The Sacrifice

by Noodles-22

Ranma is introduced to the Tendos after a 15 year training trip. the plan was for Ranma and Akane to marry and join the houses together. but Genma's plan went too far: Ranma showed up as a nervous wreck.

3. Adjustments

The Sacrifice

Chapter 2 - Adjustments

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Ranma and Akane woke up early. The sun rose over the horizon, promising them that it would be a good day. Turning to Ranma she asked "How was your sleep."

Ranma held onto Akane and said, "Mmmuch better. My d-dreams weren't as b-bad as they usually are."

Akane smiled. "That was one of the best sleeps I've ever had because you were next to me." She leaned in close to his ear and whispered "Could we do that again tonight?"

"I sssuppose we can," Ranma answered slowly.

"Good. Because I have to get ready for school now so I have to let go." She untangled herself from Ranma and stood up. She pulled out a pair of long pants and loose button up shirt from her cupboard, and promptly put them on.

"Are you going to come down for breakfast?"

"Sssure," he answered. He jumped into his clothes and accompanied her downstairs.

Nabiki looked up and saw the two coming down the stairs. "How did you two sleep last night?" she finished with a grin.

"Never b-better," Ranma gave Nabiki an evil grin.

Nabiki was taken back. She was intending to tease her sister, but Ranma was now biting into the spirit. This was getting bad.

"Ahh, Mmr Tendo, is there anything I c-could help you with around h-here? I fffeel as though I should be d-doing sssomething for all your hospitality."

"Think nothing of it Ranma. It is great to have you here. But now that you mention it, there are a few things that I need help fixing. I'll show you after breakfast."

Ranma smiled, and then turned toward Akane, who was looking at him with an expression of gratitude. He was making her feel pleased to have him by her side.

They sat and ate breakfast together. Occasionally Akane slipped a parcel of rice into Ranma's mouth which surprised him a bit, but he was happy nether the less. He smiled back at her, and while she was distracted with his expression, he slipped a morsel of food back to her. They were getting on a lot better together and Ranma seemed more at ease in her company.

When the bowls were empty, Akane gave Ranma one last hug and said, "Keep this until I get back." She stood up and bounded out of the house.

"You're doing a fine job with her boy," Genma decided to rear his ugly head into Ranma's fine day.

"It has n-n-nothing to do with y-you Pops." Ranma got up and pulled his father outside. "An-nyway, I need to g-get a warm up before I help Mmmr Tendo out."

Genma made a brave attempt of holding through with the fight but he soon lost consciousness, and Ranma continued to pummel into his father.

When he was finished he went back inside. "That's b-better. I thhhink we nnneed to get something fffor him to do while he is ssstaying here, otherwise he would j-just sponge off y-your household."

"Is he really that bad?" Soun asked.

"Oh yeah. Althhhough he t-taught me to fffend for myself, he didn't do annnything for himself if he c-could help it. I was always the one who d-did all the work to p-pay back for his mmmesses."

Soun started to rise. "If you still want to do something around here, I can show you now." He led Ranma outside. "We have a few leaks in the roof so many of the tiles need replacing. It is a big job and will take a while do finish, at least a day with the two of us." Soun said. "I was going to try to do a bit at a time but the rain kept me from being able to leave a bit unprotected. Now that you are here, we can get it done all at once without having patches between each day's work." Soun looked hopeful.

"Thhhat won't b-be hard. Where are the nnnew tiles?"

"They need to be cut from the pile over there." He pointed at a stack of wooden planks. Some of the planks had started to be cut, but much more needed to be done. Soun pulled up a plank and started sawing off a foot length, "This is how big they need to be. Here you can use this saw; I'll get another one out."

He handed Ranma the cutting tool and started to turn away when Ranma said, "What d-do we n-need the saws for? I thhhought we were Mmmartial Artists?" He handed the tool back, lined up all of the stacked planks and swung his arm across the top plank at one foot intervals.

To Soun's amazement, the stack of wood splintered into clean edged tiles of the appropriate length. His jaw dropped, "How did you do that?"

"Sssomething I p-picked up in my t-training. It took a wwwhile to master, but it has its uses."

"Is there anything you can do that might make the removal of the tiles quicker?"

"Nnnothing but p-pull them up quicker," Ranma smirked. "But y-you said we ha-ad all day..."

"We won't need it. The thing I found took the longest the other times was preparation. Thankyou Ranma, you've made what I would normally call a long and tedious task into something that could be done at a leisurely pace."

"Oh w-well, if we g-get stuck into it, we c-could do sssomething else b-before Akane's training thisss afternoon."

Soun was shocked. Ranma wanted for more punishing work _before_ a rigorous training session?! But as the day wore on, he began to see the physique that Ranma developed which allowed him for much harder jobs without effort.

By the time Genma woke up, the roof was nearly finished. He saw Soun working on a small side of the roof while Ranma was covering a much larger portion in less time. 'All the work I had him do has sure payed off' he thought.

Ranma had seen his father stir; he threw a spare tile at him and shouted for Genma to get a job to help with the place. He quickly ran from the property in fear with more tiles hurtling his way.

__________________________________________________________________

Akane had returned from school and she saw the state of the house, her jaw dropped. It had never looked better! The whole roof was fixed, the holes in the walls were gone, and even the broken handrail on the stairs was replaced. Akane was impressed, but was worried her father had driven Ranma to a hard day.

When she found Soun to tell him off for making Ranma use up his energy before training, she was surprised to see her father slumped down across the couch. He could barely lift his hand to wave at Akane.

"Why did you work Ranma so hard?" She shouted.

Soun's voice was barely heard, "He wanted to do more after the roof. I tried to keep up, but..." he paused. "He is in the dojo waiting for you. I think he has been working on something else for your training."

Akane was a bit annoyed about Ranma exhausting himself, but was interested in what he had prepared. 'Target practice' he had said the day before.

Inside the dojo Ranma was positioning some new targets he had made about a central position. She was surprised to see him as energetic as always. He waved her to the centre.

"Y-you will be d-doing a similar t-task as before, except that thhhere will be mmmultiple targets, at different h-heights and angles. Fffirst I want you to do sssome repetitions on each t-target individually, so you c-can l-learn the right way to hit thhhem, then I will call out a nnnumber and you will hit the corresponding t-target with the sssame care as yes-sterday."

Akane took in everything Ranma said and realised that he was setting a difficult task for the night. She will surely be sore afterwards.

Ranma showed her how to hit the targets at higher and lower inclinations, and gave some hints of how to manoeuvre between each target.

Throughout the exercise Ranma got much closer to Akane as he aligned her trajectories. Several times he guided her body while standing behind with his arms around her.

When it got to the stage that Akane felt as though her shoulders were about to fall off, Ranma drew the lesson to a close.

"Thankyou," she gasped and let her arms drop to her sides.

"T-time for your c-chi treatment."

"Thankyou," she said in a more seductive manner.

Ranma grinned at Akane then led her to the mat. "Sssorry to d-disappoint you, but it won't b-be anything like yesterday."

When she lay down, he grasped her feet and prodded points halfway from her ankle, between the first and second toe. He then moved up her legs and applied pressure on the inside above her ankles, then outside below her knees. He reached for her hands and touched the pressure points in her webs of flesh between her thumb and index fingers.

Still holding her hands, he pulled Akane to her feet. He reached around her and prodded the last two points midway down her back, then turned it into a hug. "Here's the h-hug you g-gave me."

"And it's well received," she said from within his embrace. "When I can lift my arms again I can give you another."

"I've g-got a better idea," he said and lowered them both back down to the mat. He wrapped her arms around him, and over the next half hour, he slowly massaged her aching muscles between warm embraces.

"Mmmm" she breathed into his ear. "More..."

"L-later. Now it's dinner and a b-bath."

Akane ate even more than usual; she was nearly catching up to Ranma's appetite. The thing that held her back was that her shoulders were still sore. True Ranma kept feeding her every now and then, but it was easier to feed herself because she knew how much and when she was ready for more.

When she had enough, she got up and staggered towards the bathroom, although not before telling Ranma to come if she called for help. His face turned bright red.

True to her word, Akane did call for Ranma's help, but that was later in her room when she was changing into her pyjamas. Akane was having trouble lifting her arms so Ranma had to hold out her top while she slid into it sideways.

He was longing to see her again unclothed, but the fear he had in the bathroom the previous night still held ground.

They eventually fell asleep with Akane's back against Ranma's front and their legs curled around each other.

___________________________________________________________________

The next afternoon, training took another chunk out of Akane's energy. Ranma began to teach Akane how to kick properly. He used the same technique as he did when Akane learned how to punch.

"Thhhat's it. Bring your l-leg up high."

Akane complied, and after hitting the target for the 100th time she exclaimed "This is much more exhausting than punching!"

