Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo is the creative and distributive property of Masaki Kajishima, AIC and Pioneer. I own absolutely nothing of the franchise, and write only out of respect for one of my fave animes. Be kind - don't sue! =D
Author Note: We're getting near the end of the story, believe it or not!! I've done a bit of experimenting with this chapter; given the complex nature of the resolution I didn't exactly have much choice in the matter. ^^;; I hope no-one gets confused too much - assuming you're not all too confused already!
For anyone interested in offering reviews of 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: A beginning can be a difficult time. Endings even more so...
Tenchi Muyo: Changing Faces
---------------------------
By Mccpcorn
Chapter 15: Dearest Sister, Dearest Daughter
=============================================
Ryoko's mind was fuzzy; as she peered through the haze she got the impression she was looking through some badly scratched plastic sheeting. Everything was blurred and disjointed; nothing made any sense...
Then with a maddening, deafening roar, it all came flooding back, rushing past her like a torrent of freezing water; threatening to overwhelm her...
Ryoko was drowning.
* * *
'Mommy. Help me.' Ryoko's voice was a pleading whisper. 'Please...'
Weakly, slowly, Sasami released the muddy thicket she had been clinging to. With curious grace, Ryoko stretched Sasami's right arm upwards towards Washu. The dirty hand, scratched and bleeding, opened wide as the child strained upwards.
* * *
Ayeka also felt disjointed. Memories were confused; overlapping. She felt as though she were tangled up in a spider's web. The harder she struggled the more entangled she became.
Two minds were battling for control - and hers was losing...
* * *
Ryoko was below her. Sasami's grimy, bloodstained hand stretched out towards her.
'Mommy. Help me. Please...'
A great sense of overwhelming relief suddenly flooded over Ayeka.
Or was it Washu?
Heedless of the tears that ran from her own eyes she reached down to her daughter. She strained towards Ryoko's upturned hand, but their fingertips barely brushed against each other.
Washu almost blanched with surprise and frustration. She tried again, reaching down as far as she could.
I will NOT come this close and fail!!
That was Ayeka.
Gods, my life is one God-awful screw-up after another! Well not THIS time!
That was Washu.
She leaned forward, continuing to strain towards the child. She knew she was threatening to overbalance, but she didn't care.
Ryoko had suffered enough; she would not let her baby suffer anymore.
* * *
Please help me, Momma.
I'm so cold.
I feel so very cold. It's so dark...
So dark and cold. Just like the cave.
No. Please no. Not the cave.
Not the cave again...
NO! Please, oh gods NO! Not the cave! ANYTHING but the cave!!
'Please Mommy,' a sobbing child sniffs. 'Please don't send me away. Everyone always sends me away. Don't send back to the cave. I don't want to be alone again. Everything's so dark and cold...'
* * *
Washu's teeth were gritted in an agony of determination. Her fingers dangled provocatively, just out of reach. The scientist's eyes blazed with impotent fury.
Ryoko was too weak to feel much of anything anymore.
Have I EVER felt so weak...?
When Yosho defeated her, perhaps.
When Kagato had defeated her, leaving her the humiliation of being protected by Ayeka's Guardian's. Ayeka's!!
Still, they're pretty nice guys considering... Tough job, looking after HER. Ryoko's mind wandered as she lost herself further and further.
'Ryoko; hold onto the bank and keep you head down.'
Ryoko's eyes snapped back into focus; the haze cleared magically. Washu was above her again, and - WHAT!?
She was smiling.
It was very faint; just barely creasing the edges of her lips.
But it was there. And it was unmistakable.
Washu was smiling. A cunning, almost vicious smile.
Which could only mean she had a plan.
* * *
As she leaned over, Ayeka felt her balance shift queasily, but she fought back the instinctive reaction to pull back to safety.
Her innards lurched and the whole world titled crazily. Her vision spun and the blood rushed to her head, triggering a wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm her with unconsciousness. Ryoko screamed and buried her face in the river bank as her mother seemed to suddenly tumble towards her.
