I don't own Ranma ½

It had been a week since the garden fiasco, as Tatewaki had come to call it, and during that time Tatewaki had seen neither hide nor hair of Nabiki. He could understand her reluctance to come back to his house since being Kodachi's brother he was well acquainted with how terrifying she could be. He could even understand the fact that she had stopped calling him; after all they had decided that there was little to be gained by trying to instruct him in how to best manage his money.

But it had been a whole week without any contact with Nabiki at all. A few months ago Tatewaki would have found such a circumstance a welcome thing, but now ... now he found himself missing her. The way she would naturally take charge of any situation, the inexplicable ability to make anything seem simple and easy, the profile of her face as she brushed errant strands of hair behind her ear...

"Perhaps I should discontinue that train of thought." Tatewaki mused out loud to himself. It had been his experience that somehow women were capable of detecting sexual thoughts about them, and shortly thereafter inflicted large amounts of pain to the offending party. And furthermore, when exactly had he started to think that Nabiki Tendo was in anyway ... sexy?

Deciding that this perhaps was a topic best perused at a later time, Tatewaki continued on his way down the street. Earlier in the morning he had come to a decision, if Nabiki refused to come to him, then he would go to her. So he had spent much of the morning trying to decide which of his outfits would suit him the best, and which type of flowers Nabiki would like. After all she deserved some sort of thank you for trying to work with him.

So after stopping by a local florist he had proceeded to make his way toward the Tendo Dojo, and was quickly approaching its gate. He mentally prepared himself for any number of random martial artists leaping from behind the bushes or through a wall; however he reached the entrance without anything untoward happening.

Suddenly an inexplicable nervousness arose within him, he briefly considered just turning around and going home, maybe trying to meet Nabiki the next day, or the day after that or perhaps it would be best to just wait until she had contacted him.

But he quickly banished his uncharacteristically pessimistic thoughts and before he could try and dissuade himself again he leaned forward and rung the bell.

Almost immediately the door was opened by Kasumi, almost as if she had been waiting behind it. She was wearing her usual conservative dress covered by a cute apron, as well as her usual smile. Although something seemed a bit off about her grin, it was subtly more cunning than usual, almost as if she had an amusing secret and didn't want to tell anyone.

"Oh hello Tatewaki." She said, taking in his appearance with a glance, neatly dressed, well groomed, and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. "Are you here for Akane? I'm afraid she is entertaining a few friends at the moment. But I can let her know that you were here if you'd like."

Suddenly Tatewaki was nervous again, it almost seemed as if kind, gentle Kasumi was able to see beyond his surface and was watching all of his thoughts and emotions, even the ones that Tatewaki didn't know he had. Somehow the way she had told him that Akane was engaged seemed as if she knew that he wasn't really there for her, but was playing some kind of mind game with him.

Of course such suspicions were downright idiotic when it came to such a person as Kasumi. She could never have anything even remotely approaching an ulterior motive.

So banishing his nervous paranoia Tatewaki replied, "Actually I was hoping to speak with Nabiki if she is available."

Kasumi's smile widened slightly as if he had gotten the answer right. To what question, Tatewaki had no clue.

"Nabiki hasn't been feeling well recently, so she's been keeping to her room. But I'm sure that a visit from a friend is exactly what she needs to make her feel better. Please come in." Said Kasumi as she moved aside to allow Tatewaki space to enter.

After quickly depositing his shoes next to several more feminine pairs in the entryway Tatewaki followed Kasumi through the house and up the stairs, stopping in front of a door with a duck shaped plaque bearing the name "Nabiki."

Tatewaki seemed slightly apprehensive as muffled feminine laughter echoed from further down the hall, but Kasumi gave him a reassuring smile as she leaned in and knocked on the door. "Nabiki, you have a visitor." So saying she stepped back, leaving Tatewaki alone in front of the door.

He could hear muffled rustling as someone moved around in the room, and Nabiki's muffled voice came through the door, "I thought I told you that I didn't feel like seeing anyone today Kas…" She suddenly trailed off because at that point she opened the door and found Tatewaki standing on the other side with a bouquet of flowers.

Nabiki for her part was still dressed in her nightgown and her hair was in disarray. She stood with the door partially open, staring at Tatewaki, for a few seconds until her brain finally processed the image before her. With her face bright red, she eeped, and quickly shut the door in Tatewaki's face.

From behind the closed door a cacophony suddenly burst into life and Tatewaki wondered if he should perhaps beat a hasty retreat. However, turning his head, he saw that Kasumi had taken up a strategic location in the middle of the hallway, thus preventing him from escaping.

