Disclaimer: Still isn't mine, but if that ever changes, I'll let you know.
AN: I know, I suck. It's been forever since I updated. In the past several months, I had to move to another state and have a baby. Time is no longer a luxury for me. I've only just gotten my energy and inspiration back. I only hope that having dropped the story for so long that I was able to pick up the pace and tone of the story once again. Consider this a holiday gift.
I know I have no right to ask about this but there's a bit of a quandary, and thought I'd put it up to you handful of readers who actually read my story and like it enough to leave a review. I started this story as nothing more than entertainment for myself. I never thought it'd end up being close to 50,000 words. You have no idea how much it thrills me that anyone reads this at all. My original plan for this story is almost complete. In fact, after this chapter, I have only 1 more chapters planned. This was meant to be nothing more than a fun little story that shows the Ranma cast with a lil more depth in character without actually making them into different people. It wasn't meant to be a resolution to the manga or tv series. I have random thoughts on how I would like to complete the storyline and all that but I never had any intention of writing anymore Ranma fanfic once this story was done. However, I find myself attached to the new light that I've showed Ranma and everyone else in, and I want to give my own version of how the series should have ended. My question is this–is there anyone out there interested in reading that? It would end up being a sort of sequel to this story and also pick up where the last manga left things. It would be way longer than this story, with more adventure and a lil fantasy in it, which also means it would also take longer for me to work on. I can't promise regular updates, especially with a new baby, but I do promise that I will finish any story that I start to post. Please, let me know of any interest. If there's no one who wants to read such a story, it's no big deal. I might still write it, I might not. In the mean time, read, enjoy and please review!
"Coming up on the right side is the Washington Monument. We'll be getting off the bus in a few minutes to take a closer look at it and. . ." The tour guide continued to speak but the petite blue-haired girl could no longer pay attention as her gaze fell onto the pretty bracelet that graced her wrist.
It was a small sterling silver link bracelet with a small rose shaped pink quartz in the center plate. It was the present that Ranma had given to her on the day she had left to be on this trip. It was quite a surprise. Akane remembered seeing the exact bracelet in one of the smaller specialty jewelry shops and had pointed it out to him during one of their outings there. She hadn't really thought Ranma had been paying attention to anything that she had been looking at though and was shocked that he had remembered it so that he could actually buy it for her. Maybe there was hope for him yet but the petite Japanese girl was afraid to get her hopes up about her forced upon fiancé.
"Akane." Mousse spoke, interrupting her speculations. "Are you all right? Everyone is getting off the bus now."
The blue-haired girl looked up and around the bus and realized that she and her Chinese friend were actually the last people on the bus, besides the bus driver. She was surprised that she'd been so lost in her thoughts for so long that she had missed what the tour guide had been saying.
"I'm all right, Mousse." Akane assured him. "I was just thinking. We better go catch up with everyone else."
"I also miss home." Mousse kindly let her know.
"Thanks, Mousse." Akane said gratefully as she got off the bus. "Let's go."
Akane was very grateful that Mousse was with her on this trip so far away from home. The two friends got along famously, so much so that a few who weren't sure about the Ranma situations that happened around school had thought that she and Mousse were engaged to each other. Akane and Mousse maintained the fact that they were simply good friends, even enough to say that they were best friends, but were not interested in each other like that. After the first few days, seeing how the 2 interacting comfortably with each other, but never had that famous sexual tension that existed between Ranma and Akane, they saw how Mousse and Akane really were just friends. The male Amazon and the female Japanese martial artist talked with each other about the sights and activities of the trip and of many other things, and the others found out that the 2 were also a lot of fun to be around as they joked and teased each other with no malicious intent, especially when they watched the 2 young martial artists as they sparred in the large and usually empty hotel lobby in the evenings. In fact, so many different people were so interested in watching that, both Mousse and Akane soon started showing them a few things about martial arts. The trip was exactly what the 2 members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew needed.
