a/n: Took me a few days longer than expected to get this out. It was a monster to write. Lots of angst in this one as Akane and Ranma work on some of their issues. Enjoy!

Storm's Break: Chapter 4

Four days, eleven hours and… Akane glanced down at her wrist watch, twenty-six minutes, since Ranma had looked directly at her or spoken to her about more than directions. She looked up to take in his broad shoulders as they trekked forward on little more than a deer path. Dukkeobi flew ahead of them scouting for trouble. It was nice to see her friend resume his normal energy levels and activity now that he was no longer needed to heal her leg. It had been a week since they left Toshi at the airport to head to Mexico City and the lack of companionship was stifling. She could use his quick wit and constant chatter about now. She would never complain again about his never ending list of random facts. With a soft whistle she called Dukkeobi back to her. He glided back on silent wings, the sun reflected off his jewel like body as he dipped and dived to land on her outstretched arm.

'There is a river ahead about an hour out. There is no bridge across." Dukkeobi's soft bell-like voice sang in her head as he settled and preened his wings.

'Well that's just great, how wide is the river?'

"About a thousand feet'

Akane sighed. That was not good. She could doggy paddle in still water if she had too, she made some improvement over the years but was far from a competent swimmer. Huoshi had given them an incomplete map, she was pretty confident that it wasn't by accident. Huoshi was not a fan of visitors. She was going to chew him out about that when they reached him.

'Ranma is still not talking to you I see.' Dukkeobi glared at the well defined back in front of them.

'No, I don't even know how to broach a conversation with him at this point." She huffed in annoyance. Dukkeobi rubbed his head against her shoulder in sympathy before taking flight again.

"There is a large river about an hour out. It would be a good place to stop for the night." Ranma just grunted and kept moving. Yeah no conversation there. "Thanks Akane for the update. I really appreciate it," Akane mumbled under her breath, pitching her voice low to mimic Ranma. "No problem, happy to help," She answered herself back before allowing the deafening silence to envelope them once more.

They continued on in tense silence for another half hour, both lost in thought. Akane feeling sorry for herself and Rama still stewing in his anger. It was the lack of birds that Ranma noticed first. Then he realized there wasn't even so much as a cricket making noise. It was as if the forest was holding its breath waiting for something to happen. Suddenly something brushed against his awareness before it slunk away again. He stopped without warning, causing Akane to run into him.

"What…" Akane started in annoyance rubbing her nose that had jammed into his back. Before she could continue that thought she felt the slight caress on her awareness as well. It wasn't a presence she had dealt with before and without Toshi the walking encyclopedia of the supernatural she was uncertain how to proceed. It was cold and slimy and full of ill intent. It was oppressive and the air felt stagnant all of a sudden. She stepped closer to Ranma. "Do you know what it is?"

Ranma turned his head slightly to take in her thoughtful and confused expression as she tried to pin down the location of their guest. "No." He stood tense trying to track it, it felt familiar but it seemed to cloak its presence well. It was stalking them. How did it get so close without him being aware of it sooner? That thought bugged him, it meant he was allowing himself to become far too distracted. He took a deep breath and considered their options. "Let's keep moving, you walk in front of me though, and stay close."

He firmly nudged her in front of him as they kept moving. Their stalker appeared to be behind them and staying just out of range. It wanted them to know it was there but not pin down its location, it had intelligence. What was it waiting for? Was it waiting for it to get dark? They had about another hour and a half before sun down, he would rather not try to deal with it in the dark. Whatever it was wasn't getting any closer and they would have to wait until it made its move.

They walked for another fifteen minutes before Dukkeobi returned in a flurry of panic. 'Akane!' he nearly shouted in her head, causing her to winch. 'Akane, there are Aoyin up ahead, two dozen of them!'

'What are those?' Akane tried to keep the panic from bubbling up.

'humanoid monsters that like to eat brains." His voice dripped with disgust.

