The Sea of Change

by La Magdalena

Set after Tenchi Forever, Ryoko is no longer satisfied with the current love triangle situation. An introspective look at her steps to mature.

16. I began to drink to drown my sorrows

I never forget a face,

But in your case

I'll be glad to make an exception.
                              Marx

I began to drink to drown my sorrows,

but the suckers learned to swim.

"I'm so tired… my feet feel like their resting on hot coals instead of this pillow." Mayuri complained as she reclined her head on the sofa's headrest. Fei lifted Mayuri's feet and extended her legs the length of the sofa, trying to ease some of her pain from rehearsing twenty hours straight in the coldest winter ever recorded for Tokyo.

"How is your dance number going Mayuri?" Fei asked while serving them some green tea.

"It's torture. Every time I perform for the headmaster, he finds more and more mistakes with my positions." She sat up and clenched her hands. "So I go back and do it over again. Practicing in silk kimonos, silk! Can you imagine how cold you get when you have nothing on but silk? Still I rehearse, going over and over again in my head the steps, retracing my movements and fixing the mistakes he noted. When I'm blue in the face, my legs and arms are numb, and my nose is as red as a cherry I get called back. This time he lists a whole new set of problems." With a groan Mayuri sat back and sighed discontentedly. "Of course I'll go back tomorrow and try my hardest to fix the new mistakes."

"You volunteered Mayuri?" When Mayuri nodded Fei continued, "I don't think anyone will think less of you if you make up some excuse and leave."

"Are you serious?" Mayuri massaged her temples as her eyes waited for Fei's response. "Do you know how many geisha want to perform in this festival? You know the honor it is to be asked personally to perform by the headmaster? You'd be digging yourself a whole fifty feet deep if you were to decline the offer, much less accept and then back out" Mayuri said when Fei remained silent.

"The headmaster asked you? But he's the one giving you all the trouble?"

Mayuri sat up with one hand firmly supporting her back. "The performance has to be perfect Fei. Anything less it's not acceptable. I may whine and complain, but the truth is I am thankful for the chance he has given me." She grinned and motioned with her head for Fei to lean in closer. "You know I'm the first geisha in twenty years to be asked to perform without auditioning first?"

Fei nodded. "I think someone has a crush on you," she teased.

"Crush?" Mayuri withheld a laugh at Fei's childish choice of words. "I don't think he has a crush on me Fei. He has asked me to partner up with him and open a teahouse in Kyoto after the festival season is through."

"He has!" Fei's eyes grew round and she smiled. "That means he will be your danna."

"Wait a minute. He is not my danna, nor are we forming that kind of partnership."

Fei shrugged her shoulders.

"I thought you were a geisha?" Mayuri asked.

"I am!"

"Well then why are you asking silly questions?"

Fei struggled with a response as Mayuri nodded her head.

"Going into business with one of the best Kabuki dancers is like walking on the street and finding it's raining jade."

"Aren't you afraid he will demand something from you?"

"Like what?"

"… You know…"

Mayuri laughed. "Do you live in feudal Japan?"

Fei shook her head and Mayuri laughed even louder.

"It was a rhetorical question honey." She raised her cup," Can I have some more tea?"

Fei poured and handed it back.

"Mmm. Delicious. You make a mean cup of tea." Mayuri eyed the table, but decided the movement would be too painful for her back. Instead she settled it down precariously on her flat stomach, making it rise and fall with her breathing.

"Can I ask you something?"

Fei who had almost been hypnotized by the moving cup, snapped back to attention with Mayuri's voice. "Sure."

"Why did you become a geisha?"

Fei fidgeted with her yukata as she searched for an answer.

"I see…"

"I didn't answer your question." Fei said perplexed.

"You didn't have to."

Fei stuttered before giving up on to make sense to what she had just said and just sat quietly. Her chest heaved and her shoulders shook with a strain that could only mean crying.

"Why are you…" Mayuri heaved her self-upright not holding in a groan in the process and placed an arm over her friend, moving the cup to the table, "crying?"

"Your right Mayuri-san."

"About what?"

"I only became a geisha because it was the only way out."

Mayuri sat silent, giving Fei the time needed for her confession.

"My … boyfriend and I were very happy." Fei snorted bitterly before continuing. "For a short while anyway. After I moved in with him, he began to change. He was no longer the man I had fallen in love with. The flowers and poem he always read to me disappeared. He no longer held me as I went to sleep and would stay out hours, even days at a time. I kept ignoring it. Looking the other way, but one night he came home infuriated. He slammed the door. Ranting and raving, saying things I couldn't understand and when I failed to answer him he … hit me… with a bat" Fei snorted and wiped her eyes. "He loved to play baseball, he would have gone pro if it hadn't been for his injury. I guess with all the alcohol he drank, he mistook me for the ball." Fei laughed harder while Mayuri caressed her hair gently, tenderly. She had heard similar stories more times than she cared to count.

"Time passed, the situation worsened. I became pregnant and in response he hit me harder." Fey let out a sob that made her whole body shake. Holding on to Mayuri as a lifeline she continued. "That was the third time I awoke in the hospital. The doctors told me that the baby's head had been damaged, and that he would be … retarded."

She looked up at her with eyes filled with anger. "They asked me if I wanted to continue with the pregnancy… I was the one who chose to terminate it. I couldn't have a retarded baby… I couldn't shame him like that."

"Oh Fei."

"I went back to him, but when I found out I was pregnant again, I ran away. This time the baby was going to have a chance… I was so scared Miki was going to come out like the other one…"

Fei broke down and cried on Mayuri's lap, crushing her legs. Mayuri on her part swallowed the pain Fei was causing to her sore body and focused more on her confession.

