Green Hair, Yellow Eyes

By Takeda Kenji

"Fatherhood. What a concept…" Tenchi Masaki remarked as he paced around the hospital waiting room. Apparently the Juraians had not advanced in societal practices as they concerned the role of the father during the delivery of his child. The mother was wheeled into the delivery room but was he allowed to join his wife and hold her hand and speak word of encouragement to her? No, he was told very simply to wait outside and 'smoke 'em if ya got 'em'. Curious instructions coming from a health care professional but then when immortality did have some rather nice executive perks.

Tenchi had to figure that lung cancer wasn't as worrisome a problem as it was on his native planet. It was a moot point, as Tenchi did not have anything to smoke so he simply refrained but the temptation was there. He was alone now; there wasn't a soul in the lonely hallways. Scuffing his shoe at a little collection of dirt, he took stock of his life. Here he was about to become a daddy and he was left to wait outside like an asshole. One had to figure that God had a sense of humor, locked and loaded.

"Goddamn it," he hissed as he kicked a door in an idle lash of rage. "Ow…" he practically whimpered as the door held up quite well against his foot.

"You should probably leave the door alone," a dulcet voice admonished him as shimmers of iridescent rays surrounded a shapely female figure.

"Ayeka-san…" Tenchi breathed. It had been far too long since he saw her last.

"In the flesh," Ayeka confirmed, with a gentle smile. "Tenchi-sama, why are you venting your frustrations on the door? Surely that poor inanimate object can't be the culprit of your conundrum."

"Very funny," Tenchi retorted, shooting her a glare that yet contained little heat. How could he be mad at her?

"So dearest Tenchi, it has been what...days?" she queried.

"Months," he speculated.

"Why, positively years," she said with a tinge to her voice that was positively savage.

"It wasn't the way any of us would have wanted it," Tenchi said, honestly.

"I was busy ruling an empire and you…" she trailed off purposefully, fixing a look that Tenchi couldn't decipher.

"I was busy getting my life sorted out," Tenchi rejoined respectfully.

"Oh is that what you call – "

"Ayeka, could we please? I mean, there was enough of it at the wedding."

"Indeed, why I was surprised I was even invited."

"Ayeka!" Tenchi exclaimed helplessly. "Come now, we've been through all this. Over and over in fact," he protested.

"Yes, we have, Tenchi-sama," Ayeka agreed, her patrician voice ringing with a clarion precision.

"My child is coming into this world, can I help you?" Tenchi said, with a firmness that he did not several years ago know.

"My," Ayeka said, starting a bit. "Where did you find that backbone, did she give it to you for an anniversary present?"

"What the hell are you doing, Ayeka? Picking a fight with a father-to-be? Come on, Ayeka…" Tenchi begged plaintively, "just stop." He touched her shoulder.

It was around this time, with a simple touch, that weight of the world hit Ayeka Masaki. It was a subtle thing, sneaking up so stealthily, but the forceful punch it packed was a fearsome force indeed. It was losing him that hurt and she couldn't take much more. Why did his touch have to make her feel so good and yet hurt so badly? And for a little time, just for a minute or two, Ayeka's heart broke. And she couldn't take any more and it was closing to an end. She was the proud empress right now.

"Oh Tenchi-sama!" she wailed as she clutched him to her breast. She began to bawl like a child, with a force unlike Tenchi had ever seen. Taken aback, he could only hold on to the Empress. "Tenchi, we love you so much…you must under—"

"Oh but I do understand, Ayeka. Only too well," he whispered as he held her. "I want you to be at peace…be at peace, darling Ayeka. You, Mihoshi, Sasami, and Ryoko…all of you…be at peace," Tenchi whispered once more.

"But Tenchi…we will never be at peace without you…" she replied.

"Masaki-san…" a voice said that startled Tenchi out of his reverie. There was the doctor standing there, but as Tenchi's wide eyes searched his surroundings, there was nothing to be found. No sign of Ayeka was to be seen no matter how he searched. Was it real…or imagined?

"Masaki-san," the voice repeated, just a bit firmer this time. Tenchi turned to face the voice – a young Wau doctor whose eyes sported dark circles that Tenchi could only guess was profound exhaustion. Who knew Wau and Humans showed exhaustion in such similar ways? Of course Tenchi could be wrong, and it could be a sign of vigor and Tenchi would feel the fool. "Masaki-san, would you like to meet your children?"

His children…

"I…I…"Tenchi said, a grin breaking out on his still boyish face. "Yeah, Doctor…"

"Makoto…Hajime Makoto."

"The Beginning of Fidelity," Tenchi whispered, almost reverently.

"Yeah. The kanji actually works out to that," the Wau physician replied embarrassedly, nonplussed at such attention to something so rote as his name. "So your children…"

"Believe me, I haven't forgotten," Tenchi said, with a smile and nod of his head. They walked into the surgical suite where twin basinets. Tenchi stopped dead in his tracks and gaped at the sight of his son and daughter.

"Is everything alright?" Makoto asked.

"I wasn't expecting twins…" Tenchi replied softly, his eyes alit with wonder.

