The author does not own Tenchi Muyo! or any characters related to the Tenchi franchise. This story is meant for recreational purposes only.
Story is loosely based on the OAV universe, with elements of Manastu no Eve. As with all fan fiction, creative license shall be taken but not abused.
--
Are all decisions we make truly our own?
Is there such a thing as destiny?
Does the end justify the means?
What if curiosity did kill that cat?
But what if you aren't a cat?
--
Kochira Koso
A Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction by Sebayn
"Episode 1: Shadows of the Moonlight"
"The path to Hell is paved with good intentions." - Unknown
I'm a curious person by nature. I want to know all about whatever and whomever I come into contact with.
I want to know why things are, and at the same time, why they are not.
It's an ability that's gotten me into a bit of trouble before, I admit, but it is what ultimately made the difference in my life. Although my words and behavior may otherwise contradict this claim, if you stop for a moment to look at my actions, it will it will remove all doubt.
I remember that bright summer day, it seems so long ago to me now. And it amazes me to think that my life would have been frightenly different, yet all the more easier, had I not done what I've always done.
Be curious.
Trust and understanding are characteristics I value, two things that I live for. The latter may not always come easy, but the journey to understanding is always an exciting path.
For my family and me, these two attributes have always remained a constant like the stars above. I never questioned them, never had reason to question them.
Until that day...
* * *
"Please have some tea." Katsuhito Masaki offered while filling a small ceramic cup from a fresh pot of green tea he had just prepared.
Accepting the white cup, the First Empress of Jurai smiled faintly. "Thank you very much."
Letting the warmth of the sunlight glide over her, Funaho Jurai sipped her tea thoughtfully. "Its hard...to believe I'm back here."
"Yes, hard to believe. Since you left this planet, the earth must have gone through many changes."
"Come Yosho, how long will you stay in your disguise?"
The aging Katsuhito nervously glanced around the room, suddenly avoiding eye contact with his "young" mother. Fear and nervousness weren't traits displayed on his face often, but they were clearly visible on his wrinkled face now.
"I guess I can't deceive you, can I?" He said slowly.
Funaho only giggled in response.
Sighing softly, the aging man closed his eyes as a transparent barrier shimmered around his entire body. When the barrier subsided, the old man was no more. In his place was the young form of Yosho Jurai, the lost Prince of Jurai. The only recognizable features from his previous persona that remained were his glasses and traditional shrine keeper clothes.
"Nobody here has any idea as to what I look like." Gone was the ancient, gravely voice, and in it's place was a young, vibrant tone.
Suddenly, Funaho's eyes narrowed as she looked intensely at the door. "Hm?"
Yosho's solumen face moved to stare at the old slab of wood that served as the entrance to his shrine office.
"Mother? Hm...ah!" Yosho suddenly realized what, or rather who, was drawing his mother's attention.
Yosho quickly pressed two fingers against his forehead and concentrated. "Tenchi, when you're done sweeping outside you have to clean the stairs." It was a simple trick, yes, but morphing his voice to match Katsuhito Maskai's would produce the desired effect.
And sure enough, a muffled grunt followed by the sounds of rapid, but clumsy, movements could be heard through the thin door. Both mother and son smiled as they listened to the sounds of Tenchi Masaki disappear toward the shrine steps.
Funaho couldn't help but to laugh. "He is really is...something else. Yes, quite a handful."
Becoming serious again, Yosho gazed outside at the lush green forest through the window. "You know at first I thought I could send Tenchi instead of going myself."
"Can he fit in? On planet Jurai?"
"Perhaps. I think he can."
Pondering that thought, Funaho smiled. "He must be trouble for the ladies."
The peaceful atmosphere became more sullen it seemed as the First Empress frowned slightly as she looked down at her half-empty cup of tea.
"I came here, because we have receive a report from the Galexy Police."
The lost Prince nodded in understanding. "When Ryoko was resurrected, I knew that you would come here sooner or later. But why didn't you come when Ryoko appeared? The Galaxy Police report worked as a trigger, didn't it?
Funaho shot her son that sent fear spiraling down into his very being. Annoyance and disgust were plainly written on her face.
"Yosho."
Gulping nervously, Yosho replied at last, "Huh?"
"May I have another cup of tea, Yosho?"
