Tenchi-Muyo! (No Need For Tenchi!; This End Up) is (c) AIC * Pioneer LDC, Inc.
Aa! Megami-sama! (Oh My Goddess!) is (c) by Kousuke Fujishima, Kodansha, TBS and
KSS Films.
Aa! Megami-sama Muyo! (Ah! No Need For My Goddess!)
A Tenchi-Muyo! and Aa! Megami-sama! crossover fan fiction
By Luna Hinomura
http://fly.to/Luna's
Chapter 12: The Wings of the Light Hawk
When Tenchi appeared seemingly out of nowhere, Ayeka nearly fell over from
disbelief. She stared at the image in the viewing circle Little Washu had
created in Kagato's floor, trying to ignore her pounding heart. "It's Tenchi!
What is he doing here?! How is it that he could be alive?" In that instant,
she felt not only happiness for Tenchi, but also hope that Tsunami could be
alive as well.
"Yay! We're saved!" Mihoshi exclaimed.
A slight smile appeared on Washu's face. She leaned back against the wall
smugly. "My guess would be Lady Tokimi," she said. "It's too bad we can't hear
what they're saying unless they project their words psionically, but we're lucky
that he's here to turn the tide; I don't think there's any way to get back to
the real world from this plane of existence. It's kinda like a mirror world."
Mihoshi blinked. "What? There's no way out?"
Washu shook her head in reply. "Nope. No way. Absolutely none."
"That's preposterous! There *must* be!" Ayeka declared. "How else are we
going to help Tenchi?"
"I don't think there *is* any way. There's nothing for us to do; he's on
his own now," Washu replied. "Well, maybe nothing except this..." Washu pushed
herself up from the wall and walked over to the viewing circle. Pulling out a
pair of white fans with red circles painted in the center of the white, she took
a deep breath. "Yeah! Come on! Gooooooo Tenchi!" she cheered, ignoring
Ayeka's abrupt facefault.
"Um, are you sure there's absolutely *no* way outta here? I don't get
it," Mihoshi whimpered. Beads of sweat appeared on both Ayeka's and Washu's
brows. "Wait, does that mean we're..."
"Mean that we're...?" Ayeka asked impatiently.
"Does this means that perhaps..." Mihoshi continued.
"Perhaps what?"
"I think it means that perhaps we're trapped on this side!" For a moment,
both Ayeka and Washu remained silent at Mihoshi's blatantly obvious statement.
A second later, something within Ayeka snapped, and she lashed out at Mihoshi
verbally.
"*Yes*, we are trapped in here! We are very, *very*, locked up!!" she
screamed in Mihoshi's face.
"Ohh..."
* * * * *
"Give it up, boy. You can't compete with me," Kagato said, throwing
Tenchi back for the umpteenth time. His white hair had come loose during the
fight, and now spilled wildly across his shoulders. "That Tokimi had better
come up with a better plan then this. The power of Jurai is mine. I'll let you
live just so you can see how easily Ryoko and I can destroy Earth."
"No, Kagato! Stop!" Ryoko pleaded, trying to crawl towards Kagato. "I'm
begging you, please don't hurt anyone else... I'll let you kill me, but don't
hurt Tenchi!" Her words did not move Kagato's stoic heart, and he kicked at her
to rid her of his person.
With the thought of rescuing Tsunami in his heart, Tenchi felt his
strength slowly ebbing. He ignored the pain and stood up again, with the
Tenchi-ken gripped tightly in his fist. Somehow, he knew it would be the very
last time he would be able to stand up after being knocked down by Kagato.
"What a fool you are," Kagato quipped. "Don't you know when to give up?
Why don't you just watch?" He knocked Tenchi back with another blast, and
extracted the energy from Ryoko's gems again. This time, nobody could stop him.
Gradually, the energy reached a peak, and he used the Souja to fire it all at
the Earth below.
Just before the Life-force Energy reached the earth, a shield appeared
around it, absorbing the Energy entirely. "You see?" Kagato said. "It's just
as I thought -- Lady Tokimi is protecting the Earth. But you..." He turned to
Tenchi and smirked. "Lady Tokimi's power cannot reach here, inside the Souja.
You will die."
When one looks death in the face, they can usually overcome it and return
with more vigor and courage than they ever believed possible. Such was the case
with Tenchi. With Kagato's hand, rapidly being charged with Life-force Energy
pointed directly at his face, he could only sigh and say a silent apology in his
heart. And parts of his life flashed in his mind's eye.
