It Wasn't a Dream?!

Chapter 2

By Lord Archive,
Edited by Arthur Hansen

Characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Video, etc..., and are used
without permission. I'm only borrowing them. I'll return them. I can't
afford the overdue charge Nabiki insists on.

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Sayuri and Yuka looked at each other. Akane telling them about her upcoming
wedding and pregnancy had been quite a shock to them. They knew just the
thing to cheer up their friend. They couldn't imagine poor Akane's state of
mind. "Um, hey Akane! How about we go for some ice cream?"

Akane had to admit that sounded good and nodded. "Sure, right after school."

The three girls got up and walked out of the woods. Just as they exited,
they saw Kuno flying away into one of the school's upper floor classrooms
and a rather wet red-head, who was breathing heavily and shaking, jogged
over to them.

A moment after Kuno crashed into the classroom, he and several chem-club
members were blown out of the room. The fire alarm started to sound and the
sound of many upset students who were getting wet from the sprinkler system
could be heard clearly.

Akane covered her face with her hands. "Ohhhh. What happened?"

"Freaking pervert thought you went inta the woods for a 'romantic
rendezvous,' and he hadn't seen your 'invitation,' so he was going to take
it upon himself to remind you, in person," Ranma muttered darkly.

Akane shook her head. "And, what's with...." She waved her hand at Ranma's
chest.

Ranma pointed at what used to be a water fountain behind her, across the
yard. "I tried to stop Kuno but he spouted about me keeping him away from
'his two loves.'" She shuddered slightly. "And then he broke that while
attacking me."

Sayuri and Yuka exchanged confused glances at all of this. What did this all
mean?

Akane was kind of thankful that Ranma had ended school. She turned to her
friends and smiled. "Looks like school is over now."

Yuka shrugged. "Okay, but we better get to the ice cream parlor before
everyone else gets the same idea too."

Ranma's eyes lit up. "Can I come too?" she said too cutely.

Akane scowled at him and then sighed. "Sure, but you're paying for
yourself."

Ranma nodded and the four girls left Furinkan High, making their way to the
ice cream parlor. Once there, Ranma put on her super-cute act that got her
extra helpings of ice cream from the waiter.

"Ranma, do you have any idea how sickening that was?" Akane growled, her
disgust readily visible.

"Hphm. If I have this body, I might as well have a use for it," Ranma
retorted. Nothing came between her and her ice cream.

Akane grabbed Ranma by the shirt and whispered angrily into her ear, "At the
end of the week, you will be my husband and you will _not_ do that again.
EVER! I _do not_ appreciate being embarrassed like that." Her voice had
grown from a whisper, but managed to stay just below normal conversational
level.

Sayuri and Yuka blinked, hearing everything she said. They looked at each
other. 'Huh?'

"What do you mean by that?" Yuka asked, too curious for her own good.

Akane looked at her friends confused faces. "Ah, er, ah... What I have to
say is a secret. Don't tell anyone this." Akane sighed. 'Great, just one
more thing to go wrong.'

"Akane," Ranma hissed. This was not something she wanted noised around.

"They'll find out eventually," Akane retorted. "Anyway. This is Ranma."

"Yeah. We heard she has the same name as your fiance," replied Sayuri.

Ranma sighed, going along with Akane. "It's not that I have the same name, I
am Saotome Ranma, her fiance. The body you see is because of a Chinese
curse. Cold water turns me inta a girl, hot water changes me back into a
guy," Ranma said by rote. It was fairly monotonous by now.

Sayuri and Yuka blinked and then blinked again. 'No way.'

"Remember what I said about what happened when I accidentally walked in on
Ranma?" They nodded. "Well, part of what happened was that I thought _she_
was going to be the one in the bath and not some naked guy."

"You can't be serious," Sayuri said in disbelief.

"We are," Ranma and Akane said in unison. They glared at each other for a
second and then looked away.

"Okay," Sayuri said in tone that implied it wasn't.

Yuka had a glazed look on her face.

Akane's two friends remained silent for a moment.

"So, ah, Ranma, what are you going to be doing now, considering Akane and
all?" Sayuri asked cheerfully.

"Ah, well, there's the wedding, her havin' the... well, you know, and me
running the dojo," Ranma answered, guessing why Akane had gone into the
woods and what she had told her friends about.

'If this is an act, she's pretty good. But I can't understand why Akane
would go through with such an act. Can what they say really be true?' Sayuri
thought. "Did you want that?"

"Maybe later, but not yet."

"Why didn't you suggest Akane get an abortion?" Sayuri asked so low that
Ranma barely heard her.

"Huh? Er... well, she seemed to want it," Ranma started to reply and Akane
shook her head. "It is important that it happen at some point. And I didn't
think about it."

They remained silent for a moment and then Akane muttered, "Damn, I never
thought about that. If _we_ had decided on that, it wouldn't have risked
anything if anyone found out." She looked about ready to cry.

