~Notes from Minagi~
Hey, all! School's out, so I was able to get this posted a lot sooner than expected. I just want to give you a forewarning: towards the end of this part, my profanity gets a little out of hand. I'm really sorry!! Other than that, the only other comments I have to make are mainly to alitghthawk.
Don't worry, I won't chew your head off, I just wanted to say that the only reason everything may not be explained is because, in the original plot, Kyoko wasn't a once thought dead space pirate. She was, in fact, a reincarnated guardian from a different planet, who did not recover her memories until she was on the Earth for thirteen years. So if I don't explain something, sorry, that's why. I've had to do some major tweaking to the story to make it fit for the space pirate angle, and I may have missed some things. But, oh well, that's all explained in this chapter.
ENJOY (and please review!)!! ^.^
Aeka rose with the sun the next day, her eyes still puffy and her heart still shattered in her chest. Nothing seemed to be right. Tenchi, her Tenchi, the one she loved with her heart and soul, didn't return her feelings. He didn't love her back, and now what was left of her beautiful world came crashing down. But Aeka had cried all her tears, and now, armed with tape and an open mind, she left the comfort of her room and went downstairs, willing to listen to what her love had to say.
When she reached the stairs, the strong and luring scent of her little sister's cooking reached her nostrils. She breathed it in deeply and smiled, despite her broken heart.
It's good to know some things are still the same, she thought.
Aeka finished walking down the stairs to find Kiyone on one of the pink couches, immersed in a book, and Kyoko and Mihoshi playing some kind of card game.
When the princess reached the bottom of the stairs, Kiyone looked up from her page and smiled.
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Miss Aeka!" she said, clearly in an unusually happy mood.
Aeka chuckled. "Good morning to you, too, Kiyone. You're in a good mood today!"
"Kyoko's taught Mihoshi a new game!" the GP member replied, implying hidden meaning.
The princess laughed, understanding what she meant. "Kyoko's taught Mihoshi a new game," may have been what Kiyone had said, but what she was thinking was, "Mihoshi's being kept busy and out of my hair!"
"Do you want to sit down, Aeka?" Kiyone asked, offering the seat next to her.
"No, thank you," Aeka replied. "Actually, I was wondering if you could tell me where Lord Tenchi is?"
"I haven't seen him, sorry." Kiyone looked truly sympathetic. She knew why Aeka wanted to see him; her face still showed it.
"Tenchi-kun went out to the fields, Aeka-sama," Kyoko said, turning around. She grimaced when she saw the first crown princess's puffy red face. So the poor girl knew.
The purple hared heir bowed her thanks and turned to leave when she was hit by the family's blue hared, big-eyed bullet.
"'Morning, big sister!" Sasami said enthusiastically. Aeka returned the hug, smiling. Her sister always had a way of making her do that. She was so innocent and carefree, with nothing to bother her, nothing to break her heart. "Ready for breakfast? It'll be done in a little bit!"
"I'm sorry, Sasami-chan," the older one said, "I won't be having breakfast."
Sasami backed up and poked out her bottom lip, pouting. "But I made some for you! Don't let it go to waste!"
"Oh, it won't. Remember, Ryoko lives here. She'll eat it."
Giving up, the little girl sighed. "All right." Then she turned on her heel and walked back to the kitchen.
As soon as her sister left the room, Aeka glided gracefully to the door and out of the house. Even though on the outside she looked fine (with the exception of her face), she was fighting and losing her own battle on the inside. She didn't even know what she was going to say to Tenchi. She kept battling herself over how she was going to act, how he was going to act, what she was going to say, and how he was going to reply. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't realize it when she walked into the fields. When she finally jolted out of thinking mode, she was nearly five feet behind him, and he hadn't even noticed.
Tenchi stood up, wiping his brow and throwing the last carrot into the wicker basket beside his feet. Then he picked it up and turned to go home, when he noticed Aeka standing, looking at him through forcibly normal eyes. He could tell immediately that she was trying to hold back tears, and he smiled at her.
"Good morning, Miss Aeka!" he said, half out of habit, half wishing this would prove his observations wrong.
At his words, her entire face fell. He knew right away that she knew whom he had chosen, and he knew that she knew it wasn't her.
"Lord Tenchi, I need to talk to you," she said sadly, walking towards him, her head hung low.
"Miss Aeka-" he began, but she stopped him by putting a single finger over his lips.
"Please, just listen to me. Don't speak," she said, looking up. The tears she thought she had shed earlier had begun to flow freely. "I've poured my soul to you before, and you listened. Please, just let me do that again." She moved her finger when he nodded in agreement. "Do you remember when I told you that all I wanted was for you to join the royal family and stay on Jurai so I could be near you?"
Tenchi nodded. He remembered it. That was just before he left Jurai for Earth. He had refused because staying didn't seem right. He wasn't being raised as an heir, he was being raised to become a Shinto priest and follow in his grandfather's footsteps.
"I was crushed when you said no, but I tried not to show it. I believed you would stay, because I believed that eventually you would fall in love with me. Whenever I fought with Ryoko over you, I thought that one- day she would eat her words. I believed with my very being that no one could love you as much as I did! But, I see now that I was wrong. Tenchi, Ryoko loves you with her heart, mind, and soul, and would give her life for what you want in a heartbeat."
This comment sent a pang of guilt through Tenchi's mind. Ryoko would indeed do that. She once had. She had died trying to get him to the royal palace to save the very person telling him this. The boy was just grateful for his love's ability to regenerate, or she wouldn't be here today. Strange thing was, no one had told Aeka this, and here she was, talking about it.
And still, the princess continued.
"All I want for you is what you think is best. I accept that you love Ryoko, and I beg we can still be good friends. But know this: though I stand no chance now, I still love you. I will always love you. And when I must return home to my planet, I beg you, do not forget my love is still in you. I know one day I'll find another, but you will always have a part of my heart."
Crying even harder now, the broken hearted woman gave Tenchi the hug she had always wanted to give him, and he returned it without his usual reluctance.
"I'm terribly sorry, Aeka," he told her, tears forming in his own eyes.
"Do not-do not apologize, Tenchi," the sobbing girl choked out. "I should have seen this coming." And with that, she ran from him, her face buried in her hands.
Tenchi just stood there, stunned. When he realized he was still holding the carrots, he began to slowly walk home.
Tenchi slowly opened the door and stepped through. He was still trying to contemplate what he had just heard while he removed the wicker basket from his back and his shoes from his feet.
"Tenchi?" He heard someone calling his name uncertainly, and when he looked up, he found the voice to be Ryoko's. "Breakfast is ready."
Ryoko could tell her Tenchi was distracted, so she walked over and took both his hands in hers. Giving him the saddest puppy dog eyes she could muster, she asked him what was wrong.
