Chapter 18,
All Apologies
Ryoko woke up to find herself in an empty room. She couldn't say for sure that it was empty because she couldn't see it. She wasn't even certain the place she was in was a room or even if she was in anything. The only thing that she was absolutely sure of is that it was a dark, cold place.
Where the hell am I? Ryoko stifled a cry, squinting her eyes furiously with the vain hope that something or someone would appear from the darkness.
She blinked, unconsciously evoking a vision in her mind's eye that she would have happily forgotten. A man took form in the darkness, lanky and skeleton thin, with a low, flat voice and skin and hair white as snow.
Ryoko changed her mind. She wanted absolutely nothing to pop out from the shadows. All those countless scary movies she saw with Sasami late at night were for the first time in Ryoko's mind liable to come true. The headless monster with death rays in his eyes could sneak from the left and burn a whole in her chest. Or the guy with the hockey mask and chainsaw could rip her head off from the front. Even that guy who had scissors for hands went from a cute oddball to a treacherous villain that could cut her arms off. During the late movie nights in Okayama, Sasami always sneaked her hand in Ryoko's own, squeezing tightly when things on the screen became too scary. Ryoko needed a hand for her to hold right now, all this darkness was spreading through her body like cancer. None of those monsters could hurt her back then; it was ridiculous to even think about it, but now. She was powerless and weak. Ryoko hated feeling that way.
She gave a step back. Her hands turning into weak fists and moving to the fighting stance Kagato had taught her so long ago. I swear if I get out of this, I'll never make fun of anybody being afraid ever again. Unconsciously she crossed her fingers, a habit she couldn't break even in such a dire situation as this. She backed up some more, hoping that nothing would jump out at her from behind like it always happened in those ill-fated movies. She always yelled at the screen exasperated at the stupid moves the girls always made.
"Break his legs... No! Don't go in there, he's faking it! He's going to get up and kill you! Take the knife! For Tsunami's sake he's right behind you!"
Ryoko would have rather spent the time in the onsen with a couple of bottles of sake, but Sasami pleaded and begged her to watch them with her. "Come on Ryoko, puh-leeease!"
"No, no, no." Ryoko tried to look tough. "You always get nightmares afterwards and you end up sleeping with Tenchi."
Sasami grabbed her dress, tugging on it with a pout. "Ryoko-chan pleeease!"
Ryoko shook her head, dislodging Sasami's grip on her dress and heading for the rafters. Tiny arms circled her waist from behind. "Pleeease! Puh-leeease!"
Ryoko kept walking, stumbling with Sasami stuck to her like glue. A tiny smile appeared on her face. She just won't give up!
With a sigh she stopped and grabbing Sasami's arms gently she turned around to look at her, "Why don't you just ask your prissy sister?"
"Because they're scary, and I only feel safe with you."
That did it. How can I possibly say no to that? Sasami was the first person other than Tenchi to make their way into her heart. With a shrug Ryoko feigned indifference as Sasami shouted in glee, glomping on her like she glomped on Tenchi.
"Uuufff! You're getting heavy kid," she joked with a wink.
The memory vanished in the darkness, leaving Ryoko more frightened than before.
"He- hello?" Ryoko squeaked. Disgusted with herself at how scared she sounded she tried again, clearing her throat, "Hello? Anybody there?"
Nothing. Her voice didn't even echo, which meant there were no walls for the sound vibrations to bounce off from. No walls? What does that mean? Ryoko turned around once, twice, three times. Nothing. She walked to what she thought was the original way she was facing. What place is big enough to not create an echo? A place big enough for sound to travel unhinderedةMaybe I'm in a desert? She kneeled down, hoping to grab a handful of sand. Nothing. Her hand reached to her feet and beyond. There was nothing there, yet somehow she was able to stand. Ryoko's patience was wearing thin. Somebody had brought her here and she wanted to find out whom, now.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" She screamed out in rage with all the force in her lungs. Nothing. She began to run, ignoring the paralyzed state her heart was in. When the girls in the movies run they always get chopped to pieces. She stopped, her legs aching and her lungs gasping for breath. She ran the other direction, trying very hard to ignore the deafening sound of her beating heart in her ear, scared out of its wits. What if I'm running the wrong way? She stopped again, taking deep breaths she forced her body to relax. I gotta stop freaking out.
Her mind traveled back to her days as a demon in training; those days in hell when he taught her to fight and destroy.
"Always stay one step ahead of your opponent Ryoko. No, not like that."
His voice was always calm and soothing as he broke her back and legs. She would heal quickly and the lesson would continue until Kagato was satisfied with her performance. Sometimes though, when he was feeling particularly cross with her, he would break her legs and arms and continue the lesson, chuckling as she hobbled desperately like a chicken without its head. Her vision would black out eventually and she would be left in the dark, sometimes for months at a time. Exactly like she was left in the cave, in the ocean, now.
An old fear sneaked itself into her throat. He couldn't be alive could he? But Tenchi killed him. He killed him! Ryoko's faith collapsed and her knees buckled. She wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and die.
Her eyes did a double take as her hand flew to her mouth flabbergasted. I'm dead! I'm dead! This is my punishment for all the people I've killed. She didn't notice the strangled sob that escaped her lips. I'm going to be in here forever. The totality of that thought was too much for Ryoko to take. She closed her eyes, why would she need them if there werenصt going to be light? She bit her lip hard, not bothering to cry out. Why would she need a voice if nobody would be there to hear it?
She sat on what should have been the floor, controlling her breathing as she waited. Waited she didn't know for what, but one thing she knew for a fact, undoubtedly and unequivocally true, is that the only constant thing is change.
And something had to change sometime, so Ryoko sat and waited. Her mind was screaming for something to do, so she meditated like Kagato had taught her.
"Meditation is the key for a healthy mind and body."
Sick bastard.
She tightened and relaxed her muscles in turn starting with her legs, then her arms and back, ending with her extremities. Sometime after, it could have been an hour, a day, or a week she fell into a light sleep.
A warm breeze woke Ryoko up. It felt comforting and soothing to her skin as she breathed deeply, opening her eyes to the darkness. Someone's here.
A brilliant flash of light illuminated Ryoko's senses, blinding her into an idiotic stupor as Washu appeared out of thin air.
"Sorry I'm late," she said cheerfully and with a scrunch of her nose two red cushioned chairs appeared in the same mysterious way she had just moments before. She was in child form, her legs swinging over the chair merrily as she sat down.
