A strong smell of savory sweetness circled the air and caused both a voracious hunger and simultaneous sickness to settle in Akane's stomach. She swallowed acrid spit that had begun to pool into her mouth, and she hoped, above all else, that she wouldn't throw up. "Something wrong?" Ukyo asked as she flipped the okonomiyaki. She reached for shrimp to add to the dish, and Akane quickly threw up her hand in surrender.

"No fish!" She shouted, and then, realizing she had caused a bit of a scene, dropped her hand and meekly said, "My nose is just a bit… sensitive today, is all."

Ukyo raised a brow and asked, "So just a plain Okinomiyaki with nothing on it?"

"Maybe just some cabbage." Ukyo's eyes searched Akane's face, looking for answers, but she shrugged and went to plate the food.

"How's Ran-Chan?" She asked as she placed the plate in front of Akane.

Akane sighed, "You know the loghead: off on another training trip."

Ukyo tsked. "I gotta say, Akane, sometimes I think it worked out a lot better for me with you two getting hitched."

"You aren't wrong," Akane replied with a soft smile.

When Ranma and Akane had first gotten married, their relationship with Uyo was strained at best and murderous at worst. She had completely ignored the idea of the two being married the first year. Constantly showing up, bringing food, and giving backhanded compliments to Akane. She had claimed once or twice to Akane that Ranma was only with her due to their parents' meddling. It had stung awful, and no matter what Ranma said, Ukyo refused to believe it. She had scathingly told Akane, 'Why would Ranma-honey like a dog like you when he has me?'

It had eaten at Akane to the point she had asked Ranma himself. That had finally set him off, and he had gone from being a bystander to actively defending his relationship. Ukyo had originally fought him, proclaiming he was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, but once Ranma moved in with Akane, she accepted the fact that she had lost. Akane and Ukyo had been as close to friends as two rivals could be, so it hadn't been hard to sink back into that and become actual friends. Besides, Ukyo had no issue finding a man. Yes, she had Konatsu, but she wanted someone to treat her like a girl, and Konatsu wanted the opposite.

"So what's up?" Ukyo asked, taking Akane out of her musings. Akane looked back at Ukyo, confused. "You've been weird recently. Dodgy, you know?"

Akane shuffled in her seat as she took a small bite of her okonomiyaki. "Nothing," she muttered.

Ukyo leaned in close as the griddle continued to hiss. "Somethings up." She stated. She leaned back and eyed Akane up and down. She seemed to be trying to piece together some convoluted puzzle, and then she got a devious look in her eye. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter…" she started as she bent down behind the grill. When she stood back up, she presented a bottle of sake and two glasses. "How about we have a drink? To celebrate your graduation?"

Akane pursed her lips and shook her head. "No, I shouldn't. It's still pretty early in the day."

"Oh, come on, Akane! Lighten up!" Ukyo urged as she filled both glasses and pushed one toward Akane. The smell of booze hurt Akane's head. "You and I haven't had a day like this in a year!"

Akane pushed the glass aside, feeling paler by the second. "Ukyo," she groaned, "please…"

"Does Ran-Chan know?" Ukyo asked.

Akane wrapped her hand around her stomach and glanced back at Ukyo in discomfort. "Know what?" She asked.

Ukyo scoffed and said, "Gee, I don't know, Akane - that you're pregnant?"

The chopsticks Akane was holding fell from her hands as she felt all the blood drain from her face, and her mouth opened in shock. All she could get out was, "Me? That? Of course not!" Ukyo cocked her head and gave a knowing smile which made Akane's stomach flip. "Please don't say anything!"

Ukyo shook her head in quiet understanding, "It's not my info to share, is it?" She grabbed Akane's plate, seeing that her blanching face may have been more from sickness, and she seemed intent on keeping her place vomit-free. She placed the plate down below the grill somewhere, and when she leaned up, she asked again, "So does he?" Akane carefully shook her head as she gripped the lip of the wooden bar. No one was supposed to know this. Not yet. "Why not?"

Akane bit her lip and looked away from Ukyo's prying eyes. There were a lot of reasons she hadn't brought it up yet. It had only been a month since her discovery, and she hadn't pieced together her feelings about the whole thing. First, she didn't know how something like this had happened in the first place. She had been very careful about administering her birth control ever since she and Ranma had become intimate but remembered being told there was always a chance for it to fail. However, she worked out so much and fought so often that she figured the possibility was null.

