Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Year of Doubt ❯ Year of Doubt ( One-Shot )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

A Year of Doubt

When the Tendous lost Kimiko Tendou, the family matriarch, times became hard. Kasumi took on most of the household duties, Nabiki became the provider, and Souun and Akane took over the Tendou Dojo, in the hopes of bringing in students.

But it wasn't the same without Kimiko. The girls' mother, a talented martial artist and excellent teacher, was the source of many of the students. After her death, Souun and Akane could not take her place. But Kasumi and Nabiki managed to hold the family together anyway; one a dutiful daughter bringing serenity and order to the household, the other a shrewd businessperson, making money and investments to keep the Tendou family living the life they were used to.

Ranma Saotome came along. He was powerful and brave. He became the family's unofficial protector, and then official protector. Despite the amount of accrued property damage the Tendou Dojo, home, and grounds, the Tendou family saw him as a source of safety, security. Even Akane, once thinking herself the Samurai of the household, stepped aside when she knew that Ranma could handle just about anything that came calling - Amazons, monsters, ghosts, demons, even gods.

So when Ranma Saotome died, there wasn't anyone to take his place.

Akane loved the dojo. When she was little, just after her mother died, she would sneak downstairs when everyone else was asleep, her Magical Girl Pretty Sammy sleeping bag under one arm. She would sleep in the dojo, curled up under the shrine. In the summer, when it was warm even at night, she would leave the doors open and sleep with her head outside, looking up at the stars as she drifted off to sleep.

As she grew older, the dojo became a part of her. She knew every piece of wood and stone and rice paper in it. When Ranma came, and the dojo was frequently in disrepair due to the antics of the crazies that followed him everywhere he went, Akane would become frustrated at the amount of changes to her little world of wood and sweat and blood. Breaking cinderblocks with her hands, spreading dust and debris around the new-old dojo, was the way she would make it feel like a home again.

Laying down now on that dust-strewn, sweat- and blood-darkened wood, she would give anything to see Ranma crash through the ceiling, destroying the latest patch-job from a month ago when Mousse had been sent into lower orbit by one of Shanpu's chÃºi. She'd even settle for him accidentally knocking one of the shoji off of its track. Akane just wanted to see him.

Rolling over onto her side, she looked across the floor at her latest attempt at making herself feel better. The stack had been six-high this time. Akane's deceptively tiny hand had crashed through them like they were made of sand. She didn't feel any better, though. There was still a band of pain around her chest, constricting her body until she felt like she would break in half.

A sob escaped her throat, tiredly, and Akane curled into a ball around the agony inside her. If Ranma were there, he would have laid nervous hands on her back, told her not to cry. He would have stiffened shyly when Akane would have inevitably turned and buried herself into his strong chest. And then she would have talked about what was bothering her. Ranma would have laughed, “Hey, I'm just dead, s'not the end of the world. What's a tomboy like you doing cryin' anyway? Don't you got sumthin' to pound or a dinner to ruin?”

“Ranma you dummy.” Akane whispered. She could almost hear his laughter, but just like the memories of her mother, Ranma's voice and face were already harder and harder to hold onto. He was water slipping away through tightly-closed fists.

“Hey, Akane… dinner's ready. Kasumi made your favorite.” Nabiki's slipper-clad feet padded softly across the dojo floor. “Whoo, what is that? Five bricks today?” her older sister deliberately miscalculated. She'd been doing little things like that to boost Akane's ego and subsequently her mood.

It wasn't working.

“Don't you wanna come inside, get something to eat?” Nabiki prompted quietly, kneeling next to Akane's head. Tears were still streaming down her face, but she didn't bother to wipe them away in front of her sister. “Crying again?” Nabiki asked softly, reaching out a well-manicured hand to stroke Akane's sweaty hair. Akane nodded against the press of Nabiki's hand, and her sister sighed heavily.

“We miss him, too, Sis, but you gotta move on,” Nabiki paused, a small quaver in her voice when she spoke again, “he wouldn't want you to—”

“He might not even care.” Akane whispered hoarsely, knowing, even as she said the words, that they weren't true. Ranma hated seeing her cry. Hated seeing anyone, especially a woman, cry. But her anger was all she had left to cling to. Her anger at him, for leaving her.

Akane just wished she could muster up the strength for it.

“Well… point is, you need to eat, now come on inside.” Nabiki's voice took on a very business-like tone as she tugged Akane bodily to her feet. “Oof, maybe you don't need to eat that much…” Nabiki grumbled. Akane glared at her, but followed her into the house.

Kasumi was just putting out a plate filled with small sweet buns, and despite her dour mood, Akane's stomach growled at the sight of all her favorite foods out on the table. Her father was already sitting down, staring absently out into the yard. Akane looked painfully at the place where Ranma had been sitting, just a week ago…

She quickly sat in his spot. Her father glanced at her, but said nothing, whether he noted the significance of her place at the table or not. Genma and Nodoka, living back in their refurbished home, were a conspicuously absent presence. This would be their first meal as just the Tendous in over a year. Souun had pleaded with them to stay, but, despite Genma wanting to remain with his best friend, Nodoka couldn't handle being at the Tendous.

“Well, that's everything,” Kasumi said softly, a weak smile on her face, “I suppose we should eat.” Nabiki winced a little at the awkward tone, and even Akane made a small face of displeasure. Sometimes, she wished Kasumi would just get angry, or sad, or frustrated, or even mildly annoyed.

Their father started eating first. Calm, steady; he asked Nabiki a question about school. Nabiki answered. The silence was broken. The girls started in on their own meals.

Akane stared at the food in front of her. Fists clenched viciously around her innocent hashi, she eyed first one dish, then the next. “Akane, aren't you going to eat?” Kasumi asked, just the slightest hesitation in her voice.

Looking up at her family, Akane reached out slowly and grabbed her bowl of rice. Her hands shook even as she began to shovel, ungainly the food into her body like she was trying to power a freight train. Everyone was staring at her, but Akane ignored them as she began to eat more than she had in a week, in a month, hell, in her whole life.

When she was done, almost a half of their dinner was gone and Akane felt like throwing up. Instead, she got up, wobbling slightly, and went back out into the dojo.

She wasn't sure how long she threw herself into her training, but she was so tired, so sick with exhaustion when she was finished, she just curled up and slept like a child under the shrine.

Ranma wasn't dead. He would live on through her efforts.

One Year Later

Akane caught her opponent off-guard with a snap-kick at his waist. He turned into the blow that would have collapsed his left kidney like a balloon, and took it on his abdomen. The air went out of him in a “whoosh” and he grunted and moved forward, grabbing Akane's calf and intending on tossing her bodily across the dojo. But Akane's hand suddenly snaked up his chest and connected soundly with his chin. “HAI!” she shouted, following her upper cut with a reverse elbow strike to her opponent's head that sent him crashing to the ground.

Barely winded, Akane reached out a hand and helped Tatewaki Kunou to his feet. “Underclassman Tendou, your,” he gulped air into his lungs, “your strength knows no limits.”

Akane smiled at him and put her hands on her hips. “Yeah, well, if you had your sword I'm sure you'd have had better luck.”

“You are too generous with your words, Underclassman,” Tatewaki's face seemed a little twisted with pain, and Akane looked at him in concern as he hobbled over to a corner of the dojo and collapsed onto his butt on the floor, facing her, back against the wall, “and, possibly, far too generous with your fists during a casual spar.” He rubbed the bruise forming on his chin and Akane bowed to him.

“Forgive me - I'm used to Ryouga's hard head lately, I suppose,” she smiled at her once-suitor and began a few stretches to keep her muscles from cramping up, “how is Kodachi?” she asked.

Tatewaki looked up at the non-sequitur, surprise evident on his handsome face. “My little sister? Why, she is doing quite well at Tokyo University,” the older man sighed and leaned his head back against the wall, “however, she misses Nerima.”

Akane smiled warmly. “Well, next time you talk to her, tell her we miss her, too,” she looked up as Nabiki entered the dojo, wearing a pair of jeans and a new top, “hey, Sis, you look nice.”

Nabiki smirked. “I know; hey Tatewaki, you ready to go? Akane didn't rough you up too much to go out for parfaits?” Tatewaki took to bended knee with the renewed vigor, taking Nabiki's hand and kissing it gently.

“Nabiki Tendou, your beauty fills this empty vessel with the spirit of the gods - `twere necessary, I would walk across hot coals with Mount Fujiyashiyama betwixt my shoulders only to look upon your delicate hands.” Tatewaki kissed her hand again, and Nabiki's cool demeanor seemed to falter a little at his pretty speech.

Akane sniggered behind her hand - Nabiki always was a sucker for cute boys.

“Yeah, well, maybe I'll heat up the bath later and you can swim through boiling water to get that stink off of you.” She grumbled.

When they'd left, Akane remained where she was, staring out the open shoji at the gently-swaying trees in the early autumn sun. It reminded her of something, those trees with their leaves twisting and twirling away… a body, tumbling through the air like a stone, limbs flailing for purchase, the twist of the hips to catch his weight on his hands.

Akane shook her head to clear it and wandered outside to work over the Wooden Man some more. Kunou was a good sparring partner, but she missed Ryouga - he didn't go down so easily, and most of the time he didn't even go down at all.

The Wooden Man's body rang with hollow thumps as she struck it over and over, the endorphin rush settling her body into a comfortable rhythm of attack.

Sometimes, in those first months after Ranma's death, she had thought about killing herself.

Then, she thought about marrying Ryouga for about two seconds. The lost boy broke the spell himself, however, when he revealed that he was actually her pet pig, P-Chan. There was no way she was going to marry some guy who'd done that to her. However, she'd forgiven him eventually, let him eke his way back into her life as her friend.

After that, Akane's life became a routine of training, school, and more training. She didn't hang out with Yuka and Sayuri as much as she used to, they had boyfriends and college on their minds. Akane already knew what the rest of her life was going to be - it was planned out in her head, like a carefully drawn map. Her path across existence to death was slow and empty, so she would fill the days with training fatigue.

And she did. Every day she trained until her body burned with agony. Never having liked pain, Akane grew angry at herself, and then she started to hate herself, and then she realized she was falling into despair. So she trained harder. Trained until it didn't hurt anymore, until there was only power.

Now… she flexed her fingers, the nails sharp, the skin of her palms hard and yellow with calluses; her arms responded appropriately, corded muscles twisting and bulging. Now her body was densely-packed with strength and speed; students flocked to the dojo, eager to learn from her. There were even challengers again. And she beat them, every single one.

It wasn't enough.

She wanted Ranma to see her…

Akane stopped punching the dummy for a moment, hand poised to strike with a sword-hand at the wooden throat. “I'm a martial artist, too, you know…” she whispered, tears stinging her eyes.

Not for the first time since Ranma's death, doubt slithered across her skin like a serpent. She had felt, since that day they paramedics found his body, crumpled like broken twigs on the sidewalk, rain beating down on him, that something was wrong. That she had given up on him, somehow.

That he was alive.

An entire year. He was dead and buried in the ground. She had seen the body, not female despite the rain. Ono had explained, quite succinctly, that he was no longer cursed, now that he was dead. “Should Mousse drown, he would wash up a man.” He had said, not unkindly. “At least he is buried as he would have liked to be seen by his mother, Akane.”

And Akane had believed him, of course, but then again, Ono didn't know everything, a tiny voice inside her insisted.

She shook the voice away, shook away the doubt. There was no way Ranma was alive, she heard Nabiki saying. He's dead, Kasumi insisted. Buried in a graveyard, Akane, he won't come back. Ryouga. Her father. His mother. His father. Everyone else knew that Ranma was dead. Even Ukyou had returned to her family's home, and Kodachi had moved on, and the Amazons had gone back to China, empty-handed.

Everyone had accepted that Ranma was dead except Akane.

Sighing, she leaned against the Wooden Man, almost hugging it. Her eyes narrowed as she watched a leaf fall from the tree in the yard and land in the koi pond. She watched the ripples spread out from the leaf and eventually disappear. Her heart thudded so loud in her ears she could swear it was in her throat and not her chest.

Ranma was everywhere around her. She could still see him bouncing around the yard like a crazed animal, dodging blows, practicing, falling into the koi pond, coming out a grousing, wet woman.

Pulling away from the Wooden Man, Akane walked across the yard and knelt next to the koi pond, allowing herself to think about the day that Ranma died.

It was an accident. It was raining out, and Ranma was running along the rooftops. He had slipped, fallen, tried to twist and take the fall on his arms, but the fall was too high, five stories. He had broken his neck and caved in his skull, and shattered countless bones. Even his densely-packed body hadn't been able to absorb any of the impact. Ranma Saotome was dead, killed by the ground and a slippery roof.

The whole thing was so ridiculous, Akane had laughed out loud about it. Her family had stared at her, appropriately horrified by her reaction. And then she realized the police officer's story wasn't some sick joke. Ranma was dead.

Akane reached out and trailed her fingers through the water. Even after seeing his body on a metal table in the morgue, to help identify him, she believed he was alive. Her family and friends called it denial.

Akane called it faith. Faith in Ranma.

Even now, a year later, she still believed he was alive.

There was one detail about the officer's story that had kept that kernel of hope alive. Just one, small thing that seemed strange. There was an old woman who had seen Ranma on the roof of the hotel just before he slipped and fell. The woman hadn't seen him fall. She'd reported him as a prowler, someone trying to sneak into ladies' rooms. She was old, had bad eyesight, but she insisted that Ranma was a he. “A large man, tall; black hair in a pigtail, red Mandarin-style silk shirt. I saw it, clear as day.” The woman had been interviewed for the paper. Akane had read it, over and over.

Ranma should have been a woman. It was raining. He should have been female. Ono Tofuu's explanation made sense - only if Ranma was running around dead. He should have been “Ranko” all the way up until he hit the sidewalk.

After Akane began to doubt the initial story, nothing could make her think otherwise. The funeral felt like a sham. Talking about Ranma in past tense seemed insane, at best. The year after his death was a living hell of lies.

But there was no other explanation. Akane had briefly talked Cologne into seeing if there was a Spring of Drowned Ranma at Juusenkyo, but the old woman had quirked an eyebrow at her. “Akane, child, when would Ranma have been immersed in the cursed waters?” and Akane had had to nod at that.

Besides, if someone had cursed a person to turn into Ranma and then let him die, that person wouldn't have looked like Ranma when he died. Unless someone had locked the curse with water from the Pot of Preservation.

Akane shook her head to clear it. No, she couldn't go thinking about that again. Not now. She had students to teach that afternoon, and Kasumi and Ono's wedding was still in the planning stages - she was responsible for inviting all the guests.

She felt a brief flicker of jealousy that quickly melted into sadness. Of course she was happy for her sister, but Akane would have rather been planning her own wedding to a certain pig-tailed jerk.

“Ranma, you idiot,” Akane grumbled, tears stinging her eyes, “I bet you still wouldn't even fight me for real, and marriage? Bah… you'd get a nosebleed just thinking about the wedding night.” She smiled at that. No matter how many times she called him a pervert, she knew he was shy.

Had been shy.

“Akane?” the voice startled her so much she almost fell into the koi pond - the one thing she still needed to work on was her awareness. Akane stood up and smiled at her father as he came out of the dining area, carrying a badly-beaten package.

“Oh? Is that for me?” her father nodded. It must have been from Ryouga, with how worn it was. Akane sighed and took the package, then frowned. The postmark was China.

“Akane, be careful opening that,” Souun Tendou said firmly, and Akane looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, “I think it's from the Amazons.”

“Oh Daddy, relax, they don't care about me anymore.” She said a little sadly. Sometimes, despite how much she had hated her, Akane missed Shanpu. Her father looked unconvinced, and stood by whilst she opened the package.

The paper almost disintegrated in her hands and she popped the lid open.

What was inside almost made her heart stop.

“Akane? Sweetie, what is it?” her father was asking. Akane's mouth worked, trying to form words. “Oh… Akane, Akane there's no way it's his…”

Akane reached in, grasping the familiar object in her hand. The box fell to the ground and Akane clutched it to her face, breathing in the scene of sweat, soap, and faint traces of the sweet leaves of a Camellia bush.

Ranma had used green-tea-laced shampoo. He had said, when questioned about the girly bottle, embarrassedly, that it was good for his hair. He was always oddly proud of his hair.

The pigtail felt as soft as though it had just been cut off. She smelled it over and over, tears streaming down her face. “It's his.” Akane said firmly, putting up a hand to stall her father's protests. “It's his, I know it is.” There was even the tie he used after he'd been released from the hold of the Dragon Whisker - a black thread, slightly frayed at the edge.

“We need to dig up Ranma's body.” Akane said darkly. Her father looked at her in pity, and Akane felt her chest constrict. “Please, Daddy.”

“No, Akane, no… someone is playing a very horrible joke, and I'm going to find out who it is,” he paused, reaching out to touch her shoulder; Akane was like a wooden post under his hand, “but I will not dig up your dead fiancÃ©e on some crazy—”

“I'm not crazy!” Akane shouted at him. He flinched back from her anger, but Akane didn't apologize. She grabbed up the box the hair had come in and ran into the house and up the stairs. The duck plate on her door clacked noisily as she slammed it closed.

Sinking to the floor, Akane let herself cry openly, hugging Ranma's hair to her face and rubbing her cheek against it. “You're alive, you're alive and I'm going to find you.” She whispered.

The cool night air passed across her shoulders, and Akane sighed in appreciation. Sweaty and covered in dirt, she continued to sink her shovel into the ground over and over, feeling the earth give way under her strength.

The package was from Mousse.

There was no name, no letter accompanying the pigtail. She had demolished the box in her efforts to find another clue. There wasn't one. But she knew it was from Mousse. She was almost as sure that the package was from Mousse, as she was of what she would find in Ranma's coffin.

Akane was so glad Nodoka had decided not to cremate him.

