Remember Me?

by Raine

If you've read Once and Again, here's the sequel!

2. Another Ryoko

            Washu was putting the finishing touches on her project, when the door opened behind her, and someone spoke.

"Hi Washu!  We aren't late or anything, are we?  Kiyone thought that we might be and she was scared that you might get angry and blow up the Headquarters or something, but you would never do that, would you Washu?  Oh, hey, what's this?  'Mihoshi, press this.'  Oh, what does it do?  I'll bet this button does it!  See, it says 'DO NOT TOUCH!'"  Washu grimaced.  She hadn't heard that voice for a long time, and that had been just fine with her.

            "Hello, Kiyone, Mihoshi."  She turned around and smiled at them, trying hard to be polite.  Mihoshi, having pressed the button, was watching a blinking light bulb.  Kiyone was trying to pry her away from it.

            "Hello, Washu….MIHOSHI!" 

            "Don't worry about it, Kiyone.  That bulb will-" KLUNK!   Mihoshi fell over and snored loudly.  "- Put her right to sleep.  There!"

Kiyone smiled.  "Thank god!"  She dragged her slumbering partner out through the door, again, presumably back to the ship.

"Are people here already?"  Katsu asked as he walked in the door.

"Yep!  I got rid of Mihoshi for a while, though.  She won't wake up until Sasami is here, at least."

"Sasami?"  Katsu smiled happily.  "When's Sasami coming?"

Washu glanced at him and laughed.  "Oh, you like her, do you?"  He blushed.

Kiyone walked back through the door then, sparing him from further embarrassment.

"Oh, hello, Katsu.  How are you?"  She asked him.

"Great, what about you?"  He said politely.

"Fine."

"Well, nice that you two recognize each other.  Kiyone, there's something over there that you'll want to see."  She nodded to her side, and then went back to work.

"Washu has a great work ethic, doesn't she?"  Kiyone observed as she and Katsu walked to the area Washu had indicated.  A large object stood there, covered by a white cloth.

"Yeah."  Katsu said, almost sadly.  "She does."

Kiyone pulled the cloth down as a voice announced, "If you are Kiyone, then this amazing machine is for you and the Galaxy Police!  It is strongly advised to keep it away from Mihoshi, or it could be disastrous to your health!  And now, I, the Greatest Genius in the Universe, Little Washu, present to you…. THE FABULOUS, FANTASTIC, WONDERFUL…. CAMOFLAGE CUBE, 2.0!"

A human-sized, clear cube was revealed.  Kiyone gaped at it.

"Oh, wow!  This is amazing!"  Kiyone said in wonderment as the voice continued.

"Yep, the Camouflage Cube 2.0!  It can morph you, transport you, and hide you!  Enjoy!"

"What is it?"  Katsu asked her.  Kiyone took her eyes off the cube for a moment to stare at him.

"You're Grandmother is a Genius Scientist, you've lived with her all of your life, and you don't know what this is?"

"I don't like science!  Why does everyone think that?"  He yelled at her, angering suddenly.  Katsu stormed off to his room.

Kiyone stared at him again, but decided that the cube was more important.  Sticking her hand into it, she felt a tingling sensation as she thought of a chameleon, an earth animal that was said to camouflage itself.  Pulling out her hand, she discovered that is was colored many shades of green, and clawed.  Setting it against her pants, it began to change slowly, just like real chameleons would.

She stepped into the cube entirely, and discovered that she was still able to breathe, even though she was enclosed in a jelly-like substance.  Her clothes had been dropped outside.  Imagining a Kiaian, a Juraian animal much like a bobcat, she felt her body go numb for a second as she changed, and was thrust out of the cube.

This is so much better than the first one!  She thought.  In the first one, it had been excruciatingly painful to change, and many people had died because they couldn't get out.

"I see you like my invention, Kiyone."  Washu told the Kiaian as it sat up.  Kiyone growled in reply.  "I figured that the numbness could solve that problem with changing, what do you think?"  Kiyone growled again, and nodded her head.  Then, she stood up and leapt back into the cube, emerging a few seconds later as Mihoshi.