After only a few seconds the sounds coming from Nabiki's room suddenly died out and a few seconds after that the door suddenly and violently opened, revealing a slender arm which reached out and grabbed Tatewaki by his jacket, pulled him into the room, and just as suddenly and violently closed the door.

Tatewaki was now face to face with a still slightly blushing Nabiki, who seemed to be well on her way from embarrassment to anger. Hoping to defuse the situation Tatewaki awkwardly thrust out the bouquet of flowers which he still clutched in front of him.

"These are for you." He quickly said. "They're a uh … thank you for the hard work you've done so far."

Nabiki looked down at the flowers for a second, her anger turning to confusion, then back up at Tatewaki's face. "Thank you, but what made you choose this particular kind?"

Tatewaki looked down at the flowers; nothing seemed to be wrong with them. "Well I wanted to get your favorite kind of flowers but once I was actually at the florist's, I realized I didn't know what that was. So I just got the most expensive ones I could find."

Nabiki regarded the flowers in her hand once more, they were Casablanca Lilies, and quite beautiful. However they also represented love at first sight. For a moment she had thought that Tatewaki had chosen this particular species fully knowing its hidden message, but she quickly banished those ideas, he was no where sophisticated enough to actually put any forethought into the choosing of flowers.

"Well I'd better go get these in water before they start to wilt." Nabiki said, hoping to give herself a few more minutes in order to fully adopt her non-caring mercenary persona that she had finally decided would be the best way to handle Tatewaki, and the … whatever it was building up between them.

She breezed by him and opened the door, but before she was able to enter the hallway she was confronted by a pretty vase partially filled with water being held by her older sister.

Nabiki was momentarily startled, but seeing the grin on her sister's face, her eyes narrowed. "Why Kasumi, it was so thoughtful of you to go ahead find a vase for me. But I'm sure that you have far more important things to be doing elsewhere."

Kasumi's grin remained unchanged as she replied, "Actually, all the housework is finished for right now, and besides what work is more important than making sure my sister is happy?"

Nabiki continued to eye Kasumi suspiciously for a few more moments before reaching out and snatching the vase from her hands. She then turned around and walked back into her room, closing the door with a bit more force than usual. Nabiki didn't like it when other people tried to interfere with her life, even in small ways, even if they thought that they were trying to improve it, and especially even if they were related to her.

As she unwrapped the flowers from the paper wrapper that was holding the bouquet together, she noticed as Tatewaki stepped further into her room and seemed to take in every detail. Nabiki put the flowers in the vase and then after setting it on her dresser, she proceeded to absorb herself in arranging them both to try and put them in an aesthetically pleasing position as possible, and so she could ignore the intruder in her room for a few seconds.

Tatewaki for his part was examining the room of Nabiki Tendo. He had developed a vague idea of what he had thought it would have been like, a cross between an executive's office and a Spartan bedroom. A room with little furnishing, likely dominated by a very large desk with a row of clocks upon the wall, each showing the time in major cities, as well as when different stock markets around the world opened and closed, with a small yet functional bed somehow squeezed into the corner.

Instead he found a relatively normal teenage girl's room, there was a desk, but it was normal sized and situated underneath a window allowing the early afternoon light to spill across the spread papers and various photos of friends and family. The bed was trimmed in pink and there were a few small stuffed animals propped against the pillows.

Perhaps the only thing that even hinted at the owner to the room being Nabiki was the very expensive camera equipment positioned near the door to the closet. Of the camera itself, there was no sign.

After a few moments fusing with the arrangement of the flowers Nabiki turned back around to regard Tatewaki, and he could almost swear that there was a light flush on her face. An awkward silence engulfed them for a few moments longer before Nabiki decided to ask, "So what exactly was it that brought you here today?"

"Well to be honest, I missed you." As soon as he said it, Tatewaki realized just how that statement sounded, so he turned his head slightly and pretended to cough while he tried to think up a reasonable means of verbal retreat. "That is, without you coming over for the past week, the house just feels empty." Realizing that the new statement didn't really sound any better Tatewaki decided to just move on and hope that Nabiki didn't read too deeply into what he had said. "So I decided to come and visit you to see if you were doing well, and also to see if perhaps you would be interested in continuing our discussion regarding the future."

Judging by the slight smirk that Nabiki sported, the ghost of the earlier flush completely absent, Tatewaki had little hope that Nabiki had missed what he had inadvertently admitted to.

"I'd be more than happy to continue our talk of other things besides an accountant you could be, a CFO or CEO for example, but …" Nabiki began to reply, only to be cut off by a burst of high pitched laughter coming through the wall from the next room. "But with Akane and her friends here, I don't think we'll get much peach and quiet." Nabiki continued. "Plus who knows when a random martial artist will come through the wall."