Her shovel hit something solid. Thinking it was another rock, she reached blindly into the grave - she had only a small flashlight, so as not to attract attention, and it wasn't on - but her hand hit the soft grains of Ranma's coffin. Resisting the urge to shriek in morbid excitement, Akane cleared the rest of the earth away, ignoring the sweat and grave dirt burning her eyes.

The top half of the lid lifted after some tugging, and Akane flicked on her flash light, gagging at the body she saw in the coffin, and the stench that accompanied it.

Inside the coffin, curled within the remains of the white kimono the caretaker had trussed Ranma's body in, was a dead cat. It had not replaced Ranma's body; Akane knew it wasn't a joke. The little white cat was what they had buried, not Ranma. Apparently, the Pot of Preservation could only keep someone in their form for so long after death.

Saying a small prayer for the kitty, Akane closed the lid slowly, feeling sorry for the little animal. It had probably been terrified as it plummeted from the roof, but didn't understand how its human body worked, couldn't save itself by grasping for purchase on the wall of the hotel.

Akane reburied the cat with purpose. After the dirt covered the grave once more, she knelt and prayed for the animal's soul to find peace in the afterlife, though it was a little late. She apologized to the animal who had died because of someone else's selfishness, and got up, shovel in hand.

That was it, then. All this time, she had been right. Ranma was alive. Mousse had sent her a message. “Message received,” Akane mumbled as she stole her way across the graveyard in her dark-blue sweater and sweatpants. Ranma was alive, and she was going to find him.

She just hoped he wasn't faking his own death on purpose, or she was going to have to kill him with her bare hands.

“Look, I already told you,” Akane sighed heavily and put her head in her hands. Her family and Ranma's family were still looking at her like she was insane. She couldn't stand it, so she covered her eyes as she spoke. “It was a cat. A cat. We buried an animal. Ranma is alive.”

“Akane, you should get some rest. That… hair has made you tired.” Kasumi said lamely, putting her hand on her little sister's shoulder. Akane fought the urge to shake the hand off, and tried to keep her voice calm and steady.

“I will go and look for him in China. I'm eighteen, and no one can stop me.” She stared at all of them, trying to make them understand. Akane let her eyes catch Nodoka's - she had been silent all night, white-faced. Akane was amazed she had even gotten the women out of the house and into the Tendou's.

Nodoka looked away, tucking her head against her husband's shoulder, and Akane sighed.

“Is it true?” Akane looked up sharply to see Ryouga and Akari coming into the dining area from the front of the house. Ryouga was staring at her, wide-eyed, and Akari was clutching him fiercely. They'd been dating for a few months, and Akari often went with him wherever he went, to keep him from getting lost on his way back home.

“Is Ranma alive?” Akari repeated Ryouga's question, and the Tendous and Saotomes looked around at each other.

“Ryouga, we called you to make sure Akane didn't do anything stupid, don't encourage her.” Nabiki said irritably. Akane glared at her older sister, and the middle Tendou daughter's expression softened. “Akane, please, you have to stop this.” Nabiki started to say something else, but Akane cut her off rudely.

“Yes, he's alive, and I think I know where he is.” She continued to stare her family down, daring them to challenge her, irrationally angry with them for not believing her.

“Amazons,” Ryouga ground out, “do you think they took him?” Akane nodded, quickly, licking her lips in eagerness. She had Ryouga and Akari on her side. They wouldn't let her down.

She was a little glad now that Nabiki had planned to ambush her.

Akane looked at the rest of the room as though it was full of strangers. And then a soft voice, like a sighing wind, came across the room. “Akane, if you think my son is alive, please,” Nodoka looked up, sunken eyes full of fire, “find him and bring him home.” Reaching out, the older woman took Akane's hands in her own across the low table, staring into Akane's gray-brown eyes with a ferocity that the youngest Tendou hadn't seen in her since she was still carrying a katana at her waist. “Find my son.”

“Dear, Nodoka…” Genma began, but Nodoka held up a hand to cut him off. The two women, one old, the other young in body but not in heart, stared at each other until
Nabiki sighed, loudly.

“You have all of my resources at your disposal,” she groused, “and the Kunous'.” Everyone, including Akane, looked at Nabiki as though she had just decided to burn her pachinko parlors to the ground. Nabiki looked irritated. “What!? I think Akane's crazy, yeah, but she's not a liar, and she's not hallucinating,” Nabiki smiled with uncharacteristic warmth at her shocked little sister, “besides, at least she'll get it out of her system.” Akane let go of Nodoka to hug Nabiki.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she pulled away, and Kasumi dragged her into a hug next.

“Be careful, little sister, and bring Ranma back for our wedding.” She said softly. Akane felt tears in her eyes, and hugged her sister back. “I'm sorry that we didn't believe you.”

Pulling away, Akane looked at Genma and her father last, waiting patiently. Both men shook their heads and looked at the table, and Akane wilted a little. “When I've brought Ranma home, you'll see.” She said firmly, standing up and bowing to the room. “You'll thank me.”

It was a two-day trip to Shanghai. Akane and Ryouga would have gone by plane, but Nabiki knew that one of Cologne's nephews was a pilot. It was better to keep the Amazon matriarch in the dark that she and Ryouga were coming. So the two of them were sweating together in a cramped boat. Akane's hair had grown out slightly, and she'd trimmed it short again and dressed in boy's clothes, binding her chest down with heavy wraps. Ryouga was wearing a green changsam and trying to pass for a non-native Mandarin. He'd picked up the language on his many, many travels, and was playacting as Akane's guide.

Akane was satisfied with their disguises, but she was also worried about Cologne. If the old woman really was responsible for Ranma's faked death and - Akane hoped lamely - kidnapping, then she was probably ready for someone to come after him.

But, it had been a year. Maybe the old crone had assumed that everyone in Nerima had forgotten about Ranma.

Maybe Ranma thought that.

Akane clenched her eyes shut briefly as she and a disguised Ryouga wandered off the boat and into the crowded docks. Ranma might think that, but it wasn't true. She would show him how much she remembered him, as soon as she found him and clobbered him for making her worry so much.

As they procured a ride to Qinghai with a tour group, Akane shook of her anger in favor of giddy excitement. The important thing was that Ranma was somewhere in China, she just knew it.

Ryouga said something to the man driving the bus in Mandarin, and the man frowned thoughtfully. Akane got into the bus behind Ryouga, sitting as far from anyone else as she could manage. She missed the fast rail systems of her native Japan, and she'd always hated buses.

“Bayankala?” the driver repeated the word Ryouga had said, and Akane realized they were talking about the mountain range. The driver started the bus with a frown and set off slowly through the streets.

“Dui,” Ryouga said tersely, “Bayankala.”

The old man nodded. “Henhao, henhao!” the man began singing something, and Akane tuned him out. Ryouga sat down next to Akane, almost tripping on his long green robe and making her wince as the tourists stared at him curiously over their maps and cameras.

“Is he really going to take us to the mountains?” Akane asked quietly when Ryouga was settled, sweating in the muggy heat, next to her.

“No,” Ryouga responded, smiling when Akane frowned dourly, “don't worry. He just wanted to know where we were going, we'll get there.” Akane huffed impatiently and leaned away from her travelling companion, settling against her backpack for comfort.

The bus rumbled along until they hit dirt road, and then it trundled. Akane's teeth rattled so much in her head she wasn't sure if she was shaking or the rickety old bus was. Ryouga seemed serene, but she saw tenseness etched into every line on his body. He was nervous about something. “What?” Akane asked quietly. The bus driver had stopped singing two miles ago, and was now speaking, alternately, in broken English and Japanese about their surroundings.

A day of this was going to kill her.

“Worried about the Amazons,” Ryouga said in a low voice, looking Akane up and down for a moment, “you've gotten pretty strong, Akane, but there's a lot of `em; they go to war, not to spar.” Akane cracked her knuckles meaningfully and he smirked.

“I'm going to pound them into miso,” Akane said darkly, “and then I'm going to eat that miso with hashi made from their bones.”

“That just might get you through this.” Ryouga said, unfazed by Akane's violent proclamation, too used to her temper to be thrown off by it. Akane looked at him in confusion. “Anger - Akane, your anger is gonna get you through this, but you're gonna need some sleep.” He mumbled. Akane sighed and leaned back against the uncomfortable bus seat, tilting to the side so that her head rested against her full backpack. She tried to sleep, but she was too nervous. They had set out on this trip with one thing in mind: rescue Ranma. Akane was so sure he was in the Joketsuzoku village, Nyucheizu, but she couldn't know until they'd arrived. And then what?

Sighing again, she turned slightly so that she could look sideways at the beautiful Chinese countryside passing by her window. For an hour or more she stared as the bus moved on. It would stop overnight in Nanyang, and Ryouga and her would take the train to Xi'an, then another train to Qinghai. They had a journey of two-days, nonstop ahead of them. “Wait for me, Ranma, just a little longer…” she whispered at the rolling greenery, willing him to hear her.

It was on the train from Xi'an to Qinghai that Akane began to get really worried. Her and Ryouga were smelly from almost four and a half days' travel, from Japan to China and through it, with no stops to shower, and barely any food on the road. Akane was beginning to feel fatigued - it didn't help matters that she hadn't slept much on the road, unused to travelling. She wished they'd taken the Kunou jet, but that would have been so conspicuous, having to get permission to fly in and everything…

She shifted again, trying to get comfortable in her seat. Ryouga grunted and smacked his lips, a low buzzing sound coming from his mouth. Glaring at him jealously, she ground her teeth together.

No sleep was making her crazy. She was starting to wonder if Ranma wanted to be found. Ranma was the best martial artist in the world, maybe; how could he have lived in Nyucheizu for a year and not escaped?

Also, a tiny, frightened part of her wondered, what if he was really dead? What if Mousse's package was too late, and the Amazons had killed Ranma once they'd… gotten their use out of him.

This thought made her sick, so she went back to her original fear in favor of trying to get rid of them altogether, which wasn't going to happen. Okay, so if Ranma wanted to stay with the women of the Joketsuzoku, she'd just pound him a few times and then leave for home.

Akane buried her face in her hands and sighed audibly, grimacing at the grime coating her palms from four days of sweat. Ranma wasn't like that, she knew; he wouldn't just abandon her— the Tendous, and certainly not his mother. He had too much honor, and, Akane admitted with a small, tired smile, he was too nice.

“Qinghai,” the announcement was followed by something in Mandarin and Akane shook Ryouga to wake him, so that he could translate. She only recognized the name.

“Oh, we're gonna be in Qinghai soon,” he said quickly, gathering his pack up into his lap, testing the straps that held his umbrella down, “Akane, listen, I'm gonna go over a few things on the way to Nyucheizu, and you need to listen.” Akane looked at him wide-eyed and serious, hefting her own pack. She felt the G-forces pressing against her chest as the train slowed to a stop in the station, and pressed her feet against the floor to keep from being knocked into the seat in front of her when it finally stopped.

As they got off, Ryouga began to talk rapid-fire, guiding her with a hand on her elbow through the crowds as they muscled their way around tourists, travelers and business people. “The Joketsuzoku will know that we are coming, but we're not going to let them recognize us,” Akane looked up at him sharply, confused; she saw his jaw tensed with nervousness, “I didn't tell you about it earlier, but…” he trailed off and dragged her into a side alley.

She watched him dig through his pack and pull out several small paper pouches, each with writing on them that Akane recognized as Pinyin. “What is that?” Akane asked worriedly.

“Look, I knew you weren't gonna like this idea, so I didn't want to broach the subject earlier but… we need better disguises to fool the Amazons,” he held up one packet, “this is Instant Nannichuan, and this,” he held up another packet, “is Instant Nyannichuan.” Realization dawned and Akane gulped.

“You're sure it's just Instant?” she asked faintly.

Ryouga nodded. “Yeah, Nabiki got it - you know how careful she is.”

“I also know she likes practical jokes,” Akane grumped, but then she sighed, “okay, let's do it. I don't see why you didn't tell me.”

“Yeah, well,” he paused, looking away, “I was afraid you'd think I was trying to make you… unappealing to Ranma.” He smiled weakly at her, and Akane balked.

“After all this time, you still think I'm worried you're trying to…” she trailed off. When Ranma first died, and Akane had discovered Ryouga's curse, she had accused him of pushing Ranma off the roof to separate them. Akane had apologized quickly afterwards, but the accusation had cut Ryouga deeply.

Deeper than she imagined, apparently. “Ryouga, relax,” she smiled and touched his shoulder, and he looked up at her, worry still on his face, “You're one of my best friends, and I trust you.” He smiled out of love, but she knew what kind of love it was. His torch for her was extinguished by Akari a while ago.

“Okay, we'll change when we get closer, to avoid any… accidents.” Ryouga said, waving his hands around meaningfully. “Water tends to find cursed people, no matter if it's real or not.” He winced and stuffed the packets back in his backpack, then shouldered it. Ryouga had cured his own curse long ago, and Akane briefly wondered how it would sit with him to be cursed again, if only for a little while. She was once again amazed at Ryouga's dedication to Ranma, despite having proclaimed, on a regular basis, that he hated the other boy.

They set off again, Akane feeling more and more nervous with each step. What if the Joketsuzoku saw through their disguises? What if they knew it was them? Akane shook off these doubts as unimportant - there was nothing she could do about it, anyway.

Walking was slow, but there was no other way to get to the mountains. At least, Akane decided as they trekked through the wilderness, it was a beautiful walk.

Akane was not feeling so genial towards said wilderness three hours later. The oppressive heat made her feel like a pad of butter, and the bugs… the bugs! Akane gagged as she swallowed another insect and fought the urge to swipe blindly around her. They weren't biting, thanks to Ryouga's Citronella spray, but they occasionally managed to get over their distaste at the fumes and flew, Kamikazi style, right at her face. “Augh!” Akane shouted, stamping her feet as they walked up a steep incline. “These bugs are insane!”

“Yeah, well,” Ryouga said offhandedly, “oh, hey.” He paused so suddenly, Akane almost ran into him. He turned around, a sheepish expression on his face. “I forgot, we gotta change.” He motioned for her to follow him, and the two of them walked into a nearby cave.

Akane was twisting with nervousness as Ryouga set out things from his pack: two thermoses of water, the two packets, and some clothes. He upended one of the packets into a thermos, and then handed it to her jerkily. Akane reached out and took it like it was a poisonous snake. Before she lost her nerve, however, she upended the contents over her head, Ryouga looking at her in surprise.

Her body tingled all over for a brief instant, and then she let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding as her breasts disappeared, and the pain of their binding with them. “Uhm,” her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat and tried again, “how do I look?” her voice was a deep baritone, sounding a little like what would happen if her father suddenly lost twenty years.

“Like a guy.” Ryouga deadpanned, still surprised. “Well, if you can be brave about it, I guess I can too.” He mixed the contents of his packet with the water and then dumped the thermos over his head. Akane, watched, still fascinated after seeing it happen to Ranma dozens of times, as Ryouga seemed to shrink in his clothes. Afterwards, she stared at the shock of dark brown hair and his small, round face in interest.

You… you're so cute…” Akane giggled out, unable to keep from laughing. Her laughter sounded odd to her, which only made her laugh harder. Ryouga glared at her out of principle, but then he too started laughing, a small, crazy sound from his new petite form. “Oh jeez…” Akane wheezed in her new voice, “jeez, your chest…” she laughed harder, hugging her sides. Ryouga's breasts were almost as huge as “Ranko's.”

“Akane, for your laughter,” he managed to get out around his giggles - his voice was high-pitched, almost nerve-wrackingly so, “you shall pay dearly later.”

“Oh yeah, what're you going to do to me with those… those tiny hands!” Akane squealed, the noise sounding strangled coming from her male throat. Ryouga looked at his hands in brief dismay, and then let out a loud kiai and slammed his finger into the floor.

The finger sank in about two inches, which was almost all of it, and the floor cracked. Ryouga smirked in satisfaction and stood up in his moist clothes, dusting off his hands. “Ha, still good.” He muttered.

“We gotta get dressed and get going.” He said, all business now that their mirth was subsiding. Akane's clothes were now too small, and she traded with Ryouga for his changsam. Despite the fact that she had different… parts, she was still shy about changing in front of him. Ryouga seemed unnerved at the idea as well, and they turned their backs on each other as they shrugged into each other's clothes. Akane noted that Ryouga's clothes were much larger than her male form, and turned to tell him this. She barely stifled a snicker.

“Ah… guess I'm a little taller than you, Ryouga,” Ryouga glared at her over his shoulder where he was trying to cinch up her pants, “didn't you bring some extra clothes?” Akane began to dig through the small pile on the floor until she found something that looked like it might fit her.

She froze, the garment in her hand. “Akane, those… are for Ranma…” Ryouga's small, girlish voice trailed off awkwardly. Akane brought the red Mandarin shirt to her face and breathed in, then gagged.

“Ryouga, your pack smells like mothballs,” Akane gasped out, wincing as tears stung her eyes at the awful smell, “ick.” She put the shirt in the pack and stood up.

“We'll have to make do,” he said quietly, reaching over to help readjust the changsam so that Akane's large male hands were at least visible out of the cuffs. Akane helped him with his outfit, as well, rolling up the pants and turning them into pedal-pushers so that he wouldn't trip over them.

When they were at least semi-comfortable, they set off again. “We'll have plenty of time to adjust to these forms; we might have to fight in them before we get hot water.” Ryouga said over his tiny shoulder. Akane nodded warily; he was right. The mountains would probably be crawling with Amazons, or worse, Phoenix people. They might have been slightly less xenophobic after Ranma and the others fixed their little water problem, but they were still cautious. If the border skirmishes with them and the “humans” were any indication.

Akane focused on walking. Her legs felt too long, and she found herself stumbling more than she'd like. Ryouga, too, seemed to be having some difficulty, no-doubt because his body was much smaller. His arms and legs were still densely-packed with muscle, and she was sure he could probably still kick the crap out of her in his tiny body, but she noted that his reach, once his greatest asset, was now a moot point. She also wondered, as he struggled under his heavy pack and umbrella - black instead of red, at least, for their disguises - if he could lift his favored weapon to fight.

