Chapter Twelve

"You can't possibly still be asleep!"

Zakari opened his eyes, blinking against the light as he made out the blurry silhouette of a woman, coming closer towards him as he struggled to get a hold of his bearings. He reached out his hands around him, meeting soft bed-linen on each side and he hesitated, confused as the sound of amused laughter rang out around him.

He blinked once more, fighting to bring both of his eyes into the same focus, and as he did so, he recognised his visitor.

"Ryoko!"

"You're smart today." Ryoko dropped down gracefully beside him, crossing her legs as she eyed him keenly. "You're still in one piece, you notice. Good news is that you're going to stay that way. At least, now Washu's glued you back together. You've slept the clock around - talk about taking life easily!"

"I see." Zakari struggled into a more upright position, gazing at his hands as he did so. Sure enough, he could no longer feel the burning, prickling energy beneath the surface of his skin, and at length he smiled, meeting her gaze with his.

"I think I should thank you, although I'm not sure quite what for." He admitted. "My memory is a little hazy – but I know you had some part in this, so thank you."

"Forget about it." Ryoko seemed embarrassed, dismissing it with a flick of her fingers. "It wasn't really about you, you know. I mean, it was making a point – that just because someone was dumb enough to jam us together, it doesn't mean we don't have the right to live. That's all. That's why I made Washu fix your genetics…don't think it was out of any latent sentimentality."

"All right." Zakari eyed her thoughtfully, then he nodded his head. "I'll believe your words and say nothing more of it."

He paused, then,

"Before we left that planet, I heard you talking. You thought I was out cold, but I could still hear your voices, somewhere in the distance. You're my sister, aren't you, Ryoko? In more than just scientific principle."

"I don't know." Ryoko looked taken aback. "That's the truth, Zakari. I don't. Not even Washu does. She didn't have anything to do with your creation, so she can't be sure what Clay did or didn't use to design you. Your genetics are pretty messed up, so she just can't tell for sure if we share DNA. I'd forget about the whole family angle, if I were you. We're connected by the fact we're both people's projects – but I'd leave it there. You don't need any more complications, and nor do I."

"Perhaps that's true." Zakari reflected. He smiled, his eyes lighting up with genuine warmth as he surveyed her.

"So maybe I see things a little more clearly, now." He added. "Now I can think properly again, I can see that you were right, in the long run. And I do deserve to have my life, even if it began in an unusual way. You know, you called me Zakari since the start – no matter what I said, you still insisted on calling me that. Now I find I'm grateful for it. You at least didn't see me as a monster – even if it was what I had become."

"Well, it would have been a bit strange, considering that I was also lab-born." Ryoko shrugged carelessly, wrapping her arms around her knees as she contemplated his words. "And I told you, I've always been Ryoko. I'm not a robot or a machine, so I have a name and an identity. Washu is my mother, she's not my creator – because machines have creators, not people. And I was a pirate, and a vandal, and I looted and pillaged my way through thirteen planetary systems before I met Tenchi, down here on the Earth. But those things were my doing…my decisions. I've never been under anyone else's control, and that's the truth."

"And when you faced down Kagato? Clay's records were quite explicit, based on the data he had stolen from Washu."

"I chose to face down Kagato." Ryoko said quietly. "Of my own free will. I chose to, and so did Tenchi. We did it because we needed to do it. Not because I was custom-built to take on the job. And in the end, it was Tenchi who took Kagato down. Not me. I was there, but I wasn't the deciding factor. So it wasn't my destiny to kill him, after all."

"Do you not believe in destiny at all, then?" Zakari asked her softly. Ryoko spread her hands.

"Tenchi is my destiny." She said simply, a pinkish tint touching her cheeks as she spoke. "He always has been – my soulmate, and the one I was drawn to this planet to find. Otherwise…no. I don't believe that other people have the right to dictate your life to you. Whether you're born normally or like we were – life is for living, not for following orders. Do what you want to do and be happy. The universe might explode tomorrow."

"That's philosophical."

"Living with a woman like Washu, it's an ever-present possibility."

"I see." Zakari chuckled. "Is she really as crazy as the rumours say?"

"Sometimes I think she's crazier." Ryoko looked thoughtful. "But then again, I suppose she's just eccentric. She's hard to understand, that's all. I don't know if I ever fully will. But she has her limits, unlike Clay. And she knows her science. I know for sure now that she didn't create me just to be her weapon, Zakari. Sometimes I wondered if she did, but now I don't think so. She took time and care over me, and I know that she created me as much because she wanted family as she did because she wanted to bring down Kagato. I suppose that's why she's my mother, not my creator. At the end of the day, I know she gives a damn. Which is nice to know, even if we do fight."

