Cinders

A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by June "KaraOhki"
Geraci
karaohki@snet.net

July 29, 2001

Earlier chapters can be found at http://karaohki.anifics.com


Ranma 1/2 and its universe were created by
Rumiko Takahashi, and belong to her.  This work
of fiction was written for entertainment only,
and is not intended for commercial purposes.


Chapter 8

Soun finished sweeping the walk, put the broom
away, and walked over to the pond.  He noticed
that the water wasn't as clear as it should be
and that it needed skimming.  He hadn't touched
it since Ranma had jumped into it with Akane in
his arms.

"I should get to work before the fish start to
die," he said aloud.

Kasumi watched from the doorway, nodding in
approval.  Her father had done nothing but sit
since Akane and Ranma had been taken to the
hospital.  It was good to see him taking an
interest in his fish again.

Her attention was taken away from her father by
the ringing of the phone.  The last person she
expected to be calling was on the other end.

"Akane?  You sound wonderful!"

"I feel a lot better."

"Father will be so pleased!"

"You mustn't tell him.  Don't ask questions!
Just listen, and I'll explain everything."

Kasumi listened attentively as Akane spoke.
Her expression slowly changed from confused to
one that was seldom if ever seen on her face.
Kasumi was smiling, but her smile was not a
pleasant one.  "I approve, Akane, but isn't
that what Nabiki said the other day?"

"Keep listening, Kasumi.  Ranma's added to our
plan."

The more Kasumi listened, the more she smiled.

*****

The physical therapist sat with the doctor,
taking notes.

"The young lady needs to be up and moving, but
please keep in mind that for a while we weren't
sure whether or not she would survive.  I
expect that she will be rather weak, and
somewhat stiff.  She will need encouragement
from you and perhaps a bit of prodding.  I know
that her husband will be helpful there."

The therapist took the elevator upstairs and
started down the hall to the Saotomes' room.
He had already mentally rehearsed all of the
usual encouraging words that seemed to work
best with badly injured patients, and wondered
how difficult it would be to get Akane out of
bed.  That was why he was totally unprepared
for what he saw when he entered the room.

Both beds had been pushed against the wall,
clearing a space in the center of the room.  A
young woman stood there, her back to him, going
through the movements of what seemed to be an
advanced kata.  Behind her, a young man
followed her across the room, wheeling her IV
pole and his own so that she would not entangle
herself.

"C'mon, Akane, pick up those arms!"

"I'm trying!"

"I can see that," remarked the therapist.  "Are
you stiff?"  Both Ranma and Akane jumped and
whirled to face him.  "I'm sorry!  I didn't
mean to startle you.  My name is Takao.  I'm
here to help you start your physical therapy,
but it appears that you started without me."

"You don't know Akane.  She doesn't know how to
sit still!"

Akane made a face at her husband, and Takao
couldn't help chuckling.  He was already
beginning to like these two patients.  "That's
good, because I don't intend to let you sit
long enough to get any stiffer than you already
are.  Shall we begin?"

*****

By the time the session was done both Ranma and
Akane were more than ready to sit down.  When
Takao told Ranma and Akane that he was there to
work with both of them, Ranma had looked at him
with amusement, and explained that he'd been up
and walking for days.

"That doesn't matter.  It's necessary for me to
observe both of you and see how you are."

"Man," commented Ranma afterwards, "I can't
believe I'm this tired!"

Akane smiled sweetly at him.  "It's your own
fault.  You're the one who insisted on staying
awake for so long."

Ranma stuck his tongue out at his wife.  "Don't
tell me you didn't appreciate it."

Takao smiled and picked up his notepad.  "I'll
leave you two to argue that one out.  I'd like
you both to repeat what we just did later
today, perhaps some time in the late afternoon.
As soon as Akane is allowed to leave the room,
we'll be going downstairs for some water
therapy.  Ranma, you're going to join us."

