Subject: First timer.....
From: "Odie3100" <odie3100@bridge.net>
Date: 10/17/1996, 2:56 AM
To:

Ok, so here it is. My very first fanfic. Consider yourself forewarned.  
This is more like a prologue to the series I have in mind (ie. setting up
the background, etc.) It wasn't what I had in mind when I started 2 weeks
ago, but somehow when I was done it seemed right. C&C is received with open
arms; flames are received with a shock of cold water. Let me know what you
think.

But first, the legal stuff....
Ranma 1/2 and characters within are property of Rumiko Takahashi, blah,
blah, blah.... 'nuff said.

Okay, here goes....


	
                               ***************************
		        A Window To the Past
		       ***************************	
		        

	                      By: Andrew Odella

	
--------------
Prologue
--------------

	Akane lay quietly in the tub, humming softly to herself. She felt her
tired muscles relax under the ebb and flow of the warm water. She had
skipped her usual martial arts training session this morning,and the two
before this, choosing to do aerobic excercises instead. The need for this
was evident to her now. One the very first day she was a little short of
breath after jogging for only 30 minutes, and Akane was disapointed with
herself. 

	On the other hand, her martial arts had improved tremendously in the past
year. She almost felt guilty not telling Ranma that she would be training
on her endurance for a while, but managed to avoid those feelings by
thinking of other things. Such as, why Ranma, for some reason he still
declined to tell her even after almost a year, had decided to teach her
some of his own techniques. She retraced those improbable steps in mind.
She sank deeper into the tub as she closed her eyes and remembered.


(Flashback)


 	She had resisted at first. She hated being patronized, and more than once
Ranma had a close encounter of the worst kind with a hand or foot. But he
did not cease pestering her about training with him, and at the end, she
relented. Akane wasn't suprised he did not give up on asking her; she knew
he was an obstinate, hard-headed fool. But what did suprise her was the
serious nature with which her trained her. Ranma's usual course of action
when she failed at something or made a mistake was to make fun of her, to
which she would, of course, respond  with violence. Now he behaved more
civilized towards her, and she liked him better this way.

	Every day, without fail, he rose before dawn to wake her and train her in
the dojo. At first, he taught her only the basics: the correct stance, how
to keep your balance, and the like. This angered her greatly, because she
thought she already knew this. But he did not smirk; he did not laugh; he
did not even smile. He explained to her, more in an old master's voice than
a young man's, that fundamentals were the basis for any tactics and special
techniques, and any martial artist who did not thouroughly understand the
basics did not deserve to be called as such.

	She shuddered at remembering those words, vividly remembering the look on
his face and the tone of his voice. After that, she had allowed him to
train her as he saw fit. For weeks, he drilled her in the basics, such as
standing punches, straight kicks, and foot sweeps. Once he was satisfied
she was well versed in that, he moved on to the next phase of their
training. Ranma made Akane stand in one spot and defend herself from those
same basic techniques he had just finished showing her. She was not allowed
to move from that spot, or else the drill would begin all over again. 

	She learned by sheer repetition  to block or deflect his blows. More than
once he got through her defense and tagged her, and if she felt the blow
was a little too strong, she would retaliate in her own special way,
usually giving him a one-way ticket straight through the roof and into the
pond. But Ranma would just shake it off and pick up where he left off. He
just kept drilling her, sparring with her, and she secretly began enjoying
the incresing amount of time they spent together.


	As the year went by, Akane began having uncomfortable thoughts. Something
was tickling just below the surface of her consciousness, wanting to be
brought out into the open. For weeks she wondered what exactly was
bothering her. She felt it wasn't something bad; rather, it was something
pleasant, but she couldn't figure out what it was. 


	In the meantime, her training had progressed rapidly. Akane was still a
little ticked at being taught by a boy (Ranma, no less), but she was proud
of the progress she had made. They had progressed to more complicated
skills, and Akane soaked up all and any information Ranma gave her like a
dry sponge. He taught her how to read her opponent's movements, which would
indicate to her what their next action was going to be. Ranma also showed
her how to combine techniques to make her attacks more deadly. 


