jco005@drake.edu (Jon Osborne) What Price Love A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic By: Jon Osborne --------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: All characters within this fanfic belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I lay no claim to them and use them without permission. Please don't sue as I am a poor college student. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Lemon Warning: Some parts within this fanfic could be considered lemon. Parents hide this from your kids. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Warning: This is draft #2 of my first fanfic. --------------------------------------------------------------------- < > indicates thoughts --------------------------------------------------------------------- It was an unusually quiet night in the Tendo Dojo. Soun and Genma were out celebrating (read: drinking) over the fact that Ranma and Akane didn't have one cross word for each other over dinner. (Actually they didn't talk over dinner at all, but the two men would find any excuse to drink.) Kasumi was out to a movie with Dr. Tofu, who had finlly worked up the nerve to ask her out. Nabiki was off extorting money from Kuno. That left Akane and Ranma home alone. They were sitting on the sofa in the living room watching TV. Akane glanced over at Ranma. she thought to herself. She turned to face Ranma. "Ranma, we need to talk." "What is it Akane?" asked Ranma. "Ranma, do you love me?" Taken aback by the question, Ranma began with his usual answer. "Are you nuts? How could I love a violent, uncute tom..." Ranma stopped in mid-insult when he saw the pained look on Akane's face. *sigh* "Akane, I'm sorry. I...I...guess I do." Akane's mind raced. "I need to hear you say it Ranma. Those four little words 'I love you Akane' Can you say them?" "I...I...I l-l-l-l-lo-lo- loveyouAkane." He finally rushed out. He saw a sad little smile cross Akane's face. he wondered. "Would you do anything for me Ranma? Would you sacrifice your life for me?" Confused by this line of questioning, Ranma answered, "You know I would Akane. I'd do anything to protect you." "Not just to protect me Ranma. Would you sacrifice anything for me out of love?" Suddenly suspicious, Ranma asked "Why?" Realizing it was time for an explanation Akane replied, "Do you remember when we first met Ranma? How I said I didn't like boys?" "Uh...yeah." "Well I was serious. I have absolutely no attraction towards boys." "You mean..." "Yes Ranma, I'm a lesbian." "Then you don't love me." "No...and yes." "Huh?" "I love you as a person, but I've never been attracted to your male body. Your female body on the other hand... It's been all I could do to keep myself from coming on to you in your female body since the first day we met. The only reason I called you hentai all those times was to hide my own feelings for you." "Wait a minute! You walked in on me deliberately in the bathroom that first day didn't you? You wanted to see my girl half naked. All this time I'm the one who should be calling you hentai! Akane no baka!" thought Akane. "Ranma, please listen to me, I'm trying to say something here. I have an important question for you. You can yell at me later." Taken aback, Ranma simply said, "So what's so important Akane?" "I want to love you Ranma, I really do, but I don't think I can fully give myself and my love to you while you remain half a man. Ranma, would you, out of love for me, give up your manhood so we could be together?" "What?!?! No way! You gotta be kidding!" "Ranma please. What if I could prove to you that it was better being a girl than a guy? Then would you forsake your manhood for me?" "How do you plan on proving that?" "Sexual pleasure." Before a stunned Ranma could say anything, Akane continued. "I'll perform some foreplay and oral sex to both your forms. If you get more pleasure as a guy then I'll give up my claim on you and you can marry Ukyo or Shampoo. If you get more pleasure out of the sex act in your girl form then you'll promise to give up your male form out of your love for me. Well Ranma, do you accept my challenge?" "You know I never back away from a challenge." "OK then, let me get a glass of water from the kitchen, then we'll go up to my room and do this." *** Up in Akane's room, a naked and very nervous Ranma sat on the edge of Akane's bed, with a naked Akane on her knees between Ranma's legs. Akane was lightly caressing Ranma's inner thighs in nervous, jerking motions, causing little shivers to run through his body, and his shaft to grow with Akane's closeness. Akane then moved her hands to Ranma's shaft directly, causing it to become fully erect. She bent over it and started licking it up one side and down the other, causing Ranma to moan in pleasure. She then moved to just the tip of his penis and began to suck slowly on it. Ranma's moans became louder. Fearing Ranma wouldn't be able to hold out much