Chapter 3

Ranma paused outside of Akane's room. He placed the tray on the floor and made a few adjustments to her tray. When he was finished, he lifted the tray and gently knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he slowly opened the door and peeped in. Akane was asleep on her bed over one of her school books. He placed the tray on her desk and went over to her. He gently tucked a stand of hair behind her ear. He stared at her for a moment when he realized that her cheeks were puffy right under her eyes. "Akane wake up I brought your dinner."

Her eyes began to flitter open. When she realize who it was in front of her, she sat up straight.

"It's ok I'm leaving, I just brought up your dinner. You should eat." At that he turned and left her room, closing her door behind him.

"Please let this work."

Once her eyes focused, she looked at her desk and noticed the tray of food. She stood up and went to sit down. Once there, she looked over her food and noticed there was an envelop next to the plate. She read the contents of the envelop first.

Akane,

I Love You, Please Marry Me.

Ranma

P.S. No this isn't a joke.

She had to read over the words two more times before she noticed the gold band tied to the inside of the card. It was a gold ring with two hearts intertwined and in each heart was a diamond. Her head and heart were both engulfed with emotions.

"Oh Ranma. What have you done." She untied the ring and held it up so she could look at it. New tears rolled down her cheeks. She stood up and ran from her room in search of Ranma. She stepped from her room and saw Ranma sitting at the top of the stairs. Waiting.

"Oh god. I'm so sorry Akane, I didn't mean to make you cry," he stood up and took a few steps toward her, still unsure of the situation.

She looked at him for a moment debating on her next move, but all reasoning went out the window as she lunged at him. Instead of smacking him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in to his shirt. She felt him start to relax as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Akane?" he whispered against the top of her head.

"Ranma!" She looked up at his face into his loving blue eyes and the only thing that came to her mind was Yes. "Yes Ranma, Yes. I'd love to marry you!" She felt his hand trail down her left arm to her hand. He then took her hand in his and realized she held the ring between her thumb and index finger. He took the ring and slowly placed it at its proper place on her ring finger.

"There, now it's official, and of our own free will." He moved his hands to cup her face and noticed new tears stream down each cheek. He wiped them away with his thumbs. "I hope those are tears of joy." He felt her nod slightly and ever so slowly leaned in to taste of her gentle lips.

"Akane, are you done with your tray yet." yelled Kasumi from the kitchen.

Muttering something under her breath she then address her sister. "Not yet."

"Ok , don't take too long." Then it went quiet again.

Still holding her face in his hands he glanced down toward the stairs. "Maybe we should go. We can talk while you eat your dinner. Plus it might not be good if Nabiki or our fathers see us like this yet." He reluctantly released her face.

"Ya, your right. Then we can have some more privacy." They then snuck back into her room.

Akane went over and sat at her desk and picked up her chopsticks. Ranma followed behind her. He shut her door and went to sit on her bed while she ate.

"So now what do we do?" asked Akane and took another bite of the stir-fry.

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