A Lesson in Love
Chapter XIV: Lost Causes
By Marisa Price
(Copyright to Marisa Price, 1996, All Rights Reserved)
mdp102@york.ac.uk

This part is dedicated to:
Christopher Willmore ^oo^ buki! buki!
^_-

PART II

"She's so nice!" Akari commented.
	Ryouga nodded, his head spinning, thinking that Ukyou
was ANYTHING but happy. Ryouga managed to stand, and looked down
at the adorable girl in front of him. He had forgotten how cute
she was.
	Akari, as if on cue, smiled up at him and stood on her
tiptoes to give him a kiss. She said, softly, "I missed you so
much! Why didn't you CALL if you had found your way back to
civilization?"
	"I, um, l...lost the number," he lied lamely, trying to
buy himself time.
	A few loud bangs came from the kitchen.
	Ryouga sat Akari down at the table, and she looked up at
him, finally noticing his mood and wondering what was wrong.
	"Ryouga-sama? Is there something wrong?"
	Ryouga sighed for the fiftieth time that day and sat down
next to Akari, taking her hands in his.
	He finally managed to say, "Akari. I didn't get lost.
Well," he amended, "Actually, I DID get lost, but only after 
leaving your house purposefully."
	She stared at him blankly, and then said, "You mean..?"
	Ryouga nodded and added, "I just needed some time to 
think; you see, there was this girl that I had a crush on for a
long time, and I felt like I needed to tell her how I felt."
	Akari's eyes melted, and she hugged him, saying, "Oh,
Ryouga-sama. I KNEW how you felt about Akane, you thought you
were in love with her. But... you DO know that her and Ranma-kun
belong together now, don't you?"
	Ryouga stared at her and gulped, about to tell her that
he WASN'T talking about Akane, when suddenly Ukyou stormed back
into the room. She was dressed in her male okonomiyaki outfit, 
and slammed down two of the pancakes on the table in front of
them.
	She said, with a wicked grin, "Enjoy. -I- am going to 
bed."
	Ryouga grimaced, and looked down at the okonomiyaki. She
had drawn little pigs with hearts and the words "Akari and Ryouga"
all over them. He mentally groaned, but started to eat
it anyway.
	Akari also took a small bite and commented again, "Gee,
your boss is SO nice!" Then she realized.
	With a tiny scream Akari dropped the okonomiyaki down on
the table and said, "Ryouga, don't eat it!!!"
	Ryouga had just polished his off and looked at Akari in
surprise, asking, "Why?! What's wrong!"
	Akari looked horrified, and she was pale. She said,
quietly, "It was PORK okonomiyaki."
	Ryouga suddenly felt a bit sick, and then had a sudden,
irrepressible urge to burst out laughing.
	Point to Ukyou, he thought.
	Ryouga looked at her and said, "Oh... Well... I guess 
it's too late now..."
	Akari shuddered and asked, "But... don't you feel like 
you...."
	He interrupted and said, "Well, I ate pork before I 
became a pig, and I suppose I can still eat it. It doesn't bother
me much as long as it's not ME that's being..."
	Akari put her hand over his mouth and said, horrified,
"Don't even SAY it!!"
	Ryouga again suppressed an urge to laugh, she looked so
upset.
	"Akari," Ryouga said, taking her hand off of his mouth,
"We need to talk."
	She finally tapped down her bile, and nodded. Ryouga
took her out to the front porch, Katsunnishiki tagging along
behind. They sat down, and Ryouga looked up at the waning
crescent moon. He almost flinched as she leaned her head on his
shoulder and whispered, "Oh Ryouga, I missed you so much..."

