Chapter 4: Adorable

The five days of vacation had flown by quicker than Akane or Ranma would have liked. After their first date, they had spent the last two days preparing for the tryouts they had decided to host in order to choose the five students who would attend the tournament with them. They hoped that the final list resembled the original list they had already composed, as they knew the top five students they had in mind would be the best ones to take with them.

Even though they already had their minds set on the team they wanted to take with them to ART, they realized that organizing tryouts would be the fairer option for their students, and would potentially provide the sense of pride of representing their school needed for the students to try winning with all their might. Akane and Ranma had decided to split up the tryouts in five different categories based on age ranges, and this way, the winner of each category would get to go with them.

In between organizing the tryouts and transferring the written draft of the dojo's business plan to a soft copy, Ranma and Akane had begun training for the tournament. Even though Akane was attending as a trainer only, Ranma had no one else serious enough or tough enough as Akane with whom he could spar. In addition, he did enjoy training with her as he had learned when they trained in China. To make their training more interesting, she had taken the time to start him on learning to use the nature techniques from the Phoenix tribe.

At the moment, the couple in question sat in the lotus position, at the garden of the Tendo residence. Both dressed in their gi. They had just finished exchanging the theory concepts of what they had titled nature manipulation, in order to clearly communicate with each other the basis of the technique. As Akane took the time to teach him how to gather energy from the chemical elements in nature he needed to create wind, fire, ice, water, and such, she herself had practice the techniques more and more.

The goal for Ranma had become learning how to invoke the technique after the required concentration time, while the goal for Akane had become to immediately use the technique without having to waste time for concentration. In other words, Ranma was learning how to use the technique in its most basic level, and Akane was to learn how to use the technique on command. So far, the fire technique had been mastered by both to the desired level of the goal, which had earned Ranma a few burn marks on his hands, and Akane a few practices of her water and ice technique on him to put out his accidental fires.

The couple now worked on the electricity technique, since it had the same basic concepts as the fire technique. After Akane had warned him that there was absolutely nothing that she could do to help him if he invoked the technique incorrectly, Ranma decided to take special care as he learned it. The last thing Ranma wanted to do was ending up at the hospital, claiming that he had been accidentally struck by lightning on a sunny day.

Ranma closed his eyes to concentrate in learning the next technique. He knew he would have learned all of the nature-invoking techniques by now if it were not so darn difficult for him to concentrate with Akane around. After their first date, and him calling Nabiki to buy and store the engagement ring for him, his mind plagued him with possible scenarios of their future together after the tournament ended. Would they move-in together for college? Or, would they stay in separate dorms? Would Akane suggest waiting until after college to seal the deal, or would she throw caution into the wind and elope? Would she be happy if he proposed, or scared out of her wits? All these questions swarmed his brain, and seemed to push away any other vital thoughts from his mind; such as, in this case, how not to fry yourself with a bolt of lightning.

"Son of a bitch!" Ranma screamed as he shook his hands up and down.

Akane opened one eye and stared at Ranma as he blew air on his hand he had just shocked when he lost concentration of the electricity that ran through his hands. She rolled her one opened eye, closed it again, and returned to her meditation state. She heard Ranma curse some more before everything became quiet again. Akane's mind expanded to feel the breeze surrounding them. She could almost taste the water in the atmosphere, and touch the electric charge in the air. She could hear the sparks of fire coming from the lava running within the mountains afar from them, and feel the cold snow on top of them, as well.

She jumped from one feeling to the other in the same order, attempting to rearrange the atoms around her to accommodate her practice of every technique. She began with water, making the air around her humid until ice began forming around her. She then invoked fire to melt the water and caused it to evaporate and rise to the clouds above her with aid of the wind, in order to reach enough height so that she could call on the electric charges needed to cause rumbles in the skies. She repeated the process, over and over again, until she could control it without having to think about it too hard.

