Chapter 6
Listen To Your Heart

	"AKANE!!!!!!" Ranma shouted, running after the short-haired girl in her
sky-blue school dress who flew ahead of him. "Will...you...just....WAIT!"
Ranma yelled to her.
	Akane didn't stop and turn around to insult him as he expected... she just
kept running. A day when Akane didn't pause to scream at or attack Ranma for
his mistakes was just NOT a normal day. She had been up early that morning,
eating breakfast before he was even out of bed, and then left for class as
early as possible. It was clear to him now that he was definitely being avoided.
	Ranma sighed and said, "Shit. She really is mad this time." He stopped
running and put his fist into a telephone pole. He pulled his hand back,
holding it to his chest, and muttered, "DAMN!!" He sighed and thought, "How
am I supposed to tell her the truth if she won't even LISTEN to me?!"
	Ukyou and Ryouga were walking not too far behind the two "lovers" and
witnessed the entire scene. Ukyou said, a bit surprised, "Looks like there
is trouble in paradise, eh Ryouga?"
	"Humph," was Ryouga's only reply.
	Ukyou turned to look at the lost boy who she was guiding to school. He was
pulling and tugging at his borrowed school uniform and grumbling.
	"What the heck are you DOING, idiot?" she asked.
	"It's too TIGHT!" Ryouga growled and added, "It just doesn't fit right."
	"Hmm.... and I buy all my uniforms larger than my size so that they cover
up... well... you know..." Ukyou flushed.
	Ryouga totally missed the reference, too busy messing with his outfit, and
said, "You know, I am just to muscular for this get-up."
	Ukyou gave him a scathing look and said, "Gee. Aren't WE modest."
	"Humph."
	"ANYWAY, I wonder what's up between Ranma and Akane?" Ukyou mused.
	As if on cue, Ranma suddenly appeared in front of the two. He had noticed
Ukyou when he had stopped and hit the telephone pole, and decided to go see
how she was doing. He smiled at Ukyou and said, "Mornin' Ucchan! Who's your
friend?"
	Ukyou looked blankly at Ranma and said, "Uh, good morning, Ranchan. What do
you mean by 'who's your friend'?"
	After that statement, Ranma turned to look curiously at the newcomer. He
was a bit shorter than Ranma, with dark hair and green eyes. He looked...
familiar. Had he...?
	The newcomer said, "Dumbass."
	Ranma stepped back in shock and said, "RYOUGA?!"
	"One and the same," Ryouga affirmed with a toothy grin.
	The grin quickly faded as Ranma burst into laughter. Ryouga asked, sharply,
"WHAT? WHAT?!"
	"I....I... just didn't recognize you without the bandanna!" Ranma giggled.
	Ryouga turned to Ukyou and shouted, "SEE! I TOLD you that I should have
worn my bandanna!"
	Ukyou frowned and said, "But it looked STUPID with the uniform, Ryouga-hon."
	Ryouga slowly put his hand up to his forehead and rubbed the delicate skin,
muttering, "I just feel NAKED without it..."
	This was just too much for either Ranma or Ukyou to bear, and both started
laughing so hard that tears came to their eyes.
	Ryouga just stood there and looked disgusted. Finally he commented, "Fine.
Whatever. -I'm- going to school, I don't want to be late on my first day."
He turned and began to head off.... unfortunately in the OPPOSITE direction
of Furinken High School.
	Both Ukyou and Ranma managed to get themselves under control and ran after
Ryouga shouting, "Idiot! The school is the OTHER way."
	Ryouga allowed them to guide him back in the right direction, but he was
obviously NOT happy with either at the moment.
	After walking a bit in silence, Ukyou finally asked, "Uh... Ranma... what