"Oops." She said, looking down at her naked body, or, more precisely, Mihoshi's.

"You were thinking about Mihoshi, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I was just imagining what could happen if she ever found this."  Kiyone replied, before slipping back into the cube.  This time, she emerged as herself.

"Well, you could always do this…" Washu said, grabbing the cube and pressing on the sides until it was the size of a die.  "There!"

"Thank you, Miss Washu."

"Hey, you're welcome…. but only if you call me 'LITTLE WASHU'!"  Kiyone grimaced.

"Thank you, Little Washu."

"Then, you're very very welcome!"  Washu beamed.

Still the same Washu…  Kiyone thought, walking to another area of the lab.

"Washu?"  Sasami knocked on the door, and walked in.  She felt almost lonely without her usual guard, no matter how much of nuisance they were.  It had been hard to get away, but she told herself that it was worth it.

"Over here!"  Washu yelled, from somewhere off to her left.  Sasami walked towards her voice, and greeted her.

"The Juraian Empire gives you salutations and wishes you –"  She stopped as Washu glared at her.

"I'm going to be your mother for just a second here, Sasami.  You aren't Queen of Jurai for these next few days."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"  She said nervously.  Washu glared at her.

"Jurai wishes you well, and-oh, fine!"  She sighed.  "Little Washu!  I missed you so much!"  Sasami squealed, hugging Washu.

"That's better.  How was your trip?"

"The trip was fine.  I had a horrible time convincing the guards and nobles and everyone to let me go at all, then with no guard.  They seemed to think that you might try to harm me."  A smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Hmph!  Some people!"

"Yes, I know, Washu."

"Sasami, have you merged with Tsunami yet?"  Washu asked suddenly.

"Yeah, long time ago.  Technically I'm Queen Sanami, but it doesn't make much difference."

"I see.  Well, if you don't mind, I think I'll still call you Sasami."

"That's fine."

"But, shouldn't you seem different, or something?  Besides looking older?"

"No, not really.  We are so alike that there's barely any difference.  We quarrel over something every once in a while, but it's more like a quarrel between yourself."

"Sasami, would you mind doing something for me?" Washu's face lit up.  "See that plant?  The one with the big purple flower?"  Sasami nodded.  "Would you water it for me?"

"Sure!"  Sasami agreed.  She walked over to the plant.  "Gee, Washu, this smells good."  SNAP!  The plant closed its vines around her, and she was knocked out by the flower's scent.

"Yay!  A guinea pig!"  Dozens of plastic tubes attached themselves to Sasami, as Washu brought up her laptop.  She analyzed the data quickly, and stored it, before Sasami could wake up.

Just after Washu finished, Sasami woke up to find herself sprawled on the floor.

"What happened?"  She asked groggily, rubbing her eyes.  Washu helped her sit up and gave her a drink that would clear her head.

"I needed to do a few tests on you, but I figured you would resist if you were awake.  Sorry."  Washu stood up when Sasami did.

"Washu, that wasn't very nice.  You don't need my data, anyway.  Why don't you just do a test on yourself?"  She scowled and stomped away.

Washu stared.  "A test on myself?  What did she mean?"

"Bye, bye Miss America Pie!"  Sasami heard from a room nearby.

"What kind of song is that?"  She wondered to herself, opening the door it seemed to be coming from.

That was a mistake.  Just inside, not quite hidden by mist, was Katsu, singing in the shower.

"Did you write the book of love, and do you have faith in God above, if the Bible tells you so?"  He continued obliviously.

Sasami stared at him, unable to move.  Her Queenly-ness warred with her innocence, and innocence finally won.  She stood in the doorway, watching him sing. (Since he knew the whole song, this took a while.)  She was going to leave, when he turned towards the door.

Katsu stared.  There, watching him, was Sasami.  Sasami.  He had never thought that she would get anywhere near him, but there she was, in the bathroom with him.

