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"Ranma?" Akane whispered his name like a prayer, and immediately he was there in front of her. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling him closer to her. His left arm remained around her waist while his right arm ventured upward, running his hands through her hair.
"Akane," he also said her name with reverence. His heart swelled with joy from their closeness. Still keeping his arm wrapped around her, he pulled away. Now his right thumb moved to brush over her lips. She sighed happily, and Ranma leaned in, ready, finally to-
The alarm went off. Ranma sat up and threw it across the room. The alarm survived the throw and kept ringing at him until he finally got out of his futon and turned it off. He was pissed. He had been enjoying that dream immensely and it was a shock to his system to be out of it now.
Both of his parents were gone, apparently already up for the day. Not unusual for Nodoka, but less usual for Genma. Sometimes the man liked to sleep in. Especially when he was in his panda form.
Ranma sighed and let his hair loose from his braid. He swept his fingers through, combing it, before braiding it back up again. The dream really had been a good one. Better than his current reality for sure.
Jusendo had been months ago. The failed wedding even more recent. For a while, Ranma had had nightmares about Akane not waking up. But eventually those settled and went away. But around the same time the nightmares stopped, Akane started pulling away from him.
They still walked to school together, but it was often in silence. They sat beside each other every meal, but the most Akane would say to him was to ask him to pass the soy sauce. She didn't run away from him, but she certainly didn't seek him out anymore. Which was a problem.
Ranma could be dense sometimes. But he knew how he felt. He was hopelessly in love with Akane. He just didn't know how to say it. She had asked him point blank before the attempted wedding, and he had implied she was wrong. He was still mentally kicking himself about that one. So the last few months, he had been attempting to right it. To tell her that yes, he absolutely loved her. But he couldn't get her alone. She would leave the dojo whenever he entered. When he would try to come to her room (whether by knocking or by trying to come in through the window), Akane would claim she had too much homework to hang out.
The dreams of Akane had started around the same time she started pulling away. It had made Ranma reconsider his feelings - after all, he had pursued Shampoo that one time just because she pulled away from him due to the Reversing Jewel. But no. Being honest with himself, he had always felt this way about Akane. His dreams were just showing him how it could be. Torturing him, really. He longed to make them a reality, but his dream self was a lot smoother than his waking self.
Honestly, he was a walking disaster when it came to real romance. He could fake it when he wasn't actually interested. But when it came to Akane, he had started getting all tongue tied. The only coherent words he could get out were things about the weather and...unfortunately, his usual insults. He was still calling her tomboy, implying her waist was too thick...all of the classic insults he always levied at her. He was a child trying to get attention by pulling on a girl's pigtails. He knew it wasn't right.
And Akane?
Akane had stopped reacting to it.
Last week when he called her a barrel, she had just smiled at him and walked away. It was a cold smile, not the reaction Ranma had been hoping for.
Something had to give, and soon, or he was never going to tell Akane the truth. Worse, if he got it out she might turn him down.
But what on Earth could he do to finally get the words out?
Shampoo checked and double checked her scroll before adding the next ingredient - the hair of a piglet. The pot on the stove let out a belch of steam all at once, before turning into an amber color. She checked her scroll and frowned. It wasn't quite there yet. She traced the instructions with her finger, then got to the last ingredient, and she actually laughed.
It called for another hair. From one who "contained both the cat and the vixen". She plucked a hair from her head, wincing a little from the pain, before adding it to the pot. The contents turned sky blue. Success!
"And what, exactly, is that?" Cologne came bounding in on her walking stick. Shampoo attempted to hide the scroll behind her back, but Cologne was much faster than Shampoo. She grabbed it out of her granddaughter's hands.
Cologne tsked as she read through the scroll. "I thought I told you not to try any more of these things on Ranma?"
Shampoo stiffened at her beloved's name. Not that long ago, Cologne had always referred to him as 'son-in-law'. Since Shampoo and the others had returned from China, Cologne had started only referring to him by name. "But great-grandmother! This will-"
"Will not have the effect you're hoping for," Cologne said dismissively. "You may as well just throw out the entire pot."
"Let me try!" Shampoo knew her voice was becoming whiny, but she was desperate. She had seen how Ranma looked when he thought Akane was gone. But she didn't want to face the truth. She wasn't ready to see it. So she sheltered her mind away from it, trying to come up with a plan that would make Ranma hers once and for all.
