Heart of Fire, Soul of Ice

by DemonSaya

Things are getting even more tense for the Nerima gang with the introduction of a competitor known as the Shinigami. Meanwhile, Shampoo and Mousse grow closer and Ranma tries to figure out what he's doing wrong...*Chapter 15 up, finally...*

3. Chapter 2

Heart of Fire, Soul of Ice

Part 2:

Ranma looked at Akane and blushed faintly as they ate breakfast. He couldn't believe he'd actually gotten up the guts to kiss her. And he wanted to do it again. And again. And again. He wanted to totally skip school and take her somewhere and just kiss her. He couldn't believe that for once in his life, things were going RIGHT. He loved it, he wanted it to go on and on. Gingerly, he reached out and touched her hand under the table.

Akane jumped slightly, startled. She forced herself to relax and wrapped her fingers around his. She ate, her eyes flitting over to him briefly. A smile was plastered on her lips. She ate quickly, then dropped his hand, jumping up and hurrying towards her pack. She glanced back at him to see he was moving at a much more leasurely, distinguishly 'Ranma' pace.

At a safe distance from the house, Ranma gently took Akane's hand, to her complete surprise. "Ranma?" She glanced up at him, her eyes wide.

"Hnnn...?" He asked, glancing down at her, smiling.

She blushed, looking away. "N-nan demo..." She whispered, gently squeezing his hand. "To think...you're holding hands with the uncute fiancee..." She said, hardly aware that she said it.

He looked down at her, surprised. "Akane?"

"You know...sometimes...I feel like you actually have feelings for me and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy..." She leaned against his shoulder. "Then you insult me...and call me uncute...I guess I'm still waiting for the hammer to fall..."

He paused and looked towards her. "Maybe it wont, Akane..." He said softly. He put his arm around her and held her against his side. "I don't like fighting with you...most of our fights...they're just misunderstandings...that's it...just...us acting like morons..." He looked down at her, kissing her temple. "Akane, I love you..." He whispered against her hair.

She faltered in steps and stared up at him. "Oh, Ranma...I'll never get tired of hearing you say that..." She whispered, pulling back and holding his hand in her own.

"AND STAY OUT YOU STUPID WENCH!"

A red haired form was thrown out in front of them and Ranma instinctively caught her. "Fushicho-san?!"

"Fushicho-chan!"

The girl looked up, her face upset. "I've been evicted..." She said, her face angry. "How dare they humiliate me like that! My credit card was perfectly fine those lying bastards..."

Akane put an arm around the girls shoulders. "Would you like to come stay with us?"

The girl looked up, surprised. "Akane-chan...oh, I can't impose on your family..."

Ranma arched an eyebrow, glancing at Akane. "Oh, trust me, you'll be welcomed there. Heck, they haven't kicked my pop out...probably because he's moving in with mom...but still. You should be able to survive the Tendo household."

"It wasn't like that until Ranma got here, of course." Akane said, goodnaturedly. "Come on, we could use another martial artist in the house!" She smiled sweetly.

Fushicho's eyes widened. "Are you sure your father wont mind?"

"Dad knows I'd never forgive him if he didn't." She said, smiling again. "Come on, if we don't hurry, all three of us are gonna wind up with bucket duty."

Ranma scooped up Akane and carried her on his back. "IKIMASHO!" He cried as they began to run.

Inspite of arriving at school in record time, they were still late and wound up standing in the hall way, two buckets each. Ranma rolled his eyes. "Go figure." He said, shrugging.

Fushicho noticed many passerby eyeing her as they passed. She couldn't believe this. Insanity. The irony of that statement almost made her laugh. She'd just described Ranma's life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryoga arrived at Tendo dojo, although he didn't realize it until he caught sight of his beloved Akane sparring in the dojo. He sighed and began walking towards it. To his surprise, she was sparring with none other than his hated rival. Ranma.

"RANMA! HOW DARE YOU RAISE A HAND TO AKANE?!" He cried, diving between them. "ARE YOU A MORON?!"

Ranma stopped. "Akane want's me to spar with her seriously. As it is, I'm only tapping her and never use my full strength or speed while sparring with her." He crossed his arms. "Right?"

