Why didn't you wait?

Chapter 2 

by 

David Lindquist

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 was created by Rumiko 
Takahashi. I'm just using it. The rest 
are mine. All rights reserved. 

I would like to thank my prereaders Brian 
Randall, Gary Kleppe, and Karaohki for reading 
this. Thanks

Previous chapters can be found here:

http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=458242


Chapter 2 


"R-Ran-chan?" Ukyo stuttered out as she desperately 
tried to believe the person who stood before her was 
real.

"Hey, Ukyo," the familiar girl replied weakly. "Sorry 
about the mess."

The voice shook her to the core. It was him! Lord, it 
was really Ran-chan! Immediately, she ran and gripped her 
fiance in a fierce hug. She felt his body tense up 
in her embrace but ignored it. Too many times since he 
'left' had she dreamed of this moment. That he would come
back to her. Not to Akane or Shampoo but to her! Now that 
it was finally happening, the chef wasn't going to let 
Ran-chan's hang-ups stop her from enjoying it.

"You're real!" Ukyo said as she held her fiance
tighter.

"Umm... Ukyo?"

"I can't believe you're here!"

"Ukyo?" 

"How did you sur- "

"UKYO!" 

The edge in his voice surprised the chef. Why would he 
be upset at her hugging him? Wasn't he glad to see her?

"Ran-chan?" Ukyo asked.

"While I'm glad to see you and all, how about letting 
me get dressed before you hug me, okay?"

The okonomiyaki chef looked down at her friend's nude body 
and couldn't help but blush. She quickly stepped back 
from him.

"Sorry about that, sugar. I was... " 

"Don't worry about it," Ran-chan said as he 
visibly relaxed.

"Hey, why don't I go downstairs and make you some food 
while you get changed? "

"Umm sure. I should be done in a few minutes."

Ukyo fought the urge to skip out of the bathroom. 
Her Ran-chan was back and hers for the taking!

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

The moment Ukyo was out of sight, Ranma staggered, then 
leaned against the sink. It had taken every ounce of 
willpower he had not to slam his life-long friend into 
the ground when she grabbed him. He wondered briefly 
what would have happened if she'd caught him by 
surprise. The mental image of losing control and 
attacking her made his stomach turn.

"Damn. Three years and I still can't get over it," he 
muttered, then sighed.

Ranma quickly cleaned himself up and got dressed, all 
the time trying to figure out exactly how he was going 
to ask her what had happened while he was gone without 
telling her everything. As he finished, Ranma caught 
a whiff of something that he had thought, on more than 
one occasion, he would never smell again. 

"Oh, man! Ukyo's cooking hasn't lost a step! That 
okonomiyaki smells delicious!"

With his problems temporarily forgotten and his spirits 
lighter, Ranma quickly left the bathroom 
and headed downstairs.

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

Ukyo smiled as she saw the now-male Ranma come down 
the stairs. Her Ran-chan certainly did clean up well.
She wondered where her fiancee had gotten his new clothes. 
The blue Chinese shirt and pants matched his eyes and the 
gold embroidered dragon that was stitched on the shirt 
wrapped around his torso. The sight of him in it almost 
made her want to drool.

"Ukyo?"

She jumped slightly and looked at Ranma.

"Sorry for staring, Ran-chan," Ukyo said as she turned 
her attention back to the grill. "It's just hard to 
believe that you're here."

He frowned slightly, then sat down at the counter.

"Where's Konatsu?" he asked. "I couldn't find him when 
I carried you in."

She winced at the name of her former waiter and 
friend. After two year, it still hurt but she knew 
he'd be happy working for her. The two of them had 
practically been inseparable for years. It had 
been the hardest thing the chef had ever done to 
kick him out so he wouldn't miss his chance to be 
happy.

"We had a falling out a while back," Ukyo replied 
softly. "Last I heard he was working up north at 
Kasumi's restaurant as a manager."

"Wait a sec? Kasumi's restaurant!?"

Ukyo stifled a sigh. This was going to be a long 
conversation and she knew he wasn't going to like most 
of it.

*********

As Akane moved through the fifth set of katas, she could 
feel the air move around her. Its embrace surrounded the 
woman like a hug from a old friend. One that would 
never leave her and would always be there, if you were 
one of the few skilled enough to get its attention. Akane 
had been overjoyed the day she obtained that level. Four 
years later, the feeling of pleasure over it hadn't 
left her.

She finished the set and glanced at the wall clock. Jo had 
insisted it be put up. It had ended up being their first 
major argument as a married couple. The end came when her 
husband stated:

"While I understand you need to practice, Akane-chan," he 
had said in the same calm voice he always reserved for making 
a point, "Don't you think doing it ten hours straight is a 
little bit too much?"