Both teens paused expectantly, but after a few seconds uninterrupted by wonton destruction of private property Tatewaki responded, "Perhaps you are right, it would be advantageous to hold our conversation in an area less … potentially chaotic."

Nabiki smiled as she grabbed Tatewaki by the arm and ushered him to the door while she said, "Of course I'm right, there's no maybe about it. Now be a good boy and wait downstairs while I get changed." She threw open the door and pushed Tatewaki out into the hallway, where he was once again face to face with the eldest Miss Tendo.

Kasumi, who looked slightly stunned at his abrupt appearance, quickly turned from Tatewaki to Nabiki. "Oh Nabiki, I was just … coming to see if you and your guest would like some tea. Akane and her friends are using the tea set right now, but I'm sure they would be willing to spare…"

Nabiki abruptly interrupted, "That's okay Kasumi, as soon as I change clothes Tatewaki and I are going out on a date, so we don't have time for tea." So saying, she closed her door leaving the stunned Kasumi and shell shocked Tatewaki alone in the hallway.

Kasumi turned back to Tatewaki. "Oh my." She said, and then bowed politely before quickly retreating down the hallway.

The dazed Tatewaki stood still for a few moments, the word "date" buzzing through his head. However another burst of muffled feminine laughter echoing down the hall broke him from his reverie. He shook himself slightly, and then followed the direction Kasumi had taken and stumbled down the stairs.

Not entirely sure what he was supposed to do with himself, Tatewaki gravitated to the parlor where he found Mr. Tendo absorbed in reading the day's paper. Not sure whether to interrupt him and greet him, Tatewaki decided to stay on the far side of the room, close to the door and escape if necessary. Several minutes passed without either man acknowledging the other's existence, the silence only broken by the rustle of Soun's newspaper and the occasional muted and unintelligible voice coming from the floor above.

Without any preamble Soun looked over the top of his paper and said, "I once imprisoned my master under a rock for a couple of decades, and he never even touched one of my daughters. Imagine what I will do to you if you hurt her." Just as suddenly as he had started, Soun stopped and went back to reading his paper as if nothing had happened.

Tatewaki was racking his mind trying to formulate a suitable response, when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, moments later Nabiki arrived. She paused momentarily to call out, "Bye daddy, I'll probably be gone for a while so tell Kasumi that I probably won't be back for dinner." She then grabbed Tatewaki by the arm and dragged him out of the house.

After they had lost sight of the house, Nabiki released Tatewaki and slowed down to a more sedate pace.

"Date?" Was about the most intelligent conversation Tatewaki could come up with.

Nabiki glanced at him from the corner of her eye, "Don't worry too much about the terminology, I mostly said it to mess with Kasumi. I was thinking that we could go out and maybe visit a café, one preferably with a lot of chocolate, and then maybe we could go see a movie or something, then a nice dinner. Nothing at all like a date really."

Tatewaki breathed a sigh of relief and most of the tension left his body as he replied, "That's good, I am not entirely sure if I am ready for a date just yet." Nabiki turned her head away slightly and rolled her eyes.

As they continued to stroll down the street, Tatewaki noticed that it was becoming more and more crowded as they approached the local transit station.

"Where are we going exactly?" He asked after a few more seconds of silence.

"I know a great little café a few stops away from here."

"Well away from any prying eyes I take it." Tatewaki said with a bit of a resigned expression. After all he knew that Nabiki would probably be hesitant in admitting that she now regarded him as a friend rather than a client. Some people would likely view such a relationship as a kind of weakness.

"More like well away from any possibilities of interruption." Nabiki replied while turning to favor Tatewaki with a strange sort of smile. He didn't really have a label to give her expression, but for some reason it made Tatewaki feel both nervous and … happy."

They continued on in silence until they reached the station where Nabiki used her train pass while Tatewaki had to actually buy a ticket since he utilized public transportation infrequently at best.

Unlike the station earlier, the train was not too horribly crowded, but it was populated enough to make private conversation impossible. After a relatively short ride the two debarked and found themselves in a much trendier and more crowded area of Tokyo.

Amidst the press of pedestrians streaming in and out of the station, Nabiki leaned closer to Tatewaki and pointing into the distance said, "It's just down that street a few blocks, follow me." She then began to lead the way, but had only made it a few steps before the press of the jostling crowd forced her to come to a halt.

Tatewaki, seeing Nabiki's plight, instinctively grasped her hand so he wouldn't lose her, then began to force his way through the crowd. Thanks to his larger stature, noble demeanor, and martial arts enhanced physique, his progress through the crowed was much easier than Nabiki's had been, and the few people who took offense to being pushed out of the way thought it more prudent to get out of the way rather than risk his ire.

