A man sat on a throne, enshrouded in shadows, the only occupant of a huge room, drumming his well-made, elegant fingers in a rhythmic motion that betrayed the cool disregard of his handsome face. He was bored and tired of waiting. For years he had been hiding in shadows, sitting patiently until the hands of the clock showed the time of his revenge. As the elegant man waited, drumming his fingers, another man- one of his servants- exploded into the room
“My lord!” he gasped. He was an old man and had obviously been running.
The ruler wondered briefly if the old one would have a heart attack, and if that would be entertaining or not. Finally he sighed. “Yes? What is it?”
“My lord,” the man gasped, “I have news!”
“It had better be good, or I’ll have you killed in unpleasant ways.”
The old man gulped. “N-nothing but the best news for you, my most merciful lord.”
“False flattery when I am not in the mood for it will get you slain. I am bored; do not trifle with me. Your execution could be turned into a most entertaining thing, I am sure.” The man gulped again. “Your news, old one?”
“M-my lord! The boy has been located!”
One perfectly made eyebrow shot up. The lord sat straighter in his thrown. “Oh?”
“Y-yes, my lord! H-he is even in the company of a lady of Power!”
“Truly. Well, what an unexpected turn of events. How Powerful is she and of what relation is he to her?”
“Most powerful, my lord, though I’m not sure she knows it herself.”
“She has not Awakened?”
“No, my lord.”
The man considered this. “What age is she?”
“Judging on looks alone, sixteen or seventeen, lord.”
“This makes for most wonderful news, if they are attached to one another. What is their relation?”
“They are betrothed by their fathers, though they bicker a great deal of the time. However, many people have attested to the fact that he protects her valiantly if she is threatened.”
“Then he loves her. Most wonderful indeed. Where is he?”
“Japan, my lord.”
“Very good. I shall go there immediately. Make the accommodations.”
“At this very moment, my lord.” The old man bowed deeply and fled the room, grateful for any excuse to leave the hellhole.
When he was gone, a cruel, cold smile played frighteningly across the lord’s lips. “And through her, my revenge will be…perfect.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Ranma, you jerk!”
“Hey, it’s not my fault you can’t cook, Akane!”
“You could at least have tried it!”
Something shattered.
“Watch what you’re doing, clumsy!”
“Jerk!”
“Tomboy!”
“Pervert!”
“Un-cute!”
Many more things broke.
So begins another peaceful -boom- …correction.
So begins another day at the Tendo Dojo. Ranma Soatome, cursed martial artist, had been getting ready to eat breakfast when it was revealed that Akane had helped Kasumi cook this morning’s meal. Mysteriously, Ranma suffered a sudden loss of appetite, and wisely decided to skip breakfast. News eventually reached Akane that Ranma was holding an organized protest against her cooking experiment and she became slightly miffed. One insult led to another and before he knew what was happening, Ranma was traveling on a one-way trip to school, via Akane Mallet Airlines. As Ranma rocked on his way to school, he made ample note that there were no rain clouds darkening the sky. Only light wisps of almost-clouds entertained the idea of lazily drifting over Nermia. This was a strange occurrence. There was always water ready for Ranma somewhere whenever he somehow managed to avoid that old lady who always soaked him. Ranma rarely made it to school as a boy. When the cursed boy finally made contact with the pavement, he stood up, stretched to get the kinks out, and looked up. The delicate clouds seemed to notice that Ranma was looking at them, and hurried their sleepy creep to a lazy meander.
“Now that’s odd,” Ranma muttered to himself, glancing about. “No water. Well, maybe this day won’t be so bad after all!” As if reading his thoughts, a red blob suddenly came tearing towards Ranma. “Oh, no,” he moaned. PLOOSH! Ranma surveyed his, or, rather, her dripping clothes with a sigh (“I hate water balloons!”) and headed off to school.
~**~
As Akane strolled towards school- she was early for a change and there was really no hurry- she caught a glance of herself in a store window and suddenly became aware of the fact that someone was following her. Akane quickened her stroll to a walk, and her walk a trot, and her trot to a run. The entity following her matched stride, but made no noise. She began to get worried.