"Aeka...Aeka just poured her soul to me...again," he told her, avoiding her eyes and staring beside her left upper arm. He was positive she would get mad at the princess, but was thrown off guard when he looked up and saw her wearing her rarely seen extremely gentle smile.
"I understand. Go eat," she told him. Before he could protest, she had gone.
She couldn't stop crying, no matter how hard she tried. Though Aeka thought she had cried all the tears she could the last night, it was obvious she still had more. She ignored the world, and remained all alone in oblivion. It didn't even phase her when she heard a quiet thump beside her.
"Hush, little child, calm your tears," came a voice like a song amongst the wind. Aeka almost thought it was a guardian angel here to comfort her. But when she looked up, she saw she was yet again wrong.
Ryoko sat down beside her on top of the rough stone of the cave.
"What are you doing here, of all places?" she asked.
"I guess this is where my feet carried me," Aeka replied. "Come to have a good gloat, have you?"
"Not at all, princess," the oni said, shaking her head. "It's your turn to listen."
Whatever Ryoko meant by that, Aeka had no clue, but she had the feeling she was about to find out.
"You have poured out your soul to the world around you, and now it's my turn. Will you listen?"
"You won't gloat?"
The pirate smiled. "Of course not."
Sighing, Aeka agreed to listen.
"Look, I don't know if anyone's told you this before in the past, but when Tenchi came to rescue you from Kagato, it's because I gave him a ride."
"But you were severely wounded! How could you manage?!" the shocked woman said.
"Aeka, please listen. Before he came, before he even had decided to come, I lay in my room, watching myself die. I knew I was going to, sooner rather than later. I watched myself slowly bleed to death, and I watched the bacteria literally eat me alive. But all the while, I couldn't help but think of Tenchi's safety. I knew he would come after you. So, I slowly pulled myself off my bed, and walked into the hallway. Leaning against the wall, I noticed he was walking down the corridor, coming my way. I realized then that I was right. He was going after you. I admit, I begged him not to, I even went so far as to threaten to steal him away. I wanted nothing more than to forget my troubles and spend my last moments by his side. I wanted to confess everything to him, down to the darkest reaches of my wounded spirit. But he refused. Do you know why?"
Aeka shook her head. She had no idea where this story was going, but it actually intrigued her.
"Because he had his mind set on saving you, and nothing was going to stop him from doing that. He didn't care that he didn't have full control over his sword. He didn't care he was facing death himself. He would rather die than not go after you. My point is, it's because he loves you. Though it may not be how you want him to, he does, and it's unconditional. He may not see it yet, but I thought you should know."
Aeka couldn't help but be amazed. Here was the space pirate who had once destroyed her home, causing mass destruction on her life, and now she was comforting her?! This was madness! This was insane! This was...
...Exactly what Aeka needed to hear. Wiping tears from her eyes, she looked at Ryoko.
"Did you die?" she asked.
Ryoko looked down at the ground between her feet, then back up at the one next to her. "Yes, princess, I did."
It was then that the first crown princess did something she'd never thought she'd do in her entire life. She leaned into Ryoko's shoulder and cried. The demon summoner wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl and whispered words of hope and comfort to her, and Aeka saw, for the very first time, the true infamous space pirate Ryoko.
Not that that would change anything too drastically, but just for the moment…that one sweet moment when Ryoko revealed her heart…
Kyoko had been humming the same song all morning. Same tune, no words. It sounded like an angel's song. Almost like an angel was speaking of its downfall in the form of music. It was beautiful, it was sad, but where it came from, not even Kyoko herself knew.
She looked down to the cards in her hand, from the two of clubs to the ace of diamonds. Finally, choosing three of the five in her hand, she set them face down on the table, saying, "I'll take three, Ryoko-san".
She waited for her cards to come, continuing to hum quietly. But when they didn't, she looked up.
Ryoko had her head in one of her hands, a look of intense pain on her face. Immediately, Kyoko stopped humming and asked what was wrong.
"I have a splitting headache, and I can't seem to forget my dream."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kyoko said, putting the rest of her cards down. "Do you want to stop?"
"No, the strange thing is, I'm fine now. It keeps coming and going," Ryoko replied, letting her hand fall to the stack of cards below her. She picked up three and tossed them across the small wooden table, and Kyoko picked them up, placing them in her hands. She resumed humming.
The song had been stuck in her head all day, and she had never even heard it before! It was really getting on her nerves, but she just couldn't stop singing it.
Such intense pain. It was nearly blinding Ryoko as it came back worse than before. She kept hearing a sorrowful tune every time it started, and her pain would go away as soon as it stopped. But she couldn't figure out where the song was coming from.
The demon summoner grabbed her head, gasping and clenching her eyes shut as the pain began to increase. Visions of her dreams flashed in her mind's eye, and she once again felt the blood pouring out from her lips and side. The music volume increased, and she opened her left eye far enough to see Kyoko swaying slightly with the tune.
"Kyoko?" she said, trying and failing to keep her voice even.
Kyoko looked up. "Oh my God, Ryoko!" She rose as fast as she could, leaping over the table beside her friend. This attracted the attention of everyone else at the table (i.e. Tenchi, Mihoshi, Washuu, and Nobuyuki), and they followed the frightened pirate to their comrade's side.
The searing pain stopped as quickly as it had come yet again, and Ryoko's head was clear. She looked up into the frightened eyes of her partner.
"Kyoko-san, where did you learn that song?" she asked.
Everyone backed up in surprise, simultaneous "huh?"'s and "what?"'s echoing throughout the group.
"I don't know," Kyoko replied, wondering what importance it served. "It just came to me, why?"
Ryoko felt foolish. The song served no purpose at all! It had nothing to do with this! So, she shrugged her shoulders, pleading ignorance.
"Kyoko, please follow me to my lab," Washuu said to the girl, planning on going over possible solutions for the problem at hand. She understood why Ryoko had asked such a question in such an unusual time. Her daughter had believed that to be the cause of what was happening to her. She believed that song was causing her headaches. It was strange, yes, but with all that Washuu had heard over the past couple of days, she wasn't taking any chances. So, leading the way, the two marched through the broom closet's door into the sub-space laboratory.
The rest of the group watched the two disappear behind the door, looks of pure stupidity on their faces.
"I guess this means the game's over," Nobuyuki said, laying his cards on the table.
"Damn!" Ryoko hissed, lying her own cards down. "I was working on a straight in spuds!"
"You mean spades, Ryoko-san?" Tenchi said, a smile crossing his lips.
"Those too," she said, blushing magenta.
Mihoshi remained silent, looking at her cards. Then she lay them face up on the table. "I don't think I really had anything," she said sadly.
The remainder of the card players looked down at her cards, and their jaws dropped.
"Mihoshi, you had a Royal Flush," Tenchi said in awe.
