Disclaimer
Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC. I don't own any rights to them. Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.
*****
Duty Calls
Chapter 9
Goodbyes
*****
It was a few days after Washu's lecture and Tokimi's unexpected appearance and things were settling back to what passed for normal in the Mau enclave. At least as normal as they could be with several members of the Juraian Royal Family in temporary residence. Even Soja had managed to calm down, although he went out of his way to avoid either of Tenchi's wives and when he did encounter one of them he usually turned and went in the other direction; an action not lost upon the Queen, who was having him watched closely, albeit surreptitiously. Ryoko and Ayeka's reactions were just as interesting. Ryoko tended to ignore the Lieutenant; in her opinion he'd gotten his just punishment, while Ayeka glared at him as if he were prey and had even been observed stalking the poor man on occasion. All-in-all Misaki was being royally entertained by the reports and images she was receiving.
Washu had retreated to the one of the agricultural labs converted for her use to continue her research into the Ytru technology. She also managed to find the time to monitor Ka'dithy's regen and therapy, but the Juraians took care of most of that. Ryoko was thrilled when Washu somehow found the time to fix her ears. She was so happy that she'd even forgotten to bicker with the princess for a few hours. Tenchi was happy as well. Tired and sore, but happy. Ayeka had been as good as her word and, with a great deal of good-natured grumbling, had left her two spouses alone for a few nights so that Ryoko could reacquaint herself with their husband.
But it was not all fun and games with Tenchi and Ryoko. The day that they would all leave for Jurai was rapidly approaching and they had one more task to perform by mutual agreement. A task that neither was looking forward to.
*****
Ryoko and Tenchi walked out hand-in-hand to where George still sat in the field, his main gun pointed skyward and his sensors scanning for any other starships that might show up uninvited.
"Open up George," Tenchi called out as they neared the giant combat machine.
George had been watching their approach and snickered through his external speakers. "I don't think I should do that Prince Tenchi, you're not my commander any more." But the hatch on the side of his turret opened anyway and the boarding ladder popped out from the hull. Tenchi let go of his wife's hand and reached for the bottom rung to pull himself up.
Ryoko noticed that several of the rungs were missing, probably welded into their recesses by near misses during the battle. "C'mon Tenchi, this is quicker." She grabbed her husband and flew up to the opening.
Entering the fighting compartment, Tenchi took his accustomed seat in the command chair while Ryoko sat in her old position at the com panel. "I guess this is goodbye George," Tenchi said, the pain obvious in his voice. "I hope you treat your next Commander as well as you treated me."
"Hah!" the AI chortled. "Then you haven't heard." Tenchi and Ryoko both looked puzzled.
"Heard what, you metal monstrosity?" Ryoko asked, giving the video pickup a stern look. "Tenchi and I have been rather, um, busy lately."
"I'll just bet you have, I could hear you all the way out here," George complained. Ryoko snickered, Tenchi turned slightly red and sighed in exasperation. "But," the AI went on as if his embarrassing comment about certain Juraian Royalty was no big deal. "I'm surprised Queen Misaki didn't mention it; after all, it's very important; to me anyway. I don't know though, maybe she didn't say anything for a reason. Still, you are Royalty and you were my crew so I find it a bit odd…"
"WHAT?" cried the pirate. "What are we supposed to know? Or not?" She threatened George's com panel with an orange plasma ball.
"Why it's just that the Holy Council has given me a probationary citizenship. I'm only the fourth AI ever to be granted one."
"That's great, I suppose," said Tenchi, scratching his head. "But what exactly does that mean?"
"For a Prince you sure can be dense sometimes you know," George said wryly. "It means that I'm my own person now. I won't need a new commander. In fact, I've been given the rank of Lieutenant and put in charge of the platoon. I'm really going to miss Nimby though…"
"I'm sure Washu could arrange for you to become a Guardian too," Ryoko said.
"And just why would I want to do that?" George snorted in derision. "I was designed to run an armored combat unit, not be a refugee from the woodpile."
Tenchi broke into mild laughter. "I'm sure Nimby would appreciate that comment."
"Um," George said contritely. "You won't tell him I said that, will you? I mean I'm glad he gets to stay with Ka'dithy but I wouldn't give up being me for anything."
"We wouldn't have you any other way." Tenchi stood up and saluted George's command console. "George, I'm going to miss you. You've been a good friend to both Ryoko and me."
