Pain.
Sadness.
Memories.
Nightmares.
Anger.
Everything Ryoko felt was combining in her head. She couldn't take it. She wanted to cry, but she had shed all the tears she could. Her hand was throbbing; her head was throbbing; nothing was right.
Blood was seeping through the cloth around her hand. It was no longer black, but a deep red.
Ryoko turned her swollen, bloodshot eyes up to the sky. The storm had stopped, and the sky was black and full of clouds. The rock on which she was sitting was wet, mostly from the rain. The lake was gray. It reminded Ryoko of her dreams. Full of some unknown background, mystery, and depth, like there was something more to the story. It called to her.
The pirate slid off the rock and into the water, letting it consume her body. It was cold and lifeless. She closed her eyes and let her head fall beneath the dark surface. She felt the water rush over her wound, and she felt the blood leave it. She was escaping her dreams, her memories. Her lungs began to scream for air. She had not held her breath.
Ryoko's head broke the surface of the water and she gasped in the cool night breeze. She was freezing. Her hand stung as the air touched it. Red water ran off it into the lake. She sighed deeply, bringing her hand back below the water. She stood there with her hand under, letting the red body fluid flow out for some time. She had no idea what she was doing, and she didn't care.
When Ryoko finally did rise, she looked to the sky before getting out of the lake and sitting back on her rock. She lay on her side, letting the water run of her almost frozen body. It felt as though she had no warmth left in her, not even in her heart.
~*~
"Kyoko? Her name was Kyoko?"
Sasami was sitting on the pinkish couch in the family room. Her sister was sitting next to her, holding her hand. The small princess had been slightly disturbed by the events that had taken place in the kitchen. Mihoshi was sitting next to Aeka, and Kiyone was standing by the couch. Tenchi was sitting on the smaller couch. Washuu was out of the room.
"That's what she said. I'm trying to remember her file," Kiyone replied. "I'll ask Washuu to access Yagami's database when she gets back."
"Access Yagami's database? Sure, I can do that!" Washuu strolled casually into the room, holding a picture.
"Washuu-sama…er…-chan, may I see the picture?" Sasami asked politely. Washuu handed it to her, and she turned it over to see two girls staring up at her. One of them was Ryoko; the other was supposedly Kyoko.
She looked like Ryoko in a way. Dangerous warrior on the outside, pirate on the inside, with something that few could see mixed in. A gentle side. Loving, caring.
"So, you want me to access Yagami's database? All right. Shove over, Tenchi," Washuu said, walking over to the second couch. She sat down, pulled up her computer and began typing on various keys.
Sasami gave the picture to her sister, who looked at it with Kiyone and Mihoshi peering over her shoulder.
"She looks familiar. I think I saw her old wanted poster once." Kiyone walked over to Washuu and looked over her shoulder. After thirty more seconds, Washuu had pulled up the old pirate's file.
"Case number 80812028, space pirate Kyoko, partner to the space pirate Ryoko (case number 80812029)," Washuu read aloud. "Age: 1112; gender: female; Died: 21 May, 89,556 (standard Jurian year); Cause of Death: explosion in a First Universal Bank of Jurai. Believed to have been accidental, caused by her partner, Ryoko."
"So that's why she never talked about her," Tenchi said.
"But it was an accident," Sasami said.
"True, but she still blames herself. If I had of known…" Tenchi's voice trailed off.
The group remained silent for a while. Then, Tenchi stood up.
"I'm going to go find her," he said as he walked towards the door. Sasami got up and ran over to him.
"I wanna come, too."
"Sasami, stay here," Aeka told her sister.
"But she's hurt." Sasami stood her ground, looking at Aeka. Finally she gave up. "All right. But if you do find her, Tenchi, wrap this around her hand," she ordered, handing him a piece of rose pink cloth. With that, Tenchi left the house.
The young prince had no idea where to start. There were a number of places Ryoko could have been.
He decided to start with the nearest place: the roof. He knew she loved it up there. He backed up so he could see on top of the house, but it was too dark. He was going to have to climb to the roof if he wanted to look. So, he grabbed a ladder and leaned it against the side of the house. Slowly, he began to climb up the ladder, trying not to look down.
When he reached the roof, he was disappointed to see that the pirate wasn't there. He walked to the edge and sat down, facing the lake.
The sky was beginning to clear up a little, and a sliver of the pale, frosted moon could be seen through the black clouds. It's faint glow reflected off the still black lake below.
The lake! The realization hit Tenchi like a ton of bricks. If she's not on the roof, she'll by the lake!
