VII: No Need for Sisters!

Fires were a common sight in Washu's lab, and this one particular flame was caused by a simple breath of air. When Washu blew out an exhausted breath, her reddish hair flew up into the air, creating a kind of aerial flame. This blaze was harmless, and considering Washu's weary condition, there would be no other fires started that day--or perhaps even that week.

The smallish scientist had been dedicating most of her time to downloading information about Ryoko and Nagi. Ever since the unruly bounty hunter had asked Washu to perform a background check of her parents, the little genius had been obsessed with finding out more information on them. The fact that Nagi never knew who her parents were was interesting on its own, but when combined with another shocking discovery that Washu had made……

When Nagi had asked to make a background trace, Washu had expected to find matches with a man and a woman, and then the huntress herself. What she didn't expect to find was that Nagi actually had another close match to her DNA out there--so close, in fact, that this other person was Nagi's twin. To make things even more surprising, the data on this fourth person and the data on Ryoko were perfectly the same. In other words, Ryoko was Nagi's twin sister.

So, Washu had a pretty good reason to be obsessed with all this. Up until recently, nobody had known a whole lot about Ryoko: not her family, not her origin, not even her real name. Tenchi and Ayeka knew a little more than anyone else, but there were secrets about the former space pirate that not even she herself knew--which was why Washu was performing an advanced search. The self-proclaimed "greatest genius in the universe" had dedicated a lot of her time and resources to tracking down these two elusive people, and surprisingly, she didn't come up with a lot--not yet at least.

That would also explain why she was so tired. Washu had spent a lot of time digging up the clues, and while she would sometimes run into something intriguing, most every turn ended up being a dead end, or the clues were false or misleading. But she had patience, and figured that since her computer was extremely advanced (approximately 5,682 years ahead of Earth's technology), she could wait a little while longer.

Besides, there was nothing else to do.

Kiyone had almost made her visits to the terrace a habit of hers, in that she went there every single morning. Most of the time she went by herself, though sometimes Ryoko would show up, and even Mihoshi would be there every once in awhile. But for the most part, she was all alone--she woke up at an early hour to ensure this. Both Mihoshi and Ryoko were infamous sleepyheads, and Kiyone was a morning person anyway, so she took her advantages as they came.

Today, as usual, she was by herself. Kiyone usually just looked out at the beautiful world before her, and allowed her cares to slip away as she gazed at the forest. The land was especially beautiful in spring or autumn, when everything was either in bloom or else an explosion of golden colors. Kiyone always seemed to have one worry or another on her mind, so her visits to the terrace had become quite frequent.

Mihoshi, as usual, was just one of these worries. Kiyone still couldn't stand her scatterbrained partner, and at times genuinely detested the other woman. Mihoshi was very sweet and very kind, and about as pure-hearted as they came, but she had the brain of a two year-old and the attention span and the grace to match. It was difficult to hate her, if one didn't hang around her too long, but after being in close proximity to Mihoshi for so long, it soon became difficult to love her.

Not that Kiyone tried, of course. She was, in a sense, the perfect woman, in that she was so blatantly ordinary and in fact very much human--thus perfectly imperfect. She had a very wide range of emotions, mostly irritation and annoyance, though her love, pity, and guilt could be just as strong. She had a well-developed list of likes and dislikes, and had problems and victories just like any other person. She was good at her primary job but not excellent, and performed well enough around the house.

I just let my thoughts wander wherever they want, she said to herself. Just then, Kiyone finally got some company, and though she usually was not in the best of moods to see Mihoshi, today she felt in too good a mood to rebuke the other woman. Deep down inside--very, very, very deep down inside--Kiyone loved her partner quite a bit, and considered her something of a friend.

"Huuaaaaaaa…… m-morning, Kiyone…" yawned Mihoshi. Kiyone gave her partner a sweet smile and allowed Mihoshi to join her.

"Morning, Meesh. You doing okay?"

