The Second Night

Ranma had almost dozed off when he heard Akane sneak her way through the house. It was later than the other nights, and judging from how she tried to make no sounds on her way she was obviously trying to avoid running into him again. Ranma instantly came awake, and quickly and silently glided out into the hallway in pursuit of her. Without any trouble, he made no sounds at all that could alarm her, and he soon took up a covered position outside the kitchen where he could see and hear her without being discovered himself. And so he made himself comfortable to wait for this mysterious midnight cook.

Akane was bustling silently in the kitchen, placing a bag with something on the table before she went over to the radio.

"If I don't turn it up too much… then nobody should wake from it…" she mumbled softly to herself. She turned on what seemed to be the same station as the previous night, as Ranma recognized the voice on the radio host. The muted tunes of a Beatles song started up, and Ranma blinked surprised as Akane emptied her bag for what looked like groceries. He got puzzled as she put on an apron and pulled out kitchen supplies from the cupboards.

#Huh? Where's the mystery person..? Is he or she in there already..? Weird that they haven't talked yet if that's the case…#

Akane started to hum along with the song again, and Ranma's attention focused back on her as she started to measure out the things she'd brought along in her bag.

"…yellow submarine, yellow submarine. We all live in a yellow submarine…" she sung, and Ranma looked on in surprise as she expertly mixed up her measured ingredients in one bowl and danced softly around the room with the bowl and a stirring-spoon in her hands, waving it as she playfully hopped around. She wore the same pyjamas as last night, and she acted like a little girl, bouncing around while laughing soundlessly.

#…cute…#

As the radio host talked his way into the next song, Akane skipped back over to the table, and delicately started to make small balls out of the batter in her bowl. Putting them out on the paper-covered plate she'd laid down, Ranma counted about 30 of the suspicious things she made. As he realised that she'd made them all by herself – without her normal anger and stubbornness even – and that she was about to eat them too, he readied himself to sprint in to save the day. Or night in this case. At least he could catch her if she fell, and call the doctor if she passed out. Tensing up, he just watched her as she placed the plate with the balls in the refrigerator. She then methodically cleaned up after herself, putting all her groceries back in the bag, and with practiced movements washed up everything she'd used of utensils. Michael Jackson's 'Black or White' played as Akane turned back to the kitchen table again with her now chilled snacks, and Ranma looked on in shock as she took one of the small balls and put it in her mouth, groaning with pleasure as she with extremely slow motions chewed it. Never before had he seen anybody use such a long time on eating one small ball of… whatever it was. Akane licked and sucked on her sticky fingers, and reached for a second ball.

#What..! No way should she make those sounds as if she'd never tasted anything better in her life, not when she's made it herself! But she really seems to enjoy them… There she goes for another one! Could it be that she actually managed to make something eatable? Gotta find out before she's taken them all!#

Ranma stood up from his hiding place and walked through the kitchen door, making Akane freeze with another ball half-way to her open mouth. Her eyes had gone wide and dark, and she just watched him as he approached the table and took one of the balls that laid on the plate there. Sniffing it, he guessed that they were some kind of chocolate balls, and with one last look over at Akane he popped it into his mouth. Experimentally he chewed onto it, but nothing prepared him for the sweetness that touched his tongue. Staring confused at Akane, he swallowed the treat, and looked from her to the chocolate balls and back. Taking another one, he tried again, with the same result.

"So… What do you think?" Akane's voice startled him slightly, and he just stared at her. Not quite knowing what she meant, or what he should say, he opened and shut his mouth several times.

"Uh…" was all he managed to say.

"You saw it all, didn't you..?" she asked in a timid voice. Ranma nodded, and followed her suit as she sat down at the table with the rest of the chocolate balls resting in between them.

"Did you really make these..?" he finally asked, taking another ball and studying it before he let it melt on his tongue. Akane also helped herself, and shrugged half-heartedly.

"Yeah…" She sighed.

"They're great! Wow, finally something you can make that doesn't make people sick!" Ranma was too blissful to notice her frown that appeared for a micro-second, but he did notice that she grabbed the plate with the chocolate balls on, stopping him from taking another one.

"Ranma… I need you to promise me something…"

"Hey! Give'em back!" He tried to dive in for them, but she managed to evade him and keep the delicacies out of reach.

"You can have the rest if you promise not to tell anyone what you've seen here tonight!"

That made him turn on all brakes, slumping back down onto his chair.

"What? But… Aren't you happy that you've made something so tasty? Why wouldn't you want everyone else to know that?" The chocolate balls momentarily forgotten, he studied her intently. She looked pleadingly at him, the sounds of some unfamiliar high-beat electronic song on the radio making the moment surreal.

"Ranma, I… You don't understand… I'll explain everything if you promise to keep it a secret until I say otherwise..! Please!"

Ranma quickly submitted to her pleading gaze, and holding up his hands he blushingly stopped her begging.

"Yeah, yeah… I promise… Although I don't get it." He grumbled. But he cheered up considerably as Akane pushed the chocolate balls back across the table, offering him another one which he happily nibbled on. The first nibbling he could ever remember.

"Thank you… I'm just not ready to let my family know about this yet. I'm not ready to let them see me. It's been so long since I've been me…"

Ranma raised an eyebrow at Akane.

"Akane, if you're trying for an explanation you're not doing too great." He said dryly.