He got up quickly. Too quickly. His foot slipped out from under him and he began to slide down the roof. He reached out blindly, and managed to grab a hold of the board that ran along the top of the shingles. Slowly, he got up on his hands and knees and steadied himself. He crawled to the ladder and lowered himself. He didn't bother to climb down. Instead, he slid down.
I'll worry about the ladder later.
He sprinted to the shore, narrowly avoiding running into a tree he didn't see right away. The water slapped softly against the sandy shore. The gentle breeze played an almost quiet song as it cast ripples across the otherwise smooth surface. Giving the shore a quick scan, Tenchi saw nothing. So he began to walk along it, occasionally throwing a look across the water to see if he could see her.
Tenchi had been searching for almost two hours, and he still had seen no sign of the cyan-haired fighter. He was tired, and his feet were dragging. The sky was now totally clear. The silvery-blue moon created shadows that jumped around, from the trees to the sand to the water and back. The wind had picked up, and the boy wrapped his jacket tighter around him.
He was close to giving up looking by the lake when he saw the rock Ryoko sometimes sat on. But what caught his attention and relieved him a great deal was what was on top of it.
Ryoko, there you are, he thought as he ran over to her.
She was asleep. Her body rose and fell with every deep breath she took. She was curled into a tight ball and shivering. Her injured hand lay hanging beside the rock. The blood had stopped, but as Tenchi got closer, he could see it still looked pretty bad.
The prince kneeled down beside the sleeping demon summoner and gingerly picked up her hand. Though the cloth around it was dry, it still felt cold. He held it in his in his own hand while he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the rose colored cloth Sasami had given to him. He wrapped it around her palm and tied it. Carefully, he set her arm back down and reached up to her face. Her skin was cold and her hair was a little damp.
Tenchi didn't know how it happened, but he somehow managed to pick Ryoko up and put her into piggyback position. Her head drooped down so it lay where his shoulder met his neck, and she slept on. Careful not to wake the one on his back, the successor began to walk up to the house.
When Tenchi finally reached to warmth of the front hall, he carefully bent over and removed his shoes, almost losing Ryoko. As he replaced her, Aeka and Kiyone walked in.
"Oh, good, you found her," Kiyone said, relief in her voice.
"Yeah, but she's totally out of it," Tenchi replied. "Where are the others?"
"Sasami and Mihoshi are asleep, and Washuu's in her lab," Kiyone explained.
"Uh, Lord Tenchi? What is she doing on your back?" Aeka asked, rather loudly.
"Shhhh!" Kiyone and Tenchi silenced that angry princess. On Tenchi's back, Ryoko groaned. She gripped Tenchi's white T-shirt in her hand and buried her head deeper into his neck, still asleep.
"I'm going to take her upstairs to my room," he told the two women as he began to walk to the stairs.
"Your room?!" Aeka shrieked. Kiyone silenced her again.
"It's closest!" He walked up the stairs, stopping mid-way to readjust the pirate.
When the prince reached his room, he walked to his bed and pulled back the covers. Slowly, he removed Ryoko and lay her down. Then, he replaced the covers and sat on the floor by the bed.
Poor thing, she's got to be tired, Tenchi thought as he looked at her sleeping form. The moonlight that filtered through the window by the bed illuminated her face.
He, too, was tired. He'd been outside for two hours walking around, sick with worry. Now he was wiped of his energy. And soon, he was also asleep.
The darkness was solid, interrupted only by the white light of the moon. The demon summoner opened her golden yellow eyes to find she was in a soft bed. She was no longer cold, but warm and comfortable. She groaned and sat up, rolling through her back, causing it to crack a couple times. She raised her hand and rubbed her eyes before she looked at it.
Her palm was wrapped tightly with a pink colored cloth. It didn't hurt as much as it did, and Ryoko had the feeling it was already healing itself.
It'll take a few days, but at least it'll heal, she thought as she balled up her fist and put it down so she could look around.
Since there wasn't much light, she couldn't make out much of her surroundings.
There was movement beside the bed. Ryoko looked down and immediately understood where she was and how she got there. Tenchi was asleep by the futon, lying on his back. She looked at him through saddened and angry eyes. Apparently he had carried her to his room.
"Man, I'm still in this outfit? I need a bath," she said, realizing what she was still wearing. She floated up and disappeared.
Beside the futon, Tenchi opened his eyes. He'd awaken when Ryoko had, but he hadn't shown it to her. He didn't even bother to follow her. He knew where she was off to. Instead, he turned his head to his dresser and looked at the clock. It read 1:27 AM. He shifted his position and fell back asleep.
