Note: These characters don't belong to me, they are someone else's property!

" " when someone talks

Italics when someone thinks

What the future holds

Chapter 4: Who lives in this house now

"What are we going to do now?" Akane asked not really knowing if Ranma had the answer.

"Well, we're gonna fix the mirror and get the hell outta here before anyone sees us" Ranma explained whilst he was picked up the broken pieces of mirror from the floor.

"Ok…and how are you planning to fix it?" She asked. Raising an eyebrow unconvinced.

"I dunno, I'll glue it or something" He shrugged.

"Oh, thank goodness you are here…Ranma Saotome to the rescue with the power of glue!" She said sarcastically.

"Hey, this is your mess here. You should be thanking me for trying to help, you ungrateful-uncute tomboy!" Ranma answered irritated and slightly offended.

Akane was just about to knock him out with her mallet when she heard a noise "What was that?"

"Just some noise from outside, probably a cat or something" Ranma said as he opened the room door and poked his head out.

"What are you doing?" Akane asked slightly alarmed.

"Well, the coast is clear, let's get outta this room and look for something to fix this, the sooner the better" He explained gearing into action.

"Do you think it's safe to go out?" She asked anxiously.

"Geez Akane, this is your own house, what are you scared of?" He asked mockingly.

"Well, just a little simple detail I think you have forgotten…we are in the FUTURE, we don't know who lives here now and they might see us" She explained in a matter-of-fact way.

"I haven't forgotten, I'm the one who is trying to do something about this here. Now come on, whoever lives here should be asleep now, it's the middle of the night" He said as he silently sneaked out of the room.

"Wait! don't leave me here!" She said.

Ranma didn't wait, he was already out of the room heading towards the stairs. Akane followed him nervously. She was quite scared and couldn't believe what was happening, but what surprised her the most was the way in which Ranma was handling the situation. He was cool, calm and collected, so unlike how he normally behaved in bizarre situations.

She inwardly smiled, glad that he was there with her. If she was ever going to be stuck in the future with anyone, she would have chosen him.

As she followed him towards the stairs she couldn't help but notice that the bedroom doors no longer had the cute duck-shaped hangers with their names on them. That made her sad as it probably meant they didn't live there anymore. It was upsetting to think that one day they would all head their separate ways…and sometime in the near future too. She loved living with her dad and sisters. She wanted things to stay like that forever, she didn't want to get older and she didn't want anyone to leave the Tendo household, not even Ranma and Gemma.

Just as she reached the stairs she stopped. She suddenly felt extremely curious. Was she going to miss the opportunity to see who lived there now? That would be an opportunity she wasn't willing to waste…she had to fight the urge to turn back and peep into the rooms, see who was sleeping peacefully whilst they were wondering around like creeps in the dark.

Just as she was about to give into temptation and place her hand on the doorknob someone grabbed her and covered her mouth with a hand to stop her from screaming. She turned round in shock, relieved to see it was Ranma.

"Come on Akane! What are you doing? You're gonna get us caught here!" Ranma said sternly.

"I nearly had a heart attack you idiot!" Don't you dare come creeping up on me like that ever again!" She said angrily.

"The only idiot one here is you Akane. I mean, am I the only one with some sense around here? You know what Cologne said once about going to the future, it's dangerous, you can't let anyone you know see you" Ranma explained.

"What are you talking about? I'm pretty sure that is a line from a movie...I've never heard her say such thing" Akane protested.

"I didn't see it in a movie. I'm not stupid, I'm sure I heard her say it once, and even though I can't remember it very well, we better do what I say, no one should see us" He said arms crossed over his chest defensively.

"No one is going to see me, I just want to have a quick peek to see who's living here now..." She said turning the doorknob.

"What is it with women and curiosity?" Ranma asked exasperated.

"Oh, come on, that's nonsense, I'm sure you are just as curious as me" She grinned.

"No, I ain't. Now come on, we are gonna to fix this mirror right now" Ranma said pulling her away from the door and dragging her down the stairs.

"What are you doing? Let go of me you jerk!" Akane said trying to break free from his grip.

"Look, you're starting to annoy me now. If you continue like this, I'm gonna fix the mirror and leave you here!" He threatened, losing his patience.

Akane remained quiet and looked down.

Ranma sighed.

"I don't know what you're worrying about. It'll be your dad who probably still lives here" He said anger fading.

"Yes, I guess you're right…who else would live here. The Tendo house will always belong to the Tendo's" Akane thought out loudly.

"Exactly. I don't think your dad would sell it or anything. So that's that settled. Now about this mirror…" Ranma continued.

"I think Kasumi keeps the tape in the kitchen. We could tape the mirror together. I think that would do, at least for it to work once more and to get us back home" Akane explained now getting into gear herself.

"Ok, so tape it is. Let's get it then" He answered.

They both entered the kitchen and started searching through drawers and cupboards. The kitchen was almost exactly as it was in their time except some of the home appliances looked a bit more modern and the walls seemed like they had recently been painted. Akane was happy to see that things hadn't changed that much, at least in the kitchen, although the temptation to wonder off and explore the rest of the house was weighing hard on her as she continued with her search.

Ranma found the tape and started sticking all the pieces of mirror together as best as he could.

Oh well, too late to take a look around. Now he's fixed it we'll be off in any second Akane inwardly lamented.

"I dunno if this will work…" Ranma said as he finished taping the last of the pieces together.

"That's a lousy attempt. You're not very good at jigsaw puzzles are you?" Akane teased.

