OK... this is REALLY REALLY REALLY revised... I am trying to
make it more accurate... This is supposed to take place 
after the last manga, so if you haven't read that, go check
it out on the Ranma Universe Page... There is a link to it on
my page at http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~marisa/anime.html.
Hope you like it...
-Misa


A LESSON IN LOVE (Was: "A Lesson in Trust")
By Marisa Price

PART I

	Furinken High, never the ideal educational establishment,
felt particularly strange to Ranma and Akane on the day after what 
everyone in Nerima was referring to as the "Wedding Fiasco." All in 
all it was a quiet day: not a squabble, obsessed maniac, or martial 
arts duel to be seen. Anyone who lived in Nerima knew that the quiet 
itself made the day especially bizarre. Ranma and Akane had run to 
school together, late as always, and everything seemed to being going 
well between them. Akane was being nice to him and Ranma hadn't said 
anything stupid for at least an hour.
	Things were just not normal. Something was just BOUND to 
happen.
	At lunch the hot gossip was that Akane hadn't beat up Ranma 
all day. The explanation, including Ranma's trip to China, Akane's 
near death, and the failed wedding, was still hush hush around the
Furinken campus. No one wanted to be on either Ranma OR Akane's
bad side at the moment, and they knew that ANY mention of any of 
these subjects was probably going to put the unlucky person into the
hospital.
	So, when you can't get the information from the source, go
to your second-best resource. In this case, the most reliable (but also
the most expensive) source of information was none other than Nabiki
Tendo. It was, to say the least, one of Nabiki's more profitable days.
	Akane sat under a tree with her two friends, Sayuri and Yuka,
eating lunch. They knew better than to even MENTION the "R-word",
and never spoke about Ranma unless Akane brought him up in a 
conversation. So, for the moment, Akane was having a peaceful lunch.
Akane was at that moment thanking the powers that be that her
 friends hadn't said anything about the "fiasco"; Akane didn't even 
want to have to think about it. Ranma had the chance to admit how
he felt; Akane had assumed he would be honest with himself. 
Instead, he chickened out. Akane stole a glance at Ranma, who
sat about 20 feet away on some benches talking to his friends, Hiroshi
and Daisuke, and a few other guys. Akane saw him get up and 
demonstrate a move to the other boys.
	"What a show-off," Akane thought, thoroughly disgusted.
	Ranma was doing a good job of ignoring the whole Wedding
disaster himself. He had admitted to himself that he did love the 
kawaiikune tomboy when he held her in his arms, thinking that he had
lost her. However, when faced with her in a bridal dress and impending
marriage, he wasn't able to get the words out. 
	"Do you love me, Ranma?" Akane had asked.
	And Ranma realized he didn't know. He didn't really know what
love WAS exactly, or if the feeling he had for Akane was the kind of 
sentiment that led to taking her down the aisle, into his heart, and into
his arms, FOREVER.
	Ranma was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear Daisuke 
asking him something. Finally, after being cuffed on the back of his head,
he noticed the group of boys staring at him.
	"What?!" Ranma asked.
	All the boys glanced at each other, and then Daisuke repeated, 
"We just wanted to see that move you were talking about last week, 
you know the one to avoid being hit when someone tries to punch you."
	"OH!" Ranma said, and gave a nervous laugh. He stood up and
began to demonstrate, his face a little redder than usual.
	Both Akane and Ranma were totally oblivious to the crowd
encircling Nabiki on the other end of the lawn. Nabiki was detailing
the events that occurred after the wedding, and, for a fee, telling 
people that, yes, Akane and Ranma were still engaged, and no, the
date was not yet certain. She also proffered some pictures of Akane
in a wedding dress and Ranma in his tux to interested parties.
	"Too bad you couldn't get pictures of the wedding NIGHT!"
someone chuckled in the group around Nabiki.
	"People, people!" Nabiki smiled, "When and if those pictures
become available, you KNOW who will have them!"

*******
	Lunch was over, and everyone filed back to their classes. Akane
had just sat in her seat, thanking the powers that be that she had 
survived lunch unscathed for once, when the girl in the desk next to her
asked, "So, Akane, is it true that you and Ranma are still getting 
married?"
	Akane turned bright red and her eyes bugged out a bit. She
stuttered out, "Uh... well... not exactly.... I... I mean Ranma and I... 