He wanted, so badly, to go and kiss her, but one does not do that to the Queen of Jurai.  The Queen of Jurai.  He reminded himself.  She would never love you.  You aren't worthy of her.

Sasami noticing that he had seen her, turned bright red, and managed to smile weakly before walking away.  She sighed happily as soon as she was away from the bathroom.  Washu's grandson, he was so handsome!  But she, like Katsu, could not act upon her feelings.

Kiyone walked out of the shadows, as soon as Sasami left.  She had seen the whole thing, and was not very happy with either of them.

He's exactly like Tenchi!  She thought.  He can't act upon love either.  I'll have to help them.

Kiyone remembered her and Tenchi.  She had once been like Sasami and Katsu, afraid to love Tenchi.  If she had only done something, kissed him, told him, anything, Ryoko might be alive, Ayeka might be alive, and they wouldn't have had these problems.   Tenchi would have loved her, not some bitch from Jurai.

She would help them, she decided.  She would not let another love fail.

"Attention everyone!"  Washu said into a microphone on her computer, still wondering about what Sasami had said.  Inside her ship, Mihoshi woke up.  "Please report to my main lab immediately."

"Now what, Washu?"  Kiyone asked, once everyone was assembled in her lab.  Katsu and Sasami were shooting alternate embarrassed glances at each other, then looking away so they couldn't see the other's look.

"Now, you get to see what you came here for."  Washu said.  She showed them a large glass cylinder, and the mass of cords attached to it.

"This is my Dimensional Thrusting Device.  A DTD.  It can transport anyone to another dimension, and it can transport anyone back."

"Oh, wow!"  Mihoshi said.

"That's great, Washu, but why do we need to see it?"

"Because, ladies and gentleman, this machine will give us back our Ryoko."

Everyone stared at her in silence.

"What do you-"

"Are you trying to tell us that-"

"I don't get it."

"You're kidding."  They all tried to talk at once.

"Please, please, save your talk for afterwards."  Washu told them.  "It might not even work!"

            She reached over towards the screen of her Parallel Choice Fluctuation Monitorial Device, the TV-like device from before, and turned it on.  It automatically searched for any traces of Ryoko, showing them on the screen again.

            "Wow!"  Sasami exclaimed.  "It's Ryoko!"

            "Yes, but it only shows her there.  You notice how fast its changing?  There are billions of Ryoko's out there.  I can't get a personality match, or this would be a lot more accurate.  I can't be completely certain of which Ryoko out of a billion that I will get."

            She reached over to her DTD, switching it on.  It hummed slowly to life, and the cylinder was glowing slightly.  It took several seconds to enter the sequence, and she had some trouble prying the 'child-proof' door off of the button.  She paused, as if to make sure this was right, and pressed the 'initiation' button.

            Lightning crackled through the wires, as the machine started its work.  Sasami looked over at the PCFMD, and wished that she hadn't.

            On the screen, a Ryoko was screaming, being sucked into an invisible hole.  As she disappeared from the screen, Sasami turned back.  Ryoko had appeared in the cylinder, her arms hanging loosely at her sides, and her head thrown back.  The machine let out a rumble, then turned off.   Ryoko woke up.

            She stared around her for a moment, regaining her senses.  Glaring around the room, she seemed to recognize no one.

            Uh-oh.  Thought Washu.  This could be bad.

            Washu was right. Seconds later, the glass cylinder exploded, as Ryoko charged at them.  Kiyone acted instinctively, grabbing her gun and shooting at the elusive target.  Even with all of her training, she was not a match for the angry pirate.  A punch to her head quickly knocked her unconscious.

            Mihoshi, of course, couldn't do anything but scream "Stop in the name of the Galaxy Police!"  and shoot around the room aimlessly.  Katsu ducked as a blast whizzed over his head.  Ryoko didn't even bother to finish her off.

            Meanwhile, everyone else hid. Ryoko disappeared quickly, leaving them to wonder what had gone wrong.

            "I got the wrong Ryoko, didn't I?" Washu said, looking stunned.  "That's the Space Pirate my daughter once was.  That's the Ryoko that never met Tenchi."