Akane took a shaky breath. "Ranma, Dukkeobi says there are two dozen Aoyin up ahead."

Ranma swore. He had run into them before, they usually traveled in small groups, this large of a group though was unheard of. "That's gotta be what's behind us too. They are unpleasant creatures." He thought fast. He could easily take out half of them on his own but twenty-five of them was tricky. He needed to get Akane somewhere safe.

Looking down at the map, Akane tried to figure out a way out of the forest. "Ok. Well I think there is an open meadow up ahead. Hopefully it's still there. That might be a good place to make a stand."

Ranma nodded, it would have to do. Before she could protest he scooped her up and took off in that direction. Akane let out a little squeak before grabbing onto Ranma's shoulders for stability. "Some warning would be nice, you know."

Ranma slowed as he entered the meadow. It wasn't large but there was plenty of room to move around. Not a lot of options for aerial attacks but he could make it work. There, a little way in, was a large tree standing as a lone sentry. It was perfect. He hopped up onto lower branches and proceeded to hop higher and higher until they ran out of sturdy branches that could hold their weight. "Stay here." He Gently placed Akane on the branch to lean against the tree trunk before turning to leave.

"Wait! What!" Gripped with panic and slight hysteria, Akane scrambled and grabbed onto Ranma's arm before he could disappear. "You are not leaving me here. I am not helpless!"

He ripped his arm from her and glared. "Akane, there are too many of them. Don't be a dummy! Stay here." He didn't have time to deal with the stupid tomboys temper tantrum right now. Before she could respond he quickly hopped back down out of the tree.

"Ranma! You're going to pay for this!" Akane screamed from her perch above him. She tried to pelt him with small branches as he disappeared below.

Ranma ignored her. He figured it would take her awhile to get down, hopefully giving him enough time to deal with the Aoyin threat. He could feel the seething mass of them at the tree line. He could also feel the lone Aoyin to the right. They were moving fast now, they felt they had their prey surrounded and outnumbered. With their numbers Akane and Ranma should be easy pickings, they were about to learn how wrong they were. He bent down and slid a thin chain out from the front pouch of his pack. It was about a half inch in diameter and three feet long. He coiled it around his wrist as he waited. It was a chain given to him as a gift, blessed by a shaman in Africa. It was very powerful magic and would hopefully work through the Aoyin quickly. There was a time he relied on his fists alone but he had learned to accept help where he could with the less than mortal creatures.

The single Aoyin to his right was the first to break through the tree line. It stood there waiting, watching him unsteadily. The creature's skin was gray and its hair was patchy; the rotted smell of its flesh reached him, causing him to fight the urge to gag. Its head was larger than a humans and its arms reached nearly to its knees. It had razor sharp claws and an oversized mouth with pointed yellowing teeth and a long lolling tongue that dangled well below its chin. It suddenly let out a shriek that echoed over the meadow and set Ranma's teeth on edge. An answering shriek was heard in front of him as the other Aoyin finally entered the meadow. Before the echo could even die the lumbering mass of bodies hurled themselves towards him.

He cracked his knuckles and took a relaxed stance. He was Ranma Saotome. They were going to regret the decision to attack him. Ranma always won.

As the first Aoyin lumbered up to him he launched a kick that sent it flying back into the four behind it, bowling them over. With the next he whipped the chain out and around its neck, severing its head with a fierce yank. He seamlessly turned and punched another with a chi infused fist as it was reaching to sink its claws into his shoulder. Soundlessly he leaned back to dodge a fourth before whipping forward to sweep its feet out from under it. Suddenly there was a shrill call and the golden Dukkeobi swooped down and let forth a mighty belch of red-blue flame incinerating the Aoyin Ranma had just knocked over. He swooped down again and took out another that was coming up behind Ranma.

"Thanks Dukkeobi," Ranma grinned at the dragon. Dukkeobi chirped back before swooping up and out of reach of the Aoyin.

