Author's Note: Everyone's favorite lazy writer has decided to take a well-deserved break from "Matters of the Hart." This is a little something I've been dwelling on, and I'm not really sure if it'll continue…
Chapter 1: Bound & Broken
A pair of honeyed feline eyes sprang open in fright and scanned the darkness frantically. Ryoko sat up, drenched in her own sweat. She pulled her unbound tresses from her sticky neck, letting the cool air of the night wash over her. Drowsily the space pirate peered out the window, her usual tenacious face seeming fragile as it was bathed in the moonlight.
What's happening to me…
Ryoko's hands trembled as she massaged her temples. She curled her knees up to her chin and folded her arms across them. Still shaking, she held the flesh on her arm between her fangs until it began to bleed.
At last a decision was reached and the demoness stood, the lustrous surface of her body a glossy silhouette in the pale moon. Ryoko disappeared as if she was made only of shadow instead of thick muscle and blood.
She appeared in the loathed lab of her mother, the likes of whom she refused admit she was related to. Washu had been staying up late as she frequently did.
At last Ryoko found her juvenile mother hunched over a holo-computer and typing like a madwoman. Feeling her daughter's presence, Washu sat rigidly. She turned, mildly surprised at Ryoko's boldness.
"Yes, Ryoko-chan," Washu searched for an explanation calmly.
"No games, Washu," Ryoko said somberly, ordering her mother not to use any pet names. "I need to speak with you."
Washu turned all the way around, now interested. "Yes…"
"I can feel… it… coming…" Ryoko trailed off, not really sure of how to describe the last few nights of restlessness.
"What coming? Ryoko, take a seat. Are you feeling all right?" Washu asked suspiciously as a chair appeared behind Ryoko. She sat down and faced the little genius.
"The past few nights have been… hard. I lie awake and yet I'm asleep, and I have this same dream… it was before Kagato took me… before all the killings… and"
"Yes," Washu urged her struggling daughter on. "And…?"
"… and yet it's worse. The things I see are so much worse than those of the lives I destroyed and the havoc I caused. But when I wake up, or come back, or whatever you would call it, I can't remember them, only the feeling that I got in the pit of my stomach when I saw them."
Realizing she was finished, Washu stopped gaping at her daughter. "Is that all you know?"
"N-no. I… whenever I have these… dreams if you would call them that, I have the distinct feeling that I'm… young."
"Young? I thought you couldn't remember anything about your childhood?"
Ryoko leaned forward and cupped her face in her hands. "So did I," she said to her palms.
After a brief silence Washu stood up and walked to Ryoko, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Would you like me to run some tests?" she asked.
Ryoko looked up into her mother's gentle eyes and finally accepted the kindness she had always offered. "Yes. Anything you can do to make them stop."
"I'll try," Washu walked Ryoko over to one of her overly-exaggerated computers. It backed up to a window and on the other side an operating table could be seen. "Go ahead and lie down in there. I'm going to shift through some of your memories. I can't promise you won't remember more than you'd like to, though. I might open up something that was locked away by your subconscious mind. But in time I can make the memories leave for good." Ryoko only nodded solemnly and faded to the other side of the thick glass.
She proceeded to place a helmet that was connected to the wall with a series of wires on her head and lay back onto the cold metal table.
"Ready?" Washu asked over a PA system.
Once again Ryoko nodded, though this time finding it difficult to do so while laying down. She felt her temples throb like mad and her heart pace quicken as she watched the world as she knew it stretch askew and boil before her eyes.
*
There was laughter. Loud laughter. It was a woman's flirtatious giggle followed by a hearty male laugh.
She could see them through a crack in the door, surrounded by giant pillows. The woman wore more makeup than she wore clothes, with two huge tacky plumes sprouting from her curled ringlets.
The little girl watched as the hanging beads of the door on the other side of them opened, revealing a young woman who wore more than the current one, and also seemed much friendlier. She entered just as the man had began to get physical with the woman he sat with.
This new woman came brandishing alcohol that the concealed little girl recognized, but she dared not to come forward and ask for some.
As the new woman poured both of the inhabitants of the room a fresh glass, she noticed the tiny eye peeping out from one of the decorated doors. She smiled at the little girl and winked, motioning with her head for the child to get gone so that the couple could be alone.
On the other side of the door the little girl smiled, recognizing her goofy caretaker's signal for bedtime. She shut the door all the way quietly as possible and walked down the hall till she came to a winding staircase, which she ascended.
