even not knowing who she was, frightened her. She had felt a rush of happiness, almost like excitement to see someone unexpected, and familiarity that she hadn't thought possible, with that one hold. Was... was he someone she had known? But what would be the odds that he'd be here, when she had randomly wandered into the town to begin with?

His words came back to her. Hot springs? 'Akane'? None of what he said dredged up anything. And that scared her more, because it sounded like he did know her. Which meant that she should remember something from seeing him. But she didn't, and she had tried.

The full knowledge of her memory loss finally hit her. She couldn't remember anything. Not even someone who knew her.

Suddenly, Rain felt so alone.

She looked up at the stranger in front of her. He was her age, probably, but more muscular and tall than the other guys her age that she'd seen in town so far. And he was handsome. His voice had been nice, too, although his manners needed some work. The guy had bad grammar too. More than anyone that she had known.

Suddenly, the thought came to her that maybe she really didn't know him. And maybe he didn't really know her. Nothing stirred in her mind about him, and she was sure that something should. Especially judging by the familiar way he spoke to her, and his distinguishing traits. Maybe he had overheard her and Mrs. Smithy talking about her amnesia and decided to play a prank on her, or something like that.

The thought made her angry, and heat rushed up so fast through her that it shocked her. Except that she was too mad to be anything but just that. Angry. There was no real room for shock. Somehow, the fury was comforting, as if it was a familiar friend. As if this sort of thing (being tricked) happened often. It was a thought that Rain didn't want to contemplate.

Her fist clenched tightly at her side. She gripped it so tightly that the heat seemed to burn her flesh. She knew that it wasn't possible, that it was just the fact that her nails were digging into her skin too tightly, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something powerful was coursing through her blood at that moment.

A kind voice pulled her out of her thoughts, and her rage.

"Rain? Are you okay?"

It was Mrs. Smithy. She was looking at her, concerned. Rain didn't look back at the woman, but she could feel her eyes on her all the same, taking in her posture and expression, seeing how tense she was.

Slowly, Rain let out her breath, loosening her tight grip as she did so. Nothing would be solved by hitting this stranger. Even though she had a strange, and very strong, urge to.

As she relaxed her muscles, Rain felt something slip from her mind that she hadn't even realized had been there until it began to fade. Something that she somehow knew was from before she lost her memory. Frantically, she tried to hold onto it. But it was gone before she could grasp it, or figure it out.

She glanced up into the stranger's eyes in amazement- searching his face, his expression. For some reason, she had the strangest idea that her getting angry at him had brought back some fleeting memories. Memories that she had lost with the amnesia. Memories that she felt involved him. But she couldn't know him... could she?

"I-I'm fine." she muttered to Mrs. Smithy, distracted.

She was fine, right?

"Well, then. We should apologize to this nice young boy and continue on, hmm?"

Suddenly, Rain remembered where she was and how stupid she must look, staring at the boy like she was.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" she apologized to him before turning to leave, embarrassed. But before she had taken more than one step, she was jerked to a stop by a firm hand holding onto her wrist.

She turned to see the boy who claimed to know her holding said wrist, his eyes staring into hers, instantly connecting. Rain felt heat crawl up her neck and a shiver run down her spine. The look was intimate, like you would give to someone you've known a long time, someone you knew a lot about, spent a lot of time with, and had gone through a lot of tough times together with. It was a look that she couldn't recall ever having with anyone before. Why was he looking at her like that?

A very confused

"Uh..."

slipped out of her mouth before she could even think, her mind still blank, and the moment was broken. Whatever feelings that had been in the air before was now gone.

She couldn't think of what to say to him. He seemed to stir up odd things in her, odd feelings that didn't seem to fit in with how she should feel towards a stranger. The sudden anger she had earlier couldn't be a normal reaction to meeting someone. But then, neither could the look that they shared... Could it?

-Ranma-

He couldn't bring himself to let go of her wrist. He just had the feeling that he shouldn't let her out of his sight. And, for better or worst, Ranma always tended to trust his gut instinct. He repeated his question, keeping his voice steady and calm. For some reason, he had the idea that if he wasn't, Akane'd bolt like a frightened animal.

"Akane... Why are you here?"

She looked flustered, and reluctantly, Ranma let go of her hand. She relaxed a bit, but not much. Ranma got ready just in case she tried to run for it. He wouldn't be happy if she did, but he'd catch her before he asked any questions, if it came down to that. But for now, he'd let her have the little freedom. He couldn't tell her how worried he really was, but he could think it all he wanted.

"What... are you talking about?"

He blinked. That wasn't the response he was expecting. Maybe "None of your business" or "Why should you care" or something to that effect, but her reply sounded more like she was suppose to be here, in this town (and apparently with this old woman), instead of with her friends at the hot springs.

Ranma frowned. It wasn't like Akane to ditch her friends. She normally would at least tell them so that they wouldn't worry about her. And there was no way that she would joke about something like this. It was just too serious to be a joke. Her family and friends were all worried about her. She just wasn't like that, abandoning her loved ones for fun, so why-

"Um, excuse me, young man. I don't mean to interrupt you, but we do have an appointment to keep. If you want, you can come with us. But we really do have to go." the old woman who seemed to know Akane said.

Ranma looked at her, but she didn't have a look as strict as her words suggested. In fact, she looked puzzled, but was smiling warmly. She reminded him a bit of Kasumi like that.

"You can talk and walk, can't you?" she asked, and mutely, Ranma nodded.

"Thank you."

They walked a bit in silence, with Akane stealing curious glances at him, which confused Ranma even more.

Soon they reached a martial arts academy, and Ranma stared at it a bit before following them inside. Why were they going there?

-Akane/Rain-

"We're here to see Mr. Tsuruga." Mrs. Smithy said to one of the students practicing on the mats. "Could you please tell him that we're here?"

"Sure." the kid, who couldn't be more than two years older than she was, said to Mrs. Smithy and disappeared through a doorway, returning moments later with a man of about late-thirties, wearing a gi cinched with a black belt with three yellow stripes (a third-degree black belt), who spotted them immediately.

"Kiki!" he exclaimed, a surprised but happy look on his face, walking up to them. "What a pleasant surprise! I haven't seen you in ages! What brings you here?"

