Tenchi Muyo:
Ryeka's Choice
By Chronos
Several months later...
Tenchi opened his eyes to see Ryeka floating above him.
"Good morning, Tenchi."
"How many times have I told you not to come into my room while I'm sleeping?" Tenchi replied a bit testily, as he sat up (Ryeka floated out of the way just enough that Tenchi didn't bump into her).
She looked thoughtful as she changed position and floated down to sit on the bed, wrapping her arms around him in the process. Finally, she answered with a smile, her face inches away from Tenchi's, "We don't know - we've lost count." With that, she planted her lips on his. Tenchi wrapped his arms around Ryeka in return, and the two continued to kiss for a few moments.
Finally, when they slowly moved their heads apart, Tenchi smiled and said, "Good morning to you, too, Ryeka."
o-o-o
The day was a day much like any other. Sasami had been up before anyone else, and had breakfast ready by the time Tenchi and Ryeka made it to the table. Before long, Nobuyuki and Washu showed up as well, and along with Sasami and Ryo-Ohki, the group sat down to eat.
As always, Ryeka sat next to Tenchi, and took every opportunity she could to kiss, touch, lean against, or otherwise flirt with him. By this point, he had grown used to it, and didn't even look especially embarrassed.
After breakfast, Washu returned to her lab, Nobuyuki headed for work, and Tenchi for the carrot fields. Ryo-Ohki disappeared to who-knows-where, while Sasami and Ryeka cleaned up and attended to chores. (Ryeka never exactly volunteered for chores, but would do them when told, without much complaint - though she did tend to use her powers to speed things up as much as possible.)
Around noon, Sasami called Tenchi and Ryeka for lunch; then Tenchi headed up to the shrine to attend to his shrine-keeper duties. Ryeka did some more of the chores that Ayeka had always handled, watched the afternoon soaps, then headed up to the shrine to see Tenchi. As the afternoon began to change to evening, the two did some sparring, then they returned to the house for supper.
Although Washu was invited to supper, she declined, being wrapped up in her work; and they didn't bother waiting for Nobuyuki, who was working late.
o-o-o
As the four (Tenchi, Ryeka, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki) finished up their meal, Tenchi put his hand on Ryeka's. "Ryeka, I was thinking, they're holding the Autumn Carnival right now... Would you like to go with me tomorrow night?"
"... Would we? Lord Tenchi, that would be wonderful!"
Sasami asked, "What about me?" Ryo-Ohki meowed, too.
"Er, well..." Tenchi floundered.
Ryeka shot Sasami a disapproving-yet-smug look. "Hey, Sis, you got to go with him last time! It's our turn now!"
Sasami sighed. "Oh, all right. But I want a chance to go to the carnival, too!"
Tenchi quickly agreed. "Of course! Maybe Dad could take you. Or, we could all go, later in the week. I just want a chance to do something with just Ryeka, okay?"
"Okay..."
o-o-o
The next morning, Tenchi was mildly surprised not to wake up to Ryeka hovering over him. However, he didn't think much of it until he got to the breakfast table, only to find Ryeka still absent.
"Hey, Sasami, where's Ryeka?" Tenchi asked.
"Washu's lab," Sasami said as she served him. "She grabbed Ryeka and pulled her down to the lab a few hours ago."
"Huh. Any idea why?"
Sasami shrugged.
o-o-o
In the depths of the lab, Washu had Ryeka stripped down to practically nothing, strapped into some machine, with all sorts of wires and such attached to her body.
"All right," Washu said, cracking her knuckles. "We're all ready to begin now."
"... Begin? Begin what?! Washu, we demand to know why you have dragged us down here!"
Washu stared at her and blinked. "Isn't it obvious? I finished work on Ryoko's body, so I'm going to separate you now, of course."
"You what?!"
Washu looked puzzled. "I'm going to separate you, and put Ryoko into her own body, just like we've been planning all this time."
