A/N: Well this one took me longer than I expected to get out. I am not 100% happy with the end but it will stay the way it is, I could easily take another three days to just play with it and I am already later than I would like to be getting this out. I think this story is going to hit between 15-20 chapters. I hope to have it complete by the end of April, May at the latest.
Kaeli, to answer your question I don't have a set date or plan for when chapters will come out. I am aiming for once a week but they will come faster or slower depending on what's going on in my life. I am going to strive to never have one take more than two weeks. Thank you to everyone else for the reviews. I read everyone one of them.
Chapter 5: New Beginnings
The next morning Akane sat at the river's edge watching the current crest with small rapids as it whizzed by with debris. The sound was a bit soothing as well as intimidating. Near where she sat the water was still enough thanks to an outcrop of rock that she was able to wash. It was a relief to be able to wash the almost week's worth of grime from her hair. The water was cold but it was worth the five minute dip to finally feel human again. Now she sat clean, combing out her hair considering her dilemma. She had not seen Ranma since the night before, though she knew he was nearby. While he had decided to avoid her, she knew he wouldn't leave her vulnerable. She was not quite sure what to make of him kissing her. And she wasn't quite ready to analyze her own feelings about it either. She wasn't really sure it mattered much anyways. There was not much of a future left for her at this point. As much as she wanted to hope for a reconciliation between them she was also afraid of what it could mean. They were torn from each other's lives once and she was not sure she could bear to face that again. She had resigned herself to this path, she couldn't afford for Ranma to cause her to hope. It was probably best to move forward amicably and forget the whole thing. She gazed out over the water, the river was volatile and angry, it swept all that dared enter its path out and away, never to be seen again. She felt a calm sense of kinship to the raging water.
Twenty minutes later Akane was still sitting on the same rock lost to her own world when Ranma finally managed to build up the courage to return to camp. He had spent the last two hours trying to talk himself into facing her after the colossal screw up of the night before. He was angry, and confused and didn't want to have any sort of conversation about it. He expected to find her stomping around camp pissed and ready to fight and so was very surprised when he happened upon her just sitting at the water's edge serenely lost in thought. He hesitated to disturb her and settled on just watching her for a moment. Taking in the serenity of the moment and the chance to just observe her.
"I sent Dukkeobi down river to see if he can find a way across. He will return in a few hours." Akane turned slightly to give Ranma a pacifying smile. "I was thinking if you are up for it we can try training, there are some benefits to being the Guardian that we have not gone over yet." She stood and walked over to her bag pulling out a scroll and handing it to him. "You up for some new techniques?"
Ranma felt a little relief at her words. Training was something he felt confident with, something that allowed some control to return. Looked like she was as willing to ignore the elephant in the room as he was. "Where did you get this from?" He asked after opening and scanning through it.
"I inherited it, there are a few copies floating around." She shrugged her shoulders "I looked it over before, and Toshi and I have discussed it at length in the past. He would be better at explaining the contents than me but I think you and I can figure it out some of it without him."
He couldn't help the smile that broke out across his face. It was the first genuine smile Akane had seen from him and it stole her breath away. For just a moment the cocky boy that she fell in love with shone through and it made her heart hurt. She averted her gaze and tried to stamp out the hope and warmth it brought.
"Lets get started then." Ranma bounced a bit in place as he watched her expectantly.
"As I have explained before, the artifact is tied to my life force. It will use its own force, a combination of its and mine, or in a case where its depleted will solely rely on my life force for power." She paused as she brushed away debris from the ground and grabbed a stick to etch out a design in the dirt. "No one knows what the artifact is, where it came from or why it attaches itself to a human host. We do know that it has tremendous spiritual energy." She drew a picture of herself and two others. "Now while the Keeper, me, holds the artifact I can share its power with limitations to the Guardian, you, and also the Guide, Toshi." She smiled down at her handy work. "Toshi can get some battle assistance from it but mainly it allows him heightened senses, it allows him the ability to decipher things he otherwise wouldn't be able to, and gives him what seems to be a ridiculous amount of luck at puzzling things out." She pointed her stick at Ranma. "The Guardian's job is to protect. With practice you should be able to sense where I am no matter how far apart we are. It should increase your senses to be able to spot danger and you can directly draw power from me to use in offensive and defensive maneuvers. I believe there is some healing magic available to you as well but that is something Toshi can help with." She sat back on her heels and looked over to him expectantly. "Where do you want to start?"
