ch7ymt Memories
Akane slowly went downstairs and blushed a bit when she heard Ranma talking to Kasumi.
"Yeah, I'm going to give it to her soon, real soon."
She peeked into the kitchen and smiled. "What are you guys talkin about?"
Ranma glanced over at her and smiled fondly at her. "Not much, just your birthday."
Akane's heart sped up for unknown reasons and she smiled back. "Oh, what d'ya get me?" She knew she sounded rediculous, but couldn't help it.
He smiled again, this time a sadder smile. "If I told ya, it wouldn't be a surprise." He glanced at Kasumi and read her eyes.
*Go be with her.*
"Hey, Akane, could we spar?"
Akane blinked. "I...I guess..." She was startled when he grabbed her hand and pulled her from the kitchen. "Are you sure I should do this?" She asked, not objecting as he pulled her into the dojo. "I mean, I don't remember anything..."
"That was just an excuse to get you alone." He admitted, pulling her into a warm hug. "I never was really alone with you. Someone was always watching, or listening."
"R-ranma-"
He silenced her with a long finger. "There's so much I WANTED to tell you...that I couldn't...that you wouldn't understand if I told you now..." He sighed, putting his arm around her again. "So could I just hold you...just a while?"
Akane was so startled, she couldn't answer. She heard him sigh and felt his arms start to unwind from around her and deperately she threw her arms around his waist. "YES!" She whispered.
This time, Ranma was caught off guard. "..." He stared at the top of her head through wide eyes.
"I need held...please..." She whispered, her face buried into his shirt, so her words came out muffled.
He held her tightly against him, and a tear rolled down his face. *I love you...* He thought. He felt her hands clutching the back of his shirt and fought the urge to cry. "Akane..." He whispered, tightening his grasp slightly. *I wont let you go. The moment you get your memories back...I promise you...I'll propose to you...*
Akane blushed faintly when she realized her situation.
*I'm alone, in the arms of a boy I don't remember, but it feels right....* She sighed and rested her cheek on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

"SHAMPOO!" Ranma yelled, storming into the nekohanten that day. "How dare you?!"
"AIREN!" Shampoo jumped out glomping him. "Wo ai ne!"
He shoved her away, his eyes furious. "Get the hell away from me, stupid bitch. How could you!? If you loved me, you'd want me happy! I hate you! If you ever touch Akane or come near me again, I'll kill you!" His eyes burned with such fire, Shampoo was taken aback.
"AIREN-"
"I'm not your husband." He snarled, his face angry. "I never have been...I never will be..."
Cologne exitted the back. "Shampoo, go into the kitchen, now."
"But-"
"NOW!" Cologne thundered, glaring at her daughter. "You should have listened to me and Mu tsu in the first place, but you didn't. GO!"
Shampoo quivered, then ran into the kitchen.
"Ranma, Shampoo truely doesn't love you, but she can't go home until you are married or dead." Cologne said sadly.
"What if she was married to someone else?"
Cologne's eyes widened. "She wouldn't agree..."
"I didn't agree to getting married to her either. "I say you train Mousse till he can beat her. Convince him to go all out on her, otherwise, they'll never be together. She would agree to that, right?"
"Not to the training, but if he defeated her on his own, she would without question. You have a good head, Ranma."
He smirked. "Yeah, when I use it."

