Please, Just Call Me Mom

Please, Just Call Me Mom

"Three days! It's been three days since that demon woman has left! Who knows where she could be?!? She could be out robbing banks for all I know! We've got to find her!" Ayeka's voice echoed throughout the house as she paced back and forth across the kitchen. She had been furious at what Ryoko had done to Washu, but something, something in her tone of voice told her that she was suffering more than she was letting on. Ayeka hated to admit it, but she was actually worried about the pirate.

"Geez Ayeka has been acting like this every day since Ryoko has left," Mihoshi whispered to the blue-haired girl that was preparing breakfast for the rest of the family. "If I didn't know any better I'd think that she actually-"

"That I actually what Mihoshi?" asked Ayeka slowly coming up to Mihoshi with the look of pure murder in her eyes. "You know it's not polite to talk about people behind their backs, especially if you don't know how to whisper correctly. So please if you would, tell me what you were going to tell Sasami about me." Ayeka was slowly backing Mihoshi into a corner where she couldn't escape.

"Well, uh, I…w-was just um…you see…"

"It's not very lady-like to stutter Mihoshi." Sasami was secretly praying to anyone who would listen that Mihoshi wouldn't tell Ayeka what she had been about to tell her.

"O-Of course Ayeka, it was very unladylike of me, m-maybe I should go take some lessons from Sasami some-"

"Mihoshi, I am going to ask you this one more time, what about me were you whispering about." Ayeka asked darkly, now grabbing onto Mihoshi's collar.

"Well, I-I said that if I-I didn't know any better t-that I would think that you a-and Ryoko were f-f-friends."

Uh oh Mihoshi, now you've done it. This is going to be a long morning, Sasami sighed while putting down the knife she was using to cut the vegetables and covering her ears waiting for the inevitable to happen.

"WHAT! I would NEVER be friends with someone like Ryoko!!! How could you think such a thing! That space witch and I are rivals and NOTHING MORE! Me, be friends with her, I laugh at such a thought!" and with that Ayeka went on and on to describe why she would never become a friend of Ryoko's, making Sasami angrier and angrier at the way she spoke to one of her close friends.

"STOP IT AYEKA! How could you say such cruel and nasty things about Ryoko? You know that she was under the influence of Kagoto when she did all that bad stuff. Ryoko has proved time and time again that she is a loyal friend to us all." Ayeka to say the least was surprised at Sasami's outburst and immediately felt ashamed at what she had said.

"Sasami-" she started.

"If you want to talk to me Ayeka, then do it after breakfast, I have to get back to my cooking before the food burns. For now, you can get the others and tell them that breakfast is ready. Mihoshi, could you please set the table for me?" she asked before returning to the pots that were on the stove.

The two girls went their separate ways to help. Nobuyuki and Yosho were easy enough to call for breakfast. It was Washu and Tenchi that she was really worried about. Tenchi wouldn't even mention Ryoko's name let alone talk about her and Washu wasn't her cheerful mischievous self anymore. She hardly ate any of her food and only answered with a 'yes' or a 'no'. Ayeka sighed as she thought of her rival as she went to get the other two members of the family for breakfast.

Meanwhile Ryoko was in the tallest branch of her favorite cherry tree replaying the events that happened three days ago over and over in her mind. How could I have been so cruel? She was crying so hard on the floor, and yet I was ready to damn her to hell. I would have probably done much worse to her if it hadn't been for…Tenchi. Just thinking what you said to me is enough to bring tears to my eyes. 'That is so cold-hearted and…and…monstrous!' 'You, you…make me sick!"

Tears once again trickled down Ryoko's cheeks as they had been for the past three days. Once again she tried to sort out her feelings and thought about the object of her pain…Washu. Making sure once again that her side of her link was completely blocked, she let her emotions run wild in her head.

"Damn it Washu. Now because of you, Tenchi hates me now. The one person I really loved says I make him sick! You want me to call you mother, but how do I call someone my mother who just made the love of my life hate me? Mother, ha! A real mother doesn't give up her child to some power hungry freak! A real mother doesn't perform useless experiments on her daughter against her will. A real mother wouldn't try to seduce the man that her daughter is in love with. Mothers don't ridicule and put down their children every chance they can and make them feel beneath themselves."

"I've got thousands of innocent people's lives on my hands damn it. All because I was created to kill. Kagato told me why I was created. I was created to kill, steal, and destroy. Do you know what that makes sound like? I sound like the devil. All I'd need is horns on my head and I'd be perfect for the job. It looks like I did a pretty good job of it too. But I didn't want to do those things. I killed young and old, strong and weak, the poor and the rich. But in my heart I didn't want to do those things. For some reason, I thought that they deserved to live long and happy lives and I didn't want to ruin it. But that didn't do any good. I have their blood on MY hands and every day I hated you for creating me, creating me to kill those who had done absolutely nothing to hurt me. Kill those who would have grown up to become great people. If you hadn't created me, many of those children would have been able to live long, full, happy lives. If you hadn't created me, dozens of planets would still be here with life booming in them…but you did create me, and for that I have come to hate you with every fiber of my being."

