Chapter 13 A new life in America
Ranma came home from the bank after depositing her first paycheck from the school. It had been a hard two weeks working with her students, but it was beginning to look like some of them understood the lessons. As she entered the apartment, Akane met her at the door. "Hurry up and change, Ranma, the movie starts in an hour, and I want to make sure we get good seats," she reminded Ranma.
Ranma nodded and ran to the bathroom, leaving a trail of clothing behind. Akane sighed, and picked up the debris. After several minutes, Ranma came out of the bathroom, dressed in his usual casual attire. "Hey, I would have picked all that up, you said I needed to hurry," Ranma teased. Then he grabbed Akane and kissed his sweetheart. "I missed you this morning, you were gone by the time I woke up," he said, "You ready?" Akane nodded, grabbed her car keys and they left.
After the movie was over, they headed to a restaurant to eat dinner. There was a pretty nice Japanese steakhouse across from the mall that Akane had found during the time she had been in Arlington by herself. It was a bit expensive, so she couldn't eat there very often, but the sushi and sashimi helped remind her of the food of home. They were celebrating their new life together tonight, though, so they wanted to do something special for their first real date.
"Did you enjoy the movie, Akane?" Ranma asked.
She giggled. "I really don't remember much of it, you kept stealing kisses in the dark," she said.
"Hey, I was just making up for lost time," he teased her, "Remember, I wasted two whole years not doing that because I was too scared to show my feelings."
They spent the next hour eating their dinner. The food was almost as good as Kasumi's. They actually were able to have a nice conversation, and the wait staff was excellent since they appreciated being able to talk in Japanese. They finished, bowed to the hostess and thanked her. Then they walked out towards the car. Just as they were about to get in, one of those quick Texas storms blew in, and Ranma felt the familiar change occur.
Ranma muttered a curse under her breath. Akane heard enough of it to blink in astonishment, and then she giggled. "I don't really thing the Gods hate you Ranma, I just think they have a warped sense of humor," she said. They got in the car and headed home. They entered the apartment and Ranma started heading toward the bathroom to change. Akane grabbed her hand and said, "Hey, I want my kiss."
"What kiss?" Ranma asked, looking at Akane with some surprise. 'What's gotten into her,' she wondered.
"When a girl comes home from a nice date with her boyfriend, she generally likes a kiss at the end of the date. I want my kiss," Akane said.
"But, but, I'm a girl, now," Ranma stammered.
Akane just pulled her close, leaned down and kissed her. 'Sparks, check, fireworks, check, tingles, check' they both thought. After they came up for air, Ranma pulled reluctantly away. "Ranma, I love you, the body doesn't matter to me," Akane said.
"I'm not sure I believe you," Ranma said with a smile, "Can you give me some more proof?" She giggled.
A dangerous glint appeared in Akane's eyes. She leaned over, and began kissing Ranma, pulling her close to her body. After a while, Ranma broke the kiss with a sigh and said, "Ok, you've convinced me. Now I think I need to go take a cold shower." Akane started giggling.
They settled into a daily routine. Every morning, Ranma would get up and start breakfast. After breakfast, they would go jog for several miles until it was time to cleanup and get to class. After they were done with their classes, Akane would go to her job at the day care and Ranma would go to teach her classes. They would meet at the apartment, then study, do homework and fix dinner. Ranma still did most of the cooking, but there were a few things he trusted Akane to make. They would try to go out on a date once a week, usually dancing, sometimes dinner, and occasionally a movie. Again, life was treating them well.
One Saturday, Akane woke up in a mischievous mood. After breakfast was over, she asked Ranma to go shopping with her. "Ranma, I want to go shopping with my girlfriend," she said, "Go change. You and I are going shopping for some clothes." Ranma grumbled, went into the bedroom, and came back out wearing one of her more casual outfits. "Good, let's head on over to the mall," Akane said with an evil smile. Ranma shuddered, the last time she had seen that look she ended up being forced into an almost non-existent swimsuit. They got in the car, and headed over to the mall. Akane grabbed Ranma's hand and dragged her over to the Victoria's Secret store. Ranma groaned, 'I'm in trouble now' she thought.
Akane and Ranma spent the next hour trying on several pieces of skimpy attire, with Ranma finally having a good time. Akane was clearly enjoying herself, modeling the outfits so Ranma couldn't help but be caught up in the fun. Akane finally relented, though she bought one of the skimpier outfits. Then she took Ranma down to a different store where they found some swimsuits to look at, and then checked out some new dresses. They bought a few new things and then went on home.
Several months went by. Their grades were looking good. Ranma sent the occasional e-mail home, letting his family know how he was doing, though he was careful not to say anything about where he was, or who he was with. Akane wrote home often, but also kept Ranma's presence a secret. They Akane realized that it was about to be Ranma's birthday. She resolved to bake him a cake from scratch. Ranma wasn't paying any attention to what was going on. He was working on his homework. Suddenly he heard a loud crash and then a scream from the kitchen, "Why can't I do this!!!"
"Akane, what's wrong?" Ranma said as he rushed into the kitchen to see a major disaster. The kitchen was a total mess, Akane wearing most of what she was trying to make, was sitting in the middle of the floor, crying her eyes out.
"Akane, it's ok, honey," Ranma said as he rushed over to her. Unfortunately, he slipped on some of the mess and fell down, sliding forward until his head ended up in her lap. Akane froze for a second, eyes wide, and then started laughing. Ranma joined her. Finally, she stopped laughing. "Feel better now?" he said as he pulled her head down for a kiss.
"Yeah, I guess so. You didn't hurt yourself when you fell, did you?" she asked anxiously.
"Hah, the great martial artist hurt himself," he said with a smile.
"Man, you're a legend in your own mind aren't you?" she laughed.
"Come on, help me clean up this mess, and then I can help you try again," Ranma said.
"Actually, I think the recipe was fine, I turned around and caught the pan with my elbow and flipped it up on me, see the batter still tastes fine," she smirked.
Ranma tasted the batter, and discovered that she was right. He helped her clean up the mess, and then they went to their respective rooms and cleaned themselves up. Akane returned to the kitchen, and made the cake. After it was done baking, she iced it, then brought it out and told him "Happy Birthday!"
Ranma spent several sessions with Akane in the kitchen showing her how to cook. Once he realized that her biggest problem was a lack of confidence, most of the battle was won. He basically convinced her to treat cooking as a form of martial arts, showing her that she needed to start simple, follow the recipe without deviation, and to practice each step until she had it perfect. He also convinced her that she always needed to taste everything she made. The practice allowed her to gain her confidence, and that was all it took. Then they finished their first full year together. The school semester was just about over.