Disclaimer: All characters that are used belong to their respective
creators. I do this for fun and do not take any money off of it. Please
don't sue me. The stories are mine, so please don't use them without
asking me.
________________________________________________________________________
As the week passed, Akane kept trying to visit Ranma inside the ring,
but failing. She released Ranma from the ring and waited until the
genie was out of her trance state. While waiting for Ranma's mind to
clear, Akane wiped sweat from her brow and panted heaviliy. She noticed
that Ranma had regained her senses and was examining her.
Looking concerned, Ranma asked, "What's wrong, Akane?"
Akane half-yelled, "I can't visit your world! I thought you said that
I could visit you!"
"While asleep," Ranma replied.
Exasperated, Akane yelled, "That's just it. How can I visit you while
I'm asleep? I'm dreaming at that time."
The genie winced and said, "Well, maybe you'll get the hang of it."
"Oh?" Akane asked sharply. "Why do I have the feeling you're not
telling me everything?"
"Err. Well...."
"Yes," Akane stated with narrowed eyes.
Ranma stammered, "Umm.... It's like this, Akane. I really don't know
if you should visit. I mean, if you get trapped...."
Sighing, Akane stated, "I see I'm going to have to do thia the hard
way. Ranma, tell me exactly how to visit your world"
The genie winced at her master's order, but knew she couldn't do
anything.
Plucking at her silk pants, Ranma hesitantly explained, "When you are
in bed, hold onto the image of the ring as long as possible. If you
manage to hold onto the image until you fall asleep, your mind will be
transported inside the ring. You will be aware of what happens while
inside."
Akane's nostrils flared as she heard the instructions. "Why didn't you
tell me when I first go the power?"
Ranma didn't answer and changed the subject.
"By the way Akane, how's Pops?"
The abrupt change of subject caught Akane off guard. The topic that
the Ranma had chosen changed Akane's anger to wry humor.
Smirking a bit, Akane replied, "Our dads are still searching
frantically for your hiding place. They have pretty much given up on
finding out where I live at, until they find you."
The genie chuckled and looked out the window. Akane fell quiet and
stared at Ranma. Her eyes swept up and down the genie's body and face.
Feeling her master's gaze, Ranma turned her head towards Akane.
"Something wrong?" the genie asked.
Akane looked away and closed her eyes. "Yes, but nothing that can be
solved."
"Try me," Ranma stated with confidence.
"No, I don't think so," Akane said and then sighed.
"Ranma, I think you'd better return to the ring. I'm meeting Kasumi
for lunch. We need to go over some story lines."
"I've been meaning to ask you about that," Ranma said, scratching her
head. "What do you two write about?"
A dreamy look came to Akane's eyes and she recited, "We do doujinshi
based on Magic Knights Rayearth, Cutey Honey, the U.S. Dungeons &
Dragons show and Astroboy. We have also been doing our own little
stories."
"Err. Right. Too bad I can't help."
A thoughtful look came over Akane as she studied Ranma. "Maybe you
can. I can use a life sized model and your magic could drop our
printing expenses down to zero. We'll talk about that later, Ranma."
Akane's brow furrowed as she concentrated. Before she could say a
word, Ranma turned into red smoke and was pulled inside the ring.
Wiping the sweat off her brow, Akane grabbed a briefcase and went to
meet Kasumi. On the way her thoughts drifited back to what she was
thinking while she was examining Ranma.
*Ranma you're immortal. I'll never have the chance to grow old with
you. You'll always be young. I'll be dust long before you even have to
worry about a single grey hair.*
Tears came to Akane's eyes as she walked on.
*Forever, inside the ring. Alone. Ranma....*
The youngest Tendo stopped over a bridge and looked across the water.
*It's up to me to make the next choice and I... I... I want to....*
Akane dashed towards a secluded alley and rubbed the ring. She waited
until Ranma formed from the red smoke and her mind had cleared. Seeing
that Ranma was aware, Akane proceeded.
"Ranma, I wish for a glass of hot water and a glass of cold water to
appear on the ground before me."
Looking perplexed, Ranma granted the wish. Grabbing up the glass of
hot water, Akane doused Ranma with it. After Ranma had changed into a
guy and the clothes had shifted, Akane knelt before Ranma.
A lump the size of a golf ball formed in Akane's throat as tears stung
her eyes. "R-R-Ranma, wi-will you m-marry me?"
-------------------
At the Tendo home, Kasumi was putting sheets of paper into a
breifcase. Every so often, she stopped and held one of the sheets up
and looked at it.
"Akane and I will have to figure out some way to work together on
this," Kasumi muttered.
"I see you're preparing for next year, sis. If Dad ever caught you and
Akane drawing comics....," Nabiki said, as she stepped in the room.
"It's a good thing that he and Mr. Saotome are still out hunting."