"Not to mention psychologist," quipped the ex-pirate from her seat. Tenchi turned and looked at her strangely. "Well he was," said Ryoko with a shrug. "Hey, you were busy fooling around with the princess on Jurai. I had to talk to someone, didn't I?" Tenchi just rolled his eyes.
George cleared his imaginary throat with a sound that mimicked a file on tin. "Anyway, it has been my pleasure to work with you, my Prince, Princess. I hope that we can meet again sometime. Since I hate long goodbyes and as the new platoon leader I have much to do, so I believe you know your way out?" The hatch popped open again.
"I don't believe it," mumbled Ryoko as she grabbed Tenchi and floated down to the ground. "We've just been dismissed by a machine. Us, the Prince and Princess of Jurai."
"Well," chuckled Tenchi as they touched the ground. "We haven't been officially kicked out of the army yet, so he does outrank us now."
"I was never really in the army," Ryoko reminded him.
"Merlaj was. Even if she never actually went through training, she has a full set of records thanks to Washu." Tenchi reached out and laid a hand on George's armored side for the last time. "Goodbye my friend," he said quietly.
"Goodbye my Commander," the vehicle responded just as softly. Ryoko too stepped up and touched the cool metal. "Goodbye Specialist Merlaj," George rumbled.
"Later George," Ryoko replied. "It's been fun." She turned and walked off before either Tenchi or the AI could see the tears forming in her golden eyes. Tenchi gave the scared hull a final pat and hurried off after his rapidly retreating wife.
*****
"Tenchi," whispered a musical voice in his ear. There was a light nibble on said appendage. "Prince Tenchi, my darling."
Tenchi groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. "Not now, I'm too tired."
A hand gently pulled the pillow back and stroked his cheek. "Prince Tenchi, I'm here for you."
Tenchi batted the offending limb away. "Go 'way Ryoko, four nights in a row is more than enough. Let me get at least one night's sleep. I thought you were spending time with Ayeka tonight anyway."
The hand came back. "Prince Tenchi. It's me."
This time he grabbed and held the fuzzy fingers away from his face. He felt something move under the sheets. Something that reached over to caress his belly. Something covered with soft fur. A tail. A long, sinuous, furry tail. Tenchi screamed and jumped out of bed. "LIGHTS!" he called and was immediately blinded. "Dim to 30%," he commanded before opening his eyes again. On the mattress before him was Dreuma's teenage daughter, Dreasu, totally naked and trying to look seductive. Tenchi grabbed the sheet which had fallen to the floor and wrapped it around himself, even though he was still wearing his shorts. He averted his eyes.
Dreasu pouted. "What's the matter, my Prince? Don't you like what you see?"
"Yes! No! Yes… I mean you're very pretty, but…" Tenchi muttered to the wall. He closed his eyes again to remove the temptation to stare. "What are you doing in my room?" he asked. "And where are your clothes?"
Dreasu got up and walked over to Tenchi, she ran a fury finger down his chest. "My lord Tenchi, lovers such as we have no need for clothing."
Oh God! Tenchi thought as he gently pushed her away. What if Ryoko or Ayeka were to come in right now?
Too late. Tenchi heard the soft sound of Ryoko's teleport. He cautiously opened one eye to find a naked space pirate, energy sword hissing in one hand and a very confused princess struggling into a bathrobe in the other.
"We heard the screaming," Ryoko announced. "Just what in the twelve Juraian hells is going on in here?" she said as she spotted Dreasu standing with her arms crossed under her breasts.
Anger and violence flared in golden eyes. Her red and black battlesuit formed on her body.
"Ah. Now I get it." Ryoko advanced on the Mau girl, still dragging Ayeka with her. Her sword stopped inches from Dreasu's furry muzzle. "Still after my man are you?"
There was a banging on the door and Misaki's guard broke into the room from the common area of the suite, followed by the Queen herself. Tenchi could just make out the log form of Nimby floating in the darkness beyond the door.
"Ryoko, stop!" commanded Misaki. "Think about what you're about to do."
