Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 nor profit from this fanfiction.

Slip of the Tongue

by MalletGirlAkane

Five

Anxiety wracked Akane's petite form. She twisted this way and that on her bed, staring up at the darkened ceiling. Sleep utterly escaped her. In an attempt to get comfortable, she rolled over and punched her pillow. Unfortunately she overdid it and feathers exploded up into her face.

Coughing, sneezing, and trying to keep from crying with frustration, Akane slipped from her bed to sit on the floor. She drew her knees up to her chest and lay her aching head against them. Idly picking stray feathers from her pink pajamas, a heavy sigh escaped her lips. The events of the day played over and over in her head.

That incredible kiss- their first kiss, she reminded herself- was swiftly followed by another and another. Nearly a year of repressed desire had overwhelmed the pair, drowning in each other's kisses. Who knows what would have happened if someone had not come home? Thankfully it was Kasumi, who called her presence loudly through the house before entering and so was saved of finding them in a... compromising position.

As it was, when the mild-mannered eldest Tendo daughter came into the living room she found both Ranma and Akane red-faced and breathing heavily, standing oddly close together. Thinking fast, Akane had screamed, "Ranma you are such a jerk!" at the top of her lungs and delivered a mighty upper-cut to his chin.

Kasumi had looked down at the unconscious young man and exclaimed softly, "Oh my! Akane, thank you so much!"

Akane's responding stupefied expression had prompted Kasumi to explain, "Obviously you're going easier on him. I do appreciate not having to patch yet another hole in the ceiling."

The blue-haired girl had glanced down at her fiancé and a wave of mingled embarrassment and passion had washed over her at the memory of their previous activities. Realizing that there was no way she would be able to stay in the same room as Ranma without lighting up like a campfire (with blushes of course), Akane had claimed an early night and dashed upstairs to her room.

And there she remained, completely unable to sleep or concentrate on anything. She chewed on her lower lip and forced herself to stop merely reliving the day and think about it rationally. Pleasant as it all had been, a shiver danced up Akane's spine reminding her exactly how pleasant it had been, she still did not know how Ranma felt about her. She had always considered herself to have fairly high self-esteem but after so much verbal abuse from him, she could not really conceive of Ranma actually liking her.

Sure, he might be willing to marry her, but look at his alternatives! What if those deep, wonderful kisses had been fueled only by raging male hormones? Akane's hands clenched, tears forming in her eyes at the thought.

She loved him. After today she could not lie to herself anymore. Furiously brushing away her tears she wondered whether it would hurt worse to have Ranma marry someone else or to have him married to her, knowing that he could never love her. Choking back a sob, Akane wished P-Chan were not lost again. Talking to her adorable pet always helped, even if he reacted in such a strangely negative way at the mere mention of Ranma's name.

With an aching heart, Akane decided that she had to settle this, once and for all. She dragged herself to her feet and stumbled out of her bedroom and down the hallway to the room Ranma shared with his father. Not wanting to wake Genma, Akane quietly slipped the door open and knelt down next to Ranma's futon.

Ranma was sleeping peacefully, much to Akane's annoyance. One arm clutched at his blanket tightly (Genma had a tendency to steal it in the middle of the night) and the other was curled up next to his face, which was graced by a small, satisfied smile. He looked so cute like that that Akane felt her annoyance melt instantly to be replaced by profound sadness at what she was about to do.

With a resigned sigh, she reached out and gently shook his shoulder and whispered his name. After a moment, Ranma's eyes fluttered open. As the world slowly gained focus, he found Akane kneeling over him in the dark room, her face close to his, and whispering for him to wake up in a low voice. Mind still fuzzy from sleep, Ranma reacted automatically; his hand reached up to cup her cheek and he leaned forward and kissed her softly on the tip of her cute little nose.

The girl jumped back as if burned and Ranma's thoughts snapped into cohesion. He raised his arms protectively in front of his face and yelped, "Don't hit me!" Memories flooded back to him and he blinked and lowered his arms, "Oh yeah, I thought that was ok now...?"

Akane hissed and put her finger to her lips, shooting a significant glance at the sleeping form of Genma-Panda. Standing, Ranma rolled his eyes, "Don't worry about him. Ain't nothin' wakes him up." To demonstrate his point, Ranma kicked his father in the large, furry side. The panda grunted and rolled over, snoring on.

With a satisfied smirk, Ranma turned back to the girl, "Didja need somethin'?"

"I just wanted to... talk."

Reminding himself that it was silly to be disappointed that she had said 'talk' and not 'make out', Ranma easily scooped Akane into his arms and was out the window and onto the roof before she could even manage a startled squeak. Carefully setting her on her feet, he plopped on the tiles next to her. Ranma was in a great mood, reliving this most interesting day with relish as his eyes roamed over Akane's delightful form. Grinning at his fiancée, he said, "Talk about what?"

She could not look at him, she could not look into his eyes or she knew she would never be able to say what needed saying. Had she stolen a glance she might have noticed the clear affection in his gaze, but she restrained herself. No use beating around the bush, her brain told her. She attempted to force her voice into some semblance of normalcy but it still came out numb and cold to her ears, "Ranma, I can't marry you."

Author's Note:

You might notice that I changed the rating on this story from M to T. There were two reasons for this. First, the rating system on is too hopelessly vague for my tastes. As such I plan to write the story exactly as I had intended but post anything 'questionable' on my journal. Second, what can I say? I'd like more readers.

I probably should have said this from the beginning but this story is really just for fun for me. I'm basically writing it straight off the cuff with no real planning. As such, at the moment it's writing very quickly. I can't guarantee it will continue like this. I CAN guarantee that my desire to continue is proportionate to the number of reviews I receive (positive and negative), but then I do hate to seem desperate. >)