Akane had been gone for 1 week now. That was 7 days. There was still another 2 weeks before she was back in Nerima, and broken down that was at least 13 more days, if today wasn't added. Not that Saotome Ranma was counting, of course, but well, 2 weeks was a long time. For the time being, the pig-tailed martial artist was laying on his usual spot on the roof right above Akane's room and staring out over the neighborhood as his mind went over the facts.
They had never been separated for so long before since he'd made his home here in Nerima. Actually, it almost didn't feel like home to the young martial artist without Akane around. She had been the first person to welcome him into the household, though that had all gone straight down the drain once she'd found out that Ranma wasn't actually a girl. Even though, the 2 had argued from the get go, she had always done her best to help him like when Kuno had found out that their parents had engaged them together and he and Kuno had fell into the pool. It had been Akane who had brought him hot water so that he could change back into a boy and be able to fight him. It wasn't until she was gone, did Ranma realize how much just having his blue-haired fiancee around meant to him and just how bored that left him without having her around. Usually when Ranma was in lack of something to do, he'd go see what his forced upon fiancee was doing, but it wasn't recently did the pig-tailed boy realize how often he really did check on the girl just to see her for a few minutes during the day.
His mind wanderings were interrupted when his stomach let out a loud growl. All that thinking was making him hungry and the Japanese martial artist decided it was a good time to visit his friend Uc-chan. As he made his way to his brown-haired fiancee's restaurant, Ranma suddenly heard his name being yelled out.
"RAAAAAANNMMMAAAAAAAAAAA!!! I'll get you for this!!" Ryouga yelled out in sheer frustration.
The Japanese boy with short hair had just come back from Akari's pig farm. He hadn't meant to leave but he had wanted to go to the bathroom and he had somehow ended up in France. At least, he thought it was France. Ryouga remembered seeing the Eiffel Tower, so he was pretty sure that it was France.
"I ain't done anything, bacon breath. What'cha yelling for?" Ranma's voice seemed to call from nowhere.
The yellow bandanna boy twisted his body around so as to see just where Ranma's voice was coming from and he realized that Ranma was just beside him standing on the stone fence. "Ranma! What are you doing in Osaka?"
"You're back in Nerima, pig boy." The pig-tailed martial artist drawled at him.
"Don't call me that!" Ryouga yelled and jumped onto the fence in a ready position to smash his opponent's face in.
"All right, Ryouga. I could use a good fight. Let's go!" The young man in the red Chinese shirt and pants said enthusiastically as he automatically switched into a relaxed fighting stance.
"I don't have time to fight, Ranma." Ryouga suddenly said as he remembered the cute little pig statue he had found in a store just outside of Paris, that he still held in his hand. "Where's Akane? I have a souvenir for her."
The sometimes-man-turned-into-little-black-pig stared at the souvenir in hand. He'd also picked up a similar item for Akari. Akari was so nice to him and so pretty. She always welcomed him onto her farm. She knew about his curse and she still accepted that about him. Akane was just as nice and maybe even a little prettier than Akari, but she didn't know about his alter ego. Ryouga thought if he could just get the courage up to ask her on a date, she'd really like him and wouldn't be too bothered about his species-water-changing. She accepted Ranma's curse pretty well and Ranma was a jerk. Akane was always reminding him that he was so much nicer than Ranma. That had to mean something. Ryouga felt so confused sometimes. He knew it was wrong to feel for both girls, but he couldn't help himself. Both of them accepted him for who he was, even with his faults. He didn't want to risk losing either of them, but these were thoughts that were meant to be dealt with on a later day.
Ranma dropped his pose and realized that Ryouga had no idea what had happened for nearly the past month. "Akane's in Washington DC, in America, Ryouga. She's been gone for the past week already."
"What is she doing in America?!" The yellow bandanna boy questioned in a very alarmed tone and sent a very accusing glare at the person standing in front of him. "And why aren't you with her? What if something happens with her?! How could you let this happen?! It's all your fault, Ranma!!" As he spoke, his voice got louder and with each new volume reached, a punch was thrown.