She also had just graduated from her university and, at 22, wanted to enjoy some of the fun of coming into the dojo and teaching classes. She wanted more experience; she wanted more adventure, more exploring, more of everything, and she feared having a child would completely disrupt that.

And then, there was Ranma.

What would he think of this? They had lightly discussed having children before, but it always sounded like it was more out of a duty to continue their school rather than any real desire. Would he be excited? Would he be fearful? Would he leave for a training trip to never return? If they did have a child, would he do the same awful things that Genma had put him through? The thought made her shudder at the idea of her five-year-old being thrown into a crawlspace of cats. What if she had a girl? Would he want another kid right away to try for a boy? Would he care for a girl or find such a thing worthless?

Would he still love her?

The thoughts raced through her, but she couldn't dare to say any of them out loud. Instead, she muttered, "I haven't had the chance."

Ukyo leaned over, took one of Akane's wrists, and wrapped her hand around it, pulling her hand up gently. "Haven't had the chance, or didn't want to?" Akane winced. She watched from her bowed head as Ukyo wrapped a comfortingly closed hand around Akane's and stroked her thumb against it. "Why wouldn't you tell him?"

"I tried," Akane grumbled. It was true that she had, about a week back. She had told him she needed to talk to him as he had packed for his trip, but when he looked up at her, the words became choked, and all she could get out was that it wasn't that important and they would talk when he returned. He had raised a brow, seemingly finding her shyness odd, but didn't press her. She had told herself she would tell him when he returned, but that day was tomorrow, and Akane had found her resolve had disapparated.

Akane glanced up and met Ukyo's eyes and saw the other girl looking at her incredulously. "You know he would be excited, right?"

Nervous tears poked at the corner of Akanes eyes, and she croaked out, "Would he be?"

Ukyo gave a stifled laugh and dropped Akane's hand. Akane watched as Ukyo came around the other side of the counter and approached Akane with open arms. When she reached the other woman, Akane quickly wrapped herself around Ukyo's embrace and buried her head in the other woman's chest as quiet tears pooled into the chef's shirt. Ukyo cradled Akane and smoothed down her shoulder-length hair. "You're so silly, Akane. That numbskull loves you."

"But what if he doesn't want a baby?" She sniffled.

"Then myself and the other half of Nerima will kick his ass - he can't take on all of us." Akane gave a choked laugh and nuzzled closer. When her tears had dried, Ukyo pulled Akane from her an arm's length away and looked at her seriously. "I won't say anything - it's not my place - but you have to tell him. It's only fair. Let him decide how he feels."

Akane nodded slowly as she felt like a scolded child. "I don't want my family to know yet - Dad and Mr. Saotome will lose their minds. They'd practically try to yank the thing out of me."

Ukyo chuckled and shook her head, "Yeah, that sounds about right." She dropped her hands and stood up straight. "You'll just have to find somewhere they can't hear you."

—

The next day, when Ranma returned home, Akane greeted him with a gentle hello. He chuckled and went to her. He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her effortlessly, swinging her around and bringing her to him with her feet dangling off the floor as he kissed her. She had pushed away from him quickly, blushing wildly, and stomped off. She heard him asking Kasumi, "Did I do something?"

She knew she had to tell him before she lost her nerve again. She had the briefest thought that maybe she would never tell him, and maybe he wouldn't notice her stomach growing into a watermelon or a small sprout of a child magically showing up. Maybe she could convince him it came from the spring of drowned baby - as morose as that sounded. She didn't want to tell him at night in bed. She wanted it to be somewhere that, if he took the news poorly, she could never return there and, thus, never have to relieve the memory.

She thought of the time long ago - back when she had the suit that made her invincible - when Ranma had tried to trick her into loving him so the suit would leave her (little did the idiot know she had lost that battle long ago), and remembered them hiding in the small little nook in one of the spare rooms. Taking a page from his book, Akane stood by the door of the dojo, watching as he did a series of katas. He stood back, thumbs looped into the belt on his gi as he looked at his students.

