Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! And all it's characters belong to Pioneer.
He stood rebuked and unemployed.
The straining mill, though many-many-eyed,
Had eyes inscruptly opaque;
So that he couldn't look inside
To see if some forlorn machine
Was standing idle for his sake
(He couldn't hope its heart would break)
(Part two of 'A Lone Striker' by Robert Frost)
Authors Notes: I'm totally freaked right now… cut my hair, look like a boy. Mom's acting a little too open for my liking, and, when I go to school tomorrow, people are gonna pick fun at me cuz I like a boy. Anyhoo, that's my problem for now. And, on with the story!
All Alone (part 2)
"Hello…? Anybody home?" the child looking scientist shook her daughter violently. The space pirate groaned, and curled up into a ball, shoving Washu off the roof. "Gah! Ryoko!" she cried, and phased to the roof before she hit the ground. Washu rolled her eyes, this was the last thing she wanted to do, and right before breakfast! 'She's sure gonna be pissed at me after this!' she thought evilly and knelt down, spreading the space pirate's arms. The scientist had to stifle a laugh when her little Ryoko screwed up her face, "Hee-hee, this is perfect!" Washu snickered and placed her hands under the cyan-haired woman's arms. 'All right, one-two-THREE!' she started tickling her like mad. Ryoko's eyes snapped opened. "Oh hey mo-GAH!!! STOP IT! THAT TICKLES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! C'MON, S-S-S-S-STOP IT! I'M UP A-A-ALREADY! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!" her pleading went on for what seemed an eternity, after about five minutes of continued screaming, Ayeka, Tenchi, and Sasami walked out to see what the racket was. Sasami started snickering wildly as soon as she saw them, Tenchi smiled warmly at this rare moment between Ryoko and Washu, and Ayeka; was painfully trying not to laugh at the scene, it was all too funny.
After a while, Ryoko gave up on pleading and just stared into her mothers smiling face, "C'mon, you're hurting my ribs." Was her last plead before chuckling madly under her mom's spell of laughter. Washu let Ryoko go obediently after her last plead. Removing her hands, she smiled warmly, "Well; I think my hands are starting to get cramps from that last tickle attack. Good job though, the last one I gave you, you didn't last five minutes without getting cramps in your stomach. Plus, I think we attracted a bit too much attention; don't you think?" Ryoko was too busy trying to regain her sense of breathing to care. "Let's go eat!" Washu cried, and slung an arm around Ryoko's waist. Catching her off guard, Ryoko wasn't able to react quickly enough, so they landed with a plop; one on top of the other. "Aw, didn't know you cared, Little Ryoko," Washu smiled, ignoring her twisted leg under her daughters weight. The space pirate cringed, "Don't call me that!" Washu took this opportunity, "Call you what, Little Ryoko?"
"That!"
"Yes?"
"NO!"
"Little Ryokoooo!!!!!!" Washu cried at the top of her lungs. By then, Tenchi and the others had walked in, and had started collapsing in laughter. The cyan haired woman closed her eyes, while her left eyebrow continued to twitch. "Don't call me Little Ryoko!" The scientist smirked,
"Then get off my leg, yer killin me here," Washu said, shoving her daughter's head off her wild pink hair. Oh, sorry 'bout that Ryoko said mentally, and floated to the air. The pink haired lady smiled, and twisted her leg before it dislocated. It's nothing new, Ryoko…nothing new; Ryoko couldn't help but smile, and took her regular seat next to Tenchi. "Hello Ryoko. I see you've managed to survive Washu's tickle attack," Tenchi grinned, stuffing his face with an egg role. Sasami giggled. The elder princess managed to keep her snicker to a whisper state. "Yeah, well. I'm the space pirate Ryoko! An old tickle attack ain't gonna stop me," Tenchi smirked, "Oh, really? Then who was the one pleading with Washu to stop before she died, hmmmmm?" Ryoko couldn't answer that one. Ryo-ohki took her place between Sasami and her creator; wearing the kimono she had worn the day before. I see you've learned my ways, young cabbit, the space pirate said, giggling to herself silently. The massu cabbit picked up her chopsticks and placed them to her forehead, Well what'd you think I'd have done after living with you for god knows how long, Washu smiled darkly. What's mom got cooped up this time? She's got that evil look on her face again, Ryo asked, motioning towards their creator. Ryoko smiled, nothing. Just meet her outside after breakfast, kay? She's got sumthin for ya; she winked to the scientist mentally, knowing what was coming.
