Haunting Dreams, Sobering Reality: Chapter II

By Takeda Kenji

Tenchi Masaki hadn't ever moved so quickly in his life. Nor had he ever felt so weighted down. His haste was such that he was having trouble buttoning his shirt as his fingers trembled. It got to the point that Tsunami floated to him and began to gently aid him in mastering the buttoning of his shirt. "I know how to do this," Tenchi said, reflexively embarrassed at his clumsiness and at having to be helped with such a rote task as dressing himself. He was at least thankful for the fact that he held his tongue. Between grief and frustration, it was a wonder that his emotion didn't turn to anger.

"I know you know how to do this, beloved--"

"Why do you call me that, Tsunami?" Tenchi whispered, perplexed. Their lips brushed from close proximity.

"Oh Tenchi, you're a smart wonderful man. And that was a really dumb question," Tsunami whispered back, her pink eyes somehow able to find some mirth in a bleak situation.

"I…love Sasami. I will always love her. I will always want to keep her safe," Tenchi whispered, as he began to struggle with the notion of actually expressing his feelings.

"You've always loved her, koishii," Tsunami replied, as he finished buttoning his shirt. "She's known it."

"Where is she?" Tenchi replied, finally noticing that that pigtailed, azure hair household cook of whom they spoke was nowhere to be found.

"Tenchi no baka," Tsunami replied, with Sasami's voice. "We're one. We've merged."

Tenchi stared at them numbly, his jaw refusing to work for some time. The very idea that this little girl – whom he loved as…a sister and in a strange dichotomy, as a bride to be in the future – was now one with the Goddess that he considered his light in the darkest times of his life. In the blink of an eye she had been there to protect him from Z – the fact that Tokimi had gotten there first was immaterial. His Patron Goddess had come. This was a particularly troubling line of thought Tenchi was traveling down.

To admit love for either one of them was tantamount to drawing a line in the sand. It was equivocal to making a momentous shift in policy by which the girls of the house have to toe the line or leave. He loved Ryoko, he loved Ayeka, and who couldn't love the kind spirit that was Mihoshi? Ditz though she may have been, that First Class Detective Mihoshi had a heart of gold and Tenchi loved her dearly for it. At the same time, he couldn't play this game anymore. It had been whimsical fun to run around in circles; to never admit love and to let everyone play their part in this situation comedy that could be aptly described as life at the Masaki Household. But at the end of the day, the shit had hit the fan and now it was time to make decisions. A king was dead and now a new ruler was going to have to take his place. That either meant that Tenchi and his bride (or brides, depending on the circumstances) were going to have to ascend to the throne or he could wish Ayeka well as she headed off to her coronation.

Everyone liked to hope, everyone liked to dream. Tenchi had lost count of the times he had gone to bed with the image of Ryoko's naked body or Ayeka's firm posterior, or…Kami-sama, Mihoshi's frame which was worthy of worship on his mind. He loved them all, and for a moment, he was tempted to put a ring on all of their fingers and have them all call him Husband. However, while Tenchi was a high-dimensional being above the Chousin, he certainly wasn't a multitasker. And that would have been a lot of tail in the marriage bed come the moment after the Scooby gang had all set food in the honeymoon suite. He had conquered a fellow wielder of the Light Hawk Wings, calmed the Counter-Actor, and saved the Universe (all of them) and by Tsunami's blue hair, he had done it all while maintaining fabulously manageable and shiny shampooed hair!

But this was different.

Maintaining a harem was serious business. Business more serious than Tenchi thought he could handle without failing epically.

It was such a quick decision he made, to lean forward and kiss her on the lips. That she nearly overwhelmed him in reciprocation didn't matter in the slightest. He was slowly making baby steps from the boy who shied away from a woman's proximity to the man who could make the decision to kiss a woman. He liked Tsunami a whole lot and now that Sasami was one with her, there was a burgeoning impulse within him that this was the right decision. And it needed to be made right now. Tenchi was scared, he was scared to death. This wasn't an issue he took lightly but it was a gripping thing, this feeling pushing closer and closer to her.

He needed her.

She needed him.

Whether or not he chose any of the other girls, one thing was crystal clear before his eyes: he would not live a life without Sasami. He simply wouldn't, it was that clear.

"Tsunami, Sasami-chan…"

"Yes Tenchi?" Tsunami replied, her voice a lyrical blending of her voice mixed with Sasami's. It would have been a bit more disturbing, were Tenchi not so placated by her achingly full figure pressed to his.

