Characters in the following fiction piece are property of R. Takahashi and all
other companies involved, and are not used with permission.


***************************** 

My Child

A Ranma 1/2 Short

By Kenji Murasaki (KMurasaki@Hotmail.com)


***************************** 


The dojo was empty and unused, and had been so the entire day; it's normal
occupants were in other stages of their so-called life. The one who cleaned
the place of practice was out for errands and shopping for the house. The
one who financed its constant repair was with her few and far in between
friends. The main martial artists most responsible for its constant balance
of disrepair were in the most awkward of places, at least for them. The
female was taking a nap; considerably odd, but suspected for such an active
girl. The male was in his room, but the circumstances of why he was in his
room were the cause of such an alarming change in the program.
	Ranma Saotome was deep in thought, doing his best to figure a path to solve
his problems. So much had happened in the recent months; enough to merit his
present state of mind and body. It was a blur if he attempted to recall too
much at once, but it came to him in crystal clarity if he slowed each rushed
jumbled event to its rightful order. The attempted wedding, another
kidnapping, an enemy who seemingly couldn't die; they were all equally
painful to remember, but his relief came with the one variable that was the
same with all of them.
	Akane Tendo had survived.
	Of course there were times when it seemed all but lost for the two, both
mentally and physically, but he had risked everything to preserve what they
had, if it was anything at all. That was indeed the oddest thing of all: he
was able to admit, more to himself than anyone else that he did care about
the tomboy too much not for it to be called love. She was violent, graceless,
strong as an ox, stubborn as a mule, couldn't cook to save anything, and had
a fuse that was just short of burning at the speed of light, but he still
cared; why else would he have stuck around this long?
	[Because I wasn't gonna run like Pop would,] he thought bitterly. That was
the second factor in this. Even with the group's trip forth and back, the
Saotome patriarch had not even slowed in his plans to have the two wed. Only
Nodoka's sudden intervention had eventually stopped the old man's plans
all together. Seeing as she still held him accountable to the contract of
sepuku if Ranma didn't turn out in the end like she would consider well,
he had more than happily backed off and allowed his son some space.
	So now here he was, attempting to figure out his next move. Were it any
other matter of his life, he would have taken action long ago. Experience in
these situations however, was the best mentor to teach him that patience and
a little tact was the key to winning these battles. It wouldn't do to just
rush in and state something foolishly and not thought through; that had never
worked before, and he was more than confident that success of that treasured
method would be impossible now. So what could he do? It was Akane, so any
mild thing he did might leave her not to be inclined to believe him, a path
not unfamiliar to the pigtail martial artist.
	He was sure however that he had just stumbled on the key to getting her
to belay her usual reactions. If he could show her something of trust,
something that showed her that he was trusting her with one of his few
special possessions, his heart, then maybe she would see. Hey, what could
he have to lose besides the girl he cared for, and very likely a reason to
continue?
	Now the main problem was what to show her. It wasn't like he had Excalibur
or treasures from the unknown to give her. There was always the family blade,
but if they were to marry, she would no doubt receive it anyway. So what
could he give her that would...
	Of course! It was the one thing he had that meant the most to him, and it
was indeed the best way to show that he cared for her! Immediately Ranma went
for his backpack and searched through it for the one thing that to him was
the equivalent of if not a wedding ring, then a confession of the deepest
love and trust.
	Happy with his decision, and confidant of its outcome, Ranma went to his
backpack to find the item that would one way or another, change his life.


*****************************


	It was such a wonderful dream. She wished it never to end, that her life
be replaced by such a beautiful, wonderful dream. It was indeed a peaceful
moment; not a rival in sight. There was no one to bother them, no surprise
weather to ruin the effect, no butting in from relatives that had no real
business in the matter. It was just Akane and Ranma, out for a pleasant night
on the town. It started with dinner, which she cooked. Every bite of it was
nothing short of delicious, and he savored every flavor, chewing slowly
before letting it go down his throat. He then began to pick at her, but
playfully; snatching some fish from her plate, then when she huffed up,
putting it to her lips. Confused at first, she looked at him, but found
nothing but happiness in his stormy eyes. Afterward, he thanked her for such
a great meal.
	Then he took her to a movie, actually making pleasant small talk on the way
without saying something too upsetting. The movie wasn't extreme in action
or romance, but good for both nonetheless.  Then it was a night club where
he taught her the one dance he did know. Though scared at first, she quickly
got to enjoy swing dancing. They spent the rest of the time laughing as they
both tried to learn other dances to the music, which was constantly switching
tempos.
	Afterward, it was a walk in the park, basking in the crisp, night air.
They sat for a moment on a bench watching the park fountain, damaged from so
many fights that Nerima was common for, and talking about the past, present,
and future. They sometimes hit something rather painful, but instead of
allowing it to degrade into a shouting match, they talked it out, and came
to some sort of compromise on what they should do about it.
	Akane never wanted it to end. To her, it was completely perfect, and
couldn't get any better. All that was actually left was the good night kiss
that she actually wanted to give him. She leaned her head in, scared, but
excited at the same time.
	Before their lips met, he paused, whispering her name briefly before her
dream faded back into the unforgiving reality that saw to end the enjoyment
she was having.
	"Akane?"
	No. That's not what was going on. He was actually calling her. She opened
her eyes, letting the dream drift back into her subconscious, and gazed
around her room. Her room had a reddish hue about it, caused by the setting
sun. What she finally focused on was what immediately killed her pleasant,
sleepy mood and erected in its place something of annoyed posture bordering
on anger. He had the immeasurable gall to step in on her while she was sleep?
The baka was going to die.
	Wait, let him give his pitiful reasons, then make him another atmospheric
condition.


