Zero Tolerance
By Diane Long
Chapter Four: The Nature of Change
It had been a long, sleepless night for everyone in the Masaki home. The darkness flowed on like a long, rolling river with no end in sight. Floating upon the choppy water, like buoys marking dangerous reefs, were their doubts. Would Washu be able to save Ryoko's current incarnation? What would happen if Washu failed? Was it even the right thing to do?
A prisoner to his own thoughts, Tenchi lay in bed, his sheets tangled around his feet like heavy chains and his comforter hanging almost completely off the side. He watched the darkness give way to the pale light of false dawn. Outside his bedside window the landscape was the same, unchanged from the day before.
Somewhere in the depths of subspace, Ryoko was being changed. His Ryoko was on the cusp of extinction. There were many things he liked about his Ryoko. She was strong, brave, and despite all of her troubles she was able to see the humor in most situations. All of these things would surely be gone with the sun. Any person was a sum of their experiences. Take the past away, and you took out a chunk of someone's soul.
He kicked his comforter the rest of the way off of the bed and wiggled his toes. Deep in his heart it felt like they were killing Ryoko. He rolled over and burrowed under his pillows. His head was hidden from view, but he could not hide from himself. As much as he mourned the loss of his friend, he couldn't help but remember that she had asked for it, it was her own choice. Well, it sort of was. His Ryoko hadn't been around to be asked for her preference. Just that strange girl who wore Ryoko's face and what did she know about anything?
Grunting, he rolled out from under the pillow and let his upper body hang upside down over the side of the bed. There were no answers that made any sense. He looked up at the ceiling wanting nothing more than to see Ryoko floating above his bed. The emptiness of the space above him reflected the emptiness in his heart.
Down the hall, in a darker room, two princesses pondered similar thoughts.
"Sister, are you awake?" asked Sasami into the dim light, her unbound hair hanging heavily on her shoulders as she lay on her stomach upon her futon, chin resting on her elbows, the covers neatly folding over her back. She looked to where Ayeka was curled on her side, facing away. Beyond her light seeped around the edges of the drawn window shade, announcing the coming of morning.
"Yes," Ayeka answered softly, not moving. "Keep your voice down, we don't want to wake Lord Tenchi." The elder princess knew where this discussion was going and hoped her words would silence her younger sister.
"I bet he is awake," Sasami stated, even though she took her sister's advice and lowered her voice. "I think he is worried too. I know I am."
"Why are you worried, Sasami?" Ayeka asked as she rolled over and propped herself up on one elbow to regard her sister with serious eyes. "Did you have another dream of the future?" She hoped that was all it was, but as she saw the sad eyes of her sister she knew she was mistaken. Like the wind through the garden chimes, nothing stopped Sasami when she was moved.
"No, I just wonder if Washu is doing the right thing. What will happen to Ryoko?" Sasami wondered straightening her arms to run her fingers over the smooth-rough texture of the floor mats.
Ayeka eased her self back under the covers. "Well, hopefully she will be stabilized as her younger self," she answered. "Perhaps she will be happier that way." She believed it too. Better than Tenchi could ever understand, Ayeka knew some of Ryoko's pain. She had born eyewitness to Ryoko's slavery; seen those mad, glowing, eyes. She had heard that evil cackle to which Ryoko had never once of her own free will given voice. She knew Ryoko had held those horrible memories far too close. Anything was worth sparing Ryoko that, anything, including the loss of her first real friend.
"Yes, but what about OUR Ryoko, Ayeka? Where will she go?" Sasami quavered, slinking deeper under her blanket, so just her eyes peeked out.
Ayeka was quiet for a moment. This was the question she had feared. It was difficult to explain to the others why she felt things were working out for the best. They couldn't comprehend the world she and Ryoko had once seen. Banishing the memory of fires and destruction, Ayeka tried to keep it simple. "I think she is already gone. I'm sorry, Sasami."
"But… but…." Sasami stuttered, her big, pink eyes tearing up. "I will miss her so much!" She covered her face with small hands. "She was like my sister."
Ayeka reached out between their futons and patted Sasami's head. "I know," she replied. "I will miss her too."
Sasami cried out again, her shoulders shaking with her sobs.
"Here," Ayeka offered, holding up one corner of her blankets.
Sasami looked around her hands, when she saw what was offered, she wiped her tears and quickly wiggled out from her bed and crawled in with her sister. She snuggled close and pressed her wet cheeks against Ayeka's neck.
Ayeka made sure the blankets were covering them adequately and held Sasami close. "It will all be okay," she whispered as she felt fresh tears dampen the collar of her nightgown. She was unable to tell if the tears belonged to her or her sister.
Up the steep side of the mountain, an old priest meditated upon the changes at hand. He sat in seiza on the gabled porch of his office, back straight and hands folded in his lap. His dark grey hair was neatly contained in a tail that hung past his shoulders. His uniform of dogi jacket and hakama coupled with the traditional architecture of the building made him appear timeless and ancient. Like a woodblock print washed of its colors, the early morning scene was dim and motionless. Rock still, he watched an orange sliver of sun crest the mountains and cast a splash of pigment upon the tops of the trees.
Life itself was defined by suffering and change. Attachments led to suffering, and most sentient beings were burdened by many attachments. Everyday was change. Upon waking, one was not exactly the same person they were the night before. These principals drove the wheel of life ever onward. So for him, the questions of the morality of Ryoko's change held little meaning. What would be would be.
His tranquil expression faltered, as other thoughts wormed their way into his calming mantra. Much of Ryoko's suffering was his fault. At hand was the undoing 700 years of unintended torture. Light played across his glasses as he tilted his head in thought. For him, Ryoko's new innocence was a burden lifted from his heart, as much as he tried to stay aloof from the morality of it all. Mistakes had been made and now he had a chance to make up for them. Even he had his attachments and suffering. As the morning song birds began to warm up their throats, he closed his eyes and prayed that Tsunami would lay her healing touch on them all.
***
The clock on the wall ticked away the seconds, its mechanical clicks sounding louder than usual, like the clacking of a rollercoaster being drawn uphill by a conveyer belt. The only other sound was the clatter of dishes in the kitchen as Sasami finished her post-breakfast clean up.
Poised, as if in that rollercoaster hovering at the brink of a tall hill, Tenchi and Ayeka sat stiffly on opposite ends of the couch. They looked away from each other though each had an eye directed at the door to Washu's lab. Tenchi, his hair uncharacteristically uncombed, pulled at a thread that was beginning to unravel from the hem of his work shirt. While Ayeka, immaculate as ever in a western blue skirt and cream blouse, held her self perfectly still. They had no reason to expect Washu would be finished any time soon, but felt unable to do anything but wait.
Tenchi licked his lips and fidgeted. "So," he began, tugging at the thread. "What do you think is going on in there?" He gazed into space as he awaited her answer.