"I have," Ryoko snarled, but she backed off. A now very frightened Dreasu sagged to the floor trying to cover her nakedness from the others. Ayeka, her markings slightly visible on her cheeks and her red eyes flashing just as angrily as Ryoko's golden ones, pulled loose from the pirate and grabbed one of her spare robes from the closet. She held it out to the Mau who snatched it from her hands and shrugged into it awkwardly, her tail hanging out from the rear of the long garment.
"I think we all need to talk," said Misaki. She asked one of her guards to get Dreasu's father.
*****
Everyone gathered in the same room that Washu had given her presentation in a few days earlier. Tenchi, Ryoko and Ayeka were fully dressed, as was Dreasu's father, Dreuma. Dreasu was still wearing Ayeka's robe and nothing else. The girl was scared, they could tell by the way her ears were flattened against her head and by the way her tail and whiskers drooped.
"You dishonor our family," Dreuma told his errant child. "If your mother was still alive, this would probably kill her. Whatever prompted you to do such a thing?"
"Father, you don't understand," Dreasu started to explain.
"Parent's never do," whispered Misaki to Tenchi. Ayeka caught the words and looked at her mother. "Stop it daughter, you were the same way. I seem to remember hearing some rumors about you and a certain young noble when you were about her age." Ayeka flushed bright red and turned back to the father-daughter exchange taking place across the room.
"I don't want to be a farmer!" Dreasu was saying. "I want off this dirtball, I want a life away from this!"
"Typical teenager…" Misaki muttered then patted Ryoko's hand. "See what you have to look forward to?"
"So you thought to use Prince Tenchi…" Dreuma stated coldly.
"I didn't care!" Dreasu shouted. "Anyone would do, a Prince would've been great though, and he's good looking as well. To live the life of a noble, that's any common girl's dream."
"You're hardly a common girl," Dreuma yelled back. "You would sacrifice your virtue just to leave?"
Dreasu sagged back in her seat and bowed her head. "Oh father, get a clue. I'm seventeen years old and there's pretty much nothing to do for amusement on Tamar IV. I don't think you have to worry about my 'virtue' anymore."
Dreuma suddenly went cold, the rage draining out his mind as he looked away, shamed by his daughter's words spoken in front of the Juraians.
"Excuse me," Misaki chimed in, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she formulated a plan. "If I understand Dreasu correctly, she wants a husband that will take her away from the life of a farmer."
"Yes, exactly!" said the Mau girl with emphasis.
"Well then, I think I just might have a solution." She whispered something in Ryoko's ear that caused the pirate to grin and nod in agreement. Ryoko teleported away. "With your permission Dreuma, of course."
The old Mau threw his hands in the air. "Do what you will with her my Queen. I obviously have no control over her anymore."
Ryoko phased back into the room, a sleepy and complaining Soja clasped in her arms. When the Lieutenant saw who was present he collapsed on the floor in a quivering heap. "Oh goddess, not again!" he moaned.
"Stand up man!" Misaki commanded. "Stop acting like a jellyfish and be the soldier you pretend to be."
Soja gathered himself together and stood up, eyeing Ryoko and Ayeka nervously. His gaze settled on the miserable-looking Mau girl; pity, and maybe, just maybe something else showing in his eyes.
Misaki noticed this and smiled. It confirmed her suspicions and her plan just might work. "Lieutenant, it seems we have a problem you might be able to help us solve."
"What is that my Queen?" he asked in a tremulous voice.
"There's the small matter of your actions, or lack of them during the recent unpleasantness here on Tamar IV. I'm willing to overlook all of that, and give you an assignment to the Palace if you'll do me one little favor." Misaki indicated Dreasu, still looking dejected on the couch next to her father. "Marry this girl." The girl's pointy ears perked up at Misaki's words. She eyed Soja appraisingly; she'd seen the young officer around the village and liked what she saw but she'd had her sights set on Tenchi.
Soja was startled. "Marry…? Ex…excuse me, your Highness? You want me to marry this girl?"
Misaki tittered. "I believe that's what I said." She saw the look on the man's face. "Oh come now Lieutenant. She's cute, comes from a good family and I've seen the way you've eyed her whenever you've encountered her around the village."
Soja cleared his throat and looked around the room. "Ahem. Well, yes. She is very attractive… And I had thought of maybe asking her to spend some time with me. You know, go on walks, out to dinner. Things like that."
And if you'd have done that sooner we wouldn't be having this conversation now, Misaki thought and smiled at the man.
