"Ryoko I need you to give me ...Space, and time." Tenchi said a few minutes before they landed on earth. "Tenchi? . . . Just tell me what you mean!" Ryoko demanded, she was really truely in love with him, but suprised sometimes at how much boy was still left in the man. "I can take it, I'm not a child Tenchi, and I understand a lot more than you seem to think I do." "It's Ayeka ..." "Yeah? . . . Tenchi ..., I have no doubt that Ayeka will blast a hole the size of Kyoto in the front wall if she even suspects you even thought about kissing me." Tenchi's face went white at that statement. "I have my prize Tenchi." She said putting her arms gently around him, and resting her head on his collar bone. "I have you." she waited for him to respond, but he just kept looking down at the ground, almost as if he was trying to find a way of telling her something that he thought would hurt her, but he couldn't bring himself to hurt her. 'Crap, I better bring him out of this funk before we get back, Ayeka will really know that something is wrong if she sees him like this' "Tenchi, I am in love with you, desperately and eternaly, there will never be another man besides you in my heart. But you are 16 years old, and you have more than me to think of. What kind of life you want to persue. I will live for thousands of years, and you will, only if you bond with a jurian tree, and that means becoming crown prince of jurai. You also care deeply for all of us girls that have come to live with you, but you can't bring yourself to admit that you love any of us. It ws only when you thought you were going to loose me that you could let how you really felt come to the surface. I know you love me Tenchi, even if you havn't realized it yet. And to me that means I have you, because you won't turn your back on me now, not after the promises that that first kiss made. But it also means that if you havn't realized that you love me, you may also have feelings for Ayeka and Mihoshi and Sasami and Washuu." She paused to gauge Tenchi's response, his expression was softening and and yet getting more intense. "I can't say that it will be easy Tenchi, standing in the background, pretending to be nothing more to you than we always have been, and I can't preomise that it won't hurt to stand by and let you explore the feelings you may or may not have for each of them but-" The proximity alarm went red signaling that they were on final approach to earth, they only had a few moments before they would be back. "but I can handle it Tenchi, through the hardship and pain, because I know that you love me and that we will be together, even if I have to share you with Ayeka." with that final statement, before he could respond to her, Ryoko seized his mouth and body in an embrace, demanding everything and nothing of him, expressing all of her love and passion for him. As their lips parted they were landing. Tenchi was completely out of breath and overwhelmed, and don't worry Tenchi I won't try to seduce you, Every night." A moment later they were on the grass in front of the house. Ayeka standing there fuming. "Lord Tenchi, might I ask what you are doing with this.. Demon? Sasami said that a friend was bringing you home." "I am a friend and I did bring him home." Ryoko retorted. Thus began Ayeka's account of the morning, missing him and her personal devistation, along with her internal debate of whether she should call the police, and having called Mihoshi in from patrol to search for you, and almost being ready to call in the armies of Jurai to comb the planet for him. about half way through this a voice came to tenchi, 'Why don't you just kiss her? She was just worried about you and this whold thing stems from her insecurity about you being away." Tenchi's eyes searched the house, and Ryoko was on the roof looking down at them. He smiled and nodded. 'She loves you Tenchi, and you care about her at least, you knew that giving me a part of yourself was the only way to keep from loosing me, I would have left if you had just talked to me tenchi.' Tenchi frowned at that but still said nothing, it seemed to make Ayeka angry. 'Hug her at least, she needs to connect to you.' He looked up at her, almost pleading for understanding. 'I know that you couldn't live with yourself if you lost her that way, or if you thought you hurt her.' I wouldn't mind if she left, one less person to fight over you with. But I couldn't stand to see you go through the guilt and loss you would feel.' Just as Ayeka covered her face and started to turn back to the house, devestaed that Tenchi didn't respond to her with anything more than a frown. He caught her arm and pulled her to him, closing his arms around her and hugging her close. She stiffened, unsure of what to do, it was improper to be so close to the crown prince, but it felt so good. "Ayeka, I'm sorry." It was all he had to say, she melted in his arms and returned the hug. When she raised her face to look into his eyes, hopeful and lost, he did kiss her. It ws gentle, barly more than the brush of lips definately none of the intense heat that he had shared with Ryoko, but for a first kiss with Ayeka, it was perfect.
'I'm impressed, and you even got it on your terms not hers.' His eyes shot Ryoko a quizzical glare. her voice laughed in his head. (How do they do that??) 'I'll explain later Tenchi, I love you'


WELL? How much can a boys life change before sundown, and it is barely after breakfast, I wonder if tenchi will actually get any? (breakfast that is) Will Washuu and Yosho get more serious? Comments welcome! I'm not sure how things will go yet in tenchi's search for self identity. I have had a few requests to turn this into a lemon, isn't tenchi a little young and UNMARRIED? He's not even out of high school, even Ryoko is questioning the propriety of going all the way with him, and this is Ryoko! and what do I do with the interesting posibilities of just what a relationship on Ayeka's terms may have meant for tenchi, possible side story?