It was a younger group, most no older than eight. Akane had always assumed he would have hated teaching little ones, but he seemed to enjoy it much more than training older students. When she would watch him do a class and see the little ones fall over their own feet, she would notice the smallest smile tug at the edge of his lips. He would walk over to them and delicately rearrange their stance. "Try again," he would gently command. The student would look at him, a little embarrassed, but attempt the move once more. When they succeeded, they would look up and beam with a semi-toothless grin. Ranma would ruffle their hair and go back to teaching the class.

Her heart skipped a beat as his eyes met hers. He grinned, and she placed her palm against her chest as if to quiet the thundering palpitations. Ranma held up an arm and rolled it towards his students as if telling them to continue and waltzed over until he was standing before her. "What's up?" He questioned.

She bit her bottom lip and shot her gaze away from him. "N… nothing." His palm pressed against her forehead.

"You've been acting funny," he commented. "You feelin' alright?"

Akane nodded her head and risked meeting his eyes. "I'm fine," she answered. "How much longer is your class?"

Ranma scratched his chin and turned his head to look at his students to find they were staring at the two of them. Some of them snickered at each other, and she could hear one of them say, "I bet Sensei is in trouble with his girlfriend!"

"I didn't say to stop practicing," Ranma lectured. They looked at him a little alarmed and quickly turned their attention back to their katas. A breath of air shot from his nose in amusement, and he turned his gaze back to Akane. "I'll wrap up in the next half hour. Do you need help with somethin'?"

"Ah, no." Akane looked away from him and towards the floor as she fidgeted with her fingers. "I wanted to… talk about - um - things." Her forehead was starting to perspire and she bit her lip.

"What about?" Ranma urged with a slight edge to his tone.

"I, um, can't say it here." She met his eyes and her cheeks flushed, searing her face. "Do you remember that suit? The one that made me more powerful?"

Ranma winced at the reminder of his pride being shattered by the event. "Yeah," he answered tersely.

"Do you remember when you had me meet you in that crawl space? In the spare room?" Ranma winced, this time in embarrassment from his trickery, but all the same, he nodded. "Meet me there after your class." She turned on her heel, practically about to run away, when Ranma grabbed her wrist. She jumped, a bit startled, and whipped her head back in his direction.

Worry was scrawled on him, and his lips were pursed together. "Did I do somethin' to tick you off?"

Akane shook her head, but once again evaded his gaze. "No, nothing. Just, meet me, okay?" She snapped her wrist away from him and said, "Make sure no one knows about it."

He looked at her broodingly and nodded. Then he turned away from her and walked back in front of his students. "Let's continue," he commanded them tersely.

"Yes, Sensei!" They shouted in unison, bowing. Despite herself, a tiny smile eked by.

—

Akane kneeled in the crawl space, remembering it had felt so much bigger before. It felt like the walls were restricting her, but she didn't know if that was from the size of the place or her worry. A small tray of mochi was in front of her. It was an offering reminiscent of the one he had left between them. She fidgeted with her sun dress which was speckled with little splatters of sunshine. She mused to herself, wondering how long she would be able to continue wearing these clothes. She had heard some women never really showed that they were pregnant - which she secretly hoped for - but knowing her luck, she would balloon up by the third month.

She sighed and continued to play with the hem of her dress. She heard the door from the room the nook resided in slide open and then shut. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she quivered in anticipation and fear. She took a deep breath and tried to gently expel it before the door to the crawl space opened. Ranma looked at her inquisitively and brushed his hand through his now pigtail-less hair. He had chopped it off about half a year back, but it still took some getting used to.

"Room for me in there?" He asked, trying to feign a certain cheekiness. She nodded glumly, and his demeanor dropped into brooding. Without another word, he slithered into the nook, seemingly having trouble finding a comfortable position. He had grown a few more inches since he was 16 and had certainly filled out more since then. His slim body had grown more muscular, and his face had grown sharper, more angular, yet his eyes betrayed his manly physique with the cocky warmth of the teenage boy she had fallen in love with.

When he had seemed to settle in comfortably enough, Akane lifted the tray and presented it to him. "Mochi?" She asked.