"Hmmm," Ayeka murmured, her eyes distant. Purple bangs shaded her face, adding an extra screen over her thoughts.
Tenchi nodded to himself and found that if he pulled the string at a shaper angle, more of it came free from his shirt. "I wonder who Ryoko is right now?" he murmured to himself.
Ayeka's shoulders stiffened at his comment and she turned, alighting her gaze upon him. "Tenchi…" she began painfully then broke off as she saw what he was doing. "Oh, Lord Tenchi, don't pull on that! I just fixed the hem yesterday!" she chided, easily switching into her domestic persona.
"Oh, sorry!" Tenchi placed his hands to the sides of his legs and pressed down on the couch. "Just nervous, I guess." He turned wistful eyes to the princess. "Aren't you?"
Ayeka's chin lowered until it was touching the collar of her vanilla blouse. "Of course I am."
Tenchi ran a hand through his brown hair and stared at Ayeka, almost as if he were trying to discern something. "No one seems to care what's happening to her." He brought his hands to his lap and clasped them. "No one else seems to think there is something wrong," he whispered, looking down at his fingers.
Ayeka took a short breath, exhaling in a little sigh. She ran a finger along the seam of her skirt. "The line between what is right and wrong can be more easily undone than the hem of your shirt."
Tenchi frowned. "You sound like grandpa."
"We had the same teachers." Ayeka lifted her chin and looked at him calmly. "Those words are very true. How can we know what's best?"
Tenchi rolled his chest forward, so that his clasped hands pushed towards the floor and his chin rested on his knees. He looked as if he were on a crashing airplane and was bracing for impact. "What about Ryoko, our Ryoko?"
Ayeka scooted closer, her skirt whispering along the leather of the couch. Tentatively, she laid a hand on Tenchi's back. "You know as well as I that she is gone," she said in small, catching, voice.
"What if she didn't want to go?" Tenchi asked, hugging his legs, sounding near tears.
"She made this choice," Ayeka said, and even she sounded unsure.
"That wasn't my Ryoko," Tenchi said stubbornly into his knees.
"That is where you are wrong, Lord Tenchi," Ayeka said firmly, squeezing his shoulder. "That girl was always apart of our Ryoko, however deep down." Her voice took on a strident sense of assurance.
Tenchi kept silent and closed his eyes as he digested this new perspective.
"In a way, Ryoko chose to have a second chance," Ayeka went on. "Think of it Tenchi! Ryoko has a chance to be free from her suffering! Don't you wish for her to be happy?" she asked giving his shoulder a little shake.
Tenchi sat up and took Ayeka's hand from his shoulder and held it in a needy grasp. "Of course I do!" He looked away then re-met her gaze. "But I can't be sure this is what she wanted!"
Ayeka looked down at his hand holding hers so tightly and seemed embarrassed. None the less she pushed on. "Is this about what she wanted or about what you want?"
Tenchi flushed and bit his lip. "I don't know," he said honestly and squeezed her hand. He looked abashed for a moment and let go of her hand, placing it back in her lap.
Ayeka clasped her fingers together. "I know what you mean." She looked towards the storage closet. "She was my friend, just because she wanted to be. Not because she wanted favors or rewards. That is a rarity in the life of a princess, I can assure you."
"Ayeka…" Tenchi said sadly, reaching out and lightly running his fingers over her shoulder as if uncertain of his welcome.
"So now, I must be her friend in return. I must help her be happy now that things have changed beyond any of our control," Ayeka said firmly, reaching up and flattening her palm against him, holding his fingers against her shoulder. "I will help her be happy, no matter what."
Tenchi nodded and rubbed his temples with his free hand. "That is a good way to look at it. I want her to be happy too. I always have."
Before Ayeka could reply the door to the lab creaked open. Tenchi snapped his hand back and he and Ayeka sat up straighter as they exchanged a hopeful glance.
Washu leaned around the doorway and flashed them a victory sign. Her hair was mostly hidden up under a blue cap, and she was wearing mint-green surgical scrubs with a red crab motif sprinkled across the fabric. "Say good morning, Sunshine!" she said back over her shoulder.
She ducked behind the door and soon remerged, pushing something that looked like a wheeled, winged-back chair. Ryoko, still small in stature, drowsed against a corner of the chair, a blanket tucked snugly under her chin. Her hair was completely shorn away and the pale globe of her head was marred by a large stitched scar that traced almost completely around it. She opened an eye and smiled weakly. "Hey."
Tenchi hurried to his feet and over to the chair. He knelt by it and laid a hand on Ryoko's knee and peered into her face. "How are you, Ryoko?"
She lolled her head in his direction. "Crappy," she groaned in her high pitched voice.
Washu laughed, looking tired but jubilant. "You will have to excuse her manners this morning, Tenchi. Brain surgery takes the stuffing out of just about anyone."
Tenchi eyed the scar. "Brain surgery?"
Washu nodded, rubbing tired eyes. "I had to re-set the connections by hand. Let me tell you that nobody but me could have even dreamed of pulling this one off!"
"Mom," Ryoko moaned crankily. "You make my head hurt. Stop talking." She weakly reached up and covered her ears.
"Miss Washu, are you sure it worked?" asked Ayeka coming to stand by Ryoko. Her long hair cascaded over her shoulder as she bent to inspect her young friend.
"Positive. She should really go back to bed, but I wanted you to see she was alright, since my security records showed me that you two haven't slept all night or moved from the couch all morning," Washu said turning the chair around and heading back to the lab.
"Wait. Sasami would like to see her," Ayeka objected, looking back towards the kitchen.
"I'm still me, right momma?" Ryoko mumbled. "I'm not mean?"
"No, no, you're you. You are still my little Ryoko," Washu answered lovingly, turning the chair around. She turned and looked apologetic. "Not, right now. Tell her I'm sorry," Washu said pushing the chair back into the lab. "Ryoko needs her rest," she explained as the door shut behind them.
Tenchi straightened up and shrugged. "I guess it worked," he said with a shallow smile, walking back to couch.
Ayeka stood by the lab door, looking lost. "Yes, I'm glad, but It won't ever be the same."
***
A full day had passed since Ryoko's permanent change and life had started to move onwards. Tenchi was sitting at his desk working on what seemed to be a never ending physics assignment. He wore jeans and a soft grey turtleneck. The desk lamp gave the pale almond colored skin on his face a yellow tinge.
"Um… hello?"
Tenchi looked up from his homework to see Ryoko standing uncertainly in his doorway. It was the first time he had seen her since yesterday morning's brief appearance. She looked surprisingly recovered for someone a day out of major brain surgery.
"Oh, hi Ryoko!" he greeted. "Come on in! How are you feeling?"