"Oh." The blonde cocked her head to the side, wondering. Finally, she said, "Is that good?"
Everyone fell to the ground, anime style.
~*~
The sweet smell of the grass, the gentle caress of the wind; everything around him was perfect. Well, almost everything. Tenchi still had something on his mind, something to complete. Walking outside amidst the final rays of the setting sun, the young prince looked to the sky, the Master Key clasped firmly between his fingers.
The golden ribbons of light flowed gracefully down to the earth, bouncing of Ryoko's slender figure, painting an orange tinge among her cyan strands of hair. She stood on air, watching the light blue horizon burn and eventually become navy. Behind her, the moon's own silvery red light reflected upon the ground, slowly creeping up on the sun. The day was ending, and the night was soon to begin.
The night. A glorious time of darkness, when the moon watches the Earth like a mother over her child, and the stars dance among the velvety black. When spirits of one's past come once again from the shadows of their death's to walk the plains of the living once more. This was Ryoko's favorite time. This was her time to fly, because nothing could stop her from being free.
"Ryoko!"
Except for that. Tenchi's voice rang out from beneath Ryoko's feet, and she looked away from the dying day to see her love standing below her, smiling.
"Come down here, I have something for you!" he shouted.
What could he possibly want to give me? She thought, but she obeyed him any way. Floating to the ground, she stopped a few feet above the grass.
Tenchi looked up at the one before him. He wanted so badly to do what he knew was right, but he also knew the consequences of it. Still, he did love her, and he knew she wanted it…
Breathing deeply, he took hold of her hands, pulling her to the ground. Staring deeply into Ryoko's eyes, he was momentarily mesmerized be the reflection of the oncoming darkness that he saw in them.
"Ryoko, I've been thinking for quite some time now," he began, not knowing where to go. She leaned her head to one side, as if to say, "I'm listening."
Sighing, Tenchi continued. "I know the consequences of my actions, and I am ready and willing to accept them. Yes, it is an irreversible process, but don't care anymore."
"Tenchi, what are you talking about?" she asked him in the voice of a curious little girl.
"I want to give you back the gems," he told her.
The pirate gasped. "No! That'll deactivate the Master Key! You can't do that! Not for me!"
"No, Ryoko-san, it won't deactivate the sword. Remember, it worked before the gems were embedded inside?"
"True…" Ryoko was uncertain about this. She wanted to once again have control of all the gems so badly, but she was scared of what it would do to him, even in the long run. He was more important to her than producing her own Light Hawk Wings.
"Please don't argue, I know you want control again, and I've been wrong in neglecting to give it to you."
"I…I can't do it!" she argued. "What about you? What will hap…" She immediately stopped when his fingers brushed the soft skin of her cheek. They ran up along her jawbone, sending shivers down her spine. She hated when he did that. She felt she could surrender to anything. Whimpering, she looked at him.
Tenchi was serious, she could tell. This was what they both wanted. Reluctantly, she silently agreed to take back the final jewels and her awesome power.
The price backed up so he was about a meter away from her, and she held out her arms wrist up.
He looked down at the gems, and couldn't help but notice they looked darker than usual, but he figured it was because of the awkward lighting. Pointing the end of the sword hilt towards her, he silently prayed for the red gems to return to their rightful owner.
A burning sensation penetrated Ryoko's left wrist as it began to glow. Slowly, the light died and was replaced by the first gem. Then, in the center of her neck, she felt the other forming. She could tell the power was flowing through her blood, and it was like electricity was jolting her body. But it didn't stop there. The burn increased to pain. Unbearable pain. It was quickly wiping her of all energy. From around the edges of the two red gems came blood. Unable to hold herself up, she collapsed to the ground, eyes tight shut. She heard Tenchi's voice from somewhere above her, but she couldn't comprehend what he was saying.
As soon as Ryoko had collapsed, Tenchi wished he could take the gems back. This didn't happen last time, when he had given her the first one. Something was terribly wrong here. He ran as fast as he could over to her side and gathered her now hemorrhaging body into his arms and ran as fast as he could back to the house.
Halfway across the lawn, the scared successor almost ran into Washuu, who had obviously felt Ryoko's pain through the link.
"Put her down!" The scientist ordered, and Tenchi did as he was told. Washuu did some kind of weird hand motion (Tenchi couldn't quite see what it was), and the gems fell out. The blood stopped flowing, and Ryoko lie on the ground, gasping in the air around her.
The boy knelt down next to her and gingerly picked her up, placing her in his lap. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder, continuing to breathe deeply. Tenchi held on to his love tightly and looked up to Washuu, who was examining the gems.
"These aren't the real gems," the magenta hared genius said. "These were created to do exactly what they did…"
~*~
Nighttime quickly fell upon the city of Ookayama. An unusually bright red moon illuminated the trees and grass, casting eerie shadows that jumped out at every unsuspecting person who happened to pass one.
The two Masaki Space Pirates were lying side by side on Ryoko's futon, looking at old photo albums from when Ryoko joined the family to the most recent times. They both had their drink of choice. Ryoko had her sake; Kyoko had a homemade pina colada. Both were extremely tipsy, and they were giggling like mad.
"Ryoko, you look like a freak!" Kyoko said hysterically, taking another sip of her drink and staring at a picture of her friend standing on the table and downing an entire bottle of sake. Beside her in the picture, Washuu and Nobuyuki were watching her, anxiously cheering.
"That was last winter," Ryoko explained, wiping sake off her bottom lip and chin with her bandaged wrist. Her neck still burned, and her wrist hadn't fully stopped bleeding when the gem had fallen out, but she was just fine now. In fact, if it weren't for the bandages and marks the gems had left behind, you never would have been able to tell anything had happened. "The old man didn't believe I could drink and entire bottle of sake in under thirty seconds. Washuu bet him that I could."
"Did you?"
"Of course!" the demon girl replied, laughing. "But when I finished, I passed out and woke up two days later with the worst freaking hangover I'd ever had."
"Did you ever try that again?" Kyoko snickered.
"Oh, hell yes."
Both laughed at this.
Ryoko flipped to the next page. Immediately, Kyoko's eyes were drawn to a picture of Ryoko and Sasami at the beach. The princess was standing in front in a cute pink and yellow two piece swimsuit. Behind her stood the summoner, and her arms were tightly wrapped around Sasami. She was kneeling on the pearly sand so her head came to rest on the little girl's tiny shoulders. Her swimsuit was a black and red tie die bikini, and her hair was, as usual, down and free to fly with the breeze. Both girls seemed to be laughing, and Sasami held her usual peace sign to the side.
"That one's cute," the red head commented, pointing to the photograph.
"That one was taken a few days before you arrived, actually," Ryoko replied, a small smile crossing her lips as she remembered that day. "We took a trip to the beach about a week prior to your arrival, and I am pleased to announce that no alcohol was involved in the taking of this picture!"
