Disclaimer: Tenchi-Muyo is owned by Pioneer and AIC.
Chapter 13:
Ryoko slowly came back into consciousness; the first then she saw was a pair of icy blue eyes.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't my baby sister" a cold voice said.
"Wake up little Ryoko and meet your brother!" said Washu enthusiastically.
"Brother…?" Ryoko managed to say as her eyes focused on the blonde-haired blue-eyed man before her.
"Yes, he's my son, the one that was taken away from me those many years ago. His name is Mikomo."
"Pleased to meet you Ryoko. I've heard a lot about you. Not just from Washu…but Jurai as well."
"Well you shouldn't base your opinion of me on what those Jurains say, it wasn't my fault I nearly destroyed their entire planet."
"Yes, I heard all about how Kagato used certain gems to control your mind. That doesn't seem like it would be a very efficient way to control someone's mind. I mean all you really had to do is get rid of the gems and you would be free."
"It's more complicated than that, it takes a lot of energy to remove them, and once they're removed…"
"Yes…"
"I don't feel like myself."
"Hey Ryoko, you never asked me to give you your gems back," Tenchi stated interrupting the conversation.
"Oh, yes, I had forgotten you still have my new gems in your sword. I suppose I can have them back now, please."
"Of course, you should have asked me sooner. And you know Ryoko the original gems…I had always planned on giving those back to you. It's a shame it took a crisis for me to give them to you, I was planning on when to return them when that whole ordeal occurred."
"Really, you would have given me back the gems without a real reason? Just for me to have them back?"
"Of course! They belonged to you in the first place, I had no right to keep them." Then Tenchi got out sword Tenchi and pointed the sword at Ryoko. "I think I'll do it now" Tenchi then prayed for the green gems to return to Ryoko. The sword glowed, as did the gems and they soon reappeared on Ryoko's wrists and neck.
"I wonder if there would be another way to take your gems away, besides you either deciding to rid yourself of them, or one of those Jurain swords taking them away" Mikomo began pensively.
"Oh, you're such the little thinker! Just like your mom!" squealed Washu.
"Hey so Washu if that's your son…what about your husband" asked Ryoko.
"Well I hadn't gotten to ask little Mikomo about that yet." Washu said turning to Mikomo giving him a searching look.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Mother. But father…is dead."
"Oh my! My poor little boy, all alone in the world! Come and give your mommy a hug!" Said Washu as she turned into her adult forma and embraced her son.
'She never turned into her adult form for me…' thought Ryoko. 'She even turned into her adult form for Tenchi that one time…'
"Oh Mom, that's why I came. With father dead, there was no one standing in the way of me finding you."
"Oh, and I'm so glad you wanted to find me. Now I can finally be a mother again!"
"Of course I wanted to find you, without a mother my life always seemed incomplete."
"Oh, it's almost like I never lost you. I'm so glad I have this second chance."
"Me too, Mother."
The two continued to stay in their embrace, until Ryoko cleared her throat.
"Hey, you just expect Washu to love you all of a sudden! She doesn't even know you." Spat Ryoko.
"Now little Ryoko, there's no need to be jealous," said Washu.
"Wha-What? I am not jealous" Ryoko said turning beat-red.
"Yes, Ms. Ryoko, just because Washu's son turned out better than you did, is no real reason why you should be jealous" sneered Ayeka.
"Shut up princess! That's it! I'm outta here." Ryoko said as she phased away.
"Hey Ryoko…" Tenchi called after her.
"She'll be ok. I'll talk to her. Although you still need to clear a few things up with her." Adrien said giving Tenchi a penetrating stare.
Tenchi gulped. Adrien had a way of being intimidating to Tenchi at times. Tenchi always felt like such a boy around a man like Adrien.
"So mom, how about we work on some experiments together!" suggested Mikomo.
Washu beamed at her son, "Oh, I'm so glad at least one of my children has a love for science! All is not a total loss."
The two left going into Washu's lab.
Just then Mihoshi and Raiden entered through the front door.
"Hey everyone we're back!" exclaimed Mihoshi.
"Uh when did you leave?" questioned Ayeka.
"Hmmm a few days ago I think," replied Mihoshi.
"Where did you two go?" asked Sasami.
"Mihoshi got a message from headquarters that there was a A1 class criminal here in the Sol System, and the guy also had a huge bounty on his head so I decided to go with Mihoshi and look for him. We managed to locate his ship but then the ship just disappeared into a wormhole. Wormhole travel is very dangerous, this guy must be a genius to have perfected it like he did." Responded Raiden.
"Oh is that where his ship went" Mihoshi nodded in realization, "I thought he knew how to do magic."
Everyone sweat-dropped.
"That's Mihoshi for ya" Raiden said smiling at Mihoshi 'Well she's not a total lose' Raiden said eyeing Mihoshi's cleavage. Mihoshi was still in her battle armor.
"So what'd we miss?" asked Mihoshi.
"Well Washu's son appeared out of no where," said Ayeka.
"You mean like out of a wormhole?" asked Mihoshi.
Everyone fell over.
"Hey sis, did you notice that Washu's son was kind of good looking" Sasami asked from her spot on the couch.
"Sasami! Oh, well I guess I forget you're a woman now." Said Ayeka.
"Wow Washu's son is cute, I can't wait to flirt with him, I mean meet him" Mihoshi said.