"But... But, we're not ready yet!"
"Ready...? What are you talking about? The body's complete (I can show it to you if you want, but it's just like your original, Ryoko) and I've already began bombarding Ayeka's body with the multidimensional radiation necessary to prepare the gems for detachment... What more is there to do?"
"We - we have to say goodbye to Tenchi and the others!"
"Goodbye?! But neither of you is going anywhere. I'm just giving you back your own bodies."
"But..."
"Yes?"
Trying to stall while she sorted out her thoughts and emotions, Ryeka said, "... Shouldn't the others be here?"
"Why?"
Ryeka was silent, wracking her brains for a plausabile answer.
Washu looked at Ryeka searchingly. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you didn't want to be separated!"
"I..." Ryeka looked away.
Washu chuckled. "I guess you two really have learned to get along! ... But you have to be split soon - my readings indicate that the merging of your minds is proceeding far faster than I had anticipated."
"... The merging...?"
"Yes. I believe when this all began I said I couldn't take Ryoko's gems because we were too similar, and our minds would begin to merge over time, eventually making separation impossible?"
"Yes, but that was only if you did it... You said nothing of it happening with someone else!"
"I didn't want to scare you. But any combination of souls, if it works at all, will eventually lead to merging. I didn't think it would matter - I would have Ryoko's new body ready before it became an issue... or so I thought."
"So... If we are not separated soon, it will be impossible to separate us?"
"They do have a brain between them!" Washu cracked.
"How long do we have left?"
Washu raised an eyebrow. "There's no hard and fast boundary, but I'd say we have a couple of weeks at the most before it would be too risky to attempt the separation. Even now, it'll probably be painful for you. And every moment we delay makes things worse... That's why I want to do this now."
"But... Tenchi asked us out tonight... Asked me out: Ryeka." She finished this softly, a tear in her eye.
Missing this last bit of emotion, Washu shrugged. "So he'll have to take two girls out with him instead of one. So long as you two don't blow anything up, I don't think he'll mind."
"Y-you understand nothing!" Ryeka tore herself out of Washu's contraption.
"Hey!" Washu protested.
"I ... we... need to think about this." She grabbed her clothes and phased out of there.
Washu scratched her head. "How curious."
o-o-o
That evening, Ryeka met up with Tenchi for their date. She said nothing about her conversation with Washu.
They went on rides, ate fair-food, and had an all-around great time.
Late that night, as the fair was starting to close down, and almost everyone was gone, they took one last ride on the Ferris wheel. As it stopped with them near the top, they cuddled together and looked out at the beautiful night landscape and sky.
"This has been a great night, Tenchi. Thank you."
"You're welcome... I enjoyed it too."
Ryeka sighed. "I only wish it could last forever..."
"Every day has to end sometime. But there's always tomorrow."
Ryeka leaned away from him enough to look him in the eyes searchingly. "Is there?"
"What do you mean...?"
She looked at her feet and sighed again. "Washu talked with us this morning. Ryoko's body is ready..."
"Well, that's great!" Tenchi said, trying to sound encouraging.
"But... what will happen to us? To you and me?" She hugged him tightly.
"I... well..."
"Will you love us - Ryoko and Ayeka - as much when we're separate? And who will you choose?"
"I... I don't know. I will love you, though, both of you - I always will. Always have, come to think of it. Even when you were separate before."
Ryeka was starting to cry. "I don't want to separate again. I'd feel so alone without both Ryoko and Ayeka's minds... and if you chose one of us over the other, I don't know how the one you didn't choose would handle it..."
Tenchi's eyes widened, then he started patting her on the back. "It'll be all right. I won't let either of you ever be alone... and you don't have to separate if you don't want to."
"But... Washu says, if we don't separate now, we may never be able to. Can you live with that? Not seeing Ryoko or Ayeka as themselves again?"
"Ryeka... I see both of them every time I look at you."