She smiled and inched just inside his door, wearing a smaller sized version of her favorite old blue and yellowed stripped dress. Her re-grown hair formed a softly spiked bob that fell just below her sharp chin. "I feel okay," she peeped, leaning back against the wall.
"You're looking better than yesterday," Tenchi observed, turning and sitting backwards in his chair so that he could face her. "And your hair has already grown back quite a bit!" It was final. This Ryoko was the only Ryoko and he was just going to have to get used to it.
Ryoko ran a hand through her hair. "Mmm. Mom works fast…" she trailed off as Tenchi's smile suddenly brightened. "What?" she asked quirking up an eyebrow.
"Oh. Nothing," Tenchi dismissed, not wanting to dampen her spirits with tales of the past. If he was going to help Ryoko, he had to keep his thoughts pointed to the future.
Ryoko's other eyebrow joined its twin in the upper regions of her forehead. She looked so much like Washu just then, Tenchi felt compelled to tell her. "It's just nice to hear you call her 'Mom'."
Her small face lost its happiness. "I wouldn't even call her 'Mom'?"
Tenchi could have kicked himself for spilling. "Hey, I see you had Washu shrink that dress," he said quickly changing the subject.
Ryoko gingerly touched her dress. "Shrink it? What are you talking about? I've always had this dress."
"You have?" As he spoke, Tenchi wondered about Ryoko. It was as if someone had taken a baroque painting and reduced it to a minimalist sketch. A few lines remained to describe a once busy and bursting collage of life. Washu had told Ryoko about her love for him, and thus added a little more complexity to the picture, a bit more color. What did Ryoko think about that? What did she think about him?
Ryoko ran her hands down the sides of the dress, smoothing it. "Yes, mom has one too. When I was really little we used to have matching dresses. We don't do that anymore, though mom wishes we did."
Tenchi absently sketched hearts with his finger upon the chair back. "So why do you still wear that one?" Tenchi asked, when he really wanted to ask her if she felt anything for him any more, or even if she felt strange knowing she had once loved him.
Ryoko pursed her lips. "It's silly," she said, sliding the tip of her tongue to stick out from between her lips.
Tenchi shrugged. "You don't have to tell me." There was so much he wanted her to say, and he wondered if an old tactic of feigned indifference would make her talk.
Ryoko rolled her eyes and laughed a little. "It's not a big deal. It's just that… well… we always wear this dress to go Startica shopping. So when I wear it, it makes me feel kinda special."
Tenchi's eyes had taken on a far away look as Ryoko explained about the dress, his smile turning inward as if he were smiling at a distant memory that no one else could see.
Ryoko took another step into the room, her hand fluttering to her heart. "Why do you ask? Did I wear this dress a lot? When I was older, I mean." She turned her face so that her hair slid over to cover one yellow eye.
Tenchi half-looked at her. "You wore it nearly every day."
"Everyday," Ryoko repeated, flicking her errant hair back into place with a shake of her head. "That's really weird. I only wear this dress for special occasions."
That statement rocked Tenchi out of his romantic reverie. He wondered if Ryoko had found every day out of the cave and free from Kagato had been a special occasion. She had certainly treated every day like a big party where she was the guest of honor. What had once seemed irritatingly selfish to him took on the veneer of innocent enthusiasm.
Tenchi watched as the younger Ryoko chewed on a lock of her hair as she thought about his words. In the face of his discovery, the guilt he felt for his selfish desire to have her return to her old self weighted down his stomach like a lead ball. "So what's today's occasion then?" he asked.
She grinned and spit her hair out of her mouth. "If even half of what mom told me yesterday is true, it sounds like today is like a birthday. So, I wore my favorite dress to celebrate."
"Happy birthday, Ryoko!" Tenchi laughed, liking the sound of that. Ayeka was right, Ryoko deserved this chance at happiness.
Ryoko's smile grew hungry as she crossed her arms. "Thank you. And that brings me to why I came up here."
Tenchi grew wistful. In the past she would have come up to his room with a very specific mission. One that he doubted was on today's agenda. "Oh right. Do you need anything, Ryoko?"
She leveled a gaze at him, one that reminded him of her lusty stares in the past. Only this one wasn't seductive at all, just intense as her yellow eyes pinned him down. "You have something that belongs to me, Tenchi," she said as she padded into the room stopping very close to him.
Her glittering eyes were even with his as he was sitting. He blinked. "I- I do?"
"Yes. You have two of my gems. Since it's my birthday, we can pretend it's a present when you give them back to me."
The seriousness of her request put Tenchi firmly in the here and now. He leaned away, putting some distance between them. He scratched his head, uncertain about giving Ryoko even more power. Innocent child or not, she probably still had a temper. "Well… I don't know…."
Ryoko's smile was replaced by a familiar scowl. "What's to know? They are mine and I want them back!" She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot impatiently.
"Uh…" Tenchi stuttered, the swift change in attitude unsettling him.
Ryoko leaned forward so that her nose was almost touching his. "I was trying to be nice, because I like you. Don't make me get mad, Tenchi!"
Tenchi just gulped, uncertain of what to do as he leaned back as far as he could, his back pressed against his desk.
"What's going on in here?" Washu asked calmly as she entered the room. Her bright pink hair was unbound today and flowed freely down her back, the tips of it trailing behind her as she walked. She wore a green pantsuit with cargo pockets that brightly contrasted with her hair, making her almost painful to look at. "Ryoko don't get so close. What have I told you about personal space?"
"Mom!" Ryoko called, backing up and turning around. "Tenchi won't give my gems back!"
"Washu," Tenchi sighed in relief. "I don't know what to do. What should I do?" Giving the gems back felt too risky for him.
Washu shook her head dismissively and turned to Tenchi. "I told you it wouldn't take long for her real personality to show." She looked to her daughter. "Honey, you haven't been out of the lab for over fifteen minutes, and already you've found some trouble to get into," She said, crossing her arms.
"But, Mom!" Ryoko protested, stamping her foot. "They are mine!"
"No 'buts'. Did your gem lead you here?" Washu asked her face schooled into an expression of that brooked no arguments.
Ryoko nodded. "Please, let me have them back. They are important to me. They are from you," she implored.
Washu's eyes sparkled, looking wet for a moment. Regaining control, she looked to Tenchi. "Such a con artist, still, I don't see that it will hurt anything. Ryoko had all three gems at this age and even before that as a child. I'm not surprised she missed them."
Tenchi bit his lip. "But, a young girl… with all that power?" he worried aloud, sliding out of his chair to stand beside Washu. He waved his hands around to indicate the some vague and dire implication.
Ryoko marched over to his dresser, selected a drawer, and yanked it open. "Hey, I'm not as young as I look. You're only a year older than me," she complained while rooting through his socks. "You have the Light Hawk Wings, I have the gems. What's the big difference?" She uncovered the Tenchiken and received a small shock when her finger tips brushed against it. "Ouch."
