Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and all its characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and have been used without permission. This fanfiction was written for personal enjoyment, and hopefully the enjoyment of the readers.

Key:

"speech"

::thoughts::

flashback

Carousel:

Usotsuki

by Rain

Part Twelve.

It was well past nine in the morning when Akane woke.

Ranma was sleeping peacefully for the first time in over 36 hours, his chin resting on Akane's head, his arms around her, holding her close to him.

Akane wasn't aware of much at first, laden with the after-sensation of having slept years of her life away, except how pleasantly warm she was all over.

She remembered feeling like this only once before in her life. It was a time she didn't like to think of too often, because it reminded her that she had almost given up.

If it weren't for Ranma. He had held her then. And she was sure he was holding her now.

But this time, her skin wasn't deathly cold. This time she felt warmth from within, not just from the strong arms that always held her when she needed them.

Breaking the surface, between half-sleep and blinking in the sunlight, Akane slipped her arms around Ranma and cuddled further into his embrace.

Feeling her stirring, Ranma dazedly opened his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was that Akane had buried her face in his shoulder, and the second thing was that she was holding him back.

"Akane… Hey, Akane…" he coaxed quietly. ::Is she really awake, or am I dreaming again? Is she OK? Is this finally over? Is she-::

"Hi," Akane said simply, looking up at him.

"Um, hi," he replied sheepishly. This was just a bit peculiar. She's in a coma for a day and a half, and the first thing she says is "hi"? Somehow it seemed so, well, Akane.

"You're finally awake," Ranma said, more to himself than to Akane. "Boy am I glad that's over."

"I don't really remember what happened," she said frankly. "The last thing I remember is Shampoo. Ranma… was she really trying to … to kill me?"

Akane wasn't sure if she honestly believed the question was valid or not. True, she had always been competing with Shampoo, so to speak, but there had been, she was almost sure, an unspoken agreement between the two of them that promised competition, but nothing more serious. And certainly nothing as violent as murder.

"I think she was," Ranma tried to choose his words carefully. In the end it had been Shampoo who had saved her, so it wouldn't be a good idea to flare up her temper. "But she told me after, she… Cologne had given her an ultimatum. Either kill you and marry me, or go back to China and face execution." Akane looked just as shocked as Ranma had felt upon first hearing the news.

"That's terrible! I had no idea that the Amazons would do something like that to one of their own people. I mean, it's not like she murdered someone or… Well, I guess she almost did," she revised.

"I know. But she told me afterwards how sorry she was, and that she hadn't meant to kill you. She didn't even want to hurt you as badly as she did. She felt so guilty for a while. Adrenaline can do weird things to people. But in the end, she was the one who found the cure for you, and administered it to you. And when that didn't work, she threw away any chance of ever belonging to her clan again by creating a blood bond between you and her."

"A blood bond? I thought those were myths," Akane said skeptically.

"So did I," Ranma agreed. "But apparently not, you're awake now, aren't you? And look at your arm," he pointed to a small scar on Akane's upper left arm. There was a tiny symbol there, not a cut, almost like a faded tattoo burned into her skin, in the shape of infinity.

Akane pulled a Kasumi. "Oh, my…" Ranma laughed to himself. Apparently it ran in the family.

"What does this mean, the blood bond between she and I?" Akane asked.

"You protect each other. It's kind of like adopting a sister. You're not part of an Amazon clan or anything, neither is Shampoo anymore as a matter of fact, it's more like you promise to always look out for one another. She's glad to do it for you, she just hopes you don't hate her for what she did."

"Of course I don't hate her! I mean… Other people are probably saying I should, but I don't know. I just can't. I know, I have known the whole time we've been tangled together, she isn't really a bad person. And this time, just like all the others, I'm sure, Cologne was controlling her. I want to be her friend. I … I will be, and after what she gave up for me… Whether or not she really wanted it anymore, still… I would be honored to become her sister," she finished resolutely.

Shampoo stepped into the room then.

"Shampoo…" Akane found herself hoping she would be able to say the right thing. She wanted to make amends of this whole crazy mess so badly.

"Shampoo hear everything," Shampoo whispered, her expression hard to read. "Shampoo just want tell Akane… Shampoo honored be sister to Akane too. Shampoo glad you better now. It worth all trouble. Shampoo do again if have to."