"Perhaps you are the luckier of us, then." Zakari reflected, eying his battle-worn hands as he did so.

"What will you do, now?" Ryoko asked. "Washu said that most of your magic is gone, now…it was too strong and it overwhelmed you too much. She thinks you had too much magic for your body to properly deal with – your development was too rushed and the mixture too potent. So you don't have your powers any more, not really…I hope that's not going to be a problem."

"Honestly, I'm glad to know they're more or less gone." Zakari admitted. "I never asked for them or wanted them."

"Will you go back to your scientific career?"

Zakari looked haunted.

"How can I?" He murmured. "After what happened, do you think I could ever go back?"

"You quit way too easily." Ryoko snorted. "You were willing to give up your life before, and now you're wanting to run away from your job and your woman, too? You really are a wimp underneath all that power of yours, aren't you? For heaven's sake, get a backbone. It wasn't even like the explosion was your fault and trust me, I've done worse damage than that in a raid before now!"

"I hurt Komei, Ryoko. I put her in a coma."

"And the first night I met Tenchi, I threatened to barbeque him." Ryoko said serenely. "Yet here we are. So what if you did? You at least did it by accident. If she really loves you, she'll forgive you…you couldn't help it."

"She might not even recover."

"Well, that's where you're wrong." Ryoko said frankly. "Yume's been hunting through medical records looking for this girl…she wasn't easy to find, but she's smart and persistant and she did it. I think she feels some kind of overriding guilt over you, if you want to know the truth. She's another one with way too much on her mind at any one time. Komei Morioka…isn't that the girl's name?"

"Yes, but…"

"But read." Ryoko dropped a file down on the bedcovers, casting him a smile. "So long as you still can, with those weird eyes of yours. Now your magic is gone, can you even see properly? I know that Washu thinks there was something weird and Kii about your left one, so I guess it's possible you can't."

"I can see just fine, thank you." Zakari nodded, scooping up the file with a mixture of bewilderment and disbelief. "But…how did you…?"

"Washu's a pretty top class hacker and Yume's a good student." Ryoko said flippantly. "She found her for you. So now you've no excuse not to go see her. She's been moved from the private hospital her family had her in, so she's obviously doing better. You should smarten up and go visit her. Shouldn't you?"

"Ryoko…" Zakari hesitated, then he reached out, clasping her by the hand. The pirate started, staring at him in consternation, and he grinned.

"I think you and I are brother and sister." He said quietly, amused by the expression in her eyes. "When I look at you, and meet your gaze, I see amber eyes. Amber is not a common colour, but it binds us together. My right eye is the same shade as yours - and when I was on Heiwa, people would often comment on it. The scientist in me thinks that there's a connection, even if Washu isn't able - or doesn't want - to prove it definitively."

"I'm not sure." Ryoko faltered. "I mean, it's true, about the eyes. I'd noticed it too, when the idea of us being kin first came into the equation. But it could just as easily have been a genetic coincidence. If someone designs you to order, you can't rely on the way you look to trace your roots, after all."

"But even though my magic is gone, my other eye still sees through to your soul and tells me that you think the same way." Zakari said softly. "Whether you'll tell me so or not. That is truly why you're helping me, and I'm grateful. You are a revelation, Ryoko-neesan. And I won't forget you for that."

"Did you just call me…neesan?" Ryoko blinked, and Zakari laughed.

"I did." He agreed. "And I will again. After all, if we're not machines, we're people. And if we're people, we can be family. Isn't that how it works?"

"I think all that energy fried your tiny brain." Ryoko said frankly. Zakari shrugged.

"Maybe." He admitted. "But this eye of mine always sees it as it is, you know. And I think I'd be quite happy, to call you my sister."

"I suppose that's the Kii in you." Ryoko said reflectively. She shrugged her shoulders, spreading her hands in a gesture of submission.

"Well, at the very least, we're adoptive cousins." She acknowledged. "I was born from Washu's DNA and you from Tokimi's...Washu is pretty sure about that, at the very least. I suppose whatever the truth about the rest of your DNA, we are still, in a sense, family."

"So this Tokimi is definitely my...my mother?"

