Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, please do not sue me.

The Long and Winding Road:
I've Seen That Road Before, It Always Leads Me Here

Nabiki wasn't sure if Akane meant a month from when she received the letter, or from when she sent her response, or when Nabiki got the letter, but it didn't matter. Nabiki had a week marked on her calendar. Unless Akane was lying to Nabiki, and if she was she was going to be in so much trouble, Akane would be arriving sometime that week. She had entertained the idea of telling her family that Akane was coming back, but she just wasn't sure how that conversation would go over, especially with the ever stressed out Ranma. She decided to just keep her mouth shut, for the most part.

She was able to catch Ranma before he left for his nightly acts. It was a long shot, but she thought it might work.

"Hey Ranma. You look horrible, maybe you should stay in and get some sleep tonight." Ranma just shook his head and continued to the front door. It was time for Nabiki to aim below the belt.

"Ranma, she wouldn't want you to do this to yourself, not for her sake anyway." He turned back to her and smiled somewhat bitterly.

"Well, I was never really known for doing what she wanted, was I?" Nabiki supposed she didn't aim low enough, and tried again.

"Ranma, if you could find her, you would have already." This caused Ranma to stop dead for a few seconds before he silently proceeded on his journey. It was a little after 5 when he left, and Nabiki estimated that he wouldn't come home until about midnight. The only solace that she had was that Akane would be back soon, and this behavior would stop.


Ranma saw her face so often. In those first few months he would stop every woman with short dark hair, and even some with longer hair, similar to the way Akane had hers when they first met. He hated the memories because a part of him argued that they were all he had left of her. That side had been growing bigger ever since Ryoga agreed that Akane was gone. Ranma noticed that no one said the word dead. He wasn't sure if it was because they didn't believe it, or if they didn't want to believe it. He didn't care though. He wasn't going to stop looking until he found proof, one way or another. At this point he wasn't even sure what he was looking for.

It was easier when Ryoga was still searching. He got lost so easily and he made good distance in a short amount of time. It was a great way to spread the word…when Ryoga was in a city or large time, it was pointless when he was off in the mountains, which happened to be most of the time. That didn't matter though, he was alone now and had no information. He had conditioned himself to attack all the girls even coming close to looking like Akane, but he still went into every restaurant and bar in the area showing pictures of her asking if anyone had seen her.


Another night with no leads. Maybe Nabiki was right, he would have found her by now…if she could be found. Even though no one said she was dead, there was a place for her in the cemetery. It wasn't a grave really. It was something they attached to her mother's headstone. Ranma wasn't really sure what it was, he'd never gone, he refused to it would be admitting that…admitting something that he didn't want to admit. Even now, as he was approaching the bend in the road that led to the cemetery he began to slow down.

He just couldn't accept the idea. Something inside him told him that she wasn't gone. It told him that she's gone missing before and he'd always found her. But the other voices were drowning it out. They said that she's never been gone this long and that there was no way she could just disappear into thin air. The voices of doubt were louder than ever, but that little hopeful voice was still there. Ranma had stopped and leaned on a light post. He had to let her go. He had to silence that little voice. He was only hurting himself this way.

He stood under that light post for fifteen minutes trying to rationalize away that little voice, but it was a stubborn as he is…as she was. Was. He hated thinking about her in the past tense, but it was a good a place as any to start. He was thinking of going into the cemetery, but he knew he wasn't ready for that yet, but he had to walk by it to get home. He never used to look at it, he didn't want to look for her there, but this time he would look. He promised himself.

As he rounded the corner he saw her. She was about a head shorted than him and had dark hair. It was pin straight and reached about an inch past her shoulders. It was dark blue. She had no bangs, but he was unable to see her eyes from his distance. He decided to casually close in on her. As previously stated, he had had some trouble in the past when he saw someone who looked like her. She began walking away from him…in the direction of the Dojo. No, that was just wishful thinking. She was just walking…but still…

He tried to stay back, but he wasn't going to get anywhere looking at her back, so he sped up. He was digging through his pockets for anything he could use to get near her. He usually had some money on him, but he seemed have spent it or left it at home. All he had was those pictures of Akane. Then it hit him, two birds, one stone. He could ask her if she had seen Akane and get a good look at her as well. Ranma began running up to the woman and when he was about to tap her shoulder she spun around and kicked him in the side.

He was so surprised that he was unable to block, or keep his balance. His arm hitting the cement didn't really hurt, but his side kind of did. Which was unusual, especially since he didn't do anything. Before he could apologize to the woman for scaring him, she yelled at him.

"What the heck were you trying to do, you pervert!" There was no mistaking it. That was her voice and her pet name. Ranma looked up from his place on the ground and made eye contact with the woman. Her eyes widened when she realized who he was, but he was the one to speak first.

"Akane?" She nodded her head and then offered him her hand. He took it and once he was straight on his feet, he pulled her into a bone-shattering embrace. She didn't mind though, she was just happy that he wasn't yelling…yet.

"You have a lot of explaining to do you stupid tomboy." His voice was full of emotion and all she could was return his embrace. She had expected her father and Kasumi to act this way, but this was nice too. She'd have to relish in this moment because she knew that it would go away and the questions would start. She just wished that moments like this would come back after she explained herself.