Cinders 8
Cinders
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by June "KaraOhki" Geraci
July 29, 2001
Ranma 1/2 and its universe were created by Rumiko Takahashi, and belong to her. This work of fiction was written for entertainment only, and is not intended for commercial purposes.
Chapter 8
Soun finished sweeping the walk, put the broom away, and walked over to the pond. He noticed that the water wasn't as clear as it should be and that it needed skimming. He hadn't touched it since Ranma had jumped into it with Akane in his arms.
"I should get to work before the fish start to die," he said aloud.
Kasumi watched from the doorway, nodding in approval. Her father had done nothing but sit since Akane and Ranma had been taken to the hospital. It was good to see him taking an interest in his fish again.
Her attention was taken away from her father by the ringing of the phone. The last person she expected to be calling was on the other end.
"Akane? You sound wonderful!"
"I feel a lot better."
"Father will be so pleased!"
"You mustn't tell him. Don't ask questions! Just listen, and I'll explain everything."
Kasumi listened attentively as Akane spoke. Her expression slowly changed from confused to one that was seldom if ever seen on her face. Kasumi was smiling, but her smile was not a pleasant one. "I approve, Akane, but isn't that what Nabiki said the other day?"
"Keep listening, Kasumi. Ranma's added to our plan."
The more Kasumi listened, the more she smiled.
*****
The physical therapist sat with the doctor, taking notes.
"The young lady needs to be up and moving, but please keep in mind that for a while we weren't sure whether or not she would survive. I expect that she will be rather weak, and somewhat stiff. She will need encouragement from you and perhaps a bit of prodding. I know that her husband will be helpful there."
The therapist took the elevator upstairs and started down the hall to the Saotomes' room. He had already mentally rehearsed all of the usual encouraging words that seemed to work best with badly injured patients, and wondered how difficult it would be to get Akane out of bed. That was why he was totally unprepared for what he saw when he entered the room.
Both beds had been pushed against the wall, clearing a space in the center of the room. A young woman stood there, her back to him, going through the movements of what seemed to be an advanced kata. Behind her, a young man followed her across the room, wheeling her IV pole and his own so that she would not entangle herself.
"C'mon, Akane, pick up those arms!"
"I'm trying!"
"I can see that," remarked the therapist. "Are you stiff?" Both Ranma and Akane jumped and whirled to face him. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. My name is Takao. I'm here to help you start your physical therapy, but it appears that you started without me."
"You don't know Akane. She doesn't know how to sit still!"
Akane made a face at her husband, and Takao couldn't help chuckling. He was already beginning to like these two patients. "That's good, because I don't intend to let you sit long enough to get any stiffer than you already are. Shall we begin?"
*****
By the time the session was done both Ranma and Akane were more than ready to sit down. When Takao told Ranma and Akane that he was there to work with both of them, Ranma had looked at him with amusement, and explained that he'd been up and walking for days.
"That doesn't matter. It's necessary for me to observe both of you and see how you are."
"Man," commented Ranma afterwards, "I can't believe I'm this tired!"
Akane smiled sweetly at him. "It's your own fault. You're the one who insisted on staying awake for so long."
Ranma stuck his tongue out at his wife. "Don't tell me you didn't appreciate it."
Takao smiled and picked up his notepad. "I'll leave you two to argue that one out. I'd like you both to repeat what we just did later today, perhaps some time in the late afternoon. As soon as Akane is allowed to leave the room, we'll be going downstairs for some water therapy. Ranma, you're going to join us."
"Water?" asked Ranma nervously. "Hot or cold?"
"Very warm," replied the therapist. "Don't worry about it." Then he was gone.
"He's gotta know," said Ranma.
"Sounds like it to me."
*****
"Why is it that if one line rings, all of them ring?" muttered a very frustrated secretary as she grabbed the phone. "Miss Kazuko speaking, may I help you?"
"Nakazawa here."
"Hello! May I ask how your mother is?"
"She's doing much better, thank you. I need a favor, Rumi."
"Yes?"
"I left my briefcase in my office. There's a marriage certificate that needs to be registered."
"Hold on just a moment, my other line is ringing." The young woman took the other call and then ran into her employer's office to find his briefcase. "I found it. I'll take care of it. There goes the other line again!"
