Ranma shuddered. He wanted it all to stop. The memories wouldn't bring her back, it would only make the reality of the situation sink in.

     That this was his fault.

     Everything that happened... that led up to this moment... had been his fault. The only one to blame for Akane's death was him. He let his greediness consume him, and now he was paying the ultimate price...

     He wanted it to stop. He prayed for them to stop.

     Sometimes, its better not to remember.

     Ranma and Akane sat comfortably on the rooftop, a small notebook lay open before them. "Kodachi and Shampoo are the real problems." Ranma stated as he looked over the list with narrowed eyes. "Neither one of them are above using potions or poisons to get what they want."

     "What about Ukyo and Kuno?" Akane asked confused. "Why don't you think they're going to be a problem?"

     Ranma became silent as he pondered the question. He wasn't sure how to respond. He wasn't worried about Ukyo. There was no reason to be. She had never tried to use any potions on him, or tried to seduce him. She was just a really good friend. He wasn't really worried about Kuno either. He wasn't really a problem, he was more of a nuisance. An annoying little pebble you can't seem to get out of your shoe.

     "Well... I think Kuno will be a cinch to take care of. We can just employ Nabiki to get rid of him for us. Or... maybe, we'll just get lucky and he'll find someone else to obsess over."

     "Yeah, right." Akane replied skeptically. "Its gonna take more than that to get rid of Kuno."

     Ranma was deep in thought when an idea finally occured to him. "I know!" he exclaimed. "We could tell Kuno that his pig tailed goddess was kidnapped by pirates and that its his job to go and rescue her. That ought ta keep him busy for a while."

     Akane sighed in frustration and punched Ranma hard on the head, emitting a cry of pain from him.

     "Ouch! What'd you do that for you violent maniac?" he complained.

     "Oh, so that's why you don't use your brain very often." Akane muttered in annoyance. "It must hurt to actually think."

     "What's THAT suppose to mean?" Ranma asked angrily.

     "Nothing." Akane muttered, hoping to avoid an argument. Things had been going so well between the two of them lately that she didn't want to ruin it by getting into a fight. "What about Ukyo?"

     "Well... Ukyo's the sanest and nicest of my fiancees. I don't think she'll go crazy and try to kill us, or anything. She might not like my decision, but I think that over time, she'll learn to accept it." Ranma paused, unsure of his own resoning. "I mean... Ucchan would never try to use drugs or potions to make me fall in love with her, so what's there to worry about?"

     Akane stared unbelieving at her fiancee, unsure of what she had just heard. "Ranma..." Akane began slowly, each word emphasized. "She's not going to give you up without a fight, you know."

     "Akane. This is Ucchan. She wouldn't hurt a fly. Besides... she knows I only think of her as a friend."

     "Ranma?" Akane asked. "Are you delusional or just plain nuts? Are we even talking about the same Ukyo?"

     "I'm not crazy!" Ranma replied defensively, his ego wounded. "And I think I know Ucchan better than you do, Akane. She's very mature and can handle the truth."

     Akane sighed in aggravation, annoyed with her fiancee. "Ok Ranma... I'm going to spell this out for you. Ukyo loves you and she _will_ fight for you. Remember what happened at our failed wedding? She threw a bomb at me! Does that tell you anything?"

     Ranma paused, speechless for once. He had forgotten about that whole bomb incident. "Relax Akane. Ukyo's above that, now. It was just a lapse in judgement, that's all. She promised that she'd never throw a bomb at you again."

     "Yeah, sure. Next time it'll be a hand grenade." Akane muttered.

     Ranma glared angrily at Akane who refused to meet his eyes. "There's absolutely nothin to worry about. Just let _me_ handle Ukyo."

     "Alright." Akane agreed reluctantly. "But I have a feeling its not going to be that easy."

     "Come on, Akane. Trust me. Everything will work out, you'll see. I'm doing this for us, remember?"

     "I know." Akane replied. "That's why I'm worried. Things never seem to go right for us. I just have a feeling that something's going to go wrong, and there's nothing we can do about it. Something always does."

     Ranma put his arm around Akane's waist and pulled her closer towards him, neither saying a word. They didn't need to. They both knew that what she said was true.

     Ranma grimaced in pain, the memories were unbearable. It was like reliving every moment over again. Usually, that wouldn't bother him too much, he did have a lot of happy memories, it was the bad ones that worried him.

     The ones that had yet to come...

     Ranma stood before Ukyo's restraunt, hesitant to go in. He wasn't sure how to tell her that he was breaking off their engagement. He didn't want to hurt her. That was the last thing he wanted, but... he would only hurt her more if he let her think they had some kind of a future together. He had to tell her. It was the right thing to do... for Akane and for Ukyo.

