Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi, Viz and Kitty own Ranma.
Rating: Pg-13
A/N: Okay, at the bottom of this chapter I'm going to start to answer any reviews I get from the last chapter. It took me so long to sit down and write this because I 've been so busy but a week is way too long to wait and plus I think it's been longer than that! Thanks to all the people who review me and my stories and I hope you like the bottom part of this chapter! Please, no flames. If you want to email me you can at tiney_panda@hotmail.com Thanks for reading!
* * *
When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.
-- Thomas Jefferson
* * *
Akane fumbled with the ring of keys in her hand and the flowers in the other. She told herself that these were the things that were making it so hard to leave the hospital. She knew she was lying to herself. Once she left Ranma would be gone too and then she would be all alone. She had Suru . . . oh no! What was she going to do with Suru? There were only a couple of weeks before the wedding and the days would go by fast. Did she really want to marry him after Ranma died?
She promised him she'd marry him but she couldn't. Not with Ranma gone and her being out of the hospital so soon to the wedding. Suru would never allow it. She decided that Suru would take one look at her and at the situation and decide the best way to handle it. She was not going to put this on her shoulders. It was okay, she just needed to get into her car and get home, to her apartment where she needed to be. Where Suru was probably waiting to tell her the wedding would be put off. Akane sighed in relief and tried to get the small key into the even smaller lock. The keys dropped to the floor.
Akane bent down to pick them up and as she lifted herself up slowly a flicker of light caught her attention. She turned to the corner it originated from but nothing was there. She sighed and tried the intricately cut piece of metal again. Suddenly it pushed in and she pushed all her things into the car seats she was quickly filling. She needed to get out of here and see the others. The others . . . where were they? 'I guess they didn't know I'd make it outta there today.' Akane thought numbly.
Akane got into her car but realized it was not hers at all but a complete stranger's. It was black with a black leather interior and plush seats. She looked inside the car and grimaced when she realized whose car this was. It was Ranma's. No one had known about and that's why they hadn't taken it away. But how did it get here? She didn't know how or why she had the keys but got in anyway. She immediately pressed her head gently against the steering wheel. She felt the cool feel of the wheel and felt the urge to grip it very tight, as if the car were flying out of control. She shot her head up and saw the arm of someone from the dark corner. She lifted her head and tilted to look to the corner but nothing was there. If someone had been there before then how could she have missed them? Unless they were hiding from someone. She felt like hiding right about now too.
Akane started the car and quickly got onto the street. It was like a maze getting out of the hospital parking lot but when she finally did she noticed that she was only five minutes from her house. She turned slowly as she reached a corner and someone honked loudly. Akane pushed hard on the brakes and screamed. She felt the whiplash of the collision as the person behind her hit the rear bumper of her- his car. She pulled to the nearest shoulder of the road and saw a man through her side mirror rushing up to her.
"Oh my goodness! Are you all right? You look hurt! Here, sit yourself down and I'll call a medic or something." He patted her shoulder and rushed back to his car for his phone. She wanted to rush after him but couldn't, she wanted to tell him everything was fine but she was too tired. She wanted to tell him that she was fine, Ranma was the one that needed help but the old man ran back to her talking to someone through a small silver phone. Akane smiled and reached out for the light trailing off of it. It reminded her of the light from this morning, from the light in that corner where she had missed the person. All she remembered was a red shirt; she didn't know what kind of shirt and muscles. That was all she had seen but that wasn't enough. She had felt so content seeing that person and that light.
It must have been the fact that through all that darkness there was still light and a person was there even though it looked like there was no hope of anything being there. Nothing was alone and everything had a silver lining. Like the man's phone. Akane remembered the old wrinkled man's worried face and turned to see him staring intently at her with those same worried eyes. She smiled drowsily. Cars were not her thing. She had to remember to get on the bus and walk more. Cars were not safe and not good with her driving. It was her fault Ranma was dead.
Akane gasped. The old man held her shoulders down to rest as she threw herself forward and looked about frantically. She looked to the old man and worriedly asked,
"Well, where is he? Is he here? Or am I a murderer?" The puzzled expression on the man's face brought Akane let Akane regain her composure and she smiled to show him all was well. She needed an explanation fast or he was going to think she was seriously nuts and lead this into even more proportion.