It was exactly the same thing that had happened to Ryoko: Washu had overreached herself and lost her balance. She dangled, upside down, having swung a full 180 degrees.
The only difference was Ayeka had planned it this way.
Using Washu's great strength, Ayeka locked her legs tightly around the overhanging root. Washu's small frame and light weight made it relatively simple for her to get her bearings. That's it; that's it...
* * *
'Ryoko,' Washu reached down again towards the child, 'grab my left hand.'
Ryoko was both tearful AND fearful as she looked up at Washu. Her mother's face though radiated love and warmth and compassion. It was enough to soothe the child's fears and renew her trust. With her expression suddenly determined, Ryoko reached up and caught Washu's left hand in her own.
* * *
Washu let her hand slide down to grip Sasami by her wrist; lifting her this way would probably hurt the child some, but it would be for the last time tonight. Besides, she needed to be sure of her grip.
No more pain after this, my darling... 'Get ready,' she said calmly. 'This may hurt some, but whatever you do, DON'T struggle.'
'Kay...'
Washu's muscles tightened painfully as she took Sasami's weight one-handed, but as before she found hidden reserves of power. The emotions fuelling them were different this time, but no less strong for that.
It was time for her own personal absolution.
* * *
Ryoko winced but did not cry out. The burning as skin rubbed against skin, as Washu's grip chafed against her wrist, was barely noticeably after being so raw with cold for so long. As Washu lifted, Sasami simply gave up her tenuous hold upon the bank. If this failed, the child knew they were both likely to be lost. Worrying about it hardly mattered anymore though; she was no longer alone.
Sasami's eyes squeezed shut as the muscles in her arm stretched and the bones in her shoulder grated against each other. Ryoko was acutely aware of the soft grunts of effort from Washu as she struggled to lift her. They were both at the extreme edge of physical and mental exhaustion.
But Washu would do this. Or die trying.
* * *
As Sasami's hand came level with Washu's head the scientist arched her back, raising it still higher and towards the overhanging roots. Sasami's eyes fluttered open as her head passed Washu's. Washu tried to be as calm as possible for the child, but there was no mistaking the gritted teeth, the trembling muscles as she strained as high as she could.
Sasami's hand brushed against the greasy bark.
Washu tried to pull herself up even higher; she flailed about with her free right hand, getting her own hold on the root and steadying herself. 'Grab hold,' she urged Sasami.
* * *
Ryoko needed no urging. She could see and feel Washu's grip loosening around her wrist; the scientist's knees were quivering with exhaustion as she held her body in place.
Sasami slotted the fingers of her right hand into a crevice in the rotting bark, but it merely crumbled away, leaving nothing but a green ooze on her fingers.
Ryoko exchanged an alarmed glance with Washu. Her mother's legs were giving way where they were locked about the roots.
No more! Please, just no more!!
Sasami lashed out her free arm in anger and frustration, throwing herself almost bodily at the branch. Her momentum sent her legs swinging out beneath her. She twisted the trunk of her body, throwing her right leg up as high as she could. As she did so, Washu smashed Sasami's left hand into the root.
* * *
Washu couldn't hold her grip on the root. The throbbing agony of her twisted ankle dug into the bark was just too much. Even as Sasami scrabbled with her free hand against the crumbling bark, her sister's grip gave out.
Once more, Ayeka's world spun drunkenly around her, but this time it followed no pattern of choice. Even as she went rapidly from horizontal to vertical she instinctively tried to lock her left arm around the root, forgetting that her left hand Sasami's. The child's hand was smashed cruelly against the bark and Washu tightened her grip, pinning it there.
Washu now dangled above the flooded creek, desperately clinging onto the overhanging roots both hands.
* * *
Sasami screamed.
'Ayeka!! SIS!!! NO!!!!!'
Even as she cried out, Sasami again twisted her body. This time she was rewarded as her right boot, with her leg at almost a right angle to the rest of her body, found a crevice in the bark. The heel of her boot dug deep, finding a solid grip in fresh, healthy wood. As Washu passed by beneath her, Sasami hauled herself up, using the scientist's painfully iron grip as leverage.