She gently laid a hand on Ryoga's shoulder. "It's alright, Ryoga. We've been sparring for a week and he hasn't hurt me yet. I don't think he will either."

Ryoga got flustered and backed away slightly. "Oh...Well...I guess I'll just go..." He turned away and ran headlong into a rather gorgeous girl in an outfit similar to Ranma's, only all black rather than black and red. "Who...?"

Ranma smiled, nodding at Fushicho. "Not bad." He said calmly. He realized his mistake when he looked at Akane and saw her glowing at him. "HEY! I just said the look was good on her. I TOLD you all our arguments were based on misunderstandings!" He harumphed. "I think we should call it a day. You can do whatever till our training session tonight. I need to have a word with Ryoga..."

Fushicho began working on a complex kata as the pair left the room and turned up the volume for her hearing organs. She began picking up the heartbeats of people and began to listen in on Ranma and Ryoga's conversation.

"I wonder what they're talking about..."

Fushicho rolled her eyes. "I can guess."

"Huh?"

"It's probably about you."

Akane blushed and was quiet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranma glared at Ryoga. "Ryoga, I don't want you sleeping in my fiancee's bed anymore. You've taken advantage of her innocence long enough."

"You're just worried I'll steal her away from you." Ryoga sneered.

"You're right. I am. I love her, Ryoga. She said she loves me, but I'm not going to risk losing that." He noticed Ryoga's expression plummit. "Come on, you're her pet for gods' sake! You don't really intend to win her affections by doing what you've been doing." He stepped towards the lost boy.

"Stay away, Ranma...I love her more than you ever will. You don't understand her, you don't know how she feels!"

Ranma looked down at his hands. "Neither do you, Ryoga. Sleeping in her bed in your cursed form isn't going to make her feel warmly towards you when she finds out. In fact, she'll probably want to kill you."

The lost boy looked indignant. "Feh. You're just saying that...besides, you're honor bound not to tell, and Nabiki CAN'T say anything either. How's she going to know?" He eeped when Ranma grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him level with the slightly shorter martial artist.

"Maybe I should clear this little misunderstanding with you, you see, Ryoga, if you continue to sleep in her bed and watch her undress and DON'T tell her, the promise is not honorably kept. I've already screwed up too much. I don't want to tell her. I'm giving you the option to tell her yourself. Maybe you can still be her friend." He met Ryoga's eyes with a level glare. "But if you don't...and she finds out from me, you'll lose your friendship...and possibly mine, if she's angry with me for not telling her sooner.

Ryoga pushed Ranma away. "FINE!" He shouted angrily. "Take away my only happiness!"

The blue eyes that bored into Ryoga's brown weren't amused. "Your happiness?" He scoffed. "HAPPINESS?! You've got a bloody fiancee, and I know you like Ukyou too!" He was fuming. "You have no right whatsoever to accuse me of taking your only happiness. Ukyou would probably be flattered if you started wooing her! If anything, I'm probably going to lose MY only happiness...and that is the fiancee I knew of first..." He felt his anger drain away.

Ryoga watched Ranma deflate like a balloon. "R-ranma...?" He approached the pig-tailed boy, his eyes worried. "Yo, what's going on here, Ranma? Why are you suddenly so...depressed?"

Ranma slowly looked up. "Ryoga...Akane...she's all I have just about...and I've always come so damn close to losing her. Too damn close...Ryugenzawa...Jusendo...that time I was engaged to Nabiki, hell, even the wedding fiasco!" He began to tremble, fear deep within his eyes. "I...I don't want to lose her..."

Ryoga recognized the look in Ranma's eyes. All too well. It was the same look he'd had at Jusendo when he'd cradled Akane's limp form to his chest, crying. He was very surprised to learn that Ranma, the greatest teenage martial artist in Nerima, could be afraid of anything. Sure, he'd known about the 'fear' to cats, but that was nothing compared to this fear.

The thoughts of Ranma fearing losing Akane was startling. He'd thought Ranma hated Akane. He always called her all those horrible names, after all. "You don't love her...love isn't purposely hurting the one you claim to care about." Ryoga scoffed.

