We all know the story where Ranma becomes Nabiki's fiance,right? Well, I was sitting in church (staring stupidly into space. never did understand those sermon things) and a thought came to me (I get random, non sequential thoughts at the strangest times and places). What if Akane got hurt when the balcony broke? I don't know how I'm going to pull this story off or how to even write it. Let's try it and see what I come up with, kay? @->-- Untitled 2 by Mana~chan @->-- Akane stood on the balcony. The day had gone badly. Both Ranma and Nabiki had been teasing her all day. It was bad enough when one of them alone did it, but both of them at the same time was just too much! *I'm not going to speak to either of them until they apologize!* She continued airing out the towel Ranma had used to clean the dojo with. Sensing someone behind her, she peeked out of the corner of her eyes and saw Ranma hanging upside down behind her. She turned her head the other was to show that she was still mad at him. "What?" she asked when he finally managed to get in front of her. Sitting on the balcony railing, he looked at her. "What did I do to you?" "What...did..." she said increduously. *What a jerk!* "You ganged up with Nabiki to make fun of me!" "Akane." The sliding door to the balcony opened and Nabiki stepped out. "That's not fair at all. Ranma and I never..." "Ever ganged up to make fun of you." The boy finished. "We were poking fun at you separately." "It was just a coincidence that we did it at the same time." "I see," she growled. "In that case do me a favor..." She wound up and delivered a mighty punch to the balcony. "...And never talk to me again!" With a great crack, the balcony broke apart, the three people on it wondering what just happened. @->-- At the same moment in aother part of the house, the eldest daughter was talking to her father. "Father, have you noticed that the balcony needs to be repaired?" "I'll call the carpenter tomorrow," he said, ignoring the cracking and crashing sounds coming from outside. @->-- Taken by surprise with the fall, Akane tried flipping onto a branch but misjudged the distance and uncurled too early. The branch hit her in the stomach, knocking the air out of her and flipping her forward, head first towards the ground. She was not able to recover quick enough and hit the ground hard on her back. Her sight flashed bright white when her head hit a rock with a loud crack, and pain filled her senses. The next thing she felt was her body bounce once and blackness. *Ranma...* Landing lightly on the ground Ranma heard Nabiki thank him. "Yeah, that was a close one." He set her down and looked up, expecting to find Akane standing in front of him, angry as always. When he didn't find someone standing in front of him, he was confused. "Huh?" His eyes did a quick scan of the yard. A sharp gasp escaped him when he saw Akane on the ground unconscious. "What?" Nabiki asked not bothering to look up from dusting her clothes when she heard Ranma's confusion. At the sharp gasp, however, her head snapped up. Ranma was at Akane's side immediately. "Akane?" he called out to her softly. When he set his hand down on the ground, he felt something wet and sticky. *What the...* Bringing his hand to his face, the red hue was unmistakable. *Blood!* "Nabiki! Call an ambulance!" he screamed. Running into the house without any questions, Nabiki raced past the panda, her father and sister, ignoring their questions. Dialing the emergency number she sent out a quick prayer. *Please be alright.* "Akane." Ranma called out, shaking her a little. "Akane! Wake up, Akane!" No response. He gently picked the limp body up and cradled it to him. "Please Akane, wake up..." he said softly to her, his hand on her cheek. *She's so cold...* She stirred a little in his arms. "Akane? Akane!" Her eyes opened and focused on him. "Gods, I'm sorry Akane. I'm so sorry." That was all he got out before she slipped back into unconsiousness. Tears fell from his cheek and landed on the girl's face. *You gotta be okay. You just gotta.* Wanting to know what was going on, the three people in the house ran outside with Nabiki. "The ambulance is on it's way, Ranma." "Ambulance?!" the three screamed. Then they saw Ranma crying over Akane. "Oh my baby!" screamed Soun, running to the crying boy and his daughter. "My baby! Please don't die!" He was crying buckets. Kasumi, who had also ran to her sister's side, asked what happened. "I-I don't know. She got angry and punched the balcony and we fell" Ranma choked out. "When I landed, I found her like this..." his voice had trailed off to a whisper. Sirens were heard in the distance and Ranma stood up , being careful of the bundle in his arms. He ran to the gate and kicked it open just as the vehicle pulled up to the house. The attendants and Ranma quickly piled into the ambulance