     Ranma wasn't really sure how Ukyo was going to react when he renounced their engagement. The one thing he was afraid would happen, was that Ukyo wouldn't want to be friends with him anymore. The thought alone terrified him. He couldn't stand the thought of losing his best, and maybe only friend.

     He knew that if she did get violent or aggressive, he could take her easily. It was Akane he was worried about. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't really think Akane could defeat Ukyo in a real fight. Ranma sighed and dismissed the thought. Attacking Akane was more Shampoo or Kodachi's style, not Ukyo's. Their philosphosy was, get rid of the problem and everything would be alright. It was a stupid way of thinking, but he knew that both women could be narrow minded at times. Especially when it came to him.

     Ranma took a deep breath, as he forced all of the doubts and trepidations he was feeling out of his mind. Going over the speech he had planned mentally in his head, Ranma walked with a determined expression up to Ucchan's restaurant, reaching tentatively to knock on the door, his breathing low and shallow. *This is it.* he thought to himself sternly. *There's no turning back now.*

     Ranma began knocking repeatedly on the door, rapping his knuckles impatiently on the glass. After several minutes of constant knocking, Ranma got tired of waiting, and tried turning the doornob. The door opened easily, confusing Ranma. He couldn't figure out why Ukyo hadn't locked all of the doors, It was way past closing time. Dismissing the throught, Ranma threw open the door, and stepped inside. "Hey! Ukyo, you here?" he spoke up, his voice echoing in the empty room.

     Inside Ucchan's restaurant it was extrememly dark. Ranma was silently glad he had decided to confront Ukyo once her restaurant was closed. The last thing he wanted was to create a scene.

     "Who's there?" A voice spoke up from the darkness. "I've got a giant spatula, and I'm not afraid to use it!" Ukyo stood in the shadows, her large spatula raised awkwardly above her head, ready to attack the first moving object she saw. Unfortunately, the first thing she saw just happened to be Ranma.

     Moving with the grace and skill of a life devoted to martial arts, Ukyo held the spatula away from her body, and swung it around with all her strength. "No! Wait!" Ranma pleaded, as he jumped high into the air to avoid the descending spatula.

     "Take this!" Ukyo yelled triumphantly, ignoring Ranma's pleas. "Hah! That'll teach you to try to rob me!"

     Ranma sat perched on Ukyo's spatula, his legs folded under him in indian style. "Geez... can't a guy visit his best friend without gettin attacked?" Ranma complained as he jumped down from the spatula to land softly on the ground below.

     "Oh! Ranchan its you!" Ukyo said happily, as she placed her giant spatula back into its sling. "I'm so sorry I attacked you like that, but I couldn't see you in the dark. What are you doing here anyway? Is something wrong with the Tendous?" she asked concerned. "Or did you just come here because your hungry?" Ukyo asked with a laugh.

     "Naw." Ranma replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Its nothin like that. Um... Ukyo, there's somethin I gotta talk to you about. Somethin I should have straightened out a long time ago."

     "Yes?" Ukyo prompted. "What is it Ranma honey? You know you can tell me anything."

     *This is it!* Ukyo thought to herself excitedly. *He's finally going to admit that he loves me!*

     "Um... Ukyo... I... uh... what I mean to say is that... well... " Ranma paused, unsure of how to go on. *Man, this is tougher than I thought.*

     "Just say whatever's on your mind, Ranchan." Ukyo replied, no longer able to contain her excitement.

     *I can't believe it! After all this time he's finally going to say it!* Ukyo paused for a moment, contemplating how she should react to the news. *Should I just tell him I love him too and then run and hug him? Or... should I just run into his arms and start kissing him passionately and let him figure it out for himself?* Ukyo blushed, embarrassed by the direction her thoughts were going. *Whoa, slow down there girl!* Ukyo chastised. *Your getting way ahead of yourself! He hasn't even said the words yet!*

     "Um... Ukyo... I- I guess I should start by saying that I'm... I'm sorry."

     *He's sorry? What's he talking about?* Ukyo asked herself confused.

     "Um... that's alright Ranchan. Your forgiven." Ukyo replied cheerfully, waving her hand in the air in dismissal. "Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

     Ranma was confused. He couldn't figure out why Ukyo was so happy. Did she know that he had come here to break up with her? Maybe he'd been wrong about her feelings for him all along. "I just came to say... that... I'm sorry Ukyo, but... I- I can't marry you."

     Ukyo felt her heart stop as her whole world began to crumble around her. After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, she finally found her voice. "What do you mean, you can't marry me?" she asked slowly. "Of course you can, I'm your fiancee."

