Ramna ½: A Wedding
Disclaimer: I don't own it. It ain't mine. Don't sue me; I already owe too much money as it is.
Chapter Two
"Love, Sister, It's just a kiss away."
-Give me Shelter, Rolling Stones.
Outside the Tendo dojo, a koi flipped in the pond, making a loud splash which could be heard all the way up to Akane's room. For a normal person, the sound of the water lapping against the sides of the pool would have been soothing, but for Ranma, at the present moment, no other sound could have been more alarming. Extending his chi out to its furthest limits the pig-tailed boy searched for the culprit which had set off his danger sense. It did not take long for him to find it. With a practiced silence he glided to Akane's side. "We need to talk," he said, scooping her up in his arms, "but let's do it somewhere else."
The short-haired girl clutched her arms tightly around Ranma's neck and shoulders, as they dashed through the window and bounced up onto the roof. The pair leapt from rooftop to rooftop as they trekked across Nerima. Ranma cradled his fiancé firmly in his arms, keeping her closer to him with each jump; trying his best not to be distracted by the scent of her hair. It was her smell that had always gotten to him, ever since the first time he had carried her like this, during the fight with Ryoga, before he had learned about P-chan. They had landed on the roof, him holding Ryoga's umbrella with one arm, and Akane with the other. He had known that they had not gone far enough to be completely safe from the lost boy, but sitting up there, holding her in his arms, and smelling her hair, the world seemed to slip away.
I guess I should have asked her not to change her shampoo, he thought as he hurdled across a gap between two apartments.
Akane; however, was doing her best to reign in the emotions that were flittering about the pit of her stomach. If everything went according to plan, this would be her final wild ride over the city's rooftops. The final time that he threw her about, and hauled her around, like a big ape in a B movie. The final time he held her. Akane lifted her head off of his shoulder and watched the dojo disappear behind them. Pulling out a reserve of determination, she willed herself not to cry. She could not let him know how bad this was going to hurt. The last thing she wanted was his sympathy. Regardless, a single tear traced a path across her cheek.
Nabiki stood at her door, and watched as the two fiancés disappeared from sight. A half smile creased her face. She didn't know exactly what was happening between her younger sister and Ranma but whatever it was, it had to be interesting, and in Nerima, interesting was worth a great deal of yen. There was money to be made here, she could feel it. I just have to figure out what's going on, she thought.
"You can stop eavesdropping now," Nabiki said, turning back to her desk and the ledgers it held. She only worked on her private accounts in the solitude of her room, "they're gone already."
Soun snapped his fingers and retreated down the stairs, as Genma, who was still a Panda, grumbled. The two had left their game hoping to hear whether or not their children would make up. With the failed wedding, the arranged marriage had been temporarily placed on hold. However, as tense as Akane and Ranma's relationship had been over the course of the past few weeks those plans were now in danger of being derailed entirely. If something didn't change, and soon, the two Schools would never be joined. But, until their children came home, there was nothing the fathers could do but return to their game.
"Oh well," Kasumi said, following closely behind her father, "I guess I'll go make them some tea for when they get back."
Ranma set Akane down on the roof of the high school; as he looked around one last time to make absolutely certain that no one had followed him. He had done his best to throw off any possible pursuers, dashing wildly about Nerima in a zigzag pattern he had copied from Ryoga. Really, it was no wonder P-chan was getting lost all the time, he couldn't walk in a strait line to save his life. However, as random a destination the school seemed to be, it had been Ranma's intent to alight here from the beginning.
Any one who would be looking for him would know that school was the one place that Ranma hated the most. It was common knowledge that the pigtailed martial artist would rather take on Herb, Lime, and Mint than sit through class. Which was why the roof of the high school had been his intended destination all along; no one would expect him to go there willingly, especially over summer break. Ranma was hoping that particular expectation would buy him and Akane a few minutes of privacy. After listening for several minutes for the sound of bicycle bells, "Ran-chan", "Ranma-somma", "Arien"or the ever popular "Die Ranma", he relaxed, confident that they were finally alone. Ranma's stomach flittered as he fought to find his words. They always seemed to flee at moments like this, when the nervousness of the moment seemed to shift his brain into neutral, and the jittery energy coursing through his body made him feel weak, yet somehow more alive.
