The Prodigal Son

by The Great El Dober

Sequel to ‘For Reasons That Escape Me’ but there is a short summary explaining all you need to know. There is a new threat to Washu and Ryoko’s relationship but this time it is very different. Does Ryoko have any real right to put a stop to it or is

6. Forgiveness

I don't own Tenchi Muyo.

The Prodigal Son

By The Great El Dober

Chapter Six

"We are approaching the ship," Washu announced, "So listen very carefully to what I am about to say."

Her voice was a strange mixture of weakness and strength.

It commanded their attention and made a very clear and definite warning that her decisions and instructions would be absolute and final. To Tenchi she sounded very like a ship's captain imparting orders to the crew and this impression seemed to be enforced by the way she sat on the piloting chair of Ryo-Ohki, her head poised high and her hands commandingly gripping the side arms. . . .

. . .gripping with fear. Afraid to let go of a seat for fear of what was to come. That was the other tone in her voice, a hidden one that she was trying to mask. The sound and texture of her voice wasn't starkly nervous but it was obvious that she had clamped down a wall of false composure to hide her tense fears that lay just below the surface as they scratched and ripped at her mind.

But still she continued, like Katushito had said, she had to be strong for Ryoko. It was only now as she addressed the others, desperately trying to keep her apprehension and weakness from infiltrating her voice, that she realised how much strength it was going to take.

"This is my family in there," she told them, "so you will do exactly as I say. Don't attack anyone unless it is self-defence. I've heard some things across the link and it's not as clear cut as you first though, so just don't go and rush into things without my guidance."

"Is there anything else we should know?" Ayeka asked with a curiosity fuelled by her worry and apprehension, "What else did you learn from the link?"

"What I heard across the link I would like to keep private," Washu replied in a mournful voice as the memories of Hono's confessions and the reality of her nightmare were both dragged back to the front of her mind. Those thoughts were painful ones, to think about them hurt as if she was walking barefoot on the broken glass of her shattered dreams, but still she had to persevere and try preserve her composure and control, still she had to be strong.

"But you should know what to expect against Hono," she continued with a voice that still tried to rest flat on it's shaken foundations, "He has the ability to form a light sword like Ryoko can and he has her gem so he will be as powerful as Ryoko was."

"What else?" Tenchi asked with a keen, concerned interest, "Can he fly like Ryoko can?"

"No Tenchi," Washu replied with a strange sense of fondness in her voice, "That is a Mass trait, it has nothing to do with me. He can't fly, regenerate, phase or manipulate matter but he will be very strong."

Then the fondness left her voice and her mind. It hadn't been for Tenchi, it had been for the technical question about Ryoko, the feeling of having someone ask a question she knew the answer to. It reminded of her days as a Professor when she had taught, when she had known everything, when she had felt secure and expert but now that sense slowly eroded back into the fears, doubts and pressures of her current dilemma. It was hard to associate the timorous, Washu that sat in her chair, inert and inept, to the confident, completely competent Washu that had given lectures to thousands, unquestioned and unrivalled.

Behind her mask of calm she was poisoned with fears, fears that swirled and tumbled around her thoughts like waves but there was one fear that crashed and roared far above the others, the fear that things could only get worse.

It had simpler before when it had been just her and Ryoko. They had both needed to put their painful pasts behind them and they had found exactly that in each other. Washu was filled with a sense of pride, Ryoko finally had someone to be proud of her. Washu had the chance to care for her child once more, Ryoko finally had some help and comfort with her problems. They both had found strength and stability in each other but Washu now feared that no matter what happened in the upcoming confrontation that they could never go back to the way they once were.

She feared that she was slipping further and further down this emotional slope with every step she took towards her children. She feared that the step that took her off Ryo-Ohki and into the unknown would be the last and after that came the fall.

And she feared that the fall would finally break her.

Aboard Hono's ship

She just lay there like a broken toy and let her lifeless head stare longingly down the illuminated corridor that was the exit to this prison, the only path to freedom. She knew that she couldn't leave though, she had already learned that the hard way, there was some kind of force, a painful force that would always stop her. It was useless.

So all she could do was cast desperate stares through her almost catatonic eyes, washed of life and hope by painful tears. To her that tunnel-like corridor represented a gateway to her old life, to Earth, to everything she had lost. Yes, it seemed that everything she had ever loved was just at the other end of that corridor, just out of her reach. And that world, the one that existed at the opposite end, was going on happily without her, just like it would forever more.

Then, to her complete and utter shock, a figure turned the corner and came into view at the end of the corridor. It was followed by a few more and these distant figures all sprinted through the tunnel with a motivated speed. They were getting closer now. One even looked a bit like, no, it was, it was . . .