They concocted a story together as they walked, to tell the Amazons if the women were inclined to attack. They were engaged - it was easier than being related, because they looked nothing alike - and Ryouga, as “Reiko,” was traveling to Nyucheizu to cure her fiancÃ©e, “Kenta” of his memory problems. Akane didn't like having the name usually associated with a little boy, but the plan was solid otherwise. The Amazons were well-known for their many medicinal cures, so it was natural that someone, desperately in love, would seek their help.

After three more hours, Akane was starting to feel pretty confident, if a little exhausted after six hours of walking. Her new body was able to take longer steps, and twice she almost stepped on Ryouga's heels. As well, her larger feet displaced her weight better on rocks and soft earth; however, she still wished she didn't have this thing dangling between her legs. Akane didn't know how men even walked with it swaying around like that.

“Augh, how do women stand these things?” Ryouga groused. Akane smirked, watching as he grasped his chest briefly and then let go in irritation.

A movement to the left caught her eye and Akane carefully shifted into her favored stance; feet spread slightly apart, fists down by her hips, balance forward, on her toes. Ryouga saw her and reached behind himself for his umbrella, other hand up in a guard position.

Then they were everywhere. Women, all around them, falling from the trees like thistle down in a menagerie of color and whispered silk. One of the women said something in Chinese, and Ryouga wrinkled his nose briefly in concentration. He said something back, and the women looked around in confusion. He reached over and clasped Akane's hand, repeating what he'd said. The women smirked and nodded, then motioned for he and Akane to follow.

“What'd you say?” Akane hissed, feeling strange holding Ryouga's small hand in her large one.

“I told them we were looking for a cure,” he paused, looking around to see if any of the colorful women, some huge and hideous, some petite and sickeningly cute, like Shanpu, registered his Japanese; none reacted, “for memory. They said the elder knows a good one, but that it would cost us. I said we could pay; my dowry was huge.”

Akane nodded, and squeezed his small hand a little, trying to fall into the act, wishing desperately that it was Ranma's hand in hers, even if he was “Ranko.”

Footsore and exhausted, by late evening the Amazons had led them right to the gates. Apparently, Ryouga had been disarming enough because they were met with no suspicion as they entered the village. Akane's entire body felt like it was crawling with ants she was so nervous, but she tried, desperately, to hide it. She took calming breaths, and settled her hand on Ryouga's shoulder, because hers was so sweaty she couldn't hold his anymore.

In the dim light of evening, Nyucheizu looked empty, almost deserted. The Amazons led them to a hut near the village gates and motioned for them to go inside. “The sign says `Tourists,'” Ryouga said softly as they entered the candle-lit hut, “they must've gotten more welcoming after the springs were redone.” The hut did look welcoming. There were several futons on the floor, plenty of pillows and blankets, and a stack of privacy screens against one wall should the guests need them. As well, there was a bath behind a curtain, the tub set into the dirt floor and lined with some sort of stone.

Akane looked longingly at the bath, but knew that she couldn't - the powder was “Instant” for a reason. She couldn't risk even one bath, lest she get doused with hot water a second time.

“When do we start looking?” Akane whispered as Ryouga set about getting some food out of his pack, deliberately not using Ranma's name to avoid anyone overhearing.

Ryouga looked up at her, cocking an eyebrow. “We don't even know where to start,” he said simply in his female falsetto, “we might as well sleep and wait until tomorrow, to look around without anyone getting suspicious.”

Akane stared at him in shock. “What?” she whispered fiercely. “But we're so close, you can't just…” she trailed off and fell to her knees, staring down at her huge legs in the silk pants she was wearing. “You're right, we don't… we have no idea…” She wanted to cry, but fought back the urge to.

They didn't know where Ranma was in the village. If they remained incognito, they'd be able to find out without having to fend off hordes of raging Amazons. But Akane hated that idea more than fighting off said hordes. In fact, she wanted to pound some Amazon skulls in.

Movement at the cloth covering the entrance to the hut caught her attention, and Akane turned to see Mousse stepping inside, like a ghost in his white robes. He had no-doubt been sent as one of the only villagers to know Japanese, but the coincidence was wonderful all the same. Akane smiled with nostalgia as he looked at a potted bamboo plant, glasses on his forehead. “Would our honored guests like some tea?” he asked in his accented Japanese.

Akane almost blurted out who she was, but a low, jerky motion from Ryouga's tiny hands told her to keep quiet. They couldn't be positive that Mousse was totally on their side.

But he had sent her the hair. And he loved Shanpu, and Akane was sure that Ranma had been kidnapped for her…

Akane looked at Ryouga and bit her lip nervously. “Um, tea would be great, thank you.” Mousse bowed to the plant and left, missing the door once and having to backtrack slightly before exiting. When he was out of earshot, Akane turned to Ryouga. “He has to be on our side.” Akane said softly.

Ryouga shook his head. “No way am I trusting him, Akane - he's one of them.” Ryouga said “them” in a word usually reserved for rodents or other pests, not noble warriors.

Well, kidnappers, at any rate.

“But he sent me the hair,” Akane repeated her own thoughts, and Ryouga wavered slightly, “we need his help, one way or the other.” After a moment, Ryouga seemed to relent. He nodded.

When Mousse returned with a tray, Akane waited until he'd set it down between them.

“Mousse,” Akane said softly, watching his reaction carefully; none yet, “do you know who we are?”

Mousse seemed to consider her words. He put his glasses on and looked back and forth between her and Ryouga, and slowly, but surely, his eyes widened a fraction behind his thick lenses. “Akane…?” he said to Ryouga.

Ryouga rolled his eyes and growled, showing off his unusually long canines. Mousse balked and paled. “Ryouga?” he said in a strangled gasp. “But you're… you've got… Nyannichuan?”

Ryouga nodded his head. “Yeah, the Instant kind,” he added at Mousse's shocked look, “and that big guy over there is Akane.” Mousse's head whipped around so fast his hair hit him in the face. He gaped openly at Akane's masculine torso, even cautiously reaching out to touch it. Akane clocked him on the head lightly.

“You don't get to do that when I'm a girl, so you better get your hands off me even when I'm a `he.'” Akane said acidly, having a sudden insight into Ranma's dislike for people fondling him as a girl.

Mousse gulped and smiled sheepishly. Then he glared at them. “What the hell are you doing here?” he whispered fiercely.

“You sent me some of Ranma's hair,” Akane was surprised that her male voice was quavering; she was starting to worry that she'd been wrong, she realized, “you… you were trying to—”

“Yeah, but I didn't want you to come here, stupid girl!” he hissed again. Akane's heart leapt despite his insult - Ranma was alive, then.

“So Ranma is alive?” Ryouga said in wonder as if reading Akane's mind. Mousse nodded after a moment, looking uncomfortable.

“Well, where is he?” Akane asked eagerly, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach at the sick look on Mousse's face.

“Akane, you…” he trailed off, shaking his head back and forth, “you need to go home. I just wanted you to know he wasn't dead, I didn't mean for you to come here.” He stood to leave, but Akane grabbed his robe and pulled him back down with all her might, almost sending the tea tray flying as he fell back onto the cushions with an “oomph.”

“No, Mousse!” she whispered, fury fueling her words. “No way. What's going on? Where's Ranma?”

“Yeah, we didn't come all this way for nothing.” Ryouga put in, looking a little huffy himself, which was adorable on his tiny, heart-shaped face.

Mousse seemed to deflate. He sighed and rubbed his eyes under his glasses. “Look, you aren't going to like what I'm about to tell you,” he looked at the curtain over the hut door, swaying gently in the breeze that swept down from the mountains, “but you might as well hear it before you go back home.”

“We aren't.” Akane said darkly. Mousse looked at her for a moment, and nodded, slowly.

“Okay, then…” he took a deep breath, let it out, “as you probably figured out, Cologne turned a cat into Ranma with some Spring of Drowned Ranma, then she fixed the curse to the cat with the Pot of Preservation.”

“How'd she get Ranmanichuan?” Ryouga asked, baffled.

“How else?” Mousse said as though speaking to someone very, very stupid. “Same way Kiima got Akanenichuan; she dunked Ranma in Juusenkyo water when he was at the Nekohanten once, disguising it at as a training technique.” Ryouga opened his mouth to say something, and then shut it, shaking his head. Akane knew what he was going to ask; Ranma, dunking in water as a training technique? He'd also put his damn hands in fire, so it wasn't that unusual.

“As I was saying,” Mousse said irritably, “she cursed the cat, and tripped it off of a roof to fake Ranma's death. She knew the Pot of Preservation would only keep the cat as Ranma for so long after death, so she quickly high-tailed it back to China with Ranma, Shanpu and I—”

“When did she kidnap Ranma?” Akane interrupted.

Mousse sighed in exasperation. “She put a brooch coated in Chinese knock-out drug,” he said, obviously simplifying things for the benefit of the foreigners, “on some of his clothes, and he pricked himself on it when dressing one afternoon, and bingo, he was out. Then she dragged him off and tied him up and kept him unconscious.” Mousse paused, mouth forming a thin line.

“What? What is it?” Akane asked, feeling sick to her stomach. Why hadn't she noticed? Ranma was gone for almost a whole day before he died; at the time, she had looked for him, assuming he'd gone Neko or something, but… now she knew. He was trapped at the Nekohanten, in the clutches of Cologne and her scheming great-granddaughter.

“They needed a way to keep Ranma here, permanently,” Mousse said quietly, “so they… made him forget.”

“What? With the Formula 110 and shiatsu combo?” Akane asked weakly.

“Yeah,” Mousse laughed sadly, “They… they just got so tired, fighting for him, they decided to just take him.”

Akane sat there, dumfounded. After all the times they'd tried, the Amazons had succeeded, for an entire year. Akane felt like vomiting - there was no telling what the Amazons had… done to him. Ranma could be happily married to Shanpu by now.

“But they made a mistake,” Mousse said quickly at Akane's growing aura of despair, “they made him forget everyone, but they didn't realize the erasure doesn't cover emotions.”

“That's why… I still cared about him when Shanpu did it to me?” Akane asked softly. Mousse nodded.

“There are some things you just can't erase.” Ryouga said warmly, smiling in an assuring way at Akane.

Mousse picked himself up from the floor. “But you shouldn't bother, Akane; he's happy, here. Bringing his memory back will be traumatizing for him.” Akane didn't want to believe him, but what he was saying made sense.

She forced herself not to cry and nodded, firmly. If that was what was best for Ranma, even if it was a lie… but at the same time, she couldn't just leave him. Confused and upset, Akane brought her large knees to her chest and swallowed the lump in her throat. Mousse's hands moved around in the sleeves of his robe oddly for a moment, and then he stood to leave. He rested his hand against her head as he left. “Drink your tea,” he said softly, fingers moving strangely against her scalp, and Akane's eyes widened when she felt what he was doing, “they might know you're here.” He spoke so low that Akane almost didn't hear him.

When he left, she looked across the hut at Ryouga. He nodded, imperceptibly, showing that he had heard. They emptied their cups casually, and when they heard the shifting movements of someone leaving outside, Akane reached up and pulled the piece of paper Mousse had left in her hair out and read it.

Ranma will be fine. He is a village guard. He will be out tomorrow night. Wait.

Akane clasped the paper to her chest and then released it to Ryouga's interested eyes. When he read it he smiled and then ate the paper, downing it with some of the tea that was left in the pot.

“We're coming, Ranma…” Akane whispered, her hand fisted against her thigh.

The next day was so nerve-wracking, Akane felt like she was going to leap out of her skin all day. Ryouga and her were treated to a tour of the village, and an Amazon elder inspected Akane's head and talked in low tones with “Reiko” about “Kenta's” memory condition. Ryouga spoke smooth Mandarin with the woman, even making her laugh. Akane, the whole time, tried to look like Shinnosuke - an amnesiac - and wondered, at the same time, how many of the Amazons knew who they were.

She figured that the old woman didn't, because if she did, Akane wouldn't remember even Ryouga at this point - she assumed most Amazons knew the special shiatsu technique, at least, especially the old ones.

But some of the other Amazons, as they wandered around the village on their tour, led by Mousse, looked at them strangely. A few even made menacing faces at them, but Akane couldn't tell if that was from their hatred of outsiders or that they knew who the disguised teens were, in reality.

And then there was the fact that she hadn't spotted Ranma once.

By the time night came, and they were packing up to leave, “Kenta” having been cured, she wanted to scream with frustration. Only Mousse's presence in the hut kept her calm; knowing that someone in this village, aside from Ryouga, was on her side was reassuring. She wanted to see Ranma so badly, though, that her whole body felt like it was coming apart at the seams from the pressure inside her. Not since they had arrived in China had Akane felt this sense of need. There was that tight band of pain across her chest and she grimaced and let her breath out explosively..

Ranma was going to come home with her; she knew it, now, because if he didn't, or worse, didn't want to, she wasn't sure what would happen to her.

Mousse spoke to them in low, sharp tones, designed to be difficult to understand to the Joketsuzoku who understood Japanese. “He's out by the gate in five minutes, on guard duty with Mei Mei; she is blind in her right eye, but quick on her feet. She uses a spear. Be careful you don't anger her.” Akane nodded.

The plan was simple. As they walked out the gate, Mousse would start up a conversation with Mei Mei, who had either not been instructed about Akane and Ryouga, or who didn't understand. “Reiko” would play on Ranma's instincts to help women in need, and ask Ranma to help her with her pack, insisting that their pack animals were just down the slope leading out of the village. Once out of sight of Nyucheizu, they would try their best to get Ranma to come with them.

Simple and ridiculous. Akane's legs felt like lead as she walked toward the gate leading out of the village. She wanted to run up to that gate, find Ranma, grab him, and just run like a bat out of hell, but knew that she couldn't. In her cursed form, she was stronger, but slower, and she and Ryouga would not be able to take on the Amazons, and Mousse wouldn't be able to help.

Two people were standing on opposite sides of the gate, dressed in Joketsuzoku battle regalia, the armor shining in the lights of the torches by the gate. Akane saw one of the figures turn, the larger of the two, saw him bow. As he stood upright, Akane was only a few feet away, and she almost threw herself at him before she caught herself.

There was Ranma, looking just a bit taller, a bit leaner, but healthy. His pigtail was gone, hair growing out even and long, tied back in a ponytail. The absence of dark, thick, messy bangs made him look strange, but his blue eyes shone true in the torchlight, and Akane recognized the smile as one might recognize a glass of water in a desert.

“Hey, I'm Ranma,” he said, smiling, “and this one-eyed bitch is Mei Mei.” Mei Mei, a petite, pretty girl with blue hair, and one eye dark green and one milky white, said something nasty in Mandarin. Akane didn't have to be fluent to know it was an insult. Apparently, she didn't like Ranma - good, she wouldn't care when they snatched him… maybe.

Mousse smoothly stepped in front of Mei Mei, blocking her good eye from Akane and Ryouga. He began to speak with her in low tones in Mandarin, and “Reiko” quickly stumbled at Ranma's feet. “Reiko” dropped the pack and wiped her brow like it was a million degrees out and they were in the middle of the Sahara.

“Oh no,” Ryouga said exaggeratedly, and Akane almost kicked him for over-acting, “my pack is soooo heavy!” he squealed. He was going to blow it all because he was—

“Oh, no, lemme get that!” Stupid.

Akane rolled her eyes, momentarily forgetting her euphoria at seeing Ranma after an entire year. “Reiko, you should just let me carry both of our packs.” Akane said through gritted teeth.

“Naw, man, s'cool. Where should I take it?” Akane could not believe how easy this was. Ranma was such a gentleman when he wanted to be that Akane could just kiss him.

She, wisely, didn't. “Our pack mules are just down the road,” she said hastily, grabbing him by the elbow, “follow me.” Ranma smiled at her genially and hefted Ryouga's pack. Ryouga followed behind them, glancing back over his shoulder worriedly. Akane spared a glance, as well, but Mei Mei was busily blushing and fidgeting under Mousse's conversation. She had to hand it to Mousse, when he wasn't around Shanpu, he was charming. Maybe him and Mei Mei had something going? Regardless whatever he was saying was working.

Akane whipped her head back around and danced a little in glee - the bend in the road was just ahead, if they could just get Ranma there before—

“Son-in-law,” the familiar voice made Akane's blood run cold, “what are you doing?”

“Oh, hey old ghoul,” Ranma said casually to the tiny woman as she pogoed down the road to them, “just helpin' this young lady with her stuff.” He smiled cheekily at “Reiko,” who blushed for reasons not at all related to Ranma's rakish smile. Akane fumed jealously for a minute, and then squashed it - she was being crazy, again.

“Perhaps Mousse should do that.” Cologne said quietly, reaching them. She speared a glance at Akane, who stood her ground and glared the matriarch down. Oh yes, Cologne knew something was up. Akane knew, despite a year of training harder than she had before the Dojo Destroyer, before Lin-Lin and Ran-Ran, before helping Ranma learn the Hiryuu Shoten Ha; despite her strength and newfound speed, Cologne could knock her out with a gentle touch.

She was outmatched, and outclassed, by several hundred years, but Akane had played a mean Juliet.

“Oh, sorry, Ma'am,” Akane said gruffly, trying on Ranma's speaking patterns for size, “didn't know he wasn't supposed to leave the gate. I'm so tired from today an' stuff. We just needed some help,” Akane reached out, a tired smile on her face; a young man, just wanting to get home with his fiancÃ©e, “lemme take that, Ranma? Yeah, lemme get that.” She “oofed” as she took the heavy pack out of Ranma's reluctant hands, feeling sweat break out from the heat and the weight.

