JUST ONCE

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and all its characters are all Rumiko Takahashi's. not mine. One can only wish ne?

Chapter One:

Saotome Ranma and Tendo Akane, could not have been more excited yet at the same time fearful of what could happen to them the moment they both received their High School diplomas. Graduation was a bittersweet experience – they knew they would be parted from their friends and they would face uncertain paths as they decide whether to enter the working world or to move on to university. At the same time, it was somehow a mark of accomplishment – they have survived three years of high school madness, particularly for Ranma and Akane, who had to face about two years with the insane Tatewaki Kuno, and one more year with their equally mad principal – and needless to say, Akane's hoardes of admirers and Ranma's fiancés.

Yet both of them could not help but be fearful for what was to come next – they were sure their parents were going to plan another wedding. As much as both of them knew individually that they were sure about their feelings, they felt that they still had so much to accomplish and were both not ready to get married anytime soon. Although, if they were pushed, they would probably get married, not just to please their parents but also to finally put an end to all the other fiancé dilemmas that Ranma was facing, and to finally get rid of all of Akane's admirers. It was a win-win situation for all parties involved – for Ranma, Akane and their parents, at least. Never mind the fact that both of them have not exactly told their feelings to each other – they thought they would eventually have to admit it more easily once they were married.

For Akane, it was stupid and it was not exactly the way she wanted it to be – she wanted a proper and normal romance. She was a girl after all, despite Ranma's usual teasing that she was a tomboy.

Meeting Ranma and getting engaged to him has taken away all the possibilities of her ever having the romantic story she has dreamed of. Here she was, in an arranged marriage with a stranger, to top it off, someone she always fought with. Yet as time went by, she has gotten to know him, and they have both started to understand each other bit by bit, and protected each other when the other one was in trouble. Next thing Akane knew, she was falling for this handsome, insensitive and childish, yet truly caring and surprisingly romantic boy that was Ranma, not that she would ever tell him that, not if she could still help it.

For Ranma, romance was probably the last thing on his mind – he had Martial Arts training to occupy his time, and now he had this curse of turning into a woman whenever he was splashed with cold water. To make things worse, he got engaged against his will to a tomboyish, uncute and violent girl; and if that wasn't bad, he found out that he had three other fiancés – one Chinese Amazon, the other his girl bestfriend, and the other a psychotic gymnast. Being engaged unwillingly to these women has caused him more trouble with more rivals wanting to beat him to a pulp.

And of course, it did not help matters that Akane's older sister Nabiki, did not mind earning 'extra profits' at the expense of Ranma's sanity and safety – sadly, it was always Akane who has ended up suffering for everything that has to do with Ranma's fiancés . Akane, who was stubborn, strong-willed and physically strong, yet she could be emotionally fragile, sensitive, caring and protective of the ones she loved. Despite all their fights, and him calling her uncute, he knew it was just his ego talking – he found himself gradually wanting to protect this girl from harm, and slowly, he knew that he has fallen for her, not that he would admit it.

That was why high school graduation was somehow more of a bittersweet event for Ranma – he wondered how he would go on with his life after high school – he didn't feel like it was necessary for him to go to university. If he was going to inherit the Doujo, he might as well start worrying about how he was going to bring in students and actually earn some money, especially if he and Akane were to get married. He thought it would be the most practical thing to do, since it was something inevitable anyway, to marry Akane. But things changed a few days before graduation when Akane came running into the Tendo household during lunch time with an excited smile on her face while holding onto a letter.

Akane was beaming while she held up the letter and announced, "I got in!"

Everyone on the table knew what she was referring to – she got into the four-year programme she applied for in a theatre school in Paris. At the Romeo and Juliet play, Ranma realized how passionate Akane was when it came to theatre and plays. So this acceptance letter surely meant a lot to her.

The entire Tendo household, including the Saotomes who have been invited later at night for a celebratory dinner and sleepover, were very happy for Akane, except for Ranma who was torn between being happy for her and the loneliness of knowing that he was going to terribly miss her, and probably will lose her, but at the same time, he could not tell her how he really felt.

That's probably why he felt relieved when, amidst the celebrations, Soun and Genma suggested suddenly that Ranma and Akane should finally get married. Ranma thought that this could be the easiest, albeit the most cowardly and selfish way for him to finally seal the deal and be with Akane, without exactly having to tell her how he truly felt – he simply felt that showing it to her and agreeing to this marriage would be enough for her to get a clue.

Akane thought that she didn't mind getting married now, before she left for Paris. After all, she would eventually get married to Ranma anyway. It would shake off all the other fiancés while she was in Paris, not that she felt Ranma would cheat on her. Besides, getting married now does not mean that she would have to have kids right away. It was probably the most practical thing to do, without her having to confess now.

That night, Ranma and Akane, both sleepless as they weighed their decisions, both found each other at the Dojo and talked about their impending wedding.

If anything has changed between them over the years, it was the lesser bickering, especially after everything that happened during that last failed marriage. His fiancés and rivals had tried to stop the wedding, and caused enough chaos to destroy part of the house and the dojo; and Ranma, whose wrath was been incurred following Akane's injury from his fiancés' plot, told off the lot of them to stay away from them, especially from Akane.

However, as time went by, as he and Akane got closer after the incident, his fiancés who became more subdued, have started to pursue him again, but this time, not touching Akane. Kodachi, on the other hand, was another story. If anything, she has become crazier, more desperate to get Ranma. That was why Kuno, after his graduation, decided to convince her to go with him to study abroad to get her mind off things, to which she eventually agreed albeit reluctantly, to everyone's relief.