Ryoko had unconsciously been holding her breath, but she let it out, a shaky sigh of relief that numbed her muscles as she shakily tested her legs, first one and then the other, and stood up without saying a word.
"Aren't you going to sit down?" Washu asked, a notepad and pen in her hands. She flipped it open, poised to write as she waited for Ryoko to sit.
"Where am I?"
"In one of my sub-dimensional labs of course! Now please sit down, you're hurting Aiko's feelings."
"Who?" Ryoko asked confused.
Washu pointed behind Ryoko with her pen. Ryoko turned around, eyeing the red cushioned chair and the miserable way it just sat there, not fulfilling its job in supporting someone's behind.
Ryoko rolled her eyes but played along with Washu and sat down slightly surprised and amused at the contented sigh the chair gave as she settled down.
"How are you feeling today?"
Ryoko's anger flared back up. "How am I feeling?" she spat it out like venom. "You bring me here, it's dark and coldة I had NO idea where I was. You know how scared I am of the dar-." She stopped in mid-sentence, catching herself just in time. She never admitted her weaknesses to anybody, much less her eccentric mother.
Washu cocked her brow, amused at her daughter's slip of the tongue. "I meant with your injuries little Ryoko."
My injuries? My injuries! Her eyes widened at the discovery. It hadn't even crossed her mind how her body had completely erased any signs of the agonizing pain she had suffered before. Her head no longer throbbed, her muscles and joints no longer stung whenever she moved.
Her startled expression must have been painted on her face with neon as Washu chuckled silently at Ryoko's discovery.
"I'm fine," she grumbled, slumping into her chair.
"Good." Washu scribbled something on the notepad and looked up, tiny round eyeglasses appearing over her eyes. They slipped a little over her nose and she pushed them back up with her index finger. "Just to be safe I'm going to ask you some questions," she asked, looking at Ryoko to make sure she was paying attention. She pulled out a couple of pictures out of an invincible pocket in thin air.
She looked through them quickly before clearing her throat. "Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind." She held up a picture of a cat cleaning itself.
"Wow, this is difficult." Ryoko paused, fighting the urge to roll her eyes, "I'm going to go with a, no, yes, a cat."
"Hmmm." Washu raised her eyebrows and scribbled some more, and some more, and more after that.
"What are you writing?"
Washu acted like she didn't hear her and kept writing. "I don't have time for these games Washu," Ryoko spat out, standing up impatiently. The chair whimpered at the absence of weight. "How do I get out of here?"
Washu looked up, pushing her glasses to rest on her head. "Why do you resist so much my little Ryoko?"
"Don't call me that." Ryoko warned, looking around. There was nothing there, just white.
"Aiko."
Huh? The whimpering chair bumped her from behind. Strong straps flying from its arm rests and forcing her to sit, strapped to Aiko like it was a straight jacket.
"Let me go!"
"Now, now little Ryoko, that's no way to misbehave." Washu shook her finger at her daughter. "Where are the gut-wrenching tantrums you threw as a child?"
Ryoko's eyes bulged but she said nothing.
"I'm not finished. If you're a good little girl we'll get through this a lot quicker, your choice." She tempted Ryoko with a tilt in her voice at the end.
Ryoko glared unmoving from her prison, shooting daggers from her eyes.
"Is that a no?"
Ryoko mumbled something under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Yes." She said flatly.
"Excuse me?" Washu asked, her voice having a dangerous edge to it that wasn't present before.
"Yes mommy." Ryoko would have gladly let that freaky chair swallow her whole than to endure another moment with the diminutive scientist. I'll go along with whatever she wants and wait for my escape.
"Okay then little Ryoko, I'm going to tell Aiko to let you go but you must promise him you'll remain sitting."
Ryoko nodded and the chair 's straps disappeared below her. She folded her arms over her chest as Washu held up another picture.
"What do you see?"
The picture this time was a photograph of the family posing near the lake during Mihoshi's first Earth birthday.
"I don't want to do this anymore."
"I'm not asking."
Ryoko huffed, fidgeting in her chair uncomfortably. "It's a photograph."
"And?"
"It's a photograph of Mihoshi's birthday." Washu nodded her head, wanting Ryoko to continue. "The paper is a rectangle, the grade is a glossy finish, probably developed in those one hour photo labs Nobuyuki goes to."
"What are the people in the picture doing?"
"I don't know."
"Make an effort."
Ryoko rolled her eyes, sighing loudly, "They are posing for the camera." She paused, studying the photo closely before continuing. "The camera was sitting on a tripod and had a timer."
"How can you tell?"
"Because Nobuyuki barely made it in the picture. Half of his body is chopped off. He's leaning heavily on Kiyone's shoulder." Ryoko couldn,t contain a chuckled.
"What's so funny?"
"Seconds after the picture was taken, Kiyone slapped him for grabbing her ass." Pervert.
"Our little hentai." Washu reminisced with a snort. "What else?"
"Well, in the middle of the photograph is Tenchi."
Washu leaned forward in her chair.
"On one side of him is Ayeka forcing his arm over her shoulder." She has that fake plastic smile on her face. Like she gets before blasting me with her logs. "On the other it's me."
Washu opened her mouth to speak but Ryoko continued. "I'm pushing his face in my chest as I grin ridiculously at miss pussy."
Washu didn't let the smile that begged to make an appearance on her face as she asked her daughter, "Miss. Pussy?"
Ryoko smirked and shrugged her shoulders, "One day Ayeka found a stray kitten on the path to the shrine, it belonged to a visitor's kid. I found her walking around the forest and together we were able to return the kitten. After, Ayeka was beaming like she had just saved a planet or something. So to congratulate her, head I told her what a great job she'd done, that she must really love pussy cats."
Washu grinned.
"So by dinner time Ayeka was dying to tell Tenchi what a good thing she'd done. Picture this," Ryoko sat more comfortably in her chair. "We're all eating and Ayeka sits there, acting like she has ants in her pants or something, wanting for someone to ask her what was wrong. No one noticed, so I made the sacrifice," at this both Washu and Ryoko rolled their eyes amused, "and asked her about her day."
"She blurts out about the kitten and what a great job she'd done, looking at Tenchi the whole time with an expression in her face like she couldn't even hurt a fly." Ryoko snorted at the memory and continued, "Anyway, everyone takes the bait and there they are congratulating her and patting her on the back. Tenchi even hugged her, while Ayeka stuck her tongue out at me. Through this whole thing she doesn't even mention that it was me who convinced her to find its owners! She had said something about finders keepers."
