"IS THIS SOME KIND OF A JOKE, AKANE!" Akane's grandfather was the first one to break the silence as he growled at her and said in a hard tone, "HOW DARE YOU CAME HERE WITH.."

"Dear…" Akane's grandmother sternly looked at her husband and firmly shook her head.

Akane's grandfather looked at her, took a deep breath and tried to argue with her, "But honey, what Akane did is.."

"It's her life, her decision, dear. We have to trust her choice. And it's not like our granddaughter had committed a huge crime by marrying someone she likes." She argued back.

He growled angrily and said, "BUT SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO MARRY SHINNOSUKE!!"

Akane's grandmother sternly turned to look at him in the eyes as she said with a hard tone,

"That was US who decided that, not her! I told you at first that it was not a good idea; but you made me believe this is for her own good! And because of this FOOLISHNESS, my life, my dearest baby stayed away from me for months! And now are asking her why she came here? How dare you insult my daughter, husband!" Her eyes were wide with rage, her voice venomous, as she looked at her husband.

Akane's grandfather couldn't keep looking at his wife's direction, suddenly feeling too scared of her.

Ranma looked at the grandmother with a mix of feelings. In one hand he was scared to see this side of her, but on the other hand, his respect for this woman was raised because of the way she defended her granddaughter. His whole body slightly shook with nervousness when suddenly Akane's grandmother turned to face him. She had a frown on her face at first. Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened her eyes again with a big beautiful smile on her face.

"Son, I apologize to you on behalf of my husband. He is getting old and too cranky nowadays. I hope you will understand."

Ranma innocently blinked his eyes and said, "Please don't apologize for anything. I don't mind at all, mam.."

"Grandma.."

"Huh?" Ranma asked surprised when she interrupted his speech. Akane's grandmother warmly smiled at him and said,

"I am your wife's grandmother, so you can call me grandma from now on, okay dear?"

Ranma smiled at her and slowly nodded his head.

Akane's grandmother looked at Akane and said, "Dear, please come inside the house. It's already too late now." She looked up at the curious neighbours and politely bowed to them and said, "I know you guys are eager to meet my sweet Akane, but please wait until tomorrow. She will come and greet you all."

"If you take them inside then I won't come home!" Akane's grandfather said while grumping.

His wife sweetly smiled at him and said, "Why don't you go and stay with Shonnosuke and his grandfather tonight? Or you can stay longer there as long as you want, honey.." She dismissed talking with her husband and turned to look at Ranma and Akane as she motioned them to come inside the house with her. "Please don't hesitate. Akane, dear, please bring your husband inside the house."

Akane nodded her head. She held Ranma's hand tightly and pulled him with her towards the house. She just gave a brif look to her grandfather who was standing there with a dumbfounded look and dejected expression. She gave a long sigh, shook her head and went inside the house without giving him a second look.

Ranma and Akane were sitting in the living room. Both silent and lost in their own thoughts. After some moments of silence, Ranma tried to grab her attention a few times, but she was looking down the whole time. He gave a long tired sigh and looked around the room. This room was very similar to the living room of the Tendo house and the sitting arrangements were the same as well. Only difference was the size of it. This was two times larger than the Tendo sitting room and the table on the ground is much wider as well.

"Ranma.."

Ranma quickly looked at Akane When he heard a faint sound coming from her side. She sighed and looked up at him and whispered softly,

"Ranma.. I am sorry.. I.. I didn't plan to, it's just..it just happened because.. I was.. I saw.. Oh Kami, I have messed up big time! I shouldn't have.."

Her weavery whispered voice, and wet eyes made him forget all about his previous nervousness. He quickly laid his hand over her hand which was lying on her knee, he squeezed her hand and sat more close to her. Then leaning down to her face level, he carefully whispered to her,

"Hey.. Say no more. You were very brave back there. I am sure there is a reason behind this but you don't have to say anything to me now! And anyways, I am sure acting as fiance's or as a husband and wife, both are quite similar, aren't they? So , don't sweat if too much.. Chill!"

Akane took a deep breath and nodded her head. She softly smiled up at Ranma and whispered back to him,

"Maybe you are right. Thank you, Ranma. I owe you a big time for this."

Ranma smirked and whispered playfully, "Of course you do! From time to time I will remind you about this.."

