Chapter 10:Shattered Hopes

"Well you could untie him, change him back, and listen to what he has to say." He handed her the kettle, "let me go get his clothes first."

"Ok." She waited for Ranma to return, "your not going to run away are you?"

P-Chan shook his head no and waited while Akane untied him. Ranma returned with his clothes and took the kettle from Akane. She turned around and waited for Ryoga to change.

"Akane, I'm so sorry. I can explain."

"You had better." Akane then grabbed Ranma's hand and went over and sat by the fire.

"Well...I...I was hoping...that maybe have...maybe...I don't know...gotten...together. Being P-Chan was a way for me to stay close to you. I didn't want you knowing about my curse, cause I'm ashamed of it. I didn't want you to know that P-Chan and I were the same person. I wanted to find a cure and be a real man for you."

"Ryoga! I had no idea. Do you really think the curses bother me. If they did do you think I would be engaged to a guy that turns into a girl." She could see Ryoga was hurting and that it had taken a lot for him to tell her his feelings.

"Ya , but everyone knows that neither of you wanted the engagement." Ryoga looked from Akane to Ranma then back to Akane. "Why are you here anyway...your father said you were at Drama Camp."

"You might as well tell him." Ranma spoke up and he continued to sit and listen.

"Well...you see, after Ranma proposed we...."

"HE WHAT?" Ryoga felt his world crashing around him. "Did you accept?"

"Yes I accepted. We both confessed our feelings and decided that we wanted to get married after graduation. We also decided we needed to get to know each other better since we've spent all our time fighting. Our fathers have no idea about us, in fact your the first person we've told. We didn't want them bothering us or trying to marry us before we wanted to."

"I see." Ryoga looked at the ground and fidgeted with his hands. "So I take it I have no chance of dating you now. Right?"

"I'm sorry Ryoga. You'll find someone out there that will love you for you regardless of your curse. I just hope we can still be friends." She watched Ryoga stand up and grab his back pack.

"Answer me one more question." Ryoga watched her nod and continued. "Why do you love Ranma, when all he does is insult you or put you down?"

"Honestly, Ryoga I don't know." She thought for a moment. "I guess if you think about it, it's a deep feeling that can't be explained. If I could describe it then its not really love. I know Ranma insults me and is constantly picking fights with me but there's something about him that gives me comfort and warmth." She looked over at Ranma and continued. "There's just something that attracts me to him, that I can't explain with words. Sorry Ryoga...Ryoga?" She looked back over to where he was standing but he was gone without a trace.

"I guess you answered his question."

"I hope he's not to hurt by what I said."

"He's a big boy he can handle it." Ranma took her hand and lead her into the tent. "Now why don't we have that talk we've been talking about doing over a game of cards."

"Sounds like fun."

"So Ranma...what should we start talking about? Akane asked as she started to deal out the cards.

"well I was thinking that since we don't really know much about each other, we could take turns asking questions. You know like 'Truth or Dare'."

"Oh, ok you go first, ask away." she grinned up at him and awaited the first question.

"Um, ok. Where exactly does your mallet come from?"

"Oh, uh...I'm not really sure. I just think about it and 'Poof' it's there," She winked at him in regard to her next remark. "Magic! Now it's my turn. What do you really think about your other fiancés?"

"Well, Ukyou's one of my best friends and she's like a little sister I never had. I'd really hate to hurt her, but I know it's inevitable. Shampoo is a little to much of an airhead. I'm sure it's just a show, but I hate how she jumps on me all the time and calling me 'husband.'geez. As for Kodachi, granted we're not actually engaged, she could just as soon jump off a bridge and I wouldn't notice. Now let's see, do you really want to marry me?"

"Of course I do! I don't know why it's you of all people that I fell in love with, but, that's been one of my desires for a long time now." Akane was trying to keep her mind on her card game but was quickly failing.

A few more questions were exchanged. Like favorite foods, books, small stuff that was mostly mentioned for the sake of conversation.

"Ranma, do you really love me?" she questioned him with her soft voice and pleading hazel eyes.

"You know I do. Probably from the moment I saw you." Ranma rubbed the back of his head in a shy manner and blushed.

"Really, prove it." she looked up at Ranma with menacing eyes.

Ranma scratched the back of his head for a moment trying to think of a way to prove his love. He gave her a confused look then realized what she meant by 'prove it.' He leaned over and started to kiss her passionately and slowly pulled her towards him in a loving unending embrace.

Meanwhile back in Nerima. Life was carrying on peacefully. With Ranma gone, the once noisy town returned to the quiet and peaceful town it was before Ranma. Shampoo and Mousse busied themselves at work at the Cat Cafe', with Shampoo plotting to get Ranma on the side.

Ukyou's business was booming, since the three violent customers disappeared, (Ranma, Akane, and Ryoga). With those three gone, people weren't afraid to eat at Ucchan's, although a few customers did ask her what the dinner movie would be tonight.

Even at the Tendo Dojo it was quiet, except for a few laugh that were emitted by Soun and Genma plotting to get their children married. Which always came to a dead end. Kasumi and Nodoka were in the kitchen preparing the meal as usual, both with annoyed smiles on their faces as they listened to the men ramble on. Nabiki was up in her room preparing finances for when Ranma and Akane returned home from their trips, knowing too well the amount of damage those two can cause.

"Let's see now, Akane will be home any day now and as for Ranma, who knows. I'm surprised he's been gone this long." Nabiki wrote a few more digits down and looked out the window. "One more month before I start college. What's a girl to do? It's a good thing the college is close, I can stay here and handle daddy's financing. Other wise he'll have the dojo run into the ground by the first week of me being gone." Nabiki sighed heavily as she thought about all the money spent on repairs due to Akane and Ranma fighting. Her thoughts then drifted to a few weeks ago. "Hmmmm...I wonder what's going on with those two? Although their fighting intensified, the violence decreased. Akane's mallet has seemed to have disappeared too. Then there were their eyes, they both seemed to be apologizing as they yelled at each other. I wonder if something happened? I'll just have to find out for myself." Nabiki closed her ledger and rested her head on her pillow then started to scheme.