was that between you and Akane this morning? A love spat?"
	Ranma's eyes bugged out and he stuttered, "You...You…You... SAW that?!"
	Both Ukyou and Ryouga nodded.
	"It was kinda hard to miss," Ryouga noted.
	Ukyou nodded in agreement with Ryouga and said, "Are you two STILL
fighting, even after your big declaration of love?"
	Ranma turned bright red and gasped, "Uh, declaration?! What ARE you talking
about?!"
	Ukyou looked a bit surprised and said, "Well… Ranma.. USUALLY if you tell
someone you love them and they say they love you too... you start treating
them better."
	"I... I... I... well... I haven't exactly... um.... told her anything
yet..." Ranma managed to get out, large beads of sweat dripping down his face.
	Ryouga looked shocked and growled, "WHAT?!"
	Ukyou looked even MORE surprised than Ryouga and then gradually began to
get mad. "You mean," she said angrily, "You gave me that whole line
yesterday, and you don't even know if she likes you BACK yet?"
	"Uh..." was all Ranma could say at that point, expecting to be clobbered.
	"Jackass!" Ukyou shouted.
	"Moron!" Ryouga added.
	Ranma looked (if possible) even more embarrassed and decided to tell them
the truth. "Well, guys.." he started, "I WAS going to tell her last night,
but she got mad before I could say anything."
	"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER -THIS- TIME, -RANMA-!!" Ryouga wanted to know,
grabbing Ranma by the shirtfront.
	"NOTHING!!" Ranma shouted. "She just figured out I had been at Ucchan's and
she got MAD, OK?! And I couldn't explain that I was just working there
before she kicked me out the window!"
	"How did she figure out that you had been at Ucchan's?" Ryouga asked,
dropping Ranma back to the ground.
	"Well, uh," Ranma looked like he would melt if he turned any redder, and
said hesitantly, "She, uh... well... she could... uh... taste the... um...
okonomiyaki that I had eaten."
	Ukyou looked confused and asked, "HUH? How could she do THAT?!"
	Ryouga poked Ukyou in the side and said, "Baka. And you say -I'm- stupid."
	Ukyou could only say, "Huh?"
	"They were kissing, obviously, dummy. And she could TASTE it," Ryouga
looked proud that he had gotten a clue before everyone else for once.
	Ranma, at this point, looked completely, absolutely, totally mortified, and
decided to pull the Saotome Secret Technique. He hopped up on the fence and
said, "Well! I will see you at school!"
	In a few minutes the red blur had faded.
	Ukyou looked alternately sad and frustrated, and she finally turned to
Ryouga and said, "Just how long has THIS been going on?"
	"Well, since yesterday, as far as I know. I walked in on the two of them in
the bathroom, um, kissing." Ryouga blushed.
	Ukyou moved in front of Ryouga, stopping him from moving forward. She
looked right into his eyes and said, "WHY didn't you TELL me? You walked IN
on them? Didn't I deserve to know this?"
	Ryouga sighed, shrugged, and said, "Well, at first I didn't really know if
I could talk to you. Then, after we had our chat... I didn't want to hurt
you any more than you already were last night..."
	Ukyou's head dropped. She turned and started to walk toward school and
Ryouga sullenly followed. She started to walk faster, and Ryouga sped up.
	"Stop FOLLOWING ME, you JERK!!" Ukyou shouted over her shoulder.
	"HOW ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO MAKE IT TO SCHOOL!" Ryouga shouted back.
	Ukyou sighed, stopped, allowed Ryouga to catch up with her, and the two
continued on to Furinken in silence, together.

