DISCLAIMER: Ranma and co. belong to Rumiko Takahashi.
I'm only borrowing them for the purposes of this
story.

A/N: I posted chs 1-6 a while ago on FFML, but now I'm
posting the next few chapters for any comments that
might help me. Each chapter is fairly short. Please
send any comments privately. Thank you.
___________________________________________

Darkness settled over us like a groping hand, warm and
clammy. I sat on the cool concrete of the roof,
leaning back against a wall, my legs slightly spread,
knees bent. I gazed tiredly at my gun dangling between
my knees from one hand

"I don't think I can ever forgive you, Akane." Ranma's
voice speared out of the velvet gloom like an icy
harpoon aimed at my center.

The muscles of my heart clenched, then expanded,
forcing blood to the extremities of my body, yet every
part of me felt numb.

Ranma's voice continued to emerge from the long shadow
against the opposite wall, terse and clipped.

"Can you tell me anytime when I wasn't there for you?"
he demanded. "Whether I wanted to be or not?" I could
make out his outline now, hunched over and angry.
"Huh? Can you name one? Didn't I spend two years just
saving your butt from one thing after the other?? And
then you thought I couldn't take care of KUNO, for
cryin' out loud!"

Ranma unfolded like clumsy origami, in stiff
movements. My heart was thudding now, trying to warm
my flesh turned to ice. I couldn't hear over the
pounding in my ears.

Guilt held me motionless, letting his words beat
against me, relishing the misery. The same pride that
had made me test Ranma's love again and again stopped
my tears from forming, wouldn't allow me relief in
even this small way. What do you deserve, I asked
myself. The void within me answered with silence.

Finally, he stood in front of me.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" he demanded.

I stared at him mutely. What could I say, really?

"Akane," he gritted out. "Thinking about this right
now is driving me crazy, and you need me just a little
sane to keep your faithless* hide in one piece." He
leapt onto the parapet of the roof, and disappeared
again into dimness.

All the arguments I had put together over the years
had disappeared in the face of Ranma's fury. Why
hadn't I trusted him enough, I asked myself for the
millionth time. Too much pride in myself had brought
me to this pass, I decided and shivered as regrets
resettled on my back like the tattered layers of a
well-worn cloak.

Years of practice helped me tamp down the emotions and
endlessly cycling thoughts, and I pretended to myself
that he wasn't at the other end of the roof, cursing
me to the gods. His reaction was actually worse than
I'd hoped for, but better than I'd feared.

This is just the first dance between you and me,
Ranma, I decided. It was no accident that we had met
up again. It had to be fate. I'll make it up to you,
Ranma, I vowed. When this is over.......

We'll dance again.

*****Ranma*******

I lay on my back, staring at the stars above me but
images from the past obscured their blue light. I was
so furious that I wanted to gouge my fingers into the
concrete below me and crumble it into gray dust.

Akane still sat against the wall at the far end, but I
could hear her breathing and she was asleep. I
couldn't believe it. How could she sleep after I'd
ranted and raved like a madman? I'd wanted to shake
her so badly, grip her until my fingers left bruises
on her arms. Her explanation had only blown the long
dormant embers of my rage to life.

Although most of me had howled at Akane's treachery, I
suppose a part of me had hoped that Akane's
explanation would be some fantastic, logical thing,
like in the movies, where everything fell into place. 

I snorted in self- mockery. I should have known that
of all things, Akane's explanation would turn out to
be Akane just.......acting like Akane. Hell bent on
proving herself and stubborn as all get out about it.

Then she had raised those large, chocolate eyes to me,
and I'd deflated slightly. What was the use? I never
wanted to touch her again. I wanted to keep her under
lock and key. No, I wanted to......The embers stirred
again, the fire grew hotter, and I flexed my hands,
trying to decide between beating her and pulling her
up against a wall and reminding her that she was mine
in the most elemental way I could devise.

Akane bent her back slightly, and stood up. What was
she doing? She stood facing, not me, but a point in
the distance. I followed her gaze and looked over my
shoulder. All I could see was the shine of the Huangpu
River and the skyscrapers clustered thickly.

Akane began to walk towards the parapet, her eyes
still trained on something I couldn't see. Her
breathing remained steady, which confused me.
Obviously, whatever she was looking at wasn't very
frightening. What was I missing?

"Akane?" I asked. I stood and began to approach her.
"Akane what are you looking at?"

She continued to get closer to the parapet, and I
unconsciously speeded up slightly. She had reached the
edge now, and the waist high wall had stopped her
progress. She raised one slim arm and pointed. Her arm
was a pale blurry length in the darkness, and
following its line still got me no closer to
enlightenment.

She murmured something, and began to climb the
parapet. Light from a nearby building bathed her face
and I inhaled in surprise. She was still asleep.

"Akane!" I sprinted forward.

She stood perfectly balanced on the wall, her slim,
bare legs poised on the balls of her feet, raising her
arm to point again. Then she stepped off the edge. I
jumped. I scooped her out of mid air, and allowed
myself to land on the stone hood of a window, then
leapt back up to the wall and onto the roof, Akane
still in my arms.

She hadn't screamed. I looked at her, and she was fast
asleep, still breathing softly and steadily.
Bitterness invaded my thoughts. Akane safe and sound,
me wide-eyed and out of breath. Ain't that always the
way, I grumped silently.

I ignored the little voice that asked- Would you have
it any other way?

*****

I placed Akane on the ground and shook her gently. She
came awake instantly, and stared at me with sleepy
surprise and then dawning suspicion.

"Akane," I said, " You were sleepwalking."

"What?" she exclaimed. "Ranma, what are you talking
about?"

"Were you dreaming just now?" I asked. She nodded
slowly. "What did you dream about?"

"The diamond," she said. Her eyes widened, and I could
see the exact moment when she remembered it was gone,
but then she turned to look at the spot she'd been
staring at while asleep. "I dreamt that I was looking
for it, and it was........calling me.
It.......it.....wanted me to come to it. I......I was
getting close....." Akane clutched my shirt. "Ranma!
The diamond really is cursed!!"






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