*Fine,* Akane thought finally. *If that’s the way he wants it, that’s the way he gets it.* Akane veered off her usual path but still she was perused. She took sharp, unexpected turns, leapt over walls, and even tried taking the rooftops, and still she was followed. *Oh, for heaven’s sake! Doesn’t this guy give up? * Akane continued to lead her tail on a wild goose chase, all the while trying to decide if she wanted to fight or find Ranma. *I am a Martial Artist,* she decided finally. * I can fight my own battles. I don’t need Ranma! * Somewhere in the depths of Akane’s intuition, a voice screamed at her.
This was pointless, this was stupid, this was dangerous.
The voice was, naturally, ignored. *Have to find a place to fight. Have to find a place to fight. Have to find a place to-ha! There! * A place had presented itself. It was a vacant lot, dusty and dry, but big. It was almost empty, too. Only a few gargantuan boulders dotted the field. Those wouldn’t be a problem unless she was fighting someone with super strength, in which case she was doomed anyway and it really wouldn’t matter in the long run. There were no people here, so no one could but in. Especially not Ranma. Akane leaped over the rusty, deteriorated fence that had once encircled the lot, but now only reached two-thirds of the way, flipped once, and landed on her feet with a natural grace so many people claimed she lacked.
Adopting a defensive stance, Akane called out to her stalker. “Who’s there? Who’s been following me? Who are you?” Her questions were not long unanswered. A shadow emerged from behind one of the large boulders. The shadow had no defining features. It was, maybe, a head taller than Akane. Her mind began calculating what the repercussions of that fact would be. A head taller meant a longer reach. The fight hadn’t even begun and already Akane was at a disadvantage.
“What do you want?” Akane demanded angrily. When in doubt, get mad.
The shadow chuckled. “You need not fear me, Angel.” Akane’s temper boiled at being called anything so informal by this strange man, for his voice pegged him as such. “I come to you in peace. I simply wish to ask if you know a boy who goes by the name of Ranma Soatome.”
Akane clinched her hands angrily. *Ranma!* she thought. *It’s his fault again! He’s always getting me into trouble! That jerk!* “What do you want with Ranma?”
“I have a score to settle with him.”
Akane sighed and relaxed her defensive posture the barest fraction of an inch. “Are you out to kill Ranma, too?”
The question surprised the shadow, because he took a step back. “Am I here to kill Ranma…too?” he echoed, confused.
Akane sighed. “Yes. Too.”
The shadow paused. “How many others are there?”
Akane sighed again and pushed down her irritation. “Too many.” She looked back up at the shadow, still holding her defensive posture. “So, what business do you have with him?”
The shadow paused, considering whether to answer or make a strategic retreat. He chose the former. “I have a vendetta with Soatome.”
Akane looked at the shadow, her head tilted ever so slightly to the side. “What is it with you martial artists and revenge?”
The shadow cringed at the last word. “Ah, it’s not really revenge…well, maybe. But, you see…well…” The shadow was unsure. Akane heard his confusion and laughed. “Tell me, Angel, what is so funny?”
Akane was peering at the shadow, trying to see what he looked like. “Oh, nothing,” she responded, choosing to ignore the fact that this very strange man still called her angel. “It’s just, along with the revenge thing, I’ve noticed that really good martial artists, like you must be if you’re after Ranma, don’t have a very good time with words.”
She sensed rather than saw the shadow’s grin. “Yes, well, then you must be the exception to the rule.” Akane’s head jerked back and her eyes got wider. “What are you confused about, Angel? You are a good martial artist, too, are you not?”
Akane just stared blankly at the shadow. Slowly, a small, sad smile crossed her face. “It depends on who you ask.” After a short pause, Akane looked at her watch and let out a stifled squeak of fear. “I am so late for school! Look, are you going to do something to me or can I go?”
The cloaked figure was confused. “Do something to you? What would I do…to…” The shadow, all be him suave, was still a guy and this question brought his mind to places it shouldn’t be.
Akane sensed this and introduced him to her mallet. “Pervert! What are you thinking?”
The shadow’s voice came from under the mallet: “I suppose I deserved that.” He hauled himself off the ground and looked at Akane as she stood fuming. “Answer me this, Angel. Why would you think that I would do something to you?”
Akane shrugged. “Past experiences.”
“Ah. And what would these experiences be?”
Akane waved her hand. “I can’t get into the details-”
“Why? Are the memories that precious to you?”
Akane shook her head dispassionately. “No. Telling even one to you would take three days. I tried it with my sisters. Never been so tired in my life. Anyway, I was going to say that all of these past…happenings…taught me that if ever some suave, dashing guy approaches me and has a- how did you put it? Vendetta?- with Ranma, I’m either going to be captured and used as bait or my life’s going to be in danger. You know, get to Ranma by killing an innocent and all that.”
