Chapter 3

AN: Sorry it has been so long since I have updated. A lot of things have been going on since I've started this ^.^;; Oh well. Hope you enjoy.

Ryoko stepped back into the clearing of the Masaki house from her walk in the woods as the sun began to set. She had walked for hours, and yet felt the same. Lost. Confused. Not herself anymore. Retrieving a ladder from the garage, due to she wasn't supposed to be using her powers, she climbed up onto the roof of the house and sat down. Gazing into the fading sun, part of her wondered why it had to happen to her. Had she looked like a victim? Could she have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time? Fear was an emotion she didn't like feeling and now it absorbed her, making her tremble.

"Are you cold?"

She turned around, surprised to hear someone talking to her. "Tenchi," She muttered in a mixture of relief and regret. Part of her wanted to have him close and thank him for doing what he could to help her. The other part was ashamed and wanted to run from him.

"Can I sit down?" He asked her as he walked closer.

She gave a half-hearted shrug as she tried to ignore the uneasiness growing in her stomach. His warmth called out to her as he sat down next to her. Only yesterday would she have thrown her arms around him in a show of affection, but now she wanted to slide away from him.

Without asking again, Tenchi took off his coat and draped it around her shoulders. "It's getting chilly out," He commented as he turned to watch the sunset.

"It's fall again," She replied quietly.

He nodded in agreement.

"Will you be starting college soon?"

He turned his head to regard her in the fading light. "Maybe. It all depends on what is going on here. You never know, someone might need me."

Ryoko snickered, starting to become unnerved by where the conversation seemed to be going. "Yeah. I'm sure the princess would be lost without you."

He sighed in frustration. "I'm sure Ayeka would be fine without me. I guess I am just trying to ask if... are you alright?"

"I- I don't know if I am alright," She admitted honestly. "I just don't really want to think or talk about it."

"I guess I understand that. Did Washu say you were okay?"

"She hasn't finished all the tests yet."

"Oh," He replied.

A silence descended and seemed to fill the space between them, almost tangible. Ryoko tried to concentrate on the sunset, but found that she couldn't. Something was bothering her too much for her to be able to. "Tenchi... I need to know something."

He turned and looked at her, his dark eyes fastened on bruised face. "Anything I can tell you, I will."

The way he stared at her was unnerving. She turned her head so she would not have to see him as she talked. "Why... why did you kiss me earlier?"

"I'm sorry I caught you off guard. I didn't mean to- I mean I didn't think," He sighed. "I'm not sure why I kissed you earlier. It was just like instinct. As if I was making sure you understood that you were safe with me," Tenchi's hand slid over and caught hers, holding it lightly. "Washu said you may not feel safe around people you normally would. Do you feel safe..." He trailed off, not wanting to say the rest.

Ryoko was shocked that he had grabbed her hand. On one point she was happy to have him reaching out to her, but she also felt overwhelmed and scared that he was touching her. Swiftly, she jerked her hand away from him. His eyes went wide in surprise as she suddenly stood up. "I have to go," She managed to croak out as she felt tears starting to well up in the corners of her eyes. She ran to the ladder and climbed down, disappearing into the house as the sun became only a mere glimmer on the horizon.

Tenchi sighed as the sun completely faded from view and made his way off the lonely roof.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dinner passed uneventfully except for neither Ryoko or Washu being present at the dinner table. Washu had decided when Ryoko had returned from her walk that she would ask Sasami to bring them their dinner in the lab so she could finish up her tests and tend to some of Ryoko's wounds. At about ten, Ryoko started to feel tired, due to the exhaustion her body was suffering. Washu offered to let her stay in the lab for the night, but she refused, deciding rather to sleep on her usual spot of the living room couch and to come back in the morning to see if anything else had shown up on the tests Washu was doing.

She made her way upstairs, fetching a blanket from the linen closet and laid down on the couch. Grandpa was back at the shrine by now, and Tenchi's father had most likely retired to his room to watch t.v. Mihoshi and Kiyone were out on patrol no doubt, and she knew that Ayeka tried to make it a habit to have her and Sasami in bed by 9:30. With everyone in their respective spots, all was very calm. And quiet. Very, very quiet. It was dark in the living room, and the silence felt like it clung to her. She tried to think of calming, positive things, but her thoughts kept coming back to last night. Tenchi had only been half right about her feeling safe. She didn't feel safe in general. Her thoughts drifted off on Tenchi. She felt bad for treating him the way she had. After all, hadn't she always craved this attention from him? And even though she didn't feel safe with him, she still wanted to be near him. She still loved him. She knew right about this time he would have just finished up his studying for the night and had taken a shower. He was probably getting ready to walk into his room right now to go to sleep.

For some reason she could not even name, she needed to see him. She needed to have him close. She had to come up with an excuse of course. She suddenly remembered she still had his coat with her. Perfect, She thought. I will just return his coat to him. She decided she would rather meet him in his room rather than barge in on him, so disobeying Washu's directions to not use her powers, she teleported up to his room and sat on the edge of his bed to wait for him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tenchi finished drying off his hair and then secured his bath towel around his waist. Peeking his head out the bathroom door timidly to make sure the hall was clear, he made his way to his bedroom. One could never be too cautious in this house. He walked into his room and shut the door before noticing that she was sitting on the edge of the bed. Rather than being embarrassed, he was rather relieved. "I didn't expect to see you here." He said as he put a hand on his towel to hold it firmly in place. He expected a lecherous comment to escape her lips, but that was before he remembered she was probably not in the mood to do that.

"I thought I would give you back your coat," She said timidly, holding it out to him.

He muttered a thank you as he took it from her and draped it over the chair of his desk. He turned back and looked at her, simply locking gazes as neither spoke until Ryoko cleared her voice awkwardly and turned her back to give him privacy. He changed into his sleep clothes as fast as he could, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. "You can turn around now," He said after a moment.

Ryoko turned around to find him in a pair of dark cotton sweat pants and a white t-shirt. Ryoko herself had on a white shirt and a pair of hunter green shorts. She was getting ready to speak, when he cut her off.

"I wanted to apologize to you Ryoko. I was acting like an idiot up on the roof tonight. You've had something rough happen to you and I shouldn't just expect you to bounce back. Please... I'm sorry for how I've been acting Ryoko. I will just give you your space."

She looked up at him for a moment, hurt. He watched as she slowly stood up from her spot on the bed and walked over towards him, stopping with only a breath's space between them. Tenchi had grown since she first met him, and now she could look him directly in the eye. They were not exactly the same height, but now she hovered only a mere two inches above him. Raising a hand, she cupped one of his cheeks, fighting down the uprising of nervousness at touching him. "Tenchi," She murmured, "I don't want any space. I'm confused... scared. Can I please stay here tonight?"

He was caught off guard by her confession, never believing she would have voluntarily shown her vulnerability. He covered the hand touching his face with his own. "Of course," He replied. He let go of her and stepped away, going to the bed and laying down, pushing himself into the furthest corner to leave her plenty room.

Ryoko crawled onto the bed and curled up as close as possible to him, wrapping her arms around him and tucking her head under his chin. "Thank you," She muttered under her breath, fighting back tears.

Surprised for a moment, he wrapped an arm around her slender form, feeling the silkiness of her hair tickling the underside of his chin. "No problem," He said softly. She started to shake, crying silent tears. Tenchi held her without saying anything else, simply trying to comfort her.