*****

	"WOW! AKANE! This has GOT to be a record or something," Sayuri said as she
dropped down into the desk next to Akane's. Akane looked up at her friend, a
bewildered, far-away, look on her face, and said, "What?"
	Yuka, sitting in the desk behind Akane explained, "We are just surprised
that you are here so early! You are nearly ALWAYS late."
	Sayuri nodded and added, "Yeah. You are. HEY!" Sayuri looked around the
room and asked, puzzled, "Where's Ranma?"
	Akane went from bewildered to bemused and a distinct blue aura formed
around her before she shouted, "Don't even MENTION him to me today!!" She
slammed open a book and stuck her nose in it, as if completely absorbed by it.
	Sayuri looked shocked and said, "GEE. Sorry! Did something happen?"
	When Akane didn't answer, Yuka theorized, "Yeah. HAD to have. Check it out..."
	Sayuri and Yuka both began to giggle as Yuka pointed to the book Akane was
reading so intently.... it was upside-down.
Their theories were further supported when, about five minutes later, Ranma
crept into the classroom. He looked hesitantly at Akane (who blatantly
ignored him). Ranma's face fell at the rejection and he wandered over to his
seat. Ranma folded his arms and rested his head on them, gazing out the
window and ignoring his friends and the rest of the class.
	Of course everyone started whispering about the new situation.
	The whispering stopped when the sensei entered the room followed by two
students. One of the students was Kuonji… but the other?
Daisuke (Ranma's friend) whispered to Hiroshi, "HEY... doesn't that guy look
familiar?"
	Hiroshi nodded and whispered back, "Isn't that the UMBRELLA guy?"
	"HIROSHI! DAISUKE! Is there something you want to share with the class?"
the sensei asked them sharply.
	"Uh, no, sensei. Gomen nasai, sensei!" both said at the same time.
	The sensei turned to the class and said, "Students, you have a new
classmate. May I introduce Hibiki Ryouga."
	Akane, who had been totally oblivious up to this point, looked up in
surprise. She was startled to see that it was, indeed, Ryouga, but he looked
totally different... groomed and dressed in a school uniform. 
	Meanwhile, Ryouga missed Akane's stare in the crowd of other eyes peering
at him, and blushed, twiddling his thumbs. He gave a nervous giggle, said,
"Uh.  Hi, everyone."
	Ryouga may have missed Akane's look, but Ranma and Ukyou didn't. Ranma
looked -very- upset and as if he wanted to get up and throttle the unaware
Ryouga. Ukyou looked surprised and thought, "Maybe she -does- have feelings
for Ryouga?"
	The sensei interrupted everyone's thoughts when he said, "And where are you
from, Hibiki?"
	Ryouga stammered, "Uh. I don't really know...."
	Ukyou quickly covered for him with, "Uh, sensei, he was in an accident and
lost his memory..." Ryouga shot Ukyou a look, in response to which she just
shrugged.
	The sensei became serious and said, "OH! I am so sorry to hear that,
Hibiki. I hope your memory returns soon. Kuonji, why don't you sit Hibiki in
the seat next to you."
	Ukyou nodded and dragged Ryouga off to his desk.
	Akane turned and gave Ryouga a small smile and a wave. He looked
dumbfounded. Ryouga gave a tentative wave back, much to the consternation of
Ranma and Ukyou.
	"Oh great," Ukyou thought, "He is just going to get Ranma pissed again...
but" she considered, "maybe there IS still a hope of getting Ryouga and
Akane together? If she was out of the way.... REALLY out of the way… maybe…"
	Then, Ukyou saw Akane glance over at Ranma. There was a look of absolute
longing in her eyes, only thinly veiled by her facade of anger. And Ukyou
that look like nails driven into her heart.
	Akane hadn’t looked at RYOUGA like that. She had just smiled to a friend.
	No, one only looked like that at someone who you loved.
	Ukyou turned her head to look at the window’s small patch of cloudy blue.
She wished she could escape the four walls which enclosed her in this life
and longing…. To be surrounded by sky.

*****

	Three hours and three classes later, it was time for lunch. Akane walked
right past Ranma's desk, not sparing him a glance, and went up to Ryouga's
desk. Ryouga looked up at her, a shocked smile plastered to his face.
	"RYOUGA!" she smiled and asked, "Why did you decide to start going to
school?" Akane managed to avoid looking at Ukyou at all, although she was
sitting right next to Ryouga.
	"Uh... uh... HI... Akane..." Ryouga stuttered, and blushed before adding,
"Well... I... uh... started to work for Ukyou to earn some money... and she
insisted that I go to school."
	Akane spared a cursory glance for Ukyou and said, with fake cheerfulness,
"Well! How nice. And why do you need money all of a sudden, Ryouga? You
never needed it before..."
	Ryouga began, "Well, Ranma and I are going to go to..."
	All of a sudden Ryouga's mouth was covered by Ranma's hand. Ranma leaned
down and whispered into Ryouga's ear, "SHUT UP!!"
	Ryouga looked up at Ranma, surprised. Ranma grabbed Ukyou and Ryouga and
said to Akane, "Uh... please excuse us, Akane, the three of us have lunch
planned..."
	And then, the three were gone.
	Akane stood looking at the empty desks, wondering why this was happening to
her. Ranma hadn't even let her get in a word edgewise. She sighed, wondering
what exactly was happening. Had she been too harsh on him? "NO!!!!" she
thought. Here he was off with Ukyou again, having lunch. Also, he was so
jealous that he couldn't even let her talk to Ryouga!!
	Akane sat at Ryouga's desk and sighed. The classroom had already emptied
out, everyone eager to get to lunch. She was all alone. Alone. She never
could understand Ranma. One minute he was kissing her and telling her she
was cute, or being jealous of other guys, but the next moment he was off
with Ukyou, or Shampoo, or...
	Akane got up and walked to the window. She gasped as she saw the cherry
blossoms falling down like snow. Was it already cherry blossom season? Had
she been too preoccupied to notice? Akane watched the soft petals sail down
on currents of air and mused over what had kept her so "preoccupied."
	"Ranma," she thought, "Can't you see that I... I... CARE about you?! That I
wouldn't act like I do if I didn't? If you could just pay attention to me,
and only me, for once! Maybe then I could tell you how I feel....."

