Chapter 16


     "Ranma!" came a voice, a voice the Ranma easily recognized. It was
Ukyo's voice. Ukyo emerged from a the crowd that was before them. She was
with her daughter, Miki, whom was holding onto her mother's hand. She had
noticed Ranma among the crowd easily, simply because he was quite a
sight to behold. He easily stood out among the crowd. 
  "Ukyo," Ranma called out, waving his hand toward her.
  She regarded him, her heart beating rapidly. He looked so beautiful, like
a masterpiece created by a sculpture from the Renaissance. She noticed that
there was this person standing next to him, about the same build, and every
bit ad handsome. She wondered who this guy was. As she walked up to Ranma, she 
gave him a gentle hug when she noticed that Akane was with him. She really 
wanted to kiss him, but she remembered what he had told her in front of the 
elementary school the other day.
  She gave Akane a smile, "Hello, Akane"
  Akane smiled weakly. She felt a bit angry, angry that Ukyo had showed up.
She was having such a nice day, but it had been spoiled now that she showed
up, Akane now remembering that Ranma was taken. She had started to forget
that Ranma was attached, started to think he was no longer with Ukyo.
  Damn, Akane thought, why how could I have forgotten about her?
  "You're one lucky girl," Ukyo commented, giving Akane a wink.
  "Huh?" she asked, a bit confused, Why would Akane consider her one lucky
girl. Ukyo should be the one who was lucky. She was the one who had Ranma.
  "Um, Ukyo, I'd like you to meet my friend, Ryoga Hibiki," Ranma quickly 
interrupted, hoping to change the subject. Akane didn't know that he was in 
love with her. Also, Ukyo didn't know that either.
  Ryoga stepped forward, taking Ukyo's hand and kissed it. He gave her a
genuine smile, eyeing her quite fondly.
  Ukyo blushed a bit upon feeling Ryoga's lips brush against the back of her
hand "H-hello, Ryoga. I'm Ukyo Kuonji"
  That's a beautiful name, Ryoga thought, regarding her for a second,
studying her intently. She must have been the most beautiful woman he had
ever met, her long mane of brown chestnut-colored hair making her look like
a divine goddess.
  "Hi, Miki," Ranma said, kneeling low so his head was level with hers. He
gave her a sweet smile.
  Akane gave Miki an intent look, wondering who this beautiful little girl
was. She must be Ukyo's child, Akane thought to herself. Upon thinking that,
she wondered whose child she was. Who is the father? Could it be Ranma.....
  She gave the child a good look, studying Miki's features, trying to see
if she could make out some of Ranma's features on her face. She did look
like Ranma, her mane of hair to same color and texture as Meggie and
Jessie's. She also had the same eyes as Ranma, a caring and loving look to
it. Even though her eyes reminded Akane of Ranma's eyes, they looked a bit
different as if distant. Ranma's eyes looked like it was sad, about to cry.
Miki's eyes looked distant, stoic, as if it held back secrets.
  "H-hi," Miki said meekly, taking a step back. She looked scared.
  Ranma looked thoroughly confused. He could quite grasp why she was like
that toward him. He made no attempts to frighten the child. He made all his
moves non-threateningly, made it ostentatious that he was a loving and
caring person.
  "Akane, Ryoga, this is Miki," Ranma said, gesturing to the shy little girl.
  "Hiya Miki, I'm Ryoga Hibiki," he said, giving her a big smile.
  "Hello, Miki. I'm Akane Tendo," Akane said, bowing politely.
  "H-hello" Miki said quietly, speaking to both of them yet neither at the
same time. She took another step back, hiding behind her mother's legs.
  "She's shy," Ukyo commented, patting the little child on her head.
  "Is she your child?" Akane asked. She knew she was. The little girl looked
like the spitting image of her mother. They both had the same hair, and the
same delicate yet beautiful facial features.
  "Yeah," Ukyo replied.
  Ranma opened his mouth to tell Akane that Miki was also his daughter also,
but the words died before they emerged from his lips, Ranma having realized
something had gone terribly wrong.
  "Where's Jessie?!" he said, his voice faltering. He had released Jessie's
hand only a second ago. And now, she was nowhere to be seen. Panic started
to seep into his body, a deep fear enveloping him. His heart was racing,
beating rapidly, as if about to burst at any minute. Adrenaline now coursed
throughout his body.
  Everyone quickly split apart, surveying the surrounding area, returning to
the same spot five minutes later, none of them having spotted Jessie.
  "Oh god, where is she?!" Ranma said. He couldn't believe this was
happening to him. He had let go of her hand for a split second. She was
smart enough to know not to wander off alone.
  Akane gave Ranma a concerned look, regarding him intensely. Ranma was
breaking out in a huge sweat, his shirt looking like it was soaked through.
The knuckles of his clenched hands were white, Akane glad that she, instead
of Ranma, was holding Meggie's hand. Otherwise, all of the bones in the
little girl's hand would have been crushed in his hand.
  "Where do you think she went?" Ryoga asked, gazing intently into the
crowds of passing people, hoping to discern a little girl from within in,
coming up with nothing.
  "I wish I knew," Ranma said, trying desperately to calm himself down. He 
knew that he couldn't stay in the excited state he was in. If he did, it would 
mean trouble for him. He managed to calm himself down slightly, his heart rate 
slowing down.
  "Let's split up again, but this time in groups," Ukyo said. She gave Ranma a 
sympathetic look, feeling exactly what he was feeling. She knew that if her 
own daughter was missing, she would be in a mad panic also. She couldn't help 
but admire how well Ranma was taking this, managing to stay calm in a
situation like this. Little did she know, Ranma had to keep calm. If he 
didn't, he'd have a whole bunch of other problems that a missing child would 
seem like nothing.
  Ranma nodded, "Ukyo, you and Meggie and Miki and Akane will go with Ryoga.
Go check the toy department store we passed earlier. I'll go to the food
court alone. Jessie might have money, and she knows how to buy food. She's a
pretty smart girl. We'll get back here in ten minutes"
  Ranma had always been a good leader, his leadership skills finally coming
in handy for a change. Afterall, if he weren't a good leader, he wouldn't
have been asked to become the president of a prestigious computer engineering
company overseas. But that was now in the past. He had more things to worry
about, like where the heck is his daughter.
  Ukyo, Miki's hand firmly in hers, and Ryoga and Akane, whom was holding
Meggie's hand, headed toward the toy department store, which was located not
too far way. They had been walking for ten minutes before Ranma found out
Jessie was missing, and they passed the store only five minutes ago.
  Akane stole a glance backward just as she rounded the corner, seeing
Ranma quickly head of by himself toward the other direction.
  