longer, Akane took Ranma's entire shaft in her mouth, rubbing her tongue along it as she did so. She then began a quick bobbing motion with her head, that Ranma soon matched with his hips, increrasing the number and volume of his moans. Shortly after Akane began the deep throat blow she felt Ranma tense in her mouth, and then his sperm came bursting out in a rush. As a reflex, she swallowed, and then it was over. She stood and looked at Ranma. He was collapsed back on her bed, panting. She grabbed the cup of water off her desk and turned back to Ranma. With a faint smirk she said, "C'mon Ranma, we're not done yet." as she tossed the water on him. Having never seen Ranma change while naked, she watched in fascination as he became a girl. His penis rapidly shrank and became a vagina as his waist thinned, his hips expanded and his chest grew into a pair of well formed breasts. "Now it's Ranma-chan's turn." Any exhaustion Ranma had been feeling from Akane's blow job disappeared with the shock from the cold water. Ranma-chan sat up. "OK Akane. Let's get this over with." she said, confident it couldn't feel any better than it did as a man. Akane sat on Ranma-chan's lap and began to play with the newly created girl's breasts. Ranma-chan gasped in surprise and pleasure as Akane's touch caused little sparks of electricity to pass throughout her body. Soon Akane had moved to Ranma-chan's nipples and the sparks winging through Ranma's body increased in strength and number. Ranma had her head tilted back and was moaning from the pleasure. She felt a hot wetness gather between her legs as Akane's ministrations continued. A louder moan escaped Ranma's lips as Akane began suckling one breast and then the other. The wetness increased between Ranma's legs in time with the increasingly pleasurable bolts of electricity emanating from Ranma's breasts. Akane lightly touched Ranma's inner thigh with her free hand, while suckling one breast and massaging the other. Ranma could no longer control herself and she went rigid as her orgasm exploded through her body, punctuated by an ear piercing scream of pleasure from Ranma. Akane smirked as she recognized the orgasm overtake Ranma. "Well, enough foreplay. Let's get down to business." Once again, Akane took a kneeling position between Ranma's legs. Without warning, Akane dove right into Ranma's slit, tongue first. The sudden touch of Akane's tongue pushed Ranma into another climax. Akane just kept licking the outside of Ranma's slit. Confident Ranma wasn't going to orgasm with the next lick, Akane pushed her tongue between Ranma's nether lips causing her pleasured moaning to increase in volume. As Akane thrust her tongue in and out of Ranma's slit, Ranma bucked her hips in a matching rhythm to Akane's tongue. Under Akane's constant ministrations, Ranma was quickly reaching the end of her endurance. Sensing this, Akane pulled back for one final, all out thrust with her tongue, burying it completely in Ranma's pussy. This put Ranma over the edge and she orgasmed for a third, and final time. Ranma's thoughts were interrupted by Akane. "Well Ranma. Which was better, as a guy, or a girl?" Ranma opened his mouth to answer, but Akane interrupted him. "Remember Ranma, I'll be able to tell if you're lying. Not to mention that lying would be a very dishonorable thing to do." "Akane! That's a cheap shot. You know I'd never do the dishonorable thing, I'm not like oyaji." "So what's your answer Ranma?" "You know the only reason I agreed to this is because I l-l-lo-love you. And, because I l-lo-love you, I must honestly say that GETTING IT AS A GIRL WAS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER FELT! For you, and you only Akane I will forsake my manhood." Akane, now standing, reached out her arms and pulled Ranma into a great bear hug. "Oh Ranma! You've made me so happy!" Words failing her, Akane simply started showering Ranma's face with kisses. The feeling of Akane's bare breasts rubbing against her own caused the hot wetness, which Ranma now recognized as female sexual arousal, to return between her legs. Breaking her embrace with Akane, Ranma said, "I need a good long soak in the furo." *** While Ranma sat, soaping her body in preparation for a soak in the furo, she began thinking about her current body and her decision to forsake her male half. Rinsing the soap off her body with a bucket of cold water, Ranma stood. She stepped into the warm water in the furo and felt the change begin to overtake her. Applying all her concentration inward, Ranma tapped into her inner well of chi. She pictured herself solely as a girl in both hot and cold water, and used her unreserved love for Akane to attempt to cause her chi to achieve this. With her eyes closed in concentration, Ranma didn't see her aura flare bright as the sun, but she did feel the warmth of a chi healing infuse her body for long minutes. When it was over, she dropped to