Note: here's where the story gets good, trust me, you T & R fans will like it a lot. Enjoy and please review!
Chapter 2
What is this? Am I dead? Kiyone was surrounded in a thick mist, a cool breeze whipping around her. She looked in circles, but there seemed to be no where to turn to. The last thing she remembered was being terrified, Jagami being crushed like an aluminum pop can.
Kiyone was scared. she didn't want to die. Her life wasn't what it should have been, but she didn't want to give up now. She wasn't a quitter, and she didn't plan to start now. A soft sound of water trickling came to her attention.
~
Ryoko stood outside Kiyone's hospital room. She had agreed to stay and see if anything happened while the others went for a brief walk to try to relax. Things were just too stressful. Kiyone was in a deep coma and Mihoshi wasn't to be found when emergency ships arrived at the location they received a distress signal. The bridge had been sealed in two separate places, to secure oxygen for each officer. Only one section was found.
Ryoko sighed. They had been setting up for their summer party when they received to call. Ryoko had never really gotten along well with Kiyone but......well, lets just say she didn't want her to die. Mihoshi had been nice enough as well, although she was what people call a "true blonde". Everyone was devastated at the disappearance of Mihoshi.
The nurse suddenly opened the door. "I think she's about to wake up, Miss," the nurse stated.
Ryoko walked in the door, not caring to wait for the others to come back. She saw the heart meter start to beat strongly again. Kiyone was coming back.
~
The trickling of water began to grow louder in Kiyone's ears. The misty vision she had suddenly blurred, a whitish light appearing before her eyes..
~
Ryoko saw Kiyone's blue eyes open slightly. She stood up from her red chair at the bedside. Kiyone's hand twitched slightly as her eyes fluttered softly open.
~
Kiyone's vision was tremendously blurred. Shadows danced before her eyes between the brightness of white lights. On shadow seemed somewhat familiar, though Kiyone's head swam in such a sea of pain that she couldn't quite place it, nor could she care. She blinked a few times, clearing her sight slightly, and then, giving up, she closed her eyes once again, surrendering to the pain and darkness of her nightmares.
~
The hospital room door opened, and Tenchi Misaki walked in, a sleepless expression on his face. Ryoko looked up from where she stood, and then sat down in her chair. Ayeka and Sasami stood outside still, talking with one of the nurses. Ryoko looked away, not wanting to meet Tenchi's tired eyes. "How is she?" Tenchi asked.
"Same as when you left," Ryoko replied solemnly, not wanting her beloved Tenchi to feel bad about not being there when Kiyone woke, even though it was only for a moment.
Tenchi sat down beside Ryoko, and placed a gentle hand on hers, resting tensely on the arm rest. Ryoko flinched slightly, and turned to look at Tenchi, mistakenly catching her eyes with his. Her gray blues stared into his deep browns, and for a moment Ryoko could feel his pains, his joys, his loves. But then it was gone, and Ryoko and Tenchi were two again. And that was when Ryoko realized that their faces were incredibly close together, and her cheeks began to burn like hot coals just out of a strong fire. At the same time, Tenchi and Ryoko moved closer together. Tenchi tightened his grip on her hand, clasping it with his warmth, and the was when it happened. Tenchi's lips just grazed Ryoko's, and Ryoko pressed harder.
Images whirling in her closed eyes, Ryoko treasured that moment deep in her heart, which pounded lovingly. Soon the outside world seemed to be forgotten, and she ad Tenchi were alone amongst the star, their love the only feeling around, their hearts beating like one drum, sweetly keeping the beat as time continued forward.
As much as she wished it would never end, the silence was broken, and Ryoko and Tenchi returned to the reality of the hospital room, the dream ending, for the time being.
~
Ayeka walked in the door, apparently not aware of what had just taken place between the two sitting on the bedside chairs. She looked at the silent Kiyone, and sighed. When would this nightmare end? What would be the outcome?
Sasami walked slowly in beside her sister, Ryo-ohki perched quietly on her small shoulder. "Poor Kiyone," she whispered, so quiet only the little cabbit could hear.
~
Hours passed, and there was no change. Ayeka took Sasami back to their rooms, leaving Tenchi and Ryoko alone in the hospital room once more. Tenchi leaned his face on his hand. "What are we supposed to do, Ryoko? Sit here and wait forever? I mean, what if she doesn't wake up at all?"
Ryoko's golden eyes opened from her resting position, and she looked over at Tenchi. "You shouldn't speak like that, Tenchi."
"Well, I'm just being logical, aren't I?" his voice had an icy tone to it, his sleeplessness seeming to catch up with him.
"Tenchi, I-" Ryoko didn't know what to say. What was there to say? He was right, though. What if the brief consciousness Ryoko had seen in Kiyone had been the very last Not even the expert doctors could tell the outcome. Hope was slowly disappearing.
Suddenly Tenchi's com beeped. He pressed the receive button wearily. Washu's face appeared in the glowing light before them. "No sleep yet?" she asked. Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "Well, I reviewed the fractious data copied from Jagami's main computer, and I've come to a conclusion that whatever -or whoever- I should say, attacked the ship was obviously far more powerful than we first suspected." She tossed a pile of papers into the darkness behind her.
Tenchi and Ryoko looked at each other. Now what? Could this be another one of Washu's crazy predictions, or is this real?
Washu cleared her throat. "Are you listening?" Once their eyes were back on her, she continued. "Here's a visual data base I configured up." In place of her image, a 3D Jagami appeared, numbers and computer typing dotting the surrounding areas, indicating things Ryoko found difficult to follow without an explanation.
"Washu, what does this mean?" Ryoko demanded.
Washu's voice was heard in the background of the projection. "It means that, each little areas indicated by the arrows are the specific places Jagami was hit, precise places of weaknesses the ship has."
"Which means........?"
Irritated, Washu snapped, "Which means, Ryoko, that this 'thing' is no illusion, no fluxuation in the extreme of space. No, this 'thing' is real, it obviously has a mind, a source of data upon which it can decipher the exact spot on which it should hit, or crush, its target, making it virtually defenseless and weakened to the 'thing's' will."
Tenchi spoke up. "So you're saying that this 'thing', is alive?"
"Not necessarily alive, Tenchi, but very conscious and aware of its purpose."
Confused looks came from the other end of the receiver. "Tenchi and Ryoko, I am saying that this 'thing' may or may not be living, it may be artificial, but it has a force, a will, that makes it different from the space currents, or pressures in space. Meaning we're dealing with more than accidents and disappearances in the Saturn quadrant, we're dealing with deliberate murder."
Ryoko burst out. "Murder? Why would anything pick the farthest reaches of this place to destroy innocent lives?"
Washu's face reappeared in the projection. "Because it is not taking out random people. Rather, it only targets people from that of the planet of Jahrei."