Part 2: (Split due to mailer limitations)



	Akane and Ranma walked together behind Tanaka and her
father.
	"Are you mad at me again?" he asked.
	"A little."
	"What for?"
	"You were going to tell Tanaka-san that you weren't
daddy's son in law."
	"But I'm not."
	"I know you're not, and I know we're not..." Akane nearly
shouted, then her voice fell quiet. "but I still don't like
hearing about it."
	Ranma walked on in silence. They hadn't spoken about the
disastrous wedding attempt. Shouted, yes. Spoken, no. In time
they had gotten past it, and had begun to quietly court each
other. He wrote himself a mental note to not bring up the
subject accidentally.
	Akane was watching him. "Sorry," she said quietly.
	"It's okay."
	"I talked to your mom about it last night."
	"Mmm?"
	"I told her things were working out better without all
the pressure."
	"Yeah, I think so too."
	"She wasn't very happy about that, she wanted to set
another date."
	"When?"
	Akane grabbed and snuggled his arm. "Oh, Ranma! I've been
waiting so long to hear that question!"
	Ranma stopped in mid stride. "Huh?"
	Akane put her finger to his lips. "Shhh. I was just
joking."
	Ranma's panic subsided, but there was something new here,
an unspoken agreement to ignore the inevitable, at least for a
while, and enjoy
what they have.
	Their shadows were lanky giants as they reached the
station. It was already getting hard to see, and it was very
strange to not see the shop lights.
	The engineer had finally gotten permission to split up the
train to move it, and he was working the couplings as the man
from the bike shop held a flashlight. Someone had brought a
stout rope and they had decided to try to pull the cars, tug
of war style. Ranma grabbed in the middle with a number of
other younger men, while the women and older men stood around
pointing and supervising.
	The engineer paced off enough distance so that the cars
would clear the road, raised his arm and let it fall, calling
"PULL!" The rope pulled taught, but the car refused to move.
He pulled off his cap and scratched his head. The elders and
women taunted and encouraged the rope men, Akane shouting to
her father and Ranma to work harder.
	"WAIT!, WAIT!" the engineer shouted waving his arms. He
ran for the car. climbed into the cab and worked a handle. He
leaned out of the door and called, "OKAY, TRY AGAIN!"
	All were silent as once more the rope came taught, but
this time the car rolled easily forwards, dumping the rope
men to the rail bed.
	"SORRY!" The conductor called from the cab. The women and
elders laughed and clapped as the younger men scrambled to get
back up and out of the way. The engineer let the car coast
smoothly to a stop as the elders clapped and smiled. The task
had taken on a party atmosphere with the shouting and
clapping, and a couple of the younger men struck up a
traditional work song, soon joined by the others. The rope was
untied from the front, and the rope team carried it like a
dragon float over their heads back to the second car.
	They were intercepted by a delegation of older women who
insisted that they would move the next car, and that if they
knew what was good for them that the young men had better
remain out of their way. A friendly argument ensued, but in
the end the women had their way and took positions behind and
along side the car. The engineer climbed into the open end of
the second car and released the brakes. Akane joined the other
women at the back of the car, and found herself a good
position.
	The engineer called out again, and slowly the car began
to move. It was clear to Ranma that Akane was doing most of
the work, but the older women were enjoying their little
victory. He joined in the shouts and calls from the sidelines
as the car cleared the intersection and the engineer brought
it to a stop. They all lined the sides of the street and
clapped as the first automobile passed over the tracks.

	Akane found Ranma. "That was really fun, but it was
harder than I thought it would be." She said, then stopped
for breath.
	"You were doing most of the pushing, you know."
	"Really?" She beamed.
	"What would you have done if you couldn't have moved it?"
	"I wasn't worried, help was only a splash away."
	"Hmph." Ranma laughed. They found Soun with a group of
old men.

	"Akane, Ranma, please tell Kasumi I won't be back till
late tonight, I'm going to meet with the patrol now, then
we'll be making our rounds. Ranma,
what with the trains and since I'll be out late, I was
wondering if you will be staying tonight?"
	"Sure, if it's Okay..."
	"Of course it's okay..." He put his hand on Ranma's
shoulder,"...son in law."
	Ranma stiffened, but kept his mouth shut.
	"See you later." Soun waved and ran to catch up with
the patrol.
	"Maybe you should have a boys-talk with my father."
	"Yeah, maybe I should."

