Subject: [FFML] [Fanfic][Ranma] Second Chances Chap 1 - 4 (Repost)
From: Lord Archive
Date: 7/15/1998, 1:34 AM
To: FFML

This is a repost of the Second Chances series. This is the last time it'll
be posted before going to RAAC. There are some changes since it first got
posted.

Second Chances

By Lord Archive

This chapter is sad and dark. The following chapters are not dark, just this one.

This story begins over six months after Manga volume 38.

Legal Babble: Characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Video, 
etc..., and are used without permission. I'm only borrowing them. I'll 
return them. I can't afford the overdue charge Nabiki insists on.



			-------------------------------
			Chapter 1 - The End of One Life
			-------------------------------



Akane could not believe what she saw before her. Ranma had defeated the 
monster Happosai had summoned, but he was wounded. Badly wounded. She 
rushed to Ranma with tears filling her eyes.

<This can't be happening. It can't!> She kneeled at his side. "R-Ranma?" 
she uttered, her voice shaking.

Ranma said weakly, "Akane. I'm s-sorry. I got... careless." 

"Be quiet, save your strength." <Please don't die. Please!>

"I... I'm sorry, Akane... I wanted to... marry you... I'm sorry... I 
hadn't told you that... I love you."

Her eyes lit up. He had finally admitted he loves her. Everything would 
be all right now. Everything would be better.

"I do love y..." The fire of life in Ranma's eyes were extinguished as 
his heart stopped. He now just laid there, dead.

"Ranma?" Akane cried. "Ranma, please don't leave me. Ranma, I love you, 
don't leave me." She gathered his body into her arms and screamed, 
"RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!" 
The scream was heard for kilometers around.

-----------------------------------

Ukyou sat at the Tendo Dojo. She couldn't understand how some dopey 
monster Happosai summoned could kill Ranma, but it had. She hadn't 
stopped crying since she arrived at the place Ranma died, just after 
hearing Akane's gut wrenching cry of his name. Now here she was at 
Ranma's funeral days later. His casket in front of her, and she just 
couldn't understand it.

Ukyou saw Kasumi lead Akane into the dojo. She noted with bitterness 
that Akane didn't show any signs she had been crying. The bitterness was 
short lived when she then noticed Akane didn't show signs of any sort. 
Akane wasn't emotionally alive.

---------------------

Shampoo stared at the casket in front of her. She realized for some time 
now that she had lost him, but continued to chase him in case... 
anything unfortunate happened to Akane. Besides, she couldn't return to 
her village unless Ranma was her husband or dead. She hoped and prayed 
for the former, but it was to be the latter. Ranma was gone, and no one 
gets to have him.

Shampoo saw Akane enter the dojo. Not surprised at her state. Shampoo 
knew Akane loved Ranma more than she let anyone, including herself, 
know. Shampoo thought Akane loved Ranma more than she did and perhaps 
more than Ukyou did as the evidence showed.

The biggest surprise at the proceedings held for Shampoo was that Mousse 
was not elating how she was free of Ranma. He just sat next to her, 
mourning the passing of Ranma and only offered to comfort her in her 
time pain. He did not force his presence on her.

She was unnerved at how little pain she actually did feel. Sure she 
cried when she found out Ranma was dead and it does hurt, but even 
Kodachi showed more reaction to his death. She guessed it was because 
deep down she had given up on Ranma. So, alive or dead, it didn't 
matter, he was already lost to her.

---------------------

Kodachi laughed, and laughed. Her fragile hold on sanity cracked when 
she saw Ranma's dead body. When she went to attack the wretched Tendo 
girl who took Ranma away from her, she had been stopped by a combined 
attack from Ryoga, Shampoo, Ukyou, and Kuno.

Kodachi's injuries from the battle had sent her to the hospital. Her 
actions there had her committed. She had severely hurt two orderlies in 
an attempt to leave and hunt down Akane.

---------------------

Ryoga stood in the back of the dojo, tears streaming down his face. 
Akari was next to him trying to give him emotional support. Ranma had 
been the closest thing to a best friend to him, and his first love, 
Akane, was obviously in great pain from Ranma's death.

"You know, that's how Ranma was when he thought Akane died at Jusendo. 
He couldn't take the pain so he shut himself off, as Akane is now," 
Ryoga said in a low voice.

"Will she ever get better?" Akari asked, sadly.

"I-I think she may end up like her father, never able to go through a 
day without crying. Either that or her anger will be such that she will 
have to be restrained to prevent her from destroying everything in 
sight." 

"Oh." Akari looked at Akane. She now cried not really for Ranma, but for 
the pain Akane felt and wondered if she would feel the same if Ryoga 
died.

----------------------

Konatsu was above Ukyou, holding onto the ceiling. He worried about how 
she was to fair after Ranma died. He was upset that Ranma had died, 
Ranma had been his friend and he had precious few friends.

--------------------

Kuno stood like a stone statue on the other side of the dojo door from 
Ryoga. It pained him to see how the spell that sorcerer Saotome had cast 
on Akane hurt her after his passing. He wanted to comfort Akane, but 
Nabiki threatened to make him a woman and send the Kuno clan to the poor 
house if he even talked to her. For now he just honored his adversary, 
as he was the only man to hold his own against his might.

--------------------

Nabiki was at a loss. She played peace keeper, not wanting to have the 
insanity of Ranma's life to invade his funeral. She wished now she had 
used her skills to end the insanity rather than fuel it. She purposely 
delayed the marriage of Ranma to Akane because she felt her sister 
wasn't ready. Now Akane had lost any chance to ever marry him, and it 
was Nabiki's fault the wedding attempt had failed.

--------------------

Kasumi sat next to Akane. It troubled her greatly that Akane had 
retreated so far into her own world that she may as well be dead. Kasumi 
had seen it before, her father was like that when her mother died. 
Kasumi knew Akane would come out of it eventually, but she won't be the 
same person she was before.

-------------------

Soun cried, and cried. His daughter was hurting and his family line will 
never be joined with the Saotomes.

-------------------

Nodoka sat on the other side of Akane. Nodoka cried at the lost of her 
son so soon after finding him. He had proven to be a 'man amongst men' 
to his dying breath and hated that the oath of Seppuku had kept him away 
from her for so long. All she wanted now was her son, if he was truly a 
man or not.

Nodoka looked down at Akane. She did not care that Akane never married 
Ranma. She was going to help this girl who her son loved as if the girl 
was her daughter.

------------------

It was a surprise to many guest when Genma walked into the dojo in human 
form, crying with tears sorrow. He had screwed up so much when raising 
Ranma, he was not going to make a mistake now. Genma knew his many 
mistakes had hurt Ranma greatly, and his mistakes with Happosai had 
caused the death of his only child.

-----------------

Cologne was next to Shampoo. She regretted that Shampoo would never get 
to marry Ranma, but knew how hopeless that had become. This outcome 
would work out for the best for Shampoo in the long run, but Cologne 
never wanted it to happen.

