Disclaimer - I do not own Ranma 1/2

AN: Thank you for the awesome reviews. I love reading them, so keep them coming. I am having so much fun writing this story. I got into a groove this week and have chapters 6 and 7 nearly all ready as well so I should be able to get chapter 6 up in a few days.

Chapter 5 - Waterfalls

Sitting at a desk in northern Tokyo, the lone figure was comparing pictures on the dagger to rumored pieces required for the scroll. The scroll had still not been located but in a stroke of luck a small clue had been written on an object taken from the first shrine. The dagger felt more important, it seemed to almost hum with its own chi. The object from the first shrine was a small wooden plank, decorated with cherry blossoms and had a children's story written on it about a powerful warrior who terrorized both China and Japan. A Chinese sorceress saved the villages by breaking the warrior's weapon and scattering the pieces across Japan. Once the weapon was destroyed the heroic sorceress was able to banish the warrior back to china and lock away her power forever. It described the final battle taking place on a volcano, in the story the sorceress used the raw power of the volcano to fuel her spell to take the power away from the warrior and hide it. Searching for the locations of shrines near Mt. Fuji, the lone figure planned their next trip.

After they were done with their treats Akane wanted to relax in the lazy river. Ranma decided to join her since going back to the fast slides was out of the question until a new lifeguard was on duty. There were signs to direct them towards where they could pick up tubes and enter the river. While grabbing a tube Ranma looked at the other people in the river. It truly was lazy, no one was splashing or goofing around; they were just sitting the in tubes. Some were chatting and it was easy to tell groups that were together as many chose to keep themselves from drifting apart by holding the handles on each other's tubes. This is going to be boring. She watched as Akane struggled a bit to climb into hers and reached over and quickly her flipped backwards into it. Ranma climbed into her own tube and caught hold of Akane's handle. If she was going to have to be bored at least she could talk to Akane.

As Akane had tried to climb into her tube it would float away from her and she would pull it back and try again to climb on. After a few attempts she felt herself turned around to face Ranma and gently tossed into the center, landing with a small splash. Patience is not one of Ranma's skills. Oh, she had patience to spend days perfecting a new technique, although the amount of curse words spewing from her fiance's mouth during those days strongly suggested that it was not patience at all but rather an unwillingness to give up and admit defeat. Akane smiled sweetly at Ranma. "Thank you for joining me."

Ranma sighed and smiled back. That smile was really why she was here instead of in the wave pool with the others. Makoto and Sayuri had seemed to want to join them but Yuka had abruptly pulled them away with her, whispering something to them as they walked away.

"Sure. Um… are you having a good time?"

"I am having a really good time. You at least had fun on the fast slide, right?"

"Akane stop worrying about me. I am having a good time. The guys got a little annoying," she grinned and chuckled, "but at least I got back at them."

They floated on the river as it wound its way around the park chatting and laughing as Ranma enlightened Akane as to the various stunts the guys had tried to pull. Akane was pleasantly surprised that Ranma was taking the teasing from their friends so well. She wondered if she should complain about the uncomfortable questions she was subjected to before her fiancé and the others returned from the slides. I don't want to change the mood but I am going to have to tell her eventually.

Looking ahead Ranma noticed a waterfall spilling over the width of the river. Looks like they make sure everyone gets good and wet. Akane was facing away from it and with all the noise around them she probably won't notice it until she got doused.

When the water hit Akane she gasped, "Oh that is warm." Suddenly her smile disappeared as she stared at her fiancé. The waterfall hit the red head and almost immediately the transformation started.

"Dammit"

Akane regained her senses, reaching over and flipping his tube upside-down.

Once dumped into the river Ranma swam underwater until he reached cooler water and felt himself return to his smaller body. The relief was immediate, the tight suit had been momentary very uncomfortable. Breaking the surface of the water she looked for Akane and her tube. She realized it was hard to see, they had entered a tunnel and the light was being provided by small rectangular fixtures along the top. As her eyes adjusted she found Akane holding on her their tubes floating a short ways ahead of her, diving under the water she resurfaced through the hole in the tube and climbed back on.

