Remember Me?

by Raine

If you've read Once and Again, here's the sequel!

1.

Remember Me?

Chapter One – The Mystery

Disclaimer:  Tenchi Muyo and everything related to it belongs to Pioneer.  (All of you:  Really?  No way!  I don't believe it!  Who the heck is Pioneer?)

Special thanks to Pikabit for the idea.

This story is a sequel to Once and Again, so I suggest you read that first.

            "It's pure genius!  But what would you expect from the worlds number one mad scientist?"

            "You are the greatest, Washu!"

            "Washu is number one!"

            "Of course I am!  I, Washu, am brilliant!"  Washu yelled.  She waved two fans around, as A and B cheered for her.

            "Yay, Washu!"

            "We love you, Washu!"

            "Uhh….Little Grandma Washu?"  Katsu said.  He still had the same blue hair that he was born with, but it was dyed at the tips, and spiky.  His eyes, which were yellow, looked a little like a cats, but only sometimes.  He was wearing this yellow t-shirt, and some jeans. 

He had been into science, like Washu, until he was about 5, and then he had lost interest.  Needless to say, he had forgotten most of it.  Washu had tried to keep him interested in the family, take good care of him, but her career wasn't allowing for it. 

Katsu sat down on a nearby stool.  He had been watching Washu work on her new invention, until she had started cheering herself.  Then it was time to stop her.

            "Oh.  Yes, Katsu?"  She calmed down and put away her fans.

            "Little Grandma, what does this machine do?"  Washu sighed, as if it were something everyone should be able to figure out easily.  To her, it probably seemed like it.

            "It's a Parallel Choice Fluctuation Monitorial Device.  A PCFMD."

            "And that is…?"

            "It shows you what is happening in a parallel universe."

            Oh, of course.  Katsu thought.  Her parallel universe theory.  Washu had recently become very interested in the idea that any choice made could create a new universe.

            "Grandma Washu, what's so interesting about this parallel universe thing?"  Washu glared at him and cleared her throat pointedly.

            "Alright!  Little Grandma Washu, what's so interesting about this parallel universe thing?"

            "Nothing really.  It's just…well, it's about Ryoko."

            "You mean Mom?"

            "Yes, your mother.  I miss her very much, you know, even though we never were really close."

            "And what does this have to do with the machine?"
            "You'll see."  Washu sat down next to a console, flipping switches like crazy.  She hit a huge red button, marked "PRESS THIS BUTTON, MIHOSHI!!!"

            Katsu had once asked why it said that.  Washu replied that she had once known a girl named Mihoshi who would constantly ruined her experiments.  She had finally figured out that Mihoshi wouldn't touch anything marked "Touch".  And it had been habit ever since.

            As she hit the button, a small screen flickered to life.  It showed a picture of a cherry blossom tree, gently swaying in the wind.  A couple walked by, talking, but Katsu couldn't hear what they were saying.

            "Okay, now search…" Washu muttered as she input some information to the console.  The screen flickered again, this time showing a spiky blue haired girl playing in a field.  It paused for a second, before changing to another picture of the blue haired girl slapping someone.  And it changed again, and again, showing the same person over and over.

            "Who's that?"  Katsu asked, but he knew the answer instinctively.

            "That's Ryoko."  Washu said softly.  "Your mother."

            "What?  But…she's dead, Gra…Little Grandma!"

            "In this universe, but not in the ones we're seeing."  Another image flickered past…Ryoko kissing someone.

            "Who's that, Little Grandma?  Is it Dad?"

            "No, that's not Tenchi…There he is."  She said it a little too calmly, like she was trying to hide her sadness.  An image of Ryoko and Tenchi holding hands.  Tenchi and Ryoko swinging in the park.  Laughing together.  And…a fifteen year old, blue haired boy entered the picture, for a second.

            "Me?"

            "Yes, that's you.  That's the you that Ryoko survived with."  Katsu stared at the images as they flipped by.

            "Little Grandma…is there anything we can do to bring her back?"  She turned and looked at him thoughtfully.

            "I'll see what I can do."

            That night, Katsu lay in bed, the same bed that Tenchi used to lie on, thinking.  He was about to go to sleep when Washu walked in.  It was unusual, for her.  She sat down on the edge of his bed, and holding a notebook.

            "Katsu…Ryoko left me something when she died.  I would have given it to you sooner, but, I…well, I misplaced it.  Anyway, here."  She thrust the notebook into his hands, and kissed him goodnight.