His mother, Achika...
His father, Nobuyuki...
The Goddess, Tsunami...
Sasami... Washu... Ayeka... Ryoko... Mihoshi... Kiyone...
Not to mention Lady Tokimi. She was the person whom he'd had the most
meaningful conversation with before his death. And she had given him powerful
advice before sending him off to do battle with Kagato. If only he could
remember her advice...
"Don't worry; I can do it, Lady Tokimi. I can defeat Kagato,
because I have the Tenchi-ken."
"You cannot and must not rely completely on that sword,
Tenchi. It holds power, but it is merely an inanimate object; it
cannot defeat Kagato alone, and neither can you. It is linked to
the Jurai System, but on the Souja, you will be cut off completely
from it. Look deep within yourself, Tenchi... You have the blood
of a Goddess within you. Learn to harness the power it represents.
I am sorry I can only witness your battle from my vantage point here
on Jurai."
With renewed determination, Tenchi pushed himself up once more, meeting
Kagato's blast of Life-force Energy head-on. Seeing this, Ryoko bit her lip,
ignoring the pain from her sharp fangs cutting into her skin. Blood dripped
down from the minor wound and down her chin, mingling with the salty tears from
her eyes. [Killed, yet again...] She was unable to move; she couldn't turn her
head away, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to bear seeing Tenchi's
limp carcass. Thankfully, the blast had enveloped Tenchi completely in clouds
of thick, gray smoke. Kagato turned to her once more.
"Come, Ryoko, I'll kill you now, as you asked," he said, before something
in the corner of his eyes caught his attention.
Tenchi was still there. His own Life-force energy now surrounded him, and
he had erected his own shield. The Tenchi-ken was still clenched in his hand.
Kagato couldn't move, shocked beyond words. "Impossible! The link to Lady
Tokimi should have been cut off completely by Souja!"
With a sigh of relief, Tenchi looked down at the Tenchi-ken in his hands,
and threw it off to the side. "I have been relying too much on this sword. I
will defeat you with my *own* power this time!"
"So! It's *you*! You're the one doing this!!" Kagato yelled, recklessly
throwing another blast of Life-force Energy at him. Once again, Tenchi emerged
unscathed. However, this time, he was surrounded by...
* * * * *
"The Light Hawk Wings!" Ayeka and Washu exclaimed simultaneously. "I
can't believe it!" Ayeka declared.
"What are the Light Hawk Wings?" Mihoshi asked.
"The Wings of the Light Hawk are what we used to protect Ryo-ohki and
Yagami against Kagato before. They comprise Jurai's most powerful shield, but
can be used a weapon as well. You see? It has three blades, and the three
Goddesses of Jurai must be together in order to form each blade," Washu
explained.
"What I want to know is how is Tenchi able to use them," Ayeka commented.
"Well, it looks as if the fight is not over yet. Let's cheer for Tenchi!" With
a smile, she held up one of Washu's fans.
"It looks as if the real fight's just about to begin," Washu agreed. "And
to answer your other inquiry, when you and Tenchi summoned Lady Tokimi, Kagato
shot at you, right? Lady Tokimi must have protected Tenchi, and in the instant
when the shot broke through, the power of the Light Hawk Wings supposedly
dissipated. But what if the power went into Tenchi? Or, if in that instant,
the power flooded over him, and he was able to recognize the pattern in
summoning the Wings... Well, who knows? I'd need to do a few tests on him, or
talk to Lady Tokimi to figure it out."
"You can do that later," Ayeka replied, watching the view screen.
A green mark of three triangles appeared on Tenchi's forehead, and the
three blades glowed in response. He pushed his arms out in front of him, and
two of the blades traveled over him, transforming his previous battle uniform to
one even more elegant. Triangular black battle markings that resembled Ayeka's
appeared across his cheeks.
"The material conversion of energy and light into mass! The power within
Tenchi is *very* strong!" Ayeka exclaimed.
"Yeah, look at all the cool stuff he can do!" Mihoshi echoed.
Ayeka and Washu sighed. "What'd you expect her to say?" Washu asked.
"You know what? I think the reason why Tenchi's so strong is because *I'm* his
Great-grandmother!" She broke off into wild laughter. Ayeka sighed and looked
back at the view screen.
