Wow, 14 reviews!! My ego can no longer fit into the same room with me. It just sits in the living room taunting my boyfriend and stealing the remote. At this rate I'll have to rent a separate apartment for it and make daily checks on it to make sure it's not getting too fat. I'm really surprised my head is still small enough to allow me entry into my dark, corner of inspiration. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews. I'm like a puppy, stroke my ego, make encouraging sounds and I'll try my best to please. So without further ado here's my best to please.
An Awakening
"Well, I was wondering has anything odd happened to you recently?" Washu questioned.
"I...I...Well...Uhm...I'm not sure..." Ryoko struggled to explain how she felt. Finally with a defeated sigh, Ryoko hung her head.
"Are you okay?" Washu was concerned; Ryoko never acted like this!
"Yeah...It's just.... Well you see... OH DAMMIT!!" Ryoko struggled for a while before frustration took over. Ryoko began scratching the back of her head and looking at Washu with a silent plea for understanding.
:: Mom, I can hear him. In my head.:: Washu nodded her understanding, she herself was feeling the backwash of Tenchi's unguarded thoughts, it must be overwhelming from Ryoko's side of the bond. ::No Mom, you might think you understand, but you don't. He's here, in my mind. Almost like a physical presence. It's starting to hurt. It wouldn't be so bad if it was actual coherent thoughts but I only get the background noise.:: Ryoko clamped her eyes shut trying to make the rush of constant sound fade from her mind.
Not understanding her daughter's affliction but wanting to comfort her, Washu stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ryoko's sagging shoulders. "Well, we'll just have to fix that won't we?" Washu asked as she petted Ryoko's hair and tried to soothe away the pain.
Nodding her agreement against her mother's shoulder, Ryoko felt near tears. It had been extremely difficult to not break down if front of Ayeka and Sasami. While Ryoko knew Ayeka could accept the growing bond between Tenchi and herself. Ryoko doubted she would be anywhere near happy about anything as deep as what was actually happening. Ryoko had been about to ask Sasami about her bond with Tsunami when the other princess had come into the room. What had really stop Ryoko cold though was the stray coherent thoughts from Tenchi that broke through the constant din of noise. She wasn't sure if he was awake or not but the thoughts came surging at her with the force of a truck.
Washu whispered soothing words into Ryoko's ear as she rocked back and forth. Why had Ryoko suffered so negatively and Tenchi so positively to the bond? Then with a mental slap to the head and a DUH! Washu quickly reviewed the bonding process. The only difference being Tenchi had chosen, Ryoko had not.
Well if I'm really what Tsunami says I am then I guess I'd better try and fix this. Washu thought as she concentrated and mentally reached for the power of the gems. In her mind's eye Washu saw the light of the gems like a beacon, shining light in a vast sea of darkness. Finally arriving at the crimson glowing radiance, Washu reached out and touched godhood.
In a flash of brilliance both Ryoko and Washu floated on an invisible current. The gems' power folded and wrapped around both Ryoko and Washu. Sensing the return of their mistress the gems' power expanded and engulfed the pair. Somewhere in the back of her mind Washu realized that this wasn't going to be easy to get out of. Then as more power surged through her coherent thought was forgotten.
The pair was sheathed in red light; both shone with a dazzling light that came from within. Ryoko unconsciously wrapped her arms tighter around Washu as the power overtook them. The gems' power was strengthening the psychic bond they shared. Now the noise of Tenchi's mind was completely drowned out by the silence of Washu's. And as more power flowed between and through the pair, Ryoko held tighter to Washu.
Up in his room Tenchi felt the whisper of Ryoko's mind fade. Passing off the loss as Ryoko psychically shielding herself, Tenchi continued about his day, with an unaccountable sense of foreboding. While down in the kitchen, Sasami's eyes grew wide and she dropped the platter she had just prepared. Taking a moment to breathe, Sasami raced past the broken shards of porcelain towards Washu's lab. May Tsunami help them.
