Disclaimer: I don't own Tenchi Muyo or any of the characters.
It fell slowly from the sky, twirling and dancing in the wind, without a care in the world. It moved gracefully, almost mechanically until it hit the surface which caused it to explode into thousands of tiny fragments. Ryoko wiped her nose and looked up at the sky.
"It's starting to snow." She informed the group she was walking with. No one spoke again until they had reached their destination, the Masaki house. Upon entering the house and removing their shoes, each member of that group took off on their separate ways. Ayeka ascended the stairs to her bedroom, Ryoko to her rafter, Sasami to the kitchen, Ryo-ohki propped on her head in cabbit form, Mihoshi to the television; and Washu to her lab. They all had quite a bit of thinking to do after the meeting Washu had called them to, out in the forest in the cold, windy Okayama weather.
"It will happen soon." Washu had started the meeting out by saying this statement. Most of the girls had understood what she was referring to, minus the bubbleheaded, blonde Galaxy Police officer. "Tenchi will make his decision by the end of this week..." She paused for a moment, looking at Ryoko and then Ayeka. "One of you will be deeply hurt, but I pray you don't do anything stupid to hurt yourself or Tenchi. That would include killing the person Tenchi chooses." The petite scientist looked at the cyan haired demoness. Ryoko scoffed and folded her arms, after all, it's not like SHE wasn't going to be chosen.
Sitting up on her rafter now, Ryoko had wondered what she'd do if, in fact, Tenchi didn't choose her. She felt her heart collapse, the pain was unbearable and her eyes began to tear up. Quickly thinking of other things to take the pain away, Ryoko regained her composure. She laughed a bit uneasily, wiping the sweat that had formed on her brow away. "Thank Kami-sama I have nothing to worry about..." She floated up to the roof and disappeared through the ceiling.
***
Ayeka slowly brought the brush through her long tresses of hair, studying herself intently in the mirror. There wasn't a thing wrong with her, she had beautiful eyes, skin, hair, family...she knew that she would be the one Tenchi would choose. A grin crept to her soft lips as her eyes lit up at the thought of having Tenchi all to herself, finally making this trip to Earth a trip that wasn't wasted. She could almost picture the moment when Tenchi confessed his love to her, Prince and Princess, living happily ever after. It was all the young Princess had dreamed of all her life. They could move back to Jurai and start a family, Ayeka had already begun to imagine what their children would look like. She blushed as she realized she was becoming too serious with the matter, and she shook her head. There would be plenty of time to plan after Tenchi made his decision, they would have all the time in the world. Putting the brush down, Ayeka stood up and made her way out of her room, closing the door quietly behind her.
***
Setting some vegetables on the kitchen counter, Tenchi looked at Sasami and smiled. For such a young girl, she sure was more responsible than any other in the household. Sasami smiled back, Ryo-ohki still on her head. Sasami knew she wouldn't be chosen to be Tenchi's bride, even though she was older than she looked, she was still a child to Tenchi...a sister to him. Sasami could handle that, she loved Tenchi more like a brother than anything and just hoped he would choose right between Ryoko and Ayeka.
"Need any help with cooking?" Tenchi interupted her thoughts. Sasami shook her head quickly.
"That's ok, Tenchi-niichan." She looked up at him. "It should be done shortly, thank you anyway!"
"No problem." Tenchi waved his hand and turned to leave the kitchen. "I'll just go make myself useful elsewhere." He smiled over his shoulder as he exited the room. Upon looking around and seeing nothing to do, he walked to the window. Snow fell lightly to the ground, disappearing upon impact. Tenchi watched for a moment before putting his jacket and shoes on and leaving the house. The wind immediately froze his nose the moment he opened the door. The temperature had certainly dropped from the time he got the vegetables out of the shed to the present.
He looked around casually as he walked. Soon the whole grounds would be covered in the cold white substance, creating more work for him to do. He decided to enjoy it while he could, it had been a while since he'd been able to see snow without becoming depressed. Tenchi turned to face the house, sensing that he was not alone. He smiled slightly as he saw Ryoko slide off the roof and slowly make her way over to him.