Ranma was the first to speak. "So, what do you think of our dad's plans?" He said without looking at Akane. Even after all these years, he could not look at her straight talking about wedding plans without blushing.

Akane, who was trying not to look as well, replied, "Well, I think if it's inevitable, we might as well get on with it, right?"

Ranma, despite himself, let out a soft sigh of relief, which Akane had missed as she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

"What's on your mind?" He implored.

"Well, nothing much, it's just that, I wonder if this will go off without a hitch? I mean, I know Kodachi isn't here, and that Shampoo and Ukyo have finally seemed to be less persistent lately, and they have not touched me as well, so…."

"Don't worry about them; if anything happens, I'll protect you," Ranma said, with more conviction in his tone than he intended, which made him and Akane stare at each other, blush and look away. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes, then finally Akane spoke up, "Ranma, I just want to tell you, that you don't have to go through this marriage if you're forced to. You can still back out, okay? Think about it; we're already 18 but, we're still young."

Despite the fact that Akane seemed to be giving Ranma a way out, a huge part of her wanted Ranma to actually choose to marry her, regardless of his reasons. She did not care anymore; it was now or never. She didn't know what could happen when she went to Paris. If they did not get married now….

"I will marry you, Akane." Those words hung in the air for a few seconds, and after digesting them, Akane resisted the urge to actually throw herself into Ranma's arms, shower him with kisses and tell him she loved him, and she always will. But she held back, knowing it would never happen; that engagement ring, she could never wear it. After all, she could never have a normal proposal; but looking at the handsome and strong young man sitting across her, full of sincerity in his eyes as he told her that he will marry her, the man she has loved for so long, and realized she could not have asked for more. She will make sure that he would learn to love her as their married life progresses; and eventually, maybe he would be able to tell her that he loved her as much as she loved him. Although she had felt that Ranma cared for her, she had always denied it, because she was afraid to assume – afraid of getting hurt and rejected by the man she loved most.

Akane remained still, and merely smiled, despite the happiness welling deep inside her.

"Ranma, thank you. And yes, I will marry you too."

Ranma smiled as well at her declaration. He has always wanted to hear those words; even if he could not exactly give her the engagement ring he knew she wanted to receive, because the engagement was pretty much decided before he fell for her anyway. But, at least he would be able to offer her a wedding ring, and a lifetime of happiness. He quickly returned to his serious face as he asked, "Are you sure you want it now, though? Maybe, you would want to finish your studies first then…uh…"

But Akane shook her head and said, "If we're going to get married anyway, now may be the best time. No Kodachi, no Happosai, Cologne and your fiancés have been very normal lately." Then she let out a chuckle and added, "And besides, if you don't marry me now, who's to say I won't find a rich, handsome and amazing French guy in Paris and change my mind about marrying you?" She joked.

At this, Ranma looked away and scowled, his eyes turning into slits and said, "Who would want such an uncute tomboy just like you? Besides, you would probably scare them with your violence. And oh, maybe you'll even be more masculine than the rest of them, they would actually ask you to do the male roles again!" Ranma gave out a taunting laugh, which was cut off, as he got pounded by Akane's infamous mallet on his head.

"Ranma, you just HAD to ruin every moment with your insensitive talking! I'M GOING TO BED! GO MARRY SOMEONE ELSE THEN IF YOU THINK I AM TOO UNCUTE! I COULDN'T CARE LESS!" She yelled as she stormed out of the dojo, sliding the door closed as hard as she could as she left.

Ranma, now with a huge bump on his head, was fuming at himself and telling himself what an idiot he was. Just like his previous insensitive comments which were out of mere jealousy, kind of a defence mechanism to prevent Akane from finding out how jealous he was whenever she mentioned a possibility of her and other men instead of the two of them together.

Man, I messed up big time again….

He laid back on the cool wood, knowing he wasn't gonna get some sleep tonight. He was deep in thought, and he felt sorry that Akane could not get her dream proposal, not with him being too cowardly and egoistic to actually tell her how he felt. He promised himself though that he will make it up to her after the wedding, and that he would do anything to show her how much he loved her once they were both married – yes, once they were married, he could finally have the chance to gradually show her more affection without compromising his ego, and eventually, he would be able to tell her how he has felt for her all these years. He also thought of trying to find a cure for his curse before he and Akane would have kids, so his kids could have a normal family life – not have two mothers and a father at the same time. He thought of going to find a cure right after the wedding and while Akane was in Paris – yes, that was definitely a good plan. Afterwards, he would find a way to teach in the Dojo and earn money to save up for his future family. At the word 'family', he could not help but smile – he could not believe how much meeting and falling in love with Akane has changed him. Now he was thinking of someone else other than himself, and he loved how it felt.

Yes, they will get married, and everything will work out. Akane was right; if anything, it was the right time to get married. No Happosai, no Kuno, no Kodachi, no pestering fiancés and rivals – not that they could do anything anyway, they have decided that this will be a very intimate wedding – no one will find out, unlike the last time. It will work out this time, it better.

Unknown to everyone in the Tendo household, a spy, Sasuke, the Kuno household's ninja crawled out (but not without hitting his head) from underneath the Dojo. While rubbing the painful bump on his head, he said silently, "Master Kuno must find out about this immediately!" and disappeared into the night.

A/N:

So yea, that's chappy one, which I typed really quickly to follow up on the extremely short prologue ;) It's gonna pick up soon, I promise.