No Need for a Long Night
Ryoko could not believe her eyes. Kagato... he's gone... he's finally
gone! Her eyelids suddenly became very heavy, and she soon welcomed the
warmth of sleep.
-Later...-
Ryoko's eyes fluttered open. She had no idea how much time had past, but
apparently the others had also collapsed from exhaustion and had not awoken.
Ryoko stared at their bodies and realized that she had no place here. Not on Earth,
not with Tenchi. She was all alone. Tenchi and Ayeka were destined to be
together. How could she possibly compete with destiny? She decided that she
should leave as soon as possible and began to head in the direction of the main
hall, where Ryo-ohki was still wedged in.
"Ryoko?" a small voice broke into Ryoko's thoughts.
Ryoko turned to see a newly awakened Sasami.
"Where are you going, Ryoko?" Sasami asked.
"Away," Ryoko replied coldly.
"Are you coming back?"
Ryoko turned on her heel and responded, "No."
"Why?
"There's nothing for me here now."
Sasami titled her head to the side slightly. "But what about Tenchi?"
Ryoko cringed. How can she be so naive?! "He doesn't need me. He has
Ayeka."
"But Tenchi will be really sad if you leave."
"He'll get over it."
"But I thought you _liked_ Tenchi."
"I do, Sasami, but he'll never 'like' me."
"Why not?"
Ryoko turned around and glared at the small girl. "'Why not?' '_Why
not?!_' Look at me, Sasami! I'm a monster! I can shoot energy beams, I can fly!
News flash: I'm not human!" she snapped.
Sasami examined Ryoko. "You seem human to me. Besides Tenchi doesn't
care about that."
"You're impossible!"
Sasami smiled, "I know."
Tenchi groaned as he stirred. He sat up and shook his head.
Ryoko glared at Sasami. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Sasami just smiled and ran over to help Tenchi up.
"Thanks, Sasami," said Tenchi. He walked over to Ryoko and stared into
her eyes. "I'm sorry."
Ryoko looked puzzled. "For what, Tenchi?"
"Your mom... it's all my fault," Tenchi said, blinking back tears.
"No, Tenchi it's not your fault."
"I should've stayed with her! I should've fought longer!" Tenchi cursed
himself angrily.
"Tenchi, you did what you could. You shouldn't have any regrets," said
Ryoko.
"You shouldn't blame yourself for something you couldn't avoid," a newly
awakened Ayeka agreed.
"Now, wouldn't this all have more of a point if I was really dead?"
The four friends turned to the origin of the voice and collectively gasped.
"Washu?!" they said in unison.
Sure enough Washu stood before them, completely unscathed.
"B-b-but how?!" Tenchi exclaimed. "Kagato said that-"
"You can stop right there. 'Kagato said that' which usually means it's not
true, and as you can plainly see he was lying. The coward left me in the lab when
it had a huge hole in it," Washu explained.
"Mom, I'm so glad you're alive," Ryoko exclaimed excitedly. She embraced
her mother lovingly. Then Ryoko suddenly grabbed the short redhead by the collar
and lifted her up to eye level. "Don't you _EVER_ do that to me again!!"
Washu sweatdropped. "I'll make a note of that." She looked over Ryoko's
shoulder a Tenchi and teleported out of Ryoko's grip. She reappeared nose to nose
with Tenchi. "Hmm... interesting."
"Miss Washu, if you were alive, then why didn't you help in the fight?"
Ayeka asked.
Washu was busy examining Tenchi head to toe. She replied without taking
her eyes off of Tenchi, "Because Tsunami told me not to."
"Tsunami?" Sasami asked. "Ohh... so _that's_ who she was talking to."
"You mean you heard her?" Ayeka asked.
"Well kind of... I knew she was talking to someone, but I couldn't make out
what she was saying."
"But why would she tell Mom to stay out of the fight?" Ryoko wondered.
Washu replied again while inspecting Tenchi (making him very nervous),
"Tsunami was convinced that if Tenchi saw Ryoko and Ayeka in danger, then the
necessity to fight would cause Yosho to emerge. She was right."
"Hey, all our wounds are gone. How did that happen?" Ayeka wondered
aloud.
"Tsunami was able to heal the burns and broken ribs," Washu answered,
still examining Tenchi.
