The All-Americans
By
Joshua Trujillo

Part 5 - A Fair of the Heart

Ranma turned down the heat on the stove. The sausage was 
cooking up nicely. He checked the potatoes and found them to be 
almost done. This was a problem. No one else was up yet. The 
coffee was percolating, the tea was on, and the breakfast itself was 
almost done. The table was set.  Everything but the players to 
speak their lines.

He wondered if he should wake them, though. Ranma had been 
home for about two weeks. He was silently scared about how they 
would...take IT. He heard some shuffling behind him.

"Ranma," Nabiki began, "If you must get up this early, would you 
please-"

There was a silence. Ranma figured she must have come around 
the corner and saw him...her.

"Excuse me," Kasumi said, probably from next to Nabiki, "Who 
are you?"

Ranma turned. They were all there except Akane. The only one 
who knew. She didn't have to wait long though as Akane came 
around the corner and stopped.

"Ranma?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ranma replied, "It's me...sorry about this."

***

Ranma finished his story and wiped his eyes again. God, why 
wasn't it getting easier to tell that damned story?

"So you're telling me that this too is Genma's fault?" Nodoka 
asked, incredulously.

Ranma hemmed and hawed about it. Akane didn't have such 
compunctions however.

"Yup," she said, "If Genma had been a better father, then Ranma 
would never have gone to that village and ended up in the situation 
that he did."

"Akane, it was my decision to stay with the tribe," Ranma said 
quietly.

Nodoka shook her head. Kasumi was sitting there, a shocked look 
marring her almost omnipresent smile. Nabiki stroked her chin in 
thoughtful contemplation. Nodoka sighed.

"Well," she began, "Is this...This can't be permanent, can it?"

"No," Ranma shook her head, "It only lasts for twenty four hours."

A smile slowly spread across the faces of all three Tendo 
daughters, though it went largely unseen by either Nodoka or 
Ranma. Ranma was surprised when Nodoka got up from her seat 
and held Ranma in a strong embrace.

"Okay," Nodoka said, her voice a slight tremble, "It looks like I 
have a daughter as well as a son."

She broke the embrace and held her new daughter at arms length. 
Nodoka didn't really know what to make of Ranma in this form. 
Her hair was almost shockingly bright red. She was almost a foot 
shorter than...her son. And she was quite a healthy girl. She also 
had the bluest of eyes. Overall the effect was actually rather 
stunning. Nodoka wondered to herself how Ranma had gotten over 
this in the last five years.

"Does it...Hurt when you change?" Nabiki asked, taking too long 
an examination of Ranma's chest.

Ranma grabbed her hand and just looked at her.

"No Nabiki," Ranma said, "Now if you don't mind, would you 
please quit grabbing those. Would you like it if I grabbed yours?"

Nabiki thought about it but never quite answered.

"Nabiki, please quit," Kasumi finally said, "Ranma is family no 
matter what form he...she...is in, okay?"

"I'm a guy, okay?"

"Do you know if there are any cures?" Akane asked.

"I don't know," Ranma said, closing her eyes, "A couple summers 
ago, I went back to the mesa, but I couldn't find Choco, or the 
village, or any of the other elders. I did find Colate's gravestone 
though. I guess it was to remind me what I'd done to them."

"Ranma, are you okay?" Nodoka asked.

Ranma shook her head, but stopped sobbing. She then nodded.

"Mom," she began, "I've done some pretty bad things in my life. 
None anywhere near what dad or Happi did, but still. They're 
things I'm not proud of, but I've done many more things to make 
amends. I...I just want to live a normal life."

Nodoka looked at the girls and they, in turn, looked at each other. 
They all nodded in agreement.

***

Dinner had been good, if a little disconcerting. Nodoka actually 
allowed Akane to cook, and Ranma found out why they normally 
didn't. After putting out the fires, they gave up cooking and calmed 
Akane down while Nabiki went for pizza.

"Isn't it disconcerting to go to bed a guy and wake up a girl?" 
Nabiki asked.