Would she have terminated her second pregnancy if baby Miki had developed badly?

"I wonder how Cat is doing with the ambassador?" Fey asked suddenly, trying desperately to change the conversation.

"I imagine she's fine. Cat knows very well how to handle a man like the ambassador."

"Do you think she will accept him as her danna?"

Mayuri shifted back to the couch. "What is you obsession with dannas?

"Nothing." Fey sniffed defensively. "It's just … wouldn't it be lonely to live your life without a man? Without love?"

"Absolutely. But if your looking for your soul mate, accepting a danna for love is like looking for a needle in a haystack. It's not going to happen."

"But the ambassador is soo dreamy. They would make such a nice couple!"

"Well if your talking about Cat, she might accept." Mayuri observed.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because Cat has her own set of problems. She is running away from a man just like you are."

Fey looked at Mayuri quietly. "Has Cat mentioned to you anything about flying?"

"Flying? Like getting high?"

"No, never mind. I'm going to see if Miki is awake from his nap."

"Meanwhile I'll have my nap." Mayuri joked. She looked up to smile at Fei but she was gone. "Poor Fei…" she said to herself as slumber slowly overtook her.

*  *  *  *  *   *   *   * *  **     

"Wake up sleepy head."

Mayuri groaned and swatted away the hand that had been gently shaking her shoulder.

"Five more minutes okasan." She mumbled.

"Tell that to the headmaster my dear girl."

Rehearsal! I overslept!

Mayuri shot forward, bumping her head with Ryoko's shoulder. "Ow! Since when do you wake up like that?" Ryoko teased as she massaged Mayuri's head instead of her own shoulder.

"I'm late for rehearsal! Why didn't anybody wake me?" Mayuri demanded as she stood up only to fall back down on the couch.

"Slowly Mayuri-san. Your muscles are sore and with the cold you'll get cramps in places you didn't even know existed. Here hand me that leg." Ryoko sat on the other end of the couch as she began massaging her left leg.

"Let go of my leg! I'm going to be late!"

"Easy grumpy." Ryoko teased. "You aren't going to be late." Mayuri looked at her with surprise.

"You are late." Ryoko clarified.

Mayuri growled and through a pillow at her.

"Hey! Is that what I get for saving you ass?"

"What are you talking about?" Mayuri asked from her position on the opposite end of the couch, with arms folded over her chest. It did not go unnoticed by Ryoko that her left leg hadn't moved, and that she made little noises of approval as Ryoko slowly unknotted her muscles.

"I was so kind as to call the headmaster and told him I was hosting a last minute party, and that you were the only geisha that could help me out of the bind." Ryoko grinned.

"Well, now we're even."

Ryoko's eyes flashed to her friend's face. "Even! What kind of thank you is that?"

Mayuri laughed. "Well we are even. Remember that time I saved your behind in Kyoto. Serla would have killed you if she would have found out."

"I prefer to never speak of that again thank you." Ryoko cut her off with a sly grin.

"So he bought it?"

"The headmaster?"

Mayuri nodded.

"Yeah he bought it." Ryoko answered with a laugh.

"Mmm that feels so good." Mayuri almost purred as Ryoko moved on to the other leg. "I'm now officially convinced that dancing can kill you."

"It's that bad?"

"Yes! Of course look whom I'm talking to. I show you half my dance part only once and you get up and perform it perfectly on the first try."

Ryoko shrugged. "I had a stricter teacher I guess."

"Well then you must have been taught by a samurai or something," Mayuri joked. " That's the only teacher harder than a retired Kabuki legend."

Ryoko laughed at her comments. If you only knew. A few minutes passed as Mayuri's aches melted away under Ryoko's magical massage. Mayuri rested her head on the armrest and closed her eyes with a sigh.

"So… how did it go with the ambassador?" She asked with her eyes still closed.

"It went well."

Mayuri opened an eye and peered at her friend. "It went well?"

"Yeah."

"It went more than well, or you would be able to hide that grin on your face."

Ryoko blushed and spanked her thigh playfully. "What do you want from me geisha?"

"A little higher." Mayuri instructed Ryoko. "I want a declaration of love." She smiled as she sang the last word.

"Oh please. I didn't know you were so corny." Ryoko rolled her eyes.

"Fine! Be that way. Just don't come running to me when you want to know about my customers." Mayuri warned. More contented silence followed.

"What are you doing this weekend? Want to come to the theater with me?"

"I can't. I promised Kitty we'd go to the zoo. She's been whining to see the tigers since we got here."

"It's just the two of you?"

"No … I invited some people I met over at Basho's project house."

"You mean those college artists? Why?"

Ryoko shrugged her shoulders. "I kinda knew some of them before I came to Kyoto."

"How well did you know them?" Mayuri asked with curiosity.

"Very well."

"Arg! There's that word again. Don't make me slap you."

Ryoko snorted. "Like you could."

"Is this the person who you ran away from?"

Ryoko nodded. "No."

"Which one is it?"

"He's the one but he's changed."

"I see… Do you need a buffer zone?"

"I have Fei and Basho, maybe even Serla. It's alright, though to tell you the truth I'd prefer not to go."

"You have to go sometime. The sooner the better."

"I guess."

"Believe me. It's like taking off a band-aid. Quick motion or otherwise it hurts like hell."

"Nice analogy."

"Thanks."

"I was being sarcastic." Ryoko grinned.

"So was I."

Silence once gain reigned between the two geishas.

"Can I ask you something?"

"It depends."

"Have you ever used drugs?"

