I'm incredibly sorry I haven't updated in centuries! I'm going to blame the dreaded Writers' Block, even though I know very well that it's my lazy disposition's fault. Probably the fact that I wrote chapter 5 long ago, lost it somewhere on my computer, forgot about it, and can't find it now has something to do with it, too.
Another mistake: I realized that I was being an idiot in the end of Chapter 4. Sasami calls people "nee-chan" (neh-chan for lack of better description), not just "chan". And she calls everyone nee-chan and nii-chan! If it comes up, I'll just _subtly_ change it. I would just edit the end of the last chapter, but I already feel that lazy disposition coming on. Maybe I'll get around to it someday... (and maybe I'll just stop making stupid mistakes...yeah, like that'll happen.)
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Chapter 5 - Powerless
With Ryoko and Oni gone, the house took on a quiet aura. Chores were currently being done, and shortly after coming home, Tenchi set out to work in the carrot fields. The house was especially silent. With Sasami cleaning up in the kitchen, Washu in her lab, Nobuyuki working in his study, and Yosho sweeping the yard, the only sound came from outside, where Ayeka and Mihoshi were busy doing the laundry. Mihoshi was most tolerable when she did this, Ayeka thought, probably because she actually knew what she was doing and didn't ask too many questions.
They worked together to hang a sheet on the line. "You know, Ayeka, it must be a lot easier to get the house clean since everyone came here, huh?" Mihoshi said, returning to the basket of damp clothes and pulling out one of Yosho's shirts.
"We probably make more mess than we clean, especially with Ryoko fighting all the time, Washu blowing up things in her lab, and you-" Ayeka stopped herself, not wanting to be rude. The truth was, she made more messes while squabbling with Ryoko than Mihoshi did just being clumsy.
"And now we have another person. I wonder if she'll be as much of a handle as we all are," Mihoshi said, not thinking.
Ayeka stopped and scowled at her. "Now, Mihoshi, we aren't all that bad. Sure it might be better if we didn't all love Tenchi, and we are all pretty strange by Earth standards, but we try to pull our own weight." She thought of Ryoko, out taking a walk when all the chores were to be done. "Most of us do, anyway."
"Hopefully Tenchi won't catch Oni's eye, too. Think how complicated everything would be!"
"She'd _better_ not get a childish crush on my Tenchi-sama!"
Mihoshi shrugged and carried the now-empty basket out of the way. "We're done, Ayeka-san. Now, will you take a bath with me? The towels are already dry." She smiled cheerfully as she tugged the corner of a towel at the beginning of the line. Indeed it was already warm and dry from the heat of the sun. Ayeka groaned at Mihoshi's eagerness and walked over to the towels and grabbed herself one. Then she walked without saying a word to the baths, Mihoshi happily tagging along behind.
* * * *
"Hurry up, hurry up!" Ryoko yelled after her sister as floated above the running girl. "I have a cool place to show you!" She grabbed Oni's hands and pulled her up into the air. "Whew, you feel like lead. How about you fly a little and make it easier on your Oneesan, ne?"
"Sorry," Oni said. "I thought we were going for a _walk_."
"But that would take twice as long."
"I-I don't like flying," said Oni nervously.
Ryoko eyed her suspiciously. "You aren't afraid of heights, are you?" she asked. "Because if you are, this place'll be no fun!"
"No, I just don't really like to fly...it's...um...tiring."
"Okay, then, I'll carry you, poor little baby," Ryoko mocked lightly. She held her sister tighter and sped up, loop-the-looping through the air.
The waterfall sat deep in the hills. It was at least fifty feet tall, and the cascading water clashed with the sun to sparkle beautifully. The mist rose up from the pool at the bottom as the falling water crashed relentlessly into it. Rainbows multiplied with the growing mist as the sun grew slowly higher in the sky. Around the pool were weeping willows. The ones closer to the waterfall were blue-gray through the vapor. The rest were a healthy shade of jade green.
Oni stood in awe as Ryoko descended to the top of the waterfall. "You can climb down if you want. I'm done taxiing your butt around," Ryoko teased.
"This place is so cool," Oni said, weak with the beauty.
"Well, it's pretty all right," Ryoko said halfheartedly. She phased halfway down the waterfall and hovered. "There's a cave down here," she called. "Do you think you can get to it?"
"I'll try," said Oni. She did, and found it pretty easy, once she was down the rockface, to get to the center of the waterfall. There was a narrow ledge to help her. The cave opening was big, but hidden under the water. She walked inside to where Ryoko was waiting.
"Why are we here?" Oni asked.
"Because this is the closest cave that no one in the Tenchi household knows about, except maybe Yosho. That is, I wouldn't be surprised if he knows where it is. That man surprises me to know end."
"That reminds me: Yosho is from Jurai, isn't he? Is he the one that you were with for 20,000 years? Mom said it was a boy that was keeping you from her. Tenchi seems a little young, too..."
Ryoko laughed. "Hell no! He just was the one that locked me in that cave! God, what was that Washu thinking? Me? Be kept away by a boy? Ha!"
"But don't you like Tenchi?" Oni said, afraid she'd overstep her boundaries.
"No," Ryoko answered. "I love Tenchi. Tenchi is what kept me from going insane those last few years I was in the cave. He loves me, too. The hard part is, he loves all of us."
