A/N: Alright, I took so long because I wanted to revamp every chapter, which I still have to do, for the last chapter but this is not the last. This is the second to last. SORRY! Anyway, read the A/Ns at the bottom after the fic for more info. I just want to thank you guys so much for reading. I've been re-reading these and you guys are very generous with compliments! I'll earn your praise, okay?
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Sometimes it hurts more then we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace . . . but we would be hollow. Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we'd be truly dead
--David Boreanaz – "Angel", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
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Ranma couldn't help it, couldn't stop the excitement, relief, and over all enjoyment factor of the current event. Suru had been drenched in water, and now resembled, to a tee, a small, black pig with a yellow bandana. Ranma tried to stand but the two ladies sandwiching him felt the need to faint, both on top of him. He scrambled and wriggled his way up through the ruckus that had ensued and hopped into a tree. He watched below as everything fell silent.
"Wh-wh-what is going on? P-Chan?"Akane stammered her eyes wide, on the brink of tears.
P-Chan squealed in response, in a very apologetic tone. Akane fell back, tripping over the train of her dress, the layers of red carpet beneath her, and began to feel the earth spin. She was getting dizzy, she knew she had to sit down or fall down.
Akane threw her arms up in frustration, "What the FUCK is going on?"
P-Chan stepped back meekly.
She fell fast and hard, hitting the ground with a large thump, her dress breaking her fall. She lay on her stomach, legs kicking up behind her, eye level with the little piglet in front of her. Her eyes turned dark, "You sicko, you . . . pervert . . . you freak!"
He whimpered and she swatted at him, barely missing him, "This was why you knew so much," she whispered in realization, "You knew about me, about my family, my history!" Akane pointed her finger at him, waving it in front of his little nose, "It all makes sense now, every . . . little . . . detail . . ."
"What do you mean Akane?" Kasumi asked, in semi-shock.
Akane turned to her older sister, her mother figure. She ravenously waved a hand across his tiny body, as if she was telling on another child to her mommy, "This jerk, he was P-Chan!"
Kasumi nodded knowingly, "And . . .," she waited for the next part, the final part, the hardest part of her baby sister's realization.
Akane stared back in confusion, "That's it Kasumi, this pervert has been following me since I was in high school, waiting until I was old enough,"Akane explained bitterly, "and fragile enough to fall in love with him."
Kasumi stared on in disbelief; "Wait a minute, that's it," she stared back at Akane, trying to see if Akane would figure out "Suru" was actually Ryoga, "that's all?"
"Yeah, what else is there?" Akane asked confused again, she turned back to P-Chan, "Get out of my sight you rodent," she told him, her voice dripping with hatred, "I don't hit animals."
He turned then, running faster than she had fallen, eyes flowing with tears, knowing his life was over. His fur wet, patches of darker black dotting his coat.
---------------
After that Nabiki had taken care of the few guests there, and the uninvited entertainment. Akane had kept herself in the same position as before, like a fallen ballerina, sprawled out quite prettily across the red carpet.
Ranma had stayed in the tree, huddling him self in a ball until the small crowd left. He strained his eyes to see Akane clearly. All he had gathered was that she now knew about Ryoga. Ranma tried to stick to that but could not get the other, pulsating thought out of his mind.
'She was gonna go through with it, she was gonna marry him,' ran through his head over and over again. He never thought he could feel as betrayed as he did at his moment; she actually loved him enough to do it. Or, on the other hand, she hated Ranma enough to do it. Either way, Ranma didn't come out looking like an angel.
Everyone else had migrated away and every chair, ribbon entangled through it, remained empty, just like Akane's eyes. Her gaze fell from the fibers of the red carpet to its silk ends. She could not look up, could not embrace her surroundings. Ranma knew what he had to do; he had to cheer her up.
He hopped out of the tree and started walking up the aisle, still in his tuxedo. Akane felt his presence and saw him coming towards her. He had grabbed a few flowers and held them in one hand. She couldn't help but smile. This is how things should have been, before they became confusing, before they got so terminal.
Akane grinned again, staring into his eyes and he couldn't help it, couldn't hide his glee, this was their secret wedding. He was walking towards her, they were alone, and the empty seats made the area more secure, but still empty, gloriously empty. Akane stood up, her train flowing behind her now as she waited at the front for Ranma, in front of the imaginary priest they envisioned in their minds. Akane stood waiting on her side, Ranma grinned widely as he stepped up to her, almost floating.