Ryeka smiled through her tears. "That's so sweet..." She leaned in and kissed him, and the two continued kissing as the ferris wheel started up again.
o-o-o
"You WHAT?!" Washu demanded of Ryeka the next morning.
"We do not wish to be separated. We have grown accustomed to this shared existence - to even enjoy it. And sharing one body (and to extent, one mind) solves the problem of our fights over Lord Tenchi."
"I can't believe the merging has moved this far already! I better get you two separated, pronto."
"Washu, it is not our 'merging' speaking. Both of us, Ryoko and Ayeka, have come to this decision. Believe us!"
"I... It's not that I don't believe that is what you think, I'm just saying, you should separate first, then think on it further. If you really want to share Ayeka's body, even then..." rolling her eyes and throwing up her arms, she said, "Well, who am I to insist on the sane course of action?!"
"Thank you, Little Washu. That plan sounds pretty good."
"All right, now that we've got that settled, will you get back in my separation machine - we've got a lot of work to do."
o-o-o
After -at Ryeka's insistence- Tenchi, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki had been summoned, Washu once more strapped Ryeka down in her machine, wires and other odd devices attached haphazardly across Ryeka's body.
For several hours, Ryeka was bathed with blue radiation (Tenchi and Sasami excused themselves occasionally to get snacks and use the bathroom). Meanwhile, Washu moved the glass cylinder holding the naked Ryoko-clone to the main room of her lab.
And so, not long after lunch (which Washu had insisted Ryeka forgo, despite Tenchi and Sasami's offers to feed Ryeka by hand), Washu announced. "It's time!"
She flipped some switches, and pulled down a couple of levers. A psychedelic rainbow of colors coursed over Ryeka and the Ryoko-clone. Then, of their own accord, Ryoko's gems separated from Ayeka's wrists, and traveled down specially prepared tubes to the cylinder where Ryoko's new body rested. There, they attached themselves to Ryoko's wrists. More light coursed over the two for a few moments, then it died down.
Ayeka let out a moan (somehow, even though her hair was still a mess, the others thought they could tell that it was now only Ayeka); and in her tube, Ryoko's eyes opened.
o-o-o
"Well, isn't this a sight for sore eyes," Ryoko commented, looking down at her new body. She glanced over at Washu. "Are you sure this is an exact duplicate, mom? I thought for sure my breasts were bigger..."
Ayeka -now released from her bonds, and having donned a kimono - said in a tired voice, "I assure you, that's exactly how you've always looked, Ryoko."
"She's right, Ryoko," Washu added.
"If you say so..."
Sasami spoke up. "It's good to have you back, both of you!"
Ayeka smiled, and Ryoko chuckled. "We haven't been anywhere, Sasami," they both said, almost simultaneously. Without missing a beat, Ayeka continued, "You're just able to see both of us now."
Ryoko stretched. "So, Sasami, you still got some lunch left over? For some reason, I feel like I haven't eaten in months!"
Sasami giggled. "Of course. Come on!" She and Ryoko headed out, followed by Ryo-Ohki.
Ayeka trembled and put her hand to her head. "My, it is most strange to not have her in my mind any more. I feel like I am missing something - much as one does when one has just left on a long journey, and feels sure one has forgotten something."
"I'm sure you'll adjust... Ayeka," Tenchi said. "Now why don't we go to the kitchen and get something for you to eat."
"Yes. A good idea... Lord Tenchi."
As they left Washu alone in the lab, Washu started picking stuff up. "Well. Glad that's finally over with..."
o-o-o
"So, what's it like to have your own body again, Ryoko?" Sasami asked.
"Interesting. It's sort of like getting out of prison, or something. Not that I felt trapped in Ayeka's body - It's just, I don't need to ask before I do stuff anymore."
"So, it's liked being without parents or a baby-sitter watching you?"
"I wouldn't know - Washu's the only parent I've ever had, and I didn't even meet her until we freed her from that crystal in the cave near the shrine."
