AN: Also rewritten.



*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter Two

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ranma’s behavior on the roof had been slightly odd.

His behavior the next morning was downright strange.

From the moment Akane came down the stairs to breakfast he stuck to her like a second shadow. He trailed her to the kitchen when she went to talk to Kasumi. He went back upstairs with her when she realized she had forgotten her book bag. Then, strangest of all, he walked beside her on the sidewalk instead of on the fence. Ranma’s weird actions and tension began to slowly rub off on Akane.

So much so that when a smooth voice called, “Halt or parish, Soatome,” Akane jumped and dropped her bag.

Ranma reacted much more proactively. In one motion he located the threat on the roof of a nearby house, snagged Akane’s book bag from the ground, and positioned himself between her and the supposed threat. The figure on the roof stepped further out of the shadows and Ranma, eyes following the movement, handed Akane’s bag back to her. “Stay behind me,” he hissed, eyes still trained on the threat.

“That’s the guy from yesterday!” she murmured in surprise, clutching at the back of Ranma’s shirt with her free hand.

“I know,” he returned in a low, ominous voice. “What are you doing here?” he called to the figure, glaring slightly.

The figure ignored him, turning instead to the confused and slightly frightened girl who was tucked quietly behind Ranma. “Ah!” he exclaimed in a pleased tone, “it’s the lovely Akane Tendo I met yesterday! Beautiful angel, how have you been?”

Akane’s only response was a slight blush and a shy smile as she ducked a little further behind Ranma.

Ranma’s response was a growled curse. “You leave her alone, Breck, or I swear to God I’ll…”

The shadow smiled as he saw Akane look at Ranma and softly murmur the name he had used. Her gaze drifted back to the shadow as he said proudly, “Allow me to introduce myself, Angel. My name is Alan Breck.” He bowed deeply to her and pulled away his cloak, revealing a long, lean body clothed in well-tailored black pants and a white silk shirt. His hair was golden blond, cut long enough so locks still fell in his eyes, which were, when he looked up at her, a sparkling emerald. Oh, but he was handsome.

“Alan,” Akane murmured, slightly confused, “Breck?”

“A pseudonym used to save myself from the wanderer who might recognize me for my true name if nothing else.”

“Ranma…” Slowly she looked back to the black-haired martial artist, who was positively bristling. “Who is he, Ranma?”

Ranma’s glare hardened. “No one, Akane,” he growled. “He’s nobody. Don’t bother yourself with him.”

The man Alan Breck responded to this with another sweeping bow. “Angel, ignore him, I implore you.”

Ranma, about to respond, was cut short as Breck leapt from the roof, flipped twice, and landed lightly on the ground behind Akane, who gasped and turned to face him. Taking her hand lightly in both of his, he dropped elegantly to one knee. “Angel,” he began, and kissed her hand. She blushed; Ranma growled. “Angel, I’ve thought of nothing but you since the moment we met. Please, angel, is there some way I can keep in contact with you? Your phone number; your e-mail address; your home address. Anything, angel, only I must be able to continue seeing you!”

“U-umm…” Akane sputtered, dumbfounded. No one, in her entire life, had ever acted like this before. He held her hand to his cheek and looked at her so imploringly with those magnificent green eyes. How could she just say no when he seemed so sincere? “W-why do you care about me?” Akane winced mentally at her tone. She had meant it to be harsh, curt, anything to get him to stop being so…so…but it hadn’t. She sounded weak as a kitten and actually rather imploring herself. “You don’t even know me,” she covered up as firmly as she could. Which wasn’t very.

Instead of looking caught, this statement seemed to cheer Alan Breck immensely. “I do know you, angel. At least a little. I know you’re beautiful; I know you’re filled with life; I know you’re a warrior. I had hoped…”

“You had hoped?” Akane prompted, a little too eagerly for Ranma’s taste.

“I had hoped to get to know you better,” he admitted, smiling a sheepish, endearing smile that made Akane blush. “I thought maybe I could get to know you a little better by learning about your art.”

“My…art?”

“Yes. Do you think I could…what I mean is, may I come to your house later? To watch you practice martial arts? I imagine you are very adept at them and thought I might see your specialty. May I come over later today, angel?”

Mutely, almost unaware of what she was doing, Akane nodded. Still in a state of confused shock, she gave him her address when he asked- practically begged- for it. He looked so thrilled, as though his birthday and Christmas had come all at once. How could someone so suave still look so sweetly young? Akane found herself unable to speak.