"I told ya, pig boy! I ain't done nothin'!" Ranma yelled back as he dodged each punch. "She's on a school trip and Mousse went with her."
"WHAT?!?! Why is Mousse with her?" Ryouga continued to yell as he stared at Ranma. This time, the Japanese boy with the fangs was in too much shock to throw anymore punches.
"They're friends. You know that." Ranma tried to in his usual 'don't care' attitude, though inside he was really wishing that it was the Chinese male Amazon in front of him so that Ranma could fight with him instead.
"How could you let this happen, Ranma?!" Ryouga shouted right into the face of the Japanese boy dressed in the red Chinese shirt. Then, the yellow bandanna-wearing martial artist dropped the hostile attitude and began to quickly walk away. "I have to find her."
Ryouga had known that Mousse and Akane were getting chummy together but he hadn't thought it was really anything to worry about, but she'd gone on some trip with the Chinese boy. Ryouga could have accepted the fact if she had chosen Ranma. That would have been expected. He knew of her feelings for the pig-tailed boy but he didn't know where Mousse stood with Akane really, besides just friendship. Did that mean she was replacing him with Mousse? Ryouga had to check this for himself.
"Ryouga!! You know you're not going to find her!! Come back and finish this fight! Ryouga, you IDIOT!!" Ranma nearly screamed after his usual rival but it was too late as Ryouga had already disappeared. "The jerk could be all the way to North Pole already." Ranma mumbled to himself and decided that he might as well get that okinamiyaki from his cute fiancee.
The elderly Amazon council woman happened to look up out of her restaurant window and see a certain pig-tailed young martial artist walk right by the building. She looked around the place and saw that Shampoo was absentmindedly taking a customer's order and didn't notice a thing. Cologne could see her great granddaughter was lost in her thoughts. Since the Tendo girl had left with Mousse, Shampoo had been contemplating things. She still chased Ranma at least once a day but a few weeks ago, her great granddaughter would used the girl's absence to use every trick in the book to get Ranma to fall in love with her. These days the chases were only half-hearted attempts, only once during the afternoons when she had deliveries to make. Maybe Shampoo was finally seeing that Mousse wasn't such a bad match for her.
The Japanese boy would be a great addition to the Amazons but his mentality did not work with their culture and the old ways. He refused to submit to anyone and in the Chinese Amazon way, women were superior and men were weak. Ranma was the exact opposite and he would make a mess of things. Mousse was a good fighter. The proof being that he was able to keep up with Son-in-Law for the most part and that was without being able to see for the most part. If his eyesight hadn't been so had, the old Chinese lady was sure he'd give Ranma a hell of a fight. Mousse was a sensitive soul though. He wanted Shampoo to fall in love with him and not make her feel obligated to marry him, so he had never challenged the purple-haired girl of his dream to a fight for her hand. The Amazon way saw it as just a weakness though and Shampoo agreed.
Allowing her to chase Ranma did have benefits for both sides. If she succeeded, she would bring in good, strong blood into the tribe and the 2 together would bear some of the greatest warriors the Amazons had seen. If she failed, there would be consequences and her heart might be broken for a little while, but Shampoo needed to learn that there would be others who were better but that was how you improved yourself, by facing against them. Shampoo was stubborn and proud, sometimes so much so against her own good. The old Amazon chuckled to herself. Her great granddaughter would never admit she was wrong. It would take a lot to open her eyes but in just a few short weeks, Akane had already started making the changes and people were unknowingly following it. Shampoo, being one of them, so maybe her great granddaughter still had a chance at things.
There was a small chance that a few members of the Council would try to stick with the old rules and try to give the death punishment but the tribe needed to learn to change and adapt with the world or they would disappear as a people. As the oldest person on the Council of Elders, Cologne had a bit of a pull and Shampoo, as the generation's strongest warrior, should be able to avoid it. If they could convince Ranma and his chosen to be honorary members of the tribe, it would be an even bigger bribe to change things. Besides, she hadn't had this much fun in 200 years. Son-in-Law pulled off the craziest stunts and he would only improve in time.
