Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2 or any of it's characters. They're all owner by Rumiko Takahashi. I'm just a fan of anime, and no matter how much I plead or beg or dream about it, Ranma and Co. will never belong to me.
Author's Notes: In this story the characters may be a little OOC, but oh well. The story won't be the same if they stay in character. I also have no clue when this story fits in, but it spans over a long period of time, so it could fit in anywhere, I guess. There is a WAFFy warning for this fic. This is also my first attempt at a fanfiction, so, um, yeah.
Legend:
[ ] = panda signs
Italics = thoughts
Everything else you guys should know
On With The Story!
_____________________________________
Our Little Secret
By Vibrant Filly
Email me at horsecrazy217@homail.com
Akane awoke to a bright, sunny Sunday morning. Light and sounds traveled through her window. She could hear the birds chirruping in the trees of the garden, and the shouts of Ranma and his father as the fought their usual morning fight.
Akane just lay in bed for a few moments, staring at the ceiling. With a reluctant sigh, she threw the covers off and sat up, stretching. She stood, and walked to her closet to get her shorts and her T-shirt. After shucking her pajamas and donning her jogging outfit, Akane left her room, and walked down the stairs. She could smell breakfast being cooked in the kitchen, and she could hear Kasumi humming to herself. Akane smiled and called out to her sister, "I'm going for a jog!"
Kasumi's cheerful reply came back to her over the clatter of dishes, "Alright, have fun!"
Akane left the house, and was almost flattened by a flying panda. After shaking his head, the panda got up, and leapt into the air, a sign appearing in his hand that read, [Now you're in for it, boy! That HURT!]
Akane tuned down the street to further sounds of combat. As she started her jog, Akane's mind started to wander. It's been unusually quiet around the dojo lately. No fiancées chasing after Ranma, no Ryoga or Kuno demanding a fight out of Ranma... I wonder what's going on. Well, Ryoga's probably lost... come to think of it, I haven't seen P-Chan for a while either... could he... could he be Ryoga? No! That's ridiculous! How could Ryoga be P-Chan? Often, when Ryoga's gone, P-Chan's here, with me. Oh well.
Next thing Akane knew, she was back home. I've gotta make my route longer. She slowed down as she entered the gates, and wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. She noticed something flying at her from the corner of her eye, and she instinctively ducked as Ranma missed hitting her by inches. She watched him hit the ground, hard. He got up, leapt into the air and attacked his father once more. Akane hurried inside and upstairs into the bathroom. There she undressed and washed.
About twenty minutes later, Akane was sitting at the table with the rest of the family. Ranma and his father were fighting over food, as usual. The four Tendos quiet, except for the occasional outcry when one of the two battling Saotomes elbowed them or knocked their dishes. Soun, trying to break the silence, asked, "So, what does everyone have planned for this beautiful Sunday?"
Genma, human again, said "Remember, Soun. We've got those errands to run today."
"Oh, Daddy, I hope you two aren't planning another wedding for Ranma and Akane," scolded Nabiki. She was answered by silence. Definitely more wedding planning thought Nabiki. "Anyway, I'm going over to a friend's house to work on a project."
"I've got to go grocery shopping today," said Kasumi, serving her father some more rice. Ranma looked up from his own dish.
"Kuno challenged me again, and I've gotta meet him in," Ranma glanced at the clock, "half an hour." Ranma returned to his food.
Soun noticed that his youngest hadn't spoken at all during the meal. "What do you have planned for today, Akane?"
Akane didn't look up at her father, she kept her gaze to her rice bowl. "Um... I don't really have anything planned for today. I was just going to stay home and study for a major science test we've got coming up tomorrow."
Ranma paused his fighting with his father for a moment. What's she talking about? We had that test on Friday. Ranma failed to notice that his father had swiped a piece of his fish until it was too late. "Hey, give that back!" Ranma lunged at his father, nearly tipping the table, in a vain attempt to retrieve his stolen fish. But he was too slow, as he watch his fish get quickly devoured by his father. Ranma then completely forgot about Akane.
"If you like, you can come shopping with me," Kasumi offered brightly.
Akane looked up quickly, "No, that's alright. I've really got to study for this test." Akane smiled quickly at her oldest sister, then dropped her head again to look at her food. Kasumi continued to look at her sister for a moment, then mentally shrugged her shoulders and returned to her own breakfast.