Four down, and a football game worth of players left. The Aoyin had backed off. Their prey was better prepared than they expected. They shifted in agitation, watching him from about fifteen feet away. Slowly they separated into two distinct groups. Sounding clicks and shrieks among themselves. Then as if on some unseen signal one group of them charged him from the front and the other from the right side trying to distract him. He managed to punch and kick a few away but was soon overwhelmed by them. Dukkeobi screeched diving back into the fight and inflamed two of them before they could sink their teeth into Ranma. Dukkeobi was but a baby dragon and his strength was quickly waning, with a chirp of warning he floated to the tree Akane had been left in, his usefulness spent. Ranma took a second to center himself trying to dissipate the putrid mob. Once he had cleared enough room he bellowed "Moko Takabisha!" blasting the ones closest to him away. He was winded and he felt the tell tale trickle of warm blood down his left side. One of them had left puncture wounds with its claws and he was pretty sure he was bitten on his shoulder.

A quick tally showed eighteen left, more than he hoped but still less than he started with. They charged him before he could think too long about it. He braced himself and prepared to hit them again when he felt something drop down behind him. Turning suddenly he stopped himself before striking at Akane. She stood there radiating a soft pink glow with a fierce expression. Attached to one arm seemed to be a modified pata sword. The cuff surrounded her hand and extended to cover her forearm but the blade was dagger length, only about 12 inches long. It appeared to be glowing as well. Ranma assessed her for a brief moment before turning to lash out at the encroaching mob.

"Get back in that tree now!" Ranma growled.

"No." Without any hesitation she was off, throwing herself in to the fray. She kicked one Aoyin back into another three before swiping at a fourth with her sword. The creature screamed as it seemed to glow with a pink light before falling dead. She seemed to glide and dance through the group, gone was the uncoordinated, undisciplined Akane of the past. She dispatched another one in the same manner as before and they started to give her a wider breath. Ranma managed to wrap his chain around the necks of another two as they were distracted by Akane.

Ranma moved to flank Akane. Keeping her near enough to reach. While she seemed capable he wasn't taking any chances. There was a brief lull, as the Aoyin tried to decide how to address the change of events. Akane took the opportunity to relax for a moment, she brought her arms in front of her clapping her hands once before extending them apart in an arch. Her left returned stretched out in front of her and the right was held back by her ear. A shimmer like a mirage appeared of a bow and arrow. She sighted and let loose the arrow, it flew to pin two of the Aoyin to the tree, killing them. She sighted the next and dispatched it quickly. Dukkeobi glided down to perch on her shoulder and let out another bout of flames at a nearby foe.

Ranma used a modified Hiryu Shoten Ha to punch ki blasts at the remaining five Aoyin in front of him. The tide had changed and the remaining Aoyin moved to flee, unfortunately Ranma was faster. With the threat largely destroyed he left Akane, springing in front of panicked Aoyin. He reached forward wrapping the chain around one throwing it at the others. He dispatched three of the remaining quickly as another of Akane's arrows sailed by him to take out the last.

They both stood there breathing heavily. Ranma surveyed their surroundings, the ominous feel was gone and the wildlife seemed to take their cue as the bird song returned. He turned to watch Akane as he tried to reign in the bloodlust. She was magnificent, the skill level and confidence she displayed was amazing, she looked like some goddess huntress. Her eyes were still weary and her stance had yet to relax. She still faintly glew and an unfelt wind ruffled her hair. There was nothing clumsy or unsure about her. She was fierce. It took every ounce of will power Ranma had to not grab her and dominate her. He wanted nothing more than to drag her to the ground and ravish her until she was screaming his name. He looked away, he suspected that wouldn't go over well.

Without warning a force slammed into the side of Ranma's head sending him sprawled on the ground.

"Don't. You. Ever. Do that again." Akane stood over him fuming. "You're supposed to be my back up, or my first line of defense. Your job is not to tuck me away where I am ineffective"

Ranma launched himself to his feet towering over her, fuming, "My job is to keep you alive. How I chose to do that is up to me, not you."