After several minutes of steady progress through the crowd, Tatewaki felt a tug on the hand that he had forgotten was holding Nabiki's. Turning around he found Nabiki pointing toward a glass door framed by windows full of promised confectionary delight. "This is it." She said, almost shouting over the din of other people, before reversing positions and pulling him toward the door.

Tatewaki noticed for the first time the feel of her hand in his now that he wasn't concentrating on creating a path through a sea of people. Her hand was small, soft, and warm. He would even go so far as to call it delicate. He suddenly began to worry about if he had hurt her while pulling her along behind him. He had always thought of Nabiki as being one of the strongest people he knew, but hers was the strength of knowledge and information. Compared to his rough and brutish hand, hers seemed as delicate and fragile as a newborn kitten. The sudden desire to protect Nabiki from harm suddenly washed over Tatewaki.

Nabiki meanwhile, unaware of the things going on in Tatewaki's head, lead them through the door and quickly secured them a table. After apprising them of the day's specials, the busty waitress who had seated them withdrew to give them time to peruse the menu.

Tatewaki abruptly returned to his senses after they sat on opposite sides of the table. After all a person such as Nabiki would likely never need his type of assistance, and probably would be insulted if he ever offered it. So with a final covert glance at the girl across the small table from him, Tatewaki turned his attention to the menu.

Quickly deciding that he wasn't all that hungry, Tatewaki settled upon an iced coffee. With his decision made he set down his menu and turned his attention to the rest of the small and busy café. It seemed to be fairly standard, a long glass enclosed counter filled with pastries and other baked goods dominating the space, behind which the staff prepared orders. The seating area was shaped like an L around the perimeter of the counter. Curiously all the tables seemed to be only large enough to seat two people.

Losing interest in the rest of the café, Tatewaki began to study Nabiki as she in turn continued to study the menu. He took note of the way that her hair framed her face, the ends threatening to brush her shoulders, but never quite making it. He idly wondered what she would look like with longer hair. Not that he had anything against her shorter style; it was just that he usually pictured his future bride with long cascading hair. Wait…

"Like what you see?" Nabiki interrupted before Tatewaki could fully process his thoughts. Without removing her eyes from the menu she continued, "If you'd like, I'm sure I could find someone to take a picture, I hear you are an avid photo collector."

Tatewaki quickly regained his composure. "Would you give me a discount for buying in bulk? I seem to have outgrown my previous collection."

"Well it might take some time to collect the right models; some of them are more willing than others."

Tatewaki smiled softly in painful remembrance of just how unwilling Akane and the pig tailed girl had been toward his advances. "Actually the present subject would be more than enough for me. I could study her for hours."

Nabiki raised her menu to hide the blush she could feel spreading across her cheeks. She was saved from having to reply by the timely reappearance of their waitress.

After placing their orders, the iced coffee for Tatewaki and an American style coffee for Nabiki as well as a chocolate parfait, the two once again lapsed into silence. Tatewaki for his part turned his attention to the café's large windows, ornamented with decorative lace curtains; they revealed the crush of humanity hurrying along outside, a stark contrast to the much more tranquil atmosphere inside.

"Crowded today isn't it?" Nabiki asked after noticing where Tatewaki's attention was directed. "I suppose it's because summer is almost over, everybody is trying to pack in as much fun as possible before school starts again."

Tatewaki only nodded slightly in acknowledgement of Nabiki's statement before letting their conversation lapse back into a comfortable silence. Nabiki studied him as he continued to watch the hurrying masses on the other side of the window. He observed that the large crowd was actually made up not of individuals, but of smaller crowds. People drifted by laughing with friends, glancing longingly at lovers, or being pulled along by family. They went by in clumps of three, clusters of five, couples of two.

Then there were the smallest unit of the crowd, the lonely crowd he dubbed them, the title surfacing from some half remembered memory. These were the ones who seemed to walk along either in a world apart from the rest of the crowd, or while staring at other larger groups with eyes filled with equal parts hatred, envy, despair, and longing.

That was the crowd he belonged to, one made up of only himself, the closest things he had to friends were the people who had to be around him in the kendo club, the closest he had to family was his psychotic sister who seemed to love him one moment and want to kill him the next.

His self indulgent musing were broken when his eye momentarily caught site of something familiar, a recognized profile or a familiar gesture, but before he could focus on it, his attention was broken by the reappearance of the waitress bearing their refreshments.

After being left to their own devises once again, but this time with nourishment, Nabiki broke the silence after briefly sampling her parfait.

"You know, most women would be upset that you've hardly paid them any attention since we've arrived here. But because I've known you for so long, I'm guessing that the fact you haven't been talking nonstop about marrying either me or one of my sisters means you are actually enjoying my company."

