Apologies Aren't Always Necessary

"Akane?"

Ranma had searched the house, looking for Akane, but she was nowhere to be found. He thought of one last place, but couldn't see why she'd be there. He came to the door of the garage and heard rock music blasting inside. He opened the door and was assaulted by music. He went over to the radio and turned the volume down. "Hey, what's going on?" called Johnny. He came around the side of the fighter that was currently taking up nearly all of the garage. No one minded; the Tendos hadn't owned a car since Akane was a baby. "Oh Ranma, it's you!" he said. "I thought you were going to visit Ryoga on your day off." "Listen a minute," said Ranma. "Oh yeah, the rain," said Johnny. "With the music on it kinda got drowned out." "Akane wouldn't be around here, would she?" asked Ranma. "Yeah, she's around back," said Johnny, jerking his thumb in her direction. "I'll be back. I just need to run down to the store and get some tools." With that he ran out the door.

"Akane?" called Ranma. He went around back. He spotted a pair of feet sticking out beneath the ship on a mechanic's wheelboard. He stepped on the board and stepped, pulling the board out. A surprised Akane slid out with the board. She jumped and set down the wrench she was holding. "Hey Ranma," she said nonchalantly. She was absolutely covered in grease. Her face was streaked; she reached up and wiped the sweat off her brow with one of her rolled up sleeves. "I thought you were going to Ryoga's," she said with a smirk, her hair falling in her face.

She's so hot, thought Ranma. He unexpectedly grabbed her shoulders. He drew her in and began to kiss her. She clutched his shirt and was getting grease all over it, but he didn't care. Her delicious lips were flavored with oil. He slid his tongue in her mouth, exploring her, and she did the same. He shoved her a bit roughly against the ship and kissed her deeply. She squeezed his shirt harder. His hands slid down to her waist, where they started going up her shirt. He rubbed her sides as he kissed her more passionately. His hands went farther, until finally they came upon her breasts. He clutched them and fondled her soft, firm mounds. Her chest burned in ecstasy, and she kissed him back hard.

Abruptly he stopped and quickly withdrew his hands. She let go of his shirt. "Whoa," she said. Her heart was thumping audibly, even worse than the time with the Hunters. "Sorry," said Ranma, turning fiercely red and looking at the ground. "I-I couldn't help myself. You just looked so hot in the jumpsuit and grease and all, and, I just, I, uh, gee, I'm really sorry about that." If possible he turned even redder. "Oh that's ok," she gasped out. "No problem. Just, uh, maybe tell me next time, ok? And oh man, if you can do that well making out, I can't wait till we get married!" Ranma was sure his head would explode and catch fire to his body at that. "So, you wanna help us fix this machine, Ranma?" asked Akane after she caught her breath. "Uh, yeah, sure," said Ranma, his voice cracked severely. Akane laughed. "Thanks, Ranma," she said. "For both." She turned her back to him and sat down on the wheelboard. Picking up a wrench and joining her, Ranma wondered how in the world his face hadn't melted yet.

When Johnny returned, he found Ranma and Akane working on the aft port thruster, reassembling the heat guard. Ranma seemed to be hot or something, he looked really red, so Johnny turned on the air conditioner. "How much we got left?" he asked Akane. "Only this, the central computer, the hyperdrive core, and the warp shielding, which turns out to be worse than we thought," she replied and tossed a piece of twisted metal and electronics at him. "It's totally demolished." Johnny went into deep thought. "Hmm," he said. "Well, the computer shouldn't present much of a problem. The core and the shielding, however, are going to be a lot harder. I didn't want to say this, but I think that the only way to get the fuel and components we need..." He hesitated a moment. Finally, he said, "Is to steal them." "Even so," said Akane, "Where are we going to steal them from?" "I'll need to get to America. It is the only place such things exist. A military base in the city of San Antonio in the state of Texas presently holds the only working warp shielding device. It was salvaged from a downed spacecraft. And the element needed to fuel the hyperdrive has only just been created, and it is a heavily guarded secret kept in a next to impenetrable vault in Colorado. I must retrieve them soon before who knows what happens to them." "What about us?" asked Akane. "It's much too dangerous," he replied soberly. "I can't risk your lives on my account. The resistance will survive without me. I can but make it easier. Therefore I must go alone. I will keep in contact though. While I'm gone, I'll need you to find the following things and install them in the ship. I entrust to you the plans for the Longsword fighter. I know you will not betray me."

