Square 1/2

Chapter 10: "Here's the big one!"

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction presented by Ralf Martin

The cut was clean and straight.

That could easily be judged by the shower of hair falling like black snow left and right from Akane's face. She stood before Ranma, eyes wide in shock as her mouth opened in a silent scream. But no sound came forth.

Akane hardly noticed the weight of Happosai dropping from her back and the constriction around her throat disappearing.

She dared not move, dared not swallow, dared not even draw a badly needed breath. All for the fear of having her head roll off her shoulders at the slightest jerk.

So she stood like a statue of herself as Ranma rose from her position and calmly reached out a hand to check her handiwork.

"Sorry 'bout that," Akane heard the redhead apologize. "Still, I think ya look way better with short hair."

Some things to a woman are worse than the threat of imminent death.

Someone messing with her hair unbidden absolutely counts among those.

Grabbing her lover by the shirt and shaking her to and fro she screamed right into her face.

"You almost cut off my head and that's all you have to say for yourself?"

Though being moved about like a leaf in a storm Ranma still managed something like a smile.

"Like I could hurt ya with that move," she quipped while she tried to keep her own neck from snapping due to the shaking. "It doesn't cut through living flesh and bones."

Akane stopped her abuse so suddenly that the redhead almost fell over from her own overcompensation.

"Oh!" was all the girl with the impromptu haircut said. Suddenly she felt a bit foolish for thinking that Ranma would endanger her with a lethal strike.

"Makes ya wonder though why it hurt the perv, eh?"

At those words Akane's head snapped up to look at Ranma in surprise, not getting the comment until she turned and saw Happosai lying on the ground and cradling his right hand.

"Why are you so mean to a poor old man?" she heard him complain while tears streaked down his face. "I never did anything to you. Why are you ganging up on meeee?"

"Lemme see," Ranma started a quick rundown as she stepped around a still stunned Akane. "We do it for our moms. We do it for our sister's moms. And we do it for every poor girl an' woman that was unlucky enough to ever cross ya path. Above all, we do it for all the girls an' women that won't ever be molested by ya ever again if we end this today."

Ranma stared down at the whimpering dwarf, wary of any sign of danger from his opponent.

"But...but... you can't kill me!" Happosai insisted as he scuttled backwards in a sitting position, still cradling his right hand. "Don't you realize that I am most likely your father?"

Whatever he had hoped for to accomplish with that revelation, all he managed was to make the redhead look at him with even deadlier intentions than before.

"YOU?" she asked with a chuckle that sounded like sandpaper on hardwood. "Ya simply the guy that raped my mother. Nothing more. My dad's name is Genma Saotome. Even if he's a useless fart and an eyesore. At least he's still a human being. Not so sure 'bout ya'self on that account..."

"But... But I can change!" Happosai stammered, continuing his backwards movement. "I'll leave those girls alone! I promise on my honour as a martial artist! And I'll make it up to your mother! There's got to be something I can do to make things right!"

"Sounds nice," Ranma said, nodding her head while matching the dwarf's movements. "Only one problem, mister. Ya only got that old by taking something from tall those women, ain't that so? Ya a bit like them bloodsuckers. Only without that nerdy cape. Ya stopping the molesting is even less likely than my pop keeping his promise ta never touch no drink again. Sorry old man, no deal."

"I got treasures!" Happosai continued in a panicked jumble of words. "Mighty treasures, they're yours if you want them! I've got techniques the likes you never seen! I know secrets that..."

"Happosai?" the redhead standing above him interrupted his itemization of possible bribes in an indifferent tone of voice.

"Yes?" came the dwarf's hopeful response.

"Ya got nothing we'd risk letting ya stay alive for."

The Grandmaster of the Musabetzu Kakuto Ryu looked up at the girl above him. What he saw was not someone he could negotiate with, and no one he could fool. Instead he saw into two icy blue orbs of cold determination and he realized that this was indeed do or die.

"No more games, eh?" he asked, sounding surprisingly collected after his prior stream of pleas.

"Nope." Ranma agreed. "Playtime's over."

Suddenly there was a strange pressure coming from the dwarfish Elder, and as Ranma found herself forced to take a step back, she saw the man rise to his feet again, dusting off his diminutive form.