*
Once more Ryoko's vision was destroyed in a way that made her want to vomit, and revealed a new scene similar to that of the one she had just witnessed.
It seemed darker than usual now, and the familiar little girl crept down the same creaking staircase. There was a loud thump that made her innocent eyes widen in fear. Something inside her forced her to keep moving, and she did so.
The usual bustle of the house had ebbed, and the scantly clad woman who usually walked around greeting the child as they ushered their male customers to private rooms were no where to be found. The girl shuddered.
She neared the manager of the house's room, hoping to climb in bed with the woman who had been like a mother to the little girl all her life. She often came down and snuggled next to her foster mother on cold nights, or when it was raining.
But the eerie silence had driven the infant from her bed. Slowly she pushed open the door to the familiar room, taking in it's welcoming smell.
On the far wall two shadows were cast, and they were struggling. She heard the cries of her cherished foster mother as a man brutally attacked her.
Being ignorant as the little girl was, she did not realize he was also raping her. Pleas of mercy filled her ears, the likes of which had obviously been ignored by the attacker.
A feeling of utter hatred surged through the girl's body and she slammed the door open, startling both the man and the woman.
She looked into the bloodstained eyes of the woman, who's usual jovial attitude was squandered by the current affair. Blood covered her shoulders and back.
Livia…
Ryoko, get out of here!" the woman screamed, breaking the horrid silence. The girl watched as the man choked off her last words with a thick leather belt, and let the limp body of Livia slump to the floor.
"N-no…" Ryoko whispered as the man advanced on her. She felt herself struggling as he tore at her clothes…
*
Ryoko sat up with a quick intake of breath that startled herself, She began coughing uncontrollably as she rolled off the operating table and jerked violently on the floor.
Seeing this, Washu burst through the door and rushed to her daughter, trying to console her as best as possible.
"Ryoko!" She yelled, holding Ryoko's head in her lap and trying to get her daughter to focus on her face and not stare at oblivion the way she was doing now. "Ryoko, look at me! Can you hear me!?" After a few moments of ragged breaths from both the women, Ryoko shook her head. She sat up, her head pounding.
"What happened!?" Washu asked frantically. "What did you see that had you… so upset…"
"I-I don't know," Ryoko nearly sobbed. She felt Washu wrap her arms around her and hold her closely order to console her daughter.
"It's all right. It's breakfast time, by the way. I got some major progress done, too. Why don't you go and have a good meal and I'll stick around and get some more work done?" Washu said in her "mom" voice.
Ryoko said nothing, only stood and gave Washu a grateful look as she disappeared.
*
Tenchi sat up, his mouth filled with the usual morning taste. He yawned and combed his fingers through his short black hair.
Drowsily the Prince of Jurai and wielder of the Light Hawk Wings made his way through his ordinary room, pulling on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt as he went. Tenchi stumbled down the hall to be greeted by the smell of something delicious downstairs. He smiled contentedly and began to descend the stairs.
"Ohayo Tenchi-neechan!" Sasami smiled, causing Tenchi to do the same.
"Ohayo, Sasami-chan, Ayeka-san," he smiled at the two girls as Sasami bustled about preparing the food.
"How did you sleep, Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka asked as he sat down next to her. She blushed slightly as their hands knocked.
"Great. I feel refreshed. Where's Ryo… ko…" Tenchi's question was answered before he finished as Ryoko floated in, wearing her usual brown and blue striped dress. Heavy circles under her eyes told everyone she had not had such a pleasant night as Tenchi.
"Mmmf," she mumbled and began drinking milk from the carton.
"That's not all for you, you know!" Ayeka stood up and screeched. Ryoko didn't grace this with an answer, she just cut a weary eye at Ayeka and continued to chug.
"Glutton!" Ayeka yelled and sat back down, straightening her dress. She turned her attention to Tenchi once more. "Lord Tenchi I was wondering if you would like to be my escort to the Cherry Blossom Festival this weekend." This got a rise from Ryoko, who threw the empty carton aside.
"Hey now! Tenchi is going with me!" Ryoko snarled, challenging the princess.
Ayeka rose to the occasion. "And what makes you think he would waste his time!?"
"He said so! You remember, don't you Tenchi," Ryoko pouted.
