Disclaimer- Takahashi's not mine, sad, but true…

Okay, I'm SO sorry I haven't been able to upload… This one might not be as long as I promised, and THERE'S A REASON! Before you kill me, this chapter was supposed to be the long, last one, but I decided to break it down in two so that you guys know this is the second to last chapter. I really appreciate all the reviews, and I hope you like this one too!

Ch.10- The moment I've been waiting for.

"Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

XxXxXxXxXx

Ranma

Fear.

For once in my life I'm throwing it away, all of it. You see, my so called "life" has been nothing more than fear. Fear of being rejected, of being hurt, of being hers. But I have come to a point when I have to be a man, for her. This is where it all ends and it all begins at the same time.

I have to admit that I'm scared. For once in my life, I, Ranma Saotome am scared… of agirl.

A girl that as of right now holds my heart in her tiny hands, and I'm scared of what she's going to do to it. Maybe she's going to step on it, maybe she's going to break it, to love it, to hate it, to eat it… hell if I know.

But this… this is what I've been waiting for my whole life, for her to open the damned door. The door to her room, the door to her life, the door to her heart… that stupid door that never let me through is about to open, and stay open.

I hear the knob being turned so damned slowly, it's like every second is going like a hundred years. I hear the click and it opens. It finally opens.

"Show me you can make it real, Ranma" she demands, with the sexiest voice I have ever heard.

I stand there breathless. I mean, I never realized Akane was so beautiful. Well, I knew she was pretty, but there's something different about her right now. The purple nightgown she's wearing shows her creamy skin shining with the moonlight, her brown eyes are sucking me into their spell, and her lips… dammit those lips… they look so… I just want to…

Next thing I know my lips are down on hers.

It's a soft kiss, a closed one. I hear her sigh loudly and I can't control the chills running up and down my spine. This was supposed to be only a second long, but I can't pull away. There's no battling of tongues, no scraping of teeth, none of that stuff. It's a peck, more than anything…. A long peck, but even so, this kiss is all I ever imagined, all that I've ever desired, and everything I will ever need.

XxXxXxXxXx

Akane

I feel his lips on mine and I sigh surprised, but the next second, I'm already kissing back. It makes a tingly feeling go up and down my spine and it feels… so damn good.

Holy crap… this feels pretty darn real to me. So this is happening.

I don't know why but I always imagined our first kiss to be super romantic: we would kiss while slow dancing during prom or in a beautiful garden during sunset… not when he's soaked and my mascara is all over my face. And yet, it's the most romantic moment I could have ever imagined.

We stay like this for a pretty long time. I can't pull away… it's just so addicting. His body is pressed against mine and his hands are in my lower back, while mine are slightly pressed against his chest.

If this is where fighting is going to lead us from now on, I'll fight him more than usual. I've been waiting so long for this, so long… And I can't help but stand there as my life falls together as a whole and the rest of the world fades away, and it's just Ranma and I.

Ranma and I.

That sounds so good.

After a while he pulls away, and I just stand there with my eyes still closed, still savoring the taste of his lips. I didn't want it to end… ever. But he barely even moved, his face is still less than an inch away from mine. If we could just stay like this forev…

"I'm sorry" he says.

What?!?! Sorry for what?!?

"I'm so sorry Akane" he repeats and pulls me into a bear hug. I feel him nuzzling his face on my neck, but I'm still too shocked from the kiss to even say a word.

"I'm sorry… I just… I couldn't help myself. I had been waiting such a long time for this and… I know I'm not such a good kisser… I mean I haven't kissed anyone before… at least on my own will… and I--"

"Shut up Ranma" I command with my index finger over his mouth. This dummy talks a little too much sometimes.

"But I---"

"Just shut up and do it again."

XxXxXxXxXx

Ranma

Your wish is my command.

I could do this hundreds of times, thousands of times, millions of times… over and over again. Without even noticing, I cup her face with one of my hands and I deepen the kiss. It's like her spell is pulling me in and I do absolutely nothing to fight back. I never knew that once I'd kiss her she would become so irresistible.

Before we even knew it, we walked all the way back to the corner of her room. I have her pinned against the wall as I devour her lips. I really meant it when I said I wanted to kiss her breathless.

After a while, and in need of air, we pull apart just a tiny bit. Our lips are still touching but we're not kissing, just breathing the scent of one another.

"So does this mean it's not a dream?" She asks me and I can't help but smile.

"I sure hope it's not, because then I'd have to shoot myself in the morning" I reply and she giggles. I can't resist her smile, and I lean in for another kiss.

The next thing I know we're on her bed already, with me laying on top of her. We kiss from pecks to 'french' to everything in between. It's like my body is out of control. My hands are tangled up in her hair as if I can't get enough of her. The taste of her lips, the feel of her skin, her scent, her touch… it's like they're demanding me, and I have no right to refuse. My actions become bolder as my lips leave hers and travel alongside her jaw, down to the crook of her neck, up to her ear and my hands explore every inch of her. Her gasps and the feeling of her nails slightly digging in my shoulders are the only things I will ever need in my life, ever again.

Between ragged breaths and gasps we stop and stare into each other's eyes. After all that happened today, I'm still scared. I'm scared that I'll have to come back to earth where she hits me and hates me; back to the world where I don't have the balls to do what I'm doing now… back to reality. So, before anything else stops me, I'm finally going to finish what I started. I kiss her again, but this time she tugs at my bottom lip. I'm going to go mad without her… this is it, it's now or never.

"Marry me" I say, and it's barely even a whisper.

She releases my lip and stares at me, eyes wide and mouth open.

Is this good or bad? Does she not want to marry me? Maybe I did it too fast! Oh God, I can't believe I messed it up again!

"Please" I add, nuzzling in her neck. I can't look her in the eye. I couldn't stand her look if she rejects me.

She grabs my pigtail and pulls my face down to hers. She kisses me so teasingly slowly that if I would have been standing up, my legs would have given up on me. It's just our lips, moving in a motion that is really taking my breath away. I have never felt so complete before, and I want to have this feeling forever. I want to have Akane, to be with Akane, forever.

When we part I speak again.

"So, I take that as a yes?"

"Of course, baka" She replies and I hungrily kiss her once again.

These are years of longing and wanting coming all out at once, and I wouldn't be able to stop, even if I wanted to. I need her smile, her touch, her kiss…

"Akane, Akane, Akane…" I can't help but repeat her name in between kisses. She's driving me insane, and I want to stay like this until the end of time.

"I love you" I whisper in her ear and feel her shiver. "I always have and I always will"

Until the end of time.

XxXxXxXxXx

Akane

The morning sun hits my eyes, and I slowly open them. Instantly, the images of Ranma's kiss start coming all back to me…

The feel of his lips on mine had by far been the best one I've had in my life. He just made it seem so… real.

I had always dreamed about Ranma and I together, but never to that extreme. It just felt so real. I couldn't get enough of him. I wanted to kiss him until my lips fell off… kiss him like that would be the last time it would ever happen.

Dammit.

"Dammit, DAMMIT! It was a dream!! I knew it!!! Ugh!!"

Author's Note: Is it a dream? Is it real? TOMORROW the very last chapter!! Sorry for the cliffie, but I broke this chapter down in two so that you guys know it's almost over.