His playful tone made her giggle as well. She bumped her shoulder with his, and said softly,

"Ranma, now listen.."

"Oh my my my, aren't the two of you the cutest lovebirds!"

Both their eyes went wide with surprise when they heard Akane's grandmother's voice talking to them. The compliment made them both flustered with embarrassment as they immediately looked away from each other.

"Awww, look obasama, now this new couple is blushing red! How sweet!"

Ranma slowly looked up when he heard the new woman talking and giggling at them. She sweetly smiled down at him and laid the tray of tea in front of them as she said,

"Hello son, my name is Mai, I am one of Akane's obasama."

"She is Daisuke's mother." Akane whispered softly to Ranma. Then looking up to see her aunt, she gave her a big smile. Mai sat beside Akane and gave her a tight hug which Akane returned wholeheartedly.

Mai broke the hug and gave a soft kiss on her forehead and said, "Thank you for coming back to us. dear. We have missed you so much!"

Akane smiled up at her and said, "I have missed you all too, obasama. Where is aunt Ayumi?"

"I am right here!!" A jolly voice answered as the person tried to balance a food tray in her hand and open the kitchen door with her back. She giggled as she excitedly put down the tray in front of them and quickly went to sit in the middle of the couple. She also hugged Akane tightly and said. "Finally, my wildcat is here!"

Ranma smirked hearing that remark which made Ayumi look back at him with a suspicious look.

"Are you laughing because of the nickname I gave your wife?"

Ranma got a little bit nervous hearing the question, thinking maybe he shouldn't have laughed at this matter. He gulped hard as he slowly nodded his head.

"Umm..sorry?" he said softly.

"HAHAHA!! Why are you being sorry for!!" With a sudden hysterical laugh Ayumi playfully slapped Ranma's shoulder, making him fall on the other side. Ranma sat back up and looked at her with wide surprised eyes as she said in between her laughs, "I am sure you can relate why I call your wife a wildcat!! Hahaha!"

"Ayumi obasama!!" Akane called out in extreme embarrassment. She wanted to protest more but her other aunt interrupted her this time and said in a teasing tone,

"Oh poor him, we should apologize to him on behalf of our daughter.. Look how terrified he is looking right now!"

"Haha, maybe his wildcat's scratches were too deep to forget! Haha!" Ayumi continued saying, laughing all the while and pushing Ranma's shoulder time to time.

Ranma's eyes couldn't get more wider, his face looked like a ripe tomato , ready to burst with embarrassment if one more tease came from these two middle-aged women.

Akane still couldn't believe that her aunts were teasing them like this. She knew they love naughty talks; but she never imagined they would attack them in the very first meeting. Her face became hot with embarrassment as she quickly looked at Ranma to apologize to him. But when she saw his red blushing nervous face, she moaned in embarrassment and called out to them,

"Stop you guys!! Please!!"

"Uhm uhm, that's enough of teasing girls." Akane's grandmother declared with a soft smile as she said, "Ayumi, Mai, please give some space to the new couple and please stop making them nervous and let them eat."

Both obasamas nodded their heads and moved from their sides and took their seats next to the grandmother, who was seating facing the couple. They began to chat formally and served them some food. Both Ranma and Akane lost their appetite after what just happened. But to make the woman happy, they took a small portion of food and finished their meal with hot tea.

"I hope you liked the food, dear." Grandmother said to Ranma.

Ranma cleared his voice and said with a small smile,

"This was very delicious, thank you.."

"Grandmother.." Akane started talking with a soft hesitating tone.

"Hmm, yes dear?"

Akane bites her lower lip and asked her, "Why are you not angry at me, Grandma?"

Ranma looked at her with wonder as he couldn't get why she was pushing her luck. He then turned to look at Akane's grandmother and saw her giving Akane a warm smile and knowing nod,

"Because I don't want to repeat the same mistake as I did before."

"Mistake?" Akane asked, not understanding her words.

Akane's Grandmother sighed sadly and said,

"I always wanted to have a daughter of mine. But because of my health condition, I could only take one child and that was Soun. Your grandfather always used to comfort me by telling me that if Soun ever gets married, his wife could be my daughter. That's why I had a big expectation from your father's marriage. You can say, I have been waiting for that moment for a long time. But when the day came, everything got messed up.."