Tenchi opened his eyes again, hoping for light to be streaming in through his window, but he wound up finding it was still pitch black out. He looked up on his dresser to see he had slept a total of 34 minutes. It was 3:01 AM. This was turning out to be a crappy night to sleep. He turned onto his side and found the futon was still empty. He suddenly sat up.
Where is she?
He knew he shouldn't have been worried about her, but he couldn't help it. She had been out in the onsen this long many times before, but never this early in the morning. At least, as far as he knew.
The prince got up and walked out of his room, down the stairs, out the door, and out to the onsen, trying to be quiet. The sky was totally clear above him, and the moon and stars both shown a pearly white.
He walked quietly to the door and slid it open. He tiptoed in and closed the door behind him. The temperature rose quite a bit, due to the steam. Tenchi walked in the shadows over to a bunch over odd green and purple plants that Washuu had planted a few weeks back. Their large, violet leaves were about the size of his head, and the flowers it produced were swirled with emerald green and plum, with furry leaf-like things sprouting out of the center. He hid behind them and looked over to the water.
Ryoko was lying in the water. She arched her back as she sat up, the moonlight bouncing off her skin, making it look perfectly white. Her hair was soaking wet, and it stuck to her back. She stood up slowly, and Tenchi had to look away. His pants suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable, and he felt very hot in the face. And this particular heat rise had nothing to do with the steam of the bath. He glanced back over and saw she had gotten out of the onsen and was now drying off about two meters away from him. He looked away, and shifted, trying to loosen his pants. This caused the plants to rustle.
"Who's there?" Ryoko called out; stopping what she was doing and looking at the strange plants. They really were odd looking. Washuu had cloned them off a plant from a distant planet, and had altered their DNA. Originally, they were yellow and navy. Why Washuu chose emerald and purple was beyond what Ryoko knew.
When no one responded to he call, she continued, relieved. She didn't fell like confronting anyone in combat. She was too relaxed, and, not to mention, butt naked, and she was too tired and weak to teleport or phase. So, basically, in battle right now, she'd get her ass kicked.
She walked over to a rock and put down the towel, at the same time picking up her red, low-cut undersuit.
What is wrong with me? I haven't been myself lately, the pirate thought. It sure ain't that time of month. Am I becoming depressed? She stepped into the red suit and pulled it up.
Tenchi looked over to the cyan beauty, and saw she was wearing her tight, red undersuit. She had her white dress in her hands and was about to put it on. He couldn't help but notice how the red cloth covering her body really brought out her curves. He began to drool.
Shifting again, Tenchi lost his balance, and he fell out from behind his sheltering plants. This scared Ryoko.
"Tenchi!!" she shrieked. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
"Uhh…he he…hey, Ryoko," he replied, sweatdropping.
She scowled and threw down her dress, putting her hands on her hips. Her eyes were cold, and Tenchi could tell she was not pleased to see him.
"What do you want?" she sneered.
"I…I was worried about you," he said uncertainly.
"The hell you were," she spat back. It hurt him when she was mad like this, so he decided to talk this out.
"Look, Ryoko, I know you're mad at me, and you have the right to be," the prince began, unsure of where he was going to go with this. He stepped towards her, and she stepped back. "I didn't mean to hurt you. All I want to do now is talk."
"About what?" Her voice showed no sign of forgiveness.
"About what happened tonight." He began to cautiously walk towards her, and she walked backwards.
"What happened tonight? All right, I'll tell you what happened. You wouldn't drop the subject of my past!" She was on the edge of the water now. "Aren't you happy with what I told you?!"
"No, Ryoko, that's not…" he began, but the young demon summoner wasn't going to let him have his say.
"Like hell it wasn't. Can't you just live with the fact that I killed someone?!" she screamed.
He took another step towards her, and she stepped back. But when her foot found no place to land, Ryoko fell backwards. Tenchi ran over just in time to grab her hand, but had no time to regain his balance.
To someone who just happened to walk in the onsen at that moment would have been met with a very…interesting…sight. Ryoko had fallen backwards into the water, and landed on her elbows, her knees slightly bent. Her once slightly damp clothing suddenly became soaked. Tenchi had fallen on his knees, straddling Ryoko's waist. His left hand had fallen out in attempt to break his fall, and his elbow had bent underneath him so he was laying on her. His right arm was on Ryoko's back because he had also attempted to stop her from falling. Warm water rushed through his pants and across his arms. Quickly, he sat up and pulled his arm out, but he saw a good side to this situation.
She's gonna want me to get up, he thought to himself. I'm not going to until she talks. It was mean, but if it was what he had to do, then so be it.