"Are you alright? If you aren't then it is my fault and I am a murderer!" Akane did her best to sound as frantic as she had been before but failed. Luckily, the easy to help old man bought it or at least pretended to for her sake. He patted her head and laughed merrily.
"I'm still here aren't I? Unless I'm a ghost now. Although, I doubt I'd look this good if I were a ghost!" The man let out a harsh laugh and it continued to roll along. She laughed fakely and heard a siren. She let her face fall onto the steering wheel and cried. She just wanted to go home, how hard was that to understand?
"Ma'am, is everything all right here?" The police officer looked to be about twenty years older than the old man who was still chuckling about his comments but took a dignified tone every now and then so the officer didn't think he was on something. Akane had to decide, there were two ways to get out of here. She could run like hell and probably make it home in three minutes, or wait and probably be sent to the doctor again. She would also probably get home in time to miss the five o'clock news tomorrow.
She had to run for it. Ranma would forgive her, hell, he'd do the same. In fact, she could tell he wanted her to run for it from the cop. She'd leave the flowers and run, leave the car and run, leave all reason and run. The only thing was, she was not leaving her purse. She grabbed it and flung the door open with a huge smile on her face.
* * *
She was a fugitive now. An actual person running from the law! An urge to scream in pleasure came over her. She felt great, felt free, and she couldn't stop smiling. She could do absolutely anything she wanted to do and nobody would tell her not to. She was so happy she couldn't express it with words. A surge of energy kept running through her. She had ran as far as she could before her heart was pounding in her chest and she had to stop. She was looking through one of the windows at the hotel room she had rented for the night. She wasn't going home because the cops might be there. The cops might be there! How awesome was that?
Ranma would have been proud of what she had done today, to see the cops speechless face as she ran out of there with her hands in the air. She imagined life with him like this. This same thrill, this same adrenaline drive everyday. She realized she wanted this more than ever, more than anything in this world she wanted to be crazy.
Normal people didn't have this fun, she wanted to fly. She was going to be a hawk, like Ranma. She had missed her chance with him but he wouldn't have wanted her to live her life with Suru. He wouldn't have wanted her to live a lie and that was what he was trying to show her. He had been trying to show her that she wasn't a normal person, she was above normal.
She could get people to take her to their palaces because she was so interesting. That was what had caught his attention when he had met her, her sincere belief that she would be something more. The need to be crazy is what she needed now and what she had just done could be justified as crazy in some states! She felt the surge of energy again and smiled even more as she walked out the door only to be stopped by Suru walking down the hall to her.
A flash of reality hit her. She couldn't love Suru. He was the normalcy that had been killing her, he was the thing she had to get away from, she could never marry him now and he was coming up to kiss her. Akane could feel the adrenaline rush slowly pull away as he wrapped his arms around her. Akane let out a soft cry and despair became apparent on her face. The feeling of being a hawk was slowly disappearing and Akane had to stop it. She looked up at Suru and he smiled.
The normalcy was calling to her to come back. It offered what she had always wanted from him and promised a nice life, a normal life. Suru pulled her in closer and she could feel the last thread of energy being pulled away and as Suru held her close she let herself collapse in his arms.
Akane started to silently cry, her eyes watered and her arms slowly shook as she watched her life float away but Suru's grip was too tight for her to go.
It was too safe for her to leave it.
A/N: Well that was fun. Now I'm excited to present to you the first annual Review Feedback! (If you can come up with a better title tell me!!!) And now . . . (drumroll please)
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
That was the drumroll!
REVIEW FEEDBACK CORNER:
Animecartoons: I know, I was a little freaked at what people would think if I made it Ryoga but I got a lot of positive feedback for it! Tell me what you think on more things because I want people that hate and love Suru to review my story because they might have different views!