"You, insufferable jackass!" Akane pushed him but he refused to budge. She turned and stomped away to grab her pack. "I call the shots here, not you. This is my responsibility. This is my quest." She dusted off her pants and returned. "You don't know anything about what we are trying to do. You are just the hired help!"

Ranma growled. Deep in his chest he felt his patience with her snap. For a week he has been stewing. Keeping all the anger and betrayal at bay. For a week he has thought of nothing but the revelations in the room back at the hotel, her betrayal. And she thought that she could boss him around? She had another thing coming. "You do not have the right to anything anymore. You are nothing but a cheap spoiled floozy who thinks the world revolves around them. You mean nothing but a job. And I take orders from no one." He grabbed his pack and stomped off towards the river leaving her to follow.

Akane watched him walk away, her anger quickly deflating. Watching the hatred fill Ranma's face before he left her there in the meadow nearly broke her. How had things become this? There was a time when he would have done anything for her. But that Ranma was gone, replaced with the cold angry man who spit hateful words at her. And the sad part was she couldn't blame him. She had destroyed that when she left, breaking their engagement. He was the last good thing she had desperately wanted to save all those years ago and while she may have succeeded for a time it turns out it was all pointless.

…..

Seven Years Ago

Ranma was sprawled out on Akanes bed flipping through a manga while Akane tried to finish the last of her math homework. It was late, the rest of the house already asleep.

"How much are you short of Ukyo's dowry?" Akane asked not looking up from her carefully organized calculations.

"Hmmm… not much. I figure by the end of summer I should have enough." Ranma threw the manga to the foot of the bed and gave her his full attention. "Why?"

She turned in her seat to look at him. Only then realizing how close he was to her. His blue eyes darkened and he grinned as he leaned the small distance to capture her lips. After a moment she went to pull away but Ranma had other ideas, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her onto the bed with him. She allowed it, and sat in his lap, reclined against him as his hand began to softly caress her sides. She decided her last math problem could wait.

"Well…" Akane tried to remember what they were talking about, "I have some money saved from babysitting the Suzuki twins. I thought we might be able to pay it off sooner." She let out a breathy moan as Ranma's hands worked their way under her shirt to find more sensitive areas to tease.

"I thought that was for college?" he mumbled between the kisses he trailed down her neck. before flipping her so that she was now pinned under him. He pulled away long enough to take in her disheveled kiss swollen appearance. "This is my responsibility not yours."

She reached up to caress his check gently. "Let me help you." His breath caught as her other hand reached to run over his exposed chest. When did his shirt come off? "I want to marry you Ranma. We can't do that until the other fiancée's are dealt with. I am staying here for school and you will be teaching at the Dojo so I really don't need the money."

He smiled devilishly at her, causing her heart to speed up. "You just want me in your bed every night." He took advantage of her distraction to relieve her of her tee shirt.

She huffed in annoyance. "Well yes, but that's a bit beside the point." She wiggled around trying to get a better angle to continue her exploration of his body. Ranma let out a groan of frustration. "One of these times we are going to get caught and then things will not happen on our terms anymore."

"Why don't we have this conversation later, right now I have more pleasant pursuits to enjoy." He kissed her soundly. Leaning into her so she could feel just what his body was hoping for. Ranma ran one of his hands up her inner thigh as she hooked it around his waist to draw him in closer.

"Fine, I'll let you have your way this time," She allowed him to pull her farther into the lust quickly brewing between them.

Afterwards they lay together, a tangled pile of limbs. Ranma continued to draw small circles on the hyper sensitive skin along her side and her hip. Being with Ranma was something she thought she would never get enough of.

"I love you Ranma."

His hand stilled in its journeys, he took a moment to drop a kiss on the top of her head where it lay against his chest. This part of their relationship was still so new, he would never tire of hearing her say that. "Akane, you are my home. I love you more than anything. I love you more than life." He kissed her upturned mouth softly, before pulling away to gaze into the chocolate pools shimmery with unshed tears. "We graduate in a few days. After the training trip we will deal with the finances. I don't think I can wait much longer either."