"That's why w-we concentrated on the p-punch. The k-kick is more for an attack b-between punches. It is to mmmake your moves on y-your opponent fffaster by hitting them while y-you move into the nnnext position."

"So why am I wasting all my energy on only kicking?"

"So t-tomorrow when we combine the p-punches and kicks on the mmmultiple target exercise, you w-will do it all correctly."

"Oh." After that announcement Akane put more effort and concentration into her training.

When they were finished, and Ranma was touching her chi pressure points, she asked "Isn't there any way to help me get over these aches after training?"

"Yes, thhhere is. But it is mmmore b-beneficial for you to c-cope with them, as they condition your b-body for rougher t-treatment. Look at your fffather after yesterday's work on the hhhouse. He had g-given up, while I had been d-doing more and preparing for your t-training session."

Akane nodded. 'Tonight he will be getting more back from me then,' she thought.

That evening when everyone was going to bed, Ranma was again in Akane's room. This time she got into bed wearing only her pyjama top and panties. Ranma jumped when he watched her climb in next to him without completely changing, he found it harder to wrap his arms around her as much without too much skin contact.

"This is for your punishment on how sore your training made me," she said in a mock upset tone.

Ranma didn't object. After all he did work her hard. But he couldn't exactly call this punishment. It was clear that they both were reaping the benefits from the closer contact. Her warmth reached him more intensely and she could feel his hard toned legs behind her.

The morning brought a bit of a handful for Ranma. He woke with his hand in an imposing position. It was snaked up Akane's shirt. She was already awake and thoroughly enjoying it.

Ranma tried to pull his hand out when he was fully awake but Akane held it there. "Please don't. It feels good."

Ranma couldn't speak. 'It definitely felt good, but am I ready for this?' he thought. "P-please Akane, let me k-keep the pace."

"You have. But now you're trying to let your fear take over." She turned her head to look back at him. "Please don't fear me."

All Ranma could do was look into her dark brown eyes before he was mesmerised. He relaxed and rested his head at the back of hers.

They lay like that for a while. Ranma became more at ease with the contact as his hand slowly explored the inside of her garment.

"Mmmm, Ranma? You probably should stop now."

"W-what's wrong?" he sounded a bit worried.

"I'm about to lose myself," she said with a gasp. She rolled over and slid her hand up his shirt. She lent in closer and gave him a small kiss then looked dearly into his eyes. "And I think I should start to get ready for school." She backed away off the bed.

He watched as she began to dress for the day. She felt his eyes on her. "What are you going to do today?" she asked.

"Dunno. I h-have to see Dr Tofu to g-give him an update of y-your chi treatments."

"Could you wait until after school so I can go with you? I needed to see if he had some books I have been looking for."

"Okay" he replied.

"You could pick me up from school if you like," Akane suggested.

"Err, Um..." Ranma sounded.

"Good. You can meet me at the front gates at three." Akane left the room before Ranma could object.

He was left there, stunned to say the least when he actually realised what she meant by 'losing herself'. 'I'm gonna need a long bath!' he thought.

When he finished his bath he set out for a walk about the neighbourhood again. His mind was occupied with thoughts about Akane. His feelings for her had grown as he became less fearful about showing them. He could definitely see her concern for him, and that she cared.

Maybe it was time to confide in her. After all they have been sleeping together for the last few nights. The trip to Dr Tofu's would hopefully uncover some information about his troubles and no doubt Akane will want to help him.

'That's it then,' Ranma thought. 'I'll tell her later how deeply this curse and Neko really go.'

He wandered around aimlessly for the rest of the day.

When three o'clock approached he made his way to Furinkan High School. The school was surrounded by a tall brick wall. He jumped up and sat while waiting for Akane to show up. When he was waiting he noticed that he received many looks from of the students. The girls were taking pleasure in his appearance, while the boys were slightly fearful from the power he was radiating from his position of strength.

When Akane showed up, he jumped down, and to all's disappointment he took her by the hand and they walked off the school grounds together.

Akane had noticed how Ranma's appearance had affected the students and was looking forward to bringing him in on Monday.

They walked along in silence, enjoying the contact between them. Ranma decided to try to start a conversation. "So, ah, what sssort of books did y-you want to see the doc ab-bout?"

Akane was flustered. "Um. I wanted to see if he had any books about dealing with phobias. I wanted to try and find something that would help you with your fear of cats."

'This is it then,' Ranma thought. "I don't have fffear of c-cats."

"Yes you do..."

Ranma shook his head. "Do you remember mmme telling y-you that my dealings with thhhe Neko-ken were more c-complicated that I originally t-told everyone on my arrival?"

"Yeah."

"And w-what happened afterwards..."

"You went into a coma like state. I thought it was from fear of recounting your past experiences."

"Well it wasn't from fear. I wasss having an arrrgument with my innner demonsss."

"Demons!?"

"That'ss what I call m-my curs-ses." Akane was about to speak when, "I coun-nt the neko-kennn as a curse. Althhhhough it isn't a c-curse but a technique, it behavvves the same in m-my m-m-mind."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, y-y-you know how I exxxplained the cat-t-ts in my vision, well it-t's more like they-y are eat-ting away at the bbback of my m-m-mind, trying to g-get m-my attention. If I do g-g-give it what it w-wants, it sorta tak-kes over my mind. In Neko, my mmmind seems simp-pler, less comp-p-plicated, dimmer thought-t-ts, but most of the t-time my senses are completely bl-locked off. In the girl ffform, I still fffeel hu-uman, but not-t what I knnow human to be, just not riiight. So when I t-turn into the g-girl I prefffer to go Neko to g-g-get away from the aliennn feelings."

"Maybe they are not alien feelings at all. Maybe it is just what it feels like to be a girl. I mean we are built differently, so there's no reason that your girl form should feel the same as your normal self."

"May-ybe."

"And what do you mean by arguing?"

"Aft-ter retelling the st-tory of my lllife, my Neko wanted ouuut for a pl-lay, but up jump-ped girl saying that sheee never get-t-ts a t-turn since Neko tak-kes over, while I d-don't want eitherrr one of thhhem to surffface. So unlike what-t usually hap-pens when I'm trying to ig-g-gnore one at a t-t-time, it took my full concennntration to k-keep them both out of r-r-reach."

"It looked like you were having trouble."

Ranma nodded. "That's why I asked Dr Tofu ifff he knew anything ab-bout Neko-ken and Jusenkyo c-curses. He didn't kn-now anything off hand, but he sssaid he should have found sssomething for me by today."

"You already told him about your problems?!"

"No. I only t-told him that I knew sssomeone who was inflicted by them. I said that I wasss trying to find sssome way to help him."

"Good. For a moment I thought that you confided in him before me."

"No, I haven't yet c-confided in him, but he w-wanted to be kept updated on y-your chi treatment progress."

"No details. What went on between us is for our ears alone."

"We'll see," he teased.

When they arrived, they were escorted straight in to Tofu's office.

"Hello Akane, Ranma. How are you two today?"

"Fffine thanks Doc. Have y-you found anything for my fffriend yet?"

The Doctor's face took on a serious tone. "Yes, but it isn't very pleasant."

"What do y-you mean?"

"Well, to sum it up the Neko-ken training changes the person's soul into one which is part cat. It is irreversible and can lead to mental breakdown. The so called Neko-ken warriors had to endure the soul change and accept it to be able to survive. Only a very few people survived throughout the training, and of those that did even fewer came out of the madness."

Ranma and Akane's eyes opened wide at this statement.

Dr Tofu nodded. "Nasty isn't it. How is your friend coping with it?"

Ranma hesitated, and then said; "He hasn't g-gone insane yet, b-but he continues to t-try to fight it off."

"Tell him that it is the worst thing he could do. He must accept it if he wants to prevent himself from losing his mind.

"However the Jusenkyo curse is something else. The curses are chi based. When someone inflicted by such a curse is splashed by cold water, their chi is manipulated into a different form. The most astonishing thing about it is that their body will physically change to mimic their chi.

"There is no cure for it either." He added seeing the look on their faces. "If there is someone who is inflicted by both and have not come to terms with it I believe they would be in for a hard time ahead of them."

Ranma couldn't say a thing.

"What would happen to them?" Akane asked.

"I believe that fear of the changes may drive the person over the edge, and if the curse is triggered while in that state there may be no recovery since they would not have a familiar body to return their mind to. If such a thing should happen, there is no idea how much damage and harm they could cause."

Ranma's face fell. That was what he had been worried about since he arrived in Nerima. What he had already learned on the road made him dangerous enough, but without control over the Neko-ken he could cause a lot of damage.

The doctor saw Ranma's change in expression, and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"Y-yeah. I was s-so scared of the c-contact when I g-gave the first shiatsu t-treatment to Akane that I nnnearly lost control of the Neko."

Tofu's eyes opened wide with surprise. "You are the one who has the Neko and Jusenkyo curse?!"

