Second to last chapter...^-^



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Title: The Countdown to Matrimony (Ch. 4 of Part 5)
Anime: Ranma 1/2
Author: Denise Cameron aka Elena99
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Chapter Four: The Cycle of Doubt

Ranma Saotome walked along the sidewalk with her hands in her pockets,
looking down at the oily puddles of water. A sudden late afternoon
shower had taken her by surprise; she had been out the door of the
shop maybe five minutes before the hot, tense air had given way to it.
Yet despite being wet, and having her curse activated, she walked with
a surprising amount of ease. The ripping of the skies that lead to the
rain, and lightning now, felt like such a release. All the tension she
had been starting to feel, at their last week of High School and at
the high air pressure that always came just before a rain shower for
her, was fading. Now she could finish her walk in relative peace.

It had been a week now, since she had brought Akane back from the
coma. Well, not quite; it was actually five days. Although there had
been a lot of celebration at Akane being back, and in full health,
there had been negative parts, too. Akane had to catch up on studies,
and have the doctor write formal notes to the school, then she had to
take exams while still feeling weak, to graduate. Ranma had never had
any doubt that she could do it, though. Despite her weakness
physically, her determination was back, and perhaps moreso then ever.
There wasn't much that could slow down a determined Akane.

"Ranma! You're going to catch a cold, wait up!" she heard a familiar
voice call from behind her. Stopping, Ranma turned on her heel, her
red pigtail whipping her face as she watched Akane jog over to her, an
unfurled umbrella in hand. Ranma's eyes widened.

"Hey, don't run, stupid, you're not supposed to be runnin' yet!"
yelled Ranma, surprised to see her fiancee there, especially moving
that fast. The doctor had told her to take it easy for at least two
weeks; jogging in a rainstorm was definitely not something she should
be doing.

"Well I wouldn't have to run if you'd wait for me! Honestly," said
Akane, shaking her head and stopping. Ranma dashed over to her, and
let Akane hold the umbrella over them. She narrowed her eyes as the
now taller girl sneezed.

"Ya still shouldn't be doing it. It's not like I knew you were there,
anyway. I thought you were gonna go meet Yuki and Megumi?" asked
Ranma. Now that school was over, they had a short break until their
actual graduation ceremony. Akane had been spending time with her
school friends a lot, who seemed quite eager to take her away from
Ranma now that she was out of the coma. It left Ranma feeling jealous,
protective, and uncomfortable with both the emotions, and Akane being
away.

"I was, but when I got to Yuki's, there was a note on her door for me.
Her Aunt had shown up, unannounced, about an hour before I got there,
to take her on a weekend trip. For graduation. She's so lucky, having
a rich Aunt that spoils her...Megumi was already there, and she went
too," said Akane, her voice giving away feelings of rejection. Ranma
nodded, though felt relieved at she hadn't been dragged along with
them. Although not quite as overprotective as the previous week, Ranma
was still nervous about letting her out of sight for too long.
Especially after the doctor's warning.

A bolt of lighting pierced through the sky then, white and blue and
electric, and they both craned their necks to look. A crash of drum-
like thunder soon roared after it, the sound no doubt echoing
throughout the city. It was so loud and sudden that afterwards the
drops of rain falling on the umbrella sounded lonely, and small by
comparison.

Ranma thought she had seen Akane flinch, if just slightly, at the
sound of the thunder. But when she looked back at her, Akane's face
was calm and together.

_Akane's not scared of thunder...maybe it just made her nervous, so
sudden like that..._

"How'dja know I was here?" Akane shrugged.

"I was lucky. You're on your way back to the house, right?" She
shifted her balance forward to suggest they should continue.

"Oh. Yeah, I am."

They watched as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky. The gray,
thick clouds, were shown in almost as much detail as the sun could
provide, when it wasn't hidden.

Akane nodded, and they began walking again, Ranma dripping and
squeezing the water out of her red shirt, then pigtail. The pants and
shoes she didn't worry about yet, as she couldn't easily walk and deal
with those at the same time.

