Akane was silent for a few moments, as if gathering her thoughts.
Then she turned to Ranma and tried to meet his eyes, but she quickly
cast her gaze down to the couch.
"Ranma....did we....I mean, this is a stupid question, but we...we
did *it*. Didn't we?"
"*It*? Oh....ahh...you mean...making love?"
Akane turned her head away from Ranma.
"Yes, that's it. We must have, or Kouma wouldn't be here, right?
Forgive me but I just needed to be told that."
"No need to apologize, Akane. I love you and.....you...", Ranma
broke off as he remembered the fight he had with Akane.
Now....now was the time to make things right.
"And you loved me. Very much", finished Ranma.
"I guess that if I did love you, then I'll....learn to love you
again.
Ranma. Maybe. We'll see." Akane stood up and walked off to the
bedroom, still rocking Kouma back and forth. Ranma followed her and
she placed Kouma on the bed, where he slept peacefully. Then she
started to pull her shirt off, but she stopped and looked at him.
"Aww..Akane! It's not like I haven't seen you...y'know."
"Still...I feel very uncomfortable. Can you please turn around?"
Ranma complied and waited. Then Akane tapped him on the
shoulder and he turned about.
"Come on....let's go to sleep. I'll help you remember tomorrow",
Ranma said as he began to lie down on the bed, on his side.
"Ranma? I don't mean to seem rude, or harsh, but could you sleep
on the couch?"
Ranma lay there, digesting the words for a long moment. His wife
was unused to sleeping next to him because she didn't even know him
at all.
"I know this must be hard on you, but what if I turned female? I
don't usually sleep in female form, when I can help it, but I'll do it."
Ranma turned so that he faced Akane.
"No...I'll still know that you're a guy underneath. Besides, I think
I need some time alone to think and to get readjusted. I'm...I'm sorry."
Ranma considered her words for a moment, not moving at all.
Without another word, but with a heavy sigh, Ranma got up and left the
room, closing the door gently on the way out.
He flopped down on the couch and stared at the ceiling, trying to
put some semblance of order to his thoughts. Akane was not the Akane
he had knwn. But...it seemed as if he had been given a second chance.
An opportunity to set things right. Ranma felt his cheek and winced.
It was still a little sore from the slap she had given him. The other
cheek was also a little sore.
He would do his best to help her and he would not make the same
mistakes he had made before. This time, Ranma vowed, this time he
would make it all right. No mistakes and no screw-ups. He flipped to
his side and tried to sleep, but he couldn't. It still irked him to be shut
out of his own bedroom.
The bedroom door opened and Ranma heard Akane moving
towards him. Akane came around to the couch and knelt down.
"I'm sorry, Ranma. I'm...still not used to sleeping next to a guy.
I mean, I don't...I mean...I can't...you know what I mean. So...I'm
sorry for even asking you to do something like sleep on the couch. It
must be cold....here's my blanket. It was the only one I could find in
the room, Ranma."
"What about Kouma?"
"Don't worry about.....our son. I'll be his blanket. Well....good
night." She stood up and began to leave but Ranma caught her wrist
and pulled her down, gently.
"No. Take it back. I've slept in colder places that this, and you
and Kouma need it more than I do." Ranma handed the blanket back to
Akane and patted her hand. Akane hesitated for a moment, then she
squeezed his hand and left. He heard the bedroom door shut. And
Ranma lay awake for a very long time before slumber overtook him
with its spell.
- - - - -
Over the next week, Ranma slowly lead Akane through the daily
routine of her normal life, telling her about herself and himself in small
bits - so as not to overwhelm her. He told her that on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays, he did the cooking and she did the cleaning,
while on odd days she did the cooking while he cleaned. It was a very
workable schedule - provided Ranma was never home to eat the food
that Akane cooked.
It was yet another strike against his record as a good husband but
he had little choice in the matter - it was either he faced the wrath of
Akane or ate her cooking, and he did prefer the former over the latter.
For almost a week, he did the cooking. Now...it was Akane's turn to
cook and his survival instincts kicked in before he knew it.
