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Why can't it be like it should?
You and me together forever, with everything to look forward to. Nothing getting in our way. No clumsy words. No hurtful deeds. Together always and forever with nothing to tear us apart. Just the two of us in tove. The two of us taking on the world and our feelings for each other. Maybe Someday we can let our guard down and let our feelings be known, but for now, we'll have to make do with what could be and what may never be. But we can always dream and hope and wish, and then maybe, someday, we'll be, Together Forever.DISCLAIMER: All characters in this fanfiction belong to their rightful creators and are all used without permission.
************************************************************ Together Forever
Chapter 1by: Kimagure Angel
revised 1-10-02Comments and criticisms are always welcome. Flames will be returned in kind. ^_^x
It had started out like any other day, both Ranma and Akane rushing to make it to school on time. For some reason Ranma hadn't made one insulting comment yet, but at the time Akane didn't think much of it. By lunch, though, she knew something was wrong; Ranma hadn't insulted her once the whole morning.
I'd better go find that jerk and see what the problem is, thought Akane. A few minutes before the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, she finally found Ranma behind the gym. Huh, usually he's with Ukyo by now; something's definitely wrong.
As she slowly approached Ranma, Akane noticed that he had a worried look on what little of his face she could see. I wonder what's bothering him? Could it be that I really do care for him? she wondered trying to shake the thought from her head.
When Ranma felt her presence, he turned towards her, still looking down. "What'd I do this time?" he asked with an almost whip-like quality to his voice. "Can't you just leave me alone for once?"
At this, Akane's heart sunk. She decided to retaliate. "RANMA NO BAKA! Why did I even bother worrying about a hentai jerk like you?" Having said that, she ran home, hoping no one saw her starting to cry.
As Akane left, Ranma finally looked up, realizing that he had just acted like an incredible jerk (nothing new there). "Why did I have to go and open my big mouth like that? I guess I never thought that she would ever worry about me. I guess I'd better go find her and try to explain, if she'll listen."
As Ranma made his way back home, he tried to think of how to tell Akane what was on his mind. That's what he'd been doing this past week. He knew he loved her, but putting it into words (especially his clumsy ones) was hard. He was afraid that if he didn't, he might lose her forever.
When Ranma arrived home, he found that the house was empty except for him and Akane. He was grateful for this because if anyone interrupted him, he'd never be able to tell her that he loved her. I never thought I'd be able to say it, even just to myself, but I really do love her.
While Akane was crying up in her room, Ranma pulled a small box out of its hiding place in his room. About a week ago, when he finally realized that Akane was the only person he could ever spend his life with, he went to the jewelry store with what little money Nabiki hadn't blackmailed off him, and bought Akane a diamond engagement ring. It wasn't as nice or as big as he would have wished, but it was all he could afford. Looking at the ring he thought: Akane, I know this isn't much, but I hope it makes up for at least some of the trouble I've brought you over the last couple of years.
When Ranma finished fishing the ring out of its hiding place, he went to Akane's room. He didn't bother knocking; he knew that, right now, he wasn't exactly at the top of her list of people she wanted to see. In a way he didn't really know why he was there, all he knew was that he'd really hurt her (again) and he had to make up for it somehow. Besides, she deserved at least this much from him, honesty.
When he went in, he shut and locked the door behind himself. He knew he had to keep this moment as distraction-free as possible. He neeed it to be just the two of them when he asked her to marry him. Right then it was taking all of his nerve just to be there, alone with her. If anyone interrupted him, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to tell her all that he needed to, to ask her the one question that would change both of their lives forever. Right now it was their decision, not thier families', and he wanted to keep it that way.
Akane was still lying on her bed with her back towards the door when Ranma came in. Althought the tears had stopped a while ago, she didn't want to see him, and she didn't want him to see how hurt she was by what he had said earlier. Right then, she wanted to be left alone. She could have wished for nothing better than kicking him out of "her" room, her sanctuary, but that would mean havintg to face him, which at the moment she couldn't bear to do. All that was left for her to do was to listen to what excuses he had to giver her this time.
Kneeling in front of Akane's bed, Ranma took a deep breath before he started, barely audible at first. "Akane, I know right now I'm probably the last person on earth you probably ever wanted to see, or hear for that matter, but please, just hear me out..."
When Akane heard Ranma kneel down and take a deep breath, she started wondering just what he was up to. It didn't take her long to notice that his voice was different somehow. There was something new, something that she'd never heard there before, or at least something that had always been there and she had just never noticed. It was a gentleness and softness, or maybe it was love,but whatever "it" was it made her feel wanted all the same.