The shadow seemed to be brooding. “Ah, yes. I remember Soatome’s policy on innocents.”
Akane stood patiently for a few minutes before time reminded her of her obligations. “Um, excuse me? I really am very late. Are we done? Can I go?”
The shadow answered her question by nodding. Again Akane got the feeling he was smiling. Before Akane leaped over the fence, the shadow’s voice rose again, “One more question before you go, Angel.”
Akane looked back at him, giving him leave to ask his question.
“Could I trouble you for your name?”
“Why? So you can threaten Ranma with the knowledge later?”
The Shadow was confused. “So I can…? Oh! Oh, no. That’s not the reason.”
“Then why?”
“You are a rarity these days. Such a combination of elegant beauty and fiery nature is hard to find in this era. I simply wished to know if your name suited you.”
A graceful blush came to the girl’s cheeks. “Akane Tendo,” she supplied, embarrassed but pleased at the words slipping from the stranger’s silver tongue.
“Perfect.”
Akane blushed again.
Suddenly the shadow was kneeling in front of her. He was enrobed in a black cape that shielded his face and all features from her. “Until we meet again, Akane Tendo.”
The cloaked figure kissed her hand lightly.
As his lips lingered on her delicate hand, the wind blew softly, ruffling her hair, skirt, and the shadow’s cape, giving Akane a glimpse of golden hair. *He’s just like a prince, * she thought, and then was surprised at herself for thinking it. In one fluid movement, the shadow pulled away, flipped over her head, landed outside the fence, and disappeared into the woods. Akane stood there a few minutes, looking after the figure, though he could no longer be seen. She looked down at her hand, which she had sub-consciously pulled up to her chest, blushed once more, and started the long journey towards her school. * No one will ever believe this! *
~**~
At school, Ranma was pacing the lunch hall. No one had seen Akane all day, and it wasn’t like her to skip school. Ranma was getting worried, not that he’d ever admit that fact. *Where is she?* As he paced the floor, he bumped into Nabiki, who didn’t seem to think her little sister’s absence all that odd.
“Sorry,” Ranma muttered, and continued pacing.
Nabiki sighed. “Ranma, why are you so worked up? I mean, really. It’s a waste of time. The worst thing that happens is that she was kidnapped, again, and you have to save her, again. Why aren’t you used to this kind of thing yet? It’s usually your fault, anyway.”
Ranma flinched, looking up at Nabiki. Realization dawned on him. “You know where she is, don’t you?”
A grown escaped from an eavesdropper, and he handed Nabiki a bill. The boy glared at Ranma. “Couldn’t you have played dumb thirty seconds more?”
Ranma stared after the boy as Nabiki deposited the money in her pocket. “Yes, Ranma, I know where she is.”
Ranma eyed her as a cornered mouse eyes a cat. “How much?”
Nabiki flashed Ranma her most cunning smile. “Five hundred yen.”
Ranma winced, but pulled out the money.
As Nabiki added the money to the growing wad in her pocket, she addressed Ranma, saying, “She was seen heading towards the vacant lot on the west side of town. My sources say a tall man in a black cape was following her. This was shortly before school started.” Nabiki stopped talking and looked at Ranma. The boy sighed and took out another five hundred yen and handed it to the Tendo daughter. “About an hour ago, she was seen heading towards school. She must have realized what time it was, because she’s having lunch at a little restaurant just around the corner. She’ll probably be coming around the corner right about now.”
Right on cue, Akane turned the corner and walked into school.
Nabiki promptly began collecting bills from her classmates.
Ranma looked from Akane to Nabiki, to Akane, and finally back to Nabiki. He shook his head and made a mental note to find out who and where Nabiki’s “sources” were, and if they kept as close an eye on him as they did Akane.
When Akane noticed Ranma walking towards her, she smiled and waved. “Hi, Ranma!” she called.
Ranma was not a happy camper. “Don’t you ‘Hi, Ranma’ me! I’ve been worried sick! Where were you? You missed half of your classes!”
Akane stared mutely at him.
“Well?” Ranma demanded.
“You…were worried about me?”
Ranma blushed. “N-no!” he stammered “I just…um, y’know. I, uh, was just…um.”