"Akane, I...I have an urgent meeting with my co-workers. You
go ahead and rest. Don't cook anything - I'll bring take-out food back
home, ok?"
"But...Ranma! I don't know how to cook and I was hoping you'd
teach me how to! I mean, just yesterday you had cooked such a
delicious supper!"
Ranma started. She didn't know how to cook as well? But she
never did tell him that! Embarrassment, perhaps? And also, she had
never complimented him on his cooking before and this was a first.
Ranma decided to postpone the `meeting' for another day and he
taught Akane how to cook, right from the beginning.
She learnt very well but Ranma watched her cook with a bit of
trepidation - this was still Akane and her cooking was notorious for
putting his digestive system out of whack. She sliced the carrots with
precision and added them into the fried rice. She added the right
amount of soy sauce and cooking oil. With a little instruction from
Ranma, she made the dish with no mistake and it came out looking like
Kasumi had cooked it. It looked and smelt perfect, but the final
test was yet to come. Ranma sat down and filled a little bowl with her
food. Then he lifted the first spoonful to his mouth and tentatively
sniffed it.
"Ranma, why are you sniffing at your food? Doesn't it smell
good?"
Ranma knew that if he told Akane exactly what he was thinking,
he would either be malleted or slapped - and he wanted neither right
now.
"I'm....just admiring the aroma of it, Akane. I'll...I'll eat it. I
promise."
"Why promise, Ranma? It's like you don't want to eat my food.
I mean, you look like a man on death row....." Ranma decided to
follow up on a nagging suspicion of his.....
"Akane....what would you do....if...if I...."
"If you...yes? Go on."
"If I said I didn't want to eat....um...your cooking? Don't take it
too hard, ok?"
"I...I'd go back and try to cook it better, Ranma. But, really, you
haven't even tasted it yet so how could you say that you don't want to
eat it?" Akane looked a little hurt and she began to take a hold of the
bowl of fried rice, to take it back to the kitchen and throw it away.
Ranma caught her hand, making her jump a bit. Akane didn't show any
sign of hitting him. In fact, she was almost....passive.
"I'll...I'll try it, ok, Akane?"
Ranma gave in and quietly ate his spoonful - like a man on death
row.
He dropped his spoon, and it clattered on the table, and he blinked
his eyes in.......astonishment. It....it tasted normal. Good, even. To
make sure that he wasn't dreaming, Ranma took another spoonful of the
fried rice and downed it. To the same results. There was no mistake.
Akane had learnt to cook, and very well too.
"Would you like me to get you a cup of tea, Ranma?"
"Huh?" Akane had never offered to get him anything before, and
this was a first.
"I said, would you like a cup of tea, Ranma?"
"No, that's ok. I'll get it myself." Before Akane could protest,
Ranma was already in the kitchen pouring himself a cup of tea. He
watched Akane with Kouma, feeding him little spoonfuls and smiling at
her son's actions.
This was a far cry from the manic chaos that the old Akane had
called `dinner' as she had tried her utmost best, incompetantly in that
case and many others, to feed Kouma. Ranma had contended with
flying spoons, spat-out mouthfuls of food by Kouma, and all-around
craziness at dinner, punctuated by Akane's flustered movements as she
bustled here and there, practically tearing her hair out in frustration. No
more.
In fact, it looked almost....peaceful. And peace was something
that was rare these days. Kouma threw his little arms up in the air and
Akane imitated him with a grin on her face.
This was his wife and this was his son. Nothing was threatening
them and nothing seemed out of place. It looked....perfect. This was
the family life that Ranma had wanted in
the first place, but couldn't achieve with the old Akane as his interests
had conflicted with hers. Yet....something was missing. Something
important.
"Ranma?"
Ranma's thoughts returned to the present and he saw Akane seating
herself next to him on the couch, though not quite as near as he would
have liked it. It was now a week and two days since Akane had lost her
memory of her previous life. Ranma still slept on the couch, albeit with
a borrowed blanket from Dr. Tofu.
One long week on the same couch. He was getting tired of it.
"Yes, Akane?"