"Wait! There are some special mailing instructions." When he realized he was speaking to dead air Mr. Nakazawa groaned and held on.
In the meantime, all of the lines on Rumi's phone kept ringing. While transferring a call to another department she accidentally disconnected her employer. "Oops! I cut him off!" she squeaked. Then she shrugged. It wasn't as if she needed instructions on how to handle the document she'd retrieved from his briefcase. She picked up the certificate and headed out of the office. Behind her, the phone rang again.
"Why doesn't she answer?" asked Nakazawa aloud. "If that certificate doesn't get handled properly Nabiki Tendo will never let me forget it!"
*****
"I'm so thirsty!"
Ranma glanced up at the clock and then at his wife. "Then stop. We've been at this longer than we were this morning." He went over to his tray table and poured both of them some ice water. "You did a lot better."
"You think so? I couldn't tell."
"You're lifting your arms higher."
"I feel something pulling when I do that." Akane pointed to her ribs. "It's really stiff here." She reached for the water Ranma was holding out. "Thanks."
"Takao said it would take time. Don't overdo it."
Akane shook her head. "You don't get it, do you? You're going to be getting out of here soon, and I can't come with you. If I work really hard, maybe we can leave at the same time." She put down her water and wrapped herself around her husband. "I don't want to be here without you!"
"Heh. You're not sick of having me around twenty-four hours a day?"
Akane snuggled closer. Ranma's lips found hers. Neither of them was pleased when the phone rang.
"Yes? Okay, thanks. Send them up in a couple of minutes." Ranma hung up and looked at Akane. "Get ready. Visitors." Then he laughed aloud at the expression on Akane's face.
"Operation Invalid, Phase One!" she giggled.
*****
When Kasumi opened the door, the room was in semi-darkness. Ranma was in bed with his overhead light on, a textbook in his lap. The curtains around Akane's bed were closed. The beds were no longer pushed together, but several feet apart. Ranma looked up as she entered and smiled at her.
"Am I glad to see you!"
Kasumi smiled, even though Ranma couldn't see it through the mask. "Why thank you, Ranma!"
"You can't believe how lonely I am!"
Kasumi gestured at the curtains. "What about Akane?"
"Are you kidding? She won't even talk to me!"
Soun overheard Ranma's words as he came through the door behind Kasumi. "Have you two been arguing again?"
"No, we haven't! She just won't come out from behind those curtains!"
Kasumi raised her eyebrows and slipped inside Akane's curtains. Her sister was sitting there in nearly complete darkness.
"Are you all right, dear?"
Akane grinned, winked at her sister, and answered in a very soft voice. "I don't want anybody to look at me."
"But you look better, you know."
"I don't think so."
"Your father wants to see you."
"NO!" Both girls were silent for a few seconds, and then Akane spoke again. "Can we leave the light off?"
"If it will make you feel better."
*****
Kasumi came out from behind the curtains and gestured to her father. "Akane wants you to come in." A few seconds later Genma and Nabiki were left alone with Ranma.
Genma stared at the closed curtains for a moment, and then looked back at his son. "How long has she been like this?"
Ranma shrugged. "Since she came down with that fever. I think it made her depressed or something." He turned to Nabiki and waved at the chair next to his bed. "Come sit by me." Then Genma nearly fell over because Ranma reached out and held Nabiki's hand.
"Son? What are you doing?"
"Shhh, not so loud!" whispered Ranma. Sounds of murmured conversation came from behind the curtains, and Ranma looked relieved. "Guess they didn't hear you. I'm holding my fiancee's hand. What do you think I'm doing?" When Genma didn't respond but sat there with his mouth open, Ranma continued. "She told me a couple of days ago. It's okay with me."
Genma finally found his tongue. "You mean you like the arrangement?"
"Well sure!" Ranma gestured at the curtains. "You think I wanna live with somebody who cries all the time?" He looked at Nabiki and appeared to be a little embarrassed. "I'm not trying to put Akane down or nothing, but she's awfully hard to live with right now. She won't even try! She's positive she's going to be crippled and ugly."
"We could get you moved to your own room, Son."
"I don't think that'd be a good idea, Pop. She's scared to be by herself. I guess she knows I'll protect her." Ranma turned to Nabiki and squeezed her hand. "You're not jealous, are you?"