                        -+-+-

	Some of the merchants had put lanterns outside on the
street, and they passed a restaurant that was serving dinner
by candlelight.
	"Oh! Doesn't that look romantic?" Akane took his hand
again.
	"Mmm." Ranma checked the change in his pocket. "Umm...
I might have enough for an appetizer or dessert..."
	Akane noticed his hesitation. "That would be nice, but
I'm too full of ice cream anyway, and besides,  I spent too
much money shopping yesterday with your mom."
	"Hmm. You two were gone a long enough."
	"Hey, I don't get to go to Ginza every day you know. You
should come along next time."
	"Next time?"
	"Your mom wants to make it a regular thing."
	"You mean staying over and all?"
	"Mmm," she stopped and turned to Ranma. "That's okay
isn't it?"
	"Yeah... I just hadn't thought about it, that's all."
	"If you don't want me saying over, just say so," She
walked on, leaving Ranma behind.
	"Wait, I didn't say that, I'm just surprised mom didn't
say anything." He ran to catch up. They walked quietly for a
block. "How about we trade off, one weekend at my place, the
next at yours."
	"Your mother thought you might want to spend more time at
the doujo, so she suggested once a month at your place, the
rest of the time here."
	"Really?"
	"Really. I think our parents are plotting something again.
What do you think?"
	"I think we should play along, till we can figure out what
they're doing.."
	"I was really hoping you'd say that."
	"Okay, it's settled then." Ranma walked with his hands
behind his head.
	"So it's okay if next time I really do sleep in your room
then?"
	Ranma tripped, his arms wrapped around his head. "What?"
	"That's what your mom suggested." Akane giggled. "You get
the living room."
	"Jeez." He began breathing again.

                        -+-+-

	 Akane paused and looked up."Wow! Look at the stars!"
	"Yeah, it's almost like being out in the country."
	"I wish we could see more of the sky."
	"I know just the spot." Ranma paused and looked around to
the East. "This way!" he took her hand and headed up a narrow
side street.
	"Wait, where are we going?"
	"It's just up here."
	"But the soccer field is the other way."
	"Not soccer, golf!"
	"You don't mean the driving range. They'd be closed
anyway, we can't get in."
	They reached the range at the top of the hill. "Not in,
on." Ranma jumped to the top of the fence and pointed up one
of the steel poles that held the netting. He helped Akane to
the top of the fence, then pointed to the staggered rungs that
ran up both sides of the pole. "You go first, watch out for
bent rungs, Ryouga and I had a... disagreement here once."
	"Why should I go first?"
	"Because I'll be right behind in case you slip."
	Akane sneered, and stuck out her tongue, but she did
climb first.
	
	In moments they were above the nearby houses. They
continued to the top of the pole, where it met a framework of
light tubing and that ran all the way around the top of the
driving range.
	"What now? Akane asked as she reached the top rungs.
	"Climb up on top." Ranma slapped the tubing.
	"Are you sure this is safe?"
	"Stay close to the tower, the cross frames wiggle a little
in the middle.
	"You've been up here before?"
	"Oh yeah, lots of times."
	Akane climbed up and straddled the frame, holding the
narrow tubing tight with both hands.
	Ranma followed and sat facing her. "Like the view?"
	Akane cautiously looked up from her grip. A police car
passed below, its headlights painting the narrow street. It
turned the corner, and the next block filled with light as the
block below went red in the tail lights, then black. From
horizon to horizon windows glowed dimly in candle light, and
here and there she could make out the shape of a building from
the glow of passing cars.
	"It's so dark, I don't see anyone with light anywhere."
	"There's one building behind you, I think it's the
hospital."
	She turned cautiously. "Oh yeah, just that one."
	"And look over that way, other shoulder."
	"Where? what is it?" Akane turned, "Oh! Sugoi" [wow]
	"That's it."
	Low in the northwestern sky a stranger outshone the
familiar stars.
	"It's the first one I've ever seen." Akane began to turn
around.
	"Be careful!" Ranma moved closer, locked his legs around
the frame and held his arms out, ready to catch her.
	"I'm okay." She slowly flipped her legs around one by one,
carefully moving her grip only when it was safe. When she
finished her heart was pounding. Ranma slid close behind her
and put his arms around her.
	The comet watched over them while they hugged quietly
together, the familiar sounds of their home town drifting up
from below. Snippets of conversation were mixed with bursts
of laughter, music and the tinny voice of radio newscasts.
Occasionally the shriek of children at play could be heard,
followed by the the shouts of parents calling them in for
dinner.