Ranma thought for a moment as he glanced at the scroll again. "Probably the sensing part. Seems like the most crucial at the moment."
"OK." She wiped her hands off on her pants and stood. "What does the scroll say?" She walked around him to pier over his arm at the scroll. Ranma became hyper aware of her so close to him, it made it difficult to concentrate on the scroll and he fought the urge to fidget. They reviewed the scroll in silence before Akane finally stepped in front of him rubbing her hands together.
"Ok, this looks simple and similar to something I have done with Toshi before." She sat down in a lotus position and waited for Ranma to do the same. "We need to first introduce you to the artifact, once it knows you, you can draw power from it."
Closing their eyes Ranma waited. In his meditative state he could sense the creatures around them, the wind high in the trees was loud in his ears, the river a soothing rhythm to his left, Akane's and his heart beat were steady drums in the background of his mind. He heard Akane's deep breath across from him moments before he felt the gentle wash of power over him. It was soft and felt like down feathers but hot like a desert wind, it carried the fragrance of fresh rain and he could feel the hairs on his arm raise as if he was walking into a lightning storm. "Ranma, open your eyes." He opened them to look at Akane. She was bathed in the pink light from again, it reached out to settle around him like a second skin. "Now call it to you. Let it seep into your body so that you know it and it knows you." Ranma took a deep breath and lowered his defenses, he envisioned it seeping into his skin, slowly the glow around him lessened as his body absorbed the energy. After a time Akane stopped glowing but he was still vaguely aware of the power of the Artifact.
"Now what?" Ranma fidgeted a bit, the intensity and scrutiny of Akane's gaze unnerved him.
"Can you still feel it?" She said after a moment.
"Yeah, now what?"
Akane rolled her eyes and stood. "Now we test it." She turned to take in their surroundings before turning back to him with a mischievous smile. "Time to play hide and seek. Count to thirty, try to feel for the artifact, once you find it, come find me." She smiled and turned to walk away.
"Right." Ranma huffed and closed his eyes to count. He had to admit that there was something freeing about the idea, it was a completely normal activity that touched the part of him that still yearned for innocence. He was surprised that he couldn't hear her as she disappeared, and she seemed to be blocking his chi sensing ability somehow. He was mildly impressed, he had to hand it to the tomboy, her skills had advanced more than he thought possible. After counting to thirty he took a deep breath and stood. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel for the artifact but figured it had to be similar to sensing chi. He reached out his awareness in a giant bubble trying to find that sensation again, he felt a small flare of it within himself and he concentrated on that for a moment. He realized then that there was a thin trail like a rope that led away from him through the trees. That had to be it, wasn't quite what he expected but he took off following it. It led him up a tree where he found a very mischievous Akane grinning down at him from a branch above.
"Want to try again?" She asked as she jumped down beside him.
"Sure. I'll wait a full minute, try to go farther." He turned his back to her as she once again raced off to hide. This time he barely had to think about the artifact or Akane before the trail was laid out before him. When he neared her hiding spot next to the river he stealthily snuck up on her. As he reached her he leaned over her shoulder "Boo." he whispered in her ear causing her to jump. He had not anticipated her losing her balance and she started to fall into the river. Before he could react she had latched on to him causing him to lose his balance as well, they tumbled into the water. As soon as they hit the water Ranma maneuvered to quickly wrap his arms around her flailing body and hoisted her to the surface, she coughed to clear her lungs of river water and leaned against him stunned for a moment.