*****************************


	"I'm sorry to wake you, but I needed to talk to you."
	That worked as an opening cushion to the anger welling within her. Ranma
mentally patted himself on the back for starting the most difficult thing
he could do with Akane: talk to her without serious physical reprocusions.
	"This had better be good Ranma. I was having a nice dream."
	She yawned, and he took a moment to look at her with curiousity about what
she was dreaming about before going back to the task at hand. He said a
prayer, and began his conversation.
	"Akane, I know we been around each other for about a year, and there's a lot
we've both said and done that were good and bad."
	She arched an eyebrow as he continued. "This is about the longest I've
stayed around anything in a while, and you and the rest of the Tendo's have
been real good to us, even with all of our freeloading. There's been a whole
lot of things that could have gone better than they did, and I really haven't
seen this much of... well... I've never seen people this active toward me or pop
at all. It's weird, but kinda good at the same time."
	She sat up fully, Indian style, propping an elbow on her knee, and
putting her face in her hand. "Get to the point Ranma."
	"Well," Ranma struggled with his mind to find the right words. He had it a
little while ago, why couldn't he do it now? What was so hard about telling
the tomboy that he l... lo...
	Akane began to fidget at the sudden wrinkling of Ranma's face. He was
thinking, something not very common to him. That meant there was something
going on, which only served to increase the sudden butterfly activity in her
stomach. What was bothering him so much that he was willing not only to
put himself in way of a probable assault, but take his time thinking about
what he was going to say before saying it?
	"Bein' here has also made me see how much everything in my life is changing,
and how much has changed since I met you."
	She nodded nervously, beckoning him to continue. "I mean, I've never even
thought there was someone who could try as hard as I did on things that were
out of my reach, even if you screwed it up most of the time."
	Akane's eyes narrowed dangerously. He was treading fragile ground, and was
about to be put through it with a mallet if he wasn't careful. So much for
not putting a foot in his mouth.
	"You can't cook, but you keep trying , hoping that it gets better. It does
get real hard to stomach, but I still have to admire the fact that you don't
give up on it, no matter how many hospitals I wind up in."
	He looked at her carefully, trying to read her changing face. He was pretty
certain that she was either planning to thank him for the wayward comment,
or kill him for the wayward insult. It wasn't intentional, it was just he had
no other way to approach it.
	"The problems around here have been unbelievable, especially with the
rivals and fiancees, but you still put up with it, and plan for the future,
like that acting class in a few months."
	Akane was immediately taken aback. "How did you know about that?"
	He shrugged. "You told me a week ago, right before you hit me when you
thought I wasn't listening." He watched her tense a little, then continued
his building talk. "I'm not really sure how you're feelin' about all of this,
and I'm really not even gonna attempt to figure it out at the moment. What
I do know," He swallowed. It was now or never, and this was a challenge he
could not afford to walk away from, nor was he going to quit now. "That I've
gotten used to having that around. It's rough, but then you smile, or do
something that just seems to say that you're going to make it better somehow.
	"I don't know how, especially considering exactly how aggravating you can
be, but I can't really picture my life without you there in any way..."
	Akane's heart skipped a beat, and fought to regain rhythm. What was with
him? Why was he saying this? She searched for an answer in his stormy eyes,
only to find anxiety and uncertainty.
	"Aw, that ain't workin'!" Ranma shook his head in frustration. "It just
doesn't sound real like that, so I'm just gonna' say it."
	Fear found its way to the pit of the Tendo girl's stomach. He couldn't be
admitting it to her, could he? "Ranma?"
	"I...I care for you a lot Akane. I want us to be together."
	He could tell he had finally hit jackpot by the light shining in Akane's
eyes. It was real hard to imagine that being a possible negative expression,
so he took it as his time to finally relax from the pressure lifted from his
mind.
	"You mean it Ranma?"
	He smiled. "Yeah, I do. I also wanted to give you a gift to show you how
I felt."
	"What is it?"
	Ranma took another breath. He won. She accepted him and that was all that
mattered. "I want you to have My Child."
	His gut instinct immediately went off, which troubled him. Was someone
coming to attack him?
	Attack they did. The first blow was from his heart, at seeing her face pale
and break. Tears began to well in the corners of her eyes, breaking his heart
completely. The third blow was from the slap from the arm that he never
notice move in the first place.
	He stood there as she glared at him, shock losing hold to a completely
foreign feeling: fear. She was going to reject him, after all they had been
through, and he did not know if he could survive such a heartless verdict.
	"You want me to..." She began to shake violently, both from anger and from
sadness. "You just want me for that? To just force yourself on me like that?"
A dark blue aura outlined her shaking body, bathing the room in another glow,
as well as dropping the room temperature. "I should have known."
	"Wait, what's wrong Akane? What did I say wrong?" He would have backed away
when she rose from her spot on the bed, but his legs were not receiving any
signals to do so; his mind was too busy trying to figure out what he had
said to get such a violent, cold reaction.
	"Go Ranma. I can't even look at you right now, and I really don't want to
ever look at you again." He started to say something, but was cut off by her
harsh glare. "You couldn't be any different. You actually looked like you
were genuine, but you just another boy."
	"Akane please, what did I do?"
	"Get out," She whispered between gritted teeth. "GET OUT NOW! Leave me
alone from now on Saotome! I don't ever want to see you again."
	He left, not uttering one more sound as he shuffled out of the room.
	Akane glanced only briefly at the entrance that was now closed, then broke
down into further tears; mourning the man that had actually faded with her
dream.


*****************************


	Ryouga sat underneath Akane's desk, not completely sure of himself. He
knew from the feel of it, as well as the scene that had played out before
him that this was indeed Akane's room. He was completely confused as to
handle this new turn of events in his hellish existence. Akane had once more
renounced Ranma, and justly so to. How dare that coward ask something as low
as to parent his wicked seed? And then simply act as if he was ignorant of
what he had done? She had more than done the right thing in making him
leave, hopefully from her life altogether.
	What was confusing him was her reaction, which she was still displaying.
Instead of feeling relieved and elated, she was crouching on the bed, crying
harder than anyone that he had ever seen. He trotted up to her on his piggy
legs, and she gazed down at him, her pained eyes breaking his heart, and
fueling his anger for the horrid Saotome.
	"Oh P-chan, how could he? He actually said it, and then just ruined it all.
I thought..." She choked up, and all Ryouga could do was bwee in sympathy. "How
could you? After all this..." She hugged him closer to her chest, but his
distressed brain was far from realizing it. Why would she be crying? Didn't
she hate him, as she did the minute she found out about his true colors? It
was only a matter of time before this was to come around, but how could it
distress her this badly?
	"How could you do this after I... I fell..." She fully gave headway to the sad,
hysterical tears that had been attacking at her. Nudging her softly, Ryouga
vowed to find answers to her questions, and then make Ranma pay dearly for
hurting her.