"Nice to see you too, Tsuruga." Mrs. Smithy said. "Actually, I have a favor to ask you."

"Well, as you know, anything for a friend." he looked over at her direction, smiling a welcome to her as well.

"What is it?"

"I'd like you to meet Rain, a friend of mine." Mrs. Smithy smiled at her then. "She seems quite the unusual girl, you see. I wanted to know if you would have a match with her?"

The welcoming smile on Mr. Tsuruga's face left, replaced with a frown, and he turned back towards Mrs. Smithy.

"A match? Are you sure?"

"Yes. Rain has already agreed to it, haven't you, Rain?"

"Yes." she replied, making sure that her voice was steady and sure, looking directly into the man's doubtful eyes. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw that the boy she had bumped into (and that had followed them) gave her an unreadable look that bordered on doubt. She tried to ignore it.

Mr. Tsuruga studied both her and Mrs. Smithy, sighed, and shook his head in resignation.

"Well, I can't refuse both of you, not when you obviously have no doubts about it. Sure, I'll spar with you, if you don't mind the audience." he said, gesturing in the direction of the students practicing. "Will you need mats?"

"No." Rain said, the word coming out of her mouth before she had even thought about it, and was surprised to realize that the idea of fighting a full grown man on the bare floor didn't bother her in the least. "The floor is fine."

"Do you want to borrow a gi?"

"No." she said again, and was again surprised with how automatically she responded and how calm she felt, like she had nothing to fear. Mr. Tsuruga was a fairly tall man, and muscular in a lean way. She should at least be nervous about facing against such an opponent, right? So why didn't she?

-Ranma-

He watched them set up the area, clearing the students away, who formed a line against the walls to watch and observe their master in action. Why was Akane going to spar with a dojo master? She wasn't the strongest or most skilled of the martial artists he knew, and a master would give her a tough match, even though she could break bricks with her bare hands. Remembering the dojo destroyer, he shifted his feet to a more comfortable position, in case he had to leap in and stop her from pushing herself too hard. The Akane he knew wouldn't give up, even if she got hurt. But he didn't want to return her to her father injured, and neither did he want to watch her be injured if he could stop it.

He sensed the old woman approach him, and didn't turn to look at her as she spoke, focused on watching Akane.

"She'll be fine, you know." the woman reassured him. "She's strong."

"It's not her strength I'm worried about." he answered her, not taking his eyes off Akane as she and the master bowed to each other and took their stances. Well, the master took one and Akane just stood there, which nagged at the back of his mind. Akane always took a stance when she wanted to fight. "Akane's not skilled enough to take on a master. She doesn't know how to use her strength effectively yet."

"You sound like you know a lot about her."

"I've known her for over a year now. You can learn a lot about a person in that time." Something on his face must've shown, because her voice became more serious, and her worry showed through as she asked

"Tell me, what do you know about Rain?"

He turned to her then, enough so that he could look at her and still watch Akane out of the corner of his eye.

" 'Rain'?"

-Akane/Rain-

She stood still, watching for him to make the first move. She didn't take a stance, not knowing how to, not remembering how to, but he did. His eyes watched her, and when he realized that she wouldn't attack first, he came forward quickly, moving with a speed that she somehow knew most would have trouble easily following.

She watched his foot strike out and, before she knew what she was doing, her body ducked and her right arm lashed out, blocking the leg above the ankle. She swung with her other hand, towards his side, and the man managed to leap back just before she could connect.

Rain stood from the crouch she had been in and stared at him, waiting and watching for his next move. She wasn't sure exactly how she was doing everything, or how she had been able to watch his moves so easily (even though they were still pretty fast), but she didn't want to risk messing it up by charging in. She'd be patient.

She didn't have long to wait. Almost immediately after the man realized that she wouldn't make a follow-up move, he struck again.

-Ranma-

Ranma watched Akane in amazement, having stopped talking when he saw her counter the first move. She couldn't remember who she was (he had heard that much from Mrs. Smithy), but she could still fight? Not only was she doing pretty well against the guy- he was no challenge to Ranma but he should of been more of one to her- but she wasn't charging headfirst at him, or gloating at her victory so far. Normally, Akane'd be bouncing on her toes, taunting the man. Or, at least, that's what she used to do. Now, he couldn't be so sure.

"She couldn't fight like this before?" Mrs. Smithy asked him, her voice a bit worried and regretful for having Akane do the match, despite how well she was doing. Guilt. Ranma knew it well.

"She could fight before." he explained, trying to ease the woman's troubled worry. "Her father is the master of a dojo in Nerima. But Akane's self-taught, and not this good. Or at least, if she was, I never knew about it." He could feel her eyes on him.

"So she just suddenly got better."

He nodded. He couldn't believe it either, except the proof was staring him right in the eye. Akane was doing good, more than good, against the third-degree black belt.

"Will... she be okay?"

"Fighting against that guy?"

Ranma shook his head. "Before, she wouldn't be able to. At least, not without a lot of concentration, I don't think. But now... I don't know."

-Akane/Rain-

She dodged another punch and rolled on the ground, coming up fast to block a downwards kick with her arms crossed over her head. She pushed, and he pulled his leg back to keep his balance. Seeing an opening, she struck, hitting out, and grazed his side before he once again got out of range.

Now more sure of herself, and allowing her body to take over, keeping her mind blank and watching him for any sudden moments, Rain rushed forward, catching him off guard and sweeping his feet out from under him. He leapt back up before she could follow with a hit, and caught her wrist. He tried to flip her, but she used his momentum to spin gracefully, twisting mid-air and out of his grip, and landing lightly on the ground.

They stared at each other for a bit, before the man, Mr. Tsuruga, stood up straight from his crouch. He smiled at her.

"Well, I think that this was more than enough to prove whatever it was for Kiki, don't you?" he asked her.

Rain stood up straight from her crouch too, smiling. She tried to ignore the rush of adrenaline that flowed through her body almost since she had set foot inside the dojo, which was telling her to continue fighting, careful to stand still against the need to move around to wear off the excess energy.

"Yeah."

They both turned to face Mrs. Smithy and the boy who had followed her to the academy. Mrs. Smithy was smiling, although it was a bit worried. The boy was staring at her again with an unreadable look.

