A/N Tenchi Muyo! is owned by AIC and Pioneer and not by me. (ending dry and dull disclaimer)
The ideas in this story are mine though and if you'd like to use or borrow them, contact me first at ring_princess@hotmail.com or ring_princess2001@yahoo.com
Thanks to JohnnyG for editting this overly long story and to Netserfer for reviewing at The Tenchi Reviewer.net!
Tenchi Muyo Saga One: Fate of Empires
Conversations
By RingPrincess
Nagi walked from the shadows of the trees, no longer needing to hide. Ryoko knew that she didn't even bother with hiding in shadows most of the time as she could bend the light of the world around her to be effectively invisible. Nagi stopped a few feet from Ryoko. "I don't want anything. You know who wants you Ryoko."
"I can't tell the GP that," Ryoko hissed. "We agreed."
"Not her, them." Nagi held a violet and green crystal up significantly, it was humming pleasantly.
Ryoko's eyes widened. "Isn't this rather soon?" Her gaze didn't leave the slightly vibrating crystal.
Nagi shrugged. "I received my orders in the bath."
"Be a free spirit, ignore them!"
"Oh for love of the great goddess, I can't." Nagi paused. "There are times I wish I could. Now is one of them."
"I'm not ready." Ryoko swallowed hard. "As much as I hate to say it."
"No. You are not." Nagi sighed. "However, arguing with them is pointless. Neither Makoto or Syoko want to hear sense about now."
"They didn't like your methods," Ryoko snickered.
"They never like my methods." Nagi rolled her eyes and unwrapped her fingers from the crystal so that it stood on its point in the middle of her palm. She gradually took her hand from underneath it and let it float without any support. The crystal bobbed for a few moments and then thin rays of light burst from it and created a three dimensional image around it.
"At last, we finally talk." Syoko smiled at Ryoko.
Ryoko smiled tightly back and raised an eyebrow. "Well, it has been over a thousand years. You both look well."
Makoto preened a moment and Syoko rolled her eyes expressively. "About as well as yourself," Syoko chuckled. "The Empress is most displeased." She ran her fingers through her spiky peach hair.
"The Empress would be," Ryoko's voice was not enthusiastic. "Syoko, cut the shit, what do you want?"
Makoto hummed and Ryoko switched her gaze to the green haired priestess. She smiled. "We want you to come back to Nekoia with Nagi."
Ryoko's gaze flickered to Nagi's location but the other woman had pulled a disappearing act. "So supportive," she muttered. "No," she raised her voice.
Makoto's brown eyes narrowed. "Why not?"
"I am not a pawn for one of your games, Makoto," Ryoko said tiredly. "I am not a pawn for anyone's games."
"At least you remember us," Makoto sneered.
Ryoko stiffened and glared at the Priestess. "Damn you, that is NOT my fault." Then she relaxed and snorted.
Syoko hummed this time and both Makoto and Ryoko looked back to her. "The conditions are wonderful for your return."
"Conditions?" Ryoko asked, they better not mean what she thought they did.
Makoto nodded. "You have a child."
They did, Ryoko's heart beat faster in anger. "Do not bring May into this." Ryoko's voice turned cold.
"She is a factor in your decision though." Makoto smiled without humor.
"She is not my child only," Ryoko snapped.
"Ah yes, then there is this boy, another wonderful reason for you to return." Syoko sighed.
"She is Tenchi's child and family to the rest of the house. I won't do this to them."
Makoto opened her mouth to say something, but Syoko kicked her. Makoto's mouth snapped shut and she glared at Syoko.
"Ryoko," Syoko sighed. "Do you really think you could stay there after what has happened?"
"Yes," Ryoko raised her chin.
"We are running out of time." Makoto's voice was harsh. "The day comes nearer and near where the galaxy shall experience a great woe and someone must be there to lead the universe to a new balance, a better balance."
"We have a common foe, Ryoko." Syoko continued. "But we must come together to defeat it."
Ryoko placed her hands over her ears and buried her head in her knees. "Stop. I am not the one you think I am."
"You can feel it," Syoko murmured. "Just as I felt it that first day you came to the temple garden. The day I knew that the time we had foreseen had come. The fate of empires was resting on your shoulders, weighing heavily in your mind. It still is."
"No!" Ryoko screamed. "I am not a game piece!"
"You have been part of a game that has been going on for thousands of years. That game is ending," Makoto growled.
"They'll die," Syoko whispered. "All those that you love are also in this game and they will die if you do not come."