"I know… But it's not easy… I'll have to start at the beginning, and it happened so many ears ago… You see, after mom died we were a broken family. Dad was crying over the simplest of things, Nabiki was putting up iced walls against the world, and sweet Kasumi was left with all the responsibilities that came with the house. I clearly remember being so confused about why everybody were so sad, and wondering about when I would get to see mom again. The day I learned what death meant was the first time Kasumi invited me into the kitchen with her. I had been in the park with some friends – I don't remember who – and we had found a wounded bird flopping around. We wanted to help it, but didn't know how to. Soon it laid oh so still... The older brother of one of the kids came over to check up on us, and when he discovered the bird he quite cruelly explained about death to us. I was in a daze when I got home, trying to get the death of the little bird to fit with what little I had been explained about mother's 'departure'. It all suddenly made sense. As Kasumi ushered me into the kitchen to help her with the supper, I just acted automatically, doing things the way I had done them when helping mom. Kasumi was stunned, it was the best dinner she had ever tasted. 'This sweet'n'sour sauce is even better than mother's', I remember her saying. That one sentence broke something in my mind, filling the emptiness with rage. No one, no one was better than mom, not in anything! I wrecked the whole dinner, storming up to my room to cry alone for hours…" Akane grew silent, staring with a frown down into the kitchen table. Ranma just looked at her, trying to follow her explanation to understand her better, but still feeling confused.

"You… made the best dinner Kasumi had tasted… when you were just a kid..?" The shock must have been clear in his voice, 'cause Akane lifted her head to meet his stare with eyes sparkling with humour.

"Yep..! I'm the best god damn cook you've ever met, Ranma Saotome..!" Akane declared copying his own trademark cockiness. Ranma wanted to laugh, but as he looked down on the crumbs left from the simple chocolate balls he'd seen her make, he hesitated.

"But… Why did you hide it for so long, if it's true what you're saying..? Why didn't you show Shampoo and Uk-chan..?" Ranma's brain crossed into new territory.

#Didn't she want to toss the other girls out of the fiancée competition? She poisoned me… us… with intention?# The thoughts shone clearly in his face, making Akane continue her complex explanation.

"By the time you and your father arrived I was so deep into my new role as the raging girl, and with the messed up introduction things got rather confused. I'm actually a really good actress too, as I've played this role ever since mom died. You're one of the few people who got to see the person behind the mask from time to time… Sometimes I wanted to drop the whole charade, but then you'd go and do something incredibly stupid again, and I'd smack the mask back in place. The anger itself did most of the job of destroying the food I cooked, and some things I consciously did to make things taste bad. In my defence, I seldom intended to poison or hurt anyone…" Akane held up her hands playfully, grinning broadly at Ranma. She relaxed more and more as she spoke, and he could see more than glimpses of the radiant girl he'd been shown peeks of before.

"So, your mood affects your cooking..?"

"Yeah, in my case it does. I don't know if you've noticed, but the last week I've been cooking at night, testing to see if I still have the gift. And I do. The radio has been helpful, as I've intentionally let the mood of the songs affect me. Sad songs made me sad, and I make sweet'n'sour things. Happy songs make me glad, and things turn out mouth-watering. You get the drift…"

Ranma again became aware of the radio humming silently in the background, the radio host droning softly on about greetings people sent in.

"So if you're angry, then a curry would turn out okay, except maybe a bit hot..?" he ventured.

"He, he, he… You're getting the idea now."

"Is that why you didn't challenge the girls for real, because you were mad or jealous of them?"

Akane raised an eyebrow at the word 'jealous', but surprisingly didn't shout back at him.

"No… I just didn't have the proper inspiration until recently… You know, in China… I actually did die for a moment… And in that moment, before I returned to the living, I had a long conversation with my mom…"

"What? But… Is that even possible?" Ranma almost shouted, but forced his voice into lower tones when Akane waved her hands warning him not to wake the others. He felt anger and despair surge through him at the memory of Akane's limp body in his arms, forcing back the tears that prickled his mind.

"Ranma, it's okay… Hush now… I'm okay… Yes, I believe I talked with my mom… It's weird thinking about how short a moment I was really gone, when we talked for so long… She helped me realise several things, and made me see more clearly than I've ever done before. That's mainly the reason why I now feel that I should do my best at what I'm good at, in honour of her memory, in stead of trying to keep her elevated above everyone else. She deserves to be amongst us in everything, not being put on a pedestal away from us…" Her eyes shone with a calm and contentment he hadn't seen before, and she proudly met his eyes without hesitation, letting him see past her defences and masks. Ranma almost pulled back, but fighting his own shyness he met her gaze, creating another one of those few, tender moments they'd experienced between them. He felt the blush flame over his face, getting even redder when Akane smiled wickedly at him. Smacking his head mentally, he tried to get his focus away from the pretty girl in front of him.

"Uh… Yeah… So… It's good that you've decided to honour your mother, but why not tell your family at least..?"

"No special reason, really… Just that I wanted to get used to if for myself first… And besides, can you imagine how our fathers would react once they find out that one of your strongest arguments against marrying me is gone..? They'd try for another disastrous wedding again, and a girl can only take so much humiliation before she breaks…" Akane laughed softly, winking at Ranma.

"Yeah, I guess so… I promised not to tell anyway…" Ranma muttered almost grumpily. Akane yawned slowly, and he started when he realised how late it was, and how long they'd been up.

"I'd better get back to bed, Ranma… I'm about to fall asleep sitting… But we can talk again later, if you want to… Sweet dreams!" She got up from the chair and picked up her grocery-bag. Ranma froze as she bent down and placed a soft kiss on his cheek, and it took him 10 minutes to get enough brain-power gathered to order his body to turn off the radio and the kitchen lights before he stumbled back to bed.