Ranma looked on, not sure what to do. She was a girl right now, so didn't
think that comforting Akane would be the wisest thing to do.

"Couldn't you do that still?" Sayuri asked.

"No. Our dads know about it now. There's no way we can get out of it now,"
Akane answered flatly.

"Well, you said you didn't think you could go through with that anyway,"
Sayuri said carefully.

Ranma gazed into what was left of her ice cream. "Besides, we knew this
would all happen at some point. It's just happening a LOT sooner than anyone
had planned."

Yuka still looked out of it. Sayuri was having a hard figuring out what to
believe.

--------------------------------

Finally! Ryoga had finally found that accursed Ranma. It was time to make
him pay for what he did to Akane. To rob her of her innocence and to force
her to carry his child! And out of wedlock no less!

"Ranma, DIE!!!" Ryoga shouted, rushing towards his opponent with a volley of
razor sharp bandanas preceding him. Most of the students in front of the
school watched avidly. Ranma's fights were always the best!

"Ryoga, I don't want to fight you," Ranma said while jumping over Ryoga's
first attack.

"For what you did to Akane, I will KILL you!" Punch. Punch. Kick. Umbrella
swing.

Dodge. Duck. Block. Dart to the side. "What I did to Akane? More like she
did it to me."

"I won't listen to your lies!" Spin kick. Roll. Snap punch. Uppercut.

Dodge. Jump over. Side step. Twist. Gut punch. "I'm not lyin'."

Ryoga took a step back from the blow. "Ooph. I will make you pay for forcing
your bastard child on Akane!" Ryoga yelled out, loud enough that every
student couldn't miss it.

The only sound heard at Furinkan was the wind generated from Ryoga's attacks
on Ranma.

The silence was broken with a demonic growl of, "RYYYY-O-GAAAA!!"

Ryoga had never heard his name spoken with such hatred or anger. His heart
shattered seeing who had called his name. "Akane...." he whispered. He was
just trying to protect her, couldn't she see that?

"HOW DARE YOU!? How dare you say that? I will not allow ANYONE to insult my
child!" Akane ran towards Ryoga and began pounding on him.

After Ranma noticed Ryoga was making no move to defend himself, he went to
stop Akane from killing him. "Whoa! That's enough. You've hurt him enough."

"No, I haven't!" Akane shouted kicking and screaming in Ranma's arms. "He
told everyone I'm pregnant. He, he insulted our child."

"Akane, calm down. Ryoga's just upset. I'm sure he'll apologize for what he
did, later." Ranma made soothing, shushing sound in her ear.

Akane curled up into a fetal position and cried. She didn't know why, she
just needed to.

Ranma held her carefully. He was concerned about his soon-to-be wife, she
hadn't been acting entirely normal since she found out about being pregnant.

Ryoga watched both of them. His world ended seeing Akane in such pain and he
had caused it. And that Ranma was being so gallant and helping her. He
couldn't take it anymore and started running. "I'm sorry, Akane. You'll
never see me again." Tears of frustration and depression carried him away.

She was supposed to hate, Ranma, not need him so desperately.

--------------------------------

It was later that same day, the night before the wedding, and Akane stared
at the ceiling. She wished for sleep to fall over her, but her nerves were
keeping her awake. She noticed something at the window. 'If that's Ranma,
not only won't he get in my bed tonight, but it won't be for a loooong
time.'

"Ohohohoho! So, you dare try to claim my Ranma-sama as your own!" Kodachi
laughed manically.

Akane jumped off her bed and moved into a defense posture. "He is NOT your
Ranma." 'He's mine!'

Kodachi attacked several times with her clubs and Akane barely managed to
block or dodge all of them. Then a ribbon wrapped around Kodachi. She
expected it was the red-haired girl, but smiled gleefully when she saw who
it was. "Oh, Ranma-dear. What will you do with me? I am your willing
captive. Do with me what you will!"

Kodachi's tone caused Ranma and Akane to shudder. 'She wants to be tied
up?!'

Ranma made sure the ribbon was wrapped tight and put a gag into her mouth.
"This should keep you out of the way until after the wedding." He dragged
her to the hall closet, threw her in and locked it. He then looked at Akane
who had followed him. "Try to get some sleep, huh?" he said, squeezing her
shoulder reassuringly.

"Yeah, you too." Akane returned to her room. That made her feel better, less
nervous for some reason. She felt safe, protected.

--------------------------------

Ranma really wanted to know what the point of all the decorations were for.
They were planning on a simple ceremony, so why all the flowers and crap? He
didn't understand the point of the ceremony either, they already have the
certificate of marriage. But Akane seemed to want to go through this and Mr.
Tendo said it was very important to him.

It just felt like a waste of money to Ranma though. Akane was already a
Saotome and the families were joined, so what was the point? The music
started up, signaling the start of the wedding.

