Forever Bound
Chapter 7, The Teacher and her Student
Author's Notes: Here it is, the next chapter. Not much to say about about it except it solves some mysteries only to open ways to new ones. Hehe. All comments and critisim to silverflame-maiden@hotmail.com.
Disclaimers: I do not own Ranma 1/2, Rumiko Takahashi does. Love takes time belongs to Mariah Carey.
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Akane sat onto her desk and crossed her legs. The class sat staring expectingly at their teacher.
"Okay, class, as all of you know, open house is tonight. This is to let your parents meet your new teacher and for me to show them all of your progress's so far. I'm very anxious to meet most of your parents, especially that wonderful, unbeatable, powerfully, strong, Martial Artist father of yours Keichii that you talk about so much, "Akane said as Keichii blushed and the class giggled. Belldandy smiled and raised her hand.
"I don't think my mom would be able to make it Sensei," Belldandy giggled as Akane looked at her.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to visit your house and meet this beautiful mother of yours in person, Bell," Akane retorted jokingly as the class laughed.
"Okay, class, calm down and take out a pencil and sheet of paper," Akane said as she moved to get off of her desk and begin teaching again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(6:07 p.m, Furinken Elementry)
Akane listened as Mrs. Tsukino, Usagi's mother, asked her of Usagi's progress. Usagi just stood akwardly between the two adults tugging at one of her pigtails and looking longingly at the refreshment table.
"Oh, I assure you, Tsukino-san, Usagi is a pleasure to have in class with her enthusiastic energy and she is very optimisti and intelligent. The only thing, though, is Usagi has a tendency to be late, sleep in class, not pay attention, and eat in class. Now, I know if Usagi only applied herself she could be one of the smartest students in her class," Akane said as Belldandy ran over and tugged at Usagi's arm.
"Come on Usa-chan, they opened the snack table and I'm starving," Belldandy said as she pulled at Usagi's sleeve looking between her and the refreshment table.
"Really? I'm sooo hungry, let's go!" Usagi shouted and both girls ran off towards the snack table with Belldandy. Akane and Mrs.Tsukino looked at each other and broke out laughing knowing their daughter's eating habits.
"I give the refreshment table two minutes before it runs out of food,"Akane said.
"Really? Knowing those two, I give it 30 seconds at the longest," Mrs.Tsukino said as both women burst out laughing again.
Akane soon said good-bye to Mrs.Tsukino and moved to another pair of parents. Soon, Akane felt small hands tugging at her blouse and she saw Keichii there when she looked down.
"Yes? Keichii, what is it?" Akane asked.
"Tendo-Sensei, my dad's here, he came!" Keichii excitedly said.
Akane smiled, "Great, Keichii, but I'm talking with these parents here, can you tell your father to come here?"
"Okay!" Keichii yelled as he dashed through the crowd and towards his father. Akane smiled fondly after the boy *He's so sweet...his father must be really proud of him...I wish I had a son like that...* Akane shook her head of her unhappy thoughts and regrets as she redirected her attention back to Washuu's parents.
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Ranma stood leaning at the door waiting for Keichii. He wasn't really comtorble with the longing looks some of the women were giving him or the glares some of the men directed at him. He wasn't afraid, he could take all these men without breaking a sweat (and that wasn't even his arrogance talking), but these were Keichii's classmates and Keichii seemed to really like school all of a sudden. *Now, I'm going to have to meet this wonderful teacher his son was always telling him about...hope I can just meet her and get out of here, I still have to get Nabiki to tell me where Akane is...* Ranma thought.
Ranma suddenly saw the blond girl he saw at the Auditorium running eating with another blond girl with two pig-tails. *It's that girl again...boy thoses two can really eat...* Ranma thought before he saw his son running towards him.
"Dad, come on, the teacher wants to meet you," Keichii said as he pulled his father's sleeve.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming, little man. Sheesh, you'd think I was going to see the woman of my dreams or something," Ranma joked as Keichii scowled at his father *Man sometimes, he can act so immature* Keichii thought, his father's words not yet sinking in yet.
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Ranma finally felt his son stop.
"Okay, now where is this extroardinary teacher of yours?" Ranma asked his son. Keichii pointed to the back of a lady talking to some parents. From what Ranma could tell, the girl had thick blue hair which was braided and tied with a blue ribbon leaving tendrils to caress her face. She wore an oversized cream sweater and tight blue bell-bottom jeans. Ranma thought he could have sworn he saw that color hair before, but at that moment he couldn't remember where.
