Ryoko slowly opened her eyes, that morning, in a new environment. It flashed back into her mind that she had sleep in Washu's lab, but this... was not even the Lab. The girl did nothing more to sit up than pick her head up and gaze at her surroundings, it seemed that she was in a lush forest with the most beautiful trees she'd ever seen. Beneath her, a blanket of grass spread out as far as her eyes could see. "Real funny, Washu. Put me on Jurai...". It was then that she tried to lift her arms and realized she couldn't. Her arms and legs, bound to the ground by creatively made harnesses that resembled roots, held her in place. She was only angry at herself for trusting the little scientist to leave her in peace. Ryoko brought it upon herself when she asked Washu to stay. She had no idea what she was in for, or what kind of experiment she'd have to endure, but one thing seemed more right to say than any other time before...
"DAMN YOU, WASHU!"
Washu's ears perked at her malice in which her darling daughter had cursed her name as she'd done many times before. Suppressing a giggle, she continued to eat breakfast as peacefully as she started, shooing Tenchi childish grins between bites.
"Say, has anyone seen Ryoko?" Minagi scanned the table sadly. "I wanted to talk to her."
"Mm hmm! She's tied up in my lab with a beautiful Jurai scenery all around her. I thought she would like it!" Washu grinned.
Aeka couldn't do more than to simply cover her mouth to hold back her raucous laughter. She wanted to see this more than anyone, but when she saw Minagi's face, she decided it would be best to remain silent.
"Oh Little Washu! That's not funny! She hates that place!" Minagi felt melancholy, thinking that Ryoko may be suffering.
This time when Washu glanced at Tenchi, her stare was a bit more stoic. "Why doesn't her brave Jurian knight save her?"
Minagi and Tenchi stood from the table at the same time. "You got a weird way of getting to the point, Little Washu." Tenchi walked past Washu with Minagi hot on his heels.
Ryoko realized that struggling only made the situation worse, the binds began to tighten around her wrists to a painful degree. Tenchi glanced down at her and smiled softly. It did look kinda funny to see Ryoko in a Jurai landscape, just laying relaxed. Minagi had already started pulling at the bindings when Tenchi held out his hand. "Nothing's going to let up more than me undoing the bindings. This is Washu's intent. She's so meddlesome sometimes."
Tenchi pulled Ryoko from the ground with ease. The girl's face was a complex of emotions at the time. She looked between Minagi and Tenchi slowly before walking off in a silent rage. She would've loved to throttle Washu, but she just stormed out of the house, not knowing where to go.
She vanished for a while, no one seemed to know where she went, except for one. Minagi watched her from afar, sighing everytime the girl shifted uncomfortably around the uncomfortable branches of the Funaho. With the tree in full bloom, even if she sat only meters away from the house, no one would see her at all.
Nightfall brought Ryoko from her hiding space and Minagi from her watch-post. Ryoko had been partial to taking baths by herself for a while. She settled back into the waters of the hotspring, hoping to forget today as she'd forgotten so many others.
"Ryoko?" Came the almost-whisper of an intruder.
Ryoko's hand rose from her side and motioned for Minagi to join her. "Why do you bother asking if you can join me?"
Minagi smiled softly and sat beside her. "Because it's polite."
"Is something wrong?" The pirate asked, noticing the sadness in Minagi's voice.
"I wanted to spend my last night here with you." Minagi lowered her head and brought it to her knees which she had pulled up to her chest.
Ryoko set down her glass and fully turned to Minagi. "You're leaving?" She sounded a bit sad herself.
"I can't stay here forever..." The younger girl sounded much more grave than before.
In her vast vocabulary, Ryoko could only think to say one thing. "WHY NOT?" She withdrew her rising temper and slumped in the waters. "Why can't you stay longer?" She felt like she was losing her sister.
"I can't stay forever, Ryoko, you know that. There are so many things I wanted in this life I thought I would never have. I wanted a family, a mother, friends. I wanted the chance to laugh freely and be with people who cared. I wanted a real home cooked meal from someone who wanted to make it for me and a chance to help with chores and hear the words 'thank you' from someone I was giving something to that I didn't have to initially steal to get. Most of all, I wanted a sister. I just wanted you." The girl watched her reflection in the waters, truly realizing how much like Ryoko she looked like, and how much like Ryoko she actually was. In all her pursuit to impress, she wondered if she was acting like the real Minagi as well.
Ryoko wrapped her arms around one of Minagi's and pulled her closer. "If you leave, who will I play with?" She started to sound childish, purposely switching roles with Minagi as Minagi, herself, had done just a minute ago.
