�Security like Liberty, has to be won and rewon many times.�
  - Linus Van Pelt

�FROM DAWN TILL DUSK�

(A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic)

>From the Desk of Megane 6.7

This is a work of Fiction.  All Characters and Landmarks, are the 
property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan Video, Kitty Films, 
Viz Video, Shonen Sunday, and anyone else who legally owns the 
rights.  


DAWN

	Akane blinked and rubbed her eyes as the morning sunlight poured
through her bedroom window.  A soft Bwee sound was heard and Akane
glanced down to see her pet P-Chan poke his little snout through the
blankets, sniffing the air.  Akane smiled and knelt down beside the bed
and watched as P-Chan valiantly tried to find a way out of the blankets.

	�You�re so cute my little P-Chan!  Yes you are!  Oh yes you are!  Akane
cooed with delight as she reached into the blankets and gently pulled
P-Chan out from under them.  P-Chan blinked as his eyes adjusted to the
sunlight and then he squealed happily at seeing Akane�s smiling face. 
Akane laughed, her voice sounding like a beautiful melody and kissed
P-Chan on his snout.  P-Chan blushed, if a pig can in fact blush, and
cast his eyes downwards, looking away for a moment in a surprisingly
human mannerism, as if truly embarrassed by the sweet and innocent
gesture.  Akane looked at P-Chan with wonder.

	�Sometimes I wonder if you can really can understand me like a human. 
You are so adorable!�  

	Akane stood up and started to change into her school uniform.  As she
began to undress, P-Chan immediately walked to the corner of the room
and turned his head away.  Akane didn�t notice as she finished dressing.
Then she called to P-Chan and scooped him up with her hands.

	�Now you be a good little boy today and stay here.  I don�t want you to
get lost again!�  Akane said in a sweet tone. 

	P-Chan nodded his head, again in an surprisingly human gesture.  Akane
giggled.  �That�s a good boy!�   She kissed his snout one more time and
left him on the floor.  P-Chan walked back towards the bed with a dazed
look on his face and quickly got back underneath the covers.     
	�Amazing!  He DOES understand me!  I�ll have to try some more tricks
with him when I get back.�  Akane thought to herself as
she left the room and closed her door.

	P-Chan sighed contentedly, feeling secure, warm, and relaxed 
underneath the covers of Akane�s bed.  Before he knew it he found
himself drifting off to sleep....

	
*	*	*


NOON
	
	P-Chan eyes snapped open as his slumber was rudely interrupted when the
blankets around him were violently yanked off the bed, sending him
spinning head over heels to land on the floor.  P-Chan frantically tried
to run away only to get hopelessly tangled in the sheets, unable to get
loose.  Then he heard a cry of surprise....

	�Oh my!�

	P-Chan looked up to see Kasumi kneel next to him with an apologetic
look on her face.  �I�m so sorry!  I didn�t know you were under there. 
Here let me help you.�  Kasumi gently unwrapped the blankets from the
struggling piglet and then gently scooped him up to her eye level and
smiled, her expression full of the warmth and compassion.

	�Akane is lucky to have a nice pet like you to comfort her.�
Kasumi softly remarked as she gently scratched him behind his ears.
P-Chan tensed up at first then gradually relaxed as he felt Kasumi�s
light touch put him at ease, his warm and comfortable feeling starting
to return.

	�You know, sometimes I hear Akane talking to you when I
pass by her room.  She tells you a lot of things, doesn�t she?�  Kasumi
wondered aloud.
  
	P-Chan nodded to her, causing her to smile.  �I thought so.
Sometimes I wish I had someone like you to confide my troubles in.�
Kasumi sighed as she placed P-Chan on her lap, continuing to scratch his
ears as she did so.

	P-Chan looked questioningly at her as she continued.  �Oh, I
know you can�t give me any answers or solve my problems for me, but it�s
nice to get them out in the open once in a while, don�t you think?�  

	P-Chan nodded again, not fully understanding what she meant, but not
wanting to discourage her from talking to him.  He got lonely waiting
here all day for Akane to come back home from school and would enjoy
some conversation, even if only for a little while.

	�You see....well....�  Kasumi broke off.  �Maybe I�m being silly.  If
someone saw me talking to a pig they�ll think I�m crazy.�  Kasumi
started to rise but P-Chan oinked and squealed for her to continue. 
Kasumi didn�t understand him of course but she sensed by the amount of
noise he was making that he didn�t want her to leave.

	�Well....if you insist....�  Kasumi smiled as she rose to her feet and
closed Akane�s bedroom door.  Then she sat down on Akane�s bed and held
P-Chan in her lap again, as she spoke. 

	 �Ever since Mother passed on, Father has been....well....not himself. 
He cries much more than he used to and he hasn�t taken on any new
students since she left us.  When I was going to high school I had
planned to go to college, perhaps ever become a doctor like Doctor
Tofu.�

	�But then after mother died....I knew Father couldn�t raise Akane and
Nabiki by himself.  Father loves us all very much but he couldn�t be
both a mother and a father to us.  So I put aside my dream and stayed
home to help take care of Nabiki and Akane.�    

	Kasumi sighed as P-Chan bwee�d softly at her.  �Don�t get me wrong.  I
don�t regret the decision at all.  I receive true joy at keeping my home
clean and my family well fed....but sometimes I can�t help but wonder if
I�m being more of a mother to Nabiki and Akane than a older sister. 
Even father, when I look at him and think of all the things I do around
here and for him, sometimes I feel like I�m become the wife that he
lost, the mother that I lost, and that I�m no longer the person I was
before and never will be again....   

