I don

I don't own Tenchi Muyo.

For Reasons That Escape Me

By The Great El Dober

Chapter Six

Ryoko had shut her eyes bracing for the excepted impact of landing but several seconds had passed now and no impact had come. Tentatively she opened her eyes to investigate.

Nothing.

Her eyes were staring into the endless white expanse where she had 'first' encountered Zero. Why was she back here? What was going on? It felt so isolated, it was cold and quiet. There was a haunting silence hanging in the air that made for a very barren, vacant atmosphere but this was soon broken by a mournful voice emanating from behind Ryoko.

"Please forgive me."

Startled by this sudden disturbance of the empty silence, Ryoko spun around to confront the voice, although she already had her suspicions of who it was. As excepted she was greeted by the familiar sight of Zero, however that was were the familiarity ended. The Zero she saw now was far different from the Zero she had originally met. She lay on the ground, hands folded behind her head, staring skywards into the empty space as glistening tears trickled down her face.

"Forgive you for what?" asked a confused Ryoko, "What's happened?"

"I hurt you," Zero replied sadly, her gaze not moving from the empty 'above', "this is all my fault."

A bit surprised at this Ryoko sat down right next to where Zero lay. It was a gesture, a sign that Ryoko wasn't against her. "It's not your fault, if anything it's my fault," Ryoko confessed gently.

Zero just smiled a small but warm smile as a response. It was nice to hear Ryoko say that but she didn't really understand. Ryoko didn't comprehend the consequences of what had happened, she couldn't have meant what she said.

"How could this happen?" Zero asked, her question directed more to the blank sky than to Ryoko.

How could I become this? She thought, A few weeks ago I was part of a young girl, part of a future. Now I'm a ruthless killer once more.

More tears began to stream down her face as she was forced to face the distressing truth. She couldn't accept it, her soul wrestled with what she had witnessed, but it was a battle she was losing. Ryoko's blood was now on her hands and despite her feminine appearance her hands now felt like metal blocks dripping with blood. She couldn't get the images out of her head and they disgusted her.

"What are you looking at anyway?" Ryoko asked in an attempt to break the eerie silence that had formed between them. It was bewildering that Zero seemed so keenly focused on the 'sky' when there was nothing but oblivion above them.

"I'm looking to the future," Zero replied calmly.

"But there's nothing there," Ryoko said, even more confused.

"Exactly," replied Zero.

"Wh . .What do you mean?" Ryoko stammered. She might not be as smart as Zero but she had understood enough. The situation was much more serious than she had first thought. Several possibilities ran through her head, each one putting a strangling fear in her. The fear of death.

"This is the end," Zero said sedately while turning to face Ryoko. Her tearful eyes shimmered like crystals and locked onto Ryoko with an emotional, longing depth that Ryoko had never before seen in her countless years of bloody sorrow.

"Ryoko, we don't have much time left together," Zero continued, "I'll understand if you don't forgive me but I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

The fear that had been tugging at her mind began to rip away at it leaving her only with the primal fear of death. She was dying, no, she was already dead. No, it couldn't be, it just couldn't . . . .

"No!" Ryoko screamed as she grabbed Zero by the shoulders, mimicking the fear that had grabbed her mind. "This can't be it. Do something! You have to do something!"

"I'm sorry," came the placid reply from Zero. It wasn't emotionless, just far too depressed to sound properly animated, instead sounding very sombre and plain, "There is nothing I can do now except to give you your answers like I promised."

"I don't care about that anymore!" Ryoko screamed, "I want to live, I want to see my mommy! Why can't . . ."

"Please!" Zero interrupted forcefully, raising her voice above its trance-like tones for the first time in the conversation.

"Please Ryoko there isn't much time left," she continued in a quieter voice, "Your answers are all that I can give you, please take it as a parting gift. I don't want us both to regret this moment forever."

When someone makes a plea with such desperation and weakness in their voice it is almost impossible to deny them. Hearing Zero's last request brought some stability back to Ryoko's mind as she felt she ought to do something, as if she had an unspoken obligation to comply. This new focus renewed her self-control. Her breathing became more composed and her thoughts became more lucid as she nodded slowly as a gesture that she would accept the answers from Zero.