All of a sudden she was safe.
Now it was Sasami's arms and legs were wrapped tightly around the roots, with her head pillowed against the slimy bark.
'Sasami.'
The child glanced down at her sister. Ayeka looked torn; her face was a mask of conflicting emotions. Peace and release; relief tinged with fear and dread.
Solemnity; expectancy.
Inevitability...
'Sasami...' The words were a whisper. 'I love you.'
Tears began streaming down Sasami's face. 'No! NO! Ayeka, NO!!'
Ayeka began untangling her left hand from Sasami's.
'Tell Ryoko I am sorry. For everything.'
'NO! AYEKA!!!'
'I wont risk you being hurt again!'
* * *
A memory flows through. Ayeka's back, moving serenely, gracefully. Her hair sways, in time to her hips.
'AYEKA!!!!'
It is planet Jurai, and Sasami is 5 years old.
The child stumbles in the mass of tall flowers, looking desperate as the silhouette of her elder sister fades into the light. The shadows reach out like tendrils, smothering the last vestiges of Ayeka in gloom.
'AYEKA!! NO!!!!'
And Sasami is alone.
Ayeka. You left me again. Why?
You always do it. Why do you leave me, all alone and scared?
Sasami falls to her hands and knees. The palms of her hands sting. The flowers close around her threateningly.
She begins to cry.
-----
You left me AGAIN Ayeka!
Sasami reaches back to grab Ayeka's hand. Except that Ayeka is no longer there.
'AYEKA!!!!!!!!!!' Sasami bellows with all the power of Kiyone's voice. But this time Ayeka does not come.
Ayeka came when I was five. But then she didn't know about Tsunami.
Now I'm Kiyone as well.
Will she ever come to me again?
-----
A young lifetime of fear; a fear of who would find out, a fear of what they would say. A fear she would be sent away. Rejected.
-----
You are my sister, Sasami. Nothing else matters.
You are my sister, Ayeka. As much my sister as Washu.
-----
'Sasami!'
All of a sudden, Sasami is gathered up into a warm embrace. Her sister's face is above her, warm and smiling and tearful.
'I'm sorry Sasami! I didn't meant to tease you.'
Sasami buries her head against her sister's breast and sobs.
-----
Ayeka hunts a desperate redemption.
* * *
Ryoko snarls.
'DAMMIT Ayeka! Don't be so fragging STUPID!!! Don't get all high and mighty on me now, princess! And don't you ever DARE go dying on me!!'
A strange, hazy, almost-glow surrounded the child.
Ryoko snarled again. NO-ONE dies today!'
* * *
I wont leave you sister!!
Whose were those words that echoed in Ayeka's mind? Sasami's, or Tsunami's?
You are as much my sister as Washu is. You have always been there for me. I will not let you be hurt because of my mistake.
With a wondrous grace, a dirt stained child became a beautiful young woman.
* * *
Sasami screamed at the pain as she struggled with all her might against her sister. I WONT let you die! I wont, I wont, I WONT!!
'I WONT!!!!'
Now it was Sasami's turn to lock her legs around the root for leverage. Straining and gasping, she pulled as hard as she could on Ayeka's hand with both of hers.
PLEASE don't leave me behind again Ayeka! I HATE it when you leave me all on my own!
* * *
All of a sudden, Washu seemed filled with fresh determination.
There's no WAY I'm going to embarrass myself in front of Tsunami! Not any more than I have done already anyways...
With new strength, Washu swung her legs back and forth beneath her. By the fifth motion, she threw her legs back up again, once more locking them around the trunk of the overhang.
* * *
Sasami coughed back the tears as she hauled Ayeka up. Clearly aching all over, Ayeka, Crown Princess of Jurai, slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position. She stared at Sasami, feeling nothing but numbness for a moment.
Then it happened. A final, terrible, desperate release.