  "Are you lost, little girl?" a young girl asked. She was somewhere in her
mid-twenties.
  Jessie looked at the young girl, a bit caution about talking to strangers.
Her Daddy had always told her to never talk to strangers, no matter how nice
a generous they looked. Afterall, one couldn't judge a book by its cover.
  The young girl was a frail girl, her black hair, straggly and unkempt. She
looked meek, shy, always picked on by the girls when she went to high
school. She wore thick glasses, which made her look like an owl. 
  Jessie nodded to the girl. She knew that she wasn't supposed to speak to
strangers. Her Daddy always told her that. But nodding one's head didn't
mean she was actually speaking to a stranger.
  "What's your name?" the girl asked, bending over so her head was level
with Jessie's. When she did that, her thick glasses fell off, landing in
front of Jessie's feet. She as bent over to pick it up, she accidentally
bumped her head against Jessie's.
  "S-sorry," she apologized, quickly picking her glasses and putting them
back on. She took a step back, accidentally tripping on her feet, falling
backwards and onto the dirty ground, her wrinkled ankle-length skirt
becoming dirty around her backside.
  Jessie reached a hand forward to give the young girl a hand, helping her
to her feet. Even though her Daddy always told her not to talk to strangers,
he would definitely make an exception with this girl. She looked harmless.
Even if she wanted to kidnap her, she could easily outrun her, what with
the young girl being so clumsy and all.
  "I'm Jessie," Jessie said, giving the girl a polite bow.
  "I-I'm Chiako," the girl replied "Are you lost?"
  "Yeah, I'm lookin' for my Daddy" she said.
  "Hey look, it's Chiako" muttered a girl, pointing at the young girl. She was 
talking to several of her friends. She was had gone to the same high school as 
the young, straggly-haired girl. She and her friends always teased her, made 
fun of her, made wise-cracks at her. She always made fun of her because she 
wasn't as attractive as them, wasn't as popular as them, and very clumsy. At 
her high school, she was voted the ugliest girl in the entire school. She was 
also the most unpopular there, no one ever inviting her to
parties or asking her out.
  "Oh no, it's Masako," Chiako muttered to herself, just loud enough Jessie
to hear.
  "What are you doing here?" the girl said. She was a beautiful girl, most
likely voted the homecoming queen at the high school she attended "Is there
a freak show showing somewhere around here?"
  Even though she was very beautiful on the outside, like the friends she
were with, she was ugly on the inside. She had a personality the left much
to be desired. If she weren't such a slut in school, no boy would have liked
her. It was the fact that she was easy that made all the males flock to her.
  "Why don't you leave me alone?" Chiako said. She was sick an tired of always 
being picked on by Masako and her friends. They always picked on her, all the 
way through high school. And now, after not having seen each other for many 
years, she continued her barrage of vicious remarks.
  "And who's this little girl?" she asked, noticing Jessie as she held the
homely girl's hand "She can't be your daughter"
  "And why not?" Chiako asked. What was wrong with her having a daughter?
  "Because she's too cute. She can't be yours" Masako said, her friends
laughing along side her "And who the hell would ever want a child with you
anyway? You can never be a mother!"
  Jessie gave Masako a dirty look. She hated people like her, always
demeaning other people so they would make themselves seem so much better.
There were always girls like her in her elementary school, all of them
hated. 
  "C'mon," Chiako told Jessie softly "Let's go find your father"
  The best way to deal with this kind of situation was ignore them, not
giving them the satisfaction of finding out that they were succeeding in
getting her angry. That was why people kept picking on someone, because they
would constantly get angry.
  "She is, too, my Mommy" Jessie said the first words popping into her
head. She didn't like the fact that anyone would make fun of someone else.
She figured that she claiming that Chiako was her mother would make them
stop teasing her, them realizing that they shouldn't be teasing someone in
front of their own child.
  "Jessie!" came a voice from within the crowd, Ranma quickly emerging
from it, running past the group of teasing girls. They immediately stopped
their laughing as he ran by then, quickly trying to make themselves look
noticeable to him, much to no avail.
  "Daddy!" Jessie said, quickly releasing Chiako's hand, running forward and
leaping into her Daddy's embracing arms. They hugged each other tightly glad
to have finally found each other.
  "God, Jessie, I was so worried" Ranma said softly, still holding his
daughter in his arms "Where did you go?"
  "I'll tell ya later. Can you please do me a favor, Daddy?" Jessie asked,
whispering into Ranma ear so the teasing girls wouldn't here.
  Ranma gave Jessie a confused look, and then he nodded. He would do
anything for her.
  "Can you pretend the girl behind me is my Mommy?" she said softly "The
girls behind you were making fun of her. They say she can never be a Mommy.
They're makin' fun of her because they think she's ugly"
  "Sure," Ranma said.
  Ranma took a deep breath, and then released Jessie, walking over toward
Chiako, embracing her in a loving hug.
  "Hi honey," Ranma said loudly, loud enough so the girls behind them could 
hear.
  "H-hi," Chiako said, her heart beating rapidly. She didn't know what to do. 
She was being held by the most handsome man she had ever seen. Men half as 
handsome as him would have ignored her, thinking they were too good for her. 
But here was Ranma, holding her in his arms, her face pressed against his
muscular chest.
  Is this how nice it feels to be held, Chiako thought, loving the embrace.
She knew this would never last, but she wanted to enjoy it for as long as
possible. She knew this must have been a misunderstanding. No one anywhere
near to as good-looking as Ranma would have even looked in her direction,
let alone hold her in their arms.
  The other girls stared in disbelief, no believing what they were seeing.
They couldn't believe what was transpiring before them. They actually thought
Chiako would never get a man in her life, that she would live a life of
solitude. But here they were, watching as she was being embraced by a man
more handsome than anyone they had ever imagined, fantasized about.
  "Yep, she's my Mommy, and he's my Daddy" Jessie said, a big smile on her
face. She liked the way these girls looked with their mouths wide open.
  "I-I think you have the wrong person," Chiako said, her voice soft. She 
could feel her knees go weak. If it weren't  for Ranma holding her, she would 
have fallen from her buckling knees. She felt light-headed, like this was all 
a dream.
  "Jessie told me those girls behind you were teasing you," Ranma said softly, 
whispering into her ear. The sight made it look like he was nibbling her ear, 
which the girls behind them surely thought "I'll get them to leave you alone 
once and for all"
  Chiako just nodded, not really knowing what was going on. She was in a
daze from being within such close proximity to this man.
  "Honey, I've missed you so much," Ranma said loudly, lifting the girl in his 
arms, swinging in a circle "I couldn't get you outta my mind ever since you 
dumped me. Please forgive me"
  The girls behind them watched intently. They couldn't believe what they
had just heard. Did he just say SHE had dumped him?
  "I love you," Ranma proclaimed "Please take me back"
  "Um....s-sure," Chiako said.
  "Hey, this isn't some soap opera or something," Ranma said, turning his
head to face the small group of girls, the girls Jessie said that were
teasing Chiako.
  The girls quickly scattered.
  "Oh my god, did you see that man?" Masako said, glancing back at the two
couple, envying Chiako, wishing it was she who were in Ranma's arms "He's
absolutely gorgeous"
  Her friends nodded in acknowledgment. They all envied Chiako, wondering
how she managed to find someone like him. They had always made fun of her.
But considering where she was, which was in Ranma's arms, she was not
someone who should be made fun of.
  "We better not bother her anymore?" she said "She's far off better than we
are"
  With that said, the girls disappeared into the crowd of people.
  "Looks like they'll never bother you again," Ranma said, a soft smile on his 
lips. He was staring intently through Chiako's thick glasses, into her 
beautiful crystal-blue eyes. Her eyes generated this warm sense of caring, 
something that most people would have missed "I'm Ranma Saotome"
  "C-Chiako. Chiako Masuka," she replied, stuttering a bit. She felt
incredibly nervous and incredibly self-conscious as Ranma looked at her.
  "You're very beautiful," Ranma said, giving her a kiss on her forehead as
her released her from his embrace "I want to thank you for finding my
little daughter"
  "I-I'm happy I could be some help, R-Ranma" she said, steadying herself. She 
could feel her heart still beating rapidly. She had never been so close to a 
man before, especially a man as gorgeous as him. Men like him would have 
ignored her "D-do you really think I'm beautiful?"
  She wanted to make sure she had heard him correctly. Actually, she wanted
to make sure she didn't hear the sarcasm in his voice. When he repeated it
as genuine and sincerely as before, she knew he wasn't lying.
  Jessie pulled on his leg, causing him to turn his attention from her and
onto him. She reached her hands up, signaling from him to pick her up in his
arms. When he did, she quickly said something into his ear when Chiako
wasn't paying attention.
  "Chiako," Ranma said "I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner sometime
soon"
  "D-dinner?" she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was actually
being asked out on a date. She had never been asked on a date before. She
quickly gazed at his left hand, looking for a wedding band but seeing
nothing. She was expecting him to be married. Afterall, all the good ones
were taken. But this didn't seem like the case.
  "Yeah," he said, speaking softly "It's the least I can do"
  "I-I better not," Chiako said, sullenly. She knew she didn't deserve a man 
like him. He was like a dream, and it seemed he should stay like that, a dream 
"I have to go to work in a little while"
  "Where do you work?" he asked.
  "Um, I work at Mizunkan Hospital" she said proudly, considering how
miserable a life she had, her job was something to be proud of. She was a
doctor at one of the most prestigious hospitals in Japan. The hospital was
one of best hospitals anyone could go to for medical help. She had been made
fun of for being such a brain, a geek, a nerd, but it all paid off at the
end, she attaining the profession she always aspired for.
  "I had a friend who was treated at Mizunkan Hospital," Ranma said, brushing 
as bang off of Jessie's forehead as she leaned her head against his broad 
shoulder "He was hit by a drunk driver. The woman he always loved came to 
visit him. She was the manager of the apartment he resided in. She told me
she told him she loved him. Unfortunately, he died that night"
  "I'm sorry to hear that," Chiako said. She knew how if felt to lose someone 
close to her, she having lost her mother to cancer not too long ago. It had 
devastated her. She had cried herself to sleep every night for many
months.
  Ranma looked at his watch. It read exactly seven minutes after he and the
rest of the group had split up to search for Jessie.
  "I guess I better get going also. Anyway, well, we're bound to meet each
other sometime again" Ranma said, giving her a friendly smile as he turned
to leave "I just hope it's under better circumstances"
  "Same here,"
      
  "I know I was supposed to stay still but I saw a person walking a puppy, and 
it was so cute that I had to go pet it" Jessie told Ranma as he stood at the 
appointed meeting place for the group "When I walked up to it and petted it, I 
realized that I had wandered off to far. When I tried to go back, I guess I 
ended up makin' a wrong turn. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, 
Daddy"
  "Don't worry about it," Ranma said, grateful that he could hold Jessie in
his arms once again. He had begun to think of the worst when he ran through
the maze of rides and amusement booths. It was something that he didn't want
to happen again. He had lost sight his daughter once before, and because of
that one mistake, his life had changed because of that.
  "Ranma, you've found Jessie," came a voice.
  Ranma turned his attention to where it came from, resting on Ukyo, who was
holding tightly onto Miki's hand as she emerged from the crowd, Ryoga and
Meggie and Akane in tow.
  "Yeah, I found her with this young girl," Ranma said, giving Jessie a pat on 
her pretty little head, loving how soft her hair felt to his touch. He made 
sure he didn't mention what he did with this girl. He didn't want to give 
Akane the wrong idea about him.
  Akane gave the little girl a loving embrace, glad that she was back. She
knew could recall getting lost herself at a carnival once when she was very
young, her father, Soun, nearly having a heart attack trying to find her.
She didn't want Ranma to go through the same ordeal her own father went
through. Luckily, Ranma had found Jessie within a fifteen minutes after
finding out she was missing, unlike Akane, who wasn't found for several
hours.
  Ranma watched as Akane did this, smiling inwardly as Jessie returned her
embrace. She must have taken a keen liking to Akane already. It gave him a
warm feeling that Akane would worry about his daughters that much. She
seemed to have this maternal air to her that his daughters needed. She was
also the kind of person Ranma needed. But she was only interested in his 
daughters, not him. If she were to ever marry him, it would be a marriage of 
convenience, not love. Afterall, Akane didn't love him. Even if she didn't 
love him, Ranma cared too much about his daughters to feel uncomfortable 
around her. He didn't want to deprive his twins of the motherly figure in 
their lives even if that motherly figure wasn't interested in him.
  "Can I have a word with you, Akane?" Ranma said, coming up with a plan. He
let Ryoga take hold of Jessie and hand as Akane let Ukyo hold Meggie's.
  Akane nodded as she headed off with Ranma to someplace more private. She
was curious to hear what he wanted to talk to her about. Secretly, she was
hoping he would confess his love for her, but she was being too optimistic.
She knew that would never happen. She remembered how Ranma's eyes lit up
when he saw Ukyo. Then again, his eyes lit up in the same fashion when he
met Ryoga.
  "What is it?" Akane asked, looking up into his eyes. She noticed that
there was this sense of sadness in them she couldn't quite explain. It was
as if his eyes wanted to tell her something really important.
  "I was wondering if you'd like to spend some time with my daughters" he
asked, his gaze intense. Even though his eyes looked like they could see her
thoughts, Akane didn't feel uncomfortable. She was close to him, and that
never made her uncomfortable "Jus' a couple of days"
  "What?" she asked. She wanted to make sure she heard that correctly. She
was wondering why he would ask her and not Ukyo. Ukyo had a daughter,
afterall, making her a much better person to look after his children. Ukyo
had experience with children, not Akane.
  "I-I need some t-time alone," he lied. He didn't need time alone. He wanted 
to spend every minute of his life with her. But because he couldn't, spending 
some time alone was the best thing. He wanted his children to spend some time 
with her, to get to know her, to be near her.
  "I-it's okay with me," she said. There was no reason for her to decline his 
request. She actually looked forward to spending time with them. She had spent 
many years living alone in her large and vast house that she would very much 
like company. She could recall how nice she felt when she waited in the 
kitchen for Ranma to come up from the basement, glad that the house was no 
longer empty. Even if he hadn't come up, and she fell asleep, she felt this 
warm and secure feeling from knowing that she was not alone in
that house.
  "Thanks. I really appreciate it" Ranma said, smiling warmly. He was glad
that his judgment of her was correct, that she did like spending time with
his daughters. The fact that she liked his children seemed to overshadow the
sadness in his heart from her not liking him. He'd rather have it where she
liked his children instead of him. His wife, Shori, had liked him more than 
the children, and eventually, that was what made her leave.
  "W-what are you gonna do?" Akane asked. She was wondering why he needed
time to himself. Then, out of nowhere, she started thinking that he wanted
his children out of the way so he could spend time with Ukyo.
  "I want to paint my mother's house," he said. He always did want to do it 
but had always put it off. But he hadn't truly decided that he was going to 
paint it until a few days ago, when he returned there after work, when he 
noticed exactly how run-down it looked.
  Akane blushed, embarrassed that she would have thoughts like that, thoughts
of Ranma lying to see Ukyo. Maybe it was her jealousy that was sending her
these thoughts. Afterall, she was jealous of the hold Ukyo had over him.
  "When do you want to do that?" she asked. It was already late in the day, 
and she knew he would get little work done today.
  "Tomorrow morning," he replied "I'd like to go out and buy some paint first. 
I want to do it tonight, after spending the rest of the afternoon here. Also, 
can spend the night at your house again?"
  "Sure," she said, a bit zealously. She was excited at the thought of
spending tonight and tomorrow with Meggie and Jessie. She had had such a
great time with them the other day. Sure, they were doing a jigsaw puzzle,
but the thought of doing a jigsaw puzzle with someone made it a whole lot
fun than doing it alone.
  Ranma said nothing. He gave her a warm smile "Thanks"
  "Daddy," Meggie called out from nearby "can we go on the merry-go-round 
again?"
  Ranma's face faulted, his stomach lurching at the thought that he had to
go back onto that god forsaken ride.
  This was going to be a long afternoon.