Cologne tapped a finger to her lips, considering. "Very well. I will not stand in your way. But this brew...If you brewed it correctly, you understand what will happen? Ranma will have no control over his body. It will act and react based on his will, on his wants. The mind will not rule over him. He could hurt someone, since he won't be able to school himself and use his mind to react."
"I am beautiful. If he sees me, I know he will react. His body will want me", Shampoo answered in Mandarin.
Cologne shrugged. "If this is what you want, I cannot stop you. But I don't think you are going to like the answers you find."
Akane sighed. She really wanted to talk to Ranma. She was sitting with her friends at lunch, trying to pay attention to the story Yuka was telling. But she couldn't. It was some boring story about a guy who hit on her the other day. Akane felt bad she wasn't interested, but any time someone brought up romantic things, her mind went to Ranma.
She felt a little bad she was ignoring him. But it was for her own sanity. He had implied at the wedding that she had dreamed up his love confession at Jusendo. Akane wanted to talk to him about it, to get confirmation. But since he was still acting like an asshole sometimes, she figured he was telling the truth. He didn't love her. She would talk to him again, eventually. When it finally stopped hurting and she could bring herself to free him from their engagement.
For right now, though, she pretended things were still the same. That this was just one of their usual quarrels, and tomorrow they would make up and things would go back to normal. The only problem with that, was that she had to continue ignoring him so she could pretend. The 'tomorrow' when they would make up could never come.
She glanced up, feeling eyes on her. Ranma was staring at her. He often was. It used to be that when she caught his eyes on him, he would blush and look away. He didn't do that any more. He would just stare at her, watching her sometimes. It felt like he was passing judgment on her. She turned her head away with a 'hmph' noise, so that he would know she was ignoring him.
She winced when she heard the sound of a bicycle bell. Sure enough, when she turned around to see Ranma, Shampoo had her bicycle parked on top of him.
"What are you doing under there?" Shampoo asked.
"I should be asking you what I'm doing under here!" Ranma hissed, pushing up against the ground so he was standing again and the bicycle went flying.
"You have not been by the restaurant in a while," Shampoo sounded sad, but she was smiling. Ranma frowned at her.
He had thought of Shampoo as a kind of annoying friend for a while. Then she had threatened Akane's life when Akane had been stuck in the form of a doll. Ranma had not forgiven Shampoo for that. He wasn't sure he ever would.
"Didn't want to go," Ranma crossed his arms and glared at her. Shampoo ignored it. She pulled a bottle from her cleavage - Ranma turned once he saw her starting to unbutton her dress.
"I bring a very tasty drink for you to try!"
She didn't wait for Ranma to respond. She pulled the cap off, grabbed him by the neck and propped the bottle to his lips. Ranma sputtered and tried to get away, but he couldn't figure out how to do it without accidentally hurting her. He may not be willing to forgive, but he never could stomach the idea of hurting a girl.
With little choice in the matter, Ranma drank down the entire bottle. Once it was empty, Shampoo released her hold on him.
The bright side was the liquid had actually tasted pretty great. Like lemon peels. But Ranma was wary of what kind of effect it was going to have on him. "Rest for a moment," Shampoo advised, "It will kick in soon."
"And what exactly is this going to do to him?" Akane had pushed her way through the school yard and was now next to Shampoo.
Shampoo's grin was cat-like. "I will show you," she purred, her arms going around Ranma's shoulders.
He paused for a moment. Stared at her.
Then he grabbed her by both wrists, spun her around and then threw her as hard as he could. Akane's eyes went wide. His reaction had been so much more violent than usual. Ranma stared down at his hands, confused.
"What the hell was that about, sugar?" Ukyo had also been watching the proceedings.
"I dunno," Ranma admitted. "Maybe it just...no. I don't know."
"Well, let's try something," Ukyo suggested. "She hugged you and you sent her flying. Let me try to hug you-"
"I don't want to hurt you!"
"I'll be fine," Ukyo reassured him. Akane glared at the pair, but said nothing. Ukyo repeated the same motion Shampoo had. She threw her arms around Ranma's shoulders. He didn't send her flying.
However...he did grab her hands and force them off of him. Then he patted her on the shoulder.