Ranma smiled, but thought about it for a minute. The whole 
incident had been two days ago. He'd made breakfast for them and 
they'd found Ranma had turned...female. Ranma picked up the 
remote control and flipped through the satellite channels. He 
sighed. Three hundred channels of nothing.

"Yeah," Ranma answered, "But, there's no pain and I'm not really 
affected by it, so for the most part, I ignore it."

Nabiki had made her way around the couch and seated herself next 
to him. She folded one leg under the other and propped her left 
elbow on the back of the couch. She gave him her most appraising 
look. Ranma smiled, but flipped the television to Jeopardy. It was 
the only thing that could take his mind off the woman sitting next 
to him.

Geez Alex was getting old.

Nabiki sighed. Was Ranma ignoring her? She was confused by 
this. No guy ever ignored her, especially when she was favoring 
him with her sex appeal. Of course, she hadn't done it all that 
often, so she guessed that she might have been out of practice. She 
reached over with her left hand and pulled lightly at his pigtail. He 
looked out of the corner of his eyes at her and smiled. He guessed 
that was her way of getting his attention. He turned to her.

"Yes?" He asked, flashing a smile at her.

Nabiki's heart skipped a beat in that moment. Was this something 
that she wanted to invest her time in? Was this a safe risk? Her 
mind raced through a hundred questions, none of which had any 
suitable answers. Finally, she did the one thing she thought she'd 
never do. She said to Hell with it.

Nabiki reached over and brought Ranma's face in and kissed him, 
gently but firmly. She wanted to continue, but she knew two 
things. First, Ranma was shocked as Hell that she was doing that. 
Second, Akane gasped and ran from the room. Nabiki broke the 
kiss and turned to the hall, where her sister had been.

"Oh great," Nabiki said softly.

She hadn't thought that Akane might be attracted to him. Having 
hit him with a board at their first meeting had raised Nabiki's 
chances with him, at least in Nabiki's mind. She looked back at 
him and giggled as he was blinking and trying to work things 
through in his head. It just struck her as funny how much that 
translated to what his face was doing. He heard her laugh and 
blushed as he looked at her.

It had stunned her when she decided to do it in the first place. It 
stunned her even more when, in that moment, he reached over and 
kissed her back.

Jeopardy passed. They didn't notice. The show after that passed. 
They didn't notice. The show after that passed. They still didn't 
notice.

***

Ranma sighed as he pulled himself into a handstand. He wondered 
if he was doing the right thing in dating Nabiki. Akane really liked 
him, Nabiki thought perhaps as much as she did. Kasumi had even 
taken to him, though there was something about Kasumi that 
bothered Ranma, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The days passed. Nodoka cautioned Ranma not to get to 
comfortable as Nabiki had a nasty habit of using men for her own 
gains. Ranma smiled when she had told him that. Gee, it'd just be 
like home.

He got himself together and went down to the family room. He 
wanted to exercise more, but the party wouldn't wait. He smiled. 
Neither would Nabiki.

So here he was. It was the second of July. Nabiki's birthday. They 
were all gathered in the family room with Nabiki opening her gifts. 
Akane had been unusually cool to Ranma in the last few days. In 
fact, they had hardly spoken. Akane had gone to the pool in the 
mornings and came home late at night.

Ranma just let it be. She would get over him soon enough. He just 
hoped she wouldn't smack him when Nabiki showed them his gift. 
A new outfit from his mother. Kasumi got her something that she 
wouldn't show to the rest of the group. She just blushed fiercely 
and muttered something. Ranma didn't understand it, Kasumi had 
told him it was a pair off pajamas. Odd.

Before she got to Akane's present, the doorbell rang. Nabiki shook 
her head. She wasn't expecting anyone. Kasumi got up and went to 
answer it. After a minute, she called for Nabiki to come and get the 
door. Nabiki sighed and went to the door. Ranma got up and began 
to go upstairs.

"Ranma?" Akane called after him.

"Hmm?"

"Are you...mad at me?"

He turned on the steps and looked at her.

"Why would I be mad at you?" he asked, confused, "I'm the one 
dating your sister. I was worried that you were mad or upset 
because of that."

