Chapter 2: Addicting

The small kitchen at the Saotome home was filled with delicious aromas created by the two women closest to Ranma's heart. Akane stood behind Nodoka, observing her future mother-in-law taste for readiness the soup they had just finished preparing. Nodoka took a sip of the soup and made a disapproving face. She then invited Akane to have her own taste of the soup and Akane nodded to her.

"I think it needs more salt," Akane suggested.

Nodoka smiled in agreement before grabbing the bottle of salt and sprinkling a generous amount in it. She stirred it vigorously before taking another sample of the soup. "That's much better. Very good, Akane!"

Akane smiled at her mentor, knowing she would not pay her a compliment she did not mean. Both women returned to the kitchen island in the middle of the kitchen to continue preparing the side dishes of today's menu while the soup cooked. The woman had agreed to split the preparations of the side dishes, each taking on either side of the island to carry on with their preparations.

Akane took her time reading all the instructions given to her in the cookbook several times, taking special care in reading labels of ingredients to make sure she used the correct ones. She would then use measuring cups and a small scale to assure the portions were just perfect, and had made it a habit to have all the ingredients ready before she attempted to prepare a meal. She would then practice the steps by pretending to pour ingredients until she felt confident enough to take her cooking live.

Nodoka was always amused at seeing the level of concentration Akane had when cooking. After months of going through the basics of cooking, Akane had started making small, simple meals with a high-rate of success. She had mentioned to Nodoka a handful of times that during the time she watched over the Phoenix members, cooking was one of her duties to the heir. While the Phoenix would eat anything placed in front of them, she did practice many of the basic techniques for cooking without having to worry about taste. Mastering the techniques, however, did not help much when it came to preparing edible food for her fiancée.

Seeing that Akane was preparing too extensively for her own good, Nodoka thought about starting a casual conversation with her apprentice to relax her mood. "Have you had a chance to make Ranma that omelet you made me last time?" Nodoka asked her extremely cautious cook-in-learning.

Akane shook her head. "I haven't been able to convince him to let me make breakfast. I tried again yesterday morning, but Kasumi arrived with food ready to cook."

Nodoka gave her a sympathetic look before reaching over and patting her back. "It's OK. One day he will eat your cooking without even knowing and he will love it."

"I hope."

"Well, he will have to, eventually. I don't think he will be able to avoid it once you're married."

Akane chuckled. "I'm not so sure about that. Leave it to Ranma to find impossible solutions to impossible problems."

Nodoka smiled. "We can speed up the process, you know? Are you sure you don't want me starve Ranma for a few days? He would eat anything!"

Akane smiled in return. "I don't think I'm that desperate, yet, Auntie Nodoka."

"Akane, I've told you to call me mom."

Akane nodded, remembering her repeated requests to do so. Even though Akane's mom had passed away years ago, she still had a difficult time referring to anyone else as a surrogate mother. Even as close as Kasumi had become to being her mother, she could not make herself use such a meaningful title with anyone else.

"I'm sorry. I forgot."

Nodoka knew there was more to just forgetting. She herself had lost her mom when she was young, and could easily understand Akane's insecurities in believing that using the title with someone other than her own mom, it would mean that she had forgotten about her.

"It's OK. I remember how I kept forgetting to call my mom as mom."

Akane looked up and gave Nodoka a confused look. Nodoka did not flinch and continued cutting the vegetables in front of her. "My mom had a car accident when I was just five. She came out of it alive, but she did not know who I was –or anyone, for that matter. The doctors told us that her brain had begun to decay, rapidly. It started with her memories, and eventually her body didn't remember how to move, or eat. The last thing in her body that forgot how to do its job was her heart, and she died in her sleep just a few months after the accident."

Akane's careful preparations were halted as she replayed Nodoka's words. She was unaware that Ranma's grandmother had passed away so young, not even having a chance to meet her grandson. "Just as my mom won't meet hers," she thought, feelings of sadness slowly filling her body.

