WARNING : This fic's a liiiiittle mushy..........                
NOTE: This is the second version, so please read this again and
tell me if it's improved...
                     

                     Nabiki: Ooh!!! He wants Akane! 
                     Akane: You must be joking!!!    
                     Nabiki: Well you're the one who's always   
                     saying you hate boys.                       
                     Kasumi: Well you're in luck! He's half girl!

                   
                   **********************************
                    *Love gets in the way - Part One*
                         by Aurora A. Valenzuela
                   **********************************
     
     It has been a year since Ranma and Akane's disastrous
wedding day. Since then, things have more or less returned to the
way they had been before; although now there was more honesty
about their feelings and less fighting. They still fought often,
but only out of habit it seemed. Deep inside, they had an
understanding between them... but still no declaration of love.
Today has been their last
day of high school. Soon, they'll be heading off for college,
although Ranma is more inclined not to.
      What about the other characters?
      Nabiki and Kuno were already attending the university
across town. Both were doing surprisingly well; (Kuno was the
surprising part) Nabiki at Accounting and Kuno in Japanese
Literature. The two were quite an item now. In fact, there was
even talk of them sharing an apartment. Soun had yet to be told
about their plans however...
     Kodachi had finally gone off the deep end. She had had to be
admitted into a facility for the mentally unstable and they had
heard that she was keeping her doctors' hands full. She was
content enough however to take care of her poisonous plants and
herbs.
     Ukyo was still running Ucchan's and still heartbreakingly
single. Konatsu was still there to lend her a helping hand or
whatever body part she needed...but even he began to see that she
would never love him in the way he wanted.
     Shampoo and Mousse were bit by bit growing closer. Cologne
had begun dropping hints that they'd be returning to China but
both Ranma and Akane hoped it wouldn't be too soon. Life would
never be the same without the Chinese gang.
     Ryoga and Akari were definitely a couple now. They had just
recently gotten engaged and the two looked do sweet together it
made Ranma barf. He and Akane avoided them altogether 'cos seeing
them so in-love raised questions about their own relationship. 
     Dr. Tofu had finally broken down and confessed his love for
Kasumi. It had been hard for him not to when he had been chained
by Nabiki to the kitchen sink until he did. Kasumi had accepted
his offer of marriage under one condition: that they not set a
date until everyone else had settled down. Dr. Tofu didn't mind.
He had all the time in the world.
     Genma and Nodoka were working on resolving their marital
status. Nodoka had made Genma promise not to turn himself into a
panda on purpose or else... He missed the easygoing days of being
a panda, but he did find it more rewarding proving himself a man.
     Right now, Nodoka was visiting a friend who was expecting a
baby. She would come back within three days.
     Soun was beginning to grow more independent. Just the other
day he had gone on a date with Ms. Hinako. It had turned out into
a disaster....at least, to everyone but the two of them.
     Happosai....well, he's been that way for YEARS...you expect
him to change now???? 
      That has been the year-after at a glance. Let's get on with
the story.
     
