The Space Pirate Tales
Chapter 9: Dream Catcher
The birds chirped pleasantly, singing songs that complimented the brisk morning perfectly. Ryo-Oh-Ki meowed in chorus and Kai-Oh-Ki did the same. The brown cabbit reveled in the reality of having a friend that was just like her. Kai-Oh-Ki perked his ears up after catching up with his partner, motioning her to follow him up a tree. Out of sheer curiosity she followed him up the branches until he stopped on a branch.
"Mroaw!" The cabbit leaped up and pulled something from the tree.
Ryo-Oh-Ki watched in amazement as he presented her with a shining red apple. Personally they were not her favorite of foods, but she realized they were to him as carrots were to her. He shyly nudged the apple towards her, hoping she would take his gift. After cautiously sniffing it, the brown cabbit took a bite of the apple and meowed in delight which pleased the white one to an unexplainable degree. The female cabbit took that chance to draw near and nuzzle in the white cabbit's fur. Kai-Oh-Ki emitted a blush, or as much of a blush as a cabbit can produce, but reveled in the feeling. The cabbits continued their sweet feast until the sounds of others distracted them.
"Wow that's amazing!" Rio could be heard as she walked up the Masaki Shrine steps.
"And what would you be talking about granddaughter?" The old man Yosho had finally gotten around to meeting the newest addition to his family.
He eyed the girl keenly, she looked an awfully lot like her mother. Yosho genuinely smiled as he witnessed her vibrant nature—this is what Ryoko would have been if Kagato had never taken a hold of her. He had always seen something in Ryoko that was deserving of sympathy, but it had never been able to be seen due to the various blockades the space pirate had put up. He knew some part of her would never forgive him for locking her away in that infernal darkness, but at the time he had seen no other way. As long as Kagato had known Ryoko was alive, she would forever be at his mercy. Preserving her body in the cave had been his best idea, and thus far it was proving to be not the worst of choices.
Yosho looked in the direction Rio was, but found nothing but the blue sky up above with a few run away clouds.
"Grandma says it's called 'Sky'." She let the word roll like a foreign word on her lips.
"Ah, that's right, you've lived all your life in space. It is quite beautiful; it's about the same color as your hair." He patted the girl on the head lovingly.
"Hey, you're right," she grabbed a lock of her hair and inspected it. "Grandpa, can I ask you something?" She stared softly straight ahead as they reached the shrine.
"Go ahead, what's on your mind?"
"Do you think my mama's a monster?"
"Of course not; why would you ever think that?" He raised an eyebrow and waited patiently for her answer.
"Grandma said you locked up mama because you thought she was a monster." Rio shivered at the thought. "But…she has hair the color of the sky too, so she's just as beautiful and nice."
"Oh I see, Washu told you about the time I trapped your mother in the cave…" Yosho sighed, and the girl's somber, hurt gaze pierced him as they observed him. "Did your grandma tell you why I chased your mother to this planet?"
"No, she told me to ask mama about it when I got here, but…" She let her voice trail off.
"I think you should ask her first, and then come back and grandpa will tell you everything he has to say, but know this: I never thought your mother was a monster, and it pained me to do what I did." He smiled at the end of his speech but noticed she was not content in his answer.
"I'm too afraid to ask her." She admitted with defeat.
"Afraid? Rio, you shouldn't let that stop you. The topic is a dark one, but I think she needs to tell you, just as much as you need to hear it." He spoke as wisely as ever, and grinned once he saw some confidence emit from the young girl.
"I'll try." She said with a smile and motioned to leave. "I'll see you and gramps at lunch time."
Yosho chuckled slightly at her term for his son-in-law. She had already ordained great grandfather to be too lengthy of a title, so had devised a different way in which to separate the old from the not so old. Tenchi's father would take the name 'gramps' as it was more hip and new, whilst Yosho would take the formal title 'grandpa' which was far more elderly sounding. She had explained this to both of them in great detail and vigor upon meeting her; he supposed it was the Washu in her that made her present everything in a very logical, yet fascinating way.
*Meanwhile in the living room*
Ryoko lazily rested on her beam as the morning slowly progressed; she couldn't wait until lunch time. Her rumbling stomach was living proof of that. Rio had gone out with Yosho for a walk, leaving Ryoko with little to do since Tenchi had left for school.
'Tenchi…' She thought back to the kiss they had shared.