"Thank you," Zero responded softly while taking Ryoko's hand in her own. This meant a lot to Zero, to finally be able to give Ryoko what she deserved. These buried memories and reasons had helped Zero bring out the far more compassionate side of Ryoko and now Ryoko would have them for herself. Ryoko would finally become the person she had been denied the chance of becoming and it felt fitting that Zero, the one that Ryoko freed, would be the one to free Ryoko.

"I'll miss you," Zero finished as the white expanse around them cracked and shattered. The seals that had censored Ryoko to her memories had been broken, plunging the surrounding area into to complete darkness that was impossible to see through, even for Ryoko's advanced eyes. As Zero's last words echoed through the darkened space Ryoko could feel something, a strange, embracing warmth approaching her.

Her journey of re-discovery was about to begin.

Washu's Lab - Several Hundred Years Ago

A small little girl happily sits in the middle of an imposing mechanical lair piled full of equipment and technology. She doesn't seem affected by this however as her pyjama-covered legs rest cosily on a soft floating cushion and her sleepy attention is focused on the task at hand, writing the day's diary entry before bed. With one hand forming the words and the other stroking her pet, she pours out her heart and soul onto the pages in front of her.

. . . . and told me I hadn't won. I thought mom would be real mad. She always wins everything at the academy and I can't even win a stupid science fair competition. I was afraid she would be embarrassed and upset but all she did was pull me to the side and ask me if I tried my best. When I told her I had she smiled and said she was proud of me . . . .

The small girl looks up from her diary to look across the room at the subject in question. Washu sits on her own floating cushion working away as always. Ryoko continues to stare for a while through loving eyes directed at her mother as her mind reflects on the day's activates and what they had meant to her. Sensing strong feelings through their link, Washu turns her attention from her work to her young daughter who she finds staring attentively back at her from across the room. Noticed, the little girl just flashes a bright smile before quickly returning to her diary.

. . . I'm proud of her too. It doesn't matter how well I do, Mom loves me anyway.

And with those last words the girl puts down her diary and happily skips off to bed, with a pleased smile and a contented mind.

Masaki Home - Three weeks time

Ryoko sat up in her private rafter wearing her blue and yellow dress and a very troubled, desperate expression. She tried her best to hold back the tears as she persisted with her task. In front of her were crumpled, torn sheets of paper ripped out of random places, all pressed and squashed into a rough book format. This was now her so-called diary. It had been crudely taped together as she didn't know how to work a stapler and was far too embarrassed to ask anyone.

The pages were a complete mess with her scrawled writing smudged and scored out. It was pathetic and she knew it, her work looked like something a three year old would do, not a young woman, but she persevered anyway. This was something that meant a lot to her.

. . . . how can Washu do this to me? She tries to help me. She cares about me, I know it, I've sensed it across our link. Why? Why can't she leave me to be the failure we all know I've become? Why can't she be as disgusted with me as I am? I'm a rude, thick, drunk murderer. Why does she still want me?

Ryoko tries to control her trembling hand as tears fall from her face smudging her messy writing even more, to the point it became an unreadable smear.

. . . Why does she still love me?

Space Academy Labs - Several Hundred Years Ago

Where is she? I can't open the link, then she'll know. It won't be any good if she knows.

A small girl wanders aimlessly through her mother's lab at the Space Academy. Her vibrant red dress loses is vitality in the eerie darkness and her large golden eyes sparkle with the flashing display lights. In her small hands she carefully cradles a small clay model, a delicate red crab she had handcrafted and painted all by herself. It had taken her all day and a lot of effort to make one just perfect, but if it made her Mum proud then it would be all worth it. The only thing was, it had to be a surprise . . . .

"Mommy," she calls out in the darkness, "Mommy where are you?"

What was that? She had heard a clatter, a smash, the sound of something being broken. Someone was breaking stuff in the lab!

Mommy must have gotten angry again, she thought while giggling to herself. Washu did have a habit of venting her frustration on her experiments.

I'll go give this to Mommy to cheer her up! She decided as she skipped off in the direction of the disturbance, carefully guarding her gift all the way. Being young and unnaturally fit she was soon approaching the source, in fact her sensitive hearing told her it was only around the corner.