"A few years after my mom passed, my dad got remarried. The lady she married was always very nice to me, but it was hard to call her mom. It wasn't until much later I was able to call her mom."

Akane nodded, paying special attention to her story. "What happened that you were able to call her mom?"

"I had a dream one night where my mom came to me. She looked the same I remember she looked like before the accident, but I looked much older. She told me it was OK to let go. She told me she wouldn't be mad, and that she wanted me to be happy. After I woke up, I started calling her mom and everything was OK until my parents got divorced."

The small ray of hope that had been growing inside of her immediately dissipated. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. They are on good terms, and I still see her sometimes," Nodoka said, perking up as she continued chopping vegetables.

"She married a Dojo Master here in Nerima and had kids of her own, which she never had with my dad. Actually, I visited her a few weeks ago and got to meet her son, Satoshi."

Akane froze. The name was too familiar for her liking. She tried to dismiss any opportunity that Nodoka was referring to the same Satoshi she knew from night school. She was certain there were many other guys named Satoshi who had a dojo, here in Nerima. It just could not possibly be the same! Besides, why would the son of a Dojo Master have to resort to attending accelerated night school?

"You and Ranma should get together with him, you could share tips in how to get the dojo certified. Apparently his dojo is highly recognized, and both he and his dad are very good martial artists. Satoshi has been training as long as Ranma has, he didn't even get a chance to finish school!"

Akane's hope that they were talking about different people deflated. Her mind brought back the image of her initial conversation with Satoshi when they first met in night school.

Satoshi walked inside the classroom that he would have to visit every other night for a year. He did not understand why his dad forced him to finish school, as old as he was now. He did not understand why, after all the years of focusing on training, his parents had all of a sudden done a complete turn on him, and sent him to school. He knew he was to one day inherit the dojo, so whatever he learned –or did not learn, was going to affect his abilities at carrying on their family dojo.

Dragging his feet, he walked over to the closest available desk and began taking out blank papers and a pencil to take notes. His pen ended up rolling off the desk, and when he reached down to pick it up, his head crashed against something, or someone, else.

"Ouch!"

Satoshi looked up, massaging the sore spot on his head. His gray eyes connected with her brown ones and he forgot how to breathe for a second.

"I'm sorry! I saw your pen fall and tried to get it for you," the girl said as she handed the pen back to him. He grabbed the pen from her hand and nodded his gratitude. She extended her hand to him and introduced herself.

"Hi! My name is Akane Tendo," she told the tall, brown-haired boy.

"Tendo?"

"Yes. And you?"

"Satoshi Nakajima," he said, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too."

Satoshi looked around to see if the professor was ready to start the lecture. When he saw he was not, he returned his gaze back to Akane. "So, what are you in here for?"

Akane laughed. "I was on vacation for longer than I should have, and missed graduation. You?"

"My dad beat me up, I killed him, and I just got out of prison."

Akane's mouth dropped, and so did her pencil. Satoshi laughed as he bent over and grabbed the pencil, leaving it on her desk. "Oh! Uhm…wow…are…you…uhm…ok, now?"

Satoshi laughed aloud at her response. "I'm kidding."

"Oh! OH!" Akane said a little bit too relieved. "I'm sorry…I just…never mind."

"S'OK. Actually, my dad owns a dojo and he has been training me for a few years. He forgot that school existed until I finished my training and decided to send me back here."

Akane nodded, understanding the situation. "It's more common than you think."

"Is it?"

"I know a guy who is going through the same thing as you."

"Really? How did he kill his dad?"

Akane tilted her head before realization hit her. "Oh! No, no! The training part!"

"I figured. A friend, I hope? It's hard to go through all of this, alone."

"It is. But Ranma has a way to bounce right back."

"Ranma? Ranma Saotome?"

Akane's eyebrow rose. Had she just met another man that had Ranma's demise in mind?

"Yes. Do you know him?"

"I've never met him, but I've heard of him from my mom and dad. Having a dojo forces you to learn about the competition, y'know? I heard he's really good. Is it true?"

