With less than a half an hour until opening, Ranko and her sisters buzzed around the back room of the Phoenix making their final preparation. Ranko was wearing a simple yellow A-line dress and black flats. She found the more elaborate outfits Izumi would normally have chosen for her stage performances to be too difficult to manage on the weekend shifts when she also had to move with nearly superhuman agility just to keep her tables' drinks full. Her hair was tied back in a simple, unbraided ponytail with a wide length of yellow satin ribbon.
The redhead shivered as she stepped out of the walk-in cooler, dropping a large package of raw ground beef on the steel prep counter in front of her youngest sister. Her eyes scanned the counter. Okay, she's got all the spices she needs for the burger patties and the chicken batter, flour, buttermilk, eggs. Good. What else…
"Whoa!"
Ranko whipped her head around toward the sound coming from the hallway, reaching her hand out at lightning speed just in time to steady the large tray of clean pilsner glasses that teetered precariously from Izumi's shoulder. "Careful there, sis!"
Izumi blushed, nodding her thanks as Ranko took the tray from her. "Sorry, I just lost my balance there for a second."
With a chuckle and a shake of her head, Ranko carried the tray toward the front of the bar, with Izumi holding the saloon door open for her. "Maybe if you didn't try to work in heels the width of a freakin' pencil eraser, it wouldn't be so hard."
"Problem is," Yui said with a playful sneer as she added an armful of tequila bottles to the shelf behind the bar, "... if she didn't, then people wouldn't stare at her ass quite so much."
"Excuse me," Izumi said, her fists resting on the hips of her silver dress. "I don't need anybody staring at me. I already have a boyfriend, little miss hasn't had a date in years. Maybe we need to put your little beanpole ass in some shorter skirts and market the goods a little better."
The blonde scoffed, waving her sister off with the back of her hand. "Not my fault they ain't made a girl that can handle all of this yet. Save your frilly shit for the idol in the family, Iz."
"I am not an idol!" Ranko blushed, turning her face away from her sister. "I'm a waitress."
Yui laughed, shelving a fresh bottle of mezcal. "Whatever you say, star."
The redhead smirked. "Well, I don't have to take this kind of crap from you. I've got work to do. So, hmmph!"
Giggling, she pushed her way back through the blue saloon door, hanging a right into Hana's office with a knock on the partially-ajar door. "Hey, Mama? We're almost ready out here. You need anything?"
The bar's proprietress raised her eyes to the door. Her leather-encased elbows were propped on the desk, and she was holding her head in her hands as she pored over some paperwork on the ever-cluttered desktop. "Oh, thanks, honey. I'd love a beer, if you get a second."
"Comin' right up," Ranko replied cheerily, buzzing back to the front room. She ignored her tittering sisters as she plucked a brown glass bottle from the well behind the service bar, doing her best to avoid touching any of the crushed ice. With a spring in her step, she hurried back to the dingy business office, handing over the bottle. "Here ya go!"
Hana reached out for the bottle, popping its cap off on the edge of her desk. The whole edge of the desktop hanging over her lap was so chipped and scratched from its repeated use as a bottle opener, it looked as if the wood had been hewn by the teeth of beavers. "Thanks, baby."
"Sure thing, Mama!" Ranko gave a little wave, speeding back to the kitchen. "How you holding up back here, Mei? Anything else you need?"
Mei wiped her brow on the green puffy sleeve of her peasant shirt as she plopped another chunk of ground beef onto the work surface. She motioned to the large trash can on the floor next to the counter top, on which the empty ground beef packaging precariously hung from the top of the overflowing contents. "Actually, hon, could you take that out, please? I'm up to my elbows in hamburger."
The redhead smiled. "No problem!" She pulled the bag out of the trash, tying it off in a double knot, humming merrily to herself. She popped open the back door, slipping out into the December chill of the alley with the bag. The door slammed shut behind her as she stepped out into the light dusting of snow in the dark. Fuck, it's getting cold out here. I need to tell Izumi to start bringing me longer skirts to wear or something, or forget being a pop star, I'm gonna be a pop-sicle. She whispered a silent prayer of thanks, not for the first or the last time, that she was not still spending her nights sleeping on a park bench around the corner from the nearby train station.
She turned to head for the dumpster, and completed only one step toward it before she froze in her tracks, dropping the bag on the ground.