"Mommy!" she chirped happily as she skipped around the corner, presenting herself with a mischievous smile and hands hidden behind her back.

Only her mother wasn't there.

There was a man.

A cloaked man.

Breaking her mother's things.

Upon hearing a voice he quickly whisked around in a startled shock. As soon as he caught sight of the young child his startled expression changed to one of sheer disgust.

"YOU!" he bellowed furiously at her, "It's you I came for you blasphemous abomination!"

Ryoko just froze, her body paralysed with trembling fear, especially her lip which felt so shakingly numb that she couldn't speak properly. That was of little consequence though as she didn't have the courage to say anything anyway.

"I'll send you back to the hell you spawned from you sacrilegious perversion!" he screamed as he held his sledgehammer high above his head and charged towards the defenceless child.

Her small body was so gripped with fear that all Ryoko could do was re-open the link. She desperately cried out to her mother for salvation.

Mommy! Mommy please save me, she pleaded, He's going to hurt me, please don't leave me here Mommy! I can't . . . .

"DIE!" he screamed, bringing his hammer down for a deathblow, but it never came. All Ryoko saw was a brilliant arch of orange radiance come sweeping across and slice the hammer away from her. That was all she saw, as the hammer fell roughly into a nearby machine, knocking it over.

The machine fell clumsily onto the petrified girl with such force that she immediately lost consciousness. She slept peacefully underneath the mass of metal as two figures battled on around her, engaging in a deadly dance that would ultimately decide her fate.

Hospital bed - Hours later

"There you are my little Ryoko," Washu's gentle smile greeted as Ryoko's eyes fluttered open. She found herself in a hospital bed, her arm bandaged and sore. She then noticed the state her mother was in.

"Mommy, you're hurt!" Ryoko exclaimed in terror.

"Don't worry about this," Washu assured pointing to her bandaged hand. She also had a small cut tracing a thin red line just above her eyebrow, but it was nothing serious. "How are you Ryoko?" Washu asked concerned, "It must have been terrible for you. Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Ryoko nodded half-heartedly as Washu positioned herself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed right beside her young daughter.

"I love you Mommy," Ryoko began in a quiet, sorrowful voice, "But . . . ."

"But what?" asked a confused and nervous Washu. Was something wrong between them? Had she said something to hurt her? She could sense an upsetting, depressing thought in Ryoko's mind, laced with fear and sorrow and she feared that it was something to do with her.

"I love you Mommy," Ryoko repeated weakly, "But I think, I think . . . ."

Ryoko took a deep breath and finally mustered the courage to finish.

"I think you should turn me off now."

Washu was shocked, not only by Ryoko's words but also by the feelings coming across the link. She could sense it, despite her wild fear of death Ryoko had been completely serious, she had meant every word she had said.

This was reinforced by the expression on the young girl's face. It was grave and scared but also very solemn and sincere. Washu just smiled warmly in return, a smile glowing with a mother's pride at her daughter's selflessness and innocence.

"I've told you before my little Ryoko," Washu began in a emotional voice, "You are not a machine. I can't just 'turn you off', and besides you don't have to worry about danger any more."

Washu could see the confusion on her daughter's face and could sense her hopeful curiosity creeping across the link.

"I'm moving my lab to subspace," she explained with a welcoming smile, "It will be far safer and besides it will give me room to expand. We can even build a house in there."

"For both of us?" Ryoko asked in a timid tone.

"Yes, of course for both of us," Washu laughed, "but you can't stay there all the time. No, that still won't do."

"Oh," was all a dejected Ryoko could say in a dispirited, defeated tone.

She lowered her head and let her feelings of despair and misery overpower her, shattering her young innocent spirits. She was so consumed by her misery that she didn't sense her mother walk across the room to retrieve something.

"These are for you," Washu told her, presenting an open hand for Ryoko to see. She gasped as she immediately recognised the objects.

"Mom I can't have those!" she exclaimed, "Those are your special stones. You said you need them to . . ."

"Don't worry about me," Washu assured her while placing the three red gems gently into her daughters hands.