Ranma nodded weakly. "Thhhat's why I s-stutter all the time. I'm always c-concentrating on trying to k-keep the Neko away, and the curse is always nnnagging to get a turn but ifff it does, Neko takes over. So fffar I have had no t-trouble returning after b-beating up my pop because nnnormally he is the one responsible for mmmy change. Nothing b-bad has happened yet but I'm al-lways worried that the Neko will g-go too far and hurt sssomeone badly next t-time."

The doctor's face darkened. "The only way you could stop the Neko from going out of control would be to master it."

"Surrender to the h-higher power," Ranma muttered.

Tofu didn't comment.

"What c-can I do Doc?"

Tofu handed a book he found to Ranma and said, "Take this. You should probably read through the information about the Neko-ken condition, it will help you understand what you are becoming."

Ranma took them reluctantly.

"When you do try to work with the Neko, please do it in a calm environment. It would be best to eliminate any chances of bringing harm to anyone."

"I'll keep an eye on him Dr Tofu," Akane said.

"I said that I wanted to be kept informed on your progress about your chi treatments. I still do, but with this new information, I am more concerned about Ranma's condition. Please keep me updated on anything that happens regarding his cat nature."

"I will," Akane said.

"With that out of the way, how are your chi treatments going?"

Akane smiled. "The first one was incredible."

"Yes, the first one was quite intense. I wouldn't have let Ranma do it if he wasn't your fiancé." He glanced at Ranma. "But I believe it would have brought you both closer together."

"It has," Akane replied. "We wouldn't have come as far as we have without it."

Dr Tofu raised his eyebrows.

"Never mind," Akane muttered.

Ranma coughed, trying to cover up a laugh. 'No details indeed.'

"As for the rest, I have been feeling slightly stronger after each session."

"And she has b-been improving on her sk-kill quite quickly. I think that it is still p-programmed into her b-body, it just c-couldn't k-k-keep it up," Ranma added.

"That's good to hear. Now as you both have a lot of work ahead of you, I should let you go."

"Thankyou once again Dr Tofu," Akane said.

"It was nothing. After all Ranma has done for me, it is I that should be thanking you."

Akane tried to ask what he meant, but Ranma spoke up first. "When are y-you going to act up-pon it?"

"That's the only thing that I still haven't worked up the courage for."

"Why d-don't you come b-by tomorrow?" Ranma suggested. "I'm sssure she'll be p-pleased to see you."

"I'll try," Tofu replied. "Anyway, off with the two of you." He shooed them from his office.

On the way back home Akane asked "What was that about?"

"Kasumi."

Akane didn't understand.

"He wasss h-having trouble whenever Kasumi's nnname was mentioned."

"Yeah I know that, but what about it?"

"Well, he _was_ having t-trouble. He ssshould have it under c-control now."

"That is good news!" Akane exclaimed. "They can get together now. What about us? Have you had any thought about if you are ready for more?"

Ranma was silent for a bit, but then said, "I'll t-try, let's just sssee what happens ton-night. It's j-just like training, if I don't p-push myself I won't g-get anywhere." He turned toward Akane and saw a hurt expression on her face. "That wasssn't meant in a b-bad way. I already kn-now how I feel about you. I just nnneed to get us-sed to expressing it." He took her hand in his and they continued to walk home.

In the dojo, Akane was preparing for her training session, the session where everything she has learned up to date would be put into use.

"Nnnow with the multiple targets, I w-will call out which arm or leg and w-which target I want y-you to hit."

Akane readied herself.

"Rrright arm one, left arm three, right leg six, left arm fffive," he continued.

Throughout the session, Ranma gave advice on how to jump between attacks to make her moves more fluid. He guided her trajectory and foot work as she moved among the targets. In the end Akane found herself attacking with more ferocity than she had ever done before.

"Good," Ranma said. "Now I w-will give you a sssequence and I w-want you to memorise it."

He ran Akane through the steps a few times, and then let her continue on without his instructions. Occasionally she forgot a move and Ranma had to remind her about it. When she had it down correctly and could perform it without errors, he got her started on a new progression.

It took a couple of hours for Akane to learn both fighting sequences, and after which she was thoroughly exhausted. When Ranma called her away from the target circle she was pleased for the finish, but he didn't call for the end.

"Akane, I want you to c-close your eyes and p-picture where the targets are."

She closed her eyes and saw the targets as if she were about to start on the first punch.

"Nnnow start the first progression."

She moved and in her minds eye she hit the targets in the same order as she had earlier.

"Good. Now with y-your eyes open."

Ranma danced around her strikes and feinted with some of his own which barely missed as she moved in for her next target. She finished with both her and Ranma's final strikes leaving them face to face as they followed through with their missed targets.

"G-good," he said as they separated. "Now with the second, and w-watch closely to what I am d-doing at the time."

They squared off once more, and went through with their steps. Akane noticed something familiar about Ranma's movements, she had seen them somewhere before but she couldn't place where.

They pulled apart again and Ranma asked, "What did you nnnotice?"

"Your movements seemed familiar. I can't figure out where I saw them before."

"Try the fffirst sequence ag-gain."

As Akane began to start the first, she realised what Ranma had been doing. She quickly whipped around to look at him, "You were complimenting my movements with the other steps."

"That's right. These were thhhe first t-two katas that pop mmmade me learn. Although thhhere were a few bl-locking steps that I left out, it is essentially the fffirst two of the Anything Goes b-beginner's katas. We will w-work more closely with the k-katas and incorporate the b-blocking skills as we go."

Akane was happy. She could see where Ranma was taking her. He was getting her to develop a skill, put it into action, and then over time put more techniques into it. Unlike how her father taught her years ago, which was just repetitions, and then leaving her to figure out the rest, this will actually improve her skills. This way she will learn different strategies for different fighting conditions which she may come across.

"That's all for t-tonight though." He pulled her down to the mat and worked on her pressure points.

Akane watched him carefully for any sign of change with him holding back on his feelings. She was also thinking of how she could help Ranma come to terms with his inner demons.

"Ranma?"

"Mmmm?" he was finishing up with her back

"Would you let me help you with your troubles?"

Ranma stopped what he was doing and looked Akane in the eyes. "Whhat d-do y-you have in mindd?" he asked nervously.

"Well the Neko and the Girl are now a part of you, and you do need to figure out how they work in order to start accepting them." She paused. "You could let 'the cat' out once in a while, to get acquainted with it. After all that's what Dr Tofu said you needed to do." She silently waited for his response.

Ranma reluctantly agreed. "I-I-I will t-t-try it, but we'll havvve to d-do it slowly. Nothing b-b-big, since g-g-giving in w-willingly is biggg enough as it-t is." Ranma shook anxiously. "I should probably read the books Tofu gave me before I do anything, in case something bad does happen and I can't do anything about it."

Akane reached up and pulled Ranma into an embracing hug. "We'll get you through this, don't worry," she cooed softly into his ear.

Ranma felt a rush of gratitude fall over him as he lay in her arms. He turned his head to look in her eyes, he saw the kindness and love she had for him. Both drew him closer as he initiated the first kiss.

Akane was taken by surprise. This was what she had been waiting for him to do for a while. She pulled him closer put all she had into the kiss. All her cares and worries faded at that moment. The whole world faded around her, nothing else mattered but being with Ranma.

When they finally separated their faces were shining with fulfilment. They both had found what they had been waiting for their whole lives.

Ranma was shaking. He had found more meaning to the act of kissing than he ever thought that there could possibly be. He found himself in a weakened state, he couldn't move, but he had no desire to move from Akane's arms.

Slowly Akane leaned forward for another kiss; he took it up with equanimity. He was lost into oblivion. It was right; there was no other place he would rather be.

Akane let out a sigh if content, and then rested her chin over Ranma's shoulder. "Where do we go from here?"

Ranma didn't know what to do. Every step brought something new to him. "We could c-continue on from where thhhis is heading tonight. T-tomorrow we mmmight be able to p-progress onto what you d-did to me on my first nnnight here."

"Did you see what was going on?" she asked incredulously.

"I got a fffew glimpses," Ranma grinned.

"That's settled then. It will take me a bit of self control to hold back, but this will have to do until then." She playfully rubbed his chest through his shirt as if is she was cleaning him.

Ranma chuckled. "On thhhe other hand, you need a r-real bath!" He stood up and pulled Akane to her feet. "I'll see y-you when you g-get out." They both walked back to the house hand in hand.

While Akane was in the bath, Ranma decided to take out the book Dr Tofu lent him. It was about manifestations caused by chi imbalances. He sat down on the couch and browsed through the contents until he found the chapter regarding the Neko-ken.

He was glad that it didn't say anything about training the dreaded technique otherwise Genma would immediately have his hands on it to try to see where he went wrong. Instead it described the changes it causes the trainee, and what they allow the person to achieve.