	Akane's whisper broke the silence. "Ne, Ranma. What if
Kasumi's right?"
	"Mmm?"
	"You know, about the power, what if they really can't fix
it and they need to start over?"
	"You're not serious, are you?"
	"No... Maybe... I don't know. I was just thinking about
what it would be like to live without electricity. No lights,
just candles and lanterns. No TV. No refrigerator. No rice
cooker. Nothing."
	"Well, everyone lived without it not so long ago. I'll
bet Tanaka-san could tell us stories about when he first got
power. Anyway, It wouldn't be so bad, The important things in
life don't need electricity."
	"Like what?"
	"Well, there's this..." Ranma hugged her tighter and
kissed her ear.
	"Oh yeah, there's that." She giggled. "I'll bet there's
a _lot_ of that going on tonight." She swept her gaze over
the darkened houses.
	"You think so?"
	"Yeah, once they had a big outage in the US, then nine
months later..."
	"Nine months later..."
	"Blackout babies. It happens in snowstorms too."
	"Just from hugging in the dark? Oh oh." Ranma listened
his hug and leaned away from his fiancee.
	"Baka." Akane giggled and elbowed Ranma in the ribs.
"There's more to it than that."
	"Oh yeah..." Ranma snuggled closer again. "...I knew
that."
	"Hmmph. Right. Still, I'm surprised though. I'd have
thought you would have mentioned martial arts first."
	"Oh yeah," he paused, "My mind was on other things,"
he answered weakly. Over the next few weeks he was often
bothered by that answer.

	An old couple passed in the street below, the man with a
cane and the woman carrying a flashlight, they bickered back
and forth about the wisdom of taking their evening walk in the
blackout, he insistent on the exercise, she fretting over and
illuminating each crack in the pavement. Most of the
conversation was lost in the cool evening breeze, but Ranma
and Akane both had to stifle giggles because the one thing
they heard clearly was the woman calling her husband "Baka".

	"Maybe we should get going," Akane said after a time. "I
hate to go, it's so pretty up here, but it's getting a little
cold."
	Ranma climbed off the frame and waited while Akane worked
her way onto the rungs between him and the pole. They worked
their way down, Ranma warning of bent and missing rungs as
they went. Near the bottom they stepped over to the fence, and
Ranma jumped to the street below. He held out his arms as
Akane jumped down. He caught her, then held and kissed her. A
policeman on a bicycle caught them in his light as he turned
onto the street, the 'ching ching' of his bell partly masked
his chuckle as he passed.

	They walked home through the black streets, sometimes
guessing and feeling their way when no windows or lanterns
were near. As they neared the Tendou home, talking and
laughing could be heard from inside the wall. When they
turned the corner they could see the gate and path to the
house was lit by paper lanterns. Knots of neighbors stood
around talking and laughing. A half dozen children were
playing a game of tag around the koi pond. Kasumi passed
through the party with a huge teapot, refilling cups and
sharing a smile at each group. Her kimono swirled gracefully
in the lantern light. Groups of men stood about smoking and
drinking from bottles of beer. The stone lantern, lit up for
the first time Ranma had seen, stood guard over a large
cooler filled with ice and bottles.
	"Ara! Ranma, Akane, welcome home!" Kasumi called
cheerfully. [Oh! (look)]
	"Kasumi, what's all this?" Akane asked.
	"Oh, it all just sort of happened. I went to bring Mrs.
Tanaka some hot water for tea, and a few minutes later she
came by with Mrs. Takagi, and well one thing lead to another,
pretty soon all the ladies from the neighborhood were here,
then their husbands came looking for them, and they found
that some had beer but no ice, and others had ice but no
beer, and anyway they all ended up here."
	"Great party sis!" Nabiki glided by in a flowered kimono.
Some of the neighbors had brought tier single sons, and four
were following Nabiki like her personal guard. One eyed Akane
he passed, but Ranma gave him the look, and he hurried to
catch up with the others. Nabiki sat in the open doorway in
front of the pond, they gathered around her as if she were
holding court.
	"Oh! I left some water on for more tea," Kasumi said.
"Akane, could you fill in while I go get it?"
	"Sure!" Akane took the kettle from her older sister and
she and Ranma headed for the closest group of women to refill
the cups. The women were far more interested in Akane and her
fiancee then they were in the tea, and Ranma had to endure all
sorts of questions before they broke away to refill another
group.
	"Maybe I'll go see what the men are talking about..."
Ranma began.
	"Hee hee, I suppose you don't want to go through the
third degree with every group."
	Ranma gave her a look of silent hopefulness.
	"Okay, I'll come find you later." She put her hand on his
arm." Oh, and Ranma..."
	"Yes?"
	"Please don't practice that look, you're already too good
at it.