"Oh... I should have realized." He apologized profusely. Yosho stood up and accepted his mother's empty cup and walked across the room to where the teapot was. He poured more of the hot liquid carefully into his mother's cup and returned it respectfully back to her.
"Mihoshi submitted the report to the Galaxy Police over two months ago, didn't she? May I ask you what took you so long, Mother?" He cautiously inquired.
"I suppose it was because Mihoshi wrote, shall we say, an exhaustive report." She replied nonchalantly.
"Hm?"
Shifting her body's position, Funaho explained. "Mihoshi's report is top secret with the Galaxy Police."
It was then that Yosho noted that his cup was now devoid of the sacred substance. Making his way back over to the pot, Yosho quietly poured himself another serving.
"Then it will go to Jurai's Supreme Council meeting." He replied indifferently as he sat himself back down.
"That's right. This is not a private matter to the Jurai royal family any more."
Yosho reflected on this new information silently until Funaho spoke again. "The Emperor of Jurai will be here soon, too."
"Father will come, and the Council's executive committee."
The black haired woman nodded, "We are it's representatives, Misaki and I."
Yosho sighed to himself. "So the Inspector General of Information and the Supreme Commander of the Royal Bodyguards had to come all this way."
It was Funaho's turn to look contemplative as she stared once more at the scenery outside the office window.
"Royal Trees lose their power once they find their roots in soil. Yosho, of course you understand, if we want to sustain their power, we have to keep them charged with our royal trees. During the past 700 years the ships that were missing were your Funaho, Ayeka's Ryo-Oh, of course Sasami's ship as well."
She turned to face her son and discovered he was now looking away from her, a thoughtful mood evident on his face.
"You're wondering about my appearance, aren't you? You would like to know about the reason Tsunami had to do this, wouldn't you?"
Ignoring his question, she continued. "The report also mentioned Gems that are the source of Ryoko's power. And it says that they were embedded in the Master Key to hold Ryoko captive."
Yosho scratched his head thoughtfully as he regained some of his previous confidence. "Well that Mihoshi really is thorough, isn't she? So, you already knew what to expect. I see that now."
"I just don't know what you mean by that. I only wanted to see how you were doing." The hurt evident in her voice.
Looking back at his mother now, Yosho stood up and walked over to the window seal. "My spaceship tree is the only thing sustaining my life. I was quite surprised when I found out that my tree hadn't lost it's power."
Funaho listened, but didn't seem phased or affected in anyway by Yosho's accounting of the last 700 years of his life.
"Then I made an interesting discovery. I learned that Ryoko's gems were giving energy to my tree."
Turning around, Yosho met Funaho's gaze and continued. "And that means that Ryoko's gems have the same quality as the Royal Family's trees. That they have the exact same power."
Funaho did not surprised by this shocking revelation. She remained peaceful and calm savoring the gentle breeze that had begun blowing through the window.
After a moment, she responded. "Even before we saw Mihoshi's report, Jurai's trees suspected all this. So when you fought with Ryoko, her ship could break through Jurai's defense area and showed massive destructive power. So there was no doubt, pause, her gems were powerful. But, your ship must have sensed all of this as well."
Funaho smiled at her son. Strangely, there seemed to be a hidden sadness and sorrow etched on her graceful lips and the words she then spoke.
"And you, having fought with Ryoko, must have guessed this. Given all this is true, her gems should be able to create the Light Hawk Wings. Just like Tenchi can."
Meanwhile...
High on top of the shingled office shrine, Tenchi Maskai stood crouched and listened intently to the ongoing conversation below. A look of shocked bewilderment painted across his face. Normally the young man listened to the "requests" of his Sensei, but his curiosity had been aroused and could not be satisfied.
Grandfather is wearing a disguise... He thought for the hundredth time. What about Ayeka? Why is he continuing to deceive her and the rest of us? Different questions that had nagged him for the past months had unexpectedly been answered as a result of his intrusion into his grandfather's conversation. At the same time, those few questions were replaced with even more troubling ones. In the far recesses of his mind, Tenchi finally put together that if that was grandfather's mother, that made Funaho his great grandmother.
