Tenchi's eyes opened as tried to remember where he was. His power was slowly repairing his wounds, and numbed the damaged area. He felt a slight gust of wind on his head and looked up to see a piece of cloth settle over a pile of dust and another object fall to the ground with a clang. He was very lightheaded so he didn't give it much thought. Another shadowy object fell, but this one sounded like a body falling on the ground and persuaded his head to lift from the ground. He couldn't see a thing from his position so he took a deep breath and quickly sat up. His eyes gazed at the cape that now lay in front of him, and he recognized the cloth as Kagato's. It looked like Kagato had been defeated, but by whom, he wondered.
Tenchi attempted to stand on his own by leaning on his sword, but blood still ran from his wound and made him weak. He stared at the flat cape that had been Kagato's, but now just lay atop a mound of dusty bones. He felt the world lift off his shoulders as Kagato's defeat settled into his head. He had been half unconscious every since Ryoko stabbed him, and had no idea who had done this to Kagato. He turned slowly and saw Washu staggering to her feet and turned his head to see Ryoko almost crawling to an unmoving body.
Tenchi's eyes widened at the sight of someone who couldn't have been there. He walked forward dizzily and had to stop after just a few steps. He couldn't believe that Knucks had even gotten to Kagato's ship, but he was really there and seemingly had defeated him. His curiosity wasn't as strong as his concern for his friend and both fueled him forward.
He finally fell to a knee to examine Knucks'. He looked over to check on Washu's progress and saw she was doing better than him at the moment. He noticed the huge hole in front of them where the wall used to be, and thought he saw a crack in one of the glass floors. They didn't have much time before the glass gave way; they needed to know whether or not to bring Knucks.
Ryoko had turned him over to reveal a gash, right where his heart was. Tenchi felt guilt and anguish wash over him at this sight, but it paled in comparison by the looks on both Ryoko and Washu's face. Washu looked as if she had just seen a dead relative, and Ryoko had an expression that resembled the epitome of pain and suffering.
Tenchi stared at Knucks' still face and felt his own eyes get misty. He suddenly felt weak and powerless to help anybody. His legs started to shake under the weight of his grief, but Ryo-oki's meow brought him back to the present situation. He turned to get the girls on their feet, but while Ryoko was making little attempt to keep her emotions at bay, Washu had her eyes closed and her expressions frozen in concentration.
Washu's eyes slowly opened and leveled with Tenchi's, " We're taking the body with us."
With no time to even comment on the course of action, Washu had moved Ryoko off of Knucks' chest and had him slung over her shoulder. Ryo-oki knew the drill and transformed while she beamed everybody aboard.
Washu landed and placed Knucks' body on the floor. She felt physical pain from letting him go, but she had to rely on her sister's abilities for now. She walked over to Ryoko and still saw tears in her eyes, ' We need you to get us home Ryoko. There's no need to grieve now.'
Ryoko heard her mothers call in her head, ' There is every reason to grieve right now! Knucks is dead because he tried to save us! It was our fault!'
Washu hated it when her daughter cried. She rarely every did, and it was over the most serious of things, but they couldn't spare the time to talk about it further. She kneeled down and pressed her head against her heartbroken daughter's, 'I promise you that he isn't dead, but we need to get home if we ever want that to be true. Save him by taking us home, hurry!'
Ryoko felt happiness in her heart when she least expected it, but still thought it sounded to good to be true, 'Are you sure?'
Ryoko's desperate voice saddened Washu, but they were on a tight schedule, 'Yes, but not if we just stay here and play twenty questions all day.'
Ryoko felt a surge of hope and got to her feet. She teleported to her command post and urged Ryo-oki forward. She looked over her shoulder at Knucks' cold body and felt a short pang of doubt, but wiped here tears away on the sleeve of her battle suit and tried her hardest to focus on the stars.