But Akane's behavior didn't go unnoticed by Nabiki. Something's up with her. I'll find out what it is soon. Nothing stays a secret for very long in this household. Not as long as I'm around.
Soon, everyone finished their breakfast, and each went their separate ways . Kasumi began to gather up the dishes, when Akane jumped up. "Her Kasumi, I'll do the dishes. You go do the shopping." She began to gather up the remaining dishes at the table and carried them into the kitchen. Kasumi watched her sister busy herself in the kitchen, filling the sink and scraping bowls. Then Kasumi went to fetch her shopping bag, and within five minutes, Kasumi was on her way to the supermarket.
Akane kept up her busy pace until everyone had left the house. Once she was alone, she slowed down, and began to think. I just wish I could gather up enough courage to tell him. But what would he say? I wouldn't be able to stand it if he laughed. Or made fun of me. Again. Akane sighed. She quickly finished the dishes, then went up to her room. She sat at her desk, staring at the smooth surface. She didn't know how long she sat there, staring at her desktop, but she finally got up. She changed into her gi and went outside. She started sending kicks and punches into the padding of the practice dummy.
Ranma was at Sakura Park, waiting for Kuno to show up. But Kuno didn't show up. Grumbling, Ranma thought geez, you would think he would be on time! He challenged me, for crying out loud! Where is he? I wonder what Akane's doing... she couldn't be studying for that test, and we didn't have any homework this weekend. Well, I guess Kuno's not gonna show. I might as well go home. Ranma turned to head for home.
I wonder what Akane's doing. Maybe I should talk to her... about our relationship. Nah, I can't do it. She'd probably laugh at me anyway. Ranma turned the corner, and her walked through the gates to the Tendo property. He could hear Akane beating the living daylights out of the practice dummy. He approached her, and said, "Hey, Akane! Can we, um, talk?"
Akane continued to pound the dummy, and said, "Yeah, what do you want to talk about?"
Ranma reached over and grabbed her arm. "Could you stop that?" He looked around nervously. "I was thinking, could we, um, talk, uh, in private?" Ranma glanced around nervously again.
"Yeah, sure. Let's go into the dojo." What could her want to talk about? Could he want to tell me... no, that's not at all like Ranma. It's probably something stupid, like he wants me to help him escape from one of his fiancées. The two walked into the dojo, and Akane closed the door. "What do you want to talk about, Ranma?"
"I want to talk about... us..." Akane's eyes widened and her hands began to tremble. In order to hide her nervousness, she crossed her arms in front of her chest, leaned against the wall, and put on a cool composure.
"What about 'us'?" I hope I don't look as flustered as I feel!
"I just wanted to say..." I can't say it! Ranma turned around quickly to hide a blush, but Akane saw his ears turn bright red.
He's just as nervous as I am!
How can I tell her, when I can't work up the courage to say it. I mean, it's just three little words! How hard can it be? Ranma took a deep breath, and turned back to Akane. She's not nervous at all. She's just making the worse. "I-I-I-I j-just-t w-w-wanted t-to s-say, um, I..." Ranma took another deep breath. "I love...you. There. You said it. How hard was that? Just the damn hardest thing you've ever had to do!
Akane pushed herself away from the wall, uncrossed her arms, but immediately clasped them behind her back. They were still shaking. "Ranma?"
Great. Now she's going to throw me into orbit!
"Prove it."
Ranma was startled. "What did you say?"
"I said 'prove it'. Kiss me if you mean it."
Oh, boy! Now you've done it! If I kiss her, she'll really send me into orbit!
Where did that come from? Do I really want him to kiss me? Of course I do. I've been waiting for him to tell me that he loves me for months now.
"O-o-okay." Ranma took Akane by the waist and pulled her to him. He put one hand on the nape of her neck. His touch sent tingles down her spine. He tilted her face up to his, and began to lower his face to hers. He looked into her eyes, expecting to see hatred or disgust, but instead, he saw something else.
"Well, are you going to kiss me or not?" Akane whispered. Ranma gulped. He willed himself to kiss her, but his body disobeyed. Akane put her hands on his chest. They stayed that way for a while, Akane willing Ranma to kiss her, and Ranma willing his body to kiss her. Finally Akane sighed.