"You… You jerk!." She smacked his arm as she simultaneously held onto him for dear life as he hoisted them both back onto the river bank. "I can't believe you did that! You know I can't swim…." she paused as her brain finally processed the fact that she was floating in the river latched onto a soaking wet male Ranma. "You broke your curse?" She looked at him with awe and hope, knowing what something like that would mean to him.
He hoisted them both onto the dry river bank before answering. "Sorta." He took off his shirt to ring out the excess water. "More like got it locked down. It's still there but I control it now. It still comes in handy on missions at times so I am pretty happy with the situation." He pointed at a tattoo along the side of his rib cage. It just looked like swirly lines to Akane. "I found a quack in Indonesia who was far too fond of his pipe and only seemed half aware of the world around him but he was able to place a seal on my girl half in exchange for a bottle of Aspirin and two pairs of pants. It was an odd situation." The amusement in his voice over the memory was contagious and Akane found herself smiling next to him.
Her eyes wandered over his toned abdomen and heat began to rise to her face as Akane realized she was ogling Ranma. She shifted slightly to sit on her hands and looked away toward the water. "I'm happy for you Ranma, I know how important that was for you."
He pulled his shirt back on before offering her a hand and dragged her up off the ground. "Thanks."
They both realized that a lot of the tension between them was gone. They were able to be fairly amicable with one another and had slipped into their old supportive roles. It was nice in a way and felt a bit more like a time years ago, before things got screwed up, and before they finally decided to take things to the next level. Back when they were reluctant fiancée and friends. They both stood there calmly watching each other and enjoyed the peace of the moment.
With a content sigh Ranma was the first to break the spell, "Well I'm going to go start a fire to help dry off. Join me when you're ready and I'll get some food started." She gave him a tentative smile and waited until he walked away before removing her own clothes to ring out the excess water. She sat for a moment more to collect herself before following after him.
An hour later, found Ranma and Akane once again bent over the scroll. Dryer and with full stomachs they had decided to look at the more combative elements.
"Well I think you can use all your normal techniques and just draw power from me. It also looks like there are a few new ones too. I saw you use the chain on the Aoyin. Do you have any other weapons you like to use?" Akane looked up at Ranma. Her brow scrunched in thought. "I can infuse them with power as well. Once infused they should easily draw power since they belong to you."
"No, just the chain, it was blessed by a shaman and is already fairly powerful. I am not a huge fan of drawing power from you though, didn't you say it will tap into your life force?" While they could use all the help they could get, tapping into Akane's life force, risking draining it, was not something he was really willing to risk.
"Well yes, but the Artifact should handle anything you need. It's well of power is pretty extensive. You would be able to feel the difference if it started to pull from me directly." She moved back over to her bag and rifled around.
"I don't know 'Kane, I am not a big fan of the risk." He stood back and watched her. He realized that he was forming a bad habit of watching her whenever she wasn't paying attention, he was free to become re-familiar with her form without risk of detection. It was too hard to ignore the pull towards her not to.
"Trust me Ranma, you are putting too much into that. If I feel I'm in danger I can always cut the tie myself." She growled and started dumping things on the ground. "Where is it?"
Ranma couldn't help the smile at the show of her temper. It was just too similar to the Akane of the past, it was reassuring in a way. "Whatcha' looking for."
She didn't answer and threw a pair of shorts over her shoulder. "Ah ha! Here they are!" She turned around with a grin of triumph. Holding out her prize to Ranma. "Here put these on, they are tools for the Guardian."
In her hands she offered what looked like two bangle bracelets. "No way, I'm a guy. I'm not wearing sissy bracelets." He backed away from her suspiciously.
"Come on Ranma just put them on so I can show you what they do." Akane, exasperated, took a step towards him.
"Come on Akane, I really don't need them!" He danced out of her range as she attempted to lunge for his arm.