Washu was going to remind Ryoko that she often said that herself but kept her mouth shut, wanting to hear the rest of the story without an argument erupting.
"'You must really love animals to have taken the time to look for the cat's owners.' Kiyone told Ayeka impressed at her newfound heart. She says, 'Oh yes! I love animals. Especially pussy cats, I love pussys!"
Washu barked out a huge laugh. I never knew about this? "Where was I?" she asked, wiping a tear away from her eye.
"In one of your, 'I'm working on something important in my lab, don't bother me or I'll rip out your genitals and feed them to a zork kind of moods." Ryoko said.
Washu felt a pang of guilt at how easily Ryoko had said that. I must have missed a lot of good times. She always took precautions when she was in her lab and videotaped everything but it wasn't the same. She had found out about Ayeka's good deed of the day, but she never knew Ryoko had been involved. And even more impressive, how she had manipulated Ayeka so easily. She is her mother's daughter, she thought with maternal pride, staring at her daughter closely for the first time in almost two earth years.
Ryoko's physical attributes had not changed, her high cheekbones framing an oval face with full lips and rosy cheeks. She had not aged or gained any weight in these two years. Her hair was the one thing that jarred Washu's eyes. Her full, spiky tresses had been subdued to a quieter, straight do. It fell over her shoulders like a calm waterfall. Washu had to admit that black hair looked good on Ryoko, but it seemed her uniqueness was being overshadowed.
The most obvious change in Ryoko was the missing gem on her left wrist and the missing gems on her ears. But I already knew she wouldn't have them. It took me four months to locate her and more than a year to get my courage up to come for her. Washu hated admitting her fears, even to herself, but after Ryoko had taken such a drastic step to run away she had to study her options closely before acting. But she didn't leave because of me, Washu noted. She left because those two Jurain idiots couldn't keep their hormones in check. It really took all of Washu's self control to keep from kidnapping Tenchi and Ayeka and stranding them on some planet on the edge of the universe. The only thing that saved them was their genuine guilt. Washu still remembered clearly how Ayeka had gone off in search of Ryoko, backtracking the steps they both had gone when Tenchi had been missing in case she had headed off in that direction. Ultimately no one is to blame for Ryoko's decision but Ryoko.
Another huge difference in Ryoko was in the little things she did, or didnصt do. Before she was always sprawled out on the chair. If she happened to have a dress on everyone had to divert their eyes if they wanted to avoid being flashed, because she was set firmly against underwear.
"Ladies wear underwear Ryoko." Ayeka tried to convince her, waving a pair of white-laced panties in her face.
"I'm not a lady princess." Ryoko said, swatting the panties away. "Besides I don't want to constrict my swimmers, I plan to have lots of kids with Tenchi one day."
"Can my daughter be any dumber?" Washu said with an exasperated sigh as she butted in.
"She's an idiot." Ayeka concurred readily. "If anyone is going to give Tenchi kids it's me!"
Now Ryoko sat with one leg crossed over the other. She still wore her frown and her arms were crossed over her chest, but she sat up straight, head held high. The stubborn streak in her that made her chin stick out in defiance had only strengthened, daring anybody to go against her. There was something more appealing about Ryoko nowةWashu couldn't quite place it.
The rebellious streak was still there, a ticking bomb underneath her apparent stability. Washu narrowed her eyes, catching something from the corner of her eye. That's it. It was that detachment of emotion that Ryoko radiated that made her more desirable than ever before. Every calculated move she made, withholding her true self, her eyes and spirit betrayed her.
"I can't believe it." Ryoko said, breaking Washu out of her silent reverie.
"What?"
"The look of horror in Tenchi's face, I never noticed before." She said astonished at her blindness. "Iة I always knew that he was afraid of me, but never- never like that," she finished in a whisper.
"You can be quite a pill to swallow little Ryoko, the depository kind."
Ryoko made a face but Washu noticed she no longer disagreed, as she would have before.
"But in my opinion back in those days Tenchi was more of a wuss than anything else. What healthy, strong male would resist this?" Still standing, Washu twirled for Ryoko, changing from her girl form to her more sexy adult body. She sat down again, winking at her daughter playfully.
Ryoko grinned; she is very beautiful, in a psychopathic kind of way. "Maybe he didn't like being treated like a guinea pig laid out on a butcher table?"
"How little you know men my little Ryoko. How little you know."
Ryoko cocked her eyebrows. She had spent the last two years learning everything about men, in fact, if anything that's what a geisha's all about, entertaining men.
"Oh but I forgot," Washu began, as if their old mind link had never been broken. "My little girl is a woman now, a geisha." Washu's expression changed from a playful one to one of a shamed mother.
"What have I done to deserve this?" Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes as her hands flew to her chest. "My daughter!?" She stood up and paced back and forth, her chair floating behind her like a lost dog. "My own flesh and blood succumbs to an earthling notion of womanhood! Why little Ryoko when you could have been so much more?"
Ryoko exhaled loudly, stretching her arms over her head with an amused look.
"I'm the smartest! The most stunningly beautiful! The BEST scientist that has ever been or will existة and look what I get!" Washu pointed accusingly at Ryoko. She plopped down in her chair, her arms hanging down over the armrests with little energy. "I'm so full of love and wisdom, why?"
"You're full of it alright," Ryoko smirked. "And by it, I mean the last two letters of the word shit."
Washu laughed, caught off guard by her daughter's comment. "Is that what they taught you at geisha school?"
"There is no such thing Washu." Ryoko paused, rethought her statement and then clarified, "Wellة there is, but that's not where I went, and please stop with the drama Washu, it really doesn't suit you."
"What drama?" Washu asked offended. "I only speak the truth."
Yeah right, and pigs fly out of my ass, Ryoko thought. "Are you done?"
"Ungrateful girl," Washu shook her head, lamenting Ryoko's lack of thoughtfulness towards her. "I saved you and this is what I get-"
"You didn't save me, Tenchi did," Ryoko clarified.
So we cut to the chase. "If you want to be literal about it. And now that you brought up the subject what exactly happened that night?"
Ryoko opened her mouth to say something but paused. She sensed something different from Washu. She couldn't explain how or why, but she knew that Washu did not know what had happened. Or at least she doesn't know all the details.
"We were in a yacht when the storm hit, I fell overboard and Tenchi saved me," she answered with a shrug of her shoulders.
Washu looked at her daughter with a 'duh' look. "What happened after?"
"After what?"
"Don't start." Washu warned.
"Nothing happened. I lost consciousness in the ocean and the next thing I knew I woke up in a bed." The lie rolled of her tongue like a true professional.