"You're not cold, Tenchi?" She asked, looking at him with one eyebrow raised.
"Not really." He replied, which was the truth.
"Too bad, Tenchi..." She whispered teasingly. "I know of some really...hmm...fun ways to warm up." She licked her lips and her eyes flashed. Tenchi backed up.
"I'm fine, thanks anyway, Ryoko." He turned to walk, noticing the snow had started to stick to the ground. Ryoko sighed and followed his footsteps, admiring the man before her as she walked.
"Where are you going, Tenchi?" She asked, noticing they were just making circles around the house. Tenchi laughed and shrugged his shoulders.
"I couldn't tell you, I'm just walking...going where my feet take me." He replied. Ryoko nodded.
"Your feet aren't very adventurous, are they?" She frowned slightly, hoping to be alone with him.
"I guess not..." He replied sheepishly, looking at the girl. "Ryoko...there's something I have to tell you."
"Oh?" She looked at him, surprised. She hadn't expected him to do it this soon. Tenchi took a step over to her, but slipped on some ice and knocked her down, falling on top of her. "Oof!" She winced as her head hit the hard ground. Tenchi lay on top of her, not moving. She looked up to make sure he was still conscious, and to her surprise, he was...in fact, he was staring right into her golden eyes. Ryoko bit her lip, wanting to kiss him, but not wanting to ruin the moment. Tenchi just continued to stare, knowing he shouldn't, but doing it anyway. One thing he had to admit was that she had beautiful eyes, he thought to himself. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Tenchi groaned and pushed himself off of her, extending his hand to help the fallen girl up. Ryoko smiled a little bit and accepted the hand, which even after she was standing, she still held.
"Ryoko...I..." Tenchi began, as their hands slowly separated. "I had a hard time choosing between you and Ayeka, you know...I adore you both, you're the perfect women."
"So you've chosen, Tenchi?" Ryoko asked, her heart pounding. After that moment they just shared, Ryoko had a pretty good idea of who he had chosen.
"Yes." He sighed and looked deeply into her eyes. "Ryoko...I...I want to spend the rest of my life with...." He paused.
"..." Ryoko could barely contain her emotions. She knew deep down that he loved her, she just wanted to hear him say it for himself. Something she had always dreamt of.
"Ayeka..." He finished. Ryoko didn't understand. That's not how her name is pronounced...in fact...that wasn't her name at all. Her heart fell like a lead balloon, her face hiding the immense pain that she was overcome with. "I'm sorry, Ryoko. I care about you a lot, but I just don't see myself spending eternity with you."
"I understand..." Her voice came out shaky and soft. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled, Tenchi...go tell her the good news." She pat his back lightly, and turned away, trying to hide the tears as she disappeared. Tenchi had seen and felt horrible...but he knew he was doing what was best for him.
***
Sobs choked Ryoko as she let the tears fall freely now. All her emotions were mixed...she was heartbroken, angry, jealous, and she felt so weak. She wiped her eyes with the back of her fist as the tears continued to fall, non-stop. How? Why? When did Tenchi become so attatched to the Princess? Earthlings don't believe in incest, how is this possible? So many disturbing thoughts went through her head, bringing forth more tears and more sobs. Everything she lived for had just left her...all hope was gone, she felt useless. She looked up at the sky, it was still snowing. She sat on the edge of a large rock, letting the cold snow mix with her hot tears. The mixture felt pleasing, yet she felt empty. It wouldn't be anytime soon that the tears would stop falling.
***
Ayeka was a mess, she was pacing her room frantically, tears streaming down her face. Tenchi had chosen! Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs earlier, she had glanced out the window and saw Tenchi laying on Ryoko. She stared, unblinking until she couldn't bear it anymore and retreated back to her room to cry. She didn't know what to do now, she had be rejected...the second time in her life. Tenchi was just like Yosho...both of them had left the heartbroken Princess for the demon. Shaking with a mixture of emotions, the Princess remembered Washu's words. 'One of you will be deeply hurt, but I pray you don't do anything stupid to hurt yourself or Tenchi.'