-

"So, you're going to be staying with us?" Rain asked the boy, as they walked back to Mrs. Smithy's house. He glanced at Mrs. Smithy for confirmation before nodding at her.

"Where is your family? They're not with you too?"

"Nah. I can take care of myself." the boy replied, and he scratched the back of his head, as if he felt self-conscious. "Er, you can call me Ranma, by the way. Ranma Saotome."

"Ranma?"

He looked at her as if he was surprised, but when she continued with

"Okay."

he seemed disappointed. She mentally shook her head, curious. Why was he here? And how could he be so sure that he knew her if she didn't know him? Maybe she just looked like someone he knew. But then, she didn't remember much of anything, did she?

Again, the thought saddened her, and she looked at the ground. She thought back to when they had bumped into each other.

"Hey..." she began, addressing him, looking back at him "What did you call me earlier? Back when we first met?"

He looked at her, his eyes sad. "Akane. I called you Akane."

"Oh." was all she could say in return, looking away. For whatever reason, her chest felt tight, like she was going to cry.

-Ranma-

That night, Ranma and Mrs. Smithy sat alone at her table in the kitchen, drinking tea. They had dropped by to get Ranma's stuff from the place he had stayed at last night and he had moved into another room after dinner.

"She looked so sad, I wanted to tell her everything." Mrs. Smithy was saying to him. "But I guess it's for the best if we keep silent. From what you've told me, telling her about her life, especially a life like that, would be bad and worse to have her go back to while she doesn't remember anything about it. It would be saddening for her."

Ranma nodded. He had told her a lot about Akane's life, with one of the few exceptions being their arranged marriage. He didn't want the old woman assuming things about her, or about him, from it.

"I haven't always been able to help Akane when she needed it, and I've been sort of a jerk to her, sometimes. But would I feel really bad about leaving her here, and I can't tell her dad about it. When you told me that Akane didn't remember anything, and I realized that she couldn't even remember her own name, couldn't even remember me..." he trailed off for a bit, staring down into his cup.

"I dunno. Somehow, I feel responsible for all of this."

"Now now. No use blaming yourself. It just happened, like some things do." she patted his arm gently, and Ranma looked up at her. For some reason, he felt comfortable talking with this woman, and it didn't feel weird to tell her stuff he normally wouldn't tell someone else.

"I can't say why your friend has lost her memory, but I can tell that you are not responsible. You care too much about her."

Ranma pushed aside the feelings that came with that statement, and forced his mind to focus on the issue.

"Do you still promise to do it? Even though you don't know anything about me?" he asked, head bowed, his black bangs hiding his eyes.

"Yes, of course I'll keep my promise." Mrs. Smithy sipped her tea. "Although I wish I could tell her, I agree that it would be best to say nothing about anything you told me to her. I just hope that she gets her memory back soon."

Ranma turned his head, staring out the window into the night, his throat feeling slightly tight.

So do I.

-Rain/Akane-

Rain tossed and turned in her sleep.

She was standing in a forest that seemed vaguely familiar. Rain poured down, and in the distance, lightening and thunder flashed and boomed. She looked up from staring at the ground, at her feet, to see someone standing opposite of her. Dripping red bangs hid the face from view, but from the clothes that clung to the person's body, it was unmistakenably a girl about her age.

"Who... are you...?" Rain asked, feeling like something about this was important, but unable to explain why. The girl turned and ran.

"Wait!" Rain shouted, running after her, arm outstretched, but the girl ran faster, almost out of sight. Already, the girl was fading from view, a red pigtail swinging behind her. Rain knew that she had no memory of her life that she could remember, but...

"Wait! I think I know who you are!"

The girl stopped and turned suddenly, so quick that Rain almost couldn't see it, blue eyes that were now visible stared back at her, serious.

"Do you really? Do you know who I am?" the redhead asked, her voice almost demanding, almost angry.

There was a flash of lightening that blinded her and thunder that seemed to shake the ground, and Rain woke up with a jolt.

"A- A dr-..." she gasped and panted, feeling as if she had run a marathon, her heart beating too fast as she clenched her fist to her chest.

"It was... a dream...?"

-

She left three days later for school. Mrs. Smithy had enrolled her into an all girls' school- the closest school she could find within walking distance for her to go to, so that she could take classes and not miss anything. Even though it was a different school, they all taught basically the same thing at basically the same pace, so she could keep up. And since, despite the fact that Rain didn't remember her actual life, she remembered facts, Mrs. Smithy thought it best that she go to school so that when (and if, although that part wasn't said out loud) she remembered everything, she wouldn't have to worry about making up schoolwork.

Vacation had ended that day, and Mrs. Smithy had picked up a uniform for her the day before, so she set off down the road at a fast pace, hoping to make it before the bell rang.

-Ranma-

Ranma and Mrs. Smithy watched her go, Ranma having stayed behind for obvious reasons. He refused to leave Akane alone and go back home without her, and he couldn't go with her her to the school because he had left out another thing about his life with Akane when he had told the old woman about them yesterday- his curse. He hadn't wanted Mrs. Smithy to look at him weird, and wasn't ready to risk pushing Akane further away than she already was from him. She still acted like he was a stranger, but she acted comfortable around Mrs. Smithy. Therefore, as long as his luck held out and kept cold water away from him, he would avoid telling her.

"So..." Mrs. Smithy began, still looking at Akane's retreating back. "What do you what to do now?"

"..." Ranma stared after Akane, before turning to head back inside.

"Ranma?"

"Where did you say that this school was again?" he asked, going over the threshhold.

The old woman smiled.

"Grab my shoes too, young man. You're not going without me."

-

They arrived at the school ten minutes after classes started, mainly because they wanted to make sure that neither Akane nor anyone else would see them wandering around the grounds.

"Can you see her?" Mrs. Smithy asked.

"..."

Ranma was silent as he stared in through the window, several feet from the building. He had climbed a tree and was now perched in one of its branches, eyes scanning for Akane. Because neither he nor Mrs. Smithy wanted to sit twiddling their thumbs and worrying, they had decided to watch Akane and make sure that she was okay.

"There she is." he said, spotting her a few desks away. She had her head down, taking notes. "She seems fine."

"Oh, good." Mrs. Smithy breathed out a sigh of relief, a hand on her chest, as if she had been worried that Akane wouldn't be okay. Ranma knew how she felt though, because he did too.

