Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Akane? What's Wrong? ❯ Don't leave me this way ( Chapter 2 )

Author's note: Apostrophe is missing from the chapter title because it apparently breaks the software. Sorry if you're an OCD grammar-nazi like me and it bugs you.

"Ranma... I have cancer..."

Ranma stood, dumbfounded. Cancer? It... couldn't... be... He collected himself enough to throw his arms around her and hold her tight. Tears burned his eyes and fell down his cheeks, but he didn't care. Now was not the time to worry about looking macho. They held eachother in silence. Ranma only let go to let Akane hug her dad and sisters. He wandered in a circle. Genma, not great with these types of situations, held a rice ball out to him, but he shook his head. "Ranma," Genma said. He looked up. "Remember when I told you that it was your job to make your fiancee feel better when she's feeling bad?" "Yeah," Ranma answered. "You're doing all right."

They drove home in silence. Akane recalled te conversation they'd had with Dr. Tofu and the specialist when the family had gone back in with her. They were lucky... caught it early... was in an early stage... surgery... radiation... she shook her head to clear her thoughts. She felt Ranma squeeze her hand, and she squeezed back. She was so thankful that she had him to lean on. Sure the circumstances of them getting this close could have been better, but still, she couldn't imagine going through this without him. Ranma leaned in close. "You doin' okay, Akane?" he whispered. She laid her head on his shoulder. "As long as you're here," she answered. "When do you have to go for that surgery?" he asked. "Next week," she replied. "Shouldn't be any big deal," Ranma said matter-of-factly. "Didn't sound like that had to cut you open real bad or anything." "Nah," Akane said. "I'm glad it won't leave a big scar. I'd always promised I'd have children the natural way so I wouldn't have a c-section sc..." She caught herself, and felt the redness creeping into her face. She looked up at Ranma and was met with a smile. "I guess we haven't had time to talk about..." she said sheepishly. "I think we have the same idea," he replied. She smiled. Despite everything, life was pretty good.

Akane went to school the next day. Nobody there knew what was going on, which was good. The last thing Akane wanted at that moment was a barrage of questions. The other students did notice how close Ranma and Akane were acting. Everyone already knew that they were engaged, though, so it served more as a moment for the girls to find cute and the guys to be jealous.

That was Thursday; Akane stayed home Friday. Ranma had never been more restless. The minute the last bell rang, Ranma was out the door at full sprint, turning over in his mind the possibility that Akane was doing worse. He was relieved when he got home, as he found Akane sitting in the garden. He sat beside her and put his arm around her, as they watched the koi jumping in the pond. "I was thinking about you today," Ranma said. Akane rubbed his arm. "Aw, quit talking like I'm dying, Ranma. I'll be fine." "Sorry," he said. Akane pulled herself up and sat in his lap, staring into his eyes. "I couldn't do this without your support," she said. "I hope you know that." "I'm just sorry I didn't tell you... how I feel... under better circumstances," he said quietly. She put her hand on his cheek. "I had my suspicions," she said, smiling. "Me too," Ranma said, and kissed her. It lasted for several seconds, and afterward, he kept his face close. It wasn't the ideal way for a first kiss to happen, but somehow, it meant more this way.

Akane felt sick all weekend, but she was well enough to watch TV in the living room. Those two days were practice-free for Ranma. For once, martial arts weren't the most important thing in his life. Akane drifted off to sleep every couple of hours; Ranma held her close. They elicited caring glances from the other members of the family; Nabiki had given up on pretending like nothing was wrong. Every time Akane woke up, Ranma gave her a soft kiss and squeezed her. He wanted her to feel loved, but it helped him, too- every time she squeezed back, he knew she was okay, if only for that moment.

Sunday night Ranma walked Akane up to her room. As she laid down, she motioned for Ranma to come near. He knelt down beside her bed. "Stay with me Ranma. I'm scared," she said. Ranma climbed in next to her and turned out the light. He put his arms around her and held her close. "Akane, I just want you to know... my life would never be the same without you. I'll be glad when you're better." "I'm not going anywhere, Ranma," she replied, before drifting off to sleep.

Monday morning met them with rain and gray skies. Ranma made a point to spend every moment with Akane. The only time he was away was when she took her bath, and then he waited in the hallway, not even leaving for breakfast. Genma and Soun had another rented van, and everyone piled in. Ranma walked her out with his arm around her, hoping she wasn't cold. As they sat down in the van, Ranma kissed her again. She smiled and leaned on him; he put his arm around her as they drove off.

Akane was so nervous she was shaking. Ranma held her hand, and the family followed, as they walked into the hospital. They made their way to the part of the hospital that she'd gone to for the tests. It was familiar to her, and this was a time that familiar wasn't good. The waiting room was empty as they entered. Dr. Tofu met them there.

"Akane... are you ready?" he asked. "Yeah," Akane replied nervously. Ranma squeezed her hand. "Don't be afraid, Akane," Dr. Tofu added. "It's really no big deal. It'll be over before you know it."

