Based on the characters and situations so well created by Rumiko
Takahashi and owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Communications and
others I have no doubt.  Please don't sue me!

There is a glossary of most of the Japanes terms I use at the end of
the story.  If you are familiar with the terms used in most Ranma
fanfics, no biggie, but if not, you might want to look those over
before reading.  

Please send any feedback to john@compqna.com and check out
my page at http://www.compqna.com/fanfics for my other fics.

Revised Apr 99.

****    ****    ****

Repairing the Damage
by

John Morales

It had been three days, and while Nabiki knew they had been
difficult days for her sister, she was a little surprised that Akane
had not yet thanked her.  Nabiki's efforts often went unnoticed by
her family, but she had gone above and beyond in this case.  

School had been tense for everyone.  Nabiki had worked to make it as
easy as possible for both Ranma and Akane, but to some extent she was
working against herself.  The attempted wedding had been a
spectacular disaster.  That had been necessary to get the parents to
ease up for a while, and had taken a fair amount of planning and
arranging.  Now she worked to minimize the resulting rumors and
gossip to give Akane back some semblance of her life.  

Instead of being relieved after everything had calmed down, as
Nabiki had expected, Akane seemed depressed.  It was almost like she
had wanted the wedding to go through.  Nabiki knew that was not the
case.  Not that Akane hated Ranma, but Akane was still too young, and
even if she eventually decided to marry Ranma, it should be their
plans, their date, and their invitations.  Had Akane not said all of
this herself time and time again?  So then, why was she not relieved,
or at least something other than depressed?

Nabiki had no answers, so she followed her over-active curiosity to
go looking for some.  Kasumi and the parents were all out at the
moment, so now might be a good time to talk to Akane about it.  She
found Akane in the living room, looking out at the yard.  P-chan was
snuggled down in her lap.  Nabiki had thought Akane was just staring
off into space, but as she approached, she realized her sister was
watching Ranma perform another of his kata in the yard.  Ranma gave
no sign that he noticed either of the Tendo girls, but at the same
time, Nabiki could almost feel his eyes following her.  

The whole scene just added to her self-doubt.  

She sat for a while, trying to decide how best to word her
questions.  Years before she had learned that some people could be
caught off guard by straightforward questions, and could give away
more than they intended trying to answer off the cuff.  "Akane,
what's going on?  Why are you so depressed lately?"  

Akane did not seem to notice the questions.  She continued to sit
quietly, and watch the outside world, absently stroking P-chan every
so often.

"You have hardly spoken since Sunday.  What's going on?"  

The words seemed to break through to Akane.  "Going on?" she
repeated, but then she slipped into silence again.  

Akane, for her part, could not believe Nabiki even had the nerve to
speak to her.  She had studiously avoided talking to her sister since
her failed wedding day.  And what a failure it had been.  Akane
quietly got up and went up to her room, taking P-chan with her. 
Ranma seemed to freeze for a moment as he listened to Akane move
about the house.  After a moment, he continued his exercises as
though nothing had happened.  

'Guess I'm not getting my info from Akane,' Nabiki thought to
herself.  Pausing for a moment, she thought about talking to Ranma. 

While not at all insightful, Ranma had one advantage over Nabiki,
information - pure raw data.  She shook her head.  'Me!  Going to him
for info!'  

****

While Nabiki had spent her last few days working the rumor mill,
Ranma had spent the last few days watching over Akane, constantly. 
In the aftermath of the violent wedding attempt, Ranma's concern for
Akane's safety had gone to a new level, and he had taken his role as
her protector to a matching new level.  He no longer stayed close to
Akane outside the house, but stood back a short distance, his eyes
constantly scanning the area.  At home, Ranma slept little and spent
his waking hours in one of two places: at Akane's side or working out
in the yard where he could see most of the house and was within
earshot of the rest.  While Akane had slipped into depression, Ranma
carefully maintained a simmering rage.  

