[soundtrack for this one: L.Miranic, by LiSA]

Nabiki's heart was racing, and her breath wanted very much to come in ragged gasps. It took her every gram of her iron willpower to prevent herself from doing that. She could tell she was shaking a bit as the adrenaline left her now that she had finished telling Ranma that she didn't really consider them to be engaged. Ranma was sitting across from her on the bedding in the guest room and looking at her as he patiently waited for her. He had asked her if she wanted to plan their date together. He had understood and accepted what she had told him she needed from him. She loved him for that.
She knew that setting terms for him to be in a relationship with her probably seemed to him like she was being overly demanding. But she wasn't willing to marry him for real just because of an arranged marriage. If push came to shove, she would keep her promise and marry him for the arranged marriage. But it would be a loveless marriage. If that happened, then as far as she was concerned they wouldn't actually be married, and she would lead her own life separate from him.
She didn't know if Ranma had it in him to be brave enough to not only choose just one person, but to also ask someone to marry him. In a lot of ways he was still very ignorant about feelings and social rules and proper behavior among people he wasn't fighting with. She knew she was asking a lot from him. But, this was the only way she knew how to do this.
So, while her nerves were frayed, and she was having to make an effort to control her breathing and heart rate, she was happy she had told him about her fears, and about what she needed from him in order to be with him. 
Mom had told her, just a little bit before she got sick, that she trusted Daddy. She had talked to her about boys that day because she had told Mom that she thought one of the guys in her class was cute. She couldn't even remember which boy, but she remembered what Mom had said after she had told her.
"Nabiki, that's wonderful. Is he a kind boy? Do you trust him?" Mom had asked as she had sat next to her and rubbed her back and stroked her hair while they had talked.
She'd told Mom that she didn't know, all she knew was he was cute. Then Mom had frowned at her and told her the rules to use for boys. "Boys, and later when you're older, men, can be a wonderful part of your life, Nabiki. Always remember though, that you should be searching for your partner, your equal. Cute is good, cute is nice. But cute isn't enough. The boy that will be for you will be someone you trust, completely. He will be kind to you. He will be the person that you want to be there when you are sad and when you are happy. He will be patient with you when you are angry. And while he may get angry with you, he will never say hateful things to you or be violent. He will be your friend, your confidant, the love of your life, and your rival."
She'd asked Mom why he had to be her rival too.
"Because, sweetheart, the boy for my Nabiki is going to have to challenge you. I know you. Cute will be nice for you for a while, but in the end if he doesn't make you think, if he doesn't keep you guessing, if he can't hold his own with you and think on his feet and go toe to toe with you, then he will never be able to go the distance with you. You, my special girl, are too clever for just any boy. You are going to need a special boy. One who will cherish you, love you, honor you, and challenge you."
She had told Mom that she didn't think the boy in her class was all those things. Mom had laughed and told her that she would have been shocked if he was. She had asked Mom how she would know when a boy was the right one. Mom had leaned down and pulled her up into a hug and then held her out at arm's length as she had looked into her eyes and said words she would never forget.
"You will know, because you will know. It is as simple as that. No magic test. No shooting stars. No signs from the heavens. You will just know. After I met your father, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was for me. The feeling grew over time, as I got to know him. I had been friends with lots of boys back then. I was dating a few of them, on and off. And quite frankly, I didn't think much of your father at first. I would tease him, and I would play games with him. He was very serious most of the time. Training, he was always training. But, over time, as we grew closer, my interest in the rest of the boys faded, and I found myself looking hard at your daddy. I realized that at some point I had started looking forward to when I would see him again. I had started looking for excuses to be with him, even though I still teased him. I would pretend to trip in front of him, just so he would catch me and hold me. I knew. I knew more certainly than anything else I had ever known in my life. It's that simple, baby. You'll know when you know."
She looked up into Ranma's eyes, and she played Mom's words back in her mind. And she knew. At least, she thought she knew. It scared her how much of what Mom had said applied now. She was pretty sure she knew, and it really was as simple as that.
She was exhausted. She normally stayed far away from all of this emotional type of stuff. As she was growing closer to Ranma, things were changing inside her. She was more emotional lately. She had cried more in the past few days, than she had since Mom had gotten sick. She didn't know what was going on, but she did know that she knew that Ranma was right for her.
Her heart wasn't racing anymore, and her breathing was under control. She knew it had been over a minute since she had said anything to Ranma. He was watching her carefully, like he was afraid of her. That made her unhappy.
She waved him over. "Ranma, can you come here, please?"
He nodded and scooted over next to her, and sat next to her nervously.