"Well then," she heard him say, "have it your way."

Ranma found herself bracing against the enormous battle aura that her opponent emitted. It pushed her back further with her feet leaving furrows in the soil and she even had to struggle to stay upright.

"Don't blame me for not playing nice with you kids!" she heard his mighty roar as his aura made him appear as a giant, three stories high.

Suddenly the ground around Ranma started to explode as the giant figure rained strike after strike down on her. Dodging was all she could do to avoid being hit. There was no doubt in her mind that being hit was not something she should risk.

As the redhead desperately tried to come up with a counter she noticed a familiar tingling in her neck. That tingling was usually a bad sign. It always had something to do with stupid comments and blunt objects. Today though, it was the bugle call of the cavalry.

Science teaches us that any force can be countered by a force of equal proportion.

The demon of righteous justice that Akane's aura had turned into almost seemed more than a match for the old master's display of power. There she stood, a vision in full samurai gear, except that she wore a headband with the Kanji for 'Heaven's Way' on her head instead of a helmet. Her shortened hair fanned around her like a black halo, stirred by a ghostly wind. And as she slammed down the kanabo she held in a two-handed grip, the mighty spiked club send a shockwave forth that sent the old master stumbling.

"Keep your dirty hands off Ranma!" she screamed in a voice that was no less earth-shattering than her attack.

Crawling out of the hole the volatile explosion of the combined auras had embedded her into, the contested redhead looked at her lover with a mixture of frustration and admiration.

"Thanks for the save sugar. Great style," she called out. "But next time gimme a heads-up if ya pull that move!"

Akane didn't seem to hear her. Or maybe she preferred to ignore the remark. One way or the other, she was too busy chasing Happosai around the clearing with her gigantic club.

"Oh boy, I better not get dragged into that fight." Ranma thought as she watched the devastation that game of tag caused to the landscape. It was a sad fact, but as skilled that the young Saotome heir was, he/she had never really come to grips with all those Giant Aura Projections (TM).

So instead of participating Ranma stood to the side and waited until one of those auras went out. Chances were that Akane would be the first to run out of juice. Then again, Happosai had hardly been fully charged to begin with. So anything was possible.

For a second or maybe two, Ranma even wondered if she should turn back into a guy. But it seemed more just that the old pervert should be taken down by a girl. Besides, the difference in power between girl and boy didn't mean much against a foe like Happosai. The difference in speed though might very well be the deciding factor. Girl-side for the win. Yay.

So she stood there and couldn't help grinning as Akane demanded from Happosai to stand still so she could hit him. Of cause he didn't. The old perv was not that stupid to comply with her demands. He ducked and weaved between her easily predictable swings. But conversely they still came too fast and too hard for him to counter without danger of taking some serious damage. But the sly old fox knew as well as Ranma that at this rate Akane would run out of steam fast. And finally she did so, made obvious by the aura that began to dim and the defined silhouette of her projection started to lose shape. Just when her aura seemed to stutter and fail, Happosai threw a Happo Daikarin the size of a minivan her way.

"Nice try girly," he taunted her as he jumped away to get away from the coming explosion. "Here's something for your efforts!"

Ranma jumped forward, cursing that she had been stupid enough to leave the field to Akane. She knew that she had little chance of saving her from the coming inferno but she wasn't the type to let logic get in the way of beating the odds... somehow.

She forced herself to propel her body to ridiculous speeds but just when she thought she might make it in time she noticed Akane's energy surge anew. The girl's projection sported a smirk that Ranma couldn't have pulled off better and her club came up and around in a swing she had perfected during softball training.

With a mighty grunt she forced the Happo Daikirin back to sender and it exploded more or less squarely in Happosai's face. Both combatants fell down with their auras fizzling and vanishing. Akane from exhaustion and Happosai from being turned into a lump of charcoal.

"All yours," Ranma heard her croak with a rough voice and she knew she couldn't waste any time checking her lover for injury. There was a job to do and Ranma was the right girl to see it through.

No more games.

No more leaving the work to Akane.

The redhead charged at the grounded Master, determined to bring an end to his terror. He hardly had time to raise his hands in defence when Ranma's foot crashed against them.

