Author's Note:See what happens when I get in the writing mood? I write faster...yay! Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy. Anyhoo not much to say here, I just like to do the author's notes becuase it gives me a chance to ramble and go off on mini tangents which I love to do.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2, I could only wish...also due to the fact that I don't own Ranma 1/2, I'm using it without permission. Shh don't tell, we'll let it be our little secret okay? The story is mine though.
After the Letters
Chapter 2
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Crikit
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2 years ago…
Nabiki slowly walks down the park pathway biting the inside of her mouth as she thinks. As she nears the swings her pace slows even more. He's there waiting for her, just like always. The sight of Kuno makes her stop to reconsider her decision, but she can't. This is what she has to do it's the best thing for the both of them.
"Hey is this swing taken?" She asks as she approaches him.
"Well I was saving it for a friend, but you're cuter so the answers no." Kuno replies flashing a quick smile at her.
The smile almost breaks her heart in two, but after a deep breath she's able to sit.
"So what's up Biki?" Kuno asks as he gets up off his swing to stand behind hers to give her a push.
Nabiki digs her feet into the dirt preventing any forward motion by her or the swing. "Don't. I want you to sit. Please Taachi, we have to talk."
Frowning slightly Kuno returns to the swing and sits back down. "Okay what do you want to talk about?"
"Us." Nabiki replied keeping her eyes pinned to the ground, unable to look at Kuno for fear that if she does she would start to cry.
"Us? What about us?"
"Um…I think…well, I've…I've" She stops unable to say the words out loud but she can tell just by looking at him that the message is going through loud and clear.
Kuno stops the slight motion of his swing and turns to stare at Nabiki, his mouth set firmly not giving away any hint of emotion. "You want to break up don't you?"
Her reply is a nod and a slight whimper.
"I only have one question for you Nabiki. Why?"
"Why? You honestly want to know?"
"Yes I honestly want to know."
"Because I don't think I can do this…actually I don't think we can do this."
"Can't do what Nabiki?" He asks as he stands and crouches in front of her to look her in the eye. "Is it the distance? That's simple, just don't go…or I'll go with you."
Nabiki shakes her head and then stands herself wrapping her arms around herself as if she's fighting off a chill. "NO! I won't stay and you can't go…don't you understand Taachi? The distance, that's only part of it. Haven't you noticed that you and I as the days go on become more and more complacent with one another? We've fallen in to a routine and one of these days one of us is going to wake up and realize that what they feel isn't right, that they no longer love the other."
"I don't understand."
"Of course you don't. What I'm trying to say is that one of these days one of is going to stop loving the other, and I don't want that to happen. It will be ugly and drawn out and we'll stop caring for each other… and I don't think I could handle that. You're the only reason I'm sane, and if I ever lost you. I don't know what would happen, I don't even want to think about it."
"Biki, please don't do this. I promise I won't stop loving you, you're my world, the sun sets and rises each day for me just so I can be with you. It's bad enough that you're going away but now this? Please don't do it."
"I'm sorry Taachi, my minds made up." Nabiki turns towards him and he can plainly see the tears that are now streaming down her face, "I leave tomorrow, and as far as I'm concerned the moment I get on that plane we're through. Actually cancel that, the moment I leave here we're through. Don't bother phoning me, I won't answer, and don't come to the airport, please for both of our sakes don't come to the airport."
========================================================
"So what happened after? Did you just leave him or what?" Mic asks desperate to know the answer, as if an event that happened two years ago to me will have some major impact on her life.
"Well I kissed him on the cheek and left."
"Did he come to the airport? 'Cause you know that's what happens in the movies. The girl says not to and then he shows up and wins her heart and she stays…" She stops mid-sentence and hangs her head, as she suddenly realizes the answer herself. "Oh, Nabiki I'm sorry."
I force back the tears that I feel about to start flowing and smile slightly. "It's alright, he did what I asked. I can't honestly say that I was happy about it but at least he respected me that much to listen to me. Things are different now though I've moved on and hopefully he has as well."
"Then you should be happy to see him. Shouldn't you?"
"If only things were that simple. I said I've moved on Mic that doesn't mean I've stopped loving him… in fact if anything, I think that I love him more then I did. That's why I don't want to see him. I guess you can say that I'm afraid that if I see him again we'll get back together only to regret it later."