She reached over and pulled him into a hug as she rose up halfway on her knees so she would be a little bit taller than him. He flinched and then slowly relaxed into her. She closed her eyes as she sat next to him and hugged him. She rested her chin on the back of his neck and whispered to herself. "I just know."
"What do you know?" He whispered back.
"I know what my mom was talking about when I was a little girl." She whispered as she leaned against him and breathed him in. He was warm, and he smelled like flowery cedar wood. It was ... addicting. She wanted more of him, but she didn't know how. She was afraid to open herself up more than she already had. She felt like she was on the edge of something, and it scared her. Mom's words told her she should leap from the edge and trust him. She wanted to be able to do that. She wanted to so badly it was making her dizzy.
"Y-your mom? What did she talk about?" He asked quietly.
"You."
"Me? Did she know me when I was little?"
"I don't know. Maybe she did. I don't think so."
"Then how ... ?" He asked, confused.
She didn't answer him. She just hugged him and rocked back and forth with him for a while, and let herself be happy. He was very patient with her. He just sat there and let her hug him.
After a long while, she had no idea how long, she pulled away from him and pulled his head up gently by his chin so he would look at her. He stared up at her with his kind blue eyes. He was obviously flustered. But he just sat there and waited for her to say what was on her mind.
He was so near, and so warm, and so kind to her, and she trusted him. She felt herself falling into his eyes. She leaned forward to kiss him. The dragon inside her was perched on the edge of the cliff and had its wings spread wide to fly.
He leaned back from her gently with his eyes open wide.
She stopped and looked at him, hurt.
"Um ... but ... what about the promise? Don't I have to earn ... that?"
God damn it! Why did I say that?! She screamed at herself. Her dragon turned back from the cliff and frowned at her, unamused. She pulled herself back from him shakily. "You are absolutely right, Ranma. Sorry, got carried away. Not feeling right." She smiled weakly at him.
"Want me to go get Kasumi?" He asked, worried.
Oh, good going, real appealing, now he thinks you're sick. You idiot. She berated herself.
"N-no, not sick, Ranma. Just ... feeling odd, you know. Like my center shifted out from under me, and I'm trying to find my balance again." She said with as much confidence as she could muster.
"Oh, like if your opponent goes for the leg sweep and you hop back to dodge it and land on something you didn't expect to move, and it does?" He asked eagerly.
"Yeah, sure, exactly like that." She smiled at him as she hooked some of her hair back behind her ear nervously. She was proud of him for honoring the promise even when she had obviously been perfectly willing to break it. What is wrong with me?! She yelled at herself.
She wanted to change the subject, so she smiled at him and teased him. "You're too honest to be a master of the Anything Goes style, Ranma. You keep your promises too well."
"W-what?" He asked, as he scooted away from her and narrowed his eyes at her.
She smiled calmly. "Don't masters of the Anything Goes style have to be devious?"
"N-not, necessarily. I mean, sure, in a fight, you do what needs to be done to win. But ya don't have to be that way all the time." He said with confidence.
"Shouldn't you practice though, just like the rest of your moves?"
"Who says I don't?" He smirked at her.
"I do." She said as she stuck out her tongue at him.
"O-oh yeah?"
"Yeah." Then she added a challenge for him. "Go ahead, Ranma, lie to me, deceive me. Let's see a future master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts in action." She didn't know why, but it was really important to her that he be able to do this. She put her chin in her hand, and braced her hand against her knee and watched him expectantly. She put up as calm a face as she could, but inside she was churning.
He flushed red for a moment, then ducked his head down in a nod, and looked back up at her and smiled. "I'm not sure I can show you secrets from our Order, Nabiki ... I'm not sure it's allowed..." He trailed off with a weak voice.
"I trained with my daddy from when I was a little girl, until I was twelve, Ranma." She whispered. She didn't like people to know that.
"O-oh, I didn't know ... well, I mean, you aren't a student right now though, but ... I guess its all right. You're part of the Order if you were a student." He said as he looked around the room nervously.
She smiled impatiently and waited for him to continue.
"A-all right, well, um ... let me think ... there's this one trick Pops taught me a while ago, before we went to China. I can use it to make the lights go out. I guess it could really help during a battle if done at the right time."
She nodded and waited. It was really rather fascinating to her that all of these things could be done by normal people who just trained hard and knew what to do. Ranma looked at her earnestly and smiled happily as he talked about his Art. He was in his element when he talked about the Anything Goes style.