Technically this was Tenchi's last year in high school and then he'd be off to college. Ryoko scoffed at the idea; why did humans have to waste a good quarter of their lives going to school? She could understand if their life span was a bit longer, but the truth was they lived for only a century or so. She couldn't remember ever sitting in a chair for longer than 5 minutes before she felt a strong urge to fly off somewhere different.
'I wonder if I ever…' She pondered on her own education. 'Nah that's unlikely, I can't even read a stupid TV guide.' She threw the guide that she had been pointlessly looking through. 'I guess it doesn't hurt to know the basics.' She inwardly sighed as she focused on how uneducated she was.
'You're not dumb, ya know.' Washu's voice gently eased itself in her mind. 'You're probably smarter than anyone in this household, save me of course.' Washu continued to comfort her.
'Yeah right, and tomorrow I'll also be a long lost princess of Jurai…admit it Washu, I've never been smart like that.'
'I can show you…if you want.' Washu spoke after a long silence.
'What do you mean "show me"?'
'Well I have some videos from…a long time ago.'
'A long time ago?'
'Do I have to explain every phrase I say?' Washu was getting frustrated with her daughter's reluctance. 'Come to the lab.'
The space pirate unwillingly floated down from her comfortable perch. Washu had been tapping into her mind quite a bit as of late, and Ryoko couldn't say she was exactly enthused about that fact. Her relationship with Washu was mending from the brokenness it had been before, but trust was much harder to gain once it is lost for the first time.
"You dragged me here for a reason?" she grumbled, almost mimicking her rebelling stomach. "I'm not sure I'm up for one of your experiments…" She said as she eyed the strange looking device in front of her.
"This is nothing!" Washu whacked the machine away, realizing that returning her memories would not exactly be the best of things to try and do at the moment. "I just want to show you some of my own videos, no plugs necessary…not on you anyways." She began to boot up her computers. "Let's take a look at this one, shall we?"
The screen flickered for a moment before showing the image of a toddler Ryoko.
"Mama, come here!" She shouted as she sat in bed with a book in her little hands.
The little girl looked out at the door to her room, waiting for her mother to come. Mere seconds passed by but the little girl's expression already betrayed impatience.
"Mama—"She shouted once more before her mother's appearance interrupted her.
"I'm here Little Ryoko, what's wrong?"
"Nothing Mama, I want to read to you." Little Ryoko beamed with happiness as she showed Washu her book.
Present-time Ryoko's eyes widened with shock as the little girl held up the book with confidence. Surely that was not her? How could she have learned at such an early age and not know one letter from another hundreds of years later.
"Oh really, and what book is it today?" The motherly Washu had taken a seat next to her child.
"It's called Beauty and the Beast!" She said so with enthusiasm.
"That's a good one, you're my little beauty after all." She snuggled her daughter close to her.
"No Mama, I'm the beast!" Ryoko started to snarl and make claw gestures with her hands.
"Is that so?" Washu began to tickle her until she laughed uncontrollably.
Ryoko watched as her little-self writhed on the floor with laughter, as an older Washu smiled incandescently. Soon enough they settled and Little Ryoko began to read to her mother. Ryoko watched, fascinated by the ease and flow at which the toddler spoke; her eyes easily following the words.
"I could read." Ryoko looked at Washu with a measure of disbelief and excitement.
"And much more…" Washu patted her daughter on the back. "You were my lab assistant, my storyteller, my everything."
"I called you 'Mama'…that's what Rio calls me now; we sound the same."
"I could give it all back to you, ya know?"
"My knowledge?"
"Not just that; I could give you back your memories."
"Kagato had said that it was impossible…that he had destroyed them and they could never be obtained again." Ryoko doubted her mother could return to her what her former master had pledged would never be hers again.
"Kagato was my student…I was his MASTER, so he didn't know everything. Little Ryoko, I can undo everything that he did."
"Not everything." Ryoko let the words escape softly from her lips.
Washu wanted to know the extent of what her words meant, but part of her already knew what Ryoko had meant. Her daughter had blossomed beautifully and Kagato was sure to be susceptible to his inner cravings. She would have torn that man's heart out if he had one to begin with, but she had been removed from the equation and that left Ryoko to fend for herself. That monster had taken so much of her and given nothing in return.
"Ryoko…come here." She pulled her daughter to her chest.
Ryoko felt and heard the thumps of Washu's heart. It was so constant and rhythmic that she felt at peace. She had been this close to her mother before, in a time that she had long forgotten. Her head placed gently yet securely against Washu's chest, Ryoko felt her own heart try and mimic her mother's. The luscious warmth that spread throughout her nerves, made her feel wholesome inside, so this was what it was like to have a mother. For so long she had been alone: she had hurt alone, cried alone and suffered alone. Yet now she could feel the small of her back being held on to tightly, letting her know she was part of someone else's care.