. . . Tenchi led the charge down the hallway with Tenchi-ken's blazing blade swinging lethally at his side with every sprinting step he took. Washu, Ayeka and Mihoshi kept pace a few steps behind him, a safe distance from his blade that lashed out with the same intensity that Tenchi felt. Ayeka, while full of admiration at his selfless noble acts, was also filled with a measure of jealousy that Tenchi would be so determined, so fired up, so passionate about saving . . .

. . .Ryoko gasped in horror as an awful realisation burst into her mind. They were coming to rescue her or at least planned on entering the room. They would get hurt, the same force that hurt her every time she tried to escape would surely strike them down as well. For the first time in hours a purpose coursed through her bones as she jolted up and began shouting, waving, gesturing, anything that would make them stop. She had to warn them and she had to do it . . .

. . . Now they could she her. She was waving to them and shouting something. Tenchi took this for a sign of fear, a desperate, frenzied plea for salvation. It distressed and upset him to see a friend like that so with his growing zeal to save her he quickened his pace and bounded towards her with even more eager speed. He was almost there, he could almost make out what she was saying. What? What was that? Was she telling him to . . .

. . ."Stop!" Hono shouted as he quickly darted into view at the end of the passage, "Please stop or you will die!"

They all stopped a few steps short of the corridor's end. Hono, who stood just outside of the tunnel's mouth, now blocked the exit with his arms spread out to completely eclipse their path, however there was one thing that he couldn't eclipse and that was a certain princess's notorious temper.

"Are you threatening Lord Tenchi?" shrieked the outraged Ayeka.

"No, it isn't a threat, it is a fact," Hono replied in a calm but somewhat hurt voice. He felt very uneasy at the sudden hostility from them, only hours ago they had been acting very friendly and sociable to each other, Tenchi had even gave him permission to stay on Earth, and this sudden bitterness was uncomforting but it was a sacrifice he would have to make. However there was no reason that they had to sacrifice their lives over nothing.

"There is a shield around this room to contain Ryoko," Hono explained, "but while it would merely stun her I fear it could kill you. Please do not come any further, I do not wish to harm you."

"He's telling the truth!" Ryoko shouted out, "If you try to come in this room it will kill you. Please Tenchi just stay where you are."

As this information filtered through to his mind Tenchi cursed himself for being so incompetent with his own power. The Light Hawk Wings had only ever formed when he had been in danger, he himself had no control over it and no matter how hard he tried just now they refused to answer his call. It was hopeless.

Their spirits began to deflate and the rivers that had been their courageous ideas suddenly ran dry and withered away along with the false expectations that they had sprung from. It was at this moment that Washu stepped forward, literally as she strode into her children's view from behind Tenchi's back and reclaimed the lead position. She was going to handle it now, no matter how unprepared she felt.

"Please Hono, just let her go," Washu pleaded in a plainly desperate voice. The mask that had once hidden traces of weakness from her voice was now shattered and only fragments of it could be detected in the voice that now pleaded for Ryoko's safe return. "I know what you think but you're wrong. I feel deeply sorry for you I really do but Ryoko has already been imprisoned for 700 years and I can't let it happen again."

"How do you know?" Hono asked in shock. She talked like she knew of his plans for Ryoko but that was impossible. The only person he had told was Ryoko and she had been in his disgusted presence the entire time, so how could she possibly know?

"You were fooled by Lord Katsuhito," Washu explained, "I heard your entire conversation across the link."

"I am deeply sorry," Hono apologised with a deep bow as he remembered some of what he had said, especially the parts relating to Washu, "I never intended for you to hear any of that, I never meant to hurt your feelings."

"It's okay," Washu assured, although her voice was unconvincing and stayed true to her disappointment and hurt, "I can understand why you feel that way but you have to understand why this is wrong. You believe Ryoko to be the source of all your suffering but you are wrong, the root of it all was Kagato and he is already dead. Come back to Earth and I'll prove it."

Then it all seemed to stop. The talk, the movement, the whole moment seemed to stand still in the light of this absolute truth. Hono just stood there as these words flowed into his mind and began to reform and reshape his ideas and the others just stood and watched him with hopeful expectation. Was it all going to work out well after all? Could this really be it?

No.

"I'm sorry but I can't," Hono replied with a regretful shake of his head, "For 4000 years I have twisted my soul around this one belief and clung to it for this one notion was the only thing that saved me from slipping into insanity. Now you are asking me to tear away from it and I can't, even if I try. It has become my backbone and I can't rip it out for someone that my heart tells me is a monster."