"So, I just have to stand still for a moment, hold my hands like this, and gather my fighting energy into a ball in my hand. Then I ... push ... I guess is how I would describe it, and if I concentrate on the energy of the lights, my fighting energy should cancel it out, and the lights will go out." He finished simply. He had been waving his arms around and making complicated gestures with his hands as he explained. It had been very detailed. She hadn't been able to follow it very well because he used terms she wasn't familiar with. She didn't know if a trick that made the lights go out qualified as deception, but at the moment she was more curious to see it in action than she was invested in making him deceive her.
"Show me." She whispered.
"All right." He said confidently as he stood up in the middle of the room. He stood with his hands at his sides and breathed deeply. Then he started waving his arms around like he had done earlier, but with more controlled purpose this time. She couldn't see his aura glow, but she could feel it. She felt waves of warmth streaming off him as he flowed gently in the pattern he had described earlier. It was really more like a beautiful dance than anything else.
He abruptly jabbed his hand straight up in the air and clenched his fist and uttered a little sound and stood there proudly.
The lights were still on.
"Um ... Ranma ... " she said gently, embarrassed for him.
"Yes?" He asked without looking at her.
"The lights are still on."
"No they aren't." He said with absolute confidence.
"Yeah ... they are." She said with a touch of annoyance. Some trick.
"I don't see how it could be more dark in here." He said like he was explaining that water was wet.
She sighed and got up and walked over to the switch on the wall. "Like this." She then flicked the switch, and the room flooded with darkness.
"Got you." He whispered right behind her as he touched her lightly on the back of the head.
She couldn't help herself, she jumped in surprise and twisted around fast as she yelped. He put his arms around her waist in the dark and held her loosely. She found her voice a moment later. "What do you mean you got me? Your trick failed. I turned off the lights."
"Really? It failed? What did I tell you I could do?" He asked with quiet confidence. She could feel him smiling smugly at her.
She played back what he had said in her mind. "You said you ... could use a trick ... to make the lights go out." She said as her jaw fell open in shock. He'd tricked her. She couldn't believe it.
"Yup." He said as she felt him nod.
"But, then ... what was with all that moving around? And I could feel you using your battle aura for ... something." She asked, curious now.
"I dunno, Nabiki. Two secrets in one night? You're gettin' kind of demandin'." He said happily as he pulled her in closer to him. Oh god, he was so warm!
"Well, since the first secret was a trick, it would only be one secret still, wouldn't it?" She poked his nose as she said it, to tease him.
"I guess so." He said hesitantly. Then she felt him lean his head down and lay it on her shoulder. A moment later he whispered directly in her ear. "That ... was the Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts ..." he paused, letting her dangle on the hook, she couldn't help herself, she was actually anxious to hear what it was now, "...clothes drying technique." He finished in a serious tone.
Her brain hit a brick wall. "Wait, what?" She asked.
Ranma dissolved into laughter. He kept his head on her shoulder, and ... laughed quietly. She could feel him shaking with the laughter. It was infectious. She started to laugh with him. They both did their best to keep quiet, though. The walls in the house weren't that thick.
I'll just know.
After several happy minutes passed with them giggling in each other's arms, she finally pulled herself back to the here and now. She couldn't believe it. Ranma had lied to her face, and she hadn't caught it. He'd had her so distracted with his tales of Martial Arts mastery, and his fancy hand motions, that she realized she hadn't even been watching for the usual signs of someone lying. She played the moments back in her mind, but as hard as she tried, she couldn't remember him giving any clues that he had been deceiving her. She was beyond impressed. He had come up with that on the spot, and had done exactly as she had asked, and tricked her.
I'll just know.
She leaned forward into his arms and looked at him. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough that she could see him roughly. He was looking at her and smiling. Oh god, this was serious. She couldn't stop grinning though. She had never been happier in her life to have been lied to.
I'll just know.
"Ranma?" She breathed in a whisper even she could barely hear.
"Yes?" He asked quietly. Now that he wasn't talking about martial arts again, he was back to nervousness. That was all right, she could work with the raw material he had shown her.
"Let's plan our date."
"All right." He said in a happy tone of voice.
I'll just know.
She put her hands on his chest and gently pushed on him, signaling him to let her go. He did so instantly. She leaned over on unsteady legs to the wall switch, and turned the lights back on, and turned back to face him. He was standing there with his hands behind his back, looking impish. He obviously enjoyed playing with her.
She swallowed nervously and walked over to him on wobbly legs she felt would give out on her at any moment. She took his hand and led him back to the bedding, and sat down with him. She couldn't help herself, she leaned over and breathed him in again. "You smell nice." She whispered. 
"And you ... smell ... great, Nabiki." He said nervously.
She looked up at him and smiled radiantly. She wasn't wearing any perfume or anything scented. He was just smelling her. So he was either lying, or he was ... very special.
