I sat in complete silence in the jail cell. I heard a whimper from the bunk next to mine. I ignored it, not really wanting to have anything to do with humanity at the moment. The noise came again, and I managed to open my eyes and turn my bruised and battered face to the side. It was dark, but I could clearly see the outline of a small child, at the oldest two. The kid stepped into the small patch of moonlight shining through the barred window, and I saw that 'it' was a little girl. Her strawberry- blonde hair was matted with dirt and blood. Her golden eyes were filled with fear and there were tearstains on her cheeks. The fact that they would put a child, so innocent and fragile, into a hellhole of a place like this made me sick.

I sat up painfully, feeling the wound on my abdomen re-open and begin to bleed again as I breathed in. I steadied myself and held my hand out to the child, not wanting to frighten her but wanting to comfort her somehow. After all, I had always had a soft spot for children. She wrapped her tiny hand around my index finger and whimpered again.

"Mommy." She muttered and coughed a bit. The cough shook her whole body and sounded awful, it was obvious she needed immediate medical attention.

She took a few steps towards me. I tried desperately to swallow the lump in my throat and looked at the child sadly. It was obvious she was a victim of war, left with no parents. I knew they had been killed in the war. I heard footsteps and the lights flickered on. The little girl tried to run towards me, but her legs were unstable and she fell, doing a face- plant into the stone floor. Her cries filled the room and I immediately stood up, my own legs weak from blood loss and malnutrition. I quickly steadied myself and picked her up off of the floor, falling backwards onto the bed from light-headedness.

I closed my eyes and the child clung onto me, sobbing uncontrollably and grabbing at my shirt. I held her close and patted her back, offering as much comfort as I could. The footsteps in the hall grew closer and louder, and I peered around the corner of the cot. The guard dropped off two bowls of grayish liquid and walked away. I waited until he was gone, then I quickly picked up the bowls and set them on the cot in front of the child. Her sobbing had subsided and now she only occasionally hiccuped. I dipped my finger into one of the bowls and tasted the gruel. It was bland and awful, but I knew the child would die if she didnt get something into her system. I pulled her into my lap and grabbed a spoon, slowly feeding it to her. She spit it up a few times, but otherwise things went well. She finished off both bowls in the end, and fell asleep in my arms. I smiled down at her, thinking maybe, just maybe, I could help her get out of here someday.

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Meanwhile back on earth...

Alarms were going off everywhere. Washu was quickly jolted out of her peaceful slumber and thrown into a world of chaos. Her senses quickly responded, sending her fingers flying across the keys of her holo-laptop. Screens popped up all over the place, and the alarms were disabled. She blinked, now fully alert, and looked at the source of the alarm in shock.

"It can't be..." She whispered, tears of joy trickling down her cheeks.

But it was true; she had finally been found. But just as she got her hopes up, the radar flashed off-screen. She quickly ran out of the lab, going as fast as her short legs would carry her. As she rounded the corner, she slammed into Ryoko. She recovered quickly and began babbling.

" Ryoko! Oh thank the gods you're here! Alright listen it's a long story but I need you to take Ryo-ohki into space and pick-up..." She slapped her forehead as her eyes rested upon Ryoko's slightly protruding belly. "What am I thinking?! You're in your first trimester of course you can't go."

Ryoko just stared blankly at her mother thinking. 'Dear god, she has finally crossed that line between genius and insanity.'

It wasn't long before washu ran off again, leaving ryoko extremely confused. Washu yelled tenchi's name as she ran up the stairs, collapsing as she got to his door and falling into his room. He sat at his desk, drawing the blueprint for a nursery. Washu caught her breath, grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of his room and downstairs to the living room where ryoko sat watching TV. Washu quickly grabbed the channel changer and turned it off.

"Hey whats the big idea!" Her protest was cut short by washu, who quickly collapsed in an empty chair.

"Talk now, soap operas later, ryoko."

Tenchi sat down next to ryoko and put his arm around her shoulders, and ryoko snuggled up to him, lying her head on his chest. Washu smiled, glad to see her daughter so. well. happy. But more important topics needed discussion.

"Alright..." Washu started, taking a deep breath. " Ryoko, after kagato took you away from me, I made a little sister for you so that when you came back and I was gone you wouldn't be all alone. When kagato captured me I thought he had destroyed her, but just now I got a reading on her somewhere near Keraplata, in jail."

