Returning Home

Tenchi awoke the next morning, half expecting to see Ryoko floating above him patiently waiting for him to wake up. When he could see clearly he realized there was no Ryoko in his room this time. "Ryoko...?" Pulling himself out of his bed, he dragged his feet downstairs to find the kitchen completely empty, "Where did everyone go?" Scratching his head in a confused manor, he stumbled outside of the house to see all of the alien girls circling around Ryoko and Ayeka, "Not again..." Tenchi sighed depressingly.

"Why don't you leave Tenchi and me alone? Isn't it clear enough for you that Tenchi loves me and not you?!" Ayeka snorted a high-class laugh as Ryoko stood there taking the insults with her fists clenched. "How could he love-no even like a space pirate like you? You're so bossy and so sloppy-no Jurai born prince would want to love you!"

"Ayeka stop it! That's enough!" Tenchi yelled as he started to push by the group of girls that were circled around the two.

"You should just go back to space Ryoko-you're not needed or wanted around here!"

Something in Ryoko snapped it could have been her sanity or her hand that she threw out at Ayeka's face. But it wasn't Ayeka that she had sent to the ground, it was Tenchi who had the bloody nose. "Tenchi!" screamed all the girls when they finally realized that he was hurt.

Tenchi had gotten in front of Ayeka to stop the two of them fighting; he was the one who was hit with Ryoko's powerful right jab. "Look at what you have done!! Lord Tenchi are you alright?" Ayeka knelt down next to him as he held his bloody nose with his left hand. "Always results to brute strength..." the alien princess muttered under her breath.

Sasami, Washu, and Mihoshi pushed by Ryoko; who was standing there shocked beyond all reason; to help Tenchi's nose stop bleeding. "We can try out one of my new inventions now!" Washu, the mad scientist, cried out enthusiastically.

He was protecting Ayeka...Ryoko thought to herself sadly, Maybe he really doesn't love me...Lowering her head, the shadows covered the expression on her face; Ryoko turned away from the overly loud group of girls that were fusing over Tenchi's bleeding nose. No one heard her leave the front step of the Masaki house, she left to go and relax in the hot springs underground the house.

"I'll go get a warm cloth for Tenchi!" Sasami offered loudly as her sister, Ayeka, continued to touch Tenchi's nose making him scream in pain even louder.

"No-no! This is perfect-we can try my new bone-mender machine!" Washu cried out in her crazy scientific voice.

Tenchi held his nose between his index and middle finger, "Mone-mendr mashie?" he started to get nervous. "I bope this doesbent envolva eletrisipy Waspu!" his words were broken up as he continued to talk while holding his nose together with his fingers.

Meanwhile, back at the hot springs, Ryoko dipped into the warm water to relax her aching muscles. Her mind raced with crazy and ill thoughts about getting rid of that annoying Ayeka before she could do some real damage to Ryoko's and Tenchi's future. What really worried her was what Tenchi had done and had said to her yesterday, Was he already in love with another girl? Another horrible thought crossed her mind; If Ayeka is so keen on me leaving her with Tenchi...does she know something that I don't?

Holding her breath, she went under the water for a few moments and came back up, "Tenchi..." she sighed sadly as she thought more about him. She decided to lean her head against the edge of the hot springs and close her eyes to rest; all she could think about was Tenchi.

"Meow..." cried an animal-like voice from behind Ryoko's head, it was Ryo-oki. This rabbit-like space pet belonged to Ryoko; Ryo-oki was her spaceship in fact. Ryo-oki, like all Earth rabbit-like creatures, is crazy for carrots. The two were connected mentally; Ryo-oki always knew when her master was depressed; they could communicate to one another without speaking a word. The brown rabbit-like space pet rubbed its head up against Ryoko's making a purring sound. "Meow meow!"

Opening her eyes, the space pirate found a pair of yellow eyes staring right back into hers, "Nothing is wrong Ryo-oki...I was just thinking to myself..." she reassured her pet with a fake smile. Ryoko closed her eyes again, "You better get back to Sasami, she'll be worried if you are gone for dinner...I heard she was making carrot soup tonight..."

Ryo-oki gave a cry of joy; that was her favorite soup; she bumped Ryoko's head for a sign of affection and hopped away to find Sasami so she could get something to eat. "Meow!!"

With another large sigh, Ryoko placed her arms behind her head and tried to fall asleep in the warm water. After thirty minutes of resting, she grumbled when she heard Sasami yell out that it was dinner time. Getting out of the water, she wrapped a towel around herself and slowly went upstairs to grab some regular clothes to wear for the rest of the night. As she headed towards her room, she heard Tenchi talking with his grandfather Yosho in Tenchi's bedroom.

"So that's why you've been keeping it a secret from everyone in the house for such a long time Tenchi..." Yosho sounded like he finally understood everything now.

