Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters so don't sue me.

What! Ranma left the Tendo Dojo? He's not a Saotome anymore? What will happen to their lives now? Can their love still be saved? Read on and find out.

R&R... R/A pairings

The Right One For Me

by: numbskull

Part 18: Aishiteru!

Ranma ran to Akane's room and stopped. "Here goes nothing." Ranma took a deep breath and opened Akane's door. "A-Akane, I n-need t-to…" Ranma stuttered but he didn't see any Akane there.

"Ranma-kun, what are you doing here at Akane-san's room?" Ranma turned to see whose voice was it. He saw that it was Shinobu. "Shinobu-chan, do you know where Akane went?" Ranma asked immediately. "She went out half an hour ago before you came." Shinobu said.

"Did she bring her knapsack with her?" Ranma asked nervously. "I think not. She just brought a coat with her."

"Did she tell you where she's going?" Ranma asked, his heart beating fast. "No, she didn't say where she's going." Shinobu said. "Arigatou, Shinobu-chan! I gotta get going!" Ranma said and quickly went out of Hinata Sou. "Matte! Where's Naru-sempai and how was your date?" Shinobu asked but Ranma was already out of sight.

Ranma ran as fast as he could, hoping that he can catch up with Akane. He searched all the shops and restaurants in town. He even asked strangers they saw Akane by describing her. All of their answers were "No."

Ranma never gave up on searching for Akane.

Finally, he came to the park and saw no one was there. He walked towards a bench and sat there panting. "I've searched (pant) everywhere. Where could (pant) she be?" Then, he saw a woman sitting on a swing. "Masaka…" Ranma whispered. "It can't be her, can it?" Ranma asked himself and started to approach the woman on the swing. When he got near, he recognized the coat. It was the coat he gave Akane for Christmas!

"Akane?" Ranma said softly. Akane looked up and was shocked that Ranma was there.

"W-W-What are you y-you doing h-here?" Akane asked Ranma. "I was looking for you." Ranma said. "W-Why? H-How'd you know I was here?" Akane asked. "Like I said, I was looking for you. I've searched all over the place for you." Ranma said.

"Why?"

"Because I need to talk to you." Ranma said and walked beside Akane. "Aren't you supposed to be with Naru-san?" Akane asked as she lowered her head at the mention of Naru's name.

"The date is finished already and she's at Hinata Sou." Ranma said smiling. "I see. Then, why are you here?" Akane asked frowning.

"I already told you why, you stupid tomboy! That's why your brains are as thick as your thighs!" Ranma snapped at her and clamped his mouth shut. 'Oh man! I did it again! Ranma no baka! Now you're gonna get it!' Ranma scolded himself.

"Nice to have you back, baka!" Akane said. Ranma stared at her with disbelief. "Anyway, gimme a sec to collect my thoughts." he said. Akane was staring at him. 'He's so handsome! But I can't have him back. He loves Naru-san and maybe that's what he's going to tell me! Kami-sama!'

After a few minutes, he was ready to face her. "Akane, after my date with Naru-chan we talked for a while. I told her that I love her." Akane flinched andtried to control herself from crying. 'I knew it! I totally lost him!' Akane thought and her tears began flowing because she can't control her tears and her pain anymore. Ranma saw it and pulled her into a hug. Akane was shocked but she pushed him away. Ranma frowned and placed his hands on Akane's shoulders.

"I'm not yet finished with my story, Akane. So please hear me out before you jump into conclusions." Ranma said softly. Akane looked at him and she remembered that jumping into conclusions was one of the reasons why Ranma left her. Akane nodded and Ranma smiled.

"And so I told her I love her but I'm in love with but I'm in love with someone else. I told her that whatever I do, I couldn't erase the girl from my mind and from my heart. She was the one I always see whenever I close my eyes. I told her that I couldn't give her pure love because it belongs to someone else already. I didn't want to regret everything and blame ourselves for being such a fool. She deserves someone better. I told her I really love this girl. Naru-chan got mad at first and I received a slap which I really deserve. She was hurt but she also told me that she loves me but it's not pure love. After all those talking, she offered me friendship which I gladly accepted. Ranma said almost finished with his story. Akane still frowned knowing that Ranma's in love with someone else and not her.

Ranma cupped Akane's right cheek and raised her head to look at him. "Do you know why I'm here?" Akane shook her head.

"I came here to tell you that I…I…you're the girl I was talking about." Ranma finished quickly and blushed furiously.

Akane heard what Ranma said but she had to make sure that she heard him right. "What did you say?" Akane asked, hoping she heard him correctly the first time.

Ranma took a deep breath and looked at Akane again. "I said that y-you're t-the girl I was t-talking about to Naru-chan. To make it short, I still…I l-lo…" Ranma gulped a large amount of air and said what he had to say. "I l-love you!" Ranma said blushing beet red.