Ranma’s grasp on language was still working fine. “What are you doing, Akane?” he demanded, irate.

She turned to him, surprised. “What do you mean?”

He gestured furiously to the hand Alan was still holding as he knelt gracefully at her feet. “What do I mean? That’s what I mean! What are you doing, letting this…this… Breck just waltz in here and…and… sweep you off your feet, like some kind of romantic schoolgirl? You’re not a romantic. Tomboys can’t be romantic! They don’t know how! You don’t know how! You’re a tomboy! You’re built like a brick! I’ve seen the girls this guy goes for, and you’re not it! He’ll just get board with you and toss you aside like…like…”

Akane’s face had crumbled at some point during Ranma’s pitiful attempt at pulling her away from what he saw as a threat. Just as her heartbreak was to be replaced with anger, Alan stood and pulled her behind him, blocking her from Ranma’s view.

“Hey, what’re you-”

“This is a lady,” Alan hissed, eyes narrowed. “She should be treated as such. Gentlemen do not speak to ladies like that. They treat and speak to them with the respect and courtesy they deserve as ladies. If you are too dense to recognize what she is, then kindly either learn or desist from inflicting your barbarisms on her.”

“Alan,” Akane murmured, gripping his arm lightly and trying to pull him away, “it’s alright. He didn’t mean-”

“Angel, there’s no excuse! He shouldn’t have said that. Apologize, Soatome!”

“Why…you…”

The two glared fiercely at each other. Akane began slowly backing away from them both, sensing a huge fight if something didn’t happen soon.

That something came in the form of Alan very suddenly relaxing. “Have it your way, Soatome. Treat her any way you like. I won’t fight you.” Ranma smirked. “At least, not physically. Not yet. What I’m going to do is make sure you never get the opportunity to talk to her like that again.”

“Oh yeah?” Ranma shifted uncertainly. “How do you plan on doing that, Breck?”

“I’m going to win her heart.” Akane gasped. “I’m going to show her how she should be treated. I’m going to speak soft, sweet words to her. I’m going to fight the symbol of men she’s always known. I will win the fair angel and take her heart from you, for you do not do her justice. Take a last good look at her,” Alan continued in a murmur too low for Akane to hear. “Remember every detail. Remember how she’s blushing. Remember how she looks now. This is the last time you’ll get to see her like this. I’m going to win her heart all right. And once she’s mine, my revenge will be perfect. That which you most treasure will be mine. She will be the first in the new collection of angels I’ve begun. Do you remember my angels, Soatome? Do you remember what they thought of me? How they acted? What they said? Do you remember?” With a deep throated laugh, Alan turned back to Akane, who was still a little dumbstruck about what, exactly, was going on. He took her small hand in his again, gave it a sweet kiss and murmured, “Until tonight, angel.” With that he was gone.

~**~

Ranma paced the courtyard of his school, furious. All too clearly did he remember the last ones, the girls he had saved. Breck had sworn then he would take Ranma’s greatest treasure but the threat had meant nothing. There was nothing Ranma owned that he couldn’t live without. Obviously he had misinterpreted. Breck hadn’t meant a something. He had meant a someone. The closest someone Ranma had: his fiancée, Akane Tendo. No way was Ranma going to let Alan Breck take Akane away from him. Breck had done some terrible things to his last girls and he would die before he let anything like that happen to Akane. Ranma turned on his heel, determined to find Akane and explain what was going on. The hard part about that would be actually locating Akane, who had been furious with him after Breck left and stormed away bent on ignoring and avoiding all contact with Ranma Soatome for the rest of the day. So far she was doing a Cracker Jack job. As he passed a building, following a money trail to Nabiki, who knew everything for the right price, a hand grabbed his shoulder and wrenched him into a small alley.

“Breck,” he hissed when he realized who it was.

“Soatome, it would be most unwise of you to try and warn the young Miss Tendo of anything I might have done in the past. If you even try to bring it up…let’s just say neither of you will be very comfortable.”

Ranma glared at him. “Are you threatening me, Breck?”

Breck gave a short, cruel laugh. “No, no, Soatome. How crude. I’m not threatening you. I know you don’t care what happens to yourself. I’m threatening the sweet Akane Tendo.” Ranma stared mutely at Breck as he walked away. “Don’t say anything, Soatome. Or you’ll regret it. This I swear.”


~**~

The kata was progressing smoothly. Before they’d stopped the night before, Akane was just beginning to get the hang of it. Ranma mused over the next steps to take as he walked into the Dojo. He was totally surprised to find the practice hall already in use by the time he got there. He stared at the scene before him.