"This is going to be very difficult, the next few months, I mean. I'm not sure what i want to do…or even more importantly, what needs to be done. I…I know that I can't sit on the fence any longer. I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings and to be honest; it was my right not to have to decide. However, this is no longer the case. I cannot remain neutral any longer. I must go to Jurai, right?"

"Yes."

"Sasami, Tsunami, I don't want to live a life without you two. I don't know what I'm going to do about the others but what I do know; I'd be nothing without you in my life. So please," Tenchi began, bracing himself before diving headfirst into an act of decision so contrary to his easygoing indecisiveness. "Onegai, please accept me as your husband," he asked of the Divinity before him. His voice was almost a whisper but there was steel in his resolve. He knew he was making the right choice. Contrary to what others might have said, he also felt that he had made it at the right time. He would have liked to propose to the love of his life, the woman he wanted to be his wife, in happier circumstances. That, however, was not an option.

Tsunami was responsible for the entity that was Jurai. Though her sister Tokimi had created the universe in which Tenchi lived, Tsunami was directly responsible for Tenchi's life. More than her other two sisters, she had watched over him and cared for him in a longing way. She had fallen deeply in love with her own creation. She had been willing to shatter dimensions if it meant keeping her champion alive. Sasami had merely fed that love, and strengthened it to a cutting strength beyond any nihonto the Japanese could possibly devise. She loved this man and to listen to him say the words that both she and her avatar had longed to hear was a rapturous joy unlike anything she had ever experience.

"Gladly," she said, "I'd gladly a million times over become your wife."

Tenchi hadn't expected any different, he could be dense but even he could see this yes a million miles away coming right for him. But a thought occurred to him. "Tsunami…"

"Hai?"

"How was it that it was you and not Ryoko that came in?"

"Simply, she was out drinking and when I felt the disturbance of Azuza's ship detonating –"

"You blocked her out?"

"Yes, Tenchi, I did."
"Tsunami…" Tenchi said, his eyes mildly reproachful.

"Nothing was done to alter your will. We were simply free of distractions," Tsunami said, her voice brooking no argument. There wasn't much Tenchi could say about that, besides, he was glad that Ryoko wasn't made to witness that which might have shattered her. He took no pleasure in what he anticipated to be Ryoko's grief. "Tenchi, you must tell the others…"

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The mood was grim, as obviously everyone could feel that things were not simply the same. Nor would they ever be again. Ryoko and Ayeka were silent and kept shooting each other furtive glances. Neither girl fell off the turnip starship; they could sense something was off. To say nothing of the fact that the appearance of Tsunami and her being so close to their Tenchi was off-putting to say the least.

"Ne, Tenchi, what's this about?" Ryoko queried. There were times where one simply wasn't in the mood to hear bad news and she could honestly say that this was one of those times. It wasn't that she was completely indifferent, she just was pretty certain that whatever was gonna come out of Tenchi's mouth was something that she didn't want to hear.

"Tenchi-sama, what's this about?" Ayeka asked, also not quite that eager to hear any bad news. However, where Ryoko was plain, she was restrained. She made a show of politeness, even if her heart is sinking.

Tenchi went to Ayeka and held her hands, looking her dead in the eyes. His expression was kind yet he could not hide the grimness in his eyes. "Ayeka-sama, there was attack on your father's ship. Your father and Mother Funaho are gone, I'm so sorry," Tenchi said simply, his eyes ever so sad as he relayed this sad news. He pulled Ayeka into his arms and held her.

Ayeka took the news with a noble dignity that did her immeasurable credit. She was a Princess who was now first in line to the throne. "Thank you, Tenchi-sama, I'll be fine. Well, with Father and Mother Funaho gone, we'll need to go to Jurai won't we?"

"Yes," Tsunami replied sedately.

"Hey," Mihoshi said, the first one in the room to notice. "Why's Tsunami here and where's Sasami?"

From the mouth of babes…

"I'm here, Mihoshi," Sasami replied, her voice far higher than that of the azure haired Goddess. "I've merged with Tsunami. And Tenchi wants to marry me!"

Tenchi didn't even look at her but rather, closed his eyes and suppressed a plaintive whimper. It wasn't that he was not a man of his convictions; he just would have picked a more sensitive way to deliver such news.

A/N:

To cyberimp6, thanks so much for your reviews. I hope you like chapter 2 even more.

Jilbril Mudo, I hope you enjoy me taking up the gauntlet you've thrown.