*****

	"You.... MORONS!!" Ranma berated Ryouga and Ukyou when they finally arrived
at the cluster of trees on the edge of the Furinken campus.
	"What the HELL are you talking about, Ranma?!" Ryouga
yelled back at him.
	"Yeah," Ukyou added, "Just what IS the big deal, Ranchan?"
	Ranma was breathing hard, having dragged the other two from the classroom
all the way to the grove, but he managed to say, "I haven't TOLD Akane yet
about China.... or about my new job at Ucchan's for that matter.... and I
want to tell her before the two of you spill the beans and
she takes it wrong!!"
	Ryouga and Ukyou looked at Ranma in shock for a few seconds, and then Ukyou
shook her head and commented, "You are SO hopeless sometimes, Ranchan."
	Ryouga nodded in agreement. Ukyou just sighed and whipped out a grill and
her cooking spatulas and began to make an okonomiyaki lunch. Ranma and
Ryouga slouched to the ground, leaning against the medium-sized trees.
	"You are such an idiot, Ranma. You haven't told her how you feel. You
haven't told her about work or China. She sees you with Ukyou. No WONDER she
is mad at you.... PLUS if what you said about last night was true...."
	Ranma was breaking fallen twigs into small pieces, looking down, and at
that comment he looked up and said, "Oh don't even START, Bacon-breath!!"
	Ukyou flipped over a delicious smelling okonomiyaki before looking at her
lifelong friend and observing, "See? THAT is what your problem is."
	"What do you MEAN, Ucchan?" Ranma wanted to know.
	Ukyou frowned and said, "You are always so concerned with looking macho
that you never can tell anyone the truth about what you feel, or explain
what you are thinking, or admit when you are WRONG!. You just bark back
insults to people."
	"I have been TRYING to be serious!! But no one listens to me when I have
something important to say! I always get hit or kicked or slapped before I
can get a word out!!" Ranma said, getting angry.
	Ukyou tossed Ryouga his lunch, saying (just as he caught it), "Be careful,
it's hot!"
	"HOT!!!" Ryouga cried, dropping the okonomiyaki into his lap.
	"Told ya," Ukyou directed at Ryouga, and then turned to Ranma and
continued, "I know you have been trying, Ranchan... but it takes you so
LONG!! Akane doesn’t have HALF the patience of me. If you just spit it out
to her, you could probably avoid half the messes you get into..."
	Ranma stood up and kicked a rock across the clearing before saying
petulantly, "WELL?! What do you want me to DO?! I mean, there is NO WAY she
is going to just sit there calmly and listen to my story... no matter how
fast I talk."
	"I don't know why you are going for a girl who beats you up like that
anyway, Ranchan. You could do much better." She looked Ranma in the eyes and
said, seriously, "MUCH better."
	Ranma just looked back at her blankly.
Ryouga, having finally cooled his okonomiyaki and eaten it, glared at Ranma.
He finally growled, "Why don't you just say it? The longer you drag this out
the more you hurt Akane...AND Ukyou.... AND Shampoo.... and ME.... not to
mention yourself."
	"Oh that's real good advice coming from someone who has been trying for an
entire year to tell Akane that you like her," Ranma snorted.
	Ryouga said, fiercely, "There were a LOT of times when I STARTED to tell
her!! But YOU always had to get in the way!!"
	Ranma shrugged and said, "It's not my fault that you were stupid enough to
fall for all those jokes."
	Ryouga slumped back with a sour expression on his face, obviously holding
back the anger. He finally looked at Ranma again and said, "You know, I
really feel like kicking your ass sometimes, Ranma. But I am starting to
feel that maybe it isn't worth it...." Ryouga stood up and gave Ukyou an
intense stare.
	"What?" she asked, surprised, finishing off the last of her lunch and
putting her equipment away.
	"Let's leave."
	"Now?"
	Ryouga nodded.
	Ukyou looked at Ranma and said, "OK, Ranchan. I am going to give you this
ONE day. One day to tell Akane that you care about her. If she rejects you,
good for Ryouga and I. If she doesn't, you are still welcome to work at
Ucchan's as my dear friend. If you just chicken out... then don't come back
to Ucchan's or back to me with the same old story!!"
	"It's time to end this, Ranma. Stop being such a jerk and be a man for
once," Ryouga added.
	"But... what do I SAY to her?!" Ranma asked.
	Ukyou said softly, "Just listen to your heart, Ranchan, and tell her the
words that are there..."
	Ranma just stood there under the trees looking at the other two. A brisk
wind swept through the clearing, tossing up stray cherry blossoms around the
group. Ranma, slowly, nodded.
	Ryouga said quietly, "Good luck, Ranma. I'll want to hate you for it if you
succeed, but I will do my best to support whatever makes Akane happy."
	"Ranchan... if it doesn't work out... I still love you..." Ukyou said, her
voice quavering a bit, before reaching out and taking Ryouga's hand. The two
of them left Ranma standing in the circle of trees with a lot in his mind.
	But nothing in his stomach.
	"HEY!!" Ranma thought, "I didn't even get an okonomiyaki!!"
	He sighed, his stomach growling, and decided that there were more important
things to think about. He picked up his backpack from the ground and headed
off to find Akane.

