Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and all the other people she has
sold the rights to including Kitty and Viz.
A/N: Time for the countdown! After the wedding I'll write another chapter or two but basically it's a countdown to the wedding, which will be a two- part (two chapter) wedding. Remember, not everything you expect to happen will actually occur! Thanks to all the people who review my stories and me! You can email me at tiney_panda@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading!
* * *
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence, determination and hard work make the difference. -- Calvin Coolidge
* * *
Akane didn't know what to say. A week? Seven days? One hundred and sixty eight hours? Ten thousand and eighty minutes? Sixty thousand four hundred and eighty seconds? She started to calm down and steadied herself up with Suru's help. She had a whole bunch of seconds to figure out her plans and she was going to need every single one.
"Are you okay Akane?" Suru asked innocently. So she was going to marry him in a week was she? What if she didn't want to? What if she wanted to run off with Ranma and have a carefree, exciting life? Akane knew she was getting too into this. She had a week to decide. Ranma was dead and she had to remember that. He could never be with her and yet she felt closer than ever to him.
She knew he wasn't telling her something and she knew she would look like an idiot if she didn't figure it out. It was probably obvious and she had no clue what it was. When she did find out she knew she would freak out and attack Ranma. She just hoped that she didn't have a sore arm afterwards. She could only do one thing right now though and that was to ask Nabiki.
Ranma let out a cough of disapproval. Akane wondered how he could pull that off but then just decided that it was Ranma and . . . that it was Ranma. He walked up to Suru and put out his hand for Suru to shake. "Nice job Suru buddy, ya tamed the shrew!"
Suru stared back at him steely eyed and his hand descended slowly upon Ranma's when at the last second Ranma sifted his hand through his hair.
"Too slow Suru buddy!"
Suru pretended to be reaching for his pant leg and brushing something off. He nonchalantly smiled at Ranma.
"Sorry but I missed that last comment?" Suru questioned.
Akane noticed the look in Ranma's eye and immediately spoke up with the first thing that came to her mind.
"Napkins!" Akane said hurriedly.
Suru and Ranma looked to her puzzled and Akane took a few seconds to sort out what she had said and then starting to smile knowingly.
"Yes, napkins for the wedding," Akane nervously laughed and sighed deeply, "we have to have good quality napkins right? I'll go to my dad today about them." Ranma's ears perked up and he started to smirk.
"I'll go and talk to him!" Ranma said being oddly helpful. Akane knew right away he was up to something and put her hands on her hips and suspiciously stared Ranma in the eyes waiting for a reason. When none was given she was about to do the third degree when Suru cut in.
"That would be great!" Suru said delightfully.
"What?" Ranma said astonished at the answer that had been provided for him. He couldn't believe that Suru would actually want him to speak to anyone associated with Akane. The stupid pig boy had to be up to something and it was up to the wonderful Ranma Saotome Part-Time Detective to figure it out!
He just had to figure out what was going on and then he could hide it from Akane giving her subtle hints and then when she finally did figure it out she would look like an idiot. Ranma sighed happily at his plan. It was always good to be prepared!
He had to get his plan in action. The first comment had to be good, "'Kay."
Ranma said this like it mattered about as much as a tumbleweed's direction. Akane noted how obscure her last thought was and let out a small laugh. Suru turned to her and she knew what was coming.
"Akane, you can get your dress today okay? You'll look beautiful in anything so don't take too long okay?" Suru said sweetly. Akane smiled down at him and nodded slightly. She grabbed her purse and started to walk out the door when someone banged into her.
"Nabiki! Just the person I wanted to see."
* * *
"So when your loveable fiancé phoned me I decided to come and help you pick out a dress." Nabiki said as she walked down the street with Akane to a wedding dress store she had said was divine.
"You know you didn't have to come. I'm a big girl now! I tie my own shoes you know!" Akane said sarcastically. Nabiki half smiled as they reached the door of a blue store with two windows showing beautifully clad manicans in wedding gear. At least that was what the store was called. "Wedding Gear" seemed a little weird to name a store but Akane shrugged and just walked in. Everything seemed weird to her about weddings, this being her first time actually shopping for a dress.
Immediately after they stepped in an alarm went off and a voice sweetly through the wedding store.