Numbness spread through Ryoko's limbs. "You lie," she said, looking up. Tears pooled in her amber eyes.
"Unless you act. My words will be truth." Syoko's voice cracked like a whip. "Rieshu has foreseen it."
"And if I act?" Ryoko's hands fell to her sides.
Syoko paused, the whites of her eyes turned the same shade as her irises, a brilliant violet. "There is a chance," her voice deepened, becoming richer.
"A chance?" Ryoko lit her energy sword. "You can do better than that."
"There are too many variables for Rieshu to see clearly," Syoko said calmly, the brilliance in her eyes fading. "No matter what happens, no matter what you choose, they could die. But only if you act do they have any chance at all. Even if you warn them."
Ryoko trembled and let loose a piercing scream. She threw her sword in a wide arc. It cut the images of Syoko and Makoto in half and there was a spray of lighting as it cut through the crystal. The images of the priestesses disappeared as the crystal fell to the ground and the sword dissipated.
Nagi reappeared and stared at Ryoko who had buried her head back into her knees.
"I'm sorry, Ryoko."
"You want this as much as they do." Ryoko's voice was bitter.
"Yes," Nagi paused. "But I can still feel sorry for you."
"I have no need for pity." Ryoko stood up.
Nagi picked up the broken crystal, hiding the pieces. "No, you never have." Nagi's voice was tinged with sorrow. "We do not pity you, we admire you."
Ryoko stared at Nagi. "Enough to die for me, Nagi?"
"I'd die for my empress out of duty, I'd die for you out of love." Nagi bowed her head, her features hidden by the hood of her cape.
Ryoko took a deep breath. "I can understand that, Nagi."
Nagi smiled and looked at Ryoko from the top of her eyes. "I know."
Ryoko turned away and walked down the path towards the house and Nagi melted back into the shadows, paralleling Ryoko back unseen and silent.
--
Syoko let out the breath she had been holding for some time. "That went well."
Makoto's eyes narrowed. "Little was accomplished."
"She'll come," Syoko crossed her arms.
Makoto grunted.
Rieshu glided into the room. "Then we must proceed as planned." Her voice was soft. "Remembering that we are not the only ones with plans."
"The Empress plans," Makoto nodded.
"And the foe." Syoko sighed. 'Makoto can be so short sighted at times.' "We were committed to this course of action with or without Ryoko," she observed.
Rieshu smiled. "Now you see why directing the events to come is so difficult."
"The variables, the possible endings." Makoto studied her fingernails. "And the responsibility of directing the fate of our empire."
"Don't be so narrow-minded," Syoko snapped, turning her head to glare at Makoto. "All the empires are linked. What affects one of us, affects us all and so it has been since creation."
Rieshu nodded. "The Great Goddess created our people for such a time as this. Her forethought is misunderstood and despised."
Makoto cocked her head and appeared to be thinking on the idea.
Syoko brightened. "Ryoko is coming. I say this is a special occasion and deserves a toast." She glided to a small table and poured three glasses of blue liquid. Makoto and Rieshu joined her.
"To Ryoko." Syoko raised her glass.
The other two raised their glasses. "And the fate of empires." Rieshu added.
--
Lee snuck another glance at the couple. He had noticed them as soon as they came in to the restaurant, the glass door swinging shut behind them. There was nothing overtly different about them from other customers, except perhaps for the woman's striking features. Yet, the two demanded that a person take notice of them.
They were young, not that it was a bad thing. They weren't children but yet they weren't completely adults either. He figured they were in their late teens, high school sweethearts out on a date. Lee couldn't prove that of course, it was an impression considering the way the girl looked at the boy. Her amber eyes constantly returned to him and then went away as if she didn't want to be caught.
The boy noticed this of course and would smile every time he caught her. Yes, he was just a boy. Lee inwardly nodded. He wasn't a man, yet. The boy reminded Lee of a shrine apprentice he used to know, the quiet type, reserved and with a veneer of confidence. Some would call him the serious type. Max, his old friend, had known how to fight, among other things, but he hadn't wanted to use his fighting proficiency to solve every problem. Something that had raised Max in Lee's estimation of how the world worked. He had a feeling that this boy was the same way. If he fought, he fought as a last resort.
"I guess you could say that this all started with a prophecy at the beginning of creation, a prophecy that remains unfulfilled," the girl began. Her voice was bright and cheerful, with just an edge of sultry. "Then there came a universal war sometime later when the different empires fought for their deities and in the end all the goddesses and gods were restrained to this dimension, or the small dimensions they had created within this dimension." She shook her head. "I don't proclaim to understand it."
