Disclaimer can be found in Parts 1 and 2.

A/N: Thanks to...

ni9htdreame12

DarthRoden

for reviewing :p

And now on with:

Memories Past

Part 3:

As Tenchi burst into the living room, breathing hard from his mad dash to the house, he came upon a sight that made his heart leap into his throat. Ryoko, her mouth opened in a silent scream, bucked and convulsed on the couch.

Tenchi stood there in shock, until a low moan made its way to his ears. Whatever was happening to her, it was causing Ryoko a considerable amount of pain. Spurred into action by the pain-filled sound, Tenchi walked briskly toward the couch and knelt beside Ryoko's shuddering form.

Reaching out his arms to try to calm Ryoko down, Tenchi halted his actions as a voice spoke out from behind him.

"DON'T TOUCH HER."

Looking up and behind himself, Tenchi watched as the spiky-haired scientist, Washu approached him, with what appeared to be a needle filled with a yellow substance.

Coming up alongside him, Washu glanced down at Ryoko and then looked back up at Tenchi.

"I don't know how you managed to pick up on Ryoko's mental cry, but unfortunately we don't have the time to figure it out now."

With that said Washu flicked the side of the needle, squirting out a little of the yellow substance, and inserted it into a vein in her daughter's arm. After a few seconds of tense silence, Tenchi noticed that the shakes and shudders that had racked Ryoko's body before, were slowly tapering off. In fact after a couple more seconds, they stopped altogether, and Ryoko lay quietly on the couch. Washu placed two fingers on the pulse point located on Ryoko's wrist, and noted with satisfaction Ryoko's now slower heart beat, and the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed in and out.

Turning toward Tenchi, Washu said, "The shot that I just gave her is a special serum, and it appears to have done what it was meant to do, which is to help calm and repair the trauma that's been inflicted to her mind. She's fighting a very dangerous battle right now. One that could mean her very life."

"Please Washu…tell me what I can do to help," Tenchi asked, turning pleading, chocolate-brown eyes towards the scientist

"For now just gently pick her up and bring her to my lab. After that, we'll see what has to be done.

Nodding in affirmation, Tenchi took a deep breath to calm his frayed nerves, and turned back towards Ryoko's quietly resting form. He gently placed one arm under Ryoko's knees, and the other under her neck.

Lifting her up slowly and gently, Tenchi could not help but marvel at how light Ryoko was in his arms. She's so much lighter than I thought she would be. And she seems so much more fragile too. I've never thought of her as either of those things before. But that's because she's never been this vulnerable before. Someone or something did this to her. And I can't allow them to get away with it. I promise you Ryoko, I will find a way to make you better. And I will find those responsible for this, and make them regret it.

As he thought this an unusual feeling of protectiveness came over him. Bending his head Tenchi placed a soft kiss on the top of Ryoko's head. Not sure why he had done it, Tenchi quickly raised his head, and looked straight into Washu's smirking face.

Blushing to the roots of his hair, Tenchi cleared his throat and began to say, "Um…I don't know why…ah…I was just…," before Washu held up a hand to silence him.

A slight smirk still present on her face, Washu said, "No, no, Tenchi, I understand. Ah, ah, ah…no buts Tenchi. There's no need to explain. There are just certain things that a mother knows without any explanation."

Then the smile disappeared from her face and Washu said seriously, "but all joking aside, we have a serious situation on our hands. As far as I know, Ryoko received the equivalent of an electrical shock, we'll call it a psychic shock, right in the nerve center of the brain. This caused her whole system to shut down, one organ at a time. The shot I gave her, repaired the damage done to her system, and gave her body a chance to heal itself. But I don't know when the next attack will come. And I don't know how much stronger it will be. The next one may very well kill her. And I won't allow that to happen. Not to my daughter."

"I agree with you completely Miss Washu. I'll do whatever I can to help."

"Good. Now let's go before it's too la…"

"LORD TENCHI! WHY IS THAT MONSTER WRAPPED IN YOUR ARMS LIKE THAT?"

"Late…," Washu trailed off, watching as the purple-haired Jurian princess, entered the living room, her face bright red with anger. Idly Washu wondered how red Ayeka could get, before she simply spontaneously combusted.

"Well you see Miss Ayeka it's like this…I was, um, in the field…and I heard…well I thought I heard…ah well, you probably wouldn't believe me…but ah…," Tenchi slowly trailed off, not sure how explain to Ayeka that he had heard Ryoko's voice in his head.

Washu seeing that Tenchi was getting nowhere fast, sighed deeply, and came to his rescue. "Tenchi was in the fields, he heard Ryoko's voice in his head crying out in pain, he came and found her convulsing on the couch, I told him not to touch her, gave her an injection to calm her down, told him to pick her up, told him what I knew of the situation, you walked in screaming like a banshee, and now Tenchi and I are going to my lab to try and come up with a way to help my daughter. You're welcome to come and assist us, Miss Ayeka. We'll be glad for the help. Come on Tenchi, let's go."

"Huh. Oh right Miss Washu, " Tenchi said, shaking his head in wonder. She said all that in just one breath?

Tenchi followed Washu out of the living room, pulling his precious cargo a little closer as he stopped in front of Ayeka. He gave her a weak smile and said, "I'm sorry about that. I didn't know how we looked."

"No need to apologize Lord Tenchi. I did not know that Miss Ryoko was ill. She is my friend, and I am worried about her. It was silly of me to say what I said. I am truly sorry." Ayeka gave what looked to Tenchi like a forced smile, before she turned to go. But as Tenchi watched her go, he saw something shimmer in her eyes before she turned around completely, and followed Washu out of the room.

Not sure if what he saw was real or imagined, Tenchi looked down at the quietly resting face of Ryoko, then looked back up at the now empty living room. Shrugging his shoulders, Tenchi walked out of the room, and down the hall to Washu's lab.

To be continued…?

A/N: Hey everyone :) Reviews are the life and blood of authors, and your opinions and thoughts really do matter and are looked forward to with great anticipation...so please let me know what you think of the story so far...I look forward to everything that you have to say :)