Ranma walked behind the lady and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, are you...um..." *What did Keichii say her name was again? Darn, I knew I should have payed attention to him when he babbled on about his teacher* "...are you Keichii's teacher? I'm his father." Ranma said, relieved at his quick save.
"Oh, hello Mr.-" *What was Keichii's last name again...he didn't tell me...he just said his name was Cay Xi...oh well* "I'm sorry I don't seem to know your na-" Akane said as she turned around and abruptly stopped talking. Both adults stared wide-eyed at the person in front of them as Keichii satred curiously at his teacher and his father's reaction.
*Akane's Keichii's teacher! I definitly should have listened to the boy...oh my gosh...she looks even more beautiful in person...please if this is a dream, I officially allow whoever's controlling it that I do not want to wake up...* Ranma thought as his heart beat quickened. All of his Martial Arts training and inability to be surprised over the years vanished at the beautiful girl in front of him. He only looked deep into the swirling brown eyes of her, but he somehow saw her whole being. Ranma's whole existence seemed to depend on those two captivating jewels of deep brown and the girl behind them.
*Nononononono...it's not him...it can't be him...I'm dreaming...please let this be a dream...I'm not ready to meet him yet...It's really him...Ranma...* Akane's mind wandered around endlessly, but focused on one subject...the man in front of her. She stared deep into his blue-grey eyes, attempting weakly to keep herself from temptation and drown in them. She turned her focus from his eyes then, breaking the trance she was in, knowing that if she kept looking at those eyes any longer, she would have happily allowed herself to drown once again. Her eyes roamed over his figure catching all the little differences. *He's gotten stronger and he has more muscles...* Akane noted *Still wearing thoses chinese clothing and he kept that stupid pig-tail of his...* strangely this made her happier for reasons beyond her comprehension. Akane, then, caught a faint, light, barely noticeable scar on Ranma's face hidden by his bangs and she internally shivered wondering how painful something has to be to actually hurt someone with Ranma's endurance.
Akane's heart screamed wordlessly at her in a language she did not understand (or wished to not understand) so she listened to her mind which told her only one thing *...you've moved on, don't let one look at him crumble your so hard-built walls...* Akane listened to her mind since listening to her heart has already betrayed her two times before.
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Ranma's trance was broken when Akane took her eyes from his. He could feel her eyes wander round his body, glad for all his travels and battles for once. He looked her over and smiled knowingly. Akane's soft face was surrounded by tendrils of blue hair. *She's gotten taller...*he noted *...and more well-built...definitly more well-built...* he thought as he cut that line of thought right there. *Don't think like that!* his mind screamed, but when has Ranma Saotome ever listened to his mind? Ranma jerked out of his thoughts as Akane spoke softly looking at his face again.
"Hello, Ranma...I mean Ran Mae...that's how your called now, right?" Akane spoke softly, no menace in her voice.
Ranma's heart squeezed tightly when she said that, but he spoke, "No...Akane, just call me Ranma."
"Okay...Ranma, c-can we go somewhere else to talk right now?" Akane asked as Ranma nodded his head. Akane smiled weakly and urged her weak legs to move. She walked out of the door of the classroom with Ranma following her and a curious Keichii staring after the two adults. *They must know each other...cool...I can't wait to tell Bell-chan...* With that thought, Keichii ran towards the refreshment table looking for his best friend.
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Akane led Ranma to the back of the school to a bench by the school playground. She sat down and looked stright ahead. Ranma sat down next to her, wondering what she was thinking about and once again her sweet voice interrupted his thoughts.
"So, your Keichii's dad, huh? He's lucky," Akane said without a trace of accusation in her voice as she continued to stare forward.
Ranma swallowed and said softly, "Y-yeah, he's a great kid."
Akane spoke again, "So how are your guys doing?"
"O-okay," Ranma said still having trouble speaking looking at the breathtaking girl-no...woman in front of him, her face illuminated by the dancing moonlight.
"Good, so why did you guys leave the Amazon village? I would have thought that Shampoo and Cologne would have a fit about leaving Joketsuzoku after she got to come home with her airen,"Akane joked softly, but Ranma nearly choked back a sob at the memory.
