Chapter 2: Sensations
This is going to be quite a meal, Ryoko
thought to herself. As the cyan haired
former space pirate walked with Tenchi and Mayuka into the Keiichi Morisato's
home, she thought back on the events that had lead her to enter Washu's
lab. She laughed a little bit. Yes, quite a meal indeed, Ryoko
thought with eager anticipation. Even
though her first meal of the day hadn't been anything unusual, the yellow-eyed
demoness knew this dinner would be an entirely different affair.
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Breakfast had been the
same old event this morning, with Ryoko shoving the food in her mouth as fast
as she could. Ayeka, of course, had
been slightly disgusted with the former space pirate and had said something.
"Ryoko,
do you even stop to chew your food? How
can you even taste what you are eating like that?" Ayeka had demanded in an icy tone.
Washu
had seen the quick look of pain that had crossed her daughter's face on this
and many other mealtimes at Ayeka's barbed remarks. Washu grinned just a little bit since this would be the last day
her daughter had this little problem.
Ryoko
just grinned a food filled grin at Ayeka to hide the pain and went on
eating. Hopefully no one would see the
single tear that had rolled down her face when she had told Sasami that the
food was wonderful.
Today
would not be one of those days though.
Tenchi had indeed seen the tear roll down the pirates face. He was tempted to ask Ayeka to leave Ryoko
alone, but he was sure that the only persons that knew Ryoko couldn't taste
anything were Tenchi and Washu.
On one of
her first nights in his home, after Ayeka and Sasami had been forced to stay,
Tenchi had caught Ryoko taste testing everything in the cupboard and in the
fridge. He had watched her take a sip
of vinegar without even flinching, then moving on to dry milk. Tenchi had watched the scene for a minute
when Ryoko started crying, wailing against her inability to taste. He then came to her and held her. After comforting her, Tenchi had told her
that he had seen, and made a promise not to tell anyone. And he had kept that promise.
After
Breakfast, Tenchi left to go on a one-day trip without everyone. Ayeka and Ryoko had objected, but Washu
thought her daughter objected only because Ayeka did, not because she didn't
understand the real reason he was going to look at the N.I.T. campus. As the group separated, Washu put a hand on
Ryoko's shoulder before the cyan haired girl teleported herself and Mayuka to
the Onsen.
Washu
looked up at her daughter who looked over at the diminutive scientist with
disinterest. "Could you come with me to
the lab for just a moment Ryoko?" Washu
mentally grimaced when she caught a shaft of fear, distrust, and anger across
their link. "I promise I won't tie you
up or do any tests, I just have something to show you." Washu looked at her daughter, naked emotions
of fear and hope in her eyes.
"All
right Washu. Just make it quick, I
wanna take a bath."
The
red-haired scientist nearly leapt for joy when her daughter said yes. "You won't regret it, Ryoko!!" and Washu led
Ryoko and Mayuka into the sub-space lab.
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While
the insides of the lab hadn't changed much, Washu led the two deeper into the
lab, past the garden, past the animals, even past the area where Ryu-Oh
grows. Finally, the trio arrived in
front of a set of doors. Unlike the
rest of the lab, this door was barred with a force field and had a small stand
with an indention in the shape of a hand.
Ryoko blinked when she felt Washu shimmer next to her. Looking over, she was surprised to see Washu
in her adult form. Washu glanced over
her shoulder at her daughter and smiled.
"I
can't get into this part of the lab unless I am in my adult form. My most precious work is in here; No one,
not even Kagato, ever got in here."
Ryoko shuddered at the name of Washu's former student. She watched as Washu put her hand in the
reader. The security shut itself off
and the suddenly timid Washu turned to Ryoko.
"Step inside, my daughter…" Ryoko just snorted and walked in. She didn't see Washu's shoulders slump a
little bit at her dismissive actions.
Looking
around, Ryoko was in shock. There were
four rooms in here. One appeared to be
a largish laboratory; Ryoko noted that there was a computer in the back of that
room the size of Tenchi's entire house.
Must be her main computer then, Ryoko thought to herself.
The
Second room had a window running along its length. It appeared to be a playroom, of all things. It had many children's toys and books
scattered around. There was even a
small bed in the center of the room, a plush version of Ryo-Ohki sitting on
it. Ryoko felt a slight tingle in her
mind. It was like an itch that wouldn't
go away. When she took her eyes from
the room and looked at the next one the feeling faded.
The
third doorway was closed, but there was a large pink crab on the door and it
said 'Washu', so Ryoko assumed it was Washu's bedroom. A wave of curiosity plunged over the former
space pirate and tempted her to look inside her "mother's" bedroom, but she
stopped after taking one step towards it.