"Akane, I know that I've hurt you. It seems like that's all I've been doing lately...kami-sama only knows that I've never meant to." Closing his eyes and sighing, he continued. "You'd never believe how many times I've felt guilty about making you cry, no matter what the reason was. Lately, I've been thinking about how much you mean to me and wondering what I'd ever do without you in my life." Taking another deep breath, Ranma continued. "Akane, what I'm trying to say is that I...I l-love y-you. You wouldn't believe how hard those three little words are for me to say, but believe me, I really mean them. I mean them so much that I want you to be my wife. What I'm trying to ask you, Akane, is, will you marry me? I'm not askin' you 'cuz of our families or anything. I'm askin' because of what I feel for you, because I can't stand the thought of you not being in my life. If you say no, I'll understand. Kami-sama knows that I haven't done anything right to make you want me, but please...please don't not say anything."
When Ranma looked up to gauge her reaction, he saw that she was sitting on the edge of her bed and appeared to be crying. To him, she looked totally mortified by what he had just said. I knew it was a mistake to tell her. Looking at her tear-streaked face just tore him apart on the inside. "I'm sorry Akane, I didn't mean to upset you any more. I'll leave you alone now."
As he was getting up to leave, Akane was able to pull herself together enough to finally speak. "Ranma no baka," she said gently through her tears. "How could you think that you'd upset me when you've just told me the one thing that I thought I'd nevedr hear from you? I never thought that I'd ever hear you say that you love me. But I've got a surprise for you, I love you too, you big baka." When she finished, she reached over and grabbed him in a fierce hug.
It took Ranma a minute to register everything Akane had just told him, but as soon as he did, he pulled her into an even tighter hug. He never wanted to let her go but he wanted to do this right. Slowly he loosened his grip on her and reached over to where he'd set the ring box down. When he picked up the box, he opened it up and showed the ring to her. "Akane, will you marry me?" he asked again, the threat of tears starting to blur his vision.
Without a word, Akane leaned over and started kissing him. When the kiss ended and she slowly opened her eyes, she asked, "Does that answer your question?" Tears threatend to erupt again from her big brown eyes.
When Ranma felt Akane start to kiss him, he knew right away what her answer was. When she asked him that one question, he immediately nodded and pulled the ring from its place in the box. As he slipped the ring onto her finger, he softly apologized, "I know this isn't much, but..." He knew he didn't have to say any more, he knew she understood what he meant. In a way, he wondered to himself, Is this the same Akane I've been engaged to for the last two years? but soon that thought escaped his mind as the idea of holding her close to him again began its invasion. All he knew was that he wanted her in his arms again. As he pulled her into his arms, he felt an overflowing sense of rightness. The feeling that what was always meant to be, soon would be.
From the comfortable embrace of Ranma's arms, Akane quietly asked him, "Why did we wait so long to make our engagement official, Ranma? Especially since it was something that would have made us both happy?"
After thinking for a moment, Ranma responed, "I don't know, Akane. I guess we have both just been too stubborn for our own good. We didn't want to let our families have the satisfaction of seeing us get along, so in the process, we ended up making ourselves miserable."
"I guess you're right...when did you figure all that out anyway?" Aknae wondered amazed that Ranma had actually been able to figure it out in the first place.
"Like I said, I've been thinking a lot about us lately and this goes hand in hand with it."
Wow, I never really thought that he'd take a relationship between us this seriously. Akane thought as she slowly released Ranma from her hold on him, that had steadily gotten tighter, and started to sit back up on her bed, dragging him up with her. "Don't worry," Akane said on seeing the confused look on his face. "I was just kinda uncomfortable sitting on the floor," she finished, leaning back against his chest.
Understanding dawning on him, he once again wrapped Akane in his arms and started to relax. The relaxed feeling he had while holding her didn't last for long as the realization of what everyone else would do once they found out about the engagement hit him like one of Akane's mallets. How in the hell are we going to handle all of this?
Feeling Ranma tense up, Akane started to worry. "Ranma, what's wrong?" she asked, starting to wonder, herself, what could have Ranma this tense. It didn't take long to think of a good reason though. He couldn't be thinking about...oh gods, I bet he is. "You're not worried about what everybody else will do once they find out, are you?" she asked, half afraid of confirming her own suspicions and worries.
Knowing he couldn't lie to her and say it was nothing, he looked down and nodded his head. "Yeah," Ranma said. "It's just that I don't want to take a chance of something happening to you." Like what could have happened at the failed wedding.