*****************************


	Honestly, the both of them deserved each other, through marriage and beyond.
That was a definitely a bet that Nabiki Tendo would stake her very life on.
	No other couple could actually be that dense.
	Either way, both parties concerned were now feeling hurt that was completely
misplaced, and as usual, it was up to her to fix the situation.
	Of course, they didn't have to know about that.
	Walking away from Akane's room, Nabiki began running through phone numbers
in her head, numbers to people that, of course, owed her a favor. Some of
the reasons for that was because some of those people had a bad habit of
running their mouths in the most inopportune times; a trait Nabiki could
indeed use to her, as well as to the two lovebirds advantage. They probably
wouldn't forgive her for it, but that could be saved for the wedding, when
she talked to Akane about exactly how she was going to throw those flowers...


*****************************


	Monday morning beamed with a promise of a good day, but the cloud of 
depression, of defeat around Ranma Saotome simply would not let its morning
rays shine on him. The boy did not put much of a good defense, or fight at
all during his morning sparring session, thus was dunked repeatedly. To add
to the bad feelings, he lost most of his breakfast as well, simply not
having the heart to fight back. Kasumi smiled at him as he handed him his
bento for school, but there was a deep concern in her eyes as he left
soundlessly for Furinkan.
	Akane had already walked ahead of him, intent on keeping her vow of never
speaking to him again. She ran the previous evening's event through her mind
repeatedly, but arrived to the same conclusion every time. He said he cared,
but then simply turned around and tried to claim her like a prize. How dare he!
	For once in his lifetime, Kuno looked at his tigress entering the school
gates, and thought it wiser to simply leave her be. No doubt it was the foul
sorcerer's doing anyway.


*****************************


	"Akane! It's not true is it?"
	"Huh?" She looked up from her bento to Sayuri's shocked face, with Yuka
coming behind her, mirroring her friend's look. "What are you talking about?"
	"You mean you haven't heard? Weren't you paying attention in class?"
	Akane thought back to class and what she did. It wasn't paying attention
obviously, thanks once again to the pigtailed jerk. She was still trying to
figure out why Ranma had done what he did, and getting more angry, and at
the same time sadder by the minute. She even stole time enough to not glare,
not even stare, but just look at him. He had his head resting in his hand,
gazing out of the window, which troubled her. He was usually sound asleep
by this time, what could be possibly be troubling him? The thought of him
being sad that he couldn't...she buried whatever sadness and guilt she felt,
and that familiar anger took over completely. She turned her thoughts from
him back to the lesson, but couldn't for the exited talking around her. She
turned to look at them, and they went surprisingly silent.
	Her eyes narrowed as the rest of the memory fell into place. Ukyou had
entered, and glared at both Akane and Ranma, who was completely oblivious
to her stares. She then took her seat, mumbling something that Akane had
barely picked up. It started with something she didn't make out and ended
with something that confused her slightly:
	"Ranchan, how could you?"
	"You mean when everyone was talking in class?"
	Yuka nodded. "Yeah, they were talking about what happened between you and
Ranma."
	"What do you mean they were talking about me?" Her anger returned, with
a distinct sense of dread. They couldn't have learned about what happened,
could they?
	"There were saying about you gave..."
	The quiet conversations around the campus came to an abrupt end with a
declaration of war:
	"WHAT?! I'LL KILL HIM!"
	

*****************************

	On a not-so-usual part on the other side of school, Ranma sneezed, and
turned back to his lunch. Everyone was in his ear all day about something
they shouldn't even have known about, which meant that Nabiki was listening
in on the two of them last night, and was no doubt making a couple of yen
on the tidbits; not that he cared. It didn't matter anyway. He had lost her,
without even understanding how. Didn't she care for him as well? As stubborn
as they both were, even he wasn't dense enough to believe that she disliked
him that much, or at least he thought he was.
	He thought practically about what this falling out would mean in total. One
definitely meant that pretty soon, since the engagement was finished, they
would be leaving their place of residence soon. So does that mean it's back
to traveling, or to his mother's house? Ranma was too caught up in his slump
to even notice what kind of results could even happen should he go to live
with his mother, which would probably be sepukuu, nor did he much care.
	Ranma would have went into further thinking if not for the combat spatula
that was implanted in the back of his skull. He tumbled with the swing, and
turned to face an irate, and very troubled okonomiyaki chef.
	"You jackass! How could you betray me like this!"
	Ranma favored her a glare while rubbing the bump on the back of his head.
"What are you talking about?"
	He received another blow to the head for his troubles. "Akane you jerk!
You couldn't even come to my face to tell me you didn't want me?"
	Ukyou's eyes began shimmering, putting him off guard further, as there was
still anger in them. "Don't even act like you don't know you Casanova! I
heard the whole thing! I thought you liked me!"
	Ranma's anger overrode his confusion. "I do like you, but I got no idea
what your talkin' about! What do you mean I betray you?"
	"With Akane. You slept with her you jerk!"
	"What?" He ducked the third blow, snatched the spatula away, and dodged
the hail of mini-spatulas that were thrown at him, which all embedded
themselves in the tree he was just sitting at. "I've never slept with that
tomboy in my life! How could you even think that?"
	Ukyou paused in her next attack and looked at him accusingly. "Don't give
me that bout of innocence! I heard the whole thing from Nabiki, and..."
	"Enough, I don't even care anymore. Think what you want." Ranma turned and
walked away. Well, that proved his theory on what everybody was buzzing about
so suddenly. So now everyone thinks he touched her like that? Ha! He never
even dreamed in that direction.
	But then, she wouldn't accept him anyway, so it didn't matter what they
thought of him. Hell, it didn't matter what she thought of him. Everybody
could just go to...
	"Nihao! Shampoo bring too too delicious lunch for Ranma! You like?"
	He would've replied of course, if it wasn't for the fact that she was
cutting off his air supply by glomping him. After seeing him turn a very
difficult shade of lavender, she relinquished her hold of him.
	"What is it now Shampoo?"
	"Shampoo make lunch for airen. You eat now." Shampoo beamed at him, then
noticed his rather glum face, which brought her mood down a few decibels.
	"Ranma, you no relative of pig boy. Why so sad?"
	He turned and looked at her concerned face, but just sighed. "You wouldn't
understand anyway."
	"Try Shampoo. Shampoo can't have husband looking sad and grumpy." She took
a moment to think, then a bright, if sly smile came to her exotic features.
	"You come with Shampoo for fun time tonight? No need for depression if
having fun. Is okay?"
	Ranma put his head in his hands. This was the last thing he needed. "Look
Shampoo, I'm not gonna take you..." Then he thought about everything that had
happened up to this point. Akane at this point didn't care if he lived or
died, and there was going to be no way things were going to return to normal
after this. He had never seen that look on her face, and never wanted to see
it again. Then there were the rumors going around, which were going to
continue to float around for a moment. He expected everyone else not to
really believe what he said, or even take the time to approach the source
of the rumors, but for Ucchan to just up and blame him like that without
even talking to him about it? If this was his last hour before the explosion,
why not have some fun before he goes?