Washu caressed her daughter's rather spiky hair, loving how it was inherited from her. She was her daughter and no matter of destruction or obstruction would ever change that. She had a lot to make up for, a lot more to share with her loved ones, and hopefully the time to do that.
"So how about it? You up for getting some of your memories back?" Washu asked while continuing to stroke her hair.
Ryoko pondered on the thought…would she be the same person with those memories?
"I'm not sure I'm ready yet…can it wait?"
"I'm willing to wait until you're ready Ryoko; I'm not here to force anything on you. Not this time anyways." She looked lovingly into her daughter's eyes.
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. You know…you're not half bad at being a mother." Ryoko said with a level of shyness "Not sure I'm used to being this vulnerable."
"You best get used to it!" Washu bear hugged her daughter into a chokehold.
"Two can play that game!" Ryoko joined in and got the upper hand on her mother. "You're still just an old hag!" She wrung her arm around Washu's neck with no threatening force.
It was at this moment that Rio had the pleasure of dropping in. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw her mother with a malicious face, strangling her grandma. Both of the women stopped their horse play and laughed in sync.
"Why hello there Rio, what brings you here?" Washu was the first to address the young girl.
"I wanted to talk to Mama…" She shyly looked to her mother but looked away as soon as Ryoko returned the gaze.
"We were just finishing up here anyways, right Washu?" Ryoko lightly nudged Washu on the shoulder.
"Until next time Ryoko," Washu grinned and Rio gulped as she thought of Ryoko strangling Washu again.
"Alright kiddo let's get some fresh air." She took the girl by the waist and teleported them outside. "What's bugging you?"
"I want to know…about why grandpa locked you in that cave." She floated in the sky with her mother and pointed to the earthly cave.
Ryoko's muscles tensed slightly at Rio's enquiry; she hadn't thought of sharing her past with her daughter, not the ugly parts anyways. Would she look up to her with the same awe if she knew that her mother had been a killer—a demon?
"I was a slave once, believe it or not."
"To whom?"
"At first it was to a man named Kagato; he was one of grandma's students, but after a while I became a slave to my own greed for power." Ryoko sighed as she floated down to the ground. "I was a monster…" Her voice cracked as she remembered the sins she had committed.
Rio fiddled uncomfortably at seeing her mother so broken; she had only seen the strong side to her. Her heart wanted to reach out to her mother; to tell her she wasn't a monster but fear kept her at bay. She walked closer to her mother and put her skinny arms around her.
"You're not a monster, grandpa said so too." Rio held on tighter as Ryoko's lips curved into a smile.
"Don't worry I'm not going to disappear anytime soon" Ryoko chuckled as she felt the lanky arms around her tighten. "You're the one who's always leaving and coming back."
"I wish I didn't have to leave; I want to stay here with you and daddy forever, but grandma says I have to go back." Rio kicked at the floor, "you don't exist in the world I come from—me and grandma get lonely without you." Rio's eyes threatened to spill tears but she refused them their exit by shutting her eyes and cursing.
Ryoko watched as her daughter tried her best not to cry, and it touched her heart—this child would never see her as a monster. Ryoko pulled the girl into a strong embrace, laughing all the while she said, "I'll be there soon; believe me if I had the choice I would go with you."
"I believe you, but I will save you…I won't let you die." The flame of will burned brightly in Rio's eyes.
"I know you will, which reminds me do you still have nightmares?" Ryoko bent forward to be at eye level with Rio.
"No, of course not." She said quickly, a bit too quickly.
"Don't lie now," Ryoko kept her eyes on Rio who had refused to look straight at her.
"I…I can't stop them." Rio muttered, finally exposing her weakness.
Ryoko winced as she felt Rio's pain and sorrow through their link.
"Grandma says I sometimes lapse into memories, and that it's a side effect of time traveling as much as I do. I'm transported into that time and place…but I can't change anything I can only watch." Her eyes hazed over as if lost in a trance. "I always try, but you…" She looked at Ryoko, fear leaking out from her stare.
"You can sleep with me from now on…I used to have nightmares too." Ryoko slid her hand through Rio's hair. "They're hard to get rid of, but when I had you sleeping next to me you were my very own dream catcher."
"So you'll be mine?" Rio looked up curiously to her mother.
"Of course I will kiddo" Ryoko slightly tugged at the girl's cerulean locks. "Come on let's go back."
