Welcome to Decisions have to be made. Of course this is a fanfiction where the characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. This was an idea I had from being sick as a dog and watching a marathon of Criminal Minds. Like always, comments are always appreciated. Enjoy.

1

Akane laid curled up with a pillow, on her bed, facing away from her door even though the morning was almost over. Someone knocked, but she did not respond. Without encouragement, the intruder walked in.

"What's bothering you?" Nabiki asked, as she walked into the room. She closed the door behind her and sat on the corner of the bed.

Akane sat up, but didn't turn to face her sister. "What if I hadn't made it in time yesterday?"

"But you did make it, so why are you worried?"

"I made it this time, but what about the next time? As things stand, he's not likely to make a decision so things like this will just keep happening."

"Would you prefer if he did make a decision?"

Silence hung in the air.

"Well?"

"Yes."

"Even if he doesn't choose you?"

Tears filled her eyes. "Yes, even if he doesn't choose me, I think it would be better if he made his choice."

Nabiki rose from the bed. "Okay, I'll take care of it, but this is going to count as your gift for the next few birthdays and Christmases."

Akane turned around to face her sister, but she was already gone. "What do you mean by that?"

Silence was her only reply.

Ranma sat on the rooftop. He was still contemplating the events of last night, or as much as he could remember. He stared at his pinky finger. Akane had informed him of the details he was foggy on, but she especially expressed how close the call was.

"I was almost too late." Her words echoed in his mind, as he recalled the pain in her eyes.

Ranma laid down on the roof and let the sun beat down on him. He rolled over to his side and saw a pole with a note attached to it. On his hands and knees, he crawled over to the note, and hesitantly detached it. Unfolding it, he read: come in for a chat, Nabiki. Swinging down, he found the window already opened, and jumped through.

"What's up?" he asked as he settled himself on her desk chair.

"I wanted to check in on you after what happened yesterday."

He immediately looked down at his pinky finger and gulped loudly. "Yeah, Akane really saved the day yesterday."

"I wonder about that." Nabiki mused.

"What do you mean?"

"I just wonder if Shampoo would have actually gone through with it in the end."

"Of course she would have. Why would she have gone through the trouble if she didn't mean for it to be permanent?"

"For attention, for your time. I mean she cares for you, and I think she wants you to feel the same way, so I don't think she would let the spell take effect, because your affection would not be real."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Really? You spend all your time with Akane or Ukyo, but you don't hang out with Shampoo, even when she asks, you don't really spend time with her. Desperation makes people do crazy things."

"Why are we even having this conversation?"

"Because Akane is my sister and I love her."

"But we are talking about Shampoo."

"Actually we are talking about your selfishness."

Ranma's head tilted to the side. "You lost me."

"You haven't realized it, but you are being incredibly selfish with your inability to make a decision about who you want your fiance to be. By not deciding you are keeping all the girls in limbo. They are not able to move forward with their lives or even have highschool boyfriends or go on dates, because they are all waiting on you."

"I'm not stopping them from doing those things."

"Yes you are, because they are all engaged to you, and you haven't chosen, so they are all bound, unable to go forward. If you would just make your decision and set the other two free then everyone can move on. I get that you never wanted any part of this, but it happened anyway, and you are prolonging the inevitable."

Ranma shrank back from her words.

"I think it's been long enough. You need to start figuring out who you want and come to a decision."

Nabiki's phone rang. They both turned to the device, and Nabiki escorted Ranma out of her room before answering the call.

Ranma walked out of the Tendo house, hoping to clear his head. That was not the conversation I expected when I went in there. He wandered aimlessly around Nerima as he replayed their conversation in his mind. Am I really hindering the girls from living their lives? "Alright, well I know what I have to do now!" Ranma exclaimed, and headed back to the Tendo household.

Inside, he went straight to the room he shared with his father, grabbed his camping equipment and escaped out the window.