******

	"Hey, isn't the school back in the other direction?" Ryouga asked.
	Ukyou stopped and looked at Ryouga in surprise, noting, "Uh, yeah! Actually
it is! Wow I am impressed that you got that right!"
	Ryouga blushed. Ukyou grabbed Ryouga's hand and started to walk forward
again. After a couple of seconds Ryouga asked, "Uh, Ukyou?"
	"What, Ryouga-kun?" Ukyou said, distractedly.
	"Uh, if the school is in the other direction, don't we want to GO that way?"
	"We aren't going back to school, Ryouga-kun. I have to leave school every
day after lunch in order to get back in time to handle the lunch crowd at
Ucchan's."
	"OH!" Ryouga said, surprised, and let Ukyou guide him forward.
	They walked silently for a few minutes before Ukyou stopped in front of a
large department store. Ryouga shaded his eyes from the afternoon sun and
looked up to read the store name. The sign read, "Naki-chan's School Supply
Store."
	"What are we doing here?" Ryouga asked.
	Ukyou turned and gave a small smile to Ryouga and said, "Well, the girls in
class today all noticed that your suit was a little...um... TIGHT... across
your...um..." Ukyou blushed.
	"Um? My what?" Ryouga asked, surprised.
	Ukyou turned a darker shade of red and mumbled, "Your um... butt."
	Ryouga flamed up this time and looked as if he would like to hide in the
deepest hole possible.
	Ukyou reached out, to Ryouga's shock, and patted him on the back, saying,
"Hey. It's OK. Most girls like to look at guy's butts. However, I thought
you might be more comfortable in a larger uniform."
	Ryouga giggled inanely, still embarrassed, and said, "Uh... that would be
really nice, Ukyou... I, um, am not used to being noticed like that..."
	Ukyou giggled.
	Ryouga, surprised at the somewhat happy sound coming from the recently VERY
depressed Ukyou, gave a small fangy smile back to his new friend and added,
"Thanks, Ukyou."
	"No problem, Ryouga-kun. Now shall we go inside?"
	Ryouga looked at Ukyou with that smile on her face and realized that she
was actually really cute when she was happy, and looked more like a woman
instead of a tomboy when she relaxed...
	"Ryouga!!!" Ukyou shouted.
	"What?!" Ryouga gasped, all thoughts flying from his mind as he looked
around for the danger and prepared to fight. He couldn't have been less
prepared to hear Ukyou say:
	"You're bleeding all over my UNIFORM!!!"
	Ryouga reached up and felt his damp nose and looked over at the angry
Ukyou. "Uh, sorry," he mumbled, taking the handkerchief Ukyou was thrusting
at him.
	Ukyou was all of a sudden back to her stiff demeanor and was definitely no
longer "cute." She "humphed" at Ryouga and strode forward into the store,
leaving Ryouga running to catch up with her ram-rod straight figure, and
shouting, "WAIT UP, UKYOU!!!!!!"
	Yet Ryouga, for some strange reason, couldn't seem to forget that smile.