Akane nodded, feeling proud Ranma's reputation preceded him. "Though, don't take my opinion as unbiased. He's my boyfriend, so I may be exaggerating a little."

Akane missed Satoshi's pained look. He looked at her up and down, admiring her body –her toned body. It was not usual for him to find a girl that was pretty and knew about martial arts. When his eyes looked up again he saw she had caught him staring and was not happy that he was.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…it's just…do you, work out or something?"

Akane's anger disappeared when he realized what he was thinking. After all the time she had spent training, her body had begun showing signs of muscle that girls would not usually display. Whatever muscle she had was not exaggerated, but it was not one that a girl lifting weights every now and then would attain.

"I guess you could say that. My dad owns a dojo, and he trained me since I was little."

Satoshi could not believe his luck. How often did you encounter a girl like her? His excitement was quickly placated when he remembered she had a boyfriend, though it did not deter him from befriending her at all.

"We should spar sometime. I promise I will go easy on you. I don't like hitting girls."

Akane smirked. "You may end having to."

Satoshi opened his mouth to say something, but the professor cleared his throat to catch the students' attention. He gave Akane an apologetic smile before he turned his attention back to class. Satoshi did not believe anyone could wipe the smile off his face that night. Perhaps, going back to school was not so bad.

"Akane?" Nodoka attempted to get her attention as she had stopped chopping vegetables for a few minutes now. Akane realized she had been silent for a while before snapping her head up. The quick move made her feel dizzy and she fell on her back. The knife she had been holding slid from her hand and grazed her leg, cutting her as it fell on the floor. "Akane!"

Nodoka ran around the island and dropped to her knees, holding Akane's head up. "Kami! Are you OK?"

Akane's eyes showed she was disoriented and confused. Nodoka pulled her up and dragged her to the closest chair she could find. Once she was sure Akane would not wobble her way off the chair, she ran back to the sink and filled a glass with water for Akane. She returned to Akane who was now holding her head and helped her drink the liquid.

"Akane, are you OK? Do you want me to get Ranma?"

Akane shook her head lightly and grabbed Nodoka's arm. "No. I'm OK. Don't bother him."

Nodoka honored her request but silently questioned it. Akane had just lost consciousness for no apparent reason. She stared at her as she gathered her bearings and looked down at her leg. "Ugh! I'm bleeding."

Nodoka stared at where Akane was pointing and gasped. She ran to one of the cabinets in the kitchen and before Akane could stop her, she was on her knees cleaning up Akane's wound.

"Auntie, it's just a cut. I can take care of it."

"Nonsense. Stop moving and let me help you."

Akane sighed but did not push the matter anymore. She watched Nodoka work her magic on her leg while she recalled what had just occurred to her. She was certain that the sudden movement had caused her dizziness, but she found it very unlikely to happen again. Last night after she had finished bathing, she had become dizzy on her way to her room, forcing her to grab the wall to hold herself steady. She had blamed the change in temperature last night, but today she was not so certain.

Nodoka had cleaned her wound and was now placing a band-aid as she spoke. "Everything OK, Akane?"

"Yeah."

Nodoka stood up and stared at Akane, her incredulity seeping out of her pores.

"Akane, you can tell me the truth, you know?"

"I don't understand."

Nodoka crossed her arms and sat beside Akane. "Has Ranma been less than honorable with you?"

"What?"

Nodoka raised her eyebrows at her before staring at Akane's belly. She looked back up at Akane's face and waited a few seconds for Akane to read her gestures. Akane could feel her cheeks burning when she realized what Nodoka was implying. She shook her head vigorously to make her point.

"NO! We've just been staying up late at night. I must be tired, that's all"

Nodoka smiled again, reading too much into Akane's words. When Akane realized the idea that was crossing Nodoka's mind, she amended her statement.

"STUDYING! We have been studying! We have the final exams coming up in a few weeks and we have been studying almost every night."