Akane smiled at him. “I’m sorry I worried you, Ranma. I’ll try not to do it again.”
Ranma stared after Akane as she walked into the school building, humming. “What…was…that…?” Akane hadn’t gotten mad when he yelled at her.
The boy was musing over this when Akane turned around and called, “Coming, Ranma?”
Ranma looked up, saw her smile, melted, and followed her into the school.
~**~
*One: I accidentally let Akane know I was worried about her. Two: I yelled at her. Three: She didn’t get mad. Four: She was acting really weird. Five: She was really cute…* Ranma’s chain of thought had been running around his head in this exact way for countless hours. As soon as Ranma and Akane had gotten home that night, he had gone up to the roof and started thinking, something he didn’t do very often. He would start by listing the things he knew for certain had happened. Then he’d list the same five points over and over again, stopping at point five: She was really cute. For some reason, his mind preferred to dwell on the way the sun filtered through her hair, the scent of newly blossomed flowers that filled the air in her presence, the way the wind teased her clothes, and the way her lips curved oh-so-deliciously when she smiled than try to figure out what was wrong with her. As Ranma’s mind brought him back to her smile and the warm, terrifying temptation of her lips, he heard noises coming from the Dojo. Curious, he crawled over to the edge of the roof, stood, launched himself into the air, did a front flip, landed in the grass outside the Dojo, and tiptoed over to the door. Peeking in, he spied Akane practicing in her gi. He inched further into the room and paused just inside the door. He waited patiently for Akane to notice him, mentally noting all the things she did right, wrong, and somewhere in between.
When at last Akane did notice him, she smiled and panted, “Hi.”
Ranma smiled back and returned her greeting with a casual, “Hey.”
Akane walked over to the wall of the Dojo, picked up her water bottle, took a swig, wiped her face with a towel, and looked at Ranma. “Something you want?”
He shook his head. “Not really. Just heard noises and wanted to see who was in here.”
Akane responded with an “Ah,” and resumed her workout.
Ranma watched her and accidentally said, “You wanna-” before he caught himself. *Oops, * Ranma thought as she looked at him. *Blew it again.* He waited for Akane to make some angry comment, tell him to leave, or mallet him, but she didn’t.
She just looked at him. After a while she asked, “Well? What were you going to say?”
Ranma blushed, looked at the floor and murmured, “Nothing. I was just thinking that you might wanna learn a new one…kata, that is. You…always seem to do the same ones, and you’ve got them down pretty good by now, so…I was just gonna offer to…teach you a new one. If you wanted. You don’t have to but…if you wanted to, I wouldn’t mind…too much.”
When she didn’t instantly respond with violence or anger he glanced up through his bangs to see her staring at him, eyes wide and surprised. “Y-you want to…teach me something?”
“Only if you want me to,” he replied defensively. “I don’t have to. I could just leave now, if you want me to.”
“No, no!” she insisted, smiling sweetly. “I’d love to learn something new. What did you have in mind?”
“Um,” he uttered softly and walked to the center of the dojo. Pausing a moment to center himself, he began a complicated, quick exercise that involved more aerial movement than Akane had ever previously attempted.
By the time he had finished, Akane felt very intimidated. “I can’t,” she began, blushing and glancing away when he looked at her. “I’m not sure…I could do that. I might not…be good enough…just yet.”
Ranma shrugged. “It’s your call. I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t think you could handle it. You’d have to work for it, sure, but that’s the point. Isn’t it?”
Akane looked up; met his eyes. He was smiling, not mockingly as he usually did, but gently, almost confidently, but the confidence wasn’t self-directed. He had confidence that she, Akane, could so what he had just done.
She smiled enthusiastically back. “Ok, Ranma! Where do I start?”
“The first step is a kick-spin combination followed by a back flip that turns into a three part hand spring.”
She stared at him.
“Ok, I’ll demonstrate.”
“Mmm,” she began uncertainly when he was done, “are you sure about this?”
“Definitely. Just take it one step at a time and keep each motion smooth, slow, and separate. You’ll do fine.”
“Well…ok.” She sounded unsure.
“Oh, come on, Akane, just try. When you get this down, you’ll be a whole lot more confident. Give it a go.”
Talking a deep breath, she did. Ranma saw what was going to happen from her first step.
She had psyched herself out, made up her mind that there was no way she could do it, and had preformed the first, relatively simple step incorrectly.
