Boxes from Heaven

Ryoko's eyes were the first to open that day--in fact, her eyes were open even before the sun's. Two great golden globes grinned gaily as they realized that they had beaten the sun, and Ryoko took in a great big giant gulp of air as she greeted the day. A slight groan came from her as she stretched out on the bed.

Sighing, her eyes focused on Ayeka, who was sleeping soundly right next to her. Ryoko was very thankful of their new "friendship"--at least, she considered it a friendship. Had the girls not gotten along so quickly, the new house would still be in shambles and they'd be forced to sleep in the cave. As it stood, only a few loose odds and ends needed to be tied before the completion of house #2.

Ryoko couldn't help but smile as she saw Ayeka sleeping. She had to admit that the princess looked very cute when she was sleeping, yet somehow, all that cuteness faded like ice in the desert once she woke. To be certain, Ayeka was physically attractive, but sometimes (if not all the time) she could be such a pain in the neck! Of course, Ryoko had to admit that it was often herself who pushed the princess' buttons; normally, Ayeka was very polite, civil, and agreeable, but around Ryoko…

Well, perhaps it had been a miracle that the two grew so close during the past few weeks. Ryoko didn't know how it happened: whether it was the Good Qualities/Bad Qualities letters they had exchanged, or the dark secrets they told each other, or maybe it was all the little and unnoticeable things that brought them together. Whatever it had been, Ryoko felt what might have been friendship with the princess. She only hoped this feeling lasted long--otherwise, they would never get anywhere.

As cautiously as she knew how, Ryoko slipped off of the mattress and onto the primitive floor of the cabin. She desperately hated the clothes she was forced to wear: both hers and Ayeks'a clothes had been completely worn out since their arrival, so new ones had to be made from animal skins. Ayeka soon became chief over this operation, but Ryoko couldn't help but think that Ayeka was doing something wrong. The fuzzy suits… did not feel quite right… or even smell quite right.

Touch and stink aside, Ryoko was glad of the current situation. She was also glad that she had woken up first. Normally, Ayeka would kick and scream at the pirate until she woke up, but this time, Ryoko had the whole morning to herself. She had to admit, it felt pretty good.

Slipping outside, Ryoko took a deep breath of the island air and stretched a little bit more. The dark-gray sky above her hinted that the sun was ready to come up, but in the meantime, Ryoko would be free to wander around in the darkness. The pirate gently floated down to the surface and decided to go exploring. Perhaps she would snag a few pears for herself and the princess along the way…

As Ryoko walked away from the gigantic tree that was her home, she found herself amused that her thoughts turned to Ayeka. Usually, the princess was the very last thing on her mind, but now as she headed towards the beach, she couldn't push her out of her thoughts. She had wanted to do something nice for Ayeka, even though they had plenty of food. She wanted to do something for the princess, not because she was in debt or was forced to or was required to--Ryoko wanted to go out and get the food. She wanted to be nice for niceness' sake.

BANG!!

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!" As her knee banged up against the object, Ryoko croaked out an incredibly long and loud string of violent words and nasty curses, some so dark and cruel they would have made Nagi blush. When she finally broke out of her savage and murderous state (in other words, roughly fifteen minutes later), Ryoko rubbed her poor knee and glared at what could possibly offend her so.

Now in the light of the pre-dawn sky, she could not see very well, so she lit a fire using a blast from her hand. Waving the flame in the air, Ryoko's eyes suddenly grew to the size of basketballs as she realized what was there before her. The curses she had previously uttered now turned into blessings--at least, at first. Ryoko swallowed, and knew quite well that she should not jump to such conclusions. After all, it was still reasonably dark, and she had no way of determining what exactly they were.

Still, she put the fire out and floated towards the cabin. Unable to contain her glee, Ryoko passed through the great tree and into the bedroom, where Ayeka was still asleep. She smiled, and sat patiently on the floor, waiting for her "friend" to wake up. A few minutes later, Ayeka stirred and tossed in her sleep. She was now facing Ryoko.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, wake up!" barked the spacer. Ayeka muttered some nonsensical jargon, grumbled, and squirmed. Her eyes gently opened, and found themselves looking at the pirate.

"Oh, what are you doing up so early, Ryoko?" whispered Ayeka softly. She yawned.

"I think I found something!" exclaimed the pirate, but all she got was another yawn and a "That's nice" from Ayeka. Ryoko growled, and angrily stormed off towards the bed. She shook the princess violently, and screamed in her ear at point-blank range.

"WAKE UP, COW FACE!!!!"

"ALL RIGHT, DEVIL!!!!!" Ayeka suddenly became violently animated, and spat out the previous phrase with the strength of three sirens. She sighed, and regarded her companion with irritation. "Now what is it you want?!"

"I found something, down by the beach," pointed the pirate. Ayeka yawned again.

"Probably just a turtle."

"I think it's a box!!" stated Ryoko, but to her dismay, the princess gave no reply. Giving up on reason, Ryoko used force instead, and dragged the lazy bag of bones out of the bed. Despite Ayeka's shouting and occasional cussing, Ryoko didn't stop dragging her until they were at the zip line. The pirate knew how much Ayeka hated using the zip, so what better way to get her awake?

"Ryoko, don't!!" screamed Ayeka--but she was too late. Ryoko had already forced Ayeka's hands on the zipper, and with a single push, Ayeka careened towards the ground, screaming bloody murder the whole trip.

