Akari arrived bright and early the next day to collect her fiancée. She was surprised to see him and graciously greeted Ranma back, excited to see he had returned. She thanked Akane and the families for taking care of Ryoga as she prepared to leave with him. As she hugged Akane goodbye and they briefly spoke about the wedding the following Saturday, Ryoga gripped Ranma's wrist and gave him a knowing look. The two shared a moment of comfortable silence before he let go and returned to his fiancee's side.

xxxxXXXXxxxXXxxXXXxxxx

The days that passed between Ryoga's visit and the wedding were hectic and trying, Akane stepping out often to help Kasumi with last-minute issues, wrapping up office appointments for Tofu because he'd be taking time off for his wedding and honeymoon. Needless to say, trying to get time to sit down and talk to her was next to impossible. She even had to regretfully cut back on her training sessions, apologizing over the messiness of her life at this point.

Ranma was then left mulling over his own thoughts, going between stomping into her room in the middle of the night demanding to speak to her to asking her out for a drink and try to see where to go with it.

The truth was since the time at the beach together, he at the very least knew she was attracted to him. Those pointers from Ji helped assure that, her soft smiles and light blush, she was even more easy going with him than she'd probably ever been. And she openly kissed him with Ryoga in the room. Even if it was just on the head. And had she kissed him first but it still could count.

As the wedding loomed the following day, he debated if now was the time. The eve of Kasumi's wedding could maybe be romantic if he could just figure out exactly what he wanted to say.

If Ryoga could admit he was P-Chan and they get along good now, I can tell her how I actually feel and... maybe everything goes well.

But what if it doesn't?

He tried thinking about what he could open with, bumping his palm against his forehead.

"Ey... Akane. How goes it?"

That sounds good, but maybe...

"Hey beautiful, you're lookin' good."

Ugh who'm I tryin' to be? Sounds like a worse Kuno

He could see it in his mind's eye now

"Yo 'Kane, can I talk to you a sec?"

"Sure Ranma, what about?"

"Just...this wedding got me thinkin' on some stuff."

"Mmm?"

"And... that it's that...I...um...I... you."

"What?"

"I... you, me and... the dojo?"

"Are you having a stroke?"

"I...my bride would..."

"..."

"AKANE! I've been desperately in love with you since I was 16 years old! I couldn't decide anything for myself and that's why I left and you could've married someone else and now that I'm back I'm hoping you could just fall in love with me and marry me like we were gonna before and we can run the dojo or travel or whatever because I have been borderline obsessed with you since our first meeting because you were the first girl who actually liked me and showed me even a miniscule amount of kindness even though you thought I was a girl! And then you saw my dick and freaked out and I got kinda hung up on that and then real hung up on you! I fucked up leaving and now I want to be back in your life and engaged and if you say no, I think I'll die!"

Yeah, that'll really knock her off her feet.

He sighed and went upstairs, nearly bumping into Akane who rushed out of her room, pack on her back. She nearly crashed head first into him when he grabbed her arms to steady her.

"Whoa, 'Kane you alright? Got somewhere t' be?" She blushed a little as his sudden grabbing but steadied herself. He noted that.

"I'm actually on my way to Nabiki's. We're having like a sister sleepover for the night before the wedding. Plus, we're helping her get all ready tomorrow morning anyways. Which reminds me!" She rushed away and back into her room, a large laundry bag and shoe box under her arms.

"I almost forgot my outfit!" She sighed and shook her head. "My head is all over the place this week, I can't wait to catch a break after the wedding."

"Yeah, you've been working pretty hard this week. You uh need a ride or something to Nabiki's?" She squinted at him.

"I mean yes, but I was just going to take a cab. Did you suddenly get a car or something recently? Wanted to give me a piggyback ride there?" She giggled and he shook his head.

"Yeah...not really. Guess I didn't know if you wanted company or somethin'. I got nothin' going on tonight."

"Ah you'll find something to do! I'm sure people will come by or if not relax! Get some rest, tomorrows a big day! You're attending the ceremony with your family, right?" He nodded.

"Yeah, we'll be there. And then after that it's..." He scratched his head.

"It's the ceremony, then the reception with all the food and speeches, then the afterparty with more drinks and dancing."

"Man, that's a full day. I don't remember it bein' all that when -" he stopped himself. Better to not bring up their own failed wedding. Not when he still wanted to talk to her about them. "I uh well I guess I'll get out of your way so you can head out."

She tried to ignore that mention of their wedding day and gave a small smile and nodded. She made her way past him, when she heard the door open and the two of them had shivers run up their spines. They turned to each other and winced. Before they could answer, he called out.

"Soun, Genma, my boys!" A geriatric voice rang throughout the house.

"That's definitely my cue." Akane headed downstairs with Ranma close behind.

