This formatting is on a wing and a prayer, but it should be wrapped at
72 characters.

Please let me know what you think, I'm still not sure if I like my Akane
in this chapter or not. Too much cute, not enough mallet?

Ranma 1/2 By Rumiko Takahashi
Oh My Goddess! By Kosuke Fujishima

By Steve Pardue <spardue@zebra.net>
http://www.zebra.net/~spardue/anime

Scream! Chapter 3 -- Scream at Your Baka!

Akane stood on the porch of the cottage, watching the petit redhead as
she bounced through the surf, then bundled up in a towel on the beach
chair. A frown crossed her face as she took another sip of her tea and
pulled the blanket around her shoulders tighter to ward off the breeze.
The sun had finally risen above the surface of the ocean, and Akane was
looking forward to the warmth of the day.

She'd thought that she and Ranma were finally going to be able to
resolve some of the issues between them this week, and at first things
had seemed to be going well. Away from the distractions of Nerima and
fianc�es, her relationship with Ranma had blossomed. But, as usual, if
it wasn't one thing it was another. Ranma's stupid curse had decided to
interfere, once again. Akane frowned. She wasn't going to let it stop
her this time. She wasn't going to let Ranma get distracted and run off
after a cure again, not until she was satisfied that their relationship
was on solid ground -- even if it meant that the baka had to stay a girl
for a while.

Besides, Ranma had been a girl all week and hadn't seemed to mind. A
little while longer wouldn't hurt.  Where were they supposed to find the
cure? No matter what Ranma claimed, Akane didn't believe that the 'ice
cream' did it. No, whoever was after her fiancee would inevitably have
to show up and demand a fight, or a marriage, or kidnap her. It wasn't
like they could fix the problem before then. So she'd just go talk to
Ranma and try to help her get through this.

Stepping inside the kitchen she picked up the steaming kettle on the
stove and poured a generous amount of hot water into the teapot she had
prepared. It had been a major accomplishment in her life, to be able to
make an acceptable pot of tea, and she harbored great hopes that one day
she would be able to cook a decent meal. Gathering up an extra cup, she
went back out onto the porch and walked barefoot down the beach to where
Ranma was curled up on the beach chair.

The chair was wide and long, composed of thin wooden slats and a heavy
canvas back. Ranma had curled up on her side, the towel wrapped around
and over her, so that she was completely hidden. Akane paused beside the
chair, waiting for Ranma to say something, but the smaller girl remained
quiet.

"Good morning, Ranma." Akane began, trying to sound cheerful. Akane
could see the body under the towel twisting, pulling it tighter against
the girl. The only sound she heard was a small grunt. Frowning, she
nudged the body with one foot.

"Scoot over so I can sit down." This time she could hear some sort of
mumbled response.

"What was that, Ranma? I couldn't hear you." She could see a small
twitch under the towel, and a flap hanging over what she assumed was
Ranma's head flipped back.

"I said, go away you uncute, unsexy, tomboy!" The towel flap twitched
again, covering the small hole it had revealed.

Akane counted to twenty, slowly, as she sat her cup on a rock next to
the chair and carefully poured another cup of tea. She leaned over the
slumping figure and held the cup down, where the steam could rise under
the flap of the towel. "I brought you some tea, Ranma."

The towel twitched again, and after a slight pause a small hand came out
from underneath the towel and took the cup. It retreated slowly back
into its hole, and after several seconds Akane could hear a mumbled
thank you.

She refilled her own cup and carefully sat on the chair, giving Ranma a
few moments to realize that she wasn't going away. Then she raised her
legs and laid them along the length of the chair and scooted over a
little, forcing Ranma to give ground as she made herself comfortable.
Finally she took the blanket she had brought and cast it out so that it
covered both of them. For several minutes she said nothing as she
watched the sun climb slowly into the sky. The first boat sails appeared
on the horizon, driven by the stiff breeze which still blew along the
beach.

After a while she could feel Ranma squirm again, but Akane still
couldn't see anything of the girl. Ranma had managed to curl herself
into an even tighter ball, but she was now pressed against Akane.
Carefully, Akane lifted her right arm and let it fall across the top of
the bundle next to her. Her hand rested along Ranma's back she could
feel it stiffening, and then, suddenly, Ranma relaxed against her.

