DISCLAIMER: The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the property of Rumiko
Takahashi, their creator. They are used here without permission.
This story was written for entertainment purposes only and may not be
used for profit in any way.


We'll See
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
By Elin B



"No," she said, "no, I don�t think so. Not now."
They were sitting on the back porch, eating watermelons in the
lingering warmth of the summer evening. Akane wiped her mouth and spat
out a few watermelon seeds.

This was in late August, more than month after the big row that had
taken place between Akane and Nabiki, the kind of fight that turns deep
and nasty, causing bystanders to slink away and dive for cover. Kasumi
had only just begun to attend evening classes in book-keeping and
calligraphy two nights a week. And only last night Soun Tendo had made
a big announcement which had nothing to do with marriage.

Ranma blinked and raised his eyebrows.
"You don�t want to be taught? Well, suit yourself. Why not?"
Akane put down the empty watermelon shell, then leaned back. The
crickets were chirping, occasionally drowned out by the distant sound
of traffic.

They had been talking a little about her father's newest decision. 
Apparently, his cousin, who lived over in Vancouver in Canada, was
going to visit Tokyo for a week-long visit, the first time he�d been
there in years. Naturally, he had asked if the Tendos could put him up.
For some reason, this had made Soun decide to open the dojo up for
classes again. 

He wanted the Saotomes, especially his prospective son-in-law, to help
out with the training. The cousin wasn�t going to come until the end of
September, so they would have several weeks to advertise and prepare
themselves.

Ranma had just admitted to Akane that he was a little concerned that he
might scare people away at first.
"I�m used to the way Pop�s been training me," he had said. "And, you
know, I am pretty damn good. But you can't use those training hetods on
beginners. Maybe people are just going to get discouraged, if they
start off thinking think they can reach any real levels of martial arts
without really applying themselves."

Akane had attempted to flick watermelon seeds at him, but he ducked
them easily. 
"Well, you've never really taught before, did you?" she said. "You know
how to fight, but not teach."
"Well, neither do you," Ranma pointed out.
She nodded. "But Dad isn�t leaning on me to help out," she said,
"though he might later. _You�re_ the one who�s supposed to take over
the dojo, after all." She gave him a shy look from under her bangs.

Ranma reddened for just an instant, but did not respond directly to the
last part. He looked down at the plate of watermelons and took another
slice.
"All right, so I don�t have any experience of that stuff," he said
between mouthfuls. "But you�ve got to start somewhere."
A thoughtful look came into his eyes. He turned and looked at his
fianc�e, tilting his head.

"Say, do you want to become my first student?" he said, nonchalance
mingled with hope in his voice.
Akane blinked, her eyes becoming very wide.
"I mean," Ranma continued , "you did say just the other day that you
wanted to be better, so that you could handle people like that latest
looney by yourself if you had to..." He trailed off, aware of her
stare.
"Do you *feel* well?" she said, frowning as she reached out to touch
his forehead.
"Of course I do!" He moved his head an instant after she touched him.
"Why?"
"It�s just that you�ve never seemed to want me to get better," she
said. "Look at what you did when I had the magical battle dogi, for
instance."
"But that was different," he protested. "That wasn�t _earned_! And that
suit was perverted, anyway."
"Well, you wanted to wear it, too," she pointed out. "But anyway," she
continued quickly, leaving the matter of the battle dogi behind in the
dead past, "even so, you never seemed to think it was a good thing that
I trained. You always made me feel rather clumsy, actually." She
shrugged, then bit her lip and looked away, a little red in the face.

Ranma blinked, then quickly spat out a few watermelon seeds and wiped
his mouth so he could counter this.
"Hey," he said, "I gave you a workout like nobody else would have! If I
hadn�t teased you so much, you�d be a whole lot slower than you are
now!"
"What?" said Akane, nonplussed. "Are you saying you did it on purpose?"
She looked bemused, and was silent for a few seconds.
"But- but I�m not quick!" she protested then. "I�m still pretty slow."
"You were slower when I first came here. A good deal so," said Ranma
seriously. "But most everyone else have gotten better too, so you can�t
really tell."
"Huh. Then I�m running to stay in place," she said pensively. She
shifted uneasily. But do I want to be part of the race that badly? she
wondered.
"So, whaddya say?" asked Ranma. "I do need to learn how to teach, after
all," he added, rather more quietly.
And that was when Akane had said no. No, she didn�t want to, not now.

In response to Ranma�s �Why not?�, she sighed and turned her head to
see him better.
"Because," she said slowly, "I think I need to do it alone. I mean, of
course I�ll need a sensei... But I think I�ll look for someone who
doesn�t already know me. I need to find my own way of doing things."
"Oh," said Ranma. "So... you don�t think I could hack it as a teacher,
then?" He was not sure how he felt about this. Part of him did feel a
little wounded at this lack of faith, though he supposed it made sense.
Part of him felt somewhat relieved: for some reason, there was
something a little unnerving about the thought of holding private
training sessions with Akane. But he also felt a little disappointed,
at the very same time.

"That�s not it!" protested Akane. "When I do feel more sure of myself,
then I�ll let you teach me. Just not right away."
"Hm," said Ranma uneasily, struck by a new thought. "What if your
teacher�s some looney, though? Or a pervert?" He could picture the
scene easily, with a wide-eyed, naive Akane stepping up in her yellow
gi, saying: �Please, sir, I want to learn martial arts, sir�, and how
the teacher, handsome yet lecherous, would smile and say, �Very good.
Let me just show you some useful pressure points�. Ranma clenched his
fists.