Nodoka did not respond but she did not believe Akane either. It would not surprise her that the couple had been exploring other areas of their relationship, given how close they both had been to death. She nodded to Akane and got up, taking the first aid kit back to its usual place.

Akane could not look at Nodoka without blushing, so she decided she was going to speed up the cooking process and get away from her as soon as she could. Akane returned to her side of the island and began carrying on her plan. Nodoka returned to the island as well and cleared her throat. "So, you guys are almost done with school?"

Akane nodded, grateful for the change in topic. "Yup, I can't wait to get that time off."

"I hope Ranma learned something after all those days studying so late."

"I think he did."

A long comfortable silence engulfed them again until Nodoka spoke once more. "Akane, is there a human anatomy section in the final test?"

"I think so, why?"

"No reason," she lied. "I'm just certain that both of you will pass that section with flying colors."

Akane swallowed hard, not daring to say anything else. A few minutes later, Akane found herself running away from the kitchen as fast as she could, telling Nodoka she had to find Ranma to talk about something very important, for the rest of the day.

"I'm sure you do," thought Nodoka with a smile.

xxxXXXxxx

Ranma sat at his desk in his room, in front of a laptop, reading the details regarding the ART event. Akane sat on his bed, papers scattered all over the place as she tried to begin creating the structure of the business plan of the dojo. Akane was growing frustrated at how complex this really was, and knew they did not have much time to prepare. It seemed that their graduation victory would be short-lived due to replacing the time in school with the time needed to prepare for the tournament.

"Hey, Akane?"

"Mmh?"

"It says here that we gotta take five students with us to the tournament."

"What?"

Ranma growled. "Yeah, the limit for Masters is one per dojo, so only one of us can register as the Master. There is room for one trainer, and five students. So…"

Akane stood up from his bed and walked to him. She stood behind him and read the same information on the NRD's website, and sighed. "Great. How do we decide who plays what?"

"I think you should be the trainer."

"What? Why? You think I'm not good enough to be the Dojo Master?"

"No, Akane. I didn't say that! I just think that it'd be best if you stayed away from the fights, for now."

Akane's face reddened in anger. Here he was, after everything they had gone through, and he still did not believe she could fight as good as he could. She crossed her arms and walked towards his bed. She sat on it, crossed her legs and stared at Ranma with the worst face of anger she could muster.

Ranma realized the fight was not over, so he closed the laptop. He rolled his chair towards her and rested his forearms on his legs. "It's not what you think?"

Akane's frown deepened. "What do you think I'm thinking it is?"

"I don't think you can't handle those bozos. It ain't that at all. I just…would feel better if you didn't have to fight."

"Ranma, I'm at the same level you are. I have as much right as you do to represent the dojo as its Master."

"I know, I know. More than me, even, I know. But, please. Please understand me."

"Understand what? That you want to go there and show off your skills to a bunch of wannabes?"

"No, Akane, listen."

"NO! You listen! I took down Saffron on my own! Why don't you give me enough credit?"

"It's not about you!"

"No, it's about you and your big macho head not coping with the fact that maybe, maybe, I can kick your ass!"

"Akane! Why do you always jump to conclusions? I just…"

"You just what?"

"I just love you so much I don't want anyone laying a finger on you," he thought, upset that he was still unable to speak those words to her. When Ranma did not explain himself, she pushed him away from her and started her way out of the room. "Akane, wait!" he said as he stood up.

"No."

"Akane, will you stop being so stubborn? Have you stopped to wonder that maybe it's not about who's best?"

Akane stopped and turned around, taking long strides to reach him, standing on her toes to be as close to his face as she could. "Then, tell me, Mr. Self-Appointed Dojo Master? What's it about?"

Ranma swallowed hard. Why was she being so problematic? He was going to be the Dojo Master anyway, when they married. Why was it so difficult for her to understand?

He opened his mouth again to try to explain his feelings for her, but for the nth time, nothing came out. Akane nodded in an angry way before sighing and turning around away from him. She opened the door to leave his room, but Ranma had reached her already, slamming the door shut with his left hand, just a few feet above her. He placed his right hand on her waist and rested his forehead on the back of her head. Akane fought the urge of kicking him away and took deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Too long."