I mean NO!... my father..."
	"Yeah, whatever, Akane," the girl said, smirking.
	Akane stopped and blushed furiously.
	Another group of girls joined the rapidly gathering crowd 
around Akane. One asked, "Did you really almost die in China, 
Akane? And Ranma saved you?"
	Akane looked as if she would have liked to sink into a hole in 
the ground. The boys were starting to enter the classroom too, and, as Akane
looked over and saw a sputtering Ranma surrounded by a crowd, she
realized he was probably being interrogated too.
	Akane began, "I don't see how this is any of your business..."
	A girl, Miki, said, "Oh come on, Akane! We were all invited to
this 'big wedding for Ranma and Akane' and we were basically gypped!
I mean, the least you could have done was still had a reception, and,
if not that, at least given us an EXPLANATION!"
	Yuka came to Akane's defense, saying, "Come on! Leave Akane
alone! You know it was all Ranma's fault! It always is, isn't it, Akane?!"
	Akane nodded, and everyone else in the group sighed.
	"I suppose so," Miki finally said, "that guy is SUCH a loser Akane!
Why don't you MAKE him love you, or dump him!"
	Akane rolled her eyes and commented, "Love. Right. Whatever."
	Akane just looked at the ground. The crowd continued talking 
and Akane began to look more and more troubled. Akane figured 
Ranma loving her and admitting was, at this point, just a fantasy.
	She thought to herself, "I know he cares about me... but he 
has never said he loves me. Not even when he thought I was dying..." 
	Akane looked over at the baka, impossible to miss in his red 
satin shirt in the crowd of black and white uniforms, where he sat with 
his friends on the benches. Ranma, of course, had his back to Akane 
and to the crowd around her.
	"Oblivious idiot," Akane muttered.
*****
	Ranma's interrogation was a bit more personal than Akane's.
	A guy, someone Ranma didn't know very well, commented,
"So, man, that whole wedding thing was a big no go, eh?"
	Ranma groaned, "Come on man. Ain't nothin personal?"
	Daisuke elbowed Ranma and asked, winking his eye, "So... dija 
do... 'it'.. yet with Akane? I mean since you thought you would be 
married and all...."
	"Yeah," another guy added, "I mean is she as violent between
the sheets as she is regularly? Heh! Now that would be interesting!"
	"Well, she DOES have a great body," Hiroshi smiled, a dreamy
look on his face.
	At this point Ranma was totally pissed off, embarrassed, and 
confused. These guys were touching on a subject Ranma felt VERY 
uncomfortable about. Ranma jumped up, and, as usual, opened his
mouth without thinking and shouted, "Lay off man! Like I would 
do that with an uncute tomboy like Akane anyway!!"
	Akane, and everyone else, stiffened as they heard Ranma's
shout. Everyone turned to Akane to see what she would do. Akane 
looked furious. This, in addition to the questioning she had just 
endured, was too much. Akane got up and stomped over to Ranma
and hit him on the head shouting, "Ranma no.... Ranma no.... Ranma
no BAKA!!!!!"
	Then, tears filling her eyes, she turned and ran out of the
classroom. Just as the bell rang.
	Ranma, a bit catatonic from the punch, still saw the tears and
thought, "Me and my big mouth," before getting up to run after her.
Unfortunately, he didn't hear the bell (because the ringing in his head
from Akane's hit was already pretty loud) and ran straight into Miss
Hinako as he flew out of the classroom.
	"And where do YOU think you are going, Mr. Saotome?"
Hinako asked, childlike, but looking furious and dangerous all the 
same.
	"Uh..." Ranma muttered, looking down at the pint-sized 
disciplinarian, and then said, "to the, uh, bathroom?"
	"Go sit down!" Hinako shouted, adding, "You should have
taken care of that at lunch!"
	Ranma sighed, turned, and went back to his desk, thinking,
"Maybe she will have cooled down some by the time I get home."
	The tittering in the classroom hushed, not wanting to face
Hinako's wrath, but someone in the back commented loudly, when
Miss Hinako went to close the classroom door, "Well at least things
are back to normal!"
					*****
NOTE: stuff surrounded by ** means it is in another language, such
as Chinese.

	Of course, things really weren't back to normal, but everyone
wanted to believe they were. The scene at the Nekkohanten was 
familiar at least... but a certain unfamiliar feeling ran through Shampoo.
