Kitchen Cozy

By: Crystal_V_Princess

Disclaimer: Ranma is mine and all mine!!! He professed this to me himself!!!!! Really!!!!! * fingers crossed behind back * Okay, okay, fine! Ranma ½ and all of the characters and storylines belong to that genius of a manga artist Rumiko Takahashi (God bless 'er!).

Dedications: This ficcie is dedicated to Fireblaze "my one and only", Tim, you are an inspiration to a starving artist, my friend! And of course, to Furaidochikin, my friendie!!!! Lana Panther, Juniper Winner, Lian Leviathan, Caramia Shallear Cessiyyess, Sara, and Trinity!!!! Oh, and anyone who's reading this right now!!!! I love you guys soooooooooo much!!! * sob, sob * This is so emotional--,uh, yeah, on with the fic!!!!!!!!

Note: Nothing to note this time, oh well! It's tradition to write it though! Heehee!

"Help me, will you, Ranma?" Akane Tendo pleaded with her reluctant fiancé, looking over her shoulder with beseeching eyes that put crushed brown velvet to shame.

Her slender white fingers fiddled frustratingly with the ties of her apron, struggling to secure them around her waist. She stamped her foot in annoyance, biting her lip and pausing a moment to try and think of a new plan of attack on the apron.



Suddenly, she felt strong hands grab the bindings, pulling her close in the process. "Here, hold still, will you!" Ranma's voice said from behind her, "How do you expect me to do this if you won't stop squirming?" He straightened the straps on her shoulders, fitting the apron to her petite form correctly and reached his hands across the front of her hips to smooth the cloth at her waist and pull it back enough so it wouldn't come loose after he tied the belt.

Her body swayed gently as he leaned forward to watch his fingers, drawing her back slightly. The pig-tailed boy gulped deep in his throat; he could feel the heat radiating from her and smell the token lavender scent of Akane. His forehead brushed her shoulder and he closed his eyes momentarily, succumbing to the temptation of her touch.

"R- Ranma-" Akane's voice was soft and feminine in his ears, he could almost hear the blush in her voice, "Are, you, um going to tie the belt soon?" She was faltering in her words, and leaning closer.

"Yeah." He felt like kicking himself, it probably would have been subtler to hold a sign in front of her face that read: 'Hey! You're cute, I'd love to kiss you right now!' than just standing there breathing her in, keeping her close. "Sorry." He tied the strings and stood shakily, still half under the spell of her ignorant lure.

"Thanks." She said, but didn't move away. Neither did he.

Ranma once again found himself squeezing his eyes shut, trying to gain control over his rapidly beating heart. He was inches away, if he moved forward half a step his chin would rest on the top of her head. The thought was beguiling and he stirred just a little from his stiff position to brush his face gently against the silky tips of her hair, knowing she wouldn't be able to feel it.

The perfume of her skin filled his nose and one hand subconsciously found it's way to the side of her waist, resting there so softly that it barely made contact. "We-we should start-" She whispered, turning her head faintly.

He backed away and looked in the opposite direction, studying the window panes, anything, just not her. Not Akane. This girl who could capture him with a smile.

Earlier that day, Kasumi had suggested that they make the dinner cookies together, and set out the proper ingredients so that Akane wouldn't get mixed up and end up putting sesame oil into the batter in place of vanilla.

Ranma and Akane protested loudly for a few minutes then agreed grudgingly to make it a duo endeavor. When they'd finally found the book of recipes in the cupboard, both of them wanted to make something different, and they'd spent at least half an hour arguing about almond clusters or lemon meringue fruit shapes. In the end they settled on chocolate chip, the original cookie, not to mention the easiest to make.

Akane leaned forward, picking up a container of sugar and placing it on a stool beside her. "I thought you were going to help?" She asked innocently, truthfully unaware of her enticement. He nodded silently and walked over to where she stood, his hands in his pockets, standing a safe distance away, and reading from the cook-book.

"One cup sugar, two eggs, a teaspoon of baking soda-" The shorthaired girl was moving as fast as she could, dumping ingredients in in time with his words. She flipped her head back up to look at him, her pretty features scrunched in irritation.

"Go slower, Ranma," She demanded, placing her hands on her hips, "How many arms do you think I have?!" He grinned mischievously, but bit his tongue to the snappy remark flitting through his head.

"At this rate we're never going to get the cookies done by dinner!" He argued, leaning back against the counter and sighing in false annoyance, "Now, as I was saying-"

Akane stood with her arms crossed, glaring at the boy, "Why don't you go slower?!" She took a pinch of flour into her open palm and blew it at him.