Ryoko was surprised to feel fear, hope, longing, and a slew of other
emotions pouring across the link to her mother.
Washu,
in her adult form, stood in the entrance to the last room. She looked directly into Ryoko's eyes, and
Ryoko saw tears in Washu's eyes.
"Oh
my little Ryoko. I've wanted to show
all of this to you for the longest time, but I just couldn't make myself." Washu ran a hand across her face to wipe
away the tears before she continued.
"It's only a little further, and the tour of our home is over, my little
Ryoko."
Ryoko
stopped dead in her tracks. Our
home? Ryoko looked first to Washu,
then to the other rooms. Funny, I
don't remember any of that, Ryoko thought to herself. I get the feeling I should though.
Washu
let out a slight sob. "You don't
remember because Kagato took all of that away from you." Ryoko gasped, and Washu looked at her
daughter with sadness in her eyes. "He
took anything from you that you thought was peaceful or happy. He removed your memories, your senses,
everything that you took joy in."
"I
know that not tasting anything has bothered you for the longest time. I also know that Tenchi knows." Washu saw Ryoko's eyes widen at this. Ryoko's anger started to build, and
everything came out in a rush. "I
didn't say anything to you before my daughter, especially about this place,
because I wanted you to build some happy memories before I let you know about
the ones you lost." Washu's tear
streaked face looked directly at Ryoko's.
Ryoko's face was hardening into an emotionless mask as Washu
continued. "Please, come inside here
and see what it was I brought you down here for."
Although
quite skeptical and unsure of her continued control, Ryoko followed her mother
into the last room. She stopped dead in
her tracks after walking mere feet into the room. Ryoko felt her arms and legs go weak as she looked around. Seeing this, Washu gently took the baby from
her and set Mayuka in a floating crib, just outside the room.
Inside
the room stood a single table and a small floating crib. Near this table was a broken glass
cylinder. On the back wall were
holograms of Ryoko. The images appeared
to be different stages in her growth, with information pertaining to
development. The computers in here were
monitoring everything piece of information about the different holograms, from
blood flow to her cellular structure, even the mental stability of the
Hologram's Matrix. Ryoko just stood
there with her mouth open. Everything
in this room looked as if it were designed to monitor her. It was mind-boggling. After a few moments, Ryoko finally managed
to get her mouth and voice working.
"Mom,
what is all this?"
Washu
beamed with pure joy when Ryoko called her 'mom'. "This is where you were born Ryoko. These are the computers I created solely to monitor and assist in
your creation." Washu put a hand on
Ryoko's arm and drew the cyan haired girl's attention to her. "And this is where I can give you some of
your past back."
Ryoko
just looked at her mother in complete shock.
She couldn't believe that this was where she had been born. Then the last thing Washu said sank in. …Some of your past… "W...what do you mean?" She asked with the mixed emotions of fear
and hope.
"It's
not much," Washu began, "but I can give you your sense of taste back. I cracked the problem late last night," the
diminutive scientist informed her shocked daughter. "Now hold still…" and Washu stuck her daughter with a small
needle.
Ryoko
jumped a little bit when she felt something jab her, but before she could find
out what, a new sensation occupied all of her focus. Suddenly, Ryoko could taste the left over flavor of eggs. In awe, she felt herself begin to recognize
all of the different tastes that the meal she had just consumed consisted of.
And
almost immediately retched into a conveniently placed bucket. Washu just beamed at her daughter. Ryoko fell to her knees clutching the bucket
as she retched the equivalent of a six-course meal.
"Won't
eat so many different things at once now will you Little Ryoko," Washu teased
as her daughter finished losing her breakfast.
When Ryoko shakily stood, Washu moved to steady her daughter. Ryoko moved too quickly though. Before she could blink, Washu found herself
wrapped in the former space pirate's fierce embrace. Washu almost instinctively moved to push her away, but then her
mind caught up to what was happening.
So Washu returned her daughters hug with one of her own.
Mother
and Daughter held each other for many minutes.
Both of them had begun crying, but they held on to each other anyway. Finally, all their tears spent, the two
separated. Ryoko wiped her eyes and
spoke first.
"Thanks,
Washu. This means so much to me", Ryoko
said in between sobs. "No more lying to
Sasami, no more eating like a pig. I
can finally be more… normal. Thank you
…… Mom." Washu started crying again,
though her smile told Ryoko that she was crying tears of happiness. Washu ran her arm over her eyes and smiled.
"Alright,
you and Mayuka get out of here Little Ryoko.