"Akane… I um..."
"Ranma, I…" Akane interrupted, wanting to end things as quickly as possible, before her resolve broke, unleashing the torrent of emotions she was tentatively clutching to. "There's something I need to tell you."
Akane glanced up at her fiancée. Oh God, he had that look in his eyes. Not the one that filled with the arrogant confidence he was so famous for, the one he wore in his fights, when all eyes were on him, and you just knew he was about to finish it. No, his eyes only did this when he didn't think anyone else was watching. When he would sit all by himself on the roof at night and watch the stars, when his defenses were down, if only momentarily. She had caught him like that a time or two, only for an instant if that long. His eyes reflecting back at her: Just don't hurt me. She looked away, her eyes searching for something else to focus on, just as long as she didn't have to look into his eyes.
"I know you and I never asked for this engagement," she said, her eyes finally settling down in the general direction of Uc-chan's.
"Yeah," Ranma started, "but I don't…"
"Please," Akane's fists balled up at her sides, as she fought back the rising waves of frustration and anger. Couldn't he see how much this was hurting her? "Let me finish first."
"This isn't something that we wanted." She took a deep breath, "I mean… Look, we're always fighting. I'm either yelling at you…"
"Yelling?" Ranma asked.
Akane paused for a moment, her knuckles turning white as she tightened her fist. Ok, so he had a point, there were times when she did a great deal more than yell at him. "Alright, so I hit you from time to time. It's just that you make me so frustrated. If you weren't such an insensitive j…" Akane's voice had grown in intensity, the fear and frustration bubbling inside of her until it threatened to explode. Exhaling, she stilled herself; she wanted to rare back and clobber him as hard as she could, but she couldn't break off the engagement if Ranma was unconscious. "You see, we're doing it again, we can't say more than a few words to each other without it turning into an argument."
Akane sighed, "You… We don't deserve this Ranma, its doing neither of us any good. Wouldn't you rather be with someone else?" The tears welled up behind Akane's eyes, and spilled onto her cheeks. "You deserve someone you can talk to. Some one you can laugh with. Someone you love. We just aren't right for one another. I want to call off the engagement."
Ranma stood there, numb. Akane's mallet weighed exactly 50 kilo's. On a good day she could swing it at a velocity of 20 meters per second, faster if she was really upset. She had bashed him with her mallet exactly 237 times over the course of the past year. Yet, at no time had any of those blows struck him as viciously as the words she had just spoken.
A gust of wind flurried across the school grounds below, as a flock of sparrows took wing, fleeing some unseen predator.
The eternally lost boy stared blankly ahead, his eyes locked in an infinite gaze, as he let his thoughts aimlessly wonder about the day's events. Akane was going to break off the engagement, for good this time. What a joyous day! Ryoga closed his eyes replayed the scene yet again. If he concentrated hard enough he could just hear their voices:
"I'm sorry Ranma, but I can not marry you," Akane would say, dressed in her yellow and lace sundress.
"You're leaving me," Ranma would reply, "But, why?"
"Because I already love another."
"But what man would be as dashing and handsome as to replace me?" Ranma would ask, "Tell me so that I might challenge him for your heart once again."
"One you could never hope to defeat," She would say, a wistful smile upon her face, "For I am in love with Ryoga Hibiki!"
"Ryoga!" Ranma would despair, "Curses, for I could never hope to foil one such as him! I have lost you."
"Oh, Ryoga," Akane would reply, turning her back on his rival. "Come to me my Darling," and he would run to her, as fast as his little black legs would carry him, jump into her arms, and gently nuzzle her breast with his snout.
