"Ranma, this is stupid! This is not working at all!" Akane said in a whiny frustrated tone as she walked towards her house with Ranma and Akio by her side. She sighed again and said, "It's already been one month since we have been trying to get them together, but nothing has changed! They are still stubborn! One is acting crazy and another angry! Ranma, there is no future for them! I dont think Kasumi likes him anymore!"

"Kane, don't lose patience, give it more time.." Ranma tried to convince her but Akio interrupted.

"Ranma, I think Akane is right here. Oneechan simply hates it when we talk about Tofu. I think we should stop this nonsense and give up.."

"Give up?" Ranma stopped walking and gave them a look of disbelief, "Guys! We can't give now!"

Akane and Akio also stopped walking and looked at him as Akane said, "Ranma try to understand, there is no hope left for them. Maybe they had a relationship before but I don't think they want it anymore."

Ranma looked down and shook his head in dismay and said, "Tofu still hadn't married anyone. I see hope in his eyes whenever I talk about oneechan. When I talk about her he listens to them like his very life depends on it. If you don't call it love then what else?"

"We understand what you said, man. But there is nothing we can do! The last thing we can try is to forcefully set a date for them!" Akio said with a frustrated sigh.

Ranma instantly looked up at them as suddenly a plan formed in his brain. He smiled sheepishly and said, "That's it!! This is actually what we should do then! Great idea, Akio!"

Akane gave Akio a confused look and asked, "What idea have you given him?"

Akio put his hands up in a surrender manner and said, "I swear I didn't do anything."

Ranma smirked and said, "Well, directly he didn't say anything to me, but I think I have a great Idea now! And if this plan doesn't work then.." Ranma gave a long breath and said, "Then maybe we should give up on their relationship."

Akane gave him a curious look and asked him, "What plan, Ranma?"

Ranma took a deep breath and said, "The problem in our past plans was, we were only asking them how they feel and telling them about some events relating to them. But this time, I think it would be better if they met each other for real."

"You mean to say, face-to-face meeting?" Akane whispered in disbelief.

Ranma nodded excitedly, "Yes Akane! They have to face each other, or else we would never find out about their real feelings."

"And who will come to meet whom?" Akio asked.

Ranma gulped in nervousness and said, "I am not sure, man! I think we have to lie to them and arrange a date for both of them.."

Akane and Akio's reaction was the same. They looked at Ranma as if they had just seen a ghost, their mouth wide open , eyes wide with disbelief. Akio shook his head and said,

"I am out of here! Good luck you two.."

"Akio! Stop dummy!" Akane quickly grabbed his arm and stopped him from leaving. He growled at them and said in a hard tone,

"Why did you stop me, Akane! Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?! If Kasumi would ever find out I have any hand in this she would kick me out of the house! Ranma could hide inside his apartment, but where would I go? I don't want to go back to my parents! Nop, never!!"

"Calm down, Akio! Let me talk to him." Akane looked at Ranma and said in a serious tone, "Ranma, this is really serious. What if we hurt Kasumi by doing this? I don't want to do anything which will hurt her feelings, please.."

"Are you sure she is not hurting now?" Ranma asked both of them. He sighed and said, "Who knows, maybe everyday she wished for a big change in her life which she couldn't share with you guys. Look, I know it's risky, but we have to take this risk. And I promise you guys if anything goes wrong, I will take all the blame on myself. Maybe she won't allow me inside the dojo anymore if we fail, but.. At least I would feel satisfied that we tried our best! If there is one percent of possibility of their reunion, can you imagine how happy she would be? Isn't it worth taking a risk for?"

Akane moaned in a defeated tone as she asked him, whining, " Aww, this is so complicated! What do you suggest we do then?"

Ranma smiled at her and nodded his head, "Thanks, Kane. I know this is a silly idea but, but I think this will work. This weekend is Akio's birthday, right? We would plan a surprise dinner party for Akio and tell Oneechan that you have to invite some of your friends for dinner.But of course I am the only one you are going to invite……….. However, she would never know that we would invite Dr Tofu as well."