"I just couldn't bring myself to tell Ryoko or Ayeka the real reason of why I'm moving to Tokyo..."

Ryoko floated above the doorway of Tenchi's room as she listened to them without being noticed, Moving? Why is Tenchi moving to Tokyo for when he has a house here?!

Tenchi scratched his forehead, "I'll have to tell them all sooner or later though... I don't know how Ryoko will handle it-she's been pretty angry with me for the past two days about this. Maybe if I bring Lily over for dinner tomorrow, the girls can see how happy I am with her..."

With a loud thud, Ryoko fell to the floor in front of Tenchi's open doorway; she was pale in the face as she stared at Tenchi with complete horror. "How could you...?" Ryoko cried out loudly as she pushed herself off of the floor, "Don't you care about me at all?!"

Yosho and Tenchi were both red in the face; they almost looked alike; "I-I...I'm in love with Lily..." Tenchi whispered as he took a step towards her.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, "Who the hell is this LILY-Tenchi!" her right hand was raised in the form of a fist. "Why haven't I heard of her before?!" Ryoko demanded as she watched her almost perfect life with Tenchi crumble before her eyes.

"I met her five months ago, she's in one of my art classes...We're moving in together in Tokyo since we have the same art classes this year," he embraced himself for Ryoko's cries of divergence with such arrangements without asking her first.

Ryoko stood there in his doorway with a defeated look, "You couldn't tell me Tenchi...?" tears streamed down her cheeks as she took a step away from the boy she loved.

Tenchi's face grew emotional when he realized that Ryoko was broken-hearted with the news, "I didn't want to hurt you any more Ryoko..."

"Hurt me?!" she cried loudly in pain, "I love you Tenchi! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!" Ryoko tired one last time to convince Tenchi that he loved her too-she knew that he did. When he did not say anything back, Ryoko turned away with even more tears strolling down her cheeks, "I love you Tenchi..." she whispered in a broken-hearted voice.

Biting his lip, Tenchi didn't know what to do-he was in love with Lily or so he thought he was. As he took a step towards Ryoko she floated into the air and disappeared from sight, Tenchi's hand was reaching out to touch her shuddering shoulder, "Ryoko..."

"Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka was standing at the top of the stairs; tears were streaming down her cheeks too. "You're leaving us for good?" the Jurai Princess had heard every word that Tenchi had said to Ryoko. When Tenchi just nodded his head, Ayeka ran down the stairs bawling her eyes out.

Ryoko went to a secluded place, sitting next to the Jurai tree that Ayeka and Sasami had planted when they had first come to Earth. Crying silently to herself, she watched the ripples on the lake that surrounded the Jurai tree, "Tenchi..." She leaned against the tree, closing her eyes she screamed out Tenchi's name to relieve the stress that she had bottled up in her. "You damn bastard..." Ryoko's hands were grasping the crisp grass to help her contain her anger. Keeping her eyes closed, more tears rolled down her cream-colored skin, "Tenchi..."

That night Ryoko never returned to the Masaki house, Ayeka cried down in the hot springs during dinner and did not return to her room until very late at night. The Masaki household kept silent for the next two days, every member mourning that Tenchi would leave the very next morning for Tokyo. Sasami sniffled back the oncoming tears when she cooked Tenchi's favorite dishes those last days, while Mihoshi hugged Tenchi goodbye every time she saw him in the house. Washu kept to her room, working on a new invention for Tenchi before he leaves for Tokyo. Tenchi's father and grandfather helped Tenchi pack, giving Tenchi hugs goodbye the night before.

Tenchi was worried for Ryoko, she had never returned to the house for three nights now. Sasami, Mihoshi, Washu, Ryo-oki, and Tenchi went outside searching for Ryoko on the third night. Even Ayeka joined the search party; she missed her daily fights with Ryoko and making fun of her boyish-ways. Their search was unsuccessful that night, the girls sadly trudged home while Tenchi stayed out to look for Ryoko some more.

He never knew but Ryoko was watching him as he called out her name, she sat on a tree branch directly above him. There was deep pain in Ryoko's heart as she glanced down upon him, she wanted to jump down from her hiding spot and hug him so she could say her final goodbyes to him. She stopped herself from doing so; Tenchi would not stay no matter what Ryoko would do. He was in love with someone else; there was no need for her anymore, I'm useless...

Tenchi shivered in the night air, he glanced around the area and called her name once more before he headed back towards the Masaki house to warm up. Of course Tenchi felt like the reason Ryoko had left was completely his fault; he kicked a pebble all the home; but he was in love with 't Ryoko accept that? He shook his head; Ryoko will never accept me falling in love with another woman...

Once he was out of sight, Ryoko dropped down from the cherry blossom tree; shaking the red petals out of her blue hair; and rubbed her arms to stay warm. The tears on her cheeks nearly froze as she stood there watching the outline of Tenchi walking away from her.