They stayed that way for about an hour before speaking again, just watching through the window.

-

"Ah" Mrs. Smithy groaned, her hand on her lower back. "I'm not as young as I pretend to be, sometimes. I think I have to go home and lie down.

"Okay." Ranma said, distracted, having been focused on Akane the whole time, his eyes briefly straying from the girl's form to glance at her. "It's fine. You can go back."

Mrs. Smithy looked up at him for a minute more, studying the expression on his face, before nodding and walking away, off the school grounds. Ranma, meanwhile, then focused all his attention on Akane, once more blocking out everything else.

Ranma watched Akane through the window, studying her carefully. She didn't seem to be any different, acting any different, than she use to. She was acting completely normal. Well, maybe not completely. The normal Akane would've already picked a fight with him before leaving for school.

But then again, the normal Akane wouldn't of been able to spar against that dojo master without being hit at least once.

Ranma shook his head, again focusing all his attention back on Akane. He could worry about all that later. For now, he wouldn't let her out of his sight.

-Akane/Rain-afterschool-

Rain walked out of the school feeling a mixture of exhaustion and sadness. While it had been true that she knew what they were talking about in all the classes, in relation to the experience of school itself, she had no memory. None at all. How could such a thing have been wiped from her mind so completely? Something so regular and consistent...

She stared at the ground dejectedly, worried about what that might mean for the future. Would she never be able to recognize her own family? Never remember them if she met them on the street? Would she never-

A small sound caught her ears and she looked up to find the boy who had called himself Ranma standing at the school entrance, waiting for her. Unexpectedly, her feelings lifted. And her hand at her side clenched as an overflow of feelings rushed through her body. Here was someone who claimed to know her. And though she didn't remember him, maybe he could help her remember.

-Ranma-

Ranma, who had been watching for any indication that she was feeling off, noticed the tremble in her hand right away. He felt a wave of sadness pass over him. It was probably because she missed her life, that she couldn't remember going to school at all, although she was in one now. He knew she didn't remember anything, because he had watched her face intently all day, hoping that he would see a look of familiarity, of recognition, cross her face. But there had been none. Right now, she was probably really upset and trying to hide it from him.

Akane... I wish I could help you remember...

His mind played back to the time that Shampoo had erased Akane's memory with that shampoo. But that had only been her memory of him, and there had been a cure (although they hadn't gotten it from Shampoo or, in the end, even needed it). This time, though, he feared that bringing her memory back wouldn't be so simple. It would take a lot more than insulting her to get her to remember her family, her friends, her life, her name, or... him.

Akane looked up at him, her eyes a bit surprised that he had come to get her, and, though she tried to hide it, he could see a bit of her sadness as well.

"Ranma, what are you doing here?"

Well, at least she could remember his name this time around. He smiled sadly, inwardly, while he said

"I wanted to walk you back."

and smiled a friendly, warm smile at her outwardly.

-

They returned back in short time and were greeted by Mrs. Smithy, who was standing at the entranceway with a smile on her face.

"Welcome back you two. Rain, how was your first day of school?"

"It was... ah... fine." Akane said, with a smile in return, although Ranma knew that Mrs. Smithy saw the strain in her cheerful expression.

"I thought that as a celebration to your first day, we could go out to eat tonight. What do you say?"

Slowly, the hidden sadness in Akane's face evaporated, replaced by an easier and more natural smile.

"Sure!"

She looked at Mrs. Smithy again, before realizing why the older woman was standing outside.

"Ah, wait. Let me go put my things upstairs!" she said, and ran past them to put her book bag away. Both Mrs. Smithy and Ranma watched her go, and it wasn't until she was out of sight that the woman let out a sad breath.

"In truth, I had been worried that she would return home like this." she said to Ranma, who kept his eyes on the doorway. "I was afraid that it might be a bad idea, but I went ahead with it anyway."

"There's nothing to be ashamed about." Ranma said, earning him a surprised look. "You were right to have her attend school. Akane always hated to miss it. If we can't do anything else for her, we should at least let her keep up with her schoolwork."

"Thank you, Ranma." Mrs. Smithy said, and he turned his head to see her giving him a warm smile. "You're right. Let's worry about now rather than later."

"..."

Embarrassed and unsure of how to respond to her praise and faith in him, neither of which he deserved, Ranma looked away, turning just in time to catch the sound and sight of Akane coming back outside. It was later that he was worried about. But he didn't want to worry the old woman by saying so. Trouble followed him like a magnet, and with him staying so close to Akane, she was bound to get caught up in something soon. And without her memory, he wasn't sure how she would handle it.

"Ranma! Are you coming?"

He snapped back to reality to find that Akane and Mrs. Smithy were already several feet away, waiting for him.

"Ah, yeah, I'm coming! Wait up!" he called, and sprinted to catch up. He'd worry about later later, like Mrs. Smithy said. With any luck, hopefully, things could stay as they were for now- uneventful and quiet.

-Mrs. Smithy-

They had just finished eating and were returning back home to relax and let Rain do her homework (which was the reason for the early dinner- so that she would be distracted from school for a bit. Mrs. Smithy was going to put it off, but the minute that she had seen Rain's troubled face, she had decided sooner was better than later). The pace was slow and unhurried, which was just how she liked it. She found that as she got older, she wanted to enjoy the simple things more and more, like the fresh air and warm sun.

They were just walking under a store roof when a creaking sound reached her ears, like the extended roof was bending under a lot of weight. She looked up just as the drain pipe above them (which must've been clogged and holding the water from two nights ago) broke, spilling rainwater directly on Ranma and splashing her and Rain, who had been walking at his sides.

Mrs. Smithy closed her eyes as the water splashed her, her arm up to ward off the worst of it. But when she heard Rain gasp, she immediately opened them again, to see the strangest sight that she had ever seen. In front of her was Rain, with both of her hands over her mouth and a shocked look on her face, and a redhead girl, dripping wet. Ranma was nowhere in sight.

-Ranma-

Ranma felt the water before he realized what happened. Sighing, he, now a she, pushed red bangs out of her face, dripping with cold water. Great. And here he had been hoping that he could keep this bit of his life a secret from Akane, for at least a bit longer.