	Mousse had done it again. Shampoo sighed as she placed a 
cool wet cloth on his bruised and bleeding forehead and securely 
tucked the sheets around him.
	Mousse was knocked out cold, or else he would probably 
be raving something about her great beauty or his joy at her "tender" 
ministrations. Shampoo sighed again, pulling off Mousse's glasses. 
She held them up to the light, and the myriad of cracks and chips 
caused a prismatic light to glow through the thick glass, leaving a 
rainbow on the nearby wall. 
	"Great-grandmother," Shampoo turned and yelled to 
Cologne, who was busy in the kitchen creating her special 
Amazon-style ramen for their dinner.
	"Yes Shampoo?" Cologne asked as she hopped in on 
her giant staff, her gnarled body wrapped around it like 
monkey grabbing at the limb of a tree. Long swirling white hair, 
the only remnant of her 275-year ago Amazonian beauty, swirled 
around her like a cape. She looked down at Mousse, the blood from 
a cut on his forehead running on her recently cleaned pillows.
	"I see Mousse won't be working today," Cologne smirked.
	Shampoo just frowned and said, *Can you sew him up?*
	"What happened this time, Shampoo?" Cologne asked, 
as she shuffled around in a cabinet for medicinal supplies. She was
always prepared to be amused by this obsessed would-be-fiancee
of her Great-granddaughter's.
	Shampoo threw her hands up in the air, and then crossed 
them against her chest. She adopted a perturbed look and began, 
*Well today when I was making a delivery, two men tried take the
ramen. . .*
	Cologne nodded in encouragement for her to go on.
	*And, as usual, stupid Mousse appeared and tried to stop 
the men. He never realizes that I can defend myself!* she grimaced 
in exasperation, her hands falling to her sides in clenched fists, 
before she continued, *Mousse got wet when he fell into a puddle 
he couldn't see and became a duck. He knows he isn't as strong
in his cursed form, but he STILL tried to defend me! He is so stupid!*
	Cologne grimaced, her eyes narrowing as she considered the 
situation, and then she finally said, "And did they get the ramen, 
Shampoo?"
	"Aiyaa!" Shampoo said, slipping into Japanese. "Yes they 
get ramen because Shampoo have to run back and save Mousse. 
Stupid, stupid, Mousse," Shampoo stood and walked into the kitchen, 
opening a sizable drawer. She pulled out a pair of glasses, a particularly 
strong pair, from the large assortment collected there for "accidents."
	Shampoo sat down again, placed the glasses on Mousse's face. 
She dropped her hands into her lap and stared at the floor.
	Cologne was amused. She shook her head as she walked out of 
the room, sensing that the ramen was ready, chuckling. She thought, 
"That Mousse just tries too hard. That one has been trying too hard 
all his life, poor fool." Out loud she said, "I will come back to stitch 
him up in a while, I have to prepare the materials."
	Shampoo looked at her hands, still folded in her lap, time 
passing without notice. She was startled when she realized Mousse 
had been staring at her for several minutes, and one of his hands 
now covered her own.
	Mousse smiled at her, a tight painful smile, and said, "You 
stayed, Shampoo. You took care of me. Thank-you. I only wish I 
could have..."
	Shampoo stood up quickly, pulling her hands from Mousse's. 
She shouted at him, "How many times Shampoo need tell Mousse 
no need protect Shampoo!"
	Mousse tried sitting up, causing blood to start trickling from 
his head again, and he looked more than a bit dizzy, "I am sorry 
Shampoo, I was only doing what I thought was right."
	He began to look pale and started to fall sideways.
	"Mousse!" Shampoo shouted, catching him before he could 
fall and laying him back against the pillow. *You stay in bed Mousse! 
The cut is deep! Great-grandmother will give you stitches soon.*
	He just smiled that sad smile again and said, *I'm all right 
now, Shampoo. Honestly I am. And I am sorry if you don't want 
me to defend you. I... I just can't seem to help it sometimes... 
you see... as the one you have chose to defend you, that cursed 
Ranma Saotome, has left you time and time again to save that 
Akane Tendo... someone else has to...*
	Shampoo cut him off, *Ranma doesn't love Akane! They 
fight! Ranma will realize soon that I am better, just you wait 
Mousse. You leave Ranma and I alone!*
	*Will he defend you in the crucial moment, Shampoo?*
Mousse smiled, and added, *as I would?* And then, his eyes
growing heavy, sank back down on the bed and fell asleep.
