Chapter 1. Jusendo and Jusenkyo

Once again, Ranma Saotome had been victorious in battle, but at a terrible cost. For the first time ever, he had been forced to kill an opponent. The only way to stop Saffron, the only way to save Akane, had been to literally tear the Phoenix avatar into pieces. Yet it was all for naught. A hollow victory. Saffron was reborn. Akane was dead.

Ranma couldn't believe that he had failed. He was frantically checking Akane's body for vital signs and finding nothing. No pulse. No heartbeat. No breath. It seemed that Saffron would have vengeance after all. Ranma felt as though his heart was ripping in half, as torn apart metaphorically as Saffron's body had been physically.

Off to the side the others stood quietly, heads bowed. It seemed incomprehensible that after such an epic battle, after so much sacrifice, that Akane's life was not restored. They watched as Ranma pulled off his shirt and tenderly pulled it onto her, covering her nudity for her own dignity, heedless of the silently watching witnesses. They could tell that he was murmuring words to her, too quietly to be overheard. Mousse began to wonder if Ranma might take his own life, in order to follow his fiancée Akane Tendo into death.

Burning tears dripped down Ranma's cheeks, falling onto the lifeless face of the girl in his arms. His throat was raw as he tried to form the words he had never been able to tell her. “Wake up, Akane. There's something I need to tell you. I've waited too long to say it, but it can't wait another moment. Akane? Can't you hear me? Please, Akane. I need you ... to hear me now ... I wanted to tell you ...” There was no response. There would never be a response. He couldn't continue, couldn't say the words, knowing it was too late. They screamed through his mind, tearing his spirit as they went. ‹I wanted to tell you that ... I love you!›. One word forced itself past the block, one word, razor edged, glittering sharp, shredding his throat and his heart as it flew past. One word, her name. “Akane!” It emerged as a soul-searing scream, with all of the force of his vast reserves of ki behind it, shaking the leaves on trees over a kilometer away.

A whisper, an impossible whisper, reached his ears. “Ranma?” Her eyelids fluttered and opened. She looked up into the grief ravaged face of the young man she knew so well, wondering at his pain. Weakly, she managed to raise fingertips to trace the tears on his cheeks.

Incredulously, he opened his eyes and stared, half afraid that it was only a phantasm of his desires, wondering if his recent ordeals had driven him mad. “A-Akane? How?” He realized the answer didn't matter, all that mattered was that it was true, she was alive. A broad grin appeared on his face, his face that he had thought would never hold a smile again. Ranma crushed her to his body, shouting for all the world to hear, “You're alive! Thank God, you're alive!”

“I ... I heard you,” she whispered, her mouth near his ear. “I don't know where I was, but I heard you. I heard everything. And I knew that I had to come back.”

‹Everything?› Ranma wondered, bewildered by the weight of meaning she put into the word. ‹What does she mean? I didn't say anything meaningful, didn't manage to say the most important thing of all. All I managed at the end was to scream her name.›

Hearing Ranma's joyful declaration, the others came running, unable to believe it was true. Yet it was, her eyes were open and looking at Ranma. Ryoga knocked Ranma down in his eagerness to get to Akane and welcome her back to life.

“Akane, you're alive! You really are alive!” Ryoga shouted, holding her shoulders and shaking her to emphasize his joy at her recovery.

“Yes, Ryoga, I know,” she said, forcing the words past teeth gritted with pain. “But could you please let go? I'm not exactly feeling at my best, right now.” Shamefaced but still jubilant, Ryoga released her, making room for the others. Mousse, Plum, Plum's father, the panda, even Shampoo, all gathered around Akane in awe at her miraculous recovery. In their preoccupation, they paid little mind to the Phoenix people, collecting their newly hatched and reborn lord, Saffron. The former enemies flew off, seeing no point to further battle.

Ranma lay where he'd fallen on the ground, pondering Akane's words. She couldn't have heard his profession of love, since he had not managed to force the words out. So what had she meant? She must have heard him say that he had something to tell her, and now she would expect him to do so. But could he? Already he felt his resolve slipping away, evaporating in the face of her probable rejection. How could she ever love a cursed freak such as himself?

Listening to Mousse and Plum congratulating Akane in the background, hearing her respond, Ranma tried to focus on what he should do next.

