Here's part 6, its about three times as big as the other parts! Maybe
I need to split it, or add some more to the other parts, I'll decide
after the next part. Anyway tell me what you think.
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Crossed Lives - Part 6
Akane's Anniversary
----------------------
Ranma awoke and shivered in the cold, feeling something warm to his side
he snuggled closer.
"Mmm, Ranma." He heard a female voice murmur.
Opening his eyes he looked at what he was leaning against. Akane lay
there sleeping, she had pulled most of the blanket she had brought
last night over herself. Even with most of Ranma's half of the blanket
she was still shivering. Seeing this Ranma folded the rest of the
blanket over her, this however caused Akane to wake.
"Happy two month anniversary!" She said and rolled over on top of him,
giving him a passionate kiss.
Ranma just lay there stunned, memories from the day before came
flooding back.
"Anniversary?" he asked.
Akane rolled back off him and sat up pouting.
"You didn't forget did you?"
"No of coarse not!" He lied. <Anniversary, what do married couples do
on their anniversary?> He shivered again in the cold.
"Oh, look at me, I'm hogging all the blanket and you're freezing. I'll
go and get a warm bath running. Don't wait too long before joining
me!" She winked at him and scrambled down off the roof.
<Joining her? she doesn't expect us to share a bath does she?>
<Of cause she does, you're her husband,> A voice at the back of his
mind replied.
<No, I'm not. Some other me's her husband.>
<But she doesn't know that!>
Ranma thought about this for a minute and then shook his head.
<No. It wouldn't be right. But how can I avoid going through with it?>
He shivered again in the cold. <Staying out here isn't going to help
things I'll only catch a cold.>
Climbing down off the roof, he instinctively headed for the window of
the guest room only to find it locked. Realising his mistake he tried
the window of Akane's room, finding it open he climbed inside.
----
Pacing the room Ranma knew it was only a matter of time before Akane
came up to find out what was taking him so long. Sitting down on the
edge of the bed he stared at the shelves looking for inspiration. A
large book hanging slightly over the edge of one of them caught his
eye and he walked over to pick it up. The gold lettering on the cover
read: 'The wedding of Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo'. Opening it up to
first page and sitting down on the floor, he began to examine the
pictures.
----
Akane lay in the bath waiting for Ranma, she was upset and starting to
get angry.
<Normally he'd have rushed down to join me, what's he doing?>
She waited about a minute longer. Now fuming, she climbed out of the
bath and grabbed her bath robe.
----
Ranma turned to the last page of the wedding book where there was a
large group photo. The other Ranma and Akane stood at the centre of
the picture kissing with all their families looking on proudly and their
school friends throwing confetti.
"I still can't believe it, Ryouga my best man! And Akane she looks so
beautiful in that wedding dress." He sighed to himself and continued
to stair at the photo.
*Wham*, The door shuddered as Akane pushed it open violently.
"RANMA, I'VE BEEN WAITING DOWN THEIR FOR ten ... minutes." Her anger
quickly disappeared as she saw what he was looking at.
Ranma leapt to his feet, expecting any moment to be on the receiving
end of a very large mallet and was shocked to find Akane diving into
his arms.
"Wha..." his question was cut short as Akane kissed him.
Releasing him she walked up to the door and shut it quietly. Turning
around she took a step towards him and dropped her bathrobe off her
shoulders. Ranma was stunned, he knew what Akane was suggesting and
gulped audibly.
<This isn't right, you can't go through with this.> Part of his mind
said. The other in a much louder voice said <yes you can, haven't you
dreamt about this?>
Akane dropped the robe completely, but still Ranma made no move
towards her.
<Yes, but that was with our Akane not this one.>
<What's the difference?>
<She's married to another man. Yes he looks like me but he's not
me.>
Akane walked towards him seductively and draped her arms over his
shoulders. Ranma still struggling with his conscience just stood
there. Akane kissed him lightly and gripped the bottom of his shirt to
pull it off. This shocked Ranma out of his thoughts.
"I'm sorry, I can't," he said quickly, throwing open the door and running
through it.
Akane sank to her knees and stared at the empty doorway, tears
starting to fall down her face.
----
"Damn," Ranma cursed as he ran out of the house, "I'm sure I could
have handled that better."
Not looking where he was going he tripped over the rather obvious
tripwire which was stretched across the path. As he fell forwards he
saw a flash of white shoot across his field of vision and heard a
startled yelp. Managing to get his balance back before he fell on his
face, he turned to where he had heard the yelp to see a rather angry
looking Shampoo sprawled on the floor with Mousse on top of her. A
large log lying to the side of them apparently having fallen where
Shampoo was standing.