Tenchi rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I-I'm not sure I do…"
"See that! He's going with me!" Ayeka said triumphantly.
"Now, I never said that…"
"Teenchi! You told me you would! It was five o'clock… remember? I asked you and you said 'yerf' and then rolled over," Ryoko said, recalling the fleeting feeling of happiness when he had done so.
"He just wanted you to go away. Now stop pestering us!"
"Look, I'll go with all of you, ok? Now stop it, Ayeka! And you too, Ryoko!" Tenchi yelled angrily. His expression softened as the girls meekly avoided his eyes. "Tell you what, why don't both of you go and get new kimono's for the festival? You too, Sasami," Tenchi ignored the scowl that Ryoko and Ayeka traded between each other.
*
"Oh! This looks like a great place!" Mihoshi exclaimed as she ran down to a shop in the nearest town. "The dresses are all traditional! How pretty!"
"They're kimonos, Mihoshi," Ayeka corrected her diligently. "and they're not 'pretty,' they're graceful."
"Like it matters," Ryoko whispered, slightly miffed at the fact that she was having to walk.
"What was that Ryoko!?" Ayeka yelped, losing her dignified composure.
"Please, Neechan! Don't make a scene!" Sasami pleaded and pulled on her sister's sleeve." Ayeka gave her a compromising look before staring at the sidewalk that passed below them.
"Now then, did Tenchi actually say that we were only allowed to get kimonos? Or just an outfit for the festival?" Ryoko said, eyeing a fetish shop. Seeing this, Sasami pulled on the space pirate's collar.
"No, Ryoko. Kimonos. That's all, and Tenchi made sure we understood, understand?" she said as nicely as possible.
"I don't understand why we even need to waist money on you, after all, you can create your own clothing," Ayeka hissed as the group entered a small shop.
"Pipe down, Princess," Ryoko ended the fight as she wandered off into the back.
"Can I help you ladies," the saleswoman showed Mihoshi and Sasami a rack of outfits. Sasami shook her head.
"No, we need traditional kimonos," she explained.
"For the Cherry Blossom Festival? Come right this way, I have many given to us by some very wealthy families," the woman smiled and ushered them towards the back.
Ryoko was too busy shifting through the clothes to notice Ayeka come up behind her. The demoness finally found what she was looking for and pulled it from the rack.
"That would make you look much too fat, Ryoko. Better let me try it," Ayeka smiled and grabbed it from her.
"Bitch! Gimme' that back!" Ryoko dove for the kimono and tugged, causing Ayeka to raise it above her head. She shoved her hand in Ryoko's face in order to force her off. In turn, Ryoko yanked Ayeka's hair, putting them both in an awkward position.
Rip...
The quarreling pair stopped cold. They slowly look up at the dress to find a large tear around the waistline.
"Now look what you've done!" Ayeka screeched. Ryoko backed down.
"I've done!? You were the one who grabbed it!"
"I was saving you, it would have made you look fat…ter," Ayeka savored the last words, watching Ryoko cringe.
"What 'dya mean, 'fatter!' I-"
"Hush, someone's coming!" Ayeka stashed the dress behind her back as the salesclerk, Sasami and Mihoshi approached.
"Did you find anything, girls?" the overly-chipper woman asked.
"Nope. Not a thing," Ryoko smiled unconvincingly as Ayeka threw the kimono off to the side.
"Great, because I've got just the thing for each of you! By the way, I'm Ayta, I'll be assisting you out today," she gave them a big "buy our merchandise" smile and headed to the back room.
"Hi, Ayta," Ayeka and Ryoko chimed nervously.
Ayta returned with several kimono's draped over her arm. To Mihoshi she gave an orange and yellow one with a sunflower pattern, to Sasami a pink one with various flowers, Ayeka a purple shaded one with delicate lily pads and to Ryoko a cyan one with golden dragons adorning it. To each she gave an obi that matched the clothing.
"Lovely!" Ayeka exclaimed.
"How ever did you match us up so perfectly," Mihoshi asked, admiring hers.
"We have several newer styles that resemble those in different colors. It wasn't terribly hard," Ayta assured them. "Would you like an umbrella or a purse?"
In the end, Sasami got a matching umbrella, Ayeka and Ryoko matching purses and Mihoshi just had to have a mask she had seen in the front window.
The bell above the door jingled as the victorious girls spilled into the street. About halfway home, Ryoko realized Sasami was staring at her. Turning to the girl suspiciously, she said "What do you want?"