He clenched his fists, fighting himself, trying to screw his courage to the sticking place, to finally tell her how he felt. What did it matter if she couldn't return his affection? But he couldn't lie to himself. It did matter.

‹I can't. I just can't. I couldn't bear to hear her tell me that she'll never love me.› He looked over to where Akane sat with her back propped against a rock, face pale, wearing only his shirt. ‹Coward!› he screamed at himself. ‹A moment ago you were in agony because you had never dared to tell her. Now you have her back and you're afraid to? You're going to refuse because you're afraid? I thought that Ranma Saotome wasn't scared of anything!› He picked up a pebble and listlessly crushed it to dust between his fingers. ‹Yeah, I ain't scared of anything. Except for cats, and water, and having my heart broken.›

He looked over to see Ryoga talking quietly to Akane, smiling at her, she smiling back at him. A flare of jealousy roared through him, despite the help Ryoga had recently provided. ‹How dare he? How dare he act like that around Akane, after the way he's dishonored her? If I could only break my promise and tell her, she'd smash him into paste!› As he continued to watch the scene, the jealousy quieted and his eyes turned sad, wishing that he could talk to her like that, tell her how he really felt.

At that moment Akane turned her head a little and saw Ranma gazing at her, looking sad. She wondered what he was feeling, what he was thinking; wondered why he had not yet reaffirmed the words of love she had heard him say. She smiled at him, trying to give him a little encouragement, hoping that he would come over and talk to her, tell her what she wanted, needed, to hear.

Ranma saw that smile directed at him and felt his heart melt. It was her beautiful smile that he had first fallen in love with, from the very day he met her, although he had been unable to admit it then, even to himself. Her smile was the reason that none of the other girls had ever been able to capture his attention. The memory of that smile, and the hope of seeing it again in the future, was a prize with which no one else could compete.

Her smile gave him strength now, and he felt resolve grow within him once more. ‹Afraid I may be, but I will not be a coward. I will face this, I will tell her how I feel, and damn the consequences.› He got up and took the few steps necessary to crouch down beside her, taking Akane's hand in his and looking into her eyes. Without looking to either side, he said, “I'd appreciate it if the rest of you would leave us alone for a while.”

Mousse smiled, and started to step away. Ryoga hesitated, feeling old animosity for his rival, and the habitual desire to convince Akane that he, Ryoga, was the one worthy of her, as Ranma could never be. However, Mousse reached down and grabbed the shoulder of Ryoga's shirt, pulling the perpetually lost boy up and walking away with him, herding Shampoo at the same time. The panda followed Shampoo, and Plum and her father walked away behind him. Mousse made sure to go a distance sufficient to allow the other two their privacy, and said softly to Ryoga, but just loudly enough for Shampoo to also hear, “I thought you had decided to give up on her. You know that she loves Ranma, and he loves her. If anyone could possibly have doubted that before, what happened with Saffron should be more than sufficient proof. She gave her life for him. And he risked his to save her, battling and killing a ... whatever Saffron was.” Ryoga scowled and kicked at some stones, hating to admit the truth even now. Shampoo's eyes were clouded, turning back to look at the couple.

Ranma was still holding Akane's hand and staring into her eyes, but had not yet spoken. Akane tentatively tried to prompt him with his name. “Ranma ...?”

The young martial artist dropped his eyes down into his lap, and spoke quietly. “A little while ago, you said you heard ‘everything.’ What did you mean?”

Akane smiled gently. “I meant that I heard everything you said, just before I ... came back. You know, about ... love?”

Ranma's face screwed up in puzzlement. “But I didn't say it.”

Akane's mouth popped open and her eyes widened in pain. She couldn't believe that he was denying his feelings for her again. It was like this every time, he'd say something halfway sweet, and then he'd turn around and deny it or make as if it was just a joke. If she'd had the strength, she would have jumped up and run off, trying to get away. “You ... you ... how could you?” She burst into tears.

Ranma was appalled at what his stupid mouth had done. It was as if he had a second curse, one which would never allow him to say what he really meant, always picking his words to cause the maximum trouble or pain instead.

“Akane ... wait ... wait! I didn't mean it like that. Please, listen!”

She refused to look at him, but got the tears under control. In a heartbroken voice, she said, “Never mind, Ranma. I understand. You could never love an uncute, unsexy tomboy like me. I'm sorry you were put to so much trouble saving my life.” She sniffled.