"Akane, my sweet Akane!" She flinched away from the small old man.

"Happosai, how are you?"

"Ah I see you've continued to blossom into a beautiful young woman and I hear you're back on the market." She scoffed at him, ready to make a comment or pull a punch when Ranma came back down behind her.

"What would that matter to ya, old man?"

"RANMA?! Is that really you?" Ranma quipped an eyebrow as his old master looked him up and down. Nodding and admiring the returned student, he took a drag off his pipe and regarded his physical stature.

"We have much to catch up on, you and I. We'll share over drinks tonight." Ranma rolled his eyes. "But first!" Happosai threw cold water on the chest of the larger man, soaking his shirt and only that. His eyes bulged and looked as though his heart was on the verge of breaking.

"Your...your curse! It's..."

"It's gone you old creep, and now sounds like the perfect time to show ya what I learned." Akane took that moment to wave goodbye and head out. He waved back but not before grabbing the old man by his collar and dragging him into the house.

xxXXxxxxXXXxxxxxxXXXXxx

The three sisters cheered in the middle of Nabiki's living room, she had picked out a lovely, very expensive bottle but chalked it up to being worth it to celebrate her older sister. They spent most of the night talking about the upcoming ceremony, about getting ready in the morning, about how excited Kasumi was for their Hawaiian honeymoon. After two glasses of champagne, she was already feeling light headed and giggly, admitting how excited she was for her marriage, thanking Nabiki for convincing her to have the larger party as she was looking forward to seeing longtime friends again that she might not have been able to otherwise. She caught her sister's off-guard when she told them she was hoping to get pregnant right away, feeling like she was ready to be a mother. It wasn't too long after that Nabiki and Akane helped her to Nabiki's bed to get some rest, a little too tipsy to keep the party going. She had quite the day ahead of her.

"Akane, Nabiki, thank you so much for the lovely night. I really felt like I was young and we were all at home again together." She softly spoke from beneath the sheets they'd put over her. The two sisters sat on the edge of the bed, and smiled as she took both their hands. "I have missed those adventures we had when you were in high school. What a strange time but it was so exciting." Her eyes started watering a bit. "I often times think what if mother had been here for everything, would things have turned out different? Would she be proud of me, of us? But I know seeing the women you've grown into she would've been so proud of you both." A small tear fell from her eye, Nabiki's eyes beginning to water as well, Akane's bottom lip trembled as a tear followed her sister's eye.

"You've both grown into such strong, beautiful women. You've always followed your hearts and even if they got us into some scraps and some crazy situations, they've always been fun and you've always taken care of yourselves, your friends and the people you care about. Mother...mom would've been so happy to see you both now. I know it." From there she broke down into slightly heavier tears, as her younger sisters both joined her, tears on their faces as they both crawled to her and hugged her. She embraced them both, like she had when their mother had died, loving and soft. She laughed to break up the sadness.

"But mother will be there tomorrow with us and I know she'll be smiling down on us. I hope she'll bless my marriage to Tofu."

"Of course, she will Kasumi!" Akane blurted out like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I mean you are marrying a doctor, sis. I think mom would be happy about it." Nabiki chimed up and laughed as she wiped a tear away. Kasumi smiled and nodded, holding her sister's tightly one more time.

"I just want you both to know happiness like I feel right now. To be with the one you love, I want this for both of you. A real love and partner forever, who will adore you both for who you are. I want you both to know love like that."

"Eh, I don't know marriage doesn't really sound like my kinda thing. You know me being me." Nabiki mentioned, Kasumi shook her head.

"However you want to be with the person you love, you deserve and should have that Nabiki. You deserve love. You're a wonderful, intelligent woman who took care of us in ways father and I could not. You deserve to be cherished and taken care of." Her sister smiled and looked away; she was never that great with this sappy stuff. Kasumi turned to Akane and stroked her face.

"And you Akane, you deserve happiness. And respect. And adoration. An equal." Her eyes washed over her sister's, how Akane had struggled in her life. More put on her in her younger years than most people, from the loss of her mother, to her fight for femininity and a place to belong, to her arranged marriage and ending of said engagement. How Akane continued to be strong she didn't know but she admired her for it. She pulled Akane's face closer and kissed her forehead like when she was a child. She stared back to her sister's eyes and whispered. "You deserve to be loved completely."

Akane's lip again trembled as she hugged her sister hard, dropping tears onto her shirt. She pulled away with a pink hued face and a smile.

"We should let you get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow."

Kasumi nodded and rolled onto her side as Akane and Nabiki stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room to have another drink before calling it a night for themselves.

Nabiki poured a glass of wine for them both as she lit a cigarette in her kitchen, strolling out to give her younger sister her glass.