Akane frowned at his response, not quite understanding what he meant.

"I've been without you for too long. After you sent me back, I did nothing but wait for you. I waited for you every day. Every. Day. For a whole year. I had given up hope that you had survived. I blamed myself for it. I thought I had killed you again. I thought I'd let you down."

"Ranma," she began, but Ranma was not letting her stop him.

"No, wait. Let me get it out."

She allowed him.

"Then, you appeared in front of me, out of nowhere. You're here now. You're safe. I want to keep you safe. Please understand," he begged as he held her tighter. "I don't doubt your strength, Akane. But you don't have to fight my fights. You have nothing to prove to me or anyone, anymore. I have to prove myself to you, now. Let me prove myself to you. Let me keep you safe. Those guys there, they aren't fucking around. The prize is just too great. And if they, any of them, dare so much as to breathe at you, I will kill them."

Akane closed her eyes, pained at the words he had just said. She could not believe how he had gotten so much anger and insecurity bottled up inside. Then again, anger and insecurity always come hand in hand. She clenched her fists and bit her lip to keep her from crying. She wanted to turn around and punch him. She wanted to scream at him, tell him that he had nothing to prove. Tell him that he was being ridiculous and that he could not just go on with his life, trying to break the neck of any man –or woman, who looked at her the wrong way. She knew he had to stop this obsession of his to keep anything from happening to her. He would not be able to live his life, if he continued clinging to that notion.

Ranma did not dare to move. He did not know what to expect from her. Would she finally understand how he felt, or would she misunderstand his words, twist them, and scream at him. He hated not knowing. He hated the fact that it was never easy around her. He had hoped that their last mishap would have made her more understanding of his possessiveness towards her, but he was still not sure. Some days they were the most mature young adults they could be, and some days they regressed four years and acted like the two unsure teenagers they had been in the past.

After the longest wait for him, she turned around and hugged him. He did not hesitate to return the gesture, embracing her with all his strength. She continued to hold back her tears, making her shake with the effort. Ranma did not make a comment, but he could feel her tremble in his arms. Akane felt guilty as charged. Why was it so difficult for her to see his actions for what they were? It was as if her anger filter was always enabled for everyone, except him. She had been working on not blowing up his words or actions out of proportion, but she knew she still had a long way to go.

They remained standing in each other's arms for a while. Afraid to break the mood, Ranma began humming a nameless song and slowly began swaying his hips, attempting to entice her to do the same. She smiled as she followed his lead and danced to a random tune orchestrated by him, never letting go of him as she did. After a while, she finally pushed herself away from him and cupped his face in her hands. "Mr. Saotome, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you are trying to seduce me."

Ranma scratched his nose. "Now, what would give you that idea?"

Akane laughed, easing Ranma's fears from just moments ago. She led him back to the laptop and opened it up for him. He took the cue and sat down to continue his research of the tournament as she returned to her own task. After a few moments of silence, Ranma turned to her to get her attention once more.

"Are you staying tonight?"

Akane considered the opportunity. For all technical purposes, they were free to do as they pleased for the next few days. Other than preparing for the tournament and their final exams, the school and dojo tending were out of their lives for a week. Genma and Soun had offered to watch over the dojo until their final exams were over. Even though Ranma was more likely to sneak into her room in the middle of the night, Akane had mimicked his actions a few times, surprising the heck out of him the first time she attempted it. After that one-time scare, he hoped she would do the same more often, as he always rested better knowing she was close by.

Akane was ready to accept his invitation when she suddenly remembered her earlier conversation with Nodoka. "Sorry, not for a while."

"Why not? Are you still mad?"

"No. But your mom may be watching over us more than usual."

"What? What did I do?"

"You are, in her own words, being less than honorable."

Ranma shrugged and raised his hands, showing his lack of understanding. "How?"

