Broken Hearts, Mended Souls
By
Nuclear Twinkie

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Disclaimer: In all seriousness, all rights to Ranma1/2 and its characters go to Rumiko Takahashi. In all silliness... What the hell are you doing here? This isn't a crossover, you know. "Sorry, but the girls were chasing me, and I asked for a place to hide." Yeah, but why did you ask Washu? "It seemed like she would really be able to hide me. She did a good job, right?" Tenchi, how am I supposed to get you back? "We could ask Washu again." No. Look what happened the first time. Just sit down and enjoy my Ranma 1/2 fic until we think of a way to get you back. "Ranma 1/2?" Great. Oh well, it's not like I was trying to write a fic or anything. The story goes like this...

{} = Character Thoughts
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Ranma slowly walks into the Tendo kitchen through the backdoor. He is covered in the dust of travel and looks like he just went through a large battle. Behind him, the sun has set and stars fill the sky. {Man, we spent more time fighting than planning. I hope half the stuff we came up with works. I hope no one notices that both Mousse and Konatsu just vanished. 'See you in a month or two Saotome.' 'Good luck, Mr. Saotome.' Yeah, right.} Ranma drops his backpack in a corner of the kitchen, walks over to the refrigerator, and opens it up. He starts digging through looking for a quick snack. {How long is it going to take to screw all of this up?} Ranma, holding an armful of various foodstuffs, stands up and kicks the door to the fridge shut. He is now standing face-to-face with Nabiki.

Ranma jumps in surprise. "Argh! What is it with everyone sneaking up on me lately? Usually only the old ghoul can do that."

Nabiki is looking at Ranma with a very devious smirk on her face. "Why, hello Ranma. You spend days on the roof in thought, only to disappear for three days on, what did your little note call it, a training trip? And now both Mousse and Konatsu are missing? What have you been up to?"

Ranma stares at Nabiki for a moment. {Well, that didn't take long.} "Nabiki, I just went on a training trip. It's not my fault Mousse and Konatsu didn't come back before me."

Nabiki's shakes her head back and forth as her smirk now turns into a full smile. "Ranma, Ranma, Ranma. Both Mousse and Konatsu took enough belongings to be gone for months. Konatsu even left a note for Ukyo saying he wouldn't know when he would be back. Your little Ucchan is really mad. However, it's nothing compared to how mad Akane is at you for just vanishing without notice. Now, you wouldn't want her to find you before you even get a chance to eat, now would you?"

Ranma starts to shake in nervously. "C'mon Nabiki. Just let me eat in peace. I've been gone for days. At least let me have one meal before having to face Akane."

"Ranma, I think it would be in your best interests to come clean and tell me what's going on right now. It would save us both a lot of time, and give you a chance to eat before Akane finds you."

Ranma turns and sets the food down on the counter. "Aw, c'mon Nabiki! That's not fair!"

"Life seldom is, Ranma." Nabiki steps up directly in front of Ranma. "Now, where were you?"

Ranma takes a step back trying to think of something, when he hears a peaceful voice. "Ranma, you finally home. Here, let me make you something to eat. Akane won't be back for a while. She's out with some friends."

Ranma glares at Nabiki before turning and smiling, "Thanks Kasumi. That would be great!"

Kasumi starts to straighten up the mess Ranma made. "Although, I would like to know where you've been for the last couple of days. We were really worried about you."

Ranma sits down at the table. "I... I really can't say yet Kasumi."

Nabiki sits down on the other side of the table. "That means it must concern Akane. Are you finally trying to work up to confessing your love for her?"

Ranma screams back in reply, "Who in their right mind would love an un-cute tomboy like that?!"

Kasumi sets a rather large sandwich down in front of Ranma. "Now Ranma, you know how much Akane hates it when you call her those names. She has been very worried about you the last couple of days. Your note didn't even say when you would be coming back."

Ranma grabs his sandwich and starts to eat. As he is eating, with half a mouth full of food, he says, "The note said I would be back. She was worrying about nothing."

Kasumi sits down as well. "None the less, she did worry about you. Please try to be a little nicer to her or the next day or to. She can make such a mess when she's angry."

Ranma continues eating as Nabiki smiles. "Ranma being nice to Akane? I'll have to adjust the odds on bets for the next couple of days."

Kasumi sighs and turns to her sister. "Nabiki, instead of trying to make money off Ranma and Akane, you could try to help get them together. I know you have the resources for it."

Ranma suddenly stops eating and stares at Kasumi in amazement. Nabiki laughs. "C'mon sis, not only do I make huge money off Akane and her fiancé here, but getting them together would be way too easy. All we'd have to do is lock them in a room with nothing but a bed and a bottle of chocolate syrup, and let the problem solve itself."

Kasumi gasps and puts a hand over her mouth. "Nabiki!!"

Ranma tilts his head looks very confused. {Chocolate syrup????} After a few seconds, Ranma spits out his food, stands up, and points his finger at Nabiki. "You're talking about... Akane and me... chocolate syrup... There is no way I would ever do something like that with such un-cute, un-sexy, built-like-a-brick tomboy like Akane!!"