"I think I'm gonna go up to my room, I'll see you guys later." Tenchi said heading to his room.
"Alright lord Tenchi." Said Ms. Ayeka sounding disappointed.
"I'll let you know when dinner's ready Tenchi" said Sasami.
No one had noticed that Adrien had left…
****
Ryoko sighed as she looked out over the pond from her spot in Funaho. 'Washu's son is back…if things couldn't get any worse.'
"Ryoko…" a voice called from below her. Ryoko looked down to see Adrien looking up at her.
"Oh Adrien it's you"
"Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all"
Adrien hopped up in the tree along with Ryoko.
"So what are you thinking about?"
"Things…"
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"Not really"
The two sat there in silence for a while, as the sky began take on a pale glow.
"Adrien…"
"Yes, Ryoko…"
"Do you think Washu is going to stop loving me now that she has her son back?"
Adrien turned to look at Ryoko, she seemed so vulnerable these days, so unlike her usual self. But with all that had happened it was easy for Adrien to understand why Ryoko would be acting this way.
"Of course she won't stop loving you Ryoko."
"Hmmm" Ryoko responded as she let out a small sigh of relief.
"Ryoko, you still didn't get a chance to talk to Tenchi…"
"I know…it's just I don't know if I can face him yet. What if he's changed his mind? What if he's chosen Ayeka?"
"He said he loves you, didn't he? That would mean he's chosen you. If you continue to push him away, he'll go away. Just because you have this Virus, doesn't mean you have to let it rule your life. If Tenchi loves you, you will be able to get through this. You need to go to him Ryoko, before you really do lose him. Tenchi may be experiencing the same doubts you are because of what has happened. You need to put his doubts to rest" 'I can't believe I'm telling her this. I will surly lose her, but it's the right thing to do…'
"Adrien…thank you. You are such a good friend. You remind me of the stars…each one shines so brightly even though they are surrounded by such darkness. You always have hope, how do you do it?"
"I try not to forget those around me. If I forgot about those I care about, and those who care about me I would be lost for certain. You seem to forget at times, that there are people that care about you Ryoko. I care about you, Washu cares, Tenchi cares, Sasami cares, Mihoshi cares; many care."
"You're right, I do tend to forget. But maybe it's not really that at all. Maybe it's because I never really believe that they can care for something like me"
"Someone" corrected Adrien.
"Hmmm"
"Ryoko you have to stop doing this to yourself. I can see this is eating you alive. I want you to go and find Tenchi right now. The sooner the better. I promise you, it will all work out in the end."
"Do you really think so?"
"I know so, I've seen the way he looks at you. I realize now how much he loves you. And how much you love him…" Adrien said looking sadly across the pond, as the first fireflies began to hover over the calm surface.
"Adrien I…"
"No Ryoko, don't worry about me. We're just friends remember? What are friends for if they can't be happy for you?"
"Adrien, thank you. I will go and speak with Tenchi now. I hope…you find someone one day Adrien."
"I hope so too."
Ryoko phased away back to the Masaki house. Adrien was left alone, a few tears made their way down his cheek and he roughly wiped them away. He was proud of himself though. He could have taken advantage of the situation and revealed that he loved her, and maybe made her decide that she loved him. But he knew that would have been wrong, if Tenchi and Ryoko really love each other then they should be together. If not, Adrien would be waiting for her.
'She could have been easily swayed by her emotions in deciding who she loves…I could have convinced her that I was the only one for her. But I just couldn't take advantage of Ryoko's delicate emotional state. When she comes to me, I want it to be because her heart lead her to me. I don't want to influence her choice; I will allow her to follow her heart. And I will continue to follow mine, and do what I feel is right.'
****
Ryoko phased back into the living room…
She was about to head up the stairs to Tenchi's room when the door to Washu's lab swung open. Mikomo and Washu walked out with big smiles on their faces. Ryoko looked smugly at the pair, and was about to phase away before they saw her but Washu noticed her presence.
"Hey there little Ryoko, I have wonderful news to tell you"
Ryoko humphed.
"Ryoko, you should listen to what our mother has to say," said Mikomo.
"Well what is it?" Ryoko asked getting impatient.
"Well, Mikomo was helping me in the lab with one of my experiments when he asked me what I was working on. I said that I was working on finding a cure for the Virus that you got infected with. Well, you won't believe this but little Mikomo managed to find a cure for your Virus in less than 3 hours! I've been working on it the past several days! Maybe my son is the Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe instead of I!"
"You…you found a cure!"
"Yes, it wasn't so hard to figure out really…it all has to do with your molecular structure and how the Virus is bonded to certain aspects of your physic, all we really have to do is depolarize those molecules using a concoction I created so the Virus can be extracted from your system and then-" started Mikomo but was cut off by Ryoko.
"I don't care about the scientific details! I just want to be cured so then I can go and see my Tenchi!"
"Very well"
Several hours later…
'I can't believe it. I'll finally get to be with Tenchi!' Ryoko thought excitedly. 'Wow that took longer than they thought, it's 3 in the morning, dinner was hours ago. Oh well I'm sure Tenchi won't mind being woken up with this news!'
Ryoko phased into Tenchi's room…
End of Chapter 12!
Will Ryoko and Tenchi finally get together!?!?
(In the next chapter the truth will be revealed: if that's the real Tenchi or not.)