The following contains situations of semi-waff. Viewer's antacids advised.

++++++++++++++++++++

    Shampoo looked down at the bound, gagged, chained, handcuffed, caged duck, satisfied that he wouldn't be out to ruin her evening. She simply couldn't allow it. There would be no potions, no rivals, nothing but her and her beloved out on a wonderful evening. She finished applying some perfume she had bought for just such an occasion, and bounced out into the dining area. What was waiting for her caused her breath to catch in her throat.
    Ranma was waiting for her, and he was dressed to kill. She frowned a little, thinking of the women who might turn around and try to hit on him. That just meant that she would have to spend some time discouraging those same ladies, which didn't paint a lovely picture.
    She put those thoughts on hold and walked up to her date, trembling somewhat nervously. She was under no delusion of how big of a chance this might be, and the last thing Shampoo wanted was to see the night die before being born because of something that set him off. So as much as she wanted to, she'd have to restrain herself and hold back, as to not discomfort him.
    That was what was in mind as she walked up to him, and gave him a hug. No grope, no glomp, just a plain, friendly hug.
    Ranma looked down at her in confusion. She looked nice, just like Shampoo would look, but Shampoo would never just hug him.  Was this some sort of trick? He sighed, anticipating the craziness for the evening.
    "Ranma look very handsome this evening."
    "Thank you," he said politely, bowing.
    "Well son-in-law, I expect you to behave like a gentlemen, and return my granddaughter in one piece, okay?" Cologne pogoed from the kitchen, a list in her hand, and a smile on her face, something rare indeed from her.
    "Sure Cologne-san." Ranma led Shampoo out the door, and into the night, leaving behind a very curious Amazon.

*****************************

    It was everything Shampoo dreamed. She didn't dream of dates much since that kind of thing didn't go on in the village, but she had heard from these girls about what to expect from a date at the diner, and it was everything and more. First he took her for a movie, let her pick the film, bought her popcorn, and didn't seemed annoyed from her hugging close to him, not even once.
    Then it was dinner. Not a fancy place, but pleasant place, with nice music, and great food, though her cooking was better, but that was stating the obvious. He had behaved himself, taking a much more restrained pace of eating, and even making some small talk. Not much, but more than enough for her.
    It was turning out to be the best night of her life. Currently they were in the park, and she was latched to his arm, enjoying his closeness and warmth.
    Ranma, on the other hand, was feeling more down by the moment. He could not get Akane's words off of his mind, and it basically had distracted him the entire night. He didn't eat much, nor did he complain about the rather sappy movie he endured, he simply drew away more with each passing minute, trying to figure out why she had reacted like that.
    He was also troubled by the nagging feeling that they were not alone, nor had they been attacked the entire night. This was just not his day.
    At a bench a good distance away, Akane watched in restrained fury. He had treated her to everything and a house to boot! That Casanova, this was just another conquest for him, just another heart to break. Not that she was a victim, she added with an firm nod. Not at all; she had freed herself from his wily ways, and now he was going to answer for his actions.
    Passing a fountain, rather, passing the fountain at a two meter distance, Shampoo's danger sense kicked in. She looked up at Ranma, who seemed to sense it as well. So much for her wonderful evening.
    The couple jumped in opposite directions in time enough to avoid the umbrella that had paved itself into the ground where they had stood only moments ago. The owner of the parasol, Ryouga, paid no attention to the missed attempt, instead going straight after the hardly surprised pigtailed martial artist.
    No words were exchanged as the two faced off. No cries of vengeance or divine punishment. Or maybe Ranma chose to drown out Ryouga's accusations being flung at him. One could explain this by having noted that Ranma had indeed reached his limit of things to handle today. What he craved almost as bad as an explanation to Akane's behavior was somewhere to vent, or something to vent on. [I've really got to thank him later on being such a good friend,] he thought with a grim smile.
    On the other side of the fight, Ryouga was now furious. He had just exposed Ranma for all he truly was, a lowly worm with no better goal in life than to hurt those closest to him, especially someone as dear and sweet as Akane, and all he could do was grin? Ryouga silently
vowed that he would make sure that the arrogant little fighter would
never be able to smile normally again.
    With a cry for Ranma's blood, the lost boy leapt forward, aiming a leaping kick for Saotome's head, and as soon as he landed, following up with a leg sweep and roundhouse. Ranma flipped away, and the two came together, trading furious blows for dodges, and then counterattacks. Ryouga landed a punch, sending his more agile opponent sprawling. Ranma quickly recovered, and kicked the lost boy in the stomach, jabbed him in the face, and using his head as leverage, leapt over him to land on the fountain edge in what seemed was one fluent movement.
    Ryouga shook off the tingling in his head, and was about to charge again when he took notice of not Ranma's position in front of him, but the glowing red aura out of his eye. He turned around, and received a bonbori in the head for his trouble.
    Shampoo was beyond upset. Why must everyone in this insane
town insist on interfering with what she wanted? Was a nice, quiet date with Ranma too much to ask of the gods?
    Well, a date she was going to get, even if she had to take it out of the lost boy's hide. She drove forward, and smashed a dazed Ryouga over the head with her other bonbori, and punted him from the scene in one swift kick.
    "Stupid pig-boy. Why always show up at inconvenient times?"
    Ranma looked in the direction that Ryouga had been kicked to, and shook his head sadly. Of course he didn't feel too bad for him, especially since he did have other things on his mind, but that was definitely going to hurt in the morning.
    "I'd say I didn't think he'd show up, but with the way my day's been going, I kinda expected it."
    Shampoo pulled up to his side, intent on savaging whatever was left of the mood they had lost to their interruption. "No matter airen, we just go grab snack to make up?"
    Ranma frowned, but gave no real objection to her extension of the evening.