Then again, things could go completely different and Mousse and Akane might somehow fall for each other. The Japanese girl would be a good addition to the tribe also, though that basically meant losing Ranma but even then, she was sure she could persuade him to be a friend of the Amazons. The boy would follow that girl to hell and back. The old Amazon was tempted to shake her head in the hopes of getting rid of the thoughts of politics but she would wait and watch events unfold before her. After all, it was Nerima and something interesting would come along soon enough.
Shampoo was much too immersed in her own thoughts to realize that her great grandmother had been watching her for the past several minutes. She felt odd, as if something wasn't right and she didn't really know how to deal with it. Everything was perfectly normal, as far as normal goes in Nerima, so why was she feeling so bothered for the past week? The Amazon warrior chased Ranma at least once or twice a day depending on how many deliveries she had for the day, though honestly, it wasn't as much fun to do without Akane around to rub it into her face or with Mousse around to get jealous and try to defend her honor. The restaurant was really busy with the schools out for the summer, especially without Mousse around to help bus the tables and whatnot and without his usual compliments about everything about her. The purple-haired girl never realized how much of a boost to her ego it was everyday to hear Mousse just tell her how beautiful she was and how amazing he thought she was.
She wondered what he was doing right now, vacationing with the kitchen destroyer. Was he really enjoying all the sightseeing in America? Was he learning a whole lot about their culture? Cologne was always stressing how important it was to learn about different people and places so as to be able to adapt in different situations. Was duck boy meeting a lot of different people? Were girls talking to him? Was he talking to girls? Was he talking to the obstacle a lot? Was he spending a lot of time with her? When he should be here, helping Shampoo, in the restaurant, complimenting her and not that blue-haired girl who couldn't beat her in a fight.
The young Amazon shook those thoughts out of her head. If she didn't know any better, Shampoo would have thought that she was acting jealous of Akane being around Mousse, but that was utterly preposterous, of course. It wasn't like there was any reason for jealousy. Jealousy meant that she had to feel something for Mousse. Mousse was a childhood friend, that was all, the purple-haired martial artist told herself. It had to be rivalry against the Tendo girl. That made sense. After all, she had Airen's attention and now she had taken blind boy's attention. It wasn't like she missed having Mousse around or anything like that. Well, it was another 2 weeks until they were back. Shampoo would just have to wait for Mousse to come back and she would give him a thorough yelling about how he shouldn't have left all that work for her to do.
"Shampoo! You have 3 deliveries!" The Amazon elder yelled, breaking Shampoo out of her thoughts.
"Yes, Great Grandmother!" She said and hurried over to take the orders.
Shampoo hadn't chased Ranma yet today so maybe if she saw him out there, she would have a lil fun with him. As luck would have it, it looked like she wouldn't have to go out of her way to see him tonight.
The small bells that hung gave a cheerful ringing as the door that they were hung on opened. The waitress immediately looked up, ready to seat the new customer at one of the few open tables left but realized that it wasn't needed as the person just strolled up to the counter and plopped onto the stool closest to the grill. The cook had also immediately noticed who had just walked into the building and had a big smile on her smile.
"Hi, Ran-chan. Want your usual?" Ukyo asked him in her usual cheerful tone and with practiced ease, she immediately began to whip up a super-large okinamiyaki with the works on it.
"Thanks, Uc-chan. You're the greatest." Ranma told her with his mouth already watering at the smell of such great food being cooked right in front of him.
