Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Shadows are Stirring ❯ Engeejiringu ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four: The Ring

"Climb up here, Akane," Ranma said, holding out a hand to pull her up onto the fence. He had both his pack and hers on, while she was carrying little except herself.

"No way, Ranma! People will see up my dress, won't they?" she replied indignantly.

"Well, you should have thought of that before you wore it. Besides, if you care what everyone else thinks, then I'll walk along side so no one can look up. Sound good?" he suggested, jumping down.

"Yeah, no one but you," she pointed out, crossing her arms.

"I'm not gonna look up your dress, alright? Wouldn't want to, anyway..." he said, looking away from her.

Akane stopped, not sure how to respond. Rather than argue further, though, she climbed the fence and stood a little uneasily on the thin railing. "Good. Balance is first. Won't be able to go far in the woods without balance," Ranma explained. "Try not to think about it too much, and you should be fine," he added when she looked down for further instructions. She saw right away that he really wasn't watching her, though she had the distinct feeling that if she were to start to fall, he would catch her. It wasn't a theory she wanted to test, but she was confident in it anyway.

"Al... alright," she said uneasily as she started to walk. She had to catch herself a couple of times, but after the first few steps, it got a lot easier. She found herself wishing after awhile that Ranma would join her up top, or at least look in her general direction once and a while. But then again, she did make herself pretty clear, didn't she?

The morning was only about half over when Ranma stopped walking, and Akane jumped down. He caught her before she could land, and she looked at him, wondering what was going on. "You were trying to land wrong. You would have hurt your ankles," he explained. "That's next. Jumping."

With that, he set her down and leapt up onto the roof of the house next to them. "Come on up here, Akane," he invited.

She backed up as she was looking. "I can't jump that high," she said slowly.

Ranma leapt back down. "Fine then, how high can you jump? This high?" he asked, jumping only so his feet barely left the ground. "Over your knees, maybe?" he pressed, demonstrating a very weak jump.

He leapt back as she swung at him, trying to knock him into orbit. "Oh come on, Akane, I thought you were better than that!" he taunted as he took off in a run down the street. Furious, she chased after him as he continued to call insults after her.

As he leapt into the air, she followed immediately, and found him sitting on the roof looking quite pleased with himself. "You baka!" she cried, throwing herself at him with her large hammer drawn from the air again. He leapt out of the way and pointed down. Looking, she fell back onto the roof herself as her mallet disappeared. "What? But how?"

"You didn't think about it, did you?" he asked. "You just knew you had to follow me, knew you had to catch me. I knew you could do it."

Akane threw herself at him again, only this time she wrapped her arms around him. "You mean you actually believed in me?" she asked him.

He looked away, embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess it could have been something like that..." He did not put his arms around her in response - mostly because she had managed to pin them to his sides.

She released him and went to the edge. "Wow, we're really high up, aren't we?" she asked, looking back to him. "How did we get here, anyway?"

"This is two stories," he explained. "But in order to jump this high, we hafta use ki energy. Which you just did." Akane stared at him openmouthed. "Emotions. Ki is based on emotions to start out. Training will give better control. You think I enjoyed taunting you?"

"You mean you don't, baka?" she asked with a smile.

"Course not, tomboy," he replied. "We have to be able to get down now, though. First, I want ya to get up here a few more times before tryin to jump down." He scooped her into his arms before she could say anything, and they were on the ground again. Setting her down, he leapt back up. "Do I have to insult ya again to get ya up here?" he asked.

Akane took a deep breath and tried to focus on her own ki energy. She remembered the power that she felt while she was angry, and tried to draw on that power. Running, she took a leap into the air, but only made it about halfway up the building before falling down again. Ranma caught her at the bottom before she could land hard, and set her down. He didn't say anything, though.

Taking another deep breath, she yelled and jumped. This time, she caught the edge of the roof with one hand and pulled herself up after a few moments. Ranma leapt up to land beside her. "That was better. Won't take you long to get up with ease, now."

"I thought you said I didn't have the training to use my ki yet..." she pointed out.

"This isn't really using your ki to attack, though, now is it?" he said. He picked her up and was about to jump, but then stopped. "You don't mind me carrying you for now, do you?"