"You're wrong," Tenchi responded with a much calmer understanding in his voice than Ayeka, "Ryoko made the same mistake when she was freed, she attacked me but in the end she didn't go through with it and now look, we're close friends. If you were to do the same I'm sure it would work out for you as well."

"But I don't want to live her life, all I want release," Hono pleaded in an increasingly desperate voice, "I have all this anger and hate and it all points to her and I will never be free from it until I fulfil it's wish. It is not a matter of calculated vengeance, it is a need but there is no need for you to suffer as well."

"What do you mean?" Ayeka asked as she sensed a strange lack of hostility in those last words that had appeared to form a threat but the neutral tones of his voice seemed inappropriate for the apparently aggressive message behind them.

"If you do not leave then you will eventually be arrested under charges of assisting a wanted criminal," he explained, "I know that you are all innocent people with good intentions but the authorities would not be as understanding so I beg you to leave now while you still can."

This new information brought a drastic sense of urgency, which in turn provoked a level of panic to pester their thoughts like an invisible force pushing them forward at an uncomfortable speed, forcing them to rush their thinking.

But Washu tried to remain calm. She tried to focus and divert her thoughts and actions past these obstacles. She tried to emulate that Professor of years gone by who had been undefeatable in her field and always knew what to do. But this wasn't the methodical field of professional science that she was expert in, this was the field of pure emotion, a field that she often struggled in. What could she possibly do?

Her mind was full of suggestions, probabilities and possibilities but none of them were satisfactory. They all ended the same way, one child was cast away and that was something she couldn't bear to do but something that she feared she had to.

The moment had come, the clock had been ticking away and she had known it and now it had finally reached zero, time up. She now stood at the very edge and knew that the time had come to take the final step. She had to, she had claimed command and now she had to make a definite decision that would affect the outcome. What would she choose, what path would she decide to lead them all down?

"Tenchi," she began, finally taking the situation into her own hands, "There is something we can do but only you can do it."

With this promising offer grasping his attention, Tenchi listened intently as Washu instructed him on what to do, out of earshot of all the others. Hono, Ayeka and Mihoshi just watched on in a baffled confusion, wondering what could possibly be done to aid their seemingly helpless cause.

Finally it was done and Tenchi stood away from Washu as he took the extinguished Tenchi-ken in his grasp and held the hilt out in front of him. The hilt pointed directly towards his chest and he closed his eyes with a strange focus etched on his face. In fact it almost looked as if he was going to . . .

"No Tenchi!" Hono shouted at him, "Don't be a fool, you don't have to kill yourself over this!"

He couldn't understand why the young prince would have such an extreme reaction to this but with the way he held the sword what else could it be. In a second the blade would ignite and pierce through Tenchi's chest. Was this some sort of threat, to kill himself unless Ryoko was released? Was this suicide threat their last desperate means to . . .

Then it happened.

The air buzzed with the sound of a freshly ignited blade and the sudden shock made Ayeka recoil back as she closed her startled eyes firmly shut. In the past she had witnessed Yosho perform many tricks with the master key, she had seen him hold it in many ways but never like that and now with this wild fear of the unknown she was almost too frightened of the traumatising possibilities to dare reopen her sealed eyes. A sudden sense of doom and failed dreams consumed her mind, it seemed like the apocalypse of her carefree life. Or was it? Would Tenchi really do something so drastically stupid? She slowly forced herself to open her eyes. She needed answers to her questions.

Was Tenchi dead? Was it really all over?

No.

Ryoko stood there with her light sword firmly in her grasp and her newly acquired gem on her wrist, the one that Tenchi had just prayed across to her. She also wore a different expression. Gone was the vacant death that had haunted her eyes, they now sparkled like virgin stars, small sparks of hope.

But would that hope alone be enough?

Masaki Shrine

Katsuhito felt a light-headed wave wash over him as the strength was sapped from his body. Then to his surprise he slowly began to recover and the hazy feeling soon disappeared. He could definitely sense the difference, the core of his strength was now slightly weaker, his internal flame had been dimmed but was still burning. Why?

The gems were the only thing that still powered Funaho and therefore the only thing that still maintained his life force, the only thing between his life and death. As long as they were imbedded in the master key then their connection to Funaho and support to him would be preserved. If he was still alive then they must have only used one gem and left him one to survive with.

Washu must have known. He had deliberately not told anyone because he knew that one day they would need the other gems and he was willing to sacrifice himself for the others but Washu did have a habit of knowing everything anyway.

Or perhaps she didn't.