In the alleyway was a figure that struck more terror into Ranko than she knew possible. Not if the god of death himself were patrolling the space between the bar and the hardware store would Ranko have been so mortified. The shadowed figure was sitting on a pile of discarded wooden shipping pallets. In the dim of the alley, it was hard to see their face, but there was no mistaking them. Ranko would know that white-and-blue dress anywhere. She almost was forced to wear one once.
"A… Akane?!"
A pointed reply came from the dark. "So. It's true."
No point denying anything. Fucking Nabiki. I asked you. I begged you. How could you… Ranko sighed defeatedly, her shoulders slumping. "She told you everything, didn't she?"
Akane nodded, with a quiet chuckle under her breath. "Of all the people to trust with your secret, you picked the one that can be easily bought." Akane had decided to spare her the truth, that Nabiki had volunteered everything right away once she saw how frantic her little sister had become at the knowledge that Ranma was, in fact, alive.
Ranko backed away until her bare shoulders made contact with the cold red brick wall of the bar. "Akane, please. I can explain." She put her empty palms up defensively, fully prepared for a fist, a hammer, or some improvised projectile to come flying at her any moment.
The young barmaid's once-fiancée climbed down off the pallets to her feet, approaching slowly. "You look good."
Ranko blinked quizzically. "Uh… Thanks?"
Akane cracked a small smile as she took another step closer. "No, I mean it. You always were prettier than me."
The redhead gulped quietly. Okay, what the hell is happening here?
Akane closed another step, and Ranko began stammering. "Uhh, so, listen Akane, I… I'm really sorry, okay?! I know I was a jerk and I…"
Akane took another step.
Ranko swallowed hard. "I shouldn't have left, I know. I just didn't feel like I could…"
Another step.
"Look, Akane, I didn't mean to…"
Akane took the last few steps at a run, leaping forward and slamming into the smaller girl's body. She wrapped her arms tightly around Ranko, squeezing as hard as she could. "I'm just… thank the gods you're okay! I've been so worried!"
Ranko stood petrified in the hug for a moment, struggling to both adjust to the surprising turn of events, and to will some air back into her lungs. Eventually, her muscles began to relax, and she returned the embrace. "I know. I really am sorry, Akane."
Akane let her go, looking down into her eyes. "No. I'm sorry. I put so much pressure on you. Me, and our dads, and Xian Pu, and everybody, we all did. I never trusted you like I should have. I never listened. We should have been trying to support you when… everything happened, and we ran you off. But I did, most of all."
The waitress shook her head. "Akane, no. I remember the night I left. You were the only one who even tried to have anything nice to say to me."
Akane nodded, a tear starting to form in the corner of her eye. "I know. But I didn't say anything to them. I should have stood up for you. I should have had your back like you always had mine. I should have made them back off, and maybe give you some more space to process everything. I owed you that much. This is all my fault. Everything that happened to you. Xian Pu's grandmother only did this to you because you wouldn't let me go."
Ranko clasped her hands on Akane's shoulders, extending her arms and locking her elbows. "Akane, no. She did it to me because she's a crazy person. It's not your fault. And besides… I'm okay. Really! It's been a hell of a road to get here, but I'm finally starting to get comfortable with the person - with the girl - I see in the mirror. I mean it." She smiled warmly at Akane, her shoulders relaxing a bit as she gained a bit more confidence that her former fiancée might not actually be there with the intention of beating her half to death. It really is nice to talk to her again. There's so much I wanna tell her.
"So, I hear you're a singer now?" Akane flashed a sly grin. "You?"
Ranko blushed, sitting down on the concrete stoop outside the back door of the bar. "I'm a waitress, who sometimes sings. Big difference." It's so weird, admitting to Akane that I'm a waitress - hell, admitting that I'm starting to be okay with feeling like a girl at all. And yet, somehow, it's not making me want to just run and hide like I thought it would. What does it…
Akane nodded with an amused smile. "You're not, huh? When were you planning on telling the line of people out front that?"
Ranko giggled, blushing a bit at the idea of doing so in front of Akane. "Right about the time I brought them their appetizers, I guess."
Akane sat next to the redhead on the stoop, smoothing out the skirt of her school pinafore between her knees. "It's good to see you smile again."
The redhead nodded. "It's good to see you at all again. I really have missed you, Akane."
Akane leaned over, resting her head on Ranko's left shoulder and wrapping her arms around her bicep. "You could have called me anytime, you know, dummy."
Ranko sighed. "I didn't want you to be ashamed of me. I couldn't handle the thought of it."