Have a good bath." Washu looked
at her daughter expectantly. "Will I
see you at Dinner?" Ryoko just smiled
as she collected Mayuka.
Ryoko
answered with a grin, "Sure thing Washu."
She turned to leave, and then stopped.
She looked over her shoulder, and in a trembling voice said, "Can I get
back in here if I want to?"
Washu
nodded her head. "Only you and I can
get in here safely my dear. Now run
along, your mom's got a lot of work to do."
Mother and daughter smiled warmly at each other for a moment before
Ryoko teleported away.
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Just
thinking about the mornings event nearly made tears of joy spring from Ryoko's
eyes. Then she remembered what she had
told Washu. I'd better tell Washu
what's going on, Ryoko thought to herself.
Ryoko
focused her thoughts on her mother. Hey,
Washu. I'm going to dinner with Tenchi
and some new friends. Ryoko felt a
small bit of disappointment across the link.
Can I have a cup of sake with you later, mom? She asked in an effort to make things up to
Washu.
Washu was
a little disappointed she wouldn't get to be there for her daughter's first
real meal. Then Washu caught Ryoko's
trailing surface thoughts. Oh, so
Tenchi invited her to dinner, the diminutive scientist thought. Can't blame her. It's a rare thing when Tenchi spends time
with just one of the girls. Glowing
with matronly pride, Washu realized that her daughter had actually thought
about her feelings. I guess things
really ARE improving!
Humor
rang through their link as Washu replied, Sure thing hon. Just don't stay
out too late and keep your mom worried, Ok? Ryoko laughed along with her mother. Be a good girl, ok Little Ryoko? And with that final thought Washu closed her end of the link.
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Things
really are improving between me and Washu, Ryoko thought happily. She noticed that Tenchi was looking at her
with a smile on his face. This puzzled
Ryoko a bit. Glancing around, she
noticed Keiichi was looking at her as well.
"What?" The former space pirate asked. She was slightly uncomfortable with all the
attention being placed on her.
Tenchi
smiled a bit more and said, "You just started laughing out of the blue,
Ryoko." Tenchi continued smiling even
though he didn't know why Ryoko had laughed.
Ryoko
blushed a bit when she realized that she had laughed out loud with her
mother. Whoops, she though to
herself. I gotta keep a little
closer guard on myself. I must be out
of practice. Sighing a bit, Ryoko
slipped an arm through Tenchi's and motioned toward Keiichi and the door. For once, Tenchi didn't stiffen up and get
uncomfortable with Ryoko's closeness.
Ryoko started smiling even more.
"Let's go
inside, Tenchi."
Tenchi and Ryoko were
pleasantly surprised upon entering Keiichi's house. The furnishings were simple but elegant, with soft paintings and
Calligraphy proverbs adorning the wooden walls. After removing their shoes, the three adults and one baby went on
a slight tour of the house. Keiichi
explained that he had one other houseguest, but that she was away on
business. Tenchi noted that though
there were four bedrooms, Keiichi was circumspect about who slept in which
room, merely rubbing the top of his head and blushing a bit. The rest of the house appeared to be, unlike
its occupants, quite normal and unassuming.
While they walked around, Keiichi explained how it was like living on
his own (relatively), and what it was like living with someone of the opposite
sex. That got quite a bit of sympathy
from Tenchi, especially since Tenchi was living with six females, all of which
he wasn't directly related to.
Tenchi noticed that Ryoko
was just smiling through most of the stories that Tenchi and Keiichi
traded. Must be in a really good
mood, Tenchi thought. Tenchi was
bouncing Mayuka in his left arm. Listening
to her chirps of delight, he didn't even register that he still held Ryoko's
hand with his own while their arms intertwined. Wonder why she's in such a good mood? (Hey, he is still
Tenchi, after all! ^_^)
Finally the group reached
the dining room. Belldandy stood at the
entrance to the kitchen and was smiling at them. Tenchi noted that dinner was not out on the table just yet, but
that the places were already set. He
also noted that there was a small baby chair just for his daughter. Belldandy spoke from her vantage point in
the kitchen's doorway.
"Everyone
make yourselves comfortable, I'll be serving dinner in just a moment."
Keiichi
proceeded to show everyone to their places at the table. Looking around when everyone was seated he
thought, looks like this will be an interesting evening after all. Keiichi grinned as he took his place at
the table.
I finished a Chapter, Huzzah! Once again, if you have any sort of comment, do so below. Makes me feel good to get mail, it really
does ^_^
K-1 Goddess Syndrome
By: UnholyDragoon