Something clicked in the scientists mind, she dropped her chopsticks in the process, "Aw, dammit." She said, sighing slightly. What's wrong? Ryoko asked, swallowing her carrot. I forgot to fix your tastebuds last night, how stupid of me, Ryoko looked over at her, It's not that big of- Washu kicked her from under the table, Is too a big deal! One more memory of Kagato still with you, along with your ability to read; how cruel! "Excuse me, is something wrong?" a voice interrupted. Washu stopped short and looked at the groups faces, then saw her leg was still outstretched under the table, "Oops, sorry," she said, and pulled it back. Tenchi sighed and stood up, "Well I'm going to the fields. Ryoko, your turn to do the dishes. No excuses, got it?" she nodded, "Then, see you later!" he grinned and ran off toward the fields. Ayeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi left the table, ready to do their chores. Ryo-ohki stood up also, and went outside to wait for Washu.
Ryoko managed to sneak Washu a grin, so…how long do you plan to torture her, ay? The scientist smiled, oh Ryoko, you really are my daughter! She smiled and stood up to leave. Ryoko tugged her back down; just don't be too hard on her…save some for me! The scientist nodded, and walked outside. The space pirate grinned and started picking up the plates, while listening to her mother trying sneak a way under the cabbit's arms without attracting attention. Ryoko smiled and marched toward the sink, gently placing the dishes in one by one. Waves of laughter emitted from the doorway, causing Ryoko to smile even more, 'Heh, she got her…' Picking up a sponge, she started scrubbing as lightly as she could do without breaking the fine glass.
It didn't work.
A small, thin crack appeared under the suds, and Ryoko just narrowed her eyes, 'Ugh, I'll never get this down. I crack or break one every time!' Washu continued her mad tickling and listened to her cyan-haired daughter at the same time. Is that so, Ryoko? Guess I'll have to fix that… Ryoko continued to scrub, using only her fingers and not her thumb, and it was proving to be a hard task indeed. I'll fix it with your tastebuds if you want. Ryoko thought for a moment, then started to agree. Washu smiled and let Ryo go, thinking she was going to have a hard time regaining her breath after that encounter. The cabbit sighed in relief, and started to clutch her sides, Ugh, what was that for? She asked her mother, who was kneeling down beside her, "Because if I gave Ryoko one this morning, I thought it would only be fair. Ryoko lasted a bit longer than you did though." She gave the cabbit a pat on her head and turned around, "I'm going to help Ryoko with the dishes, and then I'm going to fix you guys. You going to help?" Ryo-ohki shook her head Nuh-uh, I'll get my fur wet! The scientist giggled and started to head towards the kitchen, "Picky-picky-picky," Ryoko turned around, "Picky 'bout what? I'm not picky," Washu snickered, "Suuuuuure," the hint of sarcasm drove Ryo-ohki into a fit of giggles.
