A/N: Okay, after requests by friends, I've decided to try and continue what I started from Like Mother, Like Daughter. The chapters will be shorter because I'm having to work this in as I'm teaching, but maybe it'll provide an outlet of creativity for me.
As always, I don't own Tenchi Muyo!, Tenchi Universe, Tenchi in Tokyo, or any other Tenchi related stories or any of the characters, though I really wish I had. :) The Tenchi worlds and characters are the wonderful creations of Masaki Kajishima and Hiroki Hayashi and other people much more creative than I am. I'm just borrowing the characters for a little while. On with the story.
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Tears split down her cheeks as the searing pain raced clear from her left clavicle to her right hip and then again across her right thigh, yet she smiled. She had protected him; the one she loved was safe. She could feel the warmth of blood gush from the grievous wounds, soaking her black and red battle gear, but the quiet thought that she would never again have to don the uniform forced upon her in her youth again gave her a small pleasure.
She could hear footsteps racing toward her, yet they sounded strangely muffled on the hard marble floor, as though cotton had been placed over her ears. She felt a set of knees collapse on her right as a figure with a lot of red hair reached down and enfolded her in a pair of strong, soft arms.
"Ryoko, you stupid girl! What'd you do that for!?" The nasally voice of her mother cried, though it was womanly, more maternal. Her voice was thick with tears and Ryoko vaguely noticed that she was no longer in the childhood form that she usually took, but in the adult form that she had taken after baby Taro left, perhaps even older. She could dimly register the random gray hairs that ran through her red mane. Ryoko continued to smile, despite the fact her intelligence had been called into question, and looked in her mother's emerald eyes.
"Did I…ever tell you...that look better… like that…Mom?" Did her own voice always sound so deep? Perhaps that's why her karaoke scores were never very good. She always tried to sing too high for her natural register. Oh, well…too late to worry about that now.
The pain was starting to fade some and she noticed that her mother's voice started to sound warbled, like that worn out cassette tape Tenchi had in his stereo. Her voice sounded anxious and upset, and Ryoko felt tears spill over her cheeks once again. It had only been a few months ago that the two of them had agreed to try to work on their mother/daughter relationship. They had come so far from the previous year and she had truly been enjoying their growing bond and slowly reconnecting with figments from her past.
She reached towards her face shakily through the halotop that her mother had summoned, who was now working frantically to save her. She wiped away a tear from her cheek and took a raspy breath before whispering, "I'm sorry…"
Washu looked terrified and livid, tenderly squeezing the hand that touched her cheek, "Don't you dare say goodbye to me! You just hold on! You'll be f-fine…" The strong red-headed woman's voice broke and she shuddered. Ryoko felt her emotions well up in the back of her throat, feeling as though she were going to choke. She was so overcome by seeing Washu so distressed over her that she almost missed the movement on her left.
Her golden eyes slid from her mother's wounded, frantic visage as she took in the sight of the man that she had managed to protect, to save from her fate. She felt another twinge of pain in her heart unrelated to her injury as she looked into the warm, tear-filled brown eyes. How she hated for him to cry for any reason, though she felt slightly pleased over the fact that the tears were for her.
"Ryoko…why…" He started, his voice husky with emotion as he fell to his knees beside her. He looked helpless, a state that the ex-pirate wished she would never see him in.
She put on a smile for him, and wiggled her fingers weakly, not having the strength to lift it her hand again. He took the message and grasped her hand. She struggled for a breath. Who knew that having a slashed lung would make it so hard to breathe? She softly gasped, "No…need for…regrets, Tenchi." Simple, but clear.
Ryoko allowed her eyes to move back to her mom, taking in the fierce expression on her face as she worked frantically over her head. She was starting notice how the color was fading from the world and how heavy her eyelids were starting to become. She was going to close her eyes when she noticed a figure standing just over the scientist's shoulder. Ayeka was standing, looking at her with an intensely worried expression on her face. Ryoko smirked and coughed. "You'll…get…wrink..les, Princess."
At those whispered words, the Juraian Princess eyes overflowed with tears and she sobbed, "Oh Ryoko…"
She could barely hold her eyes open any longer. She took another short glance at the three before allowing her eyelids to flutter shut. If this is dying, it's not so bad. I wish I could have stuck around for a little longer though… Just when Mom and I were getting along, too. At least…Mom and Tenchi are safe.
Ryoko, stop this! You're not going anywhere! A voice echoed loudly in her mind. Ryoko was grateful for this. The rest of the world had gotten quiet.
Mother, I'm sorry…I'm so tired. I can't even feel Ryo-Ohki in my head anymore. I-I-I'll miss you… With that final thought, Ryoko's world faded to black, but she felt one final twinge in her heart as she heard the maternal voice cry her name before the world fell silent.