That's a lie you don't hate her with every fiber of your being.

Do too.

You know you don't so quit lying to yourself.

Oh great, I'm having an argument with myself. Ok, I don't hate her with every fiber of my being then what part of me does not hate her?

Your heart…

Back at the house, the family had just finished eating breakfast and was going their separate ways. Sasami went to go wash the breakfast plates with Ayeka following her to finish their discussion. Nobuyuki had gone off to work and Yosho had gone back to the shrine. Mihoshi promptly placed herself on the couch and began to doze off. Washu just sat at the table staring at her hands, and Tenchi dragged himself off into the fields.

"Sasami," Ayeka started timidly.

"Yes"

"I'm really sorry about what I said about Ryoko earlier. It's just that…It's just that, I don't know," Ayeka sighed frustrated. Why did I talk about Ryoko like that? I know it's at the tip of my tongue but I can't figure it out.

"Maybe you badmouthed her because your actually worried Ayeka." At Ayeka's horrified look Sasami continued, "Admit it Ayeka, Ryoko is the best friend you have. She may be your biggest rival but she is also your friend. Haven't you ever noticed that when Tenchi is around, you guys actually act civil with each other? You guys care about each other more than you care to admit and the only reason you two don't share secrets with each other and have fun with each other is because you two are too stubborn to admit that you actually have anything in common with each other."

"But-"

"Not 'buts' Ayeka. You know what I'm saying is true so quit denying it," Sasami interrupted with a hint of power behind her words.

"Alright so I care for the pirate, and yes I'm deeply worried about her. I guess over time she's kind of … grown on me, but you've got to promise not to tell anyone else, especially not the demon woman," whispered Ayeka pleading to Sasami with her eyes.

"Of course I won't tell anybody what you told me, as long as you do me a favor," replied Sasami, a hint of mischief apparent in her eyes.

"S-sure Sasami…what is it?" Ayeka asked, not to sure she liked the spec of emotion that had flashed in Sasami's eyes.

"Nothing much, just wash all the dishes in the sink for me while I take a walk with Ryo-Oki. Thank you!" she yelled as she skipped out the door scooping Ryo-Oki into her arms.

"Aah! How did all these dishes get into the sink? I could have sworn there were only like five in here!" This is all your fault demon woman, but I forgive you. I don't care how many dishes I'm going to have to wash…I take that back, I DO care how many dishes I'm going to wash, but please come home soon. It's so dull and boring here without you.

Tenchi wasn't paying any attention to what he had been doing for the last five minutes and decided there was no point in working in the fields at the moment. Instead, he picked a shaded tree to go and collect his thoughts under. He still couldn't believe what Ryoko had done to Washu that day. How could someone be so cruel to their own mother? I'm here and have no mom and yet I miss her so much whenever I think about her, and Ryoko has a living breathing mom who is right there in front of her that wants to be part of her life and yet she treats her like dirt! What I wouldn't give to be able to see my mother again for just a few seconds. He thought angrily.

"But I didn't have to call her what I did," he said morosely."That look of pain in your eyes causes me to cringe every time I think about it. You confided in me that one day. You finally let all of her walls down around your heart and confided in me telling me how guilty you felt because you killed all of those innocents. You told me how you so helpless and cold-hearted under Kagoto's control and how she had to look into the eyes of nearly every child, mother, father, brother, and sister that you killed. You told me you never wanted to know how it felt like to be controlled again. You looked so vulnerable and scared as you told me about your past. You saw hate, fear, disgust, revulsion, and countless other negative emotions thrown at you, and yet I go and tell you that she is cruel and cold-hearted. You once told me that one-day you wanted to know what it felt like to be loved by someone. You trusted me, and I let you down. It's just that I've never seen so much hate in someone's eyes before, and it was all directed at one person, Washu…" Where ever you are Ryoko, I hope that you are ok and decide to come back home soon. You have to smooth things over with Washu, and I have to apologize for what I said to you. Maybe I don't understand everything that's going on with you and Washu, but you do and you have to make amends with her. You can't truly be happy if you have so much hate pent up inside of you.

Washu had been trying to contact Ryoko for the past three days whenever she could but would always end up getting a major headache. Ryoko had completely cut off the link with an iron wall and there was no way she could reach her or figure out where she was. She would become angrier and angrier as she replayed the events that happened a couple days ago with Ryoko, but grief and sorrow quickly overcame the anger as she remembered what her only daughter had said to her. "Well I'm sorry 'mother', but I DON'T love you and I DON'T want you in my life!"

What could I have possibly done to make her hate me so much? Sure, I may tease her but every parent does. I mean look at Tenchi and his father. Nobuyuki teases Tenchi about being shy around girls and they still have a good relationship with each other. But then again Nobuyuki doesn't belittle Tenchi and make him feel like dirt. I treated her worse than anyone else, and then I expected her to just let me come back into her life and have things the way they were before… She's my daughter and there hasn't been a single instance since we've reunited that I've tried to get closer to her. But I can't help but wonder, how can so much hate be directed at one person? I've got to try and reach her again. Opening her link and trying to locate Ryoko, Washu felt a sudden wave of emotion coming from her daughter, but she couldn't quite place it. It wasn't negative, it felt like…it felt like an emotion that she hadn't felt from her daughter in thousands of years.

