Meant for Only You
FanFic based on Ranma ½
By Kris Thompson

This is a work of fiction based on Rumiko Takahashi's 'Ranma Nibun no Ichi' a.k.a. 
Ranma ½ and was created for the author's personal enjoyment.

Note:  Another glorious 'what if' fic.  I know, I know I am in desperate need of a life.  So 
sue me... okay, not really.  All I have is, like, five bucks.  Now!, on with the fic!!!

~*~

Ranma and Akane stood out on the porch one summer night.  

"Akane,"

She turned and looked at him.  "Yes?"

Ranma looked out at the koi pond then up at the moon.  "I-I love you, Akane."

Akane's eyes went wide.  What had brought all of this on?  Not that she was upset by all 
of this, it was just a shock.  "What?!"  she whispered.  Maybe she had heard him 
wrong.

He turned to look at her.  Her pulse quickened even more when she saw his lips form 
the three most perfect words she had ever wanted to hear from him.  "I love you."

Akane stared at him, shocked beyond belief.  'He-he *loves* me?"

He stepped over and took her hand.  She blushed and averted her eyes.  "What did 
Shampoo give you."  Akane said, her voice quiet loud in her own ears.

"Huh?"  he said, sounding like the old Ranma, the Ranma she was used to.  "Whaddya 
talkin' 'bout?  Shampoo didn't give me nothin'!"

"Then why are you saying that?!"  Akane had to struggle to keep from shouting at him.

"Because it's true Akane!  I do love you and always have!  So there!"  he yelled at her, 
dropping her hand and turned so that his back faced her.  She stared at him then 
started towards him.

"Oh, Ranma,"  She put her hand on his shoulder.  "I'm sorry."

He touched her hand and turned to face her and picked up her other hand.  "No, Akane," 
 he muttered quietly as he let his forehead press against hers.  "I'm sorry.  It's all my 
fault."

"No it isn't Ranma."  Akane whispered back.  "I l-love you too."

She heard him gasp slightly, but he didn't let his face move from hers.  "Oh, Akane,"  He 
whispered as he leaned to kiss her.  Akane raised her lips and met his in a kiss that 
lasted a long time.

~*~

"What do you mean 'break up'?!"  Ranma yelled, glaring at his girlfriend of three and a 
half years.  Or rather, *ex*-girlfriend, by the way she wanted.

"Exactly what I said, RAN-MA!"  Akane shouted back.  "I want to break up with you!"

"Why?  What did I do *this* time?"  Ranma asked, exasperated at this point.

Akane planted her hands on her hips and stared at him.  "The fiancées, Ranma, the 
FIANCÉES!  They're still driving me insane!  We've been together now for 3 and a half 
years now and they STILL haven't given you up!  I can't take it anymore!  I don't know 
how I've stood it THIS long!  I'm sorry, but I'm calling it quits.  You can stay here as long 
as you want, but I'm going back to the dorm."  She paused for a moment before she 
continued.  "I'm sorry Ranma, but-you're just not the same Ranma I fell in love with.  
This is goodbye."  She picked up her overnight bag and stalked out the front door.

Ranma stared after her.  She had just... he let her... they just... goodbye?

"Ranma?"  He blinked.  He couldn't believe that the first girl that he had ever loved and 
would always love had just walked out of his life.  'She doesn't love me?'  he thought 
sadly, ignoring the voice still calling his name.

"RANMA!"  Nabiki slapped him across the face.  He winced and looked up at her.  
"Sorry, but you were spacing out.  Where is Akane?"  She asked.

"She... left."  he said, hanging his head.

"Left?  Why?"  Nabiki's voice sounded worried.

"We... we broke up."  Ranma stated sadly, refusing the tears that almost consumed 
him.  "She said that she couldn't take all the fiancées and the constant insanity, I guess, 
and she said... she said... she doesn't love me anymore; that I'm not the same Ranma 
she fell in love with."  He cursed himself for going on so but he couldn't help it.  It was 
eating him up inside, this huge hole where Akane used to be in his heart and now it was 
filling with sorrow.

"Oh, Ranma,"  Nabiki said as she sat down with him on the couch.  "I'm so sorry."

