The Final Goodbye
Written by Sailor Alpha <AlphSailor@aol.com>

Author's notes: This fic takes place late into Ranma series, after volume 38.



Akane knocked on the door softly, afraid of what she might expect. she heard
some rustling and a voice rang out softly, "Come in, Akane." She hestiated for
a moment, then opened the door and gasped softly. Her worst fears were
confirmed, Ranma really was going to leave!

Ranma paused his packing and glanced up and saw Akane's tear-streaked face. He
quickly got up in time to catch Akane just before she collasped. "Akane..."

"Please. Please don't go, Ranma!" Akane began sobbing again as Ranma embraced
her tightly. "Please stay..."

"I'm sorry, but you know that I can't stay here any more."

"But I love you! Please don't leave me!"

"I know, I love you too, Akane." Ranma stroked her now ex-finacee's hair as he
whispered into her hair. "But I can't- I don't have any honor left. I love you
too much to allow you to lose yours as well..." 

"At least let me come with you! I don't care where we end up, as long as I'm
with you!"

"No, you can't!"

"TAKE ME WITH YOU, DAMNIT!" Akane slammed her fists on Ranma's chest in
frustration, "I don't want to be alone without you!"

"Akane!" He grasped Akane's arms roughly and shook her, "Akane! You can't!
You've got--" He got no further than that when Akane jerked free of his hold
and slapped his face, hard. 

He froze in shock, hurt by the fact that Akane had slapped him out of geuine
anger, rather than the actual pain. Akane stopped and stared at her hand,
unbeliving what she had just done.

"R-Ranma, I..." Akane's eyes filled with tears and she broke free from Ranma
and ran out of his room, struggling to hold back water.

Ranma watched as Akane leave in rush, unable to speak. He could hear Akane's
sobbing just outside the door, and he tried to speak again. "Akane... This is
hard for me as it is for you. I know you want to go with me. But ever since
that- that incident few days ago..."

He swallowed again, "Damn it, I love you, Akane. There's nothing I want more
than to stay with you, but I have no honor left. I don't want you to lose
yours. This enagament is already off, thanks to our parents and what happened
days ago. I really wish this had never happened, but there's nothing we can do
about it."

He sighed again and turned to resume packing his stuff. "You know, I never
thought this would happen. I mean, we've been fighting against each other for
so long, and I had wished that this enagement stuff had never happened. Yet
somehow I fell in love with you... And look at what happened- my wish's been
granted."

"I wish this didn't have to happen, Akane. I really wanted us to me married."

Ranma hastily finished packing the last of his goods into his backpack before
lifting his two-hundred-plus pound backpack effortlessly, making sure he had
packed it tightly. He had packed everything he would need; his camping gear,
two weeks worth of rations and water, clothing, and few memos. He also had the
gift from Akane, a kawaii picture of him and Akane from their first real date
that did not end in a disaster.

He regarded the picture, and the smiling couple. He wore his Chinese clothing,
as usual, but Akane was wearing her yellow sundress, and she radiated so much
happiness. The date wasn't much, really. But they had so much fun that they
would never forget it, especially that first kiss that counted.

He quickly tucked the framed photo into his bag. He would treasure it for the
rest of his life as a memento of what could have happened. No more words were
spoken as Ranma quickly shouldered his backpack and stood up to face Akane,
standing in the doorway. He offered his hand. After a moment of hestiation,
Akane silently took it in hers and together they walked down the stairs.

The Tendo home was quiet, too quiet. Except for Akane and Ranma, the house was
totally deserted. Others wouldn't be arriving for at least an hour, and Ranma
would be long gone by then. It couldn't be helped, really. It had to happen
sometime.

When they stepped on the front patio, the sun had already set, and it was
getting darker outside. The time had finally come for Ranma to say good-bye. 

"Akane..."

"Ranma..."

No more words were uttered as Ranma embraced Akane tightly, unable to hold
back his tears at last. Akane wept as well, her heart throbbing with pain.
After a minute of weeping, they gazed in their eyes and closed them as they
kissed.

It was not their first real kiss, but they kissed passionately because they
knew would be their last one. It seemed like an eternity before they finally
parted from each other's hold.

It was time for him to go.

"Ranma, never forget that I'll always love you, no matter what."

Ranma nodded sadly, "I know. I'll always love you too. I hope I can come back
to visit you sometime, and maybe then all will be forgiven. Until then, I'll
just keep on writing letters to you, and probably wandering around like that
idiot Ryoga..."

Ranma shouldered his pack once more again as he opened the Tendo gates, noting
for the first time that it was raining. He held up his hand to feel the cold
falling water on his hands. His hands.

He should be elated at this revelation, but instead he was full of sadness and
pain. He turned to face Akane one last time. He could see that she was trying
to stop tears from flowing and failing miserably. More than anything in the
world, he wanted to go back and wipe her eyes dry and tell her that everything
would be all right.

But he couldn't do that. He no longer had the right to be near Akane, or the
Tendo home. He had been disgraced, and was now honorless. All he could do was
to whisper the words.

"Suki da, Akane..."

As the Tendo gate closed silently behind Ranma, Akane screamed in rage of
anger and grief and rammed her fists into the wall of her home. She contiuned
to pummel the wood until her fists were laceterated and bleeding. Slamming
into the wall, she slid down it and curled up to herself and sobbed loudly.


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

That was a rather sad fic. Took me an hour to write it out, hope you enjoyed
it- though I can't say I did while writing it.
C&C will be appreciated, and send them to AlphSailor@aol.com. Flames will be
used to burn my homework.

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