-----------------

Happosai? Well, Happosai wasn't there. When he had arrived at the scene 
of Ranma's death to see what his monster had done, he meet several angry 
martial artist. He held his own against them. Actually he was winning, 
despite fighting Genma, Soun, Ukyou, Ryoga, and Shampoo all at the same 
time.

Ryoga and Genma laid into Happosai using chi attacks. Genma was even 
using his forbidden moves to attack Happosai. Ukyou and Shampoo were 
upset that their presence was only helping the lech.

It wasn't until Happosai touched Akane to regain his strength that the 
battle ended. Akane looked at Happosai with such anger and rage she 
glowed with a chi aura greater than Happosai ever produced. "You- you 
killed him!" she shouted, her voice like gravel. "DIE!" 

Akane grabbed onto his head in a death grip. He struggled trying to get 
her to let go. He started to feel her gather her chi for a chi blast. 
She was gathering it between her hands, which happened to also be where 
his head was.

Akane let out a shriek of rage as she fired off her chi blast. A perfect 
anger chi blast with the point of origin being between Happosai's ears. 

Happosai exploded into gory little bits.

Some of those watching lost their lunch.

Akane stared at the corpse, well what passed for one. Only then did she 
realize that she wasn't dreaming about what she'd do to Happosai. She 
really had killed him. Her mind failed her looking at the sight. She 
collapsed. 

Now, the only people who thought of Happosai, did so angrily. No one 
mourned his passing.

-----------------------------------

Ukyou kept her restaurant closed for the following week. She spent most 
of the time crying. She tried to visit Akane once, but she was still 
emotionally dead. Ukyou did see signs that Akane was coming out of it as 
she mumbled a couple times. At one point Ukyou heard Akane say, "The 
Baka died before I could tell him that I love him." Ukyou knew Akane 
wasn't talking to her since Akane stared off into space while saying it.

Ukyou was upset by Akane's reaction. Ukyou always felt she deserved 
Ranma the most, that she loved Ranma more. But, Akane proved that wrong. 
Despite her insults and the number of times she hit Ranma, Akane was in 
greater emotional pain over his death than anyone else.

Konatsu had spent those days as shoulder for Ukyou to cry on. He wanted 
to help her in anyway he could.

-------------------

With Ranma's death, nothing held the Amazons to Japan, so they packed up 
and left days after the funeral. Shampoo and Mousse stopped by the 
Tendos before leaving to wish them better times and gave an offer of 
help if they ever needed it.

-------------------

Kuno had visited his sister in psychiatric ward. When he started 
spouting how the evil Saotome had bewitched his sister, he was given a 
nice padded room for himself.

-------------------

Ryoga, seeing what Ranma and Akane had lost for waiting 'until the time 
was right,' gathered his courage and proposed to Akari. She happily 
accepted. 

Ryoga was still upset and depressed at what had happened. He thought if 
he was a little sooner in getting there, if he could have done more, 
Ranma would be alive. The man whose existence he had cursed many times 
over and attempted to kill on many occasions, and he would do anything 
to bring him back. 

Akari wanted to help Ryoga, she gave him the love that kept him from 
going over the edge. But, Ryoga needed to release the feelings of 
depression that built up in him and made a large pond at Akari's farm 
from repeated Shi Shi Hokodans blast he fired several times a day.

-------------------

Almost a week passed before Akane came out of her emotional death. She 
spent the next several days crying. Nodoka was not going to let her 
handle the pain alone, but she also knew, for what happened, Akane would 
need professional help. Nodoka thought that if she had sent Ranma to a 
psychologist, that final incident with Happosai might have been averted.

It was two weeks after the funeral when Akane first saw the 
psychologist. It had to take some convincing that Akane wasn't 
delusional when she talked about how Ranma died and mentioned his curse. 
The doctor was upset that no one had come to see a psychologist before 
then, especially about Ranma who undoubtedly had many mental scars that 
should've been addressed.

Talking to the psychologist helped Akane greatly. She started to 
function and three weeks after Ranma died she returned to school. 
Everyone avoided her, which suited her find. She wished it had all been 
a nightmare, one she'd wake up from. She wanted Ranma back. She wanted 
to tell him that she loves him. 

-------------------------------------

Akane stared out into the stormy night with eyes dried from having cried 
too much, her thoughts drifted over the past two year since Ranma blew 
into her life. Two years that afternoon, and he missed the anniversary 
by four weeks. 

Akane had been crying since she found Ranma's journal a couple days ago. 
She only read the last couple entries and found out Ranma had actually 
decided to deal with Ukyou and Shampoo and marry her today. Akane was 
amazed that Ranma actually remembered the importance of the day let 
alone planned to make it the most important one in their lives. And now 
it'll never be. 

Akane thought of all the mistakes she had made, from their first meeting 
to their final moments. So many times she had gotten angry at him for 
things that were not his fault. She wanted to take it all back. She 
wanted him back.

Akane couldn't bear the pain any longer, she couldn't go on. A short 
trip to the kitchen or the dojo to get a nice sharp blade, and she could 
join him. She could see him again. She would... be dead. No! As much as 
it hurts. Oh, Kami-Sama, how it hurts! She couldn't bring herself to 
leave the world just yet as it would cheapen Ranma's death. He took some 
of the injuries in the final battle saving her. He would want her to 
live.

Akane decided to use the emergency number the psychologist had given. 
She needed to talk to him some more. Akane was shaking as she went to 
the phone and dialed the number.

On the third ring it was answered, "Goddess relief line. Hold on for one 
moment."

<What the hell? This isn't the psychologist,> Akane thought, confused. 
She then noticed the television suddenly turned on in the living room. 
No one should be in there, it was three in the morning. She let the 
phone drop, if this was a burglar, he would regret trying to rob her 
home.

Akane stopped and was sort of amazed at a woman, who was cursing while 
she tried to get out of the television.

"I don't know why my sister is in love with these stupid machines," the 
woman said.

Akane came to senses and went into a battle stance. "Who are you, and 
what are you doing to my TV?"

"I'm Urd. I am a goddess, and you've been granted a wish." She finished 
by wrangling her foot out of the television, and sent it crashing into 
the floor.

Akane lost it for a moment. <Could this be true? Do I really get a 
wish?>

"Yes, you get one wish," Urd replied.

Akane blinked. <I didn't say anything?>

"You don't have to. For the time being, I can read your mind."

Akane became elated. "I can get him back. I've wished to get a second 
chance with Ranma..."

Urd began to glow, and a beam of light shot skyward. "Granted."

"Granted what? I didn't make my wish yet," Akane said, getting upset.

"You wished a second chance, and now you've got it?"

"Huh?" Akane questioned, suddenly growing tired.

"Now go to sleep, Akane. Tomorrow WON'T be a new day," Urd smirked, as 
she faded from existence.

"What did she mean by that?" Akane yawned as she dragged herself to bed. 
She grabbed Ranma's journal and hugged it tightly as she feel asleep.


			--------------------------------
			  Chapter 2 - Beginning Again.
			--------------------------------


Akane awoke. She felt different, her mind clouded. A hot bath was what 
she felt she needed right now. She set Ranma's journal on her desk as 
she wearily got out of bed. She then gathered her stuff and made her way 
downstairs. She suspected Kasumi would have a bath ready. While Kasumi 
didn't seem to notice things, she usually had things like that done for 
you before you knew you wanted it.