"Wait, you're leaving NOW?" asked Akane. "I've had this in mind for some time now," said Johnny. "I decided upon it and made the arrangements yesterday. There is no time to argue. I must go." He kissed the top of her head and turned to go. "Goodbye!" called Ranma and Akane. "Goodbye!" he called back. "Hopefully, not for the last time!"

"What are we looking for again?" asked Ranma. "I told you," said Akane as she examined the tree, "We're looking for this plant." She rummaged around in her pack and produced a flashcard of the plant they had been looking for a total of nine days. "And why again are we doing this?" asked Ranma, more than a little confused. "Because apparently the central computer uses organic components, and this is the only thing that displays all the properties of the components," she explained. "Too bad your mouth doesn't display them, we could use it and spare us some pain," grumbled Ranma. BAM! Ranma went flying across the sky. "If he never comes back it'll be too soon, that jerk," she growled.

Ranma walked through the fog and watched the mist curl around his ankles. He sighed. "I guess that was pretty mean," he said to himself. "I suppose I'd better apologize. After all, I wouldn't-hey what the?!" With a sickening snap Ranma's foot twisted, caught in a tree root. He tripped and fell over backwards. He tumbled down a hill and trees scratched and tore at his clothes. He finally hit the bottom and a shooting pain in his ribs took his breath away. He looked at his side and in a gut wrenching moment realized there was a branch spearing him below his bottom rib. Blood trickled from his wound. He gasped and drew in his breath in pain. His only hope now was Akane. He could only hope she was nearby. "AKANE!" he cried, yelling at the top of his lungs. All he could do now was wait, and hope.

A-kan-eeee.... Akane turned and looked round. Had she imagined that, or was that Ranma calling her name? "A-kan-eeeee...." She hadn't imagined that. "Ranma?" she called. "Where are you?"

Ranma passed out eventually. In his dream, Akane was running, running, trying to get somewhere. She was being chased by blackness, a nameless fear. "Ranma," she called. "Ranma!" she called again louder. "HEY RANMA, WAKE UP!!!" Ranma awoke with a start and shot up straight. White hot pain streaked through his body, forcing him to lay down. Akane knelt over him. "Ranma, we have to get you to a doctor!" she exclaimed, examining his wound. He shook his head. "No," he said painfully. "You're the doctor now." "Ok," she said. She gripped the stick. Ranma clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. Akane looked away, and pulled. The stick came free easily in her hand. Ranma groaned as pain blinded him. Several tears forced their way unwittingly out of Ranma's tightly closed eyes. He sighed. "Oh, Ranma," said Akane. "This is my fault! If I hadn't made you leave..." "But I was the one who made you mad," said Ranma softly. "I'm sorry." "Me too," said Akane, blushing. Trying to stop, she picked up the branch and looked at it.

"You're lucky," said Akane. "Look, the branch wasn't in very far. Still, it must've hurt like hell." "You think?" said Ranma as he measured the wetness on the branch. Only about two inches, he mused. "We'll still need something to hold the bleeding," he said. Akane looked in her pack. "Good thing I brought this first aid kit," she said. She produced a white metal box with a red cross on it. "You'd never have brought it yourself. Now let's clean up that wound first. This'll sting a, well, likely a lot..." She poured alcohol on a sterile cloth and swabbed the inside of the wound, removing the dirt and bark. At least she was honest, thought Ranma. Afterwards she made a compress and wrapped gauze around his waist to hold it down. "Can you walk?" she asked. "I'll probably need a crutch," replied Ranma. "I think I broke my right ankle when I twisted it in a tree root." With only a little difficulty he raised himself into a sitting postion and rested his hands on the ground. He felt something poke his hand. Looking under it he saw a red flowered plant with thorns.