----------------------------------------------
The darkness of Knucks' mind broke away to a long tunnel of color and images of various life forms. Knucks stood over the pipe of color and tried to recognize a few of the images, but he was sucked into the hole and pulled down the pipe of existence. He started tumbling head over heels through the long tunneling, making out a few of the images as long lost memories, but missing most of the streaming images to confusion. He suddenly stopped tumbling and fell head first into the abyss. The varied images of everything from his childhood to his last drinking excursion now melted away and only one of his more recent memories was left behind. The circular tunnel was now filled with the memory of Kagato's death, and his own. The image came very slowly, and his body and mind were in the same state at that moment as they were when the memory took place. He felt the solid weight of an invisible sword in his hands, the perspiration on his forehead, the surge of unknown power, the pure determination from his heart to succeed, and his fearlessness of the situation.
The image came to the point of their death, but there was something wrong with the scene. The tunnel froze suddenly and left Knucks suspended upside down staring at the image, and he saw Kagato's light sword still half way from his body when he gave him the finishing blow. Knucks looked closely, and saw a second weapon in Kagato's left hand that had ended his life. This shocked him, but with little he could do now, he brushed the feeling away.
He wondered why the tunnel was still unmoving, and tried to wiggle his body right side up. He couldn't budge against the invisible force, but caught a glimpse of something while trying to move. His eyes locked with the figure in the memory that he hadn't noticed before. Ryoko had been watching them at that moment, with her eyes as large as saucers and hand outreached towards the combatants as if she was to be the one to end the fight for them.
The sight of her fear and surprise saddened Knucks considerably, and the tunnel began to move again, once again flowing towards the unknown. The colors were no longer flowing as before, instead, their was considerably bright light coming from one end of the tunnel. He was heading into the light head first, unbeknownst to what lay on the other side of the light filled end to the tunnel.
-----
Knucks lay still on a floating piece of glass, lost in his own mind. A small tickling sensation snapped him to attention and he sat up in a flash. He swatted at his nose to quell the tickling and saw a light filled fluff seed fly away. A quick look around confirmed his suspicion, he was back on Tsunami's ship. How he got there was a mystery in itself, but this visit was entirely more welcome than the last. This visit had no urgency to it at all. He no longer had anyone to save and all was well, but he wanted to see his friends again.
Knucks' mind drifted back to his colorful dream. The long tunnel of memories, but he thought more about the last memory he saw. He kept telling himself that there wasn't a place in Ryoko's heart for him and that he was going to leave Tenchi's house sooner or later. That was his brain talking, but his heart told him that Ryoko missed him even now and that he would never leave his friends.
Knucks reached down into the stream of running water, but his hand never felt the dampness of the water. His hand was entirely engulfed in the running water, but he couldn't even feel the cool sensation of it. He jerked his hand out of the stream and his hand was as dry as when it had entered the water. This was a little too weird for Knucks' liking, but a voice rang out suddenly that redirected his attention, " You look surprised. I thought that showing you your own death would indeed tell you that you are dead."
Knucks saw Tsunami walk out from behind the giant tree and deliver the news, " I...actually died?" Tsunami shook her head as she walked forward, " But how? I was so much stronger than him. It doesn't make sense."
Tsunami was surprised at how lightly he had taken the news of his own death, " I told you that he had already discovered his weapon, and he used it to defeat you, deception. He made you think that he was inferior to you in skill, and just like that, you were to focused on one weapon to see the other."
Knucks heard Tsunami's voice, but the blank words barely registered in his mind. He wondered for a moment if saving their lives was worth his own, and he responded with an immediate yes. He had no more regrets, and he guessed that dying right now, however inconvenient, wouldn't be as bad as he thought. He would've loved to live a long life with his friends at Tenchi's house, and maybe even with Ryoko at his side, but he couldn't do anything to change his destiny now.
" What are you thinking about?"
Knucks raised his head at Tsunami's question, " Just trying to decide whether or not I was ready for this."
Tsunami reached down and placed her hand on his head, " Nobody is ever ready to die, nor is death ever ready to be received. People say that they've lived full and complete lives and that they welcome death, but there is always something that you don't accomplish. Never have I met a person whose live was truly complete, and you do not live long enough to have any such life. You have many things left undone in your life, but the best part about your life is that it isn't over yet."
Knucks now paid attention to Tsunami when he heard that his life wasn't over yet, " What do you mean?"