As soon as it was done, she flipped it right onto a plate and whipped it over to her childhood friend and now fiancé. Ranma immediately began to chow down on it. Ranma had been coming into her restaurant everyday since school had been let out and since Akane had left on her trip, he'd come in sometimes twice or even three times a day. He always sat down on the stool closest to the grill and she always made him Japanese pizza. As he ate, the brown-haired girl tried to talk with him. She asked him about his martial arts, any movies he'd seen yet and so on, but the Japanese boy in the red Chinese clothes would only give brief answers and continued eating. As soon as he was finished with the first one. There was already another ready for him to eat. Before when he had come to her restaurant, he usually had more to say to her, though it was usually complaining about Akane and how far she had booted him that day. The okinamiyaki chef always lent a comforting ear, take his side about things and giving her general support to him.
With the usual subject of conversation gone, Ukyo had hoped that he'd talk to her about other things but it seemed like neither of them had much to say. She'd even tried suggesting that they hang out with each other like go out for ice cream or go to the mall and other things like how he and Akane did, but he always declined. Ukyo couldn't figure it out. She was the cute fiancee, so why didn't Ranma want to spend more time with her? Then again, it was probably better that he didn't want to. As much as she was willing to spend time with him, going out for the day or just the afternoon involved her closing her restaurant. Everyday for the past week, she'd been counting her drawer and even with the summer boon in customers, after buying needed ingredients, she wasn't making as much money as she should have and Ukyo couldn't figure out why. Maybe she ought to have a look over her finances just in case, but the spatula girl would have to think more of that later since Ranma was still right in front of her.
"Thanks, again, Uc-chan. You're such a great cook, unlike Akane." Ranma said feeling quite happy with a full stomach. "I'll see you either later today or tomorrow. See ya' Konatsu."
"Of course, sugar." Ukyo said as her heart melted from the smile Ranma had just given her. "You're always welcome into Uc-chan's."
Konatsu watched as Ukyo fawned over Ranma as he left. The young man dressed-as-a-young-female wasn't frowning, as he was still grateful for how Ranma had helped freed him, but he wasn't smiling either. He just wasn't sure how to handle the situation really. The male taught-to-be-a-female ninja didn't blame Ranma and he certainly didn't blame Ukyo-sama. Konatsu knew that Ranma loved Akane and she loved him. Everyone knew that. It was so obvious but most everyone seemed to be in such denial about it, especially Ranma and Akane themselves. Lately though, Akane seemed not so concentrated on the whole fiancé situation and it seemed to drive everyone into a frenzy about it, but then she left, taking Mousse with her, and it was like a vacuum had occurred. Ranma wandered around Nerima, seeming like he wasn't sure what to do with himself anymore and Ukyo tried everything she could to get Ranma's attention but it seemed to work less and less. In the meantime, Ranma kept eating okinamiyaki. Would Ukyo ever see what was in front of her eyes? Konatsu loved her though and he would wait for her as long as it took for her to see it.
Ranma left Ukyo's restaurant, feeling quite full and not sure what do with himself for the rest of the afternoon. He was Saotome Ranma though and this was Nerima that he lived in. Of course, the Kami wouldn't let him have an afternoon all to himself.
"Ranma darling! I have this afternoon free and I thought we could spend it together on a date!" A very recognizable voice called out to him as she flashed her ribbon around.
"Hiya Kodachi." Ranma said, cringing at the presence of the Black Rose. It wasn't that he was afraid of her or anything like that. After all, Saotome Ranma wasn't afraid of anything . . .except maybe cats. It was just that Kodachi was downright scary at times. She was Kuno's sister after all. He was already trying to sneak off and of course, the Black Rose followed. "I don't really have time to chat, so I'll catch ya another time. See ya!"
"Ranma, my beloved!" Kodachi cried out after him. "My brother has already given his blessing so long ago!"
Kodachi could only stand there and watch as Ranma ran off. She had been searching him out everyday since that other girl had gone away on her trip and yet, she was nowhere closer to him than before. With the Tendo girl out of sight, the Black Rose figured she'd be out of his mind and it would be a cinch to snatch up Ranma-darling, but the situation was turning out to be quite different. For the moment, the gymnast decided she would go home and think of another way to approach matters.