"Kasumi is such a lightweight." She laughed with the smoke hanging from her mouth. "And a total idealist. Her and Tofu were made for each other."

Akane nodded and took a drink.

"Can you believe she wants to have a baby already? I thought she'd want to be married for a while." Akane mused.

"Well, she's basically been a mother to everyone for the last 15 years, she's used to it by now." Nabiki took a seat on her chaise while Akane sat on her couch.

"Can you imagine dad as a grandpa? He is going to freak out." She laughed behind her wine glass, Nabiki joined as she tapped her ash off.

"He is going to be a mess; you remember how much he worried about you and Kasumi when you were younger. Anytime you got kidnapped or in a fight or if anything even slightly negative happened to Kasumi, dad flew into either a rage or near hysterics."

"Yeah, poor kid." They both laughed. Sitting in pleasant silence, Nabiki watched Akane as she likely played back memories in her mind. She stubbed out her cigarette.

"You doing okay, Akane?" Her sister turned, smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Move going, okay?" She nodded again.

"I didn't realize how much I really owned until I got the boxes but as I'm packing, it's really not all that much. All my big furniture will already be there so it's like my desk, clothes, whatever little things I want. I do still need to buy a rice maker and a couple pots and pans but that can wait 'til my first paycheck."

Nabiki nodded, waiting to ask the real questions.

"And have you told Ranma about your move?" Her eyes shifted away and she took a drink.

"I... haven't but I don't see why that would matter. I'm only going a bit further into the city, it's only like 20 minutes from the dojo."

"He may miss seeing you every day. You know people get used to being around other people they live with."

"I don't see why he'd miss me; I mean I can come by on weekends when I'm not busy, he's training me again so I want to keep that going."

"He's training you, really?" She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, can you believe it, finally after all this time."

Nabiki sighed and rubbed her head.

"Akane." She looked up. "What's going on with you two?"

Her sister's face dropped and she stared at her.

"Nothing's going on. We're actually getting on the best we have in a long time. I mean maybe ever? He's been way less of a jerk since Shingo and I broke up and he's just been I don't know a really good guy? We're hanging out a lot and it's like I have my friend back. But nothing's going on. Not like how I think you're thinking it is."

Nabiki sparked up another smoke.

"So, at the beach, that was nothing? You didn't get jealous? Or flirt with him?" Akane was taken slightly aback.

"That...that was just him teaching me to swim is all. He's a friend Nabiki, like I said."

"No, Ryoga is a friend. Mousse was a friend. Ranma I do not think is your friend, Akane."

"What are you saying Nabiki?" Akane whispered, cautious of her next move. She focused on her sister's face. Nabiki took a drag, internally panicking that she'd let out more than she should've. Afterall it was only a month or two since Ranma had come to her. And while she was still resentful that he abandoned her sister for the most half assed reasons imaginable, only to come home and try to get her back using the absolute dumbest of romantic scenarios, he was still an important person in her sister's life. And truthfully her's as well. He didn't deserve to have his feelings outed, not by her.

"I'm saying."

Think Nabiki, think

"I'm saying...you should have some fun. That's all." She took a big drink and looked back at her sister.

"Fun?"

"C'mon Akane he's a gorgeous guy, you're a good-looking girl. You're single, so is he, there's nothing standing in the way, you both don't really have anything going on. Have a little fun in your life." She sighed and took another drag. "Or don't, but I mean it seems like you two get on pretty good. And if you're just friends that's fine, even better in fact, but I'm just saying."

"Just saying what?"

"That you two always had a certain air of tension around you. You know slightly sexu-" Akane blushed.

"Nabiki!" She threw a pillow at her.

"I'm just saying, sometimes I thought I was in the middle of a drama series with you two! Maybe now that you're not engaged, have some fun. Who cares?"

"With Ranma?" Nabiki nodded. "My ex-fiancée Ranma? Him?"

"Or don't Akane! Keep being friends then! But just admit to me, you think he's cute." Akane blushed, but Nabiki egged her on with her face. She smiled.

"Alright...yeah sure he's cute."

"He's a lot more than cute."

"Okay! He's hot! But he's also an idiot who's full of himself so there's that and that takes some points away from this judge." Nabiki scoffed and laughed into her drink.

"Like that should matter." Akane rolled her eyes and finished her drink.

"I think we should be getting some sleep, we have a long day."

"Agreed, you take the couch, I'm gonna try to curl up next to Kasumi, she should be out by now."

Akane laid herself down, tucking her arm under the pillow and wished her sister a goodnight. In the darkness of the room, she thought about what her sisters had told her tonight, conflicting antidotes.

Why is everything so complicated all the time?

She yawned and closed her eyes, falling asleep within moments.

From her room, Nabiki stared at her wall next to her sister's sleeping form, feeling like she had planted the seeds of a plant doomed to rot.