* * *
Ryoko looked at Washu with a mixture of exhaustion, anger and relief. She couldn't bear to look at her mother, torn and naked, but she couldn't bear to look away.
So instead she reached out to her, and closed her eyes.
* * *
Somewhere in the forest, a little sister crumpled into the arms of her sibling. A sobbing child, finally able to hold onto someone.
Somewhere else, a daughter finally reached out to her mother, and was accepted for what she was. She too, began to cry.
* * *
'Mommy.... Oh, Mommy...' she coughed the words out, barely able to speak around her sobs. Then she just began crying again.
'It's all right. Shhh... hush now, precious. Mommy loves you...' Her eyes squeezed tightly shut, feeling the release of hours of tension and fear and adrenaline melt away into a mess of tangled feelings. She shivered violently with the cold, only now aware of how the elements attacked her semi-naked body.
* * *
'Ayeka... please dun leave me anymore... I got so scared...'
'I'm sorry baby... I'm so so sorry... I wont leave you again. I swear no-one will ever harm you again. You're mine, dearest. I'll NEVER leave you...'
* * *
'Ayeka was so mean to me...' Ryoko sniffed loudly, then coughed. She swiped at her eyes roughly, angrily.
'Easy now... you've been hurt enough one day. Ayeka's sorry; I mean that. She hates herself.'
'No! She shouldn't... I deserved it, I think...'
'No-one deserves to suffer child. Not you; not Ayeka. Not anyone.'
'Please then - make sure she's okay.' Another sniff. 'Damn. I really need to talk to her...'
'Shhh now. Enough. Rest darling.'
* * *
All of a sudden the whole area lit up in an eerie red glow. Up above the sky was eclipsed by a dark, ominous form.
'MIYYAAAAA!!!!'
Sasami smiled, and Ryoko's mouth broke into a cracked grin.
'Ryo-Ohki...'
Her eyes closed. Even as Ryo-Ohki brought them aboard she fell asleep.
* * *
And then, as the rushing torrent of memories flooded past. Ryoko opened Ryoko's eyes.
And she knew that it was over.
-----
END OF CHAPTER 15
Author Note: We're getting near the end of the story, believe it or not!! I've done a bit of experimenting with this chapter; given the complex nature of the resolution I didn't exactly have much choice in the matter. ^^;; I hope no-one gets confused too much - assuming you're not all too confused already!
For anyone interested in offering reviews of 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: A beginning can be a difficult time. Endings even more so...
Tenchi Muyo: Changing Faces
---------------------------
By Mccpcorn
Chapter 15: Dearest Sister, Dearest Daughter
=============================================
Ryoko's mind was fuzzy; as she peered through the haze she got the impression she was looking through some badly scratched plastic sheeting. Everything was blurred and disjointed; nothing made any sense...
Then with a maddening, deafening roar, it all came flooding back, rushing past her like a torrent of freezing water; threatening to overwhelm her...
Ryoko was drowning.
* * *
'Mommy. Help me.' Ryoko's voice was a pleading whisper. 'Please...'
Weakly, slowly, Sasami released the muddy thicket she had been clinging to. With curious grace, Ryoko stretched Sasami's right arm upwards towards Washu. The dirty hand, scratched and bleeding, opened wide as the child strained upwards.
* * *
Ayeka also felt disjointed. Memories were confused; overlapping. She felt as though she were tangled up in a spider's web. The harder she struggled the more entangled she became.
Two minds were battling for control - and hers was losing...
* * *
Ryoko was below her. Sasami's grimy, bloodstained hand stretched out towards her.
'Mommy. Help me. Please...'
A great sense of overwhelming relief suddenly flooded over Ayeka.
Or was it Washu?
Heedless of the tears that ran from her own eyes she reached down to her daughter. She strained towards Ryoko's upturned hand, but their fingertips barely brushed against each other.
Washu almost blanched with surprise and frustration. She tried again, reaching down as far as she could.
I will NOT come this close and fail!!
That was Ayeka.