"How did you know about the Wings?" Washu and Tenchi asked at the same time.
Ryoko looked superior as she wrapped a long, white, tube sock around the sword handle's base. "My gem told me, of course! It can sense power like that, particularly when the other two gems are right in the middle of it." She picked up the Tenchiken, being careful to only touch the sock, and carried it over to Tenchi. "Don't your wings tell you about my gems?"
Tenchi took the sword and gulped, the swallow visible all the way down. "No, not really." He removed the tube sock and set it on his desk. Things were moving awfully quickly and Washu didn't seem to be taking any steps to slow them down.
Ryoko shrugged and twitched her hips in impatience. "Whatever. Can you please return my gems now?"
Tenchi looked to Washu who just nodded, her amusement clear. "Okay then." Against his better judgment, he pointed the hilt of the sword at Ryoko and closed his eyes. He prayed that the gems would go to Ryoko and that they would keep her safe.
Seconds later the gems left the handle and reappeared at Ryoko's wrist and throat. "Ohhhhhh yeaaaaaah!" Ryoko enthused and shot straight up into the air, flying through the ceiling and then back into the room, hooting and hollering the whole way. "This feels great!" she giggled weaving a lopsided figure-eight flight path between Tenchi and her mother.
"Ryoko, stop that," Washu reprimanded sternly. She shook a finger at her daughter. "You have just had a major surgery. You need to be calm and rest."
"But mom!' Ryoko argued, hovering above Tenchi's head like she was floating down a lazy river. "Having all the gems just tripled my healing factor! I feel great!"
"Yes, the euphoria of a power rush feels good," Washu agreed wryly. "Good enough to mask pain. Come down from there and let's get back to the lab so I can run a diagnostic."
"But it's my birthday! I get to do whatever I want on my birthday!" Ryoko protested with an attempt at a winning smile that just made her look plain conniving.
"It is not your birthday!" Washu laughed straight from her belly. "Nice try!"
"Well, it is sort of her re-birth day," Tenchi clarified, wanting to be a part of the joy Ryoko was feeling.
"Thank you, my Tenchi!" Ryoko crooned, reaching down to tousle Tenchi's hair, causing Washu and Tenchi to both look at her with wide eyes. "So, what do I get for my birthday, Mom?" Ryoko tried again.
"As you can see," Washu whispered out of the side of her mouth to Tenchi. "It doesn't take this girl long to bounce back." To Ryoko she said, "It gets you to the count of five to get your butt down here." She waited expectantly.
Ryoko frowned. "I don't want to."
"Five," Washu said flatly and the red light in Ryoko's gems dimmed and shut off causing Ryoko to squawk and fall from the air and land on her rear with a painful thump at Tenchi's feet.
"Ow!" she moaned, rubbing at her behind. "That hurt, and I'm still healing!"
Washu took Ryoko's elbow and dragged her to her feet so that they were eye to eye. "I thought you were all better, healed by the gems," she said into her annoyed daughter's face.
"That only counts while I can access the power. You cheated! I bet I'm really hurt!" Ryoko whined, pretending to swoon.
"I think you'll survive," Washu scoffed. "Well, if you will excuse us Tenchi, we will be going along now." Washu steered Ryoko, complaining all the way, through the door.
"Bye," Tenchi said with a wave and a chuckle.
"My head, my head… I think something was shook loose…" Ryoko groaned. Making sure Washu wasn't looking, Ryoko turned and winked at Tenchi. "My own mother…. It's abuse I tell you!" she continued as Washu all but dragged her down the stairs.
Tenchi hugged himself as a warm feeling bubbled up from the pit of his stomach and flowed straight into his heart. She was still herself and he was still her Tenchi.
As always, stay tuned for more!
A/N: Since people have been leaving such helpful feedback, I thought I would address a few of the comments! Thanks to everyone for their reviews, it really makes my day to hear from you. Emails can be sent to shire@one.net. Thanks to my on-line writing partners, you guys deserve a reward for putting up with me!
Archangel: Thanks for those thoughts. I will respectfully disagree with you on some points, though. ^_^ Yes, this story is similar to some of my other stories, but not the same. There is a real difference in that this time we get to see what happens when Ryoko is totally free from her past and is raised in a (somewhat) normal home. My gig seems to be writing stories about mother and daughter relationships with themes of the mystery of personhood mixed in for good measure. Since that's where my muse wants to go, that's where my pen follows. I agree that 'reality bumps' are annoying when reading. Though what triggers one person may not bother another. I personally think Ayeka is capable of speaking nasally in both the subbed and dubbed versions. It seems to be a side effect of sliding into her more formal mode. But this could be case of Potato, pahtahtoh. Keeping the characters _IN_ character is always a struggle, particularly when one writes and consumes copious amounts of fan fiction. I worry that my characters sound like more like their fan fiction incarnations than their canon selves. But Whatcha gonna do? Though, I think Tenchi is just as capable of being a little selfish as anyone else. Cartoons usually only let us see the outsides of characters and give us very little insight into their inner workings. Tenchi stands out in this way. I think we know the least about his internal motivations when compared to the rest of the cast.
Chibi-D: I wish I could help you out, but don't count on me for emails about updates. I fear I am not organized enough to be reliable about that sort of thing. Doesn't ff.net have a feature that will auto-alert you?
Negative-Z: I have some thoughts as to your question. Do you IM? These kind of talks work better in real time IMHO. Email me.
Ministry Agent: I am so busted. *Laughs* Owning all of the Tenchi DVDs and having watched them countless times I really should know my continuity better than that! Then again, maybe it's all oozed together in one big, slushy heap of TENCHI content in my poor little brain. Also you said, "At the same time I get the feeling that this story is trying to go somewhere without trying to appear to do so. It seems to meander somewhat.". I couldn't agree more. This story has been driving me nuts since the get go. The rough draft finished at about 60 pages and as I wrote, the story kept changing directions and doing all kinds of funky things. I am posting it chapter by chapter, using the time between posts to polish and try to get it going in one direction. The rough draft probably should have been deleted and forgotten, but I hated to lose all of that work. So what you see here is really a salvage effort and I'm not at all surprised it shines through. I hope it gets better, buuuuut… who knows? Thanks for hanging with me.
William: As always thanks for your help in disabling my 'delete' button as well as your help and creative support. It's nice of you to go on and review my chapters after all the help you give me already.
UnholyDragoon: I put mucho effort into the visualizations this time, did it help? I always struggle with descriptions because they seem to interrupt the flow of action in my writing. I agree I need more so I tried. Better results? Worse?
Strife: This Ryoko is a completely different character, so I would hope she would not seem exactly like the Ryoko we all know and love. I want there to be traces there, but that's it.