Lynn: Ranma and Nabiki were talking in the bathroom about something but I can't say. I can say it has something to do with his current predicament. I think the whole Genma thing did mess up a couple of people because it ended so abruptly. Nabiki fabricated the story and told Akane that she wanted to meet them again but I'll tell you that was NOT her real intention. She needed to protect the family from her 'friends'.
mithrandiryod: I like to read something when I'm bored too so I hope you read on!
Apie: You are a great reviewer! You review every one of my chapters! Anyway, tell me what your confused about and I'm glad you liked the new update. I hope you like this one!
Anonymous: I really don't know how many chapters I'm going to write. This could go on for longer or shorter. It all depends on how long the story wants to take before it turns cold. I think it's going to be a count down to the wedding and then after the wedding (which will take more than one chapter) I'll most likely make an ending chapter. This is a really fun fic so I'm not really paying attention to how long it takes.
May: You are a great reviewer too! I can't believe I made somebody cry! ~heh~ You gotta admit, I couldn't kill Ranma because. . . it's Ranma. I also don't like hate mail and I would send myself tons of hate mail if I made him die at this point in the story. If it fits later on then maybe he will die. Although, we all know how hard Ranma is to kill!
Evangelion-01: Thanks for the compliments! I make a lot of spelling mistakes and I really appreciate when you tell me! Which areas do you think I need to develop on?
Christine: I'm glad you like it! You'll find out why probably next chapter.
Ka-Chan: Another fine review! I know I've been leaving huge holes between the times I post new chapters but I'm going to post the next one really soon!
Kura-kun: Tell me what confuses you because you always review but are confused and I really want to make it less confusing! You're not brain dead, you're smart enough to read this story right?
Leina: Well . . . Ranma is a dork . . . I really don't know what to say . . . thank you?
SSJKakarott: You knew I wouldn't kill him. Thanks for another great review!
Kinai: I didn't mean missing something in that way. I meant like missing a chance or something like that. I revamped chapter 11 so it makes more sense. Thanks!
Erie Maxwell: (Absent) Where was the review?
So what do you think of Review Feedback Corner (which is in need of a new name)? Thanks to all my reviewers! Review or I might forget the next chapter! Next chapter hopefully up soon!
Rating: Pg-13
A/N: Okay, at the bottom of this chapter I'm going to start to answer any reviews I get from the last chapter. It took me so long to sit down and write this because I 've been so busy but a week is way too long to wait and plus I think it's been longer than that! Thanks to all the people who review me and my stories and I hope you like the bottom part of this chapter! Please, no flames. If you want to email me you can at tiney_panda@hotmail.com Thanks for reading!
* * *
When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.
-- Thomas Jefferson
* * *
Akane fumbled with the ring of keys in her hand and the flowers in the other. She told herself that these were the things that were making it so hard to leave the hospital. She knew she was lying to herself. Once she left Ranma would be gone too and then she would be all alone. She had Suru . . . oh no! What was she going to do with Suru? There were only a couple of weeks before the wedding and the days would go by fast. Did she really want to marry him after Ranma died?
She promised him she'd marry him but she couldn't. Not with Ranma gone and her being out of the hospital so soon to the wedding. Suru would never allow it. She decided that Suru would take one look at her and at the situation and decide the best way to handle it. She was not going to put this on her shoulders. It was okay, she just needed to get into her car and get home, to her apartment where she needed to be. Where Suru was probably waiting to tell her the wedding would be put off. Akane sighed in relief and tried to get the small key into the even smaller lock. The keys dropped to the floor.
Akane bent down to pick them up and as she lifted herself up slowly a flicker of light caught her attention. She turned to the corner it originated from but nothing was there. She sighed and tried the intricately cut piece of metal again. Suddenly it pushed in and she pushed all her things into the car seats she was quickly filling. She needed to get out of here and see the others. The others . . . where were they? 'I guess they didn't know I'd make it outta there today.' Akane thought numbly.
