Akane trembled where she stood, a few paces from her fa… from Soun. She was not shaking visibly, but inside she was crumbling and she found it took effort to keep her disguise from falling apart while the raw hatred in Soun's eyes tore at it. The detachment she had always tried to push away came at her now, with enough force to rip her to shreds. She didn't notice the slight weakening in her knees until she began to fall. It seemed that someone noticed, though because she felt a warm hand grip her arm and she didn't have to take in his scent or look up at him to know it was Ranma. She leaned against him and wished she had his strength.
"Now!"
Akane started at the harsh tone in Soun's voice. He had never spoken like that to her, and she knew, now, that it would be a mistake to call him father.
"Ranma, give me your pack," Happosai's aged voice came from behind them where her stood with Rin nearly towering over his small form. Ranma slipped the bag from his shoulder and sent it into the air. Akane watched as it arced in Happosai's direction, its straps offering no resistance to the wind, and he caught it easily. He gave them all a solemn look before leaping through the window of an empty building. They all stared at the window in silence.
"I'll go see if he really changes back," said Rin decisively, heading towards the building. The door opened before she could get there, and Sesshomarou stepped out. The clothes that fit loosely on Ranma were just a slightly tighter fit, but he somehow managed to make them look perfectly acceptable. He raised his golden eyes and watched Soun with his slit pupils, facial markings, pure silver hair and pointed ears clearly visible. Akane could hear Soun's growl and the shifting of his armored feet on the cold, hard asphalt of the street. As unyielding as Soun was now. I have to be cold too, now.
Akane felt her disguise slip away like sand through her fingers. She could feel the youkai blood in her veins, and in Ranma's next to her, and in Inu-Yasha's a few yards away with Kagome, and most strongly in Sesshomarou's behind her. The singing of their blood together gave her strength and she stood straighter with Ranma's arm still around her. Akane looked into Soun's eyes sadly and, seeing only hate, betrayal, and pain, knew he would never forgive her.
"Demons," Soun growled, gritting his teeth.
"Actually he's the only full demon," said Ranma, jerking his thumb in Sesshomarou's direction. His tone was light, but his wild blue eyes were humorless as he shifted his position to put Akane slightly behind him.
"Cross-breeds," Soun spat. "Filthy. Even worse than a full-bloods." Ranma glanced at Akane, and she was sure he was asking permission to fight. Before she could even nod his expression changed and she heard the twang of Soun's bowstring. Ranma pulled her out of the arrow's path with the arm around her waist.
"I don't think he's my father anymore," Akane whispered as the arrow flew harmlessly past Rin. His ears flickered towards her once before he was off like a shot.
Soun's eyes widened at Ranma's speed, but he was able to un-sheath his sword, and Ranma's foot glanced off the blade. Ranma touched the ground for an instant before going after Soun again. His ears were flat against his skull as he moved, jumping over Soun and flipping him flat on his stomach with a grip on his neck. He kept Soun's face on the ground with a foot on the back of his helmet.
"Don't – you – ever – try – that – again!" Ranma growled, punctuating each word with a blow to Soun's head or his back. Akane bit her lip before crying out.
"Ranma!" his head whipped around at the sound of her voice, his ears cocked towards her. "Just… just forget him."
"B-but…" he glanced uncertainly from her to Soun's unmoving body and back, his ears flickered towards Soun to pick up his sedated heart beat. "O-okay." Ranma walked back to her and they locked gazes for a moment, then he turned to Kagome and Inu-Yasha. "Would you get Kasumi and Tofu to take care of him?" he asked, nodding to Soun. Kagome looked startled for an instant before nodding resolutely despite Inu-Yasha's grumbling.
"You owe me for this," the older hanyou said, scowling as he left with Kagome, who took his arm.
"We'll spar some time," Ranma smirked at his retreating form before looking to Sesshomarou.
"I apologize for the trouble I must have caused you," he said calmly. "I don't think it will happen again."
"Then, you're cured?" Ranma asked, raising his eyebrows.
"I believe that was the last time, yes."
Akane frowned. "I thought you only changed when someone with another curse came near you…"
"It was the strangest thing," said Rin, her brow wrinkling. "We were about to leave one of our office buildings, when a young man with an oversized umbrella walked by. I think he was lost…"
Akane nearly laughed.
Ranma leapt away from Akane's assault worriedly, crushing blades of grass beneath his shoes. They had come to his mother's house, and since she had no dojo, were forced to spar in the backyard. He didn't remember either of them suggesting it – it just sort of started. Akane was hardly trying though. She didn't seem to care that he hadn't once attacked her, and she hadn't said a word. Ranma stopped moving and held up a hand for her todo the same. Akane halted in her tracks, a few short paces from him.
He had been waiting for her to speak to him of her own accord, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen. Her eyes were glazed with sadness, and her shoulders were slumped in defeat, and her mouth had hardly opened since they arrived. The setting sun cast exotic hues over them both, lighting Akane's hair and shading her face. She looked like a beautiful, broken doll with her immobile features and glassy eyes, and it made Ranma's heart clench because his Akane was no doll.
"Akane…" he breathed her name, and that was all it took.
