After all the C&C I got, I decided to fix a couple things. For example Ranma is much more in character (I hope) and corrected most of the grammar mistakes. The Night After - Confession of Ranma's Love By Lord Archive Note: ( ) denotes what Ranma is thinking, and is not said. It is late at night and Ranma was resting on the roof of the Tendo home above Akane's room. He was deep in thought over the events of the past few days. (We were close, so close. But, the others had to interfere, and ruin it all. Why couldn't they just step aside. They just didn't know how much I wanted this. Hell, I didn't know I wanted it. Not until it was already ruined.) Ranma thought, as he remembered an event from the previous day. ------- In the Tendo dinning room shortly after Soun has called off the wedding due to damages to the house and dojo. The Tendos and Saotomes were recuperating from the day's hectic events, except for Ranma and Akane, who, of course, were fighting. "Ranma this is all your fault!" howled Akane for the umpteenth time since the announcement that the wedding had been called off. "If you told me about the Nannichuan earlier I would have been in a better position to stop this mess." bellowed Ranma in reply. "It was all of your fiancées that crashed the wedding!" "Like it was my idea to invite them! I had nothing to do with that!" "You keep stringing them along! You should have given them their walking papers a long time ago!" Before Ranma could howl his reply to Akane's last statement, Nabiki interrupts by commenting, "The way you two are fighting, one would think you wanted to get married." "Yeah, so what's your point Nabiki?" Ranma said while glaring at Nabiki, before he really considering his reply. Ranma realize the scope of what he said only after the room went into stunned silence, as everyone stared at him. "Ra..Ra..Ranma, do you really mean it? Did you really want to marry me?" spoke a shocked Akane. "Do you think I would say that, if I didn't mean it?" replied Ranma a bit defensively. Becoming very uncomfortable with the idea of what Akane's next question will be, he said, "I'm tired, I'm going to bed." Ranma got up and left. "Ranma" he faintly heard Akane say as he made his way to his room. ---------- (I guess a good portion to blame for this is mine. I should have told my other fiancées the truth. Told them that I didn't want to marry them, that I didn't love them. But, if I told them what I thought was the truth back then, I would have told her a lie. I just did not realize just what I felt about her. Not until I thought I lost her, when she almost died in China. But when she asked me later how I felt, I denied it. Why? Why couldn't I tell her then? I'm a coward when it comes to expressing how much I care for other people. I don't want to appear weak to others by my expressing those feelings. That's what I keep telling myself. But, I'm afraid. Afraid I will be rejected. Afraid if I told her what I truly feel about her, she'll respond the same way as Shampoo does to Mousse. Hated. Why am I afraid she'll reject me though? Sure, she's expressed some hostility towards me, but usually after I did or said something stupid. But, she sure seemed happy this morning...) ---------- "We're off." cheered Akane as she and Ranma left for school. Ranma smiled at the sight of the Akane. She was very happy and had that smile that always seemed to melt his heart. While the smile never left his face, Ranma was lost in thought. So lost in thought, he didn't realize he was walking next to Akane and not on the fence. At least not until she asked him "What are you thinking about, Ranma?" "Huh? What did you say?" replied Ranma as he lost his train of thought as it switched to,(Man she is uncute, 'cause she is so beautiful.) "What are you thinking about?" "Oh, I was just thinking about some stuff." "Like what?" Akane never got her answer as Kuno choose this moment to make his entrance. Kuno's persistence delayed them enough that they have to run to class or be late. ---------- (I hope she was happy because of what I said the day before, and not because the wedding was canceled. I wish I knew how she felt about me. I think she might love me, she seemed almost eager to marry me. But if she loved me, wouldn't she trust me, or at least not try to feed me the toxic waste she calls food. And what is with that hammer? Would she hit me if she loved me? I don't know. I want to know. I have to know. I won't get any peace of mind about this until I find out how she feels about me. But doing so, I'm probably going to have to tell her how I feel about her. I'm just going to have to face my fears and find out, tomorrow. Might as well check to see if she's okay.) Ranma got up and walked towards the part of the roof that was directly above Akane's bedroom window. Ranma knelt down and flipped down in a fluid motion that placed him face to face with Akane. "A.. Akane." Ranma said as his feet lost hold and he fell off the roof. He instinctively reached out and grabbed the window ledge. He started to pull himself up. "What do you think you're doing?" asked Akane in a voice confused at being delighted or angry at seeing him. (Might as well try to talk to her now. Less chance of someone else listening in.) "It's just that I wanted to see if you're awake. I ahh wanted to talk to you about some stuff." "Start talking." "Um Akane, well, er... I... Can I come in first? " Ranma began nervously. "You're not going to try to do anything perverted? Are you?" "No.. No, all I want to do is talk. Okay?" "All right, but one false move and you go flying." she said as she helped him inside. (Great. She is threatening me. This is not a good sign.) Once inside she asked, "So what did you want to talk about?" "I ahh... I just wanted to say... I.. I... I'm sorry." he finally said as he sat down on Akane's bed. (That's it start small, it might help to make a big finish.) "Sorry about what?" she asked as she sat down on the other side of her bed. "Sorry for hurting you, by stringing along my other fiancées. I should have told them a while ago that I didn't want to marry them." "Well, we can fix that situation now. Can't we?" "Sure... Sure we can." he said smiling. (This is a good sign.) "Are you sorry you didn't marry me yesterday?" she asked with a smile. "Um... Yes." he replied. (She's smiling. She's smiling! That must means she feels the same way. Tell her how you feel about her. You may not get a better chance.) "Akane, I.. I... I'm also sorry about lying to you yesterday." "What did you say was a lie?" "Umm when you, well you know... asked if I... I... l.. lo... loved you, and I... um... denied it." he said as he looked into her large, tear filled eyes. "D... Does that mean y... you lo.. love me?" "Y.. Y... Yes... I... I... d... do. I... I... d... do l... l... lo... love y... you." A long moment passed, and Akane was speechless. He felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. (Why? Why isn't she saying anything?) Akane finally replied, "Ra.. Ra.. Ranma, you have no idea how long I waited for you to say that. I... I love you too." She immediately embraced Ranma, who quickly returned the hug. He broke the embrace first. She backed with a confused look on her face, but smiled as he leaned toward her. He kissed her and went into another embrace, one that neither of them wanted to end anytime soon. ******************************* Author's note: If case you haven't guess this story takes place the night after the end of the Manga series. This is the second draft of this fic. I have revised this in an attempt to make Ranma more in character (he was much quicker in saying I love you in the previous version), add a touch of humor, and to fix many of the grammar mistakes. I give my thanks Freemage for the grammar help, and to all those that sent me C&C. I will bow to suggestions and not make a Lemon sequel (but I do plan on making a Lemon short as soon as I figure out a good believable plot). If I make sequels to this fic, I will do each from a different character's point of view about the events from the end of manga or events the happened earlier in the series. If I get around to making sequels, the next one will be Akane's version of this night. Legal babble: Ranma 1/2 and all characters involved belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Video, ect... I am just borrowing the characters, I will give them back. (Well maybe not Ukyou ;) Please give me C&C or even a MSTing of this story. If you wish to reply in private mail contact me at archive@mich.com