"See," he smirked, moving a few stray hairs away from Akane's eyes, "you really are manly."
Akane grinned back, "And you," she poked him on the shoulder, "make a beautiful, blushing bride."
They smiled and grasped each others hands, turning to the imaginary priest in unison, waiting for him to begin.
As they cleared their minds they listened to the words the man repeated, only hours earlier being prepared and said by the real priest. Akane mouthed the words and Ranma turned to her, expressionless. He couldn't react to what he felt. Regret was there, but so was something else, something he hadn't felt for a long time, love. This scared him.
He didn't know how to feel, he still tasted her betrayal on his lips but the look in her eyes seemed to make his pride melt away. He knew they couldn't do this, couldn't live this happily. And yet he went on: dreaming, in the sweet silence of mid-afternoon, dying.
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"Akane, what are you doing out here? It's freezing, come inside," Nabiki ordered, tired and grumpy. She could only catch a glimpse of her sister's shadow from the place she had been sitting for hours.
"I'm coming Kasumi," Akane said gleefully, "just another minute."
Nabiki rolled her eyes, "Fine, but only for a second," she walked back inside and slid onto the couch, reading in the dim light of a candle.
Sometimes, she would just sit there and stare at the candle, watch it melt away the way she wanted all her troubles to. Wax trickled down the sides, looking so innocent. Nabiki reached out and touched the candle she had turned to. As she made contact with the sap-like liquid she recoiled in pain. It stung; something so simple and precious stung. A candle was too much more than she had bargained for.
Abruptly, Akane burst in, whipping the sliding door Nabiki had closed with care open, "How are you Nabiki," Akane asked, smirking widely, "up to no good I presume?"
Nabiki turned to her, pretending not to be affected, "What are you talking about, Akane?"
Her attention quickly diverted from the candle to the sappy eyed girl in front of her. Nabiki got nervous. She never got nervous, but she was now. She tried to convince herself he wouldn't have said anything, he wasn't that dumb. He would have thought before opening . . . his . . . mouth, ". . . oh damn," Nabiki lamented to herself.
Akane grinned again, wider this time, "Ranma told me about your little scheme with him, I'll only forgive you because at the moment I am about as high as a kite!"
Nabiki felt a pang in her chest. She couldn't explain to Akane the complexity of the situation, the only thing she could do is what she always had: deny, deny, deny, "Akane, Ranma is gone."
Akane tilted her head slightly, "No, he's right outside."
Akane gazed out the window to reassure herself but Ranma was not in sight. He was in the shadows, where she had left him. She turned to Nabiki angrily, "Why are you trying to make me sad?"
"Akane," Nabiki stepped closer to her sister, "I really need to explain."
"No," Akane's voice rose, "Ranma told me everything, everything I need to know!"
Nabiki knew when a plan had gone awry. This was a good deed she had tried to do, something to make Akane feel better; to get Suru out of the picture, and all she had done was mess things up even more.
"No he doesn't! He only knows what I told him and what he tells himself! Akane, you have got to know, you can't just sit here, and I can't do this anymore!" Nabiki was screaming at this point. She hated having to raise her voice to have her opinion validated, but now was the time for drastic measures.
"What?" Akane asked, her spine tingling. She felt butterflies in her stomach and something crept up on her from the back of her mind, something she had been battling back for weeks. She let herself fall to her knees on the floor.
"Akane?" Nabiki asked concerned.
"Nabiki," Akane confided, the words finally coming out of her mouth, "have I gone crazy?"
Nabiki laughed lightly, "Of course not Sis, you just don't know all the facts, and for that matter neither does Ranma. Here, let me try to explain." Nabiki bent down and felt her self reach out and comfort her little sister. It had been years since she had hugged another person without an ulterior motive, without anything to gain.
"So what do you mean Nabiki," Akane asked, the heavy make up for her wedding day becoming wet yet again, "what's the matter with Ranma?"
Nabiki looked up, cradling a scared Akane in her arms, she grinned knowingly, "I think the simpler question is what isn't."
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The worst thing about telling the truth, for Nabiki, was that there was no going back and it was always so damn complicated. Misunderstandings, falsities, and other things ruled supreme. The convincing was another part, Nabiki just didn't have the patience right now to explain over and over until Akane understood and accepted the facts. She had to try though, she let the cat out of the bag and it wasn't going back in.
"Nabiki, explain," Akane demanded, sitting in her own train of fabric.