"I'm not Shampoo or Ukyo. Take all the time you want to let my little sister down easily." Nabiki patted Ranma's cheek with her free hand. "Then we'll be able to concentrate on us."
Ranma blushed. "I must have been crazy to stay with Akane all this time. I really did like her, you know, and I thought she liked me too." He looked at his father, and Genma thought he saw pain in his son's expression. "She kept hitting me until I got the message. She doesn't want me. I don't think she ever did."
*****
"But you got up today and worked with the therapist, didn't you?" Soun reached out to pat his daughter's hand and fought back tears when she flinched.
"It hurt! I don't want him to come back!"
"You've got to let him work with you, Akane. You'll find that it will hurt less and less, and you will get stronger and stronger." Kasumi's voice was at her softest as she spoke. "We want you to come home to us as soon as you can."
That made Akane start sniffling again. "I'm scared to go home! They can't keep people like Kodachi out of here, so what's going to happen when I go home? And I'm scared of how people are going to look at me! I'm ugly!"
That was too much for Soun. He began to cry and ran out of the room. Genma got up and ran after him. Kasumi waited a minute before peeking out into the hallway.
"Are they gone?" asked Ranma.
"They just got into the elevator."
"Good." He got out of bed and opened the curtains around Akane's bed before pushing the beds back together, while Kasumi and Nabiki turned on all the lights. Neither he nor Akane noticed Nabiki slipping a small package into Ranma's nightstand.
"I guess I don't have to ask how your part went," said Ranma.
Akane nodded. "I hate upsetting him like that, but I had to make it convincing."
"Looks like it worked."
"How did it go with your father?"
"Oh, I think I convinced him."
Nabiki giggled. "You should have seen Mr. Saotome's face when Ranma held my hand."
"You WHAT!!!!"
Ranma leaned away from Akane, who was beginning to glow. "Hey! I just held her hand! I said I was going to be nice to her, didn't I?"
The glow faded, and Akane sagged. "I guess your father wouldn't have believed it any other way."
Ranma put his arm around Akane. "I think Pop fell for it. That's what counts." Then he noticed how quiet the room had become, and took a good look at his sisters-in-law. They were staring at Akane. "Is something wrong?"
Kasumi shook her head and began to sniffle. "No. I just can't believe how wonderful Akane looks! It's a miracle!"
Nabiki got up to take a better look. "No, it was magic."
"It was," agreed Ranma. "We owe Cologne a lot." He paused, and looked a little embarrassed. "I was afraid to let her try to help Akane, and I wasn't very nice to her. I want to apologize, and thank her."
"I'll tell her to come see you," promised Kasumi, "but now that Father and Mr. Saotome are gone, would you tell us what really happened with the therapist? The nurses told us he was here this morning."
Akane opened up her mouth to answer, but Ranma beat her to it. "Akane did great!" he said proudly. "She'll be beating me up again before you know it."
"Ranma!"
"Hey, I thought you were gonna hit me for holding Nabiki's hand!"
Akane blushed. "I'm sorry."
"If you didn't get jealous, you wouldn't be Akane."
*****
Akane's sisters didn't stay much longer, and the Saotomes were soon left alone again.
"I wonder why Mom didn't come."
"Why don't you call her? Your father won't be home yet, and you won't have to be careful of what you say."
"Good idea." Ranma reached for the phone and dialed.
"A cold? Yeah, I can understand why you stayed home. Just get better, okay?"
*****
Akane watched as Ranma chatted with his mother and told her about their progress. After a few minutes her eyelids began to droop and despite trying hard to stay awake she soon drifted off.
"Hey, Akane, wake up! Akane?"
"Sleepy."
"Dinner's here."
"Go 'way!"
"No. You're still too thin." Ranma emphasized his statement with a kiss, and raised the head of Akane's bed.
"All right, all right, I'm up!" Akane tried to glare at Ranma, but somehow it turned into a smile. "I guess I am hungry." She pulled the tray closer and uncovered it.
Ranma pulled open the drawer of his bedside table and put his textbook inside. It didn't fit. He reached inside, felt around, and came up with a brightly wrapped package. "Where did this come from?" He shoved the book into the drawer and put the package on the table. There was a small envelope taped to it.