Mic nods in understanding, "Okay then it's settled, you'll avoid and I'll help. After all it wouldn't be good for you to fall in love again when your already in love with Matthew." she looks at me and winks slightly and the next thing I know we're both laughing so hard that the stewardess eventually has to come over to us and ask us to fasten our seatbelts.
======================================================
"Thanks for driving us to the airport Kuno, we would have been really late if you hadn't of shown up."
I look at the girl in the seat next to me and smile. There are times, like right now that she reminds me of her sister. "Don't mention it Akane, it gives me an excuse to see her. You don't think she'll be mad that I'm there do you?"
"Yeah she'll be mad Kuno but knowing her she'll blame me…just like Akane always does."
"Ranma, I don't always think it's your fault."
"Oh that's right you think that every other time, silly me how could I have forgotten?"
Out of the corner of my eye I see Akane glaring at Ranma in the back seat, while he looks out the window trying to ignore the way his fiancée was looking at him. "You two will never change."
As we pull up to the airport all three of us are riding in silence all of us lost in our own thoughts. My thoughts drifting to Nabiki and what kind of reception she might give me, while I'm sure Ranma and Akanes thoughts were drifting to their up coming wedding. Pulling into a parking spot I turn the car off, open the door and get out. It's only when I'm standing in the open air of the airport parking lot that I realize it's started to rain. The implications of said rain immediately run through my head and I turn to warn Ranma only to realize I'm to late as I watch the raven haired boy turn into my once beloved pig-tailed girl.
"Great just what we needed to happen." Ranma grumbled as he looked down at his now very feminine body.
Akane just stares at her fiancée for a second and then looks quickly at me, "Have you ever noticed that water just seems to follow him around?" she asks a slight smile playing across her face. "Come on Ranma, Nabiki will kill us if we meet her at the gate and you're a girl. Kuno you don't mind waiting for her while we find some hot water do you? Thanks I knew you wouldn't, meet you at the bags."
With that Ranma and Akane make a mad dash for the airport leaving me standing wide mouthed in the rain, still trying to protest. Why fight it though, we're going to see each other sooner or later might as well make it sooner…besides I'm getting wet.
=========================================================
"Where are they? They knew what time the flight was coming in, they should be here." I say this more to myself then to Mic.
"Maybe they got stuck in traffic or something. I'm sure they'll be here Nabiki, just relax."
I nod and take a deep breath and then scan the gathered crowd for one or both of my sisters. However instead of seeing Kasumi and Akane rushing towards the gate in a mad panic I see Kuno-baby, a slightly damp Kuno-baby at that. The sight of him has two effects on me, one my heart starts beating a hundred miles a minute…but then again he always had that effect on me… and two I feel the sudden need to hide but find myself unable to do so.
He spots me in an instant and slows his pace. It seems like an eternity before he gets to us when in reality it was only a few seconds. "Bi..er..Nabiki, hi."
"Ta…Kuno….baby…" I start to blush as I let slip one of my old nicknames for him…what can I say old habits die hard. "What are you doing here?"
"Akane and Ranma were running late. I offered them a ride that's all." He replies with a smile spreading across his face.
"Then where are they?"
"Oh there trying…" he stops suddenly when he notices Mic standing beside paying great attention to our conversation, "It's raining."
I stare at him for a few seconds letting the statement sink in. "Oh it's raining." Out of the corner of my eye I catch Mic staring at the two of us like we're nuts.
"Yeah. Anyway, Akane sent me to meet you at the gate. She said they'd meet us at the baggage carousel. So if you and.."
It's when he pauses that I realize I was so shocked to see him that I forgot to introduce him to Mic. She solves the problem herself by shoving her hand to clasp Kunos. "Mic, or at least that's what Nabiki calls me. My parents and almost everyone else I know call me Michiri, Michiri Umeda…and you are?"
"Oh Kuno, Tatewaki Kuno. It's a pleasure to meet you." He says with a bow and quick shake of the hand before he turns his attention back to me. "We better get moving though, you know what Akane's like Nabiki."
He turns and walks away leaving me standing next to a very stunned Mic, "Well I guess our plan of you avoiding him is out the window. Don't know why you'd want to avoid him though he's a hunk."