Akane squirmed up his body trying to get in a position to better read his face. She felt small shivers run across his skin as she straddled him. "You're stuck with me now. You are my forever." She leaned down to kiss him, winding her fingers into his hair. She couldn't imagine a world without him in it, he had become the single most important person in her life. He grabbed her hips, rocking her firmly against him. "Again? Really?" Akane breathed out shakily.

"Always." Ranma growled.

With tenderness and passion they strove to show the other just how much they needed one another. Their soft cries and moans softly danced around the room as they joined together, And for once they both felt complete and whole. Everything felt right in the world. Nothing could take it away from them. They were Ranma and Akane. And they were home. Some time later they both laid wrapped around one another. Blissfully happy.

With the sound of Ranma's heart beating steadily beneath her she drifted off to sleep. She slept and dreamed of the future. A future she had no way of knowing was about to be ripped away from her.

….

As the memory of that last perfect night played out for Akane she allowed a single tear to slide down her cheek. Oh how things had changed. They had loved so deeply and in their naivety promised each other the world. All that was left now was the shattered pieces of that life. All that was left was bitterness, fear and regret. They could never have that perfect time back.

With a deep steading breath Akane moved to follow Ranma. Their path was set, the past was dead, there was nothing left but to see their current path to the end. Once it ended maybe then they could find peace, if not this life maybe the next.

…

Ranma stomped off through the woods. He just needed to get away from her for a bit. That violent, uncute, macho, gorilla of a woman was determined to set him off. The river was not far ahead and he heard it well before he saw it. He stood at the bank and watched as the water flowed by. It was a strong current, he could swim across it but doubted Akane could. For a moment he wondered if she ever learned how to swim.

Not long after, he heard her hesitantly enter the camp. She hung back at the edge as if uncertain. He wanted to hate her. Wanted to not care that she was so hesitant and almost fearful of him. But he did, and that just made him more angry. She had no right to still have this kind of control over him. He should no longer care what she thought or felt.

"Can you swim?" He asked in a detached voice without turning to look at her.

"No." Akane tentatively moved a little closer, Dukkeobi still perched on her shoulder.

Ranma chuckled dryly. "You didn't think that might be a good skill to learn in all this time?" There was a note of cruel judgment in his voice.

"I have been a bit busy trying not to die!" She snapped back. "It was not high on my to do list." She regretted wishing for the silent treatment to end, she much preferred that over the open hostility. She dropped her pack and stomped off. "I'll go find some firewood." Wandering up the river bank she collected as much wood as she could carry, trying to give them both some space. She wondered if this was the new norm. Would Ranma always respond to her with open hostility? Well she certainly wasn't going to cower from him.

She returned to the campsite to see a fire already going and a pot of water on to warm. Looked like ramen for dinner again tonight. She dropped down next to her pack and fished out the satellite phone she had packed. Checking for signal she dialed into the answering service to check for any messages from Toshi. For the millionth time this week she missed him. He always knew how to cheer her up.

Toshi's soothing voice came through the phone. Just hearing his voice settled her nerves a bit. After listening to it she put it on speaker and played again so that Ranma could hear the update. "Hey Akane! Finally talked the museum curator into letting me see the books. They are having them translated now and I should have more information soon. The books were spelled, whoever wrote them didn't want just anyone reading them; it looks promising. I'll try to get them translated before you reach Huoshi. Take care of yourself. Call me and let me know all is well. Miss you like crazy." Akane stared at the phone for a minute longer. At least one of them was having some luck.

"Well it sounds like progress at least," Ranma grunted. He went back to pulling out supplies as he listened to Akane call and leave Toshi a message, letting him know where they were and that they were fine. He noticed she left out their visitors from earlier. "What you don't want lover boy to know about the Aoyin." He sarcastically prodded her once she hung up.

