The Wedding: For or Against

Legal and intro stuff:  This is a new project that I may or may not take any
further.  Pleas let me know if you'd like to see more.  These charectors are
not mine.  If I ever claimed that they were I'd be forced to eat Stephen
Gagne, or something like that.

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	Ranma was discouraged.

	It wasn't that he didn't like the uncute tomboy.  It wasn't that at all.
He really did like her.  Of course, it had taken her almost dying, and their
almost getting married to make him realize it.  

	Funny how their almost wedding had galvanized his resolve in a way that
their ordeal under the Jusenkyo valley had not.  

	Diety but she had looked good in that dress!  

	That moment more than any other had helped him to banish the "Keep Akane at
arms length" reflex back to the frightening and dark reaches of his primal
insecurity.  He knew now that more than anything else, he wanted her to be
happy.  He wanted to be with her.  He had realized it when he'd seen the
almost hidden disappointment in her eyes when her father had announced his
decision to postpone the wedding.  The funny thing was, that he, too, had
been disappointed.  He wouldn't have admitted it at the time, but he had
been surprised at how strongly that disappointment had gnawed at his heart.  

	He didn't want to wait any longer.  He wanted to get married.  He wanted to
marry Akane.  He wanted to do it now.

	That was the root of his discouragement.

	He was pretty sure that Akane would go along with it.  He hadn't had the
courage to talk to her about it yet, but after all this time, he thought
that he actually understood what she'd been trying to show him all along.
What her anger and her jealousy and her desire to cook him a decent meal and
her little glimpses of shyness and embarrassment really meant.  

	She kinda sorta maybe liked him too.

	She had as much as admitted it when they'd talked before they *didn't* get
married.  She'd said that she was willing to go through with it because he'd
said that he loved her.

	Of course, like an idiot, he'd denied saying anything of the sort and
pushed her away again, justly incurring her sometimes- unjust wrath.  But
the point was still valid.  She (for reasons he couldn't fathom) *liked*
him.  Maybe... maybe even... maybe even loved him.

	The thought was electrifying.  The thought was thrilling and wonderful and
terrifying all at once.  

	Akane would go along with the wedding.  He was pretty sure that that
wouldn't be a problem once he got up the courage and the brain function to
speak sincerely and intelligently with her about it.  She wasn't the problem.

	The problem was everyone else.  

	He wasn't *quite* naive enough to believe that all the people who had
descended like a plague of locusts to destroy his first wedding attempt
would be on their best behavior for a second one.  Chances were good that
they'd still be quite upset by the prospect of losing him, or Akane (or both
in the bizarre case of a certain Kendoist) once and for all.  And chances
were even better that they'd, once again try to do something about it.

	Of course, he'd never been able to prove that Mousse, or Ryoga, or Happosai
had acted deliberately to sabotage the event, but he wasn't throwing out all
his suspicions just yet either.  The girls on the other hand...  Well, it
just hadn't been pretty. 

	He had two choices:  

	One: he could give up on the idea of getting married anytime soon and
try to wait out his problems.  This had the advantage of not hurting
anybody too badly, at least not as badly as they would be hurt by
being told "You're not the one that I love."  It also had the
disadvantage of uncertainty.  Chances were good that he'd be waiting
until he and Akane were both old and grey.

	Two: he could find a way to: 
		A.  Tell Akane how he felt
		B.  Ask her to marry him
		C.  Actually pull off a wedding ceremony without either
One of them being kidnapped /killed /drugged
/hypnotised and without allowing "things" to get so
out of hand that the whole thing would once again
be called off.

	Neither prospect seemed very good to him.  

	Wallowing in his discouragement wasn't helping any either.  He decided to
go do his homework. _Woah!_ he thought. _It's worse than I thought._

	He was knee deep in the tangles of algebra when there was a knock at on his
door frame.  He looked up to see Nabiki leaning through it.  "This came for
you." she said, holding a letter towards him.  

	"Come in." he said, holding out his hand to take it.

	Curious, she stood next to him as he pulled it out of the envelope.  The
yen signs in her eyes were *almost* but not quite invisible as she saw the
charectors on the outside fold.  "Challenge" they said proudly.  She made
between thirty and fourty thousand yen on a typical fight involving Ranma.
More if she had advanced notice.

	Ranma sighed loudly.  Not just a little sigh, or a "Here we go again" sigh,
but a real, honest to goodness, unhappy, almost depressed sigh.  Nabiki
frowned.  That wasn't normal.  He usually just shrugged at challenges and
met them head on.  What was getting him down?  She didn't want him off
during a fight.  It would make the outcome too unpredictable.  She bit her
lip and calculated.

	"Who's it from?" she finally asked.

	"Mousse."  

	"What does he want?"

	Ranma looked down at the letter unenthusiastically.  "He wants to kill me
for dishonoring his lovely Shampoo."

	The flatness of his tone scared her.  This could be *very* bad for
business.  "So what are you going to do?"

	He looked up at her apathetically.  "Beat him up I guess."

	"But you don't really want to?"

	"'Course not.  I got nothin' against Mousse.  Not really."

	This was not the Ranma she knew.  Where was his care-free enthusiasm?
Where was his arogance and fire?  She studied him for a moment.  Maybe it
was just his situation.  Mousse was a nice enough sort.  Just a little dense
at times.  For that reason alone he and Ranma should be the best of friends.
They had a lot in common.  "You know what your problem is?"

	Ranma's lips tightened.  He knew exactly what his problem... No, his
*problems* were.  He didn't need Nabiki trying to capitalize off yet
*another* fight that he wished would never happen.  "Yeah."  He said.  "I'm
a cold, thoughtless, money grubber who cares more about yen than I do about
my friends or my pride." he deadpanned.  "No wait.  That's *your* problem."
He looked back down at the letter testily.

	"Very funny." Nabiki said dryly.  That's what she got for trying to help.
Still, she honestly wanted to see him feeling better.  "Your problem is that
you just don't understand people."  She put a hand lightly on his shoulder.
"If you understood what motivates Mousse, then you might find a way to make
friends with  him.  All you've got to do is help him see that you two have
common interests."

	Suddenly Ranma was intrigued.  "Common interests?"  He asked.  His mind was
whirling with possible solutions not just for the challenge, but for the
wedding as well.  Maybe there was hope after all.

	"Look it up in the dictionary." she said as she headed for the door.  

	"Hey Nabiki" he called after her.

	"Hmm?" she turned her head to look at him and he smiled.

	"Thanks.  That's good advise."



.\\ishamouse~   	www.geocities.com/tokyo/4022

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Second Student Tendo Kasumi School of Philosophy

"That was Zen; this is Tao."
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