Tatewaki met her eyes over the brim of his raised cup, not wanting to admit how close she was to being right, for some reason he felt really comfortable in her presence. He carefully set his coffee down before replying, "I apologize if you feel slighted by my inattention, but I can assure you that it has been sometime since I last broke out in poetry and proposal of the matrimonial variety. Externally at least."

Nabiki cocked an eyebrow while in the midst of retrieving another spoonful of her parfait. "So you're more a fan of the inner monologue these days?"

"Yes, whenever I glimpse your stunning visage, I can do little else but dream up poetic analogies comparing your beauty to that of the rising sun." The cocky smirk that Tatewaki wore while retorting quickly turned into an embarrassed frown as Nabiki broke eye contact and developed a sudden and avid interest in her coffee.

Tatewaki swallowed awkwardly as he decided to quickly move the conversation along. "Well let's talk of more important things."

"Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings?"

"No something less mundane, the future, our future. Well that is to say my future and your future, since they probably won't…"

Nabiki interrupted him, "Tatewaki, if you want to continue rambling, please remind me that next time we go out to charge you by the hour."

Flustered Tatewaki replied, "But I'm not paying you now am I?"

Nabiki sighed theatrically as she replied, "That's also something that needs to be added to our next contract."

Tatewaki wasn't entirely sure if she was kidding or not, but decided to press on. "Anyway, while I am quite appreciative of your efforts to try and teach me the ways of business, I fear that mathematics and I have no great love for one another. Therefore I think that I should try to pursue a career in law. I know that I'll need to go to university and then to post graduate school, and it won't be easy, but I think that it is the best option I have right now, the most appealing at least."

Nabiki nodded slightly in response and said, "Sounds good."

Tatewaki was momentarily nonplussed; he had expected a more drastic reaction. "Is that all you have to say on the subject? 'Sounds good?'"

Nabiki shrugged slightly, "What do you want me to say? No that's a horrible idea, or it's the best idea in the world? I mean really it is almost immaterial what path you choose, as long as you are the one who chooses it. My opinion is just that, my opinion. When it comes to your future, the only person's opinion which should matter is your own. If you aren't dedicated to the choice you make, then all the positive words in the world will not be enough to make you succeed."

"But your good opinion does matter to me. I mean, I know that I've been a fool in the past, and I can only hope that I am less of a fool now than I was then. But for as long as I've known you, you've always been right, every decision you've made has been good, I trust your judgment. I trust you. More than I trust anyone else, especially myself. If you tell me that my idea is bad, then I know it is bad."

Nabiki smiled sadly and laughed softly before replying, "Tatewaki, we are all human, even me. I've made mistakes, errors in judgment, it's true that I've learned from them, but that doesn't mean that I always make the best decisions. I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, but when it comes to your own future, you are the only one who can make any decision."

Tatewaki slumped back in his seat for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts so that he could articulate an argument capable of convincing Nabiki that he basically just wanted her to tell him what to do. He knew that he was no good judge of either himself or the rest of the world; any decision that he made would almost certainly turn out to be wrong.

But before he had his chance, they were interrupted by an odd high pitched beeping accompanied by the sound of violent vibration. Nabiki leaned over and pulled a small black device from her pocket and peered at the tiny screen on one side.

"It's just a bunch of pound signs; daddy must be trying to page me again. I guess that means I need to head home." Said Nabiki after pressing a combination of buttons to silence the device.

She took one final gulp of her coffee before standing up to leave.

"I'll tell you what Tatewaki, I'll clear my schedule for tomorrow, and we can have all the time in the world to go out and have dinner and a movie, and try to end summer on a high note."

Tatewaki stood up as well while Nabiki was adjusting her purse and replied, "That sounds most enjoyable. Just give me a moment to settle the bill and I will escort you home."

"No, daddy only pages me when it is an emergency, so I'll just go on ahead. I'll see you tomorrow around … 2ish?"

"That sounds agreeable." Tatewaki replied as he indicated to the waitress that he would like his check. However by the time that it arrived and he had paid, Nabiki had left the café and had disappeared into the stream of people passing by.

Tatewaki left the café and for a moment stood still in the moving crowd, creating an island of motionless as he looked around for Nabiki, but he failed to find her. He also failed to spot the reflection in the store window opposite of the dark figure who had been perched upon the roof to the café, and who now began to leap away from rooftop to rooftop in the direction of Nerima.

Sighing to himself Tatewaki allowed himself to be swallowed by the crowd heading in the direction of the train station. Once there he again subjected himself to the rigors of public transportation, then made his way back to the Kuno mansion, his trek uninterrupted by the usual antics of the local martial artist population.

