A.N.: hey readers! Oh no! So much drama! And it continues… the roof was only the beginning… I had to put in some Ryoga—I couldn't leave him out! I like him as a character! So I figured he'd do what he could to save the day. So sorry for not posting in a million years… I've had a lot going on…my computer died! And I lost everything… everything! And right now I'm really disoriented from spending the day at six flags…I still don't know which way is up and which is down…my body has this feeling that gravity is pushing me downward at some odd angle… hopefully I'll return to normal soon…. Pls review…I wont make you wait this long again!

Disclaimer: This story is 100 mine, but the characters and curse belong to Rumiko T.!

Chapter 14: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

"Hey! Over here! We found 'em!" One of the firemen shouted. "Are they alive?" Another one asked. The first rescuer knelt down. "We need an ambulance!" He shouted.

Half an hour earlier…

Nodoka Saotome sat in the kitchen reading a cooking magazine, and figuring out what to make for dinner tonight. She made deal with Kasumi that they would alternate nights for making dinner.

She sat reading while her son and Akane were training in the dojo. The rain and thunder started and got progressively worse. She had sent her husband and Soun Tendo into town, because they would have been nagging her all day. She told them it was Saturday and they should go have some fun. With that, they sprinted down to the bar.

The thunder was really starting to bother her. There was something she felt in her chest. It was an ominous feeling, like something was about to go terribly wrong. Her woman's intuition was frighteningly good, so she became very worried. Just as she got up and started walked towards the dojo, she heard the loud crash and Akane's scream. Her fast walk turned into a sprint, and she ran to the dojo. She opened the door, and as soon as she saw what it looked like, she doubled back for the phone to call some help. The debris was too heavy for her to lift, and the other Tendo daughters were out. She was in a panic until the rescue team showed up.

"Please! My son and his fiancée are in there!" She shouted. She was frantic. The men hurried and spread out. They went about clearing the debris. It was only a matter of time before they found who they were looking for.

The present…

The rescue team moved to remove as much debris from the two as they could. They had to be quick, because there were still parts of the roof that endangered them. Once the debris was moved from on top of Ranma and Akane, the men grabbed the two girls and carefully pulled them up and out.

They were both unconscious. There were no life threatening injuries, but Ranma was bleeding from where he had been hit on the head. They both had cuts and bruises, but they were lucky it was only that.

The ambulance arrived and Ranma and Akane were taken to the hospital. The rescue men allowed Nodoka to ride along, but they advised her to leave a note saying where they were for Genma and Soun.

Ryoga was the first to see the note, and was quick to try and find everyone. He had seen the caved in roof, and wondered what happened. It didn't take him too long to reach the bar. He got a little lost, but many town members knew where it was and pointed him in the right direction. Soun and Genma were dead drunk. He had been using his umbrella, but Genma turned into the panda when he exited. It was a sight. Two men, one of them drunk, and a very drunk panda came running into the E.R. Ryoga was pushed out of the way when the male nurses pushed the panda out the door, and lost his grip on the umbrella. He fell into the puddles, being pounded on by the harsh cold rain, a little black pig.

He decided, little pig or not, he still had to tell Kasumi and Nabiki. He knew where he could run, so he went to Ukyo's restaurant and burst through the doors. "Ryoga?" She noticed him and scooped him into her arms before the patrons who were eating could notice. She doused him with hot water and gave him some clothes. While he dressed, he told her of what happened to Ranma. They left in a hurry, under an umbrella, and Ukyo told Ryoga that Akane's sisters could just read the note. The most important thing was that the fathers, drunk or panda, or not, were at the hospital.

Ukyo brought along another pot of hot water for Genma, and turned him human so he didn't have to sit out in the rain. They'd bring him in so he could be drunk inside, and not catch a cold.

A little while later they asked the nurse where Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo were. She responded, "Saotome, Saotome, Ah yes! Ranma and Akane Saotome are in room 321, upstairs." Both Ryoga and Ukyo were shocked that Akane was under the name Saotome, but they went upstairs to see them just the same.

"Mrs. Saotome!" Ryoga called. She looked up and was happy to see him. She was also very happy he was supporting a drunken Genma. She gave a motherly smile and thanked him for retrieving the men from the bar. She also greeted Ukyo with a warm smile.

"How are they? What happened?" Ryoga asked impatiently. "Well, They don't have any life threatening injuries. Just cuts and bruises, but Ranma's got quite a bump on the head. They say it's a concussion. Akane fainted and she's got a stress fracture in the wrist, but she's okay. They're both still unconscious." She said. "But how?" Ryoga asked.

"Well, I guess it was the storm. I don't know what it was. It just happened." She said. Ryoga went in with Ukyo. Nodoka was keeping an eye on the drunken men, so she couldn't sit in their hospital room. Akane had one bed, and Ranma had the other. He had been turned back into a man at the request of his mother. They were sleeping soundly. Both had bandages on their cuts, and Akane had her wrist wrapped up because of the fracture. It was still raining very hard. The thunder had subsided, but the rain was still coming down very hard.

A few minutes later, Akane started stirring, and Ukyo went to tell Nodoka and the fathers. "Hey, you gave us quite a scare." Ryoga said. "Oh my god what happened? Ranma!" She said, realizing she was in a hospital. "Its okay. Ranma's here." Ryoga said, pointing to the next bed. She saw her fiancé in the bed and quickly jumped out of hers. She anxiously looked down on his sleeping form. Ryoga was a bit taken aback by her quick movements. "Um Akane, wait, don't stress yourself. You've been through a great ordeal. Please try to calm down." He said.

"No. I'm fine, really. I want to know how Ranma is. Is he hurt? Is he okay? Tell me!" she was frantic and tears were in her eyes.

"Akane, honey, calm down now. There's nothing to worry about. Ranma's just got a bit of a concussion. He'll be fine." Mrs. Saotome put a hand on Akane's shoulder, which calmed her down a little. She didn't want to get back into bed, but she agreed to sit. Ryoga moved the chair next to Ranma's bed so Akane could sit there and hold his hand.

The doctor came in and checked the health of his patients. He released Akane, but she didn't leave Ranma. She was by his side, holding his hand. In time the rain let up, but it was still drizzling. The nurses were worried about her, but they realized the only thing that would make her feel better was being with Ranma, so they let her stay after visiting hours. Akane fell asleep with her head on the edge of Ranma's bed. She prayed he'd wake up soon.

Ranma woke on the third day. It was in the early morning. The sun was giving the room a little light. It was the normal amount of light that you would find in a room with the lights off- dull, but not dark.

He looked out of the shaded window until he realized someone was sitting next to his bed. He saw her, sleeping with her head resting on her bandaged wrist like it was a pillow. She looked so peaceful, but looked like she had lost sleep.

He lifted his head and it started throbbing. There was a big bump on the back of it, which he ran his hand over.

Akane woke to the sounds of Ranma's wincing. She looked up and saw him rubbing his head. "You're awake. I was so worried!" She smiled and yawned. "Yes I am awake. My head hurts. You look really tired. Um…" There was a weird blank look on his face, almost like he didn't recognize Akane, like he was smiling at her in politeness. "Ranma, are you feeling okay?" She asked. "Um yeah, I feel pretty good, a little achy, but okay. Um I'm sorry, but who are you?" He asked with a shy chuckle. He was flattered that a pretty girl was by his side, and was worried about him, but he was drawing a big blank when he tried to remember anything that happened before he woke up.

Akane was very alarmed at this. "Ranma, you don't know who I am?" She asked. "Well, yeah. I can't really remember- Um, anything."