I know Tenchi took her to the fisherman shack, and that she was awake sometime after. Washu sighed as her body shrunk to her child form, the clothes shrinking and changing shape to her new body. I'm going to have to bait her into telling me what happened.
"That's not what Tenchi said."
Ryoko's muscles tensed instantly. She's trying to make me lose my head and tell her what happened. She immediately relaxed her body, not wanting to give anything away. Little did she know that it was too late, Washu's had caught her reaction. So something did happened! Now to find out what…
"I made you Ryoko. I know everything about you, now please," she tapped the pen on the notepad impatiently. "When I ask you something I expect the truth." Ryoko opened her mouth to interrupt but Washu held a hand up, stopping the lie from flowing from Ryoko's lips. "If you lie to me again I will turn you into a shrew."
"You might have known me but I've changed."
"You're a very stupid woman Ryoko."
Ryoko's nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed but she kept her mouth shut. If she lost her cool then she'd lose.
Washu studied her reaction, upset with her inability to bring out the truth in Ryoko. What could have happened to make Ryoko so guarded? She has never let me insult her like this without fighting backة What could have hap- No! Washu looked at her daughter. Tenchi finally told her! As soon as the thought arose she dismissed it. Ryoko was quiet because she knew that she couldn't win against her in her current condition, not because she didn't want to gloat about Tenchi's confession. She didn't have the glow of a woman sure of a man's love for her. But something happenedة
"Can we change the subject?"
"What?" Washu asked innocently. "You thought just because Tenchi finally decided to use your breasts as more than inflatable devices I wouldn't mention his name?"
Ryoko's eyes sparked in fury, a blush creeping over her face. "You keep your stupid comments to yourself!"
"I only speak the truth."
"Well... Your wrong!" Ryoko spat out angrily.
"It's a sin to lie to your mother." Washu warned her. "Besides, I know you well enough to know when youصre lying."
Ryoko looked at her incredulously.
"I can name ten things that you do that you're not even aware of"
"You can't even name one." Ryoko dared her.
With a bored sigh Washu crossed her legs before starting. "For instance, you always bite your bottom lip when youصre nervous. " She pointed out with a chuckle as Ryoko froze; indeed she had been biting her lip.
Damn! "Name two things."
"The more you think something or someone is important to you, the quieter you become." Like with the wild night you and Tenchi had. You haven't said a thing about it. Washu added mentally.
"Name three things."
Washu laughed gaily. "Hey I can name as many as you want, but we could be here all night." Ryoko's determined stare didn't waver in the least.
"All right." Washu rolled her eyes. "As much as you try to look strong and invincible, you always fidget when you're nervous."
Ryoko snorted. "Thatصs nothing! Everyone fidgets."
"Well, despite my best efforts to make you unique what can I say? You came out ordinary." Washu shrugged her shoulders, grinning as Ryoko found herself without a quick comeback.
Why does she have to be right all the time? Ryoko thought furiously. She glanced over to Washu who sat there grinning like an idiot. A colossal urge to smack that stupid grin off her face overcame Ryoko for a second. I should change the subject.
"Soة when I woke up I was in bed and my body felt like it was on fire..." Ryoko began, wanting Washu to explain to her how her body happened to be suddenly cured.
"Yes it did." Washu nodded in agreement.
"And now I feel fine."
"I'm glad to hear it."
Ryoko grit her teeth. Damnit Washu! With a forced sweet tone in her voice Ryoko asked, "How did that happen?"
"I've cured you plenty of times and you've never taken an interest before." She answered with a raised eyebrow as she tucked the notebook behind her back.
"That's because you've always had an ulterior motive."
Not all the time little Ryoko. "So what you're really asking me is what's my motive?"
Ryoko looked at her mother. Damn! If I say yes she'll win, if I say no I'll never find out.
"I'm asking how, after you locked yourself up in your lab without a word to anyone, you decide to show up now?"
"I like to make a grand entrance little Ryoko, and there is nothing grander than a life and death situation."
So you cured me to look good.
"But as you told me, I was too late this time." Washu grinned, "Tenchi had already played the hero. I don't know why he bothered to risk his life for you." Shaking her head she shrugged at Ryoko. "A selfish, spoiled brat like yourself doesnصt deserve that kind of sacrifice."
"You were going to save me."
Washu smiled. "But I was doing out of pity, my life was never at risk."
Ryoko swallowed the knot that Washu's words had created in her throat. Pity, everything is pity. Ryoko blinked away the tears that stung her eyes and she stood up, infuriated at the apparent emotion she evoked in her mother.
"Let me tell you something Washu! I don't need your fucking pity or your cures or anything! I've never needed you! Never! So just get the fuck out of my life!"
Washu was the kind of woman that always got the last laugh, even if it meant returning the cruel blow her daughter had slapped her with ten thousand times stronger. She stood up tall, utilizing her four feet of height to their utmost advantage as she looked up at her daughter, a cocky grin dancing on her face.
"I'm glad you feel that way because you're not cured. In fact you're not even here, this is an astral projection of yourself."
Ryoko's eyes widened.
"You're going to have to fix your mess yourself, and I hope," Washu enunciated every word. "I really hope that for his own good Tenchi tells you to go to hell, because that's where a demon like you belongs."
Ryoko's world faded to black before she had a chance to react to her mother's words.
- - -
"How is she doing?" Basho asked as the doctor exited Ryoko's room. After the accident, Basho and Fei had been anchored just outside of her room, waiting for some good news pertaining to her health. Mayuri and Serla had changed periodically, going home to take care of urgent business and of a very anguished Ryo-ohki.
A passing servant took pity on them and brought cushioned chairs so they could at least ease their worries sitting down. The chairs were placed against the wall opposite of the bedroom door, giving them a tiny glimpse of the room inside when the nurses and doctor entered and exited. That same servant brought food and drink three times a day, giving them sorrowful looks ever time he passed by.
Three days had seen the sun rise and set with no word on Ryoko's condition. Not a one.
For Basho time passed quickly. His vast knowledge and experience had softened his nerves and he could observe this tragedy with a 'detached' eye.
Mayuri took note of the passing days by memorizing the servant's schedules. For instance, three maids dusted the bedrooms surrounding Ryoko's early in the morning. It can't be more than eight in the morning, Mayuri deducted. By noon, the kind servant would bring them a meal, usually consisting of Sapporo noodles and green tea. By mid-afternoon a special helper of the empress', Mayuri knew this because he introduced himself, entered Ryoko's room and came out with the same solemn expression he wore every where else.