A small battle ensued as Akane tried to outwit him and he continually danced away from her. There was something so normal about the exchange. In the end it left Akane defeated and breathless with a frown on her face, and an answering grin on Ranma's.
"Ranma please, I promise if you hate them you can take them right off." She flopped onto her back on the ground trying to catch her breath.
Sufficiently satisfied, Ranma decided to take pity on Akane and dropped beside her, swiping the stupid bracelets out of her hands and slid one onto each wrist. The metal was ice cold to the touch. Between one blink and the next the bracelets glew and morphed into golden bracers.
"See not so bad." Akane sat up and took one into her hands. After a brief pause energy flowed from between Akane's hands and was absorbed by the bracer. She repeated the same process with the other. "Now try to channel power from it and flick it towards that bolder." She demonstrated the move. "The technique is called Tora no tsume."
Ranma stood and did as she explained. Nothing happened the first try. But the second he could feel the bracer warm. He flicked his wrist "Tora no tsume!" And claws of power shot out and split the bolder in pieces.
"That's handy." Ranma inspected his new gear a bit closer.
"You should also be able to hold the claw form at your fist so that you can use the claws at close range. They can also be used to form a shield to block attacks."
"These are awesome, thanks!" He practiced keeping the claws on his fist. Which he picked up only after a few tries before moving on to form a small shield between them. Akane sat back and watched him in quiet wonder. It was always amazing to watch him pick up new techniques. He learned faster than anyone she had ever met. It took her weeks to figure out her bow and it took him 10 minutes to figure out all the different uses of the bracers. "You should be able to still use them afterwards. You should be able to infuse them with your own ki."
Ranma looked up at her quiet emission. The wistful look on her face clueing him into where her thought process led her. His face sobered briefly before a dark sense of anger settled in. That's right, Akane had some hair brained plan that resulted in her death. "So, oh mighty one, what is the plan? We go see this Huoshi guy and then what?"
She gave him a timid glance before she turned her back and started stuffing things back into her bag. "Then we take whatever information we get, go meet up with Toshi and figure out where the begging is. Go there and hopefully destroy the artifact." She stood and started moving around the camp cleaning up.
He watched her avoid him. He would argue with her if he thought it would make a difference. But he decided he would wait until they found out what this Huoshin guy had to say and what Toshi found. He refused to be a part of anything that resulted in Akane's death. In fact he refused to allow her to be a part of it as well. He would just have to wait to make that point to her later.
Just then Dukkeobi flew in to land on a nearby tree branch, 'Akane, there is a slower moving part of the river with a downed tree across it about 3 hours from here. If we hurry we should make it before dark.'
"Oh good, Ranma, Dukkeobi found a way across the river. Let's go," Ranma gave her one last long probing look that she tried to not let affect her, before he sighed and started putting out the fire and packing away the rest of their gear.
"How far away is it?" Ranma didn't look up from his packing but started calculating the time until dark.
"Dukkeobi said about three hours, enough time to cross before dark I think." Akane outstretched her arm for Dukkeobi to land. 'Take a rest my friend, i'll wake you in a couple hours.' With a snort Dukkeobi wrapped his body around her arm and shoulder and turned to gold to rest.
Ranma watched the transformation passively before handing Akane her bag. "Well we better get moving then."
The next few hours went by uneventfully. Ranma practiced using his bracers and Akane helped him learn to pull power off her to aid his attacks. By the time they reached the riverside again they had become quite proficient at working together. The river was indeed much slower than the rapids of before but the water was still moving swiftly in parts. As Dukkeobi said there was a tree that crossed the river. The tree marked the end of the calmer water, the water rushed away down the hill just on the other side of it.
Akane paused at the water's edge. There was no way she was going to swim across it. The tree looked more promising but one clutz moment and she would end up drowning.