Kuno had been the first victim on their first day back at school. 
He was on his way to the local emergency room before finishing the
second line of the sonnet he had written for the still unwed Akane. 
There was none of Ranma's usual taunts however.  Also, the fight did
not end with the almost casual kick to the face everyone had come to
expect.  The severe wounds Ranma inflicted on Kuno, and the silent
and serious approach he used had a chilling effect on all the
witnesses.  

The only other of their enemies who had even attempted to come close
to either of them was Shampoo.  Instead of his usual dodge, Ranma had
caught her bicycle, which seemed about to flatten him, and quickly
tossed the rider into the nearby river.  He then bent the wheels into
figure eights and threw the bicycle after the rider as he continued
to follow Akane.  Nabiki liked to think that if Akane had been
standing still, giving Ranma more time, Shampoo would be sharing
Kuno's hospital room, but she was pretty sure he had not abandoned
his practice of not hitting girls, at least not entirely.  

****

'Yes, he would have info.  Anything that Akane had said or done
outside of her room in the past few days had to have happened in
front of Ranma,' she reasoned.  Going to Ranma would be a mistake
however.  While he had said nothing to her in the past few days, she
knew he held her solely responsible for the violence that he believed
could easily have killed several members of the family.  He would not
help her anytime soon.  

She headed up to her room to plan a new course of action, but
stopped in the hall as she heard voices, 'No, one voice,' she
corrected herself quickly.  'Whom is Akane talking to?  P-chan,
maybe?'  Nabiki stopped to listen quietly at Akane's door.  

"Damn her!  How can she...  After ruining my wedding day!"  Akane
sobbed.  

'NO!  This can't be....'  What was left of Nabiki's cool confidence
shattered and her assumptions fell to the ground around her.  'But...
She didn't want this...  She tried to stop it herself...  She only
went along with it after she was bribed....'  Nabiki forced herself
to listen more closely.  

"Oh what does it matter.  He couldn't even say it!  On our wedding
day...  He couldn't...  Then again, I guess it wasn't our wedding day
after all."

Nabiki knew the only 'He' Akane talked about.  'Ranma.  Still
couldn't say those magic words.'

"And me!  I'm the fool...  I'm the one that had hoped...  I thought
maybe...  Maybe some good could come out of it, even if they were
still forcing us.  Maybe, we could be together...  Finally... 
Happy...  He could be cured...  I should have known better."  

It echoed in Nabiki's mind "I'm the one that had hoped ... Maybe, we
could be together...  Finally...  Happy."  She felt sick.  Each time
she heard it in her mind, the pain was worse.  

How had she misjudged the situation so badly?  She suddenly realized
she was as much to blame as the idiotic parents.  She had made a
significant decision for Akane without so much as talking to her
about it.  Nabiki quickly resolved that she would not leave things as
they were, she could not.  That would make her even more like Otousan
and Ojisan.  No, she would fix things, but how?

****

It took her several hours in her room to decide not just what to fix
but how to start.  In the process she had come to some pretty painful
conclusions about herself.  Some were truths she would have to be
open about if she were to try and repair some of what she had done...
if that was even possible.  Her plan worried her.  It was simple and
straightforward - seemingly too simple.  First things first, she had
to talk to Ranma.  She admitted to herself that she was more than a
little afraid of speaking to him in his current state of mind.  She
decided her best chance was to say two things before he could even
respond, and went looking for him in the yard.  

"Ranma" she called out to him from the porch, after drawing on her
courage for a while.  

He was not surprised by her presence, though he did not expect her
to speak him.  He should have realized she would by the fact that she
stayed quietly on the porch watching him for some time.  As usual, he
was too caught up thinking about Akane.  

"Nabiki, I don't-"

"Hold it" she quickly interrupted him.  "I have two things you need
to hear.  After that, I will stand still for whatever you want to say
to me.  I do deserve it after all."  

She watched him closely as this last part caught him obviously off
guard, as she had hoped.  She felt guilty manipulating him,
especially in light of what she had to say, but she had to make sure
he would listen.  She quickly continued.

