I well dissuade from giving all the unnecessary details so here is part b
of my fic....

Disclaimers: All characters belonged to R. Takahashi except the plot....

Enjoy! And C&C's welcomed!

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Life Goes On.... Part 1b
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Akane led Ranma up the stairs to her room. She was halfway there when she
realised that Ranma knew the layout of the dojo. She even lived here.
Mentally groaning to herself, Akane was going to let go of Ranma but
stopped. Ranma was gripping her hand rather tightly. Looking back, she saw
Ranma kept looking around with worry as if expecting someone to attack her.
Knowing the source of her anxiety, Akane flared up again in anger,
unconsciously bunching her hands into fists. A yelp of pain reminded her
that one of her hands was still holding Ranma. Sheepishly, Akane relaxed
her grip.

	"Gomen, Ranma. I didn't mean to hurt you", Akane said in an embarassed tone.

	"It's OK, I know you didn't mean it." Ranma noticed that they were now
right beside Akane's bedroom "Ummm...Akane? Could you please help me get my
clothes in my room? I...I am not ready to face oyaji right now."

"But...." one look at Ranma's fear-filled eyes told her otherwise. Sighing,
she said, "Ok, I will go and get your clothes. You go first then."

Smiling gratefully at Akane, Ranma quickly ran downstairs. The sound of a
door opening and closing echoed back to her. A moment later, a bath being
filled can be heard. Akane went to Ranma's and tentatively peeked in.
Seeing no one there, she opened the door fully and walked in, relief and a
little bit of disappointment on her face. If Mr. Saotome was in,
oooohhhhhhh.... 

Looking around, Akane quickly located where Ranma stored her clothes and
selected the usual red satin shirt and black baggy trousers. Done, she
walked out and went to the bathroom. Leaving the clothes next to the
clothes basket behind the bathroom door, Akane went next to her own room.
She got out of the slightly damp clothes and put on a bath robe, waiting
impatiently for Ranma to finish. With nothing to do her thoughts inevitably
began to replay the scene under the bridge. Unbidden tears formed in her
eyes as guilt and depression threathened to overwhelm her. A knocking sound
penetrated through her despair. Akane quickly wiped the tears from her face.

	"Come in!", she invited.

Ranma entered, drying her hair with a towel.  

	"It's your turn now Akane. I am finished", Ranma said, as she flung her
hair backwards and drap the towel across her shoulders.

	"Arigato."

Akane opened her wardrobe and brought out a pair of pyjamas. It was covered
with duck patterns and was one of her favourite. She smiled at the memory
it invoked. The pyjamas was given to her on her fourteenth birthday by Dr.
Tofu. Akane remembered being fascinated with him at the age of eight. He
was kind and gentle, always making her laugh whenever she came to his
clinic from her fights. By the time she had turned twelve, her fascination
had turned to a crush. She had just reached puberty then, and like any
other girls, were becoming interested in the opposite sex. Her fourteenth
birthday was one of the happiest of her life. She remembered blushing
furiously when Dr. Tofu came up to her and personally gave her his present.
Looking back now, it seemed so funny how innocent she was....  

	"Akane?"

	"Hmmmm?" Distracted, Akane turned around and faced Ranma. She was standing
there, nervously twirling her fingers round and round in unfathomable
patterns.        

	"Uhhh....I was wondeeriing if I can sleep here tonight, pleeeassseee???"

Instinctively, Akane was going to retort back and insult Ranma like she did
millions of times before but then she remembered her words <<I am Akane. Do
you want to be friends?>> echoing through her mind. Thanking her
conscience, she numbly nodded and ran to the bathroom before Ranma could
see the tears that were threatening to spill out.  

Reaching the bathroom quickly, Akane shut the door behind her and leaned
against the wall, trying to gather her strength. After a while listening to
the roar of her heartbeat, she continued her way and finally came to the
furo. It was already filled and steam was rising off the surface of the
water. Grateful to whoever had thoughtfully filled it, she quickly stripped
off and stepped in. The hot water caused a tingling sensation to spread all
the way up to her stomach and she reveled in it as much as possible before
submerging the rest of her body.

	"Ahhhhhhh...." sighed Akane in contentment as the hot water enveloped her
"Just what I needed."

She then remembered that she was supposed to clean her body with cold water
first before getting in. Frowning, she thought <To hell with tradition for
today. Just this once, please, don't think about anything else>. 

Submitting to her desire, Akane lay back and closed her eyes, relaxing as
her body began to unknot and unwind, causing all tension to flow out of
her....and was rudely jolted awake a while later when she found herself
gasping for breath. Opening her eyes, she realised she was totally
submerged and quickly sat up, sputtering out water as she did so. Gasping
and choking, she berated herself for sleeping in the bath. Her, a martial
artist, had nearly died from a harmless source; drowning in a tub of water.
As the implication of her thoughts hit her, she began to laugh hysterically
but immediately stopped herself.

	<I am beginning to sound like Kodachi. Euuhhhh!!>

Grimly and firmly putting the incident behind her, Akane began scrubbing
herself with soap and quickly rinsed it off with the warm water. Getting
out of the bath, she then dry herself with the ever present towel and wore
her pyjamas. Looking guiltily at the mess in the furo, Akane remove the
stopper, allowing the water to drain off and rinse it with clean water to
get rid of the soap stains. By the time she was finished, Akane was
sweating a little from the hot humidity as well as the exertion. Groaning
to herself, she decided against taking another bath and went to her
bedroom. Opening her door, Akane peeked in and was surprised to find Ranma
already asleep on the chair, her arms cradling her head on the desk.
Closing the door softly behind her, she went up to Ranma and gently shook her.

	"Ranma, wake up. I will lay out a futon for you to sleep on. Ranma!"

Akane shook her several times but to no avail. Ranma was beyond reach.
Sighing to herself, she picked up Ranma and carried her towards her bed.
With a sigh, Ranma snuggled closer, mummuring softly. Akane strained to
hear what Ranma was saying.

	"Okaasan....Shino-kun...."

Akane felt herself go stiff with shock.

	<Shino-kun?!?!!>

Trembling with anger, she looked down at Ranma sleeping peacefully in her
arms.

	"Akane....please don't leave me....Akane...."

Startled, Akane nearly dropped her but managed to hold on. Her anger
dissipate quickly at the words. Holding Ranma more tightly, Akane lay her
on the far side of her bed and climbed in after, covering both her and
Ranma with her blanket. Facing Ranma, she closed her eyes and soon fell
asleep from exhaustion. Dreams of a handsome pig-tailed man floated through
her mind, teasing and yet taunting. 

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To be continued....

MT
martin.tie@virgin.net