her knees in the warm water of the furo, totally exhausted. Then she realized she was _still_ a she. Despite her exhaustion, she still managed to stand and exit the furo. She dumped a bucket of cold water over her head and didn't change. She then stepped back into the furo, bracing herself for the change, but it didn't come. Ranma was one hundred percent female and had never been happier about it. "Akane! Come quick! You have _got_ to see this!" Less than a minute later, a still naked Akane was in the bathroom. "What is it Ranma?" Akane asked worriedly. "Stick your hand in the furo." "So what. The water's warm." "Think about it for a minute Akane." Akane looked at Ranma, then the water, then back at Ranma, and suddenly realized that Ranma was still a girl. "You're still a girl. You're still a girl! But how?" "Chi. I was thinking about why the transformations of the curse worked, whether it was magic or chi, or something else. Thinking I had nothing to lose, I stepped into the furo and accessed my well of inner chi. I used my complete and total love for you to fuel my chi into making this body permanent. It worked. For you, I have forsaken my manhood." "Oh Ranma!" Once again at a loss for words, Akane expressed her emotions through a fierce hug. "Uh, Akane, I still want my soak in the furo." "Oh right, sorry. When you get done, come to my room, I have something for you." *** Ranma entered Akane's room to find her dressed in a simple T-shirt and lounge pants. More clothes were layed out on the bed behind her. Akane tossed Ranma a pair of panties and a bra. "Put these on, I want to see how they look on you." "What?! I'm not wearing these, I'm a gu...Oh yeah, I forgot. Are these yours?" "Why do you ask?" "Well I don't want the circulation to my chest cut off, and I don't think these'd look good hanging loosely off my hips." Displaying an uncharacteristic bit of calm for her new lover, Akane simply said, "Actually I took them from Happosai's latest 'haul'. I think they should fit you." {Author's Note: Where does Happy keep all his purloined panties and borrowed bras? Either the walls of the Tendo Dojo are overflowing with women's undergarments or he keeps them in lingeriespace.} Ranma pulled on the panties easily, but fumbled with the bra. "Uh, Akane, can you give me a hand with this. Honestly, I don't know why girls wear these things. They just seem like a pain to me." Akane helped Ranma into the bra, then stepped back. Ranma squirmed in front of her. "Man this bra feels weird. I'm taking it off." "Oh no you don't Ranma. You need to wear a bra. But don't worry how it feels, after a couple of days, you'll hardly notice you have it on." Akane tossed Ranma the rest of the clothes on the bed. "Here. I bought these as a present for you in my hopes that you really would choose my love over your manhood. I hope you like them." In her hands Ranma held a baggy purple sweater with an oversized neck hole and a pair of obviously tight fitting blue jeans. She tossed them back to Akane and said, "I can't wear these yet Akane. This whole 'being a girl for good' thing is going to take some getting used to. I think I need to get used to these first," Ranma said as she gestured to her lingerie-clad body. "I hope you understand." "I guess so Ranma. I shouldn't have expected you to embrace all things female right after your decision." Ranma gave Akane a quick kiss and said, "Thanks Akane. There's a kung-fu love story on in a few minutes. Why don't you go turn it on and I'll meet you downstairs after I finish getting dressed." Akane went downstairs while Ranma went to her own room. The bra still felt alien, but if she ignored it, it wasn't as noticeable. To counter the feeling of newness from her lingerie, Ranma pulled out her favorite outfit, the red chinese shirt, and ankle-tie pants. Having dressed herself, Ranma went downstairs to look for Akane. She heard some noise coming from the kitchen, but ignored it as best she could and sat on the sofa. Shortly afterward, Akane came out of the kitchen with a couple sodas and a bag of chips. She sat down next to Ranma, snuggling up against her. Thank you Ranma. I love you for this more than you can know." Putting an arm around Akane, and relishing her closeness, Ranma replied, "I love you too Akane." *** Kasumi, being the first one to return that night, found Akane and Ranma-chan asleep on the sofa together. Ranma was hugging Akane to her, while Akane used Ranma's chest as a pillow. Kasumi moved silently upstairs and to her room. As she lay in bed, drifting off to sleep, a thought slipped into her head. *** About an hour later, Nabiki returned for the night, counting a large wad of yen as she walked through the door. When she saw the two lovers curled up on the sofa she got a calculating look on her face and rushed up to her room. *** In the wee hours of the morning, Genma and Soun came stumbling in the door. When they saw the position