Ryoko stopped massaging. "What? You mean hallucinogens… stuff like that?"

"Yeah. Have you?"

"No why? Do I look messed up?"

"No. It's just that earlier today Fei said something about you flying or something. I was just curious."

"Fei said that."

Mayuri nodded. "Don't stop." She meant the massage, which Ryoko now continued.

"I don't know who gave her the idea that the only way to be worth something is by having a man by your side."

"Did she say something?" Ryoko asked alarmed.

"No… it's just the little things she says you know?"

Ryoko nodded. "Yeah. But I think she's more of a romantic than anything else."

"If only love were enough huh?" Mayuri joked.

"It's not enough for you and Ichima to live happily ever after."

"What?"

"Come one, don't tell me you haven't noticed how he looks at you. He's head over heals for you honey."

"He is isn't he?" Mayuri blushed slightly.

"Yes, and by your blush you like him too."

"Of course I like him, he's a kind man."

"How much do you like him?" Ryoko asked trying to get those three little words to slip from her tongue.

"Very much." She answered with a laugh. Teasing her just as Ryoko had teased her awhile back.

"Okay I deserve that." Ryoko said. "Why don't you give him a chance?"

"Why are you playing with the ambassador's affections?"

"I asked you first."

"And I asked you second."

Both girls remained silent, one waiting for the other to give in first.

"Fine!" Mayuri rolled her eyes, exasperated at Ryoko. "If I give Ichima a chance it will only get complicated. He wants me for himself."

"I'm not playing with his affections. He's the one who seeks me out." Ryoko then answered.

"Aren't you afraid he will fall in love with someone else?"

"Aren't you afraid you will fall in love?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Does Ichima know you feel this way about him?"

"Does the Ambassador know he actually stands a chance?"

"No. If he did he wouldn't leave me alone."

"Probably. I've given myself away more times than I can count."

"That's a very dangerous game to play Ryoko." Mayuri warned.

"Do you love him?" Ryoko asked ignoring Mayuri's warning.

"Do you love the ambassador? No wait I take that back. I already know the answer to that one. Do you love the painter guy?"

"What painter guy?"

"Hey you can't answer a question with a question! And don't play dumb. You know what guy I'm talking about."

"Game over," Ryoko stated flatly as she stood up.

"Don't you want to know if I love Ichima?" Mayuri tempted.

"I already know that you do. When it comes to your heart Mayuri, I can read you like a book."

"Where are you going?" Mayuri asked as she tried to stand. Smiling to herself as she discovered the pain in her muscles was greatly decreased.

"I'm going to change out of this kimono. If I even so much as wrinkle it Serla will have my head." Both girls chuckled as Ryoko made her way to the downstairs apartment.

*  *  *   *   *  **       *****

I'm so late! If I had any idea that party was going to take so long I would have made an excuse three hours ago!

Ryoko walked fast along the sidewalk, as fast as her wooden shoes and her training would let her. She was in geisha garb, and couldn't knock people down like she wanted to when they got in her way.

I have to go the hairdressers. Take my kimono to be fixed at Misha's by ten. That stupid button won't stay on. I'll have to ask her to widen the bust size. Imagine their faces if my boobs pop out along with the button. Ryoko laughed to herself as she continued her mental checklist, getting nearer to her apartment building. This is the last time I let Fei borrow Ichima. I can't believe how accustom I have come to people driving me around everywhere.

Ryoko opened the doors to her building and struggled with the packages she was carrying. Two vintage shamisens, meant as gifts for Serla and Fei. One gray yukata asked for personally by Basho for the winter festival. Two pink bows asked for by Ryo-ohki and a book of kabuki theater history for herself.

"Good evening Madam." The building's porter greeted Ryoko with a bow. "Can I help you with those?"

"It's okay I can manage. Can you get me the elevator?" Ryoko asked sharply, her patience wearing thin.

"A lady came to see you Madam," the porter informed her as he pressed the elevator button, trying to hide how flushed he always got when speaking to her.

"A lady? Did she leave her name?" Ryoko asked as she stepped in and pressed the 'Hold Open' button a bit impatiently.

He looked at the floor and chewed his top bit noisily. "No. She didn't leave a name."

Ryoko waited a second more to see if he had anything else to say and released the button.

"Though I'm not surprised she didn't leave a name. A woman like her, how can anyone forget? She had the most striking hairstyle. Spikes all over like a mane, and her eyes were like emeralds-"

Ryoko's hand shot out to keep the sliding doors from closing. "Wh. What did you say?"

"Come to think of it..." The porter for the first time stared directly into her eyes. "She was the spitting image of you."

Ryoko paled.

"Are you okay Madam? Do you want a glass of water?"

Ryoko shook her head, smiling weakly as the elevator doors closed.

Could it be Washu? Was it her that asked for me? Ryoko's mind all of a sudden felt like it had gone through a blender. Her temples throbbed and her mouth went dry.

This is the worst time for, of all people, her to show up. Why can't she just leave me alone!

The elevator doors opened once again and she walked unsteadily to her apartment, as if she were trying to make her way across the deck of a ship sailing though a hurricane. Dropping her bags carelessly on the couch and poured herself some Sapporo, she muttered to no one, "My mom drives me to drink." She chuckled as she poured herself another glass.

"She is going to want to get back at me for fooling her." Ryoko said to herself as she began walking from the bar to the kitchen. "She'll want to punish me, and this time I don't have any powers to protect myself. I'll just have to outsmart her then." Ryoko couldn't help but laugh at herself.

Yeah like it's that easy. For the thousands of years of life, I have only outsmarted her once…

She plopped down on the kitchen table and laid her head on the cold wood. "I need another drink." She whined to herself.