Akane pulled out a red dress, cut daringly low over the bosom,
and a bra.
"You didn't tell me about this dress and bra....they were gift
wrapped about a week ago. And my name is on the little greeting
cards. And I can tell, at a glance, that they would fit me perfectly."
She paused for a second. "What were they for, Ranma? I know enough
of you to know that you don't give gifts for nothing...."
"Uhh...Akane? They were for you."
"I know that, Ranma. But why?"
Ranma almost told her about their biggest fight yet and the reason
behind those gifts but he withheld himself from doing so. It wouldn't
have been wise to give the impression that he and the old Akane had
fought constantly. Yes.....that was one thing he didn't miss at all. The
constant fights and the suffering he had to go through after each
altercation with her. A polite cough brought his attention back to
Akane.
"Because...I love you, Akane." Ranma looked deep into her eyes
and she looked away.
"But....we didn't have anything special going on that day, like you
said....."
Ranma got up and sat down right beside her, so that their legs
were touching. She flinched slightly and noticeably leaned away from
Ranma. He had waited enough. Now was the time to test and see if
Akane was ready to progress further.
"We have something special going on...right now...", he said as
he put his arms around her and began to draw her close, to kiss her. He
leaned in, his face blotting out the light above, and he opened his lips
slightly. His feelings suddenly welled up in him and threatened
to make him lose control of himself. He wanted her. Now.
Akane shut her eyes and she did not help him, nor resist him. For
all the life she exhibited, she might as well have been a statue - devoid
of emotions and feelings. Ranma let Akane go, taking a tight grip on
his emotions as he did so, and he leaned back on the couch
and sighed. She was not ready yet. She still didn't know him enough.
But most important of all....she still didn't love him.
It was her way, this new Akane's way that is, of telling him that
she didn't want to do anything with him.
"Ranma...I'm not prepared for that sort of thing yet. I mean,
essentially, we've only known each other for three weeks!"
She began to speak again but Ranma wasn't listening at all, his
eyes to the ceiling and his thoughts many months back. He suddenly
wished that he had the old Akane back. At least...at least she would
have shown her love for him in some way, instead of freezing up like
a statue.
Akane put the red dress and the bra down, then she gave Ranma
an uncertain smile and she left. Soon, he heard the sound of the
vacumn cleaner somewhere upstairs. She was cleaning again. Akane
was becoming almost like Kasumi. Not that there was anything bad
about Kasumi but...she wasn't his type of woman.
The next night, after an excellent supper cooked by Akane, he
caught her sewing up one of his old shirts. She was doing a fantastic
job of it, making the rip in the shirt disappear with the magic of the
needle and thread. And just twenty minutes after that, he saw her
watching a home improvement channel and she didn't switch to a movie
channel after a minute or two, like she used to do.
In fact, truth be told, she was taking notes.
Ranma leaned against the wall and half-listened to the program
hostess lecture about the do's and don'ts of cushion making.
He had it. He knew what was wrong about the whole situation.
Where was the fire that was Akane? Where was the spirited woman
whom he had fallen in love with so long ago, it seemed? Akane
exclaimed with joy over a juicy tip given by the program hostess and
Ranma shuddered. She was not Akane, not the Akane he had known
anyhow. He missed her excited voice as she had shared with him the
thrills and chills of an action or a horror movie.
He wanted to see the mischevious and playful smile she would toss
his way along with the contents of a cup of cold water. Ranma yearned
for her loving touch, her soft skin rubbing against his own, and her
whispers of sweet nothings in his ear. He wanted to feel her in his
arms, melting into his embrace....yet...with this new Akane, none of
that might be possible. Already he could feel her moving away from
him. For over a week, he had slept on the couch instead of the bed.
Alone and feeling forgotten.
Perhaps it was also because he was expecting far more out of
Akane than she was willing to give at this stage of their new
relationship, and that was probably what was turning her off to him. He
found it hard to restrain himself from giving her a hug or a kiss. There
were those times he wished to feel her body against his, to feel his love
for her and her own for him, mingle as one and bring the both of them
to newer heights of passion.