I'll just know.
She looked into Ranma's eyes for a moment, and just allowed herself to be content. She didn't know how everything was all going to turn out, but so far it had been a hell of a ride.
He looked back at her with uncertainty written all over his face.
She sighed and laid back into the bedding and closed her eyes for a moment. It was very tiring playing the dangerous little game they were playing. She called out to him softly without opening her eyes. "Ranma, can you turn the lights out, please?"
"Oh ... s-sure, Nabiki." He said as she heard him jump up and walk over to the wall and flip the switch.
She felt the darkness descend on the room and smiled peacefully. She waited until he had returned to his own bedding before she spoke again. She didn't need to see his face right now, she wanted his imagination to be free, and whispering to him in the dark was the simplest way she could think of doing that.
"H-how ... did you want to sleep tonight?" He asked.
She thought about it for a moment, and tried to come up with a way that he would be near enough to her that he would be able to react if she was attacked in the night, but in a way that still kept things innocent between them. She wanted to try to keep herself detached from him until he made his decision.
I'll just know.
"How about this..." She began as she spoke quietly into the darkness. In the dark, she could imagine him being much closer to her than he was. She could smell him, and it was like he was all around her. She smiled peacefully to the ceiling. "How about ... we put our beds right up next to each other, and you hook your ankle with mine. We'll still be sleeping in separate beds, and you should be able to feel it if something is wrong if you have your ankle around mine." There, the perfect solution. Nothing is sexy about ankles and feet. We'll be in separate beds. Perfectly innocent and detached. She thought happily.
He answered her by rustling around with his bedding next to her, then he pushed his bed next to hers and laid back down in it silently. She smiled. Once he was settled in, he hesitantly poked his right foot over and laid it gently over her left ankle.
She grinned and hooked her left foot up and wrapped it up next to his foot so they were twined together. She knew she would never be able to hold that position while she slept, but she wasn't worried. She had absolute faith in Ranma when it came to such things, she knew he would figure out a way to make it work.
Once they were settled in, and she had pulled her blanket over herself, she asked into the darkness a simple question. "What would you like to do during our date? Where do you want to go?" While she waited for him to respond, she imagined what it would be like to have him lying right next to her.
His voice came floating out of the darkness a moment later, closer than she had thought he was. "Well, anywhere is good. All I have planned so far is a surprise for you, but I can give it to you anywhere."
"Ooh, I love surprises. What is it?" She asked eagerly.
"I ... I thought you just said you liked surprises? You won't be surprised if I tell you now." He said, flabbergasted. 
"All right, let me rephrase, I love finding out what surprises are." She said happily as she stared up into the darkness.
"Well, tough. You're just gonna have to wait until our date to find out."
"You're mean." She pouted, playing with him.
"I am not!" He said defensively, but she could tell he wasn't being serious. She smiled. Then he asked her a followup question. "So ... what would you like to do, Nabiki?" He asked curiously.
"I want you to have fun too, Ranma, I don't want to pick everything." She replied quietly.
"Okay, well what if I pick something and you pick something?" He asked hesitantly.
"Sure, are we going to go out to eat, or just do stuff?"
"Um ... let's do both." He said with a small smile.
"Okay, then I know a little place in the Chuo ward we can go."
"That's kind of far away." He said.
"I know, it's perfect, hopefully we will be able to escape the circus for a while." She said with a smile.
"All right, and I get to pick what we do after?" He asked.
"Yes ... but keep in mind, if it involves leaping over things, I am not going to be much fun." She said with a small smile that he couldn't see, but she trusted he could sense her mood from her voice.
"Don't worry, Nabiki, I think you'll have fun." He said confidently.
She smiled happily into the darkness. "Do I get to know what it is before we go?" She whispered.
"No, I want it to be a surprise."
"Another surprise? Or the same one?" She asked with a lazy smile on her face as she got closer to sleep and she stretched out luxuriously in her bedding. Ranma kept his ankle entwined with hers while she stretched. That made her very happy.
I'll just know.
"Another one." His voice said from the darkness.
"All right Ranma. That sounds like a date to me. When do you want to go?" She whispered sleepily.
"Two days after tomorrow?" He asked her tentatively.
"You want me to wait that long?" She asked in a fake pout with a sleepy voice. Her eyelids were getting heavy.
"I need to pick up my surprise for you first. Then we can go. It'll be worth the wait. Trust me."
"I trust you, Ranma." She whispered into the darkness happily.
She was warm, and happy. She had a date with Ranma, and Ranma ... was ... very special. She was drifting off to sleep, safe next to him.
I'll just know, indeed.
Okay, so I think I found him, Mom ... now what?