Nabiki looked at her spreadsheet again with a characteristic small frown. Even with repair services offering special discounts because she was a valued, multi-visited and well paying customer, the amount of monthly repairs was taking its toll on the substantial sum of cash she had acquired through her many dealings. Her frown deepened. Losing money made her feel like she was a failure and Nabiki didn't like it.

Picking up the mound of papers to the side, Nabiki flipped through her entries again to check for the remote possibility of a mistake. One bill from the electric company for repairs to the lines that were "disconnected and tangled" by an unknown object thrown from the backyard of the Tendo residents. Ranma to be exact, leaving the end of Akane's mallet. One bill from Glassco for repair to a window, for the third time this month as Akane yet again forgot to heed her elder sister's advice to open the window before throwing heavy objects through it. AKA Ranma. One bill from Rec Room Repair for restoring the dojo back to all it's glory after Ranma and Akane left their frustrations from an earlier fight in the walls, roof and practice dummies. It took the repairers a while but once they realized that the damage was not done by a wrecking ball or act of nature they were quick to finish, yet exceedingly thorough.

Akane and Ranma. Ranma and Akane. Those two were destined by Fate and the Gods (or by some evil demon bent on total chaos). Nabiki would have bet on it. Watching and observing others was a second nature to her and what kept her family living as well off as one could expect with two freeloaders. [Almost three with the way Genma eats.] And though she herself was not well experienced in relationships, she saw the glances, the pauses, and sometimes the thoughts that they both denied and knew the truth in their meaning.

She tapped her pencil against the monitor and let her thoughts wander a little from her troubles. To help her mind clear the path for a solution, she thought of happy memories. Before mother had taken ill, all of them had practice the art. Though at such a young age it was very limited, the lessons still stuck with her. Nabiki's poker face broke with a true smile of old memories of her and her sisters practicing katas in the dojo and listening to the rules of the art as her mother read them aloud.

[Well, if these numbers continue their red line descent, there certainly wasn't going to be much of a family left. Which means I have to do something.]

Another glance at the spreadsheet and Nabiki felt her mind take a familiar mental battle stance.

[The enemy?] Nabiki flipped through the bills. [Alright, most of the bills stem from Ranma. That would make him the enemy and so somehow I have to eliminate Ranma.]

If Nabiki was a believer in the supernatural she would have sworn her mother glared at her with a be good look. [OK so maybe eliminate is too strong of a word. Maybe subdue. Maybe I could con him into a deal or have what's his name... ]

Nabiki paused in her rapidly spinning money making scheme. [My promise.]

In the past, she would have done almost anything to obtain money. Money was power which lead to more money. It was a cyclone of steps that swept her up in her own financial world, leaving her to tread on those that would take her to the next level she so badly craved.

And it was so EASY to trick Ranma and some of his friends into paying. It gave a thrill to see them fall under her power, to see these great martial artists who could battle and defeat the best yet had not win against weak little her.

But a few months back, she had done the usual 'sell out Ranma and watch him get chased by girls and bashed by Akane and beaten by guys' and with her observant eyes saw what she ignored before. Because she knew upon inspection she would not like what she saw. As Ranma ran around the backyard screaming his innocence to unhearing ears, Nabiki saw an unhappiness that she knew she was helped cause. She had hurt him, though unintentional, and it did not leave her feeling very proud. It was if someone had spotlighted her and showed what the world saw of her. Cold, calculating, cruel, uncaring. Nabiki knew her mother would not smile down upon such a daughter.

Soon after the incident, Nabiki promised herself and her mother that she would not use her information or business contacts to hurt another person. The cost of production outweighed the profit. She never told anyone mainly for fear that others would think of it as a sign of weakness, and all bets would be off. Her heart may have warmed but she'd be damned if her wallet was going to shrink because of it.

It was still hard not to break her rule, the whispers of power still clung heavily to her ear, but she was starting to get the hang of it. And with her rising investment in the stock market it was helping to keep business deals strictly business.