Two things where obvious to Happosai in an instant. If he hadn't blocked than this kick would have taken his head clean off. And also that this redhead that was burying him under a flurry of assaults knew at least one technique that was seriously dangerous to him. Because he still had little use of his right hand and it didn't look like he would regain that anytime soon.

It was one of the few moments in his unnaturally prolonged life that he was in actual danger of losing. And losing was something that Nejireta Tamashi, otherwise known as Happosai, just didn't do.

"Fuck this," he hissed as he blocked or evaded attack after attack. Using his superior knowledge of the human anatomy he grabbed one of his assailant's arms and twisted it using his own body's momentum. Human muscles and sinews could only take that much abuse. Even a trained martial-artist was no exception from that rule. Few living creatures actually were.

Except maybe for cats.

There was a hiss and Ranma turned around her own axis mid-air, swiping her other hand across Happosai's face. It missed but still the old man screamed in pain as four long furrows appeared on his face and started filling with blood.

"What the..." he cried in shock. "The Nekko-Ken too? What has that fool Genma done?"

But Ranma was in no mood, or unable, to answer that question. Her hands slashed out, again and again. And no matter how fast the old master evaded, in no time his clothes hung in tatters and his body was criss-crossed in painful scratches.

There was no more time for tricks and tactics. This was pure survival. With a scream of anger Happosai reached into the core of his chi and released a mighty chi blast as strong and far-fetching as god's own shotgun blast. It took out trees and rocks and left a broadening, blackened furrow in the ground dozen of feet long. Nothing in the wake of the blast survived. Not even bones or ashes left.

Happosai fell to his knees, cackling.

"That's what you get for messing with the master, kitty!" he laughed at the empty air. "And now I think I earned myself a little something for my efforts."

Turning around to search for the second girl he started calling in a sing-sang voice.

"Hellooooo... Akaaaaneeeee... Your Uncle Happy is..."

His chant fell silent as he completed his turn and again there were two reasons.

One was the fact that Ranma unexpectedly stood before her with a feral expression marring her beautiful features.

The other was the blood-stained, claw-like hand that had just opened a few additional air vents in his throat.

"You ... never ...hurt ...family..!" he heard the readhead rather hiss than speak as he dropped to his knees. Happosai's hands desperately tried to knead his own flesh back together. Swaying slightly as the blood seeped through his fingers he looked up at Ranma with the light slowly fading from his eyes.

"Akane... Of course!" the old man wheezed as he held on to life with willpower and old habit mainly. "She's... with child... isn't she?"

Happosai didn't need an answer. He knew it was true. Even if it was not possible between two girls. Even if the spark of life in Akane was way too weak to be easily recognisable.

She was with child.

The girl carried a new life.

So there was still hope left.

Happosai's body fell to the ground, a lifeless bag of old bones and torn flesh. One last moan escaping the lips that had so often heaped insults on injury.

But it was not just life that left him.

There was something like an insubstantial smoke emanating from his mangled body. Tendrils of yellow and green and brown, snaking through the air as if searching for something.

Ranma tentatively swiped at them but unlike with smoke they didn't even seem to get disturbed. It was as if they not even really there. Just an image in the air.

Then they started moving with more intent.

And their target?

Akane!

Ranma knew that the Nekko-Ken was of no use here. So with a lot of willpower and fuelled by rising anxiety she slipped out of it. That technique had a lot of uses but urgent communications were not among them.

"Akane!" she shouted as she ran after the eerie smoke. "Get it out! Get it out NOW!"

...

Akane had been lying on her back, trying to get her feet back under herself. The whole aura ordeal had taken more out of her than she had expected. She had even been too weak to raise her head and watch how Ranma's fight with Happosai was faring. But she wasn't too concerned. After all this was Ranma.

Her Ranma.

The Ranma that slew a half-god to save her.

(And probably will have to do that again if history really repeats itself.)

The Ranma that always came through when it counted.

There was no way he would fail.

Still, she needed to get up, needed to get back into the fight. Not because she doubted him. But because she could not stand the idea of being useless herself when it counted. She always demanded that he took her seriously. Saw her as an equal. But how could he if she just lay back and let him do all the work?