Ranma blew a strand of hair that had fallen into her face, water still dripping off her hair at a steady rate. This was just what he had hoped to avoid.

"Um... Ranma?"

The redhead, steeling herself for their rejection and accusations, looked up to find Akane and Mrs. Smithy staring at her with a look of total shock on their faces. If it wasn't her that had just had her most personal secret outed to the two people she had been trying to hide it from, she might have laughed.

"There's something that I have to tell you." she said with a resigned sigh. "But first, do you happen to have a towel on you?"

-

A short time later, Ranma (still in his cursed form), Mrs. Smithy, and Rain were sitting in Mrs. Smithy's living room.

"So... You went on a training trip with your father and fell into a cursed spring that changes your gender whenever you get splashed with cold or warm water?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I didn't want to freak you guys out."

"Well now. At least I don't have to worry about you going to school by yourself anymore." Mrs. Smithy said, smiling, and Ranma was grateful for her attempt at looking on the bright side of things. She hadn't once pointed out that he had lied to them. It was a lie of omission, but it was still a lie. Come to think of it, neither had Akane.

He looked over to her, wondering how she was taking all of this, and saw her staring back at him. He wanted to squirm under her gaze. Would she reject him, again, like the last time she had lost her memory? Or would she ignore it, like it didn't exist? Would she call him a pervert, or wait until Mrs. Smithy left the room to begin her tirade? The last time she had lost her memory, she had called him a pervert, and he had wanted to avoid it this time around. But it looked like it may be inevitable.

He knew he was babbling, even if it was just in his head, but he couldn't seem to help himself. He didn't want Akane to hate him again.

But Akane just stared at him, until he felt ready to scream, just to break the silence. 'What?', he wanted to ask. 'What are you thinking?' But he kept his mouth shut and waited instead.

"So... You're a girl?" she finally asked, and Ranma felt all his muscles that he hadn't even realized he had tensed relax a bit.

"Yeah."

She looked at him for a moment longer, before shrugging.

"Okay."

He watched her turn away, a bit disbelieving. But she looked... fine, for the most part. A lot less shaken than he would have thought he'd be.

Ranma settled back into her chair, allowing her body to relax a bit more. Maybe everything was actually okay for once. Or maybe it would all backfire later. But either way, for now, it looked like Akane accepted him. At that, Ranma felt her body relax the rest of the way on its own, like a small weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

After that, the three of them changed to a more normal topic, discussing the idea of Ranma attending school with Akane the following day and whether the principal would allow another new applicant so soon.

-Rain/Akane-

That night, Rain dreamed about flashes of red and black hair on a person she felt she knew. The face was shadowed, but the voice was warm, caring. Calling her, with a tone that seemed both masculine and feminine at the same time, as if the two were combined. Laughing, as if the person was happy just to be with her. The person was so close, so close...

She woke gently, but suddenly at the same time. Immediately, she knew that she was no longer dreaming, but her eyes were still closed.

Slowly, she put a hand to her head and opened her eyes. Why had she woken up? Why hadn't her dream finished?

She let her hand drop back down. She felt like she had been so close... so close to figuring out who the person was. But, it had only been a dream.

She rolled to her side and stared off into space.

Then.. why had it felt so real, even though it had been so vague?

-

The next day, Ranma and Rain left for school together. Mrs. Smithy had managed to get Ranma enrolled overnight, because of "special conditions" regarding Rain.

-Ranma-school-

They were in the gym, playing volleyball. Or, make that, supposed to be. All the girls were basically talking, and only a few were actually practicing. Those that were were probably on the volleyball team.

He had been careful to go in after everyone else had already changed and left, so that 1) if Akane ever did regain her memory, she couldn't accuse him of being a pervert, and 2) so that he wouldn't knock himself out running into an open locker door, because there was no way that he was going to sneak a peek on those girls when he had no right to and would've had to walk around with his (her) eyes closed the whole time. It was just wrong, and he tried to avoid looking at such things whenever possible, despite what Akane thought about him. Or had thought about him. Now, he wasn't so sure what she thought.

He sneaked a peek at Akane, who was tossing a volleyball of her own up and down, spinning it a little bit each time. Mrs. Smithy had said that there was no excuse for him not to go to school now, and he had agreed because this way, at least he could keep a closer eye on Akane. Playing the part of a schoolgirl was a small price to pay for that.

A bit bored, she called over to Akane.

"Hey. Toss me that ball for a minute, 'k?"

Akane stared at her for a second, and then at the volleyball in her hands, before tossing it to him.

"Here you go. What do you want it for?"

Ranma caught it easily and twirled it on her finger before hitting it casually with the back of her hand, making it airborne.

"Nothing. I'm just bored."

She caught it again, and tossed it up higher, aware of Akane staring at her. But finally, the silence was too much to handle.

"What?" he asked, turning to the girl. Akane stared back. Her eyes shifted to the volleyball before turning back to Ranma with a smile.

"Hey, do you want to play volleyball?"

Ranma grinned at her words. Well, this should be interesting.

-Rain/Akane-

She dove for the ball for the third time in five minutes, catching it just in time with her fist to keep it in the air and off the floor. With one more hit, she managed to clear the net. But with one move, Ranma sent the ball back over, and she had to run to catch it again, this time reaching it before it hit chest level.

She laughed, feeling sweat begin to appear on her forehead and arms. The adrenaline that she hadn't allowed to escape during her bout in the dojo was fueling her now, urging her on, and she loved the feeling, the rush, it gave her. She hadn't been sure what would happen when she asked Ranma to play, afraid that Ranma wouldn't be able to keep up with her because if she had figured out anything from sparring with the dojo master, it was that she wasn't normal.

But Ranma seemed to be keeping up with her fine. If anything, she seemed to be doing better than Rain was. The girl wasn't even breathing hard yet, but she had a huge grin on her face and seemed to be having a lot of fun all the same.

"Haha!" Ranma shouted, after spiking the ball hard enough that it hit the ground before Rain could get to it. She pumped her fist into the air. "In your face! Beat that! I rule! I'm the king!"