"I guess you can't do it on your own."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that you can't kiss me without you knowing how I feel about you." Akane moved one hand up behind Ranma's neck. "I love you, too." Akane was relived and embarrassed at the same time. She had told Ranma, and he had told her. They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment longer, when Akane pulled Ranma's face down to hers, and their lips met. He was startled at first, but then returned the kiss.
When they reluctantly broke the kiss, Akane smiled up at Ranma, and he kissed her again, long and sweet. She felt as if she could stay wrapped in his arms forever. They broke the second kiss, and Ranma smiled down at Akane. "How was that for proof?" Akane laughed and kissed him again, quickly this time.
"That was just fine."
Gosh, she's cute when she smiles. "You know that you really are cute when you smile." Akane's smile just widened. Then her face darkened.
"What about our parents? If we told them, they would have us married in an instant."
" Yeah, you're right. And my other fiancées would probably try to kill you."
Akane looked thoughtful for a moment. Then her face was full of mischief. "Let's keep it a secret."
"Huh?"
"It's simple. We'll act like we normally do around each other during the day, and we'll sneak out at night. If we do it properly, no one will find out until we tell them."
"I guess we could give it a try." Ranma kissed Akane again quickly.
Just then, Nabiki came home. Ranma and Akane released their embrace and Akane took up a ready stance. She screamed, "WHAT did you just call me, pervert?" She charged Ranma, and punched with her left hand, Ranma dodged easily.
"I called you a tomboy, Tomboy!"
"You... you... you...JERK!!!" She kicked at him, and Ranma started to lead her into a spiral. Akane realized what would come if she continued " Oh, no you don't! You're not pulling Hiryu Shoten Ha on me!" Akane leapt backwards, destroying the spiral.
Just then Nabiki entered the dojo. She leaned against the doorframe and watched her sister kick and jab at Ranma, only for him to jump out of the way or twist in midair. Nabiki had to shout over the insults that were flying fast and thick through the air. "Hey, Akane! Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Akane stopped and looked at her sister. " Yeah, why not. I don't want to hang around here anymore!" Akane started to walk towards her sister, turning back to glare at Ranma. Nabiki lead Akane into her room, and shut the door. Nabiki sat down on her bed, while Akane remained standing. Akane was still seething with rage at Ranma.
"I'll get to the point here, what's going on with you?"
Akane looked at her sister in surprise, "What do you mean, sis?"
"I mean, you were acting weird this morning. Is something wrong? You can tell me, you know that."
"Oh, I wasn't feeling very well this morning, that's all."
"Do you think you need to see a doctor?"
"No, sparring with Ranma somehow made me feel better." Akane gave her sister a reassuring smile. Then, Akane left Nabiki's room, heading down the hall to her own room. But Ranma came up the stairs and gestured to her silently that he wanted her to follow him into his room. Akane slipped inside the door after Ranma, and he closed the door.
Ranma walked over to Akane and wrapped hi arms around her waist. Akane responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. "What did Nabiki want to talk about," he whispered.
"Nabiki noticed I was acting weird this morning. I told her I wasn't feeling well."
"She fell for it?"
"Hook, line, and sinker." Akane smiled at Ranma.
She is so cute when she smiles. Ranma smiled back and kissed her lips. "Wanna go out tonight?"
"Sure." Akane smiled again.
"I'll meet you outside your room about midnight. I'll tap on your door when the coast is clear."
"Okay." Akane kissed him again and they broke their embrace. "See you then." Akane opened his door and slipped into the hallway, and then into her own room, her heart pounding. Akane changed out of her sweaty gi and into a smooth-cut skirt and a T-shirt. She heard their fathers come home, drunk. Obviously they'd spent their afternoon at the bar. Akane sighed and went downstairs to greet her father.
That Night, Around Midnight
Ranma lay still for a moment longer, just to make sure his father was asleep. When he heard the steady snores coming from his fathers' side of the room, Ranma got up from his bed in one fluid motion. He changed his clothes with as little noise as possible, and crept out of the room. Once in the hallway, he opened the door to Soun's bedroom. Assured the man was also asleep, he tapped on Akanes door. He could hear her moving around in her room.
Akane hadn't fallen asleep that night, fearing she wouldn't wake up at midnight. When she heard Ranma's knock at the door, she got out of bed, changed out of her pajamas and into jeans and a T-shirt, ran a comb through her slightly tousled hair, and grabbed her windbreaker. Then she tiptoed out of her room, into Ranma's arms. "Is everyone asleep," she whispered.
