Lemons can be just as sweet...

By Kalio

Disclaimer: See first chapter...

A/n: Okay, here's the famous lemon third chapter with the lemon removed. This is purely here for what ever other plot is in this chapter, so, I know a huge chunk has been taken out, but that's so I can reach a bigger audience. Like I said, if you really want it, and are over 17, I can send the rest to you, but otherwise, just deal with it. Thanks, and enjoy!

Glossary for you:

Ite: ouch; Baka: idiot; Onegai: please; Demo: but; Hentai: pervert (btw: ecchi is the pronunciation of 'H', short for hentai. I just found this out, and thought you might find it interesting.); Doomo Arigato: thank you; Iinazuke: fiancé or fiancée ; Kami-sama: Lord God; Nani: what; Matte: wait; Aa: yes (informal); Koishi: dearest, paramour (I should have used koibito: lover, but I didn't feel like it.); Owari: end. If I forgot any, please let me know!

***

'HIYA!' Akane yelled as she released a kick meant for Ranma. Ranma jumped, dodged and blocked every attack she sent at him with great ease. It would have annoyed Akane, but she now understood that Ranma wasn't trying to annoy her today, but to actually help her train. He agreed to spar with her and give her pointers as they went. It was a good setup, minus the fact that Ranma had too much advice for too little tact. That, my friend, is what annoyed Akane.

'You're not balanced enough... You need to move quicker... Your form needs work... You need to read my ki better if you ever hope of landing a measly punch...' Ranma somehow managed to eat his words as Akane bopped him on the head.

'How do you expect me to get better if you only tell me things I already know?!' Akane huffed, unused to a spar without taunts, but disappointed that Ranma couldn't find a compliment to share.

'Ite! You ungrateful tomboy!' Ranma rubbed his head a moment. 'I'm sorry... I didn't mean it. It's just... I'm not trying to insult you, but I wanted to point out everything I noticed so that we could fix it all later, ya know what I mean?' He looked at Akane for an answer, which she gave.

'I guess, but it seems like I'm such a novice compared to you, when I used to beat up half the school population every single morning. I hate being so out-classed...' She took on a very sad face, even as she grumped.

Ranma sighed, and sat down, with his elbows on his knees, and hands dangling in the air between, and each leg, making a triangle with the ground. 'That's why we're doing this, ne? I never want to go through Jusendo again...' His eyes started to mist a bit. (A/n: every time I read the final battle, I cry. *sniff*) 'I mean NEVER...'

'Ranma...' Akane never knew what to say whenever this subject came up. She couldn't think of anything meaningful enough, or comforting enough to say to console him.

He continued. 'Do you know how scary that was? I can honestly say that I thought you were dead, and my heart stopped when you didn't answer me after you were re-hydrated.' Tears were pooling in his eyes, now, but he didn't let them fall. 'You looked so cold, like you were still a doll. You didn't move, or breathe. Your heart did not beat for me...' Akane knelt and wrapped him in her embrace as a tear spilled and slid down his cheek. She rocked him back and forth a bit, trying to assure him of her life. 'But then, you woke up! And I couldn't believe that you had come back, that you survived. Now, every time I look at you, I thank the Lord God that you are safe with me instead of buried in China, somewhere.'

'And now, I'm here with you, trying to make sure that I never get kidnaped, again.' The two held each other for a long time, verifying the fact that they both existed. After a long moment, Ranma decided to speak.

'Thanks, Akane. I've needed to say that for a long time, now. Something that couldn't be said before because of that sorry excuse for a wedding. I still can't believe how our "friends" behaved...' Suddenly, Ranma was no longer sad, but angry at the people who had crashed their wedding. Akane adapted with anger of her own.

'I can't believe it, either. But you know what?' This time, her voice held playfulness and a mischievous quality.

'What?' He answered in an equally impish tone of voice.

'I've got you!' Akane yelled, after she tackled him, in his sitting position, pinning him to the floor. She grasped his wrists with her hands and sat on his stomach to prevent him from moving. While she knew this, of course, would not keep him from getting up, she hoped he would play along. Which he did.

'Oh no! Whatever shall I do?' Akane laughed a little, and leaned down.

'Ah, Shut up and kiss me, baka!' She closed the remaining distance between their faces and gently pressed her lips against his, while Ranma tried to lift his head to add his own pressure. He opened his mouth and licked her lips, asking for entrance. Akane granted his request and the two kissed passionately.

Ranma broke the kiss by dropping his head a little, his neck getting tired. 'Don't mind if I do...' Akane looked puzzled for a moment, until he elaborated. 'You said "shut up and kiss me" and I did!'

She let go of one of his wrists and smacked his arm, slightly. 'Dummy.'