"First, I have to say I am sorry.  I screwed up.  I was wrong to
sell information about the wedding.  I thought I had good reasons at
the time, but the fact is, I was wrong."  She let that sink in for a
moment before continuing.  "Second, if you will let me, I would like
to try and make it up to you.  I can never correct what I did, but I
think I can help make things better than they are now."  

Ranma paused for a moment.  Normally, he did not think much before
responding - one of his biggest faults - but in this case everything
he wanted to say had already been said.  His immediate response to
her last statement would normally have been to tell her off.  Maybe
say that she could not repair what she had done.  Whatever excuses
she had could not possibly be good enough.  That she had screwed up
big this time.  'But she already said that.  She admitted all of
that,' he thought.  This was not the arrogant, stoic bitch he was
accustomed to dealing with.  His pause gave way to a single word. 
"Why?"

"Listen, I know you probably don't believe me, but like I said, I
thought I had good reasons at the time.  I know Akane likes you, but
even when she is not denying that she will marry you, she is
complaining about the way you are being forced into it.  How you are
too young.  She wants to make her own plans.  I was trying to give
you time to do that.  I thought I was helping you.  I did not think
things would get out of hand they way they did.  I expected the
others to be disruptive, but murderous?  They were never like that
before.  And I did not think Aka...."  She stopped.  She was not used
to being this open, and she had started to ramble.  "I just did not
think it would happen this way.  I did not think Akane wanted this
yet, and I was wrong."  

Ranma thought about it some more.  He had to admit, he had thought
much the same.  He had tried to think of a way to stop the ceremony
himself, thinking that Akane would not want this.  Watching her the
last few days had given him reason to question that, but...  "Then
she did want to get married?"

"Before I answer that, will you let me help?  I want to make it up
to the two of you.  Will you let me?"

Conditions...  This was more like the Nabiki he was used to, but she
still seemed different somehow.  "How?"

"Well, I guess, by getting you what you want.  That seems to be the
ability to make some of your own decisions."  

Ranma laughed.  "So, you gonna kill our parents?"

Nabiki was quiet for a moment.  "Actually, they aren't your
problem."  

Ranma cut off his laugh, "What do you mean?"  

"Listen, Ranma.  You and Akane are the two most stubborn people I
know.  Your mother is pretty strong-willed, but my father is an
emotional wreak, yours is lazy, and they both kowtow to almost
anyone.  If you and Akane would actually talk to one another, and
make some decisions together, for yourselves, no one would be able to
stop you.  But first you have to know what you want, and talk to each
another, so you can make some decisions."  

"That may stop you right there, Nabiki.  Akane ain't said nothing to
me in days."  

"And that is part of what I hope to correct.  Will you let me help?"

Ranma did not have to think long about this; Akane's silence had
hurt him deeply.  If that was part of what Nabiki was going to work
on, he was all for it.  Funny, a few hours ago, getting help from
Nabiki would have seemed like making a pact with the devil, but not
now.

"Okay" he said simply.

"Thank you, Ranma.  Then let's get started before everyone gets
home."  

"What do you need from me?"

"Well, part of the reason Akane has been so quiet is that she is
very insecure about something.  So... first I have to ask you a
direct question, and you need to be very honest with me...."

****

Akane woke to a tapping at her door.  'Must have cried myself to
sleep again.'  She quietly moved to open the door.  'Kasumi must have
come home, she's the only one that would come see me right now.'  

That Ranma was outside her door was a bit of a surprise.  That he
had Nabiki with him was nothing short of amazing.  She simply stared
at them.  

"Can we talk?" Ranma said.  Nabiki had assured him it would be
better if he started things off.  

Akane turned and sat on her bed without a word.  

Nabiki's plan here was much the same as her earlier plan with Ranma,
knock her off her feet with the big stuff right away, then get the
rest in while she recovers from the shock.  It had worked quite well
with Ranma, and luckily, a depressed Akane would give Ranma even more
time to get the words out than an angry Ranma would have given
Nabiki.  