Tenchi reached his hand out and grabbed the remaining blade at the base.
As soon as he touched it, the light transformed into a tangible sword, and
Kagato ignited his own in response. He launched at Tenchi violently, intent
upon destroying him. In turn, Tenchi launched at Kagato at the same time. An
instant later, it seemed like nothing had happened.
"[[Well done, Tokimi,]]" Kagato said, both aloud and psionically. A
diagonal slash appeared, cut from his left shoulder down to his right hip.
"[[You've won. So, Tenchi... I can see now; you're my Great-grandson. I was
blind.]]" As his body disintegrated, both upwards and downwards from the slash,
he closed his eyes.
"[[Goodbye, my Funaho.]]" he said; his very last words before he
disappeared completely.
An instant later, Washu, Ayeka, and Mihoshi appeared in the real world as
the mirror world collapsed on itself. Washu sank to her knees, tears streaming
from her eyes.
"Goodbye... Isamu..." she said.
"'Funaho'? 'Isamu'? Does that mean--" Tenchi started.
"Yes. Kagato was your Great-grandfather, Tenchi," Ayeka said.
[Holy crap,] Tenchi thought, shocked. "But how did you know? How come
*I* didn't know? And..."--he paused for a moment--"How come Grandpa doesn't
look a thing like him?"
Washu sighed. "I disguised myself as a mortal, but Kagato did, too."
Tenchi punched the wall in disgust; he was mad at both myself and Washu,
and the entire planet for that matter. "You mean to tell me that I just killed
my Great-grandfather?!"
"Yes, but only in death was he finally kind. You saw how he was before.
And remember; your Great-grandfather killed you, too," Ayeka said, before a jolt
shook them off their feet.
"Uh-oh... Now that Kagato's gone, the Souja is collapsing! Everyone,
back to Yagami!" Washu ordered. She sounded almost grateful for the
interruption.
* * * * *
As I felt the transportation spell taking effect, I envisioned Tsunami
running towards me with her arms outstretched. For some reason, the spell felt
slightly different, but I ignored it and reached my arms towards her. Now that
Kagato was dead, I knew she would be coming back.
Moments later, we appeared on Yagami. Everything was different. Ayeka,
Mihoshi, and Ryoko were no longer wearing their battle uniforms (and neither was
I), but Washu had apparently disappeared, and a black-haired woman wearing
elegant robes was there instead.
"Ah. Uh-oh," she said, looking at herself.
"What do you mean, 'uh-oh'? Who are you?" I asked. She looked very
familiar, and she had a green circle in the middle of her forehead. Her brown
eyes looked very kind, as did her face, but the expression on her face was one
of utter confusion.
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," she replied. "Can I have a
mirror?"
"Who *are* you?" Kiyone demanded.
"It's simple, really. I'm Funaho."
"WHAT?!" we all exclaimed at once.
"I think I need to talk to Lady Tokimi," she said. "This is what I looked
like when I disguised myself as a mortal. That's why your Grandfather does not
resemble me as the red-haired Goddess."
"All right, but how come you've changed back into Funaho? And where's
Tsunami?" I asked. I turned my face up towards the ceiling. "Lady Tokimi! You
said that if Kagato died, Tsunami would return! Where is she?! Why did you
tell me to kill my Great-grandfather if it's all going to add up to nothing?!
It's all one big nothing!! If she can't come back, then... If she's dead...
I'll just... I wouldn't...be able to take it... I'd just...die..." After my
sobbing outburst, I sagged down on the floor of Yagami, still overcome with
shock. Ryoko pressed her hand on my shoulder, trying to reassure me. Ayeka
looked worried, too.
[[It seems I have misjudged,]] replied Lady Tokimi. [[Tsunami has not
reappeared. There must be some aspect that I have not taken into
consideration.]]
"[[Lady Tokimi, why have I reverted into Funaho?]]" Funaho asked.
[[Because we have lost Tsunami, for all practical purposes, the Jurai
System is down. It will be unable to function until Tsunami is restored to
life, or until we find a replacement. I myself favor the former above the
latter.]] Lady Tokimi sounded tired and depressed, but not as tired and
depressed as I was.
"[[As do I,]]" Funaho replied.
[[Return to your home, Tenchi. It is all you *can* do for now. Forgive
me for any pain it might have caused. We will find her; I guarantee it. A few
tests, perhaps, Sister Washu. Or shall I call you Funaho now?]]