Dr. Tofu led them across the hall to where Akane had to get dressed. Both Ranma and Akane had tears in their eyes as they prepared for the last time that they would see eachother until it was over. Ranma held her close and kissed the top of her head. "Akane, I'll see you in a little while. Everything's going to be all right." "I know, Ranma," she answered. "I'll get this over with, and you can quit worrying about me." She smiled.

"I love you, Akane."

"I love you, Ranma."

Ranma stood, looking out the window. They were on the sixth floor, and from here, he could see most of Tokyo. The rain had quit and the roads were starting to dry, but the sky stayed gray. He was hoping that the sun would come out before Akane came out of surgery, so that she could see the sunlight outside. He looked around the room. It had been an hour and a half since he'd left Akane's side. As he looked around, every single detail of the room seemed to jump out at him. He was certain he would never forget this place as long as he lived. Dr. Tofu came out and sat with family; Ranma rushed over.

"We're finished with the surgery," Dr. Tofu began. "It went fine, but it looks like Akane had lost a little more blood than we'd thought over the past couple of weeks. Her body has some work to do to get back to normal." He took a breath. "I won't lie to you, it won't be easy for her. She... might not... make it through this." His words fell like lead on everyone. Ranma glanced around at the gray, drained faces of everyone else. A tear ran down Kasumi's cheek. "She's not awake yet, it might be a while, but you can come to her room now if you'd like." "Yes!" Ranma said quickly. Dr. Tofu smiled. "She's lucky to have so many people who care about her. Come this way."

The group followed him to a hospital room on the same floor. Akane was there, sleeping. Ranma was worried that she would be unrecognizable for all the machines and tubes, but she wasn't. In fact, she looked just like when she napped at home. He wished with every fiber of his being that they could be there instead. He pulled a chair up to the side of her bed and sat, stroking her cheek. "Akane?" he whispered. She didn't move. He took her hand and kissed it softly. "Akane, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." The others watched him, teary-eyed.

"Akane, we've only known eachother for a year or so, but in that time, I've come to love you more than I've ever loved anyone. I could never love anyone else the way I love you. You're my world." Tears started to stream down his face again; he closed his eyes and pressed her hand to his forehead. "I can't imagine running the dojo without having you there with me. I don't want to think about standing at the end of the aisle for anyone else. Please be okay, Akane. Please, sweetheart. Don't leave me this way. Not now. We have a whole life ahead of us. I love you..."

Ranma stood, looking off into the distance. A cold breeze blew, and a few leaves fluttered past. How... empty. He was certain that cemeteries were the loneliest places on earth. He didn't like coming to places like this, but... he had to. He wouldn't feel okay with himself if he didn't. He stared down at the block of granite in front of him. He knelt down and ran his fingers along the letters in the center: TENDO. He stood and looked off into the distance again. A sigh escaped through his lips.

...

He felt a soft hand slide into his, and heard the sweetest voice he'd ever known. "Thanks for coming with me to my mother's grave, Ranma," Akane said. Ranma turned and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. Tears burned his eyes, and he let them fall. "I'm just so glad it's not you I'm visiting here," he said. They kissed eachother softly. "I wasn't going to miss the years we were supposed to have together," she said. They let go of one another. Ranma chuckled. "Wasn't it funny how everyone asked whether it was morning sickness?" he asked. Akane played with the engagement ring on her left hand. "Well, we might have to think about that a couple of years from now," she answered, grinning. "Just tell me if you start feeling like you were before all the trouble started... I need some preparation if we're going to go through all that again!" he joked. Akane hugged him. "Count on it," she answered, "but I don't think we'll have to worry about that ever again."

He took her hand, and they walked away together. A few more leaves floated in the breeze.

Author's note added 31 March 2012: So, just about an hour ago I stumbled upon something horrifying. I'd accidentally plagiarized this in a major way, though I swear it wasn't on purpose; I'd never heard of the other story until now. You see, I often have one spark of an idea, and I build the story around that. This particular story began with the idea of the last scene, where it looks like Akane died but it turned out not to be her her grave. I came up with cancer as a way of reaching that, which also allowed for the WAFFiness, which I'd hoped to make a part of the story. As I was googling for something else today, I stumbled upon a story called "Kasumi... What's Wrong?" by Ed Hrzic. You can see it at edo-hrzic dot com slash archive slash kasumi dot txt You guessed it... in that fic, Kasumi comes down with cancer. The tone of the story is a little bit different, but only a little (it has a split storyline, focusing on Kasumi as well as Ranma and Akane having a fight). As I said, I hadn't heard of that story when I wrote this; it looks like it was published on usenet, and I'm new enough to the fanfiction world that I don't know much of the stuff from usenet or the FFML. Regardless, there's far too much similarity to ignore, so it's crucial that I acknowledge Ed Hrzic and his story. I apologize deeply for ripping him off on accident; it was not my intention.