Ryoga stopped and blinked. Wait, that's not how the fantasy was supposed to go. It did; however, remind him of the other problem he had to deal with before he could propose to Akane. She still didn't know that he was P-Chan. Ryoga sighed; he had been so preoccupied with his quest of finding the perfect engagement ring for Akane that he hadn't stopped to consider what would happen when she found out. The lost boy bit his bottom lip. If her reactions to any of Ranma's mischief were to be any indication, then when he told her, he could expect her to react with mallets, and a free trip to Kyoto curtsy of Akane's wrath. The image sent a shudder up and down his spine.
The thought shook him out of his trance and Ryoga for the first time in hours, looked around at his surroundings. It was dark, which was strange, because the business district was usually filled with people, lights and noise; and since when did it get so dark so early in Tokyo?
"Hey kid," a voice cried out to his left as a bright light shown in his face. Ryoga stopped, he recognized the language the voice was speaking in as English, but the dialect the speaker used was more British in nature. "What are you doing down here without a hard hat?"
Ryoga grimaced, he was lost again. Switching languages, he turned to answer the man who was fast approaching him. "I'm sorry, I'm looking for the Tokyo business district, you wouldn't happen to know the way?"
The voice paused for a second, "Tokyo…" Ryoga could hear the disbelief that laced the man's words; embarrassed he grabbed a lump of coal off of the ground and began to toss it about, "Kid, this is a diamond mine… In India."
"What?" Ryoga asked, squeezing the coal as hard as he could. How could he have wondered so far away in only a few hours? "You mean this isn't Japan?"
"Look," the miner pointed a grungy hand towards Ryoga's left, "Take the third elevator to the surface, if you hop a buss here in a bout thirty minutes, you can be in New Deli in a couple of hours. I'm sure you can catch a flight to Tokyo from there."
"Thank you," Ryoga said. His hand relaxing, a raw diamond resting in place of the coal, the lost boy turned right, and stalked off deeper into the tunnels.
"Aren't you going to tell him he's headed the wrong way?" one of the miner's co-workers asked.
The miner thought about the diamond resting in the teen's hand, and shook his head. "You tell him."
"Of all the stupid, clumsy, un-cute, tomboy things you've ever done," Ranma said, as he grabbed Akane by the arms and twisted her around, staring her down, "this one really takes the cake."
"Stupid," Akane's fists bawled up at her side, as her aura, glowing red, wisped about her. "I tell you that you're free to be with whomever you want to be with, and you call that stupid?"
"No, you're right," Ranma said, pushing his nose into the girl's personal space. "That wasn't stupid, it was idiotic! What do you mean I deserve someone else?"
"Look at us, Ranma," Akane shoved back, letting the full fury of her anger flow. "Here we go, at it again. Wouldn't you rather be with someone else you can talk to?"
"Like who?" Ranma asked, as he circled around Akane, counterclockwise. "Are you seeing someone else?"
"No!"
"Is there someone else that you want to date?"
"No," Akane huffed, threw back her head and snorted, "Of course there isn't anyone out there I want to see!"
"In that case I was wrong, this isn't idiotic," he said, "It's moronic!"
"What is so wrong with wanting to let you have someone you can talk to?" Akane said, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.
"Who else out there could I possibly want?" Ranma shouted back.
"I don't know," Akane said, irritation laced heavily in her tone, "maybe Ukyo?"
"Damn it, Akane. Why do you think I want Ukyo for some reason?"
"Because you can talk to her," Akane said, stepping away from Ranma.
"But I don't love her, you stupid Tomboy," the pig-tailed martial artist said.
"And, why not?"
"Because," Ranma grabbed her arm, and twirled her so that he could see her eyes once again, "I love you."
Akane stood for a moment in silence, her eyes threatening to spill into tears. How long had she waited to hear those three words, without her fiancé acting under the influence of love potions, magic spells, or Amazon artifacts? Yet here he was, he had said it; and she didn't believe a word of it. It reminded her to much of another time, not to long after they had met, when they were sparing in the dojo:
"You know, you're cute when you smile," he had said, sidestepping her punch. Akane had just stood there; mute, as Ranma poked her in the middle of the forehead with his index finger. "Gotcha."
