Author: Mike Fenton
Title: THE SONG OF AYEKA
Notes: Misc., Narrative Poem
Summary: A poetic telling of Ayeka's transformation.

[Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! and its characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC, Inc. and was created by Masaki Kajishima. This work is strictly intended to be apocryphal, and should in no way be construed otherwise. This poem is a reinterpretation of episode 3 ("Hello Ryo-Ohki!").]


The Song of Ayeka
"I see you in my dreams..."

No nightly sleep could ever contain
So much as a single stalk of grain
Let alone a field of golden ryes
That could dance under many angry skies

Nor mellow moon with soft sad light
Bring helpless sighs to this calm night
No bright shining heroes could drive away
What sways at night as easily as day

And if the day would welcome joy
To the eyes of any sweet girl or boy
Then how much more the lowly shade
Should dance in the shadows of this glade

And if a villain disturb this time
Then bells the size of planets chime
And awake the guardians whose fierce aspect
Any dread villain should rightly respect

For here sits one whose crowned head
Says the same as another lying in bed
Her pillow the thought of a future crown
Secure in the hope of ordained renown

And here she sits weaving another
For one she will never have to love her
Though custom had commanded it so
And fate dictate to the stars she go

But first her fate awaits her growing
And breathless she awaits her knowing
And perhaps it was some of fate's pity
That she happened onto this curiosity

A little flower with dark red petals
As dark as red blood on sharpened metals
Yet in a way seemed satisfied
Like only the part that showed had died

But now no villain invades this scene
To strike with any murderous spleen
Just a young man that calls her name
And her to him runs in spite of shame

And just short of folly she bids him
To wear a crown no decree forbids him
So he gracefully kneels and accepts coronation
Though only his humor receives approbation

And though finding his humor now amused
He found his heart was sorely confused
To learn that his leaving had made her sad
Though she should have rightly been mad

To be forced to wed one already so close
Should itself make a girl bitter and morose
Yet she seemed innocent and even naive
While he longed only for some reprieve

Then all was made clear from Ayeka's own wit
That with Yosho had all her hopes been knit
And he'd to her say only what was fit
That one day time 'd itself them admit

So offered to hold as proof against time
She gave him the flower a token sublime
A flower so suited that it matched his eyes
Like milk served under cloudy skies

And so that they could jealousy drown
She cleverly placed it inside his crown
The plans and promises already made
The memory now could never fade

Now like a beggar he pleads his cause
To all the judges of natural laws
With a look of forlorn that masks his sighs
And more than with lips he says with eyes

So snow from mountains runs its course
And nature itself must then use force
So he yields up the crown to her
Like payment to an armed intruder

But never meaning to give offense
He blames the flower's own preference
A color, he says, that suits sadness
A flower unfit for fortune's gladness

In life are moments that send us away
And some that send our feelings astray
But meaning itself to Ayeka was lost
And so the thin line was grimly crossed

So no sooner the crown was gone
Than the line with a certain pirate was drawn
An omen of fire and smoke and death
And so much pain you could hardly draw breath

Ryoko the red-eyed devil of fear
The destroyer of everything one could hold dear
And if ever a laugh could chill your soul
Her gaze could boil your body whole

Now Yosho with the sword makes his way
And Ayeka follows determined to stay
Within the sound of his quick footsteps
As close as foul fate for her accepts

And now enclosed within the void
Of her own dark thoughts she cannot avoid
She makes her way to Yosho's side
But his face does not with him coincide

And from the boy's face she cannot hide
Nor the awkward way that he has to confide
The death of her beloved Yosho
The one her love would not let love show

For her grief, he gives her the sword
Though her grief he could never hope to afford
Since passion ended before it began
Her fate proved it had her fortune outran

And caught between fortune and fate
Between hate for death and the death of hate
The sword itself is brought to its term
To grieve for her as fate would confirm

So now she awakes
And though her body shakes
And she weeps
Sasami sleeps

And after a moment of prayerful hope
Ayeka is left on her lonely slope
But a look at Sasami gives her peace
And for a moment the dark thoughts cease

***

"I held you in my hands..."