Gods, my life is one God-awful screw-up after another! Well not THIS time!
That was Washu.
She leaned forward, continuing to strain towards the child. She knew she was threatening to overbalance, but she didn't care.
Ryoko had suffered enough; she would not let her baby suffer anymore.
* * *
Please help me, Momma.
I'm so cold.
I feel so very cold. It's so dark...
So dark and cold. Just like the cave.
No. Please no. Not the cave.
Not the cave again...
NO! Please, oh gods NO! Not the cave! ANYTHING but the cave!!
'Please Mommy,' a sobbing child sniffs. 'Please don't send me away. Everyone always sends me away. Don't send back to the cave. I don't want to be alone again. Everything's so dark and cold...'
* * *
Washu's teeth were gritted in an agony of determination. Her fingers dangled provocatively, just out of reach. The scientist's eyes blazed with impotent fury.
Ryoko was too weak to feel much of anything anymore.
Have I EVER felt so weak...?
When Yosho defeated her, perhaps.
When Kagato had defeated her, leaving her the humiliation of being protected by Ayeka's Guardian's. Ayeka's!!
Still, they're pretty nice guys considering... Tough job, looking after HER. Ryoko's mind wandered as she lost herself further and further.
'Ryoko; hold onto the bank and keep you head down.'
Ryoko's eyes snapped back into focus; the haze cleared magically. Washu was above her again, and - WHAT!?
She was smiling.
It was very faint; just barely creasing the edges of her lips.
But it was there. And it was unmistakable.
Washu was smiling. A cunning, almost vicious smile.
Which could only mean she had a plan.
* * *
As she leaned over, Ayeka felt her balance shift queasily, but she fought back the instinctive reaction to pull back to safety.
Her innards lurched and the whole world titled crazily. Her vision spun and the blood rushed to her head, triggering a wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm her with unconsciousness. Ryoko screamed and buried her face in the river bank as her mother seemed to suddenly tumble towards her.
It was exactly the same thing that had happened to Ryoko: Washu had overreached herself and lost her balance. She dangled, upside down, having swung a full 180 degrees.
The only difference was Ayeka had planned it this way.
Using Washu's great strength, Ayeka locked her legs tightly around the overhanging root. Washu's small frame and light weight made it relatively simple for her to get her bearings. That's it; that's it...
* * *
'Ryoko,' Washu reached down again towards the child, 'grab my left hand.'
Ryoko was both tearful AND fearful as she looked up at Washu. Her mother's face though radiated love and warmth and compassion. It was enough to soothe the child's fears and renew her trust. With her expression suddenly determined, Ryoko reached up and caught Washu's left hand in her own.
* * *
Washu let her hand slide down to grip Sasami by her wrist; lifting her this way would probably hurt the child some, but it would be for the last time tonight. Besides, she needed to be sure of her grip.
No more pain after this, my darling... 'Get ready,' she said calmly. 'This may hurt some, but whatever you do, DON'T struggle.'
'Kay...'
Washu's muscles tightened painfully as she took Sasami's weight one-handed, but as before she found hidden reserves of power. The emotions fuelling them were different this time, but no less strong for that.
It was time for her own personal absolution.
* * *
Ryoko winced but did not cry out. The burning as skin rubbed against skin, as Washu's grip chafed against her wrist, was barely noticeably after being so raw with cold for so long. As Washu lifted, Sasami simply gave up her tenuous hold upon the bank. If this failed, the child knew they were both likely to be lost. Worrying about it hardly mattered anymore though; she was no longer alone.
Sasami's eyes squeezed shut as the muscles in her arm stretched and the bones in her shoulder grated against each other. Ryoko was acutely aware of the soft grunts of effort from Washu as she struggled to lift her. They were both at the extreme edge of physical and mental exhaustion.
But Washu would do this. Or die trying.
* * *
As Sasami's hand came level with Washu's head the scientist arched her back, raising it still higher and towards the overhanging roots. Sasami's eyes fluttered open as her head passed Washu's. Washu tried to be as calm as possible for the child, but there was no mistaking the gritted teeth, the trembling muscles as she strained as high as she could.