The Neko-ken training forces a person to meld their soul with a cat spirit. In most cases it is due to the only means of survival by blending in with nearby cats to prevent hostilities. While the person still remains human, he becomes part cat, and can behave like one at will.

Ranma didn't like what the book was saying; he now had the spirit of part animal. He skipped through to find more on what he was capable of.

When a person with the changed soul behaves in the cat's behalf, their chi alters to mimic the cat. If such a person can project an aura, it would take on the appearance of a large battle cat.

The Neko aura takes up a fair amount of chi to maintain, but when it is held, it can manifest itself as very a powerful weapon. For example; the battle cat's claws, while consisting of an aura, they can cut through practically anything.

That seemed like it could be an interesting skill to be able to use in a battle. He skimmed through the rest and found one line which stood out and promised trouble:

However when a person comes to accept their cat side, the borderline between human and cat becomes indistinct and will start to develop cat traits while in human mode.

'Oh NO!' Was he going to start grooming himself with his tongue? Was he going to start marking his territory? Or was he going to start eating wild animals he catches after prowling the streets at night? It all _was_ a horrible nightmare coming to life!

He slammed the book closed. Would becoming an animal-like-human be better than madness and possibly death? How could anyone accept those possibilities, even for the ability to use the cat fist? He knew from then on that the time ahead of him will be the hardest that he would ever have to face.

When Akane finished in the bathroom she came out to see what Ranma was doing. He quickly pulled her down and held onto her tightly as if it would prevent anything from changing.

Akane didn't know what was wrong, but seeing the look of worry and the book nearby she could tell that it had severely bothered him. She wrapped her arms around him and gently rocked him gently to reassure him that everything would be fine in the end.

___________________________________________________________________

The evening did not come to a close on a happy note. Ranma was deeply subdued by the book's revelations that he barely spoke, and that was only to excuse himself from the table to go and have a bath.

"Akane," Soun asked, "What's bothering Ranma?"

"He went to see Dr Tofu for information about the Neko-ken and Jusenkyo curses. He didn't receive good news. There are no cures for either one."

"What would he want cures for? That ungrateful sod!" Genma bellowed. "After everything I have done to help that boy..."

"Fat lot of help you have given him," Akane interrupted. "Do you have any idea how seriously the Neko-ken affects him? How much it changes him?"

"Now Akane, a true martial artist should be willing to give up anything for the sake of the Arts," Genma lectured.

"You have already made sure his life was given up to the Arts. He has had nothing else..." Akane growled.

"Akane!" Kasumi scolded.

"If you had known what else you had made him give up on, you would have made sure that no one would ever learn the Neko-ken!"

"What do you mean?" Soun asked.

"He is no longer completely human. The training forced him to accept a cat soul to merge with his own."

All the faces around the table blanched at her statement.

"Now you can all continue to entertain this animal here if you wish," she pointed at Genma, "I'm going to check on Ranma!" and she stormed out of the room.

She approached the bathroom door.

*Knock knock*

No one answered.

"Ranma, are you in there?"

There came the sound of moving water. "Yeah," he said in a dreary voice.

"Can I come in?"

"T-tomorrow," he said. "That's if y-you still want to b-be near me."

"That's not what I meant." She opened the door and walked in. sitting down beside the furo, she asked, "Please tell me what's wrong."

He sat with his knees drawn up to his chest and looked down into the water. He did not answer.

"Please let me help you," she pleaded.

"Why d-do you want an-nything to do with me afffter hearing what Dr Tofu sssaid?"

"Because I care about you. Because I love you."

He looked up at Akane as he said, "Even thhhough I'm now part c-cat?"

"Regardless of it. You are still human."

"Not fffor long," Ranma stated.

"W What do you mean?"

"I have to c-come to t-terms with my c-cat side, but the mmmore I do, the mmmore the cat side bl-lends with my human side."

Akane gasped.

"When that h-happens, I will ssstart to d-develop a cat-like p-personality."

Akane tried to cheer Ranma up, she said, "We'll make sure you are house trained if that's what you are worried about." She let out a soft chuckle, but Ranma remained serious.

"I'll be an animal! How c-could you possibly lllove an animal?"

"You won't be an animal. You'll be a man with wild instincts. If anything, that will make you more desirable." She lent closer and being careful not to fall in, she kissed him on the forehead. "Now when you have finished moping in here, come upstairs to my room. I want to continue on from where we left off this afternoon."

She left the room so he could think about what she said. He was going to have a hard time ahead of him and would suffer drastic changes, but she was willing to stick with him regardless of what happened.

Throughout his life he had lacked companionship from fellow people. Now that he had found a friend, he came upon the threat of abandonment because he turned out to be not as he appeared. Finding out that she would not leave him, he was left with one thing he would want to do; stay with her. The alternative would be life as an outcast, a misfit, miserable and all alone.

He was glad to have Akane in his life. Earlier when they kissed he had realised how much he was lacking in life, and how much happiness she could bring to him. He got out of the bath and dried himself off. He put on a clean pair of boxers and a tank top, and then set off to Akane's room.

He found Akane sitting at her desk writing in her diary, already in her pyjamas. When she saw Ranma, she closed her book and walked over to him. She closed the door and pulled him towards the bed.

Before Ranma could say anything, Akane said, "I told myself the night we first met that I would do my best to help you. Now that our relationship is progressing, I shall rephrase my promise to help you through everything that troubles you. I will not let you go, so don't even suggest it!" She clamped her arms around him as she spoke.

"Thankyou." He drew closer to Akane and they shared a brief kiss.

She lifted Ranma's shirt over his head and gently pushed him onto the bed. "Let's get back to where we were." She took off her pyjama bottoms and got into bed next to him.

When they got close enough, they kissed again. This time it was without any hesitation, just pure passion. While they were in the state of bliss, their hands roamed about the other's body, Akane felt the rough scars across Ranma's body, slowly memorising them, while one of Ranma's hands was pulling her higher and closer to him, and the other had found its way up Akane's shirt again.

Akane smiled. "Here," she said, and she slowly unbuttoned her shirt. She shrugged it off and dumped it at the foot of the bed. He lay there transfixed, watching as his hand moved up again as he mapped an image to what his hand had explored the night before.

Finally she turned out the light and pulled up the bed covers. As she drew him in for one last kiss, she said "Goodnight."

Ranma rested his head on her pillow so that their foreheads were touching. "See you sssoon," he said before they both closed their eyes and fell into a deep and peaceful slumber.

________________________________________________________________

Morning came a lot sooner than Ranma wanted. He did not wake in confusion, but tangled in the loving arms of his fiancé. The feeling of warmth from the intimacy they had found that night, and from the skin to skin contact between them told Ranma that this is where he was meant to be. Akane had her legs wrapped around one of his, her arm around his torso and her head on his shoulder. Ranma gently kissed Akane on her forehead then found her lips as she lifted her head up to meet his. Akane's hand moved up behind his head and pulled him tightly into a passionate kiss.

"Wow"

"Please wake me up like that every morning!" She rolled on top of him and lent in for another kiss.

"It's a ssshame that we have to g-get up at all though."

"There's someone who disagrees that I know of," Akane purred, referring to the pressure building up near her abdomen.

Ranma blushed.

"Well we better get up before anything else happens."

They quietly got dressed together, and then went downstairs for breakfast.

"Looks like the steamy couple finally slipped off each other!" perked up Nabiki.

"Shut it Nab!"

"What, you've known each other for six days, and woke up in bed together nearly as many times. You don't seem to want to let him go!"

"Yeah. And he's feels soooo much more comfortable that the television screen who gets hot when you're around." Akane said while she snuggled into Ranma's chest.

Both Nabiki and Ranma's faces flushed bright red.

"And clean the screen when you finish using it Nabiki," Kasumi ordered. "Those smudge marks and fingerprints are always blocking the main part of the screen where all the action takes place."

Nabiki grew redder still, and slowly slid under the table to hide.

"W-where's Pops this morning Kasumi?" Ranma asked.

"He left very early. He said that he has found a well paying job nearby. He should be working there for about a week."

"Don't t-tell me the circus is in t-town!" Ranma said exasperated.

Kasumi nodded. "Yes. He seemed to be thoroughly excited about it."

"Yeah, he usually is w-when he gets p-paid for doing the l-least amount of work. Nnno doubt they would be fffeeding him between tricks he p-performs."

"I believe they usually do. It seems to excite the audience."

"It excites Pop j-just the same."

Kasumi smiled, then handed the couple a packed lunch. "Have a good day you two."

"Where are we g-g-going?" Ranma looked excited.

"The park," Akane replied. "We need the peace that we don't usually get around here. I thought we could make a start on your training among the secluded trees there."

"Oh. At leas-st it will g-give us something else t-to do."

Nabiki's eyes appeared above the surface of the table, her eyebrows disappearing under her hair line. 'Else?' The two left, leaving Nabiki's unasked question unanswered.