"I can't control my body..." Ranma opened and closed his fists. "Or at least not my reactions to things?" He sighed. "I don't know what's going on."
"Well, you didn't hurt her," Akane reasoned, "So you must be in more control than you think you are."
Ranma didn't get a chance to get another word out. He was relieved Akane was talking to him, but before he could say anything his body had already crossed the yard to Akane. He threw his arms around her and pulled her close.
"Uh. I. Uh..." Ranma stammered. Akane tensed in his arms.
"I guess you really don't have control, if you're hugging me," She sounded resigned, and Ranma winced at her words. But he didn't let go of her. Instead he rested his head on her shoulder, nuzzling in there.
"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I can't seem to control this. I...I'm not doing this on purpose."
"Of course you're not," Akane sighed. "I know you'd never do this to me."
Ranma couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth. That he absolutely did want this. His whole body felt warm. His heart thundered in his chest. And she smelled so good, her jasmine shampoo wafting toward him.
"Can you make yourself let go?" Akane finally asked. "I have to go to class soon."
Ranma's arms went up of their own volition. Akane glanced at him curiously before heading off to her next class.
"The hell was that about, Ran-chan?!" Ukyo demanded. "You throw Shampoo into another province, you give me a pat on the back like I'm just a pal and you hug Akane like the world will end if you don't?! What's wrong with you?!"
"Whatever Shampoo gave me...did something."
"Well obviously!" Ukyo had grabbed her spatula, but then seemed to think better of it. She put it away, deciding that Ranma probably hadn't chosen the actions he had taken. "But why would she give you something that makes you toss her away like garbage?"
"Indeed, why would she?" Ranma groaned, turning to see Mousse who was talking to a random student Ranma didn't know. "I can tell you the truth, Ranma!"
"Put your damn glasses on, you fool!" Ranma hissed, grabbing Mousse's glasses out of his robes and shoving them on Mousse's face. Mousse blinked a few times, grabbing his glasses to adjust them. "What do you know about what Shampoo did to me?"
Mousse smirked. "You really don't love her! She has to realize it now!"
"Honey, you're not making much sense," Ukyo said, slapping Mousse upside the head.<
"Shampoo brewed a potion. The Spirit of Will potion, specifically!"
"That sounds impressive," Ranma admitted, "But what the hell does it do?"
"Lemme see...I'm trying to remember what Cologne said it did, exactly," Mousse admitted, stroking his chin as he pondered.
"All that and you don't actually know what it does?!" Ranma grabbed Mousse by the robe.
"Ah!" Mousse pounded his fist into his open palm, "Now I remember! The Spirit of Will potion divorces the rational mind from the will. Your body only operates on instinct until it wears off. In other words, your mind can't stop you from doing what you actually want to do. That's why you were more violent with Shampoo than you usually are. You must be pretty angry with her. And for Ukyo-"
"I patted her on the shoulder cause she's a pal!" Ranma nodded. "Okay, that all makes sense-"
"Wait!" Ukyo interjected, "What does that mean about Akane, then?! You didn't hurt her or act like she was just a friend." Ukyo spat the last word like it was poison.
Ranma turned red.
"Well, he loves her, obviously," Mousse said dismissively. Ukyo blinked at him.
"And what makes you think that?!"
"Oh, that's right! You weren't in China with us!" Mousse nodded as though that explained everything. It of course, meant nothing to Ukyo. She hadn't even heard the tale from the others. None of them had wanted to talk about it when they came back.
"No," Ukyo said slowly. "I was not..."
"It made it very apparent to all of us. Ranma is in love with Akane Tendo."
Ukyo whirled on Ranma. "Is this true?"
Ranma ignored her. "Mousse, how long will this potion last for?"
"If she gave you the whole bottle? All day. Twenty-four hours."
"So I can just stay away from Akane-"
Mousse laughed at that. A big belly laugh that caused him to throw his head back. "I don't think the potion will let you. It acts on your wants, remember? And I think we all know by now that what you want is to be with Akane."
"I don't know that!" Ukyo shrieked. Right now things felt very unfair to her. Like she had lost a fight when no one had even told her the fight was happening.
Ranma, for his part, had already started walking off, his brain again losing control of his body. Ukyo grabbed him by the shirt and forced him back. Again, Ranma shocked himself - he twisted his body and threw Ukyo over so that she was now on the ground. She stared up at him, her eyes wide, her expression hurt. He mumbled a sorry, but then resumed his trek back to the classroom.