	�It scares me....a lot.�  

	Kasumi looked down at the piglet in her lap.  �But I also know that my
family is strong, each in their own way and one day I�ll be free to
pursue my own dreams.  But until then I remain here, helping out
whenever I can, doing what needs to be done.

	Kasumi paused for a long moment, struggling to finish saying what she
had wanted to say to someone, anyone for a long time.  �But my biggest
fear is when I�m no longer needed around here, when Akane, Nabiki and
Father are able to carry on without me, will *I* be able to live without
them?  I�ve been in here so long....I wonder if I�ll be able to survive
on the outside....�

	P-Chan�s eyes grew wide as he tried to make sense of that statement. 
Kasumi noticed his reaction.  �I know, It sound like I�m a prisoner
here.  Sometimes I do feel that way.  I can leave here whenever I please
but at the same time I can�t.  The only time I ever go out is to shop
for food or borrow a book from Dr. Tofu.  Not because I have to
be....because I choose to be.  Maybe if I met someone, someone who would
take me out to dinner and dates.  I�ve never been on a real date
before....I was asked out a lot in high school but I always turned them
down because I wanted to wait until I was eighteen before I even
considered dating a boy....I thought it was the proper thing to do.  Now
I don�t have the time to go out even if I wanted to....�

	Kasumi felt a tear run down her cheek and she gently wiped it away
while P-Chan looked on with concern.  �But I�m happy here.  I�m happy
because I can make other people happy.  I know I�ll eventually be able
to leave and do all the things I denied myself for the past three years
and that too brings me happiness.  I only need to be patient for a while
longer and then....�

	�Kasumi?�

	Kasumi quickly looked up at the door at the sound of her father�s
voice.  She quickly rose to her feet, P-chan cradled in her arms as she
replied.  �Y....Yes father?�

	�Is everything all right?�  Soun opened the door and walked inside.  �I
thought I heard you talking to yourself and....have you been crying?� 
Soun�s face was clouded with worry as he quickly made his way over to
his daughter and placed his hands on her shoulders.

	�I....I�m fine Father.  I was slicing some onions earlier and my eyes
still sting from the smell....�  Kasumi replied, trying to keep her
voice steady.

	�Oh?  I didn�t smell any onions when I passed by the kitchen....�  Soun
replied in a puzzled voice.

	�I was just....I mean....�  Kasumi stuttered, trying to hold back her
tears.   Soun saw this and without a word he embraced his daughter in a
hug.  Kasumi hesitated and then hugged him back fiercely, no longer
trying to hold back her emotions as she cried, her entire body racked
with sobs as Soun continued to hold her, not knowing what was bothering
her and trying to offer what support he could.  He noticed Akane�s pet
pig on the floor....did he have tears in his eyes?

	They held each other for a long time and then Kasumi pulled away, a
small smile forming on her face as she whispered.

	�Thank you father.�  Kasumi said.

	�F....For what?�  Soun had only held her, what had he done to ease her
sorrows, he had no idea.

	�For caring.�  Kasumi replied.

	Soun looked confused for a moment and then he smiled.

	�Always, Kasumi.�

	He gently placed a kiss on her cheek and then left Akane�s room,
quietly shutting the door behind him.  Then Kasumi noticed P-Chan on the
floor and her smile grew wider as she knelt down in front of him,
lifting him in front of her face as she gently wiped the tears from his
eyes.

	�Thank you too P-Chan.  For listening to me.�

	Kasumi leaned forward and gave P-Chan a kiss on his snout, making him
blush as she placed him up on Akane�s bed.  Then she rose to her feet
again and picked up the blankets on the floor and carefully placed them
over P-Chan so he would be comfortable without getting lost.  Then she
resumed her cleaning of Akane�s room, carefully dusting her shelves and
picking things up off the floor with a cheerful expression on her face. 
P-Chan felt himself beginning to grow sleepy again as he felt his
eyelids grow heavy, the last thing they saw was Kasumi smiling towards
him as she picked some mangas up off the floor....  

	 
*	*	*


DUSK

	The door to Akane�s room opened again as Akane walked inside carrying
P-Chan in her arms.  Then she gently placed him on the bed and started
to remove her clothes for bed.  P-Chan once again looked away as she did
so and then Akane crawled into the bed and held out her arms.

	�Come here baby....�

	P-Chan trotted over to Akane and she lovingly held him as she pulled
the blankets over her and drifted off to sleep, holding 
P-Chan to her ample bosom.  P-Chan looked at her as she slept and
thought of what Kasumi said.

	�I want to tell you how I feel Akane but I�m so afraid of what you�ll
say or what you might not say.  I�m content to be your pet as a pig and
your friend as a man for now but someday, when I�m ready, I�m going to
tell you how I feel about you, I can only hope you feel the same
way....�  

	�I love you, even if Ranma doesn�t, and I�ll always be with you, from
dawn till dusk....forever.

	P-Chan then closed his eyes, the sound of Akane�s heartbeat sending him
into peaceful slumber....	

	 
THE END


How was that?  E-mail me with your feedback!

Sincerely,

Megane 6.7


SHIMIYENU IS COMING.................