     Ranma and Akane were walking home from school together.
Ranma was laughing boisterously as he yacked, "Can you believe
it, Akane?! High school's over!"
     Akane didn't join in. "Oh, I don't know. I'm sure going to
miss my friends," she reasoned, thinking of Yuka and Sayuri.
     "I will too," Ranma rather defensively replied. "I just
don't think school's worth it, that's all."
     Akane nodded, brightening as a thought occurred to her.
"Maybe they'll go to the same school we will."
     Ranma winced. "Look, Akane. I might not go."
     She cast him a sidelong glance. "Not if your father has
something to say about it."
     They neared the house.
     "Never mind that now." He turned to face her uncomfortably
as she let themselves in. "You wanna go celebrate? We could go
get some ice cream at the diner in town," he suggested nervously.
     Akane reddened with pleasure. He was actually asking her
out! "Sure! Let me just go up and change my clothes first."
     She practically bounded up the stairs.
     As she rummaged through her closet, she tried to convince
herself they weren't going out on a real date. They were just
going to grab something to eat. Nevertheless, she brought out her
best red dress and stared at it for a moment. Why not? she
thought. It really was a day for a celebration. With a flourish,
she took off the tacky blue uniform for the last time. Tucking
her feet into sandals, she studied herself in the mirror. Not
bad... With a smile, she went down the stairs.
     Faintly at first, she detected voices coming from the living
room. She stopped dead in her tracks when she finally recgnized
to whom they belonged to.
      One of them was Ukyo's. She sounded like she was crying. "I
just can't stand it anymore," she sobbed. "My life is so empty;
I'm so alone. She cried even harder.
      "Ucchan, you'll never be alone," came Ranma's voice. "I'll
always be here for you."
      "Truly?" Akane could just imagine her snuggling next to
him. The thought made her blood run cold. "Oh Ranma, I always
knew you and I were going to get married in the end."
      Akane felt as if all the air had been sucked out of her in
one terrific gasp.  
     Ranma's eyebrows shot up. "No way! I meant-" But his
protests were drowned out as Akane crashed through the wall
standing between them. Her gaze was chilling. He understood why:
he and Ukyo made a pretty picture. She had laid her head on his
shoulders, and he had wrapped an arm around her for support. But
she's just my friend! he wanted to shout out.
     Akane didn't react at the sight of them together. She felt
it was useless to. What she saw before her was betrayal pure and
simple. Here she was dressed to go out with him and
she had caught him redhanded with another girl. And she had so
much thought their relationship was going somewhere. She grew
angry again. Here was the proof that she had deceived herself all
along. She had opened her heart to him and he hadn't even spared
it a glance. Well, she vowed grimly, that's going to end right
now.
     Something was wrong, Ranma thought. She wasn't attacking him
like she normally did. And somehow, that made it a lot worse than
all her beatings combined. The silence was uncanny.
     Seconds began to tick off the clock. He hoped to God
she'd start hollering soon.
     Akane finally spoke, but her voice was calm and even. Her
eyes were distant and cold, so very cold. "Well, I see what a
nuisance I am here. I'll be going." She turned on her heel to
walk away.
     Ranma reached out and caught her by the arm, letting go of
Ukyo and making her fall in a heap to the floor. "Aren't you even
going to hear what I have to say???"
     A bitter smile played on her lips. "Actions speak louder
than words, Ranma, and we have nothing left to say to each other.
You've made your choice and I respect that. I just wish I could
have spared you from the agony of being engaged to me."
     Akane was so hurt, tears began to form. The last thing she
wanted to do was let Ranma see how he could affect her, so she
covered herself up by saying something that shocked her
as much as it shocked him. "I WISH THERE HAD NEVER BEEN AN
ANYTHING GOES SCHOOL OF MARTIAL ARTS." 
      Ranma let go of her arm as he stood back in shock. Her
words seemed to reverberate through the whole of the room. 
     No school?! That was blasphemy and she knew it. They had
been raised to believe wholly and completely that it would be an
honor to inherit the dojo. An honor worth dying for! Was she
turning her back to her family and upbringing so she would be
free of him??? Did she really hate him that much??? The obvious
answer was staggering.
      Deliberately and with finality, she gave him one last
look before she turned away.
      Even though all his other senses had taken leave of him,
Ranma's incredible ability to put his foot in his mouth kicked
in. "Wait!" he cried. "Does this mean we're not going out for ice
cream any more?"
      Ukyo rolled her eyes in disgust. She loved Ranchan but...
what a butthead.
     
     Ranma was sitting alone on the roof, trying to straighten
things out in his head. The look she had given him was so
withering he could have just shrivelled up and died. Of course he
knew that had been a dumb thing to say. He would have
punched himself for his stupidity if having a door slammed in his
face wasn't pain enough. 
     Why did she always have to leap to conclusions, he grumbled.
Ucchan was his best friend, in fact, she had been his only friend
for a very long time. Why couldn't she understand that there were
times he had to comfort her? Like today.
     That was what friends did, support each other. Not run away
after they'd seen him with someone else. Hmmmmph, he thought. How
much he reasoned that he was in the right, that didn't change the
fact that he was in the worst mess he'd ever had the misfortune
to stumble into.  And that was saying a lot.
     Oh Akane, he sighed.
     His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a familiar
figure hopping around the street. It was carrying a sack twice
his size and was cackling with glee. He jumped up to apprehend
it, unknowingly relieved at the diversion. He twisted himself
into a flying kick aimed right on target.
     Happosai looked up just in time to sidestep nimbly away.
     A scuffle ensued. Ranma attempted to grab the sack again and
again, but Happosai frustrated him by yanking it just out of his
reach. Finally, it came down to a point where Happosai was
knocked down temporarily. Furious at being deprived of his silky
darlings, he drew out a lit bomb. His anger blinded him and he
didn't notice that the bomb was pure black with a skull and
crossbones etched into it.
     Ranma did however and began flailing his arms about
frantically.
     He hurled it without bothering to aim. 
     The bomb missed Ranma by a foot, and sailed through the air.
He and Happosai watched as it began to descend on the dojo.
     Happosai's eyes bulged in panic and fright. "No! No!
Wrong bomb!"
     The explosion almost deafened them.
     