Tsunami removed her hand and walked towards the tree, " I'm just saying that life after death is a very, very rare thing, and I would hate to see you waste your afterlife in oblivion. You have to tell me something before I can think about giving you this privilege."
Knucks got to his feet and jogged over to the tree, " Yes what do you want to know."
Tsunami felt his emotions running wild again, but they were happier than the last time she felt them flare up, " Tell me what you plan to do with your life if I give it back to you."
Knucks froze on this question. What would he do with his life back? Would he go on with his life as if he had never died, or would he leave everybody to become a slobbering drunk again? He had told himself the answer to that question hundreds of times, and now should be no different, " I would stay at Tenchi's house and be with my friends. I've got my revenge and now I'm gonna settle down with them."
Tsunami nodded her head and raised the light in the room. She knew that he would remain faithful to them through thick and thin, and knew that he would give his life for anybody in that house, " You realize of course that they lead far from normal lives? You will more than likely not have a single peaceful day there."
Knucks smiled, " That's what makes that place great."
Tsunami smiled and prepared to transfer his soul to his body, " Then go to them. We will meet again."
Knucks was swept off his feet again, but it was a little weirder and faster than before. He saw stars fly past his head at hyper-space speed and felt the heat of the atmosphere on his face. A second later and he was scraping the tops of mountains and melting the snow on their ice caps. A look down showed him the tops of buildings and the people that looked ant sized moving past his plane of vision at tremendous speeds. Those sights quickly gave way to the vast blue oceans of the Earth. The coastline on the horizon came quickly, as did the wilderness and lakes. The force of his flight slowed and lowered him closer to the ground. He saw the dusk ready to break out with the dawn, but it held on to a bit of darkness as if its life depended on it.
Knucks saw his destination and felt excitement manifest itself in a wide smile on his face. He slowed further the closer he came to the house and was set down right outside of his goal. He walked right through the door, and laid eyes on his own body. There was nobody else in the room, and he guessed that they were all in Washu's lab for their injuries. He touched his own forehead, or went right through it rather, and knew that he couldn't wait for his life back.
Knucks laid on top of his own body, and was absorbed into it. He half expected to fall straight to the floor, but he stuck in his body and he felt the soft couch on his back. He felt the cool winter air in the house and also felt his warm breath travel past his lips as he exhaled. He opened his eyes to the darkroom, the only light coming from a lone candle on the table. Knucks assumed that the candle was a sign of his passing, or it could've been set there to show his soul the way back. He shook of the thoughts and put the candle out with his hand, and he pulled it away once the burning sensation took hold. He never thought he would be so happy to be burnt.
Knucks got up and walked around the room a few times, trying not to trip over everything, before opening the screen door and walking outside. The sun was now barley breaking the horizon of mountains and trees, shining down on the ice covered lake in front of him, reflecting the radiant light in a million different directions. His frozen surroundings did the same, making him feel as if he had a bright flash light in a house of mirrors. Icicles that hung from the rooftop and snow that covered the ground, both showing the light so magnificently, but being slowly melted by it as this very sunrise commenced.
Knucks' attention was diverted to the inside of the house as he heard a door close, and he saw Tenchi staring right back at him. He wasn't to sure which emotions were represented by the look on Tenchi's face, but he suspected that surprise was one of them. He couldn't help but smile as he now knew that he wasn't just dreaming.
" Wha? How? Knucks?"
Tenchi stammered away as Knucks walked through the doorway and towards his friend. Tenchi lunged at his friend and hugged him tightly. Knucks returned the hug as the rest of the girls walked through Washu's door and stared as Tenchi hugged a man that should be dead.
Knucks stared into the eyes of his new family and knew now that he wasn't dreaming, he was back. He looked into Ryoko's face and saw her happiness, and felt his heart warm, but then thought of what might've happened if he had indeed left them. He shook off the thoughts and focused on the happiness of the moment.
---------------------------------------------
Knucks threw another rock and watched it skip across the frozen pond before sitting on the snowy ground. He tried to relive the feelings he had felt over the past few hours as the winter sun set in the west. The day had flown by once the realization of his return had set in. Sasami had made a monstrous feast, with the help of the rest of the family because of her wounds, and the screaming didn't stop there. That's all that Ayeka and Ryoko did all through the wonderful meal, and all of that bickering over the last bit of rice!