            Katsu stared as she left the room.  Washu never acted like that!  Even with a grandchild to take care of, it was still "Little Washu" this and "Little Washu" that.  She had never displayed any maternal impulses before!

            He shook his head and opened the notebook.

            When he finally finished the notebook, there were tears running down his face.

            "It's not like you haven't heard it all before!"  He told himself.  "You barely even knew her anyway!"  Still, hearing it from his mother's point of view was a heart-wrenching thing.

As he flipped through the last pages of the notebook, photographs fell onto his bed.  All of them showed Ryoko.  Ryoko laughing, Ryoko singing on an old karaoke machine, Ryoko, just standing there.  Ryoko, hugging Tenchi.  Ryoko holding a blue haired baby.

He blinked quickly to keep more tears from coming.

Mom…

Washu thought about Katsu's wish.  And the more she thought about it, the more it seemed possible.

"Yes, I could put a thermonuclear insulator around the acrono gauge and bi-tempular conductor…then a platinum mercury chip there, and a fraculating processor…"  She sighed, and sketched out the design, blinking sleep from her eyes.  She smiled as she worked.  "Whew!  This is going to cost a fortune, but its worth it!"

Ryoko…her daughter.  She had been one of the worst and best things in Washu's life.

"Space Pirate Ryoko has been spotted near the Alpha Megami.  She is wanted on Universal Charges of the murders of over a thousand people, multiple counts of theft, robbery, kidnapping, evasion of justice, armed assault, and numerous other charges.  Her last crime was the kidnapping of the King of Hirrobi.  He is apparently being ransomed for the Jewel of Hirrobi.  The Jewel is famous for its life-saving powers.  It saved the life of King Ardin III of Hirrobi when an assassin attempted to kill him…." She remembered watching it, fearfully, from her room at the space academy.

"That's my daughter!"  She had wanted to cry out.  "You can't kill her!"

Ryoko, why?  Why did you have to leave?  Why did you have to…die?  Washu ignored the tears that dripped onto her sketch.

And then Ryoko had ignored her, hated her, when she had met her for the first time since she was a baby.

"Yes, mom."  An insult, not a loving title.  She hadn't believed Washu until she was trapped.

"Ryoko…"  Washu sobbed.  She almost wished that she could erase her memory, forget.  But then who would take care of Katsu?

After she stopped crying and dried her face, Washu went back to work; more determined that ever to bring Ryoko back.

Katsu walked sleepily into Washu's lab.

"Morning!  Or should I say afternoon?  You slept long enough!"

"What??"

"Come on, get dressed, have breakfast, and wake up!  We have work to do!"

"What?"

"I'll tell you later."

Katsu shook water off his face as he struggled to wake up.  He filled up another glass with clear, ice-cold water, and poured it on his face.  Checking that the towel was still wrapped firmly around his waist, he walked out into the hall.

It was empty, devoid of even the robots that Washu used to fetch things.  He walked towards his room, almost loosing his towel in the process.  Safely inside his room, he threw the towel towards a wall.  It fell through the wood paneling, and a faint mechanical noise could be heard as the towel was cleaned.

He slipped into some black pants and a blue shirt that was open at the front.  Running his hand through his blue hair he thought about what Washu had said.

"You slept long enough!"  Was as far as he got before his stomach growled to him.

"Oops!  Breakfast!"  Katsu ran downstairs and poured himself a bowl of "Little Washu's Magically Good Cereal!  It's Good!"  and  sat down at the table to finish thinking about the conversation.

"There you are, Katsu!  It's about time!"  Washu called to him over the noise of machines.

"Little Grandma, what's this all about?"

"No time to explain now!  I'm busy!  I'll explain when everyone else gets here!"

"Everyone else?"

"Yep!  Here, do me a favor.  Call all of these people, and tell them to be here in two days.  OR ELSE."

"Two days?  Whats in two days?"

"I'M BUSY!"  Washu yelled, telling him that it was time to leave.

Katsu sat down in an office chair, next to a miniature computer.

"Let's see…first number is…GP11780220C."  He stared at the number.  "I'm supposed to call that?  But it's a Galaxy Police Classified number!  For their top detectives!"  Katsu sighed and typed the number into the video-computer.  Washu had said to call all of them, and she got mad when the little things didn't happen.

"Galaxy Police Detectives First Class Mihoshi and Kiyone. (Katsu looked at his piece of paper.  Yep, that was right.) Mihoshi speaking!  Oh, hey, you're cute!  You know, I once knew this guy that looked kind of like you, but he couldn't have been you because he had brown eyes and…"  A blonde wearing a GP uniform babbled at him.

