@->-- "I guess this all started when Shampoo got desparate. I mean, real desparate. How was I suppose to know that she'd go nuts after the wedding? Yeah, I expected the attacks made on us during the ceremony, but what I didn't expect was that after the whole thing, she'd get so desparate that she'd call for back up. This was no ordinary back up either. This was worse than what usually goes on in the mess I now call my life. This was serious. The...the *things* she sent after us...I don't know how to describe them. They were so...horrible. No. Horrible isn't even the right word. They were relentless and nearly impossible to get rid of. I was so mad, at what that stupid Amazon's stunt made me do. My secret. *My* secret. The most guarded thing about me was revealed because of her. It took me years to perfect hiding who I really am, and what my true power is. No one suspected. Except maybe Kasumi, as naieve as she seems. But then again...everyone is not as they truely are. Everyone is someone else underneath the act they put on. But sometimes...just sometimes...we get glimpses of who we really are. Beneath all the acting and lying...our true selves sometimes shows itself. Then this...event...that Shampoo forced on us. Stupid Amazon. It made us show our true natures before we were ready to expose them to the world. Yeah, there were the little flashes of our personalities that popped up over the year and a half we were together, but this...this was permanent. This changed everything we knew about each other..." @->-- Glimpses by Mana @->-- Chapter 1 "Damn it all." Akane looked despondently out into the night on the roof above her room. She was *so* ready to marry Ranma. Then he had to go and run off after the water. Then the others had to show up and start attacking them. She sighed and rested her head on her knees. "Damn it all to hell." She knew that Ranma loved her. She *knew.* It wasn't one of those gut assumptions that you get. It was a solid, screaming in your heart and head knowledge. Despite all the protesting that Ranma did, he couldn't hide the fact that he wanted to say those words to her. When she saw her body laying in his arms, she knew he loved her. That's why she came back. She really did die, despite what others thought happened. Some thought she was just pretending while others thought she had passed out for a few minutes. But she knew better. And she knew Ranma knew better. She had *died* that day in China. If only for a few moments, she was dead nonetheless. And in those few precious moments, she saw. She saw what all the fighting was really about. She saw what all the denials really were. She saw the look Ranma had on his face Pain. Loss. Regret. Love. So many emotions whipping around in his eyes. His beautiful, blue, tear filled eyes. Gods, how she loved him. How she regretted lying to him. So she came back. Touched his cheek. Comforted him in her own way. Loved him. It was probably the knowledge that she knew, and the knowledge that he knew how she felt about him that scared him away. That scared the others so much they had to attack the wedding. She felt the tears gather in her eyes. "Damn them." She stopped short. When had she gotten so fond of the word 'damn?' She had been using that word quite a bit since the wedding...no...that event wasn't a wedding. It was a disaster. That's what it was. She closed her eyes and forced the tears to go away when she felt him behind her. It wouldn't do to let him see her cry, would it? That would lead to teasing. The last thing she wanted was to fight with him. Right now, she was so angry and depressed, she didn't know if she could control...*it.* "Can I help you?" She hated the way her voice sounded. It was thick and it gave away the fact that she was about to cry. "Uh...are you okay?" "Yeah. Fine. Thanks for asking." She was still bitter. It was obvious to the both of them. She heard Ranma sigh. He sat down beside her, but she refused to look at him. She wanted him to know that she was hurting, and that he was the cause for at least *some* of it. She chuckled grimly to herself. In the past, it wouldn't have been *some* of it was his fault. It would have been *all* of it was his fault. He cleared his throat to get her attention. She knew he wanted her to look at him, but she wouldn't give him the pleasure. So she continued to sit quietly, looking into the night. She heard him sigh again, this time with a note of sadness. "Akane..." He didn't know what to say. They were close, *so* close! Then everything had to happen. Now everything was messed up more than it was before. He looked at his fiancee, taking in her brown eyes, cute nose, red lips that could sting like a wasp, but comfort like a security blanket. They yelled at him, and hurled insults at him. They made him feel two feet tall, but at times...At times, they made him feel like he was invincible. Like he could hold the world in the palm of his hands. They were red, lush, beautiful, inviting...Oh, how he wanted those lips to be his! He knew she was hurting. He was hurting too. She wouldn't even look at him. "Akane..." His voice was low. "Please. Look at me." He wanted her to always look at him. Him and only him. He almost lost her. Deep in his heart, he knew it. If he was just a fraction of a second later, she would never have looked at him again. Still, she refused to look at him. And that hurt. It was a dull ache in his chest and a tightening in his throat. This wasn't a normal fight. This one was serious. She was on the edge of a cliff, and one wrong move, the slightest disturbance could push her over and