V: No Need for a Sorority!
A tearful and shell-shocked Ryoko made her way back to Earth, flying across a quarter of the galaxy in her cabbit-vessel. She had left the Border bar in an uncontrollable fury, but now that Earth was within visual distance, tears came down her face like racers in a marathon. She shivered in horror and disbelief, and the giants known as Doubt and Despair began to mercilessly beat her with their mighty clubs. She felt sick enough to vomit, and a million and a half questions ran through her mind as Ryo-ohki descended to Earth.
Ryoko emerged from her vessel with her arms around her waist, and she hugged herself despite the warm mid-morning sun. She looked like she had just been through everything Hell had to throw at her, and in a masochistic rage, had gone back for more. Her golden eyes were quivering with tears, and her face was nearly white in horror. All the zest and zeal that had defined her in the past was now gone--there was only a shell left, a doubtful and horrified shell.
So in a sense, she really couldn't have been any worse off.
When she landed on Earth, or to be more specific, the Masaki residence, the first thing she saw made all her troubles vanish away. Standing there in the field, tending to Ryo-ohki's private patch of carrots, was the man who had thieved from the thief's heart, Tenchi Masaki. For Ryoko, seeing Tenchi was like suddenly emerging from Hell and seeing Heaven right before her; she wept with joy, and called out his name.
"Oh, hey Ryoko!" he greeted warmly. Those three words alone made Ryoko's previous experience seem bearable, and in a joyful sorrow, she flew towards the young man with arms wide open.
"TENCHI!!!!!"
"G'hey, go easy on me!!!" he shouted, figuring that this was just another one of Ryoko's normal greetings. He glared and tried to pry the woman away from him, but as his brown eyes met her golden ones, he suddenly paused. Those eyes were not filled with the usual lustful malice, but with terror and fear and sadness and uncertainty. They were brimming with tears, and Ryoko's normally-constricting arms were as gentle as a child's.
"…Please, Tenchi," she whispered, "just hold me. Please…"
"Ryoko…"
"Hold me please," she whispered again, nestling her chin on his shoulder. Her arms gently folded around his body again, and Tenchi found himself holding and comforting the woman who used to be the galaxy's most terrifying space pirate. Ryoko shivered with joy as he held her close, and she whispered her thanks.
What just happened? she whispered to herself. What is going on? I… I can't believe it! Nagi… no, no!! No!!! She's not… she can't be… she's not! No!! It's impossible! Impossible! She's not my… augh, I can't even think about it! It's so terrifying! It can't be true! It's not!
…It's true that I don't know who my parents were. I don't know how I came into this life, nor why my parents abandoned me. I… I think I was placed on the doorstep of that monastery, and I stayed there until I was about six or so. I… I don't even remember if I had a name or not, I just remember the church, and the priests who took care of me. It's true I was a handful, but… all I really wanted was attention, and someone to love me, and… I wanted to know who I was.
The priests named me Fatima Christina Marcella, after the St. Marcella church where I had been found. I hated that name, but at least it was some kind of symbol that I was loved. I… I guess I made a pretty big mistake by rebelling against them. If I had stayed with them, then maybe I could have grown up all sophisticated and proper, like Ayeka. But, I didn't, and I was thrown out on the streets for my uncontrollable behavior.
I spent the next six years on the streets, turning my anger and wild antics into pick-pocketing. I became skilled--perhaps too skilled, in fact. One day, I stole from the wrong person, and paid dearly for it. Fortunately, all I lost was my pride, but what I gained was infinitely better.
I discovered that I had stolen from the legendary space pirate Ryoko. People would consider it strange if they heard that I was not the real Ryoko, but I guess it's just the way things go. I soon grew to befriend Ryoko--or should I say, study under her. I learned how to thieve from people the professional way, and I got really good at it. One day, around the time I was seventeen or so, I had gotten so good that Ryoko told me her deepest and darkest secret.
She was not the real space pirate Ryoko.