"What do you mean?"
"Tenchi is incapable of not loving anyone who he's known for awhile unless they're incredibly evil. Or else he would've kicked me out long ago," she admitted.
"Why?" Oni asked.
"You ask a lot of questions, don't you, kiddo?" Ryoko said, grinning. "It's obvious he'd want to kick me out. I've been the number one Most Wanted in the known universe. I destroyed people and families, planets and homes. In fact, it's amazing he doesn't find me incredibly evil. He sees beyond all that. For the most part.
"We shouldn't stay too long. I just wanted to show you my spot. I don't usually like caves as a rule, but this one isn't very deep or threatening."
"No, it's not," Oni said, looking around the small place. It would be the perfect home for something had it been closer to the ground. The walls were smooth and rounded, carved out by pounding water. It was cool, but not cold, maybe a little damp. Oni smiled at her sister's find.
"Now, neechan, it's my turn to ask you some questions," Ryoko said. "For instance, why you wouldn't fly, or, the other day, help me beat up on that Ayeka-doll."
Oni paused to take a big breath. Then she looked at Ryoko, as if considering. "Actually, the thing is...I can't."
"Can't what?"
"Can't fly. Or use energy swords or fireballs like you can. I can't even really teleport," Oni admitted.
"What!? But I saw you; you did teleport!"
"Mom sent me with one of her inventions."
"She-Did she even give you any powers?" demanded Ryoko. "Or did she just decide to let you suffer through everything you went through like some...some powerless human?"
"I don't know," said Oni sadly.
"Hey, I'm sorry, kid. Let's go back. They must be done doing chores by now." She winked and gripped Oni's shoulder. With that, she teleported the both of them back home.
* * * *
"WASHU!" screamed a voice as a figure phased into the psudolab. Ryoko flew swiftly through the lab, looking as though she would have liked to blow the whole thing to bits. Her form crackled and fizzled with anger that she didn't care to hide. "Washu, where the hell ARE you?!"
"Oh, Ryoko-chan!" Washu said, pulling out into an aisle in the machinery on her floating pillow. "What is it?"
"Why doesn't Oni have any defensive powers? What were you thinking? She could have died all those years in space!" Ryoko yelled.
"What? Ryoko, please slow down. Even the Greatest Genius in the Universe can't understand babble," Washu said. "Now, what is it you wanted to ask me?"
Ryoko glared at Washu. "Oni can't fly. Oni can't teleport. Oni can't create fireballs or energy swords. How was she supposed to defend herself, Washu?"
"Why do you care so much?" Washu said. "I haven't seen you this upset since you flunked out of the Little Marvels Preschool."
"Well," continued Ryoko, calming down somewhat, "I might have not even known my sister. And she's your creation! What were you thinking leaving her so defenseless?"
"I tried making a powerful daughter once. It didn't work out. Do you know why Kagato stole you away from me?"
"Because I was so strong I guess," Ryoko said, wavering a little.
"Yes! You're so much smarter than you first seem, Ryoko," Washu said proudly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Ryoko.
"Anyway, what can I do about Oni now? She only has one gem, and I promised Funaho I wouldn't create anything else like you two. Of course, she doesn't even know about Oni...slipped my mind to tell her," Washu said lightly, her trademark mischievous grin on her face. "Now, you go on and do something useful. I have work to do." She motioned at the door and it opened. "I'll talk to you later, dear daughter. Bye!"
* * * *
Oni sat in the living room as the family watched their favorite soap opera after dinner. She wasn't very fond of soaps, or television in general, but she watched without a word and played with the cabbits when she got bored. Mostly she was playing with Ryo-ohki, as her own cabbit seemed much more interested in the strange-looking fish people on the screen than she and Ryo-ohki. Even with everyone wrapped up in the antics on the screen, Oni felt confortable to be with people again. Beside her on the couch sat Ryoko and Ayeka, flanking Tenchi, who seemed too distracted by their possessive clinging to watch the show. In a chair on the right sat Mihoshi, leaning forward, eyes glued to the screen. On the left sat Washu, who had emerged from her psudolab to watch. From the kitchen door, Sasami watched the soap while washing the dinner dishes.
Oni smiled to herself. It didn't take long for the family to accept her. She didn't even really know their stories or their history or even their feelings and personalities. She was just glad to be in their presence and to hear them input their comments or just breathe. She expected it was fate that brought the lot together. They seemed destined-to-be.
She was also destined to be with these people, she knew. She would be through these people through the soap-opera-watching, and the eating and sleeping, even arguing. Just living. She tried to remember the last time she felt so at-ease.
Once in awhile, Oni would catch Washu giving side-long glances to her and Ryoko, making sure everything was alright with her daughters. It seemed more like a habit than anything else. Oni doubted if Ryoko ever noticed her mother checking up on her, except subconsciously, but it made them even more of a family. They were a family inside a family, for maximum security and love.
The girl didn't notice she was falling asleep. She didn't notice Tenchi's strong arms scoop her up and carry her into Washu's lab and lay her down on the futon, Ryoko at his side, making sure her love took good care of her little sister though she knew he would. All Oni knew was that she never had and never would have a better night's sleep than that one in all of her life.
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Done! Now I can _finally_ update! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. As always, please review!