	Shampoo remembered the battle against Monlon 
when Ranma had left her to fight and had gone on himself to help 
Akane. She had survived, and won, but. . . he had left her behind. 
However, Ranma could defeat those that Mousse could never even
contemplate, such as Kirin and Saffron and others. Shampoo needed
a strong warrior, someone who COULD protect her, or at least that
she wasn't constantly trying to rescue as she had to do for Mousse.
Mousse was sweet and caring, but his obsessiveness drove her insane.
If but one time he let HER decide how she felt, she might feel differently.
Shampoo frowned at that thought and stood, upset now, and strode out
to the front of the Cat-Cafe, unlocking her bicycle.
	Cologne called from the kitchen, "Where are you going Shampoo?"
	Shampoo poked her head back in the cafe and said to her 
great-grandmother, fury still lighting her eyes, *I am going to see Ranma.*
	Cologne smiled again at this development. She called after 
Shampoo, "Tell my future-son-in-law I said hello!"
					*****
	Akane slammed the door open, knocking it out of the slider.
	Kasumi looked up and said, "Oh my. You are home early today, 
Akane!"
	Akane was furious, confused, and embarrassed. As with 
Ranma, this did not make a good combination. She opened her 
mouth and said, "I felt sick. I came home. LEAVE ME ALONE!!"
	Akane stormed past a blinking Kasumi, went upstairs to her 
room and slammed the door.
	"Oh my," Kasumi said again, looking at the place where 
Akane had stood, frowning.
	Kasumi finally turned around and walked up the stairs. She 
put her ear to Akane's door and heard a lot of stomping, pounding, 
and banging, mixed with several shouts of, "BAKA!!!"
	"Ranma." Kasumi thought.
	Finally the noise quieted down and Kasumi knocked on the 
door. 
	Akane: (muttered) "Come in."
	Akane was sitting at her desk, her back to Kasumi, looking 
out the window. There were weights and bokkens and other objects
thrown about the room. Kasumi frowned, wondering where to begin,
when Akane turned and said, quietly, "I am sorry I yelled at you,
Kasumi."
	Kasumi smiled. "That is OK, Akane. I know we all have bad
days. You want to talk about it?"
	Akane began to tear up a bit as the whole story, including
why she was pissed at Ranma, her anger at and the nosy students,
and, finally, how she was feeling strange... almost sorry... that
the wedding had not happened... that it hadn't even FAZED that
jerk, Ranma... It all came out in one tearful, blurred, rush. 
Unspoken was the truth of the matter: Akane was confused, still,
about how she felt about Ranma.
	Kasumi went over and hugged her sister and said, 
"You should know, Akane, that Ranma has spent so much of his 
life training in the marital arts that he never received any social 
training. The way he shows affection to his father is by fighting 
him, insulting him, and practicing martial arts with him."
	Akane: "So?"
	Kasumi sighed and said, "Well, Akane, who else do you 
know that Ranma treats like he does his father?"
	Akane looked blank.
	Kasumi laughed and pointed out, "YOU, you silly. Ranma 
is very shy and doesn't know how to express love. It terrifies him. 
Nothing has ever been permanent for him, anyone he loved except
his father was taken away from him. Permanence, such as in 
admitting love, scares him. He is probably afraid he will lose you 
the same way he had to give up his mother."
	Akane STILL looked blank and asked, "And your 
point is....?"
	Kasumi said sternly, "My point is that sometimes 
Ranma's insults are his way of saying, 'I love you', and are 
just his way of fighting his insecurities. Akane, Ranma DOES 
love you. It is just hard for him to say the words."
	Akane started to tear up again and said, fiercely,
"But he DOESN'T, Kasumi! Wouldn't I have SOME 
feeling that he does?"
	"Akane," Kasumi said, looking sad, "You are just
as insecure and just as unable to say how YOU feel. I think
a lot of that has to do with our losing our mother, we have
all been a little closed since then, scared to show our love
in case that person... leaves us..." Kasumi looked very sad.
"...As our mother did..."