Akane looked over Ranma's shoulder as he tore the envelope open and extracted a small sheet of paper. "That's Nabiki's writing."
"A little wedding present," read Ranma aloud, "to be used when you're 'up' to it." Ranma turned bright red, dropped the note and looked at his wife, who was giggling madly. "She wouldn't!"
"Oh yes, she would!"
Akane's laughter was infectious, and soon Ranma and Akane were holding each other, laughing hysterically. Once they regained control of themselves, Ranma put the package to one side and they attempted to eat their dinner. Unfortunately, every few seconds one or the other would begin to laugh again and set the other off. They eventually stopped laughing, and finished dinner just as the doctor walked in. He smiled at them, and it took Ranma a second or two to realize that he wasn't wearing a mask.
"Doc? Where's your mask?"
"It's not necessary, Ranma. Akane's tests have been perfectly normal for two days."
"Wow! That's great news!"
"That's just the beginning. I'm going to have your intravenous medicines discontinued, and switch both of you to orals."
"Thank you!" exclaimed Akane. "I think I was running out of room on my arms with all the times they switched locations."
The doctor came over and examined Akane's arms. "You do have a lot of bruises. They should fade soon." As he was speaking one of the nurses came in and walked over to Ranma.
"Ready to get this out?" she asked. Ranma's response was to hold out his arm. Then she moved on to Akane, and soon all she had on her arm was a small adhesive bandage.
The moment the nurse left the room Akane jumped out of bed. "I'm going to take a shower!" She went into her bedside table, took out a paper-wrapped package, and headed straight into the bathroom.
"Hey! That's what I wanted to do!"
"You were too slow!"
Ranma grinned at Akane's remark and turned back to the doctor. "She's happy, isn't she?"
"Yes, and she's doing very well. If she keeps progressing this way, she won't be in much longer than you."
"You can't send us home at the same time?"
"Right now I don't think so but that could change, depending on Akane's progress." The doctor started to get up, but Ranma stopped him. He turned around and listened intently for the sound of running water before starting to talk.
"Doctor, since Akane's doing so much better, do you think it would be okay if we, if we um�". Ranma's courage failed him and he cursed himself. Fortunately, the doctor caught on quickly.
"Just lock the door," he said, trying hard to maintain a straight face. "I'll see to it that you're not disturbed."
"Wait a minute! You're not going to tell--"
The doctor quickly cut Ranma off. "Of course not. I'm going to write in your chart that it's no longer necessary for you to be monitored during the night, and that you should be allowed to sleep. That means no one will come in to check your temperature or blood pressure until the morning shift comes on, so you should be undisturbed."
Ranma's blush began to fade. "Okay. Thank you."
"I'll make the change before I leave the floor. Good night." He walked away a few steps before turning around. "Just remember that if either of you need pain medication you should ask for it, especially Akane. She's been used to getting it through the intravenous." The doctor waited to smile until after he left the room. "Newlyweds," he murmured.
*****
Akane stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself. Her face looked much better than it had the day before, and she could actually see the beginnings of black fuzz all over her scalp. She put a scarf on her head, but took it off again. It was best that Ranma see her as she was. He knew what she looked like without the scarf anyway.
Her gaze went lower, to her body. No amount of wishful thinking on her part could hide the fact that wherever she looked she saw half-healed burns. Only a few of them still hurt when touched, and the pain was minor compared to what she had been through.
"He said he didn't care how I look," she murmured. "I've got to know if that's true." She turned away from the mirror and unwrapped the package Kasumi had given her. After dressing, she looked in the mirror again. "Damn Nabiki and her 'gift,' putting ideas in my head! I don't know if I'm ready for this!" Her legs began to shake, but she couldn't tell if it was from weakness or nerves.
*****
A couple of minutes after the doctor left there was a soft knock on the door and an aide peeked in. "The doctor sent me to pick up your dinner trays. May I come in?"
"Sure," replied Ranma.
The young girl hurried in and picked up the trays. "Would you like your water pitchers filled before I go home?"
"Okay."
She returned with the pitchers, and placed them on the bed trays. Ranma immediately took both, put them on his bedside table, and pushed the table as far away as he could.
"Why did you do that?"