"Get up," the pirate said.
"No." He smiled with satisfaction at the look on her face.
"Damnit, Tenchi, get up." She tried to slide out from under him, but he just leaned forward and put his hands on her arms, pinning them to the ground. She stared unforgivingly into his eyes. Oh buddy, she thought, you just messed with the wrong space pirate.
Tenchi knew that look. That particular look Ryoko gives people when she's planning to kill them. And he was getting the full blast of it now. But, though it was hard, he kept his control over her.
"Ryoko, look. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I never should have pressured you," he told her. That's not exactly what he meant to say. What he meant to say was, "Ryoko, look, the whole thing isn't your fault. The explosion was an accident." But he couldn't form the words.
"That's not going to help," was all she said in reply. She continued to stare into his eyes, like she was trying to blind him.
"All I wanted were some answers! I don't like it when you lie!"
"Answers, huh? All right, I have an answer for you. You want to know what happened?" She gave him no time to respond. "Kyoko and I were robbing the First Universal Bank of Jurai, and since they had given us trouble in the past, we decided to blow it up." Her tone was gradually getting louder. "When we were in the final stages of setting the bomb, Kyoko was in the bank, setting everything up, and I was in her ship with the controls. I thought I heard something behind me, and when I turned around, I saw a shadow that scared me! A shadow!! I jumped backwards and hit the detonate button on the panel. That sent the bomb off!"
Tenchi grimaced at the thought of setting up a bomb and having it suddenly go off.
"I wanted to go in and see if Kyoko was all right, but I heard the Galaxy Police, so I ran! I RAN!! I was thinking I could come back when they were gone. I was watching the news on her ship's screen, and it said they had found a few skin remnants and burnt cloth!" Tears began to well up in her eyes.
The prince wanted to comfort her, but she just kept going. How am I going to silence her? I wanted to know all of this, but not right now! Then it hit him. He knew how.
"They said they belonged to the space pirate Kyoko, and that they were now proclaiming her dead, and I was responsible! I murdered my best friend and then ran! I'm a coward, Tenchi! Damnit, I'm a freaking…"
Ryoko was stopped abruptly when Tenchi's lips touched her own. She was taken by surprise. He moved his hands from her arms to behind her body.
Her lips were soft. He watched as her eyes slowly drooped, and finally shut. He was about to break the kiss when he felt something. It wasn't a physical feeling. Tenchi couldn't explain in. He closed his own eyes and let it fill his heart. He saw sadness, pain, joy, happiness, and…love. These were Ryoko's feelings he had accepted into him. Feelings for the one she loved so dearly, yet who never returned the feeling. Sadness for how much it hurt to accept that maybe he didn't want to love her. Pain for all the memories of her past. And happiness for how much she still cherished her life and everyone in it.
He felt her body quiver under him as he ran is hand along her side. He stopped and lowered it to the solid ground below them. It crept across the floor until it found her hand. The two locked fingers, and the kiss deepened.
His free hand went up along her spine, up her neck, and into her hair. He could tell, though it was damp, it was still soft as silk.
Looks really can be deceiving.
The successor and the summoner held the kiss a little longer. Finally, Ryoko broke it off and stared into Tenchi's eyes. It wasn't the death glare he was getting earlier. It was unreadable. He got up and held her hand to help her up.
When he had pulled her to a standing position, she walked close to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder, and cried. Her shoulders heaved up and down with her body. Unsure of what to do, he patted her stupidly on the back. Though he had just kissed her, he still didn't know what to do when she did things like this. That kiss's original purpose was to stop her from talking.
As they were standing in the middle of the bath, Tenchi heard something that sounded like, "Thank you" come from the sobbing woman, but he couldn't be so sure.
"Ryoko," he said softly, "no more tonight. Let's go home so you can sleep. We can talk tomorrow."
She raised her tear-stained eyes to him and nodded. She walked out of the water and began to walk towards her clothes, but Tenchi stopped her.
"You can get that stuff tomorrow." Again, she nodded and walked over to him. He put his arm around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. Together, they walked out of the onsen and back towards the yard.
They were walking in silence, Ryoko mainly enjoying Tenchi's company and warmth, Tenchi hoping he was being of some help to her, when Ryoko suddenly stopped by a tree. She stared up into one of the higher branches.
"Ryoko? What's wro…" he began, but she raised her hand to silence him. He walked over beside her and followed her gaze. Immediately, he knew what had caught her attention.
Up in the tree, a dark shadow stood motionless, silhouetted against the light that penetrated the leaves…
Sadness.