The boy chuckled. "It's religion and politics intertwined."
"Something like that," the girl sighed.
Lee tuned their voices out and handed them their first order of sushi. The girl was harder to create a good first impression about. And working the sushi bar gave Lee lots of time to study people and figure out from the way they looked and the way they moved what they were all about. The bright cyan color of her hair wasn't as shocking as it could have been, partying being a more accepted practice now than it was a few years ago, so finding hair that color wasn't that hard. The style would put a few people off though, hard and spiky and looking like it took a whole container of gel to keep in place. She, like the boy, was alert, her eyes darting all over the room but always coming back to him. Lee thought that she might have some fighting ability as well, of the more practical nature than the shrine boy. Though he didn't understand why she was with shrine boy in the first place. Girls who were partiers generally didn't hang out with shrine apprentices unless they were a) really good in bed or b) had a line on some powerful drugs. Lee shrugged and kept their orders filled. That took some time and he missed quite a bit of conversation, which sounded very outlandish when he could hear anyways.
"These two women want you to come back to fulfill this prophecy and," the boy petered off.
"And essentially save the universe or something like that," she sighed. She frowned twisting a napkin in one hand, while the other looked like it was about to break her chopsticks.
"Ryoko." The boy looked like he wanted to touch her hand or do something to make her feel better and he didn't quite dare to do so.
"Yet, Tenchi, first there are some conditions to be met," Ryoko grimaced.
Lee reevaluated the couple as he took meat out from under the glass. Yes, they were a couple but not the type of couple he had first thought they were. They weren't dating romantically. He wished he could see more of how they were sitting. They were facing each other, but only slightly. They didn't lean together when they spoke, but faced each other upright. Lee frowned.
Ryoko grimaced and looked down at her plate. "Even though I do not have a child physically, they consider May to be a child of my heart." Tears leaked from her eyes.
Tenchi's eyes widened. "So you need May."
Ryoko nodded, "yet May also needs you. She is your daughter first, not mine." She smiled thinly. "I'll go alone if I must."
Lee was confused. They weren't lovers but they were talking like they had a child together. Perhaps they were ex lovers.
"Why are you so determined to go?"
Ryoko's eyes closed and she took a deep ragged breath and let it out in a deep sigh. "Why did you save me from Kagato? Why did you come after me with Dr. Clay? Why did we enter the dark dimension to save Sasami?"
Tenchi's face stilled and he didn't reply. Ryoko nodded, her eyes on his face. Lee sensed that she knew he understood what she meant.
They sat in silence for a few moments, picking at their food. Lee inwardly sighed, the rice wasn't sticking together well enough, and it kept falling apart as they tried to eat. Not that it mattered to them. They weren't here for the food.
"All I wanted to do was tell the to go to hell," Ryoko said quietly. "But then I'd be damning you, May and everyone else as well. I'd even be damning myself."
"If this had happened before," Tenchi paused and pointed to her head and she grinned. "You would have told them that and ignored the consequences."
Ryoko flushed. "Yes, well."
Tenchi chuckled. "Is this called growing up?"
Lee smiled down at the sushi he was preparing. It was nice for him to hear them laughing after all the serious tones they had been using. Idly he created a ginger rosette, placing it near the sushi and threw a glob of light green wasabi onto the plate. He figured they were close to done and tallied up their bill.
Ryoko's eyes narrowed and her nose pinched. "I am not the only one going through the process."
Tenchi chuckled. "Granted." He smiled softly. "It's nice to be able to tease you for a change."
"I'm sure it won't happen often." Ryoko grinned and Lee handed them their bill with their fortune cookies.
Ryoko reached for the cookies first and Lee heard the crinkle of plastic as she tore it open.
"Put 'in bed' at the end," Tenchi muttered as he counted bills.
"You've got that game here as well?" Her eyes went to Tenchi's face and she glanced back at the slip of paper in her hand. She nibbled on the orange flavored cookie.
"Of course."
"Must be a universal concept." Ryoko paused, and returned to reading her fortune. She began to snigger.
Tenchi placed the check back on the bar. "Keep the change."
"Read yours," Ryoko gestured, the slip of paper flapping.
Tenchi broke his cookie, absentmindedly eating half while reading his fortune. He almost choked. Ryoko snatched it from him.
"If you can't decide up or down," she read. "Try moving across." She grinned. "I think yours is better than mine." She changed slips of paper. Lee held down laughter at Tenchi's red face. "Ideas you may believe are absurd ultimately lead to success!"