and they sped off, with the families looking on. @->-- The hospital was steril white and had a funny smell to it. Uncomfortable plastic chairs lined the wall outside the rooms, so people could sit and wait nervously to hear what the doctors had to say about the patients. Voices blared out of the intercoms, calling doctors and nurses to various rooms. Ranma, his father and the Tendos were all sitting in those uncomfortable plastic chairs, waiting for the doctor to come out of the room. Soun was crying and Genma trying to sooth him. Nabiki and Kasumi were both sitting, worried looks on their faces. Ranma looked the worse out of all five of them. He simply stared out into space, his pallor gray. His eyes were red from crying. All in all, he looked sort of like a rat. His mind kept replaying the scene in the yard over and over again. Akane lying on the ground, blood pooling out from under her head. So pale and still. *I should have saved her. I always save her.* His eyes looked at the faces around him. *I failed them...I failed her. I failed myself.* How was he suppose to face her now? He was her protector. He swore to himself no on was going to take her away or hurt her. And then what happened? He let her fall, let her hit her head on a rock. He had let her down in one of the worse ways possible. Before his thoughts could get anymore depressing, the doctor came out. Everyone stood up and took in the serious face of the man. Assuming the worse, Soun started crying even harder. "Oh my poor baby! She's dead!" "Daddy! Let him tell us!" "Ahem. Your daughter is not dead, Tendo-san." The water works immediately stopped. "She does, however, have amnesia. She can't remember anything." The water works started again. "But is she fine?" "She's doing quite well for hitting her head on a rock that hard. Phisically, she'll be good as new with a few days rest." Everyone let out a sigh of relief. "I don't want her to be stressed in any way. It slightest disturbance can mentally damage her far worse than she is now." Everyone sweated. No stress? With the type of friends they have? This was going to be difficult. "Can we see her?" Ranma blurted out, unable to wait any longer. "Yes, but be gentle. She can't remember anything right now, and she's very scared." @->-- Akane looked around the plain room. A bed, telephone, tv set. A dresser and some trays and carts. There was nothing in there. She had woken up to the face of a man looking at her seriously. Her first thought was where was she. The next one disturbed her even more. WHO was she. Akane tried to think of anything, and remembered nothing. Not even her own name. She couldn't even remember what color hair and eyes she had. She had started to panic when the man informed her that he was a doctor and that she had a very bad fall. Judging from the name he called her, she figured she was Akane. She calmed herself and let the doctor finish checking her. Now she was alone in the room, trying to remember how she had gotten to the hospital. All she remembered were blurs. She also tried to remember her past but all she saw were blurs then, too. Tears of fustration came to her eyes. What if she had a family? Or children or something? A person came to her mind. It was still blurry, but it was clearer than most of her other memories. She saw that the person had black hair with a pig-tail. She knew this person was very important to her...but how? The next feature she saw on the blur were blue-gray eyes. Beautiful blue-gray eyes. This person was smiling at her tenderly. A feeling was coming with this image...it made her feel warm and safe. Love. Her mind told her that she loved this one. When the face was about to clear up completely, the door opened, driving away the image. Expecting the doctor, Akane looked up. She was surprised when a man with long black hair came running up to her and wrap her in a hug. "Akane! Oh Akane, thank heavens you're alive! Are you okay?" He was crying very hard. Another man came in. He was big and had glasses and a bandana on his head. "Now, now Tendo. She's fine, see?" He adjusted his glasses and looked at Akane. "How are you doing, Akane?" She chose not to answer as two girls rushed to her bed side. One had long brown hair, the other short. They looked very familiar. "Oh my. Akane, are you alright? We were all so worried about you." "Yeah, you okay sis? That was a pretty bad fall you took there." Nabiki felt a little guilty. If she hadn't been there, Ranma would have grabbed Akane instead of her. Akane looked around, a little scared. She edged away from the crying man. "Who...who are all of you people? Do I know you?" "Waaaaaaaaa!" Soun wailed. "My little girl doesn't remember me!" "Daddy, your scaring her!" Akane turned her attention to the short brown haired girl. "You called me sis. Am I your sister?" "Yes, I'm Nabiki, your second oldest sister. I'm 17. This," she said, indicating Kasumi, "is Kasumi, your oldest sister. She's 19. You're 16." She then pointed to Soun. "That is our father." "Father?" She looked closely at the crying man. *My father is a crybaby?