Ranma 1/2: Video Reminder
(OK, titles aren't my strong point)

Written by: Xason Nexus (Xasonnex)

Disclaimer: Ranma ain't mine. Akane ain't mine. Ukyou ain't mine
(much as I wish she were). Get the picture? Oh, OK, I don't own the
Ranma Universe, and I am not making any profit. PLEASE don't sue me
Takahashi-sama, Vid, Kitty, or anyone else.

Though I like the manga better, an element in this fic is derived from
the anime series, so I guess this story takes place after the end of the
anime series. Eh, can't win 'em all. Enjoy!

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Chapter 2

"Whoa!" Ranma yelped as his footing nearly gave way. He
glanced down past the edge of the Tendo residence roof, then carefully
made his way to the peak. "Man," he thought, "I haven't almost slipped
like that in a while! What's wrong with me?" He sat down, allowing
himself to think. "Ain't nothin' wrong with me," he realized. He
thought back to mere minutes ago, to the reason he didn't have all of
his coordination.
"That kiss, man, that was something. I can't believe we did
it." He thought back to the moment he had just shared with his fiance,
a kiss that was a lifetime of months in the making. His first kiss.
Sure, he'd BEEN kissed before, but he'd never kissed back. He'd also
never initiated the kisses. "And, somehow, none of Ukyou or Shampoo's
kisses have made me weak in the knees. I should have known it'd be the
tomboy that took my strength, she's knocked me for a loop often enough
by hitting me, why not emotionally too?" Still, this time, there was
no pain involved only pleasure.... He chuckled to himself as he
muttered, "Should have known it'd be Akane."

Said fiance was reveling in the moment a bit differently.
"Ki-ya!" She yelled, knife hand chopping a couple of concrete blocks.
When only one broke, she hardly noticed. "That, that JERK!" Akane
slumped back into a sitting position. "How could he do this to me?"
she asked to nobody in particular. "First he kisses me, then he leaves
me and heads off to the roof! And he thinks that just because we
kissed, that I'm going to just go up there and spill my guts out to
him!" She sighed, and thought to herself, "no, he expects me to go up
there because he dared me to, and he just followed through on a similar
dare." She reached up absently to her lips, that were still tingling
from the kiss. Her tongue didn't quite feel normal either. "But he
took months to finally come through with his, and he gives me a time
limit?!"
"HA! That jerk, I'm gonna go up there and give him a piece
of my mind!" She yelled, drawing on anger to give her strength to make
the short trek. She almost didn't realize that she was doing exactly
what she needed to do, go up and talk (though at the moment she thought
the conversation was going to be one-sided). She didn't realize that
the hand that had failed to chop through a second concrete block was
getting red.

Tatewaki Kuno didn't know exactly why, but the hairs on his
neck suddenly stood on end. Setting down the new poem he was working
on, he drew his arms across his chest and began contemplating.
"Whatever could have sparked the sixth sense in I, the great Tatewaki
Kuno?" he thought. After utilizing the deepest thought he was capable
of, ten seconds later (what, you thought it would be longer?) he came
to a decision, and his bokken was in hand a split second later.
"Something must have happened to either the Pig-tailed Girl or Akane
Tendo!" he exclaimed as he ran out of the Kuno estate. "And I,
Tatewaki Kuno, the Blazing Sun of Furinkin High, cannot allow it!" He
ran blindly down the streets towards the Tendo dojo, a fury in his
self-ritchous eyes. He ran fast and hard, turned a corner, and ran
directly into a quickly outstretching fist.
Ryoga Hibiki didn't know where he was. This was a constant
frame of mind for him, but sometimes he needed a release. "Where the
heck am I?!?" He yelled to the sky, thrusting his fists out to the
sides. When he felt a "Thump" on one of them, he looked over to see a
now unconscious Kuno sprawled on the ground. "Stupid," he muttered, "why
couldn't the idiot have watched where he was going?"