So with her inherent stubbornness, a fair share of willpower and her last reserves she was just about to start getting up when Ranma's urgent shout reached her ears.

"Get it out!"

Get what out?

Then she remembered that disgusting thing Ranma had given her for protection. She didn't want to keep it even anywhere near her but Ranma had insisted on it. For the sake of her own sanity, she had completely forgotten that she still carried it in her pocket. Reaching inside she felt the touch of the ominous fabric and with only two fingers to minimize contact she pulled it out.

"Got it!" she shouted in reply. "Now what?"

"Hold it up! In my direction"

Akane did what she was told, holding the disgusting charm as far away from her body as possible and in the indicated direction.

The smoky tendrils, almost having reached their target, reared at the sudden obstacle. They tried to go around the protective talisman but Akane had by now seen them and instinctively realized that she didn't want them anywhere near her. With no way to go forward the tendrils tried the only way left to them, and that was back to their origin. But Ranma made up the rear and he held the same kind of talisman, blocking any retreat.

The tendrils writhed and coiled amongst themselves, but without a body to host them their existence was doomed to be short-lived.

With a sound like a hateful hiss they reared one last time.

And dissipated.

What followed was a moment of utter silence that seemed to encompass all of existence.

But the moment too was short-lived.

"Is it over?" Akane asked from her half-sitting position.

"Yeah, it's over," Ranma agreed as he dropped down on the ground beside her. "The old freak is history."

"Good."

Then she flung the disgusting piece of unmistakably unwashed and spotty male underwear that had already served its purpose as far away as she could and forced her body to stand up.

"Whatcha doing?" Ranma asked her from her perch on the ground.

"I'm going to where our stuff is," she explained to him plainly. "Then I'm going to grab some water and turn you back into a guy. And then I'm going to fuck you until we both forget that this day ever happened. Got a problem with that?"

Ranma looked at her wide-eyed, still unused to have her state her intentions so plainly.

She hadn't been like that before.

But that didn't mean that Ranma didn't like it.

"No ma'am," she replied as she lightly shook her red mane in the negative. "No problem at all ma'am."

...

Contrary to Akane's announcement neither of the two had the energy for anything more than some heavy petting. For the most part they just recharged their batteries in each other's arms, content with the knowledge that the worst part was over.

Sure, there would still be trouble in the future, but compared to the danger Happosai had posed even another fight against Saffron appeared like a walk in the park.

They made their way down the mountain two hours later with the sun high in the cloudless sky.

Happosai's remains had ended up burried in a nearby ravine. Six foot under, beneath an additional heap of rocks and with a stake through his heart, just to be on the safe side.

Or at least through the spot where ordinary people had a heart. In Happosai's case his body had given suspiciously little resistance to that piece of wood. Maybe it had been an empty shell all along.

As Akane and Ranma came close to the spot where they had spent the night before they came across a search team of the Mountain Rescue Service and an extremely agitated Soun Tendo.

They told their tale of how they had spent the night on the ridge and then got a bit lost in the mountains.

No one doubted their claims. The guys of the Mountain Rescue had no cause for it and Soun knew better than to bring up Akane's primary reason to visit this part of the island. He wisely held back his questions until they were safely back at a hotel where he had spent the night. But once in the private confines of a room there was nothing holding him back any more.

He inquired, or rather demanded to know, what had happened on that mountain. So they told him. Told him how they had lured out Happosai. How they had fought with him. And how they had ended his existence that had continued for far too long.

All those information were simply too much for the poor patriarch of the Tendo family. Soun fell to his knees with his head in his hands. Trapped between elation that the shadow of his master had finally vanished from his life and the impossible truth that his youngest daughter was not only pregnant with the child of a cursed freak but also had willing intercourse with both of his forms. The man started wailing like he hadn't since the death of his second wife and no matter how Akane tried to approach him, he didn't react to any of her efforts.

Finally Ranma had enough of the whole spectacle and he pulled Akane away from her father, figuring that the man needed some time alone.

"Let's call home," he said as he dragged her towards the reception area. "Mom's probably worried sick and ya sisters too."

"You're right. I know you are," Akane agreed dejectedly. "It's just..."

"He's gonna be fine," Ranma assured her as he turned and pulled her into his embrace. "Just wait 'til he's a granddad. He's gonna spoil our kid rotten. You'll see."