"Am not!" the space pirate cried, as another crack appeared under her grip. "Watch what you're doing," the scientist said sternly, snatching the cup from her grip. "Hey!" Ryoko screeched, and snatched it back. Washu rolled her eyes, and picked up another cup to start scrubbing. What are you doing? Ryoko asked, eyeing the cup in her mothers' hands. "Der, are you blind?" Washu replied, setting the cup down in the cabinet. How exactly can you do that without breaking it? Asked a curious space pirate, looking at her cracked one, and then at the second dish in Washu's hands. The scientist laughed heartily, "It's easy actually. Just don't grip it as hard as you do, act like it's….er…. a strand of Tenchi's hair! Or something," Ryoko smirked, then let her hands loosen, Yeah! Just like that! Her mother's voice rang, and continued to scrub the dish in her hands. Ryoko smiled at her work when the cup didn't crack as she set it down in the cabinet. Ryo-ohki silently watched the pair from in the hallway, then sighed and ran to Sasami; changing into her child form, causing the kimono to drape around her more. 'Oops, guess I have to get changed first…' she said and ran to her little box of things. Reaching inside, she pulled out a little pink dress, one that Sasami herself had worn. As she pulled Ryoko's old one off, she started to think while slipping her other friends' dress on. 'Hm, Ryoko and mom sure seem to be a little more soft than usual, I mean. Just last week Ryoko was so pissed at her mom she drank herself silly with sake, not that that isn't normal. Geez! Ryoko can drink six packs off liquor before she even starts to feel the effects! Still…' she shrugged it off, and ran looking for Sasami.
First place she looked was the cherry blossom orchard, where they both were making a tree house with Ryoko's help. She wasn't there. Next she looked was the shrine, her playmate liked to have little talks with Yosho every once in a while to get to know her half brother she never saw better. As far as she was concerned, Sasami and herself were the only ones besides his mother that knows he takes the image of an old man. She wasn't there, either. 'I wonder…' she walked back toward the house, crestfallen. She decided to go to the biggest cherry blossom tree and sit, just to think for a while. "Give that back, Sasami!" the sound of Ayeka's voice increasingly grew. The cabbit smiled and bounded toward the house. She slammed face first onto the sliding glass door, making a huge clank that could be heard up to the shrine. "MEOW!!!" Ryo-ohki cried and transformed to cabbit state from such a shock. Sasami rose from behind the couch, and rushed to the door, dropping her sisters' headdress she had worked so hard to get. "Ryo-ohki! Ryo-ohki are you okay?" the little girl cried and picked up the knocked out fur ball. Ayeka sighed and snatched up the headdress her sister had stolen and slid it back on, walking towards the two kids. The princess knelt down, "I she alright?" Sasami looked up and tapped Ayeka's forehead nonchalantly, "Of course she is! A little blow to the head couldn't hurt her that much could it?" she whispered quietly and walked away. Ayeka looked up at the glass and tapped it.
The door shattered.
'This is bad.' The violet woman said to herself and walked toward the kitchen, where she saw Washu splashing Ryoko silly. Clearing her throat, she walked up to Washu and tapped her back. The scientist jumped and threw up her cup she was holding full of water. Ryoko shrieked as the ice cold water went down her back, not that she could feel the temperature. Washu shrugged and turned around, "What is it..Ayeka?" the scientist asked, rubbing some of the droplets off her face. Ryoko started to float up, but Washu stopped her, "Ryoko. Stay here," she said firmly, and pulled the reluctant space pirate back down. Ayeka ignored the gesture and continued, "Mi-" she stopped short when the red-head did a 'Ryoko death stare,' "I-I mean, Little Washu. I'd like you to know that Ryo-ohki just had a bit of an…accident," Washu looked at her, "What do you mean? A little cut isn't gonna hurt her," Ayeka sighed, "No, you don't understand. You know the glass door you designed to make so that one of Ryoko's blast's or mine would break it?" the scientist nodded. "Well then, I'd like you to follow me. The space pirate and her mother followed, unsure what was troubling Ayeka so much. Washu was the first to suck in her breath violently, barely being able to choke out, "What…happened?" the princess closed her eyes, "Ryo-ohki ran into it."