Yeah, it sounded weird to me too, but she told me plain as day that she wasn't the original. Her name had been Emeliayah Rhoggoue, and she had been the one-time student of a woman who also was and was not the space pirate Ryoko. That woman was called Diana Janet Lo, and she had been the student of the one-and-true original space pirate Ryoko--who, as I discovered, had been retired for some time and had been living very well on a private planet she owned.
One can only imagine my surprise as I learned this intimate secret from her. Of course, it all made sense! "Ryoko"--that is, the original space pirate Ryoko--had kept her mystery and infamy fresh by passing her torch of piracy onto her students, and now--because of my increasing skills, I was to become the new space pirate Ryoko. That is how I got my name, my fame, and all the fear and respect a real space pirate deserves.
I never knew I had a sister in the mix……… but with my life as freaky as it's been, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I…… I wouldn't mind having a sister, I really wouldn't… I guess that's just another thing of Ayeka's that I envy… I've always wanted a little sister that would look up to me, and play with me, and keep me company…
But Nagi? That… can't be right!
"Ryoko?" Tenchi's concerned voice broke her thoughts, and she snapped out of her trance to give the man she loved a heartfelt gaze.
"Hm?"
"I, uh… I have to go inside real soon… I, uh, have to study for a test…" Ryoko's thoughtful, sad face grew a slight smile as she picked up the regret in his voice, and she laid her chin on his shoulder one more time.
"Mmmm… just a little longer, please," she whispered. "It feels so good…" Tenchi sighed, and smiled as he held onto the wild woman with gentle arms.
"Ryoko… what's the matter? Is there anything I might do to help?" She smiled even wider as Tenchi sweetly offered to take all her worries off of her shoulders. That was just the kind of guy he was: sweet, caring, compassionate, and willing to do just about anything to make somebody happy. Ryoko genuinely loved him for these reasons, and more. But… even with Tenchi, she just wasn't ready to talk about what had transpired just yet.
"No… just hold me for a little while longer," she whispered. Tenchi smiled and obliged, and Ryoko's worries began to melt away as the man she loved hugged her close. Finally, after two more minutes of silence, Ryoko reluctantly slipped away and looked into his calm, gentle eyes. Without saying a word, she leaned in and gently pressed her lips to his, and for the first time in… well, ever, he did not repulse her advances.
"…Wow," she whispered once the kiss had broken, "you really are a good kisser." Tenchi smiled and blushed just faintly, and apologized for having to go back inside so suddenly. Ryoko understood, and let the young man go back to his studies. Of course, once he left, her smile turned into a sigh, and the sigh became sadness once again as the terrors of recent events crept up on her.
I'm your sister, Ryoko.
Silently, Ryoko walked back inside the house and made her way to her and Ayeka's room. She wanted to either take a nap and forget about everything, or else have a nice long bath, or else have a friendly argument with her dear friend. All three options would ease her pain--perhaps Ayeka would even be willing to share the large Bath House with her.
Ryoko silently floated through the Masaki house until she came to her room. Here, she saw Ayeka sitting at the vanity mirror, brushing out her long violet hair. Ryoko's gaze was far too dead and glassy to pay much attention; the ex-pirate didn't even respond when Ayeka greeted her.
"Oh! Welcome back, Ryoko! So what did Nagi have to tell you?" No answer. Ayeka's concern raised up a notch when all she got was silence, and this notch grew a little higher as Ryoko plopped herself down on the bed and moaned out softly.
"Ryoko?" said a concerned princess. "Ryoko, what's the matter, dear?" Ayeka stopped brushing her hair, and walked over to place a hand on her friend's shoulder. Ryoko remained motionless, folding her arms in front of her and resting her weary head on them. She kept on staring ahead, unresponsive and very much in a state of fear and worry. Ayeka, sensing her friend's negative mood, slowly began to massage her back in an effort to coax anything out.
"Ryoko, tell me what's wrong," said the princess gently. "I'm your friend, Ryoko. You can tell me what's on your mind. I promise I won't get mad or anything. Please, Ryoko, let me help you out. I don't like seeing you miserable like this." Ryoko took a deep breath, and finally spoke to her friend.