"Water?" asked Ranma nervously.  "Hot or cold?"

"Very warm," replied the therapist.  "Don't
worry about it."  Then he was gone.

"He's gotta know," said Ranma.

"Sounds like it to me."

*****

"Why is it that if one line rings, all of them
ring?" muttered a very frustrated secretary as
she grabbed the phone.  "Miss Kazuko speaking,
may I help you?"

"Nakazawa here."

"Hello!  May I ask how your mother is?"

"She's doing much better, thank you.  I need a
favor, Rumi."

"Yes?"

"I left my briefcase in my office.  There's a
marriage certificate that needs to be
registered."

"Hold on just a moment, my other line is
ringing."  The young woman took the other call
and then ran into her employer's office to find
his briefcase.  "I found it.  I'll take care of
it.  There goes the other line again!"

"Wait!  There are some special mailing
instructions."  When he realized he was
speaking to dead air Mr. Nakazawa groaned and
held on.

In the meantime, all of the lines on Rumi's
phone kept ringing.  While transferring a call
to another department she accidentally
disconnected her employer.  "Oops!  I cut him
off!" she squeaked.  Then she shrugged.  It
wasn't as if she needed instructions on how to
handle the document she'd retrieved from his
briefcase.  She picked up the certificate and
headed out of the office.  Behind her, the
phone rang again.

"Why doesn't she answer?" asked Nakazawa aloud.
"If that certificate doesn't get handled
properly Nabiki Tendo will never let me forget
it!"

*****

I'm so thirsty!"

Ranma glanced up at the clock and then at his
wife.  "Then stop.  We've been at this longer
than we were this morning."  He went over to
his tray table and poured both of them some ice
water.  "You did a lot better."

"You think so?  I couldn't tell."

"You're lifting your arms higher."

"I feel something pulling when I do that."
Akane pointed to her ribs.  "It's really stiff
here."  She reached for the water Ranma was
holding out.  "Thanks."

"Takao said it would take time.  Don't overdo
it."

Akane shook her head.  "You don't get it, do
you?  You're going to be getting out of here
soon, and I can't come with you.  If I work
really hard, maybe we can leave at the same
time."  She put down her water and wrapped
herself around her husband.  "I don't want to
be here without you!"

"Heh.  You're not sick of having me around
twenty-four hours a day?"

Akane snuggled closer.  Ranma's lips found
hers.  Neither of them was pleased when the
phone rang.

"Yes?  Okay, thanks.  Send them up in a couple
of minutes."  Ranma hung up and looked at
Akane.  "Get ready.  Visitors."  Then he
laughed aloud at the expression on Akane's
face.

"Operation Invalid, Phase One!" she giggled.

*****

When Kasumi opened the door, the room was in
semi-darkness.  Ranma was in bed with his
overhead light on, a textbook in his lap.  The
curtains around Akane's bed were closed.  The
beds were no longer pushed together, but
several feet apart.  Ranma looked up as she
entered and smiled at her.

"Am I glad to see you!"

Kasumi smiled, even though Ranma couldn't see
it through the mask.  "Why thank you, Ranma!"

"You can't believe how lonely I am!"

Kasumi gestured at the curtains.  "What about
Akane?"

"Are you kidding?  She won't even talk to me!"

Soun overheard Ranma's words as he came through
the door behind Kasumi.  "Have you two been
arguing again?"

"No, we haven't!  She just won't come out from
behind those curtains!"

Kasumi raised her eyebrows and slipped inside
Akane's curtains.  Her sister was sitting there
in nearly complete darkness.

"Are you all right, dear?"

Akane grinned, winked at her sister, and
answered in a very soft voice.  "I don't want
anybody to look at me."

"But you look better, you know."

"I don't think so."

"Your father wants to see you."

"NO!"  Both girls were silent for a few
seconds, and then Akane spoke again.  "Can we
leave the light off?"

"If it will make you feel better."