     "No... um, not anymore." Ranma replied, his voice apologetic. "I'm renouncing our engagement. All of them actually."

     "What?" Ukyo asked. A mixture of confusion, and hurt evident in her voice. "But... but WHY? Did... did I do something wrong?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

     "No! Of course not!" Ranma replied reassuringly, trying to comfort her. "Its not you Ucchan! Its just that... I- I don't love you..."

     Ranma cringed as Ukyo began to cry, tears running in streams down her face. "You... you don't love me?" Ukyo asked between sobs.

     "No, I mean I do, but not in that way. I- I love you like a sister."

     Ukyo began to cry harder, no longer able to stop the flood of tears that flowed from her eyes. "A- A SISTER?!"

     *Danm it!* Ranma yelled angrily to himself, unsure of how to handle this situation. *Where's Kasumi when you need her?*

     "Aw... now, don't cry Ukyo... please?" he pleaded. "I- I'm sorry..."

     "Its Akane, isn't it?" Ukyo asked, her voice devoid of all emotion.

     Ranma shyly nodded, looking down at the floor, afraid to meet Ukyo's eyes. "Yeah, it is. I'm sorry Ukyo... It- it just sorta happened. After Jusenkyou and the failed wedding... I don't know... I guess, I was just afraid of losing her again..."

     "I- I don't understand." Ukyo said, her voice low and resigned. "Why her? I mean, she's always hitting you with that stupid mallet of hers, you two fight constantly, she can't cook, she has no figure, she can't swim, AND she thinks your a pervert!"

     Ukyo paused, considering her next words. "Why not me? I'm independent, I own my own restaurant, I'm a great cook, we can tell each other anything, we hardly ever fight... AND I'm your cute fiancee. You said so yourself... and you know I'd make a good wife, Ranchan. We would be so happy together! Just- just give me a chance..." Ukyo pleaded, her voice barely above a whisper. "Please? I- I don't know what I'll do without you! You're all I've got!"

     "Ucchan... I- I can't." Ranma replied, his voice filled with agony. "I'm sorry. I love Akane, and nothin's ever gonna change that."

     Ukyo shuddered at Ranma's declaration, and felt her muscles begin to give out in her legs. Moving unsteadily, Ukyo grabbed a chair from one of the near by tables, and sat down.

     "I'll understand if you never want to see me again, but... I- I still want us to be friends." Ranma continued, his voice taking on a hint of desperation. "Do- do you think that's possible?"

     "I don't know Ranma." Ukyo said sadly, wiping her eyes dry with the back of her hand. "I'm not sure. I'll- I'll have to think about it."

     "Oh." Ranma replied, his voice subdued. "Well..."

     "Would you mind leaving now? I- I have some things I have to take care of." Ukyo said slowly, her eyes unfocused.

     "Sure." Ranma replied. "Are- are you sure you're going to be ok?"

     "I'll be fine." Ukyo replied automatically. "I'll see ya at school tomorrow, ok?"

     "Alright..." Ranma replied. "See ya then."

     Ranma walked slowly to the door, his head hanging low in defeat. *Nothing ever goes the way I plan.* he thought to himself dejectedly.

     Once Ranma was gone, Ukyo walked slowly over to the telephone and began dialing the number to the Nekohanten. She wasn't sure what to do or what to feel. All she knew was that it couldn't end like this. She needed to talk to Shampoo.

     Ranma let out a small cry as he tried to stop all the memories that were rushing at him. He tried to brace himself for the contact, but nothing can ever really prepare you for re-experiencing past events. It was wonderful and horrifying at the same time.

     Ranma looked down at Akane's dead body in his arms, unsure of what to do. He knew he should let her go... the only problem was... he couldn't. A small part of him still wanted to cling to the hope that she was still alive. Even though he knew she wasn't.

     Damn it. He missed her so much.

     Without realizing it, Ranma's eyes shifted to the small dagger that Shampoo had dropped in her moment of maddness. Red blood was dripping off the tip, forming a small puddle on the ground around it.

     Akane's blood.

     Ranma reached his arm towards the knife, his motions desperate and wild. Finally he felt the comforting texture of the blade's handle in his hand. Taking a deep breath, Ranma glanced down at Akane's beautiful face. He didn't understand how he could ever forget her.

     Slowly, Ranma bent down and brushed his lips lightly against Akane's whispering softly in her ear, "I'll be joining you soon."

     Without a moment of hesitation, Ranma lifted the blade towards his abdomen, his face resolute in his decision. For once in his life, Ranma Saotome was going to do what was right. No matter what the cost.

     One way or another he was going to be with Akane. Dead or alive.

TO BE CONTINUED