====================
Flowering Potential.
====================
C&C can be sent to cobalt@elhazard.net Flames can be taken to the
nearest charity so they can be distributed to children in Third World
Countries to keep them warm.
Disclaimer: I do not own the series depicted within, but go buy it anyway.
Conventions:
~ ~ are used for thoughts and Telepathic communication.
The series is archived at http://www.lum.co.uk/cobalt/
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Chapter 9
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Tenchi had never really enjoyed being the lust object of so many girls. It was embarrassing,
and scary. Now Tenchi was female, the problem had only got worse. Ryoko and Ayeka
were quite obviously completely taken with her. Washu was deviously planing to get her
alone, whatever horrors that would entail. Sasami, probably the most level-headed person in
the house, was practically throwing herself (With the full support and assistance of her other
half Tsunami) at Tenchi. The two guests, Funaho and Misaki, seemed to be having fun
teasing her now that the shock had worn off. Kiyone had actually kissed her and seemed to
have enjoyed it (Whether it was because she had enjoyed making Tenchi very nervous, she
didn't know). And now Minagi, with whom Tenchi had grouped Kiyone as a friend but not a
potential contestant for her heart, had joined in the festivities. If you could call them that.
The young pirate was leaning over Tenchi's shoulder, floating slightly and gently hugging
the woman. It was the position of the hug that was distracting, and Tenchi was really, really
trying to ignore it.
"Something the matter?" Misaki noted blandly.
Tenchi kept her mouth shut. It seemed only Mihoshi, Ryo-Ohki and her grandfather were
acting normally. Whatever that meant these days.
"She does look rather preoccupied, doesn't she?" Kiyone noted.
~ Why me? ~ Tenchi despaired.
Minagi visibly turned the hug up a couple of notches.
"That better?" She asked.
Tenchi closed her eyes and sighed, the first sound she had made in a while.
"I really wish you would stop picking on me. I don't want to do something we will all
regret." She said.
Funaho arched an eyebrow. "Is that a threat?" She asked calmly.
"An... Observation." Tenchi said slowly. "I'm not particularly...stable...at the moment.
You must have noticed."
At the weird looks she received she groaned.
"Am I the only one to notice I'm feeling a bit stressed out at the moment? I know I've been
acting oddly since...this...happened."
Washu smirked. "That proves you are in full control of you faculties. If you notice
something wrong with yourself before everybody else, I'd say you are fine." She gave
Tenchi a sly look. "Besides, you will be a bit more emotional now anyway. Don't suppress
it too much."
Tenchi gave the redhead an odd look.
"Come on Tenchi." Washu prodded. "Let them out."
Tenchi shrugged. "If you say so."
No one saw Tenchi move. There was a blur and Minagi was in front of the woman.
"Please don't do that." Tenchi told the startled young lady.
"O-ok." Minagi replied.
Tenchi smiled and gently patted Minagi's cheek. "Good."
"I've created a monster." Washu groaned. "She won't be any fun now."
"Fun." Tenchi snorted. "I'm a man trapped in a woman's body. Oh, what fun."
"Lighten up Tenchi." Sasami said. "It's not that bad."
"Gee, really? In less than a year I've been shot, blown up, beat up, killed, resurrected, had
my life chewed up and spat out and then put through a shredder. I've been wrenched from a
nice quiet little neighbourhood to the reaches of deep space, then back. I've killed beings that
I've never known existed until they attack me. I find out I'm not even fully human, that I'm
royalty, that I have so much power I could make sushi of planets, and to top it all off I'm not
even the same sex anymore. You want me to lighten up? Fine. Find something that won't
depress me further. I wish you luck."
"You done?" Washu asked.
Tenchi thought about it. "For now at least."
"Good. None of us like this trend towards depression you've shown."
"Maybe I wouldn't be so depressed if people didn't keep forcing their expectations of what I
should be on me."
"We care for you." Misaki said.
"Well you have a strange way of showing it. Oh look, Tenchi's female. Let's make her into
a woman as fast as we can. You could have tried the soft approach, but no. You had to thrust
everything down my throat. And it's backfiring badly now, isn't it?" Tenchi was obviously
controlling her temper.
"You could have said." Minagi replied.
"I DID!" Tenchi snapped. "BUT YOU DIDN'T LISTEN!" The enraged woman lowered
her voice. "I said I didn't want to be a woman. I repeatedly made it clear that I didn't like
you forcing it on me. But you kept on going." Tenchi stood up. "Now, this is what is going
to happen. I am going upstairs to change into something I want to wear. When I come back
down I don't want any talk of convincing me otherwise. If you don't like it, then tough. You
can leave if you want."
Funaho stood up and walked to Tenchi.
"You," She said, "Need to get a grip on your self."
"Washu was the one who told me to let out my feelings."
"Don't try to shift the blame. It will never work."
"I'm not interested in a lesson on problem management Your Majesty." Tenchi said stiffly.
She turned and made her way upstairs. "You may want to note that I never wanted to be
royalty. I feel really close to giving it all up. An observation for you."
***
Making sure the door was fully closed, Tenchi took a deep breath and let out all her rage by
punching a wall as hard as she could and screaming. Oblivious to the damage she had done
to the wall and her hand she spun to face the sparkling image appearing.
"Don't bother saying anything." She growled. "Get out."
Tsunami had a dark and disapproving look on her face.
"Not until you apologise to Lady Funaho."
"Why should I apologise to her exalted Majesty? I told her I wasn't stable."
"You threatened her with removing yourself from succession."
"Then you know what I'll do if you don't leave right now." Just to emphasise the point she
summoned the Master Key. "Don't make me order you to leave me alone forever." She
warned.
"Tenchi, you're not thinking straight." Tsunami was very worried.
"I'll count to three."
"Tenchi please!" Tsunami begged.
"One."
"If you would just listen to me..."
"Two."
Tsunami knew she'd never make the point in time. She vanished.
"Thank you."
***
Washu was typing furiously. There had to be some influence making Tenchi act this way.
She didn't want to even think about Tenchi really meaning what she said. She read the data
as fast as she could before something hit her. She paused and blinked. She scrolled back to
confirm what had just attacked her mind with an energy sword.
It was true.
Washu was, probably for the first time in 20,000 years, stunned. Her keyboard faded into
nothingness as she fell back in her seat, her usually roaring mind stilled by one little fact.
Her condition did not go unnoticed by her companions.
"Washu?" Sasami asked.
The redhead stayed as still as a statue, not even blinking. She picked up that someone was
talking, but couldn't focus her attention.
Kiyone tried the time old technique of passing a hand in front of her eyes. Absolutely no
response.
"Washu? Are you OK Washu?" The detective asked.
"Wha...?" The scientist said faintly. She blinked, and her brain started working again. She
sat bolt upright, startling everybody. She called up her keyboard and looked at the data
again.
She smiled. She began to giggle. This turned into a chuckle, then a laugh. Everybody
watched stunned as Washu flung her head back and howled uproariously.
No one caught the data as the keyboard faded when Washu clutched her ribs, still laughing.
Funaho was in no mood for this, so slapped the redhead round the face.
It slowed Washu's laughter enough for her to get control.
"Sorry," She gasped between breaths and laughing fits, "I think I've found out why Tenchi
is so shaky."
The room waited patiently until Washu had stopped and caught her breath.
"It's simple." Washu told them, having to suppress the laughter. "So simple in fact I'm not
surprised we didn't pick up on it."
"What?" The room asked.
Washu beamed. "It's that time of the month."
***
Sasami knocked on Tenchi's door.
"Tenchi? We really need to talk. Please open up."
There was no response.
"Please Tenchi! It's important. It's about why you're acting so funny."
The door opened and the little girl was dragged inside.
"You better make this good." Tenchi warned.
***
~ As if I didn't have enough problems. ~ Washu thought sourly as Ryoko and Ayeka
walked down the stairs. They were...calm. Not even seeming to notice what had to be going
through their minds. They did, however, seem to be keeping reasonably far apart.
