Second  Chances

				By Lord Archive



The first chapter is sad and dark. The following chapters are not. 

This story begins over six months after Manga volume 38.

Legal Babble: Characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Video, 
etc..., and are used without permission. I'm only borrowing them. I'll 
return them. I can't afford the overdue charge Nabiki insists on.



			  ------------------------------
			  Chapter 10 - Here Comes P-Chan
			  ------------------------------



Akane glanced at the clock. It read three in the morning. It was 
raining outside. She wondered what was wrong. She got out of bed for 
the third time in the past hour and checked on Ranma. He was 
sleeping peacefully without a care in the world. 

Akane noticed a noise from downstairs.  She then went back 
to her room and waited. 

It was almost four when Akane heard the shout of, "Wake up, DAMMIT!!!" 
She went to her bed and waited for Kasumi to 'wake her up.' 

-----------------------------

Ryoga and Ranma were flung out of the room by a disgruntled panda. The
lost boy landed to the side of the koi pond, carefully watching Ranma 
as he landed in it.

"Wha? Wha?" a red-head stammered, trying to stand up in the pond.

Ryoga blinked at the girl in the pond. He saw Ranma fall into it, but 
a girl came out. Could it be... "R-Ranma?"

"Ryoga!? It's the middle of the night! What the hell are you doing?!"

"So, you turn into a girl now." Ryoga smirked. "Anyway, I'm here for 
my revenge!"

"Ugh. Ryoga. Would you stop this? What's with all this 'revenge' 
stuff?" 

"Before I send you to hell, I'll tell you this: When you ran away from 
our duel, I followed you all the way to China!!!" Ryoga shouted 
angrily.

"Don't tell me you went to Jusenkyo, and now you transform!" 

"SILENCE! It is time for you to die!!!"

-----------------------------

"Akane, are you awake? There are noises outside. Do you think it's a 
burglar?" Kasumi asked.

Akane said nothing. She walked out of her room and down stairs. Kasumi 
shadowed her.

"It is a burglar! He has a pack of stolen goods!" Kasumi said in 
fright.

Akane's face took a malevolent grin. "I'll beat the crap out of him."

"NO!! It's too dangerous!"

"What..."

"Here." Kasumi handed Akane a small stone statue.

"Huh?"  Akane shrugged and 
pitched it at the head of the 'unknown man' fighting Ranma. 


Ryoga's eyes widened in pain as the statue broke on his thick skull. 
He dropped his umbrella and ran.

"Ryoga!" Ranma shouted watching his opponent disappear.

"Ryoga? He should find a better time to start a duel," Akane commented 
dryly.

"Oh. It's only Ranma's friend." Kasumi sighed in relief.

Akane ignored her sister and watched as Ranma ran after Ryoga. "I'll 
stay up and make sure there's a hot bath for Ranma. You can go back to 
bed."

"Are you sure?" Kasumi asked.

Akane nodded.  She went to put a teakettle on the stove and 
then went to the bath to fill it. That done, she went to her room for 
something.

Akane sighed.  She 
opened the door, and sensed another presence. "Whoever you are, come 
on out!"

A black blur charged her and Akane slammed it to the floor, HARD. The 
piglet landed and then scooted away from her.

 Akane called as sweetly as she could, 
"Here, piggy."

The piglet backed away more.

Akane held out her hand to the pig. "Come on. I won't hurt you!" 


"Oh, your drenched. Must've been in the rain." She smiled. "Is that a 
bump on your head?"

Akane walked downstairs and was surprised Ranma wasn't there. She 
started to dry Ryoga while waiting. 

Several minutes later Ranma walked in alone.  He then saw Akane. "Yo. What's with the 
pig?"

The pig in question tried to jump out of Akane's arms and attack, but 
was held in place. 

"What wrong with you?" Akane asked the pig. "Hush now. I'll fix that 
bump now." She could not hide her grimace when she pressed the pig to 
her chest.

Ranma noticed Akane's reactions. "Is he groping ya? Hey, it's 
blushing!"

"Pigs don't blush."

Ranma snatched the pig from Akane's hands. "Hentai pig. I knew it. 
It's a guy."

"So it is." Akane grinned slightly at the pig's obvious discomfort.

Ranma gave the pig back after it attacked. "I'm going to take a bath."

"Could you warm up the piglet while you're at it?" Akane asked 
sweetly.

"Quee?" the pig questioned.

Ranma took the pig in disgust. A couple minutes later Akane noticed 
Genma walking to the bath.

 Akane thought. She 
watched as Genma walked back down the hall. 

"Get back here, you disgusting pig!!" onna-Ranma shouted, chasing 
after her porcine enemy.

After being hit in the back of the head by a wash bucket thrown by 
Ranma, the pig dashed behind Akane.