"S-shan Pu's dead. S-she d-died two years ago and C-cologne had died a month after we arrived at Joketsuzoku," he said closing his eyes urging the tears and memories to leave him. When he opened his eyes again he saw Akane's wide tear-filled eyes stare at him searching for something he did not know.
"Your joking, right? Please tell me your joking and Shampoo's at home or something?! She, they, no...no...nononono..." Akane cried hysterically not believing the lively Amazon was dead. Even though Akane had hated with a passion when she left with Ranma she strangely learned to forgive her knowing the others would felt the same way if Ranma had married her. Even if she won't admit it, Akane even missed the Amazon, life was livelier with the Amazon's energetic self around. It just didn't feel right knowing the Amazon was dead.
"Akane, Shampoo died two years ago from a poison she got from a snake," Ranma said. Ranma just waited as Akane cried. After sometime Akane calmed down and just sniffed now and then.
"Is Keichii Shampoo's son?" Akane asked already knowing the answer.
"Yes, Cay Xi is Shan Pu's son," Ranma answered.
"Good," whispered Akane. She was glad Ranma didn't leave her for someone only to cheat on her. If Ranma was to marry anyone but her, she would have had him marry Ukyo, and if not Ukyo, Shampoo. For some reason she knew the blow was lesser because she knew someone from the group had married him (excluding Kodachi). Now, at least she knew Ranma had not cheated on Shampoo, but little did she know Ranma also did not...
"How's everyone doing?" questioned Ranma.
Akane smiled at that, "Oh, Kasumi and Tofu married and they have a 5-year old son, name Tofu jr. Ryo-chan and Akari are engaged. Ucchan got married to Shiro and they have two kids, a 5-year old beautiful girl named Ryoko and a 2-week year old baby named Tenchi. Ucchan has set of Okonomoyaki shops in a lot of parts in Asia and some in Europe, but the one in Nerima is where the famous chef cooks. She doesn't have one in Italy, though, too much competition with something called Pizza," with that Akane giggled leaving Ranma spell-bound as if that single laughter wove it's spell over him.
Akane stopped giggling and her face sobered, "Mr.Saotome's living with Auntie now and you should see how she makes Mr. Panda wear clothes and eat properly. Daddy...Daddy's really sick...everyone says he's dying, but I don't believe them..."
Ranma contemplated the information Akane had gave him. *There she goes again with that Ryo-chan and Ucchan stuff ...*
"Akane, what's with the Ryo-chan and Ucchan anyways?" Ranma asked. Akane seemed to think about this for a moment before replying again.
"When...when you left, Ryo-chan, Ucchan and me,...we stuck together. The others were there, but we...all three of us became best friends...it was just something that happened...we clung to each other so we wouldn't drown in our pain...Me and Ucchan stopped Ryoga from blasting everything in sight with his Shi shi Hokodan... Ryo-chan and me helped Ucchan with her resteraunt...and Ryo-chan and Ucchan helped me out of my depression. We helped each other to find happiness again...Ranma. You have to understand...Ryo-chan, Ucchan, and me... we're more then friends...more then brothers and sisters...we share our own bond," Akane tried to explain hoping Ranma would understand.
Ranma contemplated this for a second before nodding hesitently. Akane smiled brightly at him and held out her delicate hand.
"Friends?" Akane asked hearing the constant buzz as her heart screamed unintelligibly at her, but she desperatly tuned it out listening only to her mind which kept telling her that this was what was right and this was how to make the last ache in her heart disappear.
Ranma's heart twisted powerfully at that one word, but he pasted on a weak smile not unlike Ryoga's and Ukyo's when Akane had held out her hand and made the same offer. Though the reason was different, theirs was because of a relieved happiness...Ranma's was far from it.
Ranma put his hand in hers and gave it a little squeeze before pulling back, "Friends," he whispered helplessly, never before suspecting how much that one word could hurt him. Akane smiled even brighter *If this is the only way I could be with her...so be it...* Ranma thought.
"Great, speaking of which, do the others know your back yet?" asked Akane.
Ranma just shook his head, "Only Nabiki..." at seeing Akane's quizzical look he said, "don't ask...you do not want to know how she found me."
"Okay, then why don't you come to the Tendo dojo 3 days from tonight. Everybody's going to be there for a dinner party of sorts. Bring Keichii with you," Akane said. Ranma was about to protest, but couldn't find a reason not to except the fact that everyone there might want to cut him into a million pieces and serve him in Kasumi's cooking. That, however, was not a good enough reason to keep Ranma Saotome from his family and friends, so he just nodded.