Akane stood in the center of the Dojo, performing the most complicated katas she could do well. They weren’t very interesting, really, but Alan Breck was watching her flow through them with an astonished look.

Bastard.

“Hey!” Ranma called, furious as he strode further into the room. Akane and Breck, seemingly caught off guard, turned to him.

“Ranma,” Akane began, frowning slightly, warning in her tone, “what’re you-”

“What’m I?” he demanded, irate. “What’m I? What’re you?”

Akane glared at him. “As if you cared.”

“Why is he here?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but Alan has graciously offered to train me. He’s just gauging me then he’ll determine what I need work on.”

Wait. No. That was wrong. Hadn’t he, Ranma, offered to teach her just last night? Hadn’t they gotten along better than they ever had before? Wasn’t that why he was here in the first place?

Breck was doing it again, wasn’t he?

Fear made Ranma angry and careless with his words. “Akane, do you really think this peacock is going to be able to help a unfeminine tomboy like you get graceful? Yeah, right!” He laughed to cover the knot in his stomach. Oh, no, look at her face…

“Ra-n-ma,” she hissed eyes narrowed, livid.

Crap, crap, don’t say anything else, don’t speak, don’t even open your mouth- “Yeah, Akane.” Ranma smirked. “Like I’m really scared of a violent tomboy like you. What’re you gonna do, hit me with a special attack? Oooh, beware the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts Mutant Cooking Technique!”

Akane’s pain flared around her as a powerful aura coupled with a deep, furious scowl. “Ranma!” She closed her hand around her mallet and set up for the swing. “You jerk!”

He sailed from the Dojo, yelling about unfeminine tomboys and mallets that came from nowhere.

When Akane turned back to Alan, he was staring at her with a strange expression. “What?” Akane demanded, still thoroughly ticked.

He held up his hands in a universal motion of peace and said quickly, taking a step back, “Nothing, nothing!”

“Then what are you looking at?”

“Nothing, really! I was just wondering how you did that!”

“Did what?”

“You know.” He made a motion of grabbing a mallet and swinging it. “That. How’d you do it?”

Akane blinked, her anger forgotten. She stared at her hands, uncertain. “I don’t really know. I just kinda…do. Ranma or someone gets me mad, and it’s just…there. So I use it. Why? Is it bad?”

“No,” Alan assured, “not bad. Unusual, certainly, but not bad. I wonder…”

“What?” she pressed when he fell silent. “What do you wonder?”

“Nothing, just…how would you like to be able to get a real weapon instead of just that mallet?”

Akane gasped. “Really? I could get real weapons instead of just that mallet? Like…anything I wanted?”

“No.” He frowned as though thinking. “No, not…anything. One thing, one particular weapon. It’d be better than a mallet though, don’t you think? A mallet is probably one of the least traditional weapons out there.”

“I don’t know,” Akane contended darkly. “I know a boy who uses training potties.”

“Hidden Weapons Master?”

“Yes,” she admitted, surprised. “How’d you know?”

He sighed. “I fought one once. The masters use unconventional weapons to get you off your guard. If he were ever really pressed, he’d pull out the heavy artillery, like throwing daggers, swords, chains…it takes a lot for them to resort to that, though. I hate to admit I didn’t actually win that one. It was more of a…mutual draw.”

“That’s ok.” Akane smiled. “It’s all right to…not really win them all. Isn’t it?”

“I hope so.”

“So…what about this weapon?”

“Ah, yes. The weapon. To get the whole process started you’ll have to draw your mallet. Go ahead, I’m waiting. Call it.”

Akane blinked at him. “But, Alan, I can’t just… call it. I have to need it.”

Suddenly Alan’s expression and smile became cruel. “Can’t even control a block of wood, eh? No wonder there are so many crazy things happening to you. Poor little baby doll can’t even control her own life.”

“Alan.” Akane’s face clearly showed her hurt. “That’s not fair.”

“Life’s not fair, baby doll,” he growled in return, closing the space between them. She retreated. He quickly maneuvered her against a wall, positioning one hand on either side of her head to keep her there.

He was close, so uncomfortably close. “Alan, stop. Back off.”

“Gonna make me, baby doll?”

She trembled a moment, pressed as far back into the wall as she could before she got control of herself, clenched her fists in fury and hissed, eyes narrowed, “Damn right.” She grabbed her mallet, swinging it up and over in a high arc aimed at his head.