Back in the lab the light radiating from mother and daughter was blinding. Soul bound to soul and mind bound to mind, to the gems Ryoko was simply a component of the Goddess Washu, not a separate entity. So, as things are wont to do, Washu slowly (achingly so for the gems), transformed into her Goddess form and slowly the person known as Ryoko became absorbed into the goddess collective consciousness.
From within the safe cocoon of Washu's consciousness Ryoko could feel herself slowly slipping away. The security that Washu's presence offered and the comfort that the near absolute power of the gems offered undermined Ryoko's will to survive. Soothe into a state of peaceful tranquility, Ryoko gave in to the inevitable. Washu however was overwhelmed by the power. Fear for her child and fear of the vast knowledge laid before her, caused Washu to secure her hand in Ryoko's hair a little more firmly.
From his position at the shrine Yosho felt the pull of the Tenchi-ken. Something was happening to the gems, he could feel it. With the practiced pace of a true priest, Yosho began the trek to the house. More than halfway down the stairs Yosho felt a powerful surge flash from the house. When the wave of power reached Funaho the tree began to glow. Then when another wave tore from the house and slammed into Funaho the tree shot a beam of pure light straight to the heavens. And when the wave passed over Yosho, his centuries old disguise dropped. Fear for his now extended family coursed though his veins. Anything powerful enough to short-circuit Funaho, causing the ship-tree to shut down and send out an immediate distress signal could easily hurt them. Forgetting his training and acting purely on emotion Yosho raced to the house, completely disregarding his appearance.
As Yosho arrived near the house the entire building was illuminated with an eerily familiar light. An unseen wind made entering the establishment difficult. Finally reaching the door, Yosho had to cover his eyes with his hand in order to see anything. Noticing Ayeka in the kitchen trying to make her way to the lab, Yosho began a mental headcount. Arriving at the closet door Yosho had past by Mihoshi, who had been trying just as valiantly as Ayeka to make her way to the closet door as well. Placing his hand on the door, Yosho screamed with pain as making contact with the doorknob felt like his soul was being ripped from his body. Then the faint voice of Tsunami spoke to him. 'You are not to enter this place. Guard the entrance well, do not allow anyone, especially Ayeka to enter.' Nodding his acceptance, Yosho braced his hands on either side of the door, making sure to not make contact with the actual door, and waited for whatever turmoil that was happening to end.
On the other side of the dimensional doorway, Tsunami and Sasami were trying to find a way to safely separate the now nearly completely merged mother and daughter. The first surge of power had been the gems power acknowledgment of Sasami's presence. The second occurred at the arrival of Tsunami. Chousin to Chousin, the power of one called to the other. And when Tsunami's full consciousness had enter that realm, great torrents of power raced to embrace one of its own. Even Tsunami hadn't expected this type of display of power. Washu had never been capable of such boundless power. Then as Sasami's knowledge had seeped into her mind, Tsunami stared in fear, as she searched for Ryoko. Ryoko was the key to all of this, literally and figuratively. The gems acknowledged Washu as their master, but accepted Ryoko as one of its own. Ryoko was not an entity made to harness the gems, she was the living embodiment of the gems. Ryoko was an eternal.
The full power of the goddess Washu existed on multiple planes. The power that had started all of this was on the goddess plane. Tsunami realized with dread that all those thousands of years ago, she had greatly underestimated the full power of Washu. With the power of the Goddess plane unattainable to outside dimensions, Tsunami had wrongfully assumed that the gems were Washu's sole source of Goddess level power. No, now the true extent of her powers was painfully obvious. The lion's share of Washu's powers laid deeply ingrained in her DNA, and Ryoko was a being created solely from Washu's DNA. The Masu simply gave form to genetic code. Washu's powers were a triumvirate, split amongst the goddess plane, the gems and Ryoko.
Tsunami averted her eyes and tried to protect Sasami as the gem in Ryoko's unmerged wrist began to glow brighter than the couple bathed in light. Then without warning another explosion of power blasted from the pair quickly followed by a psychic scream that all in the household and some off the planet heard. With her last remotely rationally conscious thought, Ryoko made her single and final attempt to break free of Washu. The one thought that drove Ryoko morning, noon and night. TENCHIIIIII!!!! And with the scream a column of pure energy rose from the side containing the gem and grew with the speed of thought. And just as suddenly as the column had appeared so did Tenchi.