"You want a mother, now, is that it?" Ryoko's eyes danced mischievously, and Zakari looked rueful.

"I'd like to know." He admitted. "At the very least, whether she's still alive."

"Yes." Ryoko hesitated, then, "Zakari, Washu doesn't have an excuse, really, for creating me. She did it for her own reasons, but she knew what she was doing. And I'm settled with the whole deal now. I understand those reasons better, because we've finally hashed it out between us. You won't ever be able to do that with Tokimi. It might suck, but I don't think Washu will let you, and I'm not sure I'd advise you to try."

"Meaning?"

"When Tokimi had Clay in her service, she was under the influence of very, very dark magic." Ryoko said slowly. "I guess you might say she was under a spell. Washu is pretty certain that everything she did during that time was not her will but the will of the magic. I don't know enough about it to know, but I do know that since the spell was broken, she's been a different person. So maybe Washu is right. Either way, Tokimi likely doesn't even remember you, or why she wanted you to exist in the first place. Even if she did charge Clay to create you, and even if she did give him her genetic material with which to work, she won't be able to tell you her reasons. She won't know what they were, and probably they weren't her ideas at all."

"I see." Zakari looked thoughtful. "So in other words, don't go off in a mad, paranoid fit in the hopes of killing her out of revenge. Right?"

"Yeah, something like that." Ryoko agreed, amused. "But listen, Zakari. Seriously. When the spell over Tokimi was broken, the magic had done something to her mind. She's not quite in the same world as the rest of us. She isn't crazy, but she's not...the same. She's more like, well, a child herself in some ways. I don't think she'd grasp all the concepts she'd need to grasp, in order to accept you as her son. I think it would be beyond her."

"Another victim of overwhelmingly powerful magic?" Zakari ruminated. "Perhaps my own wild rages can be traced back to the same source. I feel bad for her, Ryoko. And even more keen to meet her, at least once. Even if it is just that - a meeting. After all, the word 'mother' doesn't mean anything really. Not to me. I'd just like to know...if just to register that not all of my past is within that laboratory."

"Well, speak to Washu." Ryoko shrugged. "See what she says. She's protective of Tokimi, but if you're nice to her, she might let you. In the meantime, you have a girl to go see...at least, you'll be some ingrate if you don't go find this Komei girl after all the work Yume did to find her for you."

"Perhaps you're right." Zakari pursed his lips. "If you really think it's worth pursuing. I mean, if you were her, would you forgive me?"

"I think you'll find I already did, and you did hit me pretty hard with your power as well." Ryoko said acidly. "Besides, if she's worth anything at all, she'll understand. She'll accept you for who you are and she'll be able to move past it. Just like Tenchi has forgiven me the thousands of times I've accidentally blown up bits of his house. It's just how things are."

"He must love you very much."

"I'd like to think so." Ryoko's cheeks pinkened. "Not that it's your business. But if you'd hurt him in your little rampage, I wouldn't be so forgiving now. He means the world to me, and I'm not ashamed to admit that."

Zakari eyed her thoughtfully for a moment, then he pushed back his covers, sliding his legs over the side of his pallet as he struggled to stand up.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ryoko demanded, holding out her hands to steady him. "Washu said you should be resting."

"I've wasted enough time." Zakari said frankly. "I can stand, so I've no excuse to hang around and outstay my welcome on this planet of yours. And I'm sure your Prince probably feels uncomfortable enough having another man around the place. After all, I saw the look on his face when you stepped between us. He couldn't believe his eyes, that you defended me."

"Tenchi isn't the jealous type." Ryoko shook her head, but Zakari offered a rueful smile.

"If it were Komei, I know how I'd feel about it." He said dryly. "I think you underestimate how he feels about you, you know. His expression said it all - I think he thought you'd chosen against him. And I don't want to be the cause of any domestic disharmony. I have loose ends of my own to pursue, and I should be pursuing them - not adding to your problems by hanging on here."

"You don't have to leave on my account, Zakari-san."

A fresh voice broke through the conversation and both pirate and scientist turned, seeing Tenchi watching them from the doorway. He smiled at their surprise, crossing the lab towards them, and pausing a few feet from the bed. "You look tired, and I'm sure you could use some more time resting. You have been pretty badly hurt, after all - you shouldn't be in such a hurry."

"Tenchi." Ryoko offered her fiance a smile, and he reached down to take her hand, squeezing it tightly.