*******

	"Where the heck IS she?!" Ranma wondered aloud.
	Ranma couldn't find Akane. Sayuri and Yuka had said that they hadn't seen
Akane since before lunch. She wasn't in her afternoon classes, in the
nurse's office, or anywhere else on campus as far as Ranma could tell. He
had checked everywhere he could think of... the library, the roof, the grove.
Ranma had even tracked down Kuno after school to make sure that he hadn't
done something to Akane, but Kuno was standing in the group that usually
formed around Nabiki Tendo, bidding for something that Nabiki was trying to
sell off.... "..probably pictures of ME.." Ranma thought sourly.
	Ranma yelled at Nabiki, "HEY! Nabiki! Can I talk to you for a sec?"
	Nabiki sauntered over to Ranma, her crowd of "customers" parting to let her
through, and asked, "What's up, Ranma?"
	"Um...have you seen Akane, Nabiki?" Ranma asked.
	Nabiki considered the question for a moment, staring at Ranma's intent
face, and finally said, "Well.... it depends on how much cash you have."
	Ranma groaned and said, "HEY!!! This is REALLY important, Nabiki! Can't you
just be NICE for once?!"
	Nabiki just stood there, silent.
	Ranma grumbled and dug around in his pants until he found about 1000 yen.
He pressed it into Nabiki's open hand and muttered, "That's all I got.
Now're ya gonna TELL me, or WHAT?"
	"Ranma, Ranma! No need to be caustic. I saw her run out of the front gate
of the school about halfway through lunch. My sources say that she hasn't
returned yet."
	"That's ALL you know?!" Ranma asked, frustrated.
	"Well, it's more than you knew before, ne Ranma-kun?" Nabiki smiled and
added, "Ta ta! I have other customers waiting!" And then she was gone back
to her circle.
	Ranma decided that she had probably gone home again, after all, that is
what she had done yesterday. Ranma walked into the house, having already
checked the dojo and the outside gardens and pond, and finally, frustrated
and distracted by his search, ran straight into Kasumi.
Kasumi, of course, just happened to be carrying a bucket of cold water for
watering the plants.
	Ranma-onna sighed and said, "WHY ME?!"
	Kasumi looked VERY sorry and yelped, "Oh MY! I am SO sorry Ranma!"
	Ranma just shrugged and said, 'No problem... It was my fault… and…well… I
am used to it. Sort of. Hey Kasumi, have you seen Akane?"
	Kasumi wrapped a dry towel around Ranma, shaking her head at the same time
and saying, "No, actually I haven't seen Akane since early this morning."
	"OK." Ranma trudged up the stairs, stopping in the bathroom to change back
into a guy, and then walked to Akane's room. Ranma tapped on the door
lightly, and, when there was no answer, opened the door slowly and peered
into the room.
	No one was there.
	Ranma carefully shut Akane's door and leaned up against it. "Where could
she be?" he thought. He decided to try a few places where he knew Akane went
to think... but she wasn't next to the river, or at Dr. Tofuu's, or anywhere
else that she could usually be found.
	"She must be somewhere that I can find her... I just have to think of where
she would have gone..." Ranma thought to himself as he walked along the
fence after stopping by Dr. Tofuu's. Suddenly, Ukyou's words filled Ranma's
mind.
	"Listen to your heart..."
	Ranma's heart began to beat and his mind began to fill with memories of his
more emotional encounters with Akane. There had been two times when he had
really been in danger of losing Akane. Once in Ryoganzawa, when Shinnosuke
had almost won her over. It was completely improbable that she would have
left Nerima… so she hadn’t headed off for the forest of the Water of Life…
but it was the one time that he had come closest to telling her how he felt.
The other time was when (because of his stupidity and gulibility) he allowed
Nabiki to replace Akane as his fiancee.
Akane had been very upset. Nabiki had tricked Ranma by telling him that she
loved him. Ranma had later chased Nabiki at the local park, wanting to fool
her as she had fooled him, and followed her through the maze, not knowing
that Akane was also there. When Ranma had caught what he thought was Nabiki,
he shouted, "I LOVE YOU!!!!!"
	But it was Akane that he had found in his arms, staring up at him with
stars in her eyes. And they had reconciled.
	"The park, of COURSE!!!" Ranma shouted and turned to run in the opposite
direction. He arrived a few minutes later and began to search the maze....
	But there was no Akane.
	"Damn!" Ranma said, loudly, and dropped down to sit on a bench in a cluster
of cherry trees.
	He looked across the way and saw a girl with short black hair, facing
slightly away from him, leaning against one of the trees and feeding crumbs
to some small birds
	She was beautiful.