"You meanie!" Kyoko said like a little girl, slapping her friend's arm playfully.
Ryoko flipped the page again, and again, and again. The two continued to reflect on times past for a few minutes before Kyoko spoke again.
"Ryoko-san, I have a question for you."
"Fire away," the one beside her responded, her words slurred slightly.
"You know when we blew up the bank?"
Ryoko snorted. "Who could forget?" she asked sarcastically.
"Good point. Well, any way, I was wondering...this may be kind of unexpected, but...why did you run?"
The cyan beauty stopped what she was doing in mid drink and looked at her friend's blushing face out of the corner of her feline-like eye.
"Why do you ask?"
"Just wondering, I guess. I was really angry at you for the longest time because of it." Kyoko's face was beet red, almost blending with her hair.
"I guess...because I got scared."
"Scared?! You're kidding me?" the second pirate said, all embarrassment lost.
"I thought I had just blown you up, and then I heard the GP fleet," Ryoko mumbled, her own face reddening now.
"Oh, please, cut the crap and tell me why you really ran!"
Ryoko shot her friend a look of pure anger that told Kyoko she was serious. "Well, what about you? You were on this planet for years, and did you come looking for me? Oh, no! That's too much for you to handle, isn't it?"
"Shut up! I stayed here and laid low for a few years! I didn't come after you because, let's face it, I was pissed! You left me and ran! I almost did die!"
"I thought you immediately died!" the furious cyan hared pirate retaliated.
"Well, I didn't. But, over the years, I kept my ears open for any sign of you so I could go and rejoin you! Then, one day, I heard you had attacked Jurai, and it was suspected that Yosho had killed you! THAT'S why I never came running back! And when I wreaked too much havoc in one place, I moved somewhere else!"
Both pirates were now standing, shouting at each other.
"And exactly how am I supposed to know that?!" Ryoko screamed.
"I didn't expect you to!" Kyoko's face was now darker than her hair, and it had nothing to do with embarrassment.
"And what was with that "Cut the crap and tell me why you really ran" comment?!"
"Well, I didn't believe you because on a usual basis you don't get that scared! I thought you'd never abandon me!"
Ryoko couldn't believe this girl. She was supposed to be her best friend, and she was acting like a bitch. It was pissing Ryoko off something fierce.
"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD, DAMMIT!" she screamed. "Get out! Just leave!"
"Oh, and you think because you were kidnapped by some hot shot badass and used to kill everyone around that gives you the right to order me around? God, Ryoko, you really are a fucking defect!"
The demon summoner was taken by surprise. What Kyoko had just said was in a voice very much unlike her own. It sounded just like the person whom she hated with her very existence. But it was impossible, he was dead.
You fucking defect! Those words. Kagato had always called her that. But no one had told Kyoko about him. And here she was, calling her a... It burned her heart, until there was nothing but ashes. Out of pure hatred, Ryoko struck her friend as hard as she could, sending Kyoko crashing to the floor.
Propped on her elbows, staring at the ground below her, Kyoko raised her hand to her cheek, where Ryoko had just slapped her.
What is going on? she thought. Slowly and painfully, she rose to her feet and turned to face her companion. The woman was seething and breathing heavily, and her eyes were burning.
"Ryoko, what was that for?" she whimpered.
"Don't give me that!" Ryoko screamed, causing Kyoko to cringe. "That's what you get for calling me a fu...an f-ing defect!"
"What are you talking about? I never said that!" the red head said, knowing Ryoko wouldn't believe her.
"Bull shit!"
"I'm serious! One moment we're looking at pictures and I ask you why you ran, but that's all I remember saying! I never heard your response! Next thing I know, you slap me, practically breaking my jaw! I didn't say anything! I swear..." Kyoko's voice faltered. She stood there for a moment, staring into space. Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, she ran out of the room in tears.
Ryoko stood, dumbfounded, for what seemed to her like forever.
*Washuu, what just happened?* she asked her mother telepathically.
It took Washuu a little while to respond, but when she did, all she said was, *Family meeting, downstairs, now.*
The lost woman stood for a few more seconds before teleporting herself downstairs to the living room.
When Ryoko materialized downstairs, she found herself facing the entire family except for Kyoko. Everyone except Washuu gave her scared and questioning looks. She tried to avoid their eyes, and instead, leaned against the wall, looking at the floor.
When her daughter entered the room and settled herself, Washuu stood up and cleared her throat.
"I have some very grave news regarding Kyoko. She has a major problem," the genius began.
"Is she all right?" Sasami asked, alarmed.
"No, Sasami-chan, I'm afraid she isn't."
This caused a stir among the group. She wasn't okay? What was going on? Everyone wanted to know. The only people not participated in the stir were Ryoko and Washuu.
"Washuu, what's wrong with her?" Ryoko asked, genuinely worried.
Her mother looked at her sadly through green eyes, and Ryoko knew it was something life threatening.
"Everyone, please. Settle down," Washuu said above the hubbub. Everyone quieted down, and Tenchi walked over to Ryoko. He wanted to be next to her in case it was too terrible. Silently, still looking at the floor, the oni took his hand in hers and squeezed it, scared of what she was soon to hear. "The problem deals with Kyoko's sanity. She has been slowly losing control of her mind. There are times, like tonight, when she does things or says things, and doesn't even know she's doing it, and it's causing her to lose her sanity. She is having troubles thinking straight, and it's scaring her to death. That is why she has been edgy and has been in my lab a lot. I have been doing my best to find a rational explanation for this, but I cannot. There is a reason, I know this much, but what it is, I can't say."
Once again, the noise broke out among the group. Tenchi felt Ryoko slide down the wall to the floor, all anger turned to sadness and fear. Kyoko really hadn't known she was fighting. What WAS happening here?
Nothing right, that's for damn sure, Tenchi thought to himself.
"Tell me it's not life threatening, Washuu-chan!" Kiyone said.
"It can be. Kyoko is trying her hardest to gain control again..." Washuu said, taking a deep breath, "...but what she doesn't know is neither she nor I can do something about it until we know why it's happening."
*I'm so sorry, Little Ryoko, * the genius told her daughter telepathically.
Upstairs in her room, Kyoko was in tears in front of the open window. In her hand she was holding the two red round things she had picked up from the floor a few nights before. Ryoko's gems. The original ones. How she got a hold of them, she didn't know. All she knew was her life, her once perfect life, was now absolutely screwed. Nothing was going right anymore.
She had heard Washuu downstairs telling everyone her secret. God, how she longed for the scientist to find a way for her out of this mess. She tried and tried to keep control, but it was no use. The harder she tried to keep it, the more she lost it.
Standing up on the windowsill, the hurting pirate wiped her puffy red eyes…and jumped.