By Diane Long
Chapter Four: The Nature of Change
It had been a long, sleepless night for everyone in the Masaki home. The darkness flowed on like a long, rolling river with no end in sight. Floating upon the choppy water, like buoys marking dangerous reefs, were their doubts. Would Washu be able to save Ryoko's current incarnation? What would happen if Washu failed? Was it even the right thing to do?
A prisoner to his own thoughts, Tenchi lay in bed, his sheets tangled around his feet like heavy chains and his comforter hanging almost completely off the side. He watched the darkness give way to the pale light of false dawn. Outside his bedside window the landscape was the same, unchanged from the day before.
Somewhere in the depths of subspace, Ryoko was being changed. His Ryoko was on the cusp of extinction. There were many things he liked about his Ryoko. She was strong, brave, and despite all of her troubles she was able to see the humor in most situations. All of these things would surely be gone with the sun. Any person was a sum of their experiences. Take the past away, and you took out a chunk of someone's soul.
He kicked his comforter the rest of the way off of the bed and wiggled his toes. Deep in his heart it felt like they were killing Ryoko. He rolled over and burrowed under his pillows. His head was hidden from view, but he could not hide from himself. As much as he mourned the loss of his friend, he couldn't help but remember that she had asked for it, it was her own choice. Well, it sort of was. His Ryoko hadn't been around to be asked for her preference. Just that strange girl who wore Ryoko's face and what did she know about anything?
Grunting, he rolled out from under the pillow and let his upper body hang upside down over the side of the bed. There were no answers that made any sense. He looked up at the ceiling wanting nothing more than to see Ryoko floating above his bed. The emptiness of the space above him reflected the emptiness in his heart.
Down the hall, in a darker room, two princesses pondered similar thoughts.
"Sister, are you awake?" asked Sasami into the dim light, her unbound hair hanging heavily on her shoulders as she lay on her stomach upon her futon, chin resting on her elbows, the covers neatly folding over her back. She looked to where Ayeka was curled on her side, facing away. Beyond her light seeped around the edges of the drawn window shade, announcing the coming of morning.
"Yes," Ayeka answered softly, not moving. "Keep your voice down, we don't want to wake Lord Tenchi." The elder princess knew where this discussion was going and hoped her words would silence her younger sister.
"I bet he is awake," Sasami stated, even though she took her sister's advice and lowered her voice. "I think he is worried too. I know I am."
"Why are you worried, Sasami?" Ayeka asked as she rolled over and propped herself up on one elbow to regard her sister with serious eyes. "Did you have another dream of the future?" She hoped that was all it was, but as she saw the sad eyes of her sister she knew she was mistaken. Like the wind through the garden chimes, nothing stopped Sasami when she was moved.
"No, I just wonder if Washu is doing the right thing. What will happen to Ryoko?" Sasami wondered straightening her arms to run her fingers over the smooth-rough texture of the floor mats.
Ayeka eased her self back under the covers. "Well, hopefully she will be stabilized as her younger self," she answered. "Perhaps she will be happier that way." She believed it too. Better than Tenchi could ever understand, Ayeka knew some of Ryoko's pain. She had born eyewitness to Ryoko's slavery; seen those mad, glowing, eyes. She had heard that evil cackle to which Ryoko had never once of her own free will given voice. She knew Ryoko had held those horrible memories far too close. Anything was worth sparing Ryoko that, anything, including the loss of her first real friend.
"Yes, but what about OUR Ryoko, Ayeka? Where will she go?" Sasami quavered, slinking deeper under her blanket, so just her eyes peeked out.
Ayeka was quiet for a moment. This was the question she had feared. It was difficult to explain to the others why she felt things were working out for the best. They couldn't comprehend the world she and Ryoko had once seen. Banishing the memory of fires and destruction, Ayeka tried to keep it simple. "I think she is already gone. I'm sorry, Sasami."
"But… but…." Sasami stuttered, her big, pink eyes tearing up. "I will miss her so much!" She covered her face with small hands. "She was like my sister."
Ayeka reached out between their futons and patted Sasami's head. "I know," she replied. "I will miss her too."
Sasami cried out again, her shoulders shaking with her sobs.
"Here," Ayeka offered, holding up one corner of her blankets.
Sasami looked around her hands, when she saw what was offered, she wiped her tears and quickly wiggled out from her bed and crawled in with her sister. She snuggled close and pressed her wet cheeks against Ayeka's neck.
Ayeka made sure the blankets were covering them adequately and held Sasami close. "It will all be okay," she whispered as she felt fresh tears dampen the collar of her nightgown. She was unable to tell if the tears belonged to her or her sister.
Up the steep side of the mountain, an old priest meditated upon the changes at hand. He sat in seiza on the gabled porch of his office, back straight and hands folded in his lap. His dark grey hair was neatly contained in a tail that hung past his shoulders. His uniform of dogi jacket and hakama coupled with the traditional architecture of the building made him appear timeless and ancient. Like a woodblock print washed of its colors, the early morning scene was dim and motionless. Rock still, he watched an orange sliver of sun crest the mountains and cast a splash of pigment upon the tops of the trees.
Life itself was defined by suffering and change. Attachments led to suffering, and most sentient beings were burdened by many attachments. Everyday was change. Upon waking, one was not exactly the same person they were the night before. These principals drove the wheel of life ever onward. So for him, the questions of the morality of Ryoko's change held little meaning. What would be would be.
His tranquil expression faltered, as other thoughts wormed their way into his calming mantra. Much of Ryoko's suffering was his fault. At hand was the undoing 700 years of unintended torture. Light played across his glasses as he tilted his head in thought. For him, Ryoko's new innocence was a burden lifted from his heart, as much as he tried to stay aloof from the morality of it all. Mistakes had been made and now he had a chance to make up for them. Even he had his attachments and suffering. As the morning song birds began to warm up their throats, he closed his eyes and prayed that Tsunami would lay her healing touch on them all.
***
The clock on the wall ticked away the seconds, its mechanical clicks sounding louder than usual, like the clacking of a rollercoaster being drawn uphill by a conveyer belt. The only other sound was the clatter of dishes in the kitchen as Sasami finished her post-breakfast clean up.
Poised, as if in that rollercoaster hovering at the brink of a tall hill, Tenchi and Ayeka sat stiffly on opposite ends of the couch. They looked away from each other though each had an eye directed at the door to Washu's lab. Tenchi, his hair uncharacteristically uncombed, pulled at a thread that was beginning to unravel from the hem of his work shirt. While Ayeka, immaculate as ever in a western blue skirt and cream blouse, held her self perfectly still. They had no reason to expect Washu would be finished any time soon, but felt unable to do anything but wait.
Tenchi licked his lips and fidgeted. "So," he began, tugging at the thread. "What do you think is going on in there?" He gazed into space as he awaited her answer.