Ryoko's Gems are the only thing keeping him alive? The concept boggled his mind. There was no way to properly take in and sort through this forbidden knowledge. And the Kagato incident is top secret...the rest of the universe doesn't even know that the bastard's dead!
Silently running his hands through his hair, sweat now forming on all parts of his body; Tenchi continued to ponder the things that he was hearing. Just what is going on here?
But at that moment, every single thought running through his mind converged as he overheard the last detail he would take from this secret incursion. Ryoko can produce the Light Hawk Wings? Just like me?! But what does that mean!
The Light Hawk Wings were an enigma to everyone he had ever met. Not even Washu, the greatest scientific genius in the universe, could unravel the mystery. Yet Funaho herself just stated that another person, who lived in his house of all places in the universe, could do the exact same impossible things as hey could! What else does she know, and how does she know? Tenchi wondered. Absently, Tenchi realized that the talk mother and son where having was still raging on, but none of it matter to him.
I have to go somewhere I can think... He suddenly realized to him. I can't let *them* catch me here, I can't let them know that *I* know yet...
Crouching down even lower, Tenchi angled himself into position directly across from one of the branches of a massive cedar tree. Taking a breath and preparing himself mentally, Tenchi leaped over and caught onto the limb without a sound.
Yosho had taught him well over the years, perhaps too well.
* * *
Tenchi slowly descended the aging granite steps that lead to the mountain shrine. Each step he took was slow and deliberately thought out. While his physical movements were slow, his mind was racing faster than it had ever done before.
It's all an illusion. His name, his face and..even his purpose here?
As the young First Crown Prince of Jurai pondered the conversation he overheard, a cool breeze glided through the forest trees and collided gently across his face. The events of the past few months cycled endlessly in the background of his mind; from the liberation of Ryoko from her 700 year-old prison to the revelation during the battle with Kagato that his grandfather, Katsuhito Masaki, was the mystery Prince Yosho.
But why is he doing this? Why is he still keeping secrets from _us_ after everything that's happened?
A violently cold chill suddenly ran down the young man's spine. Something was wrong here, and this unearthly feeling reverberated throughout Tenchi's entire being. The sound of the wind continued to echo off over the vast landscape of the forest.
I'll confront him right now, he thought suddenly. Why is he continuing to play these...these _mind games_ with us?
As quickly as the thought came, he vanquished it immediately. There was something not right about the way his grandfather had acted during the past few months, and whatever his motives might be, something in the corner of Tenchi's mind told him to wait for now.
He would have his answers, of that Tenchi was certain of.
He suddenly heard his grandfather's voice calling him from up at the shrine. With grim determination appearing on his face, Tenchi quickly backtracked up the stone steps as one last new question entered his mind.
What else are they still not telling us?
* * *
A friend once told me an old saying, "Ignorance is Bliss. Knowledge is pain." Looking back on that moment, I've debated with myself whether I should have taken those words into greater consideration. It would have been so much easier to ignore the entire thing, to have cleaned the damned steps when I was told to. The pain that would have been averted would have been immeasurable.
But the joy I now know would have been thrown away with it.
After all, what is life but pain and sorrow? With a few moments tossed in of course. Somehow those moments are what makes it all worthwhile.
I would have those moments, and forge a life out of them.
* * *
One year later...
Two lone figures stand closely together in the dimly lit room on the second floor of the Maskai house. The scent of fresh lavender paint lingers, although greatly faded since the previous day's construction. The two woman are completing a nightly ritual just recently started weeks ago.
"She's so tiny." Ryoko whispered quietly as she gently cradled three month-old Mayuka Masaki in her arms.
Across from the crib, Washu beamed a happy grin to her daughter. "Yes she is, Ryoko."
She had just finished installing a few odds and ends in the newly built nursery. Noboyuki and Tenchi had constructed the actual room, but the finer "electrical" details had been left up to the petite redheaded scientist.
The moonlight now cascaded freely through the side window illuminating the hushed room.
A few more moments passed before Washu broke the silence. "It is getting late, Ryoko. Time to put her to bed."
Ryoko sighed. "I know, I know. Go a head and join the others downstairs and I'll be there shortly," replied the cyan haired woman in a soft voice.
After giving a brief nod, Washu glided out of the room and vanished into the darkened hallway, leaving the door in-between wide open. Turning a corner, the look on the scientist's face quickly turned from that of a serene, peaceful smile to a deviously mischievous grin.