[Well, let it be known that Nabiki Tendo always keeps her promise. But that still leaves me with the problem of subduing Ranma.]

[Weak points? Cats and...and Akane. Hmmm, if I 'hit' Ranma's weak point maybe I can send him to his knees, with a proposal of marriage to Akane! That would certainly subdue him AND her.] A small chuckle accompanied the thought. [But how?] Nabiki knew for all her father's and Mr. Saotome's scheming the two love birds did not coo as one. Though the events that they shared together, whether from bumbling fathers or near death experiences brought them that one step closer, it never finalized the deal. What were they missing?

[Practice? Well, come to think about it all I ever see them do is fight.....But maybe if....And if he....] Nabiki began to nibble on her bottom lip in thought. Her mind was a whirl of plans and processes as her nimble fingers clicked away at the keyboard. Operation fiancee had begun.

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A knock sounded from Akane's door. "Hey Akane. Are you in here?"

"Yeah, come on in." Akane watched as Nabiki hesitantly entered the room. So unlike the cool and collected older sister. "Is there something wrong?"

With a hair flip, the suave smooth Nabiki appeared. "I was just wondering if you still would like Ranma for a fiancee. If not, I'd take him off your hands. At least for a little bit."

"Wha...what?!" Out of all the statements Akane was expecting to hear, this was definitely not one of them.

"It would be free of charge and well, I did before and had a pretty good time. Business has been a little slow lately and a good muscle bound boy can do wonders." Nabiki had to smile as Akane sat in her spot, mouth flopping as her brain tried to gather some 'safe' words for defense. "A little rental to certain other fiancees per half hour would rake in a good sum of money. Come on, Akane. I'd even split the profit with ya if you still wanted to officially keep him as your fiancee."

A glow outlined her body as Akane felt the pencil crack in her hand with the thought of Nabiki selling Ranma. "Nabiki. How could you even suggest a.....a....."

"a morally reprehensible dealing such as that of selling a human being?" provided Nabiki with a grin still in place.

"Yes! Yes exactly! How could you? Especially after all that Ranma's done for us?" Akane knew her sister had done such things in the past but recently such schemes seemed to have lost Nabiki's interested. Maybe Akane was mislead by her new feelings of trust that she and her middle sister had lost some time ago.

Nabiki saw her opening and took it like a greedy kid offered a cookie. "Oh, but my dear sister. I think the real question to ask is what has Ranma done for you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Let's look at the facts. He calls you names. He has several other fiancees. And more importantly it's hard to tell when I should call him brother-in-law or sister-in-law. I mean really Akane, what kind of fiancee is that?"

Nabiki hated herself as she saw her sister flinch under the accusations. She knew she had to play some dirty tricks to get Akane to admit anything but she didn't have to feel good about it. However Akane didn't disappoint her. Slowly in a voice barely above a whisper, "But he's traded his manhood for my safety. The curse isn't his fault and he stuck up for me when it really counted. And I've lost track the number of times he's risked his life to save mine." Akane raised her head with jaw set and fist clenched. "He maybe an insensitive jerk at times Nabiki but...."

"But what?" Nabiki felt the edge of victory within her grasp.

"I think he's a good person." Akane replied softly, with that half embarrassed shy girl look.

[I think it's more than that little sister, if my intuition serves me credit.] Nabiki sat on the bed across from Akane's seat by the desk. She was enjoying this little battle of wits. Her sister was making it so exceedingly difficult. But as they say, all good things....

"Ah, a good person. I see. So you like him." Nabiki picked up a spare pencil from the nearby table and nonchalantly inspected it.

Akane's automated anti-fiancee system kicked in. "I never said that!" Her face slightly flushed with a increase in her tone.

"Oh, come now, Akane. You said Doctor Tofu was a 'nice' guy and everyone knows you had the hots for him."