"Depends," he said as he idly picked one up, "did you make it?" Akane's cooking had improved over the years, but Ranma still liked to tease her about it. She pouted, and he quickly took a bite to prove he was only joking. "So what's up?"

Akane's hands bound themselves together in her lap, and she trained her eyes on the mochi. She thought about grabbing one for herself to distract her, but her anxiety, mixed with pregnancy-induced nausea, stopped her. "Um, well, I've - uh - it's, um…" she shook her head to clear her thoughts. Why was this so hard? "For about a month now, I uh - well, I found out…" Her eyes were starting to well with frightened tears. Every niggling thought hit her like the shards of concrete blocks that would occasionally ricochet off the ground.

She felt a sudden warmth as his hand wrapped around hers. She dared look at him to see Ranma looking at her thoughtfully. "You can tell me, 'Kane," he murmured, "I'll help."

A single tear trickled down her cheek before she could catch it. His thumb snatched it before she could react. When she steeled herself to look at him, she could see he only looked back at her with careful concern. "I don't think you'd like it…" she whispered.

"Why don't you try me, tomboy?" He chuckled before asking, "What're you actin' so worried about? You pregnant or somethin'?" He shook his head, laughing further.

Shocked, Akane stared at him with her mouth gapped open. It took a moment for him to register her reaction, but when he seemed to understand, his hand dropped to his side, and he looked like his soul had astral projected.

Between his initial reaction and her raging hormones, Akane started sobbing. She covered her eyes to try and stop herself and blubbered, "I knew it! I knew I shouldn't have said anything! You hate it!" She went to reach for the door but felt Ranma stop her again.

"Are you for real? This isn't a joke or nothin'?" He breathed in disbelief. She shook her head and felt a sob choke in her throat.

"Why would I joke about something like that, dummy?"

Akane went for the door, but before she could get a good grasp on it, Ranma was on her. His body was wrapped around her own, and he tugged her so close to him that she thought he may have been trying to snap her spine. "Do you mean it? Really?" He asked in a choked tone. His fingers dug into her back. "I'm a dad?" His voice cracked.

The tears she was trying to hold back fell freely, and she nodded against the crook of his neck. His weight fell onto her, propelling her to land softly against the wall of the crawl space. With shaky hands, she reached up and wrapped them around his back. He tore himself from her neck and kissed her fiercely. It felt as though her breath had left her entirely.

When he pulled away, he muttered, "I can't believe it. How did this happen?" She raised a brow as if to say, 'Are you serious?' And he shook his head to get his thoughts in order. "I mean, you and me…" he pulled away and gripped her hand, "are you okay with it?"

She shrugged with a weary feeling imposed upon her chest and answered, "I don't know - are you?"

He nodded fervently. "Maybe not yet - but I never walk away from a challenge."

She laughed, despite herself, and wiped up hormonal tears. "Well, that's inspiring."

He reached over again and hugged her closely. "It's, uh - it'll be okay, y'know? We have each other, and your family."

"Don't you think it's too soon?" She asked with a sniff as she felt new tears trying to escape.

"Probably," he answered sincerely.

"So what do we do?" She whispered.

He sighed deeply and quietly pulled her from him. "I don't know," he leaned down and kissed her, "but I'm happy."

"Really?" She asked, hopefully.

She had been so fearful of his reaction that she had never allowed herself to think about her feelings. She knew she didn't necessarily want a kid yet, but she knew she wanted some one day. She knew specifically that she wanted one with Ranma. She hated the idea of her family butting in. Hated the idea of the Saotomes trying to convince them that Ranma would have to raise the tyke as he had been. Hated the idea that he would hate them before they ever had their first breath of air.

But he said he was happy.

Akane had wanted to be happy as well, despite her worry, and now that she knew he was happy, she felt elated as a heavy weight lifted from her.

She fell into him and gripped the back of his shirt. Her hormones rushed through her again, and she started to sob. He gripped her and held her close, with his cheek resting lightly against the top of her head. "It'll be okay," He soothed as he brushed his finger through her hair. She tried to calm herself but found it challenging. After enough time, however, she found her breath come back to her.

"We can't tell anyone yet, you know." He nodded against her. "You're really happy about this?"

He pulled her from him again and kissed the top of her head. "Never been happier," he murmured against her forehead.