Chapter 17

     Ranma looked at the layout of the mall, which was located near the
entrance he entered through. He was looking for the department store. Within
moments, he found out where he was and how to get there. As he turned
around, he accidentally bumped into a man dressed in full police uniform.
Ranma noticed he was a handsome man with long, jet-black hair that extended
down his back, stopping just short of his slim waist, his bangs falling down
over the thick glasses he wore. His uniform made him look like a formidable
figure as he stood before him.
  Ranma looked at the man for a second, knowing that he had seen this
officer somewhere before.
  "Don't I know you?" he said, not quite placing the face.
  The officer gave Ranma an intense look for a minute before recognition
dawned all over his face "Aren't you Ranma Saotome?"
  "Yeah," he replied, still skeptical. Even though the officer knew him, he 
still didn't know exactly who the officer was "Who are you?"
  "It's me, Mousse," the officer said, pulling his glasses up of his face.
  "Mousse? What're you doing here?" Ranma said, thoroughly confused. The
last time he had seen him was in China a few years ago, when he was there on
a business trip for his computer engineering company. He remembered meeting
Mousse as he came running up to him when he was talking to Shampoo, telling
him to stay away form her.
  "Didn't Shampoo tell you?" Mousse said, eyeing Ranma intently. He couldn't 
help but smile inwardly to himself upon realizing some of the crazy things he 
had told Ranma when he thought Ranma was trying to steal his precious Shampoo 
away from him. He remembered actually challenging Ranma to a duel, a common 
thing in the village he and Shampoo grew up in. He couldn't believe he had the 
audacity to challenge him. Ranma, dressed in his business suit, looked like a 
formidable opponent for him. He was very built, and he looked like a true 
martial artist. He was secretly glad he hadn't fought Ranma, glad the he 
didn't embarrass himself in front of his beloved when Ranma beat him fair and 
square.
  "No. She didn't tell me a thing," Ranma said, scratching the back of his
head. He recalled the conversation he and Akane had with Shampoo at the
coffee shop the other day, Shampoo mentioning nothing about why Mousse was
here.
  "We moved here not too long ago," Mousse said, walking along side Ranma.
He didn't know where Ranma was going, but he just wanted the company. He had
gotten off of work an hour ago, and his beloved Shampoo wasn't finished with
her modeling shoot for another couple of hours. He didn't want to go home to
an empty house.
  "You did?" Ranma said, interested. He always liked Mousse. Sure, he did
have some hostile intentions toward him when they first met, and they
started out on the wrong foot, but when Mousse realized that Ranma had no
intention of stealing Shampoo, be became really friendly and generous. They
had become good friends just before Ranma had to head back to Japan after
his business trip.
  "Where do you live now?" Ranma added. He couldn't help but smile as he and
Mousse walked down one of the mall's massive walkways. He was truly happy
to see Ryoga after all these years, and now he met Mousse on the same day.
It couldn't really get much better than that.
  "I live in Nerima now," Mousse replied. He gave a sinister look that said
'You stay outta trouble' that seemed to give several gang members the creeps
as they walked by.
  "That's strange. I never see you on the streets" Ranma commented. But there 
were good reasons why their paths never crossed. Nerima was a very large town. 
Friends could live in the same town and their paths might never cross for 
years. Afterall, Ranma hadn't met Akane till just recently, and he had lived 
in Nerima for quite a while now. He knew that if he ever saw Akane walking the 
streets, he would have definitely  topped to talk to her, to perhaps get to 
know her.
  "Well, Nerima is a large town, y'know" Mousse said, still walking along
side Ranma, not quite sure where he was headed. He had been to this mall
countless times to take a shoplifter down to the station from time to time,
but he wasn't quite sure where he was. He was never in this section of the
mall before.
  "If I recall correctly, didn't Shampoo tell me you wear contacts," Ranma
asked. He could have sworn Shampoo told him that. He remembered joking about
how he would have to worry about Mousse thinking he was Shampoo anymore.
  "Yeah, but I accidentally lost one," Mousse replied "I hafta get a new pair. 
I'll probably get it next week. But right now, I like wearing my glasses. 
Actually, I prefer wearing glasses over contacts. I hate having to
put contacts in the morning. Even though they don't bother after a short time, 
they're very irritating at first"
  "Where are we headed?" Mousse added, changing the subject, taking his
police cap off to scratch his head, brushing his bangs away. He took his
glasses off to wipe them clean with a cloth he produced from his pocket,
nearly bumping into a trash can from the sudden lack of clear vision.
  "I have to buy some paint," Ranma said, smirking inwardly. He remembered the 
incident where Mousse hugged him when his glasses weren't on, thinking he was 
Shampoo. He remembered how embarrassed Mousse looked when he realized his 
mistake, when Shampoo sarcastically questioned his preference.
  "For what?" 
  "I want to paint my mother's house" came the reply.
  Ranma stopped as he reached his destination, stopping in front of the
paint department store. It was large store, supplying everything from paint
to lumber to sheetrock to tools. It was the kind of store women preferred to
avoid, nothing in there to their liking. Actually, it was meant for men.
Nothing was on sale so the men wouldn't be confused looking for the better
bargain. Everything came from tools to lawn equipment coming in colors in
either chrome or black. This was the store was where most men went to when
their wives and girlfriends were busy shopping for clothes somewhere else in
the mall.
  Ranma headed into the store, Mousse following suit. Inside, they only
men occupied the floor, most of them either looking at the tools or the high
powered lawn equipment. He noticed one man looking at a snow blower.
  Jeez, winter won't be here for a while, Ranma thought as he walked by him.
Maybe he was looking at it because it looked powerful..
  Ranma found and walked down the paint isle, "Now what color should I paint 
my mom's house?"
  "What color is her house originally?" Mousse asked.
  "I don't know," Ranma replied, thinking for a bit, trying to recall the
exact color of his mother's house. He couldn't quite place the color. He
knew it was somewhere close to maroon.
  "I think it was red"

  "Thanks, Mousse. I really appreciate it" Ranma said, placing the boxes of
paint cans on a nearby shelf in the garage. He had to move a couple of other
boxes aside for the space. The garage was used as a storage shed for
everything Nodoka had and never used. She just couldn't bring herself to
throw anything away. Everything had some sort of sentimental value to her.
  Mousse placed the other boxes of paint cans in the space Ranma had made
room for. He regarded the garage for a second, checking out everything that
was in there. He noticed, near the back of the garage, there were several
cardboard boxes label 'Ranma's stuff'
  "What's in there?" Mousse asked, pointing toward he cardboard box.
  "Let's find out," Ranma said, steeping over some crates to reach the back of 
the garage, pulling the box off the shelf and bringing it to the front, where 
there was light shining in through the opened garage door.
  He blew the dust off the top of the box, the dust creating a small cloud
within the garage, the moonlight shining in through the open garage door
making it look like the clouds found in the sky. After the dust cleared off,
he then opened to box. His eyes widened as a flood of memories enveloped
him.
  "Look at that, my very first pair of shoes," he said, pulling out an old
pair of beaten up sneakers. The shoestrings were missing, and there were
holes in the front, large enough for several toes to be exposed.
  He put that aside, and then looked back into the box.
  He produced several items along the way, telling Mousse of the story and
sentimental values it meant to him. There were some instances where Ranma
laughed aloud, happy at some of the memories the items evoked. But his
visage turned sullen when he produced a old photo album.
  "What's wrong?" Mousse asked. He noticed how Ranma's countenance changed
so dramatically. He had looked pretty happy as he went through the
memorabilia, telling him of the story behind them. But now, once he came
across this old photo album, his visage saddened. He looked like he was on
the verge of breaking down and crying.
  "N-nothing," Ranma said, looking intently at the old photo album. He could 
look at Mousse. He didn't want to see him like this. 
  Mousse looked over Ranma's shoulder, his gaze resting on a single picture
it held. It was a picture of Ranma when he was young. He was smiling happily
in the picture. But it wasn't Ranma that seemed to light the picture up. It
was the little girl he was holding. The girl looked like she was about two
years old.
  That must be one of Ranma's child, Mousse thought, remembering Ranma
having told him that he had two daughters. But why did he get so sad all of
a sudden? Shouldn't he be happy when he saw that picture?
  Ranma closed the photo album and placed it carefully into the cardboard
box. He then picked the box up and took it to the back of the garage,
putting it back onto the shelf he retrieved it from. As he came to the front
of the garage, the moonlight shone in on his face. Mousse noticed that the
sense of sadness to him was no longer there, as if he put a wall up.
  "Well, I guess I better get going now," Ranma said, changing the subject. He 
didn't want to dwell on the subject he was just on "Thanks, what with you 
helping me with getting my paint and bringing them here. I appreciate it"
  "Um, glad I could help," Mousse said "Would you like me to help you paint
your mom's house? I have the weekend off"
  "I'd really like that," Ranma replied. He could use the company. He had
never really spent much time with friends ever since his daughters were
born. Sure, he had Ryoga, but he was rarely in one place for a long time. He
had stayed with him for about a week when Jessie and Meggie were very young.
  "When're you gonna start? When should I be here?" Mousse asked. He was 
actually looking forward to spending the day with Ranma. He hadn't seen Ranma 
in a long long time, and he would like to catch up on the times they've missed 
out. He wanted to hear of how Ranma raised his children so perfectly, curious 
for he would be a father sometime in the near future.
  "I don't know. How about ten?" he said.
  "Sure. I'll be here" Mousse replied. He then looked around the garage for a 
couple of seconds before adding "Um, I just noticed, how are we going to paint 
the house? We don't have paint brushes or paint rollers"
  "Damn,"