"Akane..." Ranma was sweating heavily, but he gathered himself and
moved forward.  "Akane, I have to say something.  It is something I
should have said a long time ago."  He paused.  Why was this so
difficult?  He looked into her eyes, and saw life for the first time
in days.  "I... I lo...."  Ranma stopped again.  An image flashed
through his mind of Akane, after the battle with Saffron.  He had one
regret at that time, that he never told her how he felt.  'Now you
have your second chance, will you throw it away?' he mocked himself.
"Iloveyou" he exhaled.  

Akane could not believe what she heard.  'Did he...  No.  But....' 
"What did you say?"

He took her hands in his as he repeated "I love you."  It was easier
the second time.  In fact the expression on her face made him want to
say it again, several times.

Akane squeezed his hands.  Her smile was unmistakable, even through
her tears.  "I...  I love you too, Ranma.  But, what...  Why... Why
are you saying this now?"  

"Well, like I said, I've wanted to for a while.  I should have... 
But I wasn't sure you...."  His voice seemed to fade into the
distance.  His fiancée leaned forward and literally squeezed the
breath out of him.  

"You baka." she nearly sobbed into his shoulder.  

From the corner of the room a small black pig watched the events
unfold with a great sadness.  He quietly left the room with no one
taking any notice.  

Nabiki watched, not the least bit self-conscious.  Seemed as though
this might actually work.  Sometimes the simple things worked the
best.  But she still had something to do herself.  

"Akane, can you forgive me?" she started.  

****

Ranma had been a little uncomfortable sitting through the
conversation between the two sisters, but he held Akane the entire
time, offering his strength as she went from joy to rage to
depression to sympathy.  As Nabiki had pointed out, Akane would not
likely have listened to her without Ranma's presence.  

In the end, Nabiki had been forgiven.  Ranma was fairly sure Akane
could not stay upset much longer, 'at least not at someone besides
me.'  As the two sisters hugged finally, Ranma hesitantly broke the
silence.  "I know you wanted to do this before Oyaji and your dad got
home, Nabiki, but I am pretty sure they're already downstairs."  

"Okay.  Now, Akane, I have to make this up to you both, but not with
them in the house.  Let's all get together after school tomorrow to
discuss this in private."  

"How about under the bridge?  Ranma and I can usually get some
privacy there when we need it."  

'Aha!' Nabiki thought automatically, then pushed that thought aside. 

"Good.  Right after school then.  In the meantime, think about what
you two want."

Ranma walked out feeling better than he had in a long time, but some
things still weighed heavily on his mind.  Nabiki wanted to know what
they wanted.  'What do I want?  Akane knows how I feel now, and she
seems to feel the same, but what do I want to happen now?  Do I want
anything to change?'  

Ranma thought for a bit about his life.  What would he like to
change, if anything?  He was honest enough with himself to realize
that the things at the top of his list were probably out of reach,
even for Nabiki.  He wanted to be rid of his curse, like she could do
anything about that.  He wanted to be able to make his own decisions,
without Oyaji, the other fiancées, and everyone else pushing him in
one direction or another, and Nabiki had very little to do with any
of them. 

'She did say something about that, though,' he realized, 'and she
was right.  Akane and I have to make some decisions and stick
together on them.  So what do I want?  It still comes back to that. 
Well, actually, I know what I want, but is it what she wants?  Only
one way to find out.'

****

"Nabiki-oneechan, can I talk to you for a second?" Akane asked as
they both got up from the dinner table.  

"Sure, Akane.  Come on up to my room."  

In Nabiki's room, Akane took the desk chair, while Nabiki flopped on
the bed.  

"So, what's up Imoutochan?" Nabiki started things off.  

Akane frowned for a moment, gathering her thoughts.  "Nabiki, what
do you think of Ranma?"  

"Too broad.  What about him?"

"What do you mean too broad?  I just wanted to know what you think
about him."  

Nabiki regarded her sister with a raised eyebrow.  "No, you have
something more specific in mind.  For instance, I could answer you by
saying he's very photogenic, but that's not what you want to hear, is
it?"  