Hurting herself...hurting herself...that was the answer. She needed to ease the pain the only way she could think of. She got down on her knees, searching through all her things. She knew there was a knife in here somewhere...Sasami's lucky knife that the little girl treasured and kept in her room. There! Ayeka saw a shimmer of light and moved a few random objects aside to reveal a sharp blade. He reached in and grabbed the knife, holding it lightly in her delicate hands. She looked at it briefly, swallowing her pride and her fear. She raised the knife above her heart, tears still flowing down her rosy cheeks. But the knife never came down.
She sighed slowly, sobbing afterward as she lowered the knife. She was a coward, unable to do such a simple task. She was a failure. She failed to get Yosho, to get Tenchi, to kill herself. Failure didn't come easily to the Princess, her thoughts were scrambled and her body shook.
"Need some help?" A voice behind her startled her. Ayeka whipped around to meet the petite scientist, face to face.
"W-W-Washu-s-san...." Ayeka's voice broke as she stared, shocked at the girl.
"I can help you fake your death if you want...while you go elsewhere and rebuild your life?" Washu suggested rather calmly.
"You'd do that for me?" Ayeka asked, looking at her through tear filled eyes.
"Hai." The genius child lifted her index finger in the air. "Now, they are coming back to the house...if you want this to be a success, be a good girl and be quiet in my lab." And with that said, Ayeka disappeared with a small yelp. Washu grinned and got to work.
***
Mihoshi got up from the couch and climbed the stairs. She didn't know why, but she had an urge to go up there and investigate. She reached the last step and looked around, feeling something was out of place. She walked to Tenchi's door which was slid open a very tiny bit, Mihoshi slid it open even more and looked around. Nothing out of the ordinary...she closed the door tightly and moved on...next was her room. She peeked in real quickly and found nothing, closing the door, she moved onto Ayeka's room. She knew Ayeka had ran to her room earlier for some unknown reason, so Mihoshi knocked lightly on the door.
"Ayeka? It's me...are you in there?" She said, knocking again. "Ayeka? Ayeka? I'm coming in..." The poor girl was not prepared for the sight that met her eyes, which widened in extreme shock. Her mouth hung open, twitching as if she were fighting for the words to say....finally, she let out a loud, blood curdling scream, which shook the house.
***
The scream echoed throughout the lab, causing the two girls in there to cover their ears. Washu and Ayeka had been discussing possible places to start a life over. Washu had suggested Kyoto or Nara, two beautiful spots in Japan that could make one forget about any troubles life gives them. Ayeka was thinking more along the lines of a busy place, Tokyo, perhaps.
"They found you." Washu smirked after the scream erupted the lab.
"Oh my...I feel so rotten, Washu-san." Ayeka said, pain still apparant in her eyes.
"It'll be ok. You're doing what's best for you, that's all there is to it." The pink haired genius pat her back softly. "With time, you'll all be good as new."
"I suppose you're right." Ayeka agreed, looking down at her hands, which carried a suitcase. "Now you're sure this is everything I need?"
"Yes. You find an empty space, preferably a big space. Lay that down and open it, it's a portable apartment...you'll be all set in that for a few months until you get settled...then I need it back."
"What do you mean by all set? I have housing, yes...but as for food and clothing..." Ayeka began.
"It's all included." Washu waved her hand. "Food and clothing as much as you could ever need or want, for that matter. I really am a genius, aren't I?"
"Erm.." Ayeka's eyebrow twitched a little as she forced a small smile. "Yes, of course you are..."
"Now, on your way, little Ayeka." Washu pushed the girl onto a giant, red X and waved as she pushed a single button on one of her machines. She watched as Ayeka disappeared, gone to Tokyo...possibly forever.