All throughout the day nurses came and went, carrying metal notepads and pens in their hair that Mayuri was sure they had no idea were there. By night all the lights would dim and a melodious tune wafted through the air much as the smell of a ripe peach would travel in the wind of Kyoto's summers. Those were Mayuri's favorite times, where she could forget her friend's condition and remember the tranquil days of her youth in Kyoto. Before she became a meiko and lived with her grandparents.
For Fei, who patience was not a virtue she could say she was acquainted with, time traveled at the pace of a snail. She didn't bother to pretend she was alright, or to observe her surroundings as accurately as Mayuri, she didn't have the heart for it. Instead, her only companion in those long hours was the grandfather clock stationed in one end of the hallway. In dark mahogany with gold minute and hour hands it was truly a sight to behold. It towered above the people in its eight and a half feet of height and it weighed more than three hundred pounds. Fei first noticed its presence as she passed by it, how could she not? But as she sat and waited its tiny clicks and tocks were forcefully sketched in her brain like writing in stone done with a very sharp, high screeching tool that made the hairs on the end of your arms stand up. It was driving her mad.
It was three long days in which the sound of the grandfather clock down the hall had tormented their patience. The trio sat in comfortable chairs that lined the left wall of the hallway, directly opposite of Ryoko's door.
"She is awake," a voice announced.
A collective sigh of relief flooded the hallway. Mayuri and Fei both stood up, ignoring the stinging sensation in their muscles from sitting too long.
"Can we see her?" Mayuri asked.
"Not yet. The drugs have yet to wear off. If you were to go in there right now she'd just be blabbering incoherencies." The doctor bowed and with sharp steps disappeared down the hall.
"I don't care, lets go in." Fei said as soon as the doctor was out of earshot. Her hand reached the doorknob before Basho stopped her.
"Be patient Fei. If it is for Catara's own good that we let her rest, then that's what we'll do." He led a reluctant Fei back to her chair and they all sat down, muscles cringing at the position their bodies retook in the chairs.
An uncomfortable silence enveloped them, forcing Basho to look for a topic of conversation. Eyeing Fei's stubborn look, Basho predicted that she would not willingly stay put for more than a couple of minutes before her love for Catara overtook her, and she would enter the bedroom. A speech had to be made. He cleared his throat, looking at both girls in turn before beginning.
"I have faith that Catara will recover from this ordeal, but she might need our help. And right now," he looked at Fei, "we can help her the most by letting her rest and conserve her energy. The doctor very clearly told us that Catara needed to restة"
There's something about that doctor that I don't like. Fei thought as Basho continued talking. And I don't buy that excuse for a second! Of course Cat needs to rest, but she also needs to know that her family is here to support her, that we're here for her.
"Fei? Fei?"
Huh? "Yes Uncle?"
"Did you listen to anything I said?
"Of course."
"What did I say?" Basho asked, folding his arms over his chest, a disapproving look on his face.
He never gives me a break. "Alright you caught me," before Basho could chastise her she continued with a sweet tone, "but my mind can't focus on anything except Cat right now." Basho softened.
"I don't understand why we can't just see her."
The stern look that returned on her uncle's face with a vengeance made Fei change her tactic. "I mean for a second! One!" She emphasized her point with her index finger in the air. "She won't even notice we're there," she pleaded. Looking to her left and right she made sure no wandering ears were lurking close by before continuing in a whisper. "No one will notice. You and Mayuri watch for any people coming," she whispered. "ةAnd I'll just sneak in and out before you can say aitsura arisama hakkaku-"
"Aitsura arisama hakkaku."
Fei froze, her face turning a drastic color of white with red overtones in her cheeks and nose as the trio turned to look at the intruder among them. There stood Ryoko's doctor, grinning from ear to ear as she cocked an eyebrow at Fei.
"We didn't hear you coming!" Mayuri reacted faster than the other two and stood up, bowing respectfully.
The doctor ignored the bow and kept looking at Fei, her grin turning menacing as the geisha found she was at a loss for words. She was unable to excuse her rude behavior.
Finally her lips moved, finding her voice she stammered, "We- we were um," she stalled for time pretending something on the floor was extremely important.
"You better stand up."
"Excuse me?"
"You better stand up if you intend to pull that excuse out of your ass."
Fei flew off her seat, offended beyond words. "What did you just say to me?"
"Hold it." Basho interjected as he stepped in-between the two women. He flashed his niece a look meaning 'watch yourself' as he focused on the woman in front of him.
"Please excuse her." He bowed. "She is young and her emotions run away with her common sense."
Fei felt her entire body burn with indignant pride at being excused by her uncle as if she were a meiko of fifteen.
"As they always say," the doctor began, looking at Fei, "Youth is wasted on the young." She shook her head, shaming her in front of her uncle.
I could let them see little Ryoko for a minute, she contemplated, giving Fei a once over. But I won't. Something tells me it's this woman that put those stupid ideas in Ryoko's head. But, Washu reasoned wisely, I can't stop her from speaking to Ryoko eventually, and if Ryoko finds out I don't want her speaking to Fei she might do it just to spite meة She snorted a laugh, a chip off the old block.
"Tomorrow morning one of you can go in and see her, briefly."
A relieved smile poured onto Basho's face as he bowed to the kind doctor, making a tang of guilt travel through the doctor before she squashed it down to oblivion. It was of no use to bother with trivial things like guilt, all they did was trick her into doing things she didn't want to do.
"We are indebted to you." Mayuri put her hands together and bowed.
"Yeah well," she flipped her hair to one side. "You'll have to wait until she's done."
I knew there was a catch, Fei thought. "Who?"
The doctor cocked her eyebrow annoyed at her impertinence and walked away leaving a very angry Fei burning holes in her back.
- - -
Ryoko flipped through the channels with a detached air of compliance. The hooded figure that had shut the door behind it, noted with a twinge of curiosity how she just stared, a little slack jawed at the screen, a rainbow of colors flashing in front of her eyes. She didn't blink, not once, as her finger clicked away with a mind of his own, or her own. The hooded figure wasn't sure what sex a finger would be, but she had a vague thought that the thumb, that was the finger clicking away at the screen a mile a minute, would be a male.
