JUST ONCE

DISCLAIMER: Ranma ½ and its characters are not mine. Yadda yadda yadda…

Chapter 2: Wedding 'plans'

The wedding was set two weeks later after Ranma (still sporting a huge bump on his head from where Akane's mallet had hit him) and Akane finally came down for breakfast the next day to announce that they would go through it, and reiterated that it would be a secret ceremony. The only non- Saotome or non- Tendo member who was invited was Dr Tofu, with him being a very close family friend over these years and a good friend of the Tendos and eventually the Saotomes as well; besides, Akane was sure that Dr Tofu would be more than happy to witness how this little girl has blossomed into a young woman, about to be a blushing bride two weeks from now. Akane herself was waiting for the day when Dr Tofu could muster enough courage to finally tell Kasumi how he felt.

After the announcement, Soun and Genma put their hands together and made a dance around the table, with them yelling 'Banzai! Banzai! Our futures are secured!' They looked at each other with idiotic expressions and big, goofy smiles, 'The Saotome school is secured, ne Tendo-kun?' Genma said. 'The Tendo school as well, ne, Saotome-kun!' was Soun's reply. The two best friends danced into the next room and all around the house.

Nodoka and Kasumi, beaming, simply hugged and congratulated Ranma and Akane and wished them a happy life together. 'We'll take care of the cooking; we can't afford to order food from outside catering – you know how word gets around, ne?' Nodoka said, hugging a very grateful Akane. She whispered, 'Welcome to the Saotome family, dear.' And Akane felt a warmth she has never felt since her mother passed away; a warmth only a mother could offer.

Kasumi hugged Akane and smiled warmly at her, added 'I need to work on the menu, then. What do you say, Auntie? Shall we have both Japanese and Chinese food to celebrate?'

Nodoka was thoughtful for a moment. 'I think that would be good. Let's cook up a storm!' She, herself looked so excited, as if it were her own wedding, and Akane could not help but smile, knowing that this marriage would not only earn her a wonderful husband – the love of her life – but also a second chance to have a mother. And, she thought happily, not just a mother, but a patient, kind, gentle and loving woman she was going to be proud to call her mother-in-law.

Nabiki, who has seemed indifferent and calm about the announcement, came over to them and tapped them on their backs, with her calculator (which seemed to come out of nowhere) tucked in between her lips. She pulled it out and began to show them a few of her calculations.

'Well, dear siblings, I guess I would have to be in charge of getting the decorations and wedding clothes and stuff discreetly with all my connections,' she said, pushing the buttons rapidly on her calculator. 'My, my, that would take a LOT of money, plus interest and of course my service fees…'

Ranma and Akane sweatdropped; Nabiki will NEVER change, they thought as they looked at each other with the same expression. Sibling or not, she was still out for some profit.

Nabiki has been attending a university in Tokyo for about a year now, doing a Business degree; she said she wanted to earn legitimate money someday – not with blackmail or anything, but something at the back of Ranma and Akane's minds told them otherwise; they definitely knew better, that was until Nabiki finally broke out into a smile and gave them a bear hug, 'Just KIDDING! It's all ON ME!'

Ranma and Akane looked at each other in utter disbelief, then realized that their faces were only inches apart, thanks to Nabiki's bear hug. They turned red and immediately pulled away.

'Heeehh…? You're both getting married in two weeks and you're both still awkward with getting too close?' Nabiki asked and shook her head in disapproval, then a smirk crossed her lips. 'How about starting to share a room from tonight onwards?' She turned to Ranma, 'You can move in here and you can both share Akane's room.'

Akane blushed furiously and simply returned to her breakfast, choosing to ignore her sister. Ranma, as red as Akane was, bit back his retort about not wanting to share a room with an uncute tomboy, followed suit and ate the remnants of his breakfast in silence. Less talk, less fights, less violence, he thought as he rubbed the still prominent bump on his head.

Nabiki looked at the two of them and shook her head again, 'I'll take that as a no then, huh?' She shrugged, sat down and ate her breakfast as well, with no more words exchanged after that; it was silent at the table, except in other parts of the room where Soun and Genma were still yelling 'Banzai', and something about the school's future secured, while Nodoka and Kasumi have retreated to the kitchen, busy chatting away about the menu for the wedding.

The next few days passed by in a blur – and a few days before the wedding, Akane and Ranma's new wedding clothes arrived. Nodoka and Genma have temporarily moved into the Tendo household in preparation for the wedding.