*****************************


	She was going to kill him.
	No, she was going to turn him into girl form, strip him naked, tie him up
in panties and bras, drench him in women's perfume, and toss him breast
first into a pit of starving Happousais. How dare he spread that horrid
rumor! Probably just his revenge against her saying no to him, that little
pervert. Now everyone in the whole school thinks that she had had sex with
him! As if!
	He couldn't have just left it as it was, left her to pick up the pieces of
her heart and move on? He had to do this too? He was probably just waiting
for her too, sitting by a tree looking smug, the whole conversation planned
out the minute she confronted him:
	"Akane, whatever is the matter?" SD Ranma asked innocently.
	"You know what's wrong you jerk! How dare you spread rumors about me like
this!"
	"But I thought you enjoyed last night Akane. You told me I was wonderful,
that you never wanted to part from me again, and that you wanted the whole
world to know about it."
	SD Akane began to pound him like she never had before. "How could you! How
could you even sit there and lie like that?" She wiped tears from her eyes.
"You said you liked me, why are you talking about us like this?"
	She stared down at the pulp of ink that used to be SD Ranma. "Why did you
do this to me? Don't you know that I...I"
	Akane snapped back to reality, and wiped the tears from her eyes. She
would not break down again, not like last night. It was impossible to
l... l.love someone like that. Arrogant, cocky, stupid, egotistical, perverted,
lovable, cute, dependable, loyal...
	NO! What was wrong with her? Why was she still feeling like this for him?
He betrayed her trust! He was just like all the others, just wanting a prize.
A bitter smile came to Akane's lips. He was going to have to settle for the
booby prize then, and she was going to enjoy giving it to him. She stomped
up to the area Ranma ate when he didn't want to be near her, and stopped.
	Shampoo was bouncing up and down in joy, all over Ranma. What
stopped her was the words that had chosen to exit his mouth:
	"Okay Shampoo, I'll take you out tonight. Nothin' better going on anyway."
	She quickly shed from view, not seen by anyone, and sat down, giving her
trembling legs a break. He was going on a date, with Shampoo? Confusion of
course gave way to anger. That little...That was fine if he wanted to date the
bimbo, she wanted nothing further to do with the pervert anyway. But one way
or another, he was going to answer for these rumors.


*****************************

	"Look, I'm going to my room, an' I don't want to be disturbed, so leave me
in peace for once, okay?"
	Everyone looked at him and shrugged and nodded save for two people: Nabiki,
who simply shrugged, and Akane, who looked at him with death in the eye, but
went out to the dojo to unleash her anger on the unsuspecting dummies.	
	Kasumi turned back to preparing dinner, curious as to Ranma's sullen mood.
"I wonder what that was about?"
	"Remember the yelling from last night?" Nabiki said, not even looking up
from her drink.
	"Oh my," she said in sudden understanding. "Do you think it could be serious
this time? I do hope that they work it out."
	Barely visible, Nabiki nodded her agreement with her older sister. "Let's
hope so," she whispered.
	It was about an hour later when the two feuding people came from their
places of seclusion, with obvious differences of attitude. Ranma came
downstairs in a silk shirt of golden color, with the sleeves unrolled
completely. He also smelled fresh out of the bath. Akane on the other hand,
came into the house smelling of a heavy workout. She had her uniform in her
hand in a bundle, and was wearing her yellow gi, now soaked with sweat. Both
seem to share a sullen, quiet expression, as if afraid of what's to come. As
Akane walked past him, she only looked at him briefly, then went upstairs to
wash off. Genma and Soun, coming in from their game of shogi, looked at the
well-dressed boy in curiosity.
	"Where are you going boy?"
	Ranma looked at his father, judging something, then answered, "Out."
	"Without your fiancee?"
	"No pop," He lied. "She's bathing upstairs."
	Soun shook his head sadly. "A great martial artist, but a poor liar."
	"How sad can it be when the day comes when son lies to father?" Genma
squeezed Ranma at the shoulders. "Tell me boy, where are you really going?"
	"Out, Pop." Ranma turned away from him and started his way out, and was
halted by Soun.
	"You wouldn't be going out behind Akane's back, would you son?"
	Ranma favored him a cold glare. "Would it matter? If you all really want
to find out what's going on, why not tail me as usual?" Waiting for no
response, he stepped outside, hopped onto the roof of the dojo, and then
leaped over the compound wall, disappearing into the new night.
	It was ten minutes later when someone else did head after Ranma. Akane had
yet to be able to confront him, and her mind wouldn't let her rest until this
was resolved. Quickly dressing herself in a shirt and some shorts, she headed
off in the direction of the Nekohanten, intent on seeing an end to this
problem.


*****************************

	Shampoo looked down at the bound, gagged, chained, handcuffed, caged duck,
satisfied that he wouldn't be out to ruin her evening. She simply couldn't
allow it. There would be no potions, no rivals, nothing but her and her
beloved out on a wonderful evening. She finished applying some perfume she
had bought for just such an occasion, and bounced out into the dining area.
What was waiting for her caused her breath to catch in her throat.
	Ranma was waiting for her, and he was dressed to kill. She frowned a little,
thinking of the women who might turn around and try to hit on him. That
just meant that she would have to spend some time discouraging those same
ladies, which didn't paint a lovely picture.
	She put those thoughts on hold and walked up to her date, trembling somewhat
nervously. She was under no delusion of how big of a chance this might be,
and the last thing Shampoo wanted was to see the night die before being born
because of something that set him off. So as much as she wanted to, she'd
have to restrain herself and hold back, as to not discomfort him.
	That was what was in mind as she walked up to him, and gave him a hug. No
grope, no glomp, just a plain, friendly hug.
	Ranma looked down at her in confusion. She looked nice, just like Shampoo
would look, but Shampoo would never just hug him.  Was this some sort of
trick? He sighed, anticipating the craziness for the evening.
	"Ranma look very handsome this evening."
	"Thank you," he said politely, bowing.
	"Well son-in-law, I expect you to behave like a gentlemen, and return my
granddaughter in one piece, okay?" Cologne pogoed from the kitchen, a list in
her hand, and a smile on her face, something rare indeed from her.
	"Sure Cologne-san." Ranma led Shampoo out the door, and into the night,
leaving behind a very curious Amazon.