Hey, all! School's out, so I was able to get this posted a lot sooner than expected. I just want to give you a forewarning: towards the end of this part, my profanity gets a little out of hand. I'm really sorry!! Other than that, the only other comments I have to make are mainly to alitghthawk.
Don't worry, I won't chew your head off, I just wanted to say that the only reason everything may not be explained is because, in the original plot, Kyoko wasn't a once thought dead space pirate. She was, in fact, a reincarnated guardian from a different planet, who did not recover her memories until she was on the Earth for thirteen years. So if I don't explain something, sorry, that's why. I've had to do some major tweaking to the story to make it fit for the space pirate angle, and I may have missed some things. But, oh well, that's all explained in this chapter.
ENJOY (and please review!)!! ^.^
Aeka rose with the sun the next day, her eyes still puffy and her heart still shattered in her chest. Nothing seemed to be right. Tenchi, her Tenchi, the one she loved with her heart and soul, didn't return her feelings. He didn't love her back, and now what was left of her beautiful world came crashing down. But Aeka had cried all her tears, and now, armed with tape and an open mind, she left the comfort of her room and went downstairs, willing to listen to what her love had to say.
When she reached the stairs, the strong and luring scent of her little sister's cooking reached her nostrils. She breathed it in deeply and smiled, despite her broken heart.
It's good to know some things are still the same, she thought.
Aeka finished walking down the stairs to find Kiyone on one of the pink couches, immersed in a book, and Kyoko and Mihoshi playing some kind of card game.
When the princess reached the bottom of the stairs, Kiyone looked up from her page and smiled.
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Miss Aeka!" she said, clearly in an unusually happy mood.
Aeka chuckled. "Good morning to you, too, Kiyone. You're in a good mood today!"
"Kyoko's taught Mihoshi a new game!" the GP member replied, implying hidden meaning.
The princess laughed, understanding what she meant. "Kyoko's taught Mihoshi a new game," may have been what Kiyone had said, but what she was thinking was, "Mihoshi's being kept busy and out of my hair!"
"Do you want to sit down, Aeka?" Kiyone asked, offering the seat next to her.
"No, thank you," Aeka replied. "Actually, I was wondering if you could tell me where Lord Tenchi is?"
"I haven't seen him, sorry." Kiyone looked truly sympathetic. She knew why Aeka wanted to see him; her face still showed it.
"Tenchi-kun went out to the fields, Aeka-sama," Kyoko said, turning around. She grimaced when she saw the first crown princess's puffy red face. So the poor girl knew.
The purple hared heir bowed her thanks and turned to leave when she was hit by the family's blue hared, big-eyed bullet.
"'Morning, big sister!" Sasami said enthusiastically. Aeka returned the hug, smiling. Her sister always had a way of making her do that. She was so innocent and carefree, with nothing to bother her, nothing to break her heart. "Ready for breakfast? It'll be done in a little bit!"
"I'm sorry, Sasami-chan," the older one said, "I won't be having breakfast."
Sasami backed up and poked out her bottom lip, pouting. "But I made some for you! Don't let it go to waste!"
"Oh, it won't. Remember, Ryoko lives here. She'll eat it."
Giving up, the little girl sighed. "All right." Then she turned on her heel and walked back to the kitchen.
As soon as her sister left the room, Aeka glided gracefully to the door and out of the house. Even though on the outside she looked fine (with the exception of her face), she was fighting and losing her own battle on the inside. She didn't even know what she was going to say to Tenchi. She kept battling herself over how she was going to act, how he was going to act, what she was going to say, and how he was going to reply. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't realize it when she walked into the fields. When she finally jolted out of thinking mode, she was nearly five feet behind him, and he hadn't even noticed.
Tenchi stood up, wiping his brow and throwing the last carrot into the wicker basket beside his feet. Then he picked it up and turned to go home, when he noticed Aeka standing, looking at him through forcibly normal eyes. He could tell immediately that she was trying to hold back tears, and he smiled at her.
"Good morning, Miss Aeka!" he said, half out of habit, half wishing this would prove his observations wrong.
At his words, her entire face fell. He knew right away that she knew whom he had chosen, and he knew that she knew it wasn't her.
"Lord Tenchi, I need to talk to you," she said sadly, walking towards him, her head hung low.
"Miss Aeka-" he began, but she stopped him by putting a single finger over his lips.
"Please, just listen to me. Don't speak," she said, looking up. The tears she thought she had shed earlier had begun to flow freely. "I've poured my soul to you before, and you listened. Please, just let me do that again." She moved her finger when he nodded in agreement. "Do you remember when I told you that all I wanted was for you to join the royal family and stay on Jurai so I could be near you?"
Tenchi nodded. He remembered it. That was just before he left Jurai for Earth. He had refused because staying didn't seem right. He wasn't being raised as an heir, he was being raised to become a Shinto priest and follow in his grandfather's footsteps.
"I was crushed when you said no, but I tried not to show it. I believed you would stay, because I believed that eventually you would fall in love with me. Whenever I fought with Ryoko over you, I thought that one- day she would eat her words. I believed with my very being that no one could love you as much as I did! But, I see now that I was wrong. Tenchi, Ryoko loves you with her heart, mind, and soul, and would give her life for what you want in a heartbeat."
This comment sent a pang of guilt through Tenchi's mind. Ryoko would indeed do that. She once had. She had died trying to get him to the royal palace to save the very person telling him this. The boy was just grateful for his love's ability to regenerate, or she wouldn't be here today. Strange thing was, no one had told Aeka this, and here she was, talking about it.
And still, the princess continued.
"All I want for you is what you think is best. I accept that you love Ryoko, and I beg we can still be good friends. But know this: though I stand no chance now, I still love you. I will always love you. And when I must return home to my planet, I beg you, do not forget my love is still in you. I know one day I'll find another, but you will always have a part of my heart."
Crying even harder now, the broken hearted woman gave Tenchi the hug she had always wanted to give him, and he returned it without his usual reluctance.
"I'm terribly sorry, Aeka," he told her, tears forming in his own eyes.
"Do not-do not apologize, Tenchi," the sobbing girl choked out. "I should have seen this coming." And with that, she ran from him, her face buried in her hands.
Tenchi just stood there, stunned. When he realized he was still holding the carrots, he began to slowly walk home.
Tenchi slowly opened the door and stepped through. He was still trying to contemplate what he had just heard while he removed the wicker basket from his back and his shoes from his feet.
"Tenchi?" He heard someone calling his name uncertainly, and when he looked up, he found the voice to be Ryoko's. "Breakfast is ready."
Ryoko could tell her Tenchi was distracted, so she walked over and took both his hands in hers. Giving him the saddest puppy dog eyes she could muster, she asked him what was wrong.