"I don't think anyone saw you."

"It would be great if a swimsuit existed that worked for me either way."

"Ouch"

"Yeah"

The tunnel was long and if Akane was guessing right, they were behind the cabana area right now. "If we go around again we will remember where that waterfall is and that there's a tunnel behind it. It must be how they heat the water in the river."

Ranma grumbled at her, she was not looking forward to going around again.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." She glanced around and knew they were not very easy see while they were in the low light. "Come here." She pushed on Ranma's tube giving it a quick spin. When their heads were close together she tugged on her fiance's pigtail and brought their lips together.

Ranma pulled back after allowing the kiss for a moment, "People might see us."

"Can you see the people around us very well?"

"No… but still."

"Relax, our friends are who you are most worried about right?"

"And your sneaky sister!" Ranma heard rather than saw another waterfall up ahead and as they got closer they could tell it was also the end of the tunnel. "See you on the other side." She slipped down through the center hole and stayed underwater until she was clear of the waterfall. She had again changed briefly but expecting it this time as able to swim quickly to the cooler water. It seems strange to be seeking cold water in order to stay a girl but it wasn't the first time and overall it wasn't terrible. Again swimming back to her tube she slipped back in and continued to float around the park.

Akane was able to convince her to float around again and agreed let her to move to the wave pool next. As they came back around to the waterfall Akane threw caution to the wind and kissed Ranma again as they went under the first batch of warmer water. It was thrilling to feel the change happen. His lips were thinner and the shape of his jawline changed under her hands.

As the angle of the kiss changed Ranma held out as long as he could stand before dumping himself underwater. She popped back up and gave an exasperated look at the dark haired girl who was grinning at her. "You are tempting fate, you know that?"

"That was really interesting to feel."

Ranma shook her head and rested her arms on the tube. No point in climbing back on until after the second waterfall. "I can't argue with that. Maybe we could try it again in a more private setting."

"Oh alright."

Across the park Nabiki was certain Yuka had said Ranma and Akane were on the double slide. She might not have been able to catch an intimate picture of the two girls together yet but going down a waterslide together would at least sell. Pictures of them in their bathing suits would always sell to Kuno. She waited another 20 minutes and never saw them emerge from the slide, nor could she see them on the stairs. Is it possible Yuka lied for them? She had seen Yuka head in the direction of the wave pool and decided to take a stroll in that direction and see what she could find out.

Scattered around the pool area were lounge chairs, choosing one facing where Yuka and her friends were playing, she relaxed and watched. She didn't see Ranma and Akane here either but they would likely all meet up eventually.

Sayuri tapped Yuka on the shoulder. "I think Nabiki figured out that you lied to her."

Yuka shrugged. "I hope we can warn them before she finds them."

"Finds who?"

"Warns who?"

Hiroshi and Daisuke popped up beside Yuka and waited expectantly.

"Ranma and Akane you idiot. Nabiki probably wants pictures of them here together."

"Oh more pictures. She hasn't had any good ones in a while." Hiroshi was rubbing is hands together greedily.

Thumping him in the chest Yuka was getting angry with Hiroshi and Daisuke's behavior today, "You two need to stop. I want them to spend time with us but they won't if we are always asking questions or teasing them. If we let Nabiki get embarrassing photos of them, they won't come here again with us or do anything else."

The guys looked appropriately ashamed and muttered apologies to her. "Come one let's go back to the deeper area."

When they passed the entrance to the river again, Ranma pulled herself to the area and put her tube away. "Akane are you going to stay in here?"

"Where are you going?"

"Probably the wave pool."

"I will stay for a little while here and meet you there soon."

"Okay," She watched Akane until she disappeared about the first bend before she went to find the wave pool. There were directional signs everywhere in the park so finding the right way to go was easy. Once there it didn't take long to spot her friends and she waded into the water.