She looked down as if remembering the events as she said, "We had sent your father for better studies in the city. One day he came back home bringing your mother with him. Just like you, he also stood by his wife's side and declared to us that he had married this woman."

She looked up at Akane and said, "My dream was shattered because I couldn't see my only son's wedding. But your grandfather became even more angry because your mother doesn't belong to any martial arts family. So it was a huge clash between the father and son. Which lead Soun to make the decision to leave the village. That time I could have stopped them, but I didn't. Because I was upset at that moment, I blindly followed your grandfather's words and stopped every communication with you guys.."

Her voice trembled as she laid her hand on her heart, "Deep down I knew I was wrong. I wanted to fix everything. But for some reason, I couldn't. Your mother was an angel, Akane. Although my son stopped communicating with us, she didn't. She used to send me letters of their achievements. She sended me the pictures of you guys. I wanted to meet you guys so much, but.. your grandfather never let me. He was stubborn and his health was not that good that time, that's why I didn't argue with him."

She sighed and looked down, " This method was continuing year after years. Then suddenly I stopped getting letters from your mother. I kept on waiting, but when it took six months without any news from there, I started to panic. It was as if I could feel that something was not right. After a huge disagreement with your grandfather, I somehow managed to make him understand the seriousness of this matter and we went to search for you guys. But when we reached the address that your mother once gave me, we were surprised to find that you guys don't live at that place anymore. We lost all our hopes of finding you guys. In this huge city of Japan, where we could have found you.."

"Then how did you manage to find them, grandma?" Ranma asked, fully captative by her story.

She weakly smiled at him and said, "It was a kind of a miracle, my child."

"Miracle?" Akane and Ranma asked simultaneously.

"Yes, dear." She sighed and said, "We were leaving the city, fully lost as we didn't know what to do next. We were waiting at the station for our train. Then suddenly we saw a note on the bench where we were sitting. We didn't even know how it got there! But after opening it we saw someone had written an address over there and it was written there that we could find the Tendo's at this address. We didn't waste any more time there and left in haste. It was in a different town and it took us one day to reach that place. And when we went there, we found out why.." She looked down in misery and said with a weavery tone, "…. why did your mother stop sending me more letters.."

The room went pitch silent for a few moments. It was indeed a very heavy emotion to bear for every person in the room. Akane was looking down as she bit her lower lip hard to control her emotions. She felt a soft touch on her trembling hands which were laid on her lap. She looked up and saw Ranma trying to give her an encouraging smile as he showed her to look at her grandmother. She looked at her grandmother and saw that she was silently wiping her face and looked so heartbroken.

"Oh grandma!" Akane called out with a soft tone. She quickly stood up and went beside her grandmother. They shared a long warm hug for a long moment. After some time when they broke hug, Akane's grandmother creased her face lovingly as she said,

"I am talking about this mistake, dear. If I hadn't been stubborn about my decision back then; if I had fought back with your grandfather like I did today, then maybe things wouldn't have turned out like this. I blame myself for that. And as you grew up in front of my eyes, I could understand how great of a person your mother was. It's my loss that I did not get the chance to get to know such a wonderful woman. The guilt is still present in my heart; and I know it will stay until my last breath. But I wouldn't repeat my same mistake again."

She sighed and continued saying, "When I saw you two, It felt to me like history is repeating itself again and this time its my duty to make everything right. Anway my child, I don't care about what you do in your life; you know what, you can bring as many husbands every year, I promise I will always welcome you with open arms."

Akane giggled hearing that as Ayomi said jokingly, "Oh no, then what will happen to this handsome dashing man?"

Ranma gave a tight smile and blinked his eyes innocently. Akane's grandmother giggled seeing that as she said,

"Oh I just said that to make my point, dear. I don't think my granddaughter has the heart to let go of a sweetheart as you.." She then turned towards Akane and said, "I am sorry, dear. I shouldn't have agreed with your grandfather about the engagement between you and Shinnosuke. Maybe I had again made a mistake. That's why I got the punishment of not seeing you for a long time."

"You know Akane, obasama wanted to go and visit you. Your grandfather was pressuring her to bring you back here. But she didn't listen to him because that old man planned to marry you to Shinnosuke the moment you set your foot.."