*****************************

    They arrived an hour later at the closed doors to the Nekohanten restaurant. Shampoo was rather pleased with the way the evening went, despite the sour turn it had taken for a brief moment. She was actually shocked that others had not joined in on the fiasco, as was usually wont to happen. The fact that she wasn't going to spend about an hour or so refurbishing tattered clothing seemed a bit awkward to her.
    She looked at Ranma, wondering what was to happen next. Was he going to kiss her good evening? Was he going to come in? Why was she even wasting her time asking silly questions when she was supposed to initiate things anyway?
    That thought in mind, she turned to face him, a sly smile on her face. "Was nice evening."
    "Yeah," Ranma responded distractedly. Well, there was a way to handle that.
    "We should do so more often, yes?" She asked. "Airen find out he have fun time if stick around Shampoo more often." With that, she kissed him, a light touch of the lips that widened his eyes slightly, and then stepped into her door, blushing and grinning.
    Ranma only looked at where Shampoo had made her abrupt exit, his emotions running wild. It was a nice feeling, nothing too spectacular, but he was too distraught to truly enjoy it. He had set out this evening to do just that, and he only succeeded where he and Ryouga had come into conflict.
    Sighing, Ranma started walking, letting the realizations start to hit home. He had started running from the problem the moment that the Amazon had offered the opportunity by asking for the date. Escape by distraction did not one single thing to aid or heal his aching heart, and he had to admit that to himself now. He had lost something dear to him, and he couldn't get it back. The near future didn't look to bright for him. If only she hadn't jumped to so many conclusions...
    But that was just it. She had always jumped to conclusions when it mattered most to him. It didn't matter now; she expressed that she never wanted to see him again, so he was going to be respectful of her wishes.
    That thought in mind, he looked up from where he was, about several blocks away from the Nekohanten, turned to face an alley and called in. "Alright, you can come out now."
    Receiving no response, he spoke once more. "Look, I already know you've been tailing me all night. Makes no sense to just stay there so you can grill me back at your pops place, so go ahead and get it out of the way."
    It was a moment longer, then Akane stepped out and away from the shadow's supposed protection. Her face was a bit worn, as if she had been crying, and her eyes were clouded with a thick torrent of emotions. "So did you enjoy your little romp?" She said to him icily.
    He thought to retort, but sighed. "Do you even care?"
    Akane glared at him. "Of course not. Why should I care for lying, backstabbing freeloaders and what they do to break promises?"
    Ranma continued to look at her, and she did not let up. "But you've got me curious Ranma. Why just go home when you have your bimbo to comfort you? You could just hole up there, and have something else to talk about at school in the morning."
    "Believe what you want, it doesn't matter anymore. If that's what you want, then I'll just not go back to the Dojo." He turned and hopped on a roof, and then was gone, leaving Akane to fume and wonder.

