Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! And all it's characters belong to Pioneer.
And yet he thought he saw the scene:
The air was full of dust of wool.
A thousand yarns were under pull,
But pull so slow, with such a twist,
All day from spool to lesser spool,
It seldom overtaxed their strength;
They safely grew in slender length.
And if one broke by any chance,
The spinner saw it at a glance.
The spinner still was there to spin.
That's where the human still came in
(Part three of 'The Lone Striker,' by Robert Frost)
All Alone (part 3)
Ryoko stretched long and slowly as the moon's rays beat down roughly on her face. She felt a small tug at her lap as she eased back down. Gazing toward the small patch of black fur, she smiled. Little Ryo. She also noticed her hand was dead asleep, from resting on the little girls' head all night. The space pirate grunted, and tried to shake the feeling off, but only successed to making it tingle like mad. Narrowing her golden eyes, she sighed quietly and picked up the tiny cabbit in her lap, then set her next to Sasami. Getting up slowly, having cramps in her legs from sleeping in awkward position, she headed toward the small kitchen, just to make a quick meal. Her ears perked up as she heard a small sigh to her left, and started walking in that direction. The sigh gently turned into silent breathing as Ryoko phased through her mother's door. Stepping lightly, she looked around herself, finally noticed that she and Sasami, and Ryo-ohki did a pretty good job on her room, counting that they didn't know much about her favorite types of anything. The room was, slightly larger than the rest. Had a closet much like the one Tenchi had, some pictures of some famous scientists' or inventors on one wall. And then…
…Ryoko didn't know what to think. She hardly noticed that wall until now. Struggling to keep her voice whisper level, she looked at the odd wall. It decorated with pictures of Ryoko, her sister and mother on what seemed to be Sasami's birthday two months ago. Ah, she remembered that all too well. Her eyes trailed to a picture she didn't quite recognize at first, having a little girl around twelve years old, an older man handing her what seemed like a trophy, and a few middle aged looking men and women clapping for her. It took her a moment to see what was on the girl's shoulder.
Ryo-ohki.
Then it snapped. That girl was her! And she looked…looked…educated! Ryoko sucked in her breath sharply as she allowed her eyes to wander. One had a picture of a more teenaged looking Washu, another looked like it had been scratched out over the ages. The space pirate leaned in for a better look. She could see a faded Washu's face smiling as she held a baby. Ryoko scratched her head, the baby looked familiar somehow. Another thing snapped. It was…it was.. Washu's first son! Her…brother! Now she remembered, it way back when…when she managed to force some stories out of her one night 5000 years ago. The space pirate clutched at her heart, it was aching…badly. She shook with rage as she clamped her eyes shut, trying to drive out this silly pain. She backed away from the wall and phased out the doorway. Once she was out she quickly made her way to her room, clutching her head madly. Phasing through the door, she knelt down to her knees and clutched heart, though her head was pounding too. She barely managed to breath properly as she tried to grip for control again. The cyan haired woman crawled to her bed, and curled into a tight ball in the corner of it. Two tears managed to break out of her eyes, even with the hardness of the wall that kept those emotions from coming out.
Washu had woken up as soon as she heard her daughter phase through the door, and had pretended to sleep to see what she did. She always was a light sleeper, guess it was always that way. After a bit of ridiculous acting, she had managed to turn around without her suspicion. She watched it all, squinting just enough to seem as if she were asleep. Washu her self had been surprised as Ryoko seemed to stare at those for half an hour, not that it mattered. What bothered her was that she just started shaking silly and clutching her heart as if someone close to her had betrayed her. As soon as she left, the redhead flung the covers off frantically, and hopped up; rushing to the door. Stopping short, she caught her breath, and listened for any unnatural sounds by her daughter.
There was nothing.
Sliding the door open, not bothering with dematerializing, she rushed to her daughters' door, now hearing some slight chokes and tiny whines. Knocking the door, she tried to see if she'd let her in. After a moments hesitation, Ryoko answered, as if struggling, "Come in…" Washu slid the door open and stood rooted to her spot. Ryoko was scrunched up in a tight deathgrip of her own, hugging her knees to her chest. The scientist didn't know what to make of this, "Ryoko…what's wrong?" the space pirate barely managed to lift her face, revealing her tear streaked cheeks; startling Washu even more so. After even more silence, harbored by Ryoko's heavily labored breathing, she managed to croak out, "Heart…hurts. Badly…" was all she could say between her gasps for breath. The redheads' eyes squinted, "Ryoko, you don't have to breath. If it's making you struggle. Stop," she said gently, taking a step forward. Ryoko's face scrunched up.
And the sound of her breathing was no more.
Washu nodded and walked the rest of the way sternly, sitting down on the bed, giving her enough room for comfort. Calling her laptop from nowhere, she started typing; trying to ignore the painful gaze her daughter was giving her. After a few seconds' typing, a hologram of Ryoko appeared in front of them. Typing a little more, it zoomed in on her heart and brain, causing two separate pictures with a metallic color in one spot on both of them. Washu let a small squeak, "Oh my…"
The metal looking features zoomed in some more, revealing a sign Ryoko had grown to fear with all her heart. Washu had grown to hate it with every fiber in her body, causing this family so much unneeded pain and sorrow. Ryoko tore her gaze off of it and let a tear fall down her cheek again.
Kagato's sign.
Washu looked over at the cyan haired woman, unable to speak, only able to utter the words of her name, "Ryoko…" Ryoko ignored the statement, and hugged herself closer. "Did you know about this?" the scientist asked, trying to get some sense from her little Ryoko. Yes, yes I did. Happy? The space pirate muttered helplessly in her mind. Washu silently put a hand down on the soft cushion, "Why didn't you tell me?" Ryoko flinched, Because I'd forgotten about it…until a few moments ago after looking at that picture of you and your first son… she replied, just a softly as before. The scientist allowed her gaze to lower, "I see… That's why you can't remember anything." Ryoko looked up eagerly, you…do? Washu nodded, "It's simple really. Though it was pretty clever of him to think of this…" she strayed off. Ryoko slammed a fist down onto her bed, not in frustration, but in eagerness, what is it? C'mon I wanna know! She cried mentally, causing Washu to jump a bit. Her ever-watchful gaze looked back up at her, "Ryoko. It is simple, but it's not something I can fix in five seconds. It's something that might take months to figure out!" Ryoko bit her lip. "He did this very cleverly, so that if you even started to remember anything before him, the device in your brain and heart would cause you enough hurt to make you forget again. The more you try to gain control again, the more it's going to hurt! So…" she calmed down, "Just stop fighting it, you'll feel a lot less pain. That's one reason it didn't hurt as much when you found out I was your mother, your emotions were controlling you, not your head," Washu sucked in a breath of air, and sighed in relief as Ryoko's shaking died down, and then was no more. The scientist cracked her fingers, shame Ryoko wasn't going to remember her half-brother again, even if she did like to avoid the subject.
Ryoko was sleeping again, and her grip on herself had loosened a great deal, and she had started breathing again. Washu smiled and picked her up gingerly, she was a lot less heavy than she looked, so she could hold her in one hand and pull the blanket out with the other. Setting her back down, she pulled the covers over her daughter. And then she stared, then reached and pulled a clock out of nowhere, then read the time. 2:32 a.m. "Holy…it's early!" she whispered roughly, throwing it back into sub space. Stretching again, she walked out of the room and headed straight to hers. Walking through the already open door, but stopped when she heard a slight moan. Walking back toward Ryoko's room, she stood still with her eyes bugged out at what she heard. "Mommy?" Washu almost collapsed with happy tears, it's been too long since she last heard her say that. After regaining her sense of composure, she straightened herself, and talked to her half asleep daughter, "What is it?" Ryoko silently turned so her half open eyes were staring at her drowsily, "Could you stay here, please?" Washu was stunned, but replied, "Yeah, sure!" she was more eager than she sounded. It has been 5000 years since she last had a little sleep over with Ryoko. Sitting on the bed by Ryoko, she asked her what now. "Could ya scratch my back?" her voice said shakily, trying to get comfy. Washu smiled, "Sure thing," and reached out to scratch the sleeping woman's back. Ryoko was smiling full-fledged, hugging her pillow slightly. Washu grinned, and watched the cyan haired woman fall asleep like magic before her eyes. Switching sides of the bed, so she could lean against the wall, she continued to rub her back. After about a half an hour, her eyes drifted closed unconsciously, causing her body to lean against the wall. The scientist grinned with a last thought before drifting back into dreamland, 'Ah, hope Ryoko doesn't hate me in the morning. Hell, she'll probably scream her butt off! Heh-heh-heh,'
Washu smiled at the thought, and drifted into never-never land.
The next morning…
Sasami opened her drooping eyes and found them facing a black wall, which was…furry? Shrieking loudly, she plopped the covers off, and heard a loud shrill of a meow. The little princess looked at the ground, and saw a tiny cabbit massaging her bumped head. "Ryo-ohki! You're all right!" she dried out, and picked up the confused fur ball. Sasami hugged her close, and scratched her head. She lifted her out in front of her, a look of concern written all over her face, "Are you okay?" She didn't answer. Sasami continued to stare at her, "Can you hear me?" No answer. "WASHUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!" the little girl cried, practically breaking all the vases and such inside the miniature house. Inside Ryoko's room, both the scientist and the space pirate fell out of bed, landing two feet away from each other on the ground. Sasami came rushing toward the thump they made, and almost threw the door off its' hinges. The cabbit was on her head, still looking around confused. Washu barely got up before being shoved back down again by Sasami. "Washu? What's wrong with Ryo-ohki? She doesn't seem to hear a single word I say!" the scientists' eyes were still half asleep, but replied anyways, "Door…hit brain…hearing sense gone…deaf awhile…" she muttered, still unable to find smart words to say. Ryoko shoved herself up and started chuckling loudly. Sasami glared, "Now what in the name of Tsunami are you laughing about Ryoko?" the space pirate couldn't answer, and Washu was still struggling to stay awake after last nights' encounter. The cyan haired woman calmed down long enough to answer, "Heh-heh-heh-heh, the number one genius scientist in the universe? At a loss of words? Oh good lord," she cracked up again, now at Washu's full attention. "What did you say, missy? As I recall, I wasn't the one who, invited her mother into her room to stay for the night, was I, Little Ryoko?"
The pirate immediately shut-up.
Sasami giggled at their tantrum, and turned to leave with her playmate to start breakfast. After she was gone, Ryoko phased in front of her mother, "Don't tell! I was half-awake!" Washu shrugged at her incompetence at times, "Fine then, I won't tell. But since when do you trust me with your secrets, ay?" she asked, leaning against the wall. The pirate put her arms down, and sat to the ground, "Since…now I guess,"
"Oh really?"
"Yes really!"
"Really-really?"
"Shut-up!"
Washu smiled, this was going somewhere… Ryoko stared deep into her emerald pools, causing the scientist to shudder at her golden ones. "Why you shuddering? Scared of me all of a sudden?" Washu tore her gaze away, and muttered the first name that came in mind,
"Zero…"
The zero half of her smiled, "Good job! I knew you'd get to tell the difference sooner or later!" The scientist took it as a compliment, "Then… It's been you this whole time, hasn't it?" Zero shook her head, "No, only since last night when Ryoko, claimed, she was half-asleep," Washu shook her head in amusement, "It is almost finished then,"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that your assimilation is almost complete, you are now entering your final stages."
"Stages?"
"Yes, stages. You think it was done on the day octopus head was captured?"
"Well…no."
"Good, because it takes a hundreds of years for any normal being to reach their final stages."
"So I'm not normal?"
"Of course you are, I just built it so you could speed up assimilations' if ever needed,"
"So what happens when its' done?"
"Just like Sasami, you will have a complete memory, along with being one united being, and not two fighting for control."
"I see…"
Washu stretched yet again, and hopped out of bed, but sat back down because of still being stiff from that night. Ryoko, or rather, Zero, watched her curiously, cracking her neck as well. The scientist finished stretching and looked back into Zero's eyes, "I'd like to talk with Ryoko, if you don't mind," the woman blinked her eyes, and the lighter shade of gold came back. "God that stunk!" was all she could say under her mothers' watchful eyes. "Ryoko, I need to ask you something, it's been nagging at my mind since yesterday, and I need an honest answer, don't hide it with your pride; all right?" she asked softly, crossing her legs. Ryoko nodded. And Washu continued, "Are you, jealous, of anybody? I need an honest to god answer," she quickly added, noticing she was tensing up. The scientist waited for a while, then nearly crapped her pants as her voice startled her from the silence,
"Yes, I truly am,"
Washu's eyes bugged out, "Really? Who?" Ryoko opened her eyes and stared daggers into her, "You said one question. And you asked three. But before I go, I need to ask you something also," Washu turned to stare at her still daughter, why would she need her help? Of all people. "What do you think is the best way for winning Tenchi's heart?" The scientist was more surprised than ever, even when Ryoko apologized to her the day before yesterday. "Well?" her voice interrupted. Washu snapped her head back in her daughters' direction, "Why are you asking me?" Ryoko was struggling to suppress her emotions, she could see that clearly, "B-because you're the only one around here besides Mr. Pervert that's been in a serious relationship," Washu had to hide her giggles at Nobiyuki being called Mr. Pervert, that's a new one. "What about Lord Katsuhito?" she asked, trying to see all the details. "Mo-Washu! You know fool well I don't want anything to do with him! Sure, we've both softened up a bit over the years; but that doesn't change the fact the I'm freaking sc- That he's the one who sealed me up!" Washu was surprised to see that her daughter was struggling desperately for words that wouldn't ruined her pride in any way. Putting a hand on her trembling shoulder, Washu answered and stated, "Ryoko, you don't have to act like one weak word you say is going to make me make fun of you, and severing your pride greatly. I won't do that. Ayeka probably would, but I wouldn't. She always was the royal pain in the ass around here. Plus, the answer to your question is simple, but let me ask you one thing before I answer." She stopped to see if Ryoko was okay with it, then continued,
"How hard exactly have you been trying to win his heart?" Ryoko sucked up all her breath and immediately answered, "Every damned thing I can think of! I've tried everything!" Washu nodded, "Exactly, that's your problem, smack dab in front of you. You've been trying so hard, you forget yourself, trust me; this happened to me so many times, it had to be countless times a guy has run away from me. So, what I propose you do, is to stop trying. And be yourself!" Ryoko stopped trembling, and started to see the truth in her words. Washu continued on, "And by being yourself, you'd be acting almost like the kind-hearted, seventeen year old I parted with 5000 years ago…" the pirate noticed that her mom was the one trembling now, and tried to do the best she could, as she did to herself, the former known. Space-pirate Ryoko, the demon caller. "Mom, I'm still the same person on the inside, you know…" Washu looked at her standing teenage daughter she was so very proud of. Her emotions went crazy, and morphed to adult and back in a few seconds. Ryoko was shocked, as was Washu, "Wow…Sure has been a long time since that happened," the scientist muttered, ruffling up the baggy clothes she had on. The pirate suddenly realized why Washu had always worn clothes five times too big, "So…happened in the past?" she asked, Washu nodded, "Of course! When you were out of that birth chamber, my heart did flips, and I transformed to child and adult so many times, you thought it was a game. So I started wearing big clothes that fit my adult form, then when you wanted to play with me, I'd do that. You wouldn't know how many times you begged me to do so, heh-heh, kind of like a faraway dream now…" her voice trailed off.
Ryoko's eyes softened a bit, "And about last night…Thanks," she said it rather quickly though. The scientist smiled big, then tried her limits, "Can I have a hug then?" Ryoko was speaking even before she had a chance to think, "Yeah, su-" she was cut off by Washu's now adult form clutching her close, making up for 5000 years lost time. Ryoko wasn't even thinking before she wrapped her arms around her mother also, not even caring…almost. Unknown to Ryoko, Sasami was still watching them, smiling at their reactions toward each other, she didn't even mind when Washu insulted her older sister, not that she didn't deserve to be criticized every once in a while. While hugging Ryoko close, Washu faced the youngster, and mouthed her to go back to her room before Ryoko saw. Too bad she already knew, well…sorta. Ryoko smiled to the wall as she listened to her mothers' mind, apparently forgetting the link went both ways, again. It's all right, mom. I don't mind… she said quietly into her mind, feeling her mother jerk slightly beneath her grip. How'd you figure it out? She called back, releasing Ryoko. The pirate smiled, "Well, duh…I can't believe you forgot again," she wasn't stopping there, just before Sasami disappeared, she went on, "Sasami, you can stay here if you like, it's not my intention to make you leave," Ryoko said, still not turning around.
Sasami giggled and walked back into the room, "Well then, Ryoko. Seems like you've caught up on a few things, now haven't we?" the blood quickly rushed to her cheeks, causing Washu to smile before her. The princess went on, "Why don't you turn around? Your face can't be that red can it?" Ryoko's cheeks blushed more. She wasn't stopping there, "Hehehehe, Ryoko. You're such a kind person, w-whoa!" she cried as Ryoko phased behind her and tickled her, just as Washu had did yesterday. Ryo-ohki jumped off Sasami's head before clawing her, and rushed to her creator. Washu opened her arms as the cabbit jumped straight into her arms, hugging her closer than ever. However, Sasami's shrieks were continuing, only making Ryoko clutch harder. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! RYOKO STOP IT!!! I-I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! AHHHHHH!! I'M GONNA THROW UP!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" the scientist smiled even more as Ryoko set Sasami down, then asked her if she was okay. The little princess smiled, "Of course I am! Oh yeah! I made breakfast for you guys, it's on the table." They both nodded and followed her silently to the tiny kitchen. Ryo-ohki transformed into her adult stage and rubbed her temple, the redhead looked over, then asked Ryoko to ask if she was okay. She did, and Washu found out that she shouldn't transform for a while, at least not this week, she should wait until the shock from hitting her brain went away.
Ryo sighed and sat down, guessing that if she were to get used to staying in that form, it would be now. It's all right, you'll get used to it after a few days, I promise. Ryoko said mentally, shoving some egg role down her throat. The humanized cabbit sighed again, and took a carrot Sasami had given her and snapped it into little pieces, eating rather slowly. The younger princess didn't say much over breakfast, just sat by her playmate, watching her eat slowly. Ryoko was done before anyone had their first serving done, and was clearing off her dishes, then started talking to her mother. "So… You like your room?" Washu choked on her food, "Of course I do! Makes a great place to put all my pictures I keep in my lab! And the scientists' pictures you put up were awesome, thank you!" Ryoko smiled, "Thought so… When do you think we should head back? It's getting kind of late, the others' might get all screwy," Sasami looked at her eyes curiously, "Oh, I'm sure you're just might antsy to go over there and piss off Ayeka, aren't ya?" Washu started laughing at her statement, Ryoko started fuming, "I have absolutely no intention to go piss off your sister. If you must know, Washu was gonna fix my…my…er, never mind," the scientist kept on laughing, despite the fact she had called her by her name again. Ryo-ohki was finished and was having a heated conversation with her sister, damn, you almost blew your cover with Sasami, though it would have been a load off your chest, that's for sure.
Ryoko stared at her little sister in disbelief, I thought you were deaf! The cabbit rolled her eyes, Nope, if I concentrate hard enough, I can hear things, and see things, through you; that's why I was so darn quiet. The cyan haired space pirate nodded, half understanding. Washu broke the silence, "Well then, I have to say. You guys are pretty clever in making this house in private, I have to admit; I was starting to get suspicious about where you were going all those late nights. Whose idea was it?" Sasami raised her hand, "I thought about it with Ryo-ohki's help when we both saw this huuuuge cage of branches, you know, the one's that are surrounding this house?" the scientist nodded, "Well, we thought about a private tree house we could keep to ourselves until we wanted to tell everybody. You see, we wanted it to be for everybody from the start," Washu nodded again, "And then we asked Ryoko for help, because I heard she was the one who thought of the idea for Ryo-ohki,"
Ryoko's jaw dropped to the floor.
"I did?!?!?!" she shrieked, jerking heavily in her seat. Washu set a hand on her shoulder, "Of course you did, I didn't approve of it at first, but then you showed me a picture of what she would look like if I ever did let you help make her. You were talking a mile a minute, and were completely obsessed on the idea until you asked Kagato, he hung around our house sometimes; you know? And with his help, you guys talked me into it, what I didn't know was that he only worked with you because once Ryo-ohki was finished. Hoo-boy, he took you two and were up and outta there before I could count to three! Besides, do you remember that you used to be just a regular rabbit, Ryo?" the cabbit nodded, listening through Ryoko again. Washu turned back to Ryoko, "What you did with Chibi was really sweet of you Ryoko, first you gave it your energy, then you assimilated it with Ryo-ohki, giving her the appearance of a rabbit, all because it made Tenchi happy to see it healthy," (Yes, this really happened. Tenchi found a beaten up cat on the road and named it Chibi. Though he nursed it, the little kitty wouldn't make it, so Ryoko gave some of her energy to it, causing it to live. But of course it had a downfall, when Ryoko was released, the cat died. So when Ryo-ohki had to be reborn, Ryoko decided to assimilate it with her Ryo-ohki. Giving Ryo the appearance of a cabbit. All right, I found this on an official Tenchi Muyo! Web page, so don't go cussing at me for saying I made it up!) Sasami smiled happily at the former space pirate, then continued, "So when I asked her, she said she'd love to. And then started helping us build it," the scientist grinned, "One more thing I'd like to know. Who made the blueprint? You didn't make as you went did you?" Ryoko shook her head, "I made the blueprint, I've got it in my room if you want to see it,"
Washu nodded eagerly, and the space pirate phased to her room quickly, a loud crash could be heard, along with a nice, loud cuss, then reappeared in front of her mother; handing her a large sheet of paper. Washu rolled her eyes and decided not to ask what the noise was for, certainly wasn't needed in front of an eight year old, or, so she looked. The scientist opened the rolled up piece of paper and thought her eyes were deceiving her. "Holy shit Ryoko! Where'd you learn how to do this kind of blueprinting?!" the space pirate jumped at her shriek, then started beaming proudly, "Well, DER. I love blueprinting! That's what I do when I'm, like, on the verge of totally going insane! I god damn love it to death!" she sucked in a large whiff of air and sat back down on her bottom. Washu returned to the paper and loved what she saw, words bigger than two syllables everywhere! And the artwork was a-m-a-z-ii-n-g!!! Beams right where they should be, little phrased telling exactly what to do when and where. It was basically a step-by-step architecture, but by far more advanced. Her little Ryoko was still there! "Hey Ryoko? How many more these you got?" she asked, closing the spectacular paper, but noticing it felt kind of rubbery. Ryoko smiled proudly, "I got millions of 'em! Some I even wrote before I was abducted! I suppose you're wondering how I hid all of them, ay?" Washu's eyes bugged out, "Really? Wow, I had no idea! Oh yeah, how did you keep them from my sensors and his?" the space pirate took in another whiff of air, "Well, you know the Massu?" she nodded, "Well, I took a thin layer of cells from them and rubbed in all over my papers, that's why Kagato never found them, a massu's readings don't appear on any kind of sensor! Remember that time when you were talking to me mentally and it looked like I was writing diddlysquat on the floor?" Washu nodded yet again, "Well, I was doing a blueprint on how to improve the onsen. Ever wonder how that big floating thing got there? I made it! I made it because I still had a bottle full of massu cells, so I just used them on the blueprint, went out of earth, claiming I was on errands, and got the supplies on a backwater planet a little more advanced than this one, so they wouldn't recognize me,"
Washu was so surprised at her daughter's words she didn't even notice that Ryoko had phased out of the room and back with a handful of paper. Sitting on the ground again, she set the rolls in front of Washu, who was staring into space. Sasami wasn't too surprised about Ryoko's statement, she'd seen some of the blueprints herself when she came to earth, but Ryoko didn't trust as much then, because she was a princess, but they soon became like sisters. Ryo-ohki smiled at her sister, Washu was still staring into space. Ryoko picked up the rest of the stale dishes and put them in the sink, and phased back. And you know what?
Washu was still staring into space, funny, huh?
Author's Notes: Hehehehe, who'd have thought that Ryoko would be a fine blue printer person? I did, cause it was my idea! Ryoko's constructing of the tree house is going to make an appearance to the other peeps soon enough. Now, getting them out of that tree house… Hm, I have to think on that one. Oh yeah! Diana inspired part of having a tree house. Her stories kick major ass man! Anyways, enough of my pointless ranting, I hope you're enjoying my fic!