"Ayumi!" Akane's grandmother called out to her to stop.

"Oops, I shouldn't have spilled the beans?"

"Grandma, what is aunt Ayumi is saying?" Akane asked, shocked.

Akane's grandmother moaned and looked at her, "I am sorry, honey. It was your old man's idea to make you sign a marriage certificate with Shinnosuke the moment I bring you here.."

"Marrage certificate?!" Akane asked in disbelief.

She nodded her head and said, "Shinnosuke already signed the certificate; he was only waiting for yours. That's why I didn't go to Nerima or have any communication with you. I didn't want you to do something from which you bravely ran away. And now, I don't have to worry about anything. I can count in this man to take care of this situation from now on.." She looked at Ranma and asked, "Ranma, my husband is a stubborn and arogant man. Knowing him, he might try some idiotic stuffs to make things difficult for you. I want to apologize to in advance for that. Just know that your this new grandmother will always support you."

"We as well!" Ayumi and Mei said simultaneously.

Akane's grandmother nodded her head and asked Ranma, "Say dear, are you ready to face those challenges? Can you protect your wife and show my husband that my granddaughter did the right thing choosing you?"

Ranma just smiled at them, "I can do anything for this wildcat, grandma.." He said with a playful wink.

Akane's grandfather gulped down another glass of sake, grumbling angrily as he muttered aggressively,

"I just can't believe my wife took that guy in and threw me OUT!!"

"That's enough, grandfather Tendo. You should not drink anymore." Shinnosuke said as he took the bottle out from the dining table.

He gave Shinnosuke an annoyed look and said in disgust, "There, a STRANGER came and took your Akane in front of you and here you are giving me a LECTURE!!"

Shinnosuke looked down and said, "If its her boyfriend or fiance, I could have fought him, grandfather. He is Akane's husband. I can't do anything about it."

Akane's grandfather slapped the table hard and screamed loudly, "I DON'T AGREE TO THIS MARRIAGE OF HERS!"

"Uhh.. Be quiet!! I am trying to sleep here." Shinnosuke's grandfather called out from his bed.

Akane's grandfather grumbled and spat out in a drunken tone, "This is a MAD HOUSE! Our all plan had been ruined! And you have the audacity to sleep at this moment!!"

Shinnosuke's grandfather sighed loudly. He sat up on his bed and said, "If you have a problem with this then what are you doing here? Go to your house and solve the matter!"

"GO BACK TO THAT HOUSE? NEVER!!" He screamed angrily, "I would never go inside that house until Tamiko and Akane come to apologize to me!"

"Hahahaha!!! Tamiko?! You want your wife to come and apologise to you, old man? Hahaha!" Shinnosuke's grandfather paused laughing and gave him a serious look and asked him, "When was the last time it happened, huh?"

"Please guys!" Shinnosuke said with a low frustrated tone as he said, "Just go to sleep.."

Shinnosuke's grandfather quickly ran behind him and slapped him on his shoulder and said, "You want us to sleep? Can you sleep after knowing what Akane did to you? And you…" He looked up at Akane's grandfather and said, "You sitting here and whining like a baby won't HELP THE SITUATION!!"

"THEN WHAT DO YA WANT ME TO DO THEN..? You know Tamiko, she won't let me do anything!"

"But still you have to do it, my friend.."

"DO WHAT EXACTLY?!"

Shinnosuke's grandfather smirked and said, "Tomorrow morning you will go back to your own house. You have to monitor this new person very closely. If we directly insult this boy then your wife will definitely stop us. That's why we have to be very careful about our actions, Sota. We will seek for the right moment and put down that man infront of Akane and everyone. And if we manage to do it then Akane would realize her mistake and might want to leave this guy.."

Akane's grandfather's face lifted up with an excited smile as he said, "That's a great plan!! I promise you I won't leave any chance to put that man down. He would be sorry that he dared to marry my granddaughter."

"And I will help you with that, buddy!" Saying that, both old men shook their hands as they began to smirk devilishly.

"But why are you guys doing this? Do you want them to get divorced?" Shinnosuke asked with a furious low tone.

Akane's grandfather growled as he stood in front of Shinnosuke. He also stood up and looked at Sota.

"I won't ask you the same question again, boy! Are you going to marry my Akane if we manage to break their marriage? Remember boy, this is very serious! I want an honest answer from your side."

