Words in (italics) are thoughts.
REKINDLING A FLAME
by: SkywatchPART THREE: SPARKS FLYING
Fifteen hour days for eighteen straight days. Ranma took short breaks for meals, but otherwise he trained from dawn onwards. He was in constant motion, doing katas and martial arts exercises to build up his stamina and strength. He joined the dojo's advanced afternoon classes - taught by Akane now - much to the amazement of the students who had seen him after the accident. The surprise quickly turned to chagrin as he sparred with them and brought them all down. There was no question about it; he was still their sensei in the Art.
The pigtailed youth went through the exercise with his usual bravado, but silently he worried. Six of their best students had rushed him in a surprise coordinated effort, and although they'd ended up on the floor, some of their hits had gotten through. A year ago they wouldn't have been able to touch him.
Then there was Akane. With complete objectivity, Ranma admitted that she had improved tremendously over the years. A fight between her and Shampoo would be a toss up now. So it didn't surprise him, considering his present condition, that she won most of their fights.
The problem was that meant he would lose to Ryouga. The Lost Youth had always been his closest rival, and in many things they were an even match. Except for that brief period when Ranma had learned the Kaachu Tenshin Amaguriken and Ryouga hadn't trained for the Bakusai Tenketsu yet, the fights between them had always been close things.
Ryouga wasn't an inventive fighter, but he was immensely tough and determined. Ranma had the edge in speed a lot less than it used to be and tactical ability, but the danger was that Ryouga, allowed enough time, would wear him down enough to land one powerful blow. (The way I am, one blow would be enough.)
Splash!
"Whatcha do that for?!" a soaked and female Ranma sputtered.
"Sorry!" A sound that suspiciously resembled a giggle came from Akane as she let the bucket drop. "You looked so serious standing there, I just couldn't resist. Besides," she continued, trying unsuccessfully to sound more serious, "you know the rules. We have to trigger the curse regularly as part of your therapy."
"Well, there's nothing in the rules that says I have to have my clothes on!" Ranma shot back irritably. Automatically, the redhead began fumbling with the ties of the soggy, suddenly ill-fitting, gi.
"Sorry, I just - hey, what do you think you're doing?!"
"What?" Ranma glanced up at the girl who was now taller than him.
"You're taking your shirt off in the middle of the yard!"
"Yeah, so?"
"You're a girl right now, baka!" Akane reminded him indignantly. "The gate's wide open! What if someone passes by and sees you?"
Infuriatingly, the well-endowed pigtailed girl just shrugged. "S'not like it matters. 'Sides, everyone in Nerima knows I'm a guy."
Akane threw up her hands in exasperation. "That's not the point! Ranma, we've talked about this before. You've got to be more modest when you're a girl. I mean, do you like the idea of some pervert ogling you?"
That touched a nerve. "Hey, it's not MY fault some guys go all ditzy at the sight of a naked girl!" the redhead began heatedly, hands on hips and all set to quarrel. "If they can't handle it, that's not my prob--" Ranma's voice suddenly trailed off. His eyes grew wide. "That's it!"
"What's it?"
"Akane." Ranma wasn't looking at her, his eyes were focused far off, but his hand rose and gripped her arm tightly. "You're a genius!"
Not for the first time, her husband had her totally confused, Akane thought. "I am?"
"Yeah!" he sounded positively exuberant. Ryouga, look out! I'm winning this match, no matter what! Then, just as quickly as it came, the cheerfulness went, replaced by something that darkened the pigtailed girl's face. (Yer not taking her away from me ...)
The ambiguous visage troubled Akane, more so now that it was on the smaller girl's gamine features. Ranma was usually more relaxed, even mischievous, when he was a girl. Impulsively, she squeezed the hand that still gripped her arm.
"What -" Ranma squeaked, flustered.
That's better. For a moment, Akane considered asking him to withdraw his challenge. But she thought she'd finally come to understand Ranma's reasons for challenging his old rival. (This is it. He's decided to test his abilities, and what better way than to fight Ryouga? Kami, why couldn't he choose Kuno?) If she had foreseen this, she would've never involved Ryouga. Heck, she would've sent him on a one-way boat ride to Hokkaido!
Too late now. "I just wanted to say good luck." Her smile masked her nervousness. So much at stake on one fight! But then this was the way it had been all their lives.