“Ok, stop,” Ranma instructed, walking over to her.
“Something wrong?” she growled, glaring at him.
He shrugged, and was amazed how calm he felt. For some reason, he couldn’t work up any anger towards her, even though she seemed angry with him. He knew better, though. She was just frustrated and taking it out on the only other person in the room. And for some reason, it didn’t bother him in the least.
“Actually,” he responded evenly, “something is wrong.”
“What’d I do?” Now she was looking slightly distressed, standing in the center of the dojo with her hands clasped in front of her.
“It’s nothing that you did, exactly. It’s what you’re not doing.”
She blinked.
“Don’t get so concerned with doing it right the first time that you forget your basic training. Do the spin kick.”
“You’ll have to move first.”
“It’s ok. Just do the move.”
“But I’ll hit you!”
“You won’t, I promise. Just try the move.”
“Well…all right. You’re the sensei.” She spun perfectly. The problem began with the kick.
Ranma caught her foot as it hurtled on its way to impact with his upper chest. He brought her foot up gently, forcing her to lean slowly back. “You’re in too much of a hurry. Take it slow, and remember that this is an aerial exercise; keep everything very high.” Her foot was now on level with his throat. “This is how high it should be, at the very least. Keep it up here, and switching from this-” he released her foot and she stood, watching as he preformed the kick spin, his foot rushing effortlessly over her head- “to this-” seemingly moving all at once, he hurled himself into a graceful back flip to land lithely on the ground- “will be no problem.”
She was looking overwhelmed and rather distraught.
“It’s ok, Akane,” he assured, smiling. “You’ll get it. It just takes practice. Now, let’s start with that kick, shall we?”
Smiling slowly, she nodded.
They continued working together for hours, until finally Kasumi had dinner ready and they had to go in to eat.
Dinner that night went exactly as dinner in the Tendo house always went, except for one small change.
Akane and Ranma didn’t argue.
Later that night, Akane was looking for Ranma, to thank him for his help and ask if he’d work with her again. She found him lying on the roof, watching the stars, as she had suspected she would.
For a while she merely stood silently, observing him as he lay, totally at peace with himself and the world. How often did he get a chance to be like this, with no one trying to kill, challenge, or hurt him? What would it be like, if he were this way all the time? Like he had been in the dojo, patiently fixing her errors time and again with a gentle touch or soft word. His love of the Art and his desire to share it with her had softened the rough exterior his father had set in place. Ranma hadn’t been just her perverted fiancé when he was teaching her. Ranma had been her sensei, for the first time something other than what he usually was.
Ranma the Pervert was hard to forgive and easy to hit and hurt and blame.
Ranma the Teacher was hard to hate, easy to love and cherish and listen to.
He’d make a wonderful sensei for the school someday.
Akane finally decided that maybe she’d better make herself known and took a tiny step forward. “Mind if I join you?” she asked hesitantly, and blushed when he jumped, whirled to face her, and sat on his knees staring openly when he realized who it was. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’ll go.” She turned to leave.
Head lowered slightly in disappointment and embarrassment, she didn’t see him reach out to stop her. But she heard the startled little sound he made. She heard clearly when he called out, “No! Wait…don’t go.”
Too afraid of what he’d say to consider turning around, she waited.
He’d been thinking about her long before she came up to the roof.
The way she’d been in the dojo, angry with herself when she couldn’t get a step.
So grateful when he reacted with understanding rather than insults.
Determined and unsure and trusting and so innocently beautiful.
Did she really have any idea how beautiful she was? Did she understand that her beauty made her dangerous, not just to him but to herself?
There were those in the world who wanted nothing more that to take and control and crush beautiful, innocent things.
Didn’t she understand that what she had done today, running off to fight with some unknown person without letting anyone know, had terrified him?
Why couldn’t she see that if anything happened to her, he’d go insane?
She held his heart so lightly…didn’t she even care?
The way she had been in the dojo, responding to his correcting touches and words, had been so wonderful. They interacted without causing offence to anyone.
Why couldn’t they do that more often?
The movement behind him, small and timid, caught his attention, but only slightly.
The hesitant, “May I join you?” came so suddenly to his distracted mind that he reacted without thinking, turning onto his knees and putting one foot on the ground to prepare himself in case he had to leap away from an attack.
When he realized just who it was asking if they could join him, his mouth fell open and he stared.
Akane?