     Akane jumped out of bed, crying out in fear. Her first
thought was for her family and whether they were alright. With
her heart beating loud in her chest, she rushed outside. Luckily,
her sisters, father and Mr. Saotome ran out at about the same
time. If it wasn't the house, could it be...? Everyone else
seemed to reach the same conclusion at the same time and with a
mad scramble, they all tried to squeeze out the door
simultaneously. Akane managed to elbow her way out first.
     With a scarcely muffled cry, she watched as flames licked
the the Tendo dojo.
     She sank to her knees in anguish as her wish came true.
     
     No one was able to get much sleep after what had happened.
So the next morning, everyone walked around like zombies with
circles under their eyes. Their hearts were heavy.
     For once, even Kasumi wasn't oblivious to the tragedy. She
went to her tasks woodenly, pausing only to shed a tear when no
one was looking. Oh mother, if only you were here to help us, she
thought.
     Still, Akane was the one most deeply affected. She was
deadly pale and she started when someone addressed her. In her
mind's eye she could see the burning dojo, hear the alarm
of the firemen come too late. And she saw herself wrathfully
wishing that the dojo was no more. Meaning it. Wanting it for
real. 
     It was almost too much to bear.
      Ranma was sitting at the table, picking his food
despondently. He must be so depressed that even *food* doesn't
matter anymore, she thought sadly.  
      Her thoughts were interrrupted when Nabiki appeared. She
looked pale and withdrawn. She surprised them both by announcing
that "father and Mr. Saotome want you." With a shake of her head,
she trudged up the room. Ranma and Akane knew that she would do
the one thing that never failed to calm her down. She would count
her money. Akane sighed, wishing she too had a comfort habit.
     Stiffly, she and Ranma rose and moved toward Happosai's
room. The latter had disappeared right after the incident, and
Soun and Genma had remained closeted in his quarters since then.
     As they walked, inevitably their shoulders brushed each
others. They recoiled as if run through with an electric shock.
Ranma made a little motion of his hand to indicate she go first.
Head bowed and tears swelling, Akane had to bite back her sobs.
He hadn't forgotten.
      Soun gestured for them to sit down on the floor. They
did so with dread.
      Genma spoke first. "I know how hard this must be for you
two. So that's why Tendo and I have reached a decision." His
voice cracked and he lowered his head as he was overcome with
emotion.
      They turned to Soun questioningly.
      He continued gravely. "You two are always saying how much
you hate each other. Since the dojo has burned down, there is no
need for you to remain engaged any longer." His face contorted
with pain. He faced Genma and they clapped each other on the
back, bawling loudly.
      "WWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" they cried.
      Ranma and Akane were stunned. They turned to each other,
mouths dropping open in shock. The distance between them seemed
to grow, seperating them forever and ever.
     "No!" The cry tore out from Akane's lips. Ranma reached for
her like a drowning man. But the distance between them just gew
and grew. 
      
     It was another sleepless night on the part of Ranma and
Akane. Soun and Genma's decision rocked the whole family. But
they were already in enough shock that they didn't make as big a
deal as they would have before the incident.
      Nabiki had however exclaimed, "Why can't you just build
another dojo?" 
      To a spectator, that would have been a logical and
reasonable suggestion and would have been capitalized at once,
but the Tendo dojo was different and the rest didn't bother to
answer her question. She just didn't understand the
way the martial artist foursome did.
      The idea had also entered Ranma's mind, but there was a
memory of something Genma said to him that made him dismiss it
without further thought.
      When he was five, he had gotten fed up with Genma while he
had been describing the Tendo dojo to him. His father had been
using the description to impress on him the responsibility he
would undertake, and anything about responsibility irritated him.
He had innocently asked, "Why don't we just build another dojo?"
Genma had stared at him like he had sprouted horns and a tail. As
if he had uttered some blasphemy and he was now afraid for him
because of what might happen in consequence. "Are you crazy?!" he
had shouted. "There can only be one School of Anything Goes
Martial Arts! It was made through our heart's blood and we take
great pride in it!" He had begun expounding on family honor,
another topic Ranma found uninteresting, so he had tuned out the
rest.
     Nevertheless, to this day he could vividly recall the look
of horror that had passed his father's face. 