A.N. Ok...I know where this story is going, but I'm debating on whether or not to make it a Sailor Moon crossover. Ah well, I guess you'll just find out next time. :)
It fell slowly from the sky, twirling and dancing in the wind, without a care in the world. It moved gracefully, almost mechanically until it hit the surface which caused it to explode into thousands of tiny fragments. Ryoko wiped her nose and looked up at the sky.
"It's starting to snow." She informed the group she was walking with. No one spoke again until they had reached their destination, the Masaki house. Upon entering the house and removing their shoes, each member of that group took off on their separate ways. Ayeka ascended the stairs to her bedroom, Ryoko to her rafter, Sasami to the kitchen, Ryo-ohki propped on her head in cabbit form, Mihoshi to the television; and Washu to her lab. They all had quite a bit of thinking to do after the meeting Washu had called them to, out in the forest in the cold, windy Okayama weather.
"It will happen soon." Washu had started the meeting out by saying this statement. Most of the girls had understood what she was referring to, minus the bubbleheaded, blonde Galaxy Police officer. "Tenchi will make his decision by the end of this week..." She paused for a moment, looking at Ryoko and then Ayeka. "One of you will be deeply hurt, but I pray you don't do anything stupid to hurt yourself or Tenchi. That would include killing the person Tenchi chooses." The petite scientist looked at the cyan haired demoness. Ryoko scoffed and folded her arms, after all, it's not like SHE wasn't going to be chosen.
Sitting up on her rafter now, Ryoko had wondered what she'd do if, in fact, Tenchi didn't choose her. She felt her heart collapse, the pain was unbearable and her eyes began to tear up. Quickly thinking of other things to take the pain away, Ryoko regained her composure. She laughed a bit uneasily, wiping the sweat that had formed on her brow away. "Thank Kami-sama I have nothing to worry about..." She floated up to the roof and disappeared through the ceiling.
***
Ayeka slowly brought the brush through her long tresses of hair, studying herself intently in the mirror. There wasn't a thing wrong with her, she had beautiful eyes, skin, hair, family...she knew that she would be the one Tenchi would choose. A grin crept to her soft lips as her eyes lit up at the thought of having Tenchi all to herself, finally making this trip to Earth a trip that wasn't wasted. She could almost picture the moment when Tenchi confessed his love to her, Prince and Princess, living happily ever after. It was all the young Princess had dreamed of all her life. They could move back to Jurai and start a family, Ayeka had already begun to imagine what their children would look like. She blushed as she realized she was becoming too serious with the matter, and she shook her head. There would be plenty of time to plan after Tenchi made his decision, they would have all the time in the world. Putting the brush down, Ayeka stood up and made her way out of her room, closing the door quietly behind her.
***
Setting some vegetables on the kitchen counter, Tenchi looked at Sasami and smiled. For such a young girl, she sure was more responsible than any other in the household. Sasami smiled back, Ryo-ohki still on her head. Sasami knew she wouldn't be chosen to be Tenchi's bride, even though she was older than she looked, she was still a child to Tenchi...a sister to him. Sasami could handle that, she loved Tenchi more like a brother than anything and just hoped he would choose right between Ryoko and Ayeka.
"Need any help with cooking?" Tenchi interupted her thoughts. Sasami shook her head quickly.
"That's ok, Tenchi-niichan." She looked up at him. "It should be done shortly, thank you anyway!"
"No problem." Tenchi waved his hand and turned to leave the kitchen. "I'll just go make myself useful elsewhere." He smiled over his shoulder as he exited the room. Upon looking around and seeing nothing to do, he walked to the window. Snow fell lightly to the ground, disappearing upon impact. Tenchi watched for a moment before putting his jacket and shoes on and leaving the house. The wind immediately froze his nose the moment he opened the door. The temperature had certainly dropped from the time he got the vegetables out of the shed to the present.
He looked around casually as he walked. Soon the whole grounds would be covered in the cold white substance, creating more work for him to do. He decided to enjoy it while he could, it had been a while since he'd been able to see snow without becoming depressed. Tenchi turned to face the house, sensing that he was not alone. He smiled slightly as he saw Ryoko slide off the roof and slowly make her way over to him.
