"I killed a man." The words were like a hammer blow.
   Akane felt the wetness on his face and kissed his forehead even as 
she embraced him with renewed strength. 
   "You were in a war," she whispered.
   **Like that justifies anything! I was clumsy and I was afraid -and a 
man paid for it with his life. How many firefights was I in? Too many. 
But never once did I kill someone, until the end.**
   "It hurts just the same," he said to her.
   "Oh Ranma, when they told me you were going over there I hoped and 
prayed that you wouldn't have to do something like that. But I also knew 
that I wanted you to come home alive, and to bring Ryoga and Kuno, and 
even Hikaru Gosunkugi home alive with you! It doesn't matter Ranma! You 
did what you had to. You're here with me now, and you saved the lives of 
your friends where you could."
   "It's not that simple," he pleaded. His throat began to burn as tears 
stung at his eyes.
   "It's a start. I know this will hurt for a long time, but I want to 
help you move on."
   "It's not something I can just forget."
   "I'm not expecting you to, but you have to move on. You have your 
whole life ahead of you, don't throw it away because of something you 
may or might not have been able to prevent."
   He began to cry silently, and he felt utterly ashamed. The tears 
against his hot face ran even colder.
   Akane held onto him then and together they rocked slowly in each 
other's arms. Ranma wept, and Akane wept with him and for him.
   "I stumbled along without you around. I cried when I found out you 
were going to Korea. And I nearly died when father told me you were 
missing," she whispered. "But one thing kept me going on, one thing gave 
me strength, and that was your promise to me. I knew you would keep it 
and come home safe no matter what... I want to make you a promise Ranma, 
and I hope you can draw strength from it as I have from yours."
   Ranma nodded against the cool skin of her cheek.
   "I promise to you that I will be with you no matter what. We may be 
separated by distance, but never in our hearts. I love you Ranma, and 
all I can do is love you."
   The tears continued to spill down his face, but his shame was gone. 
He looked into her eyes and saw the love that had always been there but 
for one petty thing or another was always missed.
   "You better keep that promise Akane, 'cause I love you too." He 
replied.
   **So simple, those words...Why had it been so hard to say them for so 
long?**
   A long silence followed. The tears were gone, and the heat upon his 
face was replaced by one deep within his heart. Akane was there, closer 
than ever before, and he never wanted anything to come between them 
again. 
   "Where do we go from here?" He asked her.
   Akane shrugged with a smile. "I don't know, Ranma. But we'll go there 
together. We've got our whole lives to figure it out."


   Winter had come to Nerima the way it had for years past count. The 
end of the year wasn't far away. But then again, the future never is...



 THE END

--From "Ranma Goes to War" by J. Austin Wilde