"…I don't wanna talk about it," she mumbled. Ayeka's face became full of compassion and a little bit of hurt as she saw her friend suffer in silence, and she rubbed and spoke even gentler.
"Ryoko, if you really don't want to say anything, then I won't force it out of you. But please, dear, remember that you have me here, and I don't want to see you in such poor spirits. You can tell me anything, dear."
"Yeah, I know," sighed the other woman. Ayeka's mood didn't increase at all, but she kept on massaging her friend anyway. When she did stop, Ryoko quietly asked her not to, and said that it felt very good, and she needed all the love and kindness that the princess could muster. Ayeka would smile just barely, and then continued to pour out her compassion.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the news came out.
"…It's about what happened when I went to see Nagi," she murmured. Ayeka's gentle hands grew slightly tense, and her anger began to rise.
"…Did she hurt you, or threaten you in any way?" she asked. "Because if she did, then she'll have to answer to me personally. I've already pardoned you--she knows that!"
"No, it's nothing like that at all," whispered the pirate. However grateful Ryoko had been for Ayeka's pardon (and subsequent oath to protect the woman from any bounty hunters), she was still slightly depressed and altogether in a miserable mood.
"What then?" asked Ayeka, sensing that her friend was ready to talk. A pause, and then she got an unsuspected answer.
"…She claimed she was my sister," said Ryoko in a dead voice. Ayeka froze when she heard this, and didn't do anything except stare ahead in a catatonic state. Her blood chilled a little, but unlike her friend, she recovered slowly and began to massage a little gentler now.
"…Can she back that claim up?" whispered the princess. Ryoko shrugged.
"I don't know… I… I hope not… Cuz', you know…"
"Yes…" murmured Ayeka. She knew full well that the ex-pirate and ex-hunter would not have made great friends. They had hated each other, and seemed to live solely to kill the other one. Their enmity was an old one, and a mysterious one, and one that had caused the residents of the Masaki house a little more trouble than what they were accustomed to. But… family? Nagi was Ryoko's sister?! No wonder the woman was so distraught!!
"…Try not to think about it now," said Ayeka gently. She knew her advice was useless, and that Ryoko would do the exact opposite (as always, poor thing), but she really didn't know what else to do. Ayeka could not sympathize (or empathize) with her new friend.
"Yeah, good luck doing that," muttered Ryoko. Ayeka pursed her lips and began scratching Ryoko's neck, something the pirate enjoyed very much.
"There's nothing else I can do for you except give you comfort," said the princess. "If you want, you can ask Miss Washu whether the claim is real or not, and if you want to talk about it some more… well, I'm always here for you." Ryoko rolled over until she was on her back, reached up, and pulled her friend down so they were holding each other.
"Thanks, princess," said the ex-pirate softly. "…That… really means a lot to me…" Ayeka gave her friend a hidden smile, kissed her cheek, and asked if there was anything else she could have done. "No," sighed Ryoko, "not really. I think I'm gonna go ask Washu about… eh, you know… But, ahh… thanks, Ayeka."
"It is always a pleasure," smiled the princess. Ryoko returned the smile, and placed her hands on the princess' cheeks.
"Hey, gimme a kiss," she said with a faint smile. Ayeka's warm face turned hot in an instant.
"I will not, you savage!" Ryoko suddenly burst out in giggles, and held her friend in a mighty headlock until the princess began to giggle as well. The girls had a brief mock-wrestling match, which Ryoko won, and both women gave each other another warm hug before the pirate left her dearest friend.
"Ryoko?"
"Hm?"
"Take care of yourself, dear."
"I will. Trust me, Ayeka, I will." And with that, she was gone.
As usual, Ryoko didn't knock when she entered Washu's lab--yet for some reason, the petite mad scientist knew just who exactly had came to pay her a visit. The fact that she had her back turned and was currently typing on a computer terminal didn't matter; she could have been asleep and would have known.
"Ahh, little Ryoko!" she called out. "To whom do I owe the pleasure of this most unexpected visit?"
"Can the chat, Washu," moaned an exhausted ex-pirate. "I didn't come here to have tea with you or anything."