"I can't get down yet, can I?" she replied, her heart suddenly beating much faster. When they landed on the ground, she gave him a quick hug, and then tried to leap back up. She flew up over the building and landed hard on the other side of the roof. Ranma was next to her immediately, though she assured him that she wasn't injured.

"Emotions can be powerful. Don't know what's in your head, but whatever it was, it's pretty strong..." he said softly.

She smiled up to him. "You had better believe it," she replied, blushing and catching him off guard. He had a goofy grin on his face moments later, and then shook himself back to reality.

He carried her down three more times, until she could get up without difficulty. The next time they landed on the roof, he stopped her. "Time to learn how to jump down, Akane," he explained. Her heart sagged a little knowing that he wouldn't be holding her again for a while, but she knew she needed the training, and so she stayed quiet. "Land on your toes," he said.

Standing, he ran to the edge and leapt, landing lightly on the ground and crouching into a kneeling position. "Come on, Akane," he called.

She looked down, terrified at the thought. She could easily imagine herself with a broken leg, or worse. And she so wanted to be able to enjoy the next two weeks, just being with Ranma, when he didn't have to have all of his defenses up all the time. Swallowing hard, she ran and leapt.

She didn't land. Instead, Ranma caught her in his arms, and leapt up again. "Not with your heels, tomboy, with your toes. Land with your toes first, and cushion the impact with your ankles and knees." He demonstrated by jumping into the air and landing on the roof so she could see.

"I'll try again, then." Running to the edge, she leapt again. Ranma was waiting at the bottom, and smiled broadly when she landed properly.

"Now go back up," he said matter-of-factly.

Akane sighed and turned around. Leaping up, she found herself on the roof again. Ranma was next to her a moment later, and he smiled. "Good. Now get down from here," he said, pushing her towards the edge. Akane did as she was instructed, and then returned to the rooftop. "Not bad, Akane. Not bad at all. Remember when in doubt: don't think too hard. Ya know what to do. Just do it. Too much thought and ya get lost." She resisted the temptation for a witty remark, and just nodded.

He took off her pack and handed it to her to shoulder. Once the weight was secure on her back, Ranma turned and started to run, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Akane smiled and followed as fast as she could.

"Ranma, wait!" she yelled when she thought he was getting too far ahead of her. He turned and stopped on the building he was at, and she caught him quickly. "Didn't want to lose sight of ya, that's all."

"Then keep up better," he suggested. "Blue really suits you, by the way." He then turned and continued towards the forest. Looking down, Akane wondered for a moment what he meant. She was wearing a yellow dress... she stopped and thought for a moment. She then swallowed deeply. She was only wearing one article of clothing that was blue, and Ranma should not have been looking at that!

"Ranma, get back here!" she cried, running even faster to catch him. "Pervert!"

She leapt off the last building before the edge of the forest to find Ranma leaning up against a tree waiting for her. "Took ya long enough," he said as he looked up when she landed. "Out of shape, aren't ya?"

Rather than reply, Akane raised a hand to slap him hard. Just before she struck, though, she stopped, remembering her promise to herself. "When did you see me wearing blue, Ranma?" she asked, curious.

"When you were leaping down from the buildings. Got to be more careful. I wouldn't have looked, but I didn't want ya to get hurt when ya landed. Had to make sure you were doing it properly, that's all," he explained, looking away from her and rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

She let her hand strike his cheek, but it was gentle, not really a slap at all. Didn't even turn the skin red. He looked back to her, and she let her hand fall to her side. "What now, then?" she asked.

"Now, I'll take that pack back. This is the last time for this trip, though, Akane," he warned as she undid the straps. "Just giving ya a chance to get used to tree hopping before making you carry the weight at the same time."

"Tree hopping?" she asked. She had seen the others do it before, but had never been able to herself. Bad sense of balance and not being able to jump... her thoughts trailed off. He had just trained her in both.

"Yup. C'mon," he said, leaping to a close branch and then jumping higher to the next tree. If she didn't hurry, he'd be out of sight very soon. Jumping to the branches, she tried her best to keep up. It took a lot more thought to keep her ki flowing so she could jump with enough distance to reach the trees. It soon became obvious that he was holding back, only staying one or two branches ahead of her, just to give her a chance.

