"I just don't know anymore Washu," a young man's voice played muffled through the door to his room. A woman was listening to the conversation through the door on the other side, with a look of guilt and despair in her eyes.

"I just don't know about her," he continued, "I am at a loss about what to do... I-"

The woman listening through the door could no longer bear to stay around to let the words piece her heart like hollow point bullets. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. She walked down the steps, head hung low, thinking. Should she leave? Maybe that will make him happy.

"Tenchi." she muttered to herself........

Two weeks later...

Breathless.

That was the only word that played in her mind as the scent of cool morning dew ignited her senses. She stood at the window next to the sink barefoot, wearing a light blue nighty staring out at the beautiful landscape. The lake was particularly a marvel to look at this time in the morning, as the sun touched from one end of it to the other. The colors of the premature sunlight, sparkled a bright orange, complimenting the reflection of the landscape it protruded. She turned the cold faucet on and slipped her hands in it, letting the cool water rinse her sweaty hands. She cupped her hands and filled it, then splashed the water on her face, then rubbing the remnants in her hair. It had been a hot and moist night, and made it difficult to sleep, which was the reason she was the the first to wake this morning. She felt the air cool her wet face off as she grabbed a dish towel and dried herself off. Opening a cupboard, she grabbed a small glass, and went to fill it with the cold water downing it without a moment's notice, letting it now cleanse her aching throat like it did her skin. She let out a breath of satisfaction, then turned to the tiny digital clock that sat on the window sill. About four-thirty in the morning, she noted in her head. She set the empty glass in the sink and lifted her left hand up to rub her temples.

What a night.

She let out a sigh of relief as she continued to rub, feeling the endorphins flow in her forehead and pushing the pain out. She lifted her arms in the air and crossed them, then stretching her body, she could hear bones cackling under her skin and fresh fluid rushing in her joints that awakened her muscles. Mid-stretch, she yawned like a lioness waking up to prepare for the hunt. Her frame then rested, accepting the bliss feeling of those same endorphins now spreading everywhere.

She walked slowly out of the kitchen and into the living room, stopping momentarily to rub an itchy eye. It was dark, the only light in the dormant space came from the daylight in the kitchen. She then walked over to the array of blinded windows, pulled the cord and the blinds zipped up as more daylight rushed into the living room bringing everything inside to life. Still tired, she trudged over to the bright pink leather couch and plopped on one end of it. She spotted the remote control for the television on the glass end table and picked it up to flip it on. The screen blinked as it adjusted into focus to a woman with an ecstatic look on her face.

"--and I never had to worry about over-cooking it again," said the woman on the T.V. who spoke into an over-sized microphone.

The man holding the microphone, who was wearing a gray sports coat, looked equally ecstatic. The woman on the T.V. continued,

"this is the best home kitchen product I have ever used! It sounded too good to be true, but with the money back guarantee, I couldn't lose! They might as well trash the guarantee, because they'll never use it! I have never used something that cooks the meat so evenly and still keeping in its natural juices!"

"And there you have it folks, proof positive that the Ziga-Oven out performs all those old conventional cooking methods, all with just a push of a button." the man with the microphone said as he pressed his finger on a little red button on the side of the circular device.

The camera panned to the see-though dome displaying a piece of seasoned chicken cook in less than a few seconds. It looked tasty of course.

Why am I watching this horse wash? Stupid Sunday morning T.V.

She turned off the T.V. and then stood up and let the remote roll off her lap where it wedged between two cushions. She heard some rustling upstairs. It must be Tenchi waking up early to tend the fields. She heard feet walking around on the ceiling. She then made her way by the stairs and opened the linen closet and pulled out her blue and yellow kimono and proceeded up the stairs and into the restroom. Once inside she looked in the mirror at herself and rubbed the sand out of her eyes. She tussled with her messy hair as a bird would preen when its feathers were in disarray until it was in its usual place. She then changed into her kimono and discarded her nighty in a straw laundry basket. She was in shambles from the sleepless night and couldn't bear to let Tenchi see her like this. As she was washing her face with soap, she heard the door attempt to open, then a knock. She quickly dried her clean face off with a towel.

"Anyone in there?" a young man's voice said behind the door. She slid the door open to reveal Tenchi standing there in a white tee shirt and plad shorts on, with a dumbfounded look on his face. "R-Ryoko? What are you doing awake this early?"

"What's it to ya?" Ryoko laughed as she wrapped an arm around Tenchi's shoulder. "Anyway it's a gorgeous morning and I thought it would be great to spend together don't your think?"

Tenchi struggled fruitlessly for freedom from Ryoko's arm. "Ryoko, let me go! You know I have a lot of work to do in the fields this morning." Tenchi lectured as he continued to jerk his head around in her grasp.

Ryoko, seeing that this will only upset him, released him hesitantly. "Actually, it's because it's been so hot last night and I couldn't sleep worth a damn." Ryoko admitted.

"Strange," Tenchi started, "I was shivering all night, maybe it's just you---" Tenchi stopped realizing what he just inadvertently implied.