"I love her, Ryoga..." He looked up and didn't care if the lost boy saw the tears that were falling down his face. "I called her...uncute because she ISN'T cute...she's so much more..." He laughed slightly. "I don't know what, but she isn't cute. And besides, if I told her I'd loved her since the day she'd smiled at me, what marital state would I be in right now? Love or not, two years ago, I was NOT ready to be a husband!"

Ryoga hung his head. "I...You're right..." He sighed.

Ranma lifted the sprayer and looked at Ryoga. "Hey..." He pulled the trigger.

"HEY!"

Ranma knelt over P-chan and picked him up by his collar. "Let's let Akane see her pet one more time, for old times sake?"

Ryoga stared up at Ranma, wide eyed. Ranma...wasn't being a jerk.

He didn't know what to say or do.

So he let Ranma carry him out to visit Akane.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akane looked up as Ranma walked in, Ryoga hanging by his bandana. "Ranma, don't you DARE be picking on P-chan again." She said, taking her pet piglet away and cradling it close. "Did Ranma make fun of you again?"

The piglet shook it's head, still in shock.

Fushicho walked over. "How...cute..." She noticed the bandana and looked towards Ranma. "Ranma, a word, please."

"Hn, Fushicho-san." He followed her outside.

"You let her sleep in the same bed as RYOGA?!" She whispered. "Why didn't anyone tell her?!"

"Because I'm giving him one last chance to tell her, himself. If he doesn't, I think P-chan is going to get a hot bath tonight." He said, glancing towards where his fiancee sat.

"Why don't YOU tell her?!"

"Because...it's not for me to tell...If Ryoga has any honor, he'll tell her himself..." He sighed, his eyes saddening. "Besides, I swore on my honor that I wouldn't...before he became her pet..."

Fushicho watched Akane stand up and walk over. "Ranma, what happened to Ryoga?" The young girl asked.

Ranma bit his lip and glanced at P-chan. "Akane...he went to the bathroom and I haven't seen him since." He said calmly.

Fushicho looked confused, but before she could ask him, Kasumi called them to dinner. Ranma walked towards the main house, only pausing to let Akane catch up with him.

When he was sure they were alone, he gently caressed her face and kissed her cheek. "I love you..." He whispered into her ear.

She smiled at him and gently kissed his lips before skipping towards the house. "Suki da yo, Ranma no baka..." She whispered back to him.

He smiled, watching her go. Then, he remembered, he'd better hurry or by the time he got there, the food would be gone. He smiled and began to jog towards the house, feeling a happy feeling that he'd RARELY felt before he'd admitted how he felt to his uncute fiancee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranma frowned as Akane took Ryoga up to her room. It looked like the pig wasn't going to tell her the truth. His frown deepened and he stood, following her. Standing out side of her room, he heard her talking to P-chan gently.

"I know Ranma like's to pick on you, but he really can be sweet, when he actually thinks, rather than sticking his foot in his mouth." There was a soft giggle. "You don't have to attack him all the time for 'attacking' me..."

He leaned his head against the door.

"He told me he loved me! He finally admitted it!" A rather loud sigh came from behind the closed door. "Oh, P-chan...you don't know how much I wanted to hear him say that...oh, and he kissed me..."

He blushed, noting the dreamy quality in her voice.

"He'll make such a wonderful husband...he's so protective...he'll never hurt me, you know. He doesn't even hit me hard when we're sparring. He pulls his punches almost rediculously TOO much...I guess it irritated me at first, but then, I realized it was because he loves me that he does..."

Slowly, Ranma turned the knob and opened the door. He caught sight of Akane in her underwear, standing by the closet. He blushed and pinched his nose. "Ummm...could you put on a robe, please...?"

Akane jumped, spining towards him. To her surprise, he was looking away, a finger clamped firmly over his nose. She could still see where the blood had begun to seep from the pinched nostrals. She blushed, pulling her gi top around her. "Geeze, Ranma, you shoulda knocked." She said, her face as pink as his.

"Sorry..." He glanced towards her, relieved to see she was now covered. "We need to talk..." He stepped towards her, taking her tiny hands in his large ones.

She blushed. "A-about the engagement?"

"No...about P-chan...and Ryoga."