	Akane began to cry harder. Kasumi began to tear up
a little herself, and walked over to hug Akane. Kasumi leaned
down and kissed Akane on the top of her head, the way 
Mother used to do, and then started to walk out of the room.
	Akane: "Kasumi?"
	Kasumi, her eyes sparkling, turned back to look
at Akane.
	Akane sniffed, smiled, and said quietly, "I love you,
Kasumi."
	Kasumi nodded, and said, "I know. I love you too
little sister."
*****
	Kasumi just reached the bottom of the stairs when Ranma 
walked in the door. Kasumi smiled and said, "Hello Ranma!"
	Ranma looked very uncomfortable and was shuffling
his feet. He looked up at Kasumi and asked, "Um... is Akane 
home...?"
	Kasumi nodded and smiled, her eyes drier now.
	"Yes she is here Ranma. Maybe you should go up and 
talk to her?" Kasumi asked.
	"Was... was she upset?" Ranma asked haltingly, noticing
that Kasumi looked a little upset herself.
	Kasumi nodded.
	Ranma sighed, nodded at Kasumi, and began to walk up
the stairs. He crept along the hallway until he reached Akane's
door. He hesitated, and then raised his hand to knock. After a
few seconds had passed, and he still hadn't knocked, he realized
that he couldn't do it. He didn't know the what to say. Ranma
turned and went to his bedroom, sat down on his futon, and
began to think.
	Akane had heard Ranma's familiar step in the hall and
knew he had paused outside her door.
	"So, he did follow me home from school... took him
long enough!" she thought.
	Akane's heart began to thump. She wondered if he 
would knock. If he would apologize. Then, she heard the steps
begin again and the sound of the door to Ranma's room opening
and shutting.
	"Chicken. Baka. Fool!" she said quietly.
					*****
	By the time Akane finally left her room, Ranma had already
given up on apologizing and gone to practice in the dojo with his 
father. Akane decided she would do something nice for Ranma; 
maybe being friendly would help ease the tension between them.
Akane entered the kitchen with high hopes.
	"Kasumi- can you help me make dinner for everyone 
tonight?" Akane asked.
	Kasumi looked a bit afraid.
	Akane smiled and said, "I PROMISE I will listen to you, too."
	Kasumi sighed in relief.
	Two hours later Kasumi sent Akane out to get Ranma and 
Genma. She entered the dojo, watched Ranma and Genma sparring 
for a minute, and then said, "Ranma, Mr. Saotome, dinner time!"
	Ranma looked at Akane. She smiled back at him.
	Ranma thought, in abject fear, "Why is she being so 
NICE to me?"
	Then, it hit him. She must have..... OH NO.... COOKED!!!
	Genma was not quite as quick as Ranma, and also missed 
the look of horror on his son's face.
	Genma smiled and said, "Sounds GREAT, Akane!" before 
running off to go attack the food before his son could get it all.
	Akane smiled after Genma's retreating form, and then
turned to look back at Ranma. Then, she saw the grimace on
his face.
	"Ranma... aren't you coming? I am OK... about earlier..."
she added, frowning, and reinforced her words by saying, "Really!"
	Ranma sputtered at this, not knowing what to say. Finally,
what seemed a safer course popped into his mouth and he said,
"Uh... did you cook, Akane?"
	Akane nodded, smiling, and said, "Yep! And it came out 
great too!" She blush and added, "I made it for you.... it is that 
curry that I make that is OK..."
	Ranma blanched again, and, then, damn fool, he said it.
	"So you ARE still mad, Akane!! Except you are trying to
be all nice and then secretly come up and try and kill me with your
rotten cooking!"
	Akane looked crushed, and then she began to look angry.
A blue aura began to form around her and she whipped a mallet
out of no where, whamming Ranma with it several times before
she stormed out of the dojo.
					*****
	Ranma finally crawled from the dojo into the dining room. 
Nabiki, Genma, Kasumi, Soun, and Nadoka were all munching 
happily. Ranma looked at the food on the table.... it looked... well, 
NORMAL. Ranma sat down, picking up a bowl and some chopsticks. 
He put some of the food in his bowl and poked at it. He leaned down 
and sniffed the mix and thought, "Hey... it even SMELLS good."
	Nadoka looked at her son and asked, "Is something wrong 
Ranma?"
	Ranma shook his head and said, "It is just, well... Akane said 
she cooked dinner!"