~ I'll have to peek into Ryoko's mind later. ~ The redhead thought to herself.
"What's wrong?" Ayeka asked, noticing the solemn mood.
The others looked at each other a bit sadly, but with a full understanding of the problem.
"Maybe you two should sit down." Washu said. "We need to explain something."
***
Tenchi shook her head slightly.
"All the bells and whistles huh?"
Sasami, sat next to her on the bed, looked about ready to retort but Tenchi held up a hand to
stop her.
"Yes, I know all about it. I have done some biology at school y'know."
The little princess looked a bit relieved.
"But it's not the sort of thing I would have worried about, even if I had been thinking
straight."
"You don't have to worry about it. It's perfectly natural." Sasami tried consoling the young
woman.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that. It just means another part of my manhood has been ripped
away." Tenchi slumped.
"Please don't do that." Sasami asked. "You look so sad and dejected, I can't stand it."
"So you are acting normally."
Sasami had a really puzzled look on her face.
"Everybody seems to want me now. As soon as I turned female, you began hitting on me. I
wonder what Ayeka and Ryoko would say about that, not to mention your mother."
The little princess smiled evilly. "They'd probably rage about how I've seen you naked and
rip you apart. As for mom, She'd probably understand." A sudden thought hit her. "She'd
probably give me tips." She blushed.
"Talk about getting tossed in at the deep end. I may as well just go mad anyway, it's better
than trying to understand anything that goes on in my house anymore."
"Tenchi..." Sasami warned. "If you don't cheer up, we'll make you."
"Please don't. I don't think I could take any cheering up." She pouted.
Sasami reached round and gave her a gentle hug.
"Well, you can't go around being depressed all the time."
"It's not my fault. As soon as I start to feel better, something comes along to knock me
down again."
"What's wrong with your hand?" Sasami asked, abruptly changing tack.
"Eh?" Tenchi looked. "I don't see anything wrong."
Sasami took her right hand, setting off a sharp pang of pain.
"You've broken your hand!" The azure-hared girl gasped.
"Don't be silly. It just hurts a bit from when I punched the wall." Tenchi shrugged it off.
Sasami was not having any of it however. "It's your sword hand Tenchi. You shouldn't
shrug it off like that."
"It's nothing." Tenchi insisted.
The little girl prodded it, causing new surges of pain.
"Even if it's not broken, Washu should take a look at it."
"I'm not going to put myself in a position where Washu can experiment on me. I've learned
that lesson."
Sasami changed back to hugging Tenchi. It was rather higher than the previous one.
"Sasami please don't do that." Tenchi asked.
"No. I'm worried about your hand. I promise to keep getting more embarrassing to you if
you don't go see her."
"Knock it off Sasami. There is nothing that requires medical attention."
The imp in Sasami wasn't going to rest that easily. Taking advantage of the revealing
nature of Tenchi's clothes, she moved her cold hands here and here.
Tenchi shuddered.
"Sasami stop it." She told her.
"I'll go all the way." Sasami promised. "Who knows? You might even like it."
Tenchi ripped herself from Sasami's grasp.
"Get out." Tenchi demanded.
"Or you'll what? You can't make me. Grow up Tenchi. I'm more than willing to disobey
any orders you make, and even you won't fight us all. You've lost that battle already."
"Don't count me out. I've already got a back up plan or two. Where are your manners?
Your decency? You are supposed to be a princess."
"And you are supposed to be a prince. Whether you like it or not, you are responsible for
more lives than you can ever know. You have been ever since you were born."
"Another lecture." Tenchi grumbled.
"Please Tenchi." The girl pleaded. "Listen to reason for once."
"I would, if it hadn't said goodbye about 6 days ago; never to return."
Sasami walked up and slapped her, then gasped in horror at what she had done.
"Oh no... I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. No one knows what you're going
through..." Sasami looked on the verge of tears.
"No." Tenchi said softly. "You are right. I'm not acting properly." She walked back to the
bed. "And you don't know what it's like. None of it will turn out right."
She lay down on the bed, looking pathetic. "I may be unbeatable in battle, but I'll lose the
war. Everything I was is gone forever. I liked who I was, just an ordinary guy. Now, I'm
the exact opposite and I can't cope with it. I can't cope with you or the girls or what my life
has become. And can you guess what? I'm afraid."
"Afraid?" Sasami asked. "Of what?"
Tenchi closed her eyes and couldn't stop the tear from running down her cheek.
"My life. I'm afraid of you all, of what you represent, of what I represent. I'm afraid of the
fact that I'm too powerful, of the fact everybody I meet these days has a purpose. Whether
that involves me or something around me. I'm afraid of loosing the little spark of control that
I have. It's all I have left of my life."
"There, there Tenchi." Sasami soothed. "We will help you. You are what brought us all
together, what holds us together. None of us want to loose you."
Tenchi felt the familiar surge heralding Tsunami's arrival, but it was wrong. Very wrong.
She opened her eyes to look, and found herself looking at Sasami. She had a blank look on
her face and the emblem on her forehead was glowing intensely. Tenchi could only draw one
conclusion.
"Don't you dare Tsunami." She called out, sitting up and instinctively calling the Master
Key. "She's not ready, and if I have to die to stop you so be it."
Two golden circles began forming on Sasami's forehead.
"Don't make me do this." Tenchi pleaded.
Some life came back into the girl's face.
"It's OK Tenchi." The voice was slightly choral. "We know what we are doing."
Unhesitantly, the strange being before Tenchi reached out and touched Tenchi's right hand.
At the contact, the hand seemed infused with warmth and all pain disappeared.
The being smiled and the sense of Tsunami's presence moved quickly but gently away to
the window, causing the glowing symbols on Sasami's forehead to fade. The circles of
Tsunami disappeared, and the young girl collapsed into Tenchi's lap.
Tsunami herself appeared beside the window.
"What was all that about?" Tenchi demanded.
"We had to make sure your hand was alright." The image said quietly.
"Please don't blame her." Sasami's exhausted voice came from her lap. "I can't help but
worry when you're injured."
"It was a stupid, foolhardy and dangerous risk. Did either of you have any idea what would
happen to you? Don't do anything like that again."
"You were right about your hand Tenchi." Tsunami admitted. "But it did need attention."
"That's beside the point..." Tenchi began when Sasami pulled herself up.
"It was something *I* needed to do. I have to be able to help sometimes. Me, not Tsunami
acting through me."
Tenchi looked darkly at the girl. "You are not ready for that. I'm definitely not ready for
what I have, so you are not supposed to be even close to that. Even if you are over a
thousand years old." She turned her gaze to the image hovering hesitantly. "I don't want to
even speculate how old you are."
"What is time to a tree?" Tsunami asked, smile on her lips.
"I would have thought you would be more responsible than to attempt that." Tenchi
shuddered. "Another proof that I'll never fit in on Jurai."
"Can we change the subject?" Sasami asked.
Tenchi resolved to get a dig in before they did. "Yes, Auntie dearest." She replied
offhandedly.
"Good because..." The little girl trailed off. "What did you call me?"
"I called her highness my aunt." Tenchi was getting into the swing of things. "Is there
something wrong with that? Her highness is my great aunt. As is her highness's sister.
What it makes her highness's other half is another thing I won't contemplate, if her highness
and her other half don't mind."
"What are we going to do with you?" Tsunami and Sasami asked simultaneously.
"How about stop tormenting me? I know that you will never leave me alone, so it might be
the best course of action if you were to stop stressing me out."
Sasami's smile seemed a bit larger than usual, making Tenchi sadly suspicious.
"OK." She asked. "What else did you do?"
"Excuse me?" Tsunami was oddly distant.
"When you worked your magic on my hand, you did something else. I can tell." Tenchi
turned a withering gaze on the two blue-hared imps who had been making her entire life (~
All six days of it. ~ She thought sourly.) miserable.