"Ranma!"

"Yuka, hi. Is everyone else in here too?"

"Yeah, but you need to know something. Nabiki is in a chair over there." She was surprised when Ranma looked over to where Nabiki was lounging and waved. "Aren't you mad she is here?"

"No point, we expected her to do this. She doesn't have much chance of getting anything she can use. Akane stayed in the lazy river." She didn't like the idea of Nabiki being around but it really was useless to cause a scene. If Akane joined them she would have to make sure she didn't try anything else today.

Hiroshi waved to them and they moved to find the others. As they got deeper into the pool the waves pulled them up and tried to roll them back to the artificial beach. Being the shortest in the group Ranma had to swim against the waves but had little trouble. Yuka on the other hand struggled and was losing ground. Ranma caught her arm and pulled her along.

Yuka laughed as another wave nearly took her under, "Thanks again Ranma."

"No problem."

Nabiki sat on the shore with her telephoto lens and snapped a few pictures. Maybe with some editing they would be useful but overall the day was turning out to be a bust. She had arrived late because Kasumi had sent her to the market to pick up items for dinner tonight. After she returned with the bag her sister had once again sent her on an errand. She wasn't about to be trapped again and waited until her sister went upstairs to clean and quietly dropped the items on the counter, high-tailing it out of the house. Since she didn't have her swimsuit with her, she had been force to stop and by a new one. It vexed her to spend the money but if it meant pictures of Ranma and Akane on a date, as girls, it was worth the investment. Fortunately she never left the house without her camera in her bag, she had bought the camera new a couple of months ago because it sported a 30x zoom lens. With some practice she had gotten better at taking photos from a distance and hoped that the couple would drop their guard soon. At this rate I am going to go home empty-handed. She snapped several photos of Ranma playing in the water to sell to Kuno, she needed to at least get most of the money back on the swimsuit.

Akane drifted along thinking about their day together. Compared to many days with Ranma, this one had been relatively normal. They rarely went on dates, with neither of them having a job it wasn't always worth the money. She had occasionally convinced him to go on a walk with her and Kasumi often sent them both into town to run errands. She would usually slip Akane enough to buy a treat for them both and as long as Kasumi didn't need the items returned quickly then they would take their time sitting and eating.

Her birthday was coming up and she wanted to spend the day with Ranma but she hadn't mentioned anything to him yet. He had gotten her gifts before but this time there would be more pressure and her family would assume that he should take her out on a really nice date. She knew he didn't have the money to spend on something like that. She had been debating asking to go camping just the two of them and maybe ask him to teach her something harder like a chi blast. While not the most romantic it would be alone time together and she really did want to start learning some of the more advanced techniques.

She saw the steps coming up and paddled herself over and pulled herself out of the river. It didn't take her long to find the others. Makoto was wading in the shallower area of the pool so Akane joined her and watched Ranma goofing off. She wished she was a strong swimmer but it seemed no matter how hard she tried she sank to the bottom. She caught Yuka's eye and waved, Ranma was still facing away from her but she saw her friend splash the red head and point her direction. As soon as Ranma saw her, she started swimming back to the shallow area. The waves carried her easily and she was using them to pick up speed, staying on the crest of one wave for a long time before allowing the next one to pick her up. Akane knew it was silly but she hated how easy her fiancé made swimming look. "Show off!"

Ranma made her way to where Akane and Makoto were standing but opted to stay out of arms reach. She didn't want Akane to touch her while Nabiki had that damn camera out. She could see her sitting there looking through the lens.

"Hey Ranma."

"Hey yourself. Um… I have bad news."

Akane tried to walk over to stand next to Ranma but she moved away from her each time she took a step towards her. "What's wrong?"

"Nabiki," Ranma pointed to the lounge chair then waved at the camera again.

"Maybe we should go home." Akane wondered as Yuka and the others made their way over to them as well.