Ranma began feeling the constant change in temperature around him, which forced him to open his eyes to see what was causing the fluctuations. He observed in awe as Akane's body was soaked in water until her body became covered in ice. After this, her temperature would rise until her body became a human flame. The flame was then extinguished by vertical winds, which turned her into a source of static energy with the occasional spark of electricity jumping off her body. After all the changes, she would return to normal, only to start the transformation show all over again.

She did this five more times, non-stop, until she opened her eyes to see Ranma on all fours, staring at her, his face inches away from hers. Akane used her index finger to push back Ranma to a sitting position before he slumped.

"Everything OK, Ranma?"

"You're such a show-off."

Akane tilted her head, not quite knowing where the sudden hostility was coming from, listening to Ranma's continuation of his complains. "Here I am, burning my clothes with a half assed bolt of lightning, and you are playing changeling with all the techniques at once!"

Akane shook her head at how childish Ranma could become when he was not learning a technique as fast as he was used to. She figured it was a personal trait he would never abandon, for the rest of his life. She thought of dismissing his silly attempt at a pointless argument, but a quick scan of her memories provided her with the best comeback she could have.

"What's wrong with you? You're gonna give up already? What did you think was gonna happen? You were gonna beat me in two days? I've been doing this for 3 years!"

Ranma stared at her smug grin, trying to figure out the true intention of her words. He knew he had heard those words before, but he could not quite place them. After a little longer, he growled and narrowed his eyes at her when he realized what she had done. She had used against him the same words he had used with her when she was pouting about not being able to use Bakusaintenketsu against him in battle, back in China.

"You think you're so slick, uh?"

"No, I just think you're acting like a baby."

"I'm not a baby!"

"I didn't say you were. I said you were acting like one."

"Why you…"

Ranma was ready to jump on her and force her to take back what she had just said, but the phone began ringing, stopping them both in their tracks. "Saved by the bell," Ranma teased her.

"Whatever you say."

Ranma stood up and began slowly walking towards the phone when realization struck him. "Hey! Why the hell am I the one answering your phone? It's your house!"

"You're almost there. Just answer it, please?"

Ranma scoffed at her fake pleading words before he picked up the received and placed it on his ear. "Tendo Residence, how may I misdirect your call?"

"Ranma?"

"Mom?"

"Yes! Thank God, you're there. Are you terribly busy right now?"

Ranma looked back at Akane, who began getting up and was now stretching her limbs. He made a mental check of their agenda for the day, and while their last day of winter vacation included training, studying and cuddling while watching a movie at the end of the day, he really could not think anything important that would be interrupted by the apparent request his mom was about to ask from him.

"Not terribly. Why do you ask?"

"I have a huge favor to ask you. Is Akane there with you?"

"Akane?"

At hearing her name, Akane walked towards Ranma with a questioning look on her face. She had not spoken to Nodoka since her conversation in her kitchen, so she felt uncomfortable that she was calling her house, asking if Ranma was with her.

"Yeah, she's right here."

"Wonderful! Can you ask her if she has gotten chickenpox?"

Ranma's eyebrows rose at the unusual request, but proceeded to cover the phone as he turned around and asked Akane what his mother wanted to know.

"Yeah, I have."

Ranma returned to the phone and relayed the information to Nodoka.

"Excellent!" Nodoka said as she herself relayed the information to whoever was with her, Ranma guessing it was his dad.

"What's this favor you want?"

Nodoka took a deep breath. "I need you to watch over the twins, just for today."

"What?" Ranma said, suddenly upset that he had not pretended he had planned something special with Akane for the day.

"Ranma, please! I wouldn't be asking you if I had another choice."

"Why can't dad watch them?"

"Are you seriously asking that question?"

Ranma nodded as he realized how stupid the notion of Genma Saotome watching over infants was. For a moment, he pictured his dad kidnapping the babies and taking them training as he had taken him. Ranma's body shuddered when he imagined the twins returning to Nerima after 16 years of training in China, with a curse that turned them into a camel and a goat. He dismissed the thought as he remembered Jusenkyo was no more, but he could not deny the possibility that Genma would find a way to get them all cursed. His mental image ended with a snapshot of panda Genma standing next to the goat and camel, holding up a sign that read: "Now we can start up that farm!"