"This is bad, real bad. You know how bad it is, mom?" Ryoko instantly slapped her mouth with her hand. Washu put her hand to her chin, "Well, first I have to see Ryo-ohki to see how bad it is. You know where they went, princess?" Ayeka pointed outside, "I think I saw them go thataway," the space pirate Ryoko put her hands on her hips, "I know where they are, but princess, I can't take you along. It's someplace Sasami will show you someday," Ayeka nodded, and headed toward her room. Washu looked up, "Was that a lie?" Ryoko shook her head, "'Fraid not, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else about this place unless Sasami says you can. I worked real hard to keep this a secret for quite a time," Washu nodded and stuck out her hand. The cyan haired woman reluctantly took it, and phased deep into the cherry blossom orchard. Ryoko snatched her hand away immediately, then led her to the tree house they had worked on. "Wow, I've never even been this deep!" Washu said, and looked around herself, admiring all the sakura's. Ryoko rolled her eyes, and picked up a small sniffle from inside the wooden home. "C'mon Washu, we don't have all day! Ryo's inside the house!" Washu nodded, and phased along with her daughter inside.
What was inside really took the scientist's breath away. It had eight rooms, each one having a little sign with each person's name on, except for Nobiyuki and Yosho. There was a tiny kitchen on to the side, and the whole place smelled strongly of strawberry. One wall even had a pictures of everyone doing a small pose or another, mostly surprise shots or ones taken when they were doing karaoke. "It's beautiful…" Washu sighed and followed her stubborn daughter to the room labeled, 'Little Ryo.' Ryoko knocked quietly, "Who is it?" a crying Sasami called. The space pirate opened the door gently, and let her mother in. "Oh…hey Washu," the cerulean haired girl sighed and stood up, cradling the bleeding cabbit ever so kindly. "Oh, Ryo…" Washu silently cried, and looked at the bandage Sasami had set, but it was half covered with blood. "Here you go, I patched her up as best as I could." The little princess whispered, trying to cheer everyone up. Ryoko walked over and patted the girls head, "It's alright, kiddo. Everything's' gonna be fine, you hear me?" Sasami burst into tears and handed Washu the cabbit and then slammed into Ryoko, crying her guts out. Washu looked at her little Ryoko. I said don't call me that. Ryoko said mentally, while trying to quiet Sasami down at the same time. Washu blushed, Sorry. Do you need help with her? She asked, motioning towards Sasami. Ryoko shook her head, Nope, she's done this so many times here, and I probably know more about her than Ayeka does. Washu nodded and phased out of sight, feeling a strange dam burst inside of her.
Washu let a tear silently fall down her cheek as she opened the door to her lab quickly. "Sasami's lucky. She gets all the attention from Ryoko and I- what am I saying?" Washu asked to the air. Ryo-ohki opened a small eyelid and faced her creator, You're jealous. Aren't you mom? Washu looked down at the cabbit, "And what gives you that idea, hm?" Ryo winced at her words, and passed out again. The scientist sighed, 'Damn, this might be harder than I thought…' she walked toward a miniature cabbit sized chair. As she set her creation down, the word kept popping in her head.
Jealous.
Hah! Why would a person like me be jealous? Of all things.
You're jealous and you know it, don't hide it with your pride like your daughter does.
My daughter…jealous? Heh-heh, that's a new one.
She's more jealous than you'll ever know.
Is that so.
The voice inside her head stopped. And Washu just mentally smacked herself for arguing with her brain. She walked up to the monitor and pulled up a hologram laptop and began typing madly. A movement in the shadows caused her to stop. Looking toward the movement, she saw a flicker of cyan hair. "…Ryoko?" she asked, scooting around in her pillow. The figure of Ryoko appeared and was looking quite sullen. Washu sighed in relief, "Ryoko, I thought you in the tree house with Sasami. What are you doing here?" the space pirate shrugged, "I've been here since last night, after Ayeka tried to blow up at me," Washu nodded in understandment, "I see, so you basically locked yourself in and now you can't get out, is that it?" Ryoko nodded glumly. The scientist punched a few keys and a door appeared, "See ya Ryoko!" she cried before the cyan hair disappeared from sight, as did the door.