*****************************


	It was everything Shampoo dreamed. She didn't dream of dates much since
that kind of thing didn't go on in the village, but she had heard from these
girls about what to expect from a date at the diner, and it was everything
and more. First he took her for a movie, let her pick the film, bought her
popcorn, and didn't seemed annoyed from her hugging close to him, not even
once. 
	Then it was dinner. Not a fancy place, but pleasant place, with nice
music, and great food, though her cooking was better, but that was
stating the obvious. He had behaved himself, taking a much more
restrained pace of eating, and even making some small talk. Not much,
but more than enough for her.
	It was turning out to be the best night of her life. Currently they
were in the park, and she was latched to his arm, enjoying his closeness
and warmth. 
	Ranma, on the other hand, was feeling more down by the moment. He
could not get Akane's words off of his mind, and it basically had distracted
him the entire night. He didn't eat much, nor did he complain about the
rather sappy movie he endured, he simply drew away more with each passing
minute, trying to figure out why she had reacted like that.
	He was also troubled by the nagging feeling that they were not alone,
nor  had they been attacked the entire night. This was just not his day.
	At a bench a good distance away, Akane watched in restrained fury. He
had treated her to everything and a house to boot! That Casanova, this was
just another conquest for him, just another heart to break. Not that she was
a victim, she added with an firm nod. Not at all; she had freed herself from
his wily ways, and now he was going to answer for his actions.
	Passing a fountain, rather, passing the fountain at a two meter distance,
Shampoo's danger sense kicked in. She looked up at Ranma, who seemed to
sense it as well. So much for her wonderful evening.
	The couple jumped in opposite directions in time enough to avoid the
umbrella that had paved itself into the ground where they had stood
only moments ago. The owner of the parasol, Ryouga, paid no attention
to the missed attempt, instead going straight after the hardly surprised
pigtailed martial artist.
	No words were exchanged as the two faced off. No cries of vengeance
or divine punishment. Or maybe Ranma chose to drown out Ryouga's
accusations being flung at him. One could explain this by having noted
that Ranma had indeed reached his limit of things to handle today.
What he craved almost as bad as an explanation to Akane's behavior was
somewhere to vent, or something to vent on. [I've really got to thank
him later on being such a good friend,] he thought with a grim smile.
	On the other side of the fight, Ryouga was now furious. He had just
exposed Ranma for all he truly was, a lowly worm with no better goal
in life than to hurt those closest to him, especially someone as dear
and sweet as Akane, and all he could do was grin? Ryouga silently 
vowed that he would make sure that the arrogant little fighter would
never be able to smile normally again.
	With a cry for Ranma's blood, the lost boy leapt forward, aiming a
leaping kick for Saotome's head, and as soon as he landed, following
up with a leg sweep and roundhouse. Ranma flipped away, and the two
came together, trading furious blows for dodges, and then counterattacks.
Ryouga landed a punch, sending his more agile opponent sprawling. Ranma
quickly recovered, and kicked the lost boy in the stomach, jabbed him in
the face, and using his head as leverage, leapt over him to land on the
fountain edge in what seemed was one fluent movement.
	Ryouga shook off the tingling in his head, and was about to charge
again when he took notice of not Ranma's position in front of him, but
the glowing red aura out of his eye. He turned around, and received a
bonbori in the head for his trouble.
	Shampoo was beyond upset. Why must everyone in this insane
town insist on interfering with what she wanted? Was a nice, quiet date
with Ranma too much to ask of the gods?
	Well, a date she was going to get, even if she had to take it out of the
lost boy's hide. She drove forward, and smashed a dazed Ryouga over the head
with her other bonbori, and punted him from the scene in one swift kick.
	"Stupid pig-boy. Why always show up at inconvenient times?"
	Ranma looked in the direction that Ryouga had been kicked to, and shook his
head sadly. Of course he didn't feel too bad for him, especially since he
did have other things on his mind, but that was definitely going to hurt in
the morning.
	"I'd say I didn't think he'd show up, but with the way my day's been going,
I kinda expected it."
	Shampoo pulled up to his side, intent on savaging whatever was left of the
mood they had lost to their interruption. "No matter airen, we just go grab
snack to make up?"
	Ranma frowned, but gave no real objection to her extension of the evening.


*****************************


	They arrived an hour later at the closed doors to the Nekohanten restaurant.
Shampoo was rather pleased with the way the evening went, despite the sour turn
it had taken for a brief moment. She was actually shocked that others had not
joined in on the fiasco, as was usually wont to happen. The fact that she wasn't
going to spend about an hour or so refurbishing tattered clothing seemed a bit
awkward to her.
	She looked at Ranma, wondering what was to happen next. Was he going to kiss
her good evening? Was he going to come in? Why was she even wasting her time
asking silly questions when she was supposed to initiate things anyway?
	That thought in mind, she turned to face him, a sly smile on her face. "Was nice
evening."
	"Yeah," Ranma responded distractedly. Well, there was a way to handle that.
	"We should do so more often, yes?" She asked. "Airen find out he have fun time
if stick around Shampoo more often." With that, she kissed him, a light touch of
the lips that widened his eyes slightly, and then stepped into her door, blushing
and grinning.
	Ranma only looked at where Shampoo had made her abrupt exit, his emotions running
wild. It was a nice feeling, nothing too spectacular, but he was too distraught
to truly enjoy it. He had set out this evening to do just that, and he only succeeded
where he and Ryouga had come into conflict.
	Sighing, Ranma started walking, letting the realizations start to hit home. He
had started running from the problem the moment that the Amazon had offered the
opportunity by asking for the date. Escape by distraction did not one single
thing to aid or heal his aching heart, and he had to admit that to himself now.
He had lost something dear to him, and he couldn't get it back. The near future
didn't look to bright for him. If only she hadn't jumped to so many conclusions...
	But that was just it. She had always jumped to conclusions when it mattered most
to him. It didn't matter now; she expressed that she never wanted to see him
again, so he was going to be respectful of her wishes.
	That thought in mind, he looked up from where he was, about several blocks away
from the Nekohanten, turned to face an alley and called in. "Alright, you can
come out now."
	Receiving no response, he spoke once more. "Look, I already know you've been
tailing me all night. Makes no sense to just stay there so you can grill me back
at your pops place, so go ahead and get it out of the way."
	It was a moment longer, then Akane stepped out and away from the shadow's supposed
protection. Her face was a bit worn, as if she had been crying, and her eyes were
clouded with a thick torrent of emotions. "So did you enjoy your little romp?" She
said to him icily.
	He thought to retort, but sighed. "Do you even care?"
	Akane glared at him. "Of course not. Why should I care for lying, backstabbing
freeloaders and what they do to break promises?"
	Ranma continued to look at her, and she did not let up. "But you've got me
curious Ranma. Why just go home when you have your bimbo to comfort you? You
could just hole up there, and have something else to talk about at school in the
morning."
	"Believe what you want, it doesn't matter anymore. If that's what you want, then
I'll just not go back to the Dojo." He turned and hopped on a roof, and then was
gone, leaving Akane to fume and wonder.