Ryokos face was a mask of happiness and shock. Washu held up a finger signaling she wasn't finished speaking yet.

"The reading disappeared, which means they blocked me from making any transmissions, but I know where she is. Now I know this is a big thing to ask of you, but tenchi, will you go and pick up my daughter?"

Tenchi nodded slowly. Washu smiled and threw her arms around him, and ryoko did the same. "Thank you." Washu whispered through her tears.

After about five minutes of hugs and tears washu gathered herself and whistled loudly. "We don't have much time, tenchi. They're moving as we speak."

Tenchi stood and helped his wife up. Ryoko kissed him with tears in her eyes. He looked at her with concern. "Whats wrong?" She shook her head. "Im gonna miss you." He frowned. "I'll hurry back, I promise."

Washu walked over to her daughter and hugged her tightly. They had become a lot closer in the past year, and ryoko returned the hug gratefully. So much had changed. Everyone was happy though, and now wasn't the time to contemplate life situations. Washu ran into the lab, tenchi and ryoko trailing behind, hand in hand. She conjured up a spaceship that looked like a cross between the souja and ryo-ohki and handed a big manual to tenchi. Tenchi held ryoko for what seemed like hours to washu, kissing her hair and neck and whispering reassuring words into her ear. Finally, after pulling her into a passionate kiss and telling her he loved her about 100 times, he broke the embrace and boarded the ship. Washu transported the ship into midair outside, where they waved goodbye to tenchi from the ground. He accelerated the ship's speed, and in a matter of seconds he was gone.

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I sat with the sleeping child in my arms, brushing the hair out of her face, doing what I could to keep her as comfortable as possible. Her cough had gotten worse, and I knew that if she was to survive, we had to get out of here soon. I heard the footsteps again, but this time the light did not turn on. I set the child down on the cot and walked over to the barrier. My heart and mind raced as I peered into the darkness, searching for what had made the noise. I leaned up against the barrier. I saw a blinding flash of light and then I fell, the barrier had been disabled. I quickly scrambled to my feet and looked around anxiously. A young man with black hair stood in the corner, his face a mask of worry and confusion, his finger over his mouth in signal for me to be quiet.

I walked over to him cautiously, still not trusting the silent stranger. "Who the hell are you?" My tone came out harsher than I had intended, but it got the point across.

He stood there for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "I came to get you out of here, now lets go."

He grabbed my wrist and I pulled away. I walked over to the cot and wrapped the child in the thin blankets, cradling her carefully in my arms. I nodded to the man, and he returned the gesture. Calmly but quietly we both walked out of the cell and into the long, narrow hallway. He stopped me at the end, warning me that there was an alarm and that we would have to run to the ship to get away. I prepared myself, tucking the child under my jacket so that I could run faster.

We slammed open the door and ran as fast as we could, me lagging slightly behind the man because of the weight of the child. It seemed like forever before we reached the ship. When we were had safely boarded I collapsed onto the couch. The little one I had come to call mikyla cried and coughed, and I comforted her as best as I could. After we got out of range of the prison, I confronted the man, being as un-hostile as possible.

I cleared my throat, and he turned around, a goofy childish grin on his face. " We lost them." He was still breathless and sweaty, but he seemed happy.

I nodded slowly. "Im sorry about being so rude back there. When you are in a place like that, you learn not to trust many people. I'm still a bit confused though; I mean I am grateful but... why did you save me?"

He paused for a moment. "I was sent by your mother. I know you don't remember her but she remembers you. I think you will want to hear the story from her."

I breathed in deeply. I had been orphaned at birth, I didn't even know my mother was still alive. I heard a small whimper and I picked mikyla up, cradling her close to my chest. " How long until we get there?"

"About eight hours." He wiped the sweat from his brow and sat down. "We didn't exactly have time for introductions back there either. I'm tenchi masaki, and I don't believe washu told me your name before I left...."

"Koneko hakubi," I pointed to the child. "And this is mikyla... I don't really know her last name."

He gave me a quizzical stare. "Isn't she yours?"

I shook my head no. "Her parents were killed in the war, and unfortunately she was found by a member of the enemy side and put in that awful hell-hole of a jail."

