As the party gradually ended, Ramma found himself sitting next to his drunk father. "Now Ranma, I know she's not as pretty as Shampoo and Ukyo, but you still have to consummate the marriage tonight."

"WHAT?!" Ranma yelled. He had completely forgotten about that part. "I…I.. I can't…"

"Don't be like that, boy. You have to. I married you to her so we could get an heir. Don't disappoint me."

Immediately, Gemma snaps his fingers and the King's guards surround him to lead him to his new chambers as a married man. "I shouldn't have to have guards escort you to your marriage bed, but I will not have you make a fool of yourself by leaving the princess to a night alone."

"Something tells me that she wouldn't mind," Ramma muttered under his breath.

As Ranma walked the halls he thought of how he was marching to an all new bed and even more upsetting there was an unfamiliar person in it.

One of the King's guards stopped abruptly and then bowed. Ramma turned to the left to an opulent door. He found himself wishing that it had been Ryoga and Shinnosuke who had escorted him. Their teasing would have been much preferred to the silence of the King's guards. Ramma reached out to the door handle and entered. There was a loud smack as he let the door slam behind him. He wanted Princess Akane to know he was here without having to announce himself.

There she was in a tan bed-dress. It wasn't a sexy one…which is what he had been expecting the court ladies would have put her in.

"Not what you were expecting?" A casual voice cut through the air.

It took a second for Ramma to register that it was Akane's voice. She didn't seem the slightest bit nervous. Was she an experienced woman? It wouldn't really matter if she was, but it would be unexpected.

Ranma was an experienced man because his guards had goaded him on to sleep with one of the high-ranking courtesans. Her name was Kodachi and she was beautiful. Ranma often visited the courtesans after his first time, but only Kodachi for official services, but it was all strictly business. Not that courtesans didn't ever fall for royals or vice versa, but Prince Ranma was a reserved man with his affections.

"Not nervous? I thought'ya be wearing something more sexy-like," Ranma responded.

"I guess you're dropping the formal prince act then? And why would I be nervous? We already came to an agreement that if I'm a good princess for the public then I don't have to be your wife behind closed doors."

"... I thought you meant that we would just stay out of each other's way. This…duty would be part of keeping up public appearances. You know…because we're married to produce an heir."

"Oh." Akane replied.

Ranma could see she looked extremely nervous and uncomfortable now.

"Do…we have to do it tonight? Can it wait?"

"Of course we can. It's not like I'm keen to do this either. I wish there was a way we could get out of this," Ranma answered.

"I'm sure we'll think of something. I just hadn't thought of it since I thought we had an understanding," Akane retorted with an edge of irritation in her voice.

"Believe-you-me, if I had a say in this - you can bet I wouldn't be trying to sleep with a muscle-bound broad like yourself," Ranma retaliated.

"Excuse me? The nerve. You're lucky any woman would sleep with a dimwit like you. If it weren't for the fact that you're a prince, you'd be all alone."

She managed to hit Ranma right where it hurt. "You're in the same boat as me. You think men would want a macho-chick if you weren't royalty. I'd never even give you a second glance let alone marry you if we were commoners."

After the words exited his mouth he could see Akane's eyes begin to look wounded. Had he gone too far?

"I wish I wasn't here. I want to go home." Her eyes were watery as she said this. He had definitely gone too far.

"Hey now…ddon't cry. You sure like to dish it out, but you can't take it. Can'ya?"

"Will you just shut up, you oaf. Can't you grasp how hard this would be for someone to be sold off like this. I'm not cattle."

Ranma pondered for a moment. He imagined it would be quite hard. She's not like the other princesses who have intermingled with each other's palaces and people before.

"You could always go home and stay awhile after you've been here for a little bit. I wouldn't mind. Heck, I'd actually love to go see your homeland if I could."

Akane tilted her head toward him and for the first time she had a gentle look in her eye. Ranma took the opportunity to sit down on the bed. She was seated with her legs tucked up close to her chest. She looked quite small and frail in that position.

"I can't return. My…father would never allow it." Akane responded.

"What? Why?"

"He's an evil man. The minute I came here I'm sure I was dead to him. He doesn't care what happens to me. I'm just here to appease the Goddess."

Ranma was shocked into silence. Wallkans speak poorly of the nation of Shirya, especially their king, but he would have never expected it from the Shiryian King's own daughter.

"I…haven't heard good things, that's for sure," Ranma replied.

"The people here have no idea. He is so insane not even the nobles of our country will offer up their daughters to replace the lost queen. That's why he has no male heirs. He's cruel. The Goddess should not have stopped the invasion. Why did she call it off?... Why? Why?" Akane's voice was shaking with both rage and grief.