She winks at me and starts after Kuno, I stare at them for a second and realize she's right. He is a hunk, not that he wasn't before but the two years apart makes him appear even more so. He still has the shaggy brown hair that I used to love to run my fingers through, and his brown eyes still contain that glint of madness that we were never able to get rid of, and much to my surprise he's wearing the t-shirt I bought him when we were on vacation together just before we broke up and a worn pair of jeans, actually it sort of looks like he rolled out of bed and just grabbed whatever was at hand. It sort of suits him.
========================================================
I start off through the airport towards the baggage area when I suddenly realize that our little party of three is missing a person. Stopping I turn around to find Nabiki standing where we left her, a slight smile playing across her face.
"Nabiki." She jumps when I say her name and I can't help but smile slightly. "Akane and Ranma are waiting."
"Oh yeah, sorry. I spaced out for a second."
I don't reply, instead I reach out and grab her carry-on bag from off her shoulder and start walking again.
"You know I can carry that myself." She states as she scrambles to catch up to me.
"That's okay, I want to carry it."
I hear her sigh in defeat as we catch back up to Michiri who was waiting patiently for us. If I didn't know better I would say that the girl was laughing at us, or maybe at the awkwardness of the situation leaving me to wonder just how much of our past Nabiki shared with her. My pondering is cut short however as I hear a familiar voice yelling out…only unlike most other times the voice isn't full of anger, only joy.
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He hasn't changed, at least not if the last few minutes are any indication. He's still the same overly polite, drop dead gorgeous guy that I fell for some many years ago. So if he hasn't changed that much, have I? Has our time apart, my time away from Japan made me harder? Or maybe softer…maybe I'm self-cantered enough to be called Nabiki the bitch.
My thoughts are stopped promptly enough however as I hear a very familiar voice screaming my name at the top of her lungs…at least I know Akane hasn't changed that much. She's well she's Akane, same hair cut and clothes that I remembered from before I left. At least that's what I picked up from the couple seconds that I had to glance at her before she enfolded me in a monster hug.
"Nabiki, you're here. I'm so happy to see you, now everything truly does feel right."
I smile to myself as I listen to Akane chatter away, remembering a time when something like this wouldn't have happened between the two of us. But like most things now a days that happened to our little group, that's all in the past. "It's good to see you to sis. Where's Ranma?"
She shifts slightly, suddenly looking very uncomfortable. "Um…well…"
That's when I notice out of the corner of my eye, the very recognizable flaming red hair and well developed body. I knew things were going to smoothly.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2, I could only wish...also due to the fact that I don't own Ranma 1/2, I'm using it without permission. Shh don't tell, we'll let it be our little secret okay? The story is mine though.
After the Letters
Chapter 2
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Crikit
=======================================================
2 years ago…
Nabiki slowly walks down the park pathway biting the inside of her mouth as she thinks. As she nears the swings her pace slows even more. He's there waiting for her, just like always. The sight of Kuno makes her stop to reconsider her decision, but she can't. This is what she has to do it's the best thing for the both of them.
"Hey is this swing taken?" She asks as she approaches him.
"Well I was saving it for a friend, but you're cuter so the answers no." Kuno replies flashing a quick smile at her.
The smile almost breaks her heart in two, but after a deep breath she's able to sit.
"So what's up Biki?" Kuno asks as he gets up off his swing to stand behind hers to give her a push.
Nabiki digs her feet into the dirt preventing any forward motion by her or the swing. "Don't. I want you to sit. Please Taachi, we have to talk."
Frowning slightly Kuno returns to the swing and sits back down. "Okay what do you want to talk about?"
"Us." Nabiki replied keeping her eyes pinned to the ground, unable to look at Kuno for fear that if she does she would start to cry.
"Us? What about us?"
"Um…I think…well, I've…I've" She stops unable to say the words out loud but she can tell just by looking at him that the message is going through loud and clear.
Kuno stops the slight motion of his swing and turns to stare at Nabiki, his mouth set firmly not giving away any hint of emotion. "You want to break up don't you?"
Her reply is a nod and a slight whimper.
"I only have one question for you Nabiki. Why?"
"Why? You honestly want to know?"
"Yes I honestly want to know."
"Because I don't think I can do this…actually I don't think we can do this."
"Can't do what Nabiki?" He asks as he stands and crouches in front of her to look her in the eye. "Is it the distance? That's simple, just don't go…or I'll go with you."
Nabiki shakes her head and then stands herself wrapping her arms around herself as if she's fighting off a chill. "NO! I won't stay and you can't go…don't you understand Taachi? The distance, that's only part of it. Haven't you noticed that you and I as the days go on become more and more complacent with one another? We've fallen in to a routine and one of these days one of us is going to wake up and realize that what they feel isn't right, that they no longer love the other."