P-chan squeeled angrily. *Damn him, he isn't! What about the promise!?*

"I...Is P-chan Ryoga's pet?" She asked softly. Her face was frightened.

"Akane, before I tell you, promise you wont kill me for not telling you before know..." He said, gently caressing her face. "Don't get angry, I want you to hear me out."

She knew it was going to be bad when he said that. "Ranma...?"

He glanced towards the pig. "I've given you your last chance..." He said, his eyes intensely angry. His eyes softened before they returned to Akane. "Ryoga followed me to Jusenkyo. While he was looking for me...he was knocked off a cliff by a red-haired girl chasing a panda. It was me. I didn't realize it at the time, but Ryoga was pretty convinced and I don't doubt that he spoke the truth. He fell into one of the springs. He was cursed because of me."

Akane didn't make the connection. "And what about P-chan...?"

"It would be better to show you..." Ranma grabbed P-chan by his collar before the pig got away. Gently, he took Akane's hand with his free one and guided her to the bathroom. He grabbed a dotera on the way in and tossed the pig into the furo.

Ryoga slowly rose from the water, glaring daggers at Ranma. "Ranma...you BASTARD!"

Neither of them noticed Akane go into shock. *My pet...my pet was Ryoga...he saw me undress...I told him my most intimate secrets...I slept in the same bed with him...* Her eyes began glistening with tears. *He never told me...Ranma never told me...*

"I told you, Ryoga. One more chance. One chance to save your honor before I told her. Did you really think I wouldn't follow through with it!? Akane is MY fiancee...I will not let you prey on her innocence any more!" Ranma turned towards Akane and saw she was looking at the floor. His heart stopped as a drop of moisture fell from her face to the ground. "Akane...?"

"Why didn't you tell me, Ranma...Why?"

He gently took her hands. "Akane, I promised I wouldn't tell anyone about his curse...that was before he became your pet. I couldn't just tell you...I swore on my honor..." He swallowed. "But then I let myself admit that I loved you...and I don't care about my honor...you're more important...I'll understand if you..." He swallowed, his eyes becoming pained. "Hate me now..."

She looked towards Ryoga. "And YOU..." She whispered, her eyes becoming icecubes. "How dare you do this to me?! I told you EVERYTHING about me...I let you see me NUDE! I slept in the same BED as you...HOW DARE YOU?!" Her voice didn't raise a bit, but only became more intense.

Ryoga looked away pained. "Because...I love you..." He said, his face sad.

She clenched her hands into fists. "Ryoga...If you loved me, you'd have told me the truth. You wouldn't have dishonored me. Ranma loves me because HE TOLD ME!" She threw the robe into Ryoga's face. "HOW DARE YOU?!"

Ryoga bit his lip. "S-Shi...shi..."

Ranma slugged him and pulled him from the tub after Akane turned away. "I ain't letting you hurt her...no way in hell." He poured some cold water over him and looked towards Akane. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner..." He said softly.

She turned towards him. "It's...alright, I guess...anymore little secrets you have yet to tell me...?"

He looked down. "I'm not sure...My past likes to come back to haunt me, so..."

She knelt before him and gently lifted his face. "Ranma...I don't hate you..." She whispered, gently pressing her lips to his. She felt Ranma's arms go around her and she was pulled against a wonderfully warm, hard chest. She sighed softly as he broke the kiss and nuzzled his neck tenderly. "Oh, Ranma..."

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and a section of wall fell forwards, striking Ranma in the head. His eyes bulged and he looked behind him, immidiately regretting doing so.

"What pervert girl doing to Shampoo's husband?!"

Ranma helped Akane to her feet, while rubbing the back of his head, his face irate. "SHE isn't doing anything. Geeze...can't I go through one day without feeling like I live under a frigging MICROSCOPE?!" He noticed Akane fuming and gently pried her off. "Akane, could wait outside a moment?" He asked gently.

She looked up at him, her expression incredulous. "WHY?! So you can have a little moment without the Uncute fiancee watching?!"

He faced her, his eyes serious. "Akane-chan..." He said softly, caressing her face. "I just don't want to see you get hurt..."

"No." She said softly. "I won't leave your side...it's like admitting they won..." Her eyes teared up. "Then they'll be even more stubborn about splitting us up!"