Sasami's hand brushed against the greasy bark.
Washu tried to pull herself up even higher; she flailed about with her free right hand, getting her own hold on the root and steadying herself. 'Grab hold,' she urged Sasami.
* * *
Ryoko needed no urging. She could see and feel Washu's grip loosening around her wrist; the scientist's knees were quivering with exhaustion as she held her body in place.
Sasami slotted the fingers of her right hand into a crevice in the rotting bark, but it merely crumbled away, leaving nothing but a green ooze on her fingers.
Ryoko exchanged an alarmed glance with Washu. Her mother's legs were giving way where they were locked about the roots.
No more! Please, just no more!!
Sasami lashed out her free arm in anger and frustration, throwing herself almost bodily at the branch. Her momentum sent her legs swinging out beneath her. She twisted the trunk of her body, throwing her right leg up as high as she could. As she did so, Washu smashed Sasami's left hand into the root.
* * *
Washu couldn't hold her grip on the root. The throbbing agony of her twisted ankle dug into the bark was just too much. Even as Sasami scrabbled with her free hand against the crumbling bark, her sister's grip gave out.
Once more, Ayeka's world spun drunkenly around her, but this time it followed no pattern of choice. Even as she went rapidly from horizontal to vertical she instinctively tried to lock her left arm around the root, forgetting that her left hand Sasami's. The child's hand was smashed cruelly against the bark and Washu tightened her grip, pinning it there.
Washu now dangled above the flooded creek, desperately clinging onto the overhanging roots both hands.
* * *
Sasami screamed.
'Ayeka!! SIS!!! NO!!!!!'
Even as she cried out, Sasami again twisted her body. This time she was rewarded as her right boot, with her leg at almost a right angle to the rest of her body, found a crevice in the bark. The heel of her boot dug deep, finding a solid grip in fresh, healthy wood. As Washu passed by beneath her, Sasami hauled herself up, using the scientist's painfully iron grip as leverage.
All of a sudden she was safe.
Now it was Sasami's arms and legs were wrapped tightly around the roots, with her head pillowed against the slimy bark.
'Sasami.'
The child glanced down at her sister. Ayeka looked torn; her face was a mask of conflicting emotions. Peace and release; relief tinged with fear and dread.
Solemnity; expectancy.
Inevitability...
'Sasami...' The words were a whisper. 'I love you.'
Tears began streaming down Sasami's face. 'No! NO! Ayeka, NO!!'
Ayeka began untangling her left hand from Sasami's.
'Tell Ryoko I am sorry. For everything.'
'NO! AYEKA!!!'
'I wont risk you being hurt again!'
* * *
A memory flows through. Ayeka's back, moving serenely, gracefully. Her hair sways, in time to her hips.
'AYEKA!!!!'
It is planet Jurai, and Sasami is 5 years old.
The child stumbles in the mass of tall flowers, looking desperate as the silhouette of her elder sister fades into the light. The shadows reach out like tendrils, smothering the last vestiges of Ayeka in gloom.
'AYEKA!! NO!!!!'
And Sasami is alone.
Ayeka. You left me again. Why?
You always do it. Why do you leave me, all alone and scared?
Sasami falls to her hands and knees. The palms of her hands sting. The flowers close around her threateningly.
She begins to cry.
-----
You left me AGAIN Ayeka!
Sasami reaches back to grab Ayeka's hand. Except that Ayeka is no longer there.
'AYEKA!!!!!!!!!!' Sasami bellows with all the power of Kiyone's voice. But this time Ayeka does not come.
Ayeka came when I was five. But then she didn't know about Tsunami.
Now I'm Kiyone as well.
Will she ever come to me again?
-----
A young lifetime of fear; a fear of who would find out, a fear of what they would say. A fear she would be sent away. Rejected.
-----
You are my sister, Sasami. Nothing else matters.
You are my sister, Ayeka. As much my sister as Washu.