The two girls smiled softly at each other, before Minagi rested her free hand over Ryoko's. "Perhaps we haven't been acting not like ourselves, perhaps we've just been exposed to a new part of ourselves, a part we've never seen before."
"So you bring out the good in me, is what you're saying?" Ryoko half-smiled in an almost cocky way.
Minagi laughed. "You bring out the good in you, I was just around to witness it."
"We are... closer than we think, aren't we?" Ryoko's voice lowered.
Minagi's face filled with a healthy blush. "Closer than we'd at least admit to Washu."
"So we'll always be connected, right? You'll always keep in touch?" The half-goddess tightened her grip on Minagi's arm. "Yakusoku?"
"I promise, Ryoko. I'll never be too far that you can't see through my eyes and feel what I feel." Minagi's eyes began to water, realizing that she really was leaving.
"Let's just stay here and talk for a while longer then." Ryoko rested her head on Minagi's shoulder. "I don't want you to go just yet."
The girls spent the night in the onsen together.
Tenchi, who would have valued the alone-time that this gave him, only ended up at the door of the Onsen again. With no intentions of entering, he only stood at the portal the sub-dimension, waiting for any action to occur. Unfortunately, he'd have to spend half the night waiting before anything would happen. Not wanting this to happen, Washu placed her hand over Tenchi's and gently pushed it away from the door.
"If you're just going to stand there, at least make a way for someone else to get in." She spoke softly, never intending to go in.
Tenchi smiled softly to himself. "I'm sorry."
"The only thing that's sorry is that you're so afraid to speak up." The little scientist pushed him from the door. "Sometimes I wonder where your mind is at."
Not wanting to turn Washu away because he wanted to talk to someone about his feelings, he sat by the door and motioned for Washu to sit down. "It's not so easy, Washu. I want to take her feelings into consideration. It's like... she doesn't want anyone to see how vulnerable she could be, so you want to grant her the ability to be comfortable, but I want to appear to her as a Tenchi who cares for her. To do that, she'd have to drop all her guards. Do you think the Ryoko that faces off with Aeka in battle mode would really be able to register anything I'd have to say.? Perhaps the Ryoko that interacts with Minagi would, but it's so hard to see that side of her, because she acts like the reason she puts up guards in the first place is just to get away from me." The boy lowered his head and sighed. "I'm not going to do her any harm by saying I love you."
Washu's smile only spread.
"Why are you smiling?"
The young scientist picked her head up and glanced at the Onsen door, set wide open, Ryoko and Minagi stood in the doorway between dimensions. Ryoko's face was visibly red, and she pushed Minagi out in front of her to hide her face.
Tenchi lowered his head once more upon seeing that Ryoko had discovered his true feelings for her. Both unable to speak, they looked away, leaving the room in absolute silence.
XD I thought this chapter would never end!
"DAMN YOU, WASHU!"
Washu's ears perked at her malice in which her darling daughter had cursed her name as she'd done many times before. Suppressing a giggle, she continued to eat breakfast as peacefully as she started, shooing Tenchi childish grins between bites.
"Say, has anyone seen Ryoko?" Minagi scanned the table sadly. "I wanted to talk to her."
"Mm hmm! She's tied up in my lab with a beautiful Jurai scenery all around her. I thought she would like it!" Washu grinned.
Aeka couldn't do more than to simply cover her mouth to hold back her raucous laughter. She wanted to see this more than anyone, but when she saw Minagi's face, she decided it would be best to remain silent.
"Oh Little Washu! That's not funny! She hates that place!" Minagi felt melancholy, thinking that Ryoko may be suffering.
This time when Washu glanced at Tenchi, her stare was a bit more stoic. "Why doesn't her brave Jurian knight save her?"
Minagi and Tenchi stood from the table at the same time. "You got a weird way of getting to the point, Little Washu." Tenchi walked past Washu with Minagi hot on his heels.
Ryoko realized that struggling only made the situation worse, the binds began to tighten around her wrists to a painful degree. Tenchi glanced down at her and smiled softly. It did look kinda funny to see Ryoko in a Jurai landscape, just laying relaxed. Minagi had already started pulling at the bindings when Tenchi held out his hand. "Nothing's going to let up more than me undoing the bindings. This is Washu's intent. She's so meddlesome sometimes."
Tenchi pulled Ryoko from the ground with ease. The girl's face was a complex of emotions at the time. She looked between Minagi and Tenchi slowly before walking off in a silent rage. She would've loved to throttle Washu, but she just stormed out of the house, not knowing where to go.
She vanished for a while, no one seemed to know where she went, except for one. Minagi watched her from afar, sighing everytime the girl shifted uncomfortably around the uncomfortable branches of the Funaho. With the tree in full bloom, even if she sat only meters away from the house, no one would see her at all.