It was the perfect time without arousing any suspicion – Ukyou closed her shop temporarily after graduation to visit her relatives in her home town. Shampoo and Cologne went back to China, with Mousse included to carry their stuff for them, Kodachi and Kuno were still abroad, while Ryoga was, well, forever lost. Happosai was somewhere else chasing girls and stealing underwear, not that anyone cared. All that everyone wished now was to get the ceremony over and done with while everyone was conveniently out of town.

Akane sat on her bed that night while admiring her newly-arrived wedding dress. 'My second wedding dress,' she mused to herself, thinking about what happened to her old one, and suddenly shuddered. She didn't want to remember that failed wedding; she prayed to the Gods that this wedding would go smoothly; the last thing she wanted and needed was chaos, an injury, or another ruined wedding. If this was delayed again, if anything happened…. she refused to even think about it.

Akane touched her new wedding dress, noting that she would have to thank Nabiki later and make it up to her in the future, as her older sister used some of her savings and 'extra profits' to settle most of the wedding expenses. The dress was western style; simple yet elegant – with white sequins and beads adorning the bustier all the way to the hem with floral patterns. The skirt was flowy and lacy, – all in all, it was classier, more beautiful and more elegant than her previous one was.

She looked around her room, and realized that in a few days, she would have to share the room with another person – her soon-to-be husband, Ranma. Her school would reopen in September, which meant that she had about five months to spend a married life with him.

Married life, she mused. She was going to get married, leave it all behind. Once she said 'I do', she would have to compromise a lot of things in her life. Whenever she would come back here for the holidays, she would have to spend less time with her friends. Her eyes settled on one of the photo frames next to her table. A photo of her, Yuka and Sayuri at the beach about two summers ago – her hair was already cut short, and it was Ranma who took the photo for them. It slightly made her feel guilty to not invite or inform her two best friends about this wedding – they would have thrown her a bridal shower, not that she really wanted to, to be honest, but a spending a night out with her best friends just talking about the past, gossiping, being girly and just enjoying the last night of her singlehood would have been good. But this was all for the better.

Akane thought about how Ranma changed her life since they met. Until they met, she had a crush on their family doctor, Dr Tofu. Thinking about it now, Akane felt that Ranma's arrival into the Tendo household and into her life was timely. Having Ranma with her had somehow softened the heartbreak she felt when her precious long hair was cut off accidentally by Ryoga's umbrella (then again, it would not have happened if Ranma never came along, but it didn't matter), and when Akane has finally come to terms with the fact that Dr Tofu would only see Kasumi, and not her, as a woman; no matter how long she grew her hair, she would always be seen as Akane, a younger sister to him.

Her relationship or the lack thereof, with Ranma has been very confusing. They had gone on a few dates – their first one turned out to be a total disaster, with Ranma telling her he liked her, but only because he was trying to get revenge on Nabiki. To say Akane had been disappointed was an understatement – she had actually dolled up, dressed up for this date and looked forward to it, only to find out it was a revenge game between Ranma and Nabiki. Yet, when Ranma handed her the flowers, despite making a very shy and awkward gesture as she received them, she could not help but smile as she smelled the sweetness of the flowers – as sweet as this man standing before her, no matter how many times he has made fun of her.

Akane wondered what life would have been had she not met Ranma, and she thought that maybe she could have had a normal romantic life. Going out on dates with guys she actually found attractive, eventually getting proposed to, getting that engagement ring,holding hands, probably kissing (she blushed slightly as she remembered when Ranma kissed her as a cat in front of everyone), hugging, saying I love you to each other, without any insane fiancés going after her waiting to ambush her wedding. But then, she thought, would her life been as happy and exhilarating as it was now had she not met Ranma?

Ranma may not be her typical knight in shining armour – the usual tall, dark and handsome man every girl swoons about in movies, who could say the right words, although sometimes can be bad – but Ranma, the boy was a jerk in every sense of the word, and he had a sharp tongue; yet he could be so gentle and he could say the right things if he wanted to. He protects her from harm, gets worked up and jealous when sheis kidnapped or when she earns another admirer. But still, Akane had her doubts as to whether it was love on Ranma's part. Akane was not blind; she has seen how Ranma would blush around her when they got close; he came over and picked her up when she ran off to meet and save Shinnosuke; he saved her from pantyhose Taro, and from numerous kidnappings she had lost count of. She gave Ranma credit for that; maybe he was attracted to her in a way – he put his arm around her once, he blushed when they held hands, he got visibly jealous even with her pet pig P-chan…(speaking of P-chan, she wondered where the poor pig was). So yes, Akane felt there might be something on Ranma's part, but was that enough? Akane was determined to make him fall in love with her when they got married; and she swore to herself she would be a good wife to him.