But then the girl stopped suddenly, as if a switch had been thrown, and stared at her with a weird look on her face that looked like a mixture of fear and hesitation, with her fist still in the air, and it was too much for Rain to take. She burst out laughing, and had to hold her sides, which began to hurt from the combination of laughing and running around, chasing the volleyball. She laughed until tears came to her eyes and, after awhile, she picked up the ball and spiked it back over to Ranma.

-Ranma-

They were the last ones in the changing room. He had chose to stay behind after the other girls to help clean up the volleyballs so that he wouldn't have to walk into the changing room with everyone there. Akane had gone in ahead and changed with the others, then waited for him, graciously turning her back as he changed. Because even though they were both girls at the moment, Ranma felt an unnatural need for modestly. Probably because of Akane being the way she was now. Either way, he was glad that she had waited for him and hadn't gone on ahead, leaving him behind.

As she took off her gym shirt, she thought back to class, when they had been playing volleyball. Akane had really surprised her. The minute he had realized that he was gloating, he had frozen and looked over at her, sure that she'd be angry and ready to hit him. But she hadn't. Instead, she had laughed. Laughed.

Ranma shook her head. This Akane was a mystery to him. He hadn't expected anything from her that had happened so far. Akane wouldn't have fought so well against the dojo master, wouldn't have accepted his curse so easily, wouldn't have laughed at his blatant bragging like that. He didn't know what to think anymore. She had changed. What had happened to her before she had lost her memory? Which brought up another topic...

Ranma stole a glance at Akane's back, which was still turned to give him privacy changing.

What had made her loose her memory in the first place?

A sound came from above her, and Ranma, having a sneaking suspicion to what it was, looked up slowly, afraid to be right, just as she was doused with hot water.

Two voices floated through the wall from the girl's bathroom to them.

"No, don't use that faucet. The hot water pipe is busted!"

"Too late. It's okay. The pipe goes over the changing room. No one should be in there now."

"What about the two transfers? I didn't see them leave the room yet."

"You're right. Do you think that we should go check on them?"

Akane began to turn around.

"Ranma? I think we should-"

"Wait, don't turn around yet!" Ranma shouted, a bit frantic. Thankfully, he had pulled off his gym shorts just before he had been splashed.

In record time, he pulled on his regular pants, which he had rolled up under the school uniform's long skirts for such as occasion (he was going to just wear his boxers, but Mrs. Smithy had pointed out to him that if he did change back into a guy, running around an all girl's school in just boxers wouldn't be a very good idea), shoved the rest of his gym clothes into his locker, and grabbed Akane just as the footsteps reached the door.

-Rain/Akane-

She felt herself hauled into the air just as the sound of the tumblers in the door (that signaled the turning of the doorknob) reached her ears, and the next thing she knew, she was hanging outside the school window. Well, not really hanging so much as leaning on Ranma, who was the only thing stopping her from hitting the ground a good five feet below. All her weight was on him, who had half a foot on the windowsill and the other foot on the slight decorative ridge that surrounded the school wall (which ran under the first story windows), his hand holding the side of the window. They were blocked from view by the light blue curtains that hung on the windows, but if anyone happened to be in the back yard of the school while they were there, they'd have some serious explaining to do.

It was then that she noticed that Ranma had turned back into a guy, was topless, and his upper body and hair (and, now that she thought about it and noticed, his pants) was dripping wet.

"Um..." she began, unsure of how to continue.

"Yeah." he answered for her. "Hot water changes me back into a guy."

"Oh." was all that she could say. Her mind seemed to be blank, unable to think. But slowly, the wheels began to turn again, just in time to hear who had opened the door.

"No one's here." a female voice said from inside the changing room. "I guess they left."

"But look at this mess on the floor! I told you not to turn on that hot water! How are we going to explain a broken pipe to the principle?" a second female voice asked.

"We'll think of something. At least no one got wet. We'd be in more trouble then." the first voice said dismissively, and then there was the sound of a door closing, and silence as the voices, already muffled, faded.

Rain felt Ranma expel a breath that she hadn't even realized he had been holding, and felt his body relax. But his firm hold on her didn't loosen, and she didn't slip even a centimeter, for which she was glad. She really didn't want to fall five feet. It wouldn't kill her, but still... She'd rather not.

Slowly, the events began to piece themselves together in her mind. Ranma had gotten splashed with the hot water from the broken pipe and had put on his pants before grabbing her and going out the window, all before the two girls in the next room had time to open the door.

She looked up at him, whose eyes were still trained on the inside of the room, listening for any indication that the girls would return. What speed and precision and care. He hadn't been rough with her, even though the situation definitely called for it, nor had he fallen out of the window, and even now he was balanced precariously on its edge, but showed no strain in his body from holding her or him from falling. In fact, it didn't even seem to need a lot of concentration on his part, as he seemed to be completely focused on the room they had just recently occupied.

"I think it's okay to go back inside now." Ranma said, startling her out of her thoughts, and then surprising her in general as he swung single-handedly into the room while still holding her tight.

Rain felt her feet gently settle on the ground, and only when she took a step back did he release his hold on her, as if he had been afraid of her stumbling.

She looked up at him, speechless. The dojo master had been something- fast and strong and skilled. But Ranma seemed to be in another category altogether. She had never heard of anyone who could brag about doing what he had just done. And he had never mentioned being able to do any of it in front of her before.

Ranma walked over to his locker, and began pulling out his school clothes, oblivious that she was staring at him.

In fact, it has seemed so natural to him that she somehow got the feeling that he didn't even realize how extraordinary it was. She was about to smile and think that yeah, of course he didn't, when she caught herself. She knew nothing about him. Nothing except what he had told her. So what had made her so sure that she knew what he did and didn't think about?

-

They got through the rest of the school day without incident (after she had run to the girl's bathroom to get some cold water to change Ranma back with), and returned back to tell Mrs. Smithy how their day went. It wasn't until she was doing her homework that something else unexpected happened to her.

She had been working on math problem sixteen when the door to her room opened and, after she had given the okay, Ranma walked in, once again a guy.

"Hey... Um... Do you want me to train you?"

-Ranma-

Akane got a blank, kind of confused look on her face at his question.

"Huh?" she asked finally.

He scratched the back of his head, feeling self-conscious. "Well, you know, Mrs. Smithy told me that the reason you guys had gone to the dojo in the first place was because she had hoped that you could learn there, but after you held your own so well against that guy, she wasn't so sure. So I offered to train you. I have... ahem... I mean, I've been doing martial arts for a long time."