"I wasn't meaning to eavesdrop, but I wasn't sure when to interrupt." He admitted. "Ryoko, I know it's important to you - this man and your friendship with him. Whether he is your brother or not, I don't want him to feel that he has to leave because of me. If you want him to stay, well, he's welcome here as long as he needs. I don't mind."

Zakari narrowed his eyes, taking in Tenchi's demeanour thoughtfully for a moment. Then he smiled, warmth lighting up his unusual eyes as he held out a hand to the newcomer.

"Thank you, Tenchi-sama. I appreciate it." He said softly. "And I'm sorry for interfering in your life in the first place. I've caused you a lot of problems, and I made you worry about Ryoko - I apologise for that."

"I'm used to being worried about Ryoko. It sort of comes with the territory." Tenchi said, sending his fiancee an amused smile, and Ryoko reddened.

"That's a nice thing to say." She objected. "I was abducted and missing and you can still say something like that? Shame on you, Mr Masaki!"

Zakari laughed.

"I misjudged you." He said pensively, meeting Tenchi's gaze with a keen one of his own. "I can see now that Ryoko was right. You have accepted her, regardless of her background and her past. And if you can accept her, maybe there's hope that I can be accepted, also. I'm not going to try and hide any more - or return to the lab on Heiwa, because I don't want to spend my life shut away in a box trying to solve other people's scientific dilemmas. But I am going to find Komei, and I am going to find out whether she can accept me as easily as you can accept my sister. It gives me hope, anyway."

"You did it again. You called me sister." Ryoko objected, and Zakari smiled at her unrepentantly.

"And I told you, that's what you are to me from hereon in." He said pragmatically. "I don't really have a family, but I'm beginning to create one. And I'm starting with you."

He flexed his hands, glancing at the scars that littered his skin.

"I don't want to be Zakari Kure any more, either." He added reflectively. "Ryoko, tell me - what is Tokimi's family name? If she is truly my genetic mother, I'd like to identify myself with her rather than that bastard Clay. You did say, after all, that Tokimi was under a spell when I was born. And if you can be Ryoko Hakubi, I'd like to know who I truly am as well."

"Isn't Tokimi just a Hakubi, like Washu?" Tenchi looked startled. Ryoko frowned, shaking her head.

"No. She isn't." She said slowly. "Washu said it to me earlier in the lab, when we were talking. She said...Tokimi was the last survivor of a tribe, and it had a different name. Let me think...it wasn't Hakubi. Tokimi wasn't a Hakubi. She was adopted, remember? That's why she went so nuts when Kihaku took her as Priestess. She didn't have what it took to control the magic."

"That's true." Tenchi acknowledged. "Although I'd never thought about it in terms of who Tokimi's people were or weren't."

"Inoue." Ryoko snapped her fingers. "That was it. Tokimi was the last survivor of the Inoue tribe. That's her name, Zakari. Tokimi Inoue."

"Then that's the name I'll use from hereon in." Zakari said decidedly. "Zakari Kure can die a death. I'll begin afresh as Zakari Inoue, and hope it brings me better luck."

"Tokimi is a peaceful, gentle soul. I'm sure that it will." Tenchi nodded.

"So, are you going to leave now?" Ryoko asked. Zakari eyed her keenly.

"Do you want me to stay?" He asked softly. Ryoko glanced at Tenchi, who spread his hands.

"I told you. You're as welcome here as any friend is." He said simply. "Let your wounds heal a little longer, Zakari-san - there's no hurry to be off across space, and you don't want to undo all of Washu's hard work by rushing into the fray."

"I suppose not." Zakari acknowledged, sinking back down onto his pallet. "All right. If you're sure - I will stay a little longer on this Earth of yours. I'd like to see it, if nothing else. It's meant to be quite beautiful, and I've not had a lot of beauty in the past few years. Heiwa is an enclosed, shuttered planet where people live in fear of their sun's rays. It would be nice to walk somewhere which was still alive."

"Then you're definitely in the right place." Ryoko settled herself more comfortably against her fiance's body, and he slipped an absent arm around her waist. "The Earth might have its limits in scientific circles, but I don't think there's any world in this universe that can match it for beauty."

"Meantime, you should probably rest." Tenchi added. "Else Washu will be after the both of us for disturbing you. You are her patient, after all - and we're not supposed to flit in and out of her lab at random like this anyway. She can get a bit hot under the collar sometimes, when she's got her mind set on something."

