Disclaimer: I don't own Tenchi Muyo or surrounding characters. Any character not associated with the Tenchi Muyo series is my own creation. I do not own any of the quotations, they are property of their rightful owners. So please don't sue me….

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Living On The Edge ~ Summary

* Limited Choices *

~ All sorrows can be borne if you tell a story about them. Karen Blixen

Bottled up inside are the words I never said, the feelings that I hide, the lines you never read.

 You can see it in my eyes, read it on my face: trapped inside are lies of the past I can't replace.

 With memories that linger- won't seem to go away. Why can't I be happier? Today's a brand-new day.

 Yesterdays are over, even though the hurting's not. Nothing lasts forever, I must cherish what I've got.

 Don't take my love for granted, for soon it will be gone- All you ever wanted of the love you thought you'd won.

 The hurt I'm feeling now won't disappear overnight, but someway, somehow, everything will turn out all right,

 No more wishing for the past. It wasn't meant to be. It didn't seem to last, so I have to set him free. Melissa Collette ~

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Ryoko stood with her back to the Masaki residence. A silent breeze drifted across the lake sending small ripples dancing over the crystal surface. A lonely reflection of the ex-space pirate held the moon's glow on the blue water's top. Ryoko closed her eyes.

She kept telling herself over and over again that this was the way it was suppose to be, whether she liked it or not. For four years she had been coaxing Tenchi to choose her over the uptight princess...but time after time, she found her antics to be useless and ineffective.

Now, all that was left was to accept her defeat and move on with her life. She had given up a life of crime when Tenchi had set her free and now she devoted her 700 years of imprisonment and rehabilitation to helping those in trouble. If they needed her, she'd be there to make up for lost time.

Ryoko pulled a camouflage jacket closer around her body. She'd be leaving the only home she had ever known behind. The only people she ever saw as family would also have to be forgotten. She was putting her past behind her and looking forth for a brighter future of good and happiness.

And Kagato? She just kept making herself believe that her 2,000 years of crime and servitude under that bastard was all just a figment of her imagination. 'It's all in my head!' She would say over and over again. But her nightmares would still remind her that it was real and that it had happened.

Ryoko shivered. She turned saddened eyes to her left wrist and frowned. As much as she hated having to go through life without her gem, she knew that, in order to start a new life, she had to wipe her memory of anything having to do with her past. She had to forget all of it.

Her gems. Her mother. Tenchi. Her fights with Ayeka, Mihoshi's clumsiness, Kiyone's ranting and berating of her partner, Katsuhito's undeterminable yet wise sayings of advice. Nobuyuki's hentai personality. Sasami's delicious food and  the little girl's cheery disposition and outlook on life.

And of course, Ryo-Ohki. The one who had been with her through it all. Sad to say, Ryoko even had to forget the small and cuddly cabbit. But, Ryoko knew that her small companion would find comfort and joy with Sasami and Washu. The cabbit, did after all, seem to enjoy the two women's company.

Ryoko was surrendering her fight and allowing herself to grow up and learn how to live without the one man her heart desired. She was sacrificing her whole happiness for Tenchi, for deep down, she knew that she was losing the battle against Ayeka. The prince and princess belonged together.

Ryoko wouldn't have it any other way. Should any other woman receive Tenchi's heart, Ryoko silently prayed that it would be Ayeka.

Ryoko sighed heavily. She closed her eyes and felt the small surge in her left wrist and then the small depletion of her energy as her gem vanished. Ryoko shuddered from the cold more violently now and zipped the heavy coat up to her neckline. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled sadly.

Her feral gold eyes narrowed with certainty as she quickly and quietly made her way down the steps to the streets of Okayama below the Masaki house and the sacred shrine.

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