The old Akane and him were as almost as one spirit, it was only
because of a few differences that their fights even erupted, and this new
Akane didn't fit him at all. Not at all. Ranma felt...almost half a
person. Akane, the previous one that is, had become a part of him.
What was the cost of a second chance? Was it worth it? She was
a much better cook than before and she was no longer a klutz, but he
wished that she could.....Ranma stopped. Wish. Wishing well. The
Well of Dreams!! Could his wish have been answered by the well?! It
was almost too incredulous to accept, but then again, not many people
turn into various and assorted animals, not to mention the opposite sex,
when splashed with cold water....!
"Akane...I'm going out for a second." Without another word,
Ranma grabbed his coat and bounded off for the mall at top speed. If
he got there fast enough, perhaps he could still make it before they shut
the doors!
He made it with over half an hour to spare. Ranma retraced his
steps through the mall and he stepped into the atrium. The well was
gone. It was as if it had never been there in the first place. Ranma ran
to the spot where it had been and he carefully examined the area. It was
unbroken and worn smooth by the passage of many feet over a long
time. Ranma checked to make sure he had the right mall, and it was.
There was not mistaking it. The well was gone.
"Hey there, young man. Looking for something?"
Ranma looked around and he saw an old man sitting by the bench
with his cane across his lap. He walked over to him.
"Yes. I'm looking for a wishing well. It used to be right
there...", he indicated with his finger, "...but now it's gone. Do you
know where it went to?"
"A well, you say. Well, well. Well...as well as I can
remember....hummm....."
Ranma turned around and began to look for someone else to ask.
This old man didn't know anything about the well, it seemed....
"The Well of Dreams."
Ranma whirled back on him.
"You know about the well? Tell me! How can I wish in it?"
"There is a story I must tell you, young man. Why don't you sit
down beside me while I relate it to you, hmmm?"
"I have little time, sir, and I have to be..."
"Getting back to your wife and your son, yes."
"How...how did you....?"
"Never you mind. Just listen. A long time ago...there was a
young man named Suroichi. He pined for a certain girl named
Machiko. Then...he came upon the Well of Dreams in a forest not too
far from here, and he wished that Machiko would fall in love with
him. And so she did, with fervour. She cooked, washed, cleaned,
sewed, and administered to Suroichi's every need. She was the perfect
wife. The perfect HOUSEwife, I mean. The lively Machiko he had
been drawn to...was gone." The old man paused and blinked his eyes
and let out a long sigh.
"You...seem to know alot about this, sir. How did Suroichi get
the old Machiko back?"
"He didn't. The Well of Dreams comes but once for a person and
only rarely...yet..you're a special case, I can tell. You're different,
somehow."
"I'm different?"
"Yes. You're different. Remember that. That difference is the
key to getting to the Well a second time." He got up and began to
hobble away on his cane. Ranma looked at his retreating form until the
security guard asked him to exit the mall for it was closing. He went
home, his thoughts awhirl.
Akane greeted him with a slight hint of the old warmness he used
to know and he went to sit down and think. She brought him a bit of
a snack - cookies, which he ate one by one as she gave him a backrub.
Stimulated by her fingers, kneading his muscles almost lovingly, Ranma
relaxed and let himself fantasize about Akane and himself....
Then she got up and left to go to bed. Ranma got up and followed
her into their bedroom, leaving the cold couch behind.
"Oh...umm...why are you in my bedroom?" Akane asked as she
motioned him to turn about so that she could change. The bedroom was
warm and cozy, and the rumpled sheets of the bed seemed to beckon to
Ranma. Ranma did not budge an inch nor comply with her unspoken
request. She got exasperated and she motioned with more vigor.
"Akane....you're my wife. Why? Do you know how long it has
been since...since I had you in my arms? Since I loved you? I love
you, Akane." He paused. "Can you love me back?"
This was the moment of truth and there was a tense moment of
silence. If he was going to wish again, he needed to know for certain.
Ranma repeated a mantra over and over in his head, using it to steady
himself.
<From silence, there will be truth....>
"Ranma...I told you before. I still don't know you that much!!