“Akane, listen!” ‹Think fast and get it right for once, baka!› he shouted at himself internally. “Akane, I ... I don't know how you heard me but ... I love you. I do, I love you. I've loved you for some time now, but just haven't been able to admit it, not even to myself. I ... I can't bear the thought of not being with you. I want to be with you,” His voice broke, but he didn't stop to clear his throat. If he didn't say it now, he might never say it. “... now and forever. I need you, I don't think that I could survive without you. When I thought you were dead a little while ago ... I only wanted to lie down and die beside you, so that we could still be together. Please, I love you.”

Akane had looked up during this speech, staring at him through her still red and glistening eyes. “You ... you do?”

Ranma nodded his head. Having finally spoken the words, he decided that they bore repeating. “Yes. I love you. I love you, now and forever.”

Akane threw her arms around him, holding him close, as though she never wanted to let him go again. “Baka! Why did you deny it then? Why did you tell me you hadn't said it?”

Ranma pulled back just enough to look her in the face, still holding her firmly. He sighed. “You know me, whenever I need to say anything important, I'm practically guaranteed to make it sound wrong. All I meant was ... before you opened your eyes, I was thinking those words. Thinking them, though I couldn't say them. I had waited to say them until it was too late. But I did scream them inside my head. If you heard me then somehow, wherever you were, you heard what I was thinking, not what I was saying. That's what I meant by ‘I didn't say it’.”

“Oh,” she said quietly, then buried her face against his neck. “You do though? You really do? Love me?”

“Yes, Akane, I do. I love you. I'll always love you.” He paused, uncertain how to put his next question. “And, um, you? I mean do you, well ... do you feel ...” He stopped, too embarrassed to ask outright if she loved him too.

Akane giggled against his neck. “Sorry, Ranma. I guess that I was as scared to tell you as you were to tell me.” She put her lips beside his ear and whispered. “I love you, Ranma Saotome, with all my heart and all my soul.”

Ranma stuttered his next question nervously. “So does that ... uh ... mean that you ... um ... really would like to get married? Someday?”

Akane giggled again. “Yes, baka. But I expect you to ask me that again once we're back in Japan, and you'd better have a ring ready when you do.” She turned a little to the side, allowing herself to relax in his arms, keeping one of her arms around him but mainly just allowing Ranma to hold her. She was still exhausted after her ordeal, and it was hard to stay awake. Without looking up at him, she asked, “So does that mean you don't mind the idea of marrying an uncute, unsexy tomboy?”

Ranma groaned. “Come on, give me a break here! I admit that I've said some pretty stupid things in the past, but in my defense, I'm not the only one at fault. On the one hand, we've got our fathers doing everything they can to see us wed, whether we want to be or not. On the other, you've said some pretty cutting things yourself. And, I'll admit, pretty often I've been the baka that you call me.

“But if you must know, you are neither uncute nor unsexy. Tomboy though ... well, that's part of who you are, what I like about you. You're not only beautiful, but you're athletic, you're into martial arts, you like the sort of video games and manga that I do. Things like that. Hell, as far as I'm concerned, you're the most beautiful tomboy that I know, especially when you smile.” She was smiling now.

“Mmmm,” she responded sleepily. “Ranma, when I wake up, would you please tell me again so that I'll know it wasn't a dream? I don't think that I can stay awake any longer.” She settled back further into his arms, and shortly her breathing became deep and regular and he knew that she had in fact fallen asleep. Making an effort not to disturb her, he turned his head and caught Mousse's eye. The Chinese boy silently moved closer.

“Mousse,” he whispered, “can you and the others see about setting up a camp for us nearby? I don't want to wake Akane, and I have a feeling that she's going to sleep through 'til morning.” The other boy nodded his head and left to do as asked, taking everyone else with him.

A couple of hours later, Mousse returned to inform Ranma that the camp was ready. He had other news to relate as well. Genma Saotome, Ranma's father, was once more restored from panda to human form. Also Shampoo had finally tired of Genma following her everywhere, as panda or man, and had released him from the mental imprinting which had made him slave to her every whim.

Cognizant of Ranma's recent bout, Mousse offered to take Akane and carry her to their camp, but Ranma waved him off. Moving very carefully, continuing to hold his sleeping fiancée close, Ranma stood. Following the Chinese boy, he hiked slowly away from the wreck of Jusendo mountain, to a clearing beside a stream where the camp had been set up. Shampoo scowled at the sight of Ranma entering the clearing with Akane in his arms. She strode angrily forward, intent on making a scene, but Ranma glared her into silence.

