To be a Princess, Day 10 - Jurai
Ryoko awoke in a strange bed and at first she was frightened, but Ryo-Ohki was sleeping soundly by her and was not worried. Also she could hear Tenchi's voice, and he seemed to be talking to someone, but she could not place the voice.
"Thank you for being understanding, I'm sorry we had to do that. I believe you still have my information?"
"Yes your highness we still have it, would you like us to charge you for it?"
"If you would, I am sorry again it was necessary."
"Do not fear your highness, we were glad you made it away safely, it does not suit our record to have a guest perish. I wish you and your lady luck, those hunters were not the most pleasant type."
Tenchi could not help but laugh, "Thank you sir." And with that the screen closed.
"Problem?" Tenchi turned around to see Ryoko lying across the bed smiling at him. Smiling at her as well he proceeded over to her and sat down. "Where are we anyway?"
He leaned in and kissed her lips gently, "On a Jurai battleship." Her eyes shot open but he just kissed her once more. Slowly she relaxed, if he is not worried about it then she won't be either. However he was very worried, and this was the only thing he could think of to keep her calm. When she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to the bed the thought crossed his mind that maybe he overdid it a little, but he was not about to start complaining.
For a while he was worried that she would not wake up, as she had not only slept through the night, but through half of the next day. After looking at his watch then the ships time he noticed that it really had not been that long. At least he could not tell it had been that long. So far this morning, if he could call it that he has sent a personal message to Mihoshi, Ayeka and Sasami. Then he talked to the manager of the hotel on Anterlan, and it was then that she had chosen to wake up.
Passion was building quickly between them with each kiss, however there was one thing that seemed to stop them cold. A low rumble was heard that seemed to echo through the room. At least until it was discovered that Ryo-Ohki's stomach as well as Tenchi's was letting them all know that they had missed a meal. Tenchi did however try to keep things going but surprisingly it was Ryoko that stopped him. "If you think I'm just gonna keep listening to you two do that then your wrong." As she spoke to him she tapped his chest with her finger to emphasize the point. Then she changed her tone and began to move her finger in circles on his chest, "Besides, with all that noise I can't her you moan my name..."
Instantly his face reddened and he lost control of his speaking from what she implied, and the worst part was he could not remember is he had done that before or not. "It has to be true, right" he told himself as he tried desperately to regain some semblance of control over himself. Just as he was about to lift himself off her prone body a thought occurred to him and he leaned in and gave her another deep kiss, and upon releasing her lips from it he spoke softly into her ear. "You're right there's no way I could hear you moaning either." He let the comment slip into her ear and followed it with a kiss just below her ear.
His comment brought a blush to her cheeks and despite herself she did let out a soft moan when he kissed her there. Tenchi thought it was an interesting change from things to see her blushing from something he said; however, just making that comment himself he was a very deep red. He hoped she did not see him blush at it as well so he just gave her a few more kisses before pulling away from her.
When the three of them finally left the room and tried to make their way to a cafeteria. Ryo-Ohki sat on Tenchi head while Tenchi and Ryoko walked hand in hand through the ship. With none of them being inside a Jurai battleship before they got lost several times. Each time they got closer to their goal and they dreaded having to find their way back to the room. All of them noticed however how those on board watched her or Ryo-Ohki, wondering if she would attack them or destroy something. With all the eyes on them it made him nervous, especially when they would approach someone the officer would rest a hand on their weapon waiting for Ryoko to make her move.
Ryoko never did make a move other than to hold on to Tenchi. He at first did not realize it but she was very nervous as well. She was holding on to him as if she expected the soldiers to attack her at any minute. What he found strange was that she seemingly did not want to fight. At last they found the cafeteria or mess hall as it was called. Tenchi had never heard of some of the foods that were served so Ryoko ordered for him. He felt sorry for the cabbit though, as there were no carrots, but there was something that resembled them.
Taking their plates to a table they sat and ate Juraian food, which to Tenchi's surprise was very close to Earth food, but different coloring. As they ate an officer approached them and it took Tenchi a moment to realize who it was.