"You are paranoid." Sasami told her.
"In my current situation, do I have a choice?" All assembled knew it was a rhetorical
question.
"You are getting good at this." Tsunami observed.
"What did you do?" Tenchi said as calmly as she could, which wasn't very.
Sasami sighed and told her.
"We enhanced your natural attraction for us and added a little compulsion to go to bed with
us. What we did was..."
"Uh huh." Tenchi said when she had finished. "And what possible gain did you hope to get
from doing that? Just so I know what to put on my tombstone, assuming there is enough left
of me to bury."
"You needed something to take your mind off things." Tsunami replied. "This was the
simplest and quickest thing I could think of." She put on a disarming smile. "You'll enjoy it.
Certainly..."
"...I'll get killed." Tenchi interrupted.
"Come on Tenchi. Surely..." Sasami tried to start.
"...You'll never be able to put me together again. Not even with all the king's horses and
all the king's men." That confused the other ladies.
Tsunami did the sensible thing and ignored the comment.
"You had better go down stairs. Spending so much time in this room is not good for you."
"No way!" Tenchi exclaimed. "I'm not moving an inch unless you counteract what you've
done."
"Looks like I get first go then." Sasami giggled.
"You want to get me arrested and ostracised?" Tenchi asked.
"Eh?"
"What do you mean?" Tsunami asked.
"It's against the law and it brakes several major taboos."
The two joined beings had joint blank looks.
"Why do you think I avoid drinking alcohol. It's because according to Japanese law I'm not
allowed to until I'm 21."
"That doesn't apply to you."
"Oh yes it does. How would you like to explain why I slept with my great aunt, who just
happens to be a 1000 year old little girl? I'd be locked away in a secure hospital for the
insane for the rest of my life." She glared. "Do you want to ignore the local authorities on a
protected planet? Wouldn't that get you into a lot of trouble yourselves?"
"When you put it like that..."
"I knew you'd see it my way. See, there is some reason left in the house."
"...I'll leave you like that." Tsunami grinned. "It means you'll have to leave the planet. A
crown prince can't be locked away on a primitive planet like this."
"I hate you." Tenchi put an awful lot of venom into the sentence.
"No you don't." Tsunami shrugged it off. "You can't. It's not in your nature."
"I might as well stay in this room until Washu finds a way to change me back. Thanks for
the talk, you can both go now."
"You can't hide in here until then." Sasami complained.
Tenchi slowly turned a gaze on the little princess. "Oh, are you still here?" She asked
blankly.
***
Sasami was muttering darkly as she came downstairs.
"...nerve. Doesn't she have any consideration for..."
"Don't tell me, let me guess." Funaho said to her niece. "Still having problems?"
Sasami plumped herself down on her mother's lap.
"Honestly! If it's not one think it's another with her. Not even Ayeka was this difficult."
She grumbled.
"You managed to solve the initial problem didn't you?" Washu asked.
"What? Oh, that. Yes, that's out of the way. Now she's going to try and solve all the
problems by staying in her room until you can change her back."
"She's behaving like a baby." Ryoko snorted.
"That's because compared to us she is." Yosho had appeared from nowhere at the kitchen
door, startling everyone.
"Would you mind explaining that to us?" His mother asked pointedly.
"How would you expect someone less than a quarter century old to act?" He replied.
Ryoko worked through her memories of Tenchi growing up.
"Tenchi's young, but she can't be that young." She said.
"She's due her seventeenth birthday in just over a month."
Sasami contrived to look shocked. It wasn't news to her, but definitely was to everybody
else.
"So young..." Ayeka breathed.
"Youth is a relative term around here." The old priest noted.
His young mother glared at him.
"Can anyone claim that we have been kind to her these past few days? Now maybe all of us
can be a little more considerate."
"She can't stay cloistered in her room for five weeks." Misaki complained. "It will take
months to get Tenchi back to her current level. Without the practice Tenchi needs at the
moment, her powers will fade."
Ryoko cracked her knuckles. "Washu, how powerful is that forcefield of yours?"
"It can take a level three orbital strike." Washu said sadly. "I do good work don't I?"
"You can't just go barging in there." Kiyone warned. "Tenchi would probably loose her
temper."
"Well I can't just sit here and let her waste away." Ryoko grumbled.
"I think..." Misaki said slowly. "I think I have an idea."
***
"I am really not sure about this Sister." Funaho was worried.
"I know, but can you think of a better plan?" Misaki asked.
That was the problem, not even Washu could come up with a better plan. Thus, she had
reluctantly gone along with it and told the two Queens how to bypass the forcefield.
"I don't really want to risk loosing her."
"You worry too much Sister." Misaki sighed. "It's a bad habit."
"Of course I worry. Tenchi is most likely the next in succession. Think of all the potential
we have here."
"It's because of that and my daughters that I'm doing this. I don't want to see their dreams
ruined as much as ours."
The two ladies walked up to Tenchi's door and knocked.
"Tenchi?" Misaki asked. "May we come in?"
"I'd rather be alone at the moment." Tenchi's muffled voice replied.
Funaho drooped a bit. It was either this or let Tenchi rot in her room until Washu could
bring herself to tell her the bad news. She nodded to her Sister.
Tenchi was barely surprised to find the two women still standing outside her room when the
door opened.
"Washu told you how to bypass the forcefield." It was a statement of fact by the young lady
on the bed. The redness around the eyes said she had been keeping from crying.
"This won't do any good." Misaki told Tenchi. "I've tried it. It doesn't work."
"It only makes things worse." Funaho confirmed, looking slyly at her Sister.
"It seems I have to apologise again for not being a better host." Tenchi tried side-stepping
the subject. "But as you can see, it wasn't a good time for a visit."
Misaki advanced on Tenchi. "You haven't helped matters by being so stubborn about
things."
"Excuse me for not being able to cope." Tenchi didn't sound very contrite.
"We know you are quite young..." Funaho started.
Tenchi had a hard look in her eyes.
"Yosho told us." The first Queen of Jurai answered the unspoken question. Tenchi
searched for an element of untruth in her words but couldn't find any. The hard look
softened a bit.
"Of course, I'm the baby of the family."
"And you need to grow up." Misaki told her.
"Oh yes. Like I'm going to put on a couple of centuries overnight."
The blue-hared Queen pulled Tenchi from the bed and hugged her.
"You'll manage. You always seem to."
Funaho came up behind Tenchi and joined in the hug.
"You have survived with Ryoko and Ayeka fighting over you for almost a year."
"Don't remind me." Tenchi groaned.
Funaho moved, and fastened the item in place. Tenchi struggled against their grip.
"I trusted you!" She accused.
"We know." Misaki had tears in her eyes. "But there was no other way to solve the
problems." The two Queens let go and jumped to the door.
Around Tenchi's neck was a silver looking necklace. Hanging off the necklace were ten
semiprecious stones. Tenchi struggled to take it off.
"Remove this thing!" She demanded.
"We can't." Funaho replied. Misaki was holding back her tears.
"You can forget about me ever going to Jurai. You hear me? I am not going to Jurai."
Tenchi was furious. She turned her head to the stars. "What do you think of that? I will
never trust any of you again! I am not a thing for your blasted amusement!"
Misaki hugged her Sister and cried.
"It was the only way we had to..." Funaho was distraught.
"To what? Control me? To turn me into your own little toy?" Tenchi summoned the
Master Key and activated it. "No way! I'll cut it off."
"No don't!" Misaki cried. "You'll die!"
"Then you have doomed Earth and your selves to oblivion." Tenchi raised the blade.
"Tsunami didn't tell you? Figures. I'm not even human anymore; I'm a transcendent being.
A monster."
Misaki, still crying, moved. Tenchi found herself parrying Misaki's energy blade.