"Then you should probably not linger." Zakari relaxed back on his pillows. "And I'll do as you say. But one last thing, Oneesan, before you go."

"Yes?" Ryoko asked quizzically, pinkening again at the appellation. "What is it?"

"I'm in your debt, and if I can ever one day repay it, I'll do so." Zakari told her. "I won't stay on the Earth beyond a few days, and I will go seek Komei and hope that she won't turn me away. But if you ever need my assistance - scientific or otherwise - I'll be willing to come to your aid. Remember that...even without my magic, there might be a time I can be of help to you the way you have been to me."

"Oh, shut up already, will you?" It was impossible for Ryoko to go any redder, and Tenchi chuckled in amusement at her discomfiture. "If I'd known you were going to be all fussy and flowery about it, I wouldn't have bothered. Just get fit and go find your woman already, okay? And stop saying silly things that don't mean anything. All right? Yeesh - get some sleep. I'll see you later - if you've got a hold of your senses by that time."

With that she flickered and disappeared from the lab, leaving the two men alone together. For a moment there was silence, then Tenchi offered his companion a rueful smile.

"That's Ryoko for you." He said simply, and Zakari laughed.

"So I see." He agreed. "But I meant every word. Make sure she knows it, will you? If I can repay the debt at any time, then I will."

"Maybe you and she are siblings, after all." Tenchi reflected thoughtfully. "That sounds like the sort of thing she would say, too. She hates the idea of being beholden to anyone - and she'd be the first person up and out of bed after an injury, keen to race across the galaxy and do whatever needed to be done. Maybe you do share more than just a connection through Tokimi, Zakari-san."

"Well, I'm not sure how she sees it, but I have no objections to the idea." Zakari said evenly. "She's challenged me to think twice about every single one of my preconceived ideas, and I owe her for it. In a sense I was as prejudiced as Clay was, because I saw myself as he saw me, not as I wanted the world to see me. She's one of a kind, Tenchi-sama...and I'm glad for her that you could see it too. She deserves to be happy, after all. And she really is devoted to you."

"Yes, well, we've been through a lot of things together since our first meeting." Tenchi admitted sheepishly. "I guess it cements our bond more than anything. Get some rest, Zakari-san - do as Ryoko advises. And don't worry about how long you're here - leave when you feel fit, not for any other reason. All right?"

"All right." Zakari nodded solemnly. "And thank you."

Tenchi offered him another smile, then withdrew from the lab, leaving Zakari to ponder their conversation alone. He lay back against the cool fabric of the pillows, closing his eyes as he ran over things in his mind.

"I'm tired and battered, but I'm alive and I don't feel like I'm holding back such waves of energy any more." He murmured. "It's all gone, and I'm finally free of it for good. Washu might have been the one who fixed my body, but it's Ryoko to whom I really owe my life. I guess I should bear in mind that I'm alive, regardless of how that happened. And I should just make the most of it for as long as I have it, not worry about wasting it taking petty revenge on people and things that don't matter. As soon as I'm well, well, I'll track down Komei and find out how she feels. If she can forgive me, then I'll be content, but if she doesn't, I'll find a way to move past it and carry on. After all, there's a whole universe out there and I've barely even begun to touch it. I want to see as many things as I can, and do as much as I'm able. For the first time in my life I'm actually going to try living, and see how it goes!"

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"I'm glad you said it was all right for Zakari to stay here a while longer." As Tenchi made his way up the path towards RyuOh's tree, he heard his fiancee's voice and she dropped gracefully down from the tree branches, looping her arms around him with a warm grin. "I wasn't sure if you'd mind. Zakari said he thought you were bothered by him, and I'm glad you're not. It's weird for me, this whole thing - but I don't want us to fight over it."

"We've been a bit role-reversed." Tenchi said ruefully, sinking down against the roots of the tree and pulling his companion down with him. "And I'm only human. You go bringing home strange men, and well, I guess it did bother me a little bit. But it's all right. I mean, he might be your brother - and even if he isn't, well, you do share something with him that I probably don't understand. This is your home as well as mine and you can bring your friends here just as I can bring mine...I don't want you to think otherwise. You don't have to have my approval to meet other people, after all."

"Even people who steal up on me and abduct me?" Ryoko asked doubtfully, and Tenchi laughed.

"All right, so that bit I had issue with." He admitted. "But you've forgiven it so so will I. I'm not jealous of Zakari, Ryoko. It's all right - really it is."