Akane made her way to the bathing room, but the bath wasn't ready. Akane 
shrugged it off, Kasumi had been having a hard time reading her since 
Ranma... left. She decided to wash her face and prepare a bath for 
herself. She approached the sink and looked at the mirror.

Akane nearly screamed at what she saw. Her hair was long. Her face 
younger. She ran her hand through her hair and touched her face. <This 
can't be possible.> She the remembered her encounter with the 'goddess' 
last night and her wish for a second chance. She dared not believe the 
implications before her, but she had to find out.

Akane ran out towards the dining room, as she guessed her father was 
there. The shogi board and Genma, however, were nowhere in sight. "Dad?"

Soun quickly attempted to hide a postcard. His face tear-ridden. "Yes, 
daughter."

"What day is today?" Akane asked meekly.

"Sunday, Dear."

Akane blinked, yesterday had been Tuesday. "Um, I meant the date."

"May tenth." Soun looked at her puzzled.

Akane's head began to spin. It was Sunday, May tenth, but yesterday was 
Tuesday May tenth. Ranma arrived on May tenth... Sunday. "I-is the year 
1992?"

"Of course, daughter. Are you all right? You don't look good."

"I'm fine... Great even." Akane smiled from ear to ear. Today was the 
day. Ranma is coming, and she wasn't going to make the same mistakes 
this time around. She would use this second chance wisely.

Soun looked at his daughter closely. <She looks disheveled and up until 
a moment ago looked quite sad and confused. Now she's happy. I've been 
delaying telling them what's on this post card until the time was right. 
Now appears to be a good time to tell them, because Akane is happy and 
she will likely be the most violent in her rejection of this 
information.> "Akane, could you get your sisters? I have something I 
need to discuss with all of you."

Akane paled. <I need to get ready. I want to get a haircut. So much to 
do before Ranma arrives.> She noticed the time. Her father was going to 
start earlier. She had a little more time, but she needed to delay 
things. "Um, Dad, can I get cleaned up a little first?"

"Sure, but don't take too long."

Akane nodded. <I don't have enough time to get a haircut, but I could at 
least look presentable. I won't meet him as the uncute, sweaty, gi 
wearing girl.> She paused for a moment. <Ranma loved me, but I'm the 
uncute one. Ukyou and Shampoo were cute. Was that what he loved? My 
uncuteness?> Akane shook her head. <Being a little cuter may not hurt. 
Maybe his journal may shed some light on his feelings.>

Akane went to her room to read the entry. She flipped past the first 
several entries and found the one of his first day at the Tendos:

	Today Pop took me to his old friends house. That baka actually 
wants me to marry one of his old friend's daughters. They chose a 
violent maniac for me. Shouldn't I get to choose. I don't care if she 
was the one I would of chosen if forced to. It was my decision. After 
she hit me with that table, I wanted to chose none of them. 

	I accidentally saw Akane, the girl I'm suppose marry, nude. One 
word sums up what I saw: kawaii. I just hope she isn't as violent and 
insulting as our first meeting indicates. She was so friendly up until 
that accident. I really could use a friend right now, someone who 
understands and accepts me. I really shouldn't have said I was better 
looking, but it really hurt how insulting she was towards me. 

	This isn't the time for fiancees, I should get back to China and 
find a cure. I'll give it some time though, this is about family honor, 
and she does look cute. I'll write down what I think of the Tendos 
later.

Tears ran down Akane's cheeks. She flipped ahead and found that a week 
later he detailed what he felt about the various people he meet. She 
only read hers.

	Tendo Akane: A violent, uncute, macho chick. She is insulting, 
prone to hitting you, and is also a pretty good fighter. If she had 
trained since she could walk, she could probably wipe the floor with me. 
I wish I knew how I really feel about her. A couple times I felt so 
close to her it scared me, so I pushed her away. I don't want to be hurt 
when I leave her. I know I will, as soon as Tendo gets fed up with Pop's 
freeloading or when Pop decides he's had enough of this place and moves 
on.

<So that's why he did it. He was afraid he was going to get hurt.> Akane 
quickly dried her tears and got dressed in a nice red sun dress. It 
wasn't the fanciest thing she had, but remembered Ranma did like it. She 
also didn't want to give away she knew what was about to happen. As she 
left, she grabbed her gi. She had about twenty minutes before Ranma 
would show up.

Akane checked to see if Nabiki was in her room. She knocked on the door.

"It's open," Nabiki said through the door.

Akane opened the door and said, "Dad has something to tell us."

"Sure, whatever," Nabiki moaned, she rarely liked what her father had to 
say. She noticed what Akane was wearing, and asked, "How come you're all 
dressed up?"

"Oh, no reason," Akane smiled nervously.

Nabiki knew Akane was hiding something, maybe she knew what father had 
to say. Nabiki got out of bed and followed Akane downstairs. Akane 
tossed her gi into the changing room after she told Kasumi that their
father wanted to talk to them. 

-------------------------------------

Soun sat in front of his daughters scared of how they'll react to this. 
He then thought of the joy that would happen when his family line joined 
with the Saotome clan. Smiling, he began, "I have wonderful news for you. 
Soon we will have some visitors."

Nabiki rolled her eyes as she sipped some lemonade.

Kasumi smiled. Hopefully they'll stay for a meal, so she could hear them 
compliment her cooking.

Akane tried to remain emotionless. <Here it comes.>

"One of them will be a fiance to one of you."

"FIANCE!?!" yelled the three Tendo girls. Akane hoped they bought her 
acting.

"Yes, the son of a very good friend of mine. The son's name is Saotome 
Ranma. If one of you three would marry him and carry on this training 
center then the Tendo family legacy would be secure."

Nabiki resumed drinking her lemonade, thinking of how to turn this to 
her advantage. From what her father said, marrying him means she would 
inherit the Tendo home.

Akane wanted to say something, but didn't want to give away anything. If 
Nabiki knew Akane could tell of the event for the next two years, there 
would be trouble.

Kasumi was the first to speak, "Daddy, we don't even know who this Ranma 
is."

Soun was surprised Kasumi seemed to be the most upset at this. "Then let 
me tell you a little about him: Ranma and his father have been on a 
voyage of training. Recently, it seems, they crossed into China."

"Wow! China!" Nabiki chirped in. <Well traveled. Must have some serious 
money.>

"I bet they regretted it," Akane whispered.

"How old is he? Younger men bore me. What kind of guy is this Ranma?" 
Kasumi asked, upset.

Soun laughed, and then deadpanned, "No idea."

"'No idea,'" Nabiki repeated.

"I've never met him." Soun began to sweat.

Suddenly the sound of a fight was heard outside. "Leggo, y'ol' fool!" 
someone screamed.

"We have visitors!" Kasumi said.

"OOOO! It must be Ranma!" Nabiki said, racing to the door hoping he was 
cute.

"Saotome, my friend! We've been waiting!" Soun yelled following Nabiki.

<Oh, I hope he's older,> Kasumi thought, straightening her hair.