"I said children. How could you not know that you and—"

"Mother's wishes," Tenchi said, with a chuckle. "So this is what she had in mind…"

Hajime Makoto opened his mouth and then promptly shut it for his own well-being. What did it matter to him what two of the most powerful people in the universe did with their kiddos? At this point, all he wanted to do was to find a bed to climb into and call his own for the next eight hours of his life. "Well then, I had best be off. It's been a very long night and I honestly need to rest," he said, bowing.

"Not a problem," Tenchi said, bowing low to the doctor.

"The nurses are on duty at all hours, simply pull the call button right over there," the doctor said before making his exit.

So there was Tenchi, all alone with his two children. So out of the loop had she kept him, that he was under the impression that he was only the father of one child…until now. Now things were different and he knew better. Promising to himself quietly, he vowed never to be unaware again. Her wishes were one thing but this level of uncertainty was bordering on the line of dangerous, was it not? Tenchi wasn't sure. All these thoughts and more swept his head as he couldn't help but wipe his eyes at the tears that streamed gently. He sat down at stool next to the basinet so that he was hunched over them.

"You'll have to excuse me, I'm new at this. I'm your daddy," Tenchi explained, as he reached for his son's tiny fist. Instantly, a minute bond was formed as father and son connected for the first time. "Son, the Masaki name is something bigger than you or I. I'm almost sorry that you got dragged into this but let me say: I'll do whatever I can to make sure you're better prepared for the world of Jurai. Son, my father is a good man and has been a good father and will be the best grandfather – I just wish your grandmother were here –" Tenchi said as he cleared his throat and withdrew a hanky to blow his nose. "My son, I give you my father's name, Nobuyuki Katsuhito Masaki Jurai," he said, before pausing to wince. "That's a mouthful isn't it? But I think it's better that way. You have a family that loves you and will have your back at every twist and turn life throws at you," Tenchi paused and kissed his son's forehead, smiling at as a mark formed and began to glow red. Yes, his son would be a powerful one indeed.

"And honey," he said, turning to his daughter. "I don't want you thinking that I forgot about you," he said, as he grabbed a towel to wipe tenderly at his daughter's mouth, which was leaking a bit of spittle. "You're leaking a bit there, sweetie," he said as he dabbed away the minute mess. "Honey, you've got a name too…" he said with a smile. "I love my mother and her memory but actually we've decided to name you after a very brave woman who lived many moons before any of us came along. My daughter, I give you the name of your grandmother, Kasumi Kiyone Masaki Jurai," again he kissed the forehead of his daughter like he had his son and smiled as her forehead glowed green.

"Darling…" came the voice for his ears alone. Tenchi gently squeezed the tiny hands of his children before he answered her call.

There, in a hospital bed, hair matted to her face by sweat, was Airi Masaki Jurai. She was tired, had tussled with the boars of hell, and had brought two new souls into the world in what had not been an easy pregnancy. With all these things and more, Tenchi had to admit that the love of his life…his wife and the mother of his newfound children – she never looked better.

"Why?" he found himself asking after all this time waiting.

"Whatever do you mean, darling?" Airi asked simply enough.

"Why was everything done in such secrecy? I didn't even know we were having twins…or the gender…I couldn't be in with you while—" Tenchi began, his face reddening a bit with an overflow of emotion that had nowhere else to go. He wasn't mad – he couldn't be mad at the mother of his children, not now but there had to be an explanation for all that had transpired.

"Husband…baby…Tenchi," Airi panted out with some effort, looking a little flushed herself. "Baby, just hush," she said with a pleading smile. Tenchi folded like a bad hand of cards at poker.

"I'm not trying to browbeat you…" he whispered apologetically as he found a chair to sit in.

"If you would shush your mouth long enough, Tenchi dear, you wouldn't need to apologize and come into bed with me," she said, gesturing to the queen size bed that had been her den of agony for three hours. A relatively short time for a human woman to be in labor, three hours was a nightmarishly long time for Juraian woman. "Tenchi…you know I've had a rough time of being a mother. It's been so hard what with the delayed pregnancy with Minaho and your mother…" she trailed off and cupped his face as he climbed into bed with her, cuddling her close. A nurse came in and smiled, checking Airi's vitals before leaving almost as quickly as she came.

"Service with a smile," Tenchi said with a grin.

"Eyes front, mister," Airi instructed before kissing him hungrily. "I missed you. I wanted you here—"

"Then why wasn't I?" Tenchi asked insistently.

"Tenchi…"

"Why wasn't I?" he repeated a bit louder but still maintaining a civility that never ceased to amaze her.

"Because of what could have happened…if anything had happened to," she began, fighting tears. "If anything had happened, I would have needed to grieve alone…"

"We're husband and wife, we should deal with matters as a unit…" Tenchi argued reasonably enough.

"Husband," Airi said as the floodgates opened. "I've always had to mourn alone…"

"Never again, that was the old way…" Tenchi whispered before he left her side to bring her Nobuyuki and Kasumi. "Say hello to the new way…" he said, displaying candor with a smile as the new family all gathered together on the spacious hospital bed.

With all the tears that had been shed, it happened to be that no one noticed the salty residue of a certain Jurain Empress left on Tenchi's collar. There was no time for such minor details…

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Author's Note: Konnichiwa beeshes! It's been a while but I'm back. It took me six months to get a new story out but here's the first chapter. I hope you like it. As always, please be kind and review; like or dislike.

Ja ne!