She had been upset afterwards but that night he went to even
greater lengths to make up with her. The store owners still
talked about the exhausted but radiant couple that entered 
their store and purchased a small wall clock.

Fortunately, -- or unfortunately, depending on your point of 
view, --their major arguments and the aftermath of them, 
were rare.

Akane checked the time.

"Five hours?!" she shouted.  "I've still got to get the 
housework done!"

She quickly grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off her 
face. Akane started to walk towards the dojo door when 
she stopped. How could I have forgotten? Akane you're an 
idiot.

Turning back, she made her way over to the opposite end 
of the dojo and sat down in front of an indoor shrine 
that has been set up there.

On the podium sat two pictures; one was her mother, the 
other was her inspiration. The boy that had driven her to 
harness her full potential, and had been her first, 
true love.

"Ranma... " Akane whispered as she fought back tears. "I 
hope you're happy for me." 

She bowed, then stood back up. It was time to get to 
work!

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

As his friend cooked a fifth okonomiyaki, Ranma's mind 
balked at the information Ukyo had told him. Everything 
had been turned on its ear since his 'unwanted training 
trip'. The insanity that was Nerima lessened some but 
that only meant something strange happened every other 
week instead of the norm.

Mousse dead? Kasumi and Konatsu running a restaurant 
together? Nabiki gone to America? Shampoo 
married?!? Ryoga able to stay in one place long enough 
to GET married?! But she hadn't said anything about 
Akane.... 

A small part of him felt relieved knowing that he wasn't 
the sole cause of Nerima's weirdness but it didn't help 
with the knowledge that they didn't even care enough to 
search for him. Was it that easy for Aka... them to 
forget about him?

"Damn it! Didn't any of you even try to look for 
me?! You all acted like I was dead!"

He watched as Ukyo's eyes widened and her mouth dropped 
open. She recovered enough to take the finished 
okonomiyaki off the grill, then sat them on two 
plates. Once that was done, Ukyo looked him in the eye.

"Sugar," she said sadly. "We thought you 
were."

The words had the effect of a slap to the face. Suddenly, 
things started to make sense. 

"Oh, God! W...why would you all think that?!?"

"They recovered a body from the fire."

"The fire," he whispered as he mind went back to 
that day.....

Ranma smiled as he and Akane walked down the 
street. Things had been going good in the past week for 
him. Well, good being he only had to deal with Kodachi's 
plan to sell his other fiances to a harem. it was kinda 
fun watching that sheik get the stuffing beat out of him 
by the other girls. He looked up at the clear, blue sky 
and enjoyed the warmth. 

"Nice day, ain't it?" he asked, looking over at Akane.

"I guess," she replied absently. "Ranma? Do you smell 
smoke?" 

His reply was drowned out by the sound of an explosion. They 
both looked up to see an abandoned three-story apartment 
building a couple hundred meters away suddenly burst into 
flames. Both of them were frozen in shock until they heard 
a blood-curdling scream from inside.

"Call the fire department!" Ranma yelled as he ran into the 
building. The smoke stung his eyes as he made his way to 
the second floor. The smoke, heat and fire began to hamper 
his ability to see when the martial artist barely dodged a 
falling, flaming beam. He landed hard but recovered in time 
to see a glimpse of a body lying on the floor near 
him. Quickly picking it up, Ranma looked for a path out, 
only to find an now impassible ring of fire had surrounded 
them.

He began to power up a ki blast when the floor shook 
violently. 

The last thing he remembered as it exploded was 
his voice yelling out a name...

"Akane."

"Ran-chan?"

The martial artist shook his head slightly then looked 
at Ukyo.

"Sorry about that. I'd hoped that I had saved her." He 
wasn't going to say any more but the confused expression 
on her face made him explain. 

"There was a girl in the building. I tried to get her 
out but..."

Ukyo gasped at his statement.

"The blast threw me a few miles. I guess I landed in a 
fountain or something 'cause when I woke up, I was a 
girl."

"Then why didn't you come back?" 

The whole restaurant's temperature dropped at the 
accusing tone of Ukyo's voice. Ranma lowered his head and 
stared at the plate in front of him.

"I couldn't remember who I was," he whispered, "And it got 
worse."

As Ukyo began to ask a question, Ranma cut her off with 
what he suspected she wanted to know. "The Gambling King 
found me. That god-damn bastard!" 

He shot up and noted that Ukyo had jumped back. Ranma 
clenched his fists while he tried to regain control. "I 
spent three years helping him! THREE YEARS!"