"Why do you want to destroy my big day,man? Do you hate me that much?" Akio asked moodily, then seeing Ranma's hesitation he laughed lightly and said, "Don't worry! I think it's a great plan! Look buddy, I am sacrificing my birthday for this, if this doesnt work then.."

Ranma smirked and they both shared a friendly fist punch with each other as he said, "It will work, Akio! Then we will celebrate your birthday for sure!"

"But….." Akane looked at Ranma and said in a low tone, "Dr Tofu won't accept the invitation if it won't come from Oneechan."

Ranma smiled at her and said, "Then oneechan would have to write an invitation letter for him. And for that… You have to take charge, Akane.." Saying that he winked at her, which made her sweat nervously.

She gave a long sigh and nodded her head, "What I have to do then?"

Same evening at the Tendo residence

Akane had a mission to fulfill. For now, everything depends on her. To make her work easy for her, she send Akio out of the house again.. She knows her sister was inside her own room. She knocked on her door and asked,

"Oneechan, can I come in?"

"Akane? Please come in, dear.."

Akane opened the door and saw her sister sitting on a chair in front of her study table. Akane hasitated a bit and asked, "Am I disturbing you?"

"Oh, no!" Kasumi closed her books and said with a sweet smile, "I was just reviewing a case study, nothing important. Why don't you come in and sit on the bed."

Akane did what she told her to do and when Kasumi asked her if she needed anything to talk about, she told her about the fake surprise birthday party for Akio, which made Kasumi overly excited.

"Oh my! A surprise birthday party for Akio! Thats a great idea!! We havent hosted a party in a long while, Akane! You came up with great idea!" Kasumi then suddenly stopped and looked back at the door, "Oh no, did I say it too loud! I hope Akio hasn't heard me.."

Akane started to feel guilty for lying to her sister like this. She never lied to her before; but this time it is important.. She have to do this if she wants to make her sister happy. She smiled at her sister and said,

"Don't worry oneechan, he is not home now!"

Kasumi sighed in relief and gave a wide smile to her, "I am so excited, Akane. So what's your plan!? Oh no, isnt his birthday on Saturday? Today is Tuesday! Why haven't you told me this earlier, Akane?!"

"I found out today myself.." Akane murmured to herself.

"Huh?"

"No, nothing, sis! Look, don't panic. You just have to bake the cake and I will take care of takeouts."

They started making plans for that day. Kasumi looked so enthusiastic, she was laughing, giving more innovative ideas to Akane as they made so many plans to surprise Akio. Akane looked down and decided to start her plan. She looked up at her and asked her,

"Oneechan, do you have a small notepad?"

Kasumi nodded her head and took out one notepad from her bag and gave it to Akane. "Here you go.."

"Umm.." She showed Kasumi her thumb which was wrapped up with a bandage as she said, "Oneechan, can you please write me two invitation notes? I wrote to others but I accidentally cut my finger today!"

"Oh my!! Is it very bad?" Kasumi asked worriedly as she carefully held her hand.

Akane smiled at her and shook her head, "Not that bad, oneechan. It's just, I can't write with it. So, can you please write me some invitation letters for my friends?"

Kasumi sweetly smiled at her and nodded her head, "Why not! Tell me what I have to write.." she said as she opened the notepad and prepared herself to write.

Akane gave a sigh of relief. She smiled broadly and started explaining to her what to write on the note.

Next Day

Ranma arrived at the classroom earlier than usual. He was so worried about whether Akane managed to do what he had asked her to do or not, this thought didn't let him sleep all night long!

To his dismay, Akane and Akio arrived late for class that day. The professor was already taking the class when they entered the classroom. Ranma pouted up at Akane for coming late. She chuckled seeing his reaction, understanding his impatience. Ranma kept looking at her from the corner of his eyes. He saw her attentively writing everything down that the professor was telling them as she didn't give him any attention at all. He slowly growled in annoyance and tried to concentrate on his work as well, but he failed miserably.