"Nabiki!!" Akane almost stood up to tower over her sister but Nabiki beat her to it.

"It's true Akane. And past history." She dropped the pencil on the desk and stepped over to place her hand on Akane's shoulder. Maybe more to keep Akane in place so that she would listen than provide a comforting touch. "Now Akane. About Ranma. Wouldn't you like to be a normal fiancee with him?" she whispered in her ear, "You know, go on dates and stuff. Or are you happy with the way things are now?"

A bit of sadness washed through Akane at the question. It was hitting too close to many thoughts she had lately. "What is with you Nabiki? Are you trying to trick me into something?"

Nabiki's face gave a small bitter grin. "I guess you could say that." She couldn't blame Akane for not trusting her, hell a couple of months ago she almost couldn't trust herself.

"Look Akane. I know that in the past I've done some down right rotten tricks. But I'm still your sister. I care about you and this family though I've been kind of distant since mother died." Her voice filled with regret. "I can see pain in your eyes after you two fight. I know you care about him."

Akane's head hung low. She didn't want her sister to see how accurate her words were. "Is this what you really came in here to talk about? How I feel about Ranma?"

Squeezing Akane's shoulder, Nabiki released her hold to reach out and pick up a picture hanging on the wall. "I think it's about time you figured out what you really want Akane. And if you want some help and advice, I wanted you to know I'm just down the hall. No tricks and free of charge." A small laugh accompanied the comment to help lighten the mood.

Akane shook her head. "Nabiki...." she began but her sister expected the opposition even after all that was said and handed Akane the picture. She knew it held special meaning for Akane. It was the group portrait from the beach that Ranma gave to Akane for Christmas. There was Ukyou and Shampoo hanging off of Ranma while Akane stood to the side. Everyone looked happy and in place. And every time Akane looked at it, she wandered into a lost little daydream, where she saw only Ranma and her on that beach.

"Just think about it Akane. I'll always be there for you, no matter what you decide." And with that said Nabiki quietly walked out of the room, leaving Akane to her thoughts.

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Nabiki watched the time tick by on her clock. It had been two hours since she talked to Akane and her little sister had yet to show.

[Did I say the right things? Or did I misjudge how she feels? Maybe she still doesn't trust me.] A ting snapped through her heart briefly at the thought. It was true that the ledger began her quest to fix the romance in Akane's life but her continued effort was made because she wanted to see her sister truly happy again. She wanted to atone for the wrongs she had committed, it hurt to see family question your reasons.

The door creaked, drawing Nabiki's attention way from her thoughts. "Nabiki?" It was Akane. "I've given some thought...OK lots of thoughts to what you said."

Nabiki's heart was racing. Akane's face was so passive that her older sister couldn't tell what she was about to say. "Yes?"

Akane shut the door and sat on the bed next to Nabiki. With a big intake of breath to gather strength, she gave her answer in a very meek voice. "I want to try."

Nabiki grinned like she won a million yen and gave her sister a big hug. "Great! Here." Pulling out a book from her bed side drawer, Nabiki gave the gaudy pink book to Akane. "Read this over and leave the rest up to me. Just let me know when you want to do what and I'll make sure it's not interrupted."

Akane read the title aloud only to be shocked and a little outraged. "The Book of LOVE? Nabiki! What do you think I'm trying to do?"

"It's not what you think it's all about pervert," smirked Nabiki using one of Akane's little pet names for Ranma, "or did I misinterpret your meaning?"

"Yes. I mean no. You know what I mean!" Akane's blushing was getting out of control as it found it's way even down to her fingertips.

"Yes, yes. I know. The book's about getting your man and keeping him. I'm borrowing it from an associate of mine. Now as I said, read it and let me know when you'd like to try one of your new.....techniques." She couldn't help barbing Akane a little.

Akane frowned at the word technique but smiled as she embraced her sister. "Thank you, Nabiki."

"Anytime, little sister, anytime."