The last image made Ranma snap out of his trance, and continued the conversation with this mom. "What does Akane having the chicken pox have anything to do with us watching over the twins?"

Hearing this, Akane eyes opened wider than he had ever seen, possibly also terrified at the idea of watching over two babies on their last free day.

"Oh! I didn't tell you, did I? There is a small epidemic of chickenpox at work –the day care the twins usually go to. I've been called to an emergency meeting to assess the gravity of the situation, and to sanitize the place."

"OK. Why can't Kasumi or Dr. Tofu watch them?"

Akane shook her head, getting Ranma's attention. "Kasumi has never had chicken pox."

"What?"

Nodoka heard Akane's voice and agreed with her. "She's right. And Ono has a medical conference today, he won't be back until tomorrow morning. Besides, this is Kasumi's last week at school. She's taking her final exams in the next couple of days. She can't afford to get sick before graduating from nursing school, now can she?"

"I guess not," Ranma said, seeing how his choices were quickly narrowing down and still not believing someone as old as Kasumi never had the chicken pox.

"Please, Ranma. I'll pay you."

"No, mom. That won't be necessary."

"You're absolutely right! They're practically your niece and nephew! You should be honored to do this for your future sister-in-law."

If running out of options had not yet convinced Ranma to help the twins, her last statement did the trick. Kasumi had always selflessly helped him whenever he needed the extra support. He never had to ask Kasumi for help, she just knew when to provide it. This time, it was his turn to return the favor. He sighed, looking at Akane to break the news to her.

"Should we go pick them up?" Akane asked.

Nodoka, again hearing her, answered her question via Ranma. "Yes, I'll leave them here with Genma, along with their diapers and such. I really have to go, now. I'm late for my meeting at work."

"OK, mom. See you tonight."

"Thanks Ranma, and Akane. See you tonight!"

Ranma hung the phone before giving Akane a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm sorry, Akane. We'll train some more tomorrow, OK?"

Akane nodded, not really bothered by the interruption as she was willing to help her sister. She was, however, afraid that she would not know what to do with two sick babies. Ranma smelled his clothes and realized they needed a bath before heading outside, making him smile at the thought.

"Hey, I know one thing we can do before we play babysitters today."

"Ranma, we don't have time to do anything else. Let's shower and go save those babies from your dad."

Ranma smiled at her idea, and lifted his eyebrows a couple of times, waiting for her to realize what she said. "Ranma! We can't do that!"

"Oh, come on, Akane! With all this talk about nature and the environment and shit, why does it surprise you that I want to do my part for Mother Nature and conserve water?"

Akane chuckled at his attempt to convince her to shower together, and laughed even harder when she realized it might have just worked. Ranma followed Akane as she ran upstairs to get ready for the most unexpected day of their lives.

xxxXXXxxx

Ranma led Akane down the stone path of his home before unlocking the front door, and holding it open for her to come inside. He closed the door behind them as he heard his dad laugh hysterically at the show he was watching on TV.

"Dad?"

Akane followed Ranma to the living room, where Genma sat on his couch, with a bag of popcorn in his hands. Every now and then, he would boo at the TV and throw popcorn at the screen, before he would laugh again and throw popcorn inside his mouth. Since Soun had gone up north to pick up Nabiki at her college to bring her home for the holidays, Genma had been finding it difficult to find activities to occupy his time. Ranma walked closer to Genma until he was standing between the TV and the joyful man, forcing him to pay attention to Ranma's calls.

"Dad, we're here for the twins. Where are they?"

Genma narrowed his eyes, remembering that Nodoka had said something about Ranma and Akane stopping by, but he could not quite remember why. It had been something important, but for the life of him, he could not piece it together in his mind. Seeing the lost face on his dad, Ranma picked up the remote and turned off the TV before juddering Genma by the shoulders to shake him off his trance.

"Dad, snap out of it! We're in a hurry, here! Where are Ichiro and Kazue?"

Genma stood up and smacked Ranma's hands away from him. "Ranma! That was my favorite show! How dare you disrespect your father, you ungrateful son!"