"Hmmm," Ayeka murmured, her eyes distant. Purple bangs shaded her face, adding an extra screen over her thoughts.
Tenchi nodded to himself and found that if he pulled the string at a shaper angle, more of it came free from his shirt. "I wonder who Ryoko is right now?" he murmured to himself.
Ayeka's shoulders stiffened at his comment and she turned, alighting her gaze upon him. "Tenchi…" she began painfully then broke off as she saw what he was doing. "Oh, Lord Tenchi, don't pull on that! I just fixed the hem yesterday!" she chided, easily switching into her domestic persona.
"Oh, sorry!" Tenchi placed his hands to the sides of his legs and pressed down on the couch. "Just nervous, I guess." He turned wistful eyes to the princess. "Aren't you?"
Ayeka's chin lowered until it was touching the collar of her vanilla blouse. "Of course I am."
Tenchi ran a hand through his brown hair and stared at Ayeka, almost as if he were trying to discern something. "No one seems to care what's happening to her." He brought his hands to his lap and clasped them. "No one else seems to think there is something wrong," he whispered, looking down at his fingers.
Ayeka took a short breath, exhaling in a little sigh. She ran a finger along the seam of her skirt. "The line between what is right and wrong can be more easily undone than the hem of your shirt."
Tenchi frowned. "You sound like grandpa."
"We had the same teachers." Ayeka lifted her chin and looked at him calmly. "Those words are very true. How can we know what's best?"
Tenchi rolled his chest forward, so that his clasped hands pushed towards the floor and his chin rested on his knees. He looked as if he were on a crashing airplane and was bracing for impact. "What about Ryoko, our Ryoko?"
Ayeka scooted closer, her skirt whispering along the leather of the couch. Tentatively, she laid a hand on Tenchi's back. "You know as well as I that she is gone," she said in small, catching, voice.
"What if she didn't want to go?" Tenchi asked, hugging his legs, sounding near tears.
"She made this choice," Ayeka said, and even she sounded unsure.
"That wasn't my Ryoko," Tenchi said stubbornly into his knees.
"That is where you are wrong, Lord Tenchi," Ayeka said firmly, squeezing his shoulder. "That girl was always apart of our Ryoko, however deep down." Her voice took on a strident sense of assurance.
Tenchi kept silent and closed his eyes as he digested this new perspective.
"In a way, Ryoko chose to have a second chance," Ayeka went on. "Think of it Tenchi! Ryoko has a chance to be free from her suffering! Don't you wish for her to be happy?" she asked giving his shoulder a little shake.
Tenchi sat up and took Ayeka's hand from his shoulder and held it in a needy grasp. "Of course I do!" He looked away then re-met her gaze. "But I can't be sure this is what she wanted!"
Ayeka looked down at his hand holding hers so tightly and seemed embarrassed. None the less she pushed on. "Is this about what she wanted or about what you want?"
Tenchi flushed and bit his lip. "I don't know," he said honestly and squeezed her hand. He looked abashed for a moment and let go of her hand, placing it back in her lap.
Ayeka clasped her fingers together. "I know what you mean." She looked towards the storage closet. "She was my friend, just because she wanted to be. Not because she wanted favors or rewards. That is a rarity in the life of a princess, I can assure you."
"Ayeka…" Tenchi said sadly, reaching out and lightly running his fingers over her shoulder as if uncertain of his welcome.
"So now, I must be her friend in return. I must help her be happy now that things have changed beyond any of our control," Ayeka said firmly, reaching up and flattening her palm against him, holding his fingers against her shoulder. "I will help her be happy, no matter what."
Tenchi nodded and rubbed his temples with his free hand. "That is a good way to look at it. I want her to be happy too. I always have."
Before Ayeka could reply the door to the lab creaked open. Tenchi snapped his hand back and he and Ayeka sat up straighter as they exchanged a hopeful glance.
Washu leaned around the doorway and flashed them a victory sign. Her hair was mostly hidden up under a blue cap, and she was wearing mint-green surgical scrubs with a red crab motif sprinkled across the fabric. "Say good morning, Sunshine!" she said back over her shoulder.
She ducked behind the door and soon remerged, pushing something that looked like a wheeled, winged-back chair. Ryoko, still small in stature, drowsed against a corner of the chair, a blanket tucked snugly under her chin. Her hair was completely shorn away and the pale globe of her head was marred by a large stitched scar that traced almost completely around it. She opened an eye and smiled weakly. "Hey."
Tenchi hurried to his feet and over to the chair. He knelt by it and laid a hand on Ryoko's knee and peered into her face. "How are you, Ryoko?"
She lolled her head in his direction. "Crappy," she groaned in her high pitched voice.
Washu laughed, looking tired but jubilant. "You will have to excuse her manners this morning, Tenchi. Brain surgery takes the stuffing out of just about anyone."
Tenchi eyed the scar. "Brain surgery?"
Washu nodded, rubbing tired eyes. "I had to re-set the connections by hand. Let me tell you that nobody but me could have even dreamed of pulling this one off!"
"Mom," Ryoko moaned crankily. "You make my head hurt. Stop talking." She weakly reached up and covered her ears.
"Miss Washu, are you sure it worked?" asked Ayeka coming to stand by Ryoko. Her long hair cascaded over her shoulder as she bent to inspect her young friend.
"Positive. She should really go back to bed, but I wanted you to see she was alright, since my security records showed me that you two haven't slept all night or moved from the couch all morning," Washu said turning the chair around and heading back to the lab.
"Wait. Sasami would like to see her," Ayeka objected, looking back towards the kitchen.
"I'm still me, right momma?" Ryoko mumbled. "I'm not mean?"
"No, no, you're you. You are still my little Ryoko," Washu answered lovingly, turning the chair around. She turned and looked apologetic. "Not, right now. Tell her I'm sorry," Washu said pushing the chair back into the lab. "Ryoko needs her rest," she explained as the door shut behind them.
Tenchi straightened up and shrugged. "I guess it worked," he said with a shallow smile, walking back to couch.
Ayeka stood by the lab door, looking lost. "Yes, I'm glad, but It won't ever be the same."
***
A full day had passed since Ryoko's permanent change and life had started to move onwards. Tenchi was sitting at his desk working on what seemed to be a never ending physics assignment. He wore jeans and a soft grey turtleneck. The desk lamp gave the pale almond colored skin on his face a yellow tinge.
"Um… hello?"
Tenchi looked up from his homework to see Ryoko standing uncertainly in his doorway. It was the first time he had seen her since yesterday morning's brief appearance. She looked surprisingly recovered for someone a day out of major brain surgery.
"Oh, hi Ryoko!" he greeted. "Come on in! How are you feeling?"