Looking out at the thoughtful morn
One could imagine Ayeka torn
Between doubt of what the boy had said
And of whether Yosho really was dead

But her heart knew nothing spiteful
Intended was spoken though frightful
And Tenchi could not have pretended
To know how such news her heart had rended

So now there could be only grief
And nothing here could give her relief
So she set in her thoughts to leave
Return to Jurai once means she'd receive

But the ruins of her ship lay in the lake
That now she could see and hope forsake
And no one would blame her for weeping
Though hidden unbearable grief was steeping

No wonder then when she caught sight
Of the "monster-woman" in this light
She turned in disgust to bitterly complain
To any muse caring to hear her explain

This muse however made this exchange
From her to Ryoko to see something strange
Or rather unusual for most normal places
That never see such unusual faces

To wit Ryoko was not given cause
To hold much respect for physical laws
When walking she rarely made motion
That would not in plain terms stir up emotion

Like crossing the surface of simple water
And nowhere does she even bother
To cast a ripple or make some splash
Though sensible people might think it brash

And descending like riding an elevator
Where no sense of reason could saturate her
Below the waves she found what awaited her
Though sanity might have once berated her

But sanity by now was surely drowned
As Ryoko her precious object found
A melon-like object purple and round
That she caressed to see safe and sound

Ayeka to Sasami's care was submitted
And an unpleasant act she might have committed
If Sasami were any less pleasant or small
Than stand around looking annoyed in the hall

But more than stern looks are often needed
And heavy words are seldom heeded
Words of wisdom make lofty demands
Whenever it is chosen to ignore commands

So with her own warnings Sasami chastens
Though a quick rebuke she merely hastens
And with it comes Ayeka's reversal
A word given without thought of rehearsal

For Tenchi Sasami makes her case
And then for herself lest her wits replace
A subject for plainness she cannot escape
And Sasami's own thoughts now take shape

So Ayeka persuaded removes downstairs
Till Ryoko in her vision squares
And refuses again to move an inch
Leaving Sasami again in a pinch

Like a cat on a leash Ayeka resisted
While Sasami to have her down insisted
And dragging her gently gradually won
Though now to find Tenchi vainly spun

***

"I played the fool for you..."

Youth will not rest to sink or spin
But patiently waits till it can win
So seeing the object Sasami is caught
To examine what Ryoko had earlier sought

To look away she would not dare
Though Ayeka pretended not to care
Sasami entranced could not be torn
When Ryoko mentioned it had just been born

Ayeka alerted cannot help but warn
What the truth could never hope to adorn
But if truth were known instead of spite
Ayeka would've never had cause to fight

So Tenchi awakens to morning light
And is greeted by this bizarre sight
Of truth and folly in martial embrace
While eyes confirm a familiar space

And strange though familiar Ayeka pleads
To give him her thanks for seeing their needs
And familiar again Tenchi accepts
While awkwardly checking mental steps

Ryoko amused saw Ayeka confused
And when asked to wonder Ayeka refused
But seeing Sasami holding the egg
Her concern she could not help but beg

Sasami's attention could not be swayed
Nor demands to beware the egg obeyed
But happily held the egg and asked
If then the father could be unmasked

So whispering a name which Sasami blurts
Ryoko Ayeka's indignation alerts
And Tenchi's embarrassment fully forms
In the path of Ayeka's baleful storms

And angrily the path that she suggested
An unlikely one for him to have tested
To share with "his" woman a future child
While even Ryoko would stand beguiled

So now as one too happy to mock
Or happily give a playful shock
Ryoko cannot help but start boasting
While cheeks of Tenchi's begin roasting

And blushes turn painfully twisted
As he holds what he did not know existed
And gasps and quakes to see it shakes
And a rabbit foot from it as it breaks

So now the egg falls and breaks open wide
And now the head comes up from inside
A creature like half a rabbit and cat
That Ryoko picks up and starts to pat

"Ryo-Ohki" she says, as she gently strokes
A name that from Tenchi's memory evokes
The spaceship that carried them to this fate
And Ayeka's distress that would not abate

And reasoned that it from the ship was born
And thus Ayeka's look of forlorn
Though her grief she might've once borne
She reeled to hear Ryoko's scorn

At Tenchi's protest her fury ascended
Unwilling to let her pride be mended
And bitterly slapped him on his cheek
Lest another kind word she let him speak

As fleeing Ayeka bitterly wept
And might have her fury also kept
Except that into the old man ran
And for this she didn't have a plan

But to offer regrets for clumsy meeting
And clumsily sees her doubts repeating
For looking upward now she sees
A color that all of her doubting frees

The red of his eyes so like one other
A memory no amount of mocking could smother
Though pain like clouds obscure the sky
The light of a love will through them fly

But memory is weak when fused with doubt
And Ayeka's heart cannot let love out
When faced with a fearsome sky
Her heart refuses to let her try

And so she excuses herself and leaves
Firmly thinking as she now believes
That her pride is gone as well as her hope
And no one will know her grief's full scope

***

"I searched for you..."