"Our fathers are, but I haven't checked your sisters yet."
"Alright, I'll check on them then." Akane padded down the hallway to Nabiki's room, and checked to see that her sister was asleep. Then she did the same for Kasumi. Assured both girls were asleep, she returned to Ranma's embrace.
He kissed her on the forehead and whispered, "Let's go before anyone waked up." The two crept stealthily down the stairs and to the front door. There, they hastily pulled on their shoes, and left the house, closing the door securely behind them. Ranma leaned down to Akane and whispered in her ear, "Where should we go?"
"Um... let's go to the next ward over. We shouldn't have to worry about running into anyone we know there." With a nod, Ranma scooped Akane up into his arms, and hopped onto the rooftop, he began travelling from rooftop to rooftop. Akane snuggled closer to Ranma, hearing his heart beat in his chest. She smiled to herself, happy to be where she was.
Next thing she knew, Ranma had stopped at a park. She didn't recognize the surroundings, and as Ranma set her on the ground, she looked around. Ranma took her hand and they began to walk into the park. The park was beautiful, but mysterious in the darkness. They just walked, hand in hand and talked. They talked about everything and anything they could think of. Finally, they came to a large clearing in the park. Atop a hill, the two stood and watched the stars and the moon, pointing out all the constellations they knew.
Then Ranma turned Akane so that she faced him. He looked into her eyes. Now he knew what shone in them. It was love. Love for him. He smiled down at her, and she smiled in return. This girl he was holding in his arms was at the top of the cute scale, and in his opinion, she was going to stay there. He leaned down to her, and kissed her, long, and tender, and sweet.
Author's Notes: Now I feel all WAFFy inside! I'm going to finish this fic, because it's going to be a LOT longer, but this is going to be a long-term thing. (Also, I'm suffering from writer's block as to what comes next immediately, but I do have a framework for the ending planned out.) Just a little warning for the future, I might skip large gaps of time between chapters, so that the story is shorter. Please e-mail me (me address is above) or review this story. All comments are appreciated! Again, this is my first fanfic, but flames are welcome. Well, to a certain extent. ^_^
Author's Notes: In this story the characters may be a little OOC, but oh well. The story won't be the same if they stay in character. I also have no clue when this story fits in, but it spans over a long period of time, so it could fit in anywhere, I guess. There is a WAFFy warning for this fic. This is also my first attempt at a fanfiction, so, um, yeah.
Legend:
[ ] = panda signs
Italics = thoughts
Everything else you guys should know
On With The Story!
_____________________________________
Our Little Secret
By Vibrant Filly
Email me at horsecrazy217@homail.com
Akane awoke to a bright, sunny Sunday morning. Light and sounds traveled through her window. She could hear the birds chirruping in the trees of the garden, and the shouts of Ranma and his father as the fought their usual morning fight.
Akane just lay in bed for a few moments, staring at the ceiling. With a reluctant sigh, she threw the covers off and sat up, stretching. She stood, and walked to her closet to get her shorts and her T-shirt. After shucking her pajamas and donning her jogging outfit, Akane left her room, and walked down the stairs. She could smell breakfast being cooked in the kitchen, and she could hear Kasumi humming to herself. Akane smiled and called out to her sister, "I'm going for a jog!"
Kasumi's cheerful reply came back to her over the clatter of dishes, "Alright, have fun!"
Akane left the house, and was almost flattened by a flying panda. After shaking his head, the panda got up, and leapt into the air, a sign appearing in his hand that read, [Now you're in for it, boy! That HURT!]
Akane tuned down the street to further sounds of combat. As she started her jog, Akane's mind started to wander. It's been unusually quiet around the dojo lately. No fiancées chasing after Ranma, no Ryoga or Kuno demanding a fight out of Ranma... I wonder what's going on. Well, Ryoga's probably lost... come to think of it, I haven't seen P-Chan for a while either... could he... could he be Ryoga? No! That's ridiculous! How could Ryoga be P-Chan? Often, when Ryoga's gone, P-Chan's here, with me. Oh well.