"Your Highness, I am sorry to interrupt but many of my officers have commented on not feeling safe with her around." He finally realized that this was Kinata, the captain of this ship. "It has also been brought to my attention that you two seem lost around here as well."
Ryoko did not like being talked about especially when someone acted like she was not even there. Tenchi just squeezed her hand reassuringly, "And what is your point sir?" He too had to hold back his tongue, as this seemed very rude to him.
"I mean no disrespect, I was just wanting to know if you wanted an escort while on board? Someone to show you around... So you don't get lost?" The captain fidgeted nervously as he waited for either of them to respond.
It was then that Tenchi discovered that the captain was nervous and he was trying to help. The whole scene soon became funny to him and he started to laugh, which threw off both Ryoko and him. Upon seeing their confused faces he finally told the captain, "An escort will be fine as long as she doesn't make Ryoko jealous."
The captain looked at him strangely then he caught onto the meaning of what he had said. He too began to laugh and his nervousness went away, "Then you highness I shall make sure your escort is a male or not that pretty." He turned quickly and walked away still chuckling.
Tenchi laughed a few more moments but stopped when Ryoko told him, "He's perfect."
"Perfect?"
"Yes, he's tall, handsome and Juraian." Tenchi looked at her curiously wondering why was she looking at him like that. Suddenly Tenchi felt a twinge of jealously, as he was not near as tall or as muscular as this captain was. Tenchi took a good look at him as he strode away. Here was a respected man who walked confidently and Tenchi had to admit looked better than he did. As he was looking and feeling more and more envious of how this man held her eyes he almost missed her next comment. "He's perfect of Ayeka."
"Huh! Ayeka?" He sighed with relief.
"Yea, she would love him. What do ya think? Should we introduce them?"
"Ryoko, he probably knows her already."
The two of them continued to talk with Ryo-Ohki happily munching on her food when he noticed the captain returning. "Excuse me your highness."
Ryoko hated being ignored, but with her past she was not surprised. "Yes?" Tenchi noticed the sour look on her face but he decided to ask her about it in private.
"If you don't mind, under the circumstances I will be your escort. At least with me you don't have to worry about her getting jealous." He chuckled a moment before he was joined by Tenchi.
"That would be fine. But I have one request."
"Oh, and what is it your highness?"
"Stop calling me that. Just call me Tenchi, and her Ryoko, OK?"
"That is fine your, I mean, Tenchi." He then turned his attention to her for the first time. "May I sit here?" She just looked him over and responded with a less than enthusiastic ok before returning to her meal. "I guess that's to be expected." He shrugged then sat down with them. "Truth be told I was not sure what to expect having you onboard my ship, and several of my men are very nervous as well, but you don't seem to fit the image of the pirate that nearly destroyed Jurai."
She instantly hung her head, as those memories were very painful still. "I am not the same Ryoko." Her voice low and sad for once, as the memories and pain she felt on the inside had eaten away her tough exterior. Her seriousness took the two men by surprise. "I never wanted to kill or hurt anyone. Never. But if I didn't do as Kagato told me then..." her voice cracked as she recalled the many things he did to punished her for not following a command. Tenchi put an arm around her to hopefully offer some comfort. "Many times all I could do was watch as he used my body to murder people. I remember their faces like it was yesterday."
"I'm sorry. I did not know." The captain looked down in shame, as he had not meant to cause this. In his many years he has witnessed several interrogations where someone would try to feign innocence or pain to gain sympathy, but Ryoko was different, she wanted no pity or sympathy but she had endured more pain that anyone could imagine. She told them both of some of her attacks and killings and how when someone was not killed fast enough he would take control of her body and use her to torture the person. "He used that to show me that anytime I killed slow then that meant I wanted them to be tortured. To save them from that I would just kill them quickly so they would not know that pain."