Looking over at Akane, she noticed the girl seemed thoughtful. Pensive
even. But she wasn't sure whether or not she should question it.
Despite that she did seem happy since getting back, Akane would
occasionally go through quiet, somber moods. Moods marked by just this
look. If they were at the house, Ranma would just let her alone with
her thoughts, but here they were walking now. She didn't think Akane
wanted her gone, either; the girl HAD run up to her just so she could
cover her wet head with an umbrella.

_Or was that all there was to it? Maybe she got lonely, after her
friends left..._

"You never did tell me the rest of it," Akane said finally, having to
raise her voice as the rain pattered louder on their umbrella.

"The rest of what?"

"That...day. Of the curse. The voice didn't really start talking to me
until after you left the Nekohanten. You never told me what happened,
after I was hit." Ranma realized she was right. She had meant to tell
her; while Akane was out, she had thought about it often, wanting to
get her opinions on plans as they formed, then were rejected, then
formed, then were rejected. Even now, after so long of being able to
cool down, her aura bristled at the memories. Even as they were slowly
fuzzing and blurring, it was enough to dampen her mood.

"What's to tell? Gosunkugi hit you, then Shampoo, then-" She stopped
as Akane turned wide eyed to look at Ranma.

"Is that why the Nekohanten is closed? Shampoo was wounded?" Her voice
was more tinged with curiosity then actual concern for the girl.
Smirking ruefully, Ranma continued.

"She was knocked out, but not for long...she, uh...dammit, I'm gonna
haftah backtrack, here."

"Fine, fine. Just don't leave out anything, okay?"

"Okay." Ranma took a breath, then began anew. "Shampoo and Mousse were
out to kill Gosunkugi, while Ukyo and Ryoga were out to find him. But
Ukyo didn't let anyone else know until after Gosunkugi accidently
attacked."

"Why did they want to kill him? And why did Gosunkugi attack?"

"Dunno about Shampoo and Mousse, probably some sorta stupid vengeance
thing. Ya know, he hurt me, so she wanted to hurt him. Permanently.
And, uh, attack wasn't the best choice of words. He...lost control."

"I see. Go on."

"When you were gettin' your aura back...I sensed somethin'. An aura,
on the other side of the wall. I was sure it was gonna come in, it was
just so...pissed. I wanted to get Ukyo's attention, so she could help
me barricade the door. But...my shoutin' and jumpin' distracted curse-
boy. That's when you were hit," said Ranma shamefully, though trying
to hide it. Akane just nodded, oddly passive.

"After that...Gosunkugi turned to the door, just as Shampoo opened it,
and his aura was still out. It hit her, knocked her out. I don't
actually know how long for, but I heard in school that the Nekohanten
closed that night, and Shampoo, Mousse and Cologne left town. Cologne
wants Shampoo to go through some weird Amazon punishment that'll take
a coupla months, and Cologne is putting herself through somethin' as
well. Somethin' about Shampoo not being a woman yet, and it being
Cologne's fault."

Akane shivered as they walked, though didn't look incredibly disturbed
by the prospect. Ranma wanted to be able to read her face, and found
she could not; Akane was closed to her right now, for whatever reason.

"Kuno's been avoiding me...us...and so has Gosunkugi," commented
Akane, and Ranma realized that it was actually a question.

"Kuno and Kodachi still have the curse that makes 'em hate us. But
their memories are okay, and they have their auras." Ranma paused to
lick her dry lips. "Gosunkugi...I, uh, told him to leave ya alone."
Ranma moved her hands up to brush still damp hair off of her forehead
and cheeks. A wind had picked up, causing the rain to sprinkle lightly
on their faces, and Akane adjusted the umbrella to an angle.

"You just told him? That's it?" asked Akane, raising an eyebrow at
Ranma.

"Yeah," she said, not liking the disbelief in Akane's voice.

"Right. Hmm..."

They made it home in time for supper; Kasumi had kept a kettle of hot
water on the stove since the rain had started, in anticipation that
Ranma may get back from his walk to the comic shop female. Once
changed and dried off, they ate supper with the usual chatter. Kasumi
asking about the food and passing out seconds, Akane's father reading
the paper and making light conversation, Nabiki watching tv as she
ate. It was still raining when they finished, and Ranma got up to go
to the sitting room to watch tv. Akane followed him wordlessly, and
they made themselves comfortable in the large room.