Perhaps she just couldn't bear to choose. If she had taken both gems from Tenchi-ken then it would be over, there would be no question about it, Washu would have chosen one child and cast the other away and perhaps she just wasn't able to do that.

The old man frowned, this was what he had been afraid of. If Washu was being indecisive then it could jeopardise their safety. If his guess was right and her emotions were impeding Washu from throwing her full weight behind their cause then they could all be in great peril indeed.

It could be their downfall.

Hono's ship

They watched on in horror as Ryoko and Hono engaged in a deadly battle, each targeting the other's wrist. Each held one gem and if they could remove the other's gem then they would hold two and therefore grasp victory.

But Washu could award victory at any moment she chose. Tenchi still held the last gem and despite his intense desire to see Ryoko safe he had agreed not to distribute it without Washu's permission.

Although that last gem was imbedded in the sword hilt she could almost feel it in her hands, she held the fate of her children in her palm, and yet she didn't act. She just let them fight it out for themselves, let them decide their own fates.

This power she had over them was an uncomfortable burden. The gem was small and light but its power was immeasurable and the responsibility weighed her down with the force of a mountain, not that of a small red jewel. And she remained trapped under that mountain of pressure that stopped her from moving forward, from making a decision.

But how could she choose? She was being asked to do the impossible, how could she possibly reject one of her children?

That was how it seemed now, her dream of them all living in harmony had now wilted into fantasy and the stark reality was that one would win, one would lose and she would be left with the traumatic pain of a lost child, again.

Her heart leaned ever so slightly towards Ryoko, they had been together longer and their future together definitely held more promise, but to uproot her heart and place it completely in Ryoko's side would leave the its roots desolate and disconnected and her aching heart would wither and die.

She couldn't bear that pain, she just couldn't bring herself to choose.

So the fight went on and it went badly. It was a classic battle of ability against dexterity, Ryoko's unusual talents combating Hono's tailored skills. It brought memories drifting back to Ayeka, memories of the lonely nights that she had been kept awake with worried thoughts of her beloved Yosho battling the wicked demon. This was very much how she had pictured it, graceful expertise against brute power, but the feelings that she experienced now were like nothing she would have ever imagined.

For Ryoko was losing and it filled Ayeka, it filled them all with a dreadful despair and a sense of fretful, worried confusion. It made no sense. They all knew that Ryoko could fight much better than this but the spring in her step, the passion in her punch, it was gone. Why?

Washu knew why. Hono was fighting with all his heart and soul. In his mind he was a valiant knight fighting an evil, murderous demon. He was fighting a just cause and was making sacrifices to fulfil it. It was the kind of story that heroes were made of and had Washu read of his past as fiction in a book then she would probably support him and agree with his views but this wasn't a book and it was unlikely to have a fairy tale ending.

However from his misled perspective he was a grand, honourable warrior with a just cause and with every thrust of his mighty sword he struck out at the dark evil with a passionate, justified, righteous venom.

And then there was Ryoko. She clumsily stumbled through the fight with a gravely flawed technique and dragging spirits. In her mind she wasn't a valiant warrior, she was just scum and wasn't really sure if she deserved to live or not. At times it almost seemed as if she was deliberately sabotaging her own attempts.

For when her sword thrust forward it was slowed by her grasping guilt as it drained the vigour from her arms. The hope that had once glittered in her eyes seemed to fade with each dying second. The passion and drive was gone from her fighting, she was just striking out at fears.

He fought with the ferocity of his 4000 years of hate and with the justification of her countless years of sin. The pain and anger of a million victims had been whipped and tortured into him and now it struck through him, you could see it in his eyes, they burned with the consumed hate of countless taken lives, and all of this force went behind his every assault.

And she only had her strangling guilt.

The power may be balanced but the drive was not and eventually the inevitable happened. Ryoko lost.

She dodged his sword thrust but never noticed the cleverly disguised elbow as it jutted out from his plunging arm and crushed into her face. She stumbled backwards in a stunned daze and by the time she had reorientated herself and regained her focus it was too late.

His blade was already cutting a swift path through the air with it's bitter sights set upon her wrist and Ryoko knew, they all knew that there wasn't enough time left for Ryoko to counter. The old Ryoko maybe, but this weary depressed shadow of that talented warrior stood no chance.

It was over.

Tenchi fumbled desperately about with his sword, preparing to disobey Washu's orders but he knew it would be in vain. There wasn't enough time left to send her another gem.

Ayeka felt a sharp sense of fear and concern strike her heart with a surprising depth that really shuddered her. It was only then, as Ryoko was being taken away from them, that Ayeka discovered her true fondness for Ryoko and the underlying friendship that she had been to proud to notice until now. This sudden moment of realisation began to fill the princess with a hurtful blend of shamefaced guilt and anxious terror.