of their two heirs, they immediately turned around, intent to start celebrating anew, both too drunk to recognize that both children were female. They made it as far as the dojo before they passed out. Author's Comments: OK! Here's a revision for chapter 1 of "What Price Love." Thanks everyone for your encouragement and comments. It was brought to my attention that Ranma seems to accept his change a bit too quickly. I tried to remedy that, making him a bit more reluctant about fully accepting his change right away. It was also brought to my attention that Ranma's physical change seemed too easy. To answer that, I never said it was permanent, and upcoming installments will explain what Ranma did, and how long it lasts in a bit more detail. Ah yes, and for those of you who requested more lemons, I don't plan on making this a lemon series, but I will probably have a lemon side story or two. Expect Chapter 2 "Reactions" within a month. (I hope) ------------------------------------------------------------- | Jon Osborne | "When he's a boy, she just | | jco005@drake.edu |wants him. When he's a girl | | President: Drake Anime Club |She wants him dead." | ------------------------------------------------------------- A Ranma 1/2 fanfic What Price Love Chapter 2: Coming Out By: Jon Osborne --------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: All characters within this fanfic belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I lay no claim to them and use them without permission. Please don't sue as I am a poor college student. --------------------------------------------------------------------- < > indicates thoughts --------------------------------------------------------------------- Continuity Note: First, I am most familiar with the anime, and most of this 'fic will reflect that. Second, you should consider this an alternate reality for a couple obvious reasons. 1: Akane is no lesbian. 2: Ranma would never to willingly give up his manhood, love for Akane or no. Basically, what I'm saying is don't flame me for the characters being OOC. --------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE: After getting Ranma to admit his love for her, Akane admitted to being a lesbian. She told Ranma that she liked him as a person and was attracted to his female side, but she couldn't remain in a relationship with him as long as he clung to his manhood. She then challenged him to a sexual "contest". If he "won" she would give up all claim on him and he could marry Shampoo or Ukyou. If she "won" then Ranma would forsake his manhood to stay with her. Akane "won." While ruminating on the nature of his curse, Ranma came up with an idea to use his chi to lock himself in his female body. It worked, though Ranma doesn't know for how long. The night (and the first chapter) ended with Ranma and Akane falling asleep while watching TV. It is now the morning after: Kasumi lightly grasped the shoulder of a sleeping onna-Ranma. She shook it gently, calling softly, "Wake up Ranma." Ranma didn't even stir. Kasumi shifted her grip on Ranma's shoulder, lightly touching a pressure point. Ranma's eyes popped open. "Who! What! Where!" "Ohayo gozaimasu, Ranma-chan." "Oh! Ohayo Kasumi. Is it morning already?" "Yes it is. I'm surprised you and Akane slept down here on the sofa all night. Maybe you should wake her before the whole morning is gone." "Oh no! I forgot about my sparring session with oyaji." "I wouldn't worry about it Ranma. Father and Mr. Saotome came home very late last night. From what I can tell, they are both still asleep in the dojo." Ranma thought. With a cheery smile Kasumi said, "Well, I'll be in the kitchen preparing breakfast." Ranma looked down at the sleeping form of Akane. She was curled up against Ranma, with her head pillowed on Ranma's breasts. Then Ranma remembered the previous night. Ranma's admission of love. Akane's admitted sexual preference. The "contest". Ranma's self-made "cure." And the two of them falling asleep on the sofa. Ranma put her mouth close to Akane's ear and whispered, "Akane. Time to wake up. It's morning." Akane stirred, but didn't wake up. A mischievous smile crossed Ranma's face as an idea came to her. Ranma's tongue snaked out, licking Akane's ear. Akane mumbled something unintelligible and her hand swatted Ranma's face, but she still slept. Ranma's smile increased as another idea came to her. She gently maneuvered Akane's head off her breasts, careful not to wake her. Akane now lay face up in Ranma's lap. Leaning over, Ranma planted her lips on Akane's in a passionate kiss. Still Akane didn't stir, and Ranma thought Then, Akane started to slowly respond to the kiss in kind. As Akane opened her eyes, Ranma pulled away. "So Sleeping Beauty awakes at last." Ranma said, a smile spread across her face. Akane's face twisted in anger, and her entire body tensed as she prepared to clobber Ranma, then she remembered the previous