"Very funny, like you could've done better"

"Of course I could have!" She replied arrogantly just as she felt herself suddenly being pushed into the little pantry room. She felt completely squashed as they both barely fit in. She was about to call Ranma a pervert and punch him for trying to take advantage of her in such a blatant way but she soon realised why he had pushed her in there. She was actually a bit disappointed that it wasn't to try and make out with her.

Someone had just walked into the kitchen. It was a good job Ranma had such good senses and quick reflexes otherwise they would have been caught. The "door" of this pantry was a blind, so even though they were inside they could see the outside through the slats. However, they couldn't see the person properly because it was dark, and the light that shone through the window wasn't enough to see clearly.

The only thing Akane could tell was that this person was a man. She started to panic as she was sure this man had heard them and thus was about to discover them.

Ranma and Akane continued watching the figure curiously. The man didn't bother turning the kitchen light on, he just creeped around the kitchen searching for something, it looked like most likely for food. The man finally opened the refrigerator and bent down to take what seemed like some pieces of left over chicken and a carton of milk.

The refrigerator light was bright enough to illuminate part of the room, clearly revealing the identity of the hungry man. Akane silently gasped when she saw who this person was. There was no doubt. Muscular, tall, handsome, blue eyes, black hair in a pigtail…this guy was future Ranma for sure. Akane could also see how the Ranma that was squashed up beside her was surprised, it must have been odd for him to see himself like that, although she had come to learn that nothing was weird in the life of Ranma Saotome.

She kept observing the future Ranma as he drank directly out of the milk carton (five years down the line and he still had that annoying habit!) She completely scanned him from head to toe. He didn't look much different from the one she had standing beside her. His face was slightly more angular, his body a little more muscular and he was definitely taller. She couldn't help but blush whilst admiring his perfect body. Every bit of it was perfectly defined as if it had been sculpted by an ancient greek artist. He was only wearing his boxer shorts and looked like a model. Hell, she thought he looked way sexier than any man she'd ever seen. He could give any famous model a run for their money.

The Ranma that was squashed against her noticed how she couldn't keep her eyes of his future self.

"What a hunk, eh?" He teased.

"Don't be so vain. You're not God's gift to women you know…" She answered trying to hide her blush.

" I dunno…you seem to be eying him up pretty well" He continued to tease with a smile.

"You wish! I have seen much better looking guys than you (Liar). Anyway, shut up or he'll hear us!" She said trying to halt the embarrassing conversation.

Akane couldn't believe the awkwardness of the situation. But just when she thought things couldn't get any worse she heard a voice calling for Ranma, a female voice.

"Sweetie, what are you doing down here? It's one o'clock in the morning!"

The future Ranma turned back surprised "Just a little thirsty, came down for a drink. Go on up, I'll follow you now"

Akane couldn't believe what she was hearing, an extremely familiar voice had just called Ranma "sweetie". She had a funny feeling she knew who this voice belonged to but couldn't get visual confirmation as the female was standing in the shadows.

"Come with me, I'm cold and want to snuggle up" The female voice said to the future Ranma in a small voice.

"Ok 'Kane, you win...l'm coming" Future Ranma said.

And there was Akane's confirmation. Just as she thought, that voice was her own.

The Ranma and Akane who were hiding in the storage room just stood in disbelief. A woman had just called Ranma sweetie and told him to go to bed with her to snuggle. He had called this woman Akane.

Oh my God, oh my God, OH MY GOD! I can't believe it, Ranma and I are..together…could we even be married? Akane thought.

The woman walked over to the future Ranma and the light revealed her face too. It was without a shadow of doubt, Akane Tendo. She looked exactly the same only her hair was a little longer, reaching her shoulders. She was wearing a really short night gown that didn't leave much to the imagination. When she reached the future Ranma she put her hands around his neck and kissed him, passionately.

"That's definitely won me over babe, lets head up" future Ranma said smiling.

When he closed the refrigerator he turned around, as if something had suddenly attracted his attention. Ranma and Akane's hearts skipped a beat as they thought they had been busted but future Ranma was looking towards the table, something else having caught his attention. Ranma cursed himself when he realised he had left the mirror on the table Oh shit.

The future Ranma looked strangely and suspiciously at his find.

"What the…?" He said

"What's the wrong sweetie?" future Akane asked.

"Look what I've just found on the table" He said as he picked up the mirror.

"What's that? I'm sure I've seen it before…" She asked.

"It's Happosai's magic mirror…" He told her.

"What?" She asked surprised.

"I wonder how the hell this got here…I hope that old pervert isn't here or I'll beat the shit outta him!" Future Ranma said angrily.

"If he was here it looks like he's gone" Future Akane said after a quick scan of the room.

"Well, if he is gone he'll be back for this, and I'll be waiting for him. I'm going to take this mirror and keep it safe so he can't get his dirty hands back on it. How dare the old man disturb us and leave this here in the middle of the night, he sure as hell is up to something..." Future Ranma speculated .

"Well, being Happosai it will be nothing good" Future Akane added.

Future Ranma nodded "Anyway, let's go to back to bed" He took the mirror and they walked out of the kitchen.

A while later, when they were sure they were safe to, Ranma and Akane emerged from their hiding place.

"Wow...can you believe that Akane?…it seems like me and you are -" Ranma said.

"You idiot! you left the mirror on the table?! How are we going to get out of here now?!" Akane said as she grabbed his collar and started shacking him in annoyance.

"Calm down, we'll find it in the morning, surely they'll have to leave the house for something" Ranma explained.

"Somehow I don't think it's going to be that easy…" Akane sighed.

"Hey, look on the bright side, now you know who lives here…" Ranma said.

Akane rolled her eyes and decided to find somewhere comfortable to hide out. God only knew how long it was going to take for them to get that mirror back…