KTKG says: Okay… here you go the next chapter in the series… I hope you guys like it and I want you all to know that I really appreciate all the feedback, it really helps me you know? Anyways… ENJOY!

Chapter Ten!

It was a particularly hot and outrageously muggy day out. He could practically see the sidewalk baking and beginning to buckle under the sun's relentless rays. He was literally melting; his bright red shirt sticking to his body like it was a second skin. He cursed under his breath for the reason he was currently out in this horrible, horrendous heat.

Akane was out of strawberries and she want more… now.

Any other time he would have told her to go get her own, however, in her current condition if you will, the heat was too much for her changing body to handle so he was forced to step out and set out into the imitation Sahara desert for… strawberries. That and Mr. Tendou forced him to.

The last couple of weeks had been unsettling. When he and Akane had returned home it was as if the atmosphere around the eldest Tendou had the same temperature as the polar ice caps. After a long treacherous scolding from none other than Nodoka, Soun had managed to salvage what was left of his relationship with his 'baby girl' and, upon Akane's request, had a long conversation with him about their marriage plans.

Ranma cringed.

It took three hours of interrogation on Soun's part to make sure that he was serious about Akane and that he wasn't going to skip out on her with one of his other 'obligations' as he so kindly put it. Please, like he would ever think of doing something like that. Then, however the dreaded question that he still didn't have an answer to came up.

What was he going to do about them?

He sighed and looked at the swinging bag of fruit in his hands, momentarily tempted to pop some of them in his mouth but then remembering that she would bite his head clean off if he did so.

What was he going to do about the others? It was obvious that Shampoo was the biggest threat, so if he could help it that one would have to be last if possible. Ryouga was another one that was a bit unstable, but if he played his cards right, he could probably handle him. Ukyo on the other hand…

That was a whole different story.

The two of them went way back, they were just little kids when they met. She was in a way, his best friend, at times more like a sister now that he thought about it. He thought she was a boy at first for crying out loud, and that's an image that he just couldn't shake. But still, if he told her, it would break her heart, and a woman's tears was something that he hated to see, no matter who it was. On the other hand, it had to be done. If she was truly his friend, she would understand and accept it right?

He groaned as he wiped a huge drop of sweat from his brow.

Only time would tell for that one. Right now, he just wanted to get back home and sit beside the nice cool fan that Akane was probably hogging right now. If he could help it, he would avoid confrontation with anybody as long as possible, but the sight of Akane sitting there watching TV with a small fan in her hand, he realized that he couldn't put it off for long.

"Took you long enough."

He blinked himself out of his thoughts and stuck his tongue out at her. True they had admitted they loved each other but he still loved giving her a hard time, and it was the same with her too. "Oh be quiet, I almost melted out there and all you're worried about is your damn fruit."

She giggled in response and snatched her goodies out of his hands. Well, at least she had a craving for healthy things. "Oh, whatever. I know you're strong and you would have survived. You've been through worse right?" She popped one of the sweet morsels in her mouth and he found that his brain momentarily shut down, something that was happening as of late when she would do certain everyday things. She had a certain glow about her and like a moth to a flame he was attracted to it. Then again he had always been attracted to her; he was just too stupid to admit it.

"You know, it would be nice if you could share some of those with me…" She looked at him thoughtfully and then shrugged, pushing the bag of strawberries in his direction. "I guess I could, seeing as you did go out there in the heat and get some more for me. Plus you caught me in a good mood."

"Oh?"

Before he had left the house earlier, she was ready to murder someone over the damn food in front of him, what could have possibly changed her mood? "What's got you all happy?" She smiled at him and turned away for a second, only to come back around with something that automatically made his blood boil.

He found that he was staring straight at none other than that stupid black pig, P-chan.

Ryouga.

Suddenly a chill ran through his body and he gave his fiancée a weary gaze. Really? This was something that he really wanted to avoid, why couldn't he have shown up as a human? That would have made this so much easier. Looking at the squirming animal in her hands he felt the urge to plant his fist right in his eye, but miraculously he was able to push that feeling away. Smiling he plucked the pig from her hands and set it down on the other side of her. She gave him a confused look but he was too into his thoughts to notice her gaze.