_____________________________________________________________

They found themselves a quiet spot in a small clearing amongst the trees. The sun had risen high enough to warm them up a bit after being among the cold shadows.

Ranma spread out a rug which was big enough for the two of them, while Akane set to prepare their first meal for the day. It consisted of a seafood dish with green vegetables. They happily fed each other and shared some of the fruit juices Kasumi had wisely packed, as it was going to be a long day for the two of them.

They enjoyed the quiet time they had together without having to concern themselves with other people around. But when the conversation turned to the reason Akane had brought them out there, Ranma's happy spirits dropped. He had understood Tofu's warnings and what he read about in the book the doctor had lent him. The problem he was now facing was what had been haunting him for the past eight years.

"Ranma, what does it feel like when you drift into the Neko-ken?"

Ranma pondered his answer for a brief moment, "I dunno. Nnnormally I try so hard to k-keep it away that w-when it finally overc-comes me, it is with such ffforce that I have no t-time to notice it.

"When it d-does get control, I fffeel like I am p-pushed aside and have nnno sensory information ab-bout what is going on around me."

"Do you think that it might just feel the same way when you keep it at bay?"

Ranma hadn't thought about it that way. When he loses control, he would struggle and if he could give sound he would scream. If that was how the 'cat' survived, it was no wonder why it was so hard to escape from its clutches. It probably doesn't want to lose control either.

Akane could see Ranma's thoughts by the expressions passing over his face. Seeing him come to a conclusion, she asked, "Is there some way to open up to it and give it some access to the outer world without losing full control?"

"I could p-possibly t-try to release some of my hold over it, b-but that would make it easier fffor it to take over."

"For now, only do it in a calm environment so you can give it all the attention you need to control it if it tries to push you aside."

"Like nnnow?" Ranma asked apprehensively.

Akane nodded. "That's why I chose to come here."

"Okay then. How are w-we going to do this?"

"Come over here." She patted her knees. Ranma moved over and laid back against her as she knelt on the rug. She gently massaged his eyebrows as he lay there.

"What's happening?" Akane asked.

"I r-released my strong hold on it, and at fffirst it was sssurprised. After it took in the sssurroundings it calmed d-down."

"Can you tell if it wants to do something?" She was concerned about the possibility of there being any need for drastic measures.

"This time of mmmorning, I think it j-just wants to lie here and sssoak up the sssun. What you are d-doing to my eyebrows is alssso affecting us b-both; we don't want you to st-top."

Akane smiled down at him. "That is just fine with me," she said, and settled down for a rest while still stroking his forehead.

They remained like that for a couple of hours.

It wasn't until a bird flew overhead when Ranma tensed up.

"What's wrong?"

Ranma fought down on control over the cat. "I sssaw a bird fffly into the tree. It ssseemed easy enough to c-climb so it wanted to t-try to get it."

"It might be hungry."

"Y-yeah, when ever am I not hungry?" he asked in a mock tone.

Akane set to pull some more food out. When she handed some to Ranma, she asked "How did it feel?"

Ranma took a mouthful and chewed for a moment, then "At-t first I felt relieved. The d-desire to just lie thhhere with no w-worries gave us a sense of p-peace I haven't felt in a long t-time. I didn't have to fight it d-down, nor did I have the d-desire to. It was as though nnnothing could bother us, or cause harm. You were nnnearby so we c-could tell that you were okay."

"Sounds like you were worried about me. Don't you think I could handle myself?"

Ranma felt the hurt in Akane's works, "It's nnnot like that. My c-cat side was just l-looking after its own."

"You don't own me!" Akane spoke up.

"I know that. But from a c-cat's perspective you are a mmmate, and, well, instincts j-just pop up to p-protect its interests."

Akane saw what Ranma was implying, so she quickly urged Ranma to continue on with his description while she was furiously turning red with embarrassment.

"When the b-bird crossed our view, it thought that y-you mmmight be hungry since we c-could have eaten a b-bit more for breakfast, so it tr-ried to start stalking t-towards it. That's when I slammed mmmy hold over it."

"Why? Don't you like wild bird?" Akane teased, but seeing the look of horror on Ranma's face, she dropped her cheer.

"That's one of the thhhings that w-worries me the most about Neko. I know how c-cats behave at nnnight. I don't want to fffind myself bringing in d-dead animals after a night-time hunt."

Akane thought a bit about what that implied. She didn't like the idea of rats being in the mouth that she so liked kissing. "We could try to make sure you don't leave a meal without satisfying your hunger."

"Sssame as you. It wanted to c-catch the bird more for y-your stomach than mine."

She jumped at that revelation. She was pleased that he thought about her in whatever state his mind was in, but would he be upset if she refused the offering? She didn't think she could handle an upset Neko-Ranma.

"We can keep having sessions like this if possible, a few times a day if possible. Hopefully you can train your cat side about what is acceptable behaviour."

Ranma chuckled. "I can just im-magine it. No scratching the chairs, no c-climbing on the fffurniture, no l-leaving hair all over the p-place..."

Akane burst out laughing.

"Is thhhere anythhhing I left out?" he asked.

Akane, while wiping the tears out of her eyes said, "No bringing other cats in the house."

"Hey, y-you're lookin at a one mmmate Tom-cat here." He nuzzled up in Akane's neck. She laughed again when his breath tickled her ear.

"Was that you or the cat's behaviour then? I liked it."

"Um, I thhhink it was the cat." Ranma found this a bit unsettling. He enjoyed it too, but with Akane liking one of his animal instincts that he had been holding back for years, it felt like she was falling for someone else.

Changing the subject, "Here, eat up." He handed her some more food. "Othhherwise that bird has y-your name on it."

Akane dug into her lunch. She wasn't sure if Ranma was joking or not.

When they had both settled their stomachs and had downed more juice, Ranma changed the centre of attention to Akane, "T-time for your tr-raining." They both stood up.

"Today you will l-learn blocking and deflection. Thhhey are the last of the b-basics you should learn."

Akane felt elated at the news. 'No more repetitions!'

"You will be l-learning all of the Anything Goes katas as each one sp-pecialises in different ways of avoiding an opponents attack. You w-will keep doing them while I do the c-compliments. Over t-time it will show how to bl-lock in different circumstances."

'Repetitions indeed! Oh well, at least there would be variations.'

"I'll run you thhhrough the complete fffirst and second katas, and aft-terwards I will use them to c-compliment your moves."

Akane stood back to give him some room. She watched as he performed the familiar moves, but with a few differences among them. Some of the changes looked as though he was sweeping an opponent's strike away while he gave his own attack, other times a solid block with some force behind it to push away the offender.

Akane tried to take in all he was showing her, but when it came down to performing the revised kata, she began to have some troubles.

"You have to p-picture someone c-coming at you with the mmmovements in the sssecond kata."

The problem is that she hadn't fully comprehended the second one either to be able to imagine someone using it against her. "It might be easier for me to remember if you alternated between showing me and allowing me use it against you," she suggested, hoping she wasn't about to bite off more than she could chew.

Ranma thought for a moment, and then he agreed. "It will b-be rough on y-you. I was hoping that if y-you could remember them fffirst, it wouldn't b-be as bad. But if y-you're sure..."

"I'm sure."

"Okay then. You are d-doing the first, I'll d-do the second. If I sssee that you miss your p-part, we'll stop and start fffrom the beginning ag-gain. That is so you learn to k-keep up the sp-peed during combat. There are nnno pauses in a fight that d-do not have their c-consequences." Akane nodded to show her understanding.

"Begin!"

They squared off once again.

Although Akane found it difficult and was winded a fair few times when she forgot the correct moves, she found the training with Ranma quite enjoyable. He was patient with her slow learning abilities, and tried not to put too much force behind his blows when she missed her cue. On top of that he was eager to repeat the demonstration of the kata whenever Akane forgot it, but that was because he had wanted her to get it right before she used it against him.

They continued with the lesson way into the late afternoon. When the clearing was covered in the shadows of the trees Ranma called it to a close. "That's en-nough for today."

Akane was delighted. She enjoyed the activity very much and had made good use of the day, but now she was battered, bruised, and had trouble standing. It was time to pack up and go home. They gathered the rug and put everything back into the picnic basket. When Akane reached to carry the basket, Ranma interrupted her. "Aren't y-you forgetting something?"

Akane looked up at his grin that she was starting to adore, "What?"

He swooped down on her and touched her pressure points to relieve a small amount of her chi blockage. Akane felt a bit more strength reach her limbs, just enough so she could make it home without having to be carried.

"Don't know how I forgot about that," she said to him. "Do you mind if I lean against you while we walk? I am still a bit sore."

"No p-problem." He was hoping to hold her on the way home anyway.

He threw the rug over his shoulder, and took the basket to free Akane's hands so she could hold herself up. He comfortably rested his other arm around her waist and held her close. They slowly made their way through the darkening streets of Nerima and cherished the time they spent together on the way home.