<Don't screw this up. Remember, he doesn't know me. He hates things 
being forced on him. And most of all don't hit or insult him. Just be 
his friend first, hopefully love will come later.> Akane blinked. <Ukyou 
most of thought that, I've got to check if Ukyou lost because of what he 
felt for me. I don't want to end up just his friend.> Akane came out of 
her thoughts as a Panda set down a person with red hair onto the floor.

"You wouldn't be..." Soun began.

"Saotome Ranma. Sorry `bout this." Ranma nervously said.

Akane heart ached at the sight of Ranma looking so vulnerable. She 
wanted to hug him and make him feel welcomed, but that would probably be 
a bad idea.

"At last! You've come!" Soun shouted for joy.

"OOOO! He's cute!" Nabiki elated.

Soun hugged Ranma tightly. "It's so good of you to come! So..." Soun 
felt something wrong in his hug with his old friend's 'son.' He pushed 
away Ranma and started sweating.

Nabiki looked closer at Ranma and saw he had a rather big chest for a 
guy. She poked Ranma in 'his' chest.

"Um, could you stop that?"

"'He's' a girl," Nabiki said, upset at the lost of her meal ticket.

Soun fainted. 

Akane was momentarily torn between helping her father or helping Ranma. 
She decided to help her father to go along with their initial meeting as 
best she remembered up until it went sour.

--------------------------

Soun awoke, crying.

"Oh, poor daddy. He's so disappointed." Kasumi said worried.

"HE'S disappointed! Some fiancee this is!" Nabiki shouted.

"Will you stop it! He... SHE is our guest!" Akane angrily replied. 
<Can't they see how hurt he is?>

"This is all your fault, daddy! You should have made sure!" Nabiki 
yelled.

"Well, he said he had a son!!" Soun shouted his reply.

"Do you see a son here? Hmm? Do you?" Nabiki squeezed Ranma's breast for 
emphasis.

"Um, I really wish you'd stop that," Ranma said, embarrassed.

Akane remember now was the moment to introduce herself. "Hi. I'm Akane. 
You want to be friends?"

"Ah, sure," Ranma replied.

Akane smiled. "What to join me in the dojo?"

Ranma smiled and nodded. <At least she likes me.> 

"Wait here, I'll go change into my gi. Be right back" Akane said. 
<Got that great first impression.>

Ranma nodded. <She's cute. I wonder if she's really any good. Doubt it. 
Wearing dresses and all.>


Akane stepped into the changing room. She started to think about what 
happened in their first encounter and what to do this time. <First let 
him win. That training we did in the months after that falied wedding 
attempt has my skill level above what his is now. Thanks to his curse, 
he won't be very confident until he beats Kuno into a pulp. No special 
moves, as I don't like the idea of him knowing them until he's matured a 
little. Challenge him to kempo, that is the style he's most familiar 
with.>

After changing, she rushed back to Ranma and then led her to the dojo. 
"You do kempo, right?"

"A little," Ranma replied.

Akane shook her head. He's dan level in kempo. "Then let's have a little 
match, okay?"

"Huh?" Ranma uttered. <She can't be serious.>

"Just for fun. I've been training most my life. I can stop myself from 
hurting you." <Emotionally and physically this time.>

<She asked for it.> "If you say so."

Akane got into her battle stance while Ranma remained relaxed in her 
position. Akane rushed Ranma, the battle nearly perfectly reflected 
their first battle. 

<How can I be missing?> Akane thought. <I should at least be getting 
closer, but I moving so slow... That's it! It's my body that's the 
problem. My body hasn't been speed trained. Oh well, didn't want to win 
this, but I do want to show him I have power.> With a final punch, which 
Ranma jumped over Akane as a response, she sent her fist into the wall. 
Ranma tapped Akane on the back of her head.

Ranma started laughing, which Akane joined in.

<She's good. She seemed to be trying to push her body a lot faster than 
it would go though,> Ranma thought.

"You're great! I hope whoever my fiance is..." Akane began.

"Huh?" Ranma looked at Akane quizically.

"...can beat me."

Ranma wasn't sure how to respond to that so she left. <I wonder how 
she'll react when she finds out. How am I going to explain this?>

----------------------------

"Akane! Bath's ready!" Nabiki called.

"Thanks," Akane replied. She remembered Ranma would be in there now, 
debating if she should go in. He would get to see her nude, and better 
yet, she'd get to see him. Akane cut the line of thought, she'd be a 
hentai to do that. "I'll take it a little later."

"Suit yourself."

Akane went to her room and started to flip through Ranma's journal 
trying to find Ukyou's arrival. After a moment she was interrupted by 
Nabiki screaming, "Who the hell are you?!" Akane paled, hoping Nabiki 
didn't give Ranma a free show.

Akane ran downstairs, towards the bath. She was relieved to see Nabiki 
apparently saw Ranma walk out of the bath. Ranma was completely tongue 
tied.

Kasumi, Soun and Genma entered the hallway.

"I'm waiting... Who are you?" Nabiki demanded.

"I'm Saotome Ranma. Sorry `bout this." 

Kasumi stared at him in disbelief.

Nabiki replied, "No you're not. Ranma is a girl with red hair."

Soun interrupted, "Actually that is Ranma. He and his father will 
explain this."

----------------------------

It was now after sunset. Genma and Ranma repeated their story several 
times of how they became cursed.

Akane was quickly bored. She had heard and told the story hundreds of 
times. She rarely took her eyes off Ranma, though, he was quite 
attractive and she missed him.

Kasumi and Nabiki couldn't believe what they were being told, demanding 
they explain it again and again. When they had demonstrated how the 
curses worked, they thought the world had gone completely insane. 
Neither of them wanted to be engaged to Ranma.

Ranma noticed Akane's attention, and was nervous. She wasn't looking at 
him with fear and shock that Nabiki and Kasumi were giving. Akane was 
looking at him with what seemed to be understanding, caring, and longing 
all wrapped into one. It was the longing part of her gaze that made him 
more nervous than the gazes from Nabiki and Kasumi.

"The legendary ground of accursed springs. It's true horror has always 
been shrouded in mystery. But now..." Soun said.

"Whaddya mean 'true horror?'" Ranma interrupted, angrily. "Yo, old man. 
What's the idea draggin' me to a place like that, anyway?"

Genma responded with another Judo throw into the koi pond. "You sound 
like a woman! Were you not prepared to give your life for the sake of 
your training?"

"My life, yes," Ranma answered. "My manhood is another story!" Ranma 
dumped a bucket of water on his father and started fighting him.

"Oh, what a tragedy!" Soun cried.

"Stop that!" Kasumi demanded.

Akane kicked Genma into the pond. "How can you be that stupid?!" 

"He makes Kuno look intelligent," Nabiki said angrily.

"Why did you do something so dangerous?" Kasumi demanded.

Nabiki noticed a pamphlet on the ground and picked it up. "It's Chinese. 
A map... and a guide book? Something about 'training grounds.'"

"You can't read Chinese, can you?!" Kasumi asked.

"Correct," said a banner that came out of a confetti bomb held by Genma. 
Ranma punched him.