	Kasumi smiled and said, "Yes she did Ranma! She listened to 
me very closely and tried all the dishes herself before she made them....
I think she was cooking for you especially Ranma."
	Ranma sighed, closed his eyes, and began to eat. He realized 
that it was actually... good. Which made him feel terrible. Ranma
opened his eyes and noticed everyone was looking at him.
	He blushed, and then groaned, thinking, "What ELSE can go
wrong today?"
	Nabiki grinned and said, "Guess you better go apologize, 
eh Ranma?"
	Ranma looked frustrated, but, knowing he couldn't fight
well on an empty stomach, finished eating before he went to
go apologize for the second time that day. But, fate had other ideas.
	Suddenly, a cry filled the Tendo Dojo.
	Ryouga: "Ranma, where are you???!!!"
	Ranma realized his day was about to get, unbelievably, even
worse.
					*****
	Ranma tapped Ryouga on the shoulder. Ryouga was looking
into the coat closet asking, "Ranma? Are you in here?"
	Ryouga turned around at the tap, saw Ranma, and assumed a
fighting stance.
	"RAAAANNNNNMMMMAA!" Ryouga shouted.
	Ranma wasn't even fazed. He asked, "Ok, Ryouga, what
did I do now?"
	Ryouga, as usual, looked really pissed off, and said,
"I have been thinking about it, and I STILL can't believe
that you allowed the wedding between you and Akane to
be called off. I LET you have her because I thought you
loved her and were going to marry her!!!"
	Ranma backed against the wall, hands raised in the 
typical Takahashi "oh shit" manner.
	Ranma stammered, "Lll....llll....looo...? Ryouga, what
are you TALKING about? After that whole fiasco you were
HAPPY I didn't marry her... and then you wandered off!"
	"I care only about her happiness!" Ryouga shouted,
raising his umbrella to strike Ranma, and adding, "Even if I
must sacrifice my own!"
	"I guess this means you just couldn't FIND Akari,
huh, pig-boy?" Ranma said, spitefully, getting angry finally.
	Ranma moved just in time as Ryouga's swipe knocked
a very large hole in the wall where Ranma had been standing.
Ryouga, his balance off, fell through the new "doorway." Ranma
looked out at Ryouga's prone form, thought for a minute, and then
decided that this was the perfect way to work off some of the 
stress he had built up from the day's events. 
	Ranma shouted, "Ok, Ryouga! Let's fight then!" and
jumped outside.
					*****
	She was furious, furious, furious!! Akane scrubbed her 
hair violently, as if trying to wash the anger and the voices out 
of her head. All the words, however, were still floating in her 
mind and echoing in her ears. She had made Ranma a wonderful 
meal, she had even tasted it herself!! It was, for once, not only 
edible but somewhat good!
	**"So you ARE still mad, Akane!! Except you are trying to
be all nice and then secretly come up and try and kill me with your
rotten cooking!"**
	"Baka!" she screamed as she dunked her head into the 
water, rinsing out the shampoo, then placed her rinsed face in her
hands, tears mixing with the water streaming from her clean ,
shiny, cropped hair. She thought, "As if you should talk, hentai.
You made me like you, you jerk, and for some stupid reason I try
to please you! I am such an idiot! Ranma you fool!
	She got out of the bath, letting the warm water start
to drain. She picked up a warm, fuzzy yellow towel and wiped 
down her lithe, athletic figure. She looked in the mirror and 
thought, "Not bad!" She sighed. She was good enough for Kuno,
Shinnosuke, and even... well, she knew Ryouga had some kind of 
an attraction for her. But oh no! Not Mr. high-and-mighty-I-have-
Shampoo-Ukyou-and-Kodachi-after-me-Ranma-Saotome! She 
thrust her feet into her slippers and strode to the door, sliding it 
open with a blow that she wished had struck Ranma himself. 
Looking down at the ground she fumed, storming out of the 
laundry room... and right smack into Ranma-chan, who was
coming in the door.
	She looked up, realized who it was, and threw her hand
back in preparation for attack. Ranma backed off as quickly as 
he/she possibly could toward the bathtub and said, "Wait wait 
wait! Akane, I didn't know you were in here! Ryouga threw me
into the pond and...."
	Akane shouted, "Pervert!!" and strode up to him/her,
where he stood in front of the bathtub, and thrust him/her back 
into the draining bathwater.