Ranma blinked in surprise. "Uh, thanks." He paused uncertainly. "Will you be there, Akane?"
There he goes again, Akane thought. What made me think that he was getting predictable? "Whatever happened to don't interfere in a fight between two guys'?" she teased.
She'd mimicked him so well that he had to laugh. "Well you're not going to interfere ..." He looked at her solemnly. "Besides, you kinda have a stake in the outcome, too."
"I'll say," she sighed. "Yes, of course, I'll be there."Akane sat at her old desk, gazing at the quiet world outside her window. How had the days passed by so fast?
She'd tried to sleep. She actually had for maybe an hour or two, but then the dream had begun. Only it had changed.
A black-clad Ryouga easily held a katana poised over Ranma's neck. Akane was running towards the pair, frantic to stop them. But even as she ran she knew that she was too slow or the distance was too great, she was never going to make it.
"I'm sorry, Akane, but this is giri, neh?" Ryouga called out with a toothy apologetic smile, "Ranma asked me. I can't back out." Akane screamed as the blade flashed down.
It was a pretty accurate representation of her feelings right now. She had tried, without being to obvious about it, to locate Ryouga so she could reason with him. She had searched logically, in a pattern of concentric circles that narrowed towards the dojo. The problem, she realized too late, was that she had looked for Ryouga as if he were anyone else. As the day of the fight drew nearer, she'd assumed that he would be making his way steadily to the dojo and that he'd be closer. But this was the Lost Youth. If there was a pattern to Ryouga's movements and the way he traveled, she didn't understand it. She doubted even Ryouga did. He could be anywhere and still pop up at the empty lot in time or get lost entirely and end up in Hokkaido. (Please make it Hokkaido.)
Akane gave up on sleep and stood up. Maybe some warm milk will help. As she made her way to the kitchen, she wondered how Ranma was, now that the fight was just hours away. They had taken to sleeping in separate bedrooms and Ranma had been locked inside his room since morning. Although he had called out a greeting when she returned, she hadn't seen him.
'Maybe it was a good thing that I didn't find Ryouga,' she thought as she sat on a stool and sipped from her warm cup. As much as she hated to admit it, Ranma was right. This was the test he had chosen, and under the rules of their Art (if not quite their school) she wasn't supposed to interfere. It wasn't even a fight to the death. That it was dangerous on so many other levels didn't count. Even if Ranma wins, a beating from Ryouga now might undo all the therapy. And if Ranma lost, he would demand ... Oh kami. She shivered.
"Kinda cold tonight, isn't it?" Akane sensed her husband a few seconds before he spoke. Steady hands wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.
"So how's Kasumi?" Ranma asked. Akane's excuse for being out all day was a visit to her pregnant sister.
(I wish I knew.) Kasumi hadn't spoken to her in months. The last time she had visited, oneechan had firmly reproved Akane for her behavior towards Ranma. Although Akane longed to confide in somebody she could trust and talk to, she couldn't tell her oldest sister about the promise. Kasumi would be horrified, and that was the last thing her sister needed in her condition.
"She's fine." That was true as far as Akane knew. "You should be resting. Ryouga's coming back today, isn't he?"
"Feh, if he doesn't get lost," Ranma scoffed. "Don't mind me, I just got up for some water." His words were a little hurried; he wasn't a good liar. He had gotten up to get a drink, but the sight of the light coming from the kitchen had set his heart beating. Akane. He missed her, he guessed, or maybe he missed the way things used to be between them. He had crept down and watched her from the doorway for awhile, before coming in. The look on her face was so sad, so faraway.
Akane stood up. "Want some milk? I just heated some, it should still be warm."
"Sure. Hey, since I'm up anyway, why don't I make us some sandwiches to go with that? Sort of a midnight snack?" he grinned.
"Ranma, it's three in the morning."
"Ok, a very early breakfast." He already had a knife out and some bread. "Where'd you put the cheese? Do we have ham?"
She handed them to him, and Ranma was off. Seeing Ranma's skills put to use in the preparation of food was something that never failed to make Akane a little envious. She knew from experience that the slices of cheese, ham and bread flying in the air from the speed of his chops would be a bit raggedy around the edges but would otherwise be even. Although Akane's food was far from toxic now, Ranma would always be the faster and better cook. Before the accident, he had done more than a fair share of the cooking. Akane's job had been to make sure that they had a proper stock of food and that the bills were paid. Ranma didn't have a lot of patience when it came to stores and credit cards.
