Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo is the creative and distributive property of Masaki Kajishima, AIC and Pioneer. I own nothing of this and write only out of respect for a cool anime show. Be kind - don't sue!!

For anyone interested in Reading and Reviewing this story, you can post your comments up at Fanfiction.net or send stuff to me at mccpcorn@hotmail.com

A QUICK RECAP:

Washu's latest scheme to extract a 'sample' from Tenchi has gone haywire thanks to a last minute intervention by Ryoko. The result has been everyone in the house having their personality transplanted into someone else's body:

Ryoko is now in Sasami's body. (Usually called Ryoko/Sasami in the story)

Sasami is in Kiyone's body. (Sasami/Kiyone)

Kiyone's stuck in Tenchi's body. (Kiyone/Tenchi)

Tenchi now occupies Mihoshe's body. (Tenchi/Mihoshe)

Mihoshe is in Ryoko's body. (Mihoshe/Ryoko)

Washu has swapped bodies with Ayeka. (Washu/Ayeka & Ayeka/Washu)

Noboyuki was - rather fortunately - out of town after driving Katsuhito to a conference, and Ryo-Ohki was out in the Carrot Field raiding the harvest.

The Story so Far: Ryoko and Ayeka have had an ugly argument, resulting in the Space Pirate running away into the forest and getting stuck in a flooded creek. During a desperate search Ryoko, Ayeka and Washu must face their own private demons in a race against time...

Tenchi Muyo: Changing Faces
---------------------------

By Mccpcorn

CHAPTER 11: SUSPICION
=====================

Ayeka stumbled half blindly through the sodden trees. Washu's small height meant little trouble from branches, but there were numerous thickets and brambles to beware of. Ayeka was past caring. Her vision was spinning wildly and her mind felt under enormous pressure.

All of a sudden she found herself falling to her knees, sinking an inch or too into the cold, clammy mud. The backs of her eyes felt afire and her stomach heaved painfully. Except for the fact she had not eaten since breakfast she would have long since vomited.

Ayeka tried to blink away the blue and yellow spots that swam in front of her eyes. It was it difficult to focus on anything around her, except for one blob of light that remained fixed in her vision. It was blurry, but distinct; a lighter blue to the rest of her confused vision.

She shook her head, hoping to clear it. But as she did so, Ayeka caught sight of something. Her left hand trembled as she reached out to pluck the small fragment of cloth from the low bush she knelt by. Stained, either with mud or blood, but unmistakable.

'Sasami...' Ayeka whispered, heedless now of the fact she searched for Ryoko. 'Sasami!!'

Coughing, Ayeka hauled herself to her feet and started running.

* * *

The lurch came without warning; for a moment it felt like Sasami's innards were all set to go leaping out of her mouth. Next came a wet slapping sound as the child's body slammed into the bank and slithered towards the muddy water. Gods NO!

Ryoko/Sasami's eyes widened with fear. She scrabbled desperately at the breaking, twisting vines, trying to shut out the noise of rushing water and the fine spray across her face. Her heart thudded like a jackhammer; blood roared in her ears. She couldn't think, she couldn't plan. Not like this! Gods not like THIS!!!

All she could do was scream.

'NO NO NO NO NO!!!'

Ryoko/Sasami fell waist deep into the water, still clinging to a few threads and twigs.

'MOMMIIEEEEE!!!!!!!'

The word was instinctive; automatic; Ryoko was barely aware she'd cried out. As the bulk of her temporary cradle fell away into the water all that mattered was survival.

Ryoko's survival.

Sasami's survival.

It took all of Ryoko's reflexes and all Sasami's remaining strength to make the scrabbling leap that saved both their lives. The vines and twigs and become mashed into the muddy bank, providing some grip but little traction. But with nowhere else to go but down Ryoko/Sasami found herself clinging tightly to the bank, water swirling about her knees, the remaining branches that led to safety tantalisingly out of reach.

Ryoko's panting breath began to subside as she regained some composure. It was all over now, she knew. There was no way she could make it up the side of the riverbank, and it was only a matter of time before her strength gave out and she tumbled into the water.

The sudden urge to rest was overwhelming. Carefully, as if trying to preserve some final dignity for Sasami, Ryoko laid her head against the bank. She no longer heeded the soft, cold embrace of mud. A soft sigh escaped her lips as Ryoko/Sasami closed tired, hurt eyes.

'Mommy...'

* * *

Washu had a headache.

Back in the lab it had been Ayeka's kimono that had felt tight and restricting. Now it was the young princess' mind that was the ill-fitting culprit. No matter how much she tried to shut out the thoughts, some niggling little aspect of the Jurian's mind stubbornly echoed with grim conscience.

It was Washu's fault Ryoko was in this mess; her fault and her responsibility. After standing or falling on her own for so long, being responsible for the well being of someone else was a source of great discomfort to her. She hadn't been responsible for the life of another since...

Since him.

The image of a child, little more than a baby really, came swimming reluctantly into Washu's mind, and she found herself slamming the door firmly shut on a bunch of memories so painful she could barely stand them, even after 20,000 years.

Washu caught a brief glance at Sasami walking along next to her. The young princess was in Kiyone's body; a child within a woman. Again Washu's long buried memories were stirred, and once more she felt the tight ache in her heart at the future she never had. Washu's mind was getting tangled up with Ayeka's, and the Crown Princess' sense of responsibility and devotion to duty made it difficult to shake the memories loose.

'Are you okay, Washu?' Kiyone's voice held Sasami's innocence and concern within it.