"I will not let you kill yourself!" She yelled. "I won't let my daughter's dreams die this
way!"
Tenchi pushed the Queen away, only to be hit full on by a blast from the other. She hit the
wall hard and fell unconscious.
Funaho held out her arm straight, tears rolling down her face. She could only hope they
could undo the damage they had done.
***
"No!" Washu yelled at the two Queens. "I am not going to play with her mind."
"She's suicidal." Funaho replied angrily, gesturing to the figure in restraints on the table.
"It was your idea in the first place." Washu retorted.
"She said she was a transcendent being Washu. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Washu recoiled from the second blow in five minutes. The first one being that Funaho had
actually shot Tenchi.
"You've got to be kidding! That means I can't even dare try anything like that. The mere
shock of that could kill her. The resultant blast would vaporise half a planet."
Tenchi groaned, causing Misaki to dash to the woman's side.
Tenchi opened her eyes and strained against her restraints.
"You going to dissect me now Washu? You must have been waiting for this moment."
Washu swore long and hard at Tenchi, with Funaho and Misaki joining in when she ran out
of words. Some of the expletives turned Tenchi white.
"Before I was so rudely interrupted," Funaho airily replied, "I was going to say the necklace
was the only way we had to focus you onto the problems at hand. Namely, your nasty
attitude and your powers."
"Like I'm supposed to believe that." Tenchi snorted.
Funaho pressed a button and released all the restraints. To say Tenchi was surprised would
be an understatement.
"Look at yourself Tenchi." Washu said. "You're loud, obnoxious, self centred and
depressed. Does that sound like you really?"
Tenchi didn't answer, she just sat up.
"Your power is using your lack of control to take over." Misaki told her.
Still the woman on the table remained silent.
"There is a way to remove the necklace." Funaho admitted.
Slowly, Tenchi turned her gaze to the woman who had shot her.
"The stones on it can be removed. But only one stone for each of us."
"And I promise here and now," Washu declared, "not to turn you back to normal until you
can remove the necklace."
"That can only be done once all the stones are removed." Funaho explained. "The idea is
that you have to prove to all of us that you are fine and ready to be returned to normal."
"It gives you a goal. A challenge." Misaki said. "Something to aim for and play against
your depression. We care for you too much to let you succumb to that darkness."
"Look at Ryoko." Washu pointed out. "She was a criminal, a slave under Kagato's power.
You saved her from that darkness. Now, she's part of what will save you."
"I don't like it." Tenchi growled. "It just proves I'm a toy for you to play with."
"Until you trust in yourself, you will never be normal."
"How can I trust myself when Tsunami has been playing with my head?"
She received three questioning looks and explained.
"It's not funny." She told the laughing redhead.
"Is that all you are worried about?" She gasped.
"It's perfectly natural to feel that way." Funaho said gently.
"No it isn't. It feels..." Tenchi couldn't find a word.
"Go on." Misaki asked.
"I don't know. Yucky I suppose."
Washu was still grinning. "That's the old Tenchi we know. Embarrassed about the smallest
things."
Funaho coughed. "Tenchi, if you will meet us in our room in two hours we will discus what
you will have to do to prove to us you are ready." She took her Sister's arm and led her from
the lab.
"And I thought me life couldn't get any worse." Tenchi despaired. "What about you
Washu? What arduous task do I have to complete to satisfy you?"
"Oh for me it's simple." The scientist replied. "I'm going to make sure your powers are
fully matured and under control before I remove my stone."
"Reasonably straight forward." Tenchi admitted. "GOD! I can't believe Funaho shot me."
"Neither can I." Washu also admitted. "But she did. She told me about what you said,
about you being a transcendent being. Is it true?"
"Tsunami certainly thinks so." Tenchi glumly recalled.
"Then you've got to start being more careful. Your death could be cataclysmic."
"I would have thought that would only apply to a violent death?" Tenchi asked.
"I really don't know." Washu told her.
Tenchi got off the platform and stretched languidly. "I'd better be heading back upstairs.
You don't mind dropping me off at the bathroom do you? I don't think blackened and burnt
is entirely my style. It suits Ryoko though, or is it just because she and Ayeka always seem
that way?" She wondered.
Washu had been entranced by Tenchi's movement, but recovered herself nicely.
"It's just because they seem that way." She replied. "As for dropping you off..." She
smiled slyly. "It will cost you a kiss."
Tenchi looked at her strangely, then shrugged. She walked over and kissed Washu on the
forehead.
"That do?" She asked.
"For now. But I expect better next time." With that she opened a portal and Tenchi stepped
through.
Once Tenchi was gone, Washu shuddered from the tingle of Tenchi's kiss.
"Computer, add to file on Tenchi Masaki (Female). Good kisser. Add note. Must get her
to improve her Vis/Psyche tactics. End."
***
Mihoshi had finally made it downstairs.
"One minute I'm trying to find some towels, the net thing I know I'm laying in the bath."
"Oh you found the towels alright." Ayeka shuddered.
"Yeah." Ryoko growled. "All that heat must have got to what little brain you have. You
must have gone out like a light."
"Which wouldn't be hard." Ayeka muttered.
"You shouldn't be so nasty to an officer of the law dear." Misaki's voice came from behind
the purple-hared princess.
Ayeka jumped. "Mother! Don't do that please."
Sasami had more important concerns. "How did it go mom?" The little girl asked
anxiously.
"It got rather heated." Sasami's mother admitted.
"Tenchi seems to have calmed down." Funaho noted.
"Oh, that's probably because the forcefield is soundproof." Mihoshi said.
"How do you know that?" Asked Kiyone.
"Well, Tenchi didn't wake up when Washu tossed that device in the lake and it went boom
three weeks ago."
Everybody gave her a strange look.
"OK." Ryoko said. "Who are you and what have you done with Mihoshi?"
"B-but I am Mihoshi." The blond ditz trembled.
Funaho shrugged. "Come on Sister. We have still got some work ahead of us."
"While the girls explain to Mihoshi what's going on." Misaki agreed.
"Thanks Your Majesties." Ryoko grumbled.
***
Tenchi didn't like this, but then she didn't have much of a choice. Who knew when they
would be back?
She gathered herself up and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Funaho's voice came.
"It's Tenchi Lady Funaho."
Funaho's sigh of resignation was just audible through the door.
"Come in Tenchi." The Queen called.
Tenchi opened the door and found only the one Queen sitting on the bed.
"Where is Lady Misaki?"
"Right here." Her voice came from behind as she pushed Tenchi into the room.
"What did your majesties wish to discuss with me?" Tenchi asked tiredly.
"Stop that." Misaki chided. "It's as bad as you yelling. Besides, you really don't need to
use our titles."
Tenchi sighed. "I just thought it might relax you to hear something familiar."
"Actually it annoys the hell out of us most of the time." Funaho told her. "We certainly
don't expect you to use them."
"Would it annoy your majesties if we got straight down to business?"
"I see some of your sense of humour is returning." Misaki smiled.
"Enjoy it while you can." Tenchi said sadly. "I doubt it will be here long. We were going
to discuss this if I recall correctly." She fingered the necklace they had attached. "More
specifically, your contribution to its removal. I'm sorry if I sound depressed, but I have a
nasty feeling I'm not going to like what I'm going to have to do." Her tone clearly said that
she held them responsible.
Misaki sat down next to her Sister.
"We've decided to do something about your shyness." The blue-hared Queen told Tenchi.
Tenchi slumped considerably.
"Just to let you get control of it." Funaho said. "We know it's a significant part of you."
"What do you want?" Tenchi asked quietly.
"For my stone." Funaho told her. "I just want you to put on the three sets of clothes behind
you."
Tenchi looked and groaned. It was the blue, the black and gold, and the red and silver. She
turned back to the Queens.
"And for your stone Misaki?" She asked tiredly.
Misaki beamed. "You spending the night with us."
Tenchi had a look of pure terror on her face.