Ranma had a slew of emotions coursing through him at the sight of her. Seeing a woman shaking like that grew a fury in him he hadn't experienced before. Ranma hadn't spoken much to any girls other than the other two princesses during royal events or briefly with the courtesans. He hadn't seen someone show such fear and raw emotion in front of him before.

He couldn't help it. He reached out for her and wrapped his arms around her. "I don't know why she stopped the invasion. I didn't even know it was happening. My father never even told me our country was involved. For your sake, I wish she hadn't stopped it either."

Akane pulled away almost immediately. "I'm sorry to throw this on you. It's been an overwhelming day. Let's just get some rest."

"I'll…sleep on the floor," Ranma offered.

"Thank you," Akane replied.

The following day Akane woke up before Prince Ranma. She went into the bathroom and changed into the most lightweight and casual princess dress she could find in the closet. Then she exited the room. She didn't know exactly what to do, but she knew she wanted to get away from Ranma. She had already revealed too much to him in a moment of weakness. She had just been exhausted and emotionally overtaxed from the day.

She found herself wandering the halls until she accidentally bumped into a well-dressed guard.

"I'm so sorry!" Akane began bowing to the man.

"Oh, please, do not bow to the likes of me, Princess Akane," The guard responded.

"I see you know my name, but I do not know yours."

"Ryoga. Prince Ranma's personal guard. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Princess," Ryoga replied.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. What are you on your way to do?"

"I was on my way to wake Ranma for some martial arts training. We are sparring partners."

This immediately perked Akane's interest. "Can I join you?!" Momentarily forgetting that she had wanted to avoid Ranma for the day.

"You don't need to ask a servant for permission, Princess. Let's go get Ranma together."

Akane kicked herself internally, but followed after Ryoga anyway. She wanted to do some martial arts training and wasn't about to pass up the opportunity.

~ Meanwhile ~

Ranma was changing into his day clothes thinking about how he woke up to Akane gone. He wondered where she had went off to. He had slept in longer than usual because he struggled to go to sleep after his conversation with Akane had ended. What had the Shiryian king put his daughter through to make her speak ill of him? Ranma definitely had a tumultuous relationship with his father, but he still loved him and knew him to be a decent person. The rumors Ranma had heard about King Gosunkugi must've been true.

Right as Ranma was finished dressing he heard a knock at the door. "Come in!" Ranma yelled.

In walked Ryoga, with Princess Akane walking behind him. Ranma was surprised at the sight.

"Mornin' Ranma, thought you would be looking to do some training this morning? Princess Akane asked to join us."

"Uh…okay," Ranma replied. "You want to watch, Akane?"

"Oh…no, I would like to participate!" Akane replied excitedly.

For a moment, Ranma was surprised, but it wasn't uncommon for royalty to learn the special fighting or martial art styles of their country. Ranma had heard that Shampoo and Ukyo were quite proficient martial artists, but he'd never actually seen them fight or practice. He had never heard that Shirya had any special fighting styles, but maybe that's just because they didn't participate in any international competitions.

"If you want…" Ranma responded.

When they entered the training room, Shinnosuke was leaned up against the wall with a broom in hand. He liked to use "everyday objects" in his fighting because "that's what's more likely to be on hand in a spontaneous fight." Ranma thought it made Shinnosuke's martial arts look sloppy, but he couldn't deny he was skilled.

Akane sat down and said, "I forgot that I don't have a uniform to practice in. I guess I'll just watch for now."

"I'll ask one of the maids to find one for you," Ryoga replied. He then stepped out of the room for a moment. When he came back he looked happy. "They'll be bringing one right away, Princess Akane."

"Let's just start training already, jeez!" Ranma grumbled.

"Ever the impatient one," Ryoga responded.

Akane:

Not one to care for "proper" behavior took a seat right on the floor to watch Ranma and Ryoga spar. She saw practice dummies on the edge of the room. When she got some more practical clothes she would definitely head over to them to practice. She hadn't gotten a chance to in well over a month. In the meantime, she was interested in seeing the sparring match.

The moment they started - there was dodging and punching so fast she could hardly keep up. She hated to admit it, but she was most impressed with Ranma's nimble movements. Akane's father owned a dojo and Akane had fought with and witnessed many martial arts battles over the years - yet, she had never seen someone as agile as Ranma. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. It burned her pride to be inspired by such an irritating individual, but skill was skill and he was definitely talented.