"May I do your hair, Ryoko?" she asked, smiling.
"Why on earth would you want to touch that filth?" Ayeka asked, getting in a little jab at Ryoko.
"You never do anything to it, would you mind if I tried? Please?" Sasami pleaded.
Ryoko shrugged, "It's your effort, not mine."
*
That night Sasami had stolen Ryoko as soon as dinner was over and dragged her up to her room. It was there that she began to pick and prod the long spiked tresses.
"Ouch, be careful!"
"Sorry, Ryoko-neechan. It's the bobby-pins. Just hold still another minute… There! Done!" Sasami held up a mirror.
Ryoko gazed into it, skeptically. "I look like a baka," she decided at last. A sweat drop appeared on Sasami's head.
"Um… Maybe that's not the right hairstyle for you," Sasami said uncertainly, shaking a can of hair spray.
*
Washu had given up on her task at hand and had decided to take a bath. She was greeted by Tenchi Mihoshi and Ayeka.
"So," Washu said, slipping into the hot bath, "where is my delinquent daughter? And Sasami, for that matter. Wouldn't want the little Princess to be corrupted…" she took a sip of the sake that was passed to her.
"It appears my dear sister has taken the ordeal of styling Ryoko's hair," Ayeka said, not looking up from her drink.
"May the Goddesses be with her," Washu shook her head. "What've you done today, my dear Tenchi?" she rubbed up against Tenchi affectionately.
"Um… nothing much… heh…"
"Miss Washu! Restrain yourself!" Ayeka yelled as Washu let her hands fall around Tenchi's midriff.
"Little Washu, please," Tenchi pleaded. Washu backed off, noticing that he wasn't in the greatest of moods.
"Wow, are we in a morgue or what!? Not very lively today, eh?"
"I have a lot on my mind," Ayeka explained and leaned against the side. She failed to mention that it was a lot of Tenchi.
"Do we have any plans for tomorrow?"
"Of course we do, Little Washu. The Cherry Blossom Festival, remember? Do you have something to wear?"
"Nope, but I'll survive. Besides, I've got a project I'm working on. I might not go," Washu said, her face suddenly solemn.
"Really? What are you working on?" Mihoshi asked.
"Oh… nothing. By the way, Mihoshi, I intercepted a call from one of your superiors. Apparently you have an inspection sometime this week," Washu broke into one of her infamous laughs as Mihoshi began to tear up and fumble with her GP watch, searching for an indication this was true.
*
Tenchi sighed as he walked down the hallway to his room, a towel draped over his bare shoulders. A scream erupting from Sasami and Ayeka's room caused him to jump and run in the direction from which it had come. Heroically Tenchi kicked open the bedroom door.
To find Ryoko sitting on the ground, three hairbrushes (and possibly more) stuck to her massive hair, the ground littered with empty spray cans and several deserted styling books. In the far corner, leaning up against the wall, was one very resigned Sasami.
"I give up," she muttered to herself. "I'm sorry, Ryoko. Let's go have a bath and clean you up." She stood and pulled on Ryoko's arm, but the space pirate refused to budge. Instead she had covered her head with a nearby towel.
"Don't look, Tenchi. It's… too gruesome," she whined dramatically. Tenchi smiled and leaned down, lifting her up in his arms.
Alarmed by his forwardness, Ryoko let the towel fall to the ground.
"C'mon, Sasami," he encouraged. "You made a valiant effort, but I think taming Ryoko hair is something that not even someone as gifted as you could handle. Let's go."
Sasami smiled. "Just you wait, Tenchi-neechan! I'll show you," she said playfully.
*
Ayeka lay back in her bed as soon as Sasami had cleared out the assortment of hair-care products. She curled up into a ball, her mind moving a mile a minute.
She could just see it now…
Tenchi would feel obliged to win her one of those cheap stuffed animals, and despite it's utterly hopeless stitching Ayeka would treasure it. Ryoko would get drunk and thus leave the young couple (Ayeka grinned as she thought of herself and Lord Tenchi as a "couple") to themselves. They would find a nice shady spot under a cherry blossom where Tenchi would tell her how beautiful she looked in that new kimono, and that he would do anything to see what was under it…
Ayeka's train of thought came to a careening halt. She scolded herself for having such un-princess-like thoughts. She decided to let her thoughts settle on forming a plan for getting alone time with Tenchi.