She stumbled forward and he moved swiftly to catch her. He held her on her feet, his hands firmly grasping her upper arms just above her elbows. A moment later she was on her own feet, but he still held her arms and she raised her hands and placed them on his forearms. Ranma met her wilting gaze and with a soundless shudder Akane fell against his chest wrapping her arms around him. She shook slightly as tears soaked his shirt, and Ranma dropped his disguise and waited for her to do the same. Akane just sobbed harder and shook her head.
"Akane?"
She didn't respond.
"Let it go," he said softly. Akane removed her face from the folds of his shirt and stared up at him. Tears trailed down her flushed cheeks and her eyes were slightly reddened beneath her rumpled, silky hair.
"I… don't want to…" she whispered between sniffs and coughs.
"You'll feel better," Ranma said into her ear, pulling her closer and rubbing slow circles across her back. Akane had stopped shaking, but he knew her tears were still falling. Moments passed and he was about to speak to her again, when he felt her draw a deep breath against him before dropping her disguise and shaking with sobs once more.
A ghost of a smile slipped across Ranma's face, though Akane couldn't see it, and he watched her with concerned eyes. The hand on her back stopped moving and he raised it instead to stroke her hair. The short midnight blue strands slipped through his fingers and before he knew it his hand had moved up to her ears and he was rubbing them absently, careful of his claws. He knew from experience how sensitive they were, and he was not surprised to find that the hair tufting her quivering ears was softer and finer than the hair on her head.
For a long while they stood like that, until the sun set and Akane's sobs dwindled into nothing. She was still only for a moment before she began to shake again, but it was a different type of shaking, more of a vibration from deep in her chest. A contented purr came from her as she toyed with Ranma's pigtail, though she still hiccoughed and sniffled quietly. Ranma smiled, because he was relieved for Akane's sake and because he could not identify the sound she was making with the purr of a feline. He held her for a few moments longer before they both pulled away just enough to take in each other's expression, their faces perilously close. Akane's lips twitched upwards just slightly, and both their eyes softened in an expression akin to happiness.
"I was scared," she said, and he could feel her breath on his face. "I thought… that you might… might not make it. When you were sealed. Promise me, that you won't die… before I'm ready for it."
"When will that be?" Ranma asked her, his voice half-joking.
"Never," she whispered, her voice firm with conviction.
"Akane… would you – "
Ranma stopped in mid-sentence and looked up. A scent caught his nose from the shadows of the yard and he and Akane broke apart and fell into defensive stances as Mousse walked into their range of vision at a sedated pace.
"Ranma," he said, nodding in greeting to him and Akane. He held his hands up in front of him, to signify that he had no weapons, although they all knew it was a useless gesture for a hidden weapons master. "I would not fight with you."
Ranma's guarded expression slipped into one of skepticism. "What reason do we have to trust you?"
"None. I am not asking for your trust."
Ranma frowned, but did not ease his stance. He really wished Mousse were there to fight. He wouldn't mind beating the crap out of him at that moment. Damn interruptions! "What do you want, then?"
"You have powerful allies. Pitting myself against you would be futile."
"So… you want to help us?" asked Ranma. Mousse shook his head.
"Did I say that? I said I would not fight against you."
Ranma and Akane had slowly begun to relax from their stances, and were now looking at Mousse with open suspicion.
"What about Shampoo? You didn't give up on her, did you?" Akane asked, crossing her arms. Mousse was turning to go, and he glanced back at them with an expression of un-readability that only a youkai could achieve.
"Destroying her quarry for her will not win her over," he said, then they could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "Sorry to interrupt."
Ranma growled half-heartedly at his back, but he quickly gave it up in exasperation. Sighing, he turned back to Akane. Her hands were clasped in front of her and she had hidden her demonic features, biting her lip. He frowned.
"Akane…" he started, and she glanced up at him. Ranma took in her pleading eyes silently and shook his head. "Looking human doesn't make you one."
"I know…" she sighed, but didn't change back. "And I don't want to be human… but…"
"But you want to be accepted… by your father," Ranma finished. She nodded, and bit her lip harder as her eyes began to brim with fresh tears. "Akane, I know you said that he's not your father anymore… but you didn't mean it, did you? I must have said that a thousand times over the last ten years… and look at my pop. He's done a lot of stupid things… a lot of really stupid things… but he'll always be my pop… even if we hate each other…."
"But… I don't hate Daddy…" Akane said softly.
"Because he's still your father…. I… can't really tell you what to do. I mean, my mom will probably never love me… and I don't even know her as a person… but I still… love her…" Ranma trailed off. He hadn't put much thought into this before. It had always stung him, but now he could feel the pain more sharply. Partly because of what he was realizing and partly because he knew Akane felt the same sort of pain. "I guess… you can't… just… walk away from love, and… it hurts. Because all we can do is keep feeling the same."
Tears were falling from Akane's eyes as she whimpered his name once and fell into his arms for a second time. Ranma stroked her hair and her back soothingly for a while and she calmed enough to go with him into the house and let him prepare dinner. They fell asleep together on the couch, content for the moment in each other's arms.
A/N: Woah, chapter 20… I can't believe it… well, I made this chapter a little longer than usual, so be grateful. I even put a line from Inu-Yasha in there (Vol. 11 of the manga) well… next time R&A confront Nodoka, or rather she confronts them…. Please Review! Reviews are very inspiring, if you know what I mean. C ya next chap. Oh, and Happy Halloween! (It's tomorrow right?)