Grimacing, “Kenta” was now a young man fatigued with the effort of patching up his love life and travelling across China on too little food and too little money. Akane shouldered the pack better and made a clumsy bow, wobbling unsteadily on tired legs. “We'll get outta yer way; thanks for your help; c'mon Reiko, less go home.” Akane smiled beatifically at Ryouga, who seemed to get the message. The petite “Reiko” smiled, but worry was written across her face; worry for her fiancÃ©e, just a simple country boy with a strong back, good legs. A boy so willing to do anything for her; hell and back, just like those books she was always reading.

“Be careful,” “Reiko” mewled in concern as “Kenta” struggled visibly under the weight of both packs, “you don't have to carry just because I'm preg— in a delicate state.” Akane didn't have to feign a stumble; her shock at Ryouga's playacting was enough to make her lose her footing for a moment. There was no way Cologne was going to—

“Well, I suppose son-in-law can help you for a moment,” hook, “but just a moment,” line, “and then right back to your post, son-in-law.” Sinker. Lucky.

Akane bowed again to hide her look of satisfaction and grandly handed the heavy backpack back to Ranma. Ranma took it with a smug smile, hefting it easily and smirking at “Reiko” again. “Looks like your boy needs a little workout, eh?” Ryouga nodded dumbly, staring at Ranma like some new species of bug. Akane just hoped old wounds wouldn't resurface and force Ryouga to turn Ranma into a little stain on the dirt road.

They started walking again. Cologne didn't follow them. Akane forced herself to remain calm, and tried to project as much exhaustion into her steps as she could. It was so difficult, fighting the urge to just make a break for it. She had to remember, however, Ranma would not come with her if she ran, and more than anything she wanted Ranma to come with her.

“Where'd you say your pack mules were?” Ranma was asking, a hint of suspicion just starting to creep into his voice.

“I dunno,” Ryouga said innocently, “I thought they were right here.” Akane turned around a little as they rounded the corner; Cologne was watching them from the top of the hill with large, owlish eyes.

Akane shivered a little as the line of sight was broken - the old Amazon had an effect on her that Akane could not put a name on.

“Waitasec… what'd you leave a couple'a mules here for?” Ranma looked around at the bend in the road, letting Ryouga's pack slip slowly to the ground.

Akane stared at him, looking confusedly in the dark with his ponytail swishing back and forth as he searched around for their fake animals. This was it.

“Reiko, could you get the flashlight and map.” This was their code. Ryouga nodded, slowly, and walked over to Akane's pack. Akane turned around dutifully, and felt Ryouga digging around.

“I'm sure they're here somewhere,” Ryouga said absently, “they've got to be…” Akane felt some weight lifted from her shoulders, and winced as hot water poured down the back of her neck, followed quickly by cold, then hot again. She gasped at the tingling sensation of changing, back and forth, back and forth, as her body changed height, weight, and hormone levels rapidly until she felt almost dizzy. Vaguely, she was aware of Ryouga going through the same difficulties, until they were both standing there in ill-fitting clothes, tugging their wet garments away from their bodies and trying to orient in the darkness and confusion of the change.

Ranma was staring at them. Something was flickering deep in his eyes, and Akane had to hope it was recognition. “We lied to you. I'm Akane Tendou,” the speech she had practiced earlier that night quietly, in the bathroom mirror, with Ryouga playing cards loudly with Amazons in the front room to drown out the noise of her not-taking-a-bath, “I'm your… friend, from Nerima, Japan. This is your other friend, Ryouga Hibiki. You were kidnapped one year ago, and Mousse, Ryouga and I are helping you escape.” Ranma didn't say anything. He was just staring.

“Son-in-law?” the Amazon matriarch's voice was closer than it should have been.

“Coming, Great Grandmother,” Ranma called absently over his shoulder; he turned back to the two of them, eyes glittering oddly in the dark before he shook his head quickly, “I think you guys should leave. Elder won't like your story very much, I expect.” Akane felt her chest constrict.

Ranma glanced at her, that… something flickering again behind his eyes. In the moonlight, it looked almost like pain. And then he turned and walked away.

Akane heard him and Cologne talking. Cologne cackled, loudly, and Akane knew that she had lost. She sank to her knees, pressing her hands into the dirt, covered now by Ryouga's long sleeves. Even after all her training, she couldn't bring him back.

Ryouga was oddly quiet. They'd traded clothes in another cave, backs to each other. No Amazons had come after them; obviously, the women thought they'd won Ranma. Maybe they had. Akane wasn't sure. Akane was just tired.

But Ryouga's silence was bothering her. They were sitting in the same cave they'd been in the day before, around a small campfire, eating rice cooked in moistened bamboo logs. The rice tasted burnt, but Akane didn't care.

She glowered at Ryouga, because he was staring openly at her. “What?” she asked, sharper than she'd intended.

“I just can't believe you're giving up. That's not the Akane I know.” He deliberately left off “and loved,” but Akane heard it in his voice. She wanted to smack him for some reason, but left off. Violence, for once, didn't seem like the answer.

Then again…

“I'm not giving up,” Akane said softly, swallowing a lumpy bite of half-cooked rice, “I just… don't know what else to do.” Her expression soured and she put her food aside, barely half-eaten. Ryouga devoured the last of his and looked at her questioningly. She nodded, and he scarfed down hers in a painfully Ranma-like fashion.

Akane flexed her fingers, looking at her own digits as the bones moved and worked under her skin in the firelight. She was ashamedly relieved not to have to be a boy anymore. Ranma… was he still cursed, she wondered, or had the Amazons thought to use that as leverage, in case he remembered suddenly?

A light snoring sound stirred her from her thoughts and she looked up to see Ryouga asleep across the fire. How could he sleep at a time like this? Akane sighed and hugged her knees tighter to her chest, looking out the cave mouth, and almost fell over when she saw Mousse standing there, glasses glinting in the orange light. “Mousse?” Akane whispered, not wanting to wake Ryouga even though she was a little annoyed with him. He had been through a lot, he deserved his rest, Akane thought, ignoring her own discomfort.

Mousse motioned for her to come outside and she followed after a cautious look around the cave opening. The cave was high in cliff side, just two miles outside the Amazon village, but no matter how hidden they were, Akane knew the Joketsuzoku could find them if they wanted to. The fact that they didn't… Akane didn't know if it worried her or not.

“They think they have you beat,” Mousse said softly, “and Cologne doesn't know I helped you.”

Akane stared at him, gob-smacked. “How?” It should be so obvious!

“I don't know - I think her ego has blinded her. She doesn't think that I'd betray the tribe,” his voice sounded bitter in the dark; Akane couldn't see his facial expression, “but I don't consider it betrayal.”

A sudden thought occurred to her and Akane took a small, measured step back. “How do I know…” she trailed off, and Mousse answered her unfinished question.

“Because, I'm not,” he said firmly, “there is no Moussenichuan. Juusenkyo water is precious. The large quantities now flowing do not have the same properties as the old water, and that water is in limited supply. Cologne would not be permitted to waste it.”

“So killing a kitten wasn't a waste?” Akane asked sarcastically.

“Apparently not, if it brought Ranma's blood into the tribe,” Akane bristled, and Mousse continued, oblivious to her displeasure in the dark, “regardless of how poorly their plan worked, the Elders were not angry with Cologne enough to punish her for wasting Juusenkyo water.”

“So what now?” Akane asked morosely, mind shying away from the thought of Ranma bringing his… blood into the tribe. One plush, curvy member of the tribe in particular.

“Now? What else? Kidnap him.” Mousse said simply, as though explaining what he'd had for breakfast.

Akane balked. “I can't do that. And even if I could, how the hell would I pull it off?”

“I dunno, you're the one who wants him back.” Mousse said irritably, moving to leave.

“Wait, don't go, I need your help!” Ryouga stirred behind them, and Akane spoke quieter as she tugged on Mousse's white robe. “Please, Mousse.”

After a moment, the taller boy sighed heavily. “Okay, I sort of have a plan, but you won't like it.”

Akane frowned and folded her hands over her chest. “Mousse, I haven't seen him for a year. Whatever it is, I'll do it.” She hoped she sounded as sure as she felt. More-so, even.

“Every day, Shanpu tries to court Ranma,” Akane felt her fingers tighten into fists, “she hasn't given up on him. But he's just confused by her attempts. However, they know that if Shanpu keeps forcing herself on him, he's going to snap out of the shiatsu technique and remember. Familiar feelings from familiar people will make him remember - disgust at being… pawed by Shanpu is just one way, but it's slow.” Mousse sounded put-upon, but Akane was well beyond that.

“Yeah?” Akane asked, her strangled voice betraying her rage at the thought of that… woman putting her paws all over Ranma sending her into a flashing rage.

Mousse sighed at her obvious rage and continued, unabated. “You need to snap him out of the shiatsu, and I think I know how.”

“What?” Akane asked quickly, eager to move on to the actual plan. “I understand how the shiatsu works, what do I have to do?”

Mousse seemed to struggle for a minute in the dark, and then she sighed and she heard the soft sound of him running his hand through his long curtain of hair. “You need to get in trouble, get taken prisoner. You need to make it as public as possible.”

“I'll do it.” Akane said without any hesitation.

Even in the dark, Akane could tell from his stance that he was surprised. “Really? I thought you'd hate the idea.”

“I don't like it, but I'll do anything to rescue Ranma,” she smiled at her twisting hands, “even if it means getting roughed up by some Amazons.”

“I think it'll be worse than you think it's gonna be, Akane,” Ryouga said from his place by the cave mouth, and Akane jumped a little in embarrassed surprise, “but it does sound like a good idea.”

“You better stay hidden, Ryouga, in case we need you later.” Ryouga nodded at Mousse, giving a mock salute.

“No problem, you just help her make it look convincing.” Ryouga said firmly.

Mousse nodded in the dark, glasses winking. “Okay. Tomorrow, Akane, come to the village through the Old Way; it's an old entrance from the other side of the mountain, lined by linden trees, can't miss it. Once inside, just stir up a ruckus looking for Ranma; be as loud as possible, do whatever it takes to get him to notice. Hopefully, the sight of you in trouble should snap him out of it.” Akane nodded, and realized Mousse probably couldn't see it. He dropped some heavy items at her feet, and Akane reached down and began gathering them, recognizing the weapons with a smile.

“Got it… and Mousse,” Akane said as the myopic martial artist started to turn away, “thank you… for not letting me give up.” She juggled the weapons in her arms, keeping them as close to her chest as she could.

Mousse snorted. “No problem - you're crazy, though.” And he was gone.

“He's right.” Ryouga said quietly from the cave mouth. Akane sighed and smiled at him ruefully.

“Yeah, people do crazy things.” She said softly, deliberately leaving off the other half of the saying.

The Old Way was empty of guards. Akane wasn't concerned about this - she was confident she could at least take out one or two Amazons before breaking a sweat. Mousse had armed her like she was going to war: In each hand she held the haft of a tonfa, a short weapon, like a police baton. Around her waist was tied a meteor hammer, a length of rope longer than her body, weighted at both ends. She also had a Japanese white oak bokken strapped to her waist, of the daito, or long-sword construction. She was unwilling to wield an actual katana, and a bokken would serve well for her purposes.

Tatewaki had trained her well in kendo, to the point where she was pretty good about where to stick the pointy end.

All in all, Akane was aware she looked ready for a fight. And that was just the way she wanted it. In her filthy clothes, hair matted, she looked crazed, dangerous. Perfect - that was how Ranma would remember her, she knew. Angry, a wild woman, a “shrew.”

She smiled a little at the memory of the old insult, and then that smile faded when she saw the two Amazons by the end of the Old Way. A cool morning breeze blew through the linden trees, and Akane felt the battle aura that she had been repressing flare up, an ugly smear of dark blue and black rage, like an old bruise, swelling around her. The Joketsuzoku women, huge and yet impossibly graceful, did not shrink back from her display. Instead, they started forward.

“Where is Ranma?” Akane asked calmly, then she repeated the phrase in Mandarin, like Ryouga had taught her. “Ranma zai nali?”This was what she had chosen as her power words, the words to fuel her rage; as well, they served to draw attention.

The two Amazons moved in to attack, seeing Akane's intentions clearly. Akane sized them up - graceful and powerful, but cautious. They could not appraise Akane's skill yet. They were armed with long spears, and Akane frowned; the weapons gave them a reach advantage, but Akane had the advantage of being built more solidly than a block of granite.

The first Amazon reached her, a large-bodied woman with surprisingly dainty hands and long, flowing red hair. Her spear moved in a blur, trying to confuse Akane with the colorful cloth attached just at the base of the head. The other Amazon moved around to the side, her own weapon flashing with deadly precision. Akane shouted and brought her hand down across the haft of the first spear. Years of breaking cinder blocks rendered Akane's hands into something resembling a sledgehammer when it came to smashing things, but the spear had give.

She was counting on this. As the spear rocketed down, Akane brought her foot down on it, trapping the weapon. The other Amazon came at her from behind, and Akane ducked at the last moment, bringing her fist to bear on the now-stiffened spear and splintering it like rotten cardboard.

There was a ringing sound when the attacking Amazon's spear rang against her Sister's armor, and Akane quickly leaned back into a reverse elbow on her instep, crushing it with a sickening crack. The larger woman screamed and fell to the ground, clutching her foot. The other one was winded, but Akane rapped her across the back of the knees with her tonfa as she moved past, bringing the woman to her knees.

Ignoring them, Akane continued through the open back gates of the Amazon village. “Where is Ranma!? Ranma zai nali!?” Akane shouted angrily. Joketsuzoku, large and small, boiled out of huts and from around trees like ants from an anthill. “Where is Ranma!?” Akane shouted, meeting the first two Amazons with a resounding crack against their skulls with her tonfa. “Ranma zai nali?!” The women fell, and Akane spun her tonfa, burying the ends in the next abdomen of the next woman.

Her eyes searching wildly for a head of black hair in the sea of dizzying colors, Akane dropped the tonfa and started beating away at the Amazons with her bokken, showing strength and deft reflexes, but little skill as she felt her rage mounting. “Where is Ranma!?” it was becoming an actual, desperate question now. She smashed into one woman's face with the weapon, then leapt away to put some distance between herself and the Amazons as she brought out the meteor hammer. She'd practiced with a meteor hammer at home against Ryouga's bandannas a couple times, to make up for her short arms - it would serve her well against the numerous warriors now.

“Ranma zai nali!?” she spun the unique weapon around her body to build momentum, then sent it spinning in every direction with a low, nasty hum. It smashed into faces and legs, sent Amazons screaming to their knees.

Akane spun and twisted, blocking with one end of the weapon, while sending the other screaming into an opponent's face. A few times, one of the women got through her defenses, and fatigue began to make her slower and slower, and she was already slow enough. She had attacked in the early morning, but the Amazons were always ready for battle. One of them was going to get in a good hit eventually.

“Where is Ranma!? Ranma zai—” her head exploded with pain and she pitched forward. Turning slightly into the fall, on instinct alone she snapped out with the meteor hammer, only to have it caught in a masculine hand.

“I dunno what your problem is lady,” Ranma said angrily as he yanked the weapon from her hands, “but you gotta calm the hell down.” Akane landed hard on her butt and stared up at her fiancÃ©e. The women of the village were regaining their feet after Akane's five-minute berserker rampage; Akane was surprised she'd lasted that long.

Strong, angry hands grabbed her and yanked her to her feet. Fingers dug into her hair, pulled her head back. She cried out; the back of her head was tender where the heel of Ranma's hand had impacted with her skull. She wondered how he had managed to get through his distaste of hitting women to hit her. And then her mind shied away from the reality of the situation: Ranma cared about the Amazons. He had to; he'd been living with them for a year.

She watched him tending to the wounded as she, ankles and wrists bound, was dragged off to whatever prison they'd decided to chuck her into. But her body already felt like a prison. Tears spilled unabated down her face. Akane barely noticed the bruises and cuts on her body and arms where Joketsuzoku weapons had gotten through her defenses. Even as the Amazons tossed her into a dirt pit in the ground, and she landed on her hip, fiery pain exploding from a wound she hadn't noticed, she barely even registered the agony her body was in.

Fighting off half of the male population of her school as a teen had given her some durability. And getting hit repeatedly by chunks of cinder block was also good for pain tolerance.

Only the death of her mother, however, prepared her for the kind of pain she was experiencing now. Mousse's plan had failed. Ranma had looked at her… like he hated her. His eyes ablaze with red-hot fury. Akane sobbed as the Amazons closed the trapdoor of her prison, and curled into a ball like she had done, a million years ago, in the dojo after Ranma's death.

A scraping sound woke her; she wasn't even aware she'd fallen asleep. Akane rose slowly to a sitting position, difficult because of her wrists and ankles being bound. She winced, flexing her hands against the uncomfortable bonds, and spit some dirt out of her mouth. She saw a patch of stars in the blank blackness of the ceiling, the moon letting in a small amount of light. A figure blotted out the stars.

“Akane,” Mousse's voice, “I cannot get you out of here.”

“I know,” Akane said hoarsely; her throat felt like she'd swallowed glass.

“Cologne knows I helped you, but the rest of the tribe doesn't want to banish me,” he said softly, “and they feel sorry for you; that's the only reason you're still alive.” Akane stiffened at his words, and then sagged in defeat.

She was only alive because she was pathetic.

“If you were a man,” Mousse was saying, “you'd be dead.”

“Yeah, well, I sure am lucky.” Akane mumbled unhappily, fresh tears making tracks in the dirt and blood on her face.

Mousse sighed heavily. “I don't know what they plan to do to you, but my punishment starts tomorrow.”

Worried by the grim sound of his voice, Akane licked her dry lips. “Maybe you should run away?” she croaked lamely, knowing he wouldn't do it.

She saw the movement against the stars, the glint of his glasses as he shook his head. “No, Akane,” he paused, “you'll be fed in the morning. I'll try and get a message to Ryouga.” He would come for her, regardless, Akane knew, but she hoped he wouldn't. He was a match for the Amazons, but Ranma? Ranma might kill a man who invaded his home. She shuddered at the thought.