Ryoko sat hunched over on a mountain of crڈme-wrinkled linens that hid her legs and part of her lower torso from view. The thick comforter peaked its crumpled edge over the bottom of the bed, making its miserable condition known. Looking around the room, Ryoko seemed entirely out of place with the rich dژcor. Elegant mahogany furniture rested on the walls, thick porcelain vases rested on top of them, a singular spotlight highlighted their expensive origins to whichever viewer cared to look. The bed rested on the right side of the room as you walked in through the rice paper door. A tapestry hung above the bed, inviting the viewer's eye upward, taking note of the abnormally tall ceilings, an uncommon occurrence in Japan's normally stunted housing designs. The hooded figure moved forward, the edges of its oversized cape dragging noisily across the floor. Its fabric was heavy with moisture; this person had been outside very recently. It adjusted its arms in a way that made the cape or oversized coat, or whatever it was meant to have been, double in size horizontal wise.
It stopped in front of Ryoko, blocking her view of the TV with deadly precision.
It stood there, cape outstretched, hood creating a very mysterious shadow over this person's face, and waiting for the outraged response it was sure Ryoko would have.
It waited, arms slowly moving down until they hung limply on either side.
Ryoko sat on the bed staring as if through it.
The hooded figure decided to wait a bit more, this time it added an annoying high pitched sigh, loud enough for Ryoko to hear over the TV.
Nothing.
Ryoko just sat there, her thumb still clicking away, her gaze unwavering. The hooded figure sighed, this time truly annoyed and in one quick movement snatched the remote control, holding it in the air for the sufficient amount of it time it thought reasonable for Ryoko to realize she wasn't holding it anymore. The figure then aimed it behind her and turned the television off, hurling the small device across the room with a flick of its wrist. It bounced off the wall with an elegant 'crack', at least as elegant a sound anything could make when 'cracking' into pieces.
"What the hell are you wearing Ayeka?" Ryoko asked with a tired tone, still looking straight through her abdomen to the black television screen.
The hooded figure froze and a faint gasp was heard as two hands appeared and lifted the hood up and off the head, to hang down the back of its neck.
"How did you know it was me?" she asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed.
Ryoko finally blinked, her eyes meeting Ayeka's without the need for her to move her neck. "Who else would wear," the hand that had been previously holding the remote and now rested on her lap waved lazily in Ayeka's general direction before settling back down again. "That."
Ayeka wasn't sure if Ryoko had said that as a question or as mere truth, but in any case she was sure it had been some sort of insult.
"Yeah well," Ayeka looked her over, "at least my roots aren't showing."
Ryoko paused, thinking back to the last time she had dyed her hair. It couldn't have been more than a month ago, but her hair always grew quickly, and cyan always contrasted sharply with black. Is that all she can come up with? She shrugged her shoulders and returned her gaze to the blank screen.
"What's the matter with you?" Ayeka asked. Ryoko didn't answer. "Are you on opium or something?"
"Maybe."
"What do you mean maybe?" For an instant Ayeka was worried, but then she remembered Ryoko's extraordinary body and how unlikely it was for any sort of drug, much less earth drugs, to affect her. Even without her gems her body was extremely resilient.
"What do you mean what's wrong with me?" Ryoko came to life like the first spark of a fantastic fireworks display. "I drowned that's what happened."
Ayeka rolled her eyes. "Don't start." Ryoko opened her mouth to retort but Ayeka cut her off. "You always turn yourself into the victim Ryoko. The only person responsible for falling off that yacht was you!"
Ryoko snorted but remained quiet. She looked down at the wrinkled linens filled with the unrest sleep of the pirate. She grimaced at the smell and decided to stare at her hands, which were folded on her lap instead.
Her right one had a white bandage where the needle had been inserted sometime before. From the moment she had woken up a constant throbbing pain came and went through her hand, but instead of attending to it, she had decided to watch some television instead.
She picked at the edges of the bandage that were already starting to coil outwards. It was time for someone to change them.
"Nobody forced you to go up on deck when the storm hit! And no one certainly forced you to catch that stupid wire or whatever it was you were trying to catch. You put everyone's life in danger! You were acting like a spoiled little kid."
Ryoko glanced up. One thing was to be lectured by your insane mother; another was to be looked down upon by Ayeka. And to be called spoiled? Spoiled? By her high and mighty brat?
She opened her mouth to speak and once again was frozen on the spot. For the first time in her life she had nothing to say. What am I going to say? She's right; I was acting like my shit didn't stink. I was acting li- Fuck! Ryoko's eyes widened at the discovery.
"By Tsunami!" Ryoko exclaimed, taking Ayeka by surprise. She wasn't expecting this kind of reaction from the pirate.
"Get your ice skates Ayeka, hell has officially frozen over!"
"What?" She asked, searching frantically for any insult encoded in her exclamation.
"You're right." Ryoko held both hands up in defeat. "I've been a selfish-"
Ayeka nodded her head in agreement, a little suspicious at Ryoko's readily admission of her own faults.
"-spoiled-"
"Yes." Ayeka's eyebrows perked up.
"-hypocritical-"
"Yes!"
"-Brown nosed-"
"YES!" Her hands were up, punching the air with each of Ryoko's life confession.
"-Brat!"
"YES! YES!"
"In other words, I've been-"
"AN IDIOT?"
Ryoko nodded her head.
"AN IMBECILE?"
Ryoko nodded again, shaking her head in disbelief. "I've been-"
"A MORON!" Ayeka interrupted, already on a roll. "THE ONLY PERSON WITH AN IQ OF A DOORNAIL?"
"I've been-"
"WHAT?" Ayeka asked exasperated but with the biggest smile plastered on her face Ryoko had seen on the princess in a long time.
"STOP INTERRUPTING!"
Ayeka huffed but nodded, "Yes?!"
"I've been you!"
"Ye- WHAT?" Ayeka's mouth hung open.
"I can't believe I have sunk this low." Ryoko shook her head in mocking shame. "It's really unbelievable."
"How dare you say that?" Ayeka shrieked.
"I didn't say it," Ryoko pointed out with a grin, "you did."
Ayeka gasped in utter disbelief.
"And thank you for pointing it out to me, I really needed that." Ryoko exhaled and flopped back on the bed, staring at the ceiling with both her arms stretched out behind her. "Now can you please go? You're ruining my wallow in self pity bit."
"You know," Ayeka untied the strings holding both ends of the cape together and laid it down on a chair next to the bed before smoothing out the wrinkles on her dress and sitting down on the bed once again. "I used to spend hours trying to figure you out. Not for the life of meة I just didnصt understand how any person, much less a female could act the way you do." Ayeka scratched her nose. "I thought everything you did was part of an elaborate plan to steal Tenchi away from me. Every smile, every look, I recorded everything away and sat up at night, mapping out my strategy. Trying to- trying to-"
"Divide and conquer." Ryoko helped out without a smile.