Memories.
Nightmares.
Anger.
Everything Ryoko felt was combining in her head. She couldn't take it. She wanted to cry, but she had shed all the tears she could. Her hand was throbbing; her head was throbbing; nothing was right.
Blood was seeping through the cloth around her hand. It was no longer black, but a deep red.
Ryoko turned her swollen, bloodshot eyes up to the sky. The storm had stopped, and the sky was black and full of clouds. The rock on which she was sitting was wet, mostly from the rain. The lake was gray. It reminded Ryoko of her dreams. Full of some unknown background, mystery, and depth, like there was something more to the story. It called to her.
The pirate slid off the rock and into the water, letting it consume her body. It was cold and lifeless. She closed her eyes and let her head fall beneath the dark surface. She felt the water rush over her wound, and she felt the blood leave it. She was escaping her dreams, her memories. Her lungs began to scream for air. She had not held her breath.
Ryoko's head broke the surface of the water and she gasped in the cool night breeze. She was freezing. Her hand stung as the air touched it. Red water ran off it into the lake. She sighed deeply, bringing her hand back below the water. She stood there with her hand under, letting the red body fluid flow out for some time. She had no idea what she was doing, and she didn't care.
When Ryoko finally did rise, she looked to the sky before getting out of the lake and sitting back on her rock. She lay on her side, letting the water run of her almost frozen body. It felt as though she had no warmth left in her, not even in her heart.
~*~
"Kyoko? Her name was Kyoko?"
Sasami was sitting on the pinkish couch in the family room. Her sister was sitting next to her, holding her hand. The small princess had been slightly disturbed by the events that had taken place in the kitchen. Mihoshi was sitting next to Aeka, and Kiyone was standing by the couch. Tenchi was sitting on the smaller couch. Washuu was out of the room.
"That's what she said. I'm trying to remember her file," Kiyone replied. "I'll ask Washuu to access Yagami's database when she gets back."
"Access Yagami's database? Sure, I can do that!" Washuu strolled casually into the room, holding a picture.
"Washuu-sama…er…-chan, may I see the picture?" Sasami asked politely. Washuu handed it to her, and she turned it over to see two girls staring up at her. One of them was Ryoko; the other was supposedly Kyoko.
She looked like Ryoko in a way. Dangerous warrior on the outside, pirate on the inside, with something that few could see mixed in. A gentle side. Loving, caring.
"So, you want me to access Yagami's database? All right. Shove over, Tenchi," Washuu said, walking over to the second couch. She sat down, pulled up her computer and began typing on various keys.
Sasami gave the picture to her sister, who looked at it with Kiyone and Mihoshi peering over her shoulder.
"She looks familiar. I think I saw her old wanted poster once." Kiyone walked over to Washuu and looked over her shoulder. After thirty more seconds, Washuu had pulled up the old pirate's file.
"Case number 80812028, space pirate Kyoko, partner to the space pirate Ryoko (case number 80812029)," Washuu read aloud. "Age: 1112; gender: female; Died: 21 May, 89,556 (standard Jurian year); Cause of Death: explosion in a First Universal Bank of Jurai. Believed to have been accidental, caused by her partner, Ryoko."
"So that's why she never talked about her," Tenchi said.
"But it was an accident," Sasami said.
"True, but she still blames herself. If I had of known…" Tenchi's voice trailed off.
The group remained silent for a while. Then, Tenchi stood up.
"I'm going to go find her," he said as he walked towards the door. Sasami got up and ran over to him.
"I wanna come, too."
"Sasami, stay here," Aeka told her sister.
"But she's hurt." Sasami stood her ground, looking at Aeka. Finally she gave up. "All right. But if you do find her, Tenchi, wrap this around her hand," she ordered, handing him a piece of rose pink cloth. With that, Tenchi left the house.
The young prince had no idea where to start. There were a number of places Ryoko could have been.
He decided to start with the nearest place: the roof. He knew she loved it up there. He backed up so he could see on top of the house, but it was too dark. He was going to have to climb to the roof if he wanted to look. So, he grabbed a ladder and leaned it against the side of the house. Slowly, he began to climb up the ladder, trying not to look down.
When he reached the roof, he was disappointed to see that the pirate wasn't there. He walked to the edge and sat down, facing the lake.
The sky was beginning to clear up a little, and a sliver of the pale, frosted moon could be seen through the black clouds. It's faint glow reflected off the still black lake below.
The lake! The realization hit Tenchi like a ton of bricks. If she's not on the roof, she'll by the lake!