"Nothing's going to happen to me. But, you know, the longer we take before telling everyone, the more likely it is for one of them to find out. At least if we're the ones doing the telling, we might be able to put a little damage control in place," Akane said, trying to not only convince Ranma, but also herself that she was right.
"I guess you have a point—"
"Ranma, why don't we talk about this later," Akane interrupted. "I think I just heard someone downstairs. You know what will happen if it's Nabiki or one of our fathers, especially if they find us alone, together, and with the door locked."
"Yeah, they'd have us married before the day was over. Don't get me wrong..." Ranma quickly stuttered as his brain caught up with his mouth.
"Don't worry, Ranma, I know what you mean," Akane said. "Now that we've started this on our own, I'd like it to be our decision when and how we get married, not theirs." Hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, she looked over towards Ranma nervously.
Ranma nodded and leaned over to whisper in her ear. "I know...I'll head out the window and get into my room that way." He gave Akane a quick kiss as he got up and started out the window. "Don't forget to take off your ring, that right there would be a dead giveaway. I'll see you at dinner."
When Ranma was out of sight, Akane reluctantly took off her engagement ring before unlocking her bedroom door. Staring down at the ring in her hand, she thought, If anyone saw this on my hand, we'd be married in no time. Sighing, Akane took the pendant off one of her necklaces and threaded the chain through the ring. I might not be able to wear this where it belongs, but I will wear it, no matter what.
Dinner that night passed the same as it always did, quietly. Ever since the failed wedding attempt, most of the people who usually interrupted dinner stopped coming around as often. It took months after that disaster happened before Ranma would look at any of the, as he dubbed them, "Wedding Destroyers," much less speak to them. Shampoo and Ukyo still try to win him over, but in a much quieter, less destructive way than before (in other words, they don't want to risk losing their chances with him).
All throughout dinner, Ranma and Akane snuck quick glances at each other, praying that no one, especially their fathers, would catch this little bit of affection they were showing each other. All the while, Kasumi watched their exchanges and quietly smiled to herself. As dinner ended, Ranma gave Akane one last look and motioned upward with his head. Akane nodded her understanding and quickly finished her meal so she could meet him on the roof.
As the rest of the family finished their dinner, Akane and Ranma excused themselves from the table and headed towards their own rooms. Once Ranma got into his room and closed the door, he headed out the window nad onto the roof wher he and Akane would finally be able to talk in relative privacy.
It didn't take Akane long to get upt to the roof, and for a while, neither said anything, they just enjoyed the night sky and each others company. After a while, Akane finally spoke. "Ranma, what are we going to do about this mess that we're in?" She said softly, her head resting on his sholder. "If we tell anyone about our engagemnet, the way it is now, one or both of us is likely to get hurt." More likely killed. "We need to find a way to finally get everyone off our backs, for good."
"I know, I know," Ranma said, pulling Akane closer to himself. "I just wish I knew how to without having the whole looney bunch of them come after us."
"We'll think of a way," Akane tried to reassure him. "But the sooner we're able to tell everyone, the better." Maybe this time we can keep them from destroying our wedding.
"I know, I know. With most of them, I don't care anymore if I hurt them or not. Ukyo, though, is a different story." Ranma paused for a minute trying to figureout a way to put his thoughts into words. "Don't get me wrong, Akane, I'm still mad over her part in the wedding disaster, but she's still one of my friends. I've known her too long to just throw that friendship away," he finished, hoping Akane wouldn't mallet him for what he just said.
"I know, Ranma. Just like I can't hate Nabiki for her part. Kuno, though—anyway we can get rid of him, I'm all for it." Akane looked over at Ranma and gave him a playful smile. Standing up and stretching, Akane continued, "well, it's getting late and we have school in the morning...why don't we finish this tomorrow, okay Ranma?"
Standing up, Ranma pulled Akane into his arms from behind. Resting his chin on her head, he told her, "All right. I'm going to try to think of a way for us to get some time alone together—around here, that's virtually impossible."
"Okay," Akane said, turning in his arms to face him. "While you do that, I'll try to think of a way to get rid of all our unwanted pests." She reached up and gave him a quick kiss. "Oyasumi, Ranma."
Squeezing her tighter, Ranma whispered, "Oyasumi, Akane."
Reluctantly letting go of each other, they headed to their own rooms.
Akane thought to herself as she settled into bed, Things have finally started to change and it looks like they've started to change for the better.