	By now half a year had passed. Both were now halfway through their final
year of high school, and looked forward to getting out. Akane was planning
on gong to college, although she did not know which one. Ranma was not too
interested in going to college. In fact, he did not know what he was going
to do. But he wasn't worried: something would come along. Somehow, it
always did. 


	Akane privately worried for his future but did not question him. Things
were changing now, she could feel it: now was not the time to upset the
fragile unspoken relationship they had been working on all these long
months. Their training continued, with Akane becoming more and more
formidable. Now when they sparred she could avoid his attacks some of the
time, and even managed to hit him. Then it happened.


	Akane had finally figured out what it was that was gnawing at her mind.
Ranma had matured. Oh, to be sure, he could still be unbearable and
insensitive as always, but still, he had subtly changed. She could not
believe her own thoughts at first. 

<Ranma, mature? Ha!>, she thought. But this had been on her mind for so
long she couldn't just deny it. She decided to observe him closely to see
if what her mind and heart were hoping was true. 

	To the casual observer, the signs weren't obvious. It would seem like 
normal behavior, maybe even courteous.. But to Akane, it was shockingly
apparent. The first sign was one day during their now usual training
session...........

	
	Ranma and Akane stood in the dojo, directly across from one another.
Silence hung heavily in the air like a damp cloth, and neither of them
wanted to break the spell of the moment. They just looked at each other
blankly. Akane smiled inwardly, loving every second of these special times,
which were coming more and more frequently. 


	As it had been with the other occasions, though, she waited for Ranma to
lose his nerve and begin the sparring match. Ranma, much to her dismay, did
nothing to dispel her expectations as he looked away and cleared his
throat.

"Tendo Akane, I challenge you. Are you ready?"

	Akane had grown tired of those same eight words. Did he always have to be
so formal? It was just training. She let out a short, hot breath of
disappointment and responded as she always did.

"Saotome Ranma, I accept. I am ready." Now came the hard part. 

	He bowed deeply to her and she responded in kind. As they each stood at
the ready, Ranma spoke. 

"Akane, I need to tell you something." 

	Akane's heart nearly leapt out of her throat. <Oh my god, he's gonna say
it!! Finally!!> She felt her face suddenly turn red, and tingly feelings
raced over her entire body.

"I...I..."

<YES!!!,> her thoughts cried out. <This is it!!>

"Akane I...I...I just wanted...."

	She felt her emotions reach new heights. She was practically walking on
air.

"Yes? Go on Ranma, say it. What is it you want to tell me?"

	Ranma struggled as he looked for the right words to convey his thoughts.
It was tough for a proud martial artist such as he to compliment her on her
remarkable improvement. He was trying to change, he really was. But old
habits die hard. He looked away as he spoke. 

"I just....wanted to say...." He paused to clear his throat.

"I just wanted to say you've really improved these last several months and
stuff. You've gotten alot better." <Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?>

	
	Akane's heart stopped momentarily, then fell right through the floor. She
blanched for a second, the bright crimson color leaving her face that had
been there just seconds earlier. The disappointment of not hearing those
secret words blasted her very soul to the edge of oblivion. 

<WHAT??? That's not it, you big dummy! Ranma, you were so close.....> His
comment had caught her completely off guard. Although it certainly was nice
of him to say that (maybe even thoughtful??), it wasn't exactly what she
wanted to hear. She felt like running off and being alone, but also like
pounding him into sawdust for playing with her emotions like that. But
right now they had to train. There was time to cry about it later. And time
to pound him as well.

<I better say something quick or else he'll wonder what's wrong.>

"Ah....um, thanks, Ranma. That's nice of you to say that, but I couldn't
have done it without you teaching me. You've been really nice to me these
last few months." She managed to work in that last line to judge his
reaction. She had to see if there was any reason to get all worked up like
she just did.

	Now it was Ranma's cheeks that were flushed. A large bead of sweat formed
on the side of his face and slowly trickled downwards. Akane smiled
slightly to herself. Watching him feel uncomfortable made her feel better.
There was something there, alright. But now was not the time for that. 