Yuka frowned, "Don't let her chase you off."

"I know I shouldn't but so far Ranma has managed to have a reasonably good time. I would hate for her to ruin it."

"Look Akane, you should know that there are rumors about Ranma and you. I think Nabiki knows that she can make a lot of money if she can provide proof that you two are a couple even when he is a girl." Yuka felt really bad for participating in some of the gossip. She never bothered to think about how much the gossip had hurt her friend. Speculation about Ranma and Akane had been all over the school ever since the first day he attended Furinkan High.

"We know, even if the school wasn't already gossiping Nabiki would create some. I wouldn't be surprised to find out she had started some of the current rumors." Akane was frustrated that they had one more thing ready to ruin their day.

Ranma could tell she wasn't as relaxed about it as she was trying to pretend to be, "Look all we have to do is stay further apart and she can't alter any pictures she does get as easily."

Hiroshi and Daisuke grabbed Ranma's arms from behind her, "Yeah, simple we will steal Ranma for a while. We want to go to the deep end for a while." They pulled her backwards through the water until she shook free of them and swam out further on her own. They were almost to the deepest part when a whistle blew and the waves stopped.

"What happened?" Ranma was looking around and watching most of the other swimmers leaving the pool. Others were entering with what looked like some type of board in their hands.

"I read something about specials times that you can ride something called a boogie board and if you don't know how to use them you have to leave the pool." Daisuke and Hiroshi turned to leave the pool. They saw Ranma follow them but she was eyeing the cart of boards that had been brought out.

"See ya guys later."

Hiroshi waved, "I figured you might go try it out. We'll watch and if we think we can do it then we will join you later."

Ranma wasn't listening, she was swimming quickly and as soon as she could touch again she was running towards the cart. She grabbed a board, it was short, only covering about her head to her waist. Wading back out into the water she noticed almost all the others with boards were trying to get as far back as possible. A lifeguard was standing near the edge had a whistle in her mouth and a megaphone in her hand.

"Please listen carefully, you will need to start in turns. If you will notice your boards are different colors. Red boards go first followed by orange, then yellow, blue, blue, green, purple and finally black. I will call out the color and blow my whistle then you may take your turn."

Ranma's board was yellow. She watched those going before her carefully as the waved started back up. The lifeguard called for those with red boards and blew her whistle. Riding the waves looked easy enough, when it was Ranma's turn she kicked off and caught the wave easily. She weaved back and forth along the waves until they got too small to ride any more. It was a fun change but standing on a board would be more fun. She put the board back and joined her friends again.

Akane had watched the activity and wasn't overly impressed. When Ranma rejoined them she knew that her fiancé wasn't particularly impressed either. "So?"

"It was okay, just too easy."

"Well then we should go try it." Hiroshi pulled Daisuke up and they went to get their own boards, wading in along the wall where others were returning to the back of the pool.

Akane watched as they tried to do the same thing they had watched Ranma do with the board. Both guys ended up upside down and losing their board. "Guess they didn't find it so easy."

Ranma frowned, "It wasn't hard at all."

"Ranma, what is easy to you is still hard to most people. Especially those two."

She thought about what Akane had said and realized something that she had been missing for a while now was the challenge that came along with their crazier friends. The amazons were gone, Ryoga was unwelcome at the Tendo house, and Ukyo never attacked him anyway. Kuno was about all that was left unless some random challenger showed up. Things were certainly getting boring.

They spent another hour at the park before heading home. Once again the girls cleared out the changing room for Ranma and she quickly changed back into her normal red top and loose fitting pants.

"Akane, I'm going on out."

"I want to dry my hair, just remember to let the others know you are done in here."

"Yeah I know." She let Makoto and Shikako, who were standing guard on the pool side entrance know she was done and left quickly. Once outside Yuke and Sayuri caught her arms and pulled her away from the doorway.

"Hey… whatcha doing?"