Ryouga also didn't need a ridiculous number of women trying to marry him when things were just starting to work out with Akari. Everyone in Nerima knew how numerous fiancÃ©es always turned out, Akane thought bitterly.

“I'm going now,” something hit the ground next to her foot, “it's a rice bun. Eat it, you're gonna need it.”

“Thanks.” Akane whispered. And then the trapdoor closed. She heard whispered words outside and realized Mousse was talking to the guard. Her chest burned with doubt for a moment before she relaxed. Mousse wouldn't betray her.

Leaning onto her side, Akane felt around in the dirt until her face came in contact with sticky rice paper. She tore at it with her teeth, suddenly ravenous, and ate the contents without even tasting it. Afterwards, she lay awkwardly on her back, shifting uncomfortably, unable to sleep in her favorite position with her arms bound behind her back. She tested the rope - it was strong. The Amazons had gauged her strength well. She looked around, but could see nothing that might help her; it was too dark to see, she would have to wait until morning.

Rolling onto her side when her arms began to protest, Akane rubbed her cheek against the cool dirt underneath it and wondered, briefly, if she was going to die. “What a way to go,” she muttered, “murdered by a bunch of kidnappers.” Hopefully, she thought, the knowledge that they'd be killing a young woman on foreign soil, a young woman with a family, would stay their executioner, if they had one. Maybe, she hoped without hope, Cologne would remember that Akane and she had once… well, a few times, conversed. That the old woman had called her “child” in a way that wasn't condescending. Maybe Cologne would pity her, too.

And maybe Jackie Chan would come down with the spirit of Miyamoto Musashi and they'd all have a party.

Bright light cut into her eyelids and Akane grimaced, becoming incredibly aware of everything that was wrong with her body. One, she was sore all over in places she'd forgotten she had; two, she was thirsty and her mouth tasted like rotten fish; three, she had to pee really, really badly.

Squirming into a sitting position, Akane looked up blearily at the sunshine coming in through the gaps in the wood of the trapdoor leading down to her prison. Looking around, spots dancing in her vision like mad fireflies, she found a hole in the corner for her business. There was a metal disk covering the hole partway, some sort of old, beat-up shield, and she had to scoot it aside with her bound feet. Grunting, Akane managed to get into a kneeling position over the hole before she realized she still had her underwear and pants on. “Dammit!” She cursed, unwilling to soil herself for the sake of her throbbing bladder.

Several agonizing, painful minutes later, she managed to squirm enough against the wall to get her loose-fitting pants down around her hips. However, she was still too bound to get her underwear off. Crying openly about the injustice of it all, Akane prepared to do something she hadn't done since she was four—

The trapdoor opened with a loud creak and a louder bang. A ladder was lowered inside, and a busty, muscled Amazon climbed down purposefully. She looked at Akane, green eyes ablaze in the daylight shining into the room. Akane shrank away from her, hating the fear that bubbled up in her gut - she was good, but even she couldn't fight when practically hogtied.

When the woman strode over and unceremoniously stripped Akane of her trousers and panties, the modest girl squeaked. “Go!” the woman said angrily, gripping Akane by the back of her shirt and hefting her until she was in position over the hole. Recovering some shred of dignity, Akane glared at the woman holding her.

“Turn around!” Akane was not about to… relieve herself in front of one of these women.

The woman smirked, but seemed to understand as she turned her head away. Akane did her business, shame burning on her face. When she was done, the woman turned back around and looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “Good?” she said.

“Better.” Akane breathed, relief etched unabashedly across her face. Before Akane could ask for something to clean herself up with, the woman yanked her pants back up and pushed her onto the floor. Akane lay there, stunned and filthy, and wanted to vomit. The woman climbed partway out of the hole and came back with a bucket of something like ash that she poured over Akane's mess before putting the shield over the hole.

Then she climbed out and was gone, ladder taken with her.

Akane shifted uncomfortably in her soiled clothes and wondered if it was worth it with all the embarrassment of the woman just… there, waiting for her to finish. Swallowing her shame and rage, she sat up and backed all the way until she was against the wall, and then looked around her prison with new vigor to distract herself.

It was a square, dirt hole lined with wooden beams to keep it from collapsing. The ceiling was high up, almost ten feet, and covered with more wood. Akane leaned against one standing column and rubbed her bonds against it, testing the durability of the rope against the beam. She heard a scratching noise and smirked - she could be out of her bonds in ten minutes, tops.

An hour later Akane felt like her arms and legs were going to fall off from the effort of pushing herself up and down against the beam, and she hadn't felt any give in the rope that bound her. Sighing in a convulsive exhale, Akane shuddered with fatigue and sank fully onto her haunches, feeling the urge to give up seeping into the soreness in her limbs.

And then she heard a snap.

Akane paused for a moment, testing her bonds; they seemed looser. Grinning madly, she rubbed against the beam and tugged her arms apart at the same time. The Amazon's had tied her in such a way that she was bound from wrist to elbow, her arms folded on top of one another in a position from which it was almost impossible to gain leverage enough to really do anything. However, Akane could break someone's arm with her own; she didn't need leverage.

Taking frequent breaks, Akane eventually felt the ropes tearing like rotten cloth. Eagerly, she brought her arms apart with enough force to finally break the ropes with a satisfying series of snaps. “Woo!” She hissed quietly, and then gasped in pain as her shoulders protested having been bound in one position for so long. She took a few moments to rotate her shoulders into some semblance of working order, then wasted no time untying the intricate knots binding her ankles.

Once free she looked up through the slats of the trap door, wishing that she'd waited until dark to try and escape. But now that she was free, she had a plan. Walking over to the wooden trapdoor, Akane braced herself and then ran at the wall in front of her. One foot came up to meet the wall, and though hungry, tired, thirsty and badly in need of a shower and a hot soak, Akane pushed away and up from the wall, stretching out her arms. The ceiling beam next to the trapdoor was grasped in her tiny, strong hand. It was almost too wide for her to hold it, and she felt her fingers slip. But she kept one foot on the wall, hanging from the beam like a spider.

Pleased with herself, Akane reached up and wedged her fingers into the space between the wooden beam and the dirt on the ceiling. Then she walked her hands forward until she was closer to the wall and could brace both feet against it. Taking all her weight on her hands, she hung there, and waited, crouched and ready.

It was almost an hour before someone showed up. Akane hugged her body to the beam, willing her stomach to stop growling and her body to blend with the shadows. The ladder came down, and an Amazon with it. Muscles straining with the effort to keep herself off the ground, Akane waited until the Joketsuzoku had both feet and knees in the hole before she sprang like a striking panther. She knocked into her captor's knees, the other squawking loudly, and wrapped her arms around them, bringing the two of them to the floor. Akane rolled with the fall and tried to grapple with the meaty woman, but she was stronger, and Akane found herself pinned beneath her, thoughts of escape lost on the winds of ill-planning and probably hunger fatigue.

She was going to die, now.

“Jeez, you stink, lady.” The voice brought Akane out of her momentary funk and she stared up at the face hovering a foot from hers.

“Ranma?” she asked breathlessly. Where his hands were pinning her wrists on either side of her body, Akane felt a tingling sensation. The heat of him through their clothes made her want to cry. He was so solid, so real, so not buried six feet under the ground, so close. She started crying, so relieved that it was him that she momentarily forgot that he had no idea who she was.

“Oh, hell, don't cry or nothin', c'mon, anyone would stink in this hole.” Ranma said lamely, completely misunderstanding her discomfort. Akane smiled at him through her tears, sniffling. “Hey, you're pretty cute when you smile, eh?” her breath caught. “Even though you smell like a sewer, bleah.” Her face fell into a scowl.

“You jerk!” with a loud kiai, Akane kneed him in the base of spine, which was apparently a mistake. With a loud yelp, Ranma fell forward and their foreheads cracked together loud enough to echo.

“Ah! Fuck! That hurt you psycho!” Ranma growled, pulling back to glare at her. “I was comin' down here to feed you and you attack me!?” Akane was still flushed with familiar anger, but she slowly calmed when she realized the situation she was in.

Ranma was feeding her. That meant Cologne was allowing it. Why? Narrowing her eyes, Akane let her body relax. “Sorry.” She didn't know what Cologne was thinking letting Ranma feed her, but she wasn't about to waste this opportunity to get him back.

After a cautious moment, Ranma slowly got off of her. She lay there, unmoving, until he turned his back on her to climb up the ladder. Then she sat up and tried to clean her face off.

He came back down the ladder a few moments later with a tray that smelled like food and salvation. Setting it down in front of her, Ranma stepped back as she eagerly devoured everything on the tray without even bothering to wonder if it was poisoned. There was a flask of water, but she drank it slowly - she didn't need to vomit everything up.

“Aw, you ain't so scary, don't know why the old woman didn't want me comin' down here.” Ranma said cheekily. Akane pulled the flask away from her mouth and looked at him.

“What?” she asked, voice smoothed by the water.

“Oh, uh, Cologne didn't want me to feed ya' but… well, one of the guards has a little crush on me,” he smirked and put his hand behind his head shyly, “I just wanted to ask you sumthin', anyway…”

Akane finished the water and set the flask back on the tray with the other empty dishes. Wiping her mouth on her sleeve, she stared at him with a not-quite-hopeful expression. He fidgeted under her stare, tugging on his low ponytail in an achingly familiar way. “Why were you… asking for me?” he asked finally. “Do I know you?”

Akane sighed, standing up and staring right into his blue eyes, “We know each other very well.” She tried to put emotion into the words, and clasped her hands over her heart to emphasize the feelings she was trying to convey.

Ranma flushed heatedly and looked away from her, obviously misinterpreting what she meant. “We don't know each other that well, dummy.” Akane said exasperatedly, but inside her stomach was doing flip-flops - even filthy as she was, the thought of “knowing” her didn't gross him out. Just made him mortified, she thought sarcastically.

“That's… weird, `cause I don't remember you, but…” he trailed off, looking deeply into her eyes. He took a step towards her and Akane's heart skipped a beat. Ranma reached out with his hand and Akane leaned towards it, cheek tingling from the heat she could feel radiating from his body. They were so close.

“Yes?” she asked softly, a whine in her voice. Ranma's breathing seemed unsteady.

“I don't know you… but you seem so…” and then he jerked his hand away; Akane felt the rush of air as he retreated. “Sorry, I dunno what that was…” he mumbled, spell broken. Akane sighed and opened her eyes to see him picking up the tray.

“Ranma, wait, please…” Akane whispered, knowing that he wouldn't listen. He started for the ladder and looked back at her, smiling sadly.

“I wish I could remember you, Akane.” The words were so poignant and familiar, from the last time Shanpu used her shiatsu, that Akane wanted to scream at him to remember her, dammit, or she'd beat the crap out of him with the tray, Amazons be damned.

“What's going to happen to me?” she asked, changing tactics - maybe her distress could bring him around, as Mousse had said.

Ranma looked worriedly at the floor, gripping the tray with both hands, one foot on the ladder. “I dunno, but—”

“Airen, what you doing?” Shanpu's voice cut through into the hole with the force of a cracking whip.

“Comin' Shanpu.” Ranma obeyed her immediately, but Akane felt reassured by a flickering of something across his face - anger, hatred, something dark and unpleasant, whatever it was.

He climbed the ladder one-handed, and Shanpu poked her head into the hole after he disappeared. Akane saw the smug smile on the Joketsuzoku's face. “Ranma Shanpu's, Akane; you die here.” And then she was gone, trapdoor banging shut. She heard Shanpu and Ranma talking, Shanpu giggling brightly at something he said. And then even that was gone.

Akane sank to the floor in despair. Ranma would never be able to get away to see her again. She just hoped Ryouga wasn't so stupid as to try and rescue her from a village of Amazons on high alert.

That night, stomach cramped up from hunger, Akane once again lay on the floor. No one had bothered to tie her back up, probably thinking they had her beat. No one bothered to feed her, and no one had come to see her. Not Mousse, not Ryouga - though for that, she was actually a little glad.

She was less glad when someone was tossed into the hole with her, before the trapdoor was promptly shut with a bang. There was no movement from the other person, and Akane crept over cautiously, running her hands over the thick hair and across the face. When her fingers found the collar of his changsam, and the small rose-shaped clasp there, she knew it was Ryouga, and her heart wrenched in her chest. Was he alive? She felt for a pulse; it was there, small and low, but it was there.

Sighing with relief she sat back from him. Ryouga was obviously unconscious, probably ambushed by Joketsuzoku looking for any and all of Akane's accomplices. She hoped, not for the first time, that Mousse hadn't betrayed them.

As a testament to his constitution, Ryouga groaned. “Ryouga!” Akane squealed happily. With her help he got into a sitting position against the wall. Breathing heavily with the effort, Akane watched the blob that was her friend as his chest rose and fell in the darkness.

“They caught me spying, trying to find you.” He said quietly, more from strain, than any need to be clandestine.

“It's okay. We make a good team, eh?” Akane said encouragingly.

Ryouga snorted. “Akane, they put us in this pit together because they know they can take us at any time,” he sounded frustrated, “if I only I could've caught them by surprise, like you did yesterday…” he trailed off, and she heard him run his fingers angrily through his hair.

“Hey, hey, we're gonna get outta here.” Akane tried to pat his shoulder reassuringly, but overestimated his height and ended up smacking him lightly on the cheek. “Ack, sorry - it's dark in here.” She said lamely.

Ryouga chuckled, in spite of their situation. “Well, we told Nabiki to give us two weeks before she called the embassy.”

“Two weeks…” Akane counted off on her fingers; that meant seven more days in this literal hole. Sighing raggedly, Akane flopped onto her back and threw an arm over her eyes even though it was plenty dark.

“I guess we should get some sleep.” Ryouga said weakly. Though, Akane knew they probably wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

Water in her face was her wake-up call. “Move,” sputtering, Akane tried to obey, but her sleepy limbs made her clumsy, “MOVE!” Akane squawked when the Amazon dragged her bodily to her feet. Wet and shivering, Akane blinked her eyes rapidly to clear the water and filth out of them. Before her was Mei Mei, face red with fury. Akane only recognized her because of the blind eye.

Ryouga was in similar straits. Soaking wet, held upright by a burly Amazon with a black eye that Akane hoped was her doing. They were shoved towards the ladder and ordered to climb. Squinting in the daylight, Akane climbed with hunger-weakened limbs until her hands brushed the dry grass around the opening to the hole and hauled herself out. Ryouga came up after her shortly, and both of them stood slowly and on quivering knees.

Realizing with horror that she was probably about to die, Akane tried to compose herself. Her bowels felt like water, but she was going to, under any circumstances, remain absolutely calm. “Walk!” someone butted her in the rear with a staff and Akane yelped and moved forward. Ryouga was as close as he could get without getting whacked on the head with a staff.

The hole they were in was at one end of the village, and they had to walk, filthy and pathetic and ragged, all the way through the village. The villagers looked at them curiously as they passed, and Ryouga glared at some of them defiantly. The men shook their heads, but the women tittered cutely and waggled fingers, or colorful cloths; some even blew kisses. One brushed a hand down his back as he passed, but Mei Mei slapped the Amazon's hand away with terse words in Mandarin that made Ryouga blush.

Akane kept her head as low as she could while still taking in her surroundings. Briefly, she caught Ranma walking out of a hut. He stared at her, an unreadable expression on his handsome face. Akane's hand reached out on impulse, and she winced when the burly Amazon brought the end of her staff down on the appendage with a ringing crack.

Nursing her reddened hand, Akane stumbled to a stop at the base of some steps leading into a much larger hut, a hand on her shoulder bringing her up short. “No, stay.” The two Amazon guards walked up the steps a ways then turned and waited, backs to the cloth over the door.

There was a rustling behind the cloth, and then Cologne came out. Akane held her breath, watching as five other women came out of the hut, bent, shrewd women. Most were as small as Cologne, but two were visibly younger, maybe in their late sixties, still looking like they could win in the race against Death that Cologne seemed to be making. All were carrying long wooden staffs.

The six Joketsuzoku women stared them down. One, a tiny woman with small bells in her grey hair, pointed her staff at Ryouga and said something to him in Mandarin. Ryouga visibly fumbled for a minute before answering. Akane watched the exchange, desperately wishing she could understand what was being said.

The elders looked at each other, and then at Cologne. The “younger” ones looked particularly peeved. The tallest of the group, a stooped woman covered in a bandolier of throwing knives, glared at Cologne and spoke in low, harsh tones. Akane caught Shanpu's and Ranma's names, but nothing else was familiar. “What are they saying?” Akane whispered to a confused-looking Ryouga.

Ryouga shrugged with a slow roll of his massive shoulders. “They… they didn't know about the shiatsu,” he whispered, and Akane gasped, “they thought Ranma legitimately forgot.”

“That's ridiculous, I don't believe it,” Akane snapped quietly, eying the elders as they argued, “why would they believe a cockamamie story like that?”

“Because, they didn't think Cologne would lie…” Ryouga trailed off as he watched the argument unfolding, “they want to send us home.” He said softly.

“Why?” Akane asked, relieved they were alive, at least. He shook his head, face a mask of concentration. “No, no way…” Akane watched as Shanpu walked up, arm through Ranma's he looked uncomfortable, but resigned. Shanpu walked right in front of Akane and Ryouga, ignoring them, and bowed whilst facing her elders.

The elders acknowledged her after a moment. She spoke in her lilting voice and Akane studied the back of Ranma's head. “Akane, Akane,” Ryouga was saying worriedly, “she's saying… she's saying she gave you the Kiss of Death. Is that true?” Akane flapped her hands uselessly.

“No, I don't think so?” she said weakly - for all Akane knew, it could have happened when she was unconscious or something.

“Well, they seem to think it's true.” Ryouga said grimly, nodding in the direction of the stern faced elders. Ranma looked over his shoulder at her, worry drawing his brows together. Akane felt a pang of sadness in her chest, and wished that he'd look at her with recognition. She pretended, for a moment, that he did remember her, and he was looking at her with love…

And then he turned away.