Ayeka who had been looking at the chair for some help in trying to figure out the words looked up at Ryoko and nodded.
"Yes, I suppose that's the word I was looking for. Divide and conquer." Ayeka tried it out on her tongue, surprised at how well it fit.
"It's a term used during war." Ryoko explained after watching Ayeka's expression, mistaking her surprise for confusion. "You divide your opponent and then in their weakened condition you go in for the kill." She turned her head to Ayeka, "I did it a million times." She laughed without any real emotion, "you'd think they would figure out the game plan, but noة they fell for it. Every time."
"Did we fall for it?" Ayeka was almost afraid to ask.
Ryoko raised her eyebrows, surprised at the question. I always thought that after they had put me away in the cave, they had studied every single move I made, making sure it wouldn't happen again. "I don't know, did you?"
Ayeka frowned, thinking back to the frantic war room meetings in the palace as Ryoko pulverized their various planets and colonies.
The demon forced them to send out their fleets to protect their subjects, leaving Jurai weakened and vulnerable to her one-person assault. Ayeka's mouth fell open as her hand flew to her cheek.
"Bingo." Ryoko grinned lopsidedly and rolled over to her side, offering Ayeka her back as she called over her shoulder. "Let the door hit your ass on the way out."
I can't believe we fell for it, but people were dying! What else were we to do? Let them get murdered by Ryoko? Ayeka stopped herself. Wait a minute, what am I saying?
Ayeka stared at Ryoko's back, pondering why Ryoko had brought up such a painful subject. That wasn't her; it was Kagato. What is she getting at telling me all these things?
Ayeka pursed her lips and squared her shoulders. I guess I should bring out the big guns. She walked over to the chair where her cape was resting and searching for a few moments; her hand emerged carrying a sealed sake bottle, circa 1956. She tore of the seal and tried to open it but her hands kept sliding around the top. She grunted and exhaled loudly, hooking the bottle in-between her left arm and her body, doubling over as she gripped the top, twisting vainly.
"Need any help?"
Ayeka looked up. Ryoko had turned over and was grinning, amused at her.
"What do you care?" Ayeka answered hiding the bottle behind her back.
"Is that the kind of response I get when I'm just trying to be nice?"
"You always say acting nice gets you shit in your face." Ayeka answered, mimicking Ryoko.
Ryoko rolled her eyes, still amused with Ayeka. "You know that for all the things I say, I really mean like half of them." She swung her legs over the bed and held her hand out to the princess, wiggling her fingers in impatience.
Ayeka made a face but gave her the bottle, cringing slightly at the ease which Ryoko loosened the top and opened the bottle. She sat down next to her on the bed, smoothing out the comforter first.
Ryoko used the bottle top as a glass and filled it to the brim, offering it to Ayeka with a small bow before taking a swig straight from the bottle.
"Mmm, good stuff."
Ayeka nodded and gulped it down, coughing afterwards.
"Want another?" Ryoko asked, taking another swig.
Ayeka coughed in answer, her eyes filling up with tears.
Ryoko shrugged, "More for me." She raised the bottle to her lips before Ayeka snatched it away.
"St- stop." Ayeka filled her glass, almost desperately, spilling some over the sides.
"Don't gulp it Princess," Ryoko warned. "Nice and easy."
Ayeka followed the pirate's advice, but couldn't hide the burning sensation off her face.
"Lost practice?"
"You were the only one that drank with me," Ayeka began, handing the bottle back. She looked at Ryoko and chewed her cheek. "It's depressing to drink alone."
Ryoko didn't answer but looked around the room. "How long have I been here?"
"Five days." Ayeka made up her mind; it's now or never. "What happened out there?"
"You tell me."
"What?"
Ryoko shrugged.
"You can't tell me you don't remember."
"Why not?" Ryoko asked.
Ayeka exhaled, "Because, because, you just can't!"
Ryoko raised her eyebrows. "I don't remember half my life princess. What's forgetting a night compared to half a life?"
"But that's because you were traumatized, you weren't traumatized." Ayeka concluded. "I doubt you would be traumatized by a little bit of water."
Ryoko narrowed her eyes, what would you know what I'm afraid of? Ryoko would have been ecstatic to give Ayeka a piece of her mind, but she didn't want Ayeka to know how pitiful she really was. Instead she smacked her mouth.
"Stop saying traumatized."
Ayeka grinned, "Why does it bother you?"
Ryoko glared at her.
"Hmm, then I guess maybe you were traumatized. Traumatized by water." Ayeka spotted a glass of water resting on the bedside table and she immediately went and picked it up. "Poor Ryoko, so traumatized, so traumatized. Tell me, does this traumatize you?" she waved the glass in front of her face. "Oooh a glass filled with water," she taunted. "I hope you don't get traumatized by the glass of water… why? Maybe if I trip," she pretended to fall over, dangling the glass in a dangerous angle over Ryoko's head.
Ryoko wasn't laughing.
"Geez." Ayeka rolled her eyes and returned the glass to its place. "When did you lose your sense of humor?" An uncomfortable silence followed, still catching Ayeka off guard. Ryoko always had the last word, like clockwork. A silent pirate was very unsettling for the Jurain princess.
"Ayeka?"
The princess looked at the pirate, sighing in relief at the broken silence. "What?"
Ryoko's face turned grave. It seemed to Ayeka that her friend had aged ten years in that single moment.
Ryoko sighed with effort. "Why are you here?"
Ayeka looked down, upset that the pirate even had to ask. "Because we're family," she whispered.
Ryoko blinked, a wave of something weird but warm traveling through her body. She bit her lip before she nodded, a small smile in thanks. A little uneasy from her confession, Ayeka smiled back.
Ryoko swallowed, clearing her throat. "Listen Ayeka," She breathed shakily but decided to continue. "I did a pretty rotten thing and-" looking up at her friend, her shoulders squared. "All I can do is apologize."
At this moment Ayeka thanked Tsunami she was sitting down. If she hadn't been she was sure her legs would have failed and she would have hit the ground like the landing of Mihoshi's ship. Did Ryoko just apologize? Ayeka was truly surprised but saw an opportunity to get a real and proper apology from her friend.
"For what?" she asked feigning innocence.
Ryoko suppressed a grin, knowing Ayeka was going to milk the apology for all it was worth. I owe her at least that right.
"For leaving so suddenly."