She dropped them to the bar and shrugged. Tenchi stood up after her and they left the restaurant. Tenchi getting the door, but there was a good six inches between their bodies. Lee shook his head as they walked down the street to the bus station. He still wasn't sure what to think and so he eventually put the couple out of his mind and went back to work.
--
*A Few Days Later*
Tsunami paused. A slow smile spread across her face. Everything was in place, and all she had to do was push. Then everything would finally come together. She took a deep breath. Her pink eyes alight with happiness and satisfaction. They were like rays of light knitting into a cohesive whole. Sometimes patience and trial 'n' error did pay off. She cocked her head, still grinning.
It had only taken 40,000 years after all. And soon everything would be all right. Soon her and Sasami would be one and her avatar would at last be able to see what good Tsunami had wrought while waiting for their assimilation.
Dafune materialized. Her medium skin tone and elf shaped ears were set off by mid back length jet-black curls and big sapphire eyes. Gold decorated her throat and wrists, and she wore a skintight suit of navy. She watched the older goddess for a few moments, not able to understand her elder sisters happiness. "The balance is shifting Tsunami. Soon not even our combined wills will keep it stable."
"Your Keepers of the Balance getting antsy, Dafune?"
"Even the assassins," Dafune confirmed.
"Everything will be fine." Tsunami looked over her shoulder at the Dafune.
"With you leading us, it will be fine in the end," Dafune murmured, her eyes closing.
"Then don't look so gloomy."
Dafune sighed and opened her eyes. "I find it hard to be neutral these days, Tsunami."
"On this there can be no neutrality, it is too important. You are either on one side or the other."
Dafune nodded. "Yes, since Kami-"
"Kami has abandoned us."
Dafune blinked back tears. She could still feel the pain as she had been thrown out of Heaven, even if it had only been 20,000 years ago. "Yes, he has," she whispered, choking back tears.
Tsunami nodded in satisfaction. "Keep the balance stable for now, Dafune. Remember our goals."
"I shall, Tsunami." Dafune straightened, dashing tears from her eyes. "The balance will be kept."
--
He sat at the meeting place, he had been there for some time, coming straight after work and watching the shadows turn and lengthen in a blue veil until they had taken over the world. The meadow grass was cool and wet with dew when she approached him. The moon through the leaves cast shadows over her features. She paused just out of his reach.
He couldn't help but smile, teeth flashing. He knew she had stopped for several reasons and he couldn't help but admire the figure she was in the moonlight. Yet she was too far away and he held out a hand to her. It was an invitation she knew and she grasped it eagerly with a fine boned hand. He pulled her closer and then down to sit next to him. Once there he kept her hand in his and she made no struggle to remove it.
The silence between them was freeing. There was no need to talk. Anything that had to be said could be left for daylight. The breeze stirred the grass stems and chilled them. They drew closer and watched the patterns the movement created on the ground. Hypnotized by the random stirrings.
She sighed and placed her head on his shoulder and he squeezed her hand. He understood; she was there for the same reason he was here. The branches hit each other with dull clacking sounds. She interlaced her fingers with his and he leaned his head over hers. The moonlight glinted off his eyes. She stared intently at their laced fingers. She enjoyed the contrasts and what they meant. The different skin tones, the shape and feel of their hands. His hands were large, dark, dry and rough from a lifetime of working in the sun, comfortably strong. She ran her thumb lightly over his.
He looked down at the slight pressure and marveled for all the power she possessed. She could be so gentle, so controlled and that her hands were still delicate, smooth and soft. They were strong hands despite all appearances though.
A noise caught his attention next and he looked up. His head left hers. A roiling wind whipped up, stirring dead leaves and broken twigs. It tore young leaves off the trees. She looked up as well as a large ship made of sharp black crystal attached to a large dome rose as quietly as possible above the tree line into the air.
He stood, drawing her up with him. She didn't protest, her eyes still on the ship as it hovered just above the highest branches. He began walking towards it and she followed, fingers still touching. Neither looked back and in under ten steps they disappeared.
The black ship reoriented slightly and came out of hover, speeding upwards. Soon followed by a white ship of similar nature. If there had been anyone in the clearing watching, the ships would have been lost to sight quickly even now they were only motes of light in the sky. The brightness of the moon swallowed those as well.
The wind died down and the meadow grass that had been crumpled under the couple's weight slowly sprang back to straightness, and in the end there was no evidence that they had even been there.
--
END CHAPTER!
Next time... the end of a tale or a beginning of a new one?
Questions and comments should be sent to one of the emails below! Check out my websites... and tell me what you think please.