"Good, we better get going then, I think I cried for too long," spoke Akane as she stood up. Ranma stood up also and followed his goddess back towards the school. One quote that he heard before strangely stood out in his mind, the one that said, *The yellow flower of friendship smells bitter when one has had the red rose of love...*
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When Ranma and Akane reached the classroom door they saw a crowd surrounding something so they rushed towards it. Ranma stared in awe at his son's battered form on the floor, the blond girl standing over him with a pink mallet in her arms.
"Keichii-chan no baka! Why do you have to be such a jerk, hmph!" the girl said before dropping the mallet and making it disappear. The next thing that happened, however mad Ranma more surprised then anything ever could.
The little girl looked over and saw Akane. Her eyes brightened as she ran towards Akane and yelled, "Mommy, Keichii was being mean to me again, he said I could never beat him, teach me a new trick so I could beat him."
Akane picked up her daughter and said, "Oh honey, I can't do that, if you beat Keichii then you won't have anything left to mallet him for."
"Oh, Ranma, I forgot, I have a daughter too."
Akane suddenly heard a loud thump as Ranma Saotome, for the first time in 6 years, had a brain overload and left the councious world.
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I had it all
But I let it slip away
Couldn't see that I treated you wrong
Now I wander around
Feeling down and cold
Trying to believe that you're gone
Love takes time
To heal when you're hurting so much
Couldn't see that I was blind
To let you go
I can't escape the pain
Inside
Love takes time
I don't wanna be here alone
Losing my mind
From this hollow in my heart
Suddenly I'm so incomplete
Lord I'm needing you now
Tell me how to stop the rain
Tears are falling down endlessly
You might say that it's over
You might say that you don't care
You might say you don't miss me
You don't need me
But I know that you do and I feel that you do
Inside
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Author's Notes: Okay some of you might notice the small bad crossover I did with yet another anime. This chapter answered many questions. Now, I really don't like it when a character dies in a fic, but it was vital that Shampoo and Cologne had died because...*IF YOU DON'T HUSH!* Okay well that's it.
Chapter 7, The Teacher and her Student
Author's Notes: Here it is, the next chapter. Not much to say about about it except it solves some mysteries only to open ways to new ones. Hehe. All comments and critisim to silverflame-maiden@hotmail.com.
Disclaimers: I do not own Ranma 1/2, Rumiko Takahashi does. Love takes time belongs to Mariah Carey.
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Akane sat onto her desk and crossed her legs. The class sat staring expectingly at their teacher.
"Okay, class, as all of you know, open house is tonight. This is to let your parents meet your new teacher and for me to show them all of your progress's so far. I'm very anxious to meet most of your parents, especially that wonderful, unbeatable, powerfully, strong, Martial Artist father of yours Keichii that you talk about so much, "Akane said as Keichii blushed and the class giggled. Belldandy smiled and raised her hand.
"I don't think my mom would be able to make it Sensei," Belldandy giggled as Akane looked at her.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to visit your house and meet this beautiful mother of yours in person, Bell," Akane retorted jokingly as the class laughed.
"Okay, class, calm down and take out a pencil and sheet of paper," Akane said as she moved to get off of her desk and begin teaching again.
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(6:07 p.m, Furinken Elementry)
Akane listened as Mrs. Tsukino, Usagi's mother, asked her of Usagi's progress. Usagi just stood akwardly between the two adults tugging at one of her pigtails and looking longingly at the refreshment table.
"Oh, I assure you, Tsukino-san, Usagi is a pleasure to have in class with her enthusiastic energy and she is very optimisti and intelligent. The only thing, though, is Usagi has a tendency to be late, sleep in class, not pay attention, and eat in class. Now, I know if Usagi only applied herself she could be one of the smartest students in her class," Akane said as Belldandy ran over and tugged at Usagi's arm.
"Come on Usa-chan, they opened the snack table and I'm starving," Belldandy said as she pulled at Usagi's sleeve looking between her and the refreshment table.
"Really? I'm sooo hungry, let's go!" Usagi shouted and both girls ran off towards the snack table with Belldandy. Akane and Mrs.Tsukino looked at each other and broke out laughing knowing their daughter's eating habits.
"I give the refreshment table two minutes before it runs out of food,"Akane said.