Akane couldn't believe that Ranma confessed to her and at Christmas Eve also! Akane's tears flowed again and Ranma comforted her. "Hush, Akane. Don't cry."

"Do you really mean what you said?" Akane glanced at Ranma. "Yeah, I do." Ranma said sincerely. "Really?" Akane asked to make sure. "Yes, Akane." Ranma said. "Do you really love me?" Akane asked again and this time she's teasing Ranma. "I said I do, okay! Geez! Clean your fat ears and get a hearing aid!" Ranma said annoyed. Akane giggled but her tears are still flowing. "I was just teasing you, baka!"

"Why are you still crying, Akane? Did I say something wrong?" Ranma asked. Akane shook her head. "No, you didn't say anything wrong. You said it right." Akane said smiling while sobbing.

"But why are you crying?" Ranma asked. 'Maybe she's not happy that I told her I love her. Maybe it was a mistake to say it and she actually doesn't love me! Maybe that's it! She doesn't love me! How can you be so stupid, Ranma!' Ranma frowned at what he thought.

"I'm crying because I'm happy. I'm happy because you said you love me for the second time. You don't know how much it means to me because I love you too!" Akane said and hugged Ranma tightly. Ranma's nervousness and sadness faded away when he heard what Akane said.

He hugged Akane back and smiled. After a few minutes of silence, Akane broke the silence between them. "Remember when you left the dojo?" Ranma nodded. "I became so devastated and depressed at that time. Aunt Haruka called after 2 weeks and Kasumi oneechan asked me to go to Kyoto to relax and to keep my mind from thinking about you and about what happened. I took that chance and went here to Kyoto. I thought it's going to be fine but I found out that you were living at Hinata Sou too. Worst of all, I saw you and Naru-san kissing. My world was shattered and I thought that I really lost you. You and Naru-san went on a date a few hours ago and I couldn't stop tossing and turning on my futon so I went out for a walk. I was thinking about what I should do and I thought that I should move on too because you already did. I was about to give up on you but you suddenly came and confessed your feelings to me. It was so unexpected! I'm really happy, Ranma, but what makes me much happier is that you'll come back with me to Nerima…to the dojo, to our home. Please say you'll come back with me." Akane said and sobbed.

"I don't know, Akane. How can I carry on the Anything-Goes martial arts if I'm not a Saotome already? I'm Satoe Ranma now and I'm a disgrace to my family's honor and name." Ranma said who couldn't contain his tears. "It's not true, Ranma! Your father still thinks of you as his son. He wants you back too." Akane said.

"He wants me back? But he disowned me already. How could my stupid Pop think like that? He's not like…Pop." Ranma said disbelievingly. "Trust me, Ranma. I know he wants you back. He misses you a lot. We miss you a lot. Life in Nerima is so boring since you left. I like living a life with you on it, Ranma. Please come home." Akane said pleadingly, her eyes turning like a puppy's eyes.

"Aww, not that look! Come on, Akane! Stop it!" Ranma said not looking at Akane now. He looked again and saw that Akane's still using the puppy-dog-eyes technique. "Aww, alright! You win! I'll come back home with you!" Ranma said. Akane's eyes shined and hugged Ranma tightly again. "I'm so happy Ranma! I can't wait to go back to Nerima with you!" Akane said excitedly. Ranma smiled when he saw Akane happy. "Kawaii…" Ranma muttered. Akane heard him and blushed.

"You know, I can't wait to go back to the dojo. I'm getting homesick already." Ranma said. "Homesick?" Akane asked and looked at Ranma in the eyes. "Hai. Tendo Dojo is the only place I considered as my home." Ranma said and gave Akane a reassuring smile. Akane smiled back at Ranma. "Let's go back home after a week. It's really nice here and…" Akane was cut off when Ranma suddenly kissed her on the lips. Akane was shocked at first but then she recovered, she closed her eyes and kissed him back. Ranma deepened the kiss and placed his arms around Akane's waist. Akane placed her arms around Ranma's neck and pulled him against her. Ranma reluctantly broke the kiss and smiled at Akane. "Let's go back to the inn. Everybody must've been worrying about us." Ranma said.

"Hai!" Akane said gleefully and they walked back to Hinata Sou hand in hand.

End.

numbskull: So how was it? Is the ending okay? I was planning on making an epilogue on what happened to Naru after Ranma left to search for Akane. And so that's it. This is the ending. I hope you enjoyed the story! I'm still going to a party with the casts! Ja ne!

Time for the reviews!

Principal Kuno's advice: Hmm..maybe you're right. Thanks for the comment. I appreciate that.

Darkness Vixen of the Night: Yeah, it is but in the end it will be a happy one! Hehehe!