Hey everyone! I hope you all aren't too pissed at Ranma's moodiness. Just bear with me and all that jazz.

I hope you all enjoy this story, since I think about it a large percentage of the time. This chapter isn't as long as the others, sorry!

Ranma ½ and all the characters are the creation of Rumiko Takahashi and thus, not me.

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Chapter 4

Chocolate Amber

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Today was always a highly respected day in the Tendo Household. Each member remembered what happened so many years ago in their own way and on their own time.

There was no friendly letter in the mail or a red circle on the calendar to tell them that the anniversary of their mother's death was at hand. Even though everyone was vaguely aware that the day was coming, no one really wanted it to be counted down.

Soun was the only one who remembered weeks ahead of time. He had prepared for this day way in advance. His outfit was pressed and ready to be adorned at his wife's grave later on in the evening. Soun sat silently on his bed- staring at a picture of his wife on the bed table.

Kasumi, on the other hand, didn't remember until she checked the expiration dates on some bottled milk in the fridge. When realization hit, the numbers on the package seemed to wave hazily at her. A sudden wave of shame flowed through her for being so forgetful.

She left the dirty dishes where they sat and retreated to her room. She suddenly didn't feel like cleaning and the expired milk remained in the fridge.

Genma only knew what was going on because his wife, Nodoka, had had the good graces to call him and warn him to be on his best behavior. So he was currently putting in some overtime at the Clinic.

It was later in the day for Nabiki to realize the significance of the day. She was copying some homework assignments from the board and the lead broke from her pencil halfway through writing the date.

The blood drained from her face as she left the classroom. She mumbled something about being 'thirsty' to the teacher and headed to the bathroom.

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Watching the day with vapid amusement, a slightly older woman feigned hurt at being so easily forgotten. She still hadn't missed a day in watching over her family. 'I just love the perks of the job!' she mused to herself looking at her very own crystal ball.

Hitomi Tendo would have been dead thirteen years today. She awkwardly felt at peace with the thought of her own death. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. Today is a very important day. This was the worst possible moment for her to be slacking off on her duties as a guardian.

She cast a casual glance around her living quarters. It was an oddly warm room to be so large. Although her crystal ball was her favorite thing in the room, it wasn't by far the most important. Even though she could watch her family and her old friends, it didn't supply her with the necessary knowledge to be the best guardian.

The open scrolls that lay open around her did that. Books littered the once spacious but now cluttered room. She had read every one of them multiple times over. She had to be prepared for her duty.

The silky white robe she wore was identical to the rest of her clan's. It was long enough to touch the floor and her wrists, but was small enough to show that she was a woman. Gold trim lined the entire garment and the Tendo Crest gleamed in the candlelight on her left breast.

Hitomi touched the beautiful crystal in front of her and took in the sight of her youngest daughter. It still startled her how much they look alike. 'Oh my, she's not taking this very well...'

Apparently the first stage was being initiated. The mother prepared herself to help her daughter if she needed her. A soft lull of chants foreign to the ear rolled methodically off her tongue.

'I hope you're ready, daughter of mine.'

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Ranma and Akane were still slowly traversing to the school. They were both quiet and lost in their own thoughts. However the engaged pair were focused simultaneously on Akane and her current mood.

'What is wrong with me lately? So Ranma thinks I'm not good enough, big deal. What else is new? But these last few weeks have been so crazy for me and my sanity. I am not used to being this depressed. Maybe I am a failure at martial arts.' Her footsteps slowed even more.

Ranma was agitated that he was forced to take even smaller steps to stay even with his fiancé. He was just about to open his mouth to comment when his eyes locked into hers. He watched them go from a lighter color brown to a deep chocolate.

He kept his mouth shut and wondered how much time they had until the bell.

"Ow!" Akane's cry pierced the silence. He closed the distance between them and looked down at her. Her arms were tightly wrapped around her head and her face was covered in pain.

"What happened?" Worry was plainly etched onto his features.

"My head, it hurts! I hear this sound... sounds like screeching!! Do you hear it? God it is so loud! Ranma make it go away!" Her arms gripped tighter around her head in an effort to shield her from a noise that no one could hear but her.

He tried to pick up something that wasn't supposed to be there, but his sense of hearing failed him. "No, hey there's nothing going on. Akane are you gonna be alright?" Worry and frustration lined every word that came from the pigtailed boy's mouth. He began to panic.

