Tenchi Muyo!

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Disclaimer: This episode of Tenchi Muyo! is of my own creation. I do not own any portion of Tenchi Muyo. "Tenchi Muyo!" and all related characters, names, etc. are ©1992-2003 AIC Inc. and Pioneer LDC. All rights reserved.

Note: This story line is a sequel to 'The Choices We Make' by C-kun. I recommend reading it, it is pretty interesting.

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The Darkness Within
Chapter 13:
The End?

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Tenchi jumps up so quickly that he falls off of his bed. The young prince scrambles to his feet and looks around in shock. 'I...I'm in my room!?' he thinks wildly to himself. 'What...but...how?' He fumbles around in the dark and finds the light switch after a few moments of searching. It is indeed his old room in his old house. Everything is exactly as he remembered it. He runs to his window and looks outside. Through the moonlight he sees the same old view of the lake and grounds as usual. "This isn't possible," he mutters out loud. His digital alarm clock in the small table next to his bed says that it is three in the morning.

Tenchi dashes over to his desk and looks at the calendar on top of it. "March 3, 1993? Over five months before I had chosen Ryoko...over ten years ago!? I...I don't believe it!" he practically shouts. "Was everything...just a dream?" He subconsciously walks out of his room and into the bathroom while scratching the back of his head.

It is here that he looks into the mirror. He gazes at himself for several minutes. "It had to be a dream," he states to himself. "I don't look a day over seventeen!" He frowns at himself. "But that dream, it was so...so...I don't know. I somehow dreamt over ten years in just a few hours? Or...or is it some kind of premonition of the future? Sasami has had a few before!" His eyes suddenly go wide. "The girls! Grandpa! Dad!"

He is quickly out of the bathroom and runs to the closest bedroom, Ayeka and Sasami's room. The prince slides open the door, slowly, almost hesitantly. The sight that greets his eyes is both of the princesses who are sound asleep. Ryo-Ohki is sleeping next to Sasami's head. The younger princess appears to be around eight or nine years old, around the age she was when all the girls 'dropped in' on him and his life. Tenchi sighs lightly at the fond memories and the relief that they are all right.

He slides the door shut and makes his way to Mishoshi's room. The GP officer is also sleeping comfortably. A slight snore escapes her lips as she rolls over. A heavy blush adorns Tenchi's face as Mihoshi turns over, mainly due to the view he is getting of her breasts. She is wearing a button up shirt that is not buttoned up at all, exposing her entire front.

Tenchi quickly looks away and slides the door shut. He sighs with relief again that his family is safe and sound...so far. The prince carefully steps down the stairs, avoiding the last one that squeaks and looks up to the rafters. He frowns lightly when he sees that Ryoko is not there sleeping in her usual spot. 'Maybe she's outside on the roof again?' he thinks with a small shrug.

The young man decides to check in on Washu. He slowly opens the door to her lab, carefully avoiding disturbing the little crab noisemaker over her door. He chuckles at the sight before him. Washu is passed out, somehow resting on her holo laptop. Tenchi takes a few steps inside to help put her in her bed, but then he remembers that he knows nothing about her lab and where her bed is, that is if she even has one. He shrugs and silently leaves her lab. As soon as the door shuts, Washu opens her eyes and sits up on her floating cushion. She snaps her fingers and pouts slightly. "Damn! I was hoping my cute little guinea pig was gonna pick me up in his big strong arms!" she emphasizes the statement by hugging herself tightly. "Oh well, lets see what he's doing up this late." She types a few commands on her holo laptop and the screen flashes to one of the many hidden cameras she has conveniently placed all throughout the house. This one is just outside the entrance to her lab where Tenchi is.

Tenchi knows that since this is a weekday, his dad is at his apartment in the city. "I'd better check on Grandpa," he mutters. He just reaches the front door when something clicks in his head in remembrance of today's date. "Oh yeah, Grandpa's out of town visiting an old friend." He is about to go back to his room, but something is nagging him in the back of his mind, 'But what could it be?' he mentally asks himself. 'Ryoko,' a different voice inside of him whispers.

Tenchi goes outside and looks up on his roof. Ryoko is indeed lying on the roof with a bottle of saké next to her. She is awake and is gazing up at the stars with a dreamy look on her face. The pirate suddenly notices that she is not the only one outside. She looks down and sees Tenchi looking up at her. She smiles lightly at him. In the blink of an eye, Ryoko teleports down next to him, deciding not to glomp onto him. 'Maybe later when Ayeka's around,' she thinks with a sly smile. "Hey," she starts lightly to Tenchi, "Whatcha doing up so late?"

"I...had a bad dream," he admits while scratching the back of his head. He quickly takes in her form from top to bottom. 'She's okay!' his mind screams happily, fighting the urge to wrap his arms around her in a tight hug.

The daughter of Washu takes notice of him eyeing her but decides to not say anything...yet. "Really?" she asks, cocking an eyebrow. He nods embarrassedly. "So what are you doing outside?"

"I...I just wanted to check and see if yo...if everyone is fine. I already checked on everybody else since they are all inside," he finishes hurriedly, hoping that she will not notice that he almost slipped up.

Ryoko smiles at the slip he almost made. "Always the kind hearted one now aren't you my Tenchi?" the pirate teases while leaning towards him slightly. "Do you wanna watch the stars with me for a while?" she offers with genuine sincerity.

"I guess so," Tenchi shrugs. "I don't think I'm going back to sleep anytime soon."