Ranma, recognizing the tone of his father's voice as the beginning of a challenge, cracked his knuckles in anticipation of a quick spar with his dad. "Who are you calling ungrateful, you ol' man?"

"Old man? Enjoy your youth while you can, silly boy! Soon, that head of yours will be as swift as mine!" Genma said, pulling on Ranma's pigtail.

"Hey! That hurts!"

Akane walked between the two childish men and pushed them apart. "Ranma, we don't have time for this. Cut it out!"

Genma put his hands on his hips as he poked fun at Ranma. "Listen to your fiancée, Ranma! She knows you don't have a chance against my power and wisdom."

"I don't have a what?"

Genma began laughing again, causing Ranma to reach over him, attempting to wipe the smile off his father's face. Akane jumped in between them again, yelling at them to stop. "For God's sake, Ranma! Let's just walk around the house, find the twins and get out."

Ranma scoffed at his dad's silly faces he was making as Akane led him away from the living room. They heard the TV being turned on again, and Genma's loud laughter again began.

"Sometimes, I swear I must be adopted," Ranma said.

"Still want to leave the twins with your dad?" Akane asked, reminding him that he had tried to get out of watching the twins himself.

"Hell no! Let's just find them and get out of here before I punch his bald head."

After a few minutes of searching, they found the two babies asleep on Nodoka's bed. The bags of diapers, baby bottles, milk and other supplies rested against the wall. Ranma grabbed one bag, and Akane grabbed the other before trying their best to lift the babies from the bed without disturbing their sleep too much. Before they knew it, and after evading tripping on his dad's dirty clothes and shoes, they both walked out of his house and began their way back to the Tendo home.

A few blocks away from the Saotome home, the twins continued to sleep.

"This is easier than I thought," Ranma began. "If they stay asleep all day, we've got nothing to worry about."

Akane shook her head, knowing Ranma's words were just wishful thinking. "You're in for a surprise, Ranma."

Ranma scoffed. "Really? How terrible can they be? They're babies!" and, as if on cue, the baby Ranma was holding threw up on his chest before coughing a little and going back to sleep as if nothing had occurred.

Ranma stopped in his tracks, looked down in disgust as he felt the hot pile of vomit filter through his clothes as it reached his skin. Akane laughed, getting ahead of him, realizing he was too shocked to move for now. "See you at home, Ranma."

It took Ranma a couple of minutes to regain his bearings in his stomach before following Akane, who was already a few blocks ahead of him. The first thing Ranma did when he arrived to the Tendo home was to shower thoroughly to take the smell of sour milk away from his nose.

xxxXXXxxx

"AKANEEEE! AKANEEE, HELP! PLEAASEEE!"

Ranma's cries of help made Akane bolt up from her chair and speed up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. She tripped a few times down the hall until she reached Ranma's old room and slammed the door open to find Ranma standing up, with Ichiro in his extended arms, wailing as if there was no tomorrow.

"RANMA! What the hell was all that screaming about? You scared the shit out of me!"

"Scared the shit out of you? What about me? I think I broke the baby! He won't stop crying!"

As soon as Akane and Ranma had reached the Tendo home, they had decided that they would have a better chance at watching over the babies by each taking care of one. Ranma had quickly jumped at taking care of Ichiro since men stuck together, and had headed for his room, while Akane took Kazue to the living room with her. After changing her diaper and playing with Kazue for a little while to distract her from the hives she was beginning to grow on her skin, Akane had just finished putting her to sleep when Ranma's screams made her jump.

Akane walked inside the room and stood a few feet away from Ranma, refusing to take the baby off his arms. He had been so smug that he and Ichiro –which he went as far as calling Team Ranma, were the better baby team, that Akane had made herself a promise that she was not going to make this easy for him. She crossed her arms and placed her weight on her left leg as she stared at Ranma's desperate attempt to make the infant stop crying.

"Is team Ranma having a disagreement? If I didn't know any better, I'd think the baby's winning."

Ranma growled. "This ain't funny, Akane! What the hell do I do?"