"[[I'd prefer 'Funaho' if I'm in this body,]]" she replied, signaling
Kiyone to direct Yagami back to Earth.
"Oh, that's right, I forgot," I said softly, reaching into the pockets of
my shirt. "Lady Tokimi told me to give this to you." I pulled out an egg, and
handed it to Ryoko. I pulled out a new crown, and handed it to Ayeka. "Right
before Kagato killed Ryo-ohki and me, Lady Tokimi was able to protect us. Your
sister laid another egg. Unfortunately, she hadn't thought of protecting
Tsunami."
Ryoko looked at me with both sadness and happiness in her eyes. She
looked like she couldn't decide whether she cared too much, too little, or was
just plain worried about me. Ayeka took the crown in her gentle hands the same
manner. I just looked out the window of Yagami, out at the stars. Once again,
I had a vision of Tsunami trying to run towards me, but the image disappeared
before she even came close.
End of Chapter 12
Epilogue
I went about my daily chores apathetically, not paying attention while I
did each job, and probably doing a lousy one at that. The others had given me
some slack now that they saw how much I'd been suffering since the Kagato
incident. They didn't even let me decorate our annual Christmas tree. I wish I
could have celebrated Christmas with Tsunami.
"Lord Tenchi, why don't you go upstairs and rest?" Ayeka suggested.
"Please... You look very tired."
Nodding with the same apathy, I plodded upstairs, ignoring the looks of
sympathy the others sent in my direction. Nothing felt right anymore. I fell
face down on my bed, burying my tear-streaked face in my pillow. Willing myself
to stop crying, I flipped on my back and stared at the ceiling. I sighed.
Everything was much too quiet. With Tsunami gone, no one seemed happy anymore,
least of all me. I pressed a random button on my CD player without even
looking, not caring what played, though I expected to hear Megumi's voice again.
I sat up quickly when the CD began to play and a woman began to sing. The
CD may have sounded familiar, but I knew it was one that I hadn't placed into my
stereo for quite some time, since I couldn't even remember which CD it was. One
of the others might have come into my room before to listen to CDs, but I
doubted it. Reaching over, I hit the eject button to examine it. Hmm...
Chisa Yokoyama. Interesting.
I miss Tsunami.
End of Book I
Aa! Megami-sama! (Oh My Goddess!) is (c) by Kousuke Fujishima, Kodansha, TBS and
KSS Films.
Aa! Megami-sama Muyo! (Ah! No Need For My Goddess!)
A Tenchi-Muyo! and Aa! Megami-sama! crossover fan fiction
By Luna Hinomura
http://fly.to/Luna's
Chapter 12: The Wings of the Light Hawk
When Tenchi appeared seemingly out of nowhere, Ayeka nearly fell over from
disbelief. She stared at the image in the viewing circle Little Washu had
created in Kagato's floor, trying to ignore her pounding heart. "It's Tenchi!
What is he doing here?! How is it that he could be alive?" In that instant,
she felt not only happiness for Tenchi, but also hope that Tsunami could be
alive as well.
"Yay! We're saved!" Mihoshi exclaimed.
A slight smile appeared on Washu's face. She leaned back against the wall
smugly. "My guess would be Lady Tokimi," she said. "It's too bad we can't hear
what they're saying unless they project their words psionically, but we're lucky
that he's here to turn the tide; I don't think there's any way to get back to
the real world from this plane of existence. It's kinda like a mirror world."
Mihoshi blinked. "What? There's no way out?"
Washu shook her head in reply. "Nope. No way. Absolutely none."
"That's preposterous! There *must* be!" Ayeka declared. "How else are we
going to help Tenchi?"
"I don't think there *is* any way. There's nothing for us to do; he's on
his own now," Washu replied. "Well, maybe nothing except this..." Washu pushed
herself up from the wall and walked over to the viewing circle. Pulling out a
pair of white fans with red circles painted in the center of the white, she took
a deep breath. "Yeah! Come on! Gooooooo Tenchi!" she cheered, ignoring
Ayeka's abrupt facefault.
"Um, are you sure there's absolutely *no* way outta here? I don't get
it," Mihoshi whimpered. Beads of sweat appeared on both Ayeka's and Washu's
brows. "Wait, does that mean we're..."
"Mean that we're...?" Ayeka asked impatiently.
"Does this means that perhaps..." Mihoshi continued.