Akane smiled at the warm feeling of Ranma's body next to her own
spreading across her, making her almost uncomfortably warm. She could
hear soft noises coming from under the towel that sounded suspiciously
like sniffling, but when she tried to raise one flap of the towel a hand
darted out from underneath the towel and slapped hers away before
grasping the loose flap and holding it down tightly.

With a small grin on her face, Akane gently rubbed Ranma's back in
small, soothing circles, until the strange noises stopped. The hand
holding the flap loosened its grip and pushed back the corner slightly.
She still couldn't see Ranma's face, but the sun now cast a ray of light
inside the towel revealing Ranma's neck and knee. Slowly the knee
disappeared, and Akane could feel Ranma's legs straitening out along her
own, until finally the smaller girl had completely uncurled. An empty
cup was tossed off the chair, and then Ranma, her face still covered in
the towel, pressed the top of her head against Akane's side.

Akane continued to stroke Ranma's back, as she spoke to her. "Are you
feeling better? We have a long day ahead of us. There's a temple up in
the mountains I want to go see. Mother used to take us there when we
came to the beach." Akane tucked her hand under the blanket again. "I
want to take you before we leave."

Ranma spoke, sounding slightly offended.  "Don't you want to find a cure
before we go wandering off all over the place?"

"Isn't that what you usually do anyway?"

"Of course not! I always know exactly what I'm doing!"

Akane smiled. "And what exactly are you going to do about it this time?
Was it Cologne? A jilted lover? It wasn't the ice cream, you know. Who
are you going to fight?"

Ranma remained silent.

"Come on, Ranma," Akane wheedled, "I want you to go to the temple with
me."

The body next to her shifted again and she felt fingers brush along her
hand. She grabbed the questing hand and held it tightly. At first it
tried to pull away, but then it relaxed, and gripped hers back.

"Akane? Why... why are you acting like this?"

Akane gave the shrouded head next to her a puzzled look. "What do you
mean? What do you think I'm acting like?"

"Why are you being so nice?"

Akane resisted the impulse to slap the head she knew was hiding under
the towel next to her. Now was not the time. Later. Definitely later.
"I've always been nice."

"Ha!"

"Ranma, I'm not acting any differently now than I do at home!"

"Then why haven't you hit me yet?"

"Why haven't you insulted me yet?"

"Hey! You hit me all the time, not just when I insult you!"

"For one thing, I haven't seen you hugging Shampoo or buttering up Ukyo
recently."

At this Ranma poked her head out from under the towel. Her eyes were
slightly red, and loose strands of her crimson hair blew in the breeze
where they had been pulled out of her pigtail. "I've never hugged
Shampoo or buttered up Ukyo!"

Akane stared at Ranma until the smaller girl blushed and pulled the
towel back over her head. She heard a muffled word, and although she
couldn't make it out she was pretty sure she knew what it was. She
lightly slapped the sulking form on the back of its head.

Ranma whipped the towel off again and pointed an accusing finger at
Akane. "See! You just hit me!"

Akane stuck her tongue out at the girl. "You just called me a tomboy."

"You didn't hit me when I called you an unsexy tomboy a few minutes
ago!"

"You didn't mean it then."

Ranma pulled her legs up and crossed them, hugging her knees to her
chest and staring at the boats in the distance. "I hate it when you're
like this."

"Like what? Nice?"

"Yep. Can't do anything to you when you're being that cute."

Akane blushed at Ranma's statement. She never thought that she'd get the
chance to have this sort of relationship with her fiancee. A smile crept
across her face again. She just couldn't seem to keep from smiling this
week. Even with Ranma stuck as a girl this had been one of the best
week's they'd had together. Mischievously she let her hand creep out of
the blanket until it rested gently against the side of Ranma's leg. They
sat in silence for several minutes.

Ranma traced a finger along her leg until she reached Akane's hand. Then
she glanced back at Akane. "Doesn't this bother you? Touching a girl?"

"I didn't think you were a girl. Have you changed your mind?" Ranma
turned her face away without answering.

When she didn't hear an answer Akane reached up and gently turned
Ranma's face towards her. She could see traces of tears around the
redhead's tightly closed eyes.