Soun used a teakettle to turn Genma back into human form. "So, when 
doused with hot water, you return to human form." 

"Well, it needn't be quite that hot," Genma commented.

"When doused with cold water you become a girl..." Soun pointed at 
Ranma, and then tried to pour the scolding hot water onto her, "...but 
hot water turns you back into a boy!"

"Hot water! Not Boiling!" Ranma corrected, dodging the water.

"No sweat. Your problem isn't so terrible after all," Soun said, patting 
Ranma on the back.

"Huh?" Ranma uttered. <Who is he kidding?>

"My daughter Kasumi, nineteen. And Nabiki, seventeen. And Akane, 
sixteen. Pick the one you want. She's your fiancee." 

"Oh, he wants Akane!" Kasumi suggested.

"Oh, definitely!" Nabiki confirmed.

"Wait! It is HIS decision!" Akane demanded.

Nabiki and Kasumi blinked.

"Well, Ranma, make your decision," Soun demanded.

"Do I have ta?" Ranma asked, very nervous.

"YES!" demanded Soun and Genma.

"None of them?" Ranma asked a little hopefully.

"That isn't an option, boy." Genma said flatly.

<Why did he have to make this concern family honor?> Ranma looked 
at her feet. "I-I-I... c-choose... A-A-Akane," she said meekly. 

Akane tried to repress her smile, but failed badly as it went from ear 
to ear.

"It's settled then. Akane is your fiancee," Soun said.

"Um, Akane, you don't mind? Do ya?" Ranma asked nervously.

"I don't like being forced into this, but it'll probably help with my 
boy problems. This might be a good thing for me," Akane answered, 
blushing DEEP red.

"What boy problems?" Ranma asked.

"Every morning, I have to fight all the guys at school who want to date 
me," Akane related.

"How many?"

"A couple dozen at least," Akane shrugged.

Ranma blinked. He didn't expect that many.

Kasumi breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't engaged to her. 

Nabiki spied Akane suspiciously. Akane hadn't reacted violently to 
getting engaged. She even appeared to like it. Something was wrong with 
this picture. The girl who hates boys was actually to be forced into an 
engagement with a half-girl freak. Was it because Akane is a lesbian and 
she could hide it with him? Nabiki didn't think so, but the evidence 
seemed to point towards it.

Soun was thankful that Akane seemed to accept her engagement already. He 
thought if Akane was chosen, it'd take years before she'd accept it.

Genma was happy. He was at his old friends house and given full ability 
to freeload.

Ranma was confused. His curse still fresh and uncertain in his mind, and 
now he was engaged to a girl he hardly knew. She was cute at least. He 
wanted to get cured, but family honor demanded he stay. Ranma didn't 
know what to think. Once again, she felt like her life was sent through 
a blender.

Akane was happy. Her Ranma was back, and this time she wouldn't make the 
same mistakes.


			-------------------------------
			    Chapter 3 - First Night
			-------------------------------


Akane sat in the bath, and she was extremely happy. She had Ranma back. 
To her, he died four weeks ago, but to everyone else he just arrived at 
the Tendo home. By some cosmic twist of fate a goddess gave Akane a 
wish, and she inadvertently wished for a second chance with Ranma. A 
wish which sent her two years back in time to the day she first met 
Ranma. She promised herself she wouldn't make the same mistakes this 
time around.

Akane smiled to herself, replaying the events of the day. She hadn't 
hit, insulted, or done anything which could be considered negative 
towards Ranma. Everything was going perfectly so far. She would be his 
friend, make him feel comfortable, make him feel at home, and hopefully 
he would fall in love with her. Simple plan, she just had to make sure 
why Ukyou didn't capture his heart using similar tactics.

----------------------------

Onna-Ranma was lost in thought. The day was really confusing for her. 
She didn't know what to make of it all. Just over two weeks ago she got 
cursed to turn into a girl with cold water, and today she got engage. 
<Akane seems nice, friendly, and cute. She also has some skill in 
martial arts. Why is she so accepting of the engagement? She said it 
would solve her excessive boy trouble, but being engaged means eventual 
marriage. Wouldn't that be a bigger problem? I'd rather be chased around 
by dozens of girls rather than get married before I'm ready, especially 
if I don't really know the person.> Ranma sighed. <I guess soaking in 
the bath might help me sort this out. At least it'll change me back into 
a guy.>

Ranma absentmindedly walked into the changing room. She quickly took off 
her clothes, and then opened the door to the bathing room.

Ranma's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she saw Akane stepping out 
of the bath. Ranma was frozen in shock.

Akane looked at Ranma. She didn't think he would accidentally walk in on 
her this time. <How could he do this? Couldn't he tell someone was in 
here? What was he thinking?>  Akane looked down. <Everything but what's 
he's doing.> She spotted the wash bucket. She grinned as she quickly 
picked it up. She then scooped up some bath water into it and splashed 
the red-head.

The splash of warm water woke up Ranma as he changed into a guy. 
"Whaddya do that for?"

"You've seen what I got, so it's only fair I see what you got," Akane 
said dryly.

"Oh, yeah." Ranma laughed nervously, blushing. "Sorry `bout walkin' in 
on ya."

"It's all right. You just weren't thinking about what you were doing as 
you've got too much on your mind. Considering the curse and all." Akane 
started to blush.

"Right," Ranma said. He then turned away and tried to cover his bleeding 
nose.

Seeing this, Akane grinned as she walked past Ranma and into the 
changing room. "One thing, Ranma, if you ever walk in on me again, I 
will pound you into the floor."

"Like you could do that?" Ranma laughed nervously.

Akane forcefully pushed Ranma into the bathing room. "You'd be 
surprised." She shut the door as he slid into the wall, painfully.

"Ouch," Ranma uttered. He shook his head as he sat down and started to 
clean himself. <Gee, she's strong. Well, I guess I had that coming.> He 
then thought of what he just saw. <Cute. Definitely cute. This might not 
be so bad after all. But, what gives Pop the right to force me to get 
engaged to a total stranger?>

----------------------------

It was after three in the morning and Akane couldn't sleep. She was so 
excited and happy, since everything was working out great so far. 

Akane found and read the journal entry for when Ukyou first showed up 
and a few following entries. Ranma did like Ukyou, but mentioned he had 
trouble seeing her as someone besides his best 'male,' childhood friend 
and he felt Akane's claim of being his fiancee was superior in terms of 
honor. Knowing Ranma, Akane thought this was his way of saying he liked 
her the best. Akane wondered what Ranma meant in one of those entries 
about her not being able to know of Ryoga's curse, like she didn't know 
of Ryoga's lack of direction curse.

Akane decided to get something to drink, and went downstairs to the 
kitchen. She was surprised to see Ranma there, sitting at the kitchen 
table. Apparently he was writing in his journal, and she really wanted 
to know what he wrote this time around.

"Hi, Ranma. Couldn't sleep either. Huh?" Akane greeted.

"You could say that," Ranma answered.

"Is that a journal?"

"Um, yeah."