For God's sake, teenagers, the decent ones at least, wait two or three
months before doing *it*!! I don't care if we did it before, we're not
going to do it now." Akane halted for a second. "Come on. Just a
little backrub isn't cause enough for *this*. Now, if you could please
turn your back or cover your eyes while I change, I would appreciate it
very much, thank you."
"No. I won't." Ranma narrowed his eyes and hardened his heart.
This was necessary. He had to know where exactly he stood with her.
He had to know if it was for real.
Akane stood there and she didn't move, except for the rise and fall
of her chest. Ranma took a step towards her and she shrank away. He
got a hold of her arms and began to pull her close to himself for the
second time that night. Not knowing what to do or how to deal with the
situation, Akane shut her eyes and clamped her lips shut, unseeing and
unwilling.
A chill ran down Ranma's back and he let her go, for the second
time that night. She opened her eyes and stared fearfully at Ranma, her
entire posture suggesting flight and fright. Akane was truly frightened
of him and she was doing nothing but freezing up. The realization
struck him like a ton of bricks. She didn't feel or act like the Akane he
knew.
<From truth, there will be understanding.>
"I'm sorry, Akane. For this and what I had done before." With
that, Ranma left the room and shut the door as gently. What he had
done before. Five words that tore at his heart with claws of guilt and
shame. His wish in the mall a week ago......
He took a step towards the door, uncertainly, then he broke into
a run, grabbing his coat on the way out and checking in its pockets to
make sure what he needed was there.
<From understanding, there will be action.>
Ranma made his way to the forest across the mall, the one the old
man was talking about.
- - - - -
By the light of the half-moon, he made his way through the quiet
and serene forest as he searched for the Well of Dreams. He almost got
clotheslined by a low hanging branch but he ducked under it at the last
moment. Now he knew how Ryoga must have felt on one of his
nighttime excursions in the deepest, darkest wilds of Japan.
The moonlight cast dim shadows about him in the colorless world
of night. Nothing broke the almost-magical silence. This was the
domain of the night, where no light should intrude, and the forest
seemed to reinforce that with its tall tree trunks and many leaves that
tried to block the moonlight from the ground. He stumbled over a root
and he cursed himself for not thinking to bring a flashlight, but he
forged on.
A cold wind swept through the trees and rustled the dead leaves on
their branches, making them fall off around Ranma. He brushed the
leaves from his head and he kept searching. He wandered for hours, it
seemed, fearing that he was going in circles, until a dim
glow beckoned to him ahead. Somehow, Ranma knew he had found it.
He swallowed and made his way towards it.
Ranma stepped forth into a clearing and beheld the Well of
Dreams. He stepped up to it and peered once more into its mysterious
depths, trying again to see the bottom where heaps upon heaps of coins
should lie. Only darkness, black and shimmering, greeted his gaze.
Ranma pulled out his fifty yen coin and rubbed it. He no longer
doubted that the well would work, and that understanding opened up
new avenues of action.
This was a very important moment of his life - and it would
determine Akane's life too. Ranma felt as if he were on the top of a hill
and looking down at an endless myriad of paths he could take.
Why....he could wish for unlimited wealth! Then he, Akane and Kouma
would be set for life. He could wish for everlasting life for the three of
them. In fact, he could wish for his curse to be lifted. The thought of
that was extremely tempting.....
Somehow he knew that the Well of Dreams could grant any wish,
but only once for him and no more. It would never seek him out again
for as long as he lived. And he would have to live with the
consequences of his action.
But there was never any real choice. His heart and soul would
never allow him to pick any other path than the one he knew he would
take anyhow. If only he had known this truth he knew now a little
sooner.....
Ranma hesitated no longer. He made his choice.
<From understanding, there will be action.>
Ranma made his wish. He dropped the coin into the well and
watched it fall, the spark of light twirling and tumbling in the air, past
the velvety darkness, until it struck the side of the well with a clink and
bounced off, without another sound, into the depths of the well. For
what it was worth, it was done.