The sound of the tv was barely able to overpower the rain and thunder
from outside, despite that Ranma had turned it up fairly loud. The
show, some sort of boxing drama, wasn't very interesting anyway. He
kept finding his mind wandering, and his body was restless. Akane
seemed restless herself, but he knew why she was. She wasn't allowed
to train; she had complained about it, loud and often, and probably
would again many times before she was allowed to practice the art.
Looking at her from the corner of his eye, he could see her fists ball
up, and see the twitch of her arm as she unconsciously imitated the
characters on screen. A light shone in her eye, and her brows were
creased, focused. Although he was tempted to comment, he held his
tongue; he knew perfectly well what it felt like to not be able to
fight, and understood Akane's frustration. She'd just get mad at him
if he said anything, and no doubt break the doctor's rules so she
could hit him.

As he looked though, he was suddenly reminded of the image of Akane
while they had been in the dream world. Maybe it was the determined
look in her eye, or the way she was fighting against something, but he
found himself further cowed because of it. He had felt...different,
then. Not that he wanted to take back anything that was said or done
there, but it had been a confusing time. They had said they loved each
other, for one. Didn't that change people? Yet here they were,
sitting, virtually unchanged.

_Probably just built it up in my head to be something different...the
shrimp-me was wrong...it didn't matter..._

"Is something wrong Ranma?" asked Akane suddenly, turning to face him.
Realizing that he had stopped just looking, and had instead been
starring, he averted his eyes, leaning back to rest on his hands in
what he hoped to be a casual pose.

"Just thinkin'."

"What about?"

"Huh? Oh. Nothin'."

Akane sighed, and rolled her eyes.

"This again?" she asked, and he was reminded of their argument in the
dream world. Gritting his teeth, Ranma shook his head, looking away
from her.

"Nah, it's not that. I was just...thinking about that place, where I
went to get you," he said, his voice coming out wistful.

_She can take that however she likes..._

"Oh. Right, that...place." The show they were watching ended, and
another one began, the sounds of the narrator filling the room with a
buzz of unheard words on top of an opening theme song. Glancing over
quickly, he saw that Akane was now looking at her fists, planted on
her knees.

_She's thinkin' something..._

"What about you?"

"Huh?" Her head was tilted as she looked at him, but her eyes seemed
to be hiding something.

"You look like you're thinkin'," he finished, and watched as she took
on a more closed posture. Her arms crossed beneath her breast, and she
tilted her head forward, allowing a few bangs to fall around her eyes.

"You said that...Shampoo is gone. For a few months," she said slowly,
and Ranma was silent, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't, he
allowed her words to sink in.

_Shampoo's gone. Akane's hesitant about something, and she's...oh. 
Oh._ 

"We finished. Kinda." Ranma's tongue felt fat in his mouth.

"This wasn't some contest, or race, or challenge. This was us,
preparing." Sighing, Ranma shifted his position to face her, sitting a
few paces away from him.

"I know, I know. All the same...we're done," he said, and let the
words hang in the air. Nothing about the situation felt done. Shampoo
was coming back, Akane was still healing, and not once had they
mentioned marriage to each other since they had returned. Their
fathers had, more then once, but that had been ignored by the two.

"True. But, what do we do now? I mean...." Obvious nervousness stopped
her words. He suppressed an unfamiliar urge to comfort, and instead
looked at the tv. There was a couple on it, sitting at a fancy table
in a restaurant, eating a meal. They were talking to each other
animatedly, but something looked very fake about it. Shaking his head,
he grabbed the remote and turned the tv off.

_No time for distractions._

"We finished school, so now, we..." But like Akane, he wasn't able to
finish. Instead he looked away uselessly, and sighed.

"Get married?" asked Akane, and the bluntness of her question made him
cringe. Her sudden eyes on him, penetrating and probing, made his
heart beat faster with nervousness. An urge to flee filled him, but he
stayed it. Barely.

"I, uh...well...," he stuttered, and watched as Akane shook her head,
her eyes losing the power that had been in them a second ago. "Hey.
Wait, it's not like that. I mean...it's just so..."