He sighed and looked at the little girl with concern on his face. " She looks so innocent. I can't believe they would do that to a kid."

I nodded. "My thoughts exactly." I then stood up, placing the child on my hip. She clung to my neck and whimpered lightly. "Sleepy." Her speech was muffled and slightly slurred, but we both understood her anyway.

"There's a bedroom down the hall and to the right. Have a nice rest." He smiled and waved to mikyla. "Sweet dreams little one."

I smiled. If he ever had kids, he would make a good dad. "Thanks... for everything. I... we really appreciate it."

"It's no problem, really. I'll wake you up about half an hour before we get there so you can get ready. There are a few extra pairs of your sisters clothes in the closet that you can change into."

I smiled. "Thanks again." I walked down the hallway, finding the bedroom easily. I stripped down and hopped into bed, placing mikyla beside me. She looked so cute, lying there with her thumb in her mouth, her face flushed with fever.

I woke up many times, just to make sure she was comfortable and was still breathing. A knock on the door easily brought me out of my light sleep. I muttered something about being up but he opened the door anyway. Somehow I had managed to kick all of the blankets off of me and onto mikyla while still asleep. He blushed furiously and I froze, not able to do or say anything for a moment in time.

He quickly closed the door. "Im very sorry..." His voice cracked.

I snickered lightly, but luckily he didn't hear. "Don't worry about it, I'm not traumatized for life, I just hope you aren't."

I heard what sounded like a 'thud' on the other side of the door and I sat up in confusion. "I...err...umm...well...no." I then heard footsteps running quickly down the hallway away from the door.

As soon as I couldn't hear him anymore I burst out laughing, unfortunately waking mikyla in the process. She began to cry. It was understandable, waking up in a strange place. I held her and tried to comfort her as best I could while picking out clothes. I bathed picked out a simple black and red kimono that brought out my hair and eyes. I dressed quickly so that I would have time to bathe the child before we landed. I washed and dried her clothes, and brushed her hair out. She was really a very beautiful little girl, even with all she had been through.

I went out to the bridge of the ship where Tenchi waited for me. He blushed lightly when he saw me and I smiled.

"Are you ready?" His hand was resting on the handle of the exit hatch. I took a long, deep breath and cleared my head, desperately trying to rid myself of the butterflies in my stomach.

"As ready as I'll ever be." The hatch opened and all of the sudden we were standing on grass instead of metal. There was a very nice house before us, and we walked briskly down the short dirt path.

My hand froze on the doorknob. The pace of my heart quickened even more, and my palms began to sweat. My hand slipped from the doorknob and blackness surrounded me. I dropped the carrier and mikyla's cries filled the air. I fell, and I didn't stop falling for a long time.

When I woke up I was strapped down to a table. This scenario seemed all too familiar to me, and I desperately tried to lift my head to see what was going on. 'Click, click, click, click.' Someone was coming closer. A woman stood over me, her red hair jutting out at awkward angles. She placed her hand on my forehead, and I jerked away. There was evident hurt in her eyes.

"Koneko." Tears began to run down her cheeks. " It's ok, don't be scared. It's me, I'm your mom."

I turned my head to the other side and saw mikyla, lying in a crib, which was encircled by some kind of blue barrier.

"Mom. is she going to be ok?" My voice was raspy and somewhat it hurt to talk.

"She will be fine, she just needs a few antibiotics and a couple of hours in the regeneration chamber. You on the other hand took a nasty blow to the ribs and damaged your lungs pretty badly. I'm surprised you survived as long as you did without medication."

She slowly reached down to move the hair out of my face. I tried not to flinch, and she smiled.

"Your injuries are healed for the most part. If you would like, I can set up a room for you where you can get some rest. I know the lab isn't exactly the most comforting place to wake up."

I took a deep breath. "I'd like that, as long as mikyla could be in the same room. Since her parents are gone. well I guess I'm kind of like her mother." I smiled brightly at the thought, and I saw my mother's face break into a grin.

"Well then, you can give your sister a few tips. Her baby is due in November, and it will be good practice for her before the baby comes."

I smiled. I hadn't met my sister yet, but I had a feeling we would get along well. Maybe things were going to turn out okay after all.