Having no where else to be at, the young pig-tailed martial artist had also headed back home. After all, there was the chance that there was something in the mail or the phone might ring tonight. Besides, dinner wasn't that far off. It was a pleasant walk back to the house until the young Saotome got to the house as he realized that Kuno was knocking on the front door.
"Didja' forget that Akane ain't at home for anotha' 2 weeks, Kuno?" Ranma yelled out to the upper class man dressed in his typical Samurai outfit.
"Saotome, you cur, unlike your heartless self, my soul is in mourning for the distance that has been placed between the goddess Akane and I." Kuno replied.
Before he could spout out anymore though, Ranma threw another inquiry at him. "Well, what are ya doin' here then? And it better not be after . . ." Not sure of how to refer to his female side, Ranma left the rest of the sentence unfinished.
"I am here to see Tendo Nabiki." Kuno declared. "Announce to her that I am here."
"Whatever, Kuno." Ranma replied. He then opened the front door and yelled for Nabiki but there was no answer.
Soun and Genma were sitting on opposite sides of a Go board in the living room and looked up at the 2 teenagers in the front hallway.
It was Soun who answered. "Nabiki has gone out with Kasumi and won't be back til much later." When he looked back down to the game board, Soun was understandably heartbroken when he realized he was no longer winning. Genma had a very innocent look on his face as he tried to console his friend on the pitfalls of lady luck's whims for games.
"Forgive me for my intrusion." Kuno said to the patriarch of the Tendo family and politely bowed out of the house.
Truth was that Kuno wasn't exactly sure why he had found himself to be at the Tendo house and was glad for the quick getaway. With Akane gone and the pig-tailed girl in disappearance, there was no business to be had from the middle Tendo sister so the young samurai-wannabe hadn't any dealings with her for the past week. For whatever reason, he'd has this odd urge to see the Tendo money-mercenary when he woke up this morning and found himself heading to the Tendo household for no apparent reason. Kuno figured he might as well go home. He should be training for whenever Akane did get back from her trip and he'd be able to show off his prowess to her.
Genma took his eyes off the Go board to see his son walk into the living room and plop himself in front of the television. Ranma had been doing that a lot lately. It was as if he just wasn't sure what to do with himself and had taken to watching TV. The boy seemed unable to find enough interest in doing anything. He'd even lost a bit of his passion for the art. Father and son still sparred every morning but the younger simply finished the fight as quickly as possible and went back to bed shortly thereafter. Genma was almost certain it was because of the absence of a certain short-haired girl but wasn't sure how to go about turning things around so that the 2 might finally unite the schools. Unfortunately, the sometimes panda-man would have to consider things later as it seemed that he was no longer winning the game.
Soun was quite satisfied with how things were going though. Not only had he been able to turn the board around to his advantage when his friend had looked away but the household in general had taken a turn for the better. When his wife had past away all those years ago, the household had lost its spark. It had taken a long time for him to get over his love's death and in that time, the girls had been forced to grow up quickly and though it had been years, their lives had still been in recovery when his old friend and his son had breezed into town. Genma and Ranma had brought excitement and liveliness back into the Tendo household. At least, Soun thought they had. Then suddenly Akane had started a change in her life, which started a domino effect on Kasumi and they eventually knocked this new thing into Nabiki. It had been a long time since he had felt his girls so open and relaxed, but his youngest daughter always did have such an effect on people. She got it from her mother and he was glad to see that spark return to the family. Perhaps it would make an impact on Ranma and the schools might be united at last. That would be planning for another day as the doorbell was being rung and needed to be answered.
It was Shampoo with their dinner delivery. "Nihao! Kasumi already say put on tab."
"Thank you, Shampoo." Soun said he grabbed the food from the purple-haired delivery girl.
As soon as the food was out of her hands, the Chinese girl launched herself at her fiancé and tried to get as much bodily contact with him as possible. Ranma could only freeze as he tried to think of a way out of the embrace without putting his hands in the wrong places, as such an act would only encourage Shampoo even more. So how was the poor boy to get the crazy girl off of him? Usually Akane would punt him into the air and though it sucked being beaten on, it was a quick way to get out of Shampoo's hugs without having to worry about anymore retribution. Ranma hadn't realized it til now just how much he had relied on Akane to break these lil hug fests up for him.