Next thing Akane knew, she was back home. I've gotta make my route longer. She slowed down as she entered the gates, and wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. She noticed something flying at her from the corner of her eye, and she instinctively ducked as Ranma missed hitting her by inches. She watched him hit the ground, hard. He got up, leapt into the air and attacked his father once more. Akane hurried inside and upstairs into the bathroom. There she undressed and washed.
About twenty minutes later, Akane was sitting at the table with the rest of the family. Ranma and his father were fighting over food, as usual. The four Tendos quiet, except for the occasional outcry when one of the two battling Saotomes elbowed them or knocked their dishes. Soun, trying to break the silence, asked, "So, what does everyone have planned for this beautiful Sunday?"
Genma, human again, said "Remember, Soun. We've got those errands to run today."
"Oh, Daddy, I hope you two aren't planning another wedding for Ranma and Akane," scolded Nabiki. She was answered by silence. Definitely more wedding planning thought Nabiki. "Anyway, I'm going over to a friend's house to work on a project."
"I've got to go grocery shopping today," said Kasumi, serving her father some more rice. Ranma looked up from his own dish.
"Kuno challenged me again, and I've gotta meet him in," Ranma glanced at the clock, "half an hour." Ranma returned to his food.
Soun noticed that his youngest hadn't spoken at all during the meal. "What do you have planned for today, Akane?"
Akane didn't look up at her father, she kept her gaze to her rice bowl. "Um... I don't really have anything planned for today. I was just going to stay home and study for a major science test we've got coming up tomorrow."
Ranma paused his fighting with his father for a moment. What's she talking about? We had that test on Friday. Ranma failed to notice that his father had swiped a piece of his fish until it was too late. "Hey, give that back!" Ranma lunged at his father, nearly tipping the table, in a vain attempt to retrieve his stolen fish. But he was too slow, as he watch his fish get quickly devoured by his father. Ranma then completely forgot about Akane.
"If you like, you can come shopping with me," Kasumi offered brightly.
Akane looked up quickly, "No, that's alright. I've really got to study for this test." Akane smiled quickly at her oldest sister, then dropped her head again to look at her food. Kasumi continued to look at her sister for a moment, then mentally shrugged her shoulders and returned to her own breakfast.
But Akane's behavior didn't go unnoticed by Nabiki. Something's up with her. I'll find out what it is soon. Nothing stays a secret for very long in this household. Not as long as I'm around.
Soon, everyone finished their breakfast, and each went their separate ways . Kasumi began to gather up the dishes, when Akane jumped up. "Her Kasumi, I'll do the dishes. You go do the shopping." She began to gather up the remaining dishes at the table and carried them into the kitchen. Kasumi watched her sister busy herself in the kitchen, filling the sink and scraping bowls. Then Kasumi went to fetch her shopping bag, and within five minutes, Kasumi was on her way to the supermarket.
Akane kept up her busy pace until everyone had left the house. Once she was alone, she slowed down, and began to think. I just wish I could gather up enough courage to tell him. But what would he say? I wouldn't be able to stand it if he laughed. Or made fun of me. Again. Akane sighed. She quickly finished the dishes, then went up to her room. She sat at her desk, staring at the smooth surface. She didn't know how long she sat there, staring at her desktop, but she finally got up. She changed into her gi and went outside. She started sending kicks and punches into the padding of the practice dummy.
Ranma was at Sakura Park, waiting for Kuno to show up. But Kuno didn't show up. Grumbling, Ranma thought geez, you would think he would be on time! He challenged me, for crying out loud! Where is he? I wonder what Akane's doing... she couldn't be studying for that test, and we didn't have any homework this weekend. Well, I guess Kuno's not gonna show. I might as well go home. Ranma turned to head for home.
I wonder what Akane's doing. Maybe I should talk to her... about our relationship. Nah, I can't do it. She'd probably laugh at me anyway. Ranma turned the corner, and her walked through the gates to the Tendo property. He could hear Akane beating the living daylights out of the practice dummy. He approached her, and said, "Hey, Akane! Can we, um, talk?"
Akane continued to pound the dummy, and said, "Yeah, what do you want to talk about?"
Ranma reached over and grabbed her arm. "Could you stop that?" He looked around nervously. "I was thinking, could we, um, talk, uh, in private?" Ranma glanced around nervously again.