Standing confused and blinded next to Tsunami, Tenchi could only turn his head away from the blinding sight before him. Tsunami with all her might rose her voice above the roar that the rush of energy was making. "TENCHI, YOU MUST SEPARATE RYOKO FROM WASHU!! I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA HOW TO DO THAT! BUT IT MUST BE DONE IF YOU WISH TO SAVE RYOKO'S LIFE!!!"
Nodding with little understanding of the situation, Tenchi summoned his courage and slowly forced his way against the maelstrom of power rushing from the nearly singular being before him. Nearing the lone remnant of Ryoko, Tenchi grabbed the wrist. And when his hand made contact with the gem firmly imbedded in the wrist, the red glow flashed purple then blue. Concentrating his efforts and channeling the power he felt rising within him, Tenchi pulled on the wrists mentally trying to establish a border between mother and daughter. It took some time but slowly the singular being began to form two. It wasn't until Ryoko's shoulders and head had completely separated that Washu could gather enough sense of self to physically and psychically thrust Ryoko away. And with one final blast of energy greater than anything previously the two screamed their shared pain and split. Landing on either side of Tenchi the mother and daughter lay on the ground struggling for air, as the lab suddenly became silent.
Sensing that the worst of the danger was over, Sasami raced to Ryoko's side. Crying tears of fear Sasami watched as slowly Washu recovered consciousness and Ryoko didn't. Washu groggily rose to rest on her elbows and shook her head trying to clear to hazy fog clogging her brain. After gathering enough faculties to think clearly Washu turned to look at Ryoko, only to notice her daughter's prone position and pallid color. Trying to reach her daughter's side Washu attempted to crawl. Only to find that her strength was unable to comply with her demands.
Tenchi dropped to Ryoko's side. While caressing her hair Tenchi vacantly replayed the events that had recently transpired through his mind. Tsunami stood aside and regarded the entire situation. The whole episode that just ended before her confounded the goddess. Tenchi should not have had enough power to separate Ryoko and Washu, not if his power stemmed from Tsunami herself. Trying to solve the enigma of Tenchi's powers Tsunami blindly gazed upon the scene before her. It wasn't until Sasami began pleading for her help that Tsunami returned mentally to the lab. With a wave of her phantasmal hand both Washu and Ryoko were lying side by side in Washu's bed. The three onlookers, with the same wave, were transported to stand next to the bed. With another wave of her hand, the two near comatose women slipped into a deep healing sleep.
"Let them rest. They need it. Your question will be answered in time Tenchi, but for now I suggest you take Sasami to Ayeka and explain to the family what you witnessed down here." With her short speech done Tsunami nodded her head in the direction of the exit. Waiting for the concerned pair to leave the room Tsunami looked down upon her sister and her niece. This could complicate matters. There had always, since the existence of time itself, only been three Chousin. No more, no less. But now, if what she had seen had been any indication, the children of the Chousin were higher beings. Ryoko and Tenchi, who would have thought, either were capable of such great magnitudes of power. As Tsunami watched the pair sleep, she began rethinking her strategy and planning where to move her more important and strategic players. With on last thought before departing Tsunami prayed to that which existence derived, 'May Tokimi never discover either Ryoko or Tenchi's true powers.'
TBC
Whew, well that chapter is done. I really strayed from the original intent of this chapter. That and I'm trying to test the waters for action sequences. I know this wasn't a real one but, there will be one soon and I figure better to cut my teeth now, then let you all suffer later. dennisud I don't think I'll be making this a R & A get T story, but I'm working on a songfic where Ayeka gets Tenchi all to herself. It's called Through the Fire.
I'll try and update at least once every two weeks; reviews are amazingly helpful and inspiring. The story is changing direction complete from input alone. You guys are making this a better story than even I could have come up with. Thanks!! ^ _^
Stay tune for the next installment where hopefully some questions will be answered but even more questions will go unanswered.
So what did you think?