Akane walked closer to the baby without actually attempting to grab him. She immediately covered her nose and took a few steps away from the baby before screaming at Ranma with her face still covered by her hands.

"Ranma! When was the last time you changed his diaper?"

"The last time I what?" Ranma asked as he pulled the baby closer to him, immediately noticing the smell Akane was so urgently trying to put some distance from. "I thought you changed it!"

"How could you possibly think that? I've been with Kazue all this time!"

"Well," he said. "I…I've never changed a diaper before."

Akane knew what he was trying to say, but she was not going to do his job for him. "That's your problem. I gotta go watch over the other member of Team Akane. Bye."

Ranma ran towards Akane as fast as he could while keeping the baby at arm's length. Akane did not stop her walk and made her way down the stairs and back to the living room with Ranma close on her tail.

"Akane, please. I can't do that!"

Akane put a finger on her lips before pointing at the sleeping baby, effectively making her point that he had to lower his voice. Ichiro's screaming had stopped considerately, but he was still red and teary-eyed. "Akane, I'll do anything. I'll pay you!"

Akane scoffed. "Pay me? We both get our money from the same place! Whatever money you can offer me, I'll earn it at the same time, anyway."

"Ugh! That would have worked with Nabiki."

"Well, too bad Nabiki isn't here."

"OK. OK. I'll wash your clothes for a week!"

"No."

"Two weeks?"

"No."

"I'll do your homework for two weeks!"

"I don't wanna fail my class, and with us finishing school in a few days, we won't have homework for two weeks, now."

"Come on! How about I take you out on another date? Away from the city this time."

"Is this supposed to be for you or me?"

"Dammit," he said, running out of ideas to save his soul from having to change anyone's diapers in his life.

"OK, I got it! Uhm…I'll…eat your cooking for a month!"

Akane turned to face him, giving his offer a serious thought. "Really?"

"Errr…" he said, unable to bring himself to seal the deal.

"That's what I thought. No."

"ARGH! Mmhhh…how about…."

"Nothing, Ranma. Nothing you can offer me can make me do your job for you. Now go upstairs and change that poor baby before he gets a bigger rash than he will get thanks to the chicken pox."

"But, but…Akane!"

"But nothing! Besides, I'm very busy right now," she said as she sat next to the baby girl and grabbed a magazine.

Ranma looked around and saw that Kazue was still asleep and frowned. "Busy? Busy doing what, exactly?"

"Ignoring you. Now go!"

Ranma sighed in defeat as he hung his head and headed upstairs to do his job, mumbling something along the lines of asking what he had done to deserve this, and disappeared from earshot. He walked inside the room and laid the baby on the tatami floor. He then walked to the bag and took out a fresh diaper, baby powder, and a box of wipes. He placed them next to the baby before wiping the sweat of his brown with his arm. "Come on, Ranma Saotome," he told himself. "You've defeated greater enemies, bare-handed. You can do this!"

He shakily pulled off the plastic tabs that held the diaper in place, before pulling it down.

"Oh! OH! OH, MY GOD! WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY FEEDING YOU, MAN?!"

Ranma pinched his nose with his fingers as he tried his best not to stare directly at the present the baby had for him. He could have sworn he heard Akane laugh downstairs, making his anger at her lack of support at such an atrocious time increase tenfold. "That Akane! She'll get a piece of my mind!"

Ranma opened the box of wipes and took one out, attempting to begin his duty, but stopped inches away from touching the little wiggling man in front of him.

"I need to use some protection," he said before amending his statement immediately after that. "Just as the Doc should have used had he known these little evil creatures would come around."

He left the wipe on top of the box before running out of his room and heading downstairs to the kitchen. Akane saw him run inside and heard him open drawers and slamming cabinet doors before he came out running again wearing an apron, latex gloves on his hands, and a disposable dust mask covering his face. Akane could not help but laugh at his desperate attempt, earning her some insulting names from her boyfriend.

"Good luck, honey! Don't let that baby beat you!" Akane screamed at him as a response to his insults.