"I know!" said the genius with a smile. Putting her files on hold, the little scientist twirled around in her chair and gave her visitor that same enigmatic smirk she usually had--which on normal circumstances, would have meant danger for everything within a 15-mile radius.
"So, what then?" asked Washu, and Ryoko's irritated face became soft, and sad, as she tried forming the words that would alter her entire life. "That face you make…" observed Washu, "…do I really look that old?!"
"Huh? Oh, uh, no, not at all…" Washu chuckled a little as she caught Ryoko off guard, and beckoned the pirate closer with her hand.
"Yeah, it's hard to look so pretty," she boasted. "Why, by the time you reach my age, I'll bet you won't look nearly as good! Hahahahahahaha!!!" To the scientist's surprise, Ryoko smiled a little as well, something she rarely ever did in the presence of Washu. The scientist immediately knew there was something wrong when she saw the taller lady smile, and asked what the problem was.
Sort of.
"Awww, did widdle Wyoko get hurt by that big mean ol' Nagi?"
"Shut up," moaned Ryoko, and Washu grinned as she managed an apology.
"Sorry… but seriously, what's up? If it's about Nagi, you know that you're gonna hafta confront her again. I mean, I know both of you are retired from your… eh, ahem, your 'work', but let's be honest: you and Nagi are bound to cross paths sooner or later! Might as well get it all over with!!" Washu's smiling, bright face was a sharp contrast to Ryoko's downtrodden one, and even the scientist grew serious as she saw just how depressed the taller woman was. Then, from out of nowhere, Ryoko whispered out her darkest question.
"…Little Washu… is Nagi my sister?" Washu immediately grew very grave, for she had been expecting Ryoko to ask such a question for some time. She slowly turned her chair around again, and pretended to resume her work.
"…Why, whatever gave you that idea?" she asked in a very flat voice. "And what makes you think I know?" Ryoko's hand suddenly touched Washu's shoulder, and the little genius looked up to see the former pirate shivering with doubt and fear. That face was one that begged to know the truth, no matter how nasty it might have been, and no matter how impish Washu had been in the past, she was not one to refuse somebody so hungry for the truth. Sighing deeply, the scientist sealed Ryoko's fate with just a handful of words.
"…Yes. She's your sister." A dark silence hovered in the laboratory as Ryoko stared ahead, allowing the horrifying information to sink slowly into her mind. Washu was not the most reliable person in the universe, but when matters became important, she was not one to lie to anybody, least of all about such a difficult subject. Ryoko's hollow silence was indication enough that Washu should prod further.
"…So, she already told you, eh…?" Another dark pause.
"…Yes," came a very faint reply. Washu sighed again, and all the playful antics that both women were famous for had left them.
"This is most unexpected," murmured Washu to herself. "…And unfortunate."
"What do you mean? Unfortunate that I know the truth?"
"No…!" Washu suddenly grew slightly angry, and stood up in an effort to glare calmly at the taller woman. "It's unfortunate because we had to wait so long before we could tell you the news! Unfortunate because Nagi has been carrying that information around with her for the past three years, and only now did she think you were mature enough to handle it! It's unfortunate because you would've probably gone berserk with fury if I didn't intervene!"
"What do you mean?" asked Ryoko. "What does all that have to do with this?"
"Everything!!" shouted Washu, and Ryoko's voice was lost to her as the scientist chewed her out. "Ryoko, do you realize what would've happened if Nagi told you all that three years ago? Huh? Do you realize what I went through just so you could be smart enough, and wise enough, to really take this kind of blow? Do you realize how much danger I put myself in, as well as everyone else?! Huh? Or do you even care?!"
"I don't know what you're talking about!!" replied Ryoko, and neither woman calmed down for some time.
"Three and a half years ago, Nagi came to me asking about her parents!" began Washu. "I did some work for her, and that's when we both found out that the two of you were related! Nagi's reaction was exactly what I thought it would be, but thankfully, she was mature enough to reason out that she needed to tell you! But I advised her not to--not until you had grown up enough to handle such news! So I… I… I, I sent you and Ayeka…"
"Oh, you didn't!!" snarled the ex-pirate. "Tell me you did not!!!"