Soja looked back and forth between his liege and the Mau girl. "Um, all will be forgiven?"
"Certainly," the Queen agreed. "And I believe I can even arrange for a promotion, as well as the new assignment."
"My Queen, my lords and ladies, I'll do it; but only if she'll have me. I will not force her against her will." Dreasu jumped into his arms with a merry squeal, answering his question in her own unique way.
As the happy couple left, Ryoko turned to the Queen. "I thought he was in love with Ayeka?"
"After the other day? Oh no," the Queen answered with a laugh. "He still worships Ayeka as an ideal, but she's out of his reach now and he's aware of it; and as I said, I've seen the way he's watched the girl. He's infatuated with her."
"Neatly done Mother," Ayeka said with approval. "You give him what was going to get anyway and he believes it's a reward instead of a punishment. And Dreasu gets her wish as well. Very neatly done."
Misaki grinned at her daughter.
Dreuma sighed. "It's so hard to watch them grow up. You try to shield them from life and it all comes back to slap you in the snout. Will they be happy together I wonder?"
"Spoken like a true father," said Misaki settling back in her seat, weariness showing on her round face. "Tenchi, you should be paying attention here; and so should you Ryoko, Ayeka. Yes, I believe it will work out. Palace duty is fairly easy and Soja's not a bad looking young man, he's intelligent as well, if a bit misguided at times. There just may be hope for him in the future."
"The distant future," muttered Ryoko.
"Very distant," agreed Ayeka.
*****
A nondescript young man wearing farmer's clothing entered the concourse of the Juraian immigration satellite. He was followed by two women of marked beauty although dressed as plainly as the man, one with a small brown animal perched on her shoulder and the other with a white animal in the same position. Each had the hand of a child; the woman with the brown pet had a little girl while the woman with the white beast had a slightly older boy. The little girl had a grumpy look on her face and kept trying to pull away from her mother and it sometimes seemed that the two flickered occasionally.
The odd assemblage made their way to a small kiosk set off near one wall. As they approached, the old soldier manning the booth carefully folded his newspaper and set it aside. "Can I help you?" he asked the young man.
"I don't know if you remember me," Tenchi said. "But several months ago I came through here and you were very helpful."
The old man squinted at him and searched his memory. "Oh yeah. The lad going into armor. Don't get many of those, everyone want to be a space pilot nowadays. So boy, they give you leave or something?"
Tenchi shook his head. "Nope. Discharged."
"Discharged?" the man's eyes narrowed. "Say, you didn't screw up somehow, did you?"
"Well, sort of. I was on Tamar IV and…"
"Oh. Tamar IV. Heard about that one. A rough time, the unit there got chewed up pretty bad. Heard they had some surprise help though, from ol' Ryoko. Imagine that."
"Yes," Tenchi agreed. "A friend of mine got seriously hurt, but she's going to pull through."
"That's too bad. Hardship discharge then." The old soldier shrugged. "It happens. So what brings you back here then? Just sayin' goodbye?"
"Kinda. You were so nice to me that I thought I'd introduce my family to you." He put his hand on Ayeka's shoulder. "This is my wife Ayeka and son Juro."
The old man shook the princess' hand. "You look kinda familiar…" then reached over the counter and patted Juro on the head.
"And my wife 'Yoko and daughter Keiko." Tenchi deliberately shortened his wife's name, wanting to gauge the other man's reaction when he found out who she really was.
The old soldier reached down to pat Keiko as he had Juro but his hand passed right through her.
"Oops, sorry 'bout that," said Ryoko with a laugh. "She doesn't quite have control of her powers yet. She keeps trying to teleport away, it's a real pain to keep up with her."
"Eh? Powers?" The old soldier looked closely at Ryoko, really noticing her hair and eyes for the first time. The pirate grinned, showing her fangs.
"'Yoko you said your name was? Not Ryoko? As in…"
"Space Pirate, Scourge of the Galaxy, Demon of Jurai. Yep, that'd be me, and this is Ryo-ohki," she said, scratching the cabbit under her fuzzy chin. "But I'm all reformed now. Sorta. Right princess?"
"P…princess?" His head whipped around and he peered at the other woman. "Ayeka? Princess Ayeka, the future Empress?"
Ayeka giggled behind her hand and nodded.