"PLEASE LEAVE YOUR GUNS, GRENADES AND OTHER VALUABLES AT THE FRONT OF THE STORE. THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING AT WEDDING GEAR!" The voice was calm and sweet. It sounded somewhat like a little girl. Akane laughed at the thought of a little girl asking people to leave their grenades at the door please. She also laughed at the fact that they even said that. Who would be crazy enough to bring a gun to a store or a grenade for that matter?
At that moment she heard a large sigh and Nabiki revealed a gun she had around her belt in a holster. After she took it off Akane couldn't speak and just stood staring wide eyed at her sister's gun. What did she expect from Nabiki? She had always been there with the mob so how was this such a shock? Akane kept telling herself this but still couldn't get over it. The sales lady came over and greeted them and at the risk of looking like a fool Akane closed her gaping mouth and goofily smiled.
The woman was quite laughable. She had a bright yellow suit on that looked about ten sizes too small. If Akane had less tact she would have asked her about it but sadly she couldn't say a thing and only muffled a laugh in response to the woman's entrance. Nabiki however had about as much tact as a hyena.
"I don't remember calling a cab. Did you Akane?" She said in her normal sarcastic tone.
The lady smiled and let her brightly white teeth show from ear to ear. Her two front teeth stuck out slightly and Akane's tact remained strong as she elbowed Nabiki.
"Hi Flo," Nabiki said cunningly, "how have you been?"
"Into turkey now and you?" Flo said as she hugged Nabiki. Akane stood astonished at Nabiki's small show of emotion by hugging Flo slightly back and smiling.
"Akane, this is Flo. Flo's been somewhat of a mother to me for a while and she owns this shop. We can get your dress here cheaper and you can give me the difference." Nabiki said as Akane shook Flo's hand. Flo grinned another toothy grin and flashed her teeth that probably cost her a whole lot of money. Akane decided that no one's teeth are naturally white. She didn't think twice about the fact that they probably glowed in the dark!
"Well, you're here for your dress then. Is the lucky man handsome?" Flo asked sticking her head forward like a bird going for its prey right in Akane's face. She stumbled and half nodded.
"I wouldn't call him lucky but he is dashing right Akane?" Ranma said from behind Flo. Akane cringed as she identified the voice. Ranma was not the person she wanted to be with right now. She probably looked like a clown in half of the dresses and Ranma would pick up on that instant. She thought about this as Ranma introduced himself. Nabiki seemed quite angry.
Of course she wasn't showing this emotion but she glared at Ranma and tapped her foot slightly. Whenever Ranma looked towards her she would roll her eyes or just stare into his eyes as if saying "you are in SO much trouble right now" and if Ranma was half as smart as Akane would give him he would pick up on this and run for his life faster then his little ghost legs could carry him.
"Ranma, you showed yourself to Flo, how nice." Nabiki said obviously annoyed. Ranma turned to her to get a pair of rolled eyes in response.
Akane knew something was up more than ever now and if anyone were going to find out it would be her. She hadn't asked Nabiki about it yet and was deciding on whether or not to do so. Nabiki might give her false information and Akane might fall for it and on the wrong path all the while believe what was being told to her. On the other hand Nabiki might give her a hint or something that would put her on the right track.
"Well Hun, I just dropped by to say hi and tell ya that I can't wait until our big day!" Ranma said brightly as he walked out of the shop. The quaint little bell at the top of the door signaled Ranma's exit.
Nabiki swiveled around, took a remarkably ugly dress off a rack and held it up to Akane.
"What do you think Flo?" Nabiki asked while staring at the dresses straps.
"Well what size is she?" Flo asked kindly.
"A ten." Nabiki uttered as if it were nothing.
"A TEN?" Akane yelped. Did she look like a ten? She was a five and happy about it. How could they think she was a ten? Flo nodded in agreement.
"Yep, definantly a ten."
"I'm a five!" Akane exclaimed. She pushed the dress aside and walked to a dress on display. It had spaghetti straps and was flowing with a long train. It was western but she wanted it that way. It had a spaghetti strap across just above her torso and was pure white.
"Now, now dear. I was a size ten when I was your age and look how I turned out!" Flo said unconvincingly. She smiled another toothy smile and Akane cringed.