Ryoko could not hold in her temper anymore. She grabbed Washu by the
back of the shirt and turned so she was between Tenchi and Washu. "You know
that is getting _very_ annoying," said Ryoko.
"Don't worry, Ryoko. My interest in him is purely professional," Washu
explained.
"'Professional?' What do you mean by professional?" Ryoko asked.
"You know... 'professional.' As a scientist I find him very interesting. It's
not everyday you meet someone who can convert energy into matter. It totally
violates the Theories of Conservation of Energy and Matter! It's amazing! I must
find out how it's possible!" Washu said, her eyes sparkling with glee.
Tenchi gulped. I don't like the sound of that, he mused.
Suddenly, a large fissure formed between Tenchi's feet. "Uh... guys. This
doesn't look good!" Tenchi exclaimed.
"Uh-oh. You know, now that I think about it, I seem to remember Kagato
asking me to install a self-destruct program into the _Souja_," Washu recalled.
"Now you tell us!" Ryoko exclaimed. "Everyone get to Ryo-ohki!"
They all nodded in agreement and followed Ryoko's lead to the main hall.
By the time they reached their destination, the _Souja_ was trembling violently.
Tenchi could not shake the feeling that something was missing. "Sasami!" Tenchi
realized. "Sasami's missing!" Tenchi called out.
Ayeka frantically looked around. "I can't see her anywhere! I'm going after
her!" Ayeka ran towards the corridor they had just come out off
"No! You stay here, I'll find her," Tenchi said as he dashed off.
"Oh, no! You're not going without me!" she started after Tenchi when
another tremor jarred a piece of the ceiling loose, and it crashed down in front of
the doorway, separating Tenchi and Ayeka. She ran at the pile of rubble and began
to dig through it. She had to save Sasami. Another tremor rocked the starship,
sending Ayeka tumbling rather ungracefully backwards.
"This whole ship is going to shake itself apart in a matter of minutes!"
Washu informed. "We've got to get out of here!"
Ryoko turned and stared daggers at Washu. "We're not leaving Tenchi
behind!"
"We'll pick him up in Ryo-ohki, but we can't do that if we're dead! Now
let's go!" Washu exclaimed as she ran towards Ryo-ohki.
Ryoko grabbed Ayeka by the back of the collar and began to drag her
towards the living spaceship. "Come on, Princess! We're leaving!" As soon as
Ryoko and Ayeka entered Ryo-ohki, Washu took off and began to circle around
the _Souja_ to evacuate Tenchi and Sasami.
-Inside the _Souja_-
Tenchi ran at a dead sprint through the _Souja_ while calling Sasami's
name. Suddenly one of the bulkheads exploded, the shock wave sending Tenchi
reeling. He looked at his right arm and cringed. The sleeve of his shirt/armor was
gone, and Tenchi's right arm was burnt badly. He slowly stood up and staggered
down the next corridor. He saw Sasami lying down on the floor, blood running
down the right side of her face.
"Sasami!" he called as he dashed to her side. "Sasami, speak to me!"
Her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at Tenchi and smiled, "Tenchi... you
came back for me..." Suddenly a large black spike rammed through the wall on
Tenchi's right directly behind him. Ryoko peered out and exclaimed, "Tenchi,
we've got to get out of here!"
Tenchi nodded and picked Sasami up. "Let's go."
After Ryoko, Ayeka, and Sasami were inside, Ryo-ohki wedged itself out. A
mere second later explosions rocked the _Souja_, sending shock waves that sent
Ryo-ohki tumbling end over end. Finally, one huge explosion that completely
destroyed the _Souja_ launched Ryo-ohki towards Earth on a collision course.
"The dive's too steep! We're going to burn up!" Washu informed.
Ryoko fought with the controls to try to lessen the dive. She succeeded in
that, but they were still going way too fast. Washu quickly produced her astral
laptop and caused a hole to appear in the middle of the sky. Ryo-ohki plunged into
it, and they were immediately transported to a vastly empty space... except for the
ground.
"Dammit, Washu! Why couldn't you transport us somewhere in space!"
Ryoko yelled while trying to level out the dive more.
"I was a little rushed, Ryoko! It's better than demolishing a whole
neighborhood somewhere!"
Ryoko opened her mouth to retaliate, but one of Ryo-ohki's bottoms spikes
scraped the ground and sent the ship bouncing and skidding across the ground.