* She didn't know whether to like that or not. "Don't worry Akane, you'll get used to it." She then gestured to Genma, who was still trying to calm his friend down. "That's Mr. Saotome. He lives with us. He's going to be your father-in-law." "Father-in-law?" She thought about it. "Am I engaged to someone?" "Yeah. Dad set it up before you were born. One of us were to be engaged to Mr. Saotome's son. You were the one...chosen." "Where...where's my fiance?" *Who's my fiance?* Akane thought. "H-hi, Akane..." Everyone's attention turned towards the door, where there stood a boy with his head down. Akane couldn't see his face, but he seemed very familiar. "Akane, meet your fiance, Ranma Saotome." *Ranma?* Sounded so familiar. Akane clasped her hands together and twiddled her thumbs. "Um...h-hello Ranma..." She was looking at her hands and didn't see everyone leave the room except the boy, who was now next to her bed. Kasumi quietly told him that they were going home and would be back tomorrow as she passed him. Ranma looked at the girl in the bed. He wanted to reach out and hug her, but he didn't dare. She looked a little pale, and her head was wrapped in a bandage. He reached out and touched her arm. "Are...are you alright?" He asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper. At his touch, she looked up at him and gasped. *He...he looks like that person I sort of saw.* Ranma immediately removed his hand when he heard her gasp. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" His eyes were filled with concern. "Do you need me to get the doctor?" Akane smiled her first smile since getting up. "No, Ranma. I'm fine. It's just that I think I kinda remember you a little." Ranma's face brightened. "Really?" Akane giggled a little. "Don't get your hopes up too high. All I saw was a blur with blue eyes and a pig-tail. *I guess that's how he's important to me...he's my fiance.* Akane yawned. "Are you tired?" "Yeah, a little." "I can leave if you want me to..." Ranma turned to leave. He stopped when Akane grabbed his hand. "No. Stay a little longer. Please?" She blushed furiously, but didn't drop his hand. It made her feel so warm and comfortable. Nodding, Ranma reached back with his foot and pulled a chair to him, sitting down. "What do you want to do now?" "Can we talk for a bit?" "Um...talk?" Ranma was a bit reluctant. Talking was NOT one of his and Akane's better past times... "Yes...Is there a problem with that?" "Well...no...not really..." Akane looked confused. "Not really? Didn't we ever talk before?" "Well..." Ranma rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't want to lie to Akane. "When we talked...we usually just got mad at each other." "Oh." Akane said quietly. "We didn't get along?" Ranma stopped and thought for a bit. "No, no, it's not that WE didn't get along. We got along just fine on our own. It was more like the others make us not get along." "Others?" She was more awake now, curious about her life. Ranma absently rubbed his thumb along the soft skin of her hand. "Yeah. The others. They're always causing trouble for us." "Who are they?" "Huh? Well, there's Shampoo. She's an amazon. I accidentally knocked her out and now, according to her crazy laws, I'm suppose to marry her. She and her great-grandmother are always coming up with some plan to make me marry her. Mousse thinks I'm trying to steal Shampoo from him so he's always trying to fight me." Akane giggled. "They sound strange." "Yeah, well, not as stange as some of the stuff they've done to me." "Who else is there?" "There's Ryoga. He's a really good fighter. He thinks that I'm responsible for everything that went wrong in his life. He blames me for everything and he's always trying to..." "Trying to what?" "Um...nevermind..." Ranma blushed. He was about to say that Ryoga was always trying to take Akane away from him. "Ryoga's a really good friend of yours..." *You're always yelling at me not to pick on him* he thought, a little jealously. "Then there's Kuno and Kodachi. Those two belong in a crazy house. Kuno thinks I have you under a spell. He's been trying to get you to date him for a while now. When I first got here, you had to fight off every boy in the school because he said they couldn't date you unless they beat you. The fights stopped when I showed up though. And he doesn't know how to speak right, or something. He's always spewing this poetry crap. It's gross." He smiled when Akane giggled again. "Kodachi..." Ranma shuddered. "She's scary. That laugh of her's is enough to drive a person up the wall. And she's got a pet alligator that she calls 'Mr. Turtle.' It's tried to eat me a few times. She's about obsessed with me as Kuno is with you." "Well," Akane started, looking down and blushing, "I can see why she'd be attracted to you." She gave his hand a small squeeze. Ranma blushed furiously and squeezed her hand back. "Um...the last suitor is Ukyo. She's my best friend. I met her when we were six, but I thought she was a boy. She showed up a while ago trying to kill me and pops. I found out that pop had engaged me to her too." "So...you have three fiancees including me, an obsessed person after you and three men that constantly try to kill you?" "Yeah...and there's more..." Akane's eyes widened. "More?" *What kind of life does he have?