___________________________________________________________________

Kasumi stood at the entrance to the house. "It's getting late; Akane and Ranma should be back by now." Her concern was apparent in her voice.

"Don't worry sis. They're probably enjoying some _quiet_ time together," Nabiki said with a sly grin.

"Oh My!"

"Let them be Kasumi. They seem to be happy with the time they spend together." Soun then turned to a sombre tone, "They don't seem to enjoy spending time with anyone else."

Kasumi recognised the regret in her father's voice. "Yes, I agree. They truly were meant for each other." Because they were separated from companionship with other people from the start, and Soun's failed attempt for making up for his mistakes, they would have had no chance of being with anyone in their lives if it wasn't for the other.

Genma completely missed how they were referring to the damage his plan had caused the two youths. "He's showing initiative. Soon our families will be united, and soon after there would be new heirs for the Anything Goes Martial Arts."

The Tendos completely ignored him. To say the least, Genma was shocked. That normally would have been the cue for Soun to start rambling on about their future plans. 'He must have missed it' thought Genma, so he tried again. "When should we plan the wedding for?"

Soun's answer shook Genma severely. "What wedding?"

"Ranma and Akane's of course!" he said as if it was obvious.

"They haven't told me when they want to get married just yet. They may want to wait for a while."

"What's that got to do with anything? The plan was for them to get married when they were sixteen so they can carry on with the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"That was our plan, not theirs. If they wish to get married soon, it will be on their terms. I do not want to aggravate them."

"You've gone soft Tendo. Where is your backbone?"

"It died many years ago when I listened to you. The outcome had hurt our children in a way that may never be healed." He turned a steely gaze onto Genma, "Why would I want to cause any more trouble for them?"

"For the sake of our future!"

"What about their future? What about what they want?"

"They can deal with that afterwards. After all I have done for that boy, he should show me some respect and help complete my life's dream."

Soun was about to reply but another voice joined in the conversation. "Is Pop b-bothering you Mr Tendo?"

Genma jumped out of his skin! Ranma was right behind him and must have heard the way he was talking about him.

"No, no. He was just getting ahead of himself again."

Lucky for Genma's sake, Ranma was preoccupied. He was still supporting Akane and currently did not want to part with her company.

"Yeah, he tends to d-do that if you l-let him get away with it. You just nnneed to shorten the lead sssometimes to g-get him back in order. Giving him a g-good thrashing sssometimes helps." He gave an evil smile to Genma, and then led Akane out of the room.

When the young couple were out of earshot, Soun made his final word to Genma. "While you're under this roof, you'll remember that I have turned away from your old plan. What I have heard of your treatment to Ranma so far has led me to believe that you care for no one but yourself. If you continue to behave in such a fashion, I will have to ask you to leave."

Genma was taken aback from Soun's words. They were completely unexpected coming from his old friend. 'You have changed,' thought Genma. The man he remembered would have followed him at the drop of a hat. He used to be outgoing and eager to shape his own future. Since when did he worry about what other people thought?

Ranma led Akane into the changing room. After he had closed the door behind them he said, "I can't b-believe that he would be tr-rying to lord his will over us already! I have c-come to like your fffather since I met him; I hope he st-tands up against Pop ab-bout trying to c-control your fffamily. After all I d-didn't come here for him, I was p-pretty sure I made that clear b-before we arrived."

Akane was taken aback by his tone. "Why did you come here then?" she was slightly worried about what the answer might be, but she had to eliminate the seed of doubt.

He turned to look Akane in the eyes, "I c-came here for mmme, and to sssee if there was a chance of a fffuture for both of us."

At his words, relief washed over Akane. "Good answer. Now, are we going to have our bath?"

"Umm," he said sheepishly.

"I'll take that as a yes." She reached over to Ranma and began to undress him before he could say no. She felt the same thrill shiver down her spine as when she had done this before, but this time she had the pleasure of Ranma consciously being with her.

He was overcome with a rush of anxiety when she fumbled with his clothes. He was going to be naked next to her. She had removed his top and his pants were about his ankles after she had yanked them down. As she reached for the elastic of his boxers Ranma thought; 'This is the next big step.'

Down.

As he stood there in her sights, completely bare, he felt a slight flush rise over his face. He noticed that she too was showing signs of embarrassment as she took his hands in her own and brought them up to undo the buttons of her blouse.

When it was off, Ranma gave her a concerned look, she was covered with bruises. He put his feelings aside and said, "I'm sssorry for that, b-but over time you will t-toughen up until little will c-cause you harm."

Akane looked down at herself in shock. 'This will hinder what I had planned for our bath experience. But then again, his tender hands...' Akane's mind wandered off. She was brought back when Ranma started to take off the rest of her clothes in a professional manner.

He led her to the bathroom stool and filled the buckets with warm water. He turned one over her head and began to softly lather the soap over her back. Akane closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of having someone else wash her back. She was thankful that he scrubbed softly around her bruises that so it wouldn't bother her. He moved around to her front and with just as much care washed the rest of her.

She was a bit disappointed with the way he was responding to her, but after he had scrubbed himself he led her to the furo where he dropped his professional manner. He sat down and had her lean against his chest so he could wrap his arms around her. She enjoyed her position and leaned her head back under his chin.

"That was quite a day," she said.

"Mmm. You d-did well, but it will t-take a while for you to get the bl-locking techniques right."

"And you made a start with getting to know Neko. I think it was a pleasant experience out there, you seemed to loosen up and were even softer to cuddle."

"Are you falling in l-love with it?" Ranma's voice had a bitter tone to it.

Akane turned her head to face him. "I _am_ in love with you. You and Neko are the same being."

"B-but lately you have been c-complimenting me on traits that Neko has b-brought."

Akane's face fell. She realised what was bothering him. "I'm sorry about that. But you are still having trouble opening up to me. To your cat side these things must come naturally. Have faith in them because all it has done was break through the wall you have put up against your emotions."

"And g-get your interest," he added.

"Well I have been trying to get your attention. I noticed that you changed your tone when undressing me. It was if I didn't make any affect on you. Do you know how that made me feel?"

Ranma's face fell. "I was w-worried about how I hurt you in t-training. I was trying to control my thoughts so I c-could finish the task at hand."

"I know that you have good control over yourself, but it is too much around me. Please let it down, show me your true feelings rather than the mask you cover yourself with. I need to know how you feel about me."

"I fffeel I need the same thhhing. It's as though y-you love the thing about me that I hate the mmmost."

Akane turned her body around and pressed herself against Ranma. She placed one hand on Ranma's cheek and drew him into a kiss. "I love all of you. Please understand that. If it bothers you so much, show me your true feelings so Neko doesn't overshadow your own."

Ranma looked away in shame.

"Show me now, let me in before you and Neko become indistinguishable from each other. If you don't, you won't know who I am paying attention to when it does happen."

Ranma Squeezed his eyes shut. He hated to be reminded about what he was becoming. What Akane just said replanted the seed of doubt for his future. He needed something solid he could hold onto to keep him away from mental breakdown, but something which he could happily live with. He needed some time alone to think things over. "I'm sssorry. I can't do this at the mmmoment." He left the furo, and closed the door to the change room behind him.

Akane was upset. She really did love him and needed his love in turn, but she had been constantly reminding him of the Neko-ken all day. While she was only trying to help him, she had inadvertently talked about the thing that bothered him the most. She drew her knees up to her chest and cried to herself. "Oh Ranma, please forgive me."

When she got dressed and came out of the bathroom, she looked around the house for Ranma. She found him outside on the rock by the koi pond. He was on his knees and looking up at the moon.

Akane slowly walked toward him. "Ranma..."

He didn't respond.

She stretched her arm out and gently placed in on his shoulder to get his attention. She was just about to apologise, but when her hand made contact, he bounded away and leapt high over the roof, onto the other side where Akane couldn't see him.

Akane wasn't going to let him get away that easily before she tried to make it up with him. She grabbed a ladder nearby and with great effort made her way onto the roof.

When she had climbed over the apex and saw Ranma, she made her way towards him. When he heard her approach, he turned around on all fours and made an animalistic growl from deep in his throat.

Akane stopped in her tracks, she recognised that stance. He was using it when he first arrived a week ago. He was in the Neko-ken.

Ranma thought he had offended Akane by walking out like that, but he really needed to think things through by himself. It was that cursed Neko! It always came up! Why couldn't he just get away from it and all the problems that came with it?

He dropped his guard and tried to talk with the Neko. 'Why do you always have to interfere?' He did realise that he couldn't escape from it. It will always be with him whether he wanted it or not.

He sighed and looked up at the moon. 'Would it really be that bad merging with you? At least then she would love me...'