Then suddenly, he felt her pushing a note towards his hand. He quickly looked at her and hurriedly opened the note and read the words. The note states,

~~~~ You are heartily invited to attend the dinner party that has been arranged for Akio's Birthday this Saturday at Tendo resistance! I will be happy if you come and become a part of our happiness. Kind regards, Tendo Kasumi.."~~~~~

"YOU DID IT!!" Ranma cried out as he stood up, surprising all.

The professor cleared his voice to draw his attention towards him and said with a hard tone, "Ranma!! Please be seated if you want to carry on the class."

Ranma quickly bowed down to apologise to him and said, "I am sorry. It wont happen again.."

Ranma sat back down and heard a soft giggle coming from Akane's side. He growled while giving her a side smile, she also gave him a sly look and winked at him.

"Oh c'mon in!! I was not expecting to see you two at this hour! Haven't you two gone to class today?" Tofu said excitedly when he saw his regular visitor Ranma and Akane came to visit him in the afternoon time.

"Hello, Dr Tofu! Sorry for coming at this hour." Akane started saying as she said with a happy face, "We just decided to leave early from class today; because we have some work to finish before going home.."

Tofu smirked and asked jokingly, "It's good to see some changes and specially, Ranma in a fit mode! Or are you planning to send him to me this afternoon with a broken rib again?"

"No,no! We are not practising today. He is safe!" Akane giggled as they both went to take a seat in front of Tofu. Ranma pulled out one seat for Akane like a gentleman and Akane sat with a shy smile on her face. Tofu noticed the bond between these two new couple as he asked,

"Tell me, what brought you two here today?"

Ranma and Akane both exchanged a look as Akane said,

"We came here to invite you to come for a dinner party tomorrow, at Tendo resistance.."

Tofu looked at them with complete horror. He shook his head and said, "Akane, I am sorry . But I can not go to your house! I told you my reasons before.."

Ranma smirked and said, "Akane, why don't you give him the note and then he can decide.."

Akane nodded her head and quickly handed the note to Tofu. He hesitatingly took the note from her. And as he started reading the note, his eyes became wide with surprise and he looked ready to faint anytime. He hastily took his glasses off from his eyes and cleaned them, before wearing them again and resuming to read the note again. Ranma smirked seeing that as he stood up and said,

"I think Dr Tofu still doesn't want to come, Kane! Let's go then.."

"But.." Akane tried to stop him, but he just winked at her and made her pause. She silently stood up and started following Ranma and as they reached the door, they heard Tofu calling out to them,

"I WILL COME!! I will.. I will come..!"

Saturday

Kasumi hummed to a beautiful melody as she carefully decorated the living room with balloons and birthday decorations for Akio's birthday party. She looked at Akane and asked her, "Dear, can you please pass me some tape for the balloon?" But Akane didn't answer her and kept blowing more balloons and looked completely spaced out. Kasumi sighed and went towards her. She shook her a bit and said,

"Akane, I think this balloon would be enough! You are overdoing it again, honey.."

"Huh?!" Akane looked at her sides and realized that Kasumi was indeed right and she had blown more ballon than necessary. She sighed deeply and tried to give her a small smile as she said,

"I am sorry, Oneechan. I was just.."

"You don't look good at all? You look so pale! Are you sure you are alright, dear?" Kasumi asked worriedly, checking her forehead for the third time that day.

Akane quickly shook her head and said, "No! No! I am fine, oneechan! I am just worried if our plan will work or not.." Akane said, gulping in anxiety.

Kasumi giggled and said, "You are worrying for nothing, silly! Of course we can surprise Akio as we planned to!"

"I am home!!"

Kasumi smiled brightly and said, "Look, Ranma is here too!!"

Akane turned swiftly and saw Ranma coming towards them by walking through the porch.

"Hey, Akane, Kasumi Oneechan! Sorry I am late!" Ranma said with a broad smile on his face.