By the time they stopped for lunch, Akane was thoroughly exhausted, but loved every minute of it. She was actually going to get better! Looking around, she saw that they had stopped next to a shallow river. Ranma had a fire going in a fire pit, with wood next to it. She quickly changed out of her dress into a skirt and blouse. She thought it might make training a little easier. When she shoved her dress back into her pack, she found that Ranma hadn't looked up from the fire even once as she changed. Though her heart was both pleased and upset, Akane wasn't sure which she would have preferred.

"So, ya bring that book?" he asked, looking to her finally. When she nodded, he motioned to the fire. "Well, get cracking," he said with a smile.

Nervously she pulled out a pot and filled it with water. She set it over the fire on the spit stick that Ranma had just set up, and waited for it to boil. Opening the book, she found the next phase to learn was pasta. She reached into the pack and pulled out a package labelled Ramen noodles.

When the water was boiling, she poured the noodles into the water and pulled out a container of spice to shake into it. Ranma caught her hand just before she could do so. "What'cha adding there, `kane?" he asked. Looking at the bottle, she saw the word Cumin.

"Uh... I thought I was adding salt," she explained as she reddened at her mistake.

"Don't worry about it. Just read the labels before you add anything. Start with the basics, remember?" he suggested.

"I don't need cooking lessons from you, Ranma," she glared at him.

"Ya did ask fer my help, remember? Well, fine then." He stood up and looked away from the fire. "Just let me know when it's ready."

"I didn't mean... oh never mind!" she cried, looking back to the pot. After a few minutes she pulled one of the noodles out and bit into it. It was actually edible! "Should I add any spices now?" she asked herself, looking over the book. The instructions suggested leaving the noodles as they were to start with. Sighing, she pulled the pot away and poured the water into another pot, just in case they needed hot water suddenly. They were next to a stream, after all.

"Try some, Ranma," she suggested, pouring half of the pot into a bowl and the other half into another bowl. Grumbling, he sat down across the fire from her and picked up the bowl. She blinked and the food was gone, and he was standing again. "How was it?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied gruffly. "You eating, or what?" he asked.

Sighing, she picked up her own bowl of noodles and ate them quickly. They actually weren't bad, although they were a bit bland. Not bad for a first successful noodle cooking! She just wished that Ranma could encourage her somehow.

Before she could finish the thought, she felt his hands grasp her firmly about the waist. In a blink of an eye she was thrown into the air, and descended again into the shallow river. Coming up spluttering curses, she saw Ranma sitting calmly at the edge of the waters with a pile of stones next to him. "Training again?" she thought out loud. "He could have warned me before throwing me in..." She stopped when one of the rocks hit her in the shoulder.

She took up a stance quickly, and struck the next stone from the air. He smiled as he tossed a stone up and caught it again. He knew she had caught on. From that moment on, the stones, along with Ranma, were a complete blur. She blocked a few from the first wave, but more than she would have liked got through.

When there was a pause, she assumed he must have been out of small enough rocks, but she quickly discovered her mistake. Rather than block this set, she pushed off the rocks in the water and leapt over the projectiles. As she landed on the bank, Ranma had moved again, throwing another set from behind her.

This continued for almost half an hour, and when the rocks finally stopped, Akane fell to the ground onto all fours, gasping for breath. Ranma was standing before her, a slight sweat built up. He was looking very nervous.

"What was that?" she demanded, looking up to him. If she had had the strength, she would have hit him. And hard, too. Or better still, she would have sent him clear to orbit with one of her mallets... but she knew she couldn't.

"I can't very well hit ya myself, now can I?" Ranma said softly, looking away from the very upset, very wet Akane. Before she replied, she stopped herself. She knew he was trying to train her the best way he could. How could she possibly think she could get better without hard training? She sighed and looked back to the ground, and Ranma came a little closer.

He passed his hand through Akane's hair affectionately, which caught her off-guard, and then went off to the side to stoke the fire. Akane got up momentarily and watched. It was only then that Akane realized how well Ranma had planned the attack.

With her clothes full of water, they acted as cushions for the hard rocks. If he hadn't thrown her in the river first, she very well could have broken a few bones... if not worse. As she watching him work the fire, she suddenly realized the horrific amount of trouble he had gone through in the past ten years to get as good as he was then.

She walked over to him and caught his collar. Before he could respond, she heaved him into the water. She came up spluttering. "What the hell'd you do that for?" she demanded.

"All's fair in love and war," Akane replied with a grin. She pulled Ranma-chan out of the cold water and gave her a gentle push towards the fire.

