(WARNING! SOME W.A.F.F. AHEAD)

Story Arc 3: "Growing Pains"
Part 2: Butterfly Wings
By Luna12
Last updated: 04 April 2005

Ranma glared at his father, ready to punch the old man into the koi pond.

"Would ya stop saying that already, Pop? I ain't marryin' nobody!"

Nabiki waltzed into the room like the proverbial cat that had swallowed the canary. Or in this case, the businesswoman who had managed to capture Ranma Saotome confess his love for Akane on tape.

"Oh really, Ranma? Daddy made sure to pay me handsomely for this." She hit the play button in front of Ranma mockingly. His own words were thrown back in his face.

Ranma's face turned an unpleasant shade of red.

The familiar sounds of his mother entering the Tendo home distracted Ranma long enough to beat down the urge to strangle Nabiki.

Nodoka stepped into the living room, her katana strapped to her back as usual. "I came as soon as I heard the good news."

Ranma groaned. Things just kept getting worse and worse…

"Look, what I said doesn't matter," he announced, his frustration building. "If I marry Akane, it's something between me and her! It's our decision, not yours!"

Nodoka saw the evident torment on her son's face and remembered the agreement they made a few weeks past. She knew he needed her help now.

She turned her gaze towards Soun and Genma. She gripped the handle of her katana firmly before staring into the eyes of her husband. "Is Ranma truly a 'man among men'?" she demanded.

Gemna gulped audibly. "Well, of course he is!" He eyed her katana wearingly.

"Then, as a man and not a boy, he has the right to postpone his marriage." She continued. "I'm not surprised, given our son's manliness, that he wants to enjoy his bachelorhood a while longer."

Soun and Genma screeched and shouted the importance of family honor, respecting elders and uniting the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts.

"Be reasonable, No-chan." Genma soothed. "The boy's already admitted he loves the girl. Why not let them marry now?"

Nodoka smiled in agreement. "I said postpone dear, not cancel. Ranma will marry Akane. In time." Her voice left no room for argument.

Soun and Genma hung their heads sadly and walked dejectedly back to their game of Shogi. They knew the battle was lost.

Ranma starred at his mother in awe. She patted his arm reassuringly. "So you finally told her?" she whispered, eager for news.

"Uh, well not really. I mean, I think she knows…" He tried to remember everything he had said to her the past few days. He never had voiced it directly to her face.

Nodoka looked at her son sternly. She patted the handle to her katana absently. "I've bought you time, son. Don't make me regret my efforts."

Ranma gulped. "Hai, Okaa-san."

Nodoka gave her son an encouraging push towards the hallway. "I trust you to do the right thing."

Ranma stared at the English labeled duck with a mixture of dread and apprehension. He took a deep breath, and knocked on Akane's door.

"Who is it?" she asked. Her voice sounded strained.

"Uh, me. Can I come in?"

"Go away!" came the angry response.

Ranma felt a surge of frustration. He had just ticked off his best friend, barely escaped the wedding plans of their fathers, and the wrath of his mother. She was going to listen to him, dammit!

"Well, I'm comin' in anyway!" he announced stubbornly.

Ranma opened the door hesitantly, expecting barbells and other heavy objects to pummel him in the face. Instead, a slew of softer objects flew at him. Pillows and stuffed animals attacked. It took all of Ranma's amazing speed and agility to dodge them. Eventually, the barrage stopped.

"Akane"

! SMACK !

A paperback book slammed into Ranma's face before thudding to the floor.

"Kawaii-kune tomboy…" he muttered as he rubbed his sore face, at least grateful that she didn't throw anything too heavy or painful.

Akane crossed her arms in front of her chest, temporarily ceasing fire. "Hmrph. You deserved it." Akane sat up from her bed and straightened out her skirt.

"Well, what is it?" she demanded, trying to lace the words with her usual tone of anger and annoyance, but it came out hollow and plaintive.

Ranma felt his heart pang at the sight of her. Akane was trying to mask her hurt feelings with her temper, as usual, but he saw through the act. He twiddled his fingers nervously. Now that he was in her room, he didn't know what to say.

"So?" she challenged.

Ranma took a deep breath and hoped his foot stayed firmly on the ground and out of his mouth. "I, uh, wanted to talk."

Akane looked at him questionably, but didn't interrupt.

"You still mad at me?" he asked.

Akane turned away from him, not wanting him to see her face. "Yes. No. Not really. I'm just… just…" She swallowed, finding that she had trouble continuing. Her emotions were such a tangled web of confusion; she could hardly get her vocal cords to obey.

"You heard how I felt and –- and I thought that you…" she continued as her voice grew quiet, "loved me." She finished in a whisper. She turned to look at him, incensed. "But, after today, I saw I was wrong."

"Don't be stupid!" he shouted.