Akane frowned some more.  "Not really.  What do you think about him
as a guy?"  

"You haven't really narrowed it down, but I guess you mean as a
potential boyfriend?"  

'Or even a potential husband,' Akane thought, but didn't say.  She
just nodded her head.  

"Well, like anyone else, he has his good points, and his bad.  Which
do you want first?  Actually, let me just get the down side over
with.  He's egotistical, loud, obnoxious, obsessed with his image,
and, well... not dumb exactly, but not book smart."  

"Aaaggghhhh!  You must think I'm crazy to be in love with him,"
Akane dropped her head to the desk and covered herself with her
arms.  

"I'm not done yet.  He has some other negatives, some that you can't
really hold against him cause they're good things too.  Like he's
obsessed with his art, and he's extremely over protective of you, and
I know you hate it at times, but that art and his protection have
saved your life on several occasions.  He is violent and
undisciplined, but the only times I've known him to really lose it is
when he thought he lost you.  He's insensitive and stringing along
other girls, but at least part of that is because he hates the idea
of hurting a woman, and once you two really start talking, and he
knows when and how he's hurting you, I think you'll find a lot of
that stops."  Nabiki let the serious tone slip a little as she
smiled.  "And of course, he has a stupid curse, but honestly, I think
I gotta blame his dad for that."  

"And finally, Imoutochan, there's his nothing-but-good side." 
Nabiki moved to crouch next to Akane, and pulled her up from the desk
to look into her eyes.  "He loves you to the point of being tongue-
tied; he kinda reminds me of Ono-sensei with Kasumi.  He would cross
oceans for you, he would kill for you, literally - something he has
already demonstrated.  He is loyal.  How many times has he stuck by
you when you told him to take a hike, or broken the engagement?  And
did I mention photogenic?  He is very easy on the eyes, in both
forms."  

Akane's eye's bulged, and she slapped her sister softly on the
shoulder, but both girls broke out in a giggle.  

Eventually, Nabiki spoke again.  "Have I answered your question yet?"

"Well, my first one, yes."

Nabiki balked.  "That wasn't enough for you?"  

"Baka!  I already know why I love Ranma, though it's nice to hear
that you agree.  I just wanted to know what you thought to know if
you would help me with something."  

"And that something is?"  

Akane leaned forward until their noses were only an inch or so
apart, and whispered.  "I want to make the engagement official."

****

'Hmmm...  What happened here today?' Kasumi wondered to herself
while cleaning the last of the dishes.  Her sisters and Ranma were
all silent this evening, as they had been since the wedding, but it
was different.  There was no tension to it.  Akane sought Ranma's
eyes several times during dinner.  And he returned her looks with
remarkable calm.  'In fact they were looking at each other almost
constantly.  Almost like, well...  two fiancés.  Or more accurately
(at least around here) like two people in love.  Ara!  Finally!  Well
at least Otousan and Ojisan did not seem to notice.'  The two old men
sat quietly at the ever-present shogi board.  

She turned from the sink to find Ranma quietly watching her.  

"Oh!  I'm sorry Ranma, I didn't realize you were waiting there.  Did
you need something?"

"Yes."  Ranma wondered how much he could trust Kasumi.  Sure, she
was like a mother to him, even more so than his own mother, but would
she deceive her father for him.  

"I need to talk to you and ask a favor."  He hesitated, but this
would be important to Akane.  "I was hoping -"

"Is this about you and Akane admitting your feelings for each
another?" Kasumi interrupted.  

"You knew?"

"She may be a good actress on stage, but I have known my sister for
her entire life.  And you can only hide your feelings well behind
anger and you were not very angry tonight.  Besides, I like to think
I am more observant than most people give me credit for."  

'You'd almost have to be.'  In a rare flash of wisdom, Ranma kept
the thought from reaching his mouth.  Instead he said "Well, anyways.
You're right.  In fact, I want to propose to her tomorrow.  I was
hoping you could be there."  

'Ara!  Things had changed today!' she started.  "I would be happy
to, but can I ask why?"