"Damn you Mousse, Shampoo almost got him that time!" Shampoo shouted,
throwing Mousse off her and into a nearby wall, before stomping off
down the street.
Mousse peeled himself off the wall and turned angrily on Ranma.
"SAOTOME ISN'T ONE WIFE ENOUGH FOR YOU?"
Ranma stood there staring at Mousse, confused by what he said but also
from the lack of glasses on his face. Testing a theory he walked a few
paces to the right and Mousse followed his movements perfectly.
<Contacts?> Ranma thought to himself and started to laugh.
"You find the thought of a second wife funny?"
"No... It's just that your wearing," Ranma managed to stop himself
laughing long enough to splutter "Contact lenses!"
"THE FACT THAT I AM WEARING CONTACT LENSES IS NOT FUNNY"
Ranma managed to stopped laughing and walked up to Mousse.
"It was just a surprise that's all. So why did you finally switch?"
"I stopped wearing glasses a few days after I arrived, otherwise I'd
never be able to foil Shampoo's manhunt. Anyway you know all this."
"Oh, yeah, um, of cause. So Shampoo's still on her.. what did you call
it? manhunt?"
"Yes." Mousse replied sighing. "I still don't understand why she's
doing it. She's still trying to get a strong man to knock her out and
beat her so she can get him to marry her. The only man she won't try
it on is me."
He pulled a knife out of his robes and cut the tripwire which was
still stretched across the path and proceeded to wind up the wire.
Ranma digested this information slowly. <Shampoo's on a manhunt? That
means I haven't beaten her in combat.> Ranma started to smile to
himself, then remembering what he had just done to Akane it turned into a
frown. Ranma sighed to himself.
<I can't keep this up. If I don't tell someone else soon, I'll go mad, but
who?> Starting to walk away from the house he tried to think of someone he
could trust and talk to.
"Uc-chan!" He shouted out loud, causing Mousse to stop and watch him as he ran
down the street. Shaking his head he continued to clean up Shampoo's trap.
----
Ranma ran around the corner and pushed open the door to Ukyou's restaurant
and was surprised to find it locked. Peering in through the glass in the
door he was shocked to find the inside of it dark. Stepping back he tried
to see if there was any movement in the upstairs window, it was then that
he noticed the signs in the window.
Pai's Ramen Wonders, Closed down due to competition.
<Pai's Ramen? Not Uc-Chan's?> Then it dawned on him. <Uc-Chan's not here,
she may never have been. Even if she was, she probably wouldn't stay.> His
heart sank, he felt like he had just lost a friend. Not bothering to look
where he was going he walked away from the restaurant that in another
universe would be called 'Uc-Chan's.'
----
Nabiki lay on her bed idly flicking though her bank book, she frowned when she
noticed the balance was slightly lower than what she expected. Reaching to
her side for another chocolate she found the box empty, closing the lid of
the box she removed the card addressed to 'My Pigtailed goddess'. Opening her
bottom drawer she tossed in the card to join the hundred other identical cards
already there.
<Perhaps now would be a good time to find out why Ranma was acting so
strange yesterday.> She smirked, anyone who knew her would make an excuse
and leave when they saw that smirk, it meant she had a money making scheme
in mind. Tossing the empty chocolate box In the bin, she opened her bedroom
door and walked down the hall. As she passed by Akane and Ranma's room she
heard a sniffle, the expression on her face changed to one of concern and
she knocked on the door. Hearing no answer she tried the door handle,
finding the door was not locked she pushed it open slightly.
"Akane, are you all right?" Getting only another sniffle in reply she pushed
open the door and walked inside.
Akane lay on the bed facing the wall, still in her bathrobe from earlier.
Closing the door behind her Nabiki sat down beside her and put her hand on
Akane's shoulder.
"What's wrong? Did you and Ranma have another fight?" Akane rolled around to
look at Nabiki, her eyes were puffed up from the amount of crying she had
done. A little surprised by the concern in Nabiki's voice and in her
expression, she managed to shake her head in reply.
"It's been two months since our marriage, so this morning I..." Her voice
caught in her throat. "I asked him to join me in the bath. He didn't
come..." The tears came back and she started to sob again. Nabiki felt tears
well up her own eyes in sympathy, she pulled Akane into a hug.
"I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt you, you know Ranma he probably just
forgot."