Then…he caught it. Caught it, wrenched it out of her grasp and tossed it over his shoulder. His body pressed her into the wall. “That the best you got, baby doll?”

“Don’t,” she whispered hoarsely. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” he asked, his breath drifting against the soft skin of her cheek. “Don’t…do this?”

He began leaning forward in preparation to steal a kiss.

“Absolutely,” he murmured, “no control.”

Something deep within her snapped.

The air around them grew thick and very heavy. Then, suddenly, in a rush of power, Alan was thrown across the room.

“Don’t!” Akane cried.

Alan stood, smirking. “You gonna stop me, baby doll?”

“Yes.” As he approached her, she gathered the electric energy around her, bright and unnamable. She gathered it between her hands; it flowed around her fingers like liquid. After a moment, her hands clenched and the power was molded.

When the light dimmed, she stood a few steps away from the wall, a sword of light clasped naturally in her delicate hands. She held a stance Alan had never seen before. She looked ready to defend herself. She seemed capable of attacking.

“Will you attack me now, boy?” she demanded in a voice that was both hers and much more than hers. “Do you honestly think you could come near me now, if I did not so desire? Am I able to stop you now?”

Alan found himself unable to respond.

“Wow,” a voice stated obviously from just off Alan’s shoulder. He and Akane both looked over to find Ranma standing there. “That’s new, Akane.” Ranma sounded…almost tender.

Why?

“Ranma.” Her voice, though still strange, was gentler now. “I have found it. One part of it.”

“Apparently so.”

The wonderful light around her began to flicker.

“I would catch you,” Ranma assured very softly, “if you felt like you had to fall.”

She smiled ever so slightly before gasping and pitching forward.

True to his word, Ranma caught her. The sword disappeared as he lifted her into his arms.

“You knew this would happen,” Ranma accused, turning on Breck.

“Yes,” the stunned boy admitted. “Well, no. Not really. I’ve seen it happen to others before but it was nothing like this. Not nearly as powerful. Did you see it, Soatome? Did you see it?”

Ranma sighed, turning to leave the Dojo, Akane sleeping deeply in his arms. “I think you’ve done enough damage for one day, Breck. Get out.” So saying, he moved quickly into the house and Akane’s room. Settling her in her bed, he tucked her in. Crouching by her bed, head pillowed on arms crossed on the mattress, he watched her for a moment. Then he sighed. “Well, I made a royal mess of things, huh? Stupid tomboy.” He winced and hit himself lightly on the head. “What I meant to say was: stupid mouth. If I hadn’t insulted you, then maybe…not that maybe matters anymore. Y’know,” he stood, stretching, “if you weren’t so cute, a lot of this probably wouldn’t ever happen. So, in a way, it’s your own fault. You’re too cute for your own good.” He sighed again. Then, glancing around to make sure no one was looking, he kissed her forehead gently, the way he’d always imagined he would if he ever got the chance. Straightening, blushing deeply, he muttered, “Sweet dreams,” and abandoned her room quickly.

~**~

If Akane had woken up the next morning, Ranma would have avoided all mention of the previous day’s escapades like the plague, envisioning two plotting fathers and an already once failed wedding. As his luck would have it, she didn’t wake up. So he had to tell her family what happened.

Kasumi “oh, my”-ed once and went back to cleaning.

Soun cried for a few minutes before returning to his game of go.

The panda that was his partner didn’t even react, using the time Soun was distracted to eat several of the other man’s pieces.

Ranma blinked, confused. No one seemed to give a flip about what had happened.

“Don’t be so surprised, Ranma. Things like this are always happening around here. We’re used to it by now. I guess you could say we’ve been conditioned to expect the unexpected. I, for one, like it. Keeps me ahead. That’s good for business.”

Ranma looked over at Nabiki. Head tilted slightly he asked, “You’re not even worried a little bit, are you? How do you know Akane’s gonna be ok? What of she wakes up and ends up turning into…into…I dunno, a psychopathic killer or something?”

One of Nabiki’s eyebrows arched slightly as she lounged reading her manga. “Psychopathic killer?” she quoted. “My, my, Ranma, such big words. Anyway, if Akane is messed up when she wakes up, some one will find a cure. There are so many people in love with her I doubt it would take a week.”

“And,” Ranma continued, “if she doesn’t wake up at all?”

Nabiki sighed. “Well, there’s got to be a cure for that, too. It’s too late to worry at this point, anyway. What’s happened has happened. She’s lost her mallet, which is good for you, and gained a sword, which is just too bad for you. We can’t go back and stop it from happening, and hunting Breck down to take our pound of flesh would be a waist of time, not to mention resources. Especially considering he’s probably the only one that can cure her.”

