Ranma barely registered the stunned way Akane said his name before an overwhelming rush of exhilaration shot through him.

He was himself again.

After days—weeks—trapped in that damnable female form, he was finally back in his own body. He flexed his fingers, his arms, feeling the familiar weight of himself again. His clothes, soaked and clinging to him, suddenly fit properly again. His voice—his real voice—had come out of his mouth.

'I'm back! But... how?'

His joy, however, was short-lived.

The expression on Akane's face quickly shifted from shock to something much worse. Her wide eyes darted over him, and suddenly she seemed to realize—

She was naked.

A strangled sound escaped her throat as she immediately folded her arms across her chest and sank lower into the water, her entire face burning red.

"D-Don't look!" she yelped, turning away so fast that water splashed against the rocks around them.

Ranma's heart nearly exploded out of his chest as his own face flamed with embarrassment. "I—! I ain't looking, okay?!" he shouted, whipping around so fast he nearly lost his balance in the water.

'Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!'

His mind was a hurricane of emotions—pure elation at being Ranma again, absolute confusion as to how it even happened, and then, of course, the horror of realizing that Akane—his wife—was standing right behind him completely naked after she had just yanked him into the damn hot spring.

The moment felt unbearably tense, the only sounds being the occasional splash of water and their frantic breathing.

"I—I don't—what—HOW?!" Akane finally sputtered from behind him. "How are you—you?!"

"I—I don't know!" Ranma shot back, keeping his back to her as he ran a frantic hand through his wet hair. His mind was racing. "I was just sittin' there, then boom, ya go and yank me in, and then—this!" He gestured wildly at himself even though Akane couldn't see him.

Akane's breath came in sharp, uneven bursts, her mind still struggling to process what just happened. "All this time…" she murmured, more to herself than to him. "Raya—was YOU?"

Ranma flinched at the sheer disbelief in her voice. He was still soaking in the euphoria of being himself again, but Akane… she sounded completely thrown.

There was a long silence between them, the weight of the moment crashing down. Ranma was too afraid to turn around, too embarrassed, too nervous about what Akane was going to say or do next.

"…Ranma."

Her voice was quieter this time.

He swallowed, suddenly feeling his heart in his throat. "…Yeah?"

Akane hesitated, then—

"GET OUT OF THE HOT SPRING!"

A split second later, something very solid smacked Ranma hard on the side of the head, sending him flying sideways into the water.

Ranma sat rigidly in the hot spring, his back turned sharply to Akane. His body still buzzed with the strange, overwhelming relief of being himself again—his real self—but it was quickly being drowned out by the heavy silence pressing between them.

Akane, submerged up to her shoulders, clutched her arms around herself, her mind still reeling. She was staring at his back like she was seeing a ghost.

"…So, Raya was you," she finally said, her voice uncertain.

Ranma exhaled through his nose. "Yeah."

"For how long?"

"…Since the Center. Since…" He hesitated, then admitted, "Since the new vessel hit me with her magic"

Akane sucked in a breath. "The magic…?"

Ranma clenched his fists under the water. "Yeah. I—I didn't know what was happening. One second, I was watchin' you walkin' through that portal with that freak Toma, and the next, Viale Draak was making The Goddess Kneel to her — and then Viale Draak starting casting magic at people. People she had no use for. She looked at me and then my whole body was wrong. I didn't even have much time to think about it before those guards grabbed me." His voice dropped lower. "Next thing I knew, I was being portaled off to Prince Toma's island to "serve" the men of the island. Nobody knew who I was. Nobody cared who I was."

Akane's heart pounded. She had known there were girls on that island—servants, courtesans, girls who had no choice in being there. But she had never imagined that one of them had been Ranma.

She swallowed hard. "And then?"

Ranma sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Then I found you."

Akane's brow furrowed. "But why didn't you tell me?!"

Ranma flinched at the question. He knew this was coming, and yet, hearing the betrayal in her voice still felt like a punch to the gut.

"I wanted to," he said, voice low. "At first, I thought—maybe if I could get you alone, if I could explain—but… I didn't think you'd believe me."

Akane's breath shuddered, but Ranma kept going before she could respond.

"I mean, think about it! If some random girl came up to you in the middle of all that and said, 'Hey, I know I look different, but it's me, Ranma, your husband, who got hit by some crazy magic,' would you have believed it?"

Akane opened her mouth—then closed it.

"…I dunno," she admitted quietly.

Ranma huffed a dry, humorless laugh. "Exactly." He glanced down at the water, his reflection rippling beneath him. "And after that… I didn't even know if I'd ever turn back. If I was stuck like that forever, what was the point in tellin' you?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "I didn't wanna put you through that. I didn't wanna put myself through that."

A heavy silence settled over them.

Akane gripped the edge of the hot spring, her mind swirling. She just felt… overwhelmed.

"You really committed to the act," she muttered at last.

Ranma tensed. "…What's that supposed to mean?"

Akane narrowed her eyes at his back. "You slept next to me. You cuddled me."

Ranma coughed violently, nearly slipping under the water. "T-That was for warmth, and you grabbed me in your sleep, I didn't—!"

"And you let me talk about you." Akane continued, ignoring his flustered protests. "You pried about how I felt about Ranma. You even asked—" Her eyes widened. "Oh my God, you asked me how you were in bed!"

Ranma let out a strangled groan, covering his face with both hands. "DON'T REMIND ME!"

Akane blinked at him—then, despite everything, she started to laugh.

Ranma peeked at her over his shoulder, cautious. "You… uh, you laughin'?"

"No."

"…You totally are."

Akane clamped a hand over her mouth, but it was no use. The absurdity of everything—the deception, the ridiculous things they had talked about, the way Ranma had acted—all of it hit her at once, and she just lost it.

She burst out laughing. Not just a giggle, but full-on, stomach-clutching, uncontrollable laughter. She laughed so hard that she had to grip the side of the hot spring to keep herself from slipping under.

Ranma stiffened, his whole face turning red. "H-Hey! It's not that funny!"

Akane could barely breathe through her cackling. "Y-YOU! Oh my God, you!" She smacked the water, sending a little splash in his direction. "Mister 'I'm a courtesan,' acting all coy and teasing me about Ranma! No wonder you got all embarrassed when I actually answered you!"

Ranma groaned loudly, sinking lower into the water until just his nose and ears were visible. "Kill me now."

Akane wiped at her eyes, still breathless with laughter. "So? How did you like my answer?" She grinned devilishly. "Did it live up to your expectations?"

Ranma sputtered. "W-WHAT?! I—THAT'S NOT—I DIDN'T WANNA KNOW! I JUST—! IT WAS A STUPID JOKE, OKAY?!"

Akane kept giggling, shaking her head. "Sure, sure. Whatever you say, courtesan."

Ranma groaned again. "I'm never going to live this down."

Akane smirked, resting her chin on her arms on the side wall of the hot spring. "Nope."

Ranma let out a long-suffering sigh. But as much as he wanted to die of embarrassment right there, he couldn't help but notice something.

Akane was smiling. Laughing.

After everything—the danger, the stress, the fear—she was actually happy in this moment.

And, well… if he had to be the butt of the joke for that to happen, maybe it wasn't so bad.