I just hope she doesn't mess me up too bad. I have some many things going on at the same time. Not to mention going to the blasted zoo. On top of worrying about Washu every minute of the day, I have to play nice tomorrow. Ryoko groaned and raised her head up slowly, blinking away the moisture in her eyes.

I just hope whatever she wants; the cost won't be too high.

"Hey when did you get back?" Serla asked as she padded her way into the kitchen with soft thuds on the wooden floor.

"Just a minute ago. The new shamisen came today along with Fei's."

"Do they look authentic? The man said they were from the sixteenth century, but for the price he gave them to us, it's doubtful." Serla grunted as she sat down next to her on the table, eyeing the empty glass briefly.

"I will take it down to Ish-i tomorrow. He will be able to tell us what century they are." Serla nodded along with her satisfied. "If it's worth anything, I looked at them myself and they look eighteenth century Osaka shamisen. Which isn't bad considering that was the beginning of the golden age for geisha. There's even an inscription on the inside of them, but it's to faded to read. Perhaps Ish-i can clean them out as well."

"Do you have a cigarette?"

Ryoko nodded as she produced a packet from her inside pocket. Serla took it hungrily, but cocked her eyebrows at seeing only two were left in a pack of twenty.

"I've had a stressful week." Ryoko defended herself. "Besides your one to talk."

Serla smiled innocently. "I didn't say a thing." She laughed with a hoarse tone and patted her shoulder. "Do not worry about tomorrow so much Catara-san."

Ryoko sighed and rested her hand on Serla's shoulder. "Mother I'm afraid I'll loose my temper."

"I thought we had overcome that little obstacle?" Serla asked as she caressed Ryoko's cheek.

"I did."

"But?"

"But it's different with them mother. I feel like I'm off tilt whenever they are around. My anger boils inside me like a furnace. I'm afraid in any moment I will erupt and ravage anything in my path."

"That's quite a feeling." Serla observed. "It's always difficult when you have something to prove Catara. Just remember that ultimately the only one who counts in your life is you. If you are happy, it will show through. Don't let your insecurities eat you up." With that Serla lifted Ryoko's face and stood up, turning the cigarette off in the sink.

"He said that too."

"What?" Serla asked stopping on the doorway.

"He said I had let my insecurities consume me."

Serla smiled. "What a smart man. I definitely want to meet him."

* *           *  *            * ***         * * * * * *

"How do I look?"

"How do I look!"

"Kitty-san calm down honey." Basho said absently as he patted

Ryo-ohki's hair while still listening to a conversation between Serla and an unknown phone caller.

"Go and wait for your sister in the living room." With a little shove and Ryo-ohki consented angrily. She stomped away feeling unappreciated.

She had spent two hours trying to get the two pink bows to stay in her hair. After the umpteenth try, they consented to her wishes somewhat. One indeed was on the left side, sitting prettily. The other kept falling sideways and getting lost in between her thick cyan tresses.

"Where's Cat? She better not miss this." Ryo-ohki said to herself as she looked at herself in the hallway mirror. "Hi hi hi!" She cupped her hands over her face, but her giggle s still managed to escape. "I look like a princess!" More laughter erupted which doubled in her efforts to stop it.

"Don't we look pretty today?" Ryoko said behind her. "But what happened to your hair?"

Ryo-ohki jumped at the surprise but recovered quickly as she ran to give her a hug.

"Umpf! You've gotten stronger baby." Ryoko almost purred. "But I'm going to have to fix that hair."

"I put the bows in all by myself but one keeps on falling." Ryo-ohki explained as she twirled around for Ryoko.

"The bows look fine Kitty. It's just you forgot to brush your hair. You have a gigantic cowlick in the back." Ryoko managed to say without laughing.

A very downcast Ryo-ohki looked down at her feet. "Oh. I knew I had forgotten something."

"Come on." Without warning Ryoko lifted her sister up, turning her over so as her feet were at her shoulder and Ryo-ohki was left dangling happily upside down. "We are going to tame that cowlick or I'm not a space pirate!" Ryoko declared.

"Is that what your going to wear?" A happy Ryo-ohki asked her sister as she brushed her hair.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Ryoko asked looking at her sister in the mirror they were both standing in front of in the bedroom.

"Aren't you going to wear a dress or something?"

"A dress? It's winter Kitty. And besides I'm comfortable in jeans and a sweater." Ryoko pointed the hairbrush at Ryo-ohki through the mirror. "Lucky for you little missy that you don't get sick, otherwise you would never wear this dress outside today."

Ryo-ohki giggled and swung her arms back and forth.

"Stay still." Ryoko instructed for the fifth time.

"I can't. I'm so excited! I'm finally going to see the tigers!"

"Yeah well, I'm not sure they will appreciate all the trouble your going through to get dressed honey."

"I don't care, I like to look pretty."

"You always look pretty." Ryoko said gently as she finished adjusting" the bows. Her hair still held her spikes, but now the bows could stay on.

"Let's go!" Ryo-ohki shouted.

* *                 * *                * *                 *  *                   *  *

"They're not here yet. Do you think they'll come?" Sasami worriedly asked Tenchi as they waited inside the entrance to the zoo.

"They probably got stuck in traffic, just keep looking for them. There's a lot of people today, and they might have overlooked us in all the frenzy." Tenchi said, hiding his own doubts.

"I can't see them anywhere." Mihoshi complained as she stood on tiptoe looking for Ryoko's signature cyan hair.

"I have a feeling they won't show." Kiyone whispered to Tenchi. Sasami overheard her statement.