He got up quickly. Too quickly. His foot slipped out from under him and he began to slide down the roof. He reached out blindly, and managed to grab a hold of the board that ran along the top of the shingles. Slowly, he got up on his hands and knees and steadied himself. He crawled to the ladder and lowered himself. He didn't bother to climb down. Instead, he slid down.
I'll worry about the ladder later.
He sprinted to the shore, narrowly avoiding running into a tree he didn't see right away. The water slapped softly against the sandy shore. The gentle breeze played an almost quiet song as it cast ripples across the otherwise smooth surface. Giving the shore a quick scan, Tenchi saw nothing. So he began to walk along it, occasionally throwing a look across the water to see if he could see her.
Tenchi had been searching for almost two hours, and he still had seen no sign of the cyan-haired fighter. He was tired, and his feet were dragging. The sky was now totally clear. The silvery-blue moon created shadows that jumped around, from the trees to the sand to the water and back. The wind had picked up, and the boy wrapped his jacket tighter around him.
He was close to giving up looking by the lake when he saw the rock Ryoko sometimes sat on. But what caught his attention and relieved him a great deal was what was on top of it.
Ryoko, there you are, he thought as he ran over to her.
She was asleep. Her body rose and fell with every deep breath she took. She was curled into a tight ball and shivering. Her injured hand lay hanging beside the rock. The blood had stopped, but as Tenchi got closer, he could see it still looked pretty bad.
The prince kneeled down beside the sleeping demon summoner and gingerly picked up her hand. Though the cloth around it was dry, it still felt cold. He held it in his in his own hand while he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the rose colored cloth Sasami had given to him. He wrapped it around her palm and tied it. Carefully, he set her arm back down and reached up to her face. Her skin was cold and her hair was a little damp.
Tenchi didn't know how it happened, but he somehow managed to pick Ryoko up and put her into piggyback position. Her head drooped down so it lay where his shoulder met his neck, and she slept on. Careful not to wake the one on his back, the successor began to walk up to the house.
When Tenchi finally reached to warmth of the front hall, he carefully bent over and removed his shoes, almost losing Ryoko. As he replaced her, Aeka and Kiyone walked in.
"Oh, good, you found her," Kiyone said, relief in her voice.
"Yeah, but she's totally out of it," Tenchi replied. "Where are the others?"
"Sasami and Mihoshi are asleep, and Washuu's in her lab," Kiyone explained.
"Uh, Lord Tenchi? What is she doing on your back?" Aeka asked, rather loudly.
"Shhhh!" Kiyone and Tenchi silenced that angry princess. On Tenchi's back, Ryoko groaned. She gripped Tenchi's white T-shirt in her hand and buried her head deeper into his neck, still asleep.
"I'm going to take her upstairs to my room," he told the two women as he began to walk to the stairs.
"Your room?!" Aeka shrieked. Kiyone silenced her again.
"It's closest!" He walked up the stairs, stopping mid-way to readjust the pirate.
When the prince reached his room, he walked to his bed and pulled back the covers. Slowly, he removed Ryoko and lay her down. Then, he replaced the covers and sat on the floor by the bed.
Poor thing, she's got to be tired, Tenchi thought as he looked at her sleeping form. The moonlight that filtered through the window by the bed illuminated her face.
He, too, was tired. He'd been outside for two hours walking around, sick with worry. Now he was wiped of his energy. And soon, he was also asleep.
The darkness was solid, interrupted only by the white light of the moon. The demon summoner opened her golden yellow eyes to find she was in a soft bed. She was no longer cold, but warm and comfortable. She groaned and sat up, rolling through her back, causing it to crack a couple times. She raised her hand and rubbed her eyes before she looked at it.
Her palm was wrapped tightly with a pink colored cloth. It didn't hurt as much as it did, and Ryoko had the feeling it was already healing itself.
It'll take a few days, but at least it'll heal, she thought as she balled up her fist and put it down so she could look around.
Since there wasn't much light, she couldn't make out much of her surroundings.
There was movement beside the bed. Ryoko looked down and immediately understood where she was and how she got there. Tenchi was asleep by the futon, lying on his back. She looked at him through saddened and angry eyes. Apparently he had carried her to his room.
"Man, I'm still in this outfit? I need a bath," she said, realizing what she was still wearing. She floated up and disappeared.
Beside the futon, Tenchi opened his eyes. He'd awaken when Ryoko had, but he hadn't shown it to her. He didn't even bother to follow her. He knew where she was off to. Instead, he turned his head to his dresser and looked at the clock. It read 1:27 AM. He shifted his position and fell back asleep.
