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Ranma lay awake on his bedroll. It was a hot night and the guest room had
seemed too stuffy with his idiot father sleeping in there. The fathers had
gone out drinking that night, trying to hatch yet more plans to marry their
recalciant children. Unable to sleep in the stifling heat, Ranma had
grabbed his bedroll and hopped up to the roof. Not coincidentaly, he was
now resting directly over Akane's room.
Not only was he over Akane's room, he was laying just to her left. Below him, Akane's sleeping mind sensed his presence at her side, and she had her arm and leg thrown over to her left. She cuddled a pillow and dreamed of a peaceful night with her pigtailed husband. Ranma often came up to the roof in order to sort his thoughts. He felt at ease up here. Almost peaceful. It was a place of refuge, like his spot under the bridge in the park, or in the bell tower at the school. They were places he could go to when his thoughts were more troubled than usual. And after last night's discussion he was having a great deal of trouble within his own mind.
'Are Kasumi and Akane right? Am I still just a little kid in my head? Did something happen to me that messed up my brain? I don't feel like anything is wrong. It's not my fault that I don't understand what people talk about when they don't say what they really mean. Pops didn't teach me nothing about any of that. He only showed me how to fight.'
His mind wandered to the subject that had him constantly baffled: Akane. When he had first met her she had seemed so kind and gentle. She had wanted to be his friend and they had a fun little match in the dojo. She had impressed him with her strength. At the time he hadn't known too many people who could punch through walls like she did. Then that incident later in the bath. She had walked in on him while he was stepping out and for the first time in his life, he was treated to a view of a naked girl.
He didn't include his own female body, since he was really a guy. But Akane . .. Akane was a GIRL! He hadn't and still didn't understand what he had felt and what he always felt when she was around. He only knew that he only felt it when she was near or when he thought about her. It was a very intense feeling that he had no words to describe. Maybe that was love? The need to know that she was okay, the insane desire to make her happy, the certainty that she was the most important person in his life? That she was his? Could that be love?
'I gotta stop thinkin' about this. Man, where's pigboy when you need him.' He cracked his knuckles and shifted slightly. He felt the ghost of a touch on his side and across his chest and legs. The feeling seemed to be without a source, yet it had a calming effect on him. He smiled gently and close his eyes, linking his hands behind his head. As he slowly drifted off into a peacefull slumber he could almost hear someone breathing softly next to him.
On the other side of the world, one Ryouga Hibiki was trudging through thick undergrowth of plantlife, none of which were familiar. He thought this strange since there was few redwoods in the Hokkaido area of Japan. Most of them were along the southern coast near Okanawa. Little did he know that every step he took brought him further from his homeland yet closer to his goal.
Not only was he over Akane's room, he was laying just to her left. Below him, Akane's sleeping mind sensed his presence at her side, and she had her arm and leg thrown over to her left. She cuddled a pillow and dreamed of a peaceful night with her pigtailed husband. Ranma often came up to the roof in order to sort his thoughts. He felt at ease up here. Almost peaceful. It was a place of refuge, like his spot under the bridge in the park, or in the bell tower at the school. They were places he could go to when his thoughts were more troubled than usual. And after last night's discussion he was having a great deal of trouble within his own mind.
'Are Kasumi and Akane right? Am I still just a little kid in my head? Did something happen to me that messed up my brain? I don't feel like anything is wrong. It's not my fault that I don't understand what people talk about when they don't say what they really mean. Pops didn't teach me nothing about any of that. He only showed me how to fight.'
His mind wandered to the subject that had him constantly baffled: Akane. When he had first met her she had seemed so kind and gentle. She had wanted to be his friend and they had a fun little match in the dojo. She had impressed him with her strength. At the time he hadn't known too many people who could punch through walls like she did. Then that incident later in the bath. She had walked in on him while he was stepping out and for the first time in his life, he was treated to a view of a naked girl.
He didn't include his own female body, since he was really a guy. But Akane . .. Akane was a GIRL! He hadn't and still didn't understand what he had felt and what he always felt when she was around. He only knew that he only felt it when she was near or when he thought about her. It was a very intense feeling that he had no words to describe. Maybe that was love? The need to know that she was okay, the insane desire to make her happy, the certainty that she was the most important person in his life? That she was his? Could that be love?
'I gotta stop thinkin' about this. Man, where's pigboy when you need him.' He cracked his knuckles and shifted slightly. He felt the ghost of a touch on his side and across his chest and legs. The feeling seemed to be without a source, yet it had a calming effect on him. He smiled gently and close his eyes, linking his hands behind his head. As he slowly drifted off into a peacefull slumber he could almost hear someone breathing softly next to him.
On the other side of the world, one Ryouga Hibiki was trudging through thick undergrowth of plantlife, none of which were familiar. He thought this strange since there was few redwoods in the Hokkaido area of Japan. Most of them were along the southern coast near Okanawa. Little did he know that every step he took brought him further from his homeland yet closer to his goal.