"Let's say I'm not taking any chances."
The aide left, wondering why water was so dangerous. Ranma locked the door as soon as she was gone.
*****
"Hey Akane, you coming out soon?" The question was accompanied by a knock.
"Just a second!" Akane slipped into the new robe Kasumi bought for her and opened the door. "Go ahead."
"Thanks." Ranma passed her and entered the bathroom.
"He didn't even notice!" growled Akane in exasperation. Then she stopped short and looked at Ranma's table. Why was her water on it, and why was it in the corner of the room? Her attention was taken next by the beds. Ranma had pulled her pillows onto his bed. Her bed tray was pushed aside, but Ranma's was beside his bed, and Nabiki's gift was sitting there. The wrapping paper was no longer on it.
Akane felt her face getting hot. Maybe it was just her imagination, or maybe Ranma...her feet moved before her brain caught up to them and she found herself at the door, with her hand on the lock. It was already locked
*****
The first thing Ranma noticed when he closed the bathroom door was that the room smelled sweet. He discovered the cause when he stepped into the shower. A bottle of lavender-scented shower gel sat there. He opened the bottle and sniffed it suspiciously.
"Too girly," he concluded, and he replaced the cap and reached for the soap. Five minutes later he got out of the shower, dried off, and climbed into his pajamas. Then he took a deep breath, steadied his breathing (but not the pounding in his chest) and opened the door.
Akane was sitting in one of the chairs looking at him.
"How come you're not in bed?"
"I was waiting for you."
Suddenly the room was much too hot for Ranma, and he tugged at the collar of his pajama top. "Akane, I--um--"
"Yes?"
Words failed Ranma, so he acted instead. He took Akane's hands, pulled her to her feet, and kissed her. Among many other sensations, he became aware that he was surrounded by the scent of lavender. Ranma had heard of aphrodisiacs--exposure to Shampoo had made sure of that--but he was still surprised to discover that the simple smell of lavender could affect him so powerfully. His hold on Akane tightened, and he deepened the kiss. She seemed to struggle, and he immediately let go.
"Akane? Did I hurt you?"
Akane shook her head. "No."
"Then what's wrong?"
"Are you thinking what I think you are?"
The tangled sentence made Ranma smile, and he put his palm on Akane's cheek and caressed it. "Yeah, I am." His hand slid down to her neck, and then stroked her satin-covered shoulder. "That's really pretty."
Akane was silent.
"Don't you want to?"
Akane gestured at the box on Ranma's table. "Is that why? Because you're expected to?"
Ranma caught his breath. "Are you kidding? I've been thinkin' about it since we got married the first time! And then we found out it wasn't legal! And then we got married again!" He turned around and started to pace. "I tried not to think about it 'cause you were hurt so bad and I didn't want to make it worse." He stopped with his back to her and clenched his fists. "But now you're better, and Nabiki gave me that stupid present and I can't stop thinking about it, so I talked to the doctor--" Ranma stopped talking and put both hands over his mouth. After a few seconds of silence a pair of small hands turned him around. Akane didn't look happy, but she didn't look angry either. Ranma couldn't read her expression at all.
"You talked to the doctor about it? Why?"
"C'mon Akane! Do you think I'm going to take a chance of hurting you?"
Akane bit her lip, closed her eyes, and started to shake. Then she started to laugh. "No. You wouldn't. You also ought to know how much I want you to touch me. How many times have I asked you to hold me?"
"A lot, but it hurt you, and I'm not going to if you're gonna get hurt! Would you stop laughing! It's not funny!"
Akane stopped laughing immediately.
"Ranma?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." Akane untied her robe, put it aside, and walked into Ranma's arms. "Just shut up."
*****
The hospital room was quiet, and its only illumination came from the moonlight shining through the window. Ranma lay there, his eyes half closed as he watched his wife sleeping in his arms. There had been no crazed rivals knocking down walls, no mercenary sisters-in-law trying to film them, no fathers shouting encouragement through the door. Nothing. Just them.
"Perfect," he murmured.
*****
In the Nerima Post Office, a letter sat awaiting delivery. It was an ordinary-enough looking envelope, except that it was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Ranma Saotome, and the return address read "Nerima City Hall". The mailer of the letter slept blissfully, as one who has done a good job will.