-----
'Sasami!'
All of a sudden, Sasami is gathered up into a warm embrace. Her sister's face is above her, warm and smiling and tearful.
'I'm sorry Sasami! I didn't meant to tease you.'
Sasami buries her head against her sister's breast and sobs.
-----
Ayeka hunts a desperate redemption.
* * *
Ryoko snarls.
'DAMMIT Ayeka! Don't be so fragging STUPID!!! Don't get all high and mighty on me now, princess! And don't you ever DARE go dying on me!!'
A strange, hazy, almost-glow surrounded the child.
Ryoko snarled again. NO-ONE dies today!'
* * *
I wont leave you sister!!
Whose were those words that echoed in Ayeka's mind? Sasami's, or Tsunami's?
You are as much my sister as Washu is. You have always been there for me. I will not let you be hurt because of my mistake.
With a wondrous grace, a dirt stained child became a beautiful young woman.
* * *
Sasami screamed at the pain as she struggled with all her might against her sister. I WONT let you die! I wont, I wont, I WONT!!
'I WONT!!!!'
Now it was Sasami's turn to lock her legs around the root for leverage. Straining and gasping, she pulled as hard as she could on Ayeka's hand with both of hers.
PLEASE don't leave me behind again Ayeka! I HATE it when you leave me all on my own!
* * *
All of a sudden, Washu seemed filled with fresh determination.
There's no WAY I'm going to embarrass myself in front of Tsunami! Not any more than I have done already anyways...
With new strength, Washu swung her legs back and forth beneath her. By the fifth motion, she threw her legs back up again, once more locking them around the trunk of the overhang.
* * *
Sasami coughed back the tears as she hauled Ayeka up. Clearly aching all over, Ayeka, Crown Princess of Jurai, slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position. She stared at Sasami, feeling nothing but numbness for a moment.
Then it happened. A final, terrible, desperate release.
* * *
Ryoko looked at Washu with a mixture of exhaustion, anger and relief. She couldn't bear to look at her mother, torn and naked, but she couldn't bear to look away.
So instead she reached out to her, and closed her eyes.
* * *
Somewhere in the forest, a little sister crumpled into the arms of her sibling. A sobbing child, finally able to hold onto someone.
Somewhere else, a daughter finally reached out to her mother, and was accepted for what she was. She too, began to cry.
* * *
'Mommy.... Oh, Mommy...' she coughed the words out, barely able to speak around her sobs. Then she just began crying again.
'It's all right. Shhh... hush now, precious. Mommy loves you...' Her eyes squeezed tightly shut, feeling the release of hours of tension and fear and adrenaline melt away into a mess of tangled feelings. She shivered violently with the cold, only now aware of how the elements attacked her semi-naked body.
* * *
'Ayeka... please dun leave me anymore... I got so scared...'
'I'm sorry baby... I'm so so sorry... I wont leave you again. I swear no-one will ever harm you again. You're mine, dearest. I'll NEVER leave you...'
* * *
'Ayeka was so mean to me...' Ryoko sniffed loudly, then coughed. She swiped at her eyes roughly, angrily.
'Easy now... you've been hurt enough one day. Ayeka's sorry; I mean that. She hates herself.'
'No! She shouldn't... I deserved it, I think...'
'No-one deserves to suffer child. Not you; not Ayeka. Not anyone.'
'Please then - make sure she's okay.' Another sniff. 'Damn. I really need to talk to her...'
'Shhh now. Enough. Rest darling.'
* * *
All of a sudden the whole area lit up in an eerie red glow. Up above the sky was eclipsed by a dark, ominous form.
'MIYYAAAAA!!!!'
Sasami smiled, and Ryoko's mouth broke into a cracked grin.
'Ryo-Ohki...'
Her eyes closed. Even as Ryo-Ohki brought them aboard she fell asleep.
* * *
And then, as the rushing torrent of memories flooded past. Ryoko opened Ryoko's eyes.
And she knew that it was over.
-----
END OF CHAPTER 15