Ranma felt like a prisoner to his desires. Before he knew what was happening he had grabbed Akane from the room and jumped out a window, Akane shrieking and asking him what was happening the whole way down. Ranma ignored her. They hit the ground and he landed gracefully before taking off running again.
"Seriously, what is going on, Ranma?!" She demanded. But she made no effort to get out of his arms. He ignored her and kept running. Until they finally reached home. He took them inside the dojo, still holding her bridal style the entire time.
"Everyone's gone," he breathed a sigh of relief. This was the time of day most of the others left the house.
Akane wiggled until she was finally out of his grasp and sat down across from him. "Ranma, what the hell is going on?! You threw Shampoo, you grabbed me and now you're ...kidnapping me!"
"Kidnappers don't take their victims back to their own house," Ranma said in his defense. Akane rolled her eyes.
"Fine! But you had to have done this for a reason, Ranma. What is it you're not telling me?"
His body again reacted - his hand shot out and seized hers. He held her hand, his thumb gently rubbing over the top of her hand. Akane looked surprised, but she did nothing to stop him.
"I don't understand," Akane admitted. "Whatever Shampoo gave you...shouldn't it be making you do this to her? Why are you...why do you keep trying to touch me?"
Ranma sighed. It was time for the truth, and he wasn't sure he was going to be able to get it out. He squeezed Akane's hand. And then he was scooping her back up into his arms. Before he even realized he was going to do it, his lips pressed onto hers.
Ranma waited for her to push away. For her to scream and slap him. But instead, he felt the pressure from her lips as she kissed him back. He pulled her as close to him as she could possibly be, still not separating his mouth from hers.
They finally broke apart, but instead of smiling, Akane looked...hurt.
"What's wrong? I thought you liked it," Ranma was panicking now, but he still couldn't bring himself to let go of her.
"You don't love me," she whispered, "It's not fair to not love me and then kiss me like that. It's not fair, Ranma!"
Ranma stared at her in shock. "How could you think I don't love you?"
"You didn't want to marry me and at the wedding...when I asked you ..."
"I'm an idiot!" Ranma face palmed so hard that the sound rang out through the dojo.
Akane chuckled. "I mean...yeah, you kind of are. But why, specifically, are you an idiot this time?"
"I got scared, Akane. ....Do you want to know what Shampoo's stupid drink did to me?" She nodded. "It...separated my mind from my will, apparently. So my body is just doing what I really want to do. I patted Ukyo because she's a friend. I kissed you because...well..."
"You do love me back," Akane was whispering again, but this time it was in astonishment. She threw her arms around Ranma's neck. And unlike when Shampoo or Ukyo tried, this time Ranma planted another kiss on her.
"Wait..." Ranma broke the kiss. "Love you back? You...You're in love with me?"
Akane rolled her eyes. "Of course I am, you dummy. Why did you think I was willing to marry you? Or why I put up with all your dumb stuff?"
"Not lately. You've been mostly ignoring me lately."
"Cause I thought you didn't feel the same! Do you know how much it hurt to look at you, loving you and thinking you didn't love me back?"
"I mean...yeah. I was feeling the same way about you."
"Oh," Akane looked genuinely surprised. "I'm sorry, Ranma. I was just trying to protect myself. I guess if we had just talked things out -"
"That's not like us and you know it. We don't talk things out."
Akane giggled. "No, that's true. We're more about action."
As though to prove her point, Ranma kissed her again. "No more ignoring me, alright?"
She nodded. "Okay. I won't ignore you again. So...when does this potion wear off, anyway?"
"Twenty four hours from when Shampoo gave it to me."
Akane's smile grew, and she wiggled her eyebrows. "So several more hours that your body will react before your brain does. I wonder what else it will do."
"We should probably stay together," Ranma suggested. "Otherwise I'm just gonna keep seeking you out." His heart was so full it was going to burst. She loved him. And he loved her. Shampoo had accidentally helped his situation. He wondered for a moment if this was an example of irony. But he didn't dwell on it.
He was with the girl he loved. And he was going to kiss her. And one day, he swore, he was going to marry her.
Whenever he found the right words for that. But for right now...actions were enough.