He shrugged.

"I could probably help you more than he could at this point."

He saw the wheels turning in her head as she thought about his offer.

"Okay. Sure."

-Rain/Akane-

She found herself facing Ranma outside, in the backyard to the apartment that Mrs. Smithy owned. After he had offered to train her, she had thought back to how he had moved during the changing room incident, about how it had seemed more natural for him to hang out the window, holding her, then trying to hide somewhere inside the room, and of how fast he had managed it all. She had remembered him watching her spar with the dojo master, and the look in his eyes as he had watched them.

Now that she thought about it, she had caught a glimpse of him once as she had moved around, evading attacks, and his eyes had been sharp, watching every move of the dojo masters', and of hers, with a look that seemed to see every action of their bodies. She was curious to find out just how good he was. He was around her age. At their age, no one should be that good. But then again, she didn't seem to be normal either.

"Okay." she said, adjusting the weight on her feet to prepare herself. "What do we do now?"

-Ranma-

He watched her shift from foot to foot, no doubt a bit nervous. He didn't blame her. After all, she didn't remember that he had spent all his life, from his earliest memory, training with his father, fighting for food and the like in the wild, living in a tent on the ground. She didn't remember wanting him to train her ever since they met. He didn't want to rush things.

Ranma looked up at the sky to think about that, only to realize that it was already dusk.

"Actually, maybe we should start this tomorrow, when there's more light. I don't want one of us to stumble over a rock in the dark."

Akane looked a bit hesitant, but she finally nodded her head. "Okay. Tomorrow."

She turned and began to walk inside, while Ranma stared at her retreating back, a number of emotions rolling through him.

-Rain/Akane-

She dreamed about strong arms holding her, far above the ground. Although they were above all the houses, she didn't feel afraid at all. She felt... safe... and warm.

Surprised by this thought, she looked up, into the face of the one holding her. Black bangs and sunlight hid his eyes from view, and his hair was long enough to be tied into a braid at the back of his head. He smiled down at her and said something, but although his lips moved, she heard not voice.

Feeling compelled by the words she couldn't hear, she turned her head to look at the view their height gave them. It was a vivid scene of rooftops, in a place she knew but couldn't identify. Somewhere she had been many times before.

Wind blew her hair and caressed her face, and she felt happy, as the warm sun and warm arms around her made her feel safe and secure, as if she was... home...

Rain woke suddenly, her eyes opening before she had even thought about doing so. She stared up at the ceiling, her mind racing, her heart pounding. Another dream. It had been less vivid than the last, but somehow, felt just as real.

She shook her head, sitting up and putting a hand to her temple.

Why was she having these dreams?

Sighing, Rain let her hand drop to rest on her thigh. Today was Saturday, no school. She blinked slowly, staring at nothing really, although the rays of the morning sun on the floor was in her line of vision. Suddenly, she remembered. Today Ranma said he'd start training her.

Quickly, she got up to change her clothes. She didn't want to make him wait.

-Ranma-

He stood once again in the back area, facing Akane and wondering about his decision to train her.

He had told her that he didn't fight girls, and he meant it, but Akane didn't remember anything about him and besides, he was just going to teach her some basic techniques that she had forgotten. He had seen her spar against the dojo master. Her body remembered everything that she had conditioned into it, but it did it all on instinct. He didn't want to think about what could happen if she went up against someone stronger and better than Mr. Tsuruga, where she'd have to think about what to do. She would draw a blank, and a second would be all it took for her opponent to gain the upper hand.

Besides, he felt like he owed it to her to be nice to her, and he didn't want to upset her by having her find out about his fighting abilities the same way that she had found out his curse- by accident rather than him telling her. Before, Akane had wanted him to trust her. And though he had been dense to the request before, he wasn't now. He would start by doing for her what she had always wanted him to do- train her. Her life must seem upside-down to her right now, with the memory loss and no friends or family around to help her except him. The least he could do was give her something familiar.

"Okay, so the first thing we'll do is work on helping you remember what you can do, so that in a fight, you won't have to rely on your body reacting on its own. If you know that you can do it, and we practice a bit with it, you can do it on command, like you use to be able to."

-

A few hours later, Ranma left Akane to take her bath, while he sat down for some tea with Mrs. Smithy. He wasn't really sweating, if at all, but she had quite a lot from all the work she went through, retrying all the basic techniques that she knew so that she could do them on command. Also, her clothes were dirtier than his, because he only had to show her the basic ground moves twice at most, while she had practiced each at least ten times.

"So, how did her first lesson go?" the old woman asked him as she poured his tea.

"Really good." he answered, leaning back into his chair. "I had always assumed that Akane knew all of the basics, even though I hadn't seen the beginning of her training, because she could do the more complex things. I'm glad I was right. The problem with teaching yourself is that you can easily not know about a few of the basics. But then again, her father is the master of his own dojo, so I guess it was unlikely, though I don't know if he ever taught her."

He took a sip of his tea.

"I'm glad she knows everything, though. I want to move onto other things soon, because although you can get pretty far with instinct sometimes, and she's gotten farther than I thought she could go, it could get her into trouble if she comes across any real opponent. If you don't have any formal training in the arts, then it'll desert you when you need it the most. Instinct only gets you so far in a fight, and personally, I think that she was lucky that she had such good instincts to begin with."

"That she does have." Mrs. Smithy agreed, sipping her own tea. "Taking down a crook like she did, you'd be hard up to argue otherwise."

"But that's the problem." Ranma said, seeing an opening to tell her what he needed her to know before it was too late. He didn't want to loose Mrs. Smithy's trust. And although she had accepted him easily enough with the curse, even though he hadn't told her about it first, there was no guarantee that she would be so accepting about one of the other secrets that he was keeping from her. He had to tell her one of them now.

"I don't want to cause you trouble, and it's the last thing that Akane needs right now..." he began, staring down at his cup.

"Oh no. You're no trouble at all. In fact, you've been very helpful. Especially to Rain." Mrs. Smithy interjected, trying to reassure him.

'You may not think that in a few minutes.' he thought to himself. But out loud, he continued

"You see, the thing is, I'm... kind of involved with several people. And they're all really strong..."