"Perhaps what?"
"I think it means that perhaps we're trapped on this side!" For a moment,
both Ayeka and Washu remained silent at Mihoshi's blatantly obvious statement.
A second later, something within Ayeka snapped, and she lashed out at Mihoshi
verbally.
"*Yes*, we are trapped in here! We are very, *very*, locked up!!" she
screamed in Mihoshi's face.
"Ohh..."
* * * * *
"Give it up, boy. You can't compete with me," Kagato said, throwing
Tenchi back for the umpteenth time. His white hair had come loose during the
fight, and now spilled wildly across his shoulders. "That Tokimi had better
come up with a better plan then this. The power of Jurai is mine. I'll let you
live just so you can see how easily Ryoko and I can destroy Earth."
"No, Kagato! Stop!" Ryoko pleaded, trying to crawl towards Kagato. "I'm
begging you, please don't hurt anyone else... I'll let you kill me, but don't
hurt Tenchi!" Her words did not move Kagato's stoic heart, and he kicked at her
to rid her of his person.
With the thought of rescuing Tsunami in his heart, Tenchi felt his
strength slowly ebbing. He ignored the pain and stood up again, with the
Tenchi-ken gripped tightly in his fist. Somehow, he knew it would be the very
last time he would be able to stand up after being knocked down by Kagato.
"What a fool you are," Kagato quipped. "Don't you know when to give up?
Why don't you just watch?" He knocked Tenchi back with another blast, and
extracted the energy from Ryoko's gems again. This time, nobody could stop him.
Gradually, the energy reached a peak, and he used the Souja to fire it all at
the Earth below.
Just before the Life-force Energy reached the earth, a shield appeared
around it, absorbing the Energy entirely. "You see?" Kagato said. "It's just
as I thought -- Lady Tokimi is protecting the Earth. But you..." He turned to
Tenchi and smirked. "Lady Tokimi's power cannot reach here, inside the Souja.
You will die."
When one looks death in the face, they can usually overcome it and return
with more vigor and courage than they ever believed possible. Such was the case
with Tenchi. With Kagato's hand, rapidly being charged with Life-force Energy
pointed directly at his face, he could only sigh and say a silent apology in his
heart. And parts of his life flashed in his mind's eye.
His mother, Achika...
His father, Nobuyuki...
The Goddess, Tsunami...
Sasami... Washu... Ayeka... Ryoko... Mihoshi... Kiyone...
Not to mention Lady Tokimi. She was the person whom he'd had the most
meaningful conversation with before his death. And she had given him powerful
advice before sending him off to do battle with Kagato. If only he could
remember her advice...
"Don't worry; I can do it, Lady Tokimi. I can defeat Kagato,
because I have the Tenchi-ken."
"You cannot and must not rely completely on that sword,
Tenchi. It holds power, but it is merely an inanimate object; it
cannot defeat Kagato alone, and neither can you. It is linked to
the Jurai System, but on the Souja, you will be cut off completely
from it. Look deep within yourself, Tenchi... You have the blood
of a Goddess within you. Learn to harness the power it represents.
I am sorry I can only witness your battle from my vantage point here
on Jurai."
With renewed determination, Tenchi pushed himself up once more, meeting
Kagato's blast of Life-force Energy head-on. Seeing this, Ryoko bit her lip,
ignoring the pain from her sharp fangs cutting into her skin. Blood dripped
down from the minor wound and down her chin, mingling with the salty tears from
her eyes. [Killed, yet again...] She was unable to move; she couldn't turn her
head away, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to bear seeing Tenchi's
limp carcass. Thankfully, the blast had enveloped Tenchi completely in clouds
of thick, gray smoke. Kagato turned to her once more.
"Come, Ryoko, I'll kill you now, as you asked," he said, before something
in the corner of his eyes caught his attention.
Tenchi was still there. His own Life-force energy now surrounded him, and
he had erected his own shield. The Tenchi-ken was still clenched in his hand.
Kagato couldn't move, shocked beyond words. "Impossible! The link to Lady
Tokimi should have been cut off completely by Souja!"
With a sigh of relief, Tenchi looked down at the Tenchi-ken in his hands,
and threw it off to the side. "I have been relying too much on this sword. I
will defeat you with my *own* power this time!"
"So! It's *you*! You're the one doing this!!" Kagato yelled, recklessly
throwing another blast of Life-force Energy at him. Once again, Tenchi emerged
unscathed. However, this time, he was surrounded by...