*****

	Ukyou looked down at them and tried not to cry. Here she
had thought that she and Ryouga had been building up to something
together, and then this little hussy comes along and says that
she is his fiancee.
	She stiffened as she realized that she must feel like
Akane did when first Shampoo and then Ukyou had burst into her
life, claiming to be Ranma's fiancees.
	She wondered though. Unlike Shampoo or herself with
Ranma, this girl actually seemed to have received Ryouga's 
affections in return.
	But, if he did care for Akari, why was he living at HER
house? Why was he going to kiss HER? WAS he going to kiss her,
or was she just misinterpreting?
	Ukyou thought back to the scene at the table earlier and
shook her head. No, she definitely HADN'T been imagining things.
	Which meant that Ryouga was a two-timer.
	What a baka, hentai, JERK!
	She pulled the curtains closed and sat down on the bed,
vowing to throw him out on his arse as soon as possible.

*****

	Ryouga knew he had to make a decision: here, now,
immediately.
	He thought about how he had felt living with Akari, and
tried to sort out his feelings for her. He was attracted to her,
and she was a sweet and wonderful girl; she would make a perfect
wife. But... He had been so much happier living in Nerima, with
Ukyou, even though her affections were hidden. He just felt a 
certain SPARK with Ukyou, a spark that Akari didn't summon.
	How to tell her?
	He slowly pulled away from Akari, and she sat up, her
eyes bright. She reached a hand up to touch his cheek and said,
sweetly, "You are so handsome in the moonlight..."
	"And you are beautiful... But, Akari..." he moved her
hand down from his face and continued, "I... I don't love you,
Akari. At least, not the way that I should. That's why I left."
	Her eyes filled with tears and she looked away, patting
the pig that slept at her side. She said, quietly, "I thought it
might be that, but I didn't want to believe it. It was because I
was so pushy about the training when you were there, right? You
aren't ready to settle down and learn how to train the pigs. I
should have known that... I know you need more time."
	"Akari," Ryouga said, frustrated, "It ISN'T about the 
pigs. Well, actually it is. I HATE pigs. I didn't like them much
before I became one, and now that I -AM- one I REALLY can't stand
them. And I DEFINITELY don't want to spend the rest of my life 
training sumo pigs!" He felt a bit cruel, and ammended with, "I'm
sorry...."
	Akari stiffened and then shouted, throwing her arms 
around him, "I'll give them up! I would give them up for YOU!"
	Ryouga held her for a minute, and then pushed her away
again, looking into her eyes and saying, "Akari. You can't do 
that. You SHOULDN'T do that! Martial arts are my life, and they
are your life too, except you train others and I train myself. I
wouldn't give that up for the world, and neither should you. Not
for me, not for -anyone-."
	She started to cry again and protested, "But!"
	He shook his head and reached down to lightly kiss her
forehead before saying, "Akari, you are so sweet and wonderful,
I really wish that we had more in common. But, as much as I LIKE
you, I just can't love you..."
	She asked, somberly, "And you don't think you ever could?
Not even with time?"
	"Akari..." Ryouga apologized, "I'm so sorry... But I'm
in love with someone else... And it isn't Akane."
	"Oh Ryouga-sama, no...!" she cried, and then pulled away
from him, standing up, and then ran away from the restaurant, her
pig close at her heels.
	Ryouga stood, wondering if he should go after her. He
turned and noticed that the light was still on in Ukyou's room,
and her shadow showed through the curtains. Suddenly he knew, he
knew that she loved him too. And he let Akari go.
	He managed to make it inside and bounded up the stairs by
twos, not even getting lost as he made it to her room. He didn't
get lost because he had finally found what he was looking for.
	Ryouga opened the door, not bothering to knock, and
walked into her room. She turned to look at him, and he could see
the pain in her eyes, the pain HE had caused.
	Ukyou said, dejectedly, "Well?"
	"Ukyou... I thought I was in love with her once. I was
with her during the time I disappeared. But... When I left her, I
had one reason for coming back to Nerima. And that reason was 
YOU. I finally figured out that I DIDN'T love Akari, my mistake
was not making that clear to her before I left." Ryouga looked at
Ukyou with intense eyes.
	She whispered, "And?"
	Ryouga gave her a wan smile, and said, "It's you I love.
Not her. I love you, Ukyou. She's gone."
	Suddenly Ukyou was in his arms, holding him tightly, as
if she never wanted to let him go. She looked up at him with
joyous eyes and said, "Oh Ryouga, you idiot. I love you too,
though god only knows why..."
	Ryouga smiled and teased, "It's because I am such a great
guy."
	"You're a pig," she giggled, sticking her tongue out at
him.
	He laughed and said, "Well, that too. But not for long."
	Ukyou smiled, and said "Well, somewhere along the way
I found I liked fangs and bandannas."
	Then she tweaked his nose and said, calmly, "Should I
pinch this for you?"
	Ryouga looked blank and asked, "Um, why?"
	She smiled at him and said, "Because I don't want you to
bleed all over me when I kiss you."
	Ryouga became intense suddenly, and pulled her toward
him, noting that they fit perfectly together, and looked into her
beautiful dark eyes.
	Softly he said, "I wouldn't worry about it."
	"Mmmm?" she asked, looking happily at him.
	He leaned down and kissed her, fumbling at first, but 
then gradually figured out what to do, and she pulled him down
to her bed, enjoying the sensations.
	A little while later, Ukyou reached her hand over and
turned out the light.