"We have to talk to you." They made sure Akane wasn't around and leaned in to whisper to Ranma. "You know Akane's birthday is next week right?"

"Huh… what? It is?"

"Yes dummy, and since you two are all official now and everything, she will expect you to take her out on a nice date." Yuka was amazed that Ranma didn't know. Why didn't one of her sisters make sure he knew about such an important thing?

"She will?" Ranma was trying to back away from the girls but they still have ahold of his arms. "A nice date?"

Sayuri piped up, "A romantic date and a present too."

"A present too?" Ranma was in shock. Why didn't anyone tell me before this? She couldn't believe Nabiki hadn't used it as a way to embarrass them. "Um, what do I get her?"

"She's your fiancé, you have to figure it out."

"But…"

"It HAS to be romantic."

"…romantic?"

Akane stepped out of the changing room, she had taken a little extra time to dry and brush her hair as well as put on a little perfume and lip gloss. When she saw Hiroshi and Daisuke standing at the meeting spot by themselves she was confused. Hiroshi was holding a bucket of water and waved at her.

"Where's Ranma?"

"Sorry Hiroshi, I was just going to ask you that." She frowned as realized that she didn't see Yuka and Sayuri either. "I'll go look for them." Walking down the sidewalk she called for them several times before she saw Yuka's head appear around a corner.

"Coming Akane!" Turning to Ranma she warned her, "You shouldn't tell Akane you had to find out from us."

"But how was I supposed to know. I got here after her birthday last year, she was already 16."

"Yeah I know, you arrived the day after her birthday. We had surprised her with a little party at my house and then we found out the following Monday that she was suddenly engaged and doesn't want to be. You kind of ruined her good mood that weekend."

"I couldn't help it, my dad made me come then." She gritted her teeth at the other girl and clenched her fists. They were really starting to irritate her, "It's not like I wanted to be engaged either."

Akane walked over to where she had seen Yuka and stopped when she heard Ranma say I didn't want to be engaged either. They had said that kind of thing a lot but Akane had stopped over the last couple of months. Now instead she just told people they weren't getting married until they were older and ready to get married. It hurt to hear Ranma deny wanting to be engaged. She stepped around the corner and all three girls stopped talking and her fiancé looked especially guilty.

"Ranma, I think Hiroshi has some hot water for you. You should hurry before it cools down."

"Okay" Akane looked hurt and she didn't know why. I will wait until later to ask her about her birthday.

Hiroshi did have a bucket of water and Ranma took it, dumping it smoothly over her head. Shaking out his hair, he handed the bucket back to Hiroshi. Both guys were blinking at him. "What's wrong with you two?"

"That is really strange to watch happen."

"You've seen it before."

"Not very often. It is still kinda fascinating."

"Idiots!" Ranma rolled his eyes and stalked off to where Akane was waiting for him.

00000

Nabiki had watch the whole group leave and follow a short distance behind. The changing room should provide me with a good opportunity. By the time she got there a few people were standing outside while Makoto and Shikako were blocking the door. So that is their solution huh? She leaned against the wall nearby and waited, after a few minutes she heard Ranma's female voice. The girls all entered the changing room, followed by those waiting to get it. She slipped in after everyone else and looked around but Ranma was gone. Akane on the other hand was in front of the mirror brushing her hair, pulling out her camera she snapped a few pictures of her sister putting in a little extra effort for her fiancé. These might sell if I can make a set out of them.

"What the hell are you doing with a camera out in the changing room?"

A woman with her teenage daughter beside her was glaring daggers at her.

Nabiki shifted her gaze away from Akane and coolly replied, "Mind your own business."

"I will notify management."

"Do whatever you would like." Looking around she saw that Akane was gone. Damn

Others in room began gathering around her demanding to know why she had a camera out. When she finally talked her way out of the changing room Ranma and Akane were nowhere to be found. I will find a way to use those two to get the money back I had to waste today.