night. She relaxed and settled for a disgruntled, "Hmph! You're no Prince." "Of course not. I can't change right now remember? And besides, I figured a lesbian Sleeping Beauty needed a Princess' kiss to wake her. I guess I was right." "You're no Princess either." "I came close. Remember Prince Toma?" "Yeah! Well I was closer than you were. He picked me remember?" Akane started to say more, but she saw a strange look in Ranma's eyes. "What? Is something wrong?" "Kami-sama, but you're beautiful." Akane was stunned. Before she could say anything in response, Ranma went on. "Now could you sit up before that fat head of yours crushes my legs." Akane started seeing red, and was on the brink of summoning her hammer when she saw the smile on Ranma's face and realized she was only joking. "Very funny Ranma. You just can't say anything nice without balancing it out with something mean, or stupid, or both." "Yeah, well, you know. Old habits die hard." Akane sat up, then stood up and groaned. "Oooohhhh...that position may have been suitable for snuggling, but I definitely _do not_ want to sleep like that again anytime soon." As Akane started to do some stretches to work out the kinks, Ranma stood up and groaned herself. "Ugh...Akane. Remind me never to sleep in a bra again. It chafes too much." There was a loud clatter from the kitchen that sounded like metal striking the floor. Ranma and Akane rushed to the kitchen. They found Kasumi standing in the middle of the floor, the tea kettle at her feet, leaking water. She seemed to be in shock. "Oneechan! Are you alright?" At the sound of Akane's voice, Kasumi seemed to snap out of her shock and she looked around herself confused. When she saw the tea kettle, she bent down to pick it up. "Oh my!" turning to Akane, she said, "I'm fine Akane. Apparently I didn't dry my hands sufficiently and the tea kettle slipped out of my grip. I'm sorry if I startled you. I was startled myself. Don't worry about me. I've got everything under control now." She quickly ushered them out of the kitchen. "That was strange. I've never seen Kasumi out of sorts like that." Ranma said. "I'm sure it was nothing. Kasumi will be fine." Ranma looked at the clock on the wall. "Well, it's too late for me to work out since I don't want to be late for breakfast. I may as well take a bath." "We'll take one together." At Ranma's surprised glance, Akane replied, "I don't want to be late for breakfast either. Besides, we need to talk where we won't be disturbed." "Uh...Yeah, I guess so." Ranma replied wittily. *** As Ranma slipped into the hot water of the bath, she felt her whole body writhe for less than a second, then stop suddenly. Looking inside herself, she realised that what she felt was the curse trying to work, then being stopped by her chi. With a little more concentrating, she discovered exactly what she had done with her chi the night before. Apparently, she had been able to isolate the morphing effect of her curse, and surround it with a shield of chi, preventing it from activating. Still, she didn't know how long her shield would last. Akane saw Ranma shudder as she entered the bath, then go into a trance-like state. She sat in the furo next to her lover, sighing at the water's heat and asked Ranma, "Is something wrong?" Ranma didn't answer at first. Then, as she came out of her trance, she said, "The change started, but was stopped by what I did last night. I went digging to see exactly what I had done. Apparently I was able to isolate the part of the curse that causes the transformation and surround it in a sort of shield of chi, preventing it from activating. It still tries though. I think the more times it tries to activate, the weaker the shield gets, but I'm not sure. I don't know enough about what I did. I hate to say it, but I may have to go see the old ghoul to find out more. She's the only one who knows enough about chi manipulation to have an answer." Akane put her arm around Ranma, pulling the girl close. "Don't go to her Ranma. I'm sure you can figure it out on your own. You don't need Cologne. Besides, how do you know she won't drug you or use some pressure point on you or something." With a sigh, Ranma laid her head on Akane's shoulder. "I don't know Akane. I just know I need to know more about what I'm doing." The two girls sat in silence for several minutes enjoying the warmth of the water and each other's presence. Ranma broke the silence. "We should tell everyone at breakfast about us." "Are you sure. Isn't it too soon?" "I'm sure. I think Kasumi heard my comment about sleeping in a bra. Also, Nabiki's smart enough to think something's up if she saw the two of us asleep last night. Even pop will be suspicious when I come to breakfast as I am." "Can't we keep it a secret a little longer?" "No. I've finally got my feelings for you out in the open. I don't want to hide them anymore." "But shouldn't we let them get used to the