"They will show because Ryoko promised me! You'll see they will!"

"There they are!" Ayeka pointed into the crowd. At which the whole family stood up.

"Where I don't see them?" Mihoshi asked.

"I don't see them either Ayeka." Tenchi also observed.

"There Lord Tenchi!"

Sure enough the first person who walked out of the crowd was Basho. He was talking to a woman about his age, with a low braid and millions of bracelets on both her arms, adorned with rings on each of her fingers. Next came Fei, which they had met at the hospital so long ago. She was talking and holding the hand of-

"Ryo-ohki!" Sasami laughed and cried. Jumping up and down, waving her hands in the air as she had finally spotted her.

"Look Ryo-ohki someone is calling you." Fei tenderly said as she spotted Sasami first. "I believe you know her from somewhere?" she teased.

Ryo-ohki looked in the direction Fei pointed and froze. "It's Sasami!"

"Yup"

Ryo-ohki just stood there, holding Fei's hand and biting her lip.

"Why are you standing here? Go on and say hello." Fei urged. Ryo-ohki looked around for Ryoko.

"Where is my sister? Did she know about this?"

"Of course! She planned the whole thing."

Ryo-ohki smiled but didn't move.

Sasami stopped jumping. "Why is she standing there Tenchi? Doesn't she want to see me?"

"Go on you silly girl before you make Sasami cry." A teasing voice urged her from behind. "I didn't know you were such a scary cat."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ryo-ohki twisted around to ask her big sister.

"It was a surprise honey, and enough with the twenty questions. Do you or do you not want to go say hello hmm?"

Ryo-ohki smiled and ran towards the family, leaving Ryoko and Fei behind, with Ryoko holding little Mikki a bit tighter.

"Are you ready?"

"No." Ryoko answered as they walked toward them.

Ryo-ohki dashed through the crowd, surpassing Basho and Serla. A few feet from Sasami she stopped. All of a sudden overcome with shyness she blushed and waved.

"Hi Ryo-ohki!" Almost everyone said simultaneously. Ryo-ohki's smile got bigger but still she didn't move. It seemed as if she were permanently stuck to the floor.

"Don't be shy Kitty! At least say hello." Basho's deep laugh came up from behind. "I've never seen her so quiet in my life!" Basho explained to the family as Ryo-ohki hugged his leg protectively.

"It's okay." Tenchi smiled and crouched down to Ryo-ohki's eye level. "She's such a beautiful little girl. It's a shame that the cat's got her tongue." Ryo-ohki giggled, but Tenchi's joke failed to bring her out of her shell.

"Well perhaps if you introduced yourselves she would be more inclined to greet you." Serla commented next to Basho. "Isn't that right Kitty?"

Ryo-ohki nodded her agreement.

"You must be Tenchi." Serla said.

"It's an honor to meet a member of Basho's family." Tenchi bowed keeping eye contact with the giggling Ryo-ohki.

"Did Ryoko talk to you about us?" Ayeka asked.

"Ryoko?" Serla asked surprised.

"I mean…. Uh …" Ayeka bit her lip nervously. "I must have said the wrong name… its just Catara looks … uh … She looks very similar to a pirate – I mean a friend of mine." Ayeka stumbled through the sentence.

"I see… well no she didn't. She hasn't mentioned you once." Serla answered.

"No why would she? I'm surprised she even remembers us from the hospital." Kiyone interrupted with a sarcastic tone.

"And you are?" Serla asked interested at how they interacted.

"I'm sorry. My name is Kiyone. And the blonde is Mihoshi."

"This is Serla." Basho put in, wrapping an arm around her. "The woman with balls of steel."

"Kiyone I thought you were the only woman with balls of steel." Mihoshi commented with a smile.

"Quiet Mihoshi." Kiyone hissed.

"You must be a cop."

"How did you know ma'am?"

"You stand straight, alert. One hand is always by your waist where the gun would rest, and you have the temper of bear."

"Ha ha! She's so right!" Mihoshi said surprised. Kiyone smiled weakly to a grinning Serla. "Good guess ma'am."

"Serla can guess more than that." Fei put in from behind. "Isn't that right Cat? Remember the time she read your cards? I won't ever forget the face you made." Fei said.

"Yeah, and it's all come true so far." Ryoko answered looking at Serla. "Everything except one thing."

"Have patience my dear, it will happen. You'll see." She said waving a finger at her. "Now Kitty. You say hello. These people will think we don't teach you any matters!"

Ryo-ohki looked up at her with a frown and went from Basho's leg to Ryoko's in a heartbeat.

"Excuse us." Ryoko said to no one and everyone.

Walking away from the group while holding Ryo-ohki's hand she kneeled down. "What is it?"

"I don't know what to say!" Ryo-ohki whispered to Ryoko's ear as if the family could hear her.

"Since when do you have nothing to say Kitty?" Ryoko asked with a smile. Ryo-ohki's frowned returned and she shrugged her shoulders nervously.

She's not kidding, Ryoko thought to herself in amazement. "Don't force it then. Words will come to you when you're ready." She looked over Ryo-ohki's shoulder at Sasami's downcast face. Poor kid. She probably thinks Ryo-ohki doesn't want to talk to her.

"How about some ice cream?"

Ryo-ohki looked up and nodded slowly. "There's my smiling Kitty." She stood up and offered her hand. "Come on then." 

Walking back to the group, she noticed they were all standing in a big uncomfortable clump. Except for Serla who never looks uncomfortable, ever.

Ayeka, who had decided to wear a dress that cut below her knees and a thin white sweater that would keep her warm but not make her look clumsy was trying to look like she wasn't shivering. She was standing next to Mihoshi huddling for warmth against the cool wind that was blowing in from the north. Mihoshi, with jeans and a sweatshirt was looking at a map of the zoo. By the thoughtful expression she wore, Ryoko guessed she was deciding on which animals to see first. Kiyone who was standing next to her, feigning to look over her shoulder at the map, was really looking at Ryoko and Ryo-ohki. Next to her was Serla who had lit a cigarette and was waiting a bit impatiently to begin the sightseeing. The circle closed of with Basho and Tenchi talking about… Ryoko could hear bits and phrases of art jargon. No doubt it had to be something about the project.

Basho can never not thing about his work.

"Ryo-ohki would like some ice cream before we begin. Anybody else want some?" Ryoko asked looking at Sasami and winking.

"Ryo-ohki likes ice cream?" Kiyone asked surprised. "That's not carrot flavored?" She whispered to Mihoshi.

"Yup! She answered Kiyone before adding, "I want some Cat."

"Any body else? Sasami you look like you would enjoy some ice cream?" Ryoko observed.

"Ice cream in the middle of winter? I don't know." Ayeka said looking down at her sister.

"It's alright Ayeka. I always have ice cream this time of year and I never get sick." Tenchi said taking Sasami hand.

"Alright how about you guys go for ice cream and we meet up at the primate cages?" Basho said.

Everybody nodded and the two groups went their opposite ways. With Serla leading the way for Basho, Kiyone, Ayeka, Fei, and baby Mikki. Ryoko and Kitty leading the way for Tenchi, Sasami and Mihoshi.

"Hmmm, what kind of ice cream do want?" Mihoshi asked herself out loud as the group looked at menu. "What do you recommend?" she asked Ryoko who was reading the menu to Ryo-ohki.

"Huh? Oh… I always go for the home made vanilla."

"I thought you liked the chocolate flavored one?" Sasami asked.

"Sometimes I do."

Looking back at Ryo-ohki she noticed one of her bows had fallen off. "Your bow Kitty!"

Ryo-ohki's hands immediately went to her hair. "Meow?!"

Why are you meowing Kitty?

"It must have fallen off around here." Tenchi searched the floor with his eyes.

"Here take Mihoshi's hand. I'll retrace our steps." Ryoko said handing her sister over to Mihoshi before she could protest.

"I'll help you." Tenchi added before Ryoko could protest him.

"What kind of ice cream do you guys want?"

"Homemade vanilla." Ryoko said as she began to walk away.

"Same for me but in a cone." Tenchi winked at the nervous Sasami and ran to catch up with Ryoko.

  *   *   *               ***          *           *    *       *

"It must be around here somewhere…"

"It was pink right?" Tenchi asked as they both retraced their steps carefully looking in every possible hiding place along the way.

"Yeah." Ryoko answered as she looked behind a bush.

"It might be torn up if we find it." Tenchi thought out loud as he noticed just how many people were making their way through this path.

"Kitty will be heartbroken. She has been asking for these special bows for weeks. Nothing else will do." Ryoko kept looking yet Tenchi noticed she would give glances at the people passing by them. She was looking at his or her faces as if she expected someone she knew to show up.

"Are you expecting someone else to come today?" Tenchi asked.

For the first time in their small conversation Ryoko stopped and looked at him in the face. "No. Are you expecting someone?" she asked with intensity in her eyes. She was studying his face, trying to decipher something unknown to Tenchi in his reaction. For a moment he could have sworn they were back in Okayama. Her face was so familiar to him.

"No." She kept on looking at him, wanting to be further reassured. "Everyone is here." He added.

He noticed her physically sigh and continue their search. "Maybe someone took it. It was such a nice looking bow, perhaps some little girl found it and put in on?"

"Or some little boy."

"Oh yeah?" Ryoko smiled. "I forgot that picture Nobuyuki has of you all dolled up."

"How could anyone?" Tenchi added happy that he could still make Ryoko smile. "He framed it in the foyer."

"Not to mention all of Okayama."

"What?"

"He didn't tell you?" Ryoko asked surprised.

"What?" Tenchi asked interested at Ryoko's face.

"He published it in the local newspaper. All of subscribed Okayama got to see cute little Tenchi." Ryoko grinned.

"That happened when I was five." Tenchi said waving it off.

"That's what the old man told you huh?"

Tenchi looked at Ryoko, this time it was his turn to try and decipher her gestures. She was grinning from ear to ear, trying to keep her laughter in.

"He published it again on your eighteenth birthday. You were Okayama's little princess for awhile there."

"No wonder I got all those snickers and pointed fingers as I walked through town. You could have said something."

"And ruin all the fun?" Ryoko scoffed good-naturedly at him. "You must be insane."

"Cat! We found it!" Mihoshi yelled a few yards back while trying to juggle three ice creams in her hands. Ryo-ohki was walking alongside Sasami with a huge smile on both their faces.

"Where was it?" Tenchi asked.

"It was hanging from a thread on her dress. Sasami spotted it first."

There was a roar in the distance that transfixed Ryo-ohki's face into complete wonderment.

"Ahh…" she inhaled deeply, her eyes growing round. "The tigers! Cat lets go see now!" She demanded, dragging her big sister by the hand. Another roar was heard in the distance, which made Ryo-ohki pull harder. She was so enraptured she didn't even notice she was speaking; of course Tenchi, Sasami, and Mihoshi stood dumbfounded by the clarity of her speech.

"The tigerrrs, tigerrrs, tigerrrs…" she sang as they made their way. Unconsciously dragging her r's out, making her seem like a little tiger cub herself.