A few hours later found Tatewaki staring at the ceiling of his room while waiting for sleep to claim him. He had skipped dinner, finding his appetite lacking, and had spent the rest of the afternoon practicing kendo, Nabiki's voice constantly running through his head. "The only opinion that matters is yours."

Tatewaki sighed softly in his bed and turned over and forced himself to sleep. A sleep troubled by nebulous nightmares about his uncertain future, laughter and weeping echoing in his ears, an abyss full of monsters he could not vanquish, and other such horrors. All of which were forgotten moments after he awoke to a grey morning, with a sky full of low and dark clouds portending a storm in the not too distant future.

Despite the promise of rain, the air was hot and muggy, quickly forcing Tatewaki from his sweat soaked bed and into a cold shower. He dressed quickly and only nibbled at the large western style breakfast that the cook had prepared.

Tatewaki tried to force the hours to pass by first reading, and then through exercise, but he kept reading the same paragraph over and over, and his heart was just not in the martial arts that morning, his stances were weak and sloppy. At noon he took another brief shower, and then set about the monumental task of choosing which outfit he should wear to meet with Nabiki.

Choosing an outfit with subtle and dark colors Tatewaki made his way through the silent house and out into the almost equally silent street. Unlike the previous day there were only a few people about, the majority deciding that there would be little joy found in a day with such ominous weather.

He made good time to the Tendo Dojo and arrived almost a quarter of an hour early, but he had scarcely pressed the bell before Nabiki opened the door and rushed out to meet him, grabbing his arm again and pulling them away before anyone had the chance to stop them.

"Sorry about that Tatewaki, but it's a bit hectic in there right now. Yesterday Ranma lost a fight in some sort of baseball based martial arts, so he's training to challenge the guy again, and Ryoga just showed up again and is trying to goad him into a fight. If they knew that you were around, that would probably only make the situation more explosive." Nabiki explained as they rushed away.

Tatewaki couldn't really fault her logic, but he silently questioned why exactly they were hurrying away so fast, only slowing down to a casual pace once they reached a nearby park which also served as a shortcut to the nearest movie theater.

The grey and heavy clouds were reflected in the perfectly still lake which lay at the center of the park with a sinuous path winding around it. The view offered no relief from the oppressive mugginess of the day however.

But Tatewaki no longer noticed the bleakness of the day, or the bead of sweat trailing down his neck, as he looked down and realized that even though they had returned to walking at a normal pace, his hand was still entwined with Nabiki's.

"So what movie do you want to go see?" Nabiki asked as they turned onto the path circling the lake.

Tatewaki turned away from their hands, hoping that she didn't notice and replied, "Actually I'm not too interested in the cinema, and it seems as if every year the quality of films decreases."

"Well then what do you want to do?"

"Actually it is seldom that a park such as this is as vacant as it currently is. Perhaps we should take advantage of it and continue our stroll. I believe that there is a pretty sort of wilderness just on the other side of this copse of trees." He replied while pulling them onto another path which led through a stand of trees.

Nabiki offered no resistance other than saying, "Well just as long as we make it indoors somewhere by the time it starts to rain, I really don't want to get soaked."

Unfortunately they had only made it about halfway through the woods when tiny drops of rain began to sprinkle down. Tatewaki paused, debating whether they should try to make it back to the Tendo Dojo or press on to a restaurant or even the theater to stay mostly dry, when the choice was taken from him.

The day was interrupted by a familiar laughter as a dark figure leapt into the clearing that Tatewaki and Nabiki were standing in. "Ohhohohohoho!" Kodachi laughed, "So it would seem that you failed to take my hint Miss Tendo. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to punish you for that." She said with a sneer marring her face.

Tatewaki quickly stepped in front of Nabiki, placing himself between her and his deranged sister. "Kodachi, what do you want?"

Kodachi moved a little closer as she replied, "Why dear brother I just want what is best for you, what is best for us, to make sure that this harlot does not ensnare you and bring you to ruin."

"Stay back! If you return to the mansion now I might consider forgetting the insults you just said, but I'm afraid that if you persist in this madness then I will have no choice but to discipline you." Tatewaki declared, throwing his arm out in a gesture meant to further block Nabiki from Kodachi.

Kodachi's sneer transformed into a small frown, but she did stop advancing. "I see. Apparently I am too late to easily separate the whore from you. But never fear dear brother I will save you. I'm sure that in the future you will look back on this and thank me, even if right now you are too blind to do anything but protest. Luckily for you while you've been wiling away your hours locked in that dusty study, I have been practicing and training."

With that she conjured up her ribbons from who knows where and began to spin them in a rather pretty pattern. Without breaking eye contact with his sister, Tatewaki turned his head slightly and quietly said, "Run Nabiki. Run home, get to safety."