* * * * *
"The Light Hawk Wings!" Ayeka and Washu exclaimed simultaneously. "I
can't believe it!" Ayeka declared.
"What are the Light Hawk Wings?" Mihoshi asked.
"The Wings of the Light Hawk are what we used to protect Ryo-ohki and
Yagami against Kagato before. They comprise Jurai's most powerful shield, but
can be used a weapon as well. You see? It has three blades, and the three
Goddesses of Jurai must be together in order to form each blade," Washu
explained.
"What I want to know is how is Tenchi able to use them," Ayeka commented.
"Well, it looks as if the fight is not over yet. Let's cheer for Tenchi!" With
a smile, she held up one of Washu's fans.
"It looks as if the real fight's just about to begin," Washu agreed. "And
to answer your other inquiry, when you and Tenchi summoned Lady Tokimi, Kagato
shot at you, right? Lady Tokimi must have protected Tenchi, and in the instant
when the shot broke through, the power of the Light Hawk Wings supposedly
dissipated. But what if the power went into Tenchi? Or, if in that instant,
the power flooded over him, and he was able to recognize the pattern in
summoning the Wings... Well, who knows? I'd need to do a few tests on him, or
talk to Lady Tokimi to figure it out."
"You can do that later," Ayeka replied, watching the view screen.
A green mark of three triangles appeared on Tenchi's forehead, and the
three blades glowed in response. He pushed his arms out in front of him, and
two of the blades traveled over him, transforming his previous battle uniform to
one even more elegant. Triangular black battle markings that resembled Ayeka's
appeared across his cheeks.
"The material conversion of energy and light into mass! The power within
Tenchi is *very* strong!" Ayeka exclaimed.
"Yeah, look at all the cool stuff he can do!" Mihoshi echoed.
Ayeka and Washu sighed. "What'd you expect her to say?" Washu asked.
"You know what? I think the reason why Tenchi's so strong is because *I'm* his
Great-grandmother!" She broke off into wild laughter. Ayeka sighed and looked
back at the view screen.
Tenchi reached his hand out and grabbed the remaining blade at the base.
As soon as he touched it, the light transformed into a tangible sword, and
Kagato ignited his own in response. He launched at Tenchi violently, intent
upon destroying him. In turn, Tenchi launched at Kagato at the same time. An
instant later, it seemed like nothing had happened.
"[[Well done, Tokimi,]]" Kagato said, both aloud and psionically. A
diagonal slash appeared, cut from his left shoulder down to his right hip.
"[[You've won. So, Tenchi... I can see now; you're my Great-grandson. I was
blind.]]" As his body disintegrated, both upwards and downwards from the slash,
he closed his eyes.
"[[Goodbye, my Funaho.]]" he said; his very last words before he
disappeared completely.
An instant later, Washu, Ayeka, and Mihoshi appeared in the real world as
the mirror world collapsed on itself. Washu sank to her knees, tears streaming
from her eyes.
"Goodbye... Isamu..." she said.
"'Funaho'? 'Isamu'? Does that mean--" Tenchi started.
"Yes. Kagato was your Great-grandfather, Tenchi," Ayeka said.
[Holy crap,] Tenchi thought, shocked. "But how did you know? How come
*I* didn't know? And..."--he paused for a moment--"How come Grandpa doesn't
look a thing like him?"
Washu sighed. "I disguised myself as a mortal, but Kagato did, too."
Tenchi punched the wall in disgust; he was mad at both myself and Washu,
and the entire planet for that matter. "You mean to tell me that I just killed
my Great-grandfather?!"
"Yes, but only in death was he finally kind. You saw how he was before.
And remember; your Great-grandfather killed you, too," Ayeka said, before a jolt
shook them off their feet.
"Uh-oh... Now that Kagato's gone, the Souja is collapsing! Everyone,
back to Yagami!" Washu ordered. She sounded almost grateful for the
interruption.
* * * * *
As I felt the transportation spell taking effect, I envisioned Tsunami
running towards me with her arms outstretched. For some reason, the spell felt
slightly different, but I ignored it and reached my arms towards her. Now that
Kagato was dead, I knew she would be coming back.
Moments later, we appeared on Yagami. Everything was different. Ayeka,
Mihoshi, and Ryoko were no longer wearing their battle uniforms (and neither was
I), but Washu had apparently disappeared, and a black-haired woman wearing
elegant robes was there instead.