After the meal, Knucks enlightened them all with his escapade with Tsunami. They all had questions for hi, but he couldn't really answer them clearly. He doubted that he would ever understand the conversation Tsunami and himself had, and he wasn't going to fry his brain trying to.
The highlight of his day was when Washu and Tenchi both approached him and asked him to talk alone. While they did this separate, Knucks could've sworn that they had practiced the same speech together. They both described their apologetic feelings toward him and both promised him their trust for the rest of their friendship. He couldn't help but forgive them and give them the same trust and respect.
The rest of the day was all laughter and fun, but now, as darkness and the temperature fell, Knucks was the only one awake. The rest of the gang had been to tired to stay up any longer. A smile played across his face as he heard footsteps behind him, " I thought you hated the cold?"
Ryoko teleported the remaining distance between herself and her man, " Yeah, well, I also thought you were dead back there. Guess that's why I don't think a lot."
Knucks chuckled as he looked at Ryoko, or what he could see of her under the blankets, and stood the meet her, " Yeah, well, things have a way of working out I guess. Sorry I'm back?"
Ryoko removed all of the cloth from her head and looked him square in the eye, " Nothing has made me happier than seeing you alive again."
Knucks smiled as he leaned in for a kiss under the cold stars.
---
" He has failed you my master. Kagato was weak, and he was going to betray you when he got the gems anyway. Why you placed this job to him I'll-"
"SILENCE SLAVE! Kagato's loss was a minor one and, for your sake, you'd better pray that you do not fail as horribly as he did!"
The hooded figure stepped into a near by shadow and was gone. A woman stood from her throne and walked through the gloomy room to her chambers. The doors burst open, revealing a large crystal orb that had Kagato's slayer's picture on the front of it, " Now you will face the wrath of my full power!!"
* Author's note
I would like to thank everybody that reviewed, no, everybody that read my story, glanced at my story or every thought about reading my story. You guys have been patient with my story and my not being able to get the chapters out promptly, and not to many people can put up with me. Lol. The little thing at the end kinda sets up my next story, and I want to know if you want to read it. I would love to hear anyone's opinion on me doing a second piece, and not just a ya or nay, I would like your true opinion about this little writing. You can bless it to the gates of heaven or damn it to the pits of hell, I'll just sit here and nod my head.
Tenchi attempted to stand on his own by leaning on his sword, but blood still ran from his wound and made him weak. He stared at the flat cape that had been Kagato's, but now just lay atop a mound of dusty bones. He felt the world lift off his shoulders as Kagato's defeat settled into his head. He had been half unconscious every since Ryoko stabbed him, and had no idea who had done this to Kagato. He turned slowly and saw Washu staggering to her feet and turned his head to see Ryoko almost crawling to an unmoving body.
Tenchi's eyes widened at the sight of someone who couldn't have been there. He walked forward dizzily and had to stop after just a few steps. He couldn't believe that Knucks had even gotten to Kagato's ship, but he was really there and seemingly had defeated him. His curiosity wasn't as strong as his concern for his friend and both fueled him forward.
He finally fell to a knee to examine Knucks'. He looked over to check on Washu's progress and saw she was doing better than him at the moment. He noticed the huge hole in front of them where the wall used to be, and thought he saw a crack in one of the glass floors. They didn't have much time before the glass gave way; they needed to know whether or not to bring Knucks.
Ryoko had turned him over to reveal a gash, right where his heart was. Tenchi felt guilt and anguish wash over him at this sight, but it paled in comparison by the looks on both Ryoko and Washu's face. Washu looked as if she had just seen a dead relative, and Ryoko had an expression that resembled the epitome of pain and suffering.
Tenchi stared at Knucks' still face and felt his own eyes get misty. He suddenly felt weak and powerless to help anybody. His legs started to shake under the weight of his grief, but Ryo-oki's meow brought him back to the present situation. He turned to get the girls on their feet, but while Ryoko was making little attempt to keep her emotions at bay, Washu had her eyes closed and her expressions frozen in concentration.
