Home for the Holidays

Chapter: 4

Title: Dixie's Sunny Shore

Disclaimer: There is absolutely zero chance that I could ever own Ranma ½ or any of the characters seeing as Rumiko Takahashi already owns them. Don't sue.

In preparation for the inevitable, Ranma had twisted himself under Akane to shield her from the impact.

However, in the process of all this twisting, his hand, which before had been only slightly under her sweater, had become a whole arm under her sweater while his other arm wrapped itself securely around her waist.

Akane had also attempted to brace herself for the fall, her forearms landing on opposite sides of Ranma's head.

At first Ranma was relieved that she had managed to avoid squashing his brains out, but upon further examination, he realized the truly... compromising position they were in.

Especially to the police officer that was shining that flashlight in their faces. "Hey you! What are you doing around here?"

Her first reaction to the light was to squint, but when she noticed the police officer holding the flashlight and just where exactly Ranma's hand was (not to mention their extremely close proximity), her eyes widened and her cheeks colored a lovely shade of pink.

No matter how many times she got into these mortifying situations... they were still embarrassing. Ranma was the first to gain enough composure to say what both of them were thinking. "It's not what it looks like..."

"It never is with you two, neh?"

Now just what exactly did the cop mean by that? Ranma looked closer, squinting passed the officer's flashlight and into the dimness of the woods.

Surprise number two.

"Hiroshi."

"And Daisuke."

Akane was relieved and also a bit embarrassed that these two in particular had found them. They should've known this would happen. But then again how could they have anticipated that Ranma's high school friends, Hiroshi and Daisuke, would end up being police officers... and partners at that. "What exactly compelled you to be police officers anyway?"

The coffee shop they had stopped at was practically deserted. Then again it was well past dinner time already. This was mostly due to the fact that after stammering out excuses and attempting to explain the ridiculous story without looking too much like morons, they had all gone in search of the bags that Ranma had set down when the two had started their snowball fight. Akane couldn't believe that the groceries had remained untouched in the snow-covered street. At least they'd had some luck at the end of the day.

It turned out that Kasumi had been the one to call Hiroshi and Daisuke. Even though they were off duty, they had answered the call of the eldest Tendo daughter. Who could refuse a request from Kasumi? Akane suspected the call was really not out of concern for their whereabouts but the whereabouts of her groceries. Even though Kasumi was without a doubt the most motherly person Akane knew, she was pretty sure Kasumi wouldn't be worried about them. Crazier things had happened in Nerima than Ranma and Akane being a few hours late.

"How could we have done anything less exciting after going to high school with you two?" Hiroshi replied through his smirk. Ranma rolled his eyes but smirked back. He had left quite the stamp on Nerima in the few short years he'd been around, and he was lucky enough to have made a few friends in the process.

Akane examined the rim of her coffee cup. It was the standard coffee shop kind. Brown rim. Sandy-colored bottom. Her guess was that they only bought cups that color so that the stains from the coffee would be less visible. She looked closer.

How many people had drank out of this cup? Hundreds? Who had they been? Maybe they had kids. Were they married or single? Perhaps even divorced. She wondered briefly if any of them had lives as crazy as hers. Her fingers slipped over the smooth handle and the warm ceramic melted away some of the cold from her fingertips.

Who did they share their coffee with? An old friend maybe. A family member. A spouse. She glanced over at Ranma, and thoughtlessly, the question popped into her head:

Who am I sharing my coffee with?

Her eyes focused on the deep brown of the coffee in her cup, willing it to give her some kind of answer.

"So what have you two been up to? When you both disappeared two years ago, we figured you'd just run off to Vegas together," Hiroshi smiled innocently, nugding Daisuke with his elbow.

"Yeah, aren't you two hitched yet?" Daisuke went on to say rather bluntly and slyly covered his grin with his coffee mug.

Ranma looked as if his coffee had gone down the wrong pipe so Akane decided to take this one. "Why no. Aren't you two?"

Both cops looked a bit squeamish at the thought, but Daisuke refused to be beaten at his own game and took the liberty of turning the conversation back around. "Well I'm shocked. You two sure looked cozy back there in the woods." Akane kept her cool. There was no way he was gonna get to her with that comment. "Besides, Ranma still hasn't answered the question."

Ranma seemed to have recovered just in time to say matter-of-factly, "No. We're not married. We're not dating. We're just friends." Right. Just friends. Akane knew he was just trying to make a point and get Daisuke to shut up... but still...

Hiroshi looked amused now. "Well in that case, what are you doing Friday night, Akane?" Now this was typical. Akane sighed mentally. She knew Hiroshi was just doing this in some kind of feeble attempt to get under Ranma's skin. It seemed a pretty pointless tact to her. She and Ranma were just friends. Not that she was going to accept an invitation from Hiroshi anyway.

She eyed Ranma from the side. He looked rather irked. "Now wait a minute..." Ranma began, his grip tightening around his coffee cup. "Akane just got back in town. I'm sure her family will want to spend some time with her first." That sounded reasonable, right? He didn't want it to be too apparent, but the thought of Akane going out with one of his old friends was just... unsettling. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was pretty sure he didn't like the sound of it anyway.

Daisuke clearly thought he should interject for his partner, and so he did so with a sly smile. "Spending time with "family" wouldn't happen to include you, would it, Ranma?"