idea of us as a willing couple before we tell them we're lesbians?" Akane asked. "_We_ aren't lesbians. You are. I may have agreed to give up my manhood for you, and I may have a girl's body, but in my mind I'll always be at least partially male. It's who I am. I may change in body, but not in mind." Ranma stopped when he felt Akane stiffen, and raised her head off Akane's shoulder to look her in the eye. "I'm sorry Akane, that came out harsher than I meant it to. I love you, but I'm still getting used to the idea that I'll be female full time now, or at least most of the time. I can't mentally change overnight, as much as we'd both like me to. I _need_ to tell them, as much to get it out in the open as to further instill the idea in myself that I gave up my manhood. This is the best way for everyone. Can you understand that?" "I...I suppose. I'm just frightened a little I guess. You don't know how hard it was for me to confront just you last night. It'll be even harder facing the four of them at once." Ranma pulled her love into a hug and said, "It couldn't have been any harder then the decision I made about myself. Besides, you won't be facing them alone, I'll be with you. I'll always be here for you. Don't worry Akane. If they love you, as I do, your father and sisters will understand. Pop, on the other hand..." Akane pulled away from Ranma "...Will just have to have it beat into him." she finished. The laughter of the two girls drowned out Nabiki's retreating footsteps. *** Ranma and Akane were in Akane's bedroom. Both were clad only in bra and panties. Ranma was sitting on Akane's bed squirming slightly at the still unfamiliar feel of the bra, while Akane was standing in front of her closet. On the bed beside Ranma was one of her red Chinese shirts and a pair of her ankle-tie pants. Akane was holding a white blouse in one hand and rifling through her clothes with the other. "Please Ranma." "I told ya Akane. I'm not ready to wear more than just the bra and panties. That sweater and those jeans are just too much yet." Pulling a red, pleated skirt from her closet, Akane turned to show Ranma the combination as she said, "At least let me do something with your hair. The pig tail is cute and all, but when I saw you with long hair on Toma's island, I just about died. Long hair really suits you. Please Ranma." After a smile and nod to the outfit, Ranma said, "I don't know Akane. We don't need another surprise to stick to on our families." "You're just making excuses Ranma. We're going to be telling them everything anyway. Giving you a more feminine hairstyle will just help show them how serious about this we are." "You're right Akane. I'm just trying to rationalize a way out of it. I guess...I don't know...I guess a small part of me still wants to reject this whole thing. But then I think of how much I love you and how much this means to you and that small part of me goes quiet." "Ranma..." "What I'm trying to say is...go ahead." "Thank you Ranma." From downstairs Kasumi called up, "Akane! Ranma! Time for breakfast." The two dressed quickly and Akane stepped behind Ranma. Reaching up, she slowly undid the Dragon's Whisker from Ranma's hair and watched that hair fall down just past Ranma's shoulders and keep going. When it reached just past Ranma's waist, Akane tied Ranma's hair back up with the Whisker. "Are you done yet?" asked a nervous Ranma. "Not yet." replied Akane as she went to her bureau and pulled a black silk scarf from one of the drawers. Returning to her fiance, she braided the scarf into Ranma's hair, tying it into a bow over the Whisker. Akane turned Ranma to face the mirror and smiled as she flipped the braid over Ranma's shoulder. Ranma stared at her reflection in shock. Just changing her hair made her look a lot more feminine than she had thought it would. Still, Akane seemed happy and that made Ranma smile. Turning to face Akane, she hugged her and gave her a tender kiss. "Thank you Akane. It looks really nice. Now let's get downstairs before everyone starts wondering where we are." *** The family stared as onna-Ranma and Akane came to the table, hand in hand and sat down. Then they noticed Ranma's hair and stared even harder, if that were possible. The soft "Oh my!" that crossed Kasumi's lips pretty much summed up everyone's reaction to the couple. "Ranma," Kasumi ventured, "would you like some hot water?" "No thank you Kasumi. That won't be necessary." Ranma replied sweetly. The whole family face-faulted. "On second thought," Ranma spoke up, "that would be good, yes." Everyone recovered quickly and Kasumi went to the kitchen to get the kettle of water she had ready. Kasumi set it in front of Ranma and everyone watched her expectantly. Ranma just looked at it quietly for several minutes, then turned and whispered something to Akane. She nodded and Ranma picked up the kettle. "Here goes." Ranma dumped the contents of the kettle over her