She took a deep breath and went on, "Alright, but you have to believe what I tell you. It may be complicated, even farfetched, but it's the truth. You've seen a lot in your life, you should be able to swallow this," Nabiki looked back at her sister, concerned, "at least I hope so."
"Go on," Akane permitted.
"Okay, remember that day we met again, after all those years?" Nabiki asked nervously.
Akane nodded.
"Well, when Ranma and I talked in the bathroom, I lied to him, and things got bad," Nabiki told her baby sister delicately, the wrong word could have Akane in an uproar, "I told him the mob really was after me. Except, they aren't."
Akane stared back, confused, "The mob? You told me they were made up."
"They are," Nabiki explained, "but I told Ranma they weren't. I told Ranma that he would get in a car accident and he would die, but it was okay; he would make it. See," Nabiki was having trouble saying it, "he did die, and I just wanted to make it easier on him. Things got out of hand when he came back though, terribly out of control."
Akane was shocked, she could not comprehend what Nabiki was saying, "What if this is just another trick, another situation that you can profit off of."
Nabiki laughed, "Akane, calm down. I have nothing to gain," Nabiki stared steel eyed at her sister, "and I do have a heart, no matter how far down it's buried."
Akane tried to grasp onto something, "So, Ranma is dead. How come you saw him, and me, how come?
"He must be able to show himself to people he wants to, or maybe people he once knew, or saw before. I have no clue, I don't deal with ghosts," Nabiki pondered, mulling over the ideas going through her mind, "the most obvious conclusion I can gather is he's here for a reason."
Akane was still dazed, "And what reason is that?"
"Simple," Nabiki noted, "unfinished business."
Akane gulped.
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"So we're going to help him? He can't know?" Akane asked; tears stuck on her eyelashes.
Nabiki nodded, it had been easier to explain than she thought it would be. Akane was actually starting to become a bit more level headed. Maybe letting Ranma stay and figure himself out had been worth something. She felt dirty, he had trusted her. She hated the feeling, the false right-of- way she had given him. So what, she lied to one more person; she had to validate herself, it helped her cope every time she started getting all "consciency".
Nabiki nodded to her sibling, "If he knows he'll get scared and all this would have been for nothing."
"Explain to me again Nabiki," Akane pleaded, sitting on the tip of the couch, "once more, so it will help it sink in."
Nabiki caved and started, "Okay, but I'm only giving a summary. This will all go to hell if I lose my voice," Nabiki winked.
Akane nodded, ripping up a paper towel in her hands. She had been using it as a makeshift tissue.
"Ranma," Nabiki said, breathing out, "is dead. I told him a story to make him feel better and not scared, even when the crash occurred. It was a good plan . . . until he made an unexpected appearance. I didn't account for the fact that he might . . . come back. After that things just got worse; I tried to scare Ryo-," Nabiki stopped and corrected herself, "Suru off by saying the mob was after my family. Only, instead of leaving he wanted to stay and fight. Then Ranma came and pumped him full of ideas, then the wedding happened and things just got so bad." Nabiki rubbed her temples and breathed deeply.
Akane had calmed down a bit, processing the horrible information. It explained a few things that she had just ridden off as "Ranmalities". It panged at her, the terror that she had known all along. Now that she knew, she didn't know how she could react in front of him. He would be innocent, feel alive; yet she would know he was long dead and but a ghost of his former self.
"Nabiki, you still haven't told me how you know all this, how did you know there would be a crash?" Akane asked suspiciously.
"I know a lot of strange and powerful people, Akane. I am one of them, and so are you. If you're thinking I created the crash, killed your lover, and am trying to cover it up," Nabiki stated coldly, watching Akane hide the fact that Nabiki had figured what she was thinking to a tee, she smirked, "then you're still my crazy little sister."
Akane laughed, "We really missed you Nabiki," Akane grasped her older sister's hands, dropping the piece of paper towel to the floor. It was tattered and broken now, "all of us."
Nabiki scoffed, "Dad will never forgive me Akane," Nabiki told her, staring off into space, her eyes vacant, "unfortunately he really does have no faith left for me."
Akane didn't know what to say; she had nothing left in her. She had been running low for a while now but she was definitely going on fumes now. He had come back and now he was gone again. She had been thinking about this for a while now, sitting and thinking about him. He was so complicated. She wondered if, when he was a baby, he knew he was going to amount to so much. She pondered, and mulled over how much he had really done. He had saved the world more than once and thought nothing of it. His juvenile attitude let him stand the heavy burden on his back. Even though his fiancés were not in the picture anymore, he still had a lot to deal with.