Ranma hears the last voice he could possibly want to hear. It a voice filled with much anger, promising that pain is quickly on its way. "What was that? Un-cute? Tomboy? Chocolate syrup?! YOU, YOU PERVERT!!!" Akane pulls out her infamous mallet, and clobbers Ranma with every ounce of her strength. Ranma is crushed through the floorboards and into the ground. "I worry about you all this time and the first thing you do is make fun of me? I can't stand it anymore!"

Ranma pulls himself out of the ground in order to defend himself and sees tears steaming down Akane's face, who is continuing to scream at him. "Don't look at me like you feel sorry about me! You knew about Ryoga being P-Chan, didn't you? That's why you fought with him all the time, isn't it?" Ranma's mouth drops in surprise at this statement. Ranma's lack of response only infuriates Akane more. "You are disgusting! You knew what he was yet you let him do it anyway! Do you even care about me at all? Do you?"

Kasumi reaches out to put a hand on Akane's arm. Akane takes a step back. Akane stops screaming as she starts to tire. "No, Kasumi. He's not getting out of it this time. I want to hear what made him think he could allow Ryoga to do what he did. Well, Ranma?"

Ranma looks at Akane briefly before bowing his head. "It was my fault Ryoga fell in the spring. He made me promise not to tell anyone. I'm sorry Akane, but I was honor bound not to tell anyone."

Akane steps towards Ranma. Tears are more apparent as Akane seems on the verge of crying. "YOU'RE SORRY? Why was it OK to allow my honor to be stained as long as yours was intact?"

Ranma looks up at Akane in near shock. "Wh-what?"

"You heard me! How is my honor affected knowing a man has slept in my bed with me, listened to my secrets, or even seen me naked? Did you ever bother to think about anyone but yourself? You owe me for this Ranma Saotome, and you better not leave before you make up for this!" Akane turns and runs upstairs. Those still downstairs can hear her crying.

Ranma looks at Akane as she runs off. {What have I done?}
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Author's Note: I was going to stop it here, but that would be WAY too mean.
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Kasumi looks over to Nabiki, who seems speechless. When she looks over at Ranma, she sees a pained and worried look on his as he stares at the tears Akane left on the floor. "Ranma, is this true? Did you really know Ryoga was P-Chan?"

Ranma quietly replies, "Yes."

"Kasumi." Kasumi turns to look at Nabiki, who has a guilty look on her face and is staring down at the table. "I knew too."

Kasumi gasps in shock. She looks at these two guilt-ridden people and takes a deep breath before speaking. "Since you knew too, you can help Ranma."

Nabiki looks at her sister in surprise and confusion. "Help Ranma with what?"

"Nabiki, I think this is too big for Ranma to handle by himself. He'll need some help making up for this one, and you have the skills and resources necessary to help him. Call it repentance for not saying anything about Ryoga earlier."

Ranma looks over at Kasumi. "Can I even make up for this? I would think she would never want to see me again."

Kasumi reaches over and puts her hand on Ranma's arm. "Didn't you hear what she said? She told you not to leave. She wants to make up for this. She wants you to prove you do care for her. You do, don't you?"

Ranma looks down at the ground again. He starts to mumble, "Maybe, kind of, sort of a little."

Nabiki has regained her normally calm, cool attitude. "That's good enough for me. Look at this way Saotome. Call it training."

"Training?"

"Yeah. How about Martial Arts Making-up, or Martial Arts Apologizing? Maybe even Martial Arts Kissing Butt?"

Ranma pounds his fist on the table. "I'm not my dad! I don't bow and scrape to anybody!"

Nabiki smiles. "Good. You acting depressed was almost out of character for you. Use that over inflated ego to stay on top of this and prove you love Akane."

Ranma stands up and thrusts a fist into the air. "Damn straight! Nothing will stop me from proving how much I... I..." Ranma's eyes roll back into his head as he falls backwards unconscious.

Nabiki snaps her fingers. "Darn, I thought for sure he was going to say it. Oh well, I guess I'll get started. Hey sis, you need any help cleaning up here?"

"That's OK Nabiki, I've got everything here under control. What do you plan on doing?"

"I'm not quite sure yet. Do you know where a girl can get a bottle of chocolate syrup this time of night?"

Kasumi gasps and puts her hand over her mouth. "Nabiki!" Both girls look at each other and burst into laughter.
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Author's Notes: Thanks to Langdz for pre-reading this for me, and a big thanks to animecartoons for reminding me to finish this fic. I hope to try and keep this story arc more light hearted and happy, but there will be a little bit of sadness. Next chapter is for all you Ranma+Akane fans, as Ranma tries to make up for this. It's too bad Shampoo and Ukyo find out about it. Anyway, please e-mail me with opinions, criticisms, and suggestions. Please be constructive with all C&C. I don't mind being told what someone doesn't like, as long as they provide some direction to make it better. (ntwinkie@effectnet.com)