*****

Kasumi came out from behind the curtains and
gestured to her father.  "Akane wants you to
come in."  A few seconds later Genma and Nabiki
were left alone with Ranma.

Genma stared at the closed curtains for a
moment, and then looked back at his son.  "How
long has she been like this?"

Ranma shrugged.  "Since she came down with that
fever.  I think it made her depressed or
something."  He turned to Nabiki and waved at
the chair next to his bed.  "Come sit by me."
Then Genma nearly fell over because Ranma
reached out and held Nabiki's hand.

"Son?  What are you doing?"

"Shhh, not so loud!" whispered Ranma.  Sounds
of murmured conversation came from behind the
curtains, and Ranma looked relieved.  "Guess
they didn't hear you.  I'm holding my fiancee's
hand.  What do you think I'm doing?"  When
Genma didn't respond but sat there with his
mouth open, Ranma continued.  "She told me a
couple of days ago.  It's okay with me."

Genma finally found his tongue.  "You mean you
like the arrangement?"

"Well sure!"  Ranma gestured at the curtains.
"You think I wanna live with somebody who cries
all the time?"  He looked at Nabiki and
appeared to be a little embarrassed.  "I'm not
trying to put Akane down or nothing, but she's
awfully hard to live with right now.  She won't
even try!  She's positive she's going to be
crippled and ugly."

"We could get you moved to your own room, Son."

"I don't think that'd be a good idea, Pop.
She's scared to be by herself.  I guess she
knows I'll protect her."  Ranma turned to
Nabiki and squeezed her hand.  "You're not
jealous, are you?"

"I'm not Shampoo or Ukyo.  Take all the time
you want to let my little sister down easily."
Nabiki patted Ranma's cheek with her free hand.
"Then we'll be able to concentrate on us."

Ranma blushed.  "I must have been crazy to stay
with Akane all this time.  I really did like
her, you know, and I thought she liked me too."
He looked at his father, and Genma thought he
saw pain in his son's expression.  "She kept
hitting me until I got the message.  She
doesn't want me.  I don't think she ever did."

*****

"But you got up today and worked with the
therapist, didn't you?"  Soun reached out to
pat his daughter's hand and fought back tears
when she flinched.

"It hurt!  I don't want him to come back!"

"You've got to let him work with you, Akane.
You'll find that it will hurt less and less,
and you will get stronger and stronger."
Kasumi's voice was at her softest as she spoke.
"We want you to come home to us as soon as you
can."

That made Akane start sniffling again.  "I'm
scared to go home!  They can't keep people like
Kodachi out of here, so what's going to happen
when I go home?  And I'm scared of how people
are going to look at me!  I'm ugly!"

That was too much for Soun.  He began to cry
and ran out of the room.  Genma got up and ran
after him.  Kasumi waited a minute before
peeking out into the hallway.

"Are they gone?" asked Ranma.

"They just got into the elevator."

"Good."  He got out of bed and opened the
curtains around Akane's bed before pushing the
beds back together, while Kasumi and Nabiki
turned on all the lights.  Neither he nor Akane
noticed Nabiki slipping a small package into
Ranma's nightstand.

"I guess I don't have to ask how your part
went," said Ranma.

Akane nodded.  "I hate upsetting him like that,
but I had to make it convincing."

"Looks like it worked."

"How did it go with your father?"

"Oh, I think I convinced him."

Nabiki giggled.  "You should have seen Mr.
Saotome's face when Ranma held my hand."

"You WHAT!!!!"

Ranma leaned away from Akane, who was beginning
to glow.  "Hey!  I just held her hand!  I said
I was going to be nice to her, didn't I?"

The glow faded, and Akane sagged.  "I guess
your father wouldn't have believed it any other
way."

Ranma put his arm around Akane.  "I think Pop
fell for it.  That's what counts."  Then he
noticed how quiet the room had become, and took
a good look at his sisters-in-law.  They were
staring at Akane.  "Is something wrong?"

