My son is dead. That is the only thought running through my mind as
the Orikan Imperial Force enters Jurian orbit and appears on my ship's
sensors.
My son is dead, and it is their fault. I sent him on a peaceful diplomatic mission to discuss alternatives to this war and they sent me back his head.
The ship's personal is in a panic. It is a large crew and only Jurai's finest young men and women are granted the privilege of serving on it. The captain is an elderly man, high ranking in politics and well respected in the army. Lord Tenchi, dressed in Jurain battle armor, is beside me and behind us is Kamidake.
The Orikan's fleet is more advanced than ours and the battle goes poorly. Amid the shouts of 'Abandon ship! Repeat: All hands abandon ship' all I can think of is that they killed my son and now they will destroy my planet.
I feel Lord Tenchi trying to pull me toward an escape pod and I feel the shield from Kamidake's staff engulf me and keep the falling pieces of ceiling from collapsing on my head.
But they killed my son! They hold my husband hostage! How can I leave without seeing them obliterated? How can I abandon my child?
My son is dead. Tenchi's words ring in my ears as he drags me off to the escape pod with Kamidake right behind us carrying the only remaining crew member; some fresh-out-of-the-academy child who was knocked down and almost trampled to death while his superiors headed for the pods. Interesting, how people turn on each other.
My son is dead because the Orikan's turned on us.
I pass out in the pod and all my dreams are memories of him. Us playing in the royal gardens, him studying under the finest diplomats and political figures, discussing with him which court woman would be the best candidate for a marriage that would bring the best benefits for Jurai.
He told me he would choose when he came back from Orikan.
I wake up in a cold room, on a messy bed. The room is sparsely decorated and the only pieces of furniture besides the bed are a dresser, a bedside table with some books on it, and a chair. I get up and slowly make my way over to the window, which is filthy.
I look out and all I see is darkness. That sounds like over done angst, but it's true and I start to scream. I'm terrified that I've died and this is my punishment from Tsunami for not protecting my child better.
The next thing I know Lord Tenchi's arms are circled around me and I'm sobbing in his shirt, babbling senselessly about my son. He lifts me onto the bed and it seems like we just sit there for hours, me blubbering, him whispering how it's alright and I'm not dead.
I hear a voice, a child's voice, asking what's going on and I raise my head, desperately hoping I've woken up and Emori will be standing there, asking me to braid his dark green hair because being male he can't figure it out.
Instead I see some scrawny little kid, with short auburn hair that's been spiked. He looks nothing like my child, my baby.
Lord Tenchi turns and the conversation that follows is interesting.
"Sakito-kun, could you please ask Ryoko-san if we're close to Earth?" It is irritating to hear Lord Tenchi to speak so casually with this kid.
"I would, Lord Tenchi....but Mom's kind of busy." Did he just call Ryoko 'Mom'? Oh, Sweet Tsunami....
"It's really important."
"Yeah, um, by busy, I mean she's having sex with Dad."
"Oh...Oh! Um..." Lord Tenchi turns a bright red and for a moment I'm taken back to the days at the shrine, with Ryoko teasing and myself yelling and Lord Tenchi suffering from a nose bleed. It's horrible of me, but I start to laugh.
I keep laughing for a long time and when I stop, Ryoko tells me we're close to Earth and that she's heard a rumor my other son is safe.
I can tell there's something else the rest of them don't want me to hear. Ryoko was about to say something else, but stops herself and Lord Tenchi asks me if I remember what has happened.
The Orikans murdered my son, attacked my planet and forced me to evacuate my ship. Once it is established that my memory is intact further developments arise.
Jurai was attacked and in the week I have been unconscious has undergone military occupation. My second son was reportedly smuggled out of the galaxy by the Galaxy Police but the members of the Jurain Elected Consul have all been executed along with an untold number of lords and ladies and various members of the court.