Akane's head rose to look him in the eye briefly before the dark chocolate swirled back into a bright gold. She visibly calmed and her arms returned to her sides. An odd expression crossed her face before she lost consciousness and began to fall.

Ranma was right there to catch her. All previous remnants of their fight were gone in the face of danger. "Hey Akane, wake up! Come on, please wake up for me!" He urgently shook her and after a moment her eyes fluttered open.

"Ranma, what happened?" Her voice was shaky but she appeared to be better than she was before.

"You, uh, kinda passed out after yelling about some sound. But, I never heard nuthin'. You gonna be alright Akane? Do I need to take you to Doctor Tofu's?" His blue eyes burned down into hers with a combination of fear and... something that Akane couldn't identify.

She blushed when she realized he was still holding her. She remembered what happened this morning, but for some reason she didn't care at the moment. 'I suppose another mood swing saves the day for Ranma.'

She jumped down from Ranma's grip. She felt incredibly happy and let a rare smile that only her fiancé could elicit from her go. It was her brightest and best and always made the both of them blush.

"I feel fine now Ranma. Looks like you saved me once again. Let's go to school before we are late, alright?" She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the school.

He fought off the urge to protest and was content to simply follow her, until she called him a slowpoke and challenged him to a race.

And Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts never turns down a challenge.

The two giggling teenagers sprinted quickly up the road and towards Furinkan High School.

After barely missing the tardy bell and arriving at their desks at just the knick of time- Ranma noticed that Akane was still sending smiles his way.

Sure he liked it but it kind of unnerved him that his 'uncute' fiancé that had been annoying him for the past two weeks could turn in to this cute girl.

Plus, besides her mood swings, there were his own to deal with. Even he noticed that he was acting strange but there wasn't really anything he could do about it. He never noticed it happened until after the fact, usually after it was too late to fix the situation.

Ranma plopped down in his desk and huffed out his last tired breath from their frantic run to school. Daisuke and Hiroshi made their appearance at his side. Daisuke poked Ranma in the ribs and gave him a smile that only insinuated mischief.

"So Ranma, what has you all breathing hard so early in the morning?" A lecherous smile played across both the boys' lips. "There something you want to tell us?"

"Me and Akane ran full speed from her house. Running tends to make you sweat." He cast a bored glance at them and casually rested his head on his hand. "Not that it is any of your business."

"You sure you aren't lying to us Ranma? You look kinda like you need a bath and Akane looks pretty clean." Ranma cocked an eyebrow at his friends in annoyance before turning to face his fiancé.

She really didn't look tired. 'No way, me and the tomboy ran together full speed all the way from her house. Was she holding back? Nah, Akane runs but she us nowhere near the shape I am in. Maybe she'- before his thoughts could progress any further, his attention span went back to his friends who were now staring at him with concern.

"Ranma, we've been wondering... we have both talked about it a lot and this seems to just verify everything." The two boys exchanged worried glances. Ranma sat up from his lax position on his desk.

"We want to ask something and we just want you to know that we will be your friends no matter what. It doesn't matter how you answer; you can always count on us to be there for you."

For some reason he felt truly touched his only two non-lethal male friends would take time to think about him and his feelings. All three boys leaned in on cue so that only they would know what they were talking about.

Ranma seemed to hold his breath in anticipation.

"Ranma," Hiroshi sighed, "are you the 'giver' in your relationship?"

The blue-eyed boy looked bewildered for a moment at his friends before he realized exactly what his 'truly concerned friends' were hinting at.

Ranma went deathly pale.

"You two are really sick. I would never do that with the tomboy! I don't know why the girl isn't tired and I don't think it really matters." Ranma huffed and sulked, signaling that the conversation was officially over.

For the rest of that class and a few after, Ranma's eye refused to stop twitching.

However a steady mantra seemed to have the power to keep him calm. He also found that it somewhat satiated the twitching.

'Damn Daisuke. Damn Hiroshi. Damn Daisuke. Damn Hiroshi.'

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Look, I would like to apologize to everyone if this story is moving too slow, but I have these chapters from when I was a kid and I attempted this and I am trying to stick to them. I need to get as much as I can from the old story so please bear with me.

If anyone wants to try, tell me how my point of view is working.

Thank you to Cynical Chaos- you so totally kick ass for all of your thought of me. I really appreciate it when I get special attention from reviewers.

Oh and please enjoy your day and have a Power Aid Slush from Sonic. They are so freaking good!

Ja Ne – Lady Mokodane