"Yeah, sure. Let's go into the dojo." What could her want to talk about? Could he want to tell me... no, that's not at all like Ranma. It's probably something stupid, like he wants me to help him escape from one of his fiancées. The two walked into the dojo, and Akane closed the door. "What do you want to talk about, Ranma?"
"I want to talk about... us..." Akane's eyes widened and her hands began to tremble. In order to hide her nervousness, she crossed her arms in front of her chest, leaned against the wall, and put on a cool composure.
"What about 'us'?" I hope I don't look as flustered as I feel!
"I just wanted to say..." I can't say it! Ranma turned around quickly to hide a blush, but Akane saw his ears turn bright red.
He's just as nervous as I am!
How can I tell her, when I can't work up the courage to say it. I mean, it's just three little words! How hard can it be? Ranma took a deep breath, and turned back to Akane. She's not nervous at all. She's just making the worse. "I-I-I-I j-just-t w-w-wanted t-to s-say, um, I..." Ranma took another deep breath. "I love...you. There. You said it. How hard was that? Just the damn hardest thing you've ever had to do!
Akane pushed herself away from the wall, uncrossed her arms, but immediately clasped them behind her back. They were still shaking. "Ranma?"
Great. Now she's going to throw me into orbit!
"Prove it."
Ranma was startled. "What did you say?"
"I said 'prove it'. Kiss me if you mean it."
Oh, boy! Now you've done it! If I kiss her, she'll really send me into orbit!
Where did that come from? Do I really want him to kiss me? Of course I do. I've been waiting for him to tell me that he loves me for months now.
"O-o-okay." Ranma took Akane by the waist and pulled her to him. He put one hand on the nape of her neck. His touch sent tingles down her spine. He tilted her face up to his, and began to lower his face to hers. He looked into her eyes, expecting to see hatred or disgust, but instead, he saw something else.
"Well, are you going to kiss me or not?" Akane whispered. Ranma gulped. He willed himself to kiss her, but his body disobeyed. Akane put her hands on his chest. They stayed that way for a while, Akane willing Ranma to kiss her, and Ranma willing his body to kiss her. Finally Akane sighed.
"I guess you can't do it on your own."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that you can't kiss me without you knowing how I feel about you." Akane moved one hand up behind Ranma's neck. "I love you, too." Akane was relived and embarrassed at the same time. She had told Ranma, and he had told her. They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment longer, when Akane pulled Ranma's face down to hers, and their lips met. He was startled at first, but then returned the kiss.
When they reluctantly broke the kiss, Akane smiled up at Ranma, and he kissed her again, long and sweet. She felt as if she could stay wrapped in his arms forever. They broke the second kiss, and Ranma smiled down at Akane. "How was that for proof?" Akane laughed and kissed him again, quickly this time.
"That was just fine."
Gosh, she's cute when she smiles. "You know that you really are cute when you smile." Akane's smile just widened. Then her face darkened.
"What about our parents? If we told them, they would have us married in an instant."
" Yeah, you're right. And my other fiancées would probably try to kill you."
Akane looked thoughtful for a moment. Then her face was full of mischief. "Let's keep it a secret."
"Huh?"
"It's simple. We'll act like we normally do around each other during the day, and we'll sneak out at night. If we do it properly, no one will find out until we tell them."
"I guess we could give it a try." Ranma kissed Akane again quickly.
Just then, Nabiki came home. Ranma and Akane released their embrace and Akane took up a ready stance. She screamed, "WHAT did you just call me, pervert?" She charged Ranma, and punched with her left hand, Ranma dodged easily.
"I called you a tomboy, Tomboy!"
"You... you... you...JERK!!!" She kicked at him, and Ranma started to lead her into a spiral. Akane realized what would come if she continued " Oh, no you don't! You're not pulling Hiryu Shoten Ha on me!" Akane leapt backwards, destroying the spiral.
Just then Nabiki entered the dojo. She leaned against the doorframe and watched her sister kick and jab at Ranma, only for him to jump out of the way or twist in midair. Nabiki had to shout over the insults that were flying fast and thick through the air. "Hey, Akane! Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Akane stopped and looked at her sister. " Yeah, why not. I don't want to hang around here anymore!" Akane started to walk towards her sister, turning back to glare at Ranma. Nabiki lead Akane into her room, and shut the door. Nabiki sat down on her bed, while Akane remained standing. Akane was still seething with rage at Ranma.
"I'll get to the point here, what's going on with you?"