He couldn't take it.  Akane leaving him, Nabiki being nice.  For all he knew, Kasumi 
could come in wearing a biker's jacket over a skimpy bunny costume, a thought that he 
left quickly.  "I'm gonna take a walk."  Ranma stood up and started for the door, 
pressing a small velvet box into the palm of his hand.

"You gonna be okay?"  Nabiki looked at him puzzled.

"Yeah, I just need to think things out for myself."  And he walked out the door and into 
the cold night air of Nermia.

~*~

Ranma and Akane didn't speak for almost four years after that fateful night at the 
Tendos.  

Akane went on to graduate first in her class at Tokyo University and visited the United 
States often.  She called her family every once in a while, to tell Nabiki the latest on the 
stock markets and Kasumi on how well she was doing on her cooking.  She never 
asked for Ranma though.

On the other hand, Ranma had started classes at the Tendo Dojo, trying to do his part 
while he stayed there.  Nabiki was never the same though.  She no longer tried to black 
mail money off of him or tried to sale him anymore, which was a nice change.  She 
never mentioned Akane around him, which was nice for him.  He didn't like to 
remember that night anymore than he had to.

~*~

It was around eight o'clock one evening when Kasumi, Nabiki, Soun, Genma and 
Ranma were all sitting in the living room watching a television program. 

"Hello!"  A voice rang out in the Tendo home.  "Hello?  Anyone here?  Nabiki?  Kasumi? 
 Father?"

Kasumi peeked from around the corner.  "Akane?  Akane!"  She rushed over to her 
littlest sister and hugged her tightly.  "Oh, Akane, how we've missed you!"

Akane smiled.  "Thank you Kasumi.  I've missed you too.  And Father and Nabiki."

"Oh, come in Akane!  You must be cold.  Oh, and you've grown your hair out!  It looks 
beautiful."  Kasumi gushed.

"It's the style in America now,"  Akane said, touching the ends of her shoulder length 
hair consciously.

Kasumi smiled.  "Come on in and see the family."  She pulled Akane into the living room 
before she could protest.  All eyes went from the television to Akane.  Soun was the first 
to react.

"Oh, my baby girl's finally come home!"  Soun wailed as he hugged his daughter.

"Thanks dad, I missed you too."  Akane hugged him back.  

Nabiki stepped up behind her father and looked at her with her usual 
I-am-Nabiki-the-ice-goddess look... then smiled.  "Good to have you home again sis.  
You should have told me you were coming home; I could have got you a cheaper plane 
ticket, I'm sure."

"Thanks anyway, Nabiki."  

["Good to have-]  Flip.  [-you back, Akane.]  A large wooden sign read that was held by a 
large black and white panda.  She laughed.  "Thanks Mr. Saotome."  Akane glanced 
around the room and her smile faded when her eyes locked onto a pair of cold, hard, 
steel blue eyes that could only belong to one person.

"Ranma."  Akane whispered.

Kasumi caught the sudden tension between her sister and her former brother-in-law 
and took her cue.  "Nabiki, I have some nice tea in the kitchen.  Won't you come and 
help me?"

Nabiki caught her sister's tone.  "Uh, sure, sis.  I'm on my way."  She made her way into 
the kitchen, leaving Genma, Soun and Kasumi in the living room.

"Father, why don't you an Mr. Saotome go out on the porch and play a nice game of 
Go?  It's a beautiful night tonight.  Nabiki and I will bring you some tea."  Kasumi 
suggested.

Soun laughed a nervous laugh.  "Ha-ha!  Of course, Kasumi!  What a wonderful idea, 
don't you say, Saotome?"

[Why yes, Tendo-]  Flip.  [Let's go right now!]  And the two were out of the living room in 
a flash.

Kasumi smiled.  "If you two need anything, Nabiki and I will be in the kitchen."  And she 
left the two alone.

"You're back."  Ranma said after a long bout of silence.

"Yes.  I'm back."  Akane said coolly, trying her best to sound like Nabiki.

He looked away from her.  "How was America?"

"It was... nice.  But I started missing home, so..." she trailed off.

Ranma looked back at her.  "You grew your hair out."

She touched her hair again.  "Yes."

He stood up and looked at the floor.  "It looks good."

"Thanks."

Another long stretch of silence.

"So what have you done while I was gone?"  Akane managed to ask.

"Oh, I started teaching classes at the dojo and that's about it.  Been living here."  
Ranma told her.