*******

	Two months later, Ukyou brought in a pale pink envelope
with a tiny pig pattern. She tossed in front of Ryouga and 
said, "Mail, sweetie."
	Ryouga picked it up and looked at it, wondering if
it was from Akari. He turned it over in his hands and then
said, "I'm gonna go outside to read this, OK Ukyou?"
	Ukyou nodded, looking solemn (as she had guessed
who the letter might be from). She then gave him a reassuring
smile and said, "That's fine, Ryouga-honey. I'm gonna go
make some lunch, OK?"
	Ryouga nodded, knowing that she trusted him.
	The sunlight was bright for a February afternoon,
and quite warm. He sat down on the back step and opened
the envelope.

Dear Ryouga-sama,
	I hoped and hoped that you would
come find me and tell that what you had
said wasn't true. But you never did come,
so I can only assume that you really 
don't love me anymore. I wish I knew what
I did wrong, so that I could make it up
to you and find a way back into your 
heart.
	I am writing to tell you that I
am going to get married in April to our
neihbor's son, Mamarou. He is a farmer, 
but he is interested in learning how to
train our famous sumo pigs. I have been
friends with him since I was a child, but
I never thought that he would be my husband.
He told me one day that he had always loved
me, and that he had been training in order
to fight Katsunnishiki for my hand.
	He won the battle.
	I can be happy with Mamarou, but
I would leave him in an instant if only
you would come back to me. Please.
Reconsider. I will always love you.
	Akari

	Ryouga sighed, folded the letter back up, and put
it back in the envelope. He wished that he hadn't needed
to make a choice, but he had to follow his heart. Now
Akari needed to learn to follow hers, and to live the
life she was destined to lead.
	Ryouga's path led in a different direction.
	He went back inside and sat down just as Ukyou
was brining in their lunch. It smelled wonderful, and
he told her so, and she gave him a bright, cheery smile,
as warm as the sunshine outside. And Ryouga knew that
his home was wherever Ukyou was, and he was happy at
her side.  They needed each other.
	Later, Ryouga wrote Akari back, encouraging her
to be happy, but reminding her that there was someone
else in his heart.
	And then he set her letter aside, in a box with
his other bits of collected memories.