Mousse continue to lead him toward the tents, holding the flap of one open. Ranma quietly deposited Akane on a bedroll inside this tent, while thinking over the looks he had just exchanged with the young Amazon female outside. He realized that it was time for a long overdue confrontation. When Ranma emerged, he motioned for Shampoo to follow him and he led her a short distance from camp. Mousse followed discreetly, staying back a little.

Shampoo smiled with happy expectation. “Is airen ready come home with Shampoo? Village close now. Shampoo and Ranma go home together, raise many strong warriors.”

Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache coming on. “No Shampoo, I am not coming home with you, now or ever. I love Akane, and I'm going to marry her.”

Shampoo gasped, and shook her head in denial. “No! Ranma no love violent girl. Airen can't. Love Shampoo. Law say must marry.”

Ranma spoke quietly but forcefully. “That's your law, Shampoo, not mine. I do not love you. I have never loved you, and I never will love you. I will not marry you, ever. The only girl I'm going to marry is Akane.”

Shampoo's features clouded over, and her eyes narrowed. “Akane obstacle. Obstacle is for killing.” With a look of determination, she turned back toward the camp.

Ranma grabbed her shoulder, growling. He was fed up with the inability of this girl to see reason, with her willingness to kill the one he loved and somehow think he would still marry her. His mind recalled an image from yesterday, of Shampoo prepared to break Akane's shrunken body, dooming her to death. He forced Shampoo to turn around and face him, and she nearly whimpered at the look in his eyes. He saw Mousse start forward, but then hesitate, so Ranma ignored him for now.

“That's quite enough, Shampoo,” he said in a voice which would have sounded cold on the surface of Pluto. “This farce ends now. It is you who are the obstacle, an obstacle to my happiness. In case you haven't been paying attention, allow me to point out that Saffron stood between me and saving Akane's life. Because of that, Jusendo mountain was destroyed, and I killed Saffron, never guessing that he could return to life. If you threaten Akane again, you will die; I swear this on my honor as a martial artist. I will not tolerate your interference in my life any longer. As you say, your village is nearby. Go home, Shampoo. Go home, and find some other guy who wants you, for most surely I do not.”

Shampoo stood there quivering, eyes looking at her feet. “But Shampoo love Ranma.”

His voice was still icy, offering no hope to her. “Yeah, right. Have you ever even seen me? Who I am? What I want? If you did love me, if you cared for me even a little, then you would care about what I want. In any event, it doesn't matter. At the risk of being repetitive, I do not love you. I cannot love you. You want something from me that I cannot give to you. It is time for you to learn the hard lesson that you cannot have everything that you want.”

Shampoo had not moved. In a forlorn voice, she pleaded, “Council will punish Shampoo.” In despair, looking up through her lashes, she saw that Ranma was unmoved by her fate. He stood watching her with cold eyes.

Mousse moved closer, and shook his head over this, drawing Ranma's attention by the movement. The male Amazon was torn. Shampoo had once been the proudest warrior of the village, and it troubled him deeply to hear her resort to such tactics, unworthy of her and her training. He could not bear to hold his silence any longer. “Yes, that is so,” he admitted, ostensibly addressing Shampoo but pitching his voice to include Ranma. “You will be forced to work alongside the men of the village through the next harvest. The greater punishment is the loss of face you will experience from admitting defeat.”

Shampoo glared at Mousse, her expression promising retribution. She was angry both for the truth he had told and that in the saying, he had removed her last hold over Ranma. As for Ranma himself, he felt no pity for the Chinese girl, had felt none even before Mousse's declaration. The entire situation was of Shampoo's making. It was fitting that she should bear the punishment for it. “Shampoo, remain here. I will not have you back at our camp. Mousse, come with me. You can pick up your things and Shampoo's. Then I want both of you to leave. Don't take this the wrong way, but I really hope that I never see either of you again.” Mousse nodded, and followed Ranma back to the camp. Shampoo started crying, but stayed where she was, too frightened of what she had seen in Ranma's eyes to risk defying him again.