At that moment his guard dropped further and the Neko was able to reassert control over its body. But unlike before, Ranma was so unaware of the change while looking at the sky, Neko decided to let him keep the use of his senses, after all he had done the same earlier in the day.

Neko was disturbed about something. Some creature had caused it harm, some creature that it had thought trustworthy. It read some images from it's 'other' self. It recognised a face of the one which caused it anguish. She was the one who had laid with it in the sun, its mate. It was best to keep away from its mate for a while until Mate showed signs of friendliness again.

Neko continued to gaze up at the night sky, taking in the serenity of the silence that usually came with it.

It sensed a presence approaching. It was its mate. Not knowing what Mate's intentions were when it touched, Neko moved away and jumped up high for a bit more time-out, but soon Mate came near again. To warn Mate that it was ready to deal with any hostilities, Neko turned and growled.

Akane fell to her knees, sobbing over what she had done and Ranma's response to her. "Ranma," she pleaded. "Ranma please forgive me. I didn't mean to upset you. I just want you to show me how you feel."

Neko, not understanding a word of what Mate was saying, let its 'other' self hear her sounds. Neko sensed no hostilities so it let its guard down and stopped growling.

Akane noticed the change of Ranma's attitude, and hesitantly called him over.

'Go on' Neko's 'other' self urged. Neko sensed the feelings of safeness from inside so it slowly stalked towards its mate. Coming up next to Mate and still sensing no hostilities, Neko sat down and leant across to nuzzle with her.

Akane was taken aback by Ranma's sudden change in attitude. When he came closer she didn't know what he was doing, until he cuddled up with her. She brought her arms around him and held on tightly while she silently wept into his shoulder.

Neko could tell that Mate was upset, but not angry with it, so it decided to stay with her for a while.

Akane kept her firm hold of him for around an hour before she began to feel cold and hungry. Neko noticed this so he twisted out of Akane's arms and picked her up by biting into the collar of her dressing gown, and lightly leapt down to the backyard.

Akane was a bit shocked at Ranma's sudden movement and had to hold on to her gown to stop her from falling out of it. She was a bit disoriented when she found herself on the ground again, but when she looked around she saw Ranma about to catch the koi from the pond.

"No!" she shouted.

Ranma looked up in mid poise.

"Come inside. I'm sure they left us something to eat." She beckoned him to follow.

Neko looked at Mate for a moment, then down at the juicy meal. 'Why didn't Mate want the fish?' Neko looked back up at Mate, where she was still calling him away from the water, and meowed.

"Come on Ranma. Come inside."

Neko's 'other' self was screaming at it to follow Mate inside. 'She dislikes fish' the other urged, trying to get Neko away from the water and the possibility of chewing on the gold fish. Eventually Neko moved away from the pond and followed Mate inside.

Akane dug through the fridge for the remains of dinner, hoping there was enough to fill Ranma's stomach so he won't try to catch the koi. She loaded all she could find onto a large plate and warmed it up in the microwave oven. While it was heating she looked down at Ranma's puzzled face and smiled. "We can eat very soon Ranma."

When the microwave finished and beeped, Neko was startled. Akane chuckled at Ranma's hair standing on end, well, his pigtail. It waved in the air as he arched his back and edged sideways into the kitchen to see what the noise was.

She took the food out and brought it to the dining table. She was about to offer Ranma some chopsticks when she realised the predicament she was in. Ranma couldn't use them while he was in Neko.

While she tried to figure out how to deal with the situation, one of the less wanted solutions showed itself; Ranma sniffed at the food and then started to eat straight off the plate.

She was about to pull him back and tell him off, but what else could she do? She shrugged her shoulders and started to pick some food from the side of the plate with her chopsticks and ate with him.

When they had cleared the plate, both of their stomachs were full. Akane took the plate to the sink and cleaned up after their meal. She was happy to note that Ranma had followed her around the kitchen while she was doing so.

When she was finished, she led Ranma up to her room. She closed the door after he entered, and began to untie the belt on her dressing gown. She was wearing nothing underneath it and was hoping to call Ranma back into control over the Neko, but saddened when she saw that he had already fallen asleep above the covers, fully clothed.

"Oh well," she said to herself and retied the belt. With much effort she pulled the blanket out from underneath Ranma and got into bed, covering them both up. She wrapped her arms around him and whispered "I hope you are back to normal in the morning Ranma," and drifted off to sleep.

On the other side of the bed Ranma was pleading to Neko 'Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep! We don't need anything to happen tonight!'

He had to talk about a few things with Akane in the Morning when he gained control again. He could have taken control easily, but he and Neko had come to a truce. Since Ranma had lowered his hold over Neko, Neko had done the same for him. The experience was much better than being in a completely isolated prison, and he didn't want to go back to that. Also he could guide Neko in a way so that nothing bad would happen, like what might of happened that night; Neko knew there was little covering over its mate, and could smell how eagerly she was waiting for him.

When Ranma heard Akane's breathing slow along with Neko's, he could relax. Eventually his consciousness drifted off to what Ranma could only assume was Neko's dreams; catching the large fish from the pond for Akane, wrestling in long grass with Akane, and doing things with her that would have gone ahead if he hadn't put his foot down at bedtime. That last dream had affected both Neko and Ranma, and had followed them into the early dawn.

___________________________________________________________________

When Ranma woke, he had control of his body once more. He pulled Akane closer to him in a warm embrace which Neko was unable to do previously. The smell of her hair reminded him of the dream he and Neko shared for most of the night. He became aroused.

"Mmmm, I want that," Akane murmured. She had woken when Ranma pulled her closer, and had felt his rising member pushing into her through their clothing. She snaked her hands down under the blanket and into his boxers, feeling it throb in her clutches.

Ranma moaned, but then took control of himself. "W-wait."

"Hmm?" Akane peeled her eyes away from what she was doing to look up into his eyes.

"W-we should wait at l-least until we are married before we go any further. In case something c-comes up of it," he added. On the road he learned that he should take responsibility for everything that he does, and the consequences. "After all I do know what nnnearly happened last night."

Akane blushed. "I'm sorry. After I upset you I thought I could make it up to you, but then you went Neko. I thought I could calm it down enough so you could gain control again."

Ranma heard the sincerity in her voice and believed her. "N-neko and I have come to an understanding with each other last night. I have agreed not to take over it and it would do the sssame for me, if we lower our hold over the other so we both know what is going on around us."

"And you are not stuttering as much! That's good news."

"There's still the 'g-g-girl' to contend with. So I am not out in the clear yet."

"Don't worry. Just take one step at a time."

"I will. And I too am sorry for walking away from you like that. You were only trying to h-help me after all."

"It's alright. I was pushing you a bit too much..."

"But now that Neko and I are t-talking, I will sometimes be influenced by its thoughts. Although I don't like the idea of it, it was how I managed to get Neko to follow you last nnnight."

"Oh."

"I'll tell you what though, this thought sharing also spanned to dreams."

"Tell me about them," Akane said, thoroughly interested.

Ranma smirked, "Well remember how it nearly c-caught the koi for you?"

"Yeah..."

"In its dream it gave the fish to you, and you both munched on it t-together."

Akane shivered at the thought of fish guts pasted over her face while guzzling down on the rest.

Ranma noticed her reaction. "Careful Akane, you mmmight insult us."

She looked up at him with worry. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." she broke off at the sight of Ranma trying to hold back his laughter.

"You really thought I was serious! Ha! I wouldn't let it get anywhere near doing something l-like that if I can help it."

Relief washed over Akane's face. "That's good to hear. What else was there?" she may as well humour him while he was in a good mood.

"There was a dream where we were p-playing in long grass together..."

"Sounds kinda kinky."

"Oh yeah? The rest of them were based around what could have h-happened if I didn't make it go to sleep. It could tell you weren't wearing anything under your r-robe, and of how your body was reacting when you t-took us to your room."

"You knew?!"

"Yeah, its sssenses are much stronger than mine."

"I have got to be more careful in the future then."

"That would be good," he agreed. "Now as for the future, when should we get mmmarried?"

"As soon as possible," Akane said while snuggling into him.

"Good, we can talk to the pops about it later."

"What should we do 'til then?"

"This..." and Ranma gently kissed her.

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"Oh good morning Akane, good morning Ranma," Kasumi cheerfully greeted them when the entered the family room. "How did you sleep?"

"Very well thankyou Kasumi," Ranma replied.

Kasumi was starting to prepare breakfast. "I was going to ask if you found your dinner last night. I made sure some was left for you before you got home from the park. But from the looks of how empty the fridge is now I can assume you ate well."

"Yeah, Akane was so hungry she nearly ate the k-koi," Ranma teased while softly elbowing her in the ribs.

"Oh dear, I will make more for dinner tonight if that is the case. Akane, you shouldn't eat the koi, it's not very good for you."

Akane was red with embarrassment. "Ranma wanted to share it with me, how could I refuse his generosity?" She and Ranma locked their eyes on each other and broke into a fit of laughter.