Akane set her mouth. “Tell them it isn't true,” Akane said tersely, “but that it's about to be.”

Ryouga looked at her in surprise. “You're sure?” he asked uneasily, watching her carefully as she pushed her filmy hair out of her eyes.

“Yeah, tell them I'll fight Shanpu… for the right to take Ranma home with us.” Ryouga shrugged. He spoke to the elders after a deep, awkward bow. When he'd finished speaking, Shanpu was smiling over her shoulder cruelly, and the elders were talking lowly amongst themselves.

“I hope you know what you're doing.” Ryouga spat, looking annoyed with her.

“I do.” Akane said darkly, cracking her knuckles.

Cologne was watching her and was that… a look of pride?

“It settled,” said one of the elders in a surprisingly cutesy voice for her obvious age, “outsider will fight Xian Pu. If outsider win, fight Ranma for right to marry.”

“WHAT!?” three mouths, Ranma's, Shanpu's, and Akane's all opened and shut in unison.

“That wasn't what… I said…” Ryouga muttered sourly.

Akane shook all over, looking at Ranma who was looking back at her in shock and maybe a little dismay. Cologne's eyes were narrowed in displeasure.

Before she really had time to process everything, Akane was dragged away from Ryouga, who shouted angrily and tried to reach for her. “Ryouga, it's okay!” Akane cried out, putting up her hands as the Amazons roughly brought her into a nearby hut. Shrieking in surprise as she was stripped naked and dunked into a bath, Akane tried to grapple with her tormentors - they were betraying her! Trying to drown her!

And then she came to her senses and realized that she was in a tub.

Coughing, she broke the surface. The Amazons were standing with their backs to her. Wordlessly, Akane scrubbed her filthy body with a cloth hanging over the side of the tub, disgusted as the water turned brackish. She paid attention to her hair in particular, and her… privates, shivering in disgust at the gritty feeling of the cloth against her skin. After she was clean enough to pass as something other than a crazy person, Akane clambered clumsily out o the tub. One of the Amazons turned and grabbed a bucket, dumping the freezing cold water over her head. Akane squalled and shivered.

“Cleansing water,” the woman said gruffly, handing Akane a cloth to dry herself with, “good for battle.” She was smirked, the large scar on her face crinkling with mirth. Akane glared at her and dried off thoroughly, wrapping the cloth around her clean body, relief spreading through her.

“Come.” She was led into another hut, this one lighter than the one with the bath. “Dress.” One said firmly. Armor and clothing had been lain out for her.

“You woman,” one of the Joketsuzoku, a pretty, tall woman with long dark red hair, was saying as Akane put on the foreign battle garb, “honored.”

“Pfft, so why was I trapped in hole?” Akane asked tersely. The women didn't answer, but Akane was pretty sure they understood her. When she turned around, one was holding out her meteor hammer, head bowed.

“I could give Kiss of Death,” the woman said as Akane took the weapon with shaking hands, “but no want to.” The woman looked up from under thick crimson bangs and winked suggestively, righting herself. “Let no if no work out with Wild Horse.” She said softly, taking Ranma's name literally.

Akane flushed and mumbled something incoherent even to herself, adjusting the armor. It was slightly heavy, but not cumbersome. The meteor hammer was easily tied around her waist under the chest plate. The other Amazon, slightly shorter and uglier than her companion, rolled her eyes irritably and handed Akane a rice ball with a pickled plum, wrapped in an oak leaf. Akane ate it slowly, enjoying the feeling of the hunger ebbing away. When she'd finished, she drank from the flask of water offered to her. Feeling refreshed, she emptied the flask and handed it to the flirty redhead, then stepped out into the sunshine after the guards and looked around in surprise.

In a manner of the few minutes she'd been gone, there was a battle log set up in front of the elder's hut. It was huge, and just like the one Ranma described from his battle with Shanpu over a year ago, when he and his father had eaten her prize. Shanpu was already on the log, dressed in her armor, practicing with her chÃºi. Akane's stomach did a little nervous flip-flop - was she good enough to face Shanpu, a village champion? Sure, she could bring down Ryouga, but only long enough for him to regain his footing and take her out with a leg sweep.

Ranma was nearby. Ryouga, cleaned up and dressed in black robes, stood at the base of the elder's hut. He was no longer bound, and was even talking quietly with Cologne, who looked almost resigned to the situation unfolding.

“The match is between Xian Pu and the outsider!” a young woman with long green hair wearing battle armor as she paraded back and forth under the battle log. “No interference is possible!” her Japanese was heavily accented, but clear. She said something in Mandarin to the gathered crowd of interested warriors, possibly repeating herself for their benefit.

Akane swallowed a lump of nervousness in her throat and walked over, hopping easily onto the log and surprising herself; she wasn't aware she could jump that high. The log was wide and steady, but despite being clumsy, Akane had excellent balance when she concentrated.

“Are the fighters ready?” The announcer asked Akane first in Japanese, and Akane nodded nervously, unwinding the meteor hammer and started it swinging back and forth to build up some momentum. The announcer asked Shanpu something, and the curvy woman nodded, face twisted into a feral snarl.

The woman clapped her hands, and Shanpu sprang forward with her chÃºi so fast she almost knocked Akane in the side of the head with the heavy mace. Yelping in surprise, Akane backpedaled and almost stumbled off of the log, balance or no. Shanpu laughed giddily and struck out with her chÃºi in a lightning-fast one-two combination, going for Akane's head, then her stomach. Akane ducked under the first strike, then sent the meteor hammer moaning towards the other chÃºi. With a shout, Shanpu lost her grip and the weapon went flying off.

“Stupid pervert girl! Shanpu kill!” enraged, Shanpu leapt for Akane, remaining chÃºi raised to strike. Akane forced her anger to permeate her body, fueling her speed with the heat from her battle aura, just like Ryouga had showed her in their practice together.

“Go Akane!” Ryouga was shouting from the sidelines. Akane deflected two swings of the chÃºi and countered with a flick of the wrist, the meteor hammer almost smashing into Shanpu's hip. The other girl back flipped effortlessly away and shrieked in rage.

That gave Akane an idea.

The Tendou School of Indiscriminate Grappling was about using every advantage to win. “Hey, Shanpu,” Akane said haughtily; any advantage at all, “you're getting sloppy… must be getting fat, sitting around here in your village.”

The other girl's eyes narrowed in hate and she slid across the log towards Akane. “YOU DIE!” she rocketed forward, swinging low.

“Yeah, looking pretty slow, Shanpu.” Akane moved the meteor hammer down, and it crashed against Shanpu's weapon with a resounding clang. With a shout, Akane sent the other weighted end of the weapon down as well, to hit Shanpu's hard skull. Shrieking like a wet cat, Shanpu grabbed Akane's ankle with her free hand and pulled her onto her butt.

Akane bounced, once, painfully, taking the fall mostly on her hips. She almost bounced right off the log, but she kicked off of Shanpu's face and away, landing clumsily on the log a few feet away, panting heavily with nerves. Shanpu gained her feet with more grace and tossed her chÃºi overhand. Akane quickly lashed out with the meteor hammer and sent the heavier weapon spinning away. “Hah, you just— ack!” Akane crowed ungainly and just barely managed to duck the knife thrown at her torso. Two more followed it, and then two more. Akane deflected or dodged the first three, desperately, entire body absorbed in the fight.

But the third buried itself deep in her unarmored shoulder. Crying out at the searing agony of her flesh parting under the sharp blade, Akane yanked the dagger out just in time to dodge another. Where was she pulling those things?

Shanpu seemed to have run out of daggers for the moment, and stood there, panting as she sized up her opponent. Akane knew that in a weapons match, Shanpu might have her beat. But a slugfest? Using the pain as a means to distract her from her nerves, Akane twisted her body and sent meteor hammer right at Shanpu's feet. The Amazon, as Akane expected, flipped up and over the hammer. At the last moment, Akane pulled it back and knocked Shanpu in the hips, bringing her close into Akane's range.

The Joketsuzoku warrior grunted as Akane's fist connected with her cheek. Dropping the meteor hammer, Akane followed up the attack with a snap kick to Shanpu's side, and down the girl went, tumbling over and off…

Squeaking, Shanpu reached into her hair and pulled out something long and sharp and drove it into the wood with a dull thwack. She used the deadly hairpin for leverage to flip herself back up onto the log, and Akane suddenly wished she hadn't tossed her meteor hammer away.

A shout from below made Shanpu go rigid in her fighting stance. “Stop!” Akane relaxed slightly, but kept her guard up, worried. The announcer kept her hands up in the signal for “time out” and surprisingly, Shanpu actually waited. Akane half-expected Shanpu to attack her anyway.

The elders were conversing quickly with each other. They came to some decision that made Ryouga whip his head back and forth between Akane and the elders quickly, worriedly, and made Shanpu smirk smugly. “Now, pervert girl see who better.” Akane glowered at the girl as she hopped down gracefully from the log, a bruise just starting to form on her face and chin where Akane's fist and the log had impacted.

“Come down.” The announcer said sternly. Akane obeyed and looked around nervously. What the hell was going on. “The elder Cologne has requested that this match be stayed,” the announcer said, just to Akane, whilst someone else spoke to the crowd in Mandarin, “Ranma has agreed to marry Xian Pu.”

Akane's heart palpitated, and she stumbled forward, pitching to her knees. “No, no, no…” she said in low, mournful tones. Strong Amazon arms grabbed her with surprising gentleness, and brought her into a hut. The last thing she saw was Ryouga surprised expression, and Shanpu clinging happily to Ranma, who looked at Akane like… like he felt sorry for a stranger.

Akane wasn't sure how long she was in the hut. It was another kind of prison; only nicer than the pit in that it had a privacy screen for the bathroom, and water in a bucket with a ladle. But it was still a prison, the only hut with an actual door, a bar across it from the outside.

Akane sat on the dirt floor, armor abandoned, gleaming in a corner. She was in the silk pants and shirt still, out of modesty, but she wanted, desperately, to claw them from her skin.

After all this, Ranma was going to marry Shanpu.

There was the sound of celebration outside in the village. The redheaded Amazon who had flirted, Bai Li, stopped by to explain what was to happen to her. She and Ryouga would be released when the ceremony was over, tomorrow night. They were being kept in separate prisons, for safety purposes. If they tried to interfere… well, Bai Li didn't seem to want to finish.

After Bai Li had come another woman, who had tied Akane to the wooden pole in the center of the clay and plaster cell to keep her from “wandering in the night.” Akane didn't even bother to try and escape; what was she going to do? There was still a guard at the door, but even if she'd been untied and unwatched, Akane would have just sat there. She didn't know how to fix this situation, just had no goodly idea.

Night swelled like something tangible around the hut. Akane heard movement from the door, a scraping sound. Someone spoke softly to the door guard, Ming, and the woman answered in a gruff voice. The door opened, and Ranma stepped in.

His hair was down, was the first thing she noticed. The second thing she noticed was that he was only wearing pants, and his chest was gleaming with sweat. Embarrassed, Akane looked away as he entered and sat down across from her.

“What do you want?” Akane whispered, agony making her voice squeak. She'd tried so hard, so hard to make him remember her. Maybe… maybe he didn't really love her, after all. The thought made her body want to shrivel and die.

“I wanted to say I'm sorry,” Ranma said quietly; Akane looked at him, unable to stop the tears flowing down her face, “I'm sorry I can't remember you.”

“It's okay, Ranma,” she responded, looking down at her silk pants, twisting a little in her bonds, “it's not your fault. I just wasn't enough to… to make you remember…” she choked back a sob and held her breath, mouth open, trying not to scream. She'd lost him. Not a game, or a contest, but the man she loved was going to marry someone else and… there was nothing she could do about it.

She doubted, very seriously, if the Joketsuzoku took kindly to divorce.

A heavy hand came down on her shoulder. “Hey, hey, don't cry.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her awkwardly, tied as she was. The long hair that had grown on him enfolded her like a curtain and she breathed it in.

“Oh Ranma!” Akane gasped out, pressing her face into his bare chest, just relishing in being close to him one last time. His hands splayed flat on her shoulders and she could feel his heart thundering in his chest. “Please…” she gasped out, “please don't marry her… just to save me… I can beat her!”

“No, you can't,” Ranma said softly, pulling back slightly to look at her, something wavering in his eyes, like a heat mirage, “and even if you could, there's no guarantee what the old ghoul will do to you.” He frowned, brows furrowing, as though he was remembering something he'd forgotten. “She'll… do anything…” he mumbled confusedly. Then he shook his head and the fog seemed to clear slightly. “It'll be okay.” He smiled at her, a brutally honest smile, full of pain.

Akane sniffled wished she could reach up to touch his cheek. “No it won't.” she said softly. “It won't ever be okay, not without you in my life.” Being honest with him was easier when he had no idea who she was, and she wanted to slap herself across the face for not telling him before… before everything. But she was bound, so there was no punishment for her except a slow death without him.

Ranma smiled again. “That's a pretty sweet thing for a total stranger to say,” he said blithely, and Akane couldn't decide if she wanted to hit or kiss him. Since she could do neither, she just slumped against the wooden pole at her back and stared into his handsome face for as long as she was able.

He moved to leave. “You'll be fine, now. They'll let you go.” As he dusted off the seat of his pants, he looked down at her tear-streaked face and she watched as he tried to put earnestness into his smile. Akane wanted to reach out and touch him so badly her hands itched madly below the bonds holding her wrists to the pole. But even that wouldn't have helped, couldn't have; if he was going to remember, he would have by now.

“Have a good life with Shanpu, dummy.” She said without much heat. He smirked.

As he turned to head for the door, something seemed to stop him. He shivered, and suddenly whirled around again, staring at her face, scowling. “What'd you say?” he asked quietly.

Akane licked her lips nervously. “I told you to have a nice life… with Shanpu… dummy…” she trailed off at the agonized expression on his face. He rubbed his temple and squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

“Yeah, who'd want a…” he opened his eyes and looked at her. Akane smiled at him, willing him to remember, her fingers digging into her palms with anticipation and nerves. Ranma crouched down, staring directly into her face. He leaned forward, squinting like she was something he'd found in his miso.

And then he kissed her.

Akane momentarily forgot where she was. It was so sudden, so surprising, she almost forgot to react. And then she kissed back, straining against her bonds to get as close to him as possible and greedily moving her lips against his. They stayed like that for a few moments, Ranma's hands cupping her face, until he pulled back, breathing heavily.

They stared at each other for a long time. “Why'd I do that?” Ranma croaked.

“Because… I… I don't know?” Akane said softly.

“What were you to me?” he asked, pained, finally releasing her face.

Akane nibbled her lower lip and looked away. They hadn't ever been… intimate, but they were engaged. What else could she say to him, to make him understand? Old fears, doubts, began to filter into her brain and she slowly pulled away from him. “I was nothing to you, when you left…” she whispered.

Ranma sighed. “I'm very sorry for kissin' you,” he sounded disappointed, “I didn't mean to… I just… I'm a little… sorry.” He stood up but she, on a strange impulse, snapped her foot out and snagged his pants with her toes. Ranma jerked to a stop and looked back at her.

“Please, just don't leave yet.” She whispered hoarsely. Ranma nodded, slowly, glancing quickly at the door to her prison before kneeling down in front of her.

Akane leaned forward as much as her bonds would allow and managed to brush her lips against his cheek. Moaning softly, Ranma turned his head and captured her lips with his. Scooting forward, he again touched her face with his rough hands and held her against his lips, not that she'd ever have wanted to leave. Their tongues intertwined, making her dizzy with emotion and lust, and when Ranma's hand drifted down to caress her side and hip, Akane moaned and kicked out her legs to wrap them around his waist - if she couldn't touch him with her hands, dammit, she'd touch him with everything else.

Long black hair swishing at the impact of her thighs against his sides, Ranma grunted and was dragged forward into her body. Now that they were so close, a very intimate part of him snug against a mutually intimate part of her, Akane suddenly forgot about being tied to a pole in a cell in the middle of a village of warriors who would and could tear her to pieces for what she was doing. Ranma kissed her hungrily, gently grinding his pelvis into hers. Trailing his lips across her face and down her throat, he murmured soft encouragement against her skin, words she couldn't understand through the haze of lust fogging her brain. His hands wandered up under the silk top and stroked tentatively at the undersides of her bare breasts. Akane gasped and tried to arch into his touch, but she couldn't really without putting considerable strain on her shoulders. Instead, she tucked her face into his neck and kissed and mouthed what flesh she could reach, pleased to hear the soft, panting moans escaping the throat of the man she'd loved and desired for over three long years. The way he pressed and rubbed against her was making her weak in the knees; it felt so good, she was so close...

For a few, precious, delicious, hot moments they moved together, Ranma grunting quietly, holding onto her hips as they mimed sex through their clothes and kissed passionately, something they'd never, ever done even when Ranma remembered her. This meant something, Akane knew, it meant that somewhere, deep inside him, Ranma remembered her and loved her, just like she'd known.

“Aah...” Ranma suddenly gasped and went rigid, gripping her thighs hard. She felt a wetness spreading against her silk trousers and blushed when she realized what had occurred. Ranma pulled away from her after a tense, uncomfortable moment, and then he stared at her in horror. “They'll... they'll kill you.”

And then he stood and left the hut quickly, covering the dark stain on his pants with his hands. His departure was so abrupt that Akane was momentarily stunned, confused. There was a throbbing between her legs, and she felt very cold. She waited, sure that he would come back to her. But when he didn't return, Akane let out a gasping sob and rested against the wooden pole, defeat weighing against her like stone.

There were celebratory cheers to greet her the next day. Opening her eyes, Akane wiped her teeth on her shoulder, wishing she had a toothbrush. The door opened and Bai Li stepped in with a tray and a look of pity on her face. “Here, I bring food.” She set down the tray, but Akane didn't feel much like eating.

As Bai Li untied her and she stretched her impossible cramped shoulders, the cheers swelled, died away into singing.