Akane got into her car but realized it was not hers at all but a complete stranger's. It was black with a black leather interior and plush seats. She looked inside the car and grimaced when she realized whose car this was. It was Ranma's. No one had known about and that's why they hadn't taken it away. But how did it get here? She didn't know how or why she had the keys but got in anyway. She immediately pressed her head gently against the steering wheel. She felt the cool feel of the wheel and felt the urge to grip it very tight, as if the car were flying out of control. She shot her head up and saw the arm of someone from the dark corner. She lifted her head and tilted to look to the corner but nothing was there. If someone had been there before then how could she have missed them? Unless they were hiding from someone. She felt like hiding right about now too.
Akane started the car and quickly got onto the street. It was like a maze getting out of the hospital parking lot but when she finally did she noticed that she was only five minutes from her house. She turned slowly as she reached a corner and someone honked loudly. Akane pushed hard on the brakes and screamed. She felt the whiplash of the collision as the person behind her hit the rear bumper of her- his car. She pulled to the nearest shoulder of the road and saw a man through her side mirror rushing up to her.
"Oh my goodness! Are you all right? You look hurt! Here, sit yourself down and I'll call a medic or something." He patted her shoulder and rushed back to his car for his phone. She wanted to rush after him but couldn't, she wanted to tell him everything was fine but she was too tired. She wanted to tell him that she was fine, Ranma was the one that needed help but the old man ran back to her talking to someone through a small silver phone. Akane smiled and reached out for the light trailing off of it. It reminded her of the light from this morning, from the light in that corner where she had missed the person. All she remembered was a red shirt; she didn't know what kind of shirt and muscles. That was all she had seen but that wasn't enough. She had felt so content seeing that person and that light.
It must have been the fact that through all that darkness there was still light and a person was there even though it looked like there was no hope of anything being there. Nothing was alone and everything had a silver lining. Like the man's phone. Akane remembered the old wrinkled man's worried face and turned to see him staring intently at her with those same worried eyes. She smiled drowsily. Cars were not her thing. She had to remember to get on the bus and walk more. Cars were not safe and not good with her driving. It was her fault Ranma was dead.
Akane gasped. The old man held her shoulders down to rest as she threw herself forward and looked about frantically. She looked to the old man and worriedly asked,
"Well, where is he? Is he here? Or am I a murderer?" The puzzled expression on the man's face brought Akane let Akane regain her composure and she smiled to show him all was well. She needed an explanation fast or he was going to think she was seriously nuts and lead this into even more proportion.
"Are you alright? If you aren't then it is my fault and I am a murderer!" Akane did her best to sound as frantic as she had been before but failed. Luckily, the easy to help old man bought it or at least pretended to for her sake. He patted her head and laughed merrily.
"I'm still here aren't I? Unless I'm a ghost now. Although, I doubt I'd look this good if I were a ghost!" The man let out a harsh laugh and it continued to roll along. She laughed fakely and heard a siren. She let her face fall onto the steering wheel and cried. She just wanted to go home, how hard was that to understand?
"Ma'am, is everything all right here?" The police officer looked to be about twenty years older than the old man who was still chuckling about his comments but took a dignified tone every now and then so the officer didn't think he was on something. Akane had to decide, there were two ways to get out of here. She could run like hell and probably make it home in three minutes, or wait and probably be sent to the doctor again. She would also probably get home in time to miss the five o'clock news tomorrow.
She had to run for it. Ranma would forgive her, hell, he'd do the same. In fact, she could tell he wanted her to run for it from the cop. She'd leave the flowers and run, leave the car and run, leave all reason and run. The only thing was, she was not leaving her purse. She grabbed it and flung the door open with a huge smile on her face.
* * *
She was a fugitive now. An actual person running from the law! An urge to scream in pleasure came over her. She felt great, felt free, and she couldn't stop smiling. She could do absolutely anything she wanted to do and nobody would tell her not to. She was so happy she couldn't express it with words. A surge of energy kept running through her. She had ran as far as she could before her heart was pounding in her chest and she had to stop. She was looking through one of the windows at the hotel room she had rented for the night. She wasn't going home because the cops might be there. The cops might be there! How awesome was that?
Ranma would have been proud of what she had done today, to see the cops speechless face as she ran out of there with her hands in the air. She imagined life with him like this. This same thrill, this same adrenaline drive everyday. She realized she wanted this more than ever, more than anything in this world she wanted to be crazy.