"You ok Akane?" Ranma could feel the unease flowing off her. He knew water was not something she was particularly fond of. She didn't respond. Gently placing a hand on her shoulder to get her attention he waited until she turned to look at him with a vulnerability that he was sure she was unaware of showing. "Hey, I'll go first with both the packs and come back and carry you across. Then you don't have to worry about falling in." He gently squeezed her shoulder in support.
Akane considered his offer. While her instinct was to deny the help she knew allowing him this would get them across quicker. "Ok."
Ranma smiled at her gently as she eased off her pack and handed it to him. He wasted no time racing across the tree. Akane was relieved when he reached the other side without mishap and patiently waited for him to begin the process of returning to collect her. It was when he was about half way across that he suddenly stopped and yelled at her in a panic. Dukkeobi felt the enemy first, transforming and taking flight to face it. Akane was half a second slower and turned in time to come face to face with what could only be described as an elf. It had a near human form with pointed ears and scraggly hair, its eyes were pinpoints of fire as it grinned at her from a to small mouth. It stood less than two feet behind her and before she could react it grabbed ahold of her arm and jumped into the water.
Akane had but a second to fill her lungs with air before the water crashed over her head. The creature held tight to her arm and dragged them both towards the river bottom. The water was frigid and dark and as they reached toward the deeper river bed her lungs began to scream for air. Akane panicked and desperately pulled at her arm. After a moment she calmed and allowed her hand to glow faintly. She grabbed the arm of her attacker with a power infused grasp causing its grip to slacken. The glow emanating from her showed the rage filled face of the creature as she ripped her arm from its grasp and tried to swim away, it glowered at her and released a hiss of angry bubbles. Before she could get far the creature latched one of its pale hands around her ankle. Akane tried to reach the creature again but felt her mind slip away from the lack of oxygen, her time was up. Just before she lost consciousness she saw a pair of angry blue eyes sweep past her from above and felt the release of pressure from her leg before a strong arm wrapped around her waist.
Ranma had not been so terrified since the adventure with Saffron where Akane almost died. He watched helplessly as the creature grabbed Akane and dove into the water just missing the flames that Dukkeobi spewed in its direction. The river was wide and the bottom was deep and they quickly disappeared from sight under the churning water. Without hesitation he dived in after them but the creature was fast and he saw no sign of them. Surfacing and gulping in more air, he fought the current and prepared himself for the long dive down to the depths of the river. Below the surface Ranma looked for the thin rope of power that would lead him to her. It was weaker but still there. He pumped his legs and reached with his arms and dove deeper after them following the thin rope until he could make out the glow of Akane as she struggled to get free. The creature had a grip on her leg as it dragged her down. In Ranma's furry he extended the claws from his bracer and swiped the creature's arm in half. The creature howled in pain and rage and let Akane go. He grabbed Akane, and with a backward glance to ensure the creature wasn't going to follow, propelled them both towards the surface, his lungs burning from lack of oxygen. Breaking free of the surface he dragged Akane's limp body towards the shore, pushing her up and on to the bank before hauling himself out of the water.
Akane laid there unmoving, her skin pale and her lips blue. The faint glow below her breast bone slowly grew in intensity.
"Oh no you don't, you're not allowed to die on me now." Ranma flipped her on her back and began CPR. The next few seconds were the longest of his life as he worked to restart her heart and lungs. His focus narrowed to the woman in front of him and the task at hand. Every fiber of his being was directed at detecting any sign of life from her. He refused to consider defeat and blocked all thought but the single mindedness of fighting to bring her back. His demeanor was calm and sure, he would not lose. Suddenly her body convulsed and river water was expelled from her mouth as she coughed. He gently rolled her to her side and let her cough and gag. She was alive, she was going to be ok. The fear that had gripped him earlier crashed down upon him once more, and once she quieted a bit he hauled her up into his lap and just held her. "Don't ever do that again." He whispered into her hair.