"Yea, well....," he muttered, eyes downcast and foggy, "you being a tomboy
and all, it wasn't that hard to teach you."

	Akane's nostrils flared. <How dare he say that!!!> Akane's nostrils flared
and she felt her chi build up quickly. She had tried being nice and look
what it got her. <You're still the same old jerk I've always known....> Her
anger beginning to reach its peak.

"What did you say? Would you care to repeat that?" Her fists balled up as
she prepared to wallop him. 

"What I SAID was...." 

<Watch it, pal. You DO want to live, don't cha?> Ranma paused on that
thought and continued. 

"What I SAID was.....you've really gotten a lot better. You really practice
hard, and you make it easy for me to teach ya." With that he looked away
again, his face a swirl of conflicting emotions attempting to sort
themselves out.

	Akane's fists slowly released their Herculean grip. As quickly as her chi
had built up, it was gone. The anger drained away from her body in an
instant and she shuddered a bit. Her heart suddenly felt a lot better and
dragged itself off the floor and rose again. She did not know what to say,
but said something anyways.	

"Arigato...." Her voice trembled as she spoke.

"Arigato......Saotome sensei." She bowed deeply.

	Ranma gasped at that description. Sensei? Him? He couldn't believe she had
called him that. But she did. For some unexpainable, unfathomable reason he
could not guess, she had called him sensei. That was a term of great
respect and was not to be taken lightly. He felt the sudden urge to run and
hide in a deep, dark hole. Perspiration was now dripping from his pale
face, forming a small puddle on the dojo's creaky wooden floor. He thought
he was going to pass out. He shook his head clear. Not now. There would be
plenty of time for that later.

"Th....Thank you, Akane. I am honored by your kind words." Ranma bowed
deeply at the compliment, his mind still reeling. He straightened up and
prepared himself for the upcoming match.	

"Are you ready, Akane?" 

	Akane nodded her head up and down, and assumed her favorite opening
stance. Ranma spoke once more.

"Akane, I think you've gotten a lot better, so I think it's time we take
this little match more seriously. I won't go easy on you. I'm not gonna
totally trash you, but I'm not gonna be a softie. What do you think?"

	Akane thought it over a minute, still trying to clear her mind of other
thoughts. <I'll never know how good I really am if I don't take him on for
real.> She fantasized defeating him, hearing him yield to her, begging her
to stop the thrashing.

	A sly smile spread on her face. <Well, maybe I won't thrash him, but I'll
give him a run for his money.> She decided to accpet his terms. Now it was
Akane's turn to speak.

"Ok, Ranma, I accept. But you should know," she smirked as she spoke, "that
I won't go easy on you either."

	Ranma tried hard, but could not supress a small guffaw. <Who does she
think she's kidding? I could whip her with one foot and a prosthetic arm.>
He tried to hide his outburst, but Akane caught it.

"Laughing at me? Why you...you...." She was so enraged she couldn't think
of a suitable adjective to describe his arrogance. "That's it, let's go."

	Ranma quickly stood at the ready. <Uh-oh, she looks kinda mad. I better
not mess around with her. Let's get this over with.>

"Alright, Aka-"

	She quickly cut him off. 

"Are you ready to get stomped? Here I c-"

	He didn't wait for her to finish the sentence. He already knew what she
was going to say. <This shouldn't take long.>


	Without warning he leapt at her with an elbow aiming directly at her face.
Akane gasped a bit. <He didn't even let me finish!!!> He usually waited for
her to make the first move, but she had no time to think about that as she
sidestepped him and blocked his blow. It  was followed by another sharp
elbow and a low foot sweep directed at her ankle. She managed to ward off
the elbow and jumped back a few feet to avoid the sweep. <Time to take the
initiative,> she thought.

	Akane rushed in and threw a combination of punches to Ranma's midsection
designed to knock the wind out of him. She had seen him pull off this move
several times before, hands moving so fast they were almost blurred. <I may
not be as fast as him, but I can try....> 

	Ranma was suprised by Akane chutzpah as she attakced him. He moved slowly
to cover up his stomach to block the blows, but  underestimated her
newfound prowess. A few punches managed to slip in through his defense.
Ranma grunted as he absorbed the impact of the fists. <She's gotten
stronger than I thought.> The majority were easily deflected, but the
feeling of getting punched woke Ranma up. 