Washu's eyes slowly opened and leveled with Tenchi's, " We're taking the body with us."
With no time to even comment on the course of action, Washu had moved Ryoko off of Knucks' chest and had him slung over her shoulder. Ryo-oki knew the drill and transformed while she beamed everybody aboard.
Washu landed and placed Knucks' body on the floor. She felt physical pain from letting him go, but she had to rely on her sister's abilities for now. She walked over to Ryoko and still saw tears in her eyes, ' We need you to get us home Ryoko. There's no need to grieve now.'
Ryoko heard her mothers call in her head, ' There is every reason to grieve right now! Knucks is dead because he tried to save us! It was our fault!'
Washu hated it when her daughter cried. She rarely every did, and it was over the most serious of things, but they couldn't spare the time to talk about it further. She kneeled down and pressed her head against her heartbroken daughter's, 'I promise you that he isn't dead, but we need to get home if we ever want that to be true. Save him by taking us home, hurry!'
Ryoko felt happiness in her heart when she least expected it, but still thought it sounded to good to be true, 'Are you sure?'
Ryoko's desperate voice saddened Washu, but they were on a tight schedule, 'Yes, but not if we just stay here and play twenty questions all day.'
Ryoko felt a surge of hope and got to her feet. She teleported to her command post and urged Ryo-oki forward. She looked over her shoulder at Knucks' cold body and felt a short pang of doubt, but wiped here tears away on the sleeve of her battle suit and tried her hardest to focus on the stars.
----------------------------------------------
The darkness of Knucks' mind broke away to a long tunnel of color and images of various life forms. Knucks stood over the pipe of color and tried to recognize a few of the images, but he was sucked into the hole and pulled down the pipe of existence. He started tumbling head over heels through the long tunneling, making out a few of the images as long lost memories, but missing most of the streaming images to confusion. He suddenly stopped tumbling and fell head first into the abyss. The varied images of everything from his childhood to his last drinking excursion now melted away and only one of his more recent memories was left behind. The circular tunnel was now filled with the memory of Kagato's death, and his own. The image came very slowly, and his body and mind were in the same state at that moment as they were when the memory took place. He felt the solid weight of an invisible sword in his hands, the perspiration on his forehead, the surge of unknown power, the pure determination from his heart to succeed, and his fearlessness of the situation.
The image came to the point of their death, but there was something wrong with the scene. The tunnel froze suddenly and left Knucks suspended upside down staring at the image, and he saw Kagato's light sword still half way from his body when he gave him the finishing blow. Knucks looked closely, and saw a second weapon in Kagato's left hand that had ended his life. This shocked him, but with little he could do now, he brushed the feeling away.
He wondered why the tunnel was still unmoving, and tried to wiggle his body right side up. He couldn't budge against the invisible force, but caught a glimpse of something while trying to move. His eyes locked with the figure in the memory that he hadn't noticed before. Ryoko had been watching them at that moment, with her eyes as large as saucers and hand outreached towards the combatants as if she was to be the one to end the fight for them.
The sight of her fear and surprise saddened Knucks considerably, and the tunnel began to move again, once again flowing towards the unknown. The colors were no longer flowing as before, instead, their was considerably bright light coming from one end of the tunnel. He was heading into the light head first, unbeknownst to what lay on the other side of the light filled end to the tunnel.
-----
Knucks lay still on a floating piece of glass, lost in his own mind. A small tickling sensation snapped him to attention and he sat up in a flash. He swatted at his nose to quell the tickling and saw a light filled fluff seed fly away. A quick look around confirmed his suspicion, he was back on Tsunami's ship. How he got there was a mystery in itself, but this visit was entirely more welcome than the last. This visit had no urgency to it at all. He no longer had anyone to save and all was well, but he wanted to see his friends again.
Knucks' mind drifted back to his colorful dream. The long tunnel of memories, but he thought more about the last memory he saw. He kept telling himself that there wasn't a place in Ryoko's heart for him and that he was going to leave Tenchi's house sooner or later. That was his brain talking, but his heart told him that Ryoko missed him even now and that he would never leave his friends.