"But... that's not all." Nabiki tensed slightly, wondering what else Ranma
had done, but continued to hold Akane. "I was angry with him so I rushed in
here and found him looking at our wedding photos. I thought he had honestly
forgotten, but then when I took off my bath robe, he... he... refused me and
ran." Unable to hold back any longer she started crying into Nabiki's shoulder.
Nabiki didn't know what to say, having no experience in this situation she
desperately tried to think of something that would comfort her sister. Ever
since Kasumi had left to marry doctor Tofu, Akane had taken over the
household, Nabiki just accepted the change in roles and continued as normal.
Now she wished her older sister was here, she would have known what to say,
feeling helpless Nabiki suggested the only thing she could.
"I think you should go and see Kasumi, she's been married for over a year
I'm sure she would know why Ranma..." Surprisingly Akane stopped crying at
this and pulled back slightly, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her
bathrobe she managed a smile.
"But first I think you should change, you'd get some strange looks going out
like that!" Nabiki said jokingly and reached into the wardrobe and pulled
out a dress. Akane giggled and started to get dressed.
----
Ranma sighed to himself and leant against the fence by his side, feeling
like he had walked for hours he looked around to see where he was. To his
right was a familiar sign that read 'Clinic', turning around he started to
walk away and then stopped. A thoughtful expression appeared on his face
and then changed to one of resolve, turning back around again he entered
the clinic.
Seeing the door to the main surgery in the rear room closed Ranma sat down
to wait. A few minutes later Kasumi came out with a patient and showed him
to the door, waving goodbye.
"Who's next!" She asked in a cheery voice and turned to Ranma. "Oh it's you
Ranma, feeling better after yesterday?"
"Um, yes. Could I talk to doctor Tofu?"
"Of coarse you can, go on in. I'll make sure you're not disturbed."
Ranma got up and walked into the back room, Kasumi closed the door behind
him.
Inside doctor Tofu was putting some bottles back in one of the cabinets,
Ranma sat down on the edge of one of the beds and looked down at his feet.
"I'll be with you in a second." Doctor Tofu said without turning around.
Putting the last of the bottles away, he turned around.
"Ranma. Good to see you, is everything OK?"
"No, not really." Noting the sound of despair in Ranma's voice, he sat down
next to him and checked his aura. Seeing that there was nothing physically
wrong, he waited for Ranma to continue.
"When I claimed yesterday that I had amnesia, it was a lie." The doctor said
nothing, nodding slightly as though he already knew.
"I don't belong here, everything about my life is different to how I
remember it. I was never married to Akane, you weren't married to Kasumi,
almost everything is different here..." He turned to look at the doctor,
with an almost pleading expression. "Do you believe me?"
"What you have told me is certainly unusual, I don't know what to believe.
Why don't you tell me more about what you think things should be like."
Nodding Ranma lay back on the bed, closed his eyes and started to describe
his life.
----
Akane pushed open the door to the clinic and looked back when she noticed Nabiki
wasn't following her.
"Aren't you coming in?"
"I wasn't sure you would want me to." Nabiki replied, trying to look calm, when
inside she still felt helpless.
"Oh, come on in. I haven't got anything to hide. Besides I'm sure Kasumi would
like to see you." Akane smiled and grabbed Nabiki's arm dragging her inside.
Inside Kasumi was cleaning the waiting room, even though it was already
spotless. On seeing Akane and Nabiki she ran over and grabbed them and gave them
both a hug.
"Kasumi. Can we have a talk, there's something I need to ask you." Akane asked
getting straight to the point.
"All right, I'll just leave a note here for any patients, go on upstairs."
----
The three sisters sat round a coffee table in the living room above the clinic.
Kasumi had made them all some tea and Akane now held a steaming cup in her hands
trying to pluck up the courage to talk to Kasumi about that mornings events.
Blowing lightly at the tea to cool it down, she took a sip and finding it still
too hot put it down on the coaster Kasumi had provided. She looked around the
table at her sisters, Kasumi just sat there smiling at them and Nabiki played
idly with the buttons on her blouse. Taking a deep breath she decided she had
better get it over with.
"Kasumi, this morning Ranma refused me for the first time since we have been
married." She said bluntly, trying to hold back the tears she knew would come if
she said more.
Kasumi saw the trouble Akane had telling her this and moved to sit next to her
on the small sofa.
"That probably explains it then." Kasumi said softly almost to herself.
Akane turned her head to look at her sister with a confused expression.
"Explains what?"