"Aeka...Aeka just poured her soul to me...again," he told her, avoiding her eyes and staring beside her left upper arm. He was positive she would get mad at the princess, but was thrown off guard when he looked up and saw her wearing her rarely seen extremely gentle smile.
"I understand. Go eat," she told him. Before he could protest, she had gone.
She couldn't stop crying, no matter how hard she tried. Though Aeka thought she had cried all the tears she could the last night, it was obvious she still had more. She ignored the world, and remained all alone in oblivion. It didn't even phase her when she heard a quiet thump beside her.
"Hush, little child, calm your tears," came a voice like a song amongst the wind. Aeka almost thought it was a guardian angel here to comfort her. But when she looked up, she saw she was yet again wrong.
Ryoko sat down beside her on top of the rough stone of the cave.
"What are you doing here, of all places?" she asked.
"I guess this is where my feet carried me," Aeka replied. "Come to have a good gloat, have you?"
"Not at all, princess," the oni said, shaking her head. "It's your turn to listen."
Whatever Ryoko meant by that, Aeka had no clue, but she had the feeling she was about to find out.
"You have poured out your soul to the world around you, and now it's my turn. Will you listen?"
"You won't gloat?"
The pirate smiled. "Of course not."
Sighing, Aeka agreed to listen.
"Look, I don't know if anyone's told you this before in the past, but when Tenchi came to rescue you from Kagato, it's because I gave him a ride."
"But you were severely wounded! How could you manage?!" the shocked woman said.
"Aeka, please listen. Before he came, before he even had decided to come, I lay in my room, watching myself die. I knew I was going to, sooner rather than later. I watched myself slowly bleed to death, and I watched the bacteria literally eat me alive. But all the while, I couldn't help but think of Tenchi's safety. I knew he would come after you. So, I slowly pulled myself off my bed, and walked into the hallway. Leaning against the wall, I noticed he was walking down the corridor, coming my way. I realized then that I was right. He was going after you. I admit, I begged him not to, I even went so far as to threaten to steal him away. I wanted nothing more than to forget my troubles and spend my last moments by his side. I wanted to confess everything to him, down to the darkest reaches of my wounded spirit. But he refused. Do you know why?"
Aeka shook her head. She had no idea where this story was going, but it actually intrigued her.
"Because he had his mind set on saving you, and nothing was going to stop him from doing that. He didn't care that he didn't have full control over his sword. He didn't care he was facing death himself. He would rather die than not go after you. My point is, it's because he loves you. Though it may not be how you want him to, he does, and it's unconditional. He may not see it yet, but I thought you should know."
Aeka couldn't help but be amazed. Here was the space pirate who had once destroyed her home, causing mass destruction on her life, and now she was comforting her?! This was madness! This was insane! This was...
...Exactly what Aeka needed to hear. Wiping tears from her eyes, she looked at Ryoko.
"Did you die?" she asked.
Ryoko looked down at the ground between her feet, then back up at the one next to her. "Yes, princess, I did."
It was then that the first crown princess did something she'd never thought she'd do in her entire life. She leaned into Ryoko's shoulder and cried. The demon summoner wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl and whispered words of hope and comfort to her, and Aeka saw, for the very first time, the true infamous space pirate Ryoko.
Not that that would change anything too drastically, but just for the moment…that one sweet moment when Ryoko revealed her heart…
Kyoko had been humming the same song all morning. Same tune, no words. It sounded like an angel's song. Almost like an angel was speaking of its downfall in the form of music. It was beautiful, it was sad, but where it came from, not even Kyoko herself knew.
She looked down to the cards in her hand, from the two of clubs to the ace of diamonds. Finally, choosing three of the five in her hand, she set them face down on the table, saying, "I'll take three, Ryoko-san".
She waited for her cards to come, continuing to hum quietly. But when they didn't, she looked up.
Ryoko had her head in one of her hands, a look of intense pain on her face. Immediately, Kyoko stopped humming and asked what was wrong.
"I have a splitting headache, and I can't seem to forget my dream."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kyoko said, putting the rest of her cards down. "Do you want to stop?"
"No, the strange thing is, I'm fine now. It keeps coming and going," Ryoko replied, letting her hand fall to the stack of cards below her. She picked up three and tossed them across the small wooden table, and Kyoko picked them up, placing them in her hands. She resumed humming.
The song had been stuck in her head all day, and she had never even heard it before! It was really getting on her nerves, but she just couldn't stop singing it.
Such intense pain. It was nearly blinding Ryoko as it came back worse than before. She kept hearing a sorrowful tune every time it started, and her pain would go away as soon as it stopped. But she couldn't figure out where the song was coming from.
The demon summoner grabbed her head, gasping and clenching her eyes shut as the pain began to increase. Visions of her dreams flashed in her mind's eye, and she once again felt the blood pouring out from her lips and side. The music volume increased, and she opened her left eye far enough to see Kyoko swaying slightly with the tune.
"Kyoko?" she said, trying and failing to keep her voice even.
Kyoko looked up. "Oh my God, Ryoko!" She rose as fast as she could, leaping over the table beside her friend. This attracted the attention of everyone else at the table (i.e. Tenchi, Mihoshi, Washuu, and Nobuyuki), and they followed the frightened pirate to their comrade's side.
The searing pain stopped as quickly as it had come yet again, and Ryoko's head was clear. She looked up into the frightened eyes of her partner.
"Kyoko-san, where did you learn that song?" she asked.
Everyone backed up in surprise, simultaneous "huh?"'s and "what?"'s echoing throughout the group.
"I don't know," Kyoko replied, wondering what importance it served. "It just came to me, why?"
Ryoko felt foolish. The song served no purpose at all! It had nothing to do with this! So, she shrugged her shoulders, pleading ignorance.
"Kyoko, please follow me to my lab," Washuu said to the girl, planning on going over possible solutions for the problem at hand. She understood why Ryoko had asked such a question in such an unusual time. Her daughter had believed that to be the cause of what was happening to her. She believed that song was causing her headaches. It was strange, yes, but with all that Washuu had heard over the past couple of days, she wasn't taking any chances. So, leading the way, the two marched through the broom closet's door into the sub-space laboratory.
The rest of the group watched the two disappear behind the door, looks of pure stupidity on their faces.
"I guess this means the game's over," Nobuyuki said, laying his cards on the table.
"Damn!" Ryoko hissed, lying her own cards down. "I was working on a straight in spuds!"
"You mean spades, Ryoko-san?" Tenchi said, a smile crossing his lips.
"Those too," she said, blushing magenta.
Mihoshi remained silent, looking at her cards. Then she lay them face up on the table. "I don't think I really had anything," she said sadly.
The remainder of the card players looked down at her cards, and their jaws dropped.
"Mihoshi, you had a Royal Flush," Tenchi said in awe.