"I keep one too." Akane went to the cabinet for a glass. "I bet your 
journal is different from mine though. I write down things about how 
things happen at school, who likes who, who hates who, and other 
personal kind of stuff. Where yours deals with places you've seen, 
martial arts techniques you've picked up, and all sorts of odd little 
adventures. Right?"

"Pretty much, but I do write some personal things in it though." Ranma 
folded his arms over his journal.

Akane open the refrigerator and poured herself some juice. "I write down 
some of my martial arts achievements in mine, so I guess they aren't so 
different."

"Guess not."

Akane sat down across from him. "Ranma, why don't we talk?"

"I thought that's what we're doin'"

"No, I mean talk about ourselves, so we can get to know each other."

"Why should we?"

"We're engaged." <Baka.>

"For how long? Ya don't know Pop like I do. He's a freeloader. How long 
do ya think it'll be before your old man throws us out?"

Akane smirked. "About two years, if we decide to break the engagement 
after we turn eighteen, assuming they let us do that. Daddy holds onto 
honor dearly. Nothing short of you becoming completely honorless will 
cause him to throw you out. And my father has been friends with yours 
for a long time, so he probably knows all about that."

"You're sure about that?"

"Positive. Face it, unless you decide to start killing people left and 
right, your have a home, here, for two years."

"A home?"

"Yeah, a home." Akane sighed. "Never stayed at a place long enough to 
call a home, did you?"

"Well, there were times we stayed at one place for a couple months at a 
stretch. About a year ago, I lived in a neighboring ward for over six 
months. It was the longest I've stayed at a place that I can remember."

"Hardly a way to have a childhood."

"It wasn't so bad. After all, I am one of the best martial artist in the 
country. How many sixteen year olds can say that?"

"You'd be surprised. Until today, I was the best martial artist in my 
school district. Which is an amazing feet considering one of my 
opponents is Kuno, a first dan of kendo."

"Oh, and how do you defeat him?"

"You mean besides being a dan in kempo and have some training other 
schools. He relies too much on form and rarely improvises. If he makes 
one move, nine out of ten times, he will follow it with the same move he 
followed it with last time. If you know his katas for kendo, you know 
exactly how he'll fight you."

"Predictability is a pretty big weakness."

"Certainly is. That's what's makes our schools of martial arts so 
dangerous, it attempts to teach improvisation. A skill which I still 
need to develop better, along with speed, as you pointed out today."

"Yeah, speed will defeat strength."

"Unless you're all speed and not enough power to actually hurt your 
opponent."

Ranma took her statement as a personal attack. "I'm strong enough."

"In your normal form, I believe so. But what about your girl form? How 
strong are you in that form?"

"Stronger than an average guy, I'd say."

"If you say so." Akane sighed. <He was never strong enough to hurt Ryoga 
in his girl form.> "What's it like being cursed?"

"It sucks," Ranma said firmly.

"Care to elaborate?"

"I turn into a girl with cold water, what more do ya want to know?"

"Well, how does it feel when you change?"

"I hardly feel the actual change unless I think about it, then it's like 
your entire body falls asleep like your foot would. It doesn't even last 
a second."

"Why don't you at least like your curse?"

"Why should I?"

"Well, you turn into a girl. It's like having your own secret identity. 
You can hide from someone who doesn't know about it in plain sight. You 
can experience things only girls are suppose to. And besides, it could 
be worse. You could have fallen into a pool where your curse form 
would've been worse, like say: duck, dog, panda, some hideous monster, 
cat, or some other less desirable forms."

Ranma shuddered slightly at Akane's last example. "Well, I can be 
thankful my curse form isn't really bad. But, I'm a guy. Do ya have any 
idea what it's like to be brought up a 'man amongst men' and then poof 
your manhood's gone?"

"No. Why don't you tell me?"

"Well, when I came out of the pool, I was deathly afraid I could never 
change back into a guy. I had breast and no... um... well ya know." 
Ranma blushed. "It sorta meant my life was over. All my training was 
done for nathin'"

"Just because your a girl doesn't mean you can't do martial arts."

"Sure it does. I'd have ta give it up as eventually as I'd be forced to 
be a housewife."

"I doubt you could really be forced into that, and in case you haven't 
noticed: I'm a girl, I know martial arts, and our fathers expect me to 
be your housewife."

"Well, ya don't know martial arts very well."

Akane glared at Ranma. "Just because you're faster doesn't mean I'm not 
skilled. I know I haven't hit my full potential yet, but I'll get there 
eventually."

"Sure, sometime after you're a hundred maybe."

Akane was ready to punch him until she remember what he wrote in his 
journal entry about pushing her away. "Ranma, I don't want to fight with 
you over my skills. It already hurts me that you're better than me. We 
should try to get along with each other. For at least the next two years, 
we are engaged and this is your home."

"Why are you so accepting of being engaged?"

"As I said, boy problems."

"I'd think being engaged is a bigger problem than having a bunch of boys 
chase after ya."

"In some ways it is, and other ways it isn't. There is no one I'm 
interested in at school, but they chase after me anyway. With you there 
I can at least stop some of them from chasing me. Also you are quite 
attractive, and well... I'm attracted to you." Akane finished with a 
blush.

"You hardly know me."

"I barely know most of the guys at my school, and I doubt they know 
anything about me. Attraction starts at the physical level, more 
develops as you learn about the person."

"Oh."

"Are you attracted to me?" Akane asked nervously, blushing

"Why would I be attracted to you?"

"It's just a question. You don't have to be so defensive. Can't you open 
up a little?"

"Why should I?"

Akane sighed. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. But please 
don't push me away. I can tell you need a friend right now. If you ever 
want to talk, I'll be there."

Ranma remained silent for a long moment. "What chances do ya think we'll 
end up married?"

"I don't know. If we do marry, I'd like it to happen because we love 
each other and not for family honor. But who knows, maybe when it comes 
to the time when we can break the engagement, we decide to walk down the 
isle. We have a long time before then, so anything could happen."

"I guess your right. You're sure your old man won't throw us out?"

"Yes." Akane nodded. "We should try to get some sleep. We have school 
tomorrow."

"School?" Ranma asked, surprised. It was the last thing he wanted to 
think about.

"Yeah, you know, the place with books and learning."

"Glad I don't have to go."

"Sure you will. You'll be here for a while. Also, you may have learned 
all about martial arts, but you'll probably need to learn how to 
socialize with people."

"How does school help with that?"

"Because you are forced into an area with others the same age as you, 
who are learning and maturing with you. By socializing with them, it'll 
help you later when you deal with people, like students you'll have when 
you start teaching martial arts."

"Never thought about that."

"There are a lot of things you never thought of because you've lived on 
the road. Just like I wouldn't think of certain things you would as I 
haven't lived life the way you have. Well, goodnight." Akane got up and 
started to walk out of the kitchen.

"More like good morning. See ya in a couple hours," Ranma smirked. He 
went back to writing in his journal after she left.

	Today Pop took me to his old friends house. That baka actually 
wants me to marry one of his old friend's daughters. 

	When forced, I chose Akane. She seems nice, friendly, cute, and has 
a great (nude) body. She has a barely controlled anger I saw pop up a 
couple times when I made a couple bad comments and when I accidentally 
seen her naked. Akane insists we should get to know each other and is 
trying to convince me this is my home for at least two years.