"Well a few minutes ago Ranma-kun came into the clinic." Akane looked a little
shocked. "He asked to see Ono and he looked really depressed." Akane started to
get up and Kasumi put a restraining hand on her shoulder.
"I think you should let him talk to my husband for a while, he'll come up when
he's finished."
Akane relaxed back into the sofa and while Kasumi talked to Nabiki, just sat
there staring at the floor as though she was observing what was happening in the
clinic below.
----
Ranma opened his eyes, pulled himself up onto his elbows and looked at the
doctor. Doctor Tofu sat and stared at Ranma, still digesting everything that
Ranma had told him.
"Doctor?"
Shaking his head as though to clear it doctor Tofu stood up, walked a few paces
and then turned to face him.
"To answer your earlier question I do believe you, I find it hard to believe you
could have made all that up. Plus there are a few pieces of evidence that
confirm your story, your lack of a wedding ring and any sign that you ever wore
one for example." Pushing his glasses further up his nose he seemed to ponder
something.
"So if you don't belong here, the questions I think we should be asking is how
did you get here? How do we get you back? and what if we can't?" Ranma was about
to answer him but was stopped short by the doctors last question.
"From what you have told me the most likely candidates to have sent you here are
Cologne and Happosai. Sadly neither of them are here to be able to send you
back, I doubt your father or father-in-law would want us to let Happosai out of
the cave they buried him in. Cologne however we could probably contact..."
"Isn't there another way? you heard the kind of things she has tried on me,"
Ranma interrupted.
"I could try and find out I suppose, but I don't think you should ignore the
fact that she is possibly the only person who can help you." Ranma couldn't help
but shudder at this.
"Well, I had better be getting back." Ranma said getting up off the bed and
heading for the door.
"Haven't you forgotten something Ranma?"
Ranma looked back at the bed to see if he had dropped something, seeing nothing
he turned to look at the doctor.
"My third question?"
"What if I can't get back?" Ranma felt his heart sink again.
"Don't look so down Ranma," Doctor Tofu smiled at him, "things here aren't that
bad. But I do need to ask you something." Ranma looked at him questioningly.
"How do you feel about Akane?"
Ranma's eyes opened wide with shock, "..." was all he could say.
"I'm serious about this Ranma, she is married to you here, she loves you..."
"Not after this morning," Ranma muttered.
"What did you do this morning?"
"Well, I um... kind of refused to make love to her," he replied quietly.
"That probably hurt her, but I doubt she loves you any less. Now how do you feel
about her?"
Ranma poked the tips of his index fingers together and flexed them slightly.
"Well... I suppose I do care for her, but do I love her?" Ranma paused briefly
and finished quietly "I think I do."
Doctor Tofu couldn't help but smile.
"Come on I think you should go and tell Akane."
Ranma stepped away from him with a look of fear on his face. "What that I love
her?"
"Not unless you want to. I was referring to the truth about who you are."
"But wont she worry about her husband?"
"Yes, but don't you think she deserves to know the truth?"
"I suppose." Ranma replied feeling guilty.
"Come on I'll come with you." Doctor Tofu opened the door to the waiting room
and walked through it with Ranma following him slowly.
In the waiting room Doctor Tofu looked around for Kasumi and spotted the note
she had left for patients.
"Well, it looks like you wont have far to go Ranma, Akane is upstairs with my
wife. Come on," Ranma swallowed nervously and followed him upstairs.
----
Nabiki sat opposite Kasumi and doctor Tofu who were sitting together whispering
into each others ears and kissing occasionally. She glanced at the door to the
room where Akane and Ranma had disappeared to a few minutes ago, the faint sound
of Ranma talking could be heard. Beneath her apparently calm exterior Nabiki was
fuming, things were going on around her and she was completely uninvolved.
"Ahem," She cleared her throat trying to get the attention of the two opposite
her, it failed. "AHEM," She tried louder, Kasumi and doctor Tofu turned to look
at her, "Would you please explain what is happening, something clearly has
happened between those two and I would like to know what."
Doctor Tofu turned to look at his wife and then at her sister, "Akane is going
to need some comforting when she has finished talking to Ranma, so I suppose you
should know," he paused briefly, "the Ranma we just saw is not Akane's
husband."
The two sisters could only stare at him, there silence was broken by a scream
from next door.
"NOOOOO."
Doctor Tofu cringed as he heard the sound of a window being broken, outside he
saw Ranma flying into the distance.
"It seems like Akane has just found out as well..."
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