Akane couldn't help it. Even in her depressed state she couldn't help but smile at the thought.

"Not if your mother gets to it first," she pointed out. "What do you think? Would they accept shared custody?"

"Well, if not we just have to have another."

He leaned closer and kissed her on the cheek.

"And if that ain't enough one more."

He changed directions to kiss her other cheek.

"And another..."

"Allright, allright, I get it," Akane interrupted him with a weak chuckle. Then she grabbed his head firmly in her hands and kissed him deeply and passionately. And for the moment her worries truly were forgotten.

...

Sometime later, with the phone calls made and the packs packed, the trio sat in a train bound for Tokyo. Soun Tendo hadn't completely recovered from his breakdown but at least he had let himself get herded without resistance. On the train they found a row of empty seats and Akane and Ranma sat next to each other on one side while Soun took a seat opposite of them. He sat there for a while, staring out the window at the passing landscape without taking note while his two companions had a quiet chat.

"So... Nekko-Ken? Seriously?" Akane remarked as she remembered Ranma's recount of the part of the fight she had missed. "I thought you hadn't gotten all your old tricks back. And then you pull something like that?"

"Oi!" Ranma complained playfully. "The cat's always been with me. Ya just gotta know how to... talk to it. It's more of a mind-trick than training. Once ya know how ta do it ya know how ta do it. That's all."

"That's all," Akane aped him, rocking her head left and right to emphasize her ridicule. "You make it sound like everyone could do that."

"Sure thing," Ranma agreed while happily ignoring the taunt. "As long as ya don't mind spending a week or two cuddling with some feral tabbys in an oversized pothole. And if ya don' turn into a friggin' loony after. Yeah, ya can learn it easy."

"Then how comes that you managed to learn it?" Akane inquired even as she nodded to the wisdom of his words. "You did turn into a 'friggin loony' after all..."

"Hah! Shows what you know!" Ranma exclaimed triumphantly. "I was a friggin loony looong before that!"

They managed to keep their respective expressions stable for no more than a couple of seconds. Then they both started snorting with laughter.

Once they both calmed down Ranma smiled at Akane with a twinkle in his eyes but no trace of mockery whatsoever.

"Ya really saved the day, ya know?" he told her in all honesty. "If ya hadn't done that 'Mega-Samurai' thingy I'd really been in a bit of trouble back there."

"A bit? Just a bit?" Akane inquired, her eyebrow rising with the corner of her mouth. "You would have ended up as a stain on the mountainside without me! And you know it!"

"Well maybe, maybe not," Ranma retorted, his expression unchanging. Then he reached out and put one of his hands on top of one of hers. "Still, good thing ya had my back."

For that acknowledgement Akane rewarded him with one of her brighter smiles.

"And don't you ever forget that," she told him as she freed her hand from under his and used it to pat him on shoulder. Then she rose and moved towards the aisle.

"Restroom was that way?" she asked as she nodded in the direction of the engine.

"Guess so," Ranma agreed with a shrug. It wasn't important anyway. Restrooms happened to be in every car. Just pick a direction and walk until you find one. In case you happened to be Ryoga it might be in South Africa. But the general principle was solid.

Ranma was watching Akane's retreating form with an appreciating smile on his lips when Soun, almost forgotten with his silent vigil by the window, suddenly addressed him.

"Do you love her?"

Ranma looked over towards the source of the inquiry, almost surprised that the man had finally found his way back to the rest of them.

"Is that a trick question?" he asked right back. "Yeah. I do love her. Kinda obvious, dont'cha think?"

Soun simply nodded at the pert answer. His expressionless face was still looking out the window.

"What does it feel like?" he asked as emotionless as before. "Remind me. I seem to have... forgotten."

Ranma's eyebrows furrowed as he mulled over the strange question. There were a thousand possible answers and twice as many stupid jokes he could think of. But nothing came even remotely close to describing the truth about love as he saw it.

"Whatcha expect?" he finally asked in response. "A poem? Maybe a song? I know a guy at school that's good with that kind of thing. I could get ya in touch if ya want. As for me, I don't talk that much about it. I'm more into doin'. And that's not even a etchi joke."