Okay, so Ryouga was here. Surely he had already noticed something was different about Akane. Physically her face was much rounder, and her chest was… well they were getting pretty big. Of course he would have noticed that one considering that's usually the first place she smashes him to on her body. He gave a sidelong glare at the pig by Akane's leg and grabbed another strawberry. From the look he was getting back Ryouga knew something and wasn't happy about it.

Akane stood suddenly and stretched popping her back before she turned to look at a slightly paranoid Ranma. "What?" He shook his head, trying to make himself as calm as possible. "Nothing… nothing. Where are you going?" She glared at him a bit, turning slightly making the slight protruding of her stomach visible through the baby-doll tank she had on. "I'm just going to the kitchen to get some lemonade that I made earlier. I was going to get you some too, why is it a problem?"

He glanced using his peripherals to see that Ryouga's eyes were fixed on Akane's figure, and then glanced back at her, hurrying to give her and answer seeing as she was getting an annoyed look on her face. "Um… are you sure you don't want me to get it for you?" Surprisingly she smiled in response and bent down to his eye level which wasn't very far for her.

"Ranma you dolt, I'm not helpless, just pregnant. I think I can manage getting something to drink on my own thank you very much." With that she planted a kiss on his lips and turned to leave the room.

With wide eyes, Ranma turned just in time to see Ryouga giving him the meanest look a pig could muster and squealing loudly before he turned and ran out of the room also. That wasn't a good sign at all. Akane had just indirectly spilled the beans in front of Ryouga, and suddenly he was cursing himself for ever making that promise with Ryouga and keeping his curse a secret. If Akane had known…

"What happened to P-chan?"

Ranma instantly racked his brain for an answer that wouldn't result in the possibility of him missing some teeth. Sure she loved him, but her mood swings were something altogether different. 'He uh… went to use the bathroom?" She gave him a skeptical look as she placed the two glasses down in front of them. "I guess."

Ranma's heart was racing in his chest. Any second now….

Ranma could see the vibrations in his drink as Ryouga's heavy footsteps pounded on the sun deck towards where he and Akane sat. Akane, oblivious to what just happened looked up at Ranma with wide eyes. "What the hell…?"

"RANMA!!!"

As if on cue, Ryouga came rounding the corner, eyes burning with pure hatred. "What have you done to my Akane?" Before Ranma could retaliate he found himself punched in the face and looking into an enraged Ryouga's face. "What did you do to her Saotome? What Amazon potion did you use on her?" Ranma's eyes widened as he pushed Ryouga off of himself and away from Akane. "What are you talking about? I haven't done anything to her!"

Ryouga growled in response but stayed where he was. "She's pregnant too… what did you do, give her something and then take advantage of her? You're nothing but scum Ranma… SCUM!" Akane gasped beside him and he suddenly went motionless. What was he trying to say? That he drugged and raped her? Anger burned its way through his veins until he was seeing nothing but red.

Without warning Ranma launched himself at Ryouga, knocking him down flat on his back and returning the favor with a punch to his face. "You're one to talk Ryouga. If anyone has been taking advantage of Akane it's YOU, not me. I haven't done anything but love her they way I should have been doing in the first place." Ryouga struggled to his feet away from Ranma, shaking his head. "LIAR!"

Ranma continued on, the rage inside of him pushing the words out of his mouth before he could stop it. "Admit it Ryouga, you've done much worse things than I ever have. You made me keep secrets from her, playing on my sense of honor… and then when I kept my promise you started taking advantage of her…" Pushed over the edge, Ryouga launched himself at Ranma and before Akane knew it the two were moving so fast that everything looked like a complete blur.

She was confused. Where had Ryouga come from, and how on earth did he know that she was pregnant? What was Ranma talking about when he said he had taken advantage of her and made him keep secrets? Her head was spinning with the effort to put the puzzle pieces together.

Ranma had said that he didn't tell anyone and she hadn't either. She looked down at her stomach. She wasn't showing that much, and the top she had on didn't really make it all that noticeable, so how…

A loud splash made her look up from her midsection and she instantly drew in a breath.

There, in Ranma's hand, was her pet pig P-chan. Suddenly all the puzzle pieces finally fit into place and the whole picture came together. The name calling and hostility whenever P-chan was around, Ryouga and P-chan always showing up at the same time, that damn scarf, and then… P-chan was here earlier when… when she…

Suddenly her hand holding her glass went limp.