  Akane was reading a book when there was soft knock at her door. She looked
at her watch, it reading 10:36 PM. It had been a little over three hours
since Ranma left to head for the mall. She had started to get worried after
he was gone for two hours. Even though she didn't know that much about
buying paint, she knew it didn't take three hours to buy them.
  "Sorry I'm late," Ranma apologized as she opened the door for him to enter, 
taking his shoes off. He gave her meek smile, knowing that she wouldn't 
believe his excuse if he told her. She'd just laugh at him for him being so 
forgetful. But to his surprise, she never asked "Um, are they awake?"
  "No, Jessie and Meggie fell asleep a short while ago," Akane replied. She 
gave Ranma a curious look, noticing that he seemed a bit tired. It looked like 
he needed some sleep. She noticed that there were rings under his eyes.
  "Where are they?" he asked. He wanted to kiss them good night before he
headed home. He was dead tired and wanted to go to sleep. He even
contemplated not taking his shower and just heading into his bedroom so he
could go right to sleep.
  "They're in the guest room. It's the one adjacent to mine" Akane replied,
following as Ranma headed up the stairs. His steps seems to be more
sluggish, more languid that usual "When're you going to paint your mom's
house"
  "At ten. I met Mousse at the mall. He wants to help out," he said, opening
the door for Akane to enter the room first. Akane noted this, that he would
open the door for her. It made her feel special. Ranma didn't even realize
he was opening the door for a female. He had gotten into such a habit of
opening doors for his daughters that he never gave it any thought.
  Ranma walked up to Meggie and Jessie, both of them sleeping on separate
futons Akane had laid out for them. They were sleeping at opposite sides of
the room. Meggie was sleeping nearest to the window, the window directly
above her, the moonlight shining in on her sleeping form.
  Akane watched as he walked over and knelt down next the Meggie, kissing
her on her forehead "G'night, honey"
  She then watched as he stood up and walked over to Jessie, kissing her on
her forehead, gently brushing a loose bang aside, exposing her angelic face
as the moonlight shone on it "G'night, honey"
  Ranma yawned aloud as he headed for the door, stretching his arms out. He
couldn't wait to go to bed. All he'd do once he stepped through the door into
his house would be take his shirt and pants off, and then jumping right into
bed "What happened to Ryoga, Miki, and Ukyo"
  Ukyo, Miki, and Ryoga had stayed behind at Akane's house as Ranma headed
left for the mall.
  "Ukyo had to leave at around eight, taking Miki with her. Ryoga left to
accompany her home" Akane said in one breath. She didn't bother to tell him
that Ukyo immediately had to leave as soon as Akane noticed some bruises on
Miki's arms when she entered the living they were talking in. Akane had
enjoyed their company while it lasted. While Miki and Jessie and Meggie were
busy trying to piece together another jigsaw puzzle they found in the attic,
Akane, Ukyo, and Ryoga were indulging themselves in some meaningful
conversation as they had tea and coffee.
  Ukyo had told Akane that Ranma was Miki's father. At first, she couldn't
believe what she was hearing. Ryoga listened intently as the conversation
continued. She told her that she hadn't told Ranma of this until the other
day.
  "You know, Akane, Ranma and I were once lovers" Ukyo had said as she
sipped her tea. Akane could distinctly remember her looking out the window
toward the backyard where Miki was doing the jigsaw puzzle with Meggie and
Jessie "But we went our separate ways. Right after we broke up, I moved up
to Hokkaido. I still have a house up there. Anyway, when I found out I was
pregnant a couple of months later, I came back to Nerima to tell him. But by
the time I came back, it was too late, he had met his future wife. I saw him
eating in a diner with her. I saw him as I passed the window. I went in to
tell him, but he looked happy. He had never had a happy life, but for the
first time in his life, he seemed content. So I left it as that. I turned
around and headed back to Hokkaido without saying a word to him. I kept
track of him, and I found out that he found a great job at a computer
engineering company a year after that. I wanted to let him know about Miki,
but I didn't want to bog him down with a child. Besides, by then, he
already had children"
  "Do you know where Ryoga's staying?" Ranma asked, causing Akane to snap
out of her little reverie.
  "Um, yeah, he mentioned he was staying at the hotel down the block. I
forgot the name if it, but it's the only hotel around. Why?" she said.
  "I wanted to ask him if he'd like to help me out," Ranma said. He hadn't 
seen Ryoga in a long long time, and he wanted to spend some time with him, to 
catch up on the times. Besides, he knew Ryoga and Mousse would become good 
friends. He ever since he had children, he never had a chance to get out much, 
to spend time with the guys. Most of the time it was spent with women, women 
trying to get to know him. But it was easy finding out their true intentions. 
All he had to do was tell them that he had two children, and they would leave 
him alone.
  Akane felt a tinge of anger welting up. Why doesn't he ask me to help, she
thought. She was free the next day. Sure, she was going to look after his
children, but she could be some help. She could make sandwiches and bring
out some refreshments from time to time.
  "How about you? Would you like to help?" Ranma asked, raising an eyebrow.
He knew Akane wanted him to ask. He knew she didn't really want to help, but
it was the fact that he asked was what counted.
  "Well, what about the children?" Akane asked. She felt a bit better now
that he asked her for some help. But she didn't really want to help. She
would definitely have her hands full with Meggie and Jessie. Besides, she
wanted to take them out shopping. She noticed that the twins tended to wear
clothes that were out of fashion. She realized that it must have been Ranma
who was doing the clothes shopping. Afterall, a man could care less about
fashion as long as the clothes looked and felt comfortable.
  "I guess you're right," Ranma said, allowing himself to play right into her
hands. He wanted his children to spend the day with her, not have her spend
the day with him. He preferred his children being with Akane over her being
with him. Afterall, the children came first "What do ya plan on doing
tomorrow?"
  "I'm not too sure. I'll think of something," Akane lied. She knew she was 
going to take his daughters to the mall to buy them some clothes. She just 
wanted this to be a surprise. She wanted to see his face light up when he saw 
his daughters in some new clothes.
  "Well, I better get going then" Ranma said, yawning again. He knew that if
he didn't leave, he'd fall asleep right where he stood "I have a long day
tomorrow"
  Ranma gave Akane a smile as he walked to the front door, sitting down on
the floor to put his shoes on. He was leaning his back up against the wall
so he could relax, and it made him feel a little bit too relaxed. He quickly
got back up and gazed at Akane in her eyes. Ah, what the heck, Ranma
thought. If she slaps me, then she slaps me.
  Ranma leaned forward and kiss Akane's cheek "G'night, Akane"
  He then turned around and left. Akane just stood there, unable to
comprehend what had just transpired. She could feel heat flushing to where
Ranma's lips brushed across her cheeks. She stared out the window of the
front door, watched him as he disappeared as he opened and walked through
the front gate.
  "G-good night, Ranma" she said softly with a warm smile, her cheeks flushed.



Chapter 18
  
     Ranma was just finishing his breakfast when Nodoka called out for him,
telling him there was someone here to see him. He quickly took hold of the
plate and the empty glass and put them in the sink, quickly rinsing and
washing them off before putting them back into the shelf.
  He was at Nodoka's house, all ready to begin work. He had spent the night
there. 
  Nodoka was surprised to see him show up at her door last night, but she had 
no problem letting his stay for the night.
  "What are you doing here at this late?" Nodoka had said. It was around
eleven when Ranma had rung the doorbell. Naturally, since she was hard of
hearing she would have not heard the doorbell at all, but she and Ranma not
longer had to worry about that ever since Ranma installed a small device
that made a vibration reverberate through the house. That meant Nodoka
didn't hear the doorbell, but rather felt it. It also meant his daughters 
wouldn't be woken up.
  "I want to paint your house," Ranma had said, taking his shoes off. He 
didn't
even need to be asked to come in. He was always welcomed in her home. Every
time he did show up, it seemed to brighten her day. That was why Ranma made
it an effort to show up every day or every other day.
  "Hi Ranma," Mousse said, entering the kitchen, causing Ranma to snap out of 
his little reverie of last night's conversation. Mousse was in some old 
clothes, consisting of some worn-out jeans and an old sweat shirt. His long 
hair was tied up into a long ponytail so it won't get in the way while he was 
working.
  Ranma looked at the clock that hung on the wall "Wow, you're right on
time," He always liked that, punctuality. He never liked being late in
meeting someone, and he liked it where no one was late meeting him.
  "Thanks," Mousse said. He had never been late for anything in his life, and 
he wasn't about to start it his tardiness with Ranma. He smiled as he regarded 
Ranma, noticing that he was wearing the same attire as him,
worn-out jeans and an old sweat shirt.
  "Mom, this is my friend Mousse," he told his mom, placing an arm around him 
like he was an old buddy he knew for many years. It felt a bit odd for Ranma, 
as if he was in elementary school, introducing a new friend he had made in 
school. But he calmly disregarded that.
  "Hello, Mousse. It's nice to meet you," Nodoka said, bowing politely as he 
returned the guesture. She regarded him for a moment, noticing this 
authoritative air to him that seemed to make her feel at ease. Sure, she was 
with Ranma, but she would probably feel more safe around Mousse if it came 
down to it. And she couldn't quite tell why.
  "Good morning, Saotome-sama" Mousse said, smiling sweetly. He already liked 
Nodoka. He liked her when he first set eyes on her. She seemed very wise, like 
his great-grandmother-in-law, Cologne. But there was something more to Nodoka 
that made him like her more. She seemed like a great mother and grandmother. 
She seemed kind and generous and, most of all, honorable.
  "Please, call me Auntie Nodoka," she said. She always liked that title. It
gave her a warm feeling. All of Ranma's acquaintances called her that. Ryoga
always called her that, even when he was young. Ukyo called her that the
first day she met her. All of Ranma's friends, albeit there were few, called
her 'Auntie Saotome'.
  "You want to start?" Ranma asked, interrupting. He knew that if given the 
chance, his mom would tell him of his upbringing, sans the abuse. She would 
have given him detailed stories on some of the stupid things he had done in 
his life, if not stupid, then at least all the embarrassing things.
  "Sure," Mousse said. He was actually eager to do some painting. He had been 
working for so long that he never had the time to do any constructive work. 
His job required that he worked long hours, leaving him little time to do 
things he enjoyed. And it just so happened that he enjoyed painting houses. It 
was one of the few things he did real well, aside from his job and from being 
a good husband.
  "Can you go get everything set up? I want to give an old friend of mine a 
call. I want to see if he can help," Ranma said, reaching for the phone that 
hung on the wall near the refrigerator.
  He reached up and grabbed hold of the yellow pages that was always located
onto of the fringe. He thumbed through the pages quickly, stopping once it
reached 'hotels'. He quickly looked through a bunch of listing before
stopping at the name he remembered of the hotel nearby Akane's house. He
punched in the numbers, humming happily to himself as he did so. Today was
looking up for him. He had woken up to a full cooked breakfast, something
that rarely ever happened to him since he was the one who usually had to do
the cooking, his friend showed up at the right time and was now outside
setting everything up, and here he was, calling his friend.
  "Hello?" came a voice on the other line. It was a the manager of the hotel, 
Ranma recognizing that it was a female voice. The voice sound sweet and 
elderly, like a woman in her fifties.
  "Um yes, is this the Nerima Hotel Lodge?" he asked. He hoped he dialed the
number in correctly.
  "Yes," came the reply.
  "Can you please patch me through to Ryoga Hibiki's room?" Ranma asked. He
knew there would be an answer. He knew Ryoga always woke up early. He just
hoped he was still in the hotel.
  The lady put him on hold for a second, the background playing some old
songs he could recall hearing from his childhood. After a while, he started
humming with the melody. After about a minute or so, the line cut to a
phone ringing.
  "Hello?" came a voice, slightly energetic. Ranma knew it was Ryoga, knowing 
that he was a morning person. He sound very cheerful on the phone, as if he 
had just stepped out of a refreshing shower.
  "Ryoga, it's me, Ranma," Ranma said.
  "Hey, Ranma. How's everything going?" Ryoga asked casually. Even though
they hadn't spoken on the phone with each other for quite a while, two years
to be exact, Ryoga acted as if they've been calling each other everyday
since they became friends.
  "Everything's great. I wanted to ask you if would you like to help me
paint my mom's house today?" Ranma said.
  "Sure, I'd love to," Ryoga said zealously. He always liked working on homes, 
whether it be from plumbing to wiring to painting. It was quite ironic because 
he was rarely home. He usually traveled, preferred camping
out under the stars, sleeping in a sleeping bag over sleeping in a bed in a 
big house like his. Even though he liked doing outdoors-type things like 
building a fire or pitching a tent, he also liked working on a house.
  "Cool. When can you come over?" Ranma asked, already knowing the answer. He 
knew Ryoga was all dressed and ready to leave at a moment's notice.
  "I'll be there in about ten minutes," came the reply.
  "Great. I'll see you then,"
  