'Uh, yeah, Sasami, thanks for asking.' Washu managed a slight smile as Sasami linked arms with her, taking comfort from the presence of her sister's physical form. Sasami had been almost in pieces when Washu and Tenchi - still stuck in Mihoshe's body - had found her, but with their reassuring presence she had recovered her composure completely. It was one blessing in an otherwise dreadful situation.

My fault, my fault, it's all my fault... Washu squeezed her eyes shut. Ryoko's in Sasami's body, gods I hope they're both all right. And where's Ayeka? Damn her for running off like that! But she's probably almost as stir-crazy as I'm feeling...

Wait a minute.

Washu's brain clicked into a new gear. Pieces began dropping into place, forming a suspicious awareness...

Ryoko was in Sasami's body.

Washu was in Ayeka's body.

Ayeka was in Washu's body.

And all three of them were being forced to confront feelings they had more or less shut down within themselves; forced to face up to their vulnerabilities.

The scientist's eyes narrowed with darkening suspicion. That scenario was just a little too much of a coincidence for Washu.

Washu had always known that, at her heart, Ryoko was just a child. Now the pirate's physical form reflected her deepest inner self.

And she's probably getting a pretty severe crash course in being helpless and vulnerable, Washu told herself. And Ayeka's being forced to grow out of that armoured-plated kimono she's built up about herself. That can't be a coincidence! It just CAN'T!

Washu was mother to Ryoko, and Ayeka was sister to Sasami. Only now they were both; they'd become mother AND sister. Not just a reversal of roles, but a MERGER.

There are too many emotional ties - no WONDER my head hurts! But if the accident had been MORE than just an accident...?

As the revelation dawned on her, something quietly invaded Washu's mind. Something sad and lonely and lost.

'Mommy...'

Washu stiffened suddenly. Sasami/Kiyone, linking arms with her, was startled into an alarmed exclamation. Tenchi, who had been leading the way through the gloom, turned at the noise. 'Washu?' he said urgently (or at least as urgently as he could in Mihoshe's voice), 'What is it??'

'I - I don't know,' she stammered, sounding extremely confused in Ayeka's soft voice. 'I, I felt something-'

'Oh no!' Sasami's voice was a mix of Kiyone's strong, powerful alto and her own over-stressed emotions. 'Oh, Washu! PLEASE tell me nothing's happened to Ayeka!'

Washu's eyes darted around; whatever the odd sensation was it was tired - and growing steadily weaker. She felt cold and confused, but even as she tried to focus upon herself a steady, insistent pressure bore down upon her. A voice, distant but strong, seemed to echo in her head.

No, dear sister, it said. Not this way.

Washu collapsed.

* * *

'Mommy...'

Ayeka had been making fair progress when she suddenly found herself overwhelmed by a fresh nausea. She fell again to the ground, her vision a dancing blue blur. It was suddenly hard to concentrate on anything, as Ayeka found her mind inexplicably filled with images of the Masaki household; it's inhabitants, and other memories.

Seemingly ancient memories.

Intensely passionate memories...

Despite the cold, despite the rain, Ayeka suddenly found herself hotly flushed. She squeezed her eyes shut, but found that only served to enhance, not diminish, long buried thoughts.

A long life.

A lost love.

A fading hope.

Beautiful dreams.

Dear, sweet sisters...

Ayeka suddenly found herself seemingly pulled from one memory to the next, as if she were a tourist taking in the sites.

This is all wrong. These are Washu's memories; her deepest, private property.

Yet somehow, it seemed they were being deliberately shown to her. Perhaps in answer to hidden questions, or more likely to simply soothe her own anxieties.

There was a beautiful child with flowing blonde hair; A tall, dark man, silhouetted against the light which made her heart race. Intense pain and intense dedication. Love and Betrayal.

Endless searching; endless devotion.

A beautiful young woman; someone Ayeka recognised.

Ayeka's eyes snapped open; she looked up.

It was she.

Ayeka smiled. Of course.

'Yes,' the young princess said. 'I understand now; it will be as you say.'

She pulled herself to her feet and resumed her destiny.

* * *

Ryoko was motionless, her mind as still as her body. Only her lips continued to move, mouthing the word silently; the only word left in her head.

'Mommy...'

She was going at last, a part of her realised. She was finally letting go; it wouldn't be long now.

Ryoko carried only two thoughts with her: a hope that Sasami would somehow find it in her generous heart to forgive her, someday, and that somehow things could've ended up differently.

If only that she hadn't died like this. People were searching for her now, she knew; she could hear their faint cries echoing through the trees. But her energy was spent. It didn't matter whether they were a hundred yards away or a hundred miles - Ryoko simply couldn't hold on any longer.

I'm so sorry... Sasami... Mommy...

It was so faint that she didn't notice it right away; a dim glow gently enveloped her. It vaguely reminded Ryoko of the light that had awoken her earlier, just in time to escape. All of a sudden though, Ryoko found herself surrounded by a glowing energy; a pale blue that grew to a warm, homely orange.

And Ryoko was no longer alone.

She blinked the tears and muck out of her eyes as she struggled to focus on the figure before her. A person, almost ghostly in appearance, with a smiling - but sad - face. Tsunami.

A strange anger stirred weakly within the Space Pirate. Her eyes grew hard. I should've known she'd put her oar in somewhere! 'I don't want your damn pity!' Ryoko's voice was a thin, wounded and shrill.

Tsunami said nothing. But then she didn't have to.

Her task was done.

Ayeka's was only just beginning.

END OF CHAPTER 11