"Oh."
After eating in silence for a few minutes (during which Ayeka and Tenchi showed up, and Sasami got Ayeka some food), Ryoko commented, "You know, it's funny - I don't feel nearly as alone as I thought I would after the separation."
Ayeka looked surprised. "You don't?"
"No. Why, do you?"
"Er, of course not!"
"Sorry to hear that. Maybe you just need some time," Ryoko said as if Ayeka had admitted to being lonely.
"Perhaps..." Ayeka said quietly.
Tenchi stared at the two of them, not quite sure what to make of how they were acting. I guess it's better than having them fighting! he thought.
Continuing on, Ryoko said, "Either that or Washu messed up. I mean, it almost feels like there's another mind in this body already!"
Ayeka smiled. "I'm sure it's just your imagination - unless, of course, Mihoshi tried to help Washu out at some point."
Remembering the Mecha Washu incident, Ryoko shuddered. "Sharing a body with Mihoshi - now, that's a scary thought!"
Ayeka giggled.
Seeing how well they were getting along, Tenchi finally began to relax. He let his gaze rest upon Ryoko. Even if he missed "Ryeka", it was good to be able to look at Ryoko again.
o-o-o
Several days later, Tenchi and all the girls (Ayeka, Ryoko, Sasami, Washu, and even Mihoshi and Kiyone) went to the carnival. Washu had to be stopped from "improving" the rides, and Kiyone spent most of her time keeping Mihoshi out of trouble, but aside from that, things went rather uneventfully. To everyone's surprise, there was still no sign of Ryoko and Ayeka's chronic feuding. Whatever they had gone through in "Ryeka's" mind seemed to have turned them from arch-rivals into best of friends. (Although that didn't reduce their obsession with Tenchi any, or even make them willing to share him - there just wasn't any hostility when they pushed each other out of the way to get at Tenchi...)
A couple of Tenchi's old classmates stared as Tenchi walked by, Ryoko and Ayeka each holding one of Tenchi's arms and trying to snuggle closer to Tenchi. "Where does that guy get off, hogging all the girls like that?!"
"I don't know... but wasn't that Tenchi Masaki?"
"What? Couldn't be. I know it kind of looked similar, but Tenchi couldn't get a girl's attention if his life depended on it. Gotta be someone else."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right."
o-o-o
And soon, a new routine was established.
In many ways, things were much like they had once been, before Kagato... except, of course, for Ryoko and Ayeka's truce, and the absence of Tenchi's grandfather.
It seemed as if the "endless carnival ride" had returned at last. (Although just as before, everyone knew in the backs of their mind it couldn't truly go on forever - if nothing else, Ayeka would have to return to Jurai soon to resume her responsibilities as Queen.)
... Still unable to choose between the two girls (and no longer fearing them destroying prefecture in their jealousy), Tenchi dated both Ayeka and Ryoko. But the more he dated them, the more he realized he would never be able to choose between them...
o-o-o
A little over a month later, as the first flakes of winter snow began to fall, Ryoko and Ayeka stood on a ridge overlooking the valley Tenchi's house rested in.
"So, it isn't working, is it?" Ryoko said.
Ayeka crouched down and clasped her arms tight around herself. "... No, it isn't."
They were both silent for a few minutes, then Ayeka continued, "I still feel incomplete. And Lord Tenchi... if he will not marry me and join me on Jurai, I do not know what I shall do. I can't bring myself to ignore my responsibilities much longer, but neither can I stand the thought of being without Lord Tenchi..." Tears began to flow from her eyes, but the slight breeze was enough to keep them from getting more than the upper edges of her cheeks wet.