*****************************

  She could say she had just beaten him home, but that would imply that he had walked into the door at least moments ago, when in truth it had been an hour since their last, brief squabble, and he had yet to return. The others had tried to question her, but she had staved that off by stomping straight into her room, only waiting for telltale signs that the baka had decided to show himself afterall.
    At current, her heart was filling more and more with an uncertainty that was scaring her more than anything. It was not the where's that were running though her mind, but the why's. She found herself thinking more and more on why he would act in such a new manner toward her, and the conclusions she reached were not doing much for her happiness.
    Before, he was a brash, abrasive personality with excelled martial art abilities. He was short and to the point, often putting the point right back into his mouth through some means. He was loyal as well, especially when she didn't want him to be, and highly honorable, even to his Art. Those rough qualities gave her some awkward point of security, and  despite his lifestyle around her, stability.
    Now, he seemed like everyone else who had taken interest in her, and that scared her to a point she dared not imagine. He never seemed that type, the noble samurai that thought women should have their one place nursing a household, even with his personality quirks that he possessed, and still did not. But the fact remained was that those qualities were summed up in what he had asked her the previous evening.
    And that was the worst of all. She still felt for him, and was considering giving into that request. The thought admitted that she just actually might love him, to be willing to do such a thing.
    A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.  "Akane? Do you want to take your bath now?"
    Akane sighed. "Kasumi, could I ask you something?"
    The door opened, and Kasumi's warm face appeared. "What is it Akane?"
    Akane almost fell into herself with anxiety, but willed it away. She had to make some sort of sense out of what she was feeling; who else could she trust to give a decent answer?
    "If you feel deeply for someone, but they want you to do something that goes against..." She trailed off, unsure and uncomfortable in how to continue.
    "Is something wrong Akane? Did you and Ranma fight again?"
    That seemed to be enough for her to push it all out. "He wanted to do something to me, something I don't like, and I got mad and sent him off. Then he started rumors about me at school, and then took that floozy on a date like I don't even matter to him."
    Kasumi, who had closed the door before the sudden outburst, sat by her younger sister on the bed as she continued. "Now I'm getting angry and confused. I'm beginning to have second thoughts about what he wants me to do. I just don't know..."
    Kasumi looked at her sister in puzzlement. "What does he want you to do?"
    Akane looked at her feet, a bright blush meeting her angry face.
    "Oh my..." Kasumi said, meaning finally dawning on her. "Are you sure Akane?"
    "Of course. He wanted me to have his child. That's what he said." Her eyes misted. "I should've known he couldn't be any different, that jerk!"
    "Akane," the eldest Tendo put a hand to her shoulder. "Perhaps you haven't thought this all the way through?"
    Akane switched from anger to shock in an instant. She looked into her sister's eyes, finding a hint of mirth dancing in them. "Neechan? You can't be serious!"
    "I don't think that Ranma-kun would be that uncaring of you, even if it might seem so. It depends on what you feel, mostly."
    Akane's confusion took reign again as Kasumi continued. "How do you feel about Ranma? Honestly?"
    Akane's blush returned, but she spoke not a word. Kasumi only nodded, seemingly satisfied enough with her reaction. "I think it would be best to talk to him Akane-chan. This is putting you both through a lot of pain, and I'm sure things will turn out for the best if you let him know how you feel."
    Kasumi gave her sister a hug, and got up to leave. "Think about that, okay?"
    Akane nodded, and turned her eyes back to the floor, anxiety catching in her throat.
    "Kasumi?"
    Kasumi turned around. "Yes?"
    "Could you... could you ask Ranma to come see me when he comes in?"
    "Of course Akane-chan."
    Kasumi was then out the door, and Akane gathered her toiletries, and headed to her bath, her thoughts uncertain.

