“Akane!” a soft whisper awakened her. “Akane, are you alright?”
Akane opened her eyes and saw Ranma’s worried face. She sighed and sank contentedly into his arms. She ached all over, and now her headache was no longer a mild throbbing, but an incessant pounding that felt like her head was being ripped into two. But with Ranma holding her, everything was worthwhile. She looked up at him, and her heart started to ache too. For he was still very pale, and he seemed to be using every effort to hold on to her.
“Ranma, I…” she started.
“Shh…don’t say anything,” he whispered. “I’m okay.” Ranma smiled gently at her and brushed away her fringe. A huge bruise was already starting to form on her forehead where she had bumped her head when she rolled down the stairs. Akane winced when Ranma pressed it lightly. Slowly, Ranma leaned back on the wall for support, still holding Akane close to him. All his strength seemed to have left his body, and his fever was making him feel faint. He ran his fingers through Akane’s dark, bluish hair and closed his eyes, trying to hide his discomfort from Akane. Akane leaned close, until she could hear his heart beating, and closed her eyes, concentrating on it, willing it to beat, ignoring the searing pain through her head.

From upstairs, Ryouga looked on and a twinge of jealousy went through his heart. He shut his eyes tight, and tried to get his feelings in control. He had to move on. Taking a deep breath, he started down the stairs, then hesitated. They looked so peaceful like that, and he couldn’t bear to interrupt them. *If you don’t get them back to their rooms, Akane is going to catch a chill on top of everything and Ranma’s fever is never going to go down! * he scolded himself. So he went down and helped both of them to the first room he came to, which happened to be his own. He didn’t want to risk Akane falling down the stairs again because she wanted to see Ranma, and besides, he’d probably get lost trying to find their rooms.

When Akane and Ranma had fallen asleep in each other’s arms, Ryouga tip-toed out of the room and quietly shut the door behind him. Sighing, he trudged down the hallway, his feet making soft scuffling sounds on the floorboards. After some time, he found himself at the balcony. Leaning gingerly on the railing, Ryouga looked around at the quiet neighbourhood, now almost in total darkness. From far, he heard the clock tower chime twelve times, its melancholy sound reflecting his feelings. In Tendo Dojo, the silence was unnerving, but Ryouga was hardly surprised. Everyone was out except Genma, and he would probably sleep through an earthquake, much less Akane’s fall down the stairs, that only Ranma had noticed.

Ryouga looked up at the skies, the millions of brilliant stars in the like a sprinkle of diamond dust across a bolt of deep black cloth. Asuka, Yume…at that moment, both seemed very small and unreachable. Asuka wouldn’t like him now that he didn’t turn into P-chan anymore, and Yume was some hundred year old immortal girl from another world. He sighed. Would he ever find someone to love him like Akane loved Ranma? The aching in his heart seemed to intensify as he thought of that scene at the stairs, Ranma holding Akane tightly, the way Ryouga himself wanted to so many times. Had he really thought Akane would chose him over Ranma? He closed his eyes, concentrating on his own breathing. In…out…*Forget Akane… *…In…out…

Ryouga was so absorbed in his silent reverie that he didn’t even notice the sound of the front door opening, and it was only when he heard footfalls behind him did he realise someone else was in the house. He turned around sharply and saw Ukyou.
“Ukyou! What are you doing here?” he asked, surprised.
“I heard Ranma was sick, so I came over to see him.” Ukyou explained. “But I couldn’t find him in his room. Where is he?”
“Um…he’s in my room.” Ryouga mumbled, then as Ukyou turned to go to his room, added hurriedly, “with Akane.”
“Oh.” Ukyou whispered, the one syllable coloured with deflation and disappointment.
Ryouga opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He turned red and stared down at his feet. What was he supposed to say? What could he possibly say to make her feel better?
“Ukyou…um…” he stuttered.
“It’s okay, Ryouga.” Ukyou replied. She looked up at him and gave a small smile. “I know. Ranma told me he liked Akane. I just…”and the tears rolled down her cheeks. She tried to wipe them away, but the tears just kept coming. “I’m sorry…” she whispered. “I’ll leave.” She ran blindly, too embarrassed to face Ryouga. Then someone grabbed her wrist.
“Ukyou, wait.” Ryouga said. “I…I have a favour to ask.”