Kasumi shook her head and began to sniffle.
"No.  I just can't believe how wonderful Akane
looks!  It's a miracle!"

Nabiki got up to take a better look.  "No, it
was magic."

"It was," agreed Ranma.  "We owe Cologne a
lot."  He paused, and looked a little
embarrassed.  "I was afraid to let her try to
help Akane, and I wasn't very nice to her.  I
want to apologize, and thank her."


"I'll tell her to come see you," promised
Kasumi, "but now that Father and Mr. Saotome
are gone, would you tell us what really
happened with the therapist?  The nurses told
us he was here this morning."

Akane opened up her mouth to answer, but Ranma
beat her to it.  "Akane did great!" he said
proudly.  "She'll be beating me up again before
you know it."

"Ranma!"

"Hey, I thought you were gonna hit me for
holding Nabiki's hand!"

Akane blushed.  "I'm sorry."

"If you didn't get jealous, you wouldn't be
Akane."

*****

Akane's sisters didn't stay much longer, and
the Saotomes were soon left alone again.

"I wonder why Mom didn't come."

"Why don't you call her?  Your father won't be
home yet, and you won't have to be careful of
what you say."

"Good idea."  Ranma reached for the phone and
dialed.

"A cold?  Yeah, I can understand why you stayed
home.  Just get better, okay?"

*****

Akane watched as Ranma chatted with his mother
and told her about their progress.  After a few
minutes her eyelids began to droop and despite
trying hard to stay awake she soon drifted off.

"Hey, Akane, wake up!  Akane?"

"Sleepy."

"Dinner's here."

"Go 'way!"

"No.  You're still too thin."  Ranma emphasized
his statement with a kiss, and raised the head
of Akane's bed.

"All right, all right, I'm up!"  Akane tried to
glare at Ranma, but somehow it turned into a
smile.  "I guess I am hungry."  She pulled the
tray closer and uncovered it.

Ranma pulled open the drawer of his bedside
table and put his textbook inside.  It didn't
fit.  He reached inside, felt around, and came
up with a brightly wrapped package.  "Where did
this come from?"  He shoved the book into the
drawer and put the package on the table.  There
was a small envelope taped to it.

Akane looked over Ranma's shoulder as he tore
the envelope open and extracted a small sheet
of paper.  "That's Nabiki's writing."

"A little wedding present," read Ranma aloud,
"to be used when you're 'up' to it."  Ranma
turned bright red, dropped the note and looked
at his wife, who was giggling madly.  "She
wouldn't!"

"Oh yes, she would!"

Akane's laughter was infectious, and soon Ranma
and Akane were holding each other, laughing
hysterically.  Once they regained control of
themselves, Ranma put the package to one side
and they attempted to eat their dinner.
Unfortunately, every few seconds one or the
other would begin to laugh again and set the
other off.  They eventually stopped laughing,
and finished dinner just as the doctor walked
in.  He smiled at them, and it took Ranma a
second or two to realize that he wasn't wearing
a mask.

"Doc?  Where's your mask?"

"It's not necessary, Ranma.  Akane's tests have
been perfectly normal for two days."

"Wow!  That's great news!"

"That's just the beginning.  I'm going to have
your intravenous medicines discontinued, and
switch both of you to orals."

"Thank you!" exclaimed Akane.  "I think I was
running out of room on my arms with all the
times they switched locations."

The doctor came over and examined Akane's arms.
"You do have a lot of bruises.  They should
fade soon."  As he was speaking one of the
nurses came in and walked over to Ranma.

"Ready to get this out?" she asked.  Ranma's
response was to hold out his arm.  Then she
moved on to Akane, and soon all she had on her
arm was a small adhesive bandage.

The moment the nurse left the room Akane jumped
out of bed.  "I'm going to take a shower!"  She
went into her bedside table, took out a paper-
wrapped package, and headed straight into the
bathroom.