Tenchi opened his eyes again, hoping for light to be streaming in through his window, but he wound up finding it was still pitch black out. He looked up on his dresser to see he had slept a total of 34 minutes. It was 3:01 AM. This was turning out to be a crappy night to sleep. He turned onto his side and found the futon was still empty. He suddenly sat up.
Where is she?
He knew he shouldn't have been worried about her, but he couldn't help it. She had been out in the onsen this long many times before, but never this early in the morning. At least, as far as he knew.
The prince got up and walked out of his room, down the stairs, out the door, and out to the onsen, trying to be quiet. The sky was totally clear above him, and the moon and stars both shown a pearly white.
He walked quietly to the door and slid it open. He tiptoed in and closed the door behind him. The temperature rose quite a bit, due to the steam. Tenchi walked in the shadows over to a bunch over odd green and purple plants that Washuu had planted a few weeks back. Their large, violet leaves were about the size of his head, and the flowers it produced were swirled with emerald green and plum, with furry leaf-like things sprouting out of the center. He hid behind them and looked over to the water.
Ryoko was lying in the water. She arched her back as she sat up, the moonlight bouncing off her skin, making it look perfectly white. Her hair was soaking wet, and it stuck to her back. She stood up slowly, and Tenchi had to look away. His pants suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable, and he felt very hot in the face. And this particular heat rise had nothing to do with the steam of the bath. He glanced back over and saw she had gotten out of the onsen and was now drying off about two meters away from him. He looked away, and shifted, trying to loosen his pants. This caused the plants to rustle.
"Who's there?" Ryoko called out; stopping what she was doing and looking at the strange plants. They really were odd looking. Washuu had cloned them off a plant from a distant planet, and had altered their DNA. Originally, they were yellow and navy. Why Washuu chose emerald and purple was beyond what Ryoko knew.
When no one responded to he call, she continued, relieved. She didn't fell like confronting anyone in combat. She was too relaxed, and, not to mention, butt naked, and she was too tired and weak to teleport or phase. So, basically, in battle right now, she'd get her ass kicked.
She walked over to a rock and put down the towel, at the same time picking up her red, low-cut undersuit.
What is wrong with me? I haven't been myself lately, the pirate thought. It sure ain't that time of month. Am I becoming depressed? She stepped into the red suit and pulled it up.
Tenchi looked over to the cyan beauty, and saw she was wearing her tight, red undersuit. She had her white dress in her hands and was about to put it on. He couldn't help but notice how the red cloth covering her body really brought out her curves. He began to drool.
Shifting again, Tenchi lost his balance, and he fell out from behind his sheltering plants. This scared Ryoko.
"Tenchi!!" she shrieked. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
"Uhh…he he…hey, Ryoko," he replied, sweatdropping.
She scowled and threw down her dress, putting her hands on her hips. Her eyes were cold, and Tenchi could tell she was not pleased to see him.
"What do you want?" she sneered.
"I…I was worried about you," he said uncertainly.
"The hell you were," she spat back. It hurt him when she was mad like this, so he decided to talk this out.
"Look, Ryoko, I know you're mad at me, and you have the right to be," the prince began, unsure of where he was going to go with this. He stepped towards her, and she stepped back. "I didn't mean to hurt you. All I want to do now is talk."
"About what?" Her voice showed no sign of forgiveness.
"About what happened tonight." He began to cautiously walk towards her, and she walked backwards.
"What happened tonight? All right, I'll tell you what happened. You wouldn't drop the subject of my past!" She was on the edge of the water now. "Aren't you happy with what I told you?!"
"No, Ryoko, that's not…" he began, but the young demon summoner wasn't going to let him have his say.
"Like hell it wasn't. Can't you just live with the fact that I killed someone?!" she screamed.
He took another step towards her, and she stepped back. But when her foot found no place to land, Ryoko fell backwards. Tenchi ran over just in time to grab her hand, but had no time to regain his balance.
To someone who just happened to walk in the onsen at that moment would have been met with a very…interesting…sight. Ryoko had fallen backwards into the water, and landed on her elbows, her knees slightly bent. Her once slightly damp clothing suddenly became soaked. Tenchi had fallen on his knees, straddling Ryoko's waist. His left hand had fallen out in attempt to break his fall, and his elbow had bent underneath him so he was laying on her. His right arm was on Ryoko's back because he had also attempted to stop her from falling. Warm water rushed through his pants and across his arms. Quickly, he sat up and pulled his arm out, but he saw a good side to this situation.
She's gonna want me to get up, he thought to himself. I'm not going to until she talks. It was mean, but if it was what he had to do, then so be it.