It was time to utilize a Saotome secret technique of the Dying Swan. Ranma carefully freed his hand and pointed towards the front door. "Hey Shampoo! I think someone stole your other delivery!"
Shampoo automatically looked over at the door and suddenly remembered that she had already done her deliveries. Airen had distracted her! By the time she looked back, Ranma had already run upstairs. Unforunately, Shampoo was no longer allowed upstairs in the Tendo house and Great Grandmother would get really angry if she broke that agreement with the Mercenary Girl. It was time to get back and help clean up the restaurant for the night. There was still the next day to get her hands onto Airen.
Ranma sneaked a look around the corner and down the stairs to see if the Chinese girl was still standing. Lucky for him, she didn't see him as she turned around to walk out the door. The Japanese boy in Chinese clothing breathed out a sigh of relief but nearly choked on it in surprise just as the phone rang again. Remembering none of the Tendo girls were at the house, Ranma went to answer it.
"Hai." Ranma answered.
"Moshi Moshi, Ranma." It was Akane. She was quite surprised to hear Ranma answering the phone but it was almost dinner time in the Tendo household. She was probably in the middle of still cooking and so wasn't able to answer the phone right away. "Is Kasumi around?"
Ranma couldn't help but feel a lil cheered to hear his inazuke's voice. "Moshi Moshi, Akane. Kasumi's out with Nabiki right now."
"Oh, well, I was just calling to check in with her." Akane said, not sure what to say to her forced upon fiancé.
"I'll tell her that you called." Ranma replied easily enough but then he wasn't sure what to say to her after that.
There was a pregnant pause as each tried to think of what say next.
It was Akane who spoke first. "Thank you for the bracelet, Ranma. I really like it."
Ranma couldn't help but blush about the gift had given to the short-haired girl. "You're welcome, Akane. I'm glad you liked it."
"How are things there?" Akane asked hesitantly.
"Things around here are pretty good." Ranma responded.
"Well, I guess I should be . . ." Akane started to say but was then interrupted.
"How's your trip?" The pig-tailed boy blurted out the question. He wasn't quite ready to let her go just yet. It had been too long since he had heard her voice.
"Oh! It's been great so far!" Akane answered. She was slightly surprised to hear her usually jerk of a fiancé be interested in doing but wasn't about to kick for it. "We've been able to see so much of America's sights and do so many different things. I've really been able to get into speaking English a lot. It's been a lot of fun and I've learned so much."
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." Ranma said kindly though he couldn't help but feel a little disheartened. Apparently she didn't miss being at home at all. She didn't miss having him around.
"I am but I miss home." Akane said honestly.
OK, so she did miss home. That didn't mean she missed having him around though. Ranma reminded himself but he still felt his hopes being raised a little bit. "Kasumi misses having you around."
Akane wondered if Ranma missed having her around but wasn't about to ask him that outright. She had better end the phone conversation before she could say something stupid and stick her back into a bad situation that might break her heart. "I better go, Ranma. Tell Kasumi I called. Tell my father that I'm fine and that he needn't worry about me. Tell Nabiki that I got her a great souvenir."
"No prob, Akane. I"ll tell them." Ranma spoke.
"Thanks, Ranma. I'll see you when I get home in a few weeks. Bye." Akane said.
"Bye, Akane." Ranma said quietly and Akane had hung up the phone.
The boy dressed in the red Chinese shirt stared at the phone. It would be another 2 weeks before he could hear her voice on a regular basis again. It was nice hearing her voice without any anger or sadness in it. Ranma couldn't help thinking that 2 weeks was way too long, but it might be enough time to plan a way for Ranma to do something that might keep any anger or sadness from returning to Akane's tone when she got home.