Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½. Oh how I wish though! D:

Honor or Love?

Akane:

Akane sat back as she tried to remember a time where she had this much time to think about, well, herself. It was abnormally quiet since her departure from Nerima. No monsters, princes, chefs, amazons, challenges, anything really. She could say that she actually enjoyed this time of peace. She searched under the couch for the remote as she switched on the television. She retreated her hands back underneath her thighs as she tuned out the weather lady's report. She was an amateur meteorologist, but she could tell from the weather that there was not a single cloud in sight. That was enough knowledge to put her mind at ease for the upcoming days. But what about the upcoming days? She hasn't even finished high school, although she technically wasn't falling behind. She asked Sayuri and Yuka to make sure to hand her all the missing assignments. She also begged them not to tell anyone where she was. To her pleasant surprise, they agreed happily. 'You deserve better than insults every five seconds', they had told her. But what about a job? Ryoga couldn't possibly get a job without getting loss ever so often.

And what about her family? Sure she missed them, but coming back would mean that she would have to deal with Ranma. Ranma... Her ex-fiance. She had made it perfectly clear that she never wanted to see him again. He's probably happy now, though. She finally shut the TV off altogether before heading into the kitchen to grab a drink. She liked this small atmosphere, nothing like her house back home, but enough room for her. It was abandoned, and she gladly decided to make it her responsibility to redesign it. Plush carpets, stuffed animals, curtains, all the comforts of home away from home.

She entered the kitchen, opening her mini-fridge to grab a bottle of water. She still wanted to stay fit, she was a Martial Artist after all. Plus, Ryoga was more than glad to spar with her whenever he got the chance- which wasn't often. Unlike Ranma, he took her seriously as a fighter. Though he wasn't as strong as Ranma, he was sufficient enough to strengthen her in the Art. She popped the cap off of the bottle before taking three, quick sips. She felt her stomach tighten in knots as her worrying increased. Ryoga probably was half way across the world by now. Did this mean she would be eating dinner alone? She frowned, Ryoga loved her cooking. Such a shame she would have to taste her improvement alone. Oh well, something to occupy her time, she guessed.

She began to fill the pots with cold water as she heard the door knock. Once. Twice. She quickly set it on the stove before running to answer the door. Wiping her hands on a dish towel, she turned the knob to see her fiancee, Ryoga, standing at the other end of the entrance.

"Ryoga!" She cried happily, pulling him inside their house. "I thought I was going to have to eat alone." She laughed. He smiled his fanged smile as he entered the house and dusted himself off. He's been training, she observed. She began to wipe his face with her dish towel before he grabbed her hands and tightened her into one of his bear hugs. She felt electricity trickle down her spine at the embrace of her fiance, but quickly wrapped her arms around his neck hoping to return the same feeling.

"Now," he said whispering, his face close to her's. "Why would I do something stupid like that?"

"You do stupid things?" She guessed, and laughed as he frowned in displeasure. She closed the gap between them by planting a quick kiss on his pouting lips. He pressed closer, desiring more, but she broke it off, knowing this would make him enfold his bass playing hands around her dainty waist. Which she wanted. Just as she predicted, she felt him as he traced his fingers down her waist. She laid her head back, finding support on his built chest. Yes, life was good. "Can I go make you food now?" She asked, not wanting to move.

"But then it would ruin this." He complained. But as she requested, he reluctantly released his grip on her. She smiled her reply as she escaped back into the kitchen. He watched her go, feeling like all of this would disappear at the snap of his fingers. He didn't understand how stupid Ranma could be to let someone like Akane go. He didn't know why she wanted someone like him. Destiny, that was his answer. He remembered the day when she ran to him crying, relinquishing all of her distaste for Ranma in one blow. It was at that time he let her know. Let her know that he loved her. Loved her all this time. He didn't even know where he even got the courage! At first, she was a little shocked, but to due time, he was able to win her heart.

Not to mention that their relationship was at the peak of amazing right now. Sure they quarreled, but they always made up with a kiss or a hug. Akane took away the sorrow, pain, and loneliness that filled his life once. Now, all that he had was her beautiful smile, the one that she lit up whenever she saw him. He smiled inwardly to himself, one man's loss is another man's gain.

He decided it was best to go wash up, and left his wife-to-be grunting while she cooked in the kitchen. He climbed up the stairs and entered the bathroom, disrobing to enter the bath. He let the hot water soothe his skin as he tried not to think of all the ways this relationship could end. The last thing he wanted to do was to show Akane that he would always protect her, and that meant beating Ranma. With Akane's love, he knew that he was invincible. He was getting extremely fast, and he learned a lot of more moves like 'Breaking point'. He knew Ranma was probably under the stress of his other fiancee's, not to mention Akane's family. He hasn't worked out in weeks, that would be his chance to finish him once and for all. He finished his shower promptly and headed downstairs with nothing but his towel on, hoping to sneak into his room without Akane noticing. He didn't want her to get the idea that he was trying to woo her in bed. No! Not that he didn't wantto, but what if Akane wasn't ready? He didn't want to ruin things. He opened the door and glanced both ways, before stealthily entering and changing his clothes to sweat pants and a simple red T-shirt.

He walked downstairs, making noise to announce his arrival. He smiled at Akane as she still tried to put the finishing touches on their rice cakes, ramen, and tokoyaki puffs. He sat in the living room, spreading his legs out on their only couch. Akane had great taste, this couch outlasted and surpassed every bed known to man. He can go on for hours about how great she was...

"Ryoga, dinner is ready!" She chirped, casting a shadow over his face as she leaned towards his sleeping body.

