Disclaimer - Yup here it is the usually blah blah blah about how I don't own Ranma 1/2, never have and never will.

AN: Well my first experience posting a fanfic was fun so I decided to do a sequel to Back From China. I want to try my hand at a larger over arc that will build as the story progresses. I love fluff so that will still show up regularly.

Chapter 1 – A little yellow bikini

Summer break was getting ready to start and everyone was talking about the new waterpark that had opened recently in town. Akane and Ranma were sitting outside by what had become their tree during lunch joined by both of their friends. Daisuke and Yuke were now dating and Hiroshi had finally asked out Mokoto. Things had been unusually quiet for once, Ranma had been goaded into a couple of challenges such as martial arts painting and had suddenly been needed to fill in on the Bojutsu team. The painting competition was mostly just a mess and Ranma had suffered Akane's wrath when he accidently got paint on her favorite skirt. While for the first time Akane and Soun had worked together to train him for the Bojutsu meet. Ranma favored hand to hand combat but had picked up the staff techniques quickly and as usual added his own flourish.

"Ranma are you even listening to us?"

Ranma looked up at the group and tried to figure out who had spoken to him. "Um… what?"

Hiroshi shook his head at his friend. "We are talking about going to the new waterpark on Saturday. Do you and Akane want to go?"

Ranma looked over at Akane who shrugged, "I don't know." He returned to focusing on eating his lunch.

Akane was really confused; he loved to swim and was really good at it. She had heard that the new park had a large wave pool and slides. It seemed like something Ranma would jump at the chance to go to. "What the matter? Why wouldn't you want to go?"

"If you really want to go I guess we can."

"Alright, it is decided." Hiroshi started making plans to meet up with the others at the entrance to the park. "And I think the girls should have to wear bikinis." This got him smacked on the back of the head by Mokoto.

"We'll wear whatever we want to wear."

Yuke piped up, "Ha, we would only wear bikinis if the guys wore speedos like the swim team."

"No way, those things look ridiculous, right Ranma?"

"Um… sure."

"You don't wear those to swim in do you?"

"No"

"Swim trunks are way more comfortable, right?"

"I guess."

The group stopped debating swimwear to stare at Ranma. Akane was tight lipped and avoiding looking at their friends. Hiroshi was the first to figure it out. "You have to be a girl to swim, don't you? So do you wear a girl's bathing suit?"

Daisuke didn't bother to let Ranma answer, "Do you borrow one of Akane's or do you have your own?" He was grinning widely then his looked turned a little too eager, "Do you own a bikini?"

"Stop looking at me like that… I'm a guy!" Ranma stood up and stalked off.

"What's the problem? We all know what he looks like as a girl and we have seen him in a leotard and a cheerleading outfit. "

"Don't forget the bunny suit."

The girls rolled their eyes as the two guys continued to list off the various female outfits that they had seen Ranma in, when they moved on to how many times they had seen their friend's female chest they both got smacked in the head for their efforts.

Yuke looked at Akane, "Talk to him ok. Let him know that we really don't care. It might be weird at first but honestly he can't avoid swimming the rest of his life just because he might have to wear a girl's suit."

"Oh he swims, he even has a couple of suits. Our family goes to the beach a few of times a year. It didn't take him long to figure out that it was just easier to go as a girl."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't know for sure but this would be the first time going with people from school and just hanging out as a girl. His mindset is completely different when it is for a challenge."

"Maybe we should challenge him."

"Hiroshi, he would not actually accept a challenge from a non-martial artist. It would be against his honor."

The end of lunch bell rang and the group gathered their things and went back inside. Akane didn't see Ranma. Since her fight with Kodachi and their continued training together, he had been less preoccupied with knowing she was okay every minute of every day. The realignment of his chi through acupuncture and the fact that they actually tried to tell each other when something was bothering them had help him feel less panicked. He would still check on her at night, sometimes she suspected that it was just an excuse to get a goodnight kiss from her but she didn't care.

Meanwhile, Ranma was sulking and muttering to himself. "Those two will just stare at me. I hate that." The beach wasn't so bad, he didn't know most of the people there and Akane's family was used to seeing him as a girl. If he had to go maybe he would just wear the one piece suit that he had Kasumi embroider BOY on the front. "That would at least remind them every time they stared at my chest." He heard the bell and turned to head to class. He noticed Akane walking away from him in one of the school hallways, she was on her way to Home Ec and he had history. They were talking about samurai right now so he didn't mind paying at least a small amount of attention in class. Mr. Tendo knew how use a samurai sword, it might be worth learning. The Anything Goes schools were supposed to one day merge so learning both approaches would be expected. He sat in class mentally listing the various weapons that Mr. Tendo might be able to train him to use.

"Mr. Saotome?"

"Huh? What?"

"Daydreaming again?"

"Um… no."

"Good then you should be able to tell me a little bit about the samurai armor."

Ranma thought quickly to the armor favored by Mr. Tendo and described everything he could remember.

"Ok fine, you either were paying attention or already knew most of the information."

Whew. That was a close one.

