Story: Bridal Training: Cookie Cookie

Here is the winner to last week's contest. I would also like to announce a slight alteration to the rules. Any update by someone else in one of my threads will constitute a vote for that thread, with the tiebreaker increase depending on the quality and length of the update.
1: Fatesplit or poorly written
2: Well written but less than a thousand words.
3: Well written, but longer than a thousand words.

If an update is updated, those will count as further votes.

I will change the rules page to reflect this alteration. The original rule has not yet come into effect anyway. If you can suggest alterations that would make it more likely that you would update a thread, please tell me.



Nodoka stared at her soon to be daughter in law with a peaceful smile that hid the wheels spinning in her mind. She was rather fond of Akane, and could easily see how Ranma would choose her as his bride to be. She was beautiful, charming, polite and shared his interest in martial arts. Presumably there was more to it than that, but since Nodoka didn't know her son well enough to gauge his tastes she didn't dare speculate too much further.

The trouble was, the girl was rather clumsy. Unusual considering her martial arts training, but she was very clumsy. Especially in the kitchen, hence today's lesson. And yet, she could tell that the girl desperately wanted to be a good cook. She wanted to cook for her fiance, and wound up getting so flustered that she made very simple mistakes. Which meant she probably needed help in other areas as well. Besides which, for Nodoka's plan to properly work she needed Akane to come back regardless of the reason.

"Learning to cook will take more than one lesson, Akane dearest. You must return this time next week once we are finished. Do you agree with this?"

"Yes," Akane responded, her voice monotone. "I will return next week, as you have instructed."

"That's wonderful, Akane!" Nodoka said. "Now listen very carefully to my instructions, and you will be on the road to cooking excellence in no time!"

"Yes, Mrs Saotome."

"Please, call me mother."

"Yes mother."

---

Akane blinked and wiped at her eyes which, for whatever reason were feeling rather sore if only for the briefest of moments. She looked at the bag full of cookies she'd baked, sniffed at them and beamed with pride. The memories of baking them flew into her mind unbidden, whirring around the kitchen, following the given instructions, maintaining her focus without going overboard and most important of all - Most important of all... What was the final point again?

"They came out wonderfully," mother said, similarly beaming. "You see how good a cook you are when you remain calm?"

"Yes mother," Akane replied. "Can-Can I come back next week? I'd like to learn more."

"Of course you can! Any time you want! Well, perhaps not any time. Call ahead to make sure I'm available first. Now, run along. I'm sure you can't wait to let Ranma have a taste of your wonderful cooking!"

She felt the slightest twinge of denial rising up out of her throat, that she was doing it to shut Ranma up for all his insults... But she couldn't do it. Not to her. Nodoka Saotome lived for her son. Telling her that the intention behind these cookies was to wrap Ranma's words around them and shove them down his big stupid mouth - well, that somehow seemed rather horribly inappropriate.

"Thank you mother," she said instead. "I'll be sure to let you know how much he likes them!"

With nothing else to be said, Akane skipped down the street armed with her bag of cookies! Oh but she could see it now. "Whatcha got there? Poison?" he'd say, and then he'd try to escape upon realising that yes she had actually tried to bake something and wanted him to try it. Hmph! She had little choice, didn't she? She would have to force him to eat it, even though she and mother were certain that they had come out perfectly fine!

Akane stopped and looked down at the bag with a frown. "Maybe I should make sure of that before giving him any..." she considered. Everything should have gone fine. Mother had watched her like a hawk and seemed satisfied with how everything went. But how had it actually turned out? There was only one way to be sure.

With only a moment's hesitation, Akane took one of the cookies, lifted it to her mouth and took a bite - Then dropped to her knees with tears streaming down her face.

"S-So good!" she whimpered between chews. This wasn't a cookie. This was a religious experience! Thou shalt have no other cookie before mine! All other cookies are false cookies, pretenders to the name! It did not so much melt in her mouth as her mouth melted around this wonderful, impossible snack.

She'd gone to mother's to improve her cooking, and it turned out that the woman was a miracle worker! Oh! If only she could remember that last and most crucial point! Akane knew it was important! The most important part of the lesson and she couldn't remember it!

There was only one thing preventing Akane from polishing off the lot right there and then, and that was the sudden mental image of Ranma's face manifesting in her mind. She smirked as the illusory Ranma took a great big wary bite, then smiled and wolfed down the rest, compilmenting her on newfound baking skills! Oh, but it was so easy to see him standing there with that goofy little smirk -

"Hey Akane!" Ranma said, leaping down from god knows where. "Whatcha got there?"

"Oh, nothing much! Just some cookies I... Bought. They're really nice!"

To emphasise the point, she took another bite out of the cookie she'd taken out of the bag and didn't even have to pretend one little bit that it was the most delicious anything that had been in her mouth ever. From the first bite to the moment she swallowed it was heaven in the form of a crumbly snack.

"Want one?" she offered.

"Sure, so long as you didn't make it they must be okay. Right?"

Akane scowled at him, but then let herself smirk. He really would be eating those words in a minute. She waited in bated breath as he reached in, withdrew a cookie and nippled lightly on the edge. Ranma blinked, looked at the cookie and took a much larger bite. Then another. And another.

"These are really good!" he said between chews. "Where'd you get these?"

Akane gave him the bag, and he obligingly scarfed the whole lot down before her very eyes. The satisfied smile on his face burned itself into her retinas. He was enjoying her baking. No mean jokes, no taunts just pure bliss from something she had made for him. Looking at him like this made her feel funny, too. It was as if she was somehow sharing the experience, yet more than that. Akane could hear the echo of her heartbeat in her ears. her breath felt shallow. Everything else in the street faded away to nothing as though there was nothing in the world except her, Ranma and the cookies. The taste of the cookie had felt good. This strange new feeling felt wonderful.

"Uh, sorry about that!" Ranma said, licking his fingers clean of crumbs. "Tell you what, why don't I buy you some more? Just point me at the shop, and I'll buy some more for both of us, okay?"

"I could do that. Or, I could whip up a fresh batch of them when we get back home!"

Without another word, she spun around and happily skipped away. It had worked! It had gone even better than she could have dared to hope or dream! After a few moments of stunned silence she noticed Ranma had drawn level with her, piercing her with an accusatory gaze.

"No way you made those. You're way too much of a clumsy tomboy to bake something that sweet!"

The words rang hollow in her ears. She knew she had made them. She knew he had enjoyed them. And Akane also knew that if she continued feeling like this, she could make him absolutely anything. He would like it. He would love it. Love something she made for him. It felt like it didn't matter if Akane couldn't remember the crucial final point. Not anymore. Not when this wonderful new feeling rose within her whenever she imagined Ranma's smile as he ate her cooking. It felt as though holding onto that feeling by itself more than made up for that crucial lack of knowledge.

1: Nodoka reflects on the lesson.
2: Akane bakes some more cookies!
3: The cookies or the lesson have an unusual side effect
4: Skip to the next lesson
5: Ranma notices something funny is up, follows Akane to the next lesson
6: Something else