"Did you-"

"-get married?"  He finished for her, looking at her.  She looked him in the eye.  He gave 
a short laugh.  "No, haven't gotten married.  Not to Ukyou, not to Shampoo.  Nobody has 
taken my interest.  Not since you left."

Akane gasped.  He looked at her with a serious expression on his features.  "What?  Is 
it so shocking that I love you still?  Even after you left and told me you didn't love me?"  
He closed the distance between them and stood a foot from her.  "Do you know what I 
was going to ask you that night?  That night you said that I wasn't the same Ranma you 
once loved?"

She shook her head.  What was he getting at?  She already felt horrible the last four 
years for losing her temper like that at him.  She had regretted it everyday of her life, 
knowing that when she had told him that she didn't love him, it was the biggest mistake 
of her life.

He pulled a small box out of his pocket and held it out to her.  She took it in her 
trembling hands, so afraid of what it was.  "Open it."  He said.

She pulled back on the lid and let her hand fly to her lips to try and mask the gasp that 
seemed to escape her.  "Ranma, what-"

"I was going to ask you to marry me.  I had finally taken care of Ukyou and Shampoo.  I 
told them that I could never marry either one of them, that you were the only one I had 
ever loved, and that I was going to ask you to marry me.  Shampoo was mad as hell, 
but Ukyou was happy for me.  She thought that you'd accept.  So did I."

Akane's tear filled eyes fell back to what was in the small black velvet box.  Inside, was 
a small diamond engagement ring.  She picked it up out of the box and the light glared 
off it oddly.  She turned it so that she could look at it more closely.  Her lips trembled as 
she read the small inscription inside the ring; 'I love you always Akane. ~Ranma'.  "Oh, 
Ranma,"  she sank to the floor and started to cry.  

Ranma knelt near her and whispered in her ear, "I still love you, more than ever, Akane." 
 She leaned into him.  When did she ever deserve this?  After what she had done to 
him, and he still loved her.

"Oh Ranma, I've been so wrong... ever since I walked out that night, I've regretted it 
every damned day of my life.  It's all my fault, I'm so sorry I've hurt you so much..." She 
trailed off and sobbed against his shirt.

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.  "It's not your fault, Akane."


"Yes... yes it is... another example of me jumping to conclusions..."  She wailed.

Ranma pushed her away from him to look at her.  "But you've always jumped to 
conclusions.  That's what makes you Akane."  

She sniffled a little and smiled and hit him in the arm lightly.  "Baka.  You know how to 
make a girl feel loved."

He smiled.  "So I do."  And he leaned to kiss her.  She closed her eyes and kissed him 
back.  He broke off the kiss reluctantly and picked up the ring she had dropped.

"How come you never took it back to get your money back?"  She asked.

"Oh, I was hoping that it would come to good use some day."

"Really?  How?"

"Like this."  Ranma shifted so that he was he was down on one knee.  "Akane Tendo, 
will you-oof!"  He was nearly knocked over by his over ecstatic new fiancée.  "I take that 
as a 'yes'?"

Akane smiled and kissed him.  "Of course, baka!  Yes!  Yes, I'll marry you!"

Ranma smiled and kissed her again.  "It's good to have you back home."

Akane wrapped her arms around his neck.  "It's good to be home."

Fin.

Author's notes:

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!  *sigh*  I just love WAFFy fics!  
^______^ *gryn*  I hope all of you liked it as well.  This was an actual story plot I had for 
a batch of totally different characters-

[WHAT?!  Using other characters-] Flip. [-other than Ranma and Akane?!] Flip. [Are you 
INSANE?!]

-Okay, enough Genma.  Or do I have to sick Nodoka on you?

[I'm just an innocent panda.]

That's what I thought.  Anyway, I thought it would work better if it were Ranma and 
Akane, not to mention that I couldn't keep my mind on anything else besides the two 
martial artist couple!  WAAAAAH! --_^

Sorry if Akane seemed kinda OOC in the break up scene (well, OOC for a 
Ranma/Akane fic anyways), but it was vital for the story plot.  The whole time I was 
writing this fic, I was about to cry.  I think my parents are about ready to check me 
into an institution REAL soon.  O_O;;

N E ways, hope you liked!

Signin' off!

~krissy

cartoonpaperclips@email.com

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