Mihoshi was also distressed by the violence and pain displayed in front of her. Her thoughts might not have been as focused and informed as the others but she knew that Ryoko was a good person and didn't want to see anything bad happen to her. It seemed so unfair.

Then there was Washu. Now that it the end was near, now that the choice was being made for her, she felt a deep sense of fear that hollowed her soul. For a moment she no longer saw her tragic son there and it was just Ryoko, her treasured daughter, about to be hurt, again.

And it was all Washu's fault, she had failed Ryoko. She could have prevented this but she had given in to her fears, she had let her emotions hold her back just like Katsuhito had warned her not to and now her daughter would have to suffer the extreme consequences for her mother's weakness.

Mother.

Washu felt a sense of self-disgust at the mere thought of that word. She wasn't fit to be their mother. She had failed Hono in the past and she was failing Ryoko now. Her beautiful, sweet daughter was about to be dragged back into a tormenting imprisonment that would surely break her heart, soul and grip on sanity. And it was all her fault.

All of these subconscious thoughts and notions were all condensed into one concentrated, overriding feeling as Washu saw that blade fly towards her daughter and that was a strong, desperate desire to see Ryoko safe and well again, to hold her child in her arms and protect her from danger. It was this, all these compacted feelings, emotions and thoughts that burst the barriers and flowed like a torrent across the link to Ryoko.

And that was where Ryoko's response came from. She felt a focused flash from the link as if a million crammed thoughts were being downloaded into her mind. It was like an intense, condensed barrage of pure emotions and feelings and as her mind struggled to cope with this massive overload it triggered something in the back of her divinely complex mind.

Time seemed to slow, almost to the point that it stopped altogether and the surge from the link began to translate itself into a most peculiar form for in these deadly moments Ryoko saw her life flash before her eyes, but not from her own perspective . . .

Washu's Lab - Countless Years Ago

The renowned scientific genius Washu Hakubi sat in her lab completely engrossed in her latest experiment. It had taken her weeks to prepare and set up but now it was near the critical, finishing stages. Surrounded by the invigorating aroma of the plant life she was investigating, her thoughts were focused with an intense refinement and extraordinary vigilance.

Adjust this by point five degrees, and cut off the oxygen flow. . . now! There, I think that should be it, now all I need to do is . . . .

"Peel damn you!"

For the first time in hours she turned her head away from her research to face this intruding disturbance. A few feet away from her, positioned on a floating cushion was the not-so scientifically renowned Ryoko Hakubi, her face an expression of undivided concentration as she tried to hack away the hard skin of a foreign fruit.

"I didn't hear you come in," Washu said as she stared at her struggling daughter.

"Huh?" Ryoko replied as she stared up from her stubborn fruit, "Well you haven't noticed much of anything lately."

"I've told you already," Washu sighed, "This is only for a few days. I need it for my research."

"Yeah whatever," Ryoko muttered sullenly as she moodily returned her focus to her battle against this abnormally tough skin. Damn alien fruits, who cares if they do contain special vitamins, they were so frustratingly awkward to peel.

"And you shouldn't be using such a sharp knife, Little Ryoko," Washu warned as she too returned her attention to her work, "You might hurt yourself."

Ryoko muttered something about not being little anymore but Washu ignored it, these critical steps would require her total attention. She shut down the link to avoid any stray thoughts from distracting her and began the sequence. The success of her experiment would all depend on the next minute. She carefully watched for signs of the reaction, patiently looking for the moment to start collecting data, awaiting the moment when days of preparations would finally pay off, and then it slowly started, it was almost . . .

"Argh!"

Washu's head spun around in distracted surprise just in time to see the bloody knife clatter onto the floor. Ryoko's fearful, panicking eyes were now focused on her sliced hand. Her once smooth flesh was now scarred with a deep red canal that over flowed with her spilling blood.

As a scientist part of her mind was desperately trying to haul her attention back towards her experiment but as a mother a much larger portion of her mind kept her focus glued on her panicking daughter. With complete disregard for her precious research she leapt out of her cushion and ran to her daughter's side.

With a swift hand she summoned her computer and went about healing her daughter's wounds. Ryoko just sat there and whimpered quietly in pain as her mother held her bleeding hand still for repairs but what hurt Ryoko even more than the cut was the guilty sense of failure. She had been learning about healing herself in training but she was finding it difficult. Her mother had told her not to worry, that it was a very hard skill to learn, but as she sat there being pampered over a small cut she felt helpless, and more than that she felt like a burden for she knew that with each passing second wasted on her that her mother's vital experiment was being ruined. By the time Washu was done healing the damage it was far too late to salvage any of her work.