head and winced as the changed tried to activate, but was stopped. Once more, everyone but Akane face-faulted. "Wha...wha...what is the meaning of this, boy!" Genma managed to sputter out. "All in good time oyaji. But, first Akane needs to say something." Taking Akane's hand in hers, Ranma gave it a squeeze and turned to Akane, a look of encouragement on her face. Grateful for the show of support from her fiance, Akane began. "Last night, while everyone else was out, Ranma and I had a long talk. She professed her love for me and admitted that she would do anything, sacrifice anything, for me." Akane's words sparked several different reactions. Nabiki, not having missed the use of the feminine pronoun, raised an eyebrow and stared harder at the two girls. Kasumi smiled, happy that the two teens had finally opened their relationship. Genma and Soun jumped up and started doing their "happy dance" while blabbering something about a wedding that very night. Annoyed at the interruption, Akane stared crossly at their fathers and yelled, "Sit down! Both of you! I'm not done yet!" Being the cowards that they were, both men sat down, and Soun started the waterworks, mumbling about how his baby daughter must hate him because she yelled at him. Akane apologized, then continued her announcement. "After I had confirmation of Ranma's feelings, I told her that I truly like her as a person, but I had no attraction to her male body because I was a lesbian." For the third time that morning everyone face-faulted. When everyone had recovered sufficiently, Ranma continued where Akane had left off. "After Akane 'came out of the closet' we had another long 'discussion' in which Akane 'convinced' me to forsake my manhood so we could be together." "What!!! Ranma! What's wrong with you boy! Would you forsake everything I've taught you! I taught you to be a 'man among men' and you do this! What about my promise to your mother!" As Genma ranted, Ranma's battle aura grew in intensity. At the mention of her mother, Ranma let out a cry of rage and anguish, and leapt to her feet and across the table at Genma. Faster than anyone could react, Ranma grabbed Genma by his gi top and threw him through the open door and into the koi pond. As Genma-panda surfaced, Ranma cried out scornfully, "Damn you oyaji! What do you know about manhood! You're not even _human_!!! And how _dare_ you bring mom into this! That whole promise was _your_ idea. I _love_ Akane! And if being a girl is the only way I can get her to love me back, then I'll be a girl! This is something you have no say in!" Turning back to the table, Ranma cried out "None of you do! Just me an' Akane." Akane stood and went to Ranma. Reaching out she brushed away a pair of tears on Ranma's face and softly said, "Oh Ranma...." With a strangled cry of rage, grief and anguish, Ranma buried her head in Akane's shoulder as large wracking sobs were ripped out of her. Between Ranma's sobs, Akane could hear her whispering, "Damn him! Damn him! Damn him! Damn him!" Genma-panda just sat in the koi pond, not sure what to do. Soun just sat there with a blank look on his face, as shock had completely taken over. Kasumi looked on with concern, wanting to go to the girl and hold and comfort her. She knew, however, that in this case, Akane was much better suited for that. Nabiki was looking past Ranma and Akane at Genma-panda, utter contempt plain on her face. She had known for quite a while her little sister's sexual persuasion, even though Akane herself hadn't realized it. After seeing the two sleeping last night, and listening in on the conversation the two had in the bathroom, Nabiki had finally hoped that Akane had realized who and what she was and found someone to share that with. She feigned surprise to blend in with the rest of the family and had silently cheered both Ranma and Akane for having the strength of character and mind to do what they did. She watched with growing anger at the effect Genma's words had on Ranma. As Ranma broke down in tears on Akane's shoulder, Nabiki made a silent promise to make Genma's life at the dojo a living hell until he accepted his daughter's choice. Family _always_ came first, and as far as Nabiki was concerned, Ranma was now a part of her family. As Akane took Ranma up to her room, Kasumi cleared away the untouched breakfast things. No one felt like eating anymore, not even Genma. *** AUTHOR'S NOTE: You asked for it, so here it is. Chapter 2 of my first ever fanfic. I would like to thank my prereaders for their help. Your comments were appreciated. I would appreciate all C&C sent to me. Flames will be forwarded to Satan then deleted. Many of you may be surprised at Nabiki's reaction, but based on my knowledge of Nabiki, and a few thoughts of my own, I created what I believe to be an appropriate reaction on her part. Chapter Three: Secrets Revealed is in the works and should be finished soon (school permitting).