Ranma brushed the crumbs from his hands. "Here."
"Thanks." Akane handed him a steaming mug of milk. "Careful, I just reheated that."
"Okay."
They ate together, and for an hour or so it was almost like old times, the two of them sharing an easy domesticity that came from being together for so long. They began to talk, first about family and friends (omitting Ryouga), and then about the dojo and the students.
"I think Kensai's getting serious about martial arts," Akane said. "He's been attending almost every class."
"We'll see." Ranma's tone was non-committal.
"Give him a chance. Just because he's Kuno's cousin ..."
"It ain't that." The pigtailed martial artist toyed with his mug. Kensai possessed many of the Kuno traits - he was tall and dark-haired, and Ranma supposed that girls found him good-looking - but he wasn't crazy and he didn't break into bad poetry. Ranma had a sneaking suspicion, though, that Kensai had the same Kuno predilection for certain Tendos. "I just don't trust this sudden dedication of his to martial arts. He wasn't around much when I was teaching the advanced classes."
Akane gave him a strange look. Then she threw her head back and laughed.
"What? What did I say?" he asked, bewildered.
"Ranma Saotome, I do believe you're jealous!"
"No way! Why should I be jealous over a clumsy uncute tom-" Akane grinned at him knowingly. "Okay, fine. Maybe a little," he growled, "but that doesn't mean it ain't true."
Ranma sneaked a glance at his wife - with her tousled hair and eyes teary from laughter, and the sunny smile that was still there - and suddenly knew that he would never keep the bargain with Ryouga even if his rival won. He would fight tooth and nail if he had to. He would never give her up.
What was he doing, anyway, making her a stake in a fight like this? He had allowed it so cavalierly before, when he had been so blazingly cocksure that he would never lose a fight. Then again, all sixteen year-olds thought they were immortal, Ranma more than most, because for a long time he hadn't met anything he couldn't beat. But later events had chipped away at that certainty - Herb and the Musk Dynasty, Phoenix Mountain, where he and Akane almost died, and now this past year. None of them were invulnerable. He wouldn't take that for granted again. Thanks to pride and temper though, here he was repeating the same mistake. 'Ranma no baka,' he thought ruefully.
"Akane, I -" I'm sorry. (This fight's stupid. I should've told you why bacon breath bugs me so much. I shouldn't have ...)
"Ranma -" (please don't do this. I believe in you, but there are so many things that could go wrong. There's nothing between me and Ryouga. I'd never ...)
"Go ahead," she said.
He hesitated. (Too late to back out now.) "I don't want you to worry." (She deserves a choice. If she's still with me just because of duty, this will give her a way out ... but I ain't giving up without a fight.) Mind made up, he got to his feet. "Akane."When she tilted her head to look up at him, he leaned towards her and kissed the startled expression off her face. 'I'm not going to lose you,' he thought, but never said. Instead, he whispered, "I'm not going to lose."Ryouga stared disbelievingly at the vacant lot in front of him. "KU-SO!" The expletive echoed as he scanned the area. (Figures. The one time I actually try to get lost ...) He dropped his pack at the foot of a familiar-looking tree and indian-sat next to it. A disgusted look at the sky confirmed his suspicions. Not only was he where he was supposed to be, he was a couple of hours early.
That was where Akane found him. Even with his back to her, the bandana and the yellow shirt were unmistakable. "Ryouga," she whispered, more to acknowledge his presence to herself than to call him.
He heard her anyway. Ryouga scrambled to his feet, facing her but keeping his eyes averted after one glance. He had come to Akane many times – as a pig and as a man – but never had she met him with such dread in her eyes. That he should be the cause of her fear was hard to bear.
It had taken him days to figure out that Akane didn't actually want him to fight Ranma. He was chopping wood and mulling over the unexpected challenge from Ranma when the thought hit: maybe Akane's interruptions and protests had been real? (Shimatta.)