	Ranma headed for a group of men congregated around the
cooler.
	"Ahh Ranma-kun, here, have one of these." Dr. Toufu
handed him a soda
from the cooler, and found another for himself.
	"Aww, com'mon give him one of these!" said a man holding out
a bottled beer.
	"No, No, he's too young, and as a martial artist, he must
keep his mind clear." Toufu protested.
	The group broke into boisterous laughter, one even spitting
out his beer. "Yes, yes, you must keep your mind clear!" he
cried, cupping his hand on Toufu's shoulder. This caused an even
larger laugh.
	"Don't tell me. Every time Ka..." Ranma began.
	"SHHHHH! Don't even say the name!" One of the men stopped him.
	"She's been by four times, and each time he..." Said another.
	"I get the picture," Ranma imagined the effect while he
snapped open the top of his soda.
	The conversation resumed, each man seemed to have a differing
opinion as to the cause and possible duration of the blackout,
and each seemed to
remember a radio report that backed their position. Later the
discussion  drifted to the upcoming sumo basho, some of the older
men nostalgic for the great matches of tier youth.
	Ranma caught a flash of color from the corner of his eye and
saw that Akane had also changed into a kimono. He watched her
from across the yard, splitting his attention between the
discussion and his fiancee as she drifted from group to group,
catching up on the neighborhood gossip.

	Soon Kasumi returned, and Toufu reacted on cue. Ranma managed
to keep him out of the pond, but he was too late to prevent him
from asking the lantern to dance. Most of the other men laughed
at his antics, but a couple of the older men watched wistfully,
recalling that feeling.

                        -+-+-

	A call from outside the gate heralded the arrival of the
fire patrol. The neighborhood revelers gathered into a a line to
watch as the patrol entered the gates and stood in formation.
Soun as the junior member stood in the back holding a banner on
a bamboo pole. They bowed to the group in unison, the eldest
announced that this was the last stop of the night, then they
called out the warning to douse the fires. The neighbors clapped
in appreciation, and Kasumi stepped forward to blow out the
candle in the lantern hanging over the front door, which started
another round of polite applause. The patrol broke up and joined
with the others, the last of the cold beers were quickly
distributed, and toasts made to the patrol and to the safety of
the town. Those with the youngest children sought out Kasumi to
thank her and she walked with them to the gate. Nabiki joined
Kasumi at the gate and Akane sought out her father and Ranma and
all five of them thanked their guests as they began their short
journeys home. A couple of men promised solemnly and drunkenly to
see Toufu home safely, but it was Toufu who had the most trouble
with his balance after Kasumi had lain her hand on his arm as she
said good night.
	The last to leave were the Tanakas, Mr. Tanaka bowing and
thanking Soun while his wife fussed over Kasumi and the other
girls.
                        -+-+-

	Akane took Ranma's arm and they walked silently through the
yard, blowing out candles in the lanterns one by one, when Akane
reached for the last one, Ranma stopped her, and held her hands
in his. They stood with the lantern between them, the paper shade
softening the warm glow of the candle flame.
	Ranma had never seen Akane look so beautiful. Her smile was
peaceful and contented, and there was something about the way she
was looking at him. There was no anticipation, no question, it was
as if there was nothing else in the world for her to do but to be
there with him. Ranma's heart pounded in his chest. It was so
perfect, the dark night, the party, the neighbors, the backyard,
her kimono, the lanterns, her soft, warm hands in his, the comet,
the light in her eyes...
	"Akane..."
	"Nani?" [what?]
	Ranma felt as if he was leaping from a great height, but this
he was sure of himself, and he leapt without hesitation or doubt.
	"...I love you."
	Akane blinked twice, then feared her heart might explode from
the emotion that hit her. She crushed herself to Ranma's chest and
held him, feeling the beating of his heart against her cheek.
She'd daydreamed a thousand times of hearing those words from him,
but not one of those perfect daydreams came close to this. He
tilted the lantern and blew out the candle, then there was
only his touch. He kissed the top of her head, she turned her
face upwards to meet his lips. They fumbled a moment, he
tasted her tears, then her mouth in an urgent kiss.
	"I love you too, Ranma," she whispered. "I've always
loved you."


May 30,1997

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CEO, VideoS2                        you get to be the iceberg." --- J.
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