When one is called then one goes
And feats of skill one often shows
So Ryo-Ohki does not fail
As up the sofa she starts to scale

No mysterious words does she say
Though Sasami will not look away
As Ryo-Ohki is simply cleaning
Kindly Sasami next to her leaning

So held in mutual wordless regard
Mutual affection cannot be barred
And onto Sasami's shoulders peaks
Affectionately rubbing Sasami's cheeks

Tenchi's cheek is still in pain
As Ryoko's vigor begins to wane
She laughs and mocks Ayeka's grief
Tenchi disgusted with her is brief

Ryoko weeps and warmly embraces
The boy whom all of her worry chases
Driving away her ugliest dread
When she had awakened from the dead

A mischance perhaps but now a given
The insult of a single gem forgiven
The other gems now Tenchi's ward
That lay embedded within the sword

And happening to grope around
She asked him where it could be found
To Ayeka's care he'd had it returned
And Ryoko raged like a lover spurned

She wept to think that in a wink
Ayeka could with her energy link
And staggered backward with genuine frowns
Like the faces of many tragic clowns

And tragically backs into the old man
Whose clowning can this scenario span
With hands he holds and gives her rest
And intently gropes her by the breast

Once more insulted she fires her fist
Although revolted she may as well missed
To see the casual way that he blocked
And eyes not even with hers were locked

But noticing Ryo-Ohki instead
Sitting on the top of Sasami's head
Suspected in jest what it may be
Ryo-Ohki or Tenchi's baby

And warns him to respect the bother
Of the child now that he's a father
Tenchi's denials turn to disgust
Leaving before he might have fussed

For practice the old man warns once more
As Tenchi is already out the door
Sasami to placate him calls out
But vacated now despair falls out

Then the old man hastens to explain
That Tenchi holds clowning in disdain
Like mother like son his wit sleeps
As Ryo-Ohki from Sasami's head leaps

And into the glass she bumps and spins
Joining her Sasami a question begins
And looks out to see Ayeka again
Hoping perhaps her ship to win

Then Ryo-Ohki goes straight on through
And Sasami her head on it bumps too
As Ryoko then destroys the stairs
And doubtfully at her fist stares

***

"And now you're gone..."

Just as spring awakens trees
And brings a yearly bitter breeze
And hillsides bask and melt their snow
While the rivers into the valleys flow

So now Ayeka awakens her dreams
That make her memories bitter themes
And icy resolve in her heart must melt
To flow in the fire that fate has dealt

And so it goes across her cheeks
As the spring of realization speaks
And the hills of her eyes then she covers
Like a merciful cloud in sunlight hovers

Just as springtime beats its drum
And then the rains will surely come
So Ryo-Ohki fresh from the egg
Sadly rubs on Ayeka's leg

She fearfully dances then smiles to see
That her attacker was merely Ryo-Ohki
But annoyed now Ayeka shoos her away
Though Ryo-Ohki is determined to stay

So now she stays while Ayeka goes
As Ayeka commanded and as she chose
And stern rebukes await her following
Tearful thanks she must keep swallowing

To think that her sorrows must overflow
While this to such a creature must show
And despair within must also grow
She knows and so invites more woe

She now a creature that must hide
Lest bitter eruptions she abide
Or to some soul her pain confide
While storms of sorrow fall inside

Ryo-Ohki with her longs to be
Though to Ayeka a mystery
The riddle is why she must flee
When beset with such a misery

Like lightning Ayeka turns to scold
And looking again to again behold
The flower her heart forever must hold
She takes it to find what fortune has told

There seemed no answer how or why
To be told by one's own youthful sigh
That a pretty girl could become a bride
Then find sweet moments one day chide

And so she cried and again pleaded
And this time Ryo-Ohki heeded
But returned with still another flower
To brighten Ayeka's darkest hour

Her sorrows silenced with her mirth
And gratefully saw Ryo-Ohki's worth
A creature whose innocence calmly waits
And comforts in spite of Ayeka's hates

***

"I see you everywhere..."