She remembered things now; little insignificant things that made him Ranma. She knew she was going to miss him like hell.
She had to do this, it was the last thing, the kindest thing she could ever do for him, the only thing she could think of that would make up for what she had done in the past.
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Three hours later
Ranma waited at Akane's door, he decided he didn't want to go inside. Knocking was going to start happening more; it would be one of his new things. Now that Ryoga was gone, everything would go nice and smoothly.
After he left Akane, he went to a few other places then circled back to her apartment and perched himself atop her building. Oddly enough, the cold didn't bother him anymore, not much did. Whenever he tried to figure out the reason why, his mind would wander and he would forget all about it.
Standing at her door, ringing her bell made him feel normal, it made everything else seem, less.
Akane opened the door slowly and Ranma took her in. She was in a very small, very pretty red dress. She stared at him and looked like she was about to cry. He nervously spoke up, "Ya look . . . nice. Why are ya all dressed up? Were you expectin' me?"
"Thanks," Akane mustered, ignoring his question, searching back to her "Romeo and Juliet" days for acting reminders. She sniffled and stood tall, "ready to go?"
"No," Ranma replied.
Akane almost gave in, explaining everything, "What?"
Ranma smiled and tensely took Akane's hand as she looked on, scared, "I'm ready to stay."
Akane cringed. Ranma looked on concerned, worry flitting through his thoughts.
He had never made a truthful statement like that to Akane, in this manner. Not just her, anyone. He had never been that truthful in his life, but what if she didn't feel the same. What if commitment scared her as much as it did him. Aside from Akane, Ranma would never commit to anything. He watched her hide her true feelings and began to step down, failure, and embarrassment flooded over him. He knew he never should have said anything, never should have thought anything. Yep, distance would have been the smart option.
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A/N: So the next chapter is basically done I just didn't want to finish it tonight due to laziness. I am so, ultimately sorry for being so late but I'll explain what's next. Next chapter is, for sure, the last. Then I don't know if there will be an epilogue, but I know for sure I want to do a clip show of all the vest quotes. So, tell me your favorites and I'll put them in! Thanks again and review or I might be horrible and forget to right the next chapter!
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Sometimes it hurts more then we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace . . . but we would be hollow. Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we'd be truly dead
--David Boreanaz – "Angel", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
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Ranma couldn't help it, couldn't stop the excitement, relief, and over all enjoyment factor of the current event. Suru had been drenched in water, and now resembled, to a tee, a small, black pig with a yellow bandana. Ranma tried to stand but the two ladies sandwiching him felt the need to faint, both on top of him. He scrambled and wriggled his way up through the ruckus that had ensued and hopped into a tree. He watched below as everything fell silent.
"Wh-wh-what is going on? P-Chan?"Akane stammered her eyes wide, on the brink of tears.
P-Chan squealed in response, in a very apologetic tone. Akane fell back, tripping over the train of her dress, the layers of red carpet beneath her, and began to feel the earth spin. She was getting dizzy, she knew she had to sit down or fall down.
Akane threw her arms up in frustration, "What the FUCK is going on?"
P-Chan stepped back meekly.
She fell fast and hard, hitting the ground with a large thump, her dress breaking her fall. She lay on her stomach, legs kicking up behind her, eye level with the little piglet in front of her. Her eyes turned dark, "You sicko, you . . . pervert . . . you freak!"
He whimpered and she swatted at him, barely missing him, "This was why you knew so much," she whispered in realization, "You knew about me, about my family, my history!" Akane pointed her finger at him, waving it in front of his little nose, "It all makes sense now, every . . . little . . . detail . . ."
"What do you mean Akane?" Kasumi asked, in semi-shock.
Akane turned to her older sister, her mother figure. She ravenously waved a hand across his tiny body, as if she was telling on another child to her mommy, "This jerk, he was P-Chan!"
Kasumi nodded knowingly, "And . . .," she waited for the next part, the final part, the hardest part of her baby sister's realization.
Akane stared back in confusion, "That's it Kasumi, this pervert has been following me since I was in high school, waiting until I was old enough,"Akane explained bitterly, "and fragile enough to fall in love with him."