"Oh dear." Mrs. Smithy said, a hand going to her chest. "You're not in trouble with the yakuza, are you?"

Ranma had to look up and smile at her for that.

"No way. But... The thing is..."

Ranma sighed, scratching his head near his temple as he tried to think of a way to explain everything to her.

"Look, the thing is, we may be having some trouble soon, and I'm afraid that Akane may be caught in the middle of it. I hate to say this, but I'm not exactly the luckiest guy in Japan, and sooner or later the fact that I've only been having minimum bad luck is going to catch up to me, and I don't want Akane to get hurt. And if I don't teach, or re-teach, her enough stuff before they come, that could happen."

"You really care about Rain, don't you?" Mrs. Smithy said, her expression soft as she stared at him.

Ranma felt himself blush, and ducked his head. "Well, yeah." He mumbled, embarrassed. "We're good friends."

"Well then, don't worry about it." the old woman added, reaching across to pat his hand. "At least she's not completely helpless, and with her instincts and your training, she should be fine. Besides, I have faith that you'll protect her."

Ranma felt his face grow more red at her praise and the implications in her sentence, but at the same time, his mind was worried. 'Protect her, like I protected her against everyone else who kidnapped her?' Those times, it had been an eventuality, always an eventuality, that he had rescued her. He didn't want this one to be too, whether or not she was actually kidnapped. This time, he'd be better at protecting her.

-

By the next day, Akane was all caught up on the basics (which was a lot easier since he didn't have to teach any of them, just make sure that she could consciously so them), and Ranma decided to move onto more complex stuff.

"Okay." He said to Akane. "So since you now remember all the basics, the next thing would normally be techniques. Well, actually, you would be practicing things like strength training and speed and stuff, but, as I recall, you're strength's good and you speed's pretty okay."

He caught the look on her face saying that he revealed more information than she had figured out herself yet, and so she was doubting it, and decided that it was best to move on.

"But it's your technique that I'm worried about the most. If you can't remember anything and act just on instinct, than you can only stand and wait for your opponent to attack you, or you could run headfirst at him and hope that your body reacts." He looked directly into her eyes to make sure that she understood. "You can't just run headlong towards an opponent. And although I know that you haven't been doing that lately, I don't want you to find yourself in a situation like that and have no other options. So first, we'll work on catching your opponent off-guard. Okay?"

Akane nodded her confirmation.

"Okay. So, the first way you can do that is by..."

-

Two and a half hours later, they had run through most of the evasive, counter, and side moves that Ranma either knew or thought that she had known, and so far he had only had to teach her one for the first time. They were up to physically pulling an opponent off-guard when there's an opening in their attack, and Ranma was having some problems.

"No no. You have to pull on the arm like this, or your opponent can still gain his footing."

"Like this?" she tried again, but still weakly, as if she was afraid to yank too hard.

"No. You have to pull them like this." Ranma pulled her arm hard, sending her his way.

Akane stepped in an attempt to regain her footing, and found herself propelled even faster forward, because she was too unbalanced.

Ranma watched, as if in slow motion, as she began to fall. He crouched a bit to catch her, but hadn't expected her to try to regain her footing. Pushing off of her foot by accident with that step, Akane's body rose slightly, and kept falling forward. And, as her body collided with his, so did their lips.

-end chapter.

end chapter notations: Okay, so I made them kiss after all. Sue me. (Don't really. I have no money. Plus, it wasn't really a very exciting kiss.) Also, I took what one reviewer said to heart (sorta) and made the whole falling thing less confusing by just putting one viewpoint and then the other viewpoint instead of trying to do them simultaneously (although I did it in just this chapter instead of in this and the last chapter, as was suggested. I just didn't want to have to resubmit the other chapter all over again, and apoligize for my laziness. But I think it turned out okay).

I'm sorry if it was confusing, the viewpoint thing in the last chapter. I know it was. Actually, that's kind of what I was hoping for when I wrote it. Not necessarily to be confusing, though, but a bit jumbled, because everything was supposed to happen fast, and everything was reaction and instinct and no time to think (she was falling, you know?).

Except I fear that I made readers think too much by reading it (and ,most likely, reading it over when you couldn't understand it in one sitting), and for that, I am sorry. Bear with me. Even though I have, what, ten stories posted, I'm still a new writer. With your comments and help, hopefully I'll figure things out quickly. :) Thanks to all those who always put in their ten cents, and please feel more than free to continue to do so. Input is wonderful, and critics help me improve my work.

By the way, the reason I have Rain/Akane have such a powerful reaction to looking into Ranma's eyes when in the manga she's unfazed is because I figure they actually do look at each other like that and she either takes it for granted, or it happened so gradually that she didn't notice (the next time you make eye contact with one of your friends, think about it. if it's someone you know really well, doesn't it feel like more than for someone you've met recently? (most of the time)).

Oh, and last minute note- When I refer to Ranma while he is in his cursed girl form, it'll still mostly be a "him", "he", etc. It's just easier on me, I think, because for some parts, when "she" is with Akane, it'd be confusing to figure out which "she" I'm talking about. I use "him" instead of "her" whenever I think that it may be too confusing for the readers. Hopefully, I hope this doesn't confuse you more as a result. Because, when I can, I'll be using "she" and "her" instead of "he" and "him." Plus, it'd just be too much to check when proofreading. I already check each new chapter at least three times before updating, and although spelling does sometimes escape me because I normally work on these things early early morning or late at night (and because I'm not a good speller and forget to use Microsoft Word), it wouldn't really be worth it at that point. Sorry. But on low sleep, I normally just don't care about checking for stuff like that anymore, and it'll probably be less confusing if I just do it my way.

I also apoligize for the end of chapter notes for being so long, but thank you to those who read them. I like it when people take the time to read them, because then it makes me feel like not just my story, but my opinion matter. So thank you. (Also, if you haven't noticed, (and I didn't until I looked back on previous chapters to find something that I had previously wrote) this chapter is significantly longer than all is previous ones. I hope that makes up for the long wait, which I'm truly sorry about, by the way. I didn't expect it to take this long. :( ) If you want shorter chpaters next time, just tell me. This probably would've gotten out sooner (or, at least, most of it would have), if I had done that.