A.N.: hey readers! I hope you like how this is going. I do! I'm enjoying this. I am a bit confused though, because even though Ranma is Ranma, he's Ranma with out a memory, so it just makes him a person inside Ranma's body, so is he leeching off of Akane's love? Well maybe not, because subconsciously, he still is Ranma, and he loves her…AWW! Lovey dovey mushy hoochy coochy wub—with a w and a b. Not love—wub! Hee hee 3 . . ! I love those! Or I wub those! Okay I'll stop… I wub you readers/reviewers! So much wub! Ooh yeah—take a page from another chapter—hehe say babies! Hahahaha had to do that—wub and babies—I'm so weird… who even knows if I'm going to include babies in this story—maybe maybe maybe I'm really not sure—if you guys say you want babies, then I'll make babies—but be specific—ranma/akane, ryoga/ukyo, or kasumi/tofu.! Happy reading—no babies in this chapter hehehe…
Disclaimer: This story belongs to me—100 my craziness—but the characters and curse belong to R.T.
Chapter 15: Introductions and Something Familiar
"You don't remember anything?" She sounded more anxious as he thought she might, if she was someone who cared for him, or the person he was. "Everything's a blank. I don't remember anything. I only know my name because you called me Ranma." He said.
"So you really don't know who you are, where you come from, where you live, how old you are? Nothing?" She asked. "No. But you must know all of those things, right? Who are you?" He asked. Maybe learning something about someone who knew him could help him remember things about himself.
"I'm Akane Tendo. You are Ranma Saotome. We are seventeen years old. Our fathers trained together under the martial arts. You are also a martial artist." She said to start. She didn't want to scare him by telling him they were engaged. He nodded. "I'm Ranma- Saotome? Big name. I'm seventeen, and I'm a martial artist. And you are Akane Tendo. Got it." He nodded, trying to memorize it. Akane continued.
"You and your dad have been training together since you were very young. You two left your mom to go train around the country. You saw her for the first time in over ten years last week." He was listening and learning his life story from another person. It was an interesting one, and it was his, so he wanted to know everything.
"So how did we meet?" Ranma asked. She was very pretty, and very kind, so he wondered if he had any feelings for her. He didn't have to wonder because he knew he felt something for this girl, but he wondered if she knew he had feelings for her, and wondered if she had feelings for him in return. Ranma figured she must have, because why else would she sit at his bedside.
"We met a year ago. You and your dad are currently living with my family. My dad owns a dojo, and-" she suddenly looked a little worried. "Go on." He said to encourage her. Even if it was something bad he wanted to know. "Our fathers made arrangements when we were little. You would inherit the dojo from my dad when-" She stopped again. "Please continue, if it's something bad I don't care-it's my life right?" Akane nodded and finished the sentence. "You would inherit the dojo from my dad when you and I got married." Ramna's eyes widened a little.
"You're shocked now? Just wait." She said. "No way! There's more interesting stuff? Wow." Akane prepared to tell him about the curse, but couldn't because the nurse walked in.
"Oh good morning Akane. Ranma you're awake! Good heavens!" the nurse ran out to get the doctor. They entered the room a minute later. "How are you feeling today Ranma?" the doctor asked.
"I don't remember anything. Other than that I'm great." He said. For some reason he wasn't too worried about not remembering anything. "Oh my." The nurse said. "You poor dear." She said. The doctor checked Ranma out. He did some tests, and decided to keep him a while longer for observation. Ranma and Akane agreed and the doctor left. Akane said she'd call everyone in a little while when he offered to do it.
"Okay, back to where we were." Akane said. "Yeah, yeah. Tell me all the juicy details of my life." He said. Akane was cheering him up and gave him the impression that he could rely on her.
"So before you and your dad came to my house, you had a training trip to China. You two were training at this place where there are cursed springs. When you fall into one, you transform into whatever drowned in the spring when you're hit with cold water. You and your dad fell into separate springs. Your dad becomes a panda, and you turn into a girl. Hot water changes you back into your normal body." "What? I'm cursed-to become a girl? Oh my god!" He was shocked and appalled.
"I know. You hate it. You were always trying to find a cure." She said. "Is there one?" He asked. "Oh yes. It's not as important as other things though. You'd go if it was free, but you didn't have the time or money. It wasn't unbearable though. You made it fun sometimes." "Well, maybe it isn't that bad, but that's kind of weird- a guy becoming a girl." He said. "But you still haven't answered my question. Not really. How did we meet?"