But whether due to fear or confidence in his fighting ability, Nabiki stayed still. Tatewaki was about to repeat his entreat for her to retreat but was denied the opportunity when suddenly one of Kodachi's ribbons lashed out and tried to go past Tatewaki to hit Nabiki in the face. Tatewaki reached up and it wrapped around his arm instead.

Kodachi pulled sharply on the ribbon and it cut through the cloth of Tatewaki's shirt and pulled him off balance. But he was larger and stronger than his sister, so he pulled back. Instead of fighting the pull, Kodachi used it and launched herself at Tatewaki, landing with both feet in his stomach. The air swiftly left Tatewaki and he doubled over as his sister performed a rather graceful back flip. In the midst of which she pulled out a club which she quickly introduced to her brother's chin after recovering from the back flip.

Tatewaki flew back as Kodachi's club connected with his jaw. He bit his tongue and could taste blood, he was gasping for breath, trying to get his wind back, and he was seeing stars as the back of his head hit the ground.

Nonetheless he quickly tried to get back on his feet, managing to make it up on one knee. He looked up to find that Nabiki had finally decided to run away, but she was no match for the speed of Kodachi. As if in slow motion, Tatewaki watched as Kodachi grabbed Nabiki by the shoulder spinning her around, then from somewhere there was a knife in her hand. Not a club, not a ball, not a ribbon or some other piece of gymnast equipment, an actual knife. Tatewaki finally realized that Kodachi meant to kill Nabiki, not hurt, kill.

Tatewaki was suddenly on his feet and moving faster than he had ever moved in his life. All his hurts forgotten, his entire focus was on the knife in Kodachi's hand, and the thought "Please let me get there in time. Please. Please." But even as he sprinted he watched as the world seemed to come to a standstill but Kodachi's hand continued to move. It buried the knife to the hilt in Nabiki's stomach.

Kodachi's face filled his vision momentarily, but it was swiftly dispatched with as much power as Tatewaki could put behind his fist. Then all his attention was turned to Nabiki who he caught in his arms before she could collapse to the ground. The clouds decided to unleash their torrents at that moment.

There was blood, so much blood. It was pouring out of the wound, but Tatewaki knew that if he removed the knife it would only pour faster. He felt so useless as he cradled Nabiki in his arms. He lifted his head and shouted "Help! Sasuke, anyone, help! Please someone call an ambulance!"

He broke off as he felt a hand on his cheek. He looked down at Nabiki who was cradling his cheek with her hand, the heavy rain had swept the hair back from her face, and she looked so pale and cold, so fragile. But her eyes where more beautiful than Tatewaki had ever imagined, they were pools of emotion, hurt, love, regret, all seemed to be reflected in her eyes.

"Tate … wak … hurts…" She sputtered out.

Tatewaki hugged her closer, "I know, but hang on Nabiki, help is coming, you'll see, you'll get better then we can go out and go on dates and stuff."

Nabiki managed a weak smile as she softly said, "Idiot." Then closed her eyes.

Tatewaki shouted, "No! No Nabiki, you can't die, not now. I need you! I love you! Please … please … don't give up. You can't die yet."

Nabiki opened her eyes again and whispered, "… love you… too." She then sighed a long drawn out sigh and closed her eyes for one final time.

He watched her in horror, only able to say, "No, please. Please. Please. Please." What or who he was asking was not clear, but he kept repeating it.

Tatewaki hugged her fiercely as the rain continued to pound down, mixing with the ever spreading pool of her blood, and his tears which bathed them both. Tatewaki was never sure just how long they stayed like that before help arrived, it might have been minutes, hours, days. To him it felt as if it was the rest of his life.

The day of the funeral was as rainy and grey as the day of her death. Perhaps it was still the same day, Tatewaki didn't know. After the police had let him go from questioning, and they had arrested his sister, Tatewaki had stayed in his room alone in the dark, finding no solace either in sleep or awake. He began to forget how to distinguish dreams from reality, and sometimes would still believe Nabiki to be alive, only to realize that she was forever beyond the reach of his love. He went insane from grief countless times, and spent countless years trapped in never-ending heart break.

He had taken the time to leave orders to be notified when the funeral was, so the servants had braved his wrath to knock on his door and inform him. He dressed himself in the same suit he had worn to his father's funeral, and then somehow made his way to the cemetery.

He paused at the foot of the hill that the cemetery occupied, at the top he could see dozens of mourners all dressed in black, several taking shelter under black umbrellas. He knew that he would be unwelcome in their company, most of them blamed him, and in truth he blamed himself as well. No matter what his reception was, he owed it to Nabiki to pay his final respects.