“Ranma! You’ve finally agreed to take Akane! I’ll leave my dear daughter in your hands…” Soun cried, tears flowing down his cheeks as he wailed dramatically.

Ranma stirred and used one hand to shield his eyes from the bright morning sunlight reflected into his eyes by the snow on the windowsill. His movement caused his head to ache a little, and groaned as Soun started his shrill wailing again.
“What are you talking about?” Ranma mumbled. Then he noticed Akane was still sleeping peacefully in his arms. *Oh my God…am I so in trouble, * he thought as he felt his face start to turn red. He sat up quickly, and looked up to find Kasumi, Nabiki, Dr. Tofu and Genma at the door, staring at him. “It…it isn’t what you all think!” Ranma blurted out. “Akane fell down the stairs, and…” But Genma and Soun were so busy celebrating that they weren’t listening to him explain at all. Then Akane, by now awakened by the ruckus, suddenly let out a squeal.
“What’s wrong?” Ranma asked worriedly.
“We’re in Ryouga’s room, aren’t we?” Akane asked. Surprised, Ranma glanced around and nodded.
“What are we doing in his room?” Ranma frowned. “I can’t even remember how we got here.”
“But if we’re in Ryouga’s room, then where is he?”

So all of them searched the whole of Tendo Dojo, but Ryouga seemed to have just vanished into thin air.
“Where has that stupid pig-boy got himself lost to?” Ranma muttered, quite frustrated after searching everywhere twice. He could just kick himself now for hugging Akane at the foot of the stairs, probably in front of Ryouga. That pig-boy was such an emotionally fragile guy, he had probably just rushed out blindly into the snowy night. “Ryouga! Where are you?!” he called out, getting more worried as the last rays of the sun started to fade in the horizon. It was really cold now, and the winter nights somehow seemed darker than usual…with a sigh, Ranma decided to give up the search. Ryouga obviously didn’t want to be found, and Ranma was feeling a bit weak from running up and down the Dojo the whole day. Slowly, he trudged back to the house, feeling bad about hurting Ryouga unintentionally. Still deep in his own thoughts, he bumped into Akane while going up the stairs.
“Akane! You’re supposed to be resting!” he said.
“I heard the door. I thought it might be Ryouga,” she replied.
“I’m sure Ryouga can take care of himself,” he replied a little curtly, feeling jealous. Since when did she get so anxious about Ryouga? Then he thought of her rushing out in the snow to get Dr. Tofu for him, and felt guilty immediately. How could he ever have doubted her feelings for him?
“Sorry…I’m just…tired.” Ranma said quickly, trying to ignore the hurt that had flashed across her cute features. Although he hadn’t been feeling too well, he had insisted in joining the search, partly because he couldn’t think of what to say or do in the presence of Akane after what had happened the night before.
“Ranma…what’s wrong?”
He tried to avoid meeting her eyes, but he couldn’t escape the attraction of that pair of dark blue orbs. *Akane… *
Her heart skipped a beat as his ebony black eyes met hers. The intensity of his gaze brought a blush to her cheeks, and she quickly looked away.
“I didn’t mean to…”
Ranma suddenly stopped her words with a gentle kiss on her lips.

At that moment, that one precious moment, time seemed to stop. Tendo Dojo, Ryouga’s mysterious disappearance, everything that had once held importance in their worlds simply melted away, now insignificant in the light of the new found quiet understanding in each other, where no words were need, or were able, to express all that they were feeling, now that the two hearts were finally one.