Ranma stared at Nabiki as she went back to reading and sighed. He got up and returned to Akane’s room. If no one was going to worry about her but him, so be it. He would watch her alone. As he entered Akane’s room, the first sense he got was the deeply engraved feeling that she was wake up and hit him with her mall-err…sword.

Realizing a direct hit from a sword would be slightly more painful than one from a mallet, Ranma decided it might be better dodge next time he pissed her off.

Ranma turned Akane’s chair around, plopped himself down, and began his vigil. Somehow, watching her sleep was very…peaceful.

For hours he watched her. He took his meals in her room, which brought the usual, “Look at that, Soatome! He loves her! Fetch the preacher!” To which Genma-panda held up a sign reading something to the lines of ‘Good job, m’boy. You make your father proud.’

He quickly kicked them out.

That night, Ranma attempted to stay awake but found himself failing miserably. He would doze, snap himself awake, scold himself thoroughly, and stay wide away for several minutes before dozing again. At around one in the morning, he lost the good fight. Five hours later Ranma roused and discovered, to his utter horror, Akane sitting up in her bed, looking at him with a bland expression.

Ranma promptly fell off his chair. “Ahh!” he cried in a hushed voice. (He wanted to sound properly terrified, not wake everyone up.) ”A-Akane! I…um…look, don’t get ma-err…no…I was just…um…I-I….it’s not like I was…I mean…err! Uh…how about…sorry?”

Akane was still staring at him with that same empty expression. After watching him for a few more minutes, she looked at her hands. The strain of gathering all the power had shredded her small, delicate hands, and Ranma had bandaged them after he put her to bed the first day. Akane just stared at her hands, the blank expression never leaving her face, and Ranma began to getting worried. He picked himself off the floor and knelt by her bed, craning his neck to catch her eyes.

“Hey,” he murmured, getting her attention, “are you ok?”

She looked at him a moment before nodding slowly. “I’m fine. It’s just…what happened?”

Ranma was surprised. “You mean you don’t remember?”

Akane shook her head, and replying, “Only a very little.”

“Ok,” Ranma said, “you tell me what you know, and I’ll fill you in on what I know.”

She nodded again. “I only remember loosing my mallet, getting really depressed, then terrified, and then…my sword.” Akane turned her gaze to Ranma. She looked confused. “Ranma, why did you scare me?”

Ranma fought the initial anger until it melted away to its true form: worry. “I’m not the one that scared you. Breck was.”

Akane closed her eyes. “Oh, ya. I remember that. He acted like he was gonna force himself on me. Jerk.”

Again Ranma felt that strange mix of anger and worry. She said Breck had…then called him a jerk, but she wasn’t mad at him. She wasn’t anything. “Akane?” Ranma called softly to get her attention. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

Akane looked at him. Slowly she nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

No anger.

“I dunno. It’s just that you don’t seem quite like yourself. You’re kinda…I dunno. Dead. You’re not showing much emotion. That’s not like you.”

Akane smiled a tired little smile. “Sorry Ranma. I’m just so-” she yawned- “tired.”

Ranma sagged slightly in relief and grinned. It was what he had thought after all. Good. “That’s ok,” he assured, “been there, done that. There’s a cure for that kind of tired, y’know.”

She seemed to perk up a little at that. “Really?” she asked. “What is it?”

Ranma scrutinized her with mock skepticism. “You really wanna know?”

She nodded.

“Really?”

She nodded again.

“Ok. It’s simple. All you gotta do, is…”

She leaned closer as he beckoned her forward.

“Get some sleep!” He pushed her down onto her bed and covered her up before she could realize what was happening.

“That’s cheating,” she observed as sleep over took her. “You said you’d tell me what happened.”

Ranma nodded as he tucked her in. “I will. First, though.” He brushed some hair out of her dozing, lovely face. “Sleep.”

She smiled and made a contented little sighed as she snuggled into her thick blanket. As Ranma continued to make her comfy, he heard her sleepily ask, “Hey, Ranma?”

“Yes?”

“Did you mean what you said yesterday?”

Ranma was confused. What had he said yesterday? He racked his brain as he asked, “And what would that be?” as gently and patiently as though she were a child.

“When you said I was-“ she covered a tiny yawn- “cute?”