Akane sat up again, looking over at Ranko incredulously. "Are you kidding? Ever since, ya know, all this happened, all I wanted was for you to find a way to be happy, and you have. True, it's not anything like what I expected, but if it's working for you, I'm glad." She traced her finger around the silver bracelet on Ranko's wrist, the dragon's sapphire eye shining up at her as if it were amused with some playful secret it refused to divulge. "This is really pretty."
Ranko nodded, her lips cracking a tentative smile. "It was a birthday present from Yui. She's one of the girls who works here. So much more than that, but… it's a lot to explain. I like that it hides my scar from… ya know."
Akane nodded. "Yeah. I do, too. It works for you."
"How's everybody back at home?" Ranko rubbed her temples, in large part to have an excuse to hide her flushing cheeks from the girl she once thought she'd be forced to marry.
Akane rolled her eyes. "As crazy as usual, I guess. Once they realized you weren't coming back, Xian Pu and her grandmother closed their ramen shop and left town. Went back to China, I think. I hear Ukyo's thinking about opening a bigger location in their old building. My family's pretty much the same, I guess. Your father…" She sighed. "He still stays with us, but these days he spends most of his time as a panda. He doesn't like to talk about you."
Ranko nodded, a dark glare crossing her eyes. "The feeling's mutual. And… what about you?"
Akane looked up, her eyes scanning the alley. Relax, Akane! It's just Ranma. Why does this feel so different? "Oh, you know, going to school. I'm on the volleyball team full-time now. Haven't lost a game yet!"
"Can't say as I'm surprised. You're pretty awesome like that." Ranko swallowed hard with an audible gulp. She wasn't sure she wanted the answer to her next question, but she had to ask. "Are you, ya know, seeing anybody?"
Akane blushed deeply, shaking her head. "Naah. Not that Kuno isn't telling everybody we're getting married any day, now that the evil Ranma Saotome hasn't been around."
The smaller girl rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Sorry about that. At least he isn't chasing the freakin' pigtailed girl around anymore."
Akane could only imagine how that bastard would bleed to death from his nose if he knew just how much the pigtailed girl had blossomed since he saw her last. She chuckled at the thought of it. "And… what about you?"
Ranko blushed. "No way!" She hadn't seriously considered dating at all since she left. She wasn't sure if she was even supposed to, and when - and if - she ever did, if it would be okay if she were still interested in girls. She remembered Yui's story about Kimiko, and how terribly that had worked out. That said, if there was anyone Ranko could imagine being okay with such a thing, it was Hana.
She had tried - a few times, since the Phoenix Pill had been lost - to imagine what it would be like to date a boy, just to be seen as normal. Invariably, she'd ended up with nothing more than nausea at the very thought of it. So lost was Ranko in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed Akane slip her hand into her own. Once she did, she fought the instinct to pull her hand away, instead smiling contently and resting her head on Akane's shoulder as Akane had done with hers a few moments before.
"Are you okay? You're shaking like a leaf." Akane looked down at the girl leaning on her shoulder, concern in her eyes even as her cheeks flushed red.
"Yeah. Just… it's really cold out here. And, seeing you, it's…" Ranko sighed contentedly as Akane wrapped her arms around her, rubbing her back firmly through the yellow dress.
The moment was interrupted by the door popping open. Izumi stuck her head out from behind the door, hesitant to step out into the light snow in her thin satin dress. "Oi, Ranko! I don't know how long we can keep these – oh, hi! Who's this?"
Ranko blushed, quickly pulling away from Akane and craning over her shoulder to look behind her. "Izumi! Uh, this is Akane. She's my f…"
Akane spoke over her. "Her friend."
Ranko looked up at Akane with surprise, receiving an it's okay glance in response. "Akane, this is Izumi. She's… well, it's a long story, but we work together, and we're essentially sisters now." With a bit of a blush, she added, "She's also responsible for the majority of my wardrobe."
Akane grinned at Ranko, making a point to slowly travel the length of the redhead's body with her eyes. "Then you do good work! Pleased to meet you, Izumi."
Izumi gave a knowing smirk, turning her eyes back to the redhead. "Seriously, though, they're getting restless out there, kiddo."
Ranko stood, brushing a few bits of gravel from the back of her dress. "I'm coming right now, Iz."
Izumi closed the door, and Ranko turned to face Akane. "I, uhmm… if you don't have anywhere to be and all, I, ah…" She looked down, fidgeting with her fingers. "I'd love it if you, ya know, maybe stuck around for the show? I mean, if you want. You don't hafta."
Akane beamed, wrapping both of her arms around the smaller girl's bicep again. "I wouldn't miss it for the world, Ranko."