"Get up," the pirate said.
"No." He smiled with satisfaction at the look on her face.
"Damnit, Tenchi, get up." She tried to slide out from under him, but he just leaned forward and put his hands on her arms, pinning them to the ground. She stared unforgivingly into his eyes. Oh buddy, she thought, you just messed with the wrong space pirate.
Tenchi knew that look. That particular look Ryoko gives people when she's planning to kill them. And he was getting the full blast of it now. But, though it was hard, he kept his control over her.
"Ryoko, look. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I never should have pressured you," he told her. That's not exactly what he meant to say. What he meant to say was, "Ryoko, look, the whole thing isn't your fault. The explosion was an accident." But he couldn't form the words.
"That's not going to help," was all she said in reply. She continued to stare into his eyes, like she was trying to blind him.
"All I wanted were some answers! I don't like it when you lie!"
"Answers, huh? All right, I have an answer for you. You want to know what happened?" She gave him no time to respond. "Kyoko and I were robbing the First Universal Bank of Jurai, and since they had given us trouble in the past, we decided to blow it up." Her tone was gradually getting louder. "When we were in the final stages of setting the bomb, Kyoko was in the bank, setting everything up, and I was in her ship with the controls. I thought I heard something behind me, and when I turned around, I saw a shadow that scared me! A shadow!! I jumped backwards and hit the detonate button on the panel. That sent the bomb off!"
Tenchi grimaced at the thought of setting up a bomb and having it suddenly go off.
"I wanted to go in and see if Kyoko was all right, but I heard the Galaxy Police, so I ran! I RAN!! I was thinking I could come back when they were gone. I was watching the news on her ship's screen, and it said they had found a few skin remnants and burnt cloth!" Tears began to well up in her eyes.
The prince wanted to comfort her, but she just kept going. How am I going to silence her? I wanted to know all of this, but not right now! Then it hit him. He knew how.
"They said they belonged to the space pirate Kyoko, and that they were now proclaiming her dead, and I was responsible! I murdered my best friend and then ran! I'm a coward, Tenchi! Damnit, I'm a freaking…"
Ryoko was stopped abruptly when Tenchi's lips touched her own. She was taken by surprise. He moved his hands from her arms to behind her body.
Her lips were soft. He watched as her eyes slowly drooped, and finally shut. He was about to break the kiss when he felt something. It wasn't a physical feeling. Tenchi couldn't explain in. He closed his own eyes and let it fill his heart. He saw sadness, pain, joy, happiness, and…love. These were Ryoko's feelings he had accepted into him. Feelings for the one she loved so dearly, yet who never returned the feeling. Sadness for how much it hurt to accept that maybe he didn't want to love her. Pain for all the memories of her past. And happiness for how much she still cherished her life and everyone in it.
He felt her body quiver under him as he ran is hand along her side. He stopped and lowered it to the solid ground below them. It crept across the floor until it found her hand. The two locked fingers, and the kiss deepened.
His free hand went up along her spine, up her neck, and into her hair. He could tell, though it was damp, it was still soft as silk.
Looks really can be deceiving.
The successor and the summoner held the kiss a little longer. Finally, Ryoko broke it off and stared into Tenchi's eyes. It wasn't the death glare he was getting earlier. It was unreadable. He got up and held her hand to help her up.
When he had pulled her to a standing position, she walked close to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder, and cried. Her shoulders heaved up and down with her body. Unsure of what to do, he patted her stupidly on the back. Though he had just kissed her, he still didn't know what to do when she did things like this. That kiss's original purpose was to stop her from talking.
As they were standing in the middle of the bath, Tenchi heard something that sounded like, "Thank you" come from the sobbing woman, but he couldn't be so sure.
"Ryoko," he said softly, "no more tonight. Let's go home so you can sleep. We can talk tomorrow."
She raised her tear-stained eyes to him and nodded. She walked out of the water and began to walk towards her clothes, but Tenchi stopped her.
"You can get that stuff tomorrow." Again, she nodded and walked over to him. He put his arm around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. Together, they walked out of the onsen and back towards the yard.
They were walking in silence, Ryoko mainly enjoying Tenchi's company and warmth, Tenchi hoping he was being of some help to her, when Ryoko suddenly stopped by a tree. She stared up into one of the higher branches.
"Ryoko? What's wro…" he began, but she raised her hand to silence him. He walked over beside her and followed her gaze. Immediately, he knew what had caught her attention.
Up in the tree, a dark shadow stood motionless, silhouetted against the light that penetrated the leaves…