RingPrincess
ring_princess@hotmail.com
ring_princess2001@yahoo.com
http://www.thetenchireviewer.net/rp
http://www.thetenchireviewer.net
The ideas in this story are mine though and if you'd like to use or borrow them, contact me first at ring_princess@hotmail.com or ring_princess2001@yahoo.com
Thanks to JohnnyG for editting this overly long story and to Netserfer for reviewing at The Tenchi Reviewer.net!
Tenchi Muyo Saga One: Fate of Empires
Conversations
By RingPrincess
Nagi walked from the shadows of the trees, no longer needing to hide. Ryoko knew that she didn't even bother with hiding in shadows most of the time as she could bend the light of the world around her to be effectively invisible. Nagi stopped a few feet from Ryoko. "I don't want anything. You know who wants you Ryoko."
"I can't tell the GP that," Ryoko hissed. "We agreed."
"Not her, them." Nagi held a violet and green crystal up significantly, it was humming pleasantly.
Ryoko's eyes widened. "Isn't this rather soon?" Her gaze didn't leave the slightly vibrating crystal.
Nagi shrugged. "I received my orders in the bath."
"Be a free spirit, ignore them!"
"Oh for love of the great goddess, I can't." Nagi paused. "There are times I wish I could. Now is one of them."
"I'm not ready." Ryoko swallowed hard. "As much as I hate to say it."
"No. You are not." Nagi sighed. "However, arguing with them is pointless. Neither Makoto or Syoko want to hear sense about now."
"They didn't like your methods," Ryoko snickered.
"They never like my methods." Nagi rolled her eyes and unwrapped her fingers from the crystal so that it stood on its point in the middle of her palm. She gradually took her hand from underneath it and let it float without any support. The crystal bobbed for a few moments and then thin rays of light burst from it and created a three dimensional image around it.
"At last, we finally talk." Syoko smiled at Ryoko.
Ryoko smiled tightly back and raised an eyebrow. "Well, it has been over a thousand years. You both look well."
Makoto preened a moment and Syoko rolled her eyes expressively. "About as well as yourself," Syoko chuckled. "The Empress is most displeased." She ran her fingers through her spiky peach hair.
"The Empress would be," Ryoko's voice was not enthusiastic. "Syoko, cut the shit, what do you want?"
Makoto hummed and Ryoko switched her gaze to the green haired priestess. She smiled. "We want you to come back to Nekoia with Nagi."
Ryoko's gaze flickered to Nagi's location but the other woman had pulled a disappearing act. "So supportive," she muttered. "No," she raised her voice.
Makoto's brown eyes narrowed. "Why not?"
"I am not a pawn for one of your games, Makoto," Ryoko said tiredly. "I am not a pawn for anyone's games."
"At least you remember us," Makoto sneered.
Ryoko stiffened and glared at the Priestess. "Damn you, that is NOT my fault." Then she relaxed and snorted.
Syoko hummed this time and both Makoto and Ryoko looked back to her. "The conditions are wonderful for your return."
"Conditions?" Ryoko asked, they better not mean what she thought they did.
Makoto nodded. "You have a child."
They did, Ryoko's heart beat faster in anger. "Do not bring May into this." Ryoko's voice turned cold.
"She is a factor in your decision though." Makoto smiled without humor.
"She is not my child only," Ryoko snapped.
"Ah yes, then there is this boy, another wonderful reason for you to return." Syoko sighed.
"She is Tenchi's child and family to the rest of the house. I won't do this to them."
Makoto opened her mouth to say something, but Syoko kicked her. Makoto's mouth snapped shut and she glared at Syoko.
"Ryoko," Syoko sighed. "Do you really think you could stay there after what has happened?"
"Yes," Ryoko raised her chin.
"We are running out of time." Makoto's voice was harsh. "The day comes nearer and near where the galaxy shall experience a great woe and someone must be there to lead the universe to a new balance, a better balance."
"We have a common foe, Ryoko." Syoko continued. "But we must come together to defeat it."
Ryoko placed her hands over her ears and buried her head in her knees. "Stop. I am not the one you think I am."
"You can feel it," Syoko murmured. "Just as I felt it that first day you came to the temple garden. The day I knew that the time we had foreseen had come. The fate of empires was resting on your shoulders, weighing heavily in your mind. It still is."
"No!" Ryoko screamed. "I am not a game piece!"
"You have been part of a game that has been going on for thousands of years. That game is ending," Makoto growled.
"They'll die," Syoko whispered. "All those that you love are also in this game and they will die if you do not come."