"Shampoo, I… Thank you. I'll try and make it up to you somehow…"

"Is no need. Is what friends for. What sisters for." She extended her hand hopefully. Akane took it without hesitation, but shifted from Ranma's arms to pull Shampoo into her own in an unexpected embrace.

Shampoo wasn't sure what to do. In her clan, showing emotions other than anger and vengeance was looked down upon.

::But Shampoo is own woman now:: she reminded herself proudly. She hugged Akane back. She had never been hugged before, even by her own mother. It felt nice.

For the first time, Shampoo knew she could look to the future for better things to come. It was new, and a bit frightening, but she didn't release her grasp on her newfound hope.

She wasn't sorry to let go. They were sisters now, after all. This was no parting. It was a beginning.

She quietly left the two to catch up. They had plenty of that to do.

*           *           *

Ranma and Akane were alone now, you could say. The eavesdroppers – that is, Toufuu, Nabiki, Kasumi, Soun, Nodoka and a giant panda, still wearing the bowtie he'd had from the wedding – had at least had the decency to do so from outside the room for once.

"Akane… I'm so sorry…" Ranma whispered into Akane's hair for the third time since this whole crazy ordeal had begun. "I just-"

"Shh," Akane hushed him, smiling caringly into his shirt. "It's ok, I understand. We both feel sorry. Because we both screwed up royally. But hey, at least we know, ne? I guess it just goes to show we suck at guessing what the other is thinking," she laughed, and Ranma relaxed considerably.

"I'm glad," he said, smoothing her bangs with his hand, closing his eyes, relieved. "I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you… I almost have twice now, and I still hadn't told you… And after what I left you thinking after that stupid wedding… I needed to tell you… You mean the world to me. And I love you."

Akane trembled just barely under the light weight of his hand.

"I did then, and I do now. I loved you when I put that ring on your finger, and I'll love you until the day I die. And who knows what comes next? Maybe even longer."

Akane slowly let out a deep breath. She wanted Ranma to feel the way he made her feel right now. She wanted to show him how she felt more than anything. Ranma was still talking to her quietly, but he was stumbling slightly now, unsure of her response; she still hadn't said anything and he was starting to get nervous…

"Akane…? Do you… Do you think I could… It's just, I should have when they married us, but that's just it. They married us. And that's the last thing I wanted. I wanted to marry you. And I was really hoping that maybe you could want to marry me? I still don't know, but if you wouldn't mind it… I would have then, but I wasn't sure how you felt and I-"

He found it difficult to finish his rambling, as Akane had pressed her lips to his and he wasn't exactly in a position to protest. Not that he would have. ^^

Akane pulled back only shortly after she had leaned forwards, their noses brushing against each other. "No, Ranma. I don't mind it," she whispered sweetly, her face somewhat flushed.

"Oh," he said, flustered, more out of relief than awkwardness. How could he even think of feeling awkward when it felt perfectly right to be close to her? To hold her near to him, where he had always wanted her to be? Quite simply, he couldn't. Her eyes seemed to be very dark but bright at the same time, as her vision borrowed his. And so he didn't.

Instead, he lovingly, albeit a bit nervously, traced the line of her jaw with one finger, cupping her chin and drawing her face closer to his. Looking into Akane's eyes briefly, he seemed to find, as he always did, assurance that…

"You know I love you too, don't you Ranma?" Akane finished his train of thought. "Baka," she added, but it wasn't meant the usual way.

"Kawaikune," he replied.

Nabiki sighed in relief just outside the door. Thank god there was still at least one thing that hadn't changed.

Akane didn't really expect an answer, she knew already. But he gave her one anyway.

Ranma kissed her very gently, once, twice, until they both lost count, just basking in the inner glow that discovering one another, tasting each other for the first time, created.

It was a fantastic first, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

Nabiki, now the last stationed outside the door, smiled inwardly.

::Well,:: she thought contentedly, ::I have a feeling I wasn't the only one who'd been waiting for that one. Maybe that wedding wasn't such a bad idea.::

She rose to join the others in the waiting room.

She had left a few particular electric devices running back there, though.

She needed something to put away for a rainy day, after all.

*           *           *

The rain outside the shop window pattered steadily, slashing in the gusts of the wind, leaving long, streaking trails to snake down the foggy glass. It was warm inside.