Kasumi stared on in disbelief; "Wait a minute, that's it," she stared back at Akane, trying to see if Akane would figure out "Suru" was actually Ryoga, "that's all?"
"Yeah, what else is there?" Akane asked confused again, she turned back to P-Chan, "Get out of my sight you rodent," she told him, her voice dripping with hatred, "I don't hit animals."
He turned then, running faster than she had fallen, eyes flowing with tears, knowing his life was over. His fur wet, patches of darker black dotting his coat.
---------------
After that Nabiki had taken care of the few guests there, and the uninvited entertainment. Akane had kept herself in the same position as before, like a fallen ballerina, sprawled out quite prettily across the red carpet.
Ranma had stayed in the tree, huddling him self in a ball until the small crowd left. He strained his eyes to see Akane clearly. All he had gathered was that she now knew about Ryoga. Ranma tried to stick to that but could not get the other, pulsating thought out of his mind.
'She was gonna go through with it, she was gonna marry him,' ran through his head over and over again. He never thought he could feel as betrayed as he did at his moment; she actually loved him enough to do it. Or, on the other hand, she hated Ranma enough to do it. Either way, Ranma didn't come out looking like an angel.
Everyone else had migrated away and every chair, ribbon entangled through it, remained empty, just like Akane's eyes. Her gaze fell from the fibers of the red carpet to its silk ends. She could not look up, could not embrace her surroundings. Ranma knew what he had to do; he had to cheer her up.
He hopped out of the tree and started walking up the aisle, still in his tuxedo. Akane felt his presence and saw him coming towards her. He had grabbed a few flowers and held them in one hand. She couldn't help but smile. This is how things should have been, before they became confusing, before they got so terminal.
Akane grinned again, staring into his eyes and he couldn't help it, couldn't hide his glee, this was their secret wedding. He was walking towards her, they were alone, and the empty seats made the area more secure, but still empty, gloriously empty. Akane stood up, her train flowing behind her now as she waited at the front for Ranma, in front of the imaginary priest they envisioned in their minds. Akane stood waiting on her side, Ranma grinned widely as he stepped up to her, almost floating.
"See," he smirked, moving a few stray hairs away from Akane's eyes, "you really are manly."
Akane grinned back, "And you," she poked him on the shoulder, "make a beautiful, blushing bride."
They smiled and grasped each others hands, turning to the imaginary priest in unison, waiting for him to begin.
As they cleared their minds they listened to the words the man repeated, only hours earlier being prepared and said by the real priest. Akane mouthed the words and Ranma turned to her, expressionless. He couldn't react to what he felt. Regret was there, but so was something else, something he hadn't felt for a long time, love. This scared him.
He didn't know how to feel, he still tasted her betrayal on his lips but the look in her eyes seemed to make his pride melt away. He knew they couldn't do this, couldn't live this happily. And yet he went on: dreaming, in the sweet silence of mid-afternoon, dying.
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"Akane, what are you doing out here? It's freezing, come inside," Nabiki ordered, tired and grumpy. She could only catch a glimpse of her sister's shadow from the place she had been sitting for hours.
"I'm coming Kasumi," Akane said gleefully, "just another minute."
Nabiki rolled her eyes, "Fine, but only for a second," she walked back inside and slid onto the couch, reading in the dim light of a candle.
Sometimes, she would just sit there and stare at the candle, watch it melt away the way she wanted all her troubles to. Wax trickled down the sides, looking so innocent. Nabiki reached out and touched the candle she had turned to. As she made contact with the sap-like liquid she recoiled in pain. It stung; something so simple and precious stung. A candle was too much more than she had bargained for.
Abruptly, Akane burst in, whipping the sliding door Nabiki had closed with care open, "How are you Nabiki," Akane asked, smirking widely, "up to no good I presume?"
Nabiki turned to her, pretending not to be affected, "What are you talking about, Akane?"
Her attention quickly diverted from the candle to the sappy eyed girl in front of her. Nabiki got nervous. She never got nervous, but she was now. She tried to convince herself he wouldn't have said anything, he wasn't that dumb. He would have thought before opening . . . his . . . mouth, ". . . oh damn," Nabiki lamented to herself.
Akane grinned again, wider this time, "Ranma told me about your little scheme with him, I'll only forgive you because at the moment I am about as high as a kite!"
Nabiki felt a pang in her chest. She couldn't explain to Akane the complexity of the situation, the only thing she could do is what she always had: deny, deny, deny, "Akane, Ranma is gone."