'Ah well, that's one thing solved,' she said, and started typing madly again. A map appeared of Ryo-ohki's separate bodies appeared. First one she saw was the original cabbit state, then her ship body. Her child massu body, and then her adult, a crystal followed soon after. Washu stretched and cracked her fingers; this was going to take some careful planning. Taking a wire with a suction cup at the end, she stuck it on the cabbits' body, soon followed by a new bandage put on her head. Her left brow twitching slightly, she walked back to the chair and looked at pictures of the bruised and battered cabbit.
Three hours later…
"Are you sure your okay?" Ryoko asked to the tear stricken princess. Sasami nodded, and managed to get a breath without sniffling like a dog. They were on her bed they made, and Sasami was lying down while Ryoko scratched her back silently. Ryoko kept scratching until she was sure the little girl had gone to sleep. Ryoko smiled and kept on scratching, while using her other hand to pull a blanket over Sasami. After a while, Ryoko got up and pulled a chair from her own room to Sasami's, and plopped down next to the bed. The cyan haired woman wiped her brow, 'Whew, that's got to be a record breaking, make Sasami get better moment, and I enjoyed it! Maybe I should do this more often…' her thoughts droned off, and felt her eyelids begin to droop. 'Then again, it is a good way to make myself go to sleep. That's for sure…' she said and fell asleep, her hand still on the little girls' head.
Inside the lab, Washu silently cried to herself as she watched the scene between Ryoko and Sasami. She had finished with Ryo a little while ago, and started watching her daughter and how exactly she got Sasami to calm down. She'd been watching for at least two and a half hours and it got her crying from the start. She herself remembered that she did the exact same thing when Ryoko was sad, all those 5000 years ago…
~*Flashback*~
"Mommy! Mommy! Lookit!" a cyan haired toddler wailed, wobbling to the reading scientist. Washu looked up from her book, "What is it, Little Ryoko?" Ryoko smiled and stomped her feet while opening her balled fists. It was a little egg with a baby massu crawling around. Washu looked at her with interest, "Where'd you find that little massu baby?" Ryoko shrugged, "I thwink Ryoko…find it…in Momma's lab. Even if momma said no-no to little Ryoko," Washu smiled at her daughter, "Good girl, at least you didn't get hurt. Just don't do it again, all right little Ryoko?" the toddler nodded, "But, mommy. Ryoko thinks that little Ryoko bwoke something…" the scientist looked up, "Like what, honey?" the cyan haired girl cupped the massu again, "Ryoko think mommy get mad…" Washu shook her head, "I won't get mad, just tell me," Ryoko sniveled up a bit, "Pwomise?" "Promise," the toddler started to talk as best she could in her broken up language, "In mommy's lab, little Ryoko hit a button on accident and the tube that had lil' Ryo's massu in it, and…" she stopped. Washu shrugged, "Good thing you came to me first, let me guess, the little massu you're holding is supposed to be Ryo-ohki's massu, am I right?" Ryoko nodded, and handed the baby massu to her mother. "Thank you, little Ryoko," Washu said, and picked up her daughter for a piggy back ride into the lab. "WHEEE!!!!!!!!" Ryoko cried as she hung on for dear life while they rushed around quickly to Ryo's broken tube. Washu set her dizzy toddler down, and walked toward the tube, placing the massu into the tube and snapped.