I ask of my husband and learn what it was that Ryoko didn't want to tell me. I nod mutely. It sounds cliché but I don't think I can cry anymore.
I also found out how we all ended up on Ryoko's ship. Kamidake text messaged his son, who put in an e-mail to his mother, who high-tailed it over to this solar system to pick up our escape pod. She also picked up her son, Azaka, and some random little girl she found on the street. Azaka managed to protect them with his staff. Unfortunately, he was too weak to save anyone else. The Orikan's decided to make an example of that city and a few others and nothing and nobody survived.
Ryoko mutters something about how Jurains don't know how to go to war and ignores the several glares she receives.
She can't ignore Kamidake telling her to shut the hell up.
In those exact words.
Interesting relationship the two of them have. She grins and tells him she'll teach him to really fight, in such a way that suggests she's not talking about hand to hand combat.
Lord Tenchi turns red again.
Earth is still beautiful, still peaceful. The Orikans have not yet laid waste to Jurai's allies, although there is much talk on the news and behind closed doors of such a seemingly inevitable event. Lord Yosho agrees that it would be wise if we all kept a low profile while we planned our next move.
The question remains: what is our next move?
Lord Yosho suggests we sleep on it for a while. We take his advice and settle into a relaxed routine and wait for news. After all, what can less than ten people with a broken down space ship do against one of the most advanced forces in the galaxy?
Forgive the language, but not a hell of a lot.
A message is sent to Washu that she should skip Jurai and return from her expedition to the Science Academy to Earth. She does so and brings along a great deal of technology. She also brings Mihoshi.
Apparently, the Galaxy Police have some information that they only want to share with the Queen of Jurai.
My youngest son is indeed alive. I whisper a prayer to Tsunami thanking her for that. For some reason my sister has refused my please for help and has distanced herself from Jurai. I can only guess the reason she allowed me to keep one of my children.
The other bit of news Mihoshi gives me is that my husband was a traitor. Galaxy Police hackers got into some of his e-mail files and apparently he exchanged information of my family's whereabouts for money. Once they Orikans decided they didn't need him anymore, they took him hostage and killed him.
The story she tells me is surreal and I don't want to believe it. I start screaming and attacking her, whatever she's telling me is a cover up! My husband was a good man, he loved his family and his planet! He would never....
Someone picks me up and I expect it to be Lord Tenchi, but it's not. It's Ryoko. Muttering to herself she picks me up and within moments we're in the bathroom, the portal to the other dimension where we all used to congregate to bathe.
Within another moment we are in that dimension and I blink back my surprise. Washu must have re-opened it for our use. Steam is rising from the pool and I can smell the perfume that we use to love so much. The water is still.
Was still, I mean, before Ryoko disturbs its calmness by dumping me in.
"What the hell do you mean by doing that?"
"Watch your language princess. Weren't you always saying a princess had to have control over her emotions? And now here you are, bitch slapping Mihoshi because she told you something you didn't want to hear."
I can feel my skin turning red. To think that I screamed out my frustration to the world is unbelievable. To be lectured by a former space pirate is infuriating.
"Shut up Ryoko! Just shut up! I've lost my son and my husband and my planet within less than a month of each other. Now I find my husband was traitor...."
"That must suck Princess. I admit, that must really bite. But forgive a space tramp if she can't understand how attacking Mihoshi and moping all damn day is gonna solve anything. It's like I told Sakito once: if you're gonna cry, cry when your beating the crap out the ones that made you cry."
"You can't possibly understand."
"That's what I said."
"No! You can't understand what it's like to lose a child! I guess you wouldn't even know what it's like to have a child, from what I've seen you ignored your son and abandoned him!"
"Don't you talk about my son..."
"I mean, look at the kid. He always smells like alcohol and everything I ever seen him wear is ripped, even the fishnets. You wouldn't know what it's like to lose a son, you've never had one to lose!"
My cheek is stinging from where she slapped me. I put a hand to it and wince.