Flowering Potential.
====================
C&C can be sent to cobalt@elhazard.net Flames can be taken to the
nearest charity so they can be distributed to children in Third World
Countries to keep them warm.
Disclaimer: I do not own the series depicted within, but go buy it anyway.
Conventions:
~ ~ are used for thoughts and Telepathic communication.
The series is archived at http://www.lum.co.uk/cobalt/
#########
Chapter 9
#########
Tenchi had never really enjoyed being the lust object of so many girls. It was embarrassing,
and scary. Now Tenchi was female, the problem had only got worse. Ryoko and Ayeka
were quite obviously completely taken with her. Washu was deviously planing to get her
alone, whatever horrors that would entail. Sasami, probably the most level-headed person in
the house, was practically throwing herself (With the full support and assistance of her other
half Tsunami) at Tenchi. The two guests, Funaho and Misaki, seemed to be having fun
teasing her now that the shock had worn off. Kiyone had actually kissed her and seemed to
have enjoyed it (Whether it was because she had enjoyed making Tenchi very nervous, she
didn't know). And now Minagi, with whom Tenchi had grouped Kiyone as a friend but not a
potential contestant for her heart, had joined in the festivities. If you could call them that.
The young pirate was leaning over Tenchi's shoulder, floating slightly and gently hugging
the woman. It was the position of the hug that was distracting, and Tenchi was really, really
trying to ignore it.
"Something the matter?" Misaki noted blandly.
Tenchi kept her mouth shut. It seemed only Mihoshi, Ryo-Ohki and her grandfather were
acting normally. Whatever that meant these days.
"She does look rather preoccupied, doesn't she?" Kiyone noted.
~ Why me? ~ Tenchi despaired.
Minagi visibly turned the hug up a couple of notches.
"That better?" She asked.
Tenchi closed her eyes and sighed, the first sound she had made in a while.
"I really wish you would stop picking on me. I don't want to do something we will all
regret." She said.
Funaho arched an eyebrow. "Is that a threat?" She asked calmly.
"An... Observation." Tenchi said slowly. "I'm not particularly...stable...at the moment.
You must have noticed."
At the weird looks she received she groaned.
"Am I the only one to notice I'm feeling a bit stressed out at the moment? I know I've been
acting oddly since...this...happened."
Washu smirked. "That proves you are in full control of you faculties. If you notice
something wrong with yourself before everybody else, I'd say you are fine." She gave
Tenchi a sly look. "Besides, you will be a bit more emotional now anyway. Don't suppress
it too much."
Tenchi gave the redhead an odd look.
"Come on Tenchi." Washu prodded. "Let them out."
Tenchi shrugged. "If you say so."
No one saw Tenchi move. There was a blur and Minagi was in front of the woman.
"Please don't do that." Tenchi told the startled young lady.
"O-ok." Minagi replied.
Tenchi smiled and gently patted Minagi's cheek. "Good."
"I've created a monster." Washu groaned. "She won't be any fun now."
"Fun." Tenchi snorted. "I'm a man trapped in a woman's body. Oh, what fun."
"Lighten up Tenchi." Sasami said. "It's not that bad."
"Gee, really? In less than a year I've been shot, blown up, beat up, killed, resurrected, had
my life chewed up and spat out and then put through a shredder. I've been wrenched from a
nice quiet little neighbourhood to the reaches of deep space, then back. I've killed beings that
I've never known existed until they attack me. I find out I'm not even fully human, that I'm
royalty, that I have so much power I could make sushi of planets, and to top it all off I'm not
even the same sex anymore. You want me to lighten up? Fine. Find something that won't
depress me further. I wish you luck."
"You done?" Washu asked.
Tenchi thought about it. "For now at least."
"Good. None of us like this trend towards depression you've shown."
"Maybe I wouldn't be so depressed if people didn't keep forcing their expectations of what I
should be on me."
"We care for you." Misaki said.
"Well you have a strange way of showing it. Oh look, Tenchi's female. Let's make her into
a woman as fast as we can. You could have tried the soft approach, but no. You had to thrust
everything down my throat. And it's backfiring badly now, isn't it?" Tenchi was obviously
controlling her temper.
"You could have said." Minagi replied.
"I DID!" Tenchi snapped. "BUT YOU DIDN'T LISTEN!" The enraged woman lowered
her voice. "I said I didn't want to be a woman. I repeatedly made it clear that I didn't like
you forcing it on me. But you kept on going." Tenchi stood up. "Now, this is what is going
to happen. I am going upstairs to change into something I want to wear. When I come back
down I don't want any talk of convincing me otherwise. If you don't like it, then tough. You
can leave if you want."
Funaho stood up and walked to Tenchi.
"You," She said, "Need to get a grip on your self."
"Washu was the one who told me to let out my feelings."
"Don't try to shift the blame. It will never work."
"I'm not interested in a lesson on problem management Your Majesty." Tenchi said stiffly.
She turned and made her way upstairs. "You may want to note that I never wanted to be
royalty. I feel really close to giving it all up. An observation for you."
***
Making sure the door was fully closed, Tenchi took a deep breath and let out all her rage by
punching a wall as hard as she could and screaming. Oblivious to the damage she had done
to the wall and her hand she spun to face the sparkling image appearing.
"Don't bother saying anything." She growled. "Get out."
Tsunami had a dark and disapproving look on her face.
"Not until you apologise to Lady Funaho."
"Why should I apologise to her exalted Majesty? I told her I wasn't stable."
"You threatened her with removing yourself from succession."
"Then you know what I'll do if you don't leave right now." Just to emphasise the point she
summoned the Master Key. "Don't make me order you to leave me alone forever." She
warned.
"Tenchi, you're not thinking straight." Tsunami was very worried.
"I'll count to three."
"Tenchi please!" Tsunami begged.
"One."
"If you would just listen to me..."
"Two."
Tsunami knew she'd never make the point in time. She vanished.
"Thank you."
***
Washu was typing furiously. There had to be some influence making Tenchi act this way.
She didn't want to even think about Tenchi really meaning what she said. She read the data
as fast as she could before something hit her. She paused and blinked. She scrolled back to
confirm what had just attacked her mind with an energy sword.
It was true.
Washu was, probably for the first time in 20,000 years, stunned. Her keyboard faded into
nothingness as she fell back in her seat, her usually roaring mind stilled by one little fact.
Her condition did not go unnoticed by her companions.
"Washu?" Sasami asked.
The redhead stayed as still as a statue, not even blinking. She picked up that someone was
talking, but couldn't focus her attention.
Kiyone tried the time old technique of passing a hand in front of her eyes. Absolutely no
response.
"Washu? Are you OK Washu?" The detective asked.
"Wha...?" The scientist said faintly. She blinked, and her brain started working again. She
sat bolt upright, startling everybody. She called up her keyboard and looked at the data
again.
She smiled. She began to giggle. This turned into a chuckle, then a laugh. Everybody
watched stunned as Washu flung her head back and howled uproariously.
No one caught the data as the keyboard faded when Washu clutched her ribs, still laughing.
Funaho was in no mood for this, so slapped the redhead round the face.
It slowed Washu's laughter enough for her to get control.
"Sorry," She gasped between breaths and laughing fits, "I think I've found out why Tenchi
is so shaky."
The room waited patiently until Washu had stopped and caught her breath.
"It's simple." Washu told them, having to suppress the laughter. "So simple in fact I'm not
surprised we didn't pick up on it."
"What?" The room asked.
Washu beamed. "It's that time of the month."
***
Sasami knocked on Tenchi's door.
"Tenchi? We really need to talk. Please open up."
There was no response.
"Please Tenchi! It's important. It's about why you're acting so funny."
The door opened and the little girl was dragged inside.
"You better make this good." Tenchi warned.