Akane tilted her head slightly, "No, he's right outside."
Akane gazed out the window to reassure herself but Ranma was not in sight. He was in the shadows, where she had left him. She turned to Nabiki angrily, "Why are you trying to make me sad?"
"Akane," Nabiki stepped closer to her sister, "I really need to explain."
"No," Akane's voice rose, "Ranma told me everything, everything I need to know!"
Nabiki knew when a plan had gone awry. This was a good deed she had tried to do, something to make Akane feel better; to get Suru out of the picture, and all she had done was mess things up even more.
"No he doesn't! He only knows what I told him and what he tells himself! Akane, you have got to know, you can't just sit here, and I can't do this anymore!" Nabiki was screaming at this point. She hated having to raise her voice to have her opinion validated, but now was the time for drastic measures.
"What?" Akane asked, her spine tingling. She felt butterflies in her stomach and something crept up on her from the back of her mind, something she had been battling back for weeks. She let herself fall to her knees on the floor.
"Akane?" Nabiki asked concerned.
"Nabiki," Akane confided, the words finally coming out of her mouth, "have I gone crazy?"
Nabiki laughed lightly, "Of course not Sis, you just don't know all the facts, and for that matter neither does Ranma. Here, let me try to explain." Nabiki bent down and felt her self reach out and comfort her little sister. It had been years since she had hugged another person without an ulterior motive, without anything to gain.
"So what do you mean Nabiki," Akane asked, the heavy make up for her wedding day becoming wet yet again, "what's the matter with Ranma?"
Nabiki looked up, cradling a scared Akane in her arms, she grinned knowingly, "I think the simpler question is what isn't."
---------------
The worst thing about telling the truth, for Nabiki, was that there was no going back and it was always so damn complicated. Misunderstandings, falsities, and other things ruled supreme. The convincing was another part, Nabiki just didn't have the patience right now to explain over and over until Akane understood and accepted the facts. She had to try though, she let the cat out of the bag and it wasn't going back in.
"Nabiki, explain," Akane demanded, sitting in her own train of fabric.
She took a deep breath and went on, "Alright, but you have to believe what I tell you. It may be complicated, even farfetched, but it's the truth. You've seen a lot in your life, you should be able to swallow this," Nabiki looked back at her sister, concerned, "at least I hope so."
"Go on," Akane permitted.
"Okay, remember that day we met again, after all those years?" Nabiki asked nervously.
Akane nodded.
"Well, when Ranma and I talked in the bathroom, I lied to him, and things got bad," Nabiki told her baby sister delicately, the wrong word could have Akane in an uproar, "I told him the mob really was after me. Except, they aren't."
Akane stared back, confused, "The mob? You told me they were made up."
"They are," Nabiki explained, "but I told Ranma they weren't. I told Ranma that he would get in a car accident and he would die, but it was okay; he would make it. See," Nabiki was having trouble saying it, "he did die, and I just wanted to make it easier on him. Things got out of hand when he came back though, terribly out of control."
Akane was shocked, she could not comprehend what Nabiki was saying, "What if this is just another trick, another situation that you can profit off of."
Nabiki laughed, "Akane, calm down. I have nothing to gain," Nabiki stared steel eyed at her sister, "and I do have a heart, no matter how far down it's buried."
Akane tried to grasp onto something, "So, Ranma is dead. How come you saw him, and me, how come?
"He must be able to show himself to people he wants to, or maybe people he once knew, or saw before. I have no clue, I don't deal with ghosts," Nabiki pondered, mulling over the ideas going through her mind, "the most obvious conclusion I can gather is he's here for a reason."
Akane was still dazed, "And what reason is that?"
"Simple," Nabiki noted, "unfinished business."
Akane gulped.
---------------
"So we're going to help him? He can't know?" Akane asked; tears stuck on her eyelashes.
Nabiki nodded, it had been easier to explain than she thought it would be. Akane was actually starting to become a bit more level headed. Maybe letting Ranma stay and figure himself out had been worth something. She felt dirty, he had trusted her. She hated the feeling, the false right-of- way she had given him. So what, she lied to one more person; she had to validate herself, it helped her cope every time she started getting all "consciency".
Nabiki nodded to her sibling, "If he knows he'll get scared and all this would have been for nothing."
"Explain to me again Nabiki," Akane pleaded, sitting on the tip of the couch, "once more, so it will help it sink in."