*******

	Akane was starting to get cold and decided that it was probably time for
her to go home. She fed the last of the crumbs to the birds and looked up at
the falling sakura(*). It was such a lovely sight.
	Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Ranma
standing behind her.
	"Ranma!" she said, shocked, and stood up.
	Ranma looked at her for a minute, not saying anything, and finally reached
out to grab one of Akane's hands.
	Akane stuttered, "R..r..ranma? What are you doing? How did you find me?"
She tried to summon the anger through her surprise.
	Ranma blushed and said, "I...uh...just 'listened to my heart,' Akane."
Ranma looked even more embarrassed and added, "I suppose that sounds pretty
stupid."
	The anger was no where to be found after that statement. Akane looked up at
Ranma, her eyes shining, and finally said, seriously, "Wellllll... it DID
sort of sound pretty stupid."
	Ranma looked up at her, surprised, and then noticed she was smiling. Both
of them began to giggle.
	The good laugh seemed to ease the tension, and Ranma noticed that she
hadn't pulled her hand away.
	It was now or never. She was smiling at him... her heart in her eyes.
Time to be a man.
	"Akane..." Ranma began.
	"What, Ranma?" she asked, squeezing his hand affectionately.
	Ranma reached out to gently brush the sakura out of Akane's hair, feeling
its soft silkiness. He sighed and managed to move a bit closer to her and
take her other hand in his.
	She smiled at him again.
	"Akane.... I think I... I know I... I mean... It's just that..... Well. I
really care about you. And, I want to know if you want to be my fiancee...
for real."
	"This had better not be a JOKE!" Akane said harshly.
	Ranma shook his head and pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her
soft hair, and saying, "It isn't a joke, Akane... I l...l...ove you. Do
you....um.....well...love me too?"
	Akane's form relaxed and she melted against Ranma. She began to cry a
bit... and Ranma just held her closer. Akane looked up at her Ranma, fool
that he might be, and knew that for some reason no one else could possibly
be right for her except this macho, half-girl, perverted, jerk that was her
fiancee. She did love him; he was a part of her.
	Akane stood up on her tip-toes to press a soft kiss on Ranma's lips before
leaning to whisper in his ear:
	"I do love you, baka, I always have. So much."

(*) Sakura means cherry blossoms in Japanese. ^_^

Marisa Price
marisa@gladstone.uoregon.edu
Anime Page!!! includes my Ranma and MI picture pages!!
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~marisa/
Mermaid Saga Web Page!!
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~marisa/mermaid.html
Member of COR and UDIC.
Anime otaku forever! Medieval Studies and English major.