"I need to sit down," he said, falling back onto his stool. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the two women. "This can't be real. Then you would be…" He looked up at Tenchi with pleading eyes, waiting to hear that it was all a dream. Tenchi smiled and bowed. The man's eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted dead away. Ryoko looked down at the unconscious man and "tsked".
"Tenchi," Ayeka said. "We really must be going, I'm sure Mihoshi is becoming impatient."
"Mihoshi, impatient?" Ryoko snorted. "She's probably got poor Ka'dithy backed in a corner telling her all about the latest soaps. Doesn't even realize we're not there yet. Yukinojo might send out the search parties though…"
"Yay! " cheered little Juro, bouncing up and down as children are apt to do. "We get to play with Yukinojo!"
"No dear," chided the boy's mother. "Yukinojo's going to be too busy looking after Aunt Mihoshi. You can play with Nimby instead."
"Yay! Nimby!"
"Tenchi, come on," called Ryoko as she moved off after Ayeka towards the docking bay where their ride home waited. "Let the poor man sleep, he's had a rough time. It's not every day you get to meet Space Pirate Ryoko and live."
*****
The End
*****
Author's Notes
Well, this piece brings this chapter of my exceedingly long and boring tale to a close. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
On a more personal note, I really appreciate all of those other authors and readers who have stuck with me this far. You make all of this worth it, believe me. Even if you've never left a review I am still grateful you took the time to peruse my little world here.
The title of this chapter was intended to have multiple meanings: Tenchi saying goodbye to the military, Ryoko and Tenchi saying so long to George and even Dreasu saying goodbye to her father and her old life.
And there was one other meaning as well.
As a couple of you know, some small things occurred recently in my personal life and triggered a bout of mild depression. During this episode a couple of fic-related issues, which I normally would have shrugged off as meaningless, hit me in the wrong way. And thus I had pretty much decided that this would be the last fic I would ever write. (Save the applause until the end please.) But Ministry Agent, in his own inimitable way, convinced me that I should continue, at least for a while. (You may all boo him and pelt him with rotten vegetables any time you wish.) He pointed out to me that there were still some potential unexplored story lines hidden in some of my previous fics. So I took his suggestions; I've already started the next one, expect the first chapter out sometime in the near future.
And Meekachu, I wasn't going to give up on Forgiveness because I've really enjoyed helping you with that collaboration; I just wasn't going to write my own stuff anymore. But that's all moot now anyway, isn't it?
As always, comments and criticism are welcome either by review, Email or Instant Messenger.
*****
Review Responses
Crion – Ayeka's fantasy during dinner was a last-minute addition, but I'm glad you liked it.
Dennisud – You should know by now that I don't write scenes that graphic. Besides, they didn't actually hurt him, just scared the you-know-what out of him. I've thought about having someone draw a picture of Ka'dithy. Lizzy, are you interested in trying it for me?
Ministry Agent – What can I say except thanks. Although you didn't actually help with anything specific in this piece you've managed to keep me from giving up altogether.
Smack54 – Yeah, it took me a while to pick it up again after Chapter 7. I just lost heart for a bit. I like the way your story's going, keep it coming.
TopQuark – This is the final piece of this story. I hope you enjoy the next one as much.
Alighthawk – Gee, I wonder what could have triggered my memory? I did respond to your email and even tried to IM you one evening about it. I don't know if you got either though so I'll assume you didn't. To answer your question, the response has been most positive, go for it.
Phillip – I could have Washu upgrade George, but with the Dimensional Cannon? What could he possibly use that for? Besides, it's the wrong continuity. Thanks for the suggestion though, maybe in a future fic I'll have them run across something equipped with a similar weapon.
Wharpt – I had that same vision in my mind when I finished writing that part about Ayeka. Right now I have no plans to write a story about Ka'dithy's time on Earth but it could be a fun story to do sometime in the future.
Negative-Z – Nothing bothers Ryoko's libido, especially where Tenchi is concerned. In fact, battle probably makes it worse. Could this go on indefinitely? Well, I do have an outline for around 35,000 years. There are a lot of potential stories in there, digging them out of the clutter of my mind is the problem.
Lizzy Hakubi – I like the poems you wrote and I'm glad to see you posting again, it's been too long. Now, about that drawing of Ka'dithy…
Priest – Thanks for the review and the info.
*****
BobR
2/15/2003