"She sounds incredible." Tenchi whispered to Ryoko honestly.

"Of course she sounds incredible." Ryoko whispered back, between tugs and pulls Ryo-ohki gave her arm. "She's my sister."

"If I could have any animal in the world it'd be a tiger. Especially those white ones!" Ryo-ohki began excitedly. "Once Cat and I saw a program on the television where they showed how they hunted in the snow!" She turned to Sasami and grabbed her hand. "Want to see the tigerrrs with me?"

"Yes!"

Ryo-ohki smiled and hugged her, letting go of Ryoko's hand briefly. "I have missed you Sami."

"I've missed you too." Sasami said with watery eyes.

"Enough mushy stuff kiddos." Ryoko interjected before they became too sentimental.

"Yeah. You're going to make me cry." Mihoshi added in.

"What about the others?" Tenchi asked.

"Oh no! They're waiting by the primate cages." Mihoshi said.

"I'll go get them. You guys stay right here." Ryoko said, looking at Ryo-ohki and Sasami.

"No I'll go!" Mihoshi shouted, startling everyone.

"Are you sure? This is a big zoo, you might get lost." Ryoko pointed out.

"Don't worry about me," Mihoshi chuckled and waved her map in air. "I have the zoo map. I'll be back with the others before you know it! See you near the tigers!" Mihoshi looked at Ryoko and Tenchi before busting out in giggles and waking away.

"Ookay... let's go." Tenchi said after they watched Mihoshi walk away.

"You guys walk to slow! Hurry up!" Ryo-ohki said as her and Sasami walked even faster. "Oohh there are the cages!" Ryo-ohki pointed.

There was a long line, all waiting to see various feline animals, making the impatient Ryo-ohki growl.

"Why don't you guys weave your way across the line? You'll get there much faster that way." Tenchi offered. Both girls nodded in agreement.

"Hey don't separate, and come back when you've seen them!" Ryoko called after them, smiling to herself as the two girls made cute faces at the people as they cut in line.

Those little sneaks would make great con artists.

Want to sit down while we wait? They'll probably take awhile." Tenchi offered pointing to a bench a few feet behind them.

"All right." Ryoko consented a little wearily as she realized her mind had just gone blank.

Both sat there, pretending to look at the passing people, but stealing glances at each other every so often. Tenchi tried once or twice to start a conversation but it seemed each time he had the words, Ryoko would turn away or shift in her seat, making his nerve disappear. Finally after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Tenchi cleared his throat and asked the first thing that came into his mind.

"So how did you convince Ryo-ohki to talk? I know Washu tried for the longest time with no success." He said this jovially, but at the end of his brief attempt at conversation he could sense Ryoko tenser than ever. Something he had said had put on her edge, but what?

"Is something wrong?"

"Why did you say that?" Ryoko asked bluntly.

"What?" Tenchi asked confused. Ryoko cocked her eyebrows, as if she expected him to know.

"Never mind." She finally said, sighing and turning away.

"No come on tell me." Tenchi urged, placing a light hand on her shoulder.

Ryoko turned around suddenly, not shaking his hand off, but confronting him nonetheless. "You really want to be friends?"

"Of course."

She looked at his hand and where it rested. It would be so easy just to shrug it off and play dumb to her little outburst. She would act polite, and at the end of the day she would go home. But on the other hand, he was the only one who could help her, and if she didn't ask now, she would never ask.

"Have… have you spoken to Washu since she disappeared?"

"No." Tenchi answered immediately. He looked at her face, and began to put the pieces of the puzzle together as to why she had changed moods so suddenly when he had mentioned the scientist. "Why?"

"I think she is looking for me." Ryoko cleared her throat. "I'm not sure, but when our building's porter told me a lady with spiky red hair and emerald eyes asked for me… I mean who else can it be?" She was looking directly at Tenchi now, with big hazel eyes.

"It sounds like her, but why wouldn't she just talk to you? She hasn't come to us either. It doesn't make since." He answered, still looking into her eyes.

"Because she's playing with me Tenchi!" Ryoko rolled her eyes, and Tenchi blinked a few times, trying to slow his erratic heartbeats. "You don't know her like I do. She's going to want to get back at me for fooling her… it's going to be hell."

"You don't know that, she might want to see how you're doing?" Ryoko made a face at him. "Yeah… that's probably not the case, but I don't think you're giving her enough credit, you are her daughter."

"Her daughter?" Ryoko burst out laughing. "She does not think of me as her daughter Tenchi. I'm another of her experiments." She paused as if thinking. "Maybe a high maintenance one, but I'm certainly not a daughter to her."

Ryoko said this with laughter in her tone, and Tenchi realized that Ryoko truly believed this; in fact she seemed to have made peace with it. He thought about convincing her that Washu truly cared for her, but he had his own doubts. And when Ryoko would ask for truth in his statements, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to produce a single one where Washu acted motherly to her.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. But I'm going insane thinking the next face I see will be hers."

"You shouldn't worry about it so much."

Ryoko looked at him in surprise, to which he just shrugged. "She will have thought of every single possible reaction you might make to her presence and planned against it. So if your asking for my advice, just do whatever your doing, and when she does appear act like nothing has happened."

"You know? That just might work." Ryoko said impressed. "Ignoring her will totally drive her up the wall." She added with a laugh.

"As long as she doesn't use you for one of her tests your fine."

"Aw come one. The ones with the nurses uniform, you can't say you didn't enjoy them?" Ryoko nudged his shoulder with her own. He shook his head, trying to hide his grin.

"Not even a little?"