"You know Tenchi, she's completely oblivious to _everything_ right now."
Standing in the shadows, Tenchi Maskai shifted his gaze to the redheaded woman standing before him.
"Mayuka?" he inquired softly, "She's only three months old. Of course she's oblivious to a lot of things, especially when's she's a sleep."
"Not Mayuka, silly boy. Ryoko."
"Huh?"
"She has the ability to hear a needle drop a mile away. She can smell your scent from even farther. And yet, she hasn't a clue that both of us are right here."
"How do you kno--"
Washu cutoff his last sentence by tapping her index finger on her forehead while increasing her grin.
Tenchi looked puzzled.
Sighing wistfully, Washu looked back into the room with a distant look on her face.
"She lived for thousands of years under Katago's brutal control. Another 700 years in that damn cave. Merging with zero afterwards, and then living freely for two years on Earth. All these things have changed her, Tenchi." She paused suddenly.
"But nothing has changed her as much as that baby has."
Understanding suddenly dawned on Tenchi's face as he continued to take in the scene before him.
Washu lips reformed the grin that had vanished moments before. "Although, maybe I was over exaggerating things. She has changed quite a bit since that little buddle of joy arrived, but not as much as she's changed since laying eyes on you, Baby Tenchi."
The look of understanding on Tenchi's face quickly faded to a nervous look of confusion.
"Tenchi." she snapped in frustration. "You could walk right up to her and blow a Zandurian Horn into her ear and she still wouldn't know!"
"Shhhh! Keep it down! She can't be that out of it, Washu." Tenchi replied, plainly annoyed.
Sighing loudly, Washu began walking toward the stairway. "Just remember what I said, Tenchi." Without giving him a second look, she descended the stairs.
Yes, I almost forgot for a moment. Everything and everyone in my life has to be mysterious, confusing or otherwise conflicting. The bewildered man thought to himself.
At that moment, a new sound interrupted his train of thought. A husky, soft voice began flowing in a soft melody.
"Yuki ga furu."
"Shizukana Lullaby utau awai yokogao."
"Toji komerareta chiisana heya wa."
"Ai to yoberu kiga shiteiru."
Ryoko....sings? The young man pondered to himself. It seems familiar somehow, I've heard these words before... Then it hit him harder than then anything had touched him before.
This is the lullaby my mother used to sing to me...before...
He never finished the thought, body, spirit and mind all transfixed on the image of serenity before him.
"Kotoba mo iranakute."
"Omoide ga yawaraide."
"Yasuragi nante shiranai kedo."
"Ichiban sokoni chikai bashode nemuritai dake."
"Anata no sobani iru Words are needless."
How could _she_ possibly know this song? The reluctant Prince of Jurai had been handed numerous and unexpected revelations in the past, and often during the heat of battle, but _nothing_ that impacted him like this. Only my mother knew it...
"Yuki ga furu."
"Shizukana Lullaby."
"Sotto yoru wo uzumete."
"Kanashii kotowa shiritakunaino."
"Dakara zutto utatteite."
"Yoakega kurumade."
"Zutto kono mama."
Ryoko continued the sweet lullaby with her sharp feline eyes locked on to the slumbering form of Mayuka that she cradled so tightly in her slender arms.
Tenchi found himself beginning to take small steps toward the couple.
Something was happening within Tenchi very being, something was taking shape and form. The strong emotions now coarsing through his veins were alien to him. Just seeing the cyan haired beauty and infant together brought out carnal feelings he never knew he was even capable of.
He needed to be with them, holding them. The closer he crept toward them, the greater the feeling intensified.
The moonlight glistened off of Ryoko's skin and accentuated her feline features in the night. Tenchi's eyes slowly wandered downward until he reached her waist. There was something about her waist that drew Tenchi in. His hands and arms trembled slightly as they began to extend toward her.
What am I doing? The constant nagging voice that had bailed him out of countless awkward moments was now being pushed further and further back into the recesses of his mind.
Euphoria swept over Tenchi as he wrapped his own arms tightly around Ryoko's lithe waist.
The former Space Pirate tensed and the surreal lullaby immediately came to an abrupt stop. Ryoko, for one of the first times in her life, was completely speechless. All she could do was stare at the window in front of her.
