out for yourself, because only then can you get on with your training", he answered her without stopping and finally disappeared like the deer in the middle of the branches, so that the young woman lingered alone in the clearing.

"Great! And how am I supposed to find something if I don't even know what I'm looking for?" Asked the young woman into the silence of the forest, but got no answer, and finally sat down angrily on the stone, closed her eyes, breathed in and out deeply, as he had, and waited, but nothing happened.

Each day of the next week the young woman spent on the uncomfortable, cold stone, only in the clothes he gave her and the warming coat, defying the cold that wanted to keep her from doing her job, and concentrated with everyone Power to the animals that she was supposed to attract, but she achieved no success, every day at lunchtime and for dinner she returned disappointed to the magician's beautiful hut, always answered his question about her progress with a shake of his head and assured him that she was on To concentrate even more every day, every day at lunchtime and at dinner she talked to the young man, told him about his family, about her life in the village, from her friends, every day at lunchtime and at dinner she learned more about him, his life in this enchanted place, from his friendliness and amiability, every day at lunchtime and at dinner it became more familiar to him, felt it the soothing feeling of warmth in her heart, which made her stomach tingle so wonderfully as if she would fall from the highest heights on earth and land safely in his arms, grow stronger in her, every day at lunchtime and for dinner she is more concerned with completing the task faster, so that she no longer has to be alone for all these hours, so that she no longer has to leave his side, she wished more and more that lunchtime and dinner never had to end.Over the next few weeks, her initially weak body became healthier and stronger thanks to the sumptuous, balanced diet and filled the beautiful clothes she had borrowed, so that she soon grew to the beauty that the mirror had shown her, and of young and old Men were admired, adored and courted as it were when they came into town, to make their family with a beautiful smile that graced their ruby ​​red lips every day that they were allowed to spend with the young man. While in town she always politely dismissed the newfound admiration of men, there was one man who treated her as always: Ranma. The two young adults radiated a closeness and at the same time a distance, an irresistible attraction and, as it were, an inaccessibility that in the short time they spent together, hung unbroken on the other's lips and at the same time lost one another in the other's eyes .

The short winter days grew shorter with each day that Akane sat on the task that she did not understand and therefore could not solve, the solution of which she was supposed to find without knowing what she was looking for. After over a month of trying and failing, Ranma casually uttered the words over lunch that she feared more than anything:

"Your body is now strong enough to withstand your further training," said the young man with a smile as he carried the plates into the kitchen. "We'll start once you've done your job, Akane."

"Got it," replied the young woman, tormented, knowing that she had disappointed his trust in her potential, and gave him a smile when he entered the living room again. "I won't leave the stone until I've found what I'm looking for, even if I have to stay there all night and the next day and the night after!"

"Wait," the magician wanted to stop her, but he cleared his throat too late, because the black-haired, beautiful woman had already stormed out the door into the forest to face her task, and the young man breathed his warning into the empty one Room: "At least take something warm to wear, there will be snow for the first time this winter today."

Angry, the young woman sat down on the stone and waited impatiently for the animals to appear, even though she knew that she could not concentrate properly on her task, as every beat of her heart was accompanied by a painful throb that made her cry drove the eyes. She hastily tried to wipe the tears away with the sleeve of her coat, knowing that not a single tear would help her. She had disappointed herself because she hadn't been able to solve the task, but what was worse was that she believed she had let him down.This disappointment helped her to soothe the storm that had raged in her heart for so long.

As the storm died down in her heart, she began to perceive that today would be the first snow of this winter, but she did not know where she got this knowledge from, because the gray cloud cover had threatened with snow for days; and a little later it happened: the first snowflake of winter floated slowly before the eyes of the young woman in the direction of the frozen ground and landed on her outstretched hand, on which it quickly became water. She felt the cold drop of water slide down her finger and slowly drip from it onto the floor, where it smashed. Slowly the young woman looked up to the cloudy sky and saw thousands of snowflakes that floated elegantly to the ground, caught in the branches of the surrounding trees or collided with their siblings. The beautiful sight of the first snow calmed the young woman's wild heart more and more, until the storm, which had previously thundered with feelings, thoughts and insecurities in her heart, weakened to a mild winter breeze, no longer controlled her heart and mind. She felt liberated, closed her eyes with a satisfied smile and surrendered to the newfound feeling of all-encompassing peace.

In the blackness of her closed eyelids, the young woman began to see herself sitting on a stone in the middle of the darkness before her inner eye. It flickered and disappeared now and then, but the more the young woman concentrated on the feeling of peace in her heart, the clearer she became, until suddenly a dark red, in some places green-red flame appeared around her body not particularly large, but swung in all directions, which however penetrated the now appearing snowflakes unscathed. Confused, the young woman watched the spectacle for a few seconds, until the unnaturally loud echo of the appearing shoes distracted her from the snowflakes and forced her to turn around mentally to see who was walking there. She was astonished to see that she now thought she recognized not only the foothills of the forest, but even the warm wooden hut of Ranma in the distance, from which the young wizard was just stepping out, holding something invisible in her hands; He was also surrounded by a flame, but it did not jump out uncontrollably, but was located centimeters above him like a second skin and shone in a rich blue that made its dark red flame appear almost transparent. The young woman hastily opened her eyes and stared fearfully in the direction of the hut.

"Ranma", she called out loud into the silence of the forest and only now noticed that the sun must have set for hours, as it was surrounded by impenetrable darkness and even the clouds from which the snowflakes were still on the now high white Snow-covered ground fell, could no longer be seen."Ranma, if you should come here, I just saw you coming. Ranma, something funny is happening here!"

After only a few seconds, the wizard, wrapped in a thick cloak, strode through the low-hanging branches of one of the trees towards the woman who was still sitting on the stone, put a second thick cloak around her shoulders, which he was carrying in his hands, and smiled beaming at her while she stared at him in confusion.

"You are totally frozen," said the young man, startled as he put his warm hand on her cheek to feel her temperature and was about to add something when she gently put her index finger against his lips to silence him bring to.

When he had touched her cheek so gently, the cool winter breeze in her heart had finally completely settled and she had finally understood what she was looking for, no, what she was supposed to find: all this time she shouldn't have been looking for that Stone in all the loneliness she should calm her troubled heart in order to find herself without looking, only she had not noticed her heart because she had searched too hard for the answer to a question that had never been asked; and now she had finally understood what he wanted to teach her. She had found herself and with it she had found her aura and now she understood why so few people were able to use it, since they did not find themselves, which took a long time. But this was not the only thing that she had experienced in the stillness of being. She quietly closed her eyes, looked for the traces of the fireflies, which, like most people, had an uncontrolled aura that allowed them to be easily found, and ensnared them with her aura until they could no longer resist coming to her and to shine.
When Akane slowly opened her eyes again, she saw hundreds of the usually sleeping fireflies flying around Ranma and herself, and all of them glowed and hummed just for her. The only source of light in that gloomy forest only illuminated the smiling features of the Master and his companion. Slowly she took her index finger from his lips and put her hands on his chest instead as she stood up and hugged her body close to his. His hands pulled her closer to him as he hugged her. And then, as the fireflies started their last dance in the darkness around the two people, Akane also understood the warm feeling she felt towards him, that warm feeling that made her wish never to leave his side again, that warm feeling that she loved so much: she loved him.

As the fireflies gradually faded into the darkness of the night, Akane stood on tiptoe and warmed her cold lips against his as she kissed him.For the brief moment