Numbness spread through Ryoko's limbs. "You lie," she said, looking up. Tears pooled in her amber eyes.
"Unless you act. My words will be truth." Syoko's voice cracked like a whip. "Rieshu has foreseen it."
"And if I act?" Ryoko's hands fell to her sides.
Syoko paused, the whites of her eyes turned the same shade as her irises, a brilliant violet. "There is a chance," her voice deepened, becoming richer.
"A chance?" Ryoko lit her energy sword. "You can do better than that."
"There are too many variables for Rieshu to see clearly," Syoko said calmly, the brilliance in her eyes fading. "No matter what happens, no matter what you choose, they could die. But only if you act do they have any chance at all. Even if you warn them."
Ryoko trembled and let loose a piercing scream. She threw her sword in a wide arc. It cut the images of Syoko and Makoto in half and there was a spray of lighting as it cut through the crystal. The images of the priestesses disappeared as the crystal fell to the ground and the sword dissipated.
Nagi reappeared and stared at Ryoko who had buried her head back into her knees.
"I'm sorry, Ryoko."
"You want this as much as they do." Ryoko's voice was bitter.
"Yes," Nagi paused. "But I can still feel sorry for you."
"I have no need for pity." Ryoko stood up.
Nagi picked up the broken crystal, hiding the pieces. "No, you never have." Nagi's voice was tinged with sorrow. "We do not pity you, we admire you."
Ryoko stared at Nagi. "Enough to die for me, Nagi?"
"I'd die for my empress out of duty, I'd die for you out of love." Nagi bowed her head, her features hidden by the hood of her cape.
Ryoko took a deep breath. "I can understand that, Nagi."
Nagi smiled and looked at Ryoko from the top of her eyes. "I know."
Ryoko turned away and walked down the path towards the house and Nagi melted back into the shadows, paralleling Ryoko back unseen and silent.
--
Syoko let out the breath she had been holding for some time. "That went well."
Makoto's eyes narrowed. "Little was accomplished."
"She'll come," Syoko crossed her arms.
Makoto grunted.
Rieshu glided into the room. "Then we must proceed as planned." Her voice was soft. "Remembering that we are not the only ones with plans."
"The Empress plans," Makoto nodded.
"And the foe." Syoko sighed. 'Makoto can be so short sighted at times.' "We were committed to this course of action with or without Ryoko," she observed.
Rieshu smiled. "Now you see why directing the events to come is so difficult."
"The variables, the possible endings." Makoto studied her fingernails. "And the responsibility of directing the fate of our empire."
"Don't be so narrow-minded," Syoko snapped, turning her head to glare at Makoto. "All the empires are linked. What affects one of us, affects us all and so it has been since creation."
Rieshu nodded. "The Great Goddess created our people for such a time as this. Her forethought is misunderstood and despised."
Makoto cocked her head and appeared to be thinking on the idea.
Syoko brightened. "Ryoko is coming. I say this is a special occasion and deserves a toast." She glided to a small table and poured three glasses of blue liquid. Makoto and Rieshu joined her.
"To Ryoko." Syoko raised her glass.
The other two raised their glasses. "And the fate of empires." Rieshu added.
--
Lee snuck another glance at the couple. He had noticed them as soon as they came in to the restaurant, the glass door swinging shut behind them. There was nothing overtly different about them from other customers, except perhaps for the woman's striking features. Yet, the two demanded that a person take notice of them.
They were young, not that it was a bad thing. They weren't children but yet they weren't completely adults either. He figured they were in their late teens, high school sweethearts out on a date. Lee couldn't prove that of course, it was an impression considering the way the girl looked at the boy. Her amber eyes constantly returned to him and then went away as if she didn't want to be caught.
The boy noticed this of course and would smile every time he caught her. Yes, he was just a boy. Lee inwardly nodded. He wasn't a man, yet. The boy reminded Lee of a shrine apprentice he used to know, the quiet type, reserved and with a veneer of confidence. Some would call him the serious type. Max, his old friend, had known how to fight, among other things, but he hadn't wanted to use his fighting proficiency to solve every problem. Something that had raised Max in Lee's estimation of how the world worked. He had a feeling that this boy was the same way. If he fought, he fought as a last resort.
"I guess you could say that this all started with a prophecy at the beginning of creation, a prophecy that remains unfulfilled," the girl began. Her voice was bright and cheerful, with just an edge of sultry. "Then there came a universal war sometime later when the different empires fought for their deities and in the end all the goddesses and gods were restrained to this dimension, or the small dimensions they had created within this dimension." She shook her head. "I don't proclaim to understand it."