How about herself? She knew it was love, for a long time now actually. That was why proper dates aside, normal romance and proposal aside, she knew she would never trade anything for her Ranma and what she has with him now. Akane was a girl, but other than that, she was a Martial Artist – she craved a challenge, action and excitement in sparring and verbal battles with Ranma. Yes, she knew she could only have them with Ranma. The girly part on dates and such would be settled when they got married. Right now she was satisfied to have Ranma and be this close to marrying him and finally not having to worry about what could happen when she was in Paris. Because she knew, she just knew, that other than Ranma, it would be rare to actually fall for someone ever again, if she lost him.

A world without Ranma would be unbearable for her, more than she would dare to admit. Her life would turn into a shade of grey; with no promise, nothing and no one to look forward to. No one to call, no one to save her from danger; but then again, danger only started to cling on to her after she met Ranma, but she brushed the realization away with a soft laugh. She had to admit, she met interesting people and her life became more colourful after she met her Ranma – her Ranma with his awkward kindness, confidence and activeness. Ranma made random little nothings into something Akane would never forget; he can make her darker and lonely days brighter just by being there. That was why she could not picture her world now without Ranma.

But she shook her head and thought that that wouldn't happen, she won't let it happen and this wedding will ensure that she will never lose Ranma again – not to anyone, or to any circumstances.

She sunk her body into the softness of her bed, and thought about what would happen during their marriage. Would they actually do it? She turned a dark shade of red, and shook the idea off. She hung back her wedding dress on the dresser and finally decided to call it a night. In a few days, she would be Mrs Saotome. She smiled at the thought, and closed her eyes.

Ranma, upon seeing his white tuxedo upon its delivery a few hours ago, could only tell himself, 'Finally, this is it.' It was the day he would finally be able to say that Akane was exclusively his, and he would also be exclusively Akane's. He didn't know how Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi would take the news, but the only thing he really cared about was Akane, only Akane. He wanted to tell Akane how relieved he was as he was worried about what could happen if Akane really did meet someone else in Paris, but he had to hide it using insensitive words. It was not that he did not trust Akane; it was the men he did not trust.

After he gets cured of his curse, he promised Akane that he would work and save up to visit her in Paris once in a while, while Akane promised to also come back once in a while during her school holidays. It was somehow an odd feeling to be thinking of two people now, instead of just them. Of course, Akane said that she was actually, for the most part going to come back for her family because she will miss them, and Ranma retaliated by saying that it was not really her he wanted to see, but wanted to try the food, the parfait, and maybe check out those hot French women, to which Akane gave him a kick sending him flying off to the far end of Nerima.

Despite Akane's violence and lack of girly cuteness or domestic skills particularly in cooking, Ranma thought that he would never trade her for any other girl – not Shampoo, no matter how cute she can be and how good she can cook, not with Ukyou, it was just too weird to feel anything other than something platonic for his bestfriend, and CERTAINLY not that psychotic case that is Kodachi. It has always been, and will always be Akane for him, no questions asked. And someday, he would be able to tell her this with all the confidence he could muster.

Ranma looked around his room. He was back at his mother's house, and soon he would have to move out and move in to the Tendo household with Akane. He had a few months to spend with her before she left for Paris. Maybe he could work, take in some students at the Dojo during weekends, and find a part time job somewhere else in town, and probably take her on a short honeymoon before she leaves. Who knows, maybe they would actually be able to loosen up and…. and… he blushed at the thought.

He was amused at himself for being incredibly drawn to her and finding her so attractive no matter how many times he kept telling himself and Akane how uncute and unsexy she was. Deep down, he knew that she was a beautiful woman inside and out; she also had a good body to top it off.

Before he could think about inappropriate thoughts of her, he laid back on the futon and decided to sleep it off.

Meanwhile, halfway across the world, in an isolated mansion on top of a mountain, a slightly more mature-looking Tatewaki Kuno stood in a quiet library filled with probably a thousand books. He wore serious expression on his face as he talked to the short ninja in front of him.

"Are you absolutely certain about the date, Sasuke?"