                     *      *      *      *      *
                    
      Also, Shampoo, Mousse and Cologne had dropped by yesterday
and they'd overheard (more likely eavesdropped) about the broken
engagement. At once, Shampoo had thrown herself at Ranma,
babbling about how the ancient laws could finally be followed. Of
course, Mousse had been very upset to hear the news...especially
after the progress he had made with her...but Ranma didn't
care. He had more important things to think about.
     Like Akane. After all that they'd been through, he couldn't
lie anymore about not feeling something for her. If it wasn't the
l-word it sure was something close to it. He saw now that he had
taken their engagement for granted. He had always assumed he'd
have time to decide what his feelings really were. But now their
baka fathers had broken off their engagement...just when he
was starting to like it. Typical!
     But their decision hadn't left him room to dilly-dally. He
was going to have to confess soon.
     If only I could ask my mother for advice...
     He bolted upright. "What am I talking about?!" he yelled. "I
really can ask my mother for advice." Problem is, he thought
sinking down again, she won't be back 'til day after tomorrow.
That would mean waiting... He suddenly grew comfortable with the
idea. "I'll wait for Mom to return. That way I can't lose. After
all, things couldn't possibly get any worse."
          
     "Hey."
     Akane broke out of her reverie as she observed Nabiki
approaching her. She had been thinking about Ranma, her fi-
<ahem>, ex-fiance. She didn't want things to end this way. She
had been wrong the other day and she realized itnow; love
wouldn't go away so easily. But if she took the initiative and
talked to Ranma...he was so unpredictable!!! He could be sweet
and considerate one day, boorish and insensitive the next. She
could just imagine her walking up to him and saying, "Ranma, I
l-l-l-" She shook her head in frustration.
     If she couldn't say it in her head, how the heck was
she going to say it out loud?!
     But pretending she succeeded in making a clean breast of
herself, she was sure that all he was going to do was back off.
He would mutter something that didn't make sense and run for the
hills. Besides, she wasn't sure if she could stay in Nerima
anyway. Everytime she looked into the sad eyes of her family
she'd see an image of the dojo burning. Although, she didn't
believe they were aware of it, their silent accusation was there
everytime they talked to her, reminding her of her wish. Oh,
she'd do anything to go back in time and stop herself from saying
it! She didn't think she could stand much more of it.
     Nabiki handed her a letter that had just come in the mail.
She glanced at her younger sister with curiosity. "The Drama
Institute of Aomori? Is there something you're not telling us?"
     Akane grabbed it from her and ripped the envelope open. She
scanned the contents of the letter hurriedly.
     Nabiki threw her hands up. "Fine! Don't answer me! No one
does." She walked away shaking her head.
     Akane scarcely paid attention to her. Her gaze was riveted
on a phrase that had leaped up at her. *Congratulations! You've
been accepted!* Her?! How could she have been accepted? She had
only mailed the application form out of anger...
     Ms. Hinako had been the one to get her the forms. She had
urged Akane to attend the renowned acting school. She had said,
"I think you've got enormous potential, Akane."
     She'd been flattered but had told her teacher it was out of
the question. "Ranma and I will be going to the state
university," she had said. The unspoken word that had hung in
the air was "together."
     Ms. Hinako had nodded knowingly. Still, she insisted that
Akane bring home the forms.
     Akane did, to please her.
     That very same night, they were having dinner when Ranma
callously remarked that he thought college was a waste of time.
     She had been hurt, although she didn't show it. She had
assumed that Ranma also saw college as an opportunity to spend
time alone together, away from their families. So she had angrily
filled out the forms and dropped it into the mailbox. (Come to
think of it, she thought, that mailbox had moved.) She didn't
believe she would actually get in; after all, her only
experiences had been Romeo and Juliet and a handful of mediocre
elementary school plays. 
     But here was proof that she was wrong.
     A light went off in her head. She now had the perfect excuse
to get away from Nerima and start all over again.
     
     When Akane came bursting in, Soun and Genma were playing
shogi. Kasumi was cooking lunch while Nabiki watched her
disinterestedly. Ranma was staring into space, lounging on his
back. Her eyes rested on him a minute before she straightened and
declared, "I'll be leaving for Aomori in two days."
     At once, all their neat activities turned to chaos. Soun and
Genma face-faulted, cracking the board. Kasumi threw the frying
pan up, which almost hit Nabiki if Ranma hadn't reached out just
in time. "What?!" they all cried in unison.
     Ranma let go of the blistering pan, his eyes filled with
panic. "But why?!?!"
     Akane felt a prick of satisfaction. Her eyes were resolute
as she held up the letter. "This is why."
     Soun snatched the letter from her grasp. Not bothering to
read it, he broke into tears. Always sympathetic, Genma
immediately joined him. Kasumi waded through the small river that
had formed and patted her father's back. "It's OK, father, it's
OK."
     Akane contemplated her father sadly. It's not like I'm
enjoying this either, she thought. Ranma caught her attention,
and for a moment their eyes locked. It was with regret for what
might have been that made her look away. She fled to her room.
     Ranma followed her with his eyes, wanting so much to hold
and comfort her.
     But he didn't.
    

                                                     
 