A loud snort from Akane interrupted these musings.
"In that case, I�ll just belt him and go look for a different teacher,"
she said drily. "Really, Ranma. Who do you take me for?"
"Someone who always gets caught up in trouble," he answered promptly.
She looked irked at this, but then she just exhaled slowly, leaned back
and smiled a little.  They were silent for a while.

Akane thought: but what if I don't find my own way? What if all a
teacher can do is to tell me that I won't ever get much better than I
am now? Then what will I do?

She had to be prepared for something like that, she told herself. After
all, she was not Ranma. When he grit his teeth stubbornly and fought
on, he would find a way to succeed in the end. When she did the same,
she still failed, more often than not.
Perhaps because she didn't think of changing the rules, like he did.

It wasn't as if she could just give up martial arts completely and
become a couch potato. Not that she wanted to, of course - but as long
as she was engaged to Ranma, it would be crazy not to keep in shape and
to keep up basic self-defense practice. But perhaps, if she chose to,
she would no longer be a martial artist, merely someone who knew how to
fight a little. She would no more issue challenges, nor accept them.
Instead, she would be free to concentrate on other things. What those
things might be, she did not know, but there must be something she
could be good at.

The thought was not pleasant at all: it would mean leaving all the
responsibility for the honour of the school to Ranma alone. But after
all, she thought with sudden bitterness, that was all Dad seemed to
want.
This part of her father's announcement had not botheed her just now,
talking to Ranma. But it came and went, how she felt about it. The
worst part of it was, she did not dare to confront Dad about it. If it
was one thing she could not bear, it was to hear her father confirm
that he just didn't think her good enough.

She is being awfully quiet, thought Ranma. But it didn't feel as if she
was waiting for him to say something. It felt calm and peaceful, for a
change.
He listened to the sounds of the neighbourhood around them, to family
fathers as they came home from work at last, opening and shutting gates
and doors. The dogs were taking up the twilight bark, and teenagers
left their homes in clusters, talking and laughing down the street. The
sun was setting out of sight, beyond the garden wall and the
neighbouring houses. Only the very top of the house was still basking
in its reddish-golden light. 

Akane seemed a little different these days, he thought, more grown up
or something. Well, at least sometimes. He supposed that was a good
thing. Only, did this mean he had to act more grown-up as well? And
what if she was changing and growing too fast for him to keep up with
her?
On the other hand, who could tell what was really grown up, and what
was just becoming like everyone else?

I suppose I have changed, haven't I? thought Akane. I think I have
grown: I feel different on the inside. I hope it's for real and not
just some temporary mood.
Her big row with Nabiki had probably something to do with it, upsetting
as it had been. She could not pretend that it had all ended for the
better. The two sisters rather avoided each other these days. But at
least she had given as much as she had got - for once her sister had
not managed to make her feel like an eight-year-old. Nabiki had called
her awful things, some of which had more than a little truth to them.
But she had survived it. She had not broken down. And she was no longer
afraid of her sister.

Boy, she's been quiet forever, thought Ranma, glancing at her. A few
minutes ago, she had looked slumped and brooding; but now she looked
more languid again, much like him. She was resting her chin in one hand
and gazing upwards. He too looked up at the sky, growing darker by the
minute. Night was coming fast. He felt as if he could capture this
evening, this moment, to hold it cupped in his hand as if it were a
firefly. But why would he do that?

Someone has to be like this, Ranma thought suddenly. Someone has to be
the one to take things lightly, to balance on the edges and casually
accept challenges. Otherwise, how would anything work? They would all
develop ulcers and drown in their own seriousness. 
It's not just that it's fun, he said to himself. It's something I have
to do.
He studied this new insight and decided to file it away for further
consideration. Perhaps he could say this to Akane some other time. 

He doesn't understand, she thought. But she did not feel troubled: she
felt easy and calm and warm.
It was not that she thought he would make a bad teacher. He would
probably be quite good at it, once he'd had a few tries. It was just
that she did not want to be shaped like a lump of clay, without
anything to offer by herself.

"All right, then," said Ranma suddenly.
He turned his head to look at her. "Fine. You go off and find some old
geezer to teach you stuff. Then *I'll* take over and teach you
something better and more useful. Deal?"
"OK," said Akane, nodding. "I'll let you be my teacher, then."
"Great!" said Ranma cheerfully.
"You know, I think it's about time I went to bed," said Akane, getting
up and sliding the inner doors open.
Ranma frowned. "Now, wait a minute!" he called after her, as she
entered the house. "You're not letting me teach you - I'm the one who's
letting you be my student!"
"Isn't that nice of you," mumbled Akane sleepily. She let out a yawn as
she started to mount the stairs. "Well, we'll see." Outside, the moon
was rising.



AUTHOR'S COMMENTS, UPDATED: This came about from a wish to write a
contemplative piece, and to write more densely than I usually do. This
is my first work of fanfiction in prose.

I would like to thank all those who sent me comments on the first
draft. I have revised the text now, but I am not quite certain if this
is the final version. 
If anyone wants to offer comments on this revised version, such
feedback will be very welcome.

Elin








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