"Oh I hardly even noticed." Ayeka joked with a wave of her hand.
"You are pretty shortsighted." Ryoko commented.
Ayeka chuckled. An uncomfortable silence enveloped them again, or at least Ayeka. She spied her pirate friend underneath her eyelashes. Ryoko was sitting there with her eyes closed, one hand massaging her shoulder. She grimaced slightly as she painfully worked her muscles.
"Ryoko?"
The pirate looked up, raising her eyebrows in answer.
"Why did you abandon us?"
Ryoko's hand froze in place. Abandon? Ryoko sighed wearily. "Listen princess, I'm sorry." She leaned forward, "I really am. It's just that," she paused. "I wasn't thinking straight that night."
"You not thinking?"
Ryoko snorted. "Yeah I know, big surprise."
Ayeka swallowed. "What- uh," she cleared her throat. "What happened that night?"
"Have you ever been so obsessed with something," or someone she added mentally, "that it felt like life or death to you?"
Ayeka understood the underlining sentiment. You know I have. She went for a less confrontational answer though, "Yes."
"But after the moment passes you realize that nothing can be that bad." Ryoko shrugged, "thatصs what happened to me."
"But," Ayeka asked confused, "what made you leave Ryoko?" She held her breath unconsciously.
Ryoko looked at the princess, frowning slightly, not sure what she should say. The reason she had fled Okayama would only bring more problems into their fragile relationship. Besides, Ryoko wasn't sure she wouldn't have done the same thing herself.
She opened her mouth to speak but paused, licking her lips before continuing. "Me."
Ayeka did a double take, "Huh?"
"It's not important princess," annoyance evident in her voice. She was tired of this topic of conversation.
"It obviously is!" Ayeka raised her voice to match Ryoko's. "You just leave for no reason? What kind of bull shit is that?"
Ryoko was stunned. Did the princess just curse?
"Answer me!"
"Don't talk to me like that Ayeka. I'm not one of your little servants." She warned with an edge to her voice.
"And I'm not an idiot that you can just lead on. I want to know exactly why you left and I want to know now!" Ayeka put her foot down, literally.
Ryoko moved off the bed in a flash, standing right in front of Ayeka before she had a chance to blink. Ayeka flinched, the Ryoko she knew before coming back to life in front of her eyes.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Ryoko stepped forward, the princess stepping back. "Have you suddenly forgotten who I am?" She pressed the princess against the wall.
"You do- don't scare me." Ayeka hated when she stuttered, and it only happened when she was afraid. She hated even more that Ryoko knew that.
She felt her hot breath on her face and those piercing golden eyes staring her down. Her hands were frozen on either side of her body as she pressed against the wall as far as she could. Ryoko leaned forward, making Ayeka's eyes grow round. Two strong arms encircled her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.
Slowly her arms encircled her friend's back, finding the muscles Ryoko once had gone and a more lithe form in its place.
Ryoko pulled away sooner than Ayeka would have liked and with a feral grin she winked at her.
"If I didn't know you better I'd say you put something in the sake." She paused looking at the princess suspiciously; "wait a minute-" she picked up the almost empty bottle and smelled inside, "let me guess." She moved the bottle in a circular motion before smelling it again, "arsenic?"
Ayeka smirked but didn't continue to continue her game. "Fine I'll stop asking for now." She walked over to her cape draped on a chair and threw it over one shoulder. "But I want to know Ryoko, I need to know." I'll give you time.
Ryoko at down on the edge of the bed, mildly surprised Ayeka had given up so quickly. She's changed, she thought with pride. And it seems for the better. Ryoko smiled to herself.
"Your friend is outside. Should I tell her to come in?"
Ryoko nodded as Ayeka put on her cloak, shading her face from view. "Thanks for coming." The pirate meant it.
"What? You think you can get rid of me that easily?" Ryoko couldn't see Ayeka's smile but she knew it was there.
"Don't be a stranger now."
"Funny," Ayeka slid the door open and added over her shoulder, "I was just about to tell you the same thing."
Ryoko laughed out loud, momentarily forgetting her injuries as Ayeka slid the door shut behind her.
It's time to go. Ryoko looked down at the clothes she was wearing. A white t-shirt that fell below her knees and white socks.
She peeled off the bandages on her hands and winced at the pain shooting up her arm.
Ryoko looked up expectantly as the door opened, sighing as Fei entered quickly with a change of clothes and a wig. The pirate grinned.
"We're breaking out." Fei stated as she helped her friend into the clothes.
Ryoko suppressed a laugh. "No Fei," she shook her head with a smile, "No more running away."
Note:
Most of this chapter was done about three months ago, but I added some things that ended up making a big difference in the story.
So the scenes with Tenchi and Rojya will be in the next one.
Plus more Washu to come!
I hope you enjoyed it, and all your questions will be answered in chapters to come.
Thanks to all the people who have left reviews and have given me encouragement in this story. Someone asked why I don't answer reviewers at the end of my chapters like some other authors, and my answer was… Well, I don't know why. So here are some responses, forgive me if it's not everybody, I promise next time it will be more thorough.
Space Man Derik: I also read in other stories that Ryoko might have liked the killing and destruction Kagato made her do, but my thinking is, if she liked it so much, then why isn't she doing it now?
Elli: A book? I would only be so lucky.
Evan: I did get your first review, and I honestly don't know what happened to it. I do know about 10 reviews that I got in my mail didn't show up on ff.net.
Ali-chan5: You like Ryoko's "makeover", I'm glad, but don't get too used to it. My intention was to show physically what she thinks is good for her, but Ryoko like anyone else makes mistakes and she might have been wrong in her thinking. In any case, I think she might acquire a balance in the chapters to come. =)
Frost: You weird? I think not. I have reread some stories more than twenty times, and I'm glad you have liked this one so much. Hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.
Dogbertcarroll: I have thought about your observations and it will all be explained in chapters to come. It's just since I take so long btw. them that it looks like that's the finality of it all.
Ben Roshi: You need more? Here ya go!
Sterling-Ag: I can see how you think Ryoko and Tenchi is sudden, but as I have said before, nothing is marked in stone, so don't think it's all going to be a walk in the park from now on. On the other hand, it's not going to be another year of having them apart either.
Diane Long: I'm curious to see what you think of Washu. I know I had subconsciously avoided writing her because she is such a complex character (honestly I think she is my fav. character to right since she is so challenging) And I ended her conversation with Ryoko on that sour note on purpose but not out of cruelty, on either of their parts. I hope I'm making sense?