*****************************

    It was an hour later that Ranma did return from his aimless wandering of Nerima's streets, broken and unsure. The damp air had given his shirt rights to cling to his skin, and his face was even more mournful than before. He paid no head for the remainder of the waking world about him, but made a straight line for his room.
    Saotome-san was already fast asleep, which left Ranma with a scant moment of privacy. All that was necessary all things considered; time enough for him to pack a couple of things and then take off without bothering anyone else. He had plans to rough it for the evening, and then see what his remaining options were in the morn, maybe come back to see the old man while he was at it. His intent was to get away from things for a moment, and allow himself time enough to sort things through. It was the only thing he could do for the moment.
    He hefted his pack of survival things, and made his way out the room. He closed the door behind him, and walked to the stairs.
    "Ranma-kun?"
    [Damnit, should've took the window.]
    Caught, Ranma turned to face Kasumi, still taking care of some minor laundry. Her expression turned concerned as she eyed the backpack. "Where are you going?"
    "Just away for a while Kasumi. I need to think about some things, and I can do that better without seeing some faces around here."
    Akane's unspoken name hung to the sentence, and both of them knew it. It was disheartening that the two had seemed so tragically wounded by one another, and over something seemingly simple. But Kasumi had faith that they would make it through the ordeal, if only they would just talk. That seemed the best choice.
    "Ranma-kun, Akane said she wanted to talk to you when you came in. Won't you see her before you go?"
    Ranma visibly slumped, and turn to look at Akane's door. She had expressed that she didn't want to speak to him; was she just going to take another whack at him before he left? "Kasumi, I don't think I want to see her, not now."
    "At the least, allow me to fix a couple of things for your training trip. That is what your going to do, right?"
    Ranma fidgeted. "Yeah, I am but..." He looked into the older girl's eyes, and flinched. She was worried about him, that much he knew. But there seemed to be a fear in her eyes that didn't bode well with him.
    "Alright, but please be quick about it, okay?"
    She smiled at him, and went to the stairs. "Of course Ranma-kun. I'll just prepare some small snack packages to tide you over for a few days, and then you can go." She was then downstairs, hopping for the best of the delay he had taken.
    Ranma sat at the top of the stairs, his stomach rumbling. That did sounds like a good idea, having Kasumi's snacks along for the ride. His own cooking wasn't so bad, but few could actually top Kasumi's culinary treats, even her trail mixes. It was something to look forward to-
    "Ranma?"
    He shuddered inwardly. Maybe if he didn't answer, she would believe he wasn't there?
    "Look, I want to talk to you. Just come in, please?"
    There was something in her voice that disturbed the young Saotome greatly. He looked upon the door once more, unsure of what to do. He didn't want to hurt anymore, she'd done enough of that. At the same time, there was still the part of him that truly believed that there could be something done about the situation, that there was something to hope for. He didn't want to give up on her, he had come too far to do that.
    Tired and wary, Ranma stepped into the room.
    Akane was sitting on her bed, Indian style, an unreadable expression on her face. She was in her pajamas, with her hands resting in her lap. It was more or less the position that she had sat in the day previous, when this had all started.
    They stayed in silence for a moment, content and wary in the darkness of the room, the only hint of anything moving was the low tones of breathing taking place. Finally, the silence broke with Ranma, who turned to go.
    "Well, if you didn't want anything, I'll be on my way." He said icily.
    Had he been turned around, he'd have seen her shudder. "Ranma, wait. Where are you going?"
    Ranma let his face freeze in a cool look, betraying the swirl of emotions from within. "Training. Dunno when I'll be back."
    "But..." She stopped, and swallowed. "You'll just leave, just like that?"
    "Why not? No one here to stop me, and no one here that wants me around anyway." Ranma huffed, turning his head to the side.
    "You so sure aren't you?" She snapped in reply, not stopping her anger from boiling. "You're just gonna waltz out of here without even saying goodbye, or anything else. You don't even care?"
    He met her stare with an icy one. "Why should I? You don't, so it's a waste of time for me to try."
    "Damnit Ranma, you said you did care; that's the whole problem. You said you cared, and you went and tried to claim me, like I'm some simple prize!" Akane's eyes misted over, but she ignored them, too hurt to let anything else stop her. "And then you went and lied on me, and just left me while you tended to your harem!"