"Oh hello, Ranma! You are just in time!" Kasumi replied happily.

"Oh wow! Everything is done already! Very impressive! Is there anything left for me to do?" Ranma asked as he looked at the decorations.

Kasumi laughed softly and said, "Oh my, everything is already taken care of, Ranma! You just relax and enjoy the party."

Ranma looked at Akane and saw that she was avoiding looking at him as she looked down at a balloon in her hand. He casually put his hand over her head and said jokingly, "Why this sour mood, sensei? You should stop pouting like a child and start taking care of your guests!"

Akane huffed annoyingly and gently removed his hand from her head as she said, "You don't have to tell me what to do! I am not seeing any guests here !"

Kasumi giggled as Ranma said smirking; "Why, why, sensei! Did you forget, I am your guest today and you are my host for the night! You should start treating me like a guest and serve me well, who knows, this might be the last chance you will get to do this!" Ranma said with a silly tone, laughing lightly.

Kasumi giggled alongside him and slightly slapped his shoulder to stop him, "Silly, Ranma! Why would it be our last day?"

"This is stupid!" Akane suddenly cried out angrily. She hastily stood up and turned to look at Ranma. She pushed the balloon over his chest and said, "You are such a BAKA!!" Saying that with a weavery tone, she ran out from them and went upstairs.

"Kane!! Wait!" Ranma tried to call out to her to make her stop, but she kept on running.

"Oh my, my, my.. I wonder what got into her! She has been acting so moody since this morning! She must be worried about the surprise party. Let me go and talk to her.."

"Oneechan, let me handle this! I will go and talk to her."

"Are you sure?"

Ranma sighed and nodded his head. Kasumi smiled at him and said, "I am sure she is definitely going to listen to you, Ranma. You go bring her back and I will go and do some finishing work on the cake."

"Alright, Oneechan!" Ranma quickly went upstairs to look for her. Ranma didn't thought Akane would act this way, but he could guess why she acted that way. She might be nervous for what is going to happen. He was also feeling nervous and truthfully, scared as well. But he was trying his best to act cool in front of everyone; but with her sudden outburst she had managed to destroy the little confidence he managed to gather for himself. He went to her room and saw her door was open. She stood in front of her open window as she looked out at the window, her back towards him. He gave a long sigh and entered her room quietly and whispered to her while standing behind her,

" Kane.. Hey.."

"I am sorry , Ranma!" She whispered back and said, "I am such an idiot! I shouldn't have acted that way. I will be fine. Just give me some time alone; I am coming downstairs as quickly as possible."

Ranma knows the tone of her voice and figured out something is not right with her. He gently laid his hands on her shoulder and tried to turn her around as he said,

"I ain't leaving you alone. Look at me!"

Akane moaned and tried to remove his hands from her shoulders as she said, "Please, just give me some time."

"No! I know your voice! What's wrong with you, Kane? Please turn around."

"Ranma, please.."

Ranma didn't listen to her and turned her around to look at him. As he assumed, she was indeed crying. She looked down and tried to hurriedly wipe her tears. Ranma became panicked seeing her like this as he said,

"Hey, I am sorry, I didn't want to tease you back there.. I am so.."

"It's not your fault, dummy! I am just.." She sniffed and kept wiping her tears with her hands and said with a shaky tone, "You didn't had to rub that fact on my face! I know nothing will work today!"

"What won't work!" Ranma asked, confused.

Akane growled angrily and said in a hissing tone, "I know Tofu is going to mess up everything! Then Oneechan would be angry and then she wount let you come here anymore!!"

"Why are you assuming all these negative thoughts!"

"Because I CAN'T PRETEND ANYMORE THAT I AM FINE, OKAY!!" Akane cried out angrily. She stopped herself, looked down as tears started to fall freely from her eyes as she whispered softly, "I don't want you to stop coming here. I don't want to see Oneechan getting angry at you and telling you off! You won't understand what I am feeling now."