"Hey!  That's what I wanted to do!"

"You were too slow!"

Ranma grinned at Akane's remark and turned back
to the doctor.  "She's happy, isn't she?"

"Yes, and she's doing very well.  If she keeps
progressing this way, she won't be in much
longer than you."

"You can't send us home at the same time?"

"Right now I don't think so but that could
change, depending on Akane's progress."  The
doctor started to get up, but Ranma stopped
him.  He turned around and listened intently
for the sound of running water before starting
to talk.

"Doctor, since Akane's doing so much better, do
you think it would be okay if we, if we um..."
Ranma's courage failed him and he cursed
himself.  Fortunately, the doctor caught on
quickly.

"Just lock the door," he said, trying hard to
maintain a straight face.  "I'll see to it that
you're not disturbed."

"Wait a minute!  You're not going to tell--"

The doctor quickly cut Ranma off.  "Of course
not.  I'm going to write in your chart that
it's no longer necessary for you to be
monitored during the night, and that you should
be allowed to sleep.  That means no one will
come in to check your temperature or blood
pressure until the morning shift comes on, so
you should be undisturbed."

Ranma's blush began to fade.  "Okay.  Thank
you."

"I'll make the change before I leave the floor.
Good night."  He walked away a few steps before
turning around.  "Just remember that if either
of you need pain medication you should ask for
it, especially Akane.  She's been used to
getting it through the intravenous."  The
doctor waited to smile until after he left the
room.  "Newlyweds," he murmured.

*****

Akane stood in front of the mirror, looking at
herself.  Her face looked much better than it
had the day before, and she could actually see
the beginnings of black fuzz all over her
scalp.  She put a scarf on her head, but took
it off again.  It was best that Ranma see her
as she was.  He knew what she looked like
without the scarf anyway.

Her gaze went lower, to her body.  No amount of
wishful thinking on her part could hide the
fact that wherever she looked she saw half-
healed burns.  Only a few of them still hurt
when touched, and the pain was minor compared
to what she had been through.

"He said he didn't care how I look," she
murmured.  "I've got to know if that's true."
She turned away from the mirror and unwrapped
the package Kasumi had given her.  After
dressing, she looked in the mirror again.
"Damn Nabiki and her 'gift,' putting ideas in
my head!  I don't know if I'm ready for this!"
Her legs began to shake, but she couldn't tell
if it was from weakness or nerves.


*****

A couple of minutes after the doctor left there
was a soft knock on the door and an aide peeked
in.  "The doctor sent me to pick up your dinner
trays.  May I come in?"

"Sure," replied Ranma.

The young girl hurried in and picked up the
trays.  "Would you like your water pitchers
filled before I go home?"

"Okay."

She returned with the pitchers, and placed them
on the bed trays.  Ranma immediately took both,
put them on his bedside table, and pushed the
table as far away as he could.

"Why did you do that?"

"Let's say I'm not taking any chances."

The aide left, wondering why water was so
dangerous.  Ranma locked the door as soon as
she was gone.

*****

"Hey Akane, you coming out soon?"  The question
was accompanied by a knock.

"Just a second!"  Akane slipped into the new
robe Kasumi bought for her and opened the door.
"Go ahead."

"Thanks."  Ranma passed her and entered the
bathroom.

"He didn't even notice!" growled Akane in
exasperation.  Then she stopped short and
looked at Ranma's table.  Why was her water on
it, and why was it in the corner of the room?
Her attention was taken next by the beds.
Ranma had pulled her pillows onto his bed.  Her
bed tray was pushed aside, but Ranma's was
beside his bed, and Nabiki's gift was sitting
there.  The wrapping paper was no longer on it.