"Hey Akane, what kind of plant is this?" asked Ranma. "Just a minute," she replied. She broke off a dead piece of wood off a nearby tree. "This should work for a crutch," she said. Ranma held up the plant he pulled out of the ground. "You know, this looks a lot like-" she broke off. She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it. She seemed to be comparing the paper and the plant, but Ranma couldn't see- "Haha, Ranma you idiot, you've done it!" she exclaimed. "This is the plant we were looking for, and you found it!" "Sure wasn't worth the price," he said, rubbing his side. "Ah come on, you're a tough guy!" said Akane. She gave him a playful punch in the shoulder. "Now, let's get going. I've done a fair job, but we should really get you to a real doctor." Ranma picked up the crutch, testing his weight on it. "Alright," he said, "Let's go!"

It wasn't long before the pain of traveling became too much for him to bear. As soon as he unrolled his sleeping bag, he fell upon it with a great sigh. As Akane started a fire, he remembered something important he wanted to ask Akane, but hadn't been able to because of, well, their fighting. Also because he was nearly spineless when women were nice to him. Even as Akane served him dinner, he still hadn't mustered up enough. He spooned a mouthful of stew into his mouth, and a look of shock crossed his face. "As bad as always?" asked Akane wistfully. "Actually, no," said Ranma truthfully. "That's why I'm surprised." "Really?" said Akane. She tasted some. "Wow," she said. "I guess Kasumi's cooking classes really paid off." (Little did they know that what Akane had warmed up wasn't the stew she made but the "horrible" stuff Kasumi made and wanted to get rid of.) "Is there anything I can do to make you comfortable, Ranma?" asked Akane. Ranma set his spoon and bowl down near the fire.

That's it, he thought. It's now or never. "Actually, there was one thing," he said, poking the ground nervously. "What's that?" she asked. "Come here," he said. "First, um, hold me in your arms," he said. "Okay," she said, doing as he asked. Akane's heart thumped and she blushed. "Now what?" she asked. "Um, now, stroke my hair," he said in a small voice. "Like this?" said Akane, running her hand over his locks. "Anything else?" "Yes," he said. "Could you please, um, sing to me?" "Sing?" asked Akane. "You've always had the most beautiful voice in the school," said Ranma. "What do you want me to sing?' said Akane, heart going a mile a minute. "You are my sunshine?" said Ranma. "Uh, ok." She began. She stroked his hair gently and held him close while the firelight flickered and cast long shadows.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me hap-py, when skies are gray..." Oh jeez, here it comes, thought Ranma. Tears of joy made paths down his face. I promised myself I wouldn't! Oh well. At least it's just Akane. Akane, my love.... He leaned his head against her chest, feeling her heartbeat and voice. She swallowed, and continued as best she could. "You'll never know, dear, how much I love you, so please don't take my sunshine away..." She sighed, in pure contentment. Oh Ranma, she thought, and fell asleep.

Ranma woke up, still in Akane's arms. Her heartbeat had slowed to a normal sleeping rate, instead of the jackhammer inside her last night. He could not figure out what was wrong. He turned his head slowly, not wanting to wake his darling. What was it? It was just before daybreak, so light wasn't it. The fire seemed to have been put out by Akane last night; the clumped black coals weren't even smoldering.

What could be wrong? He sensed it; the feeling something just wasn't right, like someone was watching him. He finally decided he would have to wake Akane up. "Akane," he whispered. "Wake up sleepy head..." Her eyes fluttered open. She released him and yawned. "And I was having such a wonderful dream, too," she said, yawning. She blushed when she remembered what it was about. "Oh, it's still early," she said, taking notice of the sky. "So why are you awake?" "That's what I'm trying to figure out," he said worriedly. "Something here isn't right," he said, furrowing his brows. "Something's different, but I can't put my finger on it." He hobbled around on a foot and a crutch, surveying the landscape, taking in everything about the campsite, about the woods, about himself, about Akane. Nothing seemed different. "Nothing seems wrong, but I feel it too," mused Akane. Ranma took a deep breath and sighed. "Maybe we're just going crazy," he said, and snorted while closing his eyes. They suddenly flew open again. He sniffed the air. "Akane, come here and smell this!" he said. She came, and took in the air deeply. "You're right, but where is it coming from?" asked Akane after a few minutes. "I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out!"