"Yes, I did," murmured the scientist. "Hate me if you will, kill me if you must, but the fact of the matter is that I was willing to put the two of you through the ultimate ordeal so you could grow up! And I wasn't the only one who felt like you were a bother! Everyone in this house, even Tenchi--no, especially Tenchi--didn't like the way you and that princess fought! They were sick of it! And so there was only one thing I could do!"
"Why… you little…" By this time, all sadness and grief had left Ryoko's system, and in exchange for that, an immeasurable flow of pure anger and white-hot rage boiled through her veins, until it was too much to control and the pirate throttled poor Washu.
"You monster!!! You mean to tell me that YOU were the cause of all that!!"
"Hey! I… was just… trying… to… get you… to…" Washu struggled to release herself from the ex-pirate's fury, but it would've taken the jaws of life to separate the two. Washu did eventually enlist the aid of her machines to break Ryoko's death-grip, and knelt on the floor to gasp for air before she tried speaking again.
"…Listen, Ryoko," she said after she caught her breath, "I never wanted to hurt either of you, I really didn't. I don't like saying this, but you brought it on yourself." A pause. Ryoko's anger had faded slowly, and now the former pirate could look at Washu with a calm but still-enraged face. "Listen," continued the scientist, "if you had been a lot nicer, and kinder, and wiser, then none of that would've happened. But since you've been a pain in the neck for all of us, I had no choice but to reform you the hard way.
"Yet you must understand, little Ryoko… We all really and truly love you here. Everyone at this house, myself included, loves you very much. In fact, Ryoko, I think we love you too much. You didn't deserve anything from us except silence and a turned back, yet because we didn't like it when you were haughty, or when you argued with Ayeka, or when you made a basic pain out of yourself, we wanted to see you reform. We wanted to see the 'good' Ryoko, the one that, thank God, is present right here and now.
"So you see, Ryoko, the old phrase is true." Washu paused, and held up a sagely finger for the other woman. "'You always hurt the ones you love', and my dear, I believe though we may have hurt you a lot, it is only because we all love you so very much. That is the truth."
A long, calm silence floated in the air, and in that time, Ryoko slowly walked towards Washu, her face lined with tears and her entire body quivering. She looked ten times worse than when she had came in, yet not even Washu could've ignored the bright sparkle in the wild woman's golden eyes.
"…I'm so sorry," wept the pirate weakly, and Washu held the crying woman in her arms. Ryoko hugged back, too miserable to care that it was a mad scientist she was hugging, and wept until she could weep no more. "I'm… so sorry…"
"Sshh, it's okay, dear," assured Washu. "It's okay… it's okay… All of that is behind you now, and you have to admit that you're a stronger woman because of it."
"……Yeah…" Ryoko sniffled, managed a weak smile, and cried on Washu's shoulders for a few more seconds before she let the gentle maniac go. Without saying a word, Ryoko turned and walked out of the lab--still in tears, but with a firm determination to her stride.
"Hm? Where are you going?" asked the scientist. A pause.
"To settle things with Nagi," replied Ryoko in a firm but dead voice. The former pirate balled up her fist, and gathered all her courage for one last showdown with her mortal enemy. "I have to face her sometime, just like you said. I might as well get it over with. I… may not like what happens, but I guess that's life. It's time I owe up, it's time I grew up, and it's time I started taking things like a real woman.
"Besides," she said as she glanced back at Washu, "she is my sister." And with one final smile, Ryoko vanished from Washu's dimensional world. The scientist let out a sigh, wished Ryoko good luck, and turned back to her research.
Search: Armand and Anya Stohk, Tg, Minidia System; birth records of space pirate Ryoko; birth records of bounty hunter Nagi.
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Next chapter: Now that Ryoko knows the cold truth, she's off to confront Nagi. Will these two mortal enemies put their differences aside and come together as family? Or will old habits die hard? Next chapter, "No Need for Reconciliation!" It's unquestionably dramatic!