With a sigh Ranma leaned back into his seat, sinking as deeply into the cushioning as it would let him.

"I can't really tell ya what's it like. I only know what Akane makes me feel like. And I'm not completely sure that always qualifies as love 'cause sometimes I just could... aaargh"

His hands came up like claws in a gesture of frustration.

"And the next moment she's the most precious than anything else in the world. She's making my blood boil an' my head spin an' she's making me act like a total idiot. Not that I even needed help with that…

I'll never accept a life without her. Never ever..."

Sound nodded in concert with those words, his gaze still focused beyond those sheets of glass.

"Thank you," he finally said, his voice still level but with a hint of emotion in it. "I am glad Akane found someone that feels this passionate about her. But you were right. A poet you certainly are not."

And for the first time this day a hint of a smile appeared on his lips.

...

A couple of hours later and a couple of miles to the east Kasumi heard a noise at the door.

When she stuck her head out of her kitchen she was almost run over by her little sister that seemed in a hurry to greet her.

With her arms full of Akane she was next greeted by her father. He seemed a bit different from his usual self. A bit more muted, almost thoughtful. But at the same time he greeted her as if he actually noticed her presence, as opposed to just passing with hardly more than some automated form of acknowledgement.

The rear was made up by Ranma, ladden with three backpacks as well as the souvenirs Akane had insisted on buying. After he put everything down in a safe place he walked over to join the others.

"Yo, Kasumi!" he greeted her with a big smile adorning his face. "As promised, everyone back in one piece. Told you it's gonna be all riiiiii..."

His sentence was cut short forcefully when the eldest Tendo girl broke free of her sister and pulled him into a tight embrace that would have even forced the Chinese judge to give her full points.

"Thank you," he heard her sigh into his ear. After a quick glance to check if Akane showed any sign of objection he returned the hug lightly.

"Hey, no big deal" he replied tenderly. "Like I said before. Bringing Akane back safely is what I'm all about. Ya dad though, he just kinda tagged along."

That drew a chuckle from Kasumi and she disentangled herself from him, holding Ranma at arm's length so she could look him in the face.

"Even so, thank you for escorting them back safely."

"Aww, man, heh heh," Ranma laughed sheepishly. "It's not that they wouldn't have found their way back on their own."

"Yes, of cause," Kasumi agreed, though with not quite enough conviction to be completely convincing. But then she perked up, slipping back into her well-rehearsed persona.

"You have to be hungry," she said. "All of you, why don't you freshen up while I fix you something? Nabiki should also be back soon. Let's have a nice family dinner, shall we?"

Her proposal had the desired effect of dispelling the slightly awkward atmosphere. Everyone was probably glad to return to more familiar terrain.

And to tell the truth, the promise of Kasumi's cooking always had such an effect on people.

...

Just like Kasumi had promised, Nabiki arrived just a short while later.

True to her nature she was burning to get the scope on what had happened in the mountains. But for tactical reasons she held her curiosity at bay until she was able to drag Ranma into her room with no one else noticing.

"So, what happened?" she asked him in a notably curt fashion.

"What ya mean what happened?" he retorted equally eloquent. "We're back and in one piece. That's what happened."

Nabiki was obviously to see the merit of a blunt answer like that.

"Listen kiddo," she snarled at him. "If you like to play word games then you've got the wrong girl. Now tell me everything that happened after you left the house. Or I will bleed you dry. And for once I am not talking about money."

"Allright, allright," Ranma placated with his hands raised in a gesture of surrender.

"I was going to that meeting spot ya told me and waited for that transport ya spoke of. Could have told me though that it was a bike picking me up by the way. So this guy drives up to me and asks if I've seen a 'Hot-bod Redhead' that he was supposed to drive west. I say yes, I can go get her, and then I go changing. So then I'm back an' that guy is all grins an' he's driving like a lunatic, trying to impress me or something. Good thing ya can really talk at that speed he was going but I almost punched him in the nuts when we got there an' he tried to hit on me like some lame-ass delinquent. Anyway, I got rid of him and still had twenty-something minutes for the train to arrive. The rest was waiting an' trailing an' waiting some more 'til Akane did something stupid. Actually I didn't have to wait too long on that account. Half the way up the mountain she fell right down again."