"Well, I was," Akane said, "But then I realized that if you wanted 
Nabiki, then I shouldn't stand between you."

"Akane," Ranma said, "She was the one who kissed me."

"I know, I know," she said, following Ranma as he continued up 
the stairs, "It's still...I don't know."

Ranma opened the door to the attic and went to his dresser. He'd 
bought this present a couple of days ago, when he found out about 
Nabiki's birthday. He hoped it was okay. He stared at the small box 
for a couple of minutes. Akane put a hand on his shoulder.

"What is it?"

"It's-uh," Ranma didn't know how to continue, "It's a bracelet. 
Nothing special, just a little gold bracelet that I think'd look-"

He could see from the look in her eyes that he should have just 
kept his mouth shut. Akane shook her head and gave Ranma a tight 
hug.

"Akane?" Ranma asked, slightly more confused now.

She wiped her eyes before she said anything.

"Akane?" he repeated, "Are you okay?"

"It's my own fault really," she said quietly, "I'm the one who told 
her to go after you. Of course, I didn't think she'd move quite 
THAT fast."

Akane laughed tiredly at his expression.

"I'm the one who told her to go and watch TV with you," she said, 
"Be careful though, okay Ranma? She can be kind of...Harsh, 
sometimes."

"Yeah, mom's already told me."

"Well, come on. Let's get back downstairs before her paranoia 
kicks in."

Ranma nodded.

***

It was huge. Just simply...huge! Nabiki had never seen anything 
like it. She was so overwhelmed by the sheer size of it, she just 
began to laugh. Oh God, what was she going to do now...?

"What's so-" Akane said from behind them.

"What the Hell is THAT?!" Ranma exclaimed from beside Akane.

Nodoka came back inside and brushed her hands, just shaking her 
head at the huge display before her. Kasumi had finished laughing 
and handed the little card to Ranma.

                 - To Nabiki Tendo,
                   To the most darling of my life,
                   These roses to signify my undying love,
                                By Your Side Forever,
                                Your Pookie Bear

"Nabiki?" Ranma asked, finishing the letter, "What the Hell is a 
'Pookie Bear'?"

He handed the card to Akane as Kasumi burst out laughing again. 
Nodoka continued to shake her head and sat down in the rocker 
across from the display.

"Oh God," Akane exclaimed, "Nabiki, I thought you got rid of him 
last year?"

"What's a 'Pookie Bear'?" Ranma asked again.

"I DID!" Nabiki said, "He just doesn't like to listen."

"What's a 'Pooki-"

"A 'Pookie Bear' is the pet name that Nabiki gave to one of her first 
boyfriends," Kasumi said as she stopped laughing.

"His name is Tatewaki Kuno," Nodoka said, "He's the son of your 
favorite principal, though I think he's a little odd."

"His whole FAMILY is more than a little odd," Akane said.

"Look, we were all of about seven at the time, okay?" Nabiki 
implored.

"Looks like he still is," Akane said quietly.

"Why the display then?" Ranma asked, pointing at the tacky piece 
of flora in front of him.

"I guess he still thinks he loves me," Nabiki said thoughtfully.

"Hmph," Ranma didn't know what to think, "Well, anyway, here."

Nabiki looked at the little box that Ranma held out with wonder. 
She took it and untied the ribbon. As she opened the box, her 
breath left her.

"My God, Ranma..." she whispered, "It's gorgeous!"

Nabiki took the little bracelet out of the box and went to Ranma. 
He helped her clasp the thin gold bracelet around her wrist. He 
liked the little bracelet, which was herringbone with a little string 
of diamonds cut in as a design. Nabiki threw her arms around him 
in a big hug. Nodoka poked her way through to look at the gift and 
gave Ranma a shocked look.

"Ranma, how much did this cost?" she asked.

"This?" he asked, pointing to the bracelet, "This is nothing really."

Nodoka looked to Akane, who just shrugged.
                   