Knucks reached down into the stream of running water, but his hand never felt the dampness of the water. His hand was entirely engulfed in the running water, but he couldn't even feel the cool sensation of it. He jerked his hand out of the stream and his hand was as dry as when it had entered the water. This was a little too weird for Knucks' liking, but a voice rang out suddenly that redirected his attention, " You look surprised. I thought that showing you your own death would indeed tell you that you are dead."
Knucks saw Tsunami walk out from behind the giant tree and deliver the news, " I...actually died?" Tsunami shook her head as she walked forward, " But how? I was so much stronger than him. It doesn't make sense."
Tsunami was surprised at how lightly he had taken the news of his own death, " I told you that he had already discovered his weapon, and he used it to defeat you, deception. He made you think that he was inferior to you in skill, and just like that, you were to focused on one weapon to see the other."
Knucks heard Tsunami's voice, but the blank words barely registered in his mind. He wondered for a moment if saving their lives was worth his own, and he responded with an immediate yes. He had no more regrets, and he guessed that dying right now, however inconvenient, wouldn't be as bad as he thought. He would've loved to live a long life with his friends at Tenchi's house, and maybe even with Ryoko at his side, but he couldn't do anything to change his destiny now.
" What are you thinking about?"
Knucks raised his head at Tsunami's question, " Just trying to decide whether or not I was ready for this."
Tsunami reached down and placed her hand on his head, " Nobody is ever ready to die, nor is death ever ready to be received. People say that they've lived full and complete lives and that they welcome death, but there is always something that you don't accomplish. Never have I met a person whose live was truly complete, and you do not live long enough to have any such life. You have many things left undone in your life, but the best part about your life is that it isn't over yet."
Knucks now paid attention to Tsunami when he heard that his life wasn't over yet, " What do you mean?"
Tsunami removed her hand and walked towards the tree, " I'm just saying that life after death is a very, very rare thing, and I would hate to see you waste your afterlife in oblivion. You have to tell me something before I can think about giving you this privilege."
Knucks got to his feet and jogged over to the tree, " Yes what do you want to know."
Tsunami felt his emotions running wild again, but they were happier than the last time she felt them flare up, " Tell me what you plan to do with your life if I give it back to you."
Knucks froze on this question. What would he do with his life back? Would he go on with his life as if he had never died, or would he leave everybody to become a slobbering drunk again? He had told himself the answer to that question hundreds of times, and now should be no different, " I would stay at Tenchi's house and be with my friends. I've got my revenge and now I'm gonna settle down with them."
Tsunami nodded her head and raised the light in the room. She knew that he would remain faithful to them through thick and thin, and knew that he would give his life for anybody in that house, " You realize of course that they lead far from normal lives? You will more than likely not have a single peaceful day there."
Knucks smiled, " That's what makes that place great."
Tsunami smiled and prepared to transfer his soul to his body, " Then go to them. We will meet again."
Knucks was swept off his feet again, but it was a little weirder and faster than before. He saw stars fly past his head at hyper-space speed and felt the heat of the atmosphere on his face. A second later and he was scraping the tops of mountains and melting the snow on their ice caps. A look down showed him the tops of buildings and the people that looked ant sized moving past his plane of vision at tremendous speeds. Those sights quickly gave way to the vast blue oceans of the Earth. The coastline on the horizon came quickly, as did the wilderness and lakes. The force of his flight slowed and lowered him closer to the ground. He saw the dusk ready to break out with the dawn, but it held on to a bit of darkness as if its life depended on it.
Knucks saw his destination and felt excitement manifest itself in a wide smile on his face. He slowed further the closer he came to the house and was set down right outside of his goal. He walked right through the door, and laid eyes on his own body. There was nobody else in the room, and he guessed that they were all in Washu's lab for their injuries. He touched his own forehead, or went right through it rather, and knew that he couldn't wait for his life back.
Knucks laid on top of his own body, and was absorbed into it. He half expected to fall straight to the floor, but he stuck in his body and he felt the soft couch on his back. He felt the cool winter air in the house and also felt his warm breath travel past his lips as he exhaled. He opened his eyes to the darkroom, the only light coming from a lone candle on the table. Knucks assumed that the candle was a sign of his passing, or it could've been set there to show his soul the way back. He shook of the thoughts and put the candle out with his hand, and he pulled it away once the burning sensation took hold. He never thought he would be so happy to be burnt.