away from his arms. This was a sensitive situation. Very sensitive indeed. It scared him. Sensitive things scared him. He wouldn't ever admit it, but he was clumsy. Anything fragile, he would break. But he didn't want to break this. The bonds holding him and Akane were the most fragile things right now, and he couldn't be clumsy now. Fustrated, he clenched his fist. He felt the tears fill his eyes, because he had broken everything fragile before. He was bound to mess up and break this too. But he couldn't. He needed this more than anything else. "Akane, please. Please look at me." His voice now matched her own, only moments before. She finally turned and looked at him, a little surprise showing on her face. Was he crying? She had almost never seen this before. Ranma *never* cried. "Ranma?" Her voice a hoarse whisper. She didn't like the feeling of helplessness she felt when she saw those tears. He was hurting, and she wanted to make the hurt go away. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." his voice was just as hoarse as hers. He closed his eyes to fight the tears. "What for, Ranma?" She had to ask, eventhough she knew the answer. "I'm sorry for making you hurt." He looked at her again. "It's just that...I didn't want you to marry me when I'm like this." "Ranma..." "No, Akane." His fist clenched again, and he looked down at his body. "I'm a freak. You deserve better than this...half man, half woman." She reached out and touched his face. She didn't like the despairing look on it. This was Ranma. He had all the pride and confidence in the world. She was happy when the look melted off his face and was replace by...bliss? Lost in his thoughts, he almost missed the feather light touch on his cheek. Almost. He would never ignore the finger tips that touched him so gently. It was like a fire had been ignited in his heart. He was in heaven, recieving affection from the woman he loved. All his fears and worries melted away at that touch. "Ranma, you aren't a freak." She scooted closer to him. "I don't care about the curse. I knew about it before the wedding, and I still put on the gown, didn't I?" "But the water. I was going to be cured. I would have been a whole man." Akane shook her head. "It doesn't matter. So long as you love me..." She trailed off, not able to look at him. She remembered what happened the last time she voiced the fact that he loved her. She seemed to shrink into herself and pull away from him. "Is it enough, Akane?" She looked up at him. "What?" "Is love enough?" Akane thought for a moment. "Yes." Her reply was so soft, Ranma almost missed it. "If you love me, it is enough." This was a strange conversation indeed. Ranma was still heasitant. He put a hand on her shoulder. "If you're sure..." A flash of anger went through Akane. She stood up and whirled around to face him. "Of course I'm sure! I'm so sure it hurts sometimes!" She was breathing heavily and tears were standing in her eyes. Ranma stood up and put both hands on her shoulders. He slowly pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry..." His whisper floated into her ear. Akane sighed and melted into his chest. It wasn't often that Ranma showed this side of himself. The side that was unguarded and vulnerable. The side that loved her unabashedly. ~Is this the real you, Ranma?~ Talking without fighting was new to them. And talking about love to boot. Ranma smiled softly at the girl in his arms. She was so soft and gentle. So different from the harsh girl he knew. He rather liked this one when she showed herself. He bent down and buried his face in her hair. Closing his eyes, he lost himself in the feel of her body, the scent of her hair, the beating of her heart. He nuzzled her hair a bit, then moved down so he could whisper in her ear. "I love you. I love you so much." "Oh Ranma..." She felt the tears start and fall down her cheeks, out of her closed eyes. "I love you too." She felt him kiss her ear, then her forehead and her eyes. She felt his lips on the tip of her nose. Her mouth parted a little, anticipating the moment when his lips would touch there. Ranma kissed those red lips he longed for hungrily. Passion flowed through him and escaped in the form of the kiss he was engaged in. Over and over again, he fell upon those lips. Like they were a drug that he was addicted to, that he couldn't get enough of. Hands roamed over curves and muscles as the two kissed. Heasitant, but still full of love. Knowing that they couldn't fully give themselves to their desires, they satisfied themselves by going as far as they were allowed. So lost in their lust, they failed to notice the pair of maroon eyes that glinted in the night. Watching them, full of desire for one, hate for the other. The figure bounced away from the high wall that separated the two lovers, radiating anger and a thirst for vengance. @->-- TO BE CONTINUED... Untitled@->-- Glimpses By Bulmachan Chapter 2 @->-- Blades of light sifted through the blinds and stabbed into soft eyelids. He moaned as he rolled over fighting to go back to sleep and losing miserably. Ranma grunted loudly as he sat up, not caring whether he woke his father or not. His mind was still whirling from the night before. He had revealed something to Akane that made him feel vulnerable and scared. Scared wasn't something he was used to letting himself feel. He opened his eyes and instantly regretted it as he promptly squeezed them shut. His head pounded from lack of sleep but he was too anxious to even think about going back to sleep. As memories of the night before flooded back to him, his eyes shot open again. But this time he didn't heed the sun as anxiety tore at his insides. He wanted to run, to hide from Akane, from what had happened between them. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to face her? He was afraid things would go back to the way that they had been for so long. And afraid things would change too much too fast. As much as he hated to think about it, he knew that he had to do something about his other 'fiancees'. He briefly thought about getting help from Nabiki but quickly dismissed the idea. Her help was expensive and more often then not she'd just turn around and sell whatever information she got off of him, getting him into even more trouble. He seriously doubted Nabiki was even human. However her humanity was of little concern to him. He was just too worried about facing Akane and getting through the day. As he sat there staring into space he realized that just sitting there wasn't going to help. If anything it would just prompt Akane to burst in and splash him with cold water thinking he was still asleep. Either that or mallet him. Ranma shuddered involutarily. It was too much for him to hope that Akane would restrain her violent temper, or that he could immediantly stop insulting her. She'd have to learn to control herself and to trust him. And he'd have to learn how to start thinking before he spoke. And then there were his other 'fiancees'. He shuddered harder this time. He'd definitely been expecting the attack from Shampoo, but he hadn't been counting on Ukyou attacking along with her. Well that wasn't entirely true, he figured she'd attack, but he just thought she'd whack him with a spatula. Obvioulsy she'd been much more desperate than that, and Ranma wondered briefly if Shampoo had tricked Ukyou into attakcing the way she did. As much as he wanted to believe that, he just couldn't. Ukyou had been his best and dearest friend, but now he didn't know if he could ever forgive her. Or if he even wanted to. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he would never be able to forgive Shampoo. They had never been close friends, and now they never would be. Ranma sighed heavily and stood. He was too hungry too hid in his room anymore. And he realy didn't want to push his luck with Akane. As he opened the door, Akane's fist lightly rapped on his chest. He chuckled as she looked up from her book she had previously been reading with a startled look on her face. "Oh! Ranma, you're up!" Akane let her arm fall to her side as a blush crept to her cheeks. "Good, maybe we can get to school on time this morning." She turned to leave as Ranma's hand caught her shoulder. She spun back around, "What?" He rubbed the back of his head and a nervous smile twisted his lips. "Uh...we don't have school today, it's Saturday and next week is our break." She gave him an amused smirk. "Figures you'd get up on time when we don't have to go anywhere." She said in mock anger. Ranma laughed nervously even though he knew she was just teasing. A huge knot had worked it's way into his stomach and he was worried he was going to slip and say something awful. It's not that he wanted to insult her, because he never had. But it had just become habit. And he was going to have to learn to quit. The playful smirk on Akane's face slipped. "Ranma? You ok?" Ranma nodded quickly as he took her hand in his. He glanced down and smiled at how small and delicate her hand looked in his. She gave him a sweet smile and squeezed his hand. "Well you know if there's something you want to talk about I'm listening." He found himself beaming at her, the knot in his stomach still there, but not half as bad. He mouth 'Not here. Later.' He knew his father was awake by now, and it was bad enough that they had been so nice to each other. It meant at least a couple of weeks of pestering. He winked hoping she would understand. "Wow that's awful nice for such a violent kawaiikune tomboy like you." And she did understand. Winking she yelled, "RANMA NO BAKA!!!" At the top of her lungs. Actually a little glad for the extra acting practice she called forth her mallet and swung just hard enough to make a thumping sound as it connected with Ranma's head. He immediantly crumpled to the floor making 'demon begone' signs, just in case they were being watched, photographed, videotaped, or all three. "What'd ya do that for?" Ranma asked, trying his best to sound indignant. He stood and brushed himself off. "Be glad I didn't send you into orbit. Now let's go get some breakfast. I cooked!" Akaned smiled before bouncing down the stairs and into the kitchen. Ranma gulped audibly. Akane was gonna cook?! He gulped again wishing he had run when he'd had the chance. He took his time heading down the stair. It had been awhile since Akane had cooked for him, maybe she'd improved...he could only hope. She smiled as he took his seat and placed a plate in front of him. "Go ahead Ranma! Try it!" Akane was all smiles. Ranma gave her a wan smile in return. He looked down at the plate as he slowly picked up a fork and knife. He automatically assumed it was American food since they'd hardly ever used chopsticks when they had American food. But since he'd never seen this particular dish before, he couldn't tell whether it was edible or not. He tried for his best non-chalant voice, "So what is this stuff anyway Akane? I've never seen it before." It worked and she beamed at him. "It's called waffles." He nodded and decided to get the toture over with quickly. At least he wouldn't be concious for long. He slowly cut a piece of waffle off and stuck it in his mouth. He