  Ranma looked at his watched, wondering how long it had been since they
started. The clock read 1:04. They had been working for a little over three
hours now. He turned his gaze onto Ryoga, noticing that he had taken off his
shirt to deal with the heat. It was very warm today. And it was the middle
of autumn. It wasn't scorching, but the work they did did make them sweat
a lot. 
  They were not only painting the house, but they were actually doing so 
repair to it. Mousse had found some tools in the garage and was using them to 
fix some broken shutters, replacing them with the ones they
had picked up when they realized the shutters should be fixed. He made a trip 
to his house where he fetched out some new shutters he had been meaning to add 
to his own house. 
  He took the shutters from his storage shed, feeling that he'd go out and buy 
some new ones when the time came to it where he finally decided to put them 
onto his own house. And while Mousse did this, Ryoga was busy reshingling the 
roof. He had went to a nearby home repair store and picked up a crateload of 
shingles. As the two did this, Ranma was busy ripping hole in one of the walls 
in the side of the house, hitting it with a sledgehammer that he had Ryoga buy 
while he was out buying shingles. 
  Ranma wanted to put in a new window for the livingroom. His mother
had always complained that there was never enough sunlight in the
livingroom. Even with all the blinds open, the livingroom still lacked
sunlight. From what they were doing, it was obvious they were doing much
more work than they had originally planned on. But it didn't bother them
one bit. They actually enjoyed doing things like this. That was why they
were so sweaty, everyone doing harder work than just painting.
  A cold breeze would blow by, but it wasn't enough to cool him
and his friends down.
  Ranma turned his gaze onto Mousse, who also abandoned his shirt due to
the heat, his shirt neatly folded and placed on a table where their drinks
were. He knew that Shampoo must be the cause of Mousse being like this,
being so neat and all. He knew that marriage tended to do that to a man.
Ranma had been like that. He used to be messy before he met Shori. But once
he got married, his habits changed. Now, Ranma was always neat. But then
again, his children was also a key element in that also. He wanted to set
a good example for them.
  Ranma wiped the sweat off his face, the sun shining brightly above. His
shirt was soaked with sweat. He wanted to take it off, but he wasn't wearing
a undershirt underneath. Sure, he could go topless, but he really didn't
want to. He had his reasons, reasons he preferred people not know about.
  He placed a hand over the interior right side of his chest, right near his
armpit, feeling the healed scar as it pressed against his shirt. It was a
large scar, stretching from his armpit to his sternum, riding under the
underside of his right pectoral muscle. It was something that he wasn't too
proud of. 
  That was why he preferred not to go to beaches, people always staring at his 
scar, wondering where he got it. Obviously, he was too young to say he had 
gotten it in a war. He usually lied and said it was from a
fight when he was little, his attacker slashing him with a knife. But if one 
looked carefully enough, they would know that it wasn't a cut made from a 
knife. Ranma knew exactly how that scar was made. It was made from a metal 
pole, heated up till it glowed red, as it was struck against him when he was 
very young. It was all his father's fault. Why did he have to abuse him like 
that? And that wasn't the only scar that his father had given him. 
  His back had three large scars, crossing from his right shoulderblade down 
his entire back stopping just short of the indentation of his pelvis bone on 
his waist. The three scars were all parallel to each other, as if he were 
scratched by a bear. But that hadn't been the case. His father had struck him 
one of those hoes used for breaking soil loose. It had three sharp-pointed 
claws on it that was used to break the soil down.
  He rubbed it, noticing the outward indentation of where the new skin
healed over the damaged ones. It felt as there was a thick wire buried
beneath the top layer of his skin. He a finger lightly against it, noticing
how compressed and tight the scar was.
  Ranma sighed as he continued to work, wishing he didn't have to worry
about that unsightly scar. 
  "Hey Ranma, when did your mom say she'll be back?" Ryoga called out, busy
ripping the old shingles off the roof and throwing them to the ground
below. He made sure Mousse and Ranma was nowhere nearby so he wouldn't hit
them.
  "She won't be back for a couple of days," Ranma replied. Nodoka had told
him she was going to spend some time at one of her friend's house. She told
him that she didn't like the smell of paint, and that it made her feel
nauseous and sick. It had happened to her once when he decided to paint one
of her rooms, and she had remained home as he did so "Why?"
  "Cause this job won't be finished for at least a few of days," Ryoga
commented. He knew this was at least a three day job. He had done shingling
once on his own house, and it took him close to four days to do it. But
since he had done this already, he figured he could skim a day off this time
around.
  "I know. But it'll all be worth it when she sees all these improvements"
  
  Akane sat down on a bench to catch her breath, her feet tired from all the
walking she had been doing. She had been at the mall for close to three
hours now, two hours more than she expected. She had bought plenty of
clothes for both Meggie and Jessie, enough to last them until they were in
college. She was glad they were finally finished with her shopping, glad she
could now head home. The twins had been quite a handful, and she couldn't
wait to relax after a very tiring day.
  I wonder how Ranma keeps up with this, Akane thought as she looked at her
watch. It read only 12:05. She couldn't see how Ranma managed to keep up with
his daughters. They were so full of energy it was unbelievable. Even though
they didn't cause trouble or any form of embarrassment, they never seemed to
stand still for more than a minute.
  "What're we gonna do now?" Meggie asked Akane, swinging her legs back and
forth on the bench as she sat next to her. She was eating an ice cream cone
Akane had bought for her and her sister.
  "We're going back to my place," Akane replied, adjusting some of the bags so 
she had a firmer grip. She must have had ten bags full of clothes from 
different clothing department stores, each of them feeling like they weighed a 
ton.
  "Okay, let's go," Jessie said, hopping on the bench to stand in front of
Akane, grabbing one bag from her hands to help her out. She couldn't hold
more than a few bags. They were too heavy for her.
  Akane sighed inwardly as she got up off the bench, handing a bag to Meggie
so she wouldn't feel left out in helping her. She smiled happily as she took
hold of one of the bags. Akane had it were Meggie and Jessie walked slightly
in front of her so she would see them if they decided to run off. Luckily
for her, they never did, at least up until now.
  "Wow, a piano," Jessie said, running into a store. There was a beautiful 
grand piano located at the front of the store. It was a glossy black Steinway, 
the best namebrand when it came to pianos. It was shining brightly from the 
interior lights, the white and black keys beckoning to be touched.
  "Wait a minute," Akane said, quickly running forward as Meggie followed her 
sister into the store. Akane had to stop to pick up the bags Meggie and Jessie 
placed on the floor before they ran for the store. She had to take a moment to 
pick them up. When she had them firmly in her grasp, she noticed that the 
twins were now in front of the grand piano, both of them sitting on the bench.
  As she ran forward heard to tell them not to touch, she realized she was
too late as they both raised their little hands to strike the keys. But,
to her surprise, it didn't sound like a bunch of keys being struck at once,
but more like a bunch of keys flowing into one another. 
  She stopped dead in her tracks as she started hearing the most beautiful 
music emanating from the instrument. To her surprise, the two twins were 
playing the piano. 
  Crowds started to gather around the two little girls as they continued to
play, Akane having to make her way pass them so she wouldn't lose sight of
Meggie and Jessie. When she was close enough to the piano, Akane could see
as the twins played, their small hands moving gracefully up and down the row
of keys, striking the right note at the right time. The song sound like it
was that of a masterpiece created by such composers as Bach and Beethoven
and Brahms and Mozart put together. The song was very easy on the ears, the
crowd seeming to absorb the beautiful music rather than listen it.
  The twins played the entire song, which lasted about five minutes,
finishing with a grand conclusion. The crowd cheered for the two little
girls, everyone clapping their hands, some of them whistling, as they bowed
politely to the crowd.
  "You're both very talented," a elderly lady said. She knew these girls had
talent, for she was a piano teacher. She had never heard anybody play a song
so beautifully in her entire life. These children must have been piano
prodigies, for only prodigies could play as graceful and skillfully as them.
  "Thank you," the twins said in unison, bowing politely.
  "I never knew you two could play?" Akane said, a shocked look on her face.
She must have been to most shocked person in the crowd. She had never heard
something as beautiful as the song they had just played "How'd you two learn
to play like that?"
  "Daddy used to teach us," the two said in unison.
  Akane just looked at them, a shocked look on her face. She never knew
Ranma played the piano. He just didn't look like the type. But then
something registered in her head. The twins mentioned that Ranma had taught
them in a past tense "Used to teach you? What do you mean by that?"
  "Daddy gave up playing a long time ago,"  
  
  "Hey Ranma, you still play piano?" Ryoga asked, sitting down in front of the 
piano that was hidden in the corner of the livingroom. He remembered hearing 
Ranma play once, when he attended his wedding with Shori. He had played a love 
song for her, a song he came up with, when he and Shori were supposed to 
exchange vows. But instead of telling her his vows, he had sung it to her.
  "No. Not anymore," Ranma said, taking a seat on the sofa, the same sofa 
where he had slept many nights when his daughters fell asleep at his mother's 
house.
  "Why not?" Ryoga asked curiously. He couldn't understand why Ranma
stopped playing. He was very talented. He could have become famous if he
continued on playing.
  "I prefer not to talk about it," Ranma said. He didn't really like to talk
about his past too much.
  "Why not?" Mousse asked, sitting down next to him, a coke bottle in his
hands.
  "Because it has to do something with my past, and I prefer not to talk
about it," Ranma snapped, which caused both Ryoga and Mousse to cringe. 
  Ranma had every reason not to tell them. It never concerned them, and he
wanted to keep it that way. He had been playing piano for a long, long time.
And he was quite good at it, so good that he had played in many concerts.
But he had to stop because his hands started to hurt as he continued to
play. It was all his father's fault. His father had broken his wrist once
when he threw him down the stairs. It was a minor break, a hairline crack,
but it was a break nonetheless. He never told anyone that his wrist had been
broken from that fall, not even his mother. He kept quiet, scared that his
father would beat him some more if he complained. So he let it heal
naturally. Unfortunately, it never healed properly. Gradually, as he
continued to play, his wrist would start hurting. But over time, he got
used to the pain. 
  Afterall, his father used to beat him whenever he could. The pain in his 
wrist was the warning sign for him to stop and get it check out. But he never 
did. He continued to ignore it and continued to play. Eventually, the pain 
spread to his fingers. After his father was taken away,
he stopped playing, no longer worried about his father beating him for
wasting his money on piano lessons. Over the time when he wasn't playing,
his wrist started to heal, and the pain went away. But from time to time,
he would start playing again, and he kept playing until the pain became too
unbearable, and he had to stop. That was how it worked with his daughters.
  When they expressed a keen interest in piano, he was glad to teach them. He 
taught them almost everything he knew. But over the years of playing again, 
the pain started to come back. That was why he had to stop. He'd have to wait 
a couple more years for the pain to subside before he could start teaching his 
daughters again. unfortunately, by the time the pain was gone, his daughters 
would most likely no longer be interested in piano anymore. 
 