The pirate takes his hand in hers and teleports them onto the roof. Ryoko goes back to drinking her saké and gazing up at the stars while Tenchi goes deep into thought. 'Is this real?' he thinks while placing both of his hands behind his head, 'or is this just a dream?' He pulls one arm out and pinches the other one slightly. He winces in mild pain. 'Ow, this is real. But I still don't understand. Everything that I went through. Over ten years! Could that be what my future is going to be like, or was it just some terrible and very realistic dream? Ugh!' he mentally groans in frustration. 'This is too much to think about this late at night! I'll go over this tomorrow or something,' Tenchi finishes while sighing deeply.

Ryoko hears him. "Hey, is something wrong?"

"I'm just thinking about that nightmare I had." He leans over and looks at her saké bottle. "Can I have some?"

The pirate gives him a questioning look. "You've never drunk any before, so why are you asking for some now?"

"I just need to get my mind off of that dream. I figured that a little drink could help," he truthfully tells her.

Ryoko smirks at him. "Okay, I guess you can have some," she tells him slowly like someone would tell a child. She reaches inside of her dress and pulls out a large bottle of strong saké and a small sipping cup. How she was able to hide them in her dress, Tenchi does not know. "Here's a special saké that will help you drown all your problems away!"

The prince chuckles at her while grabbing the bottle. Within a few minutes of drinking, he has happily forgotten about everything that is bothering him.

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The next morning the entire family, minus Katsuhito and Nobuyuki, have gathered around the table to enjoy breakfast. Tenchi is suffering from a mild hangover due to the amount of saké he drank last night and he has politely asked that if it is okay if everyone could talk quietly so his head won't hurt as much. They all oblige and a slightly quiet breakfast ensues.

Washu just finishes her fish and is about to ask Tenchi if he'd like to take a pill she created a long time ago that gets rid of hangovers, but she notices the odd look in his eyes as he looks around the table at everyone and decides to perhaps have a talk with him later about the nightmare he mentioned to Ryoko last night and why it bothered him so much that he resorted to drinking to help. 'Besides,' she thinks with a devious smile, 'I can't let anything bother my favorite little guinea pig! Maybe if I can help him with his problems, he'll thank me by letting me get that 'sample' that I've been trying to get for so long!' she adds with a shiver of excitement.

Across the table, in between Ryoko and Ayeka, Tenchi eats silently while watching everyone around him. 'Everything seems to be normal,' he thinks lightly, 'and everyone seems to be just fine. That is a huge relief.' He sighs deeply again. 'Maybe that dream was a sign or something. I mean I actually have been hanging out more with Ryoko than I have with Ayeka. That is kinda unfair to Ayeka and all. Maybe I should start spending more time with both of them, like take them out on dates or something. Then I could find out which one I really do care the most about and love. That would also probably stop them from fighting so much too,' he adds with a chuckle. 'Yeah,' he finalizes, the determination in his eyes quite clear, 'that's what I'm gonna do: I'll spend more time with the both of them...as soon as my head stops throbbing!'

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Meanwhile, in another dimension, Tokimi watches Tenchi eat breakfast with his family with a longing expression on her beautiful face. Her lower lip trembles lightly as she reads his thoughts about dating that prissy princess and her good for nothing 'niece'. She tries to regain her composure, but to no avail. "I ought to be elated that he is still alive...but things have altered now. He remembers everything that originally happened, but only dismisses it as a dream or a premonition." A single tear rolls down her cheek as she places a hand over her relieved, yet slightly broken heart. "Oh my Tenchi, I wish it did not have to be this way!"

Her loyal servant, D3, appears below her. "My Lady," it begins, "I do not understand why you reversed time like you did. You finally won and had the ultimate power you have always desired."

"That is true D3," the goddess replies, her voice sounding as sweet and soothing as always, "but I would not have been happy. My victory was on the brink of becoming a shallow one. My dear Tenchi somehow reverted back to his old self thanks to that wretched excuse for a woman Ryoko. She managed to touch him in a way that I had not assumed her possible of doing. He was just relinquishing his own life before I reverted time back over a decade. I could not go back a shorter time span, lest I risk doing heavy psychological damage to Tenchi. That and he would have still run his course, knowing full well that he will relinquish his own life in the end. By taking him back this far, he has the opportunity to change his future so it will not go as badly as it did for him." She sighs deeply after this statement.

"But why was young Masaki still able to have his memories if no one else could?"

Tokimi chuckles lightly. "You forget, he is still in part my Champion as he was always destined to be, even though Tsunami attained him first. But now we have some advantages that we originally did not have over a decade ago in their time."

"And that is?" The demi god asks.

"My dear Tenchi may now once again be the Champion of Tsunami, but he will always remember the 'dream' that he had. He will remember me and the incredible time we had together and he will always speculate if I am actually real or just a figment of his own imagination. He will constantly think about me, hopefully more so in his dreams!" she adds with a very mischievous smile. "Another advantage is that he still has the powers I invested in him, although they are very concealed and dormant so my sisters will not be able to detect it. He is still within my grasp and now it will be much easier to bring him back to me. A part of me still resides within him, and..." she adds while placing her hands on her stomach, "...a part of him still develops within me!"


The End?

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Author's notes: No, this is not the end, at least it isn't the complete end. Was the ending of this story a shocker? I hope so, since I have kept it a secret since I started this whole series. Soon I plan to create the sequel to this series that I will call "The Return to Darkness"! Until then... -- lighthawkdemon

Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon@yahoo.com