"Ranma!" Akane yelled as she swung up onto the roof. She
looked around, saw him, and started heading in his direction. "What is
going on with you?! How dare you put me on the spot like that?" She
was standing in front of him now. "You realize how long it took you to
finally act on that dare? And you put a time limit on mine?! You, you.
.." Akane balled up her fists and almost sent Ranma into lower Earth
orbit, when she saw his face was now the same it was when they started
talking earlier. She halted just long enough for him to speak.
"You knock me away now, and you don't get your answers." He
said flatly. He saw the fire go out in her eyes as her arms fell to
her sides. "So," he began. "You come up here to get answers? You
know what I want." Ranma was relieved he got her to calm down, in his
present shape, the landing from one of Akane's punches would have hurt
a lot more than usual. He tried to focus on getting his body to stop
feeling so unsteady and he waited for her reply.
"Why?" she asked as she sat down next to him. "Why do you want
to know now? It's not fair holding something like this over my head.
I mean," she dropped her head as she talked, "what do you want to know
so much?"
Ranma took a deep breath. "I wanna know exactly what I asked,
how you feel about me. I know it's kinda sudden and all, but I need to
know."
"...... Ranma...I can't.. I don't know how I feel about you.
Maybe if you'd asked me before we.... kissed, I could have given you
an answer. But now," the next part he could barley hear, "I don't
know anything."
Ranma felt bad, his fiancé was slumpped over and speaking
softly. He knew he was asking a lot out of her, but he'd realized
today that the things you put off till tomorrow can be put off til the
tomorrow that's always in front of you. Those things you had to get
out of the way now, because you may not get a second chance to do them
right. "Akane, it's OK," he spoke softly to her, placing his hand on
her back, "until today, I didn't know how I felt about you."
Akane looked up at this, wide-eyed. "Ranma? What do you.."
she was cut off by his hand.
"Akane, why do you always get jealous whenever another girl
glomps onto me?"
"I do not get jealous!" The fire was back. Normally Ranma
would yell back. Normally he'd add fuel to the fire until it exploded.
This time, he kept his cool and hoped it would cool her down.
"Akane, it's just you and me now. If you want the truth from
me, you're going to have to give it yourself. I won't open my.....
heart to someone who's still closing theirs." He saw the surprised
look on her face that bade him to continue. He did, hoping that his
blush wasn't too red. "You do get jealous. You don't do it when you
see Kuno, or Ryoga glomp another girl, and you don't do it when you
see a guy glomp my girl form. It's something you only do when I'm the
guy, and you aren't the girl."
She turned her head and quietly digested this. So he'd seen
her pattern. "Wait a minute, what pattern?" she thought. I don't act
any different for him than I do for...."
"Don't go trying to deny it, 'Kane. I tried to do the same
thing. It hurt more than helped." He took his hand off her back and
leaned forward, trying to see her face and he spoke. "If ya still
can't figure it out, then how about telling my why you are so
determined to cook food for me, when you know you can't... I mean,
still have a lot to learn, even though you're getting better?" He was
still there, so she must be thinking, he realized. Usually he'd be in
a world of hurt by now with the cooking comment.
Akane was thinking so much her head was about to hurt. Why DID
she do those things? There wasn't a sound between them for several
minutes.

The busted pipes in the Nekohanten's kitchen forced Cologne, a
duck and a cat to share the second floor of the building as they
awaited the plumber's arrival. Odd that it had happened at this time
of night, keeping Shampoo and Mousse in cursed forms unless they left
the building, which meant getting wet. And Cologne had warned Shampoo
not to go out, she'd seen Happosai especially drunk a few minutes
earlier, chased by a crowd of angry girls and his own two students. A
drunk Happosai was not something someone risked when they had a human
body like Shampoo's.

Ranma could see the confusion on Akane's face as she thought.
"This must be how I looked a few hours ago," he thought. "She looks
like she's about got it. There's gotta be something I can remind her
of to push her into finally realizing, one way or another." He didn't
have to think back long. "Akane," he began, "I kissed you because of a
dare you gave me. So why did you take over after I started it?"
Akane couldn't take it, clear thoughts or not, she had to
respond to that. "Because I'd wanted to kiss you that day and felt
cheated when it never happened! I mean, I, uh,.." "Why did I say
that?" she asked herself. "Did I really want to.... back then?
Before?" As soon as she asked herself, she finally knew the answer.
The hard part was going to be saying it.
"How do you really feel about me, Akane?" Ranma asked one last
time. "Man, if she ain't answering this time, she ain't gonna," he
thought.
Akane took a deep breath, made sure her purchase on the roof
was secure, then answered. "Ranma, I see you as an egotistical,
overbearing jerk, who can hardly keep his mouth shut, has three fiances,
a freeloading father, and a curse that makes life a living heck for him
and and everyone him!" She saw Ranma's eyes flinch a little as he
looked down. "You insult my looks, my cooking, and just about
everthing else that's related to me! The only reason I don't hate your
guts is because sometimes, you ARE in the right, and when I really need
you, you are there. Other than that, I see no good qualities about you
at all!" "Except that you are extremely handsome," she thought. She
hated doing this to him, but he asked for it. Her eyes started
watering as she saw his dejected look, and he began to get up.
"Oof.." he huffed as Akane tackled him back down to a sitting
position. He missed her look of desperation in her eyes, as she
continued to hold him around her waist. He was too lost in his own
grief. "Akane really don't like me...." he thought.
"Don't leave now you jerk, I'm not done!"
Ranma closed his eyes. "Great there's more. Least now I
might be able to pull off a good Shi Shi Hokodan...."
"Ranma, that's how I see you. SEE you. And that's why it's so
hard, so hard for me when I realize that I Lo, Lov..."
Ranma opened his eyes with a start. Was she saying what he
thought she was saying? He looked down to her, to see her head buried
in his chest as she was trying to get out those last elusive words. He
put an arm around her back, and one hand through her hair behind her
head. Akane looked up, and he noticed that there were tears in her
eyes. "Akane," he whispered.
She looked him dead in the eyes. "Ranma, I love you. I don't
know why, but I love you so much!" With that, her resolve disappeared
and she burst out crying into his chest. He could hear her soft voice,
saying "I love you so much," over and over, like each time could be
the last she could say it. He wasn't surprised to find his eyes
watering as well.
"Shh... Shhh... It's OK Akane," he said softly as he rested
his forehead on top of Akane's head, still buried in his chest. They
set a new record for them, staying in each other's arms for no less
than fifteen minutes before Ranma finally broke the silence. "So," he
whispered, "You still want to know why I didn't kiss you before?"
He lifted up his head.
She followed suit, looking up into his eyes. They both noted
that the other had been crying both had red, puffy eyes. Akane gave
a slight smile as she nodded.
Ranma smiled back. He took a breath and looked to the sky.
"It wasn't clear until I saw myself on that tape," he replied. "Seeing
myself from the outside made me realize just how much I HAD wanted to
kiss you that day. And that's why I couldn't." He looked down to see
the confusion on her face. "You see, a kiss under those circumstances
would have been meaningless. I didn't know how you felt about me, and
I really didn't know how I felt about you. But I did know that when we
did kiss, I wanted it to really mean something. I didn't want to kiss
you to prove a point, show you that you couldn't challange me to do
something I couldn't. If I were to kiss you, I wanted it to be for the
right reasons."
"But you just kissed me less than an hour ago for the same
reason." Akane's voice was unsteady, but she had to say something.
"Naw, the reason wasn't the same. This time, I did it so that
I could make absolutely sure how I felt about you. It's the one thing
I couldn't be sure of, until now."
Akane moved back a little, to see his face better. "And now?"
Ranma raised his hand and caressed her cheek. "Now I know," he
slowly brought her face to his, "that I could never love anyone else
more than I love you. I love your shortcomings as much as I love your
strengths." Their faces were less than an inch apart. "I love all of
you, my uncute tomboy of a fiance."
"Ranmumph..." Ranma interrupted Akane before she could object
to his playful jabs with a kiss. It didn't take long for her to
respond the same way she had before. Ranma drew her further towards
him and sat her on his lap. As they embraced, the night wind played
lightly with their hair, the soft moonlight only accenting their
features more, when they took the time to look. It didn't happen
often.