When Nabiki's eyes widened in alarm Ranma held up a hand and smirked at her.

"Don't worry, she was just a bit clutzy, like always. Well, ya dad ran off to get some help so I figured playtime's up. Ya should have seen her face when I suddenly popped up on the ridge she had made a facedive into," he remarked with a chuckle.

Nabiki, not prone to a bit of schadenfreude (*), found herself snickering too.

"Well, to keep things short, I took her to a good spot to spend the night and we camped there. The next morning we set out to find Happosai. And we did. And now we're back. Didn't even forget to pick up ya Dad. An' that's it basically."

"That's it?" Nabiki asked with no intention to buy that he had told her all the important parts.

"Yeah, that's it," Ranma repeated unimpressed. "Listen, we are back. Happosai will never show up again. If I tell ya anything more ya either gotta go to the cops or ya gonna commit complicity or whatsit called. Ya really that curious?"

Nabiki knew he was right. Damn that guy, but she knew it. Still, she was that curious. Almost.

"I hate to say it but you got a point," she agreed after a short but intense internal struggle. "I guess sometimes ignorance is bliss."

Ranma smirked in a surprisingly emphatic fashion and patted her on the shoulder.

"I know, right?" he said. "Now come on, let's get down an' have some chow. Can't wait to hear ya dad make up some grand old story about his heroic search for his li'l girl..."

(* Seriously? The same German word in UK and US because you guys only got "malicious joy" otherwise? Why don't you have your own word for something so basic? You got all those home-video shows on TV over there, so no use telling me it's because you're all Saints… :-P)

...

Considering the little time she had for preparation, Kasumi really outdid herself with dinner.

Since she had done all the hard work already, Ranma insisted that he would take care of the various dishes she had provided. His actions did not stem purely from the kindness of his heart. Out in the living room Akane was getting grilled by Nabiki concerning the events of the last two days and he knew that Kasumi was just dying to be a part of the conversation. At the same time Ranma was all too happy to get out of the line of fire. He had gotten a lot better at non-leathal communication, well, compared to his earlier years. But he knew when to retreat against impossible odds. Such as conversations over dinner with a curious Nabiki present and secrets to be unravelled by a thoughtless remark. That was something Akane was so much better equipped for than he was. And therefore he left the field to his soon to be wife (again).

Akane didn't disappoint him when it came to withstanding the scrutiny of her sisters. She told them about the trip to the mountains but stayed rather vague when it came to the reason of her father's abduction. Nabiki for her part was torn between her unbound curiosity and the knowledge that what she unearthed might stick to her quite uncomfortably.

Also there were enough hints that whatever was the cause of Akane's little extravaganza not only overshadowed their little family as a whole but also had special implications for her older sister. And while Nabiki usually had a way of caring that was easy to overlook amidst her snide remarks and the teasing, she was willing to give an arm and a leg to keep Kasumi from harm.

So between Nabiki not digging too deep and Akane providing comparably little to dig into and Kasumi being her usual pleasing persona, dinner went by without any disturbing revelations.

Soun, like Ranma predicted, told his story about Akane's accident and the ensuing search with a little embellishment here and there. Nobody believed the part about the bear and the North Korean spies but it was entertaining and so no one bothered to question the validity of his claims.

Not alone his daughters though noticed that something had changed with the man. His presence seemed different. As if he had stopped staring at his own feet and started looking at his surroundings instead. He seemed aware of what happened at the table and with his girls. How they talked and teased and laughed. And it seemed he had come to grips with the amorous way Akane and Ranma were interacting.

And also, he was the first to comment on those missing at the table.

"By the way, where are Hibiki-kun and that Chinese girl?" Soun asked right as dessert was being served.

"Oh! Them..." Nabiki answered as if noticing their absence only now. "When Ranma went after the two of you that Hibiki-guy screamed something about running off again and hurried after him. And where he goes Shampoo goes. I take it they didn't catch up with you?"

"Hey Ranma, you're the expert," Akane remarked towards the help that was currently balancing a stack of used tableware en route to the kitchen. "Do you think he's in the wrong Alps?" (*)

"Naaaa..." came the answer from her intended. "That would still be too close to where he wants to go. Scenery wise anyway. So either he's in a dessert along the equator by now or Shampoo caught up with him. Then I'd check the love-hotels nearby."