"Rushed? I suppose, though we've been engaged for over two years."

"And official for maybe two months at most. Akane, I..." He stopped
when he realized he had no idea what he was going to say. Raising an
eyebrow, she looked at him crossly now, her hands still in fists.

"Don't tell me you're still all wishy-washy about this? With all of
our preparing? I even told you near the start, if you wanted out, we
could put this off. But you didn't want to put it off. You went
through with it."

He shuffled uncomfortably on the floor, his face warming as the
conversation slowly turned into an argument. But what could he tell
her? He knew how he felt, but that didn't mean he knew what to do.
Marriage was...is... Marriage could be...he didn't even know. Marriage
was something that so many people seemed to want, usually with him for
some reason, but really it was just binding two people together.
Wouldn't they stay together anyway, if they liked each other? But he
forced his arguments down as he watched his fiancee, looking like a
tiger ready to pounce if he said the wrong thing.

"I ain't wishy-washy."

"Well you certainly sound it."

"Yeah? Well in that case, what do YOU want?" It was satisfying to see
her pause, blink, then watch the anger fade out of her face. At least,
it was satisfying until the expression changed to being sad and
indecisive. Frowning, his hand suddenly ached to comfort again, but he
stayed it, waiting for her to reply.

"Akane?"

"I want...to be like this. To live, with you in my life," she began
slowly, her voice sounding much calmer now. "But...I don't want to
force you into anything you don't want to do. That would be just like
our fathers." Ranma found himself nodding, the sound of the rain
outside barely a noise he could hear now. All his attention was on
Akane, as she slowly released her fists and wiped sweaty palms on her
pant legs.

"Do you want that too?" she asked, looking both incredibly sad and
cute. Ranma found himself gulping, and nodded.

"Yeah..." A small smile appeared on Akane's face when he answered, but
it melted quickly.

"So then...what do we do?"

Ranma found his mind suddenly wandering, between thoughts of Shampoo
coming back to reclaim him, to the idiocy they'd have to put up with
from their fathers if they told them they were getting married, to the
wedding itself, and wondering what they would do after that.
Irritably, he realized part of his concerns were what others would
think of him; of them. It bothered him, and suddenly he remembered his
initial plan, for them to get married then just runaway somewhere for
a while. Run, and hide from Shampoo.

_Yeah, like complete wimps...though it'd make Shampoo look pretty
stupid..._

"Hey." He needed her opinion on a thought that had just creeped into
his head.

"Yes?" she asked, clearly hearing the change in his tone.

_But we wouldn't be doing it just to get away from Shampoo...we'd be
doing it...to..._

"What wouldja think, if I asked you to...go on a trip. With me. After
graduation?"

The sound of the rain was suddenly much louder outside, and he felt an
oddly pleasant chill crawl up his arms when he saw Akane slowly,
questioningly, smile.

* * *

Eight days later...

It was still roughly three hours before the sun was due to rise.
Everyone in the Tendo household was long asleep, the earliest due to
wake up maybe two hours after the sun. All the lights in the windows
were out, all the appliances meant only for the daytime shut off, and
all noise was quieted. Except for the minimal noise created by the
youngest Tendo daughter, and the only son of the Saotome's.

Akane still couldn't believe she was doing this. But here she was,
penning the note at her desk, and making sure to pin it firmly to her
covers on her now properly made bed. She had barely slept in it that
night, she had been so anxious. Excited too, of course, and worried,
and unbelieving that she was doing this. That they were doing this.
But they were, and now she blew out the flame of the small candle on
her desk. It had made just enough light for her to gather any last
minute things, and write the note. Now she was ready, and they were
really leaving. They would come back, of course, but...

"Goodbye," she said softly, aimed towards her door. After one quick
squeeze of her curtains, she opened her window and carefully slipped
out. Ranma was down there somewhere, she knew. Waiting for her.
Closing the window as much as she could before jumping, she leapt over
to the tree near her window, making more noise then she intended to on
the way down. When she hit the ground, though, Ranma was there, giving
her a nasty look for making so much noise while at the same time
holding her up, as though she couldn't stand properly.