Knucks got up and walked around the room a few times, trying not to trip over everything, before opening the screen door and walking outside. The sun was now barley breaking the horizon of mountains and trees, shining down on the ice covered lake in front of him, reflecting the radiant light in a million different directions. His frozen surroundings did the same, making him feel as if he had a bright flash light in a house of mirrors. Icicles that hung from the rooftop and snow that covered the ground, both showing the light so magnificently, but being slowly melted by it as this very sunrise commenced.
Knucks' attention was diverted to the inside of the house as he heard a door close, and he saw Tenchi staring right back at him. He wasn't to sure which emotions were represented by the look on Tenchi's face, but he suspected that surprise was one of them. He couldn't help but smile as he now knew that he wasn't just dreaming.
" Wha? How? Knucks?"
Tenchi stammered away as Knucks walked through the doorway and towards his friend. Tenchi lunged at his friend and hugged him tightly. Knucks returned the hug as the rest of the girls walked through Washu's door and stared as Tenchi hugged a man that should be dead.
Knucks stared into the eyes of his new family and knew now that he wasn't dreaming, he was back. He looked into Ryoko's face and saw her happiness, and felt his heart warm, but then thought of what might've happened if he had indeed left them. He shook off the thoughts and focused on the happiness of the moment.
---------------------------------------------
Knucks threw another rock and watched it skip across the frozen pond before sitting on the snowy ground. He tried to relive the feelings he had felt over the past few hours as the winter sun set in the west. The day had flown by once the realization of his return had set in. Sasami had made a monstrous feast, with the help of the rest of the family because of her wounds, and the screaming didn't stop there. That's all that Ayeka and Ryoko did all through the wonderful meal, and all of that bickering over the last bit of rice!
After the meal, Knucks enlightened them all with his escapade with Tsunami. They all had questions for hi, but he couldn't really answer them clearly. He doubted that he would ever understand the conversation Tsunami and himself had, and he wasn't going to fry his brain trying to.
The highlight of his day was when Washu and Tenchi both approached him and asked him to talk alone. While they did this separate, Knucks could've sworn that they had practiced the same speech together. They both described their apologetic feelings toward him and both promised him their trust for the rest of their friendship. He couldn't help but forgive them and give them the same trust and respect.
The rest of the day was all laughter and fun, but now, as darkness and the temperature fell, Knucks was the only one awake. The rest of the gang had been to tired to stay up any longer. A smile played across his face as he heard footsteps behind him, " I thought you hated the cold?"
Ryoko teleported the remaining distance between herself and her man, " Yeah, well, I also thought you were dead back there. Guess that's why I don't think a lot."
Knucks chuckled as he looked at Ryoko, or what he could see of her under the blankets, and stood the meet her, " Yeah, well, things have a way of working out I guess. Sorry I'm back?"
Ryoko removed all of the cloth from her head and looked him square in the eye, " Nothing has made me happier than seeing you alive again."
Knucks smiled as he leaned in for a kiss under the cold stars.
---
" He has failed you my master. Kagato was weak, and he was going to betray you when he got the gems anyway. Why you placed this job to him I'll-"
"SILENCE SLAVE! Kagato's loss was a minor one and, for your sake, you'd better pray that you do not fail as horribly as he did!"
The hooded figure stepped into a near by shadow and was gone. A woman stood from her throne and walked through the gloomy room to her chambers. The doors burst open, revealing a large crystal orb that had Kagato's slayer's picture on the front of it, " Now you will face the wrath of my full power!!"
* Author's note
I would like to thank everybody that reviewed, no, everybody that read my story, glanced at my story or every thought about reading my story. You guys have been patient with my story and my not being able to get the chapters out promptly, and not to many people can put up with me. Lol. The little thing at the end kinda sets up my next story, and I want to know if you want to read it. I would love to hear anyone's opinion on me doing a second piece, and not just a ya or nay, I would like your true opinion about this little writing. You can bless it to the gates of heaven or damn it to the pits of hell, I'll just sit here and nod my head.