“Thank you,” she said, feeling a little green and sore. Bai Li “tsked” and sat down across from her, nibbling on one of the pickles from the tray.

“You love Ranma, dui?” Bai Li's question was very sudden, non-sequitur at best, but to Akane, nothing dealing with Ranma was non-sequitur, not when he was always on her thoughts. She pressed her fingers to her lips, where his had brushed tenderly against hers just the night before. It felt like a dream, lost to time and waking.

“Yes,” she said without hesitation, “I love him very much.” The singing faded off into laughter and more cheers. Akane winced and resisted the urge to gouge out her ear drums with the hashi.

“Why let Xian Pu take?” Bai Li asked, flicking something off of the front of her armor.

“What else am I supposed to do?” Akane said weakly. She was aware she sounded pathetic.

Bai Li seemed aware of it, too. She rolled her eyes and smacked Akane upside the head. Akane stared at her in shock, rubbing her head. “When fight many Joketsuzoku Warriors, with strength, bravery, I think you so strong,” she curled up her lip, sneering, “but now see you weak, like man.”

Akane snarled at her. “What? You want me to go out there, beat the shit out of all your Sisters, and just take him?”

Bai Li shrugged. “Maybe, but is better to fix problem, not break heads,” she reached forward, tucking a strand of Akane's hair behind her ear tenderly, “you so strong, so pretty; shame Ranma no know how you feel; he might not like idea marry Xian Pu so much.”

“I don't think he…” Akane trailed off, her brain registering something Bai Li had said, something…

“Bai Li go,” she stood up, wiping off her hands on her silk pants absently, “Akane maybe stay with Bai Li, Ranma no good? Be Bai Li's airen?”

Akane blushed. “Um, no, I don't…”

Bai Li flapped her hand casually. “Bai Li kid, is joke,” she stepped over to the door and opened it. She said something to a passerby, and Akane heard the other Amazon say something in happy tones, and then Akane watched as Bai Li simply stood at the open doorway. “Akane no want watch ceremony?” she said quietly over her shoulder.

Akane stood, slowly, worried it was a trap. But as she passed by Bai Li, the woman merely smiled coyly. “Bai Li's Great Grandmother also elder. Bai Li also important to Joketsuzoku. Xian Pu not only one important.” Akane looked at Bai Li in newfound appreciation.

“Thank you…” she breathed, and then, before she changed her mind, leaned forward and kissed her, lightly, on the lips. Bai Li was smiling shyly when she pulled away, and Akane smiled back.

“Go, go save airen,” she said huffily, “Bai Li have to watch empty hut now.” She turned away, cheeks burning.

Akane steadied herself and walked around the hut cautiously. None of the other Joketsuzoku seemed to notice her wandering around, dressed as she was. She saw Mousse behind one of the huts, doing laundry, sleeves tied up. He looked at her as she passed, but said nothing. Akane hoped he was going to be okay.

There was a great assembly of Amazons in the center of the village. They were laughing and talking in their sing-song language. On a wooden platform was Shanpu in a slinky blue cheongsam, Ranma in a red changsam with a golden dragon embroidered across the breast, and Cologne, wearing violet silks. She looked very pleased with herself. Akane wanted to wipe that look of pleasure off of her face.

Music floated around her, from pipes and stringed instruments. But Akane's world was Bai Li's words, floating back to her “… shame Ranma no know…” Had the woman said them on purpose, to give Akane the key to breaking the shiatsu? It didn't matter. Akane's despair lifted as though carried away on a cool breeze. She walked serenely through the crowd of cheering, laughing Amazons, toward the stage. It was beautifully decorated, with lilies and roses, and there was a long table of food. Akane didn't know if the marriage was finished or not. The nervous look on Ranma's face told her it probably wasn't - or it was, and he was worried about the wedding night.

Akane's fist clenched at the thought of Ranma with… her. Especially after last night. He better not!

She used that anger to strengthen her resolve, bolster her courage, and then she stepped up to the stage, and looked right up into Shanpu's stupid face. “Shanpu.” Akane said, and despite the cheering, the stamping of dancing feet, the music, and the noise of Akane's own fiercely beating heart, the woman heard her.

Shanpu looked down at Akane in shock, and then her face twisted into rage, and Akane was mildly disappointed at the reminder than Shanpu was always beautiful. “Shanpu, I'm leaving with Ranma. You can't do this to him.”

The other Joketsuzoku started to notice her, but none of them made a move to stop her. Akane wasn't sure why, but maybe it was her aggressive stance - let them think she was challenging Shanpu, then. They were warriors, they could understand a challenge, even on a wedding day.

She felt sick, briefly, and had to fight back a wave of doubt-filled bile. The previous night came back to her, and she clung to the image of Ranma's face scrunched up in pleasure, pleasure he took from her and gave back in return.

Shanpu looked away from Akane, at Ranma, and stroked his cheek. He flushed, but didn't pull away. His eyes locked with Akane's, a look of… confusion and longing in them. Akane hated making him feel this way, but she couldn't let Shanpu ruin his life. She was being selfish, giving up. Fighting wasn't selfish; it was dangerous and stupid, but it wasn't selfish.

“Ranma Shanpu's airen,” the violet-haired Amazon said softly, so only those on the stage could hear, but the other Joketsuzoku were watching, saw the exchange even if they couldn't hear it, “ceremony already starting. Akane too late.” Cologne smirked and looked away in contempt.

“She is right, child,” the matriarch said without tenderness, “you have lost.”

“Then I just have one thing to say,” Akane steeled herself, gulping around the lump in her throat. She looked Ranma right in the eyes, softening her own. Before she lost her nerve, knowing she might get more hurt than she was ready for, Akane looked right at her fiancÃ© and said what they had stumbled and danced around for two years.

“Ranma, I love you.” The Amazons that had heard and understood gasped, but Shanpu just laughed, cruelly.

Ranma's eyes seemed to go blank as he stared at her. And then he winced, clutching his head. “Ranma? Airen, what matter? You hurt?” Shanpu hovered over him, and Ranma groaned and tilted forward, shivering.

“I love you!” Akane repeated. Saying it was easier, screaming it was better. “I love you, you big stupid pervert asshole!” She leapt onto the stage, and Cologne gasped angrily. “I love you and don't you dare marry this purple-haired, crazy, selfish bimbo! Especially after last night!” She stomped her foot like a child.

Shanpu glared at her suspiciously, and then Ranma grunted and tipped forward into the table before rocking back on his stool. “Airen!” Shanpu shouted in surprise as he lay flat on his back. For a moment he seemed dazed, and then his face twisted into a massive scowl and he leapt to his feet.

“Shanpu! What'd you do to me!?” he screamed angrily, grabbing her roughly by the shoulders and shaking her. Shanpu let out a low, keening wail and pressed against his chest, shaking her head, babbling crazily in Mandarin as Ranma tried to detach her from him with a disgusted look on his face.

Cologne came up behind Ranma like a serpent. “Ranma!” Akane shrieked, and dove for him, knocking both him and Shanpu out of the way of Cologne's striking staff. The matriarch hissed and came for them.

“Cu Lon!” Cologne froze, staff raised, but seemed to settle. She glared at Akane, and then turned.

Akane dislodged her fist, which had somehow become buried in Shanpu's face, and stood up. “Too, too pretty lights…” Shanpu burbled. Ranma regained his footing and glared down at Shanpu in contempt as Cologne moved towards the other elders. They were dressed in formal robes, and did not look pleased with the proceedings. Akane had no idea what was going to happen to her and Ranma, and Ryouga, and she was suddenly terrified.

“Akane?” She turned to look at Ranma, he was beet red, twiddling his fingers. The Amazons were watching, but Akane didn't care.

“You remember me, now, idiot?” Akane asked teasingly.

Ranma's expression became something she had almost never seen on his face before: tenderness. “Yeah… I remember you, Akane.” As if he'd broken something inside her, she started crying, hugging him to her over Shanpu's prone form.

“You idiot, never, ever leave me again!” Akane shouted, squeezing him so tightly he made a strangled sound. Over his shoulder she saw the elders glaring at Cologne, and then at her and Ranma. She didn't let him go, however; she was going to enjoy holding him. It might be the last time she got to.

“Akane,” one of the elders said, motioning for Akane to come forward; reluctantly, she pulled away from Ranma, and felt a small shiver when he grasped her hand and followed her, “you defeat Xian Pu.” The elder continued, pointing at Shanpu, who was, whether from shock or Akane's fist, still lying on the stage, groaning slightly. Cologne winced at the sound.

“Uh… yes.” Akane said hurriedly. “But I don't want the Kiss of Death, I just want Ranma and Ryouga to come home with me.”

The elders looked at one another. One of them sighed heavily. “Our Sister has caused many trouble,” she speared Cologne with a look and huffed, “she want Xian Pu take place on council. Forget Xian Pu young, silly, need live own life.” Akane wasn't sure who the elder was talking to anymore.

“So, you gonna let me go or what?” Ranma asked in a clipped tone. “I think I been here long enough.”

The elders considered him for a moment. “Okay, get out. You make terrible door guard, always trying help pretty girls.”

Akane glared at him.

“But, Akane must defeat; Ranma honorary member of tribe.” Ranma groaned and the elder who'd spoken spread her hands placidly. “Is Joketsuzoku law.”

“I don't care about no—” he was cut off when Akane punched him in the jaw hard enough to make his teeth clack together. He tipped back, and fell off the stage with a grunt to land in the dirt. “Whadja do that for!?” Ranma shouted angrily.

“That enough of a defeat?” Akane asked, cracking her knuckles meaningfully. The elders shrugged.

“Good enough, go home.” Smiling, Akane leapt down and helped Ranma to his feet.

He glared at her, dusting himself off. “Jeez, I remember you and everything… shoulda just…” he continued to mutter even as Akane dragged him through the crowd, not even looking back at the enraged Cologne or the crying Shanpu as she sought Ryouga and escape.

Two Months Later

“HA!” Akane sent a kick at her opponent's face, and he danced casually to the side and caught her ankle, pulling her forward and tapping the vulnerable hollow of her throat. Akane countered with an sword hand to the side of his face, but he ducked under the blow and pushed her, head over heels, to the ground. The air came out of her in an explosive whoosh, and Akane lay on the ground for a moment, panting.

“Okay, okay,” she said when she had caught her breath, “you win.” Ranma popped into view, smirking, and reached out a hand to help her to her feet.

“I thought you said you could give Ryouga a run for his money, Akane?” the young man teased, sticking out his tongue at her.

Akane rolled her eyes. “Yeah, when he was already tired from trying to find his way to my house,” sighing, Akane stretched languidly, feeling pleasantly exhausted, “you've gotten faster since...” She trailed off when Ranma looked away from her awkwardly. They had an unspoken agreement not to talk about what happened to him, and she'd almost broken it. Akane watched his profile as he wiped sweat off of his brow, eyes shadowed by the thick bangs sticking to his skin.

Unfortunately, that also meant they hadn't talked about that night in the hut, when they essentially had sex through their clothes.

Cursing the both of them silently, Akane cautiously reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder. “Ranma,” she began, breath hitching in her throat when he turned to look at her with an expression of muted despair, “I'm sorry.”

Ranma smiled, and relief flooded through her at the sight of that genuine smile. He leaned into her hand a little, opening his mouth. “Ranma-honey!” His mouth closed with a click and he looked up at the sound of Ukyou's voice, and then back at her, his face unreadable. Stepping back from him, Akane dropped her hand and pretended to be interested in tightening the belt on her gi. She heard him sigh as he left the dojo, and Akane looked up at his retreating back, the pigtail there twitching familiarly in the midday sun - the first thing Ranma had done when he returned home was to return to the old hairstyle, as though he were finding himself again.

Ranma disappeared into the white of the sunlight, and Akane looked away, listening to the brightness in Ukyou's voice. The girl had come right back when she found out Ranma was alive, set up shop again and everything. Apparently, her father and her had patched things up in the year since Ranma died, but Ukyou hadn't given up her dream of marrying the lug.

Not for the first time, Akane wondered if things were going to go right back to the way they were before he vanished, before the... night in the hut. Their engagement still stood, even if Ranma was living with his parents, but technically, so did Ukyou's - at least Shanpu's was a moot point, now.

Akane clenched her fist a little, wishing for another chance to pound the Joketsuzoku into the dirt. “Akane?” startled, Akane jumped a little, and turned to face her fiancÃ©.

“Yeah?” she asked when he didn't say anything else, just stood there in the open doorway, watching her pensively.

Finally, he sighed. “Ukyou wants me to go get lunch, I'll see you later.” He sounded so sad, Akane wanted to reach out and hug him, pull him into her arms and tell him she loved him all over again, start a repeat of their activity two months ago in the cell. Then again, she also wanted to smack him for being such a stupid jerk, always running off like an idiot when Akane was right here.

But she didn't do any of those things. Akane's arms remained at her sides. “Okay.” She said, almost choking the word out, turning away from him for fear he'd see how upset she was that he was, once again, tottering off to go gallivanting with Ukyou. Jealousy had never suited her, never suited anyone.

“I'll be back,” he said firmly. Akane nodded, not willing to look at him still. Ranma sighed again, and she heard the soft padding of his retreating footsteps, Ukyou's happy burbling.

When he'd gone, Akane sank down to the floor and sat there for a while. Exuberant, overjoyed, ecstatic - no word could describe the way she had felt when she'd come through the front door with Ranma in tow. No words were within her grasp to articulate how relieved she'd been that he was back with them, with her. And yet... there was another feeling there, something dark and brooding. Not anger or sadness... some kind of melancholy.

He hadn't said he loved her. Hadn't even discussed what had happened between them.

Fingers digging into the wood of the floor, Akane fought back tears. Had she been wrong? Did Ranma really not love her, at least... not the way she loved him? The kiss and more in Nyucheizu... had his sensual actions just been the hunger of a man who was lonely and confused and afraid? A strange impulse, seeking comfort in a stranger who felt like a friend?

It was Akane's turn to sigh, but she held in the ennui and clambered to her feet. There was no reason to sit around moping, she had things to do. Ranma and her had to pass the university entrance exams coming up, and that meant he needed her help, which meant she needed to study almost as much as he did for them. Feeling better now that she had something to do with herself, Akane went inside and straight to the furo.

Even if Ranma didn't love her, she was going to be the friend he'd needed in Nyucheizu.

A knock at her window awakened Akane from a dreamless sleep. Sitting up, blinking in the sharp light from her desk lamp, she stared down at the study materials in front of her and frowned - when had she even fallen asleep? Rubbing at the kink in her neck, Akane reflexively, reached out and opened the window, not even considering who was on the other side. Only after Ranma had climbed in from the darkness did Akane realize that she had reacted to the knock in the same way she would have had it come at her door, and had to smile a little at that - Ranma's antics could make something like coming in through the window mundane, even after a year without him.

“Hey,” Ranma said softly, sliding the window shut partway behind him. Her room as was stuffy, and as a light breeze swept in Akane realized just how uncomfortable she had become since she'd fallen asleep.

“Hey,” Akane responded, moving aside so he could get off of her desk, enjoying the fresh air, “did you have fun with Ukyou?” She tried to sound genuinely interested, really - it wasn't fair of her to be angry at Ranma for... whatever he was doing.

Dammit, why'd she have to get inconveniently mature right now?

Ranma rubbed the back of his head awkwardly in the lamplight, leaning against the desk. “For a bit,” he said hesitantly, “and then I had to drop the f-bomb on her.”

Confused, Akane raised an eyebrow, “You told Ukyou to fuck off?”

Ranma stared at her for a minute and then laughed explosively behind his hand, smothering his mirth. Akane glanced at the clock, noting the late hour, “It's almost eleven,” Akane muttered, “how long did it take you to tell Ukyou—”

“Akane, Akane,” Ranma gasped out between giggles, “no, no, I dropped the “friend” word on her.”

“Oh,” Akane looked down, and then up at him through her lashes as he sighed happily at the tail-end of his laughing fit, “how'd she take it?”

Ranma shrugged, “Okay, I guess. She's gonna go back home, again,” he smiled ruefully at Akane's surprised expression, “she didn't care to stay, y'know?”

Akane nodded in understanding - Tokyo wasn't Ukyou's home, after all.

They stood in silence for a few moments, and then Ranma stepped forward and reached out, gently taking her hand into his, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles, “Akane... I had to tell her before...” Ranma trailed off, and she waited, heart thudding so loud in her chest she could hear the muscle's cadence in her ears, “aw, hell, don't look at me like that, Akane.”

“Like what?” Akane asked softly, amused at the blush tingeing his cheeks.

“Like... like that! You're makin' me feel all awkward and stuff.” He huffed irritably and looked away from her.

“You want me to look at you... like this?” Akane pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out at him. He stared at her for a moment, and then burst out laughing again. Akane joined him, and decided, briefly, if he wasn't going to say what she hoped he was, being Ranma's friend wasn't so terrible.

“Okay, okay...” he trailed off, wiping a stray tear out of his eye, “I didn't think it was fair to her for things to keep going the way they were.” Akane nodded, and refrained from mentioning just how long things had been going that way.

“What way do you want things to go, then?” She asked neutrally, conscious of his hand still clasped around hers. Ranma made a small, distressed noise in the back of his throat, and Akane sighed exasperatedly. “Oh honestly, do I have to say it again?”

Ranma raised an eyebrow at her, and she rolled her eyes. “I love you, Ranma,” she said firmly, glaring at him and the stupefied expression on his handsome face, “even if you are a coward.” She sniffed haughtily and looked out the window, at the stars winking in the sky - stupid Ranma, stupid cowardly Ranma with his stupid face and stupid—

Every thought in her head died a horrible, excruciating, bliss-filled death as Ranma wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her into a passionate kiss that didn't last remotely long enough before he pulled away, arms wrapped around her body. “Ranma?” Akane questioned weakly, supported entirely by his arms around her waist.