*When I said she was…Oh, my God. She remembers that? I thought she was sleeping! She’s gonna kill me when she wakes up for real. I just know it.*

“Ranma? Did you?” She was so close to sleeping she might have been asking a dream Ranma the question instead of the real one. He held a quick internal debate before deciding to answer any way. He looked at her, cuddled deep down into her pillows and blanket, probably asleep already, and smiled gently. That pesky, beautiful lock of hair was a dark comma against her cheek.

She was so…she was just so…

As he bent over her to move the hair, he murmured low into her ear, “Yes. I meant every single word of it.”

Her answer to this was a contented little sigh and a smile.

Perfect.

Ranma continued his vigil over Akane for twenty-four hours straight before falling asleep again. When he awoke two hours after his laps to find Akane gone, he handled the situation in the most proactive way he could.

He completely freaked.

Exploding onto his feet, he shot frantic glances around the room.

Where was she?

How long had she been gone?

How had she gotten past him?

What if Breck had found her?

“Akane!”

Ranma tore out of her room and down the stares. He ran into he kitchen only to skid to a halt in the doorframe.

Kasumi was pulling things out of the refrigerator as Akane sat at the table, leaning over a steaming bowl of ramen, noodles hanging out of her mouth as she looked up.

She slurped the noodles up, swallowed, smiled, and greeted brightly, “Morning, Ranma! Sorry for not waking you, but you looked really tired.”

Ranma stared at her and sagged against the doorpost in relief, putting a hand over his heart and letting out the breath he had been holding.

Akane blinked at him, a puzzled expression on her face. “What’s the matter, Ranma?”

He looked up at her. She had finished her noodles and was coming towards him. He attempted a smile, just barley able to keep it from wavering in his fatigue, and muttered, “Nothing. I’m all right. Just…tired.”

Akane nodded knowingly. “Ah,” she agreed wisely. Then she smiled impishly at him and added in a lightly teasing voice, “There’s a cure for that, you know.”

He stared at her a moment before catching on and smiling. “Really?”

“Yup!” She leaned very close to him, poked his nose with her finger and asked, “Wanna know what it is?”

He nodded.

“Really?”

He nodded again.

“Well, it’s simple. All you gotta do is…” She leaned close to his ear, just as he had, and murmured, “Get some sleep!” She twirled him around and shoved him up the stairs and into his room, getting no protest from him. She removed his covers, sat him down, and proceeded to cover him up like he had done for her. As she fluffed his pillow, she asked him how long he had been up.

He smothered a yawn. “On and off for about-“ another gigantic yawn- “two days.”

“Two days!” she exclaimed compassionately, tucking the blanket around his feet even though she knew it wouldn’t stay there. “Poor Ranma.”

He opened one of his closed eyes in amusement. “‘Poor Ranma’… that’s new.”

She smiled a little sadly. “Yes, well…I’ve never been in a position where I could show you any sympathy. We spend a lot of our time being very immature, ticking each other off just for the fun of it. Do you ever think…”

“Do I ever think…?” he prompted when she paused.

She shook her head. “It’s not important. You should sleep now.”

“But I wanna know what-“

She put her hand over his eyes. “Shh!” she ordered. “Keep your eyes closed. You can’t sleep with your eyes open. Are they closed?”

He nodded.

She peeped under her hand to make sure he wasn’t lying, then removed her hand completely when she saw he was being a good boy. “Now, get lots of sleep and I’ll make sure your dad doesn’t disturb you. Sweet dreams.” She kissed his forehead softly before leaving.

When the door was shut, Ranma propped himself up on one elbow and stared at the door. *I know it’s not me. There is definitely something strange about her…‘poor Ranma?’ Being open with me? Being nice to me? Actually, that was more than nice…that was down right cute. Definitely something amiss…* He yawned again, reminding himself why he was here in the first place. *But first, sleep*

With that, Ranma slipped off into the land of dreams, where school wasn’t necessary, water was controllable, and a blue-haired angel smiled sweetly.

Akane leaned against Ranma’s closed door, studying the floor dismally. “Ranma…don’t you ever think…we’re too old for these games now?” She tipped her head back till she could count the ceiling boards. “Don’t you ever wonder…if it’s all gotta end eventually? Why don’t we ever make it stop? Why are we stuck like this, the same thing day after day, never progressing, never learning, never…maturing? Don’t you think we should grow up soon, Ranma? Don’t you think that would be wonderful?”


~**~

Countless hours later, Ranma woke in a room that was not Akane’s. He sat bolt straight upright in bed, his heart going from a steady beat to heart attack in under thirty seconds, but flopped back down on his futon as he remembered what had happened.