She blushed and glanced away. “I-I’m sorry,” she murmured, looking upset. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I’ll go.”
Don’t! You can stay! She turned away, unable to hear the words his mouth refused to say as anything other than a startled gasp. He reached out to stop her and said quickly, “No! Wait…don’t go.”
She froze in place, as though she heard him but wouldn’t believe he’d actually want her to stay.
“I was just…startled. I didn’t expect anyone to come up here. Please, you can stay. If you want to.”
Slowly, agonizingly slowly, it seemed to him, she turned. Slowly she met his eyes; slowly she smiled. She moved with an easy, natural grace to his side.
For a while they sat in silence, watching the stars.
Ranma had not been brought up to live in such quiet, and finally he felt the need to talk. But what to say?
Akane sensed his disquiet and said softly, still looking up at the stars, “You looked so… calm when I came up here. What were you thinking about?”
“You,” he answered easily before he could realize what he was saying. He flushed violently and stammered, “I-I mean…I wasn’t…well, not specifically… I was just wondering why…uh…why you’re so…um…strange! No! I mean, why you were acting so strange this afternoon! Wait, wait, that’s not what I…um…why were you acting so strange this afternoon?” If he was dead, he decided finally, he might as well go down with a better understanding of something that had been bugging him all day.
Akane, instead of retaliating immediately, saw a greater opportunity to tease Ranma and smiled secretively, turning her face back to the heavens. Her eyes remained locked on his. “Well, you know…” She allowed her gaze to drift lazily to the stars. “That’s how a girl usually acts…when she’s complimented by a total stranger.”
Ranma sat up and glared at her, but she knew, somehow, that he wasn’t angry with her. He was frowning deeply and positively red with jealousy. “A total stranger did what?”
Her tiny smile grew slightly. “You know. Said this and that.”
“This and that like what?”
Oh, it was so hard to keep a straight face. “Like…mm, where shall I begin? I’m elegantly beautiful. My fiery nature is rare in combination with my beauty. My name is beautiful. My beautiful name suits me. Things like that.”
How superficial! He didn’t even say anything about the way her eyes glisten when she’s teasing, or that her smile wavers when she’s trying not to laugh at me, or that her hair is moonlight! Ranma thought crossly, positive he could out-do this would-be wooer any day of the week. “And that’s why you were late to school? Because some guy stopped you to compliment you? Tomboy.” Well, maybe not any day of the week.
Akane made a delicate noise of superiority and turned her head away from him, but her smile refused to go away. He was jealous, he was, he was! “Really, Ranma, it’s not my fault I was late. You’re the one he has a…a vendetta with, not me.”
Something in Ranma that had been concentrating solely on keeping Akane smiling stilled suddenly. A vendetta? “What was this guy like?”
The blue haired girl blinked at the sudden change of topic, glancing back at Ranma. “He was…different. Refined, almost. He reminded me of…but that’s impossible.”
She had turned away again, and Ranma reached out to gently turn her back. “Define impossible.”
Akane frowned slightly. “Ranma…did you ever do anything to or get in the way of a…a noble? A prince or something? He seemed…very regal.”
“Like a prince, huh? How’d you meet him?”
“He was following me to school.”
“What?”
“Yes. He wanted information on you. I suppose he thought he could get some from me. I don’t really understand what happened. One moment I’m begin followed, the next I’m being complimented and told how beautiful I am and called a strange pet name I did not like. He even knelt and kissed my hand before he left. He was so strange, Ranma. What did you do to him?”
The boy didn’t appear to hear her. “What did he call you?”
“What?”
“You said he gave you a pet name. What was it?”
“It…it’s embarrassing!”
“Please, Akane, it’s important.”
“But-”
“Please. Tell me this one thing and I won’t ask anything else. Please.”
She stared at him. “He called me angel,” she said finally, shrugging.
Ranma’s blood ran cold.
Angel.
Come, angel. I can show you what you’re truly capable of.
Dark echoes of dark memories.
Angel, you’re so beautiful…too beautiful for any of this. Let’s run away together!
Always angels, always beautiful, always lost to him.
You’ve made all my angels fly from me, boy! You’ll regret this day!
He’s back.
With that last thought, Ranma leapt off the roof, leaving Akane to the cold night air and confused impressions of anger and slight fear.
“Ranma,” she whispered to the stars, “what’s happening?”
***
AN: …Wasn’t that better than it was before? I think it is, anyway. *shrug*
