Akane rested, feeling safe with her fiance's chin pressed tenderly against her crown and his arms wrapped around her. With her eyes half closed, she let him support her as she sorted out her memories of the thing within her and how he and the Neko-ken had battled it for her.
Her thoughts drifted, though, and soon she was simply enjoying his embrace in the dimly-lit quiet.
There was a low rumble.
"Way to ruin the atmosphere, Ranma," she said, laughing and slapping him on the side. Then her tummy added its complaint as well.
Ranma chuckled, his breath playing about her ear. Then he thought of something. "Weren't we gonna get take-out?"
"Yeah, we went to the Nekohanten after the baklava exploded..."
"Didn't Mousse throw something at us when we walked in?"
Akane frowned. "I didn't see that," she said. "I was too busy yelling at you for letting Shampoo hang all over you." She felt him stiffen and tightened her grip on his hands. She frowned as more memories rose. "Ranma, do you know what time it is?"
"Uh, late..." She felt him look out the window behind them. "Morning," he reported with some surprise. "Early morning; about when Kasumi usually gets up. Man, I don't even remember getting home..."
"I... I think I remember coming home..." said Akane. She thought a bit more. Softly, she went on, almost to herself, "You know, if he did throw something at us, and it - um - I don't know whether to hit him or thank him..."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because... well, the demon thing, and the Neko-ken thing is good as well I guess, but..." she felt herself blushing, suddenly once more conscious that she was leaning against her fiance and they were both naked. "Um, well, what do you think we'd do together? Without any clothes?"
"You mallet me?"
She elbowed him - sharply, but not nearly hard enough to even wind him. "No, you baka. Something we'd enjoy. Just the two of us."
"Something p-perverted, you mean?"
"Hmmm, lecherous, perhaps," she said, turning around in his embrace again and draping her arms over his shoulders. "Lustful, almost certainly. Per-ver-ted..." She gave him a little smile, a sultry smile, a, god help her, lustful smile. "Only if we both wanted to."
He looked down at her, somehow feeling that he was... prey. Her prey, and her hunt was just about to finish. He pushed aside memories - of pinning her, of being held as he gave her pleasure, of being given more pleasure than he could remember - that suggested that, in fact, the hunt was long over, and relied on his powers of observation to put her off. "But we didn't," he reminded her earnestly. "We can't have done."
"Oh?" she asked. "And how do you know that?"
"Well, you ain't pregnant."
"You can tell when someone's pregnant?" she asked. She frowned. "No, even if you could see a change in ki or something, I don't beleive you. Even if I am pregnant, the foetus won't implant for a couple of days. You'll have to come up with something better than that."
"It's easy to tell," protested Ranma. Nervously, and glancing at her for permission, he ran fingertips over her midriff. "Your tummy is still all flat, so..."
"My..." Akane put her finger over his mouth, silencing him. "You think because my tummy isn't a great round ball I can't be pregnant." He nodded. "Oh, Ranma," she sighed, leaning forwards. Her head rested against his chest. After a few moments, she started shaking.
"'Kane-chan? Are... I'm sorry, didn't mean ta..."
"Baka," she said with a hitch. She looked up, dry-eyed and smiling. "I'm trying not to laugh." A thought crossed her mind, and all thought of lasughter faded. "Did your father ever explain to you about where babies come from?"
"Well, yeah, a bit, an' I figured out a lotta stuff..."
"Like what being pregnant means, and how it happens?" He nodded. "Every time you have sex?" He nodded again.
"I might... Ooh, I really want to hurt him." She looked deep into Ranma's eyes, and told him carefully, "A woman does not get pregnant every time she has sex. There are times when she is more likely to conceive than others, but even then it is nowhere near a certain thing. When she does get pregnant, it takes some time before it starts to show, and a long time before she's really big. It normally takes a couple of weeks before it's possible to tell that she's pregnant, and sometimes not even then." She paused. "You really ought to have a talk with Kasumi. I think she's still got the books she taught me and Nabiki about all this from..."
"Uh... Right," uttered Ranma. Then, questioningly, "Kasumi? Do I haveta?"
"Well, Doctor Tofu might be better," she allowed. "In the mean time, I think we did. And that's why I would like to hit Mousse..."
"Why?" asked Ranma, as much to erase the thought of asking such embarrassing questions of Akane's eldest sister as because he actually wanted to know.
"I had planned to save that for our wedding night, Ranma." She smiled weakly. "Just a little romantic fantasy, that it would be all perfect and, and nice, and something I would remember as the perfect end to my perfect day."
"Oh." He looked into those deep brown eyes, and fumbled for something to offer. "I don't - I don't really remember it much at all."
She shook her head. "Nor do I, really. Not clearly. But we can try again, and make a proper memory... and it doesn't have to be our wedding..."
He swallowed. "Do - D'ya want to? Are ya sure it ain't just... leftovers from whatever it was?"
"It's not," she whispered. "I've wanted... and now I know it was that demon stopping me..."
"Oh." He swallowed again.
"Don't you want to?" She felt a little part of her soul - a part that she hadn't really nurtured since her mother died, and had only just started paying attention to again - start to shrivel, and bravely kept it from showing on her face.
He bit his lip, and bent towards her. Hopefully, she reached back.
Their lips met.
Just met, and just their lips, but a message was passed.
"I love you," a reverent whisper as she was lowered back to the futon.
"I love you too."
Or something unlikely happened instead.
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(Posted Fri, 02 Jun 2006 16:55)
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