"You don't know your own strength," Washu smiled as she carefully inspected the repairs, "but I think that's it completely healed now."

"But I should have been able to heal it myself," Ryoko sniffed, with the stinging pain still in her hand and the stinging sense of guilt in her mind, "And now I've ruined your experiment."

"Perhaps it's for the best," Washu replied as she took a last glance at her monumental experiment that now lay in ruins. Important as it had been it had also consumed a lot of her time and as a result she and Ryoko hadn't seen a lot of each other in the past few days. This little scare had reminded Washu of that, it had reminded her of her true responsibilities and duties and filled her with a sudden desire to spend more time with Ryoko.

"Come on," she offered warmly as she handed her daughter a towel, "Get cleaned up and I'll take you somewhere for lunch, okay?"

Ryoko just nodded appreciatively as she wiped the pooling tears onto her sleeve. It wasn't important that her mom didn't even know it was actually teatime, what was important was that Washu had shown Ryoko that her daughter meant more to her than her work. And that touched Ryoko, for coming from someone like Washu, it made her very special indeed.

Washu's house - Countless Years Ago

Shipwrecked.

Only two had survived and made it to the safety. They had been washed ashore on a plank of driftwood and now found themselves marooned on this desert island.

The midnight darkness surrounded their lone tent, warded off only by the burning campfire that had actually been lit inside of their tent and gave off a surprising lack of smoke.

Nevermind, what really mattered was as the two heroic survivors used up the last of their supplies they were in great and exciting danger. Trapped on a desert island, no way to escape, running out of supplies, grabbed around the waist . . .

. . . grabbed around the waist?

"Ahh!" yelped the young Ryoko as she felt a pair of adult hands clamp around her middle. She jerked her head round to see the grinning face of Washu as it peeked through a gap in the tent canvas.

Washu took a minute to inspect this makeshift 'tent'. It consisted of four chairs, each at a corner, with a very large and expensive table cloth draped across them, enclosing all that lay inside very much like at tent would. Underneath this cover and on top of a bed of cushion and pillows sat Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki at opposite ends of a bright table lamp that cast a warm, comforting glow across the tent to combat the 'midnight darkness' that had been created by simply flicking off the living room light switch.

It had been this that had given them away. Washu had walked in the house and found all of the lights off. She had assumed that Little Ryoko had been a good girl and gone to bed early but then the warm shining sheets that glowed in the middle of the darkened living room like a firefly against the black night sky had soon told her different.

"So this is what you get up to when I'm not around," Washu observed. It seemed that Little Ryoko had been read one too many bedtime stories.

"Hi mom," Ryoko smiled sweetly as she tried to act as if nothing had happened, "You're sure back from your lectures early."

"Yes, they were cancelled," Washu replied with a distracted look as something caught her eye.

"What are you two eating?" she asked as she pointed to the bowls in front of Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki, the bowls that contained 'the last of their supplies'.

"Oh this," Ryoko chirped as she held up her bowl for her mother to see, "This is our special stew. Do you want some? Me and Ryo-Ohki made it ourselves."

"Yes, I can see that," Washu replied flatly as she regarded the bowl of what could only be described as fudge and carrot paste.

Washu then stared at her daughter with a serious expression and Ryoko smiled innocently back as her counterpart miawwed happily in support from under the small lopsided straw hat that Ryoko had planted on her head. Washu assumed that it must have been part of the game and they did seem to be having such innocent fun with it all. Still, Washu knew what she had to do.

"Okay enough," she motioned, "Pack this up, it's bed time."

"But please Mom," Ryoko pleaded as her innocent bravado immediately slumped into a disappointed desperate effort to change her mother's mind. She appealed to Washu's heart through her young innocent, heart wrenching eyes and quickly shuffled over to make a third space among the sea of cushions. "You can be a survivor too," she offered in a heart-rending, imploring voice.

Washu looked down at her daughter, the begging eyes, the adorable expression, the small hand offering Washu a space by her side. How could she possibly deny her?

"Well okay then," Washu finally relented with a smile as she shrunk down to Ryoko's size and joined them in the tent, "So what are we playing?"

Washu's Lab - Countless years ago

"It's all right. You really don't have to do this."

"Yes I do," Washu replied firmly as she drilled the birth certificate to the wall, "I've had enough of you coming to me with these stupid questions. It hurts me to see you so upset like that."

"I'm sorry," Ryoko replied quietly as hung her head, "I never meant to hurt you."