*****************************


She could say she had just beaten him home, but that would imply that he had
walked into the door at least moments ago, when in truth it had been an hour
since their last, brief squabble, and he had yet to return. The others had tried
to question her, but she had staved that off by stomping straight into her room,
only waiting for telltale signs that the baka had decided to show himself afterall.
	At current, her heart was filling more and more with an uncertainty that was
scaring her more than anything. It was not the where's that were running though
her mind, but the why's. She found herself thinking more and more on why he
would act in such a new manner toward her, and the conclusions she reached were
not doing much for her happiness.
	Before, he was a brash, abrasive personality with excelled martial art abilities.
He was short and to the point, often putting the point right back into his mouth
through some means. He was loyal as well, especially when she didn't want him
to be, and highly honorable, even to his Art. Those rough qualities gave her
some awkward point of security, and  despite his lifestyle around her, stability.
	Now, he seemed like everyone else who had taken interest in her, and that
scared her to a point she dared not imagine. He never seemed that type, the noble
samurai that thought women should have their one place nursing a household, even
with his personality quirks that he possessed, and still did not. But the fact
remained was that those qualities were summed up in what he had asked her the
previous evening.
	And that was the worst of all. She still felt for him, and was considering giving
into that request. The thought admitted that she just actually might love him,
to be willing to do such a thing.
	A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.  "Akane? Do you want to take your
bath now?"
	Akane sighed. "Kasumi, could I ask you something?"
	The door opened, and Kasumi's warm face appeared. "What is it Akane?"
	Akane almost fell into herself with anxiety, but willed it away. She had to make
some sort of sense out of what she was feeling; who else could she trust to give
a decent answer?
	"If you feel deeply for someone, but they want you to do something that goes
against..." She trailed off, unsure and uncomfortable in how to continue.
	"Is something wrong Akane? Did you and Ranma fight again?"
	That seemed to be enough for her to push it all out. "He wanted to do something
to me, something I don't like, and I got mad and sent him off. Then he started
rumors about me at school, and then took that floozy on a date like I don't even
matter to him."
	Kasumi, who had closed the door before the sudden outburst, sat by her younger
sister on the bed as she continued. "Now I'm getting angry and confused. I'm
beginning to have second thoughts about what he wants me to do. I just don't 
know..."
	Kasumi looked at her sister in puzzlement. "What does he want you to do?"
	Akane looked at her feet, a bright blush meeting her angry face.
	"Oh my..." Kasumi said, meaning finally dawning on her. "Are you sure Akane?"
	"Of course. He wanted me to have his child. That's what he said." Her eyes 
misted. "I should've known he couldn't be any different, that jerk!"
	"Akane," the eldest Tendo put a hand to her shoulder. "Perhaps you haven't
thought this all the way through?"
	Akane switched from anger to shock in an instant. She looked into her sister's
eyes, finding a hint of mirth dancing in them. "Neechan? You can't be serious!"
	"I don't think that Ranma-kun would be that uncaring of you, even if it might
seem so. It depends on what you feel, mostly."
	Akane's confusion took reign again as Kasumi continued. "How do you feel about
Ranma? Honestly?"
	Akane's blush returned, but she spoke not a word. Kasumi only nodded, seemingly
satisfied enough with her reaction. "I think it would be best to talk to him 
Akane-chan. This is putting you both through a lot of pain, and I'm sure things
will turn out for the best if you let him know how you feel."
	Kasumi gave her sister a hug, and got up to leave. "Think about that, okay?"
	Akane nodded, and turned her eyes back to the floor, anxiety catching in her
throat.
	"Kasumi?"
	Kasumi turned around. "Yes?"
	"Could you... could you ask Ranma to come see me when he comes in?"
	"Of course Akane-chan."
	Kasumi was then out the door, and Akane gathered her toiletries, and headed to
her bath, her thoughts uncertain.