***
~ As if I didn't have enough problems. ~ Washu thought sourly as Ryoko and Ayeka
walked down the stairs. They were...calm. Not even seeming to notice what had to be going
through their minds. They did, however, seem to be keeping reasonably far apart.
~ I'll have to peek into Ryoko's mind later. ~ The redhead thought to herself.
"What's wrong?" Ayeka asked, noticing the solemn mood.
The others looked at each other a bit sadly, but with a full understanding of the problem.
"Maybe you two should sit down." Washu said. "We need to explain something."
***
Tenchi shook her head slightly.
"All the bells and whistles huh?"
Sasami, sat next to her on the bed, looked about ready to retort but Tenchi held up a hand to
stop her.
"Yes, I know all about it. I have done some biology at school y'know."
The little princess looked a bit relieved.
"But it's not the sort of thing I would have worried about, even if I had been thinking
straight."
"You don't have to worry about it. It's perfectly natural." Sasami tried consoling the young
woman.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that. It just means another part of my manhood has been ripped
away." Tenchi slumped.
"Please don't do that." Sasami asked. "You look so sad and dejected, I can't stand it."
"So you are acting normally."
Sasami had a really puzzled look on her face.
"Everybody seems to want me now. As soon as I turned female, you began hitting on me. I
wonder what Ayeka and Ryoko would say about that, not to mention your mother."
The little princess smiled evilly. "They'd probably rage about how I've seen you naked and
rip you apart. As for mom, She'd probably understand." A sudden thought hit her. "She'd
probably give me tips." She blushed.
"Talk about getting tossed in at the deep end. I may as well just go mad anyway, it's better
than trying to understand anything that goes on in my house anymore."
"Tenchi..." Sasami warned. "If you don't cheer up, we'll make you."
"Please don't. I don't think I could take any cheering up." She pouted.
Sasami reached round and gave her a gentle hug.
"Well, you can't go around being depressed all the time."
"It's not my fault. As soon as I start to feel better, something comes along to knock me
down again."
"What's wrong with your hand?" Sasami asked, abruptly changing tack.
"Eh?" Tenchi looked. "I don't see anything wrong."
Sasami took her right hand, setting off a sharp pang of pain.
"You've broken your hand!" The azure-hared girl gasped.
"Don't be silly. It just hurts a bit from when I punched the wall." Tenchi shrugged it off.
Sasami was not having any of it however. "It's your sword hand Tenchi. You shouldn't
shrug it off like that."
"It's nothing." Tenchi insisted.
The little girl prodded it, causing new surges of pain.
"Even if it's not broken, Washu should take a look at it."
"I'm not going to put myself in a position where Washu can experiment on me. I've learned
that lesson."
Sasami changed back to hugging Tenchi. It was rather higher than the previous one.
"Sasami please don't do that." Tenchi asked.
"No. I'm worried about your hand. I promise to keep getting more embarrassing to you if
you don't go see her."
"Knock it off Sasami. There is nothing that requires medical attention."
The imp in Sasami wasn't going to rest that easily. Taking advantage of the revealing
nature of Tenchi's clothes, she moved her cold hands here and here.
Tenchi shuddered.
"Sasami stop it." She told her.
"I'll go all the way." Sasami promised. "Who knows? You might even like it."
Tenchi ripped herself from Sasami's grasp.
"Get out." Tenchi demanded.
"Or you'll what? You can't make me. Grow up Tenchi. I'm more than willing to disobey
any orders you make, and even you won't fight us all. You've lost that battle already."
"Don't count me out. I've already got a back up plan or two. Where are your manners?
Your decency? You are supposed to be a princess."
"And you are supposed to be a prince. Whether you like it or not, you are responsible for
more lives than you can ever know. You have been ever since you were born."
"Another lecture." Tenchi grumbled.
"Please Tenchi." The girl pleaded. "Listen to reason for once."
"I would, if it hadn't said goodbye about 6 days ago; never to return."
Sasami walked up and slapped her, then gasped in horror at what she had done.
"Oh no... I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. No one knows what you're going
through..." Sasami looked on the verge of tears.
"No." Tenchi said softly. "You are right. I'm not acting properly." She walked back to the
bed. "And you don't know what it's like. None of it will turn out right."
She lay down on the bed, looking pathetic. "I may be unbeatable in battle, but I'll lose the
war. Everything I was is gone forever. I liked who I was, just an ordinary guy. Now, I'm
the exact opposite and I can't cope with it. I can't cope with you or the girls or what my life
has become. And can you guess what? I'm afraid."
"Afraid?" Sasami asked. "Of what?"
Tenchi closed her eyes and couldn't stop the tear from running down her cheek.
"My life. I'm afraid of you all, of what you represent, of what I represent. I'm afraid of the
fact that I'm too powerful, of the fact everybody I meet these days has a purpose. Whether
that involves me or something around me. I'm afraid of loosing the little spark of control that
I have. It's all I have left of my life."
"There, there Tenchi." Sasami soothed. "We will help you. You are what brought us all
together, what holds us together. None of us want to loose you."
Tenchi felt the familiar surge heralding Tsunami's arrival, but it was wrong. Very wrong.
She opened her eyes to look, and found herself looking at Sasami. She had a blank look on
her face and the emblem on her forehead was glowing intensely. Tenchi could only draw one
conclusion.
"Don't you dare Tsunami." She called out, sitting up and instinctively calling the Master
Key. "She's not ready, and if I have to die to stop you so be it."
Two golden circles began forming on Sasami's forehead.
"Don't make me do this." Tenchi pleaded.
Some life came back into the girl's face.
"It's OK Tenchi." The voice was slightly choral. "We know what we are doing."
Unhesitantly, the strange being before Tenchi reached out and touched Tenchi's right hand.
At the contact, the hand seemed infused with warmth and all pain disappeared.
The being smiled and the sense of Tsunami's presence moved quickly but gently away to
the window, causing the glowing symbols on Sasami's forehead to fade. The circles of
Tsunami disappeared, and the young girl collapsed into Tenchi's lap.
Tsunami herself appeared beside the window.
"What was all that about?" Tenchi demanded.
"We had to make sure your hand was alright." The image said quietly.
"Please don't blame her." Sasami's exhausted voice came from her lap. "I can't help but
worry when you're injured."
"It was a stupid, foolhardy and dangerous risk. Did either of you have any idea what would
happen to you? Don't do anything like that again."
"You were right about your hand Tenchi." Tsunami admitted. "But it did need attention."
"That's beside the point..." Tenchi began when Sasami pulled herself up.
"It was something *I* needed to do. I have to be able to help sometimes. Me, not Tsunami
acting through me."
Tenchi looked darkly at the girl. "You are not ready for that. I'm definitely not ready for
what I have, so you are not supposed to be even close to that. Even if you are over a
thousand years old." She turned her gaze to the image hovering hesitantly. "I don't want to
even speculate how old you are."
"What is time to a tree?" Tsunami asked, smile on her lips.
"I would have thought you would be more responsible than to attempt that." Tenchi
shuddered. "Another proof that I'll never fit in on Jurai."
"Can we change the subject?" Sasami asked.
Tenchi resolved to get a dig in before they did. "Yes, Auntie dearest." She replied
offhandedly.
"Good because..." The little girl trailed off. "What did you call me?"
"I called her highness my aunt." Tenchi was getting into the swing of things. "Is there
something wrong with that? Her highness is my great aunt. As is her highness's sister.
What it makes her highness's other half is another thing I won't contemplate, if her highness
and her other half don't mind."
"What are we going to do with you?" Tsunami and Sasami asked simultaneously.
"How about stop tormenting me? I know that you will never leave me alone, so it might be
the best course of action if you were to stop stressing me out."
Sasami's smile seemed a bit larger than usual, making Tenchi sadly suspicious.
"OK." She asked. "What else did you do?"
"Excuse me?" Tsunami was oddly distant.
"When you worked your magic on my hand, you did something else. I can tell." Tenchi
turned a withering gaze on the two blue-hared imps who had been making her entire life (~
All six days of it. ~ She thought sourly.) miserable.
