The three women began to walk; Ukyo was silently amazed at the speed that the old lady was capable of. They had gone about a quarter of a mile when they began to hear sounds coming from the forest around them; they sounded like echoes, but neither Akane nor Ukyo were completely sure. The old lady stopped.

"What's up?" Whispered Ukyo. "Are we there yet?" The old lady didn't reply for a minute, she looked at Ukyo, scrutinizing her face, Ukyo backed up a little, she could tell that her face was red, although she didn't know why. The old lady gently laid a hand upon Akane's arm and with her other… pointed to a clearing in the trees. Akane gulped, loudly enough for Ukyo, who was standing a good ten feet away, to hear her.

"In there?" This was said so quietly that Ukyo wasn't even sure if Akane had really said it. The old lady just nodded, once, twice, and pointed again, giving Akane a very small push.

Akane took a step forward, stopped, she turned around, and the old lady nodded again, pointed. Akane continued to walk and Ukyo then began to follow, but the old lady held out a hand.

"What?" Hissed Ukyo. The old lady sadly looked at Ukyo; she sighed and said, quietly,

"Why do you wish to see what you know will only cause you more pain?" Ukyo could feel the tears coming, damn it, she never cried, and here she was… on the verge… again.

"I have to see. I have to see it in his face, that he loves her, that he… cares more for her then he cares… for me." The old lady simply nodded, once, twice, and stepped aside. Ukyo stepped forward and followed after Akane, knowing that she would always… follow Akane, she was always after Akane.

Akane continued to take step after step, she could feel her heart beating madly in her chest. Her mind, which she thought would be racing, was strangely peaceful; in it, there was room for only one thought, each step she took, was a step closer to the guy she loved. She was coming to him and soon she would see him, soon she would be with him. She didn't hear the sounds that so disturbed Ukyo, because all she could hear was the pounding of her heart. But Ukyo could hear the sounds.

She shuddered again and again, they were familiar somehow. Horrible sounds, trees crashing to the ground, the sound of stone breaking, but that didn't bother her, it was the sound of agony that made her shudder. That's were she knew that sound, it was the same sound she had made while training at the edge of the ocean, the sound of the heart being slowly destroyed. A sound of suffering. 'Oh Ran-chan, if you felt this strongly about Akane… why couldn't you ever say so?' Ukyo was stunned and terrified and miserable. She knew now, she should have listened to the old lady, what was the point of coming, to rip out what little was left of her heart. She almost turned back, but she was curious, she wanted to see Ranma, and after all, what could be worse then hearing this?

There was something worse; there is always something worse. Akane began breathing fast as she entered a clearing, but not a natural clearing. The trees had all been destroyed; rock fragments were everywhere, and in the middle of this ring of destruction stood…Ranma. He was facing away from her, on his knees, shaking madly, and now Akane could hear the sounds. The noises coming from Ranma, the inhuman, unreal sounds. She thought her heart would shatter just listening to it. She could stand it no longer, she ran, she ran to Ranma, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight, trying desperately to calm him, to stop those sounds. She succeeded, Ranma stopped, he tensed up, and then relaxed in her arms.

"A…Akane?" Ranma's voice was hoarse. Akane gave a small sob and hugged him even tighter.

"Yes Ranma, it's me."

"What are you doing here?" Ranma sounded as if he thought this was all a dream, that in a few minutes, he was just going to wake up and she would be gone.

"I came to find you, I…I missed you. I was worried about you." Ranma was coming back now, after six weeks of agonizing loneliness, after the realization that without Akane, his life wasn't really worth living, Ranma was coming back, too bad.

"Stupid tomboy, I can take care of myself, you don't need to baby me." However, Akane wasn't fooled, she knew now that they were only words, she knew because Ranma was still in her arms and she could feel his body relaxing against hers. She knew that he loved her, it didn't matter what he said.

Ranma was extremely surprised to find that he was still in this hemisphere, after what he had said, as soon as the words had come out of his mouth, he had wanted to stuff them back in, he was always doing that. So much of the pain he had gone through these last weeks had been caused by the memories of how horrid he had been to Akane, how he had never told her that he loved her. So Ranma was amazed that Akane was still holding him, but suddenly he didn't want to be the one being held… he wanted to hold her.

Ranma turned, he faced Akane and gasped, had he really forgotten how beautiful she was? He looked into those eyes, the eyes that had haunted his dreams for so long and he slowly drew Akane into an embrace. He held her to him; Akane wrapped her arms around his neck, and put her head upon his chest. Neither of them, sitting there together, happier then they had ever been before, noticed Ukyo walking off. She had seen what she needed to see; she had made her decision. She was going to leave Nerima and set up shop in another city, she did, but she returned often for visits. They didn't see the two Amazons sitting in a tree either. A look of horrid jealousy was on one of the Amazons face, and on the other… acceptance. Shampoo was about to hurl herself at the girl sitting in the lap of her airen, but Cologne held her back.

"What? Shampoo must kill violent girl, violent girl no can be with airen, is Shampoo who should be in Ranma lap now!"

"No. You will never have Ranma."

"What?" The shock that this reply caused Shampoo was very evident in her tone.

"Ranma loves Akane, he will never marry you now, even if you were to kill Akane… especially if you were to kill her."

"But…"

"No." And the Amazons left, they were soon back in China, Shampoo didn't return to Japan until many years later.

How long they sat like that they didn't know, they simply sat in each others presence, feeling the holes that had been in their hearts for the last six weeks slowly close. Eventually Akane stirred and Ranma opened his eyes and looked at her.

"We should get going, it will be dark soon." The tone of her voice told Ranma that she didn't want to move anymore then he did.

"You're right. I'll just pack my stuff and we can start heading back." So he went and packed up his tent, and the few other things he had.

He walked back up to Akane, who had been waiting during the few minutes it had taken. He went right up to her and kissed her, a kiss much more enjoyed then their first one had been, because now they knew, they both knew exactly how they felt. The two of them walked back to Nerima, sometimes they talked, but more often they were silent. It took almost a week, but when they finally stood in front of the Tendo home, Ranma took Akane's hand and looked at her.

"So, what now? Do things just…go back to normal?" Akane smiled and Ranma could feel something inside of him melt.

"Ranma, with you… nothing is ever normal and things will never be the same again." Ranma leaned in a few inches and kissed her forehead, lightly.

"Good," he said, and then he moved down to her lips.

*Hope you liked it. If you didn't, well… just remember that it's my first fanfic and that with any luck, my next one will be better. Thanks for your patience.