Ryoko sighed. "I guess I have it better than you - nobody's going to get on my case for giving up the space pirate biz- not if they value their life, any way," she said, the last bit with a smile. Then her face grew serious again. "But if Tenchi were to choose me over you... I don't know, it just doesn't seem right, somehow." Another smile. "Jeeze, I'm going soft." Then a pause, and in a serious tone once more, "... But I guess I know what you mean when you say you feel incomplete. I try to tell myself I'm being silly, but the truth is, I miss sharing my thoughts with you. And the idea of being with him without you just doesn't hold the same appeal anymore, you know?"
"... Yes, indeed. I think Ryeka... I think we were right, before. As improbable... as unnatural as it seems... we were destined to be together, as much as we were destined to be with Lord Tenchi."
Ryoko looked down at Ayeka, her expression unreadable. Unable to take the teary-eyed Ayeka staring up at her, waiting for a reply, Ryoko turned and looked out across the valley.
"... Yeah... I suppose you're right." Ayeka couldn't see the tears that were now forming in Ryoko's eyes, but she could see Ryoko's clenched fists.
"Why?!" Ryoko exclaimed in frustration. "Why do I have to make a decision like this! I'm supposed to be the great Space Pirate Ryoko! I'm not supposed to need anyone! ... When it was just Tenchi, I could pretend he was just another prize for me to steal... but this...?! What would the other space pirates think...? What would Nagi think, to find out that I would consider abandoning my own body to share the body of a prissy princess? They'd think I'd gone insane. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised to find out I had..." Her shoulders slumped, and now Ayeka could hear Ryoko's sobbing.
Ayeka stood up and put her arm around Ryoko. "And when has the Great Space Pirate Ryoko cared what the other pirates, or Nagi, thought of her decisions?"
Ryoko turned to her, and gave a weak smile through her tears. "Not in a long time, Ayeka. Not in a long time."
"So let's forget them... and those Jurains who could rule themselves if they only realized it... and think about what's best for us... and Lord Tenchi."
Continuing to cry and smile, Ryoko nodded. She wrapped her own arm around Ayeka, and the two supported each other as they thought about the future.
o-o-o
"You can't possibly be serious! You really want me to return Ryoko to Ayeka's body?!" Washu couldn't' believe her ears.
Ayeka nodded. "That's right, Little Washu. We have thought deeply on the subject, and have decided this is what we want."
Ryoko chimed in, "We've discussed it with the others, and they're all okay with it. So no more arguing!" (This was stretching the truth slightly - Sasami and Tenchi had experienced so many changes in Ryoko and Ayeka that they didn't know what to think now, Mihoshi and Kiyone didn't really care, and they hadn't bothered asking anyone on Jurai.)
Washu asked, incredulous, "Don't I get a say in it? I am your mother, after all..."
"No!" Ryoko said, more forcefully than she'd intended.
"Just asking. Well, if you're sure... who am I to argue? You do realize, though, that your mental merging will go even faster now - it probably won't be possible to separate you again -ever- after a few days?"
Ayeka looked a little pale, and Ryoko gulped, but that was as close as they came to flinching.
Ryoko began, "No, we did not know that... but it doesn't matter."
Ayeka nodded. "We have already made our final decision."
Washu still looked reluctant. "Well... in that case, you know the drill. Ryoko, you get undressed and into the body/soul separator, and Ayeka, you head to the room where I merged Ryoko with you the first time. ... Let's get this over with..."
o-o-o
Ryeka opened her eyes to see Tenchi looking down on her.
"Good morning, Ryeka."
She quickly sat up, grasping him as she did, and drew him into a long and exuberant kiss.
When they finally separated, Ryeka smiled. "Good morning, Tenchi. It's good to be back."
Sasami and Mihoshi (who had also shown up while Ayeka/Ryoko/Ryeka was out of it) sighed happily at the romance of it all.
Washu shook her head. "Crazy kids."
Everyone filed out, heading back to the house to grab some food, and perhaps a dip in the hot springs. (Ryeka suggested they should celebrate her return by allowing Tenchi in the hot-tub with them, much to Kiyone's distress, and Sasami's amusement.) Washu stayed behind to tidy up some things.