She smiled and inched just inside his door, wearing a smaller sized version of her favorite old blue and yellowed stripped dress. Her re-grown hair formed a softly spiked bob that fell just below her sharp chin. "I feel okay," she peeped, leaning back against the wall.
"You're looking better than yesterday," Tenchi observed, turning and sitting backwards in his chair so that he could face her. "And your hair has already grown back quite a bit!" It was final. This Ryoko was the only Ryoko and he was just going to have to get used to it.
Ryoko ran a hand through her hair. "Mmm. Mom works fast…" she trailed off as Tenchi's smile suddenly brightened. "What?" she asked quirking up an eyebrow.
"Oh. Nothing," Tenchi dismissed, not wanting to dampen her spirits with tales of the past. If he was going to help Ryoko, he had to keep his thoughts pointed to the future.
Ryoko's other eyebrow joined its twin in the upper regions of her forehead. She looked so much like Washu just then, Tenchi felt compelled to tell her. "It's just nice to hear you call her 'Mom'."
Her small face lost its happiness. "I wouldn't even call her 'Mom'?"
Tenchi could have kicked himself for spilling. "Hey, I see you had Washu shrink that dress," he said quickly changing the subject.
Ryoko gingerly touched her dress. "Shrink it? What are you talking about? I've always had this dress."
"You have?" As he spoke, Tenchi wondered about Ryoko. It was as if someone had taken a baroque painting and reduced it to a minimalist sketch. A few lines remained to describe a once busy and bursting collage of life. Washu had told Ryoko about her love for him, and thus added a little more complexity to the picture, a bit more color. What did Ryoko think about that? What did she think about him?
Ryoko ran her hands down the sides of the dress, smoothing it. "Yes, mom has one too. When I was really little we used to have matching dresses. We don't do that anymore, though mom wishes we did."
Tenchi absently sketched hearts with his finger upon the chair back. "So why do you still wear that one?" Tenchi asked, when he really wanted to ask her if she felt anything for him any more, or even if she felt strange knowing she had once loved him.
Ryoko pursed her lips. "It's silly," she said, sliding the tip of her tongue to stick out from between her lips.
Tenchi shrugged. "You don't have to tell me." There was so much he wanted her to say, and he wondered if an old tactic of feigned indifference would make her talk.
Ryoko rolled her eyes and laughed a little. "It's not a big deal. It's just that… well… we always wear this dress to go Startica shopping. So when I wear it, it makes me feel kinda special."
Tenchi's eyes had taken on a far away look as Ryoko explained about the dress, his smile turning inward as if he were smiling at a distant memory that no one else could see.
Ryoko took another step into the room, her hand fluttering to her heart. "Why do you ask? Did I wear this dress a lot? When I was older, I mean." She turned her face so that her hair slid over to cover one yellow eye.
Tenchi half-looked at her. "You wore it nearly every day."
"Everyday," Ryoko repeated, flicking her errant hair back into place with a shake of her head. "That's really weird. I only wear this dress for special occasions."
That statement rocked Tenchi out of his romantic reverie. He wondered if Ryoko had found every day out of the cave and free from Kagato had been a special occasion. She had certainly treated every day like a big party where she was the guest of honor. What had once seemed irritatingly selfish to him took on the veneer of innocent enthusiasm.
Tenchi watched as the younger Ryoko chewed on a lock of her hair as she thought about his words. In the face of his discovery, the guilt he felt for his selfish desire to have her return to her old self weighted down his stomach like a lead ball. "So what's today's occasion then?" he asked.
She grinned and spit her hair out of her mouth. "If even half of what mom told me yesterday is true, it sounds like today is like a birthday. So, I wore my favorite dress to celebrate."
"Happy birthday, Ryoko!" Tenchi laughed, liking the sound of that. Ayeka was right, Ryoko deserved this chance at happiness.
Ryoko's smile grew hungry as she crossed her arms. "Thank you. And that brings me to why I came up here."
Tenchi grew wistful. In the past she would have come up to his room with a very specific mission. One that he doubted was on today's agenda. "Oh right. Do you need anything, Ryoko?"
She leveled a gaze at him, one that reminded him of her lusty stares in the past. Only this one wasn't seductive at all, just intense as her yellow eyes pinned him down. "You have something that belongs to me, Tenchi," she said as she padded into the room stopping very close to him.
Her glittering eyes were even with his as he was sitting. He blinked. "I- I do?"
"Yes. You have two of my gems. Since it's my birthday, we can pretend it's a present when you give them back to me."
The seriousness of her request put Tenchi firmly in the here and now. He leaned away, putting some distance between them. He scratched his head, uncertain about giving Ryoko even more power. Innocent child or not, she probably still had a temper. "Well… I don't know…."
Ryoko's smile was replaced by a familiar scowl. "What's to know? They are mine and I want them back!" She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot impatiently.
"Uh…" Tenchi stuttered, the swift change in attitude unsettling him.
Ryoko leaned forward so that her nose was almost touching his. "I was trying to be nice, because I like you. Don't make me get mad, Tenchi!"
Tenchi just gulped, uncertain of what to do as he leaned back as far as he could, his back pressed against his desk.
"What's going on in here?" Washu asked calmly as she entered the room. Her bright pink hair was unbound today and flowed freely down her back, the tips of it trailing behind her as she walked. She wore a green pantsuit with cargo pockets that brightly contrasted with her hair, making her almost painful to look at. "Ryoko don't get so close. What have I told you about personal space?"
"Mom!" Ryoko called, backing up and turning around. "Tenchi won't give my gems back!"
"Washu," Tenchi sighed in relief. "I don't know what to do. What should I do?" Giving the gems back felt too risky for him.
Washu shook her head dismissively and turned to Tenchi. "I told you it wouldn't take long for her real personality to show." She looked to her daughter. "Honey, you haven't been out of the lab for over fifteen minutes, and already you've found some trouble to get into," She said, crossing her arms.
"But, Mom!" Ryoko protested, stamping her foot. "They are mine!"
"No 'buts'. Did your gem lead you here?" Washu asked her face schooled into an expression of that brooked no arguments.
Ryoko nodded. "Please, let me have them back. They are important to me. They are from you," she implored.
Washu's eyes sparkled, looking wet for a moment. Regaining control, she looked to Tenchi. "Such a con artist, still, I don't see that it will hurt anything. Ryoko had all three gems at this age and even before that as a child. I'm not surprised she missed them."
Tenchi bit his lip. "But, a young girl… with all that power?" he worried aloud, sliding out of his chair to stand beside Washu. He waved his hands around to indicate the some vague and dire implication.
Ryoko marched over to his dresser, selected a drawer, and yanked it open. "Hey, I'm not as young as I look. You're only a year older than me," she complained while rooting through his socks. "You have the Light Hawk Wings, I have the gems. What's the big difference?" She uncovered the Tenchiken and received a small shock when her finger tips brushed against it. "Ouch."
