Truth
~~~~
Ranma watched Akane from the corner of his eye as she bent and picked up another stone. She'd been doing for almost three weeks now. At first he'd been curious, asking questions. She'd said that it was for a project. He asked what project. She said one about truth. He didn't understand so he just shrugged and said okay.
"How many of those are you gonna collect?"
Akane shrugged. "I'm not sure. I have a bunch already. I'll know when I get enough though."
"Oh."
Akane looked down at the small stone in her hand. It was a rich, dark red.
~~~
Ranma peered down from the roof. He was watching Akane again. She was standing before the koi pond looking down in it, her stones held loosely in her hand. He didn't know what she was doing, so he jumped down and stood next to her.
After a moment, Akane began poking through her stones. She pulled one out and held it out before her at arm's length.
"This is a truth, Ranma. This is the first time I knew I was born to be a martial artist."
She let go of it, dropping it into the pond. She held out another stone.
"I learned that death was forever."
She dropped it and held out another one.
"I learned Mom was dead."
Another.
"I realized Dad would always cry."
And another.
"I want someone to cry for me."
"My sister is no longer my sister."
"Boys will hurt you."
"There's always an exception to the rule."
"If you're lucky you'll meet more than one exception to the rule."
"I'm not as strong or as good as I think I am."
"I'm too proud to admit it."
"Everyone has their reasons."
"P-Chan is Ryoga."
"I always knew P-Chan was Ryoga. I just didn't want to admit it."
"You scare me sometimes."
"You aren't a pervert."
Akane paused and glanced at Ranma from the corner of her eye. He was staring at her, his eyes as wide as they would go. There were more truths that needed stones, but for now only one stone remained. The red one. She took it and she held it out before her.
"I don't know if I'm ready to say this one out loud, Ranma. I don't know if I'll ever be. Maybe someday."
She held the stone in the palm of her hand and closed her fingers around it. Then she tucked it into her pocket. She smiled up at Ranma.
He watched her. Again. But this time she was walking away, back to the house. He looked down at the pond, at the small stones that sat on the bottom. Truth. He knew the truth. He always had. He supposed he always would. And he wasn't ready to say it out loud either, but he knew now that one day…one day he would and on that day she would too.
And it wouldn't hurt.