"Really? Knowing those two, I give it 30 seconds at the longest," Mrs.Tsukino said as both women burst out laughing again.
Akane soon said good-bye to Mrs.Tsukino and moved to another pair of parents. Soon, Akane felt small hands tugging at her blouse and she saw Keichii there when she looked down.
"Yes? Keichii, what is it?" Akane asked.
"Tendo-Sensei, my dad's here, he came!" Keichii excitedly said.
Akane smiled, "Great, Keichii, but I'm talking with these parents here, can you tell your father to come here?"
"Okay!" Keichii yelled as he dashed through the crowd and towards his father. Akane smiled fondly after the boy *He's so sweet...his father must be really proud of him...I wish I had a son like that...* Akane shook her head of her unhappy thoughts and regrets as she redirected her attention back to Washuu's parents.
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Ranma stood leaning at the door waiting for Keichii. He wasn't really comtorble with the longing looks some of the women were giving him or the glares some of the men directed at him. He wasn't afraid, he could take all these men without breaking a sweat (and that wasn't even his arrogance talking), but these were Keichii's classmates and Keichii seemed to really like school all of a sudden. *Now, I'm going to have to meet this wonderful teacher his son was always telling him about...hope I can just meet her and get out of here, I still have to get Nabiki to tell me where Akane is...* Ranma thought.
Ranma suddenly saw the blond girl he saw at the Auditorium running eating with another blond girl with two pig-tails. *It's that girl again...boy thoses two can really eat...* Ranma thought before he saw his son running towards him.
"Dad, come on, the teacher wants to meet you," Keichii said as he pulled his father's sleeve.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming, little man. Sheesh, you'd think I was going to see the woman of my dreams or something," Ranma joked as Keichii scowled at his father *Man sometimes, he can act so immature* Keichii thought, his father's words not yet sinking in yet.
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Ranma finally felt his son stop.
"Okay, now where is this extroardinary teacher of yours?" Ranma asked his son. Keichii pointed to the back of a lady talking to some parents. From what Ranma could tell, the girl had thick blue hair which was braided and tied with a blue ribbon leaving tendrils to caress her face. She wore an oversized cream sweater and tight blue bell-bottom jeans. Ranma thought he could have sworn he saw that color hair before, but at that moment he couldn't remember where.
Ranma walked behind the lady and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, are you...um..." *What did Keichii say her name was again? Darn, I knew I should have payed attention to him when he babbled on about his teacher* "...are you Keichii's teacher? I'm his father." Ranma said, relieved at his quick save.
"Oh, hello Mr.-" *What was Keichii's last name again...he didn't tell me...he just said his name was Cay Xi...oh well* "I'm sorry I don't seem to know your na-" Akane said as she turned around and abruptly stopped talking. Both adults stared wide-eyed at the person in front of them as Keichii satred curiously at his teacher and his father's reaction.
*Akane's Keichii's teacher! I definitly should have listened to the boy...oh my gosh...she looks even more beautiful in person...please if this is a dream, I officially allow whoever's controlling it that I do not want to wake up...* Ranma thought as his heart beat quickened. All of his Martial Arts training and inability to be surprised over the years vanished at the beautiful girl in front of him. He only looked deep into the swirling brown eyes of her, but he somehow saw her whole being. Ranma's whole existence seemed to depend on those two captivating jewels of deep brown and the girl behind them.
*Nononononono...it's not him...it can't be him...I'm dreaming...please let this be a dream...I'm not ready to meet him yet...It's really him...Ranma...* Akane's mind wandered around endlessly, but focused on one subject...the man in front of her. She stared deep into his blue-grey eyes, attempting weakly to keep herself from temptation and drown in them. She turned her focus from his eyes then, breaking the trance she was in, knowing that if she kept looking at those eyes any longer, she would have happily allowed herself to drown once again. Her eyes roamed over his figure catching all the little differences. *He's gotten stronger and he has more muscles...* Akane noted *Still wearing thoses chinese clothing and he kept that stupid pig-tail of his...* strangely this made her happier for reasons beyond her comprehension. Akane, then, caught a faint, light, barely noticeable scar on Ranma's face hidden by his bangs and she internally shivered wondering how painful something has to be to actually hurt someone with Ranma's endurance.