"Bad example." Nabiki said as she grabbed a size five of the dress Akane had been looking at and rushed Flo to the front of the store.
Akane handed in her credit card and signed for it. As they walked out onto the street she heard the little bell of the store's door ring her exit.
Nabiki stared ahead and clicked her heels, "I still don't know why you got such a long dress."
Akane stared back at Nabiki and asked, "Why?"
Nabiki calmly stated, "Well, the longer the train the harder to run in."
"And why exactly would I be running?" Akane asked suspiciously.
Nabiki sighed. "Simple. Marrying Suru isn't what you want and once you figure that out you'll want to run. You always did like to run you know? Right when things got tough. That was one of the only things you and Ranma had in common!"
A/N: Countdown! Six more chapters until the wedding!
And now . . . NEXT TIME ON DON'T LEAVE ME:
(drum roll please)
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
My drumroll rules.
I'm gonna make these cryptic again. For you new people you have to guess what the secrets to them are! Okay,
The next chapter's movie titles are:
1 Miss Congeniality 2 Dick Tracy
That's all for now so without further ado here is what you're really here for,
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
This drum roll is longer and unannounced. Ooh. Ahh
REVIEWING REVIEWS!
^_^: Well that is a minor detail isn't it?
Nerd: Ah a cliffhanger!
Ranko And Mr. Panda: Lol! Well I can't have you explode can I? Ranma might do that but remember that not everything you'll think will happen will happen.
X: Okay I wont. Or will I?
dogbertcarroll: Lol! I totally agree! A swift kick in the . . . waffle.
Kinai: I just wanted to use another title with the word 'wedding' in it
ka_chan: I'm glad they make sense at one point!
Apie: 5:00 AM? Wow!
Butterfly: Where do you think the story is going?
Seongmi: You don't know how much of a compliment that is!
V-Chan: The only way huh?
Erie: A horrible, horrible Game! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
Christine: Nope I don't think they did!
FluffyWolfy: The Mountain Girl huh? NO! Me? Fluff? NEVER!!!
A/N: Review my story or I might forget to write the next chapter! Next chapter hopefully up soon!
A/N: Time for the countdown! After the wedding I'll write another chapter or two but basically it's a countdown to the wedding, which will be a two- part (two chapter) wedding. Remember, not everything you expect to happen will actually occur! Thanks to all the people who review my stories and me! You can email me at tiney_panda@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading!
* * *
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence, determination and hard work make the difference. -- Calvin Coolidge
* * *
Akane didn't know what to say. A week? Seven days? One hundred and sixty eight hours? Ten thousand and eighty minutes? Sixty thousand four hundred and eighty seconds? She started to calm down and steadied herself up with Suru's help. She had a whole bunch of seconds to figure out her plans and she was going to need every single one.
"Are you okay Akane?" Suru asked innocently. So she was going to marry him in a week was she? What if she didn't want to? What if she wanted to run off with Ranma and have a carefree, exciting life? Akane knew she was getting too into this. She had a week to decide. Ranma was dead and she had to remember that. He could never be with her and yet she felt closer than ever to him.
She knew he wasn't telling her something and she knew she would look like an idiot if she didn't figure it out. It was probably obvious and she had no clue what it was. When she did find out she knew she would freak out and attack Ranma. She just hoped that she didn't have a sore arm afterwards. She could only do one thing right now though and that was to ask Nabiki.
Ranma let out a cough of disapproval. Akane wondered how he could pull that off but then just decided that it was Ranma and . . . that it was Ranma. He walked up to Suru and put out his hand for Suru to shake. "Nice job Suru buddy, ya tamed the shrew!"
Suru stared back at him steely eyed and his hand descended slowly upon Ranma's when at the last second Ranma sifted his hand through his hair.
"Too slow Suru buddy!"
Suru pretended to be reaching for his pant leg and brushing something off. He nonchalantly smiled at Ranma.
"Sorry but I missed that last comment?" Suru questioned.
Akane noticed the look in Ranma's eye and immediately spoke up with the first thing that came to her mind.
"Napkins!" Akane said hurriedly.
Suru and Ranma looked to her puzzled and Akane took a few seconds to sort out what she had said and then starting to smile knowingly.