"Ryoko, I'm sorry I never knew, but that is behind us. It's just us now, ok?" She looked into Tenchi's eyes and she could still see that he loved her even though he knew what she had done. She threw her tough persona aside and just began crying into his shoulder there in the mess hall with Ryo-Ohki and the captain watching nearby. Some of the other men wanted to see what was going on but Kinata would not allow it, he even ordered everyone to leave the room until she wanted them back in.
When she finally calmed down and noticed it was just the four of them in there he explained what he did and Ryoko did the one thing that surprised him more than she had already, "Thank you. I think I'll go to my room now though." Nodding he escorted them back to their room. And while she and Ryo-Ohki slept he talked to Tenchi about many things. Tenchi needed another male to talk to about his life so he told the patient captain about his life on Earth and how he awoke Ryoko and also about Ayeka and Sasami arriving, and even a little about Mihoshi. The more he heard the more he understood why he had never heard of this prince and he could not help but laugh at the idea of having so many females clamoring over one person.
"I am sorry your, I mean, Tenchi for ordering my men to fire on you."
He chuckled nervously, "Don't worry, I guess I can't blame you as you've never heard of me before."
"That is true, but since you actually are from the earth and also the grandson of Prince Yosho are you going to attempt to take the throne?"
"What do you mean attempt? The emperor has not even asked me about it?" He scratched the back of his head as he tried to understand.
"Emperor Azusa had a son named Yosho, and you are of his decent so you have a claim to the throne."
"And?" Tenchi still did not understand what he was getting at.
"You can challenge Ayeka's claim to the throne and take it for yourself or cement your claim by taking her as a wife."
"But I have already proposed to Ryoko?"
"You have! Well you could take a second wife..." Both men pondered the thought of him having both Ayeka and Ryoko as wives. Tenchi shuddered at the thought of living out his days with them arguing and even Kinata seemed to think it would not work as he shook his head. "From what you have said about them I can only suspect it will get worse in time. But if you marry her then you will definitely have to double your guards and hope they are loyal."
Tenchi looked at him blankly, "What do you mean?"
Shaking his head he sighed, "I see you don't know much about the planet that you are prince over then. Very well, when Azusa took Funaho and Misaki as his wives there were several attempts made on their lives. Many on Jurai then and still now do not like the mixing of separate races. And Funaho was not from Jurai."
"So since I am from earth they will not accept me?"
"Yes, and taking her as your wife will anger even more. You would have more assignation attempts that the last twenty emperors combined."
The floor suddenly seemed very interesting to Tenchi as he stared at it for quite some time taking in this information. "But why more attempts on me instead of Funaho, she is the queen right now right?"
"Yes, but she is married to a true Juraian the emperor, and she does not hold sole power." At Tenchi's confused look he continued. "You on the other hand would be emperor and hold complete power and you are not of Jurai. And if you compound that with having her as your queen it makes it worse. She is not only not a Juraian, but many still consider her public enemy number one."
It finally dawned on Tenchi what he was saying and his shoulders slumped over from the thought. If he married Ryoko and took the throne then both of them would be targeted many times. And just the fact that people know that she lives has caused some to try and attack them. "So I guess, I will not accept the throne at all then. I just want to go back to my home on Earth."
"It is not that easy, the galaxy knows that Ryoko is still alive now and they may come there looking for her."
"So they won't stop until she is dead?" Kinata just sadly nodded he head. This was not what Tenchi wanted at all, but there did not seem to be a way out of this. "Thank you captain, I would like to get some rest and think about this for a while ok."
"No problem, I shall be by in eight hours for training, then after that you should get cleaned up."
"Training?"
"Yes, if Yosho has truly been training you I want to see how good you are, he always found it hard to beat me but somehow he always did." With that he turned to leave laughing a little at old memories, while Tenchi just thought about his and her futures.
He entered the bedroom portion and looking at her he thought, "They won't stop coming till she's dead and I can't live with out her, so I'd die protecting her as would Ryo-Ohki." He slowly climbed into bed wrapping his arms around her as he continued to think through things.