Akane's heart screamed wordlessly at her in a language she did not understand (or wished to not understand) so she listened to her mind which told her only one thing *...you've moved on, don't let one look at him crumble your so hard-built walls...* Akane listened to her mind since listening to her heart has already betrayed her two times before.
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Ranma's trance was broken when Akane took her eyes from his. He could feel her eyes wander round his body, glad for all his travels and battles for once. He looked her over and smiled knowingly. Akane's soft face was surrounded by tendrils of blue hair. *She's gotten taller...*he noted *...and more well-built...definitly more well-built...* he thought as he cut that line of thought right there. *Don't think like that!* his mind screamed, but when has Ranma Saotome ever listened to his mind? Ranma jerked out of his thoughts as Akane spoke softly looking at his face again.
"Hello, Ranma...I mean Ran Mae...that's how your called now, right?" Akane spoke softly, no menace in her voice.
Ranma's heart squeezed tightly when she said that, but he spoke, "No...Akane, just call me Ranma."
"Okay...Ranma, c-can we go somewhere else to talk right now?" Akane asked as Ranma nodded his head. Akane smiled weakly and urged her weak legs to move. She walked out of the door of the classroom with Ranma following her and a curious Keichii staring after the two adults. *They must know each other...cool...I can't wait to tell Bell-chan...* With that thought, Keichii ran towards the refreshment table looking for his best friend.
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Akane led Ranma to the back of the school to a bench by the school playground. She sat down and looked stright ahead. Ranma sat down next to her, wondering what she was thinking about and once again her sweet voice interrupted his thoughts.
"So, your Keichii's dad, huh? He's lucky," Akane said without a trace of accusation in her voice as she continued to stare forward.
Ranma swallowed and said softly, "Y-yeah, he's a great kid."
Akane spoke again, "So how are your guys doing?"
"O-okay," Ranma said still having trouble speaking looking at the breathtaking girl-no...woman in front of him, her face illuminated by the dancing moonlight.
"Good, so why did you guys leave the Amazon village? I would have thought that Shampoo and Cologne would have a fit about leaving Joketsuzoku after she got to come home with her airen,"Akane joked softly, but Ranma nearly choked back a sob at the memory.
"S-shan Pu's dead. S-she d-died two years ago and C-cologne had died a month after we arrived at Joketsuzoku," he said closing his eyes urging the tears and memories to leave him. When he opened his eyes again he saw Akane's wide tear-filled eyes stare at him searching for something he did not know.
"Your joking, right? Please tell me your joking and Shampoo's at home or something?! She, they, no...no...nononono..." Akane cried hysterically not believing the lively Amazon was dead. Even though Akane had hated with a passion when she left with Ranma she strangely learned to forgive her knowing the others would felt the same way if Ranma had married her. Even if she won't admit it, Akane even missed the Amazon, life was livelier with the Amazon's energetic self around. It just didn't feel right knowing the Amazon was dead.
"Akane, Shampoo died two years ago from a poison she got from a snake," Ranma said. Ranma just waited as Akane cried. After sometime Akane calmed down and just sniffed now and then.
"Is Keichii Shampoo's son?" Akane asked already knowing the answer.
"Yes, Cay Xi is Shan Pu's son," Ranma answered.
"Good," whispered Akane. She was glad Ranma didn't leave her for someone only to cheat on her. If Ranma was to marry anyone but her, she would have had him marry Ukyo, and if not Ukyo, Shampoo. For some reason she knew the blow was lesser because she knew someone from the group had married him (excluding Kodachi). Now, at least she knew Ranma had not cheated on Shampoo, but little did she know Ranma also did not...
"How's everyone doing?" questioned Ranma.
Akane smiled at that, "Oh, Kasumi and Tofu married and they have a 5-year old son, name Tofu jr. Ryo-chan and Akari are engaged. Ucchan got married to Shiro and they have two kids, a 5-year old beautiful girl named Ryoko and a 2-week year old baby named Tenchi. Ucchan has set of Okonomoyaki shops in a lot of parts in Asia and some in Europe, but the one in Nerima is where the famous chef cooks. She doesn't have one in Italy, though, too much competition with something called Pizza," with that Akane giggled leaving Ranma spell-bound as if that single laughter wove it's spell over him.
Akane stopped giggling and her face sobered, "Mr.Saotome's living with Auntie now and you should see how she makes Mr. Panda wear clothes and eat properly. Daddy...Daddy's really sick...everyone says he's dying, but I don't believe them..."