Left alone, Shampoo ransacked her brain for words she might say to change Ranma's mind, to soften his abruptly hardened heart. Then she saw that she wasn't even to be given the chance to try. Her heart breaking, she observed Mousse walking toward her alone, carrying their packs. Ranma was not with him; apparently he had no intention of even saying a final good-bye. She looked through the trees and saw the object of her desire standing back at the edge of the camp, staring at her, his arms folded in front of his chest. She realized that he would not tolerate her approach right now. Her only choices were to either do as he asked and go home in defeat, or to trail behind them as they made their way back to Japan, hoping to find some way to change his mind.

But even as she began to consider the latter, to plan new schemes, a spark of pride awoke in Shampoo's breast. She was a warrior of the Joketsuzoku! She felt sudden contempt that she would lower herself to even consider crawling after a male like some weak outsider female. In that moment she found the strength inside her to accept that he had made his decision, that he would never love her. Resolutely, she turned away from Ranma, turning her face toward the village of which she had seen so little for the last two years. To her surprise, she felt a spark of happiness that she was finally going home, even with the knowledge of her failure and the promised punishment looming in her near future.

After Shampoo and Mousse disappeared from sight, Ranma turned around to see Ryoga watching him. “So you really did it, huh?” Ryoga asked. “Told Shampoo that you would never have her, that you want Akane?”

“Yeah, Ryoga. I've told Akane that I love her, and that I want to marry her.” Ranma watched wearily as Ryoga's eyes closed in pain.

After a minute Ryoga cleared his throat huskily, and said, “You'd better take damn good care of her, Ranma, or else I'll show up and clobber your ass.” Ranma merely nodded, and after a moment Ryoga went on. “Besides, I've been thinking that it's time to see whether things can work out between Akari and me. Do you, uh, suppose that we could swing by her farm on the way back to Nerima? I'm afraid that I might not find it on my own.”

“Will do, Ryoga. In fact, I'll be happy to do that. I don't want you coming by the Tendos' house as P-chan anymore.” Ranma paused thoughtfully, and then continued. “In fact, I want you to release me from my promise to you. If Akane and I are going to marry, we can't have a huge secret like this between us. She has to know about P-chan. I don't suppose you'd do the honorable thing and tell her yourself?”

Ryoga looked horrified at the thought, and shook his head.

Ranma sighed. “Then I'll have to do it myself. I'll hold off on telling her until after we drop you off at Akari's, but I have to tell Akane the truth.”

Ryoga looked frightened, but the determination in the other boy's face made it clear that Ranma was finally ready to tell Akane the truth, promise or no promise. ‹Besides,› he admitted to himself, ‹Ranma's right. If he's going to marry Akane, then he can't keep that from her.› With a heavy sigh he looked off to the side and said, “Yeah, you're right. Okay, man, I release you from your promise to keep my curse a secret. Go ahead and tell Akane the truth. I'll try to stay away from the two of you. I imagine that would be best for my health, anyway, after you tell her.”

Ryoga wandered over to help Plum and her father where they stood beside the fire, preparing to cook a meal. Genma was standing off to one side, staring out at nothing but remembering everything that Shampoo had made him do while he was under her control. He was seriously considering shifting back to his panda form, in which he could often ignore human concerns, such as embarrassment and honor.

Being careful not to disturb Akane, Ranma crept into the tent and knelt beside his sleeping fiancée. She looked so peaceful there, lying almost too still, but her cheeks were rosy with life, and he could hear her quiet breathing. ‹I gotta feeling I'm gonna have a new set of nightmares to add to the neko-ken training and the day I got my curse,› he thought to himself. He slipped out of the tent, found his bedroll, then brought it back and spread it out beside Akane. ‹I don't care what the others think. I'm going to make sure that I'm here beside her when she wakes up.›

Ranma came back out when called for dinner, and ate his meal in silence. No one else seemed very inclined to conversation either, all feeling overwhelmed by the events of the day, although they gave Ranma numerous sidelong glances. After all, it wasn't every day that one got to witness a teenage boy destroy a mountain and kill an immortal being, however temporarily. When dinner was over, everyone but Genma wandered off to their tents and bedrolls, and Ranma decided to take the opportunity for a quiet discussion with his father.

