Reasons Why

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RANMA 1/2! DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT! (wish I did though)

"RANMA! WHY WON'T YOU TAKE ME SERIOUSLY?" Akane Tendo yelled at her ever dodging fiance, Ranma Saotome. "I'm a martial artist too! Fight me back!"

Ranma stopped suddenly. Screw it. She wanted him to fight back, he wouldn't, and that would never, EVER, change.

Akane was surprised when he stopped moving but was unable to ward off her punch at the last minute. It hit him right in the chin, but unlike all the other times when she hit him, he did not go flying into the sky. If anything, it seemed to hurt her hand more than him. "Ow."

Ranma turned and looked at her, eyes glaring into her, hard. "You want me to fight you? For real?" Akane nodded, albeit slightly less enthusiastic than she normally would have been. "NO." She gasped. She had been kind of sure he would finally take her seriously.

"Why... Why not you.. You baka?" She said, tears slowly coming ot her eyes.

"Why? WHY! I'LL TELL YOU WHY!" He turned from her and walked to the dojo wall. He punched it, not even very fast or hard. A crack appeared in it. Then that crack expanded, and soon the whole wall was cracked, then simply crumbled. He turned to her.

"I DO NOT FIGHT ANYONE SERIOUSLY!" She gasped at that, he really looked like he had had a hard time with some of his more recent battles.

"W...Why?" She asked tentatively.

"Look, Akane. Let me ask you a question. What happened three months ago?"

"Umm.. The failed wedding..."

"And before that?"

"Jusendo.."

"And what happened at Jusendo?"

"Uh... You killed Saffron.." She almost expected him to flinch, but he did nothing but stare at her.

"And what happened to Saffron?"

"Uhh... You tore him apart..?" She asked nervously, not quite sure for she hadn't been in the best state of mind at that time, what with being near death and a doll.

"And who was Saffron?"

"Uh.. The phoenix king..."

"Alright. Now think of this. Saffron. The phoenix king. An immortal, demigod. His enemies? The Amazons. The whole amazon society was not able to take him on. And what did I do? Killed him. I killed a demigod. One who no other mortal has been able to kill. And do you know why I was able to do that?" She shook her head. "Because I am the best. No trying ot boost my ego, no trying to prove myself. It is just a cold, hard fact. Ryoga stands no chance against me. Mousse stands no chance against me. Kuno definitely stands no chance against me. None of the other fiancees stand a chance. Hell! Cologne and Happosai don't stand a chance if I went full out! If I went full out, I could probably kill everyone of them before I was even remotely close to being seriously injured. You definitely stand no chance against me if I went full out."

She started getting angry, trying to mask her slight fear. "Baka! You don't think I'm as good as the others!"

Ranma just continued to stare. "Akane Tendo." That got her attention, he had never said her full name. "Remember the battle dogi?" She nodded. "Well.. I wasn't really trying..."

Her anger started up again. "Ranma no Baka! Can't even admit I might be better than y.."

He grabbed her by the shoulders. "AKANE! The only reason I didn't bash the shit out of that suit, was because YOU WERE IN IT! IF I REALLY WANTED TO, THAT SUIT WOULD HAVE BEEN TORN TO PIECES BEFORE WE WENT IN THE CLOSET!" She flinched back from his outburst. "Pops told me to always hide my strength. He told that I must make it seem like the match is closer, so I don't like hurt the other person's feelings, or honor, or hell, self-esteem. I have been able to beat dad, even before the Neko-Ken." He didn't flinch here either. "Every single rival and opponent I have fought, unless it was in a wacky martial arts style like martial arts eating, I could have easily beaten. I have been able to tap into my ki, since shortly after the Neko-Ken. I'm even able to control the cat somewhat. When I'm not in it or when I'm cat. Watch." He flicked his wrist and the blue-coloured ki claws appeared. "If I fought all out, no holding back, no one, would be able to beat me."

Akane was for lack of a better word, shocked. "Th.. Then why don't you teach me? Make me get better?"

He let go of her and turned. "Because I might hurt you. I couldn't stand it if I ever hurt you. Let me tell you a story. About a good friend of mine, from when I was eleven. She was a really nice person, cute, smart, funny, kind. She never judged me, never mocked me for not having a real home, or a mother. She was my best friend. And you know what?" She shook her head. "I nearly killed her!" Akane gasped. "She wanted me to teach her some moves, show her how to fight to protect herself if she ever got attacked. I started off with some simple katas. Nothing difficult. After a few weeks she asked me to spar. I agreed. She wasn't too bad for only training for about a month, but she was nowhere near my level. I went on the offensive, thinking she could take it. I hit her," tears began to fall, "I hit her in the chest. IT RUPTURED A LUNG! I BROKE FOUR RIBS AND GAVE HER INTERNAL BLEEDING! FROM ONE PUNCH! AND THAT WAS SIX YEARS AGO! I KILLED A DEMIGOD FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! If I fought, with you, like this now. I would probably kill you with one punch. I wouldn't be able to stop it, nor control it, it would simply, happen. And.. And I can't do that to you. I.. I..." Tears were freely flowing down his face.

Akane was scared at how this wad going. Ranma, the almost emotionless wonder, was crying, and she needed to know the whole truth of why. "You.. You what Ranma?"

"I love you." It was said in a whisper, but she heard it like it was yelled to the heavens. She gasped.

"You.. You love me!" He nodded and tears began to come from her eyes as well. "Oh, Ranma. I love you too."

He looked up to her with wonder in his eyes. He had never thought she had felt the same way. The distance between them had gotten much less somehow, with them nearly touching, and Ranma felt like closing that distance.

Akane gasped as she felt Ranma's lips on hers, involuntarily opening her mouth to his tongue, which he made good use of.

After a few moments of 'tongue-jousting', they split apart and looked at each other.

"Akane Tendo, I love you. Will you one day, be my wife?"

She nodded happily. He brought his lips to hers again.

Once he did, he felt the strangest sensation of a hot breath on his ear, with giggling. He swung his hand as if to swat a fly and only heard more giggling. "Ranma... Ranma.. Wake up Ranma.."

Ranma Saotome woke up to the soft, sensous voice of the woman beside him. He groaned and she giggled again. "Wakey wakey sleepy head."

He opened his eyes and smiled at his wife of two years, Akane Saotome. "I don't want to get up. I was having a nice dream of when we first admitted we loved each other."

"I could tell, you were sleep talking again. Now come on, the classes in the dojo will be starting soon and I know how much you love your breakfast." She stood up to leave but his arm brought her back down on top of him.

"Mmm... How much time do we have till classes start?"

"Half an hour." He smiled at her.

"I can skip breakfast." He said softly in her ear, pulling her down to meet his lips. She complied and laid down on top of him and sighed.

"Mmm... I love you, Ranma."

"I love you too, Akane." He rubbed her belly. Her rather, swollen belly. "And I know our child will too."

She giggled again and kissed him again on the lips. "So, you really want to skip breakfast?"

He gave her a slightly feral grin. "Hell ya."

The classes started late, but the students swore they could hear laughing and giggling from inside the house of where their two senseis lived. It started two hours late.

Just some random fluff and WAFF I wrote after reading the battle dogi story arc again.

Hope you like it, R&R.

Oni Tsubasa