"How did you know about the Wings?" Washu and Tenchi asked at the same time.
Ryoko looked superior as she wrapped a long, white, tube sock around the sword handle's base. "My gem told me, of course! It can sense power like that, particularly when the other two gems are right in the middle of it." She picked up the Tenchiken, being careful to only touch the sock, and carried it over to Tenchi. "Don't your wings tell you about my gems?"
Tenchi took the sword and gulped, the swallow visible all the way down. "No, not really." He removed the tube sock and set it on his desk. Things were moving awfully quickly and Washu didn't seem to be taking any steps to slow them down.
Ryoko shrugged and twitched her hips in impatience. "Whatever. Can you please return my gems now?"
Tenchi looked to Washu who just nodded, her amusement clear. "Okay then." Against his better judgment, he pointed the hilt of the sword at Ryoko and closed his eyes. He prayed that the gems would go to Ryoko and that they would keep her safe.
Seconds later the gems left the handle and reappeared at Ryoko's wrist and throat. "Ohhhhhh yeaaaaaah!" Ryoko enthused and shot straight up into the air, flying through the ceiling and then back into the room, hooting and hollering the whole way. "This feels great!" she giggled weaving a lopsided figure-eight flight path between Tenchi and her mother.
"Ryoko, stop that," Washu reprimanded sternly. She shook a finger at her daughter. "You have just had a major surgery. You need to be calm and rest."
"But mom!' Ryoko argued, hovering above Tenchi's head like she was floating down a lazy river. "Having all the gems just tripled my healing factor! I feel great!"
"Yes, the euphoria of a power rush feels good," Washu agreed wryly. "Good enough to mask pain. Come down from there and let's get back to the lab so I can run a diagnostic."
"But it's my birthday! I get to do whatever I want on my birthday!" Ryoko protested with an attempt at a winning smile that just made her look plain conniving.
"It is not your birthday!" Washu laughed straight from her belly. "Nice try!"
"Well, it is sort of her re-birth day," Tenchi clarified, wanting to be a part of the joy Ryoko was feeling.
"Thank you, my Tenchi!" Ryoko crooned, reaching down to tousle Tenchi's hair, causing Washu and Tenchi to both look at her with wide eyes. "So, what do I get for my birthday, Mom?" Ryoko tried again.
"As you can see," Washu whispered out of the side of her mouth to Tenchi. "It doesn't take this girl long to bounce back." To Ryoko she said, "It gets you to the count of five to get your butt down here." She waited expectantly.
Ryoko frowned. "I don't want to."
"Five," Washu said flatly and the red light in Ryoko's gems dimmed and shut off causing Ryoko to squawk and fall from the air and land on her rear with a painful thump at Tenchi's feet.
"Ow!" she moaned, rubbing at her behind. "That hurt, and I'm still healing!"
Washu took Ryoko's elbow and dragged her to her feet so that they were eye to eye. "I thought you were all better, healed by the gems," she said into her annoyed daughter's face.
"That only counts while I can access the power. You cheated! I bet I'm really hurt!" Ryoko whined, pretending to swoon.
"I think you'll survive," Washu scoffed. "Well, if you will excuse us Tenchi, we will be going along now." Washu steered Ryoko, complaining all the way, through the door.
"Bye," Tenchi said with a wave and a chuckle.
"My head, my head… I think something was shook loose…" Ryoko groaned. Making sure Washu wasn't looking, Ryoko turned and winked at Tenchi. "My own mother…. It's abuse I tell you!" she continued as Washu all but dragged her down the stairs.
Tenchi hugged himself as a warm feeling bubbled up from the pit of his stomach and flowed straight into his heart. She was still herself and he was still her Tenchi.
As always, stay tuned for more!
A/N: Since people have been leaving such helpful feedback, I thought I would address a few of the comments! Thanks to everyone for their reviews, it really makes my day to hear from you. Emails can be sent to shire@one.net. Thanks to my on-line writing partners, you guys deserve a reward for putting up with me!
Archangel: Thanks for those thoughts. I will respectfully disagree with you on some points, though. ^_^ Yes, this story is similar to some of my other stories, but not the same. There is a real difference in that this time we get to see what happens when Ryoko is totally free from her past and is raised in a (somewhat) normal home. My gig seems to be writing stories about mother and daughter relationships with themes of the mystery of personhood mixed in for good measure. Since that's where my muse wants to go, that's where my pen follows. I agree that 'reality bumps' are annoying when reading. Though what triggers one person may not bother another. I personally think Ayeka is capable of speaking nasally in both the subbed and dubbed versions. It seems to be a side effect of sliding into her more formal mode. But this could be case of Potato, pahtahtoh. Keeping the characters _IN_ character is always a struggle, particularly when one writes and consumes copious amounts of fan fiction. I worry that my characters sound like more like their fan fiction incarnations than their canon selves. But Whatcha gonna do? Though, I think Tenchi is just as capable of being a little selfish as anyone else. Cartoons usually only let us see the outsides of characters and give us very little insight into their inner workings. Tenchi stands out in this way. I think we know the least about his internal motivations when compared to the rest of the cast.
Chibi-D: I wish I could help you out, but don't count on me for emails about updates. I fear I am not organized enough to be reliable about that sort of thing. Doesn't ff.net have a feature that will auto-alert you?
Negative-Z: I have some thoughts as to your question. Do you IM? These kind of talks work better in real time IMHO. Email me.
Ministry Agent: I am so busted. *Laughs* Owning all of the Tenchi DVDs and having watched them countless times I really should know my continuity better than that! Then again, maybe it's all oozed together in one big, slushy heap of TENCHI content in my poor little brain. Also you said, "At the same time I get the feeling that this story is trying to go somewhere without trying to appear to do so. It seems to meander somewhat.". I couldn't agree more. This story has been driving me nuts since the get go. The rough draft finished at about 60 pages and as I wrote, the story kept changing directions and doing all kinds of funky things. I am posting it chapter by chapter, using the time between posts to polish and try to get it going in one direction. The rough draft probably should have been deleted and forgotten, but I hated to lose all of that work. So what you see here is really a salvage effort and I'm not at all surprised it shines through. I hope it gets better, buuuuut… who knows? Thanks for hanging with me.
William: As always thanks for your help in disabling my 'delete' button as well as your help and creative support. It's nice of you to go on and review my chapters after all the help you give me already.
UnholyDragoon: I put mucho effort into the visualizations this time, did it help? I always struggle with descriptions because they seem to interrupt the flow of action in my writing. I agree I need more so I tried. Better results? Worse?
Strife: This Ryoko is a completely different character, so I would hope she would not seem exactly like the Ryoko we all know and love. I want there to be traces there, but that's it.