A/N: It's been yeaaars since I've written for Tenchi. And, even better, I don't even think that old fic is up anymore. Not that it matters, seeing as it was horrible. I was going for something a little different with this, and I'm not sure I captured it. I have yet to even be able to rewatch the series, so I pray that the characters fit. This is based off the prompt: open your eyes. Yeah, it totally goes well with it. Not. Anyway, I hope you guys like it!

Reflections

Ryoko lifted her cup again, the flavor of the liquid as unknown to her as ever, just drinking for drinking's sake. She was leaning back in her cushion, her eyes lacking their gleam--one that has snagged many a man--as she murmured a quiet, "Lord knows best, right?" and then laughed at her own statement. The woman beside her attempted to remain dignified.

"C'mon," the space pirate urged, wagging the half-empty bottle near her friend. "Have a drink with me." The smell of liquor made the princess of Jurai wince, but after a moment's thought, finally gave in.

With a soft snort, Ayeka took the drink and sipped. "I'll have you know," she whispered, "that I'm only doing this because I don't want you to look pathetic by yourself."

A laugh escaped Ryoko's grinning lips. "Is that what they call it these days?" She smirked wider and snaked an arm across the other woman's shoulders. The words were breathy and simple: "It's drinking. Getting plastered. Drowning your sorrows--and all that shit." Grumbling, she pulled away and tugged her knees close. "I just wish the damn sake had more of effect on me."

"That's what you get for being a freak of nature," the woman with purple hair replied matter-of-factly, tossing a smile out there. Her cheeks were rosy from the alcohol already, and inwardly she knew she was going to regret it in the morning.

The pirate rolled her golden eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a monster--and you're a prissy princess."

The room was dark, save for the flickering candle on the table beside them. Everyone else had gone to bed early to prepare for the coming day. It was going to be a long one… but at the moment, neither could find the will to sleep.

"Tomorrow it is," Ayeka suddenly said. Her voice shook, the strength behind it seconds ago cracking and falling with each syllable. "I suppose we'll never know who he loves the most, will we?"

"Please," Ryoko interjected with a hand wave. She leaned back, resting her weight on the palms of her hands and looking up at the wooden ceiling. "He loves me the most, of course."

The bottle that she'd been nursing slammed to the table (and she wondered where she'd gotten the strength to do such a thing). "I'll have you know that Lord Tenchi loves me the most! And I will prove it someday!"

"Oh?" She filled her cup again, swishing the contents as she paid little mind to the royalty beside her. "Tell me. How far did you get with Tenchi, again?" Her eyes flicked over to Ayeka for but a second, taking in the blush and the look of defeat crossing her face. Ryoko sniggered, her drink spilling as she did so. "Don't give me that pathetic look. You idiot, I got about as far as you did, and you know it."

"I know…," she muttered. Her blush darkened as she began to trace the edge of the bottle. "Is it wrong… that I wish I had tried to be more like you, sometimes?" She gasped and brought both hands to her cheeks in embarrassment. "Not like you, I meant! I simply wish… that I had been braver in my interactions with Lord Tenchi."

The laughter bubbled up slowly, pouring over as Ryoko fell onto her back and began to wipe the tears of amusement from her eyes. Her cup rolled a few feet away, the sake seeping into the cracks on the floor. "Me? You wanted to be like me? Oh, he would have run away for sure, Princess." As the chuckles subsided, she rolled over and buried her face in her arms. "Honestly, I wanted to be more regal or something… I figure I just kept scaring him away."

"Maybe… maybe we just didn't quite know how to handle him?" Ayeka suggested with a hint of comfort--for both herself and for the space pirate she considered a friend.

"Hell if I know," was the quiet response.

The two drank until dawn.

----

In the morning, Tenchi was cremated. His ashes were split amongst the girls he held so dear. Never again would he open his eyes, but he would always be with them.

(love lasts forever)