When she got to the now lifeless Ryoko-clone, she wondered out loud, "Now, what to do with you? I'd really hate to waste all the work I put into you... Maybe I could use you as a replacement for Mecha Washu? ... Oh, well, I'll figure something out..." Leaving the clone there fore the time being, she headed out to join the others.
o-o-o
A few hours later, the Ryoko-clone's eyes fluttered open. She sat up, yawned, and stretched. "My, that was a good nap," she said in a somewhat goofy voice. "But where am I? This looks like Washu's lab... Oh, yeah, I was in here and got zapped by that big tube holding the Ryoko copy."
She stepped down onto the floor, and gave a start as her bare feet touched the cold floor. Looking down at herself, she exclaimed, "I'm naked! And I'm a girl!" Looking herself over, and spotting her reflection in some shiny metal, she commented, "Hey, I look just like the Ryoko copy! ... In fact, I think I am the Ryoko copy!" After thinking about this for a few moments, she finally concluded, "Neat!" She then had to wipe some blood away from her nose.
Suddenly, another thought occurred to her. "... This means, I can get into the woman's bath now!" A perverted smile crossed her face.
o-o-o
Epilogue
"And do you, Ryeka Hakubi Jurai take Tenchi Masaki to be your lawful wedded husband, for as long as you both shall live?"
"Lawfully and unlawfully."
"What?" the Priest said, caught off guard by this odd answer.
"I do," Ryeka clarified.
The Priest blinked, then quickly continued, "I now pronounce you husband and wife!"
The small crowd cheered as Tenchi and Ryeka kissed.
...Later, at the reception, the old gang was chatting together.
"So, do you really have to go, Sasami?" Mihoshi asked.
"Uh, huh. With my sister abdicating the throne, I've gotta be there to assure the people the monarchy will continue."
Mihoshi hugged her and started crying. "Oh, I'll miss you!"
"Er, it's not like we won't be seeing each other again..."
When she had managed to extricate herself from Mihoshi's arms, Sasami asked Ryeka and Tenchi, "So, where are you going on your honeymoon?"
Ryeka smiled and said, "The real question is where won't we be going? We're gonna paint the Galaxy red... ain't that right, Tenchi, dear?"
"Uh... If you say so. So long as you don't go on a crime spree, or something..."
"Would I do that?" Ryeka asked innocently.
Deciding to change the subject, Tenchi turned to his father, on whose arm the Ryoko clone was clinging.
"So, Dad... and, er, Dad... you two going to be able to keep the shrine in order while Ryeka and I are gone?"
"Of course!" Nobuyuki answered, followed immediately by his companion's "Not a problem!"
Washu -who seemed a bit drunk- cried, "I still can't believe Tenchi's father's personality ended up in my Ryoko copy!" She pointed at Mihoshi. "This is all your fault!" she slurred.
Mihoshi asked, confused, "Me? What did I have to do with it?"
Kiyone put her hand on Mihoshi's shoulder. "Never mind her, Mihoshi."
"Oh. Okay!"
Kiyone rolled her eyes.
And before long, Tenchi and Ryeka headed for parts unknown in Ryo-Ohki, Sasami and the Guardian logs Azaka and Kamidake headed back to Jurai, and Mihoshi and Kiyone headed back to Tokyo. Washu retreated to her lab, locking the door in hopes she wouldn't be disturbed as she tried once again to get Mecha Washu working properly... And Nobuyuki and Nobu-Ryoko headed off somewhere private to... work on a house design together.
... And they all lived happily ever after; The End!
o-o-o-o-o
Author's Note: My original plan was to show Ryoko and Ayeka growing closer over time, while the gang had a number of different adventures while they waited for Washu to finish the clone. However, after chapter 4 I ran out of ideas, so I decided to skip ahead to the end rather than leaving the story without an ending indefinitely.