Sasami and Mihoshi would be easy, they would probably want to play some games. Washu, if she even went, would be more interested in the rides and pointing out how stone-age their mechanics were.
But Ryoko was the hard part. She would have to get the devil-woman drunk, and that would only dull her senses. What would distract her long enough to have some quality time with Tenchi?
If Lord Tenchi was mad at her perhaps she'd avoid him. No, Lord Tenchi couldn't stay mad for a whole day, and it was more likely that Kagato would return than Ryoko would stay away from Tenchi when he was angry.
An idea struck her just as the princess was dozing off.
*
"Tenchi! Tenchi are you ready to go?" Mihoshi banged on Tenchi's door.
"Coming," came the muffled reply. He emerged at last and nearly bumped into Mihoshi, who had been standing right up close to the door. Backing away, Tenchi got a glimpse of her.
"Wow, Mihoshi. You look great!"
"Really?" Mihoshi blushed and buried her face in her palms, peeking out through her fingers. Tenchi lead the giggling GP officer downstairs where they met Ayeka.
Tenchi couldn't help but let his jaw loose, if only for a second. "Miss Ayeka, you look lovely." Ayeka smiled, hoping he noticed that she wore bolder makeup.
"Ryoko, you look amazing, now c'mon! Don't make them wait forever!" the three heard Sasami's voice urging Ryoko downstairs. She came down, holding tightly to a hand, it's owner somewhere in the darkness of the staircase.
With one final yank, Sasami brought Ryoko into view.
To say Tenchi was amazed would be an understatement. Ryoko's kimono was not made of the thick fabric that the others were; her's appeared far more silky, and clung to her body in places that made Tenchi want to die.
Not only this, but it seemed that Sasami had proved Tenchi wrong. Ryoko's hair was up in a neat bun, her two trademark tresses in front of her ears hanging down. Just as Ayeka had picked tonight to flash some makeup on, so had Ryoko.
Somewhere in the background, Mihoshi was still giggling about Tenchi's compliments.
"R-Ryoko?" Tenchi asked, wondering if the brutal space pirate was hidden in there somewhere.
"What? What're you staring at!?" Ryoko snarled at the room, trying to pretend she didn't like the attention.
Ayeka seemed indignant. "Well, what are we waiting for?" she asked everyone, trying to put the spotlight back on her.
"We've got all night, Miss Ayeka. Calm down," Nobuyuki walked into the room and caught a glimpse of Ryoko. "Well, look what we have here. All of you girls look beautiful! Better get this show on the road if we want to make it in time for lunch." Ayeka glared at him, slightly miffed at his hypocrisy.
*
"Oh, Neechan, look!" Sasami yelled, tugging on Ayeka's sleeve. "Look, they have cute stuffed animals! And carrots," she smiled and giggled at Ryo-oki's reaction.
The gang had just finished lunch and watching a parade, and was now working their way through the afternoon.
"Yes, Sasami. Why don't you and Mihoshi go ahead and play some games? We'll meet back here, at oh, say nine? We can watch the fireworks together, okay?" Ayeka said, putting her plan into action.
"Sounds great," Sasami yelled, and after snatching Nobuyuki's wallet, quite to his dismay, she and Mihoshi headed off near the booths.
"Oh Tenchi," Ryoko breathed into Tenchi's ear. "There's a dunking booth right there, and a kissing booth over that way. What's say we ditch the bitch and make out like there's no tomorrow," She laughed at her own cleverness.
"What was that, Ryoko!" Ayeka clenched her fists.
"Both of you, stop! We're here to have fun. Now what do you wanna do?"
Ayeka regained her delicate composure and batted her eyelashes tempestuously. "Well, I was thinking we could stop off at a kareoke bar."
"We have a kareoke machine at home! Don't you wanna do something else?" Tenchi tried to reason.
"Oh, only for a moment, Tenchi dear."
Not wanting to hear anymore "Tenchi Dear" 's, he complied. The three made their way to a grungy bar that had half-assed decorations on the outside.
*
Three hours, seventeen bottles of sake and twelve glasses of Shôchû later, Ryoko was singing her heart out on a stage. The manager, since he could not get her to get down, had just turned off the microphone, leaving the demoness to look even more like a buffoon.
"Lord Tenchi," Ayeka tugged on Tenchi's sleeve to get his attention. He had been watching Ryoko's movements closely ever since she had climbed on stage.