"These belong to you now my little Ryoko," Washu told her, still holding Ryoko's hand in her own. "Do you know how many people wanted them? Museums, scientists, warriors, royalty, anyone who's anyone has tried to get these gems from me. However I never gave them to any of those people, I didn't consider them worthy, but I'm giving them to you my little one."

"Why?" asked the small girl in genuine confusion, fuelled by her low self-esteem.

"Because you're my daughter," Washu stated proudly while pulling her daughter into a hug, "You're not a machine or a creation. You're my daughter and you mean more to me than anyone else. In my eyes, you are the only one who is worthy."

Ryoko's eyes just filled up as she collapsed into tears on her mother's shoulder. She had been expecting death, the end of her short life, a sacrifice to protect all that she loved, and with that massive burden on her young soul only seconds ago she was now having trouble with the new torrents of emotions that coursed through her.

Never before had she felt so accepted. She had been given her mother's most valuable possession. Why? Because she wasn't a possession, she was a person and a person of far more value than the priceless gems. She had been told this over and over again but this was the first time she had truly believed it. She had gone from expecting the biggest loss of her life to receiving the biggest gain she could imagine and it had proved too much for her as she sobbed away on her mother's shoulder.

A tear fell from Washu's face too and became lost in her daughter's unruly cyan mane. For Washu this was a dream come true, comforting a child, her child. It was something she had thought she had lost forever.

That was the true beauty of the moment. Washu could feel like a mother once more and Ryoko finally felt like someone's child instead of being a science project. In fact she was more than that, she wasn't just someone's child, she was a loved child, a treasured child.

The image then faded and she was shrouded by shadows once more.

She lay alone, swimming in the cold darkness as her mind slowly drowned in a deep pool of regret and sorrow. She felt like a barren core, her pleasing fruits stripped away from her never to be returned. She was nothing now but despite facing such great personal loss, her painful thoughts lingered on someone else.

"I'm sorry Mommy," she whispered softly, "I love you."

After speaking those last mournful words she relaxed her body into a defeat slump. It was truly over. She gazed down at her trembling hands and . . . .

Wait! She could see her hands! That was impossible, there was no light, she shouldn't be able to see anything. Unless . . . .

In a frantic rush of hope and confusion her head shot up to look skywards just like Zero's had earlier. She could see a soft, warm light radiating it's tender glow on her.

I'm looking to the future, she remembered Zero saying. What did this mean? Did she still have a future? The darkness began to soften as the traces of light began to spread. They became more emphatic and vigorous until her sight was filled with one vibrant blur. Then the light began to break off into shades and tones, finally starting to assert itself into forms and objects. Seconds later Ryoko's sight returned to normal. She was awake! She was alive!

"Welcome back my little Ryoko," Washu's gentle features greeted, "You're finally awake. You had us all very. . . ."

Washu never got to finish that sentence as her daughter jumped off the bed she had been resting on and into Washu's arms. Washu was surprised by this but still returned Ryoko's fierce hug with all her heart. Just as well, for Ryoko was quickly surprised by her weak body's lack of strength and collapsed into her mother's arms.

Once again Washu was left to hold up Ryoko's frame but this time there wasn't a single trace of grief in her mind. Joy and delight flowed through her soul and across the link to her daughter.

"I know now Mommy," Ryoko explained softly, "I know why I love you, because no matter what happens you will always love me. You don't care how clever I am, or what I've done or what I am. That dosen't matter, you still care about me."

"That's right my Little Ryoko," Washu's emotional voice replied as tears threatened to choke her voice away from her.

She said she loved me, Washu thought, I've waited thousands of years to hear her say that. I can sense it too, she's so excited and happy. She's glad to be with me! This has made everything worth it, but . . . .

"Tell me Ryoko," Washu began in a tense voice, "What is the first thing you remember before that?"

Ryoko paused to think for a minute before her face shot up from Washu's shoulder showing a panic stricken expression of alarm.

"Oh my God! You were kidnapped!" Ryoko began frantically, "What happened? Who saved you?"

Just as I suspected, Washu thought sadly, She doesn't remember anything. Poor thing, that's three times her memory has been scrubbed. I guess I'll never know how she found me now.

"I'll tell you later my little one," Washu assured with loving fingers brushing Ryoko's cheek, "But just rest for now. We're back home now. Everything's going to be alright, I promise."

