"Goodbye Furinkan High"


The deep orange glow of late afternoon began to draw the shadows long, as
Akane slowly made her way back home from school. She looked up at the
changing sky. Pink and orange tides, washed up on drifting beaches of pure
white sand, delivered there by waves of a royal blue sea.

The sky could be breathtakingly beautiful to her sometimes. So much so that
it could make her mind wander easily. To think of things she wanted to
think about, but also to think about things that she wanted to forget. Like
the last day of school.

An incredible sadness washed over her, a sadness she could not explain. New
and unresolved feelings were suddenly tangling with the everyday life she
had become used to. Ranma had come into her life in such a strange way, but
now she could not honestly deny that he had become important to her. If
only they could put their feelings into words before it was too late.

"You're still too young to be thinking about things like that," Kasumi had
offered once when Akane had come to her for advice. Her words had rung true
in Akane's heart, but something else kept resurfacing, wanting to prove her
sister's words wrong. If only�

Akane sighed as she turned down a familiar side street. The same street she
and Ranma always took when they walked home from school together. It wasn't
a shortcut, in fact it added at least five minutes to the trip. But it
occurred to her now, that neither she nor Ranma had ever suggested taking a
shorter route.

Akane slowed her pace even more, as she caught sight of the front gates of
her home. It would be the last time she would ever walk home this way. In
the fall, she would be moving away to go to college. Away from her home,
away from her friends, away from her family, away from�

"Akane?"

Akane turned around to see a very familiar figure standing behind her with
a puzzled look on his face. "Ranma. I� uh�"

"Akane," Ranma interrupted. "Why are you standing here in the middle of the
street? Did you lose something?"

Akane closed her eyes, the strange sadness gripping her again. The dual
meaning of his words made her smile to herself, but her smile was
short-lived, as she sought to think of something to say in reply. After an
awkward silence, she eventually looked back towards the front gates of the
Tendo home, and sighed.

Ranma scratched his head as Akane looked away from him. But before he could
ask her what was wrong, he looked to where she seemed to be looking, and
then he thought he understood. "Hey! You're not getting all� Akane!"

Akane turned then took a few steps back towards Ranma, the tears in her
eyes telling Ranma that he had somehow guessed correctly. "Ranma, I don't
want to move away! It's too soon. There's still so much I want to-"

"Awwwww, don't cry Akane!" Ranma offered, his discomfort with the turn of
events lost on Akane, as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "You'll
still get to see your family during holidays and in the summer! Besides,
it's only for three years right?"

Akane could not keep the sadness to herself any longer. Her tears became
streams as she lost the will to fight her emotions. "You don't understand!
You never seem to understand! Why can't you ever think before you say
something!?"

Ranma's hands on Akane's shoulders lifted a little, as the sting of her
harsh words was absorbed. "Hey! How am I supposed to understand something
if you won't tell me what's going on?! I'm not a mind-reader ya know!"

"Ranma," Akane began her reply, as the sadness tightened around her throat,
"If you knew me� if you really knew me, you wouldn't even ask me that.
You'd just� just�"

"What Akane? I'd just what?"

Ranma's arms suddenly slid forward around Akane as she placed her hands and
head on his chest and pressed up against him. "You'd just hold me Ranma.
Hold me, because soon everything will change."

Ranma stood in a daze, his hands still dangling in the air behind Akane as
he tried to figure out what she was talking about. Everything will change,
he thought to himself. Everything will change�

The royal blue sky of afternoon was now glowing dark crimson, as the
drifting white sands of the clouds above faded into dark shadowy streamers
that pointed themselves towards the setting sun. Ranma drew the crying girl
in his arms towards him, not knowing what else to say or do. Everything
will change all right, and there was nothing he could do about it. Akane
would be leaving in the fall, though they still had the summer together.
But at the moment, that fact just didn't seem to make him feel any better
about her leaving.

"Ranma." Akane finally said through her tears. "Thank you, for just being
here. It means a lot to me."

Ranma looked down at Akane, her tear-filled eyes now looking up into his as
her words echoed around them in the empty street. Above them, the
streetlights quietly flickered to life as the sun finally disappeared,
leaving only a dark violet glow in the evening sky as evidence of its
passing. Everything will change, Ranma thought to himself again�

"Akane," Ranma finally spoke, his voice edged with uncertainty as he
struggled to look away from her gaze. "I guess it will be different around
here after you're gone. I�  I wish you didn't have to go, but I know that
college is pretty important to you, so, I guess what I am trying to say is�"

Akane could see the frustration in his eyes, but she wanted to hear the
words. "Yes Ranma?"

"What I mean is� well, there's something I think I should say and�"

"Yes?"

Ranma paused, trying desperately to think of how to put his feelings into
words.

Somewhere down the street a dog barked. Overhead the streetlights began to
gently hum as they reached their full brightness. And then, as if on cue, a
warm wind brought the sound of a train passing by in the distance to their
ears.

Akane wiped the drying tears away from her eyes and smiled to herself as
she slowly slid out of Ranma's arms and faced him. "I know Ranma. I know
what you're trying to say."

Ranma nervously held onto Akane's hand, not wanting to give up their brief
embrace completely for some reason. "You do?"

Akane smiled again and nodded then turned to start walking home again.
"Yes, I do. You don't have to say anything."

Ranma followed Akane, his hands still in hers, as they left behind the pale
silver light of the streetlights to seek the amber glow coming from the
windows of the Tendo home. The front wooden gates creaked with a warm
familiarity, and then suddenly the street out front was silent once again.
Their minds a million miles away, neither Ranma nor Akane took notice as
the faint purple glow of early evening vanished, to be replaced with a dome
of midnight blue.

With the usual din of the family meal soon surrounding him as everyone
talked about their plans for the summer, Ranma looked up from his meal to
catch Akane staring at him. In that instant the voices around him suddenly
faded away as they exchanged nervous smiles. Somehow, she looked different
to him now, almost as if he had known her all his life.

Everything will change, Ranma thought to himself once more.

Akane glanced down at the table to hide her smile, then looked back at
Ranma again, and for one brief moment, Autumn seemed very far away to both
of them.

END

Andy Skuse

-------------------
Raven's Garage & Fanfics ~ http://www.Lonet.ca/res/askuse/
"Tomorrow sees undone,
What happens not today,
Indecision brings delays,
Days lost lamenting lost days" - Ryoga Hibiki