Akane was awake; he was in his own room; everything was fine.

When his heart had slowed down, he sat back up and looked around. His father’s futon was slept in, but the panda-man was not there.

*Hmm*

Judging by the light outside, it was about ten in the morning. But of what day?

Sighing, Ranma stood, stretched, and exited his room, heading towards the dojo.

On his way out the door, his father spotted him and cried, “Ranma, m’boy! So glad you’re up! Get ready, boy. It’s time to tra-erp! Um, on second thought, never mind. You, uh, go and have some, um, fun today, ok? We’ll, uh, train again…later? Yes, later. Heh.”

Ranma stared at his father as the man laughed nervously, walking back to Soun Tendo, who had finished rearranging the go board and was waiting to get back to their game. Shrugging, Ranma continued on to the Dojo.

As he approached he heard feet lightly hitting the floor. The loud battle sounds that usually came from the Dojo when Akane was practicing there were absent. Determining it had to be one of his enemy/friends, Ranma crept towards the Dojo with unnecessary stealth. He was dumbfounded to find Akane practicing in the Dojo.

*She’s so quiet! That kata…it’s… different. Not one I’ve never seen her do and certainly not the one I was teaching her. Did her dad teach her that? How long have I been out?*

As Akane fluently ran threw the kata, Ranma noted there were very few kicks and punches involved. Based on that alone, he could guess it was aimed more toward swordplay, but where had she learned it? Kuno wasn’t that good. Certainly the Amazons wouldn’t take that kind of time with her. So where had she gotten it?

Akane finished her kata and turned to face the person who had entered the Dojo in the middle of her warm-up. When she found it was Ranma, she smiled and chirped, “Hi. I told your dad not to wake you up. It’s better to wake up on your own. But really, Ranma, I thought you were going to sleep forever!”

He blinked and smiled back at her. “Worried? How long have I been sleeping, anyway?

She thought for a moment before replying, “Twenty-six hours.”

He gaped at her. “Wow. That’s a really long time.” *Anything could have happened to her in that amount of time! * he screamed at himself. * I can’t believe I slept for so long! Stupid! *

“Ranma? Hey, Ranma!”

He looked up.

She had a worried expression on her face, which melted to a knowing smile when he looked at her. “It’s ok, Ranma. I’m fine. Nothing happened while you were asleep. No one came by, not even P-chan.”

Ranma glared at the ground. “Ya, but what if something had happened? You would’ve been defenseless. That was really stupid of me, sleeping for twenty-six hours!”

Akane slapped Ranma lightly on the back of the head.

“Hey! What’d you do that for?”

Akane glared at him. “Defenseless? Who’s defenseless? I can take care of myself. Don’t say it. Anyway, if it had been really bad, I would have woken you up.”

Ranma opened his mouth before deciding he’d rather not tick her off right away and closed it again. A few moments later, he glanced up at her and asked, “How did you get Pop to leave me alone? And why didn’t he make me spar with him when I got up?”

Akane stretched as she replied, “Oh, that was easy. After you had been asleep a few hours, I caught him heading up the stairs with a bucket of water. I knew where he was headed and who the water was for so I…intervened. I took the bucket from him and calmly explained that if he bothered you, woke you up, or made you do any sort of physical activity within twenty-four hours of you coming down, he would be hurting for a very long time.” Ranma gave her a look of uncertainty and Akane grinned at him before confessing, “Of course, the whole time I was explaining things I had my sword kissing his neck, so he was a little more cooperative this time.”

Ranma blinked at her. “Oh. Ok. Well, then, here’s another question for you: Where did you learn that kata? I’ve never seen it before.”

She winked at him. “Ah, you noticed that it was new, huh? Well, I learned it-“ She stopped and looked confused. “I learned it from…! I don’t know where I learned it! I just came in the Dojo to do my normal practice and I did that kata instead. Now that you mention it I wonder where I learned it from…” She rubbed the back of her head as she thought, and Ranma noticed that she had taken her bandages off.

“Hey!” he exclaimed, grabbing her hands in his. “Where are your bandages?”

She blinked at him. “Well, I woke up this morning and my hands felt a lot better, so I took them off.”

Ranma turned her small hands over in his and found they had healed completely. Dumbfounded, he pulled her hands closer and examined them, back and front, over and over.

“Well, well. Hope I’m not disturbing anything.”

Ranma and Akane looked up to see Alan Breck standing in the doorway of the Dojo. Ranma’s eyes narrowed immediately as put himself between his girl and the man.