Gotcha. He never said anything like that to her unless it was just to get her unbalanced enough to take advantage of her. Well she was tired of it: tired of the games, tired of playing Russian roulette with him. Akane reached out with her right hand, and struck Ranma's cheek as hard as she could. The slap echoed across the rooftops.
Nabiki walked down the stairs to the kitchen. It had been unusually hot this year in the Tokyo area, and the temperature had already climbed into the low 90's. Without the benefit of central heat and air, the summer was usually tolerable, if just barely. During a heat wave like this, it was unbearable. A few luxuries such as ice and lemonade; however, made the summer heat a little easer to cope with though. Fortunately for everyone, Kasumi always kept the kitchen well stocked with such items, and Nabiki was more than willing to partake of them.
Nabiki had just passed the dining room when she heard her father. "Nabiki, come here for a minute, I want to talk to you."
Nabiki rolled her eyes and stepped back towards the dining room. Leaning against the door jam, her eyes narrowed into slits as she studied her father. "Yes?"
The middle Tendo daughter did not like what she saw. Soun sat on the back porch, with Genma. Everything about the scene looked innocent, but of the three Tendo girls, Nabiki had been blessed with the ability to read her opponents, and it was the expression on her father's face that worried her. He was doing his best to look nonchalant, but the gleam in his eyes betrayed his intentions. The only other time that she had seen it, her younger sister gained a cross-gender fiancée. No, this did not bode well at all.
"Nabiki," Soun's eyes never left the game board, "I've been thinking about what we talked about over breakfast this mourning, and I've come to a decision."
"Talked?" Nabiki arched her right eyebrow. She didn't remember discussing anything with her father, much less telling him anything that would require a decision on his part.
"Yes, about you choice in colleges," Nabiki's jaw dropped. The old man was known to meddle needlessly in his daughters' affairs, but surely even he would not have the audacity to do what she thought he was about to do. "I don't think you should attend college in the States, it's much too far away. Therefore I have decided that you will be attending Tokyo in the fall."
Nabiki closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. So, he did have the audacity to do that, but then what else could she expect from a man who had arranged a marriage for his daughters at birth? Calming herself, she bit her bottom lip, "No, I'm not."
"What did you say?"
"I'm not attending Tokyo in the fall."
Soun looked across the yard at the koi pond, "You have no choice in the matter, I won't pay for any other school."
"And your point is?" Nabiki rolled her eyes at her father.
"You can't afford to go if I refuse to pay."
"I don't need for you to pay," Nabiki said as she turned her back to her father, "All of my choices gave me a full scholarship, plus expenses; you don't have a choice in the matter… Daddy." Sarcasm dripped from Nabiki's voice like venom as she walked past the room, towards the kitchen.
"She has a point there, Tendo," Genma said as he shuffled the pieces around the board, "It looks as though there's not much you can do about it."
"That's only a minor set back, Saotome," Soun looked back at the board in amazement. Genma always seemed to be able to miraculously turn the tide against him in their games in just one move. "I still have three months to change her mind in."
"What was that for?" Ranma said; his hand reached up to stroke the red handprint that throbbed on his cheek. "Geez Akane, I just told you I love you, and you slap the shit out of me. Talk about a Tomboy."
"I hit you," Akane's anger was barely contained as it rippled through her voice, "because, you didn't mean it."
"What do you mean I didn't mean it?" Ranma through up his hands, and stalked off to the edge of the roof. With all the incredulous things she could have possibly said… "Of course I meant it, I said it didn't I?"
"See," Akane said, crossing her arms at her waist. Her eyes locked on to the pig-tailed martial artist's back as he walked away. "There you go running away, again. You say you love me; then prove it."
Ranma stopped; his back going strait and stiff. His hands clenched at his side. "I've rescued you from kidnapers; fought oversized critters, and crazed martial artists; destroyed any chance I might ever have for a cure; and if it weren't for the fact that he was a god, and by default immortal, practically killed Saffron… all for you." Ranma turned on his heels, and marched over to the short haired girl. "Hasn't that been enough?"