Soon Nabiki came down the stairs, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "What's with all the noise?"

"We were making dinner p-plans..." Ranma replied.

"But I don't think your palate would be able to handle Ranma's taste," Akane finished off.

Kasumi, seeing the humour in the conversation joined in with the couple's laughter.

Nabiki's jaw dropped. She had never seen her sisters act like that before. She thought something must be going on. She decided to do a bit of digging later.

Soon the whole family was down at the table, engorging in Kasumi's excellent meal, but everyone stopped mid bite when Akane spoke.

"Pop, how soon can I get married to Ranma?"

Soun choked on his breakfast. He was surprised that he didn't have to bring it up first. "Um... 'cough'... When would you like it to be?"

"As soon as we can. We don't need anything big, it's not as if there are many people that we'd like to come," she said while looking at Ranma, he silently agreed.

"Well, I'll make some calls today and find out when a Shinto priest is available."

"Good. While you're doing that, we can go and see Dr Tofu."

Nabiki cracked a toothy grin, "Ah so that's why you're so keen on tying the knot. A bit too much excitement last night huh?"

Ranma was starting to get a bit annoyed at Nabiki's comments. He thumped the table lightly, causing Nabiki's drink to topple over into her lap. Akane smirked as she watched her sister jump out of her seat.

"For your information Nab, Ranma went Neko last night, so you shouldn't provoke him."

Nabiki stopped jumping immediately.

"The doctor asked to be kept updated on Ranma's encounters with the Neko." She turned back to face Ranma, "But then again it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for our wedding night. Thanks for the idea Nabiki."

"Oh my. You shouldn't. You're too young," cried Kasumi.

"Let them be 'cough' Kasumi. I'm sure that they will act responsibly. They had to mature early due to the way we brought them up." He looked seriously at Ranma, "Please think things through carefully before you two do anything rash."

Ranma bowed his head to Soun. He didn't want to disappoint the man who had befriended him. "D-don't worry, we will be mindful of what our actions may b-bring."

Ranma decided to change the subject. He saw the look on his father's face and said, "Yo Pops! How was the shhhow last night? Did you trip over anything and get the whip?"

Genma was preoccupied with the news of his life dreams coming to reality. He was roused when Ranma gave him a swift kick and sent him tumbling into the pond, where he resurfaced as a panda.

"Come on, show us a fffew tricks..."

Over at Tofu's clinic, Ranma told the doctor about his experiences with the Neko-ken, excluding the contents of his dreams of course.

"So you are in contact with it now?" he asked.

"Yes. All I receive from it is animal instincts and fffeelings, but the point is clear."

"That's quite interesting," the doc mused.

"And it was the sssame for me when it was in control. I had to tell it how to behave."

"It understood you?"

"Well if it d-didn't at first, I shouted at it until it did."

"I'm surprised you have made so much progress after one day. All I can say is keep it up!"

"Thanks Doc. Say how did you and Kasumi go on y-yesterday. No one mentioned anything..."

Tofu looked down. "That would be because nothing happened. I couldn't muster up the courage to come over."

"Oh. Well we are getting ma-arried soon. When we find out the date, we would like to c-come."

"You haven't set a date?"

Ranma and Akane looked at each other, and then Akane answered, "We wanted to get married as soon as possible. Pop is now finding out when a priest would be available."

"Oh," Tofu was surprised at how eager the two were to wed. He didn't want to be the one to bring this up, but as the family doctor it was his responsibility. "How far has your relationship developed?"

Both Ranma and Akane's faces turned red.

'That was as good as any answer' the doctor thought. "I see. Then if you are not ready for children I think you should start looking into birth control."

Their faces went redder still.

The doctor chuckled at their reactions. "I'll give you some pamphlets for you two to read so I wont have to embarrass you any more." He opened a filing cabinet and took some booklets out. "Here, read through these and come back when you have decided what you want to do."

"T-thanks Doc," Ranma muttered as he hastily took the pamphlets and hid them deep down in his pocket.

"Anytime," the doctor cheerfully said as he waved them out of his clinic.

"What should we d-do now?" Ranma asked Akane as they walked down the street hand in hand.

"We could go to the park and train," she suggested.

"Um, I'd rather not go back there for a while. I might get the urge to catch the b-b-birds...."

Akane laughed. "No, I don't think you'd like that. The thought of you eating the koi last night..."

"Don't remind me," he muttered. In a more cheerful note he said, "We could train in the dojo. That way we could get the updates on our wedding when sssomething comes up."

"Good idea. But first let's go and get some ice-cream to celebrate."

"Sure, b-but what's ice-cream?"

"What?!" Akane was stunned. "You don't know what ice-cream is?"

Ranma shook his head.

"No, I guess being on the road you didn't get much opportunity to indulge on desserts. I guess this would be a real treat for you. I'm sure you'll like it."

She led him to the ice-creamery and sat him down at a table. "Wait here, I'll bring you back a surprise," and she stepped up to the counter.

When she returned she had a large banana split serving for two. It was covered in chocolate sauce and sprinkled with chopped nuts. When she placed it on the table, Ranma's mouth fell open.

"I thought you would like this. I got a double serving so we could share it." She picked up a spoon, scooped up some ice-cream and fed it to Ranma. His eyes opened up with delight.

"Mmmph! Dis iths fery ood!"

Akane smiled. "I thought you'd like it."

Ranma swallowed. "It's great!"

"Here, have some more." She scooped up some banana and sprinkles for him.

"Mmmm!"

Ranma picked up the other spoon and served some to Akane. "Nod doo muth!" she tried to say, her cheeks bulging with ice-cream and banana. She heaped up more on her spoon and shoved it into Ranma's laughing maw.

"Oobf! Wadth id!"

"How do you like it then?" Akane said as though she had gotten the upper hand.

"I wuvd id!" he worked out while finishing off his mouthful. "Here have some mmmore."

They continued on until the bowl was empty. When Ranma picked it up and started to lick the bowl clean, Akane became embarrassed, but before she tried to stop him, he started to purr. "What are you doing?" she whispered urgently.

"Hmm?" he sounded and looked up at her mid lick.

She chuckled. "The cat that got the cream huh." Ranma shrugged and finished off with the bowl.

When he had finished Akane leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "Neko has got to work on its table manners," she whispered in his ear.

Ranma continued to purr and nuzzled back to Akane. "Sorry, but it was sooo good!

"Glad you liked it, but come on. Let's go home."

"Good news. The priest can be here on Tuesday," Soun told them as they came through the door.

Both Akane and Ranma beamed at him.

"Now that's settled, there are a few other things that will need your attention. First of all, which family name would you two like to be known by?" Soun hoped for Akane to keep her name, but he wanted them to make the decision. "The second thing is do you want to move into the same room, or should I say which room as you have already been sleeping together for a while. And third is do you want to go on a honeymoon, and if so where would it be? You can think about it for a while, I just need to know before the big day."

"We do have a lot to t-talk about. Shall we?" Ranma gestured up the stairs.

"Yeah. We can practice tomorrow."

They both walked upstairs and into Akane's room. "So what do you thhhink?" Ranma asked.

"I have been thinking about that for a while now. I have been picturing myself becoming a Saotome for a few years already. Besides I have two sisters who can keep the Tendo name going."

"That sounds pretty g-good. I wouldn't have had any problems becoming a Tendo. It would have r-really upset my pop, but that's a petty excuse isn't it. Okay, Saotome it is then. As for the bedroom, I don't mind being in h-here."

"There won't be any room for your stuff in here. The room you have is much bigger; we should probably go in there."

"Won't you miss this room? You have b-been in here for a while."

"I have thought of that, but I'm moving on. It's time for a change."

"Honeymoon?"

"Yes. Time alone with you somewhere else. I haven't been anywhere though so I don't have any ideas."

"We could go on a training trip. I know of a good place u-up in the mountains. Pop and I went there before we went to china."

"But what if it rains? Your curse..."

"There are some hot springs there so I can change back if I nnneed to. As for Neko, it is a nice quiet p-place where we can relax when not training."

"Then can I assume that there are no general stores nearby."

"None whatsoever! It will be out in the middle of nnnowhere."

"Then we should go through those pamphlets and prepare for our wedding night," she said while patting his thigh.

"Um, Yeah."

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Author's notes

I wasn't sure if I should post this story until I had finished. But I find it irritating when I start reading a long story and find out that it has much more to go on with.

I haven't been in the fanfic link for long, but after the few I have read I decided to try one myself. I was up all night before an early morning at uni thinking of ideas that I haven't seen yet. Somehow I stumbled onto this-

I'll try my best to keep other people's ideas out of it.

This being my first fanfiction, I was encouraged to post it when I described what I had written to Kung_lou with his comments of it being cliché.

Thankyou for all the reviews that have been sent, you have proved Kung wrong!