    Ranma's looked at her in disbelief. "Lied? How did I lie? Everything I said to you was absolutely true! All I was trying to do was show you that I cared, that I wanted to be around you. I didn't lie about that in the slightest!"
    "Then what about the campus rumors, huh?" She accused. "What about Shampoo then? You just wanted one last fling, is that it?"
    Ranma scowled. "You're impossible. I don't care about Shampoo, and I don't know anything about how that stupid lie got around Furinkan. I..." He stopped, simply taking a long look at her, his breathing labored. She was doing it again, making him crazy over things that weren't even his doing. Not trusting, not caring. Well, that was enough of that.
    "Look, it's obvious nothing I can say or do can make you happy in the least, so I'm just leaving, okay? Can you let me do that?"
    [Go ahead, run away then.] The words were on her lips, and almost out her mouth. Almost. How sweet they would be, but it wasn't what she wanted. She wanted him, and she wasn't getting across to him. Something had to give, or she was going morn for it the rest of her days.
    "Ranma, wait."
    He turned back to look at her, and she flinched again. It was the second time she'd seen such scorn within his eyes, and it was fast becoming her least favorite thing to see. To know that she was the source of that scorn, that new hatred, burned her even worse than anything else.
    "... Come over here. Sit down."
    Ranma eyed her, wondering what she was planning. He crossed the path in the dark, moonlit room to her bed, stopping right in front of her. He noticed for the first time the tears in her eyes, but turned a stone shoulder to them. He wouldn't be moved anymore, nor be hurt again. She had only so long to say something, then he would be gone, and they could both get on with their lives.
    He watched her uncurl from her position on the bed, standing up to meet him, staring him in the eye, as if searching for something. Then she wrapped her arms around his waste, sobbing into his shoulder.
    It took him by some surprise, and he struggled to maintain his stiff posture. She wouldn't get to him. He didn't care anymore if she cried, kicked, or screamed. What she did to him was something nobody should be put through.
    [So then why,] some small part of his brain asked him. [are you putting 'her' though that same pain?]
    "You jerk." It was soft, pitiful, and shaky; things about Akane he'd never even thought of. "You're just so sure of yourself. You don't really care about me."
    That was enough to spark him. "How can you even say that? What games are you trying to play here Akane? Do I have to spell it out in blood?"
    "But you don't care, not in the least." She continued, sniffling. "You don't, but I do. I don't want to at this point, but I do. I don't want you to leave, but you're such a jerk that I..." She stopped, and cried into his shoulder some more.
    Ranma pulled her down to the bed, wrapping her blanket around her. "Akane, there's nothing else to say. If you're so convinced that I'm hurting you, then there's no way I can stay around to continue to do so and feel good about it knowing that I'm hurting you."
    "Just shut up and take me, okay?"
    "What?" He looked at the shuddering girl in the blanket. "What did you just..."
    "Just take me already!" She turned her head sharply to look at him, and he saw the haunted, angry, despaired look he had received from her the day previous. "That's what you wanted, wasn't it? Your prize? I don't want to give up on you; I like you. I honestly do." Her eyes met the bed, and she continued past Ranma's stunned silence. "But if that's all you want from me, then how can I look forward to a better day? You were my only hope, the only guy that wouldn't go that far as to treat me like a silly trinket, and you've squashed that.
    "I still like you though, more than I should, and if you're the best that's going to come along, what other chances do I have? It's better if I do this; it IS what everyone wants anyway."
    Ranma tried to soak all of it in, tried to make sense of it, and came up with squat. He ignored her unbuttoning of her shirt, trying to piece together whatever gave her the notion to...
    His attention refocused, and he looked away in shame and embarrassment. "Akane, put your shirt back on!"
    "What? So now I'm too hideous for you to have?" Her glare made him want to hide, but he refused to give in now, now that it was revealed that something was horridly wrong with what she thought of him and his morals.
    "NO! That's not it! Would you let me sit back and explain for a moment without jumping to the next conclusion?!"
    She looked at him, flustered and blushing, and huffed. "What could you possibly be trying to imply now?"
    "That you won't listen! I don't know where you got this crazy idea that I want to sleep with you right now, and I don't think I want to know, but you can sit safe, because that's not something I want to do!"
    She stopped her motions, and eyed him warily. "How do I believe you anymore?"