"She thinks I'm pregnant."

Ranma was taken aback. He gave her a long, hard look before staring at her belly. "Are you?"

Akane scoffed. "No."

"Would it be so bad? I mean, if you were?"

It was Akane's turn to flinch. She felt the heat rise to her face and knew she was as red as the tomato she had been cutting earlier today. She pulled her collar, suddenly feeling really hot for some reason. "What are you saying?"

Ranma shrugged. "Nothing in particular. It's just, when I got stuck being you and girl-me, I didn't think I'd be able to have kids. I guess that saying that you never know what you've got until you lose it is true, uh?"

"Guess so," she said, calming down. Kids? She had not thought about kids since she was sixteen. It could be because she had been busy thinking about other things, such as ways to keep herself alive. Maybe someday she would have kids, and maybe they would be Ranma's.

"So, you sure you ain't staying? It's getting cold out there. I don't want you to get sick."

Akane tilted her head. "I'm sorry, Ranma, but I really shouldn't. Do you mind walking me home, though?"

Ranma perked up. "Not at all, but let's try and finish as much as we can on this. I don't wanna spend our days off doing this every day."

Akane nodded in agreement, returning to her work. Ranma returned to working on his laptop and registered the dojo to attend the tournament. He then proceeded to make reservations for the hotel rooms they would be staying in for the duration of ART, as it would be taking place away from the Nerima district. He requested the reservations and tickets to be sent to Akane's home so that they did not have to worry about finding a place to print the information on.

"Do you want to get there in a bus or a train?"

Akane shrugged. It did not matter to her. As long as they arrived on time, they could walk there for all she cared.

"Your call."

"Ok," he said as he reserved train tickets. "Do you want a window or aisle seat?"

Akane shrugged again, trying her best to finish the first draft of the business plan despite Ranma's repetitive requests for input. "It doesn't matter."

Ranma's lips tightened at her lack of interest in his side of the preparations for the tournament. He stared at her as she wrote nonstop on the sheets of paper she had, stopping only to read the description of what the business plan should be composed of. He wondered how she could have gone from indifferent to happy to mad to sad to happy and back to indifferent in just a few moments. It had to be a woman thing he was so happy he would never have to deal within him anymore.

When he realized she was too engrossed in her part of the task, he gave up trying to get her input and returned his full attention to completing the reservation process. After he was done with that, he made a list of potential students they could take with them to the tournament, ranging from young teens to older adults who had shown to be good at the art. He had narrowed it to 10 students, and handed the list to Akane for review.

She eyed the list for a few minutes and ranked the students based on their skills and discipline. She handed the list back to Ranma with her notes.

"You didn't get rid of anyone? We can only take five."

"I know. But we don't even know if these kids' parents would let them go with us to another district for a few days," she said, referring to the underage students that remained at the top of the list. "We need some backups."

"Oh! You're right! I didn't even think about that," he said as he eyed the list. "So, what do we do?"

Akane taped her lips with her index finger, thinking how they were going to pull this off. "Well, why don't we tell the students about the tournament? This way we can tell their parents and see if they would be interest in letting them come with us? Go ahead and create a permission slip to have it ready, and we'll tell the students next time we see them. We still have a few weeks to decide, so we have time."

Ranma showed his agreement with their plan and returned to the laptop to work on a permission slip. Akane began putting the draft of their business plan in order, labeling each page with their corresponding number. Before either of them realized, the sun had gone down, and midnight had arrived.

Ranma stood up to stretch his back after hours of sitting staring at a computer screen. He looked outside and realized the day had already left them. He then turned around and read his clock, showing the time.

"Shit! Akane! We lost track of time!"

"What?" She stood up and grabbed the alarm clock, screaming as she did. "Oh, no! My dad will be worried!"

Ranma stood up and began putting away her notes and cleaning his bed, telling her they had worked enough for one day. "Come on, 'Kane. Why don't you call him and tell him you won't be coming home. It's late."