	
*****************************


	It was an hour later that Ranma did return from his aimless wandering of Nerima's
streets, broken and unsure. The damp air had given his shirt rights to cling to
his skin, and his face was even more mournful than before. He paid no head for
the remainder of the waking world about him, but made a straight line for his
room.
	Saotome-san was already fast asleep, which left Ranma with a scant moment of
privacy. All that was necessary all things considered; time enough for him to
pack a couple of things and then take off without bothering anyone else. He had
plans to rough it for the evening, and then see what his remaining options were
in the morn, maybe come back to see the old man while he was at it. His intent
was to get away from things for a moment, and allow himself time enough to sort
things through. It was the only thing he could do for the moment.
	He hefted his pack of survival things, and made his way out the room. He closed
the door behind him, and walked to the stairs.
	"Ranma-kun?"
	[Damnit, should've took the window.]
	Caught, Ranma turned to face Kasumi, still taking care of some minor laundry.
Her expression turned concerned as she eyed the backpack. "Where are you going?"
	"Just away for a while Kasumi. I need to think about some things, and I can do
that better without seeing some faces around here."
	Akane's unspoken name hung to the sentence, and both of them knew it. It was
disheartening that the two had seemed so tragically wounded by one another, and
over something seemingly simple. But Kasumi had faith that they would make it
through the ordeal, if only they would just talk. That seemed the best choice.
	"Ranma-kun, Akane said she wanted to talk to you when you came in. Won't you
see her before you go?"
	Ranma visibly slumped, and turn to look at Akane's door. She had expressed that
she didn't want to speak to him; was she just going to take another whack at him
before he left? "Kasumi, I don't think I want to see her, not now."
	"At the least, allow me to fix a couple of things for your training trip. That
is what your going to do, right?"
	Ranma fidgeted. "Yeah, I am but..." He looked into the older girl's eyes, and
flinched. She was worried about him, that much he knew. But there seemed to be a
fear in her eyes that didn't bode well with him.
	"Alright, but please be quick about it, okay?"
	She smiled at him, and went to the stairs. "Of course Ranma-kun. I'll just
prepare some small snack packages to tide you over for a few days, and then
you can go." She was then downstairs, hopping for the best of the delay he had
taken.
	Ranma sat at the top of the stairs, his stomach rumbling. That did sounds like
a good idea, having Kasumi's snacks along for the ride. His own cooking wasn't
so bad, but few could actually top Kasumi's culinary treats, even her trail mixes.
It was something to look forward to-
	"Ranma?"
	He shuddered inwardly. Maybe if he didn't answer, she would believe he wasn't
there?
	"Look, I want to talk to you. Just come in, please?"
	There was something in her voice that disturbed the young Saotome greatly.
He looked upon the door once more, unsure of what to do. He didn't want to hurt
anymore, she'd done enough of that. At the same time, there was still the part
of him that truly believed that there could be something done about the situation,
that there was something to hope for. He didn't want to give up on her, he had
come too far to do that.
	Tired and wary, Ranma stepped into the room.
	Akane was sitting on her bed, Indian style, an unreadable expression on her 
face. She was in her pajamas, with her hands resting in her lap. It was more or
less the position that she had sat in the day previous, when this had all started.
	They stayed in silence for a moment, content and wary in the darkness of the
room, the only hint of anything moving was the low tones of breathing taking
place. Finally, the silence broke with Ranma, who turned to go.
	"Well, if you didn't want anything, I'll be on my way." He said icily.
	Had he been turned around, he'd have seen her shudder. "Ranma, wait. Where are
you going?"
	Ranma let his face freeze in a cool look, betraying the swirl of emotions from
within. "Training. Dunno when I'll be back."
	"But..." She stopped, and swallowed. "You'll just leave, just like that?"
	"Why not? No one here to stop me, and no one here that wants me around anyway."
Ranma huffed, turning his head to the side.
	"You so sure aren't you?" She snapped in reply, not stopping her anger from
boiling. "You're just gonna waltz out of here without even saying goodbye, or
anything else. You don't even care?"
	He met her stare with an icy one. "Why should I? You don't, so it's a waste of
time for me to try."
	"Damnit Ranma, you said you did care; that's the whole problem. You said you
cared, and you went and tried to claim me, like I'm some simple prize!" Akane's
eyes misted over, but she ignored them, too hurt to let anything else stop her.
"And then you went and lied on me, and just left me while you tended to your 
harem!"
	Ranma's looked at her in disbelief. "Lied? How did I lie? Everything I said
to you was absolutely true! All I was trying to do was show you that I cared, that
I wanted to be around you. I didn't lie about that in the slightest!"
	"Then what about the campus rumors, huh?" She accused. "What about Shampoo then?
You just wanted one last fling, is that it?"
	Ranma scowled. "You're impossible. I don't care about Shampoo, and I don't know
anything about how that stupid lie got around Furinkan. I..." He stopped, simply
taking a long look at her, his breathing labored. She was doing it again, making
him crazy over things that weren't even his doing. Not trusting, not caring.
Well, that was enough of that.
	"Look, it's obvious nothing I can say or do can make you happy in the least, so
I'm just leaving, okay? Can you let me do that?"
	[Go ahead, run away then.] The words were on her lips, and almost out her mouth.
Almost. How sweet they would be, but it wasn't what she wanted. She wanted him,
and she wasn't getting across to him. Something had to give, or she was going
morn for it the rest of her days.
	"Ranma, wait."
	He turned back to look at her, and she flinched again. It was the second time
she'd seen such scorn within his eyes, and it was fast becoming her least favorite
thing to see. To know that she was the source of that scorn, that new hatred,
burned her even worse than anything else.
	"... Come over here. Sit down."
	Ranma eyed her, wondering what she was planning. He crossed the path in the dark,
moonlit room to her bed, stopping right in front of her. He noticed for the first
time the tears in her eyes, but turned a stone shoulder to them. He wouldn't be
moved anymore, nor be hurt again. She had only so long to say something, then
he would be gone, and they could both get on with their lives.
	He watched her uncurl from her position on the bed, standing up to meet him,
staring him in the eye, as if searching for something. Then she wrapped her arms
around his waste, sobbing into his shoulder.
	It took him by some surprise, and he struggled to maintain his stiff posture.
She wouldn't get to him. He didn't care anymore if she cried, kicked, or screamed.
What she did to him was something nobody should be put through.
	[So then why,] some small part of his brain asked him. [are you putting 'her'
though that same pain?]
	"You jerk." It was soft, pitiful, and shaky; things about Akane he'd never even
thought of. "You're just so sure of yourself. You don't really care about me."
	That was enough to spark him. "How can you even say that? What games are you
trying to play here Akane? Do I have to spell it out in blood?"
	"But you don't care, not in the least." She continued, sniffling. "You don't,
but I do. I don't want to at this point, but I do. I don't want you to leave, but