Ryoko spread a devilish smile across her face. "I'm flattered Tenchi." she said as she leaned in closer to him.

"You know what I mean." he said defensively.

"What? You think I'm not?" she said trying to sound disappointed.

A stream of sweat rolled down the side of his face as he thought about how to get out of this.

Then Tenchi arched his back and pointed down the stairs theatrically, "Aahhhh! What's that!?"

"Huh?" Ryoko spun her head around to where Tenchi was pointing and then heard the sound of the restroom door being closed quickly. She turned around and seen him gone. "Fine then Tenchi!" she scowled though the door with an embarrassed look on her face.

She laughed realizing she fell for the oldest trick in the book.

Settle down Ryoko, you'll only upset him again.

"Good morning Ryoko," a young cheerful voice said behind her. Ryoko turned around and saw Sasami there waiting her turn for the restroom. "you're up early." she mentioned.

"Morning Kiddo. Rough night last night." Ryoko replied as she ruffled the young girl's head under her palm.

Sasami smiled. "Breakfast will be early this morning since Tenchi has a lot of work to do in the fields today. Ryo-ohki recked havoc in the fields again and Tenchi has to replant everything."

"When will that bugger ever learn?" Ryoko chuckled.

Ryoko stretched as she yawned still trying to kick her body awake.

"I think I'm gonna try to lie down and sleep a bit more...." she yawned again, "so... sleepy."

"Just remember, be ready when I come down otherwise you'll miss out, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, no prob."

Sasami shrugged as Ryoko floated downstairs and into the living room and up to her rafter. She stretched out, adjusted her pillow and laid her head down. She tossed until she found a good position and tried to salvage some time to sleep before breakfast.

Tenchi slowly opened the restroom door thinking Ryoko may be waiting to ambush him again for tricking her. He peered between a small space he made with the door as he continued to open it more. Then sighing with relief, he pushed the door all the way open and then saw a figure standing there.

"Aaahhhh!!!" Tenchi tripped backwards and fell flat on his rear.

"Tenchi? You okay?" Sasami asked.

"Oh, whew..." Tenchi sighed, "Good morning, I'm okay... heh, heh."

"I'm gonna start on breakfast early today so you don't have to go out there hungry." Sasami stated.

"Oh, thanks Sasami." Tenchi said cheerfully. "It's all yours."

"Thanks, I'll be down soon."

Tenchi walked down the stairs and headed into the living room where he seen Ayeka fussing about.

"Now where is it?" Ayeka roared, "I know it was right here, right here!" she said to herself pointing firmly on the glass end table. "Always in a different place, why can't people just put it where it belongs?"

Ayeka looked under the coffee table with a flustered look. Then went stomping over to look under a rug.

"It was probably that Ryoko woman again." she said trying to get Ryoko's attention who was still lying up there on her rafter.

"Um, excuse me," Tenchi inquired with a nervous face, "What is it you're looking for?"

"Why, the remote for the television," she answered with an embarrassed look from letting him see her talk to herself, "I just wanted to watch the local news."

Tenchi walked over to the T.V. and turned the power button on.

"This works too you know." Tenchi teased.

Ayeka, feeling tired from her tirade, gave up on her search for now. She would continue later however, and when she found out who lost it, there would be hell to pay. She sat on the end of the sofa and felt a hard object piece her bottom.

"Aaahh!!!" she jumped wide eyed.

She looked down at the cushions and sure enough, there it was sticking up between two cushions.

Ryoko heard everything and it took every ounce of her self-control not to bust a gut, but instead she just snickered quietly, pretending to be asleep.

Ayeka shot her head up at Ryoko,

"Why you're awfully quiet up there!" she pointed out.

Ryoko was now beat red, biting down on her lip until it hurt. A couple of snickers escaped the corners of her lips as she covered her mouth with her hand. She buried her face into her pillow to hide it all. Ayeka scowled some more as she got comfortable under the cushions, then focused on the television. Tenchi remained standing with a confused lopsided gaze at the situation that just played out. He then snapped out of it when he heard an interesting story on T.V. involving a string of robberies in a small town not to far away. He sat down on the sofa to watch along with Ayeka.

Ryoko tossed around on her rafter until she got comfortable, trying to get a few winks in before breakfast. She thought about the past two weeks. How uncertain she was about everything. She knew now how Tenchi felt about her, if only he would just say it to her face, at least she would respect that instead of him pretending that they were friends. How should she act around him now? Everything she did seemed to excite another complaint out of him about something. Maybe she was too aggressive, or maybe too passive? It seemed like rocket science to her. Maybe Washu could help her out. She toyed around with that joke in her mind for a little bit. Well, Washu did help her cope with what she heard two weeks earlier, however she would never believe her when she said that it is not what he really thinks about her. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Hey everybody!" a young girl's voice paraded through the living room.

Tenchi turned his head around to face Sasami.

"Hey there." he said smiling.

Ryoko sprung up and faded down to the floor, standing facing Sasami with a look of anticipation in her eyes.