Ranma walked down the hall and took a deep breath before entering the room again. He walked towards the baby and kneeled in front of him. "Ok, baby. Bring it on!"

He grabbed the wipe he had left on top of the box and began cleaning up the baby. When he realized he could not determine if the moisture he felt through the gloves was coming from the baby or the cleansing solution of the tissue, he grabbed a handful of them as an attempt to avoid any confusion of fluids as he cleaned the baby's bottom.

Once he had finished that, he pulled the dirty diaper and folded it on itself, leaving it a good three feet away from him. He grabbed the new diaper and placed it under Ichiro, and then proceeded to sprinkle powder on him. He completed his task by securing the diaper around the baby before lifting him up to make sure it stayed in place.

"YES! IN YOUR FACE, AKANE!"

Ranma saw that Ichiro's mood changed immediately, to the point that he saw him smile. "That's right, Ichiro! Your challenge was a respectable one! But it is I, Ranma Saotome, who was the better contender!"

After this little happy dance, he placed Ichiro back on the mat. He closed the wipes box and twisted the cap of the powder bottle before placing all of the items back in the bag. He carefully lifted the soggy, dirty diaper and placed it on a makeshift tarp made by the apron he was wearing.

"Good thing I learned that fire technique, eh, Ichiro? 'Cuz I'mma have to burn this apron once we are done, here."

Ranma turned around and headed to the door. He held the hazardous cargo with one hand as he used the other one to open the door. He, however, was not expecting Akane to open it first, asking if he had called her name just now. The unexpected surprise caused him to trip on his own feet and land flat on his face, half of his body still in the room, and the other in the hall.

Akane covered her face with her hands at the shock and immediately kneeled next to him. "Ranma, are you alright?"

Ranma peeled his face from the floor to reveal brown spots all over his clothes, neck, face, arms and the floor.

"Ranma…is that…"

Ranma nodded, avoiding saying the word in order to pretend it was not real. He stood up and turned away from Akane, heading directly to the bathroom.

"Akane, do you mind watching over Ichiro while I…" he said, pointing at the bathroom door.

Akane nodded and waited for Ranma to lock himself inside the bathroom before gathering the mop and a bucket to mop the spots from the floor. Akane giggled when she walked next to the bathroom door as she took Ichiro downstairs with her. She heard Ranma curse loudly as he took his third bath of the day.

xxxXXXxxx

After Ranma had scrubbed every inch of his body and hair to make every attempt to remove any residue of anything he could find, he dressed in fresh clothes before making his way down the stairs and headed to the living room. Akane had moved the table to the side and had created a small bed on the floor for both babies to enjoy their naps. He walked inside the room to find Akane curled up on the small couch, with a couple of blankets covering her entire body.

He knew that winter was upon them, but the temperature inside the Tendo home was comfortable enough to walk around in shorts. He walked up to her, carefully not to step on the babies. When he stood in front of her, he realized her eyes were closed. He smiled at her bundled up self. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, only to immediately retracting it back.

"Akane, what the hell? You're burning up."

He quickly walked back to the kitchen to grab the first aid kit he had used to find the gloves and the mask, and pulled out the thermometer and the ice bag. He then opened the freezer and took out one of the ice trays, and dumped its contents inside the bag before twisting it shut. He walked back to Akane as he shook the thermometer. He then lightly shook her awake, earning him a mumbled complaint for waking her up.

"Akane, you're running a fever, let me measure it, OK?"

Akane nodded, too tired to argue with him, and opened her mouth to allow Ranma to put in the thermometer. He then carried her to the larger couch so she could lay flat on her back and as he did, he noticed the bottom blanket was damp with sweat. He threw both blankets on the floor and placed the ice bag on top of Akane's head, making a small cry of pain escape her lips. "Ssshhh, Akane. I know, I know it's cold, but I hafta control it before it melts your brain."

A few seconds after, and still holding the bag to her head, he grabbed the thermometer from her mouth and pulled it closer to his face to read the mark. Ranma's eyes widened in shock at the read.