you're such a jerk that I..." She stopped, and cried into his shoulder some more.
	Ranma pulled her down to the bed, wrapping her blanket around her. "Akane, there's
nothing else to say. If you're so convinced that I'm hurting you, then there's no
way I can stay around to continue to do so and feel good about it knowing that
I'm hurting you."
	"Just shut up and take me, okay?"
	"What?" He looked at the shuddering girl in the blanket. "What did you just..."
	"Just take me already!" She turned her head sharply to look at him, and he saw
the haunted, angry, despaired look he had received from her the day previous.
"That's what you wanted, wasn't it? Your prize? I don't want to give up on you;
I like you. I honestly do." Her eyes met the bed, and she continued past Ranma's
stunned silence. "But if that's all you want from me, then how can I look forward
to a better day? You were my only hope, the only guy that wouldn't go that far
as to treat me like a silly trinket, and you've squashed that.
	"I still like you though, more than I should, and if you're the best that's
going to come along, what other chances do I have? It's better if I do this; it
IS what everyone wants anyway."
	Ranma tried to soak all of it in, tried to make sense of it, and came up with
squat. He ignored her unbuttoning of her shirt, trying to piece together whatever
gave her the notion to...
	His attention refocused, and he looked away in shame and embarrassment. "Akane,
put your shirt back on!"
	"What? So now I'm too hideous for you to have?" Her glare made him want to hide,
but he refused to give in now, now that it was revealed that something was horridly
wrong with what she thought of him and his morals.
	"NO! That's not it! Would you let me sit back and explain for a moment without
jumping to the next conclusion?!"
	She looked at him, flustered and blushing, and huffed. "What could you possibly
be trying to imply now?"
	"That you won't listen! I don't know where you got this crazy idea that I want
to sleep with you right now, and I don't think I want to know, but you can sit
safe, because that's not something I want to do!"
	She stopped her motions, and eyed him warily. "How do I believe you anymore?"
	"That's the problem Akane. You don't believe me. You've never believed in me.
I say or do something, and you're always there to be the first one to step on me!
You've never had a helping thing to say that's not got a loaded comment coming
behind it! I've nearly broken my neck to prove things to you, and all I still get
it doubt." He glared at her. "The real question is why should I even try to
think you'd ever believe in me."
	"Fine then, here's your chance. Why don't you want me if you said that you wanted
me to have your child?"
	"My... child?" The gears turned in his head, cranking hard thoughts out of his
head, and then coming to a solution that made him want to kick himself, but only
partially.
	"So that's what this whole thing is about?"
	Akane looked at the boy as if he'd grown another head. "What else could it be
about you ass? You asked me to be the mother of your kids. How am I supposed to
react?"
	"Hold that thought for a moment, I'll be back." He leapt up and left before she
could raise the slightest protest. She began to doubt his return, thinking about
his sworn vow to depart the household on a permanent basis. Then he returned,
just as quick as he had left, carrying an old dog-eared book under his arm.
	She looked at him curiously, and he shoved the item into her grasp. On the cover
of the book was Ranma's name in golden kanji, and following below it, in the
same golden letters were the English printed words 'My Child'.
	Ranma watched her look up at him, eyes begging explanation. "Well, this is what
I originally wanted to give you. It's a photo album mostly, but a lot of mom's
letters are in there too."
	"Letters?" Akane flipped through the book, a gallery of old pictures of Ranma,
Genma, and Nodoka doing various family things. The pictures were very old, and
taken from one view to the next, displaying a colorful history of Ranma's earlier
years. Then there was the collection of letters toward the back, carefully folded
away as to not waste away. Each was addressed to Genma, and mostly to Ranma
himself. "I thought that you hadn't heard from her on the road?"
	"I didn't, but she gave that to me a month or so ago. She said that she had 
written letters in hopes that one would get through, but most of them had been
returned to her by postal services. A few did make it through, but pops kept them,
swearing that they would deter me from my goal.
	"I wanted to give these to you, so we could share them. I don't have a lot, but
this is something I value a lot. It means a lot to me."
	Akane sat speechless, listening along to Ranma's words, and at the same time,
skimming along on the words of a woman who obviously missed her husband and
child dearly.
	She put the book down and looked at Ranma, who had put a scowl back on his face
once more. "But you never listened to that. You jumped to another conclusion.
Why?"
	[Because nobody could be that trusting,] she didn't say. It was a petty thought,
and one not well founded, as he was slowly showing her. Maybe it was time to
stop jumping at opportunities to snap at him so often, especially looking where it
had gotten them. Still...
	"You're right in that respect. I was a bit... hasty." She said, blushing. "That
still doesn't explain what you were doing with Shampoo tonight."
	"I was hurt, Akane. I didn't think it much mattered what anyone wanted from me
anymore, so I didn't care." He looked to the floor. "That's not something I'll do
anymore though. I want you to trust me so bad, it hurts. But I can't expect you
to do that with behavior like that, can I?"
	She smiled, a small one, but one that made her feel slightly better than she
had felt in days. "And I can't expect you to stay around if you don't believe I'll
trust you, now can I?"
	"So... I apologize?" He attempted.
	"So do I, and apology accepted Ranma Saotome."
	"Same here." He sighed, weight unsettling from his shoulders, and turned to
depart. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
	"Who says you have to leave so soon, baka? You have to explain this one to me."
She held the book up to the moonlight, reflecting a picture of Ranma and Genma in
clown makeup, and cake frosting on their hands.
	"Um..." Ranma scratched his head, looking sheepish. "That was a birthday party,
I think." He came over and sat down by her. "Mom and pop thought it'd might be
cute to do a clown thing. They sorta forgot the eating utensils though."
	She smirked at him, and his usually foggy memory. "What about this one?"
	"That's a day at the shopping district, which turned into an impromptu sparring
match." Ranma chuckled. "They didn't allow us back in for months. Mom said she
made pop travel with her to another district to pick up groceries that whole time."
	She snuggled next to him, enjoying his warmth, and the calm moment, as
they both went over a book of happier times, with blank pages to cover more happy
times to come.


*****************************


	Kasumi stepped in, smiling at the sight. It wasn't anything big, but a start
was a start, and it was a start they both deserved.
	She entered the room quietly, not to disturb the now sleeping couple leaning
against each other, and draped a blanket over them. Smiling at the scene once
more, Kasumi went off to bed, sure to dream pleasant dreams of her own.


*****************************


Whee. Another one away. I don't know where this one came from, so don't bother
to ask. I hoped you enjoyed it, and if not, drop me a post and tell me know. Hell,
let me know if you enjoyed it. Glad to please, afterall. Does this mean I might
become an Akane lover? Too soon to tell, and there are still so many ways to
screw with Ranma's oh so chaotic life.
	Anyway, back to the hack I go. Lasha, and ja ne!

-K. Murasaki
5/29/00