"Ah. Uh-oh," she said, looking at herself.
"What do you mean, 'uh-oh'? Who are you?" I asked. She looked very
familiar, and she had a green circle in the middle of her forehead. Her brown
eyes looked very kind, as did her face, but the expression on her face was one
of utter confusion.
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," she replied. "Can I have a
mirror?"
"Who *are* you?" Kiyone demanded.
"It's simple, really. I'm Funaho."
"WHAT?!" we all exclaimed at once.
"I think I need to talk to Lady Tokimi," she said. "This is what I looked
like when I disguised myself as a mortal. That's why your Grandfather does not
resemble me as the red-haired Goddess."
"All right, but how come you've changed back into Funaho? And where's
Tsunami?" I asked. I turned my face up towards the ceiling. "Lady Tokimi! You
said that if Kagato died, Tsunami would return! Where is she?! Why did you
tell me to kill my Great-grandfather if it's all going to add up to nothing?!
It's all one big nothing!! If she can't come back, then... If she's dead...
I'll just... I wouldn't...be able to take it... I'd just...die..." After my
sobbing outburst, I sagged down on the floor of Yagami, still overcome with
shock. Ryoko pressed her hand on my shoulder, trying to reassure me. Ayeka
looked worried, too.
[[It seems I have misjudged,]] replied Lady Tokimi. [[Tsunami has not
reappeared. There must be some aspect that I have not taken into
consideration.]]
"[[Lady Tokimi, why have I reverted into Funaho?]]" Funaho asked.
[[Because we have lost Tsunami, for all practical purposes, the Jurai
System is down. It will be unable to function until Tsunami is restored to
life, or until we find a replacement. I myself favor the former above the
latter.]] Lady Tokimi sounded tired and depressed, but not as tired and
depressed as I was.
"[[As do I,]]" Funaho replied.
[[Return to your home, Tenchi. It is all you *can* do for now. Forgive
me for any pain it might have caused. We will find her; I guarantee it. A few
tests, perhaps, Sister Washu. Or shall I call you Funaho now?]]
"[[I'd prefer 'Funaho' if I'm in this body,]]" she replied, signaling
Kiyone to direct Yagami back to Earth.
"Oh, that's right, I forgot," I said softly, reaching into the pockets of
my shirt. "Lady Tokimi told me to give this to you." I pulled out an egg, and
handed it to Ryoko. I pulled out a new crown, and handed it to Ayeka. "Right
before Kagato killed Ryo-ohki and me, Lady Tokimi was able to protect us. Your
sister laid another egg. Unfortunately, she hadn't thought of protecting
Tsunami."
Ryoko looked at me with both sadness and happiness in her eyes. She
looked like she couldn't decide whether she cared too much, too little, or was
just plain worried about me. Ayeka took the crown in her gentle hands the same
manner. I just looked out the window of Yagami, out at the stars. Once again,
I had a vision of Tsunami trying to run towards me, but the image disappeared
before she even came close.
End of Chapter 12
Epilogue
I went about my daily chores apathetically, not paying attention while I
did each job, and probably doing a lousy one at that. The others had given me
some slack now that they saw how much I'd been suffering since the Kagato
incident. They didn't even let me decorate our annual Christmas tree. I wish I
could have celebrated Christmas with Tsunami.
"Lord Tenchi, why don't you go upstairs and rest?" Ayeka suggested.
"Please... You look very tired."
Nodding with the same apathy, I plodded upstairs, ignoring the looks of
sympathy the others sent in my direction. Nothing felt right anymore. I fell
face down on my bed, burying my tear-streaked face in my pillow. Willing myself
to stop crying, I flipped on my back and stared at the ceiling. I sighed.
Everything was much too quiet. With Tsunami gone, no one seemed happy anymore,
least of all me. I pressed a random button on my CD player without even
looking, not caring what played, though I expected to hear Megumi's voice again.
I sat up quickly when the CD began to play and a woman began to sing. The
CD may have sounded familiar, but I knew it was one that I hadn't placed into my
stereo for quite some time, since I couldn't even remember which CD it was. One
of the others might have come into my room before to listen to CDs, but I
doubted it. Reaching over, I hit the eject button to examine it. Hmm...
Chisa Yokoyama. Interesting.
I miss Tsunami.
End of Book I