"Fine Ayeka. If you want to sit there feeling sorry for yourself and beat up everyone who tries to tell you what's going on, fine. I won't stop you." She turns and is about to fly away before she looks back at me. "I just thought you were stronger than that. You were always so tough, so willing to take my crap and give as good as you got. That's what I always admired about you."
She's gone.
I indulge myself in a few hours of doing nothing but crying. I know no one will bother me so I let out a few screams of rage and beat my fists against the floor.
Then, I wash my face, smooth my hair, and prepare to meet the world. I cannot stay on Earth, instead, I will let it slip to the Orikans that I am enjoying the protection of the Galaxy Police. I will enter the space of a neutral empire and go on from there. I have a plan to present the case that once the Orikans are through with Jurai and its allies they will likely start looking at new prospects. I expect the recent events will open the ears of a few leaders.
I set off three days later. Mihoshi is accompanying me and I have no wish for anyone else. Lord Tenchi has set about acting as diplomat to try and prevent another disaster. Azaka asked my permission to train the other survivor from our ship the ways of the Jurain Knight and I allowed it. Kamidake and Ryoko are busy fixing her ship and trying to heal whatever passed for their relationship. The children prepare for hell.
I watch them all from a window and must bite my lip to keep from crying. I have made arrangements for my son to come and stay with them after we meet. It is the safest place for him.
I have faced kings, demons, and people with the intent of destroying the universe as we know it. I have loved and lost. I am Queen of Jurai, and I am not about to shrivel up while my planet is suffering military occupation. I am not so weak.
As Ryoko said, I'm tough and I give as good as I get.
Finite
Author's notes- Go Ayeka. I'll....give an invisible cookie to whoever knows where the title of this chapter comes from.
This was a little more...bland than I intended. Ayeka is hard to right for and I'm still not sure if this chapter flows the way I want it to.
If you don't know who owns Tenchi Muyo by now I'm not telling you. You'll just have to live with you ignorance forever! You'll die not knowing who owns Tenchi Muyo! Bwahahahahaha!
My son is dead, and it is their fault. I sent him on a peaceful diplomatic mission to discuss alternatives to this war and they sent me back his head.
The ship's personal is in a panic. It is a large crew and only Jurai's finest young men and women are granted the privilege of serving on it. The captain is an elderly man, high ranking in politics and well respected in the army. Lord Tenchi, dressed in Jurain battle armor, is beside me and behind us is Kamidake.
The Orikan's fleet is more advanced than ours and the battle goes poorly. Amid the shouts of 'Abandon ship! Repeat: All hands abandon ship' all I can think of is that they killed my son and now they will destroy my planet.
I feel Lord Tenchi trying to pull me toward an escape pod and I feel the shield from Kamidake's staff engulf me and keep the falling pieces of ceiling from collapsing on my head.
But they killed my son! They hold my husband hostage! How can I leave without seeing them obliterated? How can I abandon my child?
My son is dead. Tenchi's words ring in my ears as he drags me off to the escape pod with Kamidake right behind us carrying the only remaining crew member; some fresh-out-of-the-academy child who was knocked down and almost trampled to death while his superiors headed for the pods. Interesting, how people turn on each other.
My son is dead because the Orikan's turned on us.
I pass out in the pod and all my dreams are memories of him. Us playing in the royal gardens, him studying under the finest diplomats and political figures, discussing with him which court woman would be the best candidate for a marriage that would bring the best benefits for Jurai.
He told me he would choose when he came back from Orikan.
I wake up in a cold room, on a messy bed. The room is sparsely decorated and the only pieces of furniture besides the bed are a dresser, a bedside table with some books on it, and a chair. I get up and slowly make my way over to the window, which is filthy.
I look out and all I see is darkness. That sounds like over done angst, but it's true and I start to scream. I'm terrified that I've died and this is my punishment from Tsunami for not protecting my child better.
