Ryoko looked on as Tenchi sat on the hill, slumped shoulder and silent. She wouldn't approach him, not yet, not until he wanted her with him. That's how it always was with him and her. Tenchi, Ryoko thought, was best left alone until he came to decide who it was he wanted on his own. SURE she helped persuade him sometimes, but all those attempts usually blew up in her face.
The best chance for the wayward space pirate to win him over, she had found at last, was to simply be there for him. In the times of happiness to share his laughter, in times of depression to be the light of encouragement, and in times of depression and loss, such as this, to be the pillar for him to lean on and the shoulder for his tears to fall upon. Trying to do anything to him would rupture, probably permanently, what Ryoko considered they're fragile bound of friendship. Now was a time for understanding, not under dressing.
He'd gone through a lot over the past few months. Had been through a very trying and tricky time that probably no one save the wayward Prince of Juria ever went through. Falling in love with someone who just made him feel like he loved her, just used Tenchi for her own benefit, and then left him without so much as a 'sorry'. Ryoko still felt the fear and doubt about her third and final trip to the timeline Haruna had created. She had been SO scared he'd never agree, push her away-the cyan haired woman shook her head.
It had to be hard for the boy to swallow. Hell, Ryoko knew it was hard. Hadn't she gone through the same thing a few times in her life? Having been brain washed by every space ship rider across the galaxy? Being the most powerful pirate meant having to put up with a lot of wanna-bes. Wanna be friends, wanna be lovers, wanna be like her, all of them fools, except the ones who tried friendship. Being powerful meant being lonely sometimes. When others matching her power came along, and offered their smiles and nice conversations Ryoko had been happy to oblige. Then the truth would come out, and her heart would be torn out as well.
Looking at the boy in front of her, who had become a man in the fantasy world built by the devilish woman, he seemed so different. Sure the physical lessened in maturity, but the mental knowledge, the heartstrings that had been tied to her and then severed would always be brushing against his soul. Did Tenchi still hurt as badly? Wasn't there anything he'd let her do for him?
"I know you're there Ryoko, just come down already." Tenchi's voice commanded.
Ryoko adjusted in her tree perch, and sighed. She wouldn't move he wasn't in the mood to see her and she wasn't in the mood to be yelled at or rejected. Amused, the pirate held in a light giggle as the boy searched the tree lines for the person he knew was there, but when he couldn't find her, he sighed loudly and went back to watching the sunset from his cliff perch.
"Even if you don't show yourself, I still know you're out there." Tenchi informed, not letting any emotion into his voice. "I don't need you to watch over me like a baby, Ryoko. I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself."
Brave words, Ryoko mused, but I don't believe them. Let the boy rant, let him scream at the top of his lungs that he didn't need her, or anyone. She had heard it all before, from others but mostly from herself on so many occasions she had lost count. When the times of hardship hit, Ryoko remembered biting at everyone, making them hate her more, protecting her pride, emotions, and not letting anyone close. If they didn't like her, she wouldn't have to worry about being a friend, about hurting others and her self in turn.
He was just a kicked puppy, not wanting to get hurt again.
Something else came to her mind, something that she wished she had every time her heart was chipped or shattered. But it would require her being next to him, something Tenchi did not want at this moment. But it would be worth the rejection, if she could help him.
Wasn't that why she was here? To help the boy realize that the world still went on, even with his heart broken, his life twisted and turned in painful directions, and all of the other things that went along with the situation? It would be worth it, if for once, Ryoko could give him exactly what he needed, even if Masaki didn't even know what he needed.
Standing up from her limb chair, the pirate closed her eyes and teleported herself about seven feet from the boy of her dreams. No, she corrected herself as she gently touched the rocky earth with her white shoed feet, the young man of her dreams. The sound of her landing must have caught his attention, Tenchi glanced over his shoulder, and eyes slightly narrowed an expression Ryoko was not familiar with on this innocent's face.
"I told you, I don't want you here. Go away, Ryoko." Tenchi commanded, and then turned his eyes front again.
"I -" then the woman shook her head, he didn't need words right now. Stepping forward, she slowly began to close the gap. With ever step taken Tenchi's shoulders squared off more, when she was about two feet away; his back was tense, like a bomb about to explode. Silently dropping to her knees, Ryoko found her courage to reach out to him.
A simple touch made the bomb inside her love explode. Slapping her hand off his shoulder, and turning in one swift motion, the young man who was going to give her a piece of his mind found it hard to do as the cyan haired woman wrapped her arms around him. She just held him, without trying to rub her body against him in some seductive way. She just held him, lightly at first, then tightly as Tenchi reacted in a way he never thought possible-be holding her.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, and another one around the top of her shoulders. Adjusting his position to where they were both sitting on there knees facing one another, the boy then did the one thing he hadn't allowed himself to do since he returned to his time. Tenchi cried.
Long and hard, letting all the memories bring about their own pain as he relived them. Ryoko could only imagine how the teenager felt, so broken and feeling so used. His face was cradled in the curve of her neck, her dark dress soaking up his tears, hers was nuzzled against hi shoulder. She would stay like this as long as he needed her to, even though the rocks were painfully grinding into her bare legs.
After long minutes of broken crying, the young man silenced. The pirate wasn't sure if he had feel asleep or if he was trying to catch his breath. Another few seconds ticked by, the steady breathing of the Masaki led her to believe he was indeed asleep after such an exhausting cry. Gently Ryoko began to pull him away from her body, but to her surprise, Tenchi's grip tightened.
"Tenchi?"
"Please," his softened voice pleaded, "let us stay like this, just for a little while?"
She would never know if Tenchi was holding her, or Haruna, but at the moment it didn't matter. She was here for his sake, and whatever her love asked of her, she would give. So with a small smile on her lips, Ryoko returned her hug to a new tight grip, and ran a hand through his growing hair.
"I'm here as long as you wan--need me to be, Tenchi."
I dunno why I wrote this, I was just in the mood to write something short and sorta Waffy seeing as I haven't written a Tenchi fic in a long time. And for those that don't like the pairing tough cookies. If you want him with someone else, then YOU write the fic and let me write what I want to. ;P