Ranma-chan walked over to the fire and striped off her wet top and pants. She wrung them out and then draped them over the fire to try and dry them even faster. As usual, no sense of modesty from her... "If you want to dry out before we start, that would probably be a good idea," she suggested.

Akane looked at him, surprised by his suggestion. Was he trying to get a chance to look at her... no, he was carefully looking away from her, trying to give her space if that was what she wanted. Even still, she wouldn't even have dared to take off her clothes until she realized that they were in the middle of a large forest, and any travellers would make enough noise to give them both plenty of time to prepare. And if not, she doubted very highly that Ranma would let anyone get close enough to see her anyway.

Akane peeled off her clothing and wrapped herself in a blanket and placed the wet clothes near to Ranma-chan's on the fire. Ranma-chan never even looked at her. Her gaze remained transfixed on the fire. Akane sat down next to her.

"If it's too much, we can stop whenever you wish," stated Ranma in a low tone, "I'll understand. This is tough on me, too."

Akane just smiled as she latched onto her fiancée and held her in a fierce hug. "Thanks, Ranma. I know that must have been hard..."

"Damn right."

Akane held her even tighter. "But at least you're taking my training seriously..."

Ranma-chan stood and pulled her clothes off the line. Akane then saw the pot next to the fire. "There is some hot water in that if you want it," she suggested to Ranma-chan.

"Thanks, Akane," she replied, picking up the water. After dumping it over her head, he wriggled his nose. "Smells like noodles... think I'll change back for now. Don't want to smell like this all day..."

Akane reddened. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ranma. I should have set the water aside before adding the noodles!" she stammered out her apology, but he shook his head.

"Don't worry, just a mistake. We'll heat water again at the camp site." He turned and leapt back into the cold water, and then joined her again, pulling her dry clothes on. "I'll stay this way until then. Gotta train my girl side sometime, right?" She shivered, and Akane started to unwrap her blanket to offer it to Ranma-chan, but stopped just before pulling it off as she remembered that she didn't have anything on under it.

She blushed, but Ranma-chan wasn't even looking at her. Akane stared at her grimly. Even though they were alone, he wouldn't take the opportunity to peek at her. She supposed she should have been grateful, but she couldn't help the nagging thought that maybe he didn't think her attractive enough for him... after all, Ranma's female body was beautiful, and, as he had said before, better built. She hated to admit it, but it was true.

Ranma-chan touched Akane's clothes, and found them to be dry. She handed them back to her, and turned around to let her put them back on. She pulled on her skirt and did up her bra again, and then stopped, an idea in her head suddenly. Dropping her blouse onto the blanket, she came up behind Ranma-chan and wrapped her arms around her. She turned to hug her, and looked away as soon as she saw that Akane wasn't fully dressed yet.

"What's wrong, Ranma?" Akane demanded, putting her hands on her hips, causing a variety of other movement by her actions.

"Akane, I'm a girl right now, remember?" she asked with a sigh.

"No, you're Ranma," Akane corrected her. "And I care for you whether you are a guy or a girl," she explained, moving to enter his line of sight again. "Don't you want to look at me like this?" she asked, a touch of fear in her voice.

Ranma-chan nodded, but did not look. "Akane, I would rather do that as a guy, at least for the first time," she said slowly. "If that's alright," she added hastily.

Akane sighed. Probably a good idea not to do this now anyway... I've wanted him badly for quite a while now, and being alone is only making that harder. "Thanks, Ranma," she said as she pulled on her blouse again. She looked at her with a curious expression on her face, and Akane smiled. "Don't worry about why. Just... thanks," she whispered.

Ranma-chan nodded her understanding, and picked up her pack again, and motioned for Akane to pick up hers. She then kicked dirt onto the fire to put it out. "Now let's go again, shall we?" she asked, leaping up to the trees again. Akane was right behind her.

By the time the sun was starting to set, Akane was tired, sweaty, and extremely sore, but quite happy at the same time. They had barely stopped all afternoon. Ranma-chan got far ahead of her just before they stopped, and when she arrived at the small clearing that she had found, she found Ranma-chan already had a tent set up and a fire going to heat the pot of water. As she set her own pack down, Ranma poured the hot water over himself.