Ranma contemplated the information Akane had gave him. *There she goes again with that Ryo-chan and Ucchan stuff ...*
"Akane, what's with the Ryo-chan and Ucchan anyways?" Ranma asked. Akane seemed to think about this for a moment before replying again.
"When...when you left, Ryo-chan, Ucchan and me,...we stuck together. The others were there, but we...all three of us became best friends...it was just something that happened...we clung to each other so we wouldn't drown in our pain...Me and Ucchan stopped Ryoga from blasting everything in sight with his Shi shi Hokodan... Ryo-chan and me helped Ucchan with her resteraunt...and Ryo-chan and Ucchan helped me out of my depression. We helped each other to find happiness again...Ranma. You have to understand...Ryo-chan, Ucchan, and me... we're more then friends...more then brothers and sisters...we share our own bond," Akane tried to explain hoping Ranma would understand.
Ranma contemplated this for a second before nodding hesitently. Akane smiled brightly at him and held out her delicate hand.
"Friends?" Akane asked hearing the constant buzz as her heart screamed unintelligibly at her, but she desperatly tuned it out listening only to her mind which kept telling her that this was what was right and this was how to make the last ache in her heart disappear.
Ranma's heart twisted powerfully at that one word, but he pasted on a weak smile not unlike Ryoga's and Ukyo's when Akane had held out her hand and made the same offer. Though the reason was different, theirs was because of a relieved happiness...Ranma's was far from it.
Ranma put his hand in hers and gave it a little squeeze before pulling back, "Friends," he whispered helplessly, never before suspecting how much that one word could hurt him. Akane smiled even brighter *If this is the only way I could be with her...so be it...* Ranma thought.
"Great, speaking of which, do the others know your back yet?" asked Akane.
Ranma just shook his head, "Only Nabiki..." at seeing Akane's quizzical look he said, "don't ask...you do not want to know how she found me."
"Okay, then why don't you come to the Tendo dojo 3 days from tonight. Everybody's going to be there for a dinner party of sorts. Bring Keichii with you," Akane said. Ranma was about to protest, but couldn't find a reason not to except the fact that everyone there might want to cut him into a million pieces and serve him in Kasumi's cooking. That, however, was not a good enough reason to keep Ranma Saotome from his family and friends, so he just nodded.
"Good, we better get going then, I think I cried for too long," spoke Akane as she stood up. Ranma stood up also and followed his goddess back towards the school. One quote that he heard before strangely stood out in his mind, the one that said, *The yellow flower of friendship smells bitter when one has had the red rose of love...*
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When Ranma and Akane reached the classroom door they saw a crowd surrounding something so they rushed towards it. Ranma stared in awe at his son's battered form on the floor, the blond girl standing over him with a pink mallet in her arms.
"Keichii-chan no baka! Why do you have to be such a jerk, hmph!" the girl said before dropping the mallet and making it disappear. The next thing that happened, however mad Ranma more surprised then anything ever could.
The little girl looked over and saw Akane. Her eyes brightened as she ran towards Akane and yelled, "Mommy, Keichii was being mean to me again, he said I could never beat him, teach me a new trick so I could beat him."
Akane picked up her daughter and said, "Oh honey, I can't do that, if you beat Keichii then you won't have anything left to mallet him for."
"Oh, Ranma, I forgot, I have a daughter too."
Akane suddenly heard a loud thump as Ranma Saotome, for the first time in 6 years, had a brain overload and left the councious world.
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I had it all
But I let it slip away
Couldn't see that I treated you wrong
Now I wander around
Feeling down and cold
Trying to believe that you're gone
Love takes time
To heal when you're hurting so much
Couldn't see that I was blind
To let you go
I can't escape the pain
Inside
Love takes time
I don't wanna be here alone
Losing my mind
From this hollow in my heart
Suddenly I'm so incomplete
Lord I'm needing you now
Tell me how to stop the rain
Tears are falling down endlessly
You might say that it's over
You might say that you don't care
You might say you don't miss me
You don't need me
But I know that you do and I feel that you do
Inside
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Author's Notes: Okay some of you might notice the small bad crossover I did with yet another anime. This chapter answered many questions. Now, I really don't like it when a character dies in a fic, but it was vital that Shampoo and Cologne had died because...*IF YOU DON'T HUSH!* Okay well that's it.