"103! Shit, Akane! How long have you been…?" Ranma was about to start scolding her for not telling him sooner that she was not feeling well, but quickly realized this was not the time. He positioned the ice bag on her head so that it would stay put without him having to be there to hold it. He then ran to the entry hall and picked up the phone ready to call his mom but remembered she was spending the day at the day care, and he did not know the number of the business. He dialed his dad but he did not answer.

"What do I do? I can't take her to the hospital! Who's gonna watch the brats?"

He went down the list of people who could watch the twins, but ended up back where he started today: only he and Akane were able to watch over them. He slammed the phone back on its cradle before returning to the living room. "I could call the ambulance, but who is gonna go with her?"

He grabbed the ice bag and realized the ice had already melted. He ran back to the kitchen, dumped the water in the sink and dug his hands inside the freezer to grab more ice. "I gotta stay behind with the twins if the ambulance takes her, and I can't take them with me to a hospital. Think, Ranma, think!"

After pouring a good amount of ice in the bag, he began his way back to the living room, but stopped at the foot of the stairs. He looked up at the bathroom door and then at the bag of ice in his hands.

"A cold bath! I need to give her an ice bath!"

He wasted no time going up the stairs and inside the bathroom. He got on his knees, clogged the drain, and turned on the faucet of cold water. He dumped in the tub the ice he had in the bag and ran out of the room. He stopped at the closet down the hall and grabbed the bucket before closing the door again. He ran down the stairs and went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and poured all the ice inside it into the empty bucket. Once he had scrapped all the ice he could from the walls of the freezer, he ran upstairs again and dumped the ice in the tub, which had filled half way.

He ran downstairs again and after checking the babies were still asleep, he walked towards Akane and picked her up. Her temperature had not decreased, making him nervous she would go into shock. He walked as fast as he could up the stairs with her in his arms, opened the door to the bathroom with his foot, and sat her on the closed lid of the toilet. Akane wobbled left and right, drenching in sweat.

"Stay with me, Akane. I'll get you cool in no time," he said as he began undressing her until she was left only in her bra and panties. He carried her again and then slowly took her down to the ice water. As soon as her back felt the water, she screamed, and attempted to jump out of his arms.

"Akane, stop! Stop!" he pleaded with her as he used his strength to push her down into the water, leaving only her head above it. Akane began waving her arms and legs, crying in pain and asking him to let her out of the tub. Even though Ranma was hurting seeing her like this, he wanted her to get better while experiencing a little bit of pain, rather than dying for not helping her out at all.

"Ranma, it hurts! Stop, please!"

Ranma saw tears fill her eyes, making his heart clench. Her voice, while strained, made her sound so weak and helpless, a way he had never seen her before –and he never wanted to see her again. She began regaining some of her strength as adrenaline kicked in, and pushed harder on him, almost making it out of the tub. When Ranma saw that he had to keep her there by different means, he hastily took off his own outer clothes and jumped inside with her, pinning her down between him and the bottom of the tub.

The ice had begun to melt, and while her temperature had gone down, it was still not enough to help. He could not leave her to get more ice, knowing she would jump right out and probably injure herself in the process, and even if he found a way to leave her while she was still here, there was no more ice left. Feeling he was running out of choices, he turned to the only thing he could do at the time.

He closed his eyes, and took deep breaths, attempting to calm himself and meditate while ignoring Akane's struggling and screams. "Ranma! I hate you! Let me out!"

"She doesn't mean it, Randma," He told himself. "She doesn't mean it. She's in pain. You have to help her out."

Returning to his meditation, he slowly reached the point he needed to call on the technique they had been practicing in the morning. He was yet to attempt the ice technique, but if there was ever a chance to prove his ability as a martial artist, this definitely was it.

Ranma's body began absorbing the elements around him, and filtering them through his body. His arms and legs began pouring ice around him, slowly lowering the temperature of the water in the tub. As the temperature lowered, Akane's hits and screams got harder and louder.

"Fuck you, Ranma Saotome! Fuck you and your guts!"