"Saotome?"
"Yes Tendo?"
"You just feel something?"
"Only joy at the fact that this angry mob," Genma motioned to a
crowd that included the entire Nerima Wrecking Crew except Ranma and
Akane, including the Amazons and close to a hundred angry women, "has
banded together under a single cause!" That single cause was taking an
incredibly drunk and beaten Happosai, placing him in three increasingly
larger steel safes, and dumping him into the sea. They were standing
by the docks, about to accomplish said feat.
"Indeed, Saotome. This could lead to be a great day for all of
us! It is too bad Akane and Ranma aren't here to see this!"
"Right, Soun, my friend, they wouldn't want to miss this for
the world!"

"I wouldn't miss this for anything in the world," Akane
murmured into Ranma's neck. The two had moved their activity into
Akane's room due to a cooling night air. They hadn't done anything
beyond kissing, and a little bit of talking about things they'd never
talked about before.
"Mmmm." Ranma didn't know what happened to all of his strength,
all he knew is that his body didn't want to move away from Akane. He
did know that if he could, he'd stay there forever. But since he
couldn't, he was going to make the most of it, every second they had
together tonight. He noticed something in the soft lighting. "What
happened to your hand?"
"Hm? Oh, I got kinda mad at you after you left me in the dojo.
Unfortunately, I found out when my heart isn't in something, I can't do
it right. I couldn't focus enough to break a brick."
Ranma took her hand and kissed the slightly injured part. "You
sure are a violent one, tomboy."
Akane narrowed her eyes, yet smiled as she spoke. "And do you
mind that?"
"I told you," Ranma replied as he drew her closer, "I love
every part of you. Even your violent tendencies."
"I'll ask you again in the morning, when I'll have to hit you
for making us late for school," she quipped.
"What makes you think we're gonna be late?" Ranma followed
Akane's eyes to a clock that read 2:17 am. "Oh." Ranma perked as he
heard sounds from the outside. He broke the embrace with Akane and
slowly stood up. He went over to her window where he saw their
fathers, bruised and battered, following a still drunk, but above water
Happosai. "Well, looks like it's time for me to head to my room. They
find out we were together, we'd be married before we knew it."
"Would it be so bad?" Akane asked, standing behind her fiance.
"Us married? No. Us married on their terms?" He gave her a
quick peck on the cheek. "I'd rather do things our way."
"This is going to take some getting used to."
"See you in the morning, or at least when we wake up."
"Goodnight baka."
"Goodnight, uncute fiance." With that, Ranma made the short
trip out of Akane's room and into his own. Before falling asleep, he
looked up at the ceiling. "Thanks, future Mother in Law."

End, chapter 2

Authors notes: Well. Thanks for the great responses to Chapter 1, I
hope Chapter 2 lived up to it. I hope you people realize that this is
the most I've ever written in a 24 hour period before. I don't know
how other people do it! If you'd like, I can continue this series, but
it will be a while. I have an idea or two... Let me know what you
think!