Ranma turned his back on the Well and he began his trek back
home. He had learnt alot this week past. This was the true second
chance. It was never the moment when Akane had lost her memory -
that was just the trial he had to go through. The opportunity to make
things right began now. Yes, he had learnt much and come out better
prepared for the trials and tribulations of life for it.
It was foolish to have relied upon an outside source to resolve his
problems. If he was going to begin anew with Akane, and build a better
future for the both of them and Kouma, he was going to have to do it
himself.
Perhaps...that was why the Well had come to him - to teach him
that very lesson he now held close to his heart. He turned back and he
was not surprised to see an empty clearing. It came but once for a
person.
Ahhh...but was he not, in substance, two persons in one body?
- - - - -
He opened the door, stepped inside, and locked the door behind
him. Then he walked up to the bedroom door and he opened it, slowly.
Akane was sleeping on the bed with Kouma wrapped protectively in her
arms. He smiled and lay down beside his wife, and he put an arm
around her and shook her slightly. Kouma stirred and he began to slap
Akane and Ranma's chests alternately. <Not this time, little buddy.
At least, not when I'm not changed.>
Suddenly, Ranma wondered if Kouma had inherited the curse from
him...come to think of it, he had never been washed in cold water since
he was born. This thought was washed away when Akane stirred and
woke up. He looked into her face and smiled as she opened her eyes.
"Evening, Akane", said Ranma with a smile on his face and his
heart pounding like mad. Akane blinked her eyes and heaved a sigh of
relief.
"Ranma...I just woke up from a bad dream. I mean...I didn't even
remember anything about you, in my dream, and I had to get to know
you over again......I'm sorry, Ranma. It's just a dream, but I'm still
sorry. I...I love you. Even if we had fought...I still love you. I'm
sorry for hitting you, Ranma."
Akane hugged Ranma and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. Ranma
wondered if the Well of Dreams had been all a dream after all. Nothing
seemed to have changed. He reached into his coat pocket and felt
about. Nothing. He *knew* he had a fifty-yen piece in there not too
long ago....could it all truly had happened?
<Wait a second. What's....this?>, he thought.
He poked his finger through a hole in that pocket - and the hole
was just big enough for a fifty-yen coin. Was it in this pocket, or the
other pocket? He checked the other pocket but nothing was there either.
He would never know for certain now.
Had he been dreaming about the Well? Did he lose the coin or did
he throw it into the well? Either possibility was plausible.....Had the
whole thing been a dream?
"Ranma...what are you doing? If it's about the hole in the
pocket...I forgot to tell you about that. I'm sorry."
"That's alright, Akane. It doesn't matter now."
Ranma got up and left the room with Kouma in his arms. He
tucked Kouma in his crib and patted his head gently. He made sure all
the doors and windows were locked.
Ranma picked a shopping bag up from where it sat beside the
couch and he peered in it. A red dress and a bra. He did buy Akane
gifts, but did that mean that he had been living out a dream? He did go
to sleep after coming home from the mall that time, a week ago.......
What does it matter now? Dream or no dream, he had Akane
back. And she was waiting for him. He returned to the bedroom with
the dress and bra slung over his arm.
"These are for you, Akane. I bought them for you, using
my...female side as a measuring stick."
Akane's face turned scarlet as she saw how low-cut the bust on the
dress was. "I'm sure you did, you pervert." She giggled, to show that
she didn't really mean what she had just said. "What are they for? You
don't buy gifts for nothing, you know."
"Call it....a gift to welcome you back."
"Welcome me back? Why? Where did I go?" She got up and
looked coyly at Ranma, her face turning a deeper red. "Oh....I see.
You...uh....missed me. This dress and bra are great, but don't you
think you should be doing something...*more* to properly welcome me
back from wherever I had gone to? Hmmm?" She rose from the bed
and wrapped her arms about him.
Ranma shut the bedroom door. And he locked it.
----------
By Webdragon. Comments and crit(ter)s are welcome, of course.... ^_^
Oh, BTW, notice how the new Akane never blushed? Why? Why
didn't she accept the RED dress that Ranma had bought her? :)