"Looks like pops did it to me again," he sighed as he motioned to his pack. "Unless you happen to have a tent in your pack..." he trailed off as he looked to her. She shook her head. "Damn. Wonder when he took it out..."

"What do you mean? We only have one tent?" she asked. "Between the two of us?"

"Don't worry, I'll sleep outside. I'll give you the tent." She picked up the pot of steaming water and dumping it over her. "That's better," he added, looking to her. "How you doing?" he asked.

"Fine," she lied. "So, should I start supper?" she asked, setting her pack down next to the tent and pulling out the supplies.

"In a minute," he replied. "First, a few katas," he explained. He took up a Crane stance, and waited for her to join him. Together, they worked their way through a few simple, and quite a few complex katas. When they were done, Akane was more tired than she had been before. But she also had a few questions for Ranma.

"What stance do you use?" she asked him.

"I don't," he explained easily.

"What? Then why are you bothering to teach me all these, if you don't feel they are worth it?" she demanded, standing again to face him.

"If you know the style, then you know the weaknesses. Once you know enough styles, you can adopt your own. Take the best of everything, and leave out the worst," he explained. "Have you ever seen me take anything but a loose stance?"

"I guess not..." she nodded. She knew what he meant. He really was a good teacher. She wondered if he knew or not... Akane looked down to the fire. "Should I start supper now?"

"You sure you can handle it?" he asked.

"I'm going to try Ramen this time. With everything, not just the noodles," she explained. "I think so..."

"Good luck," he said, looking away.

"You could... help me if you wanted to," she blurted out quickly as she looked through her pack for all the ingredients.

"Ya sure ya want that?" he asked.

"Please," she pleaded.

"Alright, Akane," he said with a smile. She sighed. His smiles, though rare, just melted her resolve, and she was startled when he caught her hand. She felt a warmth spreading from him suddenly, his ki energy she knew, and she felt her own, cooler ki joining it as she was lost in her own world. "That would be the fire, Akane. Don't touch that!" he scolded, tapping the back of her hand lightly with his other hand. He stopped when she looked to him. "Akane?" he called softly.

She leaned up and pressed her lips to his before he could back away. She felt him pressing back to her, and her mind exploded with feeling and new sensations. When she pulled away suddenly, her heart was beating fast and she was breathing heavily. She placed a hand on her chest and looked to him for his reaction.

He was sitting back with a dazed look on his face. She sat forward before he recovered and leaned against him. "Sorry, Ranma. I've been wanting to do that for so long..." she whispered. "And boy, was it worth the wait... I can see why the others are always after you now..."

He pulled away at her words with a groan. "Did you have to bring them up now?" he asked, putting his hands over his eyes. "I just wanted to remember that kiss..." he sighed.

Without warning, Akane leapt at him again and kissed him a second time. When she pulled away this time, she thought it was even better than the last time. "Remember that one, then..."

Ranma just sat there as she put the pot of water over the fire. After a few moments, he joined her, and sat behind her to help with the cooking. Little was said except a few suggestions from Ranma, which she followed completely. She hated to admit it, but he did know what he was talking about with cooking.

It didn't take too long for the ramen to be ready. Akane would have liked for it to have taken longer, because for some reason, she had never felt so close to Ranma before. She sighed as she waited for the spices to heat and settle into the dish.

"Looks good, Akane. Try it first, and let's see what'cha think," he suggested as she served two dishes worth.

She pulled out her chopsticks from her pack and tried some. It wasn't just edible, it tasted pretty good! Not as good as Kasumi's, but still... not bad. She handed the bowl to Ranma and took the other one for herself. "Thanks, Ranma," she smiled to him.

"For what?" he asked as he started to eat.

"Never mind," she replied as she watched him savour her food. He wasn't repulsed by it for once... "Any good?" she asked.

"Meh," he shrugged, standing slowly after setting the bowl down.

"That all you can say, Ranma? Can't you ever give my cooking a compliment?" she demanded, standing and tossing her bowl aside. He dove and caught the bowl, and looked up to her from the ground sheepishly.

"Ya know I ain't no good at compliments, Akane," he said, looking away. "But it tasted..." he stopped.

"Don't worry about it, Ranma," she sighed, taking the bowl back from him and finishing her ramen. I know that you liked it now, anyway... guess I'll have to start hearing what you don't say, too…

He moved over to his pack and pulled out a bottle of ointment. "Sore anywhere?" he asked her. "This stuff should help, if ya'd like."