Neither one spoke or acted for what seemed to be an eternity, but what was in reality only a few minutes.
Ever so slowly, Ryoko began to gradually ease into Tenchi's embrace. The young prince only tightened his grip around her waist in response; the moonlight bathing all three of them in a ethereal glow.
Making her approval known, a low, husky sound began reverberating from her. Ryoko was purring.
Tenchi lips formed a faint smile, I guess that feline DNA Washu talked about was more than just for show.
Pressing baby Mayuka snugly against her breasts, the voluptuous woman gracefully arched her neck to the side in order to bring her amber eyes into contact with Tenchi's brown eyes. They remained there, eyes locked for a brief instant before Tenchi pressed his forehead against hers.
A tickliciously sensual sensation followed as Tenchi's nose nuzzled against Ryoko's. Her purring intensified as she closed her eyes savoring every moment of this treatment.
At this point Tenchi was acting on instinct alone as he gently rocked the woman cradling his child back and forth. Both were completely lost in the moment and enjoying each other's company in the shadows of the moonlight.
When Ryoko finally opened her eyes, Tenchi found himself gazing deeply into them. She narrowed her feline eyes alluringly, drawing the black haired shrine keeper into them all the more deeper.
Lifting their heads up slightly, Tenchi boldly moved his lips so they brushed against Ryoko's. Entranced, Ryoko only stared at him, completely submissive, eagerly awaiting to see what he would do next. She did not have to wait long.
Tenchi at last pressed his lips firmly to hers. Savoring the new sensations that had completely engulfed him, he quickly deepened the kiss. A soft moan erupted from inside Ryoko as she began to kiss back. What both of them were feeling went beyond euphoria and beyond passion. For the first time in each of their lives, a void had been filled; one comprised of both physical longing and emotional desire. They were together at last, no longer alone in life.
Just as quickly as it had begun, it ended the very same way.
A few feet away, someone yawned loudly. "What's going in here? Is Mayuka ok?" Sasami Jurai rubbed her ears as she took a few more steps forward, aqua-colored pigtails bobbing tiredly behind her.
Tenchi froze for only a moment before pushing Ryoko away from him and turning sharply to meet this unexpected visitor. Ryoko lurched toward the ground with a gasp, almost dropping Mayuka in the process, before grabbing on the crib for support.
"Oh Tenchi and Ryoko, it's just you." The Second Crown Princess of Jurai sighed as she waddled over to the sullen young man. "I thought I heard a noise or something in here."
Stunned at what he had just done, Tenchi just stood there facing the young princess with his mouth slightly opened. "Everything's all right, Sa-Sasami." He managed to get out. "We were just...just..."
"We were just putting Mayuka to sleep." Ryoko finished for him. "And nothing more." She gently laid the daughter of Tenchi down onto her crib and pulled the nearby blanket over the young infant. "In fact, I was just leaving. Goodnight Sasami." There was no emotion in her voice. " Good night Tenchi." Without another glance at either of them, she phased out of the room.
"Oh." Sasami said with another yawn. "I'm going back to bed then. See you in the morning Tenchi."
With that, the small form of the princess vanished into the shadows of the hallway. Leaving Tenchi alone with sleeping Mayuka.
Tenchi slumped his shoulders and stared down at the dark floor and sighed sadly.
To be continued....
--
Author's notes: Ryoko's lullaby is from a show called Noir. While both English and Japanese lyrics were available, the latter seemed more elegant than the translated version, but both are quite nice: English lyrics may be read here for those who are curious:
The snow falling down.
While you sing a quiet lullaby, I catch a fleeting glimpse of your profile.
I'm trapped in a small room, I love you while my spirit calls out to you.
Words are needless, lost memories softened peacefully, but how strange. . .
First there in that close place where I only just slept.
Close beside you.
The snow falling down.
A soft lullaby.
In the gentle night I bury my face in my hands.
I don't want to know sorrowful experience, therefore let the singing stay as
it is,
As it is until this dawn.
Oh, and don't ask me why I'm posting this. I started it a while ago, and after looking back I realized that I owed it to myself to finish it. The concept seems interesting enough to me, but the desire just wasn't there at the time. :)