"Well…." Tenchi consented. "Maybe a little, but with all the fear and panic it was almost nonexistent."

"Yeah right." Ryoko replied under her breath.

"What did you say?

"Nothing." Ryoko said sheepishly, giving him big innocent eyes.

"So you guys decide to ditch us?" Basho asked as the rest of the troupe finally joined them.

"What took you guys so long?" Ryoko asked immediately getting up from Tenchi's side.

"This map is bogus!" Mihoshi exclaimed as she took Ryoko's spot.

"Plus we got a jacket out of the car for Ms. Ayeka. With that sweater she had on she was freezing." Fei added.

Ayeka was busy playing with a giggling Miki to notice what Fei had just said.

"It seems they have taken an instant liking to each other," she observed.

"Where's Sasami and Ryo-ohki?" Kiyone asked.

"They're looking at the tigers." With all the cocked eyebrows Tenchi furthered his explanation. "They went alone so they could skip the long line.

"Ahh…"

 *   *   *                          *   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Did you have a good time?" Ryoko asked as she tucked Ryo-ohki in.

"Yes thank you." She said pointing to a stuffed animal, wiggling her fingers as Ryoko brought it down from the dressed to her. "Where are you going?" she asked as she settled in Ryoko's king size bed. She looked like a shell in the ocean of her blue bed spread.

"I was called to a party tonight. I'll be back later." Ryoko informed her sister as she kissed her forehead. "Do you know where I left my ruby bracelet?" Ryoko asked as she looked in her armoire.

"You're going to see him again?" Ryo-ohki asked.

"Don't give me that tone Kitty. He's not the only one I'm going to see… Here it is! Help me put it on." Ryoko said as she sat by the edge of the bed.

"Well then why did you accept his other presents? The comb, the bottle of perfume, the obi…" Ryo-ohki counted with her fingers.

"Are you lecturing me little girl?" Ryoko huffed up annoyed. "I'm going because I want to and that's that. Now go to sleep." She turned the lamp of and walked to the door, looking back at her sister briefly before shutting the door behind her.

 *              *             **                         *          * * * * *

"You have been very introspective this evening Catara." The ambassador said as they walked around the gardens of the Miziumi teahouse.

"I have not." Ryoko answered as the ambassador led them to a little stream. "You just have not said anything terribly interesting." She quipped back.

"Oooh." His hands traveled to his heart. "I've never met geisha as heartless as you madam." Ryoko rolled her eyes, laughing silently at his antics. His hat fell to the ground, and he knelt to pick it up, the moonlight highlighted his features in such a way… it comforted her. So unsettling was the feeling for her, sensing all these emotions that traveled through her body, warming her veins and making her light headed.

A strong wind joined them; taking the hat he was wearing a few feet to their left. Ryoko laughing at the ambassador's sheepish expression, she studied him as he fought to reclaim it from the stubborn northern wind. Ryoko admired the sharp cut of his jaw, and his high cheekbones, which gave his face a defined air. Even the scar running along his left cheek gave him an air of distinction. Every time he came into a room everybody admired him. It wasn't everyday you met such a man like the ambassador.

"Enjoying the view?" He asked her as he walked back to her side.

Ryoko bit her lip. Damn he caught me. "The stream creates the most luminous reflection of the sky, almost fooling me to think the stars where falling. Very surreal." She added taking his hand as they continued walking.

"It is very nice here, but a little to modern for my tastes. When are you coming back to Kyoto?"

"You're direct aren't you?" she teased.

"Well I have to be with a the riddles you geisha speak in." He turned to look at her smiling face and grabbed her arm, turning her quickly to him. "Can't you be honest for once?" he asked with more emotion than what he had originally intended.

"I have nothing planned ambassador." Ryoko asked taken aback by his outburst. Her eyes where wide, and they flickered as she studied his face, making them glow. Her composure returned quickly, making the ambassador sigh in annoyance.

"You play too many games with me geisha. I'm not a young man anymore, I can't keep up with you." He said as they continued to walk.

"An old man! Why ambassador you are barely forty. You are in the prime of life." She flirted mechanically with him.

"What a common thing to say…" He muttered to himself.

"And what is that suppose to mean?" Ryoko snatched her hand away angrily and stopped walking.

"You used to say what was on your mind without caring a bit what other people said. You spoke your mind with such sincerity; I fell in … Do you know why I call on you so often? Do you know I am prolonging my business in this wretched city?"

"The emperor has asked for you to stay?" Ryoko repeated what he had told her some nights back.

"I am here because of you!" He shouted. Ryoko stepped back and he lowered his voice. "And the more time I spend here, the more we play cat and mouse. I can't do this forever Cat, I won't. So you have to think about this carefully."

Ryoko made to speak but the ambassador spoke before she had a chance, "I have said enough for tonight. I apologize for my behavior." He looked back at the teahouse, hearing the laughter coming form the inside. Please excuse me with the patrons but my head felt heavy. I will call on you soon." With that he bowed and walked away before Ryoko could say anything to the contrary.

Why do I doubt myself? I know what I want. Then why? Why?                                                                  

"Love does not begin and end

 the way we seem to think it does.

Love is a battle,

Love is a war,

Love is a growing up."

***************************************************************

Disclaimer: this is getting repetitive…

Notes: Have a happy New Year and I hoped your holidays were as pleasant as mine.

Please Review.

A. brought to my attention the ciggs, its something I put in, but it doesn't really mean much and lead to anywhere, so don't get upset over it…

I know there are some mistakes, but for the 16th chapter, a few are signature.

(The title came from a translation of a quote I heard in a Frida Kahlo documentary and fell in love with it.)