  "Akane, I'm hungry," Jessie said, rubbing her tummy. It was now a little
past one, she not having eaten since eight in the morning, over five hours
ago. By now, she and her sister and Akane would be home now, but they were
still at the mall, the two twins spending a half hour playing some more
songs on the grand piano. 
  The girls had attracted the such a huge crowd to the store that the store 
manager asked Akane if she could have them come back to the store weekly so 
they could play. The store had never had such a crowd before. Although the 
most of crowd had dispersed after the twins stopped playing, some bothered to 
stay behind and browse, some of them buying a couple of merchandise on 
display.
  "I don't think that's possible," Akane had told the manager shortly before
leaving, the bags all bunched up around her elbows as she held Jessie and
Meggie's hand in each of her own. She didn't know if Ranma would have approved 
of this.
  "We'll pay you," the manager insisted. He really wanted those twins to play 
for the store.
  "It's not my decision," Akane said. It wasn't. It was Ranma's decision. If 
he wanted his daughters to play, then she would be happy to take them here 
once a week to play the piano. But he didn't want them to, she couldn't do 
anything about it. Sure, she'd ask him to reconsider, but she could do much 
more than that.
  "Why not?" the manager asked. He was a bit confused. Aren't the twins her
daughters, he thought. Surely, her husband can't have that much control over
her that she couldn't make a decision on her own.
  "Cause I'm not their mother," Akane said, a bit reluctant. She was starting
to think that she was their mother. She always wondered how nice it would be
to be a parent, and she was busy vicariously living parenthood through
Ranma's children. She liked taking care of the children, just like a real
parent.
  "Oh," the manager said. He thought Akane was their mother. She was a 
beautiful women, and the children were equally as beautiful, like a reflection 
of her "Well, do you know who I can contact for the decision?"
  Akane had to give the store manager credit for his persistence. It seemed
obvious that he really wanted them to play in the store "You can contact
their father. His name is Ranma Saotome"
  She liked how his name seemed to roll off the tip of her tongue. His name
was easy to pronounce, easy to remember. But then again, who could forget a
man like him.
  "Whatcha talkin' about, Akane?" Meggie asked, tugging at her hand. She
hadn't been paying attention to the conversation until now, she too busy
chatting with her sister. But upon hearing her Daddy's name being mentioned,
she had to hear what it was about.
  "Um, this man..." Akane began, looking at the store manager.
  "Otano Yurai," the manager said.
  "This man, Otano Yurai, wants you to play for the store," Akane told
Jessie and Meggie, who was now paying attention since her sister nudged her.
She spoke of how the manager wanted them both to come here once a week to
play for the store. She asked them if they were will to do it.
  "I don't wanna," Meggie said.
  "Me too," Jessie agreed with her sister. She usually did what Meggie did.
Meggie tended to do better with the decision making more than she did. Even
though she was better at decision making, Meggie wasn't as uninhibited as
Jessie. There were some slight differences between the twins' personality,
but those two traits were the most noticeable.
  "Well, nevermind," Akane said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. If they 
didn't want to play for the store, there was nothing she could do to stop them 
  "It looks like they're making the decision,"



Chapter 19

     Akane gently placed Meggie on the futon in the guestroom, careful not
to wake her up. The moonlight shone in through the open window, shining upon
the little girl's angelic face. If there was a halo above her head, Meggie
would have easily passed for an angel from the heavens. Meggie had fallen
asleep on the livingroom sofa when she was watching television. She had
fallen asleep at the same time Jessie did. Jessie was already tucked in,
sleeping soundly on the futon on the other side of the room.
  Akane gave Meggie a kiss on the forehead, just like their Daddy did. She
felt this warm feeling envelope her as she did this. Is this how good it
feels to be a mother, she thought. She liked caring for them, putting them
in their beds, tucking them in, and kissing them on their foreheads.
  She heard a light knock at the front door as it echoed softly through the
house. She looked at the clock that hung on the wall. It was 11:30, the
exact time he said he'd be back. He had called her, telling her that it he
was going to be an hour late. There was no need in him calling her, but it
made her feel good that he would bother to call to let her know. Just the
fact that he bothered to call to tell her of his tardiness made her feel
good, just like every other woman out there. It meant that he didn't want to
cause her any worry.
  She quietly exited the guestroom, sliding the door softly closed, careful
not to wake the girls upon her exit. She went downstairs and opened the door
for Ranma to enter.
  "How was your day?" she asked as he began to take his showed off. She
noticed that his sweat shirt was dirty with red paint. And with every step
he took, dust and dirt seemed to fall off of it.
  "It went okay," Ranma said, following Akane into the livingroom "How about 
you, what did you do?"
  "I took your daughters to the mall. We went shopping," Akane said, she 
pointed to a large bundle of bags at one corner of the room. There must have 
been close to ten bags Ranma had counted "I bought Jessie and Meggie some 
clothes"
  "You didn't need to do that," Ranma said. He would have taken his daughters 
to the mall if they needed to go shopping for anything. He would have been 
happy to do it, provided he had to. Otherwise, he'd prefer to avoid going to 
any public place. He always felt uneasy by the stares every girl gave him
  "But thanks anyway," he added, smiling warmly. That meant she saved him the
discomfort of going to the mall again. He remembered how uncomfortable he
felt when he was in the mall where he met Mousse. There were so many females
giving him looks that he preferred to forget about it. He wasn't some kind
of piece of meat.
  "So, what're you going to do now?" Akane asked. She was a bit curious what 
he was going to do. Was he going to stay, or was he going to go home. She 
preferred him staying if it came down to it. But he had said he needed some 
time alone.
  "Well, I'd really like to take a shower again," Ranma said "They didn't
finish fixing the water main that broke," He couldn't take a shower at his
mother's house. He had accidentally broken a water pipe while trying to
put a hole in the livingroom wall. He and Mousse were drenched in cold
water before they finally had the thing under control. They had to drop
everything to fix the pipe, which took most of the day.
  "Sure, go right ahead," Akane said, gesturing to the bathroom "You're
welcome to use my shower whenever you want," She didn't really mind having him 
borrow her shower. Sure, the thoughts of him in the shower would distract her 
incredibly, but it was the kind of distractions she didn't
mind.
  "Thanks," he replied, before changing the subject "Did you tuck them in?"
  He knew his daughters were asleep now. They always fell asleep at around
ten. He was just wondering if they were tucked in so they wouldn't be cold
tonight.
  "Yeah," Akane said "I tucked them in a while ago"
  "I'll go kiss them goodnight," Ranma said, quickly hopping up the stairs,
taking two steps at the time. He had been kissing his daughters goodnight
ever since they were born, and he had no intention of stopping. 
  Akane went about her business, knowing that it was best that he had his
little privacy with them whenever he could. It was his special time with
them, and it was a time she shouldn't be intruding in upon.
  She went into the kitchen and began preparing some coffee. She was hoping
he was going to stay for a little while. She liked talking to him. She felt
comfortable talking to him. Sure, she felt nervous being around him, but it
would diminish quickly as they began to converse. 
  She sat down in a chair, waiting patiently for Ranma to come back 
downstairs.
  Ranma entered the kitchen just as the coffee was finished. She poured it
into a cup "Would you like some coffee?"
  "Please," he said, pulling a chair out and sitting down in a chair. The 
table had been moved into the kitchen not too long ago. She figured it was 
easier to eat in the kitchen rather than carry the food from there and into 
the diningroom. Afterall, she lived alone and it didn't matter where she ate. 
But now that Ranma was here, she felt a bit regretful for having brought that 
table into the kitchen from the storage shed.
  She placed a cup in front of him as she sat down in the seat front of him,
a cup of coffee in her own hands. She watched as he took a sip, his eyebrows
raising upon tasting the coffee. It was very good, tasting much better than
the coffee he was accustomed to making.
  "Thanks," he said, placing the cup down, savoring the taste. The coffee 
tasted a lot better than the one he was used to. As he sat there, he seemed to 
enjoy the thought that she was near him, close to him. He could get used to 
this in no time.
  There was a bit of silence, none of them having anything to say. It was
kind of awkward. The silence was so palpable they could cut it with a knife.
But it was broken when Ranma spoke up.
  "I was wondering," he started, taking a deep breath. He felt a bit
nervous with what he was about to say "Um, what did you buy the kids?"
  He wanted to ask her out at that moment, but couldn't bring himself to say 
the words. He quickly changed the subjects onto his children.
  Akane was holding her breath when he was about to ask her something. She
was hoping he would ask her out on a date. She hadn't dated in many years,
and she was really looking forward to getting back into the dating scene,
especially with Ranma. She wouldn't mind having his arms around her, have
him close to her, feel his lips on hers. Actually she dreamed of things like
that. She wondered how it be like being Ranma's girlfriend, having him for
her boyfriend.
  She sighed when he had asked about what she bought today. Maybe she was
fooling herself. What would he see in her? Why would he want her when he had
Ukyo? And now, he had a child with her, further strengthening their bond.
Ranma would never be unfaithful. So that meant he would never want to be
with someone else besides Ukyo.
  "Um, I bought them some clothes" Akane said, taking a sip of her coffee, 
concentrating on its taste. She needed it to get that bitter taste out of her 
mouth. She wished he wasn't taken. She was indeed jealous of Ukyo, jealous 
that she had Ranma. She wanted Ranma.
  "How much did you spend?" he asked. He was preparing for her to say a high 
price. He knew that she bought plenty of clothes, what with the ten or so bags 
of clothes.
  She did the math in her head, "A little under fifty thousand yen"
  Ranma's face faulted. It was more than he expected. He sighed as he reached
into his back pocket and took out his wallet. He opened it up and began
thumbing through the bills count them up.
  "What are you doing?" Akane asked. She wasn't expecting Ranma to pay for
what she had bought for his daughters. Just spending time with them was
thanks enough.
  "I'm gonna pay you back" Ranma said, producing five large bills each worth 
ten thousand yen. He placed it on the table "There that should take care of 
it"
  "I don't want your money," she said. The thought of having him pay her back 
had never crossed her mind. She liked spending money on his children. All her 
life, she had been saving, but for once, she was spending, and that made her 
feel good. Sure, she was saving some money toward renovating the dojo, but 
that could wait. She was still young, and there was still a lot of time. 
Besides, if she was ever in a financial jam, her older sister, Nabiki, could 
always help her out. She was a financial genius, having made millions before 
she was even out of college. She would help her out, so Akane was safe when it 
came to spending money. Also, the school brought in a lot of money that fifty 
thousand yen seemed like nothing.
  "Please, I owe you," Ranma insisted, "I was about to take them out shopping 
anyway. You saved me the trouble" He could pay for their clothes. Even though 
he wasn't strapped for cash, this would definitely take a chunk out of his 
wallet.
  "Well, I'm not going to take it," Akane said, a slight smirk on her lips. 
She was a bit amused at how Ranma really wanted to pay. He must have felt 
responsible for her spending the money that he had to pay her for the expenses 
and her troubles. But she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of that. 
She had fun spending money on his daughters that she refused to accept his 
money. If it came down to it, she would have paid him for letting her spend 
time with his children.
  Ranma sighed. He was a very honorable man. He always paid his debts, and
he had no intention of stopping now. He was in debt to Akane, and he was
going to pay it
  "Okay, fine," he said taking a deep breath. he was going to risk it all on 
this next line "I'll buy you dinner then"
  Akane looked at him funnily. She was expecting him to shove the money down
her throat before he gave up. She was not expecting him to say what he had
just said. It caught her by surprise. She had always wanted him take her out
to dinner, and now that he was offering it, she didn't know what to do. She
never expected him to actually go through with it and ask her.
  "What?" she asked. She wanted to make sure she heard him correctly.
  "I said I'll buy you dinner then," he repeated. It was now or never "We'll 
have a dinner at the fanciest restaurant around"
  Akane gave Ranma an inquisitive look. She was trying to see if he was joking 
or not. When she realized, through looking into his eyes, that his words were 
sincere, her heart melted. He actually meant it. He wanted to go out with her. 
Sure, he indirectly asked her out to dinner, but no matter how one would put 
it, it was a date.
  "Um, I-I'd love to," she said, struggling to speak. Her throat felt dry.
She had to use all her power to keep herself for leaping up in joy. She had
waited for this moment for so long. Sure, she had known him for about a
week, it felt like an eternity to her "But what about the children?"
  Ranma's heart felt like it was going to shatter. Did she want them to
come along? He was hoping he could have dinner with her, alone. Just the
two of them. But if she wanted them to come, then he wasn't going to make
it awkward for her by not having them tag along.
  "They could come along," he said, a bit reluctant. He could have had his
mother take care of them for a short time while they went to dinner that
night. But since he realized that she was implying that she wanted the
children to come along, then they would come along.
  "Oh. Okay," she said, a bit sullenly. She was hoping he would leave his 
children out of this for once. Sure, he did every thing with them, but it'd be 
nice to have him pay undivided attention to her for a change. But if he wanted 
his children to tag along, she wasn't going to stop them, even though she 
wanted to. She wanted to spend time alone with him, just her and Ranma.
  "It'd be nice to have them come along," she added, lying through her teeth. 
  Ranma wanted to tell her that he didn't want the children to come along,
but since she had just said it'd be nice for them to go along with them to
dinner, there was now nothing he could do. He now had to bring them along.
  "Um, when would you like to go out to dinner...um....with me and the
children?" Ranma asked. He wished she hadn't asked about the children.
That way, he didn't have to let them come along. But since she did, it was
obvious she didn't want to spend dinner alone with him.
  "How about next week?" she asked. She remembered that it would take Ranma
a few days before he was finished with painting his mother's house. And by
the time he was finished, it be the weekdays, making it impossible to go to
dinner together because the children would have school the next day. It was
best that they went on a Friday or Saturday, when Meggie and Jessie didn't
have school the very next day.
  "Deal,"