The ninja bowed and through wary eyes, he looked up at his Master, clad in his traditional robes, with his sword tucked on his hip.

"Yes, Master. It is to be held at the Tendo household three days from now."

"When exactly did you find out about this?"

Sasuke started to fidget. "About…ten days ago, Master Kuno…"

Kuno's eyes darkened and Sasuke gulped, silently praying that he would come out of here alive.

"You imbecile! Why is it that you took TEN DAYS to tell me this? My lovely Akane Tendo is going to get married to that lame excuse of a man and martial artist! Why that cunning Saotome! No one is going to make a fool out of Tatewaki Kuno!" He drew his sword and Sasuke had to dodge it to save his head from being cut off. He hid behind a suit of armour and tried to lamely explain himself.

"B-but Master Kuno, you did not provide me a phone number to call you here; and….so… I had to swim all the way here…" He shuddered thinking about how he even made it, despite those dozens of sharks chasing after him like a lunch prize, until he finally found temporary safety in an island, which had sunk eventually at night; thankfully the sharks were long gone by then. All he wanted was to get to his master as soon as possible to tell him the news; he knew that being chased by sharks and days of swimming and starvation was nothing compared to what he had in store for him if his master found out he has been neglecting his spying duties, and eventually have Ranma and Akane married without his master's knowledge.

Kuno digested Sasuke's reasons and considered them, sheathed his sword, much to Sasuke's relief, and sat down on his desk.

"I shall not allow such a farce of a matrimony to occur. I shall stop the wedding and save Tendo Akane!" Kuno slammed his fists into the wooden desk, causing it to crack slightly. "Sasuke, we will leave by tomorrow morning on my private jet! And make sure you track down these people and let them know about the wedding!" He wrote names on a piece of paper and handed them to Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw the names that his master wrote down. He shuddered as he remembered what happened during Ranma and Akane's first wedding, when the people written down here and their schemes had almost caused Akane her life. Sasuke actually felt guilty about telling his master, but he feared for his life as well. After all, what could his master do? He could try breaking down the wedding, but even Akane would be enough to pummel him down, even in a wedding dress, and that would be the end of it. But adding Shampoo and Ukyou, Ryoga and Mousse, as stated on the paper would be another story. THAT was a perfect mix for chaos. He simply could not do it.

"Master, I suggest that we do not call these..uhmm…."

"Silence! If you are worried about my lovely Tendo Akane being in danger, I shall take her away before any danger befalls upon her."

"You are going to kidnap Miss Tendo?" Sasuke asked disbelievingly. He knew his Master had a few screws loose; but to resort to such a cowardly and desperate act was truly unbecoming of his Master who has always prided himself on being an honourable man and warrior.

Kuno ran his hand through his hair and said, "Of course, Sasuke. What makes you think I will allow my precious Akane Tendo be caught in the crossfire? I will grab her the moment all hell breaks loose and she will be indebted to me forever for saving her life from danger and from Saotome." He gave a dark laugh.

Sasuke shook his head and could not help but think what he had done. His Master was demented. He was contemplating whether to just pretend he never found Shampoo, Ukyou, Ryoga and Mousse on time; yes, maybe he would do that. And that would be the end of it.

"Sasuke, do NOT tell this to my sister. She is beyond control. I fear what she is capable of doing to Tendo Akane is she finds out about this plan."

Sasuke gulped, and refused to imagine what could happen if his mistress found out about this, and nodded, "Yes, Master."

Unknown to both of them, there was someone spying on them from the darkened area of the room. It was a leotard-wearing woman, with curly hair pulled into a ponytail on one side, with eyes full of darkness and malice.

"Ho, ho, ho, my foolish brother! Thinking that he could keep me out of this party….." An evil smirk crossed her lips. "Tendo Akane, you'll pay for tricking my Ranma-darling into this." She quietly disappeared into the shadows and formulated a plan to get rid of Akane Tendo once and for all.

A/N:

Thank you for the reviews, caia-chan, addisonrose12 and pahlee. I totally appreciate them; they bring a huge smile on my face. At least I know that there are people actually reading my fic. :) At the same time, I will work hard on this so as not to disappoint anyone who has been craving for some good character and plot progress, particularly the real Ranma/Akane fans out there. Ja, I hope you all liked this chappy. ;) The wedding will take place in the next chappy. Watch out for what's going to happen! And yes, watch out for Kodachi.