'Heh! An opening!' Ranma picked her up and flipped her over onto her back, and held her down by her wrist, but he didn't sit on her stomach, he just kneeled by her side. (A/n: And not between her knees, either, cuz I know that's what you were thinking, hentai!) 'You let go of my wrist, foolish girl!'

Akane was surprised, but only briefly. 'Oh, drat! I'm caught! What to do?' She grinned up at him, as he laced their fingers together above her head.

'Oh, I dunno. Maybe play the damsel in distress? The only problem is... no one will save you, Mwa ha ha ha!' He leaned in and started nipping at her neck, placing small kisses under her jawbone. He let go of her hands in favor of holding her to his body in a tight embrace, which she readily returned, running her hands lightly over his muscled back.

Ranma kissed her again, smiling and happy to be with her without that silly shyness thing that left him the last time he visited her room... Speaking of which, one hand moved from her back, to her rib cage, and then up to her breast, where it lightly rested. Akane moaned quietly, and he felt her nipple harden, somewhat. His other hand was about to trace the same path (except under her gi top), when they were (rudely) interrupted by, who else? Nabiki. The two practically flew apart, jumping, leaving two feet of space in between them.

She slid the dojo door open with a slight smirk on her face. 'There you two are!' Her voice suggested that she had known where they were the moment everything started to happen. 'Kasumi says dinner is ready.' She paused briefly smirking the two red fiances, then continued. 'And if I were you two, I would not be so loud making those noises in the house. If our fathers were here, you guys would be married by now...' She spun on her heel and left, with an extremely amused expression.

Akane and Ranma looked at each other and sweatdropped. This would not be as easy an arrangement as they thought if their fathers would marry them every time they had a 'moment'. This may call for some planning...

***

Ranma lay on his bed reading his newest manga, when suddenly, a wad of cash was dangled in front of his nose. Absorbed in his reading, he never sensed Nabiki's aura, and did not expect her, least of all, offering money.

"Gah!" Ranma jumped a bit and yelled at a pleased Nabiki. "Don't DO that!"

Nabiki just grinned and threw the cash at Ranma. "How much more do I owe you?"

Ranma took the money and looked at it. What did SHE owe HIM for? He looked up and Nabiki answered the question before he could ask it.

"I couldn't help myself, I got documentation..." She proceeded to throw him a few well-chosen photographs of Akane and himself, being as intimate as they ever got (a/n: unless you want to count the Kiima incident... I do believe that the cursed birdlady and Ranma had less clothing... in fact, if memory serves, they only had as much as a towel between the two of them...). Ranma gasped at the few pictures and turned a rapid red.

"Th- this is...!" After a minute of stammering, Ranma finally managed to ask, "How much did you get?"

Nabiki smiled. "A little of this, a little of that..." she said, vaguely. "I just couldn't help myself. Now, you don't need to worry, I don't really want to sell these, I just want to know that all my work paid off, and there will be a little less collateral damage around the house. Oh, and seeing you sweat is always fun."

"You're not going to... show these to Akane are you," Ranma asked, thinking that Akane was showing a bit more (ok, WAY too much more) skin than he felt remotely comfortable with. Not to mention that he happened to be touching it in the picture.

Nabiki grinned more. "No, I don't believe I will, little brother. These just go to the archives. Anyway. I need to know how much else I owe you, or if we can arrange some other form of payment since you don't have any debts currently."

Ranma sighed. "Well, I'm pretty sure that whatever you could arrange by way of payment would be better than straight-up money, so what do you have in mind?"

Nabiki smirked. "Smart boy, little brother. Step into my office..."

***

The month or so before the planned payment went pretty well, as far as things concerning Ranma go. In fact that month or so could only be described as blissful and perfect: Ranma had no problems with the following people slash groups: the Kunos, the Amazons, Ukyo, Ryoga, Happosai, Ms. Hinako, the insane fathers, etc. All thanks to the wise and wonderful Nabiki!

This was all excellent, but not the best part of this wonderful month. No, no. The best part happened to be that Ranma and Akane had gotten closer. Much closer. (Not that way, Hentai!... just kidding, but that's not how I meant it...) They hadn't actually fought over anything. No name-calling (other than the names called out of good fun), no physical fighting (other than the good natured smack on the arm), or other insults (other than the one time Akane decided to cook). Okay, so lets face it, these aspects of their relationship would always be there, just... toned down a bit. And, of course, they wouldn't have it any other way. Without the usual teasing, they just wouldn't be the same people.

Now, Ranma wasn't sure how, but Nabiki happened to arrange the impossible...

She planned a night completely alone and void of interruption, for Ranma and Akane...