* "I got a curse..." "Curse? What...kind of curse?" An image flashed in Akane's mind. It was Ranma...but with red hair? "Yeah...pop took me training in China before I came to your house. We went to Jusenkyo. The place is filled with cursed springs and whoever falls into those springs turns into what ever drowned there last when they're splashed with cold water. Hot water turns them back." "What do you turn into?" "Um...well...I turn into a...girl." Ranma said the last part quietly, hoping this new Akane wouldn't think him the freak the old one did. "Can I see?" Ranma nodded once and retrieved a cup of cold water and a cup of hot. He poured the cold water over his head, all the while keeping his eyes on Akane. *Please, please, accept me again.* Akane's eyes widened, then went back to the look she had while talking with him. It was full of...content? "You're a very cute girl, Ranma." Ranma scowled and poured the hot water, turning back into a male. "I'm a guy!" he snapped. Taken aback by his tone, Akane looked down to her lap. "Sorry," she murmured. "I didn't..." Ranma cringed at her reaction. *Damn my big mouth.* He gently took her hand into his and squeezed softly, making her look back up at him. "No, I'm sorry. I forgot that you didn't know any better." He gave her a tender smile. Akane smiled back. "Well, Ranma, you certainly have an interesting life." She gave a small chuckle. "And you certainly are a ladies man." Ranma's eyes flashed. "It's not like I asked for it! Whenever I try to fix it, they never listen! Why can't they just see that..." Akane looked up at him. She didn't know why, but her breath caught in her throat and hope filled her heart. *Hope? Hope for what?* she asked herself. "See what, Ranma?" she asked softly. He looked away. "Please tell me..." "That I...that we..." He shook his head. *Does she want to be with me? DID she want to be with me?* He looked into her hope filled eyes. It was the same look she had every time he had come close to admitting SOME feeling for her. The same look that died when they were interuppted. He took in a shuddering breath, trying to calm his nerves. He focused on her eyes, the way her hand felt in his, the sensation of her thumb rubbing against his hand shooting up his arm. "That WE want to be with each other, and no one else?" Akane blushed bright red and looked down at their entwined hands. "Oh Ranma..." A silence passed between them. "But..." She hesitated. "But what, Akane?" Ranma looked a little scared. "Shouldn't we wait a bit. I mean, I don't remember ANYthing about you. And I'm probably different from the Akane you know. Shouldn't...shouldn't we see if we like each other first?" Ranma smiled. "I'd like that Akane. That's probably a good idea..." His smile faded a little, his eyes beginning to cloud over. Akane noticed and gave his hand a little squeeze. "What's the matter?" Her eyes dropped a little, but she forced herself to stay awake. Something was bothering the only comfortable person she met since she woke up. She was a bit surprised at how much it upset her when she saw the troubled look on Ranma's face. Ranma was stayed silent, thinking. Akane waited patiently, but the silence and the warmth of his had was making her sleepier. She felt herself beginning to nod off, waiting for Ranma to say something. Ranma, however, didn't notice, as he was lost in his thoughts. Finally, just as sleep was about to engulf Akane, Ranma answered softly. "But what if you end up liking someone else?" His focus went back onto the girl on the bed. He smiled. *Sleeping like a baby.* He began to pull his hand out of hers when she pulled it against her chest. "Don't..." she mumbled, on the brink of sleep. "I love you...stay with me..." Ranma's eyes widened, frozen in his chair. After a few moments of silence except for the soft breathing of a sleeping Akane, Ranma smiled softly at the slumbering girl. He softly pushed her to one side of the hospital bed and climbed in next to her. His hand still held to her chest, he gave her a butterfly kiss on her head and rested his on the pillow next to her. "I'll stay with you. I promise. I love you too, Akane." @->-- TO BE CONTINUED...