The steam coming out of Ranma's coffee was suddenly exceedingly fascinating to him. Hiroshi took this opportunity to seal the deal. "Besides, Akane's a big girl now. She can make her own decisions."

"You're exactly right, Hiroshi," came Akane's voice. "And I think Ranma's right. I need to spend some time with my family this week." She felt Ranma brighten noticeably next to her in the booth. "We'd better be going," she continued smoothly. "Thanks for the coffee, you guys. It was nice to see you again." Akane gave them a cheerful smile as she tugged Ranma's arm and gathered her things.

Daisuke and Hiroshi looked satisfied with her response and waved goodbye merrily. "So how long until they get married? Two weeks?"

"Ahh.. who knows, man. Who the heck knows with those two."

As soon as the door to the coffee shop closed behind them, Akane backhanded Ranma in the stomach. "What were you thinking?" she hissed indignantly.

He evidently had not expected that one. "What are you talkin' about?" he wheezed, quickly recovering from the blow but not the surprise.

"Why'd you tell them I was going to be spending time with my family!" Not that the idea of spending time with her family was horrid, but she would have much rather liked to say it herself. She didn't need Ranma interjecting for her.

"Hey! I was doin' you a favor!" he scowled at her ungratefulness. "You didn't actually want to go out with Hiroshi, did you?" he asked pointedly. Not that he would be jealous. No. He was definitely not jealous.

"Well, no!" she said admittedly, stopping to eye him curiously, and then continuing," But I didn't need you to say anything!" Didn't he know she didn't need him to take care of her all the time?

"Listen. I told you I don't want to fight with you," his tone was so suddenly subdued that Akane hardly knew what to make of it. "I'm sorry for butting in, okay?" He continued to shuffle down the snow-covered sidewalk, leaving her standing outside the shop.

She felt the inkling of guilt creeping up on her. She hadn't meant to be so harsh with him. It wasn't that she was completely heartless or anything— just unsure of how to react around him. Why did things always have to be so complicated between them?

"Hey Ranma!" She quickened her pace to catch up. "I didn't mean to snap at you..." she began regretfully. "I guess I've just gotten used to getting along on my own." That was a true statement.

It had been hard for her the first few months of college. She had always had her sisters or friends or even Ranma to help her along the way. And now that she had that again, she hardly remembered how to act. How do you become independent and then turn around and become dependent again? The self-righteous part of her screamed resentfully that she didn't need anyone else. She was perfectly fine on her own.

But there was an even smaller part of her that knew she had always needed them. And she always would. What did she do all this time without Kasumi to offer her motherly advice and cheer her up with a batch of warm cookies? How did she ever survive without the company of her friends to laugh with her and console her on those rainy days? How did she ever last a day without Ranma to save her from something or another?

Ranma.

"I guess I'm just used to telling guys no myself..." she trailed off at that. She hoped he would understand. How could it be so difficult to apologize to someone that you'd known for so many years?

"Sounds like you turned down a lot of guys while you were at university," came his smooth but rather amused reply. She looked up to find him smiling at her, the steel blue of his eyes smiling too.

A small grin slipped to her lips. "Well college boys aren't much different from high school boys," she sighed rather flippantly.

He knew exactly what she meant by that. In Akane's mind, high school boys were the hordes of boys that awaited her arrival at school each morning... only to be beaten to a bloody pulp shortly after. And what about him? Was he much different? Ranma glanced over to see Akane staring at him, eyes widened considerably. His brain froze.

Wait... had he just asked that aloud? Her cheeks were tinged with pink, and her gaze quickly sought out the shadows on the snow.

Shit. When had his lips managed to squeeze out that question? His brain definitely would have decided against it if it had been consulted beforehand. Even so there was a part of him that was rather curious about what she'd say.

...what if she really thought he was just like the rest of them?

...what if she thought he wasn't?

Did it mean he was worse? Or... better? Surely he was better in her eyes than a bunch of teenage boys lusting after her every morning of her high school years. And college now as well.

Sometimes he wondered though. He wondered if he was just a very unwanted part of her life that she thought she could never get rid of.

That was part of the reason he left after all.

Who could want half of a man? Even he didn't want himself as only half of a man, so how could she? She shouldn't have to settle for less.

One of the hardest parts about leaving was admitting that he really did care about Akane. That every time he saved her it wasn't just about his duty as a martial artist or so Mr. Tendo wouldn't kill him. It was because he knew he couldn't live another day if there wasn't just some chance that he could win her over. That she might choose him. And now that she was three feet in front of him, he wasn't sure if he'd ever had a chance.

Her words hit the air like a whisper. "You're different from any person I've ever met, Ranma."

He glanced up at her, trying to understand. She was facing him, unwavering but delicate in the pale moonlight. "You fight with me and call me names and make every day of my life crazier than the last," she listed, forehead crinkling in frustration.

"And you leave." Her voice was frigid as she continued, looking him hard in the eyes. "And you don't write. And you don't call. And then one day you're back."

"Just when I think I've learned to live without you..." she began gently, unable to meet his eyes now. "You show up again... and I don't know what to do with myself."

How long he stood on that frozen pavement he never knew. But by the time he woke up from that daze of a dream, she was already halfway down the snow-dusted street, fading from view.

Akane.

AN: A few answers to your questions:

My title selections for chapters have absolutely nothing to do with the actual chapter usually. But there is a method to my madness. The phrases or words are from the song "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays". Need I say more?

Sorry everyone for the long delay.

comments and criticism are welcome

-SP