"What are you doing?!" Akane shouted.

"Coward! Hiding behind Akane!" 

The piglet took offense and attacked.

"Stupid pig! I wanted to talk this out!" Ranma snarled, slamming the 
pig into the ground.

Akane stopped further action on Ranma's part by grabbing the red-
head's bare right breast.

"Gwah!" Ranma emitted.

"Are you okay?" Akane asked the crying piglet. "Oh, he's scared. Let's 
go."

"What are you doing with that pig?" Ranma asked.

"Taking him to bed with me," Akane said, flatly.

"Wait! That pig is a..."

"Be a good boy, and don't cry." Akane rubbed her nose against P-Chan's
snout. 

"Ghaa!!!" Ranma shook in frustration.

 "What?"

"Go ahead! Sleep with that pig!" Ranma ran off.

Akane grinned. 

-----------------------------

Akane tried to remain awake, but failed with the final thought, 

A little while later Akane awoke to sight that had shocked and scared 
her the first time she saw it, Ranma on top of her.

"Ah, ah... Akane it's not what it, ah..." Ranma stammered nervously.

"Just what are you doing in my room?" Akane asked him, trying to be 
angry to continue the act. It came out a little hollow.

Ranma backed away from her. "Er... ah... well..."

"Are you here because you wanted to 'try me out' before the wedding?" 

Ranma waved his hands in protest. "That's not it!!! It's Ryoga. He's 
the..."

"He's what?" Akane glanced over at the teakettle. She grabbed it and 
shook it threateningly. "What's with the teakettle? Thought you'd get 
wet on the way here?" 

"No! I was, ah..."

Akane shook the teakettle enough that the lid slid off. Some of the 
hot water in it splashed the startled piglet.

"I, ah, can explain..." Ryoga stammered, desperately trying to cover 
himself.

Akane eyes first widen 'in shock' and slowly her face took on a deadly 
vision of anger. "Oh, yes. Explain to me why you did NOT resist being 
held to my chest. Explain to me why you made NO effort to clue me in 
that you're not a pig. Explain to me why you did NOT leave my bed as 
soon as I fell asleep."

"Er, I know this, ah, looks bad, but it's not my fault! It wouldn't 
have happened if Ranma hadn't cursed me!!"

"Oh, he dragged you all the way to China and dunked you in?" Akane 
asked sarcastically.

Ranma was grinning, and it was obvious to Akane that he loved 
watching Ryoga squirm.

"Not exactly. I followed him after he ran out on our duel..." 

"Which would NOT have happened if you accepted your loss for not 
showing up on time," Akane added.

Ryoga scowled at her. "When I arrived at Jusenkyo, he knocked me in."

"Did you?" Akane asked.

"It was an accident. I didn't now he was there. I was trying to kill 
Pop at the time," Ranma answered.

"And how would you know that if you didn't know he was there?" Akane 
asked.

"He said the girl was chasing after a panda all over Jusenkyo, which 
only happened once."

"Oh." Akane then moved over to Ryoga. "So. It appears to me everything 
you're blaming Ranma for is your fault." She grabbed the lost boy's 
bandannas and forced him to stand. "If you want to challenge Ranma 
later for a fight, fine. But you will NEVER attack him in the middle 
of the night again!!" She then punched him out the window, and heard 
the satisfying splash of the koi pond.

"Ah, well, I better get back to bed," Ranma said, moving towards the 
door.

"Okay." Akane slipped back into her bed.

Ranma left her room.  He wasn't sure why he couldn't entirely believe that 
thought.

Akane smiled.  
She sighed. 

-----------------------------

"Now Akane, why are you so tired and what was Ranma doing in your room
last night?" Nabiki asked smugly, while eating breakfast with her 
family.

Ranma missed the question entirely as he inhaled breakfast.

Kasumi looked worried.

Soun and Genma decided to listen in.

Akane scowled at her sister. "I'm tired because Ryoga's attacks on 
Ranma kept me up. And Ranma went into my room because he saw that 
Ryoga had snuck in."

"So, Ranma was protecting you." Soun grinned, and then turned towards 
Ranma. "But if you want to sneak into her room, go ahead."

"Dad!!" Akane screeched, blushing.

"They shouldn't. They're too young," Kasumi gasped.

"I'd never sneak in. Why would I want to do that with her?" Ranma 
protested.

Akane glared at Ranma. 

-----------------------------

Author's notes:

Comment on some of the changes that occurred: 
Some of the changes can be seen as directly being affected by Akane's 
future knowledge - Ryoga being late. Other changes, may or may not be 
affected: The stone statue will be left as a mystery for now: 
Chaos Theory or does Kasumi know?

Thanks to the numerous pre-readers and those who sent C&C on this 
series.

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/fuji/9061/second