"Good." Ryoko leant up against him, and Tenchi glanced at her, comforted by her closeness. "I don't know why I'm so drawn to help him, or anything like that. Just that I had to do it, and I still feel sort of responsible for him. Perhaps this is what Ayeka feels when something happens to Sasami - it's the big sister gene kicking in. If we even are siblings - we'll never know for sure, because Washu can't isolate that part of his DNA. Still, I suppose that is what I feel like. Like someone has to look out for him, because he's too stupid to do it himself."

Despite himself Tenchi laughed, shaking his head slowly.

"I think he'll be just fine, now he hasn't got all that power addling his brain." He said contemplatively. "And even when he does leave, I think it's probable we'll see the man again some time in the future."

"It wouldn't bother you, then, if we did?"

"No, I don't think so." Tenchi pursed his lips. "He's your family, whatever happens. And that's cool with me. Besides, he's a threat to noone now. It's not like he's putting the Earth in jeopardy by being here."

"True." Ryoko reflected. "I'm probably more dangerous to the Earth, when it comes to it. Or you - you might be even worse, if you lost control of your magic. Zakari is just your average scientist again now. Maybe he still has an element of Tokimi's Kii sight, but otherwise I think he's just an ordinary guy. And that's probably a good thing - he really wasn't all that responsible with all that power."

"You really do sound like his big sister." Tenchi was amused, and Ryoko pinkened.

"Dammit." She muttered. "I guess I do. That's going to have to stop, you know...it's just too weird from start to finish."

"Did you and Washu settle your differences okay?"

"Yes, we did." Ryoko seemed relieved to be onto a different subject, nodding her head. "And I can't repeat most of what she said to you, because it wasn't exactly for public hearing. But she did tell me when I was born, and how old I am in Jurai years. So this year we can celebrate my birthday, Tenchi-kun. For the first time ever...isn't that neat?"

"Will you tell me that much, then? Or are you going to spring it on me on that day with a demand for an expensive present and a trip somewhere exotic?" Tenchi asked her playfully. Ryoko laughed.

"I'll tell you, but I might still do the other stuff, so be warned." She teased, touching him gently on the cheek. "I still haven't forgotten my promise to make your birthday memorable, so you can't even begin to imagine the things I'm going to dream up for my own. Washu said I was born on the first day of the Startica summer festival, because it was a time Kagato would have been busy with Juraian affairs and less vigilant over other things. And she said that I'd be twenty four next birthday, if you counted it in Jurai years. So there you have it. Now you know."

"Summer, huh?" Tenchi grinned. "Yeah, I can't imagine that you'd have been a winter baby. Somehow winter doesn't suit you at all."

"I should think not. Not with all that snow." Ryoko grimaced at him. "But it's nice to know, anyway. And I understand now, why she didn't want to tell me before. So it's all settled between us. I'm not going to bring it up again. I guess I know that she's my mother, however weird she is. That's what matters. She'll never be Achika-sama, but I can live with that."

"I think you could have done a lot worse for a mother." Tenchi reflected. "You could have ended up with someone like Clay watching over you."

"Very true." Ryoko stifled a shiver. "I thought that man was creepy before, but it's a good thing for him that he's dead now. Else we'd be having serious words."

"One less madman roaming the universe, at the very least." Tenchi agreed.

"So you were really worried about me, Tenchi-kun?"

"Of course I was, you idiot. What do you think?"

"I think I like hearing you say it." Ryoko's eyes twinkled with mischief and she slipped her arms more securely around his neck, pulling him to her level as she kissed him. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no problem at all." Tenchi grinned back at her, hugging her tightly. "Do you still want to go to Osaka tomorrow? I mean, Sakura and Hiroshi are my friends, and...well..."

"I'd like to think they're becoming my friends too, Tenchi." Ryoko shook her head. "So don't think you're forcing their company on me. I like them both, even if they are a bit silly about alien things from time to time. And you know I want to go to Osaka - I love Osaka."

"I just wondered, with Zakari here..."

"Oh come on, Tenchi - you think I'm going to let a little thing like a possible half brother stop me from having a wild time celebrating your birthday?" Ryoko arched her eyebrow. "Do you really know me that little? Get real. Zakari doesn't need me to nanny him - he's doing all right and Washu will keep an eye on him. And me, I deserve a party - don't you think so?"

"Well, I won't argue with that." Tenchi laughed. "All right then. Osaka it is!"