  Akane smiled at Ranma as she regarded his sleeping figure. She looked at
the clock that hung on a nearby wall. It read 1:03am. He had fallen asleep
on the sofa as soon as he sat down in it. They had been talking for a little
over an hour about what he had planned to do and fix on Nodoka's home before
they finally decided to take a break. Ranma had told Akane about how Ryoga
was reshingling the roof, how Mousse was replacing all the shutters, and how
he was going to put a new window into the livingroom.
  "I called Ryoga earlier, at around 10, and he said he'd help out," Ranma
had said, taking a sip of his coffee. He was now on his second cup. "He's
now reshingling the roof. Mousse, I met him at the mall as I was buyin' the
pain. Remember him?"
  Akane nodded. She remembered hearing his name while they were talking to
that beautiful supermodel, Shampoo "Mousse is Shampoo's husband, ne? He's
a police officer if I remember correctly"
  "Yeah. That's correct" Ranma had said, quite amused that she remembered
that. He always had trouble remembering names. He could remember the face of
the baby that sat next to him in the maternity ward after he was born, but
he could remember a name if his life depended on it. He always associated
the name with the face, not vice versa.
  He took a deep breath before continuing on "Anyway, Mousse is now
replacing all shutters"
  "When did you buy shutters?" she asked. She recalled that Ranma said he was 
only going to buy paint. When did he buy shutters? And when did he buy 
shingles for that matter?
  "Mousse always had the shutters," Ranma had replied "He planned on replacing 
all the shutters on his own house, but found it nicer to use it on my mom's 
house instead of his. He said he'll get shutters for his own home when it's 
time to replace them. Me, I plan on puttin' in a window for the livingroom"
  He remembered how his mom used to complain about how the room always
lacked light, even if all the shades were open. He figured she'd be
really grateful when she found out that he had installed a extra window for
the livingroom.
  "You all know how to do that?" Akane had asked. She never knew Ranma had
some knowledge on home improvement.
  "Yeah," he had replied "I used to do home repair on my own house. When I 
bought my home, it was a mess. I didn't have much money to pay someone to 
renovate it, so I did the renovating myself. I learned a lot because of that"
  The conversation had veered of from that and onto how he knew Ryoga. Ranma
told her that he and Ryoga had gone to the same elementary school, that they
used to have a rivalry toward one another "He and I almost hated each other.
We competed in everything. I seemed to do everything just a little bit
better than him, and he seemed to really hate me for that. But he ended up
moving shortly after we graduated"
  "Why did he move?" Akane had asked. She had been listening intently as he
spoke. She had lived alone for a long time, and it felt nice to speak to
another adult for a change. Sure, she had he students to talk to, but that
was different. She spoke to them with a sense of professionalism that could
only be found when she was teaching a class. But she wasn't teaching now.
She had never spoken to someone at a personal level, an almost intimate
level.
  "I don't really know," Ranma had replied "Although we're pretty good 
friends, we don't know much about each other's lives. I asked him why, but he 
I never bothered to tell me and avoided it. The way I see it, it's none of my 
business. If he avoided talking about it, then we won't talk about it"
  "Maybe he might want to talk about it," she had said, expressing the
word 'want'. She wasn't too aware of how men and women differ. She never
knew that men preferred to keep quiet over their problems while women like
to talk about it. She never knew that men preferred not to talk, to spend
time by themselves while they dealt with the problem themselves. She had
always confided in her sisters whenever she had a problem. She always felt
better after talking about her problem with them. She just assumed men were
like that, that they would feel better after they talk about their own
problems. But that wasn't the case.
  "Why would he wanna talk about it?" Ranma had replied. He knew he,
himself, didn't really like talking about his own past. Sure, he had told
her about how he used to be abused, but if given the chance to take it back,
he would have. He couldn't really explain why he had told her, but he
couldn't do anything about it anymore.
  "Nevermind," Akane had replied.
  Ranma had looked at his watch. It read a little before one in the morning.
  "I've been talking too long," he said, getting up off his seat. He took a
gulp of his coffee, finishing it off before heading toward the sink to rinse
it off, putting it in the cupboard afterwards.
  Akane didn't mind him talking. She actually liked listening to him. Sure,
his husky could make her daydream from time to time, but she could handle
it. She liked getting to know about him, getting to know more about him. She
kind of felt comfortable around him, a nervous kind of comfortable, but
a form of comfort regardless.
  "Don't worry. I enjoy listening to you," she had said. She wanted him to 
stay. She knew that he would leave right after he had taken his bath. She 
didn't want him to leave.
  Ranma gave her a smile. He liked talking to her. No one had ever listened
intently to him like she did. It was as if she not only listened with her
ears, but with her heart. She sympathized with him, felt what he was
feeling "We can always talk tomorrow,"
  Akane watched as he stepped out of the kitchen and into he livingroom. She
got up out of her seat and walked over the sink, rinsing her cup, and
putting it in the cupboard, right next to where Ranma had placed his. She
noticed that he not only cleaned his cup better than she did, but dried it
much better.
  She walked out of the kitchen, heading toward the livingroom. As she
entered, she noticed Ranma lying on the sofa, his leg over one of sides,
and arm on his face, his eyes covered by the bend of his elbow. His chest
was rising and lowering slowly, his breaths deep and slow. Judging by how
steady his breathing was, he was in deep sleep already.
  "Ranma?" Akane asked, placing a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle
nudge. She almost pulled back upon the touch as she could feel the heat from
his body flowing into her fingertips. Even though he was wearing a sweater,
she could feel the warmth of his body.
  Ranma didn't budge. He was way out of it. He was sleeping soundly. Even
splashed with freezing cold water wouldn't have awoken him.
  Akane leaned forward, her lips coming within an inch away from his lips.
She could feel his warm breath as he exhaled. She blushed horribly when she
realized that this was what she had thought about the other day, when she
found out that he carried her to the sofa. She remembered thinking to
herself that she would have probably kissed him, that it would have been
her little secret, that she wouldn't have minded indulging herself with
something like that. Here she was with the chance, the chance to kiss him,
a chance she told herself she wasn't going to pass up. So why was she
hesitating? Why didn't she kiss him like she said she was?
  She sighed, pulling away. She couldn't do it, for she knew that reality
was very different from fantasy. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't. She
just couldn't.
  Sullenly, defeated by her fear, she walked over to the closet and took out
some blankets. She walked over to Ranma and gently placed it on top of him,
using one blanket to cover his top half and the other to cover his lower
half.
  "Goodnight, Ranma," Akane said, smiling a bit. Although she couldn't indulge 
herself with a secret desire she had, she was still happy, happy to know that 
he was going to be near her.
  She turned off the lights and silently headed upstairs.

  Ranma opened his eyes up slowly, not knowing exactly where he was. He
looked around, noticing the moonlight as it shone in through the livingroom
window. He realized that he had been sleeping on a sofa. Upon finding that
out, he realized that he must have fallen asleep in Akane's livingroom. He
immediately recalled having sat down on her sofa and closing his eyes. That
must have meant he had fallen asleep at Akane's house.
  He looked at his watch, barely making out the numbers with the faint,
silver light that filled the room. It read 2:20.
  Did I sleep for that long, Ranma thought to himself. He thought he was
only asleep for about ten minutes. He wasn't expecting to find out that he
had slept for about an hour and a half. He'd better make myself scarce and
leave as soon as possible. He got up off the sofa, heading toward the
bathroom. He realized that there were blankets on him as they fell to his
feet. He smiled inwardly, glad that Akane was thoughtful enough to put some
blankets on him so he wouldn't get cold at night. This must have been the
first time anyone had placed blankets on him in a long long time. Sure, he
was a grown man, but the suggestion made him feel warmer than the blankets
could ever make him.
  He sighed, knowing that he'd best take his bath and get out of there as
soon as possible. Otherwise, he'd never get any sleep, now that he was aware
of exactly where he was.
  He entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him, but not quite
locking it. It was a habit. He always left the door open, in case it was
an emergency for his daughters.

  Akane continued to twist and turn in her bed, unable to sleep. She
couldn't get the Ranma out of her mind. How could she sleep when she was
very aware that he was sleeping just one floor below her? How could she
sleep when the man of her dreams was so very close to her?
  I can't believe something like this is keeping me awake, Akane thought as
she sat upright. She threw the blankets off, letting them fall to the floor.
She was sleeping under very light blankets, and it was pretty cold in the
room, yet she was sweating for some reason, and she knew very well what that
reason was. It was Ranma that did that to her.
  She got off her bed, heading for her door.
  What she needed to soothe her nerves was a nice hot bath.