Akane shook her head. "No, Ranma. I have to go. I can't leave my dad alone."

He smirked at her comment before he replied. "Never stopped you before when you walked in here all those times, trying to take advantage of me and all."

Akane did not comment on his implication and opted to let him know she was serious about not staying tonight. Even as much as she wanted to, Nodoka's words kept ringing in her mind.

"This time is different. He knows that I'm not home."

She helped Ranma finish cleaning his room before following him downstairs to gather her things before leaving. She put her coat on as well as her shoes, and he did the same. He placed a hand on the doorknob but did not open the door. He looked behind him and saw Akane was all bundled up, ready to go. "I'll call your dad, Akane. I'll explain it to him. You don't have to go out there tonight."

"Ranma, just drop it. If you don't want to walk me, I can walk myself," she argued as her hand reached to remove his hand from the knob. He grabbed it tighter and pressed his back against the door. "I thought we'd agreed you wouldn't jump to conclusions, Akane."

Akane sighed. "Yes," she began showing her exasperation. "I did. I'm not. I just…I need to go. OK?"

Ranma stared at her but did not move out of her way. She waited for Ranma to step aside but he was not done interrogating her.

"Is there something wrong that you ain't telling me?"

"What?" she asked she removed her hand from the knob. She fixed her bangs as a result of her nervousness and she stared at the floor. "Why do you say that?"

"Since when are you in such a hurry to go? Did my mom offend you? I'll talk to her."

"No, Ranma. She didn't…She didn't say anything that wasn't true."

"Y-you mean, you are pregnant?"

"Ugh, no, you idiot! I'm not!" she said, her voice rose just a tad much.

"Then what's the problem? Cuz if you are, it wouldn't be…."

"The end of the world, I know. I get that."

"So?"

"It's just. Well, we aren't married yet, you know."

"Aaannnddd?"

"And, we've done things we shouldn't have. I just want to take it slow. That's all."

Ranma pursed his lips, knowing exactly what she was talking about. He scratched his head, thinking of the correct words to say to her. Determining that he did not have all the information he needed to help her, he probed for more.

"Do you regret them?"

"What? No! I…I liked them…"

"Do you think I don't respect you?"

"No. I mean, I hope you still do."

"I do. And, to be honest, I liked them too. Do you not respect me?"

Akane shook her head. "How can you think that, Ranma? Don't be silly."

"So, you just feel guilty about whatever my mom blabbed about?"

Akane nodded. Ranma chuckled at her defeated stance, walking closer to her and grabbing her hand. "Why do you care so much what she says? She, and Pops –and even your dad, they are just trying to keep us in line. But, bottom line is that what we do with our time is up to us. Are you ashamed of us?"

"No."

"So? Akane," he began, letting of her hand and using his own to lift her face to stare at him. "People will talk, regardless of what we do or don't do. This is about us, not them. Besides, this is all your fault, you know?"

Akane's eyes widened at his revelation. He was aiming for anger to get her out of her mopping, but his joke backfired in his face when he saw her eyes glisten with tears. "Shit! Way to go, you idiot."

"Hey! No tears! Joke, it was a joke! Come on! Come on ask me why it's your fault."

Akane sniffed controlling her tears and asked him the question between sniffles. Ranma responded by grabbing her left hand and placing it on his shoulder. He then grabbed her right hand in his and kissed her knuckles. "It's all your fault I can't get enough of you. You're so addicting."

Akane gave him the brightest smile he had ever stolen from her. She sniffled a few more times, causing Ranma to dig into his pocket and offer her his handkerchief. She took it and stared at it before using it to clean herself. "Is this the one?"

Ranma nodded. "Yup. It's the one I gave you as a gift that Christmas, which you ended up giving back to me after you embroidered my name on it."

Akane flipped the handkerchief and saw he was correct. "Is this the same one you took to China?"

"Psh, are you kidding? And risk losing it? Nope, I kept it here."

Akane placed it inside her coat and promised Ranma he would get it back after she washed it.

"Don't worry about it. Now, let's get you home."