Washu felt…love

Back at the tree Ryoko was becoming more and more frustrated with herself. "What do you mean I don't hate her in my heart? The heart is where your feelings come from. So I HAVE to hate her in my heart."

Look in your heart, Ryoko. Ryoko sighed and closed her eyes searching for what was truly in her heart. There was something, something she couldn't quite grasp. There was something that she was looking for that she really needed. It was a…memory.

"Now if I can just get something to help reach the top of the counter, I'll be home free." An eight-year-old determined cyan-haired girl was standing on top of a chair reaching for the cookie jar. Her pink tongue was protruding from the left side of her mouth and her eyes were furrowed in determination as she put all of her concentration into getting to the cookie jar.

"Now…just…a…little…bit…more…" Ryoko pushed herself as she reached for the cookie jar. Mom will never find out and I can finally have one of those delicious cookies.

"Yes! I finally got it!" cried Ryoko teetering on the edge of the chair with the cookie jar in her hand. Suddenly Ryo-Oki appeared on Ryoko's head scaring her and causing her to drop the jar.

CRASH!

"Oh no, mom is going to kill me when she finds out about this. She told me not to eat the cookies until after dinner and I went on after them anyway!" sniffled the little girl. Maybe if I get some of the tacky glue I can glue the pieces together! No, that won't work, it'll take to long. Hmm…how about I go get that new globby stuff that mom just invented. It's just as sticky as glue and should work! But mom told me not to use that, she'll get even madder at me if I do!"

"What am I supposed to do?" wailed the little girl to herself. Unknown to Ryoko, Washu had seen everything through the link that she shared with her daughter.

Just do what is right, Little One. Washu sighed and went back to inputting data into the computer, hoping her daughter would do the right thing. Meanwhile, Ryoko had made up her mind and slowly walked into her mother's lab.

"Mom?"

"Over here, little Ryoko!" Washu called out, wondering what Ryoko would say to her about the cookie incident. Please do the right thing.

"Mom, I have something to tell you. I, uh…I could always say Ryo-Oki did it. Quickly diminishing the thought to continued her confession. "Well you see, I was uh…I-I snuck into the kitchen to get some cookies, and I, uh, I broke it. I'm really, really sorry and I didn't mean to break it." Ryoko concluded hanging down her head in shame. Washu sighed in relief, I knew you would be able to tell the truth my little Ryoko.

"Even after I told you that you weren't to eat those cookies until after dinner you went on and tried to take them without my permission?" Washu asked, her voice suddenly becoming stern.

"I'm sorry."

"I know you are, but I'm still going to have to punish you fo-" Ryoko's eyes suddenly became tearful and she ran into her mother's arms.

"Please don't turn me off! I-I promise I won't do it again. I'll even buy another jar with my allowance. Please let me stay t-this w-way. I-I like being alive." Ryoko sobbed into her mother's neck. Washu's eyes suddenly furrowed and she searched Ryoko's mind. She was shocked at all the insecurities and turmoil that ran through her little girl's mind. Why would she ever want to 'shut off' Ryoko? She was her daughter.

"Ryoko," Washu said soothingly, "what makes you think that I would just shut you off?"

"B-because I'm not even a r-real girl. I-I'm just an e-experiment and I d-do bad things!" sobbed the cyan-haired eight-year-old.

"Ryoko, you are a real girl. You're MY little girl and I would never shut you off. Do you know why?"

"W-why?"

"Because I love you. I always have and I always will. I don't care what other people think, you are my daughter and no matter what you do or what happens I will always love you. I want you to always remember that, you hear?"

"Yes mom, and I love you two," replied Ryoko, now wiping any stray tears from her eyes.

"Now go and clean up the mess while I get dinner ready. And Ryoko, I'm proud of you."

"Proud of me? Proud of me for what?" asked a confused little girl.

"You could have always used the tacky glue, or the 'globby' stuff as you nicely put it, I invented or even blamed Ryo-Oki, but you didn't and you told me the truth.

How did she know what I called her experiment? Hmm… Oh ya, the mind link, so that means that she already knew what I did! Guess I can't keep anything from her, not that I'd want to. Thanks mom and I love you.

I love you too my little Ryoko.

Shaking her head from side to side after reliving that memory, Ryoko only had one thought coursing through her mind…

She loved me.

That's it! End of Story!!!!!!

J/k that's it for this chapter and thanks for all the reviews you guys sent me. That's what pushed me to write this chapter and have it out for ya. Now I've gotta go work on the next chapter and I should have it out soon…I hope. Btw, thanx Bgrubb for the tip of what Ryoko should have said to Washu, I've got a really important place I'm gonna use that in for either the next chapter or the one after it, thanx again!

Disclaimer: umm…I…I don't own Tenchi Muyo or any of its characters, and umm…I don't make any money off of it either…