Ukyou lazily swung her large fighting spatula over her shoulder, the rest of her things already packed. It had been a long night. But now, it was time to go.

::At last:: she thought warily. ::It's time I move on.::

Removing the "Ucchan's" sign was the most unreal for her. It was wet and bedraggled from the rain, but she wished she could have left it; left some piece of herself in Nerima. Time seemed to stand still here, no matter how ridiculously chaotic the going got. To be taking it down seemed to start up the wheel again. It hadn't turned in a while. What she couldn't know was it had been set in motion far before… When a pigtailed young martial artist had finally asked the young temperamental lady he loved to stay with him forever. When a stubborn, prideful Amazon warrior had walked away from her clan forever, to finally find an inner peace that one can only achieve when one is truly free.

*           *           *

She passed by the clinic on her way out of town the next day. Of course, she couldn't have known who would be standing at the doorway, out for a breath of fresh air he hadn't had in a while.

He saw her. She saw him. There was an infinite amount of uneasiness in her heart. The guilt of damaging things, maybe beyond repair, tends to do that to a person. She felt it now.

But he was smiling. That would have been a relief if she hadn't felt somewhere in her heart that once, just once, they might have been friends. It was just nice to see. Maybe she really had left a piece of herself here. It was too early to tell, anyhow.

Maybe she had been in love with him, and maybe she hadn't. But that was the kind of smile a friend gave another. She felt lucky to have that much just to herself. There was something about Ranma, after all.

He tapped two fingers to his forehead in a way of some kind of salute. But she recognized that little gesture. He hadn't done that since they were kids.

She smiled. It felt good, for once.

She was glad she had left the restaurant by now, her tears would have made her okonomiyaki too salty. But these weren't tears of regret, and it would have tasted good.

*           *           *

Akane walked up behind Ranma as Ukyou disappeared from sight, slipping her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"So… What happens next?" she mused quietly, giving Ranma a little squeeze.

"I can't tell yet. I guess none of us can," he replied thoughtfully, looking up at the last wisps of a jet's trail in the stark colors of the setting sun. "Maybe things will fall back into another lazy routine. But as long as I'm with you, that's all that matters," he added, placing his hands over hers.

"Maybe… we'll go home… Kasumi will find some excuse to celebrate by cooking something special… Nabiki will con people and come home with that evil smirk she has… My dad'll chuck me in the koi pond, I bet the fish have been bored lately… your dad will play shogi with mine, they'll both cheat every chance they get… Shampoo's coming to stay with us I think… Ukyou moved on, and I guess we have too…"

"And what about us?"

"Well… we're going to bicker about stupid stuff, no doubt…" Akane smiled in spite of herself. "We'll just take it one day at a time… And tomorrow you'll ask me what happens next?' And from then on, we'll figure it out."

"Sounds like a plan," she said.

It sounded like just the thing.

End Part Twelve.

Red: (you were an anonymous review, so I'm replying to it here) I know, I realized I had the verbs flipped like three seconds after I posted. Argh! Ah well, no harm done really, just my Japanese Sensei would hate me, lol. But what he doesn't know won't hurt him. I'm glad you liked the touches of Chinese. I'm sure some person who does speak it is going to flame me for sucking at using the language, though, lol.

Thanks for reading.

I hope you all have enjoyed the story, and I hope there might have been just a teensy bit of suspense left over that I didn't already kill by promising people I wouldn't kill Akane, lol. I also hope the whole thing wasn't shove-it-down-your-throat-waff; I wanted to show that Ranma and Akane aren't perfect, because in perfect love you shouldn't need words. You should just be. But, obviously, these two aren't perfect, even if they are meant for each other, since this entire thing was based off a huge misunderstanding. That's what I was shooting for, anyway. 

Yes, that was a long part, but that's because instead of the casually promised 14 parts, I ended up combining parts 12 and 13 into this, and that's what you get. I worked the hardest on this part, and I'd like to think it's my best work of the Carousel series, but that's probably wishful thinking. So…

I am sorry to have to announce this, but this concludes the final chapter of Carousel. There will follow shortly a part 13 Epilogue, but afterwards, that is the end of this insane spurt of creative energies. My formal sign off will be posted at the end of 13.

Thanks for reading, all of you.

To the epilogue, away! Yes, I am crazy.