"You're not cold, Tenchi?" She asked, looking at him with one eyebrow raised.
"Not really." He replied, which was the truth.
"Too bad, Tenchi..." She whispered teasingly. "I know of some really...hmm...fun ways to warm up." She licked her lips and her eyes flashed. Tenchi backed up.
"I'm fine, thanks anyway, Ryoko." He turned to walk, noticing the snow had started to stick to the ground. Ryoko sighed and followed his footsteps, admiring the man before her as she walked.
"Where are you going, Tenchi?" She asked, noticing they were just making circles around the house. Tenchi laughed and shrugged his shoulders.
"I couldn't tell you, I'm just walking...going where my feet take me." He replied. Ryoko nodded.
"Your feet aren't very adventurous, are they?" She frowned slightly, hoping to be alone with him.
"I guess not..." He replied sheepishly, looking at the girl. "Ryoko...there's something I have to tell you."
"Oh?" She looked at him, surprised. She hadn't expected him to do it this soon. Tenchi took a step over to her, but slipped on some ice and knocked her down, falling on top of her. "Oof!" She winced as her head hit the hard ground. Tenchi lay on top of her, not moving. She looked up to make sure he was still conscious, and to her surprise, he was...in fact, he was staring right into her golden eyes. Ryoko bit her lip, wanting to kiss him, but not wanting to ruin the moment. Tenchi just continued to stare, knowing he shouldn't, but doing it anyway. One thing he had to admit was that she had beautiful eyes, he thought to himself. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Tenchi groaned and pushed himself off of her, extending his hand to help the fallen girl up. Ryoko smiled a little bit and accepted the hand, which even after she was standing, she still held.
"Ryoko...I..." Tenchi began, as their hands slowly separated. "I had a hard time choosing between you and Ayeka, you know...I adore you both, you're the perfect women."
"So you've chosen, Tenchi?" Ryoko asked, her heart pounding. After that moment they just shared, Ryoko had a pretty good idea of who he had chosen.
"Yes." He sighed and looked deeply into her eyes. "Ryoko...I...I want to spend the rest of my life with...." He paused.
"..." Ryoko could barely contain her emotions. She knew deep down that he loved her, she just wanted to hear him say it for himself. Something she had always dreamt of.
"Ayeka..." He finished. Ryoko didn't understand. That's not how her name is pronounced...in fact...that wasn't her name at all. Her heart fell like a lead balloon, her face hiding the immense pain that she was overcome with. "I'm sorry, Ryoko. I care about you a lot, but I just don't see myself spending eternity with you."
"I understand..." Her voice came out shaky and soft. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled, Tenchi...go tell her the good news." She pat his back lightly, and turned away, trying to hide the tears as she disappeared. Tenchi had seen and felt horrible...but he knew he was doing what was best for him.
***
Sobs choked Ryoko as she let the tears fall freely now. All her emotions were mixed...she was heartbroken, angry, jealous, and she felt so weak. She wiped her eyes with the back of her fist as the tears continued to fall, non-stop. How? Why? When did Tenchi become so attatched to the Princess? Earthlings don't believe in incest, how is this possible? So many disturbing thoughts went through her head, bringing forth more tears and more sobs. Everything she lived for had just left her...all hope was gone, she felt useless. She looked up at the sky, it was still snowing. She sat on the edge of a large rock, letting the cold snow mix with her hot tears. The mixture felt pleasing, yet she felt empty. It wouldn't be anytime soon that the tears would stop falling.
***
Ayeka was a mess, she was pacing her room frantically, tears streaming down her face. Tenchi had chosen! Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs earlier, she had glanced out the window and saw Tenchi laying on Ryoko. She stared, unblinking until she couldn't bear it anymore and retreated back to her room to cry. She didn't know what to do now, she had be rejected...the second time in her life. Tenchi was just like Yosho...both of them had left the heartbroken Princess for the demon. Shaking with a mixture of emotions, the Princess remembered Washu's words. 'One of you will be deeply hurt, but I pray you don't do anything stupid to hurt yourself or Tenchi.'