 	Akane saw the look of suprise on his face. She jumped back, savoring the
sweet feeling of success. <Yes! I did it! I can really do it.> 

"Humph, it looks like I taught you pretty well, if you can hit me and all.
Now let's get serious." Ranma smiled to himself as he knew that would
aggravate her, and it did, but not as much as he hoped.

<Why the nerve of him......> She felt slighted by his comments and planned
on paying him back in full, but a small voice spoke to her. <Well, he did
teach me.....>
Her anger diminished a bit, but not much. She needed to save some of that
fury if she was going to take him on. That being said, she did not visibly
react to his comments. She wouldn't give him the pleasure.

	Ranma was puzzled by Akane's noticable lack of reaction. She would usually
get easily flustered by his little remarks, but not this time. She even
managed to smile at him, albeit cynically. <OK, lets finish this already.
Enough fun...>
	
	He moved in on her but did not attack. Instead he circled her, stalking
her much the same way as a lion circles its prey before the glory of the
kill. The look in his eyes did not belie his thoughts; as a matter of fact
they did not belie anything. They were blank, like two dark sapphires that
had lost their shine. 

	Akane concentrated on his movements, looking for an opening. She frowned
as she could find none. He had definitely changed his tactics. He usually
telegraphed some of his upcoming moves so she could avoid them and counter,
but now he was moving seamlessly. He flowed around and around her, almost
dizzying her; he did not move jerkily as he always did when they sparred.
There was no reassuring smile; no look of smugness; no look of anything as
far as she could tell. He continued circling her a few more times, and
attacked. She grew more concerned, waiting for his charge.

	Akane readied herself as Ranma bore in upon her. He side-kicked at her
knee and threw several impossibly fast blows at her shoulder. She avoided
the kick but had to turn sideways as quickly as she could and eat the
punches on her right upper arm. Not waiting for Akane to attack him again, 
he dropped to his stomach and made several chopping motions at her lower
legs. 

	She was startled by his choice of unconventional tactics. Dropping onto
one's stomach was an extremely unwise move and discouraged from use. It
left one open to all sort of attacks since the person was usually face
down. But Ranma's speed cancelled out that weakness as he connected with
multiple chops to her calf muscles. She let out a small cry of pain as she
felt her calves cramp up immediately, forcing her to double over a little,
leaving her unable to move without feeling extreme discomfort.

	 Ranma rolled over onto his back and leapt up in one long, fluid motion.
He started in again and kicked her legs out from under her, watching her
land on her back, noticably grimacing. She tried to stand but it was no
use. Her legs were in a world of hurt, almost on fire. She felt a bruise
forming on her right arm, and it, too, was very painful. Akane watched him
as he closed in to finish her off. 

	Ranma slowly approached her, and knelt by her side. He smiled at her with
that big, disarming grin of his. "Hey, Akane, that was pretty good. I've
gotta say you suprised me with that lick you gave me." He noticed the
bruises swelling on her slim legs and felt a sudden rush of concern,

"Huh? What?" Akane nearly facefaulted.

	She felt a hand cup her chin and turn her head to both sides. <What's
going on here?> she thought. Her eyes found a concerned looking Ranma
examining her face for any damage. She felt herself blush deeply under his
touch, and she quickly slapped his hand away in a small burst of anger.

	"What are you doing? Isn't it enough for you that you knocked me down? You
also have to touch me?" She secretly enjoyed his touch, but there was no
reason to let him know that.

	"Hey, it's not like that. I was just......" He failed to finish the
sentence. He stood quickly and ran out of the dojo. There was something he
needed.

	Akane watched him rush out of the dojo in a flash. "Hey you, where are you
going? We're not done yet!" She attempted to stand but her legs hurt too
much. 
"Where are you going?," she yelled after him. No response. 