Ranma was surprised when his fist slammed onto the counter, 
easily breaking it. He quickly regained control and tried to
avoid noticing the glimmer of fear that shone in Ukyo's 
eyes. 

"After I got my memory back, I spent the rest of the time
coming here." He then chuckled weakly. "I think 
I took Ryoga's route."

"Oh, Ran-chan." She moved around the counter, and hugged 
him. After a brief tense up, he relaxed slightly while 
she sobbed into his shirt then carefully hugged her back.

"It's okay," he said. "It's better than being dead... I 
guess."

The hug brought him back into focus. He let her stay 
in the embrace for a few minutes then gently pushed her 
back. Now was the time for the big question. The one 
he found himself dreading to ask.

"Ukyo, I need to know something about Akane and how she 
could keep the dojo."

He felt her shiver slightly, then the tears in her eyes 
seemed to confirm what he wanted to know.

His Akane had chosen another man.

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

Ukyo cried as she saw the pain blossom 
on Ran-chan's face. He didn't deserve this 
kind of misery, especially now. She resumed her 
hug in an effort to comfort him but 
Ranma pushed her back.

"How?" Ranma asked. It sounded more like a 
plea and a question. For a second, Ukyo wanted 
to lie to him. Tell him she was wrong and Akane 
hadn't married and was waiting for him. Tell him 
anything to ease the agony in his eyes. However, the 
memory of her own grief over his 'death' stopped 
her. He needed the truth. The sooner she told him 
that, the sooner Ran-chan could put it behind 
him. Maybe then she could help make his pain go 
away and show him who was the best fiancee. She 
steeled herself, then spoke.

"She met him over a year ago. He had some mask 
and needed a bodyguard. Doctor Tofu refereed him 
to us."

"Huh? Why would he do that?" Ranma interrupted as the 
pain on his face gave way to confusion.

She shrugged. "No idea, but I think he knew about the 
trouble the Tendos were having money-wise. Anyway, it 
was her, me, your pop, and Ryoga."

The chef caught the slightly intrigued look in his eyes 
but ignored it and continued on.

"All Akane did was try to argue with him but he'd 
just smile and nod then state his own view. Drove her
up the wall. Anyway, a week later, Herb showed 
up to claim the mask for himself. Banged most of us up
pretty bad. Jo spent most of his time with her. Tending 
to her wounds and stuff."

"AKANE tried to take on Herb?! Is she crazy?!?" Ranma
interrupted again, the blatantly shocked look on his 
face irritated her. One would think after six years he'd 
have gotten over all that 'women are weak' crap.

"No, she ain't! Now are you going to let me finish or 
are you going to play a hundred questions?"

She smiled slightly when he closed his mouth.

"Okay, once we recovered, we had to go to China to 
get it back. Aw, man, you should have seen Akane and 
Herb go at it. Ryoga said he hadn't seen anything like 
it since..." She mentally kicked herself at bringing up 
the comparison but before Ukyou could apologize Ranma
spoke.

"Since me and Saffron?"

"Ran-chan, I-"

"Just finish the story please," he said. "I want to 
hear what happened."

"A...after Akane beat Herb, Jo asked her to marry 
him. Surprised us when she said yes. When the time 
came, Kuno tried to break it up but between me, your 
father, Soun, Ryoga and Akari, well, actually it 
was her sumo pig that helped, anyway he never had a 
chance."

She watched him for an reaction but none came. He
sat there motionless. For a moment, Ukyou thought 
Ran-chan might be in trouble but then he just put 
head in his hands and placed his elbows on the 
counter.

"Ran-chan? Are you okay?" 

"Getting tired."

"Oh! Let me rig up the guest room and you can 
stay there for tonight."

The martial artist took his hands away and looked 
like he was about to protest when she cut him off.

"No excuses!" She said and placed her hands on her 
hips. "You're back and I ain't letting you 
wander off and go missing again! Got it?!"

Ranma stared at her as if he was thinking about 
disagreeing then slumped his shoulders.

"Okay."

Ukyou quickly ran upstairs and readied the room. Once 
it was ready she called down to him.

"Ran-chan! The room is done."

She was surprised when she didn't get a response. 

"Ran-chan?!"

Her stomached churned as she ran down the stairs. He 
couldn't be gone! It wasn't some delusion! He had to 
be....

The rest of her thoughts can to a halt when she 
saw him resting his head on the counter, sound 
asleep.

"Oh, Ran-chan." she whispered as tears fell from her 
eyes. "Don't ever leave me."

David Lindquist
fido@rmaonline.net
http://karaohki.anifics.com/fidolibrary.htm
Quote= "Fanfic writing is like building a car with C&C being the tune-up!"


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