Ranma jumped in surprise and coughed, his face covered in a thin dusting of white powder. "Hey! What was that for?!" Quickly, he reached down into the bag and took out a large handful of flour and threw it at her. She screamed in shock and wiped at her face, huffing in the cloud which surrounded her.

"You idiot!" She shrieked and took a cup measurement off the counter and scooped some powder out of the sack, dumping it straight on his head. He roared in outrage and grabbed a measuring cup of his own, tossing piles of flour at the girl.

Akane wheezed and closed her eyes, waving her arms about in the blizzard at him. "Ranma! Cut it out!" She sat down on the ground, burying her face in her arms.

Ranma stopped the onslaught of baking ingredients and crouched down to look at her, fanning some of the flour away from the girl. "Hey, you started it." He protested, trying to look at her visage. "Are you okay?" He touched her bangs instinctively, wanting to feel the contact, just to know she was unharmed.

"I-I-" His fiancée started, sniffling, her face still down-turned, "I'm okay." She abruptly looked up at him, her features impish. "But you're not!" A large cupful of flour was dumped onto his head, blending into his hair like dawning greys. She giggled wickedly, nearly falling backwards.

"You. Little. Brat!" The pig- tailed boy grabbed hold of her wrist and tried to hold her still as he poured white powder all over her cranium, but she struggled wildly and finally managed to free herself.

They raced around the kitchen, ducking and tossing flour at each other with the wild glee of children. Akane flung the cup at him when she ran out, but he dodged it, jumping sideways into the air, pulling back his lips in a taunting grin and sticking out his tongue. "Ha, ha!" He buzzed, flipping forwards to cut her off from her only escape route.

Ranma seized her bicep gently but firmly, attempting to keep her from moving, but it was all in vain. The girl grabbed the front of his shirt and pushed him down toward the ground, leaping over his flailing arms as he fell and skipping in the direction of the kitchen door.

He grabbed her ankle, pulling her down with him. Her body half-covered his and he felt his cheeks heating up at the extreme contact. Slowly, he sat up, Akane still resting on his lap, and brushed some of the flour from her hair. He chuckled softly and gulped, smiling against his better judgement. "Checkmate." He cooed, leaning just a bit closer.

A delicate blush flamed across her cheeks and her eyes flicked about the room for distraction. "Ranma," She began, his eyes were closed and his pulse had quickened noticeably, "I think it only said to use half a cup of flour for the batter." His eyelids fluttered and he looked at her, not quite sure if she was serious or not. A titter of flippancy escaped her lips and she covered her mouth, trying to hold it in.

Ranma began chortling too, his shoulders shaking rhythmically with the laughter. "I think we may have gone a tad bit over the limit."

"A tad bit?!" Akane sat up straight, staring him in the face. "Gee, you think?" Any other words she would have said were silenced as he pressed his lips to hers.

It was a hard kiss, fraught with emotion and need, and his hands mimicked the vehemence of the embrace. The boy's fingers threaded through his fiancée's hair, the other arm holding her against his chest. "Akane, Akane, Akane-" Her name became his mantra as he devoured her mouth, unsure and impecunious for her response.

It didn't take long, and her arms circled his neck, condoning the contact. He moved his lips against hers hard, seeking, exploring. "Love you-" He groaned and moved his face to her neck.

The shorthaired girl stroked his hair, her fingers playing with the ends of his pigtail, rubbing out the whiteness of the flour. She could feel his teeth nipping gently at the soft skin of her throat, the tip of his tongue tracing her collarbone. Slowly, she placed her hands on either side of his head, pulling him back up to look at her. "I love you too." She said smiling, leaning in to kiss the point of his nose. "I really do."

He beamed back at her, mimicking her gesture and leaning his forehead against hers. "Good. 'Cause you're not getting rid of me anytime soon." Then softly, he leaned back in to kiss her again, one of many in the future.

Author's Note: Heeheehee!!!! I am sooooooooo tired, so I'm acting a little strange right now. But, I hope you enjoyed reading that, I certainly enjoyed writing it. I thought it might be cute to have Ranma helping Akane out in the kitchen. Some people have written me saying, "Hey! I've read all your fics and want to be included in the dedications!". Sorry to the people who aren't, but many times before people have just said they've read them and haven't because they just wanted to be included on the list. I don't think that's fair to lie about it just to be written in, especially to the people who actually HAVE read and reviewed! But I am sorry if you've read and haven't reviewed and weren't included, so I dedicate these fics to you all out there who do read!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you anyhoo, you know it!!!!!!!!!! My eternal thanks and gratitude!!!!!!!!

Love,

Your lady, Crystal_V_Princess ;P