"What's your deal?" Akane shifted trying to get as comfortable as she could on the hard packed ground. "Not that it's your business but I would rather him not worry when there isn't anything he can do."

Ranma grunted. "You sure like to hide crap from the men in your life don't you?"

"Thats it!" Akane huffed and stood stomping over to him. "Stop being such a passive aggressive baby." She looked at him with unbridled fury. "Just say whatever it is you want and be done with it."

Watching Akanes face flush and her temper spike turned her into some otherworldly creature. Ranma couldn't help being slightly turned on. He rigidly kept his arms at his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists. How did one woman manage to constantly turn him on and piss him off at the same, god damn, time? He was so sick of her self righteous crap. "All right," he was practically nose to nose with her. "How long Akane? How long was it before you went panting after Toshi? A week? Or was it even a day? How much of a two timing, loose, slut are you?"

The slap she dealt him caused his vision to go black around the edges. It burned into the side of his face but he refused to give an inch.

"That's what this is about?" She screamed at him. " You pompous, egotistical, man child," Akane let out a humorless chuckle, backing away from him slightly and crossing her arms over her chest. Smugly she told him, "Toshi is my cousin. Cousin as in family. What you are suggesting is just gross."

With those words some of the anger drained from him. It couldn't be true could it? He was not so certain how to proceed. They were way too affectionate for cousins weren't they? She had to be lying. With a little bite still in his voice he decided on a different approach. "He is a bit overly affectionate for a cousin don't you think?"

Akane shrugged, placing her hands on her hips and frowning at him. "We are close, the situation we are in kind of dictated that we would be. He is more like an affectionate brother at this point. His older sister Hana was the previous keeper, he was too young at the time to be her guide, In his loss I think he clung to me a bit. He feels he failed her and is trying to redeem himself," She looked up into his face suspiciously.

Ranma swore and moved away from her. What did that mean? Did it change anything? He was so sure of the situation. Why did everything have to always get so confused and complicated? Why couldn't anything be as it seemed? Just once could the Kami take pity on him?

With a sigh of regret Akane carefully approached him, trying to get on better ground with him. "It was only ever you, Ranma. There was never any chance for anyone else after you." She took in a shaky breath and tried to clear the air. "I know you don't understand why I did what I did. I know you are pissed as hell that I made the choice to leave you. But I can't regret that. There is no hope of a painless way out of this, the artifact is tied to my life force now. There is no happy ending possible here. I think if you were honest with yourself you would see that if the situation was reversed you would have done the same."

He didn't want to look at her. The hope and tragedy her words caused was not something he was prepared for. His body was like a live wire, a bomb ready to be set off. They had finally caught a break, fate had finally allowed them happiness. Why would it give them that brief moment of peace only to rip it all away? How could she claim to love him when she had so brutally kicked him to the curb? He had looked for her, desperately tried to find her for a year after she left. He had been so sure that she was being blackmailed or was under a spell, he had refused to believe that all that had been between them was a lie, that she would just leave him like that. He fought it until he finally had no other option but to believe. Now she was here trying to tell him it had all been real? This had to be a sick joke. He fought to keep his body in check but when a small tentative hand caressed his shoulder the bomb ignited.

He grabbed her arm and yanked her into him with a bruising force. Wrapping his arms around her, trapping her to his body he kissed her with a ferocity that left him light headed. It was brutal, and angry, it was possessive and demanding. Never one to be passive she responded by grabbing his ponytail and yanked him even closer. She fought him for dominance, refusing to give in to him. For a moment they lost themselves to one another. Fighting for the upper hand, pouring all their anger, fear and loss into one another. Finally Ranma regained some of his control. He pulled back to take in her panting flushed face, god he wanted her. Gently he disentangled himself, putting some space between them. He gave her one more long hungry look before he turned and drifted off into the surrounding woods.

"Well that was unexpected." Akane whispered as her fingertip caressed her abused bottom lip.