    "That's the problem Akane. You don't believe me. You've never believed in me. I say or do something, and you're always there to be the first one to step on me! You've never had a helping thing to say that's not got a loaded comment coming behind it! I've nearly broken my neck to prove things to you, and all I still get it doubt." He glared at her. "The real question is why should I even try to think you'd ever believe in me."
    "Fine then, here's your chance. Why don't you want me if you said that you wanted
me to have your child?"
    "My... child?" The gears turned in his head, cranking hard thoughts out of his head, and then coming to a solution that made him want to kick himself, but only partially.
    "So that's what this whole thing is about?"
    Akane looked at the boy as if he'd grown another head. "What else could it be about you ass? You asked me to be the mother of your kids. How am I supposed to react?"
    "Hold that thought for a moment, I'll be back." He leapt up and left before she could raise the slightest protest. She began to doubt his return, thinking about his sworn vow to depart the household on a permanent basis. Then he returned, just as quick as he had left, carrying an old dog-eared book under his arm.
    She looked at him curiously, and he shoved the item into her grasp. On the cover of the book was Ranma's name in golden kanji, and following below it, in the same golden letters were the English printed words 'My Child'.
    Ranma watched her look up at him, eyes begging explanation. "Well, this is what I originally wanted to give you. It's a photo album mostly, but a lot of mom's letters are in there too."
    "Letters?" Akane flipped through the book, a gallery of old pictures of Ranma, Genma, and Nodoka doing various family things. The pictures were very old, and taken from one view to the next, displaying a colorful history of Ranma's earlier years. Then there was the collection of letters toward the back, carefully folded away as to not waste away. Each was addressed to Genma, and mostly to Ranma himself. "I thought that you hadn't heard from her on the road?"
    "I didn't, but she gave that to me a month or so ago. She said that she had written letters in hopes that one would get through, but most of them had been returned to her by postal services. A few did make it through, but pops kept them, swearing that they would deter me from my goal.
    "I wanted to give these to you, so we could share them. I don't have a lot, but this is something I value a lot. It means a lot to me."
    Akane sat speechless, listening along to Ranma's words, and at the same time, skimming along on the words of a woman who obviously missed her husband and child dearly.
    She put the book down and looked at Ranma, who had put a scowl back on his face once more. "But you never listened to that. You jumped to another conclusion. Why?"
    [Because nobody could be that trusting,] she didn't say. It was a petty thought, and one not well founded, as he was slowly showing her. Maybe it was time to stop jumping at opportunities to snap at him so often, especially looking where it had gotten them. Still...
    "You're right in that respect. I was a bit... hasty." She said, blushing. "That still doesn't explain what you were doing with Shampoo tonight."
    "I was hurt, Akane. I didn't think it much mattered what anyone wanted from me anymore, so I didn't care." He looked to the floor. "That's not something I'll do anymore though. I want you to trust me so bad, it hurts. But I can't expect you to do that with behavior like that, can I?"
    She smiled, a small one, but one that made her feel slightly better than she had felt in days. "And I can't expect you to stay around if you don't believe I'll trust you, now can I?"
    "So... I apologize?" He attempted.
    "So do I, and apology accepted Ranma Saotome."
    "Same here." He sighed, weight unsettling from his shoulders, and turned to depart. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
    "Who says you have to leave so soon, baka? You have to explain this one to me." She held the book up to the moonlight, reflecting a picture of Ranma and Genma in clown makeup, and cake frosting on their hands.
    "Um..." Ranma scratched his head, looking sheepish. "That was a birthday party, I think." He came over and sat down by her. "Mom and pop thought it'd might be cute to do a clown thing. They sorta forgot the eating utensils though."
    She smirked at him, and his usually foggy memory. "What about this one?"
    "That's a day at the shopping district, which turned into an impromptu sparring match." Ranma chuckled. "They didn't allow us back in for months. Mom said she made pop travel with her to another district to pick up groceries that whole time."
    She snuggled next to him, enjoying his warmth, and the calm moment, as they both went over a book of happier times, with blank pages to cover more happy times to come.

++++++++++

Not the true conclusion, but I was too lazy to tak on the rest.
Lemme know what you think!
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