"Umm….Detective Mihoshi?"

"What?"  She looked at him innocently through the screen.

"I need to speak to Detective Kiyone."  He said, not mentioning that his sheet also said in large, underlined letters "DON'T TALK TO MIHOSHI!!!"

"Oh, okay then!  Kiyone!  Uh, Kiyone?  Where is she?  She was here just a second ago, where could she be?  Maybe she went to talk to the Commander about a pay raise, I mean, we can't even afford to go tanning more than once a week!  I think that should be a crime, don't you?"

"You were getting Kiyone…?"  He reminded her.

"Oh, that's right.  Kiyone!  Oh, there she is."

"Hello, this is Detective First Class Kiyone.  May I ask who is calling?"

"This is Katsuhito Masaki, calling on behalf of Washu.  She said you'd know her."

"Yeah, I know her.  Your last name is Masaki?  Are you related to Tenchi?"

"Yeah, he's my father."

"Really?  Whose your mother?"

"The Space Pirate Ryoko."  Surprise registered on Kiyone's face.

"Oh, really?  So Ryoko did get him after all."

"Ummm, Detective Kiyone, can we get back on subject?"

"Oh, of course.  What does Washu want?"

"I don't really know myself.  She just told me to tell you to be here, on earth, in two days. Or else."  Kiyone cringed.

"She'd probably blow up the GP HQ…" Kiyone muttered.  "Oh, sorry.  No offense meant."

"None taken."

"Mihoshi and I will be there."

"JRH1Q."  He typed it into the computer, not realizing what he was dialing.

"Hello, this is Queen Sasami!  Hey, who are you?  This is my private phone.  No calls from press or citizens!"  Katsu stared open mouthed at the beautiful blue haired woman on the screen in front of him.

"Hello?"  He shook his head and shut his mouth, but had to open and close it a few times before his voice worked.

"Sorry.  This isn't a press or citizen call."

"Then who are you?"

"My name is Katsuhito Yosho Nobiyuki Masaki.  I'm calling on behalf of Washu."

"Masaki?  Are you, by any chance, related to Tenchi Masaki?"  Her eyes shone hopefully.

"Yeah, he's my father."

"Really?  And your mother…?"

"Ryoko."  Sasami smiled and he almost fell off of his chair.

"That's great!  I'm happy he got over Ayeka.  Tenchi deserved much better."  Her eyes clouded over like she was remembering.

"Excuse me, but aren't you Ayeka's sister?"

"I was.  So what did Washu want me for?"  She said, changing the subject quickly.

"She didn't say.  She won't tell me, either.  All that I know is you're supposed to be here in two days.  Or else."  Like Kiyone, Sasami flinched and muttered.

"She'd probably blow up Jurai or something…"

"Actually, I don't think she'd go that far."

"What?  Oh, sorry.  You weren't supposed to hear that."

"So, will you be there?"

"Sure!"  She winked at him cutely.  "Talk to you then!"  And she blew him a kiss, before closing the connection.

Katsu fell off of his chair, and stared at the ceiling with a dreamy expression.

"Wow…" He breathed.  He couldn't believe that his father hadn't chosen her!  He thought about this, then thanked God (errr…should this be the kamis?  I don't know much about Shinto) for that.

The next two days past pretty uneventfully.  Washu was caught up in whatever she was working on in her lab, and barely had time to thank him for calling the girls.  Katsu spent the time dreaming about Sasami.

Drawings of Sasami began springing up on to every wall of his room, except for the cleaning wall.  He kept the good ones, but he knew that no picture could ever capture Sasami's beauty.

He'd seen photos of Sasami from when she was on earth, but they were all of when she was younger.  Her hair was a darker blue, now, she was taller, and her hair wasn't in pigtails anymore.  In all of the pictures he had seen, she had been wearing simple kimonos, but now she wore elaborately stitched ones, layered on top of each other.

Poems lay in piles on his desk.  "Sasami, you are so lovely, queen of my heart."  "Sasami, So far away, I miss you before I've met you."  "Sasami.  Beautiful.  Queen.  I love you."

Sasami.  Katsu thought.  Please come to me soon.

Authors Note:  AHHH! We have a severe problem!  See, I've been swamped with one of the best and worst things ever…AN OVERFLOW OF IDEAS!!  So if this isn't added to for a while, now you know why!