"I'm sorry, Akane," Ryouga blurted out. "I tried-" (But not hard enough, else I'd still be in Hokkaido now, wouldn't I?) All he'd had to do was to stay put, but pride and honor wouldn't allow him to default. So he had started out, hoping that he would lose his way and be too late instead. And why not? It had happened many times before.
Just not this time. He had declined the choice, and left it to fate, and fate had decided to give him a chance to beat Ranma – Kami-sama, where had that thought come from?! He sagged against the tree. NO! To beat his rival when the latter was weakened by chance was not ... it DIDN'T count. Nothing in this duel mattered, Ryouga reminded himself, except that Ranma be whole at the end of it and Akane find some measure of peace.
Ryouga straightened, firmly resolved now. "Akane -"
"Ryouga -"
Akane motioned at him to go ahead.
Ryouga cleared his throat. Over the years, he had learned the hard way that even difficult things sometimes needed to be said. "I'm not here to hurt Ranma. This fight's not about winning, but," he hurried as he saw the relief on her face, "I can't not fight him, Akane. You know the rules as well as I do. A challenge was issued, one martial artist to another."
"But it was a challenge based on a misunderstanding!" the girl protested. "Ranma was angry. For some reason, he thinks that you and I ..." she trailed off, embarrassed. How could she explain Ranma's irascible determination to fight his old rival, when she didn't completely understand it herself?
But Ryouga did, and in that moment he knew he was going to tell her. Whether it was this troubling subterfuge with Ranma or the fact that he was simply ready at last, the time for half-truths between him and Akane was over. Besides, he had promised. He had abused her trust once, and almost lost her friendship as a consequence. To make amends, he had given her his word. "I will never lie to you again, Akane-san. Well, not about anything that matters."
(Guess this matters.) He took a deep breath. (Strange how I can face all kinds of natural disasters and martial arts challengers without a qualm, but talking to a girl still ties me up in knots.) This girl in particular. "Akane, it's not so weird." Warmth suffused his cheeks, and his heart started hammering. "I … Ranma knows that I … loved you for a very long time."
To say that the object of his declaration was taken aback was putting it lightly.
"Wha - what?" Stunned was more like it.
She never even guessed. Ryouga grinned weakly. "I tried to tell you once. There was a letter …"
"That was you?" Akane remembered it clearly, the unsigned letter that had come out of the blue one cool day, delivered by a strange friendly dog. The love it had confessed had been ardent and noble, and had moved her to reply with more honesty than an anonymous letter would've ordinarily merited.
"I'm sorry. I love someone else,' she had written in a steady hand, her heart pounding hard. But she couldn't bring herself to write Ranma's name, not then. The knowledge was too raw, and the situation between Ranma and her had been tenuous at best.
It was the first time she had admitted it to someone else. As it was she had just begun to acknowledge it to herself. And now it turned out that the first person she'd told about her feelings for Ranma was Ryouga?! (And he was in love with me? Kami.) Such a strange coincidence, and yet somehow wildly appropriate. Sometimes it seemed to Akane that the Fates trained a winking eye on - what was it Sayuri called them? oh yes - the Nerima Wrecking Crew.
"Ryouga, I ..." Akane trailed off. Her thoughts were a jumble. (He must've been hurt when I sent the letter. And was this why he'd spent all that time with me as P-chan?) She had thought it strange then that when she discovered Ryouga's curse, Ranma had tried to plead his case. It had hurt her deeply. Of course, she had punched out Ranma's lights, too, when she found out that her fiancée had known.
When they finally talked, Ranma would only say that Ryouga had good reasons, and that he understood them even if Ryouga's actions were dead wrong. "I wouldn't have left you with him, Akane, if I wasn't absolutely sure that you were safe with Ryouga. I know I snuck around your room and stuff, tried to take the pig out. But if I thought for one moment that he was really taking advantage of you, I would've fought him outright and hurled him to China myself." Then he had bent his head. "But I am sorry, Akane. Whatever we thought, it was wrong to fool you. We didn't even consider how you'd feel. Ryouga shouldn't have been with you all those times without your consent."
Now it all made sense. (Ryouga was in love with me.) It was Akane's turn to take a deep calming breath. Then, how callous it must have seemed for her to ask him to resurrect the feud with Ranma. A feud, she now understood, that must've involved in some measure Ryouga's feelings for her. "I'm sorry," she tried again. "I never meant to, I didn't know - "
"No, no, it's okay!" Ryouga interrupted hurriedly. The last thing he wanted was her apology. "It was a long time ago. When you married Ranma, I -" Let it go, he was about to say, but stopped. That wasn't quite true, was it?