	Ranma grew before her eyes and his voice deepened. 
"What dija do THAT for, Akane?" he muttered, his boxers, 
towel, and tank-top now soaking wet AGAIN.
	"You.. you... jerk!" Akane screamed. "I wanted you to 
be a man" (this said particularly scathingly) "for what I am going
to do to you!"
	Ranma thrust his hands out in defense, "What, what did 
I do Akane? Are you still mad about the dinner? Jeesh. I ate some 
after you left you know, it was pretty good... I mean for a tomboy's
cooking and all... I was just teasin ya Akane, ok? OK?" he looked
up at her, expecting to see that blue aura glowing and her body set
in Ranma-die-mode.
	However, the fact that Ranma had actually eaten her food,
and admitted he liked it, was enough to stop her attack. Ranma 
was surprised to notice tears at the corners of her eyes, she looked
up, her big brown eyes glowing, and asked, "Oh Ranma, do you
really mean it?"
	Ranma hoisted himself out of the bathtub and smiled.
	"Sure I meant it Akane! You think -I-" :here he gave her
a wicked grin: "would I eat it if I couldn't stand it?"
	"Ranma..." Akane looked like she wanted to say something
more, but instead sighed and turned to leave, saying over her
shoulder, "have a nice bath..." and started to walk out.
	Suddenly, Ranma was behind her, his hand on her 
shoulder, turning her to face him. He lifted up her chin with his 
hand, looked down at her, and asked cautiously, "Does this 
mean I am forgiven? Or should I be waiting for a surprise attack?"
	All of a sudden Akane's eyes began to glitter mischievously.
She smiled up at him and said, "Oh I would be prepared for the 
surprise attack..." and then she reached up and pulled his head
down to hers.
	"Akan...!" Ranma began to shout, but it was too late...
she was already kissing him as if her life depended on it. Ranma 
began to sweat and chills overtook his body. What was he going
to do? If he rejected her she would kill him! Then, he began to 
realize how pleasurable the kiss really was, and, he remembered
how cute she had looked right before she grabbed him.... when 
she smiled...
	Ranma finally gave into the inevitability of it all and 
tightened his arms around Akane, his fiancee, his best friend,
and.... something else he would have to think about later..... 
He deepened the kiss and realized that this was something he 
had wanted to do for a very long time.
******
	Ryouga came trotting down the hallway, P-chan in form
after his tussle with Ranma in the pond, and was heading for the
baths to clean up and turn back into himself. He was amazed 
that he had actually found the bathroom so quickly in this 
enormous house! Maybe he was getting better with that 
direction-dyslexia problem... However, this happy thought
quickly disappeared from Ryouga's mind when he waddled
into the bathroom, looked up, and saw his worst nightmare.
	Ranma and Akane. KISSING.
	"BWEEEE!!!!" a black lightning bolt of piglet fired 
against Ranma, who, though distracted, by reflex blocked 
Ryouga's attack. The kiss was ended, however.
	Akane realized that it was P-chan, and picked the
pig up, trying to calm him. She thought that the way 
Ranma had been holding her had scared her little pet...
maybe he thought Ranma was attacking her. Akane paused
mid-thought. "The way Ranma had been holding 
her...." She suddenly, P-chan blubbering in her arms, turned
to look at Ranma, but was only in time to see Ranma's shadow
as he slid the bathroom door shut. "Not a word. What is he
thinking? Why is he hiding in the bathroom?" she wondered.
	Then, like a slap, it hit Akane what had happened. What 
had REALLY happened, and all the connotations of what it might 
mean tore at her. Tears began again to flow down her cheeks, 
dripping on P-Chan. She thought, Oh Ranma, Ranma.... what 
have I DONE?!"
	Akane fled from the laundry room, ran to her room, 
slammed the door, and flung herself down on the bed and 
began to cry. A day for tears indeed, she thought. She looked
up at the frame and picture that Ranma had given her that past 
Christmas, of her and Ranma, and all of the Gang. She stared
at his handsome face.
	"Oh Ranma," she thought, "What ARE we exactly? Are we 
friends? or fiancees? or are we... in love?"

Marisa Price
marisa@gladstone.uoregon.edu
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~marisa/
Member of COR and UDIC.
Anime otaku forever, Medieval Studies and English major.