Hurting herself...hurting herself...that was the answer. She needed to ease the pain the only way she could think of. She got down on her knees, searching through all her things. She knew there was a knife in here somewhere...Sasami's lucky knife that the little girl treasured and kept in her room. There! Ayeka saw a shimmer of light and moved a few random objects aside to reveal a sharp blade. He reached in and grabbed the knife, holding it lightly in her delicate hands. She looked at it briefly, swallowing her pride and her fear. She raised the knife above her heart, tears still flowing down her rosy cheeks. But the knife never came down.
She sighed slowly, sobbing afterward as she lowered the knife. She was a coward, unable to do such a simple task. She was a failure. She failed to get Yosho, to get Tenchi, to kill herself. Failure didn't come easily to the Princess, her thoughts were scrambled and her body shook.
"Need some help?" A voice behind her startled her. Ayeka whipped around to meet the petite scientist, face to face.
"W-W-Washu-s-san...." Ayeka's voice broke as she stared, shocked at the girl.
"I can help you fake your death if you want...while you go elsewhere and rebuild your life?" Washu suggested rather calmly.
"You'd do that for me?" Ayeka asked, looking at her through tear filled eyes.
"Hai." The genius child lifted her index finger in the air. "Now, they are coming back to the house...if you want this to be a success, be a good girl and be quiet in my lab." And with that said, Ayeka disappeared with a small yelp. Washu grinned and got to work.
***
Mihoshi got up from the couch and climbed the stairs. She didn't know why, but she had an urge to go up there and investigate. She reached the last step and looked around, feeling something was out of place. She walked to Tenchi's door which was slid open a very tiny bit, Mihoshi slid it open even more and looked around. Nothing out of the ordinary...she closed the door tightly and moved on...next was her room. She peeked in real quickly and found nothing, closing the door, she moved onto Ayeka's room. She knew Ayeka had ran to her room earlier for some unknown reason, so Mihoshi knocked lightly on the door.
"Ayeka? It's me...are you in there?" She said, knocking again. "Ayeka? Ayeka? I'm coming in..." The poor girl was not prepared for the sight that met her eyes, which widened in extreme shock. Her mouth hung open, twitching as if she were fighting for the words to say....finally, she let out a loud, blood curdling scream, which shook the house.
***
The scream echoed throughout the lab, causing the two girls in there to cover their ears. Washu and Ayeka had been discussing possible places to start a life over. Washu had suggested Kyoto or Nara, two beautiful spots in Japan that could make one forget about any troubles life gives them. Ayeka was thinking more along the lines of a busy place, Tokyo, perhaps.
"They found you." Washu smirked after the scream erupted the lab.
"Oh my...I feel so rotten, Washu-san." Ayeka said, pain still apparant in her eyes.
"It'll be ok. You're doing what's best for you, that's all there is to it." The pink haired genius pat her back softly. "With time, you'll all be good as new."
"I suppose you're right." Ayeka agreed, looking down at her hands, which carried a suitcase. "Now you're sure this is everything I need?"
"Yes. You find an empty space, preferably a big space. Lay that down and open it, it's a portable apartment...you'll be all set in that for a few months until you get settled...then I need it back."
"What do you mean by all set? I have housing, yes...but as for food and clothing..." Ayeka began.
"It's all included." Washu waved her hand. "Food and clothing as much as you could ever need or want, for that matter. I really am a genius, aren't I?"
"Erm.." Ayeka's eyebrow twitched a little as she forced a small smile. "Yes, of course you are..."
"Now, on your way, little Ayeka." Washu pushed the girl onto a giant, red X and waved as she pushed a single button on one of her machines. She watched as Ayeka disappeared, gone to Tokyo...possibly forever.
A.N. Ok...I know where this story is going, but I'm debating on whether or not to make it a Sailor Moon crossover. Ah well, I guess you'll just find out next time. :)