The boy chuckled. "It's religion and politics intertwined."
"Something like that," the girl sighed.
Lee tuned their voices out and handed them their first order of sushi. The girl was harder to create a good first impression about. And working the sushi bar gave Lee lots of time to study people and figure out from the way they looked and the way they moved what they were all about. The bright cyan color of her hair wasn't as shocking as it could have been, partying being a more accepted practice now than it was a few years ago, so finding hair that color wasn't that hard. The style would put a few people off though, hard and spiky and looking like it took a whole container of gel to keep in place. She, like the boy, was alert, her eyes darting all over the room but always coming back to him. Lee thought that she might have some fighting ability as well, of the more practical nature than the shrine boy. Though he didn't understand why she was with shrine boy in the first place. Girls who were partiers generally didn't hang out with shrine apprentices unless they were a) really good in bed or b) had a line on some powerful drugs. Lee shrugged and kept their orders filled. That took some time and he missed quite a bit of conversation, which sounded very outlandish when he could hear anyways.
"These two women want you to come back to fulfill this prophecy and," the boy petered off.
"And essentially save the universe or something like that," she sighed. She frowned twisting a napkin in one hand, while the other looked like it was about to break her chopsticks.
"Ryoko." The boy looked like he wanted to touch her hand or do something to make her feel better and he didn't quite dare to do so.
"Yet, Tenchi, first there are some conditions to be met," Ryoko grimaced.
Lee reevaluated the couple as he took meat out from under the glass. Yes, they were a couple but not the type of couple he had first thought they were. They weren't dating romantically. He wished he could see more of how they were sitting. They were facing each other, but only slightly. They didn't lean together when they spoke, but faced each other upright. Lee frowned.
Ryoko grimaced and looked down at her plate. "Even though I do not have a child physically, they consider May to be a child of my heart." Tears leaked from her eyes.
Tenchi's eyes widened. "So you need May."
Ryoko nodded, "yet May also needs you. She is your daughter first, not mine." She smiled thinly. "I'll go alone if I must."
Lee was confused. They weren't lovers but they were talking like they had a child together. Perhaps they were ex lovers.
"Why are you so determined to go?"
Ryoko's eyes closed and she took a deep ragged breath and let it out in a deep sigh. "Why did you save me from Kagato? Why did you come after me with Dr. Clay? Why did we enter the dark dimension to save Sasami?"
Tenchi's face stilled and he didn't reply. Ryoko nodded, her eyes on his face. Lee sensed that she knew he understood what she meant.
They sat in silence for a few moments, picking at their food. Lee inwardly sighed, the rice wasn't sticking together well enough, and it kept falling apart as they tried to eat. Not that it mattered to them. They weren't here for the food.
"All I wanted to do was tell the to go to hell," Ryoko said quietly. "But then I'd be damning you, May and everyone else as well. I'd even be damning myself."
"If this had happened before," Tenchi paused and pointed to her head and she grinned. "You would have told them that and ignored the consequences."
Ryoko flushed. "Yes, well."
Tenchi chuckled. "Is this called growing up?"
Lee smiled down at the sushi he was preparing. It was nice for him to hear them laughing after all the serious tones they had been using. Idly he created a ginger rosette, placing it near the sushi and threw a glob of light green wasabi onto the plate. He figured they were close to done and tallied up their bill.
Ryoko's eyes narrowed and her nose pinched. "I am not the only one going through the process."
Tenchi chuckled. "Granted." He smiled softly. "It's nice to be able to tease you for a change."
"I'm sure it won't happen often." Ryoko grinned and Lee handed them their bill with their fortune cookies.
Ryoko reached for the cookies first and Lee heard the crinkle of plastic as she tore it open.
"Put 'in bed' at the end," Tenchi muttered as he counted bills.
"You've got that game here as well?" Her eyes went to Tenchi's face and she glanced back at the slip of paper in her hand. She nibbled on the orange flavored cookie.
"Of course."
"Must be a universal concept." Ryoko paused, and returned to reading her fortune. She began to snigger.
Tenchi placed the check back on the bar. "Keep the change."
"Read yours," Ryoko gestured, the slip of paper flapping.
Tenchi broke his cookie, absentmindedly eating half while reading his fortune. He almost choked. Ryoko snatched it from him.
"If you can't decide up or down," she read. "Try moving across." She grinned. "I think yours is better than mine." She changed slips of paper. Lee held down laughter at Tenchi's red face. "Ideas you may believe are absurd ultimately lead to success!"