hesitantly began to chew it, immediantly starting to choke. It was actually good! He swallowed quickly and looked up at Akane who was standing there wringing her hands. "You cooked this?" He asked innocently. Akane nodded and he shoveled the rest down. "Akane that was fantastic! Don't take this the wrong way or nothin', but when did you learn to cook??" Akane giggled but sobered quickly. "It was going to be my wedding present to you." Ranma stood and hugged her. "This is great Akane! I'm so proud of you!" He held her at arms length and smiled lovingly at her. "Why are you crying?" He asked worridly. Akane smiled brightly at him, tears spilling down her cheek. "It's just that you've never said you were proud of me before." "I didn't say it, but there were lots of times I was. What made you want to cook for me?" She looked down at her feet and sighed. "I guess for the same reason you didn't want to marry me until you were cured. I just wanted you to be happy with me." He tilted her head up so that he could look her in the eyes. "I would have been happy with you even if you couldn't cook. Like you said, it doesn't matter as long as you love me." Akane sniffled and flew back into his arms. He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "Is there anymore?" She laughed, "Of course!" @->-- I'm going to get him. I'm going to get him no matter what it takes. I have to get rid of her first. But I can't kill her. He would just save her. And I have a feeling that he wouldn't worry about seriously injuring, or even killing me if I threatened her. No I can't attack her...but he can. @->-- Floating in limbo for thousands of years becomes extremely tedious. I'm an all powerful being and to think I'm stuck in here is rather annoying. But what's worse is that a measly mortal human girl can summon and command me. Of course being stuck in limbo, I have no concept of time. I only know because of the mortal girl. I know what she knows now. That's my price. I know everything she knows. Her fears, worries, wants, need, hopes, and dreams. I have all of her knowledge. And I know the one she seeks is not the one she wants. He's not the one she loves. At least not anymore. @->-- "Ok, it's been two days and she hasn't malleted me once for real." Ranma said, talking to himself. At least he hoped he was. Sometimes he was afraid to even think. Worried that Nabiki had found a way to monitor his thoughts. "Although she looked like she wanted to that one time...and then there was..." "She wanted to what, Ranma? Oh my are you talking to yourself? You know they say that's a sign of insanity." Kasumi said matter-0f-factly, coming up behind and startling Ranma. "Has the stress finally gotten to you?" "Oh..heh heh." He laughed nervously, "No, I was just thinking out loud." Kasumi gave him an egnimatic smile. A smile that made him more nervous than he'd ever been around her. A smile that gave him the feeling that she knew more than she was letting on. Somehow that knowledge didn't bother him. This was Kasumi after all. He knew that he could trust her with anything. She wasn't like Nabiki who would charge unbelivable amounts of money to keep a secret and then sell it to someone else anyway. She never used her knowledge for any kind of personal gain, and she never wrongly judged someone. She was kind and caring and always knew who was right from who was wrong. He punishment was swift and just. To anyone who didn't know her it didn't really seem like punishment, but to those who did, it was a fate worse than death. No body liked to upset Kasumi. A frown from this woman could send the most corageous of men to his knees. Including Ranma. But he held the highest respect for her. He knew he could trust her to keep it a secret and to do all within her power to make sure he was happy. To make sure this wonderful fragile thing he had discovered would stay safe, until it was strong enough to face the challenges that were sure to be sent it's way. The more he thought about it the more he liked the idea that she knew. A feeling of relief washed over him as he gazed up into the soft, kind brown eyes. "So you know then?" He asked coyly. Kasumi only smiled and turned to leave. "Please don't go!" He called out. Kasumi silently sighed and turned to face him. She smiled sweetly, "Ranma I really don't have time to play denial games with you. I have alot of work to do." "That's not it!" Ranma sighed and trained his eyes on the floor. She was about to say something when he spoke, "It's just that..." His voice was filled with emotion and husky. He sighed again and she waited patiently. She had all the patience in the world, especially if he wasn't going to deny his love for her sister. She had to be there for that, and she'd be there for Ranma whenever he needed her. When he looked back up she was shocked to see that his eyes were misty and clouded. "It's just that I need someone to talk to. I don't have..." He choked, "I don't have anyone else." Kasumi's heart went out to him and she smiled reassuringly, nodded and sat down. "Then I'm here to listen Ranma." She said as she patted his arm, wanting to comfort him, but not really sure how. They talked for a couple of hours about what had happened between him and Akane. Although he opted to leave out a few things. He saw Kasumi as a mother figure and some things he just couldn't see telling his mother. He did, however, feel comfortable in telling her everything else. The advice she gave him was priceless, and by the time they were through talking they both had a new respect and understanding for each other. @->-- TO BE CONTINUED...