So he started on his way up the hill, but halfway there he was spotted and he could see the ripple of people muttering to one another and turning to look at him spread across the crowd of people. Shortly a few individuals detached themselves from the rest of the crowd and intercepted him before he could reach the grave.

Soun, Ranma, and Akane all looked at him with open hostility mixed with deep grief. Kasumi could not raise her eyes to meet his, so he couldn't be sure if even she hated him, but he suspected that she did.

All the strength left Tatewaki, and he fell to his knees on the cold and wet path, already soaked to the bone by the cold rain. He bowed in supplication at Soun's feet.

"I know that nothing will ever replace your daughter, but please know that I loved her too. My sister will pay for her crimes, but so will I, every moment of my life will be excruciatingly painful, because I know she will not be there. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't ask your forgiveness because I know it can never be given. Please do with me what you will, I deserve it. I'm so sorry."

With his head bowed, Tatewaki was unable to see as Soun made a fist with so much anger that his hand shook. But slowly he uncurled it and placed the flat of his hand gently on the back of Tatewaki's head.

"I too know what it is like to lose someone who you've loved as no one else. If you did truly love my daughter, then I know that whatever punishment I give to you pales in comparison to the pain that you feel now. Your family is made up of honor less pieces of filth; you at least have the decency to acknowledge that fact. I cannot forgive you or your family. But I have no right to stop you from paying your respects either. I take my leave of you and hope that I never see you again."

So saying Soun walked past Tatewaki, followed by the rest of his family, Akane and Ranma taking a few extra seconds to stare angrily at Tatewaki, even if Soun had forgiven the boy, they had not. It was only out of respect for the recently departed that they did not beat him right then and there. But they promised themselves that soon they would take out their anger and sorrow on his body.

Tatewaki lowered his head further until his forehead was resting against the cold and wet ground, the rain began to fall heavier, as he began to cry and sob. The pain in his chest was so bad that he felt as if he were dying as well as his love. The world narrowed as the hot tears mixed with the cold rain, and then he fell into darkness, deep darkness …

And then he woke up to a familiar site, the ceiling of the nurse's office in Furinkan High School. He looked around confused for a few moments before a familiar voice said, "So you're finally awake huh, guess I don't get to skip history after all."

Tatewaki sat up quickly and found Nabiki dressed in her school uniform sitting at the end of the nurse's bed with a manga dangling from her fingers.

Her eyes became almost as big as his were when he lunged toward her, but instead of colliding with her, he wrapped her in a fierce hug, and it seemed almost as if he was crying while saying something like, "Not dead, not dead."

Nabiki shook her head as she pried him off of her while saying, "Of course you aren't dead, even though Ranma kicked you through about five walls and a tree. That head of yours is too hard to ever break."

Tatewaki looked at her with a confused expression. "Then my father is still alive as well?"

It was Nabiki's turn to be confused, "He was last time I checked, although someone might have killed him in the past ten minutes since he made the announcement that the basketball team had to move because the gym is now a tropical jungle."

Tatewaki bounced out of bed, the bandages wrapped around his head, chest, and various other parts of his body unnoticed.

"Then I must go speak with him." So saying he dashed out of the room, but was stopped when Nabiki spoke.

"By the way Kuno, that'll be 50,000 for the hug."

Tatewaki just looked back at Nabiki and smiled as he said, "Nabiki, I love you." He then ran off, leaving a very confused Nabiki, and a forgotten bokken leaning against the corner of the room. He wasn't sure how, but now he had a second chance at making things right, and he was determined to do so. So with a burst of confidence he made his way out into his brave new world.

END;

Author's Note:

See I didn't just butcher a great poem because I felt like it; it serves both metaphorically and literally. I'm sure that some of you feel like the ending was a letdown. Sorry. While I do like my angst, I love my happy endings; anyway this was supposed to be a short prequel to another Kuno/Nabiki story in which I could have Tatewaki acting out of character due to the events in this story.

Anyways, thanks for all the positive reviews, sorry for the long delay but I've been occupied in trying to get my degree before summer of '09, and am taking a full load of classes as well as being a research assistant, so there are too few hours in the day. I wish I could go ahead and get a doctorate instead of entering the harsh real world, but sadly I don't think my loans will wait that long. (Besides I wouldn't be able to get a cool doctorate like physics or biology. Damn you my business and technology background.)

Well be on the lookout for the probably less than anticipated sequel to this story, hopefully with a more in character Nabiki, and a slightly out of character Tatewaki, as well as more appearances by people who were actually main characters in the real manga/anime. Also be on the lookout for another story that I will hopefully be posting soon which will be a Soun/Hinako pairing.