"Yes, napkins for the wedding," Akane nervously laughed and sighed deeply, "we have to have good quality napkins right? I'll go to my dad today about them." Ranma's ears perked up and he started to smirk.
"I'll go and talk to him!" Ranma said being oddly helpful. Akane knew right away he was up to something and put her hands on her hips and suspiciously stared Ranma in the eyes waiting for a reason. When none was given she was about to do the third degree when Suru cut in.
"That would be great!" Suru said delightfully.
"What?" Ranma said astonished at the answer that had been provided for him. He couldn't believe that Suru would actually want him to speak to anyone associated with Akane. The stupid pig boy had to be up to something and it was up to the wonderful Ranma Saotome Part-Time Detective to figure it out!
He just had to figure out what was going on and then he could hide it from Akane giving her subtle hints and then when she finally did figure it out she would look like an idiot. Ranma sighed happily at his plan. It was always good to be prepared!
He had to get his plan in action. The first comment had to be good, "'Kay."
Ranma said this like it mattered about as much as a tumbleweed's direction. Akane noted how obscure her last thought was and let out a small laugh. Suru turned to her and she knew what was coming.
"Akane, you can get your dress today okay? You'll look beautiful in anything so don't take too long okay?" Suru said sweetly. Akane smiled down at him and nodded slightly. She grabbed her purse and started to walk out the door when someone banged into her.
"Nabiki! Just the person I wanted to see."
* * *
"So when your loveable fiancé phoned me I decided to come and help you pick out a dress." Nabiki said as she walked down the street with Akane to a wedding dress store she had said was divine.
"You know you didn't have to come. I'm a big girl now! I tie my own shoes you know!" Akane said sarcastically. Nabiki half smiled as they reached the door of a blue store with two windows showing beautifully clad manicans in wedding gear. At least that was what the store was called. "Wedding Gear" seemed a little weird to name a store but Akane shrugged and just walked in. Everything seemed weird to her about weddings, this being her first time actually shopping for a dress.
Immediately after they stepped in an alarm went off and a voice sweetly through the wedding store.
"PLEASE LEAVE YOUR GUNS, GRENADES AND OTHER VALUABLES AT THE FRONT OF THE STORE. THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING AT WEDDING GEAR!" The voice was calm and sweet. It sounded somewhat like a little girl. Akane laughed at the thought of a little girl asking people to leave their grenades at the door please. She also laughed at the fact that they even said that. Who would be crazy enough to bring a gun to a store or a grenade for that matter?
At that moment she heard a large sigh and Nabiki revealed a gun she had around her belt in a holster. After she took it off Akane couldn't speak and just stood staring wide eyed at her sister's gun. What did she expect from Nabiki? She had always been there with the mob so how was this such a shock? Akane kept telling herself this but still couldn't get over it. The sales lady came over and greeted them and at the risk of looking like a fool Akane closed her gaping mouth and goofily smiled.
The woman was quite laughable. She had a bright yellow suit on that looked about ten sizes too small. If Akane had less tact she would have asked her about it but sadly she couldn't say a thing and only muffled a laugh in response to the woman's entrance. Nabiki however had about as much tact as a hyena.
"I don't remember calling a cab. Did you Akane?" She said in her normal sarcastic tone.
The lady smiled and let her brightly white teeth show from ear to ear. Her two front teeth stuck out slightly and Akane's tact remained strong as she elbowed Nabiki.
"Hi Flo," Nabiki said cunningly, "how have you been?"
"Into turkey now and you?" Flo said as she hugged Nabiki. Akane stood astonished at Nabiki's small show of emotion by hugging Flo slightly back and smiling.
"Akane, this is Flo. Flo's been somewhat of a mother to me for a while and she owns this shop. We can get your dress here cheaper and you can give me the difference." Nabiki said as Akane shook Flo's hand. Flo grinned another toothy grin and flashed her teeth that probably cost her a whole lot of money. Akane decided that no one's teeth are naturally white. She didn't think twice about the fact that they probably glowed in the dark!
"Well, you're here for your dress then. Is the lucky man handsome?" Flo asked sticking her head forward like a bird going for its prey right in Akane's face. She stumbled and half nodded.