He shook his head. This is NOT the time for this. A depreciating inward grin played around his lips. (Then again timing was never my strong suit.) "Akane-san, I promise we'll talk about this some day." The honorific use of her name restored a little distance between them, necessary after his startling declaration. "For now, why don't we see if we can talk Ranma out of this fight?"Ranma didn't wait for Akane's answer. He peeled himself soundlessly away from the tree that served as his hiding place and took off. He had to get back to the house before them.
Despite the cool demeanor he had kept around Akane, waiting for the appointed time had made him restless. Since there were still a couple of hours to go, he'd taken off for a walk to stretch his legs. The two voices that floated towards him as he neared the empty lot froze him in his tracks.
'Surely,' he told himself as he drew nearer, 'no, it can't be.' But the thought persisted even as he denied it: Akane couldn't have arranged to meet Ryouga behind his back. She wouldn't do that to me.
It wouldn't even have occurred to the man he had been a year ago. But the months of self-doubt, the arguments and rebukes, his rival's insinuations, and the distance between him and Akane had done their damage. Where the Ranma of a year or five years ago would've simply revealed himself and asked what was going on, Ranma now chose concealment.
But we were working things out! The past couple of days had been good. Just not reassuring enough to keep him from spying on the oblivious couple.
As he darted away, he tried to make sense of what he'd heard. It wasn't everything; he hadn't really been in the right place for Akane's words to come through clearly. But the little that he could make sense of nearly knocked him off his feet.
"Akane ... Ranma knows that I ... loved you for a very long time ..."
Ryouga told her! After all these years. Ranma could barely believe it. Ryouga had just let go the last secret he kept from Akane.
"I tried to tell you once. There was a letter ... No, no, it's okay! ... Akane-san, I promise we'll talk about this some day. For now, why don't we see if we can talk Ranma out of this fight?"
But why did Ryouga tell her now? Did Ryouga think that, because of Ranma's condition, he had a better chance?
'He thinks I would just back out?!' the pigtailed youth thought indignantly as he ran. Now it really was too late. A line had been crossed. Another man, Ranma's rival no less, had just professed love to his wife. Ryouga, you DARE? I'll show you!
All doubts and peaceable thoughts flew from Ranma's mind. He seethed. And yet ... at the same time there it was, the long-missed thrill coursing through him at the anticipation of a real fight. Ranma acknowledged it with a mocking grin. What had the old mummy called it? Battlejoy?
Time to see if my plan's worth anything. Watch out, Ryouga!
This completes Part 3. Thank you for your patience. :) This was meant to be the last chapter in Rekindling, and was originally written/outlined to include the fight between Ranma and Ryouga and the confrontation between Ranma and Akane. I tried to write it that way but wasn't satisfied with the result. It got too long and ungainly. I was stuck until I placed the fight and confrontation in a chapter of their own, "Conflagration" (coming soon).
I really appreciate the reviews! They definitely encouraged this writer to continue. That stuff about my "loyal fans" got me grinning at the screen. Thanks, Shaeya!
Damian, I hope your throat's ok. ;) Your review was just the push I needed to tackle a difficult scene. Folks, it never hurts to know that the story's appreciated. :)
As for grammatical and other errors, please feel free to point them out. Constructive criticisms are really helpful.
elisteran, i agree that the miscommunication bit can be overdone. Hope that wasn't the case here. It does happen in the Ranmaverse and to Ranma and Akane all the time, though, and it's a main component of this story (which is also about Ranma and Akane growing up some more). You'll probably be happier with the next chapter.
jan, after some reflection, i agree that the story as it stands should be rated PG-13 and not R. Of course it might go up sometime. We'll see...
Japanese words:
Baka - fool, idiot, and the like. Term Akane uses to insult RanmaGiri - dutyKuso - a swear word
"Ittai koko wa doko da?!" - "Where on earth am I now?!" Ryouga's cry when he's lost and frustrated about it.
Musha-shugyo - training journey
Shimatta - "Damn it!"
Shoji - sliding doors, like the one at the Tendo dojo