Akane felt her face getting hot.  Maybe it was
just her imagination, or maybe Ranma...her feet
moved before her brain caught up to them and
she found herself at the door, with her hand on
the lock.  It was already locked

*****

The first thing Ranma noticed when he closed
the bathroom door was that the room smelled
sweet.  He discovered the cause when he stepped
into the shower.  A bottle of lavender-scented
shower gel sat there.  He opened the bottle and
sniffed it suspiciously.

"Too girly," he concluded, and he replaced the
cap and reached for the soap.  Five minutes
later he got out of the shower, dried off, and
climbed into his pajamas.  Then he took a deep
breath, steadied his breathing (but not the
pounding in his chest) and opened the door.

Akane was sitting in one of the chairs looking
at him.

"How come you're not in bed?"

"I was waiting for you."

Suddenly the room was much too hot for Ranma,
and he tugged at the collar of his pajama top.
"Akane, I--um--"

"Yes?"

Words failed Ranma, so he acted instead.  He
took Akane's hands, pulled her to her feet, and
kissed her.  Among many other sensations, he
became aware that he was surrounded by the
scent of lavender.  Ranma had heard of
aphrodisiacs--exposure to Shampoo had made sure
of that--but he was still surprised to discover
that the simple smell of lavender could affect
him so powerfully.  His hold on Akane
tightened, and he deepened the kiss.  She
seemed to struggle, and he immediately let go.

"Akane?  Did I hurt you?"

Akane shook her head.  "No."

"Then what's wrong?"

"Are you thinking what I think you are?"

The tangled sentence made Ranma smile, and he
put his palm on Akane's cheek and caressed it.
"Yeah, I am."  His hand slid down to her neck,
and then stroked her satin-covered shoulder.
"That's really pretty."

Akane was silent.

"Don't you want to?"

Akane gestured at the box on Ranma's table.
"Is that why?  Because you're expected to?"

Ranma caught his breath.  "Are you kidding?
I've been thinkin' about it since we got
married the first time!  And then we found out
it wasn't legal!  And then we got married
again!"  He turned around and started to pace.
"I tried not to think about it 'cause you were
hurt so bad and I didn't want to make it
worse."  He stopped with his back to her and
clenched his fists.  "But now you're better,
and Nabiki gave me that stupid present and I
can't stop thinking about it, so I talked to
the doctor--"  Ranma stopped talking and put
both hands over his mouth.  After a few seconds
of silence a pair of small hands turned him
around.  Akane didn't look happy, but she
didn't look angry either.  Ranma couldn't read
her expression at all.

"You talked to the doctor about it?  Why?"

"C'mon Akane!  Do you think I'm going to take a
chance of hurting you?"

Akane bit her lip, closed her eyes, and started
to shake.  Then she started to laugh.  "No.
You wouldn't.  You also ought to know how much
I want you to touch me.  How many times have I
asked you to hold me?"

"A lot, but it hurt you, and I'm not going to
if you're gonna get hurt!   Would you stop
laughing!  It's not funny!"

Akane stopped laughing immediately.

"Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."  Akane untied her robe, put it
aside, and walked into Ranma's arms.  "Just
shut up."

*****

The hospital room was quiet, and its only
illumination came from the moonlight shining
through the window.  Ranma lay there, his eyes
half closed as he watched his wife sleeping in
his arms.  There had been no crazed rivals
knocking down walls, no mercenary sisters-in-
law trying to film them, no fathers shouting
encouragement through the door.  Nothing.  Just
them.

"Perfect," he murmured.

*****

In the Nerima Post Office, a letter sat
awaiting delivery.  It was an ordinary-enough
looking envelope, except that it was addressed
to Mr. and Mrs. Ranma Saotome, and the return
address read "Nerima City Hall".  The mailer of
the letter slept blissfully, as one who has
done a good job will.


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

more to come

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

As always, comments are welcome - whether public or private or both.
karaohki@snet.net
--------------------------------------------------
http://karaohki.anifics.com
--------------------------------------------------
     You could turn this way,
I'm also lonely
     this autumn evening

Basho

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