Washu paused for a moment to look at her daughter. Her cyan hair drooped over her feature that were surely forming hidden frown, a sign of her continuing pain. She was upset, yet again.

"I didn't mean it that way honey," Washu replied sympathetically as she put down her tools to devote all her attention to her daughter, "but it just gets to me sometimes. You're a kind, caring person but you always listen to what people say about you and you believe them. Every time a jealous fool spins a cruel lie about you, you always end up hurt and upset by it. It just shouldn't be like that. You deserve better."

"I know," Ryoko mumbled faintly with her uneasy eyes cast down to her fidgeting feet.

Washu's heart hurt even more as she watched her troubled daughter. It wasn't fair, she was so impressionable, the second that a rehashed rumour or twisted lie was spawned from some brat's envious mouth then her innocent Little Ryoko was ready to believe every word of it.

And it wounded her as well. These comments and insults were wearing away at Ryoko's frail beliefs and Washu feared that one day someone would finally break her daughter and convince her that these twisted lies were true.

No. She wouldn't let that happen.

Never.

Present Day

Ryoko!

That one sharp flash, like a strong blast of wind, tore across the link and sunk into Ryoko's mind as Hono's blade inched ever closer. Ryoko only had a split second to digest all these feelings and thoughts that had been cannoned towards her from her mother's mind.

Washu still loved her. Despite all the trouble that Ryoko had caused her long lost brother, despite all these new revelations of pain and suffering that were now added to her never-ending tower of sins and despite the obvious indecisive torment that plagued Washu's mind, deep down her mother still cared deeply for her.

And it was more than that, there was a meaningful message burrowed in it all. Was this all a twisted a lie? Was she just impressionable like her mother had said? Had she let herself be fooled by Hono's heated comments?

Was she really innocent?

No.

Her mother may love her but unconditional love alone didn't atone for all her sins, it wasn't enough to save her now. She had still hurt her brother, she had still killed millions, no, the love of one person just wasn't enough in the face of her unrepentable crimes.

As they watched the blazing path of Hono's approaching sword, her eyes still carried that dwindling hope. Those virgin stars still sparkled with a wholesome potential that seemed lost in the dark sea of sorrow that was slowly swallowing them up. But soon those virgin stars would be doused forever.

Soon it would be over.

Then as her mind was faced with the imminent peril and freezing fear of the incoming blade, something in the back of her head shook itself free of it's sunken shackles and floated to surface of her mind. Perhaps it was interference from the link, perhaps it was caused by faint remnants of Zero, perhaps a result of her divine origins or perhaps it was simply caused by the sheer dire desperation of the moment but for whatever miraculous reason it happened. A memory of her own began to emerge and reveal itself in the dying moments of her life . . .

Jurain Temple - Thousands of Years Ago

It was a holy place of worship.

It was a shrine devoted to the divine Tsunami.

It was a place of forgiveness and sanctuary.

It was a scene of calm and reflection.

And now it was the scene of a horrendous bloodbath.

An intruder stood in the middle of this holy ground, her eyes burning with a misty green hate that seemed to contain the merciless hate of hell itself. Against the cold night sky this demon had created a hellish shrine of her own for as the wooden structure of the temple burned with bitter pain, the ground awash with blood that warmed in the face of the raging flames, this place of prayer had taken on the hostile character of hell itself.

And as she slew her last victim her thirst seemed quenched for the misty green hatred vanished from her eyes and was replaced by a look of absolute shock and soul-gripping horror.

"No," her haunted voice whispered as she jerked back from the hacked up corpse beneath her, "No, it's happening again. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry, he made me do it. It wasn't me, it was him, it was . . ."

And then her whimpering chants faded into sobs as she curled up into a frightened ball in the middle of the burning temple and cried traumatised tears as her never-ending nightmare continued. She just closed her eyes in fear and prayed that it would go away, she just wanted . . .

"You poor possessed child," came a soft, sympathetic voice that was full of gentle pity. Pity? Sympathy? For her?

In a shocked surprise she slowly opened her tearful eyes to seek the source of this voice. There on the cold floor lay an elderly priest, wounded and dying, with a look of pure empathy and compassion directed at the young girl that had only moments ago fatally injured him. Had he not seen it with his own eyes then he would never have believed it but now he was in no doubt that this so-called demon was nothing than a poor child possessed by the true demons that plagued her tortured soul. It wasn't her fault.

"Come here child," he beckoned with a trembling hand and a strained, forced but warm and welcoming smile.

She pensively crawled towards the fallen priest with a look of pure fear and intimidation, her expression completely void of any understanding or recollection as if she had just woken from a horrid dream, it was a shocking contrast to the rampaging demon that had ravaged the temple only moments ago. By the time she reached the dying priest she was trembling with a timid fear.