"That wasn't so bad!" smiled Ryoko coolly, seeing Ayeka's hair stand on end. The princess wheezed, keeling over just to catch her breath. The zip line, in her opinion, was too fast and too dangerous to use, even though Ryoko tried it out every chance she got.

"Ryoko, beloved Ryoko," gasped Ayeka darkly, "the next time you do that, I will personally kill you. No, I'm serious, I will literally kill you as you stand."

"Right, whatever," shrugged the pirate. By the time both girls were on the surface, the sun was already peeking out from the horizon. Its reddish-orange radiance illuminated the entire island in a warm and fiery glow, and not even Ayeka's "early morning bad mood syndrome" could dull it.

"All right, so where is this great discovery you found?" asked Ayeka, a trace of doubt quite plain in her tone. Ryoko ignored it, and led her to where she had hurt herself. Sure enough, to the delight of both girls, there was a giant crate washed up on the beach--and about eight or so others along with it.

"Ah!! Yes!! Finally, some help!!" squealed Ayeka. She rushed towards the boxes, and even gave one of them a hug. "Delicious, delicious boxes! Crates from heaven! Ryoko, do you know what this means?!"

"Yeah, you've gone plumb-loco."

"Noooooo," she sang. "It means that we can use whatever's inside these boxes!"

"Oh wow," yawned the pirate. Ayeka stuck out her tongue, and went in search of something to pry them open. As the princess looked around, Ryoko looked over the boxes and read the label.

"It says here that these came from the U.S.S. Milton," she reported. "Hm. Must've been another wreckage. Hey, do you think there might be anyone else washing up here, like we were?" No answer. Ayeka was already a good distance away, and from the looks of things, she would probably be searching for some time. Ryoko shrugged, and tried prying the boxes open herself.

If there was another ship that went down (maybe from the hurricane), then there might be a possibility of them being rescued, or maybe another survivor might wash up on their shores. At the very least, the girls would use whatever was inside the boxes, and probably the crates themselves. After all, they still had lots of work to do on their cabin.

Ayeka came back with several rocks and thick branches, and placed them all in a disorganized pile. She sighed, and sat down on the grass of the jungle to catch her breath. Ryoko smiled, and floated over to retrieve several of the objects.

"Thanks. Here, let me have a few." Ayeka smiled at her companion's friendliness, and wished that she acted that way all the time. Of course, with Ryoko, this was impossible, but Ayeka could always dream.

After slamming and jamming at the boxes, the tops finally came off to reveal the treasures inside. The girls gasped in glee as they looked over the prizes in the first crate, and like children at Christmas, they pulled each and every object out for examination.

"I found some rope!"

"Here's a box of nails!"

"I have some wax here!"

"Oh! Maps!"

"Hey, I have a compass!"

"ACK!! Ryoko…! Ryoko, come here at once!"

"Yeah?" The space pirate flew over, and nearly burst out into joyful tears as she saw the packets that Ayeka carried.

"Oh, sweet mother of murderers!" she whispered. "Razors! Women's razors! Dozens of them!"

"And look!" cried Ayeka, holding up her next prize. Ryoko really did cry as she saw the precious item that Ayeka held up now.

"Shaving cream! Women's shaving cream!! Do you know what this means?!"

"YES!!" sang Ayeka. The two girls, overjoyed beyond words, hugged each other and shouted out the glorious proclamation at the same time.

"We can finally shave our legs!!!"

Diary of Ayeka

Thirtieth day of June

Having thus found eight boxes washed ashore, I have been given the responsibility of recording our findings. We have truly been blessed with this new finding, and I have been blessed with the responsibility of deciding how to best use these items. With that said, here is a list of everything we found:

Nine bars of soap, 5 towels, 4 washcloths, 3 toothbrushes, 7 tubes of toothpaste, 3 hairbrushes, 2 rolls of dental floss, 2 pairs of small scissors, 2 pairs of large scissors, 1 fingernail clipper, 2 unbroken mirrors (8 broken ones), 6 packets of women's razors with 8 razors in each, 2 packets of men's razors with 12 razors in each, 8 canisters of women's shaving cream, 2 canisters of men's shaving cream, 7 meters of thick rope, 12 meters of thin rope, 3 maps, 1 compass, 3 boxes of nails, 2 hammers, 1 fresh saw, 4 slabs of molding wax, 2 battery-powered lanterns, 8 signal flares, 3 blankets, 2 small pillows, 2 boxes of crackers, 1 jug of water, 1 canteen, 1 box of spaghetti, 1 box of oatmeal, 2 boxes of pens and pencils, 1 manual pencil sharpener, 1 blank diary (for Ryoko, perhaps?), 1 packet of men's underwear; 1 packet of women's underwear, 2 packets of socks, 3 large T-shirts, 3 pairs of blue jeans, Miscellaneous clothing items, Several ounces of packing straw and Styrofoam, Several sheets of bubble paper, and Wood from the crates.

(And a partridge in a pear tree!!)

With thanks,

Ayeka, princess of Jurai

"RYOKO!!! How dare you write in my diary!!!"

"Hey, I was just kidding!" grinned the pirate. Ayeka growled and snorted at her behavior, but decided it would be best to not lose her temper over something so trite.

"Well, you have your own diary to write in now!" sniffed Ayeka, placing the new book in Ryoko's hands. The pirate smiled broadly, and sang out her thanks. Ayeka sighed and shook her head, and went about the arduous task of using what Fate had given them.