Her soft sobs were pinching his heart so badly. He gave a long sigh and said, "I do know how you feel! Honestly, I am scared too, Kane." He gently cupped her cheeks with his hands and made her look up at him. Taking a long breath, he said to her in a whispered tone, "Now listen to me, I won't let him fail, I promise you that! Even if it's the last thing I do; I will make him confess his true feelings to Oneechan tonight.

"Akane!! Ranma!! Akio just called, he is coming.!! Come down quick!" Kasumi called out to them from downstairs.

Akane and Ranma both sighed simultaneously. They looked at each other's eyes for a few moments. Then Ranma smiled at her and said, "You know, you are such a crybaby.."

Akane moaned and softly pushed him away as she whispered hoarsely, "And you are a baka!" Ranma laughed hearing that, but Akane was not finished yet. She grabbed his collars tightly and pulled him closer to her as she hissed over his face, "You promised me, Ranma!! If you dare to fail, I promise I will make you pay dearly."

Ranma chuckled and softly bumped his head with her head and said, "Alright, sensai!"

As they had planned, Akio came home ten minutes after his phone call. It took Akio a lot of effort to act like he was surprised by the party. In one moment, Akane had to remind him (not so gently) how to act to be surprised! After that little drama, they started to have fun. Then suddenly Kasumi told them,

"Oh my, Akane, where are your other friends? Aren't they coming?"

"What! There are more people coming tonight?! I have nooo idea! Who is coming anyway?" Akio asked in an innocent tone.

Akane groaned and said, "Oh my, how'd you know silly! It's a surprise party for you! You will soon see who will come.."

"Ohh!!" Akio said as he suggested, "Where is the cake? Let's cut it! I am so hungry!"

"Uh uh uh.." Kasumi sing songs and said, "Let your friends come first then we will cut it."

"But!!"

"Akio!" Akane said in a warning tone.

Akio sighed defeatedly and said, "Alright alright .."

Just then they heard the front door opening. Ranma's smile instantly flattened down as he looked at Akane, who looked back up at him with the same wary expression on her face. Kasumi clapped her hands happily and said, "Ranma, dear, can you please let our guests in. I will bring the cake now."

"She's gonna drop it for sure.." Akio murmured, looking down sadly.

"Keep your mouth shut fool!" Akane hissed at him angrily as she also stood up to follow Ranma.

Kasumi took the cake out from the fridge and set some candles over the two tier cake. She carefully took the cake in her hand and carried it with her into the living room area. Her concentration was so intense on the cake that she didn't even notice the new person who entered the living room. She smiled happily as she successfully placed the cake on the table and stood up happily and turned around to go back to the kitchen to bring the knife.

"I am sorry for coming late..."

Kasumi stopped moving. Her eyes went wide with surprise and for a moment she completely forgot how to breath. She was still in a state of disbelief. She knows this voice. This voice…. This...This is…

She hastily turned to face the person and got face to face with the least person she would ever wish to meet.

"You?…."

A/N: As I promised, thankfully I have managed to post the chapter on the date of my birthday :D!!

Tomorrow is also the birthday of my dearest sweetest sweetheart reader "Bayby Face"!! Happy Birthday!!! Many many manyyyyy happy returns of this day!! I know today's Ranma episode made us sad; but hopefully this chapter will lift up your mood,my friend :)..

One more thing, I need to ask permission from my readers about one thing. I want to write one three-shot RanmaxAkane fic for "Christmas, New Year and my 4 year as an author" special :D!! To do that, I won't be able to post "A Lost Prince" chapter for this month. I know, leaving this at this time, its a big torture:p. Thats why I am asking you guys! If you say "yes" I will proceed and if you say "No" then , I will pause ...

I hope to hear from you all!! Please don't forget to send me a review! Take care :)..