The Evil Within
By James Moore
The characters in this story are not mine, so there :-p
Chapter 3
1 year later. Ranma's 18th birthday
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RANMA"
It was Ranma's birthday again. He looked back at the past year and was glad at the results his talk with everyone had had. With the exception of the Kunos (they had tried their stupid stunts the very next day after he talked to them), everyone was still around. He had lots of friends, including the ex-fiancée brigade. No one was chasing him for something.
With all the pressure he had about everything he did gone, he had gotten a chance to look at his relations with everyone, and realized that he really liked one of them. More than just liked. Really liked. Almost loved. But he wanted to take things one step at a time, so he decided to ask her out on a date tonight. He just had to get her in a room alone to ask her.
"Hey, Akane. Can I talk to you for a second in the dojo?"
"Sure. I'll be right there."
Ranma went to the dojo and waited for Akane to get there.
Akane was helping Kasumi pick up trash from Ranma's party. When Ranma had called her away, she excused herself, and quickly went to her room to retrieve a present she wanted to give to Ranma alone. It could help him with certain problems of his. She was sure he'd love it.
When she got to the dojo, she saw that Ranma was very nervous. Whatever he wanted to talk to her about must be very important. His hand was behind his head, scratching the base of his ponytail, when he finally spoke. "Akane. Last year, I told everyone to back off and let me live my life. Ever since, I've been trying to be friends with everyone. I tried to be a friend to you, I really did, but I just can't." Akane's heart sank. She thought he was going to say he hated her. "I just can't be your friend, because I love you too much. I don't want to marry you or anything, yet, so I want to ask you, will you...will you go out with me?"
A squeel of glee came from the bundle of joy now in Ranma's arms. "Yes, Ranma! I'd love to go out with you!" Withdrawing herself, she pulled something from behind her back. "Happy birthday, Ranma." Confused, Ranma took the gift. He undid the (sloppy) wrapping to reveal a medallion with a picture of a horse. Well... half a medallion. "Um...Thanks Akane. What is it?" "Oh, just something the guide gave me after you defeated Saffron. He said its a true cure for your curse. It had been used by a monk long ago to cure a Jusenkyo curse. All you need is the other half to make it work, and the guide said that, as thanks for what you did, he would do his best to find the other half."
"Wow." He picked Akane up and twirled her around in the air, then pulled her into a hug. "Thank you. This means so much to me." Akane beamed. "Your welcome. The guide said he'd send the other half as soon as he found it. He gave a warning, though." Ranma became serious in an instant. "What was it?" "He said that you must have complete control of your evil side, or else, you are lost." Ranma gave his cocky smirk. "Relax. It's me. Whats the worst that could happen?"