Ranma met up with Akane for their last class of the day. She gave him a worried look and he smiled at her to let her know he wasn't upset, he really did hate to see her worried about him over something so small like swimming as a girl. Class went by quickly and soon they were ready to head home. Their normal routine was to walk home together, put their school stuff away and meet in the dojo for training. After training, bath or dinner, which ever was ready first, and finally homework. He hated homework but now that Akane and he did it together it, wasn't so bad. Over the past term she had been able to tell when he was getting too frustrated and would suggest breaks.

Once they were clear of the school grounds Akane grabbed his hand and gave it a small squeeze. "If you don't want to go to the water park, we don't have to."

"I don't know. It's just kinda weird to think about ya know, hanging out with all of them as a girl. On purpose."

"They asked me to tell you that they don't care. I mean I guess with the number of times you have gotten splashed at school or purposely been a girl in front of a crowd; they are kind of used to it. They have all known for a year now."

"Yeah I guess so. I am not wearing a bikini."

Akane giggled. "Ah that's too bad, what if I wanted to see you in one?"

"Not unless you wear one too."

Akane gave him a challenging look and he immediately regretted his words. He was now very afraid he might have to wear one. "I do own a really cute yellow one." She turned to him with a deceptively pleasant smile.

"I know." Ranma tensed to run away soon. She was not going to like the bit of information he was about to reveal.

"What? I haven't wore it around you. How do you know?"

Ranma reached up to scratched the back of his head. "Well you know when I was training to fight against Ryu and had to master the Umi-Sen Ken?"

Akane just glared at him. That particular training had driven the family crazy as Ranma was constantly trying to sneak around and move items or steal things in the house. He had rearranged her drawers and eventually manage to remove the floor supports from the dining room. "You are a pervert!"

"I put it back." He was having trouble not smiling, he would definitely get pummeled if he cracked a smile.

"You took it?"

Whoops, wrong thing to say. He was in trouble. If he was going to get hit he might as well completely deserve it. "Only for a little while."

"Why?"

"To see if it looked good on me but the chest was too small."

"WHAT?" Ranma took off running moving away from her as fast and he could. "GET BACK HERE YOU PERVERT." She bolted after him and chased him through town. She saw him turn and venture through the park jumping around and over equipment and the wall. She followed him every step of the way. She need to find a way to either get him to stop or she need to get ahead of him. Time to fight dirty. She jump over the seesaw and purposefully missed, throwing her hands out in front of her to catch herself and yelling out as if she were hurt.

Ranma predictably stopped and came rushing back. She knew he no longer panicked at the thought of her being injured but he still worried and she knew he would stop running.

"Are you ok? You shouldn't have tried to follow everything I did. You know you are more of a … UMPH." Ranma heard Akane yell 'An opening' and then hit the ground hard when Akane kicked him backwards. He'd been tricked. He lay there a little dazed but he couldn't help but smile. Damn that was sneaky. He was really proud of how much better she was getting as a result of their training together.

Akane stood over him as he smiled. She just really couldn't stay mad at him for long anymore. "What are you smiling about?"

"You are pretty amazing you know that."

Akane blushed even though Ranma praised her more than he used to she was still not completely used to it. Especially when he said things like that, it made her feel warm inside. While she was standing there with a stunned look on her face he yanked her down on top of him and pulled her mouth to his.

She pulled back from the kiss too quickly for Ranma's liking. He pouted and she laughed.

"Parents won't want to bring their kids here if we are making out by the swings."

"Fine."

He sounded gruff but she could see the humor in his eyes. "Let's head home."

When they got home they put their stuff away and met in the dojo for daily training. These days whenever they sparred Ranma would switch between dodging, blocking and actually hitting back. He always held back and still didn't like to punch or kick her but he would use an open palm and even push her back a little or pull her off balance to show her weaknesses in her attacks. She enjoyed when he would advance on her and make her block and dodge as well. She could feel herself improving, both in strength and speed. It had taken a while for her to realize that after a year of Ranma dodging her attacks she had gained considerable accuracy and speed to go with her strength.

Ranma had started pushing Akane harder after her fight with Kodachi. As predicted Kodachi hadn't completely given up on gaining Ranma's attention but she did seem a little more scared of Akane. The last time they had encountered the girl, Akane only had to glare at her darkly and start to advance before she flipped away yelling something about Akane not always being around to keep her from Ranma. She had been in such a good mood after the encounter that she splashed her surprised fiancé with cold water and took her to the ice cream parlor for parfaits.

The timer buzzed that signaled the end of their sparring. Using a timer had been an idea of Ranma's, they had to stop and bow, then she had to stay quiet while he went over anything she needed to work on. He would move her through exercises to work on a few of the improvements needed and they would finish with a kata.

"Um… Ranma?"

Uh oh. He knew that tone of voice, she wanted something. "Huh?"

"Can I learn the kata you were doing this past weekend?" She had watched him practicing, a habit she enjoyed as it allowed her to not only watch the way he pushed himself to improve but also she found watching him move at his speed very sexy.