"No Ranma," Akane said, pushing her nose into his personal space until it was just a few inches away from his, "it's not. You know as well as I, that you would have done those things anyhow. Your pride won't let you back down from anything. If that had been Shampoo or Ukyo you still would have done it, and you can't convince me otherwise."
The pig tailed martial artist let out a scream in frustration, as Akane, intent on staring him down, kept the tip of her nose just a few millimeters from his. What else could he do to convince her that he really loved her? He had already slain a dragon… sort of… Swam the Sea of Japan… Journeyed to the corners of the earth… Was there anything left he could do? His mind spun in circles, as it whirled about, trying to find a solution to the problem, and then he remembered that day in the dojo, when he had been kissed for the first time by a man:
"I dare you to kiss me," she had said.
He had not been able to of course, their families had interrupted with a video camera, spoiling what would be a rare moment between the two. As pointless as the dare had been though, it gave him an idea. Before the safety mechanisms in his brain could kick in, Ranma reached out, grabbed Akane's shoulders, and tried one last thing to persuade the short haired girl that he loved her.
Nabiki walked up the stairs, lemonade in hand, confident that she had won the first round with her father. She had been watching her sister's battles with him over the engagement, and had developed a solid understanding of where she had gone wrong. Akane had let the fool think he had a chance of winning. Nabiki however, was determined on not making her sister's mistake. No, this daughter would be left out of her father's schemes. She had her own life to live, and she would be damned if she was going to let her father of all people get in her way.
The middle daughter twisted the latch to her room, only to be met with her father's handy work. Flyers and brochures from Tokyo University lined the walls and ceiling of her room. Every square inch of space, every nook, and every cranny was filled with information on the university's School of Business, dorm life, scholarship opportunities, and success stories which had been spawned by the school. Without letting her anger slip she quietly closed the door, and pulled the Harvard brochures out from underneath her bed. Suddenly four years in the greater Boston area wasn't looking so bad.
The first thing that Akane realized when she came to her senses was that she was being kissed, but by whom? Judging by the firm grip her assailant had on her shoulders, and the flash of red silk and black hair, she surmised that it was Ranma who was doing the kissing. On impulse she raised her right hand and slapped him again.
Ranma pulled back, at the sharp pain on his already sore cheek, "What was that f…"
Akane didn't give him a chance to finish. Instead she reached out, grabbed her fiancée's ears and kissed him. His mouth still open in mid-sentence; their tongues, so used to sparring with one another, met for the first time on friendly terms. Two years of frustration and pent up emotions were released in that perfect moment, as the light from the sun painted the sky in a beautiful array of reds and oranges.
Reluctantly Akane broke the kiss, and drew in an awkward breath, "Never without my permission, Baka."
"Point taken, Tomboy," Ranma smiled. It was the same insult he always used when he wanted to get under her skin, but this time it was missing the malice usually present when he spoke it.
"Tomboy!" Akane said, anger starting to rise in her voice. Ranma placed a single finger over her lips.
"Hey," he said with a grin, wrapping his arms around her, "I'll have you know that I love a Tomboy."
Akane sighed as she turned towards the sunset, and leaned into the pig-tailed boy. How many nights had she fantasized about this? And now… But wait, what came next? All of her fantasies had ended here. There was still Ukyo, and Shampoo. Not to mention their families. How would they deal with it all? "Ranma," Akane's head turned towards her fiancée, "What do we do now?"
"I'm not sure," he said, "I guess we just keep things going the way that they are for now. I mean, we are still fiancées after all."
"No we aren't." Ranma looked down at the short haired girl, her face took on a dead pan expression, "I broke off the engagement, remember."
The pig-tailed boy let go of Akane and took a step back. He thought he heard her say something, but was not quite sure that he had heard her right. "Wait," he said, "I thought we took care of that."
"No, you told me that you love me, kissed me and I kissed you back," Akane jabbed her finger into his chest, "Just because I love you doesn't mean I don't still want to call off the engagement."
"Wait," A coy smile slipped onto Ranma's face, "say that again."
"Say what again? That I still want to call off the engagement?"
"No, before that," he frowned, "The 'I love you' part."
"Oh," Akane blushed again, "I love you, Ranma."
Ranma leapt high into the air in a back flip and landed on the ledge surrounding the school roof. Cupping his hands to his mouth he whooped, "Hey, everyone, did you hear that! She loves me!"
Akane's face flushed even more, as she ran quickly to her fiancée and pulled him down. "What are you doing?" she said as she looked around to make sure no one had seen, "Some one might hear you."
"Good, I want them to," Ranma said, as he picked her up by the waste and twirled her around.
"And what if Shampoo or Ukyo happened to be down there?" Akane asked as her feet touched the ground. "You remember the wedding don't you?"
"We've been through this," Ranma sighed, "Uc-chan said she was sorry, I thought you had forgiven her for that already."
"I have," Akane mumbled, "but I still don't want to take any chances. For the past two years you've had me worrying day and night that you would choose one of them over me. I'm tired of this. I love you Ranma," Akane said, her shoulders heaving in a sigh, "But now I want them to know that you chose me. Not them… me."
"But Akane…" Ranma started.
"No 'buts', Ranma, the engagement is off, until I get a ring." Akane sat down on the ledge, and turned away from the pig tailed boy. Her hands, cold, clammy and white with nervousness, wrung at the hem of her dress.
Ranma sat down behind her and rested his right hand on her shoulder, "I guess this means I need to find a job then."
Akane twirled back around, her face beaming as she cried one last time that night, "Really?"
"Yep," Ranma sighed, "I need to get that ring fast if we're going to get married before the end of the break."
Akane pulled back slightly, "Why so soon? We've got all the time in the world now."
Ranma shook his head, "Maybe, but then what if we run into someone like Saffron again?" Lines of worry covered Ranma's face, as he turned to watch the sunset. "What if one day I don't get there in time and something happens to you? What if I finally meet the person I just can't beat, and I don't come back home?" Ranma sighed, "You're right, we might have all the time in the world, but then again we might not."
Akane studied her love's face carefully. The cocky, arrogant mask had lifted, and under it, she saw for the first time the crack in her knight's armor. He was afraid. "That's what your dreams are about aren't they?"
"Yes," Ranma said. It was only a partial lie, he still couldn't remember the dreams, but he was sure there was more to it than that.
"Ranma," she said, slightly squeezing his hand, "If you can get me a ring with in a month, I'll marry you before school starts back."
"And if I can't?" Ranma swallowed.
Akane shifted back into his arms to watch as the sun slid below the horizon, and let out a mock sigh, "I guess I'll just have to marry you anyway."
Cologne sat behind the counter at the cat café as she thumbed through the day's mail. Bills, bills, bills and more bills. Who could have ever guessed that living in Nerima would be so much more costly than living in the village? But then who would have known that it would have been so much more fun as well?
Living such a long life was as much of a blessing as it was a curse. Over the past five hundred years she had watched her children, and great grandchildren grow up, and pass away. And never, no matter how honorable the battle, or how bright and beautiful the spirit, was it a good thing for a parent to bury a child. Yet, she had some how survived, and born through, as was expected of an elder of the tribe. Thus, five hundred years had passed in the village, as steady and regular as the waves of the ocean they had come.
Once long ago, a wise man once wrote that there was nothing new under the sun. Cologne understood first hand the truth of that statement. There is a pattern to life, if you watch long enough you can find it. Cologne had found that pattern four hundred years ago, and life for her had become… boring. That is, until the arrival of the Son-in-law.
The chaos that surrounded him made life exciting again. The elder never knew what was going to happen next, and as a result life had become interesting again. The past two years had been the most fun that she had had in ages. For that reason, she smiled as she opened the letters one by one, that is, until she reached the last one.
It was from the village. Under normal circumstances she would have been ecstatic to receive news from home, the elders had grown jealous of the time that she spent here, and often wrote to her, begging for updates on the Son-in-law's exploits. But for some reason the letters had been coming less and less frequently, and although the news contained within was still good, the pattern of their arrival had began to worry the old Amazon, until last month, the letters had finally stopped. Now this letter had arrived, only judging by the date on the letter it had been sent over a month ago. With a wrinkled brow Cologne read the letter.
"Honored Elder,
Good news! The Party has finally assigned a new magistrate to govern the
prefecture. Maybe this one will only take from us what the state designates as our
allotment for taxes, but then this would be asking to much, wouldn't it.
On other matters, concerning your last letter; if things are going as poorly
for your great granddaughter as you say, then you are correct in notifying us. The
council deliberated on the matter for quite a while, but we reached a decision. If
the occasion does arise that the boy does not take her as his bride, then you have
our permission to carry out your plan.
Stay young, and know that we all eagerly await your next letter. Perfume,
has bet the council five lambs that Akane still won't figure out who her pet
actually is by the end of the month.
The Council."
Cologne tucked the letter away, and turned off the lights in the kitchen.
"Shampoo, my love," Mousse cried from upstairs.
"Silly duck-boy, Shampoo no like you," her granddaughter screamed back at him. There was a loud bang, followed by the warbling sound of a lid, lazily spinning to a stop. Cologne smiled, she would wait to tell the youngsters about the letter later, she didn't want to ruin their fun just yet.
Ranma set Akane down on the floor as he turned to make sure that no one had watched him carry her back to her room. It was at times like this that he was glad that his father had taught him how to leap from rooftop to rooftop, and into and out of second story windows. It was just dark enough outside, that maybe no one had seen the two of them, and they could have just enough time together to say good-night.
"Are you sure about this?" Akane whispered as she pulled him to her in the darkness.
"We went over this on the way back home, Tomboy," Ranma wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tight as he kissed her one last time, "It's the only way we can make sure that we don't get rail-roaded into another wedding before I can get you that ring."
"Would that be so bad?" Akane asked.
"I thought you wanted them to know that this was our decision and not theirs?"
"I do," Akane said into his chest, "I'm just going to miss this, that's all."
"Who said we had to stop, we'll just have to be careful about it," Ranma shrugged, "Look, leave your window unlocked and I'll tell you good-night before you go to bed."
Akane sighed, she had been doing that more often as of late, "I guess that will just have to do then. I guess the only question then is how long can we keep this a secret."
"No," Nabiki's voice spoke from the darkness behind them, "the question is, how much are you willing to pay to keep this a secret?"
Ranma stepped between his love, and her older sister. "Not this time, Nabiki."
"Oh really," Nabiki rolled her eyes, "And what are you going to do to stop me if you don't pay? Beat me up?"
Akane cracked her knuckles and smiled, "No, there's no need for that, I'm sure that when you think about things you'll understand that it's in your best interest to help us."
Nabiki raised an eyebrow, "What makes you say that?"
"Simple," Akane smiled a devilish grin, "if dad finds out that Ranma and I are on… friendlier terms with one another, and forces a marriage, who's life do you think he's going to start meddling in then? There's only you and Kasumi. Ranma do you want to make a bet on which one it's going to be?"
"Heh," Ranma laughed, "it's a fifty-fifty chance I guess. Care to flip a coin, Nabiki? But then I could have a talk with you father about your marriage prospects, everyone knows that Kasumi has a suitor."
For the first time in ages, Nabiki went white with fear, "You wouldn't dare."
Akane looked up at Ranma, "I don't know, you remember some of those famous Saotome attacks, don't you Nabiki? Look, a 100 yen coin!"
Nabiki gritted her teeth, they had her, and she knew it. If she auctioned off this juicy tidbit of information, she could kiss Harvard good-bye. "Fine," she said, throwing her hands up in surrender, "I'll do what I can to help."
**********
Thank you to everyone for your kind reviews, I really appreciated them. Sorry it took so long to get the second chapter up, but I have two conferences to present at this month, and a poster contest my advisor insisted that I enter. Sigh, the life of a grad student. Oh, well. Please once again C & C. I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong. -Tracy.