"Ready Ryoko?"

"For sure!"

"Okay let's go then!" Sasami said excitedly.

"Huh?" Tenchi and Ayeka murmured together.

Ryoko headed inside the kitchen Sasami following until she stopped and turned around.

"Oh, I'm giving Ryoko cooking lessons."

"Eh?" Tenchi exclaimed still at a loss for words.

"She said something about being more independent or something like that. I don't care for reasons, I think it will be a lot of fun! And besides, it will be a big help to have an extra hand in the kitchen once in a while."

Tenchi snapped out of his confused state.

"Wow, that's nice Sasami." he said.

Ayeka looked concerned.

"She'll probably inadvertently put rat poison in the food and make us all sick, given her level of competency at anything." the princess mused.

Sasami frowned at her sister's remark. Why must they constantly fight and make rude comments to each other? You'd think that after almost two years living together they would settle their differences, maybe become friends even. The more Sasami thought about it, the more impossible the notion seemed. She sighed, turned around and went through the kitchen door. Ryoko was leaning against the fridge waiting for Sasami's return when she appeared.

"Ready?" Sasami asked, trying to regain her cheerful demeanor.

"Yep."

"Okay, the first thing you do before you start anything is to wash your hands with soap."

"Done." Ryoko said holding her hands out in front of her.

"Oh... well.. good then!" Sasami smiled affirming in her mind that her sister's statement wasn't true.

"Ok," she started, "now we get out our recipe book."

Sasami pulled out a large over sized hardcover book and started flipping though the pages.

"Ok here we go," she said.

Ryoko went and stood beside her, looking along.

"Now we need to figure out what main materials and ingredients we need." she said as she pointed around on one of the pages.

Sasami gave the book to Ryoko.

"Now, tell me what we need." the young girl asked.

"Hmm..." Ryoko was skimming the page. "We need... a sixteen inch skillet... a crock pot... hmmm... and a cheese grater... and... that's it, yeah... I know what those things are... heh heh..."

Ryoko opened one of the kitchen drawers and reached around inside and pulled something out.

"Here's the cheese thing do-dad." she said.

A drop of sweat rolled down Sasami's head.

"Um Ryoko," she said, "that's a potato masher silly."

Ryoko looked up, then at the object, and put it back abruptly.

"Oh I knew that, I was just... testing you is all!"

"Right," Sasami chuckled.

*****

Ayeka took a sip of her tea and set the cup on the glass end table beside her.

"Tenchi."

Tenchi broke his gaze from the television.

"Yes?" he replied.

"I want to apologize for that nasty comment I made a little while ago."

"What are you talking about?"

Ayeka clenched her fist privately, trying to fight her pride that was telling her to discard her shame. She didn't want to elaborate, but he was waiting for an answer. She swallowed.

"About Ryoko being incompetent. There was no reason for it." she said.

"It's fine, she didn't hear you. After all, if she did... well you know how aggressive she can be when she retaliates." he said in a cheerfully nervous voice, clearly picturing a scene that could have played out.

"That's just the thing Tenchi. She seems rather passive lately. When I..." Ayeka was stumbling her voice, juggling words to properly explain. "It seems there is no way to sugar coat it. When I tease her, well... she just walks away shrugging her shoulders. I sound like a bully don't I Tenchi?"

"Well she's no angel either Ayeka, she instigates things too. You can't take all the blame." he said.

Ayeka nodded, "Yes, but... something about her, has changed. And this sudden change has even challenged the resentment I've had for her for so long. I mean, the past few weeks at least. She still makes minor comments at times yes, but nothing compared to her normal mischiefs. And now she wants to learn how to cook out of the blue? At first I thought it was a fluke you know. It'll be a matter of time before she puts coal in my tea, or flushes the toilet while I'm in the shower. But it seems that she's no longer interested in making my life harder. I still resent her, but I have morals, even for a woman like her. And when she stops shoving me around, and I keep shoving without her fighting back, well..." Ayeka trailed off as she looked down at the floor, then she started again, "Then one night I was walking to my room, when I seen her in your father's study, writing in some sort of notebook, what I don't know, but she's there every night now. Have you noticed this?"

Tenchi looked up, confused, "No, I had no idea."

Tenchi stood up and walked over to the kitchen door. He opened it a little bit and peered inside. He seen Sasami boiling something, looking over her shoulder at Ryoko who was chopping up some vegetables. Tenchi smiled and closed the door quietly. He marveled at how happy Ryoko was at a simple task of chopping vegetables. She looked like she was at peace. This was a side of her he hadn't seen often. It was amazing to him that such tenderness and joy existed under so many layers of bravado. Sometimes he wished she would open up to him more. Tenchi stood there, back leaning against the door.

I wonder what she does up there. What does she have to write about?

Tenchi continued his silent vigil, thinking about what to do. He wanted to know what was going on, but his morals told him that it wasn't his business. But his other side reasoned with him.

What if there's something wrong? What if she's afraid to tell?

"There's only one way to find out." he said to himself quietly, "And I will tonight."

-