"I feel a bit sorry for that poor Shampoo," Kasumi remarked as she fidgeted in her unusual position as someone being served. "Always having to run after her hubby."

"Oh, I don't know," Nabiki injected with a sly grin. "She seems to rather enjoy that part."

"True that," Akane agreed with her and directed a telling gaze towards the kitchen where Ranma had just vanished. "After all, most of the time the chase is better than the catch..."

"Oi! I heard that!" the guy in the kitchen complained through the door. But his protest got drowned out by the girls giggling.

(*The Hida Mountains are also called the Japanese Alps. The actual Alps would be that Mountain range in Europe as you most likely know.)

...

Later that day, with the sun having set in the west, Ranma finally got some time alone with Akane outside by the koi pond.

There they sat quietly, each with a cup of hot chocolate and a shoulder to lean to. It was nice, after the chaos of the last couple of days. And it helped with the burden of Happosai's death by their hands that chose these quiet moments to come knocking.

Not that they doubted to have done the right thing. Between self-preservation and the protection of the general public there had been little choice in that matter. The duty of vengeance for what had been inflicted on the female side of their respective families not even taken into account.

But still, a kill was a kill. And while Ranma at least had memories of having gone down that road before, to Akane all this was new territory.

"You know," Ranma suddenly broke the silence, well aware of what was going through his love's head. "At the end that was more of an exorcism than anything else."

"Yeah. I know," Akane agreed in a quiet voice. "I do remember what he was like after all. But still..."

"But still he was too dangerous to let life," Ranma finished her sentence with a voice that permitted no contradiction. "Happosai was the worst thing a martial-artist can become. All the power an' no morals. He prob'ly was more of a demon than the real thing. Besides, ya didn't kill him. Ya only stopped him from possessing our baby. Or foetus or…egg? Whatever it is yet."

To indicate what he was referring to he reached out for the girl's still flat stomach and lightly drew circles with the flat of his hand. Akane reached down and grabbed that hand, squeezing it and then directing it to where her heart started to beat a bit faster from just his light caress. As his hand explored the newly assigned playground the girl reached up and drew his head over for a kiss.

"I'm sorry for forcing you into this," she whispered. "If I hadn't run off like that you would have had more time to get prepared."

"Idiot..." That insult sounded surprisingly amiable the way he intoned it. "If we'd waited some more the old freak would have shown up all rested an' ready to go. An' you might have been already too pregnant to fight. Which means I would have had to handle him alone. Not a nice prospect. Besides, all's well that ends well an' stuff, ya know?"

Akane looked at the face in front of her. At those blue eyes shimmering like midnight lakes under that mop of black hair. That roguish grin that for once did not seem to mock her. He didn't look anything like a prince from a fairy-tale and still he was everything she ever could have wished for.

"So, this is our 'Happily ever after' now?" she asked in accordance to that line of thinking. "You and me and our kids in our little dojo?"

Her voice had become a bit too husky for that type of question she had to admit. But that was Ranma's fault, letting his hand roam freely where she had put it. She was just reacting to his… massage.

"Yeah, right, 'Happily ever after'. As if..." she heard him mock her gently, probably all too aware of the cause for her half-lidded eyes. "This ain't no Disney movie, ya know? We gonna be teenage-parents, that's gonna be tough enough. We gotta find the old pervert's stashes an' return the loot to the proper owners. And we gotta try and find a way to explain ya grandma to ya sisters without causin' too much damage. Oh, an' even if we avoid Azusa and that Sanzenin jerk, which should be easy as long as we stay away from the ice, we still gonna get dragged into that match with Kodachi in a couple of weeks. An' ya realize that's just the beginning, dontcha?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Akane replied in a voice that was more impatient than anything else. "There's no rest for the wicked. Now would you please shut up and start ki…"

She didn't have to ask him twice.

Obviously, she only got to ask him half.

After that their communication got a little too basic for words. But that was okay.

Who needs a 'Happily ever after' if you can be ecstatic in the here and now?

…

End Chapter 10

Author's notes: One more to go!