"Oh." The blonde cocked her head to the side, wondering. Finally, she said, "Is that good?"
Everyone fell to the ground, anime style.
~*~
The sweet smell of the grass, the gentle caress of the wind; everything around him was perfect. Well, almost everything. Tenchi still had something on his mind, something to complete. Walking outside amidst the final rays of the setting sun, the young prince looked to the sky, the Master Key clasped firmly between his fingers.
The golden ribbons of light flowed gracefully down to the earth, bouncing of Ryoko's slender figure, painting an orange tinge among her cyan strands of hair. She stood on air, watching the light blue horizon burn and eventually become navy. Behind her, the moon's own silvery red light reflected upon the ground, slowly creeping up on the sun. The day was ending, and the night was soon to begin.
The night. A glorious time of darkness, when the moon watches the Earth like a mother over her child, and the stars dance among the velvety black. When spirits of one's past come once again from the shadows of their death's to walk the plains of the living once more. This was Ryoko's favorite time. This was her time to fly, because nothing could stop her from being free.
"Ryoko!"
Except for that. Tenchi's voice rang out from beneath Ryoko's feet, and she looked away from the dying day to see her love standing below her, smiling.
"Come down here, I have something for you!" he shouted.
What could he possibly want to give me? She thought, but she obeyed him any way. Floating to the ground, she stopped a few feet above the grass.
Tenchi looked up at the one before him. He wanted so badly to do what he knew was right, but he also knew the consequences of it. Still, he did love her, and he knew she wanted it…
Breathing deeply, he took hold of her hands, pulling her to the ground. Staring deeply into Ryoko's eyes, he was momentarily mesmerized be the reflection of the oncoming darkness that he saw in them.
"Ryoko, I've been thinking for quite some time now," he began, not knowing where to go. She leaned her head to one side, as if to say, "I'm listening."
Sighing, Tenchi continued. "I know the consequences of my actions, and I am ready and willing to accept them. Yes, it is an irreversible process, but don't care anymore."
"Tenchi, what are you talking about?" she asked him in the voice of a curious little girl.
"I want to give you back the gems," he told her.
The pirate gasped. "No! That'll deactivate the Master Key! You can't do that! Not for me!"
"No, Ryoko-san, it won't deactivate the sword. Remember, it worked before the gems were embedded inside?"
"True…" Ryoko was uncertain about this. She wanted to once again have control of all the gems so badly, but she was scared of what it would do to him, even in the long run. He was more important to her than producing her own Light Hawk Wings.
"Please don't argue, I know you want control again, and I've been wrong in neglecting to give it to you."
"I…I can't do it!" she argued. "What about you? What will hap…" She immediately stopped when his fingers brushed the soft skin of her cheek. They ran up along her jawbone, sending shivers down her spine. She hated when he did that. She felt she could surrender to anything. Whimpering, she looked at him.
Tenchi was serious, she could tell. This was what they both wanted. Reluctantly, she silently agreed to take back the final jewels and her awesome power.
The price backed up so he was about a meter away from her, and she held out her arms wrist up.
He looked down at the gems, and couldn't help but notice they looked darker than usual, but he figured it was because of the awkward lighting. Pointing the end of the sword hilt towards her, he silently prayed for the red gems to return to their rightful owner.
A burning sensation penetrated Ryoko's left wrist as it began to glow. Slowly, the light died and was replaced by the first gem. Then, in the center of her neck, she felt the other forming. She could tell the power was flowing through her blood, and it was like electricity was jolting her body. But it didn't stop there. The burn increased to pain. Unbearable pain. It was quickly wiping her of all energy. From around the edges of the two red gems came blood. Unable to hold herself up, she collapsed to the ground, eyes tight shut. She heard Tenchi's voice from somewhere above her, but she couldn't comprehend what he was saying.
As soon as Ryoko had collapsed, Tenchi wished he could take the gems back. This didn't happen last time, when he had given her the first one. Something was terribly wrong here. He ran as fast as he could over to her side and gathered her now hemorrhaging body into his arms and ran as fast as he could back to the house.
Halfway across the lawn, the scared successor almost ran into Washuu, who had obviously felt Ryoko's pain through the link.
"Put her down!" The scientist ordered, and Tenchi did as he was told. Washuu did some kind of weird hand motion (Tenchi couldn't quite see what it was), and the gems fell out. The blood stopped flowing, and Ryoko lie on the ground, gasping in the air around her.
The boy knelt down next to her and gingerly picked her up, placing her in his lap. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder, continuing to breathe deeply. Tenchi held on to his love tightly and looked up to Washuu, who was examining the gems.
"These aren't the real gems," the magenta hared genius said. "These were created to do exactly what they did…"
~*~
Nighttime quickly fell upon the city of Ookayama. An unusually bright red moon illuminated the trees and grass, casting eerie shadows that jumped out at every unsuspecting person who happened to pass one.
The two Masaki Space Pirates were lying side by side on Ryoko's futon, looking at old photo albums from when Ryoko joined the family to the most recent times. They both had their drink of choice. Ryoko had her sake; Kyoko had a homemade pina colada. Both were extremely tipsy, and they were giggling like mad.
"Ryoko, you look like a freak!" Kyoko said hysterically, taking another sip of her drink and staring at a picture of her friend standing on the table and downing an entire bottle of sake. Beside her in the picture, Washuu and Nobuyuki were watching her, anxiously cheering.
"That was last winter," Ryoko explained, wiping sake off her bottom lip and chin with her bandaged wrist. Her neck still burned, and her wrist hadn't fully stopped bleeding when the gem had fallen out, but she was just fine now. In fact, if it weren't for the bandages and marks the gems had left behind, you never would have been able to tell anything had happened. "The old man didn't believe I could drink and entire bottle of sake in under thirty seconds. Washuu bet him that I could."
"Did you?"
"Of course!" the demon girl replied, laughing. "But when I finished, I passed out and woke up two days later with the worst freaking hangover I'd ever had."
"Did you ever try that again?" Kyoko snickered.
"Oh, hell yes."
Both laughed at this.
Ryoko flipped to the next page. Immediately, Kyoko's eyes were drawn to a picture of Ryoko and Sasami at the beach. The princess was standing in front in a cute pink and yellow two piece swimsuit. Behind her stood the summoner, and her arms were tightly wrapped around Sasami. She was kneeling on the pearly sand so her head came to rest on the little girl's tiny shoulders. Her swimsuit was a black and red tie die bikini, and her hair was, as usual, down and free to fly with the breeze. Both girls seemed to be laughing, and Sasami held her usual peace sign to the side.
"That one's cute," the red head commented, pointing to the photograph.
"That one was taken a few days before you arrived, actually," Ryoko replied, a small smile crossing her lips as she remembered that day. "We took a trip to the beach about a week prior to your arrival, and I am pleased to announce that no alcohol was involved in the taking of this picture!"