"You are paranoid." Sasami told her.
"In my current situation, do I have a choice?" All assembled knew it was a rhetorical
question.
"You are getting good at this." Tsunami observed.
"What did you do?" Tenchi said as calmly as she could, which wasn't very.
Sasami sighed and told her.
"We enhanced your natural attraction for us and added a little compulsion to go to bed with
us. What we did was..."
"Uh huh." Tenchi said when she had finished. "And what possible gain did you hope to get
from doing that? Just so I know what to put on my tombstone, assuming there is enough left
of me to bury."
"You needed something to take your mind off things." Tsunami replied. "This was the
simplest and quickest thing I could think of." She put on a disarming smile. "You'll enjoy it.
Certainly..."
"...I'll get killed." Tenchi interrupted.
"Come on Tenchi. Surely..." Sasami tried to start.
"...You'll never be able to put me together again. Not even with all the king's horses and
all the king's men." That confused the other ladies.
Tsunami did the sensible thing and ignored the comment.
"You had better go down stairs. Spending so much time in this room is not good for you."
"No way!" Tenchi exclaimed. "I'm not moving an inch unless you counteract what you've
done."
"Looks like I get first go then." Sasami giggled.
"You want to get me arrested and ostracised?" Tenchi asked.
"Eh?"
"What do you mean?" Tsunami asked.
"It's against the law and it brakes several major taboos."
The two joined beings had joint blank looks.
"Why do you think I avoid drinking alcohol. It's because according to Japanese law I'm not
allowed to until I'm 21."
"That doesn't apply to you."
"Oh yes it does. How would you like to explain why I slept with my great aunt, who just
happens to be a 1000 year old little girl? I'd be locked away in a secure hospital for the
insane for the rest of my life." She glared. "Do you want to ignore the local authorities on a
protected planet? Wouldn't that get you into a lot of trouble yourselves?"
"When you put it like that..."
"I knew you'd see it my way. See, there is some reason left in the house."
"...I'll leave you like that." Tsunami grinned. "It means you'll have to leave the planet. A
crown prince can't be locked away on a primitive planet like this."
"I hate you." Tenchi put an awful lot of venom into the sentence.
"No you don't." Tsunami shrugged it off. "You can't. It's not in your nature."
"I might as well stay in this room until Washu finds a way to change me back. Thanks for
the talk, you can both go now."
"You can't hide in here until then." Sasami complained.
Tenchi slowly turned a gaze on the little princess. "Oh, are you still here?" She asked
blankly.
***
Sasami was muttering darkly as she came downstairs.
"...nerve. Doesn't she have any consideration for..."
"Don't tell me, let me guess." Funaho said to her niece. "Still having problems?"
Sasami plumped herself down on her mother's lap.
"Honestly! If it's not one think it's another with her. Not even Ayeka was this difficult."
She grumbled.
"You managed to solve the initial problem didn't you?" Washu asked.
"What? Oh, that. Yes, that's out of the way. Now she's going to try and solve all the
problems by staying in her room until you can change her back."
"She's behaving like a baby." Ryoko snorted.
"That's because compared to us she is." Yosho had appeared from nowhere at the kitchen
door, startling everyone.
"Would you mind explaining that to us?" His mother asked pointedly.
"How would you expect someone less than a quarter century old to act?" He replied.
Ryoko worked through her memories of Tenchi growing up.
"Tenchi's young, but she can't be that young." She said.
"She's due her seventeenth birthday in just over a month."
Sasami contrived to look shocked. It wasn't news to her, but definitely was to everybody
else.
"So young..." Ayeka breathed.
"Youth is a relative term around here." The old priest noted.
His young mother glared at him.
"Can anyone claim that we have been kind to her these past few days? Now maybe all of us
can be a little more considerate."
"She can't stay cloistered in her room for five weeks." Misaki complained. "It will take
months to get Tenchi back to her current level. Without the practice Tenchi needs at the
moment, her powers will fade."
Ryoko cracked her knuckles. "Washu, how powerful is that forcefield of yours?"
"It can take a level three orbital strike." Washu said sadly. "I do good work don't I?"
"You can't just go barging in there." Kiyone warned. "Tenchi would probably loose her
temper."
"Well I can't just sit here and let her waste away." Ryoko grumbled.
"I think..." Misaki said slowly. "I think I have an idea."
***
"I am really not sure about this Sister." Funaho was worried.
"I know, but can you think of a better plan?" Misaki asked.
That was the problem, not even Washu could come up with a better plan. Thus, she had
reluctantly gone along with it and told the two Queens how to bypass the forcefield.
"I don't really want to risk loosing her."
"You worry too much Sister." Misaki sighed. "It's a bad habit."
"Of course I worry. Tenchi is most likely the next in succession. Think of all the potential
we have here."
"It's because of that and my daughters that I'm doing this. I don't want to see their dreams
ruined as much as ours."
The two ladies walked up to Tenchi's door and knocked.
"Tenchi?" Misaki asked. "May we come in?"
"I'd rather be alone at the moment." Tenchi's muffled voice replied.
Funaho drooped a bit. It was either this or let Tenchi rot in her room until Washu could
bring herself to tell her the bad news. She nodded to her Sister.
Tenchi was barely surprised to find the two women still standing outside her room when the
door opened.
"Washu told you how to bypass the forcefield." It was a statement of fact by the young lady
on the bed. The redness around the eyes said she had been keeping from crying.
"This won't do any good." Misaki told Tenchi. "I've tried it. It doesn't work."
"It only makes things worse." Funaho confirmed, looking slyly at her Sister.
"It seems I have to apologise again for not being a better host." Tenchi tried side-stepping
the subject. "But as you can see, it wasn't a good time for a visit."
Misaki advanced on Tenchi. "You haven't helped matters by being so stubborn about
things."
"Excuse me for not being able to cope." Tenchi didn't sound very contrite.
"We know you are quite young..." Funaho started.
Tenchi had a hard look in her eyes.
"Yosho told us." The first Queen of Jurai answered the unspoken question. Tenchi
searched for an element of untruth in her words but couldn't find any. The hard look
softened a bit.
"Of course, I'm the baby of the family."
"And you need to grow up." Misaki told her.
"Oh yes. Like I'm going to put on a couple of centuries overnight."
The blue-hared Queen pulled Tenchi from the bed and hugged her.
"You'll manage. You always seem to."
Funaho came up behind Tenchi and joined in the hug.
"You have survived with Ryoko and Ayeka fighting over you for almost a year."
"Don't remind me." Tenchi groaned.
Funaho moved, and fastened the item in place. Tenchi struggled against their grip.
"I trusted you!" She accused.
"We know." Misaki had tears in her eyes. "But there was no other way to solve the
problems." The two Queens let go and jumped to the door.
Around Tenchi's neck was a silver looking necklace. Hanging off the necklace were ten
semiprecious stones. Tenchi struggled to take it off.
"Remove this thing!" She demanded.
"We can't." Funaho replied. Misaki was holding back her tears.
"You can forget about me ever going to Jurai. You hear me? I am not going to Jurai."
Tenchi was furious. She turned her head to the stars. "What do you think of that? I will
never trust any of you again! I am not a thing for your blasted amusement!"
Misaki hugged her Sister and cried.
"It was the only way we had to..." Funaho was distraught.
"To what? Control me? To turn me into your own little toy?" Tenchi summoned the
Master Key and activated it. "No way! I'll cut it off."
"No don't!" Misaki cried. "You'll die!"
"Then you have doomed Earth and your selves to oblivion." Tenchi raised the blade.
"Tsunami didn't tell you? Figures. I'm not even human anymore; I'm a transcendent being.
A monster."
Misaki, still crying, moved. Tenchi found herself parrying Misaki's energy blade.