"Maybe, it's a difficult one. I made it up for myself, it needs lots of speed. In order to get the double kick in the middle you have to have enough momentum to make it all the way around your body because there will be a short time when both of your feet are off the ground." He had started pacing around the dojo as he talked.

Akane was quietly listening to him, she was actually afraid if she interrupted him, he would get flustered. He rarely spoke this long. He sounded like a real teacher and she loved it.

He turned to face her briefly. "We might have to bring out a mat because it is likely you will end up on your head trying to learn that part. It isn't really a good one to end with but maybe we can work on it instead of sparring this week. If I take out the kick and replace it with one that requires less speed we can work on the rest of the routine."

"The kick looks really neat."

"I really like it and it is useful in a fight but you will have to master its parts first before it can all be put together. I will get you there. Trust me."

"I do trust you." She smiled at him and then laughed as he did the double kick landing in front of her and grabbing her unbelievably fast for a kiss.

It took every bit of her will power not to swoon. Damn it she was a martial artist, she would not go weak in the knees over his little stunt. So what if he had landed a mere few centimeters in front of her; so what if he had grabbed her hips possessively and pulled her to him; so what if he smelled like sweat and wood… she would swoon in her head only. She couldn't help it, she sighed in the back of her throat and leaned into him, putting her hands on his shoulders.

This was too good. He was not letting go until she made him. Not that he would ever push her too far but he would certainly take what he could get and when she went soft in his arms he knew he could go a little further. He licked her lower lip and grinned like a fool when she opened her mouth to him. He bent down, grasping her hips more firmly picked her up and got her to wrap her legs around his waist while he continued his assault on her mouth. Wrapping his arms around her he was able to keep her molded against him.

Outside Nabiki had her trusty camera but for once profit wasn't the first thing she thought about, oh she would get around to it eventually, she always did; but instead she was thinking about finding her own martial artist to date. Damn that is hot. It was a small wonder to her that Akane could keep her hands off of him as much as she did. Nabiki was happy for her sister but she was definitely more than a little jealous. She didn't want to take Ranma away, she wasn't exactly interested in a boyfriend who could turn into a girl. However, if she could find a man with Ranma's kind of sex appeal who was more refined and had a decent amount of money she would grab him and never let go.

"NABIKI!"

Oh shit she caught me.

Akane happened to open her eyes slightly when Ranma had moved to kissing her neck and saw Nabiki standing there, camera in hand, with a glassy look in her eyes. What the hell is up with her?

Nabiki recovered quickly and snapped her camera closed, wiggled her eyebrows and taunted the pair, "That was hot, better not let daddy and Uncle Genma see something like that." She walked away quickly to hide her memory card before they could recover.

Ranma put Akane down, "We better go get cleaned up." They walked back to the house both wondering what school would be like tomorrow or even worse, dinner tonight.

"Kasumi, is there a bath ready?"

"Yes there is and you should both have time before supper to get cleaned up."

"Go ahead Ranma, I might see if I can find out what Nabiki is up to." It was unusual for Nabiki to be caught so easily. Akane hurried to her sister's room.

Akane knocked on Nabiki's door and heard her sister declare that she was too busy for visitors. Frustrated she tried to turn the knob but it was predictably locked. As tempting as it was to break down the door, Nabiki would just make her pay for the damages. "Please don't take those to school tomorrow. Things have been going so well."

"I will do whatever I want, and it was a video, not photos. Not that I can't make a few photos from it like I did before but the video might sell better."

"Before?"

"Now go away little sister, I have important work to do."

Akane stormed to her own room and threw herself on the bed. Hiroshi had finally stopped asking them to sign his photo of them kissing, now their friends would just start asking questions again. Oh god what if she has any video of her and Ranma while he is female?

Ranma was thinking similar thoughts while he bathed. Hiroshi thought it was funny one day to ask him how often he kissed Akane. He had shrugged and didn't answer but then Daisuke had to butt in and ask him if he had kissed her while he was a girl. He had tried to insist that they hadn't done that but he was pretty sure his friends didn't believe him.

When they all met for dinner Ranma leaned over to Akane and quietly asked if she found out anything. She quickly shook her head no. He hated to think of all the comments they would hear if Nabiki took any of that to school to sell. Everyone knew that were together by choice now and while they were both finally more comfortable with displays of affection, they kept it pretty mild around their friends. Just some hand holding and they had been caught a couple of times sharing a quick kiss. Frankly they were really careful to keep it to nothing more than what was shown in the pictures that Nabiki had already circulated at the beginning of the term.

Kasumi caught everyone attention by asking about weekend plans.

Akane responded first. "We are going to go to the new water park with our friends on Saturday."

"Oh we got a flyer in the mail for that place." Kasumi gracefully stood up and went to get the paper bringing it back for everyone to see. "See it shows the slides and the wave pool. It even says that there is something called a lazy river."

"It says the water is all heated to 30 degrees." Nabiki pointed to the bottom of the flyer.

Ranma perked up, "Heated water?"

AN: For Americans who don't want to pull out a calculator 30 degrees Celsius is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit.