Could it be you?

Having searched the entire bank of the lake for his father as well as observed the goings on of Ryoko, Washu and Ayeka; Tenchi decided that since he couldn't find his father he would just head home.

The last scene of Ryoko crying on Washu's shoulder cemented Tenchi's decision to ask her to change back. He wanted her back in his life, back the way she was. He wanted to wake up every morning and find her hovering over his bed. He wanted to have to fend her off, convincing both himself and her that her attention was unwanted. He wanted the quiet moments of shared silence on the roof. He wanted it all and he wanted more… More of what he still wasn't sure. All he knew was he needed things to go back, he needed her back, he wanted her back. Some part of him called out begging and pleading for his life to return to the daily chaos and mayhem.

What would he do if she refused him? The mere thought seemed incomprehensible to him. Not having Ryoko back for his last few days at home? That wasn't even a possibility. She had to change back; otherwise he would never know where he stood with her. He'd never know if he meant as much to her now as he had before, and if he did what was he going to do about it? Still unwilling to admit anything or unable to decipher what it was his heart was telling him Tenchi let out a sigh as he noticed he was standing in front of the cave and not the house as he had intended.

"Why am I here?" Tenchi quietly questioned the cave's entrance.

"Why indeed Tenchi?" Yosho replied.

Spinning around to look at the source of the voice Tenchi saw his grandfather slowly approaching him.

"Grandfather, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you Tenchi?"

"I was just walking home, and somehow I ended up here." Tenchi was unsure whether that was the entire truth, but since he was unwilling to deal with the implied meaning of his arrival at the cave he simply shrugged.

"Come on Tenchi, do you expect me to believe that you of all people got lost trying to find your way home from the lake, only to wind up in front of Ryoko's cave?" Yosho noticed the slight, almost imperceptible wince on Tenchi's face when Ryoko's name was spoken.

"No I don't expect you to believe it, but that's the truth."

"Tenchi has it occurred to you that in less than two weeks you will be living in an apartment somewhere in Tokyo hundreds of miles away from this place, this cave, and her."

"What do you mean by 'her' grandfather?" Tenchi was startled by the accuracy of his grandfather's words.

"You still don't see it do you boy?" Yosho shook his head solemnly. Night after night for the past few weeks Yosho had watched Ryoko's indifference slowly wear at Tenchi's resolve. Day after day Tenchi became more reserved around her and seemed almost to resent her for her cool aloofness.

Yosho remembered his own beautiful Achika and her own short struggle to understand the depth of her feelings for Nobiyuki. It hadn't take Achika long to discover her true feelings, but then Achika hadn't had half the rivals for her affection that Tenchi had. Sure before the girls that lived with him now had arrived Tenchi had been exposed to and interacted with girls. And before the opening of Ryoko's cave, seemingly endless numbers of girls marched through Tenchi's life never any one particular girl staying around long enough to make a lasting impression. Yosho heard about a few of the girls that Tenchi met at school and met even fewer. Tenchi's isolated yet charismatic charm drew females to him, but eventually drove them away. Tenchi always seemed capable of attracting girls, yet he never seem interested in a single one as anything more than a friend. But then Ryoko came, with her whirling tornado of excitement, adventure and mischief, into Tenchi's life forever changing the quiet, sedate boy into the young man he was today.

"What don't I see grandfather?" Tenchi's question cut Yosho's meandering thoughts off.

"What she means to you." Yosho said cryptically.

"She's just a friend, just like the rest, they're all just friends." Tenchi said trying to muster the conviction necessary to deny feelings he was unwilling to admit to.

"Fine then, don't be surprised when you lose her, because in so many ways you don't deserve her. You don't deserve any of them." Yosho's voice was no louder than a whisper, but in the silence of night it held all the sharpness of the crack of a whip. Turning on his heel Yosho left for the shrine, leaving a confused and blustering Tenchi in his wake.

"What do you mean I don't deserve her, or any of them?" Tenchi called out after his grandfather following the disappearing image of the sage older man.

"I'm not that bad, I'm better than most." Tenchi said in his defense trying to reach his grandfather.

"I've lived with all of them for so long, I can't just pick one and hurt them all."

"Tenchi do you remember anything of what Ryoko said to you before she changed?" Yosho's voice startled Tenchi, somehow the old man had manage to, in the matter of mere seconds, stand directly before Tenchi nearly knocking the boy down with the suddenness of the action.

"Yes, of course I do." Tenchi's voice was solemn as he looked down at his feet still trying to maintain his balance. "How could I forget?" She had screamed about not just her love but Ayeka's as well.

"Well, if you do remember then what did she tell you about your indecisiveness?"

The entire scene of that day replayed in Tenchi's mind.

"So, I'm the problem. Am I really Tenchi? Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, if you ever decided to get a spine and make up your mind about Ayeka and me. You wouldn't feel so trapped and there would be peace in this house? Did it ever occur to you, even just once, that there are other people in this house besides yourself? Did you ever think about what your indecision has cost both Ayeka and myself? Hmm? Just once did you ever stop to wonder what loving you as much as I do, as we both do, does to us? How not knowing whom you love, day in and day out, is killing us? Did you ever once notice how much we love you? How just seeing you everyday gives us both a reason to go on? I've loved you your entire life and Ayeka falls deeper in love with you everyday! We both would willingly die for you; do you think that kind of depth of emotion just falls out of the sky? Well maybe for you and only you it has."

"You're spoilt Tenchi! You know that? You have so many forms of love thrown at your feet, that you don't even recognize the depth of it anymore. It's just there, there for you to take and leave when you want! Well, not me! Not Anymore! If you don't want me, just say so Tenchi! Don't hide behind your righteous shield of friendship! I'm so sick and tired of wanting more from you, so much more than either you're willing to or capable of giving! If you don't want me, just tell me DAMN IT!!"

For the first time Tenchi realized the meaning of the words that were yelled at him so many weeks ago. The declaration of love, the anger from years of pent-up emotions, the pained tremble to her words as she begged him to decide. Then, as his mind played over the words again he heard the words his grandfather told him to look for.

Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, if you ever decided to get a spine and make up your mind about Ayeka and me you wouldn't feel so trapped and there would be peace in this house?

Did you ever think about what your indecision has cost both Ayeka and myself? Hmm? Just once did you ever stop to wonder what loving you as much as I do, as we both do, does to us? How not knowing whom you love, day in and day out, is killing us? Did you ever once notice how much we love you? How just seeing you everyday gives us both a reason to go on? I've loved you your entire life and Ayeka falls deeper in love with you everyday! We both would willingly die for you; do you think that kind of depth of emotion just falls out of the sky?

The answer to his dilemma had been in her rant all this time. If he had just stopped to listen to what she was saying rather than refuse to admit or accept his guilt he would have seen, he would have heard. Tenchi stood silent in the cool night breeze as he thoughts raced around his head.

Yosho pitied the boy. From the look on Tenchi's face Yosho could see that the boy was starting to realize all that he may have thrown away. As the seconds flew by Yosho watched as his grandson's face went from shocked confusion to pallid realization. 'Poor Tenchi,' he thought. 'He just starting to realize what she said and what she meant.' When Tenchi's eyes began to tear and his hands began to tremble Yosho wondered what it was his grandson was thinking. Suddenly Tenchi slipped to his knees in the dry dirt in front of his grandfather. A fountain of emotion flooding him at once, startled by the action Yosho gently placed his hand on his grandson's shoulder.

Feeling his grandfather's touch Tenchi turned his head up to look into his grandfather's face. "I've lost her haven't I?" With unshed tears glistening in his eyes; Tenchi searched his grandfather's face for either confirmation or refutation.

"What makes you say that Tenchi?" The inexpressive face Yosho presented to Tenchi gave no answers to Tenchi's question.

"What she said in the end, she gave me the same warning that Mot…nobody… … I…I didn't think much of it at first, but now? I'm scared! I don't want to lose her. I don't want to lose any of them?"

"What did she say to make you think this Tenchi?" Yosho said as he helped Tenchi up and directed him to a log.

"Ryoko?"

"Yes, Both Ryoko and this…nobody."

"Well…uhm…er… Mot… I mean nobody said that I shouldn't take too long or my true love might leave me."

"And what did Ryoko say?"

"She said 'Someday you're going to see how much we love you and you'll make a choice. And when that day comes, it just might be too late.'"

"Well, I can see why you should be apprehensive Tenchi."

"Do you think I've lost her?"

"No, I don't Tenchi, but you will if something doesn't change real soon. But, I wouldn't worry about that just yet Tenchi, now that you have accepted your feelings in all of its depth for the girls, you have started down the path for your future. Don't fight your heart and its instinct to love Tenchi or you will only have yourself to blame for you loneliness. Now get to bed and get some sleep, you have several chores waiting for you in the morning."

"Thank you grandfather." A tired and unsettled Tenchi made his way back home.

As he watching his grandson's retreating form disappear into the twilight's darkness Yosho silently prayed for Tenchi's happiness. "Take care of him Ryoko, and be patient he'll come around. I'm sure."