The girl rested her hand on his shoulder lightly and met his eyes once before stepping around him. Stalking up to Breck, she hit him soundly across the face. “Who the hell do you think you are?” she hissed. “What gives you the right to approach me in such a way before I have given permission? When did I tell you you could touch me?”

“I-I’m sorry.” He sounded slightly amazed she had even brought the subject up, astounded she was approaching it from the direction she was. His hand touched his burning cheek lightly as he stared at her.

“Sorry? Is that all you have to say? You’re sorry? Get out. Stay gone.”

“Please, let me explain.”

She had turned away but didn’t move to leave.

He took advantage of this, admitting in rush, “You had to need your weapon, not just want it but need it. I had to make you need it. That was the only situation I could think of that might make you desperate enough to need a weapon you knew inherently how to use. Then the Call truly began and with all the chaos I couldn’t explain.”

“The chaos. Yes. Why didn’t you tell me that would happen? You knew it would happen because you told Ranma you knew. What if I wasn’t able to handle the Power? What if I had burned out? What if I had died? Did you think of that? Do you think Ranma would have spared you? Because I don’t. Did you think about that? Did you think at all? Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

Breck stared at Akane a moment more before then lowering his head in apparent shame. “I’m sorry.” He sounded absolutely miserable and Akane half turned to look at him. “I did know it would happen, but I didn’t know it would happen that…powerfully. It never happened like that before. Never! The others all got their weapons and were just fine. They weren’t fatigued in the least. I didn’t know. If I had, I never would have…not without so much more research. I don’t know what it is about you. You’re so…powerful. Astoundingly powerful. I really am sorry for all the trouble I caused. Can you…could you ever forgive me?” He picked his head up slightly and whispered desperately, “Please?”

This last word broke down all of Akane’s remaining anger and she sighed. “Well…all right. But if you ever try anything like that again…” She let her threat hang in the air.

Breck stared at her, hope shining on his face. “Really? You forgive me?” When she nodded he smiled at her and bowed deeply. “Thank you! But…I need to repay your kindness. What can I do to make it up to you? I know!” He straightened and smiled winningly. “I know of a magnificent restaurant, the best in Tokyo, glamorous, sophisticated, classic. Just like you. It serves absolutely anything you can imagine. Would you allow me the pleasure of accompanying you on a date there? I could never forgive myself other wise. Please?”

Akane considered his offer. The described atmosphere appealed greatly to a newly born desire of hers to be…grown. “When?” she asked finally.

Breck looked immediately happier as Ranma’s head snapped up.

What?

“Well, I was thinking maybe…tomorrow at six?”

Akane flinched slightly. “I’m sorry, Alan, tomorrow’s really bad…”

He took advantage of this, replying swiftly, “What about today at six then?”

Akane blinked at him in mild surprise. “Today? Well…ok. If it’s all right with my dad…”

Breck seemed overcome with joy. “I’ll ask him. If he says no, I’ll tell you. If not…I’ll see you at six, ok?”

She smiled and nodded.

Breck was practically walking on air as he exited the Dojo.

“Akane!”

Surprised, she turned to Ranma who was livid with rage.

“How could you let that two-timing jerk take you out!”

Akane scowled at him. “You know, Ranma, jealousy is very unbecoming.”

Ranma gaped at her and demanded, “Who’s jealous? I’m not jealous! I’m just…concerned about you. But y’know…it reminds me that I was planning on taking U-chan to-”

Akane glared at him. “Ooh, no you don’t, Ranma. You are not messing this up for me! Alan wants to make this mess up to me, and you are not coming anywhere near us during our date, got it?”

Ranma opened his mouth to argue, but had to close it again in order to catch the tip of Akane’s sword as she brought it towards his head. He quickly let the sword go when he realized the sword was not made of metal but of energy and holding it with one’s hand hurt.

Akane at Ranma with the sword. “If you screw this up,” she warned, “I will hurt you. Get it?”

Ranma nodded. “Got it.”

She smiled. “Good.” She turned her sword around and made a motion like she was sheathing it. As the sword went through the invisible sheath it disappeared and she walked away saying over her shoulder, “I have to ask Daddy if he said I could go and get ready if I can.” As she exited the Dojo, she pulled at the air. The energy captured by Ranma’s hand when he grabbed her sword’s blade floated out of his hand and Akane caught it, making it disappear as she absorbed it.

“Bye-bye, Ranma.”


AN: …Well, what can I say? I like it better now. ^_^ And that’s about that.