The next thing I know Lord Tenchi's arms are circled around me and I'm sobbing in his shirt, babbling senselessly about my son. He lifts me onto the bed and it seems like we just sit there for hours, me blubbering, him whispering how it's alright and I'm not dead.
I hear a voice, a child's voice, asking what's going on and I raise my head, desperately hoping I've woken up and Emori will be standing there, asking me to braid his dark green hair because being male he can't figure it out.
Instead I see some scrawny little kid, with short auburn hair that's been spiked. He looks nothing like my child, my baby.
Lord Tenchi turns and the conversation that follows is interesting.
"Sakito-kun, could you please ask Ryoko-san if we're close to Earth?" It is irritating to hear Lord Tenchi to speak so casually with this kid.
"I would, Lord Tenchi....but Mom's kind of busy." Did he just call Ryoko 'Mom'? Oh, Sweet Tsunami....
"It's really important."
"Yeah, um, by busy, I mean she's having sex with Dad."
"Oh...Oh! Um..." Lord Tenchi turns a bright red and for a moment I'm taken back to the days at the shrine, with Ryoko teasing and myself yelling and Lord Tenchi suffering from a nose bleed. It's horrible of me, but I start to laugh.
I keep laughing for a long time and when I stop, Ryoko tells me we're close to Earth and that she's heard a rumor my other son is safe.
I can tell there's something else the rest of them don't want me to hear. Ryoko was about to say something else, but stops herself and Lord Tenchi asks me if I remember what has happened.
The Orikans murdered my son, attacked my planet and forced me to evacuate my ship. Once it is established that my memory is intact further developments arise.
Jurai was attacked and in the week I have been unconscious has undergone military occupation. My second son was reportedly smuggled out of the galaxy by the Galaxy Police but the members of the Jurain Elected Consul have all been executed along with an untold number of lords and ladies and various members of the court.
I ask of my husband and learn what it was that Ryoko didn't want to tell me. I nod mutely. It sounds cliché but I don't think I can cry anymore.
I also found out how we all ended up on Ryoko's ship. Kamidake text messaged his son, who put in an e-mail to his mother, who high-tailed it over to this solar system to pick up our escape pod. She also picked up her son, Azaka, and some random little girl she found on the street. Azaka managed to protect them with his staff. Unfortunately, he was too weak to save anyone else. The Orikan's decided to make an example of that city and a few others and nothing and nobody survived.
Ryoko mutters something about how Jurains don't know how to go to war and ignores the several glares she receives.
She can't ignore Kamidake telling her to shut the hell up.
In those exact words.
Interesting relationship the two of them have. She grins and tells him she'll teach him to really fight, in such a way that suggests she's not talking about hand to hand combat.
Lord Tenchi turns red again.
Earth is still beautiful, still peaceful. The Orikans have not yet laid waste to Jurai's allies, although there is much talk on the news and behind closed doors of such a seemingly inevitable event. Lord Yosho agrees that it would be wise if we all kept a low profile while we planned our next move.
The question remains: what is our next move?
Lord Yosho suggests we sleep on it for a while. We take his advice and settle into a relaxed routine and wait for news. After all, what can less than ten people with a broken down space ship do against one of the most advanced forces in the galaxy?
Forgive the language, but not a hell of a lot.
A message is sent to Washu that she should skip Jurai and return from her expedition to the Science Academy to Earth. She does so and brings along a great deal of technology. She also brings Mihoshi.
Apparently, the Galaxy Police have some information that they only want to share with the Queen of Jurai.
My youngest son is indeed alive. I whisper a prayer to Tsunami thanking her for that. For some reason my sister has refused my please for help and has distanced herself from Jurai. I can only guess the reason she allowed me to keep one of my children.
The other bit of news Mihoshi gives me is that my husband was a traitor. Galaxy Police hackers got into some of his e-mail files and apparently he exchanged information of my family's whereabouts for money. Once they Orikans decided they didn't need him anymore, they took him hostage and killed him.