Masaki Shrine

Katsuhito stared off into the horizon, deep in thought. He had heard the story from Washu but it was obvious she wasn't telling the whole truth. As an experienced fighter who had fought Ryoko in the past, he knew she couldn't sustain an injury like that and still go on to win the battle like Washu had claimed she had. That left him with a very perplexing question. Just how was the fight won then?

The old man frowned. There was more to this Washu than she was letting on.

Ryoko's bedside

The rest of the family had gathered in Washu's infirmary unit. They had all assembled to comfort Ryoko who was to the best of their knowledge a returning hero, and she was, just not the way they all thought.

A pair of unseen eyes watched the scene with a joyful delight and an element of pride as Ryoko basked in the attention and love from her family. Zero watched on in a yearning silence as she felt the warm, loving support of the family echoing through the forgotten recesses of Ryoko's mind. Zero had been right in a way. It had been goodbye, it had been the end, but not for Ryoko.

Like she had said before this was not Zero's life and she had no real right to be there. She couldn't live her life as a parasite, forever hidden in someone else's shadow. Taking one last look at the happy Ryoko she could savour the joy Ryoko now felt. At least she had contributed something to the life she had so desperately wanted to lead, and with that last proud thought Zero began to tear herself away from Ryoko's mind. She would leave Ryoko forever and return to the forgotten nothingness she belonged to, lost somewhere between forgotten memories and a lost eternity. She left nothing of herself except for a soft whisper in Ryoko's thoughts.

I'll miss you.

It was the end of a tragic life.

Ryoko shed a warm tear at that moment. She didn't know why but she left a sense of fleeting loss. Soon that feeling became lost amongst the comfort of her loved ones and thanks to Zero's sacrifice, it would be the last tear she would shed in a long time.

Later that night

"Mom?" came a voice, cutting through the eerie droning of machinery that surrounded it.

"Yes my little Ryoko," Washu replied softly.

"What really happened on the ship?" Ryoko asked, her voice sounding as preoccupied as her mind was.

"I've told you already. I was in a . . ." Washu began but Ryoko would have none of it.

"You can't lie to me Mom," she gently warned, while tapping the side of her head to remind her mother why. The link was a two-way thing, if Washu could use it as a lie detector then so could Ryoko.

Washu let out a defeated sigh. She had been hoping her deception would work on Ryoko but it had proved to be unsuccessful.

"I can't tell you what happened," Washu replied frankly, while manoeuvring onto the edge of the bed like she had so many years ago.

"But I should know!" Ryoko protested, her pleading eyes appealing to her mother's heart, "You saved my life and I don't even know how."

"Don't worry my little one," Washu eased while bending down to gently kiss her daughter on her forehead, "I don't know either."

This surprised and confused Ryoko but she knew it to be true. Through the link she could sense that her mother held scattered memories of what had happened but they were all hollow, the logic was missing. Instead she could sense a suspicion centred on some sort of machine in the lab and a feeling of nostalgia that stretched back more than twenty thousand years.

Washu's thoughts on the matter were indecisively torn between these two entwining yet contradicting notions. She was sure that something very clear and distinct had happened but she found herself unable to define it.

Ryoko relaxed her mind and decided that in the end it wasn't important. They were together again, that's all that really mattered. The odds had been stacked against them, they had almost no hope but they had survived. Yes, unbelievable as it seemed they had actually made it for some strange reason.

A reason that escaped them.

End of Chapter Six

End of Story

Note - This is the end of 'For Reasons That Escape Me'. I'm won't add more to this for the same reason I didn't add more chapters to 'A Second Chance'. You see, this was the ending that I had planned when I wrote the beginning and I like to bring my stories to a natural end. I didn't want to drag things out just for the sake of it and risk spoiling what I had already done. I do have some ideas for more and once I come up with something worthy then I will write another sequel but it will be under a different name. Anyway I think I should acknowledge Diane Long and Silver's influence on this fic (Ryoko with her own cushion, a house in the lab, etc) and hope it falls under 'inspiration' and not 'copying'. Finally, thanks to everybody who reviewed this story and encouraged me to continue with it. I hope you enjoyed it.