Chapter 20

     Akane took her clothes off in the little changing room that was just
outside the bathroom. The room was very dark, she not wanting to turn on the
lights. She always enjoyed the darkness, it giving her a sense of peace.
She threw her clothes in the hamper, on top of Ranma's clothes. She would
have seen Ranma's clothes if she had the lights on at the time. She picked
up a towel from a nearby shelf, slinging it over her right shoulder.
  She gently opened the door, not making a sound, and entered.
  The bathroom was dimly lit by the moonlight as it shone in through the
slightly open window. It glowed this gentle shade of silver.
  Akane was shocked to see Ranma in the tub. She noticed that he was at the
far end of the tub, his arms falling over the side of the tub, his chin
resting on the siding. His eyes were closed, as if sleeping. The moonlight
shining on his face made him look like a little child, carefree and
innocent. It was as if the wall of defenses had fallen down revealing the
true face of Ranma behind it.
  Akane then realized that she was in the same room with Ranma, both of them
naked. She immediately took hold of her towel and wrapped it over her torso,
tying it so it wouldn't fall.
  "Ranma?" Akane called out, her voice softly echoing in the bathroom. It
didn't even sound like her own voice, as if it were someone else's. She
walked over to where Ranma was, just as he was opening his eyes.
  He felt a slight disorientation from having stayed in the hot water for so
long, a feeling of light-headedness. He was barely aware of where or who he
was. He had been daydreaming, dreaming about what he was going to do, going
over the plans on how he was going to finish his home improvement. When his
eyes rested on Akane, he immediately snapped out of his little reverie.
  "W-what are you doin' here?!" he said, backing up to the other side of the
tub. He felt incredibly self-conscious of himself as he sat naked in the
tub. It wasn't the nakedness that made him self-conscious, but his body.
  He placed a hand over his chest, covering his scar, as he scooted to the
back of the tub, letting the wall cover the other scars on his back. But it
was too late, Akane had seen the massive scar that crossed the underside of
his right pectoral muscle. The scar couldn't easily be missed.
  She pretended she didn't see it "I'm sorry. I should have knocked. I'll
wait until you're finished" She turned around to head out of the bathroom.
She had to concentrate on her steps. She was in shock over what she had
seen, over the thought of how he managed to sustain a wound so large.
  "Wait a minute," Ranma called out, his voice soft. He didn't want Akane
to leave. He seemed to always enjoy her company, and some lousy scars he was
very aware of weren't going to make him enjoy it any less "Y-you could stay"
  Akane stopped, thinking those words over her mind. She knew he really
needed comfort "A-are you sure?"
  "Yes," he nodded. He needed someone to talk to. He had bottled this up for 
so long, that it was tearing at his insides. The only people in his life were 
his immediate family, for only Meggie, Jessie, Shori, and Nodoka knew about 
his scar. Ukyo knew also, but she never knew how he had gotten them, just like 
his children. Only Nodoka and Genma knew. Nodoka knew how it really came 
about. The other person, the person whom did this to him was now dead.
  Ranma hesitated before he turned around, so Akane wouldn't feel
uncomfortable with the transition of taking her towel off and getting into
the hot tub. Even though the bathroom was very dark, she could see three
very large scars running down the entire length of his back.
  She hesitated for a moment, not really sure if she should enter or not.
She would be very self-conscious of her nakedness the entire time she was in
there with him. Sure, she had a very beautiful body, but being around
someone like Ranma would make any woman self-conscious of herself.
  She took a deep breath, her fears washing away when she remembered the
hurt she saw in his eyes just a minute ago. He had looked liked a child
scurrying from his deepest, darkest fears. She took her towel off, placing
it on a small hook that was nearby, and gently slid into the hot tub. The
warm water as it first touched her toes sent sensations racing through her
body. She had never felt these sensations before whenever she entered the
tub. Maybe it was because Ranma was in the tub also that caused these
feelings and sensations.
  "Okay, I'm in," she said, sliding low enough in the water that her entire
body was submerged in the warm water all the way up to her collar bones. She
was a bit grateful that the bathroom lacked light. Even though very little
light shone in through the window, she wished it was even darker than it was
now.
  Akane's gaze rested on Ranma's back as the moonlight reflected the healed
scars. The scars were very noticeable and real, but she couldn't believe
what she was seeing. Ranma looked like he was flawless when he was wearing
clothes, like he there were nothing that could make his body look anything
less than perfect. But these scars made it look like his was a torn body,
like a body that went through horrible things. How could he have gotten
scars like these?
  "My father did this to me," Ranma said, turning around, reading her
thoughts. He knew she was wondering how he got those scars. Anyone who had
seen him without a shirt would have asked him about where and how he got
those scars. But this time, it was different. He told the truth. He usually
lied about them, saying he had been slashed with a knife by a would-be
assailant when he was young. But there was no reason for him to lie to
Akane. She already knew that he had grown up as an abused child, and she
would have pieced it together that his father had done this to him even if
he did lie about it.
  Akane didn't say a word. She was looking at the scar that ran across the
underside of his right pec. The scar looked a lot worse than the ones on his
back. This scar looked very deep and was at least twice as bigger than the
others. She felt this great sense of sympathy toward him, a sympathy so
great that tears started to form around her eyes. She couldn't understand
how someone could do this to another human being.
  Ranma noticed that Akane looked like she was about to cry. Is she crying
for me, he thought. He had never cried in his life, and it was nice that
someone would cry for him. He had been through so much sadness, that he had
almost become stoic when it came to his own emotions.
  "There's no need to cry for me," Ranma said, making his way forward,
placing a hand on Akane's bare shoulder. He could feel the heat emanating
from it, heat far hotter than the water they were in. He had been through so
much that there was no use crying for him anymore.
  "How can someone do that to you?" Akane said, fighting back tears. She
didn't know who his father was, but she hated him deeply. She wished this
man was alive so she herself could kill him.
  "Akane, I was just an unfortunate soul born to an abusive father" he said,
looking Akane deeply in her eyes. He was more than unfortunate. He had
problems that were a lot worse that he had to deal with.
  A tear gently trickled down the side of her face, falling off her chin and
into the water, sending ripples to the edge of the tub. Ranma placed a
finger on her check, gently wiping a tear away before it could travel down
her face.
  She looked into his eyes and saw nothing but sadness. There was a lot more
sadness to him than he had been letting up. He looked like he was about to
cry, but for some reason, he didn't. It was as if he had shut off all his
emotions. Actually, he had been through so much sadness that he had gotten
used to it.
  "Ranma, how come you look like you're always about to cry?" she asked. His
liquid eyes looked like it was on the brink of shedding tears, but it
didn't. It never did.
  Ranma bit his lip. He wanted to tell her, but he couldn't bring himself to
say it. He wanted to tell her that there was so much more to him than meets
the eye. But he couldn't. this was something that didn't concern Akane,
something he wanted to leave her out of.
  "I just feel sad sometimes," he sad. It was true to a point. He did feel a
lot of sadness, but it was most of the time. The only things that would get
rid of his sadness were his children. They were the only happiness in his
pain-filled life. If it weren't for his children, he wouldn't know where
he'd be by now. Most likely dead. His life was meaningless without his
children, absolutely meaningless. Only his children gave him the will to go
on. To be by their side was what kept him going for all these years. He
should have died many years ago if it weren't for his children.
  Akane wanted him to no longer be sad, to live happily. He had smiled from
time to time, but it had always been forced. Only when he was with his
children had he genuinely smiled.
  "Ranma, please, don't be sad," Akane pleaded. She moved closer to him, her 
face within inches of him. She wanted to give him her body, to pleasure him, 
to let him feel some enjoyment in his life outside of being with his children. 
She wasn't even aware of what she was doing, but she knew one thing. She 
wanted him to be happy.
  "Don't worry about me," he said, smiling weakly. There was no way for him to 
hide the sense of sadness that always filled him. His smile was strainful, as 
if forced "I-I'll be all right"
  He was lying. He wasn't going to be all right. He was no longer in control
of his emotions, emotions he had controlled so very well. He lowered his
head, ashamed that he can't control his emotions.
  Akane reached forward and embraced him. She held him like the way a mother
would hold her precious child, holding onto him for dear life. His head was
pressed into her neck as he returned the embrace. He was grateful Akane was
there because he needed someone to hold him. He had been alone for so long
that it hurt to not be with someone, not to be held. His daughters always
hugged him, but that was different. He had been independent for a long, long
time, but in reality, he needed someone, always needed someone.
  He closed his eyes, feeling her breasts as they pressed against his chest,
feeling the warmth of her body as it emanated into him. His life had been a
cold one, and Akane seemed to be the only one who could warm it. He could
feel himself as he slipped away, his body relaxing, his hurt going away for
now.
  Ranma sighed as Akane held him, enjoying the closeness. Even thought he
was always close to his daughters, he had never been close to anyone his
age, of his intellect, of his maturity. He had always been detached from
the world when it came to closeness.
  He pulled back, looking deeply into Akane's eyes. They stared at each
other for several seconds, neither saying a word. Their faces gently closed
in on one another, coming within inches from each other. And then, without a
second thought, Ranma closed his eyes and brought his lips down upon hers.
  Akane stared in wide-eyed astonishment as his lips brushed against hers,
sending electricity surging through her body. As his mouth lingered on hers,
she gently eased herself closer to him, closed her eyes, and kissed him
back. His kiss was everything she had dreamed it would be, if not better.
She could feel her heart racing beneath her chest. As he pulled her closer
to him, their bodies pressing against one another, she could feel he was
aroused. Her whole world opening up on her, she not caring about anything
except the savor his soft lips. His kiss was starting to arouse her, her
nipples becoming hard as they pressed against his muscular chest. She
eagerly followed his lead, letting him explore her body.
  She felt his hands on the small of her back as he pulled her closer to
him. She placed a hand on his chest, feeling the ripples of sensations as
it coursed throughout his body. She felt this sense of power upon provoking
such strong responses from his body. She felt his tight abs, traversing from
it and onto his obliques.
  One of Ranma's hands ran up her inner thigh and moved to the juncture of
her thighs, causing her to gasp, which was muffled by his mouth on hers. She
didn't know what this sensation was, but she knew she wanted more. She
felt like she was on fire. Her hands moved away from his tight stomach,
roaming south. She was aching to touch him as he touched her. She wanted to
return the pleasure he was giving her. Even though she obviously lacked
experience, she knew it didn't matter to him when she heard him moan. As she
heard this, she felt this floating feeling consume her.
  She pressed her other hand on his chest, savoring the salty taste of his
lips. She knew that, albeit the moment was brief, no longer than a minute,
she was going to remember this moment for the rest of her like.
  Ranma, as he continued to kiss her, felt her hand brushed across the scar
on the underside of his chest. That seemed to break his concentration.
  He pulled away, now very aware of his battered body. He had forgotten of
his embarrassing scars for a brief moment, when he was kissing Akane. But
now, he was self-conscious of himself. He didn't want her touching him like
that, running her hands over the most sensitive part on his body. He wasn't
physically sensitive of the scar, but was rather emotionally sensitive of.
  Her touch evoked horrible memories of his father beating him, of his father 
heating the metal pipe till it was glowing red and hitting him with it. Even 
though the wound had healed, the hurt never did. 
  "W-what's wrong?" Akane said. Did she do something wrong? Did she hurt
him? She watched as Ranma made his way toward the other end of the tub. He
no longer looked like he a full grown man but now a little boy. She could
see it in his eyes. He looked like he was scared, frightened for his life.
  "C-can you please leave me alone?" he said, turning his back to her. He
didn't want her to see the hurt in his eyes. He felt this sense of
powerlessness overwhelm him. He felt his world collapsing in on him. Even
though he was in warm water, he was shivering from this cold feeling that
was enveloping him.
  Akane could only see his three-scarred back. Even though she was behind
him, she could see that he was trying to fight back tears. She could she him
press his face in his hands. Although he said he wanted to be left alone,
she knew he needed her the most right now. 
  She made her way toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder. She embraced
him from behind, her breasts pressing against his back, her head resting on
the nape of his neck. She couldn't help but notice his scars as they were
pressed against her chest. She could almost see how he had gotten those
scars just from feeling it. She could feel the pain it held back. It held
back the same pain as his eyes did.
  She felt as one of his hands touch her, their fingers entwining. He leaned
his head back, pressing it against hers. He felt weak, powerless. It was as
if his whole body had been drained of its energy. He noticed that his vision
seemed to blur, his heart racing to send the blood throughout his body.
Something was wrong. He was about to say something, but it was already too
late for him.
  Akane felt Ranma's body go limp as she held him, his arms falling down to
his side, the water rippling gently causing the moonlight to reflect off it
and shine on the bathroom walls, giving it a serene yet eerie look.
  "Ranma?" Akane asked, noticing that he had now become a dead weight, his
head falling forward, his face almost becoming submerged under the water
"Are you okay?"
  He made no sound. He didn't move. He just stayed there in Akane's arms.
When she gave him a gentle nudge, and he didn't answer, she knew exactly what
had happened. 
  Ranma had collapsed from heat stroke.