"Just all over. Shoulders, back, legs, arms, you name it..." she said sighing. "Thanks," she said, holding out her hands for the bottle. He shook his head.

"Ya'd have no idea how to apply it. This is the secret Saotome School of Anything Goes Healing Cream," he explained. "Needs to be massaged in," he explained slowly. He then looked away. "Sorry, shouldn't have suggested it, I guess."

"Actually, Ranma, that would feel nice right about now. I'll get ready in the tent, and let you know when you can come in to help," she said, blushing furiously as she moved quickly to the opening. He watched her from behind, surprised by her response. He looked away when he heard her rustling in the tent. "Anytime, now," she called.

"O.. Okay," he stammered. Opening the tent flap, he crawled in and found her to by lying on her front with a skirt on, hiked up to cover just her bum, and no top on at all.

"This good?" she asked with her eyes closed.

Ranma swallowed hard and decided that he didn't trust his voice to answer right then. Instead, he dipped his hand into the cream and started with her shoulders. Aside from just the cream, he had to push the pressure points to relieve the muscles as he went. He took several deep breaths when Akane started to moan. "You okay?" he asked her, stopping for a moment, not sure if he could continue with as much control without a short break.

"Feels wonderful, Ranma. Please, don't stop now..." she said, opening her eyes to look up to him. He looked away from her, trying to hide the red on his face, and she closed her eyes again.

He returned to his duties, saying very little as he applied the cream. When he finished with her back, he started with her thighs. He didn't look at what he was doing, because he didn't want her to think he was staring somewhere else, though he was extremely tempted, especially because of her continued moaning. As he worked his way down, the moaning stopped and was replaced by steady breathing. Stopping when he was finished, he looked to her face and found her deep asleep. He pulled a blanket out from his pack and covered her with it.

Leaning in, he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and left the tent to sit outside the entrance. It wasn't long before he was fast asleep as well.

Halfway through the night Akane woke suddenly, feeling very cold. The blanket around her shoulders had slipped as she rolled over, and she found herself wearing very little and not entirely sure what was going on. As her memory returned, she searched around quickly for her clothes and, upon finding her pack in the tent, she pulled out her yellow pyjamas and put them on quickly. She then noticed that Ranma was nowhere to be found. Opening the zipper to the tent quietly, she found him sitting under a tree, leaning again it fast asleep. She pulled the blanket along behind her and sat down next to him. He didn't move as she put the blanket over the both of them, and then she leaned in against his shoulder and fell asleep again. He was a much warmer and softer pillow than she had been using before.

The next morning when Akane woke up, she found that Ranma was already awake, though he hadn't moved yet. The sun hadn't quite risen, and the dew was still rather heavy in the air.

He smiled to her. "If we don't move into the tent soon, then I'm going to turn girl on you," he sighed. "Do you mind?" he asked. Akane groaned and sat upright, rubbing her neck. She thought she had been quite comfortable, but she supposed that at the angle it must not have been very smart. "And we'll see what we can do about that before going back to sleep for a little while. We can't sleep all day, though," he explained.

Akane grinned and stood up slowly. Ranma leapt to his feet beside her and guided her back to the safety of the tent. Once inside, she sat on the floor of the tent, and Ranma sat beside her and started to work on her neck. A soft moan escaped her lips as she felt the pressure leaving her, and she sighed. "Ranma?" she called.

"Hmm?" was his simple reply as he continued.

"Did you mean what you said the other day?" she asked with her eyes closed.

"When?"

"When?" Akane said, her voice a little harsher. "When do you think, baka?" She turned around quickly and looked at him. "When you were talking about what was good in your life," she said.

"Oh. Then," he replied softly. "Yes. I did, Akane. I still do. I wouldn't have a whole lot without you," he smiled. He then swallowed hard. "I just can't say it before other people. Get too nervous, ya know?"

She nodded. "Ranma?" He continued to look at her. "You are my world…" she whispered, leaning in to give him a kiss. He responded in kind, and then pulled back. She was confused. That kiss hadn't been like the others. Ranma looked equally perplexed, but neither spoke of it. It seemed to be lacking something... not that it was a bad kiss, it just wasn't as bright as the other ones they had shared.