Nightfall brought Ryoko from her hiding space and Minagi from her watch-post. Ryoko had been partial to taking baths by herself for a while. She settled back into the waters of the hotspring, hoping to forget today as she'd forgotten so many others.
"Ryoko?" Came the almost-whisper of an intruder.
Ryoko's hand rose from her side and motioned for Minagi to join her. "Why do you bother asking if you can join me?"
Minagi smiled softly and sat beside her. "Because it's polite."
"Is something wrong?" The pirate asked, noticing the sadness in Minagi's voice.
"I wanted to spend my last night here with you." Minagi lowered her head and brought it to her knees which she had pulled up to her chest.
Ryoko set down her glass and fully turned to Minagi. "You're leaving?" She sounded a bit sad herself.
"I can't stay here forever..." The younger girl sounded much more grave than before.
In her vast vocabulary, Ryoko could only think to say one thing. "WHY NOT?" She withdrew her rising temper and slumped in the waters. "Why can't you stay longer?" She felt like she was losing her sister.
"I can't stay forever, Ryoko, you know that. There are so many things I wanted in this life I thought I would never have. I wanted a family, a mother, friends. I wanted the chance to laugh freely and be with people who cared. I wanted a real home cooked meal from someone who wanted to make it for me and a chance to help with chores and hear the words 'thank you' from someone I was giving something to that I didn't have to initially steal to get. Most of all, I wanted a sister. I just wanted you." The girl watched her reflection in the waters, truly realizing how much like Ryoko she looked like, and how much like Ryoko she actually was. In all her pursuit to impress, she wondered if she was acting like the real Minagi as well.
Ryoko wrapped her arms around one of Minagi's and pulled her closer. "If you leave, who will I play with?" She started to sound childish, purposely switching roles with Minagi as Minagi, herself, had done just a minute ago.
The two girls smiled softly at each other, before Minagi rested her free hand over Ryoko's. "Perhaps we haven't been acting not like ourselves, perhaps we've just been exposed to a new part of ourselves, a part we've never seen before."
"So you bring out the good in me, is what you're saying?" Ryoko half-smiled in an almost cocky way.
Minagi laughed. "You bring out the good in you, I was just around to witness it."
"We are... closer than we think, aren't we?" Ryoko's voice lowered.
Minagi's face filled with a healthy blush. "Closer than we'd at least admit to Washu."
"So we'll always be connected, right? You'll always keep in touch?" The half-goddess tightened her grip on Minagi's arm. "Yakusoku?"
"I promise, Ryoko. I'll never be too far that you can't see through my eyes and feel what I feel." Minagi's eyes began to water, realizing that she really was leaving.
"Let's just stay here and talk for a while longer then." Ryoko rested her head on Minagi's shoulder. "I don't want you to go just yet."
The girls spent the night in the onsen together.
Tenchi, who would have valued the alone-time that this gave him, only ended up at the door of the Onsen again. With no intentions of entering, he only stood at the portal the sub-dimension, waiting for any action to occur. Unfortunately, he'd have to spend half the night waiting before anything would happen. Not wanting this to happen, Washu placed her hand over Tenchi's and gently pushed it away from the door.
"If you're just going to stand there, at least make a way for someone else to get in." She spoke softly, never intending to go in.
Tenchi smiled softly to himself. "I'm sorry."
"The only thing that's sorry is that you're so afraid to speak up." The little scientist pushed him from the door. "Sometimes I wonder where your mind is at."
Not wanting to turn Washu away because he wanted to talk to someone about his feelings, he sat by the door and motioned for Washu to sit down. "It's not so easy, Washu. I want to take her feelings into consideration. It's like... she doesn't want anyone to see how vulnerable she could be, so you want to grant her the ability to be comfortable, but I want to appear to her as a Tenchi who cares for her. To do that, she'd have to drop all her guards. Do you think the Ryoko that faces off with Aeka in battle mode would really be able to register anything I'd have to say.? Perhaps the Ryoko that interacts with Minagi would, but it's so hard to see that side of her, because she acts like the reason she puts up guards in the first place is just to get away from me." The boy lowered his head and sighed. "I'm not going to do her any harm by saying I love you."
Washu's smile only spread.
"Why are you smiling?"
The young scientist picked her head up and glanced at the Onsen door, set wide open, Ryoko and Minagi stood in the doorway between dimensions. Ryoko's face was visibly red, and she pushed Minagi out in front of her to hide her face.
Tenchi lowered his head once more upon seeing that Ryoko had discovered his true feelings for her. Both unable to speak, they looked away, leaving the room in absolute silence.
XD I thought this chapter would never end!