<Typical,> she thought. <Just like a boy to leave in the middle of
something.> Anger slowly grew in her mind, but something else was pressing
her.

	She looked down at her lower leg and saw a purplish mass slowly spread.

<Damn, that's an ugly bruise. What will people at school think?> Akane sat
on the floor of the dojo, wondering what she was going to do. She couldn't
stand because it hurt too much. Just as she was about to call out to
someone to come and help her, Ranma came running back into the dojo,
holding a small first aid kit.

	Ranma plopped down beside her again and  opened the small box. He took out
a small bottle of ointment, a rolled bandage, and some safety pins. Without
speaking he reached out and grabbed her leg.

	Akane was stunned to see him come back with a first aid kit in his arms.
But that was nothing compared to the shock she felt as he pulled her leg
near him. Without thinking, she slapped him hard, causing his face to hit
the floor. She immediately regretted it. She felt terrible about striking
him without any real provocation. <Ok, maybe grabbing my leg was
provacation, but he was only trying to....> At that point her emotions
overwhelmed her.

	Ranma found himself looking at the floor up close. He peeled his face off
and looked at her harshly. "Whadya do that for? I'm trying to he-" He
stopped in mid-word as he saw her facial expression change to sadness. He
swore he could see tears welling up in her eyes. He moved closer to her and
put instinctively put his arm around her shoulders in an effort to comfort
her.

"Hey, now, don't get all mushy on me. I shoulda told you I was gonna do
that. C'mon, it's no biggie." Akane heard him and swiveled her head towards
his, but he was so close they butted heads.

	Akane reeled a bit at the impact, and so did Ranma. He backed off a bit,
and rubbed his head. It was kind of funny to him, and he started laughing.
Akane looked at him and couldn't help but laugh herself. It really was
funny, if you thought about it. They continued laughing for several
moments, then quieted down to look at each other.

"Akane I-"
"Ranma I-"

	They stumbled over each other's words, neither saying anything. They
laughed again, but this time a little more lamely. They stopped, and Akane
spoke first.

"Ranma I'm sorry I slapped you. I should of-"

	His hand found her mouth and gently covered it. She stopped talking, not
knowing what to think. Ranma pulled her close to him and pulled up the leg
of her gi, exposing her bruised area. She thought about saying something,
but didn't. 

	He squeezed the tube and placed a small amount of the creamy, warm
ointment into his palm. Rubbing it a little into both of his hands, he
looked at her and gave her a reassuring grin.

	The ointment felt warm aganist her skin, doubly sensitive because of her
bruise. She flinched and shut her eyes as some minor pain shot up her leg.
When they opened again they spied Ranma slowly massaging her afftected
area, working it into her pores. She felt waves of tension release
throughout her body, right down to the very core of her soul. Her muscles
went slack, as if the weight of all Japan had been lifted off her
shoulders. The feeling was indescribable. She said nothing, simply enjoying
the feeling of his hands rubbing her down.

	Ranma sensed her tension release and thought about backing off, but
didn't.
He continued kneading her flesh gently, concentrating on the afflicted
spot, trying to sense where to apply pressure and how much. He also felt a
certain amount of pleasure from being able to be so near her without
incurring her wrath. Neither of them spoke. There was nothing to say that
they had not already felt.

	Akane could scarcely believe this was happening to her. He was
worried....worried about her. She looked at him again and saw he was still
working on her leg.. Her mind raced with possibilites she dare not mention.
<Why? Why is he being so...so...so nice? This isn't like him, or least, not
his usual...I mean...he's never....> 

	As Akane's mind swirled she saw Ranma raise his head to look at her. A
lump formed in her throat. Ranma opened his mouth.

"How does that feel?"

	Akane had totally forgotten about the bruise, but when she sought to find
the feelings of pain in her leg, she was suprised to find none. She smiled
at him.

"Wow, that was great, Ranma. I don't feel any pain at all." Her thoughts
turned back to other topics.

"It was the least I could do. By the way, nice match. You're pretty good
now." 

	Akane felt herself flush with embarassment. "Oh, stop trying to make me
feel better, " she chided him. "I  know you're just trying to be nice."