Akane threw her remaining throw pillow at him in retort, which bounced harmlessly off his face. She glared at him, daring him to respond.

Ranma couldn't believe it. How could she not know? After all he went through at Jusendo for her and the aftermath of Kaimen?

'Well of course not, you dummy' he thought to himself suddenly. 'She was barely conscious and fighting for her life in Jusendo. Ya always take it back when you get a chance, or you get caught kissing or hugging other girls. No wonder she's upset.'

Akane was still not mollified. "Then why did you let Ukyo do that, if you're not in love with her?"

"Would you stop being so uncute! I am not in love with Ucchan."

"So you're just stringing us all along!" she accused him.

"NO!" he denied immediately. "At least, I don't mean to."

Akane shook her head in disgust. "Do you even care about any of the girls you got engaged too?"

Ranma wanted to scream in frustration. Nothing he was saying was getting through to her.

"Well?" Akane pressed, starting to worry about his lack of response and masking that concern with anger. "Do you!"

"Hell yeah! That's the problem: I like a crazy, cute, tomboy who won't understand what I'm trying to tell her!" Ranma was hardly aware of what he uttered out until after he said it. His hand flew to cover his mouth in a tardily futile gesture. He had hardly planned to blurt out his feelings, least of all like that. As usual he had responded without thinking, and on cue his stupid foot launched inside his mouth.

Akane didn't know whether to process the insult or the underlined compliment. "What..?" she asked, needing to make sure she heard him correctly.

Ranma looked increasingly uncomfortable and shifted his weight from foot to foot. How could he take it back? Did he even want to take it back?

His silence only made Akane doubt her ears more. "You like me? But—-but why did you kiss Ukyo then?"

Ranma found his voice. "Look, I never wanted to kiss Ucchan, okay? Jeeze, Akane." He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. "She came over " Akane's fist clenched threateningly. "and I talked it over with her and broke off the engagement."

Akane's eyes grew wide. "Y-you did?"

Ranma nodded. "Yup."

Akane began to tremble. A conglomerate of highly strung emotions throughout the day came to a head; anger, relief, sadness, surprise, hope, love, pain all came crashing down on her.

"Then, do you actually…?" Akane couldn't bring herself to finish the question. She was too anxious, nervous and afraid to hear his response. Her eyes bore into his, pleading silently.

"Love you?" he finished for her. His voice was low, but audible.

Akane gave a small nod.

Ranma felt his heart pounding frantically. The sound seemed deafening to his ears. He took a deep breath. He knew what was in his heart, so why was it so damn hard to say it? He turned his attention to his twiddling his fingers. "Yeah. I-I do."

Akane's eyes lit up. Cautiously, she moved her hand to gently caress his cheek and tilted his head to focus on her.

He saw the same love reflected in her eyes. Instinctively, Ranma leaned toward her face and she met him halfway. Their lips brushed as softly as butterfly wings, clumsy and tentative as first kisses tend to be, before deepening with a love more clearly expressed than words could manage. The outside world and its troubles melted away.

For now, it was only them.

Nabiki sat at the dinner table studying the change in her little sister. Just some time ago, Akane had come home without Ranma, as angry and upset as a hellcat in water. Yet now, she was positively glowing. To boot, Ranma seemed to be sharing that happy glow. Obviously, the Saotome boy had managed to make up with her little sister.

Well, she might as well take advantage of their current disposition. People were always more willing to part with their yen in a happy mood. Nabiki turned to face Ranma, a familiar glint in her eye.

"So, Ranma…" she purred.

Ranma nearly choked on his rice. All his self preservation instincts were tingling.

His attention grabbed, Nabiki continued. "Remember the tape of you being so … candid earlier? It's up for sale." She patted her mini tape recorder for emphasis.

Ranma, amazingly, did not rise to the bait. He flushed and grumbled, "Whatever, Nabiki."

Nabiki hid her surprise with the control she had mastered over the years. She shrugged nonchalantly, as if Ranma's refusal meant nothing. She turned her attention towards Akane. "How much is a taped confession between Ukyo and Ranma worth to you?"

"Nabiki, selling that to Akane isn't very nice," scolded Kasumi gently.

Nabiki waved her hand in dismissal. "I'll give her the family discount. Unless she rather I sell it to someone else?"

Akane knew her sister was trying to goad her, ambiguously wording what happened to make it sound like Ranma had confessed his love to Ukyo instead of to her. Akane did not need to hear a recording to know that Ranma loved her, (at least not anymore). At the same time, she really did want to hear what was on the tape with her own ears, rather than Ranma's abbreviated version. If she didn't want to lose all her savings, though, she would have to play this carefully.

"It's probably a fake you doctored up, Nabiki. I'm definitely not paying for that!"

Nabiki frowned. "My own sister, accusing me of fraud?" She put on an award-winning performance of wounded feelings. If it had been anyone but Nabiki, Akane would have fallen for it.