Kasumi put the remainder of the papers inside the bag and turned
towards her little sister. She was unsurprised that Nabiki knew of her
and Akane's pastime.
Kasumi shrugged and commented, "Father hasn't been the same ever since
Mother died. He seems to think that his honor and our family's status is
all that is needed to support us. He has some money comming in through
stocks, but not enough for anything major. You should know that,
Nabiki. How many times have you had to find ways to earn money?"
Nabiki looked away and wouldn't answer.
"Besides, Akane and I enjoy doing this. We've been thinking about
going professional after Akane graduates."
"And, where does Ranma fall into this?"
Kasumi frowned and replied, "That is up to him and Akane. It is not up
to me or you or anyone else. I have confidence that things will work
out between them."
Leaning up against the wall, Nabiki put her hand to her chin and though
of all the things that had happened since Ranma had moved in. Things
that were still going on, even though he had left. Midnight visitors
issuing challenges, unwanted fiancees dropping by whenever they felt
like it, and so on. She shook her head and pursed her lips.
"Kasumi, I'd like to help out. I don't know what good I can do at
creating a comic, but I feel like I should at least help out on this."
Kasumi nodded. "Well, if things get off the ground, we are going to
need someone who can handle figures while we work on the comics.
Interested?"
Nabiki mutely nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
"We'll talk about this more, after I get back," Kasumi said, as she
grabbed up her briefcase and headed for the door. "I'm going to talk to
Akane."
--------------------
Feeling thunderstruck, Ranma stared down at the kneeling Akane. His
thoughts were spinning as he tried recovering from the shock that Akane
had just given him.
*What do I do?,* Ranma thought. *Do I want to? If I was a genie, I
would have said yes. But, that would be just my instincts telling me
what would make Akane happy.*
Ranma stopped and went back over that last thought. *What would make
Akane happy.... But, would it make me happy?*
He stared straight into Akane's eyes and felt the answer to that
question.
"A-Akane? I w-will m-marry you."
Whatever Ranma's next word were going to be were knocked out of him as
Akane had grabbed him in a bear hug.
"Thank you, Ranma," Akane whispered, as she cried into his shoulder.
"Er. Shouldn't you be meeting your sister soon?" Ranma managed to get
out.
Akane released Ranma and picked up the glass of cold water. "Not
yet. I want to get this over with as soon as possible."
Akane spalshed Ranma with the water, turning him back into a genie.
"Ranma, after we teleport, I wish for some hot water to splash you.
Now, I wish for us to be transported to a place where we can be married
within minutes."
The genie's eyes flared red as she called upon the power to grant the
wishes. The pair appeared in front of an old courthouse and an
overheated car blew its radiator and doused Ranma with its water.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!," Ranma cried as he rubbed his arms. "That's hot."
"Ranma, if...," Akane began angrily, but cut it off. "Are you all
right?"
"I've been hurt worse," Ranma replied. "It just caught me off guard."
Ranma looked at the courhouse and had to fight the urge to flee. He
wanted to marry Akane, but was still frightened of the concept. Holding
his elbow out to Akane, he wordlessly escorted his fiancee into the
building. As he entered, he noticed that, besides the officials, they
were the only ones there. As he explained to a curious official that
they were getting marrried, the courthouse became abuzz with life.
Akane grabbed one of the officials and asked, "What's going on? People
get married every day."
"Not here, they don't. We haven't really done much in over a year.
Any sort of job is a cause for celebration here."
"Huh?"
The man shrugged and explained. "A mistake from higher up caused a
second, more impressive courthouse to be put up nearby. All the
business goes there, while we do nothing. City Hall is aware of us, but
they haven't decided on what to do about it."
With the entire courthouse personell directed at the task, it took
little time for them to prepare all the necessary paperwork. After
Ranma and Akane signed the papers, the judge that was present preformed
the wedding ceremony. Ranma and Akane were married. Akane moved the
genie ring from her right hand to her left. Even though he wasn't in
his cursed form, Ranma felt the ring's changing position. It felt like
someone had clicked on a lightswitch inside of him. He now belonged to
Akane completely and to him it felt right.
------------------
Inside a dank cave, Hazid was bent over a stolen picnic table.
Looking into a bowl of water, he watched as Kasumi Tendo left the Tendo
household. He soon saw that she had arrived at a secluded cafe and was
awaiting someone.
"Good," Hazid muttered and put his left hand to his head.
Squeezing his eyes closed in pain, he scraped his fingernails across
the side of his head. The rusty-iron smell of blood filled his
nostrils.
"I don't have much time. It has to be now," he mumbled while panting
heavily.
Glancing back into the bowl, he read the name of the cafe and the
street it was on. It was a family owned resturant, going by the name
Sandwichdeck.
"I'll have to take that chance," he stated and muttered a spell and
faded out.
If he had stayed, he would have seen others arrive as well: three
girls, a pig, and a boy carrying a sword.