3. You Care About

To say that things were normal was a complete and utter lie. Akane spent most of her days before her dreaded wedding avoiding her fiancé, and trying to stop thinking about her suddenly male maid. Two weeks passed in this manner, and Akane had found most of the hiding places within the first two days of her arrival. Which is why she was currently crouched on the chandelier in the library, the only place Kuno seemed to avoid.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard his echoes of "Akane my beloved, where have you gone?" growing further and further away. She leaned back on the sturdy chandelier with a small triumphant smile, closing her eyes to think a moment. In just two days, she would be getting married. To a complete and total idiot. Who wanted to call her first child, boy or girl, Kuno II. She felt a sort of longing creep into her, and she wondered if she were normal, would this have happened. Most likely not. Common girls didn't get engaged. Common girls grew up and married who they wished, and raised families in their homes that they worked to manage.

Akane wanted that life so much.

She'd always been horribly jealous of the girls who ran playing around the streets, laughing and fighting good naturedly. She'd flushed with envy when one of the maids would gush about her boyfriend with sparkling eyes, telling the other women while they cleaned of how sweet and charming he was.

Akane's eyes opened quite suddenly, and Ranma, who'd been trying to sneak up on her, flew away from her in surprise. Without knowing what she was saying, or really understanding, she spoke with firm determination.

"We're running away."

-

Ranma simply stared as she packed lightly, throwing one of her oldest and cheapest dresses into a knapsack, and all the money she could carry was expertly hidden on her person. She had told him earlier she was sending everything else that was hers back to the castle with her assurances that she was fine. Ranma wondered if she'd finally lost it, or if she was completely serious. She certainly didn't seem like she wanted to get married to Kuno.

He didn't know why that made him happy.

Of course, when his princess got her mind set on something, she went through with it. When they were fourteen she'd wanted to get back at the castle guard for letting her suitors get past them. The next day the men in question found themselves covered with rotten fruit and chicken feathers, Ranma's personal touch.

So he watched her pack diligently, and asked casually, "You've been planning this for a while, haven't you?"

She nodded and stood up straight. She looked perfectly common, but still, Ranma grudgingly admitted, pretty cute.

"I can't get married to that idiot, even if father's honor is at stake. If he cared about his honor so much, he wouldn't have engaged me to that simpleton."

That was the truth, Ranma agreed, even as he felt a burning desire to skewer Kuno with chopsticks at the thought of him marrying Akane. Kuno wasn't completely an idiot, but he worshiped the ground Akane walked on, and instead of flattering her, flat out scared her.

"Are you sure? It's the night before your wedding." Ranma pointed out, watching her face for any signs of hesitation. He saw none as she hefted her small bag onto her shoulder. She knew exactly how to rough it, as she'd snuck out enough to get a good point of view on how to be a well off commoner. She had no doubts.

"I am tired of being hounded, tired of being expected to marry idiots, tired of being a princess. I want to go off on my own for a while."

For some reason, that struck Ranma wrong. Alone? Wasn't he going with her? He'd always been there to watch her, its seemed, even though he knew it'd only been three years. Akane without Ranma seemed so strange to him, and he had no idea why it bothered him that she'd leave him behind.

"So, you're leaving then?" he asked, hoping he didn't seem desperate.

"Well, yes. You're coming with me, right?" she asked, suddenly looking panicked, like she hadn't thought he'd not come with her. He felt a warmth flow through him and nodded absently.

"You'd probably get lost. Even though you're a tomboy, you're still a girl, and-OW!" Akane had hit him with her shoe and now placed it back on her foot quietly.

"So sorry. Shall we go?"

-

Sneaking out was easy enough. Turned out most of the guards were disgusted with their lord, and those would had met Akane did not want her marrying him. They helped get them to the edge of a forest before saying they could go no further. Akane thanked them and Ranma nodded before pulling the girl into the safety of the trees.

It was dark in the shade of the tree's, more so because the moon couldn't shine through the foliage. Ranma pulled Akane with him, looking around like he was trying to find a certain place. Akane wondered how Ranma knew this forest, but her thoughts were distracted when he came to a large tree. It was big enough to fit three large men inside, probably one of the first tree's in the woods. Murmuring to himself, he paced around it, leaving Akane to stare at him in confusion. He finally came to a certain spot on the tree and pressed against the knot on it.

The tree somehow opened to show a cave, which proved the gigantic tree was hollow. Akane watched with wide eyes as he walked into it. She continued to stare until he poked his head out.

"Are you coming inside, or would you like to wait out there?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

She huffed and pushed past him into the tree, surprised to discover there was plenty of room for her to move around. She turned to Ranma with question in her light brown eyes.

"How did you know about this place?" she wondered, pinning him with a stare.

He looked down, fiddling with his sash. "I've traveled a bit. You know that."

"All the way over here?" she asked dubiously. "This is far away from the castle to go on foot."

He just shrugged. Sighing, knowing she wasn't going to get anything else from him, she lay down with a small grudging smile. His stubbornness could be a bit cute, she thought affectionately, before she fell into sleep.

-

When they woke, they set off immediately. Ranma was an early riser, Akane furiously noted, and seemed to enjoy being on the road. When he began whistling, she took one of their canteens and splashed him. Ranma-chan turned around, surprise written on her face.

"Whadja do that for?" she exclaimed, wringing out her clothes. "There's no hot water here, and we can't stop to boil any!"

Akane gave her a smug look. "Oh, I'm so sorry. My hand must have slipped."

Travel continued like this for many days, until finally they came to the border of the Land of Amazon. It was rumored that tribes of women lived all through the woods in Amazon, but no one had seen one as of yet. Those who had never came back to tell the tale, and the precious few who had seen glimpses were dismissed as crazy.

Too bad Ranma wasn't normal.

"Nihao, Airen!" a cheery voice called from the trees, as Ranma froze and turned with a tight smile.

"Hello, Shampoo. How've you been?" he asked cautiously, looking sideways at Akane.

"Shampoo is wonderful! She find Airen! Airen marry Shampoo, make Shampoo happy!" The violet haired girl smiled brightly, ignoring the fuming princess on the ground beside Ranma.

Ranma sighed. "Shampoo, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm not going to marry you! I know what your customs demand, but I don't-"

"He's engaged to me!"

Ranma stared at Akane.

-

Its short again, but once again, I have them seperated for a reason. The shorter they are, the sooner I'll update. I've already got it all ready, so no worries, my friends.

To Vaniah: You have inspired the perverted side of me, and so I have written another story like "So Its Summer", though its Christmas related. Its set after SIS, so expect sparks.I'm really excited that you've reviewed me, and hope you're doing okay with 'The Harder They Fall'! Can't wait for another update.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed me! I love you all!

-Meg-chan