Normal people didn't have this fun, she wanted to fly. She was going to be a hawk, like Ranma. She had missed her chance with him but he wouldn't have wanted her to live her life with Suru. He wouldn't have wanted her to live a lie and that was what he was trying to show her. He had been trying to show her that she wasn't a normal person, she was above normal.
She could get people to take her to their palaces because she was so interesting. That was what had caught his attention when he had met her, her sincere belief that she would be something more. The need to be crazy is what she needed now and what she had just done could be justified as crazy in some states! She felt the surge of energy again and smiled even more as she walked out the door only to be stopped by Suru walking down the hall to her.
A flash of reality hit her. She couldn't love Suru. He was the normalcy that had been killing her, he was the thing she had to get away from, she could never marry him now and he was coming up to kiss her. Akane could feel the adrenaline rush slowly pull away as he wrapped his arms around her. Akane let out a soft cry and despair became apparent on her face. The feeling of being a hawk was slowly disappearing and Akane had to stop it. She looked up at Suru and he smiled.
The normalcy was calling to her to come back. It offered what she had always wanted from him and promised a nice life, a normal life. Suru pulled her in closer and she could feel the last thread of energy being pulled away and as Suru held her close she let herself collapse in his arms.
Akane started to silently cry, her eyes watered and her arms slowly shook as she watched her life float away but Suru's grip was too tight for her to go.
It was too safe for her to leave it.
A/N: Well that was fun. Now I'm excited to present to you the first annual Review Feedback! (If you can come up with a better title tell me!!!) And now . . . (drumroll please)
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
That was the drumroll!
REVIEW FEEDBACK CORNER:
Animecartoons: I know, I was a little freaked at what people would think if I made it Ryoga but I got a lot of positive feedback for it! Tell me what you think on more things because I want people that hate and love Suru to review my story because they might have different views!
Lynn: Ranma and Nabiki were talking in the bathroom about something but I can't say. I can say it has something to do with his current predicament. I think the whole Genma thing did mess up a couple of people because it ended so abruptly. Nabiki fabricated the story and told Akane that she wanted to meet them again but I'll tell you that was NOT her real intention. She needed to protect the family from her 'friends'.
mithrandiryod: I like to read something when I'm bored too so I hope you read on!
Apie: You are a great reviewer! You review every one of my chapters! Anyway, tell me what your confused about and I'm glad you liked the new update. I hope you like this one!
Anonymous: I really don't know how many chapters I'm going to write. This could go on for longer or shorter. It all depends on how long the story wants to take before it turns cold. I think it's going to be a count down to the wedding and then after the wedding (which will take more than one chapter) I'll most likely make an ending chapter. This is a really fun fic so I'm not really paying attention to how long it takes.
May: You are a great reviewer too! I can't believe I made somebody cry! ~heh~ You gotta admit, I couldn't kill Ranma because. . . it's Ranma. I also don't like hate mail and I would send myself tons of hate mail if I made him die at this point in the story. If it fits later on then maybe he will die. Although, we all know how hard Ranma is to kill!
Evangelion-01: Thanks for the compliments! I make a lot of spelling mistakes and I really appreciate when you tell me! Which areas do you think I need to develop on?
Christine: I'm glad you like it! You'll find out why probably next chapter.
Ka-Chan: Another fine review! I know I've been leaving huge holes between the times I post new chapters but I'm going to post the next one really soon!
Kura-kun: Tell me what confuses you because you always review but are confused and I really want to make it less confusing! You're not brain dead, you're smart enough to read this story right?
Leina: Well . . . Ranma is a dork . . . I really don't know what to say . . . thank you?
SSJKakarott: You knew I wouldn't kill him. Thanks for another great review!
Kinai: I didn't mean missing something in that way. I meant like missing a chance or something like that. I revamped chapter 11 so it makes more sense. Thanks!
Erie Maxwell: (Absent) Where was the review?
So what do you think of Review Feedback Corner (which is in need of a new name)? Thanks to all my reviewers! Review or I might forget the next chapter! Next chapter hopefully up soon!