"I'm feeling a little woozy in the stomach," replied Mihoshi, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I don't know if I'm sick or just nervous about something. Do you ever get those feelings?" A pause.

"Yeah… all the time…" Mihoshi nodded her head, a smile absent from her face for once, and leaned on the railing of the terrace. Looking out at the peaceful world usually put the police officers in a good mood, and thankfully, today was no exception.

"Maybe you're just not feeling your usual self," suggested Kiyone. Mihoshi shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure it'll pass… Maybe it's just another part of being human." Kiyone softly smiled at her partner's sudden wisdom, and in a moment of friendliness, placed her arm around Mihoshi. The other police officer smiled, and the two of them shared a very rare moment of peace together before heading off to their job.

"…and that's the entire story." Princess Ayeka took a deep breath, and cleared her throat with some water while waiting for everyone else's reaction. She had just informed them about the whereabouts of Ryoko (since Sasami had asked where she was), and although she herself didn't know what had happened, she was the only one that the former pirate had spoken to about the matter, so it fell upon her to tell everyone else.

"I still don't believe it…" muttered Tenchi. "To think that all this time, Ryoko and Nagi were sisters…"

"I heard it and I still don't believe it!" stated Nobuyuki. "Just imagine, Ryoko fighting her sister all that time! It really boggles the mind…"

"I only wish I knew more," sighed Ayeka quietly. "But the poor girl left without saying much of anything. Washu told me where she went, but she's been locked up inside that lab of hers ever since, so I haven't been able to get anything out of her." Suddenly, as if on cue, an explosion of smoke erupted out of Washu's lab, and the house shook a little from the impact. Everybody took one look at the door that led to the woman's lab, then resumed listening to Ayeka as if nothing had happened at all.

"Anyway," said Tenchi, "I hope Ryoko's all right. Her and Nagi might be related, but that doesn't give them any right to like each other. They just might change from bitter enemies to bitter siblings, and nobody would get anywhere after that."

"I beg to differ," said Ayeka wryly. "Ryoko's changed a lot since the old days, and I don't mean our close friendship. She's more of a lady now, and though she may never have much class in her, and I can't blame her for that, you must admit that it's like being with a whole other person." Heads nodded in agreement.

"…But the question remains," spoke Katsuhito. "Is she all right, or do you think we need to help her?"

"It's Ryoko," noted Tenchi. "She can take care of herself. I'd be concerned if it was anyone else, yeah, but…"

"I understand perfectly," agreed Ayeka. "I mean, it's not like we don't care about her. It's just that, well, Lord Tenchi is right. She can handle things on her own. But that does not prevent us from worrying."

"Ahh, worrying'll get you nowhere," said Nobuyuki with a wave of his hand. "I know we're all concerned, but if we keep on fretting like this, then we won't get anything done. I say we just put our faith in Ryoko and try to go about the rest of the day." Everyone agreed with Tenchi's father, and soon disbanded to attend to their individual duties. Sasami would go about her usual homemaker tasks, and Katsuhito would attend to the shrine while his son-in-law went to work. Tenchi would probably work in the field, since he had the day off of school, and Ayeka would…

"Excuse me, Lord Tenchi?" He turned around to see what she wanted.

"Yes, Lady Ayeka?" A pause. Ayeka's cheeks blushed slightly, and she tried to hide the expression on her face with her hand. Even after transforming herself from a snotty brat into a warm-hearted woman, Ayeka still had troubles expressing her feelings toward Tenchi. Fortunately, she was getting a lot better at it.

"…May I speak to you for a moment? …In private? I have something to say."

"Sure," he shrugged, and the two found a secluded place outside to chat.

Next chapter: Yes, I know that was a very short chapter with not a whole lot of development, but its main purpose was to lead on into others, most notably the next four. For now, what do you think Ayeka wants to tell Tenchi? Find out next time in "A New Need". It's unquestionably solemn!