Everything was brought back together before Ryoko's very eyes. Washu smiled, "See! Nothing to worry about, honey," Ryoko started sniffling up again. "Ryoko what's wrong?" she asked, picking up the golden eyed toddler. "Ryoko broke mommy's rules 'gain! Then lil' Ryoko's gonna do it gain' and again," she broke into tears and latched onto her mother. Washu was surprised by this act, and took a few steps back in surprise, "Little Ryoko…" she stated, and ran her hand through her daughters' cyan hair. Ryoko couldn't take it, and started bursting into sobs, "But-" the scientist shushed her, "I'm not mad, you'll learn from your mistakes, as long as you don't do them more than twice, I won't be mad, all right?" the toddler's sniffles died down a bit as Washu walked out of the lab towards her daughters room. After a while, Ryoko started to cry again, and grabbed Washu into a tight deathgrip, which caused her mother to start choking a little. Sitting on a rocking chair, Washu took her arms and gently tried to pull Ryoko off of her. The toddler obliged, and let her arms loosened enough to let the scientist get her on her lap, which she did so very reluctantly. Washu sighed and set the little girl on her lap sideways, then started humming her favorite song softly as she scratched her back. Ryoko's eyelids drooped as she heard the enchanted song her mother hummed to her (I'll let you decide on that) and leaned onto her mother more as she latched her arms around Washu again. Five minutes later, she was fast asleep; not even a parade could wake her up if it stormed through here by some unlucky chance. Washu repeated the song even after she fell asleep and soon felt her eyelids droop unconsciously, and leaned back into the chair; falling asleep herself.
~~
That was one of her fonder memories of Ryoko as a toddler, Washu her self still couldn't believe she still had that much patience still inside of her, not allowing herself to get mad at her daughter. She couldn't figure out why, because every time she felt herself begin to lose her temper, all she had to do was think of Ryoko and that was that, no more being mad. Washu stretched and put her arms behind her neck, cracking both her fingers and neck. 'Time to check on Ryo-ohki,' the scientist stated and pushed a button to replace Ryoko and Sasami sleep to an outline of Ryo's adult massu body and an image of a brain inside where the head should be, 'Everything looks A'OK, no. Wait a sec…' the scientist said and pressed a button that zoomed in to the brain image. Washu sighed, 'Damn, poor Ryo's not going to be able to hear for a while…' she said and hopped off the floating cushion, then walked over to the sleeping cabbit, and scratched her furry belly. Washu grinned at the reaction, Ryo's paws moved from spread eagle, to latching onto her hand. 'Poor thing…' she thought again, and picked it up while she headed outside the lab to the treehouse. Ayeka was the first to see the redhead woman step out, and greeted her nicely, "Is she okay?" the princess asked, after brushing lint off her kimono. Washu nodded, "Yes, Ryo-ohki's going to be fine, the blow to her head hit the side that activates her sense of hearing, so she'll be deaf for a few months or more."
"Sasami's not going to like that, you know." Ayeka whispered, folding the last of the towels. The scientist grunted, "Yeah, I know, she'll get over it soon enough," her downcast look told Ayeka to back off, and she did just that without question. Washu gave her a thankful look and phased to the forest, the cabbit still in her arms. As she landed, she looked around everywhere to see if anyone was around, then started toward the house. After five minutes of walking, Ryo-ohki started to stir in her arms, fidgeting as if in a bad dream. Washu took a pill out of her pocket and made her eat it, she wasn't ready yet. Another five minutes had gone by when she caught sight of the house, sitting as still as ever. The scientist grinned as she still sensed Ryoko's sleeping. She phased into the house and walked toward Sasami's room, guessing that's where she was. Sliding the door open slowly, she steeped in and walked toward her daughter, setting little Ryo on her lap. Ryoko twitched slightly under her touch, but remained asleep. Washu got back up and headed out, just going to check out what they did to her room. The redhead went across the house, then walked up to her door. Everything about the door was the same, except there seemed to be Sasami's handwriting in tiny lettering below Ryoko's, as if snuck there on purpose. And it read,
Aka, mom.
Author's Notes: Yeah, pretty corny ending if you ask me. I've already got half the story planned out, don't know about the ending yet though. I just write it as I go along. Just in your opinion, are you liking it? Flames are accepted, I have no intention of insulting any of you. So review if you like it or not, I really want your opinions guys!