Hating to be seen entering or leaving
Ryoko herself through the floor is weaving
And searches for the sword in likely places
Or traces like sheaths or sword-like cases

Finding an image of Yosho instead
She mused to recall that he was dead
And thankfully bid him a rude goodbye
Then briefly forgot that she could fly

When Sasami came looking in the room
Ryoko felt it would be her doom
To be seen in such circumstances
Discretion better than taking chances

Ryoko thus went back through the wall
As Sasami emerged in from the hall
And Sasami was left to pause and wonder
Why everyone else had apparently shunned her

And feeling alone Ayeka complains
Of a bitter hope she barely maintains
To Ryo-Ohki content to hear
Till leading away with a gesturing ear

Then climbing a tree to find her way
Ayeka overlooks a curious fray
Tenchi attacking a stick on a line
With martial arts you rarely combine

A practice sword firmly held
And feet over jutting logs propelled
Tenchi attacks and feints and blocks
While the old man watches on the rocks

And a warning no sooner does he complete
Than Tenchi instantly loses his feet
He playing clown and going down
He spares little time to wear a frown

So the old man helps Tenchi stand
And with his strokes gives him a hand
For basic patterns and fighting style
That can be proven by error or trial

A fitting face for fighting art
That steals a scene and Ayeka's heart
To see the pattern her memory knows
A mirror of moves that reflects Yosho's

And leaning to have a word or two
She leaned too far and downward flew
Now Tenchi leans to find a clue
Earning a bump from an odd follow-through

The strange crashing sound he investigates
As Ayeka her fate once more castigates
And being helped stand she earns a fall
From an injury she cannot help but appall

Looking at her ankle the old man assumed
The fall from the tree had her ankle contumed
And wrapped it tightly to stop the blood
As questions from her began to bud

To Tenchi the old man leaves her care
And answers with her he neglects to share
Though she of the old man pardon begs
And Tenchi is forced to be her legs

The old man slowly dodges their worry
And leaves too soon though not in a hurry
So they are left the aftermaths
Of all Ayeka's troubling paths

And troubling paths in the heavens form
Bringing clouds and wind and storm
Making mockery of her pains
Or of Tenchi's meager gains

As Sasami asks to stop the rains
And Ryoko stirring then explains
That this planet lacks that facility
Then perhaps assesses her ability

Then asked if Sasami was abreast
Of the place where the sword might rest
A concession that brought her depression
That the sword was in Ayeka's possession

***

"I hear your voice..."

Like finding light in the darkest night
Tenchi and Ayeka find some respite
From incessant rain's icy fingers
As the cloud and storm casually lingers

A storage shed entered in an instant
Its welcome size an intimate constant
Its dry comforts he gratefully married
When her to a place to sit he'd carried

His tunic and towel he'd left to dry
And offering help he'd had to try
Hesitant though she'd not say why
But seeing her blush he guessed her shy

So setting another kind of fire
His stay in the shed he votes to expire
And stands in the awning of the shed
His motives he begins to dread

Ayeka's dread was partly reproved
As elaborate garments she removed
Then fear returned with sharpened claws
As a shadow darted on nimble paws

And more than with fear was she impressed
As the creature landed on her breast
Her quietude torn apart at the seams
And Tenchi's by Ayeka's screams

Tenchi returns to ask the matter
And her to him runs in spite of a latter
Crippled condition without drugs
And thankfully she Tenchi hugs

But seeing the newborn creature cry
He tells Ayeka and she can sigh
And let her fears then lay to rest
As she lays her head on Tenchi's chest

But just as rain is never hot
These two frightened children were not
Locked in arms and mutual gazes
Each one woman and man appraises

And nervously each one pulls away
Tenchi planning to outside stay
Ayeka then for pity relents
Or maybe her heart its burden resents

Inviting Tenchi to stay inside
Her heart she cannot hope to hide
Nor let the fire within her die
Or allow herself to always cry