"You meanie!" Kyoko said like a little girl, slapping her friend's arm playfully.
Ryoko flipped the page again, and again, and again. The two continued to reflect on times past for a few minutes before Kyoko spoke again.
"Ryoko-san, I have a question for you."
"Fire away," the one beside her responded, her words slurred slightly.
"You know when we blew up the bank?"
Ryoko snorted. "Who could forget?" she asked sarcastically.
"Good point. Well, any way, I was wondering...this may be kind of unexpected, but...why did you run?"
The cyan beauty stopped what she was doing in mid drink and looked at her friend's blushing face out of the corner of her feline-like eye.
"Why do you ask?"
"Just wondering, I guess. I was really angry at you for the longest time because of it." Kyoko's face was beet red, almost blending with her hair.
"I guess...because I got scared."
"Scared?! You're kidding me?" the second pirate said, all embarrassment lost.
"I thought I had just blown you up, and then I heard the GP fleet," Ryoko mumbled, her own face reddening now.
"Oh, please, cut the crap and tell me why you really ran!"
Ryoko shot her friend a look of pure anger that told Kyoko she was serious. "Well, what about you? You were on this planet for years, and did you come looking for me? Oh, no! That's too much for you to handle, isn't it?"
"Shut up! I stayed here and laid low for a few years! I didn't come after you because, let's face it, I was pissed! You left me and ran! I almost did die!"
"I thought you immediately died!" the furious cyan hared pirate retaliated.
"Well, I didn't. But, over the years, I kept my ears open for any sign of you so I could go and rejoin you! Then, one day, I heard you had attacked Jurai, and it was suspected that Yosho had killed you! THAT'S why I never came running back! And when I wreaked too much havoc in one place, I moved somewhere else!"
Both pirates were now standing, shouting at each other.
"And exactly how am I supposed to know that?!" Ryoko screamed.
"I didn't expect you to!" Kyoko's face was now darker than her hair, and it had nothing to do with embarrassment.
"And what was with that "Cut the crap and tell me why you really ran" comment?!"
"Well, I didn't believe you because on a usual basis you don't get that scared! I thought you'd never abandon me!"
Ryoko couldn't believe this girl. She was supposed to be her best friend, and she was acting like a bitch. It was pissing Ryoko off something fierce.
"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD, DAMMIT!" she screamed. "Get out! Just leave!"
"Oh, and you think because you were kidnapped by some hot shot badass and used to kill everyone around that gives you the right to order me around? God, Ryoko, you really are a fucking defect!"
The demon summoner was taken by surprise. What Kyoko had just said was in a voice very much unlike her own. It sounded just like the person whom she hated with her very existence. But it was impossible, he was dead.
You fucking defect! Those words. Kagato had always called her that. But no one had told Kyoko about him. And here she was, calling her a... It burned her heart, until there was nothing but ashes. Out of pure hatred, Ryoko struck her friend as hard as she could, sending Kyoko crashing to the floor.
Propped on her elbows, staring at the ground below her, Kyoko raised her hand to her cheek, where Ryoko had just slapped her.
What is going on? she thought. Slowly and painfully, she rose to her feet and turned to face her companion. The woman was seething and breathing heavily, and her eyes were burning.
"Ryoko, what was that for?" she whimpered.
"Don't give me that!" Ryoko screamed, causing Kyoko to cringe. "That's what you get for calling me a fu...an f-ing defect!"
"What are you talking about? I never said that!" the red head said, knowing Ryoko wouldn't believe her.
"Bull shit!"
"I'm serious! One moment we're looking at pictures and I ask you why you ran, but that's all I remember saying! I never heard your response! Next thing I know, you slap me, practically breaking my jaw! I didn't say anything! I swear..." Kyoko's voice faltered. She stood there for a moment, staring into space. Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, she ran out of the room in tears.
Ryoko stood, dumbfounded, for what seemed to her like forever.
*Washuu, what just happened?* she asked her mother telepathically.
It took Washuu a little while to respond, but when she did, all she said was, *Family meeting, downstairs, now.*
The lost woman stood for a few more seconds before teleporting herself downstairs to the living room.
When Ryoko materialized downstairs, she found herself facing the entire family except for Kyoko. Everyone except Washuu gave her scared and questioning looks. She tried to avoid their eyes, and instead, leaned against the wall, looking at the floor.
When her daughter entered the room and settled herself, Washuu stood up and cleared her throat.
"I have some very grave news regarding Kyoko. She has a major problem," the genius began.
"Is she all right?" Sasami asked, alarmed.
"No, Sasami-chan, I'm afraid she isn't."
This caused a stir among the group. She wasn't okay? What was going on? Everyone wanted to know. The only people not participated in the stir were Ryoko and Washuu.
"Washuu, what's wrong with her?" Ryoko asked, genuinely worried.
Her mother looked at her sadly through green eyes, and Ryoko knew it was something life threatening.
"Everyone, please. Settle down," Washuu said above the hubbub. Everyone quieted down, and Tenchi walked over to Ryoko. He wanted to be next to her in case it was too terrible. Silently, still looking at the floor, the oni took his hand in hers and squeezed it, scared of what she was soon to hear. "The problem deals with Kyoko's sanity. She has been slowly losing control of her mind. There are times, like tonight, when she does things or says things, and doesn't even know she's doing it, and it's causing her to lose her sanity. She is having troubles thinking straight, and it's scaring her to death. That is why she has been edgy and has been in my lab a lot. I have been doing my best to find a rational explanation for this, but I cannot. There is a reason, I know this much, but what it is, I can't say."
Once again, the noise broke out among the group. Tenchi felt Ryoko slide down the wall to the floor, all anger turned to sadness and fear. Kyoko really hadn't known she was fighting. What WAS happening here?
Nothing right, that's for damn sure, Tenchi thought to himself.
"Tell me it's not life threatening, Washuu-chan!" Kiyone said.
"It can be. Kyoko is trying her hardest to gain control again..." Washuu said, taking a deep breath, "...but what she doesn't know is neither she nor I can do something about it until we know why it's happening."
*I'm so sorry, Little Ryoko, * the genius told her daughter telepathically.
Upstairs in her room, Kyoko was in tears in front of the open window. In her hand she was holding the two red round things she had picked up from the floor a few nights before. Ryoko's gems. The original ones. How she got a hold of them, she didn't know. All she knew was her life, her once perfect life, was now absolutely screwed. Nothing was going right anymore.
She had heard Washuu downstairs telling everyone her secret. God, how she longed for the scientist to find a way for her out of this mess. She tried and tried to keep control, but it was no use. The harder she tried to keep it, the more she lost it.
Standing up on the windowsill, the hurting pirate wiped her puffy red eyes…and jumped.