His eyes slowly opened to her angelic face as the rancid smell of her creation enveloped his senses. He grinned meekly as he sat up to face her, placing his hands out. She watched him giddily as he quickly scarfed down his food along with the tea she had made him. "Delicious," he commented. Although it was still unpleasing, Akane's cooking had ameliorated immensely. He watched her reach for her own food as she took a bite, her face morphing into disgust.

"Its terrible!" She exclaimed, shoving it away from her. "You could have just told me so, Ryoga." She spat, ashamed of herself of lacking the qualities of making one decent meal.

"Akane, you made it for me. Did you expect me to complain? Nothing you make can be disgusting," he reassured her, positioning his two fingers under her chin to force her to look at him. "Nothing."

She felt her heart melt under his intense gaze. Ryoga was so perfect. He made her happy, more than anyone had in a long time. She wanted to stare into his chocolate brown eyes, drowning with every blink. "Okay," she whispered quietly. "You're the best."

He decided to tease her. "I know." She slapped his arm play fully as he let out a laugh. She picked the dishes as she carried them away into the kitchen. Returning briefly to see him watching a comedy show.

"You know," she began, sitting on the couch, fitting herself into his opened-arm embrace. "I can't believe its been a month since I've left."

"Oh?" Was his reply. He didn't like when she brought up this conversation for several reasons. One, it hurt her when she thought about it. Two, he was scared she was hurting so much would make her want to leave.

"Yeah," she felt him stiffen at the sound of her old life. What did he think? That she would just leave him for Ranma? Didn't she make it clear that she loved him? Love. L-o-v-e. She couldn't say it before to Ranma, and she always thought it was because it wasn't the right 'time'. When the truth was, it wasn't in her fate. She was destined to marry Ryoga, and now it was evident that this was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. "Do you think we could visit my parents some time?"

"Parents? Are you sure that's the only reason?" He couldn't help but feel a little jealousy at her words. Its been a month, and now she wants to see her parents?

"Of course!" She said a little louder, getting on the defensive. "If you think I want to see Ranma again then you must be wrong! He's getting married to Ukyo in three weeks!" She stood up and stomped up the stairs, leaving Ryoga on the couch.

She shut her door and lay on her bed as she tried to shake off the burn in her chest that she was feeling. It was over between her and Ranma. History. A distant memory. They could do whatever they wanted, its been a month! She decided it was time to call it a night as she wiggled into her bed and his under the blankets. She wish Ryoga wouldn't stay mad at her. She wished he would come here, right now, and kiss her to sleep. She couldn't tell him that, she had too much pride. Old habits died hard, she guessed.

She turned back and forth, not being able to sleep. She looked at the lamp on her dresser as it read 1 am. She turned around to his half of the bed empty. It was hopeless, she slipped out of bed and walked to find her fiance.

She opened her door, and to her luck found Ryoga on the last step, heading towards their room. She felt herself blush as she wasn't expecting to see him this fast. She turned on her heel as she tried to make it look like she was going to the bathroom.

"Akane." He called her name quietly.

"Ryoga." She replied, her tone just as hushed.

"I'm sorry," he told her, rubbing the back of his head. "I just got jealous, I don't want to lose you. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. You see, I'm afraid that you'll want to go back and- and- and-" He couldn't say the last words. "Leave me." He finished, strained.

Akane felt emotions burst inside of her. That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever told her. She felt her eyes sting as the tears threatened to pour out. "Well, know that you brought that up, I have something to tell you," She watched his face change and crease into worry. "Ryoga, I, I love you."

His head shot up, these were not the words he was expecting. The words he thought he would hear would be 'I'm leaving, bye!'. "Well, I love you too, Akane." He replied before he ran to her and swept her up in a hug. He went to kiss her but paused, watching tears escape her eyes. He was about open his mouth but she closed her eyes in response to his question. He loved the feeling of her warm and soft lips as it collided with his in the most cushiony way. What felt like a quick kiss instantly changed into a passionate kiss as he allowed himself to explore the inside of her mouth. Her tongue quickly met his as they were engulfed in a deep kiss, and when they pulled away, both were breathless.

He carried her bridal style as he put her down in the bed they shared. She waited for him to enter before scooting closer to gather warmth from his body. He stroked her dark blue hair as she nuzzled her face into his chest. He waited until he heard her steady breathing to conclude that Akane was asleep and it was safe to get out of bed. He was dying to use the toilet. "Don't go." She murmured to him. He grinned, leave it to Akane to be the best fake sleeper.

He re-entered the bed as he pulled her as close as possible to him without killing her. "Fine, fine, but if I pee on you, it's all your fault." She laughed her reply before he finally closed his eyes and gave into his sleep.

She loved the scent of him. She inhaled deeply as she tried to relive their kiss. That kiss would put the best romance movies to shame. She never really noticed when she had turned into the romantic type. Wait 'til Nabiki found out! She was surprised with herself, would she let Ranma touch her the way she let Ryoga? No, she concluded. Ryoga loved her, a quality Ranma lacked.

Ryoga loved her. She loved Ryoga. She touched her lips as it sizzled still with the intensity of their kiss. She smiled to herself, she loved Ryoga.

They were getting married.

A/N: Hey, guyss! So I really got carried away with the plot, I love how it's going right now! :D Tell me what you think! Do you think Ryoga and Akane should stay together? Or Ranma and Akane? Review! I love those darn things! Oh, plus, I made Akane's side of the story shorter because I don't want to spoil anything. Her side will always be shorter. Stay tuned for the next chapter!

Oh, and in the first chapter, sorry but I wrote "sister-in-law, Kasumi" when they really aren't sisters in any law! Thanks for pointing that out! Later!