"I wouldn't call him lucky but he is dashing right Akane?" Ranma said from behind Flo. Akane cringed as she identified the voice. Ranma was not the person she wanted to be with right now. She probably looked like a clown in half of the dresses and Ranma would pick up on that instant. She thought about this as Ranma introduced himself. Nabiki seemed quite angry.
Of course she wasn't showing this emotion but she glared at Ranma and tapped her foot slightly. Whenever Ranma looked towards her she would roll her eyes or just stare into his eyes as if saying "you are in SO much trouble right now" and if Ranma was half as smart as Akane would give him he would pick up on this and run for his life faster then his little ghost legs could carry him.
"Ranma, you showed yourself to Flo, how nice." Nabiki said obviously annoyed. Ranma turned to her to get a pair of rolled eyes in response.
Akane knew something was up more than ever now and if anyone were going to find out it would be her. She hadn't asked Nabiki about it yet and was deciding on whether or not to do so. Nabiki might give her false information and Akane might fall for it and on the wrong path all the while believe what was being told to her. On the other hand Nabiki might give her a hint or something that would put her on the right track.
"Well Hun, I just dropped by to say hi and tell ya that I can't wait until our big day!" Ranma said brightly as he walked out of the shop. The quaint little bell at the top of the door signaled Ranma's exit.
Nabiki swiveled around, took a remarkably ugly dress off a rack and held it up to Akane.
"What do you think Flo?" Nabiki asked while staring at the dresses straps.
"Well what size is she?" Flo asked kindly.
"A ten." Nabiki uttered as if it were nothing.
"A TEN?" Akane yelped. Did she look like a ten? She was a five and happy about it. How could they think she was a ten? Flo nodded in agreement.
"Yep, definantly a ten."
"I'm a five!" Akane exclaimed. She pushed the dress aside and walked to a dress on display. It had spaghetti straps and was flowing with a long train. It was western but she wanted it that way. It had a spaghetti strap across just above her torso and was pure white.
"Now, now dear. I was a size ten when I was your age and look how I turned out!" Flo said unconvincingly. She smiled another toothy smile and Akane cringed.
"Bad example." Nabiki said as she grabbed a size five of the dress Akane had been looking at and rushed Flo to the front of the store.
Akane handed in her credit card and signed for it. As they walked out onto the street she heard the little bell of the store's door ring her exit.
Nabiki stared ahead and clicked her heels, "I still don't know why you got such a long dress."
Akane stared back at Nabiki and asked, "Why?"
Nabiki calmly stated, "Well, the longer the train the harder to run in."
"And why exactly would I be running?" Akane asked suspiciously.
Nabiki sighed. "Simple. Marrying Suru isn't what you want and once you figure that out you'll want to run. You always did like to run you know? Right when things got tough. That was one of the only things you and Ranma had in common!"
A/N: Countdown! Six more chapters until the wedding!
And now . . . NEXT TIME ON DON'T LEAVE ME:
(drum roll please)
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
My drumroll rules.
I'm gonna make these cryptic again. For you new people you have to guess what the secrets to them are! Okay,
The next chapter's movie titles are:
1 Miss Congeniality 2 Dick Tracy
That's all for now so without further ado here is what you're really here for,
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
This drum roll is longer and unannounced. Ooh. Ahh
REVIEWING REVIEWS!
^_^: Well that is a minor detail isn't it?
Nerd: Ah a cliffhanger!
Ranko And Mr. Panda: Lol! Well I can't have you explode can I? Ranma might do that but remember that not everything you'll think will happen will happen.
X: Okay I wont. Or will I?
dogbertcarroll: Lol! I totally agree! A swift kick in the . . . waffle.
Kinai: I just wanted to use another title with the word 'wedding' in it
ka_chan: I'm glad they make sense at one point!
Apie: 5:00 AM? Wow!
Butterfly: Where do you think the story is going?
Seongmi: You don't know how much of a compliment that is!
V-Chan: The only way huh?
Erie: A horrible, horrible Game! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
Christine: Nope I don't think they did!
FluffyWolfy: The Mountain Girl huh? NO! Me? Fluff? NEVER!!!
A/N: Review my story or I might forget to write the next chapter! Next chapter hopefully up soon!