Ranma began to sweat again.  He had never been good at talking about
stuff like this, but this was important to Akane - he had to do it.  

"I don't know how long we'll keep things a secret between us, but I
do know that it hurts her to keep it a secret from you and her dad. 
Her mom ain't here to talk to, and that has to hurt as well.  But she
sorta sees you as her mother, and to have you here, and still keep it
a secret from you is too much to ask."  

Kasumi was stunned.  It had been obvious for a while that Ranma
loved Akane, but he also seemed clueless most of the time.  'Of
course people say the same about me.'  Obviously, he was not clueless
about Akane.  

"Of course I will be there.  Now, I have a question for you..."

****

"Okay you two.  Now if I'm going to help you guys make some things
happen, I need to know what you want."

"Wait a sec."  Ranma stopped things for a moment.  "We have to wait
for Kasumi."  

Akane and Nabiki just blinked in response.  

"I asked her to come.  I'll tell you why later."  Ranma was very
nervous, but with Kasumi's suggestion, he knew he had made the right
choice.  He just hoped his courage would still be there when the time
came.  It was not far off.

"Sorry I'm late."  Kasumi smiled at her sisters before leaning
toward Ranma and handing him a small package.  "I wanted to get it
cleaned first" she whispered.

Ranma looked at Akane and steeled himself for what he had to say. 
"Akane, I guess this is the first decision."  He looked down at the
velvet box in his hands for a moment.  Taking a deep breath he
continued.  "Will..." his voice croaked as he looked up again. 
Akane seemed to be able to distract him, just by looking at him.  He
took another deep breath, and looked into her eyes.  'Kami-sama, she
is beautiful.'  This time his voice was calm, but somehow still full
of emotion.  "Will you marry me?"  He opened the box and held it
forward offering her the ring her own mother had worn.  

Akane felt the tears streaming down her face.  Even through the
tears, she had no trouble recognizing the ring, but could only smile
her appreciation at Kasumi.  Then she looked up at Ranma, and in
answer kissed him.  

Nabiki stared at the sight.  She was honest enough with herself to
admit she was a little jealous - not that she would want Akane's
life.  She preferred a bit more control of the events around her,
something a life with Ranma would not be likely to provide.  On the
other hand, the rewards for such a life were, at the moment, quite
obvious.  

Akane leaned back to look into Ranma's eyes, noticing he was still
recovering.  "Need I say more?" she giggled.

All four of them laughed, and the moment passed.  Finally Nabiki
brought them back to the meeting at hand.  

"Well, I guess that is one decision cleared up.  Now, you don't have
to set a date or anything, but a timeframe would be nice.  When did
you want to do this?"

****

Epilogue

Akane looked out at a good morning - climax to a good week.  She had
graduated just five days ago.  The day before yesterday, Nodoka-
obaasan '-Okaasan!  That will take a while to get used to...' had
arrived to help with the student registration.  These were the first
students the dojo had seen in years, and their classes were already
full.  Nabiki had come home from the university in Kyoto just
yesterday.  She had tried to be back for the graduation, but could
not get the schedules changed for her finals.  It was good to see her
nonetheless, and at least she was here for the important ceremony. 
Of course, that was no surprise.  They had scheduled the wedding so
everyone could be here.  

****End****

Some terms and notations:
(Keep in mind, most Japanese words are neither singular nor plural, 
so yen is yen even if Nabiki makes millions :)

Ara - Mild expression of surprise, often used in Ranma 1/2 by Kasumi 
and usually translated as 'Oh my.'

Chikushou - Expletive

Imoutosan or imoutochan - Little sister (-san being more formal)

Kami-sama - God or powerful spirit

-kun (added to a name) - Term of endearment, often used with
younger males

Ojisan - Uncle

Okaasan - Mother 

Oneesan or Oneechan - Big sister (-san being more formal)

Otousan - Father

Oyaji - Old man, father (informal)

-san (added to name) - Title of respect

-sensei (added to name) - Title of respect for doctors, teachers and
other professionals.