April 3

Dear Diary,
	Sorry it has been so long since I have written, but
so many things have been happening and I have been really
busy.
	Well, it has been five months exactly since Ranma 
proposed to me, and we made it official that we are going to
get married... eventually. A lot has happened since then.
	Ryouga and Ukyou finally got together, to the surprise
of just about everyone, but it seems that he wasn't quite as
hopeless as everyone thought. The two of them have settled into
a life of school and work and training and love. Sort of like
Ranma and I, I guess. It's nice to see the both of them happy.
Ryouga doesn't get lost nearly as much now, and Ukyou actually
has a smile on her face whenever Ranma and I come to visit.
	I do feel really bad for Akari though, but Ryouga had
to make a choice. I got a letter from her last month, inviting
me to come to her wedding to someone else. Ranma and I went,
and it was a beautiful ceremony. If anyone could look both
happy and sad at the same time, I think that was how I would
describe Akari on that day. Ryouga didn't come to the wedding,
deciding that he didn't want to make things more painful for
her, but I think he would have been happy to see who she 
married. He was as wonderful, handsome guy, and he seemed to
love pigs as much as Akari did, and to love his new wife even
more. I think, eventually, she will be happy in her new 
relationship.
	And, to be quite honest, I am glad that Ukyou and Ryouga
ended up together. Of all of the people that Ranma attracted 
to Nerima since he first came, I liked them the best, and I am
glad that they were the ones who stayed even after we got together
and life seemed to completely change. The "change" included the
loss of Shampoo and Mousse, who went back to China. I thought I 
would be glad when she was finally gone, but, somehow it feels 
empty here without her bright smile and crazy antics. I just 
hope that she is happy back in China, and that she will finally
give up on Ranma as a lost cause.
	Speaking of lost causes, Kuno finally gave up on Ranma.
Why? Because he fell in love with my sister Nabiki. That shocked
me at first, when Ranma told me (months ago), but I remembered 
that she had been really jealous when he had made that speech
at the beginning of sophomore year about defeating me in order
to date me. I didn't realize it back then, but she might have 
had a crush on Kuno. I still don't really understand why she
likes him, but he HAS been a lot better since the two started
dating. And she also sent Kodachi off to Siberia. No one
misses her.
	Guess what, Diary? Another couple got together. I
guess Kasumi went to go bring Dr. Tofu a basket of cookies for
being so nice (when he stitched me up after that stupid fight 
with Ukyou), and he actually got up the nerve to ask her out 
on a date! I'm really happy for the both of them, and they have
been seeing a lot of each other. Mrs. Saotome told Kasumi that
if Tofu ever asks her marry him, that Kasumi should say yes and
not worry about Dad, Nabiki, and I. Mrs. Saotome promised to
live at our house and take care of us all. Dad's happier with
Mr. Saotome around anyway, and I think that it would work out
better for everyone if we just stayed living together like 
we do now.
	This last thing I am going to tell you, Diary, 
actually saddens me. I never thought I would miss the little 
creep, and I guess I don't, but death always affects me this
way, mostly because of losing Mom when I was so young. 
	Well, we buried Happosai yesterday. Back on Santa Day,
in December, Dad and Mr. Saotome got so mad at him that they 
kicked him all the way to the French Riviera. Apparently he 
had a really good time at all the nude beaches, but it was to
be his last hurrah. I guess he had some sort of heart attack,
and came back to Japan very ill. He lasted about two months, 
and then about a week ago he fell into a coma, and, finally,
slipped away.
	A quiet way to go for someone who had lived like
he did.
	We buried him as he would have wanted, in a Sake 
barrel, lined with silky lingerie, on a high hill looking over
the women's bath houses. Dad and Mr. Saotome vowed to place 
a new pair of undies on his grave once a month for the rest of
their lives.
	I guess the idiots are still scared that he might come
back from the dead without his panties ration.
	Well, that's all I can really tell you right now, 
Diary, except that I am happy with Ranma, and I love him so 
much. He said that as soon as school gets out in May, he is 
going to leave for China with Ryouga.
	Diary, I don't want them to go, but I know that it
means a lot to Ranma. I guess we'll just cross that bridge
when we come to it.

		Akane


End of Chapter XIV

Note: This Also brings a close to the first part of _A Lesson
in Love_. Next part: China!