Chapter 17

Akane ran down the street. She had to find Ranma. But there did she start her search? Nerima was so big, and Ranma knew ways of hiding so no one would find him. She decided to check his favorite places. Her first stop was the Cat Café. Upon entering, Shampoo looked up, dropped her dishes and screamed.

"AIYEAAH!!! Demon Akane come back to kill Shampoo!" She cried, leaping behind the counter.

"Knock it off Shampoo, have you seen Ranma?" Akane asked. Cologne hopped over on her staff.

"We haven't seen him all night Akane. Ever since the battle ended, it's like he never existed. His stuff was gone and no trace of his destination left behind." She answered. Akane nodded and ran out the door. Where else would he have gone? She tried Uc-chan's place. She banged on the door and finally a light came on. A weary eyed Ukyo slid the door open.

"I'm sorry, but we're closed. Come back to…" Her jaw fell open. "Akane? But I thought you were dead!"

"Well I'm not. Have you seen Ranma?" She demanded.

"Ranma? Come to think of it, I haven't seen Ranma-honey ever since we left the dojo. Is he missing?" Ukyo asked. When Akane nodded, she quickly grabbed her giant spatula. "Then let's go find him." Akane was a little surprised by her reaction, but right now, Ranma was her key concern. The split up and agreed to meet back at the dojo in three hours, with or without him. They knew he would steer clear of Kuno's place, so they didn't bother checking there. So where else was there? Akane was turning down a street when she saw someone walking along with a backpack.

"RANMA!" She cried. The figured turned around.

"Oh hey Akane. WAH! You're A GHOST!" Ryoga cried, turning to run. Akane caught up to him and grabbed his shirt collar.

"Calm down Ryoga, I'm not a ghost! The phoenix revived me. Now where's Ranma?" She asked. Ryoga looked at her.

"You really love him don't you Akane." Ryoga said, sighing. "Then I'll help you look for him."

"Thank you Ryoga." She said as he took off at a dash. She knew that he wouldn't have much chance at finding him, never mind find the Tendo house even if he did, but at least he was trying. Two hours had passed and still she couldn't find him. She had questioned everyone she could think of. Dr. Tofu, Ranma's mother, even the school principle. Her three hours were nearly up, so she started heading back towards the dojo. Maybe Ukyo had found something out. She rounded the street and burst through the door. Ukyo sat on the front doorstep, a solemn look on her face.

"Any luck Ukyo?" Akane asked. Ukyo shook her head sadly.

"I'm so sorry Akane. I know how you two feel about each other. I really wanted to help. But I just couldn't find anything." She said. Akane's shoulders fell, and her eyes threatened to grow moist. She half-slouched, half-collapsed to her knees. It was then that Nabiki opened the door.

"So it's true, you really have returned from the dead." She said, her half-open eyes looking at her sister.

"Nabiki! Have you seen Ranma?" Akane asked, her one last hope. Nabiki seemed to know everything about everybody.

"And what if I have?" She asked. Akane's eyes narrowed.

"So help me Nabiki, don't you dare try any of your tricks right now." Akane growled. Nabiki shook her hand.

"Wouldn't dream of it sis. Now as for Ranma, have you checked his favorite spots?" She asked. Akane nodded. "ALL of them?" Nabiki pressed. Where hadn't Akane looked? Her eyes lit up. Of course! She had used the same trick the last time she had 'run away'. She grabbed a ladder and placed it against the house. She climbed to the top and stepped onto the roof. She saw a head of black hair and a ponytail sitting overtop of her room. She walked softly up behind him.

"I'm not going to tell you again Nabiki. Get lost or I WILL break you in half." Ranma growled. Akane gasped. She had never heard such despair and anger from him. She took another step towards him, afraid to speak.

"Do you have a death wish?!" He said, his voice getting very deep and threatening.

"R-Ranma?" She asked.

"So now you've decided to torture me with impressions of Akane? I just hope there's enough left of you for the police to identify." He said, standing. He started to turn around, his fists clenched. Akane just stood there. When Ranma looked at her, his face fell. The anger disappeared and was covered with a mix of disbelief, surprise and joy.

"A-a-akane?" He finally managed. She nodded, and started running towards him. She threw her arms around him and held him tight. It took him a few moments to realize that this wasn't a dream and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh Akane!" He cried, squeezing her tight. "I thought you were… how did you… what's going on?" He asked, his eyes filling with tears.

"Shhh, it doesn't matter anymore. We're together." She said, leaning up to kiss him. Their lips connected and a breeze kicked up around them. Ranma thought he heard a voice from the wind. It seemed to say 'thank you for setting us free'. He held Akane tight for a moment, then led her to the side and helped her down. They couldn't wait to tell everyone she was okay. And more importantly, Ranma couldn't wait to tell her that he was ready to marry her.

Well I hope everyone enjoyed my little fanfic. I might right another one soon, without DN of course. I will also include the disclaimer here. I don't own any Ranma characters, but DN belongs to me! I created him 9 years ago and he has been in many of my personal stories. His original name was Death Ninja, and the special sword he uses is the Death Blade. If you have any other questions, feel free to e-mail me. I also suggest you check out my other fanfics which I will now continue. Thanks for reading.