	Ranma furrowed his brow. "Well, of course I am- no wait, that's not what I
meant!." He looked in fear at her, ready to avoid getting pounded, but she
just kept smiling at him. More like beaming, actually.

	He let out a sigh of relief. "What I meant was....." He didn't know a good
way of saying what he wanted to. He had always been so blunt with people,
but now he wanted to say something to her gently, and struggled with how to
say it.

	Akane saw the confused look on his face and moved close to him. She placed
her small hand over his mouth and looked into his eyes.

"Don't worry about it. I know what you want to say. It'll be our little
secret." She winked at him michieviously. She felt the sudden urge to find
his lips with her own, but fought off that feeling . There had been enough
excitement for one day. She arose from his side and walked out. At the
doorway, she turned and looked at him, still sitting on the floor. Letting
out a small giggle, she turned and left him sitting there.

	
	They had never mentioned that incident to anyone, not even to each other.
What more could they have said? Words would just ruin the moment, so they
left it as is. Akane, for her part, had noticed his behavior changing more
and more throughout the rest of their close training after the incident. 

	She began to notice the little things that he would have never dreamt of
doing in the past. He would clean his room; he would help clear the table
after a meal; he even ate one of her specially made lunches and smiled as
he ate it. All in all, it had been a stunning change. Whereas the Ranma she
first met was wild and childish beyond reproach, the Ranma she know knew
was almost...normal, except of course for his curse. He treated her well
most of the time, and his demeanor had changed from rough indifference to
acknowledgement to finally, caring and concern. 


(Back to the Present)

	As she lay in the tub remembering the events of the last year she could
not help but anticipate another year of being near him. If the next one was
anything like the one that had just passed......who knew what lay in store
for the two of them. Akane blushed and did not care. There was nothing that
could stop the way she felt right now. Well, almost nothing.......


(In another part of the house)	

	His body full of sweat and dirt, Ranma Saotome headed back towards the
living quarters of The Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. As he
entered the main hall and headed upstairs, his shoulders slumped a little.
His thoughts had drifted towards Akane. 

	She had missed her training with him for a third consecutive day and had
said nothing about it. Although he still trained without her, they had
trained nearly every day for almost a year (<11 months, 24 days, to be
exact,> he glumly thought) and had grown accustomed to being around her
most of the time. Not seeing her for only three days bothered him more than
he thought possible. He could confront her about her absence, but as soon
as that impulsive thought entered his mind he wiped it away. <Damnit, I got
to stop thinking like that. Things are so much better now 'cause I think a
bit before doin' somethin'..... Come on, Ranma, think, think!!>

	Ranma caught a whiff of himself and nearly threw up what little food he
had ingested before breakfast. He smelt like something Akane had cooked up
for him the night before. He had forced himself to eat it (no small feat)
and smile like a big dufus while doing it. Her food was still God-awful,
but it made her happy to see him eat, so he sucked up his pride a little
and ate whatever she made. Thank goodness the bathroom was so near the
dining area. There would have been nowhere to spill his guts afterwards. 

	Smelling so rank, he decided to take a quick shower before heading down to
breakfast. He reached the bathroom door and slowly turned the
handle.........


To Be Continued (??) in part 2


***********
Your comments and criticism are appreciated, if not demanded :) Flames will
be read but subsequently extinguished.


Well, that's it I guess. Please keep in mind this is not the main story:
only an opening. I wanted to get right into the main plot at the end, but I
figure if you've endured till the end of this you must like it a little and
won't mind waiting around for the next chapter. If you've read this far and
decide you don't like it, you're a glutton for punishment and you should
seek some serious psychiatric help. ^_^

Oh yeah, credits.....
Thanks to James "Phoenix" Jones for his help with c&c....it really helped
me out....
and to Ms. Takahashi for providing characters to fire my imagination...

Well I guess that's all for now....I'm hard at work on the second (or
first, depending on how you look at it) part.....I hope to have it ready in
a few... weeks??  Nah, just kidding......

**************
"I have only two things in this world: my balls and my word, and I break
them for no one." - Tony Montana