"Huh? What?" he was suddenly alert.
"Why don't we go? We can come back later. After all, I don't want to disturb Ryoko…"
After much thought, Tenchi finally gave in. "All right, where would you like to go?" he asked reluctantly.
"Somewhere… private," she said quietly as they exited.
The fresh air suddenly made Tenchi feel alive, and he took a deep breath as soon as they were out of the smoke filled bar.
By now it had grown dark, and the stars were out. Ayeka led Tenchi to one of the hills covered in Cherry Blossom trees, and laid down on the soft earth, looking up at the heavens.
Tenchi lay next to her, breathing in the sweet dampness of the night. "You don't suppose it'll rain, do you?" he said after a while.
Ayeka rolled over, so that her head was on his shoulder and her arm was on his chest. "I don't suppose it would rain on such a perfect night," she said dreamily.
Tenchi turned a deep crimson and tried not to move too much.
Just as he had suspected, and quite to his relief, rain drops began plopping down on them. He sat up, tossing Ayeka to the ground.
"Oops, sorry. Hehe. Maybe we should get somewhere dry?" Tenchi suggested.
Ayeka, still quite angry that her moment had been ruined, huffed, "If we must," and let Tenchi pull her to her feet. The two ran across the grass, Tenchi holding his coat over her head.
I knew I should've bought that umbrella. But then again, I wouldn't bee so close to Tenchi right now if I had…
*
After an encore presentation of all of her favorite songs, Ryoko finally realized she was alone. The demoness stumbled out of the bar, only to find that it was raining heavily.
She tried to call out Tenchi's name, but found that her head was hurting far too badly to do much of anything.
It was now that Ryoko realized that it wasn't the alcohol that was making her dizzy. Glimpses of her strange dreams kept flashing before her eyes until she fell to her knees.
In a sudden burst of panic and strength, Ryoko stood and ran clumsily, bumping into everyone in the crowd.
*
Tenchi and Ayeka couldn't see much through the thick rain except for the flocks of people leaving or running to find shelter. Despite their best efforts, both of them were completely soaked.
Suddenly, in mid-stride, Ayeka stopped. She pulled Tenchi's arm, causing him to look back at her in confusion.
"Ayeka, c'mon! It's freezing," he yelled.
Ayeka didn't pay attention. She couldn't have planned this better if she had tried.
Slowly, she pulled him closer, and closer still. At last she forced him to wrap his arms around her drenched body. Excitedly, though she wasn't showing it, she pulled his lips to hers, until they pressed tightly together.
"Neechan!" Sasami yelled happily, using her umbrella. "Tenchi! Oh look, Mihoshi we've found them!"
Ayeka pulled away from the surprised Tenchi and placed her index finger on his lips, still staring at them romantically. She turned around swiftly to accept her sisters embrace.
Despite the freezing summer rain and the cold night air, Ayeka felt like she was going to explode inside.
"Now all we have to do is find Ryoko," Ayeka said to her sibling, who presented her with a stuffed teddy-bear. "Which will be easy, because she's still in the ba-"
"Ryoko!" Tenchi yelled. He had noticed Ryoko walking away from them when Sasami had appeared, but now realized that there was something very wrong with her. She was stumbling around, tripping over her own feet. He began running after the demoness, and in a few moments was lost to the others in the thick sheets of rain.
*
Ryoko felt herself crying, though she didn't know why. Her throat was going hoarse in attempts to scream. And all she could see now was that man… killing Livia…
Someone grabbed her by the elbows and shook her, yelling something she didn't understand. She tore at the unknown force weakly and tried to run, only to be apprehended again.
The image of her dead foster-mother faded and gave way to one of Tenchi holding her tightly and looking at her with fear. A few moments later his words began to make sense.
"Are you all right? Ryoko! What's the matter!?"
Ryoko fell to her knees and looked at him, her soul in her eyes. "Please, save her," she sobbed, her salty tears mixing with the rain.
Tenchi knelt down beside her and held her tightly, praying that she was all right. Her makeup had run, causing her now unnaturally pale complexion to look even more sickly. He brushed back some of her matted hair and kissed her forehead lightly, watching as the others ran towards them
Perhaps Tenchi would have done more if he knew it was the last night he would see her.
* * *
That's all, folks. I'll be updating soon. Let me know what ya think!
-Jyl