He looked over towards Shampoo and saw that she was getting ready to attack the 'obstacle' and quickly put Akane behind him. "Then stay directly behind me..." He said softly.

"Husband SHAMPOO'S, not kitchen destroyers!"

Ranma tensed, then relaxed. "No...I'm not yours, or even Akane's. I choose for myself. My father doesn't choose for me. Our bloody engagement, ALL OF THEM, are illigitimate!"

Akane winced, hurt. He was right, and both girls knew it. "B-but...Ranma..." She whispered.

Ranma didn't glance behind him. "I love Akane...the only way I'm bound to you is by your stupid laws...I'm not an Amazon and when I beat you, it was not in a real competition, or even a real fight. I was trying to protect AKANE. Besides, when I 'defeated' you, it was on my turf. YOU were the outsider, not me."

Akane's eyes widened at the logic. Then, she remembered when Ranma had fought Shampoo on HER turf.

"Matters not. You defeat Shampoo on amazon 'turf' and so you anyways husband."

Ranma shook his head. "I was a woman at the time. You already know you can't lay a finger on me in a fight. I wont let you hurt me or Akane and if you try..." He paused, then smiled, a bit coldly. "I still remember where the pressure point for full body cat tounge is..." He said softly.

Akane gasped in surprise.

Shampoo backed away, her eyes narrow. "This not over, pervert girl...not by longshot..." She jumped out of the room and ran away.

Ranma turned towards his fiancee and looked down at her worriedly. "I didn't make you angry with that comment about the engagements, did I?" He asked, taking his hands.

She frowned, looking down. "I'm not sure..." She looked away, her eyes sad. "Ranma...you...aren't mine, are you...I should feel lucky you even hold me like you love me..."

He gently tilted her face up, his eyes serious. "Akane...I DO love you." He whispered. "For real...I don't count our engagement as legit, but if I get married...It'll be to you..." He whispered gently, his long fingers caressing her graceful face. "I...I wish you'd been my first kiss..."

She blushed, her eyes hesitantely meeting his. She was lost in them immidiately. Her breath quickened slightly and she threw her arms around him, her face buried into his shirt. She felt him jump startled, but his arms surrounded her and she felt his face pressed against her hair. "I love you, Ranma..." She whispered, tears falling down her face.

Slowly, he tilted her face up again, staring down into it. "My beautiful Akane..." He whispered softly, nuzzling her cheek with his lips. "My beautiful fiancee..." He hugged her a bit tighter.

Neither of them knew what started the kiss, all they knew was the sweetness, the intoxicating power, the feeling of complete love that was beginning to overwhelm them. Ranma moaned softly, kissing her chin, then her neck, then her pulse, then he captured her lips again fiercely. He didn't want to release her from the kiss.

She gasped in pleasure as his tounge probed her mouth, her eyes opening breifly to stare into his. She was drowning in them, and sighed softly, tangling her hands in his soft hair, meeting his kisses with one as passionate. She felt hands on her back and sides, caressing her skin. The skin-skin contact was making her tremble. She moaned softly in pleased acceptance.

He heard the moan and reluctantly broke the kiss. "Akane...?" He asked softly.

"Kiss me..." She begged softly. She stared up into his eyes, seeing to her surprise, fear. "What's wrong?" She asked softly.

He withdrew his hands from her warm skin and gently tied her gi closed, his eyes frightened. "No...I want to...gods I do, but...we shouldn't, we're still just children..." He bit his lip, closing his eyes.

"Ranma?"

His eyes opened and she saw peace in them. "Tell me you understand, Akane...tell me..." He pulled her into a tight embrace. "I want to, but we're not ready for this..." He whispered into her ear, his hand gently stroaking her hair.

She looked at him, her face confused. "We...we're just kissing..."

"But if we'd continued..." He swallowed. "God, it took almost all of my strength to pull away from you as it is...if we'd kept...kissing like that, it would have turned into much more than 'just kissing'..." He stared into her eyes, his frightened. "Akane..."

She backed away a step, covering her mouth with her hands. "Ranma..." She bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears, with little success. "Oh, gods..." With a soft sob, she turned and fled the bathroom.

He lowered his head and swallowed hard. "Akane..."