“Every day,” he whispered hoarsely, “every day she tried to get me to marry her.” He was talking about “it,” breaking the wordless pact. Akane was sure she couldn't have been more quiet if she was dead and buried, so badly did she want Ranma to open up. “And every day, I rejected her; I knew something was wrong,” there was an edge in his voice; his arms tightened around her middle and one of his hands traveled up to press against her neck, “I knew.” Akane felt a wetness on her collarbone and looked into his face more intently; his head was bowed, but she could see his eyes squinted shut, see the tears leaking out.

Fuck hitting her, Akane wanted to kill Shanpu. Digging her hands into the back of his silk shirt, Akane clutched Ranma to her, reaching up to touch his hair and bring his head down on her shoulder, where he cried openly, but quietly, until her shirt was soaked through and his voice was hoarse. “And then you came... and I didn't remember you, but somehow you felt so good—” he cut himself off with a quiet, irritated snarl, “I'm so awkward with words! That came out wrong. I meant... being with you felt— felt right, after so long, feeling all alone.” His voice had become so quiet, she almost couldn't hear his babbling.

“I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner, Ranma,” Akane whispered when he didn't say anything for a while, kissing the side of his head without really thinking about it, “I'm sorry you had to feel so alone.” She kissed his hair again, rubbing her nose into the feathery-soft strands and breathing in his scent, remembering the night in the hut, his touch...

“It's not your fault,” Ranma whispered, burrowing into her neck, making the skin there tingle pleasantly, “it's their fault.” His voice was dark, and Akane almost said something to dissuade his anger, on pure instinct - an angry martial artist was a danger Akane knew too well. “But you set me free,” he said softly, surprising her, “I'm okay, now.”

“Yes, you're safe, you're okay.” Akane breathed a silent sigh of relief as the tension in his body seemed to dissolve; his face remained in her neck, and every time his mouth moved in speech she felt a tingle down the side of her leg.

“I didn't really thank you properly, for saving me,” Ranma's lips suddenly moved with unmistakable purpose against her throat, mouthing the flesh just under her jaw line and making her shiver, “didn't really thank you... for believing in me, putting up with my shit.”

“You... you put up with mine,” Akane said, voice faltering as his mouth trailed a path of delicate fire up to her cheek, “a lot of it.” Ranma kissed her again, hands running up and down her back. Akane felt a definite hardness against her hip and shivered against Ranma's open mouth, moaning softly, wanting him grinding that place against her center again. Shuddering, Ranma backed her against the desk and answered her unspoken want, rubbing his hips against hers. He pulled away from her mouth and stared into her face, breathing heavily.

“I do love you, you know.” He whispered, red-faced from exertion and... other things. Akane stared back at him and smiled, nodding. They kissed again, and Ranma lifted her up onto the desk, gripping her thighs and leaning into her. The embrace lasted a while, until both of them had to break away for air. Akane tried to control the heat pooling in her lower belly and spreading across the rest of her body, but maintaining her composure was becoming increasingly difficult. Nothing could have prepared her for how much she wanted him.

“Ranma, do you...” She trailed off, blushing; how could she even ask him to do... that with her? Even if he loved her, he'd just had Shanpu throwing herself at him for an entire year! As if he'd want some other woman pawing at him. But then again, he loved her...

Ranma loved her. The thought made her heart clench sweetly in her chest.

“Do I what?” Ranma asked throatily, leaning his forehead against hers. His eyes were intense, darkened to blue smoke in his arousal. “What?” he repeated, gently running his palms up and down her thighs, exposed from her terrycloth shorts.

Akane shivered, closing her eyes, willing his hands to travel somewhere much closer to her bellybutton, to finish what they started in her prison in China. “Um, do you want to... stay with me?” She asked lamely.

“Huh? At your house?” He asked, quietly befuddled. Akane breathed out a sigh of half-relief and half-frustration when his hands stopped their distracted rubbing.

Damn, and she called Ranma a pervert.

“That, yeah, if you want... and... maybe,” she coughed a little, trying to say the words in a way that didn't make her sound like she was actually asking for... that, “stay tonight?” Ranma stared at her shy expression for a moment, frowning in confusion, face still flushed. Akane was just beginning to think Ranma hadn't got what she meant, when his eyes suddenly widened considerably and he backed away from her, mouth hanging slightly open.

Akane felt like scum. Hugging herself against the sensations still running through her at his touch and trying not to stare at his obvious erection out of the corner of her eye, Akane held back tears. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything... right after you told me about Shanpu. Just because of what happened between us...” She whispered, closing her eyes, waiting for him to just leave or yell at her or call her names.

Instead there was a clicking sound, and Akane looked up, expecting to see Ranma leaving the room. Instead, he was closing the door and locking it. Noticing her stare, Ranma turned and gazed at her in the dim, then crossed the room in two strides and began kissing her mouth in earnest.

Still a little confused, Akane allowed Ranma to pull her down off the desk and to the bed by gentle tugs on her hands. “Ranma,” Akane said between kisses that took most of her breath away, so her voice came out in heaving gasps, “are you... sure... about... this?” He smothered her mouth with another kiss as they lay down on her bed together, her draped over him ungainly, limbs askew as they tried to find a position that was comfortable.

Ranma nodded against her mouth, moaning softly and inching his body up until his head was against the pillows. “Yeah,” he said when they pulled away to breathe, trailing kisses down the side of her neck, “you have no idea what it was like.”

“What do you mean?” she asked faintly, tilting her head to the side to give his teeth and lips better access.

Ranma kissed her mouth again before answering. “Well, until you came along... Shanpu was... you know,” he looked embarrassed for a minute, letting her go to poke his index fingers together, “it was hard not to... just let her.”

Frowning, realization dawning coolly, Akane leaned back and straddled his hips, staring at his pursed lips. “So you didn't?” she asked evenly.

Ranma glanced up at her, and a shadow passed across his eyes for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was pained. “Why do you always blame me for what they do?” The question hit her like an ice pick through the heart.

“Because— well— you— because— it's just that,” Akane babbled for a few more moments, and then sighed heavily, because he was right, “I'm sorry... it just was hard for me to think that you weren't... enjoying it.” She finished lamely.

Ranma snorted irritably. “My body was,” Akane stiffened, “but the rest of me wasn't, that's for sure.”

“I'm sorry,” she said softly, “I should have been more... understanding.” Before she could look away, Ranma caught her cheek and held her gaze.

“Yeah, well, we both had some growin' up to do,” he smiled lopsidedly at her and propped himself up on his elbows, waggling his eyebrows lecherously, “you sure did since I've been gone.”

Surprised, Akane just stared at him, and then noticed that his eyes weren't directed at her face. “Eeping” in embarrassment at his visual and verbal flattery, Akane's arms rocketed up to cross over her chest. “An opening!” Ranma shouted triumphantly, seemingly uncaring if he woke the entire Ward as he rolled her over onto her back with a speed that shocked her into rigidity when he settled his body between her legs and resumed kissing her face and neck.

When his hands started wandering north, however, Akane let her body relax, allowing her arms to rest shakily next to her sides. Ranma's head ducked and he panted against her collarbone, ruffling the edge of her loose tank top. The garment had ridden up slightly, and she could feel the wooden ties of his shirt digging into her stomach.

Sitting up between her knees, staring right into her eyes, Ranma undid those ties and shucked off the shirt, leaving him blushing in his tank top. “Seems only fair,” he said shyly, leaning back down to kiss her again, “you okay?” He asked quietly when he pulled back again. Nodding shakily, Akane tried not to squirm under his penetrating gaze - she was okay, but she was also nervous as hell. She wasn't sure what she had asked him for, and she didn't know if he even knew.

They stared at one another for a moment, before Ranma seemed to steel himself and reached down with his hand, holding himself up with the other arm. His large hand found her breast and rested there, lightly. Akane's mouth opened in surprise, and she watched him, breathing unsteadily as she waited to see what he was going to do. Kissing her again, he molded her breast to his hand, and nudged her thighs apart with his knee, gently rubbing her moist center with his leg. She broke away from his mouth, arching her back as she couldn't have when she was bound. “Hanh... Ranma...” Akane moaned, pressing her most sensitive part against Ranma's questing leg. Ranma's mouth hung open slightly in fascination as he watched her writhe.

Groaning softly, Ranma leaned back and tugged at her shirt, pulling the now sweat-moistened garment over her head when she raised her arms. Dazedly, Akane breathed fluttery as he caressed her bare breasts, his own breath coming out in ragged pants. "God, you're so beautiful, Akane," he whispered hoarsely, "I'm so sorry I never toldja before."

"Who cares, you're telling me now." She breathed, closing her eyes, concentrating on the feeling of his rough hands grazing her skin. When his mouth closed over one of her nipples Akane's eyes snapped open and she bit her lip to keep the squeak that tried to force its way out of her mouth in the protective womb of her throat.

Ranma laved his tongue across one breast and then the other, stroking the neglected one with his hand. Desperate to feel his chest against hers, instead of through a borrowed silk top as she had in Nyuchiezu, Akane dragged the edge of his tank top out of his pants and ran her hands underneath the fabric. Rubbing at the hard muscle she found there, she brushed the tips of her fingers across his nipples and delighted in the way he moaned against her breast as the flesh under her questing hands pebbled. “Lemme— hold on,” he leaned up and playfully batted her wandering hands away with a confident smirk, pulling his shirt off, smile widening at her appreciative gaze, “you like what you see?” He flexed, corded muscles twitching in his abdomen and arms, and Akane felt her tummy flutter.

Scoffing, Akane pressed her hands against his chiseled stomach, spider-walking her fingers up to his nipples again and watching his muscles shiver under his tanned skin. “Yeah, maybe... you egotistical pr—” Before she could finish, Ranma lay down on her and pressed their bare chests together and kissed her, rubbing against her, sweat-slick skin sliding against her body.

Eager to feel as much of him as possible, Akane wrapped one of her legs over his and then squealed into his mouth when his hard length ground against her center through the cloth barriers between them. The friction was just as sweet, just as achingly sweet as she remembered, and she shuddered. Ranma opened his mouth wider and leaned back, groaning softly, sounding almost strangled as he tried to keep quiet, now more conscious, somehow, of potential interruptions.

Akane rubbed against him again, and he responded, pulsing his hips. They moaned quietly together, moving as they had done back in the village, in the hut, and as they would - hopefully - do later when there was significantly less clothing between them. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, Ranma kissed her hungrily, sucking on her lips and occasionally nibbling them as the two of them continued to grind. Again he murmured things against her throat, and as he moved his open mouth across her face, she heard the words whispered, “I love you, love you, love you...” and her body ached with growing need.

After a few moments, Akane wanted more. Pushing at him, gently, she got him to sit up, and then she moved off the bed. Ranma stared at her in confusion, the simultaneously comically and unnervingly large bulge in his pants drawing her attention for a moment. Licking her lips, trying to be as slow and deliberate as possible, Akane removed the last layers of clothing and stood before him, naked as the day they first met.

Blue eyes gazed appreciatively over her athletic body, and Akane flushed in pleasure, shivering only slightly when the cool air from the open window caressed the moist flesh between her legs. Strutting, putting an extra swing in her hips, Akane moved back over to the bed and plucked at the tie holding his pants closed. Now it was Ranma's turn to let out a surprised squeak, and Akane giggled softly, happy that he was a little nervous. The pigtailed martial artist, who never was very stoic under pressure, gulped audibly and stood on shaky legs, stripping himself of his pants and boxers in one jerky motion.

Licking her lips, Akane tried not to just pounce on him; his body was so beautiful, so sculpted. And the visual evidence of his arousal, nestled between his legs in a tuft of curly black hair, was especially interesting; she hadn't gotten a good look at his sex when they'd first seen each other naked, but she had felt that hard length on a few occasions, pressed against her when he held her close by accident or on purpose. Ranma probably hadn't known she could feel his hard-on during the accidental moments, but Akane could, and she had wondered, on a few, embarrassing occasions... what would he feel like inside her?

“I don't want you to get pregnant.” He blurted out suddenly, and Akane balked for a moment at the strange proclamation. She then stepped back from him, realizing she'd been openly gawking at his engorged member.

Nodding, slowly, forcing herself to look him in the eye, Akane walked over to her dresser and pulled out the “gift” she'd received from a snickering Nabiki over a year ago. “I've got these.” She whispered, walking over and holding a box of condoms out to him. Ranma stared at the box stupidly for a moment, and then took them from her and placed them on the desk, under the light of the lamp. Gulping audibly, Adam's apple bobbing, he held open his quavering arms, and Akane smiled and walked into them, relishing in the feeling of all their skin snuggled together, and the velvety-hard length flattened against her stomach.

Kissing fluttery and soft at first now that they were nude together, Akane let her hands wander up and down her fiance's back shyly. Gradually the kisses deepened, and then Ranma reached down and touched her breast for a moment, then the hand traveled further and she gasped and shivered when he touched her labia. “Lay down.” Ranma whispered, his voice throaty and undeniably masculine. Akane did as he requested, lying on her back on the bed, feeling exposed and strange.

And then she realized that this was nothing like the night in the hut at Nyuchiezu, because Ranma was looking at her and knew exactly who she was, and what he wanted. Akane could see his desire for her all over his face as he knelt between her legs. Kissing down her thighs, making her twitch with surprise and want, eventually he came to a stop and nuzzled his face into her center, licking and sucking. Akane keened and dragged her fingers through his hair, urging him to stay where he was. Ranma groaned against her flesh and probed her opening with his tongue, and then his fingers when his mouth became reacquainted with her clitoris.

Aware that he was far too good at this to have never experimented with his girl form, Akane was slightly thankful that he'd been such a little pervert. Ranma brought her to the edge and tumbled her sweetly over and into oblivion a few strokes later, his fingers pumping in and out of her as her insides constricted and she wriggled on the bed and against his face, biting down on her hand to keep from crying out.

“Akane,” Ranma breathed, standing from between her legs and moving her hand away from her face, kissing her with her juices still on his lips, making her shiver, “Akane, Akane.” He repeated between kisses.

“Yes,” she whined back, “I'm ready.” Ranma nodded against her throat, where he'd buried his face, and stood up again, grabbing the condoms and wrenching the box open eagerly. Akane giggled at his excitement, and he flushed cutely and went a little slower, tearing off one of the packets and opening it, sliding the contents over his swollen member. Looking at her very seriously when his nervousness had seemed to settle, Ranma walked over and helped her to lie against the pillows again, settling his body between her legs.

“Okay, you're gonna have to help me here,” Ranma said carefully, face contorted slightly in concentration as he supported himself with his quivering arms, “havin' a girl's body don't teach you everything.”

Blushing quite hotly at the implication, Akane nodded and reached down between them, grasping his condom-clad length in her hand. For a moment she just held his erection, stroking, because she was enjoying the way his eyes practically crossed. “Uh... Uh Akane...” He moaned, head dipping as he panted against her chest. Excited by the sound of her name once again helplessly crossing his lips, Akane tugged his member to her entrance and helped him slide in by pushing against his firm rear with her other hand.

Her head rocked back against the pillow at his invasion, a pleasurable agony not unlike what her body felt when she pushed herself too hard in her training, past her body's limits. Ranma made a soft, rasping squeak and tucked his face into her throat when he was fully seated inside her, and held very still save for the continued shaking of his arms and legs.

After a few moments, the pain simply washed away and Akane moaned and ground against him. “Move, please,” she whispered, gasping when he lightly rolled his hips against hers, “do you know how?” She asked shyly when he just continued to grind against her, not pulling out - granted, she wasn't any more experienced than him, but she was pretty sure there was some thrusting involved in sex.

Although, him being this close as he moved was very pleasurable, his pubis rubbing roughly against her clitoris and sending little shockwaves through her. “Yeah, sorta,” he rasped, pulling back slightly and sliding back in, making both of them shudder with the sensation, “oh God, that feels so good.”

“Y-yeah,” Akane whispered back, wrapping her leg over his again, moving with him, “really good. Don't stop, okay?”

“Fuck no,” he mumbled, kissing her roughly before resting his forehead against hers as he pumped in and out of her slowly, “feels too good to stop. I'm not... hurting you?” The last bit came out in a grunt, and Akane was amazed he could even string a whole sentence together.

“No, no,” she mewled, kissing his throat, feeling his pulse thundering under her lips, “just... enjoy this... I'm... enjoying it.” She gasped out.

Ranma groaned rather loudly and bit his lower lip, staring into her eyes intensely. “Good.” He ground out, half-grinning at her.

Nodding back shakily, Akane looked into his blue eyes, squinted up in pleasure, glowing faintly in the orange light from the desk lamp. His mouth was opening slightly, and he was panting and sweating as he thrust in and out of her, picking up speed. Akane gasped and then closed her eyes because he felt so good inside her and he was hers and she was his and nothing was ever going to separate them again and he wanted her and loved her and it was just so... so...

Then Ranma's fingers began to rub against her clitoris and Akane almost forgot how to breathe. Her eyes snapped open, watching him in amazement that he would even have the coherency to think about her at a time like this, and then all her doubts and worries went away at the look on his face.

Ranma leaned back, watching her as she bucked against his hand and the motion of his hips. Fisting her hand against her mouth Akane came again, and Ranma pitched forward onto his hands, thrusting into her fast and hard as her body tightened convulsively around him. “Oh God, oh Akane,” he moaned into her ear, “I love you, I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Akane gasped out, “I want to feel you come inside me.” She finished boldly, blushing to her toes when she realized just how true her request was. Ranma rumbled deep in his chest and kissed her, lusting into her crazily, grabbing one of her thighs and lifting her leg slightly, hitting somewhere deep inside her with every thrust.

And then she felt him swell inside her, just as he let out a grunt and went rigid for a moment, and then he was moving again, slower again, grinding their hips together and looking her dead in the eyes as he emptied himself into the condom. Spent, he collapsed bonelessly against her, and she felt his weight and knew what forever felt like.

Author's Note: What's up? I need beta-readers! Anyone who wants to tear this thing apart and tell me what's wrong with it, please do so! Woo!