*CRASH*

Ranma's head whipped to the side to see Akane standing there, broken glass at her feet, her voice completely void of all color and emotion. Reality hit him hard. Oh no, no no no no. This was not how he wanted it to happen. He had been so wrapped up in his fight with Ryouga that he had totally forgotten that she was standing there, watching the whole thing. He turned back to the pig in his hands and noticed that he held the same expression as his fiancée.

"Akane…"

Tears escaped down her face before she turned around and made her way up to her room, the slamming of her door shaking the whole house.

Ryouga squirming in his hand brought his attention back to him and Ranma narrowed his eyes. Since he was stuck like this for the moment, he figure that he couldn't argue back and there was a few things he wanted to say to him.

"Listen up Ryouga. I love Akane, with all that I am. I didn't plan this, but I don't regret it either and neither does she. Now there are two options that you could go by. One is you can leave and never come back around, seeing how at this moment Akane would probably kill you, or two, be happy for us and stick around to help us out if needed. Believe it or not Ryouga, I still think of you as a friend, and I would be really happy if you considered option number two."

Ryouga stopped squirming instantly and lowered his head. Apparently Ranma had got through to him. Slowly he lowered him to the ground and released him. Instantly he ran off around the house and Ranma sighed. He knew Ryouga; he would make the right decision if he had enough time, hopefully.

Only time would tell for that one.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*Knock knock*

There was no answer and Ranma gave a sigh as he glared at the ugly yellow duck on the door. He knew she was in there, he could just go on in, but that was like risking his life. Sighing again, he decided that it was worth it and began to open the door; however the door opened on its own.

Akane stood there on the other side, staring blankly at him, her eyes red from crying. He started to say something, to open his mouth and apologize but Akane made a move that caught him off guard.

*SLAP*

His head whipped to the right from the force of her hand and he remained that way, not bothering to correct himself. He deserved that, he knew, and he had to honestly say that he deserved much more to those. Suddenly there was warmth wrapping itself around him and a familiar bump was pressed against his stomach. Akane buried her face in his chest as he brought his face back around. Her sentence was muffled but to him they were as clear as day.

"You and your stupid honor."

Taking that as some kind of good sign, he began to slowly move them back into her bedroom and to her bed where he made her sit down. She was crying again and he all he could do was wrap his arms around her.

"I'm sorry."

What? She was apologizing? "I should have known better, the signs were all there, not to mention all the hints you were dropping. I guess… I guess I had to see it for myself for everything to finally click." She gripped his shirt. "I should have listened to you… all those times…" He rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down; all this excitement today couldn't be good for her and the baby.

"No, I should really be the one apologizing. If it wasn't for me and my stupid sense of honor we wouldn't be in this mess now would we?" She smiled slightly and started to stretch out on her bed, motioning for him to follow her. It had become something of a ritual for them to lie together in her bed and talk until one or both of them fell asleep. "It's both of our faults I guess… but what about Ryouga now? Do you think that he'll tell the others?" She felt him shake his head and trusting him she snuggled down into his warmth.

Silence filled the room as the wind blew in through the cracked window, cooling the two of them down. Akane was almost asleep, suddenly exhausted from the day when Ranma's voice suddenly woke her back up.

"Do you think you could ever forgive him?"

Instantly her body stiffened and Ranma was afraid that he had sent her into shock. Akane however was lost in thought.

Could she forgive him? She felt utterly violated when she had found out the truth, and a sudden hatred for him had settled itself in her heart. But she knew despite what he had done, there were times when he had saved her also, but could they outweigh what he had done? She didn't know. Only time will tell on that one.

Ranma didn't need an answer to know what was going on in her mind. She most likely would, but even he knew that it wouldn't be for a really long time. "You know what; don't worry about it right now 'Kane, just worry about taking a nap." After a few second she settled back down against him, her breathing coming slow and easy. A couple of minutes later Ranma found himself drifting off to sleep when Akane's voice broke through to his conscience.

"Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, no matter what happens."

He couldn't help but smile.

"I love you too. Now, let's get to sleep, I'm suddenly really tired."

*~*~*~*~*~

KTKG says: OK so that's it for now, tell me what you think! I didn't like this one too much for some reason, but I think it turned out pretty well considering this is the fourth version. Oh well let me know!!