“Pop? Akane and I have decided to marry.” His father's eyes widened in amazement, amazement almost immediately replaced with the gleam of self interested scheming, and Ranma hurried on before the old man could say something stupid. “I'd like your promise that you'll leave us alone to get married when we're ready, and not try another stupid stunt like that attempted wedding before this mess started. If you'll do that for me, then I promise you won't have to wait very long. That goes for Akane's dad too. You need to make sure that Tendo-san understands, that he doesn't interfere with us either. In other words, if both of you will just be a little patient and give us some time and space, then the two of you will finally get your wish, and ‘the schools will be united.’ Okay?”

Genma was too weary to dance around for joy, so instead took the time to consider his son's words. He also remembered some of the more foolish things he had done recently, even if some of them had been performed under mental coercion. Clearing his throat, he spoke with deliberate gravity. “Very well, boy. So long as you keep your word not to put it off too long, I promise that we'll let you set your own pace. And I'll try to convince Tendo and your mother as well.”

“Thanks, pop.” Ranma got up, feeling more tired than he could ever remember, and entered the tent once more. Pulling off his pants, he lay down on his side so he could look at Akane's face as he tried to go to sleep. Unexpectedly, he realized that tears were running down his face. He irritably brushed them away. ‹What is this? I never cry as a guy, only as a girl. That's twice in one day.› He placed his hand gently on Akane's wrist, where he could feel her pulse, as the campfire outside started to die down and it became too dark to see.

Mercifully he was too exhausted for dreams of any sort that night, and the next thing he knew he was waking up to daylight and birdsong. He opened his eyes to see that Akane's eyes were already open, looking back at him and smiling.

“Good morning, Ranma,” she said quietly, but warmly.

His voice was more tender than customary when he responded. “Good morning, Akane. I love you, now and forever. I want to marry you, and stay with you always.”

Tears glistened in her eyes as she reached over to stroke his cheek gently. “You remembered,” she whispered. “Thank you. I love you too, with all my heart and all my soul, and I want to marry you as well.” Hesitantly, feeling very unsure of herself, she moved her face closer to his.

Ranma nearly panicked as he realized her intention, but he mentally swatted himself upside the head and shouted, ‹What are you waiting for, jerk!› Tentatively he moved his own face forward, and their lips met softly, sharing their first kiss. They both felt the world shatter, and mold itself into a new form, one which could accommodate the concept of their sharing such an intimacy. Reluctantly they parted, looking at one another in awe, and then simultaneously decided that this was an experiment worth trying again. They continued for some time, until biological necessity insisted that it was time to get up.

A short time later they were outside, making a breakfast of some leftovers from the previous evening. Both Genma and Ryoga were still asleep, their snores combining to make an awful racket, and they could also just make out some splashing sounds that Plum was making upstream. “So what happened after I fell asleep yesterday?” Akane wanted to know.

“Not much,” Ranma responded. “I sent the others off to make camp so I wouldn't have to wake you and could put you to bed. Oh, and I told Shampoo that I was going to marry you, and that I wanted her and Mousse to go home to their village. They left shortly after.”

Akane stared at him in disbelief. “She's gone? You mean it? Shampoo really gave up, and she's gone? I don't believe it.”

Ranma smirked. “Well you'd better believe it, 'cause they really are gone.” His face fell a little. “Of course, that means that I'm the one who's going to have to break the news to Cologne when we get back to Japan. Just the thought I needed to make my day.”

Akane shook her head, still having trouble wrapping her mind around this concept. “It just seems so impossible. She's been chasing you and threatening me for so long, to just have her ... go, like that.” She looked up at him, her eyes fierce. “Don't get me wrong. I'm glad that she's gone. It just seems so unlike her, to give up like that.”

Ranma cleared his throat nervously. “Well, yeah, except I think maybe you're forgetting yesterday. What I did. And the fact that I did it to protect you. I think that Shampoo finally realized that I'd been pushed as far as I could be, and that a limit had been reached that would have been dangerous to pass. So yeah, she's gone home to face her punishment, which by the way, it turns out isn't as serious as she always pretended that it would be.”

Ranma thought for a moment more, and then told her. “One other thing from last night. I had a talk with pop, told him we've decided to get married. But I told him that we had to work our way up to marriage at our own rate. Without interference from him, or from your dad. I asked him to convince your father that they should leave us alone for a while. He agreed, as long as we don't take too long. Which shouldn't be a problem, as I really don't want to wait too long any more. I just hope that you feel the same way.”