	That'd be nice, a home. To know I can come back to this place 
whenever I want. That I'll have food at meal times. That I never have to 
leave here. I doubt it though. Pop and me have never stayed anywhere for 
long.

	I don't want to get to know Akane. I might end up actually liking 
her, and then me and Pop will be forced to leave. I don't want to get 
hurt by leaving a friend again.

	I should try to get back to China and find a cure. But as Akane 
just said to me, 'anything could happen,' so I'll give it some time. Pop 
might actually care enough about family honor to stick this out. If we 
stay here long enough, I might actually decide to marry and settle down 
with her. Not likely, but there is a chance. I'll write down what I 
think of the Tendos later.



			--------------------------------
	          Chapter 4 - School is a Battle Field
			--------------------------------


Ranma sat with Genma in the dining room. The younger Saotome was a 
little nervous.

"Well, today you'll start school again," Genma said.

"I know. Akane mentioned it when I talked with her last night," Ranma 
replied.

"It's good to see you two are getting along so well."

"That's sorta what bothers me. What happens when we leave."

"Leave? We're not leaving."

"Eventually we will. When you decide we had enough of this place, or 
when Mr. Tendo gets upset at you and throws us out."

"Ranma, my boy, this is my retirement. There isn't much more I can teach 
you. It is now your duty to fulfill your family obligations and marry 
Akane. Besides, there is nothing I could possibly do that would cause my 
old friend to throw me out. Even in the unlikely possibility it happens, 
then you would still remain here."

"Ranma, ready to go to school?" Akane stepped into the room.

Ranma blinked, and blinked again. "Akane?"

"Yes," Akane said. She fingered her hair, her short hair. "Like my new 
look?"

"Um, yeah." Ranma smiled nervously. "I guess I'm ready to go."

Akane smiled, "Come on then. I'll walk with you there."

-------------------------------

Ranma and Akane walked to school. She was a little disappointed Ranma 
walked on the fence, as she had gotten use to him walking next to her in 
the months following the failed wedding.

"How come you're walking on the fence?" Akane asked.

"Training to maintain my balance," Ranma replied.

Akane shook her head. She believed he was trying to keep his distance 
from her. She thought for a while about how to convince him to walk next 
to her, and failed.

"Let me handle the boys at school. I could use the work out. You can 
deal with Kuno if you want," Akane said as they neared Furinkan High.

"The dan in kendo? How'll I know who's Kuno?"

"Trust me. You'll know who Kuno is." Akane smirked.

Ranma was surprised Akane wasn't exaggerating about her boy troubles. A 
quick count of three dozen would be suitors rushed out and attacked her. 
In just over a minute only Akane was standing.

"They're worse than I remember," Akane mumbled to herself.

Nabiki looked at Akane warily, noticing her new hair cut. Akane had been 
growing it long to outdo Kasumi, and she just had it cut short. Nabiki 
added this to her growing list of Akane's unusual behavior, along with 
the fact that she had just beaten her previous record of suitor stomping 
by almost a half a minute. 

Ranma was impressed. Akane may not be fast, but she was skilled.

"Truly such a boorish lot. Evidently each of them intends to ask you out 
Akane on the dawn that he finally defeats you," Kuno related.

"Good morning, sempai," Akane greeted dryly.

"And now Tendo Akane, might you fight with me?"

Ranma jumped next to Akane. "You really are popular."

"Didn't believe me?"

"I thought you were exaggerating."

"You there! You are being quite familiar with Akane."

"So?" Ranma returned.

"Kuno-sempai," Akane began. "This is Saotome Ranma. By family honor, he 
is now my fiance. I respectfully ask that..."

"FIANCE!!!!!" Kuno screamed.

Kuno was immediately run over by a horde of students swarming around 
Ranma and Akane.

"Fiance?!" "You said you despised men!" "How could you get engaged 
first!?" "How dare you get engaged to Akane?!"

Ranma, uncomfortable with the attention he was suddenly receiving, tried 
to escape. He only succeeded to jump out of the crowd as it started to 
rain.

The various students failed to notice him change to a girl as they ran 
into the school from the rain.

Akane shook her head, seeing Ranma change form and direction of retreat. 
She knew Ranma would be late for class. She wasn't surprised to see 
Genma-panda appear and chase after Ranma with a teakettle.

-------------------------------

Ranma and Akane stood in the hall, holding buckets filled with water. 
Their punishment for being late to class.

"Why do you have to fight them?" Ranma asked.

"Kuno's idea. He vowed to permit no one to date me unless the person has 
defeated me."

"Guess I got Kuno's permission to date you then," Ranma chuckled. "Um, 
why did ya come after me? You coulda just went to class."

"I don't know. It just seemed the right thing to do."

"Never, Saotome Ranma! I shall never accept you're engagement to Akane!" 
Kuno yelled.

Akane rolled her eyes.

"Our parents decided that!" Ranma retorted.

Kuno attacked, and with a mighty swing cut a bucket of water Ranma held 
into two. Ranma barely dodged the water.

"Stand your ground!" Kuno bellowed.

"This is no place to fight! Follow me!!!" Ranma yelled, running down the 
hall.

Kuno followed.

"Stop!" Akane yelled, but neither listened. She chased after them. She 
turned around and ran towards the stairs as she saw Ranma jump out a 
window. The one over the pool.

-------------------------------

"You should look before you leap," Akane greeted evenly. 

Ranma was squeezing water out of her pants while sitting in a tree. 
"Akane? What...?" she uttered.

"You should always find out what you're getting into before you act. If 
you just looked out the window for a second before jumping, you would  
have known about the pool."

"I didn't have time to check!"

"Excuses. Just try to remember to know what you're getting into before 
acting."

Ranma grumbled. "Do ya have some hot water?"

"You mean this?" Akane asked, showing the teakettle she was holding 
behind her back.

"Yeah, gimme." 

Their attention was drawn to a sloshing kind of sound. <There is my 
cue.> Akane grinned, remembering what she read in Ranma's journal 
concerning this moment. Ranma had really liked it that she would defend 
him despite appearances that she didn't like him. She meant to continue 
replaying certain events he had liked. "Catch," Akane called, throwing 
the kettle at Ranma.

Ranma caught it, but was slightly off balance.

"Kuno-sempai! I challenge you!"

"Akane, oh, Akane..." Kuno began. "Never did I dream that you would 
challenge me! So be it! If you win..."

"Kuno-sempai!" Akane interrupted. "If I win, you will leave me and Ranma 
alone, and if you win, you'll get a date. Agreed?"

"Oh, how the tigress calls her challenge. I shall indeed accept, full 
well knowing you shall intentionally lose." Kuno attacked swinging down 
with his bokken.

Ranma now balanced, poured the hot water on himself.

"Not in this lifetime." Akane caught the bokken in a ninja clap. She 
rolled onto her back, bringing Kuno with her. She then kicked Kuno into 
the tree, next to where Ranma was sitting.

"Ah, if it isn't the cowardly Saotome who runs from his fights," Kuno 
said. "No doubt you fear my prowess."