"Your neck doing better?" he asked. When she nodded, he smiled. "Good. We may want more sleep. Long day ahead of us, you know."

"Right now, I just want to lie here and talk, if that's alright," she suggested.

He nodded and lay back onto the ground, on top of a sleeping pad. The height of luxury for the seasoned traveller, but he wasn't about to complain. To his surprise, Akane nuzzled in next to him, and set her head down on his chest. She just lay there for a time, listening to the soothing beating of his heart before anything was said again.

"Is everything alright, Ranma?" she asked quietly.

"Like this, it sure is," he replied.

"Where were you last week? What was going on?" she asked him.

"I was at Ucchan's," he explained easily.

"What?" Akane demanded, sitting upright quickly. She pulled out her mallet again and was about to bean him in the head - as usual - when he caught the descending weapon in one of his hands. She was surprised, as he had never stopped it before, and the weapon vanished in an instant. Confused, she suddenly started to wonder how she had summoned it at all...

"Akane, you've really got to start letting me explain first. Otherwise, you are going to spend your life mad. And you really are cute when you smile, you know," he added with a grin of his own.

Akane took a deep breath and forced a small smile. "What was going on at Ucchan's that took you a week?" she asked in as calm a voice as possible.

"She needed help running the store. So I was there as a waitress," he explained. Akane stared at him. She knew how much he hated being a girl for long periods of time, so what he had done must have been extremely difficult. "I needed the money, so I worked for it."

"Nabiki should take a page out of your book," Akane suggested. "Speaking of which, you told her you had no money to buy her silence. What gives?" she asked.

"I didn't lie. I've got nothing left now, Akane," he said calmly.

"Then what'd you buy with a week's worth of work?"

"Actually, it was closer to three weeks' worth. I worked all the shifts each day but one for sleeping. She said it wouldn't be the same without me around," he added.

Of course she'd say that, if Ranma was there. That was the only reason... did she try to pay him extra to keep him there? "I don't really blame her for wanting you around all the time, though..." Akane whispered.

"Don't want to be there all the time, though. I've got a lot of better things to do than serve idiot customers," he shrugged.

"Then what'd you buy?" she asked.

"Thought you'd never ask," he replied, sitting up and reaching into his pocket carefully. "Akane..." he trailed off, keeping his hand closed around the object in his hand.

"What is it, Ranma?" she asked.

"Things have really gotten botched up a lot since we were first forced together, right?"

"That would be one way of putting it."

"Well, I wanted a choice in the matter. And now I've got one. Akane," he said, opening his hand to reveal a small, velvet covered box. "Have a look."

She took the small jewellery book from his hand gingerly, her own hands shaking uncontrollably. Slowly she lifted the lid to the box, revealing a golden ring with a three-piece diamond in the centre, surrounded by four pieces of topaz. Gasping, she looked up into his watering eyes. "Ranma?"

"Thought you'd like a real one this time," he said with a nervous grin. She giggled when she remembered the pillbox that his mother had had him give to her before. They had both thought that it was a ring, until she tried to put it on. She pulled on the ring, and it came out easily. Testing it, she found it to fit perfectly on her ring finger on her left hand. She then looked back to Ranma. "Akane, would you marry me?" he asked, his voice rough and shaky, but never breaking once as he asked.

"Oh Ranma," she cried, throwing her arms around his neck. "I would love to!"

His arms wrapped around her this time as well, and she felt a warm glow surround them. His ki, of course. She knew that without even thinking about it. Feeling his ki reminded her of her own, which started to spread, warm and comforting this time, instead of cool and untested like it had been before.

She pulled back and looked to him, and then leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. What started as a gentle kiss quickly developed into a much more passionate kiss. This was like the first two kisses. Fireworks came to mind. Just as she started to open her mouth to allow their tongues to explore a bit, she broke away. "We... can't. Not yet," she said as she gasped for breath.

"What's wrong, Akane?" Ranma asked, putting a hand on her back to steady her.

"I don't think I'd be able to stop if we started now, Ranma..." she trailed off. The look in his eyes told her that he had been thinking the same thing, and that he, too, thought it best to wait for something like that.

"For now, let's just relax together, and wait for the sun to actually rise..." he suggested, lying back done. Akane snuggled into him again quickly, and it wasn't long until they were both fast asleep again, though this time, they were both much happier.

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