For the next several months, Ranma began retraining Akane in the basics of martial arts, helping her get her skills honed more than they were before she lost her memory.
They focused on one new move or combo per day for close to a year before Akane and Ranma had been alone again in the dojo, sparring.
"Ranma," Akane said, stopping suddenly. "Can we talk?" She asked, taking his hands gently.
He blinked, then nodded, fingering the ring that still rested under his shirt. "What's up?"
"I...my memories aren't returning and you've been really patient with me...but I'm not remembering...each day I have trouble remembering your name...please, I need to know everything that happened up till I lost my memories..."
He hesitated. "Akane...I came here, and we were engaged by our parents...neither of us wanted it at the time, and...eventually insulting each other became a daily habit...you...you called me a pervert..."
She flinched slightly and he sat, lacing his fingers and looking up at her, a great deal of pain in his eyes.
"I called you a tomboy, but that was mainly to keep the parents from knowing how much I liked you...like you...I got into alot of trouble after I moved here...and you often got caught in the middle of it...we wound up...getting closer and I finally let myself admit in a place called Jusendo that I loved you..." He whispered the words so softly, she wasn't sure she'd heard them.
"What?"
He hadn't heard her. "That time, I thought you were dead...oh, gods, I was terrified you were...you were so still and your eyes had closed, I thought I hadn't gotten the water to save you in time...but...while I was holding you...I screamed your name...then...in my mind, I kept right on screaming...I wanted to tell you I loved you..." He didn't care that tears ran down his face.
Akane stared down at him in shock. "Ranma..."
"Then...we got back and our dads knocked me out and stuffed me into a tux...and when I came to, everything was happening so fast...I went to find you and you...were in a wedding dress...gods..."
He smiled at the memory. "It is one of the best memories I have of you...you were smiling...a true smile... then, you asked me if you looked kawaiikune now...and I barely admitted you were gorgeous..." His smile turned sad. "After that, things went down hill..."
She sat beside him, hanging onto each word.
"I couldn't bring myself to admit that I loved you...and then I learned our parents had nannichuan...to cure my curse..." He didn't feel her put her arms around him in a gentle hug. "I left you for that damn water..." He whispered, cursing his name mentally. "Then, when I decided I was going to propose to you, I waited to long... and you lost your memory..." He finished in a whisper.
He didn't even notice he was crying until Akane brought her lips to his face, tenderly kissing away one of the tears. He lifted his hand and touched his face, feeling the dampness. "Huh...?"
"Shhhh...it's alright..." She said, caressing his face gently. "I'll remember...I know it..."
Ranma watched her lips move and caught her face. "I don't know how much longer I can wait..." He whispered, pressing his lips to hers tenderly, his hands tangling in her hair.
Akane froze, startled. "R-ranma..." She gasped out.
He pulled back just slightly, his eyes smiling. "I wanted to be the first kiss you'd ever remember...our first, I didn't remember, and I can never remember...but...you'll remember this one..." He nuzzled her face gently, his eyes closing. "An so will I..."
She smiled a bit, leaning forward and brushing her lips against his. "I lied to you." She whispered, smirking.
He stared, startled. "Huh?!"
She crawled into his lap, her arms around his neck. "I lied...I had too...about three months ago, that day we were sparring and you hit me a little harder than normal, when my head hit the wall, my memories came back. I've known all about it, but I had to keep faking...I had to know, Ranma..." She looked a bit ashamed, but still smiled a bit sheepishly. "I had to know who she was and you wouldn't tell me..."
His eyes misted with tears and he clutched her close, his hands buried in her hair. "That was a dirty trick, tomboy..." He whispered, holding her tightly.
She smiled, caressing his back. "Perhaps, but no worse than the trick you pulled...Not telling me who you were going to propose to..." She felt him tense and pulled back slightly. "Ranma?"
"I couldn't...please, believe me...I didn't mean to hurt you...gods, you know I love you...don't hate me for that..."
Akane got impatient with his ramblings and grabbed his face, kissing him hard. "Shut up, baka!" She whispered. "I don't hate you, dammit! I LOVE YOU!"
He froze, mid sentence. "..." A tear rolled down his face and he clutched her close, another tear streaming down his face. "Oh, Akane...what idiots we've been..." He whispered. "I love you so damn much...hell, I don't even know when I started..."
She silenced him, laying a finger across his lips. "Shhhh..." She whispered, resting her head on his shoulder and holding him while he released all the pain that had been building inside of him. "I love you, too...shhhhh...it's alright..."
He slowly pulled back and reached into his shirt, yanking hard on the cord that held the ring around his neck. "Tendo Akane..." He whispered, taking her right hand. "I love you, will you marry me?"
She smiled, and watched him slowly lift his eyes to her face, staring deep into her eyes. "Saotome Ranma, I love you, too, and I would gladly marry you."
He smiled, slipping the ring onto her finger. Her eyes lifted to his and he leaned down, kissing her gently, his hands moving to cradle her head.
A tear wound down her face and she kissed him back, a broad smile on her face. When they broke apart, she smirked. "Let's see if we can make it through this one."
The ice was broken and he laughed, the first truely happy laugh in over a year. Ranma held Akane in his arms and they chuckled at the joke.

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