Akane glared at Nabiki. "Play it first. If I like it, then I'll pay for a copy. How's that sound?"

Nabiki frowned. There was no guarantee of a profit in that, yet if she knew her little sister, she would pay handsomely to hear Ranma say he loved her. Heaven only knew the boy would never get the courage to say it to her face. She could risk a small loss in profit; she had already made a bundle giving copies of the tape to her father, Genma and Nodoka. The kids at school would pay even more.

Nabiki sighed, putting on an air of defeat. "Okay, sis. 100 yen now, 100 yen after it's played if you want to keep it."

Ranma started to squirm in his seat, feeling very uneasy. Even though he had finally gathered the courage to tell Akane, and most of the family had been witness to his earlier outburst, he didn't feel comfortable having it played again and again to the entire family.

"You don't really wanna hear that, do ya?" he asked Akane somewhat pleadingly.

Akane gave him a questioning look. "Is there any reason I shouldn't?" She challenged.

"I just—gah! Fine!" Ranma returned to munching on his dinner with determined bites.

Akane turned to Nabiki and placed a hundred yen note in her hand. "Okay then."

Ranma began to stare at his rice with intense concentration. There was no point in denying it, or snatching the tape away. It would only cause more trouble. 'Why, oh why did Akane have to have a heartless mercenary for a sister?' he whined silently to himself.

Nabiki pressed the play button and waited for the show to begin. She expected Ranma to stutter and insult his way through rejecting it. She waited for Akane to go into shock and then explode when Ranma denied it and poked fun at her. Yet, as the tape played on and reached the crucial confession, none of the predictable reactions occurred. Ranma's face simply turned crimson, but he made no move to deny a word of it. Akane's face glowed and sported a gentle, happy smile.

Nabiki felt her patience wearing out. What was going on?

"Thanks, Nabiki," came Akane's genuine response.

Nabiki stared at her sister in shock. That was it?

"Oh my," was Kasumi's typical response as she smiled at Ranma and Akane. "How nice is it to have things out in the open."

"Well, daughter?" pressed Soun, grinning madly. "What do you have to say to that?"

Ranma tore his gaze off the rice to study Akane's reaction.

Akane's complexion gained a rosy hue and she began to study her napkin in detail. Ranma and she had discussed revealing things openly to their family, now that Nodoka was keeping the wedding bells at bay, but they didn't imagine that it would come out this way. She caught Ranma's eyes boring into her own. He was waiting anxiously for her response. For once, he wasn't looking smug.

The time for fierce and childish denials was over. "I…I love him, too." She replied. Her voice was soft but solid.

In an instant, Soun grabbed the engaged couple in a tight hug as twin streams of joy trickled down his chin.

"Daddy, please…" Akane tried in vain to calm her overly excited father. Ranma rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hide the small smile that crept over the side of his face.

Nabiki shook aside her surprise and gave a Chesser cat grin. "Well, it's about time you two stopped pussyfooting the issue."

Soun managed to compose himself. "Well, then. What are you two waiting for? We'll have the marriage immediately!"

"WHAT!" cried Ranma and Akane in unison.

Akane didn't know how to respond. She loved Ranma. He loved her. She couldn't imagine a life without him; the very thought tore painfully at her soul. There was no one else she wanted to marry but the thought of matrimony at this stage made her more than a little ill at ease.

She looked at Ranma for support and to gauge his reaction. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were hard. "Okaa-san already made it clear that it's our decision when, Tendo-san."

Akane felt her heart race. He wasn't outright denying he wanted to marry her. He only wanted to decide when!

Soun sighed, knowing better than to push the issue. "Of course, my boy."

The doorbell sounded, interrupting the tense atmosphere. "I'll get it!" Akane offered, eager to avoid any more embarrassing situations.

"I'll join you!" Ranma chimed in, glad to have an excuse to leave the dinner table.

Ranma followed Akane as she opened the door. She stared at the visitor in shock. It was the last person she wanted to see today.

Akane heard Ranma's response behind her. "Oh shit."
A/N: Ba-ba-bum! Who could it be? Stay tuned and review so I can finish editing the next chapters. I take all flames & criticism and use it to improve! I'm trying hard to stay in-character.

If you couldn't tell, I'm trying to have Akane and Ranma mature a bit, (hopefully in a realistic and believable fashion). It was only a matter of time before they became secure enough in their feelings to have it out in the open. I always figured one of the main barriers was the pressure their parents put on them. With that out of the way (a bit), it's not too hard to imagine this happening.

I can't emphasize enough how much your review's mean to me. I have honestly taken them to heart and have edited and revised based on your input. THANKS and please continue to CRITIQUE!

Special Thanks to Sabrina-Neo for Beta-reading and Raknus for his helpful ideas.