The rest of the night went by without incident, at least as far as 
Ranma was concerned. It took their collective effort to haul the 
three rose displays out to the compost heap, which would smell of 
roses for many months to come. Ranma wondered if Nabiki'd ever 
do that to him, to which Kasumi replied that at least now Kuno and 
his gifts were being put to use. He shrugged. If Kasumi of all 
people acted like that to Kuno, then he wasn't going to complain.

***

The Fourth of July. It had never been a real holiday to Ranma. His 
curse usually happened on the fourth, so it always made for a 
closed holiday. He did enjoy the fireworks when he could see them 
though. There was a small carnival that was being set up in the 
park down by the lake. According to Akane, the town shot the 
fireworks off over the lake while the town could watch from all 
sides.

Since Nabiki's birthday party, Akane had warmed to him again, 
and he made extra sure that his own hormones were under control 
concerning the youngest Tendo. He may have just been having fun 
when he first got here, but he guessed that she thought it was more.

Gotta watch out who I flirt with, I guess, Ranma thought to 
himself.

"Dammit! Light!" Ranma shouted at the grill.

He hadn't wanted to go to the parade, so Nodoka put him in charge 
of starting the barbecue. He'd done this before, so he didn't think 
he would have trouble. He looked at the little pile of newspaper 
and starter twigs piled neatly in an even spacing along the grill. 
Maybe he'd just get a gas grill for mom in the next couple of days.

But now he was getting frustrated. He looked around to make sure 
no one was watching and tossed the matches behind him. He put 
his hand near one of the starter twigs and concentrated. A small 
glow began to appear and grow in the palm of his hand. It then 
stretched out and snapped. Ranma jerked his hand back in pain as 
the fire began to spread across the grill. He hated doing that. It 
burned his hand every time he did that. But at last the grill was lit.

***

Akane walked into the back yard. Something smelled wonderful. 
She saw that the grill was smoking and smiled. Ranma was 
becoming more of a cook everyday. He emerged from the house a 
few minutes later carrying a platter full of various vegetables and a 
few choice cuts of meat. Akane sat down at the picnic table that 
had been set with dishes and watched Ranma smartly flip the food 
around on the grill.

"You look like you've done that before," she said.

"One of my favorite things actually," Ranma said, smiling, 
"American and all that."

"And you're so cute when you're patriotic," Nabiki said, kissing 
him on the cheek.

"So you're coming to the fireworks tonight, right?" Kasumi asked.

"Yeah," Ranma said, nodding, "I don't see why I can't."

"Good," Akane said, "I'll show you around to some of my friends 
and some of the people in the class."

"Akane..." Ranma began.

"What?"

"Akane," Nodoka began, "Ranma still doesn't feel right being held 
back in school like he is."

"Oh," Akane muttered, "Sorry, I-"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Nabiki interrupted, "I'll be there so 
you can mingle with my friends too."

Ranma only turned some of the corn and nodded absently.

***

WHY am I doing this? Ranma thought to himself.

You're doing this, stupid, because you're dating Nabiki and you 
like Akane.

He stopped brushing his teeth at this and thought for another 
moment.

Did he really like Akane?

Yup, the voice in his head said, You just don't realize it yet.

Okay, he asked the voice, When DO I realize it?

Only silence answered him.

"Figures," he said out loud, "Can't even answer my own damned 
question."

Sure you can, the voice chimed in, I was just thinking. You'll 
probably realize it after it's too late.

"Thanks, like I needed you to tell me something I already know."

If you really knew it, you wouldn't ask me, it said.

"Ranma?" Nabiki said, coming into the bathroom, "Who are you 
talking to?"

Good thing you had your pants on, huh? The voice chittered.

"Myself," Ranma said, ignoring the voice.

"Oh...Well, since you're having such a good conversation with 
yourself, I could leave," she said.

He smiled and pulled her close. She reached behind her and closed 
the door.

"You know that mom, Akane and Kasumi have all gone ahead. 
Which means we're in the house...Alone," Nabiki purred in his ear.

"Why Nabiki," Ranma raised an eyebrow at this, "What are you 
suggesting? Hmmm?"