"What's wrong Ranma? You've been trapped as a girl before and you've
never acted like this."

"I... I don't think this is like the other times. I mean, I didn't do
anything!" Ranma's voice cracked as she spoke. Akane placed her hand
back on the other girl's leg, squeezing it softly.

Akane frowned. "Come on, Ranma. There has to be something, somebody, who
did this?"

 "There isn't! I didn't do anything to anybody!" Ranma's eyes
desperately sought Akane's as she continued. "I haven't even seen
anybody I know all week."

 "You said it was last night that you found out? So it must have
happened yesterday. What did you do yesterday?"

 Ranma hung her head. "I... last night... I don't know. I... I haven't
tried to change back all week."

 Akane looked at the girl beside her, who was staring out at the ocean
again. "All week? You went all week as a girl and never tried to change
back before last night?"

 "Yeah, well, we're at the beach ain't we? Why change back if I'm just
going to get wet again?"

 "That never stopped you before." Akane looked at the girl worriedly.
Maybe this was different than all of the other times Ranma had been
trapped as a girl.

 Ranma continued to stare at the ocean, ignoring her fiancee.

 "Ranma, why didn't you want to change? You can tell me. I'm not going
to hit you, you know." She reached up and tried to turn the girl to face
her. With a quick jerk Ranma pulled her hand away.  Then she twisted to
face Akane.

 "I didn't want to spoil it, okay?!" The outburst surprised Akane.
"Everything was going so well. I was having a good time, and... and the
two of us... I wouldn't have found out at all if  Pop hadn't spilled his
tea on me last night."

 Akane reached out and touched Ranma's face. "All week. Ranma, you know
you didn't have to do that."

 "Then why didn't you say anything?" Ranma's face turned dark. "You like
me better as a girl don't you? Well?"

 Akane pulled her hand back from Ranma's, and looked at the other girl.
The conversation had turned serious, and she didn't want to start a
fight. "I do like you as a girl, Ranma, but not anymore than I like you
as a boy."

 The redhead kicked the blanket off her legs and jumped up. Turning to
face Akane, she waved her hands wildly as she spoke. "So that's it? Is
that why you don't want me to find a cure? You like me as much when I'm
a girl as when I'm a boy, and you figure if I'm stuck this way the
others will give up and you can have me and it'll be just fine that I'm
stuck this way forever?"

 Akane's slap caught Ranma off guard, and the redhead held a hand to her
cheek as she stared at Akane, who was now standing in front of her.
"What is wrong with you Ranma?! I didn't say that. I didn't mean that. I
like you -- boy or girl!"

 Ranma's shoulders slumped and the anger drained out of her. Wearily she
sat down on the chair again. Akane sat next to her and took her hand.

 "I just don't know, Akane. This time, there's just no reason for it
this time. I think... I think it's the curse. Maybe it's how I feel
about being a girl, or maybe it just happens to everyone cursed at
Jusenkyo. One day -- Poof!" Ranma flung her hands wide in front of her.
"You're stuck in your cursed form forever."

 "Your father, Mousse and Shampoo haven't had any problems, Ranma. I
don't think its that."

 "They turn into animals. Maybe it only affects people who turn into
other people."

 "Maybe, but this is you we're talking about. Ranma Saotome, the
weirdness magnet." She poked Ranma in the ribs a couple of times. She
could see her fiancee trying to fight back a smile. Akane poked her
again. "We'll find a solution. We always do."

 Ranma took her hand and looked into her face. When their eyes met Akane
could feel the same connection she had glimpsed that night on the
swings, and she smiled again. She knew how it affected Ranma.

 Akane stood, and gathered up the blanket. "Ready to go to the temple?
It's a long walk, we'll have plenty of time to figure out what to do
about this little problem of yours."

 Ranma nodded, stood, and together she and Akane walked back towards the
cottage, pointedly ignoring Soun and the panda, who were bawling onto
each other's shoulders, and Nabiki, who was walking alongside them
filming their procession with a camcorder. All in all, the start of
another typical day.

Later...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Steve Pardue
spardue@zebra.net
http://www.zebra.net/~spardue/anime