"I don't understand."
"Of course you don't. What I'm trying to say is that one of these days one of is going to stop loving the other, and I don't want that to happen. It will be ugly and drawn out and we'll stop caring for each other… and I don't think I could handle that. You're the only reason I'm sane, and if I ever lost you. I don't know what would happen, I don't even want to think about it."
"Biki, please don't do this. I promise I won't stop loving you, you're my world, the sun sets and rises each day for me just so I can be with you. It's bad enough that you're going away but now this? Please don't do it."
"I'm sorry Taachi, my minds made up." Nabiki turns towards him and he can plainly see the tears that are now streaming down her face, "I leave tomorrow, and as far as I'm concerned the moment I get on that plane we're through. Actually cancel that, the moment I leave here we're through. Don't bother phoning me, I won't answer, and don't come to the airport, please for both of our sakes don't come to the airport."
========================================================
"So what happened after? Did you just leave him or what?" Mic asks desperate to know the answer, as if an event that happened two years ago to me will have some major impact on her life.
"Well I kissed him on the cheek and left."
"Did he come to the airport? 'Cause you know that's what happens in the movies. The girl says not to and then he shows up and wins her heart and she stays…" She stops mid-sentence and hangs her head, as she suddenly realizes the answer herself. "Oh, Nabiki I'm sorry."
I force back the tears that I feel about to start flowing and smile slightly. "It's alright, he did what I asked. I can't honestly say that I was happy about it but at least he respected me that much to listen to me. Things are different now though I've moved on and hopefully he has as well."
"Then you should be happy to see him. Shouldn't you?"
"If only things were that simple. I said I've moved on Mic that doesn't mean I've stopped loving him… in fact if anything, I think that I love him more then I did. That's why I don't want to see him. I guess you can say that I'm afraid that if I see him again we'll get back together only to regret it later."
Mic nods in understanding, "Okay then it's settled, you'll avoid and I'll help. After all it wouldn't be good for you to fall in love again when your already in love with Matthew." she looks at me and winks slightly and the next thing I know we're both laughing so hard that the stewardess eventually has to come over to us and ask us to fasten our seatbelts.
======================================================
"Thanks for driving us to the airport Kuno, we would have been really late if you hadn't of shown up."
I look at the girl in the seat next to me and smile. There are times, like right now that she reminds me of her sister. "Don't mention it Akane, it gives me an excuse to see her. You don't think she'll be mad that I'm there do you?"
"Yeah she'll be mad Kuno but knowing her she'll blame me…just like Akane always does."
"Ranma, I don't always think it's your fault."
"Oh that's right you think that every other time, silly me how could I have forgotten?"
Out of the corner of my eye I see Akane glaring at Ranma in the back seat, while he looks out the window trying to ignore the way his fiancée was looking at him. "You two will never change."
As we pull up to the airport all three of us are riding in silence all of us lost in our own thoughts. My thoughts drifting to Nabiki and what kind of reception she might give me, while I'm sure Ranma and Akanes thoughts were drifting to their up coming wedding. Pulling into a parking spot I turn the car off, open the door and get out. It's only when I'm standing in the open air of the airport parking lot that I realize it's started to rain. The implications of said rain immediately run through my head and I turn to warn Ranma only to realize I'm to late as I watch the raven haired boy turn into my once beloved pig-tailed girl.
"Great just what we needed to happen." Ranma grumbled as he looked down at his now very feminine body.
Akane just stares at her fiancée for a second and then looks quickly at me, "Have you ever noticed that water just seems to follow him around?" she asks a slight smile playing across her face. "Come on Ranma, Nabiki will kill us if we meet her at the gate and you're a girl. Kuno you don't mind waiting for her while we find some hot water do you? Thanks I knew you wouldn't, meet you at the bags."
With that Ranma and Akane make a mad dash for the airport leaving me standing wide mouthed in the rain, still trying to protest. Why fight it though, we're going to see each other sooner or later might as well make it sooner…besides I'm getting wet.
=========================================================
"Where are they? They knew what time the flight was coming in, they should be here." I say this more to myself then to Mic.
"Maybe they got stuck in traffic or something. I'm sure they'll be here Nabiki, just relax."