"Ok."

The couple brazed for the cold weather outside. Ranma pulled Akane closer to him to keep her as warm as he could. The first few signs of a snowstorm begun falling on them, so they picked up their pace. When the snowstorm began picking up, he stopped and lifted Akane in his arms.

"Hang on, Akane!"

Before she could respond or complain, he began jumping on rooftops and running on fences with her in his arms. Akane closed her eyes and held as hard as she could to him, feeling the cold wind bounce of his chest and away from her. After a few minutes, he arrived at the entrance of the Tendo residence. The storm picked up more and he decided to jump the fence with her and did not let her go until he was at the entrance porch of the home. Akane quickly searched for her keys and opened the door, allowing both of them to go inside.

"Holy crap! Was it waiting 'til we got out? Jeez!"

Akane shivered as she took off her coat and hung it on the coat hanger near the door. She peaked outside through the window and saw that the storm was not going anywhere any time soon. She caught Ranma putting his hood back on as he readied to face the storm again. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Ranma pointed outside. "Uhm, I'm getting ready to go back home?"

"No, you aren't," she said as she locked the door, trying to make her point that she was not going to let him go anywhere.

"Uh, Akane, you do know I can just flip that and unlock it, right?"

"That's not the point! There is no way I'm letting you go back now."

"Oh, come on! It's just a quick storm. I've been through worse."

"No. Absolutely not. You're staying right here."
Ranma smirked at the sudden –and convenient, reversal of their roles. "I see how it is."

"Oh, don't you give me that, mister. This is completely different! If the storm wasn't there, you could have gone home without me worrying you'd freeze to death."

Ranma smiled at her and taped her nose. "Ah! So, you're worried about me, eh?"

Akane blushed. Even after all these years, showing her feelings for him sometimes still made her feel like she was sixteen again. "What is it Akane? You love me too much to see me turned into a Popsicle?"

Akane lowered her head. She walked to the window and rested her left hand on the glass, measuring how fast the temperature was dropping. She could not allow Ranma to run back to his home in this storm after he just got her through it.

"I do."

Ranma was not expecting this response, and while she had not come out and said it, it was closer than he had gotten so far to tell her he loved her. He reached out to her but he ended up clenching his fist and put both his hands back in his pockets. Again, Akane was one-step ahead of him.

"Akane?"

"Yes?"

"Do you…want to…go out with me?"

Akane turned around and saw him fidgeting, a small tint of red on his cheeks.

"Do you mean, on a date?"

Ranma nodded. Akane could not believe her ears. Before she realized how bad the situation had become in her absence and decided to do something about it, she had pictured her and Ranma going out on their first official date within the first days of her arrival. However, her attempts to fix the lives that had been affected when she was away had taken longer than she thought. Even though she and Ranma had been dating more officially now, they still had not gone on a real date, ever.

"I mean, only if you want to. You don't have to, you know? I just thought that since we've got time off, we could…"

"OK."

"I understand that you don't want to."

"Ranma, I said yes."

"Yes, I will be OK. We can do that later and…wait, you said yes?"

Akane nodded. "Well, duh? Why wouldn't I want to go on a date with my fiancée?"

Ranma sighed, visibly relieved she had accepted. "Ok, then, I will pick up you up tomorrow at noon."

"You mean we will leave tomorrow at noon from here. You're still staying here."

"But, how is that gonna be a real date?"

Akane walked up to him and gave him a kiss, effectively shutting him up. "Surprise me."

She removed the coat from him and hung it next to hers. She then turned off the light of the hall and made her way up to her room. Ranma stared at her, his mind racing with ideas to make tomorrow the best date she'd ever had before following her to her room.

A/N: Man, that was hard! Thank you all for reading, reviewing and subscribing to the story. I got some very good ideas regarding the majors Ranma and Akane could be in college, and I have a few finalists on the list. The next chapter will be about Ranma and Akane's date. Where do you think they should go? See you in the next chapter, titled Alluring. ^_^