Akane looked at her sister in surprise, "What do you mean, sis?"
"I mean, you were acting weird this morning. Is something wrong? You can tell me, you know that."
"Oh, I wasn't feeling very well this morning, that's all."
"Do you think you need to see a doctor?"
"No, sparring with Ranma somehow made me feel better." Akane gave her sister a reassuring smile. Then, Akane left Nabiki's room, heading down the hall to her own room. But Ranma came up the stairs and gestured to her silently that he wanted her to follow him into his room. Akane slipped inside the door after Ranma, and he closed the door.
Ranma walked over to Akane and wrapped hi arms around her waist. Akane responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. "What did Nabiki want to talk about," he whispered.
"Nabiki noticed I was acting weird this morning. I told her I wasn't feeling well."
"She fell for it?"
"Hook, line, and sinker." Akane smiled at Ranma.
She is so cute when she smiles. Ranma smiled back and kissed her lips. "Wanna go out tonight?"
"Sure." Akane smiled again.
"I'll meet you outside your room about midnight. I'll tap on your door when the coast is clear."
"Okay." Akane kissed him again and they broke their embrace. "See you then." Akane opened his door and slipped into the hallway, and then into her own room, her heart pounding. Akane changed out of her sweaty gi and into a smooth-cut skirt and a T-shirt. She heard their fathers come home, drunk. Obviously they'd spent their afternoon at the bar. Akane sighed and went downstairs to greet her father.
That Night, Around Midnight
Ranma lay still for a moment longer, just to make sure his father was asleep. When he heard the steady snores coming from his fathers' side of the room, Ranma got up from his bed in one fluid motion. He changed his clothes with as little noise as possible, and crept out of the room. Once in the hallway, he opened the door to Soun's bedroom. Assured the man was also asleep, he tapped on Akanes door. He could hear her moving around in her room.
Akane hadn't fallen asleep that night, fearing she wouldn't wake up at midnight. When she heard Ranma's knock at the door, she got out of bed, changed out of her pajamas and into jeans and a T-shirt, ran a comb through her slightly tousled hair, and grabbed her windbreaker. Then she tiptoed out of her room, into Ranma's arms. "Is everyone asleep," she whispered.
"Our fathers are, but I haven't checked your sisters yet."
"Alright, I'll check on them then." Akane padded down the hallway to Nabiki's room, and checked to see that her sister was asleep. Then she did the same for Kasumi. Assured both girls were asleep, she returned to Ranma's embrace.
He kissed her on the forehead and whispered, "Let's go before anyone waked up." The two crept stealthily down the stairs and to the front door. There, they hastily pulled on their shoes, and left the house, closing the door securely behind them. Ranma leaned down to Akane and whispered in her ear, "Where should we go?"
"Um... let's go to the next ward over. We shouldn't have to worry about running into anyone we know there." With a nod, Ranma scooped Akane up into his arms, and hopped onto the rooftop, he began travelling from rooftop to rooftop. Akane snuggled closer to Ranma, hearing his heart beat in his chest. She smiled to herself, happy to be where she was.
Next thing she knew, Ranma had stopped at a park. She didn't recognize the surroundings, and as Ranma set her on the ground, she looked around. Ranma took her hand and they began to walk into the park. The park was beautiful, but mysterious in the darkness. They just walked, hand in hand and talked. They talked about everything and anything they could think of. Finally, they came to a large clearing in the park. Atop a hill, the two stood and watched the stars and the moon, pointing out all the constellations they knew.
Then Ranma turned Akane so that she faced him. He looked into her eyes. Now he knew what shone in them. It was love. Love for him. He smiled down at her, and she smiled in return. This girl he was holding in his arms was at the top of the cute scale, and in his opinion, she was going to stay there. He leaned down to her, and kissed her, long, and tender, and sweet.
Author's Notes: Now I feel all WAFFy inside! I'm going to finish this fic, because it's going to be a LOT longer, but this is going to be a long-term thing. (Also, I'm suffering from writer's block as to what comes next immediately, but I do have a framework for the ending planned out.) Just a little warning for the future, I might skip large gaps of time between chapters, so that the story is shorter. Please e-mail me (me address is above) or review this story. All comments are appreciated! Again, this is my first fanfic, but flames are welcome. Well, to a certain extent. ^_^