A crashing sound drew Ranma's attention. Kuno charged through the dojo door
and straight at him. "Never, Saotome. Never shall I allow you to have your
evil ways with Tendo Akane! She shall not marry a demon like you! With your
destruction, she regains her purity!"

"Akane wants this more than I do." Ranma dodged Kuno's angry strikes,
waiting for an opening.

'WHAM' Akane stood behind the now comatose upperclassman, her fist clenched.
"Stay out of my life! I am NOT going to let you ruin my wedding!"

"I don't think he heard you," Ranma commented snidely.

Akane growled at him. "What are we going to do with him? We don't have any
time!"

Ranma thought for a second and then chuckled evilly. "I've got an idea...."

--------------------------------

Kodachi's eyes widen with joy when she saw Ranma open the door to the
closet. The wedding couldn't have happened yet so he must be freeing her to
help him stop the travesty from happening.

"I have a guest for you," Ranma said with a smirk. He pushed Kuno into the
closet who was tied up and unconscious.

Kodachi wondered what things the Tendos had done to force Ranma to do such
an unspeakable thing as lock her in a closet with her delusional brother. At
least he was unconscious!

A short while later, the door opened up again. Kodachi's heart fell, when
she saw it was not her Ranma about to release her.

"Hiya Kodachi! You want out of there, so you can stop the wedding, right?"
Nabiki asked, a grin plastered to her face.

Kodachi nodded frantically.

"Well, I know you think this is really important, so I'll charge you only
eight thousand yen! Just nod if you agree, ok?" Nabiki said slyly.

More frantic nodding led to her being released. "Thank you, Tendo Nabiki!
You have my thanks! Oh, ho ho ho ho!" Kodachi stretched as she stepped out
of the closet.

"Pay up, please!" Nabiki quickly counted the money that Kodachi shoved in
her hands, wondering absently where Kodachi had hidden such a thick wallet.

"And now to rescue my beloved Ranma!" Kodachi cried out.

"Hmm. Oh, sorry. The wedding just ended." Nabiki tucked the money into her
pocket as Kodachi stared at her in shock. "By the way, Ranma's family.
Actually, the house belongs to him now and he _doesn't_ want you around
upsetting his wife." She paused a second to let that sink in. "So you can
leave now. And if you come back, we'll call the cops. Capeesh?"

"But, but you released me to free Ranma from your vile sister's clutches!"
Kodachi wailed.

"Nope. I just said why YOU wanted to be loose. I never said anything about
letting you go to muck up my sisters wedding," Nabiki said smugly. "Now, be
a nice girl and run along home!"

"That you would dare treat someone of my rank so! I shall never forget this,
Tendo Nabiki!" Kodachi walked off, her back stiff and her strides fast and
heavy.

"Didn't think you would." Nabiki waited until she was almost out of earshot
and the piped up, "But just think about this, Kuno Kodachi. You just lost to
me rather easily. Do you really want a repeat performance?"

Kodachi just kept walking, not even deigning to respond.

Nabiki turned back to the comatose figure in the closet. "Now, should I go
for two for two? Nah, Kuno-chan is way too easy."

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Ranma and Akane stared at each other from just a few feet away, in their new
room. Akane's old furniture and their new bed seemed so out of place in the
old guest room. It had been decided that since it was the biggest room
upstairs, that it would be the couples. The crib, now in a box, would go in
one corner.

Ranma gulped and stepped closer. He almost wished that Akane hadn't read
that one part that mentioned how long it was safe to have sex during
pregnancy. The other part reminded the stuffy part about how beautiful Akane
looked in the white western-style dress.

Slowly, and much more nervously than the first time, Ranma embraced his
radiant, if slightly scared, wife. What followed was much different than
their first time together. That had been an act of releasing lust, passion
and fear; this time it was more about committment and love. There was a
gentleness and caring in their actions not present when they had sex before.

After they had made love, they lay side by side. They laid there, looking
into one another's eyes.

Akane dimly noted that Ranma's hand was playing across her stomach, his
touch as wispy as a breeze. A gaze of wonder seemed to be stuck on his face.
He probably didn't even realize what he was doing.

"Ranma," Akane said quietly. "How do you feel about our child?"

"Uh? Oh, I'm not sure, really. Kind of nervous, I guess. It's also just so
amazin'. I'm pretty sure I don't know the first thing about being a father
and that kind of scares me. Heck, I really didn't understand where kids came
from," Ranma replied softly. He continued to touch her stomach. "I wanta do
the best job I can. Wish I knew how to."

"That's very sweet, Ranma. I think you've got the right idea. We just need
to try and do the best job we can. There are some special classes that we
can take that will help a lot too." Akane swallowed nervously. "I'd like us
to both take them."

"Both of us? I guess so. If it's for our kid, sure. Anything for us," Ranma
said, hugging her tightly.

Akane returned that hug, letting herself be lulled off to sleep.

Ranma watched her for a short while, wonder still in his eyes, until sleep
took him away.

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