"The first time we ever met, you were a girl. It was raining the day you and Genma came. I found out the hard way that you were a guy. But nobody told me Kasumi sent you off to take a bath." "That must have been embarrassing for both of us." Ranma said imagining that.
"It was, but everything got complicated after that. It wasn't between us really, I mean it was sort of, but everything was complicated until recently." She said. "Complicated? How so?" He asked. He didn't know about their relationship. They were betrothed, but what did that mean?
"Akane, tell me about yourself. I know the basics of my life now, but what about you?" Akane was a little relieved she didn't have to get into the whole big complicated story of what happened from the time they met to the present. She started with the basics.
"Well, I am the youngest of three daughters. My mother died when I was really young, so my father and sisters raised me. I train under the martial arts, and can kick any guy's butt except for you and our friend Ryoga. You can kick his butt, and he is always trying to get better so he can beat you." They laughed. There was one more thing he wanted to ask but didn't know how to go about asking it.
"Akane, what about us? What were we like? Were we friends?" She was happy Ranma was asking the questions, rather than her bringing them up on her own.
"What we were Ranma, we were many things." She said. Ranma's heart twinged. He hoped that meant something good. "What do you mean- many things?" He asked.
"I sort of hoped we could talk about this later. It's a really long story." She said. "Well, then tell me how this happened. How did I end up here?" He asked. "I'll answer that." She said.
"It happened on Saturday. Today is Tuesday. We came home from school everyday and for an hour or so we would train together. It was mostly you training me. It was raining really hard. The roof started creaking and we tried to run, but it caved in. You got most of the injuries because you were protecting me. You got hit on the head, and then we both were unconscious. I woke up about an hour later with this." She held up her left hand that was wrapped up. She started crying. "I'm so sorry this happened." Ranma wanted to do something to consol her. He grabbed the wrapped hand gently and held it.
"Akane, I think I- the old me- I must have fallen in love with you pretty soon after we met." She looked at him. "Why do you say that?" She asked. "Because I feel like I'm in love with you." He said. "And," he slipped the engagement ring off of her finger. "Why else would I have given you something like this?" He said. "Yeah, we were in love. We were engaged without being betrothed. We loved each other with a passion."
Ranma smiled. "Somehow I knew that. I don't know why. It's weird, but when I look at you, a person I have just met, I don't know, but you make me feel good. You make me feel calm, without a care in the world. Maybe there's something about you that lingers in my memory, but there's something really special about you." He smiled. Akane smiled and started crying again.
"So when was the wedding?" He asked. "Soon. A little more than a month away." She said. "And what about other stuff- when did I tell you I loved you for the first time?" He asked.
"A few weeks ago. You can even say our one month anniversary is this coming Saturday." She said. "Our one month anniversary of what?" Ranma asked. "Our one month anniversary of everything." She said in an exasperated voice. Ranma choked. "E-everything? Even…?" "Yes." Akane answered. She could only tell this sort of stuff to one person, and she was talking to him. "So you're telling me that I forgot about my first time? I forgot about me telling you I loved you, our first kiss? Everything we ever had-I forgot it all." He sounded so depressed now. "Man. I thought being cursed was bad, but then I find out my life was so good. I'd give anything to remember us. No wonder you seemed unhappy, I'd be too. Just imagine having to tell the person you loved how they fell in love with you, or what they were feeling, or what they said and did. I'm sorry to put you through so much." Ranma said. Akane didn't think he should be apologizing for getting amnesia.
"Ranma listen. I love you, and I'd do anything for you. You don't have to apologize for this. Things happen. Maybe you'll get those memories of us back one day. You have time. Just concentrate on getting your health back to its fullest for now.
A half hour later the gang walked in the door. The doctor had called after he saw Ranma a couple of hour earlier, and told the family of his condition. Ranma had fun guessing who they all were from what Akane had told him. They had fun for the most part, but both he and Akane were sad about his lost memories.
"The doctor said he'll release you after lunch." Mrs. Saotome said. Ranma smiled and nodded and couldn't help but feel a little like a stranger. Akane gave him hope though. He saw her and knew that, amnesia or not, she loved him, and would always be there by his side, supporting him, and he loved her for that.