"I'm okay," she said in a hushed voice, though she did feel her knee
ache slightly. She had only been back on training and martial arts for
three days. This first walk ahead of them was going to be purposefully
short, for that reason, and Ranma had almost wanted to put off the
whole thing. But Akane hadn't wanted it put off. The idea was good,
and had potential, and she knew if they put it off that she may soon
doubt it. So instead, they were now outside, crouching towards some
bushes, pulling out the packs they had hidden earlier that day that
were filled with food, clothing, cooking tools, and other necessary
provisions for their trip. Akane strapped hers on quickly, testing
it's weight on her shoulders, bending her knees. She was dressed for
traveling as well, wearing beige cargo pants and a light, green t-
shirt. Instead of shoes she wore a pair of sturdy, leather boots that
felt strangely comfortable despite that they were fairly new and not
worn-in.

Her heart was beating a mile a minute, and despite being excited, she
was having a hard time calming her fears. What if someone saw them?
What if they were followed? What if they didn't get to the dock on
time to catch the boat?

"Ready?" she heard Ranma ask from her right. Looking at him, and the
determination in his eyes that was only lit barely by the porch light
a few meters away, she wondered if he had any fears. If he had any
worries, or doubts. But as she scanned his face, she saw that she
couldn't see any. If he did have doubts, he hid them well.

Akane allowed herself to smile, and pushed back her fears. They could
do this, and they would do this. Nothing was going to hold her back
now. Nothing.

"Ready."

Letting him take her hand in his, they walked through the front gate,
quietly setting off on their journey out of town.

* * *

Kasumi frowned as she looked at the door to her youngest sister's
room, and wondered if the girl was still sleeping. Wasn't she going to
come down for lunch? It may have been a day for sleeping in, what with
no school to go to and no job, but Akane was never this lazy. Even on
the weekends she rose early for her jog, and her training, and
certainly for breakfast. That had also been missed.

"Come to think of it...Ranma was also absent from breakfast. But Mr.
Saotome said he probably just went out for a jog. Still...Ranma does
not miss breakfast. It would be odd...unless..." Curious, she knocked
on Akane's door, her eyes going to the cute duck plaque that said her
name in english letters. Carefully, she turned the knob, pushing the
door open.

"Akane? Akane are you in there, sleepyhead?" she asked, her voice
pleasant in case the girl really was still sleeping. When there was no
answer after a moment, she opened the door further. The sight before
her, as she stepped into the room, was baffling. Akane's bed was made,
and her room was tidy except for an abandoned sock that lay near her
dresser. Kasumi quickly picked it up, meaning to take it to the
laundry bin as she left.

Walking around the room, she looked at her sister's desk, then her
dresser, then her bed, her head tilting as she saw the note. She
quickly unpinned it, a hand unconsciously going to her mouth as she
started to read.

"Oh my..." she said, a small, knowing smile gracing her face as she
read her sister's familiar, messy handwriting:

~Ranma and I are going on a trip. We can't tell you where we're going,
or when we'll be back, because honestly we aren't completely sure yet.
However, we'll send letters from time to time, and we will be back
sometime. Everything is just so complicated at home in Nerima, right
now. We need time, and we need space, and we need freedom. Dad, please
don't cry, I can take care of myself remember. Besides, I have Ranma
with me. Mr. and Mrs. Saotome, Ranma didn't want to leave you a note
because he didn't know what to say. Don't worry about us either,
though, I'll keep Ranma in line. Kasumi, Nabiki...take care. You'll
hear from us soon.
   Oh, before I forget...in a few months, Shampoo will probably come
looking for us. For this reason, we're not going to let you know where
we are. We're tired of running from everything, being at home. I know,
it looks like we're running away now, but we're not. Not really. We're
taking a vacation, and once we figure out some things, we'll come
back. I hope Shampoo doesn't cause too much trouble; if you need to,
try and convince her that we've gone to Africa. That should give her
something to do for a while, and get her out of your hair.

Don't worry about us,
Akane Tendo~

"Father! Nabiki!" Kasumi walked quickly out of the room, the paper
gently crinkling in her hand as she went downstairs to tell them the
news. She had a feeling something like this was coming, but hadn't
expected it so soon.


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