Nabiki caved and started, "Okay, but I'm only giving a summary. This will all go to hell if I lose my voice," Nabiki winked.
Akane nodded, ripping up a paper towel in her hands. She had been using it as a makeshift tissue.
"Ranma," Nabiki said, breathing out, "is dead. I told him a story to make him feel better and not scared, even when the crash occurred. It was a good plan . . . until he made an unexpected appearance. I didn't account for the fact that he might . . . come back. After that things just got worse; I tried to scare Ryo-," Nabiki stopped and corrected herself, "Suru off by saying the mob was after my family. Only, instead of leaving he wanted to stay and fight. Then Ranma came and pumped him full of ideas, then the wedding happened and things just got so bad." Nabiki rubbed her temples and breathed deeply.
Akane had calmed down a bit, processing the horrible information. It explained a few things that she had just ridden off as "Ranmalities". It panged at her, the terror that she had known all along. Now that she knew, she didn't know how she could react in front of him. He would be innocent, feel alive; yet she would know he was long dead and but a ghost of his former self.
"Nabiki, you still haven't told me how you know all this, how did you know there would be a crash?" Akane asked suspiciously.
"I know a lot of strange and powerful people, Akane. I am one of them, and so are you. If you're thinking I created the crash, killed your lover, and am trying to cover it up," Nabiki stated coldly, watching Akane hide the fact that Nabiki had figured what she was thinking to a tee, she smirked, "then you're still my crazy little sister."
Akane laughed, "We really missed you Nabiki," Akane grasped her older sister's hands, dropping the piece of paper towel to the floor. It was tattered and broken now, "all of us."
Nabiki scoffed, "Dad will never forgive me Akane," Nabiki told her, staring off into space, her eyes vacant, "unfortunately he really does have no faith left for me."
Akane didn't know what to say; she had nothing left in her. She had been running low for a while now but she was definitely going on fumes now. He had come back and now he was gone again. She had been thinking about this for a while now, sitting and thinking about him. He was so complicated. She wondered if, when he was a baby, he knew he was going to amount to so much. She pondered, and mulled over how much he had really done. He had saved the world more than once and thought nothing of it. His juvenile attitude let him stand the heavy burden on his back. Even though his fiancés were not in the picture anymore, he still had a lot to deal with.
She remembered things now; little insignificant things that made him Ranma. She knew she was going to miss him like hell.
She had to do this, it was the last thing, the kindest thing she could ever do for him, the only thing she could think of that would make up for what she had done in the past.
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Three hours later
Ranma waited at Akane's door, he decided he didn't want to go inside. Knocking was going to start happening more; it would be one of his new things. Now that Ryoga was gone, everything would go nice and smoothly.
After he left Akane, he went to a few other places then circled back to her apartment and perched himself atop her building. Oddly enough, the cold didn't bother him anymore, not much did. Whenever he tried to figure out the reason why, his mind would wander and he would forget all about it.
Standing at her door, ringing her bell made him feel normal, it made everything else seem, less.
Akane opened the door slowly and Ranma took her in. She was in a very small, very pretty red dress. She stared at him and looked like she was about to cry. He nervously spoke up, "Ya look . . . nice. Why are ya all dressed up? Were you expectin' me?"
"Thanks," Akane mustered, ignoring his question, searching back to her "Romeo and Juliet" days for acting reminders. She sniffled and stood tall, "ready to go?"
"No," Ranma replied.
Akane almost gave in, explaining everything, "What?"
Ranma smiled and tensely took Akane's hand as she looked on, scared, "I'm ready to stay."
Akane cringed. Ranma looked on concerned, worry flitting through his thoughts.
He had never made a truthful statement like that to Akane, in this manner. Not just her, anyone. He had never been that truthful in his life, but what if she didn't feel the same. What if commitment scared her as much as it did him. Aside from Akane, Ranma would never commit to anything. He watched her hide her true feelings and began to step down, failure, and embarrassment flooded over him. He knew he never should have said anything, never should have thought anything. Yep, distance would have been the smart option.
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A/N: So the next chapter is basically done I just didn't want to finish it tonight due to laziness. I am so, ultimately sorry for being so late but I'll explain what's next. Next chapter is, for sure, the last. Then I don't know if there will be an epilogue, but I know for sure I want to do a clip show of all the vest quotes. So, tell me your favorites and I'll put them in! Thanks again and review or I might be horrible and forget to right the next chapter!