Shards of biometal were torn from the hull. Whole spikes were severed. When
Ryo-ohki finally skidded to a halt several minutes later, she was barely anything
more than a pink orb. Everything had turned upside down once the internal
compensater blew, and Tenchi, Washu, Ayeka, and Sasami were lying on the roof.
Ryoko, however, was hanging on to the pilot's seat with her legs and feverishly
working on the controls, worry evident on her face.
"No, no, no! Come on Ryo-ohki hang in there!" she instructed the ship.
With a final "Miya..." all the lights in the cockpit dimmed. The monitors
fizzed out. Ryo-ohki was dead.
Ryoko growled and smacked the panel. She ran her fingers through her
long, cyan hair and sighed. She released her hold on the chair and landed next to
Tenchi. She examined his arm and asked, "You OK?"
Tenchi nodded. "I'm fine," he replied as he stood.
"You were so brave standing up to Kagato like that," Ryoko said while
wrapping an arm around his neck.
A very large sweatdrop appeared on Tenchi's forehead. "It was nothing
really," he said nervously.
Ryoko smiled mischievously, "Courage like that should be rewarded."
Tenchi swallowed, "What do you mean, 'rewarded?'"
"I think you know what I mean," she said, a gleam in her eye as she ran her
fingers in small circles on his chest. "Your arm looks pretty torn up. Why don't
you let me kiss you and make it feel better?"
Tenchi stumbled backwards and stammered, "N-N-No, that's all right. I'm
fine."
Ayeka quickly grabbed a lock of Ryoko's hair and pulled her off of Tenchi.
"Miss Ryoko! Will you quit bothering Tenchi already?! If you had a shred of
common decency, you'd..."
"Enough!" Washu interrupted. "Can you wait to argue after we get home?"
"Sure," Ryoko muttered.
"Yeah," Ayeka agreed.
"Good," Washu said as she summoned her astral PC. With a few tapped
buttons, the quintet found themselves right outside the entrance to Washu's lab.
But something was seriously wrong.
"Uh... Mom, where's the house?" Ryoko asked. Sure enough, Tenchi's
house was on the left, but the Hakubi house was gone.
"Oh, no... how could I have been so stupid?!" Washu exclaimed. "The other
two gems!"
"That's right! The other gems were in my night stand!" Ryoko's face paled.
"And when Yosho killed Kagato..." Washu continued.
"The gems exploded and destroyed our house!" Ryoko finished. She
groaned, "The perfect end to a perfect day."
"Looks like it's sleeping on cots in the lab tonight," Washu said.
Tenchi shook his head, "Don't be ridiculous. You guys can stay at my house
for however long you need to." He turned to Ayeka and Sasami, "The same goes
for you two. So what do you say?"
"W-w-we couldn't possibly..." Ayeka started.
"Yay!" Sasami interrupted. "Oh, can we, Ayeka? Can we, can we, can we?"
"Well I uh..." Ayeka stammered.
"Pleeeeeeeeease?" Sasami begged while giving Ayeka that puppy-dog eye
look.
"Don't look at me like that! All right fine," Ayeka said.
"Yay! We're going to have a slumber party!" Sasami exclaimed.
"OK, now I have the bed which can hold two, and I've got the two couches
in the living room. I can sleep on the floor the living room," Tenchi suggested.
"That won't be necessary, Tenchi. You can have your bed I think you've
earned it. Ryoko and I will sleep on the floor," informed Washu.
"But my bed can hold two, it doesn't make sense for me to take the whole
bed for myself," Tenchi insisted. He realized just what he had said an instant after
he said it.
Ryoko phased in behind and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're
right Tenchi. It would be _very_ rude of you to take that whole bed for yourself,
but if you let Ryoko sleep with you..." Ryoko whispered into his ear.
Tenchi blushed fiercely and replied, "Ryoko, that's not what I meant."
"I know that's not what you meant, but would it be so bad?" Ryoko asked,
her voice sultry.
"I, uhh..." Tenchi sputtered.
Washu grabbed her daughter by the arm and pulled her off. "Don't you ever
think outside your hormones?!"
"I'm 15, of course not!" Ryoko replied.
Washu released a sigh of exasperation, and lead Ryoko back into the house,
followed by Ayeka and Sasami.
Tenchi sighed and looked up at the stars, "It's going to be a long night."