"Don't be afraid," he assured her as he took her fragile, nervous hands in his bloody palms, "I just want you to know that I forgive. We all do."

"Forgive me?" the young demon asked in a shocked surprise. This idea of forgiveness, of being worthy of forgiveness was completely foreign to her. Why would someone, even a priest, want to save her battered and blackened soul?

"It is clear to me that you are not to blame," his weak yet understanding voice continued, "This atrocity must pale in comparison to your tortured existence. I pray for your salvation."

She felt tears begin to well up again. Someone understood, for the first time in the years that her disjointed memories spanned someone had finally understood her. He wasn't shouting or cursing, he wasn't damming her to the lowest, deepest bowls of hell. He had sympathy, he understood!

The old man coughed and spluttered as his injuries began to claim the faint traces of life that he still had left.

"Please don't die," Ryoko begged as the tears began to stream down her face, "I don't want to be alone."

"I'm sorry but my time has come," he whispered as he gave her hands a trembling but supportive squeeze, "But just promise me this. Promise that you will never be forced to bear the guilt for this. Do you promise?"

"Yes sir," she replied faintly with a quaking nod that shook the flowing tears from her chin.

He smiled a content smile. He knew that his death was only seconds away but he now felt satisfied with his last acts of life. So with this he finally submitted to the sedating warmth from the flames around him, he released his strained grip on his life, closed his eyes and drifted into a blunting death with the whispered words, "Take care young one."

"Goodbye," Ryoko desolately whispered as she felt his cold hands fall from her's, leaving a deep red smear upon her palms. She had his blood on her hands but somehow it wasn't the same as before. The blood didn't seem like a shameful stain nor did it didn't feel like a coppery coat of death, it actually seemed quite warm and comforting, a token of forgiveness.

As she knelt in the middle of this god-forsaken inferno she felt a new wondrous sensation, a notion that she wasn't the hell bound, unredeemable demon that she had been led to believe she was. This idea filled with a newfound sense of hope and faith.

That wouldn't do at all.

A tall man strode into the burning temple with the merciless cruelty of Satan himself. The flames flanked him at both sides and seemed to bow and salute their dark master as his angered steps tore a furious path towards the defenceless girl. The blood stained his shoes, the flames reflected in the glass of his tiny spectacles and his twisted mind was already planning how to eradicate this uplifting memory from her already scrambled mind.

Present Day

She had been forgiven. She had already been forgiven.

All of this was for nothing. It wasn't penance for her crimes, it was just vengeance for him, it was a remedy for his misery. Ryoko could remember when she had been freed. At first she too had been giddy with her new sense of freedom and had decided to vent some of her pent up emotions on Tenchi, but she had controlled herself before anyone got seriously hurt.

Now Ryoko realised that he wasn't justified, he was just misled and weak and finally she finally began to question why she should suffer just because he couldn't let go of his past anguish, just because he couldn't managed what she had already done.

And what of her promise, her vow to the forgiving, compassionate priest who had taken pity on her. Was she going to break her promise to him? Was she going to let that kind soul down?

Was she going to spit in the face of her forgiveness?

No!

Her eyes that had twinkled with hope now burst into a raging drive and potent passion. Those virgin stars ignited and released their full potential and burned with the unrestrained might of the sun itself. As his sword swung towards her, Ryoko's eyes finally stared back at him with an intense self-belief, a powerful desire, a reborn will to live.

And found themselves matched.

This drive, this newfound force was mirrored in his eyes as they burned back at her with the hate of countless taken lives. They were equal now, in both power and drive, the only difference being that as Hono's blade came slicing down like the swift wings of death, his attack was already in motion. His force was already applied and only milliseconds away from striking with deadly force.

Would Ryoko's newfound desire be enough to stop the inevitable or was it over already? Would this awakened power ever be unleashed or would it perish before its time?

Well her time was now up, her visions were over and with only milliseconds left Ryoko finally made her move and prepared to fight for her future.

End of Chapter Six

Last Chapter - The battle comes to an end but who will be victorious? Washu finally makes a definite choice between her two children - Hono or Ryoko? How will they all deal with the aftermath of their ordeal?

Note - I predicted at the beginning it would run for roughly seven chapters and it's all going to schedule. Anyway in case you are wondering why Ryoko was able to have fifteen minutes worth of thoughts during the space of have a second then remember that she is the child of a divine goddess so under extreme pressure it seems possible that her mind could be thrown into a frenzy of thought, just look at what her mother's mind can do.