In a flash, Ranma kicked Ryoga hard enough that he bashed into a wall behind him and then a plastic decoration fell off the wall cutting Ryoga's face. Akane immediately glanced around the room spying a first aid kit. She knew there'd always be one available in a training room. She dashed over to grab it and went to Ryoga's side. It might have been a small cut, but if there's one thing Akane learned at her father's dojo is to never ignore an injury. She pulled out some alcohol pads and cleaned the cut. Then applied a bandage to the area.

"Good as new, Ryoga!" Akane said with a cheery smile on her face.

Ryoga's eyes were wide with absolute utter shock. When she glanced over at the other guard, he too was looking at her with alarm on his face.

When Akane looked back at Ryoga his cheeks were flushed red. "Ttthank you, Princess Akane."

Then she heard Ranma's voice sounding vexed, "Princesses don't treat the injuries of servants."

Ranma felt a deep emotion he couldn't quite place at the sight of his wife treating Ryoga with such care when she didn't even bother being warm to Ranma.

"Your guards are not your playthings, Ranma!" Akane yelled angrily.

"I never said they were! I would have called another servant to treat him!"

"We're not better than them. Being royalty is utterly meaningless. I will get on my knees and help a beggar if that's what they needed. Any decent person should do the same. Regardless of whatever pathetic titles they hide behind."

"I don't need a lecture, Akane! You swore that you'd be a "good princess" for public appearances if I promised to get out of your hair and not make you play the role of my wife. Yet here you are cozying up to my guards."

"Oh, please. I just treated his injury." Akane retorted.

"Yeah, well, while you tore into me for calling you "uncute" - Ryoga here thought you were plain too!"

"What!?" Ryoga yelled. "I did not! I only said she would be judged for having short hair. I never EVER said she was plain. I…think Princess Akane is…beautiful." Ryoga looked away and his face went red all the way down to his neck.

There was something about this that infuriated Ranma. How could his own guard be acting this foolish from a girl just treating his injury. Regardless of how Ryoga felt about Ranma's wife he should know better than to voice or show it in any way. Yet, here he was blushing like some middle school boy.

"That is my wife you're getting all flustered over, Ryoga."

Akane started laughing lightly at the scene unfolding before her. She lightly and jokingly jabbed her elbow into Ryoga's chest, "Hey, if Ranma can visit courtesans and have concubines - why can't I have a little olé guard all to myself?"

Now Ryoga managed to become an even deeper shade of red and looked as though smoke was going to start coming out of his ears.

"Don't you think it's cold to tease him like that when he can never have you? Don't make a poor servant fall in love with a royal. A married royal at that." Shinnosuke stated.

Akane was staring at Shinnosuke with an argumentative look on her face, but whatever thoughts she had she kept them to herself.

At that exact moment, a servant walked in with a gi for Akane to wear.

Akane jabbed Ranma in the stomach as she walked toward the servant to retrieve the gi.

"Treat Ryoga better!"

And with that, she walked out and left to change.

"Why that macho, bucket-wasted, built-like-a-brick, overweight tomboy! She thinks she can just try and make a fool out of me, does she? We'll see about that."

When Akane returned, Ranma was standing in the center of the room with a sour look on his face.

"So, you're a martial artist?" Ranma questioned.

"Yeah, and I'm good too," Akane bragged.

Ranma could tell from the moment he made eye contact with Akane that she was a prideful person. He wanted her to know just how out-matched she was. Maybe then she would learn to not be so assumptious.

"Okay, Akane, let's make a bet. If you can hit me just once you won't have to act like a "good princess" or privately, act as my wife either.

Akane laughed, "Oh, it's on!"

Akane swiftly leapt towards Ranma with her fists flying. She was fast, but nowhere near as fast as him. He bounced, dodged, and flipped out of the way of every incoming kick and punch. She was outclassed and she was beginning to realize it too. Sweat poured down her face as she grimaced hatefully at Ranma.

"Guess since I win you have to act as a good wife AND princess!" Ranma yelled.

"WHY YOU! I never agreed to those terms. Only if I won I wouldn't have to do either. You never said I'd have to be both if you won!"

Whoops, Ranma forgot to add that part. Dammit.

"It was implied, but fine! Just don't go making us the laughing stock to the rest of the palace by making love eyes at my attendants!"

Akane grumbled, "Who would have thought you were the jealous type."

"Who would be jealous over a macho chick like you!?"

All of a sudden a chair was flying at him, he quickly sidestepped out of the way. The chair smashed to pieces against the wall behind him. She was crazy!

Ranma felt like he was going to pop a blood vessel. This girl was ridiculous!