"I'll show you..."

You know DAMN well what she wants! The voice shouted at him, 
I...You...She...AW HELL, lost him already...

***

Akane lifted the mallet with ease. The carnie had been warned 
about setting up this kind of game in Earnest. He didn't believe 
them. She'd already won most of his prizes, now she was doing it 
just for kicks. Akane drove the mallet down and the little bell slid 
up and crashed through the mangled top to go chiming into the 
lake beyond. She wiped the light bead of sweat from her brow and 
handed the mallet back to the carnie.

"Thanks," she said, "I needed that."

***

"Come on Ranma," Nabiki said, pulling him through the crowds, 
"Mom usually sets up over here."

"So where have you two been, huh?" Nodoka said from the blanket 
as they entered a small clearing.

Ranma just stood there and blushed. Nabiki smiled and took 
charge.

"We had trouble finding a place to park," she said quickly, "Had to 
park all the way down by the mall."

Which was the truth, to some extent.

Ranma slumped down next to Kasumi and rummaged through the 
ice chest for a cold drink.

"Why are you sweating so much?" Kasumi asked softly.

"Well, carrying your sister all the way from the mall-"

He was interrupted by a smack to his head.

"You didn't carry me ALL the way..." Nabiki said.

"No, just the first mile."

"Nabiki!" Nodoka said, shocked, "Taking advantage of my son like 
that..."

To which Ranma promptly began to choke on his bottled water. 
Nabiki suppressed an urge to giggle incessantly and simply 
smirked. Nabiki drank her own water and saw that Akane had 
come back to the clearing. Akane stopped and regarded the two 
with surprise. Akane dropped down next to Nabiki and asked her 
something that Ranma couldn't quite make out over his own 
coughing and wheezing. Nabiki just smiled and made funny 
motions with her hands, to which Akane just blushed fiercely and 
shook her head.

Wonder what they're talking about? The voice in his head asked.

You got me, Ranma replied.

***

The sun had gone down and the lights had come up, but they still 
had about an hour before the fireworks were underway. Nabiki 
took Ranma by the hand and led him down towards the lake's edge.

"Are you sure it's really a good idea, Nabiki?" Ranma asked.

"You want to make more friends in this town, don't you?" she 
asked, "Besides, some of my friends want to meet you."

Ranma rolled his eyes. Luckily, it was dark, so she couldn't see 
him doing it. He had a dread feeling that he'd get into a fight before 
the night was out. Just something needling him all night. He didn't 
know, he hoped he was wrong.

She brought him around the small ridge that separated the main 
crowds and the kids that gathered down by the banks of the lake. 
There was a small place set off from the rest where a small light 
had been set up. The warm glow of the electric lamp lit the faces 
arrayed in the summer night. Nabiki left and brought back several 
other girls who gave Ranma various levels of appraisal. Apparently 
this was a meeting place for the entire young popu-

"Ranma?" A voice said from somewhere ahead, "Ranma Saotome? 
Is that you?"

Nabiki and her friends looked in the direction of the person who 
walked into the light. A boy, about Ranma's age, bare-chested but 
wearing a leather vest and chaps. Ranma also saw the fang that 
erupted from his smile and the yellow and black striped bandana 
that was wrapped around his head.

Ryouga Hibiki. A person that Ranma thought he'd never see again. 
The one man that Ranma had never beaten.

"Ranma Saotome," Ryouga sneered at him, "I thought I'd never see 
you again. How's the ribs?"

"Ryouga, I'm here to have a good time with my girlfriend, Nabiki," 
Ranma said, barely controlling the anger that burned inside him, 
"But if you want an asskickin', I'll be more than happy to give it to 
you."

Ryouga pulled off his vest and threw it down.

"Come on ya' puss," Ryouga said slyly, "Let's throw down."

Nabiki ushered everyone out of the battle zone as both Ranma and 
Ryouga's battle auras flared to life. Nabiki really began to worry. 
Ranma didn't know what he was getting himself into.

Oh great, she thought, And just when we were getting somewhere, 
he goes and gets damaged...

***