"I will not let you kill yourself!" She yelled. "I won't let my daughter's dreams die this
way!"
Tenchi pushed the Queen away, only to be hit full on by a blast from the other. She hit the
wall hard and fell unconscious.
Funaho held out her arm straight, tears rolling down her face. She could only hope they
could undo the damage they had done.
***
"No!" Washu yelled at the two Queens. "I am not going to play with her mind."
"She's suicidal." Funaho replied angrily, gesturing to the figure in restraints on the table.
"It was your idea in the first place." Washu retorted.
"She said she was a transcendent being Washu. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Washu recoiled from the second blow in five minutes. The first one being that Funaho had
actually shot Tenchi.
"You've got to be kidding! That means I can't even dare try anything like that. The mere
shock of that could kill her. The resultant blast would vaporise half a planet."
Tenchi groaned, causing Misaki to dash to the woman's side.
Tenchi opened her eyes and strained against her restraints.
"You going to dissect me now Washu? You must have been waiting for this moment."
Washu swore long and hard at Tenchi, with Funaho and Misaki joining in when she ran out
of words. Some of the expletives turned Tenchi white.
"Before I was so rudely interrupted," Funaho airily replied, "I was going to say the necklace
was the only way we had to focus you onto the problems at hand. Namely, your nasty
attitude and your powers."
"Like I'm supposed to believe that." Tenchi snorted.
Funaho pressed a button and released all the restraints. To say Tenchi was surprised would
be an understatement.
"Look at yourself Tenchi." Washu said. "You're loud, obnoxious, self centred and
depressed. Does that sound like you really?"
Tenchi didn't answer, she just sat up.
"Your power is using your lack of control to take over." Misaki told her.
Still the woman on the table remained silent.
"There is a way to remove the necklace." Funaho admitted.
Slowly, Tenchi turned her gaze to the woman who had shot her.
"The stones on it can be removed. But only one stone for each of us."
"And I promise here and now," Washu declared, "not to turn you back to normal until you
can remove the necklace."
"That can only be done once all the stones are removed." Funaho explained. "The idea is
that you have to prove to all of us that you are fine and ready to be returned to normal."
"It gives you a goal. A challenge." Misaki said. "Something to aim for and play against
your depression. We care for you too much to let you succumb to that darkness."
"Look at Ryoko." Washu pointed out. "She was a criminal, a slave under Kagato's power.
You saved her from that darkness. Now, she's part of what will save you."
"I don't like it." Tenchi growled. "It just proves I'm a toy for you to play with."
"Until you trust in yourself, you will never be normal."
"How can I trust myself when Tsunami has been playing with my head?"
She received three questioning looks and explained.
"It's not funny." She told the laughing redhead.
"Is that all you are worried about?" She gasped.
"It's perfectly natural to feel that way." Funaho said gently.
"No it isn't. It feels..." Tenchi couldn't find a word.
"Go on." Misaki asked.
"I don't know. Yucky I suppose."
Washu was still grinning. "That's the old Tenchi we know. Embarrassed about the smallest
things."
Funaho coughed. "Tenchi, if you will meet us in our room in two hours we will discus what
you will have to do to prove to us you are ready." She took her Sister's arm and led her from
the lab.
"And I thought me life couldn't get any worse." Tenchi despaired. "What about you
Washu? What arduous task do I have to complete to satisfy you?"
"Oh for me it's simple." The scientist replied. "I'm going to make sure your powers are
fully matured and under control before I remove my stone."
"Reasonably straight forward." Tenchi admitted. "GOD! I can't believe Funaho shot me."
"Neither can I." Washu also admitted. "But she did. She told me about what you said,
about you being a transcendent being. Is it true?"
"Tsunami certainly thinks so." Tenchi glumly recalled.
"Then you've got to start being more careful. Your death could be cataclysmic."
"I would have thought that would only apply to a violent death?" Tenchi asked.
"I really don't know." Washu told her.
Tenchi got off the platform and stretched languidly. "I'd better be heading back upstairs.
You don't mind dropping me off at the bathroom do you? I don't think blackened and burnt
is entirely my style. It suits Ryoko though, or is it just because she and Ayeka always seem
that way?" She wondered.
Washu had been entranced by Tenchi's movement, but recovered herself nicely.
"It's just because they seem that way." She replied. "As for dropping you off..." She
smiled slyly. "It will cost you a kiss."
Tenchi looked at her strangely, then shrugged. She walked over and kissed Washu on the
forehead.
"That do?" She asked.
"For now. But I expect better next time." With that she opened a portal and Tenchi stepped
through.
Once Tenchi was gone, Washu shuddered from the tingle of Tenchi's kiss.
"Computer, add to file on Tenchi Masaki (Female). Good kisser. Add note. Must get her
to improve her Vis/Psyche tactics. End."
***
Mihoshi had finally made it downstairs.
"One minute I'm trying to find some towels, the net thing I know I'm laying in the bath."
"Oh you found the towels alright." Ayeka shuddered.
"Yeah." Ryoko growled. "All that heat must have got to what little brain you have. You
must have gone out like a light."
"Which wouldn't be hard." Ayeka muttered.
"You shouldn't be so nasty to an officer of the law dear." Misaki's voice came from behind
the purple-hared princess.
Ayeka jumped. "Mother! Don't do that please."
Sasami had more important concerns. "How did it go mom?" The little girl asked
anxiously.
"It got rather heated." Sasami's mother admitted.
"Tenchi seems to have calmed down." Funaho noted.
"Oh, that's probably because the forcefield is soundproof." Mihoshi said.
"How do you know that?" Asked Kiyone.
"Well, Tenchi didn't wake up when Washu tossed that device in the lake and it went boom
three weeks ago."
Everybody gave her a strange look.
"OK." Ryoko said. "Who are you and what have you done with Mihoshi?"
"B-but I am Mihoshi." The blond ditz trembled.
Funaho shrugged. "Come on Sister. We have still got some work ahead of us."
"While the girls explain to Mihoshi what's going on." Misaki agreed.
"Thanks Your Majesties." Ryoko grumbled.
***
Tenchi didn't like this, but then she didn't have much of a choice. Who knew when they
would be back?
She gathered herself up and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Funaho's voice came.
"It's Tenchi Lady Funaho."
Funaho's sigh of resignation was just audible through the door.
"Come in Tenchi." The Queen called.
Tenchi opened the door and found only the one Queen sitting on the bed.
"Where is Lady Misaki?"
"Right here." Her voice came from behind as she pushed Tenchi into the room.
"What did your majesties wish to discuss with me?" Tenchi asked tiredly.
"Stop that." Misaki chided. "It's as bad as you yelling. Besides, you really don't need to
use our titles."
Tenchi sighed. "I just thought it might relax you to hear something familiar."
"Actually it annoys the hell out of us most of the time." Funaho told her. "We certainly
don't expect you to use them."
"Would it annoy your majesties if we got straight down to business?"
"I see some of your sense of humour is returning." Misaki smiled.
"Enjoy it while you can." Tenchi said sadly. "I doubt it will be here long. We were going
to discuss this if I recall correctly." She fingered the necklace they had attached. "More
specifically, your contribution to its removal. I'm sorry if I sound depressed, but I have a
nasty feeling I'm not going to like what I'm going to have to do." Her tone clearly said that
she held them responsible.
Misaki sat down next to her Sister.
"We've decided to do something about your shyness." The blue-hared Queen told Tenchi.
Tenchi slumped considerably.
"Just to let you get control of it." Funaho said. "We know it's a significant part of you."
"What do you want?" Tenchi asked quietly.
"For my stone." Funaho told her. "I just want you to put on the three sets of clothes behind
you."
Tenchi looked and groaned. It was the blue, the black and gold, and the red and silver. She
turned back to the Queens.
"And for your stone Misaki?" She asked tiredly.
Misaki beamed. "You spending the night with us."
Tenchi had a look of pure terror on her face.