I nod and take a deep breath and then scan the gathered crowd for one or both of my sisters. However instead of seeing Kasumi and Akane rushing towards the gate in a mad panic I see Kuno-baby, a slightly damp Kuno-baby at that. The sight of him has two effects on me, one my heart starts beating a hundred miles a minute…but then again he always had that effect on me… and two I feel the sudden need to hide but find myself unable to do so.
He spots me in an instant and slows his pace. It seems like an eternity before he gets to us when in reality it was only a few seconds. "Bi..er..Nabiki, hi."
"Ta…Kuno….baby…" I start to blush as I let slip one of my old nicknames for him…what can I say old habits die hard. "What are you doing here?"
"Akane and Ranma were running late. I offered them a ride that's all." He replies with a smile spreading across his face.
"Then where are they?"
"Oh there trying…" he stops suddenly when he notices Mic standing beside paying great attention to our conversation, "It's raining."
I stare at him for a few seconds letting the statement sink in. "Oh it's raining." Out of the corner of my eye I catch Mic staring at the two of us like we're nuts.
"Yeah. Anyway, Akane sent me to meet you at the gate. She said they'd meet us at the baggage carousel. So if you and.."
It's when he pauses that I realize I was so shocked to see him that I forgot to introduce him to Mic. She solves the problem herself by shoving her hand to clasp Kunos. "Mic, or at least that's what Nabiki calls me. My parents and almost everyone else I know call me Michiri, Michiri Umeda…and you are?"
"Oh Kuno, Tatewaki Kuno. It's a pleasure to meet you." He says with a bow and quick shake of the hand before he turns his attention back to me. "We better get moving though, you know what Akane's like Nabiki."
He turns and walks away leaving me standing next to a very stunned Mic, "Well I guess our plan of you avoiding him is out the window. Don't know why you'd want to avoid him though he's a hunk."
She winks at me and starts after Kuno, I stare at them for a second and realize she's right. He is a hunk, not that he wasn't before but the two years apart makes him appear even more so. He still has the shaggy brown hair that I used to love to run my fingers through, and his brown eyes still contain that glint of madness that we were never able to get rid of, and much to my surprise he's wearing the t-shirt I bought him when we were on vacation together just before we broke up and a worn pair of jeans, actually it sort of looks like he rolled out of bed and just grabbed whatever was at hand. It sort of suits him.
========================================================
I start off through the airport towards the baggage area when I suddenly realize that our little party of three is missing a person. Stopping I turn around to find Nabiki standing where we left her, a slight smile playing across her face.
"Nabiki." She jumps when I say her name and I can't help but smile slightly. "Akane and Ranma are waiting."
"Oh yeah, sorry. I spaced out for a second."
I don't reply, instead I reach out and grab her carry-on bag from off her shoulder and start walking again.
"You know I can carry that myself." She states as she scrambles to catch up to me.
"That's okay, I want to carry it."
I hear her sigh in defeat as we catch back up to Michiri who was waiting patiently for us. If I didn't know better I would say that the girl was laughing at us, or maybe at the awkwardness of the situation leaving me to wonder just how much of our past Nabiki shared with her. My pondering is cut short however as I hear a familiar voice yelling out…only unlike most other times the voice isn't full of anger, only joy.
=========================================================
He hasn't changed, at least not if the last few minutes are any indication. He's still the same overly polite, drop dead gorgeous guy that I fell for some many years ago. So if he hasn't changed that much, have I? Has our time apart, my time away from Japan made me harder? Or maybe softer…maybe I'm self-cantered enough to be called Nabiki the bitch.
My thoughts are stopped promptly enough however as I hear a very familiar voice screaming my name at the top of her lungs…at least I know Akane hasn't changed that much. She's well she's Akane, same hair cut and clothes that I remembered from before I left. At least that's what I picked up from the couple seconds that I had to glance at her before she enfolded me in a monster hug.
"Nabiki, you're here. I'm so happy to see you, now everything truly does feel right."
I smile to myself as I listen to Akane chatter away, remembering a time when something like this wouldn't have happened between the two of us. But like most things now a days that happened to our little group, that's all in the past. "It's good to see you to sis. Where's Ranma?"
She shifts slightly, suddenly looking very uncomfortable. "Um…well…"
That's when I notice out of the corner of my eye, the very recognizable flaming red hair and well developed body. I knew things were going to smoothly.