Shinnosuke took a deep breath as he gave a stern look to Akane's grandfather, "All I know is I love Akane more than my life. I restrained myself from attacking that guy because she said he is her husband. Or else I would have taught that guy a lesson then and there. But I couldn't do that. But if you guys can help me get Akane; I will help you guys in every step. Because all I want is her.. That's all!"

"And that's all that I wanted to know from you, son." Akane's grandfather said with a satisfied smile.

"So here is your room! You guys must be so tired , aren't you?" Ayumi said as she opened the bedroom door.

Ranma and Akane entered the room with her and Mei. Ranma dropped his beg on the floor as he looked at the room. It was a medium-sized room, with a double-sized bed at the corner of the room, a study table and a chest of drawers at the other corner. He was looking around the room when suddenly Akane said,

"Ranma.."

He looked at her, "Yes, Akane?"

She smiled at him and said, "You must be so tired. Please take rest now. Good night.."

"Where are you going?" Mei asked, surprised.

Akane gave her an obvious look and said, "Umm to my room, Obasama."

Mei and Ayumi traded look with each other, then turning towards Akane, Ayumi asked,

"That room is smaller than this room and the bed there is much smaller too!.. Thats why we decided to shift you guys here... Ohhh!!" Ayumi then gave her a naughty look and said playfully, "You are too naughty, my child. I know you want to be too cozy with your husband in that small bed of yours, but I think it's better if you stay here. You need space to move, in your previous bed it's not possible at all!"

"But why would I share my bed with him?" Akane asked, confused and scared at the same time.

Mei and Ayumi again got confused as Mei asked her, "What are you saying Akane? Don't you two sleep together? Aren't you husband and wife?!"

Akane's eyes went wide with surprise as the sudden realisation hit her. Her throat became completely dry as no words came out of her mouth.

"Akane?" Ayumi asked, now a little suspicious about this whole situation .

"Maybe she is shy.." Ranma hastily said as he ran beside Akane and laid his arm around her shoulder. "She... she told me that she would feel shy to stay with me in the same room in her grandparent's house! She is not used to stay like this in here. You know what I mean, haha!"

Akane started fake laughing as well as she said, "Oh! Seriously Obasama! No matter if I am married or not, it is my duty to stay in my room with my cousins.. I missed them so much! I can sleep with my husband when we will return home!"

She said in a haste as she quickly tried to ran past Ayumi to escape this trap.

"Now wait a second, child." Ayumi said as she quickly grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving the room. She smiled at her and said, "I know dear, you must be feeling nervous and shy about all this! But you shouldn't leave your husband alone in this room! I know he will miss you. And if you ignore sleeping with him, he might want to return sooner than we want you guys to leave! So no chance! You can meet your cousins later.. Ranma, take her.." Saying that, she giggled sillyly and pushed Akane towards Ranma's chest, who caught her on time as he wrapped his arms around her.

Mei also started laughing as she said, "You silly Akane! Now sleep you two; and don't haste to wake up early tomorrow.."

Ayumi and Mei left the room laughing amongst themselves as they closed the door behind them.

Behind the door, Ranma and Akane kept standing on the same spot as Ranma kept on holding her losely. They both were looking at the door, as if looking at the door would help them get out of this awkward situation. They stood there for a long time, not moving, not talking. After some moments of complete silence, Akane whined in a low tone and said in a distressed tone,

"We are doomed!"

Ranma gulped hard as cold sweat began to trail down from his forehead. He gave a shaky breath and whispered in a weavery tone,

"Now what?"

A/N: Now what ;p? Hehe.. I have piled up course works to submit, which I still havent touched and here I am posting a new chapter, why? Because this fic is urguing me to concentrate on writing new chapters every day! Trust me, I am doomed! But I hope you guys are enjoying this fic so far :). I got some new reviews here. I want to thank all of you to giving some time to post me a review. You guys could have ignored it, but you supported me, which kept motivating me. Thank you so much. Please keep supporting guys! I really need your support.

I want to say to my Guest reviewr Viola, thank you for your kind words. I tried to search for the page that you mentioned, but unfortunately I couldnt find it T-T..

Hopefully I can post again soon. Take care guys! See you soon :)..