Akane was unsure of what had happened at first. One moment she was drowning the next she was tucked safely in Ranma's arms. She was content to sit there and allow him to hold her as her mind raced to make sense of what had happened. Her body was weak and her mind sluggish. Small tremors shook her body as she came to the realization of how close she came to failing, of dying before they could destroy the artifact. She clung to his neck as she tried to hold herself together. Ranma's arms were always strong, they were always safe, she was ok. The ordeal caught up to her and she dissolved into tears trying to burrow further into Ranma's body for comfort. Ranma continued to hold her and allowed her to cling to him. He tried to shelter her from the world in his embrace allowing both of them time to calm and recuperate from their icy plunge into the river.
After a few minutes Akane finally released her death grip on Ranma and turned her glassy eyes to take in his expression. His eyes were hooded, his posture tense and his body fairly vibrated with pent up emotion. He had saved her, as Ranma always did. Always putting her safety first. She realized that there was no going back for her now. She had tried to put distance between them, tried to save him from this life but in the end they had ended up right back where they started. And she was so tired, tired of being strong, of feeling alone, of missing him, seven years had not dampened her need for him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed herself up to look into his blue eyes, they were dark with need, in that moment she stopped fighting it and gave in, kissing him with all the pent up loneliness she had felt over the years. It took all of two seconds for Ranma to snap out of whatever trance he was in and respond. What started as a sweet caress quickly escalated. Ranma grabbed her waist and moved her to straddle his lap and Akane pressed her body to meld to his. He deepened the kiss and buried one of his hands in her hair tugging her head back slightly to give him a better angle. She practically purred as she rubbed against him. Their ragged breaths co-mingle. She had just gotten her hands around the hem of his shirt with every intention of removing it to run her hands along the firm torso beneath, when Dukkeobi let out an angry squawk from behind her, unhappy with being ignored. It was as effective as a bucket of cold water and both pulled back from each other catching their breath. Akane realized in that moment what she was doing and felt her face flame as she tried to extract herself from Ranma's lap.
Ranma watched her as she tried to pull away. He could read the embarrassment and uncertainty she was feeling. She had instigated the kiss this time, not him, and there was no way he was willing to let her go now. He let out a small growl of frustration and possessiveness and wrapped his arm about her, holding her firm to him. "I don't think so, Akane." She squeaked and fell back against him, eyes wide and uncertain. His gaze was dark and possessive, his features otherwise blank.
After a moment she collected herself enough to huff in annoyance and try to disentangle herself again but he was not letting her budge. "Really, Ranma, let me up." She gave his shoulder a light smack to make her point.
In response he grabbed her face between his hands and placed a soft lingering kiss on her lips before pulling back to assess her. "I almost watched you die again, something I swore I would never let happen," His breath shuttered in his lungs. "I am not letting you go, I don't care what stupid idea drove you to break the engagement seven years ago, I don't care if you think you have some great sacrifice to make to save the world. You are mine. You promised me forever and I am not going to allow you to run from me again." He wrapped his arms gently around her and placed his forehead against hers. "No more hiding, no more running Akane, I will kiss you senseless until you agree."
She ran her fingers down the side of his face to the corner of his cocky gin. He turned slightly to bite gently at one of her fingers before sucking it gently. There was no indecision or anger in his posture now, he was open and determined. With a sigh her body melted with relief. Ranma was her home. She knew it was a bad idea but she couldn't deny herself this any longer. "Oh Ranma this is such a bad idea," her voice broke as she pressed her face into his neck. He tensed slightly, no doubt ready to fight her. She snaked her arms around him and allowed herself the comfort of his arms. "I'm too weak, I don't think I can break my own heart a second time."
"I won't let you go, Akane." He kissed the top of her head, "Never again." They sat together for a time enjoying the peace of being wrapped around one another. Dukkeobi grumbled and flew off to watch over them from a nearby branch. It was nearing dark before they both moved to retrieve they're packs and make camp for the night.