***

Ranma grinned as Nabiki and the others made their way outside with the suitcases. Nabiki's face also held a certain smirk, that said everything and nothing at the same time. Kasumi, as always, smiled with the pretense of cluelessness, but with knowledge and intuition that Nabiki would pay much yen for. This setup could hardly escape her notice, and it's purpose screamed for her attention. She wiped a tear from her eye as she said her goodbyes and hugged Akane. She whispered a 'good luck!' in with her goodbye, and Akane turned red, suddenly realizing that Nabiki was not the only one to know about the evening's schedule.

Nabiki, like Kasumi, had an offering of words, but this time, it was for Ranma. 'Be careful, little brother. Take it slow, and try to be romantic.' Ranma, nodded, but also went pink.

As Nabiki and Kasumi drove away, Ranma silently thanked Nabiki for getting the fathers out of the house first, and making it seem like Ranma and Akane were both going with the other two Tendo sisters.

***

Dinner was wonderful. Ranma and Akane sat on opposite ends of the Tendo table enjoying the delectable flavors of order-in gourmet Italian cuisine. Nabiki had excellent taste, and instinct enough to know that if they ate Akane's cooking that night, that nothing would happen, which was the sole purpose of setting up alternate payment.

Akane wore a lovely, cotton spring dress that was a smattering of pastel colors and flowery themes. It had a box neck, with short, scrunched sleeves covering the rounded corners of her shoulders. It ended an inch or two above her knees. She wore short, pastel heels that were not open toed, but left the top of her foot open. They had a band of cloth that wrapped around her ankle, securing the shoe to her foot. She had a beautiful violet flower behind her ear, and that cute smile that melted the hearts of men.

Ranma was adorned with another silk Chinese shirt, but this time, it was much like the shirt he wore in the skating competition; it had a black background with red and green dragons twining around it. He sported (a/n: he must be on the runway, the way I'm explaining...) a new pair of black pants, not unlike his usual get up, with the customary Tie Chi shoes.

As they finished the last of the bites before dessert, the couple's conversation turned sparse and nervous. If their speech was anxious, it was nothing compared to the thoughts running through their minds. A million and one thoughts ran through Ranma's head, and he took a deep breath trying to calm him and steel his will. It was a helpful trick he learned from Akane a few months before. It helped him to remember how hard he had worked and realize that everything was all right. "Okay," he thought. "Alright, this is it."

'Akane?'

'Yes, Ranma?' Akane could feel the change in his attitude, and tried to match his seriousness, which wasn't hard, considering the circumstances.

'I... gotta question to ask ya- and ya don't have ta answer now, but...' He trailed off, hoping she would understand.

'Shoot.' She could tell that whatever it was, it was important to him.

'Well, er... I know I don't really need to ask you this, because ya gotta anyway, but...' He pulled out a little box, and kneeled on one knee in front of her. 'I'm not sure that this is how they do it... and I know it's not Tonabata (sp?) day, but-' He rushed through it, and was interrupted.

'It's okay, Ranma, just... go ahead.' It was her turn to be misty eyed.

'What I wanted to know was... do ya... would ya wanna... marry me? I mean for real?' Ranma looked up at her expectantly.

'Yeah, I think I might like that.' Akane fell to her knees to hug him. 'Doomo Arigato, Ranma... iinazuke...' They stayed like that for a few moments, then she spoke again. 'Well... are you up for dessert?'

Ranma laughed a bit. 'Sure! I could always use dessert!'

***

After dinner, they went for a walk around Nerima, enjoying the fresh air and, most especially, the bright stars. They were not as bright as they could be, since the lights from downtown Tokyo were too bright to leave room for the stars. Ranma and Akane held hands and enjoyed the companionable silence as they strolled down the street. It wasn't often that peace could be found surrounding them, but they were determined to make it last. When they finally returned to the house, it didn't seem like anything could make this night more perfect.

Ranma helped Akane out of her jacket, and led her upstairs. He stopped in front of her room, staring at her duck nameplate, instead of her eyes. 'Well... this is it...' He paused for a moment, contemplating. 'You know, it's okay with me if we wait. I mean, it's completely up to you.' He turned to find her looking into his eyes.

'It's now or never,' she said solemnly.

'You're sure? No doubts?' he prodded, making absolutely sure.

'Positive.' She had set her mind.

A/n: Alright, guys, here's where it gets cut off. Sorry, if it were my website, the rest would be up here, but that's not in the cards, so here's my addy for those of you who want the whole thing:

realakane@ragdollworks.zzn.com

k, thanks, guys! I hope to get some new chapters out on this soon, without having to cut anything. Please review if you haven't already done so. Thanks!