She dropped them to the bar and shrugged. Tenchi stood up after her and they left the restaurant. Tenchi getting the door, but there was a good six inches between their bodies. Lee shook his head as they walked down the street to the bus station. He still wasn't sure what to think and so he eventually put the couple out of his mind and went back to work.
--
*A Few Days Later*
Tsunami paused. A slow smile spread across her face. Everything was in place, and all she had to do was push. Then everything would finally come together. She took a deep breath. Her pink eyes alight with happiness and satisfaction. They were like rays of light knitting into a cohesive whole. Sometimes patience and trial 'n' error did pay off. She cocked her head, still grinning.
It had only taken 40,000 years after all. And soon everything would be all right. Soon her and Sasami would be one and her avatar would at last be able to see what good Tsunami had wrought while waiting for their assimilation.
Dafune materialized. Her medium skin tone and elf shaped ears were set off by mid back length jet-black curls and big sapphire eyes. Gold decorated her throat and wrists, and she wore a skintight suit of navy. She watched the older goddess for a few moments, not able to understand her elder sisters happiness. "The balance is shifting Tsunami. Soon not even our combined wills will keep it stable."
"Your Keepers of the Balance getting antsy, Dafune?"
"Even the assassins," Dafune confirmed.
"Everything will be fine." Tsunami looked over her shoulder at the Dafune.
"With you leading us, it will be fine in the end," Dafune murmured, her eyes closing.
"Then don't look so gloomy."
Dafune sighed and opened her eyes. "I find it hard to be neutral these days, Tsunami."
"On this there can be no neutrality, it is too important. You are either on one side or the other."
Dafune nodded. "Yes, since Kami-"
"Kami has abandoned us."
Dafune blinked back tears. She could still feel the pain as she had been thrown out of Heaven, even if it had only been 20,000 years ago. "Yes, he has," she whispered, choking back tears.
Tsunami nodded in satisfaction. "Keep the balance stable for now, Dafune. Remember our goals."
"I shall, Tsunami." Dafune straightened, dashing tears from her eyes. "The balance will be kept."
--
He sat at the meeting place, he had been there for some time, coming straight after work and watching the shadows turn and lengthen in a blue veil until they had taken over the world. The meadow grass was cool and wet with dew when she approached him. The moon through the leaves cast shadows over her features. She paused just out of his reach.
He couldn't help but smile, teeth flashing. He knew she had stopped for several reasons and he couldn't help but admire the figure she was in the moonlight. Yet she was too far away and he held out a hand to her. It was an invitation she knew and she grasped it eagerly with a fine boned hand. He pulled her closer and then down to sit next to him. Once there he kept her hand in his and she made no struggle to remove it.
The silence between them was freeing. There was no need to talk. Anything that had to be said could be left for daylight. The breeze stirred the grass stems and chilled them. They drew closer and watched the patterns the movement created on the ground. Hypnotized by the random stirrings.
She sighed and placed her head on his shoulder and he squeezed her hand. He understood; she was there for the same reason he was here. The branches hit each other with dull clacking sounds. She interlaced her fingers with his and he leaned his head over hers. The moonlight glinted off his eyes. She stared intently at their laced fingers. She enjoyed the contrasts and what they meant. The different skin tones, the shape and feel of their hands. His hands were large, dark, dry and rough from a lifetime of working in the sun, comfortably strong. She ran her thumb lightly over his.
He looked down at the slight pressure and marveled for all the power she possessed. She could be so gentle, so controlled and that her hands were still delicate, smooth and soft. They were strong hands despite all appearances though.
A noise caught his attention next and he looked up. His head left hers. A roiling wind whipped up, stirring dead leaves and broken twigs. It tore young leaves off the trees. She looked up as well as a large ship made of sharp black crystal attached to a large dome rose as quietly as possible above the tree line into the air.
He stood, drawing her up with him. She didn't protest, her eyes still on the ship as it hovered just above the highest branches. He began walking towards it and she followed, fingers still touching. Neither looked back and in under ten steps they disappeared.
The black ship reoriented slightly and came out of hover, speeding upwards. Soon followed by a white ship of similar nature. If there had been anyone in the clearing watching, the ships would have been lost to sight quickly even now they were only motes of light in the sky. The brightness of the moon swallowed those as well.
The wind died down and the meadow grass that had been crumpled under the couple's weight slowly sprang back to straightness, and in the end there was no evidence that they had even been there.
--
END CHAPTER!
Next time... the end of a tale or a beginning of a new one?
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