The story she tells me is surreal and I don't want to believe it. I start screaming and attacking her, whatever she's telling me is a cover up! My husband was a good man, he loved his family and his planet! He would never....
Someone picks me up and I expect it to be Lord Tenchi, but it's not. It's Ryoko. Muttering to herself she picks me up and within moments we're in the bathroom, the portal to the other dimension where we all used to congregate to bathe.
Within another moment we are in that dimension and I blink back my surprise. Washu must have re-opened it for our use. Steam is rising from the pool and I can smell the perfume that we use to love so much. The water is still.
Was still, I mean, before Ryoko disturbs its calmness by dumping me in.
"What the hell do you mean by doing that?"
"Watch your language princess. Weren't you always saying a princess had to have control over her emotions? And now here you are, bitch slapping Mihoshi because she told you something you didn't want to hear."
I can feel my skin turning red. To think that I screamed out my frustration to the world is unbelievable. To be lectured by a former space pirate is infuriating.
"Shut up Ryoko! Just shut up! I've lost my son and my husband and my planet within less than a month of each other. Now I find my husband was traitor...."
"That must suck Princess. I admit, that must really bite. But forgive a space tramp if she can't understand how attacking Mihoshi and moping all damn day is gonna solve anything. It's like I told Sakito once: if you're gonna cry, cry when your beating the crap out the ones that made you cry."
"You can't possibly understand."
"That's what I said."
"No! You can't understand what it's like to lose a child! I guess you wouldn't even know what it's like to have a child, from what I've seen you ignored your son and abandoned him!"
"Don't you talk about my son..."
"I mean, look at the kid. He always smells like alcohol and everything I ever seen him wear is ripped, even the fishnets. You wouldn't know what it's like to lose a son, you've never had one to lose!"
My cheek is stinging from where she slapped me. I put a hand to it and wince.
"Fine Ayeka. If you want to sit there feeling sorry for yourself and beat up everyone who tries to tell you what's going on, fine. I won't stop you." She turns and is about to fly away before she looks back at me. "I just thought you were stronger than that. You were always so tough, so willing to take my crap and give as good as you got. That's what I always admired about you."
She's gone.
I indulge myself in a few hours of doing nothing but crying. I know no one will bother me so I let out a few screams of rage and beat my fists against the floor.
Then, I wash my face, smooth my hair, and prepare to meet the world. I cannot stay on Earth, instead, I will let it slip to the Orikans that I am enjoying the protection of the Galaxy Police. I will enter the space of a neutral empire and go on from there. I have a plan to present the case that once the Orikans are through with Jurai and its allies they will likely start looking at new prospects. I expect the recent events will open the ears of a few leaders.
I set off three days later. Mihoshi is accompanying me and I have no wish for anyone else. Lord Tenchi has set about acting as diplomat to try and prevent another disaster. Azaka asked my permission to train the other survivor from our ship the ways of the Jurain Knight and I allowed it. Kamidake and Ryoko are busy fixing her ship and trying to heal whatever passed for their relationship. The children prepare for hell.
I watch them all from a window and must bite my lip to keep from crying. I have made arrangements for my son to come and stay with them after we meet. It is the safest place for him.
I have faced kings, demons, and people with the intent of destroying the universe as we know it. I have loved and lost. I am Queen of Jurai, and I am not about to shrivel up while my planet is suffering military occupation. I am not so weak.
As Ryoko said, I'm tough and I give as good as I get.
Finite
Author's notes- Go Ayeka. I'll....give an invisible cookie to whoever knows where the title of this chapter comes from.
This was a little more...bland than I intended. Ayeka is hard to right for and I'm still not sure if this chapter flows the way I want it to.
If you don't know who owns Tenchi Muyo by now I'm not telling you. You'll just have to live with you ignorance forever! You'll die not knowing who owns Tenchi Muyo! Bwahahahahaha!