Often thinking people confuse
The abuses of those they would excuse
Or misuse their feelings on a friend
Whose fearful time they mutually spend

Ryoko's friend she'd Tenchi guessed
Though no one else could be impressed
To weigh such wildly hasty thoughts
And help fill the air with random shots

Thoughtful denial Tenchi relates
His story to hers logic mates
As he tells of Ryoko's release from the grave
From deep within a nearby cave

By her brother's work she's not amazed
Neither is Tenchi the least bit fazed
Since it'd been told to him in legend
And there the story had met its end

So Tenchi's thoughts between them span
And he asked if she had made a plan
Ayeka reflected that Ryoko sank her
Her ship of fortune lacked an anchor

But the riddle of Yosho she must solve
To find him she must sadly resolve
And surprised to see her openly fret
He gave her consent he would not forget

To give Ayeka's search free reign
And himself would all the blame retain
For undoing terrors once abated
By whom he knew he was also related

An ancestor he had been so told
Of Yosho who'd be centuries old
A tale of woe she begins to spin
Of a half-brother's love she'd hoped to win

And crown her hands around his ears
So now her hands rebuke her tears
And though her eyes are honor bound
Despair is where her heart is found

But now he sees and with her pleas
To see that hope with her agrees
As her his fate was hard to fare
And so fate may've thought him to spare

And just as hope began to rise
Ryo-Ohki pleaded them with her eyes
And a cat-like meow at once confirmed
That love for a carrot is not mistermed

***

"You are my light..."

And so the sky has brightened its mood
And not one cloud dares to intrude
So Tenchi offers Ayeka a hand
So they from the shed can disband

Tenchi with Ayeka goes
Ryo-Ohki with her carrots follows
And stop to alter their migration
Finding a suitable destination

A tree that reaches above outline
The holy tree of Masaki shrine
That Tenchi explains has strange gifts
Is where Ayeka's attention shifts

In its shade they stand and cool
The tree embraced by a shallow pool
And led up to by a path of stones
A belt of stories its trunk enthrones

There at the tree Ayeka is sure
And doubts can no longer her deter
The spaceship tree so much like her own
That in the earth now had grown

But even now it still had power
That from its boughs began to shower
Rainbows of light fell all around them
And eerily reflections surrounded them

For Tenchi a strange new mystery
That Ayeka explains is the ship's memory
Reflections of light that pulse and revolve
And into images like dreams resolve

***

"And you found me..."

No creature of night could ever outrun
The reluctant Juraian emperor's son
So saw they now as one who stands
As one with a view of space commands

No glowing red ships of hateful dread
Could from his vengeful hand had fled
Nor spared themselves an ugly fate
That only for itself need wait

And fate would do nothing if not rule
To make the worst doom seem less cruel
And so bring justice bitter and sweet
Making this dance of misery complete

So Ryoko in her spaceship flew
As Yosho strove to her pursue
The one with a steely bitter will
The other with only a need to kill

Like a bird of prey Ryoko descends
With anyone's image of a villain contends
And then like a Harpy she appears
The object of any sane man's fears

The Earth in their sights starts to grow
As fingers of death around her flow
Smoke from her craft begins to billow
And ground explodes from the force of its blow

Against her Yosho bravely fights
And soon he has her in his sights
With the sword he ventures all his might
To end this monster's mission of blight

But though he leads he bleeds
Till the gem from her proceeds
And into the hilt joins the other two
Then there is nothing Ryoko can do

One life is ended for others rent
Another one's energies nearly spent
And far more left to be redone
But not by the emperor's only son

***

"So once again I leave you."

Now the ripples of water vanished
The rainbow beams quickly banished
Reflections returning to sunlit dew
The world awakens its natural hue

And now Ayeka can rest assured
The tree proclaims her final word
Since the tree still lives here
Then Yosho did not disappear

So renewed she states regrets
Returns the sword like unpaid debts
Though Tenchi speaks as one unfit
Lest he again abet his wit

Befit within his disposition
Ryo-Ohki makes a welcome addition
Sasami her usual inquisition
Ryoko with her ammunition

And seeing Tenchi with the sword
Makes another merry accord
But once again is made abhorred
To learn Ayeka had it restored

Tenchi plays the part of fool
Ryoko the object of ridicule
Ayeka decides to play it cool
Sasami as one's first day of school

THE END