"Ya wanna fight Kuno, you got one," Ranma said, angrily. He jumped out 
of the tree.

Kuno pried himself out of the tree trunk, and landed facing Ranma. "I 
would fight you, but first I must complete my challenge from Tendo 
Akane."

"Ranma will take up my challenge as my fiance and champion," Akane said.

"Sure," Ranma said.

"As thy wishes. It will be my honor to vanquish this foe for you!"

The battle lasted less than a minute. When over, Kuno laid on the ground 
sucking dirt.

"Okay, let's go home," Ranma said to Akane.

Akane shrugged. Ranma couldn't really go back soaked, and it wasn't like 
she would miss anything she didn't already know.

Kuno continued to lay there in shock. He had lost. He had lost to a 
challenge that demanded he leave the one he loves alone. <How could I 
fail her so. It most pain her greatly to be trapped into that 
engagement. By honor, now I am bound to leave her be. How can I? I most 
free her!>

Kuno sloshed back towards class. Passing the pool, he wondered, <Who was 
the water sprite who flung me mightily from the pool with such vigor?>

-------------------------------

Soun sat, looking out the back of his home. He was thinking about 
everything and nothing.

Ranma sat down next to him. "So, you're an old friend of Pop's."

"Yes. We trained in martial arts together. Ah, what glorious adventure 
we had."

"How well do ya know Pop?"

"Like if he was a brother. Actually, I know him better than my brother."

"Do you really?"

"Of course."

"Do ya know of his... bad habits?"

"I know he is far from a perfect person. But we have been through much 
together. Not only do I respect him, but I also owe him my life."

"He saved your life?"

"In a manner of speaking. We both had a mutual problem, from which he 
came up with a novel solution to deal with." Soun looked at Ranma. "Why 
do you ask me about your father?"

"It's just that I've lived my life on the road. I've never lived at a 
place for longer than six months, but I'm being told now that I'll be 
here for two years if not for the rest of my life."

"Are you not weary of your long travels?"

"I am, but I wonder for how long? Can I really just settle down after 
living life the way I have?"

"Ranma, this is now your home. Undoubtedly, you will occasionally wonder 
on training trips as I have in the past. Unlike before, you will have a 
place to come back to when you're done. Besides, Akane would likely want 
to accompany you on those trips. This place is your home now, and you'll 
never have to leave it."

Genma walked into the room. "It is time for more training, boy."

-------------------------------

Akane sat at her desk, wanting Nabiki to leave so she could read more 
from Ranma's journal. Nabiki was exercising, and wanted to use the 
opportunity to talk with her sister.

"So, which form do you prefer?" Nabiki asked.

"What?" Akane asked, confused.

"Do you prefer Ranma as a guy or as a girl."

Akane's head smacked her desk when she face-faulted. "As a guy, of 
course. Why do you ask?"

Nabiki looked closely at Akane, if this was her sister, she didn't lie. 
"I was just wondering. Last Saturday you arrived at school screaming 
your battle cry of 'I hate boys.' Yesterday, you get put into an 
arranged marriage with a guy you don't know and you're happy about it. 
It doesn't make since unless it's because you're a lesbian, and that you 
could hide it with him because of his curse."

"I am not!" Akane screamed. "Can I help it if I'm attracted to someone 
who just happens to turn into a girl? I'd like it better if he wasn't 
cursed, but it could be worse. Is it really that bad if he's a she at 
times?"

"Not really, but it just seems odd. You haven't been acting like 
yourself since yesterday."

Akane knew this question would likely come up, and had planned her 
reply. "Well, two days ago, I made a wish to meet my true love. The next 
day, surprise here's a fiance. I didn't think wishing on a shooting star 
would work, but it was too much of a coincidence for me to ignore. So, 
I've decided to give it a chance."

"You should remember to be careful what you wish for. It often becomes 
twisted to whatever joke Kami-sama wants to play with you."

"I hope not," Akane whispered.

-------------------------------

Ranma stood outside Akane's door. He heard them talk about him. He was 
shocked at Nabiki's accusations Akane might prefer him to be a girl, but 
the incident in the bathing room dispelled that idea along with Akane's 
denial. He was a little unnerved that he seemed to fulfill Akane's wish. 
But, if she was willing to give it a chance, why can't he? 

Ranma knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"Hi," Ranma said nervously as he entered. "I just wanna say thanks for 
helpin' me at school today, and I was wondering if you... wanna... go 
out Saturday?"

Akane blinked. She stammered, "S-sure. I'd love to." She didn't know 
what to make of it, she never had an official date with Ranma before. 
Here he was now, only knowing her for two days, asking her out.

"Great. Um, I guess I'll let you two go back to whatever you were 
doin'."

Akane looked down at her desk. She was worried. <Why would he ask me out 
on a date this time? Why had he never asked me out before? I guess it 
could be because of the others getting in the way. But, what if my 
actions change this Ranma to someone so different, I don't love him? No! 
It's still Ranma, and I can help make him the person I wanted him to be. 
But what if the person I want him to be isn't the one I love?>

Nabiki waved her hand in Akane's face. "Hey, what's wrong? I thought 
you'd be happy to have a date with him."

Akane looked at Nabiki nervously. "I-it's just that... well... I am 
happy... but I guess it just hit me... that I really might marry him." 
Akane sighed. "I'm only ei... er, sixteen... and I'm engaged. It's just 
a little scary, having a look into your future, unsure if you'll like 
the outcome. I hope things work out great. Possibly being able to marry 
not just for honor, but for love. I just got a little scared when I 
realized we might get married, and not be in love."

"That is a risk you're going to have to take in any marriage. Arranged 
or not."

-------------------------------

Ranma smiled as he leaned against the Akane's door. He didn't really 
smile because she accepted to go on a date with him. He was smiling as 
he had listened in again, hearing that Akane now realized what being 
engaged really meant. 

Ranma left, deciding to go outside and stare into the night's sky to 
sort out his thoughts.

-------------------------------

Akane sat in bed, reading Ranma's journal. She had read a couple weeks 
of entries starting from when he arrived. She read one paragraph. Not 
believing it, she read it again. She dropped the journal in shock.

-------------------------------

Ranma was laying on the roof, watching the night sky. He was shocked and 
his senses became alert as he heard Akane scream, "I'LL KILL HIM!!!" He 
didn't who 'him' was, or what brought on the outburst. <I hope she 
doesn't mean me.>

---------------------

Author's Notes:

You may have noticed that Happosai's death scene has changed, but I have
recieved one request to change it back to the original and two replies
saying they liked the change. I would like to know if I should go with:

A) The more realistic perfect anger chi blast at closer then point blank
	range.
B) Where Happosai dies a cruel and savage death from highly manipulated
	chi attack (which maybe beyond Akane's abilities).


			 / LORD ARCHIVE \
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* The JAFO otaku.    *        A Knight of The True Fiancee, Akane.     *
* Slave of GRAAC     *     Addiction, The Footman of the Appocalypse.  *
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*      Web Page: http://www.mich.com/~archive - Ranma fan-fiction      * 
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