Akane reached out and placed a hand along his cheek, then smiled at him. “Don't worry, Ranma. I don't want to wait too much longer either. It's getting close to the end of the current school year. What would you say to summer break during our senior year? Or is that too soon?”

Ranma thought this over. Picking a specific date made the whole idea seem a lot more real, and that made him start feeling nervous. It was one thing to think of marrying her in the abstract, it was another thing entirely to contemplate the actual ceremony. On the other hand, he was done with dithering about this. It was time to be decisive, however nervous he might feel. “That sounds good. A Sunday at the end of July, maybe? We should probably talk to Kasumi before picking the exact day.”

Akane nodded happily. She could hardly believe that this was really happening. Ranma had finally told her that he loved her, they were planning to get married, and even deciding when. Granted the date they were discussing was over five months away, but they would both probably need that long just to get used to the idea. She wasn't going to fall into the trap of thinking that everything would be perfect from this moment forward, but for the first time she felt confident that things really would work out between them. Silently she shifted position to sit right at his side, putting her arms around him. As he engulfed her in his arms in turn, she closed her eyes and let out a little sigh of contentment, losing herself in the peace of the moment.

After Ryoga and Genma awoke and had some breakfast, Ranma told Akane to take it easy while they broke camp. She decided to head upstream and bathe where Plum had been doing so earlier. She came back wearing some of Ranma's spare clothes. His were really the best choice, as they had been chosen both to fit a girl a little shorter and bustier than herself, while also fitting a boy taller and, well, a lot less busty than herself. Admittedly, it felt a bit strange to be wearing boxers, let alone his boxers, but it was a lot better than walking around in a shirt and nothing else. She also liked the way, when she first appeared wearing them, that Ranma stared at her and licked his suddenly dry lips, before nervously resuming what he was doing. Without speaking she walked over to the remains of their fire and started dumping dirt over the ashes.

Just before they left, it started to rain. Ryoga whipped out his umbrella as the first drops started to fall, and offered to let Plum ride him, ahem, piggyback, so that she could stay dry, an offer which she accepted. The others accepted their wet fate, with Ranma and Genma shifting to their cursed forms. Ranma forced Akane to climb up onto his back as well, as she was still too exhausted from her recent recovery for an extended hike. The panda shouldered both his own pack and Ranma's. With that, they left Jusendo behind.

Later that day, when they reached the floor of Jusenkyo valley, they found that between the pouring rain and the gushing of water from the broken dragon under Jusendo, that the pools had flooded. The bottom of the valley was little more than a large lake, and the waters of the cursed springs had all mixed together. Ranma, Ryoga and Genma all stared morosely at the view, knowing that they had once again lost an opportunity to bathe in the waters of the Nanniichuan and so remove their curses. Akane walked up to onna-Ranma, and placed a hand gently on the redhead's shoulder.

Ranma spoke contemplatively as he looked out over the waters. “Geez, can you believe this? After coming so far, I'd forgotten all about restoring my body to normal. All I cared about was getting the cold cursed water for you, Akane. I'm not sure when, but I guess somewhere along the line, I just stopped caring about my cure. I suppose in the end, I understand that my girl side was always a part of me anyway. Maybe it was never a curse to be cured to begin with.”

Akane almost felt like crying, knowing that Ranma was only putting on a brave front. It wasn't that the curse mattered that much to her anymore; after all, she had never known Ranma without it. But she knew, better than anyone, how deeply disappointed he was at this moment, how badly he wanted to be a whole man again. She squeezed his shoulder lightly, and said, “I love you, Ranma. With or without the curse, you're the only man for me. I hope you find your cure one day, for your sake, but don't ever imagine that your curse will affect how I feel about you.” Ranma reached up to his shoulder and placed his hand tenderly on top of hers.

They stayed with the Jusenkyo guide and his daughter Plum that night. Akane gently but firmly told Ranma that he was not to sleep in her room or tent again until after they were married. That night, as he had half-expected, Ranma awoke in terror from a nightmare in which the battle of Jusendo was replayed, except that this time he had been too late to save Akane's life. Unable to sleep until he proved to himself that she really was safe, Ranma quietly crept to where she was sleeping, and sat there for a long time listening to the sound of her breathing, gazing tenderly at the girl whom he had finally admitted he loved. Eventually, feeling reassured and growing sleepy once more, he returned to his own bed. Tomorrow they would start the journey back home.