Ranma could not afford to lose concentration, and continued filling the tub with ice. After a few minutes, her struggles diminished as her temperature came down. Her heavy breathing was now more stable, and she had stopped cussing him out. Ranma opened his eyes to see her take in short breaths, and finally open her eyes.

"Akane…are you…"

She nodded to him, lifting her hand to touch his face.

"Thank you, Ranma," she said, after finally coming back to her senses.

She closed her eyes, tired after their brawl. Ranma stopped creating ice around them, and stood up. He unclogged the tub and let the tub drain as he stood up and walked to his room to grab a clean, dry set of clothes. He then walked to Akane's room, and grabbed the same for her, before heading back to the bathroom. He closed the door of the tub with Akane still inside and removed his wet clothes, patting himself dry before putting on the clean ones.

He then opened the screen door, and helped Akane crawl out of the tub. He sat her on the edge of the tub and handed her a towel. "Do you need help?"

Akane nodded, making him nervous at the present task. He patted her dry where he could before wrapping the towel around her body. He then pulled her underclothes, while still covering her with the towel, and helped her replace her clothes with as much cover the towel could provide. In all their years together, they had seen each other nude, countless times, both voluntarily and involuntarily. Today, however, he had exerted his power over her just now, and the last thing he felt like doing was exposing her body like that.

After she was all dressed up, he carried her down the stairs and laid her on the couch. He grabbed a light, clean blanket and placed it on her. He returned to the kitchen and after much searching, he found a bottle of over-the-counter medicines to control light fevers. He grabbed a bottle of water and forced Akane to swallow a couple of the pills.

He checked on the twins once more, and headed upstairs to clean the mess left behind in the bathroom. Once completed, he walked downstairs to the kitchen and cleaned the mess there as well. After the kitchen was clean, he walked to the living room and picked up the blankets drenched in sweat he had tossed to the side, and took them to the hamper in the laundry room behind the dojo. By the time he was done, he walked to the phone and unhooked it on his way back to the living room. He checked on the twins once more, making sure the noise had not woken them up. He sat on the floor, in front of the twins, and resting his back against the couch where Akane slept now. Before he knew it, he too fell asleep where he sat.

A few hours later, after the chaos had stopped, the door was unlocked from outside allowing Nabiki and Soun to enter the home in the middle of the night. They expected to see all the lights out, but the light at the hall was still on. Not knowing if Akane was asleep already, they tiptoed to the living room, turning on the light switch as they did.

Soun stared at the scene in front of them, with curious delight. Kasumi's twins were asleep on the floor, on top of several blankets and pillows to provide them some comfort. Next to the twins was Ranma, sat with his back on the couch, an empty baby bottle in his left hand, and a half full bottle in between his legs. His head rested on the couch, at an angle that for sure would be uncomfortable when he woke up, and his right arm extended itself across the couch. His right hand held what they now realized was Akane's hand, as she curled up on the couch, with her head on the opposite side of his.

Nabiki winked at his dad, and waved him off away from the room. She began searching in her bag for something, and when she found it, she showed the item to her dad.

"What are you doing with that camera, Nabiki?"

"What do you think? Taking a picture of this."

"Why? Are you gonna blackmail them with it tomorrow?"

"No! How can you say something like that? I have a better idea."

"What is that?"
Nabiki aimed the camera at the scene, making sure the Christmas tree in the back showed up in the frame. She took the picture and handed the camera to her dad.

"Are you gonna tell me you don't think that would make the most adorable Christmas card?"

Soun shook his head at his daughter's ideas before handing the camera back to her and heading to his room. Nabiki stared at her sister, wondering if she knew how lucky she really was. She turned the lights off and dragged her luggage upstairs to her room, ready to retire for the night.

A/N: Like I said before, this the last nice chapter of this story! Believe it or not, the last chapter and the epilogue are already written. I figured I was throwing the chapters too close to each other, and being this long, I wasn't giving you guys a chance to take your time to read it, so I am gonna leave a few days in between postings. I hope this also allows for more time for you to review, and a better chance for me to sleep at reasonable hours of the night. Next chapter is titled Alleged. Thanks for reading!